Peoples Daily Newspaper, Wednesday March 14, 2012

Drama as man attempts jumping off mast in Abuja PAGE 3

Vol. 7 No. 94

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Rabiul Thani 21, 1433 AH

Law to muzzle Labour underway

N150

Senators kick, say ‘it’s anti-people’

By Richard Ihediwa & Ali Alkali

seeking to effectively make it impossible for the organised Labour to present a common front to mobilise for strikes has been tabled before the Senate, yesterday.

Sponsored by Senator Heineken Lopkobiri, PDP from Jonathan’s home state, Bayelsa, the bill which split the Senate in a heated debate seeks Contd on Page 2

counterparts for last week’s failed bid to rescue a Briton and an Italian in Mabera town of Sokoto state.

The abortive bid to rescue Briton, Chris McManus and Italian, Franco Lamolinara in Nigeria was the hostages’ “best

chance”, Britain’s Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond told that country’s parliament yesterday.

A decision to act was taken because “there was a significant possibility” the Contd on Page 2

A Britain defends botched Sokoto hostage rescue head of alleged moves by the Federal Government to completely deregulate the petroleum sector, a bill

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi, with agency reports

T

he British government is making spirited efforts to defend its decision to mobilize its security operatives alongside their Nigerian

Malam Inuwa Musa descending from a telecommunication mast he climbed yesterday at the premises of the Federal High Court in Abuja, after he alleged that former VicePresident Atiku Abubakar owes him N15 million.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

INSIDE

Reps summon Police Inspector, minister over River soldier, 4 others Niger dredging killed in Mubi >>PAGE 3

Al-Mustapha: Fasheun appeals to Jonathan

>>PAGE 3

Unijos students protest stabbing of 2 colleagues

>>PAGE 8

WWW.PEOPLESDAILY-ONLINE.COM

>>PAGE 10

Nigeria’s GDP growth rises to 7.6% >>PAGE 19

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PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

CONTENTS News

2-11

Editorial

12

Op.Ed

13

Letters

14

Opinion

15

Metro

16-17

Business

19-22

S/Exchange

23

S/Report

24

Defence

26

Agriculture

29

I’m the best man for the PDP Chairmanship, says Adamu Bello, Page 37

International 31-34 Strange World 35 Digest

36

Politics

37-40

Sports

41-47

Columnist

48

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

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

Phones for News: 070-37756364 09-8734478

Law to muzzle Labour underway Contd from Page 1

an amendment to the Trade Union Act to make it mandatory for members of organised labour to decide through ballot on whether to embark on a strike or not on any issue.

The bill is coming on the heels of fears that the Federal Government would, in the coming weeks, go ahead to implement the total removal of subsidy on fuel, which many fear might attract another round of public resistance under the umbrella of the organised Labour. The bill however split the lawmakers leading to the postponement of the debate.

The principal Section 226 of the bill provides for “Requirement of ballot before action by trade unions”.

Leading the debate on the bill, Lokpobiri said the draft law was not meant to stop the organized labour from embarking on legal strikes, but to ensure a more democratic and orderly manner for declaration of strike.

He said, “My intention is for this Senate to democratize the entire process of calling a strike.

My intention is not to prevent any trade union from embarking on any legitimate strike. My intention is to ensure that Nigeria goes along with all other countries of the world where things are done in better standardized way. It is very specific”.

Lokpobiri argued that

strikes as contemplated by the Trade Union Act does not accommodate strikes against government except where government is the employer and is based on trade disputes and not for political gains and other issues such as increases in price of fuel.

According to Lokpobiri, “it is instructive to note, Mr. President, that strikes as contemplated by the Trade Union Act does not accommodate strikes against government except where government is the employer.

The use of the platform of trade union for political gains is not a trade dispute”.

Lokpobiri recalled the decision of the Appeal Court ruling in the case between the Federal Government of Nigeria and Adams Oshiomhole in 2005.

According to him, “the NLC called a general strike against government’s policy of increasing the prices of petroleum products, including the introduction of a N1.50 tax on every litre of petrol. The Court of Appeal held that this was not a legitimate trade dispute”.

Immediately Lokpobiri finished with his lead debate, the Senate was split into two with some lawmakers supporting the bill while others strongly opposed it.

Those who supported the bill, include Senators Ayogu Eze, Ita Enang, James Manager, George Sekibo, Magnus Ugbesia, Bassey Otu,

Wilson Ake, among others, while those who kicked against it include Senators Joshua Dariye, Ahmed Makarfi, Chris Ngige, and Olufemi Lanlehin.

Commenting, Senators Eze and Enang argued that labour unions have joined politics with labour issues and often veer off their mandate when there is a government policy that does not concern them.

According to Enang, “Trade unions in Nigeria have fully veered away from functions of unionism and ventured into politics with boxing gloves.

Trade unions have ceased to negotiate welfare of workers, this bill seek to ensure that when a decision on strike is taken, it will depend on votes by workers.”

However, kicking against the bill, Senators Dariye, Makarfi, Ngige and Lanlehin argued that Nigerians will be denied their fundamental human rights if the bill was passed. Dariye in his opposition described organized Labour as the most democratic institution in Nigeria whose affairs the Senate should not interfere with.

Ngige also kicked against the bill saying it is anti-people and an attempt to drag the nation backward.

The debate on the bill was however inconclusive as Senate President David Mark adjourned the session to allow all the lawmakers to make their contributions before the Senate will take its position on the issue.

“We will take the debate to logical conclusion and if it becomes necessary, we will take a division,” Mark said.

It would be recalled that former President Olusegun Obasanjo drafted a similar anti-labour Bill in 2004 which culminated in the Trade Union Amendment Act 2005.

The Trade Union Amendment Act 2005, specified that, the latitude given to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), as the only labour body in the country was to be removed, giving opportunity for the formation of more labour organisations.

Obasanjo, in his letter to the National Assembly, had accused NLC of talking the laws into their hands, because it was the only labour union in the country. The major function of the Trade Union Amendment Act 2005 was to decentralize the authority, and followership enjoyed by the NLC. Another tenet of the Act 2005 is found in section 12, subsection 4, which makes the membership of any Trade Union in the country voluntary, and as such, no worker shall be victimized for refusing to be part of a union or participate in industrial action. Section 16 subsection A of the ‘Act’ states that only with the express consent of workers could such a Trade Union collect check off dues from salaries.

Britain defends botched Sokoto hostage rescue Contd from Page 1

kidnappers knew their location was known, the defence secretary further told the MPs. Explaining further, Mr Hammond said by Thursday morning: “The assessment on the ground was there was a significant possibility the kidnappers, if present, were already aware their security had been compromised and, if they were not, the level of military activity in the town meant there was a real risk of them developing that awareness.

“The military judgement was the hostages were facing an imminent and escalating threat and while an immediate rescue attempt would inevitably involve risk it represented the best chance of securing the release of Chris and Franco alive.”

According to wire service reports, Mr Hammond was grilled over the failure of the United Kingdom authorities to notify the Italian government before the raid.

He told MPs that the UK government had kept in touch

with the Italian government throughout the 10 months the two men, found dead during the raid, had been held.

The two countries’ security services had also kept in close contact and the Italians had known of the general “direction of travel”, he further explained.

Pressed to disclose when the Italian government was informed about the planned operation, Mr Hammond said he could not specify a time.

The urgency was evident from the fact that the raid took place in daylight. It was deemed too risky to wait even 12 hours for dark” He said that the go-ahead decision was taken at a Cobra meeting chaired by Britain’s Foreign Secretary, William Hague which ended just before 9am on Thursday, and the “responsible officials” then went away to contact the UK ambassador to Italy, who was then to go, as soon as possible, to inform the Italian foreign ministry.

The operation began at 10.58am. On Friday the Italian

president said it was “inexplicable” that the British government had not told Rome about the rescue attempt until it had begun.

He told MPs the operation had lasted about 90 minutes but that the bodies of the two hostages had been found by the troops in a room at the rear of the compound with “early indications clear both men were murdered by their captors with automatic gun fire before they could be rescued”.

Mr Hammond said the UK and Nigerian government had worked closely together to try and establish where the hostages were being held learning of the location after debriefing captured suspects last Wednesday.

He also rejected the idea that any ransom had been paid, saying that as far as he knew no demand had ever been made.

“The deaths of Chris McManus and Franco Lamolinara were a terrible tragedy. But let us be clear that the responsibility for their deaths lies squarely with the people who kidnapped them, held

them, threatened them, and then murdered them in cold blood.

“Terrorism and kidnapping can never be justified. Many of the group responsible for the kidnapping and murder of Chris and Franco, including their senior leaders, are either dead or have been contained - and important achievement in reducing the threat of future kidnapping.”

For Labour, shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy said: “We believe the government took the right course of action in seeking to rescue two innocent captives.”

But he questioned the apparent failure to keep the Italians informed.

Mr Murphy also said: “This tragedy is another painful reminder the UK must retain the ability to act across the globe. It is also reflective of the vindictiveness of our opponents and the valour of our forces.

“Can you convey the appreciation of Parliament as a whole to the commanders of the Special Boat Service for their remarkable efforts and bravery”, he urged the defence secretary.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

PAGE 3

Drama as man threatens to jump off telecom mast in Abuja

By By Sunday Ejike Benjamin & Mohammed Kandi

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50-year-old man, Mallam Musa Inuwa yesterday climbed a telecommunications mast of about 300 meters high in the premises of the Federal High Court Headquarters, Abuja to protest the N15 million allegedly owed him by former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar.

An eye witness account said, Inuwa first approached the court registry staff requesting to file a suit to recover N15 million debt from Atiku, but was told to go to a

federal high court in Yola as the Abuja federal high court has no jurisdiction to entertain the matter if filed.

Not satisfied with the explanation, Inuwa demanded to see the Chief Judge, Justice Ibrahim Auta. Again he was told that he could only see the Chief Judge with his lawyer.

Inuwa came down from the third floor of the court's building and headed for the mast. A document recovered from him by the court's security operatives which they denied journalists from going through

was captioned; "I will not come down until the federal government and Nigerians come into this matter".

Inuwa who climbed the mast and was busy making calls with his hand set insisted he won't come down until either Atiku or the Inspector General of the police came before the mast.

At first, the Area Commander of Police, Mr. Sunday Odunkoya threatened to use force to bring him down to no avail.

The police force called for the services of the NEMA Accident Response vehicle, Fire Service

and hospital ambulances with the plan to climb and force him down.

Inuwa remained defiant until CSP A.A. Baba, an officer from Criminal Investigation Bureau from FCT police command came to the rescue.

Baba who spoke in Hausa language displayed a document which he used to persuade Inuwa, saying it was an undertaking obtained by IGP from Atiku to pay him the N15 million debt.

Inuwa who climbed the mast by about 12.30noon, came down at about 3.57 pm.

The Police Public Relations Officer of the FCT Command, Jimoh Moshood told journalists after Inuwa was driven away in

Andy Uba loses again

L-R: Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, VicePresident Mohammed Namadi Sambo, Chairman, Senate Committee on Communication, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, and Director General, Voice of Nigeria (VON) Malam Abubakar Bobboyi Jijiwa, during the Commissioning ceremony of the ultra-modern transmission station, yesterday in Lugbe, Abuja.

Photo: Joe Oroye

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he Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu has quashed the appeal filed by Chief Andy Uba of PDP challenging the decision of the election petition tribunal which nullified his election.

The appellate court ruled that the case was time bound and the time allowed for it to be entertained had lapsed.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Uba's election as senator representing Anambra South, was nullified last December by the tribunal in its ruling on the case instituted by APGA's candidate Mr. Chuma Nzeribe.

Justice Abdulkadir Jega, who led four other justices yesterday, ruled that the court had no jurisdiction to entertain the matter, as the 60 days allowed by law to determine the case had lapsed.

The judge, therefore, struck out the case for lack of jurisdiction.

(NAN)

Reps summon minister over non-completion of River Niger dredging

By Lawrence Olaoye

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he House of Representatives yesterday summoned the Transport Minister, Idris A. Umar, to appear before it to explain the delay in the completion of the dredging of the River Niger project awarded since 2009.

Following a motion moved by Rep Ibrahim Ebbo raising the fears that the project may have been abandoned in spite of the money paid the contractors, Umar would be facing the House Committee on

Marine Transport chaired by Rep Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

Also to appear alongside the Transport Minister are the Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Arc. Ahmed Aminu Yar’adua and all the contractors involved in the project.

The lawmaker explained that the dredging of the River Niger would be of tremendous importance to the socio-economic development of the country just as he expressed worry that a

substantial amount of money had been paid to the contractors since the commencement of the work in 2009.

He alleged that work on the project had stopped, as no action was seen going on even as he warned “if no concrete actions are taken, the contract might soon be abandoned”.

Our investigation reveal that Baro Ports is currently at 70 percent completion but the Lokoja Port has been abandoned.

Yar’adua in recent interview disclosed that the Lokoja Port contract has been revoked from the initial contractor and re-awarded.

Yar’adua had explained that the dredging of the River Niger project contract components was both physical and scientific.

According to him, the dredging comprises of a scientific canalization of only ship routes with installed navigational aids to allow all year round sailing by various sizes of cargo and passengers ships.

While assuring that the N4 billion Onitsha ports would be ready for commissioning by the end of the year, Yar’adua disclosed that the 572 kilometre Baro (Niger)-Warri (Delta) has been completed.

Jonathan commissions VON’s super transmitter, revolving antenna

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

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resident Goodluck Jonathan yesterday commissioned Voice of Nigeria’s (VON) ultramodern super transmitting station and its revolving antenna, located at Lugbe, Airport Road, Abuja.

The President who was represented by his deputy, Arc

a Hilux van with registration number, NPF 21288 that the circumstance which led to Inuwa's suicide attempt would be thoroughly investigated.

Meanwhile, Atiku's media aide, Garba Shehu in his reaction to Inuwa's action said, "We honestly suspect that the man has a mental disorder, if there is one Nigerian who pays all his bills that one is Atiku Abubakar.

"If the idea of his pole climbing is to get N15 million from the Turaki, this certainly is not the best way to go about it.

"Left to me, I will say that the man should simply be ignored. He will climb down when he gets tired of staying up there", Garba Shehu added.

Mohammed Namadi Sambo at the event, stated that the project was in line with the Federal Government’s commitment to meet the 2015 global deadline for the digitisation of the broadcast industry and international best practices.

“We are today empowering the Voice of Nigeria to robustly project our international profile and make

Nigeria heard positively and more widely around the world,” adding that “the transmitting station we are commissioning today (yesterday) is therefore aimed at making VON better able to meet its vital obligation of telling our story from our own perspective.”

The President noted that VON established in 1961, as an external arm of the then Nigeria

Broadcasting Corporation, was in recognition of the critical role the country was playing in freeing other African countries from the shackles of colonialism.

“Nigeria understood in her early history that it needed an external voice to reach the world as the leader of Africa and to provide a platform for rallying African voices,” he stated.

2 policemen, 1 assailant killed, soldier injured in checkpoint raid From Edwin Olofu & Bala Nasir, Kano

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wo policemen were killed while a soldier was injured in a shootout with suspected members of the Boko Haram sect in Kano yesterday evening. The incident occurred at Gwammaja quarters.

According to eyewitnesses, gunmen had opened fire at the three armed personnel at a check point.

The unspecified number of attackers were said to have arrived at the check point on motorcycles and opened fire at the officers while they were busy carrying out stop and search on vehicles.

Though details on the latest incident were still sketchy, eyewitnesses told our correspondents that the suspected gunmen escaped after killing their victims.

However, one of the attackers was also reported to have been gunned down in the process. Spokesman of the Joint Task Force, Lt. Ikedichi Iweha confirmed the incident.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

PAGE 4

NSCDC arrests man, 23, over cable vandalisation

By Rukaiya Muhammad

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he Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), Kuje divisional headquarters has arrested a 23year-old man, Suleiman Sani from Katsina state over the alleged vandalisation of PHCN cable at Kiyyi near Gimbiya Rice Mill in Kuje area council of Abuja.

According to a statement by the NSCDC public relations officer, FCT command, Akinbinu

David Sani, who is a labourer at Tipper Garage in Kuje, in conjunction with one Mohammed who is presently at large, vandalised the cable before he was arrested by the NSCDC officer on surveillance within the area.

Items recovered from him were a hacksaw, empty bags and cables.

However, the matter had been handed over to the police for further investigation and prosecution.

Fake soldier sentenced for impersonation, forgery

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n Abuja Chief Magistrates Court yesterday sentenced a 34-year-old fake soldier, Tony Okheguai, to 30-month imprisonment for impersonation and forgery.

The sentence was delivered by the Chief Magistrate, Mr. Ahmed Shuaibu, after his guilty plea before the court.

Shuaibu sentenced the convict to six-month imprisonment with an option of N5,000 fine for impersonation and two years imprisonment with an option of N10,000 fine for forgery.

The chief magistrate ordered that the sentence should run concurrently.

Earlier, the Police Prosecutor, Sgt. Effiong Atteh, had told the court that the crime was reported

by Capt. J.G Kwelle of the Nigerian Army Garrison Intelligence Detachment, Mogadishu Cantonment, Asokoro, on March 1.

He added that the convict on Feb. 15, at army field base check-point, Suleja, Niger state, unlawfully paraded himself as a Lieutenant of the Nigerian Army.

Atteh further told the court that the convict also forged an identity card belonging to the Army, adding that the offence contravened Sections 133 and 364 of the Penal Code. (NAN)

Reps back IGP on roadblocks

By Lawrence Olaoye

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he House of Representatives yesterday rejected a motion seeking to compel the Acting Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, to return police check-points across the country.

According to the lawmakers, the use of road block to curb crimes on the highway was not only crude, with its attendant encumbrances, but had proved to be grossly ineffective in the face of the new security challenges facing the country.

Rep Friday Itulah (PDP, Edo) who moved the motion, said the decision of the Acting Inspector General of Police, to dismantle road blocks nationwide had exposed

Nigerians using the highways to robbery incidents.

Rep Bimbo Daramola (ACN, Ekiti) who stated that the issue was about weighing available options open to Nigerians, however noted that the inconveniences encountered at the road blocks by travelers should be weighed against the sense of security provided by the police check points.

Besides, rather than dismantling the road blocks, government should strengthen the existing structures to be better effective in the provision of security on Nigerian highways, he submitted.

Dissenting, Ayo Omidiran (ACN, Osun) said the argument for security on the highways

through the road block by proponents of the motion was not justifiable. “With the new security challenges confronting us in this country, how many kidnappers or bombers have been apprehended at any of these road blocks? She asked.

She warned that the return of the road block would only increase corruption by the officers.

Lawmakers said the use of road blocks was crude and therefore undesirable. They resolved that the police should be encouraged to train and re-train its officers and men, and improve on the patrol of the highways.

After thorough debate, the motion was rejected through voice vote by majority of the lawmakers.

Court threatens bench warrant on Nollywood actor over N15m scam

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

A

Chief Magistrate Court in Abuja yesterday, threatened to issue a bench warrant on a popular Nollywood actor, Jim Iyke, should he fail to appear before it on April 17, 2012 to explain his role in an alleged N15million share scam.

The actor is answering to a one count criminal charge that was preferred against him by the Nigerian Police Force.

He was accused of using fraudulent tactics to acquire 15 percent equity shares of a music company, Untamed Records Limited.

Police told the courta that investigation into the case revealed that the accused, a resident of Sunnyville Estate, Abuja, hoodwinked one Habiba Abubakar into granting him access to share documents of the recording company.

The court had on November 11, 2011, granted the accused person bail in the sum of N500, 000, after he pleaded not guilty to the charge that was entered against him by the police. He equally produced two persons that stood as sureties for him.

When the matter came up for hearing yesterday, the actor failed to appear in court, just as his counsel, Mrs. Esther Uzoma, told Magistrate Azubike Okeagu that her client was mobbed when he went for a video shoot in

Cameroun last week, saying he was receiving treatment at Cidar Press Hospital in Abuja.

Not satisfied with the explanation, the prosecuting counsel, Inspector Danjuma Ebune, urged the court to issue a bench warrant against the accused person, saying his absence in court yesterday was a deliberate ploy aimed at frustrating his trial.

The prosecution told the court that he brought three witnesses to testify in the matter yesterday, stressing that the police was not ready to settle the case out of court.

Though Magistrate Okeagu expressed his displeasure over failure of the accused person to appear for trial yesterday, he however conceded to adjourn the case till April 17, warning that he would not hesitate to issue a bench warrant should he fail to appear on the next adjourned date.

Travails of the actor followed a petition sent to the Inspector General of Police by the manager of the record company, Habiba Abubakar, who alleged that the accused person surreptitiously transferred 15 percent of the company’s equity shares to his name.

The prosecutor said the accused person had turned violent when he was confronted with the allegation, threatening to kill Mrs. Habiba for reporting the matter to the police.

Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Dikko Abubakar adorning the new police uniform

FG acquires camouflage uniforms for police

By Lambert Tyem

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he Federal Government yesterday acquired and handed over camouflage uniforms for the police force.

The new uniform according to police authorities is to be used as one of its operational outfits.

Force Public Relations Officer, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Olusola

By Emmanuel Iriogbe

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inister of Defence, Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed has charged Nigerians on the need to continue to volunteer information that would help in the fight against terrorism in the country.

The minister stated this yesterday in Abuja in his first reaction to the recent bomb blast

Emmanuel Amore said that the Acting Inspector-General of Police, MD Abubakar’s appearance in the new police camouflage yesterday was a process of test running the uniform.

“The advantages of the new police camouflage include that it is cost effective to maintain; operationally durable; highly customised with security

features to forestall impersonation and environmentally friendly.

“The police boss is using this medium to call on general public to come up with constructive criticisms regarding the new police camouflage, so that public opinion will be given adequate consideration,” the police spokesman said.

Defence Minister urges Nigerians to enlist in anti-terror war in Jos, Plateau state and the killing of two expatriates by a group of kidnappers in Sokoto state.

He reiterated government’s determination to sustain its spirited search for the terrorists wherever they may be in the country.

On the need for citizens to

volunteer information on the operations of terrorists, the minister disclosed that the recent successes achieved by the security agencies were due to the willingness and support of Nigerians who share government’s vision on the war against terrorism.

PAGE 6

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

Butcher urge govt to pay veterinary doctors’ salary From Sam Egwu, Lokoja

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group, under the aegis of Butchers Development Association has appeal to Kogi state government to take decisive steps to prevent the impending strike action by the veterinary doctors in the interest of the state.

The secretary of Butchers Development Association, Alhaji Idi Ibrahim, who made this

appeal in an interview with our reporter yesterday in Lokoja at the Abattoir site, stated that the members of the association are helpless without vetinary doctors.

Ibrahim, who doubles as the secretary of Kogi Market Traders Association, stated that the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resource, should do everything humanly possible

to ensure that the demand of vet doctors are met by the state government, noting that attempt to allow them go on strike, the butchers would henceforth stop killing cows, because of the poor sanitary situation around the neglected abattoir.

According to Ibrahim, the veterinary doctors are of great assistance to the association of butchers in Kogi state in the

area of advice on which animal is good or bad for consumption.

He said that the plight of the veterinary doctors is compounded by lack of serviceable abattoir in the state where clean and hygienic meat could be bought, warning that the situation could degenerate into an epidemic.

A veterinary and expert who spoke to our correspondent and

pleaded anonymity, stated that 75 percent of diseases affecting human beings would always emanate from abattoir because of bad environment, stressing that this may lead to outbreak of cholera, if adequate care was not taken.

He cited tuberculosis and anthrax, which are killer diseases that are inherent in animals, if there is no adequate inspection and control.

Women politicians urged to change attitude

By Maryam Garba Hassan

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issouri Secretary of State, Robin Carnahan, has called on Nigerian women to have a change of attitude towards one another irrespective of religion and tribe especially during elections and when there is unrest in any part of the country.

Mrs. Carnahan made this call yesterday in Abuja while delivering a lecture at a public lecture on women in politics, with the theme: How to organise, fundraise, mentor and deal with the media, organised by the United States Mission, Nigeria in partnership with the National Center for Women Development.

She said the lecture was organised to commemorate the 2012 Women's History Month and the struggles of women, celebrate centuries of progress and reaffirm the US’ steadfast commitment to the rights, security and dignity of women worldwide.

According to her, Nigeria is one of the countries where women destroy their fellow women’s political carriers because of religious and tribal differences which she said is partially responsible for women's inability to hold political positions in the country.

"We hope that this event would help in changing Nigerian women politicians' strategies and attitude towards one another during elections when they need the support of one another to achieve the most talked about women political and economic development in Nigeria."

L-R: Lagos state Commissioner for Waterfront and Infrastructure Development, Prince Adesegun Oniru, the state governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, and Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Olutoyin Ayinde, during the governor's inspection tour of Ajido erosion and other illegal sand mining sites, yesterday in Badagry, Lagos state.

Security operatives put new strategy against bombings in Jos From Nankpah Bwakan, Jos

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he Special Task Force (STF) known as Operation Safe Haven and Plateau State Police Comand, yesterday, said it has mapped out new security measures to curtail the spate of the bombings in Jos. Speaking while unfolding the new security measures, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Emmanuel Ayeni said the new measures were arrived at after a meeting between the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin and all stakeholders in the state.

Ayeni, while unfolding the new measures said that Plateau people are tired of carrying corpses.

He also directed that henceforth, all vehicles must

be packed outside the church, except those of officials, who must arrive early before their congregations and recommended for perimeter fencing of all churches and mosques, the training of all security personnel working in worship places to teach them the rudiments of security.

Ayeni called on leadership of churches in the state to purchase security equipment and enjoined youths to cooperate with security agencies.

According to him, "All of us have roles to play. Every worshipper must subject themselves to search while there must be no accessibility to

worship centres. When you suspect any object, do not go near. You can carry only your bible or your Qur'an.

"You must avoid clustering worship centres after worship.

We observe that after worship people cluster around to gossip.

Your business is worship and go to your house after that; endeavour to quickly go to your house."

available to journalists in Sokoto yesterday.

According to the statement, Wamakko mandated the state ministry of finance to implement the new minimum wage this month.

It stated that the same gesture will be extended to civil servants

government government education authority immediately after verification exercise of their workforce.

It would be recalled that, Wamakko had during the swearing in ceremony weeks ago, pledged to commence the implementation of the new minimum wage this month.

Sokoto Gov approves implementation of new Head of Service, Alhaji working in local minimum wage state Abdullahi Wali, and made councils and local From Muhammad Abdullah, Sokoto overnor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto state has approved the implementation of the N18,000 minimum wage with effect from March, 2012.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Sokoto

G

NGO sets up Hebrew language school in Rivers

By Miriam Humbe

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non-governmental o r g a n i s a t i o n , Yitzhak Rabin for African Development has begun the construction of a state-of-the-arts international institute/resource center, for the teaching of Hebrew language, the history of the Jewish nation, and other science

related courses in Port Harcourt, Rivers state which is expected to commence academic activities before the end of 2012.

President of the NGO, Dr. Blessing Ogini, announced this during the foundation laying ceremony of the institute by the Deputy Head Mission, Embassy of Israel in Nigeria, Mr. George Deek and the Rivers state

governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi in Port Harcourt at the weekend.

Dr. Ogini explained that the institute which will initially comprise nursery, primary and secondary schools, is named after former Israeli Prime Minster, Mr. Yitzhak Rabin in view of his values and peace overtures which led to his assassination in 1995. Mr. Yuval

Rabin, first son of the late Prime Minister was present at the ceremony.

He also explained that the school has been designed to international standards to curtail the desire of Nigerian parents to send their children abroad in search of quality education, in addition to creating a greater impact on Nigeria-Israel

relationship and cultural values.

Also speaking, Mr. Deek, said he did not just come to lay a foundation stone, but to make a statement that Nigeria could and must provide high quality education for its young generation, right here in Nigeria, most especially in Port Harcourt.

He added that "we are here to state what you will make here, what Nigeria will make with education, will decide nothing less than the future of this country".

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

PAGE 8

Nigeria remains united despite bomb attacks, says NOA

By Tobias Lengnam Dapam

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he Director-General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr. Mike Omeri, says despite the challenges of terrorism confronting the nation, Nigerians remain united and their nationhood remains unthreatened.

According to a statement signed by Fidel Agu, Asst. Director (Press), Mr. Omeri made this remark while reacting to last Sunday’s bomb blast at St.

Finbar’s Catholic Church, Rayfield, Jos which claimed several lives.

He said considering the recurrence of bomb blasts in parts of the country, it was obvious that the primary purpose of the perpetrators was to disstabilise and disintegrate the nation.

However, he said, the attempts to disguise the bombing saga as a religious war had failed as Christians and Muslims across the nation still live together in unity and the spirit of

brotherhood.

While commiserating with the families of those who lost their loved ones in the attack, the Director-General called for restraint in grief.

He admonished them to shun any urge for retaliation as dialogue remained the only option for a meaningful resolution of the crisis.

He called on the Boko Haram sect which has claimed responsibility for the Jos bombing as well as many other terrorist

attacks in parts of the country to desist from violence and embrace peace and dialogue for the redress of their grievances.

He also warned the youths to beware of persons who seek to use them for bloodshed and disunity noting that no well meaning person would jeopardise the lives of the youth to achieve any goal.

Mr. Omeri said the strength of the nation and “the youth who are tomorrow’s leaders, lie in our unity as a people irrespective of differences in tribe or creed”.

2 security guards killed in Katsina From Lawal Sa'idu Funtua, Katsina

U

nknown assailants were suspected to have killed two local security guards in Jibia Market and Motor Park in Jibia local government area of Katsina state.

Confirming the incident to newsmen, yesterday in Katsina, the Katsina Police Command spokesman, ASP Shehu Koko Muhammad gave the names of the two security guards as Usman and Maisamari.

He debunked insinuations that the two security guards were killed by suspected ritualists, adding that doctors report had indicated that no part of the deceased bodies was missing.

According to him, one of the deceased had his collar bones broken as a metal rod was pierced into it as well as his throat.

ASP Muhammad noted that the police in the area had begun investigation with the hope of apprehending the suspected assailants.

Gombe govt procures 17 vehicles for judicial officers From Auwal Ahmad, Gombe

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L-R: Former Chairman, Governing Board of Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Colonel Lawal Gwadabe, former Corps Marshal/Chief Executive of FRSC, Dr. Olu Agunloye, Corps Marshal/Chief Executive Officer of FRSC, Mr. Osita Chidoka, and Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Road Safety, Hon. Nasiru Sani Zangon Daura, during a farewell dinner in honour of the retired senior officers of FRSC, on Monday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

First Lady begs Boko Haram, MEND From Inumidun Ojelade, Ibadan

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he wife of the President, Dame Patience Jonathan yesterday appealed to all aggrieved groups in the country to embrace dialogue to end hostility and insecurity across the country.

Mrs. Jonathan made this appeal during her 'Thank You Visit and Advocacy Campaign for Peace’ to Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, saying no development could thrive in an atmosphere of chaos.

This was coming as the Boko Haram sect intensified hostilities with the latest bombing in Jos, the Plateau state capital while the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) made good its threat by blowing oil pipelines shortly after the death of an October1,2010 bomb blast suspect at Kuje Prisons in Abuja.

She said the current security challenges in the country called for sober reflections adding that expectations must be jointly worked for, to achieve desired harmony and co-existence across the nation.

The First Lady charged all elected public officers to deliver electioneering promises and provide adequate security for people, calling

on politicians and their supporters to shun violence in the interest of peace.

In her word: “We, the women of this country are saying enough is enough for violence, we cannot continue becoming sudden widows and our children becoming orphan as a result of issues which can be resolved at the round-table, we are tired of painful actions from selfish people. Women have resolved to preaching peace starting from our homes, streets, wards, local governments and constituencies.

We urge our husband to emulate the path of peace.

Governor Abiola Ajimobi in his

speech, commended President Jonathan for his resolve at ensuring peace and snatching our country back from the jaws of violent individuals who have sought to rechristen it as a nation of bombthrowers.

The governor further commended Mrs. Jonathan’s laudable fight for a worthy place and role for the women of the federation through her women empowerment initiatives.

"The tireless commitment to the improvement of thelots of women in Nigeria, you have effectively entered history books as one of the champions of women liberation on

our continent".

In her welcome address, the wife of the Oyo state Governor, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi called for peace and harmonious relationship within the country saying women plead for immediate end to violence, destruction and wanton waste of lives and property in the nation.

In her remarks, the Minister of state, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Oloye Jumoke Akinjide enjoined all ethnic groups and nationals in the country to unite and support President Jonathan for the success of his transformational agenda which could only thrive in atmosphere of peace.

By Tobias Lengnam Dapam

Fasehun in a statement, said he followed the events keenly for 14 years but wondered why the trial which had taken longer than any in the history of the nation ended in a capital punishment.

“How can Nigeria explain to the world that a man held in custody for 14 years in a controversially conducted trial ultimately ended up with capital punishment? Discerning people know that should Al-Mustapha

will be seen to have been unfairly treated and his rights disparaged.

It can throw a cog in the wheel of amity, unity and tranquility between the north and south.

“Today, this danger is real, more than ever. Nigeria must realize that panacea for disunity and disharmony and the road to progress and development lie in social justice, fairness to all and good bilateral relations between the south and the north.” Fasehun noted.

Fasehun appeals to Jonathan on Al-Mustapha

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ollowing the January 30 death sentence passed on Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, and Lateef Shofolahan, by Justice Mojisola Dada of the Lagos High Court, the founder and president of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Dr. Frederick Fasehun, has appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan and well meaning Nigerians to save the lives of the duo for the future of the country.

n a bid to ensure speedy dispensation of justice to the people of the state, the Gombe state government has provided 17 vehicles to judicial officers of both Appeal Court and High Court respectively.

Presenting the keys of the vehicles to the chief judge on behalf of the governor, the deputy governor, Mr. Jason Rubainu said it was part of the government's gesture to provide its high ranking functionaries with befitting tools to carry out their jobs effectively.

He said the four V8 Land Cruisers for the Chief Judge and the Grand Khadi were purchased at the rate of N19.5 each, while those of the High Court Judges and Khadis of the Sharia Court of Appeal were acquired at N12.5 each.

Receiving the keys, the state Chief Judge, Justice Heman reiterated the determination of the judiciary to the adjudication of justice especially at this period where the state and the nation were facing daunting security challenges.

He explained that the provision of the vehicles to the State Chief Judge, the Grand Khadi, High Court Judges and Khadis of the Sharia Court of Appeal would certainly assist in improving their performance.

Earlier, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Abubakar Sule Bage, described the presentation of the vehicles to the senior judicial officers as part of the administration’s gesture of extending dividends of democracy to all segments of the society.

PAGE 9

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

NASS will only support SNC if‌.– Senate leader

By Ali Alkali

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he National Assembly yesterday reiterated its earlier position that it will support any dialogue to map out terms of co-existence and unity among the various nationalities in Nigeria but not in the name of Sovereign National Conference (SNC).

Leader of the Senate, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (Cross River), made this declaration when receiving representatives of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) who

paid a courtesy call to the Senate, saying, "We know that all over the country there is this clamour for Sovereign National Conference. I don't want to preempt the issue but I believe that the sovereignty we have today derives from the constitution; and you cannot have another sovereignty outside the constitution.

However, there is need for Nigerians at every level to engage themselves in discussing the terms of our federation.

"So, as National Assembly of

the Federal Republic of Nigeria, we will support Nigerians dialoguing and discussing the terms of our unity. But where we have a major issue, is the issue of sovereignty," said the Senate leader.

He also noted the issue of sovereignty can only be taken care of when discussion on constitution review is resumed on the floor of the National Assembly, which will be very soon after they pass the budget.

"The next major engagement after passing the

budget is the constitutional review. We have received the submission of the NBA. It is a resource material; we are looking at it".

Senator Ndoma-Egba however reminded the NBA team, led by its president, Joseph Daudu, that constitution amendment is not a-one-way traffic, saying, "Apart from the constitutional aspect of the amendment, there is also the political aspect of the amendment; because if you take the constitutional process

Nasarawa, Kaduna to collaborate for peace along border communities From Ali Abare Abubakar, Lafia

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L-R: Former Gombe state Governor, Senator Danjuma Goje, in a handshake with Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Links Group, Alhaji Abdulmumini Yunus, after their private visit to Vice-President Mohammed Namadi Sambo, at the State House, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Joe Oroye

Private firm to invest N1.7bn to expand Gurara Falls From Iliya Garba, Minna

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orried by the dwindling fortunes of Gurara Water Falls, the Niger state government has committed a private firm to invest the sum of over N1.

75billion to upgrade the water falls into an international tourist

site.

The state's Commissioner for Tourism and Culture, Alhaji Mohammed Garba Abubakar, disclose this yesterday in Minna in an interview with newsmen.

Alhaji Abubakar noted that under the new arrangement with the indigenous company, the state government is

SON begins registration to check influx of substandard products From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

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he Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has said it would soon commerce registration of importers to tackle influx f substandrad products into the country.

The Director-General of SON, Mr. Joseph Odumodu disclosed this to newsmen in

Lagos during the SON management staff retreat.

He said that the staff were drawn from different directorates across the country for a three-day retraining programme with the theme: "From Strategy to Action: Transforming Nigeria's Economy Through Standardisation".

expected to provide infrastructure such as access roads, clinic, electricity and water supply to the prime tourist site while the promoter will develop the structures.

The commissioner said the private firm which entered into a similar MOU with the Niger state government and delivered the ultra modern Kure Market in Minna, is expected to construct a befitting international conference centre, a gold course, chalets, a mini zoo and a mini sports complex for the comfort of guest that will visit the water fall.

He attributed the recent slide in tourism activities in the state to the security challenges in the country and assured that with proper marketing and promotion, Niger state could become the center of tourism in the Northern states.

without building the political process and necessary consensus you will fail."

The Senate leader assured NBA of the support of the National Assembly in any way it can, saying NBA is too important not to have a direct interface with the national assembly because there is urgent need to do something about the Nigeria's criminal justice, the speed of dispensing justice, the thorny issue of pleabargain and, of course, the electoral reform.

n a bid to bring lasting peace to troubled spots along border communities between Nasarawa and Kaduna states, the National Boundary Commissioned (NBC), is bringing the two states to a roundtable for dialogue aimed at finding a panacea to the recurrent boundary disputes between the states.

Nasarawa state deputy governor, Damishi Luka Barau, who is also the chairman of the state boundary committee, on the occasion of the joint meeting of officials on Nasarawa/ Kaduna inter-state boundary, which held yesterday at the Taal Conference Hotel, Lafia, pointed out in an address that peace and harmonious coexistence along boundaries common to the two states is a necessary requirement to douse tension caused by mutual suspicion and mistrust among the people.

While noting that the two states have shared common socio-economic aspirations since the days preceding independence, the deputy governor however lamented that despite this long-standing fraternity, there have been frequent cases of misunderstanding across border areas of Nunku/Gwaska and Angwan Maiganga/Angwan Ragga, which if left unresolved, will constitute a threat to the socio-economic development of the communities.

On his part, Alhaji Muktar Yero, Kaduna state deputy governor, disclosed that representatives from the state are attending the meeting in Lafia, "to resolve all disputes

between the two states", stressing that the states have a long standing history and wondering why there should be disputes because of the creation of a state (Nasarawa).

Court orders arrest of Bauchi education commissioner for contempt From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

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he Bauchi state high court 6 has ordered the arrest of Bauchi state Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Aminu Ibrahim Yasi for defying a court order.

A bench warrant of arrest was issued against the commissioner for his nonappearance in court to defend the suit filed against him by a company called Alpha One Connexions Limited.

The presiding judge, Justice Mohammed Sambo issued the bench warrant for the arrest of the commissioner over contempt and has adjourned the case to 29th of March 2012 for hearing.

The counsel to the plaintiff, Sama'ila Idris, filed the application for the arrest of the commissioner for allegedly refusing to obey the recent court order to pay them their contract fee of N4.9 million after the company constructed the Information Communication Centre [ICT] in Government Secondary School, Kofar Idi, Bauchi.

Corps members to benefit from skills acquisition training

By Etuka Sunday

T

he Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Nnamdi Okore-Affia, has said henceforth corps members will be engaged in skills acquisition training programmes to help them become self-employed after the service year.

He made the statement while addressing Batch A Corps members deployed to Abia, Bayelsa, Anambra, Ebonyi, Edo and Ondo states during his orientation course tour to the camps.

According to him, the labour market is over saturated; therefore corps members must avail themselves of the new

opportunity in order to live a very productive life after the service year.

He encouraged corps members to be security conscious in view of the priority attached to their security and safety. "In addition to the skill acquisition, martial arts training has been introduced to prepare you people for self defence especially the female ones among

you", he said.

Okore-Affia further hinted that in response to the security challenges facing corps members in their respective places of assignment, the NYSC has established Distress Call Centre at the national headquarters Abuja to receive and respond to calls from corps members in distress for immediate intervention.

He advised them to make use

of the DCC only when in distress noting that payment of allowance was not the reason for setting up the center. He cautioned the female corps members against indecent dressing which negates the culture and tradition of their host community stressing that corps members must integrate with their host communities in order to work effectively.

PAGE 10

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

ZCC chides Senate on pension probe

By Muhammad Nasir

T

he Coalition of Civil Society Organizations better known as the Zero Corruption Coalition, has criticised the Senate on the current probe of the Pension Fund management by the Senate Joint Committee on Public Service and Establishments and State and Local Government Administration.

This came as a result of allegations and counterallegations against the Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), the Pension Commission (PENCOM) and pension fund managers.

In a statement issued by the Chairman, Steering Committee and national secretary of ZCC, Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani, said though ZCC frowned at acts of illegality and abuse of office and due process: “the issues of pension reforms and whatever infractions that may have been committed by the PRTT should not be lumped together and used to push to the back-burner the fundamental issues of large scale corruption that has been uncovered in the management of pension fund.

“That it appears that the senate committee by it actions and conduct is restricting its

investigations into the allegations of infractions leveled against the PRTT, rather than deal broadly with the serious substantive issues of criminal looting of the pension fund which has led to the death of countless pensioners, denial of benefits for civil servants and their families and exacerbated corruption among active civil servants’, he said.

Rafsanjani said, the allegations against the PRTT should be isolated and thoroughly investigated by a law enforcement agency and treated on its merits without undermining the work done “and the fundamental

advances that the PRTT has made on the pension fund management.

“The ZCC demands that the Senate Committee should focus on the findings of rot, corruption and criminality that have been uncovered in the course of the PRTT’s work, and as a matter of national priority and urgency, ensure that all those indicted in the mismanagement and looting of the pension fund are publicly disclosed and referred to the appropriate agencies for prosecution”.

ZCC also commended the House of Representatives on its patriotic stand against the call

for disbandment of the PRTT and called on the Senate to do the same adding that the PRTT “be disbanded after the current pension system has developed internal control measures and a dedicated team appointed within the Head of Service to manage the funds in collaboration with an oversight team from the anti-corruption agencies”.

It called on President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to demonstrate his support for the fight against corruption by giving the necessary support to the establishment of an independent Pension Funds monitoring team.

Unijos students protest stabbing of 2 female colleagues

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L-R: Kwara state Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, , Minister for Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, Kogi state Deputy Governor, Architect Yomi Awoniyi, and Senator Bukola Saraki, during the North-Central Zone meeting of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the Senate President’s house, Monday in Abuja.

Apply science to our challenges, Tambuwal tasks NAS

By Lawrence Olaoye

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peaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has challenged the Nigerian Academy of Sciences (NAS) to make use of scientific knowledge to proffer solutions to major problems bedeviling the country.

Receiving a delegation of Fellows of the Academy, led by its president, Professor Oye IbidapoObe on a courtesy call, the Speaker said it was not acceptable that Nigeria produces some of the finest scientific minds in the world and yet it still imports practically everything it needs.

“I think that there is something wrong when a country that has produced some of the finest scientists in the world yet it still imports practically everything it uses,” Tambuwal told the delegation.

The speaker stated that time has come for scientists in the nation’s ivory towers to unlock the mystery in science for the benefits of the people, adding that the time for excuses was gone.

“Right now, there are abundant farm produce all over the place, but soon, they will start to go bad, because of poor storage, and then, foodstuff will become expensive.

“Can’t our scientists produce

some very basic machine that could be mass produced for our farmers?

“Isn’t there a way that our scientists can improve on our farm tools? Why is Nigeria practically the only country in the world that has not eradicated polio? Where is the Nigerian car?

“Why the over reliance of oil, when we could so easily diversify by exploiting our mineral potentials?

Why, despite the abundant sunlight and many waterfalls are we still without adequate electricity?

“Why do our houses collapse so frequently and why are our roads so badly built? Why can’t we make Ajaokuta work?

Can you people do anything about the railways?” He asked.

Responding to the requests of the Academy, Rt. Hon. Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, assured that the House would collaborate with the Academy to enact appropriate legislations backing their operations.

Professor Ibidapo-Obe had earlier solicited for the support of the Speaker and the House for the passage of a bill to back the establishment of the Academy, which was established in 1977.

He also sought for the partnership of the House in the Academic’s quest for a way forward in science and technology for the development of the country.

tudents of University of Jos on Monday took to the streets to protest the stabbing of two female colleagues by some youths around the area.

The students, who poured into the streets along Bauchi Road and Zaria Road, blocked the entrances to the school.

NAN reports that the two female students were attacked by youths of Angwan Rogo, who were said to be returning from a nearby burial ground.

The visibly angry students chanted war songs, with some screaming “enough is enough’’.

Others also shouted slogans that border on the need to end the persistent attack on innocent students whenever there was a crisis in the city.

Registrar of the University, Mr. Danjuma Damdam, who confirmed the protests, described the attack as unfortunate.

He explained that one of the stabbed students was in a critical condition and on admission at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH).

“It is true that two female students were stabbed by some unknown persons on Monday, but one of them was treated in our clinic and discharged.

“The second victim, whose condition is critical is being treated at JUTH,’’ Damadam said.

The registrar, who said that the attack was ``callous and unwarranted’’, decried the situation where students and staff of the university would normally bear the brunt of any disquiet in Jos. Damdam said, however, that security operatives had taken control of the situation. (NAN)

Minister donates items to prison, frees inmates From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

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inister for State, Trade and Investment and founder of Oracle Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, Dr. Samuel Ortom yesterday extended humanitarian aid to inmates of the Makurdi minimum prison and secured the

release of six prisoners.

Dr. Ortom who visited the prison in company of his wife, Eunice, the Benue state Commissioner of Information, Conrad Wergba and other members of the Foundation, wept openly for what he described as “the destruction done to the lives of youths” in the 18-20 age bracket and few aged inmates.

He explained that the visit was part of the vision of his Foundation, established since 2002 to reach out to the needy adding that it has over the years treated people with snake bites and other ailments.

Ortom urged those still serving their terms as well as the freed convicts to keep faith in God for

a turnaround in their lives, just as he also advised the prison officers to take good care of the inmates.

The minister assured the Prison authority that he would liaise with his colleague in the Interior Ministry to take reforms to the Makurdi prison, promising to construct a borehole as well as donate a transformer, new

tyres and N50,000 for the servicing of the prison vehicle.

Wife of the minister, Chief Mrs. Eunice Ortom who doubles as the chairman of the Foundation said the intervention was borne out of love for the downtrodden and urged the freed prisoners to appreciate the gesture by turning a new leaf.

PAGE 11

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

Delta shuts school for ‘dishonesty’

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elta state government has closed down a private nursery/primary/ secondary school in Asaba, over what it described as “dishonest documentation”.

The government said that the management of the school, Lumen Christi Nursery/Primary/ Secondary school, obtained its operational license through false information to the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education.

A letter to this effect was written to the proprietor of the school, a copy of which was made available to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Asaba yesterday.

The ministry said that it had observed that the documentation leading to the approval of the school was dishonestly done.

The letter signed by Mrs. R.E. Ohwevwo on behalf of the commissioner in the ministry, Prof.

Patrick Muoboghare, said: “we wish to inform you that the ministry has observed that the documentation leading to the approval of your schools was dishonestly done”.

“Based on this dishonest approach, the licenses for Lumen Christi Nursery/Primary/ Secondary Schools are hereby withdrawn and the school closed with immediate effect”.

The ministry directed the Chief Inspector of Education in Asaba, the Commissioner of Police and the State Security Service Director, to ensure enforcement of the closure order.

Meanwhile, academic activities resumed yesterday at Delta government-owned New Era Primary School, in Okpanam, near Asaba, which was demolished on Saturday by a man who claimed to be the owner of the land where the school was built.

2 killed near Jos as Petinrin meets with security chiefs From Nankpah Bwakan & Bayo Albabira, Jos

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hile the dust of last Sunday’s bomb blast at Staint Finbarr’s Catholic Church, Rayfield is yet to settle, unknown assailants Sunday night attacked BumChugwi village in Jos South local government area of Plateau state killing two persons.

Confirming the incident,

special adviser to the state governor, Mr. Pam Ayuba, told our correspondents that the attackers raided the village on Sunday at about 8pm.

He confirmed that bullet were extracted from the bodies of the dead victims and the three wounded persons were rush to Vom Christian Hospital where they are receiving medical attention.

Meanwhile, the Chief of

Defence Staff, Air Chief Mashasl Oluseyi Petinrin met with all the security chiefs in state to restrategise on ways of surmounting the activities of Boko Haram in the country and vowed that the Boko Haram must be prevented from achieving their aims.

Speaking to newsmen in Jos, shortly after visiting the scene of the blast, and after a close door meeting with Governor Jonah Jang, Petinrin said: “Suicide

bombing is an admition of defeat.

It means you are not doing very well that is why you now allow members of your organisation to start killing themselves.

“Otherwise, if you can achieve your aims without getting your members killed. You will do so but because the terrorists behind all this acts have discovered that they have no any other means of inconveniencing the society they resort to suicide bombing”.

L – R: Ogun state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Alhaji Yusuph Olaniyonu, National President of NAWOJ, Mrs. Asabe Baba-Nahaya, the state governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Mrs. Funmi Wakama, and Ogun state chairperson of NAWOJ, Mrs. Folake Ade-Adeniji, after the visit of NAWOJ officials to the governor, recently in Abeokuta.

ACF condemns Jos church bombing 21 police certificate forgery From Agaju Madugba, Kaduna

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he Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has condemned the bomb explosion at St. Fimbarr’s Catholic Church in Jos last Sunday during which about 10 persons were reported killed with several others injured.

Canvassing community policing to enable people keep an eye on persons with suspicious movements, the ACF in a press statement in

Kaduna on Monday described the incident as disheartening.

The statement signed by the ACF national publicity secretary, Anthony Sani, said: “The ACF and northern leaders reiterate that Nigerians of all religions, of all regions and of all ethnic extractions must stand up and deny the common enemy the pleasure of knocking our heads together and unleashing religious conflict which will do no one any good.

“Standing up to terrorists

requires patriotic courage, some measure of risks and sacrifices.

“If Nigerians fail to realise that the problem of insecurity across the nation is a collective responsibility aimed at checkmating the attackers, we would be helping them to succeed in their aspiration to destroy the country.

“The ACF condoles with the government and people of Plateau state, with the catholic church and with the families who lost their loved ones.

suspects granted bail From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

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he Chief Magistrate Court number eight has granted bail of 21 suspects charged with impersonation at the Police Training Schools Yelwa, Bauchi state.

Presiding Magistrate, Isa Mohammed, granted the separate bail applications of the accused at the cost of N200,000 with a surety who is a resident

within a court’s jurisdiction and has landed property worth N1 million, must swear an affidavit and write an undertaking and adjourned the suit to 28th and 29th March respectively for further mentioning.

The suspects were arraigned separately by police prosecutors after which counsels to the suspects separately filed bail applications which were not opposed by the prosecutors.

DFID commits N2.3bn to combat maternal mortality in Kaduna From Agaju Madugba, Kaduna

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he Partnership for Transforming Health System (PATHS 2), a Department for International Development (DFID)-sponsored programme, has donated the sum of eight million pounds (about N2.3 billion) to assist in the reduction of maternal mortality in Kaduna state.

The PATHS 2 National

Programme Director, Mike Egboh, disclosed this in Kaduna during the flag-off of an emergency transport scheme for pregnant women in the state.

He regretted that Nigeria contributes only two percent to the world population but has one of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the world.

According to Egboh, his organisation has expended N1.4 billion out of the money to

procure drugs and equipment and support the training of all cadres of health workers for the health care facilities in the state as well as for the established 36 healthcare facilities aimed at creating awareness for what he described as positive behavioural change.

He noted further that the balance of N900 million has been deployed to procure additional drugs and equipment are expected to arrive the country

within the next three months.

He said: “Nigeria is the second country in the world after India with the highest maternal mortality rate in the world and contributes 10 percent to the world’s total maternal death.

“The emergency transport service is aimed addressing the delay in accessing care during obstetric emergencies such as delay in reaching health facilities due to distance, poor road

conditions and lack of means of transportation among others that are known contributors to maternal mortality.

“The drivers involved in the scheme are motivated through volunteers; nonpayment mechanism that ensures that they are able to convey mothers especially at night when the chances of getting commercial transport in hard-to-reach areas is high.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

PAGE 12

EDIT ORIAL EDITORIAL

Boko Haram: Cut out the red tape, Mr. President

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ast week’s approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) of the White Paper on the recommendations of the Presidential Committee on Security Challenges in the North-East zone may have taken too long but all the same it came as a welcome relief to weary Nigerians. The government’s inexplicable delay in taking a decisive action to contain the growing menace of the Boko Haram sect was disturbing, more so as the sect, over time, has taken its violent campaign beyond its traditional enclave in the North-East to other parts of the country, but mostly in the North.

The fringe Islamic sect which emerged early in the last decade as a peaceful splinter group turned violent after its leader, Mohammed Yusuf, was killed in 2009. Now it has become monstrous, cutting short lives of innocent persons in its frequent attacks mostly targeted at security agents. Its violent bombings and gun attacks last year, for instance, claimed nearly 500 lives. Besides, this year alone almost the same number of human lives were lost to the nearly daily deadly attacks by the group, with the deadliest being the January 20 multiple bomb blasts in Kano in which 186 people were confirmed killed.

This is why we, like many other Nigerians, find very disturbing the Jonathan administration’s sluggish approach to containing this monster.

To begin with, we are worried that it

took the government more than 18 months of dilly-dallying- since February 2010 when Jonathan took over power and the Boko Haram insurgency had not quite reached its present level – for it to set up the presidential committee led by elder statesman, Alhaji Usman Gaji Galtimari in August last year. Equally disturbing is the fact that it took nearly six months for the Government to come

“

It is sad that a government will continue with a circus show while more and more of its citizens are getting killed by an errant group that should have been stopped in its tracks long before now with good intelligence gathering by our security agencies out with a White Paper on the report of that all-important panel.

The Galtimari committee submitted its final report to the government in September last year. In the report, the panel had recommended among others: “The federal government should diversify and strengthen its means of creating avenues for international intelligence sharing and inter-agency cooperation through diplomatic channels/pacts”. However, the federal

OUR MISSION “To be the market place of ideas and the leading player in the industry by putting the people first, upholding the truth, maintaining the highest professional and ethical standards while delivering value to our stakeholders”

government committee set up under the Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro to look into the recommendations and come up with a White Paper took almost half a year to turn it in. This should ordinarily not have taken more than three weeks.

Now that the White Paper is before him, the President has chosen to forward it to the Office of the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation and Minister for Justice, where it is to be gazetted.

We are almost certain it will take more of red tape before this important public document comes out for implementation if at all the government summons enough courage to do that. It is sad that a government will continue with a circus show while more and more of its citizens are getting killed by an errant group that should have been stopped in its tracks long before now with good intelligence gathering by our security agencies.

We have said this in our previous editorials and feel it bears repeating here that what it takes to tackle the Boko Haram menace is the political will on the part of our leaders, most especially the President, and not endless committees and expressions of pious indignation whenever the sect hits a new target. And the time to display that political will is now so that the government can deal with this security challenge once and for all and stave off the mass hysteria that is almost gripping the nation.

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PAGE 13

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

North’s economic miracle is coming

By Okechukwu Peter Nwobu

I

f the leaders of northern Nigeria, in one of their fabled nocturnal meetings, decide not to allow their agricultural produce to head South, there will be starvation of near biblical proportions in the South, at the very least in the short term.

Once the order to stop the southward flow of agricultural produce filters through the communication system peculiar to the North, it will become law and inviolate to the peasants and all. Such is the hold of Northern leaders on their people. Such is also the reality that the North feeds the South with its vast agricultural output.

A visit to any market in the South will reveal that at least seventy percent of the foodstuff are of Northern origin including but not limited to beans, tomatoes, ginger, onions, pepper, potatoes, guinea corn, millet, wheat, yams, benniseed, cowpeas, ground nut, carrots, sugar cane, the full range of livestock and so on. Have you not noticed that every time it is Islamic fasting season, the quantity of agricultural produce to the South is reduced to a trickle with attendant spike in prices, even in the face of reduced quality?

While many including this writer doubt the population figure ascribed to the North and abhor the injustice behind the lopsided number of local government areas, inflated and

skewed respectively to unfairly corner a larger piece of the national cake, its vast territory and agricultural potential are real but grossly under-utilized.

This scenario of stopping the flow of foodstuff to the South will not happen because firstly, the North cannot consume all it produces and secondly, its highly impoverished people need the money that their back breaking farming activities yield.

The current level of agricultural output from the North is less than the tip of the iceberg of their true potential to feed Nigeria and Africa and supply the agricultural raw materials required to sustain a wide range of agro allied industries that should be located in the North. The North is blessed with renewable agricultural resources, unlike crude oil which in Nigeria’s case will run out in less than forty five years, that is, if technological advances will not make crude oil irrelevant long before the wells dry up. What will it take to make the North realise their full potential and march into the 21st century confidently and emerge as an economic miracle?

The world will always need agricultural produce for food and industrial raw materials, in ever increasing quantities, thanks to the red hot economies of China and India, who in addition to their industrial demand, also produce staggering numbers of newly emerging middle class every year who feed better.

The astronomic rise in the

price of crude oil has also led to increasing production of bio fuels from agricultural produce, whose additional advantage is its smaller carbon footprint (when compared to fossil fuel), in a world caught in the understandable frenzy of global warming. All the foregoing explains why prices of agricultural produce are going up and will continue to go up. The agro based industrial parks that should blanket the North will produce processed livestock, canned, bottled, bagged or tetra packed food for local consumption and export to a world that still craves rapidly disappearing processed natural foods and not their synthetic replacements.

Imagine processed tomatoes, onions, ginger, carrots, beans, chilli pepper, potatoes, ground nuts, vegetable oils, sweeteners and syrups from grains, livestock feeds, cotton etc, proudly made in Northern Nigeria.

To attain these desirable goals will mean taking quantum leaps in attitudes, behaviour and political will, because what is required is far beyond the present level of thinking made worse by mental laziness at all levels of officialdom. The starting point is large scale mechanised agriculture. Before the issue of land reform and redistribution became a victim of political brinkmanship, 4,500 commercial farmers were the cornerstone of the Zimbabwean economy. Their mechanised farms earned Zimbabwe most of

its foreign exchange and the title of the food basket of Southern Africa. The territory of Northern Nigeria is bigger than Zimbabwe and already has existing dams and irrigation systems which can be expanded to make the North the food basket of Africa.

Presently, only Kwara state is making marginal head way with a handful of erstwhile Zimbabwean commercial farmers. The attempt in Nasarawa State is mired in all kinds of difficulties starting from official indifference, lack of basic infrastructure to foot dragging by banks that daily change the conditions for even already agreed commercial loans.

Why is the North not willing to shake itself out of its self imposed lethargy and take advantage of these unique opportunities?

For how much longer will they remain victims of the curse of oil and the dismantling of regional governments in Nigeria? The curse of oil has made them seem lazy and contended with the monthly handouts from the Federal government. In 1967, General Yakubu Gowon in order to weaken Biafra, created twelve states and destroyed regional systems of government during which ground nut pyramids were part of the Northern landscape.

Today, we have states that are too small to be viable and too weak to challenge the accumulated powers of a federal government which has repeatedly failed to provide the kind of leadership regional leaders like Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Sir Ahmadu

Bello and Dr Michael Okpara provided. Apart from Lagos, other states of the federation are not viable, especially the Northern ones. I believe that if the monthly allocation is stopped, the North will witness within two years an agricultural revolution that will be the spring board for an economic miracle that will change the face of the North within a generation.

Why not pretend that the federal allocations have ceased in order to focus on the problems? Can Northern leaders summon the political will and moral fibre that will cause them to look upon their own people with pity and resolve to push past official indifference and develop a concerted plan of action with measurable yardsticks, to chart its progress?

Is the North patently lazy as their sole dependence on federal allocations seems to suggest? The vanished groundnut pyramids which made the region the world’s largest exporter up to the early 1970s and the various foodstuffs in our markets are proofs that the answer is an emphatic no.

They bear testimony to a people as industrious as anyone in Nigeria. The only problem is that this back breaking farm work is at subsistent level. This is where the governments, leaders and wealthy moguls of the North should step in to fashion out investor friendly packages that will bring in commercial farmers from all over the world. How I wish that Sir Ahmadu Bello were alive to run with this vision; Contd. on page 14

Universities: Crisis of great expectations

By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye

G

reat expectations are usually piled on our universities as very essential intellectual factories for the production of manpower for achieving our lofty dreams and aspirations as a people.

Every year, the universities are expected to give the country quality graduates duly equipped with sound intellect and skills to assume very important and strategic positions in both private and public institutions for the advancement of national development goals.

But what appears to be seriously in doubt now is the reliability of the National Universities Commission (NUC) as an ally in this aspiration, either because it has run out of quality ideas, or it is being savagely influenced by some unwholesome sentiments.

It is tragic that we have had to sit passively and watch a handful of men and women that constitute the NUC churn out a cocktail of clearly misguided policies whose only benefit is their ability to effectively erect uncrossable mountains before otherwise brilliant students and promote devastating mediocrity in the university system, with far-reaching implications to the larger society. While several local and foreign observers are bemoaning the quality of the graduates our universities

are turning out these days, the NUC is busy compounding the problem by formulating policies that can only further devalue the degrees awarded in Nigeria.

I wish to examine one of the most offensive and pernicious of these policies, and I would like to begin with an illustration. A young girl who chose English Studies as a course of study sat for the last Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME), and passed very well.

She went to her university of choice, sat for the Post-UTME tests and performed brilliantly and was offered admission by the university. But when she packed her bags and went to the university to register in order to commence her programme, she met a brick wall. Even though that university had stated in the JAMB brochure that it required a pass in Mathematics to admit students to study English, she was now told at the departmental office that only a credit in Mathematics will qualify her for an admission. Okay, she would be considered if she had a credit in a science subject.

That is what the almighty NUC had decreed. And so, despite her marvelous performance in English, Literature and other arts subjects, she is at home now, while those who managed to merely crawl above the pass mark in English but had a credit in Mathematics are there now

studying English! And if she is unable to get the Mathematics eventually or her parents do not have the resources to take her to a university outside Nigeria whose curricula was drawn up by sane and progressive minds, that’s another great journalist, writer, artist, scholar, researcher, teacher, etc., brutally frustrated out of university education and consigned to the roadside by the NUC and its backers. Needless to add that many other brilliant youths like this girl will suffer the same fate in the various departments of Theatre Arts, Foreign Languages, History, Linguistics, etc., and the faculties of law across the nation just because of this outlandish condition placed before them by the NUC. Now, are we merely interested in just admitting all manner of students into the universities and giving them degrees after a number of years or do we have the future in mind? Who should be encouraged to study English, the person who is very good in the subject, or the person who manages to obtain a credit pass in it but does well in Mathematics? We know very well that it is only in very few cases that we have people who are very good in Mathematics and the sciences also excelling in English and other arts subjects.

We are already complaining that the there are graduates of English

and other arts subjects whose written and spoken English are so horrible that one feels very sad reading them.

Newspaper editors can readily tell you the amount of work they do on reports sent in by reporters these days to make them readable. It is no longer shocking to go to even a university and see a secular issued by a high ranking university staff riddled with unpardonable grammatical errors. Some of the young men and women graduating from the Law School these days write and speak semi-literate English.

Instead of the fellows at the NUC to help in combating this malaise by encouraging square pegs to fit into square holes, they are, for self-serving reasons, formulating outlandish policies, usually wrapped with attractive covers, to further compound the problem. And if they are allowed to continue having their way, Nigeria may face the embarrassing situation of having judges in future writing court judgments in unreadable English, or law reports appearing in substandard grammar.

And as today’s reporters graduate to tomorrow’s editors, one can only dread to imagine the kind of language that would convey the news, editorials and feature articles in Nigerian newspapers, or whether even literary works from Nigeria will still be intelligible to properly

educated people. In as much as we want to encourage the study of Science in this country for very good reasons which we need repeat here (and there are many candidates flooding the faculties of Sciences annually), we must not use that as an excuse to frustrate the emergence of Nigeria’s future men of letters!

Now this policy is already creating terrible problems in secondary schools, and I wonder how many people are taking note. I never really knew the extent of the harm already done until recently, when a friend and I visited his son’s school. My friend was given his son’s result sheet and even though his son had taken the first position in his class, my friend was a very sad man. Why? The poor boy had FAILED. It was boldly written in his result sheet. And the reason is that despite the fact he had scored very high marks in the other subjects which had earned him the first position in his class, he had failed Mathematics by just a few marks. And so, because of that, he had FAILED the examination for that term!

Wonderful!

Now, somebody should please just tell me what on earth this kind of totally bankrupt and senseless policy is meant to achieve? In fact, I was so moved that I had to go and confront the principal of the school, and Contd. on page 15

PAGE 14

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

Jonathan, rule of law and the illegality in Kogi

By Abdullahi Abdulrahman

P

resident Goodluck Azikiwe Ebele Jonathan has often affirmed his commitment to upholding the only enviable legacy left by his former boss, the late Umaru Musa Yar’adua, which is the rule of law. When former Bayelsa state Governor, Timipreye Sylva, altered the results of the primaries that produced the 2011 candidates for seats in the state House of Assembly, Federal House of Representatives and the Senate, a lot of complaints were published which the President as a democratic man listened to respected and acted positively at last.

However, the issue that is now threatening to tarnish the image and reputation of the Jonathan administration is the Kogi state governorship tussle. Akintola Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), former president of the Nigerian Bar Association,

recently argued that INEC then that the primaries that it is a mute point that the court was wrong in recognizing the were held after the expiration has to clear”, said Akeredolu. election of Waza, What was of Idris’ tenure ought not to The candidate being referred the platform on which the have been held. “To my mind, to by the SAN was no other election was conducted? Was it is the candidate that won than Echocho, but Echocho it the primary election that the March 2011 primaries that too was no longer a candidate was knocked as affirmed off by the by Farouk Supreme Court A d e j o h , judgement of Director, Peoples Daily welcomes your letters, opinion February? The Public Affairs articles, text messages and ‘pictures of yesteryears.’

Supreme Court and Strategy held that Idris’ to former All written contributions should be concise. Word tenure ended Governor Idris limits: Letters - 150 words, Articles - 750 words. on May 29 who faulted Please include your name and a valid location.

2011. It means the claim that Letters to the Editor should be addressed to: the primaries Echocho had were a nullity. a subsisting The Editor, There was ticket. Adejoh Peoples Daily, 1st Floor Peace Plaza, a primary said that by election held participating 35 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja. in March, 2011 in the new Email: let ters@peoplesdaily-online.com before Idris governorship SMS: 07037756364 went to court to primaries argue that his held last tenure should September, be extended. If the Supreme ought to have been considered. Echocho had surrendered his Court held that Idris’ tenure The election that produced mandate. “I don’t think he has ended on May 29, 2011, it means Wada is not right. In any case, any issue to pursue; Echocho

WRITE TO US

actually voided his own nomination and expression of interest form. He was screened and cleared for a fresh primary.

He contested that primary and lost before squealing that he was standing by the result of the March primaries that he won. The truth is he had surrendered that mandate. This simply implies that the PDP had no candidate at all”.

I demand that, as a matter of urgency, the abnormality in Kogi state should be corrected by asking the PDP to relinquish power to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) whose are watching and waiting to see the firm reaction of President Jonathan as someone who believes in Yar’adua’s only left legacy: rule of law.

Dr. Abdullahi Abdulrahman is the President, Justifiable Democracy Platform, Nigeria

If Ojukwu was a hero who then is a villain?

By Anthony A. Kila

O

nce a person and above all a personality dies it is common practice to treat him or her with kindness and with more compassion and general understanding. After death, hatchets are buried and hitherto foes are seen through less hostile prisms. The case was not different in the case of the Emeka Ojukwu, but we also saw something beyond mere compassion. In death, Ojukwu was not just buried with compassion and dignity, he was apotheosized.

It must be said at this point that Emeka Ojukwu was neither the first military officer nor military governor nor regional leader nor politician to die and get a state funeral in Nigeria. Many other leaders have held such posts after

him and many more have had state funerals before him but I doubt anything can be compared to what we saw for the Biafran leader. No doubt, the National Burial Committee chaired by Justice Chukwudifu Oputa and co-chaired by Senator Uche Chukwumerije did a fantastic job but the Eze Igbo Gburugburu had led a life with an end only few can even dream of.

The glorification of the dead Emeka Ojukwu began in Lagos where he grew up and studied in Nigeria like me. Protagonists of the occasion were not just the expected Lagosians of Igbo origin shouting “Igbo Kwenu” but a host of well known Nigerians from different parts of the federation.

The process of apotheosis of Ojukwu was initiated by Dr Tunji Braithwaite, the

Lagos based legendary lawyer, politician and childhood friend of the late Biafran leader, who in his capacity as chairman of the Lagos event for Ojukwu stunned most listeners when he took the microphone and in an unusual short speech, for Nigerian standards, declared that his friend, Emeka, only waged war against corruption, lies, and injustice not against his fatherland.

The speeches that followed Dr. Braithwaite’s oration were by other well known Nigerians of different national descent and their speeches were all in line with the chairman of the occasion’s speech.

Later during the proper funeral rites, former military head of state and commander in chief of the Nigerian armed forces during the civil war, General Yakubu

Gowon, although not physically present at the ceremony was represented and his message amongst other things read that “Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu loved Nigeria so much, he merely wanted to opt out because of the perceived injustice meted out to his people”.

In the last weeks since he passed away, media reports online and in print have been full of reports and testimonies by analysts and observers praising and repositioning Emeka Ojuwku as not just a rebel or defender of his people but a true patriot and champion of justice.

As if not to be outdone by others, the governor of Niger state and chairman of the northern governor’s forum, Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu was even more direct and went to the point of

empathizing with the late Ikemba.

Aliyu who spoke at a funeral held in honor of the late Biafran leader at his birthplace in Zungeru, Niger State, said Ojukwu fought for the emancipation of the lessprivileged. He said Ojukwu was misunderstood, positing that the former Biafran warlord was forced by the circumstances to take up arms and protect his people. In Aliyu own words “He was forced to take up arm to protect his people. If I was in his shoes I could have done the same!”

I personally love all these but even when we are crying or laughing, we must see through our tears and thus we must ask ourselves as individuals and as a people if Ojukwu is a hero, who then is the villain?

Anthony A. Kila lives in London, United Kingdom.

North’s economic miracle is coming Cont. from page 13 the present leaders of the North who benefitetd prodigiously from his policies think of no one else but themselves. Will they shift their gaze from influence peddling, manning the choicest ministries and government agencies, oil blocks and crude oil lifting contracts to look upon their own suffering masses?

Will they be willing to stop the exploitation of the minds of their own people while they grow obscenely rich? These are the leaders who as military and civilian rulers are responsible for the disgraceful failures of Nigeria and the abject poverty which every study has found to be more acute in the North. It is traditional, perhaps fashionable but nonetheless selfish to make Northern communities believe God ordained one person in their community to be the heart of that community whose name he bears. It is mindless

exploitation to offer these leaders their daughters in return for basins of food placed under dogonyaro trees for the wretched of the community.

And while this exploitation of Northerners by Northern elite is going on, their masses are told that Southerners are the scourge of Nigeria, irrespective of the fact that in the only free and fair presidential election in Nigeria in 1993, Northern masses voted overwhelmingly for a Southerner ahead of a Northerner. Unknown to them, their worst enemies are not Southerners but their leaders who have left them and other Nigerians adrift. As long as these Northern leaders focus their eyes on crude oil, they will never allow the Niger Delta keep 50% of revenues derived from their land and waters that can no longer support farming and fishing activities of any kind. They fear that with 50% derivation, they will lose their oil blocks and

crude oil lifting contracts. Do these leaders not know that the North will earn billions of dollars annually from agriculture, a renewable resource unlike crude oil that will some day run out or become irrelevant? Do they not know that while they amass amazing personal wealth, the ranks of their wretched, the ‘legendary almajaris’, armed with begging bowls and gullible minds swells, perhaps someday soon, to their own peril?

Very soon, what worked between the 1960s to date, that unleashed the almajaris on the streets of the North against Southerners will no longer work.

When you look to the Gulf and see what their Muslim brothers are doing in Dubai, Oman, Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, to reinvent their societies to face the challenges of the 21st century, you will realise that the failures in Northern Nigeria has got nothing to do with their

religious beliefs. The example of the Gulf nations is an eloquent testimony that poverty is not a virtue but along with its twin brother ignorance, are curses.

The North which once produced 80% of Nigeria’s total grains output must use its agricultural endowments to dig itself out of the hole which she dug and fell into. They must take away the begging bowls and daggers and send their children to school to equip them to work in the farms and factories that will spring up all over the North.

When we add to the equation, the equally untapped, vast mineral deposits beneath the soils of the North and their potential multiplier effect, then we can begin to understand how big the economic miracle of Northern Nigeria can be.

If they chose to continue to ‘almajarise’ Northern youths in sustained poverty and ignorance, someday soon they

will sink their daggers into the opulent flesh of their leaders in what will be fits of righteous anger for making their lives meaningless. Imagine for a moment the additional vast agro based industries in other parts of Nigeria based on cocoa in the Southwest; oil palm, rice, coco yams, yams and cashew in the South East and parts of the South South; cassava, corn, mango, citrus fruits, plantain, banana, rubber and timber in parts of the South East, South West and South South. I believe I am not the only one the Lord has allowed to photograph the great future of Nigeria and its endless possibilities. If our leaders are clueless and not interested in sacrificial leadership, then they do not deserve to be called leaders but thieves!

Okechukwu Peter Nwobu is reachable at okechukwunwobu@ yahoo.co.uk

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PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

Nigeria: A world of greys (I)

By Samuel A. Caulcrick

W

here are the Sam Alukos of the present time?

Years gone by, bold economists were never afraid to come out of the cupboard and challenge populist economic theories. Nigeria, meanwhile, is littered with celebrated economists - graduates of faculties of social sciences of ivy-league colleges. Where are Nigeria’s graduates of the best world faculties of engineering?

The Nigerian society accords them high regards; offering them recognition, but there is no better time to earn that respect than now. Most of these fellows graduated with flying colours - at least on paper. Why can they not take Nigeria out of this logjam? These people ought to realise that they were trained with the wealth of this nation (either personal or public).

Besides, most still carry Nigerian passports, in spite of dual nationality. In other countries, economists and engineers, in their separate fields, argue from both sides of schools of thought for a way-forward; in Nigeria, they all hum the same tune with no positive result. Everyone considers it wise to conform with a popular theme; afraid to differ.

Nigeria’s economic growth is gloss-painted and that is why it has not translated to jobs or joy. The country’s external earning is made up of 96% of the proceeds from oil that is extracted by foreign companies that operate 90% outside of the economy. It is the reason why many public holidays

have not affected the economy.

That Nigeria needs to diversify sounds like a broken record, as if Nigerians are not willing. We are bamboozled everyday with economics and technical jargons that have not improved the living standards of Nigerians - both rich and poor. It is not that the rich live a better live, they are only able to afford unnecessary alternatives to a good life. The Nigerian economy has faltered long enough; electricity, that the rest of humanity has taken for granted, has become a puzzle.

Every Nigerian knows how to produce electricity, because we all have individual generators; it is the production of electricity of sound economies of scale (the commercial electricity) that is eluding us. Enough of the lame excuses and unfulfilled promises; most people are beginning to lose their patience.

To say there is nothing wrong with us is to put it mildly. The elites in Nigeria fiddle, whilst the country burns. The madness is such that even the privileged amongst us still live below par when compared with the living standard of the least privileged in some sister countries - where you turn on any switch, there is always light; you open any tap, there is always water. We are so busy trying to survive individually with little or no capacity left to nation building.

Those in position of trust and responsibility often lace their decisions with personal interest.

Whatever that is suggested for nation building that does not put money into their pockets is considered rubbish. So, for

many years we continue to panel-beat unworkable systems, hoping that it would work for individual self and not for the country. Monetarism as a form of capitalism, for example, is not working in Nigeria; yet it is not on the discussion table.

Most people hope that their time will come, just as it had profited some of their friends or relations. Do not get me wrong, capitalism is still it, but it not this type that has fuelled corruption.

However, if we have to continue with this madness, we need to fix three things with all sincerity: We must revisit the method used to determine the value of the currency (naira) against other currencies in order to reduce distortions that militate against an equitable value; find a way to empower government to control the cost of borrowing, i.e. interest rates; and reduce the pressure on the oil receipt that government, its arms and agencies exert, by funding the national treasury through tax and only that.

The first must-do, as listed above, concerns the exchange rate of the naira. As of today, because of the faulty tax system in Nigeria, majority of those that are willing to buy the forex from government at whatever price are largely under-taxed. This generates a faulty market force and the ensuing value of the naira is, therefore, suspect. The system produces a large volume of loose money in the system that causes a distortion of unparalleled colossus, particularly as what they are willing to pay is what is used as the official exchange rate for everybody in the

country. Even if we say it is OK for Nigerians, what about those wanting to invest in Nigeria?

It definitely is a disincentive to foreign investors, who fear that such a system will dilute their investments down the years.

You could imagine an investor bringing in a billion U.S. dollars into Nigeria, only to have it valued to a fraction of what it is worth in dollar terms, say in 10 years due to the madness at the bi-weekly WDAS at the CBN. In these regards, only quick-get-in and quick-get-out kind of investment would risk coming to our shores.

The second must-do is how to effect a workable cost of borrowing. It is a fact that the money in the banks does not belong to the banks; it is depositors’ money. The banks need deposits to remain in business, and we all know that who pays the piper dictates the tune. For as long as the largest single depositors in Nigerian banks are still individuals, government’s control of interest rates will remain a mirage.

One of the ways most states, in a capitalist economy, use to dictate the tune of interest rates is through the proceeds of the Insurance Industry.

Since it is through legislation that we have to insure this or that, the volume of premium deposits in such a regime would soon add up to become the largest single deposits in local banks. With the high volume of insurance premium deposits, the government would have created a pool for domestic borrowing at cheaper costs. The government could then use that leverage to

exert authority on the banks to enforce CBN or whatever regulatory stated interest rates.

Individual depositor would have no choice, but to conform.

The third must-do is the urgent need for tax reform.

Most economists agree that government is a collective entity that has to be funded by compulsory contributions from every matured member of the community that meets certain criteria. The process is known as taxation. There is no alternative to tax for the running of governments and there can never be a perfect tax system, but the goal is toward social equity. Usually, government owns certain percentage of every naira in the citizen’s pocket as tax. People pay higher as their wealth increases. It makes sense because they have more to lose. The thorny issue of the removal of subsidy, for instance, from the premium motor spirit (PMS) could easily have been addressed by tax that compels the rich to pay their fair share.

Besides, one of the reasons given was that the not-too-poor were those benefiting from the subsidy. That group could have been made to pay more through tax. In doing so, the process would have shielded the poorer members of the society from the “poll-tax” or equal tax, which is what the removal of subsidy tantamount to.

Samuel Akinyele Caulcrick resides in Lagos.

To be continued Samuel Akinyele Caulcrick resides in Lagos.

Universities: Crisis of great expectations Contd. from page 13 it was then I learnt that almost every school now in Nigeria is operating this policy as a fallout to the NUC policy on English and Mathematics. Now, it is enough that Mathematics remains a compulsory subject in primary and secondary schools, but to pronounce that a child had failed a terminal examination merely because he did not do well in Mathematics does grave damage to the psychology of such a child.

Assuming the will of the child to continue in school is sapped in the process by such a devastating verdict? Now, time has come for us to agree that we cannot all be experts in numbers, and that it amounts to inflicting grave damage on both the psychology of our youths and the society each time the NUC callously denies a child university education simply because such a child was created to be another Wole Soyinka instead of a Chike Obi! That is why we have various fields of study to cater for individual peculiarities and endowments. So, the NUC must be called to order and stopped from elevating what is clearly a misplaced passion to a destructive superstition. Indeed, I would be glad if anyone can come out to tell me how much

Mathematics had contributed to earn Wole Soyinka a Nobel Prize?

What one finds very annoying is that some of the fellows at the NUC and their cousins at the various Faculties and Departments churning out these obnoxious regulations would have ended their careers as roadside traders or artisans if such policies were operational when they themselves were admitted for degree programmes several years ago. I am also reminded that why Nigerian rulers have till now showed no interest in this totally backward policy is because their children are all studying abroad where such needless inhibitions are non-existent. That is really sad.

Nothing kills a country like acute selfishness in its leaders.

But, what is all this fetish about Mathematics, by the way? A school principal told me the other day that English and Maths constitute the core and the foundation of all branches of learning, and that once a child excelled in both subjects in secondary school, such a child would be adequately equipped to capture a degree in any discipline any day. Interesting argument, isn’t it? So, why don’t we take it a step further by immediately

collapsing the dwarf wall between Arts and Sciences and then start compelling every child to take combined honours in, say, Physics and English, or Pharmacy and Theatre Arts, or even Mechanical Engineering and French, and so on?

I have also heard that too many candidates are applying for the few spaces available in our universities, and so this policy was put in place to significantly scale down the number of applicants. If at all this is true, then it is very unfortunate. If one million people, for instance, are applying to the read law or English, and the Department or faculty can only admit 300 students, the most sensible way to get the best qualified is to offer admission to the candidates who had performed better than others in the relevant subjects and not the irrelevant subjects!

The same thing should also apply in reverse to those seeking admission to the Faculties of Engineering or Medical Sciences.

I will be alarmed if these faculties deny admission to somebody who had excellent grades in the core sciences simply because he had a pass in English, but offer admission to the person who managed to obtain credits

in the core sciences but had a distinction in English. Then we are preparing the ground for multiple, enduring disasters in this country which the NUC must be held solely responsible.

It is possible that the ego of the nation’s “Mathematicians”, especially, within the ranks of the NUC and their friends, may have been overplayed here. Why the premium place given to English at the expense of Mathematics in the university admission process when both of them are compulsory subjects in the secondary and primary schools?, they may have reasoned. Well, the Federal Government must urgently save the future of this country from the destructive ego of a few men and women.

English (for now) is the nation’s language of communication, and that is the only reason we insist that people pass it so that when they are in the classroom, they can at least understand their teacher. That is also the reason foreign universities (in Englishspeaking countries) insist on candidates obtaining good grades in TOEFL, before offering anyone admission. But what is the argument for Mathematics?

Somebody should please tell me.

Indeed, it is difficult not to also

suspect that some clearly selfserving reasons are motivating this pernicious policy. In fact, the whole thing smells and tastes like a very clever stratagem for creating a very large market for the countless “Mathematics Made Easy” pamphlets which have flooded our markets.

And one would not require a soothsayer to suggest that the advocates of this policy and their cronies may be among the happiest beneficiaries.

The Federal Government must put a halt to this madness and restore sanity to the system by throwing this obnoxious policy into the nearest refuse dump.

May be, too, the NUC is fast outgrowing its usefulness. Time may have arrived for its powers to be significantly abridged. Some might even be thinking that it should even be scrapped. Why not? I don’t mind the universities maintaining autonomous existence and formulating their individual admission policies without NUC breathing down their necks.

Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye can be reached at scruples2006@yahoo. com4. Jonathan, rule of law and the illegality in Kogi

PAGE 16

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

Agric ministry allocates 14,800 metric tonnes of fertilisers to farmers

By Josephine Ella

T

he Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has allocated a total of 14,800 metric tonnes of fertilisers to be sold by Agro dealers to farmers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), under the ministry's Growth Enhancement Support (GES) Scheme for the 2012 farming season.

This was disclosed by the Secretary, FCT Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat, Mrs Olvadi Bema Madayi.

Madayi said in a statement in Abuja that "government

distribution is inefficient, costly, displaces private sector and leads to massive waste of public resources", hence, the need to resort to distribution of the product to farmers through dealers.

Under the GES scheme, the government has seized from procuring and distribution of fertilisers. The private sectors now commercialise agricultural inputs to farmers nationwide.

Seeds and fertilisers companies are required to build their supply chains to reach the farmers in villages and sell to them directly.

The scheme replaced the

former subsidy programme and distribution system on fertiliser "whereby only 11 per cent of farmers nationwide", according to the secretary, get the subsidised fertilisers.

However, government will provide subsidies for seeds and fertilisers directly to farmers, which she said is intended to increase the percentage of farmers getting the subsidised inputs from 11 to 90 per cent through the improved targeting.

Recall that the secretariat last week embarked on the second field trial for the effective delivery of fertilisers and improved seeds to selected segment of FCT farmers

under the Growth Enhancement Support Scheme which is the new method of distribution of fertilisers and seeds to farmers.

In the phase of the exercise, no fewer than a hundred small scale farmers in Kuje Area Council of the FCT had received two bags of fertiliser each at 50 per cent subsidy of the prevailing market price in the ongoing trial of 'ewallet' system.

The farmers also received 50kg of improved rice and maize through this platform, which is under the Growth Enhancement Support Scheme, presently being piloted by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.

Dear reader, Metro welcomes human interest stories in your neighbourhood. Please call or send SMS to 08065327178 or e-mail jomarch4@yahoo.com to inform us about happenings in your area. Share your experiences or those of your friends and neighbours with fellow readers.

Science project competition: 3 schools emerge winners

By Adeola Tukuru

T

A truck pusher, along Kugbu hill, yesterday, in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Tenant accuses caretaker, guard of theft

By Josephine Ella

T

he caretaker of a property in Karu and a security guard are to re-appear before an Abuja Senior Magistrate's Court on April 2, 2012 over charges of theft.

Tenant to the property in question, Alhaji Umar Attah of Universal Basic Education

(UBE) Commission in Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, had earlier reported the case to Karu Police Station on February 29, 2012.

Attah had claimed before the police that he rented the said apartment in Karu since 2006, but quit the accommodation due to the increase in rent, leaving his properties in the apartment.

The Police Prosecutor, Sergeant Stephen Emigoa told the court that the complainant alleged that he locked the rooms and gave the keys to the caretaker of the house, Isaac Emah, 48, in the presence of the security guard, Emmanuel Balogun, 45.

However, when he returned to evacuate his properties, he

discovered that his two television sets valued at N150,000, his wife's personal effects such as clothes, shoes and other items valued at N180,000 had all vanished.

Emah and Balogun denied committing the offence which contravenes Sections 79 and 288 of the Penal Code and were granted bail by Senior Magistrate Celestine Odo in the sum of N150,000 each with one surety in like sum.

hree Primary Schools in Kwali Area Council have emerged winners in the Inter primary Schools Science and Quiz Project Exhibition Competition at the state level.

The three schools are LEA Shangari, Islamiya and LEA Piri, according to final result compiled by a panel of judges at the conference hall of Kwali area council.

Speaking at the event, the Chairman of the Council, Hon.Joseph Shazin who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Elisha Etsu reiterated his administration's readiness to ensure that academic pursuit in the council was judiciously executed.

He also expressed happiness on the success of the pupils before and during the competition in the council describing it as most satisfactory.

The chairman promised to made additional incentive available through the office of the Executive secretary toward teachers up- liftmen such as promotions as at when due and timely payment of allowances.

The Local Education Authority Executive (LEA) Secretary in Kwali, Joseph Kakastu made presentations to the winning schools. In his short speech before the presentation, admonished losers in the competition against taking it hard upon themselves and the winners.

To the winners, the executive secretary warned them against overconfidence stressing that learning was a continuous process hence the need for them to put in more so they do not become losers in future competitions.

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Tel: 09-2349080-98

Maitama - 08038485123 Central Police Station - 08033568389 Lugbe - 08077657371; 08037882321 Wuse - 08053088102 National Assembly - 08065777706; 08045317637 Asokoro - 07028134449 Nyanya - 08046115181 Utako - 07055888119; 07038621264

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FCT HOTLINE AEPB 09 - 4603600-9

08065560315

PAGE 17

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

Abaji tasks investors on trailer park/container terminal

By Adeola Tukuru

C

hairman, Abaji Area Council, Hon Yahaya Musa Muhammad, has called on both local and foreign investors to collaborate with the council by investing in the Abaji trailer park/container terminal.

Yahaya gave the charge yesterday at the public presentation of the terminal, stating that the presentation was to provide container and ware-

C

house terminals and taking cognizance of Abaji as the southern entry and exit point of the FCT. He noted the importance of the project considering the economic advantage it represents to the dredging of the River Niger at Lokoja, Kogi state.

The Chairman further disclosed that the development was a way of beefing up the revenue base of the council especially after completion. “The project is to provide trailer and articulated vehicles

at appropriate parking lot, especially in view of the heavy vehicular traffic along AbujaAbaji- Lokoja High way" He, said.

He however revealed that about 40 hectares of land has been cleared for the purpose, the perimeter fence was in place, while work on the road network and the drainage was also at in an advanced stage.

He used the occasion to appeal to the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to assist the

ustomers waiting to buy roasted yam at Area 1, yesterday, in Abuja.

council by providing water and also interface with the council in order to ease the challenges of residents.

"If we must grow as a nation our thinking should be positive towards taking Nigeria and the economy to a greater height. For us as a local council and the third tier of government which is the closest to the people, our challenges are enormous and tasking, therefore concerted efforts must be put in place to ensure that the living standard of the people which we govern is improved", he said.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Businessman bags 6 months imprisonment for breach of trust

A

42-year-old businessman, Hassan Kareem, was on Monday sentenced to six months imprisonment by an Abuja Senior Magistrates' Court for breach of trust and cheating.

Senior Magistrate Hadiza Shagari, who convicted Kareem

after he pleaded guilty, however, gave him an option to pay N3,000 fine.

Police prosecutor Ahmed Mohammed had told the court that one Haimbar of Lobito Crescent, Wuse 11, Abuja, lodged a complaint against the convict at the Maitama Police Station.

Mohammed said the convict was given N350,000 by the complainant sometimes in 2008 to purchase a vehicle for commercial use.

He said the convict agreed to be remitting N40,000 monthly to the complainant.

The prosecutor said although

Guard pleads guilty to allegation of theft

By Stanley Onyekwere

A

40 -year-old private security personnel, Matthew Adah has admitted guilt before an Abuja Chief Magistrate's court, to charges of criminal joint act and theft of four gallons of 28 litres of diesel valued at fifteen thousandeight hundred naira from his employer.

Adah, of Aku village, mararaba, in Nasarawa state, was arraigned by the Police before Chief Magistrate Azubuike Okeagu, for allegedly conspiring with one Adeyemi Sunday (now at large), of same address , and stole the said item.

Police prosecutor, Inspector Philips Akwogu, had told the

court that on March 3, one Godwin Agaba, of no. 6 Udi Hill close, Aso Drive, Maitama, Abuja, reported the matter to the Police.

According to him, the complainant informed the police

that the accused and his accomplice sold the diesel and converted the sales proceeds in personal use.

Akwogu, said the offence contravenes sections 79 and

the convict bought a Toyota Corolla car with registration number: AA 851 NTT, with the money given to him, he later sold it and converted the money to his personal use.

He said the offence was punishable under Sections 312 and 322 of the Penal Code. (NAN) 287of the Penal Code, respectively.

However, after the accused pleaded guilty to the charges against him, the Magistrate, found him guilty accordingly, and fixed March 15 for judgment.

Man, 28, jailed for stealing A

By Josephine Ella

28-year-old servant, Danjuma Ezra, was on Tuesday sentenced to two months imprisonment by a Karu Senior Magistrates' Court in the FCT for stealing.

The police prosecutor, Sgt. Abiola Oyewusi, had told the court that on Nov. 11, Ezra was

arrested by an Anti-Bomb Squad Officers.

Oyewusi said Ezra stole the detonating cord wire from the company after the day's work by taking the wire out of the company premises without permission of the authority.

He added that the convict was looking for where to sell the wire before he was arrested,

adding that the offence contravened Section 288 of the Penal Code.

Ezra, a staff of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, pleaded guilty and Senior Magistrate Asmau Akanbi, consequently, sentenced him to two months imprisonment with an option of N10,000 fine. (NAN)

Guards jailed for theft of 75 litres of diesel

By Josephine Ella

T

wo security men are cooling their heels in prison after being convicted of stealing 75 litres of diesel from the company where they worked.

Obaje Nicodemus, 27 and Peter Dashak, 25 were sentenced to one month imprisonment each by an Abuja Senior Magistrate's Court presided over by Senior Magistrate Khadijat Mustapha for joint act and theft.

Prior to their conviction, , one Agada James residing in Dona Crescent, Maitama was said to have reported the matter to the Maitama Police Station on March 3, 2012.

The convicts, both residents of Royal Security, Idu-Karmo, Police Prosecutor, Corporal Emmanuel Adikwu told the court, connived to steal the litres of diesel meant for the generating set of the company they were attached to in Maitama, Hauwei Technologies Limited, with the intent of selling the product.

Despite their plea for leniency, the duo, who pleaded guilty to the offence, which contravenes Sections 79 and 287 of the Penal Code were sentenced accordingly without any option of fine.

The magistrate said their sentence was meant to be a lesson to them and a deterrent to others in the society who are criminally minded.

Court remands 22-year-old woman for alleged mischief

By Josephine Ella

A

n Upper Area Court in Gwagwalada, FCT on Tuesday ordered that a 22-year-old woman, Ene Okpe, of Angwan Tiv, Gwagwalada be remanded in prison custody for alleged mischief.

The Police Prosecutor, Insp.

Suleiman Haruna, told the court that on March 7, the accused bought some roasted meat of N100 from one Usman Yawo in Gwagwalada.

Haruna said that Okpe later intentionally pushed the remaining meat valued at N25,000 into a drain.

He said that the case was reported by Yawo at Gwagwalada Police Station on March 7, at about 4 p.m.

The accused, however, denied the allegation against her.

The Judge, Mr Babaginda Hassan, ordered that she be remanded in prison, and adjourned the case to April 25, for continuation of hearing.

(NAN)

BUSINESS

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

Email: amunuimam@yahoo.co.uk

PAGE 19

INSIDE

- Pg 20

Arik Air picks Peacock as general sales...

Mob: 08033644990

FAAC allocation for the month of February 2012 shared in March, 2012 S/N

BENEFICIARIES

1

FG (52.68%) 727 billion States (26.72%) L/govt Councils (20.72%) Derivation (13% of Mineral revenue-oil/gas) Value Added Tax (VAT) Transfer from excess crude A/c 187 billion Other disbursement 182.7 billion Refund by NNPC 7.6 billion Grand Total 921.6 billion

2 3

SUB-TOTAL (N)

Dangote Sugar stock grossly undervalued

By Abdulwahab Isa

T

he shares of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc have been rated high by analysts at FSDH Securities Limited, saying the shares are currently trading at a very heavily discounted rate.

Dangote Sugar shares closed at N3.92 per share last week. But in their review of the performance of the company and its future prospects, analysts at FSDH Securities said the fare value for the stock is N6.94 per share.

In arriving at N6.94, the analysts said that they reviewed

Flight schedule AIR NIGERIA (MONDAY - SUNDAY) LOS-A BJ: 07.15, 11.40, 14.00, 16.30, 17.00, 17.20, 18.30.

ABJ-LOS: 07.00, 09.30, 10.30, 11.15, 16.15, 19.15, 19.35 ABJ-KANO: 18.40 KANO-ABJ: 08.35 ABJ -SOK (MON): 09.35 ABJ-SOK (FRI): 10.10 ABJ-SOK (WED/SUN): 11.20 SOK-ABJ (MON): 11.35 SOK-ABJ (FRI): 12.00 SOK-ABJ (WED/SUN): 13.20

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

DANA AIRLINES (MON - SUN) LOS-ABJ: 07.02, 08.10, 12.06, 15.30, 17.10 ABJ-LOS: 07.20, 09.36, 13.05, 14.40 ABJ-LOS (SAT/SUN): 13.05, 18.00 LOS-KANO : 08.10 KANO-LOS: 11.25 KANO -ABUJA: 11.25 ABUJA-KANO : 10.08

IRS AIRLINES

top line and bottom line of the company in relation to its third quarter result ended September 31, 2011.

According to them, they used two valuation methods which are Discounted Future Earnings (DFE) and Discounted Free Cash Flow (DCF).They projected Turnover, Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT), Earnings Before Interest Tax Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) and Profit After Tax (PAT) for the periods ending December 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.

They also estimated turnover of N106.25 bn, N120.74bn, N137.21bn, N153.19bn and N 1 6 8 . 7 3 b i n respectively.Similarly, they estimated EBIT of N18.83 bn, N25.03bn, N28.44bn, N28.69bn and N31.60 bn, and EBITDA of N20.41bn, N26.61bn, N30.02bn, N30.27bn and N33.18bn for the same period.

“Looking at our estimate of the capital expenditure of the company within the forecast period and the notional tax on EBIT and adjusting for the net working capital, we arrived at Free Cash Flow (FCF) of N11.47 billion, N16.12billion, N18.16billion, N18.40billion and N20.44billion. We forecast PAT of N6 billion, N7.97 billion, N12.48 billion, N13.94 billion and N15.35 billion”, the analysts stated.

“We applied a terminal growth rate of 7.40 per cent. We used a beta value of 1.32x based on the 5-year historical returns on the company share price and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All Share Index (NSE ASI).

EXCHANGE RATES

CBN CFA • £ RIYAL $

LOS -ABJ: 9.45, 11.45, 2.45

SELLING 0.3185 207.8147 248.7073 41.5667 155.9

PARALLEL RATES

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

1st Mar, 2012 BUYING 0.2985 206.4817 247.112 41.3001 154.9

• £ RIYAL $

BUYING 210 255 40 158

SELLING 212 257 42 159

Director-General, National Institute for Hospitality & Tourism (NIHOTOUR), Alhaji Munzali Dantata (l) in a chat with the Lagos state Commissioner for Tourism, Mr. Disun Holloway (r), when the DG paid a courtesy visit on the Commissioner, in Lagos recently.

Nigeria’s GDP growth rises to 7.68 % in Q4 2011 – NBS

By Aminu Imam with agency report

N

igeria’s economy represented by its Gross domestic product (GDP) grew 7.68 % in the fourth quarter last year, faster than the 7.40 % in the previous quarter because of a stronger performance in the nonoil sector, particularly telecoms, the National Bureau Of Statistics (NBS) said yesterday.

The NBS’s report said Nigeria pumped an average of 2.4 million barrels per day in the last three months of the year, down from 2.6 million barrels per day a year earlier due to production outages but the non-oil sector grew 9.07 % in the fourth quarter, higher than the 8.93 % recorded in the same period in 2010.

“This growth was largely driven by improved activities in the telecommunications, building and construction, hotel and restaurant and business services,” the NBS said.

Nigeria’s economy grew 7.36 % in the full year 2011, down from 7.98 % in 2010, largely in line with expectations. The decline in growth reflects global economic sluggishness. Growth in Nigeria outperformed most developing economies.

Nigeria is reliant on oil exports for more than 95 % of its foreign exchange revenues but only 15 % of GDP. Agriculture is the largest

* Poverty increasing, in spite of growth contribution to GDP, making up about 40 % of it.

Telecoms surged in Nigeria in the past decade after private companies were allowed to take advantage of the huge mobile phone market potential in the continent’s most populous country.

“This sector continued to perform impressively and has remained one of the major drivers of growth in the Nigerian economy, with its contribution to total GDP increasing continuously,” the NBS report said.

“The telecommunication sector recorded a real GDP growth of 36.31 % in the fourth quarter of 2011,” it added, but did not give a comparative figure for the previous quarter.

Investors are optimistic about the consumer potential in Nigeria, but so far the telecoms surge has not been followed in other sectors.

Nigeria plans to change the base year for its GDP this year from to 2008 from 1990, a move that

could lead to a “huge jump” in the estimated size of the West African country’s economy.

When Ghana made a similar move to recalculate its GDP last November, its estimated output shot up by 60 %, catapulting it into the ranks of the middle income countries.

The National Assembly is deliberating on an amended 2012 budget proposal put forward by Finance Minister, Ngozi OkonjoIweala last month.

Okonjo-Iweala widened the fiscal deficit projection in this year’s spending plans to 2.97 % last month, from the 2.77 % in a previous budget plan presented last year due to lower revenue expectations.

The government was expecting to receive more funds after removing fuel subsidies on Jan. 1, but it was forced to reinstate them partially after tens of thousands took to the streets in more than a week of protests.

And the National Assembly usually adds to the budget. “This is a cause for concern at a time when the government is trying to at least freeze recurrent expenditure and initiate some fiscal consolidation,” said Standard Bank’s Samir Gadio, adding that if they do it this time, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would most likely be “forced to tighten monetary conditions further”.

Management Tip of the Day

E

Delegate, then disengage

ntrusting a project to someone else can be tough.

But if you don’t rely on others, you’ll always end up doing everything yourself. You’ll also shortchange those who could learn by taking on new tasks.

Once you delegate something,

don’t be tempted to micromanage the process. Agree on the expected outcomes and just let go. If you’ve asked a team member to take care of an important presentation, don’t spend endless time on edits and corrections.

Be clear on the parameters and remove yourself so she can do it her way, not yours. This is much more efficient than taking over, and the end product will likely be better.

Source: Harvard Business Review

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

PAGE 20

COMPANY NEWS Ekiti partners Keystone Bank on development

E

kiti state government and Keystone Bank would soon commence strategic partnership aimed at ensuring rapid development in key sectors of the state’s economy.

New law to enforce patronage of local vehicles debuts

A

FAAN appeals for understanding over airports re-modelling Stories from Suleiman Idris, Lagos he Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) yesterday said the re-modelling of the airports across Nigeria will come with challenges that will demand passengers’ understanding, especially those using the international wing of the facilities as there will be intermittent disruptions to both technical and no-technical equipment at the airports.

T

Speaking against the backdrop of a technical problem that temporary threw the international wing of the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos into darkness on Sunday, General Manager, Public Affairs of the agency, Mr. Akin Olukunle said the problem is inevitable as the reconstructions will allow for certain equipment to be tampered with.

Akin said the power outage was as a result of a technical fault that will be temporary stressing

that effort have being geared toward ensuing a similar incident don’t take place while the works continue simultaneously. ”What happened was a temporary thing. We had a technical problem around 2:30pm to around 7pm. It is a problem that we don’t wish to experience again. Our men are working hard to alleviate the plights of passengers who may have to bear with us”, he told reporters.

According to him, “This may

new era in the nation’s automotive industry is set to unfold as the Federal Government has given indication of its desire to move from word to action in the definite revival of the local automotive industry.

Arik Air picks Peacock as general sales agent

American firm set to invest N240bn in Nigeria’s solar energy project

T

W

he problematic power sector in Nigeria may soon receive a major boost, as the Minister of Power, Professor Barth Nnaji is billed to meet with some American power investors to invest in solar power as an alternative means to address the .

Dutch trade minister demands 30 per cent returns on investments in Nigeria

“

I will not take anything less than 30 per cent returns on our investments in Nigeria”.

The Minister of Trade from the Netherlands, Simon Smits told the Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga in Abuja at the weekend.

Govt defends cost of airports repair projects

T

he Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah-Ogiewonyi, has defended the choice of 12 airports selected for ongoing renovation, adding that the action was not influenced by any political considerations.

Oil prices fall on China’s low economic prospects

C

rude oil prices fell for the first time in four days, after Chinese economic data signalled slower growth in the world’s second-largest user of oil.

continue for some time, but in the next three to four months, just as the minister of aviation Mrs. Stella Oduah has assured, the system at the airport will become near perfect.”

The spokesman affirmed the management’s effort to repair all the malfunctioning equipment at the terminal within the next couple of months.

Akin reiterated, saying “we have been making it known to the public that we are working on some of the major airports in the country, especially the Lagos airport. So, the outage of yesterday was simply as a result of the on-going work on the terminal”.

He however added that, “We are hopeful that before the end of the first quarter of this year, everything will return to normal and the complaints will be reduced to the barest minimum.”

Arik Aircraft in mid-air

South Africa, Tanzania make Qatar Airways new expansion drive

S

outh Africa and neighbouring Tanzania are the two Africa nations that recently made the list of five new routes announced by Dohabased Qatar Airways in the airline’s further expansion of its rapidly-growing international network.

This will include passengers’ routes, more cargo services and capacity increases and other destinations to be served directly from the airline’s Doha hub, while Tanzania, Iraq, Serbia and Myanmar featured in the passenger route expansion programme over a six-month period starting in May. Qatar Airways said new freighter services will be introduced to Korea, Pakistan, South Africa and Oman, while frequency of passenger flights will also be step up to destinations in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.

Unveiling the expansion programme at the on-going ITB

Berlin, the world’s largest travel show taking place in the Germany capital, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer, Akbar Al Baker said the northern city of Erbil and capital Baghdad, lraq will be introduced to the carrier’s Middle East network in May and June respectively.

“Qatar Airways will induct a second Tanzanian point to its African map with the launch of flights to Kilimanjaro.” He said.

“Today’s announcement reflects the importance Qatar Airways places on expanding its portfolio of passenger and cargo destinations, and offer more frequency on existing routes to provide more choice, more flexibility and more options,” said Al Baker, while addressing the press conference in Berlin.

“We are entering new passenger and cargo markets where we see a need for more air services, particularly where such markets are under-served

and in need for extra capacity.

He said “This year alone will see Qatar Airways take delivery of one new aircraft every 15 days, so as we bring them in, they will quickly be inducted into service and we will continue to look at new opportunities.”

Qatar Airways has seen rapid growth in just 15 years of operation, currently operating a modern fleet of 105 aircraft to 112 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America As part of its 2012 expansion programme, Qatar Airways recently launched flights to the European capital cities of Tbilisi in Georgia and Baku in Azerbaijan, its first new routes of 2012. Later this month, starting March 21, Qatar Airways will launch daily scheduled services from Doha to the Rwandan capital Kigali, via Entebbe.

ith a new sales office opened in the ancient city of lbadan, Arik Air has announced the appointment of a leading tour agency, Peacock Travel and Tours, as its General Sales Agent (GSA) in Ibadan.

The appointment authorises Peacock Travel and Tours to promote and sell Arik Air’s products and services in Ibadan and the surrounding states within the south west zone of the country.

Speaking at the ceremony marking the agreement, Arik Air’s Managing Director, Mr. Chris Ndulue told the gathering that, “The new office in Ibadan will bring Arik Air’s products and services closer to our guests in Oyo and neighbouring Osun and Ogun states. It is now easier to book tickets from Ibadan to fly to any of Arik Air’s domestic and international destinations and enjoy the airline’s services.”

Responding, Peacock Chairman, Chief Segun Phillips said the company will reciprocate the gesture with quality service geared towards revamping the Ibadan airport.

“I feel elated that our company has been appointed as Arik Air’s GSA for Ibadan. I am also happy for the people of Ibadan, the political headquarters of the South-West, as the GSA will enhance the economic integration of the southwestern Nigeria.

“Our appointment will result in rejuvenating Ibadan Airport which had hitherto been underutilised for the benefit of the passengers. We therefore congratulate the people of the area who will be benefiting from our first class services, and having us bring Arik Air to their door step.”

Peacock becomes Arik Air’s second GSA in Nigeria after the appointment of Remlords Travels and Tours as GSA for Akwa Ibom and Cross River states last September.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

PAGE 21

Gashaka-Gumti National Park: Where bird watchers have the fun of their lives

T

here can be nothing equally as exhilarating as spending a day amidst a true bird's watchers delight at the Gashaka-Gumti National Park, which is acclaimed to play home to a wide variety of bird species, a sure reason it has turned out to be one of the most appealing bird areas in Africa.

Uniquely located in the remote mountainous region of north-eastern Nigeria, between the boundaries of Adamawa and Taraba states is the Gashaka-Gumti National Park (GGNP). Its name is derived from Gumti village in Adamawa state and Gashaka village in Taraba state and is also consisted of approximately 6,600 sq km of sheer wilderness.

Taraba state has undoubtedly earned the acronym, "nature's gift to the nation" because of the beautiful sceneries which adorn its landscape. The breath-taking Gashaka-Gumti National Park clearly personifies this slogan with its natural and beautiful weather, rivers, hills, forests and various species of animals.

Tour guides take tourists and visitors round the park to have a firsthand feel of Taraba state's tourist attractions and potentials.

Ecologically, the park is situated in the sub-Saharan Guinea Savannah Zone of Africa in the highlands of the Savannah area of Nigeria, south of the Benue River. It is the main watershed/ catchment area of the Taraba River, the major tributary of the Benue River.

It also shares international boundary with the Republic of Cameroon, adjacent to Faro National Park in that Country.

Immediately to the south of the park is the awe-inspiring Mambilla Plateau.

Gashaka-Gumti is among the seven National Parks in Nigeria. It is the largest, most scenic and biologically diverse conservation enclave.

Its mountains harbour populations of rare and endemic species. For instance, in Leinde Fadali Forest, Scientists have discovered new species of Acanthaeceae, a red flowering shrub of the genus Metarungia whose nearest relatives are found in the East African Montane Forests.

Other majestic animals found there include the rare Adamawa Mountain Reedbuck, Black & White Colobus Monkey, Oribi, and Klipspringer.

The numerous unspoilt rivers of this park contain Hippos, Crocodiles, Otters and a wide variety of fishes (over

There are about 500 species of birds to watch

Gashaka Gumti National Park landscape. INSET: Tourists groping their way through the rocky paths

60 species; 2 are new to science) and various aquatic and amphibious life. The Park's ecosystem is rich in birdlife (over 477 species so far identified) and butterflies (300 species out of which 5 species are new to science).

The convenient time for park -viewing or holidaying is from late December to April.

This period is when visitors may conveniently see a lot of wildlife species, varied picturesque sceneries, different vegetation-types and pursue a combination of ecotourism/ recreational activities, research and education as well as field trips.

During this season, accessibility is made easier through maintenance of tracks and trails, and improved visibility by regulated bushburning. From late July to November, accessibility is, however, very difficult as flooded rivers, streams, overgrown vegetation and marshy areas have cut off access to many places of recreational interests.

It is not out of place to say, in the praise of Gashaka-Gumti National Park, that it contains over 500 unique species of birds.

Above and beyond, the sight of assorted animals and dramatic environs will no doubt make an appeal to visitors who throng in there, helping them to discover nature and to unravel some of the many best kept secrets about Africa's long-standing charisma and magnetism.

Birdwatchers would gladly want to know that this is a birdwatcher's haven and there are a wide variety of bird species.

The Gashaka-Gumti National Park is known as one of the most important bird areas in Africa.

Birdwatchers are able to find more than 500 species here, and this is no overstatement. Visiting bird watchers gladly find that new species are constantly added to the list.

A description of how to get to Gashaka-Gumti Park, for first timers goes thus. The town of Serti on the Yola to Mambilla Plateau is the gateway to the Gashaka Park.

Travelers coming from the South of Nigeria will pass through Wukari, Mutum Biyu and Beli.

Travellers from the North can travel via Yola, Numan, Jalingo, Mutum Biyu and Bali.

The park can be reached by road through Mayo Belwa, Ganye and Toungo village.

There are daily flights from Yola Airport. From Yola, there are several different forms of public transport to both Serti and Toungo. It is advisable for Tourists are advised to drive in a 4-wheel drive vehicle because of the terrain of the park.

PAGE 22

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

FIRS boss decries lack of synergy among revenue generating bodies By abdulwahab Isa

T

he Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service,(FIRS) Mrs. Omuigi Ifueko has observed lack of synergy amongst revenue generating agencies of government at all levels is a factor militating against effective tax collection and administration in the country.

She made the observation yesterday while receiving on courtesy visit, the management team of Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) led by its Chairman Engr.

Elias Mbam, A statement issued by RMAFC Head, Public Affairs, and Mohammed Ibrahim quoted Ifueko as suggesting effort to bridge the gap amongst the revenue generating bodies .

Towards this end, FIRS boss called for more collaboration amongst stakeholders to raise the bar in tax collection and administration so that adequate revenue could be realised for governments at all levels to continue to address Nigeria’s diverse development challenges.

Mrs Omuigi particularly stressed the need for greater collaboration

between the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Revenue Commission in information-sharing on the activities of revenue generating agencies, adding that her Agency also stands to benefit immensely from the Commission’s wider network amongst the three tiers of Government.

Earlier in a remark, Engr. Elias Mbam had observed that the country was losing huge revenue in a form of taxes from spectrum utilisation by GSM users for phone calls and internet data transfer.

Mba said taxes from such sources could provide additional funding

windows for the provision of basic infrastructure and services by government at all levels.

He observed that presently, the GSM subscribers from all the service providers, in addition to other internet data transfers, are over 50 million in the country. According to him, if each user is charged a little percentage of the amount spent on calls and data transfer, a lot of revenue could be realised.

For instance, on the average, if a minimum of N20 is charged per subscriber per day, over 1 billion naira will be realised therefore giving over N365 billion enough to provide access

Nigeria’s GDP peaks at 7.68% - Bureau of statistics

T

he National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday said that the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) stood at 7.68 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The Statistician-General of the Federation, Dr. Yemi Kale, disclosed this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

He said that the figure was 0.92 per cent below the 8.60 per cent recorded in the corresponding period in 2010.

“On an aggregate basis, the economy, when measured by the Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), grew by 7.68 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011 as against 8.60 per

cent in the corresponding quarter of 2010,” the statement said.

It said that the 0.92 percentage decrease in Real GDP growth observed in the fourth quarter of 2011 was due to production shutdown in the oil sector during the period.

“On a nominal basis, the GDP for the fourth quarter of 2011 was estimated at N10.05 trillion as against the N9.46 trillion during the corresponding quarter of 2010, thus indicating an increase,” the statement said.

The NBS said that the country’s GDP became more relevant because of Nigeria’s objective of being among the 20 largest economies in the world by the year 2020 would be

measured by GDP. “Out of the 46 countries that had released their GDP in the fourth quarter of 2011, only Mongolia and China stood at 14.9 per cent and 8.9 per cent, respectively.

“Two countries, as at the time of this report, grew faster than Nigeria, and China is ahead of Nigeria in current GDP rankings,” the statement said.

It said that many countries which Nigeria surpassed continued to either recorded negative growth or grow slower than previously estimated during the visioning process.

“Nigeria may not need the double digit growth envisaged in

the vision’s blueprint despite the fact that attaining double digit growth is within its (Nigeria) capacity,” the statement said.

NBS said that the GDP growth was driven by growth in activities of the solid minerals, telecommunications, wholesale and retail trade, building and construction, hotel and restaurant, real estate and business services sectors.

“These sectors, which make up approximately 30.8 per cent of the nation’s GDP, each grew at an average rate of over 10 per cent during the year.

“Most vibrant is the communication sector, which grew at an average rate of 34.8 per cent in 2011.

“On the other hand, the oil sector output decreased as a result of the facilities shut down in the sector,” the statement said.

The bureau also stated that at 218.15 million barrels, crude oil and condensate production decreased by 6.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011, with an average daily production of 2.4 million barrel.

It stated that the production figure was lower when compared with the 234.33 million barrel production recorded in the fourth quarter of 2010, with a corresponding average production of 2.6 million barrels per day.

“Crude oil production, with its associated gas components, resulted in a growth rate in real term of 0.40 per cent in oil GDP in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared with the 6.68 per cent recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2010.

“Real GDP, driven by non-oil production activities, grew at 7.68 per cent in the fourth quarter 2011, ” the statement said.

“Accordingly, the Nigerian oil sector witnessed unprecedented levels of disruption compared to recent times due to temporary shutdown of facilities such as at Bonga, a 200,000 barrel per day (bpd) facility, which supplies about 10 per cent of Nigeria’s total crude output.

“However, the sector benefited immensely from the high international crude oil market price and the exchange rate regime of naira against the dollar in spite of decline in daily average production in the quarter under review.

“The oil sector contribution of about 14.64 per cent to real GDP in the fourth quarter 2010, however, dipped in the corresponding 2011 to 13.54 per cent,” the statement said. (NAN)

to free education in all public schools, adding that “the initiative will provide all Nigerians the opportunity to go to school”. The Chairman quickly added that, “the proposed tax is targeted at high income-earners and business executives who spend quite a fortune on business calls and data transfer while the common man pays little or nothing”.

To actualise this therefore, he opines that amendment of all relevant laws should be effected to fast track the take-off of the proposed Telecommunication Federation Tax which should be administered through a Board of Trustees.

Market indicators rise by 0.64%

M

arket indicators of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) recorded further appreciation on Tuesday following price gains by some highly capitalised stocks.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that both the AllShare Index (ASI) and market capitalisation grew by 0.64 per cent.

The ASI appreciated by 136.63 points to close at 21,227.98 against the 21,091.35 recorded on Monday.

Also, the market capitalisation grew by N43 billion to close at N6.699 trillion from the N6.656 trillion posted on Monday.

NAN reports that Nestle, for the second consecutive day, led the gainers’ chart, appreciating by N23.09 to close at N486.70 per share.

Dangote Cement trailed with N5.45 to close at N116 per share, while Julius Berger appreciated by N1.30 to close at N27.47 per share.

Berger Paint rose by 38k to close at N7.98 per share, while Unilever gained 34k to close at N29.40 per share. Market analysts attributed the market rebound to expectations from financial results of companies whose financial year ended on Dec.31, 2011.

On the other hand, NewGold topped the losers’ chart, depreciating

by N25 to close at N2, 601 per unit.

Guinness followed with a loss of N11.94 to close at N229.56 per share, while Zenith dropped 50k to close at N13.21 per share.

UAC Property dipped by 45k to close at N10.45 per share, while First Bank lost 35k to close at N10.60 per share.

The banking sub-sector remained the toast of investors with 152.01 million shares worth N1.1 billion traded in 2, 149 deals.

Zenith was the most traded stock in the sub-sector, accounting for 44.5 million shares valued N604.9 million in 381 deals while Fidelity Bank followed with 22.9 million shares worth N33.1 million exchanged in 72 deals.

The consumer goods sub-sector came second on the activity chart as investors traded 36.2 million shares valued at N4.1 billion in 866 deals.

Nigerian Breweries traded 24.2 million shares worth N2.4 billion in 228 deals, while Dangote Sugar had 3.5 million shares valued at N13 million exchanged in 115 deals.

In all, a total of 234.5 million shares worth N5.4 billion were traded in 4, 003 deals on Tuesday against the 288.9 million shares valued at N4.5 billion traded in 4,165 deals on Monday. (NAN)

PAGE 28

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

By Nuel Shepherd

Ford Explorer 2012 redesigned and reloaded

T

he Ford Explorer has long been one of the best-selling SUVs in the market. A capable tow vehicle and off-roader, it also offers generous interior space, comfort features and safety technologies necessary for day-to-day tasks.

The 7-passenger Explorer is available in both front- and fourwheel drive configurations, with a choice of three trim levels: Base, XLT and Limited. A 290-hp 3.5-litre TiVCT V6 engine and six-speed automatic transmission with Selectshift manual mode are standard on all trims.

The 4x4 models come with a userfriendly terrain management system, while an efficient 237-hp 2.0-litre turbocharged Ecoboost four-cylinder engine with direct fuel injection is available for four-wheel drive models.

Explorer Base trims are wellequipped with 17-inch wheels, air conditioning, cruise control, MP3 capability and MyFord driver connect technology; XLT trims add 18-inch aluminum wheels, fog lamps and a reverse sensing system, along with a USB port, satellite radio and the SYNC communications and entertainment system.

Limited trims are further outfitted with 20-inch aluminum wheels, dualzone automatic climate control, heated front seats, leather upholstery, HD radio, Intelligent Access with push-button start and a rearview camera.

Standard safety features on every Explorer include AdvanceTrac with Roll Stability Control and Curve Control function, traction control, anti-lock disc brakes and a tyre pressure monitor, as well as Ford's MyKey owner control feature and six airbags.

Industry-first second-row inflatable seatbelts are available on XLT and Limited models, packaged with a Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) with cross-traffic alert.

Additional options include Active Park Assist and adaptive cruise control with collision warning.

Redesigned in 2011, the Ford Explorer carries over with minimal changes for 2012. A six-speed automatic transmission with Selectshift is now standard on all trim levels, while a four-cylinder Ecoboost engine is available on every model.

Additionally, XLT trims are now equipped with a USB port and the SYNC communications and entertainment system.

The Reverse Sensing System offered on the Explorer is a reverse only parking aid system that uses sensors mounted in the rear bumper.

Parking Aid features both front and rear sensors.

As the vehicle approaches large objects such as other vehicles or driveway obstacles, it beeps warning sounds. The frequency of beeping increases as the object is approached, until a solid tone is emitted at a

distance of about ten inches.

This works becausea low-cost, high-performance ultrasonic range is fitted to the vehicle. Generally, four intelligent sensors are used to form a detection zone as wide as the vehicle.

A microprocessor monitors the sensors and emits audible beeps during slow reverse parking to help the drive back up or park the vehicle.

To the customer, this arrangement makes for easier and convenient reversing and parking manouvres, especially for vehicles where drivers have limited view at the front, rear or corners of the vehicle.

The Reverse Aid, which is available on the Windstar, Explorer and Mountaineer, is a nextgeneration technology under development.

Between petrol and diesel engines (1) The diesel internal combustion engine differs from the gasoline powered Otto cycle by using highly compressed hot air to ignite the fuel rather than using a spark plug (compression ignition rather than spark ignition).

In the true diesel engine, only air is initially introduced into the combustion chamber. The air is then compressed with a compression ratio typically between 15:1 and 22:1 resulting in 40-bar (4.0 MPa; 580 psi) pressure compared to 8 to 14 bars (0.80 to 1.4 MPa) (about 200 psi) in the petrol engine.

This high compression heats the air to 550 °C (1,022 °F). At about the top of the compression stroke, fuel is injected directly into the compressed air in the combustion chamber. This may be into a (typically toroidal) void in the top of the piston or a prechamber depending upon the design of the engine.

The fuel injector ensures that the fuel is broken down into small droplets, and that the fuel is distributed evenly. The heat of the compressed air vaporizes fuel from the surface of the droplets.

The vapour is then ignited by the heat from the compressed air in the combustion chamber, the droplets continue to vaporise from their surfaces and burn, getting smaller, until all the fuel in the droplets has been burnt.

The start of vaporisation causes a delay period during ignition and the characteristic diesel knocking sound as the vapour reaches ignition temperature and causes an abrupt increase in pressure above the piston.

The rapid expansion of combustion gases then drives the piston downward, supplying power to the crankshaft. Engines for scalemodel aeroplanes use a variant of the Diesel principle but premix fuel and air via a carburation system external to the combustion chambers.

As well as the high level of compression allowing combustion to

take place without a separate ignition system, a high compression ratio greatly increases the engine's efficiency.

Increasing the compression ratio in a spark-ignition engine where fuel and air are mixed before entry to the cylinder is limited by the need to prevent damaging pre-ignition.

Since only air is compressed in a diesel engine, and fuel is not introduced into the cylinder until shortly before top dead centre (TDC), premature detonation is not an issue and compression ratios are much higher.

Early fuel injection systems Diesel's original engine injected fuel with the assistance of compressed air, which atomized the fuel and forced it into the engine through a nozzle (a similar principle to an aerosol spray).

The nozzle opening was closed by a pin valve lifted by the camshaft to initiate the fuel injection before top dead centre (TDC). This is called an air-blast injection. Driving the three stage compressor used some power but the efficiency and net power output was more than any other combustion engine at that time.

Diesel engines in service today raise the fuel to extreme pressures by mechanical pumps and deliver it to the combustion chamber by pressure-activated injectors without compressed air.

With direct injected diesels, injectors spray fuel through 4 to 12 small orifices in its nozzle. The early air injection diesels always had a superior combustion without the sharp increase in pressure during combustion.

Research is now being performed and patents are being taken out to again use some form of air injection to reduce the nitrogen oxides and pollution, reverting to Diesel's original implementation with its superior combustion and possibly quieter operation.

In all major aspects, the modern diesel engine holds true to Rudolf Diesel's original design - that of igniting fuel by compression at an extremely high pressure within the cylinder.

With much higher pressures and high technology injectors, presentday diesel engines use the so-called solid injection system applied by Herbert Akroyd Stuart for his hot bulb engine. The indirect injection engine could be considered the latest development of these low-speed hot bulb ignition engines.

Your car needs human-like treatment (III) R

otate them diagonally - front right to rear left and front left to rear right. However, this pattern can change depending on the drivetrain of the vehicle, and the type of tire. Your vehicle manual will contain detailed rotation information. Keep in mind some tires (especially on sports cars) are directional and are meant to spin only one way. They will have a large arrow on the sidewall to indicate this.

9. Keep the tyres inflated. Underinflated tyres can reduce the tire life by 15% and will slightly decrease your gas mileage, perhaps by 10%.

Inflating tyres is perhaps the easiest

of all activities, and many stores sell tyre gauges for a very small cost.

Checking your tyre pressure every other time you get gas will reduce tyre wear and prevent these issues.

Monitor your tyre treadwith a penny. Insert the penny into the tread with Lincoln’s head down. If the top of his head is not obscured by the tread, your tyres need to be replaced.

10. Keep the front end aligned.

If you notice your car shaking while driving at high speeds (not while braking - shuddering while braking indicates warped rotors), or if your tread is wearing unevenly, then you

may need an alignment. This is also keyto extending the life of your tyres and will keep the tread even for increased safety.

11. Get your car off to a good start every time you drive it. Start the car and drive off slowly and gently until the car reaches operating temperature. This reduces the strain on the engine while the oil is still cold and thicker. Another option is to use electric engine space heaters, and start the drive with a warm engine.

Accelerate promptly to the target speed. For most modern cars, idling a cold engine is both counterproductive and wasteful.

Additionally, as you accelerate, release the gas a bit to cause the automatic transmission to upshift while you are not pressing hard on the gas. This causes less wear on the internal clutches. It is easier on the clutches for the car to shift when you ease up on the gas.

12. Use your parking brake. Even if you are driving a car with an automatic transmission, use your parking brake regularly, especially if you have to park on aslope. It helps keep the brakes adjusted in the rear of the car and makes them last longer. Do not use your parking brake in the winter time because

your brake will freeze and it will be stuck until it thaws out.

13. Wash your car: Road salt, sludge and pollution can lead to costly body work. Without regular cleaning, you can start to notice rust on the bottom of your doors within four years. Another three to four years and the corrosion will creep to underbody components, like brake lines. It can cost thousands in rustrelated repairs if you neglect to wash your car, especially near ocean/gulf shorelines where the road sand or morning dew might be salty.

Concluded

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

PAGE 29

Jay-Z may have 99 problems, but getting to the venue isn’t one T

he rapper brought the beat to South By Southwest, but not before he needed a police escort to make it from the airport to the show, which started 40 minutes late.

Jay-Z played a hits-filled set for a standing room-only crowd after flying in late Monday afternoon. He was on the town with his wife, Beyonce, in New York City the night before to see fellow SXSW participant TheDream, perhaps explaining his late arrival in Texas.

The show at the Austin City Limits Live venue marked the end of South By Southwest’s interactive conference and an unofficial start to South By Southwest’s music conference, which gets under way on Tuesday.

The 80-minute show, to promote American Express’ new partnership with Twitter and streamed live online, was packed with his hits, including “99

chain, led the crowd in several rap-a-longs and kept everyone on their feet. Fans lined up for entrance more than two hours before show time.

“You had a beautiful time and I had a beautiful time,” Jay-Z said

to the crowd. “That means every single person in this building from the front to the top, front to the top, everybody, everybody, everybody, scream.”

Source: http:// www.sxsw.com

Ebuka Ifebunso as Joe Hill addressing the Wobblies in Barrie Stavis' The Man Who Never Died directed by Patrick-Jude

Ebuka Ifebunso as Ezeulu & Ejiroghene Oghenechovwen as Akuebue in Emeka Nwabueze's When The Arrow Rebounds directed by PatrickProblems,” ‘’Dirt Off Your Shoulder,” ‘’Empire State of Mind” and “Glory,” his ode to Blue Ivy Carter, the 2-month-old daughter he has with Beyonce.

“I’m feeling a lot of love in this building,” Jay-Z said. “I’m feeling a lot of love in this city today. I’m feeling a lot of love in this city tonight.”

His appearance was fitting in a year when rap appears to be a main draw at South By Southwest. Little Wayne, Nas, T.I., B.o.B. and many others also have shows scheduled in Austin this week.

Jay-Z, wearing a cap with a polka-dot brim, his trademark sunglasses and a sparkling gold

Ekene Edward Asogwa as Mr. Goodcountry and his congregation in Emeka Nwabueze's When The Arrow Rebounds directed by Patrick-Jud

FR OM THE FROM LIVE ST AGE STA with Patrick-Jude Oteh 0803 700 0496, 0805 953 5215 (SMS only)

The man who never died closes 6th Jos festival of theatre 2012

I

t was a night of highs. The guests were led into a hall to watch the final performance of the Salasa dance workshop. That over it was time to move over to the performance venue for the final performance of the fifth play in the seven days festival. It was the second performance of Barrie Stavis’ The Man Who Never Died, the true life story of one of the leaders of the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W). The ninety minutes plays filled with songs, dance and prison life eventually brought the festival to an end.

The festival which had the active support of the US Mission, Nigeria with logistic support from the Alliance Francaise, Jos, had opened on February 25th with a performance of Emeka Nwabueze’s When The Arrow Rebounds. It would be recalled that the performance was last performed at the 2011 MUSON festival in Lagos.

The next play to grace the stage was Lonne Elder III’s Ceremonies In Dark Old Men. This play directed by Osasogie Efe Guobadia is the story of the family of Mr. Russell Parker. The family of four had only Adele(Olajumoke Mitchell Olatubosun working thus she caters for the family. She has given her father and her brothers a two weeks ultimatum to get jobs or get out of the house. They eventually get jobs under the supervision of the con man, Blue Haven (Ebuka Ifebunso) who helps them to turn the once thriving barbing saloon to a shop for the sale of illegal whiskey and card games. In their attempts to break even, Bobby Parker( Emmanuel Ekpe) the younger of the Parker brothers is killed in a robbery incident in town. This is what brings the family’s friend of many years, Mr. Jenkins (James Anthony Akolo) to break the news and finds out that his friend, Mr. Parker (Ambore Ibrahim) has been gone for many days with a younger lover (Juliet Ejenma). With the death of Bobby, the family’s tragic woes comes to a tragic end.

This is followed by another family tragedy, Onukaba Adinoyi Ojo’s Bargain Hunting which was directed

by Emmanuel Emasealu. On the tenth anniversary of his father’s death, Ari (Godwin Bamah) decides to sell off all his late father’s property and legacies. His mother, Rachel (Phebe Obodo) resists the move.

Dada(Nicholas Inegbenoise) is already in the house to buy off all the household items and then enters Leah (Peggy Ada Kalu) who also resists the sale of their late fathers’ property. In the course of the family tussle with Dada caught in the middle, hidden family secrets emerge – it was their mother who had killed their father in an act of mercy killing as their father was terminally ill. The play was brought all the way from Port Harcourt.

Leonell Echa directed the next play, Dipo Agboluaje’s For One Night Only – a migration fantasy. The play is set in the United Kingdom and tells us the story of Eddie (Amanam

Lawrence) and Bode (Anre John) who both meet in the UK while working as illegal immigrants in an orchard. They decide to create their own show – the Bode/Eddie show and they try in theri fantasy to tour this around the UK and hopefully they would end up in Covent Garden. This becomes an uphill task as with no papers they are constantly dodging one form of problem and landing in another. Eventually the come in contact with Uncle, an elderly illegal immigrant who advises them to go back to where they have come from as the illusive search for the golden fleece will only land them in trouble.

They are told to even run from the police siren. At the end, the dream of making it big in the UK entertainment industry is at best a fantasy.

The roll call of plays eventually ended with Barrie Stavis’The Man Who Never Died. The story of Joe Hill is an extremely painful one.Almost a century after he was unjustly killed in a conspiracy between the police, the law courts and a sell out fellow labour activist, Tom Sharpe (Umoren David Ubong), the trial of Joe Hill (Ebuka Ifebunso) is still generating controversy. His innocence has been proven and the fact that he never got a fair trial has also been proven but with his dexterity in composing songs and winning strikes, the establishment led

by John T. Moody(Yusuf Dauda) could not have allowed him to go on humiliating the state and jeopardising their business interests. He was too big a risk and with the whole town in his payroll, Joe Hill just could not be allowed to continue his winning streaks.

It was a well thought out festival. It was well executed despite the bomb blast in the city of Jos on Sunday 26th February at the COCIN headquarters church a day after the festival opened.

It was expected that the Jos theatre organization would have called off the festival after the bomb blast but they still managed to continue and the audience turn-out was unprecedented in the history of the festival.

There were three workshops – Arts Management, Directing and Salsa Dance which according to the festival producer is geared towards finding a meeting point between future plays in the theatre repertory and other art forms. The 2012 Jos Festival of Theatre employed over 100 artistes with some of them being youths who are going on stage for the first time. It was a particular delight watching a lot of them singing joyfully and meaningfully in the final performance of Barrie Stavis’ The Man Who Never Died.

According to the festival producer, the next move of the Jos based outfit is to look at the possibility of sharing some of the festival plays with the Abuja audiences. The US Mission, Nigeria which utilized the festival as part of the 2012 annual African American History Month is to be commended for such an initiative which was well utilized by the Jos Repertory

PAGE 30

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

Every Day is for the Thief BOOK REVIEW

By Tolulope Ogunlesi

L

agos is a marketplace, bigger and more exciting than the open-air Samarkand bazaar immortalized by Wole Soyinka in his most recent collection of poems.

Samarkand might offer the ‘bric a brac’ and an electrifying wedlock of philosophers and poets, but Lagos’ most marketable offerings are its stories. Its prime position on the list of the world’s mega-cities might account for this. Partly. But then, why bother about the origins of a story when the story itself is there in front of you, swaggering, taunting; daring you to produce one that can trump it.

Enter Teju Cole, and his swashbuckling theory of Thieves, Owners, and Ownership, as outlined in his debut novel, Every Day is For the Thief. The phrase itself is the first half of a Yoruba proverb, ojo gbogbo ni tole, ojo kan ni ti olohun Everyday (is) for the thief, one day (is) for the owner. It is ‘the’ story of Lagos, I deliberately say ‘the’ and not ‘a’ because when you reach the final full-stop in the novel, you get the feeling that you have just crossed the line directly next (in intensity) to actually experiencing the city.

Forget that it is a slim novel; it is not the size of the barrel that matters but how full it is.

Everyday is for the thief. Thieves abound in Lagos, and in this book.

Every minute, every page is for the thief - the pickpocket, the dubious petrol station attendant, the murderous armed robber, the compact disc pirate, the hostagetaking area boy, the bribe-taking police, customs and embassy officers, the thieving politician whose actions and inactions account for power failures and fuel scarcities. All of the above are part of the cast of Cole’s story, narrated by a young man who has returned to Nigeria (and more specifically, Lagos), for the first time in many years, on a visit. It is - to use the hackneyed phrase - a trip down memory lane, the “down” especially apt because coming from New York to Lagos is a literal descent into chaos, into the Hobbesian jungle.

The narrator is a thinly disguised version of the novelist, a fictional creation who plagiarizes a real one.

This return to Lagos is therefore a killing of two birds with one stone (more accurately resurrecting two birds with one breath of inspiration); one person travels to Lagos, but two return, the writer and the narrator.

This, you should know by now, is something Lagos is highly experienced at accomplishing. One person comes in, and a different one emerges. Four dreams go in, and none return.

The author’s note, which seems unnecessary because of the fact that it appears as a ‘snapshot’ of author and narrator side by side, smiling albeit disowning each other. Cole is adamant in that “he (the narrator) and I are not the same person.” But it is because he has somehow hinted of the fact that there might be two of them that he now has to convince readers that each one is an independent existence. We would have been quite happy on our own

The book cover to merge and separate the two personas as our imaginations please.

This is a book of images, beyond the many that the narrator sketches (in near-filmic detail) through his words, there are also photographic ones as well, miniature renderings of grainy black and white shots captured by the narrator (or the author?), and scattered like chunks of poetry across the pages. They are images of Lagos - of hawkers, headgear, fruits, rusted rooftops, ships, cops, etc, the kind of residue that would result from a ‘destructive distillation’ of a city like Lagos, were it possible to take it as a chemical compound.

It is as though the narrator realized, whilst telling his story, that attempting to capture the ‘idea’ of Lagos would be like trying to use the bare hands to demonstrate to an audience the kind of fireworks display that accompanied the recent Beijing Olympics. Imagine the sense of crushing inadequacy that would accompany such an attempt. Cole is therefore one of the more honest chroniclers of Lagos; the inclusion of the photos is an admission - even if merely symbolic - of the fact that words are pitifully inadequate in capturing a happening city like Lagos. Perhaps one day we would find even more honest persons who’d be willing to accompany their verbal offerings with DVDs tucked into a flap on the inside back covers of their books.

The journey begins in New York, at the Nigerian Embassy in that city, where we quickly - and agonizingly - realize that the famed ‘Nigerian mentality’, like the Nigerian citizen, also possesses a ‘passport’ that allows it to travel abroad and exhibit itself. So that it would be seen at work the way a band of Nigerians would, for example, be seen - or heard unashamedly conversing in loud voices in their native language in the cramped aisles of a suburban American grocery store. America

and its arrogant ideals of justice and equality halt at the door of the Embassy, and Nigeria (re)asserts itself - extorted cash becomes the final arbiter on rendered service, just as it would be back home - as the embassy officials take bribes to ‘expedite’ passport processing.

It is from New York therefore that the ‘descent’ begins; the descent of the plane onto the tarmac in Lagos is an indication not of a commencement but merely an attainment of another ‘degree’ of descent.

The narrator is a meticulous recorder, and one can almost hear the grinding of machinery behind his eyeballs as he faithfully assimilates, onto hard drive sections of the brain specially conscripted for this purpose, details of what his eyes see and his ears ear. And like all obsessed with detail, he is eager to induct us into this elite club of the observant. Take for example his mention of the fact that the Lagos airport “is named for a dead general.” Why, you wonder, do we need to know that the general is dead, when we all know that many of the world’s greatest airports are (similarly) named after dead statesmen? But no, the ‘dead’ is there for a purpose, to qualify not so much the General but the comatose spirit and air of the place, the obsoleteness of the architecture, the formaldehyde-tainted process of “disembarkation, passport control and baggage claim.”

This is not the sort of novel that Nigerians are used to. There is a palpable ‘distance’ between what happens in Every Day is for The Thief and what we are made to see.

Because everything that happens in this novel is filtered to us through the perspective of a seemingly aloof, unNigerian-in-thinking, and sometimes condescending narrator, that sharp edge of drama and melodrama - Africa Magic-type drama - that many have come to associate with Nigeria is absent. We

see a widow, but only years after she became a widow, and our participation is limited only to hearing about how she became a widow. We are told the how, but we do not see those gun-totting robbers pumping their bullets at her husband, we do not see her hands flailing in the air and her bum thumping the ground at the moment she realizes that she has been rendered husband-less, we do not see the endless trail of professional mourners whose expertly worn mien will wear down the most stoical of resolves, and we do not see those wicked in-laws waiting for wives to become widows so they can get a chance to exercise their evil characters. Instead, when we see her years later, even the narrator has to confess that she is a woman “in whose radiance he can see nothing that looks like grief.”

Another interesting thing is that in its slide-show of iconic Nigerian image after image, Every Day is for The Thief draws from the same ‘pool’ that Nollywood draws from, and follows the same mode of sequence a flow or juxtaposition of ‘wholly Nigerian’ images that combine to attempt to tell a story. We have heard of the word made flesh, Every Day is the film made word (text). The difference that in the case of Cole’s novel, between the time it draws from that pool and presents it to us, something has happened to it, stripped it of banality and melodrama, and given it the kind of ponderous sheen that a novel deserves. It is Mrs. Adelaja, the triumphant widow, and the other subversions like her in the story, that thus set it apart.

So much for thieves then, the mind soon seeks to know who the “owner” is. And not only do you want to know this owner, you want to know if s/he or they will be getting the promised day in the sun soon.

Eventually you are forced to assume that the owner is none other than the narrator himself. He it is who is set apart from the thieves; who expresses shock, disgust, alarm, disappointment - and sometimes amusement - at their antics. Alas, after the thieves have had their fill in the spotlights, their fifteen hours of fame, there is no karmic justice to swing down and shame them. The owner sees them, watches them at ‘work’, shakes his head at their impudence, and then returns home - to New York.

Every Day is for The Thief is a physical, as well as a psychic journey, bringing the narrator face to face with a past that he left behind, frozen in time in Nigeria when he left. It is evidently a past he did not take along to New York, so that now that he is back he has to face it, stand up to it and reclaim it. This is not an easy task; “the past continues to gather around like floodwater,” he tells us. At one point he informs us of his decision not to look up old friends, only to later speak of “various reunions with friends and family”.

The struggle between memory and forgetting doesn’t let up easily.

It is the story of this struggle, part narration, part meditation, that Cole tells us in prose that is at once precise and haunting, even long after the final word.

Source: African writer.com

PEOPLES POEM OF THE WEEK Title: The triple goddess

By Unknown author I bear your moods like Any mother would; I do – You unrivalled beast Still you can’t be Touched; pirate – I hunt You down in night air You are the source Of everything – welcome Me home with your Head of wet, dead leaves – Your body the farm that will No longer deprive An insomniac – where is Your spirit of giving like the Bloodlines of the phoenix What is this virgin ash That remains behind and what Can I make out of it I am held captive In your transparency – Stay, stay and don’t fade Turning in the air There are two pairs of eyes Here – how far is it still To the next hour Pushing by like a pulse – The escape of blood Where lions roared We grew up – grounded Where Kevin Carter Stood up from hell To eternity – perhaps as A girl you meant To love me – what do people Do in the wilderness except use Their voice to cry out The journey of love Perfected – is one that is half Of tragedy speeded up These words are like The deceased – they can no Longer breathe on their Own; they’re hushed Melting slow, sturdy – burning Like sin against skin He kissed my neck – Swallowed me whole like old Weathered prophetic ghosts We drown our sorrows In pots of tea – caught in the Routed abyss of Whatever is authentic In the secret writings of every Poet will be posed As the words of a prophet You don’t have to know the Meaning of the word ‘Sufi’ To know it – only know This; that it is based on faith See your journey As a ministry – a Service to energies of light And spaces bundled Tight – surrounded By frozen water, an Illuminated lake In the darkness Remember the ordinary Before doing the Extraordinary Assume the position of God – Be willing to serve others.

QUO TE UOTE

“If you born poor its not your mistake, but if you die poor its your mistake.”

–– Bill Gate

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PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

Afghanistan: The dead just keep piling up ANALYSIS After an American soldier killed 16 Afghan civilians, the US apologises - but will probably not learn its lesson.

Irvine, CA t’s a well-worn ritual - the expression of outrage and “shock”, as President Obama put it. The “condolences to the families” offered by senior leaders of the occupying power to the latest victims of their supposedly benign occupation.

Of course the action in question - which is always the latest in a whole series of actions, with the previous ones conveniently forgotten by the time the next one happens - can “not represent the exceptional character of our military and the respect that [we have] for the people of Afghanistan”. “We” don’t do that.

That’s what “they” - the people whom we have occupied/sent soldiers into Afghanistan/Iraq/ Pakistan/Yemen/ to destroy - do.

They are the barbarians who hate us because of “our values”, as President Bush so eloquently put it.

We will urge calm and investigate - just like we’re investigating the burning of Qurans, urinating on dead fighters and mutilating dead children, and all the other insults and injuries upon Afghans, Pakistanis, Iraqis and other benighted peoples. Those responsible for the deaths will face justice, or whatever we say is justice, unless of course a military court somehow determines justice to be something else than we told you it would be, in which case that is just another example of how fair our system of jurisprudence is.

Compensation will be paid to the families of the dead and injured, although not too much compensation. Certainly not more than the cost of one or two Hellfire missiles, or the salary of one of the mercenaries to whom we pay three to four times the wages of a soldier so that we can say we’re reducing the number of “troops” in your country. In fact, we’ll pay as little as possible, as low as $100 a head, if you’ll take it.

Imperial hypocrisy Say what you want about Israel, at least it doesn’t pretend to “respect” Palestinians. The whole “shooting and crying” act went out of style by the time the al-Aqsa intifada erupted. But Israel/ Palestine is an old-fashioned ethnoterritorial conflict. It’s hard to keep pretending you respect someone whose territory you’re violently taking over and resettling with your own people; and when you have as much power as Israel does compared with its foe, after a while why even bother? “We have

I

The entertainment industry focuses on US soldiers, while civilians are often absent from films (EPA) exacted from them a very high price,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said bluntly, after the latest Israeli attack in Gaza killed several militants along with a 55-year-old man and a schoolboy. “Naturally, we will act as necessary;” collateral damage no longer requires an apology.

The Obama administration is in a far tougher situation. It can’t afford to appear too imperialist, precisely because it is enmeshed in a series of ongoing military engagements across the Muslim world. Yet even though well over 50 per cent of Americans oppose the continued US presence in Afghanistan, and even if the president is sincere in his stated desire to withdraw combat forces from Afghanistan as soon as possible, the huge American military footprint across the region will not easily shrink.

The dozens of military bases serve the same purpose for the perpetuation of American empire as colonies once did for the British and the French. Along with the bases come well over 100,000 troops, at least two carrier groups and untold tens of billions of dollars worth weapons and security relationships with local regimes.

Just as importantly, the corrupt and authoritarian nature of the regimes the US must deal with - if they were honest and democratic, the US wouldn’t be allowed in the door - makes the situation even worse, as their own interest in holding onto power will trump taking any action that might lead to a US withdrawal from their territory, except on their own terms.

In Afghanistan in particular, the government that the US put into power has been so endemically corrupt that its own actions only exacerbate the enmity of most Afghans towards Americans.

But neither Afghanistan’s internal problems nor the intense violence of the Taliban account for why American troops - like every

other occupying force in history so routinely behave inhumanely towards the occupied population.

Strategic forgetting In a fascinating but sadly overlooked Washington Post op-ed early this year, MIT professor John Tirman attempted to explain why Americans have shown so little concern for the civilians of other countries killed on their behalf. He pointed out a number of reasons, including the self-perception that such behaviour is so outside the norms of American morality that it can only be an aberration, and the absence of civilians from films, novels and documentaries about the wars.

The entertainment industry almost always focuses on Americans. The latest film from the military-entertainment complex, Act of Valor, thoroughly embedded actors with the military’s most elite killers for video game-style mayhem.

Accordingly, most Americans too have no reason to consider the reality of the violence in which soldiers are engaged.

Afghan analyst on US soldier’s shooting spree Perhaps most important, as Tirman points out, is that frontier countries like the US have a long history of conquest, killing and oppressing indigenous peoples at home. Quoting a Wall Street Journal article by Robert Kaplan, he argues that “the red Indian metaphor is

one with which a liberal policy nomenklatura may be uncomfortable, but Army and Marine field officers have embraced it because it captures perfectly the combat challenge of the early 21st century”.

If Americans have yet to begin to own up to the genocide of the native peoples of their country, what hope is there that they will look critically at the death and destruction wrought on equally “uncivilised” and “savage” peoples 15,000 kilometres away?

Especially, as the quote makes clear, when everyone from commanders on the ground to commentators back in Washington - not to mention drone operators a few kilometres away in Virginia - confuse the early 21st century with the early 19th century? We can only imagine that the average American estimate of native American deaths during the conquest of the West wasn’t much better than the average estimate - about 10,000 - of Iraqi civilian deaths (about 2-3 per cent of the actual total).

But it’s hard to blame the average American when their leaders purposefully mislead them about the number of dead, either by refusing to do “body counts” or by declaring, as did President Obama’s top counter-terrorism adviser, John O Brennan in August of last year, that “there hasn’t been a single collateral death” from drone strikes in the Af-Pak theatre

“

The dozens of military bases serve the same purpose for the perpetuation of American empire as colonies once did for the British and the French. Along with the bases come well over 100,000 troops, at least two carrier groups and untold tens of billions of dollars worth weapons and security relationships with local regimes

last year - without the mainstream media offering any serious rebuttal.

Rewriting history Ultimately, with rare exceptions - such as post-World War II Germany and Japan, which were thoroughly defeated and whose peoples largely accepted American occupation and the rebuilding of their countries along Western lines - imperial occupations inevitably end with the occupier forced to make an ignominious withdrawal, leaving little but death, anger and broken hearts to show for their presence.

Lessons are rarely learned, and rather than try to heal the incredible psychological trauma on the soldiers who fight these wars, Chuck Norris and Sylvester Stallone will ensure that history is rewritten to highlight the suffering of the brave soldiers who were betrayed by weak leaders who didn’t give them the tools to win.

Meanwhile, untold numbers of real soldiers suffer all sorts of physical and psychic trauma, bringing the violence back to the US in ways that ultimately will prove every bit as damaging as the 9/11 attacks. And back in Afghanistan/Pakistan/Yemen/ Your Country Here, poor and brutalised peoples will once again scrape by their meagre lives, with not even the glimmer of hope that those who are most responsible for their unending suffering - from Western leaders and corporate managers to local politicians, warlords and religious zealots - will pay for all the harm they’ve caused. And in Damascus, Bashar and his military commanders will surely offer a toast of gratitude to the unhinged American soldier who reminded the world that man’s inhumanity knows no ethnic, religious or national boundaries - before resuming their own, far more deliberate slaughter.

Source: Aljazeera

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

PAGE 32

Belgium takes Senegal to court over fugitive Computer Aid demands greater e-waste accountability

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ajor technology manufacturers must be held more accountable for e-waste costs, a leading UK charity has said.

Computer Aid, which distributes donated tech to communities across Africa, said laws should be put in place to ensure that firms "deal with the consequences" of unwanted equipment.

The call comes as the organisation celebrated sending its 200,000th refurbished PC to the developing world.

Many technology companies run e-waste schemes to help combat the problem.

However, Computer Aid's newly appointed chief executive Tom Davis said more could be done to ensure that technology companies were "good corporate citizens".

"I think that the richest companies in the world, who profit tremendously from IT, have an ultimate responsibility to deal with the consequences of all the things they've brought to us," he said.

Anja Ffrench, the charity's director of communications, told the BBC that dangers of e-waste, which can be harmful when not carefully disposed of, have led countries such as Nepal to reject charitable donations of technology because of health and cost concerns.

"If all countries were to do that they would cut themselves off from receiving technology from other countries, which would be a great shame.

This is their only way to access ICT - through refurbished machines" End Quote Anja Ffrench Computer Aid "The organisations that Computer Aid provides to are really disadvantaged organisations who would not be able to afford new equipment. This is their only way to access ICT through refurbished machines."

Belgium has launched a bid in the United Nation's highest court to force Senegal to bring Hissene Habre, dubbed "Africa's Pinochet", to trial for crimes against humanity.

The former Chad president, offered a safe haven in Senegal after his overthrow in 1990, deserved to be prosecuted for the terrible torture visited on his victims, Belgium's representative Paul Rietjens told the court on Monday.

The case brought before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the most serious international attempt to date to put Habre, 69, on trial for alleged atrocities committed during his eight-year rule.

Senegal, under pressure from the 54-member African Union, agreed as long ago as 2006 to try Habre, but has since been dragging its heels.

"These victims, who accuse him of crimes that deserve to be prosecuted, deserve justice" Rietjens said. "Many of them were tortured, incredibly tortured."

Belgium took up the case under its "universal jurisdiction" law after a complaint was lodged by a Belgian of Chadian origin, but Senegal has blocked three extradition requests since 2005 and another request is

pending.

Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade has repeatedly said that while Dakar has never refused to prosecute Habre, it did not have either the "ad hoc" jurisdiction or the funds.

Wade has been Senegal's leader since 2000 but polls suggest he is likely to lose his bid for re-election later this month.

Brussels now argues that Dakar's refusal to prosecute Habre or have him extradited "violates the general obligation to punish crimes committed under international humanitarian law". It took its case to The Hague-based ICJ in 2009.

"The organisation of a trial in Senegal has not progressed one iota," Rietjens, a director general of legal affairs in the Belgian government,

Belgium indicted former Chad president in 2005 for crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture (AP)

Egypt house votes to expel Israeli envoy

E

gypt's lower house of parliament has called for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador from Cairo and halting of gas exports.

The vote was taken by a show of hands on a report approved by the Arab affairs committee of the People's Assembly calling for "the

expulsion from Egypt of the Israeli ambassador and the recall of Egypt's envoy from Tel Aviv", the official MENA news agency reported on Monday.

According to the text, the MPs have also called for a halt of gas exports to Israel.

"Egypt will never be the friend,

The text presented to parliament said: 'Egypt will never be the friend or ally of the Zionist entity' (GALLO/GETTY)

partner or ally of the Zionist entity which we consider as the first enemy of Egypt and the Arab nation," read the text.

It also called on the Egyptian government "to revise all its relations and agreements with that enemy."

The motion is seen as largely symbolic as only the ruling military council can make such decisions.

There was no immediate comment from Israel on the vote.

Egypt and Israel have been bound by a peace treaty since 1979 but ties have strained since Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down as president last year by a popular uprising.

Israel has responded cautiously to the Arab Spring and in January it congratulated Egypt on the inauguration of its first postrevolutionary parliament. It has repeatedly stressed the importance of preserving the treaty between the two countries, and has called on Egypt's new leadership to publicly state their commitment to the accord.

Over 1,000 Chadian children displaced by Boko Haram are to receive US donation

T

he Qur'anic pupils, known as Talebs, and their teachers, the Marabout, who fled from the eastern Nigerian villages of Dougouri, Folkine, Koyorom and Malfahtri three weeks ago, following the clashes between the Islamist militant group Boko Haram and Nigerian forces are to receive US aids.

African Press Organisation reports that the US embassy in Chad has agreed to provide funding for

transportation and family reunification assistance for the children who are stranded in the remote village of N'Gbouboua in the Lac region of western Chad.

The money will also enable the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to buy essential nonfood items such as blankets, soap, sleeping mats, buckets, jerry cans, hygiene kits, toothbrushes and medicines for the migrants.

told the 14-judge bench.

"It is not enough to ratify the conventions against torture and make fine speeches about the obligations they imposed," he said.

The head of Belgium's central authority on judicial cooperation, Gerard Dive, told the court how a victim described the brutal way in which a relative was murdered under the Habre regime.

According to the report, IOM recently sent an assessment team to N'Gbouboua and found out that both the children and adults are living in wretched conditions, sleeping on the ground in rough shelters that they had built for themselves. They had no access to clean water or sanitation and the children were surviving by begging for food, water and other provisions from villagers.

The IOM Chad Chief of Mission,

Qasim Sufi said the US funding is timely because it will enable them to rescue those children and help them to return home to their families.

"Since the IOM assessment team returned from the area, which can only be accessed from Chad by 4WD vehicle on unmarked desert roads and a ferry river crossing, more migrants, including unaccompanied children, have continued to arrive in N'Gboubou from Nigeria."

IMF says Guinea’s steps qualify it for debt relief

G

uinea has taken the necessary measures to qualify for debt cancellation as soon as possible, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday, further underscoring renewed donor confidence in a country that has emerged from military rule.

IMF "directors supported the steps taken by the authorities to reach the completion point under the HIPC Initiative as soon as possible," the IMF board said in a review of Guinea's economy.

The World Bank and IMF's Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative was launched in 1996 by donors to cancel the debts of the world's poorest countries.

The IMF cautioned on Monday that Guinea's economy would remain vulnerable even after its debt burden was written off. It urged the authorities to ensure that any further borrowing is done at low-cost terms, especially as Guinea develops its mining sector.

The IMF expressed concern that new mining and related infrastructure projects in the West African country would create large financing needs, pushing public debt levels up again.

Guinea ended two years of rule by a military junta with presidential elections in late 2010 that brought President Alpha Conde to power. It is the world's largest supplier of aluminum ore bauxite, although political turmoil since independence from France has curbed investment.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

PAGE 33

Concerns over Chinese detention reforms

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hina is set to pass landmark legislation granting more rights to detainees, but human rights organisations and relatives of some of those already being held are concerned that it will have little effect on the activities of so-called secret "black jails".

The revised criminal procedure law, which is expected to be passed by the country's legislature today, would render all evidence collected under torture unusable, grant suspects immediate access to a lawyer and oblige authorities to tell families within 24 hours of a relative's detention, among other

measures.

But Nicholas Bequelin, a senior Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that there were concerns over whether the reforms would have a positive impact in cases other than straightforward criminal detentions, such as those concerning national security, terrorism or corruption.

"The positives are that, on paper, most criminal defendents will have better rights," said Bequelin.

"But the problem is the law also has big loopholes. It in

particular gives the authority to the police to suspend notification and to effectively secretly detain people in a number of cases... This is really a major concern and probably a step back in terms of progress towards the rule of law.".

He noted that another provision would allow police to detain people for up to six months without informing anyone of their whereabouts.

"These people are [detained] in places that the police choose themselves. Not a formal detention centre, but a police guest house or any place really

that they want to keep someone in."

In Beijing, Al Jazeera's Melissa Chan joined one woman seeking information about her missing daughter and others who said their family members had been detained at one such facility known in China as 'black jails'.

"These black jails are essentially extra-legal secret detention centres that allow officials to throw anyone in there that they want, without charge and without arrest," our correspondent said.

"Most of the people in black jails

are not petty criminals, but rather ordinary citizens who have stories of corruption to tell.

"Precisely because their evidence threatens the government, officials whose interests would be harmed by any revelations go after them," she said, adding that the centres allowed authorities to bypass the law, as no one imprisoned there was given any due process.

"There are black jails despite the new criminal procedure law that's going to be passed," Chan said. "The showpiece legislation will only matter if it is actually enforced."

Imam dies in arson attack on Belgian mosque

A

man has been killed and another injured in an arson attack on a mosque in Brussels, the Belgian capital.

"A suspect was taken into custody at the scene," police spokeswoman Marie Verbeke told the AFP news agency on Monday. She said the victim apparently died of smoke inhalation. "The mosque was apparently almost entirely burned down."

Public broadcaster RTBF and a stream of social media users said the victim was a 47-yearold imam and that a group of at least 50 people had gathered outside the Shia mosque.

Police confirmed this

information and said they received a call at 6:45pm (1745 GMT) and the body was pulled out 45 minutes later.

A witness saw the suspect, a man, set fire to the building, Verbeke said, but no other details were immediately available about him.

Vincent Van Goidsenhoven, the mayor of the Anderlecht district, said the suspect had thrown a Molotov cocktail at the mosque, Belga news agency reported.

The area around the mosque, near Belgium's main international railway hub, has a large immigrant Muslim population

Afghan officials attacked over US killings

G

unmen have attacked an Afghan government delegation at a service in southern Kandahar province for 16 villagers shot dead in a killing spree by a US soldier.

At least one Afghan soldier was killed as the delegation, which included two brothers of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, came under fire, Abdul Razaq, the police chief for Kandahar province, told the AFP news agency.

"There was an armed attack on them from a distance and the firing continued for about 10 minutes," said a local reporter at the scene in Panjwayi district.

"Bullets were coming like rain on us," another witness told AFP. The attack came as hundreds of students took to the streets of the eastern city of Jalalabad, as anger over Sunday's killings by the unnamed US soldier prompted more anti-US protests.

About 400 university students shouted "Death to America -- Death to Obama", burning the US president in effigy and blocking the main highway to Kabul before dispersing after about two hours.

Abdul Rahim Ayoubi, a member of the Afghan parliament from Kandahar, told Al Jazeera that many locals were still deciding how to respond to the attacks.

"And once they decide, there

will be no army, no force that can stop them," Ayoubi said.

The Afghan Taliban threatened on Tuesday to behead US troops in revenge for the killings by the US soldier.

"The Islamic Emirate once again warns the American animals that the mujahideen will avenge them, and with the help of God will kill and behead your sadistic murderous soldiers," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in an emailed statement.

The US embassy in Kabul has warned its citizens to be on their guard, mindful of a wave of deadly protests last month over the burning of Qurans at a US military base.

In Washington, Obama warned the US public against a hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan, after a weekend poll said most Americans believe the war is not worth the cost and want an early withdrawal.

The United States and its NATO allies are looking to withdraw their 130,000-odd combat troops from Afghanistan by 2014.

Leon Panetta, the US defence secretary, told reporters that the shooting suspect would be brought to justice under the US military legal code, and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Asked if the suspect could be

Police said that a suspect set fire to the building and the victim apparently died of smoke inhalation (AFP)

Afghan students in Jalalabad protested and burned an effigy of Barack Obama on Tuesday. (Parwiz/Reuters)

Bahrain added to web censorship blacklist

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eporters Without Borders has updated its 2012 "Enemies of the Internet " list to include Bahrain and Belarus.

The updated list, which was released on Monday to mark what the organisation called "World Day Against Cyber-Censorship", still includes countries such as China, North Korea and Saudi Arabia from the previous year.

The Paris-based nongovernmental organisation that advocates freedom of the press said that internet users in 2011 were "at

the heart of the political changes in the Arab world and elsewhere".

In Bahrain, RWB said, the government "has bolstered its censorship efforts" in reaction to the pro-democracy uprising that began on February 14, 2011.

"Bahrain offers a perfect example of successful crackdowns, with an information blackout achieved through an impressive arsenal of repressive measures: exclusion of the foreign media, harassment of human rights defenders, arrests of bloggers and

netizens (one of whom died behind bars), prosecutions and defamation campaigns against free expression activists, disruption of communications," the report said.

In Belarus, RWB said, "The Internet - a mobilisation and information platform - has received the full brunt of the authorities' brutal crackdown on the opposition."

The report continued that "some 100 Belarusian journalists were interrogated in 2011 alone, and over 30 given prison terms".

PAGE 34

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

Scores missing in Bangladesh ferry sinking I

Israel and Gaza factions agree on truce

S

cores of people are feared dead after a ferry collided with a barge south of the Bangladeshi capital, and rescuers have begun retrieving bodies, officials said.

The double-decker Shariatpur 1 ferry was hit yesterday early morning by another vessel in the middle of the Meghna River southeast of Dhaka, Shahidul Islam, a local police official, told AFP news agency.

"About 35 passengers were rescued by another ferry. But more than 150 passengers remain unaccounted for," Islam said. The vessel was thought to have been carrying about 200 people, although the exact number is

unknown.

Divers had so far recovered more than 30 bodies from inside the sunken ferry, local police official Mohammad Shahabuddin Khan told the Associated Press.

"The death toll is likely to rise as more bodies are feared trapped inside," Khan said. "We will get a better picture of the casualties once the sunken ferry is pulled out of the water."

Hundreds of anxious people, many of them weeping, gathered near the scene of the accident, in Munshiganj district, about 32km south of Dhaka, to look for loved ones who were on board the ferry.

Al Jazeera's Nicolas Haque, reporting from near the scene of the

accident, described "a sea of grieving people" waiting to get word about the status of their loved ones.

"One by one rescuers are bringing out bodies. I have seen bodies of children, women and there is a crowd of people here crying and it's quite an astonishing scene here at the edge of the river," Haque said.

Dulal Dewan, a survivor, described a scene of chaos as the ferry collided with the other ship.

"I was awakened with a big jolt," said the businessman, who was asleep on the top deck. "I jumped into the river in darkness as the ferry started going down."

"In minutes there were

screams all around," he said.

"People were shouting for help."

Dewan said he was rescued by a nearby boat, but eight other family members travelling with him were still unaccounted for.

Coastguards, fire brigade and police rescue workers rushed to the site after the accident at 2:30 am (2030 GMT Monday).

Ferry accidents, often blamed on overcrowding, faulty vessels and lax rules, are common in Bangladesh, a low-lying delta nation of 160 million people.

In April last year 32 people were killed after a passenger vessel sank in the Meghna river after colliding with a cargo ship.

Annan awaits Syria response on peace plan

K

ofi Annan, the UN-Arab League envoy to Syria, says he expects a response from Damascus on "concrete proposals" he put forward during his recent visit to the country, as government forces continued a military assault in the northern province of Idlib.

The former UN chief was speaking from the Turkish capital

Ankara yesterday, where he was meeting a delegation from the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) . “I am expecting to hear from Syrian authorities today since I left some concrete proposals for them to consider," Annan told reporters after the meeting. "Once I receive their answer we will know how to react."

Syrian troops pressed an assault on rebel strongholds in the Turkish border province of Idlib (Reuters)

Annan arrived in Turkey on Monday after negotiations in Damascus over the weekend aimed at ending the escalating violence that activists say has killed over 8,500 people in a year.

Annan, who met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has not disclosed what those proposals entailed.

"Let me say that the killings and the violence must cease," Annan told reporters. "The Syrian people have gone a lot and they deserve better," he said.

The envoy said he had had a "useful meeting" with Syrian opposition members who "promised their full co-operation which will be necessary if we are going to succeed".

Burhan Ghalioun, the head of the SNC, said the aim of talks was to find a political and diplomatic solution in Syria, otherwise foreign governments would deliver on promises to supply weapons to rebel forces in the country.

The latest diplomatic development came as Syrian troops pressed an assault on rebel strongholds in the Turkish border

region on Tuesday.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian forces used heavy machine guns to rake the town of El-Baraa in the Jabal al-Zawiya region, a rebel bastion in northwestern Idlib province.

The Observatory said armed fighters hit back before dawn with an attack on a military checkpoint in the town of Maaret al-Numan in which at least 10 Syrian soldiers were killed.

In Khan Sheikhun, another rebel bastion in Idlib, fighters attacked troops in heavy military vehicles, damaging two of them and seizing others, the Observatory said.

It also reported clashes in Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria, in Aleppo in the north, and in Daraa in the south.

The army has since March 9 mounted an offensive in the mountainous region near the Turkish border in a bid to seize control of the city of Idlib, which bears the same name as the province, and other towns where the rebels are based.

3 climbers missing on frigid Pakistan mountain

F

eelings of triumph over the first winter ascent of Gasherbrum-1 by a Polish team were marred by growing concern Tuesday over the fate of three other climbers last seen high on the Pakistani mountain five days ago, battling temperatures of 70 below zero and ferocious winds.

The three - an Austrian, a Swiss and a Pakistani - were just short of the summit in the Karakoram range when they were spotted Friday by a Polish team that was descending after it had reached the top of the 8,611 meter (28,251 feet)high peak.

Pakistan Alpine Club president Manzoor Hussain said he hoped weather might allow a helicopter to circle the peak later Tuesday to try and locate the missing men.

Cloud and high winds had prevented any aircraft getting near the mountain since Friday.

Hussain said he feared the men were dead.

"Frankly, there is no possibility of them surviving a night or two up there," he said. "I feel we have lost them."

Mohammad Ali, the manager of the tour agency that helped organize the trip, said he hoped the men had managed to descend to a lower camp on the mountain and were still alive.

"They are very experienced," he said. "We very much hope they are OK." All the climbers on the mountain, also known as Hidden Peak, were part of the same expedition, but were attempting different routes. The two Poles summitted early on Friday after besieging the peak along with several other climbers for more than two months.

Winter ascents of the world's 14 highest mountains are some of most prized achievements left in climbing.

Manzur Hussain, president of the Alpine Club of Pakistan

srael and factions in the Gaza Strip have agreed to an Egyptian-mediated truce to end days of cross-border violence that have left 25 Palestinians dead, according to Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials.

Gaza's Hamas leadership and the Islamic Jihad faction confirmed the ceasefire with Al Jazeera on Tuesday, after four days of Israeli attacks. Israel accuses Palestinian factions of firing rockets into the country.

A spokesman for Islamic Jihad said the group was ready to respect a truce if Israel ended its "aggressions".

"We accept a ceasefire if Israel agrees to apply it by ending its aggressions and assassinations," Daud Shehab said.

The senior Egyptian official told Reuters news agency yesterday that both sides had "agreed to end the current operations", including an undertaking by Israel to "stop assassinations", and "to begin a comprehensive and mutual (period of) calm".

An Israeli minister confirmed that an "understanding" had been reached for a truce.

"In fact there is an understanding, and we are following what's going on in the field," Matan Vilnai, home front defence minister, told public radio without going into detail but adding that "apparently things are calming down".

Israeli air attacks on Gaza killed seven more people on Monday, taking the death toll to 25 in hostilities that erupted on Friday, Palestinian medical sources said.

Islamic Jihad said two of the dead were members of its military wing, the al-Quds Brigades.

Israel has said it is hitting back at scores of rocket attacks, with more than 40 fired on Monday alone.

In a strike on the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, a 65-year-old man and his daughter were killed.

Medics also reported six air raids in the early hours of Monday that injured 35 people, and another two raids around the city of Khan Younis, which left two dead and two others wounded.

Medics said another strike killed a 15-year-old boy and injured six other students near a school in northern Gaza.

Al Jazeera's Paul Brennan, reporting from Gaza City, earlier quoted Islamic Jihad sources as saying that the Egyptians, at the behest of Hamas, were trying to establish an informal truce.

However, our correspondent said, "Islamic Jihad is very reluctant to abide by that at the moment ... They are extremely unhappy that the Israelis are pursuing what they call an 'assassination policy'."

Eighteen of the Palestinians killed since Friday were identified by medical officials as fighters and five as civilians. At least 74 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and three Israelis have been wounded.

"Sometimes there is collateral damage, and of course Israel is sorry

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

PAGE 35

Lover offered me £2,000 to abort our Down’s boy... but look how full of life he is now!

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horrified mum told last night how she was offered £2,000 to abort her baby - after the dad discovered he could have Down's syndrome.

Lisa Mackin angrily rejected the cash and is now the proud mum of cheery little Tommy, two.

She was told the money would "help her get over it".

But Lisa, 28, said: "I love my baby and the thought that someone could put a price on his head was just disgusting.

"There is no amount of money in the world anyone could give me. I've lost a baby before, so I know how awful it feels.

"I said, 'I'm not going to abort my baby and take two grand off you - it's not going to happen'.

"He called the evening I learnt Tommy could have Down's syndrome. When I

realised what he was saying, I had never felt so much anger. I was screaming and shouting. I was so shocked. We never spoke again after that."

Lisa, of Romford, Essex, was delighted when she found she was pregnant with Tommy in the Spring of 2009.

She said the dad - who we have agreed not to name at her request - was also excited.

But after her 12-week scan she was told she needed a blood test. She was then told there was a one-in-13 chance of the baby being born with Down's syndrome. Another test confirmed the genetic condition.

But Lisa, who also has three daughters, said: "The Down's syndrome has made no difference. It's incredible to see him get to the milestones in his life."

Tommy's dad has never seen him. But Lisa added: "If Proud ... Lisa and son Tommy he wanted to, I wouldn't stop it. The door's open if he wants to play a part in Tommy's life."

The dad regrets his reaction to t h e n e w s a b o u t Tommy - and insisted the money offer was not a bribe.

He told The Sun: "I didn't think I'd be able to cope. We were discussing abortion and I said, 'I'll give you £2,000.

You can take the girls on holiday, it'll help you get over it'.

"It was never meant to be, 'I'll give you two grand to kill that baby'. I feel really bad."

Newborn ... Lisa with Tommy

Bribing your partner to have an abortion with money is simply abhorrent.

No partner should ever put pressure on their spouse to abort a child, whether it has Down's syndrome or not.

When my now ex-partner and I had Elliot, we had no idea about Down's syndrome.

All parents must experience shock when they find out, but we soon realised how many fantastically happy children and parents there are who deal with it.

The problem with most

people's perception of Down's syndrome is they don't understand they're normal, lovely children inside.

Elliot's given us all the pleasure any child would. We had another son, Ethan, two years after Elliot.

He doesn't have Down's syndrome but not for a millisecond did I hope he didn't.

Any parent who considers aborting a child because it has Down's syndrome should spend some time with a family that has one.

‘I could die if I cry’: Agony of young woman who is so allergic to water that her TEARS cause potentially deadly burning rash

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young woman fears she could killed by her own tears because she is allergic to water.

Katie Dell, from Flint, North Wales, suffers with the condition aquagenic urticaria, which is so rare it affects just 35 people in the whole world.

When she cries, her tears bring out a painful rash. And long soaks in the bath are out of the question because they trigger burning inflammation.

The 27-year-old was even forced to give up her job as a dance teacher because her perspiration caused a painful reaction on her skin.

The condition, which can in some people trigger potentially a deadly anaphylactic shock, is getting worse and she fears it will end up killing her.

She said: 'Sometimes I feel like a prisoner in my own home. I have days where I want to crawl into bed and cry but of course, I can't.

'Someone said I could die from it but I don't want to know about my life expectancy. Until they find a cure I just have to live with it. I'm taking each day as it

comes.'

Mrs Dell's symptoms began at 16 when she had her tonsils removed. Doctors suspect the pencillin she was given may have disrupted histamine levels in her body.

Her husband, Andy, 32, has given up his job as a delivery driver to be her full-time carer.

She said: 'People didn't

understand my condition and would give me a funny look when I told them I couldn't shower.

'My condition is worsening but I don't want to think about what I'll be like in 10 or 15 years.

'Andy has been amazing and does all the things I'm not allowed to do, like the washing up.

'I have to be in and out of the bath in two minutes and Andy

has to wash my hair for me.'

There is currently no known cure for aquagenic urticaria but Mrs Dell is trialling a new drug to try to control her condition.

'At the moment I'm taking a drug that transplant patients take,' she said.

'In the same way the drug tells their body not to reject a new liver or kidney, it is telling my

Help: Katie with her husband Andy, who has given up work to be her full-time carer

body not to reject the water on my skin.

'Next they want to try a drug that cancer patients take to try to build up my immune system.

'The next stage after that is chemotherapy but I don't really want to go down that route because it makes you ill.'

Flare-up: Katie Dell before exposure to water (left) and with instant red patches under her eyes while crying

PAGE 36

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

Change your DNA with just 20 minutes of regular exercise A

series of experiments have revealed that just a few minutes of relatively strenuous exercise can dramatically change a person’s

Difference: A brief session on a bike can transform a person's DNA

DNA. The changes are not to the code of life itself, but to its ‘punctuation’. These chemicals activate, silence and crank up genes and their actions.

In the case of muscle, exercise appears to crank up the genes needed to burn fat and sugar and support the body.

Just 20 minutes pedalling flat out on an exercise bike makes a difference, the journal Cell Metabolism reports.

Researcher Juleen Zierath, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, said: ‘We often say that you are what you eat.

‘Well, muscle adapts to what you do.

‘If you don’t use it, you lose it and this is one of the mechanisms that allows this to happen.’

Professor Zierath and colleagues from Denmark and Dublin began with two experiments in which healthy men who didn’t regularly exercise were put through their paces on an exercise bike.

After they stopped, slivers of muscle were taken from their thigh and the DNA analysed from chemical changes.

This revealed the changes to occur after just minutes.

However, the gentle exercise

Coffee drinkers would have to consume between 50 to 100 cups in order to have a similar effect on their muscles won’t to. The person needs to be out of breath and while able to speak, have difficulty carrying out a conversation.

Further experiments on cells

in the test-tube linked the changes to the contraction of muscle.

Coffee had a similar effect.

But, unfortunately for those who

would choose a cappuccino over a trip to the gym, it takes 50 to 100 strong coffees to mimic the effect of exercise on muscles.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

Circumcision ‘lowers risk of prostate cancer’ C ircumcision may protect against prostate cancer, a study shows.

A study found that men who had been circumcised before they had sex for the first time were on average 15 per cent less likely to develop the illness than uncircumcised males.

They were 12 per cent less likely to develop less aggressive prostate cancer and 18 per cent less likely to suffer the more aggressive form.

Jonathan Wright, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, said that infections were known to cause cancer, with sexually transmitted infections contributing to prostate cancer.

Because circumcision can protect against infection Dr Wright reasoned it may also prevent cancer.

He and a team studied 3,399 men, around half with the disease and half without, and discovered the statistics backed up the theory.

Those who had been circumcised had had the operation before their first sexual intercourse.

The researchers say that as well as protecting against chronic inflammation circumcision may toughen the inner foreskin and remove the space beneath where pathogens can thrive.

Dr Wright said: ‘These data are in line with an infectious/inflammatory pathway which may be involved in the risk of prostate

cancer in some men.

‘Although observational only, these data suggest a biologically plausible mechanism through which

circumcision may decrease the risk of prostate cancer.

Future research of this relationship is warranted.’

The results were published

A father and great grandfather at a Jewish circumcision ceremony. Three-quarters of men in the U.S compared to six per cent of men in the UK are circumcised for non-religious reasons

Monday in the journal Cancer and add to the longstanding debate over whether boys should keep their foreskin.

The World Health Organization already recommends the controversial procedure based on research showing it lowers heterosexual men’s risk of contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Last year, scientists also reported that wives and girlfriends of circumcised men had lower rates of infection with human papillomavirus or HPV, which in rare cases may lead to cervical and other cancers.

Last week, researchers reported that African men who were circumcised were less likely to be infected with a particular herpes virus.

Circumcision rates vary widely between countries.

According to a 2007 report from the World Health Organisation three-quarters of men in the U.S were circumcised for non-religious reasons.

However, the rate is 30 per cent in Canada and just six per cent of men have undergone the procedure in the UK. In September, the Royal Dutch Medical Association discouraged circumcision, calling it a ‘painful and harmful ritual.’

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

PAGE 37

I’m the best man for the PDP chairmanship, says Adamu Bello INTERVIEW Frontline aspirant to the position of the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the forthcoming National Congress, Mallam Adamu Bello, visited the headquarters of Peoples Daily last week. The politician had a no-holds barred interview with the management team where he explained why he is gunning for the party's number one position as well as his vision for the party. Lawrence Olaoye was there. Excerpts:

I

the array of aspirants contesting the position of the PDP National Chairman, do you consider yourself experienced enough to steer the ship of the party if elected?

I have gathered enough experience to the lead the party; I was privileged to have worked with very prominent Nigerians in the private and public sectors over the years. In the private sector, I was able to work with people like chief Jerome Udoji, Mobalaji Anthony,Ibrahim Domchida , Chief Chris Ogunbanjo, Pius Okigbo, Mallam Musa Bello, Dr. Babatunde of the famous Daily Times. So you can see that I have corporate experience. I served in the famous Jerome Udoji Commission and that's the kind of experience I have.

In the public sector’s administration again, it is hard to find a person who have served in the cabinet with almost 150 council members. Because when I was a Minister, at the beginning we were about 50 in the cabinet of (President Olusegun) Obasanjo. After finishing that task, they retained about three of us; then he reshuffled his cabinet and another batch came and even before they finished he reshuffled his cabinet, people were coming and going; I have served with nothing less than 120 Ministers. I have the experience. I have the privilege of serving with people like Theophilus Danjuma, Mallam Adamu Ciroma, Chief Bola Ige ,Tony Annenih, a lot of people, Liyel Imoke, Emeka Chikelu , Okonjo-Iweala, Yomi Edu; worked with President Obasanjo for so many numbers of years. So that kind of experience is the kind of experience that I have gathered, only very few people can hardly match them. So that kind of experience I have gathered is what I want to put to bear on the leadership of the PDP In the banking industry, I was honoured by being made a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers twenty tears ago in 1992. I also have served in the Disciplinary Committee of the Nigerian Institute of Bankers, that was in 1992. So I have this rich experience of service, rich experience which has been rewarded and I feel having done this, I have experiences and educational background to go into the PDP and be the Chairman.

Number two is the issue of direct approval in terms of organizing people. When I was a minister of Agriculture, it took me about two and half years to bring all the farmers in Nigeria under one group. It has never been the case even when there were different associations of farmers, it was under my tenure that we were able to bring them to form what is called the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) with Admiral Multala Nyanko as its President; then Ade Koka was its Vice President.

Anyone who aspires to lead the PDP as it is must be ready to be a lackey of the President, are you prepared to be a lackey?

First of all, I disagree with you entirely that you have to be a lackey of the President to survive as the chairman of the PDP. Some honourable men have occupied that position who agreed with the President in taking certain actions and they cannot be said to be the lackeys of the President. Take the case of Ahmadu Ali under president Obasanjo when it looked like the President was dictating, but people must not forget that President Obasanjo and Col. Ahmadu Ali were military people. They came from a particular background. Most of the things done by Ahmadu Ali and people thought were being dictated by the president were things being shared which they agreed with which you and I may not agree with.

When I get into the office, I will do only that which is right. But I will respectfully tell you that this is the situation. As the leader of the party I intend to enforce the motto of the party: justice, unity and progress.

Progress of the country Nigeria.

Unity of the people of the party and the people of Nigeria. Justice to the membership of the party and justice to every Nigerian. That is what I intend to do.

How are you going to manage the crises in the party if you get elected as the Chairman?

Thank you very much, you see, the PDP's membership cuts across the various strata of the country; with various ideologies; it's not like the Socialists party; it is not a Communist party. The history of the PDP was something you could likened to that of the ANC ,the African National congress in South Africa.

The parallel is this, the ANC was

formed to fight against apartheid in South Africa; for the emancipation of the blacks. The PDP was formed to fight against military dictatorship in Nigeria to see to the installation of democracy. PDP main aim was to ensure that the military was out. People got together, everybody, Abubakar Rimi, progressive , non progressive, all came together. Alex Ekweme of NPN was there , Solomon Lar NPP was there, Bamanga Tukur, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, all these people I am taking about belong to different colouration in terms of political movement before, but just as the ANC fought against racism apartheid, they fought against the military rule.

A party like the PDP encompasses everybody that is why it is such a huge party because everybody from the political class came together. Now we want to build a consensus around what we want to do for the party. To bring unity , peace and progress. That we must try to do to ensure that there is justice, people do not move from the party, internal democracy must work. So if I become the chairman of the party that is what I intend to do There are talks that in spite of the fact that the PDP had been in the saddle of power since inception of democracy, nothing has really changed in terms of the nation's economy and the welfare of the people.

How do you react to this?

You see, I tend to disagree that we have not progressed. When I took over as the Minister of Agriculture, the growth rate was 3% but by the time I left office, the growth rate has become 8%. The problem is that of income distribution and it is an issue that the government needs to address. So when I become the chairman of the party I will ensure that pro-poor policies are put in place; because the country is growing about 7 to 8 percent now and the growth rate of the population is about 2.8 percent. It means that the standard of the living of Nigerians must be raised by approximately 5%. But a few people are enjoying these growth rates, it is not going down to the poor masses. The current statistics has shown that the people who live under the dollar a day has increased; so now it's an issue of distribution and policies that are put in place, like the NDE and other poverty reduction or eradication programmes. These needed to work so as to ensure equitable distribution of wealth. So this is something that the party will address but it is really not correct that the economy has not grown. The economy has grown but there are things that must be adjusted if this country should stabilize.

What is your view about the vision of the party? There is this perception that corruption was endemic under the PDP during the administration in which you served as a minister; how would you react to these?

My own view about a vision of a party is a vision that will reflect all what I said earlier on. You must run the party that tries to unite its

Mallam Adamu Bello members; that works for the progress of the country; that is the kind of party that I want. The party that the people will be happy to identify with; we must ensure that party has the best value that will show the way. Coming to the issue of corruption that you talked about, there is corruption everywhere, there is corruption in government, and there is corruption in the private sector in Nigeria. You see corruption on the road. It is very important for us to remember the efforts that the PDP government has done over the years, because it was PDP government under President Obasanjo that set up EFCC to fight corruption; it was under Obasanjo that the ICPC was set up to fight corruption. Corruption is something that must be fought everywhere. It takes two to tango, they say. There are people who came to give money; there are people who force things to stop working to force you to give money. Those who give money to influence things should be indentified. You see when you're in government, the issue of transparency becomes very important. A minister can not give contract just like that; due process will come into play, a lot of things would change, now e-payment are being done by the PDP government.

There are challenges; if you close one loophole, another one appears. So it is apparent that we a must all unite, not only the PDP government, to fight corruption in this country. But PDP has institutionalized the fight against corruption. Though some abuses must have taken place in the fight against corruption but it would be inappropriate to say that the PDP has not fought corruption.

There are allegations of irregularities in the procurement and distribution of fertilizers during your time as the Agriculture minister, will you clarify this issue?

Throughout my period as Minister of Agriculture, there was never a time anyone successfully accused me of messing up the fertilizers acquisition and distribution. Well I had a clash with one Senator who was the Chairman of Senate Committee on Agriculture, if I remember correctly. Basically he wanted some companies to be given fertilizer contracts and they didn't meet the criteria. So they did not get

the kind of quantity he wanted, they went to town. I say since the inception of this administration, in terms of democracy, nobody except Adamu Bello fought the legislative arm of government and came out successfully. When I fought the Senator he was sacked as the Chairman of the committee. His colleagues after seeing the process I went through before awarding the fertilizer contracts, they sacked him as the chairman of that committee.

During my time, there was no fertilizer cartel as 87 companies were supplying fertilizers. After my tenure, about three or four companies were doing so. I was the most transparent Minister of Agriculture.

There are indications that the North-East governors are working on a consensus candidate, if at the end of the day you are not the consensus candidate, how are going to manage the fallout?

This issue of consensus candidate, I think people are making mistakes about it. A consensus comes out if people involved in an issue come together and agree. If the governors meet and say this is our consensus candidate, it's the consensus for them; it's not the consensus for the contenders. So, a consensus candidate emerges if the governors dialogue with all those who are contesting and they come out with one candidate; that is a consensus candidate. I will appreciate the support of the governors if they support me but I want to be in the election. If I'm made a consensus candidate, that does not mean I will not dialogue with my co-contestants.

Any consensus without the contestants is not a consensus.

How have you been reaching out to the stakeholders in the party in the bid to realize your ambition?

Yes, I've been talking to various stakeholders in the party; the governors, the ministers, the party chairmen; ordinary members; the delegates, members of the press so that they can vote for the candidate that will make the party proud.

PAGE 38

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

Reps threaten to arrest NSE boss for ignoring summons

By Lawrence Olaoye

T

he House of Representatives yesterday threatened to invoke its constitutional powers and order the arrest of the Director General of the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE), Oscar Onyema, for ignoring parliamentary summons.

The threat issued by the House Committee on Capital Market chaired by Rep Herman Hembe came as the panel opened a two-week investigation into factors that led to the failure of the capital market with a view to proffering solutions.

The Committee expressed anger at the absence of Onyema at the public hearing which it said was meant "to examine the causes of the financial and regulatory crisis that has gripped this country's capital market" with a view to taking steps to restore public confidence in the market.

Members of the committee said that they were further angered by the fact that Onyema wrote a letter to the committee stating that the committee had no oversight functions over the NSE. The chairman in his ruling said that should Onyema fail to appear before it today, it would issue a warrant of arrest to compel him to appear in order to give accounts on the activities of the NSE. The Committee had invited Onyema to appear with a proof of his academic qualification including proof of participation at the National Youth Service Scheme.

The Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Arunmah Oteh, identified the security challenges presented by the Boko Haram sect as a major setback in the effort to rebuild confidence in the capital market.

In her comments, Oteh told the committee that insecurity in the country was seriously having negative effect on the stock market.

According to her "The spate of bombings by the Boko Haram sect has led to an increase in the perception of insecurity in some parts of Nigeria which consequently has negative impact on the market" Chairman of the committee, Herman Hembe, noted that "The Nigerian market have seen over N20 trillion wealth evaporate" adding that "moneys set aside for retirement along with life savings have been swept away as the market declined over the years".

The chairman while highlighting the factors that aided the failure of the capital market, said "The general consensus is that the crisis was avoidable and its root causes can be found in widespread failures in regulatory oversight including the failure to stem the

tide of un-regulatory margin loans administration.

Other identified causes of the market failure, according to Hember are dramatic breakdowns in corporate governance including too many financial firms acting recklessly and taking on too much risk; an explosive mix of excessive borrowing and risks by households as well as unregulated hot money.

On the scope of the probe, Hembe said "In this arrangement, we would look into organisation structural issues of both the NSE and SEC, funding issues, procedures and approval practices that impacted on the actions that took place and may still exist, review of acts of

parliament where necessary, realities of stockbroking business in Nigeria, use of waivers " In her presentation, Oteh further blamed the increasing woes in the capital market on the apathy by local investors.

"Given the losses suffered by shareholders from the market crisis in 2008, many local investors became hesitant to return to the market" She declared.

The SEC boss informed the committee that the Commission had concluded arrangements to boost the confidence of investors.

"The Commission is at an advanced stage in the establishment of an Investment Protection Trust Fund as required by the Investments and Securities Act."

Edo lawmaker seeks review of town planning policies

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ember representing A k o k o - E d o constituency in the Edo House of Assembly, Mr Adjoto Kabiru, yesterday in Benin called for a proper review of the state,s town planning policies.

Kabiru made the call during the consideration of a motion moved by Bamidele Oloruntoba representing Akoko-Edo 11 on the rainstorm disaster that hit Igbigere and Ogboshafe villages of Akoko-Edo in Edo. He said the call had become necessary because so many houses were built against the direction of the wind thereby causing havoc when it rained. ``The monumental damage done to these communities by the rainstorm is better imagine because of the building of houses against wind direction

``The town planners should in liaise with geographers to do a proper review of the state town planning system to prevent future occurrences of rainstorm disaster in the state. ``Town planners should be alive to their responsibility and ensure that people stop building houses without approved plan,'' he said.

He recalled that, Owan East and Owen West local government areas of Edo were also affected by rainstorm disaster two weeks ago.

Kabiru said that deforestation was a major problem, which needed to be tackled, adding that almost all the trees in the affected areas had been cut down without replacement.

He urged relevant agencies to provide relief material to ameliorate the pain of the affected people and monumental damage done to the communities. (NAN)

Jigawa commissioner, 4 senior govt. officials resign

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Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) women in a queue during the local government congress of the party, last Saturday in Mayo-Belwa local government area of Adamawa state.

Photo: NAN

Ekiti Assembly ready to ensure effective use of state resources – Spokesperson

T

he Ekiti State House of Assembly on Monday expressed its determination to monitor the financial operations of the executive arm of government to ensure effective use of resources.

The Chairman, House Committee on Information, Mrs. Omowunmi Ogunlola told reporters in Ado-Ekiti that the Assembly, comprising 24 members of the ruling ACN and two PDP lawmakers was not a rubber stamp.

She said the Assembly had established a new office to be known as "Budget Place" for scrutinising the yearly financial estimates of government, starting with the current financial year.

The lawmaker said the office would collate and analyse all data for the preparation of the budget.

"This present assembly is insisting that full implementation of annual

budgets is achieved and realistic,'' she said.

Ogunlola said the lawmakers had no apologies for the harmonious relationship between the legislature and the executive arm of government, saying such relationship was necessary for the progress of the state.

She said the lack of harmony between the legislature and the executive in the past was responsible for the lack of progress and development in the state.

Ogunlola said the assembly had passed 29 bills and six motions since its inauguration six months ago. (NAN)

commissioner in Jigawa state and four other senior government officials yesterday resigned their appointments.

They included; Alhaji Salisu Mahmuda, the Jigawa Commissioner for Economic Empowerment, a Special Adviser to the Governor, Alhaji Tukur Gantsa, and two Special Assistants, Saleh Danzomo, and Saleh KO, Sani Adam.

Also, a member of state's Primary Education Board, Alhaji Isa Alhassan The resignation was contained in a statement signed by the Director of Press to Gov. Sule Lamido, Malam Kyari Jittau.

The statement did not disclose the reason for their resignation.

But investigation by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) revealed that the former appointees resigned to contest for positions in the executive council in the forthcoming PDP state congress.

Meanwhile, Lamido has approved the resignations and directed the Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Rabiu Isa, to oversee the Ministry of Economic Empowerment. (NAN)

Party gives reasons for not fielding candidate in Kebbi guber election

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he Progressive Action Congress (PAC) says the party is not fielding a candidate in the upcoming governorship election in Kebbi because of its alliance with the CPC. PAC National Secretary, Mr Bala Mohammed gave the explanation in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.

The Supreme Court had nullified the election of Gov. Saidu Dakingari

of Kebbi State and ordered a fresh poll within 90 days.

INEC, on its part, fixed May 31 for a rerun election, although some parties, mainly ANPP and ACN, have rejected the date alleging that the date was picked to favour PDP's candidate.

Muhammed explained that since CPC had fielded Abubakar Mallam for the poll, PAC opted to support the CPC candidate because of the alliance. ```The party is not going to

compete with CPC since we had been in alliance, especially for Adamawa and Sokoto governorship election during which our party worked for CPC. `` This alliance has been in existence before the April general elections, and it stands. `` Our supporters in Kebbi are seriously working with CPC and canvassing for votes from other political parties to ensure its success in the election. (NAN)

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PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

National Congress: PDP screens aspirants, sets conditions for contest

By Lawrence Olaoye

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cting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, yesterday disclosed that the party would screen all aspirants jostling for positions in the forthcoming National Congress.

Baraje in a statement emanating from his office said the screening scheduled to hold next week is in line with the principle of due process laid down by the party's constitution.

The Chairman equally gave conditions the aspirants would have to satisfy before they could be cleared to contest for whatever position in the congress.

According to him, a

Screening Committee has been constituted by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party. He added that the list of the screened aspirants would be released three days to the National Convention.

According to the National Chairman, the Party will adhere strictly to due process in the processes before and during the National Convention, insisting that it is in the best interest of the respective aspirants to familiarize themselves with the rules governing the conduct of the exercise.

"This is a Due-process National Working Committee headed by my humble self. By now, our Party members know who I am as far as complying with rules and regulations is

concerned. They also know that this NWC will not accept anything less than the rules and regulations guiding the conduct of our elections into Party Offices.

We have been displaying the rules at the venues of the various congresses conducted so far across the nation. This is why we have had very little complaints perhaps the first time in the history of the Party", he said.

Pre-requisite conditions set by the party for the aspirants to qualify to contest at the

Congress include: they must be Card-Carrying Members as well as Financial Members; they must have proven integrity; they must have reasonable and proven experience; those presently holding any position within or outside the party must follow the necessary procedures to allow them vie for party offices at the National Convention; strict emphasis will be placed on the position of the Party guiding the acceptable behavior of Aspirants or Candidates for elective positions;

and the true identities of the aspirants will be ascertained by the Screening Committee including their antecedents.

Commenting on the petitions arising from the just concluded Ward and Local Government Congresses, Baraje counseled that the aggrieved should forward their complaints to the Appeal Panel Committees set up for that purpose just as he warned that the party will not entertain petitions that are not routed through the established channel of communication.

"We accept only petitions that follow due process. Those not received by the Appeal Panel Committees will not be given attention in Abuja. This is what we mean by due process", he said

Gombe deputy governor condemns attacks on police stations, banks

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he Deputy Governor of Gombe state, Mr. Tha'anda Rubainu, has condemned the continued attacks on police stations and banks in the state by gunmen.

Rubainu made the

PDP National Chair: Niger endorses consensus arrangement From Iliya Garba, Minna

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he leadership of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Niger state chapter, has endorsed the consensus option for the emergence of the party's National Chairman ahead of the March 24 National Congress.

Niger PDP Chairman, Dr. Abdulrahaman Enagi, who disclosed the position of the state said that he and some others had reached out to their colleagues across the country on the interest of a consensus candidate for the national chairmanship of the party.

He said the state was in support of the consensus arrangement because it fosters unity among the members just as he disclosed that feelers coming from all the zones indicated that they have accepted to abide by the idea.

Enagi said it was expected that the North East zone which the position has been zoned to would come to the congress with a consensus candidate for ratification by the delegates.

He hinted that the North Central Zone met recenlty to endorse its candidates for the positions of National Youth Leader and Legal adviser assuring that they would come out with one candidate for each of the position.

condemnation in Ashaka on Monday during a condolence visit to the Emir of Funakaye, Alhaji Mohammed Ribadu, over the recent bomb attacks on Ashaka Police outstation and two banks in the area.

"We have seen the effect, the damage done to the banks and the police station and we are sure that God will bring an end to this happening," he said.

He described the attacks as unfortunate.

The Deputy Governor said the government was committed to protecting lives and property and urged the people to report any suspicious person in their communities for appropriate action.

The deputy governor also condoled with the management and staff of Ashaka Cement Company over the attack which occurred in their premises.

He assured them that adequate security would be provided by government to ensure the safety of staff and property.

In his response, the Corporate Affairs Manager of the company, Alhaji Yunusa Mohammed, thanked the deputy governor for the visit, saying the company would also take measures to protect lives and property. (NAN)

L-R: Adamawa state Governor, Admiral Murtala Nyako, Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Malam Ahmed Gulak, Taraba state Governor, Danfulani Suntai, and Gombe state Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo, after their meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday at State House, Abuja on the forthcoming Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Convention.

Photo.Joe Oroye

DLG harps on peace for development From Sam Egwu, Lokoja

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he Director of Local G o v e r n m e n t administration, Lokoja local government council,, Kogi state, Daniel Iyaji has described peace and unity as the bedrock of functional development that no government should toy with.

The chairman who stated this yesterday in Lokoja, said his administration was committed to ensuring restoration of peace which was borne out of his firm believe in the efficacy of peace

as a panacea for progress and development.

While calling on youths in the area to shun violence and embrace progressive ventures, Iyaji called on the political class to be more committed to the welfare of the people He enjoined the present administration not to be distracted despite the arriys of litigations, but to be focused in pursuing peoples driven policies and programs.

The DLG noted that the duo of Governor Idris Wada and Yomi

Awoniyi are the necessary ingredients required to propel the state to an enviable height.

Iyaji maintained that the past administration has laid a very solid foundation for the take-off of the new government and called on all aggrieved parties to toe the path of peace.

He promised to use the resources of the local government to better the life of the people and remained focused in the drive to put Lokoja local government on the achievers chart.

Mark confers with North Central leaders over PDP National Convention Richard Ihediwa with agency reports

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head of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)'s National Convention scheduled to hold on 24th of March, the Senate President has met with stakeholders from the zone to consider which of the states in in the North Central is to provide candidates for the positions zoned to the area.

The meeting which held a few days ago was to harmonize the positions of the zone on who

occupies the position of the party's National Legal Adviser, National Youth Leader, Deputy National Woman Leader, Exofficio member and National Vice-Chairman from the zone.

Those who attended the meeting held in Mark's official residence include two former governors in the north central zone; two former National Chairmen of the party; Chief Solomon Lar and Senator Ahmadu Ali as well as other stakeholders.

The leaders at the meeting

resolved to work together as a team in order to bring dividend of democracy to their citizens.

Mark in his remarks noted that the zone was synonymous with PDP and would remain united in order to attract dividends of democracy to the people.

Those in attendance at the parley were Acting National Chairman, Abubakar Baraje, two former national chairmen; Solomon Lar and Ahmadu Ali, governors Gabriel Suswam of Benue

State, Aliyu Babangida of Niger, Ahmed Abdulfatah of Kwara state, Jonah Jang of Plateau as well as Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Yomi Awoniyi.

Others were former Deputy Senate President Ibrahim Mantu, Ministers of interior Abba Morro, his trade and investment counterpart, Samuel Ortom, Senators and House of Representatives members from the zone as well as state party chairmen in the zone among others.

PAGE 40

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012

PDP National Congress: Southern Kaduna lobbies for Organising Secretary From Lawal Sadiq Sanusi, Kaduna

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outhern Kaduna Elders Consultative Forum has urged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to consider the minority of the zone for the position of National Organising Secretary of party.

A statement by Alhaji Abdu Suleiman, said that although the position had been

zoned to Kaduna state, Forum feared it might not go to them despite the contributions they made to the victory of the party in the state and the country in general.

"The statistics of Federal appointment of personalities from zone 3 of the state, previously and currently, only favored the majority�, it said, citing the incumbent Governor Patrick Yakowa,

who was Minister of Solid Mineral Resources, Minister of state for Aviation, Mr. Hassan Hyet, Senator Nnenadi Usman, Minister Finance, Minister of State for power, Arch.

Nuhu Wya and currentSpecial Adviser to President on Special Duties, Senator Isaiah Balat.

Besides, it argued that former governor of Rivers State and Chairman of the Forum, General

Zamani Lekwot, had late last year complained about the problem to Vice President Namadi Sambo which they welcomed and urged that it will be conceded to the minority among them who are voiceless but very strategic in the block votes the southern Kaduna zone ensured for the victory of PDP since 2007 and subsequent elections in the state.

According to the forum, the Zone 1 of the state has over eleven

INEC expresses commitment to better polls in 2015

Chairmanship: Tukur laments PDP’s dwindling fortunes

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NEC says it is committed to ensuring greater enlightenment of the electorate to ensure better and more conscious voting in 2015.

Prof. Okey Ibeanu, technical advicer to INEC Chairman Attahiru Jega, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.

Ibeanu said the idea of introducing voter education to secondary schools was crucial to developing conscious and supporters of democracy in future. ``It's a very important programme because secondary school is like the formative level of civic engagement. ``So if you catch them young you are likely to get a better educated, better conscious voters and supporters of democracy in future. ``But the important thing is to get the programme well thought through in terms of the content, the strategy, how to monitor what is happening and how to sustain it over a long time,'' Ibeanu said.

The Commission said on Monday that it would introduce voter education to secondary school curriculum in order to make pupils active participants in the electoral process.

Prof.

Lai Olurode, Chairman Board of Electoral Institute, INEC, said this at a round table meeting of experts on voter education for principals and students of secondary schools.

Olurode said the move would educate pupils on how to thumbprint on the ballot papers as well as the importance of voting correctly. ``And this will address voter apathy and checkmate invalid votes during elections.

He said the commission would not want the new generation ``to fall inside the same pit fall of mistakes the old generations of voters are making.'' (NAN)

positions; zone 2 got seven while zone three got only four in spite of the contributions it made during the previous elections. " Zone 1 which contributed only 16% of the votes cast at polls have fifty percent of all appointments, Zone 2 who contributed 33% of all the votes cast have 33% of the appointments, while Zone 3 who contributed 51% of the Votes cast have only 17% of the appointments"

From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

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L-R: Assistant Chief System Analyst, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Mr. Godwin Imonruna Iruafemi, Deputy Director of DPR, Mr. Dozie Irrechukwu, and Deputy Director Gas, DPR Mr. Oliver Okparaojiako, during an interactive session between Senate Committee on Gas and DPR officials on Monday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Anambra governor, a worthy successor to Ojukwu, says Rep Ogene

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nambra state governor, Peter Obi has been affirmed as a perfect leader with a vision, passion and zeal to continue where Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu stopped in driving the Igbo agenda.

A member of the House of Reprsentatives for Ogbaru Federal Constituency Rep Afam Ogene in a chat with journalists at Nnewi, noted that Governor Obi consistently played central role in advancement of Igbo causes and given the Igbo race

stronger voice and presence in national and international affairs.

Ogene noted that such quality leadership brought Igbo sons and daughters together to give Ojukwu the kind of unrivaled burial that he received.

He explained that Governor Obi attracted national burial for the late Ikemba without much ado . Despite not being in the ruling PDP, he has remained Chairman of the South-East Governor's Forum, Vice

Chairman of the Nigeria Governors' Forum, Honorary Adviser to the President on the Economy and member National Economic Management Team, he said.

The lawmaker observed that Igbos appointed into Federal position secured endorsement of Governor Obi while he has remained in fore-front in championing issues that concern Ndigbo which he said remained his sterling attribute to transform him into a strong Igbo leader.

Plateau PDP: Only chairman has a challenger in Saturday’s congress - official

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ith only three days to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) state congress in Plateau, only the chairmanship seat is being contested, the party's Organising Secretary, Mr Michael Dachom, has said.

``All the positions in the Plateau State Executive Council are unopposed. Only the Chairman, Haruna Dabin, is being challenged,'' Dachom told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos on Tuesday.

Dabin is being challenged by

Mr. Gideon Barde, who equally hails from Kanke Local Government Area.

He said that the party was ready for the congress, pointing out that stakeholders had continued to meet toward a peaceful exercise. (NAN)

eoples Democratic Party (PDP)'s chairmanship aspirant Alh. Bamanga Tukur has expressed regrets over the dwindling fortunes of the party, stressing that it requires a surgical operation.

Tukur who said this during a courtesy call on Governor Gabriel Suswam at the Government House, Makurdi also likened the party to a house with leaking roof that should be mended. He assured that he would mend the party when elected its Chairman.

He observed with bitterness that the party at the last general election lost the entire South-West and only managed to clinch few Senate seats, adding that commitment, discipline, ideals and principles of the party have been eroded.

Tukur who is the chairman, African Business Round-Table said Nigeria with all its potentials cannot lead the whole of Africa, insisting that the PDP must be seen to provide the needed foundation and be the driver.

He solicited for support from the state, promising to be a team player for the growth of the party.

"I am a team player and i like competition because it brings out the best in me and I want to the best", he said.

Governor Gabriel Suswam who described. Tukur as a statesman, noted that he possesses the qualities to restore the party's lost glory.

He contended that the PDP needed an experienced person to reconstruct the party, assuring the former governor of old Gongola State that the state delegates would vote him at national convention of the party.

"We have over 100 delegates and are assure you that all their votes would be yours on March 24th 2012", Suswam promised.