Peoples Daily Newspaper, Wednesday 14, August, 2013

www.peoplesdailyng.com

Vol. 11 No. 63

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

. . . putting the people first

Lagos appeals Survivors of mosque acquittal of attack recount Al-Mustapha >> Pg 3 ordeal >> Pg 2

Shawwal 7, 1434 AH

N150

Meltdown: Nigerian banks set up selfprotection fund >> Pg 19

Jonathan, govs close ranks

By Lawrence Olaoye

T

here are indications last night that the ongoing reconciliation meeting

between President Olusegun Obasanjo and governors under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would find a ‘workable solution’ to the lingering crises

bedeviling the ruling party.

That ‘workable solution’, according to our findings, would compel both President Goodluck Jonathan and the governors,

especially the seven ‘revolting ones’, making various compromises, so that peace will reign in the party.

It will be recalled that Obasanjo met Monday night in

the Presidential Villa in Abuja with most of the PDP governors to find a lasting solution to the crises in the ruling party, part of which has Contd. on Page 2

Borno state Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima (middle), with government officials inspecting some vehicles torched by insurgents, during the governor’s visit yesterday to Konduga local government area of Borno state.

Nigeria jinxed, cursed, says Obasanjo From Inumidun Ojelade, Ibadan

F

ormer President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday took a swipe at the younger

generation of leaders in the country over poor performance records, integrity and probity, saying with such unfortunate developments, Nigeria is jinxed, and even cursed.

“It is sad that after 53 years of independence, we have no leader that we can commend. Then we are jinxed and cursed; we should all go to hell.

“The problem in Africa is that when one person takes over, he would not see any good thing that his predecessor did. Let us condemn but with caution”,

Obasanjo said while delivering a lecture in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.

The former president was Contd. on Page 2

Soldiers gun down 2 Boko Haram commanders in Mubi >>Pg 3

PAGE 2

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

News CONTENTS News Editorial Op.Ed

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Letters 14 Opinion 15 Metro 16-18 Business 19-22 Stockwatch 23 S/Report Property

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Motoring Arts

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Borno attacks: Survivors recount ordeal From Mustapha Isah Kwaru, Maiduguri

urvivors of last Sunday’s deadly attack in Konduga local government area of Borno state, where suspected Boko Haram insurgents killed 50 persons yesterday recounted how the invaders stormed several mosques during the dawn prayers, shooting everyone at sight.

In their separate narrations, the survivors, while speaking to Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, who visited the area to ascertain the level of casualties and damages caused by the attack, said the gunmen surrounded the town and divided themselves into separate groups before storming different mosques.

According to the residents, the insurgents who were over 200 including women, emerged from the nearby bush and opened fire at the direction of the worshippers.

The District Head of the area, Zanna Masu Yale, told Governor Shettima that 43 people were killed

by the gunmen who invaded the town.

According to Yale, the assailants, who carried assault rifles, Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs), Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and other sophisticated weapons, had driven into the area in several Volkswagen Golf cars.

The village head added that besides those killed, the invaders had equally set ablaze over 50 houses, two cars and several motorcycles.

“Your Excellency, the situation was horrifying because while the men among the attackers were busy killing people, the women on the other hand started burning of houses”, he added.

Also speaking, another survivor, Mohammed Muktar, said his father was shot dead while performing ablution in front of a mosque.

Mukhtar also said his wife was killed while seven of his children are still missing.

He disclosed that the Boko Haram fighters, who were in military uniform, came through

the western side of the town and followed through Tsohuwar Kasuwa (Old Market) to the district head’s house.

According to him, during the attacks, the insurgents were led by some of their colleagues who are residents of the area.

The governor who was emotionally shaken by the level of damage told the grief stricken residents that government will always identify with them at all times.

He praised the gallant efforts of both the security operatives and the Youth Volunteer Group in confronting the invaders which resulted in the death of five of the insurgents and the recovery of arms, saying,”you made me proud by your commitment toward the restoration of peace in the state”.

Shettima while condoling with the people announced a donation of N250,000 to each of the families of the 43 people killed.

He also donated N5 million and four vehicles to boost the activities

of the youth vigilante group known as the civilian JTF. The governor said the donation was a palliative measure to cushion the hardship they are facing following the death of their loved ones.

Those whose houses were burnt also received cash donations of between N100,000 and N400,000.

Shettima urged the people to continue to pray for full restoration of peace in the state.

“What happened to us is unfortunate and you should understand that whatever happens to you affects us all and we identify with you at this hour of grief’’ he told the people.

Shettima also announced the composition of a committee to verify the level of damages for proper compensation for the victims and promised to settle the medical bills of those injured.

He appealed to the security agencies and the Civilian JTF not to be deterred by the incident, as government is ready to assist them in whatever way, so that peace will be restored in the entire state.

Contd. from Front Page pitched seven of the governors against President Jonathan.

Governors Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu (Niger), and Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko (Sokoto) visited Obasanjo last month to seek his intervention in the PDP and Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) crises.

The governors subsequently met with other former leaders over the same issues, leading up to Monday night’s peace meeting which was however inclusive, and therefore reconvened last night.

Although the meeting was still ongoing up to our press time last night, sources close to the meeting told our reporter that President Jonathan and the revolting governors were already closing ranks.

One of our sources disclosed, however, that both sides are likely to be compelled to make “huge sacrifices” for “some sanity” to return to the PDP, “and hopefully the entire polity”.

For instance, the source revealed there was a proposal at the meeting on Monday night by one of the governors, who the source did not name, that both Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers state and Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau state, should concede the position of chair of the NGF, so that a neutral person will emerge as the Forum’s new leader.

According to this same source, the name that was touted as possible chairman of the NGF, should both Ameachi and Jang agree to give up their claims to that chair, is Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi state.

But another source said even if both Amaechi and Jang withdraw, most of the governors would not accept Yuguda since he not neutral as he belongs to the Jang faction which is perceived as loyal to Jonathan.

However, that proposal was not accepted, even as horse-trading continued up to the working hours of yesterday.

On the other hand, though Jonathan was not in attendance at the meeting on Monday, there

were also strong suggestions that he should, among others, agree to sacrifice Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as chairman of the PDP. Indeed, speculations were rife in political circles yesterday that Tukur may be removed at the August 31 Special Convention of the party to be held in Abuja.

But Tukur’s Special Asistant on Media and Publicity, Prince Oliver Okpala, dismissed the insinuation, describing it as “a mere political speculation bereft of any iota of truth”.

Similarly, the Acting National Publicity Secretary of the party, Barrister Ceasar Okeke, said he was unaware of such development and declined further comments.

However, one of our sources said most governors are now rooting for Tukur’s removal over his alleged meddlesomeness in the leadership crisis rocking the party’s chapter in Adamawa state, and other related issues.

“The thinking in some quarters is that the moment the ice is broken, President Goodluck Jonathan would have won back the confidence

of the governors who are likely to work for his emergence as the PDP candidate and his subsequent re election in 2015”, said our source.

The source however disclosed that some highly placed members of the party, who are waiting in the wings to reap from the crises by 2015, are not comfortable with the latest efforts to end the rift between the angry governors and the President.

Our reporter learnt that the Obasanjo used the session on Monday to ask all the governors who had grievances to speak out their minds, as part of his own efforts to ensure that some of them who had indicated that they would leave the party have a second thought.

Peoples Daily reliably learnt that President Jonathan and Governor Amaechi met about three weeks ago and discussed some of the issues that have led to the lingering fued between the two, but did not reach a truce at the meeting.

Meanwhile, like Monday night, up to our press time last night, Jonathan had not been part of Contd. on Page 3

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Jonathan, govs close ranks

How humanitarian crisis stares .5m children in the North, Page 4

Int’l

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Strange World Digest Politics Newsxtra Sports Leisure Columnist

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Nigeria jinxed, cursed, says Obasanjo Contd. from Front Page the Keynote Speaker at the 4th Annual Ibadan Sustainable Development Summit organised

by Centre for Sustainable Development, University of Ibadan, in collaboration with African Sustainable Development Network.

Chief Obasanjo, who spoke on issues of poor leadership in Africa, said the crop of younger generation of leaders in the country failed the citizens.

He specifically noted his Vice, Atiku Abubakar; former governor of Lagos state, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; former Speaker, House of Representatives, Alhaji Salisu Buhari; former Bayelsa state governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, and others as younger generation of leaders who failed the country.

He said during his

administration as president, “we had some people who were under 50 years (of age) in leadership positions. One of them was James Ibori; where is he today? One of them was Alamieyeseigha; where is he today? Lucky Igbinedion; where is he today?

“The youngest was the ( former House of Representatives) Speaker, Buhari; you can still recall what happened to him.

“You said Bola Tinubu is your master. What Buhari did was not anything worse than what Bola Tinubu did. “We got them (Buhari and others) impeached.

“But in this part of the world (South-west), some people covered up the other man. The man claimed he went to Government College, Ibadan; but the (former) governor (of Oyo state) went to Government

College and packed all the documents so that they would not know that he (Tinubu) did not go there.

“I wanted someone who would succeed me, so I took Atiku. Within a year, I started seeing the type of man Atiku is. And you want me to get him there?

“I once went to Tanzania because Julius Nyerere recognised Biafra. He told me not to mind his aides and others in government. They would say they have one house in town but their five-year old sons and daughters would have houses all over.

“Some of you who are condemning the leadership would get there tomorrow and it will be a different story. Only very few are actually good.

“Abacha, my predecessor got $750 million. Through our lawyer in Switzerland we recovered $1.25

billion and the lawyer still said there is probably still another $1 billion to be recovered.

“In 1979 we had 20 new ships specially built for Nigeria. When I came back 20 years after, the national shipping line had been liquidated.

“The whole thing is not just about leadership. If we talk about good leadership you should also talk about good followers. If you talk about human rights you should also talk about human duties and obligations”, Obasanjo who went down memory lane stressed.

Speaking on “Leadership in Africa’s Quest for Sustainable Development”, he said the topic was timely, coming at a time when humanity as a whole was in search of innovative ways of managing globally-shared challenges.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

PAGE 3

News

Lagos appeals Al-Mustapha’s acquittal From Ayodele Samuel, Matthew Irinoye & Mariam Nurudeen, Lagos

L

agos state government has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court of Nigeria against the two judgments of the lower court which acquitted and discharged Major Hamza Al-Mustapha and Lateef Shofolahan of the murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.

The Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye, disclosed this yesterday during his ministry’s monthly media briefing on Law and Order in the state.

Ipaye said that the decision to appeal the judgments of the Appeal Court was taken because there are

Faults Amnesty International report on evictions enough and very good grounds for appeal.

He however refused to disclose the grounds of the appeal filed at the Supreme Court.

“Having carefully reviewed the decisions of the respected Justices of the Court of Appeal, it is our humble view that there are strong bases for appeal which the Supreme Court of Nigeria should have an opportunity to consider.

“This step will also ensure that all issues are fully articulated and the victim’s family, the defendants and the society are not deprived of the last window of opportunity provided by the constitution for the resolution of the case”, he said.

The Commissioner however rejected the reports of the Amnesty International and Social and Economic Rights Action Centre on the people forcefully evicted from their homes in Ijora-Badia East.

He reiterated government’s commitment to the welfare of residents of the state and the protection of their rights, describing most people in Badia East as illegal occupiers, having admitted being forced to move to the area following the construction of the National Arts Theatre complex by the federal government.

Ipaye said, “illegal settlements, unapproved building and unsanitary

conditions cannot be justified as these may end up in painful evictions or demolitions”.

The Attorney General said that the area which is the subject of Amnesty International report was a swampy strip of land and the least built up of the entire community and had earlier been cleared in 2003.

He noted that the area was subsequently filled up with refuse, having been used as a refuse dump since it was first cleared noting that a few plank and, “shanty structures put up there grew gradually into a small community characterized by all negative features of urban slum settlement,

including unstructured shelter arrangements, regular flooding, unhealthy environment, insecurity and people engaged in all sorts of nefarious activities”.

Ipaye said that government had to retake possession of the area in furtherance of its policy on the provision of estates with infrastructure facilities at concessionary rates for residential and commercial development.

“Before the state embarked on the development of 1,008 housing units in the area, he said Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola personally led other senior officials of the state to the area to sensitize the occupiers on April 26 and October 2, 2012 and had several other stakeholders meeting afterwards concerning its intention”.

Soldiers gun down 2 Boko Haram kingpins From Umar Dankano, Yola

T

Commanding Officer, Special Military Operation Unit in Mubi, Lt.-Colonel Beyidi Gurama (2nd right), displaying some arms, ammunitions, explosives and money recovered from suspected insurgents, yesterday in Mubi, Adamawa state. Photo: NAN

EFCC grants Senator Saraki bail

By Lambert Tyem

T

he Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday granted bail to embattled Senator Bukola Saraki, over alleged fraud and embezzlement of funds when he held sway as Governor of Kwara state as well as Executive Director of the defunct Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria (SGBN).

Our correspondent learnt that the administrative bail was warranted by his scheduled visit to London, to attend to a relation who is said to be ill.

“He has been allowed to go again because he has some medical challenges.

“He is likely to travel out of the country because a family member of his is due for a medical operation in London. “We are allowing him to attend to that and then return to answer more questions,” EFCC’s spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren stated.

He did not disclose when Saraki is expected back in the country as,

according to him, “I wouldn’t call it an administrative bail.

“He was just given that privilege to attend to that medical challenge and then return to face his interrogation.

“We should expect him very soon.”

It is also unclear whether EFCC will file charges against Saraki after the interrogation, as the EFCC has kept mum over that.

“You cannot preempt that. It is like somebody going to the hospital and after doctor’s diagnosis, you then ask if the person is going to undergo any surgery.

“It is the diagnosis that will

determine if there will be surgery or if it is just medication.

“I cannot tell what comes next after the interrogation,” Uwujaren said.

With the usual practice of filing charges against high individuals by the EFCC and the number of years it takes before any conviction is secured, observers are worried that Saraki’s case might drag on like the rest, currently pending in many courts across the country.

The EFCC spokesman made frantic efforts in defending the Commission’s stance on filing of cases against accused persons and why some drag on for many years.

he Nigerian Army special operation battalion in collaboration with the Joint Task Force (JTF) has gunned down the two major Boko Haram suspects, Abubakar Zakariya’u and Muhammadu Bama, who have ransom of N10 million each placed on them by the Federal Government.

The Battalion Commander of the operations, Lt. Col. Beydi Markus Martins, told newsmen yesterday at the operational base of the JTF in Mubi, Adamawa state, that the two wanted men were shot by soldiers during a bloody exchange of gun fire in the North-east state’s major commercial town.

“The two were eliminated in the process of the encounter while a number of the JTF sustained injuries”, Lt. Col. Martins said.

He explained that soldiers trailed the suspects while they were on their way to Wukari, in Taraba state, for an operation.

“The JTF monitored them from their base in Borno state until they were nabbed in Mubi, Adamawa state”, he stressed.

He also disclosed the arrest of other suspected Boko Haram members, five of who were paraded by the battalion while some were still being interrogated for the authenticity and level of their involvement in the insurgency.

The military officer also disclosed that those paraded yesterday were arrested last week when they attacked a Bureau De Change at the Mubi International Market and carted away money in both Nigerian and foreign currencies.

However, some of the currencies recovered by the JTF, were yesterday handed to the chairman of the Bureau De Change in the town.

The suspects, according to Martins, had used Russian AK47

guns in their operations.

Other items recovered by the JTF from the terrorists included 485 live ammunition, 28 magazines, Dane guns, bows and arrows, axes, cutlasses and rocket propeller charger, among others.

Martins commended the people of Mubi for their cooperation and support without which, he said, the achievements recorded by JTF could not have been possible.

It would be recalled that on November 23, last year, the Federal Government y declared a N290 million ransom for anyone who could assist to locate the leader of the sect, Imam Abubakar Shekau and 18 other commanders of the group.

The JTF headquarters, which made the declaration in a press statement, said the 19 leaders were wanted over the spate of bombings and killings in the North-east geopolitical zone of the country.

The JTF’s list comprised five members of the Shurra Committee (the highest decision-making body of the sect) and 19 Boko Haram commanders.

Those affected included Imam Abubakar Shekau (N50 million); Habibu Yusuf (a.k.a Asalafi), N25 million; Khalid Albarnawai (N25 million); Momodu Bama (N25 million); and Mohammed Zangina (N25 million).

The sect’s commanders’ list were Abu Saad (N10 million); Abba Kaka (N10 million); Abdulmalik Bama (N10 million); Umar Fulata (N10 million); Alhaji Mustapha (Massa) Ibrahim (N10 million); Abubakar Suleiman-Habu (a.k.a Khalid) N10 million; Hassan Jazair N10 million; Ali Jalingo (N10 million); Alhaji Musa Modu (N10 million); Bashir Aketa (N10 million); Abba Goroma (N10 million); Ibrahim Bashir (N10 million); Abubakar Zakariya (N10 million); and Tukur Ahmed Mohammed (N10 million).

Jonathan, govs close ranks Contd. from Page 2 the reconciliation meeting at the instance of Obasanjo.

But a source close to the meeting said even if the president did not attend last night’s meeting, he is fully abreast of all the issues being

discussed and ably represented

by Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom state, Jang and others loyal to him.

Prior to yesterday’s meeting, however, the five ‘revolting governors’, whose ranks has

swelled with Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara state joining the group, as well as Governor Amaechi, met at the Kano Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro District in Abuja, as they did on Monday, to fine-tune their

strategies and strengthen their positions, ahead of the meeting in the Aso Rock Villa.

At about 6.30pm yesterday, all seven of them were at the Kano Lodge and proceeded at about 8.30pm to the Presidential Villa.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

Page 4 Report How humanitarian crisis stares .5m children in the North

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ore than half a million children in northern N i g e r i a face severe malnutrition this year in a humanitarian crisis that has largely gone unnoticed because of ongoing conflict in the region, aid agencies say.

Violent clashes between insurgents and Nigeria’s security forces in 11 northern states have forced thousands of people to flee to neighbouring countries in search of food, shelter and livelihoods.

Aid organisations are finding it difficult to reach the millions who remain. So far, only four international relief organisations have been able to help some of the estimated 55 million people at risk, half of whom live in poverty.

“If this was happening in other African countries, the world would sit up and pay attention,” said Choice Okoro, Head of Mission in Nigeria for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).

“We tend to forget that we’re talking about people, not percentages. Just five percent of the Nigerian population is equivalent to a quarter of the population of any other West African country,” she told Thomson Reuters Foundation by telephone.

Aid workers are particularly worried by high levels of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) – defined by the World Health Organisation as a very low weight for height, visible severe wasting, or the presence of nutritional fluid retention or oedema.

“To put things into perspective, Niger, which usually has the worst malnutrition in the Sahel, is expected to have 290,000 cases of SAM by the end of this year.

Nigeria will have almost double that,” said Cyprien Fabre, Head of the Regional Support Office at the Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department of the European Commission (ECHO).

“Only 60 percent of the children affected by severe acute malnutrition (SAM) will receive treatment. A further 900,000 children will suffer from moderate acute malnutrition this year, a loose indication of the level of food security in the region,” he added.

Signs of an unfolding humanitarian crisis were already present five years ago, around the time of the 2008 Sahel Food Crisis, aid workers say. In the south of Niger, where ECHO was running

Children play near a burnt vehicle in Baga village on the outskirts of Maiduguri, in the North-eastern state of Borno malnutrition programmes, many of the children seeking treatment were coming from northern Nigeria, relief workers said.

“It was clear to see that things were bad across the border, but there were no international aid agencies in northern Nigeria, so nobody could assess the situation,” said Fabre.

Aid has been slow reaching the affected populations in Nigeria due to a lack of security and for political reasons.

“There is the notion that Nigeria has the capacity in terms of financial means – it’s an oil producing country. That’s true, but what is needed is technical assistance to ensure effective intervention when emergencies happen,” said

UNOCHA’s Okoro.

A new ECHO delegation due to start work in September will provide part of that technical assistance and will also lobby to push malnutrition and food security higher up the national agenda.

In addition, ECHO has already given $11.6 million in 2013 – more than five times the $2.25 million it gave in 2008 – directly to partner organisations on the ground to pay for ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTF) such as peanut paste, which are high in energy and nutrients.

However, one key organisation is sorely missed.

Normally, with moderate malnutrition and food insecurity of a scale seen in

“

To put things into perspective, Niger, which usually has the worst malnutrition in the Sahel, is expected to have 290,000 cases of SAM by the end of this year. Nigeria will have almost double that

northern Nigeria, the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) would be the first to respond, said a senior UN official who asked to remain anonymous.

“The Nigerian government is very proud and sensitive towards the involvement of WFP, as this implies that the government cannot take care of its own people,” the official told Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“There was talk of an allNigerian WFP office, but this was rejected by WFP due to concerns over corruption,” he said.

“The Nigerian Red Cross is working on the ground in these areas, but if you don’t have WFP involved in this scale of humanitarian crisis, then that’s a huge problem,” he added.

A growing insurgency and a heavy-handed response by the state have exacerbated the humanitarian situation in the three North-eastern states of Adamawa, Yobe and Borno, said Lucy Freeman, Deputy Africa Director for Amnesty International.

In mid-May, President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency and launched an offensive in the North-east against the Islamist sect Boko Haram, which is responsible for much of the insurgency.

“People are trapped in the north of the country. Their mobile phones have been cut

off and there is very restricted movement in the area, so that has had a detrimental effect on people’s ability to live, eat and trade … to survive,” said Freeman in a telephone interview.

Local people are terrified of Boko Haram, but many feel safer with them in charge than at the hands of the security forces as they know where they stand.

“People are afraid of the security forces. There is no confidence that those arrested are the ones responsible for the attacks. Hundreds and hundreds of people have been detained and have effectively disappeared,” said Freeman.

“Earlier this year, there were reports of a large number of bodies deposited at the Maduiguri mortuary by the Joint Task Force [of the Nigerian military and security services]. Nobody knows who these people are, where they have come from or why they were killed,” she added.

“It’s a difficult situation for the Nigerian government, but they don’t seem to be moving quickly to resolve the problem.

Instead, it seems like the conflict is being displaced into other areas rather than actually being stopped,” added Freeman.

(Source: Reuters)

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

ASUU: FG releases N100bn to Suswam committee

M

inister of Education, Prof.

Ruqa’yyatu Ahmed Rufa’i, has announced the release of presidential intervention fund of N100 billion for the implementation committee of the Needs Assessment Report, headed by the Benue state Governor, Gabriel Suswam.

The Minister who stated this while declaring open the mid-term review of the four-year strategic plan for the development of the education sector said the fund was to address some challenges facing the education sector.

She said, “we have done this for the federal unity schools and it is helping in their transformation.

“The recent one carried out for all public universities has led to a presidential intervention to ensure that challenges identified are given due attention.

“As a result, N100 billion has been committed to this and the president has inaugurated an implementation committee chaired by Governor Suswam.

According to her, the implementation of the four-year strategic plan (2011-2015) was yielding positive result, noting that credible progress had been made in the six crucial areas as outlined in the plan.

She said, “We shall continue to dig deep and identify further challenges and address them.”

Meanwhile, scores of protesters, yesterday, grounded vehicular traffic along the ever busy Ikorodu road in Lagos in protest against the poor state of public education in Nigeria.

The organizers of the protest said that it is a kick-off to a nationwide campaign targeted at shutting down the nation.

The protesters say they are waging war against what they described as commercialization of education in the country.

“The goal of this protest, by the time we have gone round the country is to shut down the nation until they begin to take education serious,” said Abiodun Aremu, Secretary of the Joint Action Forum.

“Governments in Nigeria today operate anti-poor policies and they are not bothered about public education.

“Funding of public education is not given the priority it deserves, because the children of those in governments and their friends are being trained in private schools in Nigeria and foreign countries with the looted funds,” Mr. Aremu added.

Among the participants in the protest are the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), National Association of Nigerian Students, Concerned Students Against Education Commercialization, and the Education Rights Campaign.

The march was planned to hold simultaneously in other Nigerian cities of Kano, Owerri, Calabar, and Abuja, according to Joint Action Front (JAF), the organizers of the protest; although that of other cities like Abuja did not hold.

In Lagos, the placards-bearing protesters marched from Yaba through Ikorodu road to Ojota chanting solidarity songs.

Though the turnout was not impressive, as the protesters numbered about 100, they succeeded in forcing to its knees the vehicular traffic on both sides of the expressway.

PAGE 5

News

Fresh strike looms in polytechnics –ASUP P

olytechnics in country may be gearing for a fresh round of strikes after the federal government failed to address a “single thing” in their agreement, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a mass protest organised in Lagos to call government’s attention to the poor state of public education, Chibuzo Asomugha, stated that a fresh strike is inevitable.

“The time we gave after the suspension of the strike will expire next week and up till now government has not done any single thing in the agreement,” Mr. Asomugha, ASUP’s National Pres-

ident, told PREMIUM TIMES. “We joined this protest because we want to identify with the spirit of the Nigerian people to prevent the decay in the education sector,” he added.

Last month, ASUP suspended its nearly three month old strike after the intervention of the Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Education.

The committee had said that it would liaise with the relevant government ministries, agencies, and parastatals with a view to tackling all the union’s demands.

ASUP had embarked on a nationwide industrial action on

April 29, 2013, to force government to carry out a comprehensive overhaul of polytechnics across Nigeria.

Some of the union’s concerns include the failure to constitute Governing Councils of federal polytechnics; snail speed of works on the amendment of the Federal Polytechnics Act/Scheme of Service; and the worrisome state of State owned polytechnics in the country.

Other concerns are the refusal of most state governments to implement the approved salary packages (CONPCASS) for their polytechnics, and the 65 years retirement age; as well as

the continued appointment of unqualified persons as Rectors and Provosts of Polytechnics, Monotechnics, and Colleges of Technologies by some state governments, among others.

The union had given the government representatives one month to accede to its demands.

The ASUP boss accused the federal government of insensitivity because “they do not have their children in the polytechnics.”

“Government should stop paying lip service to public education.

The closer you get to this people in government, the more you lose hope,” Mr. Asomugha said.

National Secretary, Joint Action Front (JAF), Comrade Abiodun Aremu, leading Nigerian students on a protest to save public education, yesterday in Lagos.

Photo: NAN

PDP reconciles members in opposition states

By Lawrence Olaoye

T

he Peoples Democratic Party reconciliation committee chaired by the Bayelsa state governor, Henry Seriake-Dickson, yesterday gathered stakeholders from the opposition states in the country in Abuja with a view to reconciling the aggrieved ahead of the 2015 general elections.

This is coming as the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, charged members of the ruling party on loyalty to the leadership of the PDP just as he cautioned aggrieved members to stop the practice of running down the achievements of the party functionaries.

Seriake-Dickson in his opening remarks to representatives from the 13 opposition states in

the country said the PDP is the only truly national party which does not place emphasis on religion and ethnicity in the choice f their candidates.

According to him, it is only in the PDP where a candidate without support from his zone could become the nation's President. "It is only in the PDP where issues of ethnicity, religion and other mundane considerations are not

determining factors."

He assured the delegates from the 13 opposition states that justice would be done and that interests of all the members would be accommodated in the post reconciliation PDP. According to him, the ruling party would continue to win elections when all the members close their ranks to work for the success of the party.

Tambuwal, Buhari, Atiku eulogise Fashola's father at 8th day prayer From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

E

minent Nigerians and foreign diplomats yesterday paid glowing tributes to late father of Governor of Lagos State, Pa Ademola Fashola, at the 8th day fidau prayer held in his honour.

Among the dignitaries who graced the occasion are the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, former Head of state, General Mu-

hammadu Buhari and the Ex-Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar Also, Governors of Ogun, Kano, Adamawa, Edo, Osun, Kogi, Jigawa, Oyo and Niger states: Ibikunle Amosun, Mr. Rabiu Kwankwanso, Mr. Murtala Nyako, Adams Oshiomhole, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Mr. Idris Wada, Mr. Sule Lamido, Mr. Abiola Ajimobi and Mr. Babangida Aliyu respectively were present at the occasion to console their colleague and son of the deceased, Governor Babatunde Fashola.

Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Masari, ex-governor of Ekiti state, Mr. Adeniyi Adebayo, former governor of Yobe State, Alh. Adamu Alier0, Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Tom Ikimi, Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, former Federal Commissioner, Alhaji Femi Okunnu and Chief Molade OkoyaThomas, were among prominent

politicians who thronged the venue of the programme.

Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Otunba Subomi Balogun and Chief Rasaq Okoya topped the list of business moguls who prayed for the deceased.

Prayers were offered by various clerics for the peaceful repose of the deceased and continuous unity among the members of the Fashola family.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

PAGE 6

News

Women with fibroid can become pregnant, says Gynecologist

A

L-R: Minister of State for Education, Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Dr. MacJohn Nwabiala, and the Director of Basic and Secondary Education in the ministry, Barrister Chike Uweazuoke, during the opening of a 3-day workshop on international public sector accounting standards for bursars of all Federal Unity Schools, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

New “Chun Mada” emerges, commends Al-Makura over transformation programmes From Maaji Dandaura, Lafia

T

he newly selected paramount ruler of Mada people, “the Chun Mada” in Akwanga local government area of Nasarawa state, Mr. Samson Gamu Yaren, has called on the people of Mada land in Mada chiefdom to embrace one another and to cultivate the spirit of love and forgiveness.

They have equally been charged to place the past behind so as to forge ahead and also

to be God-fearing in their daily activities.

Yaren gave these charge while speaking with journalists in his palace in Akwanga town.

He said the people of Mada had been without a paramount ruler for a very long time which s brought a lot of set-back to the people.

The paramount ruler thanked God, the state Governor and the entire people of Mada, particularly the college of selectors for finding him worthy of becoming their leader.

According to him, the people of Mada have at last realised their dreams and objectives of having a ruler adding that there is the need for the people to fraternise by harmonising their ideas and opinions which he said would go a long way in promoting peace and unity in the chiefdom.

He said the chiefdom had suffered stagnation and this has made it possible for things to go the other way round.

Yaren commended the efforts of Governor Umaru Tanko AlMakura for constructing roads

in Akwanga and the provision of electricity transformers to the rural communities in Akwanga local government area which has improved electricity distribution in the area.

He said the dividends of democracy which were on ground in Lafia, the capital city of Nasarawa state, were commendable.

The Chun Mada observed that Lafia town is being transformed into a befitting a state capital where new roads are being constructed and basic amenities provided.

Hajj: Katsina supports pilgrims with N500m annually From Lawal Sa’idu Funtua, Katsina

I

n a bid to ensure a hitch free Hajj exercise, Katsina state government earmarks N500 million annually, the Governor, Ibrahim Shehu Shema has disclosed.

Shema stated this at the formal inauguration of sensitisation

workshop organised for the state’s intending pilgrims held at Kaita local government secretariat.

Shema who was represented at the ceremony by his deputy, Alhaji Abdullahi Garba Faskari, noted that out of this amount N230 million was set aside annually for securing a befitting accommodation for the pilgrims in the holy land.

He called on the intending pilgrims to be good ambassadors of their areas, the state and the nation while performing the hajj rites, advising pilgrims to properly check their travelling documents, especially their entry visa to guard against any problem.

In his remarks, Chairman of the Pilgrims’ Welfare Board, Alhaji Danyaya Mashi, said the aim of

the sensitisation workshop was to properly educate the intending pilgrims on the proper conduct of the hajj rites in accordance with Islamic teachings.

The Chairman drew the attention of the intending pilgrims on a disease called Corona virus prevalent in the Middle East, calling on them to avoid living in overcrowded rooms.

Presenting the vehicles to the Commissioner of Police, the Deputy Governor, Alhaji Abdullahi Garba Faskari, said the aim was to assist in overcoming the security challenges particularly in areas in the state’s thick forests.

According to him, already special teams comprising select security agents from sister organisations have been formed

in order to ensure efficiency and success in the exercise.

Faskari called on the public to join the fight against crime and insecurity by giving all necessary information and support to security agencies working in the state.

Responding, the Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Hurdi, said the command would ll continue to do more to protect lives and

property, adding that they have recorded success in their fight against criminals.

He noted that the Federal Government has completed arrangements to commission special security intervention in all the states of the federation, calling on people to always support security agencies in the fight against criminals.

Insecurity: Katsina donates vehicles to police From Lawal Sa’idu Funtua, Katsina

K

atsina state government has donated seven Toyota Hilux vehicles to the state police command for special intervention in ensuring wider security surveillance in local governments in the southern part of the state.

gynecologist at Garki Hospital, Abuja, Dr. Kayode Obende, has said that women with fibroid could get pregnant and have children.

Fibroid is an abnormal growth or swelling in the womb.

Obende said this yesterday in Abuja in an interview with the New Agency of Nigeria (NAN). ‘’Fibroid does not necessary prevent pregnancy but it can affect pregnancy. It is only dangerous when it is blocking the tube, which is not common’’, he said.

According to him, fibroid could be found in young women of reproductive age, adding that its occurrence depended on hormones and estrogens. ‘’Any woman that is between the ages of 15 and 45 can develop fibroid and it is common with black women and women that are fat. ‘’If you scan 10 women, at least three women out of 10 will be found with fibroid. However, not all of them have symptoms,’’ Obende said.

He advised women of menopausal age with fibroid to have their wombs removed as they might not be able to give birth again.

Obende said the removal of the fibroid could be done through open surgery, which means it could be done through lobotomy, mastectomy or laparoscope. ‘’We will just put tiny cut on the abdomen and use instruments to remove the fibroid, it is better but expensive; one can also remove it through the vagina or the cervix,’’ he said.

The gynecologist said fibroid located in the tube could affect the placenta which could lead to early miscarriage, improper position of the baby and other complications in the second trimester.

He said, ‘’some fibroids can cause serious pain because of what we call red degeneration of the fibroid, it makes them have pain and sometimes they get admitted to be treated. ‘’So, by managing fibroid in pregnancy, we really do not do much, we just observe the pregnancy because most times the fibroid co-exists with the pregnancy,’’ he said.

Obende said fibroid located at the lower segment of the womb would prevent the baby from coming out, adding that caesarean section would be performed, leaving the fibroid inside.

Obende said it was risky to remove the fibroid during delivery as it could cause more loss of blood.

PAGE 8

Photo Splash

Akwa Ibom state Governor,Obong Godswill Akpabio (right) briefing journalists on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) programmes, after his meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday at the State House, in Abuja, on Monday Photo: Joe Oroye

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

L-R: Niger state Governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, Adamawa state Governor, Admiral Murtala Nyako, Sokoto state Governor, Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, Lagos state Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, Ogun state Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, Kebbi state Governor, Sa’idu Dakingari and Kano state Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso during the 8th day fida’u prayer for late father of Lagos state governor, Pa Ibrahim Fashola, held at the Tafawa Balewa Square, yesterday in Lagos

L-R: Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Lagos state Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, and Kogi state Governor, Captain Idris Wada, during a condolence visit to Governor Fashola on the death of his father, Pa Ibrahim Fashola, yesterday in Lagos.

L-R: Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr.

L-R: Chairman, Development Policy Centre, Ibadan, Professor Akin Mabogunje, former president, Reuben Abati, in a handshake with Deputy Chief of Mission, Chinese Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Professor Isaac Adewole, during Embassy, Mr Zhang Bin during the envoy’s visit to the State House, the annual African Sustainable Development Network Summit, yesterday in Ibadan.

Photo: NAN yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Joe Oroye

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

PAGE 10

News Dankwambo reinstates emir dethroned

by Goje From David Hassan, Gombe

G

overnor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo of Gombe state has approved the appointment of Alhaji Mohammad Seyoji Ahmed as the new Emir of Pindiga, in Akko local government area of Gombe state.

The appointment followed the removal of Alhaji Adamu Haruna Yakubu, the former Emir of Pindiga, along with his seven council of kingmakers by the state government.

The new emir was dethroned by Governor Danjuma Goje before he left office as chief executive of Gombe state.

Secretary to Gombe State Government, Alhaji Abubakar Sule Bage, who presented the letter of appointment to the new emir at his palace in Pindiga, stated that the former emir was deposed because of his refusal to support the policies of the state government.

According to him, appointment of the new emir was done based on recommendation report submitted by the council of kingmakers of the area.

He said the recommendation was arrived at after a thorough investigation which was conducted by a committee.The SSG noted that out of the total number of six contestants who emerged from the three royal families of the kingdom, Seyoji was finally selected, based on his educational qualifications, experience, behaviour and general disposition.

He said the new emir was expected to abide by government policies while giving his maximum support to the government, and urged him to embrace all the people irrespective of their differences.

Responding on behalf of the royal family, Alhaji Samaila Muazu said the new monarch was the rightful choice of the people of Pindiga and promised to give their unreserved loyalty to the throne.

Fertiliser diversion: Community wants District Head removed From Mohammad Ibrahim, Kaduna

T

he Attat community in Zangon Kataf local government area of Kaduna state has called for the removal of its District Head, Casmia ZamaniAngo, following his conviction by a court for diversion of the community's fertilizer.

Chairman of Attat Community Association, Patrick Tanko, who spoke to newsmen in Kaduna, expressed dismay over the diversion and wondered why the District Head has refused to step aside.

According to him, the commu-

nity has recorded a sharp drop in harvest resulting in untold hardship due to inability to apply the diverted fertiliser on their farms.

"We have been vindicated and still maintain our stand on the call to the convicted District Head to resign or be deposed for the interest of the community's integrity.

"This is the resolution of the community after its recent Town Hall meeting over this matter in Attat and we stand by it.

"We are therefore calling on the Kaduna State government to wade into this issue in order to save the community from anarchy and disrepute," he said.

T

araba state Acting Governor, Alhaji Garba Umar, has reaffirmed the commitment of government to the improvement of lives of the people and infrastructural development of the state.

Umar stated this while addressing members of the state traditional council who paid him Sallah homage at the Government House in Jalingo.

Umar said since the unfortunate air crash of the October 25, 2012, involving Governor Suntai, he had remained steadfast in the implementation of the projects, programmes and policies initi-

Code law of Kaduna state.

In its sentence, the court said it was lenient on the convicts because of some of the reasons canvassed by their counsel and the fact before the court that they are first time offenders who appeared to be remorseful.

The embattled District Head of the Attat community when contacted on phone, declined to make any comment on the call for his removal by his community.

When pressed further on the judgment passed by the Chief Magistrate Court and his conviction, he insisted that he is not satisfied by the judgment and vowed

L-R: Rivers state Governor and Chairman of Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, Niger state Governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, Kano state Governor, Engineer Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, Jigawa state Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, Adamawa state Governor, Admiral Murtala Nyako, and Kwara state Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, before their meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan, on Monday at the State House.

Taraba reiterates commitment to development From Yusha’u Alhassan Jalingo

Chief Magistrate's Court , Kafanchan had on the 30/4/2013 sentenced the District Head, Casmia Zamani Ango and Marshal Jacob, the then Councilor representing Madakiya Ward, comprising other district including Attat, to a prison term of three months or alternative fine of N100,000.

Copy of the judgment made available to newsmen said the two accused persons were brought to face trial on a direct criminal complaint of the offences of criminal conspiracy, criminal misappropriation, criminal breach of trust and cheating under sections 97,308,3111,315 and 322 of Penal

ated by his principal.

The Acting Governor said his commitment had resulted in the gains and successes in various programmes within the past eight months of his stewardship.

He said that the construction of Jalingo-Sunkani to GarbaChede road, resumed construction work at the Takum General Hospital, which is now almost completed, as some of the success recorded by his government.

Other programmes embarked upon, according to him are the implementation of the N18,000 minimum wage for local government staff, restoration of monthly running costs to ministries, departments and agencies in the state.

He also disclosed that there had been an upward review of the running costs of the MDAs, in addition to an up to 30 per cent increase in the purchase of fertilisers to take care of the next cropping season.

Others are the award of contract for the construction of BaliSerti Gembu road, of which he said the contractor had been mobilized to site.

He added that arrangements have been concluded for the construction of rural feeder roads to link the major farming communities and provide them with solar power.

Other achievements he listed were construction of the proposed model secondary school in Jalingo which is nearly completed.

Nigeria wins SAGE 2013 trophy

By Evelyn Okakwu

N

igeria has again emerged winner of this year’s SAGE world cup competition, making it the sixth time the country would take the trophy of the Students for the Advancement of Global Enterprise (SAGE).

The SAGE world cup 2013 which took place at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers was well attended by Notable personalities from across the world and SAGE teams from America, China, Ghana and South Africa, among others.

Speaking at the event, the World President of SAGE, Curtus Deberge, noted that SAGE is an organisation that seeks to ensure the wide spread of youth

who comprise the members of the world producer society rather than the world consumer society.

Also the CBN Governor, represented by the Director of Development Finance, Paul Eluhaire, noted that CBN is in full support of SAGE’s programs and plans to make SAGE one of its champions.

He expressed satisfaction that SAGE has provided the right platform for youth involvement in financial literacy and responsibility.

High points of the events were the distribution of awards including the 2013 global award for excellence which was given to worthy recipients for their contribution to the success of entrepreneurship and innovation in their various domains.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

PAGE 11

Money Sense

How you can start ornamental flower business

T

here are a range of different businesses that you could begin and starting a florist business is one of them as it was one of the few known profitable businesses.

The first thing that you will need to do is to determine the type of floral business that you wish to start. The majority of people choose to open a retail florist business giving you the opportunity to interact with customers and design floral arrangements; however, another side to the floral business involves growing flowers and selling them to retail stores.

Once you have made the decision as to the type of florist business that you plan on opening, you will need to look for a location. You should choose a location that is in a high traffic area, providing customers with easy access to your store. If you choose to start a wholesale business, it would be wise for you to choose a location where there is ample land to grow your flowers.

When starting a florist business you will require supplies and equipment to provide the proper care for the flowers and plants that you sell. This should be your main priority when running a flower shop; therefore, it is essential that you have the required materials to do this efficiently. If you plan on

Money Tip:

Consider healthy food delivery

M

ost people do not cook, either because they do not like to cook or because in these hard economic times, they spend a lot of their time working to make ends meet. This means that they will mostly consume junk food when they are hungry. If you are not a good cook, you can get a lot of cheap and healthy food recipes that, if carefully followed will produce great and mouthwatering dishes including drinks.

Simply make a few samples for tasting and visit several offices in your area and give people a taste of your home made, tasty and healthy food before you get into it. No one will reject good food and if you leave your contacts behind during the food tasting mission, you will soon begin to receive orders.

Quote

A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success.

-unknown

opening a retail business, you will need a cooler to prevent cut flowers from diminishing too quickly. If you plan on opening a wholesale business you will need a large amount of growing space such as a greenhouse. You should work out what you need in advance, and fix a budget on your spending.

If you are new to the floral industry, you should consider taking a class such

as horticulture, or spend time reading about flowers, this will provide you with extra knowledge about the flowers that you will be caring for.

Even if you are already familiar with the florist industry, continuous learning should still be one of your goals.

Depending on the size of your business, it may be necessary for you to hire staff to assist you with the day-today running of your store. Not

only will you need staff to help you to look after your flowers and see to customers, you may also need staff for accounting, bookkeeping, and legal issues.

Your business idea may be the best in the world; however, if people do not know that it exists, you will find it difficult to make a profit. You need an efficient marketing and advertising plan to gain visibility. There are two types of advertising, internet and

print, you will need a fixed strategy for both. Internet advertising will require that you have a website built, and to increase your visibility through tactics such as search engine optimization.

Print advertisement requires that you have your details in as many newspapers and magazines as possible.

These are the steps you will need to take when starting a florist business.

get money out of you, they will be willing to part with the books for as cheap as N100 per textbook or fill a paper bag for N1000.

One day, I scanned the textbooks and hopped on eBay to find out how much there going to by searching the ISBN. I was shocked! They were going for over a hundred dollars a piece on eBay! I soon realized that just because our University upgraded to the next edition, many other schools didn’t. The best part yet, even selling the books for, say N1000, the buyer is getting a great deal. I found out after talking to the buyers that some textbooks would have cost them N1700-N2000 new! A win, win for all!

I was able to make a decent amount of money off this process.

As time went on, it was obvious others had the same idea as the more profitable books became few and far between. My last year at University, I started to see a group on campus who were looking to purchase old textbooks from students. Was this the end?

Is it the end?I’m several years removed from University so I’m

curious to find out if University still resell their books to their students.

So a few tips: 1. Avoid selling your books back to the bookstore or another group until you look at the value on eBay or their affiliate Half.com (or other market sites). You probably can get twice as much online if you are willing to take the time and effort to list and ship them.

2. When you resell your books, be sure to wait until the start of the semester when students are actually looking! All too often I see books flood on eBay when the semester is over. While there are holiday courses, your best bet is to wait until resume of semesters when demand is higher.

3. Just like selling books, buying books online can save you some much needed money. See if you can get a syllabus in advance to start your search for needed textbooks.

So check out your University bookstore today. Do they sell used books? Are they worth more to other students around the country? While a bit more difficult, the same criterion applies to

thrift stores and garage sales.

Attention: University students can also make money while at school

I

know what it is like being a University student. It takes a lot of dedication to devote time to studies and because of that, not a lot of time to have a job. It’s a good wake up call to life by juggling many responsibilities and being on your own. So other than work, how else can University students make money at school?

Here is an idea…sell your books!

Inspired by Nut @ The Writer’s Coin, I want to share how you can make some good cash by selling used University textbooks.

The University I attended had book rentals for University courses. While it may seem like we were lucky for not having to pay for books, the cost was already included in our tuition. There were still books that needed to be purchased.

It was very often that the University Librarian would take the old edition textbooks that were no longer used in classes and sell them to students. I can assure you, not many University students were running to get their hands on those big, thick Law books. Because the University got their use out of them, and will

PAGE 12

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

EDITORIAL

Presidency’s defence rather begs the question Abati was followed by Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, who on Monday dismissed the AfDB report as not worthy of attention. A statement he put out said: “We believe it is necessary to dispel the bogus claims and disingenuous innuendos contained in the report, and instead invite attention to the steady progress the country is making in creating wealth

“

T

he African Development Bank (AfDB) recently issued an uninspiring but not surprising report on the effort of the government of President Goodluck Jonathan at fighting mass poverty in the country. The report, African Economic Outlook, released last weekend in Abuja described the federal government’s strategy for halving poverty by 2015 as “weak”.

“Nigeria’s prospect of halving poverty by 2015 seems weak. The proportion of people living below the national poverty line worsened from 65.5 per cent in 1996 to 69.0 per cent in 2010. Poverty is higher in rural areas at 73.2 per cent than in urban areas at 61.8 per cent”. On unemployment, the report said an average of 1.8 million people entered the labour market every year over the past five years, predicting a disturbing rise from 3 million in 2012 t0 8.5 million in 2015.

The report stung the government, and it almost literally flew off the handle. Presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, sneered at the report, describing it as ‘‘suspicious and laced with falsehood and politics”. He said the AfDB assessment flew in the face of a UN endorsement of the Nigerian government’s poverty reduction effort. Abati recalled that last June, Nigeria received an award from the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), an agency of the UN which cited the country as one of those nations that have made significant progress in fighting hunger.

But all that begs the question: has this annual growth rate of 6.5% impacted the lives of millions of Nigerians in any significant way? Certainly, not. and reducing the ranks of the poor.

“In the first place, the Nigerian economy is doing much better than any other of its size on the continent, and the poverty statistics which were rehashed by the media from the 19962010 figures on which the AfDB report is based have been overtaken by the various interventions by President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration in the last two to three years.The facts in the media speak of a Nigerian economy that is witnessing impressive growth and improvement in performances in our schools.

“It is pertinent to point out that we are growing the Nigerian economy faster than any other country’s

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”

economy on the continent, with this year’s GDP growth put at 6.7 per cent.Nigeria remains the destination for Foreign Direct Investment inflows into Africa and is largest in this regard over and above South Africa and Egypt. This is the direct result of the fundamental reforms being implemented under President Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda.

The Nigerian Capital Market has fully recovered, recording impressive performance”.

Let us accept that the government is “growing the economy faster” and the capital market is riding high. But all that begs the question: has this annual growth rate of 6.5% impacted the lives of millions of Nigerians in any significant way? Certainly, not.

Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr.Ngozi OkonjoIweala, who should know better than Abati and Maku, did admit to “serious challenges”. Giving an account of her stewardship at a press briefing two months ago at Radio House, Abuja, she said, “I want to report that the economy is strong and stable. But, of course, it faces challenge of inequality and inclusion; meaning that even though the economy is strong, we have problems with jobs and unemployment. We have problems with working to eradicate poverty.

We need to move faster. We need to grow faster in order to tackle these problems”. Nigerians, we believe, will find her frankness more acceptable than the dismissiveness of the other two government officials.

OUR PEOPLE

OUR VISION

CHAIRMAN MALAM WADA MAIDA, OON, FNGE DIRECTOR/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF RUFA’I IBRAHIM MANAGING EDITOR ABDUL-AZEEZ ABDULLAHI

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER ALI M. ALI

HEAD, ADVERT/MARKETING HUSSAINI ABDULRAHMAN, CNA

EDITOR, DAILY AHMED I. SHEKARAU

MANAGER, ADMINISTRATION HASSAN HAMMANYAJI

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EDITOR, WEEKEND HAMEED M. BELLO

HEAD, LAGOS BUREAU ADESOJI OYINLOLA

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PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

PAGE 13

Opinion Time to take our future seriously

By Jibrin Ibrahim

P

c r,

resident Goodluck Jonathan last Thursday assured the world that Nigeria would not break up in 2015. He said that the nation would remain one indivisible entity, which is very reassuring to all of us who love Nigeria. The president added that: “For those who are predicting that this country will separate in 2015 based on the fault lines as of the time of amalgamation, they will know that this prediction will not be of any consequence. Nigeria will continue to remain one indivisible entity.” It is important that we reflect on the meaning of this type of reassurance.

The president was referring to the 2005 war games of the United States armed forces in which one of the scenarios developed was the break-up of Nigeria by 2015. The Americans re-enacted the game in 2008 and their key concern was their oil supply chain. Jonathan and Nigerians in general are wrong to take the analysis as a prediction of Nigeria coming apart.

It is a very serious exercise which countries that prepare for the future do regularly for themselves and their partners so that they can plan better to confront and triumph over new challenges. We need to be less visceral and more rational in considering our future.

The point is not to predict break-up but to review developments and carry out trend analysis so that we understand the forces that are driving us towards various possible outcomes and adopt alternative

policy measures that would lead us into a productive, happy, democratic and united future.

We know the following about Nigeria. We are a country that is endowed with rich natural resources backed with an abundant supply of human capital. We however have one of the largest populations of poor people in the world, over 100 million or 70% of the population. Poor governance, mega corruption and rising insecurity as well as a widening insurgency characterize our daily lives today.Our economy is crippled by poor infrastructure and a rapid process of de-industrialisation. In spite of these challenges, Nigeria is witnessing positive change.

The forces of globalization have impacted positively on our people citizens and the effects of mobile telephony and ICT have been creating a new dynamism in society and economy. Politically, Nigerian citizens have remained jealous of their political rights and have sustained formal democracy for fourteen years, over double the record of previous Republics.

Nigerians have been demanding more accountable and transparent governance.

At the socio-economic level, the failure of government to adequately cater for citizens through the provision of basic infrastructure and amenities has triggered acts of resilience by citizens seeking to improve their lives and livelihoods across the country through ingenious innovations and initiatives. Nigeria also has a significant population

growth rate, which could be transformed into demographic dividends if well harnessed and trained.Nigeria is also witnessing massive urbanisation, which can create vast creative energy that can be captured for rapid transformation. We have one of the highest levels of religiosity in the world, which has been channelled to create social welfare systems that attenuate growing poverty and urban penury. The other side of growing religiosity is of course the rise of fundamentalism, religious intolerance and insurgency.

A sociological review of the key drivers and actors of our society provides the following trends analysis. We have had over one decade of continuous economic growth of more than 6%, which unfortunately has not produced more jobs especially for the youth.

At the same time, inequality has been rising and the gap between the poor and the wealthy is widening. Our economic growth has been used to promote massive importation and the source countries for the imports have shifted from Europe, Japan and the United States to Asia in general and China in particular.

We have a rapid process of rural-urbanization migration that has created a situation in which the majority of the population have left their rural places of origin and now live in towns and cities, which have growing shantytowns and rising poverty. In thirty years, we have been transformed from a country with a majority of indigenes to one with a majority of settlers. These

towns and cities are developing a new “cosmopolitanism” among various categories of settlers in which identities of ethnicity, religion and regionalism have sharpened and there is a growing rise of religious fundamentalism, both Muslim and Christian and the spread of radical Islam linked to terrorism in the Sahel.

At the same time, climate changes is leading to the rapid southward advance of the Sahara Desert and repeat crop failures and food shortage have only been prevented by regular rain over the past decade. Rapid environmental degradation and poor adaptation strategies to natural emergencies therefore remain a problem. Persistent high population growth rate has led to the emergence of a “youth bulge” in the context of economic crisis, growing unemployment and underemployment which have heightened the scarcity of resources and intensified competition. There are strong regional variations in population growth rate with a woman in Lagos having only three children in her life while the woman in Borno has seven on the average.

In general, there has been a rapid growth of the percentage of the population with access to basic education within a context of a decline in the quality of educational services, a significant lag of girl child access to education and virtual collapse of research capacity in tertiary institutions. There are however strong regional variations with Lagos for example having 95% enrolment in primary school while

Borno has only about 20%. Nigeria also has a major crisis in her health system linked to the collapse of public health institutions, high cost of drugs, spread of fake drugs and the rise of quack and charlatan traditional medicine and “religious” healing. This is compounded by the problem of ‘brain drain’ especially in the Health Sector.

Our politics remain divisive and while the people have been sustaining a struggle for the deepening of democracy, the political class in general has little commitment to the core principles of democracy. At the same time, regional political tensions are growing and national unity is becoming increasingly fragile.

We therefore continue to face the challenge of stabilizing and deepening pluralist democracy in our country.As these trends continue to unfold, we need to develop the capacity to analyse where they are taking us to, not to predict the future but to address the challenges that they pose to our progress. The trend analysis or futures studies as they are usually called simply provide the raw materials for horizon scanning and scenario building for the purpose of anticipating problems and adapting measures that would promote the best possible outcome in the future.

Rather than complain that others are endangering our future, we should be doing the analysis ourselves. 2015 is not the future; it is already here and we must manage that transition carefully by ensuring that we respect core democratic principles. What is important is, however, studying current trends and doing the right things for the coming decades.

Jibrin Ibrahim via jibo72@ yahoo.com

Religion and crisis of post-colonial Nigeria

By Samuel Zalanga

I

am a Christian but from a social scientific point of view, one can make a strong argument using empirical data that believing in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which is at the foundation of Abrahamic religions (Christianity and Islam in the case of Nigeria) has not made much difference in terms of the moral and ethical integrity of Nigerian people. At independence, many Nigerians were still either traditional worshipers or “pagans” as some would call them. I remember this was the case in many parts of Bauchi state when I was very young. These traditional religions were considered not revealed religions, and not representing the true living God. But Christians and Muslims need to honestly interrogate themselves about the gap between the doctrines of their religions and the reality or actual practice of the religions. We can reason about this in the following way: since Nigeria became independent from Britain many people have gone for pilgrimage to Mecca and Jerusalem in order to presumably to honour God. Many mosques and churches were built across Nigeria to bring people closer to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Many imams, pastors, prophets, bishops etc have been ordained or trained. Many religious schools and universities have been built to teach morality and the fear of God. But during this very same time period (i.e., the past fifty years), as the Abrahamic religions have expanded and penetrated the Nigerian state, culture, society, and the consciousness of Nigerians, corruption, lack of integrity, dishonesty, exploitation of the weak by the strong, exploitation of the poor by the rich have increased at an alarming speed.

Strictly speaking, based on the past fifty years of experience, Abrahamic religions have not done much to really put Nigeria on a more solid moral and ethical foundation. Indeed, some of the religious leaders have become part of the corrupt system and the problem. One would not say that no corruption that took place under the leadership of the First Republic and the military regime of General Gowon, but it never became a huge issue. People can accuse leaders of the First Republic and General Gowon about other things but they cannot say that these people excessively enriched themselves while in office. There is nothing in Bauchi to show for Balewa’s wealth.

His children remain ordinary people. It is emotionally moving

to visit Bauchi town and see what is there as belonging to the first Prime Minister of Nigeria. This is something that has remained fresh in my mind after visiting the memorial building and library built in his honor several times. Today, corruption has infiltrated into the inner sanctum of religion and corrupted God’s presence in the places of worship.

Unfortunately, because Christianity and Islam generally defer punishment for morally and ethically bad behaviour till after death in most cases people tend to discount the gravity of immoral, unethical or criminal behaviours for now, because the consequences are not immediate.

There is more incentive to ignore the potential consequences of immoral, unethical and criminal behavior now if it will bring immediate benefit (i.e. profit), while punishment is in life after death. And in any case, if you pray to God for forgiveness, you will be alright. For that reason, people go to church and shout “Jesus is Lord” and Muslims go to the mosque and say “God is great” but both go out into the larger society and public institutions to commit horrendous criminal acts.

The corruption and lack of integrity in Nigeria cannot be attributed to “pagan people”

coming from out of space. It is understandable that Christians and Muslims would not like to hear this, but the fact is that the religious believers have compromised their beliefs. In Emile Durkheim’s profound understanding of religion, when religion is effectively functioning, its moral and ethical principles and constraints are internalized and they operate from within a person. If a religious moral order or any moral order for that matter always relies on the use of external coercion for compliance, then the religious or moral order is weak in terms of its efficacy with regard to social control. Unfortunately, in contemporary Nigerian society, even the threat of external coercion is no more an effective mechanism of social control.Today, the magnitude of corruption and its social consequences are tantamount to a kind of unrecognized and undocumented crime against humanity as many people have died because of official government corruption and negligence on the part of powerful citizens.

It is fair to say that Nigerians were comparatively more honest and God-fearing persons with higher degree of integrity sixty years ago than today. I can attest to this based on my lifetime

experience even in my village and community. If this is correct, then may be the “pagan” gods and “traditional African religions” have not done as bad as some people think in terms of fostering a more effective social control mechanism and moral system for the people of Nigeria. Accountability in traditional religion is instant.

It is not deferred. The only way Christianity and Islam can challenge this proposition is to show empirically that they have the capacity to effectively control the excesses of many Nigerians, even when they celebrate God’s signs and wonders. So Nigeria cannot claim religion as an important source of true legitimacy in the ability of the leaders to serve ordinary citizens honestly and sincerely. You can live a relatively good and honorable life if you embezzle public funds (against Islamic and Christian social ethics), when you later donate some of it to a religious cause, or some philanthropic project. Nigerians have short memory actually and their moral compass has been contaminated.

Samuel Zalanga, Professor of Sociology, Department of Anthropology, Sociology & Reconciliation Studies, Bethel University, St Paul, Minnesota, USA

PAGE 14

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

Opinion

Questions for Senator Bwacha

By Sani Abubakar Donga

S

enator Emmanuel Bwacha is fast gaining notoriety as a political irritant. He has thrown caution to the wind in his desperation to become governor of Taraba state by any means possible.

The senator has lost his sense of decorum, which is if he has any.

Every concerned Southern Taraban will be embarrassed with the way and manner the power thirsty senator has behaved himself in his quest to become governor in 2015.

He is making Taraba a laughing stock, but as good citizens, we will not allow such rascality to continue.

Taraba must be liberated from the clutches of power mongers like Bwacha. Our people must enjoy democratic dividends like their counterparts in other parts of the country.

The question is who is Bwacha?

After serving as a member of the Taraba state House of Assembly, a commissioner for agriculture, a House of Representatives member, and now a senator, Bwacha’s name should ring a bell. But by track record, the senator has proven to be a disappointment.The problem with those obsessed with the notion of political dominance is that they

Taraba, under see it less from the name the point of view Southern of the uplift of the Taraba Peoples standard of living Peoples Daily welcomes your letters, opinion articles, Congress, led of the people, text messages and ‘pictures of yesteryears.’

All written by one Daniel but more from contributions should be concise. Word limits: Letters Likam are the standpoint of calling for your the opportunity - 150 words, Articles - 750 words. Please include your recall from the it provides them, name and a valid location. Letters to the Editor should be senate, what in a tiny few, to addressed to: your opinion perpetually live informed this? in the corridors The Editor, The truth of power, with its is since the attendant benefits.

Peoples Daily, 1st Floor Peace Plaza, action of recall These include 35 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja. started, senator opportunity to Email: opinion@peoplesdailyng.com Bwacha has have their children SMS: 08134607052 been losing in the best schools sleep. But in the world, while rather than the overwhelming in a recent interview he granted address the issue he is being majority of kids in that section of the Peoples Daily. The truth is; challenged with, which is his non the country wallow in ignorance. from his days as a state House of performance, Bwacha has been They can point to mansions Assembly to date, there is nothing going about attacking individual that dot the landscape in Abuja, to show• He has succeeded in personalities. Why do you want Kaduna, Kano, Lagos, and other bringing tribal differences and Danbaba Suntai back as governor cities as benefits of their dominance religious differences among the despite his state of health? Is of political power, while their people of the southern zone to it for the interest of the state people live in squalor. cause disharmony among them. or your personal interest? Of However, here are few This is for his selfish interest. late Bwacha has been showing questions for the senator: History and people can testify that sympathy with the ailing Taraba “distinguish senator”, what are this ‘gentleman’ has never won any governor, Danbaba Suntai, seizing your achievements for the people election on fair terms, but usually every opportunity to defend of southern Taraba? “Mind you I imposed on the people. the continuous absence of the stay in Abuja, I am not a Jalingo Senator, some political governor. What is unknown, person” was Bwacha’s answer stakeholders from southern

WRITE TO US

however, to many is that Bwacha’s love towards the governor is not borne out of love for the progress of the state or the governor and his family. It is his desperation to become governor by any means.

The senator has had opportunity to serve his people, unfortunately on all occasions, he has failed. His name has almost become synonymous to failure.

Interestingly senator Bwacha is one of the few senators that have an official website. But a tour of the website will reveal why southern Taraba has been undeveloped and under-represented. The website is being run by his office, yet the only achievement there, is the set of music instruments he bought for a delegation of Christian children called Royal Voices from Donga, Southern Taraba who visited him in his residence in Abuja.

Has anyone taken a look at the senator’s Facebook page? He has just 122 likes. So much for his popularity.This is basically why the senator has been doing everything possible to ensure that Danbaba Suntai returns as governor. Ordinarily if Bwacha has delivered quality representation to his constituency, he wouldn’t have to run from pillar to post. His work would speak for him.

Abubakar Sani Donga wrote from Yola road, Takum, Taraba state

Letter to 5 PDP northern governors

By Rayyanu Bala

L

et me begin by commending you, the five PDP Northern governors, namely: Dr Muazu Babagida Aliyu, Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Alhaji Sule Lamido and Murtala Nyako as well as Alhaji Aliyu Wammako for the courage you muster, in confronting President Jonathan and the PDP mafia over 2015. Your courage, I believe,is going to serve as a source of inspiration to all aspiring but younger politicians not only in the North but, the country as a whole.

Before this your action, which many consider bold in ‘telling the truth to power’, the Chairman of Northern states Governors Forum (NSGF) and Chief Servant of Niger State, Dr Babangida Aliyu, let the world to know that there were an agreement between and president Goodluck Jonathan for him to hold office for only one term. Nobody in the PDP fold had had the audacity to come out openly to challenge the PDP and Commander in Chief over his tazarce ambition. Your coming out to denounce the purported 2015 ambition of Mr. President has singled you out among the other PDP governors in the North as the most patriotic.

It should be noted however that in the past, former Vice- President Atiku Abubakar tried the very path which you have now selected to follow but failed woefully when he challenged his boss former, President Olusegun Obasanjo, in the 2003 election. Some bandits believed albeit rightly that Atiku was himself the architect of his failure at that time as he failed to hid the popular war dictum ‘no retreat no surrender’. What Atiku should have taken into consideration when

he decided to stick his neck out to challenge his boss was to have it at back of mind never to entertain any entreaty from any angle, however the weight. He should have considered the game as that of what an Hausa man would say A mutu ko aiyi rai. But Atiku after staking his neck he then did not only retreated but he also surrendered. And since then Atiku is being paying dearly for the costly mistake he has done in capitulating.

Every Nigerian who is conversant with the state of things in the PDP will of-course not only appreciates but celebrates what you are doing at the moment to redeem what is left of the party.

Your actions are indeed, aim at not only strengthen democracy and the cause of justice but also targeting at ensuring compliance to agreement that was freely agreed upon. Since the Chief Servant let the cart out of the bag, the PDP and indeed, the Presidency have not denied the existence of your agreement; they only kept drumming to our ears the constitutional rights of Mr. President to vie for the second term. Forgetting however that agreement written or unwritten are

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instruments to rely or have respect upon if we are sincere to ourselves and to our democracy.

No doubt, your activities have really upset the PDP and the Presidency far more than Atiku harangued Obasanjo in 2003.

Your purported romance with the APC governors, the NGF election success and your support for the governor of River state as well as your visitation to our past leaders and other clandestine moves you are making, strongly suggest that you mean business. And you should always have in mind that Nigerians are with you in your efforts at salvaging our democracy from ruination. You must also have it at the back of your minds that you have no any other option than to continue with the struggle or else it would at the end turn out to be a tragedy on your part. Capitulation should be completely rule out.

As you are aware far more than us, the PDP never forgives nor forgets things done by her member which were not in consonance with her desires. They are good at turning the table against their tormentors. And you knew it quite well that you have tormented the

PDP mafia by your actions and utterances thus far.

The recent registration of APC

by INEC has indeed widen the choice of Nigerians to belong to party that is national in outlook outside the PDP thus if its gets to the worst you have an option of leaving the party for APC since there is nothing sacrosanct about PDP. It is however high time we say to hell with PDP considering the degeneration in our values as a result of long age of its misrule over our fatherland; Lets the men and women of conscience raise up to the occasion and demand for a change. Your boldness in demanding for change in the PDP is a sign of good things to come ahead. It is indeed an indication of era of insolvency in Nigeria is gradually coming to a halt.

The APC would provide an alternative platform for all politicians who are desirous of change in Nigeria; just as the Chairman of the Party, Chief Bisi Akande at the inaugural meeting of the interim executive committee and first media briefing, observed that ‘Nigerians now have a choice between bad government and the

No doubt, your activities have really upset the PDP and the Presidency far more than Atiku harangued Obasanjo in 2003.

Your purported romance with the APC governors, the NGF election success and your support for the governor of River state as well as your visitation to our past leaders and other clandestine moves you are making, strongly suggest that you mean business.

And you should always have in mind that Nigerians are with you in your efforts at salvaging our democracy from ruination.

good one. From now on it is not too difficult for Nigerians to know which party has been inflicting pains on them for the last 14years’ Indeed, in the last 14 years, the PDP has mess up with all the good things the future has for us in this country and it became incumbent on men and women of good will to come together and sweep away these mess.

You, as group of five PDP Northern governors can not afford not to be part of this train. The PDP as you are aware have since turn to monster and are having the believed that you can not change anything out of the fortunes of the PDP in your respective state; since your powers and influence is terminating by 2015. You must therefore demonstrate to them that they are liars, by first standing firm on your grounds to the end; no capitulation to avoid Atiku’s mistake and secondly after finishing with them at that level you then pinch your tent with the APC and deliver your states. It is only through these that you can save your image and most importantly your names from been battered by the PDP cabal.

For your information, one of your colleagues in the Aminche’s NGF UmaruTanko Al-makura of Nasarawa state is hosting the first meeting of APC’s Governors Forum in Lafia, sometime this month; I think it is therefore an opportunity to let you know, in case you are not aware. I ‘am indeed very sorry for resulting to writing you on this all important matter through this medium. I hope I will be forgiven.

Allah ya taimakeku baki daya amin.

Rayyanu Bala wrote in from Lafia, Nasarawa state.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

PAGE 15

Comment

Black men and child abandonment

By Nnamdi F. Akwada

S

everal years ago in PortHarcourt the garden city and the capital city of the Nigerian petroleum industrial complex otherwise known as the “bread basket of Naija,” I was introduced to the Nigerian Television Authority NTA. In those days the likes of Mrs. Hauwa Baba-Ahmed and the late Mr. Yinka Craig informed and educated us about multifaceted stories within the African shores and around the globe. Since I was infatuated with the tube as a 9-10year old, my assigned task was to listen to the nightly 9pm national news. My responsibilities were either to analyze the contents of the news with my father or to relay the contents to him if he happened to miss the news.

Thus there came a time when I developed personal curiosity for the news and was exposed to some traumatic news reports about the plights of abandoned Nigerian children through the NTA network.

On those nights, NTA introduced Nigerians to mostly United States born Nigerian American children who were abandoned by their fathers in America. Most of these children had boarded a flight to the “Giant of Africa” in search of their socalled fathers who had giving them up by jettisoning to Nigeria.

As a child I was heartbroken to see these teenagers who arrived

in Lagos with scant information from their American mothers about their Nigerian fathers. I thought about the courage it took to come to a strange land while looking for a part of you that had opted to deny your existence for whatever selfish, cold, and misguided reasons.

In those days the Africans that came overseas were saddled with the quest of obtaining education and going back to their respective countries upon the achievement of their objectives. Then the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the leading African economies were either greater or on par with those of the Asian tigers. One naira could fetch you a dollar and some cents and a dollar was equal to the extinct kobo. As a result of the good economic situation in the continent and the need for western educated professionals, the motivation of

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most foreign students were to return home irrespective of the obligations and responsibilities that they developed through their undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate programs.

Nonetheless, the understanding of my childhood observations about child abandonment did not come full cycle until my arrival to the United States as a student nearly two decades ago. As I went on to become a minority for the first time in my life (a black African in a different society) I was thrust into the realization that the phenomenon of child neglect remains a sore factor among black men in the United States irrespective of their extractions. A large proportion of black children in the US are in single parent households with minimal or no interactions with their fathers. This is either due to pop not giving a damn or mom asserting the mantra

of the independent single lady.

However, with time the duality of my African and American cultures and/or education has exposed me to some of the underline structures that precipitate these child abandonment epidemics. For example, the pressures those African youths who discard their foreign born children face from their societies of origin. How they seek and compete for approval from families and peers who are often narrow-minded, cold, and unbelievably self-centred?

Sadly these black African men are frequently pliable to the aforementioned pressures which they use as justifiable excuses to desert their own flesh and blood.

They fail to stand up to their responsibilities and rebuff the need to appease those that could care less about their children whilst encouraging them to

Regrettably, this cowardice behaviour of deserting their children is not unique to the “so-called” cultured African black men. Instead it is prevalent among contemporary African American men in the United States who are afraid of commitments. Child abandonment has also spurned the lingo called “baby mama” with the resulting societal ills. We have black men who grasp unto reasons to traumatize their own offspring by subjugating them to generational cycles of impediments for self-actualization to satisfy their own selfish needs and reinforce societal self-fulfilling prophecies.

abandon these innocent angels.

Regrettably, this cowardice behaviour of deserting their children is not unique to the “so-called” cultured African black men. Instead it is prevalent among contemporary African American men in the United States who are afraid of commitments. Child abandonment has also spurned the lingo called “baby mama” with the resulting societal ills.

We have black men who grasp unto reasons to traumatize their own offspring by subjugating them to generational cycles of impediments for self-actualization to satisfy their own selfish needs and reinforce societal selffulfilling prophecies.

These reasons may include conservative and liberal policies in the United States such as the crime prevention omnibus laws that promoted harsher incarcerations of black men and some welfare laws that incentivized the breakup of the black family units. There have been other iterations of these policies such as economic deserts among black populations, racial profiling, drug laws, and mass incarcerations all of which are so convoluted in there methodical and intertwined structures.

Through these muddled situations we as black men still have the choice to break the cycle by making the determination not to abandon our precious babies.

Nnamdi F. Akwada is on linkedIn

Lagos-Ibadan expressway and its Church ‘guests’

By Joe Igbokwe

A

n urgent pressing matter in my home town, Nnewi in Anambra State compelled me to travel on Friday August 9 2013, afternoon after an engagement in Lagos. As I was about leaving the house around 1pm one of my brothers reminded me that the Redeemed Christian Church will be starting their monthly Holy Ghost Service and advised that I should find an alternative route by avoiding LagosIbadan expressway. And because I did not know the state of LekkiEpe-Ijebu Ode Road and LagosIkorodu-Sagamu axis I decided to brave it to use Lagos-Ibadan expressway. What else can one do in a country where good roads have become an unattainable?

Soon after I passed the old toll gate near 7up Bottling Company the crisis started. To get to the famous Julius Berger Bus Stop to make enquiries from any of the drivers coming into Lagos of what the situation was like took me almost an hour. I eventually got to Berger and crossed to the other side to get information on the traffic situation. The driver I met told me that I have two traffic situations to contend with along that corridor. One from the old toll gate to Mountain of Fire Praying Ground, and then another on approaching the Redeemed Camp.

I was frightened and I looked at my watch and it was few minutes after two o clock. It took me another 30 minutes to get to a place I will make a U-Turn in front of OPIC Plaza.

I headed to Ikorodu-Sagamu Road. Because of the heavy traffic on Lagos-Ibadan expressway many motorists also took IkoroduShagamu-Benin expressway. That was where my trouble started. With heavy traffic on a very bad road (from Ikorodu to Sagamu) you can imagine my predicament. To cut the whole story short I got to Sagamu around 4.30pm. I got to Nnewi around 10.30pm. A journey that would have taken me five hours on a good day took me ten long hours of agony. I was exposed to many dangers associated with Sagamu-Asaba expressway. I have gone and come back but yet to forget the troubles and dangers

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we expose ourselves everyday in Nigeria simply because someone fails to do his or her work or that someone is taking impunity to another level.

Millions of Nigerians have suffered untold hardships and pains since the early 90s when Churches started relocating to Lagos-Ibadan expressway. The late General AbduKareemAdisa once drove to the Redeemed Camp to complain that the Church must find a way to address this man-made problem but all to no avail. More than 20 years after the visit, Churches, companies, schools, universities etc have been relocating to Lagos-Ibadan expressway in droves. This is a road that was built in 1974 and it has remained same for 40years. A road suffering untold pressure from heavy traffic that it has become

crate ridden and a death trap, yet pentecoastalchruches struggle to add to the pressure of the road by relocating to the road. What is the motive for this predilection to be sited on the Expressway?

My brother and his wife once slept on Lagos-Ibadan expressway as a result of Redeemed Camp Holy Ghost Night programme after a trip to Abeokuta. Few years back when members of NAFSAT did a night programme, commuters paid a heavy price on that road so much that NAFSAT took pages on national newspapers to apologize to Nigerians. Millions of Nigerians have tales of woes to tell in the last 20 years on Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

The purpose of this write up is to once again share my experience with Nigerians and to try to prick the conscience of worship

I headed to Ikorodu-Sagamu Road. Because of the heavy traffic on Lagos-Ibadan expressway many motorists also took Ikorodu-Shagamu-Benin expressway. That was where my trouble started. With heavy traffic on a very bad road (from Ikorodu to Sagamu) you can imagine my predicament. To cut the whole story short I got to Sagamu around 4.30pm. I got to Nnewi around 10.30pm. A journey that would have taken me five hours on a good day took me ten long hours of agony.

centres on Lagos-Ibadan road. Do they feel for the commuters on that road? Do they know about their predicaments? Do they worry about the sufferings and pains? Are their actions fair to all concerned? Has there been any practical step to stem the tide?

Has it reduced the pains, loss of man hours, loss of money, wear and tear on the vehicles? Is it not a sin for us to create big problems for others because we must God in a particular place? Is God not everywhere? When will this problem be nipped in the bud? I suggest that all the Churches and Mosques should stop the activities on Lagos-Ibadan expressway and allow branches to do it inhouse until Julius Berger finishes expanding that road. Even after that these institutions need to show practically how they intend to manage traffic if the events must continue.

20years, even after the late General Adisa’s intervention on Lagos-Ibadan expressway, nobody has looked into the matter and called for solution. We cannot just continue to live like this. We must do something. We must not continue to bemoan problems but must have the political will and courage to address the frontally.

The ball is in the court of our leaders.

Joe Igbokwe resides in Lagos

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

INSIDE FCT COURTS Driver, 24, arraigned for cheating

T

he Police in Abuja on Tuesday arraigned Olobo Silas of Aso C, Mararaba, Nasarawa State in a Karu Upper Area Court for alleged criminal breach of trust and cheating.

Police prosecutor Silas Nanpan told the court that Esther Peter of Area ‘D’, Nyanya, Abuja, reported the matter at Nyanya Police Station sometime in March.

Nanpan said Peter gave Silas her vehicle for commercial purposes after entering into an agreement that he would remit N2,000 to her daily. ``The accused worked for seven days amounting to N14,500 and converted the money to his personal use,’’ Nanpan said.

He said the accused acted in contravention of sections 312 and 322 of the Penal Code.

Section 312 states that ``whoever commits criminal breach of trust shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to seven years or with fine or with both.’’

Section 322 states that ``whoever cheats shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years or with fine or with both.’’

The accused however denied committing the alleged offences.

The presiding judge, Alhaji Umar Kagargo, granted Silas bail in the sum of N30,000 with a reliable surety who must reside within the court’s jurisdiction.

He then adjourned the case to Oct. 7,2013 for hearing. (NAN)

Police arraign 4 men for constituting public nuisance

T

he police on Tuesday in Abuja arraigned four men in a Wuse Zone 2 Senior Magistrates Court for constituting a nuisance near the gates of the Indian and Malaysian High Commissions in Maitama, Abuja.

They accused Ibye Felix, Benjamin Imo, Victor Omebe and Elisha Vandi - were arraigned on a one count of public nuisance.

Police prosecutor Mohammed Ahmed told the court that Supt.

Austine Egim and his team on crime patrol arrested the four men and took them to the Maitama Divisional Police Station on Aug.1.

Ahmed said the accused were arrested while wandering around the embassy and causing obstruction and annoying workers and applicants who were on queue at the high commissions.

He said the offence contravened Section 183 of the Penal Code.

The accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The magistrate, Mr Aliyu Shafa, granted each of the accused bail in the sum of N50,000 with a surety each in like sum.

Shafa ordered that the surety must reside within the jurisdiction of the court and adjourned the matter to Aug. 26,2013 for hearing. (NAN)

PAGE 17

Metro

Court remands 3 men in police custody for allegedly abducting girl, 14

A

Karu Upper Area Court in Abuja on Monday ordered that three men should be remanded in police custody for alleged conspiracy and abduction of a 14-year-old girl.

Those remanded are Mohammed Audu, 27; Adamu Chidawa, 30, and Adulkadir Sadiq, 20, all of Old Garage, Karshi in Abuja.

The judge, Alhaji Umar

Kagarko, who gave the order, said that this was to assist the police in tracing the whereabouts of the girl.

Kagarko also ordered that the accused persons be brought back to court for their bail to be considered on Aug. 19.

Earlier the Prosecutor, Sgt. Stephen Eimoga, told the court that one Nicholas Anusiem of Tipper Garage, Karshi, reported the matter at the Karshi Police

Station on July 6.

He said that the accused persons conspired and abducted the daughter of the complainant.

Eimoga said that the accused persons abducted the girl without the consent of her parents to an unknown destination.

The prosecutor said that the offences contravened sections 97 and 273 of the Penal Code.

If convicted, the three shall be

punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years or given an option to pay a fine or both.

Emioga also told the court that the 14-year-old girl was still missing.

The three accused persons pleaded not guilty.

Audu, one of the accused told the court that the girl was his girlfriend. (NAN)

Staff of Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) collecting refuse, yesterday at Federal Secretariat, in Abuja. Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

Driver, 40, in court for negligent conduct

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he police on Tuesday arraigned a 40-year-old driver, Ikechukwu Iheanacho, before in an Abuja Magistrates Court for negligent conduct.

Iheanacho, a commercial bus driver at Nyaya, Abuja, is standing trial before Magistrate Abdullateef Abolaji.

The prosecutor, Insp. Philip Apollos, told the court the accused was hired by one Patrick Musa to convey some goods somewhere

but the vehicle broke down along Airport Road, Abuja.

Appolos said that as Musa waited by the vehicle while the accused went to buy petrol, he was attacked by four unknown gunmen.

The prosecutor alleged that the gunmen shot and wounded Musa on his manhood as he tried to escape from them.

The prosecutor further alleged that the ``driver negligently refused’’ to put enough fuel in the

vehicle leading to the breakdown of the vehicle and attack by the armed robbers.

He said Ugochukwu Onyeogaziri of Games Village, a friend of the victim, reported the matter at the Life Camp Police Station on July 30.

According to him, Musa has been hospitalised at the Federal Staff Clinic, Abuja.

Counsel to the accused, Mr Ibe Chinedu, however, prayed the court to grant his client bail, saying he

would not jump bail.

The magistrate admitted the accused to bail in the sum of N50, 000 with two sureties in like sum.

Abolaji said the sureties must be resident within the court’s jurisdiction with verifiable addresses.

He said they should also deposit either their National ID cards or drivers’ licences with the court and adjourned the matter to Aug. 21 for hearing. (NAN)

Man, 35, arraigned for allegedly assaulting wife T

he police on Monday arraigned Adekunle Onabekan, 35, at Grade 2 Area Court in Kado, Abuja for allegedly assaulting his wife, Mopelola.

Prosecutor Salihu Mohammed (Sgt.) told the court that Mopelola, of 29, Rwang Pam Street, Works and Housing Quarters, reported the matter at the Gwarimpa Police Station, Abuja on July 4.

Mohammed said Mopelola

was assaulted before a court official, Mohammed Ibrahim of Kado Area Court 1, FCT, who had gone to serve a court summon on the accused.

He said when the complainant and the court official got to the house to deliver the summon; the accused stopped them and dragged Mopelola out of the officer’s car and beat her up. ``The accused beat and tore her clothes, leaving her stark

naked. He inflicted injuries on her. ``The accused refused to listen to the court official’s plea to leave her alone. He refused to listen to neighbours who had gathered and begging him to spare his wife’’, he said.

The prosecutor said the offence amounted to criminal force, assault and mischief and contravened sections 265 and 327 of the Penal Code.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the offences attract three years maximum imprisonment with fine or both.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The presiding judge, Mr Ahmed Ado, granted bail to the accused in the sum of N50, 000 with a reliable surety within the jurisdiction of the court.

Ado adjourned further in the case to September 2, 2013. (NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

PAGE 16

Abuja bead-makers want FG’s support to enhance job creation

S

ome Bead-makers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) yesterday called on the Federal Government to support beadmaking outlets to enhance creativity and create employment.

Some of the bead-makers, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja said, it was necessary for the government and Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to support bead-making and train youths interested in the skills.

Miss Halima Mohammed, a bead-maker, said bead-making had created job opportunity for Nigerians, especially the youths.

Mohammed said that some Jobless Nigerians had engaged themselves in bead-making to generate revenue, adding that funding bead-making would assist makers to update themselves with relevant skills in the job. ``Bead-making is a resourceful handwork; people are getting to

know more about it. So, it is really creating job opportunity for the youths. ``I am a graduate and I don’t need a white-collar job, bead-making is all I have to do. What I need is to constantly update myself on new designs. ``Bead-making has empowered many people because there is always a buyer,’’ Mohammed said.

Mohammed said she trained over 100 students between January

and June, adding that a student needed at least two months to be a good bead-maker.

Mr Johnson Okafor, another bead-maker, said the business had promoted the use of local technology in the country.

Okafor said that making a good bead required the use of needle, wire and cutter, among others.

He said that the use of local technology in making sand beads was demanding, adding that it was

Church to hold crusade in Kubwa

R-L: President, Helpline Foundation, Mrs. Jumai Ahmadu presenting gift items to a widow to mark the Sallah festivities at the Millennium Park in Abuja recently.

By Adeola Tukuru

T

he Dunamis International Gospel Centre, Phase 4, Kubwa, Abuja will hold its “Evangelism by Fire” on August, 18th, 2013.

The resident pastor, Michael Ajogba is to minister on “Strategies for Effective Evangelism”, and conduct impartation for soul winning aimed at empowering Christians to populate heaven and depopulate hell as the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ draws near.

Photo: Miriam Humbe

Minister’s wife to recieve achiever’s award in Ghana

By Adeola Tukuru

T

he FCT Minister’s wife, Hajia Aisha Bala Mohammed is to bag 2013 West African Distinguished Achievers Award in Accra, Ghana on August, 30th.

This is in recognition of her individual effort in giving a Facelift to the burial grounds through her non- governmental organization (NGO), Al-Muhibbah Foundation which was set up in 2010 with the aim of rehabilitating, renovating and beautification of both the Christian and Muslim burial

grounds within the capital city.

The organizers of the award, Digest International and Aziki Multi Media Nigeria in Conjunction with some Media outfits in both Nigeria and Ghana, commended Al-Muhibbah Foundation for the various Interventions and also touching the lives of youth, women and the less privileged in the society.

The Chairman Mobilization Committee of the award, Mr Beeface Abraham explained the aim of this award is to encourage and acknowledged silent achievers

in West Africa.

In his words: “We are honoring Aisha Bala Mohammed, Wife of the FCT Minister and Founder, Al-Muhibbah Foundation for her role in the beautification of burial grounds in the FCT and also touching the lives of the youths and Women in our society”.

Earlier, while receiving the award nomination from the organizers in Abuja, Hajia Mohamed noted that her aim at AlMuhibbah foundation is to support and assist the less-privileged especially Women, adding that at

the end of the day they will be able to support the family in this very difficult economic situation they are faced with and build a home for a better societal growth.

Also to be honored is the Special Assistant on Media to the FCT Minister, Mr Nosike Ogbuenyi for his remarkable efforts in the creative engagement of the residents of the FCT on the activities and policies of the FCT Administration led by Senator Bala Mohammed.

Notable Nigerian and Ghanaian artistes are expected to thrill the audience at this year’s event.

...charges women to be good ambassadors

By Adeola Tukuru

W

ife of the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Hajia Aishatu Bala Mohammed, has urged the newly appointed FCT Coordinators of the Women for Change and Development Initiative (WCDI) to be committed and be good ambassadors of women.

She made this call yesterday at the official inauguration of FCT coordinators and meeting with north central zone of the Women for

stressful to use hand to pick beads.

Okafor, however, said that there were foreign tools used in beadmaking, adding that the tools helped bead-makers to pick beads faster and help to arrange them in different forms. ``The use of local technology slows bead-making. Government should support us to acquire foreign tools as such will enhance our creativity and modernise our work,’’ Okafor said. (NAN)

Change and Development Initiative, FCT Chapter.

In her words: “I enjoin you to rise up to the responsibility and mobilise women at the area councils and wards for this programme. It is to help ourselves, please we want you to do it within your powers,” she said.

This is following the Nigeria First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, directive to reposition the women folk for economic and political empowerment so that women can be well positioned in the country.

The Zonal Coordinator, Evelyn

Onyilo, in her remarks, said, “the reason for the inauguration is because our initiator has directed that women for change is repositioned.

She said the first lady is going to make sure that “the lives of more women will be touched so the initiative must be vibrant and to achieve and to achieve this we are very committed that the first lady’s vision is realised” President, National Council of Women Societies in Nigeria (NCWS), Nancy Bulus, said, it is a way forward for Nigerian women to put their heads

together to preach love and they are going to work with NGOs “to ensure that Nigeria women are protected” National Cordinator, Rabi Ibrahim, said, the initiative “Is funded by the First Lady, her Excellency, Dr. Dame Patience Jonathan and she is using it to empower the Nigeria women economically, socially and politically”.

However, she said, participation is non partisan but accommodates all women irrespective of their political affiliations as long as the woman is eighteen.

Gwagwalada chair to inaugurate 9-man committee on scholarship

By Usman Shuaibu

T

he chairman of Gwagwalada Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Hon. Abubakar Jibrin Giri, has assured that a 9-man committee on scholarship will be inaugurated to serve as an avenue to ascertain the students to be given the scholarship in the area.

Giri, who disclosed this in an interview with Peoples Daily in his residence in Giri, said that his administration would not hesitate to focus on the development of the area council.

He said that his administration would place emphasis on the roads rehabilitation and called on the cooperation of the entire residents of Gwagwalada Area Council.

He further pointed out that his leadership would provide transformers to some communities to boost electricity in their domains, while pleading with the electorate to be patient with his administration.

The chairman advised the people of Gwagwalada and its environs to shun any act which could bring underdevelopment to the council and urged Muslims to live in peace in the area.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

PAGE 19

INSIDE

Isa_abdulwahab@yahoo.com, Isaabdulwahab@gmail.com 08033045613

Nigeria tops 14 African countries on global safety standard - Pg 20

Customs intensifies patrol against arms importation around Lagos, Ogun borders - Pg 22

L-r: Minister of State for Finance, Dr Yerima Ngama, and Niger state Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Musa Ibeto, during the minister’s visit to the Government House, yesterday in minna.

PHOTO:

Meltdown: Nigerian banks set up self-protection fund

By Abdulwahab Isa and Karem Kurugh

T

he 24 licensed operating commercial banks in the country have signed a contractual obligation to contribute 0.5 per cent of total assets and 0.5 per cent of 33 per cent of their off balance sheet assets to a sinking fund.

The signing of the agreement, done yesterday under the supervision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) christened ‘Resolution Cost Trust Fund Deed’ is a pool of funds that enables banks to be indemnified in the wake of financial crisis experienced three years ago during global meltdown.

The resolution adopted by the Chief Executive of Banks was the major outcome of their meeting

held yesterday in Abuja on the auspice of Bankers’ Committee meeting.

Briefing journalists yesterday on deliberation by Bank Executives, which had in attendance, the CEOs of operating banks in the country, CBN Director in charge of Banking Supervision Mrs Angela Tokumbo Martins said a memorandum detailing the agreement has been signed by banks.

“This deed is a deed between the banks and basically, the intention is to cover the cost of the banking crisis that we had about two or three years ago. Initially what we had in place was a Memorandum of Understanding which required banks or rather where the banks on their own agreed to contribute 0.3 per cent of their total assets to clean of the banking system at

that time.

But today, the deed has been signed and what is in the deed, is that the banks have agreed on their own to contribute 0.5 per cent of total assets and 0.5 per cent of 33 per cent of their off balance sheet assets to the sinking fund”, she explained.

Tokumbo said the total assets of the 24 operating commercial banks in the country is N21 trillion naira explaining however that, there is variation in the asset portfolio of each bank , “So the whole intention of that is to ensure that going forward, the banking system is safe and there is no incidents whereby we have to fall back on tax payers money. The banks are going to contribute 0.5 per cent of their total assets and today in the banking system, we have about N21 trillion in assets

NEITI absolves PPPRA of missing N4.423bn over-recovery

By Etuka Sunday fter a prolong face – off between the two bodies, the truth about the disputed N4.423 billion over-recovery funds has been established as Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) yesterday exonerated the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) of being in the custody of the funds .

A statement issued yesterday by the two organizations clarified that , the Central Bank of Nigeria is in the custody of the disputed

A

funds and the NEITI absolved PPPRA of complicity .

In a resolution paper endorsed and made available to Peoples Daily by PPPRA’s Lanre Oladele, the two Executive Secretaries; Mrs. Zainab S. Ahmed of NEITI and Reginald C. Stanley of PPPRA, the resolution paper absolved and cleared of PPPRA of the sum of N4.423 billion contained in the NEITI Audit Report.

According to the report, “after exhaustive and useful deliberations, we resolved as follows; That the sum of N4.423

billion in dispute has been reconciled and traced to the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) account domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); that there is nothing outstanding against PPPRA on the said amount”.

The meeting however suggested an alternative means of addressing other issues arising from the NEITI report, using the platform of Inter-Ministerial Task Team (IMTT) set up by Mr. President to address remedial issues arising from NEITI’s Report.

by the 24 banks held by them in various proportions. The per cent age in which they hold those assets differ” she further clarified.

Among Bank CEOs that attended the briefing included Phillips Oduoza of United Bank for Africa (UBA), Zenith Bank MD Emefiele Godwin; Fidelity Bank MD Reginald Ihejiahi and CBN Director of Corporate Communications, Ugochukwu Okarafor.

Commenting on the implication of 50 % Cash Reserves Requirement(CRR) ceiling slammed by CBN on public sector fund as part of its policy, Zenith Bank MD Emefiele Godwin said bankers endorsed

N3.3trn Pension assets: Stakeholders caution FG on investment options - Pg 21 Exchange Rates CBN

as at 13th August, 2013

Buying

Selling

$

154.75

155.75

€

239.33

240.88

£

205.67

207.00

Riyal

41.26

41.52

SDR

234.80

236.31

CFA

0.2943

0.3143

MANAGEMENT TIP OF THE DAY Encourage gratitude on your team

W

hen employees feel valued, they are more satisfied, willing to work longer, and motivated to do their best. As a manager, it’s your job to make them feel appreciated.

In addition to saying “thank you,” you can foster gratitude by: Developing them. People want to grow. If promotion opportunities are limited you can invest in professional development through training, assigning team members to new and interesting projects, and

exposing them to different parts of the company.

Involving them.

Give employees the opportunity to play key roles in decision making and problem solving so they know their skills benefit the organization.

Supporting collegiality.

Encourage camaraderie, help to eliminate toxic and dysfunctional team behaviors, and create opportunities for team members to interact with each other outside work.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

PAGE 20

Aviation Company News

Council demands FAAN’s luggage charge review

T

he Consumer Protection Council on Monday kicked against the imposition of N2,000 charges on all checked-in luggage of air passengers by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria.

The council, in a letter signed by its Director-General, Mrs. Dupe Atoki, drew the attention of FAAN to the outcry that greeted the indiscriminate implementation of the luggage…

Agip loses 20,000bpd to oil theft

T

he Nigeria Agip Oil Company said on Monday in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State that it was losing 20,000 barrels of crude per day to oil theft. This, it said, necessitated the discussion initiated by the Bayelsa State Government with it on how to tackle the scourge. The tripartite meeting, according to a statement, had in attendance…

Police set up Pension Fund Administrator

T

he Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, has said that the force has created its own Pension Fund Administrator to cater for its retirees following the approval of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Abubakar, who announced this on Monday when he declared open a three-day capacity building workshop for Police Pension desk officers in Abuja, noted that…

Electricity supply to major cities worsens, Nigerians groan

N

igerians on Monday condemned the poor supply of electricity across the country for about five days now. While some described the development as a setback to the ongoing reforms in the sector, others wondered if the Federal Government was actually sincere and ready to address the rot in the system. This is coming as officials… [Read More...]

N4.423bn debt: NEITI reveals PPPRA confirmation letter

T

he Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative on Sunday released a letter sent to it by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, acknowledging the draft audit report of NEITI. This, it said, showed that the PPPRA was informed of its N4.423bn debt to the federation, arising from over-recovery collected from independent oil marketers between 2008 and…

An Arik Air circraft

Nigeria tops 14 African countries on global safety standard Stories by Idris Suleiman, Lagos Global aviation regulatorInternational Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has listed Nigeria among 14 Africa countries whose safety implementation is above average of 61 % safety standard implementation pegged.

The ICAO 2013 Safety submission was based on the

reports of its auditors which investigated level of compliance by individual country across the world; especially it’s over 200 member States.

The report noted that Traffic growth projections in Africa are promising as forecasts indicate an annual growth rate for international traffic of 6.1 per cent over the five-year period from 2010–2015.

The ICAO report notes a solid

NCAA mandates airlines to set up consumer complaints desk

T

he Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA has declared that it is mandatory for all airlines operating within Nigeria to set up Consumer Complaint Desks at their operational terminals in all the airports.

The authority said the directive is to make it easy for passengers to lodge complaints if they feel uncomfortable with the service rendered to them including cases of missing luggage, flight cancellations among others.

Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Fola Akinkoutu told reporters that NCAA would expand its presence in all the airports where passengers could lodge their complaints if the airlines were unable to satisfactorily solve the problem they (passengers) complained of.

He said in the enforcement of the Passengers’ Bill of Rights, the agency would not want to be seen as policing the airlines over passengers complaints, rather its admonishes airlines to be self regulatory affirming that it intervene whenever necessary.

The DG cited instances where the agency has compelled British

Airways and Ethiopian Airlines to 250 pounds to nine passengers each for inconveniences and N129, 000 for selling a substandard product respectively.

He enjoined passengers to always ensure that when they purchasing tickets for their travel, they should always read and understand the printed carriage guidelines of the airlines and the obligation the airlines owed passengers during their flights, so that in the event of any complaint arising there from, they would know how to properly channel their grievances.

Also speaking on passengers with complimentary tickets having rights of claims due to any eventuality especially in a situation where flights are cancelled and airlines have to lodge stranded passengers in hotel, Captain Akinkoutu said passengers with such have no right to claim.

“The only set of passengers they owed obligation in such a situation where full-fare paying customers first before considering whether or not they could accommodate passengers with complimentary ticket, they are the mercy of the airline”.

strategic planning process for safe and efficient operations both nationally and regionally which the report said, was necessary to accommodate the expected traffic growth.

The document said Nigeria together with African communities have shown its leadership towards this end especially during the Ministerial Conference on Aviation Safety in Africa held in Abuja in July 2012.

Specific measurable targets were adopted during the resolution of Significant Safety Concerns (SSCs) as a matter of urgency and a progressive increase of the effective implementation of applicable ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) identified by the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) to no less than 60 per cent.

“To attain the agreed safety targets and achieve long-lasting improvements, the cooperation of all stakeholders will be required. Some efforts in this regard being implemented by ICAO in coordination with aviation safety partners are the Comprehensive Regional Implementation Plan for Aviation Safety in Africa (AFI Plan), the development of tailored ICAO Plans of Action for States with SSCs or serious safety deficiencies, and the Cooperative Inspectorate Scheme for the African and Indian Ocean Region (AFICIS)”.

Other countries on the continent that made the list include Cape Verde, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana and Kenya while Mauritania, Morocco, South Africa, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia and Zimbabwe complete it.

NAMA commiserates with NUJ over death of colleagues

T

he Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA has joined the ranks of corporate boides that have expressed condolence to the Nigeria Union of Jouranlists(NUJ) over the death of three officials of the NUJ who lost their lives in a ghastly motor accident in Osu-Ilesa, Osun while returning from Abuja.

NAMA in a condolence letter said the demise of the 3 journalists is a big lost to the media profession considering their contributions to the development of the current democratic dispensation.

A statement by the Managing Director of the agency, Engr.

Nnamdi Udoh said NAMA acknowledged the invaluable

contributions of Journalists in nation building and in the democratic process, stressing that the death of these very enterprising Nigerians at the prime of their careers was a great loss to the country.

While praying to God to grant the bereaved families the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss, the agency also wished the rest of the injured journalists in the fatal accident, a speedy recovery.

Adolphus Okonkwo, former Secretary, NUJ Lagos Council, Olatunde Oluwanike of FRCN and Kafayat Odunsi of NTA Channel 10 Lagos, were on their way to Lagos from Abuja after an official engagement when the accident occurred.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

PAGE 21

Pesnion&Insurance

N3.3trn Pension assets: Stakeholders caution FG on investment options

Stories by NGOZI ONYEAKUSI, LAGOS

R

eactions have continued to trail Federal Government decision to invest pension assets said to be in the region of N3.3 trillion on infrastructure projects.

A pensioner who doubles as the National Chairman, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN) Mr. Boniface Okezie in a chat with Peoples Daily cautioned government to be circumspective in its investment decision, warning government to be wary of taking investment decision detrimental to pensioners and contributors.

The pension assets have grossed over N3trillion and government is mulling on investment options and one

of them, is infrastructure projects.

Okezie said the funds should be invested in areas that yield returns for pensioners.

For infrastructure, he said the Federal Government should made provisions for that.

He cautioned that the funds should be secured so that it will be paid to its owners when the appointed time comes, stressing that the government should ensure provision of basic infrastructure which is its fundamental obligation rather than relying on pension funds.

“If government is investing the pension fund in infrastructure, when it is time for people who own the collect it, will it be able to pay back this money, you don’t dabble into such”, he cautioned.

“What the government

should be doing is to invest this money where it will be yielding returns; some people own this money, the retirees, the pensioners. They must have their money to enjoy lives while still living, not infrastructure that is not going to bring earnings to them.

It is uncalled for.

Government should provide infrastructures and they should depend on pension funds. Pension funds should be invested where it will yield returns for them to be able to pay people when they come forth for it. Government should be able to provide infrastructure, government is not doing anything to the citizens rather, and citizens are left to provide everything for themselves. You provide healthcare for yourself; you provide security for your house, ordinary road

the government is not constructing. How can you fall back on pension funds to provide infrastructure, it totally wrong ‘’, he said.

Speaking in a similar trend, a Pension Manager in one of the old generation bank argued that investing pension fund in infrastructure is a risk worth taking but warned that such should be managed by private sector and not the government.

“There should a framework to be adopted; the fund to be invested should be operated in a business manner” he said.

He advocated adoption of a concession called Build, Agree, Operate and Transfer where the funds will be managed by the private sector for the provision basic infrastructure, which

will attract a toll for those who may want to enjoy the facilities.

“Let there be a concession under which this funds will be invested and managed for provision of basic infrastructure such as railways, sea ports, air ports, radio station among others. So if you really want to use these facilities, you have to pay because someone invested in it.

On his part, the Managing Director, Inspenoline, Mr Chucks Okonta expressed dissatisfaction over how the government has tied down pension funds for a very long time without investing it in any business.

He regretted that if all the funds he contributed into the pool while in his former company were given to him while leaving the company,

he would have invested it in a meaningful business.

It could be recalled that the Federal Government recently declared that the Nigeria’s huge pension funds in excess of N3.3 trillion is to be made active to become one of the sources of investments that yield good returns for pensioners .

Coordinating Minister for the Economy/ Finance Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iewala who anouced Federal Government intention in Abuja this President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has given his nod that Pension funds be made active as obtainable in other climes where pensions are a veritable source of investment in infrastructure.

into agreement with third parties.

According to the Commission, operators seeking to go into agreement with third parties in respect of

their business must get the approval of the industry regulator.

The warning by PenCom also requires operators to seek the approval of the Commission with

respect to all technical agreements already executed with third parties.

This is contained in a circular from the commission signed by

Mohammad Datti; Head, Surveillance Department, titled “Execution of Technical Agreement with Third Parties” .

The Pencom circular said it had come to its

notice that some licensed pension fund operators execute technical agreements with third parties without obtaining the prior approval of the Commission.

PenCom vows to sanction PFAs on breach of directive

T

he National Pension C o m m i s s i o n (PenCom) said it will take a decisive step on any pension operator that failed to comply with its directives while entering

CHI declares N180m as dividend

C

onsolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc. has declared a total dividend of N180 million for the financial year ended 31st December, 2012.

Shareholders of the company at the firm’s Annual General Meeting in Lagos approved a dividend payout of 3 kobo per share for its investors whose names appeared in the company’s register and this translated to N180 million.

Addressing shareholders at the meeting, the Chairman of the board of directors of the company, Ugo Obi Ralph Ekezie stated that in spite of the challenging business environment; the company was able to maintain its record of profitability. “The resilience of your company, in spite of the enormous challenges posed by the business climate, is reflected in

its ability to once again maintain its unbroken record in profitability.

Your company was able to achieve significant growth in key performance metrics”, he said.

He assured the shareholders of improvement in dividend payout come financial year 2013 and beyond.

According to him, a profit after tax grew by 158 per cent from N153.3 million written in 2011 to N395.2 million in the period under review while gross premium income written rose to N4.1 billion against N4.0 billion recorded in the comparable period of 2011.

Total asset grew to N6.6 against N6.0 billion while shareholders’ fund was equitably enhanced by seven per cent to N4.1 billion in 2012 from N3.9 billion written in 2011.

The Managing Director of the

company, Mr Eddie Efekoha stated that as the volume of the firm’s business continue grow, volume of claims paid equally grew significantly, resulting in the company settling claims to the tune of N874.7 million in the period under review, thus showing 32 per cent increase over that of the previous year of N662.5 million.

“We believe that prompt settlement of claims remains the most formidable way of ensuring growth in patronage. We have thus reduced our claims processing time drastically, and now striving towards ensuring that payment cheques accompany offers of settlement for some categories of claims. This is being done based on our firm belief that a satisfied customer will certainly spread the good news to others”, he assured.

Standard Alliance Life introduces travel insurance policy Standard Alliance Life has introduced a travel insurance product, ValuPlus Travel Insurance policy guaranteeing its clients smooth travelling experience in addition to giving prompt medical attention in case of accident.

This is in line with company’s resolve of continually providing convenient, beneficial, and friendly

and problem solving and insurance policies for its esteem customers.

The product, says the firm becomes exceedingly necessary going by the growing demand for travel insurance cover, particularly to Schengen countries, as well as travel emergencies like ill-health, repatriation, loss of luggage, death and other issues that could make trips difficult.

Speaking during the launch of the product in Lagos, the Managing Director of Standard Alliance Life Limited Austin Enajemo-Isire , stated that the product was an outcome of the painstaking market survey by their Research and Development (R&D) team which reported the growing demand for the cover by the travel insurance consuming public.

PAGE 22

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

Analysis

Expert urges FG to create economic growth via tourism

H

Goods displayed at Abubakar Gumi Central market, as business resumes after sallah holidays, on monday in Kaduna. PHOTO: NAN

Customs intensifies patrol against arms importation around Lagos, Ogun borders

By Dapo Olalekan

T

he Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has said that it has intensified patrol on all discovered illegal routes in Lagos and Ogun states to check smuggling of firearms into the country.

Public Relations Officer of Zone A Federal Operations Unit (FOU) of the Service, Ikeja, Mr Uche Ejesieme, said in Lagos.

Ejesieme said that the Comptroller-General of Customs was worried over the proliferation of firearms in the country, therefore gave a matching order to all comptrollers to intensify patrols at all routes.

Giving an insight into what has been done, he disclosed that: ``When the new Zonal Comptroller, Mr Nuhu Mohammed took over the leadership in about a month ago, he directed that we should intensify our patrols around all illegal routes in the zone.

“We have identified some flash points where we have intensified patrols so that unwanted goods such as illegal arms do not find their ways in whatever guise into the country.

“Some of the unapproved routes found in Ogun axis have been blocked by our patrols. We have been motivated by the Customs

authorities to do a good job.

“We have more patrol vehicles and equipment to fight smugglers.

We have good welfare for our men,’’ Ejesieme said.

The image maker however said further that, no firearm smugglers had been arrested in the zone in recent time due to the strict policing by their men of approved and none-approved routes.

He said that the collaboration of some of the stakeholders, including freight forwarders, importers, members of Customs consultative Council, rice millers and other sister security agencies among others, had also assisted in

CBN introduces financial literacy in schools, launches MSMEs Fund Aug 15

T

he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has unveiled plans to introduce financial literacy at all levels in Nigerian schools’ curriculum to resolve the unmet needs in the society.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, stated this in his remarks Abuja at the 2013 Students for Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE) World Cup Awards and Dinners.

Sanusi was represented at the occasion by Mr Paul Eluhaiwe, Director, Development Finance Department (CBN).

SAGE is a global, non-profit organisation aimed at advancing youth entrepreneurship and community service around the world, emphasising ethical

business practices, social responsibility, civic engagement and environmental awareness.

The SAGE World Cup is an international entrepreneurship competition where secondary schools students around the world showcase their innovative business and community service projects to a panel of judges.

The governor who stressed on the need for investment in youths entrepreneurial capacity in Nigeria, said “investment in youths entrepreneurial capacity as future leaders of national economies was not only desirable but must be pursued with vigour”.

Sanusi said CBN would make Students for Advancement

of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE) Team one of its financial literary champions in its campaign The governor said the Apex bank was committed to collaborating and supporting initiatives such as SAGE’s which develop next generation of entrepreneurial leaders in order to resolve the unmet needs of the global community.

He said,``We understand the critical nature and needs of this important segment of our community and have developed targeted policies to enhance their access to finance while also evolving programmes aimed at strengthening their capacities to develop their enterprising ideas into virile and flourishing business”.

checking firearms smuggling.

He said that these efforts had led to the arrest of a petrol tanker used in smuggling the largest consignment of poultry products in the zone.

He said that the zone also had embarked on a mass sensitization and enlightenment programmes to educate the people living around the borders on the danger of smuggling.

“The last seizure of rice at Gbaji-Eke area, a border town between Lagos and Ogun was successful through the assistance of the youths in the area after the enlightenment campaign,’’ Ejesieme said.

ead, Department of Hospitality and Tourism, Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi Mr Simon Leka has urged the Federal Government to use the tourism sector to generate substantial economic benefits.

Leka said this when he spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

He said that government needed to pay attention to tourism industry with a view to generating greater wealth for the country.

Leka said that if tourism sector was properly harnessed, it would generate substantial economic benefits for both the people and the county at large.

He said that the tourism industry was an important industry to developing countries in the world.

According to him, the benefits of tourism to a country include huge foreign exchange earnings, tax revenues, business opportunities for budding entrepreneurs, and employment creation.

Leka said that the foreign exchange earnings realised from tourism industry could be used to develop other sectors of the economy.

“Tourism industry is a monopolistically competitive industry.

“It has many relatively small enterprises producing slightly differentiated products and services which can help in the growth of individuals and the country. “ From data collected, the hotel accommodation sector alone provided about 18.3 million jobs world-wide in 2005, according to the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).

“Tourism generates jobs through hotels, restaurants, night-clubs, recreation centres, heritage sites and museums,’’ he added.

He urged both government and private sectors to invest more in tourism, adding that the long term reward was beneficial to all.

(NAN)

Vandals destroy PHCN distribution stations in A/Ibom

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he Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) said it had lost about 105 sub-stations because of the activities of vandals in its Uyo Business District.

The Service Manager of the district, Mr Uduma Okala, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Uyo .

He said that only 760 stations, out of the 865 distribution stations in the state were currently functional.

“Following the spate of attacks on PHCN facilities by hoodlums, we in PHCN had complained to security agencies in the state for necessary assistance.

“We have appealed to the police to help check the menace by securing the substations for us,” Okala said.

The business service manager said

the vandals were interested in removing certain components of the distribution station because of its market value.

“The vandals are more interested in the copper in the armoured cable because in the open market, the price is on the high side.

“They use the copper for ear rings and necklace and because of this they keep thousands of Nigerians in total blackout.

“When the vandals go to a sub-station they chop off the feeder pillar and remove the copper,” Okala alleged.

He said that a metre of the cable was sold for N12, 000 in the market.

Okala said that the police and other security agencies had already apprehended some suspects and that investigations were going on.(NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

PAGE 23

Stock Watch

Report as at Tuesday, August 13, 2013

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

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Special Report

How is Adamawa faring under state of emergency?

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ver since President Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration of a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa on May 14, residents of the states have been expressing mixed feelings over the action.

Although, observers in Borno and Yobe agree that the activities of the Boko Haram sect are visible in the states, several residents of Adamawa, who believe that the sect’s operations are not widespread in the state, insist that there is no need for the action in the state.

Nevertheless, when the declaration was made, Gov. Murtala Nyako of Adamawa state appealed to the people to accept the development in good faith, conceding that the declaration could have come as a surprise to many citizens.

The governor, nonetheless, admitted that Adamawa had witnessed ``few criminal activities by armed hoodlums in the last few years, as it was in other states of the federation.’’

Nyako stressed that in spite of such criminal activities, Adamawa had enjoyed peace in recent times to the extent that it adjudged the most peaceful state in the North-Eastern geopolitical zone by some national and international peace groups. ``I therefore call upon all the citizens of the state to remain calm and not to do anything that could be construed to be against the emergency,’’ he added.

The governor’s appeal for calm was also re-echoed by his son, Abdul-Aziz Nyako when he spoke in his capacity as the Sarkin Matasa -- youth leader of Adamawa Emirate Council.

Adamawa state Governor, Murtala Nyako ``If we make things smooth and easier for security operatives, things will also be made easier for us,’’ he said, during one of his enlightenment campaign tours of the emirate’s districts.

The youth leader, however, called for the opening of a register that would contain the names of the residents of various wards in the state and the background information on them.

Alhaji Ahmad Sajoh, the Director of Press and Media Affairs to the state Governor, Murtala Nyako, stressed that the governor had been

making efforts to initiate more proactive communitybased security measures in the state.

He said that Nyako, for instance, had met with stakeholders in the border communities adjacent to Cameroon Republic, soliciting their support for the security agencies. ``We are also making efforts to open a media centre to bridge any communication gap between the military and civilian populace so as to ensure a good working relationship. ``We want the military to have an effective way of passing messages to the

Aftermath of the onslaught of the Islamic fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram

civilian populace and vice versa,’’ Sajoh said.

In the same vein, Brig.-Gen Fatai Alli, the Operational Commander of the military force deployed to Adamawa, urged the security officers in the state to make discipline and compliance with professional rules of engagement their watchword.

Alli noted that the Federal Government’s security measures had been yielding positive results because no attack or friction among the security agencies and the people had been recorded since the inception of the state of emergency.

Also speaking, Mr Godfrey Okeke, the Commissioner of Police in Adamawa, said that following the clampdown on terrorists by the military in Gwoza area of Borno, the police had arrested 11 suspects who fled to Adamawa.

While reiterating the police command’s commitment to protecting the people’s lives and property, Okeke commended the state government for its support for the state joint patrol team codenamed Operation Tsaro.

He, however, listed communication problems, induced by the suspension of GSM services in some areas, and the porous border with Cameroon, which traverses nine local governments in the state, as some of the major challenges facing the command in its fight against terrorism.

Although there is evidently a serene atmosphere in Yola, the state capital, the state of emergency, which was slammed on Adamawa, has taken its toll on the socioeconomic and commercial activities in the state.

Alhaji Adamu Ngurore, the spokesman for Adamawa Traders Union, noted that before the recent restoration of the suspended mobile telecommunication services; socio-economic and commercial activities in Yola nosedived appreciably.

He pleaded with the Federal Government to review the state of emergency in Adamawa, insisting that peace and order had been restored to the state. ``We have been peaceful, law-abiding and supportive to the security operatives; we hope the government will take that into consideration and review our case,’’ Ngurore said.

Besides, Alhaji Hussaini Isa, the Chairman of the Adamawa Chapter of the

Amalgamated Commercial Motorcycles Owners and Riders Association of Nigeria (ACOMORAN), called on the Federal Government to lift the state of emergency. ``What we witnessed in the state concerning security challenges before the onset of the state of emergency was largely linked to armed robbery attacks and other criminal activities. ``Even though, we cannot rule it out that there were elements of Boko Haram attacks in some parts of the state, especially from the neighbouring Borno State, Adamawa has remained largely peaceful,’’ he added.

Isa, however, noted that the state of emergency had directly affected the activities of the association’s members, leading to a decline in their daily income. ``Before the emergency rule, the daily earnings of most of our members ranged between N8,000 and N10,000 per person but now, the daily income has drastically reduced to between N4,000 and N5, 000,’’ he said.

Sharing similar sentiments, Mr Audu Zira, a vendor of mobile phone recharge cards in Jimeta, said that his sales

commander of the military force in Adamawa, said: ``No life has been lost in Adamawa since the declaration of the emergency. ``Before the declaration of the state of emergency, we recorded some series of attacks on police stations and banks in some local government areas but things now are better. ``In spite of the relative calm, we are not relaxing or taking any chances in ensuring that the state of emergency achieves its aims and objectives of achieving lasting peace as well as security of lives and property in the state,’’ he added.

The general commended the government and people of the state for their support and cooperation for the security agents, extolling the people, in particular, for their understanding of all the security measures so far taken to restore peace and order in the state. ``I will like to commend the traditional institutions too for their contributions in sensitising the public to their expectations under the state of emergency,’’ he said.

Speaking on how

“

measures in the state, prior to the declaration of the state of emergency.

Nevertheless, he noted that the cooperation, which his administration enjoyed from the various stakeholders, including the security operatives and youth groups, had been helpful in efforts to make the state safe.

The governor thanked the people for their conduct and cooperation with security operatives, adding that it was a thing of pride for the state government to note that the security operatives had never been provoked to the level of using arms against the people.

Nyako said that he was convinced that the Federal Government would soon lift the state of emergency, in view of the peaceful situation in the state.

All the same, observers believe that the Federal Government and the security agencies are in the best position to decide when to end the state of emergency, insisting that what is important now is safety of the people’s lives and property.

(NAN) The JTF team has said all terrorist camps had been dislodged while some of the terrorists fled towards Niger Republic

In spite of the relative calm, we are not relaxing or taking any chances in ensuring that the state of emergency achieves its aims and objectives of achieving lasting peace as well as security of lives and property in the state,’’ he added had plummeted as a result of the state of emergency.

Nevertheless, Mr Augustine Mako from Numan Local Government Area disagreed with those calling for lifting of the state of emergency in Adamawa, insisting that it should continue until the security situation became normal. ``I recall that in previous times, there were crises and killings of innocent lives in Adamawa; what is happening now in Adamawa, in respect of the state of emergency, should continue for the time being,’’ he said. ``But if the security operatives feel that the security challenges are over; the government should go ahead and lift the state of emergency,’’ he said.

On the whole, Alli, the

Adamawa has been coping under the state of emergency, Gov. Nyako stressed that his administration had kept the youth in the state busy, thereby making it difficult for the Boko Haram sect to recruit them for their nefarious activities. ``When I took over as governor, many youths were idle and jobless; they were roaming around, thereby making it easy for them to be lured by the sect members. ``But with the emergence of youth empowerment programmes like the vocational training, farming skills and local apprenticeship schemes, many of them have become self-reliant,’’ he said.

Nyako argued that his administration had already taken some security

A vigilante peers into the trunk of a car looking for weapons in Adamawa Emirate Council

PAGE 26

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

Property

Udenna Orji@yahoo.com

Design tips for your home Stories by Udenna Orji hanging the interior design of your home brings freshness and deeper inspiration into your life. The feeling of newness in freshly redesigned interiors has been known to transcend

beyond your home to lead to greater performance in your workplace and a happier relationship with your loved ones. The design tips below are intended to do just these. Try them and ease into a new world of joy and inspiration

Think Upward: The designer of this small kitchen extends the kitchen upwards to ensure accommodation of stuff and to avoid clutter. Home Depot designer Emily O'Keefe added cabinetry with period charm to this small kitchen. "Since space was tight, I went up, stacking the cabinets," she says. "The ceilings are 11 feet high, but not every cabinet touches the ceiling — that way they look more like furniture."

Its a smart idea worth trying in your own kitchen.

Go Dark: Dark walls do the opposite of what you’d expect: They make a small room feel bigger.

C

Developer calls for development of infrastructure for mass housing

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ass Housing Developer and Managing Director of El-Salem Nigeria Ltd, Mr. Ben Gbade Ojo has called on the Federal Government to develop infrastructure in all areas designated for mass housing as a way of achieving government’s target of reducing the nation’s deficit of 16 million housing units.

Mr. Ojo who made the call in a chat with Peoples Daily in Abuja on Friday stated that “without prejudice to the findings and recommendations of the various

committees set up by the Housing Minister to identify problems and solutions to Nigeria’s housing sector, including efforts of professional associations and other stakeholders on the way forward for the sector, I wish to call on the Jonathan administration to please tackle Nigeria’s housing problems through concerted development of infrastructure like roads, electric power and pipeborne water in sites designated for mass housing. Our experience in developing mass housing has

shown that the absence of urban infrastructure and escalating cost of building materials have been the bane of estate developers and have effectively stunted efforts at housing development especially on mortgages. While the country waits for the development of the bond market to finance urban infrastructure, we urge the government to create a temporary and targeted intervention fund that will provide infrastructure for serious private sector estate developers and come up with some

other measures that will bring down the cost of building materials in the country”.

He said “as the nation gets poised to provide adequate housing for her citizens, it has become necessary to carry out a comprehensive reform of Nigeria’s mortgage sector and mortgage institutions in Nigeria” Mr. Ojo appealed to the Honourable Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Ms. Ama Pepple “to pursue with her legendary commitment, the issues

of reviewing the Land Use Act to make land more accessible and to tackle the delays and difficulties associated with acquisition and transfer of property rights” adding that “El-Salem is committed to providing high quality and affordable housing for the generality of Nigerians. We are currently researching on how we can make houses available at N1 million or N2 million. We want to come to a point where with N1 million or N2 million, people can buy houses from El-Salem”.

How poor insurance penetration hinders mortgage development in Nigeria

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he financial challenges hindering the development of Nigeria’s housing sector have been blamed partly on the low level of insurance penetration and awareness in the country.

The Managing Director of Union Assurance Company Limited, Mr. Godwin Odah who made this known in a statement issued to newsmen said no economy could successfully thrive without a vibrant insurance sector which would breed entrepreneurship that would lift the housing sector.

Odah described insurance as a mechanism for mobilizing funds, adding that housing remained scarce because there were no funds.

“We need long term funds, which is what life insurance provides”, Odah said.

The Union Assurance boss said that at the moment, there was acute shortage of long-term funds which should ordinarily be available to entrepreneurs to grow the economy because Nigerians have yet to buy into life insurance as a natural way of saving for their long-term needs.

“Life insurance comes in the category of 5, 10 and 15-year plans and so on. If a sizable number of Nigerians, with the country’s huge population, invests just a small proportion of their income in insurance, the economy will expand because the money will be made available to investors who can

then grow their businesses on long-term basis,” Odah explained.

According to him, funds at the disposal of banks are short-term in nature and most times, have a maximum tenor of 90 days before the owners will come calling and “with this condition, banks can only lend short-term at high interest rates that are largely a disincentive to the entrepreneur in the real estate business. But the situation will be better if banks had insurance life funds.”

Odah said it was not possible to achieve sustainable expansion in the housing sector without mortgages which he explained would be easier if the insurance component

was available to make the dream of housing for all a reality.

“The insurance component takes care of the initial deposit required by the mortgage firms. But because insurance companies are backward in terms of patronage of life products, these long-term funds are not available for development. Pension funds, which are another component of insurance, have generated within a short period, about 3 trillion naira. Talks are ongoing to develop a framework for investment of the money for infrastructural development and in other sectors. This is a demonstration of what life insurance funds can do for national development”, Odah said.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

PAGE 27

Property

Harness potentials of the aluminium industry – Popoola Stories by Udenna Orji

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s a means of diversifying the economy and creating jobs, the General Manager of Vidson Ventures, Northern Region, Pastor Wale Popoola has called on the Federal Government to harness the abundant potentials of the aluminum industry in order to lay a solid foundation for the industrial and economic development of Nigeria”.

Pastor Popoola, an aluminum expert said, “the aluminium industry is a vast industry because

people make massive use of aluminium worldwide. Much of what we see in automobiles and aircraft is aluminium. This is because the components are durable. Although it is used in large quantities abroad, in Nigeria, it is scantily used. Even in the building industry, we are yet to use up to 10% of the potential of aluminium. We have about 4 notable aluminium extrusion plants in Nigeria and this is grossly inadequate.

Billets are the primary products you work upon to get aluminium products. They are extruded to

get aluminium. Nothing less than 65% of the aluminium used in Nigeria is imported from Europe.

Nigeria can accommodate 60 – 70 aluminium extrusion plants. They say aluminium plants are capital intensive but Nigerians are wasting foreign exchange importing aluminium. This nation should invest in extrusion plants. However, the erratic electric power supply in Nigeria will be a problem because aluminium is powerbased. If you run the extrusion plant with a generator, you may go under. Government should fix

the power sector.

According to the aluminium expert, “All we are doing in Nigeria is trade in imported aluminium. But we should produce it here. Many industries need it.

It is important in our industrial development and in employment creation. It will conserve foreign exchange. Government should do the right thing. They should back up policies with concrete action.

There are always good policies but poor implementation. When we talk about the Asian tigers, it is because these people discovered the needs of their nations. In the

80’s in Nigeria, people worked in shifts in factories but those industries are moribund today. We should focus on manufacturing to jump-start the economy and aluminium development will help industrialize Nigeria because diverse manufactured products are made with aluminium. A fraction of the money we realize from oil if judiciously spent can industrialize Nigeria. Nigerians are industrious people. If an enabling environment is created, this country will be greater than the big European countries”

Foreign investors eye real estate opportunities in Nigeria I nterestingly, despite the recent global meltdown and turmoil in Dubai where property prices are coming down, discerning investors, with eyes on the future are building more portfolios in real estate.

And following the approval of a new National Housing Policy and a new Urban Development Policy by the Federal Executive Council last June, foreign capital has been flooding into the country for housing development under the Private-Public Partnership (PPP) through which the federal government intends to build one million housing units annually under the new housing policy.

The reason for the blossoming real estate sector in Nigeria, according to Seyi Oyetunde, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Continental Estates, is because “real estate cannot crash, it stabilizes. Demand is higher than supply in real estate. I tell you there is nowhere else like real estate. The richest men in the world, if you look at their wealth, the bulk of it comes from real estate. I can’t

remember exactly now but I know about 90 per cent of the world’s richest men thrive in real estate.

Even when they do other things, it is based on their stock of real estate. They own corner shops everywhere, corner shops that enjoy appreciation. Because they own their own shops, they don’t rent and if at all they’ve got to rent, maybe it’s out of compulsion. But 90% or 95% of their locations are out rightly owned. People whose wealth is phenomenal and will last about four generations without effort are in real estate. I tell you it is exodus syndrome that happens in Nigeria. With the direct foreign investment into the Nigerian market too, many shops are opened, so many people globally are beginning to realize that the local market in Nigeria is attractive for their various businesses. One of the first things they will need is commercial real estate and then maybe back it up with one serious luxury apartment for the CEO and then the other managers can be given housing allowances and the rest of them.”

U D Bond extends sales discount on properties

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roperty company, U D Bond Shelter Services Limited has extended its sales discount on properties. The company has announced that it is extending the discount sales to enable more Nigerians become homeowners.

Executive Director of the company, Mrs. Nkechi Ugochukwu called on intending homeowners to seize the opportunity of the ongoing sales discount on properties to own their own homes, adding that U D Bond

is committed to ensuring that majority of Nigerians become homeowners.

U D Bond has on offer various house types including flats, bungalows, terrace houses, duplexes and others in different districts of Abuja. There are various payment options including mortgage assistance from reputable mortgage institutions. Also available for sale by the company are undeveloped and serviced plots of land for homes, plazas, factories and hotels.

A housing unit

Furniture maker, Regalo Range, begins sales on installment payments Newly married couples, newly transferred residents, newly employed workers, others, to enjoy spaced-out payment terms while using the furniture in their homes

By Udenna Orji

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opflight Abuja-based furniture maker, Regalo Range has commenced sales of its various state-of- the-art furniture products on installmental payment terms. The top furniture brand has been making a steady inroad into the Nigerian market with its sturdy products which include different classy designs of dinning sets, wardrobes, sofas, kitchen cabinets, office furniture and many others.

With the installmental payment bonanza, you can decorate or re-decorate your home now with Regalo Range furniture and pay installmentally.

Regalio Range has continued to penetrate the market with its masterpieces now highly sought after by upscale hotels, property developers, ministries, government agencies, interior decorators and other organizations and private individuals who have come to rely on the famous Nigerian brand for its exquisite de-

signs, beauty, sturdiness and durability.

General Manager of Regalio Range, Mr. Mike Iwerima attributes the company’s success to “our state-of-the-art-furniture equipment and painstakingly selected furniture craftsmen from different parts of the country, coupled with the fact that we do not compromise on quality of materials used. We can also design exclusively to your taste and needs. Our strategy is high quality at a low price”.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

PAGE 28

Motoring

BMW X5 really proves itself

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icture this: You’re driving on a highway. The wind is gusting, bringing with it a wall of sand that cloaks the freeway ahead and pelts the car’s paint with mother nature’s idea of microdermabrasion. As other cars blow about in their lanes, the 2013 BMW X5 you’re driving just plows forward as if on a tranquil spring cruise.

Then the freeway starts to twist and increase in elevation. Yet the X5 keeps charging on while other, less composed SUVs have to slow down.

It’s in these extreme circumstances when the X5 really proves itself, demonstrating a staggering degree of stability and handling prowess for something so big and heavy. It may not be the sort of SUV that ad agencies will show fording a river or climbing a rocky mountain trail, but the X5 has a toughness and solidity all its own. At the same time, this luxury midsize crossover comes with the equipment, quality construction and high-end trappings one expects from BMW. However, the 2013 BMW X5 isn’t the most spacious choice for family hauling purposes. BMW’s own X3 isn’t that much smaller, for instance, and while the X5 does offer a third-row seat, it’s laughable compared to those in the less expensive Acura MDX and Infiniti JX. There are also other sporty choices such as the Infiniti FX and Porsche Cayenne one would likely want to consider.

But overall we think pretty highly of the X5. And if your drives regularly involve Nevada sand storms,

well, you know what to get.

The 2013 BMW X5 is a midsize luxury crossover SUV that seats five. An optional third-row bench adds two more seats, though they are quite small. Five trim levels are offered: xDrive35i, xDrive35i Premium, xDrive35i Sport Activity, xDrive35d and xDrive50i. “xDrive” indicates that it has standard all-wheel drive, while the last three digits represent the engine. A high-performance version known as the X5 M is covered in a separate review.

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tandard equipment on the xDrive35i includes 18-inch wheels, automatic and adaptive bi-xenon headlights, LED running lights, foglamps and automatic wipers. Inside, you get keyless ignition, cruise control, dual-zone automatic climate control, 10-way power front seats with memory functions, leatherette premium vinyl upholstery, a tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel, the iDrive electronics interface, Bluetooth phone connectivity, the BMW Assist emergency communications system, and a 10-speaker sound system with a CD player, HD radio, an auxiliary audio jack and an iPod/USB audio interface.

The xDrive35i Premium, xDrive35d and xDrive50i add a panoramic sunroof, power-folding and auto-dimming mirrors, front and rear parking sensors, a power liftgate, rear privacy glass, heated front seats, leather upholstery and a power-adjustable steering wheel. Many of these items are optional on the base X5.

The xDrive35i Sport Activity adds a sport-tuned suspension,

20-inch wheels, sport seats, a sport steering wheel, darker exterior trim and an increased top speed. These items are optional on the xDrive50i as part of the Sport Activity package.

The four upper trims offer additional options. The Convenience package adds rear- and top-view parking cameras, keyless ignition/entry, four-zone automatic climate control, rear manual side sunshades, a navigation system, voice controls and real-time traffic information. The Cold Weather package adds a heated steering wheel, heated rear seats and headlight washers. The Technology package adds a head-up display, a side-view parking camera and automatic high beams.

The Luxury Seating package gets “multicontour” 14-way power front seats with four-way lumbar, adjustable side bolsters, ventilation and massage.

T

he keyless ignition/entry, automatic high beams, head-up display, navigation system, 14-way seats and satellite radio are also available as standalone options. Others include an adaptive adjustable suspension, active steering, adaptive cruise control, power soft-close doors, extended leather upholstery, a rear-seat entertainment system and the BMW Apps suite of Internet-based smartphone features.

The xDrive35i Sport Activity and xDrive50i are also eligible for the M Sport package. This adds additional power, 19-inch wheels, special exterior and interior trim, an M division sport steering wheel and the other Sport Activity features for the 50i.

The xDrive35i models feature a 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-6 that produces 300 horsepower and 300 pound-feet of torque.

Both this engine and the 50i get an eight-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive standard. According to BMW, it will go from zero to 60 mph in 6.4 seconds. EPA-estimated fuel economy is 16 mpg city/23 mpg highway and 19 mpg combined.

With the Sport Activity’s M Sport package, output increases to 315 hp and 330 lb-ft of torque.

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he xDrive50i gets a twinturbo 4.4-liter V8 good for 400 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque. BMW says it’ll hit 60 mph in 5.3 seconds, while EPA-estimated fuel economy is 14/20/16.

With its M Sport package, output goes up to 440 hp and 480 lb-ft of torque.

The xDrive35d features a diesel-powered 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-6 that produces 265 hp and 425 lb-ft of torque.

It gets a six-speed automatic and all-wheel drive. In Edmunds performance testing, it brought the X5 from zero to 60 mph in 7.2 seconds. It returns an EPA-estimated 16/26/22.

Every 2013 BMW X5 includes stability and traction control, antilock brakes, automatic brake drying, front side airbags, side curtain airbags and adaptive brake lights. The latter flash the taillights under sudden extreme braking as a warning to trailing motorists. Also standard is the BMW Assist emergency communications system, which provides automatic crash notification, stolen vehicle recovery and on-demand roadside assistance.

Source: Edmunds.com

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

PAGE 29

Arts & Culture

FROM THE LIVE STAGE with Patrick-Jude Oteh 0803 700 0496, 0805 953 5215 (SMS only)

FROM LORCA TO LORCA

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Participants at the creative writing class organized by Abuja Writers Forum (AWF), recently in Abuja.

AWF organises writing workshops in September T he September Writing Workshops, organized by the Abuja Writers Forum (AWF), as part of the AWF Creative Writing School initiative, is designed to give those with a genuine interest in writing the requisite skills in Fiction, Poetry and Drama.

Participants will over four Saturdays in September (7th, 6th, 14th, 21st & 28th) get the opportunity to develop their writing skills in any of the aforementioned genres. They would be working with a group of dedicated resource persons.

The workshop which will be in three-phases per set (introductory, intermediate and advanced) is a preparatory class for a certificate course in creative writing that the literary group is set to run in partnership with the International Institute of Journalism (IIJ), Abuja.

Bob MajiriOghene - poet, short story writer and public commentator will handle the Fiction module. Author of Tears for a Birthday (poetry) and Deep Sighs (short stories), his forthcoming work Secrets of a Diary, is a story of love and hate narrated by a diary. He began expressing his writing flair as a student-columnist with the Nigerian Observer in 1991 with a column that gained rapid popularity called Acada Gist. He later worked with TELL newsmagazine first as staff, then as senior writer.

He was also editorial assistant and columnist with Daily Independent Newspaper, Nigeria. His column identity then was Avant-garde.

MajiriOghene is published locally (Daily Independent, Pointer-

on Saturday, TELL, The Guardian, The Nigerian Observer and Vanguard) and internationally by Associated Content aka YahooVoices, Equatorial Press, the German Kulturaustausch, Nigeriansinamerica and South Africa’s Urban Green File.

A graduate of English from the universities of Benin and Lagos, MajiriOghene was the recipient of two German fellowships organized by the International Institute of Journalism, IIJ of InWent, first in Ghana (Reporting on ECOWAS & its Institutions) and next in Berlin Germany (Environment Reporting) in 2008.

He runs his own media and publishing agency, Bob MajiriOghene Communications, and works as office manager and editorial consultant with the law firm of Jackson, Kargbo & Associates.

His interests include chess, music, philately, writing, sports.

Anthony Abu, who will handle the Drama module ,is a Development Communication Expert who has worked on development projects of the UKaid, British Council, Action Aid and others in the areas of research, communications and media engagement. A Best-student-award-winniing graduate of the Theatre and Communication Department of the University of Jos, Abu has impeccable playwriting skills; most of his plays written to amplify social development messages, addressing issues of peace building, governance and reproductive health.

Abu is skilled in writing, producing and directing for the screen and stage. He was Coor-

dinator of the NOA-supported Winds of Change Theatre Group where he wrote most of the plays used in the campaign on peace building and resolution; same he did with Future Africa Network, WACWIN and Manji Foundation. His pet projects BE WISE and ASEREKHU in Akure and Jos used plays as tools. He believes in Theatre for Society sake and has used his productions for this reason.

Dr Emman Usman Shehu will take care of the Poetry module. He has taught creative writing over the years including during his stint at the Usmanu Dan Fodio University, Sokoto. Apart from teaching creative writing and media related courses, he heads the Abuja-based International Institute of Journalism and is the founding President of the Abuja Writers Forum (AWF).

He has published two collections of poetry, Questions For Big Brother and Open Sesame. The latter was a runner up in one of the editions of the prestigious Nigeria Literature Prize organized by the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) group. He has two forthcoming poetry collections, Tailspin and Icarus Rising, as well as a collection of short stories, A Cry of Bugles.

For registration details about the September Writing Worksops, prospective participants can send an email to abujawriters@ gmail.com indicating the particular workshop writing genre they are interested in. They can also call 08063811559, 08023117473, 07030489356 or 08058520145 for further information.

ederico Garcia Lorca was the very brilliant Spanish poet and playwright whose play Yerma brought our company to the attention of the Embassy of Spain in 2008. Yerma had been adapted for the Nigerian stage by the Nigerian-British playwright, novelist and film maker, Biyi Bandele who set the story in the rustic and beautiful railway junction town of Kafanchan. Our first performance of the play was in Jos, then followed three performances in Abuja.

The collaborations which started in 2008 with Federico Garcia Lorca’s Yerma (2008) has continued five years later with Enrique Jardiel Poncela’s Eloise Is Under An Almond Tree (2012). The other plays featured in these collaborations have included Lope de Vega’s Fuenteovejuna (2009), Calderon de la Barca’s Life Is A Dream (2010) and Miguel Mihura’s Sublime Decision (2011). And now in 2013, we are getting set to revisit Garcia Lorca again with the performance of his play, The Shoemaker’s Marvellous Wife.

The year 2013 is Garcia Lorca’s year! An exhibition of his life and works has already opened in New York and way back in Spain there is a new vista been opened into his life and works even while the search for his final resting place has continued to intensify and create all manner of puzzles. The place where it was believed he was executed yielded some bones but none has been identified as Garcia Lorca’s.

As a company we take exceptional pride in these collaborations which afford us the singular opportunity to bring forth new talents as well as a crop of artistes who delight and participate very excitedly in plays from another clime which as we saw in Yerma are plays though set in another locale still afford us the opportunity to look at ourselves and our humanity because these plays are also about us and our stories.

In 2013, we have gone full circle. From a Garcia Lorca play to another Garcia Lorca play. Two plays by the same author but two plays with two different temperaments – the one explores the wife whose husband under every legitimate guise has refused to consummate their marriage while she yearns for a child and eventually she strangles the husband by the riverside and the other tells us the story of a wife who is constantly heckling her husband while been surrounded by different suitors and fantasies. The husband eventually runs away from home but returns under a disguise to learn that his wife actually and really loves him and he comes back home to find that nothing has changed and this time around the wife takes every precaution to ensure that he does not run away so easily again. It hopefully promises to be a night full of laughter like only Garcia Lorca knows how to invoke and it is all so haunting considering that like most extremely talented men and women he lived such a tormented life.

The audiences that grace the annual plays are a stellar one. They are urbane and they are cultured. They help us to realize our full potentials and the post performance discussions are always a delight. You get to hear all sorts of views and for us these are the measurements of how far we have come and how far we are willing to go. These annual audiences also increase our circle of friends and family. We look forward to see them always. There are some that have followed us since Yerma and it will be interesting to know and find out what they think of The Shoemaker’s Marvellous Wife. As a theatre director, I would have loved to play our then Yerma and her then husband as the Shoemaker and his wife. It would have made such a contrast.

We are looking forward to the Nigerian premiere of The Shoemaker’s Marvellous Wife. We are proud to be a part of the global celebrations of the life of this most talented and brilliant poet and playwright and above all we are excited that our collaborations with the Embassy of Spain has gone full circle with the work of Federico Garcia Lorca.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

PAGE 30

Arts & Culture

‘There Was A Country’ Book Review

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igeria, at independence from British rule in 1960, was called the Giant of Africa.

With a large population, an educated elite and many natural resources, especially oil, Nigeria was supposed to fly the flag of democratic success. It did not, and it is clear now, in retrospect, that it could not possibly have done so. Colonial rule, as a government model, was closer to a dictatorship than a democracy.

Nigeria was a young nation, created in 1914, as Nigerian children would learn in history class in the endlessly repeated sentence: ‘Lord Frederick Lugard amalgamated the northern and southern protectorates to form one country and his wife gave it the name Nigeria.

It is debatable whether, at independence, Nigeria was a nation at all. The amalgamation was an economic policy; the British colonial government needed to subsidise the poorer North with income from the resource-rich South.

With its feudal system of emirs, beautiful walled cities, and centralised power systems, the North was familiar to Lord Lugard – not unlike the Sudan, where he had previously worked. In the South, the religions were more diverse, the power systems more diffuse.

Lugard, a theorist of imperial rule, believed in the preservation of native cultures as long as they fitted his theories of what native cultures should be. In the North, the missionaries and their Western education were discouraged, to prevent what Lugard called their ‘corrupting influence’ on Islamic schools.

Western education thrived in the South. The regions had different interests, saw each other as competitors, and became autonomous at different times; there was no common centre. A nation is, after all, merely an idea. Colonial policy did not succeed in propagating the idea of a nation: indeed, colonial policy did not try to. In the North colonialism entrenched the old elite; in the South it created a new elite, the Western-educated. This small group would form the core of the nationalist movement in the 1950s, agitating for independence.

They tried to establish the idea of ‘nation’ and ‘tribe’ as binary, in opposition to each other, a strategy they believed was important for the exercise of nation-building.

But the politicisation of ethnicity had already gone too far.

Author: Title: Review: Publisher: Page:

It didn’t help that the new head of state, in a clumsy attempt to calm the nation, instituted a unitary decree. Instead of regional civil services Nigeria now had a single civil service. A second coup by northern officers saw Igbo officers hunted down and murdered.

T

hen the murders became massacres. ‘Massacre’ may seem melodramatic. But perhaps because the events leading to the Nigeria-Biafra war are so often eclipsed by the war itself, so little remembered, it seems an apt word for the thousands of Igbo civilians in the North who were killed between May and September 1966, their homes ransacked and set on fire: Nigerian civilians killed by Nigerian civilians. The numbers are still disputed, but most agree that at least seven thousand died. The federal government seemed incapable of stopping the killings. Had the massacres not occurred, or had they been dealt with differently, the south-eastern region would

not have seceded and declared itself the independent nation of Biafra.

The darkest chapter of Nigeria’s history: the Nigeria-Biafra war that left a million people dead, towns completely destroyed and a generation stripped of its innocence. On the Biafran side, intellectuals actively participated in the war, buoyed by their belief in the secessionist cause. They drafted press releases, served as roving ambassadors, made weapons. The best known and most influential African poet in English, Christopher Okigbo, joined the Biafran army. He was a romantic, unsatisfied with the administrative or diplomatic roles his fellow intellectuals took on; Chinua Achebe, his close friend, describes him as a man about whom there was a certain inevitability of drama and event.

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ere months into the war, he died in battle. Achebe’s recollection of Okigbo’s

death in There Was a Country is brief, and no less moving for that.

Achebe hears the announcement on his car radio and pulls up at the roadside: The open parkland around Nachi stretched away in all directions. Other cars came and passed.

Had no one else heard the terrible news?

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hen I finally got myself home and told my family, my three-year-old son, Ike, screamed: ‘Daddy don’t let him die!’ Ike and Christopher had been special pals. When Christopher came to the house the boy would climb on his knees, seize hold of his fingers and strive with all his power to break them while Christopher would moan in pretended agony. ‘Children are wicked little devils,’ he would say to us over the little fellow’s head, and let out more cries of feigned pain.

In the years since the war, Okigbo has become an icon to writers throughout the continent: venerated, enmeshed in myth, his death a striking example of the great tragedy of the war. Achebe almost died too. Before the war started, when Igbo people were under siege in Lagos, soldiers raided his house and only just missed him. Later, his home and his office were bombed, and later still the Biafran army set up an armoury in his porch overnight; his family woke to the sound of shelling and knew it was time to flee. His story is a story of near-misses, of deep scars left by what could have been.

After an air raid in Enugu at the beginning of the war, Achebe stares at the ruins of what had been the office of Citadel Press, a publishing company he had started with Okigbo, and thinks: ‘Having had a few too many homes and offices bombed, I walked away from the site and from publishing for ever.’

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chebe is the most widely read African author in the world, and was already a known and respected writer in 1967, when he joined the Biafran war effort. He served as an ambassador for Biafra, travelling to different countries to raise support for the beleaguered nation, and participating in various committees, one of which came up with the Ahiara declaration, a moving if starry-eyed document that was the new nation’s intellectual foundation. He has written poems and short stories about Biafra –Girls at War (1972) is a magnificent collection of stories set there. But many have waited and hoped for a memoir, for his personal take on a contested history. Now at last he has written it. Although it is subtitled ‘A Personal History of Biafra’, There Was A Country is striking for not being very personal in its account of the war. Instead it is a Nigerian nationalist lament for the failure of the giant that never was; Achebe is mourning Nigeria’s failures, the greatest and most devastating of which was Biafra.

A

fter independence a vicious regional power struggle ensued. The ‘fear of domination’ of one region by another was everywhere. Elections were rigged.

The government was unpopular.

Only six years later a group of army majors carried out a coup and murdered top government officials. In the North the coup was seen as an Igbo coup, a plot by the southern Igbo to gain dominance.

Chinua Achebe There Was A Country Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Penguin Press HC (Oct. 11, 2012) 352 pages

Cover of the book

POEM OF THE WEEK Cut to the heart I wanted a sunrise instead The moonlight pours into my cells So Helen Martin’s ghost has come for me She has bided her time well While India shatters at my feet Standing at the edge of it is an angel of water With wings made of ice– soporific vampire You landed like an avalanche I started off by trimming your icicles When you couldn’t keep your hands to yourself The pupil is radiant, so are the missing case studies A table has been set for me A forked tongue where my water glass should be I think in another life I might have been Virginia Woolf Rage is splashed against my childhood love Her name is ‘mother’ She tastes like cold plums I must be mad if I am having visions Of a woman sleepwalking in my house Wearing an alluring scarlet cloak Dripping blood where it Is not supposed to be like a vampire Bleeding into the fragile lines of being– The eternal that is love and death There is pain in the fire Of her belly not unlike the India of my sister’s travels My vision is formidable, dark and as serious as war She takes the perfume of wine, roses, And discontent wherever she goes The evidence of fear follows swiftly–she burns me Like lava and it is only the knowledge of childlike Innocence that keeps my mind far away from hers I become like a child once again In my dreams, the smell of rain in my hair Climbing over my parents thrones in the living room Already housing collections of darkness visible.

Source: Africanwriter.com

QUOTE

“She was widely read enough to appreciate my literary wit but not so widely read that she knew my sources. I like that in a woman.” ― David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

DIPLOMATIC

PAGE 31

CIRCUIT

US Consul General hosts Roundtable on Bi-national Commission

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s a lead-up to the August 15, 2013 BiNational Commission meeting, U.S. Consul General, Jeffrey Hawkins met with twenty five opinion leaders, policy makers and senior media practitioners at a round table discussion on Monday, August 12, 2013.

This BNC meeting will be the 9th such meeting to take place in Nigeria. The roundtable discussion was organized by the U.S. Consulate General to give the Consul General an opportunity to explain the mechanics and importance of the Bi-national Commission meetings and to provide a platform for these opinion leaders to appraise the progress made so far in the previous meetings of the Commission and to express their views on issues they expect will be raised at the meeting this week.

The interactive discussion provided a special opportunity for the Consul General to hear first-hand the thoughts and suggestions of the Nigerian

Hawkins reacting to one of the comments in an interactive session with opinion leaders in Lagos. opinion leaders on ways the Nigerian government could move forward on most of the

pressing security, social and economic issues expected to be discussed at the Commission.

Some of the issues discussed include corruption, security issues, investment and trade,

and educational opportunities to mention a few.

Participants expressed the need for good governance, accountability, security, a stable power infrastructure, unity throughout the country, and a good educational system for all citizens. One participants opined that “often we come together to talk about problems; we need solutions and actions.” Another leader informed the audience about his organization’s work on fighting corruption. According to him, he is partnering with U.S. companies and film producers on appropriate content to expose corruption and increase civil society’s awareness in Nigeria.

Other individuals highlighted in their contributions the disturbing development disparity in Nigeria, especially in the north and the importance of capacity development through exchange programs and in-country training opportunities.

The Consul General was able to give feedback to what the USG is already doing to promote progress in these areas and through other initiatives.

AU pays special attention to empowering girls, young women

Zuma

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ou are the future of the continent, and you must build that future today. You must be strong, be focused and have confidence to reach your dreams. You must be role models for other girls and young women: in Africa and the world, for current and future generations.

You are Africa’s future – and I am confident that the future looks bright. We shouldn’t just want you to reach where we are, but beyond.”

These were some of the inspirational and motivational words with which H.E. Dr. NkosazanaDlaminiZuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) reached out to hundreds of delegates attending the week-long 10th Africa Regional Conference of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girls Scouts in Lagos, Nigeria.

Encouraging African girls and young women to continue

working hard and soaring toward excellence, the conference theme, Dr. DlaminiZuma, enjoined the adults to mentor, share experiences, protect, provide opportunities and work for a better life for the next generations.

Listing a battery of professional areas, the AU Chairperson encouraged the girls and young women to courageously venture into various professions of human endeavor, without which, she said, Africa cannot fully develop.

“The African Union knows that for us to succeed, we must develop the potential of both men and women. We therefore, pay special attention to the empowerment of young women and girls. If girls and young women are empowered, they develop their self-esteem, build confidence and overcome any obstacles…

I believe in the development of the capacity of women. That

is why I came to this conference.”

Welcoming Dr. DlaminiZuma, the Chairperson of the Africa Region, Helinoro Rakotomalala, said they were encouraged by her presence at the conference. “We the girl guides of the Africa region find in you our role model.

While we are soaring for excellence, we find excellence amongst us,” she remarked.

Ms. Rakotomalala took the opportunity to present work that the Girl Guides and Girls Scouts do on the ground throughout the continent. Their activities include: programmes on HIV/AIDS, ending violence, peace education, community education, good governance and the empowerment of their members to prepare them for leadership responsibilities. She also seized the opportunity to request for a Day dedicated to Girl Guides; as well as a partnership opportunity with the African Union Commission.

The AUC Chairperson promised collaboration on these issues as well as exploring possibilities of establishing a Memorandum of Understanding.

A highlight of the opening of the conference was the honouring of Dr. DlaminiZuma with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) illustrious ‘Award for Woman of Outstanding Achievement.’

Handing over the award, Nadine El-Achy, Chairperson of the

World Board said, who also was a guest to the region, said, the award is for someone who has worked hard and made outstanding contributions. Expressing her feeling of honour and humility, Dr. DlaminiZuma accepted the award and dedicated it to all the women in the world and on the

continent.

Continuing with deliberations throughout the course of the week, the AUC Chairperson tasked the delegates to also discuss and forward to the Commission by October 2013 their contribution to inform and shape Africa’s 2063 Agenda.

FCO Minister Mark Simmonds offers condolences to victims of Boko Haram killings

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oreign Office Minister for Africa Mark Simmonds commented yesterday on an attack at a mosque in north east Nigeria by Boko Haram.

In a statement, Mr. Simmonds condemned the attack on worshippers in a mosque in Borno state, Nigeria, that took place on Sunday.

He called the attack“senseless”.

“Attacking innocent people in a

Simmonds

place of worship is a contemptible and cowardly act”. Simmonds said.

“My thoughts are with all those who were caught up in the attack, and their families.” He added that the UK stands with the government and people of Nigeria as they seek to reduce violence in the north east of the country.

The attack has reportedly killed 44 people and left many others injured.

PAGE 32

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

International

Keita wins Mali election after Cisse concedes

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ali’s presidential election has been won

by Ibrahim Boubacar Keita after his rival conceded defeat in the second round runoff.

Ex-Finance Minister SoumailaCisse said he had congratulated his rival Keita on winning the vote and wished him good luck, the AFP reported.

Cisse’s concession, hours after he complained the election had been marred by fraud, will deepen optimism for Mali’s recovery.

Shortly after the news of his win started filtering in, there were celebrations already taking place as some international observers were seen congratulating Keita.

Keita, a former Prime minister, inherits a broken nation and must still negotiate peace with northern rebels.

No official results have yet been released following Sunday’s runoff, however, reports had put Keita

Tunisian Islamists, secularists in rival rallies

I Keita well ahead.

Keita had been widely expected to win Sunday’s vote, having swept the July 28 first round with nearly 40 percent of votes on a ticket to

restore order after a March 2012 military coup allowed separatist rebels to seize control of the northern two-thirds of Mali.

Cissehad earlier said that the vote

had been tainted by intimidation.

However, international and local observers said that, despite small irregularities, the process had been credible.

Violence as pro, anti- Mursi supporters clash

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lashes broke out in central Cairo when supporters of deposed President Mohamed Mursi came under attack as they marched to the interior ministry.

Supporters of the new military-installed government hurled stones at the marchers and threw bottles at them from balconies yesterday. Police then fired tear gas to disperse the crowds.

A few thousand pro-Morsi protesters were taking part in the march when the scuffles began.

Local residents taunted them, calling them terrorists and saying they were not welcome before throwing stones at them, the Reuters news agency reported. Mursi’s supporters also responded by hurling rocks.

Women and children fled

the scene in panic, and two men wielding machetes were seen chasing marchers, Reuters said.

Supporters of the deposed president called for more mass demonstrations on following the clash.

The so-called “Anti-Coup Alliance,” which supports Mursi, called for a “millionman demonstration” after the judiciary said on Monday that it was extending his detention for a further 15 days, pending an investigation into his alleged collaboration with the Palestinian group Hamas.

The ongoing standoff with the army-backed interim government, which has threatened to disperse the two Cairo sit-ins where thousands of pro-Mursi protesters have been camped out for over a month,

Rival protesters throw rocks at each other. has caused worry among the international community.

Egyptian authorities have already postponed a move to disperse two Cairo sit-ins on Monday to “avoid bloodshed,’’

security sources said.

The protesters are calling for the reinstatement of Mursi, who was overthrown by the military on July 3 and is now being held at an undisclosed location.

Rwanda opposition blocked from election

Green Party President, Frank Habineza

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wanda’s Democratic Green Party said it will sit out September’s parliamentary election after the electoral commission took

three years to register it, finally doing so just days before the deadline.

Analysts say President Paul Kagame has a well-documented

record of blocking, threatening or infiltrating rival parties to stifle even nascent political opposition, and that the belated registration of the Democratic Green Party can hardly be seen as a real opening of the democratic space.

Most other parties are allied to Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front, which holds four in five parliamentary seats.

Democratic Green Party president Frank Habineza said the lateness of the registration meant it was “not possible to have all the necessary requirements” to field candidates in the election.

Launched in 2009, the new party submitted its registration request in 2010, hoping to contest that year’s presidential

election, which Kagame won overwhelmingly.

Habineza said the party would now focus on the 2016 local elections and the next presidential election in 2017.

Kagame earned international praise for rebuilding the country after the 1994 genocide, but critics accuse the former rebel commander of being authoritarian and trampling on political freedoms, charges he rejects.

Leading opposition figure VictoireIngabire, head of the unregistered FDU-Inkingi party, was unable to stand against Kagame in 2010 after being accused of genociderelated charges and forming an armed group. She was convicted in 2012 and is appealing.

slamists and the secular opposition in Tunisiaheld street rallies in rival shows of strength yesterday, raising the risk of violence and threat to the democratic transition in the birthplace of the Arab Spring.

Beset by a severe economic downturn, a suspension of parliament and a surge in Muslim militant attacks, Tunisia’s government led by the moderate Islamist Ennahda party is grappling with secular calls for its resignation.

With polarization between Islamists and secularists festering, fears are rising of a Tunisian drift towards an “Egyptian scenario” in which a disgruntled secular opposition topples an elected Islamist-led government.

Tunisian secularists planned a mass demonstration and marchin the capital’s central Bab Sadoun district and leading to Bardo Square to demand the dissolution of the government and parliament.

There were fears of violence because hundreds of pro-Ennahda Islamists have been camped out in Bardo for several weeks.

The opposition is angry over the assassination of two of its leaders, blamed on radical Islamists, and emboldened by the Egyptian military’s removal of Islamist president Mohamed Mursi last month after mass protests against his shambolic rule.

For their part Islamists were set to rally along the central HabibBourguiba Avenue, nominally to mark Tunisian Women’s Day but effectively to showcase popular support for Ennahda.

“We do not see any results after weeks of political crisis, If this political stalemate continues, the result will be clashes on the street,” said political analyst Sofian Ben Hmida.

Tunisia is in the throes of its worst political turmoil since secular autocrat Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali was overthrown in early 2010 in the first of the Arab Spring uprisings.

Islamist militants killed eight Tunisian soldiers in an ambush last month and the government, under pressure from secular critics, has responded with security force raids and air strikes on jihadi mountain redoubts.

Negotiations earlier this week between Tunisia’s powerful union federation UGTT, which has good relations with opposition parties, and Ennahda leader RachedGhammouchi on a way out of the volatile impasse proved inconclusive.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

PAGE 33

International

India and Pakistan trade Palestinian PM to form blame over Kashmir government despite his I resignation Asia & Middle East

ndia and Pakistan have again accused each other of firing across their disputed Kashmir border, the latest in a series of allegations of cross-border attacks made by both over the past week.

A Pakistan military source said yesterday that Indian troops violated the Line of Control, the de facto border between the two countries, for the third time since last week.

He said that on Monday evening in the Nikial sector of PakistanAdministered Kashmir, Indian troops started unprovoked firing at Pakistani posts across the border.

The source added that Pakistani forces “responded effectively”.

An Indian army commander, meanwhile, blamed Pakistani troops for firing intermittently through the night at two posts in the Mendhar sector on the de-facto border, 180km southwest of Srinagar, the main city in India’s portion of Kashmir.

He said Indian soldiers responded as Pakistani troops used small arms, machine guns and mortars. No casualties were reported.

Both officials spoke on customary condition of anonymity.

The accusations come as Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called for a “new beginning” in relations with India.

Sharif said it was vital that the two South Asian neighbours became “good friends”, in remarks published Tuesday by the Associated Press of Pakistan.

“Let us make a new beginning. Let us sit together to resolve all outstanding issues in a friendly manner and in a peaceful atmosphere,” he said.

Kashmir is claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan but divided

between them.

Pakistan and India have long been enemies and have fought three wars two over Kashmir - since both gained independence from Britain in 1947.

Pakistan had earlier accused Indian troops of shelling its territory along the border on Monday and killing a civilian.

India denied the charge, saying Pakistani troops initiated the firing.

A 2003 cease-fire agreement has largely calmed the military line between the countries, although each side occasionally accuses the other of violating it by firing mortars or gunshots across the line of control.

The resumption of violence threatens to sabotage recent overtures by the two aimed at resuming peace talks and increasing cross-border trade.

Pakistan PM Nawaz sharif (L), India PM Manmohan Singh

Suspected al Qaeda militants killed in Yemen drone strike

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t least two suspected Islamist militants were killed in a drone missile strike in Yemen’s southern Shabwa province, the latest in a surge since Washington warned of possible attacks by al Qaeda in the region.

At least 37 people have been killed in just over two weeks in a campaign targeting insurgents linked to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP),

described by U.S. officials as the most dangerous branch of the global jihadi network.

That campaign has been stepped up after intercepted communication between AQAP leader, Nasser al Wuhayshi and Ayman al-Zawahri, head of al Qaeda, along with other intelligence prompted Washington to close 19 U.S. embassies this month.

“The car was completely obliterated and the two men inside it were killed,” a local official said, adding the strike happened late on Monday. He gave no further details.

Yemen is one of a handful of countries where Washington acknowledges using drones, although it does not comment publicly on the practice.

Security in Yemen is of regional

and global importance.

AQAP has previously plotted unsuccessfully to attack international airliners and is seen in Washington as a potential threat to Yemen’s neighbor Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, and Red Sea oil tankers.

On Monday, AQAP leader Wuhayshi said he would free jailed Islamist militants soon.

wo men have been sentenced to death and three more jailed over a clash in China’s far-west Xinjiang region that left 21 people dead.

The incident happened on 23 April in a town in Kashgar prefecture. Fifteen officials or security personnel were among those killed.

China said it was a planned attack by a “violent terrorist group”.

But other accounts dispute this, attributing the confrontation to ethnic tensions in the restive region.

Xinjiang is home to the Muslim Uighur minority, who make up about 45% of the region’s population but say an influx of Han Chinese residents has marginalised their traditional culture.

The authorities often blame violent incidents in Xinjiang on Uighur extremists seeking

autonomy for the region.

Uighur activists, meanwhile, accuse Beijing of overexaggerating the threat to justify heavy-handed rule.

Verifying reports from Xinjiang is difficult.

While foreign journalists are allowed to travel to the region,

they frequently face intimidation and harassment when attempting to verify news of ethnic rioting or organised violence against government authorities.

The two men sentenced to death by Kashgar’s Intermediate People’s Court on murder and terrorism charges were named in

state media as Musa Hesen, the co-founder of the “terrorist group”, and RehmanHupur.

Three other men were jailed for terms ranging from nine years to life.

The group had been “carrying out illegal religious activities (and) promoting religious extremism”, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a court statement. They had also “made 10 explosive devices and carried out explosive tests”, it said.

The violence was sparked when three officials saw suspicious behaviour at a house, Chinese reports say.

Residents seized the officials and several more police who came to the scene, many of whom burned to death when the house was set on fire. Security The incident comes amid rumbling ethnic tensions between the Muslim Uighur and Han Chinese communities.

Two sentenced to death in China T

A woman protests a sentencing.

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alestinian President Mahmoud Abbas asked Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah on Tuesday to form a new government just two months after accepting his resignation in a dispute over his powers.

Hamdallah has accepted, suggesting the two men had patched up their differences, and will have five weeks to form a cabinet, Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeineh said.

The move shores up stability in Abbas’s administration in the Israeli-occupied West Bank as it returns to U.S.-sponsored peace talks with Israel after a three-year hiatus.

But it also drives another nail in the coffin of efforts to overcome political divisions that have split the West Bank, where Abbas holds sway, and the Gaza Strip, which is run by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

Hamas and Fatah agreed earlier this year to form a unity government made up of technocrats by August 14, so Hamdallah’s new mandate further undermined the goal of reconciliation and a common strategy toward Israel.

Hamas, which rejects a negotiated solution to the conflict with Israel, branded Hamdallah’s original appointment as “illegal”.

Abbas asked Hamdallah, a political independent and linguistics professor, to form a government on June 2, but he handed in his resignation less than three weeks later due to disputes with his two deputies appointed by the president.

Western donor countries which help keep the Palestinian government in the West Bank afloat regard the prime minister’s office as a conduit for their aid money, and are keen to see it steered by transparent, uncorrupt hands.

A senior Palestinian official told Reuters that Hamdallah would probably be granted full authority to choose his cabinet and that his decision to return may reflect an deal with Abbas that he would be given more leeway to govern. Hamdallah had remained in office in a caretaker role after quitting.

Hamdallah

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

PAGE 34

International

Turkish government to debate reforms for Kurds

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in which more than 40,000 people were killed. Abdullah Ocalan, the group’s jailed leader, declared a halt to hostilities in March after months of talks with the state.

That ceasefire has largely held, with his fighters beginning to withdraw to bases in the northern Iraqi mountains in May, but the PKK has said clashes could resume if Ankara does not take concrete steps by the start of September.

Prime Minister TayyipErdogan has invested much political capital in the process, which has enjoyed strong public support but is increasingly attracting fierce nationalist criticism over perceived

concessions to militants officially deemed terrorists.

The Justice ministry has presented to Erdogan its report on the reforms and the Prime minister’s office was preparing its own report on the package, encompassing a range of “pro-democracy” steps including boosting minority rights.

“The package is expected to be taken up at the cabinet meeting next Monday,” the ministry official said.

Last week, Erdogan said parliament may reconvene early from its summer recess to pass laws to expand Kurdish rights. It is scheduled to start on October 1, but media reports indicate it may

dominated by the state oil firm Pemex, but it needs investment and expertise to develop new oil and gas fields.

Currently, private companies can be awarded service contracts within the oil industry.

Under the President’s plan that would go much further, allowing private companies to share the risks and profits of developing new fields.

If the reforms go through,

analysts say the liberalisation of the oil sector could double foreign investment in Mexico, giving the economy the biggest boost since the country joined North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) twenty years ago.

However, Mexico’s leftist political parties oppose the reforms.

A large share of Pemex’s profits support government spending

which has hampered the company’s ability to fund new projects.

The government has warned that Mexico faces becoming a net oil importer as early as 2018, if major new oil projects cannot be developed.

Foreign oil companies, including BP and Exxon Mobil, are waiting to see the details of the reforms to see exactly what investments will be allowed.

Rusnok

Department policy so that low-level, non-violent drug offenders with no ties to large-scaleorganisations,gangsorcartels will not be charged with offences that imposemandatoryminimumsentences.

Mandatory minimum prison sentences-aproductofthegovernment’s war on drugs in the 1980s - limit the discretion of judges to impose shorter prison terms.

Underthealteredpolicy,theattorney general said defendants will instead be charged with offences for which accompanying sentences “are better suited to their individual conduct, rather than excessive prison terms more

appropriate for violent criminals or drug kingpins”.

Federal prisons are operating at nearly 40 percent above capacity and hold more than 219,000 inmates with almost half of them serving time for drug-related crimes and many of them with substance use disorders.

In addition, 9 million to 10 million prisoners go through local jails each year.

Holder praised state and local law enforcement officials for already instituting some of the types of changes Holder says must be made at the federal level.

Aggressive enforcement of federal criminal laws is necessary, but “we cannot simply prosecute or incarcerate our way to becoming a safer nation,” Holder said.

“Today, a vicious cycle of poverty, criminality and incarceration traps too many Americans and weakens too many communities. However, many aspects of our criminal justice system may actually exacerbate this problem, rather than alleviate it,” he said.

“We need to ensure that incarceration is used to punish, deter and rehabilitate - not merely to convict, warehouse and forget.”

Mexico opens oil sector to private investment

M

exico plans to open up its state run oil industry to private investment.

A source of national pride, Mexico’s oil industry has been protected from private involvement for 75 years.

President Enrique Pena Nieto has proposed reforms that will encourage foreign and domestic investment in the industry.

Mexico’s oil industry is

New Czech PM resigns after a month

reassemble in mid-September.

The delicate peace process has taken on an additional urgency for Turkey as Kurdish militias fighting in neighboring Syria’s civil war push for greater autonomy for parts of northern Syria, just over the border.

The Justice ministry report focuses on technical matters while Erdogan’s office was dealing with more sensitive political issues, such as the 10 percent threshold of votes parties need to enter parliament - a level which Kurds want lowered.

Other reforms under discussion include the reopening of the Halki Greek Orthodox seminary on an island near Istanbul, removing restrictions on the wearing of Islamic headscarves and boosting the rights of the Alevi minority, the official said.

Also under consideration were changes in the law regulating public meetings and protests, and ending the prosecution of suspects as terrorists if they are not in a militant group’s hierarchy and have not been involved in violent acts, he added.

While the planned reforms are wide ranging, the peace process is seen as the key motivation for the package.

Possible concessions could include moving Ocalan back to the cell where he was first held on the island of Imrali near Istanbul after his capture in 1999, the official said.

Kurdish politicians are also seeking abolition of an antiterrorism law under which thousands have been imprisoned for links to the PKK and full Kurdish language education rights, calling for the passage of the reforms by mid-October.

Erdogan

urkey’s government is expected to begin debating a package of long-awaited reforms next week aimed at bolstering Kurdish rights and boosting democracy, a step which could help keep a fragile peace process on track.

The cabinet will discuss the “democratization package” - whose proposals range from wider Kurdishlanguage education to changes to anti-terror laws - at its meeting next Monday, a senior justice ministry official told Reuters.

At stake is a bid to end a threedecade conflict with militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)

Europe and Americas

T

he Czech government led

by PM Jiri Rusnok has handed in its resignation, after failing to win the confidence of parliament.

The move paves the way for an early election, likely to be held by October.

The cabinet of technocrats was formed by President Milos Zeman last month, despite opposition from the main parties, who accused him of trying to increase his own power.

MrZeman accepted the resignation but said MrRusnok would stay on for now.

The government will act in a caretaker capacity until a new one can be formed.

The previous Prime minister, PetrNecas, resigned in June after a senior aide was charged with bribery and abuse of power.

Two former MPs, an exminister and the current and former heads of military intelligence were also detained in the largest anti-corruption investigation in the country since the fall of communism.

Under the constitution, the President has a second chance to appoint a Prime minister.

He could also decline to name a replacement for MrRusnok before the next elections, scheduled for early 2014.

However, parliament has the power to dissolve itself, which would force early elections.

That is expected to happen next week.

US attorney general unveils prison reform U

Holder

S Attorney General Eric Holder has called for major changes to the country’s criminal justice system, announcing measures aimed at easing prison overcrowding.

The measures will scale back the use of harsh prison sentences for certain drug-related crimes, divert people convicted of low-level offences to drug treatment and community service programmes and expand a prison programme to allow for release of some elderly, non-violent offenders.

In a speech at the American Bar Association in San Francisco, Holder said he is mandating a change to Justice

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

PAGE 35

Strange World Indian baby flames up without any external source of ignition

R

ahul, a three-month-old baby from Villupuram, India, is believed to suffer from a rare condition known as Spontaneous Human Combustion, which causes his body to burn without any external source of ignition. Only 200 similar cases have been reported around the world in the last 300 years.

Just nine days after he was born, Rahul was found burning by his mother, Rajeswari, who scampered to douse the flames. “People thought I set him on fire deliberately,” she told reporters, but since then her baby to suffer three more similar accidents. Instead of supporting the family, the community ostracized them, and Rahul’s father says they have lost everything as a result.

Luckily, the district collector called the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital after hearing their story, and the baby was admitted last Thursday, and is being treated for severe burn injuries.

His parents said they visited other hospitals before, but no one could tell them what causes his body to burst into flames for no apparent reason. Dr. R. NarayanaBabu, head of pediatrics at KMC says “It has been scientifically documented that concentrated combustion air excreted from the body could result in such episodes.

In elderly persons, heavy drinking could lead to the body excreting alcohollike substance which could get ignited.”

Due to an unknown mechanism, these substances are escaping the

The World’s most beautifully decorated staircase

body without breaking down to noncombustible forms.

Unfortunately, too little is known about Spontaneous Human Combustion (SHC) at this time, and doctors have no idea how to treat it.

For now, Rahul is being treated with external application of ointment for his burns, and kept under observation with a bucket of water and fire extinguisher at his bedside in case of emergency.

Doctors will also try to train Rahul’s parents to prevent exposing him to situations that could cause him to go up in flames. “We have to teach them to avoid sending the child out in the sun and specify the kinds of clothes he can wear when he grows up,” Dr. Babu said.

The Scala di Santa Maria del Monte staircase ocated in the Sicilian town of masterpieces.

Every year, during La Caltagirone, La Scala di Santa Maria del Monte is an old ScalaInfiorata, the Flower Festival 142-step staircase, each of which of Caltagirone, the Staircase are decorated with a different of Santa Maria del Monte are ceramic pattern. It’s a wonder to decorated with thousands of potted behold, but during the Spring and plants masterfully arranged to Summer seasons it becomes even create a monumental design. From more breathtaking as locals adorn the 8th of May to June 2nd, tourists it with potted flowers and lanterns, are invited to Sicily’s pottery town to admire the floral designs that creating intricate designs.

Situated 68 kilometers from stretches from the bottom of the Catania, the town of Caltagirone stairs all the way to the top.

They can even walk through has long been famous for its production of pottery. The name the maze of potted flowers and of this charming settlement derives see every detail up-close. The from the Arabic qal’at-al-jarar” unique event is a tribute to Our (“Castle of [pottery] jars”) and Lady of Conadomini, the protector befits its longstanding pottery- of Caltagirone, and every year it draws tourists from all around making tradition perfectly.

The talent of local craftsmen the world.

Less than two months after can be admired everywhere in Caltagirone, as everything from the La ScalaInfiorata, the Staircase of palaces, churches and monuments Santa Maria del Monte hosts yet to the gardens and squares of this another breathtaking spectacle. place are covered in beautiful On the nights of July 24th and 25th, the Luminaria Festival is ceramics.

But it’s the splendid Scala di held in honor of San Giacomo, Santa maria del Monte, a 142-step and the steps of the old staircase staircase dating back to 1608 that are adorned with up to 4,000 really stands as a testament to handmade lanterns arranged in the town’s millennial tradition of intricate patterns by local artists. pottery making. This breathtaking Preparations for La Luminaria work of art that connects the begin about a month before the days high part of Caltagirone to the dedicated to San Giacomo, with low part, is completely covered artists making simple cylinders of in ceramic tiles, with each of its special transparent paper, called steps featuring a different design “briglia”, in which they place ceramic lamps fitted with a cotton inspired by local culture.

The Staircase of Santa Maria wick. Hours before the light show, del Monte is the main attraction the lamps are filled with olive oil of the Sicilian town, and it’s which produces a pleasant perfume here that locals celebrate their when the traditional lanterns are most important festivals, La lit. Each year, the design of the ScalaInfiorata and La Luminaria, light mosaic is kept secret until during which they use the staircase the day of completion to surprise as a canvas for floral and light the audience.

L In the last 300 years, only 200 cases of SHC have been reported.

‘Bee beard’ contestants get covered in thousands of bees

H

aving a bit of facial fuzz can make a fashion statement.

But these beards are enough to make even the most ardent hipster’s skin crawl – or at least come out in hives.

Contestants at an annual ‘bee beard’ competition allowed their heads and upper torsos to be covered by up to 16,000 insects.

Each facial bee colony weighs about 1.8kg (4lb) and has to be sculpted into shape before competitors take to the catwalk.

‘It’s itchier than you think it would be,’ beekeeper Chris Hiemstra said.

Competitors at the annual event at Clovermead Adventure Farm in Ontario, Canada, lure swarms by placing a caged queen bee around their neck.

More experienced contestants are known to use petrolatum, a substance bees avoid, to sculpt their beards.

Beekeepers minimise the risk of contestants getting stung by keeping the colonies fed with sugar water.

They also sedate the bees with smoke before they are allowed to join the beard.

MarendaSchipper, 20, was crowned this year’s bee beard champion with Justin Hiemstra named as crowd favourite on Saturday.

The beards were judged by their weight, which was determined by placing the contestants on the scales before and after the bees settled on their faces.

Brazilian-born Miss Schipper, 20, had a beard weighing 2.2kg (5lb) and contained about 20,000

bees. She is not a beekeeper but a student specialising in agriculture business.

It was her first time with a bee beard and she has only been stung once, which was a few years ago.

Judges also evaluated the beard’s style and each competitor’s performance in front of the audience.

Past contestants have even managed to hula hoop for the crowds while covered in bees.

Two competitors smile through the swarm of bees.

PAGE 36

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

Digest

What really happens when a mosquito bites

By Ellie Zolfagharifard

T

he moment that a mosquito pierces its victim has been captured in unprecedented detail.

Incredible footage, filmed by French scientists under a microscope, reveals how a malarial mosquito bites and sucks blood from an anaesthetised mouse.

It seems that when a mosquito bites, it doesn’t just draw blood, but in fact probes around under the skin to find a blood vessel, usually for several minutes at a time.

The video, captured by a team at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, reveals the incredibly flexible mouthparts of a mosquito that can bend at right angles.

‘Some people, especially in Africa and Asia, are bitten several times every day,’ said Valerie Choumet, who led the research, in an interview with National Geographic’s Not Exactly Rocket Science blog.

‘We wanted to know if mosquitoes behaved differently when they bit animals that were immunised against their saliva,’ To do this, the team tested

The blood-sucking mosquitos drink for an average of four minutes.

Using advanced microscopes, the team at the Pasteur Institute in Paris could see the red blood cells rushing up their mouthparts

mice that had been vaccinated with antibodies that recognise a mosquito’s saliva.

Ms Choumet discovered that white clumps form at the tips of the mosquitos probing mouthparts, indicating that the antibodies had

Far from been a simple needle-like apparatus that many imagine, a mosquito¿s mouthparts are an intricate set of complicated apparatus. Under a microscope, the ‘snout’ looks like a long narrow piece of material with sides that taper to a point at the tip

reacted with the insect’s saliva during a bite.

The clumps clogged up small blood vessels. This, however, didn’t stop the mosquitos from drawing blood.

Instead it made them probe around the skin longer to target larger blood vessels.

‘I was genuinely amazed to see the footage,’ said James Logan from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in an interview with National Geographic.

‘I had read that the mouthparts were mobile within the skin, but actually seeing it in real time was superb.

‘What you assume to be a rigid structure, because it has to get into the skin like a needle, is actually flexible and fully controllable. The wonders of the insect body never cease to amaze me.’

The blood-sucking mosquitos drink for an average of four minutes.

Using advanced microscopes, Choumet could see the red blood cells rushing up their mouthparts.

National Geographic noted that they suck so hard that the blood vessels start to collapse. Some of these cells rupture, spilling blood into the surrounding spaces.

Scientists noticed that when this happens, mosquitos often rush in for

seconds, drinking from the pool of blood created.

Far from been a simple needlelike apparatus that many imagine, a mosquito’s mouthparts are an intricate set of complicated apparatus.

Under a microscope, the ‘snout’ looks like a long narrow piece of material with sides that taper to a point at the tip.

The flat strip, known as the labrum, is hollow and made up of six different components. It buckles when the mosquito bites, allowing the internal mouthparts to slide into the skin.

Together they are finer than a human hair and the internal components even smaller still.

Four filaments – known as mandibles maxillae—are seen in the video helping to pierce the skin.

‘The maxillae end in toothed blades, which grip flesh as they plunge into the host,’ said Ed Yong writing in National Geographic.

‘The mosquito can then push against these to drive the other mouthparts deeper.’

Malaria-carrying mosquitos spent longer probing around for blood vessels, which suggests that the malaria-causing parasite, Plasmodium, may be controlling the insect’s nervous system.

Hours after a bite, the French

team found Plasmodium in areas where there was mosquito saliva on the rodents’ skin, huddled in areas that were also rife with the mosquito’s saliva.

According to National Geographic, the mosquito starts salivating as soon as it probes the mouse’s skin, releasing substances that prevent blood vessels from constricting, stop blood from clotting, and prevent inflammation.

The footage could aid future research into better understanding how a mosquito bites and preventing the spread of malaria.

‘I have submitted a grant application to investigate aspects of the interactions between mosquitoes, hosts and parasites,’ Logan told National Geographic.

‘The techniques and discoveries from this paper are very exciting to me, and will be of value to future activities of my own research group.’

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

Malaria-carrying mosquitos spent longer probing around for blood vessels, which suggests that the malaria-causing parasite, Plasmodium, (which has infected the cell on the right) may be controlling the insect’s nervous system

Shy women ‘are less likely to breastfeed’

S

hy women are less likely to breastfeed, potentially harming their baby’s health, research shows.

In what is thought to be the first study to look at the link between a woman’s personality and breastfeeding, introverts were found to be self-conscious about feeding their babies and were therefore more likely to turn to alternatives, such as formula milk, which are less beneficial to babies.

Anxious or stressed mothers found breastfeeding difficult and felt that they couldn’t get the support they needed, the researchers said.

The findings suggest these women could need extra help and education to give their child the best start in life.

The NHS recommends breastfeeding, saying there are health benefits for both mother and child.

It is thought breast milk boosts babies’ IQ and protects against stomach bugs, chest infections, asthma and allergies, as well as conferring health advantages in later life.

But only a small number of women in Britain breastfeed for long spells and the number of new mothers starting in 2011 fell slightly to 73.9 per cent. Barely 2 per cent of babies are breastfed exclusively for six months.

Many issues can affect whether a mother breastfeeds but mothers who have lots of support, feel confident and know how to overcome problems they may encounter are more likely to do it for longer.

Study leader Dr Amy Brown of Swansea University examined the personalities of 602 mothers of six to 12-month-old babies with a questionnaire, which also asked how long the women breastfed as

well as their attitudes and experiences of it.

The data collected over three months showed mothers who indicated they were extroverts and emotionally stable were significantly more likely to initiate and continue breastfeeding for a longer period of time.

Those who were introverted or anxious were more likely to use formula milk or only breastfeed for a short while.

Dr Brown, whose study is published online in the Journal of Advanced Nursing, said: ‘The important message is some mothers may face more challenges with breastfeeding based on their wider personality.

‘Although they may want to breastfeed more introverted or anxious mothers may need further support in boosting their confidence and learning about how to solve problems and they may need encouragement to make sure they access the breastfeeding support services that are available. ’ Source: Dailymail.co.uk

Health benefits: It is thought breast milk boosts babies¿ IQ and protects against stomach bugs, chest infections, asthma and allergies

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

PAGE 37

FG grains were hijacked by Yobe PDP – Gaidam’s aide INTERVIEW The Federal Government recently assisted the three states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa placed under the State of Emergency with grains and cash to cushion the hardships the people in those states go through. In Yobe state, the distribution of the grains generated heated arguments with claims that the targeted beneficiaries did not benefit. Alhaji Mai Mala Buni, Special Adviser to Yobe State Governor on Political and Legislative Affairs in this interview with our Yobe Correspondent, Uche Uche, bares his mind on the grains distribution. Excerpts

S

ir, you raised alarm that the palliative assistance from the federal government did not reach the targeted beneficiaries.

What happened?

Yes, we quite appreciate the wisdom and concerns shown by the federal government and other philanthropic individuals like Alhaji Aliko Dangote, for identifying, sympathizing and supporting the state at such a trying moment.

These assistances would further support the Ibrahim Gaidam administration which distributed over N198 million worth of grains and other economic empowerment measures to cushion the hardships suffered by the people from the insecurity inflicted on the people by the insurgency.

However, while the state government successfully distributed its own assistance and that of Aliko Dangote to victims of insurgency in the state, the federal government assistance did not reach the targeted beneficiaries.

Unlike what obtains in other states that benefitted from the federal government assistance, in Yobe, those who brought the grains under the leadership of the Minister of state for finance, Dr. Yerima Ngama, who is supposed to be conversant with the workings of government and due process, refused to hand over the grains to the state government but rather, insisted that they will do the distribution themselves.

Unfortunately, they do not have all the relevant baseline data including the list or locations of the victims and their relations.

So, unlike the assistance from the state government and Aliko Dangote where the victims benefitted directly, the assistance from the federal government did not get to the targeted beneficiaries in Yobe state.

How do you think this

problem can be resolved for the intended targets to benefit from this assistance?

The federal government has done a lot in dealing with and addressing the problems of security faced by our state and other parts of the country. It should not allow this very humanitarian gesture to victims whom it had wished to assist to be politicized, betrayed and hijacked by its own officials.

This is because while the PDP official who was playing politics with the grains seems busy trying to play politics of 2015, President Jonathan himself was always saying that it is too early to talk about 2015; that what is needed now is service to the people. So, why should a government official be doing his own thing at a time that the president himself is cautioning against such actions?

Again, why are NEMA and our own state SEMA not involved in the distribution of the grains? Are these not the organs of government normally responsible for the distribution of relief supplies to victims of natural or human disasters?

Secondly, we call on the federal government to ensure that the generosity of spirit which informs the release of the grains is reflected in distribution to ensure that thegrains reach the actual victims.

This can be redressed because, substantial part of the 222 trailer load of grains allocated to the state have not been delivered yet.

We want to pledge our support and continued partnership with the federal government in the task of restoring peace and security and improving the lives of our people.

Our argument is that those vested with the responsibility of delivering such gesture must appreciate that government such must not be politicized and distributed along party loyalty as wasdonewiththefirstconsignment delivered to the state. It’s our

Alhaji Mustapha Inuwa

believe that the grains were not donated by the federal government for distribution on the basis of any political considerations. This also brings the question of why did the minister hand over federal government assistance of N150 million to the state government but refused to hand over the grains.

Are they not both from the same federal government for the same purposes and beneficiaries?

We will not fault any politician or party that purchased grains from its purse and choose to distribute only to its supporters but not with a federal government resources, procured and delivered in the name of Yobe state.

The federal government also assisted the state with N150 million but Yobe state government said that was inadequate. Why didn’t you appreciate the N150 million assistance?

You see what we are saying is that Yobe state government spends about N300 million monthly on security operations across the state. Government has so far spent a cumulative of over N6 billion since the commencement of this security challenges in the state. So, you can see that N150 million is grossly inadequate in comparison to the state’s monthly expenditure on security. The reality of the situation is that, Yobe state requires a special intervention fund to supplement its efforts in financing security operations in the state.

Government had made the plea on several occasions and re-echoed same when the Senate committees on Army, Police and Intelligence

visited the state recently. Apart from the huge investment on security, the state government was battling with renovating public structures destroyed which include 209 classrooms worth over N2.5 billion. Private houses worth N629 million were also destroyed and desperately needed assistance. So you will agree with me that the state requires special intervention well above N150 million to effectively rehabilitate these infrastructures and assist the individual victims.

What is the state of agricultural development being the major preoccupation of the people in the face of this insecurity?

We thank God for the relative peace that is being enjoyed across the state now. In fact, not many farmers went into farming last year but this year almost all farmers are back to their farmlands. Thanks to the joint efforts of the state government and the security operatives that normalcy has gradually returned to the state. This year, the state government launched 6, 000 metric tonnes of fertilizer and 40 tractors for the 2013 cropping season. Government procured 6, 000 metric tons of Urea fertilizer at the cost of N877.5 million while the state Fertilizer Blending Plant in Gujba, produced 3, 000 metric tons of NPK fertilizer. The governor directed that a bag of Urea and NPK be sold to farmers at a subsidized rate of N2, 500 per bag.

Similarly, 40 pieces of tractors procured at N320 million were launched for the cropping season

which the governor directed that the tractors be stationed at the zonal agricultural offices for maximum utilization by real and genuine practicing farmers in the state. It is worthy of note that government assisted women and youth groups with N76 million to participate in the Fadama III programme which has increased agricultural activities in the state.

We have wished to partner with the federal ministry of agriculture on the ‘GES’ programme but, our experience last year left much to be desired and this discouraged us from the partnership.

After payment of our counterpart fund, fertilizer meant for delivery to the state were diverted and sold outside the state. This made us to be skeptical to participate in the programme this year. This also explains why the state government intensified efforts to source for and provide farmers in the state with adequate and affordable farm inputs for improved agricultural production.

Let us look at the recent registration of APC by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). What is the level of acceptance and chances in Yobe?

That is an excellent question.

Let me remind you that our governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam, was a strong pillar and rallying point in the merger and formation of APC. You will therefore agree with me that Yobe state is a home of APC considering the large support enjoyed by the governor across the state which is comparable to none in the political history of the state.

It is also important to note that Yobe state has never recorded such monumental infrastructural and human development since the creation of the state 22 years ago. It was on the basis of this that prominent politicians who enjoyed automatic tickets to contest elections on the platform of PDP defected into ANPP and subsequently, APC. Senator Adamu Talba, one of the only two senators ever produced by the People’s Democratic Party is now in APC. Former Deputy Governor, Alhaji Sale Bagare, three former members of House of Representatives Alhaji Baba Gishiwari, Alhaji Ya’u Galadima and Hon. Hassan Jonga, former Speaker Alhaji Zanna Zakariya along with thousands of their supporters moved out of PDP to ANPP and, now in APC. It is therefore clear that Yobe state is a home of APC with all the political gladiators in its fold and, will undoubtedly maintain the lead in the state.

PAGE 38

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

Politics Ekiti 2014: Can Fayemi break the second term jinx?

From Adesoji Oyinlola, Lagos

A

nxiety pervades the political landscape of Ekiti state, as hordes of governorship aspirantss are criss-crossing the state, wooing party members and other electorates to accord them the support to emerge first as their parties’ flagbearer and kater as the elected governor by 2014.

While activities are at its peak to elect the number one citizen to lead the state from 2014-2018, one noticeable jinx in the state of the “fountain of knowledge”, is that none of the governors hat has ever governed the state in he past has been able to clinch the second term.

More stunning is the fact that except the former first civilian governor, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, who completed his tenure between 1999-2003 uninterrupted, others after him, including Ayodele Fayose and Engr. Segun Oni had their tenures abridged due to one reason or another.

While Fayose was impeached alongside his deputy, Chief Abiodun Olujimi, Oni lost his seat to Governor Kayode Fayemi after a protracted legal battle that lasted over two years.

It is therefore understandable while people are anxiously looking forward to see if the incumbent, Fayemi will be able to break the jinx by winning the election to rule the state for a second term.

A mere look at the calibre of aspirants that are warming up to do battle for their party’s ticket is enough pointer that the election is not going to be a tea party.

While other aspirants within the former ACN, now APC have stepped down for Gov. Fayemi after the national leadership of the party allegedly awarded him the ticket for a second term, a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele has refused all entreaties to make him back down on his decision to contest for the party ticket.

Not minding the intimidation from the party leadership, Opeyemi unequivocally, said there is no going back on his decision to contest the 2014 governorship election in the state. He described the decision as an irrevocable conclusion based on popular yearnings as well as his personal conviction,

commitment to human capital development and the creation of a new and united Ekiti State.

According to him, he has an ambition which is broader than his personal aspiration and it is this ambition to see a new and better Ekiti in place that actually unites him with Ekiti people regardless of political, religious, social or cultural divides. He said he is convinced that Ekiti must be free and it will be a much needed freedom from poverty and want, which will herald in a popular transition to economic prosperity in a stable polity.

While debunking the claims that Tinubu had endorsed Governor Kayode Fayemi, he said rather than the alleged endorsement, Tinubu’s call include urging the leadership of the party to immediately reinstate all the ward and local government structures of the party that had been arbitrarily dissolved without congresses and in violation of the party’s constitution.

He however lamented that those who are bent on straining his cordial relationship with the leadership of the party went out of the meeting to give a twisted version of the well intended advice by Tinubu, insinuating that the former governor had endorsed Governor Kayode Fayemi, for second term and “warned” me to abandon my “governorship ambition”.

His hard stance got the fury of his colleagues at the lower chamber of the National Assembly. They were stunned at Opeyemi’s audacity to disobey the order of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, national leader of the defunct ACN. They therefore suspended him as the Ekiti caucus leader in the House.

Though, Tinubu has since ordered his reinstatement, it is doubtful whether the former Lagos State Governor would allow his ego to be brushed by a man he gave the opportunity to discover his political potentials.

Other things being equal, it is expected that Gov. Fayemi and Bamidele will square it up to see who flies the flag of the APC in the 2014 governorship election. Should he be denied the APC ticket, there are insinuations that Opeyemi may dump the merger and vie for the governorship slot in the opposition Labour Party.

However, while the

situation in the APC appears manageable, at least going by the fact that the party has a reasonable number of aspirants jostling for its ticket, the same cannot be said of the rival PDP. The situation within the PDP, as far as the 2014 governorship election is concerned, remain chaotic.

The party parades an array of aspirants who are fighting dirty to ensure that they got the ticket to contest the election.

The number of aspirants fighting for the PDP ticket are so large that the national body of the party set up a consensus committee to pick a sellable candidate among the aspirants. As at the last count, about 38 aspirants are battling for the governorship ticket of Ekiti PDP. So fierce is the battle within the PDP for the governorship ticket that the state chapter of the party suspended Fayose, who had earlier declared his intention to contest the primaries.

Fayose’s suspension came on the heels of the declaration by the Minister for Police Affairs, Caleb Olubolade and a former aide to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Olusegun Bodunde, fueling the speculation that other candidate dread slugging it out with the former governor.

The entry of Olubolade and Bodunde has caused further stir in the party, as some party members are murmuring loud that both aspirants are anointed candidates of President Jonathan and Obasanjo respectively.

Apart from Olubolade, Fayose and Bodunde, other aspirants including s former Deputy Governor, Chief Mrs. Abiodun Olujimi, former Speaker of the state assembly, Tope Ademiluyi, former

Governor Kayode Fayemi

chieftain of the defunct ACN, Dayo Adeyeye and the rest, are also on the field canvassing for supports.

After the party failed to achieve consensus among the aspirants, loyalists of the contestants have since resulted in unleashing violence on one another. So serious was the concern the violence acts had generated that the national body of the party hurriedly summoned a meeting of all the aspirants to settle whatever scores they have against each other.

At the meeting held in Abuja, leadership of the PDP expressed deep concerns over the growing violence among its members in Ekiti State ahead of the gubernatorial election in the state,warning that the ugly development has to be stopped forthwith as a disciplined political party.

Speaking in Abuja during an interactive session with the members of the State Executive Committee of the party led by its Chairman,Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe,the Chairman of the Party’s National Reconciliation Committee who is also the Bayelsa State Governor, Hon Henry Seriake-Dickson lamented the raging violence in the party in the state,saying that the leadership of the party

“

The people however did not see the crisis in the PDP as one that could be easily settled, especially as the election is fast approaching.

Therefore, they expected Fayemi to cash in on the riotous situation in the opposition PDP to swing victory to himself

was deeply worried about the development more so that the governorship election in the state was fast approaching.

Seriake-Dickson made it clear that the leadership of the party would no longer entertain any reported case of violence in the state since the party had adequate and vibrant internal mechanism for members to resolve issues without resulting to violence.

He said that the committee decided to interact with the members of the State Working Committee first as the custodians of the party ‘s structures in the state while that of other stakeholders would follow suit.

According to him,”the leadership of the party is worried about the growing violence in the Ekiti State Chapter of our party,this must stop. We should refrain from violence particularly when we are talking about issues in our party. Please, convey this message to our members back home; we don’t want reported cases of violence again because the party has the necessary internal mechanism for members to resolve issues”.

The in-fighting in the PDP has become a source of serious worry to major stakeholders.

Expectation are that settling the dispute between Gov. Fayemi and Bamidele is a task that is easily achievable, therefore paving the way for Fayemi’s emergence as the APC candidate.

The people however did not see the crisis in the PDP as one that could be easily settled, especially as the election is fast approaching. Therefore, they expected Fayemi to cash in on the riotous situation in the opposition PDP to swing victory to himself. How far this is achievable depends on how fast the PDP can move to resolve its internal rumblings.

But the question remains: on can Fayemi for once break the second term jinx?

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

PAGE 39

News Extra Why police set up its PFA - IGP

By Lambert Tyem

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ollowing the attendant fraud that seems to characterise operations of the current Pension Fund Administration (PFAs) by the private sector, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Abubakar, yesterday flagged off a training workshop to enable police personnel start a PFA. He noted that the police ought to create its own PFA separate from those of the private sector.

Abubakar said the threeday capacity building workshop for Police Pension Desk officers would mark the end of suffering for Police officers during and after retirement.

He said that the fund would operate in line with the Pension Reform Act, 2004 and would address challenges being faced by police retirees.

According to him, “I am glad

to mention the creation of a Police Pension Fund Administrator.

“As one of the biggest organisations in Nigeria in terms of staff size, the management of police pension needs has become cumbersome leading to inefficiencies from existing service providers.”

He said that some of those inefficiencies included the difficulties in locating the service providers’ offices and accessing fund after retirement.

“It has become necessary that we take our destiny in our hands because we know our needs.

“We are working to deliver them within the frame work of the Pension Reforms Act. “It is for this reason that President Goodluck Jonathan directed that the police should continue to be covered under the contributory scheme but approved that we should have a PFA of our own.

“The PFA will be designed as prescribed by the law and as a corporation established under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA),’’ he said.

Abubakar said that a proportion of the dividends from the business would be allocated to fund existing police welfare schemes.

According to him, “it is my belief that a proper pension administration scheme is critical and complementary to the existing schemes already being implemented by the force.’’

He charged the participants drawn from all police formations across the country to take the training seriously as it was

designed to equip them to management the new fund.

In a keynote address, Ibrahim Mohammed, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Pension), explained that the training was to empower the officers to manage the fund in line with the National Pension Commission’s guidelines.

Army nabs Boko Haram suspects in Sokoto From Mahmoud Muhammad, Sokoto

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rmy authorities in Sokoto state have confirmed the arrest of a Boko Haram suspect, one Malam Mubarak, popularly called Dan Hajia, with explosive materials in his custody.

The suspect was arrested alongside other during a joint operation by the Army and other security agents.

Army spokesman, Captain Musa Yahaya, while briefing journalists on Monday disclosed that various arms, ammunition and bomb-making materials were recovered from hideout of the suspects at the Nakasare area of Sokoto metropolis.

Musa said the interrogation of scores of suspects arrested earlier had led to the apprehension of

the prime suspects along SokotoBirni Kebbi road.

According to Musa, “Yesterday (Sunday) at about 8:30pm, we raided a house of one Malam Mubarak, aka Dan Hajia, a suspected Boko Haram members at Nakasare area of Sokoto South local government area of the state.

“It is a continuous operation with scores of suspects now in our custody and investigations are still on-going.”

He listed items recovered from the suspect’s hideout to include three AK-47 rifles, one riot gun, 153 rounds of 7.62mm ammunitions, 21 prime explosive cylinders, 27 primed small tin cans of explosives, 3 cartoon of acid, 6 nine voltage batteries, bunch of detonator cables, 4 containers of chemical substance and 14 knockout devices.

Offa LG election re-run: Ex-chairman accuses electoral commission of rigging From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

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ormer Chairman of Offa local government council of Kwara state, Prince Saheed Popoola, on Monday alleged plot by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to railroad the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWASIEC) into holding fresh election into the council without following the law.

He said the plot is to exclude the opposition from contesting in the poll, thereby making the rerun a walkover for the PDP. Popoola in a statement in Offa also dismissed as futile the alleged plot to disqualify him from contesting in the election on the ground that the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) under which he contested has ceased to be in existence.

“Our attention has been drawn to a meeting Senator Bukola Saraki had with PDP stakeholders including PDP chieftains from Offa at the weekend where they resolved to railroad the KWASIEC into holding a rerun election into Offa council.

“While we remain confident that the people of Offa will serve out the appropriate punishment to people who see Kwara as their fiefdom and make no pretence about their intention to lord it over all of us, we wish to remind the PDP and of course KWASIEC that the law governing KWASIEC is that a notice of 150 days shall be given for election into local government council.

“We also wish to remind them, as regards their futile effort to disqualify me on account of ACN having merged into the new APC.”

R-L: Bayelsa state Governor and Chairman, PDP Reconciliation Committee, Hon. Seriake Dickson, Secretary of the committee, Ambassador Umar Damagum, and a member of the committee, Senator Ibrahim Mantu, during their meeting with chairmen, secretaries and other executives of the PDP non-controlled states, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-0wo

Group faults NAHCON increase in hajj fares

By Umar Muhammad Puma

I

ndependent Hajj Reporters, a civil society organization, has flayed the decision of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to hike fares for the 2013 hajj.

The group in a statement said that NAHCON ought to go beyong mere announcing of hajj fares and actually interact with intending pilgrims to give them comprehensive analysis of services it intends to render vis-àvis the cost implications.

The statement signed by the IHR National Coordinator, Alhaji Ibrahim Muhammad and Publicity Secretary Abubakar Mahmoud, expressed concerned over the yearly increase in hajj fares in the last four years.

According to the statement, “from 2011, the minimum hajj

seat with $750 BTA was N520, 249.75 signifying an increase of eight per cent from that of the previous year.

“In 2012, the same hajj seat climbed up to N613, 645, showing an increase of 18 per cent.

“Again, only last week NAHCON announced that this year’s minimum hajj seat with $750 BTA will cost N636, 496.52, this shows an increase of approximately N23, 000.

“We are afraid that if this trend continues, average Nigerian Muslims will have to pay through the nose to be able to perform hajj in the next five years.”

“More worrisome is the fact the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC) recently announced a 12 cut in the cost of 2013 Jerusalem pilgrimage.

“Though we acknowledge the

variances in services provided by the two commissions, however, we are also at pains that of the Muslims appears to go higher.

The group further urged NAHCON to always make public detailed financial analysis on the causes of increase in hajj fare.

“In its public statement announcing 2012 Hajj fare, the 18 per cent increase was attributed to the rise in the cost of air ticket by $100, rise in the cost of accommodation in Makkah which has increased by 500 Saudi Riyal and the cost of tent “C” and feeding in Muna and Arafat which has added SR600.

“The Commission should also endeavour to inform the public what necessitated this year’s increase to demonstrate its transparency and prudence in the management of pilgrims finance,” the statement added.

Army decorates officers in Adamawa From Umar Dankano, Yola

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he Brigade Commander of the 23rd Armoured Brigade, Brigadier-Gen. Fattai Oladipo Alli, has charged military personnel of the brigade to be highly professional in the discharge of their constitutional responsibilities by expressing

high desire for knowledge.

Alli who gave the charge in Yola shortly after decorating six Lieutenants to the rank of Captains and three 2nd Lieutenants to full lieutenants ,said as newly promoted officers there was need for them to know the nitty gritty of their profession.

As newly promoted officers, Alli, said that their families should feel the impact of their promotion in terms of giving them adequate attention.

He however warned the promoted officers not to get involved in civilian affairs nor use their positions to molest the civilians.

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PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

News Analysis How brutal mosque attack raises questions over military offensive

Borno state Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, assessing houses torched by insurgents, yesterday in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State.

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rutal attacks on a mosque and a village in northeastern Nigeria that left 56 people dead raised fresh questions yesterday over the military's offensive seeking to end a four-year Islamist insurgency.

Security forces claim they have chased out members of Islamist extremist group Boko Haram and destroyed their camps, but a series of attacks on civilians in recent weeks has signaled that any gains may have been short-lived.

Some analysts say the military, which began its offensive in May, may have only succeeded so far in pushing the insurgents into more remote areas, where recent violence has occurred.

The army's strategy of encouraging the formation of citizen vigilante groups to help find and arrest Boko Haram members may also be backfiring, with concerns that the group is targeting civilians out of revenge and to instill fear.

"Such attacks targeting people helping the authorities against Boko Haram is bound to continue," said Abdullahi Bawa Wase, a security analyst and rapporteur at the UN Department for Safety and Security.

"And there is more to it than that.

Following the state of emergency, Boko Haram was pushed out to the border with Cameroon where they still hold sway.

"The responsibility of the security personnel is not to push out the insurgents but to neutralise them, arrest and prosecute them."

The attacks over the weekend at the mosque in Konduga and the village of Ngom village in the nearby Mafa district

were believed to be out of revenge for the activities of the vigilante groups.

On Sunday morning, suspected Boko Haram members stormed the mosque in Konduga and shot dead 44 people, a senior government official said.

In Mafa on Saturday night, the insurgents shot dead 12 others at the victims' homes, another local official said.

Residents said that the attackers were wearing army camouflage, a tactic they have used in the past. Some also alleged a number of victims' throats were slit, but there had been no official confirmation.

Many details of the violence remained unclear and the military has not provided any official statement. Neither could military officials be reached on Tuesday.

The army launched the offensive after President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in the northeast, Boko

Haram's home base, on May 14.

There appeared to be a decline in the number of attacks after the offensive was launched, but security forces have cut phone lines in the region and access to remote areas is restricted, making it difficult to verify the army's claims.

Recent weeks have seen particularly violent assaults targeting civilians, including three attacks on schools.

Elizabeth Donnelly, Africa programme manager at London-based think tank Chatham House, said "the state of emergency was never going to end this crisis entirely".

She said the current violence appears to be much more focused on the northeast as opposed to attacks between 2010 and 2012 that saw Boko Haram gradually spread its targets in northern and central Nigeria.

"So the military might argue that yes,

“

The army’s strategy of encouraging the formation of citizen vigilante groups to help find and arrest Boko Haram members may also be backfiring, with concerns that the group is targeting civilians out of revenge and to instill fear

these attacks are taking place, but that's a sign of the military closing in Boko Haram," she said.

"But the flip side of that may be that we're seeing Boko Haram flexing its muscle."

Donnelly also pointed out, as others have, that a major military assault in 2009 aimed at decimating Boko Haram led to some 800 deaths, but the group re-emerged the following year with more deadly and sophisticated attacks.

The insurgency has left some 3,600 people dead since 2009, including killings by the security forces, who have been accused of major abuses.

Boko Haram has claimed to be seeking an Islamic state in Africa's most populous nation, but it is also believed to include various factions with different aims.

Nigeria's 160 million population is roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south.

The leader of its main Islamist extremist faction, Abubakar Shekau, claimed in a video message seen by AFP on Monday a series of recent deadly attacks on security forces.

The military has dismissed Shekau's previous claims as pure propaganda and say they are pursuing him. His whereabouts remain unknown.

The army has also given no indication of how it will deal with the latest upsurge in violence.

"The government is claiming they are winning the war, but they are not," said Abubakar Tsav, a former police commissioner for Nigeria's economic capital Lagos.

(Source: AFP)

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

PAGE 41

Mandela Challenge:

Bafana Bafana, Super Eagles clash today more than football match

By Albert Akota, with agency reports

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wenty one years after their first game, South Africa welcomes Nigeria to Durban in a game to honour Nelson Mandela Today’s Nelson Mandela Challenge between South Africa and Nigeria is set to be a top game between two of Africa’s key countries. Since the 1990s, a form of rivalry has developed between both nations on and off the field.

Two years after Madiba’s release from prison, when the Rainbow country was welcomed back into the international football community, both teams faced each other for the first time on the way to qualifying for the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

At the height of that golden era, the Super Eagles trounced Bafana Bafana 4-0 in Lagos and were denied a sweet victory in Johannesburg when Rasheed Yekini’s goal was disallowed for a 0-0 draw in the return leg in Johannesburg.

That was to set the tone for the football relationship since, with the West Africans dominating on the field five wins, one draw and a single loss that came in the 2004 Nelson Mandela Challenge.

The tone of football matches between Nigeria and South Africa has long been influenced by politics outside the pitch.

With Nigeria refusing to defend the Africa Cup of Nations title it won in 1994 at the edition hosted by South Africa in 1996, due to frosty diplomatic relations, Bafana Bafana emerged as a force to reckon with on the continent.

There are many people who point to that period as the key moment when the fortunes of both countries began to unravel.

South Africa and Nigeria fans united Bafana’s stock rose as they hosted and won the tournament while the Eagles began to experience a decline that would last 19 years before they returned to the pinnacle of African football, in ironically, the same country where they refused to play back

then.

Every now and again, relations between both countries are put in the balance.

After the Sani Abacha-Nelson Mandela diplomatic rancour over the extra-judicial killings of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni minor-

. . . No tension as Mikel drops out, says Keshi

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he Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi has revealed that Chelsea midfield star, John Mikel Obi, will not be available for today’s Mandela Challenge against Bafana Bafana in Durban, South Africa due to a stomach upset he picked up while on tour with his EPL side.

Chelsea doctors wrote to the NFF asking that the player be excused for health reasons. Keshi obliged and said yesterday morning in Durban, that he will not want to push Mikel too much because of the September 7 World Cup qualifier against Malawi in Calabar.

All the other 19 players are already in Durban for the game,

including Mikel’s Chelsea teammate, Victor Moses. Keshi also on behalf of the team prayed for the soul of his late national teammate, Samson SochukwumaOkwaraji, who died on August 12, 1989 during a World Cup qualifying game against Angola in Lagos.

“We pray for the repose of his soul and for the family he left behind, we missed him badly but God knows best”, Keshi said before Monday evening training session.

The weather here in Durban can be funny. In the mornings, its bright and warm but by even time it drops very low to about 18 degrees but the players are used to such weather and don’t see it as a hindrance to their game against

Bafana.

South African Coach, Gordon Igesund has already said his wards are battle ready for the African champions, when he exchanged warm plesantries with Keshi at the nearby Southern Sun hotel, where the BafanaBafana is camped.

The atmosphere looked charged with many South Africans saying they are eager to end Nigeria’s dominance over their teams at all levels and there could be no better time than now that they are African champions.

Keshi simply waved it off by saying its only football that will be seen on Wednesday and not war and his wards are ready to honour Nelson Mandela and defend the national colors of Nigeria.

ity rights activists in 1995, both countries have had a few more diplomatic spats.

In 2008, the Umar Yar Adua government spoke out against Thabo Mbeki’s handling of the xenophobic attacks against Nigerian and other African immigrants in South Africa.

In 2011, another diplomatic row ensued as 125 Nigerians were denied entry at the OR Tambo Airport for not possessing proper yellow fever vaccination certificates, for which Pretoria later apologized.

However, the relationship between both countries has been more than the above. Nigeria serves as a large market for South African companies who, since the end of apartheid, have thrived doing business in Africa’s most populous country.

While Nigeria’s economic prowess is not that huge across the divide, it has increasingly exported cultural products like its movies and music to South Africa where its stars are household names.

Lots of Nigerians also live love and thrive among South Africans.

Scores of young Nigerians enter the country every year in pursuit of educational degrees and professional capacity building. The country’s highly developed tourism sector also attracts lots of Nigerians who

spend big to visit the Rainbow Nation.

Today’s game comes 21 years after both countries first made contact at international football level and must be used as a platform for building greater ties.

While Nigeria has been more successful in football (in terms of trophies won and the number of talent playing in top clubs around the world), South Africa has shown excellence in the business of sport with its successful hosting of the 2010 World Cup among other international sporting events.

While one encourages healthy rivalry between our two great nations, it’s important that we find ways to learn from each to create growth on both sides.

As we celebrate the great Nelson Mandela who, in his 95th year, looks increasingly larger than life, we need to ensure that his life work is preserved by a continuous propagation of positive messages that will benefit our continent.

South Africa and Nigeria remain key countries in the continent’s long walk towards economic freedom and political justice; we must remain allies in the fight for Africa’s growth. It would be Mandela’s wish too.

PAGE 42

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

Sports Ngcongca out of Super Eagles clash

Anele Ngcongca

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afana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund was visibly miffed as he announced that Racing Genk defender Anele Ngcongca would not be joining the team for the Nelson Mandela game against Nigeria today.

Ngcongca was expected to join the team on Tuesday along with Tokelo Rantie. Instead Igesund said all he got from Genk were excuses as to why the player could not be there.

Igesund said the Belgian club first wanted the player to be excused as they had some important game in three days.

Then the club sent a letter saying the player was injured but a request from Igesund to have the player over to be checked by the Bafana doctors was met with a negative response.

Igesund said the request to have the player come through and be checked by the Safa doctors was turned down with the club saying they wanted to get the player ready for the weekend.

There will be no replacement for Ngcongca, the coach said.

Igesund said he may have to adjust one or two areas as Gumede or Nthethe could also play at right-back.

“I am not so much disappointed with the Pirates players because we know their situation. They are representing Safa in the Caf Champions League,” he said. “The Anele situation has really annoyed me and it shows a lack of respect from his club.

Ngcongca was one of the three overseas players, along with Dean Furman and Tokelo Rantie, who were to be released after the Nigeria game.

Nevertheless, Bafana are not the only ones with such a problem, as Nigeria coach Stephen Kheshi earlier announced that Chelsea star Mikel Obi would not be part of the game due to “illness”.

Moses in, Mikel out of Bafana tie Stories by Albert Akota

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ictor Moses and Brown Ideye are the latest players to arrive at the super eagles Camp in Durban ahead of the Nelson Mandela Challenge while Mikel Obi has been excused for health reasons.

Moses checked into the hotel at 2pm local time, while Ideye was already settled in.

Coach Stephen Keshi had earlier told the eager local media at the press conference that Mikel will be unavailable but he re-iterated that even without Mikel, Kenneth Omeruo and Emmanuel Emenike, he was confident of fielding a formidable team against the Bafana Bafana today.

The Super Eagles will again train in the night at 8pm but this time, they will train at the impressive Moses Mabhida Stadium.

The team has spent most of the day relaxing with some of the Players playing snooker and a few others chilling with head-phones and just listening to music In the absence of regular team Captains, Joseph Yobo and Vincent Enyeama, second Goal-keeper, Austin Ejide has filled the role of Victor Moses team Captain.

Ejide said “we are here to build a new team” support our coach and to play to “We are taking this game his instruction as we strive to like a big fight because we are

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playing Bafana and we are African champions, so every game is important.

Nsofor brings back maximum power

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ictor Obinna Nsofor is making a comeback to the Super Eagles after almost two years and the Lokomotiv Moscow Striker is ready to unleash maximum power for the Super Eagles Obinna is happy to link up with his team-mates who have since become African champions in his absence and he says he’s ready to contribute to making the team even stronger.

Nsofor is looking forward to working with the other Strikers to deliver the goals that the team badly needed at the Fifa confederations Cup in the absence of Star Striker, Emmanuel Emenike.

Obinna, who has scored 11 goals in his 44 caps for Nigeria hopes to add to his tally and continue to deliver crucial goals that once made him the Super Eagles most reliable impact player.

Obinna believes Stephen Keshi and the team have evolved over the last two years and despite being absent, he rooted for the team through the Africa Cup of nations and the Fifa Confederations Cup.

Nsofor

We are ready for National Youth Games, says Talle he Chairman of the Federal Capital Territory Football Association Alhaji Musa Talle has said that the association is fully prepared for the National Youth Games (NYG) billed for December in Abuja.

Talle told newsmen yesterday in Abuja that FCT has standard football pitches and team that could compete with other teams.

He said that as the champions of the Nigeria Football Association U-13 competition, the team had gained sponsorship to represent Nigeria at the FIFA approved U-13 competition in Turkey next month.

Talle said that it was based on the performance of the team that the Minister of Sports gave approved for it to represent Nigeria at the competition.

“As far as football is concerned FCT is ready; as you know FCT boys were able to win the NFA U-13 competition.

“Our players are ready; the minister has given approval for them to go to Turkey through the NFA to represent Nigeria at the FIFA-approved U-13 competition in September.

“This is to show that since we won the U-13 NFA competition, our boys are ready to face the challenges ahead,” he said.

Talle appealed to the FCT to create conducive atmosphere for the Dec. 5 to Dec. 15 NYG in Abuja.

Talle

Struggling Nasarawa United placed on half pay

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asarawa United have placed players and officials on half pay following a 1-1 draw at home with Warri Wolves at the weekend.

Club chairman Isaac Danladi said, “We have put the technical crew and players on half salary.

“We are not happy with the performance of the team and we have handed the Alphonsus Dikeled technical crew a two-match ultimatum.

Nasarawa United are 18th on the league table and play away to Kaduna United on Wednesday.

They have also been knocked out of the country’s cup competition, the Federation Cup, in the quarterfinals after they lost 1-0 to two-time winners Enyimba.

Nasarawa coach Dike

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

PAGE 43

Sports

West Brom signs Vydra on season-long loan

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he 21-year-old scored 20 league goals while on loan at Watford last season to help them to third in the Championship and reach the play-off final.

The Czech international, who was also named Championship player of the year, becomes Albion’s fourth summer signing.

Though Vydra would suffer defeat with Watford in the play-off final, his two goals in the semi-final second leg against Leicester helped them to a 3-2 aggregate win.

Clarke has already signed striker Nicolas Anelka and defender Diego Lugano from Juventus and Paris St-Germain respectively on free transfers.

In July, Albion re-signed Bulgaria defender Goran Popov on loan from Dynamo Kiev.

Vydra, who has started two league games in Serie A for his parent club, will be tasked with replacing some of the 17 league goals scored by Romelu Lukaku, 20, who has returned to Chelsea after his loan spell at The Hawthorns expired at the end of last season.

Matej Vydra

Barcelona abandon defender search Defoe, Sigurdsson R not for sale, say Spurs

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ndre Villas-Boas has ruled out any possibility of Jermain Defoe and Gylfi Sigurdsson leaving Tottenham Hotspur this summer.

Defoe, 29, has been linked with West Brom and Queens Park Rangers where he would be reunited with former Spurs manager Harry Redknapp while Sigurdsson struggled to hold down a starting place after his summer move from Hoffenheim.

However, despite having strengthened with the likes of Paulinho and Roberto Soldado, Villas-Boas said both Defoe and Sigurdsson remain in his plans for the new season.

“Sigurdsson is completely in our plans. Defoe is a hero for Tottenham and has been doing well. He faces competition which he has always faced during his career.

Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jermain Defoe

David Luiz

eports in Spain suggest that Barcelona have put the brakes on moves to sign a new centre-back this summer, as no defender is available with all the attributes needed to be a success at the Camp Nou. With Barca’s new coach Gerardo Martino meeting with sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta and President Sandro Rosell yesterday morning to finalise their plans for the remainder of the summer transfer window.

Mundo Deportivo claims that the sums being asked by Chelsea for David Luiz (€50 million) and Liverpool for Daniel Agger (€20 million plus) have led to a rethink, as neither player fulfills all of the criteria which the blaugrana club is looking for.

Agger’s agent said earlier this week that the Catalan club had shown an interest in his player.

None of the other names on Zubizarreta’s list of potential options -- including Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham), Jeremy Mathieu (Valencia) and Inigo Martinez (Real Sociedad) -- are fully convincing either, the Catalan paper maintains.

Barca has famously struggled for many transfer windows to identify and sign defenders who can adapt to the club’s unique playing style.

Aboagye signs for Granada

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he Spanish side got the skilful midfielder for an undisclosed fee. His local club, International Allies, have a long standing relationship with Iberian club.

Speaking to Supersport.com, the CEO of Allies explained that the emphasis on Aboagye’s movement was development.

“He is young, and so at this stage we need to him to grow properly,” Eric Senaye said.

The player’s showing for Ghana helped go past a tough group before sterling showings in the Round of 16, quarter and semifinal brought his attention to the global limelight.

“We wanted the World Cup to be over before finalizing all the paperwork so that he wouldnt be distracted, but the deal was already done in principle.”

Senaye also confirmed that a Russian club had tabled a bid for the player in a region of $1 million, but the relationship with Granada meant they had the first option.

Granada, owned by Giampaolo Pozzo, will likely be a springboard to Udinese for the gifted left-footer, should be do well in Spain.

Aboagye thus becomes the fourth member of the third-place finishing Satellites to move to Europe after the tournament’s end.

Aboagye

Gourcuff take pay cut to join Arsenal

Gourcuff

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oann Gourcuff is ready to lower his sizeable salary to secure a move to Arsenal, according to the Lyon playmaker’s club president Jean-Michel Aulas.

He played fewer than half of Lyon’s league games and scored just nine Ligue 1 goals since joining from Bordeaux.

Gourcuff, 27, has failed to deliver on the promise that persuaded Lyon to pay €22 million for him in 2010 and offer him a monthly wage of more than €400,000, making the midfielder Ligue 1’s highest-paid Frenchman.

Having struggled for both fitness and form over the past three seasons, OL have been looking to offload the France international, whose situation has been monitored

by Arsene Wenger.

PAGE 44

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

Sports

ICC charges 7 with match-fixing

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even people have been charged with matchfixing by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and another two have been charged for not reporting corruption in the game.

The ICC said the charges relate to an alleged conspiracy

within the Dhaka Gladiators franchise to engage in matchfixing and spot-fixing activity.

Those charged with fixing offences have been provisionally suspended.

All nine people charged have 14 days to respond to the allegations made against them.

“The evidence uncovered is a grave reminder of the need for the sport to remain vigilant against the continuing threat of corruption,” said ICC chief executive David Richardson.

The punishment for matchfixing offences ranges from a minimum five-year suspension

up to life, while failure to report an approach carries an upper limit of a five-year ban.

The charges are a result of alleged incidents uncovered by the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU).

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) asked the ACSU

to monitor the second edition of the BPL, a Twenty20 tournament which took place in February and March this year.

The ICC said the identities of the nine charged will not be revealed until the conclusion of disciplinary proceedings.

Farah reaches World 5,000m final to keep alive double hopes

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o Farah’s bid to add the World 10,000m and 5,000m titles to his Olympic gold remains on track after he eased into

the final over the shorter distance.

The defending champion was fifth in his heat, the final automatic qualifying position,

Farah

in 13 minutes 23.93 seconds.

If he wins Friday’s final, Farah will emulate Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele and become the second man to win 10,000m and 5,000m Olympic and World titles.

The 30-year-old, who won the distance double at the London 2012 Olympics, became the first British man to win a 10,000m world title last Saturday.

And he began his defence of the 5,000m crown he won in Daegu in 2011 in comfortable fashion.

He was in third or fourth for much of the heat before taking the lead with three laps to go and easing off in the final 200m, once he realised his safe passage into Friday’s

final was secure.

Muktar Edris set the fastest time of the two heats, clocking 13 minutes 20.82 seconds.

The Ethiopian sprinted past Farah down the finishing straight but the Briton was more concerned with conserving as much energy as possible for the final in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.

Olympic bronze medallist Robbie Grabarz qualified for the high jump final in joint first place. He cleared 2.29m after four first-time clearances.

Jessie Williams of the United States and Aleksey Dmitrik of Russia, who won gold and silver two years ago, both failed to make Friday’s final.

Klitschko to fight Povetkin on October 5

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B A heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko will face Alexander Povetkin in Moscow on 5 October.

Klitschko was first set to defend his heavyweight title against the Russian three years ago but the contract for the fight was never finalised.

“Klitschko said.”He hasn’t lost a fight and in no case will I underestimate him.

Povetkin said: “I’m glad it will finally happen. I’m looking forward to meeting the strongest boxer right now.”

The WBA heavyweight belt became vacant when Ukrainian Klitschko was elevated to “super champion” status in 2011 after beating

David Haye.

Povetkin, 33, beat Ruslan Chagaev to claim the vacant title later in 2011, before victory over American Hasim Rahman last September saw him become the mandatory challenger to Klitschko.

Klitschko, 37, improved his career record to 60-3 earlier this year when he defeated Francesco Pianeta with his 52nd knockout.

The undefeated Povetkin’s record stands at 26-0, with his 18th knockout stopping Polish challenger Andrzej Wawrzyk for his fourth successful defence of the “regular” title.

Moscow’s indoor Olympic stadium is scheduled to be the venue for the bout.

B

IPC World Swimming: Simmonds wins 400m freestyle gold

F

Wladimir Klitschko

Dwyer face 8 months ban for jockey in India ritish jockey Martin Dwyer has been banned for eight months by stewards in India after losing the latest stage of a fight against suspension.

Dwyer originally had a 55-day suspension imposed for allegedly preventing his mount Ice Age from running on its merits.

The ban was extended after an appeal board sent the case back to Royal Western India Turf Club stewards.

Simmonds

The Liverpool-born jockey, who won the 2006 Derby at Epsom on Sir Percy, said he was “confused and disappointed” by the latest news.

Dwyer has won two Classics during his Flat racing career - the 2003 Epsom Oaks on Casual Look and the 2006 Derby on Sir Percy Dwyer finished a narrow third on favourite Ice Age at Mahalaxmi racecourse in Mumbai on 17 February,

prompting an angry response from racegoers.

A head-on video of the race showed Ice Age appearing to drift towards the rail in the closing stages, bumping the eventual runner-up and causing Dwyer to snatch up his mount.

Dwyer is likely to be free to ride pending an appeal, although confirmed bans are normally reciprocated worldwide.

our-time Paralympic champion Ellie Simmonds was one of four British winners on day one of the IPC World Swimming Championships in Montreal.

Simmonds, 18, won the women’s S6 400m freestyle in five minutes 24.02 secs, 20 seconds ahead of Mexico’s Vianney Trejo Delgadillo.

Josef Craig and JessicaJane Applegate set world records to win their S7 400m and S14 200m freestyle races.

Simmonds and Craig, the performances were repeats of their Paralympic victories at the London 2012 Games.

Both won the 400m, with Simmonds also adding gold in the 200m medley.

Simmonds, whose main rival Victoria Arlen was stopped from competing after the IPC ruled she did not have a permanent disability, is bidding for a further five The Norwich-based swimmer was fourth at the halfway mark but stormed through to win in a new world record of 2:09.88, beating the 2:11.47 she clocked in Sheffield earlier this year.

Ollie Hynd, who won Paralympic gold in the SM8 200m medley, set a British record as he claimed bronze in the S8 100 backstroke.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

Some Interesting Facts

W

hen Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon, he not only gave his famous “One Small Step for Man, One Giant Leap for Mankind” statement. Before he re-entered the lander, he made the enigmatic remark “Good luck, Mr. Gorsky.” Many people at NASA thought it was a casual remark concerning some rival Soviet Cosmonaut; however, upon checking, there was no Gorsky in either the Russian nor American space programs. When he was a kid, Neil was playing baseball with his brother in the backyard. His brother hit a fly ball which landed in front of his neighbors’ bedroom window. The neighbors were Mr and Mrs. Gorsky. As he leaned down to pick up the ball, he heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky, “Oral sex? Oral sex you want? You’ll get oral sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!”

•Women are 37% more likely to go to a psychiatrist than men are.

•Women’s hearts beat faster than men’s.

•You can only smell 1/20th as well as a dog.

•You’re more likely to get stung by a bee on a windy day that in any other weather.

•Your nose and ears never stop growing.

•Your right lung takes in more air than your left one does.

The fastest bird is the peregrine falcon. It can fly at a speed of 168-217

SUDODKU

PAGE 47

miles per hour.

Hans Langseth had the longest beard at a record length of 17 1/2 feet long! When he died, his beard was given to the Smithsonian Institute.

The deadliest disease was the pneumonic form of the Black Death of 1347-1351. It had death rate of 100%.

The largest egg laid by a living bird is that of the North African Ostrich. It is 6 to 8 inches in length and 4 to 6 inches in diameter. The smallest is that of the hummingbird.

It is less than 0.39 inches in diameter.

The hottest continent on earth is Africa, where a record high of 136.4 degrees F was once recorded.

Antarctica is the coldest continent on earth, where a temperature of 126.9 degrees F below zero was once recorded.

Leisure

Chicago is home to three of the five tallest buildings in the world — the Sears Tower, Standard Oil Building, and John Hancock Center.

The hottest place on earth is in Dallol, Ethiopia, which is a sizzling 94 degrees in the shade on a typical day!

Angel Falls in Venezuela is 20 times taller than Niagara Falls.

The blue whale is the largest animal that ever lived (it could reach 100 feet long and weight up to 150 tons!)

Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a basketball game in 1962, when he played for the Philadelphia Warriors.

The longest bout of hiccups lasted 69 years!

The longest conga to this date included 119,986 people.

Singapuras and weighs only 4 pounds.

The longest movie made lasts 85 hours and is fittingly titled “The Cure for Insomnia.”

Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world, standing 29,028 feet high.

Did you know that there is a world record for seeing how many times you can attempt a world record?!

The smallest dog recorded was a Yorkie and was only 4 inches tall. The biggest dog weighed 34 344 4 pounds- more than two fu full ll gro grown wn men!

The large rgest st bab by to to be be bo born so far weigh ighed ed in at 15 pou pounds nds,, 5 ounc ounces! s!

The Th he lo longe ngest st rec ecord ord ded fligh ight ht off a ch chicke icken n is th thir irttee een n se secon ond ds

Say what?

PHOTO OF THE DAY

A split personality: Female slacklining pro Hayley Ashburn does the splits on a highline above the Yosemite Valley floor at Taft Point, California. Source: Dailymail.co.uk

www.peoplesdailyng.com

. . . putting the people first

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013

SPORTS LATEST

Italy, Argentina: Pope Francis meets Messi, others for today’s friendly match

P

ope Francis met with compatriot Lionel Messi and other players from Argentina and Italy and called on them to set a good example in today’s international friendly in Rome and in all of their activities as professional sportsmen.

The two national teams were given an audience at the Vatican with the Argentinian head of the Catholic Church, who reminded them of their duties to a society which holds them in high regard.

The pontiff, who admitted he is torn between who to support on Wednesday night, also appealed to the whole football family to retain the values of the game.

“Don’t lose the sporting character in favour of a football business,” he said. “This guarantees that families come to the stadium and it discourages violence. The professional game must not forget its amateur beginnings, which value camaraderie and beauty.

Both Italy and Argentina national teams have shown camaraderie by sharing the same hotel in the build-up to Wednesday’s match at the StadioOlimpico while they both partook in Tuesday’s private meeting.

Earlier, Italy coach CesarePrandelli said he hoped the Pope would be able to attend today’s match, although some divine intervention may be required for him to see Mario Balotelli in action.

P

osturing by the All Progressives Congress, APC, that they will field a Northern candidate for the Presidency in 2015 should put the opposition party in a good stead.

In contrast to this posture, itself consistent with the unwritten tradition of power rotation between the North and South, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, appears unrelenting in making the incumbent President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan its sole candidate. In a democracy, there must be ample freedom to choose, reject, discuss and debate. This is what the PDP continues to lack.

In line with this principle, the PDP and its powerful ethnic Ijaw high-command have every right to present the incumbent in 2015, and Nigerians of other persuasions have a right to reject him. Lest we forget, the romance between the APC, or let’s say the Yoruba SouthWest and the North is a uniquely new phenomenon. If it works out, this would be the first time in the annals of Nigerian politics that these two vote banks would work together. There are two reasons why this is unique. First is that this kind of political union was not at all permitted under colonial rule.

The British had contempt for the more enlightened and politically aggressive Yoruba. The Northern Hausa were mostly acquiescent if not down-right pliant. The British allowed accommodation between the North and the Igbos who then, and even now did not have state craft but their lives are largely governed by commercial ethos.

In the post-independence era, the Yoruba were designated - or chose for themselves - the place of the permanent opposition in Nigerian politics. Awolowo’s Action Group, AG, in the Western Region never voted with the North in national elections. Beyond this, the AG actually nurtured and sustained opposition to the ruling Northern Peoples Congress, NPC, in the

Pope Francis

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Politically, everybody knows that I have been part and parcel of putting the PDP together in Taraba state. God has decided that today is the right time to come back to the party. I’ve toiled for the party — Rev. Jolly Nyame, former governor of Taraba state on why he is returning to PDP which he dumped in 2011

Is the North in good company in APC?

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Garba Shehu garshehu@yahoo.co.in

Chief Bisi Akande, Protem APC National Chairman North by lavishly funding the Middle-Belt Movement.

Two prominent Northern opposition leaders in the Middle-Belt were paid cabinet-level salaries by the Western Regional government. The Second Republic was no different with the South-West continuing with its knee-jerk response to Northern politics and politicians, inventing and provoking communal feelings and the Northern elite leading a government of corrupt politicians and manipulative bureaucrats.

It is hard to pin-point the exact reason and juncture at which the disenchantment set in between the traditional alliance partners, i.e. the North and the old East but it suffices to say that this has not

been helped by the frequent ethnoreligious violence in the North of which the more prosperous Igbos had become a regular target. The North has three difficulties with the East, and Igbos in particular.

First is that the scales have turned against the more conservative elements in the region; those that see value in the relationship with the North have lost politically to those who see the North as the enemy. All the current South-East governors, except Imo’s Okorocha fall into this category. What is however most decisive is that Igbos have found a strong foothold in the current federal administration.

The Guardian analyst, Samson Ezea, presumably an Igbo, reported

The important question to confront at this point is does North have reason, other than sticking against Jonathan, for going into the ground-breaking alliance with the South-West? Is this alliance driven by interest or just power grab? On another hand, given the historical antagonism that has characterized the relationship between the North and the South-West political elite, can the Yoruba be trusted to rescue the North from the combined assault of the South-South and South-East?

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two weeks ago that Igbos are beneficiaries of 36 percent of all appointments made by President Jonathan. They also have a strategic hold on the army. With a sprinkling of the South-South, the Igbos control all strategic positions in the army. Where Northern officers are found in any sensitive positions, they know that they have to walk a thin, red-line. No doubt, Igbos see politics in the present dispensation as a zero-sum game and the North as an enemy that is out to challenge the comfort zone in which they thrive. Don’t also forget that while the North is like in auto-gear going into the new partnership with the APC, the South-South and SouthEast are watching and entrenching their opposition against the new partnership.

The important question to confront at this point is does North have reason, other than sticking against Jonathan, for going into the ground-breaking alliance with the South-West? Is this alliance driven by interest or just power grab? On another hand, given the historical antagonism that has characterized the relationship between the North and the SouthWest political elite, can the Yoruba be trusted to rescue the North from the combined assault of the SouthSouth and South-East? The SouthWest have voted strategically in 2003, 2007 and 2011, casting their ballots for candidates other than those of their party. They voted for PDP candidates and left their party’s candidates stranded. Can they be trusted to stay with an APC candidate if he happens to be a Northerner? To the Northerners who are clamouring for the APC ticket, what do they have that they are bringing to the table, beyond sentiment and emotional charge?

Do they have money to bring to the party or are they going to fold their arms, watching Governor Tinubu, who is sitting on the controls to operate all the levers?

Again, what do the Northerners want in the APC? Are they promoting a candidate or promoting interests? If it is a candidate, a contestant can be negotiated away or compromised. Can you negotiate away your interest? Are they united in the pursuit of what they want?

Where are their negotiation cards?

How do they protect their own backyard to ensure that the PDP, which is expert in thuggery, does not embarrass them by buying off or stealing their votes? The new party has a lot of loud-mouthed, toughspeaking leaders who are famous as “strategists”. They have suffered past defeats in the hands of the PDP and yet have not learnt anything.

Instead, they go on talking as if they have something new to teach us. Do they have answers to the government’s control of the army, the police, the INEC and the huge war-chest they are putting in place for 2015? If they don’t have these answers, do they expect anyone to take them seriously? Finally, would the North look before it jumps?

Published by Peoples Media Limited, 35, Ajose Adeogun Street, 1st Floor Peace Park Plaza, Utako, Abuja. Kano office: Plot 3, Zaria Road, Opposite Kano State House of Assembly. Lagos Office: No.8 Oliyide Street, off Unity Road, Ikeja, Lagos. Tel: +234 814 292 9046. Cell: +234 802 443 2099; 803 7007 759. e-mail: contact@peoplesdailyng.com; pmlnewsdesk@gmail.com ISSN: 2141– 6141