Peoples Daily Newspaper, Thurday 14, February, 2013 Edition

www.peoplesdailyng.com

Vol. 10 No. 34

Thursday, February 14, 2013

. . . putting the people first

Media black out for Murtala Mohammed’s anniversary >> PAGE 3

Rabiul Akhir 4, 1434 AH

N150

10 burnt to Jonathan commends death in Kano Buhari’s support for auto crash centenary >> PAGE 4

>> PAGE 5

War in Mali

US snubs Nigeria over rights abuses

By Julius Ogar & Joy Baba

T

he United States is withholding support from Nigerian troops in Mali over alleged human rights abuses in Borno, Yobe and other states of the country where soldiers have been deployed on joint security operations to contain insurgency.

Nigeria is participating in the African-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA) meant to flush out rebels and rescue the country from total breakdown of law and order.

A highly placed source among the Nigerian contingent in Mali, stated that the US has named five West African countries including: Chad, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali and Nigeria as countries where there are violations of human rights by military personnel.

As a consequence, the US has refused to fund, kit and equip soldiers from countries in its list who are participating in AFISMA. Findings indicate that the US blacklisted Nigeria following reported cases of gross human Contd on Page 2

Members of National Assembly from Borno ANPP at the Lagos Governor's Lodge, in Asokoro, Abuja, in solidarity with the state Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, during Tuesday’s merger meeting by 11 opposition party governors in support of the new party All Progressive Congress (APC).

Katsina Assembly Approves Break up of Emirate Councils Daura Emirate to get 7 more LGAs From Lawal Saidu Funtua, Katsina

K

atsina State House of Assembly has given the go ahead to people in eleven local government areas in the southern part of the state, popularly called Karaduwa to seek for a new emirate and break away from Katsina emirate

council.

The State House of Assembly gave the go ahead while making efforts to enact a law to support the transfer of seven local government areas under Katsina State to Daura emirate council.

The move to enact the law followed a unanimous adoption of a motion moved by the minority

leader of the house, Alhaji Abdullahi Ibrahim Mahuta, which was seconded by Haliru Atiku Bakori.

The proposed local government areas to be cut out of Katsina Emirate, include Kankia, Ingawa, Kusada, Bindawa, Mani, Mashi and Dutsi which are currently under Daura

Senatorial zone.

The sponsor of the bill noted that the people of the affected seven local governments have similar culture and norms with the people of Daura hence the move to merge them with their brothers.

Announcing the resolution of the house, the Speaker, Alhaji Ya’u Umar Gwajo-Gwajo, noted Contd on Page 2

PD INDEX

13th Feb., 2013

CBN RATES $ £ EURO CFA RIYAL

BUYING 154.74 240.93 208.77 0.298 41.26

SELLING 155.74 242.48 210.12 0.318 41.52

PARALLEL RATES EURO £ RIYAL $

BUYING 208 254.50 42 157

SELLING 210 257.50 43 158

PAGE 2

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

CONTENTS News

2-10

Editorial

12

Op.Ed

13

Letters

14

Opinion

15

Metro

16-18

Business

19-22

S/Exchange

23

S/Report

24-25

Earth

26-27

Update

28-29

‘Bauchi Assembly’ll intensify oversight this year’, Page 37

Tribute Int’l

30 31-34

Newsxtra

36

Politics

37-40

Sports

41-46

Leisure

47

Columnist

48

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

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

Phones for News: 070-37756364 09-8734478

N150bn pension fraud: Senate, Jonathan for showdown IGP ordered to appear before Senate

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

T

he N150 billion fraud allegation levelled against the Chairman of the Presidential Task Team on Pension Reform, Abdulrasheed Maina, yesterday heightened the lingering rift between the Presidency and the legislature as senators recalled with anger the serial refusal of President Goodluck Jonathan to obey the resolutions of the National Assembly.

On this basis, the Senate unanimously mandated federal government to immediately dismiss Abdulrasheed Maina from the public service of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and disengage him from all acts related to public duty, failure of which the Senate is prepared to drag stamina with the Presidency.

The Senate which also ordered that Maina be subjected to investigation and prosecution, pointed out that the senate has been pushed to the wall, and is therefore ready to bite whoever that is backing Maina's corruption.

The Senators while taking turns to lambast Maina for dragging in the mud the name of the senate by bluffing the invitation to a public hearing to defend himself publicly over the N150 billion, also regretted that despite the hands of fellowship which they have extended to the President Jonathan in the interest of the nation's young democracy, what it has got in return is hostility and disdain.

The senators, pointing out that this does not augur well with the young democracy, observed that if the trend of Presidency shielding some corrupt individuals is not tackled, Nigeria will not move forward.

Suming debate on the motion seeking Maina's dismissal, which was moved by the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma Egba, PDP Cross River, and seconded by the entire 108 senators in upper chamber, the President of the Senate, David Mark, threatened that despite the depth of Maina's fraud and the personalities involved in it, every culprit must be prosecuted.

While emphasising that the Senate does not care who is backing Maina, the Senate President offered

the Presidency to choose between Maina and Senate, saying no body is bigger than Nigeria democracy. "...when we react,Nigerians will appreciate the steps that we have taken.So I don’t think that what we have done is out of place,we gave him enough time and he crucified himself. " He is wanted by the police, now, whether the police is serious or not in looking for Maina is the next step we are going to take because Maina cannot be briefing the press somewhere and the police will say they cannot find him.Let me assure you that the Senate has the teeth to bite and it will bite when it is time to bite.Nobody will be spared, we are not short of ideas," Mark stated.

Speaking ealier, the Leader of the Senate, Victor Egba, narrated that the Joint Committee set up by the Senate to investigate the fraud in the Nigerian pension management, had held committee and Public Investigation Hearings for seven days and according to Section 5 of the legislative houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, invited Maina to come and give account of his stewardship, but he snubbed the committee.

He added that for refusal of Maina to appear before the committee, the Senate President invoked the powers of the senate to compel his appearance by issuing a warrant of arrest on to Inspector General of Police.

He regretted that the Inspector General of Police has up till now, refused to honour and execute the warrant as issued by the Senate President.

Speaking in the same vein, the chairman of the Senate Joint Committee on Establishment and Civil Service, Aloysius Etok, who chaired the senate committee to investigate the pension fraud, said that while Maina was in Abuja claiming to have paid pensioners all their entitlement, names of many pensioners are missing in his pensioners list, adding that the N1billion he claimed to gave spent in acquiring bio data capturing machine for pensioners was fraudulent.

"He never did any verification as he claimed. He is a blackmailer, a pathological lier, he has no education in the rules of civil service," according to Etok.

Moreover, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekwerenmmadu, said the senate has spiritual duty to cleanse society of lawlessness, lamenting that previous resolutions by the National Assembly in general are mostly undermined by the executives.

Senator Olusola Adeyeye, said it is a treasonable felony for a Deputy Director in the ministry of interior to spun Senate invitation, adding that the President must punish this crime if he believes that the legislature is the engine room of democracy.

Gorge Akume, argued that

institutions are bigger than individuals, asking what powers does a deputy director has to over ride the powers if the senate if nit backed up by the Presidency.

Meanwhile, the senate also passed a resolution ordering the Inspector General of Police, Abubakar Ibrahim, to appear before its committee on Police Affairs, to give explanation on why he refused to produce Maina at the time directed by the Senate.

Against this background, Mark said, "When I signed the warrant, Maina of course didn’t show up and then I called the chairman of police affairs and said he should go and warn the Inspector General of Police that he would be on the firing line if he does nothing about Maina.I think then,they declared Maina wanted but even after declaring him wanted,Maina was still still talking.

"Yes,he was still talking and said he was in his house and I called the IGP this time around and said Maina said he is in his house and he narrated what happened. He said he sent his men from the Force CID to go to his house and that when they got to his house, Maina went out through the back door and that they had lay a siege in Maina’s house.

"The reason why I am saying all these things is that there are a lot of characters in this country who are just pathological liars and they are professional blackmailers," Mark stated.

FG uncovers ghost workers in federal civil service personnel cost will be based on actual verified number and not estimates.

Government has so far under taken staff auditing in 215 Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs and audited 153,019 staff as at January, 2013.

He disclose that 321 MDAs are yet to be captured on the IPPIS , adding that government has also established the Treasury Single Account as a unified structure of government bank account that gives a consolidated view of the cash position. 92 MDAs are currently on TSA, 97 Abuja based MDAs will be added by March 2013.

The Ministry is tasked with efficient Micro economic management, mobilization of fund for the real sector development and introduction of structural reforms that will enhance creation of jobs.

Ngama stated that it also has responsibility for Fiscal consolidation, Budget composition, increase revenue generation and the building of buffers to take care financial crises He noted that the Ministry for the first time broke the jinx surrounding late preparation of budget as the 2013 budget was presented at a record time, in September, 2012.

US snubs Nigeria over rights abuses

Katsina Assembly approves break up of Emirate Councils

Contd from Page 1 rights abuses including arbitrary arrests, detentions and extrajudicial killings in Borno, Yobe, Kano and other parts of the country where soldiers are deployed on joint internal security operations.

Reacting to these and other allegations, The ECOWAS Field Commander, Gen SU Abdulkadir, denied online reports that Nigerian troops in Mali were starving and were being fed by the locals.

Abdulkadir said, instead, the Malians were impressed with the performance of the Nigerian troops and donated a cow to them in appreciation.

In a chat with our correspondent, the Director of

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

F

ederal Government yesterday said it has discovered 45, 000 ghost workers from 251 Ministries Departments and Agencies of government under the integrated Payroll and Personal Information system, (IPPIS).

Minister of state for Finance, Yerima Ngama disclosed this while briefing State House Correspondents after the Federal Executive Council meeting.

Ngama who disclosed that the IPPIS was introduced to enhance efficiency in personnel cost planning and budgeting as

Defence Information (DDI), Col. Mohammed Yerima said the United Nations is not funding any country involved in AFISMA separately.

According to the DDI, “UN is to fund ECOWAS while ECOWAS in turn will fund the troops in Mali together" adding that "there is no isolation in their funding".

He further said that at the beginning of the operation, ECOWAS sought initial funding from UN but because of the exigency of the situation, ECOWAS asked each country to prepare initial funding for three months for their troops which Nigeria did and thereafter, UN will step in.

In a related development, Defence Headquarters said it has

increased the number of Nigerian troops to the African-led International Support in Mali (AFISMA).

A statement signed by the DDI in Abuja yesterday said Defence Headquarters has deployed a total of 724 troops, made up of 300 Nigerian Air Force personnel and 424 Nigerian Army personnel at the moment.

According to the statement, "Also deployed are heavy weapons, ammunition, vehicles and equipment", adding that Nigerian Air Force assets in the operation include two Alpha jets and one MI35 which will provide interdiction and close air support to ground troops based in Niamey, Niger Republic.

Contd from Page 1 that the request of the lawmaker could not materialize without a legal framework that would back the action of the House.

The move, according to the sponsor of the bill, would require the funds deducted from the seven local governments to be remitted into the coffers of Daura Local Government.

However, our correspondent gathered reliably that two more emirates councils would be carved out from Katsina Emirate which would include one in Dutsin-ma and another in Karaduwa zone.

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

PAGE 3

Media black out for Murtala Mohammed’s anniversary

By Ibrahim Kabiru Sule

T

he 37th anniversary of the death of General Murtala Mohammed was conspicuously bypassed by all of the national dailies in the country yesterday.

Gen. Mohammed was assassinated in a coup plot on Friday, 13 February, 1976, exactly 37 years yesterday.

Nigeria’s fourth Head of States was assassinated on his way to office in the then capital city of Lagos.

However, the anniversary did not receive a mention in the Nigerian media yesterday.

Even President Good Luck Jonathan had only made statement about the anniversary of the great hero of African continent through his social media channels, equating late

Mohammed’s famous speech of “Africa Has Come Of Age” with the victory of the country’s national team.

The statement reads: “Today marks the 37th anniversary of the death of General Murtala Ramat Mohammed, the great patriot who paid the ultimate price for Nigeria.

I urge all Nigerians to remember the life and times of this hero of Nigeria who proved the truism in

the maxim that people may die but ideas never die.

“But perhaps most prophetic is his speech at the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in January of 1976 where he said ‘Africa Has Come Of Age’. Almost 37 years to the day, all Nigerians celebrate our victorious Super Eagles who to paraphrase Murtala’s words, proved that Nigeria ‘has come of age’.”

R-L: President Goodluck Jonathan, First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, mother of the President, Mrs. Eunice Jonathan, Executive Secretary, Christian Pilgrims Commission, Mr. John Kennedy Opara, and CAN official, Mr. Abba Mshelia, during a special service to mark the Ash Wednesday, yesterday at the Basilica of Grace, in Gudu District, Apo, Abuja.

Photo: Joe Oroye

Terrorism: Suspect accuses SSS of tampering with statement

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

M

ohammed Suleiman Ashafa, who was indicted by the Federal Government in 2003 for recruiting and moving some Nigerian youths to Niger Republic and Pakistan for training as members of Al-Qaeda has alleged that the statement tendered in evidence against him was doctored by the State Security Service (SSS).

Ashafa is standing trial before Justice Adamu Bello over allegations of being a member of a terrorist group and also involved

in training of suspected Al Qaeda members in terrorism act.

When the matter came up yesterday, Ashafa said although the statement has his signature appended on it, the document was not his just as he expressed misgivings over the purported statement.

Speaking through an interpreter when asked by his counsel, N. C. Nwachukwu to verify the statement before the court, Ashafa stated: "I wrote my statement in Hausa language while the present document is in English language and I do not know English".

The accused person who told the court that he deals on Islamic books, told the court how he was forced by some officers of the SSS at gunpoint to sign the present statement carrying his signature.

"I was tortured, humiliated, severely beaten, and was stripped naked by SSS officials in their bid to make me succumb and sign their own version of the statement.

"One of them even held my manhood and was mocking it” Ashafa told the court.

He disclosed further that "when I refused to sign the statement written in English language, a

superior officer brought out a pistol and threatened to shoot me dead if I refuse to sign the document. After the inhuman torturing and treatment meted out on me, at that point, I had to sign in protest".

The accused person said he reluctantly carved into the tortuos pressure of the SSS officials because he wanted to see his family and the urge to stay alive.

While answering questions from the prosecutor, O.T. Olatigbe, the alleged Al Qaeda member revealed he has been with the SSS since 2003, till 2006, when he was charged to court.

Crisis in APC over party logo

By Umar Puma and Ikechukwu Okaforadi

T

here are strong indications that a crisis is brewing in the newly formed All Progressives Congress (APC), over the choice of party logo, in addition to the inclusion of part of the logo of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

It would be recalled that before now, the leadership of APGA has been at loggerheads, over its inclusion in the merger that formed APC. While Sadiq Massalla led national executive council of APGA alleged to be backed by Governor Peter Obi of Anambra state disassociated itself from the merger, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state, insisted that the original APGA is body and soul in the merger, describing Peter Obi's faction of APGA as an extension of PDP. Briefing journalists yesterday after the caucus meeting of the new APC in Abuja appeared deadlocked, the national publicity secretary of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Lai Mohammed, said APGA pulled out of the meeting to consult with their leadership over the inclusion of part of its symbol in the logo.

He explained that it will not be proper to adopt part of APGA symbols in the new APC logo, hence the party is factionalised.

"We cannot subject our new APC to litigations, if we include part of their symbol, they can take us to court," he stated.

Lai, admitted that the new APC still has a long way to go in becoming a full-fledged political party, adding that in view of this, the caucus has agreed to constitute committees to handle issues relating to logo, INEC guideline, constitution and manifesto.

He added that as part of the INEC's guideline, the APC caucus agreed that each party should write to INEC, indicating their interest to join the merger.

Meanwhile, the meeting will continue Tuesday next week for further deliberations on the APGA issues.

Among the dignitaries that attended the meeting were Gov of Osun state, Rauf Aregbeshola, former Governor of Kano state, Ibrahim Shekarau, ANPP Board of Trustees Chairman, Ali Modu Sherif, many opposition Senators and House of Reps Members.

Terrorism has assumed frightening dimension – NIREC From Mike Etim, Uyo

N

igeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), has warned that terrorism and its attendant problems has assumed frightening dimensions threatening the cordial relationship between the two main religions in the country thereby working against national unity and cohesion.

The body stated this in a communiqué issued at the end of their two day first quarterly

meeting held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state.

The communiqué jointly signed by the Sultan of Sokoto and the President General, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar and President, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, outlined that peace and security were necessary ingredients for the sustenance of democratic principles and economic development of the country.

It reiterated its appeal to political, religious and traditional leaders in the country at all levels to desist from making offensive and inciting comments capable of heating up the polity.

To forge peaceful co-existence amongst both religions, the body appealed to both Muslim and Christian leaders to make concerted efforts to reach out to the citizenry in order to dissuade them from intolerance while recommending interfaith dialogue amongst adherents of

both religions.

The body further stressed the need for the Police Community Relations Committee to be established where they do not presently exist to strengthen security and peaceful coexistence.

On the review of the constitution, the body appealed to the National Assembly to let the will of the people prevail in the exercise and urged the assembly to make laws that would ensure that no Nigerian is made a

“settler” anywhere in the country.

The body said it regrets the extent at which corruption had eaten into the country and urged government at all levels to put in place strategies that would ensure that corrupt people are severely punished.

NIREC condemned the killing of the health workers in Kano state and that of three Korean Doctors in Potiskum, Yobe state as well as the vicious attack on the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero.

PAGE 4

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUART 14, 2013

Don berates FG over Lassa fever From Osaigbovo Iguobaro, Benin

T

he attitude of Federal Government towards Lassa fever treatment in the country has been decried by former Vice Chancellor of the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Prof.

Dennis Agbonlahor.

Agbonlahor, a professor of microbiology identified poor funding and lack of political will as responsible for the poor effort towards the eradication of the disease over the years.

Speaking on the topic "Lassa Fever: A 44-year-old deadly Public Health Burden in Nigeria" at the 10th College Guest Lecture organised by the University of Benin College of Medical Sciences, the former VC disclosed that funds given by foreign donors for establishment of Lassa fever laboratories in each zone of the federation were collected by some officials of the Federal Ministry of Health but never accounted for.

He explained that Lassa fever has claimed more lives than more publicised infectious diseases such as meningitis, HIV/ AIDs, acute diaorrhea among others.

He said over 100,000 lives have been lost to Lassa fever between 1969 and 2013, adding that many unrecorded deaths occurred in rural areas out of which 23 states in Nigeria were affected in 2012 and of which 87 deaths were recorded.

Police redeploy state commissioners

By Lambert Tyem

I

nspector General of Police (IGP), Alhaji MD Abubakar, yesterday, ordered the immediate redeployment of some police commissioners to various commands and formations of the force across the country.

The deployment, which Abubakar said "is part of on-going efforts to reposition the force for greater efficiency, covers both some newly promoted officers, expected to inject fresh ideas into the system, and other senior officers swapping strategic command positions.

Police spokesman Frank Mba said: "the IGP enjoined the officers to rededicate themselves to the service of humanity and to ensure that no stone is left unturned in efforts at tackling violent crimes, as well as corruption in all ramifications".

The Postings 1. CP Sabo Ringim - Kebbi 2. CP Musa A. Daura - Kano 3. CP Moses Saba-Ndagi Ebonyi 4. CP Johnson A. Ogunsakin Kwara 5. CP T. E. Ibitibituwa Enugu 6. CP Hilary Opara - Kogi 7. CP Jubril O. Adeniji Taraba

L-R: Emir of Shonga, Dr. Haliru Yahaya, Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, Chairperson of Hygeia, Mrs. Fola Olaoye, and Chairman, Health Insurance Fund, Mr. Kees Storm, during the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Health Insurance Fund and Kwara State government for the expansion of Kwara Community Health Programme, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

10 burnt to death in Kano auto crash From Edwin Olofu, Kano

T

en people including a oneyear-old child were burnt beyond recognition in a ghastly auto crash at Takai, Kano-Kari federal highway last Monday night.

Our correspondent gathered that the incident occurred around 11.00pm and involved a Golf car and an articulated trailer within the precincts of a bridge near Takai, headquarters

of Takai local government area of Kano state.

A witness who declined identification said the Golf car was overtaking another vehicle at a bend close to the bridge and had a head-on collision with the trailer.

The source explained that "the crash triggered a fire that burnt the two vehicles beyond recognition", adding that "10 badly burnt corpses were recovered from the scene of the

accident".

The source stated that “the driver of the heavy duty auto mobile however survived with high degree burns, adding that he was placed on admission at Takai General Hospital.

Confirming the incident to journalists in Kano, the Head of Operations, Federal Road Safety Corps, Kano Command, Malam Kabiru Nadabo, stated that "10 persons died from the accident".

Nadabo blamed the accident on "a dangerous overtaking by the golf car", adding that the impact triggered fire which consumed the occupants.

He revealed that "the charred remains of the passengers have been buried at Takai cemetery", stressing that "this was made possible by cooperation of the local council officials".

high speed veered off the road and somersaulted into the bush killing four passengers on the spot, 11 others were wounded while one person escaped unhurt.

Kogi state sector commander of the Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC), Alhaji Garba Mohammed

who confirmed the accident to reporters in Lokoja, stated that three corpses were deposited at the state Specialists Hospital, Lokoja while the remaining one was kept at Federal Medical Centre (FMC) morgue. The injured were rushed to the FMC for treatment.

…as four die in Kogi crash From Sam Egwu, Lokoja

F

our persons were killed while 11 others sustained various degrees of injuries in a ghastly motor accident along Lokoja-Okene expressway in Kogi state.

The accident which occurred at the Crusher village, an outskirts of Lokoja, involved a Toyota Hiace with registration number XA 880 RRU with 15 passengers on board.

According to an eye witness account, the driver who was on

Maiduguri Flour Mills shut down after kidnap of GM ollowing the kidnapping of its Assistant General Manager in charge of commercial, the management of Maiduguri Flour Mills, Borno state, yesterday, shut down the factory.

Malam Umar Maisalati, was reportedly abducted at the premises of the company, on

Monday evening by three gunmen, suspected to be kidnappers.

The manager was the second person to fall prey to kidnappers within a month as prominent businessman, Ali Budum was equally kidnapped, but released after a ransom was allegedly paid to his captors.

Since the abduction, the whereabouts of Maisalati remain unknown, with family sources

saying contact was not yet established with his captors.

Similarly, the phone of Maisalati remained switched off as several calls put to it did not go through.

Some staff of the company, who declined identification, told our correspondent that top hierarchy of the firm, held an emergency meeting over the matter and resolved to suspend operations for 'security' reasons.

"Yes, it is true that due to the abduction of our top personnel, the factory has been shut down indefinitely, perhaps for our safety. But nobody briefed us on the reason for the closure, we just reported for duty to find the company under lock and key", the staff said.

Both the state police command and the Joint Military Task Force, (JTF), are yet to make official comment over the incident.

8. CP Mohammed A. Indabawa - Oyo 9. CP Mohammed Katsina Imo 10. CP Usman Tili Abubakar - Abia 11. CP Olufemi D. Ogunbayode - FCT 12. CP Dorathy A. Gimba Osun 13. CP Foluso A. Adebanjo Edo 14. CP Mbu Joseph MB -

Rivers 15. CP A.K. Shodipo - Cross River 16. CP Patrick Dey Dokumor - Ondo 17. CP James O. Caulcrick Police Detective College, Enugu 18. CP Steven Audu - Admin ‘F’ Dept. FHQ. 19. CP Wilfred Obute Comdt. Police College, Kaduna 20. CP Felix Uyanna Comdt. Police College, Oji

21. CP A. J abakasanga - InfoTech/Admin 22. CP Ambrose Aisabor Admin ‘A’ Dept. FHQ. 23. CP Chinweke Asadu - CP Legal 24. CP Adebayo Ajileye - CP Airport 25. CP Adams Audu - CP CTU 26. CP John Opadokun - CP PMF 27. CP Sherifat Dusu Olajoko - CP Port Authority

28. CP Salihu Garba - CP Provost 29. CP Mohammed J. Gana CP SARS 30. CP Benjamin U. Onwuka - Dep. Comdt. PSC, Jos 31. CP Markus K. Danladi Admin ‘E’ Dept. FHQ. 32. CP Ahmed Ibrahim - CP Training FHQ. 33. CP Isaac Eke - CP Admin ‘B’ Dept. FHQ

From Mustapha Isah Kwaru, Maiduguri

F

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

Defamation: ex-Katsina SSG rearraigned, gets bail From Lawal Sa’idu Funtua, Katsina

A

nother twist was added to the lingering litigation between the Katsina state government and a former secretary to the state government, Alhaji Mustapha Muhammad Inuwa, as the latter was, yesterday rearraigned before Chief Magistrate Court 2 in Katsina for alleged injurious falsehood and defamation of character.

The re-arraignment of the former SSG was sequel to his application over alleged bias against a Chief Magistrate Court 1 presided by Magistrate Kabir Shu’aibu where he was earlier arraigned.

At the re-arraignment, the court told the ex-SSG that he was brought before it due to some alleged statement he made in Daily Trust newspaper story of Tuesday 24 July 2012 and in a BBC Hausa Service interview of 26 July 2012 which were alleged to be false and defamatory to the state government.

In the said stories it was alleged that the accused had maliciously attacked the state governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Shehu Shema and his government for allegedly executing projects that have no benefit to the people of the state.

It was also alleged that the accused allegedly attacked the government in the two stories over alleged wasteful building of an Olympic size stadium and a new Government House project and the alleged securing of a loan by the government to build 350 housing units in Abuja.

However when the charges were read to him, Inuwa pleaded not guilty to the charges and filed a bail application to the court through his counsel, Mr. Ernest Ogunnadike. However the bail application was opposed by the counsel to the state governor, Mr. Uyi Ugunma who argued that it was not properly tabled before the court.

In his ruling over the bail application, Magistrate Mustapha Hassan Ruma argued that a bail application can be made through verbal or written request and it may be granted at the discretion of the court.

He therefore noted that since there were no evidence that the accused would either jump bail or interfere with police investigation the court therefore decided to grant him bail on the condition of presenting two credible sureties and at the sum of N100,000.

The case was however adjourned to the 7th of March 2013 for commencement of hearing.

PAGE 5

Jonathan commends Buhari’s support for centenary celebrations

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

P

resident Goodluck Jonathan yesterday said he was impressed by the presence of his main opponent in the last presidential election, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) at the flag off of the nation’s centenary celebration held last Monday at the State House Banquet Hall.

Jonathan said immediately he stepped into the venue and

saw Buhari, he was impressed.

The President said that informed his decision to ask Buhari to join him in lighting the Centenary Torch.

“When the celebration was packaged and that day when I got there, I was impressed when I saw the former Heads of State especially General Buhari.

“He came that day and that was why I said the two of us should light the Unity Torch and I think it was something

nice”.

The President recalled that when the Federal Government came up with the idea of celebrating the nation’s centenary in a big way, the decision attracted a lot of negative statements with many wondering while celebrating among crisis.

He said the way the flag-off was however packaged showed that Nigerians needed to celebrate.

“Initially, when we came up with the idea of celebrating our centenary, there were so many negative statements in the media. There were many Nigerians questioning why we have to be celebrating amidst crisis. They claimed that our unity has never brought development.

“But finally, when the celebration was packaged and that day when I got there, I was impressed myself,” he said.

L-R: Sokoto state Governor, Alhaji Aliyu Magatakarda Wammako, Emir of Gusau, Alhaji Kabir Danbaba,and Zamfara state Deputy Governor, Malam Ibrahim Wakkala, during the visit by governor Wammako to the Emir, yesterday in Gusau.

Photo: NAN

Kebbi residents in fear as ‘Boko Haram’ threat SMS spread From Ahmed Idris, Birnin Kebbi

P

oliticians, traditional rulers and citizens in Kebbi state are living in fear having allegedly received threats through text messages from members of the Boko Haram sect.

Speaking to our reporter yesterday in Birnin Kebbi, a politician and one of the

recipients of the threat-sms, Alhaji Issa Usman Koko while displaying the text message, Koko disclosed that they have been sending such messages to traditional rulers since last year adding that security agencies in the state are also aware of the matter.

“The call you saw I received now… they are the sect member (sic), they started calling me

since yesterday and I saved their number, I don’t know where they got my phone number, they urged me to be prepared …” he said.

Confirming the incident, the Divisional Police Officer of Birnin Kebbi division, Mr. Sani Zubairu, said the police has written to the chiefs, politicians and traditional rulers across the state not to worry as Kebbi state police

command has planted its operatives on surveillance.

“We aware and the CP ordered us to write to the relevant people informing them that the state is safe, Kebbi state is a peaceful state, I ‘don’t think it is Boko Haram… it could be thugs or criminals who are trying to cause confusion in the state. I promise you nothing will happen, insha Allah”, he said.

Man with charms arrested inside Alaafin’s palace From Inumidun Ojelade, Ibadan

A

n unidentified young man armed with charms yesterday morning was apprehended inside the Alaafin’s palace in Oyo town.

The man with tribal marks who looked stern and aggressive, according to a palace source was said to have secretly gained entrance into the palace on Tuesday, around 6:00am through the fence.

The source stated that immediately the criminal suspect jumped down into the palace, security personnel who were on foot patrol noticed a strange movement, and trailed the unknown person.

The yet-to-be-identified

man was later cornered and when queried by the palace guards on what his mission was, he resorted to violence and declined comments.

“It was a tug of war before this unidentified man could be overpowered. Initially, all

efforts to apprehend him were to no avail, due to the charms all over his body. But after several battles, he was eventually brought on his knees and taken to Special AntiRobbery Squad (SARS) for further interrogation”.

When contacted, the Officer in charge of SARS, DSP Sola Aremu, confirmed on telephone that the suspect has been transferred to the Atiba Divisional Police Station, as no arms and ammunition were found on him.

JNI condemns killing of health workers

By Agaju Madugba

J

ama’atul Nasril Islam (JNI) has condemned in strong terms the killings of health workers at Kauyen Alu Clinic Kumbotso local government area of Kano state during a routine polio immunization exercise.

Secretary General of JNI, Dr.

Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, made the condemnation when he received the officials of the Journalists Against Polio, Kaduna state chapter who paid him a courtesy call at the headquarters of the (JNI) in Kaduna, describing the killing as an inhuman and unfortunate.

He said the act was barbaric

calling on the government, as matter of urgency, to fish out the perpetrators of the devilish acts.

Dr. Aliyu also said polio has remained one of the challenges militating against the wellbeing of Nigerian children and JNI is part and parcel of the government’s effort to wipe out the polio diseases in the country.

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

PAGE 7

Court decides Oyinlola’s fate March 21

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

A

Federal High Court in Abuja was on Tuesday asked to refuse an application brought before it by the sacked national secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olagunsoye Oyinlola seeking a stay of execution on the order of the court which sacked him from office for treating the court with contempt.

The court president, Justice Abdu- Kafarati had on January 11sacked Onyinlola from office while delivering judgment in a suit brought against him by a faction of the Ogun state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party and its chairman. The decision was instantly carried out by the PDP which relieved Onyinlola of his appointment.

The Ogun state chapter of the party through its chairman,

Engr. Adebayo Dayo, had approached the court seeking amongst others, the removal of Onyinlola from office as the national secretary of the party Dayo had challenged the nomination of Oyinlola by the South West Caucus on ground that two court judgments had nullified the South-West zonal congress through which the National Secretary was nominated.

While delivering judgment in the case, Justice Abdul Kafarati held that the action of PDP and Oyinlola amounted to criminal conduct and liable to be condemned to prison for the flagrant disobedience of two subsisting court orders.

He noted that Oyinlola is not worthy to be recognized as the National Secretary of the party and should vacate the office.

The court also held that Oyinlola could not have

emerged as the nominee of the PDP in view of the two court judgments which nullified the congress, adding that court orders must be obeyed whether valid or not.

The court also berated Onyinlola for criminal contempt of court and held that all steps taken thereafter by the Onyinlola is a null and void.

Distraught by the speedy compliance with the court’s decision by his party, Onyinlola approached the court with a motion for stay of execution seeking to delay his ouster at the Court of Appeal.

At Tuesday proceedings where the court heard his motion for stay, Engr. Oludayo Dayo, urged the court to throw away Onyinlola’s application as he had treated the court with contempt and for that, does not deserve to seek for the court’s discretion at this time.

Dayo further informed the court that they have a pending application before the court asking it to commit Onyinlola to prison for treating the court with contempt. He urged the court to dismiss Onyinlola’s application.

On its part, PDP informed the court that it had complied with the court’s judgment by removing Onyinlola as the party’s national secretary and wondered why it took him this long to file for a stay of execution over an action that had taken place.

The party also stated that Onyinlola’s delay in transmitting the records of the court’s proceedings to the Court of Appeal was an indication that if he gets the court to stay his removal from office ,he will take it forever..

The court adjourned till March 21, to rule on Onyinlola’s application.

Cooperative urges women to embrace special trades From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi ational President of the Nigerian Cooperative Women Alliance (NACOWA), Dr. Esther Eka has urged Nigerian women to pool their resources into specialized trades, work or activity for self-reliance and revamping the nation’s economy.

Eka stated this at the inauguration of the Bauchi State Cooperative Women Alliance (BACOWA) in Bauchi noting that women have positively impacted on the Nigerian economy through engagements in various productive ventures.

She observed that the greatest challenge facing the Nigerian woman was the inability or lack of inner-self to accept change.

“Whatever your talent is, bring it out so that we can collectively and individually develop it and even take it to the next level”, Eka told BACOWA members at the Development Exchange Centre (DEC), Bauchi, venue of the inauguration.

The NACOWA president said that specialized trades are being practiced in India, Thailand, Malaysia, and other African countries, urging the Nigerian women to take their rightful positions in the scheme of things in the country.

N

Gunmen kidnap flour mills manager in Borno L-R: Director General, Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), Dr. Anthony Anuforum, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, Ambassador Godknows Igali, Professor Emmanuel Oladi, Mr. James Anderson, and Chief Executive Officer, Strategy Execution, Dr. Ndidi Nnoli Edozien, during a conference on the Application Of Meteorological Information in Weather Disaster Risk Reduction and Socio-Economic Planning, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin ImoOwo

NLC lauds Kogi workers’ hard work despite gov’s absence From Sam Egwu, Lokoja

T

he commitment and dedication of Kogi state civil servants to duty despite the absence of the governor, Capt Idris Wada has been described as an immense contribution towards the sustenance of his transformation agenda in the state.

From Yusha’u Alhassan, Jalingo

T

araba State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria CAN has appealed to the Taraba State Government to reconstitute the State Council for inter-religious affairs.

The Vice Chairman of the Association, Reverend Innocent Solomon made the appeal in Jalingo at a seminar on tolerance and peaceful co-existence organized by the state government for religious leaders, youths and women representatives.

Rev. Solomon said the need for

Wada was involved in ghastly auto crash along Lokoja-Ajaokuta road on December 28, 2012 where he lost the Aide-de-camp, ADC, ASP Mohammed Idris.

The Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Kogi state chapter, Comrade James Odaudu made this disclosure yesterday in Lokoja when members of Igala Welfare

Association, (IWA) Kogi sports council, led by its Chairman, Elder Emmanuel Akor paid him a condolence visit over the demise of his mother.

Comrade Odaudu who reiterated that Civil Servants are more committed and hardworking at this trying period, noted that it was the only way to reciprocate the

positive disposition of the present administration towards civil servants.

He stressed that he would do everything humanly possible to sustain the tempo of cordial relationship between civil servants and the government for greater understanding and more productivity.

Taraba: CAN wants inter-religious council revived the reconstitution of the council was informed by the desire for sustainable peace and development in the state.

He said the objectives of the council should include deliberation on reported cases of religious conflicts with a view to finding solution to them, offer advisory services to government matters of religious importance in order to generate understanding, peace and harmony while handling such issues and to

mediate on religious issues.

The CAN vice chairman said the seminar was a demonstration of wisdom by the Acting Governor to foster peace, unity and understanding among Christians and Muslims in the State.

He maintained that it was for governments at all levels to take proactive measures to stop crises and attempt to neutralize the negative consequences where such crises have already taken place.

Solomon who x-rayed the significance of peace as God’s gift to humanity, quoted various chapters and verses of the holy Bible to buttress his points.

On inter faith cooperation, the clergyman captured the words of the late Gandhi of India who urged the avoidance of seven social sins against the society,adding that those who kill or cause harm to others for whatever reason violates God’s plan for humanity and are liable for hell fire.

From Mustapha Isah Kwaru, Maiduguri

T

hree gunmen, suspected to be kidnappers, yesterday evening whisked away the Administrative Manager of Maiduguri Flour Mill, Baba Umar Maisalati, eyewitness and security operatives said.

Maisalati was reportedly kidnapped at about 6:15pm in front of his factory complex at Jajeri Ward.

Eyewitness account revealed, the kidnappers laid ambush on him while he was driving his car out of the factory.

“The suspected kidnappers, suddenly appeared from unknown location with rifles and forced him to drive the car away from the area’, the witness who declined identification claimed.

A source in the security circle also confirmed the incident to newsmen, just as he doubted the hand of Boko Haram members in the incident. “ It was unfortunate. I am sure he will be found because investigation has been launched immediately. This could not be Boko Haram related, because most of the kidnap victims in Maiduguri usually come out alive this days”, said the source.

PAGE 8

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

President Goodluck Jonathan (middle), in a group photograph with members victorious Super Eagles and officials, during the reception held for them on Tuesday night, at the State House, in Abuja.

Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (right), in a handshake with Chief Coach of Super Eagles, Stephen Keshi (middle), during the special session, yesterday at the National Assembly, in Abuja for the victorious Super Eagles in the 2013 Nations Cup. With them is Deputy Minority Leader of the House, Hon. Abdulrahman Kawu Sumaila (left).

L-R: President Goodluck Jonathan, decorating Chief Coach of Super Eagles, Stephen Keshi with CON National Honour Award during the reception for his team.

L-R: President Goodluck Jonathan, decorating Captain of Super Eagles, Joseph Yobo with OON National Honour Award.

Members victorious Super Eagles and officials at the plenary, during a special session by the House of Representatives for them, yesterday at the National Assembly, in Abuja.

Photos: Joe Oroye and Mahmud Isa

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

S

enate President, David Mark, has blamed the West for generating over 80 percent of the world carbon emission, saying that there should be an agreement to guarantee a transfer of technology to Africa in helping it to mitigate the impact of climate change..

Inaugurating the GLOBE Nigeria Wednesday at the National Assembly complex, Mark, who was represented by the Senate Deputy Majority Leader, Abdul Ningi, regretted that Africa bears the greatest the brunt in what it contributed minimally.

He assured that the National Assembly would help to protect the environment, urging GLOBE Nigeria to be very committed in their strive for environmental diplomacy so that Nigeria could get fair treatment in

PAGE 9

Mark wants technology to mitigate carbon emission in Africa international treaties and agreement.

Mark emphasised that the enormity of environmental challenges in the country has made it imperative for sharing of knowledge, skills and build bridges of understanding so as to stand the chance of mitigating the impact.

He said GLOBE Nigeria was a veritable platform to pool legislative ideas, adding that through mutual assistance and cooperation, a common countermeasure could be developed against

environmental challenges.

While commending the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment, Bukola Saraki, for his commitment toward restoring the dignity of environment, the Senate President also pointed out that these challenges originate from human activities, adding that the rule of law as an agent if behavioural change was most required now.

Also speaking, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri, Tambuwal, represented by Uche Chinwuba,

who chairs the House Committee on Environment, said that environmental challenges are growing in dimension without commensurate appropriation to the relevant ministry to enable it tackle the challenges.

He noted that the lawmakers have a great role to play in ensuring adequate environment protection, so that Nigeria could transmute along with other countries into a green economy.

In his welcome address,Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment,

who is also the President of the GLOBE Nigeria, Bukola Saraki, said it is an affiliate of GLOBE International, a network of legislators committed to addressing the major sustainable developmental challenges through coordinated policies and legislation.

He added that GLOBE Nigeria would contribute to particularly develop legislative process that would support specific policies and programmes on pollution, erosion, flooding, climate change deforestation among others.

Airforce Institute of technology seeks TetFund intervention

By Maryam Garba Hassan

T

he Nigerian Air force Institute of Technology (AFIT) Kaduna, has solicited for TETFUND intervention to meet the standard of a world class center of learning and research in aerospace technology, maintenance and to expand the horizon for indigenous research and development.

Air Vice Marshal John Olusola Oshoniyi who led the Airforce team to the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i, said the school is seeking the minister’s directives that TETFUND re-admits AFIT as one of the beneficiaries of its fund.

He said the institute is also soliciting for TETFUND intervention to replace obsolete infrastructure, training equipment and aids which were acquired in the late 1970’s and to employ qualified professionals to lecture in the school.

According to him, the Institute which was founded in 1977 started as a technical and supply school and expanded to Institute of technology (AFIT) on March12, 2008, has trained over 30 officers on Aerospace and vehicles designs while twelve officers are currently undergoing training at masters degree level while seven officers are studying for PHD degrees.

He said in August 2012 the institute signed a letter of Intent (LOI) with the institute of technologico de Aeronautica of Brazil (ITA) and with the federal University of Uberlandia (UFU) also in Brazil, adding that AFIT had also trained about 4,000 professional military personnel from Benin Republic, Ghana, Niger, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe.

In her response, the Minister of Education assured AFIT that their request would be examined critically, and once the bill becomes an Act, TETFUND would intervene.

L-R: Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru; Minister of State for Foreign Affairs I, Professor Viola Onwuleri; and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs II, Dr Nurudeen Mohammed, during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, yesterday at the State House, in Abuja.

Photo: Joe Oroye.

Hajj 2013: No Kaduna pilgrims will be deported – Makarfi From Mohammed Adamu, Kaduna

K

aduna state pilgrims Welfare Board Overseer, Alhaji Yahuza Makarfi, Wednesday said that God

willing, no intending female pilgrim will be deported from Saudi Arabia over the muharam saga this year.

According to him, the board would ensure that only female

Muslim stakeholders advocate unity

By Stanley Onyekwere

M

uslim faithful in the country have been urged to imbibe the legacies of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), in the interest of peace and unity in the world, especially among followers of the religion.

This point was made by stakeholders at a recent dinner in Abuja, organised by Assembly of Muslims in Nigeria (AMIN) in honour of the prophet (SAW).

According to the stakeholders, peace and unity is clearly lacking in the world even among the Muslims, which does not reflect the message, life and times of prophet, an embodiment of love, humility and peace, necessary for promoting unity and brotherhood among any people.

Speaking at the event, AMIN chairman, Sheikh Ibrahim Saleh, who echoed some of the exemplary accounts of the prophet while here on earth from the Qur’an and various verses of the Hadith, noted that Islam does

not promote violence, hence the need for Muslims to stand united and promote peace in the world.

On his part, the guest speaker, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, urged fateful to always find time to reflect on the life and times of the prophet.

Speaking on the topic; “the Life and Legacies of the prophet Muhammad (SAW)”, Sanusi, who was represented by his special adviser on non-interest banking Dr. Bashir Aliyu Umar, noted that today the prophet among other things is loved and respected among the Muslims because of the legacies he left behind.

Stressing the need for unity, former Secretary to the Federal Government, Yayale Ahmed, urged all Muslims in the country to unite as Allah is one, and all who seek and promote disunity must be stopped, for there to be a peaceful coexistence among all the people of the country.

pilgrims with Muharam( lawful companion) would be allowed to perform the exercise as directed by the state government. .

Alhaji Makarfi disclosed in an interview with newsmen in Kaduna shortly after he received a delegation of a group from Sabon Gari Local Government who paid him a courtesy visit.

The overseer also commended the support given to the board by the group that led to the success of 2012 Hajj exercise.

Tax evasion: Microfinance bank indicted

T

he North Central zone of the tax appeal tribunal has found Amba Micro Bank Nigeria Limited guilty of tax evasion.

The company was found guilty by the court after almost one year of legal battle at the tribunal sitting in Jos, the Plateau state capital.

Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) had dragged the bank before the tribunal in March last year over allegation of failure to remit tax to FIRS for years as well as pay withholding tax for a period of

He said the board would continue to work with volunteer groups so as to ensure the improvement of Hajj operations in the state.

In her remarks, the group’s chairperson, Hajiya Hajara Muhammad Barau, said Association. For Successful Hajj Exercise Sabon Gari Local government chapter helped to educate pilgrims from their local government on hajj related issues. time.

While delivering judgement on the case yesterday in Jos, chairman of the tribunal, Justice Abraham Ndana Yisa after listening to arguments by counsels to the accused, Yusuf Yakubu and that of the plaintiff, Nasiru Ahmed, declared that Amba Micro Bank is guilty of the tax offence and must pay the penalty according to tax laws.

Counsel to the defendant however pleaded for the reduction of the liabilities and penalties by 50% quoting relevant sections of the tax law.

Tribunal chairman, Yisa, accepted the plea and reduced the tax penalties and liabilities by 50% Other cases pending before the tribunal were adjourned to March7 ,2013 for further hearing.

PAGE 10

By Muhammad Nasir

P

resident Goodluck Jonathan has been called upon to exercise patience and have a positive mind in other to carry out a successful Transformation Agenda as well as urging Nigerians within and abroad to support his Transformation Agenda.

The call was made Tuesday by the National Coordinator of Concerned Nigeria Network in Diaspora, Erebuoye James, while addressing a press conference in Abuja, adding that

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUART 14, 2013

Jonathan needs patience, positive mind to succeed, says Don instead of criticizing the president, he should be advised on the way forward.

James warned that only the understanding and cooperation of all Nigerians were needed by the president to succeed in ruling Africa’s most populous country.

The European based human

rights and anti-corruption activist who led the 2010 Diaspora Rally in support of President Goodluck Jonathan in the build up to the 2011 Presidential Elections also pointed out that President Jonathan Transformation Agenda is already yielding result especially in the road

construction sector where he sought out the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) for praise especially for its determination to fix most of the potholes bedeviling the nation.

He commended the Nigerian police for their swift response to security challenges nationwide despite threats to their lives and

the Niger Delta Ministry for their determination to rebuild the east-west road and bring the misery of the commuters to an end as well as tackle the multifarious problems of the Niger Delta people.

Yobe to fine erring contractors N100, 000 daily

A

Reverend Father Richard Gberikum (left), putting ash on the foreheads of children and other Catholic faithful in commemoration of Ash Wednesday, yesterday at the Catholic Pro- Cathedral, Area 3, Garki, in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

By Joy Baba

T

Sokoto refutes NULGE president’s statement

he Sokoto state Government has refuted a statement made by the National President of National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) Ibrahim Khalil that governors in the North- West zone create vacuum at the local government levels by refusing to conduct elections.

Rather, Sokoto State, according to the government, has conducted council elections thrice.

This was contained in a press

statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on media, Sani Umar in Sokoto, Tuesday.

The statement described Khalil's coment as misleading adding that “it shows how ignorant and ill- informed he is about the actual happenings in his so called constituency”.

The statement further said that it was self serving and sycophantic for the NULGE president to single out one State

and then make a sweeping generalisation while in actual fact he lacks information about what obtains in other States of the zone because he confined himself to his office and chose to be an armchair critic.

Umar also said in the statement that Khalil is a disgruntled leader who leads without knowing those he leads, otherwise he would have known that there are other governors who abhor vacuum and made sure it

does not exist in their local Government councils.

The spokesman said that local government in Sokoto enjoys so much autonomy adding that it is the synergy between the two tiers of governments that led to the development within the state that has touched the lives of the masses.

The statement urged Khalil to name the governors misappropriating funds or apologise to the governors in the North- west for defaming them.

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

the wheels of progress of the exercise, as officials might refuse deployment on vaccination for fear of attacks and this could hamper the success already recorded in fighting the disease”, it said.

The statement added that the deceased have sacrificed and paid the ultimate price because of their commitment to humanity and

love of their profession.

It noted that the officials were out to ensure that Nigerian children receive vaccines that would protect them from polio, tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis.

The team frowned at utterances emanating from some Muslim leaders who secretly oppose polio vaccination by

claiming they could cause infertility.

“We want to debunk that claim, as government and even traditional rulers from the north have come out to explain to the people that the vaccination is good and has no harmful effect. It is unfortunate that till date that misconception is still there", the team lamented.

CSO condemns killing in Kano

The National Health Awareness Team has condemned the recent killings in Kano of 10 polio vaccination officers, describing it as cowardly, wicked and an attempt to truncate the federal government’s total commitment to eradicate polio in the country.

Rising from an emergency meeting in Abuja on Monday, the team in a resolution signed by Comrade Salaudeen Abdulkadir and Barrister David Nonso Okonkwo, called on the federal government to probe the killings and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book.

“We looked at the situation and it was devastating that the action of these disgruntled elements may put a spanner in

Police displays 6 cars, 8 motorbikes for public identification From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

T

he Bauchi state police command displayed six cars and eight motorcycles in their custody for claim by anyone from the public.

A statement signed by the Police Public Relation Officer ASP

Hassan Muhammad Auyo and made available to newsmen in Bauchi Tuesday revealed that the command will soon seek court order to auction all the vehicles within two weeks. He said that some of the vehicles were found under questionable circumstances and some without registration

numbers adding that they were either confiscated or found abandoned by the securitymen across the state.

The police command, according to Auyo, is advising anyone whose vehicle is missing, to visit the police headquarters within two weeks.

iling contractors in Yobe state will be made to pay a fine of N100, 000 per day for failure to complete a given contract according to the contractual agreement.

The state commissioner for works, Lawan Shetima Ali, made this known Tuesday during the signing of a contract for the construction of an 8.7 kilometer road with 8.4 kilometer drainage in the newly constructed 300 housing estate along GujbaMaiduguri ring road, Damaturu at a total cost of N1.39 billion.

The contract, according to the commissioner, has a completion period of 10 dry months.

He called on the contractor, Corps Construction and Engineering Services Nigeria Limited to adhere strictly to the contract agreement including quality maintenance or risk losing the contract.

He also pointed out that the fine would be deducted from source should the contractor fail to meet the contract specifications in line with the state government’s specifications.

Offa/Erin-Ile: Commission of enquiry begins hearing From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

T

he Judicial Commission of Enquiry into Erin-Ile/Offa communal crisis has began sitting in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital.

Chairman of the Commission, Justice Adeyinka Sikiru Oyinloye while speaking at the inaugural sitting, said the commission's assignment was a fact-finding one and advised counsels to avoid unnecessary technicalities that could cause delay.

The chairman who said his team was given six weeks to submit its report said it would also seek the cooperation of members of the commission and the general public to ensure a peaceful conduct of its assignment.

He advised those who do not have anything to do with the commission's work to stay away from the proceeding and avoid distracting it.

In their responses, the Counsels to Offa and Erin-Ile Communities, Dr. Bello Shittu and Barrister Muyideen Adekoyejo Bello commended the state government for setting up the commission and expressed confidence in the ability of the members of the commission to carry out its their assignment.

PAGE 11

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUART 14, 2013

When budgeting aids your financial goals B udgeting is a critical process which forces you to look at what you're spending, where you're spending it, and thus be able to make informed decision on where changes can be made to meet your financial goals.

Using software to track your finances and assets, you will get the added benefit of being able to tie it into budget planning.

Chart out all your accounts and determine what online services your bank offers, as this will make it simpler automatically download your regular spending transactions and bill payments, to be integrated with your spending

and budget tracking.

Try to switch your purchase habits, do not make purchases with cash- cash spending cannot be tracked easily with budget software - paying with a bank card or credit card will help keep an accurate record of where your money is going.

This one habit will not only allow you to track and trend your purchases, but also provides invaluable visibility to your purchases. For example, you may discover you spend three times as much on groceries, or twice as much eating out at restaurants than you thought.

After you adopt this method,

track your finances for several months and then revisit your budget - look at what you are

taking in and what you are spending, and compare it to your financial goals. Look for areas

where your spending can be reduced and adjust your budget accordingly.

At its simplest level, budgeting is easy - you look at what you make, you look at what you're spending, and you look at how much is left over to be put away for the future - if the numbers don't match, it gives you a clearer process to shuffle your income accordingly. For example, some savings you may find are spending less on entertaining, reducing the cost of ownership of a car with a bad maintenance record, or shifting your eating habits to home cooking instead of takeout.

Think, organise your trip before rushing to buy ticket

T

he requirements and research that go into the process of planning an international trip can be complicating, but you need to be wary of rushing to buy your tickets without having getting some things right.

For instance, before you buy that ticket, you must make sure you have everything organised and have the correct date in mind; otherwise, you could be hit by a hefty fee or even a plane ticket you can't use.

Know that at least, for international travel, you will need your passport. If you have never applied for one it can take several weeks to a few months before you get it. And because you are not sure when you will receive your passport, it is better to hold on from buying your tickets until you have your passport, which is most important in your travel papers.

Another thing to do is to look at available airline seats and how much they cost. It is advisable

Who are you? ave you ever caught yourself wondering why you seem to 'click' effortlessly with some people but find it difficult to work and communicate with some others?

Has it ever occurred to you that you might be insatiable about acquiring money, such that you are willing to break laws or rules to make more money? Have you ever been called "a miser"? May be you are one who would rather self-medicate than go see a doctor in order to save money? Do you borrow often but dodge repayments when your lender come calling?

Perhaps, you are financially proactive, like taking up a weekend part-time job so that you save up for a dream vacation or ensuring that you always go into shopping malls with a budget list, so that you keep track of your purchases and avoid spending beyond your means?

Would you rather consult with professional advisers or have conversations with a lot of people before taking decisions? Do you prefer to conduct your own investigation before coming to conclusions or you would rather have somebody do it for you?

Your personality Here, I will define "personality" simply as "a set of qualities that make a person distinct from

Know yourself, your beneficiaries for a successful estate planning

H

Quote The NBA is never just a business.

It's always business.

It's always personal. All good businesses are personal. The best businesses are very personal - Mark Cuban

another" Our personalities develop through a combination of natural instincts and life experiences: social experiences - right from childhood; experiences that have been unique to us in our lifetime; the environments within which we grew up and how they made us behave.

The way you are and the way you deal with money define your lifestyle. Being able to know yourself well and clearly recognize your financial tendencies, strengths and weaknesses will help you make smarter estate planning choices by enabling you identify your blind spots and help improve your sense of control over the planning process.

Your personality temperament is the window

that you purchase your seats in advance as much as possible, as this will offer the best chance of securing a low-cost flight.

As the time draws near for the flight, and the seats begin to fill, the price for the remaining seats will increase and you will end up paying more money than before.

However, before you jump on the first great price you find, shop around. Internet booking agencies will usually have the best price, but they will not always have the exact same price. There is also the

through which you view life and the platform on which you interact with others. Over time, as you experience new things, your personality may alter slightly or significantly.

Proper estate planning is a whole lot more than just drafting Wills. The most successful estate plans are personal in nature as they are appropriately based on your own goals, values, and lifestyle choices - your wholesome personality.

Knowing your people One of the fundamentals of estate planning is family, however yours have evolved.

When an estate plan is drawn up, it is usually for the future wellbeing of families and loved ones.

As such a responsibility is not to be taken lightly, knowing and

belief that more people travel at weekends because that is when they want to go back to their places of works, home countries after a holiday, go for a holiday in another country or probably to attend a conference at the beginning of a new week.

According to Olu Ohunayo, travel analyst, "fewer people fly during the week than at the weekend - that is Saturday or Sunday. There is less demand on the flights during the week, so airlines lower the cost in hopes of

understanding the personality types of your family members as well as what is important to them has become crucial when putting together a comprehensive estate plan that will cater for them in the long-term.

An estate plan involves a plethora of issues that must be dealt with for your plan to be effective. Whether its goals include financial security for your family after you die, funding postsecondary education for your children or setting out a succession plan for your established businesses, you need to choose estate planning devices that factor in both your personality and those of your family your eventual beneficiaries.

Have you ever attended large family functions in Nigeria and met with relatives whose personalities were really "different" or "funny"? Has your spouse or partner ever disappointed you when a totally different perspective on a situation or event than you, is expressed? Has any action taken by your child surprised you? Will you be happy to have these family members inherit all the wealth you have acquired?

Your money personality The study of personality temperament has been going on for generations. You can deploy a variety of personality style assessments and systems to enable you understand your own style.

Some of them include the MyersBriggs MBTI tool, David Keirsey's four temperaments and the Insight Learning Foundation's

attracting passengers. Weekend is when the majority of passengers fly and it could cost you more money than what it would cost to fly during the week. This equates to less planes flying, which in turn means less expensive airfare."

Therefore, when booking plane tickets for your coming trip, it is important to find the cheapest ones possible. This will allow you save money and put it toward your vacation, or whatever else you might like to do with it.

simplified and easy-to-recall fourcolour personality styles, similar to Keirsey's work.

Briefly looking at Insight's four-colour personality of Blue, Gold, Green and Orange will give you a quick glimpse of your likely personality colour and how you handle your financial matters: Blue money manners: Blues value close relationships and so people really matter to them. They see money as life's necessity and should be used for the benefit of lives. This belief drives their spend-rather- thansave disposition and so, they bring unity to the society.

Gold money manners: Golds crave self-sufficiency and prefer to be providers; they therefore do all they can to stay out of financial debt. They also ensure they prepare for the future by setting funds aside for that.

They are frugal, thrifty and bring stability to the society.

Green money manners: Green are not obsessed with the accumulation of wealth or material possessions and although they would rather be rich than poor, they do not consider luxury as essential to their personal satisfaction. They usually go entrepreneurial as they bring innovation to society.

Orange money manners: Oranges are generous but could give away more than is prudent thereby stressing relationships.

They do not appreciate the need to save funds for rainy days. They prefer to spend rather than save and are seen to bring excitement to society. ( S o u r c e : www.moneyning.com)

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

PAGE 12

EDIT ORIAL EDITORIAL

C

Centenary celebrations or jamboree?

elebrations to mark 100 years since the amalgamation that created the country we call Nigeria today have begun in earnest with the centenary dinner that held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday, Feb. 4. Although the main events have been scheduled to hold across the country between now and January 1, 2014, the dinner at the Villa, which was meant to unveil the Centenary Logo and theme song, have already set the tone and mood for the festivities. According to the plans outlined by the government, a completely new city would be built to commemorate the anniversary in addition to other gigantic projects that could gulp billions of naira.

Nigeria evolved following the 1884/ 5 Berlin Conference where the partitioning of Africa into European colonies was concretized. In 1914, the colonial masters, at the instance of the then Governor General, Sir Frederick Lord Laggard, for administrative convenience, merged the Southern Protectorate and Northern Protectorate.

While the federal government is making elaborate arrangements for a memorable celebration, including plans to spend a stupendous amount of the tax payer's money, each of the 36 states of the federation is duplicating that effort, all in a bid to celebrate a centenary that may not add value to the quality of life of the average Nigerian.

Despite the claims by the organizers of the centenary that the celebrations

would be bankrolled by the private sector, there is public skepticism as to the sincerity of the government. The skeptics suspect, not without a basis, that it might as well be another white elephant project meant to be used by government officials as conduit to divert the already depleted public funds

“

We suggest that spinners of the centenary celebrations take a close look at these issues and many more in order not to justify the fears in some quarters that government is trying to generate as much money as possible to prosecute the 2015 elections into private pockets.

Such skepticism is borne out of our past experience of government officials making frivolous budgetary provisions for such events, and in the current circumstance, billions of naira might well be on their way into private pockets.

The question on the minds of the majority of Nigerians is whether the country truly needs such a celebration at a time when so many families have been bruised and shattered for losing

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their loved ones to the insecurity in parts of the country. Are we not fooling ourselves by rolling out the drums when many families cannot even afford three square meals? When many people go to bed hungry without hope of getting food the next day? The resources that will be wasted on the celebrations, they reason, could be ploughed into the agricultural sector to, at least, encourage the production of food for subsistence, since the efforts of government to stabilize the power sector that could have helped to raise the economic fortunes of rural dwellers is still a mirage.

There is the question also whether it will not be a misplacement of priority for a country to celebrate its corporate existence at a time when there are agitations for restructuring by those who feel they have not benefitted from the federal structure as it is. They feel that what is being celebrated is a country of unequal opportunities, where the rich get richer while the poor get poorer. Much as we do not support a stupendous budget for the festivities, we believe this is an auspicious time to accommodate proponents of a so-called sovereign conference to address their concerns since the government is averse to the idea. They deserve a vent to let out steam.

We also suggest that spinners of the centenary celebrations take a close look at these issues and many more in order not to justify the fears in some quarters that government is trying to generate as much money as possible to prosecute the 2015 elections.

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PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

By Victor Nwoko

O

piates and other drugs with addictive potential produce effects that are euphoric and illusory to the user, creating a false reality. They inhibit the ability of the individual to reason rationally and effectively through the changes they work in the brain. These substances mimic natural substances found in the body, acting through legitimate communication systems within the body to produce effects that are detrimental to the user. I cannot but see the parallel between these substances of abuse and the brands of religion that has crippled our beloved country, Nigeria.

Nigerians are very religious.

Across the land, religious activities and institutions are as ubiquitous as air. In fact, religion is a necessary addictive to political, economic and cultural life of the country. It permeates every sphere of existence of Nigerians inside and outside Nigeria. But everywhere religion is found among Nigerians, corruption abounds much more.

Although the proof of causality will be too onerous for this article, an association may be easier to adduce from the abundance of anecdotal evidences out there.

Politically and economically, Nigeria operates in a space defined by a synthetic mixture of black magic, religion and vacuous

By Abba Mahmood

T

he English say it is "calling spade a spade". Here, one of the groups in Nigeria known for telling the truth and putting no colour to anything it says is the Gbagyi (Gwari). The Gbagyi do not have any false pretence. They say anything as it is. That is why anytime people want to say the truth without mincing words they say in Hausa language, "Muyi ta Gwari - Gwari" (let us do it GbagyiGbagyi style). Today I intend to say it as it is, no matter where ox is gored. This is what this column is known for, after all.

With regard to 2015, let us say that President Goodluck Jonathan is going to contest. The legality or otherwise, as well as the moral and ethical dimensions, will be sorted out later by the law courts. If there is anything that gave him away, it is the interview he had with Amanpour of CNN recently. That interview was able to bring out Dr. Jonathan more than anything else. More than anyone else, the president is interested in continuing in office beyond 2015.

He has made it clear by saying it as it is in body language. There was sympathy for him in 2009/10 when the sick Yar'adua was dying and the country was held to ransom because there was no proper communication to make him effectively take charge. All the governors and the National Assembly came to the rescue by using the Doctrine of Necessity to make him take charge and, ultimately, nature took its course and he became substantive president in May 2010 with the death of President Umaru Yar'adua.

For the 2011 presidential election, the PDP governors had a meeting and unanimously agreed to support him for ONE term only.

That decision was taken on Thursday, December 16, 2010,

PAGE 13

Corruption is like Opiates ideologies. The result is a system that has its moral and philosophical underpinnings in a cocktail of magical tales with religious leanings. To illustrate this, one need not look afar. A police officer is a candidate for immediate double promotion for doing his job especially in the presence of the Inspector-General or anyone with the ability to effect such. In countries where principles and order are observed, the officer may receive a medal for extraordinary bravery but no promotion because there is a laid down procedure and a guiding principle for that.. Yes, although the principles that informed the procedures for promotions are clearly stated in the police (or for that matter, civil service, army, bank etc) operational manual, it has no meaning beyond the pages upon which they are written. There is little wonder why the vast majority of our compatriots pray for double promotions - we act outside the bounds of rational principles. We act by impulse, as if overwhelmed by emotions to the detriment of our capacity to reason objectively Due process is a slogan in Nigeria while it is a reality of life in functional nations.

It is an accepted 'truth' within

the Nigerian religious establishment that leaders both secular and religious are 'appointed' of God. This invariably means that such leaders are only answerable to God. This has led our people, leaders and followers down the path of complacency and laziness in the fight for eternal vigilance over the inalienable rights endowed on us by our creator. We rather resort to prayers in place of vocal opposition that demand accountability; we turn to fasting in place of civil opposition that articulates a viable alternative. Thus, we enable tyranny and corruption; enthrone injustice and ungodliness through our legitimate religious acts. No religious leader to my knowledge is accountable to the congregation in financial matters. Rather, they intimidate those who receive the revelation of accountability with heavenly curses and punishments.

They teach that they are accountable to God alone. We grow up in our religious groups numb with respect to accountability. We are neither supposed to demand or expect it from our leaders. This sure feels like opium.

There is a saying that the unborn Nigerian child cannot wait to get a share of the national cake.

There is some truth to this because

the bribe givers and takers are religious Nigerians, The thieves pilfering and pillaging the nation's treasury are religious Nigerians.

Yes, pastors, imams and other religious leaders are parts and parcels of the corrupt enterprise.

Since money answers all things, it has become king above all things in our lives. How you come about your wealth doesn't matter; it can be baptized, renamed and you, canonized! Just bring a hefty sum for the work of God. We legitimize thievery, at least certain modes of it; we kill our collective conscience and we wonder why we keep producing leaders who are callous and unrepentant and very religious. We trade in fraud and stock-up corruption like treasure.

Our pastors preach sermons copied in its entirety from televangelists or their books while claiming such as divine revelation received as they prayed. Our professors copy (plagiarize) other people's books and sell them as handouts to students.

With the stolen intellectual property, we sell grades and graduate morally inane students and we wonder why we produce leaders who are clueless. We bribe (un)civil servants to do the very job they were hired and paid to do and we wonder why the engine of

Saying it as it is and the communique was read by Governor Shema of Katsina on behalf of his colleagues after they all had appended their signatures to that decision individually. It is clear that President Jonathan has jettisoned that agreement just as he threw out the zoning policy of his party in the course of the last election.

The problem he has now is that he has many things to contend with over his 2015 ambition. One, he was supported based on trust in 2011 and now he has to have something to show for staying for almost six years by 2015. Two, there are 18 PDP state governors who are in their second term now who would naturally want to move on. Their support was critical to his emergence in 2011 and, being a former governor himself, Jonathan knows that EK Clark is not as useful to him for 2015 as the

governors that Clark is insulting now. From the many Supreme Court judgements too, such as Marwa vs Nyako and the celebrated case of Boni Haruna who inherited an election even before his principal was sworn in back in 1999 when Atiku was elevated to be the vice president to Obasanjo after winning the governorship of Adamawa, it is very clear that any stay in office of governor or president beyond EIGHT years is alien to the constitution. President Jonathan has to sort that out quickly with a competent court of law.

Due to the fact that from Yar'adua to date every president and vice president has been a former state governor, every governor is seen as a potential president or vice president. That is why, collectively, these governors are very crucial to the whole

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Buhari is an inspirational leader any day but he has allowed himself to be mismanaged by people he is not ready to do away with. His main asset is his integrity. And, if after telling the whole world in tears that 2011 was his last contest for the presidency, he tries to change his mind now, at over 70 years of age, it is indeed unfortunate because that integrity will take flight

equation. There are a couple of governors who are presidential materials and everybody knows this. The PDP structure is skewed in their favour so that they are the teeth of the party. Obasanjo and Atiku committed that original sin that is now haunting the whole structure of the party. Every national officer of the party was either brought by a governor or the president and was adopted by "consensus" in the spirit of the party's "family affair".

President Jonathan's main challenger in the last PDP primaries was former vice president Atiku Abubakar. Atiku wrongly came from a "northern" consensus platform. His speech at the convention dwelt on that "zoning" that was already jettisoned by the party. Atiku is still nursing presidential ambition but I cannot see where he will go in the current PDP. This is because I cannot see which state governor or even any national officer of the party that is behind him. This is just saying it as it is.

Jonathan's main challenger in the presidential election was General Muhammadu Buhari. His party, the CPC, did not have a single councillor then because it was new. Some people in his party hierarchy also helped to mismanage the chances of the party to get at least a couple of state governors, which would have been a good starting point.

Even Al-makura's governorship victory in Nasarawa in 2011 was largely a personal one and not based on any party popularity or acceptance, since the CPC has only four state assembly members out of 24 in the Nasarawa House of Assembly. This is just saying it as it is.

our government is dead, our roads, death traps, our hospitals, morgues and our aircrafts coffins.

We thrive in disorderliness and crave darkness. Even those of us outside the shores of Nigeria, we crave for home in part because it affords us the opportunity for 'legal' disorderly conduct. For us, to wait in line is not just an inconvenience, it is shameful and beneath our person. We love darkness because light will expose our deficiencies, our weaknesses and our wickedness. Light threatens the root of our power. In our religious houses, we discourage reasoning and dissent because we prefer uniformity to unity. Top civil servants abhor dissent from their juniors because they fear being exposed as truly incompetent or clueless.

Yes! We trade in fraud and breed corruption because we have created an environment where consciences, individual or collective, suffocate and die. This environment subtly changes the natural wiring of consciences like opiates do our brains. The euphoria of a certain quantity of booty dissipates quickly, requiring larger quantities for the euphoric effect. It flows down our head through our beards like the oil poured upon Aaron! No wonder we are addicted to corruption.

Victor Nwoko lives in Philadelphia, USA. Then, there is even the sorry case of the prisoners' dilemma in the north. In game theory, the prisoners' dilemma is that one is enjoying at the expense of others or one is losing because of another's gain. Some people have been peddling the ridiculous falsehood that Buhari lost in 2011 because Shekarau and Ribadu did not withdraw from the race! Then, who stopped him from becoming victorious in 2003 when he contested against only Obasanjo?

It does not necessarily mean that if Buhari alone contested against another person from the south, he would automatically win because he is from the north. Politics is more than that.

Even to rig, you have to have some level of acceptance. Buhari has paid his dues; he should rest now. Buhari is an inspirational leader any day but he has allowed himself to be mismanaged by people he is not ready to do away with. His main asset is his integrity. And, if after telling the whole world in tears that 2011 was his last contest for the presidency, he tries to change his mind now, at over 70 years of age, it is indeed unfortunate because that integrity will take flight. That is just saying it as it is.

The ongoing merger talks among opposition parties are a good thing for Nigeria's democracy. It will create a strong platform capable of challenging the PDP so that the democratic process will be more matured, deepened and widened. But if that merger is based on the ambition of certain individuals, then, it will go nowhere. If some people or section of Nigeria continues to say "Nigeria sai wane!", then, God will leave them with that wane! And everyone knows what that means.

But, hey, this is just an ordinary citizen saying it as it is.

Abba Mahmood is on www.Facebook.com

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

PAGE 14

Super Eagles' victory: A repeat of history

By John Danfulani

A

FCON 2013 in the Rainbow Nation (South Africa) is now history. The Super Eagles of Nigeria won the keenly contested tournament. Eagle's sweet and timely victory is a repeat of 1980 and 1994 victories. By that yesterday's record, Nigerian national team is among the four most victorious teams in the history of AFCON. The Eagles started the campaign on a "weak note" because their first two matches ended draws. Thereafter, they improved with each game. Their most difficult encounter was the quarter final tango with Ivory Coast. Ivorian Elephants were the tournament's favourites because of the quality of players in the squad and the experience of Ivorian players in playing major tournaments in their club in Europe and other well organized leagues. Despite these factors, the Eagles proved book makers wrong by resoundingly defeating the elephants with relative ease.

Sequel to their encounter with the Elephants, it became clear that the team isn't a push-over as assumed.

Super Eagles knocked off all opponents until they were declared winners.

After their first two matches the coaching crew came under heavy criticism from sport administrators, fans and commentators. A vote of no confidence was almost declared on

By Nnimmo Bassey

W

hen the UNEP report on the assessment of the Ogoni environment was released in August 2011 the world was astounded at the level of devastation visited on the territory by decades of oil extraction and pollution.

Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC or Shell), the major polluter in the territory, paid for the study on the polluter-pays basis. If that was not an admission of culpability in the ecocide in Ogoniland, you may have to invent another word for the crime. The report showed a staggering level of pollution that would require 25-30 years of cleanup if there were to be a chance of real remediation. Many people expected the government to declare Ogoniland a disaster zone.

The Ogoni people waited to see some clean-up action. The Nigerian people and the international community waited.

That the expected action was not forthcoming was a scandal of massive proportions.

Nothing was done until twelve full months rolled by. In other words, since the report was issued till that date, a full year was added to the estimated time needed to restore the Ogoni environment.

But what was done after one year?

It took one year after it had been ascertained that there was no safe drinking water in Ogoniland and that the land itself was polluted to depths of up to five metres in places, for any whisper to be heard from the corridors of power.

The UNEP report set out simple emergency actions to be taken to

with Europe Stephen Keshi et b a s e d al. All saw his/ professional their exit after that their clubs t h e Peoples Daily welcomes your letters, opinion articles, text are always tournament as messages and ‘pictures of yesteryears.’ All written reluctant in fait accompli. At releasing them some point, contributions should be concise. Word limits: Letters - 150 for crucial Kishi expressed words, Articles - 750 words. Please include your name and n a t i o n a l his frustration a valid location. Letters to the Editor should be addressed assignments. on views of to: Similarly, it will people about his at the same performance in The Editor, time encourage a press Peoples Daily, 1st Floor Peace Plaza, competition conference.

35 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja. b e t w e e n However, Email: opinion@peoplesdaily-online.com players on history has set getting a him free SMS: 07037756364 national jersey. especially on his No doubt the decision to dilute the national team with local should have ventilating space in local league shall improve players. One of such local boys future planning. because players will give in their It's about time Nigeria inject best conscious of the fact that, Sunday Mba of Enugu Rangers has written his name in gold because transparency in their local they have a chance to be call to his two goals in the tournament league because it is now clear that the national team irrespective of were crucial to the overall victory that strategy will go a long way the local status of their league. of the team. Keshi's experiment in solving troubles associated The NFF should begin to work

WRITE TO US

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The NFF should begin to work out other sources of funding their activities. Subventions from governments are in tandem with global pattern of football financing. Their over reliance on government is boomeranging due to political and bureaucratic bottlenecks hindering timely release of finances for programmes and tournaments

out other sources of funding their activities. Subventions from governments are in tandem with global pattern of football financing. Their over reliance on government is boomeranging due to political and bureaucratic bottlenecks hindering timely release of finances for programmes and tournaments.

Nigeria is a huge economy with trans-nationals having a good time due to the population of the nation. The country also has business moguls who made Forbes list of the richest people on earth.

They should partner with them and work out independent ways of financing their programmes.

If deliberate steps of sourcing finances outside governments are taken, governments will be willing to intervene by using their strong political will to get the corporate world and individuals finance their activities.

Let this victory not becloud their sense of planning because there are World Cup qualifiers around the corner, under 17 tournament in Morocco, and under 21 in Algeria. Again, there are other numerous female football tournaments lined up for this year and 2014. NFF and all major stakeholders in Nigerian football must get back to the war room and draw a roadmap that will revolutionalize Nigerian football in a short while.

Dr. John Danfulani @jondanfulani

Ogoni and agony of delayed clean-up ensure an acceptable clean up of Ogoniland. One of the key recommendations was that government should set up an "Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority."

This authority was to have a starting fund of US$1 billion. Rather than set up this body that would set about the restoration of Ogoni land, what government did was to set up what it calls the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP). This project has succeeded in planting some pollution warning signposts in Ogoniland and billboards on oil thefts in Port Harcourt.

A cursory comparison of the recommended body and the entity that government created shows that something is critically wrong.

Why set up a body that would restore rather than clean up pollution? Ogoniland is badly polluted as it is, to set up a body to compound the pollution is alarming, not amusing.

UNEP officials led by Erik Solheim, former Norwegian Minister of Environment and International Development and UNEP Special Envoy for Disasters and Conflicts, visited Nigeria early February 2013 to meet with government officials and some partners in Abuja and Port Harcourt. The purpose of the visit was to get a sense of what was being done with the UNEP Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland and to know what the next steps would be.

It is not clear what the team

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A cursory comparison of the recommended body and the entity that government created shows that something is critically wrong. Why set up a body that would restore rather than clean up pollution? Ogoniland is badly polluted as it is, to set up a body to compound the pollution is alarming, not amusing

came away with, but we at least know that UNEP is committed to seeing the report implemented and Ogoniland cleaned. The Ogoni people are one of the most mobilised peoples anywhere in the world.

The umbrella Movement for the Survival of Ogoni (MOSOP) enjoys a high level of support across the Ogoni kingdoms, has provided consistent leadership over the years and is well respected by the people. That is, despite some difficult moments, as would be expected of any serious movement.

The degree of cohesion of the Ogoni people provides an excellent template for government to set about the clean-up of the territory in a transparent and easy manner.

If there are to be difficulties it should be of the technical kind, not the socio-political variety.

It is not too late for the government to scrap HYPREP and set up the recommended "Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority." We will call this the Authority for short.

HYPREP was a hasty creation to tell the world that at least one step had been taken, one year after the release of the UNEP report .

Government should not be shy to do the right thing. Steps taken in the wrong direction may be many, but keeping in that direction may not eventually lead to the right destination. It is equally wasteful to insist on building on a faulty foundation.

Scrap HYPREP, set up the Authority. This Authority would

then set about consulting the people, call mass meetings of the Ogoni people, circulate the popular (pidgin English) version of the summary of the UNEP report which can be downloaded from the UNEP website, present the strategy for the clean up to the people and transparently set out the budget outlay for the exercise. The Authority would have the Ogoni people endorse its broad plan and strategies for implementation and monitoring as well. The Authority should be domiciled in either the Ministry of Environment or in the Presidency. It should by no means be located in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources - a key polluter, through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, in Ogoniland.

Getting things on the right track is extremely urgent. As UNEP stated, "Continued delay in the implementation of the recommendations will not only undermine the livelihoods of the Ogoni communities, but will also cause the pollution footprint to expand. In the long run, the findings of the study itself will become dated, and therefore further assessments will be needed, causing additional delays." UNEP hoped to "convey this sense of urgency to the stakeholders during" the mission. It would be another scandal if this sense of urgency gets ignored.

Nnimmo Bassey is Executive Director, Environmental Rights Action in Nigeria

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

PAGE 15

Where are Nigeria's old people?

By Elor Nkereuwem

T

here is nothing quite as heart-warming as seeing a wizened, bent over old man taking a slow stroll arm-in-arm with a female version of himself.

I've often wondered what it is about the sight that moves my otherwise toughened demeanour. It came to me recently. I am not used to seeing such sights.

Back home I don't see old men and women making their way through the streets, trudging along laboriously with their walking aids. They are not in the shops side-by-side with me, pushing along shopping carts; they don't slowly make their way into the public buses; they don't have special front row seats reserved for them in those buses.

In Nigeria, most of the old people are either dead or safely tucked away in their homes in the village.

You see, in Nigeria, the average person dies at age 54 at best.

Depending on the statistics you have access to, the average life span of a Nigerian is between 47 and 54. 2011 data from the United Nations Development Project (UNDP) says it is 51.9; the World Health Organisation (WHO) says it is 54; the World Bank says it is

By Ifeanyi Uddin

L

ast week, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) toughened its regulatory regime. Its review of risk weights on certain exposures in the computation of capital adequacy essentially did four main things: (1) It increased the risk weight on direct lending to government from 100% to 200%; (2) where a bank's exposure to a particular sector of the economy exceeds 20% of its total lending, the bank in question is now required to apply a risk weight of 150% to its entire portfolio; (3) where banks exceed the CBN's stipulated large exposure limits (to prevent a bank's over-exposure to a client or group of connected clients) the central bank will henceforth treat such infractions as impairments to the respective bank's capital; and (4) the CBN tightened the circumstances under which credit transactions may take place between "banks' related parties within a holding company structure".

My first reaction to these policy directives was near panic.

Three considerations stood out for me. First, given the sustained clamour for the apex bank to lower its policy rate (in order it is argued to give fillip to a recovering economy, or, what is essentially the same argument, in order not to restrict the economy's potential for growth), this represents a tightening of monetary conditions. In an economy that slowed down considerably last year, despite the gaping holes across its every nook and cranny, my question was "Do we need this new imposition?"

Second, I was bothered about

52. Other ratings using different social indicators abound. Taken together, the result is disheartening.

Now if you want to dispute this by recounting how many aunts, uncles, fathers, or mothers of yours that died at a ripe old age of 80 or 100, please be informed that your relatives are a minority. These organisations did not gang up to peddle lies about Nigeria. They are the same ones that have told us how Nigeria's Gross Domestic Product is growing by leaps and bounds, or not. And if we accept what they say about our economics, I dare say we ought to accept what they say about other social and human indicators.

In contrast, according to a 2012 report from the UK Office of National Statistics, the life expectancy of a male in England is 79 and for a woman, 83. "The population of England and Wales is living longer than before," the report, The Average Life Span 2012, stated. No way am I going to compare the UK with Nigeria.

Yet, one must wonder whether we should not raise an alarm over some things that can be made right but are not. The way I see it, it is not so much the fact that thieving leaders and civil

servants have stolen our country blind, taking selfishly for the now and damning the consequences for tomorrow, it is the fact that I cannot think of any deliberate effort by the government and its burgeoning agencies, ministries and parastatals to ease entry into retirement and old age. Aside the pension funds scheme and all the controversies surrounding this policy, has anyone ever heard of social endeavours to cater for the older people in our country? Have you ever seen road signs asking motorists to watch out for the oldies making their ways across the road? Can an old person without aid make his or her way

around on any of Nigeria's public transportation systems, from those awful township death traps excused for mini buses in Abuja, to Fashola's famous BRTs? Or even more importantly, have you ever seen facilities that provide specialised care for the aged? I have seen two in my lifetime. One in Calabar, run by the Catholic Church, another in Abuja, run by another Christian organisation. Perhaps there are more but I would wager that they would most likely be private projects. If so, it is worrisome that there does not appear to be any overt effort by the concerned agencies or ministries to put

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Simply put, the government knows that you are going to die before you are 65 and so will not make any effort that would require such extensive considerations. If you do defy the government's expectations, then you must find personal care from your rich children and wards

forward policies that can give back to older citizens who have done their bit in contributing to Nigeria's economy. If a citizen is no longer productive, it should not mean that they no longer have the rights to enjoy what little of their lives they have left. Surely every person would desire to be able to move about and run little errands for themselves whether they are 20 or 70.

As it stands, it is safe to say that old people with mobility difficulties in Nigeria must stay put at home and if they must move about, they must do so with the aid of one person or the other. Simply put, the government knows that you are going to die before you are 65 and so will not make any effort that would require such extensive considerations. If you do defy the government's expectations, then you must find personal care from your rich children and wards. If your children have not quite succeeded in 'making it,' I guess your only option is to retire to the village where life is much slower and the conditions more suitable for people your age.

Elor Nkereuwem is in the University of St Andrews, Scotland, for a graduate degree

Making sense of CBN's new capital adequacy requirements the health of the banks. (I still am). True, they are likely to declare impressive financials for the twelve months to endDecember 2012. However, what the numbers do not tell you is that most still bear the scars of the 2009 scare, when the CBN had to intervene to stave off the imminent collapse of the sector.

Consequently, I thought it fair to ask if the banks are healthy enough to support the changes to their balance sheets that this new policy requirements demands. If the new policy adversely affects its capital adequacy ratios, the industry has any of several choices. Raise new capital. This would be difficult if not impossible in the economy's current state.

Banks could also re-price their

assets (i.e. raise the rates on them). This, in all likelihood should force borrowers to pay back the loans.

There is the small matter that currently the bulk of banks' lending to the economy is to the federal government and states (or, what is the same thing, to their ministries, departments, and agencies). If tougher conditions are imposed for lending to the public sector what might the banks do? As it were the opportunity cost of public sector lending is warehousing the loanable funds in government's fixed income instruments. Does the new policy not thus introduce a strengthened bias in favour of banks' purchase of treasury bills?

The responses to my questions

“

There is the small matter that currently the bulk of banks' lending to the economy is to the federal government and states (or, what is the same thing, to their ministries, departments, and agencies). If tougher conditions are imposed for lending to the public sector what might the banks do?

were diverse.

The most persuasive was that the CBN was right to put out the new policy as part of the design of much more relevant macro-prudential regulations for the domestic financial services space.

Essentially, this is part of the shift (driven by the last financial and economic crisis) in the regulatory space from a traditional focus on the safety and soundness of individual financial institutions, to a newer focus on the negative feedback loop between the financial system as a whole and the larger economy.

To the worry over banks' health, I received the reassurance that only two of the tier one banks had red flags over their capital adequacy status.

Therefore, the risk here is only idiosyncratic. The system can bear the new requirements quite easily. Options for these two banks? Re-pricing or outright foreclosure of the public sector loans I am told is not such a practical option. Why? The public sector might just be too broke to go through with that. Repackaging and selling the loans off to other banks does not appear too attractive either. Given the new conditions, the haircuts that potential buyers will demand might render the transactions nugatory ab initio. So, there might be snafus in a corner of the system, which a controlled detonation might well handle.

Most industry experts that I

spoke to welcomed the CBN's efforts at restricting the space for public sector loans. Not just does this crowd out private sector borrowing, but also there is mounting evidence that the public sector increasingly suboptimises this scarce resource.

They are also sure that the banks cannot warehouse the funds thus freed up in treasury bills.

That domestic fixed income space is neither broad nor deep enough for the kinds of money that will be released. Now, since the banks cannot credibly sit on the stuff, they will be forced to address the challenges of extending loans to the private sector.

This, they will probably find some short cuts round. The trouble is that the result might underwhelm all stakeholders.

After 2012's stellar financial performance, the banks will be hard pressed this year to deliver financials that good, because of the new policy change. So expect shareholders to quibble. The private sector, too, will not get as much new loans as the "captains of industry" have always argued the sector needs.

The CBN, however, may sleep better in the knowledge that the banks will be a lot stronger after they "immediately" implement the new rules than they were before.

Ifeanyi Uddin can be reached on Twitter (Ifeanyi Uddin @ifeanyiuddin)

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

PAGE 17

Karako: The abandoned FCT community A

lthough the notion is that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is a place where milk and honey flow, members of the Karako community in Bwari Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have however discovered differently.

With a population of 500, consisting mainly women and children, members of the community have lived in the hope that one day they might get a better deal from the government, or attract the attension of philanthropic Non Governmental Organisation (NGOs) and or individuals to come to their aid.

For now, as it awaits redemption, the community appeared to be cut off not only from civilization but also from the developmental efforts of the government. They are slum dwellers living in poor sanitary conditions thereby susceptible to many diseases such as malaria and typhoid. With no pipe born water, their only source of water for drinking and other domestic uses is the nearby stream. No medical facility either,and they could only access medical facilities at the neighbouring Kuje village.

Waterborne diseases and eye problems are some of the common ailments ravaging the area.

With no secondary schoo and only, one primary school which boats of just three teachers, and attracts N250 as school fees, Illiteracy is, not unexpectedly, high. No police station and motorable roads, with the ubiquitous motorcyle as the form of transportation. And as far as the people are concerned, electricity is an alien culture that many of them have no idea what it is.

Gbagi and Hausa are the two

Karako, one of the densely populated communities in Abuja, the nation's capital city, has been desperately crying for government's attention for so long without success. Their torrential tears of despair recently turned to flood as officialdom has apparently decided to turn its back on the community for good. Etuka Sunday tells the absorbing story of the hapless people.

commonly spoken languages in the community. The standard of living is low as they mainly survive on their farm produce: Yam, Corn and Guinea Corn. The people also engage in rearing canimals, palm wine tapping and hunting of wild animals.

The closest market is Mpape market which is one hour ride on motorbike. The level of sensitization about their personal health and other positive life issues is low.

However, the Group 'A' NYSC Corps members serving under the platform of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) offered free medical treatment, drugs and insecticidal treated nets to the community. The gesture was done in line of the Goal 6 of the MDGs, which aims to combat HIV/AIDs, malaria and other diseases.

Coordinators of the group Mr. Kefas Steven Garba and Mr. Udaga Monday Inyila said that the project was undertaken with a view to assisting the the communities.

The Medical Director, Kute Health Post, Aboki Mohammed, who received the drugs on behalf of the two communities in Kute, assured that he would ensure that the drugs are equitably distributed between the two communities.

He lamented low government attention in the communities, aqsserting that the only support the people receive from government is during IPDs and immunizations.

Unlike Kute Community, which

Sen. Bala Mohammed FCT Minister has a manageable health post, Karako has no such facility where they could receive treatment. They depend on Kute Community for medical treatment.

Nevertheless, the Chief of Karako Community expressed

satisfaction with the MDGs Corps Members for their show of love towards the community.

Like he provervial Oliver Twist, the leader of the community requested for an encore of the gesture so that every household is touched by

Homes to some of the residents of Karoko community

the blessings of the corps members.

A resident of the community, Useni Daji who lamented the total neglect of the community by the government said that boreholes, clinic and good roads would go a long way in making Karako a better place for the people to live.

In his reaction to the development, another member of the community Danladi Musa canvassed for the appointment of "somebody from our community to represent us in government" asserting that the neglect suffered by the community is as a result of not having a representative in government "to speak on our behalf". According to him, "there are capable hands here that can represent the community well in government".

To be sure, government at all levels must be responsive to the people, even if government may not have the capacity to share money or distribute food stuffs to every household in Nigeria.

Still, it is government's responsibility to ensure that basic necessities of life are accessible to as many people as possible.

For now, for all the dividends of democracy it is getting, the Karako Community may as well living on planet Mars as the FCT administration, nay the Federal Government, has completely consigned it onto the backwaters of its priorities.

BUSINESS

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

Email: aminuimam@yahoo.co.uk

PAGE 19

INSIDE

- Pg 20

FG to create jobs through textile industries – Aganga

Mob: 08033644990

Glo launches new customer-friendly tariffs

By Chris Alu

N

igerian indigenous network, Globacom (Glo) has introduced five new subscriber-friendly tariff plans for its prepaid customers.

The new tariff plans called the Hi-Flyer and Talkfree, will harp on the needs of high value voice and data subscribers while the new G-Bam, new Infinito and new Gista have been repackaged to offer more value to its subscribers.

Globacom market coordinator, Mr. Adeniyi

Olukoya said that the new tariffs will add more value to subscribers on the network.”Whether they spend more on calls or data, these new tariff plans will add more value as subscribers can make calls within the network for as low as 5k/sec and international calls for as low as 15k/ sec”, he said.

Olukoya explained that subscribers on the Talkfree plan will enjoy 150 free minutes and 150 free SMS monthly while Glo-to-Glo calls on the plan will be at 15k/sec and calls to other networks will

be at the rate of 18k/sec.

To enjoy the fantastic Talkfree rates, subscribers will pay a monthly subscription fee of N1,000 only.With the HiFlyer plan, customers who subscribe to any data plan from 200MB and above will enjoy calls to all networks at 18k/sec.Under this plan, the customers will enjoy the best data usage, unrivalled customer experience and flat calling rates to all networks.

The new G-Bam tariff allows subscribers to call 5 loved ones at 5k/sec and call all networks at 18k/sec. Subscribers will

also get 5M B free data daily to check their mails, browse Facebook, Tweeter as well as browse on the Internet after paying a subscription fee of N5 per day.”This rate is the best in the market as staying in touch with loved ones has never been cheaper”, Olukoya said.

He also stated that the new Infinito tariff gives subscribers the benefit of keeping in touch with 10 loved ones on the Glo network at just 10k/ sec.Subscribers on the tariff can also call other Glo customers at 20k/sec and other

networks at the rate of 30k/sec.

He explained further that with the new Glo Gista tariff, subscribers can make on-net calls at the rate of 15k/sec while calls to other networks will be at the rate of 30k/sec after the 1st minute of the day at 40k/ sec.

For all these new plans coming from the stables of Globacom, customers will enjoy international calls to the USA, UK (fixed), Canada, China and India at 15k/sec after the 1st minute at 25k/sec. In addition, they will enjoy 35 hours of free night calls every week.

Olukoya said that the new plans are introduced in order to offer more choices and add more value to new and existing Glo subscribers who register for these special tariffs on prepaid.

Nigeria leads group on innovative financing for development

By Ibrahim Kabiru Sule

N L-R: Mrs. Busola Tejumola, Consumer Insight Manager; Mr.Mayo Okunola, General Manager, DStv Nigeria; Mr. Ayo Osunbunmi, winner of a Renault Duster SUV won in the DStv Mega Promo and his wife Olufunmilayo Osunbunmi; during the prize presentation held at the MultiChoice head office, Tiamiyu Savage, Victorial Island, Lagos

MultiChoice promises more customer-centric promos and reward customers for their From Suleiman Idris, Lagos loyalty and will in a short while ......as SUV winner emerges

L

eading pay television c o n t e n t provider, MultiChoice Nigeria has pledged its readiness to consistently introduce loyalty schemes to rival it’s just concluded mega promo.

The promo, which was held to reward its subscribers, produced winners for the Five Renault Duster sport utility vehicles (SUVs), as well as numerous winners of all-expense paid trips to South Africa to watch the the justconcluded 2013 African Cup of Nations (AFCON).

100 units of 40 inch LCD television sets, 500 units of DStv hand-held Walka devices were also amongst other prizes that were on offer.

Coming on the heels of the formal presentation of a Renault Duster SUV to Ayo Osunbunmi, a banker, in the fifth and final draws of the DStv mega promo, MultiChoice Nigeria reiterated its desire to always reward the loyalty of its customers.

General Manager, DSTV, Mayo Okunola, who made the disclosure noted that DStv will continually seek ways to thank

announce a bigger promotional package to celebrate its customers.

“Our subscribers are the bedrock of our business and we therefore continue to inspire them through quality programs as well as consistency to show gratitude all year round”, said Okunola.

Ayo Osunbunmi, who formally received his prize at a short ceremony at the MultiChoice office in Lagos, was overwhelmed with joy. He explained that he was initially in doubt when he received the notification that he had won the prize; as he had never believed

nor participated in promos.

“I never knew I had qualified and entered for the DStv mega promo draws as my paying upfront was simply for convenience.

With my experience, I can attest to the credibility of all the winnings”, said Osunbunmi. He further advised subscribers to take advantage of subsequent opportunities DStv will bring the way of its subscribers.

In keeping faith with the mega promo commitment, DStv earlier presented four Renault Duster SUVs to Alloysius Onuoha, who emerged in the first draws of the promo as well

as Garba Ahmed; Most Reverend Charles Oderinde of the Anglican Communion and Esther Omotogunja –winners that emerged in the second, third and forth draws, respectively.

Just as the numerous prizes are being redeemed, winners have also described DStv as a provider of choice programs through its quality television content that have earned their continued loyalty.

Most of the winners especially the five lucky winners of the Renault Duster SUVs, commended DStv for the transparent manner in which the draws were held.

Management Tip of the Day

T

Always say yes to networking

he building blocks of a great network aren’t purpose-driven meetings — they’re casual encounters and agenda-less coffee catchups.

As often as possible, say yes to invitations, even if it’s not clear what you’ll get out of

them. You may know the person’s occupation, industry, and job title — but you don’t know what they may be an expert in, and you certainly don’t know who they know.

Of course you can’t take every meeting nor should you enter long, unstructured

conversations with everyone you meet. But regularly connecting without a reason or purpose — with people who seem to be doing interesting things — can have unexpected benefits.

Source: Harvard Business Review

ational Planning Commission minister, Shamsuddin Usman has announced that Nigeria has succeeded Republic of Finland to assume the management of the Leading Group on Innovative Financing for Development during the just ended 11th Plenary of the 65 – member international body in Helsinki, Finland last week.

With this development, Nigeria is now the central country for initiation of innovative financing for development as part of the broad global development financing framework for the attainment of internationally agreed goals on poverty reduction and protection of public good.

The Minister, who led the Nigerian delegation to the meeting in Helsinki, stated that as the President, Nigeria will guide the affairs of the Group until December 2013 when the country will host the 12th Plenary in Abuja.

Usman stated that the Nigeria – led organization would focus on a broad range of issues including proper prioritisation of development financing, deploying innovative resources to address food security and nutrition, strengthening measures against illicit capital flight and tax avoidance, refocusing the Leading Group to strongly influence the post-2015 millennium development activities of the United Nations The Minister further said that as the president of the Leading Group Nigeria would become the spokesperson of the body as well as the leader in the promotion of innovative financing for development within the United Nations.

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

PAGE 20

Ayodele Samuel <gtms06@yahoo.com> 0806 372 7788

COMPANY NEWS

General Electric

G

eneral Electric (GE) is set to commence work on the construction of its multi-billion naira engineering manufacturing plant at the Calabar Free Trade Zone, Mr Sadiq Kasim, General Manager of the zone said.

Kasim, who spoke at the National Good Governance Tour team in Calabar on Tuesday, said that the management of the zone and the company had finalised arrangements for construction work to commence on the construction of the factory at the Free Trade Zone.

Kasim said the company had promised that it would, in the first phase of the project, invest more than N250 million in the establishment of the plant and added that about 300 Nigerian professional engineers and technicians would be employed in the factory and that provision would be made for the training of young Nigerians through the company’s technology transfer programme.

Odukpani Power Plant

T

he 565 megawatts Odukpani Power Plant in Cross River will commence operation before the end of 2013, the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, said at a Citizens Forum/Town Hall meeting held on Tuesday in Calabar.

The meeting was held as part of the ongoing good governance tour of the state.

He said that the power plant was the fourth that the team had visited since the beginning of the tour.

The minister said that the team’s visit to Calabar Export Processing Zone (EPZ) was a revelation, adding that 69 companies were presently operating in the zone.

NAHCO Aviance

I

n a move aimed at increasing cargo capacity and boosting trade in the Northern region, the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc, (Nacho Aviance) has begun the modernisation and expansion of its Kano warehouse to meet international standards and enhance service delivery to its numerous clients.

NAHCO Aviance, a leading aviation handling service provider, currently owns and operates the largest cargo warehouse in sub Sahara Africa.

The warehouse situated at the company’s corporate headquarters within the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, is 17,068.5m² in size and has the capacity to handle 230, 000 tonnes of import cargo and 60,000 tonnes of export cargo per annum.

C

ontinuous dumping, counterfeiting and faking of products in Nigerian markets could lead to the collapse of local industries, increase unemployment and underdevelopment.

This was the submission of stakeholder at a forum organized by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) themed: ‘Effects of counterfeiting and faking of Nigerian goods and dumping on manufacturing export’, in Lagos.

Stakeholders present at the forum included the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Export Group (MANEG), Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

They recommended that implementation of strict penalties against culprits,

How to fight fake products - NEPC boss, stakeholders which might also include the restructuring of existing laws, establishment of law on full disclosure and product preregistration, collaboration among government agencies, among others, remained the effective way to tackle dumping, counterfeiting and faking of products in the country.

The Chief Executive Officer, NEPC, Mr. David Adulugba said the nation needed to arise and take up the challenge posed by the Asian countries, by reinvigorating its non-oil exports through adequate support for export commodities.

Adulugba, who was represented by the Assistant Director, Lagos Zonal Office of NEPC, Mrs. Evelyn Obidike, said if government’s desire to make the non-oil export sector a significant contributor to the nation’s Gross Domestic

Product (GDP) is to become achievable, there was a need to urgently address the ugly practice of dumping and counterfeiting to encourage growth of local capacity and export.

He stated that the negative effect of counterfeiting and dumping could lead to the collapse of local industries, increase unemployment and underdevelopment.

“Various governments of the world and the World Trade Organisation have adopted various measures to tackle this scourge as it has been declared an international crime. Nigeria cannot afford to ignore this. We need to take measures before it becomes too detrimental to our economic growth and development,” he added.

On its part, he said the agency had a number of incentives to encourage export

business. He recalled that in the last 15 years, export products had been getting the necessary support, urging operators to learn to operate, according to international standards.

Also speaking at the event, the Director-General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Muda Lawal, said there was the need to focus more on non-oil exports, stressing that a situation where the Gross Domestic Product earnings from manufacturing had stagnated at four per cent was not satisfactory.

“We need to develop manufacturing non-export. It is the only way to confront unemployment. This can also be done by reviewing the laws against counterfeiting and faking,” he said.

Yusuf however tasked government on the need to renew its commitment to the diversification of the economy rather than maintaining its present monolithic culture.

FG to create jobs through textile industries – Aganga

T

he Federal Government has announced plans to improve the nation’s textile industry as part of efforts to create jobs for Nigerian youths.

Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga declared the federal government’s readiness to exploit her competitive advantage in agriculture, mining and the oil and gas related industries.

Aganga said the production of cotton for domestic use and exports will be strengthened while players in the industry will be supported to expand their current operations.

He blamed the decline on weak links in the value chain but expressed the confidence that the industrial revolution plan for the industry will address this and increase productivity.

“This is the beginning of an

important journey. We want to make this sector number one in Africa. It is not just about talking; we will come up with actionable points to kick-start the needed revolution.

Aganga said that about 8,070 jobs have been saved through the disbursement of the N100billion Cotton Textile Garment Intervention Fund. ”We are already making progress with the reforms that are in place. Figures by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) revealed that the capacity utilisation in this sector has increased significantly from 29.14 per cent in 2010, to 49.70 per cent as at 2011.

“In addition, a number of hitherto moribund textile mills have been re-opened, while about 8,070 jobs have been saved. Also, over 5,000 new jobs have been created. We cannot

Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga continue to be a raw materials exporting nation because by doing so, we are exporting jobs, development and wealth. This is one area that the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan is

trying to address.

“I am very optimistic that before the end of 2013, the whole of the N100billion would have been disbursed”, he stated.

NEXIM injects N42bn to boast manufacturing

T

he Nigeria Export and Import Bank, (NEXIM) has announce its plans to inject about N42 billion of the manufacturing sector’s financing requirement, or six per cent of the manufacturing sector’s financing needs, while accounting for at least 3.71 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2015.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has blamed what it called technical hitches and the National Assembly as the rationale for delay in the release of the $700 million (N108 billion) loans for small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs)

…. AfDB blame NASS for delay of $700 million SMEs fund since 2011.

In 2011, the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved $700 million for the development of SMEs in Nigeria, It also provided loans to the Bank of Industry (BoI) and NEXIM Bank two weeks ago following the signing of an agreement. The loans were given in two tranches of $500 million to BoI and $200 million to NEXIM for distribution to the qualified SMEs. AfDB’s representative in Nigeria Dr. Ousmane Dore said that the loans arrived late because the National Assembly

did not approve it in time.

Managing Director of NEXIM, Robert Orya said his bank has already approved and issued $32.3 million worth of guarantees to support the manufacturing, transport and tourism sub-sectors.

Orya said these facilities would create a minimum of 170 direct jobs and generate about $20.06 million Foreign Exchange earnings annually.

Specifically, he said, the target is to increase the access of manufacturers to short and longterm credit; create and sustain

approximately 70,479 jobs within the sector through project finance activities in the next four years.

Orya also disclosed that NEXIM Bank has identified manufacturing, agriculture, solid minerals and services, as four sectors of the economy to play in, hence its MASS Agenda.

The MASS agenda is a Corporate Transformation Project of the bank that was launched in April 2010 to revamp the bank and ensure it becomes “the leading African Export Development Bank”.

PEOSPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

Report as at Wednesday, February 13, 2013

PAGE 23

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

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PAGE 25

Passengers hope Nigeria's renovated railway can unite north and south The railway linking the economic powerhouse of Lagos and the conflicthit north of Nigeria has reopened after more than 10 years. The BBC's Will Ross made the 31-hour train journey and asks whether the train line can help unite this divided country.

N

igeria's railways are making a comeback after virtually grinding to a halt.

The first sign of progress is the reopening of the long defunct rail link between Lagos in the south and Kano in the north.

"This is my first experience on a train since I was at school in the early 1990s. I heard about it through BBC Hausa service so I'm giving it a try," says a Lagos-based businessman, as the train rumbles along at a steady 45km/h (28mph).

"Credit to the government, although we need a better service," he says.

Another passenger shrugs at the 1,100km (685 mile) journey to see his relatives in Kano. He will have just more than a day with his family before

having to catch the weekly return service.

"This is a development. I once spent five days travelling by train from Lagos to Kano. The engine would be removed from the train and it be taken for a service whilst we would stay on board," he says.

The state-owned Nigeria Railway Corporation says the rehabilitation of 1,126km of track has cost 24bn naira (£98m; $153m).

With a one-way ticket starting from 1,930 Naira (£7.50; $12), it is far cheaper and, some say, safer than travelling by road.

"Last year an armed robber attacked us on the road. There was shooting but thank God we escaped. I feel safe on the train," says passenger Bukola Ogunbanjo.

En route, we pass

Women traders at Agege station in Lagos

abandoned relics of the once thriving railways rusty, dilapidated carriages and goods wagons as well as crumbling stations.

The first steam engine to have worked in northern Nigeria sits at Minna station in Niger state. It was built in Leeds in the UK in 1901.

At that time, the British

colonial powers were keen to expand the railway mainly as a way to make money through agriculture and mineral exports. Palm oil dominated. It was wanted as lubricant for the machines in Britain's factories whilst palm kernels were used to produce soaps and

margarine.

Colonial reports show that 18 million gallons of palm oil were exported from southern Nigeria in 1908.

For the same year, the British colonial authorities budgeted £2m for expansion of the rail network.

By 1913, £6m worth of Nigerian palm tree products alone were being exported every year to

Britain.

In order to harness the agricultural potential in the north, the railway was extended to Kano and Nguru.

Sir Bryan SharwoodSmith was a young employee in the colonial administration in 1927 and gives this insight into the train journey north.

"We lurched and jolted

The scene at Minna Station in Niger state

onward, sleeping a little, but never for long, until daylight brought the twin blessings of a cool breeze and an attendant with early morning tea," he recalls in his book, But Always As Friends.

He helped supervise 500 locally recruited labourers constructing the railway in the north, and became the governor of northern Nigeria in the 1950s.

By the time of independence in 1960, Nigeria had about 3,500km of railway track.

That figure has barely changed in over half a century, although most of the track has been rendered redundant, as political turmoil and massive corruption have taken their toll.

There have been false starts but now the Nigerian government says a modern, extensive network is on the way.

"Policy flip-flops were the main reasons for the delays in sorting out the railways. As governments changed, their approaches to the same problem were sometimes markedly different and were not decisive," says transport infrastructure consultant Rowland Ataguba.

"But the last six years have witnessed the most concerted capital investment in the railways by the government in decades.

"Over $10bn has been committed to the railways in this period," says Mr Ataguba.

'Become friends' Most of the contracts will go to Chinese firms. Last year, the government signed a $1.49bn contract

with the state-owned China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) to build a railway between the commercial capital Lagos and Ibadan.

The train journey offers a real chance to see Nigeria's diverse landscape.

After slicing through the hustle and bustle of Lagos, the landscape turns green and in some areas the thick bushes touch the sides of the carriages.

Each hour we head north it becomes drier and harsher.

The city of Kano is in the mostly Muslim north. With

illiteracy high and poverty deep, it is fertile ground for the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, which is seeking to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria.

The group has been blamed for the deaths of some 1,400 people in central and northern Nigeria since 2010.

On board I met 21-yearold Israel, a Christian from the south, heading to join the police academy.

"I really hope I can fight Boko Haram because I've noticed what they've done to so many families," he says.

The conflict has

Passengers buy food and other goods through the train window

deepened the divide between the mostly Muslim north and largely Christian and animist south.

But in addition to boosting trade, some think this train can help unite Nigeria.

"I see all of us as passengers - Nigerians, northerners, southerners, Christians, Muslims.

Everybody is the same - we are just one," says a man on his way to visit his family in Kano.

"Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo - with the help of the train we become friends."

Source: BBC News

PAGE 28

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUART 14, 2013

EMERGENCY UPDATE

. In house refresher training on first aid and casualty evacuation

New Orleans: the disaster resilient City

By Yushau A. Shuaib

S

ometimes in 2011, this writer got an invitation to attend the annual International Disaster Conference and Expo (IDCE) which takes place every year in the city of New Orleans in the United States of America.

But due to a short notice and stringent requirements for US visa, the writer missed the opportunity to attend the global conference. The following year, after the worst flood disaster in Nigeria, another invitation was extended to me as the spokesperson of National emergency Management Agency (NEMA). Surprisingly visa was granted even at short notice after an interview that was less than five minutes at the US Embassy in Abuja!

For decades, New Orleans was reputed to be a city of good music, tantalizing cuisine, rich culture and friendly dwellers who welcome visitors from across the globe with open arms until the arrival of Hurricane Katrina, which on August 29, 2005 washed away the city and devastated the Gulf Coast.

Thousands of people fled their homes as huge sections of the city disappeared under floodwaters.

The disaster in this city of mostly black people has been described as one of the deadliest, costliest and most destructive of the 2005 series of Atlantic hurricane in the United States of America. The over 1,500 people

that died in the disaster were mainly those who refused to heed the early warning. It was also estimated that over $80 billion was lost due to damages to property.

The incidence also exposed the weakness of humans in relation to technology. The hurricane surge protection failures in New Orleans are considered the worst civil engineering disaster in U.S. history and this prompted a lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), who were the designers and builders of the levee system. There was also an investigation of the responses from federal, state and local governments, resulting in the resignation of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) director, Michael D. Brown and of New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) Superintendent Eddie Compass.

While first timers in the city could have anticipated an excursion into sites of ruins and traces of destructions from Hurricane Katrina, it was amazing that New Orleans is not only bubbling with full of side attractions is a great example of disaster resilient city that have recovered faster than expected.

From the well-tarred road networks, magnificent structures and uninterrupted utility services, Katrina disaster story is now in the past tense. New Orleans is re-enacting its old reputation as one of the most popular convention and leisure

destinations in USA. It wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t surprising that the annual IDCE is designed to always take place in New Orleans with a mission to unite public and private sector professionals from around the world for discussions regarding policy, lessons learned, best practices, and forward thinking, resulting in the mitigation of loss of life and property when catastrophic events occur.

Though conferences on disaster management are held in various cities of the world, IDCE is reputed to be the only event supported across a broad spectrum of industry perspectives: Homeland Security, Emergency Management, Emergency Response, Disaster Recovery, Business Continuity, Resilience, Global Security, Large Loss / Claims, academia and many more.

During a breakout session at the IDCE Conference, participants were told of how within six months of the Hurricane Katrina, government declared that every parts of New Orleans had become safe as no soil was contaminated and the air quality was pure, while, water and sewage systems were gradually restored. Involvement of the residents and the community in the planning effort also ensured rapid transformation of the city. Relief agencies and volunteer groups helped many returnees especially in the provision of hot

meals, packaged food, bottled water and other supplies.

The U.S. military and other relevant security agencies were involved in the reconstruction of the damaged buildings and structures. Faith-based and community-based organisations as well as individuals all volunteered in providing necessary relief to the displaced people while some non-profit organisations played active roles in mobilising funds in rebuilding houses of the poor and lowearners.

Philanthropic organisations involved in financial services also made donations of cash with some providing soft loans to enable victims to return to their businesses.

There is no denying the fact that USA has an effective, reliable, integrated, and comprehensive system to alert and warn the American people.

This writer was fascinated by the sophistication of Early Warning Alert System being regularly utilized to warn residents of looming disasters which contributed to minimal loss of lives during Hurricane Katrina.

The Director for the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Antwane Johnson told participants that beyond local alerting system, his agency is integrating public alert and warning systems so that warning messages could reach

the target audience as soon as possible through various channels including television, radio, online media, mobile phones and public signage simultaneously. The system has collaboration with various institutions, including telephone operators, media owners and volunteers in its successful implementation because it facilitates single emergency alert message delivery to all available public dissemination channels.

After losing billions of dollars in tourism business due to Katrina, the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau successfully embarked on a rebranding campaign to reposition the potential of the city. The outcome of the crisis and reputation management campaign has propelled the tourism industry of the city to become taller and stronger than expected.

The success of the rapid recovery efforts of New Orleans from the catastrophe resulted from the massive supports from various institutions, groups and individuals who volunteered to sacrifice in the recovery processes. The great lesson here in disaster management is that while we cannot prevent or even anticipate all disasters, we should plan and prepare for any eventuality that could occur due to nature or human error. Nigeria and other developing countries, especially in Africa have a lot to learn from the disaster resilience and recovery strategies employed during and after Hurricane Katrina in the United States of America

PAGE 29

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUART 14, 2013

EMERGENCY UPDATE

Rising deaths from communal clashes in Nigeria

A

fter the independence in 1960, Nigeria has repeatedly witnessed conflicts of diverse degrees, which had triggered socioeconomic, physical and emotional trauma among the people.

Apparently, some of the resultant effects of communal conflicts are manifold loss of lives and property, investment opportunities, hunger and starvation, open violence, wars, mass strikes, and other forms of socio-economic disorders.

Consequently, almost every part of the country has become vulnerable to one form of communal conflicts or another. Similarly, like most parts of the world, communal crises in Nigeria are multidimensional—religious, political, economic, social and ethno-linguistic. For instance, an African economist, Gesiye Angaye noted that the divisive interplay of politics, ethnics and religion in the country has led to rising nationalism and militancy of various ethnic movements, seeking selfdetermination, local autonomy, separate identity and true federalism. And the situation is not unconnected with the disintegration of our value system, especially among the youths who are always manipulated by warlords for selfish interests.

The proliferation of small arms and light weapons, transnationalization of terrorism, globalization, and unequal distribution of resources are some issues traditionally identified as causes various conflicts in Nigeria.

In the findings of the Youths Against Disaster Initiative (YADI), it was gathered that the system of artificial and arbitrary boundaries that split ethnic groups among different local government areas and states in Nigeria are responsible for boundary disputes, neglect, oppression, domination, exploitation, victimization, d i s c r i m i n a t i o n , marginasation, nepotism, intolerance and demands for secession by some groups.

It could be recalled that in 2012, at a 2-Day seminar organized by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in collaboration with the Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) in Lafia, Nasarawa State, the Director General of NEMA, Alhaji Muhammad Sani-Sidi attributed insecurity and violent conflicts confronting the nation to socioeconomic struggles, drought and desertification, massive urbanization, landslides, unequal distribution of resources, ignorance, intolerance among various groups and communities.

Meanwhile, efforts to tackle communal clashes have

received series of institutional and administrative attentions in the country. Among these are ‘Operation Ceto-Maza’, Free-toll Call and Distress Call Centres initiated under the leadership of Alhaji Sani-Sidi.

These proactive measures have turned out to help averting hundreds of deaths and millions of naira property that would have been lost to frequent crises in the country.

In a bid to reduce rumour mongering and reckless speculations that are noted for some crises, NEMA has called on relevant stakeholders to

conflicts; as two conflicts, even if occurred in the same area, may not be viewed from same perception. In this regard, they must conduct a critical review and analysis of existing conflicts to be able to forecast and understand futuristic threats regarding the conflicts.

Strict control must be maintained against the supply and use of arms and ammunitions as inadequate measures on these have fasten the outbreak of crises in the country and empowered warlords to accelerate conflicts rather than finding peaceful

YOUTHS FOR PUBLIC SAFETY

By Abubakar Jimoh abujimoh01@yahoo.com removed, and how traditional practices can offer alternative ways of ending conflict. This will help to attain post conflict reconciliation, peace building, and prevent reoccurrence of conflicts.

In order to avoid the conflict of class struggles, there must be equitable distribution of power, wealth, status and responsibilities among all ethnic communities in the country. Equality must be

. During the 4th Africa Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction, the Media group was briefed on How the National Emergency Management Agency uses Social Media to promote Disaster Risk Reduction. build the capacity of Nigerians in ICT and in the application of social media networking in conflict and disaster early warning response, and in confronting misinformation that exacerbates conflicts and insecurity.

On its own part, YADI encourages governments at all levels while seeking to resolve conflicts to first identify the different dynamics of the

resolution.

Effort to resolve conflicts should give priority to the roles of traditional rulers, community/village heads, and the religious leaders who are likely to be more informed on the root causes of the clashes.

They should be given chance to identify how their communities are affected by the conflict, how the obstacles to peace negotiations can be

reinstalled in our traditional institutions and judiciary system; as national objectives can only be achieved through consideration for individuals’ fairness and justice before law.

Thus, individuals must shun undesirable elements that could capitalize on insecurity to attack innocent citizens; by taking it part of their civil responsibility to report a predicted or suspected crisis in

their domain to the appropriate authority. Various social and traditional institutions in communities should always encourage their members on attitudinal change in their mindset and proper orientation toward others. This can be achieved through proper education and enlightenment.

The institutions on their part should be operationally and structurally fortified for the inculcation of humility and patriotism in their members.

Also, education institutions at all levels should concentrate on imparting useful knowledge, discipline and morality in students. Due consideration must be given to the national integration and economic progress through institution of good governance at all levels.

Patriotic efforts must be made towards poverty alleviation, and employment opportunities; as warlords would always source for idle populations who they can manipulate into ethnic, religious, political and class conflicts using food and material enticements.

Moreover, it is evident that during the dry season, low feedstuff and low water in rivers would trigger an early movement of herds in search of pasture and water as early as December/January, thereby increasing the risk of conflicts between herdsmen and farmers. YADI has encouraged all levels of Government to make drinkable water available for both man and animals in water deficit areas, through the provision of sufficient wells or boreholes in the affected communities.

Farmers are advised to start planting at the appropriate period, consciously use their food reserve, and improve feeds during the growing season in accordance with guidance and advice of state agriculture services.

Traditional rulers and community heads across the country should encourage their herdsmen to make adequate provisions for their animal feeds against dry season; through massive storage of animal feedstuffs during the growing season.

NEMA to set up community resilience network

T

he National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), South-South zone plans to set up community resilience network and peace brigades, the Zonal Coordinator, Mr Umesi Emenike, has said.

Emenike made the plan known at the opening of a three-day workshop, organised by the agency in collaboration with Zaramat Global Company

Limited in Port Harcourt.

He said the aim was to strategise on various efforts in emergency management of the region, adding that the brigade would comprise NEMA stakeholders and volunteers in the zone.

He said the training was also part of the resilience project, adding that it was fallout of experience of the agency during the 2012 floods

in the country.

“Building resilience at community level is necessary and I believe that the workshop will cover all the aspects of emergency management as it is necessary in the country,” he stressed.

He advised participants to take advantage of the training to build stronger effort in disaster management.

A facilitator, Mr Maji

Peterx, who gave the general overview on community resilience, stressed the need to be proactive in disaster management.

Peterx said the programme was a wake-up call to stakeholders in the south-south zone.

He urged participants to continue to support government in its effort on disaster management. (NAN)

PAGE 26

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUART 14, 2013

The Unending story of Zamfara Lead poisoning

A

lthough, I have not visited Zamfara recently, stories coming out from there are unpalatable. The problem of Zamfara lead poisoning debacle has become like a recurring decimal.

From very reliable sources, it has again been reported that the situation is becoming worst by the day, as thousands more people are believed to still be at risk with many of them unable to get treatment and needed urgent and coordinated response.

Must we have to always wait for an agency like Medecins Sans Frontieres MSF to tell us what to do to remediate the contaminated areas in Zamfara of lead poisoning?

Only God knows how many people have already died and how many are still living with the lead poison.

Above all, it is criminal for such negligence.

Sometimes last year, Hamzat Bala Lawal, the National Coordinator, African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC), Nigeria chapter, at a press conference in Abuja had to cry out that till date, the federal government had not sanitized the affected areas leading to more children getting affected without adequate medical treatment.

Lawal claimed that over 1,000 people have died from this lead poisoning in the six affected communities due to mining activities over time.

Within the same period, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) also cried out that the situation in Zamfara was far from over, as the water supply in the areas become polluted and called on the federal government to do more to deal with the deadly outbreak of this unfortunate lead poisoning.

MSF actually discovered that the situation was underestimated because many leadrelated deaths were never reported, and in many cases, these communities attribute them to other factors or deny them altogether.

It could be recalled that it was during the annual immunization program, that MSF visiting doctors realized children in the region were dying in unusually large numbers. In several villages they sawthere were virtually no children.

Villagers said the children had died of malaria and it was only when an MSF took blood tests from local people that the high concentrations of lead were discovered.

It was also discovered that it was more extensive than anyone ever thought as there were more villages involved, and the lead levels were higher, and the number of children infected was higher than

anyone first estimated.

When the incident was first reported, subsequent tests by experts show the areas contaminated was 11,000 parts per million of lead.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency it was at an alarming rate, as the safe level of lead is 400 parts per million.

It could be recalled that in March 2009, an estimated 400 children were reported to have died, and 30,000 others poisoned in Zamfara state, in the world's worst recorded outbreak of lead poisoning.

But the sad news is that the problem of lead poisoning in the state persists in the face of

Mines and Steel Development continued, until we had to wait for the United Nations to tell us that, "The lead pollution and intoxication crisis in Zamfara state is far from over."

Since then it has been one promise by either the federal government or Zamfara state government to carry out remediation of the affected areas.

The source of the outbreak began after the price of gold shot up and villagers realised they could make more money from exploiting local gold deposits than from farming, as young men began to dig metal ore from nearby mines and process it in their homes in the search

ENVIR ONMENT ENVIRONMENT WATCH

By Ambrose Inusa Sule, mnes globenviron@yahoo.com 0703-441-4410 (sms only) for the entire communities to be wiped out before remediation? MSF's head of mission in Nigeria, Ivan Gayton, has repeatedly told the federal government that one thousand five hundred children are currently lead-

situation seriously enough.

Although the authorities whose responsibility is to ensure remediation, told people to stop mining, but better education in place to teach people of the health risks should be a priority telling the people

poisoned, but are not receiving treatment because it is impossible to deliver effective treatment while they still live in contaminated homes.

What has been the response from the government other than looking the other way, while mining continued uncontrolled till date, resulting to more contaminations and deaths? It was reported that the federal government said it would spend more than N500m cleaning up Zamfara, and in some areas this work it claimed has already begun after MSF's alert.

Must we be waiting for the international community to tell us about ourselves before we know what to do? Human Rights Watch noted that government had not sent senior officials and suggested this underlined the fact that authorities were not taking the

that exposure to high levels of lead can damage the brain and nervous system, and in severe cases cause seizures, coma and death.

It is possible to do the environmental remediation and it is possible to do safer mining as we need not die in search of livelihood as it can be done safely with education and enlightenment campaign.

When will our leaders be proactive on issues that concern the lives of the ordinary people? Must we have to wait for an agency like MSF to tell us what to do to remediate the contaminated areas in Zamfara of lead poisoning?

Only God knows how many people have already died and how many are still living with the lead poison. Above all, it is criminal for such negligence.

Lead poisoning and remediation in Zamfara several calls both from local and international organizations for the federal government to remediate the affected area as a matter or urgency.

It is now three years since the outbreak of lead poisoning in Zamfara state, and seems as if the problem is just a week old, as nothing tangible has been done as gleaned from my dependable sources from thestate.

The inaction of Zamfara State government after the alleged warning by the Federal Ministry of Mines about the danger of the illegal mining before it occurred, elicited public condemnation considering thenumber of people that died and those that were hospitalized.

The blame game between Zamfara State Government and the Federal Ministry of

for gold.

But they were unknowingly mining lead, and the dust from the processing contaminated their houses. As children play in the dust around water wells, ignorant of the danger around them were contaminated.

To extract gold, deadly amounts of lead were released and soil containing lead deposits was dumped in water sources and in places where children played.

They were actually poisoned by dust released by gold miners breaking open rocks near their homes.

Contaminated soil was also dumped in water sources and there were fears that rain had further spreadpollutants.

Though, ignorance is not an excuse, but do we have to blame the communities who did know the health implications of their mining activity? Must we wait

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUART 14, 2013

PAGE 27

Minister calls for renewed vigour on Great Green Wall Project

By Mohammed Kandi

T

he Minister of Environment, Mrs Hadiza Ibrahim Mailafia has appealed to stakeholders to ensure that the onslaught of desertification in the country is checked through the implementation of the Great Green Wall Project.

Mailafia made the appeal recently in Abuja, at a meeting with Commissioners of Environment from desertification challenged Adamawa, Bornu Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, and Yobe.

In a statement issue by the ministry’s Deputy Director, Press

and Public Relations, Lawrence Ojabo, the minister, who commended the enthusiasm and enormous preparatory works already carried out in various states on the project, emphasized the commitment and determination of the Federal Government towards the full implementation of the Great Green Wall Programme in Nigeria.

The efforts, Mailafia said, should spur the stakeholders to bring on board all seriousness, diligence and moral rectitude on the ongoing plans and activities of the project.

She said: “we cannot afford to let Mr President, the Vice President and the people of the affected communities down. As

one of the principal implementing agents of the Great Green Wall, you as Commissioners of Environment in your various States, have major roles to play towards the success of the programme.”

“These include among others, integration of the Great Green Wall into your state's development programmes; massive sensitization and awareness campaigns at all levels, up to grass roots level; provision of land; community mobilization; financial, technical and other resources, as well as ensuring ownership and sustainability,” Mailafia explained.

“I call on you to redouble your efforts, carry the Local

Governments, Communities, as well as all relevant stakeholders, including schools, NYSC, Cooperatives, NGO's by involving them in the planning ,implementation and monitoring of the programme.In this way we will get their buy-in and ensure ownership and sustainability,” she stated.

The Minister disclosed that the Vice President and Chairman of the National Council on Shelterbelt and Afforestation, Architect Namadi Sambo has directed that a road map for implementation of the programme should be prepared for consideration of the council within the next two weeks, to fast track concrete action on the ground.

Kebbi spends N12.1b on water supply projects in 5 years

T

he Kebbi Government says it spent about N12.1 billion on rural and urban water supply projects in five years.

The State Director of Water Supply, Alhaji Sunusi Ibrahim, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Birnin Kebbi recently.

Out of the amount, he said, N4.4 billion was used to provide 465 motorised water schemes and N1.9 billion for 2,525 hand pumps in the rural areas.

“The Rural Water Schemes were located evenly in the four emirates that include Gwandu, Argungu, Zuru and Yauri within the period under review.

“The ministry also provided 309 kilometres of water distribution pipe network in the rural and urban centres at the cost of N941.2 million to ensure that people consume hygienic water,” he said.

Ibrahim also said that N1.7 billion was spent on 25 Earth Dams to provide water supply for irrigation and livestock.

He said the urban water supply scheme comprised rehabilitation of major water works located in Birnin Kebbi, Argungu, Zuru, Yauri, Jega, Kangiwa, Aliero and Kamba emirates.

The director said that rehabilitation of the urban water works included the provision of treatment facilities and chemicals worth N3.2 billion.

“The strategy adopted for efficient water supply included the award of contracts to reputable firms, which included Chinese Geo Engineering Company and Zangahoo Ltd. He expressed delight that there was no record of abandoned projects because technical experts were involved to monitor the execution of the projects.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that N5.1 billion was allocated for water supply in the 2013 budget, which has been signed into law. (NAN).

Ogoniland schools mark WED for the first time

Sokoto Govt establishes 1, 450km shelter belt against desert encroachment

By Mohammed Kandi

F

ollowing the glaring effect of desert encroachment, upsetting most parts of northern parts of Nigeria, the Sokoto State Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Jabi Kilgori, said 1, 450 kilometres of shelter belt had been established across the state to fight bane.

He made the announcement recently at the annual conference of the Forestry Association of Nigeria in Sokoto.

Kilgori, who said the challenge of such encroachment was the biggest ecological problem facing about 12.5 million hectares of land in the semi-arid zone, observed that about 50 million people living in that part of the country, who produced about 40 percent of the food consumed and 100 percent of the livestock, were threatened by desert encroachment.

He added that the state government made a number of interventions, in collaboration with the Federal Government and multi lateral agencies, to control desert encroachment and drought.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Alhaji Suleiman Fulani, Kilgori said 16 treeseedling nurseries were being rehabilitated, including various irrigation infrastructure and offices across the state.

He said it would reposition the nurseries, to produce more good quality planting stock to nourish afforestation activities.

Kilgori said it would supply seedlings to the general public, non-governmental organisations and schools, for tree planting.

Eerlier, Alhaji Saminu Ado, the National President of the association, said the conference would address the status, challenges and prospects of the forest.

NESREA sets up environmental clubs in schools

T

he National E n v i r o n m e n t a l Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) has set up clubs in some secondary schools in Plateau State to boost awareness on environment issues.

An environmental expert and NESREA’s Zonal Director in the state, Dr. William Lappi, disclosed this to the told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos.

Lappi said that the essence was to inculcate environmental discipline and management in children at an early age.

“If the younger generation is well sensitised on environmental management and its protection, the world will be a better place.

“When that is done, we shall minimise actions highly detrimental to the environment and the ozone layer.

“What we do is to sensitise the students who, in turn,

sensitise their friends and family members on the importance of environmental management and its protection,’’ he explained.

According to him, aside the establishment of NESREA clubs in schools, the agency has carried out various sensitisation workshops at places of worship and in communities.

“We have gone to various communities and places of worship to sensitise the people on the ills of carrying out

certain acts which are detrimental to the environment and to humans in the long run.

“We have been more specific on building along water ways and close to rivers; we have also educated them on the dangers of indiscriminate felling of trees and bush burning.’’

The environmentalist advised people to be more conscious of their environment as it is the only space available to humanity to live in. (NAN)

Flood: Organisation donates relief materials to victims in Kogi

T

he representative of African Health Project, USA, Mr James Ojeba, has presented drugs worth millions of naira as relief materials to flood victims in Kogi.

The drugs were received by the Permanent Secretary in

the state Ministry of Health, Alhaji Salau Aliu, in Lokoja on behalf of the state and victims.

Ojeba said that the drugs were token contribution from the organisation to assist victims who must have suffered from the flood.

Aliu expressed appreciation to the association for assisting the state government and flood victims in time of need.

He said that government alone could not meet all the needs of victims or proffer all the solutions to flood problem.

He said the government was

making efforts to alleviate the suffering of the victims.

The epidemiologist of the Ministry of Health, Mrs. Funmi Balogun, advised organisations to always contact the ministry on the type of drugs that would be required before donating such items. (NAN)

PAGE 30

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY, 14, 2013

Suleiman Gimba Ahmed: An irreplaceable gentle soul

By Hassan Gimba Ahmed

H

e walked into the hospital that day by himself. But before he left home, as if he foresaw his death, he had told his wives where he kept his shroud (likkafani) and Zamzam water. A week before he bade goodbye to this world, he had distributed some of his possessions to his children, named those he wanted to dig his grave, those who to first pour sand over him and left behind his will (wasiyya) through Imam Alkali Muhammad Ahmed whom he willed should lead the funeral prayers for the repose of his soul.

My first dream, I vividly recall, was of him and the Prophet of Islam, Maulana Muhammad (SAW). It was either in 1968 or ’69. I was four to five years old and we were then in Gembu. In that dream, I walked up to the Prophet who stood under a tree, glowing in white attires. His shoes - the Arabian oriental with the toes curved inwards - were the type used by olden day royalties. I came up to him on his right side.

He turned s onto me, smiling and pointing to his left, saying, in Hausa, ka kai wannan wa babanka (take this to your father). In the dream, I understood what he offered to be a bag of millet.

I grew up knowing my father as an upright man who feared God, loved His Prophet and did his best to walk the straight but narrow path.

He desired to inculcate such uprightness in us, his children. That was why we always had Qur’anic teachers come to our house to teach us. He always wanted the best for us.

Gimba Ahmed was born in Fika, the ancient town of undulating plains in Yobe state on the November 6, 1938, where he started his Western education in the town’s elementary school in 1947. Being the son of the village’s Imam who taught the children of the royals and those of their “subjects” as well as preached in the village and surrounding ones, that he had western education at all was luck.

As God wanted, he excelled to the extent his classmates at the Borno Middle School (which became a Provincial Secondary School before they passed out) nicknamed him “professor”. That was the school he went to in 1951 from Potiskum Elementary School which absorbed elementary pupils from Fika, Potiskum and other neighbouring divisions. In the words of Alhaji Ajiya Idriss who called that day to condole, Gimba Ahmed was a “human encyclopaedia”.

My father worked in various places, both public and private and he distinguished himself. After passing out from Borno Provincial

Suleiman Gimba Ahmed Secondary School, now Government College, Maiduguri, he worked with the United Africa Company (UAC). His strong desire was not personal wealth but to help his people through the public service. Thus he joined the Northern Nigeria Civil Service in 1961 as an Assistant Script Writer.

He rose to the position of an acting Permanent Secretary in 1980 when the cutthroat politics of those days forced him to resign and rejoin the UAC as Regional Manager (North) in charge of AJ Seward and Kingsway chemists.

A man who loved farming, Gimba Ahmed was a good one. He established a flourishing maize farm at Kidandan, in Zaria, for UAC. It did not stop at that as his 1976 report on Agricultural Staff Training as the then Deputy Permanent Secretary (DPS) in the Borno State Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources led to the

setting up of the Borno State College of Agriculture. Another report of his that same year was on Water Resources Administration which also led to the establishment of the Borno State Water Board. He became its first General Manager, in acting capacity, and it was at that time most of the major towns of Borno got boreholes, massive overhead tanks and pipelines pumping potable water to taps in households and designated public places.

His responsibility at the Water Board was coupled with his position as DPS (he acted as Permanent Secretary on many occasions) in the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources where, together with other staff, he inspired the effort to restore Borno’s glory as the number one granary and meat shop of Nigeria. When he was the District Officer (DO), between 1967 and 1969, in charge of Gashaka/

“

There is a tradition of the Prophet, Nabiyyina, HabibulLah, Muhammad (SAW), which said that any Muslim who dies on a Monday or Thursday not practicing shirk and in good speaking terms with all, will enter paradise. In another, he said any Muslim whose four neighbours testify to his goodness, will meet Allah’s mercy in such words: “I have accepted your (the neighbours’) testimony and have forgiven all that is between Me and him.

Mambila/Gembu (now Sardauna, Gashaka and Kumi Local Governments in Taraba State) he also established a farm and started the process that led to the setting of a Tea Manufacturing Company there, the renowned Highland Tea. Even though he achieved so much in administration and management and people knew him as an astute administrator and consummate manager, he was at a point in his career a journalist. He was Information and Tourism Officer in the Northern Civil Service and was promoted from Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs and Information, North Eastern State, to Acting Chief Information Officer. That was why among the various courses he attended were those at the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (now FRCN) Training School in Lagos, BBC Training School in London and one other in Kenya which was organised by the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO). He also went to Switzerland for a course in Tourism.

Gimba Ahmed was a man in love with the Public Service; hence despite the financial advantages in the private sector, he resigned from the UAC, despite pleadings and promises by the then Chairman of UAC, former (Interim) President, Chief Earnest Shonekan, and returned to Borno. He was subsequently appointed a Permanent Commissioner in the State Civil Service Commission. He was there from February 1989 till when Yobe State was curved out in 1991. He was made Permanent Commissioner 1 in Yobe and reappointed to the same office for a second and statutorily final tenure.

He was there up to 2002. Before the expiry of his tenure, he was at the vanguard of laying a solid and befitting Civil Service in its true tradition and global best practice.

He presented numerous papers at Workshops, Seminars and Training/Capacity building programmes for Civil Servants.

One of his hobbies was scouting.

He was Secretary, Boys Scout, North East, Assistant Commissioner, Boys Scout, Borno and later Yobe in 2002. He was at Shere Hills, Jos, for the World Scout Jamboree which took place in 1977. A man who spoke English like a Briton, he was also fluent in Arabic, Hausa, Kanuri, French and his mother tongue, Bolewa.

He loved reading. From him we got the habit of reading vastly. His bookshelves were stacked with all sorts, from children’s books to different Encyclopaedias; from languages to books on law, medicine, administration, religion, history, business, engineering, etc.

Growing up as kids, we always looked forward to his return from work because he must come with

newspapers, local and international magazines including Reader’s Digest. I recall when I went to Zaria in 1982 after my name was, among others, published in the New Nigerian as having successfully passed the entrance examination into the School of Basic Studies (SBS).

He proudly told me: “I know you will see your name because you always read newspapers!”

A prolific writer, he had written a lot of articles on wide ranging topics in various newspapers in the 1960s and some books among which are: Ajabul Aja’ib (The Wonder of Wonders), a history of the people of Fika Emirate [Manuscript], The Nigerian Public Services: On the Evaluation and Development of the Public Service, with particular reference to the services rendered to the Country which also lies in manuscript.

Others are: Urwatul Wuthqa (1991) Vol. 1, on the fundamentals of Islam and another monograph on recruitment in the Civil Service, 1993.

He always read the Qur’an and did what Allah enjoins. Even when he died in Potiskum at 2.30pm on Monday, January 7, 2013 at 75, of natural causes, his death came to us as a shock and a great loss. I was saddened when I received the text of the news of his death from my brother, Ahmed Gimba (Ba’aba), saying: Inna lilLahi wa inna ilaihi raji’un, baba is no more.” I was numbed. The weight of the loss descended on me instantly.

Thoughts of what I always wanted to do but could not have done for him overwhelmed me.

There is a tradition of the Prophet, Nabiyyina, HabibulLah, Muhammad (SAW), which said that any Muslim who dies on a Monday or Thursday not practicing shirk and in good speaking terms with all, will enter paradise. In another, he said any Muslim whose four neighbours testify to his goodness, will meet Allah’s mercy in such words: “I have accepted your (the neighbours’) testimony and have forgiven all that is between Me and him.”

Gimba Ahmed died on a Monday, believed in only Allah, never ascribing any partner to Him. He was on good terms with everybody and his neighbours all testify to his goodness. While hoping and praying that he will continue to be remembered and prayed for by all those whose lives had been touched, one way or the other, directly or indirectly, by his wisdom and large heart, we beseech Allah (SWT) to forgive him and accept him into His presence and make Aljannatu Firdaus his abode.

Hassan Gimba Ahmed is reachable on agimbah@yahoo.com

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

ANALYSIS

By Lisa Hajjar

D

uring his State of the Union Address on tuesday, President Barack Obama

said: We don't need to send tens of thousands of our sons and daughters abroad, or occupy other nations.

Instead, we will need to help countries like Yemen, Libya, and Somalia provide for their own security, and help allies who take the fight to terrorists, as we have in Mali. And, where necessary, through a range of capabilities, we will continue to take direct action against those terrorists who pose the gravest threat to Americans.

Although the word "drones" is not mentioned anywhere in the speech, they clearly are implied in "direct action". The meaning is clear: To protect US national security, we can and must continue to fight wars all over, but we can do so without having to risk the lives of "tens of thousands of our sons and daughters".

What distinguishes drones from other killing technologies employed in war is that drones are unmanned.

For proponents of drone warfare, that is their greatest advantage. They also tout that drones are highly accurate, precision weapons capable of taking out targets and nothing else. That contention, while popular in the halls of power in Washington, manifests as the disputable claim that civilian casualties are rare.

If drones offer a clear advantage over other types of weapons, it is an advantage that compares to the combatant who perfidiously disguises himself to approach and kill his target unawares or the sniper who kills from a distance. Perfidy in the context of war is a war crime because the advantage the combatant gains from disguised sneak attack is illegal, and sniping is at the outer margins of what we would call "battle" because distance and camouflage offer degrees of protection to the shooter that those who engage their enemies directly do not enjoy. Being present in or proximate to the battle, or even flying manned crafts above targets and risking being shot down are the kinds of "disadvantages" that unmanned lethal technology eliminates.

The actual way in which drones are actually being used is a technological innovation to the practice of targeted killing. This begs the question: Is targeted killing "war" and if so, what kind of war is it?

Targeted killing is distinct from assassination, according to its advocates, because the context in which the killing occurs is war, and in war states are permitted to kill their enemies on or off the battlefield. Israel pioneered this reasoning as official policy in November 2000, and the US followed suit in 2002. Thus, advocates would argue, there is nothing more immoral or illegal about targeted killing than other types of wartime killing, as long as the killing adheres to rules of proportion, distinction and so on.

Even if one were to accept that targeted killing is not assassination because it occurs in the context of war, it is distinct from killing the enemy in battle because targets are attacked at times and in places when they are not directly engaged in armed conflict (killing people in battle or

PAGE 31

State of the drones

Although he plans on scaling back 'boots on the ground', Obama plans to continue 'targeted killings' with drones. during hot pursuit is, by definition, not targeted killing). Those who advocate the legality of targeted killing hitch their arguments to the concept of imminence, namely that people who are designated for death in this manner pose an imminent, dangerous and violent threat, and that killing them is the only available means of averting that threat.

Therefore, advocates argue, the legitimacy of targeted killing is equivalent to killing enemies during direct hostilities.

Whether a target actually poses some kind of imminent threat is a matter of facts and accurate intelligence. But to accept that targeted killing is just another way to wage war requires accepting the expansion and thus distortion of the concept of "hostilities". The distortion arises from what distinguishes targeted killing from the conventions of war: surreptitious and riskless killing, as well as the absence or negation of elemental rules of armed conflict such as hors de combat immunity or a possibility of individual surrender.

Targeted killing is a small-scale tactic to strike at individuals. But its logic is that of total war. The total war logic latent in Obama's State of the Union address is that the war will (or can or should) go on as long as terrorists pose threats to the nation.

There is no mention of an end of drone

warfare, even as an end to boots-onthe-ground warfare is one of the uplifting themes of the speech. In such a total war, surrender, negotiation or armistice literally is inconceivable.

If the question is how we can keep fighting all over, the answer is drones. The human enemies - the perpetrators and abettors of terrorist acts - are elusive, dispersed among civilian populations, and "real". But how is this reality conceived? In fact, the practice of targeted killing and the discourse supporting it helps us understand this. Juxtaposed against the messy and amorphous concept of terrorism is a kind of certainty about the existence of identifiable (and killable) terrorists whose names are stockpiled in the "disposition matrix". The practice of targeted killing, whether by drones or other means, manifests as a lethal whacka-mole project to eliminate what is imagined and proclaimed to be a finite number of terrorists.

As critics of drone warfare correctly point out and investigators and analysts can empirically support, such attacks alienate and enrage communities and societies within which they occur. In Pakistan and Yemen, in particular, accelerating drone warfare and "collateral damage" (ie, civilian deaths) have contributed to political instability and intensified anti-

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

American sentiment. Moreover, US drone warfare is strongly opposed by publics in countries far beyond those regions.

Indeed, to perceive or anticipate the adverse consequences of drone warfare we have only to look at the consequences of the previously preferred US strategy for waging the war on terror: capture, interrogation using violent and degrading methods, and indefinite detention. The torture of Arabs and Muslims was a major recruitment tool for al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations. The consequences of the torture policy, according to Matthew Alexander (pseudonym), a retired Air Force major with extensive interrogation experience in Iraq, included the attraction of foreign fighters to Iraq who conducted attacks that caused the majority of US casualties and injuries. Connecting the dots, Alexander says, "at least hundreds but more likely thousands of American lives (not to count Iraqi civilian deaths) are linked directly to the policy decision to introduce the torture and abuse of prisoners as accepted tactics."

Now that killing has supplanted capture as the preference and the centerpiece of US counter-terrorism strategy, drones have supplanted Abu Ghraib and GuantĂĄnamo as symbols, recruitment tools and motivators for America's enemies.

If the question is how we can keep fighting all over, the answer is drones. The human enemies - the perpetrators and abettors of terrorist acts - are elusive, dispersed among civilian populations, and "real".

Stanley McChrystal, a retired US Army general who played a huge role in the development of drone warfare andother forms of targeted killing, and counter-terrorism strategising more broadly, has begun striking a very critical chord: What scares me about drone strikes is how they are perceived around the world. The resentment created by American use of unmanned strikes... is much greater than the average American appreciates. They are hated on a visceral level, even by people who've never seen one or seen the effects of one.

The criticism of drone warfare in the US has concentrated mainly on the secrecy shrouding the policy.

Indeed, it is quite troubling that we (the public) do not have - because it is classified - specific information about the legal authority for drone warfare, the criteria for being designated as killable, the list of countries where the US has conducted or plans to conduct lethal operations, and more.

However, we do have information to anticipate blowback arising from the negative consequences and hostile reactions to drone warfare, and we also do have evidence that contemporary US counter-terrorism strategy privileges targeted killing and manifests as lethal whack-a-mole. Evidence is provided by every government official who makes a public statement that we are winning the war against al-Qaeda by thinning their ranks or eliminating their top leadership. The larger point of McChrystal's criticism of drones is that the consequences of their current use may be strategically detrimental: "[I]f their use threatens the broader goals or creates more problems than it solves, then you have to ask whether they are the right tool."

Rather than engaging in this variety of larger strategic thinking in which means, goals and consequences are weighed, many advocates tend to emphasise that the use of drones to attack suspected terrorists and militants is just, necessary, and effective because whatever evil drones do is lesser than the evil done by those killed (on purpose) by drones (John Brennan made the same argument during his Senate confirmation hearing to become the next director of the CIA).

Lesser evil thinking is not well suited to the kinds of complex strategic problems drone warfare and targeted killing raise. As Eyal Weitzman explains: The principle of the lesser evil is often presented as a dilemma between two or more bad choices in situations where available options are, or seem to be, limited... The principle [is] understood as taking place within a closed system in which those posing the dilemma, the options available for choice, the factors to be calculated and the very parameters of calculation are unchallenged... as if the previous accumulation of events has not taken place, and the future implications are out of bounds.

Source: Al Jazeera

PAGE 32

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

Human rights: Nigeria, Switzerland strengthen ties

By Abdulkadir Isa

N

igerian and Switzerland have advanced their cause against violation of human rights between the two countries. This came after the third round of Nigeria Switzerland Human Rights Consultations. Held at the ministry of Foreign Affairs Abuja, the Nigerian delegation was led by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Martin Uhomobhi while the Swiss special envoy for Human Rights, Ambassador Paul Koller led the Swiss delegation.

Reading out the joint communiquĂŠ issued at the closing ceremony, Director of International Organisations Department at the ministry, Ambassador Mark Bassey Egbe stated that the two sides have underlined their keenness and commitment to the consultations.

He said: "the two sides once again underline their willingness and commitment to continue to hold this annual high level discussion aimed at the promotion and protection of human rights".

"In the two previous editions held in 2011 and 2012, issues were agreed upon, including the wish to step-up mutual cooperation in multinational for a, especially at the United Nations Human Rights Council

and the United Nations General Assembly", he added.

The Ambassador stressed the point that, the most concrete achievement of the consultations so far is the on-going review of the syllabus for the training of the Nigerian Police on human rights with the sponsorship of the Swiss government.

Sensitive areas such as security forces and human rights, criminal justice system, minority rights, migration,

discrimination and relationship between business and human rights were discussed in the third round of discussions, where a new dimension to human rights through a joint workshop on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights Council was reached.

Initiated in 2011, the Nigerian -Switzerland Political Dialogue on Human Rights is a bilateral initiative between the two countries, providing

opportunity for the critical but constructive discussion of human rights. This third round that held in Abuja is the second to hold in Nigeria as the first (2011) was also held here. The second of the series (2012) was held in Bern Switzerland.

Civil society groups were among participants at the workshop. It was agreed that the next round of meeting will hold in the first quarter of 2014 in Bern, Switzerland.

Ambassador Mark Bassey Egbe (R) presents a gift to Ambassador Paul Koller.

South Sudan accuses Sudan of troops' build-up

S

outh Sudan has accused Sudan of building up forces along its disputed border, the site of clashes between the two countries last September.

South Sudan's defence ministry described the deployment of troops on Tuesday as "unusual" and said they were ready for a possible incursion.

"The last two months have seen an unusual build-up of forces along our common border with the Republic of Sudan," Majak D'Agoot, South Sudan's deputy defence minister, told reporters in the capital Juba, without

giving any numbers.

"Our forces are in the state of maximum readiness to repel any attack by Khartoum. We will stay in our current positions, we will keep to the terms of the (September) agreement," D'Agoot said.

Sudan's army and foreign ministry spokesmen could not be immediately reached for comment.

The two countries came close to war last April in the worst border clashes since South Sudan seceded in 2011 under a peace agreement that ended one of Africa's longest civil wars.

The African Union brokered a deal in September to defuse hostilities.

But the nations have failed to set up a demilitarised border zone and resume oil exports from the landlocked South Sudan through Sudanese pipelines, as agreed in Addis Ababa.

Such a buffer zone is a pre-condition for Sudan to allow oil exports to restart.

Juba shut down its output of 350,000 barrels a day a year ago in a row with Khartoum over pipeline fees.

D'Agoot said South Sudan had alerted other countries in the region, the African Union and the UN Security

Council about what he called recent border violations by Sudan.

"We are concerned again about this hawkish mindset, about the ruling elites in Khartoum who would want to escalate the situation along the border and possibly provoke a war between the two countries," he said.

On Sunday, Sudan's state news agency SUNA said an infantry brigade had boosted security at the Heglig oilfield on the Sudan side of the disputed border. It was not clear if D'Agoot was referring to these troops.

Child trafficking: two French charity workers jailed

T

wo French charity workers have been sentenced to two years in prison for illegally trying to fly 103 African children from Chad to France in 2007.

Eric Breteau, who founded Zoe's Ark, and his partner Emilie Lelouch had been tried in absentia but appeared in the Paris court for Tuesday's verdict.

Eric Breteau(R) and his partner Emilie Lelouch(L).

Four other members of the group were given suspended sentences of between six months and a year.

Zoe's Ark received a 100,000 euro (ÂŁ86,000) fine and has been dissolved.

The children were said to have been orphans from Sudan's war-torn Darfur region, but turned out to be mainly from Chad and with families of their own.

In a case that shocked France, the defendants were arrested in Chad as they tried to load the children on to a plane bound for France in 2007.

They were sentenced later that year to eight years' hard labour by a court in the Chadian capital, N'Djamena, but repatriated to France after receiving a pardon from Chad's president in March

2008.

The six defendants were charged, in France, with acting illegally as an adoption intermediary, facilitating illegal entry into France, and fraud in regard to 358 families who had expected to adopt children.

Mr Breteau and Ms Lelouch, who had been living in South Africa, refused to attend the start of the trial in early December, reportedly saying they had "no wish to give an account of themselves".

But they appeared in court on Tuesday to hear the judge rule that they should face a two-year prison sentence, a fine of 50,000 euros each and a ban on working with minors. Their lawyer said they would appeal.

Zimbabwe election chief resigans

Z

imbabwe's election chief has resigned citing ill health, state media reports.

Simpson Mutambanengwe resignation comes as Zimbabwe gears up for a crucial constitutional referendum and elections later this year.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai had been pushing for key reforms to guarantee free elections.

The poll will herald the end of the shaky coalition he formed with President Robert Mugabe after the 2008 election, which was marred by violence.

Mr Tsvangirai - the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) - boycotted a runoff vote in 2008 after claiming he had been robbed of victory during the first round.

Mr Tsvangirai and Mr Mugabe are expected to run against each other in the election.

Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party was also accused of unleashing violence against MDC supporters, an allegation it denied.

Justice Minister Chinamasa said that Mr Mugabe had accepted the resignation of Mr Mutambanengwe, a retired judge who took the post after the controversial 2008 poll, the state-owned Herald newspaper reports.

"The resignation is on the grounds of health," Mr Chinamasa is quoted as saying His replacement would be chosen after discussions involving the coalition partners, Mr Chinamasa added.

Last month, New York-based campaign group Human Rights Watch called for reforms to the electoral body, judiciary and media, alleging they were loyal to Zanu-PF. Following talks later in the month, Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai said they had reached a deal over a new constitution, removing a key obstacle to elections.

They said the constitution would be put to a referendum.

Once approved by voters, elections are to be held.

Simpson Mutambanengwe

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

PAGE 33

Asia and Dozen hurt in Bangladesh war crimes protest Middle East

C

lashes have rocked the main commercial district in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, as police battled with opposition protesters demanding a halt to the country's war crimes trials.

At least a dozen people were

injured by rubber bullets during the clashes, a medical official told the AFP news agency on Wednesday.

Police and witnesses said the clashes - in an area that houses top banks, the main stock market and insurers - began after the supporters of Bangladesh's largest Islamic party, Jamaat-e-Islami, tried to hold marches.

They torched a bus and attacked vehicles with police reacting by firing rubber bullets, witnesses said.

Television footage showed police in armoured vehicles and wielding firearms chasing protesters.

"At least 100 people have been arrested," sub-inspector Rafiqul Islam said.

Jamaat activists also resorted to

month.

The protesters have been demanding a halt to the trials of Jamaat leaders for crimes including genocide and rape, which they are alleged to have committed during the country's 1971 war of independence against Pakistan.

A senior Jamaat leader was sentenced to life imprisonment last

Qatar handing embassy over to opposition

Militants killed in southern Thailand attack

T

hailand's military says its troops have killed 16 militants who stormed a base in the violence-hit south of the country.

The attack took place before dawn on Wednesday in Narathiwat province, near the border with Malaysia.

No military casualties were reported in the attack, which the Thai army said had involved dozens of militants.

Thailand's three southernmost provinces have been plagued by unrest in recent years.

More than 5,000 people have been killed since a decades-old separatist campaign reignited in the Muslim-majority region in 2004.

Separatists carry out regular attacks, usually roadside bombings or drive-by shootings.

Wednesday's attack is the biggest loss of life in several years.

Officials had earlier put the toll at 17 but revised it down.

Pramote Phromin, a spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command, said that up to 60 militants wearing military fatigues approached the base at around 01:00 (18:00 GMT on Tuesday).

Soldiers at the base had been tipped off by locals ahead of the attack, officials said.

"There have been frequent attacks this month, so every unit has been on the lookout. Officers have been assigned on a night watch at every base,'' Capt Somkiat Ponprayun, provincial marine corps special task force chief, told the Associated Press.

"This week, residents in Bacho district have also informed the soldiers of small armed movement here and there, which put us on extra alert,'' he added.

The three southern provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat were annexed to Siam, as Thailand was then known, more than a century ago. Most of the residents are Muslims, unlike the majority Buddhist population in Thailand.

The Thai government has deployed tens of thousands of troops and police to the region, but has been unable to quell the violence.

On Sunday five soldiers were killed by suspected militants in a bomb attack in Yala, a neighbouring province.

The government has recently suggested imposing a curfew in certain parts of the region.

"If we impose a curfew then militants will find it more difficult to enter the area," Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung said.

violence in the port city of Chittagong, Dhaka based The Daily Star said.

Wednesday's violence comes a day after more than a dozen people were injured, including the editor of a leading daily, in similar clashes between the police and protesters.

Demonstrations over the trials have left seven people dead since last

Q

Protesters hurl stones at police in Dhaka.

atar is to hand over the Syrian embassy in its capital, Doha, to Syria's main opposition group.

The news was announced by the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), which has already appointed an ambassador.

Qatar was among the first states to recognise the SNC as the official representative of the Syrian people.

Meanwhile, Syria's former foreign ministry spokesman has told the BBC he abandoned the regime because his hopes for reform had been dashed.

Jihad Makdissi, who disappeared from Damascus in early December, told BBC Arabic he left Syria quietly to be independent and support what he called "the peaceful change that's based on national dialogue and partnership away from hatred, extremism and foreign military intervention".

Mr Makdissi had been one of the main public faces of the regime, outlining its position in many news conferences.

His whereabouts remain unknown, though in a statement to the BBC he said he was not in Europe or the US but with "brothers" who were supporting the Syrian people without discrimination.

Suu Kyi offers to mediate Myanmar peace talks One of the injured receives treatment at a hospital in Bacho.

Jihad Makdissi

M

yanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has offered to help negotiate an end to conflicts between the government and the country's ethnic minority groups.

Suu Kyi made the offer on Tuesday in a video address to members of her National League for Democracy party on Union Day, which marks when her late father signed a 1947 agreement with leaders of the country's ethnic minorities to gain independence from Britain.

The occasion is a reminder of an issue that has destabilised the country since even before it obtained independence in 1948 under the name of Burma.

Rebellions by ethnic minorities striving for greater autonomy were hard for a democratic parliamentary system to deal with, which increased pressure for strong central authority and helped lead to an army takeover in 1962. Military rule persisted until 2011.

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

PAGE 34

Russian arms exporter says EU, US in free- supplies to Syria will go on trade talks

Europe and Americas

T

he European Union and the US will begin formal talks on a free-trade agreement, paving the way for the biggest trade deal in history.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso made the announcement following President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.

A deal would bring down trading barriers between the two biggest economies in the world.

EU-US trade is worth around 455bn euros (ÂŁ393bn; $613bn) a year.

Mr Obama announced US support for talks as part of his annual address to Congress on Tuesday, saying a free-trade deal would "boost American exports, support American jobs and level the playing field in the growing markets of Asia".

In a joint statement, US and EU leaders said trade between the US and EU supported millions of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.

"We are committed to making this relationship an even stronger driver of our prosperity," the statement said.

The EU estimates that a "comprehensive and ambitious agreement" will boost annual GDP growth by 0.5%.

It is not clear how long the talks will take, but similar trade deals have involved years of negotiations.

The idea was discussed following the formation of a working group in 2011, and the formal talks may begin in the summer, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said.

He said the deal would focus on bringing down remaining tariffs and other barriers to trade, and standardise technical regulations, standards and certifications.

Free trade between the US and the EU has been under informal discussion for years.

Previously politicians have been discouraged from pursuing free trade deals for fear of exposing domestic industries to greater competition from abroad.

But Steve Davies from the Institute of Economic Affairs, a think tank, said the economic crisis in Europe has injected more urgency into the talks.

"It's happening now because there has been seriously depressed growth in the EU, and this will be good news for economic growth," he said.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso

R

ussia will continue deliveries of arms to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his armed forces, the head of the state weapons exporter said on Wednesday, despite the Middle Eastern country's civil war.

Russia supplied nearly $1 billion's worth of arms to Syria in 2011 and has long been an ally of Assad.

"We are continuing to carry out our obligations on contracts for the delivery of military hardware," Rosoboronexport director Anatoly Isaikin told a news conference.

Two ships carried arms in January to Syria's Tartous port, where Russia has a repair and maintenance facility, following naval training exercises in the Mediterranean, Itar-Tass reported earlier this month.

Isaikin said Russia's deliveries

included anti-missile air defense systems but not attack weapons such as planes or helicopters. The exports did not contravene international law or U.N. Security Council resolutions, he said.

Moscow has blocked three U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed at putting pressure on Assad. It says his departure must not be a precondition for negotiations to settle the almost two-year-old conflict that has killed more than 60,000 people.

At the conference, Rosoboronexport announced a new $12.9 billion record for 2012 arms exports.

Isaikin said a 2011 contract for 36 Yak-130 fighter jets had not been canceled but that "not a single" plane had been delivered to Syria. He did not explain why Rosoboronexport had not made

the deliveries.

A source close to Rosoboronexport said Russia's

The FSA said it suspended production at the Peter Boddy slaughterhouse in Yorkshire, in the north of England, and a company it allegedly supplied horse carcasses to, Farmbox Meats, in west Wales.

The agency said it was investigating how "meat products, purporting to be beef for kebabs and burgers, were sold when they were in fact horse".

Millions of burgers and frozen meals have been recalled around the continent

and while many accusations have been made, it is unclear how the horsemeat was introduced into so many beef products.

French authorities have pointed to an elaborate supply chain that involved Romanian butchers and Dutch and Cypriot traders that resulted in horsemeat disguised as beef being sold in meals like lasagna and moussaka to consumers around the continent.

Two Romanian abattoirs investigated by authorities for

Foreign Ministry was looking at various scenarios on what to do with the contracts if Assad fell.

Rosoboronexport director Anatoly Isaikin talks to journalists after attending a news conference in Moscow, February 13, 2013.

Britain raids abbatoir over horsemeat scandal

B

ritish authorities have raided a slaughterhouse and a meat processing company suspected of selling horsemeat labelled as beef, shutting them down temporarily and seizing all the meat found.

Tuesday's raid by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) was the first time since the growing scandal broke across Europe that horsemeat being marketed as beef has been traced to suppliers in Britain, officials said.

a potential link to horsemeat defended their business on Tuesday.

The abattoirs were inspected by the authorities over the weekend, local media reported. No evidence of any malpractice was found either at Doly-Com or Carmolimp facility, officials said, according to media reports.

Horsemeat is largely taboo in Britain and Ireland, though in France it is sold in specialty butcher shops.

US Senate panel approves Hagel nomination

A

divided US Senate panel has approved Chuck Hagel as President Barack Obama's new defence secretary, the first step towards a vote by the full Senate, possibly later this week.

The Senate armed services committee voted 14-11, along party lines, to approve Hagel's nomination after two hours of often intense debate.

Senator David Vitter, a Republican from Louisiana, did not

Chuck Hagel

cast a vote, saying the process was too rushed.

Democratic Senator Carl Levin, the committee chairman, told reporters that he hoped for a vote by the full Senate on Hagel's nomination by the end of this week.

But it could be delayed if Republicans use procedural tactics to stall.

Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, said he hoped debate on Hagel's nomination would start on

Wednesday.

The nomination of Hagel, a former Republican senator, has met stiff opposition from some of his fellow Republicans, who raised questions about his views on Iran and Israel, among other issues.

But he is likely to be confirmed since no Democrat has come out against Hagel, and at least two Republicans have said they will vote for him.

A few other Republicans have said they would not support the use of any p r o c e d u r a l mechanism that would force the Democrats to round up 60 votes to confirm Hagel.

Tuesday's hearing lapsed at times into heated exchanges between Democrats and Republicans.

At one point, Republican James Inhofe accused Hagel of being "cosy" with Iran because, as he said, Tehran had backed his nomination.

"He's endorsed by them. You can't get any cosier than that,"

Inhofe said, prompting gasps within the hearing room and protests from Democrats.

Levin insisted the confirmation battle would not weaken Hagel nor diminish his ability to work with the committee going forward.

"Sometimes you come out stronger from these kinds of fights," he told reporters.

Hagel's testimony before the armed services panel during his January 31 confirmation hearing has also been criticised.

Even some Democrats have said he appeared unprepared and at times hesitant during aggressive questioning by Republican committee members.

Republicans criticised Hagel's past statements such as his opposition to president George W Bush's "surge," which sent thousands of additional troops to Iraq.

"There are very few people who have been this wrong about so many different things," said senator Lindsey Graham, who has been one of the most vocal opponents of Hagel's nomination.

Levin praised the nominee's record and urged his speedy confirmation, saying the country faces steep budget problems and international threats such as a nuclear test by North Korea just hours before the hearing.

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PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

Discovery of five skulls: Berom, Fulani trade accusations

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Minister of Sport, Alhaji Bolaji Abdullahi (3rd right), joined by his colleagues, savouring African Cup of Nations trophy won by the Super Eagles at the Tournament in South Africa, during the presentation of the cup to Federal Executive Council by the Sport Minister, yesterday at the State House, in Abuja.

Photo: Joe Oroye

ICPC seeks removal of public officersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; immunity From Inumidun Ojelade, Ibadan

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hairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Mr Ekpo Nta on Tuesday advocated for the amendment of immunity clause to allow prosecution of public officers even while serving in office.

The ICPC boss stated this while delivering a public lecture to commemorate the golden jubilee

anniversary of the Department of Political Science, University of Ibadan held at the Faculty of the Social Science Large Lecture Theatre.

Speaking on the topic:"Combating Corruption In Contemporary Nigeria: Prospects, Challenges, and Strategies", Nta said unless this was done, the future is at stake.

He said the constitution should introduce traditional oath as part

of modern governance, which he said would enhance ethic and culture of true Africans.

Addressing the students and university authorities, he said: "We have allowed political sentiment to take over the integrity of our universities to the extent of appointing university officers based on affliation, cultural background, tribe and ethnic sentiments.

He however charged the

students to be agents of change and anti-corruption by ensuring that they kick against corruption in order to attain a society free of corruption.

"Civil society and the masses should fix a date for prayers and curses for corrupt leaders in Nigeria, and the government also must device a means of rewarding honest and faithful Nigerians in order to encourage others" said Nta

Primary school pupil in Abia found murdered, body parts missing

A

primary school pupil abducted along with her younger sister on their way to school on Friday at Ohanze, in Obigwa local government of Abia state, has been found dead with some parts of her body including the genitals and eyes missing.

While the victim identified as Miss Chigozie Ufomba was found dead, the younger brother, Master Chidozie Ufomba was rescued at Ndiakata, some few kilometres away where they were sold to suspected ritual murderers.

The bizarre act threw the whole Ohanze community into mourning when the remains of little Miss Chigozie Ufomba who had been declared missing was found in a bush behind Community Secondary School, Ohanze.

The two siblings, it was gathered, were allegedly abducted by one Mrs. Ucheoma Jombo of Umueke Village in the same community, on Friday on their way to school.

Unknown to the suspect, who has been arrested and detained by the Police at the Eastern Ngwa police division Umuobiakwa, she was seen leading the children away by a

student in the neighbouring secondary school who perhaps, did not suspect any bad motive.

It was learnt that when the report of the missing children spread within the community, the student who saw them last with the suspect spilled the beans that led to her arrest.

On interrogation, the suspect revealed where the Ufombas were sold at Ndiakata

a boundary community between Obingwa and Akwa Ibom state and subsequently where Miss Ufomba was dumped after she was killed.

It was further learnt that five persons, including the suspect's husband and a native doctor who hails from a nearby village are also being held by the police in connection with the incident.

Confirming the incident on phone, the acting Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Abia State Police Command, Amaechi Jonathan, said the dastardly act was one too many. He said it was disturbing that those who live close to these hoodlums refuse to report such incidents to the police despite several assurances that their identities would not be disclosed.

JTF arrests two oil vessels,2 barges over crude oil theft

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uthorities of the Joint Military Task Force code named Operation Pulo Shield yesterday intercepted two oil vessels and barges along the Akassa Waterways of Otokolomobio near Oloma and Bonny Island of Bayelsa and Rivers States.

Also raided were 23 illegal refineries located along the Ughoton River in Okpe and Saghara pipeline inlet channels of Warri South Local Government of Delta state.

The JTF in a statement issued yesterday in Yenagoa by the Head of the Joint Media Centre, Lt.Col. Onyenma Nwachukwu, disclosed that the oil vessels identified as MT Sophia and MT EVEREST 1 was intercepted while carrying out illegal oil

bunkering activities in the region.

The vessels, are anchored at the NPA Jetty Bonny Island, Rivers State,Isreal under the close watch of the military personnel.

According to Onyenma," A similar raid was also carried out along Ughoton River in Okpe and Saghara pipeline Inlet Channel in Warri south, Delta state where 23 illegal oil refineries were destroyed. The JTF also arrested 5 wooden barges popularly known as Cotonu boats conveying stolen petroleum products. The boats were arrested along Ugbokoto community in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta state and Obi Creek at Ikomogbemi, Otua, Tebidaba and

Akassa communities in Southern Ijaw Local Government of Bayelsa State."

"During these raids, which were carried out from 19 January to 8 February 2013, 52 suspects involved in various oil related crimes were arrested and are currently undergoing preliminary investigation before being handed over to prosecuting agencies."

"Within this period also, four JTF soldiers on escort duty on board Sterling Global Oil were attacked in an ambush by suspected sea robbers on 5 February, 2013. Two JTF operatives were killed in action in the fire fight that ensued while two sustained injuries. The JTF is presently carrying out cordon and search of suspected hideouts to fish out the perpetrators".

he recent recovery of five human heads in the ceiling of the house of the Fulani spokesman, Alhaji Sale Abarshi in Mangu in Mangu local government area of Plateau State, is generating serious controversy between the Fulani community and the indigenous Berom tribe.

The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) had issued a statement, signed by Mallam Mohammed Nuru, alleging that the Berom connived with the Special Task Force (STF) on Jos crisis to set up Abarshi in order to rubbish his good image and the image of the entire Fulani in the state by planting human head in his ceiling.

In reaction,the Berom Youth Movement (BYM) in a press statement signed by Rwang Dantong and Pam Gyang Moses viewed the accusation by MACBAN as a trick to fool the public.

The statement added that the Berom do not live in Plateau Central, where Abarshi, who was arrested lives and wondered how the STF would connive with the Berom to take human heads to Abarshi's house.

The association stressed that the Berom are in the northern zone of Plateau state, while Mangun is a Mwaghwuvul area in Mangu local government.

Meanwhile, while investigation continues on the matter by the STF and the Police, Abarshi has been granted bail by a magistrate court.

NAF has more than one aircraft-CAS

...Signs MOU with FUTA

By Joy Baba

C

hief of Air Staff Air Marshal Alex Badeh has denied claims that the Nigerian Air Force has just one functional aircraft, saying that it has up to 16 aircraft for operation within and outside the shores of Nigeria.

Badeh stated this yesterday while on tour of Air Force facilities in Abuja.

According to him, ''We have up to 16 aircraft types in Nigeria. If any body said we have only one aircraft, what of the aircrafts being used by the Army, are they not aeroplanes.

"What of the ones flying everywhere chasing Boko Haram members in Nigeria, are they not aeroplanes? There are some in various stages of repairs, you have the regular maintenance and there is one that is available for training and there are three undergoing 300 and 600 hours inspection and these are inspections that don't take to long.''

Earlier in the day, the Air Chief had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal University of Technology, Akure on improving NAF personnel with his vision to look inward in doing things.

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

PAGE 37

Bauchi Assembly’ll intensify oversight this year, says Appropriation C’ttee Chair Alhaji Abdulqadir Umar Dewu, member representing Kirfi Constituency in Bauchi state House of Assembly, and Chairman Committee on budget and Appropriation in this interview with Ahmed Kaigama explains the nature of his committee and government commitments to complete all outstanding developmental projects in the state in 2013 fiscal year..

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here are some projects that affect rural communities like NingiBurra Road, Alkaleri- Futuk road Kafin Madaki, and Zaki General Hospital, Bauchi State Specialist Hospitals which government claimed to have paid 70% down payment, some were awarded five years ago but people keep seeing them in budget even in this year 2013 budget they were mentioned?

Well, for Kafin Madaki and Zaki General Hospital they were completed and for the roads and specialist Hospital they are still ongoing and the roads have reached 70- 80 %. I believe all of them will be completed this year and there are many ongoing projects like ten community Radios that will educate the rural communities.

Already the governor had commissioned five, the remaining five will be completed this year. There are also many rural roads and hospitals and provision of urban and rural water projects that 2013 budget will address.

During public hearings, most of the ministries complained of non release of funds in time which slowed down most of their activities; how do you intend to address these problems?

Well, actually this is the major area of concern that disturbed the law makers because we are representing people in rural and urban areas and all the people want is development because we need to see developmental projects in our constituencies. When we visited our constituencies, we discovered that government awarded many contracts that will bring development but the non release of funds hacked the project. I believe the problem is connected with dwindling resources but 2013 will be different to the all Bauchi communities because the state government has taken many measures that will boost the revenue of the state internally.

But despite all odds, we commended the office of SSG for maintaining a balance sheet; the performance of his office is worthy of emulations by all government ministries. For that the House had sent him a commendation letter, so we use carrot and stick in our duty.

Since you talk of revenue, how do you assess the revenue generation agencies in the state?

They are not performing up

Alhaji Abdulqadir Umar Dewu to our expectations most especially the ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of Tourism and culture ,where we have many companies under it like the Bauchi Meat Factory, Fertilizer Blending Plants, Hotels like Zaranda Hotel, Arewa Ceramics and many others. Under Ministry of Tourism, we have Yankari Express. But when we received the profile of these ministries, their submissions are quite disturbing but we have done a lot to address the problems. As I told you earlier, the state government has taken stringent measures to improve internally generated revenue in 2013 budget which will enhance the performance of these ministries.

While you were not impressed by the profiles of the ministries, did you notice the problem of corruption?

No, we did not notice any issue of corruption but we noticed misplacement priorities. We have made a lot of recommendations and the House will write to the executive for implementation.

Can you tell us some of your findings and recommendations?

No I will not disclose them but you will see some positive changes in the state this year 2013; and for our recommendations, you have to be patient and wait until after we have submitted our recommendations to the executive. When you go to them they will tell you.

The electorates blame

lawmakers for not performing their oversight functions and this leads to nonimplementation of budgets.

How would you react to this?

The House is doing its best in carrying out their oversight functions; but even we as members, we notice some rooms for improvement in carrying out our oversight functions and we have made recommendations to the House and the House has directed all its standing committees to submit quarterly report to it on the performance of government ministries and I believe it will succeed in 2013.

Many are asking for local government financial autonomy and the state Assembly as a major tool for developing the rural committee. What is your opinion?

My Personal opinion is I’m in support of local government

autonomy and financial autonomy to state Houses of Assemblies We have seen money allocated to the state Independent Electoral Commission was in the Bauchi SSG office; many alleged that the state government will use the money to force the electoral body to favor government candidates in the forth coming local government election. How will you react to this?

The state Assembly is concerned with the forth coming local government election which we hope will be conducted this year in order to bring development to the grass root and to bring more dividends of democracy. We put adequate money that will be enough to fund the election. For your question, what we did, we saw the money about N2.8bn we looked into the relevant laws that established the electoral body and we saw that from the law, there is no connectivity between the money and the SSG’s office. So we removed the money and everything connected with the electoral body from the SSG’s office and put it to the electoral body directly. We equally transferred some heads from the state ministry of Special Duties.

The issue of plants , electrification, generators we transferred anything connected to power from the ministry of Special Duties to the ministry Power and Energy in the state and we equally transferred some heads from ministry of Health to the Hospitals Management Board.

Why did the House increase the security budget with N1 billion and reduce the state budget submitted by the Governor with N1 billion?

The House increased the money on security because of its importance. Even if we devote the whole 2013 budget of N136bn to

“

The House is doing its best in carrying out their oversight functions; but even we as members, we notice some rooms for improvement in carrying out our oversight functions and we have made recommendations to the House

fund the security, it’s not a loss.

We did that in order to ensure the sustainance of peaceful atmosphere enjoyed by the people of the state. We have also reduced the budget size by N1bn; we deduced it from the government ministries personnel cost and expenditure. We diverted the money to some capital projects.

When we start our work, we have directed all the relevant ministries to submit the number of their staff and grade level and we work on that. When you look at the budget like construction of Soro Miya road, it will cost about N2.2bn and only 30 million Naira was allocated and there are construction of Dewu – Anguwan Gishiri road, it was also approved by the governor but only N39mn was appropriated , members decided to make some adjustment and fund the projects.

You have just laid the report of 2013 budget before the Assembly can you briefly summarize how your committee carried out your assignment Actually when the Assembly received the 2013 budget submitted to us by his Excellency, the executive governor of Bauchi state, Mallam Isa Yuguda, in December last year, the House referred the documents to the committee on Appropriation for scrutiny. In the course of our assignment, we decided to invite the respective ministries and government parastatals to defend their budgets and to explain to us their performance in the 2012 financial year. We also sat and reviewed the submissions we received from relevant government agencies.

What are your findings after the submissions?

Well, actually the performance of the ministries was not impressive but we also noticed that their problems had to do with the economic meltdown and dwindling resources which affected all the states of the federation since we relied on federal allocation as our major source of revenue. Apart from that, we also felt that the House has to take some measures in other to ensure implementation of budget by relevant ministries in 2013 despite all hitches. But it’s true the performance by the ministries is very low and I believe the house will do something to help the executive to implement the 2013 budget as appropriated.

PAGE 38

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

Kogi Assembly wants Commerce Ministry renamed From Sam Egwu, Lokoja

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L-R: Members of House of Representatives, Hon. Garba Umar Uba, Hon. Abdullahi Idris Garba, and Hon. Bimbo Daramola, during the plenary session, yesterday at the National Assembly, in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Adamawa Assembly urged to pass HIV/AIDS bill From Umar Dankano, Yola

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he Adamawa State House of Assembly has been called upon for the speedy passage and amendment of a bill for Agency for the control of HIV/ AIDS in the state.

Chairperson of the Agency (ADSACA) and wife of the state governor, Dr. Halima Nyako, made the call during a condolence visit to the house over the demise of member representing Nassarawo/Mbinyeri constituency, Honourable Ahmad Buba Gangwaso.

Dr. Halima said the passage of the bill will bring succor not only to the people living with HIV/ AIDS, but will greatly facilitate access to donor agencies for sourcing the much needed funds and accessories to help in the fight towards zero new HIV/AIDS infection in the state.

Nyako stated that the bill, if accorded a accelerated passage, will bring zero death from HIV related diseases and prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT), which have continued to be the global major health concern and most especially in the

Sub-Sahara Africa, Nigeria inclusive.

She also appealed to the Speaker and his colleagues for their intervention through an enforcement of a bill that will ensure the success of the advocacy programme. “I want to assure you that very soon we shall request for a meeting with the house Committee on Health to fine- tune grey areas so as to get this legislation in place for the success of the advocacy programme in the state”.

Responding, the Speaker, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri assured

her of the state Assembly’s readiness to support her activities in the state especially in areas of fighting the scourge HIV/AIDS. Fintiri noted that, as partners in progress, the house will give the bill accelerated hearing to enable the agency carry out its duties effectively.

He reiterated that the house Committee on Health will continue to liaise with the agency for the control of AIDS to fashion out strategies that will go a long way in enlightening the people on dangers of HIV/AIDS in the state.

Katsina community tackles politician over project From Lawal Sa’idu Funtua, Katsina

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ankwani community in Bakori Local Government Area of Katsina state has dragged a politician and philanthropists, Alhaji Umar Abdullahi Tata over alleged of erection of structures at their Community Day Secondary

School without their consent.

In two separate suits, NO KTH/ FT/ 20M/ 13 and NO KTH/ FT/ 21 M/ 13 filed before a Higher Court sitting in Funtua, the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the secondary school, Alhaji Sani Liti ‘Yankwani on behalf of the community urged the court to stop the dependant from further development on the

disputed land.

According to the community, the dependant without their consent encroached into the village and started building structures in their secondary school which they said was done without consultation.

The community therefore prayed the court for perpetual injunction to stop the dependant

or his agent from continued trespass on the land housing the school and demanded for N5 million as damages to lands he already encroached on.

Similarly, the community alleged that in the interest of peace and security the unwanted gesture by the politician must stop to avert breakdown of law and order in the area.

PPA executive committee reconstituted in Enugu state

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former Chieftain of CPC, Chief Augustine Ude, has emerged as the new Chairman of the Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA) during its reconstituted Enugu State Executive Committee.

The National Secretary of the party, Mr Peter Ameh, made this known in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in

Abuja on Tuesday.

The statement said that Mr Maurice Udenta, emerged as the Deputy Chairman, EnuguWest Senatorial District.

The secretary said that the new executive committee would remain in place until congresses were conducted at the state, local, and ward levels.

Ameh urged the new executive to ensure that they

carried everybody along in their decisions as the preparation for the forthcoming local government elections in the state gathered momentum.

According to him, the performance of the new executive committee will be measured by the number of seats the party wins in the elections.

Meanwhile, the new PPA chairman, had sent ‘a get-well-

quick message’ to Gov. Sullivan Chime of Enugu State. (NAN) Ude urged all well meaning people of Enugu State to pray for prolonged life for the governor, whom, he described as the best performing governor in the South-East Zone.

He said PPA would have one or two things to learn from Chime when PPA took over in Enugu State in 2015. (NAN)

ogi House of Assembly has called for the renaming of the state Ministry of Commerce and Industry to the Ministry of Trade and Investment.

The call was contained in a resolution of the Assembly following the adoption of a motion moved by Majority Leader, Alhaji Yakubu Yunusa (PDP-Ofu constituency).

Yakubu told his colleagues that the old name was no longer tenable and could hardly be recognized at the federal level as a ministry.

Urging members to support the motion, the Majority Leader pointed out that at the state level, ‘’the old name limits the operations of the component parts of the organisation and may not key into what is obtained at the federal level.

“This however does not change the statutory roles of the ministry but enhances its recognition at all levels of governance. It also attracts foreign investors to key in.’’

Yakubu argued that the state be asked to forward a bill to the Assembly for the change of nomenclature and that the ministry be given necessary incentives that would enable it transform the economy of the state.

The motion was seconded by Mr Haruna Idoko (PDP-Idah) and supported by other members who emphasized the need for the change for overall development of the state.

Speaker of the house, Alhaji MomohJimoh Lawal, following overwhelming support of members for the motion, adopted it.

Plateau Govt.

House chapel begins 3-day special prayers

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lateau Government House Chapel yesterday started a three-day “solemn assembly prayers’’ for the healing of the state and the return of peace.

The programme, being held at the chapel, would have 24 ministers offering prayers for the 17 local governments areas.

The chapel’s Chaplain, Pastor Chidi Harry, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos that Plateau was “in dire need of God’s forgiveness“.

“Plateau has been under series of attacks since 2008 but we, as a people, failed to look up to God by taking it upon ourselves to fight back.

“We can’t fight God’s battle; He is not happy with us and has abandoned us, hence the security challenges we still face.’’

Harry said that clergy men from each of the local governments would represent their areas during the sessions for God’s compassion, grace and mercy.

“It is the belief of the organisers that this solemn assembly will appease God to heal and revive Plateau. (NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

Commissioner wants parents to interact with children in Igbo language

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he Imo Commissioner for Education, Prof. Adaobi Obasi, has urged Igbo parents to interact with their children in their mother tongue to avoid extinction of the language.

Obasi made the call when she received the executive officers of a non-governmental organisation (NGO), ‘Umuaka Igbo Taa’, which paid her a courtesy visit in Owerri yesterday.

She noted that the Igbo people were the pride and brain of the nation and urged them to speak the language, especially to their children.

The commissioner noted that lack of ability to communicate fluently in his or her mother tongue could affect a child’s use of English language.

“A child who does not speak and understand his or her mother tongue well can also misunderstand terms in English language.

“We need to start now to motivate the children to interact in their mother tongue even at home before we lose trend of events,’’ she said.

Obasi frowned at the attitude of some students who find it difficult to choose Igbo as a course of study in the university, saying it is as a result of children’s neglect of the language right from childhood.

She promised to do her best as the commissioner to ensure that Igbo did not go into extinction.

“We will adjust the school timetable to ensure the teaching and learning of mother tongue,” she said.

Earlier, the founder of the NGO, Mrs Chidiebere OparaIbeleche, said that the organisation promotes the speaking and learning of Igbo among children.

Opara-Ibeleche noted that the organisation saw the need to design a strategy to attract children and make them involved in revitalising Igbo language and cultural heritage.

She said that the visit was to plead with the commissioner to use her position to ensure that children in primary and secondary schools interacted in their mother tongue, especially in the state.

“We have provided an Igbo calendar with 18 laws to guide the children in the language. We need them to be hanged in their classrooms,” she pleaded.

She also called on the commissioner to support their projects which included ‘Umuaka Igbo Taa Day’, which was scheduled for November annually and oratory and poetry debate in Igbo.

“We also need you to support us in conveying our children to Igbo Language Conference, holding between April 5 and April 6, where they are expected to perform in London,” she added.

(NAN)

PAGE 39

SNC must come before 2015 election, activists, NGOs insist As various intrigues continue to unfold ahead of the 2015 general election, our Lagos Correspondent, Ayodele Samuel, examines the many calls for a Sovereign National Conference before the polls.

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minent Nigerians under the ‘Project Nigeria’ led jointly by the nation’s former permanent representative to the United Nations (UN), Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule and Prof. Ben Nwabueze, has said the 2015 general election may have been endangered and may lead to disaster and anarchy if a Sovereign National Conference is not convened.

This is coming as the National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in a remark at the 7th anniversary of the passing of the late human rights activist, Dr. Bekolari Ransome-Kuti, also insisted on the convocation of a national conference saying that the 1999 constitution is unworkable and it is not of the people, by the people and for the people.

Speaking at the commemorative rally held in Lagos, the Chairman of National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), Rear Admiral Ndubisi Kanu; President of Campaign for Democracy, Dr. Joe OkeiOdumakin; former President of Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Dr. Ayo Obe; President of Voters Assembly, Moshood Erubami, warned against not convening a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) to determine the peoples’ wish.

Nwabueze, in a communique after Project Nigeria meeting which had in attendance renowned economist, Prof. Pat Utomi; Afenifere chieftain, Chief Ayo Adebanjo; former Minister of Commerce, Otunba Bola KuforijiOlubi; former governor of Delta State, Chief Goddie Ibru; former Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. Gen. Alani Akinrinade; former Economic Adviser to the President, Chief Philip Asiodu; constitutional lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome, among others said the national conference would provide an avenue for ethnic groups, civil society organisations and individuals to deliberate on the way forward for Nigeria.

“We want the initiation of the process for convening a national conference. This is more immediate than anything else. The purposes are: it will enable the people of Nigeria, both as members of ethnic groups, CSOs and individuals to deliberate and agree on how and what terms and conditions they are

Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule

Prof. Ben Nwabueze

to live together in the country.

“To deliberate and adopt a constitution with source of authority from the people. Such constitution should ensure justice, peace, development and progress for all Nigerians. Any election held without the conference might spell disaster and anarchy for the country, the forging of a national front comprising various groups and civil society organisations to press on the Presidency and the National Assembly the demand for a national conference is necessary.

The team will meet with the presidency and the National Assembly to submit a memorandum accompanied by a draft bill, selection of delegates for the national conference.”

Nwabueze noted further that contrary to the fear that the conference might bring an end to Nigeria, as he said “Nigeria is indivisible, permanent, the objective of the conference is to preserve Nigeria as one prosperous nation.

Tinubu on his part said “It is not only the process of the enactment of the 1999 Constitution that is faulty and undemocratic, the contents of the constitution are also inimical to the operation of democratic governance and the realization of the aspirations of the federating units and the peoples of Nigeria.”

He said the 1999 Constitution is a document that does not meet

the needs of the people and does not reflect their will. That the constitution states that “We the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria do hereby make, enact, and give to ourselves the following Constitution”, today, the 1999 constitution, as contradictory as it is, is still being applied in a unitary fashion that is inimical to running the country like a proper democracy. That is why we are still having problems about its operationalization with an inefficient, greedy and over bloated Federal Government engaged in constant power grab with the states and local government.

Responsibilities meant for the states and local government are being contested for by an already cumbersome Federal Government.

No wonder, due to the cumbersome nature of the constitution and the abuse it constantly suffers, it has become difficult to fight corruption at the center. The overbearing nature and excessive powers it offers makes effective supervision impossible. The rationale behind the creation of the 36 States of the federation was with a view to bringing development closer to the people. However, most of these states have “Unfunded Mandates” because of a central government that gobbles up almost all the resources and in a constant grab for power and more resources. This negates the very essence of democracy and what should be the

“

It is not only the process of the enactment of the 1999 Constitution that is faulty and undemocratic, the contents of the constitution are also inimical to the operation of democratic governance and the realization of the aspirations of the federating units and the peoples of Nigeria

spirit of the constitution. Matters better left to states to administer are being contested for by a fat belly central government. The central government runs a multiplicity of bodies that are duplicative and a waste of resources that can be channeled to other tiers of government. For instance, why do we need a Ministry of Police Affairs when we have the Police Service Commission? Why would the central government dictate to states or warehouse the funds meant for developments in the states under the Sovereign Wealth Fund? Nigeria runs a defective federalism.

“The constitution should be a law that we subscribe to, having fully agreed to its contents. It should be a law that every Nigerian can identify with; that every Nigerian can defend with his life. Sadly, this is not the case.

NADECO chairman Kanu, said “Sovereign National Conference is one of the things that Beko fought for during his lifetime. All those against the SNC don’t want Nigeria to survive. Irrespective of government attitude to the Sovereign National Conference, it will take place very soon. What we want is a peaceful SNC but if a peaceful conference is prevented, it may hold in a violent way. I can assure you that it will not be too long before SNC will take place.”

In her address, Okei-Odumakin said that the civil society must rise to the occasion and have a Sovereign National Conference the way Beko, Anthony Enahoro and other patriots have laid the template.

“The attempt by agents of the status-quo to water the demand down by removing ‘Sovereign’ from the SNC is a waste of time as sovereignty belongs to the people.

The sovereignty of the conference that Beko asked us to do is that the decision of the conference will not be tampered with by the existing government and that is still the way to go,” she asserted.

PAGE 40

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

We'll not tolerate indiscipline, Wamakko warns Sokoto civil servants From Salisu Zakari Maradun, Gusau

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L-R: Chairman, House Committee on Sports, Hon. Godfrey Gaiya, Deputy Speaker , House of Representatives , Hon. Emeka Ihedioha , Super Eagles Coach, Mr. Stephen Keshi, Hon. Bimbo Daramola , and Deputy Minority Leader, Hon. Abdulrahman Kawu Sumaila , during the special session, yesterday at the National Assembly, in Abuja for the victorious Super Eagles in the 2013 Nations Cup. Photo: Mahmud Isa

DPP joins merger, sets up negotiation C'ttee

By Umar Muhammad Puma

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he Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) yesterday concluded arrangement to join the newly formed opposition merger party, All Progressives' Party (APC).

DPP National Chairman, Major Gen. Bashir Magashi, told newsmen after the party's National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja that the party has also resolved to setup a committee to hold talks with other political parties disposed to merger.

He said the merger process has become imperative adding "Before now, we have been talking and by the grace of God this merger will succeed and we will dismantle a government that is not fair to the people of this country."

In the communiqué released at the end of the meeting, Magashi also said, "In view of the current political development in the country, the NEC hereby resolved that the DPP should go into the merger. A committee will be setup to talk with the other parties disposed to merger with a

view to negotiating for the best interest of DPP. The committee is to report back within 21 days to the NEC through the national chairman who shall there upon summon a NEC meeting."

He added, "If you are following the history of the political development of parties, you should put us in the pioneer champions of this merger issue.

We are 100 percent in support of anything that will bring relief to this nation; anything that will help this nation to develop.

"We have been talking and we have found out that the only way

we can survive in a political development in this country is to reduce the number of political parties so that a clean and fair competition is afforded to a minimum number of parties. We are all aware of what is happening in this country. If each political leader in this country will avoid his personal ambition to serve Nigeria, things will be better. As a political party with elected representatives with legislative arms of government, at various levels it is natural that we are interested in the political re-alignment taking place."

Gang up against PDP will fail, says ex Oyo Gov

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he former Governor of Oyo State, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, said yesterday in Ibadan that the gang up against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would fail.

Alao-Akala, who said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) while reacting to speculations that he was set to dump the PDP, noted that All Progressives Congress

(APC) was made up of strange bedfellows.

He denied rumour of his intention to defect from the PDP and expressed his determination to remain in the party in spite of the challenges.

“I can never leave PDP. I am in PDP and I will be in PDP. I heard that some people were speculating that I am going to another party. How can I leave a big mansion and go to a boys’

quarters? Any other party in Nigeria is a boy’s quarters.’’

He said the PDP remained a big party with diverse interests, adding that the “gang up” against the PDP by opposition parties in the form of a merger would fail.

“Because the party is big, some people are even ganging up to fight it and with the gang up too, they cannot get it right because they are not birds of the

same feather. Circumstances brought them together yet they will still fight.

“If those of us who have common interests are fighting, why won’t those who do not have a common interest fight? So, let’s see what will come out of that.

They are ganging up because they know that we are Iroko.”

He described those who defected from the PDP as “ political jobbers,’’ adding that

Plateau Assembly says 2012 budget performance “very poor’’

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he Plateau House of A s s e m b l y yesterday expressed disappointment over the implementation of 2012 budget, describing it as “very poor’’.

Mr Ponmak Rindap, Chairman of the assembly’s Committee on Works, told newsmen in Jos that the general performance, especially from the ministry of works, was “abysmally poor in 2012 despite an appropriation of N7.1’’.

Rindap, who spoke shortly after the ministry defended its proposals for the 2013 fiscal year, attributed the ministry’s performance to the “non release of the appropriated funds to do its work’’.

He said N7.1 billion was approved for the ministry for completion of on-going road projects in the 2012 budget, but they remained undone.

“The budget performance last year was just absolutely poor,’’ he declared.

Rindap said no new roads had been awarded in the past five years “even though there were appropriations and releases for the completion of on-going road works”.

“There has been no new project in the works sector; we met on-going projects which have not been completed up to now as I am talking to you.

“So, budget performance is far below expectation, but we expect more releases from the government this year.”

He urged the ministry to be sensitive to the plight of road users, especially in the rural communities, and advised government to ensure prompt release of appropriated funds to relevant ministries and departments.

The law maker said part of the requirements for budget defence included proofs that projects were actually executed and advised that more funds should released to contractors. (NAN)

okoto state governor, Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, has said that his administration is fully determined to sanitize the civil service in order to have disciplined and honest workers for effective service delivery.

He also warned his commissioners, Permanent Secretaries and other categories of civil servants to desist from coming late to the office as his government would no longer tolerate such behaviour.

Wamakko made the declaration in Gusau while declaring open a 3-day retreat on discipline and ethics in public service held at Karma Hotel along bye-pass road Gusau, organized by the Sokoto state government for Permanent Secretaries, DirectorsGeneral and Heads of parastatals of the state.

According to the governor, it is unfortunate that the civil service of not only Sokoto but almost the whole nation has reached a point where honesty, discipline and dedication are lacking.

He explained that lack of honesty and dedication immensely contributed, in no small measure, to destabilize even the workers, majority of whom have now found themselves in corrupt practices.

Speaking earlier, the Head of Service of the state, Alhaji Abdullahi Wali, told the gathering that the aim of the retreat, the first of its kind, was to reawaken the civil servants on the need to be good and well disciplined in the discharge of their duties.

Lagos lawmaker commends FG for rewarding Super Eagles

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eputy Leader, Lagos State House of Assembly, Mrs Lola Akande, has commended the Federal Government for the national honours and the N5 million cash gift to each member of the victorious Super Eagles.

Akande ( ACN-Ikeja II), told newsmen yesterday in Ikeja that the team’s victory was a well deserved success that would inspire other sporting activities in the country.

The lawmaker said that the national honours and a plot of land each in Abuja, was a welcome development and would also place the country on the world map.

“I really thank the Super Eagles for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) victory— after 19 years— since when the country won the trophy in Tunis.

“I equally commend the efforts of President Goodluck Jonathan in rewarding the team and its entire technical crew, as well as Nigerians who stood by them during the tournament,” she said. (NAN)

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Reps want FCT streets named after Eagles, demand adequate funds for sports

By Patrick Andrew

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he House of Representatives has urged the Federal Government to name some streets in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) after the members of the victorious Super Eagles.

The House, which held a plenary session for the newly crowned African champions yesterday, also demanded for adequate funding for sports generally and football in particular.

In recognition of Stephen Keshi’ s insistence and use of domestic league players to achieve success in the AFCON, the lower legislative organ urged the federal government to introduce policies that will encourage deliberate use of local talents.

The House applauded the federal government for bestowing national honours on the technical crew and players as well as cash gifts and plots of land in the FCT, with C of O already prepared in their names.

In a motion moved by Godfrey Gaiya, the Chairman, House Committee on Sports, which was unanimously adopted without debate, the lawmakers urged the government and the private sector to work in tangent for the development of sports through infrastructure provision and sponsorship.

Gaiya, who lamented that the budget for sports in the 2013 budget was less than N9 billion, that amount is not only inadequate but grossly insufficient for any meaningful development.

He argued that adequate funding of sports will boost the economy, reduce both

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

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resident Goodluck Jonathan has charged the victorious Super Eagles not rest on their oars but work harder to qualify for and bring home the World Cup in 2014.

The Eagles, who defeated the Stallions of Burkina Faso on Sunday to claim Nigeria’s third AFCON trophy in South Africa, formally presented the covetous trophy to the president at a state banquet held in their honour.

Jonathan, who was visibly pleased with the achievement, said rather than consider the conquest of Africa as the ultimate, the Eagles should endeavour to ensure that Nigeria’s national anthem is sang at the grand finale of the global soccer showpiece in 2014 in Brazil.

And in keeping with his promise that they will be rewarded if they won the Nations Cup, the president doled out national honours, cash awards and land allocation in Abuja to each Eagles and members of the technical crew.

Already, the Eagles lead their group comprising Kenya, Namibia and Malawi with four points and will play the next qualifying

unemployment and youth restiveness in the society. In addition, he said excellent performance will project the country’s image correctly.

Gaiya appealed to other critical sectors of the

economy to emulate the sports sector adding that with the victory of the Eagles Nigeria’s image in Africa and the rest of the world is seen in positive light.

He regretted the delay in releasing funds for major tournaments. It would be recalled that in November 2012, at a presidential retreat for sports, President Goodluck Jonathan had promised radical restructuring of the sector as well as adequate funding.

… Tambuwal says victory marks a new beginning

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he Speaker of the House of

Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, said the victory of Super Eagles at the AFCON 2013, marks a new beginning in the history of soccer in Nigeria.

Tambuwal said this at a special session held by the house to honour the victorious Super Eagles in Abuja yesterday.

“This Special Session holds today to relish, cherish, celebrate and honour you for this u n c o m m o n achievement that no doubt marks a new

beginning in the annals of Nigerian Soccer.

And the rebirth of our national pride and global image in this round leather game,’’ he said.

He described the victory as an achievement that was uncommon and outstanding on several accounts, adding that nobody gave the team any chance prior to the commencement of the competition.

“This victory is a lesson in self confidence rather than arrogance, a lesson in self respect, a lesson in shear

doggedness, a lesson in personal sacrifice in the promotion of national interest.’’ .

He urged Nigerians not to relent in thei r efforts to support the team as there were more daunting tasks ahead.

Tambuwal said: “as we bask in the euphoria of this victory, we must quickly remind ourselves that the task ahead is more daunting.’’

“We seek not merely to be African Champions because that much we have been twice before, but seek to be the greatest.

“Our goal, therefore, must be to overtake whatever achievements in this continental soccer competition attained by other nations,’’ he said.

The Head Coach of the Super Eagles, Stephen Keshi, in a remark said that the team would continue to make everything possible to make the country and Nigerians proud.

He promised that the team would put the interest of the country and Nigerians in their hearts in everything they do.

Jonathan charges Eagles to win World Cup in 2014 Boosts Supporters’ club with N5m match against the Harambee Stars of Kenya next month.

Meanwhile, the president has appreciated the unrelenting efforts of the Nigeria Supporters’ club with N5m for for

Eagles jubilate after the match

their patience, perseverance and sacrifice in cheering the Eagles to victory.

Speaking yesterday at the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting at the State House, Jonathan said he

had forgotten to mention the Supporters’ Club while rewarding the African Champions.

He then thanked the Supporters’ Club for supporting the team through thick and thin, adding that its job is the

most difficult as the members do always keeping on drumming, singing and dancing to boost the morale of the team.

“You will discover that anytime a team is losing, everybody will

just be disillusioned but even if a team concedes hundred goals in a game, the Supporters’ Club will keep on singing and dancing and urging the players to play on,” President Jonathan said.

Injured Eaglet undergoes successful surgery

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njured Golden E a g l e t s ’ d e f e n d e r , Friday Njengo, has undergone a successful surgery at the National Hospital in Abuja.

Njengo and goalkeeper Adamu Abubakar were involved in a ghastly accident at Dan Anacha Village in Taraba State on their way to the Golden Eaglets camp a fortnight ago.

Both players were initially treated at the Federal Medical Centre in Jalingo but badly-hit Njengo needed more attention and was promptly transferred to the National Hospital.

Njengo, who had severe head injury with the Computed Tomography( CT) Scan showing epidural hematoma (blood clot over a membrane of the brain), was operated upon by a team of surgeons at the weekend.

Golden Eaglets’ Team Doctor, Dr. Ayodeji Olarinoye quoted one of the surgeons as saying that Njengo would need more time before full recuperation.

Meanwhile, Goalkeeper Adamu, who also had bruises on the face and shoulder, is now back at the team’s camp in Calabar and now under strict m e d i c a l observation.

“We are happy to have Adamu back on his feet,” said S u l e i m a n Abubakar, the Golden Eaglets’ coordinator s.”Our fervent prayer is now for Njengo who is still at the hospital in Abuja, too get better,” he added.

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Peterson returns 14 months after

Lagos handball association task HFN on league’s revival

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amont Peterson is finally set to defend the title he took from Amir Khan 14 months ago. The American says his long layoff will not be a problem when he fights Kendall Holt in Washington next week.

Peterson beat Khan on a split decision after the Englishman was twice docked a point for pushing. A planned rematch last May was called off after Peterson tested positive for a synthetic testosterone.

The WBA restored its light-welterweight title to Khan but the IBF accepted an appeal by Peterson.

When Zab Judah bowed out as mandatory challenger to take another bout, Holt got his chance and Peterson finally had an opponent. The two will meet on February 22 in Peterson’s hometown of Washington.

“It feels great to get back into the ring,” Peterson said. “The layoff did not hurt me because I’ve been in the gym training like I was going to fight for the past year.

“My shoulder is 100 per cent healthy and I feel fantastic,” said Peterson, who had surgery on his right shoulder last year. “The explosiveness is there and I’m punching harder than ever.”

Among his sparring partners has been former world welterweight champion Shane Mosley.

Peterson, whose record stands at 30-1-1 with 15 knockouts, will be up against a former WBC light-welterweight champion.

TYSON BACK IN INDY Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson is putting his personality on full display when he opens a 36-city tour of his one-man show Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth, in Indianapolis on Wednesday.

Tyson was convicted of raping an 18-year-old beauty pageant contestant and spent three years in jail in the 1990s. He has not been back to the city since he was released from prison in 1995.

Tyson is uncertain what kind of reaction he’ll get from the crowd. His wife Kiki wrote the script for his show. He’s also a father and has started a charitable organisation.

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he Lagos State Handball Association (LSHA), on Sunday in Lagos appealed to the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN) to revive the defunct national handball league.

Anthony Idolor, the association’s chief coach told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the sport would need the restoration of the defunct competition to revive its dwindling fortunes.

He added that the league used to be a viable promotional tool for the sport, which helped to keep the country’s players in shape for international competitions.

“The handball league was a competition which players and coaches looked up to in the past and it helped to reform the game across the country.

“I appeal to handball federation to help look into this and revive the league for handball to reclaim its rightful place in the country’s sports circuit,’’ he said.

Idolor urged the HFN to adopt measures that would entice potential sponsors to bank roll its programmes to help the body to reposition the sport.

He cited the country’s basketball league as an example of what the handball league should have been if the necessary steps had been taken by the authorities.

Lamont Peterson

Cross River builds two stadia

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he Cross River Government is building two stadia in Ikom and Ogoja Local Government Areas to promote sporting activities in the state.

The project awarded to a Chinese firm, CCECC, at a cost of N2.2 billion December 2011, is expected to be completed in November this year.

The Commissioner for Special Projects, Mr Bassey Oqua, who led members of the National Good Governance Tour on an

We have repositioned squash in Nigeria, says Ajagbe

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emi Ajagbe, the outgoing President of the Nigeria Squash Federation (NSF), has claimed that the present board of the federation had done enough to reposition the sport in the country.

Ajagbe said yesterday in Lagos that the board had had to contend with a myriad of issues when it first came into office but was able to stabilise the situation.

“When we came on board, there were lots of problem, and as I speak to you we have been able to unite members through our developmental programmes.

“For the first time in 22 years Nigeria was able to make a comeback to the board of squash federation of Africa, at the championships which was held in Johannesburg in 2010.

“And for the first time also we rose to become number three in Africa, Egypt were number one and South Africa number two,’’ he added.

Further, the president said he intended to allow his achievements in office to speak for him, and not get distracted from his

objectives.

“It is unfair that some people will just sit down and rate your performance poorly, in spite of one’s achievement; our federation has taken part in several international competitions.

“We have been able to energise our grassroots development programmes for budding talents, and we have competitions like the David Mark Championships and others too numerous to mention,’’Ajagbe said.

He also said that that his emergence as the VicePresident was well merited because he was subjected to the rigours of the body’s electoral processes to get into office.

“This position has never been attained by any Nigerian, but through the assistance of the government I was elected, and it has improved our profile in Africa,’’ Ajagbe said.

The country’s sports federations are slated to hold their elections sometime in April, according to a guideline recently released by the National Sports Commission.

inspection of projects in Ikom, said that the projects were being implemented under the State’s Comprehensive Sports D e v e l o p m e n t Programme.

Oqua said that the facilities, when completed, would help to bring sports closer to the people as well as developing athletes from

the grass root.

He said that each of the stadia would accommodate 6,000 people, have two basketball courts and swimming pools in addition to tennis courts.

The commissioner pointed out that with the two stadia underway, sportsmen and women in the local government

areas would not need to travel all the way to Calabar in search of quality sporting facilities.

In the same vein, the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Mike Aniah said that the State Government Sports Policy was to catch athletes young and develop them to represent the state at national competitions.

Aniah said that the state government was desirous of producing top class athletes that would represent the state and the nation at both national and international competitions.

The good governance team also inspected some road projects funded by both the state and the federal governments.

Special athletes deserve fair treatment, says Mohammed B abatunde Mohammed, a Lagos State para-table tennis player on Monday called on corporate organisations to aid special athletes by organising competitions for them.

Mohammed told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that potential sponsors should accord special athletes the same kind of recognition given to their ablebodied counterparts.

“They need to encourage special athletes by helping them to organise championships that will feature special athletes across the country.

“They should give us what they are giving to our able-bodied colleagues, at least at about 70 per cent or even more,” he said.

Mohammed said that the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) did not have the means to execute all its programmes, hence the call for corporate partners.

He, however, appealed to the NTTF to adopt measures that would successfully attract sponsors to support table tennis.

“I am appealing to the NTTF to re-strategise very fast, to woo sponsors, because without funds the sport will not develop. Any federation that wants to execute its programmes will have to source for the necessary funds, if not, everything will be at a standstill,” Mohammed added.

Bolaji Abdullahi, Sports Minister

LG holds cycling tourney to enhance fitness, unity

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bout 50 youths participated in a cycling competition organised by the Ingawa Local Government Council in Katsina State on Tuesday.

The race, which covered a distance of 24 Kilometres from the roundabout at Ingawa town, attracted

many spectators from within and outside of the area.

Presenting prizes to the winners of the competition, Alhaji Hussaini Dambo, caretaker chairman of the local government, said that the aim of the competition was to enhance unity among the youths of the area.

Dambo, who was represented by a councillor, Alhaji Lawal Murtala, also said the cycling race would enhance the physical fitness of the participants.

He called on the youth to engage in sporting activities, assuring that the council was ready to

assist them in that direction.

Nasiru Bawa Daunaka, who clinched the first position, won a motorcycle, while Abubakar Nagogo and Abdullahi Usman who came second and third, respectively, were given a bicycle each.

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Benitez eyes Europa momentum

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afael Benitez has claimed that the Europa League will not affect his Chelsea team, and may actually help them maintain momentum in the chase for Champions League places.

For the first time in a decade, the Stamford Bridge side will have to adjust to the Thursday-Sunday schedule, but the Spanish manager says it had no effect on his Valencia team who won both their domestic league and the old UEFA Cup in 2004.

He said: “In terms of flights and games it’s like the Champions League. In terms of mentality the first thought is, ‘hmm, it’s different.’ But if you look at the teams in the Europa League you will see that it could be quite difficult.

Rafael Benitez

Liverpool express concerns over racism

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iverpool chief executive Ian Ayre has voiced “major concerns” about the behaviour of Zenit St Petersburg supporters ahead of Thursday’s Europa League clash in Russia.

A group of the Russian Premier League club’s supporters published a manifesto late last year calling for all gay and non-white players to be banned from playing for them although they subsequently issued a statement in an attempt to clarify the comments.

The manifesto, which declared that “black players are being imposed on Zenit almost by force”, prompted defender Chris Samba - who has since moved on to QPR to label the St Petersburg side’s fans racist.

Manager Luciano Spalletti quickly distanced himself from the manifesto, but Ayre has written to both UEFA and to Zenit to voice his concerns.

Liverpool is set to include a number of black players in their squad for Thursday’s match, and the chief executive has sought assurances that the Russian club will take action to prevent abuse.

Ayre has indicated that Liverpool’s players will not walk off the pitch if there is racial abuse directed at them on Thursday, instead suggesting that any action on the field will be left in the hands of Spanish referee Carlos Velasco Carballo.

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inedine Zidane has promised David Beckham will surprise French football fans and told Canal the former England captain will teach certain members of the Paris Saint-Germain squad.

There has been no shortage of sceptics keen to air the view that Beckham’s arrival at PSG on a five-month contract is nothing more than a marketing exercise.

Zidane played alongside Beckham at Real Madrid between

“We have to start thinking about it as a great competition with good teams and that we want to do our best.

The most important thing is in the players’ heads.

In England there is a tradition of playing on Saturday. But in Spain I won the UEFA Cup with Valencia playing on Thursday and Sunday, which was just the same. We can manage if we have enough bodies.

“Do you expect them to think it’s not important? I don’t think that. I expect them to be focused and to concentrate, but we will need some time to talk about this. On the day before when we fly they will realise that it’s Europe and they must give 100%.

Beckham will surprise people, Zidane 2003 and 2006, though, and he says the 37-yearold will provide far more than mere windowdressing at the Parc des Princes.

The former LA Galaxy midfielder has not played competitively since the MLS final on December 1, and though he trained with PSG staff in London last week, Ancelotti has said Beckham will probably not be ready to face Sochaux on Sunday

evening and would more likely make his first appearance against Marseille the following week.

Like many of the sceptics, Zidane does not expect to see Beckham play more than a bit-part role in PSG’s bid for a first Ligue 1 title since 1994 but he believes his former team-mate’s footballing qualities should not be underestimated, despite his advancing age.

Zinedine Zidane

Drogba gets Galatasaray green light

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idier Drogba has been given the go-ahead to play for Galatasary, a Turkish football federation source and the club said on Wednesday, after his former club Ivory Coast striker Drogba, 34, signed an 18-month contract with top-flight Galatasaray at the end of January but Shanghai Shenhua, with whom he signed on a two-and-a-half year deal in June last year, opposed the move.

He will be paid •10 million to play in Turkey with a bonus of •15 000 for every match played.

The Chinese club, which had vowed to appeal to Fifa, will not be compensated for his departure, Turkish newspapers said; claiming the player’s contract with Shanghai was null and void as he had not been paid for the last three months.

Galatasary are due to play German side Schalke 04 next Wednesday in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Drogba a Champions League winner with English Premier League club Chelsea last season is looking to relaunch his career in Europe and play at a higher standard than in China, with a view to being at the next World Cup in Brazil in 2014.

Didier Drogba

Celtic need miracle against Juventus, Lennon admits

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anager Neil Lennon concedes Celtic “need a miracle” if they are to overcome a 3-0 home defeat by Juventus in the last 16 of the Champions

League.

Juventus striker Alessandro Matri pounced on a misjudgement from Efe Ambrose to score a third-minute goal only for Lennon’s side to hit back

West Brom welcome back Nigerian striker

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est Bromwich Albion striker Peter Odemwingie has been told that he still has a part to play this season after being recalled to the travelling party for Monday's 2-0 win at Liverpool.

Although Odemwingie was not part of Albion's 17man matchday squad, boss Steve Clarke involved him by having the Nigeria international sat on the bench.

The Uzbekistan-born Nigeria international joined the Baggies in August 2010 from Lokomotiv Moscow for an undisclosed fee and has now

scored 31 goals in 83 games.

After a month of speculation over a mooted move to QPR, 31-year-old Odemwingie made major headlines on deadline day when, despite his transfer request being rejected and the two clubs not having agreed a fee, he turned up at Loftus Road, He then showed up at Albion's Walsall Road training ground the day after his unauthorised trip to West London, but was told to return the following week and has since accepted a fine of two weeks' wages .

ferociously in a breathless first half packed full of goalmouth incidents.

The Scottish champions were then caught out on 76 minutes when Claudio Marchisio scored a second on the counter before striker Mirko Vucinic grabbed a third following another blunder from Ambrose.

Ambrose was a surprise starter, having played for Nigeria in Sunday’s Africa Cup of Nations final win over Burkina Faso and not arriving back in Glasgow until Tuesday.

And Celtic’s best opportunity to score fell to the defender, who sent a weak header into the turf allowing Gianluigi Buffon to make an easy save.

Ambrose had a long flight from South Africa after a successful tournament with Nigeria but Lennon defended his selection.

Efe Ambrose

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PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

2014 World Cup is next target, says Efe Efe Ambrose has said Nigeria will now shift focus to qualifying for next year’s World Cup after they won the AFCON. Nigeria are top of a qualifying group that has Malawi, Namibia and Kenya with four points.

MTNFootball.com rates all 23 players who made the final squad for the championship-winning Super Eagles.

8 Vincent Enyeama agles shot stopper did well between sticks for Nigeria and made several gamedefining saves leading up to the trophy particlarly against Ethiopia, Zambia and Cote d’Ivoire. He again showed why he has remained the Eagles No.1 since 2002. He was also named in the tournament XI by the CAF technical study group.

4 Joseph Yobo A twisted ankle in the opening group game against Burkina Faso saw him relegated to the bench in favour of enterprising youngster Omeruo, who went on to take his chance all the way to the final game against Burkina Faso. However, it was a happy ending for Yobo as he signed off on his sixth and final AFCON appearance with his first international trophy.

8 Godfrey Oboabona The Sunshine stars captain was one of the revelations of the 2013 AFCON. He played like a veteran in the heart of defence with a lot of confidence. He was up against Africa’s finest strikers like Drogba, Gervinho and

E

They host bottom team Kenya on March 22 in continuation of the qualifying series and the utility defender said the Eagles were fired to win the AFCON after they were not given a chance.

The Glasgow Celtic defender,

who was named as the best right back of the tournament, said in an interview that unity, determination and zeal to make history galvanised them to be crowned African champions. ow does it feel being an African champion?

It is a great feeling. I am on top of the world and give God the glory for making it happen.

We are worthy champions because we worked for it.

Nobody gave the Super Eagles any chance to win the trophy, what did that do to the team?

Honestly, we were seen as underdogs before the competition started.

Many believed Cote d’Ivoire or Ghana will win the title and I believe that is one of the reasons why we are now champions of Africa.

How do you mean?

You know we were not under pressure as people were not expecting us to win, that made us to be determined to write our name in gold, work harder and make Nigeria proud. I thank God he made it happen for us. We

H

worked hard and believe in God. Who would you dedicate the victory in South Africa to?

I dedicate the victory to God who has crowned my efforts and that of the team. I also dedicate it to my family and all Nigerians who stood by us while the competition lasted.

Who influenced you the most in the team?

Everybody did his best to achieve this. We are one big family. We talked to ourselves and played for ourselves on the pitch.

You were named the best right back at the tournament, how do you feel about this?

I give God all the glory for giving me the strength to do well. It is not only me, but it happened due to the contributions of my teammates who did well on the field to make my job easier. The coach too did a great job on me and the team.

Above all, I thank all the fans and supporters who prayed for me and the team while the tournament lasted.

After winning the AFCON,

Super Eagles ratings at AFCON Seydou Keita and he did disappoint.

- Azubuike Egwuekwe He was Stephen Keshi number one choice partner for Yobo in the heart of defence until he suffered chicken pox in training camp, which effectively took him out of the tournament. And when he was well and fit again, he could not force his way into a winning team and so did nit get to kick a ball in South Africa.

3 Juwon Oshaniwa FC Ashdod of Israel defender was relegated to the bench due to the exploits of Echiejile in left back, but was part of the final match for almost 30 minutes when he replaced the injured Sporting Braga star. He made some rash tackles for the short time he was called to action and was not convincing.

8 Kenneth Omeruo He was another revelation at the tournament as he formed a great partnership with Oboabona and proved a worthy replacement for captain Yobo.

He played with composure and so much maturity. He is very much a part of the first team now going forward.

7 Elderson Echiejile

Joseph Yobo, Mikel Obi and others displaying the trophy

He was good at the left back that the more experienced Taye Taiwo was not missed, Elderson defended well and often joined the attack, which resulted in him getting his first-ever a goal for Nigeria against Mali in the semifinal.

7 Ogenyi Onazi He was a Trojan in the midfield. His versatility was a big plus for the Super Eagles as he played as right back as well an attacking midfielder. He relegated the more experienced Ogude to the bench. He was good defending, going forward and very mobile. He held his own in midfield battles against stars like Yaya Toure, Tiote and Seydou Keita to underline his quality.

- Chigozie Agbim Third-choice goalkeeper who did not get to play a game as Vincent Enyeama held his own between the sticks.

4 Ikechukwu Uche He posted a very disappointing outing at the AFCON after he finished as the country’s top scorer in the qualifying tournament with three goals. He was wasteful in front as his confidence dipped. He had a chance to put all that behind in

the final in absence of the injured Emenike but failed to do so and he was promptly replaced.

7 Brown Ideye He used his abundant energy and raw power to trouble opposing defenders.

He complimented Emenike in the attack and scored a goal thanks to good combination play with Spartak Moscow star. He created chances but was not very clinical especially in the final when he could have scored at least two goals.

8 Mikel Obi Named in the Tournament XI

by CAF. His performance at this tournament has proved his critics wrong. Mikel was simply fantastic and the pivot of the team. He controlled the midfield with his trademark marking and long balls. The Chelsea star soared above the likes of Yaya Toure, Didier Zokora, Chieck Tiote, Charles Kabore and Seydou Keita in the various midfield battles. He won the man of the match award twice and fair play award twice.

8 Efe Ambrose Was one of the best players in the tournament as he made the right back his own after a sloppy start. He defended well, joined the attack and had a great recovery. He was always full of running and so little wonder he made the official Team of the Tournament.

- Austin Ejide Was not in action due to Enyeama’s heroics in goal. His injury during a warm-up game against Cape Verde also slowed him down from challenging Enyeama for the No.1 position.

5 Ahmed Musa He started poorly but regained some confidence after a welltaken goal against Mali. He was a thorn in the flesh of opposing defenders against Mali and Burkina Faso in the final. But overall, he was far from his best.

9 Emmanuel Emenike ‘The new Bull’ was a delight to watch as he powered his way through defences. He shouldered the Eagles goal-scoring responsibilities. He is strong and fast and that ensured he finished as the tournament top scorer with four goals and three assists

what is your next target?

That is the Brazil 2014 World Cup. We have qualifiers by next month and so I want to do my best and help Nigeria qualify for that.

What of the FIFA Confederations Cup, which will take place in Brazil in June?

It will be a big tournament too where we will fly Africa’s flag. I am looking forward to that too, but the World Cup is the main target for me. That is the biggest stage.

He was sorely missed in the final against Burkina Faso. He was picked on the official Team of the Tournament by CAF. 4 Nosa Igiebor He came to the AFCON riding on a lot of expectations, but he failed to replicate his performance in the qualifiers and during the build-up where it mattered most.

- Reuben Gabriel Kano pillars combative midfielder was Keshi’s number one choice in holding midfield role, but for a long-term groin injury and chicken pox. He therefore lost his place in the team and so was one of several players who did not clock a minute of action in South Africa.

8 Sunday Mba Yet another revelation for the Eagles.

He replaced the struggling Nosa Igiebor and made the most of his opportunity so much so Igiebor warmed the bench by the third match against Ethiopia. His cracking match winners against Cote d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso will most likely have enhanced his market value and now a move to Europe is very much on the cards.

5 Fegor Ogude He was the preferred holding midfielder in Eagles and started slowly but he improved as the competition progressed.

Unfortunately, he lost his place to youngster Ogenyi Onazi after he was suspended for the quarterfinal clash against Cote d’Ivoire.

9 Victor Moses He ought to have been picked as the Most Valuable Player of the entire tournament as he was a great influence for the eventual champions as well as their best player. He initiated most of the Eagles attack with his free role in the team. His dribbling skills, pace and vision for goal were threats to opposing teams. He scored twice from the penalty spot and was picked in the tournament XI. 3 Ejike Uzoenyi The smallish left winger was a surprise pick for the AFCON. He played just a game, but he was not in his element and could not show what he is capable of.

2 Obiora Nwankwo He featured late in the second half against Zambia, but was shadow of himself in the game.

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

PAGE 45

The faces of African Champions Here we bring to you the faces of the gallant young men and technical officials that brought honour to Nigeria after 19 years of asking.

Agbim Chigozie

Ahmed Musa

Azubuike Egwueke

Brown Ideye

Victor Moses

Mikel Obi

Kenneth Omeruo

Ikechukwu-Uche

Fegor-Ogude

Godfrey Oboabana

Obiora-Nwankwo

Nosa Igiebor

Efe-Ambrose

Technical crew: 1] Valere Houandinou 2] Sylvanus Okpala 3] Daniel Amokachi 4] Stephen Keshi 5] Ike Shorunmu

Elderson Echiejile

Rueben Gabriel

Sunday Mba

Austine-Ejide

Enyeama Vincent

Ogenyi Onazi

Ejike Uzoenyi

Emmanuel Emenike

Joseph-Yobo

Juwon Oshaniwa

PAGE 46

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

Healy banned for France games

Britain face Argentina in Fed Cup

I

reland prop Cian Healy will miss two Six Nations games after being banned until 10 March for stamping on Dan Cole in Sunday’s defeat by England.

Healy was cited for the stamp during a ruck in England’s 12-6 win in Dublin and he is suspended for the matches against Scotland and France.

The Leinster man appeared before the tournament’s disciplinary committee in London on Wednesday.

Healy will be available again for the final game against Italy on 16 March.

Ireland take on Scotland on 24 February at Murrayfield before a Dublin encounter with

France on 9 March.

The loose-head was found guilty of “stamping or trampling on an opponent”.

Healy escaped without a yellow or red card from referee Jerome Garces during the match, but the front-rower was cited by citing commissioner Alberto Recaldini of Italy.

Healy’s suspension should now pave the way for Ulster loose-head Tom Court to be recalled to the match-day squad.

Munster’s Dave Kilcoyne, who was on the bench for the last two games against Wales and England, is expected to start at Murrayfield with Court among the replacements.

West Indies end England title defence

D

efending champions England have been knocked out of the Women’s World Cup despite a 15-run win over

New Zealand.

West Indies beat Australia earlier to render England’s result meaningless and put the

Sarah Taylor

B

ritain’s Fed Cup team face an away tie against Argentina in the World Group II play-off on 2021 April.

They secured their place after winning their Euro/ Africa Group I play-off against Bulgaria in Eilat, Israel.

Laura Robson and Heather Watson both won their singles matches against Bulgaria to secure their place.

Victory over Argentina would move Judy Murray’s Great Britain side into the Fed Cup’s World Group for 2014.

Murray said: “Argentina away on clay will be a tough challenge for us but we have a strong squad and a huge opportunity to grab a place in the World Group. Vamos!”

It is the second successive year Great Britain have qualified for the World Group II play-off.

Last year, they lost 4-1 to Sweden, a result that dropped them back into the qualifiers for this year’s tournament. Murray’s side are currently one place above Argentina at 16 in the Fed Cup rankings, with Watson and Robson 41st and 45th in the world rankings respectively.

Paula Ormaechea is Argentina’s highest-ranked player at 195 in the world, ahead of Florencia Molinero (214) and Maria Irigoyen (215).

Cian Healy Caribbean side through to meet the Aussies in Sunday’s final.

Sarah Taylor (88) helped England to 266-6 but the Kiwis looked well placed thanks to captain Suzie Bates (79) and Amy Satterthwaite (103) putting on 134.

England have paid the price for two narrow defeats, the one-wicket opening loss to Sri Lanka in the group stages and a two-run reverse against Australia in the Super Sixes.

West Indies’ shock eightrun victory also ended New Zealand’s hopes - and England will meet the Kiwis again in Friday’s play-off for third place.

After that loss to Australia, England looked all but out, only for their hopes to be revived by a thumping win over South Africa and West Indies’ surprise victory against New Zealand.

They still needed help from the Aussies and for long periods it looked as though Jodie Fields’ side would keep their end of the bargain as they reached 130-4 in pursuit of 165.

Rees set to shock Broner in world title bid

G

avin Rees claims he will knock out u n b e a t e n champion Adrien Broner when they meet for the WBC lightweight title in Atlantic City on Saturday.

Broner, 23, is regarded as one of the best boxers in the world, and is ranked sixth in The Ring magazine’s pound-forpound ratings.

The former WBO superfeatherweight champion, who moved up to the lightweight division in 2012, is unbeaten in 25 fights as a professional, with 21 of those victories coming inside the distance.

He is the overwhelming

favourite to beat Rees, a former WBA lightwelterweight champion.

But Broner rejected the accusation of disrespecting his opponents, saying: “I don’t underestimate him [Rees]... I respect him as a fighter.

Rees caused a major upset in 2007 when he beat Souleymane M’baye to win the WBA light-welterweight belt, but lost the title in his first defence against Andreas Kotelnik in March 2008.

A drop in division to lightweight has brought him European and British titles in a run of 10 victories and a draw from

11 fights, and he insisted he could beat his younger opponent.

Hockey chief lambast IOC

of playing in the Olympics, it’s the pinnacle of our game and if we were no longer an Olympic sport it would be crushing for our players” GB’s women won bronze at the 2012 Games and one of the stars of their team Emily Maguire was less than impressed with the news.

E

ngland Hockey chief executive Sally Munday has hit out at the International Olympic Committee’s executive board for considering cutting the sport from the 2020 Games.

Hockey was one of five

sports being considered and got down to the final round of three alongside wrestling and modern pentathlon.

Wrestling was eventually chosen and is set to be axed, but Munday was shocked. ”All our players dream

Tiote in fraud arrest FEDERAL UNIVERSITY DUTSE Old Government House, Kiyawa Road, Dutse, Jigawa State.

Office of the Registrar http/www.fudutse.edu.ng

ADDENDUM TO INVITATION FOR TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL BIDS OF CONTRACTORS FOR 2012TETFUND SPECIAL INTERVENTION PROJECTS Reference to the advertisement of the above projects published on page 50 of the Blue Print Newspaper and page 22 of People’s Daily Newspaper dated January 14, 2013; all the interested Contractors should please note that evidence of Industrial Training Contribution Fund is one of the pre-requisites for their pre-qualification for the advertised projects. Also, the closing date for the bids submissions have been extended from February 4, 2013 to February 21, 2013. The submission closes by 12 noon on the closing date, while opening of bids will hold by 2:30 pm same day.Please, note that this information is an addendum to the earlier published advertisement.

N

ewcastle United player Cheick Tiote has had his car seized by police after being arrested on suspicion of fraud.

The 26-year-old midfielder was stopped by police on Tuesday near the club’s training ground on suspicion of fraud in relation to driving offences.

His car, a Chevrolet Camaro estimated to be worth about £75,000, was seized by Northumbria Police, who said inquiries were ongoing.

A Northumbria Police spokesman said: “At about 1.30pm on February 12, a car was stopped on Benton Park Road, Newcastle, and a 26-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of fraud in relation to driving offences.’’

The Ivory Coast international, who recently returned from the Africa Cup of Nations, signed from Dutch side FC Twente in 2010. Police said inquiries are ongoing.

Cheick Tiote

Gavin Rees

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

Say what?

PAGE 47

SUDOKU

Yesterday’s solution

Some Interesting Facts •Isaac Asimov is the only author to have a book in every Deweydecimal category.

•It takes a lobster approximately seven years to grow to be one pound.

•It takes about a half a gallon of water to cook macaroni, and about a gallon to clean the pot.

•It was discovered on a space mission that a frog can throw up.

The frog throws up its stomach first, so the stomach is dangling out of its mouth. Then the frog uses its forearms to dig out all of the stomach's contents and then swallows the stomach back down again.

•It was once against the law to have a pet dog in a city in Iceland.

•It was once against the law to slam your car door in a city in Switzerland.

•It's against the law to burp, or sneeze in a certain church in Omaha, Nebraska.

•It's against the law to catch fish with your bare hands in Kansas.

•It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open. (Don't try this at home!)

•Ivory bar soap floating was a mistake. They had been overmixing the soap formula causing excess air bubbles that made it float.

Customers wrote and told how much they loved that it floated, and it has floated ever since.

•John Lennon's first girlfriend was named Thelma Pickles.

•“Kemo Sabe" means "soggy shrub" in Navajo.

•Kotex was first manufactured as bandages, during WWI. •Lee Harvey Oswald's cadaver tag sold at an auction for $6,600 in 1992.

•Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.

•Lightning strikes about 6,000 times per minute on this planet.

•Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different.

•Lincoln Logs were invented by Frank Lloyd Wright's son.

•Lorne Greene had one of his nipples bitten off by an alligator while he was host of "Lorne Greene's Wild Kingdom."

•Los Angeles's full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula" and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its original size: "L.A." •Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.

•Many hamsters only blink one eye at a time.

•Mel Blanc (the voice of Bugs Bunny) was allergic to carrots.

•Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all of the Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined.

Millie the White House dog earned more than 4 times as much as President Bush in 1991.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

A Somali fisherman carries a shark on his head as he casually walks through the streets of war-torn Source: Dailymail.co.uk Mogadishu.

www.peoplesdailyng.com

. . . putting the people first

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013

SPORTS LA TEST LATEST

NFF wanted a foreign coach for Eagles

I

t has been revealed that Super Eagles head coach, Stephen Keshi was compelled to work under a foreign coach by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

Keshi, who had announced his resignation on Monday, cited interference from the NFF. The Nigeria trainer, who eventually rescinded his decision following a meeting with the Nigerian sports minister, Bolaji Abdullahi, has also revealed that he was compelled to work with a "foreign technical team."

This revelation was made by the President of the Nigerian senate, David Mark who had a candid conversation with the former Togo and Mali coach shortly after he announced his resignation on Monday.

“Keshi confirmed to me that he had resigned. He said the reason he resigned was because there is too much interference.

Before the (2013 Afcon) final (against Burkina Faso) on Sunday, there was a lot of pressure on him that he must accept a foreign technical adviser,” Senator Mark revealed.

The lawmaker further explained that Keshi bluntly refused to accept the wishes of the NFF chiefs. “(Keshi) said he is opposed to it because he believes he’s got all that is needed for him to succeed in this country as there are Nigerians who can work with him and he doesn’t see the gain in bringing in foreigners,” he said.

Keshi and his technical staff returned home to a heroes’ welcome from South Africa where they won a third Africa Cup of Nations title.

Nigeria’s President, Goodluck Jonathan bestowed the nation's second highest national honour of Commander of the Order of Niger (CON) on Keshi.

Keshi also received cash gifts in addition to landed property in the nation’s capital, Abuja.

Stephen Keshi ADVERT: BUSINESS: NEWS: LAGOS:

0803 0805 0803 0805 0803

QUO TABLE Q UO TE UOT QUO UOTE He was not a staff of the EFCC. I wonder how you could report about the work of EFCC when you were never part of it, just as I will not talk of the FCTA when he was the minister — Ex-EFCC chairman, Nuhu Ribadu on Nasir el-Rufai’s claim that Ribdau endorsed him for president in 2007

Showing respect S

ince last week my home town has been struggling to come to terms with the killing of health workers: nine women and one man. As if to reinforce the nature of the madness that has supposedly taken hold in the North, two days later, in a neighbouring province, three North Korean medical doctors were found dead, their throats slit, one reportedly decapitated.

One was reminded of the heydays of this type of reprehensible violence committed in the name of Islam by young, brutal murderers in US occupied Iraq: eg. the video footage of the beheading of foreign workers by young men mindlessly screaming Islamic scripture. I am thankful that that ghoulish parade has ended. It may be over in Iraq but today I can honestly say I fear for my family, community and society.

Meanwhile as has often been the case when such numbing and spine-chilling atrocities have been committed, our Prime Minister Jonah was touring a few Western capitals -soliciting for help to fight the global threat of terrorism. The BH have not claimed responsibility for either attack, but no-one seems to really care anymore about that.

I am grateful however that I no longer have to wake on Sunday's with fear and dread, praying that there will not be another criminal attack on innocent church congregations.

Since late last year that type of terrorism has also ended. The terrorists have found other targets: My home town has been quietly enduring daily, sporadic shootings at checkpoints and recreation points. No one really cared until at the tail end of a whole week of shootings the Traditional Emir was attacked.

I worry that those in whom the trust and responsibility of governance have been placed are completely devoid not only of competence but also of conscience, shame and respect for human life.

This week we commemorate one shining light that shone for an all too brief six months in the life of Nigeria. General Murtala Ramat Muhammad, who was shot in his car, on his way to work on the morning of February 13th 1976. He was only 38. This great national hero exhibited such a selfless and total dedication to country that it was requited by a deep and fervent love that is still palpable today.

311 689 606 327 454

7458 1765 3308 1969 0344

CAR TEL OPIA CARTEL TELOPIA With Aisha Yolah ayolah06@yahoo.com 08086296783 (text only please) It was a mutual love that was of course not returned by the civil servants and international geo-political interests who have since been far more comfortable with the likes of our Obasanjos, Babangidas and now of course our very own Good fortune. We will continue to pray for the full and complete exposure of all the criminals behind the suffering of our people, sooner rather than later. One little bit of cheering news - yes our winning the Nations Cup after much striving and struggle - but more importantly- the forceful resetting of that selfish and mindless hardrive known as Officialdom by Stephen Keshi. I salute him for his courage, dedication and commitment to principle by resigning -even if it was for just 24hours. It has taught some people an important lesson or two!

This week (and the next) I present excerpts from my fourpart series published in late 2011 expressing my concerns even then, over this atrocious violence being committed in a country supposedly not at war. It was called Theories of Boko Horror:

C

artelopia's ruling business elite are in a quandary. … Time and again we have been fed footage

of bomb-making 'factories' raided and nameless suspects arrested by energetic state security agents. In between all these main events, we have had a steady and nauseating supply of seminars, conferences and meetings to discuss 'security', interspersed with the obscene deployment of soldiers in our streets or homes as evidence of seriousness.

True to Cartelopian ethics, the singular unusual addition to this insincere narrative are the huge electronic adverts, billboards and television ads admonishing the public to be 'alert and to report any unusual activity or sighting to security agencies'. Of course as pointed out in previous editions of this column - no specific telephone number or numbers are ever given out in these ads, because there are none. These ads merely serve as yet another Cartelopian avenue for making the quick buck!

Yes indeed - how to make that quick buck - even on the backs of scores of dead people seems to be the most enduring motive for nearly all the major conflicts of this 21st century. It turns out the earth shaking War on Terror declared by the United States after that fateful September day in 2001, may have run down that country's

“

Historically, the State Security Service has been very much the most efficient and professional security service, able to provide substantial intelligence on the activities of all manner of militant or fringe groups. It is particularly surprising that these historically proven, professional abilities seem to have evaporated, overnight!

treasury but not so the treasure chests of military equipment manufacturers and oil companies. Unlike the military spending of more 'civilised' democracies, however, our security votes are NOT allowed to be accounted for, by law!

There are many theories sprouting up to make sense of it all: starting with the strangeness of nearly all aspects of the story of the growth of the so-called Islamic sect, to the July 2009 uprising and that extra-judicial execution of the sect's only identifiable leader by the police. Educated and informed members of the public are having to switch off from the government's 'official explanations' to make proper sense of a land populated by suicide bombers where gun battles and bombings seemingly take place at the push of a button somewhere...

Historically, the State Security Service has been very much the most efficient and professional security service, able to provide substantial intelligence on the activities of all manner of militant or fringe groups. It is particularly surprising that these historically proven, professional abilities seem to have evaporated, overnight!

Take this statement made by the former head of the State Security Service (SSS), Afakriya Gadzama in 2009, to the House of Representatives' Joint Committee on Security that the SSS had warned the Borno state government well in advance [before July 2009] about the activities of this BH. He is quoted as saying: Nobody was taken by surprise; it was something that was adequately covered; that was adequately reported.

In fact as with many similar fringe movements, the BH was known to have been infiltrated by under-cover agents, including women, who obviously reported fully and regularly on the groups' activities. One is tempted to ask what happened to all that 'intelligence'?

Why is it suddenly so exceedingly easy for groups of young men to acquire weaponry, arms and ammunition, kill in broad daylight and disappear even in the midst of areas where there is already a heavy deployment of armed security personnel?

To be continued

Published by Peoples Media Limited, 35, Ajose Adeogun Street, 1st Floor Peace Park Plaza, Utako, Abuja. Kano office: Plot 3, Zaria Road, Opposite Kano State House of Assembly. Lagos Office: No.8 Oliyide Street, off Unity Road, Ikeja, Lagos. Tel: +234-09-8734478. Cell: +234 805 727 9862. e-mail: contact@peoplesdaily-online.com; pmlnewsdesk@gmail.com ISSN: 2141– 6141