Peoples Daily Newspaper, Monday 12, November, 2012

www.peoplesdaily-online.com

Vol. 9 No. 66

Monday, November 12, 2012

. . . putting the people first

Zhul-Hajj 27, 1433 AH

N150

FRONT PAGE COMMENT

JTF’s war without rules in Borno, Yobe

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ast week, Amnesty International, a human rights watch body operating worldwide, issued its report about the human rights situation in Nigeria, especially as this relates to the conduct of our armed forces and the official response to the insurgency in the Northern part of the country. Earlier, in October, Human Rights Watch, a no less respected organisation, also issued its own report on the same situation. Not unexpectedly, both reports were

damning in their assessments of the Nigerian State’s handling of especially the insurgency by the Boko Haram sect that has been raging now for nearly three years, with devastating consequences, in the North-East and parts of North-West regions of the country.

While condemning the sect for its murderous campaigns of killings, targeted assassinations, bombings and attacks on worship places and even schools, the reports of the two bodies

came out even harder on the government and the armed forces. Both reports accuse the armed forces of not only the usual highhandedness and impunity, but of much worse. Citing witnesses, who for obvious reasons are not named, the two reports accuse the armed forces, operating as joint task forces (JTFs) in the troubled areas, of extra-judicial killings, summary executions, arbitrary arrests, torture in their detention camps, subjecting Contd on Page 12

Ribadu report: Oil thieves are Jonathan’s men – el-Rufai From Mike Etim, Uyo

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s the controversy over the report of the Nuhu Ribadu led Special Task Force on Petroleum Revenue heightens, former Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minster, Malam Nasir elRufai, has told Nigerians not to expect any pro-people action from the Presidency saying those behind the corruption in the oil sector are friends of the Jonathan’s administration.

PD INDEX

9th Nov., 2012

CBN RATES BUYING SELLING $ 154.74 155.74 £ 247.259 248.857 EURO 197.94 199.222 CFA 0.2885 0.3085 RIYAL 41.267 41.5 PARALLEL RATES BUYING SELLING EURO 206 208 £ 257 258 RIYAL 40 42 $ 157 158

El-Rufai, who spoke at the Teachers Award of Excellence ceremony organized by the Inoyo Toro Foundation in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state capital, weekend said those stealing the nation’s oil money which has resulted in the removal of subsidy and attendant high fuel price and acute shortage of products were friends of the administration who bankrolled the election of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011.

The Ribadu report which reflected a study of the management of oil revenue since 1999 indicted top government functionaries including those of the current administration of massive abuses and diversion of funds amounting to trillions of naira. But the Presidency had disparaged the report saying it was untenable Commenting on the development, el-Rufai said Nigerians should not expect the administration to take any action against the oil thieves adding that it was clear to him Contd on Page 2

Boko Haram: Borno demands special intervention fund >> PAGE 2

Governor Kwankwaso and other awardees holding their awards in a group photograph, yesterday in Dubai. He was given Lifetime Achievement Award by the Centre for Excellent Award, Dubai, for his efforts in improving the lives of youth and women.

Photo: Govt. House, Kano

Fracas disrupts constitution review hearing in Jigawa >> PAGE 6

Anxiety in Enugu as Chime prolongs leave >> PAGE 4

PAGE 2

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

CONTENTS News

2-11

Editorial

12

Op.Ed

13

Letters

14

Opinion

15

Metro

16-18

Business

19-22

S/Exchange

23

Education

30

Health

31

Oyo declares 7 days of mourning as Lam Adesina dies at 73, Page 4

Int’l

31-32

Digest

36

Boko Haram: Borno demands special intervention fund …says attacks targeted on ANPP chieftains B

By Lawrence Olaoye

orno state government at the weekend called on the Federal Government to consider the possibility of granting the state a special intervention fund for it to rebuild the ruin done by the dreaded Boko Haram sect.

Fielding questions from newsmen at the weekend, the state Commissioner for Home Affairs, Information and Culture, Inuwa Bwala, also lamented that the Federal Government has never found it expedient to send a official delegation to the state to physically assess the situation since the beginning of the insurgence.

He pointed out that states with incidence of less intensity had been considered for state visit by President Goodluck Jonathan and his officials. He however concluded that Borno may have been ignored with its problem because of the fact that it is being governed by the opposition.

He said “We feel we have been given this kind of treatment because we are in the opposition.

No government official from the position of the minister has visited us to advise on the way forward. Borno is not happy that none of these officials has visited the state.”

Bwala equally noted that only the chieftains of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) have always fallen victims of the decimating machineries of the insurgents in the state.

He alleged that the Boko Haram insurgency has become

a perfect alibi for politicians in the state to settle scores.

“Greater number of the attacks are political; all killed so far are members of the ANPP; none from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state has ever fallen victims; politicians find the Boko Haram as perfect alibi to attack their opponents; businessmen hide under the Boko Haram to settle scores,” Bwala lamented.

The information Commissioner added “The hostility against the ANPP government in Borno state is either to undermine us or to destroy us.”

According to him, some people have been sponsoring assassinations and wrecking havoc in the state using Boko Haram as cover up for their nefarious activities.

“What many people do not tend to understand is the fact that there is more to the whole crisis than just an insurgency.

While we cannot deny that we have that ideological problem that has snowballed into violence, greater number of the incidents these few days are purely cases of political intimidation from our opponents. If you look at the roll call of people affected, you will agree with me that there is a serious political underpin.

“We are also aware that armed robbers and other related crimes have often found a good alibi in the Boko Haram situation to wreck havoc on the state. The danger in all these is the possible extinction of our

future productive force and the future effect can be better imagined.

Some of the ANPP chieftains that have been killed include Awana Ngala, Chairman ANPP and cousin to Ali Sheriff; Alhaji Modu Fannami Gubio, ANPP gubernatorial candidate also a cousin to Ali Sheriff; Alhaji Goni Modu Sheriff, younger brother to Sen. Ali Sheriff; Alhaji Lawan Yarayi, former Chairman Kukawa local government; Alhaji Lawan Kabu, former Chairman Damboa local government; Alhaji Kadiri Kaza, former Chairman Mongumo

local government.

Others include Alhaji B.K also former Chairman Monguno local government; Hajiya Bayayi, female Councillor Maiduguri Metropolitan; Audu Ali (Datti) Councillor Mai Sandari Maiduguri Metropolitan; Alhaji Mustapha Fulawa, a close friend of Sheriff; Alhaji Bukar Goni Kolo, a close friend of Sheriff; Engr. Isa Modu Ngaram, General Manager Borno Housing Corporation; Barrister Zannah Malam Gana, Commissioner for Justice; Gen. Mamman Shuwa, ANPP Board of Trustees, and party elder.

CBN staff arrested for joining deputy governor’s convoy From Iliya Garba, Minna

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middle-aged man was attested by the police in Niger state for forcefully joining the convoy of the Niger state deputy governor, Ahmed Musa Ibeto.

An eyewitness reliably informed our correspondent that the accused who was driving a Mercedes Benz C240 car along Minna-Suleja road suddenly defied protocol and forced himself into the convoy by overtaking the last sweeper security car – positioning himself in between the deputy governor’s car and the pilot car.

Furthermore, the security agents attached to the deputy

governor became hostile after several appeals to the accused to pull out of the convoy.

It was gathered that some of the armed mobile policemen even attempted shooting but the accused was adamant following which they had to block the road and eventually apprehended him.

Consequently, the accused who came out and identified himself as one Lawrence Adekayaro and a staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria said he was rushing to attend an important meeting in Abuja.

The security agents then handed him over to the police in Lambata town in Gurara local government area of the state.

Politics

37-39

Ribadu report: Oil thieves are Jonathan’s men – el-Rufai

Sports

41-47

Contd from Page 1 that nothing would come out of the investigations conducted by several panels including that of Ribadu and those conducted by the National Assembly.

“So it is naïve for anyone to expect people that financed election would be sent to jail. No it does not happen. They are all birds who flock together, the former minister said.

Stating that he warned, Nuhu Ribadu not to take up the assignment, el-Rufai said he knew that the government did not have the intension of adopting the report that the committee would come out with no matter how well the Ribadu did the job.

“I know my brother Nuhu, he is a very competent public servant and when he is given an assignment, he tries to do it to the best of his ability. I did not agree with him doing the assignment because I know this government is insincere. This

Columnist

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government has shown no commitment in fighting corruption in the oil industry, I know Nuhu, I have worked with him and I do not doubt that he did his best in this assignment”, the former minister asserted.

He said he was not surprised that attempts were being made to rubbish the report as according to him, the current administration was benefiting from the rot in the sector.

Indicting government officials of abuses and fraud, the Ribadu report revealed that successive ministers of Petroleum Resources as well as officials of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) engaged in secret cut-price deals with multinational oil companies to facilitate the syphoning of billions of dollars oil and gas revenue over the last decade.

It revealed that the officials handed out discretionary licenses selling the nation’s

crude without a formal contract to faceless international oil traders who were not “on the approved master list of customers which paved way for the syphoning of the nation’s earning.

It recommended that the NNPC should be scrapped while an independent review of the use of traders be set up and a transparency law be passed requiring oil companies to disclose all payments made to Nigeria.

But reacting, the Presidency, through the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, said the Task Force report was inconclusive and therefore untenable on technical grounds.

Okupe said the committee could not verify and reconcile facts thereby making it “impossible under our laws to indict or punish anybody except and until the Federal

Government fully verifies and reconciles the facts as recommended by the committee in its submission to the government”.

Currently, there is sustained demand by professional groups, opposition parties and other stakeholders that the report be published and its recommendations implemented by the Federal Government.

Meanwhile, earlier at the Uyo event, el-Rufai challenged the President to issue an order that all public office holders in the country should send their children to public schools instead of private schools. He lamented that the standard School has fallen because of the neglect of government. He said if the children of top government functionaries were in public schools, the quality and standard of the schools will improve.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

PAGE 3

Civil society body protests Boko Haram insurgency

Nigerian varsities are centres of ignorance – Fika

From Agaju Madugba, Kaduna

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embers of northern civil society groups at the weekend rode on bicycles, covering a distance of about 40 kilometres within Kaduna metropolis to protest activities of the Boko Haram sect in the north.

Tagged: “Cyclists for Peace and Freedom in the north”, the civil society groups, in collaboration with the Kaduna state cyclists’ association, took off from the Mando roundabout at about 7.30 am and later converged on Murtala Square where the convener, Malam Shehu Sani, president of Civil Rights Congress (CRC), addressed the gathering, under the watchful eyes of security personnel and members of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

IGR fraud: Reps beam searchlights on varsities, polytechnics

By Lawrence Olaoye

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orried by allegations of fraudulent activities of the heads of the nation’s universities and polytechnics who pocket substantial amounts of their internally generated revenue, the House of Representatives has opened a probe into their activities.

The House chairman, committee on Public Accounts, Rep Solomon Adeola who expressed displeasure about the startling revelations on the way and manner vice chancellors and rectors divert their institutions’ resources in addition to their annual budgetary appropriations, said such would not be allowed to continue.

Adeola who sent back six universities chancellors when they could not give proper account of their IGR, threatened that the committee would refer any vice chancellor found wanting to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for prosecution.

He wondered that serious fraudulent practices typical of the fuel subsidy scam may have be happening in the ivory towers for a very long time without checks, noting that these universities’ management spent their IGR without seeking approval from the National Assembly.

From Agaju Madugba, Kaduna

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President Goodluck Jonathan (third right) with other ECOWAS Heads of State during the Extraordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government held in Abuja yesterday.

Photo: Joe Oroye

Jonathan advocates intervention force in Northern Mali

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

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resident Goodluck Jonathan has called for an intervention force to flush out extremists in northern Mali and avoid “costly consequences” for the continent.

The President spoke yesterday in Abuja at the extraordinary session of the Authority of Heads of States and Heads of Governments of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

“Nigeria fully supports the recommendations of Chiefs of

Defence Staff for an intervention force to be deployed immediately to Mali to help restore order and stability there.

“This will be consistent with a UN resolution authorising the use of force to flush out the rebels and anarchists that have turned the northern part of that country into a lawless zone. This we must do to avert costly consequences, not only on Mali but on the entire sub-region and Africa in general”.

The emergency meeting of West African leaders was called to plot a military strategy to wrest control of northern Mali

from terror groups as fears grow over the risks the extremists pose to the region and beyond.

ECOWAS Commission President, Kadre Desire Ouedraogo has said the bloc should pursue a dual approach of dialogue and military pressure.

According to a communique issued after the closed door meeting of the leaders yesterday night, stated that the resolutions also apply to Guinea Bissau which is embroiled in similar political crisis.

former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Head of Service, Malam Adamu Fika, (Wazirin Fika), has reviewed developments in the nation’s tertiary institutions concluding that Nigerian universities have become centres of ignorance, decadence and cultural retrogression.

He spoke at the weekend in Zaria where delivered a public lecture on the vision and mission of the founding fathers of the Ahmadu Bello University, as part of activities to mark the university’s 50th anniversary celebrations and the presentation of a Book on ABU at 50.

While commending ABU for being academic and practical, Fika blamed the falling standard of education in the country on recurrent strikes by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), failure of government to live up to its financial responsibilities in the education sector, academic corruption in the country, sexual harassment on campuses, cultism and examination malpractices, among other factors.

He said: “The university campuses in Nigeria today are no longer the home of knowledge; that secure, peaceful and conducive environment for imparting and exchange of ideas.

It is slowly descending to the abyss as a house of ignorance, decadence and cultural retrogression.

“This university needs a carefully drawn, ambitiousdriven, but realistic 50-year development plan to take it to 2062.

Northern govs pay tribute to late Lam Adesina

By Lawrence Olaoye

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he Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF), has paid tribute to the late former governor of Oyo state and elder statesman, Alhaji Lam Adesina, saying his death marked the end of a glorious era.

Chairman of the forum and Governor of Niger state, Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, said the late Adesina was a true nationalist who lived a purposeful life of dedication to the cause of Nigeria’s unity and development as well as commitment to the upliftment of the citizenry.

In a statement signed by Governor Aliyu’s Chief Press Secretary, Danladi Ndayebo, the forum described the late Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)

chieftain as a loyal party man and a diligent, principled person, who stood on the side of the people at all times.

“From his days as a newspaper columnist through his election into the House of Representatives, to his elevation to the position of the governor of Oyo state, and his life in

retirement, Adeshina remained with the people,” the statement said.

The forum said the best tribute that Nigerians can pay to the late Oyo helmsman is to re-dedicate themselves to the ethos of nationalism, nation building, democracy and love for one another.

It called on the Oyo state government to honour the memory of the former Governor Lam Adeshina to serve as an inspiration to the younger generation of Nigerians.

The forum prayed the family he left behind the fortitude to bear the loss.

Democracy (AD) was actively engaged in the struggle to protect our democracy from dictatorship.

Driven by a remarkable courage of conviction, he said, Adesina was never hesitant to speak the truth to power, despite the potential dangers of official intimidations and harassment.

Atiku, who described Adesina as a reliable friend of the people, praised his virtues of selflessness

to public service.

The former Vice President also said that Adesina belonged to a rare generation of politicians who perceived democracy as a call to selfless service rather than an opportunity to enrich themselves.

According to Atiku, the best tribute Adesina’s admirers could pay to him was to practice his virtues of service with integrity.

…he was redoubtable democrat - Atiku

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ormer Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said the death of former Oyo state governor, Alhaji Lam Adesina, has robbed Nigeria of a vibrant voice of democracy.

In a tribute to Adesina contained in a statement by his media office in Abuja, the former PDP presidential aspirant noted that despite his age, the late governor of defunct Alliance for

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

PAGE 4

Cotton ginnery to be established in Bauchi From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

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n order to promote the cultivation of cotton, Bauchi state has given approval for the establishment of a cotton ginnery to West African Cotton Company (WACOT).

WACOT’s chief executive officer, Mr. Tembe Ravi at a meeting with the Bauchi state committee on revival of cotton production, recalled that of the more than 30 cotton ginneries in the country, only about five or six of them are in operation with far below installed production capacity.

“What is happening now is that there are more than 30 cotton ginneries in Nigeria but only five or six are operational at 25% or below capacity operation; so there is heavy competition to buy cotton seeds in whatever form it comes”, Ravi said.

Ravi noted that Bauchi and Katsina states have for long been in the forefront in cotton production in the country, but regretted that cotton production in the two states has been on the decline in the last 20 years.

According to him, WACOT

also has a separate company for quality seeds control which is now waiting for the Federal Government for a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), as well as specialised insecticides and chemical stimulants.

The Bauchi state deputy

governor, Alhaji Sagir Aminu Saleh, had earlier disclosed that Bauchi is targeting to register 10, 000 cotton farmers in the state following the aggressive sensitisation drive by the cotton production revival committee set up by the government in May

this year.

Alhaji Saleh who is also the chairman of the committee, said a number of 1,020 cotton farmers were identified and registered this year, as government also targets to register 5, 000 in 2013 fiscal year.

L-R: Director, Planning Research and Statistics, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Emmanuel Odu, Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer, NPHCDA, Dr. Ado Muhammad and Head, Homes Coordination Office of the Executive Director, Dr. Dorathy Nwodo, during the press briefing on the 2012 World Pneumonia Day, at the weekend, in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Kaduna sacks 4,000 Oyo declares 7 days of mourning teachers as Lam Adesina dies at 73 From Agaju Madugba, Kaduna

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he Kaduna state government has sacked a total of about 4,000 primary and secondary school teachers. Governor Patrick Yakowa who confirmed the development at the weekend, explained that the move was aimed at ensuring quality and vibrant education for pupils and students.

“We have assessed and verified the quality of all teachers in both primary and secondary schools which shows us that nearly 50 percent of teachers in our primary schools lack the required qualifications to teach”, Yakowa said on the occasion of the national graduation ceremony of the National Teachers’ Institute, on Saturday.

According to Yakowa, the verification exercise also exposed about 4,000 teachers who were employed with fake certificates.

As he put it, “this is indeed very alarming as it portends serious danger to the future of the young generations we hope to take over from us.

“The quality of education we require for our children is too dear for us to toy with. We could only entrust our children in the care of high caliber and qualified teachers who can deliver to transform their lives…”

Earlier, the NTI DirectorGeneral, Dr. Aminu Ladan Shaheru, said that the institutes distance learning programmes were being handled by seasoned and dedicated centre managers and course tutors who conduct tutorial sessions and other counseling services to students.

From Inumidun Ojelade, Ibadan

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overnor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo state, yesterday announced the passing away of former Governor of Oyo state, Alhaji Lamidi Onaolapo Adesina.

Alhaji Adesina, a national leader of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the rallying point of ACN in Oyo state, died early yesterday (Sunday) morning at St. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos during a protracted illness.

He would have been 74 next January.

The former governor, whose health recently deteriorated, thus necessitating his admission first to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan and later, St. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos, has buried at his Felele, Ibadan residence at 4 pm according to Islamic rites.

Meanwhile, the state government has declared a seven-day mourning period for the departed elder statesman

and former teacher of Governor Ajimobi, during which all official state functions will be suspended and the national flag flown at half mast.

A statement issued by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Dr. Festus Adedayo, quoted Governor Ajimobi as describing Alhaji Adesina as “a dedicated patriot, foremost defender of democracy and human rights, and political warhorse who had always stood on the side of truth”.

government and people of Oyo state.

According to a statement signed by his spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, “the President joins late Alhaji Adesina’s family, relatives, friends, associates and all who knew him in mourning the renowned educationist and political leader who devoted his entire adult life to working for the progress of his people and the nation”.

The statement continued:

“President Jonathan believes that Alhaji Adesina’s indefatigability in political struggles as well as his honesty, integrity, sincere commitment and dedication to the service of his people before and during his tenure as governor have ensured that he will be honoured and remembered by present and future generations as an exemplary leader who did his utmost best to improve the lives of his people.

…Jonathan eulogises

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

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resident Goodluck Jonathan has expressed sadness over the passing away of former governor of Oyo state, Alhaji Lam Adesina whose death was announced yesterday morning.

On behalf of himself, the Federal Government and all Nigerians, President Jonathan extended heartfelt condolences to Alhaji Adesina’s family and the

... He was a progressive to the core – Mark

By Richard Ihediwa

S

enate President David Mark has described former governor of Oyo state, Alhaji Lam Adesina as a progressive who stood on the side of the people at all times.

Senator Mark in a condolence message to the government and people of Oyo, said Adesina would

be remembered for his passion, selfless service and love for the ordinary man.

He lamented that Adesina died at a time when his wealth of experience and administrative acumen were needed to navigate through the murky political waters at the moment.

According to Mark, “death is

a necessary end that must come when it shall. We are however consoled that late Adesina contributed positively to the development of the society during his life time. He left an indelible footprint on the sand of time. He left a legacy of service to the society, honesty and commitment to the ideals of nation hood”.

Anxiety mounts in Enugu as Chime prolongs leave

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ifty days after Governor Sullivan Chime began his annual vacation, anxiety is mounting in Enugu state over his whereabouts.

Many residents of the coal city who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the weekend, expressed worries that the governor has over-stayed abroad, but his aides and party chieftains say there is no cause for alarm.

The state’s Commissioner for Information, Mr. Chuks Ugwoke, said the governor took his accumulated vacation as he had not taken his annual leave since he became governor in 2007.

Ugwoke explained that the governor handed over to his deputy, Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi, who was fully in charge of the state’s administration.

“Activities have been on.

There is no activity of government that slowed down because you realise that there is an acting governor who is fully in-charge.

The commissioner said the governor would return as soon as his vacation was over, pointing out that he had not exceeded the duration of his vacation.

In his own reaction, the Chairman of ACN in the state, Mr. Emeka Udeh, said the prolonged absence of the governor was unhealthy for governance.

Udeh said the governor was entitled to his vacation but that where it became too long, the people also had the right to be worried.

“It is not healthy for the state.

I don’t know if the deputy governor has all the executive powers in his acting capacity.

But what I want is that the state must be working”, he said.

On his part, the chairman of PDP in the state, Chief Vita Abba, said there was nothing unusual about the governor’s absence.

“There is nothing unusual regarding the governor’s absence. He is a governor who has been on seat for the past six years and taking a consolidated leave.

The chairman of the NLC in the state, Mr. Chukwumaife Nze, described the governor’s absence as the ‘beauty of democracy’.

“I believe that it is democracy in action in the sense that there is a provision in the constitution for acting governor, depending on the circumstance around.

Meanwhile, other residents who expressed worry over Chime’s absence felt it was unusual and abnormal for the governor to stay more than one month outside the state.

Some civil servants who spoke on condition of anonymity said his prolonged absence had given room for rumour mongering and speculation.

NAN recalls that the governor left the country on Sept. 22. (NAN)

PAGE 6

Review will improve living standard of Nigerians - Kuta From Ahmed Abubakar, Dutse

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he chairman Senate Committee of Federal Character, Senator Dahiru Awaisu Kuta, has advocated that the on-going 1999 public hearing on constitutional review been coordinated by the National Assembly would basically improved the living standards of all Nigerians.

Speaking at the public hearing on constitutional amendment convened by member representing Chanchaga federal constituency, Hon. Umar Mohammed Bago, at the Idris Legbo Kutigi International Conference Centre in Minna at the weekend, Kuta pointed out that the 1999 constitution was put in place by the military.

He said the involvement of Nigerians in the review of the constitution would help in the amendment of the constitution with respect to state creation, indigeneship, immunity clause, autonomy of state legislatures, state and local government joint account, state police as well as the scrapping of state electoral commissions.

In a related development, member representing Borgu/Agwara federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Haliru Zakari Jikantoro has advised people of the constituency to bare their minds on issues that would be raised in the templates that will be circulated to strengthen the democracy and enhance development in the country.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

Fracas disrupts constitution review hearing in Jigawa From Ahmed Abubakar, Dutse

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he public hearing on the constitution review at the Guri local government area was nearly marred as several people were injured and no fewer than four vehicles were smashed after the event was hijacked by angry loyalists of Guri council chairman of Jigawa and those of the member representing the area at the National Assembly.

The followers of Member in the House of Representatives from Guri, Alhaji Adamu

Hassan Abunabo, and those of the Guri local government chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Bulama, clashed during the constituencies' public hearing session on the review of the 1999 constitution.

According to an eyewitness at the gathering, Malam Idris Zugo, who told our reporter that the incident occurred after the Rep member who was said to have fallen out with Governor Sule Lamido, decided to use the forum to issue out some relief items to people of the area.

The action did not go down

well with the council chairman who was said to have directed that the use occasion to issue out gifts to the people was not appropriate.

However, the chairman incurred the angered of the people from the area who considered his intervention as an affront.

Our correspondent's findings revealed that no sooner had the police been directed to stop the distraction than the angry people from the area began to resist.

Reports indicated that it took the deployment of police

from Hadejia local government to douse the tension.

The public hearing was therefore disrupted half way due to the feud and several people were arrested by the police.

When contacted the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Abdul Jinjiri, confirmed the incident and explained that six people were arrested and are helping in their investigation.

He said the people were provoked when the legislator tried to turn his presence at the public hearing to a political rally for himself.

Vice President Namadi Sambo being welcomed by the Governor of Plateau state, Grp Capt. Jonah Jang during his inspection tour of the flood affected area of Plateau state in Shendam local government area on Saturday

Ajimobi approves trimming of Olubadan chieftaincy structure From Inumidun Ojelade, Ibadan

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overnor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo state has approved the trimming of the traditional chieftaincy structure of the Olubadan of Ibadanland so as to hasten the succession process.

He also stressed the need to ensure that people of impeccable character, integrity and track record like the incumbent Olubadan, Oba Samuel Odulana Odugade, were allowed to ascend to the throne of the ancient city.

The governor spoke in Ibadan at a public lecture organised by Ibadan Progressive Union (IPU) in honour of IPU octogenarians and new members at the Ibadan Civic Centre, Ibadan.

"I want to emphasise that there must be a checklist of anybody who wants to become the Olubadan of Ibadanland. We must look at his pedigree, character, integrity and he must possess a minimum level of education", he said.

Governor Ajimobi also said that the age of ascension to the throne of the Olubadan did not matter as long as the candidate to the throne was physically and mentally fit.

It would be recalled that the age at which past Olubadans ascended the throne has been a subject of controversy, with a section of Ibadan indigenes arguing that most of the past monarchs ascended to the throne at very old age.

Nasarawa wants revenue sharing formula reviewed in favour of states, LGs From Ali Abare Abubakar, Lafia

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s part of its contribution to the ongoing public hearing on constitution review, the Nasarawa state government has called for the review of the revenue sharing formula, in favour of the states and local government councils, arguing that the issue has so far

remained contentious and thereby necessitating the attention of the National Assembly.

Governor Umaru Tanko Almakura stated this in a speech he delivered on the occasion of the peoples public session, organised by members of the House of Representatives from the state, which held Saturday, at the City

Hall, Lafia.

Represented by his deputy, Dameshi Barau Luka, Governor Al-makura observed that the constitutional review process allows the people the opportunity to address series of economic and political challenges confronting them, stressing that there is no doubt that democracy is better strengthened if all stakeholders

participate in the review process.

While lauding the gesture by the National Assembly to enable Nigerians actively participate in the constitutional review process, he said it has become imperative for Nigerians to correct any defects inherent in the constitution, which he described as the driving force behind the collective aspiration of the nation.

‌There must be mass participation, says lawmaker From Agaju Madugba, Kaduna

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member of the House of Representatives, Dr. Mansur Abdulkadir (CPC Funtua/ Dandume federal constituency) of Katsina state, says the on-going public sessions on the review of the 1999 constitution is designed to provide a platform for all Nigerians to participate in the process.

According to him, for Nigeria to have a true constitution, people from the grassroots must be given the opportunity to inject their opinions.

Abdulkadir who spoke at the weekend while addressing various stakeholders from his constituency, described the anticipated review of the constitution as a major step towards strengthening the nation's

democratic rule.

He explained that, "that is why leadership of the National Assembly directed all the federal lawmakers to go back to their various constituencies and meet with their people and look at the key issues in the 1999 Constitution "Most of the key sections of the Nigerian Constitution do not represent the interest of average Nigerians".

He cited section 162 (6), relating to state and local government joint account, arguing that the popular view is that local councils should get direct allocations from the Federal Government.

"There is also the popular view that the constitution be reviewed to provide for rotation of the office of the President among the six geopolitical zones of the country", Abdulkadir said.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

PAGE 7

Kwara North endorses states creation, rotational presidency From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

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L-R: Chairman Board of Trustees, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) Dr. Musa Babayo, member of the Board, Alhaji Abba Gana, Acting Executive Secretary, TETFUND, Mallam Aliyu Naiya and Assistant Chief, Public Relations Unit of TETUND, Mr. Samuel Ezenwa, during the presentation of award for most outstanding Public Institution in Nigeria to TETFUND by Independent Service delivery Monitoring Group (ISDMG), at the weekend in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

PDP chieftain tasks NASS on LG autonomy From Inumidun Ojelade, Ibadan

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Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader in Ekiti State, Ambassador Gbenga Olofin has urged the National Assembly to grant full autonomy to Local Governments in the country as part of its amendment of the 1999 Constitution, saying; “running local councils as parastatals under the Governor’s Office as presently being done in most states in the country is jeopardising development at the grassroot level.”

Olofin, who frowned at the way local council funds are being

deducted at will by some State governors under the guise of Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC), said the National Assembly must save Local Government from going into extinction by making it the real third tier of government.

In a release issued which made available to newsmen, Olofin noted that “one of the major impediments to development in Nigeria is the Constitutional provision that gave State Houses of Assembly power to legislate on local government administration and that portion of the Constitution must be

amended.”

The statement reads; “Today, Local Councils, especially in Ekiti State are being run like parastatals under the governor’s office with the councils unable to spend their funds without the governor’s approval.

“Particularly, our experience in Ekiti State since this present Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) government took over power has shown that the idea of giving State Governments control over Local councils was a mistake, and it must be corrected.

“Laws that are at variance with the Constitution are even

being made by State Houses of Assembly to further stiffen the necks of local government councils in the country with most state governors now having power to sack duly elected council officials at will.

“Ridiculously, Ekiti State House of Assembly even made a law empowering the State governor to appoint local council secretaries, supervisors, advisers and even personal assistants to the chairman.

“The National Assembly must therefore make our local councils autonomous to save them from imminent collapse.

Northerners urged to reject six geo-political zones in constitution From Ahmed Idris, Birnin Kebbi

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ollowing the on-going review of the 1999 Nigeria Constitution, the Deputy Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Abuja, Dr. Shehu Abdullahi has admonished the representative of the North in National Assembly to distance themselves from the recognition of six geo-political zones in the 1999 constitution Amendment.

He gave this advice weekend at Zuru while delivering a speech at the people’s public session on the review of the 1999 Nigeria constitution organized by the Member representing Danko/ wasagu, Fakai,Sakba and Zuru Federal constituency in the National Assembly.

“If this is allowed to be incorporated into the constitution and may God forbid, if we lose our regional bargaining leverage of having more states and Federal Legislative Representative in both chambers of the National Assembly, it will be a mission impossible for the region to have it expunged from the constitution”.

He also pointed out that “if they are honest, let them call for the abolition of states as

cohabiting federating units, then we will begin to take them seriously”.

“If this were to happen, we would have lost it as a people and as a region, the north will then be left shading the inconsequential crocodile tears’’, he said.

Dr. zuru in his lecture also opposed the local government

joint account and the removal of the Immunity clause from the 1999 constitution, tools used by some of the state governments to witch hunt their opponent in the political race.

Also in his remark, the Member representing Zuru, Fakai,Sakaba and Damk/Wasau federal constituency Hon. Abdullahi Dan. Alikali said “over

the years, people have seen the Nigerian constitution as a document of the political elites used in Abuja and the state capitals, the connection of the Nigerian people with and their ownership of the constitution have been very tenuous, knowledge of the constitution have been vague and its content mystery to Nigerians’’.

Shettima wants federal allocation reviewed From Mustapha Isah Kwaru, Maiduguri overnor Kashim Shettima of Borno state has called for the review of Federal Revenue Allocation Formula in favour of the state and local governments.

The governor made the call at the weekend while speaking at the public hearing on the review of the 1999 constitution held at the International Conference Hall of the Musa Usman secretariat Maiduguri, state capital.

He said “the constitutional provision under section 162(2) should be amended so as to allow flexibility to take care of political, economic and social forces and changes in the country.

Therefore the revenue sharing

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formula should be reviewed in favour of states and local governments, as the state and local governments have been directly or indirectly assisting federal institutions in their states.”

He lamented that the Federal Government has virtually neglected Borno and Yobe states ,as there is no federal presence in the two states, pointing out that even the Biu Dam which was started 30 years ago has not been completed.

On the agitation for creation of states, Shettima said creation of more state would not proffer solution to the issue of development.

What people need said, was good governance, stressing that a villager in Miringa, Garubula, Lassa or Wamdiyo prefer the opening up of the hinterland

which state or local government creation cannot address.

“I urge Nigerians to treat the issue of state creation with outmost sense of responsibility and caution, even as I strongly recommend that section 8 of the constitution be amended to remove the ambiguities and cumbersomeness in the process of creation more states for future consideration.” Shettima said.

The Governor also called for the establishment of the Desert Control Commission to handle the fast advancing Sahara desert in Northern part of the country, particularly Borno and Yobe states, as desertification and wind have claimed several hectares of arable land and forced some communities to migrate southwards.

he people of Baruteen,Kaiama Local government which constitute part of Kwara North Senatorial district have endorsed the creation of new states as well as rotation of presidency between Northern and Southern parts of Nigeria in the House of Representatives Peoples’ Public session on the 1999 constitution review.

The Federal constituency which fall within the axis of House Chairman on Media, Zakari Muhammed argued hotly among themselves for and against the immunity clause for President,Vice President, Governors and Deputy Governors.

The constituency however agreed that they would not be segregated if the presidency is being rotated stressing that removal of immunity would create chaos in the country.

They also rejected additional tenure for President, voting right for Nigerians in diaspora as well as abolition of bi-cameral legislature among other 38 issues raised for review.

Speaking with Peoples Daily after the session, Hon. Zakari Muhammed explained that the agreement of his people on states creation does not mean that they want to be carved away from the present Kwara State but rather want more local governments that would be recognised constitutionally.

Session witnesses low turnout in Nasarawa From Ali Abare Abubakar, Lafia

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he much publicised people’s public session organised by the federal house of representatives to enable Nigerians across the federal constituencies actively participate in the ongoing constitutional review, witnessed a low turnout in Nasarawa state.

Our correspondent who arrived the City Hall venue of the event, reports that only a few residents graced the occasion, which was mostly attended by political office holders from the state and representatives of the organised labour.

Youths who turned up in their numbers but chose to pester dignitaries for money, were however denied access to the hall by security operatives.

A resident who spoke to Peoples Daily, Adigizi Amos, ascribed the low turnout to inadequate publicity by the organisers in the state.

“Most people are unaware of the event. Besides, ordinary Nigerians lack confidence in the exercise. How are we sure what we want will reflect in the final document?”, Amos queried.

PAGE 10

NANS hailsWada's gesture to flood victims

By Augustine Aminu

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he National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has commended Governor Idris Wada of Kogi state for his timely intervention to resettle the victims of the flood that recently ravaged the state.

This commendation was made by Comrade Victor Onuche in a press briefing in Abuja yesterday.

The NANS ex-officio however urged the governor to do more by ensuring that the fund released by the Federal Government gets to the victims. He said the governor must also ensure that relief materials get to the victims.

He also noted that if not for the timely intervention of the governor, more lives would have been lost.

He said, "We want to commend Governor Idris Wada for doing everything possible to ensure that the victims of the flood in Kogi state are not abandoned. We have followed the efforts of the state government carefully and discovered that relief materials are made available to the real victims of the flood".

Onuche pleaded with the governor to ensure that the victims return to their homes in order to resume normal lives.

He urged the beneficiaries to use the funds for the purpose it was meant.

He said,"this is one of the best things that have ever happened to the people.

"I urge the victims and other citizens of the state to continue to pray for the well-being of the leaders and also continue to live in harmony with one another",Onuche said and called on government to provide enabling environment for Nigerians to contribute maximally to the development of the state.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER, 12, 2012

R-L: Managing Director, Martreach Global Healthcare Services, Mr. Martins Okonkwo, with the General Manager, Boma BenjiIwuoha during a forum on the Provision of Healthcare Services through Medical Tourism in Nigeria, at the Weekend in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Environmental challenges stall longer life- NESREA DG

By Augustine Aminu

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irector General of the N a t i o n a l E n v i r o n m e n t a l Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) Dr. Ngeri Benebo has said that environmental challenges affect the ability to live long.

Benebo gave the indication recently at the National Media Dialogue on

environment and longevity in Abuja.

She said environmental degradation has changed the course of nature thereby shortening the life span of the old as it negatively impacts on the health and wellbeing of the people. ``Old age, for many in Nigeria constitutes a painful process attended by poor health, insufficiency, helplessness and

vulnerability to environmental challenges such as poor sanitation, water and air pollution as well as social challenges. ``In emergency situations like collapse of buildings, disasters like flooding, the inability of the old to quickly respond to such situations becomes a very big challenge.

According to her, societies today see ageing as a burden

FG plans policy to boost technology transfer in tourism industry

By Joy Baba

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he Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Okon Ita Ewa has said a policy framework to encourage technology transfer in the hospitality and tourism industry for the enhancement of the transformation agenda of the Federal Government is being discussed.

The minister represented by the Director General of National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) Engr. Umar Bindir, stated this at a workshop organised by NOTAP in collaboration with National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), with the theme ''Improving Technology Transfer Capabilities and Capacity Building in the Hotels and Allied

Services Sector in Nigeria".

He said Nigeria pays huge sums of money in foreign exchange annually as technology fees to foreign managers from countries like Europe, America and South Africa who run the big hotels in the country. This trend, he said, does not augur well for the development of the Nigerian economy.

Earlier in his address, the Director General of NIHOTOUR, Dr. Munzali Dantata, commended the Ministry for focusing on technology transfer in the hospitality and allied services sector of the economy which deserves more attention.

According to Dantata, "Its role in the socio-economic transformation and development of nations cannot be over emphasised, but for the records, the hospitality and tourism

industry is today the greatest employer of labour in the world and a major generator of revenue."

KEBBI ADVOCATES PUPILS ENROLLMENT, EDUCATION QUALITY From Ahmed Idris Birnin Kebbi The Kebbi State government has called on the Non Governmental Organization [NGO] in the state to partner with the state government in developing the education sector.

This appeal was made yesterday by the Kebbi state Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ibrhaim K. Aliyu at a sensitization conference with kebbi state stakeholders on school enrollment of pupils and quality assurance in education for 2012 held in Birnin Kebbi adding that any NGO and other private agencies willing to partner with the state government in promoting the education system

would be welcome.

He said that from 2007 to date, a lot of achievements have been recorded, particularly on the education sector by providing infrastructure, facilities and introducing free education adding: ''we sponsor students to study overseas, paying them scholarship and employing qualify teachers in their various fields specialization''.

He also pointed out that the government has invested a lot on education and assured the people of Kebbi state to continue supporting the mission and vision of the governor to enable him pilot the affairs of the state and provide citizens with more dividends of democracy.

He then urged parents and traditional rulers to enroll their pupils into schools in order to meet up with the present global challenges.

Maternal mortality: FG to recruit 12,000 village health workers

By A'isha Biola Raji

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o complement the achievements of Midwives Service Scheme (MSS), the Federal Government through the National Primary Health Development Agency (NPHCDA), is to recruit 12,000 village health workers.

This initiative is as a result of the achievement recorded by MSS which recently earned the country an award by Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM).

Speaking at the press briefing to mark World Pneumonia Day coming up today, the executive

director of the NPHCDA, Dr. Ado Muhammad, said the recruitment would "marry health facilities and communities".

According to him, one village health worker will be in charge of 10 households making six village health workers in one ward.

He said the village health workers who would be drawn from

the communities, would ensure safe delivery of pregnant women in the 10 households.

According to him, government will be responsible in equipping and paying their allowances.

According to him, the initiative is double barrel and would reduce the burden on the health system thereby improving productivity.

because such societies have not taken the necessary steps to tap from the blessings that come with growing old. The DG sought care for the old by every society, adding that any form of neglect of seniors would affect other ageing groups in future.

In his remark, Mr. Ike Willie-Nwobu, the National coordinator, International Federation on Ageing said environm e n t a l health constituted a major hindrance to longevity.

Willie-Nwobu said that effective and efficient e n v i r o n m e n t a l management would support the management of any population.

According to him, a well managed population is wealth which could enhance longevity.

He advised Nigerians to avoid environmental pollution so as to reduce the effect of harsh environment on the old.

In her goodwill massage, the Director of Public Affairs, State Security Services (SSS) Ms Marylin Ogar, noted that environmental challenges were capable of causing security challenges.

Ogar advised Nigerians to take environmental issues w i t h h i g h s e n s e o f r e g a rd, adding that negligence of the environment, would affect security networking.

She said negligence had also contributed to the flood that had ravaged the country in the recent time and assured NESREA of SSS support in the enforcement of environmental laws.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

PAGE 11

How to choose a profitable niche for your Internet business C

hoosing your liche is one of the biggest decisions you have to make about your online business in Nigeria (business varies from place to place, a niche that is profitable for the USA may not be profitable for Nigerian) or any other places for that matter.

This decision is very important because, if you get the Niche wrong, your business may end up not being profitable and your efforts will be wasted.

Considering how difficult it is to do online business in Nigeria, the absence of power supply, the high cost of bandwidth, and limited resources; you wouldn't want your efforts to go wasted.

In other to get it right, you have to start from choosing your niche very carefully.

When we talk about profitable niche, it means that not all niches are profitable and among the profitable niches, some are more profitable than the other. In this article, I'm going to discuss the fundamental principles that would assist you choose a profitable niche for your online business in Nigeria.

But what really is a Niche?

Niche simply means, specialization!

Whatever business you choose to do online becomes your specialization and the subject of that business becomes your Niche. E.g.: I set up a website that provides job search, my target audience is Job Seekers, I'll be said to Specialize in providing job search for job seekers and my Niche is Job (Job Search) for my target audience (Nigeria).

Going by the concepts of Internet marketing, every online business is designed to target or appeal to specific audience, such form of specialization is called Niche Marketing. Choosing your niche therefore means, choosing your area of specialization in online business. How do you proceed to make this choice?

• Choose Your Passion: No matter how popular a niche is, if you aren't passionate about the subject, you aren't going to be successful in it. Do not choose a niche because it's popular or because someone you know is doing it, choose

Quote Anyone who has lost track of time when using a computer knows the propensity to dream, the urge to make dreams come true and the tendency to miss lunch.

– Tim Berners-Lee

something that you're very familiar with, and that you'll be happy doing.

Take your time and list those things you're passionate about, list them in the order of preference like: Sport, gaming, swimming, entertainment, weight lose, etc.

• Choose Your Expertise:

Among the things you're passionate about, which one of them can you really say you're expert in? Remember that you're going into real business where you'll be providing real solution to real people, some level of expertise is required for you to stay ahead of competitors.

Carefully analyze how

competent you're in those areas you've listed and isolate the one you're most competent about.

• Research Your Niche: It's not enough to choose your passion and your Expertise; you'd need to understand how that market performs. Here are things to consider under your

niche keywords: Size, Competitors, and Products.

Size - Use Google keyword tools to gain insight about the size of your niche (how many people are searching for your niche keywords monthly) and the CPC value (how much are advertisers paying per click for your niche keywords). If plenty people are searching for your keywords and there are advertisers who are paying for ads in that keyword, the niche is profitable.

Competitor: How many people are already doing similar business and what is their strength? If your competitors are too many with years of experience and high level of expertise and popularity, you may have to think again before choosing that niche even though it may be profitable. What's the profitability when you can't grab a piece of the pie?

Products: Are they products to market in that niche in case you decide to monetize through product sales? These are all you need to find out before you make your choice of niche! Use the spyfu to further understand your niche.

Snail farming in Nigeria (1)

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nail Farming in Nigeria is very lucrative, and many Nigerians are waking up to this business of snail farming. Apart from the fact that snail farm is easy to manage, snail farming does not require much technicalities or capital as snails can easily be picked around for the takeoff. Snail farm is easy to setup - with little structure and little fund, you're good to go.

Hotels, Restaurants and other eateries are people that will constantly demand your supply.

You could get standing orders from these group of people for the supply of snails to them at agreed times and rates and you know what that means? Constant money into your pocket.

The giant West Africa snail called Achatina Marginata is the most desirable specie for snail farming due to its high yield capacity. There are other good species but I will focus on Achatina Marginata in this blog post because, it's easy to find in Nigeria.

Achatina-Achatina is very good for commercialization as well, because of its profitability.

This is because of the volume of eggs it lays at once. Each Achatina lays 300 to 500 eggs at a time in clutches, three times a year. Therefore, if you start a farm with about 1000 snails, in one year you would be getting about 1.5 million snails going by the number of eggs they

produces.

Having decided on the specie, let's take you through the step by step how to setup your snail farm in a small scale level and starts rearing your snail towards harvest.

• Snail Farming Environment: Snails are easily dehydrated, and wind increase the rate of moisture loose in snail which in turn, leads to the dryness of the animal. To prevent snails from losing water so quickly, your snaileries (the snail house) must be located in environment that is protected from wind.

A low plain, downhill site surrounded with enough trees

Snail

is perfect for snail farming. You may plant plantains and bananas around your snail farm to prevent the impact of wind.

• Type of Soil for Snail Farm: Snail's major habitat is the soil, and soil contains some of the components and chemical substances that it needed to survive. However, not all soils are suitable for snail rearing.

The shell of the snail is mainly calcium and it derives most of them from the soil. Snail also laid its eggs on the soil and drinks water out of the soil.

Hence, the suitable soil for snail farming must contain these elements.

Must be

www. wealthresult.com balanced, not water-logged, not too dry, and must not be acidic.

The most desirable soil for snail is sandy-loamy soil with low water holding capacity. Clayey soil and acidic soil must be avoided.

• Getting the Sails for Farming: To start up a snail farm, it is advisable to get snails directly from the forest instead of buying from the market after they have been exposed to sunlight and have dehydrated.

This is because snails drink a lot of water, so are easily dehydrated and this stresses them out, and reduces their fertility capacity.

The intending snail farmer could pick the snails from the bush with a very simple technique; clear a little portion of land during rainy season and sprinkle spicy fruits like pineapple, pawpaw, plantain, banana etc at about 5o'clock in the evening, when you go back there about 7pm or 8pm, you will pick up snails suitable for rearing. Repeat the procedure until you get enough quantity.

Another way could be to pick up snail eggs littered in the market place where it is sold and through a technique, check the fertility of the eggs, because some of them must have lost fertility due to the exposure to sunlight.

The eggs are later put inside a container containing wet sand and covered with cocoyam leaf.

Between 21 to 28 days, the eggs would hatch into baby snails. You start feeding them and gradually you raise a snail farm."

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

PAGE 12

EDIT ORIAL EDITORIAL

JTF’s war without rules in Borno, Yobe Contd from Front Page suspects to long detentions without charges or trial or opportunities for legal representation and group punishments, among other massive human rights abuses and heinous crimes against humanity.

As has been its custom, the JTF in Borno state has been quick to deny the charges, and to dismiss the reports as being biased and lacking in credibility, citing, in particular, the fact that the witnesses quoted in them were not named. The Nigeria Police chipped in with its own condemnation of the reports, accusing especially Amnesty International of using, in its investigations and assessment, a methodology that is “unacceptable”.

Unacceptable to whom, we ask.

But condemnation of the JTF modus operandi also came from a most unlikely source. The Borno state government, about a fortnight ago, made public the report of a high powered committee it had set up to look into and assess the damages and massive destructions caused by the violent and merciless attack on and sacking of a whole ward, Gwange, in Maiduguri metropolis, by JTF operatives who were out on a mission to avenge the death of one of their officers killed by a roadside bomb they believed was planted by insurgents operating in the area.

The report, though clearly more tame in its language than both the Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International reports, nevertheless indicted the JTF operatives. It accused them of destroying the properties of innocent people worth N188 million and of burning and completely destroying 142 houses and shops, 21 vehicles and 14 tricycles. The report did not say how many lives were lost in the attack. There is hardly any doubt that the Borno state government was at pains to downplay the enormity of the consequences of the wild attack by the soldiers on Gwange ward.

After all, it is a known fact that the state government has been using large chunks of its federation account allocations to fund the activities of the JTF in the state and keep the commanders sweet. This is why the figures contained in the report fall far short of those given in the accounts of eye witnesses, victims and civil rights groups that have conducted independent investigations, all of which are agreed that the attack on the ward was coordinated and massive, that the soldiers went wild, that they set houses on fire, that they raided, looted and then burnt shops, that they shot and killed people indiscriminately and that the death toll must be anywhere in the hundreds.

While not denying the fact of the massive destruction of property and arson, the JTF, through its spokesman, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa, blamed everything on the insurgents, whom, he said, used explosives that contained “acid and highly inflammable substances that propagate blasts and thermal effects which set houses and shops around the vicinity on fire.” Further, the colonel said that there have been no established or recorded cases of extra judicial killings,

torture, arson, or arbitrary arrests by the JTF in Borno state. Nonsense! The colonel should tell this to the birds, and stop insulting our intelligence.

The Boko Haram is no doubt a murderous sect, whose violent campaign of bombings, killings and destruction cannot be justified on any grounds.

But its operational methods and the targets of its campaigns are now familiar to Nigerians. It targets mainly state agents and members of the armed and security forces. The sect has no history or means of, and certainly no motive for the kind of massive and senseless attack, killings, arson and destruction of the scale witnessed in Gwange ward. The JTF, on the contrary, has all three. It is part of the Nigerian armed forces which has a long history of violence. It has the means to do all that was done in Gwange and even worse. And it has the motive to avenge the death of one of their officers and a soldier killed in Gwange. And, as we all know, a vengeance mission of this nature by the our armed forces follows a well established tradition of unleashing an entire battalion on

“

Today in Maiduguri, shooting, killing, summary execution, arbitrary arrest and torture - of suspected insurgents and innocent residents alike - and massive destructions are the favourite pastime of the JTF operatives the town, ward or community - in or around where the officer is believed to have been killed with firm orders to attack, sack and /or destroy it and kill as many of its residents as possible. The cases of Zaki Biam and Odi are still fresh in our minds.

It is a real pity that the Nigerian media has not been giving us full and credible accounts of, and most Nigerians and the rest of the world are therefore largely in the dark, about the behaviour and atrocities of the JTF, in especially Borno and Yobe. And the weighty and vocal voices from those areas who should talk and protest are not doing so, or not doing so loud enough for the world to hear. But the JTF commanders and their superiors in Abuja would be deceiving to see this silence and lack of organised protests as consent and a licence for them to continue on their violent path. They should know that there are thousands of eyewitnesses to their atrocities, thousands of victims of their atrocities, and many individuals, groups and institutions that meticulously take and keep records of these atrocities.

Amnesty International in its report accused

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the soldiers of fuelling and aggravating the insurgency situation in the North-East through their massive rights violations, summary executions and insistence on a military solution to the problem. Last week, Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim, former governor of Yobe state and one should know, re-echoed Amnesty, blaming the growth of the Boko Haram sect and the escalation of its insurgency squarely on the armed forces and the police, which he pointedly accused of killing up to 5000 innocent people from the time of the sect’s major encounter with the security forces in 1999 to date. Neither Amnesty nor Senator Bukar is given to hyperbole.

In fact, 5000 may well be a conservative figure, especially when account is taken of the facts that the JTF in Borno and Yobe sees itself and acts as an occupation army in a conquered territory, and that, as reported in the media last year, the operatives have been given a license to kill by the Armed Forces high command. Today in Maiduguri, shooting, killing, summary execution, arbitrary arrest and torture – of suspected insurgents and innocent residents alike – and massive destructions are the favourite pastime of the JTF operatives. They go on raids almost daily, killing, arresting and detaining especially the youths. Between January and December, 2011, for instance, the JTF, according to official records of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, deposited 635 brought-indead bodies at the hospital. This number does not include other BID bodies deposited at other hospitals by the JTF. How many BID bodies were brought to the mortuaries of other hospitals in the town and Yobe, in 2010, 2011 and this year, only God and the JTF know. How many young men have been killed and their bodies left to rot between 1999 and now?

The JTF is waging a total, merciless war, a war without any rules of engagement and in which everyone and everything is a fair game.

And, through this war, it is escalating the crisis, hardening the resolve of the sect, pushing the local populations to the wall and making it much more difficult than it would otherwise be, to win the trust and get the cooperation of the people, without which the peacekeeping mission cannot succeed. It is becoming clearer by the day that our armed forces are, through their brutal conduct, peddling a self-fulfilling prophesy, deliberately and as a matter of policy fuelling the very insurgency and situation of instability that allow and make it necessary for them to continue with their peacekeeping missions. The mission has now become more of a business venture than peacekeeping.

The JTF must be called to order. In particular, the leading figures, elders and youths alike of the entire North, whose economy is paralysed and people are being senselessly killed, must wake up and mount loud and organised protests against the carnage being perpetrated in the name of peacekeeping in Borno and Yobe by the soldiers. Enough is enough.

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

By Danladi Ndayebo

G

overnor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu (CON), the powerful helmsman of the power state, and the Chief Servant of his people, is 57 today.

When, in May 2007, Dr Aliyu mounted the saddle, he promised in his inaugural address that he was going to be a courageous leader, more resolute than any we have seen before. He said, he would provide “courageous and quality leadership,” since the destiny of any people is inextricably tied to the quality of its leadership.

Five years on, no Nigerlite, I am sure, would dispute the fact that the Chief Servant has kept his word. As I said in my previous tributes to the man, there is hardly any leader of the state who has made as much efforts to change the face of the state’s politics and socioeconomy to the fullest like Governor Aliyu. Indeed, like i have always maintained, his first term of four years has come to represent a defining period of our state’s history.

For those who know Dr Aliyu, the successes recorded so far do not come as a surprise- the man came well-groomed for the job of

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Aliyu: Riding high at 57 transforming Niger State. Between November 12, 1955 when he was born in Minna and today (November 12, 2012) when he turns 57, Governor Aliyu’s life can best be described as a lesson in resilience, hard work, diligence and steadfastness.

The Talban Minna was born into a humble, even though culturally rich background and had to toil to survive from tending horses, packing the dung, going to Arabic /Islamic School and attending public schools from primary school level up to his degree education. Therefore, like William Shakespeare would say, Aliyu was not born great; rather he achieved greatness on his own As he celebrates his birthday, it is not just the interesting narrative of his 57 year sojourn on earth that should resonate. What should fascinate Nigerians is how wide exposure and educational sophistication has made Dr. Babangida Aliyu one of the most modern minded statesmen in the country, especially with his good

education in Nigeria and some of the best universities in the United States.

The Niger state governor has in the last five years shown that he has knowledge, capacity, wisdom, experience and proven fair-minded to preside over a multi-ethnic and multi-religious national community.

For his administration in Niger State, everybody resident here is a Nigerlite and enjoys every amenity or provision of the government without discrimination. The concept of state of origin does not exist.

Every school child in the primary school and students in the secondary school in the state enjoys free education without discrimination; every child up to the age of five, as well as all pregnant women and the aged are entitled to free and quality medicare without discrimination.

Also, in the last five years, the Chief Servant has stamped his seal of excellence in all the sectors of the

state’s economy. His chosen areas of priority, namely Education, Health, Agriculture, infrastructural development and social security have seen progressive achievements. His accomplishments have been attributed largely to prudent and judicious application of funds, visionary planning and consistency in policy implementation.

Dr Aliyu has introduced initiatives that are novel in the history of political leadership in Nigeria. An instant revelation is the Ward Development Projects which ensure that development reaches the grassroots.

The initiative which ensures that each of the 274 wards in the state receives N1m monthly is a huge success story. Under the initiative, each ward takes full responsibility for proposing to the state government development projects that the ward consultative forum feels deserves priority attention. The implementation of projects is carried out by the people,

who participate fully at all levels.

The Jama’a Forum, a meet-thepeople-tour, initiated and embarked upon by Governor Aliyu to meet and interact with the people one-on-one in their communities and villages has not only gained significant support but has served as instrument through which the governor relates directly with the common man.

The tour is aimed at getting to know the people, their areas of need and how to address their problems as well as giving the people an opportunity to interact freely with their governor on issues bordering them.

Dr. Aliyu, who thinks right and acts right is a man of today in Niger state but should be elevated to act right and think right for the entire country. Let his deeds of today be his judge for the future.

Here’s Happy Birthday to the Chief Servant of his people!

Danladi Ndayebo is the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State.

Who says Jonathan wants corruption out?

By Chinedu Ekeke

G

ive President Goodluck Jonathan hundred years to rule Nigeria, yet he will not successfully prosecute even one person in his much vaunted fight against corruption. In fact, as a rule, there’ll be a sort of liberalization of corruption under his watch.

The image of invincibility he creates about corruption helps him sustain his personal – but nauseatingly pedestrian – idea of corruption being a Nigerian thing that can never be tackled by anybody.

This isn’t one simplistic assumption. I can stake anything on this claim.

Jonathan is a creation of the corruption he tells people that he is fighting. In 2006, he was indicted for false declaration of assets by a Joint Task Force (JTF) on corruption that was set up by Obasanjo’s government.

That powerful panel was headed

by Nuhu Ribadu (yes, the same Ribadu you know) then as the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

I have always said that Nigeria cannot step out of where we are economically if we don’t wage a true war against corruption and impunity. The war I mean isn’t Jonathan’s committee’s setting approach.

The war I know is the type that’ll be led by the president himself.

It requires a certain depth of love for country by the head of the country’s government himself.

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any sign from Mr Jonathan that he loves Nigeria.

If he lays any claim to ’love for country’, then I can wager the reason: enough free oil money

to corner.

I don’t know of any administration in either pre or post-independence Nigeria that has been rocked by the weight of financial scandals under Mr Jonathan’s gleeful watch. He simply sets up a committee, and have aides arrange how to mock its outcome.

Last year, the legislature approved for Nigeria N240b for fuel subsidy, and then before the year ran out, Mr Jonathan’s government had already spent over a trillion naira on that without batting an eyelid. Then when it appeared their recklessness had thrust illiquidity upon their faces, they pushed the cost of the roguery of their friends onto Nigerians and titled it subsidy removal.

We vehemently refused that, and argued, as every average thinking person would, that the answer lied in prosecuting those who defrauded the Nation of trillions of its revenue, and recovering the funds from them. They pushed their way through. At a town-hall meeting to sell their untruths to Nigerians, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala even delved into the ridiculous when she alluded to the need for us to help them fish out those who sabotage the nation economically. Well, that comment ended up being one of the many jokes, albeit very unintelligent ones, that have been dropping out of her mouth since she joined this government.

The push of Nigerians for transparency in the management of their oil revenue led the responsive House of Representatives into setting up an adhoc committee that probed the management of the subsidy regime. Headed by

Farouk Lawan, the committee doubled-down on government’s complicity in the subsidy fraud, and even the roles played by key government agencies and parastatals in destroying the country they were set up to serve. But as the committee was at work, Femi Otedola, one of the three closest businessmen to the president (the other two are Aliko Dangote and Aig Aigboje Imoukhuede of Access Bank) was out to rubbish the report and render it useless. He set Farouk up and bribed him with some dollar bills. When it was time to use the ploy in the achievement of its original purpose, Femi Otedola proudly informed Nigerians that he gave bribe to a legislator. There was joy in Jonathan’s presidency. As you read these, Otedola is the president’s Man-Friday, walking freely on the streets and even attending some important state functions with him.

The Jonathan camp changed the narrative. Farouk Lawan’s report was now labeled as lacking in credibility. It was shocking. Nobody talked about why it should be implemented while the culprits in the bribery saga get prosecuted for such massive economic sabotage.

Don’t prosecute them since Femi was involved. Just rubbish Farouk and then kill the report.

And then came the Petroleum Revenue Task Force headed by Nuhu Ribadu. It was set up by this same government to look into the affairs of the oil industry from 2002 – 2012. The committee’s report has long been ready. It was formally presented to the president on Friday where another comedy, in the manner of Otedola’s, played out. Mr. Steve Oronsaye, Nigeria’s former Head of Service and Vice Chairman of the Task Force played the spoiler. He was part of the committee but was not attending deliberations until it was time to discuss recovery of funds owed by some companies. He attended the meeting and then scuttled the Task Force’s efforts to recover $1.5billion from Addax Petroleum.

Justifying his well calculated attempt to make nonsense of the report, Oronsaye claimed he was a believer in processes, and that the process that led to the compilation of the report was

“

And if the only issue Oronsaye has with the recommendations is the process in their compilation, and not the recommendations themselves, why did he declare them ‘unimplementable’? One would have thought that the real issue is whether the recommendations were outside what the Task Force members collectively agreed upon

flawed and so ‘unimplementable’. Oronsaye did not have the courage to tell Nigerians that he accepted appointment into the board of NNPC even while still serving as a member of the Task Force, and that such was a necessary condition to erode his objectivity on the matter. He did not have the decency to resign his membership of that Task Force when he took up the board membership appointment. That must be how ‘credible’ people act in the world of Oronsaye.

Which leads to the next question: Who put Oronsaye on the NNPC board while he was carrying out another task that entailed auditing the same NNPC? Was the Presidency not aware of the conflict of interest in that regard? Was Steve the only Nigerian qualified to be a board member of NNPC such that he would need to serve in the committee that probes the corporation a board member of which he is? Oronsaye must have been planted in that Task Force to discredit it.

And if the only issue Oronsaye has with the recommendations is the process in their compilation, and not the recommendations themselves, why did he declare them ‘unimplementable’? One would have thought that the real issue is whether the recommendations were outside what the Task Force members collectively agreed upon.

My understanding of how this administration of Goodluck Jonathan works tells me this was designed to ensure corruption in the oil industry remains blossoming.

Follow Chinedu Okeke @ekekeee on Twitter

PAGE 14

By Zayyad Muhammad

T

here is an interesting power struggle within the ruling PDP in Adamawa State. Two antagonist groups are involved- the Bamanga Tukur and Governor Murtala Nyako. Though the Atiku Abubakar group is also involved, the other two groups appear to be in the fore-front. The crisis in Adamawa PDP is simply about local politics. It has been there since the time former President Olusegun Obasanjo mandated Professor Jibril Aminu to seize the party structures from Atiku Abubakar and former Governor Boni Haruna. So, the genesis of the current crisis is embedded in the foundations on which the current PDP in Adamawa State was laid- the lack of fairness within the party and conflicting personal ambitions of its leaders.

What is currently fuelling the crisis is Governor Nyako’s clever usurping of most political positions and government contracts for his friends and family members. The Governor is said to be openly working hard to place his son, AbdulAziz in an advantaged position to succeed him as Governor. AbdulAziz recently undertook a tour of the state with the full protocol of a Governor. Opponents of Nyako said his son went to the extent of making promises of what the government would and would not do. Nyako is also accused of making an attempt to appoint one of his wives as the Chief Judge of state, while his other wife is rumored to be the highest paid medical consultant in the state.

On the other hand, Bamanga Tukur is also said to be highly

By Onah Iduh

I

have, like millions of fellow compatriots, has had what I prefer to call an overdose of death of dearly beloved ones. The first stab was in 1990 when Ejembi Matthew, my childhood friend, died when we were barely twenty. In 2003, Auntie Maria, who was very instrumental to my education passed on. In 2004, we lost Durosinmi Iroja, who trained a crop of us at Trust Newspapers. In 2005, Mandela, my second son, died in a sickness that lasted just a few hours. In 2011, Mrs. Zainab Kperoogi, with whom I was recruited by Trust in 1999, died in a fatal accident. And then, my mother’s death in the early hours of July 25, 2012. These are beside the six occasions between 2004 and 2011 when death decimated my in-laws by harvesting half a dozen of them – four of my brothers-in-law and their parents.

There are of course different but intensely searing dimensions to each of these permanently devastating loses most often too crushing to accurately capture in words. But the distinguishing aspect of the trauma relating to my mother’s passage is the pain deriving from a haunting feeling of presumptions such as: if I had known on time or if I had acted earlier and other such thoughts, she may not have died. Whenever this is openly articulated, there is always the conciliatory admonition that tags with the prevalent notion, it-isthe-will-of-God, a metaphor portraying prevailing fatalism in our society.

Despite whatever philosophical admonition, what is not in doubt is that the human mind is always bound to go through the stinging influence of death no matter how familiar it has become.

It is in the context of these emotional swings that I postponed my goodbye homage to my mother until such a time that I may have sufficiently weaned myself of such pains that is likely to impose on me undue sentiments that could evoke expressions which I categorise as

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

Between Bamanga and Gov Nyako interested in positioning one of his opposition led by former Governor with P.P. Pwa for the southern zone sons or a close confidant- Senator Boni Haruna stands to gain from this. will be a hard nut for the PDP to Silas Zwingina as Governor, come Consequently, come 2015, the crack. Though there is hint within 2015. However, Bamanga’s goal opposition may easily displace the political pundits that intellectuals will be impossible without a firm PDP. Even when the PDP presented a from Adamawa state are working control of the state’s party executive. united front during the February hard to present Hassan Tukur the The opportunity to seize the party 2012 governorship elections, the Personal Private Secretary to structure came when the state party could only narrowly defeat the President Goodluck Jonathan as chapter of the PDP conducted ACN with just 60,000 vote margin, PDP governorship candidate, primary elections for councillorship which the latter claimed was due to Hassan Tukur can easily win, but positions for the his likely local council’s platform, the PDP, e l e c t i o n s is in serious inw i t h o u t house power approval from struggle.

As the PDP earlier noted, the Peoples Daily welcomes your letters, opinion articles, text N a t i o n a l Atiku Abubakar messages and ‘pictures of yesteryears.’ All written headquarters. group is another contributions should be concise. Word limits: Letters - 150 The National group that can also words, Articles - 750 words. Please include your name and Headquarters, alter the political apparently with equation within a valid location. Letters to the Editor should be addressed instructions the PDP. to: from Bamanga, Whichever way subsequently the pendulum The Editor, voided the swings, this group Peoples Daily, 1st Floor Peace Plaza, elections and would try to take stopped the advantage of the 35 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja. primaries for situation to Email: let ters@peoplesdaily-online.com chairmanship establish a strong SMS: 07037756364 positions. Nyako, home support for desperate to keep A t i k u ’ s the party structures under his over-voting. And the current presidential ambition as well for the armpit, went on with the situation could even be worse for the group’s governorship hopefulchairmanship primaries-in his PDP if the merger talks between the Adamu Mua’azu Modibbo. sitting room.

ACN and the CPC materialize- and if The climax of the current fight From the way events are the opposition in Adamawa state is would be when a new state unfolding, Bamanga Tukur seems able to formulate a winning executive for the PDP is to be formed determined to use the same political arrangement.

For instance, – there would be serious horsemaneuver that brought Nyako to presenting Buba Marwa or Nuhu trading as each of the political power to flush him out of power. But Ribadu as governorship candidate bigwigs would attempt to grab the in the end; some political scenario is with a deputy from the Chamber most important positions. likely; Nyako still has control of the chiefdom and also presenting Boni As observed above, the current government, but if he eventually Haruna as senatorial candidate for fight between Nyako and Bamanga loses control of the party then the PDP the northern senatorial zone, Tukur is all about control of local would be sharply divided. The Marcus Gundiri for the central zone politics by four political bigwigs -

Bamanga Tukur, Governor Nyako, Atiku Abubakar and Jibril Aminu.

Interestingly each one of them was one time or the other a beneficiary or a victim of the PDP’s style of using ‘Abuja power’ to have one’s way. The fight would also have a serious effect on the PDP and would produce some casualties. For instance, If Governor Nyako insists on installing his son as his successor, but without having control of the PDP, there is likelihood he may leave the party to join another. But the biggest casualties would be the present MPs representing Adamawa State in the National Assembly, because most of them found their ways through their godfathers. Probably that is the reason they appear to be ‘seat warmers’ at both the green and red chambers. Already, the Senator representing Adamawa central has pitched his tent with the Bamanga Tukur camp, but the Nyako camp said it is not bothered, describing the Senator as a gold-digger. The Senator was once deputy to the former Governor Boni Haruna when Atiku was in control, then he jumped to Jibril Aminu’s camp, later to Nyako’s and now to Bamanga’s. One major implication of this in-house scuffle on the entire PDP structure is that in future, most PDP governors would strongly avoid having the national chairman from their state.

Especially when they recall that what Adamawa is experiencing now once occurred between Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State and the then PDP National Chairman, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo.

Zayyad I. Muhammad blogs at www.zayyaddp.blogspot.com

glamorised platitudes. I instead want to say a goodbye that will most symbolically reflect the distinguishing maternal burden and the communal worldview of her era, the deviation from which the very fabric of our society continue to dizzyingly sway.

For those of us who grew up in peasant rural environments, our window to the world depended mainly in the shared experience and vision of our mothers. For many of us therefore, there is usually that unflinching maternal affection and loyalty too sacred to appropriately illustrate. Apart from the fact that our mothers, more than our fathers, informally inducted us into the social, moral and philosophical spheres of our society, they also metaphorically ‘cooked’ or indoctrinated us to imbibe not just their worldview but also core universal values through folktales, folksongs and a variety of other sublime day-to-day shared experiences and existential challenges in that communal universe. All these coalesced to become potent tools for not only defining their children’s intellect and perspectives on a range of issues, it also more than anything served as the fuel for their children’s education which they rightly envisioned to be an antidote to the exceptional poverty of their generation. Perhaps the appreciable decrease in responsible maternal or parental care in our postmodernist era may be partly responsible for the falling standard of education and made possible under a scenario that is bereft of sound methodologies in a system that is incoherent and regressive.

Even though mothers of my mother’s generation and those before them never had a whiff of western education, they understood in a unique way the art of child upbringing, particularly daughters who necessarily need a more delicate and diligent rearing. With due

rather too late!

My mother, out of motherly concern, decided not to, in her words “bother” me when she initially became sick. According to her, she heard that I no longer had a job, a reference to the abrupt termination of my employment with the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) by its President, Abdulwaheed Omar, an action which is currently before a law court. Before then, she used to visit us to see her grandchildren since she claimed that we refused to bring them home. She used those occasional visits to have medical check-ups and treatment and on such occasions, I also conspired with Prof. Peter Obekpa, whose May Day Specialist Hospital serves my family, to prolong her stay and rest by having her appointments spread over months.

While it is the norm in most societies that it is preferable that parents are buried by their children, their death, particularly that of the mother, brings great psychological pangs for surviving children, more so if the parents were up and doing as my mother, who was about 65 years old. But subscribing to this doctrine does not vitiate the pain and mental exasperation either because of that sense of utter emptiness on the realisation of the finality of death, the fact that with death one will no longer have that rare opportunity of intense motherly affection which usually increases even as children grow into adults.

For me and my siblings, therefore, it was a great paradox burying our mother as it involves, on the one hand, severe pain and on the other hand, fulfilment in doing our best by first striving to rescue her from death and when it became inevitable, we tried our best efforts to give her a befitting burial.

Ona Iduh is a former information officer of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

WRITE TO US

Homage to Mrs Onyikwu Onah respects to many mothers of this globalised post-modernist period, most daughters reared by past generations were and are paragons of moral purity and strict discipline. Unfortunately, this trend became endangered with an unusual sexual revolution captured in the word, Alibanti, a somewhat meaningless Idoma word except for its expressive symbolism portraying and propagating the idea of “sexual freedom” or “free sex.” This revolution swept most Idoma youths off their feet by the attendant loose morals that suddenly became the norm leading to rampant teenage pregnancies or childbearing out of wedlock. While many attributed this to western influence or the liberalisation of education that opened classroom doors to thousands of female children, this argument may be difficult to sustain as the Alibanti phenomenon in Idomaland coincided with the harsh economic period of the 1980s and 1990s most notably with the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme by the military government of General Ibrahim Babangida.

What the above thesis is struggling to narrate is essentially that Idoma mothers of my mother’s generation and those before them were heroines in not only the imaginatively literary sense but women who were practically very determined, courageous and resilient. Their world was one that is tragic in many ways defined by not just the environmental rusticity but more by its sheer cultural rigidity which imposed on them grave burdens day in, day out.

It was, and still remains, a universe in which women are vulnerable in all ramifications. And this is apart from the often hopeless situation in which many mothers watch their children die from the most common diseases or folks despondently watch as expectant mothers and children die of diseases or conditions that they did not know can be easily diagnosed

and treated with the simplest of medications.

Unlike in this era of birth control, women of my mother’s generation endlessly go through labour pains year in, year out until they reach menopause or die in the course of childbirth. My mother went through the painful ritual of childbirth ten times. She is considered lucky because out of the ten children, nine of us survived her.

Not many were as lucky. As we grew up, we came to understand that beyond the natural, cultural and economic considerations, the logic of parents engaging in endless reproduction is also due to high infant mortality or the attendant uncertainty of survival of children due to a range of diseases. So parents, mothers especially, lived in perpetual fear such that they had restless nights at the slightest sign of sickness.

Unfortunately, in spite of the unimaginable advancement in science and technology, this sad situation is not only outliving my mother’s generation but has become rather complicated. Apart from the fact that many women are still being delivered of their babies through crude means which is responsible for the high maternal and infant mortalities in Nigeria, the health sector is in a general state of decadence rendering many hospitals as places where people go to embrace death. Apart from death resulting from the lack of health facilities and fake drugs, there has emerged a powerfully tragic dynamic in which thousands of people are dying from the malaise of misdiagnoses.

My mother’s condition was worsened as a result of misdiagnosis at a state government health facility in Benue. By the time I heard of her sickness and rushed home to bring her to a private hospital in Abuja where the correct diagnosis of her condition was made, it was

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

O

il is a fraudulent business wherever it is found in the world. For a country that was rated in the year 2000 as the most corrupt in the world, we should not expect Nigeria’s encounter with oil to be a different story.

In an earlier online publication captioned “Waiting for Nuhu Ribadu”, (www.ayakaonline.com), I tried to trace the history sleaze and incompetence in our oil sector since it was discovered in 1956.

The discovery came a bit little bit too early. Nigeria demonstrated a remarkable lack of interest and or knowledge of what to do with the great fortune. In the first fifteen years, Nigeria had no participatory interest in the business which was – very strangely - supervised by the Ministry for Lagos affairs from 1959 to 1963. The whole business was in the hands of Shell BP and government limited itself to collection of fees from exploration licenses and production leases as well as taxes/royalties on crude.

The International oil companies (IOC’s) operating in Nigeria at this time had so much leeway on what to do with our oil money that when the civil war broke out, they elected to pay royalties to the secessionists!

The wake-up call came with the promulgation of the Petroleum Decree of 1969. The new law stipulated that only Nigerians or companies registered in Nigeria would be granted exploration, prospecting and mining licenses.

By 1970, the nationalization policy led to the establishment of the Nigerian National Oil Company, NNOC. As progressive as this would seem at the time, it was soon discovered to be a half measure. A government committee set up by the Murtala government in 1975 described oil as a “wasting asset” because Nigeria was being gang

PAGE 15

Nuhu Ribadu’s verdict, at last raped by the international oil companies.

The committee recommended the reorganization of the NNOC as a result of which the military government of General Olusegun Obasanjo established the NNPC in 1977 under General Muhammadu Buhari as its first Chairman.

It did not take long before the NNPC proved itself to be hopelessly inept. Two years after it was set up, there were allegations of massive fraud involving the improper withdrawal of N2.8 billion, (about $4 billion then) from its accounts.

The then newly elected President, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, was forced into setting up a judicial tribunal of inquiry into the alleged hefty heist.

The panel found out that the N2.8 billion fraud allegation was baseless but it discovered that despite its wide ranging of powers, the NNPC’s oversight and regulatory functions in the industries were nonexistent because of the low capacity of its staff, sheer inaction and simply a proclivity of the corporation to break the law.

To its dismay, the panel discovered that: agreements with the IOCs expired without ratification and the IOCs themselves acted as if the NNPC never existed; NNPC’s accounting system was in unmitigated shambles as the Corporation never prepared and submitted audited accounts between 1977 and 1980; it was not possible to reconcile crude oil production and sales figures!

The panel recommended a restructuring of the organisation. President Shagari, was a man who counted his steps sacked the Corporations board and top management. But before he

could complete NNPC’s largest NNPC scams to enter public restructuring, he himself was given domain was uncovered. The NNPC marching orders by the military. Group Managing Director, Dr. The army brought General Buhari, Edmund Daukoru and five other the first chairman of NNPC, to take senior officials of the corporation over his office. were implicated and even charged The Buhari regime was in court for paying $41million for a preoccupied with fighting fraudulent strategic petroleum corruption and instilling public order storage infrastructure. Strangely, and discipline. Restructuring the Dr. Daukoru escaped justice only to NNPC was not emerge later as a on its agenda. It principal actor in was the the industry.

Babangida M o s t administration regrettably, even w h i c h with the return of overthrew democracy in 1999 Buhari that the story has not b r o u g h t changed. unprecedented In 2002, change in Engineer Hamman Emmanuel Yawe restructuring Tukur, Chairman of 08024565402 the NNPC into the Revenue five semiroyawe@yahoo.com Mobilisation and autonomous Fiscal Commission sectors. Each of these sections was raised six areas of theft at NNPC: headed by a coordinator who that NNPC was recording figures reported to the Corporation’s lower than OPEC quota for crude oil Managing Director. NNPC was sold; that sales of crude oil to NNPC commercialised and transformed was below the commercial rate; the into a holding company with twelve non-remittance of full revenue for subsidiary limited liability oil by NNPC; the mis-use of companies. The Minister of exchange rates for converting Petroleum for the first time was no foreign currencies in which the oil longer the Chairman of NNPC. This was being sold other than those was given to a private individual in determined by the market through an effort to minimize government the CBN controlled Inter-bank interference. It was President Foreign Exchange Market (IFEM); Babangida that opened the the use of crude oil price other than upstream sector to private the prevailing global market prices. indigenous companies, starting with The government simply the first public bidding in October ignored him.

1990.

In February 2004, President The government did a lot to Obasanjo inaugurated the Nigeria clarify functions in the oil industry Extractive Industries Transparency and ensure accountability. Initiative (NEITI) and mandated it Unfortunately, it could not halt the to promote transparency and massive theft there. Soon one of the accountability in the management

of Nigeria’s oil, gas and mining revenues. In 2010, Prof. Assisi Asobie, the Chairman of NEITI came to brief a meeting of Nigerian Editors I attended in Port Harcourt. The man was close to tears as he read out his litany of frustrations in his effort to bring sanity to the oil industry in Nigeria.

He told the editors that since its establishment, NEITI produced three different cycles of industry audits spanning the period 19992004, 2005 and 2006-2008 respectively. But it would appear the government that set up NEITI was no longer interested in its work. The audit reports were locked up in a government safe while the massive theft of Nigeria’s oil was going on at a scale that was simply unbelievable to him.

The strike early this year offered Nigerians another opportunity to take a look at the management of our oil money. The House of Representative set up a committee under Hon. Farouk Lawan to do that.

The President also set up the Nuhu Ribadu panel. Farouk, it is said did a painstaking job. Tragically, the author of that report embarked on a silly, juvenile and inexplicable adventure that has discredited it for good.

Now, is Nuhu Ribadu saying anything new? No. In fact it would have been great news if he had reported to the President that our oil sector is being managed by Holy Angels.

But we can see that the same government that set up the Ribadu panel is plotting to sabotage its work.

The same strategy was used to frustrate Dr. Hamman Tukur at RMFC and Prof Assisi Asobi at NEITI. What kind of country are we living in? Our leaders take so much delight in looting and plundering its resources.

levels of integrity accordingly.

Every step that has been taken by this administration in this regard has been in fulfillment of this well-stated principle. This includes the decision to completely deregulate the downstream sector, which has now resulted in the exposure of oily deals in that sector, with consequences for the indicted persons.

It also includes the launch of a concerted fight against crude oil theft and illegal payments of fuel subsidy. Zakari Mohammed of the House of Representatives talks absent-mindedly about “lack of political will” to fight corruption. He certainly doesn’t know what he is talking about.

A legislative position should not confer a right to mendacity. He should know, if he had been reading the newspapers, that on the basis of both the report of the House of Representatives and the Aig Aig-Imokhuede committee report on fuel subsidy payments, persons are currently being prosecuted in the law courts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The Federal Government has not done anything to stop or discourage the prosecution of indicted persons. We have made the point, again and again, that

in this on-going fight against corruption, there will be no “cover ups”; and no “sacred cows,” and that President Jonathan’s only interest is the people’s interest. This same President has demonstrated the political will to deal with corruption in the country’s electoral process, to both local and global acclaim. He has no reason to make compromises in other areas of national life.

Interestingly, many of those who are now talking ignorantly about “political will” are beneficiaries of this administration’s commitment to the rule of law and fairplay.

On the specific issue of the Petroleum Revenue Task Force report, the mischief-makers should go back to the statements made by President Jonathan, and subsequently by the Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, on the occasion of the presentation of the report.

The President’s position that the work of the Ribadu Committee, and of the two other committees that presented their reports on that occasion, the Idika Kalu committee on Refineries and the Dotun Sulaiman Committee on Governance is useful and enlightening has not changed.

Alison-Madueke has further echoed that position more than

twice. The three committees were set up as fact-finding and advisory bodies. That fact was further underscored by the President’s mature response to the altercation that the Ribadu Committee Report generated when he said that those who have issues to raise should be free to make their own independent submissions. This shows a determination to get every possible piece of information and to accommodate all concerns.

This shows a will to act.

President Jonathan has not dumped any input, rather he welcomes every possible input and he has no private interest in this matter. So for anyone to say that the Ribadu committee was “calculated to fail from the beginning”, is absolutely uncharitable.

Indeed, for the benefit of those playing politics and doing quick business with this matter, the truth is that President Jonathan is already taking steps to address some of the issues raised in the various reports.

When President Jonathan sets up committees to investigate particular issues, he does so, because he wants to address those issues. I had, before now, drawn attention to the fact that the President gave

clear directives on the state of the refineries and that at least one meeting had been held since the presentation of the Report on Refineries, to act specifically on the recommendations made.

President Jonathan has directed that he wants the refineries fixed and steps are already being taken; deadlines have been set. That didn’t make the headlines, rather, falsehood hugged the headlines, because these days it pays to fart all over the place, and attract attention.

To set the records straight, here is what happened. After the presentation of the reports by the three committees; the President directed the Minister of Petroleum Resources to take up the recommendations of the Kalu Idika Kalu committee on refineries. The committee recommended, in part, that the country’s refineries should be rehabilitated without any further delay. On November 8, the Minister and her team were at the Villa to brief the President about the state of the refineries, their current capacities, and steps that need to be taken to get them to function at optimum capacity.

Dr. Reuben Abati is Special Adviser to President Jonathan on Media and Publicity.

Jonathan and the Ribadu report (I)

By Reuben Abati

I

t is so unfortunate that there has been so much ignorant carping and malicious tittletattling about the report of the Petroleum Revenue Task Force chaired by Malam Nuhu Ribadu, both failings arising from a deliberate attempt to individualize what was actually group work, a mischievous attempt to politicize one report out of three, and to smuggle into an emergent grand web of conspiracy, elements of blackmail, mischief and outright opportunism.

I should like to dispel the putrefying stench of the fact that seems to have overtaken the subject by returning all of us to certain basics that have not changed since President Jonathan approved the setting up of committees to inquire into different aspects of the Petroleum Sector and particularly since the reports were presented and accepted.

The facts are as follows.

The committees in question and the probe into the Petroleum sector were initiated

by President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure transparency and accountability in the extractive industry; the goal was to transform the sector and raise

PAGE 16

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

FCTA plans10 new districts with modern infrastructure by 2015, says minister

By Adeola Tukuru

T

An accident scene along city gate, Airport road on Saturday.

Photo: Joe Oroye

Skye bank staff remanded in prison for criminal breach of trust, cheating

A

n Abuja Chief Magistrates Court has remanded one Popoola Peter, of Skye Bank PLC, Garki, Abuja, for joint act, criminal breach of trust and cheating.

Police Prosecutor Philip Akogwu told the court that on Oct. 24, 2012 Mr Chasee

Ogunleye and Mr M. David, both of Asokoro, Abuja, reported the case at the Asokoro Police Station.

Akogwu said the accused and another man now at large, jointly forged a land document of Plot No. 510, Lugbe New Extension, Abuja,

and sold it for N3 million to the complainants in August.He said that when the complainants went to verify the authenticity of the document, they discovered that it was forged.

Akogwu said that during investigations, it was

Group advocates payment of compensation to FCT original inhabitants

T

he Original Inhabitants Development Association of Abuja, a socio-cultural group, on Saturday in Abuja called on the Federal Government to urgently pay compensation to the "original inhabitants" of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The President of the Association, Pastor Danladi Jije made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), asserted that indigenes of Abuja were not recognised by the 1999 Constitution.

Jije urged the National Assembly to compel the Federal Government to comply with the

constitutional provisions which stipulates that government cannot take over any property without the payment of compensation. ``The 1999 Constitution provides that no property should ever be confiscated by government in any part of the country forcefully, until there is prompt payment. ``There must be a compensation that is done with a clear jurisdiction of a court or a tribunal that will adjudicate the taking over of this property.

"This was never implemented. ``The original inhabitants see their ancestral lands being

confiscated and sold exorbitantly without government compensating them," Jije further said.

The group also demanded for the creation of a state in the FCT and the establishment of the Original Inhabitants Development Commission to facilitate development of the indigenous communities.

He said that the original inhabitants of the FCT were disenfranchised and that they deserve more elected representatives in the National Assembly. (NAN)

Court remands man for attempted murder

A

n Abuja Chief Magistrates Court has remanded Christian Okoro, 34, of Flat 1 Block D, Plot 6B, Kukuaba, Kubwa Village, Abuja, for alleged attempted murder.

Police Prosecutor Auta Yusuf told the court that on Oct. 29, 2012 Mrs Chigozirim Okoro of the same address, reported the case to the office of the Assistant Inspector-

General of Police, Zone 7 Hq, Abuja.

Yusuf said that on Oct. 24 and Oct. 25,2012 the accused person beat the complainant “mercilessly”, using a kitchen knife and broken bottles.

Yusuf said that the accused also used other dangerous weapons on her, resulting in her being admitted in the hospital.

He said the offence contravened sections 228 and 396 of the Penal Code.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty.

Chief Magistrate Azubuike Okeagwu said that the offence was not bailable and ordered that the accused be remanded in prison.

He adjourned the case to Dec. 23, 2012 for hearing. (NAN)

discovered that the accused and his accomplice, “criminally forged the land document and defrauded the complainants”.

He said the offence contravened the provisions of Sections 79, 312, 322 and 364 of the Penal Code Law, but the accused pleaded not guilty.

Chief Magistrate, Mr Azubuike Okeagwu, refused to grant the accused bail and ordered that they should be remanded in prison custody.He adjourned the case to Dec. 6, 2012 for hearing. (NAN)

he FCT Administration has restated its commitment to open 10 new districts with modern basic infrastructure by 2015.

This is contained in a news release by Muhammad Sule, Chief Press Secretary to the FCT Minister, in Abuja.

The minister noted that the aggregate infrastructure development in the FCT since its inception, was not more than 25 per cent.

It said that the minister expressed regret that more than 90 per cent of allocated plots in the Phase I to Phase V of the federal capital city had yet to be developed by the allottees.

Consequently, he said the FCTA had adopted a “radical” approach for the provision of infrastructure and general development of the city.

“So we came up with the Land Swap Model which means the private sector will provide infrastructure in exchange for land.

“We will provide at least 10 new districts by 2015 as the FCT Administration will grant land in a Greenfield District to developers for real property development. ’’ It said that the minister emphasised that in exchange for the grant, the developer would be required to provide primary infrastructure without any financial, technical or demand risk on the part of the FCT Administration.

The statement added that the Land Swap Model would lead to an expansion of the city and eventually lower the cost of housing.

Court grants N2m bail to man accused of fraud

A

Gudu Upper Area Court in Abuja has admitted one Jammeel Jamal, 35, of Maitama, Abuja, accused of fraudulent activities, to a N2 million bail.

The judge, Mr. Adamu Wakili, asked the accused to present a reliable surety who is resident within the FCT and with a fixed address.

Jamal is accused of criminal breach of trust, cheating and issuance of dud cheque contrary to sections 312 and 322 of the Penal Code.

The police prosecutor, Mr. Patrick Obeta, told the court that on Sept. 20, one Tunde Orenuga, of Lugbe, Abuja, had drawn the attention of the Commissioner of Police in the FCT to the matter through a written petition.

He said the accused, a

Managing Director of Jeheta Ltd, Abuja, had deceived Orenuga into printing and supplying him goods worth N7.5million.

“You fraudulently deceived him to print and supply you with raffle tickets, t- shirts, face caps, polythene bags, stickers, billboard banners for the Nigeria 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup at the cost of N7.5 million.

“Having supplied the items to you on trust, you only gave him the sum of N1.5 million and converted the balance to your personal use.

“You also gave him a cheque of N500,000, and upon presenting it at the bank, it bounced,’’ the prosecutor said.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty.

The judge adjourned the case to Dec. 11,2012 for hearing.

(NAN)

PAGE 18

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

Constitutional review: AMAC chair tasks politicians, traditional leaders to work together

By Adeola Tukuru

T

he Chairman of Abuja municipal Area Council (AMAC), Hon. Micah Yohanna Jiba has called on all politicians, religious leaders and traditional rulers in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to avoid every differences in the past to fight for a common cause of the ongoing constitutional review; especially to the benefit of the original inhabitants Micah gave this charge over the weekend during the People's Public session of the 1999 constitutional review in AMAC/ Bwari federal constituency.

According to him, the FCT indigenes are equal to the task, and there is the need for everybody to work together as brothers and sisters and make their demands clear to the National assembly.

In his words: "since the government of Goodluck Jonathan has given this great opportunity for the constitutional review, it's an indication that this administration is people inclusive regime''.

He further noted that God is the creator of every state in Nigeria including the FCT, insisting that it deserve to be treated like other states as the constitution requires.

"If we love our neighbor as we love our self let us also support their progress" The Chairman further enjoined Nigerians to pray for the nation as well as the leadership of President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to steer the affairs of state, thereby judiciously implement the transformation agenda of the Federal Government.

He charged all residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) irrespective of our religious belief or political inclination to continue to live in peace and harmony with one another, thus promoting the unity of the country.

In his earlier remark, the chief of Jiwa , Alhaji Musa Iddris noted that FCT indigenes had supported other states in terms of issues that command urgent National attention, therefore, appealing to Nigerians both in the National assembly to throw their support in the demands of the FCT people.

Also the traditional ruler of Karshi chiefdom, Alh. Danladi Tanko who chaired the hearing advised National assembly to adhere strictly to the wishes of the FCT people to avoid unforeseen circumstances in the future.

"We are very close to this people and we know them, so we want to use this opportunity to call on the federal government to look at the constitution and follow it" he said.

Officials of Abuja Environment Protection Board (AEPB) clearing heaps of refuse at Lugbe village on Saturday.

Photo: Joe Oroye

AMLSN raise alarm over 60% of Laboratories in FCT not approved

By Adeola Tukuru

T

he Chairman, Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN), FCT chapter, Dr Cashmir Ifeanyi has raised an alarm that there is increase of clinical laboratories in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which are not regulated and approved, saying that these can pose a lot of health hazard to residents and also spell doom for the health sector

in the country.

Dr Ifeanyi in an interview with newsmen over the weekend frowned that presently most laboratories in Abuja do not meet the statutory requirements for establishment as stipulated by the law of the country.

“The situation here is a case of fragrant disregard to constituted authorities by many non-professionals in the health sector, who set up clinical laboratories in the

territory. They have refused to subject themselves to the law of the federal republic of Nigeria in the establishment of laboratories”, he said.

Dr. Ifeanyi noted that the implication of this is that the results Abuja residents get from most laboratory tests conducted in the territory are either questionable or not good enough.

He reminded the public that the enabling law empowers the Medical Laboratory Scientists

of Nigeria to regulate the training, practice also activities of laboratories in the country, warning that Abuja residence should be mindful of the type of clinics they visit for their laboratory tests.

The laboratory scientist also called on Nigerians to hold some government officials in the health ministry responsible for the proliferation of quackery in the establishment of clinical laboratories in the FCT.|

2 docked for impersonation, forgery

T

wo men, Samuel Amih, 40, and Onum Oneh, 45, were on Friday arraigned before an Abuja Upper Area Court for alleged criminal conspiracy, impersonation and forgery.

Police prosecutor Patrick Obetta told the court that the

accused, who were staff of the Nigerian Prisons Service, conspired and impersonated the Administration Officer of Suleja Prison on April 20, 2012.

“They forged the signature of one Olawale Peter (DSP, SA) and used it as genuine on the Nigerian Prisons Service letter

head with a view to using it to bail a suspect in EFCC custody in Abuja’’, Obetta said.

The prosecutor said that during investigation, it was discovered that there was no officer known as Olawale Peter (DSP, SA), but the accused pleaded not guilty to the

charges.

The Presiding Judge, Adamu Wakili, granted them bail in the sum of N300, 000 each, with a reliable surety who must be resident in an identifiable address in the FCT. He adjourned the matter to Dec. 4, 2012 for hearing.

7 arraigned for selling pre-registered SIM cards

S

even persons were on Friday arraigned before a Karu Chief Magistrates Court, Abuja, for allegedly selling pre-registered SIM cards and acting as agents of the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC).

The accused, of no fix address, are Tony James, Elijah Peace, Blessing Edwin, Agwu Joy, Adedeji Opeyemi, Inocha Everest and Henry Ogbonna.

Police prosecutor Abiola Ayewusi told the court that the accused were facing a twocount charge of criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust.

Ayewusi said Mr Owolabi Kolawole of NCC reported the matter at the State Criminal Investigative Department, Abuja, on Nov. 6, 2012.

“The accused were caught acting as agents that register

GSM SIM cards for network operators.

They were registering and selling GSM SIM cards to members of the public.

“They were caught preregistering multiple SIM cards and selling same to members of the public.

“During investigation and interrogation, they all admitted to have committed the alleged offences. They said it was lack of

job that pushed them into committing the offences,’’ he said.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges, and Chief Magistrate Ahmed Shuaibu granted them bail in the sum of N300, 000 each with reasonable sureties, who resides within the jurisdiction of the court.

Shuaibu adjourned the case to Dec. 12, 2012 for hearing and calling of witnesses. (NAN)

BUSINESS

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

Email: aminuimam@yahoo.co.uk

PAGE 19

INSIDE - Pg 21 1.18 billion shares traded on NSE

Mob: 08033644990

CBN releases revised guidelines for Power, Airline Fund

By Aminu Imam

T

he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said the refinancing of existing loans for captive power projects under its Power and Airline Intervention Fund (PAIF) for corporate entities that are not power companies will only be eligible, if the investments are not older than two years from

the date of the application.

The apex bank gave this directive in a circular titled: “N300 Billion Power and Airline Intervention Fund Revised Guidelines,” posted on its website on Thursday.

It, however, explained that such restriction would not be applicable to captive power projects implemented and managed by

power companies, even as it insisted that gas-to-power promoters must tender verifiable evidence of offtaker purchase agreements for their projects to be eligible.

The revised guideline stated that the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), by special approval of the CBN might be allowed to participate in the fund with respect to acquired

President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Goodie Ibru presents a souvenir to representative of Unity Bank’s chief executive, Yemi Adeyinka, while Lagos Regional Manager, Patricia Ahunanya, looks on during the bank's Special Day at the just-concluded Lagos International Trade Fair

NDIC pays N87.8bn to liquidated banks’ depositors

By Aminu Imam

T

he Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation of Nigeria (NDIC) has paid a cumulative insured deposit of N87.81 billion to depositors of various liquidated financial institutions as at August 31st.

Specifically, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the corporation, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, who spoke at the corporation’s special day at the Lagos International Trade Fair, in Lagos, on Friday, said NDIC paid a cumulative insured deposits of N6.68 billion to 49 deposit money banks (DMBs) in-liquidation as at August 31, 2012, as against N6.636 billion paid to 527,942 depositors as at December 31, 2011.

Besides, he said a cumulative liquidation dividend of N77.38 billion had been paid to depositors, whose claims were in excess of the insured amount in the 48 closed DMBs as at August 31, 2012, as against N73.5 billion paid in the same period last year.

Similarly, the corporation paid N2.45 billion to depositors of the 103 closed Microfinance Banks (MfBs) as at August 31, 2012 as against the sum of N2.25 billion that was paid to the insured depositors of the closed (MfBs) as at the end of December last year, while

shareholders of three of other banks have received N1.28 billion as liquidation dividend.

“A cumulative liquidation dividend payment to shareholders of Alpha Merchant Bank, Nigeria Merchant Bank and Pan African Bank (in-liquidation) stood at N373.04 million, N620 million and N293 million respectively during the period. This was in addition to the settlement of all the depositors and creditors of the three banks”, he said.

Ibrahim noted that despite the challenges in the nation’s financial market, NDIC has been able to settle depositors and creditors of liquidated institutions within the last eight months.

Ibrahim, who was represented

by Director of Asset Management Department of the NDIC, Olarewaju Sulaiman said that the corporation

has a crucial role to play towards the safety, soundness and stability of the financial system.

He said that the key mandate of the corporation is to provide financial guarantee to depositors of the insured financial institutions in event of failure with a view to enhancing public confidence in the nation’s banking system.

He reaffirmed the commitment of NDIC to its mandate, saying “the corporation has also contributed immensely to the various banking reforms that had been witnessed in the Nigerian banking sectors and the dynamics and the dynamics of the global financial market. We shall continue to organise capacity building programmes that will aid financial inclusion and literacy towards protecting depositors’ funds.”

projects of national economic importance.

In a bid to catalyse the financing of the real sector of the Nigerian economy, the CBN had, in accordance with Section 31 of the CBN Act 2007, approved the investment of the sum of N500 billion debenture stock issued by the Bank of Industry (BOI).

The sum of N200 billion was then set aside for the refinancing/ restructuring of Small and Medium Enterprises/ Manufacturing portfolios while N300 billion was set aside for power and airline projects.

The objectives of the fund includes to fast-track the development of electric power projects, especially in the identified industrial clusters in the country; fast-track the development of the aviation sector of the Nigerian economy by improving the terms of credit to airlines and serve as a credit enhancement instrument to improve the financial position of their Deposit.

It was also intended to improve power supply, generate employment, and enhance the living standard of the citizens through consistent power supply.

Dangote Cement wins 2012 Pearl Awards …declared as highest profit margin company

By Muhammad Nasir

D

angote Cement Plc has emerged winner of the prestigious Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) endorsed Pearl Award in three different categories in the 2012 edition.

Leading the pack of other brands, Dangote Cement was adjudged by the board of governors of the Pearl Award Nigeria as the winner Industrial goods Sectorial Leadership award, Building Materials category.

The Dangote brand was also declared as the winner of the Highest Profit Margin Ratio' award in the 'Market Excellence Category for companies quoted on the Stock Market.

The winning streak was capped with the overall highest award, having been nominated in all categories and winning more than any other brand.

The President of the Pearl award Board of Governors, Tayo Orekoya

Management Tip of the Day Manage a challenging (and valuable) employee

G

enius often comes with downsides. If you have a valuable (but disruptive) employee on your team, try these management tactics: · Understand the risks. Your job is to balance cohesion and creativity on your team. If the employee is negatively affecting the culture, weigh the costs of

keeping him around. · Don’t stifle people. The employee’s limitations may be the same source of her talents.

Take a “control freak” who wants to own a project completely. If you view this as him work style instead of a difficulty, and perhaps give him a separate project to run with, you can

The Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) serves as Technical Adviser to the Fund.

According to the guideline, any corporate entity, duly registered in Nigeria, involved in electricity power supply value- chain that includes power generation, transmission, distribution, gas-topower projects and associated services can access the fund.

It also said: “Eligible projects promoted by private or public sector sponsors (or a combination of both) but must be structured either as profit-oriented business or a public service, provided that contracted cash-flows or financing support exist to ensure repayment of principal and interest, as well as long term viability,” can access the fund.

Similarly, it stated that any airline duly incorporated under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) of 1990 and operating in Nigeria can participate in the fund. The facilities include long term loans (for new Power Projects), refinancing of existing loans (Power and Airline Projects), refinancing of existing leases (Power and Airline Projects), amongst others.

leverage this talent instead of squashing it. · Keep things moving. Give creative individuals enough independence to innovate, but then move the project forward with individuals who can act.

Source: Harvard Business Review

in a letter addressed to the Group Managing Director of Dangote Cement Plc, named Cement Company of Norther Nigeria Plc (CCNN) and Lafarge WAPCO Cement as runners up respectively in the sectoral leadership category.

Guarantee Trust Bank and Presco Plc emerged runners up in Highest Profit Margin Ratio category while NEM Insurance and Nestle Nigeria Plc were runners up in the overall highest award.

Orekoya stated that the award would be given out to the winners during an award nite scheduled to hold in Lagos on November 25.

He pointed out that the emergence of Dangote Cement Plc as the winner in the three categories was a great feat, and was in recognition of the company's outstanding operational and stock market performance in the 2011 year of assessment.

"The criteria for the awards, based on verifiable facts and figures are included in the accompanying Brochure", the organizers said.

Dangote Cement is Nigeria's leading cement producer with three plants in Nigeria and plans to expand in 13 other African countries. The Group is a fully integrated quarry-to-depot producer with an expected production capacity of 19mtpa in Nigeria by the end of 2012, increasing to as much as 35.25mtpa in 2015. The Group plans to build a further 19mtpa of production and import capacity across Africa by 2015.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

PAGE 20

COMPANY NEWS Sterling Bank

S

terling Bank Plc has expressed its commitment to assist Microfinance Banks (MfBs) access N220 billion Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Fund (MSMEDF), which would be launched by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) this week.

Managing Director, Sterling Bank Plc, Yemi Adeola disclosed this recently at the MfB Customer Forum organised by the bank in Lagos.

He said the fund sought to provide wholesale funding for MfBs and microfinance institutions for on-lending to micro and medium enterprises. The bank CEO listed other funding opportunities that the MfBs can key into to include the N5 billion small business development funds, $4 million renewable energy project, and another $200 million provided

by Ford Foundation to enable them increase their market penetration.

Oando Foundation

O

ando Foundation, an independently registered charity unit of Oando Plc, has awarded scholarships to 225 lessprivileged children nationwide as part of the activities to launch its Oando Scholar Programme.

The event, which was held at Civic Centre Lagos, is in line with its vision to transform lives in Nigerian communities through education and economic empowerment.

Beneficiaries were selected from Oando adopted primary schools throughout Nigeria, and the scheme will sponsor 10 outstanding primary six pupils from each of the schools, through secondary and tertiary education on annual basis.

Glo

G

lobacom has commenced the connection of residential estates in Lagos and other cities to its fixed line network, riding on the Glo Broadaccess infrastructure.

As part of this roll out drive, the company, in a statement, said it has successfully connected NICON Town, one of the newest residential estates along the Lekki-Epe Expressway, in Lagos.

According to Head of Glo Broadaccess, Mr. Karuna Menon, Globacom is delivering high quality voice service, data transmission, high speed Internet services and video streaming to the 433 plots in the residential estate.

S&P raises ratings on 3 Nigerian banks to ‘BB-’

By Aminu Imama

S

tandard & Poor’s Ratings agency on Friday raised its long-term counterparty credit ratings on First Bank of Nigeria Ltd. (FBN), Zenith Bank Plc (Zenith), and Guaranty Trust Bank PLC (GTB) to ‘BB-’ from ‘B+’.

The stable outlook on FBN reflects the stable economic environment and that the bank’s business and financial profiles will remain relatively unchanged over the next 12 months. S & P said it expects FBN to retain its strong market position as Nigerian banking sector leader, with relatively stable revenues and moderate geographic diversification.

The bank’s capitalisation should remain in the 5%-6% range under Standard & Poor’s risk-adjusted capital (RAC) methodology, but there could be downward ratings pressure if loans grow faster than currently anticipated.

In its view, positive economic prospects should keep asset quality and loss experience at



currently good levels, although a focus on lending to midsize companies may pressure this in the next 12-18 months.

The stable outlook on GTB, it said, reflects the stable economic environment and it views that the bank’s business and financial profiles will remain relatively unchanged over the next 12 months. In its view, the positive economic

and liquidity profile”, it further stated.

The stable outlook on Zenith, according to S & P, reflects that on the sovereign and our view that the bank’s business and financial profile will remain relatively unchanged over the next 12 months. S & P anticipate that the positive economic prospects in Nigeria will support Zenith’s financial performance.

Diamond Bank’s rebranding attracts N27.2 bn long-term investment From Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos

D

iamond Bank Plc has revealed that the rebranding exercise embarked upon by the financial institution has attracted an investment of $170 million (N27.2 bn) for both Tier-II convertible equity and long term investment.

The Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Bank Plc, Dr. Alex Otti, while speaking at a press briefing to officially unveil the bank’s new

As at:

Economic Indicators

M2* CPS* INF IBR MPR 91‐day NTB DPR PLR Bonny Light Ext Res

prospects in Nigeria will further support GTB’s business relationships and earning capacity”, the agency stated.

The agency anticipates that GTB’s capitalisation will increase slightly over the next 12-18 months, owing to a strong earning capacity that comes from high margins and low cost of risk. “We also assume that GTB will maintain its stable funding

N14,040,713.7m N14,928,461.1m 11.3 12.0700 12 12.75 8.79 16.37 US$112.0 US$42,796,949,330.6

Sep, 2012 Sep, 2012 Sep, 2012 11/8/2012 11/7/2012 11/7/2012 Sep, 2012 Sep, 2012 11/7/2012 11/8/2012

Inflation rates from Oct, 2011 to Sep, 2012 Max = 12.9, Min = 10.3 for period in display.

Current Inflation rate = 11.3 Source:CBN

identity in Lagos, on Wednesday, explained that the International Finance Corporation invested $70 million as Tier-II convertible equity into the bank, after which the bank received another $100 million from a British bank for a long term investment.

Otti, who expressed optimism that its rebranding exercise would help to facilitate its goal of becoming one of the leading bank in the country in the next few years also disclosed that the bank has concluded plans to increase its branch network to 300 within the next one -year to enhance customer delivery services.

He pointed out that the new identity would add momentum to the bank’s tradgetory, in terms of performance, as well as position it to become a more active player in the Nigerian Banking industry, adding that this would also consolidate its current market leadership position in the retail banking.

According to him, as the banking industry becomes more viable and competitive, the bank is determined to leverage on over 20 years of stability and experience; coupled with innovation and good corporate governance, to aim for the lead position in the nation’s banking industry.

He added that the new visual identity also re-affirms its commitment to delivering

Earnings Report for Banks Source:Pro-share Nigeria

improved profitability and growth for all stakeholders as well as providing its customers with innovative products and services to meet their banking needs.

“We have taken a large scale overhaul of our visual identity, comprising of our logo, name and brand colour, the most important remains the renewed spirit behind our customer delivery.

“We have chosen to embark upon this brand upon this brand refresh in order to facilitate our goal of being one of the leading bank in the country. Our new identity will also consolidate our current market leadership in the retail banking state”, he added.

NCRIB, NAICOM advocate for unity among operators From Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos he Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) and the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) have advocated for unity among insurance operators in order to move the industry forward.

The president of both bodies reiterated this during the commissioning of the ultramodern insurance brokers house in Yaba.

The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Fola Daniel, while congratulating NCRIB for successful completion of its secretariat urged operators to continue to work together to sustain the development which has been entrenched by the founding fathers of the industry.

In the past, virtually all the associations in the insurance industry have failed to speak with one voice, as they are always at loggerhead on key policy issues. The industry is blessed with bodies like, the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), NCRIB, among other insurance associations.

For the industry to be highly respected, the commissioner called on these bodies to speak and act as one. Daniel however disclosed that the commission will ensure that the industry continues to maximise the available insurable opportunities in the country.

T

PAGE 21

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

1.18 billion shares traded on NSE Stories from Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos

T

ransaction on the floor of the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) last week remained on the downward trend the market recorded a turnover of 1.189 billion units of shares valued at N11.491 billion exchanged hands in 22,277 deals compared to 1.512 billion shares valued at N12.950 billion that was traded the previous week in 23,039 deals.

The Financial Services sector continued its vibrant dominance in the activity chart (measured by turnover volume) recording the highest trading volume of 835.158 million units of shares valued at N6.380 billion traded in 13,326 deals, representing 70.00 per cent, 55.52 per cent and 60.00 per cent, of the volume, value and number of deals executed on the stock

market respectively during the week.

The Consumer Goods sector followed, with a recorded volume of 178.863 million shares valued at N3.651 billion traded in 4,204 deals. The top two sectors accounted for 1.014 billion shares valued at N10.031 billion traded in 17,530 deals, thus accounting for 85.00 per cent, 87.29 per cent and 79.00 per cent of the volume, value and number of deals respectively.

Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc of the Food Products subsector was the most active with a volume of 120.168 million units followed by Zenith Bank Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc. The top three equities with a total volume of 324.977 million units of shares contributed 27.00% and 25.79% respectively to the total turnover and value for the week.

Analysis of the trading

activity showed that traded during the week were 256 units of NewGold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), valued at N669,100 exchanged hands in 5 deals in contrast to a total of 7,700 units valued at N20.007 million transacted last week in 5 deals.

There were no transactions in the Federal Government Development Stocks, State/ Local Government Bonds, and Corporate Bonds/Debentures sectors.

The NSE All-Share Index (ASI), which opened the week at 26,559.55 closed at 26,718.30 thereby appreciating 158.75 points or 0.60 per cent. The market capitalization of the listed equities increased by N50.588 billion or 0.60 per cent to close at N8.514 trillion.

Three of the sectoral indices appreciated while three also depreciated. The Bloomberg NSE 30, Bloomberg NSE

Consumer Goods and Bloomberg NSE Oil/Gas Indices rose by 0.56 per cent (+36.25 YTD), 0.54 per cent (+286.82 YTD) and 0.53 per cent (-28.76 per cent YTD) respectively, while Bloomberg NSE Banking, Bloomberg NSE Insurance and NSE Lotus II Indices depreciated by 0.28 per cent (+54.70 per cent YTD), 0.57 per cent (-7.16 per cent YTD) and 1.12 per cent (+34.12 per cent YTD) respectively.

Further review indicated that thirty (30) equities gained while thirty-nine (39) equities recorded price declines and prices of one hundred and twenty nine (129) equities remained constant. When compared with the preceding week, twenty-one (21) equities gained while fiftytwo (52) equities recorded price declines and prices of one hundred and twenty five (125) equities remained constant.

Lafarge Cement WAPCO posts N16.2 bn profit in Q3

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afarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria Plc has declared profit before tax of N16.2 billion for the third quarter (Q3) ended September 30, 2012, up by 90 % when compared to N8.5 billion recorded within same period last year Revenue also increased by 57 % to N69.8 billion, compared with N44.5 billion in 2011, while 116 % growth was attained operating income as against N20.1billion in 2011 Within the period under review, 54 % growth was recorded in basic earnings per share to 361k compared to 234k in last year.

Commenting on the result, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company, Joe Hudson, said: “Outlook for the rest of the year remains positive as we continue to leverage on improvements and cost efficiency initiatives deployed during the year.

“We are leading the required differentiation in the Nigerian cement market and will continue to deliver value to our customers and stakeholders through our innovative products and services.

“Our ReadyMix business has become a preferred solution in the concrete sector in Nigeria.

We are expanding with three new plants across the nation”.

Lafarge Powermax is an innovative 42.5AL high quality performance cement that is used for large construction projects like

bridges, high rise structures, slabs and beams, spun pipes, garden paths and driveways, among others.

In his remarks, the Finance Director, Fred Amobi, stated: “the operating income remains strong.

Our internal process improvement initiatives have continued to yield positive results

as reflected in the operating income. However, the heavy rains have had the usual adverse effect on volumes during Quarter three”.

With its three plants in Ewekoro and Sagamu in Ogun state, Lafarge WAPCO is the manufacturer of Elephant Supaset, Lafarge PowerMax and Elephant Cement.

Stanbic IBTC completes adoption of holding company structure

S

tanbic IBTC Bank Plc said it has officially adopted a holding company structure, following final approvals by regulatory authorities.

The bank, in a press statement made available to the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE), stated that the holding company (HoldCo) structure is in compliance with the revised regulatory framework by the Central Bank of Nigeria which requires banks to divest from noncore banking businesses or adopt a HoldCo structure.

Under the new structure, the operating subsidiaries of Stanbic

IBTC Holdings PLC are Stanbic IBTC Bank (including Stanbic Nominees Nigeria Limited), Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited, Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited, Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers Limited, Stanbic IBTC Trustees Limited, Stanbic IBTC Ventures Limited, Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited and Stanbic IBTC Investments Limited.

Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited and Stanbic IBTC Investments Limited are newly incorporated companies.

Subsequently, the shares of Stanbic IBTC Bank are on full

suspension. The process of delisting the bank from the trading list of the Nigerian Stock Exchange and listing Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC has commenced. The entire process should be completed in about two weeks.

In line with the provisions of the scheme document approved by shareholders the excess capital from the bank’s share cancellation will be returned to shareholders as cash. The bank intends to pay shareholders for the cancelled shares within 21 working days from 08 November 2012.

Source:Pro-share Nigeria

INVESTORS NEWS BITS

Julius Berger

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eading construction company, Julius Berger has reported 3Q earnings of N137 billion, representing a 5.6% increase from the N130 billion it made over the same period last year.

Profit before tax arrived at N7.5 billion, up 11% from the N6.8 billion it made over the same period last year.

Net income was N3.79 billion, up 38% from the N2.73 billion it made over the same period last year.

The company increased its investments in plant, property and eqipment by 5.6% over the period. Fixed assets are now valued at N58.32 billion. Earnings per share for 3Q, 2012 was N3.15, up 38% from N2.28.

Tantalizers

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uick Service Restaurant chain, Tantalizers has declared a loss of N243 million after nine months of trading in the present financial year.

Sales for the company over the nine month period were N3.17 billion, down 7.3% from the N3.42 billion it made over the same period last year.

Production costs saw a marginal increase of 1.1% to N1.79 billion reflecting increase in the economic cots of the factors of production such as petrol.

Profit before tax fell to N201 million, a 577% decline as opposed to the N42.1 million it made over 3Q, 2011.

Oyo

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he Oyo state government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a United Kingdom-based milk producing company, Kama Milk Industry for the processing and production of soya milk.

When it eventually comes on stream, the company, whose establishment will cost $25 million (N4 billion), will be producing about 750,000 metric tons of soya milk per annum, aside the provision of about 100,000 jobs for the people of the state.

Governor Abiola Ajimobi, who presided over the signing ceremony at the Governor’s Office, Ibadan on Wednesday, said that the development was the product of his many foreign trips which were aimed at improving the economy of the state and enhancing the living standard of the people.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

PAGE 22

Shaky finances rattle Nigeria’s airline safety

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assengers arriving at Murtala Mohammed airport in Lagos could be forgiven for thinking they had stumbled into a refugee camp.

In a big white tent a throng of people struggle with luggage in the sapping heat and humidity.

In front of makeshift service counters they form something that might be a queue but looks more like a scrum.

The only clue that this is one of the most important domestic air terminals serving Africa's second-biggest economy and top oil producer is that many wear business suits. Terminal Two, where Arik Air has operated out of a tent for a year while repair work goes on, is not the only evidence that Nigerian aviation is in chaos.

In the last four months, Nigeria has seen a plane crash kill 163 people, the collapse of one of its main international airlines and a central bank order banning lenders from giving its main carriers more cash until they repay burgeoning debts.

Documents obtained by Reuters from now defunct Air Nigeria suggest financial mismanagement was largely to blame for its collapse last month, though its owner Jimoh Ibrahim disagrees.

Insiders say other airlines are also in dire financial straits, which could soon have grave consequences for air safety in a country that already has one of the world's worst records.

An investigation into the causes has yet to be completed, though a preliminary report blamed dual engine failure. For some it simply added to the litany of misery in a country already reeling from Islamist insurgency in the north, massive oil theft and multibillion-dollar corruption scandals.

Nigeria's government has long cherished ambitions of making Lagos a regional transport hub. When British billionaire Richard Branson set up domestic and international carrier Virgin Nigeria in 2000, that dream seemed within reach.

Branson pulled out in 2010 in frustration at what he said was interference by corrupt politicians and regulators.

Yet the economics that lured Virgin to Nigeria still look promising on paper; it has Africa's biggest population, economic growth of around 7 percent year after year, a growing middle class and a small but hugely wealthy elite.

Lagos, the commercial hub, is about 330 miles (530 kilometres) from the political capital Abuja, and both are hundreds of miles from oilproducing regions in the southeast. Roads connecting them are poor. Many Nigerians, as well as foreign oil workers, bankers and other business people have little choice but to fly.

Even with two major airlines suspended in the past four months, nearly 200 domestic flights a day cross Nigeria's skies.

International carriers such as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are making huge profits out of Nigeria.

Yet two years after Branson's exit, the airline he created, rebranded Air Nigeria, closed last month. Ibrahim told Reuters he shut it down because of "unreliable staff".

But former finance director, John Nnorom says the company collapsed under about N35 billion of debt and could not even pay its staff. He thinks such financial woes are widespread and a real danger to air safety.

"The aircraft we have in Nigeria are flying coffins," he told Reuters. "Many are too old.

The ones that aren't are often poorly maintained," he continued, adding that he had tried to petition the aviation ministry after quitting Air Nigeria.

"I told them, if nothing is done ... there will be a plane crash imminently. Days after my mail, Dana's plane crashed."

John Obi, a spokesman for Aviation Minister Stella Oduah, admitted the Dana crash was a "wake-up call" but said safety standards now were more stringent than ever.

A CBN document shows Nigeria's only other two major domestic carriers are deep in the red. The biggest, Arik, owes 85 billion naira to state-backed "bad bank" AMCON, set up in 2010 to stem a financial crisis.

The other, Aero Contractors, owes AMCON 32.5 billion naira.

Arik's director did not respond to a request to speak to Reuters, and other officials were not available to comment.

All three airlines have one thing in common: ownership by powerful oligarchs, usually with core interests in other things.

Ibrahim's Nicon investments is in everything from oil to hotels to insurance. Arik owner Johnson Arumemi-Ikhide has lucrative interests in oil and

Murtala Mohammed airport in Lagos engineering. The super-rich Ibru family own not Aero Contractors but also banks, deluxe hotels and newspapers.

Nnorom accuses Ibrahim of running Air Nigeria like a personal slush fund, even diverting Air Nigeria's share of a 35 billion naira central bank emergency fund set up in 2010.

Ibrahim denies this. He told Reuters Nnorom was a disgruntled employee whom he sacked for embezzling $100,000. Nnorom said it was a spurious, politically motivated accusation and the charges had been dropped.

Nnorom showed Reuters a Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) letter explaining its decision to suspend Air Nigeria in June.

The letter quotes a senior employee as saying "we owe virtually all outstation hotel bills, fuel money, handling charges, facility bills. We do not pay ... for fuel even at the hub here in Lagos. We never depart on time due to finance".

It adds that the company struggles to pay night-stop allowances to staff and that key

“

Even with two major airlines suspended in the past four months, nearly 200 domestic flights a day cross Nigeria's skies.

"service providers are withdrawing their services because we are not paying".

"We sent aircraft for checks, but they came back due (to lack of) funds," the staff member adds.

The authority concludes that such evidence plus Air Nigeria's "cash-and-carry mode of refuelling your aircraft were considered by the Authority as indicative of a situation of dire financial distress, which endangers safe operation".

Ibrahim denies Air Nigeria's debt was his fault. He says it had $370 million of debt when he took it off Virgin and that there had been no impact on safety.

He told Reuters he suspected the civil aviation authority suspension was political.

Nnorom thinks airlines routinely lack money to pay for spare parts, maintenance, hangars or handling agents. Air Nigeria had 11 aircraft, 10 of which should not have been flying, he said.

"We could not afford repairs or the changing of engines."

A letter dated September 2010 sent by Air Nigeria to the Managing Director of United Bank for Africa (UBA) in Lagos, provided by Nnorum, shows a request to transfer $27 million from the airline's account into the accounts of companies owned by Ibrahim's NICON Group in Nigeria and Ghana.

Nnorom listed another N6 billion worth of transfers he had recorded going from Air Nigeria into NICON in 2010 and 2011.

"He was taking money out of a company of which he owns only 50 percent and spending it like it was his money," Nnorom said.

When shown the transfers, Ibrahim told Reuters it was above board and he only made them to NICON to pay it back capital it had sunk into Air Nigeria, on which it had made a huge loss.

Analysts say Nigeria's poorly

Source: Reuters run airlines reveal a failure by the private sector to make something of deregulation.

"The systematic failure of Nigerian carriers to generate money in a conventional way, as successful companies, highlights something: airlines there have always been treated as a kind of vanity project," said Antony Goldman, head of PM Consulting.

"The companies operating international flights to Nigeria on a commercial basis ... are making huge amounts of money."

Aviation minister Oduah has also been criticised for her handling of the sector's various crises.

Carriers like Ibrahim say her inexperience in the sector - she was in the haulage industry before President Goodluck Jonathan hired her - has led her to focus on the wrong things, like a slow, state-run renovation of the airport, instead of improving finance and tightening up safety standards.

Two months after the Dana crash, she led a delegation to the United States, China and Canada on a "road show" to drum up foreign investment into aviation. Critics called it insensitive and a waste of money. Some officials refused to join her.

Oduah's spokesman John Obi said critics were wrong to blame the sector's woes, especially safety, on her lack of experience.

"When we had those with more technical experience, we had more crashes, so that argument doesn't hold any water," he said.

He added that she was working with the central bank to try to extend cheap finance to the capital-intensive industry and import tax waivers that would help ease the airlines' distress.

If, as industry officials say, the clock is ticking to the next disaster, she has no time to lose.

(Reuters)

PAGE 26

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012 08028402920 sbejike@gmail.com

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

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riends, relations and well wishers of Justice Ifeoma Jombo-Ofo were on November 5, 2012 embarrassed and surprised when the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and the chairman of the Nigerian Judicial Council (NJC), Justice Mariam Alloma Mukhtar quietly dropped her name from the list of Justices to be appointed as Justice of the Court of Appeal.

There was a mild drama at the swearing in ceremony which held at the Supreme Court complex in Abuja as Justice Ifeoma Jombo-Ofo was quietly asked to vacate the seat she was sitting among the other Justices that were to be sworn in on that day. Confused Justice JomboOfo excused herself from there and watched as her colleagues were administered oath of office by the CJN. It was later gathered that the removal of the lady Justice's name followed a controversial petition against her on the grounds that the state she represents is not her state of origin.

A list of twelve Justices was initially released by the apex court for the swearing ceremony but the inclusion of Justice Ifeoma Jombo-Ofo, who was appointed a High Court judge on November 4, 1998 following her call to Bar in 1979, as representing Abia state where she had served for many years after her marriage to Mr. Jombo- Ofo, an indigene of the state, drew the ire of some indigenes of the state.

Information gathered from the apex court indicates that a petition was forwarded to the CJN and the Chairman of the NJC, alleging that Justice Jombo-Ofo did not disclose the truth of her state of origin. She is originally from Anambra state before her marriage and subsequently transferred her service from her home state to her husband's state of Abia.

Those behind the petition were reported to have mounted intense pressure and arm twisting techniques to foil her elevation to the appellate court.

Not even a spirited effort by Abia state governor, Theodore Orji, could save the day for Justice Jumbo-Ofo. It was gathered that the governor had written a letter to the CJN before the date of the swearingin ceremony, where-in he confirmed the indegenship of Justice Jumbo-Ofo who had served in the Abia state Judiciary for over 14 years and also affirmed that her name was indeed sent by the state government as one of the state's candidates for elevation to the appellate court.

Governor Orji urged the CJN to disregard any spurious petition or allegation against her indegenship and swear her in. As if retired Justice Olufunlola Adekeye knew that there was going to be a discrimination against a female Judge when she implored the CJN, Chief Judges of the states, the Judicial Service

Justice Ifeoma Jombo-Ofo’s hurdles to Appeal Court

Senate President David Mark Commission and the NJC to review the policy that married women cannot reach the peak of their career in their husband's state of origin.

Retired Justice Adekeye was speaking during a valedictory court session held in her honour as she bowed out of the Supreme Court, a week before the Justices of the Court of Appeal were sworn-in. Adekeye noted that complaints of this nature are becoming increasingly rampart within the judiciary and stated that most women transfer their services to the state of origin of their husbands immediately after their marriage which, according to her, is logical and in compliance with the tenets of marriage that the two spouses shall become one. The n ow retired jurist regretted that whenever there is vacancy at the top in the husband's state of origin, the woman will be denied the post and there and then referred to her own state of origin, after climbing the ladder and putting so many years into the service. An indigene of the state will nominated to fill the vacant position.

She further observed that the woman would have hurdles to cross in her own state of origin as she did not work there and the authorities in her state of origin will not be in a position to assess her suitability for the post properly.

In the words of retired Justice Adekeye: "It is my view that during the existence of her marriage, the name of her husband must qualify and make her eligible to reach the peak of her career in her husband's state.

I think it is unconstitutional as well as discriminatory to deprive her of her promotion in her acquired state as a citizen of

Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar Nigeria, by virtue of Section 42 of 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria".

Observers were worried with the action of the CJN, who failed to immediately give reasons for her action, more so that the position she is occupying as the CJN is a public office and her salary is being paid from tax payers' money.

It was however gathered from privileged sources within the top hierarchy of the judiciary that Justice Ifeoma Jombo-Ofo, in an application form for elevation to the intermediate court she filled four years ago when Abia State had no vacant slot, filled her state of origin, Anambra State which had vacant slot then.

Though from Anambra State, she was to have picked the available slot, despite having changed her state of origin in her service documents to Abia State when she got married to an indigene of the State. She reportedly lost the Anambra slot to another candidate. While applying for the same elevation this year, she reportedly filled Abia as her state of origin because it was Abia that now had a vacant slot, while Anambra State did not have an opening.

Following the discovery of the mix-up in the state of origin column for her in the two applications, the CJN reportedly summoned her to her office and asked whether she filled the two application forms by herself.

She was said to have confirmed filling the two forms with different states of origin.

Justice Jombo-Ofo was said to have read the handwriting of the CJN on the wall over the issue and thus, the intervention of the Abia State governor, which could not salvage the situation.

Since the refusal to swear her in along with other judges by the

CJN, there has been pressure from all quarters on the CJN to pardon and reconsider JomboOfo. It was gathered that the presidency and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) have kicked off investigations into the refusal of the CJN to swear in JomboOfo as an Appeal Court Judge.

President of the NBA, Mr Okey Wali, confirmed the Bar's investigation during a courtesy visit to the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark after the incident and promised that the Bar would make its position known after its meeting with the CJN. Mark, at the meeting, said that the Senate would insist on the swearing-in of the judge, adding that the development amounts to a threat to the institution of marriage.

Source close to the CJN said: "Justice Mukhtar has nothing personal against Justice JomboOfo. It is unfortunate that people never thought it wise to seek the truth of what happened but rather went ahead to rely on media reports to castigate and vilify the CJN without getting the true facts of the matter.

"When these inconsistencies were discovered by the CJN, she confronted Justice Jombo-Ofo with the facts and when she had no defence, the CJN then decided to defer her swearing-in.

He maintained that, "if the CJN were to be vindictive, the woman may have to face disciplinary measures as this borders on the integrity of a judicial officer, but like a mother she wants to ensure that justice is done to all parties concerned.

Meanwhile, the Senate has urged the CJN to swear in Justice Ifeoma Jombo-Ofo as a Justice of the Court of Appeal.

The Senate resolution followed a

motion sponsored by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu and supported by all the Senators.

Ekweremadu observed that, "there is no record of any objection to her appointment by her husband, Abia State Government or Abia State Judiciary". He said the practical implication of the decision of the Justice Alloma Mukhtar is that Nigerian women have lost all they struggled for over the years adding that: "Once a woman is married outside her community, local government area or State, she cannot aspire to any position (appointive or elective) in her husband's community, local government area or state, while it is very unlikely that she will secure such position in her place of origin since she has been married out.

"This scenario put Nigerian women in very hopeless situation and most importantly contravenes S.42 (1) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended)", he added. The Senate President, David Mark, pointed out that the refusal smacks of threat to the sanctity of marriage for professional women. Mark said: "I think the judiciary will be crying louder than the bereaved because Abia state is not complaining. The governor was there, so why should anybody come and say she is taking Abia slot because that is what it means in effect if she was not sworn in.

We should do whatever we can to ensure that she is sworn in. This will make us think twice about the over emphasizes on indegenship and place of origin. If you are resident in a place why can't you take appointment there? But particularly on this issue, I think it is just a mistake and that the mistake will be corrected."

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

What is diabetes? iabetes is a kind of disorder that involves metabolic processes that help in the conversion of glucose into energy.

What aids this action is the release of the hormone called insulin from the pancreas. There are times that a disorder in metabolism comes especially when there is a kind of infection, when an individual has auto immune response in the body as a result of viral infection.

Sometimes other infections like trauma from burns can upset the metabolic process and lead to a high level of glucose in the system.

If these are properly treated, symptoms of diabetes can be removed but then, there are instances when diabetes comes and stays, especially where it has to do with weight of the body. This is the fat layer that obstructs the interaction between glucose in the blood and insulin from the pancreas. Sometimes, it could be hereditary; you find out that, in every generation, there are people presenting with diabetes.

Why is it becoming rampant in our society?

There are changes that are taking place in our lives generally; we used to be very active people, many Nigerians used to trek but now, we have become largely sedentary. We have too many labour serving devices around that limit the scope of physical activity that can help us to burn off energy properly. Secondly, the food habit of Nigerians has changed drastically; we used to eat wholesome natural food but most of the food we eat today is processed food especially which is not good for our health. Also, the running around by Nigerians has increased especially among executives who do not know when to stop and rest. Diabetes can be induced by stress; when the body is stressed, there would be mobilization of cholesterol, glucose in the blood and the person could easily get diabetes.

It is only in Nigeria that executive goes on leave and are recalled and some don’t even understand that they need to rest.

What type of food should a diabetic patient eat?

When we talk about food for a diabetic patient, we are only talking about healthy diet; there is no such thing as ‘diabetic food’ in particular because that is where we are missing it in this country. Once a person has diabetes, he is advised to eat healthy diet characterized by low fat, low salt, moderate protein and carbohydrate and then high fibre which is of two types - the one you get from whole grain, so we advise that people should start using whole grains especially for breakfast because most Nigerians these days do not eat normal grains, unrefined and unprocessed food. We have now found a strong point we are holding unto which is breakfast cereal like oats, cornflakes, whole wheat bread and any packaged fibre. Those food help in the control of both cholesterol and glucose. We also advise people to eat more vegetables because they have insoluble fibre and help in binding the cholesterol from your intestine and discharge this

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PAGE 27

‘Government should subsidise diabetes drugs’ November 14 every year is World Diabetes Day. It is celebrated by the International Diabetes Federation, founded in 1991. Meant to address issues concerning diabetes, Diabetic Health and Enlightenment organisation (DHEO), an NGO, has keyed into the initiative by interacting with the media to create more awareness on the rising diabetes prevalence. In this interview with our reporter, A’isha Biola Raji, the founder of DHEO Nigeria, Hajiya Aisha Y.B Ali and Mrs. Sarah Abagayi, Head Dietician, National Hospital, Abuja, shared their concerns over the plight of diabetes patients and how the deadly disease can be controlled. Excerpts:

Hajiya Aisha Y.B Ali cholesterol along with the waste fibre when you go to toilet. It puts you at a safe point when it comes to issue of cancer and hypertension. We are also looking at the rate at which people eat fried food in this country, the more frying we do the more transfat we are taking into the system and the higher the risk of developing diabetes and the higher the risk of having cancer.

Avoid all carbonated drinks with sugar added; don’t take beverage with sugar added. We are also looking at the time we eat and how much food we eat. The body needs just enough food that it can handle and ensure that you don’t skip your meals especially when you are on medication. Make sure you don’t eat late dinner. You need a space of about 4hours between dinner and bed time. If you are on medication and require a bedtime snack, you should look for one that is relatively low in glucose like moin moin if you can handle it in the night and if you cannot, get cracker biscuit with a cup of tea or a small bowl of oatmeal.

Could you expatiate on the two types of diabetes?

The type-1 diabetes is the type that hinders the body from producing insulin, it is the one that has to do with auto immune

Mrs. Sarah Abagayi response and it happens more in children. It manifest from childhood. These people live with insulin therapy for life. Type-2 is a more lifestyle related condition and it is usually presented in middle age - age forty and above.

With diet modification and regular exercise, it can be put under control. The body actually secretes insulin in this case but only that it defects in its functioning due to fat layers but with exercise, this fat layer is burnt and the interruption is reduced. This does not mean that medication is not necessary.

Usually there is a triangle in the treatment; diet, medication and exercise and in the middle, we have, self-blood glucose

monitoring. We are now teaching people to know that, up to 70% of care is their own responsibilities only 30% come from the health team.

What is DHEO all about?

DHEO is an acronym for Diabetic Health and Enlightenment Organization; we are involved in creating awareness, enlightenment on the dangers of diabetes and its management.

What have been your challenges so far?

DHEO is nonprofit, nonreligious, nonpartisan, basically a charitable organization that is concerned with the plight of diabetes patients; how to manage them so they can live active life.

“

We are pleading with the government to subsidise the drugs and injection in order to avoid people skipping drugs or generally not controlling their sugar level as a result of the high costs of these materials

It is not easy to run an NGO in this country as we are yet to appreciate the commitment. We are just doing it voluntarily but with time, people will appreciate but for now, we rely solely in funding our activities from subscription fees gathered within our members and few philanthropists. We encourage well-meaning Nigerians and government to pay more attention to what we are doing in order to reduce the plight of diabetes patients especially among the less privileged.

What informed your decision to start this charitable organization?

This organization took off on July 16 2011. I became passionate about it when I realized the rate at which people were becoming diabetic, at least one member of every family or another has diabetes. I realized that diabetes is hereditary and the earlier we create awareness, the easier it will be for us to prevent having more diabetic people in every family.

It is almost two years down the line, what would you say have been your achievement?

So far, we have generated awareness through posters informing people about the symptoms and control of the disease. We have dispatched field workers to go round the whole of Municipal Area Council in Abuja to do this. It has worked because, we have been getting feedback from these people who have been having the symptoms but did not know that, it has to do with diabetes. We have organized seminars where experts, like dieticians have lectured people on the control and dangers of diabetes. Marking the World Diabetes Day, we intend to do free screening for members of the public during a walk which we organized in commemoration of the day. However, we hope that soon, government will collaborate with us by supporting our initiative as diabetes is becoming more dangerous than malaria and typhoid.

What plans does the organisation have to make the drugs and insulin therapy affordable?

They are usually expensive and this is why patients are discouraged. We are pleading with the government to subsidise the drugs and injection in order to avoid people skipping drugs or generally not controlling their sugar level as a result of the high costs of these materials.

PAGE 30

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

President, Commonwealth of Learning, Yar’ Adua, others to receive NTI award Stories by Maryam Garba Hassan

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irector General of National Teachers’ Institute (NTI), Dr. Aminu Sharehu, has said that the institute would confer Fellowship on the President, Commonwealth of Learning, Prof. Ashar Kanwar, Governors Rochas Okorocha of Imo and Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State.

Sharehu disclosed this at the second National Joint Graduation Ceremony of the National Teachers’ Institute in Kaduna.

He said others to be invested as Ambassadors of the institute are Prof. Adamu Baike, Chief Afe Babalola, Prof.

Thomas Adeyanju, Governors Patrick Yakowa of Kaduna State, Sule Lamido of Jigawa state and Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state.

Sharehu further explained that the late President Umaru

Yar’Adua and late Prof.

Babatunde Fafunwa, a former Minister of Education, would also receive posthumous awards.

According to him, over 40,000 primary school teachers from 20 states of the federation were trained in Continuing Professional Development Programmes (CPD) within the last three years while 825,000

teachers were also trained under the MDGs capacity building programme.

He said the institute had received computers worth N1 billion from donor agencies for the establishment of computer laboratories in each of the states and the FCT. He however, called for adequate funding of the

institute to enable it execute programmes that would enhance teachers’ education.

He said 58,320 graduates acquired professional qualification in National Certificate of Education (NCE), Advanced Diploma and PostGraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) between 2005 and 2011.

Education key to vocational efficiency, says educationist

A

n educationist and the Quiz Coordinator, FCT Agency for the Control of AIDS, Mr. Ndubisi Ogbonna, on Friday described education as the key to vocational efficiency, growth and personal development.

Ogbonna made this disclosure Friday in Abuja while presenting a paper at the 2012 Annual Primary School Children Quiz Competition.

He said that education would propel the ability of a child to read and also form the basic foundation for building vocations adding that reading is a skill that must be nurtured from a child’s earliest year.

According to him, most children with learning disability had problems with reading and other related language skills and that poor reading habits occur in children and young people because it was not considered a relevant leisure activity.

“Once a child knows how to read, he or she still needs support to reach his or her full potential as a reader,’’ he said.

He however, lamented that reading is not seen as part of social interaction, rather it’s considered as a friendless or lonely pursuit which is not attractive adding that children with poor reading skills have poor grades, get easily distracted, frustrated and behavioural problem at school as well as had higher chance of been involved in anti-social behaviour like crime, hacking computers and even examination malpractices.

He encouraged parents and guardians, teachers, community leaders and all stakeholders to step up efforts in supporting sustainable reading culture in every Nigerian child.

L-R: Katsina State Governor, Ibrahim Shehu Shema, his Kaduna State counterpart, Mr. Patrick Yakowa, Minister of State for Education, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike and Director-General, National Teachers Institute (NTI), Dr. Ladan Sharehu, during NTI 2nd Joint National Graduation ceremony, on Saturday in Kaduna.

Photo: Justin Imo-owo

Sardauna established ABU to unite Nigeria – Fika, Maitama

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he trio of Adamu M. Fika (Wazirin Fika), one time Nigeria’s Permanent representative at the United Nations, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Sule (Dan Masanin Kano) and the Vice Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Professor Abdullahi Mustapha, have restated that the Sardauna of Sokoto and Premier of the Northern region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, founded the University to, among other objectives, train leaders that would unite Nigeria as a sovereign nation.

A statement signed by the spokesman of the Vice chancellor, Waziri Isa Gwantu, said the trio spoke over the weekend, at a public lecture on the “vision and mission of the founding fathers of Ahmadu Bello University” and book presentation on ABU at 50, as part of the activities lined up for the university’s 50th Anniversary Celebration in Zaria.

According to the statement, the Vice Chancellor emphasised that the University, in line with the vision and mission of its founding father, had since its inception in 1962, maintained its admission and recruitment policy

of drawing candidates and staff from different parts of the country.

Professor Mustapha who stressed that ABU is the only university in the country that has maintained this policy, a development that has distinguished it as the only symbol of national unity and integration, assured that his administration is committed to transforming the institution into centre of academic excellence that can compete with any University, not only in Africa, but in the world, the statement added.

The statement further explained that, the VC noted that this agenda of his administration can only be achieved by the joint efforts of the teeming Alumni, friends and stakeholders of the University through responding to the N50 Billion endowment fund to be launched on the 24th of November as one of the high points of the 50th Anniversary celebration.

In his address, the guest speaker, Mallam Adamu M. Fika who was represented by the former Vice chancellor of the University, Professor Ango Abdullahi, challenged the

University to within the next 50 years, develop a more extensive and effective extramural unit just as its founding fathers directed and also consider developing an effective distance learning system that deploys modern communication facilities and online tutorial to impart functional knowledge to the millions who may not be able to enroll on its regular campusbased programmes.

The statement further said that in his address, chairman of the occasion, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Sule, identified the late Sardauna’s philosophy as the panacea to the myriad social, political, economic and security challenges facing the country nowadays.

While calling for a cultural revolution to put Nigeria back on the track of progress, he said that Nigerians must learn to live together, while respecting each other’s religion, tradition, values and culture to foster peaceful and harmonious relationship.

He however, expressed optimism that most of the problems facing the country would be solved if the citizens worked together with a determination of purpose

Group rates TETFUND, FRSC, others as outstanding public institutions

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he Independent Service Delivery Monitoring Group (ISDMG) has rated the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) and Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) among the most effective and efficient public institutions in the country.

Executive Director of the group, Dr. Chima Amadi, announced the rating in Abuja on Friday at the unveiling of the 2011-2012 Service Delivery Report and Award.

Amadi said that TETFUND had undergone a transformation of its vision and mission, departing from the usual tradition of piecemeal palliative intervention to a holistic and target-specific model.

“TETFUND is today a success story of what effective management, astute leadership, commitment to duty, transparency and accountability by public servants can bring to bear in solving challenges,“ he said.

However, he said in the course of discharging its function, FRSC had initiated some key policies, such as the Road Transport Safety Standardisation Scheme (RTSSS), which stipulates minimum safety equipment for fleet operators adding that the commission also recorded N558,154,027 as revenues from National Vehicle Identification Scheme (NVIS) and fines from road traffic offenders in the last six months.

Other outstanding organisations recognised by the group are the National Pension Commission; Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS); Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board and Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).

Others are Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Central Bank of Nigeria, Federal Emergency Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Federal Inland Revenue Service, Petroleum Technology Trust Fund and National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

Amadi said in assessing the institutions, ISDMG followed international precedents and models for effective delivery assessment to arrive at its results.

“I must say that the integrity of the assessment is not in any way compromised by virtue of the fact that the assessed picks the cost of such assessment.

“We are confident that recognising achievement of agencies of government that deliver on their mandates will not in any way take the zeal and zing off our responsibility of constructively engaging them on issues of rendering efficient service delivery to the people.

“The fact that the drivers of these MDAs are Nigerians not contracted foreign consultant proves that only Nigerians can bring about the much desired dividends of democracy, “ he said.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

PAGE 31

Obama’s Washington and Africa ANALYSIS

By Charles Onunaiju

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n spite of the euphoria that swept across Africa at the re-election of the U.S President Mr. Barack Obama, an African-American, Africa in Mr. Obama's second term, just as in his first term, will not get any significant engagement or attention from Washington, except in its universal obsession with counter-terrorism and other security-related concerns.

Following his re-election last week, president Obama foreign policy priority appear clearly to be the Asia pacific, even the poorer bit of the extensive region. He has announced a historic visit to Mymmar, former Burma, where the entrenched military establishment is cautiously crafting a transition to civil rule.

Mr. Obama will be the first U.S President to visit the country. The strategy seemed a well-laid out Washington outline to contain China in its backyard in the overall obsession of the United States to remain the pre-eminent power in the region, an aspiration contested by the shifting balance of power in the region and even beyond.

The euphoria that gripped Africa in respect of Mr. Obama's re-election is obviously and plainly emotional and Mr. Obama has never expressed such emotions for his far-flung kits and kin, and if he has haboured any at all, has managed to suppress it.

Mr. Obama might be engaged in Africa but after his tenure in Washington, like his other predecessors who believed that Africa is more worthy of humanitarian than of any policy engagement. It will not be a surprise that after his tenure in Washington, Obama and his wonderful family would take to wandering across Africa, hugging babies with swollen tummies and even set up a foundation to tackle one of Africa's numerous malaise.

Like Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and even George W. Bush, Africa would come into Mr. Obama focus after he has left the White House. This is not entirely his fault. American President is the most powerful man in the world, but is also a hostage of a ruthless and faceless but powerful political machine, aggregating an array of vicious special interest groups who actually decides in what direction Washington would go. Sometimes, the irrational policy of Washington as to which war to fight next and in what corner of the world or the next regime to undermine or topple, is not actually the function of a deficit of commonsense or logic by any seating President, but

Barack Obama due to the unavoidable pressure of the Washington machine.

President Barack Obama won his recent re-election by more numerous votes than was predicted by pundits. His finely crafted rhetoric resonated across America and struck deep to their sentiments of a fairer society, especially among vulnerable groups; Hispanics, Latinos Africa-Americans, white women and young people. In spite of what seemed like bitter fight over different visions for the change of America between president Obama and his republican challenger, Mr. Mitt Romney, what actually was in contention was the different strategies or approaches to preserve the status quo, while containing its harshest excesses. President Obama's modest signature legislative triumph in the last four years, the health care insurance, which barely covered half of all Americans was a target of bitter recrimination by the republican contender, who did not also spare the president for the bailout of Chrysler and

general motors. Given the dire stress of the American economy, Washington's foreign policy would be dominated in the next four years by the traditional geostrategic and political concerns but also increasingly by economic consideration especially with the flow of capital. Africa is of less geostrategic and political concern as far as there are no competing ideological or political currents that threaten the hegemony or ideological dominance of western liberalism.

China's economic and commercial penetration to Africa does not offer any slightest hint of ideological contestation with the western hegemony.

The political ramification of China's penetration in Africa would at best provide a bargaining strength, which the spineless political elite are yet to take up. So, in spite of Africa's obvious marginalization in Washington's policy engagement, the continent would remain safely tucked away in America's sphere of

“

influence. Africa's rich mineral resources may matter very little in American economy, currently in post-industrial stage. In fact, president Obama has pledged to seek alternative energy sources that would further marginalize the modest presence of Africa in America's economic life. The fact of Africa's marginal impact in any U.S economy recovery plan is the objective condition of the un-complimentary economic structure of the two sides.

Therefore Africa in the next four years of Obama presidency would continue as in the past, to evoke Washington moral indignation at the crass and excesses of its venal political elite, the cyclic misfortunes of its state institutions and the consequent destitutions and misery of its vulnerable populations. The modest role of Africa in any U.S or the larger western economic recovery would continue to feature raw cash flight through the operations of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, exploiting the bankruptcy of the political elite. In this regard, the Washington and other western

However, African's relevance in the today's world is not necessarily a function of U.S policy engagement or otherwise, and even the world itself have grown beyond the mere calculation of one power, even if it is a 'hyper power' as the former French foreign minister, Mr. Vederine, characterize the United States.

moral outrage at the deepening socio-economic and political atrophy in Africa would remain a largely ideological rhetoric without any commitment to substantive reform, a term currently in serious abuse in most of Africa by the ruling elites and their western principles. In fact, Washington does not choose regions or countries to engage out of benevolence or other such considerations. Countries and regions work their way into Washington's geo-political and strategic calculations through enabling relevance acquired through a meticulous growth of national power and influence.

The choice of President Obama to go to Mymmar after his recent re-election is based on the calculation of the relevance of the country, straddled between India and China, two major U.S strategic competitors in the region. To balance off, Beijing's massive economic penetration in the country and marginalize its rising political influence is obviously among Washington's reason for a historic presidential visit.

African received its most serious policy attention from the United States during the period of the cold war. According to Henry Kissinger, the veteran of U.S foreign and security affairs, the cause of majority rule in apartheid South Africa was largely of minor concern to voluble liberals in America, but became something of America's policy concern after the former Soviet Union and other Warsaw states of the socialist block has made it a fundamental policy, which also struck enormous chord to the rest of Africa.

Without the influence of the former Soviet Union and the socialist block, Washington would certainly have sit comfortable with the racist regime in South Africa and its rampaging policy of political exclusion and social ostracization of Africans. In effect, as now as it was then, Washington's moral rhetoric is considerably way off from policy engagement and both are mutually exclusive in the effect they are supposed to have.

However, African's relevance in the today's world is not necessarily a function of U.S policy engagement or otherwise, and even the world itself have grown beyond the mere calculation of one power, even if it is a 'hyper power' as the former French foreign minister, Mr. Vederine, characterize the United States.

In spite of Africa's phenomenal lethargy, the continent has immense possibilities and opportunities, providing it with a vantage and strategic attention, which clearly the rest of the world is determine to explore.

Despite of the emotions that has welled up in most of Africa on the re-election of president Obama, any expectations of such reciprocals from Obama's Washington would be supremely naïve.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

PAGE 32

Ghana rescuers find more bodies

Kenyan police hit by deadly ambush

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even Kenyan police officers have been killed and 21 more wounded while pursuing cattle rustlers in the north of Kenya, according to a senior police official.

The attack happened near Baragoi, in a dry northern region mainly inhabited by nomad communities.

"The officers were in a team pursuing stolen cattle when they were ambushed," the official, who did not wish to be named, said on Saturday.

"Some of the bandits were wounded in the attack and others killed," during the gun battle, he said, but could not give precise numbers.

Some of the wounded officers were airlifted by plane or by helicopter to Nairobi for treatment.

Osman Warfa, provincial commissioner for Rift Valley province, told Reuters news agency that 10 others were wounded in the northern county of Samburu in the attack.

The police chief of the Rift Valley province, where the attack happened, confirmed that there had been a clash.

"We had an incident involving our officers and there are casualties," he said.

Cattle theft and the ensuing clashes between rival groups claim dozens of lives every year in Kenya.

It is rare, however, for police officers themselves to be attacked.

Police numbers there are low and the officers are poorly equipped. The cattle herders have therefore armed themselves against attacks from rival groups.

The group of rustlers police were pursuing at the time of this latest clash were already suspected of having killed 13 people and wounded three others in a previous raid on October 30.

Elsewhere in Kenya, in the southeast Tana River region, inter-communal violence claimed more than a hundred lives in August and September.

The scale and intensity of those killings - women and children were hacked to death or torched in their huts - shocked many.

Some observers have accused local politicians of stirring up inter-communal hatred for political ends.

A combined team of military men and emergency management personnel at the site.

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escue teams have recovered more bodies from the rubble of a multi-storey shopping centre in Ghana's capital, Accra, which collapsed on Wednesday.

Eighteen people are now known to have been killed - 69 were pulled out alive at the

Melcom store.

Faulty construction has been blamed for the collapse of the building which opened earlier this year.

The owner of the building and the local government official in charge of building standards have been detained.

President John Dramani Mahama said those responsible for the "negligence will pay a price".

Rescuers on Friday had heard voices - but no survivors were found during Saturday.

An Israeli rescue team has been using sniffer dogs to help

locate people buried under the rubble.

Officials from Ghana's National Disaster Management Organization have blamed poor foundations for the structure's weakness.

On Thursday, the Ghana Institution of Engineering said the building did not have a permit, which meant the city authorities may not have inspected the building before it opened.

The Accra Metropolitan Assembly ordered three nearby buildings which are also owned

by Nana Boadu, the director of Kinsadus Company, to be evacuated.

The property developer has said the Melcom store building did have a permit.

"There is no way I will put up a building and do a shoddy work," Mr Boadu told Ghana's Peace FM. "Every document needed to help in the investigations I will provide. I have a file full of documents and receipts showing the building permit fees," he said.

The president has declared the site a disaster zone and suspended his campaign for next month's elections.

Security tightened ahead of Sierra Leonean polls

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ierra Leonean polls slated for November 17, 2012 will be adequately secured.

The assuarance came from the country's security chiefs, who also allayed fears of likely intimidation by security agents saying that the decision was a precautionary measures to avoid any likely chaos.

According to the security officer, the polls will see over 15, 000 security personnel deployed under the Integrated Elections Security Planning Committee. They comprise members of the Sierra Leone Police, the military, prisons, National Fire Force as well as Traffic Wardens.

Some more 6,599 will also be on stand-by.

Mustapha Kambeh, Chief Superintendent of Police of operations, policy and planning department at the Sierra Leone Police, was quoted last week saying that the military will also have half of its attention focused on outside

aggression as they have received threats from abroad.

"Whatever we are doing is police-led," assured Francis Keili, Director of Research and Planning at ONS, who is also Chairman of the Integrated Elections Security Planning Committee.

The West African country suffered a civil war that

lasted 11 years. A the time, security forces, especialy those under the regional force Ecomog, tortured and killed hundreds of Sierra Leoneans, creating a lot of sucipion against security enforcers among the civillians.

Meanwhile, one of the Sierra Leone's presidential candidate has pulled out of

Supporters of the All People's Congress (APC) celebrate in the streets of Freetown

the race in favour of the incumbent President Earnest Bai Koroma, bringing it down to eight contenders.

Mohammed Bangura of the United Democratic Movement (UDM) said he took the decision after wide consultation with supporters who urged him to postpone his candidacy.

Mr Bangura`s party, a breakaway faction from the PMDC, is the third largest party.

He has already called on all his supporters to vote for the APC`s Koroma, but insisted he would remain in opposition.

Currently, the West African country has five main parties. They are the ruling All People's Congress (APC), the main opposition Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), the People's Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC), the National Democratic Alliance (NDC) and the United Democratic Movement (UDM).

CAR president ‘detains son over unpaid hotel bill’

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he president of Central African Republic is reported to have ordered the detention of his own son for refusing to pay a large hotel bill.

Police detained Francois Bozize's son for several days after he ran up a bill of up to 12,000 euros ($15,000) at a hotel in the capital, reports said.

The bills include the cost of the room at the five-star Ledger Plaza hotel in Bangui, as well as meals and services.

Kevin Bozize is reported to have been held since early last week.

Both the head of the hotel and the president's son were initially

detained when Kevin refused to pay the bill, Agence France Presse (AFP) news agency says.

"Having been informed of the situation, his father summoned both of them and in front of the manager he [Kevin] confirmed that he stayed at the hotel and said he paid all the bills," an anonymous source told AFP. "Both he and the manager were detained... but after the facts were verified, the manager was freed."

According to AFP, Mr Bozize's own son is one of several highprofile figures in the state who have amassed debts at the hotel.

President Francois Bozize

PAGE 34

Europe and Americas BBC needs 'radical overhaul', says Lord Patten

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"thorough, radical, structural overhaul" of the BBC is necessary in the wake of the resignation of the director general, BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten has said.

George Entwistle quit on Saturday after a controversial Newsnight report led to a former Tory treasurer being wrongly accused as a child abuser.

Number 10 sources says the BBC has the capacity to "reform itself".

Lord Patten said a new director general would be chosen within weeks.

He said the BBC had to ensure programmes were being properly managed.

Lord Patten said talks about the next director general would begin on Sunday, but in the meantime the acting director general, Tim Davie, would be given full support.

Before his departure, Mr Entwistle had commissioned a report from BBC Scotland director Ken MacQuarrie into what happened with the Newsnight investigation. He is expected to report on Sunday.

On 2 November Newsnight reported abuse victim Steve Messham's claims against a leading 1980s Tory politician being an abuser in north Wales, but he withdrew his accusation a week later, saying he had been mistaken.

Lord McAlpine, although not named on Newsnight, was identified on the internet as the subject of the allegations. He said the claims were "wholly false and seriously defamatory".

Lord Patten, appearing on the BBC's Andrew Marr programme, said his own job was to show licence fee-payers "that the BBC has a grip, that we get ourselves back on the road".

Of Mr Entwistle's departure, he said: "He's editor-in-chief of a great news organisation and I think he felt he should take responsibility for the awful journalism which disfigured that Newsnight programme [on 2 November].

"And one of the ironies is that he was a brilliantly successful editor of Newsnight himself for some time."

Lord Patten

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

FBI probe of Petraeus began with “suspicious emails�

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he FBI investigation that led to the discovery of CIA Director David Petraeus' affair with author Paula Broadwell was sparked by "suspicious emails" from her to another woman and Petraeus was not the target of the probe, U.S. law enforcement and security officials told Reuters on Saturday.

But the CIA director's name unexpectedly turned up in the course of the investigation, two officials and two other sources briefed on the matter said.

The FBI was looking into "an issue with two women and they stumbled across the affair with Petraeus," a U.S. government security source said.

The FBI probe was triggered when Broadwell sent threatening emails to an unidentified woman close to the CIA director, a security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. It was unclear what the relationship of the woman who received the emails was to Petraeus.

The woman went to the FBI complaining of cyber harassment and the law enforcement agency traced the threats to Broadwell, the security official said. The FBI then uncovered explicit emails between

Petraeus and Broadwell, The Washington Post reported.

Attempts by Reuters and other news media to reach Broadwell, an Army reserve officer and author of a biography of Petraeus, have not been successful.

The FBI and CIA declined comment on Saturday.

Many questions in the case remain unanswered publicly,

including the identity of the second woman; the precise nature of the emails that launched the FBI investigation; and whether U.S. security was compromised in any way.

Nor is it clear why the FBI waited until Election Day to tell Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who oversees the CIA and other intelligence

agencies, about its investigation involving Petraeus.

In attempting to explain the time between Petraeus' FBI interview two weeks earlier and the DNI's notification on Election Day, the security official said there had been no evidence any crime had been committed.

The CIA director announced his resignation suddenly on Friday, acknowledging an extramarital affair and saying he showed "extremely poor judgment.

The developments likely ended the public career of one of the United States' most highly regarded generals, who was credited with helping pull Iraq out of civil war and led U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

New details emerged on Saturday about developments in the final days leading to Petraeus' departure from atop the CIA. Clapper was notified by the FBI on Tuesday evening about 5 p.m. just as returns in the U.S. presidential election were about to come in - about "the situation involving Director Petraeus," a senior intelligence official said.

Clapper and Petraeus then spoke that evening and the following morning.

lovenia, an ex-Yugoslav republic, has opened polls to vote for a new president.

The post to be decided on in Sunday's vote is largely ceremonial, but the present head of state, Danilo Turk, has been a thorn in the side of centre-right Prime Minister Janez Jansa as he attempted to implement reforms and austerity cuts.

Opinion polls indicate, however, that Turk will come first in the election, although not with enough of the vote to win in the first round.

A second round run-off, likely pitting Turk against Jansa's centre-left predecessor Borut Pahor, is set for December 2.

Slovenia, once a model EU country is in the throes of one of the deepest downturns in the eurozone with the European

Commission predicting last week that output will shrink a painful 2.3 per cent this year and 1.6 per cent in 2013.

Large volumes of bad loans at Slovenia's banks have raised fears that the country of two million people may become the latest in the 17-nation European currency union to need outside help.

Slovenia's credit ratings have been slashed, mostly because of the banks, and borrowing rates on its sovereign debt have soared to seven per cent, a level regarded as unsustainable in the long term without assistance.

A new government led by Jansa took office in February after the collapse of Pahor's administration last year and has launched a series of austerity measures aimed at stabilising

public finances and reforming the country's pension and labour systems.

During the electoral campaign Turk, 60, a law

professor who worked at the United Nations under former secretary general Kofi Annan, openly and repeatedly questioned Jansa's policies.

H

outages, even as the lights came for many who lost power in New York and New Jersey during the storm Sandy and a later

U.S. General David Petraeus

Debt-hit Slovenia votes for new president

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Opinion polls indicate that Turk will come first in the election, but not enough for an outright victory

Protests in US over slow power restoration undreds of Americans have protested outside a Long Island utility, frustrated by its slow response to

Men of Long Island Power Authority at work.

nor'easter storm.

Power restoration has been slower there than in other areas hit by Sandy, prompting criticism of the Long Island Power Authority.

Some of the 130,000 blacked out homes and businesses the utility serves may not have power restored until the end of Tuesday, LIPA said on Saturday.

In the rest of the region hardest hit by the storm, most service was expected to be restored by the end of the weekend, though that does not include tens of thousands of homes too damaged to regain power.

He was among about 300

people staging a rally in front of LIPA's office in Hicksville, New York.

Not all were without power, but some who have power said they were there to protest LIPA's lack of communication.

Michael Hervey, LIPA chief operating officer, said they were aware customers have not got the information they have needed from the utility, partly because of an outdated information technology system they are in the process of updating.

"I certainly feel the frustration of customers whose power remains out. Our hearts go out to them," Hervey said.

PAGE 36

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

Exercising before breakfast lets you lose extra weight, a British study has found I

f you are heading to the gym or pounding the pavements in the hope of losing weight, try to do it before you eat your breakfast.

Exercising before the first meal of the day is more effective than after it, a British study has found.

Not only does working up a sweat on an empty stomach burn off more body fat – helping you lose those extra inches around the waist – it also triggers a bigger reduction in arteryclogging blood fats.

Although the benefits of exercise are well-known, people

have been unsure about whether it is better to do it on an empty stomach or a full one.

Dr Jason Gill, who conducted the research at Glasgow University, said that while exercise in itself is good, any done before breakfast may be extra beneficial, because it forces the body to rely on its stores of fat for energy.

‘When people talk about losing weight, they really mean losing fat,’ he added.

Ten men made three visits to his laboratory at the university’s Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, and were given

breakfast each time.

On the first visit, the men didn’t do any exercise. On another, they did an hour’s brisk walk ahead of breakfast and on the third they did the walk after breakfast.

Those who exercised burnt off more fat than those who simply sat around. And those who did their walk before breakfast used up 33 per cent more fat than those who exercised after eating.

Tests revealed they also experienced a bigger drop in the blood fats that raise the risk of heart disease, the British Journal of Nutrition reports.

While the men only did a brisk walk, more strenuous activity can also be safely carried out on an empty stomach, Dr Gill added.

This is because the body has enough reserves for about 90 minutes to two hours of exercise.

However, those who can’t bear the thought of delaying breakfast shouldn’t despair.

Dr Gill said: ‘The biggest difference is between doing nothing and doing something.

‘If you are going to do something, then there is a slight advantage in doing it in a fasted state. But if you find you keel over because you can’t do exercise

before you have your slice of toast, then do it afterwards. You are still going to get a huge benefit.’

Either way, however, weight loss will still likely be a slow process. Those who exercise before breakfast only burnt off around a tenth of a pound more fat than the men who had a relaxing morning.

Dr Gill said: ‘If they did an hour’s brisk walk every day for ten days or so, they would lose about a pound, which is about as fast as you can really expect to lose weight.’

Source: dailymail.co.uk

Children born to overweight mothers ‘more likely to be fat’... but breastfeeding can offset the effect

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hildren born to overweight mothers face a higher risk of being fat themselves – but breastfeeding can help offset the effect, a study has shown.

Being overweight and smoking during pregnancy both increase the chances of a child being obese, along with being heavy at birth and rapid weight gain as a baby.

But breastfeeding and the late introduction of solid foods can reduce a baby’s risk of becoming overweight by about 15 per cent, claim the researchers.

They say it should help new mothers make healthier choices for their babies.

Stephen Weng, who undertook the study, led by Dr

Sarah Redsell, of Nottingham University’s School of Nursing, Midwifery and Physiotherapy, said complex influences affected child development, ranging from genetics to parents’ lifestyle.

He added: ‘We can speculate about how breastfeeding mitigates the risk of obesity in childhood – it could be mixed feeding, reduced calories from breastmilk, parental attitudes, or a combination of things.

‘The research shows that breastfeeding your baby compared with never breastfeeding does have a modest benefit.’

In the UK a quarter of children aged four to five and a third of ten and 11-year-olds are

Big inheritance: Children born to overweight mothers face a higher risk of being fat themselves, according to a study which could help parents make healthier choices for their babies.

Link: Six out of seven studies looking at infant birth weight showed a correlation between babies who were heavy at birth and obesity in later childhood.

overweight.

Evidence suggests that children who are overweight by five are more likely to become obese – so overweight it threatens their health – in adulthood.

The findings come from a systematic review and analysis of data from 30 previous studies involving 200,000 people.

The studies investigated factors affecting babies during their first 12 months and their potential link with childhood obesity.

The study, published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, discovered that children who were breastfed and introduced to solid food later had a slightly reduced chance of becoming overweight.

Children whose mothers

were overweight before pregnancy were 1.37 times more likely to be overweight at the age of three; 4.25 times more likely to be overweight at seven; and 2.36 times more likely to be overweight between nine and 14 years.

Six out of seven studies looking at infant birth weight showed a significant link between babies who were heavy at birth and obesity in later childhood.

Similarly, rapid weight gain in a baby’s first year often led to obesity, with one study showing those who gained the most weight were almost four times more likely to be overweight at four.

Children who were breastfed - however briefly - were 15 per cent less likely to become

overweight.

Giving solid foods early may be linked to later obesity, with one study showing formula-fed babies given solids before four months were six times more likely to be overweight aged three than those getting them for the first time between four and five months.

Smoking during pregnancy alone increased the risk of children being overweight by 47.5 per cent. However, this may be because smoking is a good indicator of other social and lifestyle characteristics, said Dr Weng.

He said the findings could be used to compile a ‘checklist’ for GPs and health visitors to help them spot infants most at risk of becoming obese later in life.

Source: dailymail.co.uk

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

PAGE 37

Katsina: The politicization of constitution review congress ANALYSIS

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ince the commencement of the new democratic rule in the country from 1999 to date, efforts are being made to review the constitution in order to correct some of the perceived discrepancies identified in the document. Constitution review in Nigeria has also been bedeviled by problems as such as suspicion of domination by the different sections of the country and the politicization of the process.

The National Assembly recently embarked on the ambitious journey of making the Nigeria’s constitution ‘perfect’.

Members of the National Assembly last weekend moved to their constituencies to seek for peoples’ view on how to panel beat the constitution to make it more workable. Some of the key areas requiring review, according to the template for voting on key areas as provided by the House of Representatives, include: the issue of state creation, the state and local government joint account, single tenure, immunity clause, scrapping of states electoral commissions, zoning among others.

In Katsina state members of the House of Representatives from the state include 12 members on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change, (CPC) and three from the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP). The members last Friday met at the Presidential Lodge of the Katsina Government House to articulate their positions on the constitution amendment exercise.

The Government House meeting was called at the instance of the State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Shehu Shema. A letter from the office of the secretary to the state government dated 5th November 2012 with reference number S/ SGKT/446/T1/8 signed by one Kassim I. Nagari re-affirmed the invitation of the Reps members for the Katsina State Government meeting.

Certainly beyond the issues raised in the House of Representatives review template, Katsina state has a lot of issues that it needs to present to the different arms saddled with the responsibility of the review.

But instead of articulating its position, the constitution review congress took a political dimension. A member of the House of Representatives who spoke on condition of anonymity said “I left the Government House meeting when I realized that it has been politicised. How can they dictate

The ‘Peoples Assembly’ was held across the nation’s 360 Federal Constituencies at the weekend. Our Katsina Correspondent, Lawal Saidu Funtua, in this piece takes a cursory look at the congress in Katsina state and concludes that the exercise may have been overtly politicized.

Hon. Aminu Waziri TAmbuwal to us where to hold the meeting?

It’s not fair and we cannot accept it’. Similarly, local governments in the state jump in to mobilizing people not for any positive input but to show opposition to some of the issues raised. In one of the local government, a Commissioner from the area announced through the radio a different venue for the congress just to frustrate its attendance. In a particular local government, a senior aide of the state governor hired a crowd to insist on maintaining the joint account as it is by shouting down those opposed to it.”

In Danmusa Local Government, the process was scuttled as it took political dimension. The local government officials in the area who felt that the exercise was organized by a CPC Rep member stormed the venue with their supporters making it difficult to discuss any meaningful item of the review. In Funtua local government, the session was rowdy as a member of the House of Representatives for Funtua-Dandume, Dr. Mansur Abdulkadir, and his State Assembly counterpart for Funtua, Alhaji Rabi’u Funtua escaped being lynched as people aggrieved by their poor representation besieged the venue and threw it into chaos.

The two lawmakers, reports from the area indicate, had to be smuggled by the police out of the venue. However, Abdulkadir via

Governor Ibrahim Shema a text message said that the exercise was not rowdy rather he said it was at the end of the exercise that political thugs besieged the venue and refused to allow people to comment on the issues concerned . Equally, in Malumfashi local government, their Rep member, Alhaji Babangida Ibrahim Mahuta, CPC, had to be rescued by the police after the session as his party men waylaid him over what they alleged their abandonment by the lawmaker who, according to them, hardly visits his constituency.

In Kankia local government, the exercise started around 10:00 a.m with traditional rulers in the area, youth, women and other stakeholders in attendance. The member of

House of Representatives from the area, Alhaji Ahmad Baba Kaita told the crowd that gathered at the venue of the congress that the review exercise was meant to address some discrepancies identified in the 1999 constitution. The lawmaker noted that the House of Representatives was determined to address most of the concerns identified in the constitution. He said “for democracy to continue in Nigeria, we must always look at lapses in the system and address them”.

Despite the many attempts by some unseen hands to frustrate the review congress in Katsina state, it was observed that there was general consensus on some fundamental issues concerning the review exercise. People are

“

The issue of state creation divided the congresses across the state. Respondents at the congresses in the southern part of Katsina that have been clamouring for the creation of Karaduwa State were of the view that more states should be created. On the contrary, respondents at the congresses in Katsina Central feel that there was no need for additional states to be created in the country

particularly voicing their opposition against the state joint local government account. A speaker at the venue of the exercise in Daura noted that the joint account issue was a fraud that retards local government growth in the state. He wondered “how can our monies be run by a governor who doesn’t know our areas of priorities. That is why all over we see projects that have no direct bearing on the local communities”.

Similarly, majority of the participants at the congress frowned at the inclusion of States Independent Electoral Commissions, SIEC in the constitution. They argued that this has made the choice of the people difficult at the local governments’ level. Malam Usman Kankia said “in Katsina, since 2010 we never had elected representatives at the local government level’.

The congress also shows that people are totally against the creation of state police state police arguing that such contraption would only empower state governments to muzzle the opposition in their domain. It was also generally observed that people wanted the abrogation of the immunity clause from the constitution and rejected the idea of zoning the office of the President. People in Katsina state it was observed were against the inclusion of the geopolitical zones or the carving of new ones to be included in the constitution.

There was opposition to giving traditional rulers roles in the constitution. Respondents at the congresses across the state feel that traditional institutions should remain as they are now.

However, the issue of state creation divided the congresses across the state. Respondents at the congresses in the southern part of Katsina that have been clamouring for the creation of Karaduwa State were of the view that more states should be created. On the contrary, respondents at the congresses in Katsina Central feel that there was no need for additional states to be created in the country.

The constitution review congresses across Katsina state were conducted peacefully despite the few skirmishes recorded in some areas. Pundits believe that the politicization of the exercise, where it was seen as the only affair of the opposition could rob the state of an opportunity to register its input in the proposed amendment.

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CPC berates Okupe, PDP over attack on Buhari

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

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ongress for Progressive Change (CPC) yesterday took a swipe on the Presidential spokesman on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for accusing CPC’s General Muhammadu Buhari of inciting his supporters to resort to violence after 2011 general election.

In a statement issued over the weekend by its National Publicity Secretary, Rotimi Fashakin, CPC also stated that the PDP-led federal government, under President Goodluck Jonathan, had in the last two years inflicted damages on the Nigeria’s nationhood through its political Boko Haram.

According to CPC, “Since the advent of the fourth republic which effectively started on May 29, 1999, aside the agitation of the Niger-delta militants for resource control, there had not been any structured infrastructure for mass attack on innocents and religious institutions as had been seen in the last twenty-five months.”

The party also recalled that while Goodluck Jonathan was still vying for the Presidential nomination of his Party, there was a bomb blast near the Eagle Square, Abuja, during the Independence anniversary celebration on October 1, 2011.

It also noted that the replacement of Ima Niboro, who was Jonathan’s former Special Advicer on Media, with Ruben Abati, was owing to a hatchet job the later did for President Jonathan and PDP, in blackmailing Buhari to be the mastermind of the April 2011 post election violence.

CPC therefore warned that continued demeaning of reputable politicians in Nigeria by the duo of Jonathan’s spokesmen, will only make the Jonathan’s regime more insignificant, adding that Okupe’s intemperate mannerism in particular constitutes a disgrace to Nigeria.

“The good that the President can do to himself will definitely not be in pandering to the obsequious apologists around him like Okupe, but in properly distilling the wellmeaning pieces of advice of acknowledged Patriots like GMB,” CPC stated.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

Ondo guber: Petitions against Mimiko's election dead on arrival, says lawyer

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

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n Abuja based lawyer, Kayode Ajulo, has said that the petition filed against the election of Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and its governorship candidate, Chief Oluwarotimi Akerodolu (SAN) is dead on

arrival.

Speaking at the weekend in an interactive session with Judiciary Correspondents in Abuja, Ajulo said reports from both local and international observers that monitored the October 20, 2012 governorship election in Ondo State adjudged the election to be free and fair.

According to the human

rights lawyer and national commentator, the Ondo State governorship election, conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was perfect, free and fair, pointing out also that the Ondo state electorates have demonstrated how highly sensitized Nigerians are, politically and in the choice of

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, with elder statesman Alhaji Muhammadu Arzika at the Peoples Public Session as part of the ongoing constitutional amendment process held in Tambuwal Federal Constituency, Sokoto State, yesterday.

who will govern them.

ACN and its candidate had filed a190 paragraphs in 403 pages petition at the Ondo State Election Petition Tribunal against INEC's declaration of Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour Party (LP) as the winner of the election.

Similarly, the Accord Party (AP) and its candidate, James Olawale had also filed its own petition at the tribunal, also asking for the invalidation of the election result. While the AP in its petition is alleging that INEC omitted its logo on the ballot paper, the ACN alleged that Mimiko was not duly elected by a majority of lawful votes.

Akeredolu said the election was invalid by reason of corrupt practices and or non-compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended.

Commenting on the controversy that trailed the presentation of the report of the 20-member Presidential Committee on Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force (PRSTF) headed by the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, Ajulo said, "everything about the committee is faulty, once the conception is faulty, everything about it is faulty."

He described as embarrassing the way members of the committee washed their dirty linens in the presence of President Goodluck Jonathan who gave them the opportunity to serve their fatherland in that capacity.

Constitution Review: Faruk urges northern politicians to challenge offshore, onshore dichotomy

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former military governor of the defunct North Western State, Alhaji Usman Faruk, has urged legislators from the northern part of the country to challenge the issue of offshore and onshore dichotomy.

Faruk stated this in Gombe on Saturday during the joint public hearing organised by legislators from the six Federal Constituencies in the state on the review of the 1999 constitution..

The News Agency of Nigeria

(NAN) reports that Faruk is the chairman of the Gombe State Central Working Committee set up by the state government on the review of the constitution.

The former governor noted that the issue of offshore and onshore dichotomy was not mentioned in the 43questionnaire template.

He underscored the need to talk about the issue, challenging the legislators to table the issue during their session as the people's representatives.

"In the entire world, no country is doing that; if we agree, it will be more dangerous for us and the coming generation, more than the security threat we are facing now.

"For the betterment of our country and future generation, something needs to be done or we become slaves in our dear country,'' he said.

On the issue of state police, Faruk rejected the idea and instead advised the Federal

Government to employ more policemen.

"Increasing the number of policemen to at least three million will go a long way in combating crime", he said.

Faruk noted that Egypt with a population of about 80 million, had 1.5 million policemen, while Nigeria which had over 160 million population, had only about 250,000 policemen.He said that establishing state police would lead to increase in crime and corruption.

Collation, greatest challenge of constitutional review, says Dabiri-Erewa

By Lawrence Olaoye

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ep. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman, House of Representatives committee on Diaspora Affairs yesterday said that collation of the peoples’ views will be the greatest challenge of the ongoing constitution review.

Dabiri-Erewa who represents Ikorodu Federal Constituency of Lagos State on the platform of ACN said this in

Abuja while reviewing the nationwide public session on the review of the 1999 Nigerian constitution in all the 360 federal constituencies in the country.

The lawmaker said that the major challenge the exercise might have was to reflect the true wishes of the people as captured during the nationwide public session on Saturday.

“Well, the only major challenge of this exercise is to reflect the true wishes of the

people during our collation. The participation of the people especially in my constituency is of high standard and turnout was impressive’’ she said.

The lawmaker said since the independence of the country in 1960, “this is the first time it is happening. This is the first time, we are getting people involved in the constitutional matters’’.

She said in her constituency, every stakeholder was represented and people were happy and enthusiastic about

the exercise.

“In my constituency, every stakeholder is represented. This is called participatory democracy. We only listened to them as they make their input, ours is to collate their views’’ Dabiri-Erewa said those who criticised the exercise initially “would by now appreciate what we are doing. I am very happy in ikorodu with the way people make their opinion and voices heard freely. People are fully evolved.’’ She said.

The lawmaker said that out of the 43 items slated for review, the issues of state creation, state police, local government autonomy, rotation of power, tenure, immunity clause among others generated heated debates during the constitution hearing.

Nigerians have witnessed 10 constitutional reviews since independence, with Nigerians at the grassroots getting involved in constitution making during Saturday public sessions nationwide.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

PAGE 39

ANPP queries NNPC’s figure of 2.7mbpd

By Umar Muhammad Puma

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L-R Imo State Governor, Rocha Okorocha, CBN Governor, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan and Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, during the fund raising ceremony organized by the Presidential Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation held at the State House Abuja, yesterday.

Photo: Joe Oroye

Reconciliation in PDP easy, but difficult, says National Organising Secretary

By Lawrence Olaoye

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he National Organising Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Abubakar Mustapha, at the weekend said the task of reconciling the aggrieved members of the party may seem easy from the surface but it is actually a difficult challenge.

Mustapha while responding to questions from newsmen equally clarified that the party did not attach any condition to the reconciliation of aggrieved members across the country.

The party's National Adviser, Victor Kwon, had earlier warned that the party would not take all those who left the party back by saying that 'snakes and reptiles' would not be

readmitted but the National Organising Secretary declared that all those who are willing to return back to the party's fold would be readmitted.

He added that the Reconciliation committee chaired by the former Vice President, Chief Alex Ekwueme, has begun its assignments even as he lamented that most states lost to the opposition in the country were actually PDP states.

He said "Majority of the people in the South West, where we have lost elections, are members of the PDP. We lost elections in those states because of the division among our members.

Reconciliation of these aggrieved members may seem simple but it is actually complex. This is

because there are several conflicting interests involved.

Stressing the popularity of the ruling party in the South West, Mustpaha said "The fact that the PDP is the party to beat in the South West came to the fore in the recently conducted governorship election in Ondo state. In spite of the media hype done by the opposition, the PDP still came second even considering the late entrance of our candidate into the race. This shows that our party is well grounded in the state."

He also pointed out that the PDP remains the only national party with presence in all nooks and crannies of the country.

According to him, "The PDP is the only party that does not belong to any individual but to the people.

Mention any of the opposition parties and you will readily attach a name to its ownership but the PDP is the party that belongs to nobody but Nigerians."

The National Organising Secretary who stressed that the present leadership of the party under Alhaji Bamanga Tukur has vowed to uphold discipline among its members also hinted that the welfare of its workers would be improved soon.

He said the first thing the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party did on resumption was to review the welfare packages of the party's secretariat workers and that the review would soon be implemented. Mustapaha also denied the insinuation that the party was broke.

Constitution review: Kwara North Senatorial district endorses state creation, rotational presidency From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

T

he people of Baruteen, Kaima Local government which constitute part of Kwara North Senatorial district have endorsed the creation of new states as well as rotational President between Northern an Southern parts of Nigeria in the House of Representatives Peoples’ Public session on the 1999 constitution review.

The Federal constituency under Rep Zakari Muhammed, the Chairman House Committee on Media and Public Affairs,

argued on whether or not to retain immunity clause for the President, Vice President, Governors and Deputy Governors in the constitution.

The constituency however agreed that they would not be segregated if President are being rotated within the Northern and Southern parts of the country stressing that removal of immunity would create a lot of chaos in the country.

They also disagreed over more than four year tenure for President, voting right for Nigerians in diaspora as well

as abolition of bi-cameral legislature among other 38 issues raised for reviewed in the 1999 constitution.

While Speaking with this reporter after the constituency meeting, Muhammed explained that the agreement of his people on states creation does not mean that they want to be carved away from present Kwara State rather what they want was more local government that would be recognised constitutionally.

Justifying the action of the House and its effectiveness ,

Muhammed said” For us at the 7th legislative, we have told ourselves that we are definitely going to work for the people of Nigeria and we believe that we are answerable to them.”

He added that the report of the exercise would not be swept under carpet stressing that the exercise has given Nigerians to voice out on what they want and disliked in the constitution.

The House spokesman said the report of the exercise would not be delayed after public hearing at National Assembly on the matter.

he All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) has dismissed a media report credited to the Group Managing Director of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Andrew Yakubu, that local crude oil production has reached an all-time high of 2.7 million barrels per day, above the budgeted production level of 2.48mbpd, describing it as an insult to Nigerians.

“Bearing in mind that the nation is presently under the throes of biting fuel scarcity nationwide and that it is the primary task of the corporation to supply petroleum products, the NNPC brag is nothing but insult to the psyche of the suffering masses,” the opposition party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Emma Eneukwu, stated.

The party pointed out that “there are very long queues at filling stations in every part of the country, with many of them selling fuel far above the approved pump price. The Nigerian people, who should be enjoying the benevolent gesture of the Almighty in situating such bountiful natural resources under our very feet, are today confronted by the unnecessary hardship brought about by sheer incompetence and corruption entrenched in the very organ of government whose task is to manage such blessing.

“We wonder why the NNPC with the other petroleum outfits under it are not able to ensure steady supply of petroleum products as well as sanity in its distribution,” the party added.

The ANPP queried the figure given by the NNPC which indicated that Nigeria’s crude oil production per day was 2.7 barrels, while asserting that the NNPC has no metering system with which to authoritatively gauge their daily production level.

Eneukwu, call on the NNPC to concentrate on upgrading its infrastructure for efficiency rather than playing to the gallery with nothing to show for its vaunted performance.

He then called on the National Assembly in the light of its oversight function over the nation’s oil company, to insist that the NNPC produce statements of accounts reflecting transactions relating to the marketing and sales of crude oil in the country.

“We believe that the nation’s crude oil account should not be shrouded in secrecy; the Nigerian people need to know how their commonwealth is being managed”, he said.

PAGE 40

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

L-R Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo, President Goodluck Jonathan and Chairman Dangote Group of Companies Alhaji Aliko Dangote during the Fund raising ceremony organized by the Presidential Committee on Flood relief and rehabilitation held at the State House Abuja yesterday.

Photo: Joe Oroye

Constituency Congress: PDP threatens to petition NASS, Presidency over poor publicity

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he PDP in Lagos state on Saturday said that it would petition the National Assembly and the Presidency over alleged poor publicity of the constituency congress on the review of the 1999 Constitution.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the House of Representatives on Saturday organised the congress in all federal constituencies across the

country.

The PDP, in a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Taofik Gani, said that most of the centres designated for the public hearing in Lagos State were not known to the public.

The party also alleged that the ACN, the ruling party in the state, hijacked the congress.“This is so much that other Lagosians cannot join in the

presentations,’’ it said.

The PDP stressed that the inadequate publicity for the constituency congress resulted in a low turnout, adding that this would consequently make the outcome of the congress unable to reflect the true wishes of Lagos residents.

Reacting, Mr Joe Igbokwe, the state Publicity Secretary of the ACN, described the allegations as unfounded. (NAN)

Former Ondo Milad hails Mimiko’s election From Ayodele Samuel,

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former Military Administrator of Ondo State, Col Ahmed Usman (rtd.), at the weekend hailed the re-lection of Dr Olusegun Mimiko by the people of the State saying that Mimiko was a worthy successor who had taken the state to heights hitherto unimagined.

The former administrator was in Akure at the weekend where he lauded the governor for the transformation of the state capital added that the people of the state made the best choice by reelecting Mimiko.

He said “There is no gainsaying the fact that Dr Olusegun Mimiko has recorded

a lot of monumental achievements which are not only there for people to see but also to celebrate. This is a man who has brought to bear fresh ideas of his own to develop this state into such a modern one within the space of three and a half years. Indeed, Dr Mimiko is a true democrat, a patriotic Nigerian who has distinguished himself through impeccable credential and I am glad that the people of Ondo State decided to vote for a performer who am sure would take Ondo State to even greater heights during his second term in office.

“Having administered this state before, I am aware of the enormous challenge that

governing the state could pose; but for Mimiko to rise to the occasion and put Ondo State on the global map, build on the foundation we were able to lay between 1994 and 1996, and today be a toast of the world, is no mean feat and one is gratified that the people saw these qualities in him and voted overwhelmingly for him in spite of the odds against him.

“Dr Mimiko really deserved to be re-elected and I must say that I am proud of the people of Ondo for not allowing this great man to slip between their fingers and he would definitely not disappoint them as I can see a greater Ondo State in the making during his second term of office.”

Osoba, Lai Mohammed, others mourn Lam Adesina problems of Nigeria to the last.

S

ome Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) chieftains yesterday extolled the virtues of Chief Lam Adesina, a former governor of Oyo state, who died yesterday.

In a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Chief Segun Osoba, a former governor of Ogun, said that it was still difficult for him to believe that Adesina had died.

“I was with him eight hours before he was said to have passed on to the eternal

beyond. He was in a jolly good mood when we last saw,’’ Osoba said.

In his reaction, the ACN National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, described Adesina’s death as a great loss, both to the ACN and Nigeria.

“Nigeria has lost a man of conscience,’’ Mohammed said, pointing out that Adesina spent his life fighting for a new Nigeria.

“He relentlessly fought for a better Nigeria and remained concerned with the

Nigeria has lost a statesman.’’

Chief Henry Ajomale, ACN’s Lagos State Chairman, described Adesina as a great leader.

Ajomale told NAN that Adesina’s departure from this world would affect the ACN and Nigeria as a whole.

Meanwhile, Mr Austin Nnorom, the South-West Secretary, Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), said that the group would support Adesina’s family to keep their deceased father’s legacies alive.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

PAGE 41

Suarez’s goal earns Liverpool a point at Stamford Bridge

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73rd minutes goal

by Luis Suarez saw Liverpool come from a goal down to earn a share of the spoils in a Barclays Premiership match against Chelsea yesterday.

Captain John Terry gave Chelsea the lead in the 20th minute on his return to the side, but numerous wasted scoring opportunities allowed Liverpool back into a game they should have lost by two or three goals at the very least.

Liuz Suarez

The result sees Chelsea stay in third spot on the table with 24 points while Liverpool languish in the bottom half of the table in 13th place with 12 points.

From the first whistle Chelsea were in control of the match and should have taken the lead as early as the sixth minute.

Eden Hazard played Oscar through on goal and with only the keeper the Chelsea man fired the ball over the crossbar from close range.

113 Nigerian referees fail Cooper Test

By Patrick Andrew

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bout a quarter of the Nigerian referees that participated in last weekend’s Cooper Test preparatory for the new season scheduled to begin next month failed the annual ritual.

According to the President of the Nigeria Referees Association (NRA), Alhaji Ahmed Maude, out of the 528 referees that took part in

the exercise only 394 were successful.

This means that a staggering number of 113 of the participants could not scale the hurdles, and thus are eliminated from the list of the referees that would officiate at matches next season.

The cooper test, which is a mandatory FIFA requirement for testing referees physical and mental endurance, was conducted over the weekend at the National

Stadium Abuja.

Aside from the number of referees that failed the test, no fewer than 21 of them were disqualified for various reasons including age discrepancies, healthrelated questions and suspensions arising from last season’s sanctions.

Peoples Daily Sports learnt that the exercise was conducted by top grade FIFA batched referees including the likes of Linus Mba, Emmanuel Imieri, among others

while the exercise was witnessed by the NFF second vice president, Victor Baribote.

And to ensure the transparency of the exercise, the latest technology, Micro Gate, was used as it helped to determine the referees’ suitability and endurance during the matches.

In spite of the large number of referees that failed the test, Maude was delighted that nothing untoward happened unlike

The Blues continued to pile on the pressure and were rewarded for their efforts in the 20thminute when Terry handed them the lead from a corner-kick after some horrible marking by the Liverpool defence.

The corner was delivered at great pace and terry, completely unmarked, rose at the from post ten-yards out to powerfully head home on his return from suspension. last year when two deaths were recorded.

“The referees are up and doing. We did not record any casualty and we assured you only the best of them will be in charge of the proceedings when the league resumes this season.

None of them can claim he was unjustly disqualified or victimized.

Everything was done in the open and transparently,” he said.

Mikel, Moses out as Eagles off for USA

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Mikel Obi out of Eagles versus Venezuela match

helsea duo of Mikel Obi and Victor Moses have pulled out of Wednesday’s friendly against Venezuela, coach Stephen Keshi has disclosed.

Already ruled out of the match in Miami is injury-hit Rennes defender Onyekachi Apam.

In their places, Keshi has extended invitation to Sharks winger Gomo Onduku, who has been in splendid form at the national camp and was part of the team that travelled yesterday to Miami, Florida for the encounter against Venezuela.

“Bright Dike, who stars in the MLS for Timberwolves FC has already been invited to play in his stead and we are sure that he will do well in the encounter, especially as he is based in the United States,” Keshi declared.

Keshi said that the players had different reasons for not being part of the game, but that should not bring fears to Nigerians as capable replacements have already been named for the encounter.

Mikel, for instance, has family reasons.

“I have been there before and we don’t have any grudges against players withdrawing from friendlies, especially when they are compelled to do that, but we want to be told in time so that we can make replacements”, Keshi declared on Sunday morning.

All other players invited for the encounter have since confirmed their early arrival, even as the team jetted out last night via Delta Airlines for the game that comes up on Wednesday night in Florida, USA. NFF president Aminu Maigari, is expected to lead the delegation for the friendly, that kick starts Nigeria’s preparations for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations to be hosted in South Africa.

Ahmed Muade, NRA President

Seven minutes later and Fernando Torres brought the best out of Bradley Jones in the Red’s goal from ten-yards out. The keeper, though, parried the ball straight to Hazard who fired wide with an open goal at his mercy.

Chelsea suffered a huge set-back in the 39th minute when John Terry had to leave the field injured after it appeared he had done some bad ligament damage to his knee.

Nonetheless, despite the loss of their captain, Chelsea pressed forward and Juan Mata found himself through on goal after a great solo run, beating three players before a wasteful shot over the goal with just the keeper to beat.

The second half continued in the same vein and only Jones kept his side in the match as he denied Torres from a close range header after the Spaniard got onto the end of a corner-kick in the 57th minute.

Chelsea were then made to pay for their inadequacies in front of goal in the 73rdminute when Suarez drew the Reds level.

Jamie Carragher got in front of his marker at a corner-kick to flick the ball on at the near post and Suarez was at the back post to header home from only a couple of yards out, 1-1.

Neither side could grab the winner as honours finished all square.

AWC: Equatorial Guinea are champions as Falcons crash again

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quatorial Guinea trounce their South African counterparts Banyana Banyana 4-0 to lift the African Women’s Championship trophy.

The Super Falcons, who were the defending champions did not failed to secure a place in the final, but also could not beat Cameroon in the Losers’ Final that was equally decided yesterday.

The Nigerians lost the chance to salvage some lost pride as they lost 0-1 to the Indomitable Lionesses. It was a 31st minute strike by Gaelle Enganamouit that did the damage to see the Falcons finish their worstever AWC in fourth place.

The Lionesses outplayed six-time champions Nigeria to avenge a 2-1 defeat in the group stage of the tournament. Cameroon also eliminated Nigeria from the 2012 London Olympics qualifiers.

The Falcons are expected back this morning with the future of coach Kadiri Ikhana very uncertain.

PAGE 42

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

Wigan prodigy Miyaichi says Nigeria 2009 was real World Cup experience Despite only being 19 years of age, Ryo Miyaichi has already experienced a lot in his career so far. After impressing at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria back in 2009 he was snapped up by Arsenal, with Arsene Wenger declaring that “his raw ability has attracted many clubs around the world.”

Wenger have the teenager very little time to settle in England and he was soon shipped off to Feyenoord on a season-long loan deal. There, he was named man of the match on his debut and was dubbed as ‘Ryodinho’ by a section of the Dutch media.

Upon his return to England, Arsenal have allowed him to continue his footballing education at Bolton Wanderers and now Wigan Athletic in order to give him greater experience. The winger admits that he’s ‘enjoying every minute’ of his career, particularly at Wigan where he has shown glimpses of potential greatness.

Arsene Wenger

Wenger demands new attitude from players

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rsene Wenger has refused to write off Arsenal’s chances in the Premier League, but warned his side they must eliminate the defensive mistakes that have scarred recent performances.

The Gunners manager watched in frustration as his side allowed a two-goal lead to slip for the second time in five days before eventually being forced to settle for a point in a 3-3 home draw with Fulham on Saturday.

Wenger was critical of a defence that has now conceded 12 goals in four games.

“The positive is we can score goals now. The negative is to concede three goals at home and the chances we gave away I don’t think defensively it was a historical performance,” he said.

Wenger was particularly frustrated by the poor marking that allowed Dimitar Berbatov to head Fulham back into the match after Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podoslki had put Arsenal 2-0 up.

And the manager’s efforts to remedy the problem will be hindered by the looming international week. “I feel where we are most guilty is on the corner,” said Wenger.

“We were 2-0 up and Berbatov and Bryan Ruiz, we know, can create chances. But nobody jumped for the ball at all, we just let them score.

“That doesn’t happen very often when you are at home. We have to just keep working on it but it will be difficult this week because everybody goes away.”

Alex Kacaniklic and Berbatov put Fulham 3-2 up before Giroud levelled with his second goal and the home side were denied victory when Mark Schwarzer saved Mikel Arteta’s injury-time penalty.

Giroud’s performance impressed Wenger, who said: “Giroud had a very good game. He had presence, wins the long ball, he is dangerous and starts to have belief in what he is doing.

“I feel there were a lot of positives in his game today.”

The result left Arsenal 11 points behind leaders Manchester United, who came from two goals down to win 3-2 at Aston Villa.

“It’s not an ideal situation, but we have shown before we can fight and we have shown today we can fight,” said Wenger.

“There are a lot of positives in our team. At the moment we don’t get the positives we want, but I still feel we have good potential in our side.”

Wenger had been angered by Roy Hodgson’s decision to include Jack Wilshere who was suspended against Fulham in the England squad so soon after the midfielder’s return from a 17-month injury lay-off.

And the manager questioned whether Theo Walcott would be fit to join up with the England squad for the trip to Sweden after he limped out of the Fulham clash.

Wenger said: “Walcott has a glute problem and we nearly took him off at halftime, but we left him on and it got worse.

“At the moment he is limping and I don’t know if he will be capable of joining the national team or not at this moment. What I can do is pray that everybody comes back in good health.”

Y

ou featured at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria, what’s your memory of the tournament and how did it help you develop as a player?

It was a pivotal experience in my career. In the group we played against Brazil, including both Neymar and Philippe Coutinho, and also against Switzerland, who won the tournament in the end.

It’s no understatement to say that I would not be where I am today without that tournament, because through my experiences at the FIFA U-17 World Cup I began to learn about real ‘world football’.

So many young players want to come to England, not only because they want to play in the big stadiums with their history, but also to develop their game. Why is English football important to a player like you?

As far as Japanese TV is concerned, there are so many live Premier League matches shown. So when I was younger I enjoyed watching Premier League, I could see the pace and high tempo of it even on TV. Those features attracted me so much when I was child and I thought it was a great league, very impressive.

You look to have quite a happy demeanour, you’re always pictured smiling. Do you think your personality has helped you adapt to your new surroundings?

I have an easy-going personality; I always try to be very friendly even to strangers. By living in several countries I’ve found I’ve grown up more and more. I quickly sensed the importance of my time in the Ryo Miyaichi, all played at Nigeria 2009 FIFA U-17 World Youth Championship Netherlands and I’m sure I am growing up the right way by living overseas.

You’ve been away from a life in Japan for many years, what do you miss most about your country?

I miss Japanese food. Of course I can eat it in the foreign countries too but in my opinion authentic Japanese food in Japan is outstanding.

It’s only 18 months until the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. Does the idea of potentially playing for the Samurai Blue there, excite you?

Of course playing in the World Cup is my true dream, but to be honest it’s every kid’s dream.

However, Japan still has to play in the final round of qualifying matches, so our team needs to continue preparing as a team. As a player, I would like to show my quality on the pitch at club level so I may then be called up by the Japanese national team. That’s the most important thing I think.

Neymar, Philippe Coutinho

You’ve joined Wigan Athletic on a year-long loan and you seem to be very excited to be here and very happy. What is it like at the DW Stadium, are you enjoying it?

Every day is exciting for me. All my team-mates and the staff are really friendly, that’s why I settled into this team so easily and I thank everyone at the club for that. When it comes to football, Wigan play a skilful, passing game and there’s a lot I can learn at this club.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

PAGE 43

Chebet wins again as Kirui impresses at AKXC Series in Machakos

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mily Chebet, the 2010 IAAF World Cross-Country champion, again acclaim the crown by notching up her second win on the bounce during the second KCB/AK National Cross Country Series meeting held in the eastern town of Machakos over the weekend.

In the men’s long race, World junior 10,000m bronze medallist and fifthplace finisher at the Kenyan Olympic 10,000m Trial in Eugene, Geoffrey Kirui, tore the form book to shreds when he humbled a field of decorated runners including 2010 World junior champion Caleb Mwangangi Ndiku and his African Cross gold medallist namesake John Mwangangi.

The junior races failed to yield a repeat winner from the opening round last week as Moses Mukono was forced to accept runner-up position by Peter Namuria in the men’s 8km with Mercy Chemwogen taking the honours in the junior women’s 6km where Nyahururu winner Sheila Chemg’etich came home in sixth.

Emily Chebet, who was last in the opener in Nyahururu a week ago, prevailed over her closest rival in the shape of Kenya Defence Forces athlete and Boston Marathon runner-up Jemimah Chelagat in a battle of wits that lasted more than half of the race.

The winner arrived at the tape in 25:01.8 against Chelagat’s 25:03.6 after making her winning move about 60m from the finish to finally prevail over her closest challenger who had sustained the surge in the front with no sign of letting up.

Joyline Chelagat, who was eighth in Nyahururu, improved to third here in 25:56.0 to share the podium with her illustrious competitors in the race that had the assembled crowd on their feet.

In the corresponding men’s event Geoffrey Kirui, who saw his Olympics bid ended at the specially arranged Prefontaine Classic Kenyan 10,000m selection race in June, made his introduction to senior cross-country running a memorable one by stunning the deepest field on show.

The 13:20.54/26:55.73 career best runner over 5000m/10000m who won bronze in the longer distance at the Barcelona World Juniors used his finishing mastery in the business end of the keenly-contested race to breast the tape first in 32:52.7.

Kenya Wildlife Service runner Silas Kimutai followed the winner home in 33:22.3 to serve notice of his talent as the established runners led by the 2010 World junior and African 1500m champion Caleb Mwangangi (33:22.3) in third started arriving at the finish.

Forces athlete Mark Kiptoo (33:28.0), who captained the Kenyan team to the Jordan World Cross, proved his staying power at 36 years old to finish fourth just above the other Mwangangi and home favourite John (33:30.8) who is the reigning African Cross champion.

Commonwealth 10,000m silver medallist Daniel Lemashon (33:57.0) was seventh while Nicholas Togom (33:58.6), the jackpot winner from last season, finished eighth.

Mukono meets his match

M

oses Mukono a village-mate and training partner to world 800m record-holder David Rudisha met his match at the hands of Peter Namuria, who kept up with his searing turn of speed from the second lap before catching him as they came to the final 200m.

Namuria then showed the 2012 World Juniors representative a clean pair of heels to home in for victory in 21:51.40 as Mukono gratefully accepted to play bridesmaid in 21:52.40.

Peter Limo (22:05.10) executed a lunge for the finish line to deny home runner Katui Muia (22:05.60) in a frenetic dash for the final place in the rostrum.

In the junior women’s race, the World 3000m junior champion Mercy Chebwogen stamped her authority by staging a runaway victory that ended with the clock reading 18:53.6 when she was done with her gun-to- tape display.

Her ferocious front running left the rest of the starters that included the Lille World Youth sixth-place finisher Sheila Chemg’etich who trounced all comers in Nyahururu a week ago competing for the minor podium positions.

Edna Chepkemboi (18:57.0), who won silver at the East Africa Youth Championships in Kampala, eventually finished second as Jackline Chebwogen (19:01.8) continued her solid showing in the series by taking third.

Meet sponsors KCB have set aside Sh1.2m ($14,117) to be shared across the four categories with the winners by points at the end of the competition taking home $2,353 (Sh200,000).

Following Machakos, Chebet and

Mukono are in pole position to scoop the pay-out since they need to finish among the top seven in two of the remaining five meetings including the final in Kericho at the end of January.

Junior women 1. Mercy Chebwogen 18:53.6 2. Edna Chepkemboi 18:57.0 3. Jackline Chebwogen 19:01.8 4. Eva Cherono 19:06.8 5. Damaris Muthee 19:14.0 6. Sheila Chemg’etich 19:16.0 7. Margaret Murinju 19:37.8 8. Clementine Chelagat 19:38.0 9. Everlyn Chepkoech 19:40.8 10. Mbithe Nzisa 19:44.2 Junior men 1. Peter Namuria 21:51.4 2. Moses Mukono 21:52.4 3. Peter Limo 22:05.1 4. Katui Muia 22:05.6 5. Hillary Langat 22:13.2 6. Ernest Ngeno 22:35.5 7. Dominic Mailu 22:39.6 8. Alex Mutiso 22:42.4 9. Raphael Leina 22:44.2 10. Joshua Maingi 22:45.0 Senior women 8km 1. Emily Chebet 25:01.8 2. Jemimah Chelagat 25:03.6 3. Joyline Chelagat 25:56.0 4. Nzembi Musyoka 25:07.0 5. Agnes Katunge pri 26:24.4 6. Mumbua Kioko 26:33.7 7. Jane Wanja 26:51.4 8. Perine Nenkampi 27:12.2 9. Tabitha Chelagat 27:26.9 10. Jane Murage 27:28.9 Senior men 12km 1. Geoffrey Kirui 32:52.7 2. Silas Kimutai 33:05.6 3. Caleb Mwangangi 33:22.3 4. Mark Kiptoo 33:28.0 5. John Mwangangi 33:30.8 6. Mike Rotich 33:40.8 7. Daniel Lemashon 33:57.0 8. Nicholas Togom 33:58.6 9. Alex Oloititip 34:02.0 10. Serian Paul 34:03.4

PAGE 44

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

2013 Nations Cup finals

Renard acknowledges Ethiopia’s Said, wary of threat

Z

ambia coach Herve Renard has singled out Ethiopian striker Saladin Said as the player to lookout for in the two sides opening 2013 Africa Cup game.

The African champions and Ethiopia will clash in their

opening Group C match on January 21 in Nelspruit.

Renard said he had seen the Egyptian-based player from Wadi Degla in action and described him as a rising star.

“We have to be careful they have some very good players like

one striker Said (Saladin). I think he is one of the best players in Africa so we have to very careful,” Renard said.

The 24-year-old is Ethiopia’s top scorer this year with three goals in six qualifiers including one in a 1-1 draw against Bafana-

Bafana in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier earlier this year.

Said also scored one goal in Ethiopia’s 2-0 home win over Sudan in the final leg qualifier to help clinch the 1962 champions place at the South Africa finals.

Musa allays Keshi’s worries, says ‘I can lead Eagles attack’

A

hmed Musa has told Eagles coach Stephen Keshi he can lead Eagles attack at next year’s Nations Cup in South Africa.

Jet-heeled Musa has been moved from a winger to a centre forward by his Russian club CSKA Moscow and the results have been remarkable as he has now scored seven goals in the league as well as a goal in the cup.

The first of his brace against Kuban Krasnoder on Saturday was a typical striker’s goal as he used his blistering pace to reach a long through ball before slotting past a helpless goalkeeper.

“I am enjoying my new role as top striker for CSKA. It has given me a chance to score more goals. I will lead Eagles attack well if I’m asked to do so too,” Musa said.

He said his goals in Russia could also be attributed to the fact that he has fully settled down at the army team after his big-money switch from modest Dutch club VVV Venlo.

“I am also scoring goals because I have adjusted to the league in Russia and now know what is expected of me,” he disclosed.

Last month against Liberia in Calabar, the former Kano Pillars star was played mainly as a left winger and scored a goal.

He scored a total of two goals in the qualifiers for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, a goal behind the team’s top scorer Ikechukwu Uche.

Three seasons ago, Musa showed he knows his way to goal when he scored a recordbreaking 18 goals for Kano Pillars playing mostly as a right winger.

Isaac Chansa

Chris Katongo

... As Chansa, Katongo hit camp for Mandela clash

I

saac Chansa and Chris Katongo have joined Zambia for Wednesday’s Nelson Mandela Challenge clash against Bafana Bafana of South Africa.

The African champions will use this game as part of their preparation for the Africa Cup of Nations, where they are drawn in Group C along with Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia.

Chansa and Katongo of Chinese club Henan Jianye were part of the seven-member team that flew out from Lusaka on Sunday.

Also in the travelling party from Kenneth Kaunda international Airport was striker James Chamanga, who also plays in China for

Dalian Shide.

These are the only foreign-based players to have left with the team from Lusaka. They joined four home-based players on the flight to Johannesburg, where they will be joined by another 17 players.

The home-based players include the Power Dynamos duo of midfielder Mukuka Mulenga and goalkeeper Joshua Titima.

Red Arrows goalkeeper Daniel Munyau and midfielder Shadreck Malambo complete the home-based call-ups to face Bafana at Soccer City on Wednesday.

Black Stars to earn $15,000 per match

B

lack Stars will earn US$ 15,000 for winning a match at the Nations Cup. This was disclosed by the Ghana Football Association president Kwasi Nyantakyi.

The winning bonus, according to the FA president will not be deserved but meant to boost the players and ensure the Ghana breaks the jinx of not winning the continental

Asamoah Gyan

trophy for 30 years.

The financial package is expected to motivate the players and technical body to end their trophy drought since 1982.

Early this week, football administrator Takyi Arhin questioned the reward package for the team at next January’s finals in South Africa.

The former BA Stars Chief Executive claimed the amount was on a high and will have a burden on Ghana’s economy. But Nyantakyi disagrees and explains what went into the slight increment.

“Monies that sportsmen especially footballers earn falls

outside a country’s payment scheme,” he said.

“Footballers earn more than Presidents so it will be wrong on anyone’s part to draw such a comparison. In 2008 when we hosted the Nations Cup, we were paying US$ 10,000.

“That figure has seen little increments over subsequent tournaments so it is not as if we are making sharp increment.”

Ghana must advance from a Group comprising DR Congo, Mali and Niger before thinking about annexing the trophy.

The Black Stars will camp in Abu Dhabi, UAE for the 19 January to 10 February tournament in South Africa.

SAFA fixes Desert Warriors, Bafana Bafana friendly

B

afana Bafana are to take on Algeria in their last warmup game before next year’s African Nations Cup, a fixture yet to be announced by the home country but divulged by the Algerian Football Federation over the weekend.

The game will be played in

Pretoria on January 13, but the exact venue is not yet to be decided.

It will be the last game for the host nation ahead of the start of the tournament on January 19 when the South Africans take on the Cape Verde Islands at Soccer City.

The South African Football

Association have already announced two warm-up games against Zambia on Wednesday at Soccer City for the Nelson Mandela Challenge plus a game on January 8 against Norway at the Cape Town Stadium.

A further fixture is being planned for Durban on December

23 with coach Gordon Igesund traveling to Europe this week to persuade clubs to release their players to the squad ahead of the designated date of January 5.

Details of the opponent are not yet known but SAFA chief executive officer Robin Petersen last month said it would be one of

the Nations Cup finalists.

South Africa have met Algeria twice before both at Nations Cup tournaments. Bafana scored a dramatic late win over Algeria in the 1996 Nations Cup quarterfinals but the two sides played a docile draw in Ghana in 2000.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

PAGE 45

1

3

2

4 PICTORIAL

5

1... Wladimir Klitschko retained his IBF, IBO, WBO and WBA heavyweight titles by recording a unanimous points decision over Poland’s Mariusz Wach in Hamburg.

2...Novak Djokovic proved his powers of recovery once again by fighting back to beat Juan Martin del Potro in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals. The world number one came back from a set and break down to win 4-6 6-3 6-2 at London’s O2 Arena.

3...Dani Pedrosa ended the MotoGP season with a win in Valencia after newly crowned world champion Jorge Lorenzo had a huge crash.

Lorenzo - who sealed the title in Australia last month - opted to start on slick tyres on a wet track.

4....Edin Dzeko’s late winner gave Manchester City a dramatic victory over Tottenham that keeps them in touch with leaders Manchester United and just two points off the top of the Premier League.

5....World number one Rory McIlroy secured the European Tour money list after finishing third at the Singapore Open. The 23-year-old USPGA champion emulated Luke Donald’s achievement last year of finishing top of the list in Europe and the United States in the same season.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

PAGE 47

Say what?

Source: Reader's Digest * Source: Weird facts

FACTS

33. Ninety percent of New York City cabbies are recently arrived immigrants.

34. Elephants are the only animals that can't jump.

35. Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.

36. Women blink nearly twice as much as men.

37. It's physically impossible for you to lick your elbow.

38. The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.

39. A snail can sleep for three years.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Quick CrossWord (67) ACROSS 7 Wordsmith (6) 8 Completely, absolutely (6) 9 East of __, novel by John Steinbeck (4) 10 Closed patry-case (3) 11 Principal (4) 12 In a lost state (6) 14 Colour of custard (6) 16 Chum (6) 19 Liar (6) 21 Solemny swear (4) 23 Nark (3) 24 Legendary animals from Kilkenny (4) 25 Disclose (6) 26 Chewy nutty sweet (6) DOWN 1 Newly-wed woman (6) 2 Knock senseless (4) 3 Cough up in advance (6) 4 Nippy (6) 5 Beaten musical instrument (4) 6 Rabbit with pink eyes (6) 13 A Pocketful of __, Agatha Christie story (3) 15 High ball in tennis (3) 17 Wandering, strolling (6) 18 Malignant spirits (6) 19 Repairing (6) 20 Minor actors (6) 22 From Monday to Sunday (4) 24 Vital point (4)

Yesterday’s answer

The 10-year-old sheepdog, Springer Spaniel feeds orphaned lamb milk from a bottle held in her mouth on a farm in Devon. The sheepdog has been trained from an early age to nurture needy lambs.

www.peoplesdaily-online.com

. . . putting the people first

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012

SPORTS LA TEST LATEST

CAF Confed.

Cup: Djoliba join AC Leopards in final

D

joliba join AC Leopards in CC Cup final, after a dramatic penalty shoot-out following their 2-0 victory against Al Hilal yesterday in Bamako.

Two goals down after the first leg in Omdurman, Alou Badra Diallo’s men managed a spectacular come-back in front of their fans, thanks to Idrissa Traoré Essien and Janvier Abouta’s successful attempts in the second-half.

On the front foot right from kick-off, the Malians struggled to find their way through a very solid Sudanese’s defence, despite numerous efforts by Ibrahima Traoré, Samba Diallo and Mamane Cissé.

Diallo’s cross just before the break was a real danger, but no one managed to reach the far post fast enough to send it home.

The fans got their hopes revived in the 52nd minute when Idrissa Traoré Essien opened the score from the penalty spot after one of his teammates was fouled by Al Hilal’s keeper, Geinaro Goma in the box.

And five minutes later, the Reds were very close to put number two on the score board, but Boubacar Bangoura’s close range attempt went over the cross-bar. But the home boys came back for good with twenty minutes to go, thanks to an acrobatic shot by Janvier Abouta.

This semi-final ended on a 2-2 draw on aggregate, sending the two teams to the penalty shoot-out to decide on a winner.

Both Al Hilal’s Edward Sadomba and Djoliba’s Idrissa Traoré Essien missed their attempt, extending the nerve breaking exercise to the sudden death.

And it’s the Malian outfit which ultimately sealed the qualification, 7 penalties to 6, Boubacar Bangoura scoring the winner after a good save by Djoliba’s keeper in front of Youssouf Mohamed.

Djoliba AC will face AC Leopards in the CC Cup final, following the 2-1 win on aggregate of the Congolese against the other Sudanese big gun, Al Merreikh.

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QUO TABLE Q UO TE UOT QUO UOTE In the CPC, it's the party that has the last word; individuals do not decide what they want or don't want to do...it's the party, not individuals, that sponsors candidates.

– Chief Tony Momoh, CPC Chairman, on Buhari's decision not to run for President in 2015

Boryobe Republic People in temper often say a lot of silly, terrible things that they really mean – P. Gilliatt national newspaper on Sunday November 11 headlined with a story in which the Borno state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Inuwa Bwala, claimed that the federal government has abandoned the people of the state.

The Commissioner told The Nation that no federal political office holder had visited the state either to assess the security situation, or to symphasise with the state government and its people. The paper said he complained that the President and his Vice have refused to come to the state to boost the morale of the people, or to show that they care and remind the people of the state that they are part and parcel of Nigeria. “We have been left on our own. For some time, nobody has shown that they really care, nobody has visited to show solidarity with us,” he said.

Although a team made up of the National Security Adviser, (NSA) and Chief of Defence Staff had visited, the Commissioner said the people of the state have been left on their own “as if we are not part of Nigeria. That has been our grouse against the federal government.”

For a spokesman of a government which has walked the tightrope of supporting agents of the federal government and dealing with the consequences of their activities while exposed to the now patently-partisan assaults of the Jamaatu Ahlil Sunnah Diddawati Waj Jihad (JASLIWAJ) (a.k.a. Boko Haram) this public outcry against the neglect of the state by the federal government is bound to make its mark. The cry against seeming insensitivity and neglect by the highest public office holders, one of whom is a northerner will, sound even louder against claims by the same commissioner that Borno state is functioning pretty much normally. He said markets and banks open, workers go to work, economic activities go on, flights come and go fully booked every day.

Perhaps the Commissioner was lost over what issues he wanted to raise in a rare opportunity to dispel the impression that Borno and Yobe states have been virtually grounded by the JASLIWAJ insurgency, or as he claimed, by criminals and political assassins who have hijacked the cause of

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FIFTEEN MINUTES with Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed drbabaahmed@yahoo.com

Gov. Kashim Shettima of Borno state the insurgency. He was doing the job of an image maker, but he was doing it badly. If life in Borno is virtually normal, what is there to complain over the failure of President Jonathan or Vice President Namadi Sambo to visit? How can things be normal in a state where being a prominent ANPP member is a virtual death sentence, and in which even the recent assassination of General Muhammadu Shuwa is speculatively linked with partisan interests?

The attempt to create the image of normalcy will do great harm to reality, and the life and circumstances of the vast majority of the population particularly in Borno and Yobe states. These circumstances under which millions of Nigeria citizens and thousands of soldiers, policemen and other security personnel live in these two states ought to have impressed upon the President the need to visit and commiserate with them.

It has been nothing short of bewildering that President Jonathan has not been able to visit the two states all this while.

The Commander-In-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces can demand near-perfect cover and protection to visit Maiduguri, even if he will be limited to the airport. No one believes that the airport is unsafe for the President

to land and take off any more. He could summon the entire State Executive Council, Council of Chiefs, Commanders of the JTF, community leaders, civil society groups and even school children to Maiduguri airport to meet with them, in case his security advisers caution him against driving into Maiduguri.

If the President is advised that Borno state is so unsafe that he cannot visit under any arrangement, then the war and the circumstances of the existence of the people in Borno and Yobe need to be fully reassessed. It should not be lost on the administration that the dispatch of a Minister to condole the people of Borno state over the assassination of General Shuwa has been very poorly received by most people. Why, for instance, couldn’t the President himself, or the Vice President, lead a delegation to show sympathy and concern over the loss of a genuine elder statesman whose murder has tremendous symbolism for this war?

By the day, the lives of people in Yobe and Borno states are becoming more imperiled. The cry for help from fellow citizens in the region is responded to with more violence from both sides.

Their elders and leaders have cried to the high heavens against high-handedness; and have been routinely reminded that they are the key to finding solutions to the very problems they complain over. They have seen an uprising blossom into a sophisticated insurgency, consuming their young people, their social infrastructure, economy and civilization. Their young either join the insurgency, or pay the price for it as perennial suspects, or targets of bullets and arrests.

Citizens run between the JTF and an insurgency which is deeply embedded in their communities, and live with endemic fear of both. State governments cannot protect them. The federal government is the JTF, at every doorstep with finger on triggers, and suspicious of everyone. Well-

to-do people migrate in droves by the day. Politicians are targeted and shot, and rich people who choose to stay are rumoured to pay for protection.

Participants who attended the North East Summit on Peace and Security a few weeks ago were bemused by the drama which surrounded the insertion of a sentence in the address of the convener, Alhaji Bello Kirfi, which said that the people of the North-east region may consider leaving the federation altogether owing to a feeling of being abandoned by the rest of Nigeria.

Frantic efforts were made to distance the forum from the statement, which was “withdrawn” by the author.

Which was just as well, because a forum of that nature has no mandate, legitimacy or credibility to decide the future of the beleaguered people of Borno, Yobe and neighboring states.

What it could have done, in the light of a revealing mindset from an elder statesman who had given his entire life to the service of his nation, was to devote the whole event to discussing strategies on how to reclaim Borno and Yobe states, and integrate them into the rest of the nation. Many people in that hall must know that most people in Yobe and Borno feel abandoned, whether it was said so or not at the forum.

Millions of citizens in Borno and Yobe states are caught up in a destructive stalemate. There are no peace-making initiatives in sight; and no evidence that either the state or the insurgency will win this war soon. They have missed out on the recent hearings on how the constitution of Nigeria should be amended. They see their President visit flood victims, commission projects in States, or summon elders in states feuding over oil wells to settle them. Their only contact with the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the JTF. They should be forgiven for thinking that they live in a different country, where violence alone determines how they live or die. The flicker of hope that a negotiating offer has been put out by the insurgency has now been snuffed by genuine doubt and deep suspicious that the crisis is being manipulated for narrow, selfish ends. This failure should spur other credible Nigerians, particularly those from the North to step up and come to the relief of millions of fellow Nigerians who are living under intolerable conditions.

Published by Peoples Media Limited, 35, Ajose Adeogun Street, 1st Floor Peace Park Plaza, Utako, Abuja. Kano office: Plot 3, Zaria Road, Opposite Kano State House of Assembly. Lagos Office: No.8 Oliyide Street, off Unity Road, Ikeja, Lagos. Tel: +234-09-8734478. Cell: +234 803 606 3308. e-mail: contact@peoplesdaily-online.com; pmlnewsdesk@gmail.com ISSN: 2141– 6141