Peoples Daily Newspaper, Tuesday 19, February, 2013

www.peoplesdailyng.com

Vol. 10 No. 37

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

. . . putting the people first

Jonathan orders security agencies to rescue abducted expatriate

Rabiul Akhir 9, 1434 AH

N150

Ansaru claims One killed in responsibility for Lagos explosion kidnap of 8 foreigners

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Mrs Jonathan’s revelation

Presidency has lost credibility – ACN From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

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he Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has congratulated First Lady Patience Jonathan for her miraculous return from the dead, while slamming the presidency for losing whatever is left of its credibility over its handling of the First Lady's illness saga.

In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the revelation by the first lady on the extent of her illness, especially the fact that she passed out for seven days before she said God miraculously brought her back to life elicits joy among Nigerians, irrespective of their political leanings.

However, Nigerians must be wondering why the government they elected into office chose to lie to them that the first lady was holidaying abroad when indeed she was gravely ill in a foreign hospital.

“While we felicitate with the first lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on her recovery from whatever illness it was that Contd on Page 2

PD INDEX

15th Feb., 2013

CBN RATES $ £ EURO CFA RIYAL

BUYING 154.74 239.72 206.11 0.2954 41.26

SELLING 155.74 241.27 207.44 0.3154 41.52

PARALLEL RATES EURO £ RIYAL $

BUYING 208 254.50 42 157

SELLING 210 257.50 43 158

From left: Governor Umaru Al-makura of Nasarawa state; his deputy, Dameshi Luka; Speaker, Ahmed Mohammed and Chief Judge, Suleiman Umaru-Dikko at the submission of Agyragu crisis report, yesterday in Lafia.

By Miriam Humbe

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he Minister of Works Arc. Mike Onolememen disagreed with a Senate position yesterday over a claim of a contract sum of N33 billion allegedly paid to a contractor for the maintenance of the third mainland bridge in Lagos.

Also, contrary to fears that the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos may soon collapse due to the vibration experienced around it by road users, the Minister

Minister, senators disagree over N33bn bridge contract assured that the bridge is safe.

The minister said these yesterday at the Investigative Hearing before the Senate Committee on Works at the National Assembly led by its chairman, Senator Ayogu Eze. The Investigative Hearing

which was held in respect of the Third Mainland Bridge and the First and Second Niger Bridges was fallout of the motion recently raised on the floor of the senate to the effect that the bridge was under threat of imminent collapse.

Senator Ayogu Eze who chaired the hearing said, “It was made known to senate that except steps are taken fast, the Third Mainland Bridge may collapse any time soon”.

Senator Eze also raised the Contd on Page 2

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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

CONTENTS News

2-10

Editorial

12

Op.Ed

13

Letters

14

Opinion

15

Metro

16-18

Business

19-22

S/Exchange S/Report

23 24-25

Newsxtra

26

Feature

27

Agric

28-29

Jonathan orders security agencies to rescue abducted expatriate

By Abdurahman Abdulraheem, with agency reports

P

resident Goodluck Jonathan has ordered security agencies to take all necessary action to locate and rescue foreign construction workers abducted from their camp by gunmen on Sunday in Bauchi State.

The directive is contained in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati.

According to the statement, the president commiserated with the family of the guard reportedly killed in the attack.

Jonathan assured the relatives of the kidnapped foreign

workers as well as the governments of their countries that the security agencies were doing everything possible to find them.

The president, who said that the government would ensure the safe release of all those abducted, condemned the kidnapping of the workers and reaffirmed the government’s

total commitment to stamping out all forms of terrorism and criminal abduction in the country.

Jonathan also urged Nigerians and foreigners in the country to continue to go about their normal business, adding that security agencies were working to curb threats to security in all parts of Nigeria.

Subsidy Scam: Court orders IG, others to pay Ubah N10m From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

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he Federal High Court in Lagos has awarded N10 million in favour of Capital Oil & Gas and its Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ifeanyi Ubah over his illegal detention in police custody for 10 days.

The sum was awarded as damages against the Inspector

General Of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, the Commissioner of Police of the Special Fraud Unit, Tunde Ogunsakin, the Chairman of Access Bank, Mr Aig-Imokhuede, and the CEO of Coscharis Motors, Cosmas Maduka jointly for breach of the fundamental human rights of Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah.

In his judgment, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke quashed and

set aside the Presidential Report on Fuel Subsidy by Aig-Imokhuede and the Police Interim Report that indicted Ifeanyi Ubah on fuel subsidy.

In quashing the report, the court held that it was not obtained under a favourable condition as there was conflict of interest arising from the report of AigImokhuede.

The court also faulted the police report compiled by Mr. Tunde Ogunsakin who is also a member of the presidential task force which indicted him on the fuel subsidy.

The court held that they were both investigators and prosecutors at the same time and also restrained the police from rearresting or investigating the capital oil boss.

I'm the authentic national chairman of APGA - Massalla

By Umar Muhammad Puma

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After stealing billions, grounding Nigeria Airways, indicted officials still enjoy loot, Page 4

Int’l

31-34

Strange World 35 Digest

36

Politics

37-39

Sports

41-45

Leisure

47

Columnist

48

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

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

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he crisis rocking the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) took a different dimension yesterday as the Acting National Chairman, Alh. Sadeeq Masalla rejected the outcome of the Saturday's National Caucus meeting.

At the meeting in Abuja, Maxi Okwu and Alh. Sani Shinkafi were elected in acting capacities as the

National Chairman and National Secretary respectively, following the removal of Sir Victor Umeh in a judgment by the Enugu Chief Judge, Justice Innocent Umezulike.

The meeting was attended by the Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, who said APGA is not in the merger arrangement.

But addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday, Masalla said he remains the authentic Acting

National Chairman as appointed by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party on July 16, 2012.

He also disagreed with Obi stating that APGA was not opposed to merger but that due process must be followed. With him was the Acting National Secretary, Ifedi Okwenna.

Citing APGA's constitution, Masalla said the National Caucus "has no power to elect and give to

APGA interim National Working Committee (NWC) and NEC members".

According to him, the caucus "is an advisory body that receives financial statements from NEC for discussion and advise" and a platform for the reconciliation of differences between senior party members and to ensure that there is peace in the party and the nation".

Presidency has lost credibility – ACN Contd from Page 1 afflicted her, we will be remiss if we fail to recollect how the presidency denied 'rumours' of her illness and poured scorn on the media and the imaginary enemies of the government for fuelling the 'satanic rumours'.

“We will also like to remind the presidency that its denial, instead of full disclosure that would have elicited nothing more than fervent prayers from Nigerians, fuelled the rumours that the First Lady suffered from sundry afflictions or the consequences of tummy tuck!'' ACN said.

The party said that in one of the many rebuttals, the first lady's spokesperson, Ayo Osinlu, was quoted to have said she (Mrs Jonathan) travelled abroad to take a 'moment's rest', given that she had not taken a rest since President Jonathan's election.

Osinlu had told Nigerians in the heat of the illness saga: ''If you look at her itinerary in August

(2012), you will be wondering how she was able to accomplish that. In the course of this week, she will be back home. But remember, it all depends on her plans.''

ACN also recalled that the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, dismissed Mrs. Jonathan's reported illness as a rumour, saying ''there is nothing like that.''

It said that amid all the denials, the President himself maintained a stoic mien and carried on with his duties as if all was well, thereby lending credibility to the lies and deceit. ''The issue here is simple If the presidency can so shamefacedly lie on an issue of such public interest as the health of the First Lady, why should we not believe it can lie on any other issue, whether it is economy, politics, social development or any other matter? For how long has this

presidency been misleading Nigerians on critical issues, since we now have reason to doubt its credibility? Does it occur to this presidency that it has turned Nigeria to a laughing stock by its now routine denials of the truth? ''Like we have said time and again, any government needs to be credible to win the trust of the citizens, without which it cannot govern effectively. With the revelation by our back-from-thedead First Lady, it is clear that the Jonathan Presidency has egg on its face, and must apologise to Nigerians for lying to them. Also, the spokesmen for this government have lost total credibility, hence their words will henceforth be taken with a pinch of salt,'' the party said.

It reiterated its earlier stand that the health of public officials cannot and must not be a closet affair, because it is of public interest. While it may be argued,

though not conceded, that the First Lady is not a public official by virtue of her position, she is a public official by virtue of her being a Permanent Secretary in Bayelsa State! ''It is sad that despite what we and many Nigerian groups and individuals have said on this issue, the Jonathan administration took its script directly from the Yar'adua group's book of deceit when the late President was ill and flown abroad. Now, Governors Sullivan Chime of Enugu, Danbaba Suntai of Taraba and Liyel Imoke of Cross River are all playing according to the Jonathan script. ''We are therefore renewing our call for openness and full disclosure on the state of health of public officials. Life itself is transient, let alone positions. And as a spiritual leader of the calibre of Pope Benedict has shown recently, no office is more important than life itself,'' ACN said.

Minister, senators disagree over N33bn bridge contract Contd from Page 1 issue of an alleged contract sum of N33 billion which was expected to have been paid to a consultant, Nigerian Submarine Divers [NSD] Limited, by the ministry.

To this, the minister promptly responded by saying that “no

consultant has said we should pay N33 billion. The memo came to me but I refused to approve it because ideally, it would have cost no more than N5 billion”.

Committee member, Senator Barnabas Gemade who had listened to the minister’s defence

said the hearing arose as a result of a disagreement between the ministry and its consultant which led to the motion on the floor of the senate.

“Someone might have blown the whistle prematurely on this issue”, he said.

The minister said the First Niger Bridge at Onitsha was also not likely to collapse soon adding that when completed, both the First and Second Bridges will be used simultaneously with the first Niger Bridge being reserved for local runs between Amambra and Delta states.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

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Islamist group, Ansaru, claims responsibility for kidnap of 8 foreigners From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi, with agency reports

SETRACO evacuates expatriate workers to Abuja

group known as Jama’atu Ansarul Musilimina Fi Biladis Sudan, popularly referred to as Ansaru, has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s kidnap of seven foreign workers in Jama’are Town of Bauchi State.

In a statement made available to journalists yesterday, the group said “By Allah’s grace, we have the custody of seven persons, which include Lebanese and their European counterparts working with SETRACO Construction Company, an online news medium said.

They said the men were kidnapped because of the

“transgressions done to the religion of Allah by European nations in many places such as Afghanistan and Mali.”

Gunmen in the early hours of Sunday stormed a compound housing Setraco expatriate staff in Jama’are where they killed a security guard and abducted one Briton, an Italian, a Greek and four Lebanese workers.

The Ansaru, helpers in Arabic, group emerged in June last year; and in a video message posted to Youtube by their leader, Abu Usamatul Ansar, pledged to defend the interest of Islam and Muslims in Africa.

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They had already claimed responsibility for the November 2012 attack on the office of the Special Anti Robbery Squad, SARS Abuja where one person was reportedly killed and several prisoners freed.

The group also claimed responsibility for the bomb explosion that claimed the lives of two Mali bound soldiers on January 19, 2013 at Itape, Ekehi Local Government Area of Kogi State.

Meanwhile, the management of SETRACO Construction Company in Jamare has evacuated all foreign workers just as the whereabouts of 7 foreigners

kidnapped in Bauchi state last Saturday remain unknown.

The Public Relation Officer of the company, Abu Malik disclosed this to newsmen in a telephone interview saying all the foreign workers have been evacuated to Abuja temporarily.

He said the operation of the SETRACO Construction Company in Jamare has been shut down temporarily pending on when investigation is concluded and when everything is calm Speaking on the where a bouts of the victims, the spokes man of the company said they were yet to establish any contact with the

kidnappers.

Meanwhile, the Bauchi state Police Commissioner, Mohammed Ladan said investigation was still ongoing on the abduction of the expatriates.

It would be recalled that gunmen attacked the camp of Setraco Construction Company in Jamare killing a security guard in the company before abducting the seven expatriates. Among those kidnapped are 2 Lebanese, 2 Syrians, an Italian, a Briton and a Greek.

Police also confirmed investigation is ongoing over the abduction of the foreign nationals.

Stock market dips by 0.02%

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Outgoing Commissioner of Police, Rivers state Command, Mohammed Indabawa (right) handing over a cheque to Mrs. Faith Paul and her son, Godswill, at the presentation of cheques to wives and relatives of police officers who died in active service in Rivers state, yesterday.

Photo: NAN

rading activities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) yesterady opened on a negative note as some major blue chips companies recorded losses in shares price.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the All-Share Index also depreciated by 6.95 basis points, representing a marginal drop of 0.02 per cent to close at 33,251.51 points.

This was against 33,258.45 recorded on Friday.

Also, the market capitalisation which opened at N10.642 trillion depreciated by N2 billion to close at N10.640 trillion.

NewGold led the losers’ chart with a loss of N15 to close at N2, 474 per unit.

Julius Berger came second with N5 to close at N61 per share, while GlaxoSmithKline dropped by N2.75 to close at N52.34 per share.

Dangote Cement lost N1.20 to close at N143.80, while Guinness dipped by N1 to close at N289 per share.

On the other hand, Nestle led the price gainers’ chart gaining N24.77 to close at N860 per share.

Dangote Sugar followed with 39k to close at N880 per share, while BOC Gas grew by 32k to close at N6.87 per share.

Five perish in Katsina auto crash One killed in Lagos explosion From Lawal Sa’idu Funtua, Katsina

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ragedy struck in Katsina, yesterday as five person perished in an accident involving a Golf Car and a Trailer along Malumfashi-Hayin Gada road.

The Katsina State Commandant of the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, Alhaji Habu Dauda who confirmed the incident to our correspondent, noted the Golf car has registration number AG 119 KKY while the Trailer has a registration number, XM 437 FST. Dauda noted that the accident occurred when the driver of the Golf car loaded with passengers attempted to dodge

potholes as a result of which he crashed into the trailer.

He noted that among the dead include four males and one female passengers of the Golf car.

Due to the increase in spate of accident in the state, the state commandant noted that he has mobilized his officers to the dreaded Malumfashi-Funtua-Kano route to educate drivers on the need to avoid reckless driving.

Dauda lamented that Katsina State was now included in the high risk accident states of the federation, adding that they would soon organised a stakeholders forum to discuss on ways to reverse the trend.

Police, NEMA dispel fear of Boko Haram From Ayodele Samuel and Matthew Arumade, Lagos

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t was moment of despair for marketers and commuters under the bridge linking Festac Town to Amuwo Odofin Housing Estate, when a bomb exploded killing one Oladele Pius and injuring a police officer.

Eyewitness said Oladele died instantly on the spot while the legs of a policeman who visited the deceased were shattered.

Oladele was the chairman Sand Dealers Association met the untimely death few metres away from his office.

In swift reaction, commissioner of police Lagos State Command, Mr. Umar Manko and Head of Public Relations, National Emergency Management Agency, Yushau Shuaib denied that the expulsion is the handy work of the Boko Haram sect.

Describing the assumption as needless, Shuaib played down speculations that the blast may have been an external attack.

“People should please not speculate since investigations are on,” he said.

Manko also in a press briefing last night said the expulsion was caused by an abandoned electronic, killing one and injuring an inspector of police.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY, 19, 2013

After stealing billions, grounding Nigeria Airways, indicted officials still enjoy loot(I)

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hile the Federal Government has concluded plans to spend N75 billion ($500 million) to procure 30 aircraft for airlines, none of those indicted, by a government White Paper ten years ago, for the fraud and misappropriations that led to the collapse of the Nigeria Airways has been prosecuted or made to return the money they stole.

A PREMIUM TIMES Investigation revealed that some of those indicted are still active players in the aviation industry and may directly benefit from the government’s intervention. Nobody has been prosecuted or convicted for his/ her role in the scam.

In 2002, outraged that the national carrier that had 32 airworthy aircraft in the early 1980s has only two functional airplanes, former President Olusegun Obasanjo set up a commission of inquiry to investigate the management of the Nigerian Airways. The commission was mandated, amongst other things, to “examine all books of account and records and determine whether there has been compliance with appropriate regulations.”

After a year’s work, the commission submitted a fourvolume report that revealed mind-boggling fraud, misappropriations and wanton recklessness running into billions of naira involving several officials of the airline, administrators, travel agencies, financial institutions local and foreign companies, as well as one prominent development organisation.

On December 11, 2002, the Federal Executive Council, FEC, the country’s highest decision making body, met and approved a draft White Paper on the commission’s report and directed the Ministry of Justice and the police to prosecute and recover the stolen funds. It also directed the office of Secretary to the government to gazette the recommendations of the White Paper.

Nobody remembers what happened afterwards, but neither did the police, Justice Ministry or the Secretary to the Government of the Federation follow through the FEC’s directives.

If they know what happened, officials of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration are unwilling to tell Nigerians. Media aide to the president, Reuben Abati, did not respond to our questions about the status of the White Paper. Ambrose Momoh, the

Mrs Stella Odua, the minister of aviation media aide to the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, could also not get his boss to respond.

Mr. Momoh did not respond to our enquiries several weeks after they were sent to him.

Just before he took ill and was taken to Saudi Arabia for treatment, the late President, Umaru Yar’Adua, had vowed, to those close to his government, to prosecute those indicted. That was the last that was heard of the report.

An orgy of fraud Findings by the Justice Nwazota led Commission of Inquiry revealed that Nigerian Airways was run like a repulsive orgy of corruption.

In total disregard for all decency, huge sum of monies were stolen and misappropriated by the airline officials.

Administrators arbitrarily signed shady contracts with agencies and companies without recourse to regulations, funds were dubiously deposited and lost in moribund financial institutions; and airworthy airplanes were sold as junks and the money embezzled. Also, huge loans were taken on behalf of the airways and pocketed by private individuals.

The report painted a bacchanal of fraud where every administration was jostling to out-steal the one before it.

Between 1997 and 1999 “every project and contract was conceived with fraudulent intent,” the report noted. The Managing Director of the airline during the period, Jani Ibrahim, was described as “fraudulent and highhanded.”

It revealed that Mr. Ibrahim

treated the airline’s account like his personal wallet and summarily sacked those “he thought were threats to his fraudulent practices.”

Between 1997 and 1999, Mr. Ibrahim spent $4,052,234.00 (N607.84 million) rental due to the airways without recourse to lay down regulations.

Also, he single-handedly paid $1.78 million (N267.8 million) without guarantee to a travel agency, Alpine Aviation, for the 1999 Hajj operation. Only $560, 000 (N84 million) was recovered.

The balance of $1.22 million (N183.75 million) was never recovered.

From 1997 to 1999, Mr. Ibrahim appointed a third party company to collect revenue on behalf of Nigerian Airways even when the airline had the capacity to carry out the job. He subsequently paid a commission and handling charge of $928,895 (N139 million) to Hak Air, the agency he recruited for the purpose.

Mr. Ibrahim also presided over the overpayment of $1.45 million (N222 million) to Hak

Air for the overhauling of two aircraft – DC10-30 and B737, the report stated.

Mr. Ibrahim also spent N607.84 million ($4,052,234.50) being rent due to the airline “without regard to laid down regulation.”

During the first C-Check of an Airbus in Nigeria by Revilo, Mr. Ibrahim made an overpayment of N92.4 million ($616,052.26). He also “singlehandedly signed and disbursed N156 million ($1,039,439.00) without the signature of the airline’s financial director as regulation required.”

Between 1996 and 2001, he also unilaterally allotted 24 plots of land belonging to the airline in Ayobo, a suburb of Lagos to non-staff members.

In keeping faith with his authoritarian approach to leadership, the committee found that Mr. Ibrahim went into a Wet Lease agreement with Al-Mahfooz that was to last for a year, but the venture collapsed because Mr. Ibrahim excluded the airline’s technical department. The failure of the agreement cost the airline N247.28 million.

Mr. Ibrahim could not be reached for comment as his whereabouts remain unknown.

Banned from holding public office Perhaps the biggest damage done to the Nigerian Airways by an individual was done by its former Managing Director of the company, Mohammed Joji.

Mr. Joji, a retired Air Force Captain and the current Secretary General of Airline Operators of Nigeria, AON, was so unabashedly corrupt as stated in the report, that the FEC banned him from holding public office in Nigeria.

The White Paper revealed that in March 1993, Mr. Joji, who is the owner of Sky Power Express Airways, “unlawfully approved” N2 million to one Grace Hembah as imprest account.

In the same year, Mr. Joji “collected and spent” N1.8 billion ($12 million) royalty from Swissair without

“

An orgy of fraud Findings by the Justice Nwazota led Commission of Inquiry revealed that Nigerian Airways was run like a repulsive orgy of corruption.

approval.

Also in 1993, Mr. Joji claimed that he paid N1.62 billion ($10.8 million) to Sabena Airline but it was later discovered that he only paid N150 million ($1million), the panel discovered.

In 1992, Mr. Joji also paid NICON Insurance Plc, N361.7 million ($2,458,064) less premium due. This fraud was even made worse by the fact that N 33.5 million ($2,230,357) being discount on premium that accrued to the airline had vanished without a trace, the white paper stated.

It was also revealed that he would willingly choose foreign consultants for jobs that the airline staff could handle. The committee found “he would hire them in with all expenses paid.”

In 1993, Mr. Joji outsourced the maintenance of a Boeing 737 aircraft to consultants from Brazil and paid them fully even after staff of the airline has completed 75 per cent of the maintenance.

The airline lost N176.56 million ($3,531,358.50) in the process.

In a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES, Mr. Joji denied any wrongdoing. He said the White Paper was a product of a “witch-hunt” orchestrated against him by former Aviation Ministers, Babalola Borishade and Kema Chikwe.

“There were several panels.

Nwazota was just a consultant.

Is that what you call a panel?

They didn’t do a proper job,” he claimed.

“Do your research. The question you have to ask is who wrote the white paper? Was it gazetted?

Was anyone charged?”

Mr. Joji also uttered a subtle threat of litigation to PREMIUM TIMES. He wondered why we were interested in the story 10 years after: “At that time, no newspaper wrote about it. The White Paper was published 10 years ago, why are you just writing about it now,” he queried.

When told we recently started publishing, he replied: “You are starting on a bad note. They will charge you to court. The White Paper is not gazette. You’re playing a dangerous game. Ten years ago something was written and you just came over night and want to write something about it.”

“It just a wishy-washy thing by Mr. Borishade and Kema Chikwe. It wasn’t gazetted and I wasn’t charged,” he said.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

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Suntai can be removed if mentally incapacitated-SAN From Nasiru Mu’azu Isa Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Yahaya Mahmood has observed that section 189 of the constitution provides procedure for the removal of Taraba state Governr Danbaba Suntai if he is confirmed to be mentally incapacitated.

Yahaya said it won’t be a major issue if the governor is just sick and will recover in 2-3 months, but if the governor is as sick as it is claimed, then it is necessary to legally remove him from office.

Yahaya made this

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observation while answering questions from media men in kaduna. Yahaya added, if he is so sick section 189 of the constitution provides procedure for his removal or mentally incapacitated.

According to him, “ I will not say more on this as we have filed a case in court for an order of mandamus compelling the state

exco to act and we have joined the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and state house of assembly who have a responsibility to Taraba people”.

Commenting on Major Almustapha’s case, Yahaya pointed out that, the case of Almustapha appears both legal and political, saying that, ‘let’s see how the court will decide the

legal angle”.

“More pressure on the government will influence the political angle, justice delayed is justice denied,” he said.

On the position of the Nigerian constitution on the recent merger of political parties, Yahaya explained that, sections 221-228 of the 1999 constitution provides for

prohibition, restriction and constitution of political parties among others.

He further said that the Electoral Act provides for merger of political parties, the parties must formally apply to INEC, they must have special resolution at national conventions proposing to merge and approving the merger.

Air crashes: NCAA defends management of complicity From Suleiman Idris, Lagos

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eactions have continued to trail the reports of the Accident Investigation Bureau, AIB, which indicted airlines and regulatory authorities for their culpabilities that resulted in various incidents in the country’s aviation sector some years ago.

The agency responsible for oversight function in the industry, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) yesterday exonerated the present management of any role in the accidents captured in the report.

Director General of the agency, Dr. Harold Demuren told reporters that NCAA has reached a milestone in its efforts to revamp the lapses outlined in the AIB reports explaining that the change of guard after the accidents that resulted in a more robust oversight function.

“In NCAA today, the agency has been able to attain the prestigious US Federal Aviation Administration, US FAA Category One status, the International Civil Aviation Organization audit, ICAO Audit and other major reforms which have help in ensuring zero tolerance of accidents and incident in the aviation industry in Nigeria.” He said.

The crashes of 2005 and 2006 he pointed out ensured that the NCAA was totally overhauled to meet up with the task of effectively supervising the activities and operations of the airlines.

According to him, it was due the crashes that had occurred in time past that has made the NCAA up to the task in regulating the airlines properly.

Meanwhile, Chairman of Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) FAAN Branch, Comrade Ekamen Ekanem also debunked claims by the management of Bellview airlines that the report on its airline was doctored.

L-R : Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo, President Goodluck Jonathan, Senate President David Mark, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Ghana President John Kufor and Minister of Water Resources Sarah Ochekpe, during the Presidential Summit on Water ( Innovative Funding of the Water Sector in Nigeria ) held at the State House Abuja yesterday.

Photo: Joe Oroye.

By Stanley Onyekwere

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takeholders at a presidential dialogue, put together to mark the silver jubilee anniversary of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Nigeria, yesterday, in Abuja, stressed the need for greater awareness on road safety signs among road users in Nigeria, as critical to enhancing road safety in the country.

The dialogue which was part of the FRSC International Conference with the theme: “Road safety in Africa-the next 25 years” to mark the commission’s establishment was chaired by Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd).

The stakeholders, who attributed the cause of most crashes in the country to avoidable human errors,

FRSC @25: Stakeholders advocate greater awareness on road safety identified over speeding by drivers as the number one primary cause of the menace on the nation’s roads, however commended the efforts of the FRSC towards tackling the issues since its creation.

Speaking at the forum, President Goodluck Jonathan, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, noted that the need for proper cautiousness on road safety on the part of the road users cannot be emphasized, as it is key to making roads safer for commuters.

According to the president

with the coming of FRSC, a lot of awareness needed for road safety in the country has increased over the years; ‘but all citizens and stakeholders must actively be involved in propagating the need for ensuring safety practices on our roads’.

Similarly, Colonel Habbibu Shaibu(rtd), who represented General Babangida at the event, despite the challenges, that the FRSC has transformed itself into a world class agency and a reference point for road safety management in the world.

On his part, Ekiti state Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, lamented the habits of average

Youth unemployment Nigeria’s greatest challenge -SURE-P From Ayodele Samuel,Lagos

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he National Project Director Community Services, Women and Youth Employment (CSWYE) programme of Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment programme (SURE-P) Mr. Peter Papka has lamented that youth unemployment is one of the greatest challenges of the millennium not only in Nigeria but in Africa and globally.

Declaring open a three-day training programme workshop organized by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Project Implementation Unit of SURE-P on effective implementation of the Community Services, Women and Youth Employment (CSWYE) programme of SUREP with the theme “Engaging Communications for an Effective

CSWYE Service Delivery”, held at the new Keffi hotels, Nasarawa State, Papka said that the interest of government is to build the capacity of the Nigerian youth, who he said, are the pillars of today.

“Our youths of today are the pillars of this country, I don’t know of tomorrow, but they are the pillars of today, because whatever you make of the youth today is the reflection of our tomorrow.”

“So, it behoves on all of us to find ways and means to build the capacity of the youths in the sectors that would drive the economy” he said.

Also speaking, the DFID Communication’s Advisor on the project, Mrs. Mary Ikoku said that communication is critical to the success of the CSWYE under the SURE-P, and as such the State Information Officers

who are closer to the communities require proper and adequate training to enable them communicate effectively with the locals.

She expressed satisfaction at the degree of involvement of the participants, stressing that they were good ambassadors. Mrs. Ikoku further urged them to return with the zeal by putting into practice their workshop experiences.

The workshop focused on communication strategies, modern day challenges of the media and the effective reportage of the project activities. The forum provided opportunities of interactions and ideas sharing on how to ensure that the various programmes under the CSWYE project are successfully implemented and fully communicated to Nigerians.

Nigerian road users especially public officers in convoys, to most often than not violate road safety sign in the country; however attributed the root cause to what he described as “an internalized culture of intimidation the military bequeathed to the nation.”

“Because most accidents are a product of human factor, if there is a lot of awareness on road safety signs, it would help reduce road crashes in the country”, he stressed.

Another panelist, Dr. Kit Mitchell, of Chartered Institute of Highewyas and Transportation, RAC foundation, London, however emphasised on the need for governments at all levels to beyond constructing strong roads, to as well see to their maintenance irrespective of the cost, considering the health implications arising from hardships from bad roads on the populace.

Earlier in a remark, the FRSC Corps Marshal, Osita B. Chidoka, who explained that the event is organised to chart the way forward to ensuring that road safety is brought to the forefront, disclosed the commission has developed a strategic road map to make its plan actionable.

“Speed limit violation still remains a challenge to the as it is responsible for 35 % of roads crashes in Nigeria; but by 2020, the FRSC intends to reduce the current rate of five thousand accidents on our roads two hundred or even zero level”, he expressed.

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Benue Govt demolishes over 200 illegal structures From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

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ver 200 illegal structures were at the weekend demolished in Zaki-Biam by the Benue State Government as part of a renewed bid to restore the master plan of its major towns.

General Manager of Benue Sate Urban Development Board, BSUDB, Mr. Musa Ujor, who conducted the demolition exercise told newsmen that "the structures were developed without necessary approvals.

He intimated that the action is part of the renewed effort of the Board to rid most urban centres in the state of illegal structures and unauthorized land development.

Ujor vowed that the Board will continue to demolish all developments by local government councils and individuals in the 23 local government areas of Benue state which are erected without the prerequisite approvals of the Board.

"I can assure you that we will not spare anyone who, irrespective of his or her social status willingly flout the laws of the state as regards land development. Whoever violates the law would do so at his or her own peril because what we have done here today should serve

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Niger State budgets N55 billion to 25 local government areas From Iliya Garba, Minna

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wenty five local government areas of Niger state are to receive a whooping sum of N55 billion for the 2013 fiscal year.

This was contained in the budget approved by the state House of Assembly for the 25 local government councils which is made up of N38.2 billion for recurrent expenditure and 17.3 billion for capital expenditure.

Presenting the report on the floor of the house, the chairman,

Joint Committee on Local Government Affairs, Finance and Appropriation, Public Accounts and Ward Development Project, Hon. Jacob Gana stated that the committee carefully checked all the submission of the proposed budget submitted to the house by the entire councils on the state.

He said, the committee adopted standard ideas of budget scrutiny in order to enhance strict budget implementation towards rural development.

He said the committee also

studied the areas of revenue generation and expenditure of both capital and recurrent expenses as well as amended where differences in figures noticed.

Hon. Gana pointed out that the ministry for local government, chieftaincy affairs and community development provided a breakdown of the budget estimate, adding there is need for constant training for the directors of planning and budget officers with a view to enhancing productivity and service delivery.

The chairman said the budget preparation was guided by a resource projection to be financed through statutory allocation, 10 percent local government due from the state and two percent from local government areas.

Others are internally generated revenue (IGR) capital receipts and SURE-P. Meanwhile, the house unanimously adopted the report of the committee while the speaker Hon. Adamu Usman directed the clerk to prepare clean copies of the bill for the governor to assent.

Al-makura swears in new Chief Judge, receives Agyaragu Crisis report From Ali Abare Abubakar, Lafia

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overnor Umaru Tanko Al-makura of Nasarawa state has appealed to the people of the state to toe the path of brotherliness, love, peace and harmony for the socio-economic development and overall progress of the state.

Al-makura made the appeal yesterday at a function to swear-in the newly appointed Chief Judge of the state, Justice Suleiman Umaru Dikko, as well as receive the report of the high powered commission of inquiry constituted to investigate the Agyaragu crisis.

While urging the people of the state to remember that they had no other state to call their own except Nasarawa, calling on them to join hands with one another in love and togetherness, as according to him, "nothing less will justify our existence", the governor congratulated the new Chief Judge, stressing that as the head of the judicial arm of government, "you are the symbol of fairness, equity, justice and objectivity."

He assured the people that government will thoroughly study the report with a view to implementing it.

L-R: Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius, Niger State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Musa Ibeto, Chief Executive Officer Via Netherlands, Mr. Eric Donkers and Corps Marshal Federal Road Safety Commission, Mr. Osita Chidoka during International Conference to Mark the 25th Anniversary of Federal Road Safety Commission, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

Adamawa to fund secondary education with tax deductions from contracts

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damawa State House of Assembly has passed a law providing for the deduction of senior secondary school education development tax to be made from all contracts awarded by the State and Local Governments.

The law was passed at the plenary of the House shortly after the submission of a report on the bill by the chairman of the House

committee on Finance, Appropriation and Budget, Alhaji Usman Lamorde (PDP-Mubi South).

The law which was passed after some amendments provided for deduction of one per cent tax on all contracts awarded by the state and local governments for use in enhancing facilities in senior secondary schools in the state.

The Speaker of the house, Alhaji

Ahmadu Fintiri, has directed the House Clerk to prepare a clean copy of the bill for the Governor's assent.

Speaking to newsmen shortly after the passage of the bill, the sponsor, Alhaji Abubakar Jarengol (CPC-Mubi North) said the development would go a long way in tackling the problem of dilapidated structures in secondary schools in the state.

Tertiary institution unions threaten Indefinite strike in Plateau

By Musa Pam, Jos

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he Joint Unions of all tertiary institutions plateau state have threatened to embark on an indefinite strike action from Friday, February 22 if their unpaid salaries are not paid by the state government.

This was revealed in Jos yesterday by the chairman of the body in the state Comrade Victor Dawuring during a press conference at Jos campus of the plateau state polytechnic.

He said due to poor remuneration by the plateau state government, no fewer thn 150 of their members have

left the institutions for greener pastures.

The Union also said that the state government is silent on the 27 months arrears of salary owed it's members , saying that its a major cause discontent even when it has appealed severally to the state government to pay the money.

In his words, " we are worried that while we are trying to address pending issues between us and government , the state governor Jonah Jang went ahead to merge the college of Arts , the Science and Technology , Kurgwi with the Plateau state University Bokkos. " We view this move as a setback in

education because this institutions prepares students for university entry as well as award certificates to students ,and not an SSCE coaching center as the whole world is meant to believe , we doubt governments intention in the merger plan , we must make it clear here that the institution is a product of law and it should be allowed to subsist until such law is repealed or amended "We also view the merger as government's plans to reduce the work force of the institution and to lay off our members . We are appealing to government to have a second thought and respect the institution."

Jarengol observed that unlike primary schools, junior secondary schools and tertiary institutions who have ĂœBE and TETFUND assistance alongside state government in improving their facilities, senior secondary schools only depend on state government for its needs. " With this development we will have another source of fund to take care of our senior secondary schools structures, library and laboratories among others", Jarengol said.

He also explained that the usage of the tax to pay for students examinations such as NECO and WAEC was also captured in the bill. " I am happy over this bill which is just the beginning as I have other bills coming, among them is the bill for a law to give financial autonomy to General and Cottage hospitals in the state to utilize 70 per cent of their internally generated revenue to run the health institutions.

"The bill has passed first reading", said Jarengol.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

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ECOWAS appoints Nigerian Police Officer to lead African mission to Mali

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he ECOWAS Commission has appointed Mr Subair Kamar, a Deputy Police Commissioner, to take charge of the African-led International Assistance Mission to Mali (AFISMA).

This is contained in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja by CSP Frank Mba, the Deputy Force Public Relations Officer.

The statement said the appointment followed the recommendation of the InspectorGeneral of Police, and that until his appointment, Kamar was in the Department of Training at the Force Headquarters, Abuja.

It said that Kamar had served in various strategic positions in Nigeria and in the United Nations.

The statement said the Commissioner distinguished himself in the UN Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) in the Republic of Macedonia and the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC).

It said that Kamar would assume duty at the end of February.

In a related development, the Inspector-General of Police has authorised the deployment of seven Individual Police Officers (IPO) and One Formed Police Unit

(FPU) comprising of 140 personnel to Mali in support of the AFISMA operation.

The operation is aimed at restoring peace and security to the Sahelian country.

The statement said the FPU would be self-sustaining and selfsupportive and would be made up of highly trained and seasoned police personnel skilled in counterterrorism and crime detection techniques.

It said the unit would have its own trained engineers and medical support team.

“It is expected that the peacekeepers would support the

d r a u g h t , f o o d insecurity,malnutrtion, population, internally displaced persons and refugees needed to be enhanced with collaboration with other sister Agencies. The zonal coordinator lamented that, the multiple humanitarian challenges posed by these disasters could have far reaching impact on people’s lives. Alhaji Illellah said "In view of these challenges, the agency was given signals of a new commitment by the authorities to work with respective stakeholders to tackle the

country's humanitarian issues which the United Nation has been requested to provide support to address and assist in the elaboration of policy" According to him, "despite all effort being put in place to tackle disasters in a timely manner the multiplicity of crisis affecting the zone overstretces its capacity while critical challenges remain". NEMA, he said, faces several constraints having to take on responsibilities of other agencies in some critical disaster management who lack the capability to do so.

NEMA outlines strategies for disaster management

By Muhammad Adamu

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he National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA has mapped out strategies to improve on its framework to face continuous challenges of human and natural disasters in the country.

Coordinator of North -West NEMA, Alhaji Musa Illellah who stated this during an official visit to some disaster management agencies in the North West region said that management of disasters such as, ethno-religious crisis, political chaos, floods,

capacity development of the Malian law enforcement agencies. ``The deployment is in fulfilment of the pledge of the Federal Government to continue to work with relevant development partners at tackling terrorism both at national and international levels,’’ the

Sacked National Auditor of PDP seeks stay of order

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he sacked National Auditor of the PDP, Mr Bode Mustapha, on Monday urged an Abeokuta High Court to stop the party from removing him.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Mustapha, former Gov. Segun Oni of Ekiti and some party stalwarts were sacked on Friday by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.

The NWC cited some court judgments which nullified the emergence of Mustapha, Oni and some state executives, insisting that removing them was in the interest of the rule of law.

But Mustapha's counsel, Mr Gboyega Oyewole, prayed the court to stop the PDP from effecting his removal and replacement.

He argued that the office of the National Auditor General could only be filled through an election at a National Convention and not at the Zonal

L-R: Former Chairman, Emohua Local Government Area, Rivers State, Hon. Emeka Woke, Monster of State for. Education, Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. MacJohn Nwabiala, Acting Executive Secretary, Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Professor Charles Onocha and Special Assistant to the Minister on Media, Mr Simeon Nwakaudu, during the Minister's Inspection of. Special Girls Child. Schools Project, yesterday at Aluu, River State.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

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he Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said on Monday in Kaduna that said 17 of its electricity towers had been vandalised along Kaduna-Shiroro power line.

The TCN General Manager, Mr Mike Ezendenna, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna that the vandalism against power supply line might hamper effective power supply in Kaduna and its environs.

“We thought it was only some vegetation that were hampering effective power transmission to Kaduna but while inspecting TCN

17 electricity towers vandalised along Kaduna-Shiroro Power line –TCN installations, we saw that a total number of 17 electricity towers had been vandalized.”

He decried the frequent attacks on TCN staff and its installations, adding: “All these may hamper power generation in Kaduna State”.

Ezendenna urged traditional rulers to help to protect TCN equipment to increase its current generation level. (NAN)

Fashola inaugurates panel of inquiry on Jankara fire incident Lagos State Governor , Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN), on Monday inaugurated a threemember panel of inquiry to investigate the Dec. 26, 2012, fire incident in Jankara, Lagos Island.

The members of the inquiry are retired Justice Oladokun Ishola, Chairman, as well as Mr .

Okunola Wasiu and Mr Richard

statement said.

Nigeria Police currently have 800 international peace keepers in several countries.

They included Liberia, Haiti, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, East Timor, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo and Guinea Bissau. (NAN)

Ohuanuaruogo as members.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the fire incident, reportedly caused by explosives stored in a building, razed many other buildings and destroyed goods.

Fashola said that the panel would assist government to discover how explosives got into the building and to evolve steps that could be taken to forestall a reoccurrence.

Congress of the party.

“The National Auditor or any member of the National Working Committee can only be elected at the National Convention and not Zonal Congresses like these people are trying to insinuate.

“But now that they have purportedly removed our client, we are seeking redress in court,'' he said.

The presiding judge, Justice Abiodun Akinyemi, adjourned hearing on the application to Thursday.

Jonathan's transformation of the Nigeria's roads manifesting -- PDP

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he leadership of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has lauded President Goodluck Jonathan and the Minister of Works, Mr Mike Onolememen, for the rapid development of the nation's infrastructure, particularly roads.

This is contained in a statement signed by Mr Olisa Metuh, PDP National Publicity Secretary, and made available to newsmen on Monday in Abuja.

It said that the party was impressed by the feat.

The statement noted that projects executed by the present administration included dual carriage ways, and rehabilitation and maintenance of trunk "A' roads, adding that the second Niger bridge was underway It said that President Goodluck Jonathan was on the upswing in growing all sectors of the economy.

The statement said the volume of work done in the road sector had eased transportation and boosted economic activities across the country.

It said that the intervention prior to the last yuletide in fulfilling "the zero-pothole policy" was no less impressive.

The party lauded the repairs carried out on the third Mainland Bridge in Lagos in addition to the recent plan to convert the LokojaBenin-Auchi road into a dual carriage way.

Metuh said that Jonathan had demonstrated his administration's commitment to deliver on its promises to turn around the road sector in line with the transformation agenda.

He appealed to Nigerians to support the Jonathan administration as it was working to improve the quality of life of all.

(NAN)

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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY, 12, 2013

Tanker drivers threaten strike over unjust arrest of members

By Abdulwahab Isa

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buja metropolis and its environs may experience another fuel scarcity should the threat of strike by members of the Petroleum Tankers Drivers (PTD) materialise as planned.

The Union, in a statement released over the weekend by its National Chairman, Comrade Timothy Ogbu, decried the mishandling and maltreatment of its members by personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil

Defence Corps in Lokoja, the Kogi state capital.

It said seven of its trucks and thirteen of its members have been taken into the custody by officers of civil defence corps in Lokoja on trumped up charges .

"The trucks were impounded even after tendering their genuine weigh bill among other particulars to prove they loaded from Lagos. Members of the Civil Defence not only intercept, effected arrest of the tanker

drivers but also handcuffed them like common criminals, just because they refuse parting with their monies", said the statement.

The association also said that, the action of the Civil Defence

operatives has already triggered an effect that could lead to scarcity of fuel products in Abuja and its environs.

For instance, the union said, there had not been any loading since last week Wednesday at Suleja depot.

FUNAAB acquires capacity to administer e-Exams From Adesoji Oyinlola, Lagos

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he ongoing 2012/2013 First Semester Examination has added a positive twist as the Management had engaged the personnel of the University's Information and Communication Technology Resource Centre (ICTREC) in the application of Computer Based Test (CBT) for students.

The innovation is not only a vast improvement on the conduct of examinations in the University but better still, a drastic and radical departure from the past where the institution hired contractors to conduct the examination.

The Acting Head, ICTREC, Dr. Olutayo Ajayi revealed this in an exclusive chat with FUNAAB Bulletin.

He described the innovation as unique and a landmark achievement.

His words, "in the past five years, we have been using external company to conduct Computer Based Test and this has been causing us fortune. We have dropped that idea, the Professor Oyewole-led management is now engaging members of staff to conduct the examination.

L-R: Chief of Staff to the GOC, 1 Div., Brigadier-General Ohifeme Ejemai, President of the Examination panel, BrigadierGeneral Abdul Mustapha, and, Director of Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), Brigadier-General Ugwu Chima, during the 2013 Promotion Practical Examination for Army Lieutenants, Captains and Majors, yesterday in Kaduna.

Photo: NAN

Kaduna to beef up internal revenue From Nasiru Mu'azu Isa, Kaduna

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overnor Muhktar Ramalan of Kaduna State has expressed disatisfaction with the current level of the state's Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and will henceforth reinforce the revenue generating drive to optimally utilise its resources.

He expressed this disappointment while playing host to senior partners of C2G Consulting and SAP Africa led by

Minister describes killing of Woman as shameless, cowardly

By Maryam Garba Hassan

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inister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Zainab Maina has described the recent killings of female health workers on Kano as shameless, cowardly.

The women were said to be killed by unknown gunmen during a polio exercise.

Hajiya Zainab, in a statement issued yesterday in Abuja, added that the situation was unfortunate because women and children being the most vulnerable members of any society, are supposed to be protected.

"These dastardly terrorist killings are not only an attack on our collective responsibility to secure a healthy future for our children through elimination of the polio virus but also an attack on humanity.

"It is most disheartening that inspite of efforts by Government at all levels to come to the aid of its people, especially vulnerable groups, there still exist heartless and insensitive individuals and groups who are bent on unleashing mayhem and pain especially on those dedicated to the protection of lives and property as well as well-meaning Nigerians who innocently go about their businesses", the statement said.

Onyekachi Uzukane who were in Government House, Kaduna to pay him a visit.

In a statement made available to newsmen in Kaduna

by Ahmed Maiyaki, Director General, Media and Publicity, Yero said the State Government would partner with all stakeholders to improve on the IGR. He stressed that instead of the state IGR improving annually, it is on the decline while the state has all the potential to raise the IGR. Yero said he would like to

know what are the causes and challenges.

He asserted that the government is going to fully concentrate on revenue generation through prompt and regular payment of tax as well as other revenues due to the state.

He urged the public to cooperate with the government as the IGR would be used to provide basic social amenities to better their lives.

Earlier, Mr Onyekachi Uzukane has expressed the resolve of their firm to partner

the state government through sustained working relationship to ensure all necessary avenue of revenue generation in the state are utilised in the interest of the majority.

In a separate development, Governor Mukhtar Yero has challenged Development Area Administrators on improving the lives of the people at the grass root. He told them while on a courtesy visit to Sir Kashim Ibrahim House to embark on minor but life improving projects at their levels.

Soldiers not desperate to leave Borno- JTF From Mustapha Isah Kwaru, Maiduguri

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he Joint Military Task Force, (JTF), said Sunday that soldiers deployed to the troubled city of Maiduguri, the Borno state capital to quell the Boko Haram insurgency, are not desperate to leave.

The JTF was reacting to a report by section of the media (excluding Peoples Daily), alleging that some soldiers deployed to the state from others parts of the country for peace mission are complaining of 'over stay' saying the three-month mandatory duration has elapsed, without

being rotated.

However, in a swift reaction, spokesman for the task force, LtCol. Sagir Musa, in a statement issued to newsmen Sunday night, described the report as misleading. " Rotation of troops on operation is a normal military practice, not a rigid exercise, but a situational and circumstantial. Exigency of duty, challenges on the ground can warrant appropriate superior authority to delay or extend rotation schedule without any ifs or buts", the statement said.

"We don't have Civil Society Group(s) and there is no Fundamental Human Rights in

the profession of arms - these are tendentious if the JTF/military must be effective in performing its constitutional responsibility of defending the nation from external and internal enemies.

"Here in JTF, rotation is continuous and is currently ongoing. Remember, troops are been moved to Mali, Sudan and Liberia. All the troops cannot concurrently be rotated", it further added.

The task force, also urged journalists to avoid nosing into strategic, tactical and operational matters as well as military justice system.

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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY, 19, 2013

Is it time to refinance your mortgage?

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rate for the first three to seven years, and then have a variable rate after that. As long as you pay down your loan principal, you should be able to refinance to a fixed rate before rates rise too much.

However, if you know that you might not be able to handle a higher interest rate later, or if you are concerned about an adjustable rate affecting your finances, a fixed rate mortgage with a known amortization schedule that lets you know exactly how much you will have to pay each month might be preferable.

Mortgage term Before you refinance, you will also need to decide on a mortgage term. While you can lower your monthly payment by refinancing to a longer term (for example, refinancing a loan with 18 years left for 30 years), you could end up paying more in the long run, and you will be in debt for longer.

With mortgage rates as low as they are right now, it is quite possible that you could refinance

ow might be just the right time to refinance your mortgage. Even if you already have a low interest rate mortgage, you could still benefit, thanks to the record-low rates that are present right now. Indeed, even someone with a 5 percent interest rate on a mortgage could save money, since rates on 30year fixed mortgages are even lower.

Consider an adjustable rate mortgage, and you could end up with an even lower interest rate.

With financial policymakers still trying to keep interest rates and treasury yields low, there is a good chance that you will be able to take advantage of low rates for some time. However, since no one truly knows what's coming, it helps to consider your options now.

Just remember: If you have costs associated with closing your refinance, you want to make sure that you will be in the home long enough for your interest savings to matter.

Fixed rate mortgage

When refinancing your mortgage, you will have to decide whether you want a fixed rate mortgage, or whether you want an ARM. Some might argue that an ARM is always a bad idea, but this is not so. In some cases,

I

Now is time to review your finances‌

t's that time of year again, already time to make your New Year's resolutions believe it or not!

This time of year is a time for reflecting on the previous year, so that you can look ahead to a new and better year, with everything from your diet to finances.

Starting out the year with the best of intentions gives an air of excitement and hope that makes it easy to turn the old calendar to the new with a buoyant spirit. Yet, for most people, that hope fades around March. By starting now, you can have your new goals set firmly in place so that when January rolls around, you're already well ahead of all your friends who are only starting to record their goals, rather than marching toward them a day at a time.

Why do we need resolutions?

The year has been crazy.

You've let your financial statements get out of control, and you don't know where you're spending your dollars. You can't make the mistakes from last year, spending more than you have as you head into the holidays.

This year you can take it a step at the time, getting everything sorted and in order so that when the end of the year finally arrives, you've improved your money habits and made it through the hardest part of the spending year, establishing a control that will give you the confidence to know you've got the coming year covered.

Spend the month tracking your spending.

Use Mint.com, a spread sheet of your own, or the software of your choice to track everything you spend during the month. At

refinancing to an ARM can be smart and save you money. If you can afford to pay a little more if interest rates rise, an ARM can give you big savings right now. It is also possible to apply for a hybrid ARM. You will have a low fixed

the end of the month, take a look at where you've needlessly spent and make it a point to find another solution immediately.

Make sure to analyse your spending habits at the end of each month, so you can tweak and conquer the next.

Bonus assignment this month - Use one of the popular calculators online to help you calculate your retirement's financial needs so you can start saving for them immediately.

Meet those needs each pay period, starting now.

Organise your files too.

You will need a couple of tools for this, starting with a shredder and a couple of three ring binders with folders or page protectors. Sort through your money paperwork, and move as much as you can online. For those things that can't be moved,

Are you just on a recession diet?

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f you are a chronic dieter, you know that long term, diets don't work. You do really well for a while, pushing to lose the weight, but once you reach your goal, you gleefully go back to the habits that got you in trouble in the first place.

I know. I've been there. In order for a diet to work, it has to be more than a, well, diet. It has to be a healthy lifestyle change.

And that sometimes means that you make more gradual changes that you can live with, developing long term habits that stick with you long after you have reached your goals.

Quote

The only honest measure of your success is what you are doing compared to your true potential.

Paul Meyer

The recent recession has prompted many to save more and spend less. However, the worry is that this is more of a "recession diet", rather than a long term lifestyle change.

Which means that as the economy comes back online, people will slip back into their old ways? If you don't want this to be you, the key is to look at things you have been doing to create a better financial foundation during this recession and hold on to them. Here are two of the major concerns associated with the end to a recession diet, and how you can combat them: " Spending more As signs of economic recovery emerge, it is likely that you will feel more confident. This means that you could start feeling more comfortable with spending more money again. The fact that

this is the holiday season only reinforces the idea of opening one's wallet a little wider. It doesn't mean that you can't do a little extra spending on occasion, but you do need to keep the impulse under control.

Below are some suggestions for keeping your spending under control as the economy improves: Set aside "splurge" money: Once that money is gone for the month, it's gone.

Avoid places that are more tempting to you. Once your splurge money is gone, stay away from temptation and focus on Think of what you could do with the money instead.

Consider how you could grow the money for retirement; help your child pay for college or going on a nice trip in six months. Set goals so that the "extra" money you feel

to a shorter term and pay only a little more each month. It's a way that can help you save thousands in interest, and be done with your mortgage that much sooner.

Qualifying for a refinance While lending standards have eased somewhat in the last couple of years, they still aren't as loose as the standards seen prior to the 2008 financial crisis. Indeed, you will need good credit and sufficient equity in your home to qualify for a refinance. Some homeowners can get help from government programs like HARP, but many need to bring up their credit scores and reduce their mortgage debt before gaining approval.

If you want to refinance, it's best to consider your options and plan ahead. It's especially important to make sure your finances are in order, and your credit score is sufficient to allow you access to the best interest rates.

Now might be the time to refinance. You can't earn a high yield on your cash, but you can

create a three ring binder (this might include retirement fund statements, insurance, stock paperwork etc.)

Shred everything else.

If you're really serious, invest in a Neat Digital Filing system so you can scan and file your paperwork once finished.

Make it a point to handle the paperwork as it arrives, rather than letting them lie around and consume space you don't have. **Note: You will want to continue the month's habit of recording your expenses while getting into the habit of sorting paperwork as it arrives in the mail. Make sure you're filing it in its proper place immediately to prevent the molehill from turning into a mountain. Don't forget to set aside your necessary savings that you calculated with the online retirement

calculator.

The end of the year is gift time!

But, you have a plan. You want your finances to be in the best possible shape for the coming year, which means being smart through the biggest spending month of the year. Give the gift of you. When you offer your time, you're giving a special gift that can't be bought in a store. This eases the burden on your wallet while strengthening the quality of your relationships.

Prepare attractive cards and trinkets at home, and then attach a simple note that sends the message: "I'm thinking of you today, but I want to spend time with you tomorrow." Recipients will love the simple gesture more than the scarf that you thought of getting them.

comfortable spending has a purpose.

"Saving less With high unemployment, less hours and open enrolment for health insurance reminding you that things are a bit tight, it's easier to remember to save.

But as the economy improves and you feel more financially secure, you might be tempted to put a little less away. In order to avoid this, consider making your savings automatic. Have a portion of your pay check automatically deposited into a savings and/or retirement account. That way, the money is not even considered as part of your discretionary funds.

Realize that economic cycles are natural. Every time there is a boom, it is followed by a bust.

Things can't go on growing forever. Remind yourself of this recession, and prepare for the next. You don't have to stop enjoying yourself, but you shouldn't abandon the good habits you have started

developing. Make the shift to a lifestyle of good financial choices, and you will find that when the next recession hits, you won't be as susceptible to the money problems that come with it. ( S o u r c e : www.moneyning.com)

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

PAGE 12

EDIT ORIAL EDITORIAL

Once again, Jonathan foot-drags on corruption

L

ast week, the Senate let President Goodluck Jonathan know that he could not continue to ignore its resolutions calling for action against errant officials of his government. Last year, he got away lightly with ignoring the upper chamber's call that Ms Arunma Oteh, the DG of the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission that supervises the nation's capital market, should be dismissed from office.

She practically ran the market aground, resulting in an unprecedented capital flight from the country. The senators were angered by her allegation that some of them asked for a bribe but she refused. The governing council of the commission subsequently indicted her for financial recklessness and suspended her from office. But a month later she was back at her desk with full presidential pardon. The reaction of the Senate was to refuse to appropriate funds for the commission in this year's federal budget. In doing so, the senators undoubtedly took the battle against Oteh too far. They went over the edge, as it were.

The Senate and the Presidency were to clash again as we entered the New Year, this time over the disappearance of over N460 billion from the federal pension fund. A presidential task force was set up in 2010 to recover that money and tidy up the management of the fund, with Alhaji Abdulrasheed Maina, an Assistant Director, at the head.

Specifically, The Presidential Pension Reform Task Team was to “restructure and cleanse the system through biometrics capturing, processing of payments of genuine pensioners and blocking loopholes that are prone to corrupt practice.” As it turned out, rather than “block loopholes”, the task

team let N195 billion slip though its hands.

Fingers pointed at the head of the team, Maina. The Senate "invited" him several times to clear his name but he didn't. A warrant was issued for his arrest and the IG asked to execute it. That did not happen; instead the police said the man had gone into hiding and declared him wanted.

The senators immediately smelt a rotten dead rat and last week, Senate

“

We are not surprised by the Jonathan government's mishandling of the Maina corruption saga, given its known weakness in the fight against corruption in political high places.

President David Mark declared, during plenary, ‘war’ on the Presidency. He said Jonathan must choose between keeping Maina as head of the task team and working with them. The presidency thought it could sit out the gathering storm over Maina, just as it did in the case of Oteh. It was wrong. First, it said it was not shielding Maina, but it would not order his sack either. Realizing that its tactic didn't wash with the senators, the Jonathan administration asked the Head of Service of the Federation to "punish" Maina for

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"absconding from office" under the civil service rules. "Maina is a civil servant. If he has done anything wrong that amounts to a breach of civil service rules, the appropriate office to do the right thing and ensure that due process is followed is the office of the Head of Service of the Federation...It is not an issue for the President," said Presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati.

We believe this excuse of the Presidency for not sacking Maina, not only as the head of the Pension Reform Task Team but from the civil service completely, to be lame. The issue is not that he has breached any service rules but that he had helped himself to money that isn't his and he must be penalized.

Besides, the government found it convenient to ignore the same rules that emphasize seniority in appointing people to sensitive positions and picked an assistant director over the heads of his superiors to head the task team. Why now can't it ignore the rules and fire him for having been found wanting? The demand of the Senate is simple: remove the man because he has been compromised and then prosecute him. Why the foot dragging now if the purpose is not to let the man get away - which he has done, anyway? He was due to appear in court yesterday but failed, and the unofficial report we have received is that Maina is in Dubai, the rendezvous of Nigerian fugitives.

We are not surprised by the Jonathan government's mishandling of the Maina corruption saga, given its known weakness in the fight against corruption in political high places. But for how much longer does it think the country's poor majority will stomach the looting of the common till by government-backed rogues?

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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

PAGE 13

How Odemwingie won AFCON title for Nigeria

By Dele Akinola

A

f t e r Nigeria's Super Eagles' first match against Argentina in the on-going football World Cup (SA 2010), some writers and analysts were quick to impress it on enthusiasts that they saw significant impact of coaching on our boys. Personally, I saw much less of that. What I saw was much more the impact of some marginal shift in attitude.

Imagine a Super Eagles team playing with the same zeal, commitment, uncompromising attitude and dogged spirit as our politicians and rulers deploy in election rigging and treasury looting!

That was the opening paragraph in my piece "Super Eagles and spirit of a failed state" of June, 2010 which trailed the eventual (ignominous?) elimination of the national team from that year's World Cup competition in Mandelaland. I had submitted that the Super Eagles' acclaimed above average performance in the opening match against the world giants was not because of the presence, on the bench, of any "world-class foreign coach," or any such theory being propounded at the time. It simply had to do with the temporary resurgence of the right attitude in the circumstance.

Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, the momentum could not be sustained. The required spirit again took a routine flight!

When the current Super Eagles technical regime took over, it was the usual familiar song. Then it became Vision 2014 World Cup.

By Tunji Ariyomo

T

he Yoruba, like other typical African tribes, love to preserve wisdom in beautifully woven words. A case in point is the recent judgment on January 29 of a Federal High Court, Abuja, presided over by Justice Abubakar Talba, in the corruption case filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against John Yakubu Yusuf, a former assistant director at the Police Pension Office, who connived with others to steal N27.2 billion police pension funds.

As we like to do in science, my first reaction was to get all the facts (at least those ones in the public domain) so as to be well informed and in order not to follow the multitude to commit the folly of misinformation. According to various reports, the amount the EFCC traced to Yusuf and for which he pleaded guilty was N3.3billion described "as his share of the loot".

His fellow travellers are being tried for their various shares of the N27.2bn loot. In the judgement, Justice Talba ordered the forfeiture of all choice properties, 32 houses in all, traced to Yusuf in Abuja which were considered the proceeds of his crime as well as a sum of N325million traced to bank accounts owned by him. The judge then pronounced him guilty (Yusuf so pleaded anyway) and sentenced him to 2 years concurrent prison terms for the three offenses with an option of a fine of N750, 000.

The reactions that followed were predictable. The judge has been blamed for the judgment and

Just before the commencement of the just concluded AFCON 2013 which the Super Eagles, against all expectations, won, it metamorphosed into Vision 2018 World Cup because, according to Coach Stephen Keshi, he would need five years to get to the promise land. Now if by Keshi's theorem, it takes five years to build a championship-winning side, how then was he able to achieve the feat with a team he himself described as "just five-week-old"? Magic?

It could be! But the magic wand lies in what I described as the 'Osaze spirit' in my tribute titled "Osaze Peter Odemwingie!" of January, 2010. I had submitted inter alia: "Osaze has demonstrated, beyond question, that he is an epitome of the dream spirit, the spirit of give and give, the spirit long departed from the polity of the Nigerian nation‌ Osaze has demonstrated, in his own little way, that even within the decadent system, the spirit of asking not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country could still be nurtured to thrive".

The proof! According to Russian football chief, Alexie Sorokin, Locomotiv Moscow FC supporters' problem with Odemwingie, had nothing to do with racism but that they had often accused him of playing better for his country than their team. Rashidi Yekini of blessed memory never played for any giant club in Europe. But Nigerian strikers who plied their trade in "big" clubs were no match for him in the green and white colours because he was a national team player. These rare attributes the "gangling" former African

Player of the Year shared with ever-recurring decimal Garba Lawal, bulky but astonishingly swift Danny Shittu (unarguably Nigeria's best defender at AFCON 2010) and Odemwingie who were and are always at their best playing for their national team.

Coach Keshi won AFCON 2013 because he had bestowed on him the grace of an unusual collection of boys possessed (temporarily?) of this Osaze spirit. Perhaps for the first time, John Obi Mikel played for his national team with greater commitment than he does for his foreign club.

At any point in time, Germany will present a machine-efficient soccer squad because they are never "rebuilding" a structure that never collapsed but only maintaining. For any occasion it is required, the US will present a formidable basketball team because they are never "building a new team." That is working philosophy. That was the philosophy of Shaibu Amodu whose major undoing was dearth of players with sustained right

attitude. This is why he took over from the wobbling Bonfrere Jo in 2001 and dramatically qualified Nigeria for the 2002 AFCON and World Cup, He came again in 2008 and qualified the country for the 2010 AFCON and World Cup, winning his first seven matches (home and away) scoring twelve goals and conceding none! That was the world of the one whose two World Cup postings in only as many attempts with two AFCON bronze medals as fringe benefits, was described by French legend, Alain Giresse, as "massive feat."

Another World Cup qualification series and FIFA Confederation Cup are around the corner and Keshi is in trouble!

Amodu's soldiers were 'big boys' who rose through the ranks en-route to becoming big boys. Keshi's soldiers are overnight big boys. (There will always be big boys, you know?)

Take a peep into the Nigerian culture and assess the difference in the attitude of Nigerian millionaires and that of emergency-cumovernight millionaires. No wonder Amodu opined that dealing with

“

Coach Keshi won AFCON 2013 because he had bestowed on him the grace of an unusual collection of boys possessed (temporarily?) of this Osaze spirit. Perhaps for the first time, John Obi Mikel played for his national team with greater commitment than he does for his foreign club

super-star footballers on national assignments for a nation no one is enthusiastically willing to blow himself up for requires tact and spirit of accommodation and not na-me-be-oga showmanship, he was accused of taking bribes from the players.

But how long will the Osaze spirit in the Super Eagles last?

What happens when the Omeruos, the Oboabonas, the Emenikes and the Onazis suddenly remember their uncles who slumped and died while waiting endlessly for their well-deserved pension that had been captured and swallowed by "patriotic Nigerians" now expecting their own share of the notorious cake national honours? Thank God for the Osaze spirit in Victor Moses who magnanimously agreed to serve, with his heart, a nation whose hands are soiled in the callous murder of his precious parents, even as a little boy!

Thank God for the spirit of a rebel, an enfant terrible, who, even as a 'big boy', would still be genuinely bitter at being stopped from serving his nation. He almost single-handedly qualified the country for the 2010 World Cup. At the finals, he was made a spectator! Which genuine patriot would not be cross in the circumstance? He might be going through some terrifying psychological trauma on account of such unfortunate events leading to his current infection by the deadly disease of Twitter-ranttiasis, but to him goes the credit of the new-found spirit. May he savour quick deliverance.

Dele Akinola is CEO, Clips Communication, Nigeria.

Is Justice Talba a bad guy? has been called names. A protest was quickly put together by Hon. Dino Melaye to compel the Chief Justice of the Federation to intervene and ensure 'the injustice was corrected' while one report by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) was even titled "How Judge Tricked EFCC To Free $203 Million Pension Fund Thief", effectively casting the judge as the mastermind. The facts however violently disagree with the position of these individuals and groups. It is even credible to surmise that the story is deliberately being told this way, taking advantage of the predictable mood of the people, in order to hide the real culprits.

Unfortunately for judges, nobody tells their stories - especially in a judicial system that we all know is hardly independent or designed for justice.

Section 309 of the Nigerian Penal Code under which the EFCC elected to try Yusuf states: "Whoever commits criminal misappropriation shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with a fine or with both."

Having been charged under the Penal Code, the EFCC comfortably tied the hands of Justice Talba. The judge could have even decided to sentence the felon to 3 days in prison if he so desired or give him the full two years or an option of a fine. It is thus elementary that the judgment was legitimate i.e., it is

not a miscarriage of justice within the meaning, letters and intent of the laws of Nigeria. Whether our laws should be like this or not is, however, a different issue entirely. That the judge ordered a confiscation of all choice properties traceable to Yusuf, 32 houses in all, indicates that he already retrieved for the pensioners the portion of their money stolen by the convict.

Curious Nigerians can only continue to speculate as to why the EFCC decided to prosecute the accused person under the Penal Code as against the EFCC Act. In a country of 'nothing goes for nothing' such speculations and conjectures would be appropriate and sensible.

Having claimed that it had smoking gun evidence against the culprit, it is commonsensical to expect that the EFCC would bring its full weight upon the culprit. It cannot claim it opted for the Penal Code because it was saving money for the federation since the agency is not known to return unspent money to the purse of the Federal Government.

Also, the EFCC cannot claim that the judge breeched a prior plea bargain deal because the current rule on plea bargain requires the authority of the Attorney General of the Federation which has been reported to be absent in this instance. So, the EFCC, for reasons best known to it, hobnobbed with the felon, set up a deal and approached the Judge on its own

freewill with the plea to amend its charges. The ICIR report confirms this when it says "Our source disclosed that when the two parties (EFCC and Yusuf) reached an agreement on the details of the deal, they approached Justice Talba."

Judges are humans. If the prosecuting agency is begging a judge that it wanted less penalties not more than two years or an option of a fine (this is the correct and non-emotional interpretation of the EFCC action when it chose to try the accused under the penal code), then the worst the judge could do was to order a seizure of all that Yusuf made from the money stolen from pensioners, if only to secure justice for those pensioners.

Perhaps if other previous convicts who took refuge under the 'arranged in the dead of the night plea-bargain deals' were made to forfeit all they acquired as Justice Talba ordered in this case, they would not have mansions in South Africa where they could continue to host top government functionaries.

The law is often said to be an ass. It is, however, my opinion that the real ass is the entire Nigerian justice system. By the justice system, I mean the judiciary, the executive's role in making of rules and the legislature's duty of lawmaking - and not just the judiciary. The judiciary is a reflection of what the Executive and Legislative arms of

government have made of it. Ours is a judicial system that is only suitable for the Stone Age. The laws the judges are expected to work with are laden with so many contradictions that a judge is forced to rely on his wit most of the time.

In saner climes, the laws are designed in such a way that the rules are applicable across the board equitably.

It is because the Nigerian justice system is such an ass that an agency like the EFCC can decide on its whim to try culprits as it deems fit using double standard based upon the ability of each suspect to negotiate a deal. What happens to accused persons that do not have the right connection or ability to negotiate? By tacitly begging the judge to tone down justice against the culprit when it sought a trial under the penal code which only empowered the judge to convict the culprit for a few days (if he so desired) or fine him, the EFCC set the judge up from the beginning - creating a ceiling or limit of justice for the Nigerian people.

Attempts by the EFCC to distance itself after the judgment were mere well calculated high wire PR stunts targeted at deceiving the people and casting the judge as the villain in a script where the EFCC is unquestionably the bad guy.

Tunji is Ariyomo can be reached on oariyomo@ndi.org

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

PAGE 14

Pitfalls and opportunities for the new party

By Michael Oluwagbemi

O

pposition unity has been the common graveyard of Nigerian politics. In 1963/ 4, Nigerians watched helplessly as the NCNC/Awo-AG united opposition - UPGA got trounced across board as their seeming lack of cohesion gave way to the NPC/ NNDP governing alliance. The tales of that failed opposition was many years later echoed as a last minute coalition between Awo's UPN and Zik's NPP crumbled as NPP was offered dregs of ministerial appointments, and NPN rode gallantly to two election victories no matter how corrupted. The fourth republic also had it shares of presidential alliances and failed mergers; in fact it is so common, that the public was not holding their lungs when the current dalliances started.

The obvious benefit of an alliance is evident for all to see, but the pitfalls are equally lurking.

First the urge by the definition to describe its existence strategically along the lines of the traditional divide of conservative versus progressive ideologies. Truth is Nigerian politicians are not ripe for this ideological description. As such I will not hide my disdain for a perpetual attempt by the empty brained elites of Nigeria to describe the current metamorphosis as such.

How for example can an opposition die-hard religious views from CPC and ANPP (the party that birthed Sharia) claim to be progressive? How can a party for law and order, and public-private projects of Fashola's ACN (remember Lekki concession) claim to be liberal when the thrust of its economic policy is industry in private hands? Honestly, perhaps an establishment (now

By Adeolu Ademoyo

T

he Christian Lent season is often a time of complete spiritual retreat to be reunited spiritually with our creator. With a deep sense of humility before God and a realization of our mortality, Lent is a period of deep, intense, internal and interiorized spiritual surrender to God in order to be in union with Him and know Him more. A period of prayer and spiritual giving, the Lent period is also a private and public space for us to live, know, and feel the unjust and immoral class division among us. Thus in going without food for forty days and forty nights we put ourselves in the position of the poor and needy and we know in practice what it is to be in NEED because for forty days and forty nights HE, Jesus fasted and HE knew what it means to be without food. And in fasting we are gently enjoined not to look gloomy for it is a private and interiorized spiritual act done because of who our God is. Given the diversity of the Christian paths, Lent is often observed differently. But the history dates back in centuries and sometimes needs to be re-told. Hence, this week I request for the indulgence of our readers to allow me present the history of Lent as told by a historian of church history.

We will surely be back with our regular conversations for we are devoted always to the ethical and moral path. Please kindly allow me to present:

that allows PDP) versus Nigerians to reform ideology have a say as to best describes who its the ideological candidates will divide in our Peoples Daily welcomes your letters, opinion articles, text be, ensuring winners-takemessages and ‘pictures of yesteryears.’ All written legitimacy all political contributions should be concise.

Word limits: Letters 150 before going to arena of the words, Articles - 750 words. Please include your name and the polls. A series day. of energetic a valid location. Letters to the Editor should be addressed If the debates among ideological to: its senatorial, descriptions governorship were signs of The Editor, and presidential trouble to come, Peoples Daily, 1st Floor Peace Plaza, candidates the latest across the land 35 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja. reports of will also engage infighting Email: opinion@peoplesdaily-online.com the political publ between the SMS: 07037756364 and ensure its constituent candidates are parties and the jostle for prime positions which murderers they currently call battle ready when the D-day is here. Asiwaju Tinubu was an may soon ensue may be the home.

Achilles knees of the arrangement.

Secondly, in order to flourish observant of the Democratic Given the extreme egoistical APC, must insist that its Convention, I'm certain such nature of the average Nigerian membership be grassroots based conventions can be delivered in politicians, only a revamped and and automatic for current Nigeria as well ensuring that the transparent party admission and members of the constituent parties PDP's old school convention candidate/officer selection process while expanding rapidly to represents its image of old and past, can save the new All Progress accommodate new entrants to the as Nigeria welcomes a new party Congress arrangement from political space. Prominent citizens with a new image. Optics is certain death. and professionals currently on the everything in politics!

Aside from Optics, there is great First, the idea that the party political sideline must be will and should admit any PDP encouraged to join and stand as need for hard hitting political member seeking to cross carpet is bulwark against the corruptive advertisement and publicity insane and will indicate the first influence of PDP. Also, the selection campaign against the ruling major mistake of the alliance. PDP of officers of the party must be party. If NBC will not approve and non- tough political Ads for TV, the web members including Governors transparent seeking membership will destroy discriminatory against any of the and YouTube can be utilized the party's brand, ensure the constituent parties. The era of outside the boundaries of their public lose quick faith and the same "godfatherism" has to be bided good- realm to hit PDP hard and politician will soon run right back bye, but the integrity of political blackberry network can be used to after fulfilling their goals of flag bearers must be subject to veto distribute these clips locally. APC destroying a potent opposition. decision of an elders committee to must deliver an interesting Nigeria's contemporary history is vet contestants before they face-off candidate, and stand out in order filled with the Atiku's of PDP that in primaries. This will ensure to win. It cannot try to out-PDP the run out and no sooner run back balance between quality and PDP itself. The PDP will have enough rogues to run with, hit when their larger ambitions are inclusion.

Furthermore, the new party them hard! not fulfilled. APC is better off setting Last but not the least, the a high bar for official membership, must undertake a total rethink of campaign and manifesto writing process that has including banning all PDP past- political officials or members within two electioneering strategy. It can begun better is substantive and years of exiting the den of pursue an open primary strategy direct in its recommendations to

WRITE TO US

Christian Lent season, history and our moral conscience The origins of Lent and Ash Wednesday

By Joseph F. Kelly When Catholics begin their observation of Lent on Ash Wednesday [Feb.13], they will be continuing a tradition that goes back to the earliest days of the church. Jesus' immediate disciples celebrated only one day, the Lord's Day (Sunday), which they observed weekly in honor of Jesus' resurrection. But by the early second century, as the church had spread throughout much of the Roman world and had grown immensely in size, the bishops decided that they should set aside one Sunday for a special remembrance of Christ's resurrection. This, of course, is the feast we call Easter, a word derived from "eostre", an Old English word for "spring". The bishops soon realized that the Gospel Passion narratives did not provide enough information to determine the exact date of Christ's crucifixion and therefore of the resurrection, so they worked out a liturgical formula for its celebration, which is why the date of Easter can occur during a period of several weeks. This new feast caught on quickly and that caused the bishops to consider something else. The Old Testament recounts how the ancient Jews would fast on several occasions, for

example, to make themselves worthy for the Day of Atonement.

The bishops thought it would be beneficial for Christians to do likewise. Initially the fast lasted for only three days, the triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. By the third century it had extended to what we now call Holy Week. But in 325, when the bishops of the Roman world met at the first ecumenical council at Nicaea, they recommended a fast of 40 days.

Why? The decrees of the council do not say, but there are several possible explanations. Scripture tells us of three 40-day fasts, one by Moses, one by prophet Elijah and, most importantly, one by Jesus in the desert during his retreat before commencing his public ministry.

All these fasts has importance, nut Jesus' had a special one because his occurred after his baptism in the Jordan River by John the Baptist.

Keeping the link by revising the process, by the third century bishops were requiring a 40-day preparatory fast for candidates for Christian baptism. This practice probably influenced the Episcopal decision at Nicaea. Another possibility might have been the practices of the monastic communities. The Christian monastic movement began in late third-century Egypt, and it caught

on quickly as hundreds and then thousands of believers joined desert communities.

These monks observed a40-day fast before Easter. Whatever reason or reasons moved the bishops, the 40-day fast became universally observed by believers. We know this period as Lent, but, like Easter, this is not a word from early Christianity.

"Lent" comes from the Old English word "lencten", a word for "spring".

This is a sensible name not only because Lent occurs mostly in the spring but also because Christ's resurrection coincided with warmth and brightness and new life.

So, now the church had a 40day fast? Not exactly. The bishops believed that all Christians should fast for forty days before Easter, but was it reasonable to ask people to go for so long with so little food? Such a demand could deprive farmers and herders of the strength to work the land and care for flocks. There also was the issue of health: Some people might find it strenuous to fast for so long. Combining prudence with pastoral care, the bishops decided to keep 40 days while modifying the fast to allow people to eat food on certain days of the week.

The Western, Latin-speaking churches suspended the fast on Sundays - as is still done in Roman Catholicism today. The Eastern,

get a resounding acceptance by Nigerians. The era of big sounding promises are over. The new party can adapt one or more radical reform program including: A constitutional amendment that will allow the current constitution to be replaced wholly after a summit to rethink Nigeria's structure as is (If CPC's Buhari agrees the 36 states are unworkable, I think this is a really easy one). A constitutional amendment to remove immunity for executive immediately and retroactively Commitments to Public Service Reforms, to reduce pay of political appointees, limit the size of cabinet and hangers-on and specify the bureaucratic structure and size. A battle ready plan to fight corruption proactively with stings and investigation A commitment to tax reforms, ensuring no oil/gas revenue is used to pay salaries A commitment to infrastructure development utilizing funds from oil, gas and mining An immediate commitment to allow State Police, and reform the Nigeria Police (get rid of those barracks & ugly uniforms, insist on university graduates only, and split the enforcement and investigative arms) If the opposition has ears, let them hear. They should not attempt to solve all problems, but the most fundamental ones; their focus should be on implementing enduring change in the polity not applying Band-Aid. They must project confidence and eliminate brand dilution to match the PDP in the field. Only when they do these, will the electorate take their bid seriously and perhaps the dark clouds that current hang above our nation begin to shift. God Bless Nigeria.

Michael Oluwagbemi is on www.facebook.com/ oluwagbemi Greek-speaking churches suspended the fast on Saturdays and Sundays. But this approach made it impossible to have 40 days of fasting in a 40-day period, so bishops lengthened the tenure of Lent to include those days when the fast was suspended, thus preserving 40 days of fasting. The Eastern bishops chose a preparatory period of seven weeks, excluding Saturdays and Sundays. The Western bishops, led by popes, chose a period of six weeks, excluding Sundays.

But even this step did not settle matters completely. Because Jesus rose on a Sunday, the bishops inaugurated the period with the Sunday exactly six weeks before Easter Sunday, that is, what we now call the first Sunday in Lent.

But six weeks of six days of fasting led to only 36 days of fasting. To be sure, that is not a small amount, but it loses it loses the symbolism of the 40-day fast of Jesus. By the seventh century, several Western churches, including Rome, restored the 40-day symbolism by adding 4 extra days of fasting before the initial Sunday. This meant that the fasting, that is, Lent, started on a Wednesday.

Scholars cannot be sure when marking believers' forehead with ashes as a sign of penitence started, but it began no later than the 10th century. Soon this day became known as Ash Wednesday, which now commences the Lenten season.

Kelly the author of this unabridged essay is a professor of church history at Jesuit-run Carroll University in Cleveland, OH, USA.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

To win, you take what you have, where are, and get the most out of it.

You milk it for all it’s worth. You do a common thing uncommonly well.

And, all the time, you keep remembering that winners look for ways to win while losers look for excuses for losing — Martin Luther King

H

ow are the mighty fallen!

Only but yesterday Arsenal football club of England bestrode the scene like a giant. One of the giants of English, nay European, football. Aside from their might on the football field, the Gunners’ playing style is a beauty to behold. They were, in many ways, like Barcelona. Fleetfooted, inventive, and stylish. So much so that even those who, like me, are not Arsenal fans, woild cast admiring glances at them.

How are the mighty fallen!

From the Olympian height they occupied until barely eight or nine years ago, Arsenal have become a shadow of themselves. Like a flower fading away after its season of bloom, the Gunners have degenerated to “gonners”. From a giant that sparkled and glittered like a thousand stars, Arsenal have diminished to a Lilliputian that huffs and puffs like an old horse, in match after match.

Witness, for example, what happened last Saturday at the Emirates Stadium. Right there in their own backyard, Arsene

By Chido Onumah

N

igerians are outraged, justifiably so, at the shenanigans of the country's judiciary which led to the ridiculously light sentence and eventual freedom last month of a man who pled guilty of robbing the country's police pension scheme of billions of naira.

The facts of the case speak for themselves. John Yakubu Yusuf, a former assistant director in the federal civil service, and six others are implicated in the theft of N32.8bn ($218ml) of police pension fund. They go on trial on a 20-count charge. Under a plea bargain agreement with prosecutors, Mr. Yusuf pleads guilty to three charges, including the 19th and 20th offences relating specifically to him (betraying trust and fraudulently converting N2bn ($13ml) of police pension funds to private use).

The maximum penalty for each offence is two years. Justice Abubakar Talba of the Federal High Court, Abuja, finds Yusuf guilty on three counts and orders that the sentences should run concurrently. He gives Yusuf an option of N250,000 ($1,700) fine on each of the three counts. In addition to the fine, Mr. Yusuf is ordered to forfeit to the State, 32 property, in Abuja and Gombe, and the sum of N325 ($2.1ml) in restitution.

In his plea for leniency, Yusuf's lawyer, Theodore Bala Maiyakim, claimed his client had a serious heart condition. "He has saved the time of my Lord and being a first offender, with no previous record of conviction, I urge the court to temper justice with mercy and sentence him with least possible terms," Maiyakim said. Another version of this tale noted that Maiyakim had "urged the court to be lenient on his client as he has ailing aged parents and responsibility to pay the school fees

PAGE 15

Arsenal: Giant with clay feet Wenger and his ‘gonners’ stumbled and staggered throughout their FA Cup match against a lowly opponent in the shape of Blackburn Rovers.

Yes; Blackburn, a small team languishing somewhere in the lower cadre of English football.

Had it been in those days when Arsenal were truly Arsenal, they would have “Arsesinated” Blackburn with a bombs (sorry, goals) within a few minutes. But, alas, the Arsenal on parade these days is like a caricature of “our” good old Gunners. Come and see them

the Capital One Cup by an even much lowlier team, without a whimper. In that match, like in last weekend’s showdown with Blackburn, and like in most of their games in recent years, Arsenal played like a team without a spine. Without steel. Without leadership.

Without direction.

Needless to say, things started falling apart for the Londonbased club when their asonde@yahoo.com coach, Arsene Wenger, put money above every 0803-2159-249 (SMS only, pls) other thing. punch which knocked Arsenal Accordingly, Wenger started selling from the FA Cup unceremoniously. Arsenal’s best players with reckless It would be recalled that barely a abandon. Even if you were couple of weeks earlier Arsenal had Arsenal’s direct rivals (Chelsea, been ignominiously bundled out of Man United, Liverpool, Man City, running from pillar to post aimlessly. Come and see Blackburn toying with them as they pleased, eventually delivering the sucker

SONDE’S DIAR Y DIARY

By Sonde Abbah

“

Needless to say, things started falling apart for the London-based club when their coach, Arsene Wenger, put money above every other thing.

Accordingly, Wenger started selling Arsenal’s best players with reckless abandon. Even if you were Arsenal’s direct rivals (Chelsea, Man United, Liverpool, Man City, etc) Wenger wouldn’t hesitate to sell his best boys to you, as long as are loaded with a few dollar notes

No country for petty thieves of his children".

There are conflicting reports about what transpired and the exact amount involved in this criminal enterprise. According to the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, "The prosecution and defence lawyers actually had an agreement on specific outcomes of the case which included a custodial sentence which was breached by the judge.

Although no formal agreement was written or signed by any of the parties, the two sides agreed with the judge that first, the accused person would declare and forfeit all assets he acquired with proceeds of the funds he stole.

Secondly, the parties agreed that he would be given custodial sentence with no option of fine".

It is really difficult to know how much Yusuf and his daredevil gang stole. We may never know how high up this fraud goes; the very senior government officials, ministers, maybe, senators and reps, bank managers and sundry other perfidious criminals involved in what clearly is a wellcoordinated plot. What is not hard to see is the effect of their barefaced thievery. We can see it in the "untimely death" of many police pensioners; the families that have been ruined and impoverished; the thousand, perhaps millions of children who couldn't go to school because the person responsible for paying their school fees is dead or has been denied his paltry income.

But all this is now academic. In a way, the Yusuf saga has become a byword for all that is wrong with our laws, criminal justice system, notion of crime and punishment and national psyche. Our mindset is that when you steal public fund, you are stealing from nobody in particular; you are merely

getting your share of the proverbial national cake. After all, those before you did the same and nothing happened. We have a warped sense of nationhood and hardly realize, or couldn't care less, if our actions bring the country to her knees. The refrain is that everyone has a price. So, when you steal, you have to steal enough to bribe or pacify everyone, including judges, prosecutors and journalists.

Since the Yusuf judgement, the media (mainstream and social) have been awash with examples of how the country's broken legal system has succeeded in shortchanging the masses. We have been reminded of the sixmonth imprisonment of Tafa Balogun, a former Inspector General of Police, for corruption and money laundering; the two-year imprisonment of ex-governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha of Bayelsa State for corruption and money laundering; James Ibori, former governor of Delta State, who appeared before Justice Marcel Awokulehin on 147 charges, was set free, only for the governor to be found guilty and sentenced to 13 years in prison in Britain; the six-month imprisonment (or golden handshake) given to rogue banker, Cecelia Ibru, for defrauding her bank to the tune of $1bn; the sixmonth imprisonment with an option of N3.5ml ($23,000) fine for ex-governor of Edo State, Lucky Igbinedion, for corruption; and the 30-month imprisonment of Bode George, former Chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority, and national vice-chairman, southwest zone, of the People's Democratic Party for contract fraud. The examples are endless.

The Tafa Balogun case is, indeed, instructive considering it

involves the head of a law enforcement agency. How is it possible for the chief law enforcement officer of the country to steal so much money? I shall return to this. I raised this question in my book, Time to Reclaim Nigeria, where I documented Tafa Balogun's exploit as a criminal mastermind. He became IGP in March 2002, and oversaw security during the April 2003 national elections. By the time Tafa Balogun was convicted in late 2005, he had over N5 billion ($33 million) of money meant for the police in his private accounts. With more than ten property around the world worth over N3 billion ($20 million) - property he acquired as a police officer - you won't be wrong to think that Mr. Balogun was an estate agent.

The former IGP was forced to resign in January 2005 after allegations of bribery, corruption and dalliance with corrupt politicians and criminal elements became public. In April 2005, Mr. Balogun was put on trial on 70 charges and found guilty of embezzling about N20 billion ($133 million) of police fund. After a plea deal, he was sentenced to six months in prison, part of which he spent at the Abuja National Hospital. We can juxtapose these sweet deal convictions with the (in)justice for ordinary citizens.

About the same time that Yusuf was walking home a freeman with proceeds of his crime, someone was being sentenced to three years in prison, without an option of fine, for stealing a cell phone. In Abeokuta, Ogun State, a magistrate court headed by Idowu Olayinka sentenced 49-year-old Mustapha Adesina to two years in prison for stealing vegetables valued at N5,000 ($33) with an option of N10,000 fine ($66).

etc) Wenger wouldn’t hesitate to sell his best boys to you, as long as are loaded with a few dollar notes. He would, for instance, sell a Fabregas or van Persie or William Gallas to Kaduna Babes at N390 and rush to a Nursery school in Ajegunle to buy a so-called “talented” boy at N5.

“Armed” with a legion of such plenty-for-a-penny youngsters, Arsenal would storm the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League fooling themselves that they can outwit the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Man U, and other serious clubs who invest heavily in world class players. The result is evident for even the blind to see: in the past 8 years Arsenal have not been able to win any competition. Not even the lowly Capital One Cup. This free fall is most likely to continue for as long as Wenger sits tight at Arsenal. Every season he churns out silly excuses and alibis instead of trophies and glory. While his fellow coaches like Ferguson, Mancini, and Mourinho look for ways to win, Wenger look for excuses to explain his criminal failure. My heart bleeds for the long-suffering Gunners. Although I am a “Man U 4ever”, the show of shame going on at the Emirates sickens me no end.

In Asaba, Delta state, a young man, Emmanuel Michael, was sentenced to five years in prison with hard labour by a Chief Magistrate Court for stealing gold earrings worth N25,000 ($166).

In sentencing Michael, Presiding Chief Magistrate, Sylvester Ehikwe, stated: "He does not deserve mercy as burglary is next to armed robbery." It was reported that Michael who had earlier pled guilty to the two-count charge preferred against him wept in the dock, saying, "I was hungry".

There is the gut-wrenching story of a woman in Suleja prison in Niger State who has been awaiting trial for over two years, and is forced to live in prison with her six children, for stealing a goat.

It seems our prisons are meant for and are full of petty thieves while high profile criminals strut around and wine and dine in the presidency. What happens if our goat-stealing mother is later found not guilty? How much did it cost the government to prosecute John Yakubu Yusuf? I am not a learned fellow so I have left the legalese of these matters, particularly the cases involving Justices Abubakar Talba and Sylvester Ehikwe, to legal minds.

For me, the fundamental issue is the question I raised earlier: What kind of system makes it possible for public officers to steal so much of our collective wealth with impunity? The only answer I can come up with is that it is a system that lacks leadership; one in which the leadership would commit hara-kiri rather than let the public know what it is worth.

When you have a functional government and the man in charge not only gives a damn about fighting corruption but leads by example, then the tribe of John Yakubu Yusuf would be the exception rather than the rule.

Chidi Onumah is on conumah@hotmail.com

PAGE 16

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Court grants N2m bail to EFCC employment racketeer

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A soldier taking photographs of interest at NYSC camp, in Kubwa, Abuja, recently.

Photos: Justin Imo-owo

2 men arraigned for alleged conspiracy, forgery T

he Police yesterday arraigned two men, Ahmed Oladapo, 35, of Niger State, and Boniface Ekeocha, 37, of Kubwa, Abuja, before a Wuse Zone 2 Magistrates’ Court for alleged conspiracy and forgery.

Oladapo and Ekeocha are

standing trial on a two-count charge of criminal conspiracy and forgery contrary to sections 90 and 367 of the Penal Code.

Oladapo and Ekeocha denied the allegations.

Police Prosecutor Ambi Ayuba told the court that the Police Force Headquarters

got a tip off on November 13, 2012 and that the two accused persons were found in possession of a forged police letter head which they could not account for during investigation.

Senior Magistrate Ramatu Guma granted each of them

bail in the sum of N1 million and a surety each in like sum.

Guma said that the surety must have a defined address within the court’s jurisdiction and swear to an affidavit of means and adjourned the matter to March 11, 2013 for hearing.

(NAN)

Woman seeks divorce following her husband’s alleged decision to marry her brother’s ex-wife

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isha Galadima, 25, of Zamani village, Lugbe in Abuja yesterday prayed a Lugbe Area Court, Abuja, to dissolve her marriage following her husband’s decision to marry her brother’s ex-wife.

Galadima said she was fed up with the 3-year-old marriage due to irreconcilable differences with her husband, Nasiru Yakubu.

She told the court that she advised her husband against his bid to marry her brother’s former wife, when he briefed her on his intention, but he refused to listen to her.

“I told him I cannot put up with such a sacrilege. I would rather opt out of the marriage and go back to my parents if he goes ahead to marry her, but he refused to listen to me.

“Besides, My Lord, I am already fed up with the marriage due to so

many irreconcilable differences with my husband. I want to leave his house and have my peace,’’ she said.

When the Presiding officer, Haruna Masanawa, asked Yakubu to defend the allegations against him by his wife, he denied them.

Yakubu said he was not aware that his new wife was an ex-wife to his wife’s elder brother, adding that he was, however, aware that she was from the same village with the plaintiff.

Masanawa, after hearing both sides, directed the parties to bring their witnesses and

adjourned the case to March 4, 2013 for continuation of hearing.

“This case is hereby adjourned to March 4, 2013 and the court orders that summons be issued to witnesses to both parties to appear before this honourable court on the adjourned date,” Masanawa said. (NAN)

Absence of complainant stalls trial of a woman accused of stealing N1m reported at the Wuse Police Station,

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he absence of the complainant, Mr Philip Anigbo, at a Senior Magistrates’ Court, Abuja, on Monday, stalled the trial of one Ruth Usangu, who allegedly stole N1 million entrusted to her.

Usangu, a sales girl, is accused of criminal breach of trust and theft of N1 million from an Abuja-based

company, Bicu and Sons Ltd, Wuse, Market, Abuja.

Police prosecutor Francis Tanko told the court that Usangu was given the amount to deposit in the company’s account with Zenith Bank.

“Instead of depositing the money, she converted it to her personal use.’’

Tanko said the matter was

Abuja, by Anigbo on December 12, 2012. Tanko said the offence contravened the provisions of sections 314 and 287 of the Penal Code.

He urged the court to adjourn the matter to enable the complainant to be in court.

Senior Magistrate Celestine Obinna adjourned the matter to March 12 for continuation of hearing.

(NAN)

ustice Mohammed Talba of Abuja High Court yesterday granted bail to Ifeanyi Obiora standing trial for alleged impersonation and obtaining money under false pretext.

The accused was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly defrauding job seekers by claiming that he could offer them jobs at the EFCC. Talba, in his ruling on the application, granted him bail in sum of N2 million with two sureties, one of whom should be a civil servant not below Grade Level 12.

He also ordered the accused to submit his international passport to the registrar of the court.

EFCC’s Counsel, Mrs. Deborah Ademu-Eteh, had told the court that Obiora was accused of defrauding people by offering them EFCC jobs opportunities via Website address EFCCrecruitment@gmail.com.

At the resumed hearing, the EFCC counsel said the case was slated for continuation of trial within trial to determine the authenticity of the accused’s statement while in EFCC custody.

Mrs. Tinoye Kehinde, a prosecution witness, led in testimony by the EFCC counsel, said the accused allegedly made his statement voluntarily.

The accused, through his Counsel, Mr Chukwu Okafor, however, said that his statement was allegedly obtained under duress.

The judge then adjourned the matter to April 9, 2013 for continuation of trial within trial.

(NAN)

Man, 42, docked for alleged criminal breach of trust, cheating

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n Abuja Grade Two Area Court, sitting at Kado, Abuja has granted bail to one Kenneth Akubude, 42, of Aso Mararaba in Nasarawa State arraigned over an alleged criminal breach of trust and cheating.

The Police Prosecutor, Mr. Simon Ibrahim, told the court that one Mrs. Nelly Madukwe of NNPC Area 11, SBI Flat 10, Garki, Abuja, reported the matter at the Calimour Police Outstation on February 2, 2013.

He said the complainant entrusted N120, 000 to the accused person to buy raffia palm for her.

Ibrahim said the accused person bought raffia palm worth N82, 000 and converted the remaining N22, 000 to his personal use.

He told the court that the offence contravened the provisions of sections 312 and 322 of the Penal Code.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge. The Presiding Judge, Mr Ahmed Ado, granted the accused person bail in the sum of N20, 000 with one surety in like sum.

(NAN)

PAGE 18

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Expert calls for balance between water demand and supply

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Physically challenged people begging at Kubwa, in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

NGO wants proper sensitisation to restore reading culture T

he Executive Director of Society for Youth Research in Nigeria, Mr Olawale Rasheed has called for proper sensitisation, to restore reading culture in Nigeria.

Rasheed told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Abuja that failure to imbibe good reading habit contributed to the falling standards of education in the country.

He said that poor reading habit was common among adults and young people; saying that ‘’it affects them negatively, especially in terms of being self employed’’.

He identified harsh economic condition and lack of proper sensitisation as some of the causes of poor reading culture. He called for proper sensitisation by governments at all levels and urged parents to inculcate in their children reading habits.

“Growing up in those days, you are encouraged to read and develop yourself educationally; but this days people prefer short cut and hardly read, expecting that there will be miracles during exams.

“And that is why you see a high level of examination malpractice.

An average youth is preoccupied with economic issues; survival,

maybe he has graduated and is looking for job.

“If we are to talk about what is to be done; the problem has to be holistically resolved, the economic challenges facing the youth is a major issue.

“There is also need for advocacy, to let the youth know that when you develop yourself intellectually through reading, you are able to face challenges better.

“A mind that is developed through reading is more potent to face challenges of daily survival, than a mind that is so shallow, because of lack of reading.

“When you read, you would

create a world of your own and whatever crisis or problem you are facing in the outside world, they would appear so small.

“People don’t read; when you read you learn from other peoples’ experience, you would gain new ideas.”

He advised governments at all levels to overhaul the education sector, by equipping school libraries with internet facilities, to encourage reading culture.

He also advised parents to equip the home libraries with motivational and intellectual books, to encourage children to read, outside the school environment.

FCTA removes N12.5million bill board

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he Deputy Director, Aesthetics and Amenity in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Adamu Abuja, says the FCT administration has removed a bill board worth N12.5million from the city centre.

Abuja told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja yesterday that the bill board was removed because it was affecting

the aesthetics of some magnificent buildings in the city centre.

According to him, the bill board sited along Sheraton Hotel road is a stumbling block to some vital buildings like the PTDF and Silver Bird Gallery among others.

He explained that the FCT Executive Council ordered the removal of the board erected in 2009 to create a conducive environment for the public and

private building in the area.

“The owner of the bill board paid N12.5 million to FCTA for its erection site in 2009, but erected 90 x 18 metres, which was twice the size approved for him”, he said adding that, “Although, when the approval was given to him, some of the buildings were not there; that was why it was approved”.

“But now, it has to leave

because of the major buildings behind it and due to its size,’’ he added.

According to him, the owner of the bill board will be given another space along Airport Road because such, “a magnificent board can only be erected in the satellite towns”.

He said that the FCTA had various regulations and standards for approving space for bill boards.

Court grants N200, 000 bail to businessman

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n Upper Area Court at Gudu in Abuja yesterday granted a N200,000 bail to a businessman, Ibrahim Umar, for allegedly receiving stolen property.

The offence is contrary to Section 317 of the Penal Code. The Presiding Judge, Mr Adamu Wakili, in granting bail to the accused person, whose address

was given as Jabi Garage in Abuja, said “you must present a reliable surety with a fixed address and who is resident in the FCT. “The surety will forfeit the bonded sum to the Federal Government should the accused jump bail,’’ he said.

The Police Prosecutor, Mr Bitrus Dauda, said that one Cpl.

Lucky Okpe, attached to the Maitama Police Station arrested one Dan-Alhaji Baballo and Arma Yau, both of Panteka in Dutse, Abuja on Feb. 11, 2013.

“The accused persons were arrested in Maitama area of Abuja in possession of NITEL cables,’’ he said.

Dauda said the matter was later transferred to the CID in the

FCT for further investigation.

He said that during police investigation, it was discovered that Umar received the stolen cables belonging to the Federal Government at the spot of the crime.

The accused, however, denied the charge and the matter was adjourned to March 9, 2013 for hearing. (NAN)

n water provision, a balance has to be struck between demand and supply, a professor emeritus and Chairman, Technical Committee, West African Water Partnership, Prof.

Lekan Oyebande, has said.

West African Water Partnership is the regional branch office of Global Water Partnership (GWP), an international network that offers advice for sustainable management of water resources.

The Emeritus professor at University of Lagos told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that more water from the surface, the river and underground sources should be harnessed for increased water availability.

“So many people want water, and so much water is needed and what we are able to supply is short, even the quality of this may not also be right so, these are the problems.

“The way to solve it is to provide more water from the surface, from the river and from the ground, but that is not the only problem.

“We also need to look at the demand to try and use it effectively because water is finite, water is not something you can continue to take; it has a limit and quantity.

“We need to manage our demand to use it effectively and not to waste it,” Oyebande said.

He said that it was important to bring these two issues of demand and supply together for better management of water through Global Water Partnership.

“So the two heads have to go together but of course, the management via this global water partnership is about management of water, to manage it in a way that the two sides can achieve a happy balance “And in doing so, people have to look at the whole resources and also realise that water is not just a social gold but it has a cost to bring it to people.

“Those who are too poor to pay could be assisted but those who are able to pay should pay the right price, these are some of the things we need to do,” he said.

He urged Nigeria to take advantage of water harvest which is in accordance with International practices and carried out by International Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO), in collaboration with countries.

“Rain water harvesting is the idea of collecting rain water as it is falling immediately before it reaches the ground and to store it and to use it.

Oyebande said that there was also the need to understand the state of water governance, management and constraints in order to create appropriate tools for use in the solution of water challenges in Nigeria.

He further said that access to safe drinking water and sanitation, irrigation and watershed management were the four areas of challenges.(NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

PAGE 17

Recently, the government of Nasarawa state announced its decisions to embark on demolition of illegal structures at Mararraba, Karu local government. The exercise began yesterday and our photographer, Mahmud Isa was there and he captured the events with his lenses.

BUSINESS

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Email: aminuimam@yahoo.co.uk

PAGE 19

INSIDE

- Pg 21

Lagos T/fair complex host Africa’s largest jewellry market

Mob: 08033644990

BPP threatens MDAs with sanction NAMB wants more microfinance banks on fake procurement docs

By Abdulwahab Isa he Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) said it will deal with Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) found submitting fake procurement documents .

The agency's boss, Engr.

Emeka Ezeh, represented by Director, Special procurement Mr. Ayo Aderigbibe handed over the warning yesterday at the opening of the 2013 stakeholders’ workshop for MDAs in Abuja.

He stressed that apart from the cancellation of such document, the bureau would impose stricter sanctions on the affected MDA.The warning came against the backdrop of findings by BPP that MDA

T

frequently violate procurement procedures.

He said the MDAs are in the habit of interjecting other materials after the original plans and this makes it difficult in the procurement process.He said the bureau is poised and determined to rise above the challenge posed by MDAs that indulge in the subversion of procurement process.

He said the bureau is drawing its strength from the zeal and determination of the present administration to fight corruption through ensuring best public procurement practices,According to him, it is the plan of the agency to take Nigeria to a level where the best practices in public procurement

are implemented in the overall interest of national development.

“It is the belief of the agency that if the public contracting system is governed by the principles of integrity, transparency, competence as national ethos, a good ground would have been provided for the social, cultural and technological advancement of the country”the DG, said.

Ezeh said when corruption in public procurement gives way to open, transparent and competitive federal procurement system that is integrity driven, the nation would no longer be in doubt what the benefit of an ideal public procurement is.

T

he National Association of Micro-Finance Banks (NAMB) has called on state governments to establish more Micro-Finance Banks (MFBs) to provide employment opportunities at the grassroots.

The national president of the association, Mr. Jethro Akun, made the call in an interview with newsmen in Abuja. Akun said the MFBs would serve as a veritable means of channelling micro-credit facilities to low income earners and the poor at the grassroots.

He also urged states to consider the importance of financial inclusion to help people with limited or no access to formal banking services.

According to him, it is a legal requirement for states and local governments to set aside one per cent of their annual budget for micro-credit scheme. He said that the association would encourage the states to use their one per cent for the establishment of MFBs to encourage financial inclusion.

Akun commended the Kano state government for taking the lead in establishing MFBs at the grassroots and urged other states to emulate the Kano model.

He also commended the

Central Bank of Nigeria for granting licences to 37 MFBs at a stretch in Kano State.

“To us as NAMB, it is a good development. Looking at it from the surface, it will look as if government is now coming in to run MFBs. But what government is doing is driving development in the sub-sector because of the passion government has to reduce unemployment, poverty at the grassroots level.’’

The NAMB national president said it was instructive that Kano State Government planned to subsequently divest from the banks and allow the communities or citizens within that local government area to run the establishment. He expressed the hope that the establishment of more MFBs at the grassroots would bring down the interest rate.

According to statistics from the CBN, about 56.3 million or 64.1 per cent of Nigerians had no access to formal banking services. The apex bank, which recently issued a new set of guidelines for the MFBs in the country, believes the subsector has the potential to contribute to poverty reduction, economic growth and development.(NAN)

DMO offers N105bn worth of bonds

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L-R: Director of Finance and Management Services, Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Mr. Chris Iwuagwu, Director-General of BPP, Engineer Emeka Ezeh and Director, Special Procurement of BPP, Mr. Ayo Aderibigbe, during the BPP Follow-up Procurement Planning Workshop for Ministries Department and Agencies, in Abuja, yesterday.

he Debt Management Office (DMO) has issued three tranches of Federal Government’s bonds totalling N105 billion to investors. The bonds have tenors of between five and 20 years.

In its February bond auction summary posted on its Website, the DMO said that the five and sevenyear tenor bonds would mature in April 27, 2017 and June 29, 2019, respectively.

A breakdown of the offers showed that the five- year and seven- year bonds worth N5 billion each, while the 10 and 20-year bonds worth N15 billion and N20 billion, respectively.

The five and seven-year bonds have a coupon rate or a total yield rate of 10.68 per cent and 10.96 per cent respectively. Also, the 10 and 20-year bonds are pegged at 10.80 per cent and 10.90 per cent each.

64m Nigerians excluded from financial services - Sanusi

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he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has disclosed that 64.8 million Nigerians representing 46.3 per cent of the adult population are excluded from financial and other banking services in the country.

Speaking at the apex bank’s flag-off the implementation of a pilot National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital on Friday, Sanusi said the huge exclusion gap was occasioned by long distance access points, cumbersome eligibility requirements, low financial literacy, and high costs of financial services.

He noted that to achieve the CBN’s mandate and overall economic development of the North-East sub-region and the country, the barriers to financial services are to be overcome and removed.

“The four barriers to accessing financial services in the urban and rural centres underscored the need to develop and implement this National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS),” he stressed.

He said the primary aim or objectives of NFIS, was to reduce the financial exclusion rate of adults to 20 per cent by the year 2020.

On how to ensure that every adult Nigerian has access to financial services, Sanusi said, “the key initiatives in the Strategy include a tiered approach to KYC agent banking, a cash-less policy, a financial literary framework, consumer protection, and the implementation of credit enhancement schemes and programmes.”

He said specific targets have already been set for payment services, credit, income, pension, DMB and Microfinance Banks branches, ATMs, POS, banking agents, youths, and women.

He added: “A variety of stakeholders have been identified to support the full implementation of this strategy and their roles and

Management Tip of the Day Learn from your rivals

C

ompeting with a work colleague can feel like a waste of time. Why do you care so much about what she does?

Why is she obsessing about your accomplishments? But rivalries like these can help answer two important questions:· What are my weaknesses? Rivalry is

often a form of envy: Your competitor has a trait or skill you (sometimes grudgingly) admire.

If you find something incredibly irritating about him, think about whether it’s because you lack the very competency you’re criticizing.· Am I thinking big enough? Stalking a rival can

unlock breakthrough possibilities for growth. If she is inventing a new product or launching a new initiative, is there something you can do that would have an even bigger impact?

Source: Harvard Business Review

responsibilities have been defined.”

The stakeholders, according to the CBN chief, would need to commit sufficiently to supporting the strategy and the CBN would need to take a lead in coordinating and promoting the strategy in order to achieve its goals and objectives.

In his remarks, Governor Kashim Shettima stated that in Borno state, a total of four million adults are being excluded from banking services. He, however, noted that insecurity to lives and property in the state is not unconnected to poverty, unemployment, and illiteracy.

He also assured the CBN governor that maximum security would be provided to all the base-stations of telecom firms, as they are core and basic infrastructures needed for providing financial services to the people.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

PAGE 20

COMPANY NEWS

SMEDAN

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he Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), and the Swiss Government-backed International Organisation for Migration (IOM) have fortified their existing collaboration by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the rehabilitation of Assisted Voluntary Returnees (AVRs), trafficked persons and other migrant beneficiaries of IOM programmes in Nigeria.

IOM’s Chief of Mission, Mr. Martin Ocaga, signed on behalf of the organisation, while the Director-General of SMEDAN, Alhaji Muhammad Nadada Umar signed on behalf of SMEDAN at a ceremony held at SMEDAN Headquarters in Abuja.

Ocaga noted that IOM is an organisation that is committed to assisting in meeting the operational challenges of migration, encourages social and economic development through migration, and works towards effective respect of human rights and well-being of migrants.

Apapa terminal

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ort terminal operator, APM Terminals Apapa Limited, has introduced satellite-based container location system capable of ensuring 99.5 per cent accuracy of container location and inventory in the terminal yard to aid prompt service delivery at the port.

The equipment includes a satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS) for containers, and a multi-level container inspection facility for physical examination of containers by Customs operatives.

The Managing Director of APM Terminals Apapa, Mr. Dallas Hampton, made this knownin Lagos, saying that manual systems cannot achieve more than 90 percent accuracy.

Indorama

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he management of Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals Limited had affirmed on Friday that all plans have been concluded towards setting up one of Africa’s largest fertiliser plants in Eleme, Rivers State.

Disclosing this during a visit by the National Good Governance Team to the company in continuation of its project tour in the state, the MD said that the plant would be designed to produce 1.4 million tonnes of fertiliser annually, and would start production by the fourth quarter of 2015.

He said the plant would be involved in the production of Urea, NPK and other types of fertilisers if work is concluded as planned.

Effect of Okada ban on commercial activities in Kaduna T From Nasiru Mu’azu Isa ransportation is one of the basic dividends of democracy, which Nigeria is still struggling to provide for it’s citizenry despite the huge sums of money budgeted every year for the development of a good transport network.

While the government is still struggling to provide this particular dividend across the nation, inter-city transportation has become chaotic and a daily grind for those who patronize public transport system.

In many of the major cities in Nigeria, the most common mode of transportation within the city is motorbike transport popularly known as Okada.

With the recent rise in terrorism in the country, public transport system has become a daily task most people would rather avoid by using Okada.

Of recent there has been a series of Okada bans across the nation due myriad of reasons depending on which state you reside in.

Commercial motorcycle services have been banned in states like Enugu, Anambra, Delta and Bayelsa states While in places like Borno and Yobe the major reason for the ban is the growing and on ending issue of terrorist attacks using Okada, places like Lagos are concerned about safety of their citizenry and restoring sanity to their roads as well as security.

In Kano and Kaduna where the business of Okada is most visible and lucrative in the North, the ban of commercial motorcycle services is a recent policy of the state government as a direct result of an attack on the Emir of Kano.

While Kano has implemented the ban, in Kaduna the government is in talks with Okada associations and other stakeholders.

One of the direct effects of the ban will be on commercial activities in the state.

Mal. Usman, a clothes merchant on the busy Ahmadu Bello Way says, “it is not a good idea, if they ban it, I will spend two hours before I get to the market, while on an Okada only 15 mins”.

Oga Rashid an electronics dealer says there is nothing that he can do about it so he is already planning on how to adapt. “ I employ eight people and they all use Okada if they are to get here on time but it’s government and what can you do”.

Most shop owners across the Ahmadu Bello Way complained of the difficulty of getting to work and how the ban will make it more difficult for them to open their shops on time.

Before the ban, Okada rider waiting for passengers

Governor of Kaduna state, Mukhtar Ramalan Yero Ms. Helen a boutique owner said if the government can provide an alternative to the public, then the ban can be justified.

Alhaja, a buka owner said her customers are mainly the Okada riders who stop during their breaks to eat, “ah my business don finish be dat; na dem be my customers”, she lamented.

Usman, who runs a purchase hire business for

Okada riders said he has over 20 boys running Okada for him, “this ban will close my business down” he observed.

As a large number of people worry about the direct impact of the ban on their businesses, an equal number worried about the security impact of the ban.

Mal. Bashir who runs a business centre worried about what will happen to all the youths riding the Okada, “some

of this boys were criminals but the Okada changed them and now you take it from them, what do you think will happen” he asked?

Aisha who sells kitchen utensils observed that it is a legitimate means of income, “they are not stealing, it is a source of income and the government should worry about what those boys will do without it”.

Alh. Bala said a large number of Okada riders park their bikes on his street and as a result have made the street much safer, “they park on my street and since then we no longer have problems, they are like the vigilante of the street”.

Some also worried about how the ban will create a transportation nightmare for all involved. “I was in Kano a few days ago and I know how much I suffered because there was no Okada, people are suffering and the Keke Napep is not enough”, said John a shoe dealer.

Though there are pressing security concerns about the Okada, clearly there is still a need for them in the society until an alternative solution is found.

This can be a good opportunity for the government to revamp the transport system in the state by providing massive investment and soft loans or subsidized hire purchase vehicles.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

PAGE 22

Lagos Trade Fair Complex hosts Africa’s largest jewelry market From Suleiman Idris, Lagos

S

ix years after relocating out of Idumota to commence operations at its ultramodern “Super Plaza” inside the International Trade Fair Complex along Lagos - Badagry Express Road, the Association of Progressive Traders of Nigeria (APT) has grown tremendously in size and in activities, to become the biggest jewelry and accessories market in Africa.

The APT president, Jude Okeke who revealed this to newsmen during their 6th anniversary celebration in Lagos, also hinted that the current value of the jewelry edifice is over N18 billion, while the traders’ population now stands above ten thousand.

“As you can see, this is the APT Super Plaza. It is a whole sale market where you find the best and finest grades of jewelry and accessories at cheapest prices. We are still expanding, work will soon begin at our new office complex and everything here is world standard.In the meantime, we still have enough space for showcasing our goods, warehousing, parking lots, shopping and vehicular movement. Our business is flourishing and members are all happy. No wonder we call here

our own promised land. The concession of Trade Fair Complex to Aulic Nigeria Limited is however a major challenge facing the traders at the moment”. According to APT’s secretary general Obiora Chijioke, the traders are contesting the alledged fraudulent acquisition of Lagos International Trade Fair Complex with no regard to their multibillion investments which existed long before the concession.

“We had an agreement with the then Federal Ministry of

Trade and Commerce that the already commercialised portions should be excluded from privatization. Despite all efforts by the consortium of traders operating in the complex which include Balogun Business Association, Auto Spare Parts And Machineries Dealers Association, Association of Progressive Traders, Call Park Ventures, Lakeview Hotel, and other stake holders, to receive fair hearing during the concession exercise, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) still went ahead and sold the entire

complex to Aulic Nigeria Limited.

“Their aim is to colonize and enslave over sixty thousand Nigerian traders and their huge investments at the complex which is worth more than N85 billion. We are calling on the Federal Government of Nigeria to please protect our rights as responsible and law abiding citizens of the country, by reviewing this fraudulent acquisition of Lagos Trade Fair Complex by Aulic Nigeria Limited,” he said.

The APT image maker Uche Chinweze, listed bad access roads,

illegal check points by the police and customs, as well as dilapidated infrastructures within the Trade Fair Complex among the current challenges of the market.

“Our relationship with the state and local government are very cordial. But the new management of the complex is not helping matters. Despite all the revenue collected daily from the traders and our customers, nothing is done to reduce our sufferings, at least by upgrading the roads and infrastructures within the Trade Fair Complex.”

NSE fines companies for late filling of financial statement From Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos

S

ome of the biggest companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) are to be fined millions of naira for filing their financial statements for the years 2011 and

2012 after the regulatory due dates.

In its X-compliance report released yesterday, management of the exchange says the sanctions are in accordance with provisions of Section 14 of appendix one hundred and eleven of its listing

rules.

While there are 32 companies involved, some of the most prominent named in the report include: Dangote Flour Mills, Oando, Conoil, Union Bank, Wema Bank, and Mutual Benefits Assurance.

Those to pay the highest fines are Linkage Assurance, Equity Assurance, Standard Alliance, Mutual Benefits Assurance, Costain, Unic Insurance, Guinea Insurance, Wema Bank, IPWA and John Holt.All 32 companies are to pay a total sum of N56.3 million.

Indigenous firms call for higher allocation on crude lifting

By Etuka Sunday

F

irms involved in the sales of the nation’s crude oil have demanded that the Federal Government increase the allocations granted to them, as a way of encouraging local capacity.

The local oil firms have appealed to the government to reserve specific percentage of the crude mainly for indigenous firms.

In an interview with the group, the Chief Executive, Oando Plc, Mr. Wale Tinubu said that it was very possible for the government

to considerably grant such local companies some incentives in relation to tax.

Tinubu said, “We are in absolute support of growing indigenous capacity in every facet of our oil and gas industry. This is because the local companies are

paying their taxes, reinvesting their capital and creating enormous job opportunities for the larger community.” Stating further, he said that such encouragement was capable of boosting local industries.

Microsoft to engage youths on African economic growth

By Chris Alu

M

L-R: Bello Salihu (advisor), Rev. sis Jovita Owolabi Juliana (advisor) Hajiya Falilat (advisor), Ruth Grace Osula (mentor) Nasiru Yusuf (advisor) and the SAGE Global crystallites of Junior Secondary School, Area 10 Garki, during their recent visit on Valentine's Day to the Victorine Foster home, Gwarimpa, Abuja, to extend and share love with the children.

AfDB plans N240 bn projects for Niger Delta, FCT

By Aminu Imam

T

he African Development Bank (AfDB) is to spend $1.5 billion (N240 bn) on projects in the Niger Delta region, Abuja and some states, the bank’s representative in Nigeria, Dr. Ousmane Dore, has said.

Dr. Ousmane Dore said that the projects include the construction of East-West highway in the Niger Delta region, financing of Abuja urban transportation programmes and agriculture. He said: “We are

developing new operations for Nigeria to enable us to finance road projects in the Niger Delta region, Abuja urban transportation programmes, and agricultural initiatives.

“These projects are contained in the new developmental strategy being mapped out for Nigeria. They are projects the bank is preparing for the country. “We will go to the board of the bank for approval soon. Immediately the board approves it, implementation of the projects would start as part of our ongoing concern to

improve infrastructure in the country.”

He said the projects would have a gestation period of four years (2013-2016), adding that they are short term. He said the decision to evolve a new financing strategy for the country was borne out of the need to encourage growth of some sensitive areas. He said the projects are new and different from the ones earlier approved and executed by the bank.

The projects, he said, are not only developmental, but underscore the bank’s plans and

programmes for member states.

Dore said the bank had earlier approved $2.2 billion for infrastructural projects in Nigeria, adding that the money was meant to finance privately and publicly-driven projects in the country.

He said $1.3 billion was earmarked for private projects, while the public projects got $900 million. “Altogether, we are spending $2.2 billion on projects in Nigeria. We have started implementing some projects, while others have not been executed.”

icrosoft has announced its on-going commitment to driving opportunities for African youth through its ‘Youth Spark’ initiative.

Microsoft Youth Spark is a global initiative that aims to create opportunities for 300 million youth in more than 100 countries during the next three years.The initiative includes Corporate Social Investment , Computer Training, which is aimed at empowering youth to imagine and realize their full potential and connecting them with greater opportunities for education, employment and entrepreneurship.

“It is a sad reality that while young Africans are more literate than their parents, more of them remain unemployed,” said Djam Bakhshandegi, CSI Program Manager at Microsoft in Africa.

Our Youth Spark and other CSI activities is our belief that relevant innovation holds the key to unlocking the answers to our most pressing challenges in the region.

“Through Youth Spark, in subSaharan Africa alone, we have already reached over half a million young people and made $1.1 million worth of software donations to non-Governmentorganisations. In addition we have trained almost 30, 000 teachers through our Partners In Learning tools as well as equipping hundreds of small & medium businesses with relevant start up skills.

PEOSPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Report as at Monday, February 18, 2013

PAGE 23

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

PAGE 24

PAGE 25

How gunmen outwitted security to take captive Setraco’s foreign workers in Bauchi G

unmen attacked a camp for a c o n s t r u c t i o n company in northern Nigeria, killing a guard and kidnapping seven foreign workers from Britain, Greece, Italy, Lebanon and the Philippines, authorities said Sunday, in the biggest kidnapping yet in a region under attack by Islamic extremists.

The attack Saturday night happened in Jama’are, a town in Bauchi state. There, the gunmen first attacked a local prison, burning two police trucks, Bauchi state police spokesman Hassan Muhammed told The Associated Press.

The gunmen then targeted a workers’ camp for Lebanese construction company Setraco, which is building a road in the area, Muhammed said.

The gunmen shot dead a guard at the camp before kidnapping the foreign workers, the spokesman said.

“The gunmen came with explosives, which they used to break some areas,” Muhammed said. He did not elaborate and an AP journalist could not

NSA Sambo Dasuki

Nigerian Foreign Minister, Ashiru Olugbenga

immediately reach the town, which is about 125 miles north of the state capital, Bauchi.

One British citizen, one

Greek, one Italian, three Lebanese and one Filipino were kidnapped, said Adamu Aliyu, the chairman of the local government

area that encompasses Jama’are. He said one of the hostages was a woman, while the rest were men. He initially had said four of the hostages were Lebanese.

He blamed the confusion on incorrect information he received from his staff.

Italian news agency ANSA later said authorities confirmed an Italian had been kidnapped. It quoted Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi as saying the safety of the hostage must be given “absolute priority.”

Greece confirmed one of its citizens was abducted. A statement from Greece’s foreign ministry said authorities had a plane on standby to send investigators to Nigeria and that its foreign minister had been in contact with Terzi.

“Two Greek police officers, liaisons in Greece’s Nigerian Embassy, are in contact with their colleagues of the countries involved and the Nigerian authorities,” the statement said.

Britain’s Foreign Office said Sunday it was looking into the kidnappings. CBS News partner network Sky

News reported that, according to unnamed sources in the U.K., one of the hostages was a Briton.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the abductions, though Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north has been under attack by the radical Islamic sect known as Boko Haram in the last year and a half. The country’s weak central government has been unable to stop the group’s bloody guerrilla campaign of shootings and bombings. The sect is blamed for killing, least, 792 people in 2012 alone, according to an AP count.

Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is sacrilege” in the Hausa language of Nigeria’s north, has demanded the release of all its captive members and called for strict Shariah law to be implemented across the entire country. The sect has killed both Christians and Muslims as well as soldiers and security forces.

The group, which speaks to journalists in telephone conference calls at times of its choosing, could not be immediately reached for comment Sunday.

Foreigners, long abducted by militant groups and criminal gangs for ransom in Nigeria’s oilrich southern delta, have become increasingly targeted in Nigeria’s north as the violence has grown.

However, abductions of foreigners in the north have seen hostages regularly killed.

Chinese construction workers also have been killed by gunmen around Maiduguri, the northeastern city in Nigeria where Boko Haram began.

In the most recent attack, assailants attacked North Korean doctors working for a hospital in Yobe state, stabbing two to

death and beheading a third. No group claimed responsibility.

Foreign embassies in Nigeria have issued travel warnings regarding northern Nigeria for months. Worries about abductions have increased in recent weeks with the French military

“

The security situation in some parts of Nigeria remains fluid and unpredictable

UK Prime Minister David Cameron

In May, gunmen in Kaduna state shot and killed a Lebanese and a Nigerian construction worker, while kidnapping another Lebanese employee. Later that month, kidnappers shot a German hostage dead during a rescue operation.

Gunmen who authorities

“

say have links to Boko Haram also kidnapped an Italian and a British man last year in northern Kebbi State who were later killed during a rescue operation by Nigerian soldiers backed up by British special forces. The sect later denied taking

One British citizen, one Greek, one Italian, three Lebanese and one Filipino were kidnapped, said Adamu Aliyu, the chairman of the local government area that encompasses Jama’are. He said one of the hostages was a woman, while the rest were men. He initially had said four of the hostages were Lebanese.

He blamed the confusion on incorrect information he received from his staff.

part in that abduction, which left Italian authorities angry that the nation was not consulted before the failed rescue attempt.

In December, more than 30 attackers stormed a house in the northern Nigeria state of Kaduna, killing two and kidnapping a French engineer working on a renewable energy project. That attack was claimed by a Boko Haram offshoot, the jihadist Ansaru group. Ansaru has purported links to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the larger terror network’s North Africa franchise. Cooperation and contact between Boko Haram’s leaders and AQIM has been a subject of concern for Western security and intelligence agencies, but has not been proven at an operational level.

IGP Mohammed Abubakar

intervention in Mali, as its troops and Malian soldiers try to root out Islamic fighters who took over that nation’s north in the months following a military coup. Last week, the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, put out a warning following the killings of polio workers in the northern city of Kano and the killing of the North Korean doctors.

“The security situation in some parts of Nigeria remains fluid and unpredictable,” the embassy said. © 2013 CBS Interactive Inc .The Associated Press contributed to this report.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

PAGE 26

But fishermen are often at risk because the lake’s erratic weather conditions cause frequent accidents

Lethal weather on ‘world’s most dangerous lake’ S

traddling three East African countries — Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya — Lake Victoria has for centuries been a vital resource for the millions of people living along its vast coastline.

The massive lake, which stretches some 70,000 square kilometers, is the world’s secondbiggest freshwater body and the biggest of its kind in Africa, as well as the chief reservoir of the Nile. Home to a stunning archipelago of more than 80 islands, Lake Victoria provides a livelihood for the fishermen navigating its waters and the businesses dotting its shores.

But for many that comes with a risk.

According to local officials, about 5,000 people are killed every year on the lake, victims of erratic weather conditions and a mix of poor communications and lack of resources.

The high death toll makes the lake “arguably the most dangerous stretch of water in the world in terms of fatalities per square kilometer,” according to The National Lake Rescue Institute, a group launched in 2002 to improve safety on Lake Victoria and provide education and training in maritime safety.

“It’s very dangerous,” says Sam Kabonge, a fisherman from the Bugala island in Lake

Victoria, a tropical patch of land boasting sandy shores and lush forests. “You sit on top of water not knowing the depth of the pitch you are sitting on so in any case of accident ... even if you do [know how to swim], you might be far away in the lake.”

Kabonge says not all fishermen can afford life jackets.

At the same time, their small and often dilapidated vessels can easily succumb to the windwhipped waves formed in the

lake by its volatile microclimate.

“There are times when you may leave the landing site when the lake is still,” explains Kabonge. “As you are in the middle of it, it starts getting rough — rain, winds, clouds, and you know what happens next because ... our boats, cannot resist the strength of the wave.

Sometimes they break; others capsize.”

Ugandan meteorologist Khalid Muwembe says the lake,

The massive lake, which stretches some 70,000 square kilometers, is home to more than 80 islands, where fishing is the biggest industry.

which lies on the Equator, has a distinct effect on the region’s weather.

“Because the lake is generally warm and has a lot of moisture, we find that it generates this very big, what we call, convective potential energy, which generates a lot of cloudness and this unique nature of weather characterized by heavy thunderstorms which sometimes can be dangerous,” he explains.

Muwembe is part of a team testing a new mobile alert system aiming to improve the delivery of weather forecasts and help vulnerable fishing communities in Lake Victoria protect themselves from dangerous conditions.

Under the free pilot program, locals receive tailor-made text messages on their mobile phones, providing them with daily weather forecasts, warnings about potential hazards and advice on what action they should take.

Muwembe says the mobile alert weather system is helping fishermen to plan safer outings.

“For a long period of time, we didn’t have a very good weather service to try and guide and promote safety of all those navigating over the lake,” he says. “So because of that — and also daily reports of accidents

over the lake — we thought it was very important that we have a weather system where we are giving the users of the small vessels over the lake at least some guidance on what kind of storms they expect to find over the lake.”

“We provide this information on a daily basis as texts on their mobile phones and in a situation where we see that there is a very dangerous storm which is developing, we also give them an additional message, which we call an alert. We say that ‘this is happening, please take action, or hold position,’ or whatever it is that will at least promote safety,” he adds.

For fishermen like Kabonge, who is among those involved in the pilot program, the localized weather information is a vital service that can help people in the community stay safe.

“We need it because ever since it came, at least the death tolls have reduced,” says Kabonge, who calls for the program’s expansion. “The lake is too wide — if it [the program] could go across the whole lake, our brothers also may get use of it.”

And for Kabonge that is what is most important — to use new technology to help protect the lives of Lake Victoria’s fishermen. cnn.com

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2012

PAGE 27

Will Benedict’s successor come out of Africa as the first black pope?

T

he muted light of an African sunset filters into the high, pointed roof of Christ The King church in Accra, a wide, understated building just metres away from the seat of government in Ghana’s capital city. Outside is one of the longest traffic jams in the country, but the rush hour chaos of filthy exhaust fumes, street hawkers and traffic police is somehow blocked out in the church, where densely packed pews of worshippers are cooled soothingly by the whirring of two dozen fans.

It is evening mass on Ash Wednesday and smart Accra residents have trickled towards Christ the King until even the chairs outside are full. Each one dips their fingers in holy water at the door, bows or curtseys before the statue of an alabaster Virgin Mary, and sits quietly in prayer or contemplation waiting for the service to start.

When it does, Father Campbell – the Irish priest who leads worship at Christ the King – speaks of the first day of Lent in the distinctive tones of his home country: “Lent in old English means ‘spring’ – spring is always beautiful. After a wet, cold winter, or early nights and cold, sombre days, spring comes with new life, birds returning from Africa, and buttercups…”

The scene painted by the priest is a world away from Ghana’s yearround tropical heat, the destination for the birds whose flight from a wintry Europe Campbell describes. But no one seems to mind. For many of Ghana’s 2.5 million Catholics, faith is unshakable.

“Here in Africa, we centre everything on God,” says Akua, a 25-year-old fashion designer who has been attending mass at Christ the King all her life. “This was always in our African culture, but now that we have gotten to know so much about God and experience his works, we will never go back.”

Ghanaian Catholicism is in the spotlight as never before following the tumultuous events in Rome last week, when Pope Benedict announced he would step down at the end of the month.

Shock at the announcement of the first papal resignation since 1415 immediately gave way to strong feelings of optimism that two cardinals from West Africa, Ghanaian Peter Turkson and Nigerian Francis Arinze, were frontline contenders to be next in line.

For worshippers such as Akua, it’s a difficult thing to get one’s head around. “For us it’s strange that our Christianity is growing, while theirs is declining in Europe,” she says. “They are the ones who brought Christianity to Africa! Are they trying to tell us that what we

After the resignation of Pope Benedict, African and Latin American cardinals could emerge as candidates to succeed him. Catholicism’s European power base is under threat and the election of a new pope could be a historic moment for the church. Observer correspondents report from around the world

Cardinals: Ghanaian Peter Turkson and Nigerian Francis Arinze are doing is not the right thing? I feel that if they took the time to get back to God, most of their problems would cease.”

At a large house set deep in a palm-tree laden garden in one of Accra’s smartest suburbs, not far from Christ the King, one of the church’s most prominent members describes his view that the Catholic church is an unshakable institution in this part of the world.

John Kufuor, former president of Ghana, is one of the country’s best-known Catholics and displays his faith proudly, a large framed picture of Christ on the cross adorning his living room wall, nestled among pictures of him with George Bush and Condoleezza Rice, the King of Asante and other dignitaries from his time in office a decade ago.

“We Africans, even before we knew Christianity, have always believed in God. There is an adage in the Akan language – ‘obi nkyere akwadaa Nyame’ or ‘nobody teaches a baby to believe in God’,” he says. “We are born with the knowledge that there is a supernatural force –I believe it is inborn in us.”

The belief for many that to be African is to be religious is one of the cultural factors which has helped the Catholic church to grow across the continent. There are now 30 million Catholics in the Democratic Republic of Congo alone – the 11th biggest Catholic population in the world – where 50% of the population is Catholic.

There are almost 18 million

Catholics in Nigeria, 10 million in Angola and 2.5 million in Ghana. The strength of the church is reinforced by an increasingly central role in education, health and other aspects of development.

“All churches in Africa are growing, and the Catholic church is the biggest and certainly the best organised and most structured and disciplined,” says Paul Gifford, a Senegal-based emeritus professor of religion at the School of Oriental and African Studies, part of the University of London.

“In terms of its social involvement, it must be the single biggest development agency on the continent, with 12,000 infant schools, 33,000 primary schools, 10,000 secondary schools, and 20 universities in Africa. There are parts of DRC where anything that happens is because of the Catholic church, the state doesn’t function there at all. Looking at the continent as a whole, I don’t know of any other organisation that can come near that. It is without question one of the most salient social forces on the continent.”

Many in Africa feel that, as the significance of the Catholic church in Africa continues to grow, so should the role of Africans within its centre of power, the Vatican.

“It would be very good to have an African pope,” says Akua. “It would make people realise how much we Africans are getting involved in the Catholic church.

People would realise that in countries like Nigeria and here in Ghana, we are not just about

voodoo, we know about God too.”

“I know Cardinal Turkson, and I would say he is a man of distinction,” says Kufuor. “For him to have to have made it to the level he has in the Catholic church at his age is a phenomenal achievement. I’m a human being, I suffer from the frailties of man, including vanity, so naturally I would be very proud if a Ghanaian became the pope. But the selection of a pope is a phenomenon that I credit to God’s destiny.”

But not everyone agrees that the ever-higher profile of the church in Africa is a good thing.

Some critics, even within the Catholic church, fear that the church is exceeding its proper role and attempting to act as a substitute for functioning institutions of state.

“The problem in our situation is that religion has become an excuse for the total collapse of the architecture of state,” says Matthew Kukah, Bishop of Sokoto in Nigeria.

“In Nigeria the judiciary, the law enforcement agencies, the entire ruling elite is corrupt. The opening of the political space at the end of military rule has been accompanied by the insatiable expression of greed by political elite, who have turned out far more corrupt than the military ever were. And people like me are being called upon to help rebuild the society. I am not an elected official, this is not my role.

“There were times when religion responded to the social situation such as we found in

South Africa under apartheid.

But overthrowing apartheid is not the same as ridding the countries of corruption. Those are not things religion has the capacity to do.”

“I think there’s quite a danger that the Catholic church is too involved in development,” says Gifford. “It’s not just schools and clinics, but I imagine half the Aids care on the continent is provided by the Catholic church.

“It is so involved in those issues, that for so many African people their religious needs – the spirits, curses and witches that form their religious world view – the Catholic church is not so good at meeting. That is where the Pentecostal churches step up.

Pentecostal church on a Sunday will identify a spirit that’s causing your bankruptcy and cast it out.”

The threat – or to use the old missionary terminology, “sheep stealing” – posed by the new Pentecostal and charismatic churches is something which young Catholics say troubles them deeply.

“We have a unique way of celebrating our mass. Wherever you are – Ghana, Nigeria, US or London, it’s the same routine. But many of my Catholic friends have diverted to other churches. They enjoy the whole vibe, the charismatic way of fellowshipping, the whole noise thing,” says Anthony, 27, also a member of Christ the King. “They think the Catholic church is too routine, they want the noisemaking.”

“It’s very common in many parts of Africa that the Pentecostal churches have been ‘sheep stealing’,” says Matthew Engelke, senior lecturer in anthropology and an expert on African churches at the London School of Economics.

“One of the reasons is that the Pentecostal churches are seen to speak better to local cultural traditions and ideas of the spirit world. They take seriously the ideas of spirit possession, witchcraft and other things which – at least in some traditions of Catholicism – have been downplayed and denied.”

But the fear among Catholics that their church is being overshadowed by newer, noisier churches still occurs within a context where the main complaint about Catholicism is that it is too powerful– something which church leaders elsewhere in the world may view enviously.

“The church here is strong, it is not going to decline, and I think it is time we had a black pope,” says Anthony. “It’s not that it matters if the pope is black or white, it’s that so many ideas about God come from here. If we had one of our own in that position, those ideas might start to affect the church.”

Guardian.co.uk

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRAURY 19, 2013

PAGE 28

Farmers, rural dwellers decry abandoned water projects in Edo

F

armers and rural dwellers in Edo have lamented the several Federal Government abandoned water projects in the state.

An investigation by Correspondents of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) across the three senatorial districts of Edo South, Edo Central and Edo North respectively on Friday, showed that only the Ughoha water project had been completed and awaiting.

NAN reports that the Ugbalo water project in Esan Central local government had been abandoned.

However, the Warrake Dam project in Owan West local government area and Ojerami Dam project in Akoko-Edo local government are at different stages of completion.

NAN learnt that the Ugbalo water project was first constructed by the Western region government in 1955 but became moribund and has since been abandoned by successive governments.

But Mr Ajibade Ijasan, the acting Managing Director of the Benin-Owena River Basin authority at Obayanton, near Benin , could not be reached for his comment while several calls and SMS messages put across to his phone were not answered.

However, a senior staff at the River Basin authority could confirmed to NAN that the authority had completed work on the Ugboha water project awarded by the Federal government in 2005.

The source who spoke to NAN

on the condition of anonymity, added “while I can’t speak on the other projects, I know that work on the Ugboha project has since been completed in 2011 and ready for commissioning.

“The much I can say is that the only thing remaining is the reticulation of water to some of the beneftting communities.’’

NAN investigation also revealed that Vice President Namadi Sambo had aborted his planned visit in 2011 to inaugurate the project following protests by the people of Ugboha community where the project is sited.

The protesters had in November of 2011, stormed the pumping station in protest against the planned inauguration, saying that despite being the host community, Ugboha was not listed as one of the benefitting communities in the water project.

According to them, the community river which used to serve as source of water for its people had been dammed for the water project, leaving them with no source of water.

They complained that their farm lands and economic crops were destroyed in the course of constructing flow stations, and that were not compensated in spite of an earlier pledge to do so.

The placard carrying protesters, who condemned the exclusion of their community, said it was strange to find communities being denied the right to benefit from projects located in their domains while far

KADP registers 687 women cooperatives – official

K

aduna State Agricultural Development programme (KADP) said it has registered more than 687 women groups under the KADP cooperatives project, to address the challenges of food security.

The Head of Women in Agriculture in the KADP, Mrs. Debora Bakut, told the journalists in Kaduna that the cooperative groups were registered to be able to access farm inputs and financial support.

Bakut said the groups were eligible to benefit from both the Federal and State Government soft loans to smallholder farmers and the newly introduced e-wallet fertiliser scheme, to enhance food production.

She said that some of the groups would also benefit from the Bank of Agriculture loans as well as the World Bank Commercial Agriculture programme in the state.

According to her, the groups will be able access improved seeds and seedlings from both the state and Federal Government to boost their yields.

Bakut listed some of the women cooperative groups to include Tomato growers Association, Rice farmers association of Nigeria, poultry farmers, fish farmers,

livestock, ginger farmers and pepper growers cooperative groups.

Meanwhile, the KADP Programme Manager, Mr Kassim Abdulkadir had told NAN that the registered farmers had been issued with identification cards.

This would to enable them to benefit from packages under the Federal Government’s Agricultural Transformation Programme.

(NAN)

A farmer proudly displays his harvest away communities benefit.

Sources told NAN that the Federal government took over the Ojerami dam project during the first tenure of Gov Adams Oshiomhole after unsucceful attempts by the successive state administrations to rehabilitate it.

The ministry sources said the work was about 80 per cent completed and ready for reinauguration.

Meanwhile, Farmers in Edo North have appealed to Federal Government to complete the abandoned Warranke Dam to improve food production in the area.

Alhaji Abdulahi Mohammed, the Coordinator, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), told

NAN that the Dam which construction work started in 2003 was conceived to boost food production in the state.

Mohammed said construction of the dam was collaboration between the World Bank, Federal and State Governments.

He expressed regret that the government abandoned the project in 2005.

Though, Moammed could not specifically give the capacity of the Dam, he however said it was meant to take care of Owan East and West council areas and some parts of Etsako west local government.

“The purpose of this dam was well conceived and was meant to empower farmers in the areas mentioned but its non-completion

is really disappointing.

“The pipes meant to connect various communities were already supplied well over 300 water pumps were also supplied.

“The project was part of National Programme on Food Security (NPFS) and about 300 farmers were already registered for the programme in the area.

“Its non-completion has been a setback for these farmers. But it is not too late, if the government can still ensure its completion,’’ he said.

At the state Ministry of Water resources, the acting Permanent Secretary, Mr Andrew Olobor, refused to volunteer any comment on the matter, saying he was not competent to speak as a civil servant. (NAN)

Kabba community to declared Agric zone From Sam Egwu, Lokoja

K

ogi State Government has said it has given the approval for the survey of land that will lead to the gazetting and declaring of the Agbadu community in Kabba, Bunu Local Government Area of the State as an Agricultural Industrial and Processing Zone.

The Kogi State Governor, Capt.

Idris Wada, stated this when he received a delegation from Department for International Development (DFID) officials led

by Mr. Tony Egba, an Agric Engineer from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.

“Very soon the laws towards making the area an Agric Processing Zone, would be enacted and sent to the State Assembly,” the governor explained.

Represented by the Deputy Governor, Yomi Awoniyi, Wada noted that looking into the idea of buying earth moving equipment to reduce the cost of land clearing for farmers was necessary.

He therefore assured the community where the processing zone is to be located of adequate attention, promising that “the government will not shy away from its responsibilities in providing necessary infrastructures.”

The governor described his state as investor friendly, assured that the raising issues of water, erosion, clearing of pebbles and stones would soon be looked into.

Wada also commended the efforts of the Federal Government and the Ministry of Agriculture in the Kogi State Cassava value chain initiative.

In their separate speeches, Tony Egbe, James Shepherd, Ade David and Peter Charles of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, described Kogi State as “haven for Cassava if the prospects can be well harnessed towards the Cassava transformation initiative

of the nation.”

They called for the gazetting, documentation and passage into the law of the Agbadu Community as an Agriculture Industrial Processing Zone to enable for sustainability of the programme.

According to the team leader, through feasibility study, the area has the capacity to produce 25 tones per hectare of Cassava in view of the good nature of the soil.

In his remarks, Commissioner of Agriculture, Dr. Femi Abolarin, said the team was in the state for further evaluation of the starch project located at Agbadu in Kabba Bunu Local Government Area of the State.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRAURY 19, 2013

PAGE 29

Firm to erect Africa’s largest fertiliser plant in Rivers

By Mohammed Kandi

A

petrochemicals company known as Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals Limited has said that it had concluded plans for the construction of Africa’s largest fertiliser plant in Eleme, in Rivers State.

The Managing Director of the company, Mr Manish Mundra, made the disclosure recently when the National Good Governance Team visited the company in continuation of the assessment tour of projects in the state.

Mundra, who stated that the plant was designed to produce 1.4 million tonnes of fertiliser annually, added that it would start production by the fourth quarter of 2015.

According to him, the plant when concluded, would engage largely in the production of Urea, NPK and other types of fertiliser.

He said that the project, which would cost the company about 1.20 billion dollars was part of the company’s programme of making Nigeria the largest petrochemical hub in Africa by 2017.

Mundra said that the fertiliser plant project would be handled by a Chinese company, Toyo Engineering Ltd. and would get its

feed stock from natural gas.

Mundra, who stated that the project would be funded through lending from a consortium of Nigerian and foreign banks, said the project had already been overemphasised by 480 million dollars.

He put the lending requirement for the project at 800 million dollars and said that banks had already shown interest to invest in the project.

On the progress made by the company since privatisation, the MD said that the company had recorded steady growth and improvements in all its operations since its take-over.

He said that over 2.5 billion dollars of foreign exchange had been saved since 2007 while their cumulative investment amounted to about 575 million naira.

Mundra added that the company had contributed immensely to the growth of the economy through the distribution of dividends to the shareholders of the company.

He said that the company had distributed 229 million dollars to the Federal government, 115 million dollars to Rivers State Government, 38 million dollars to six host communities and 13

million dollars to staff of the company.

The MD said that the company had also remitted taxes to the tune of 168 million dollars to the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Rivers State Inland Revenue Service and the Local Revenue Service.

He said that the expansion plan also included the establishment of a 1.75 metric tonnes Methanol plant and the

construction of an 84-kilometre pipeline linking the Onne port by 2017.

Mundra said that the cummulative direct job creation capacity of his company’s investments would be about 6,000 people.

In his remark, Information Minister, Mr Labaran Maku commended the company’s impressive performance and contributions to the economy

between 2007 and 2012.

“We should not be importing fertiliser into this country; we should also not be importing petrochemicals.

“So many of the businesses run by government, which have been privatised, are really not doing well but this company is the leading example of how public private partnership can work well if properly managed,’’ he said.

on incomes and livelihoods.

It was carried out by a team from the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center.

The researchers analysed a household survey — conducted between October and December 2010 — of 900 farm households working on 4,050 farming plots in three maize-growing regions of Ethiopia.

They identified the factors that influence the adoption of three key SAPs: using improved seeds; conservation tillage; and maizelegume crop rotation systems. They also compared how incomes were affected by the three different practices.

“We found that each year of education for women increases the probability of adopting more than two of the SAPs by 12 per cent,” says Hailemariam Teklewold, the lead author and a research fellow at the University of Gothenburg.

“The impact of women’s education was relevant in both male-headed and female-headed households,” Teklewold adds.

The study says that, “in almost all cases, the adoption of a combination of SAPs provides more maize income compared to adopting them in isolation”.

Farmers who adopted all three practices earned the largest net income of 5,580 birr (around US$300) per hectare per year, but those who adopted only one of the practices — intercropping, conservation tillage, or improved seeds — earned about US$100, US$128 and US$154 per hectare

per year, respectively.

Solomon Jemal, an agronomist at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, says the study provides concrete evidence of the importance of mainstreaming gender issues in SAP efforts in Africa.

He tells SciDev.Net: “The study’s findings should make stakeholders consider the important role of women in adopting SAPs, and of designing interventions that will be favourable to women smallholder farmers.”

John Achieng’, an agronomist at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, says the findings relating to women’s education are highly relevant to Sub-Saharan Africa.

“About 70 to 80 per cent of farming activities in Sub-Saharan Africa are done by women, and, because girls drop out of school faster than boys, governments should ensure more women are given an education,” says Achieng’.

The higher one’s level of education, the higher the rate of adoption of a technology, he said.

But Achieng’ warns that implementing conservation agriculture also poses some challenges that are unfavourable to poorer farmers. For example, yields are usually lower for the first two years after implementation, although they pick up considerably in subsequent years.

Also, “many smallholder farmers grow crops and keep livestock, and will prefer to give crop residues to their livestock rather than keep them in the soil as SAPs require,” Achieng’ said.]

Source: SciDev.Net

Educating women key to sustainable farming in Africa- Study

T

he successful implementation of sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) in Sub-Saharan Africa is linked to improvements in women’s education, according to a study.

SAPs are often touted as a solution to land degradation, low agricultural productivity and widespread poverty in the region.

The new study is the result of research conducted in rural Ethiopia that aimed to identify interdependent factors affecting the adoption of SAPs in SubSaharan Africa and their impact

A rural woman in action at a farm in Africa

Delta Govt to commence land mapping for commercial Cassava

T

he Delta State Government said it would commence land mapping for the proposed Federal and State government commercial cassava production in Abraka.

State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mr Misan Ukubeyinje, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) during a joint inspection tour of the 6,000 hectares allocated for the project in Abraka.

According to him, the state Ministry of Lands, Survey and Urban Development will commence the mapping of the land areas quickly to enable the planting of

cassava commence on target in April.

Ukubeyinje said that the Federal Government would be establishing 18 of such farm projects across the country, adding that the state government was fortunate to be one of the beneficiaries.

He said that although a partnership project, the state government was responsible for providing access roads to link the various location of the farm because the 6,000 hectares may not be concentrated in one location.

Ukubeyinje said that the modalities and cost of running the projects would be spelt out, adding

that it would be managed by experts in the private sector. “The Federal government will soon commence the process of land clearing and preparations for the planting to commence in April while the cassava processing mill will be completed before the end of this year.

“We have inspected the land needed for both the cassava processing mills which is about 20 hectares and that for the cassava cultivation. “We can also partner the neighbouring communities around Abraka if we need more land for the projects,’’ Ukubeyinje said.

The commissioner lauded the Monarch, His Royal Majesty, Air

Vice Marshall Lucky Ararile, the Ovie of Umiaghwa-Abraka Kingdom for his understanding and support.

He said that the monarch did not only approve the use of the land for the projects but and was working ahead of the team by engaging the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture to produce out growers.

Ukubeyinje said that when the projects fully commence, it would ensure food security, create jobs, and revenue for the government.

Also, Ararile told NAN that no fewer than 600 youths in Abraka community had indicated interest to participate in the cassava farm project.

He said that the choice of Abraka was apt because the community ranked number one in terms of quality garri production in the country.

He expressed willingness to donate additional land if the government needed more, adding that the people of the community had given their full support for the projects.

Ararile thanked the visiting team and enjoined them not to relent in their promise to commence activities by April as proposed, adding that such projects were vital for the reduction of employment challenges in country.

(NAN)

PAGE 30

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY, 12, 2012

L- R: Executive Director/ CEO, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPCDA), Dr. Ado Muhammad with Director, Planning Research and Statistics of the agency, chairing a technical session, during the Strategic Planning Retreat, recently in Markurdi, Benue State.

L-R: National Coordinator, Publish What You Pay, Ms. Faith Nwadishi , Senior Programme Officer, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy, Mr. Kola Banwo and Coordinator, Partner for Electoral Reform, Mr. Ezenwa Nwagu, during a Press briefing on NNPC and NEITI Oil and Gas 2009-2011 Audit Reports, yesterday in Abuja.

L-R: Chairman, Kebbi Community Development Projects, Alhaji Umar Ahmed (left), presenting the annual report on projects to Kebbi state Governor, Saidu Dakingari in Bernin Kebbi, yesterday.

R-L: President, Saint Paul Old Boys Association (SPOBA), Dr. Stephen Kitchener, his Wife, Mrs Gloria Kitchener, Treasurer SPOBA, Dr. Haruna Samaila and the Chairman SPOBA and Chairman, Code of Conduct Bureau, Mr Sam Saba, during SPOBA 60th Founders Anniversary and Annual Genertal Meeting, over the Weekend In Abuja.

Commanders of various security operatives putting heads together during the re-opening of River Benue at Ibi Local Government Area in Taraba for commercial use, yesterday, after three months of closure due to communical clashes in November.

Photo:Mahmud Isa, Justin Imo-Owo & NAN

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

PAGE 31

In Timbuktu, al-Qaida left behind a manifesto ANALYSIS

I

n their hurry to flee last month, al-Qaida fighters left behind a crucial document: Tucked under a pile of papers and trash is a confidential letter, spelling out the terror network's strategy for conquering northern Mali and reflecting internal discord over how to rule the region.

The document is an unprecedented window into the terrorist operation, indicating that al-Qaida predicted the military intervention that would dislodge it in January and recognized its own vulnerability.

The letter also shows a sharp division within al-Qaida's Africa chapter over how quickly and how strictly to apply Islamic law, with its senior commander expressing dismay over the whipping of women and the destruction of Timbuktu's ancient monuments. It moreover leaves no doubt that despite a temporary withdrawal into the desert, al-Qaida plans to operate in the region over the long haul, and is willing to make short-term concessions on ideology to gain the allies it acknowledges it needs.

The more than nine-page document, found by The Associated Press in a building occupied by the Islamic extremists for almost a year, is signed by Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, the nom de guerre of Abdelmalek Droukdel, the senior commander appointed by Osama bin Laden to run al-Qaida's branch in Africa. The clear-headed, pointby-point assessment resembles a memo from a CEO to his top managers and lays out for his jihadists in Mali what they have done wrong in months past, and what they need to do to correct their behavior in the future.

Droukdel, the emir of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, perhaps surprisingly argues that his fighters moved too fast and too brutally in applying the Islamic law known as Shariah to northern Mali.

Comparing the relationship of alQaida to Mali as that of an adult to an infant, he urges them to be more gentle, like a parent: "The current baby is in its first days, crawling on its knees, and has not yet stood on its two legs," he writes. "If we really want it to stand on its own two feet in this world full of enemies waiting to pounce, we must ease its burden, take it by the hand, help it and support it until its stands."

He scolds his fighters for being too forceful and warns that if they don't ease off, their entire project could be thrown into jeopardy: "Every mistake in this important stage of the life of the baby will be a heavy burden on his shoulders. The larger the mistake, the heavier the burden on his back, and we could end up suffocating him suddenly and causing his death."

The letter is divided into six chapters, three of which the AP recovered, along with loose pages, on the floor of the Ministry of Finance's Regional Audit Department. Residents say the building, one of several the Islamic extremists took over in this ancient city of sundried, mud-brick homes, was particularly well-guarded with two checkpoints, and a zigzag of

Associated Press/Rukmini Callimachi - In this Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013 photo, neighborhood resident Mohamed Alassane sifts through documents left behind at the Ministry of Finance's Regional Audit Department barriers at the entrance.

Droukdel's letter is one of only a few internal documents between commanders of al-Qaida's African wing that have been found, and possibly the first to be made public, according to University of Toulouse Islamic scholar Mathieu Guidere. It is numbered 33/234, a system reserved for al-Qaida's internal communications, said Guidere, who helps oversee a database of documents generated by extremists, including Droukdel.

"This is a document between the Islamists that has never been put before the public eye," said Guidere, who authenticated the letter after being sent a two-page sample. "It confirms something very important, which is the divisions about the strategic conception of the organization. There was a debate on how to establish an Islamic state in North Mali and how to apply Shariah."

While the pages recovered are not dated, a reference to a conflict in June establishes that the message was sent at most eight months ago.

The tone and timing of the letter suggest that al-Qaida is learning from its mistakes in places like Somalia and Algeria, where attempts to unilaterally impose its version of Islam backfired. They also reflect the influence of the Arab Spring, which showed the power of people to break regimes, and turned on its head al-Qaida's long-held view that only violence could bring about wholesale change, Guidere said.

The letter suggests a change in the thinking, if not the rhetoric, of Droukdel, who is asking his men to

behave with a restraint that he himself is not known for. Droukdel is believed to have overseen numerous suicide bombings, including one in 2007 where alQaida fighters bombed the United Nations building and a new government building in Algiers, killing 41 people. The same year, the U.S. designated him a global terrorist and banned Americans from doing business with him.

In a video disseminated on jihadist forums a few months ago, Droukdel dared the French to intervene in Mali and said his men will turn the region into a "graveyard" for foreign fighters, according to a transcript provided by Washington-based SITE Intelligence.

The fanaticism he exhibits in his public statements is in stark contrast to the advice he gives his men on the ground. In his private letter, he acknowledges that al-Qaida is vulnerable to a foreign intervention, and that international and regional pressure "exceeds our military and financial and structural capability for the time being."

"It is very probable, perhaps certain, that a military intervention will occur ... which in the end will either force us to retreat to our rear bases or will provoke the people against us," writes Droukdel.

"Taking into account this important factor, we must not go too far or take risks in our decisions or imagine that this project is a stable Islamic state."

According to his own online biography, Droukdel was born 44 years ago into a religious family in the Algerian locality of Zayan. He

“

says he enrolled into the technology department of a local university before turning to jihad, and his first job was making explosives for Algerian mujahedeen. In 2006, the group to which he belonged, known as the GSPC, became an arm of alQaida, after negotiations with Ayman al-Zawahri, bin Laden's lieutenant.

As Droukdel rose through the ranks, he came into direct contact with bin Laden, Guidere said.

In the document found in Timbuktu, he cites a letter he received from bin Laden about the al-Hudaybiyah deal, a treaty signed circa 628 by the Prophet Muhammad and the Quraish tribe of Mecca, an agreement with nonMuslims that paved the way for Muslims to return to Mecca.

"The smart Muslim leader would do these kinds of concessions in order to achieve the word of God eventually and to support the religion," he says.

Perhaps the biggest concession Droukdel urges is for his fighters to slow down in implementing Shariah.

When the Islamic extremists took over northern Mali 10 months ago, they restored order in a time of chaos, much as the Taliban did in Afghanistan, and even created a hotline number for people to report crimes. But whatever goodwill they had built up evaporated when they started to destroy the city's historic monuments, whip women for not covering up and amputate the limbs of suspected thieves.

"One of the wrong policies that we think you carried out is the extreme speed with which you

While the pages recovered are not dated, a reference to a conflict in June establishes that the message was sent at most eight months ago.

applied Shariah, not taking into consideration the gradual evolution that should be applied in an environment that is ignorant of religion," Droukdel writes. "Our previous experience proved that applying Shariah this way, without taking the environment into consideration, will lead to people rejecting the religion, and engender hatred toward the mujahedeen, and will consequently lead to the failure of our experiment."

Droukdel goes on to cite two specific applications of Shariah that he found problematic. He criticizes the destruction of Timbuktu's World Heritage-listed shrines, because, as he says, "on the internal front we are not strong." He also tells the fighters he disapproves of their religious punishment for adulterers - stoning to death - and their lashing of people, "and the fact that you prevented women from going out, and prevented children from playing, and searched the houses of the population."

"Your officials need to control themselves," he writes.

Droukdel's words reflect the division within one of al-Qaida's most ruthless affiliates, and may explain why Timbuktu, under the thumb of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, experienced a slightly less brutal version of Shariah than Gao, one of the three other major cities controlled by the extremists. There was only one amputation in Timbuktu over their 10-month rule, compared to a dozen or more in Gao, a city governed by an al-Qaida offshoot, MUJAO, which does not report to Droukdel.

Droukdel's warning of rejection from locals also turned out to be prescient, as Shariah ran its course in Timbuktu. The breaking point, residents say, was the day last June when the jihadists descended on the cemetery with pickaxes and shovels and smashed the tombs of their saints, decrying what they called the sin of idolatry.

Many in Timbuktu say that was the point of no return. "When they smashed our mausoleums, it hurt us deeply," said Alpha Sanechirfi, the director of the Malian Office of Tourism in Timbuktu. "For us, it was game over."

Droukdel's letter also urges his followers to make concessions to win over other groups in the area, and in one case criticizes their failure to do so. For several months, the Islamic extremists controlling northern Mali coexisted with the secular National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad, or NMLA, the name given to Mali by Tuareg rebels who want their own state. The black flag of the extremists fluttered alongside the multi-colored one of the secular rebels, each occupying different areas of the towns.

In late May, the two sides attempted to sign a deal, agreeing to create an independent Islamic state called Azawad. The agreement between the bon vivant Tuareg rebels and the Taliban-inspired extremists seemed doomed from the start. It fell apart days later. By June, the Islamic extremists had chased the secular rebels out of northern Mali's main cities.

"The decision to go to war against the Azawad Liberation Movement, after becoming close and almost completing a deal with them, which we thought would be positive, is a major mistake in our assessment," Droukdel admonishes. "This fighting will have a negative impact on our project. So we ask you to solve the issue and correct it by working toward a peace deal."

Associated Press writer Baba Ahmed in Timbuktu, Mali, and the Associated Press News Research Center contributed to this report.

PAGE 32

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Mamphela Ramphele launches challenge to South Africa's ANC

Uncertainty in Tunisia ahead of political talks

T

gone backwards since the end of racial apartheid.

"Our society's greatness is being fundamentally undermined by a massive failure of governance," she said at a launch event on Monday at the historic women's jail at Constitutional Hill. "Our country has lost the moral authority and international respect it enjoyed when it became a democracy."

The 65-year-old said her new organisation would be

called Agang - "Let us build", in the Sesotho language - and would contest national elections next year.

Ramphele, who spent seven years under house arrest during white minority rule, was among the founders of Biko's black consciousness movement.

The pair fell in love and had a daughter, who died aged two months, and a son, who was born after Biko was killed by apartheid police in 1977.

What Biko would think about today's South Africa if he

had lived, and how he would respond, is a perennial subject of debate. "He would have been disappointed, as I am, that the country of our dreams is yet to become a reality in the lives of ordinary people," Ramphele told the Guardian.

"He would have been as committed as I am to put up his hand to make sure that we mobilise South Africans to build this country of our dreams and to make ours a modern, thriving 21stcentury democracy."

unisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, yesterday said he is set to resume talks with political party leaders to form a new government of technocrats, despite strong opposition within his own ruling Islamist party Ennahda.

On the eve of the talks with Tunisian media urged political groups to reach a consensus for tackling the crisis that has gripped the country since the February 6 assassination of leftist opposition leader and vocal anti-Islamist Chokri Belaid.

However Ennahda party chief Rached Ghannouchi has strongly reiterated his party's refusal to relinquish power in line with an initiative proposed

by Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, the party's number two, to form a government of technocrats.

"Ennahda... will never give up power, as long as it benefits from the confidence of the people and the legitimacy of the ballot," Ghannouchi told thousands of supporters who rallied Saturday in Tunis against Jebali's plan.

Belaid's murder came after months of failure by the ruling coalition to overhaul the government, and sparked bloody clashes between opposition supporters and police, as well as attacks on Ennahda offices.

Jebali has threatened to resign if he fails to secure the support he needs to form his new government.

After meeting the leaders of the main parties on Friday, Jebali said talks on the new administration had been rescheduled for Monday and that a previous Saturday deadline for its formation had been cancelled, with no new date set.

not explain how the claims emerged but did not deny them.

"We are not commenting on anything in the newspapers today as the case is still before the court," she said. "They are insinuating they got the information from the police.

They did not."

Medupe Simasiku, of the national prosecuting authority, said the alleged leaks did not necessarily affect the court case as "the evidence [published] might be wrong".

The well-respected City Press

newspaper reported that a cricket bat covered in blood was found at Pistorius's home and is the central piece of evidence against him.

Citing sources close to the investigation, the paper said Steenkamp's skull was crushed and police requested Pistorius undergo drug tests.

City Press also reported that Pistorius called his father soon after 3.20am on Thursday and asked him to come to the house.

When the family arrived, Pistorius was allegedly carrying Steenkamp down the stairs, her

head and arms "dangling".

"Steenkamp was still breathing and Pistorius tried to resuscitate her in the foyer," the report continued. "Paramedics and police arrived on the scene and, minutes later, she was declared dead.

"Steenkamp was wearing her nightie at the time. When the police inspected Oscar's bedroom, they found her overnight bag and iPad on the floor. A holster for a 9mm pistol was found on Oscar's side of the bed."

All sources dismissed the theory that Pistorius mistook

Steenkamp for a burglar, the paper added. "The sources agreed that the state had a 'rock-solid' case against the popular athlete."

Peet van Zyl, Pistorius's agent, said he had "not read a lot of the media" on Sunday so could not comment. He added that the runner had received "overwhelming support" from fans all over the world.

Later, van Zyl confirmed he had cancelled all of the athlete's commitments, including a race in the UK, so he could "concentrate on the legal proceedings".

Mamphela Ramphele speaks at the women's jail on Constitution Hill in Johannesburg. Photograph: Stephane De Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images

A

revered activist who was politically and romantically involved with the late Steve Biko has launched a party to challenge the governing African National Congress (ANC) and "rekindle the South Africa of our dreams".

Mamphela Ramphele said that dream had faded for people who endured poverty and inequality, the threat of a return to traditional rule in rural areas and a broken education system that had

Pistorius case: 'bloodied cricket bat found'

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he mystery over South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius's role in the killing of the model Reeva Steenkamp has deepened amid a series of claims and counter-claims about what happened at his home in Pretoria last week.

South African newspapers reported a series of dramatic revelations about the case, in which Steenkamp was shot four times. Police denied leaking the details and Pistorius's agent refused to comment.

A police spokeswoman could

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Asia and Middle East

S

hia Muslim Hazaras are furious at what they see as a lack of protection from local and national forces, in the face of repeated attacks.

Saturday's bomb ripped through a busy market district,

PAGE 33

Quetta: Shia Hazaras refuse to bury Pakistan bomb dead killing at least 84 and injuring some 169 people.

The huge attack - the second this year - was carried out by Sunni militants.

As many as 4,000 women began a sit-in in Quetta, in southwest Pakistan, on Sunday evening.

The blocked a road and

refused to carry out the traditional ritual of burying the Hazara dead until action was taken against the bombers, the AFP news agency reported.

Hezbollah condemned for 'attack on Syrian villages'

David Cameron: UK and India can have great partnership

S

yrian rebels and the opposition have accused the Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah of attacking Syrian villages.

The Syrian National Council (SNC) said Hezbollah fighters attacked three villages near the Lebanese border in support of the Syrian government.

Hezbollah said three Lebanese Shia were killed in the clashes. Hezbollah has consistently denied it has sent its members to fight for the Syrian regime.

The UN meanwhile has said human rights abuses in Syria have got worse.

In a report issued on Monday, a UNappointed inquiry team said the conflict had become "increasingly sectarian... radicalised and militarised", according to AFP news agency.

The panel said war crimes by both sides were growing, although it said abuses by rebels were not on the same scale as those committed by government forces.

UN human rights investigator Carla del Ponte said it was time the UN Security Council referred the issue of war crimes to the International Criminal Court.

EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels renewed sanctions - including an arms embargo - against Syria, whilst agreeing to provide more non-lethal support to rebels "for the protection of civilians".

D

Ethnic Hazara women in the Pakistani city of Quetta are refusing to bury the bodies of scores of people killed by a huge bomb in a Shia commercial area.

Protest in West Bank for Palestinian hunger strikers

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rotests have been held in the West Bank in solidarity with Palestinian hunger strikers in Israeli jails.

The Middle East Quartet (UN, US, EU and Russia) has recently issued warnings about the condition of the strikers.

The EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she was "following with concern" the deteriorating health of four Palestinian hunger strikers.

One, Samer Issawi, has been on an intermittent protest for 200 days and is said to be in a critical condition.

The three other hunger strikers are Tariq Qaadan, Jafar Ezzedine and Ayman Sharawna.

On Monday, Israeli forces dispersed several dozen protesters in Bethlehem who had blocked a road.

In Ramallah, the administrative centre of the West Bank, about 50 activists demonstrated at a United Nations office, the Associated Press reported.

"We want to tell Israelis and the rest of the world that we won't accept for Palestinian prisoners to come out of jail in coffins. They deserve to be free and live a dignified life," he said.

Reports said thousands of angry Hazaras moved the bodies to a local mosque but then began chanting and protesting instead of proceeding with the burials.

Hezbollah has denied sending fighters to help the Syrian regime

Protesters carry a banner showing hunger striker Samer Issawi

avid Cameron has said the UK can forge one of "the great partnerships of the 21st Century" with India, as he arrived in Mumbai to begin a three-day visit.

With business the main focus, he is leading what Downing Street says is the largest trade delegation taken on an overseas trip by a UK prime minister.

Those represented include BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, and London Underground.

Meanwhile, Mr Cameron has indicated the UK's visa process could be made easier for Indian business people.

When David Cameron says he wants Britain and India to forge one of the great partnerships of the 21st century, he knows he has some work to do" Speaking at a question-andanswer-session at Unilever headquarters in Mumbai, the first stop on his trip, he told the audience: "India's rise is going to be one of the great phenomena of this century and it is incredibly impressive to see.

"Britain wants to be your partner of choice. We've only just started on the sort of partnership that we could build. As far as I'm concerned, the sky is the limit."

Mr Cameron promised up to ÂŁ1m to help fund a feasibility study into using British expertise to develop a "business corridor" between Mumbai and Bangalore.

"I'm really excited about this project," he said. "It's an ambitious vision which could truly be a partnership for the next generation.

"It would unleash India's potential along the 1,000 kilometres from Mumbai to Bangalore, transforming lives and putting British businesses in prime position to secure valuable commercial deals."

He added the project encapsulated "the spirit of this visit" and would "mark a new chapter in the UK-India economic relationship".

Among the businessmen joining Mr Cameron on the trip is the chief executive of the English Premier League, Richard Scudamore, who told the BBC that football was the fastest growing sport in India.

He said interest in the league had been growing exponentially.

"Ten years ago it was very small, and it's grown and we've just concluded our deals for the next three years, and we've had exponential growth here both in audience and revenue terms, so it's an increasingly important market for us."

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

PAGE 34

Europe and Americas Richard Briers, The Good Life star, dies aged 79

Ecuador election: President Rafael Correa wins new term

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ctor Richard Briers, best known for his role in TV's The Good Life, has died at the age of 79, his agent has said.

The star, who was also an accomplished stage actor, had been battling a serious lung condition for several years.

Briers died "peacefully" at his London home on Sunday, his agent added.

Briers recently blamed years of smoking for his emphysema.

"It's totally my fault," he said.

"So, I get very breathless, which is a pain in the backside. Trying to get upstairs... oh God, it's ridiculous. Of course, when you're bloody nearly 80 it's depressing, because you've had it anyway."

His agent, Christopher Farrar, said: "Richard was a wonderful man, a consummate professional and an absolute joy to work alongside.

"Following his recent discussion of his battle with emphysema, I know he was incredibly touched by the strength of support expressed by friends and the public.

"He has a unique and special place in the hearts of so many. He will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and deepest sympathy go to his family at this sad time."

In 1970s BBC sitcom The Good Life, Briers and Felicity Kendal played a married suburban couple who try a self-sufficient lifestyle.

Briers also starred in shows including Marriage Lines, Ever Decreasing Circles, Monarch Of The Glen plus a role in Doctor Who and Torchwood.

He appeared in many films, most recently in British comedy film Cockneys versus Zombies, plus a cameo role in Run For Your Wife, based on Ray Cooney's 1980s stage farce.

Briers narrated the 1970s children's cartoon series Roobarb And Custard and also provided the voice for the character of Fiver in the animated feature Watership Down (1978).

A look back at the actor's career

Rafael Correa thanked his supporters outside the presidential palace

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cuador's President Rafael Correa has been re-elected for a third term with more than 50% of the vote. His main challenger has admitted defeat.

Addressing his supporters in the capital, Quito, Mr Correa called for "another four years of revolution".

First elected in 2007, the socialist leader is widely credited with bringing political stability to a nation that suffered decades of protests and coups.

But critics accuse Mr Correa of being a dictator in the making.

The 49-year-old US-trained economist has been accused of

implementing policies that have served to strengthen his hold on power and erode the influence of political opponents and private media.

But his so-called "citizens' revolution" has made him popular with many ordinary Ecuadoreans and has won him

friends among other Latin American left-wing leaders.

Partial results give Mr Correa 56.7%, ahead of 23.3% for his nearest rival, former banker Guillermo Lasso. The third-placed challenger was poised to take 6.6%, with four others trailing below 5%.

To avoid a run-off, the president needs to win 50% of the total vote or 40% plus a 10-point margin over the second-placed candidate.

Speaking on TV after 40% of the votes had been counted, the head of the National Electoral Council said the final result would not be significantly larger or smaller.

President Correa was quick to claim victory.

"Nobody can stop this revolution," he told a crowd of supporters gathered outside the balcony of the Carondelet Palace in Quito. "The colonial powers are not in charge anymore, you can be sure that in this revolution it's Ecuadoreans who are in charge."

"We are here to serve you," he added.

"Nothing for us, everything for you: the people who deserve the right to be free.

Israel Prisoner X: Ben Zygier 'leaked Mossad secrets'

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srael secretly imprisoned an Australian man who worked for its Mossad spy agency because it believed he had divulged details of his work, an Australian news programme has reported.

He was reported to have hanged himself, months after his case surfaced in 2010.

Restrictions were later eased and some Israeli members of parliament have called for an end to the practise of media censorship in the country.

According to the latest Foreign Correspondent report, Mr Zygier met Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio) agents and told them about secret operations he was involved in.

The programme said one of the

operations was a top-secret mission in Italy, for where Mr Zygier had applied for a work visa.

Foreign Correspondent said Mr Zygier changed his name several times and obtained numerous passports, which he used for Mossad work in Europe and the Middle East.

It said he set up a communications company in Europe for Mossad, which exported electronic components to Arab countries and Iran.

Israel, along with Western and other powers, has accused Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, a charge Iran denies.

He is believed to have been arrested in 2010 and held in secret in Israel's maximum security Ayalon prison. His case

came to light when an Israeli newspaper website broke the story that year, but the reports were removed after a gagging order

was imposed.

Mr Zygier is reported to have hanged himself, aged 34, in the prison in December 2010.

Ben Zygier is reported to have travelled between Israel and Australia

Hugo Chavez returns to Venezuela after Cuba cancer care

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n three messages posted on Twitter, Mr Chavez, 58, thanked Cuban President and ex-leader Raul and Fidel Castro.

He also thanked Venezuelans

for their support and said he would continue treatment in his home country.

He has been president for 14 years and was re-elected for

Vice-President Nicolas Maduro has been the key player in Venezuela with Chavez out of the country Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has returned to the country after receiving treatment for cancer in Cuba.

another six-year term in October 2012, but his swearing-in was delayed because of his illness.

Mr Chavez went to Havana for surgery on 11 December, his fourth operation in an 18-month period for cancer first diagnosed in mid-2011.

Last week the first images of him since the operation were broadcast by Venezuela's government.

He was pictured smiling as he lay in bed reading a newspaper, with his two daughters by his side.

Mr Chavez announced his return to Venezuela to his 3.9 million Twitter followers in a series of tweets that were bombastic in tone but short on detail.

"We have arrived back in the land of Venezuela. Thank you Lord!! Thanks to my beloved

people!! We will continue our treatment here."

There was no information about when or why he returned, and no details about whether he would actively take up the duties of office.

He is yet to be sworn in for his new term, and doubts remain about whether his health will allow him to return to active politics.

Instead he thanked Cuba's leaders and people and said he had confidence in his doctors.

"Onwards to victory!! We will live and we will overcome!!!" he wrote in his final tweet.

Local media quoted VicePresident Nicolas Maduro as saying that Mr Chavez landed at 02:30 local time (06:30 GMT) before being transferred to the Military Hospital in Caracas.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

PAGE 35

Charlie the donkey lands acting role in Ipswich opera W

e've seen many acting performances we thought a donkey could have done a better job with and in this case one literally has after it was cast in an opera at Ipswich's Regent Theatre.

Charlie, who had already acted in nativity plays, answered the desperate calls of a director to appear in Carmen, with its owner, Sue Field, replying to a newspaper advert.

'He is such a good donkey, he is independent, he is happy to go out and be on his own,' Mrs Field said.

'I think he knows he is something of a superstar.

'He always rises to the occasion and everyone who meets him gets huge pleasure from him. He is worth his weight in gold.'

She even had to write Charlie's likes and dislikes on an application form and also his previous acting experience.

The animal is now gearing up for its debut next week but we're not sure if it will have a singing solo.

It will, however, be involved in two scenes and be accompanied on stage by its owner, who has been cast as a peasant.

The 18-year-old donkey is not the only one owned by Mrs Field.

She also has another eight and all of them are part of the Rainbow Donkeys company in Leavenheath, Essex.

Charlie the donkey will star in Carmen the opera (Picture: Masons)

'World's most confusing traffic It's not a bird or plane, it's a flying squirrel season,' Mr Ohashi said. lights' finally taken down 'It i s e a r l y m o r n i n g a n d

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set of rather confusing fake traffic lights that were baffling drivers in China have finally been removed.

This past weekend commuters

were left in a muddle while trying to figure out the 14 different lights at the the Yangrenjie Theme Park in Chongqing.

This seemed to be the final tipping point for the art installation, which flashes different coloured signals at the same time, with officials removing them.

This was a change in attitude after t r a f f i c authorities had continually said the lights added to the beauty of the area and drivers should ignore them.

'They are just for decoration because the junction looked bare,' an official said last May when they were installed.

'They look very pretty at 'The world's most confusing traffic lights' have night but been taken down at the in Chongqing (Picture: drivers should AFP/Getty) just ignore them.'

A Siberian flying squirrel soars through the skies (Picture: Masatsugu Ohashi/Rex)

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bird or plane wouldn't be as exciting, or as cute, as these two Siberian flying squirrels.

The wide eyed tree dwellers showed off their impressive ability to glide and hide in trees in front of intrigued snappers.

The pictures, which also show the squirrels in cute poses on the bark, were captured by photographer Masatsugu Ohashi on the Japanese island of Hokkaido.

'The squirrels make this tree a nest every year when it is winter. Five of them live communally in the cold

in the evening they become active.

'They are almost always in the nest so chances of photographing them in the daytime are difficult.'

The animals, also known as Russian flying squirrels, can escape predators by stretching out their limbs and gliding between trees.

They are normally quite shy and can sleep for days on end so getting these shots of the animals i n a ction was rare.

A pair of the wide-eyed squirrels play on a tree (Picture: Masatsugu Ohashi/Rex)

PAGE 36

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Obesity can 'lead to lack of vitamin D'- study

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besity can lower vitamin D levels in the body, a study suggests.

The report, in the journal PLOS Medicine, analysed genetic data from 21 studies - a total of 42,000 people.

It found every 10% rise in body mass index (BMI) - used as an indicator of body fat - led to a 4% drop of available vitamin D in the body.

As vitamin D is stored in fatty tissue, the authors suggest the larger storage capacity in obese people may prevent it from circulating in the bloodstream.

BMI it is calculated by taking weight (in kilograms) and dividing it by height (in metres) squared. Those with a BMI of 30 or above are considered obese.

Lead author Dr Elina Hypponen, from the University College London Institute of Child Health, said the study "highlights the importance of monitoring and treating vitamin D deficiency in people who are overweight or obese".

Vitamin D is made in the skin after sun exposure and can be taken in dietary supplements.

Healthy levels are about 50 nanomole per litre - less than 30 nanomole per litre can cause the softening and weakening of

Should obese people be treated for vitamin D deficiency? bones, leading to rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults.

Prof David Haslam, from the

National Obesity Forum, said: "Food intake and genetics all play a part in obesity - but this research is a reminder that

Traffic fumes linked to lower birth weight

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regnant women who live in areas with significant air pollution risk having babies of low birth weight, the largest study to date suggests.

The study, in Environmental Health Perspectives, looked at more than three million births in nine nations.

The effect was small and individuals should not be alarmed, but there was a notable impact on the population as a whole, the researchers said.

Low birth weight babies have a higher risk of health problems and death.

The majority survive but have

an increased risk of developing conditions such as diabetes and heart disease as adults.

The International Collaboration on Air Pollution and Pregnancy Outcomes (ICAPPO), by Prof Tracey Woodruff and colleagues at the University California, San Francisco, focused on airborne particulate matter small enough to penetrate the human respiratory tract.

The findings indicated the relationship between birth weight and pollution was dose related - the higher the exposure, the lower the average birth weight.

Prof Woodruff said: "What's

significant is that these are air pollution levels to which practically everyone in the world is commonly exposed."

Prof Kevin McConway, a statistician at the Open University said, based on the findings, if Newcastle were to halve its current particulate air pollution level it would lead to two or three fewer low weight babies out of the total 3,500 or so born in the city each year.

He said: "That sort of reduction might well be worth having, but it's not something that pregnant mothers should lose sleep over, I'd say. " Source: BBCNews.com

Underweight babies have an increased risk of developmental problems

physical activity, like walking the dog or going for a run out in the sunshine, shouldn't be forgotten and can help correct

both weight and lack of vitamin D." Source: BBCNews.com

Lenses found to 'cure colour-blindness'

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cientists say they have green colour-blind folk are deficient," invented spectacle lenses he said. that cure red-green colour Daniel Bor, a colour-blind blindness, which affects some women neuroscientist at the Sackler Centre and one in every 10 men. for Consciousness Science at the The Oxy-Iso lenses were University of Sussex, said they made designed by an American research red colours appear very vibrant. institute to allow medics to spot But he had some reservations, bruising and veins that are difficult because they also made yellow light to see. invisible.

Tests suggest they can help to "My daughter's baby monitor has enhance reds and greens in the some yellow lights on it and I couldn't colour-blind. see them at all," he said.

But they could not be worn by drivers, because they reduce the Source: BBCNews.com ability to perceive yellows and blues.

Theoretical neurobiologist Mark Changizi, who developed the glasses with Oxy-Iso lenses, believes human colour vision "evolved above and beyond that found in other mammals... allowing us to sense colour-signals on the skin, including blushes, blanches, as well as sensing health".

"So the Oxy-Iso filter concentrates A typical colour-blindness test features a circle its enhancement of coloured dots with a number or word inside exactly where red- it

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

PAGE 37

APC may outwit PDP in 2015 – Shuluwa INTERVIEW Chief Abu King Shuluwa is an elder of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP in Benue State. In this interview, he frowned at the leadership of the PDP while welcoming the new mega party, All Progressive Congress as a good development for Nigerian politics. He expressed fears in this interview with Uche Nnorom that the new party could wrestle power from the PDP if, in 2015, the party presents a weak candidate. Excerpts: What is your opinion on the new mega party? Do you see it dislodging PDP in 2015? he merger is a good development for the country.

We have about over 50 political parties at present. Of what use is that when some cannot even win councillorship position. A political party in existence that cannot win councillorship, how can it still call itself a political party?

Left to me, I would have said we need only two political parties or three.

We should have not more than three political parties and if you want to have more, they should not be at least five. That is even too much because if you have five, some political parties in some states can never win even councillorship slot.

And to be honest with you, in every state there are two political parties.

If you go to Imo, APGA and PDP; if you go to Anambra, either ACN and PDP; if you come to Benue, it is ACN and PDP. If you go to Plateau, it’s the same thing. So when people talk about over 50 political parties it is absurd. I’ll rather prefer fewer political parties. The merger will give a challenge to PDP to sit up.

But it isn’t enough to merge; you must have a focus. What are you merging for? If you merge and start scrambling for leadership, if doesn’t help anybody. So, as to whether they will dislodge PDP it all depends.

You cannot dislodge a party that has been in power for more than 13 years easily. The only way you can dislodge such a party is when it has a leadership crisis. And today, the PDP has a leadership crisis and it is that leadership crisis that the merging opposition parties are trying to cash in on. Otherwise, either they merge or not, makes no difference because some of those who have merged together, how many of them have won. How many governorship position have they won in 36 states of the federation? When you put all of them together, you count the number of the people who are representing them at the national level; you will discover that PDP is still the majority. The problem

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with the PDP is the leadership. And I think the problem of this government generally is the leadership and not just the party.

Nigerians are unable to put good leaders in position. Most people who have emerged as leaders are not leaders. That is our problem. And then, we turn round to focus on the party. Who is the party? Party is not a human being. It is those that are managing the party that matter. The people managing that party don’t have leadership qualities. And if today, PDP puts a bad leader, they will have a good challenge from this opposition.

Mega party is good because we need the checks and balances. Let me give you an example. When I was growing up and I see a beautiful girl and I go there and I don’t see any young man coming today, tomorrow the same thing, I quit. I want challenges so that when I send the young men away, I can then be very proud of my prowess. So, if we have the merger and they are challenging the PDP then the country will enjoy it; the electorate will enjoy it. But when you have just one party ruling this country, one party all the time, then they would relax. That party will not satisfy you with its promises. It will never fulfill its promises because whatever you do, it would win and there is nobody to challenge it. Our problem in this country is because there is no opposition. And opposition is good because it is always focusing on what you are not doing right. During NPN and ANPP or something like that here in Benue, the Radio Benue was open to the opposition. They would go there and criticize Governor Aper Aku and in the end, Aper Aku would sit with his people and say what were these people saying yesterday and then he would try to amend by doing what those things the opposition were accusing him of not doing right. But today, you cannot even go to Radio Benue and challenge the government in power. You cannot do that. ACN has no place in Radio Benue.

Are you comfortable with

Chief Abu King Shuluwa the leadership of your party as presently constituted at the national level?

Which leadership? I have never been comfortable with any leadership of this party after 1999.

Most of those who have come in to be leaders came from another party. They didn’t know when and how PDP was formed. They go and all they do is to scramble for big payment, they go there to scramble to become chairmen of big Boards. They scramble to become members of board of big oil companies. That is not what should be. If you are a leader of the party, you control the party and therefore you control the people you have elected. These days the opposite is the case. When we elect people, they now become the leaders of the party dictating to the party what they want because he who pays the piper dictates the tune. So, they finance the party and then they dictate such that the leadership of the party does nothing. I was a leader of a party in the State before; the SDP. I was the sole administrator of the party that led Adasu into the office after I had contested for the governorship of that party. I was called from Lagos and told to take over the leadership of the party as a sole administrator and deliver the governorship to the party. And within two weeks I delivered. I took control and when the governor tells me this, I say no, go and do your job but as for the party, I am responsible for it.

Today, that doesn’t happen.

Whatever the party does, they are waiting for the President to tell them; they are waiting for the governors to rule. In every state, the governor is running the party and is running the administration.

What are the executive members of the party doing? Nothing. So, the

merger, to me is good because we want a challenge. As at now, the PDP has no challenge.

How about the main opposition party, ACN, don’t you think they are enough challenge to the PDP? There should be objective criticism. You don’t just oppose because you are in opposition. Once the government is formed the ACN is supposed to be part of that government in a way. And I think the problem of Nigeria is the winner takes all posture which is not good.

You would see that Obama is appointing people from other political parties too because they are running a government. It’s no more a party affair because the party comes to life only during the electioneering period. Once the election is concluded, you allow the government to function because every government has its own priority. Even if the ACN are at the helm of affairs today, it will have its own priority separate; their strategies will be different. There are cases that can challenge the government in power but not everyone. Some of their challenges are okay but some of the challenges are not.

But if Jonathan decides to appoint people from the opposition, a lot of people would still criticize him and say maybe he wants to bribe the opposition.

That is why I am saying we Nigerians should be more open.

Obasanjo appointed Ibrahim from Adamawa as Adviser. He was in ANPP then. Even top government position, we can appoint people from other parties if we know that they can deliver. There are Nigerians who have been in other parties because they felt that the ideology of that party is better for them. In Nigeria, we do have ideology. No

political party has ideology because every political party is telling you that there are no houses, they will build houses, build schools, provide electricity and all that. Is that ideology? Nigerians should be open-minded and desist from saying somebody should not be appointed simply because he is not a member of the ruling party.

This winner takes all idea is what is killing us as a nation such that sometime, you find a very credible person in another party who could be appointed a commissioner; who could be appointed whatever but he is disqualified simply because he belongs to another party. It should not be like that.

What is your view about the proposed centenary celebration?

We have been celebrating independence every year, what have we achieved from that? What are we celebrating? Hundred years of our existence we are still not patriotic. We are only patriotic when Green Eagles or the Flying Eagles have won a trophy somewhere. The only thing that brings us together in this country is football. When the Nigerian team is playing, you would see all Nigerians sitting down in one place. That is the only time WAZOBIA disappears. But generally for 100 years, some of us in this country do not know where Benue is. If you go to Lagos and you tell somebody you are from Benue, he would say oh, you are from Jos. That is not fair.

Some people are staying in Benue who are not indigenes but have lived here for more than 60 or 70 years and they are still considered as non indigenes. It’s unfair. There was one man called Ojo in my village a long time ago.

The man came to my village before I was born. I think he was from Ekiti state. He came when the UAC were buying beni-seed on the road. He lived there, married, had children and eventually died there. In fact, he was buried in my village. We regarded him as one of us. His children later left anyway. But today, such cannot happen. It is like the more we are developing, the more we are getting educated, the more we are getting far apart from one another.

Are you saying that the centenary celebration is a waste of time and money?

To me, where is the money coming from? From the private sector? The private sector has not seen the graduates that are roaming about without any job?

How much money do you think will go into that celebration? Why should government be involved?

If it is the private sector, then let the private sector organize the celebration.

Why should government get involved? We should not be deceived; they are using our fuel subsidy money to fund the celebration.

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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Al-makura swears in new Chief Judge, receives Agyaragu crisis report From Ali Abare Abubakar, Lafia

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overnor Umaru Tanko Al-makura of Nasarawa state has appealed to the people of the state to toe the path of brotherliness, love, peace and harmony for the socio-economic development and overall progress of the

state.

Al-makura made the appeal yesterday at a function to swear-in the newly appointed Chief Judge of the state, Justice Suleiman Umaru Dikko, as well as receive the report of the high powered commission of inquiry constituted to investigate the

Agyaragu crisis.

While urging the people of the state to remember that they had no other state to call their own except Nasarawa, calling on them to join hands with one another in love and togetherness, as according to him, "nothing less will justify our existence", the governor

congratulated the new Chief Judge, stressing that as the head of the judicial arm of government, "you are the symbol of fairness, equity, justice and objectivity."

He assured the people that government will thoroughly study the report with a view to implementing it.

Katsina beefs up security around expatriates From Lawal Sa'idu Funtua, Katsina

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ollowing the increasing abduction of expatriates across the country, Katsina State Government, yesterday constituted a high powered committee to provide the needed security protection for expatriate working in the state.

The State Commissioner pf Police, Alhaji Abdullahi Magaji disclosed this to newsmen shortly after State Security Council meeting in Katsina which was presided over by the state governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Shehu Shema.

The committee which has its members drawn from the Army, Police, Civil Defence Corps, and the State Security Service was mandated to identify the locations of such expatriate and their phone numbers.

The commissioner who stated that the committee was the first of its kind in the state, urged the committee to work hard to secure the expatriate against potential kidnappers that may attack them.

It could be recalled that few month back some unknown gunmen numbering about 30 invaded Rimi town in Katsina State where they kidnapped a French expatriate Mr. Francis Colump, killed two of his Nigerian security guards and set the town's police station ablaze before fleeing.

BUK to hold lecture in Honour of Academy of Letters President From Edwin Olofu, Kano L-R: Chairman House Committee on Appropriation Hon John Owan Enoh, answering some question, while the media adviser on appropriation, Mr. Kevin Orji listening, during a hot seat interactive program organized by the House of Reps Press Corps, recently at National Assembly, in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

US medical group set to establish diagnostic centre at Unilorin From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

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United State of America (USA) based foundation, PROJECT C.U.R.E. facilitated by another American health solutions company, Delexis Healthcare Solutions has promised to establish a diagnostic centre at the University of Ilorin.

The leader of the team, Mr. Tunde Alaofin and Vice -Chancellor of University,Prof Abdulganiyu Ambali in a meeting with had agreed on the procedures to follow

to ensure the establishment of the centre and prevent foreign medical treatment.

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Ambali while speaking during the meeting, said he was delighted to have the Chief Executive Officer of Delexis Healthcare Solutions, in the University, pointing out that he was looking forward to partnering the American company in the areas of ICT and health.

The VC stressed that having a diagnostic centre that would save Nigerians from going to such

countries as United States, United Kingdom and Germany for medical treatments would be a very good development.

He noted that PROJECT C.U.R.E. and Delexis are very important to the University as they would facilitate the procurement of the necessary equipment for the Diagnostic Centre.

In his remarks, the CEO of Delexis Healthcare Solutions, Mr. Alaofin said that the objective of the project was to help health institutions in developing countries

to be better equipped with welltrained personnel.

Alaofin said the two organisations would commence work on the project by first carrying out a needs assessment and interacting with health stakeholders in the University health institutions, adding that the Vice-Chancellor and the University medical team would later be invited to the United States before the shipment of the requested diagnostic equipment would commence.

Zamfara Assembly urges govt to reconstruct road

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he Zamfara House of assembly has urged the state government to reconstruct the Birnin-Magaji road connecting Magami-Gabake road to Mesa-Teke and Barkeji and terminating at Zurmi.

The House passed the resolution following the motion by Alhaji Rufai Chiroma (KauraNamoda north), saying the people of the area had suffered a lot due to the poor condition of the road.

Chiroma further noted that farmers and business men in Kaura Namoda Local Government Area could hardly carry out their activities during rainy season owing to difficulty in transporting their goods and services.

He said that the roads were not motorable and that movement from Kaura Namoda to Zurmi as well as Birnin-Magajii local government areas for economic

activities was almost impossible during the rainy season.

Alhaji Hashimu Shehu (Gummi 2) expressed support for the motion, urging his colleagues to ameliorate the suffering of the people.

The Speaker of the House, Alhaji Sanusi Rikiji identified the affected areas as commercial centers of the state. (NAN) He recalled that the volume of the business and farming

activities going on in the past, caused the colonial overlords to construct railway from Gusau to Kaura-Namoda.

He noted that the call was the first resolution on road construction after the passage of the 2013 budget.

Meanwhile, the house has adjourned its sittings to Feb. 28, 2013, to enable members to undergo a legislative course in South Africa. (NAN)

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uthorities of Bayero University, Kano has concluded plan to hold a special lecture in honour of the President, Nigeria Academy of Letters, Professor Munzali Jibril.

The Public lecture titled "Northern Nigerian Renaissance: The Humanities in the ReEngineering Agenda" is expected to identify the role of scholars and students of the Humanities could play in reawakening the north which is currently facing serious of security and underdevelopment.

A statement made available to newsmen by the Chairman of the Organizing Committee, Professor S B Ahmad noted the. Professor Ibrahim Lawal Bashir, a professor of Economic History, University of Jos will set the pace towards understanding the challenges.

The Professor of Economic History is also anticipated to come up with strategies. To be employed in re-engineering the Northern region and Nigeria as a whole.

Professor Shu'aibu Oba AbdulRaheem, executive Chairman, Federal Character Commission, Abuja will chair the occasion slated for CIT theartre , New Campus, Tuesday.

Our correspondent learnt that Professor Munzali Jibril, the former Vice Chancellor of Bayero University Kano is the first scholar from Northern Nigeria to be elected President of Nigerian Academy of Letters.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

PAGE 39

Akume, Ogbe Slam PDP as ‘destroying Nigeria’ From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

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enate Minority Leader, Senator George Akume, has lampooned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as lacking any achievement profile, maintaining that the new mega party, All Progressive Congress (APC), remains the alternative to salvage Nigeria.

Senator Akume, who said this at the weekend while addressing his constituents on the new mega party in Makurdi, posited that the mega party is poised to better the lives of Nigeria and urged them to embrace it whole heartedly.

He said the party would fight for the conduct of true election in 2015 that would be in line with international best practices, and appealed to supporters to be resolute, adding “there will be light at the end of the tunnel”.

“We are determined to ensure success of this project and I implore all of you to key into it. We will shoot down these bats, PDP with our armors”, Sen. Akume said.

Former PDP national chairman and chieftain of Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN Chief Audu Ogbe, regretted the bastardization of governance of the country by the ruling party, noting that the PDP has collapsed the Nigerian economy as well as impoverished Nigerians.

He accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of destroying the PDP which they had fought hard to build, boasting that the new mega party will send PDP out of the political atmosphere of the country in 2015.

“APC will lead the way. We will triumph. In APC thousand opinions will hold, there will be no imposition of candidate.

I urge you to interact with members of ANPP and CPC”, Chief Ogbe urged the supporters.

Supporters of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) waving brooms during a campaign rally at Gwagwalada, recently

Over N76 million raised for Dankwambo's 2015 bid From David Hassan, Gombe

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riends and political associates of Gombe State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo yesterday raised the sum of over N76 million for his 2015 governorship campaign organization billed to be launched in may 2013.

Donors at the occasion were Alhaji Umar Farouk Bamusa N20 million, Alhaji Abdulkadir Hamma Salleh N50 million, Alhaji Umar Galadima N5 million, Alhaji Abubakar Abubakar BD N1 million among many other donors.

A top notch of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and convener of the organization that will be named "Talba Neighbour to Neighbour", Alhaji Bala Tinka who barely finished announcing the proposed launching of the

Organization in May this year began to receive monetary promises for the organization.

According to Bala Tinka, a big time contractor in the state, the organization would be formed with the aim of impressing on Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo to bid for a second tenure in office come 2015.

He told a very large gathering of PDP supporters in Malala, Dukku Local Government Area at the flagoff campaign of next Saturday's Local Government election for Gombe North Senatorial District that Dankwambo has done enough to deserve a re-election for a second tenure.

According to him, the construction of over seventy rural and urban roads, staying in his personal house without collecting a kobo for rent, recruitment of 1,000 secondary school teachers

and renovation and overhauling of the education sector among many others are reasons Neighbour to Neighbour would be calling on him to re-contest.

The occasion which was also a continuation of the Governor's constituency tour aimed at meeting the people at their doorstep, saw that Governor presenting PDP's flag to five of the party's chairmanship candidate's in the zone which include Gombe, Nafada, Kwami, Funakaye and Dukku Local Government Areas.

The Governor who charged the contestants not to fail the party and the entire people of the state if elected said they should allow fairness, justice and equity to be their watchword.

Responding on behalf of the contestants, the party's flag bearer for Gombe Local Government Area, Alhaji Ibrahim Sagir promised to uphold the confidence reposed on them by the party while thanking the Governor for allowing hitch free and democratic primaries.

Plateau North Bye - election: CPC accuses INEC of siding with PDP From Musa Pam, Jos

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he Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) Plateau state chapter of the Party has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission of taken side with PDP for refusing to put its logo on the ballot paper during the plateau North senatorial seat bye election last year October 6th 2013.

CPC, in a Press statement made available to Peoples Daily in Jos and signed by its state secretary Pastor Dabit Joseph, said it read with dismay the unfortunate statement of the Public Affairs

Officer of INEC in the state , Mr Bencyn Ikpe which was published in a one of the National daily not Peoples Daily that the officer was quoted as saying that INEC has appealed the judgment of the Abuja high court that annulled the election of Sen. Gyang Nyam Pwajok He said from such misguided statements Mr Bencyn Ikpe is playing the role as INEC public Relations officer and as a PDP adviser and a judge According to the statement, “ INEC has taken sides with the PDP and as a party we believe in true justice and we cannot give room

for injustice. We are aware that even the Courts of Appeal and Supreme Court have frowned at INEC on matters that has to do with the interpretation of the law and INEC has no power to refuse any candidate to contest for elections.

“We therefore urge INEC in the spirit of fairness and justice to obey court order and straight away fix a date for the by election”.

It would be recalled that a byeelection was conducted last year October 6 following the death of Senator Gyang Dangtong, and Senator Gyang Nyam Pwajok, a candidate of PDP, was declared the winner of the elections by the INEC.

Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

PAGE 41

10 stars Keshi should reconsider MTNFootball.com lists 10 players who Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi should give a second look-in in his team.

Michael Eneramo Sivasspor striker neramo has been a prolific goal scorer wherever he has played. The 27-year-old is currently one of the best African scorers in the Turkish top flight with eight goals in the league and five in the Turkish Cup. The former Esperance of Tunisia skipper is a bull on the pitch.

He is a powerful striker who uses his strength and pace to outwit opponents. First capped by Nigeria in 2009, he has scored four goals in 10 caps for Nigeria. He last played for the Eagles in September 2011.

Chinedu Obasi Schalke 04 striker Top-class striker on his day, but lately he has struggled with injuries which has limited his appearances for his German Bundesliga outfit.

At 26 he still has age on his side and can play as a second striker and as a right winger.

Once he can establish himself at his club, he could again be given another chance with the national team.

Victor Nsofor Obinna Lokomotiv Moscow striker Nsofor is a versatile forward who is known for scoring important goals for the Super Eagles.

Injury and his form at his struggling Russian club have combined to keep him out of the international team for over a year now.

He is forceful and direct when he is fit. He has yet to get his chance under Keshi and so he should be recalled.

Onyekachi Apam Rennes defender Onyekachi Apam is a defender of great quality but injury has limited him in the last two years. Apam is always rock solid in the heart of the defence or as right back.

He has proved himself at U20 and Olympic team levels and was recently considered for a return to the Super Eagles only to be stopped by injury. He is always calm, rugged and great tackler.

With the impending exit of skipper Joseph Yobo from the international stage, there is need for extra cover at the heart of the back four and this 26-year-old could provide it.

Kalu Uche Kasimpasa midfielder or striker He is another proven goal scorer with Nigerian blood running through him.

He currently stars for Kasimpasa in Turkish top flight, where he is the team’s top scorer and second top scorer in the league with 12 goals.

His versatility is an advantage to the Eagles as he could play as a point man, supporting striker and as an attacking midfielder.

Uche was Nigeria best player at the 2010 World Cup after he made his long-awaited debut on 21 June 2003, in an African Nations Cup qualifier against Angola, scoring in the process.

Raheem Lawal Mersin Idmanyurdu midfielder He is an all round midfielder with power and skills. The former 36 Lion of Lagos player is a good tackler, passer and dribbler.

He also has a good vision for goals with long range shots. He was an important player for Adana Demirspor before he was bought over by Mersin Ýdmanyurdu in the Turkish top flight.

He was a surprise omission to the 2013 Nations Cup, but should now be recalled to stake another claim in this squad.

Obafemi Martins Levante striker Obafemi Martins has proved himself again in the Spanish La Liga with Levante since his transfer in the summer from Russian club Rubin Kazan.

He has fired eight goals in 19 matches thus far. He could not take his second chance in a friendly against Venezuela in November, but that does not mean he cannot still add bite to the Eagles strike force even if it means coming off the bench to do so. He is an experienced player as he has featured in three Africa Cup of Nations in 2006, 2008 and 2010, and in the FIFA World Cup in 2010.

Joel Obi Inter Milan midfielder Enterprising defensive midfielder with a sweet left foot. His industry in the middle of the park will be invaluable to the Super Eagles once he is over his injury problems. He posted a five-star debut performance against Sierra Leone two years ago and a lot was expected of him before his injury problems set in.

Sidney Sam Bayer Leverkusen winger or striker Sidney Sam is a versatile player who could play as a winger or a striker. Born in Germany, he has decided to feature for Nigeria as a full international after he represented Germany at U19, U20 and U21 levels. Good enough Nigeria have begun processing his papers for this switch.

He scores goals 16 goals in 58 appearances for Bayer Leverkusen - and has pace to burn on the wings and so will be a valuable addition to Keshi’s squad.

Victor Anichebe Everton striker An imposing, bullish striker with great power and pace, who could also feature on the right side of midfield as well as a supporting striker.

He could become a key star for club and country if only he could stay away from the treatment table. The 24-year-old striker is the younger version of Emmanuel Emenike after he made full international debut for Nigeria in a friendly against Austria in May 2008. He would most certainly be a fantastic addition to the Eagles attack. He already has 11 caps and a goal.

Kalu Uche Obafemi Martins

E Michael Eneramo

Chinedu Obasi

Victor Nsofor

Onyekachi Apam

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he Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) is expected to be handed a take-off grant by the country’s government soon, supersport.com can report.

It is understood that the NPFL is working in conjunction with the National Sports Commission (NSC) in Nigeria, which also doubles as the sports ministry, to secure government subvention for the country’s top flight.

NPLF to get take-off grant The Nigerian finance ministry is also in the picture of helping the top flight out of its financial doldrums.

Nigeria’s top flight has been mired in crisis including a number of court suits and financial hiccups which the League Management Committee (LMC) inherited.

But the LMC, saddled with running the NPFL and chaired by former Nigerian lawmaker, Nduka Irabor, is to get a developmental grant to help the top flight get underway.

“We still can’t resolve the problem (of title sponsorship) and government is willing to help. We have a smart sports

minister coupled with a finance minister who is willing to see how to assist the league since it employs a large number of youth through a developmental grant. Also, the president of the football federation is keen to see the league back in operation.

“This is the reason we didn’t

Raheem Lawal

Joel Obi

Sidney Sam

Victor Anichebe start the league until we were guaranteed that funds was coming from somewhere,” said Irabor.

Last week, the LMC announced a name change for the country’s top flight from the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) also known as the Nigeria Football League to the NPFL. The 2012/13 season of the NPFL is now billed to kick off on March 9 after a number of postponements.

PAGE 42

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

N50 million bonds: NPL interim board, club owners still in tussle

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n end to the crisis rocking the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) which has brought undue delay to the long awaited resumption of a new football season may not have come following lingering sponsorship tussle that have ensued between Clubs and the

league management committee(LMC).

Sponsorship in recent times has remained a major setback in the day to day management of the country’s league.

Shortly after its inauguration last year by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), the league interim

Mike Idoko

committee mandated each participating NPL Clubs to ensure that they have up to N50 million in their bank account before the commencement of the league season earlier proposed to start February 16.

The decision by the LMC met stiff resistance by most club owners who claimed they can’t afford such amount. And so it has since resulted to continued postponement of the 2012/ 2013 league season.

The league management body and club owners engaged each other for hours in a protracted meeting which almost marred the rescheduled league draw on Friday.

Fielding questions from newsmen on the lingering issue, Chairman of the LMC Hon Nduka Irabor said the lingering issues

remained unresolved even as he insisted that there was no going back on march 9 which has been fixed as the latest kick-off date for the incoming league season.

“We still can resolve the problem but government has promised to come to our aid. Government believes in the league just as we are trying to sort out things.

“The league is needed to keep people off the street.

Luckily, we have a good relationship with top sports administrator who have decided that we use our league as a development ground.

“So one reason that made us not to have been able to start the season was to make sure money was coming from somewhere.

“Most clubs had complained that they can’t afford the money they were asked to make sure is in their account but they complained won’t meet up.

What we need now is to find a way out of it.

Nigeria set for IBAF world U-20 baseball cup

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he International Baseball Federation, IBAF, the world governing body for baseball has formally invited Nigeria for the forthcoming world U-12 Baseball Championship scheduled to take place in Taipei, China from July 20 to 28, 2013.

In extending the invitation to Nigeria, IBAF acknowledged the developmental programme which the country has embarked on in the recent years adding that embracing the international scene will no doubt help in expediting the development of the game in the country.

IBAF has also invited 12 other countries from other parts of the world to take part in this competition.

Meanwhile, the process of getting the best players that will represent Nigeria in the world tournament has started with a camping in Ibadan starting 19 February 2013 and to run for 8 days.

Best players have seen selected from teams in different from every parts of the country with Oyo state government playing a pivotal role in the national

camping event.

In addition, an American Coach has been appointed as the technical adviser of the national team and he is scheduled to be in Nigeria very soon to start working on the team.

Commenting on the journey so far, the secretary of Nigeria Baseball and softball Federation (NBSF) Mr. Kehinde Laniyan praised the efforts of the international body in making sure that the game of baseball grows in Nigeria adding that the nation’s invitation among the 12 participating countries was a clear indication that the national body is leaving no stone unturned in making sure that it takes the game tothe nooks and crannies of this country.

“We felt fulfilled when we got the invitation. It shows that somebody somewhere is closely following what we are doing here, “he said.

Nigeria is also playing host to international headquarters of African Baseball and softball Association (ABSA) with Nigeria born Gen. Ishola Williams (Rtd) being the president.

Violation of match rules may lead to sanction –NPL Stories by Albert Akota

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ess than three weeks to the kick-off of the 2012/2013 Nigeria Premier League (NPL) now

Hon Nduka Irabor

regarded as Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).

The league management interim committee (LMC) has warned that the league

body will not spear any club found violating rules and regulations guiding the conduct of games as the full weight of the law will be allowed to take its full course on defiant teams.

Chairman of the LMC Hon Nduka Irabor who handed down the warning while addressing Club chairmen and representatives during rescheduled NPL draws held at FIFA Goal project in Abuja stated that reeling out warning before the commencement of the league season became necessary to enable participating clubs stick to existing regulatory framework guiding the conduct of both home and away teams at any given match situation.

“I need to emphasis on the rules and regulations guiding the game of football especially as it concerns club conduct during matches.

“The reason is that the league interim management committee will not fail to allow the full weight of the law take cause its cause whenever we receive report that any club did not comply with the laid down rules.

The new football season has been fixed for March 9 with the 20 participating clubs set to resume hostilities.

Dominic Lorfa

Lobi Stars, Nasarawa United ready for NPL kicks-off

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ontinental bound Nigeria Premier League (NPL) side; Lobi Stars of Makurdi and new top league entrant Nasarawa United have declared that their respective clubs are battle ready for the incoming 2012/ 2013 football league season.

Lobi Stars finished third in the last Nigeria football season to book a continental ticket will confront Bayelsa United in their first domestic league game scheduled for March 9 while Nasarawa United which gained promotion from division two league, the Nigeria National League (NNL), will engage El-kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri in another opening NPL encounter.

Technical adviser and vice Chairman of the Makurdibased club Mr Dominic Lorfa while admitting that the new kick-off date for the incoming football season was visible, was optimistic that his club will surpass previous performance.

“I won’t predict exactly where we will be when the season ends but I can assure you that we are well prepared, Lobi is a good team, I promise you the club will not disappoint its fans starting from their first match come March 9.

“On his part, Nasarawa United Chairman Barrister Isaac Danladi said that his side is equal to the task ahead.

“Yes the challenges will be there, but I want to assure you that my boys are equal to the task, besides we have done a good recruitment and state government has always been there for us.

“Our first with El Kanemi will not be that easy even though we beat them at the Super Four contest. In all, I believe we will go very far this league season.” said Danlami.

Uzoenyi seals Rennes deal

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igeria international, Ejike Uzoenyi has sealed a deal to join French side, Rennes.

The 24-year-old winger completed the move following an impressive outing with Nigeria at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.

Uzoenyi who confirmed the news over the weekend, explained that he would be

jetting off to France very shortly.

“Yes, I have sealed the deal to join Rennes. I am very pleased with this because it is the dream of every Nigerian player to move to Europe. I hope to take my career to the next level,” he said.

He will now join another Nigerian, Onyekachi Apam at Rennes. Uzoenyi has made 11 appearances for Nigeria.

Ejike Uzoenyi

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

PAGE 43

Outsiders eye Champions League upsets

Porto striker Jackson Martinez

Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta

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For the fifth time in less than two years, AC Milan and Barcelona are ready to do battle in the Champions League.

The sides have met 15 times in the competition to date and Barça hold the slight edge, with six wins, four defeats and five draws. They are also unbeaten in their last seven meetings with the Rossoneri, winning four and drawing three.

After a stuttering start to their Serie A campaign, Massimiliano Allegri’s youthful AC Milan side have fought their way impressively back into contention in the top three.

Their recent form owes much to the blossoming strike duo of Mario Balotelli and Stephan El Shaarawy, the former having scored four times in his first three games for the club.

Former Barcelona front man Bojan Krcic may also feature against his formative club. Bojan became Barça’s youngest ever league goalscorer on 20 October 2007 when he found the net aged 17 years and two months.

For Barça, coach Tito Vilanova is again absent as he continues to receive medical treatment in New York, but he will no doubt be in regular contact with assistant Jordi Roura.

The Catalan side is running away with La Liga and remains on course to replicate their clean sweep of trophies of two seasons ago, thanks in no small part to the continued scintillating form of Lionel Messi. The Argentinian has 56 goals in the Champions League and is edging ever closer to Raul’s all-time record of 71.

His brace in the club’s recent 2-1 win over Granada, meanwhile, moved him to an extraordinary 37 league goals in 24 games this season.

Arsenal were knocked out of the FA Cup’s Round of 16 by second-tier Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, having exited the League Cup in similar fashion earlier in the season.

That, coupled with the fact that they lie 21 points behind Premier League leaders Manchester United in fifth place, means the Champions League represents their only hope of a first trophy since 2005.

First, however, the Gunners must overcome Bayern Munich, who are cruising towards the Bundesliga title with a 15-point lead over second-placed Borussia Dortmund.

The Bavarians, whose Champions League away record stands at 29 wins, 29 defeats and 24 draws, are spoiled for choice upfront but must do without defender Jerome Boateng, who is suspended.

Arsenal, for their part, will take some heart from their home states in the competition, which show 24 wins and only two defeats to Manchester United and Schalke in 31 games at the Emirates.

The north Londoners will also be keen to avenge their defeat by Bayern in the last 16 of the 2004/05

tournament.

Six Portuguese internationals, five Brazilians and four Argentinians are in line to feature in this, the first ever meeting between the Iberian neighbours.

Malaga, this season’s revelations, is the only qualifiers left in the competition, having gone through the group phase unbeaten and finished top of their section, four points ahead of AC Milan.

Hosts Porto, meanwhile, have reached the knockout stages ten times, and go into this game on the back of a 19-match unbeaten league run of 15 wins and four draws.

Argentinian pair Luis Gonzalez and Javier Saviola will be tasked with providing attacking inspiration for the hosts and visitors respectively.

But the two real game-changers are likely to be Porto’s Colombian striker Jackson Martinez, who has 20 goals in 19 league games in his debut season, and Spanish rising star Francisco Roman Alarcon Suarez, the 20year-old more commonly known as Isco.

Galatasaray host Schalke in what is the pair’s first competitive fixture. Fatih Terim’s Galatasaray started their European campaign poorly with two defeats, before recovering to record three straight wins and seal second spot in Group H The Turkish side will be hoping their impressive attacking trio of Wesley Sneijder, Didier Drogba and Burak Yilmaz can continue that positive momentum against Schalke.

The Germans find themselves mid-table in the Bundesliga, but have lost just one of their last nine European away games.

That sequence includes a notable victory over Arsenal, and they are one of only four teams still unbeaten in this season’s Champions League.

The game also marks the Champions League debut of Schalke’s new coach, Jens Keller, who replaced Huub Stevens in December and will no doubt be preparing for a fiery first test in Istanbul.

Côte d’Ivoire striker Didier Drogba, 34, returns to the Champions League looking to add to his tally of 39 goals in 77 games, which he amassed while at previous clubs Marseille and Chelsea.

After a brief stint in China with Shanghai Shenhua, Drogba is now starting a new adventure in Turkey with Galatasaray.

The forward made an immediate impact in his league debut on 15 February, scoring five minutes after coming on in the 63rd minute to help his side to a 2-1 victory over bottom-placed Akhisar Belediyespor.

The number of sides still unbeaten in this year’s Champions League. They are Borussia Dortmund and Juventus, who played the first legs of their last-16 ties last week, Schalke and Malaga. The latter are the only remaining qualifiers in the competition.

Again, as it’s always special to meet your international team-mates. They’re also a team I’ve never faced and it’s a stadium in which I’ve yet to play. We’re going to UEFA Champions League.

Barcelona striker Pedro Rodriguez

AC Milan striker Mario Balotelini

C Milan’s reunion with southern European rivals Barcelona takes centre stage in the second set of first-leg fixtures in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16.

Two other former champions are also in action, with Porto taking on surprise package Malaga, and Bayern Munich facing eternal hopefulsArsenal.

G a l a t a s a r a y , meanwhile, will seek inspiration from Burak TODAY Yilmaz, who has six goals in six outings in this year’s FC Porto v competition, and Didier Malaga Drogba, who scored on his Arsenal v recent debut for the Bayern Munich ambitious Turks, as they TOMORROW look to outgun Schalke.

Galatasaray v For the Bundesliga side, Schalke 04 striker Klaas-Jan AC Milan v Huntelaar will be hoping Barcelona to add to his tally of four goals in this year’s edition.

CHANGE OF NAME I, FORMERLY KNOWN AS MISS. ALTINE ABDULLAHI NOW WISH TO BE MRS. ALTINE TITUS DAUDA ALL OTHER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. BOGORO L.G.A. AND GENERAL PUBLIC TAKE NOTE.

PAGE 44

NWF explains why Nigeria should be at World Youth Championships

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che Onwumeh, S e c r e t a r y , N i g e r i a Weightlifting Federation (NWF), says Nigeria should be at the I n t e r n a t i o n a l Weightlifting Federation (IWF’s) World Youth Championships, to increase its chances of being at the Youth Olympic Games.

Onwumeh told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos that the IWF championships would hold in TashkentUzbekistan, Russia from April 6 to April 13.

“It will be advantageous for the NWF to participate in the championships because it will boost the country’s chances of having many slots at the Youth Olympics in China in 2014,’’ she said.

Onwumeh said the athletes would also gain exposure that would enable them to excel at the Games and other international events.

According to her, athletes would be invited to camp based on their past performances and personal records in national and international events.

She urged the state associations to renew their membership for the year, including the registration and licensing of athletes, and reminded them that it would end in February.

Onwumeh said that the federation had not had any major event since the year began, to allow state associations and athletes to renew their licences.

The NWF has planned a National Youth Championship for boys and girls in Calabar between March 15 and March 22.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Four Nigerian clubs reveal 2013 kit Baseball

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our Nigerian clubs unveiled their new kits for the 2013/2014 season in Lekki area of Lagos by OWU Sportswear on Wednesday.

The clubs include three Premier League teams, 3SC, ABS and Lobi Stars and National League outfit, Mountain of Fire Ministries (MFM) FC. Seven players from the four clubs were on hand to model at the unveiling ceremony of the jerseys.

The players are 3SC duo of Mutiu Adegoke and Sola Adeboye as well as Tony Okpotu and Ezekiel Bassey, both from Lobi Stars and ABS striker, Abdulrahman Bashir.

MFM FC duo of Femi Oladejo and Giwa Mayowa completed the list of players who modelled the new jerseys. Bashir expressed happiness over the new jerseys commending OWU Sportswear for upping the quality of kits.

“It’s a good looking kit. At the same time I look how I

looked inside it with the tight-fit design that goes with it. Now I’m looking forward to wearing the jerseys when the new Premier League season starts,” said the ABS alltime leading scorer with 57 goals to supersport.com.

CEO of OWU Sportswear, Tunji Brown, has assured that the unveiling of the sets of jerseys for the clubs will lead to players of 3SC, ABS and Lobi Stars exchanging kits at the end of their games.

“OWU is synonymous with a lot of firsts. And in the coming season I’m assuring that we will see players of ABS, 3SC and Lobi Stars exchange jerseys after their games. This is meant to foster friendship among the clubs and players,” explained Brown at the unveiling ceremony.

OWU Sportswear unveiled home, away and alternate jerseys of the four clubs.

Wushu-Kungfu practitioners hope sport will be at 2020 Olympics

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Kunfu player in action

ichael Oladeinde, Technical Director, Nigeria WushuKungfu Federation (NWKF), on Thursday said he was hopeful that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) would adopt the sport at the 2020 Olympic Games.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Executive Board of the IOC on Feb. 12 de-listed wresting from the sports for the 2020 Games.

It has shortlisted Wushu-Kungfu, Karate, Baseball/Softball, Squash, Roller Sports, Wakeboarding Sport climbing to replace Wrestling.

Oladeinde told NAN in Lagos that the decision would avail the International WushuKungfu Federation with more time to push for the inclusion of the sport in the 2020 Olympics.

“This is good news for members of the International WushuKungfu Federation. I strongly believe the sport will take the slot at the 2020 Olympics,’’ he said.

Oladeinde said the sport was demonstrated at the 2008 Beijing Olympics for the world to see and embrace.

The technical director said the body had started grooming young talents that would represent the country when the sport was eventually included in the Olympics.

“We already have young talents that we are nurturing to represent the country if the sport is finally in the Olympics,’’ Oladeinde said.

Also, the Secretary of NWKF, Solomon Mgbejume, said the federation would engage athletes in competitions to prepare them ahead of the 2020 Olympics.

He said that he was optimistic that the sport which has many medals, would be part of the 2020 Games.

“There are close to 100 medals to be won in WushuKungfu and we will engage our athletes in competitions to prepare them ahead of 2020.

A Wushu-Kungfu judge, Felix Asemota, said the development was an indication of the popularity of the sport across the world.

He added that the NWKF should seize the opportunity to improve its technical officials and promote the sport at the grassroots.

federation invite 40 players to camp

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o fewer than 40 players have been invited by the Nigeria Baseball and Softball Association (NBSA) to camp, for the 2 nd I n t e r n a t i o n a l Baseball Federation (IBAF) U-12 championship billed for Taipei, in July.

Olajide Abidoye, the team Manager of NBSA, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday on telephone, that the camp will hold from Feb. 18 to Feb. 26 in Ibadan, Oyo State.

“The players are being invited to the first phase of the camp, ahead of our preparations for the IBAF U-12 competition scheduled for July in Taipei, Taiwan.

“The 40 players we have invited are expected to resume camp in Ibadan on Feb. 18, for the technical crew to work with,’’the NBSA team manager said.

Abidoye told NAN that 20 players would be selected out of the 40 players at the end of the second phase of the programme in March.

“At the end of the second camp phase in March, 20 of the best players will be eventually selected to represent the country at the competition,’’ he added.

The IBAF U-12 championship is the 2nd edition of the prime category (budding talents) to develop and foster the growth of the sport around the world.

Fives Chairman says, lack of sponsors is stalling its growth

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Bolaji Abdullahi, Sports Minister

he Lagos State Fives Association (LSFA) has said that lack of sponsorship and competitions have continued to stall the growth of the sport in the country.

Nasiru Mohammed, the Chairman of the association disclosed yesterday in Lagos that it would not allow the setback to deter its programmes.

Mohammed stressed that LSFA, was set to

surmount all the challenges it encountered in 2012, by taking the sport to the grassroots.

He added that the body was currently on the verge of taking its awareness campaign for the sport to schools, to identify, and groom budding talents for the sport.

“Part of our 2013 agenda is to ensure the sport is publicised in secondary schools for more students to get acquainted with the sport for the

talents to be discovered,’’he said.

Mohammed said that the association would strive to raise the profile of the sport to what obtained in the northern part of the country where it is very popular.

The chairman also appealed to corporate entities to lend their support to the sport, by partnering with the association to execute its programmes.

“I am appealing to

individuals and corporate bodies to help bankroll our competitions; for the sport to grow,’’ he added.

Mohammed, who is also the Technical Director of the Fives Federation of Nigeria (FFN), complained that the national body was also facing the challenges of getting sponsors for its programmes.

“The Sardauna of Sokoto Cup is the only known competition that we have at the national level, and we will need the support of

sponsors to come up with more of such,’’the chairman said.

He urged the National Sports Commission (NSC) to also include the sport in the itinerary of the next National Sports Festival to propel its growth.

“The exclusion of the sports from the sports festival, is also affecting its development. I want to use this medium to appeal to the NSC to consider the sport in the next festival,’’Mohammed said.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

PAGE 45

PICTORIAL

1] Serena Williams, a 15time Grand Slam champion, becomes the oldest woman to top the world rankings.

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2] AC Milan's reunion with southern European rivals Barcelona takes centre stage in the second set of first-leg fixtures in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16.

3] Phil Ball explains why Gareth Bale is more suited to Real Madrid than Barcelona and how he might be the tonic they need.

4] Santos coach MuricyRamalho has told Neymar he must learn to keep out of trouble after the Brazil forward was shown a red card during the team's 3-1 loss to Ponte Preta on Sunday.

2

5] James Anderson is backed to set more bowling records for England after surpassing Sir Ian Botham's total of wickets.

6] Flanker Sam Warburton and lock AlunWyn Jones take a full part in Wales's training ahead of their Six Nations clash with Italy in Rome.

3

4

5

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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Some Interesting Facts •The Earth weighs around 6,588,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons.

•The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.

•The electric chair was invented by a dentist.

•The elephant is the only mammal that can't jump.

•The first Ford cars had Dodge engines.

•The first known contraceptive was crocodile dung, used by Egyptians in 2000 B.C. •The first toilet ever seen on television was on "Leave It To Beaver."

•The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world.

•The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher.

•The highest point in Pennsylvania is lower than the lowest point in Colorado.

•The housefly hums in the middle octave, key of F. •The international telephone dialing code for Antarctica is 672.

•The katydid bug hears through holes in its hind legs.

•The "L.L." in L.L. Bean stands for Leon Leonwood.

•The longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched."

•The longest recorded flight of a chicken is thirteen seconds.

•The longest word in the English language, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. The only other word with the same amount of letters is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconioses, its plural.

•The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.

•The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.

PAGE 47

Say what?

PHOTO OF THE DAY

SUDOKU

Yesterday’s solution

Don't mind us: Two lions roll around in the road bringing rush hour traffic in Nairobi, Kenya, to a standstill.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

www.peoplesdailyng.com

SPORTS LA TEST LATEST

Mancini claims best EPL manager

M

anchester City boss Roberto Mancini says he is currently "the best manager in England" and is not facing the sack.

City is out of European competition and face a battle to retain their Premier League title, with Manchester United currently 12 points clear.

They are in the FA Cup quarter-finals but former City player Danny Mills has suggested Mancini will be replaced at the end of the season.

“In the last 15 months I am the best manager in England," said Mancini.

Mancini took over at Manchester City in December 2009, replacing Mark Hughes.

“When you look at what he has spent in the last three seasons, £285m on players, that alone means you are under pressure to succeed.

“The owners want to win the Premier League again and you have to be competitive in the Champions League.

“I think he may well go (even if he wins the FA Cup), depending on who is available.

Manchester City is looking to play the Barcelona way they have brought in those guys.

“There are lots of rumblings, it is not always a particularly happy dressing room and when you have spent that amount of money there is pressure. What we haven't seen this season is any progression.

“A lot of people want Mourinho at the moment and Mancini's job could depend on who is available and who they can get. Guardiola has now gone, you assume there will be a position at Chelsea and after the weekend, who knows what Arsene Wenger may do.”

Last season Manchester City closed an eight-point gap on United to win their first Premier League title with a dramatic 32 final day win over Queen's Park Rangers.

Roberto Mancini ADVERT: BUSINESS: NEWS: LAGOS:

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How can you, as a Head of State, be removed from office and detained and then you say you have forgotten? It’s a lie. If it’s forgiveness, I’ve forgiven him. But it’s a lie, I cannot forget.

— Gen. Muhammadu Buhari on the 1985 coup against his government.

. . . putting the people first

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

QUO TABLE Q UO TE UOT QUO UOTE

The PDP serio-comedy M

y abhorrence of suspense makes me hate TV serials or even series. The realization that I have to make myself free at an appointed time, and find fuel for my generator as backup in case the PHCN's black power decides to strike, makes me avoid watching 'serialised soaps'.

Whenever I find one that catches my fancy I have to wait till, at least, a whole season's production is available, get it, create time and convenience (availability of chop money), and then proceed to watch the soap.

This leads me to the current soap in town, produced and directed by the PDP. They are driving me crazy because of the irregularity in the release of the episodes. The suspense is killing me and I don't find that funny. The latest offering is the muscle flexing between Bamanga Tukur, the party's National Chairman, with President Goodluck as his corner man, and Olagunsoye Oyinlola, the ex-National Secretary, with ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo/ governors in his corner. This particular instalment has all the making of a bestseller and that is why I am compelled to 'watch' till the end.

The spark for the current standoff may, to all intents and purposes, be the Adamawa state chapter crisis, but the embers have been smouldering ever since the third term ambition of Obasanjo was scuttled by 'unpatriotic' elements. To take his pound of flesh, Obasanjo foisted a sick presidential candidate (May he rest in peace!) and an incompetent, provincial presidential running mate on the PDP, and by extension, the nation.

With the late president incapacitated, Goodluck and Obasanjo used every sentiment religious, regional, ethnic - to enable the former assume executive powers. After testing real power and wanting more, Goodluck practically genuflected to the clergy and the governors to achieve his goal. While the clergy turned the pulpit into a soapbox, the governors used the rigging machinery at their disposal - police commissioners, INEC resident commissioners, the military and, of course, thugs, to make sure Goodluck Jonathan was "elected" the president of Nigeria. Knowing his provincial worldview, the governors believed they had a weakling in the Aso Villa. Now the chickens are coming home to roost.

The dissolution of the Adamawa state executive council of the PDP, which the INEC had earlier called for along with those in eight other states, provided the governors with a perfect weapon with which to

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GUEST COLUMNIST Babayola Toungo babayolamtoungo@yahoo.com

Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, PDP National Chairman strike at the president and Nigerians. Or so they thought. After suborning some members of the National Working Committee (NWC) to reverse itself on the Adamawa case, the governors and their point man, Oyinlola, were so blinded by a sense of victory that they didn't see the fangs bared by Goodluck and his battering ram, the national chairman. The muscle-flexing spearheaded by Oyinlola consumed him as its first victim. The national chairman felt betrayed by the 'gang of 10' as Dr. Umar Ardo, one of the arrowheads for the dissolution of the Adamawa State EXCO of the party, portrayed them. Bamanga complained that Oyinlola and his cohorts - those in the NWC doing the biddings of the governors and Obasanjo 'betrayed his trust', whatever it means.

On this issue of 'betrayal of trust', I will vehemently disagree with Bamanga Tukur. It is well known that one of the ingredients that oil the wheels of the PDP is betrayal of trust, beginning with Obasanjo himself who betrayed the 'trust reposed' in him by those who risked all to transform him overnight from a jailbird to a president; or closer home to Atiku Abubakar who betrayed Bamanga, Professor Aminu, Wilberforce Juta and Joel Madaki, after it was agreed way back in 1998 to give Atiku the gubernatorial ticket of the party in Adamawa while the others are free to pursue other interests at the zonal and national levels. Because of the party's unstated motto of killing off members with democratic principles or even pretensions of democracy, the PDP is today shorn of all its original founders - not because of retirement from active politics or as a way of handing over to younger elements in the party.

Obasanjo, the greatest beneficiary of the aluta against the military, militarised the party and till date, the party remains more like the old Russian Communist Party than anything resembling a democratic institution.

The crisis in the Adamawa state of the party is needless, to say the least. At the conclusion of the party's congresses in February/ March 2011, the (Independent?)

National Electoral Commission adjudged the Adamawa congresses and eight other state congresses to be flawed. This was well before the current National Working Committee (NWC) headed by Bamanga Tukur was selected by the party's "national leader" Goodluck Jonathan. The NWC's mistake was in allowing those state EXCOs that emerged through a fraudulent process to remain in place for this long instead of sacking them as advised by the (I)NEC since last year.

Leaving them in place and dealing with the illegal EXCOs made the governors believe they have got away with the illegality and in the process rubbing the nose of the electoral 'umpire' in the dust.

Not that I blame them. The time wasted by the NWC in dealing with this illegality made them appear to take on the garb of legitimacy.

This is not any business of mine.

What concerns me here is the infrequency of the episodes. Since the one where the national secretary of the party was kicked out of office by a Federal High Court in Abuja, the soap seems to have come to a noiseless halt. Except for the trailers that we are shown - the pledge of fidelity by a group that goes by the name "NWC deputies" we can't as yet with certainty say what the next instalment will be.

The national chairman of the party may not be a saint but if one is to go by what he has been saying about transforming the party, then he should be supported by all the members that he fought. I must confess here that the word "transformation" has taken on an eerie meaning for me in present day Nigeria. If the chairman's transformation agenda is in line with the president's, then may God save us all. It is my friend who calls the party Pat Dum Pewe, which in Fulfulde language goes for "all is lies"!

“

The dissolution of the Adamawa state executive council of the PDP, which the INEC had earlier called for along with those in eight other states, provided the governors with a perfect weapon with which to strike at the president and Nigerians. Or so they thought. After suborning some members of the National Working Committee (NWC) to reverse itself on the Adamawa case, the governors and their point man, Oyinlola, were so blinded by a sense of victory that they didn't see the fangs bared by Goodluck and his battering ram, the national chairman

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