Peoples Daily Newspaper, Saturday 20, April, 2013

www.peoplesdaily-online.com weekend.peoplesdailyng.com

VOL. 3 NO. 36

SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

. . . putting the people first

JIMADAL AKHIR 10-11, 1434 AH

I foresee more election violence – Prof Ango

N150

>> Pg 13 & 14

APC: Can they walk their talk? >> Pg 9,10,11

Questions trail release of kidnapped French family Security operatives, mum is the word President Jonathan is deliberately heating up the polity – Lai Moh’d

>> Pg 5

Police arrest teenager for Wellness: Keep attempting to set mosque ablaze in Nyanya a date with

>>Pg 12 WEEKEND.PEOPLESDAILYNG.COM

>>Pg 11

>> Pg21

Diabetes expert

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PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

My Thoughts

News

With Ayodele Samuel 08074420617 (SMS only)

The dooms day are here

I

n the last two weeks, we have heard and read about more than 15 kidnapping cases in the Southwest region, with the least of the ransom of N50,000, and in that same week, have seen hundreds of unemployed graduates struggling for less than N30,000 monthly jobs . Well, I advise many to return to farming!

With unfolding developments here in Lagos, those of us who believe that the Southwest is the safest of all places to live, realised that we are still in dreamland and waking up now is what we should do.

As a nation with more than 50 million unemployed youths, excluding recharge card sellers, Mai Ruwa (Water Vendors) Achaba riders, nowhere can be safe in this country until something is done to engage these youths.

In a nation where out of every 100 graduates, 85 are unemployed, we should not be worried about robbery, kidnapping, advance fraud etc, because we bargained for nothing less.

Just if you don't know, kidnapping is the fastest money making venture in the South, second to armed robbery, ritual killings, selling of babies, advance free fraud among others, insurgents can be tackled through dialogue but the only language a hungry man understandsb is food.

Growing insecurity across the country won't end, not with our government's approach to tackling growing unemployment in the land.

In a nation whereby less than 100,000 out of more than one million annual graduates secured jobs within same year, yet our governments at all level look helpless in creating jobs.

No nation in any part of the world will keep such an army of unemployed youths and fully secure lives and property.

Let me give a clear example. Early this year, a very young promising medical doctor, Irawo Adamolekun was shot dead in Lagos by a group of street urchins. At his funeral, his sister Ojia gave this strong words which went unnoticed. "My brother was not assassinated; he was murdered because the country failed the individual who killed him. He (the gunman) who robbed my brother and killed him wasn't given the opportunity to go to school, he does not have a job.

"Every citizen should be entitled to a kind of job whether he or she is educated or not, if not the poor will continue to attack the middle class, that was what happened to my brother, he is one of the many frustrated young Nigerian youths" Also during the Occupy Nigeria protest in Ojota, a placard caught attention of few eyes "one day the poor would wake up and have nothing to eat", am sorry to announce that the dooms day are here.

Heavy rains: Edo warns residents about flood-prone areas

By Osaigbovo Iguobaro, Benin

E

do State Government has advised residents in the low lands, river banks and other flood-prone areas of the state to relocate to higher grounds to avoid a repeat of the flood disaster of last year.

The Commissioner of Environment and Public Utilities, Prince Clem Agba also advised residents to avoid indiscriminate waste dumping habits that end up blocking the drains.

“Edo State has consistently recorded an increase in rainfall volume, frequency and intensity.

We as a people must not underestimate the power of weather again. We must take every preventive measure to avert the repeat of the disaster of

2012.

“The good people of Edo State are hereby advised to collectively take precautions to forestall a recurrence of similar incident of flooding and its consequences in the state.”

The statement urged the people to stop “indiscriminate waste dumping habits that end up blocking the drains which can result in the breeding of mosquitoes, flies and other disease carriers that may eventually result in high prevalence of malaria, yellow fever, lassa fever and cholera.

“Ensure to de-silt the drains in front of house and remove same.

“People in low land, river banks and other flood-prone areas of the state are advised to relocate to higher grounds.

L -R: National President, National Groundnut Producers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria, Hon. Aimu Foni, Chief Audu Ogbe, Former National Chairman of PDP, and newly elected Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Association, Alhaji Mohammed Sanchi shortly after the elections in Abuja yesterday.

Photo: Miriam Humbe

Police manhandle Adamawa MDGs boss From Umar Dankano, Yola

T

he Adamawa state Coordinator of MDGs, Alhaji Adamu Garbajo, was yesterday manhandled by a Superintendent of Police attached to Adamawa State Command, ASP Godwin Omoike.

Similarly, the Special Assistant to Governor Murtala Nyako’ on Religion Matters, Rev. Eric Theman popularly known as Eric Dollars got his own share of the brutality from the same overzealous police officer.

Investigations by Peoples Daily Weekend in Yola revealed that the duo offense was said to be driving a tinted glass car when an argument ensued between the officer and the MDGs boss.

It was gathered that Eric dollar who came as a peace maker was equally molested by the police who saw his intervention as an affront.

“Yes I can confirm that the coordinator was brutalized in

presence of his family". An eye witness said.

A reliable source close to the MDGs boss told Peoples Daily Weekend that a petition on the matter had been filed to the Inspector General of police through the AIG zone 3, Yola.

Motorists in the state capital had on Thursday raised alarm over continued harassments, intimidation and extortion by the police in the name of enforcing the ban on tinted glass vehicles.

Most of the motorists who ran to newsmen lamented that their vehicles bearing factory fitted tinted glasses were impounded by the police in spite of explanation on their plight.

"My vehicle was impounded by policemen from Jimeta division who insisted that I must get permit from the Inspector General of Police. But, to my utter dismay, the same police are collecting money from others and releasing their vehicles", Mallam Buba Isa

alleged.

Another car owner, Mallam Ibrahim Bappa, whose car has impounded for four days, lamented that there was nothing he could do and pleaded to be charged to court.

Bappa confessed that he can't pay the N5000 like other car owners and called on relevant authorities to intervene to save law abiding Nigeria from further hardship.

Attempts to speak with the Divisional Police Office (DPO) in charge of Jimeta Police station where many impounded vehicles were taken by the said police officer, SP Aisha Ghadi, did not yield result as she was busy, while another source said she has gone to her private business centre near E.Y.N. Also attempt to get the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ibrahim Mohammed to comment on the matter proved abortive as he was out of the state for official engagement.

JTF destroys illegal refinery, arrests 7 in Kogi From Sam Egwu, Lokoja

I

llegal refinery and bunkering of crude oil that was common to Niger/Delta has finally resurfaced in Kogi as the Joint Task Force on pipeline vandals yesterday arrested seven persons and burnt the illegal refinery in Kogi.

Men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC,

first raised alarm on the vandals when a source revealed the illegal deal, as they sprang into action with the combined efforts from the military task force.

The illegal refinery destroyed

by Lt. Col. Gabriel Olufemi and Commandant of NSCDC, Kingsely Oguntuase, was located 5 kilometers at Emono off OkeneAuchi road West end of Okene village of Achoze near the federal

prison in the central senatorial district in Kogi state.

The arrested persons who the NSCDC said would soon appear in court are Lucky Odiase, Emmanuel Nweke, Thomas Samson, Ogechukwu Chukwuyere Omoh Ebidar Mathew Ugah and John Adidi who told the security men that led to the place by Ola and Benji who are now at large.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

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News Shagari's son dies in car crash From Mahmoud Muhammad, Sokoto

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he second son of the Sokoto State Deputy Governor, Barr. Mukthar Shagari, has on Thursday, died in a road accident along the Zaria-Kaduna highway.

28-year-old Lukman, sources close to the victims told Peoples Daily Weekend correspondent in Sokoto, was reportedly on his way to Sokoto from his base in Abuja when he lost control of the car which he was driving.

Lukuman and a friend simply named Ghaddaffi died instantly.

A third friend sitting on the back seat of the car, miraculously survived the accident.

Katsina state Deputy Governor, Barrister Abdullahi Garba (c) flanked by PDP State Chairman Alhaji Rabi'u Gambo Bakori (l) and Special Adviser on Forestry, AbdulWahab Sani Store at the launching of forestry working materials and assistance to famers in Katsina recently.

"2013 Overcomers’ convention is time for fulfillment of prophecies”

Don't attack Muslims, A Jonathan warns MEND T he Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, has cautioned the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) to shelve the threat to attack Muslims in the region. Kuku, who is also Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, made the appeal in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday.

The presidential aide urged MEND to explore the window of dialogue through his office.

“As a firm believer in dialogue to resolve disputes, I implore MEND to channel its grievances through

the open channel of communication that my office offers. “My office is always open for dialogue with any aggrieved group in the Niger Delta irrespective of the issue,'' Kuku said. He said the success of the amnesty programme was achieved through dialogue.

“Today, thousands of youths from the region are being equipped with vocational and other skills through the instrumentality of the amnesty programme for former agitators in the region.

“Those that were sceptical about the programme are now surprised that youths from the region are becoming players in the

aviation sector through the pilot training component of the amnesty programme.

“Only last weekend, 16 of them were decorated as Commercial Pilots at the Africa Union Aviation Academy in South Africa.''

According to him, his office is particularly concerned about the fresh threat because we do not want the region to regress to violence again.

“Besides, any threat to worshippers of any religion in a section of the country is a threat to the whole country. Nigeria, particularly the Niger Delta, needs peace for the development

Christmas Day bombings: Kabiru Sokoto pleads not guilty to terrorism charge

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

A

lleged mastermind of the 2011 Christmas Day bombing of St. Theresa's Catholic church in Madala, Niger state, Kabiru Umar, alias Kabiru Sokoto, on Friday, pleaded not guilty to an amended two- counts charge bordering on terrorism slammed against him by the State Security Service, (SSS).

Kabiru Umar, who was arraigned before a Federal High Court in Abuja spoke through an interpreter having claimed not to understand English Language.

He pleaded not guilty as the counts of the charge was interpreted to him in Hausa language.

The court sitting before Justice Adeniyi Ademola then adjourned to 2nd, 6th and 9th of May, 2013 for commencement of trial and

directed Kabiru's lawyer, Mallam Ibrahim Adamu to front load every material document as well as list of defence witnesses, required for his client's defence and to serve the prosecutor, Ms. Chioma Odimegwu before the next adjourned date.

Justice Ademola further directed that the alleged terrorist be remanded in Kuje Prison to enable his lawyers have unfettered access to him for the preparation of his defence.

The court further took notice of Kabiru's wife and two young children who were in court to catch a glimpse of their father, whom they had not seen since his arrest and detention at the SSS facility, and ordered that the Prison authority should grant the accused immediate family access to him on visitations.

The accused person was alleged to have facilitated the commission of a terrorist act by planning and encouraging his boys who are said to be at large, at Mabira Sokoto in Sokoto state, with the intention to bomb the Police Headquarters in the state between 2007 and 2012.

He was also alleged to have been in possession of information about the bombing of St. Theresa's Catholic Church on the 25th of December, 2011, but failed to disclose it to law enforcement officers within a reasonable time to forestall the incident and there by committed an offence contrary to section 7 (1) of the Terrorism Prevention Act 2013 and punishable under section 33 (1) of the same Act. The suspected terrorist faces a life sentence if convicted of the alleged crimes.

that we yearn for in the region to take place." Kuku maintained that any violent reaction in the Niger Delta to the insurgency in the North by the Boko Haram would worsen the security situation in the country.

He said all hands were on deck to find a lasting solution to the crisis in the north. ``Boko Haram should not be MEND's problem. Already, the government is on top of the situation and we are confident that a solution will be found soon.

“There is no price that is too big to pay for peace to be achieved in any part of Nigeria,'' Kuku said.

(NAN)

By Emmanuel Eko

s the epoch making 2013 convention Fresh Anointing Missionary Bible Church International, Apo, Abuja draws near, the General Overseer of the church, Reverend (Dr) Agbajah Ifeanyi Japheth has stressed the need for Christian fateful to respond to the divine agenda of recovering lost souls back to God’s kingdom.

According to him, this is why the church has decided to make future dimension and soul winning mandate as the focus of its forthcoming convention.

“The time we are in, is the set time for all prophecies concerning peoples’ destinies to be fulfilled”, he said.

The convention tagged: "2013 Ovecomers", which will hold at church premises from Tuesday 30th of April to Sunday 5th of May, 2013, has as its guest speakers to include; Pastors Frank Ordu, Peter Omale, Apostle Paul Ikechukwu Agbajah and Reverend Mummy Love Emmanuel.

Sokoto recruits foreign teachers for new university From Mahmoud Muhammad, Sokoto

J

ust as a top academician kicks, the Sokoto State University has set up recruitment panel, which will visit Egypt, Pakistan, India to secure competent hands that will run the pioneer University under the leadership of Professor Nuhu Yakubu.

The University which is expected to compete with others in terms of facilities has also commenced programmes with the objective of filling the gap with indigenes of the State not opportuned to secure admission into other tertiary institutions of learning.

Sources close to our reporter

said that the institution sent a seven men team to Egypt, India and Pakistan to shop for new lecturers. Although, it was revealed that Governor Wamakko has so far spent over N5 billion, the tertiary institution is worth 80 percent completion as at press time.

Efforts to get the reactions of the top management of the university proved abortive at the time filling this report. However, a University professor, who doesn't want his name in print, said that the indigenes were yet to fill the gaps at the Usman Danfodiyo University. He told newsmen that the University was established for political reasons by the political office holders to satisfy their desires.

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PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

Photo News

Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide (right), Minister of Foreign Affairs , Olusegun Ashiru, Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun (left) and his wife, Funsho during the burial ceremony of Late Oluwole Awolowo in Ikenne Ogun State on Friday.

GMD NNPC, Engr. Andrew Yakubu, receives a royal spear from the Magajin Rafin Keffi, Alh. Shamsuddeen during a dinner organized by KOBA Set 21 (1969( in his honour held in Keffi Nassarawa State recently.

L-R Executive Secretary, Christian Pilgrims Commission, John Kenedy Opara. shaking hand with the Executive Secretary, Catholic Lawyers Association, Bunmi Aina-Craig with them Executive Member, James Ugbeda, during the Association’s courtesy call to the Commission yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Rt. Hon Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal condoling Chief Mrs HID Awolowo on the death of her son, Chief Wole Awolowo at Ikenne, Ogun State.

First Lady, Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan, holding a Centenary touch, during the Centenary Dinner on Thursday, in Lagos.

Photo : Baba Oroye

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

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News NMS: Release my son's autopsy —Father tells ABUTH From Mohammed Ibrahim, Kaduna

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he father of the 15 year old Junior Secondary School Student of the Nigerian Military School (NMS) Zaria, who died in the college, Alhaji Dan'azumi has cried out to the management of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital to release autopsy result of his son, late Hamza Danazumi.

He said since the mysterious death of Hamza, his family has been waiting for the autopsy result to be released by the hospital management but to no avail.

It would be recalled that late Hamza's corpse was discovered inside a stream few meters from the school, making his father, a Kano based business man, Alhaji Dan'azumi to suspect foul play.

He had alleged that his son was murdered before he was dumped in the stream, which prompted him to demand for autopsy.

He told Peoples Daily Weekend on phone on Friday, that the Hospital management is yet to release the result of the autopsy to enable his family know the cause of death. Adding, my mind will not be at rest until I know the true cause of my son's death," he said on phone. He had earlier sued the Nigerian Army and the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Azubuike Ihejirika on the matter.

L-R: Governor Rabi'u Musa Kwankwaso and the Nigerian ambassador to the State of Kuwait His Excellency Amb. (Senator) Haruna Garba at the Kuwaiti Airport to welcome the governor who came to Kuwait for a meeting with Kuwait Finance House on how they can partner with the state on building the capacity of the 44 newly created community banks among many other issues. Photo: Govt.

House, Kano.

Cameroon says, kidnapped French family of seven released —Reuters A

French family of seven including four children, kidnapped in north Cameroon, and taken to Nigeria by suspected Boko Haram militants have been released, a senior Cameroon official said on Friday.

"They are all alive and well," Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, secretary general of Cameroon's presidency, said in a statement aired by state radio. He said the family was handed to Cameroon authorities late on Thursday.

The family, which was on holiday, was abducted in February by men on motorcycles, armed with Kalashnikovs in Dabanga about 10 km (six miles) from the

Nigerian border near the Waza national park.

Gunmen claiming to be from Nigerian Islamist group, Boko Haram, later released videos of the family, threatening to kill them if authorities in Nigeria and Cameroon did not release Muslim militants held there.

The parents of the family, which included two boys and two girls as well as another relative, worked for French utility firm, GDF Suez.

Similarly, the DW's correspondent in Cameroon, Moki Kindzeka, said they arrived at Nsimalen airport looking tired, hungry and unkempt. Tanguy

Moulin-Fournier, his wife, his brother and their children Eloi, Andeol, Mael and Clarence, aged 12, 10, 8 and 5 years respectively, shook hands with officials before being driven off to the French embassy in Yaounde´.

A handful of French citizens were at the airport to greet the new arrivals, but were not given access to them. One of the well-wishers, Charlotte Dipanda, told DW she was happy the family had been released though it was "not good to stigmatize the situation and say Cameroon was a dangerous country." She added though that she did not want to go "to the border in the area where kidnappings can

Sale of Hajj seats: Group calls for transparency From Mohammed Ibrahim, Kaduna

T

he National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) and State Muslim pilgrims boards have been called upon to ensure transparency in the sale of 2013 hajj seats to potential pilgrims.

The call was made yesterday in Abuja by Independent Hajj Reporters - a Non-profit organization- in a statement

signed by its National Coordinator, Ibrahim Muhammed and publicity Secretary Abubakar Mahmoud.

“National Hajj commission as an umbrella body saddled with the responsibility of regulating Hajj activities in the country should create a monitoring mechanism to ensure that Hajj seat allocated to states are sold to potential pilgrims in a transparent manner… in view of past experiences where some officials of

state pilgrims boards in cohort with money-bags hijacked hajj seats and later resold same to unsuspecting pilgrims at ridiculous prices," the group said.

The NGO further challenged NAHCON to publish the numbers of Hajj seats allocated to each state in the national dailies to discourage hoarding and expressed willingness to partner with other Hajj based NGOs to monitor sale of hajj seats nationwide.

“In other countries like India and Pakistan, sale of Hajj seats are done through a transparent process. Potential Pilgrims in those countries are allocated numbers based on first-come first-serve. The figure allocated to each region is displayed on open screen in each registration centre along with the last number allocated to pilgrims. Such translucent process closed avenue for any under hand dealings”, the statement added.

We’ve enriched Nigerian farmers, says Chinese executive From Ahmed Idris, Birnin Kebbi

T

he Managing Director of Green Agriculture West Africa Limited, Professor Yuan Longping, has said that with the bilateral relationship between China and Nigeria, his company has contributed to the development of agriculture

sector across the country.

He stated this yesterday while addressing participants of a seminar on Seeds Production and Storage organized by the company and held at Warrah in Ngaski local government area of Kebbi state.

According to him, their efforts have made the Nigerian farmers rich especially on the rice seeds

farming.

The MD who was represented

by Mr. Tend, described Nigeria as a blessed country, adding that “we released quality seeds in Nigeria and teach them how to use them, such as maize corn and others’’, he said.

The seminar which includes Niger, Sokoto, Kwara and Kebbi

states showcases the importance of seeds and their varieties.

Also speaking at the workshop the Assistant Director of the company Prof. Xu Yuanfang said that large scale rice farming by machines was tested in 2006 in Warra farm and from 2007 it was supported by Professor Yuan’s as a work team.

take place."

The family was on holiday near Waza National Park in north Cameroon, some 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Nigerian border when they were kidnapped by armed men on motorcycles.

Tanguy Moulin-Fournier, the father of the family, gave no specifics in a brief radio interview, beyond saying the group learned their release was imminent just a few hours beforehand and that their return to safety went well.

Their two-month captivity "was long. It was difficult. It was hard physically and psychologically," he told France Inter radio. He made no comment on how they had been released.

However in Nigeria, mum is the word as there is a deafening silence from security operatives, as even the Nigerian State Security Service (SSS) has not issued any statement on the matter as at the time of filing this report. Attempts to speak with its spokesperson, Mrs. Marylyn Ogar, failed as she could not be reached on her mobile phone.

President Goodluck Jonathan, while referring to the incident of kidnap, during a visit to him by Lebanon's President Michel Suleiman to Aso villa, said "Analysis of the information we have does not give us the conclusive position that they have all been killed but we suspect that some probably might have died of health related causes or direct killing."

An Islamic sect, the Ansaru, had said earlier that it had killed the seven foreign construction workers it had been holding since February, posting a video of what it said was their bodies on the Internet, in what would be the deadliest single attack on foreigners in Nigeria since the 1960s Biafra war.

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PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

(Send your crime stories to pmlcrimecycle@gmail.com) 08138559513 (SMS only)

Crime Cycle

Police arraign 3 over theft of Coca-Cola drink T

he police have arraigned one Daniel Okoro, 26; Mudasiru Muyideen, 30; and Emmanuel Michael, 27, before an Akure Magistrates' Court for allegedly stealing 20 crates of CocaCola drink.

The police prosecutor, ASP Adejuwon Pelumi, told the court that the trio, who stole the drink worth N24, 000, were casual staff of Coca-Cola Depot at Oba-Ile in Akure North Local Government Area.

Pelumi said they committed the offence on April 10 at about 10

pm and were caught in the act.

According to the prosecutor, the offence was punishable under section 516 and 390 (9) of the Criminal Code Cap 37 Vol. 1 Laws of Ondo State of Nigeria, 2006.

The accused persons, however, pleaded not guilty to the two-count charge.

But in a strange twist in the proceedings, the first accused, Okoro, suddenly confessed to conspiring with the second accused, Muyideen, to steal some crates which they sold for N1, 200 each.

"I use the illegal sale of drinks for my transportation and other basic needs because I am earning N3, 400 per week which is not enough for me to survive on," he added.

However, the defence counsel, Mr. Francis Balogun, prayed the court to grant all his clients bail as the offences were bailable.

In her ruling, Magistrate BukolaKuye, granted each accused person bail in the sum of N100, 000 with two sureties in like sum.

She adjourned the case till May 7 for hearing. (NAN)

Sales boy arraigned over alleged theft of N1m recharge cards

2

6 -year-old sales boy, Ganiyu Olatunji, on Thursday appeared before an Abeokuta Magistrates' Court over alleged theft of recharge cards worth N1 million.

Olatunji, who resides at Abetun area of Abeokuta, was arraigned on a one-count charge of stealing.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge preferred against him.

The prosecutor, Insp. Sunday Eigbejiale, said the offence was committed on February 26 at about 3:00 p.m. at Oke-Ilewo in Abeokuta.

Eigbejiale explained that the accused was employed by one Mr Oluwatobi Adekunle as a sales boy in his shop.

“Adekunle left his sales boy in the shop to undertake his usual routine distribution of recharge cards to his customers; and on getting back, his sales boy was nowhere to be found.

“When he asked about his whereabouts from neighbours, they said he told them he was going to the toilet.

Disclosing further, he said that

the accused who absconded with various recharge cards worth N1million; was only apprehended by the police upon investigation two months later at Onikolobo in Abeokuta.

According to him, the offence contravened Section 390 (9) of the Criminal Code, Laws of Ogun, 2006.

Magistrate Martins Akinyemi granted the accused bail in the sum of N500, 000 with two sureties in like sum.

He adjourned the case till June 20 for further hearing. (NAN)

Banker in court for alleged N150, 000 fraud

A

banker, Ojo Oluwasesan, 36, have been arraigned before an Ado-Ekiti Magistrates' Court for alleged fraud.

The Police Prosecutor, Insp.

BayoAjiboye, told the court that the accused committed the offence in 2008 in Ado-Ekiti.

He said the accused fraudulently collected N150,

000 from one Taiwo Akande with a pretext to assist her purchase shares of Fin Bank Plc. According to the prosecutor, the offence contravened section 419 of the Criminal Code Cap C 16. Vol.1 of Ekiti State, 2012.

Ajiboye also asked the court for an adjournment to enable him study the case file, being a fresh matter before him.

However, counsel to the accused, Mr. Chris Omokhafe, prayed the court to grant bail to the accused, promising that he would not jump bail.

The Magistrate, Mrs. Olanike Adegoke, granted bail to the accused in the sum of N50, 000 and one surety in like sum and adjourned the case to May 8, for further hearing.(NAN)

Man, 25, in court for allegedly stealing laptop

T

he police in Ado-Ekiti have arraigned one Bamisaye Adebayo, 25, before an Ado-Ekiti Magistrates' Court for allegedly stealing a laptop.

The Police Prosecutor, Insp.

BayoAjiboye, told the court that the accused committed the offence on April 11, at about 3:10 p.m. at Linkorg Network

Ltd., Ado-Ekiti.

He alleged that the accused stole a HP 630 laptop, valued at N85, 000, belonging to one Mr. Lasisi Timilehin, thereby contravening section 9 of the Criminal Code Cap 16, of Ekiti State of Nigeria, 2011.

However, counsel to the accused Mr. Abel Hadey, prayed

the court to grant bail to his client, promising that he would not jump bail.

The Magistrate, Mrs. Olanike Adegoke, granted bail to the accused in the sum of N50,000 and one surety in like sum and adjourned the case to May 28, for further hearing.

(NAN)

Group calls for tracking device in South East

T

he Campaign for Democracy (CD) has called on the Federal Government to set up tracking devices in the South East to check the spate of crime.

According to the group, the

devices should be provided in states with high rate of criminality, especially in Delta, Enugu and Anambra.

In a statement signed by the Chairman and the Secretary of the South East region of the group,

Messrs Dede Uzor and Jerry Chukwuokolo, in Owerri, the group expressed fear that with only seven months to the governorship election in Anambra, the killing of the ACN chieftain could trigger a spate of violence in the state. (NAN)

CJN Aloma Mariam Mukhtar

MAPOLY suspends 2 students for cult activities

T

w o students of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY), Abeokuta, have been suspended indefinitely for their alleged involvement in cult activities and disruption of public peace.

This is contained in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Mr. Sulaiman Adebiyi, in Abeokuta.

He named the students as AkinwaleSorunke of the Estate Management Department and Salau Sikiru of the Business Administration Department.

The spokesman explained that the students were arrested by the police at Ifo, in the Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun state during initiation of new members into a cult group.

Adebiyi said that the students with two others are now being interrogated at the Eleweran Headquarters of the Ogun Command of the Nigeria Police, disclosing that the students had confessed to the crime, saying that they were forced into joining the group.

He said the students would only be re-absorbed into the polytechnic after due clearance by the police, just as MAPOLY management advised the suspended students to steer clear of the polytechnic campus in their own interest. (NAN)

20-year old in court for alleged stealing, sexual assault

O

ne Julius Ajikosile, 20, has been arraigned at a Badagry Magistrates' Court for allegedly stealing N30.000.00 from Miss Funmilayo Johnson.

The accused was also alleged to have sexually assaulted the victim. The police prosecutor, Insp. Innocent Uko, told the court that the accused on April 9, at about 8:00 pm at Abia Village, Ipara Road, stolen N30,000 from Johnson.

Uko said the accused at the same time, date and place sexually assaulted the victim.

He said the offence was punishable under Section 285 (1) and 261 (1) of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State, Nigeria 2011.

Counsel to the accused, Mr Joshua Makun, however, pleaded with the court to grant his client bail since investigation was still ongoing in the matter.

He said his client would not jump bail and gave assurance that he would always attend court hearings.

The Magistrate, Mr. Abiodun Etti, granted bail to the accused in the sum of N100, 000 and one surety with evidence of tax payment and adjourned the case to May 14, for further hearing.

(NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

PAGE 7

News Feature

'Mysterious' deaths instill fear in Federal Polytechnic, Birnin Kebbi Misfortune seems to have befallen the Waziri Umaru Federal Polytechnic, Birnin Kebbi as the school has lost about ten staff from January to date, with the recent death of a lecturer, who was found dead in his room. Our correspondent, Ahmed Idris, reports.

T

he situation at the Waziri Umar Federal Polytechnic, Birnin Kebbi, has been quite worrisome since we entered the year 2013 with the school so far losing over 10 academic and non academic staff either by accident or brief illness.

The polytechnic was initially established after the creation of Kebbi state in 1991 by the state government but was converted to the Federal Polytechnic by President Olusegun Obasanjo during the Governor Adamu Aleiro era and was headed by Arc. Kabiru Namadi as Rector of the school who has just finished his tenure.

Peoples Daily Weekend would recall that last month, the school lost one Mallam Farouk who was an admin officer and also the Head of Language [English]. Farouk was well loved by students and staff of the polytechnic.

The mystery overwhelmed the school community such that one of the senior lecturers who did not want his name in print, lamented the loss of staff adding that if the situation

continues, he would leave the school. "I don't want to be a victim of circumstance or instant death'', he said.

April 14, 2013 was another day of misfortune for the Umar Waziri Federal polytechnic as a lecturer was found dead in his room at Shagari Quarters in Birnin Kebbi, the Kebbi state capital, Wednesday. The strange incident has became subject of discussion around the town because of the circumstances surrounding the death of Olusola Taye (31), an indigene of Edo State and lecturer in the Department of Engineering.

According to Abdurrahman Samaila , the security guard who works in the vicinity of the compound where late Tayo resides, ''our attention was drawn to his apartment when the music coming from his room continued unabated for two days and there was an awfull odour coming out from his room and polluting the air.

Initially, we thought it was coming from a gutter, but after intensive search, we found out that it was coming from his

room. We called in the house engineers who directed us to break the door. On breaking the door, we found the body of late Taye almost decomposing'', Samaila said.

When asked if the deceased had any problem with anyone, Samaila added that he did not have any problem with his neighbors, except the fact that the deceased quarreled with his wife for having an affair with his brother.

The polytechnic's Public Relations Officer, Isiaku Abdullahi described the late Taye as hard working and dutiful and that the Institution has lost a great asset. ''As soon as the Institution heard the news of the death, a committee was set up, went to the house; we invited the Church and the Police to come and see for themselves what happened. It is the tradition of this Institution to get across to the family of the deceased when something like this happens.

Machinery has been set in motion to make sure all entitlements of late Taye is settled, Isyaku said.

Decomposing body of Taye found on his bed after four days

Late Olusola Taye

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PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

Personalityzzzzz

How Interior Minister, Moro earned two traditional titles in Gombe state T

he idea of selfless service is an important concept in most religions and traditions because God is perceived as having a relationship with others, as well as oneself. Therefore, serving other people is considered an essential devotional practice of indirectly serving God. The Interior Minister, Comrade Patrick Abba Moro recently exhibited such trait, with intention to ease difficulties of others; unknown to him the gesture would endear him to the emirates in the state and earn him not one but two traditional titles namely, Dokajin Tangale and Sankiran Cham .

Comrade Patrick Abba Moro, after the declaration by the presidency, of the Esther break, chose to use the occasion to visit Gombe State to commission some state-assisted projects of the Nigeria Prisons Service.

The Comrade Minister commenced the visit by inspecting facilities at the newly donated Prison Command Headquarters in Gombe, where he charged the officers and men on vigilance, patriotism and dedication to work.

His major surprise to the echelon of the prison command was when he instantly interacted with some inmates and in a rare gesture, settled the fines of those given the option of fine. His humanitarian gesture extended to instructing the Gombe State Prison Controller to improve the meals of the inmates.

Comrade Moro said: "Controller, I want you to ensure that they eat different meals in the morning, afternoon and evening, if you do this, you will enhance their diet and improve their health so that after their jail terms, they could still be useful to the society and themselves".

A popular adage says God's reward starts on earth, especially in judging good acts." After Comrade Moro's inspection of the Billiri Prisons, he decided to pay a courtesy call on the Mai Tangale of Billiri Chiefdom, His Royal Highness Abdu Maisheru Buba II, OON (lP) in his palace. Word had reached him about what Moro did and he was moved by it. He was particularly surprised that the Minister used his break period to attend to some of the Prisons service issues. So, to reward him, the Mai Tangale surprised Moro with a chieftaincy title barely minutes after notifying him of the emirate's decision and his turbanning as Dokagin Tangale, meaning "Lawmaker of Tangale", taking place soon after. Who says good leaders are not valuable assets even outside their homes?

It is also instructive that despite threats to peace and unity of our nation given the insurgency in the northeastern part of the country, Moro was not deterred but tasked himself with visiting Gombe State to undertake the function.

The reception accorded Moro by the people of Tangale, known to be warriors from time immemorial showed love and affection for the visitor to their land, most of whom were of the view that though there were such dignitaries both in the public service, military and private sector; not all possess such humility as to show concern for prisoners some of which have been

Interior Minister, Comrade Patrick Abba Moro after his turbaning languishing in prison for years. This singular act earned recognition for Abba Moro amongst the Tangale people. The story did not end in Billiri Chiefdom alone.

At the Annual Chugoteh Festival in Cham, the traditional ruler HRH Dr. James Danglu Chachi IV (JP), the Ndugrah Cham (Dumbo) also conferred Comrade Moro with a chieftaincy title of "Sankiran Cham". Moro was in Cham for no other reason than the commissioning of the Cham Satellite Prison which coincided with the Chugoteh Annual

Festival.

The essence of holding public office is not to acquire property, drive exotic cars or travel all over the world, but to serve the country and its people. There is no doubt, that Ministers like Moro are living up to the expectation of the people in line with the transformation agenda of the Jonathan administration as only reasonable and responsible leaders listen to the yearnings and aspirations of the governed.

It is imperative to note that Nigeria

Comrade Patrick Abba addressing officers of the Nigerian Prisons

at this point in time needs peace, unity and oneness, and that peace cannot be realized through violence. It is therefore necessary to join hands with people no matter what part of the country you are from, to move the country forward through dialogue and understanding so as to spur the muchneeded development.

This is a clarion call on all Nigerians to come together as one and embrace peace for the benefit of the future generation.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

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APC: Can they walk their talk?

In this piece, Abubakar Ibrahim examines the ongoing political games and how the new APC may fair in the whirlwind that blows towards the 2015 presidential race.

I

t had all been quiet until posters of Vice President Namadi Sambo suggesting a presidential ambition flooded Kaduna during one of his fraternal visits late last year. Whether it was initiated by the vice president or not, it certainly ruffled feathers at the top leading to a presidential order for cessation of political activities until the Independent national Electoral Commission (INEC) fires the race gun.

In a veiled reference to the Kaduna saga, President Goodluck Jonathan warned the polity especially within the ruling Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) to

sheath swords and concentrate more on governance. That quietude could not be sustained despite open and clandestine schemes to upturn the structures of the PDP in favour of the president. In between the battle that began with the removal of the Adamawa PDP executive council for the pro- Bamanga Tukur faction, the choice of Board of Trustees chairman, the battle for governors loyalty and the shakeup of the National Working Committee came the true intention of President Jonathan for the 2015 race through no other than the women leader, Mrs. Kema Chikwe.

The political machine was seemingly coasting home until it was suddenly jolted by a long skeptical merger, the All Progressives Congress (APC) which like a whirlwind, took the landscape by storm.

It was an arrangement initially mooted before the 2011 general elections between the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the Action Congress of Nigeria(ACN), both sides led by serial presidential candidate ,General Muhammadu Buhari and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu tending a patchwork of ideologically distinct organisations bent on having their ways.

The rest is now history but there were

pains from the outcome bordering on betrayal which political analysts, conveniently linked to the historical distrust (is it bitter-sweet ties?) by some elements in the southwest, of the north.

Then, the choice of having an ascetic and incorruptible leader from the north and geopolitical advantage, swayed the tide from the loose merger to the victory of the incumbent president and PDP. However, events have taken so much turns to somewhat, clear the direction towards the merger.

Contd on Pg 10

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PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

Cover

APC: Can they walk their talk?

Contd from Pg 9 According to the National Chairman of ACN, Chief Bisi Akande, the new merger which has expanded to include the All Nigeria Peoples Party(ANPP), and All Peoples Grand Alliance(APGA) which seem to have internal disagreement over it, is the right way to go if the country must be salvaged from the jaws of maladministration. " We are convinced that merger is the way to go, if we must rescue our country from decay. In the over 13 years that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been in power, it has failed to deliver on its promises. It has failed to deliver on power, it has failed to deliver on the security of lives and property. We cannot allow it to continue like this", he said.

History was undoubtedly made on Thursday, April 18, 2013 in Lagos at the National Convention of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) as the 4,761 strong delegates to the convention voted to merge with other political parties to form the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The convention, by implication, meant the last for the ACN. National leader of the party and former governor of Lagos State Asiwaju

President Goodluck Jonathan

General Muhammad Buhari

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo

Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Gov. Rochas Okorocha

Mal. Nuhu Ribadu

Bola Ahmed Tinubu told the mammoth crowd that it was in the best interest of the country to merge with other progressive forces to save the Nigeria ship of state from sinking.

"I stand to tell you that for the good of Nigeria, this must be the last and final convention of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). As one of the national leaders of this party, I have dedicated myself to our political collaboration. I am attached to it in the strongest way. I am proud of what we have accomplished. Had we not held fast in the Southwest against onslaught and intrigue, Nigeria would effectively be a one party state. When history writes its tale of the past decade, it will say the ACN preserved Nigerian democracy when it came under great threat," he told the cheering crowd.

Emphasizing the necessity of the merger, Tinubu said history is asking for something bold from Nigerians and that those who hear must respond positively, and waste no time, too. had welcomed the delegates and explained to them why the party chose to merge with other progressive parties.

While expressing delight at the

massive turn out by leaders of the other parties, the National Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande said the ACN is convinced that merger is the right way to go if the country must be salvaged from the jaws of maladministration. " We are convinced that merger is the way to go, if we must rescue our country from decay. In the over 13 years that the People's Democratic Party (PDP) has been in power, it has failed to deliver on its promises. It has failed to deliver on power, it has failed to deliver on the security of lives and property. We cannot allow it to continue like this", he said.

CPC leader, General Muhammadu said, the merger is a continuation of started in 2010 and an end to anarchy.

The first shocker was the opposition leaders meeting in Lagos on Tuesday, February 5, 2013 to underscore this direction.

No fewer than 10 serving opposition governors converged in Lagos to endorse the merger plans with a promise to wrest power from the ruling PDP. After a closed meeting held at the Lagos House Marina, the Borno State governor, Kashim Shetima expressed his colleagues

resolve to rescue Nigeria from what they described as a clueless leadership and move the country forward. " We, the governors of Borno , Ekiti, Imo, Lagos , Nasarawa , Ogun , Oyo, Osun , Yobe and Zamfara rose from a meeting at Lagos House Marina today Tuesday , having reviewed the situation in our country , we resolved that to rescue Nigeria is a task that must be done.

"As progressives and patriotic leaders of our people across party , religious and geo-political zones , we are extremely concerned about the state of the nation, as we put our heads together in the interest of our people to deliberate on what can be done to rescue our country", the governors declared.

Also on hand to corroborate their vow, the Imo State Governor Owelle Rochas Okorocha said "The merger has become very necessary in order to save our democracy and the likelihood of turning Nigeria into a one party state does not augur well for democracy, therefore I personally fully endorse this movement and this new merger at least to rescue the nation, and we say we are on a rescue mission here and to make sure Nigeria gets

better, the essence of this whole merger is to make Nigeria a better nation".

Lagos state Governor, Babatunde Fashola said: " skepticism is one thing; the commitment that we bring to the table will certainly override any skepticism. I am convinced that the full weight of ten of us governors and many more who unfortunately could not make it today, is a much stronger force. The underlying reason is clearly how to make this country a better place, this is not the best that this country can have and we intend to deliver Nigeria's best." Ogun state Governor Senator Ibikunle Amosun assured that more leaders and political forces and groups will join the new movement once they see the sincerity of those behind it.

To the Zamfara State Governor Alhaji Abdul-Aziz Yari, "the move is to fix Nigeria in the right perspective".

"The Peoples Democratic Party is something else and if we as opposition say that we are right and you as a journalist and many people outside here, go and ask them whether they are happy since 1999 till date or not, so therefore it is a duty for

Contd on Pg 11

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

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APC: Can they walk their talk?

Contd from Pg 10 all of us as leaders to drive our people right and we believe the PDP has done less. We have the idea, the knowledge and we have the progressive idea to move the country forward, so if you say that we intend to move the PDP out of power, yes we are ready to do that", he said.

The governor went a notch higher to visit Borno and Yobe states, the hotbed of the Boko insurgency thereby forcing President Jonathan last month, into a speedy recompensive visit adjudged to be a panicky reaction to moving opposition train ostensibly taking the shine from his electoral ambition and the fortunes of his party.

However, by mid March, the honeymoon was becoming damper with confusion over the use of the acronym, APC,as a third group, the All Patriotic Citizens, seeking registration as a political party, laid claim to it. Two groups - the All Progresssives Congress and the African Peoples Congress had earlier engaged in war of words over the ownership of the acronym.The All Patriotic Citizens and the African Peoples Congress said they had submitted their registration applications to the Independent National Electoral Commission for registration as political parties.

But the merger committee of the sponsors of the All Progresssives Congress - the ACN, CPC, ANPP and APGA said there was no going back on the decision by the group to use the acronym.

"We have informed the whole world of our decision to merge under the name All Progressive Congress with acronym, APC," the Chairman of merger committee, Chief Tom Ikimi, said during a press conference in Abuja.

But as the press conference went on, the National Director of Operation, All Patriotic Citizens, Mr. Oliver Ike, released a statement saying that the group had submitted its application for registration to INEC. "We are committed to the reengineering of our political, economic and social foundations to eschew politics of bitterness and build a new, united and prosperous Nigeria under good democratic governance," Ike stated brandishing a copy of the application, dated March 8, 2013

Opposition Party governors and INEC's acknowledgement stamp dated March 11, 2013.

Besides the All Patriotic Citizens, the African Peoples Congress also beat the merger parties' to the submission of requirements for its registration by unveiling its logo, manifesto and constitution.

The National Chairman of the African Peoples Congress, Chief Onyinye Ikeagwuonu, said " we have submitted the long list of requirements as prescribed by INEC and have completed the constitutional demand on us for registration as a political party."

But explaining their position, the merger partners said for several weeks, they had told Nigerians their plan to merge.

They also said that their accredited leaders addressed a press conference in Abuja on February 6, when they announced the agreement of the parties to merge under the name, the All Progressives Congress.

The group said, "The name and acronym have therefore become the intellectual property of the merging parties since February 6, 2013 and it has received very wide publicity in the print and electronic media."

The parties added that they had begun all requirements to formalise their merger under the new name, APC. They said that they were shocked when INEC said that it had received a letter from "a faceless and unknown group" using the acronym, APC. The parties said, "The obvious motive of this letter is to attempt, albeit in futility, to scuttle the registration of the All Progressives Congress which has been so widely publicised and well-received to the discomfort of the establishment."` They said that thay had it on good authority that "the establishment, gravely troubled by the emergence of a united opposition has set up a highpowered team headed by a very high ranking officer of government and furnished with unlimited resources from public funds with a clear mandate to corrupt the democratic institutions and destabilise the opposition."

The parties added that they had written to INEC on the development and advised the commission not to allow its credibility to be undermined by political hirelings and their faceless sponsors.

According to them, what they see "is clearly the hands of Esau, but the voice of Jacob."

They also vowed not to allow INEC to scuttle their merger.

They said the emergence of the African Peoples Congress and the All Patriotic Citizens was an attempt to deny them the merger plan.

Ikimi said, "We are determined to pursue the registration. Those who are also going about with names that have our acronym are doing so with the knowledge that their actions would amount to nothing.

"We will not accept attempt by INEC to deny us registration or scuttle our registration. Let the promoters of other parties come out and defend their actions.

"The major adversaries to the opposition are people in the ruling party and if there are people playing pranks with that, you cannot look further than the ruling party.

"There is only one APC and Nigerians know this. Moreover, it is the people that make parties and not by mere submission of names."

Ikimi said the opposition would not be bothered if President Goodluck Jonathan decides to run in 2015, adding that "anybody that the PDP presents would fail".

However,besides this, the mega-merger partners of ANPP and APGA have begun to point accusing fingers at internal saboteurs. The ANPP took swipes at its Board of Trustees chairman and Former Borno state governor, Ali Modu Sheriff as a potential cog to the union while Governors Rochas Okorocha and Peter Obi are split for and against the move.

Could all this vindicate the possibility of a crash as the push and shoves continue towards 2015?

Will the internal crises within the ruling PDP worsen enough for the opposition to cash on and how will the chess game between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his protégé, Jonathan play out given his grouse on the alleged marginalization of the southwest in the "PDP family"or whether the attacks on Jonathan's policies may continue or abate? Will he sacrifice Governors Sule Lamido and Rotimi Amaechi to sudden death for party unity? What is House speaker up in his ratcheted comments over Obasanjo's chequered tenure?

These are questions that determine the success of the new APC if moles do not dismember it like they did to others like it in the past.

News Police arrests teenager for attempting to set a Mosque ablaze in Nyanya

By Abubakar Ibrahim

T

he Police have arrested an 11 year old boy for attempting to burn down a Mosque on Friday, in Nyanya, an Abuja suburb.

According to the Imam of the Mosque, Mallam Zubairu Mohammad, who spoke to Peoples Daily Weekend on phone, the boy, a Christian, had splashed petrol into the Mosque through

the window of an Islamiyya, located close the Mosque around 1.40pm and lighted it.

"The boy had petrol container and matches in his hand which he had used to light the place after splashing petrol through the window. Unknown to him a man was lying down in the Mosque, waiting for some Muslim faithful in preparation for the Jummah prayer. It was the man who saw the flame and raised alarm,

prompting people in the area to rush to the Mosque and put off the fire".

Mallam Mohammad said he was also preparing to go for Friday prayer when the security guard of the Mosque called him to tell him about the attempted arson. He said he also rushed to the Mosque after instructing the people not to allow the boy escape.

He said on interrogation, the

boy stated that he was instructed by a friend of his to carry out the act. Mohammad said he took the boy to the Chief Imam, Mallam Rabiu after which they sent someone to get the police in order to stop people who had gathered from lynching him "but the DPO of the area deemed it fit to come himself after he was told what happened", he told Peoples Daily Weekend.

At the police station, the DPO

sent for the boy's parent, who, together with the Mosque handlers wrote their statements.

The Imam expressed delight at the way the situation was handled by the DPO, "saying despite the fact that the DPO is a Christian, he handled the matter maturely".

Investigations revealed that the boy, who is about 11 years old, has been sent to the juvenile section for further interrogation.

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PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

Politics 2015: President Jonathan is deliberately overheating the polity —Lai Y

our party is said to have raised alarm over possible clampdown on leaders of the All progressive Congress. Can you confirm this?

This did not only come yesterday, we have had course to raise the alarm since January, when we got information about the President's declaration that he would clampdown on opposition, and that his administration is also going to unleash EFCC, ICPC and even going to go to other records to ensure that especially, General Buhari and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu are caged. They are also planning to implicate them and brand them as sponsors of terrorism and they want to frame them on corruption charges. We have been aware of this and we are not surprise it is the kind of tactics that dictators have used over the years but they never succeeded because the APC is an idea whose time has come and nobody can stop it, no army can stop it. Unfortunately for the President, he is fond of hiding behind one finger.

When we issued this statement in January, they denied it but today a national newspaper has come out with a bromide copy of the same directive from the President, we are now expecting them to further deny it.

The thing about democracy is that you can stifle, you can make it suffer but you cannot kill it, it's even early. Nigerians are tired of PDP, almost fourteen years of PDP and Nigerians can't take it anymore but my advice for the leaders, is to brace up for the oncoming onslaught. The government would try to restrict their movement and breach their freedom, try to embarrass them but they must bear this pain, and know that is the sacrifice they must make to see that Nigeria is free from this bondage. We are consoled by the fact that millions of Nigerians are behind us in this our march to rescue Nigeria from total collapse.

Are the leaders of APC worried about this alleged impending clampdown?

Nigerians should be worried, not the opposition because this is the right way to derail and overheat the polity. This is the best way to truncate democracy- when you set out to witchhunt, to intimidate and frame up politicians, the likes of Buhari, and Tinubu, you are going to incur the wrath of Nigerians. We have all suspected that the President has lost it; he is at his end wish. He knows that in 2015, he is not reelectable, so he is looking for ways and deliberately overheating the polity so that the election may not be held at all. This is what we see; he is deliberating overheating and escalating problems in the country. It is not so much all about the opposition; it's about what is the likely consequence for this kind of thing for the polity?.

But like I said earlier, our leaders should be prepared, they should brace up because there would be attempt to breach their freedom, intimidate them and persecute them.

President Jonathan has ordered his party to capture at least 32 states in the next general election. How would you react to this directive?

Clearly, the PDP is very jittery. Honestly, there is no alternative to pushing out the PDP. APC will give them the boot. I don't think that the word 'capture' is a lexicon that should be used in a democracy that belongs to the military era and that is the mindset of the PDP. In a democratic era, political party convinces people to vote for them, you woo the electorate and how do you woo them? You woo them with words and actions. Which of the sectors is PDP going to use to woo people for election? Is it security? Is it employment? Is it infrastructure? Kidnapping is everywhere, unemployment everywhere. So what are they going to tell Nigerians if they will have to re-elect PDP. Of course, the only thing is that they are bent on rigging the election come 2015 by all means.

What is your take on APC's INEC

Alhaji Lai Mohammed is the National Publicity Secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in this interview with Ayodele Samuel in Lagos, he speaks on the alleged plot by President Goodluck Jonathan to clampdown on Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and General Mohammadu Buhari ahead of 2015 general election among other issues. Excerpt: controversy?

You know, we must locate things in the total perspective. You see there is a wall of difference between fresh party registration and established parties seeking to be merged and they governed by different position of the law. Its procedures are de-similar, now Section 84 of the constitution and 85 deals mainly on the procedure of two or more parties that wants to merge. And there it says that the parties that want to merge must make their intention known to INEC at least 90 days to the general election.

Secondly, intending parties must g i v e notification t o INEC

done already for the sake of this merge as opposed to the issues of a fresh registration of a party in which all you need to do is go to the INEC, take a form and fill and meet all the requirements of the constitution and also of the electoral act. What is symbolic and interesting is that the last three to four years, nobody has heard of any political party trying to register. As a matter of fact, INEC has been busy registering political parties, why the sudden interest of registering three political parties all bearing the same acronym APC, of course the

Alhaji Lai Mohammed and it describes who in those parties can write this letter, what it can contain and what point on the merger state can the letter be written. Now let's make it clearer that there is no position or requirement of the law for merging parties to give notice of the name they want to use to INEC , there is no requirement of the law that a merging party should go to INEC and say they should reserve a particular name for us, not like a Corporate Affairs Commission whereby before you register a company you must have a job to do, to that extend, the merging that is ACN, ANPP, APGA and CPC, is merged to the arm of the law. Because we made our intention known at least 90 days, this whole transaction is to be concluded at least 90 days to general election. We don't expect any general election until the next two years, to that extend, we are completely in order. Thirdly, as soon as we agreed on a name for the proposed party, we held a world press conference which we gave notice to the whole world that ACN, ANPC, APGA and CPC are going to merge under the name of All Progressive Congress ( APC). That was a notice to all and interestingly, INEC through its spoke person reacted to that information in its various newspaper interview of February 7 and 177, that they have heard that ACN, ANPC,APGA and CPC wanted to merge to form APC but they were yet to notify INEC because the notification must come only after their convention. But what the electoral law says is that the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer of each of the merging parties must write a letter to INEC of its intention to merge and that such request must be accompanied by the resolution of the merging parties and at a special convention of the party that has approved the merger, also, a copy of the constitution, manifesto, logo and slogan of the party. Therefore, the point at which we ought to really need to write a formal letter to INEC is after we have really concluded the name, logo, slogan and constitution, the manifesto of our party and we now called a conventional party which we have

presidency and PDP are behind it. Of course, we know where they are getting their funds from, otherwise where will those parties get such money from to rent office in the highbrow area of Abuja, splash adverts on full pages of newspapers, who are their members? It is clear to us from the beginning that it is the antics of PDP to distract us from the merger, which is just in line with the presidential directive that has been given. But unfortunately for them, they run afoul of the constitution and they have all been disqualified. They have now gone to court asking for injunction restraining INEC from registering with the acronym APC. But we are waiting to see what INEC will do. What we expected INEC to have done was not to accept their application in the first place on the ground that we have already notified them that that is the acronym we are going to use. When people say there is controversy, there is no controversy, it's just the deliberate ambush on the part of PDP and of course as God would have it they were exposed because they used the same mailing list with that of the PDP. They copied Olisa Mentu, John Odey which means they were been funded and tele guided by the PDP and where does the money come from ? From the presidency of course.

One thing seems to be synonymous with your governors in the South West, controlled by your party, and that is demolition of buildings. Why so?

First, our governments are doing very well , but I say please go out and go to any ACN controlled state, see what it was before when it was controlled by PDP and what they are now. I can tell you of Oyo state, for instance, even the environment in Ibadan are far more conducive to what it used to be when it was controlled by PDP in terms of law and order, security of life and property. Today, there is nowhere you would go to that you won't see evidence of construction of government work.

On demolition, I would say its urban renewal

and in any urban renewal you must make some necessary demolition. Some people have built on sewages, some without building permit, some are endangering peoples life and in some cases, it is even that public interest will take precedence over your private interest but one thing that is amazing in all the states where this urban renewal are going on is that the people have cooperated with our government, they have agreed that this pains are needed for the gains that the people will make in the future. You cannot make omelets without breaking eggs and it is precisely because likely that previous government have lack the political will and vision to take this measure that is becoming more and more complicated because he did not start building from canals and flood channels yesterday. But unfortunately, this has lead to serious casualty in terms of flood which has lead to loss of life. We must be proactive and courageous at times Governance is not all about popularity; it's all about doing the right things and being courageous.

What is your opinion on the Ekiti state Governorship race, Opeyemi Bamidele and his many clashes with some party men in the state?

I am not aware of that, they are all newspaper hypes. In ACN we have our own way of resolving all conflict; it's not unlawful to say that we are the most cohesive party in Nigeria today. We are the most disciplined party today and we are in a party were party supremacy reigns and I can assure you that whatever internal problems within the party are resolved amicably. I think the newspapers are making a mountain out of a mole hill. I don't see ACN in Ekiti state in any crisis over the election in the state.

Your book is set for launch on April 22.

What motivated you to write the book?

I didn't start out to write a book, I set out to issue press releases, grant interviews on behalf of my party and we have done that consistently since 2006 and people came to me and said I must compile it into a book form for posterity sake and for record sake. At first, I was reluctant because we had so much that we had done then and I was not quite persuaded but when I got these calls from all quarters I decided to try my hands on it and I engaged consultants only for us to find out that Nigeria would have lost a lot of history if it was not in a book form because going through the intervention we made, it is amazing what we have gone through in the last six to seven years of democracy and it has helped us to reposition opposition politics in its right perspective and it's not all just about arguing. It's about putting the government on its toes. We have also through our public intervention enabled in a manner, to influence governance even from the opposition. If you look for instance, our intervention, our interview during the period of the illness of late Yar' adua on the controversy whether he had properly handed over or not and whether Jonathan should become President. Quite interesting we were the only political party that came out and stood solidly behind the constitution, for us it's not all about Jonathan, the constitution must be respected and the proper thing the late President should do was to hand over and even when the senate adopted the celebrated doctrine of necessity. We went a step further and felt that the doctrine would have been necessary if the executive had done the needful. Actually, it is a chronicle of what happened in Nigeria in the last couple of years in the perspective of the Action Congress of Nigeria.

I am just a witness to history of turbulent times of our democracy and I decided to keep the records for our unborn generations.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

PAGE 13

Interview

I foresee more election violence —Prof. Ango Abdullahi T

here is the allegation that your friend Obasanjo introduced the kind of corruption that is ruining the system. How true is this?

No, corruption has been in the country, largely during the post- 1980.

To be honest and fair, it started really more serious from 1980, that’s during the Shagari’s administration. He, a very honest man, and no question about that; an honest and decent person, but his ministers quickly assumed some kind of aura or whatever, that led his government into questionable amount of corruption by his ministers and civil service set up. After that, I don’t want to count Buhari’s period because it was so short. But of course, there was a difference in terms of his approach on discipline, corruption and other vices including drug abuse. He wanted to clean up the system, but again those who don’t want the cleaning up, pushed him out. And from there again things continued to deteriorate further till date.

So, irresponsible corruption began to reer its head mainly from 1980, but began to degenerate and deteriorate up till the present.

Based on your admission, postelection violence has defined our democratic experience and culture, if there is any. Now there is this joke that in 1976, Obasanjo told some of us who were still in primary schools that the future belongs to us as leaders of tomorrow. And since independence till now, it appears that the nation has been going round in a circle making so many motions without movement. Now, we have Boko Haram in the in the mix, which is deadly; in the south-south it is militancy, in the south east is kidnapping while in the South west it is armed robbery, and all forms of expression of discontent. And as you said a society cannot rise above its leaders. So do Nigerians really deserve the kind leadership they have at the regional and national levels?

All these expressions show that people are not happy with things. This is the totality of it. And at any time people deserve the leaders that are on ground.

They deserve it, because my argument all along is that yes, if you have bad leaders, and they know they are bad leaders; and people have defined them as bad leaders, of course they will still want to hang on to power and the only way to hang on to power is to abuse the electoral process. This is what has been happening to us in the country. Today if you segment this country into its various compositions, particularly into its old components; the West, Mid-West, East and North respectively; there is only one section of the country that to a large extent where people do not allow election rigging, and where you do it, you pay for it. That is the Yoruba west. Whether this is in the Yoruba’s culture or not, but

In this concluding part of the interview with the Chief Operating Officer, Ali M. Ali, News Editor, Abubakar Ibrahim and reporter, Stanley Onyekwere, the former Vice chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University and leader of the Northern Elders Forum(NEF), Professor Ango Abdullahi speaks on elections and violence, the role of the Independent National Electoral Commission chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, zoning et all and concludes that Nigerians have not seen anything yet if polls continue to be rigged without scruples. The interview was first published last week in our April 13th edition.

I in real time, will vouch and say emphatically that it is the only part of the country where the people will rise against you if you happen to cheat them and they can identify you as a cheat.

My own area here there used to be certain sections of the north where ideological politics was very strong.

In the NEPU(Northern Elements Progressive Union) days, which later on gave birth to the PRP(Peoples Redemption Party), then corruption in politics was very minimal. Corruption in politics means that the party refuses to go through the process as stipulated in its constitution; election would come, and it will impose candidates on the people. It was only in certain parts of the n o r t h , particularly Kano , Kaduna a n d some other

places where NEPU and PRP were very strong, we did not tolerate a lot of these electoral abuses. But this is what is happening today, because ideological politics has virtually disappeared. And this is why corruption has taken over within the affairs of parties and during elections; results are written well in advance. That’s why even before elections are held, results are known.

And a situation where in recent local government elections in the country, the party of the governor takes everything in spite of the fact that in the Federal elections where neutral umpires were there to check some the excesses, and other parties won substantial number of seats in both the National Assembly and that of the state assemblies. But when it came to the local elections, the governors decided even at the ward level, who is going to get what.

So, in most of the elections that have

directions. *But talking about northern leaders, many of us are in hiding in Abuja and other places; some of them have big houses but they don’t sleep in them, as they are hiding in small hotels.

So, nobody is safe from the situation arising from people’s anger, in fact they feel even more angrier with us than they feel with our colleagues and peers in the south, because they say we are the ones responsible in one way or the other; if it is throwing away their rights, we are the ones; if it is using their resources for them not to go to school, for them not receive medical attention, and for them not to get the quality life. It is we, who are either local government chairmen or councillors or governors or members of the state houses of assembly.

And for people who would be a little more objective about the 2011 post – e l e c t i o n violence, most of the people who suffered the violence in the north are not southerners; they are politicians a n d traditional r u l e r s including Ulammas in the n o r t h here.

Professor Ango Abdullahi M y Emir was attacked, party belonging to the governor recorded and some prominent Ulamas, all ran landslide victories in all the positions. away for safety, because they were Of course, what does one expect when targeted as been responsible for selling the governor appoints all the state’s out what should have been the political Independent Electoral Commissioners, rights of the people just for money. who oversee these elections? So, the Believe me, if we can go back to result of the elections would have been conducting free and fair elections, and given to him in advance. Therefore, Nigerians insist on having free and fair these are some of the changes that must elections; take out all these emotions, happen. Let me say this, one panacea for whoever wins fine, but let it be seen as peace is free and fair elections at all levels free and fair elections, and more than in this country. And believe me, these fifty percent of this crisis will disappear things would come down drastically. on its own.

That’s why I have a strong feeling that In your view and from what the there is a strong link between the feelings Jega’s INEC is doing, are there signs of people and their anger, which perhaps that the nation may get it right in translates into a kind of time-bomb. If 2015? you notice, it takes a small flicker, then I don’t know. Jega was our student, disruptions starts, as they are just and he was one of those radicals we had waiting for an excuse to react in that then, and in fact at one point, he became way. the president of ASUU (Academic Staff And this one product of frustration; Union of Universities). When his and frustration comes in different taken place states in recent past,

in

the the

Contd on Pg 14

PAGE 14

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

Interview

‘I foresee more election violence’ Contd from Pg 13 appointment was announced, I was overjoyed, and I could swear by anything that we are going to have good elections, no matter what, even if you convert a big house into gold and give it to him, he will run a good election. This was my assumption then. But things came out the way they did. I then began to ask where else would I go and lay my beliefs and confidence that things will be done right.

Well, many comments in the papers including those that were honest and from his friends have said that Jega has a lot of work to do ahead of him, and if he does it well, then perhaps we are going to have free and fair elections in this country. We have seen some of this country’s neighbours and far away have free and fair elections. Recently, Ghana’s president won with percentage difference of less than one or thereabout; and in Kenya, Kenyata won with less than one percent or so, and they sustained an election. But here during the last elections for example, we thought the turnout was good, and we checked it was roughly in Kaduna between forty-eight and fifty percent; and when we heard that Jega was admitting 95% voter turnout and piling the figures as a tally, then we knew that we were in a different country.

It could be understood this way, that Jega as an individual can’t conduct a perfect election without the commissioners around him, who are technically appointed by the president.

Also some of them are alleged to be card carrying members of the ruling party. What’s your take on this?

Absolutely, and in fact you would not be appointed as INEC commissioner until you are a card carrying member of the ruling political party. This is well known. Therefore, there must be a new INEC with a new law, to make it possible for the body to be truly independent.

Secondly, there shall be no so called independent electoral body in the states. And elections in this country whether they are local, state or federal elections must be organized by one body ; if it is one body that is registering voters, then it must be one body that would supervise elections at all levels. And until we do away with these entire mushrooms and cocoon bodies that do the bidding of their masters, then we will not have free and fair election.

There had been so much dust over the president agreeing to do only one single term and not agreeing to do only a term in office. And there are

claims in some quarters that the presidency is after some opposition in a clear desperation to 2015 elections. All these things, where do you place them?

Very simple; it just shows that the crisis of this country is rooted in leadership. Aside being one of the founding fathers of PDP, I was also one of those who sat down and wrote the constitution of the party. In the constitution, we had during General Sani Abacha’s era, the last one I attended and even after the political reform conference organized by Obasanjo, the crisis has always been in power sharing between the north and the south. Knowing this fact, we put it there in the party’s constitution; that from now on, for a period of at least thirty years, power should rotate between the north and the south.

That was our decision at the conference. But after we submitted our report, Abacha said no. They agreed with principle of sharing power between the different sections of the country, but it shouldn’t be put in the constitution as the parties can take advantage of it, and use in order to gain votes all over the country.

And this how we put in the constitution of the PDP that there would be the rotation of power between different parts of this country. And of course we put it in practice. When it was agreed that it should be part of the constitution of the PDP, the argument that came after the party has been formed was where the rotation will start from. The south argued passionately that it should start in the south. And they gave us reasons and we accepted. We said, well, the leadership of this country generally had always resided in the north and so on; recently there was crisis of Abiola elections and so forth. All these were brought to the fore, and then we said okay let it start from the south, but we didn’t say that it should start from any part of the south either from east to west or middle, no, just the south.

Of course, some parts of the

Professor Ango Abdullahi north were not happy about it, but within the PDP fold we accepted. I was the one who sat with Obasanjo in Ota; his wife (late), himself and I when he declared for the presidency. I represented us (the north). So, this man (Obasanjo) knew that he was a product of this arrangement from nowhere.

Infact this particular thing should have gone to Alex Ekwueme , because he was our leader in G34. But some other arguments weighed heavily against him, and he lost out to Obasanjo. And the same Obasanjo denied zoning.

He said he didn’t know anything about zoning.

However, when he was trying to go for second term and because the zoning arrangement was for the first four years, then he was virtually on his knees at the expanded caucus of the PDP, to ask for an extension for him to serve his second term under the

“

Therefore, there must be a new INEC with a new law, to make it possible for the body to be truly independent. Secondly, there shall be no so called independent electoral body in the states. And elections in this country whether they are local, state or federal elections must be organized by one body

constitution. Some people opposed it. My late friend Abubakar Rimi and so on opposed it, but they were the minority.

This particular president was number 37 to sign on behalf of his government, that Obasanjo should be given an additional four years, to finish his term, and then the north will take eight years after he must have finished.

That’s how it was. But Obasanjo in the first place began by saying that he didn’t know zoning; he even thought that he could manipulate the legislators and then extend his tenure to third term, until we fought him back and he gave up. And then he came and picked Late Umaru Yar’Adua. Of course, Umaru was not elected in the party’s primary election, as he was picked. Fair enough we said it has come. I also know what we did for the vice presidency to be slotted to the Niger Delta. I was there with Edwin Cark and others. Again after Obasanjo lost out, Umaru came and did two and half years, and died.

Obviously, common sense would have dictated that under this arrangement, especially of course, they will say this PDP arrangement. But PDP was in charge of the country, and people saw it and therefore it is obvious that the north was expecting eight years as president.

Okay, the constitution said the vice president should finish the term of the late president since he died. We have no problem

with that, but for the same man, who is a beneficiary of zoning himself, to come up and say bluntly that he didn’t know that there was zoning and for whatever reason some class of Nigerians supported him(Jonathan).

So, now the issue you are talking about has to do with crisis of leadership, in terms of moral leadership; leaders in this country, particularly of the recent past have no integrity and morality; and you cannot trust them. This is what is surely behind all this Katakata playing out, that the president has promised in the darkroom somewhere that he was going to run for only one term, just for him to get the support of the governors.

Just like Obasanjo reneged, he is also trying to renege that he ever went into this kind of arrangement with governors, his colleagues at the time. So, you cannot have leadership that you cannot trust, or a leadership that can’t keep trust.

This is our real crisis. It is that one of people you can trust or you can’t trust. How can you say that you are fighting corruption, and you come and pardoned in the public, a thief.

So, where are people like Tafa Balogun and others? They should have been pardoned as well. Yes, I agree that constitutionally, it’s within the power of Mr. President to grant presidential pardon but discretionally, it is wrong to have granted to Alamieyeseigha.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

PAGE 15

Interview

'Government does not involve women in peace building' T

ell us more about the five pillars of UN resolution 1325 of the year 2000?

These are the solid bonds to which the resolution was built.

First, there is participation, the need for active and solid participation of women in all peace processes, on all issues of peace and security. The second is prevention; we can say that they are three pieces. Prevention has to do with making sure that during conflict, women are prevented from being harassed, from being raped, from being violated.

This is because, as you know during crisis, there is no order and people take law into their hands and behave any how they want.

We also deal with protection issues, for instance, those who live in the Internally Displaced Camps, IDPs, we have about five camps in Kaduna, after the 2011 crisis and I visited them to talk on their welfare and other matters.

The suffering of those women there made this issue of prevention very key and important to us. So, women should not just be protected (but) there must be some strategies put in place to prevent them from harm. This is because women already are vulnerable in the society.

When there is crisis, do not ask me where the men run to. When you go to the camps, you will see only women and their children.

The impact of crisis on women and children is different from that of the men. The last point is relief and rehabilitation. After every crisis in Nigeria, we have NEMA (National Emergency Management Agency) and SEMA (for the states) which give some form of relief materials to people affected during crisis.

So what we are saying here is that when they go out with such relief materials, they must make sure that they look at all their items with gender slant. I mean that they should look at them to see that all the items meet the special needs of women and children. Will it also take care of the few men that are there? It's not just looking at what will fix the women problems but also the things that would cater for the men in the camps. We also added two items which include promotion and prosecution; this is because you can be preventing something but you are not doing anything to promote it.

So, it doesn't help, you can prevent somebody from hurting me but if you want to put me in a situation where I can help myself you will now empower me. So, that is promotion in its self. That means that you are making efforts, deliberately to see that I

Mrs. Lydia Umar is the Executive Director, Gender Awareness Trust, a nongovernmental organisation in Kaduna. She also works with other important International organisations that fight for women's rights across the World. She attended a seminar titled "United Nations Security Council Resolution ( UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security", in Kaduna recently, where she spoke with our correspondent, Mohammed Ibrahim, on the role of women in maintaining peace.

Mrs. Lydia Umar am in a good position to deal with whatever situation that comes my way.

The final one is prosecution, this is very key and it's in our bill which we submitted to the National Assembly on Violence Against persons Prohibition Bill 2006. We are still following it up, I know it will come through. What we are saying is that there is so much impunity happening in this country. People do things and they get away with it. We have a case of a boy and we have been following that case, a man was raping that boy consistently on a daily basis.

The boy was a carpenter working under them at a carpentry workshop in Panteka, Kaduna. Each time they sent him to buy food, that useless man will corner him behind the hip of woods until the boy's sister caught them.

She tried all she could to get the police to do something. I don't want to go into the issue of police in our country. To cut the story short, they called her one day to say they could not apprehend the man. But she did try on her own to apprehend the man before she called the police.

The police after arresting the suspect, later called her to plead on his behalf. So, what we are saying is that by the time that person leaves the station, nothing will stop him from doing it again. That is what

we call impunity. Just to continue doing it unabated, because there is nobody to deal with him. So, in Nigeria, prosecution must be of utmost concern to us. Anybody that is found violating children particularly during conflicts, violating small girls must be prosecuted. These are the pillars.

You seem not to be satisfied with role of women in peace process.

I am not satisfied and that is why we are doing what we are doing now. We already know that women play some roles in maintaining and keeping the peace but it is only at certain

levels. That is at the family levels.

At the community level, women are always seen trying to dialogue, trying to mediate between two people that are quarreling and they do it well.

But when it comes to formal peace building initiatives, let's say government is setting up something, it forgets the women.

So, what we are doing is to enlighten women for them to understand that there is a document that recognises them and to understand what is contained in the document.

Infact, when I discovered that out of a 70-man peace committee set up by the state governor, only

“

Infact, when I discovered that out of a 70man peace committee set up by the state governor, only three members were women. I lamented about it and now many women know this. So, by the time they set up another committee, they will pay attention, especially if it has to do with peace and security. There are other things too that I hope women will begin to demand for.

three members were women. I lamented about it and now many women know this. So, by the time they set up another committee, they will pay attention, especially if it has to do with peace and security. There are other things too that I hope women will begin to demand for.

What are those things you think women should demand for?

Our girls in the police; when they want to marry, they have to take permission from their boss.

A female police has to apply, then they will call the man and interview him for them to determine whether he is suitable to be her husband or not. If he is not, they will tell her "you cannot marry him". But the same thing is not applicable to the men. A man just sees a woman anywhere, he will want to marry her and he goes ahead to marry her. This is the kind of gender discrimination we are talking about. We are enlightening them so that they will begin to access and demand for accountability.

Do you think this document or Resolution 1325 will end the plight of Nigerian women if implemented?

The plights of women are in many facets; this is just one of it that we are talking about. We have the plight of women in politics, education and the economy. So, the plight of women cannot be ended because 1325 is implanted. What we are saying is that it will improve our situation, our peace and security situation in Kaduna state and not just for women but for the whole state.

Tell us some of the organizations you are involved in.

It is not through the Gender Awareness Trust that I became known. It was through my association with a group called the West African Network for Peace. I was on their board in Nigeria, for six years. We have an office in Lagos. The organization covers all the countries in West Africa, 15 countries. Now, I'm in their regional board as a vice chairlady.

I am also a teacher at the West African Peace Institute Ghana; every September we do trainings on peace building.

I was also the chairperson of an international organisation with headquarters in Swispis.

These are some of the organisations I assisted.

PAGE 16

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

Tourism

Okomu National Park: Wildlife sanctuary

Forest elephants and buffaloes

L

ocated in Ovia South LGA, the park which lies about 50km west of Benin City, Okomu National Park, formerly the Okomu Wildlife Sanctuary, is a forest block within the 1,082 km² Okomu Forest Reserve.

The park holds a small fragment of the rich forest that once covered the region, and is the last habitat for many endangered species.

The park holds a remnant of the Nigerian lowland forests that once formed a continuous 50-100 km wide belt from the Niger River west to the Dahomey Gap in Benin.

To the south and southeast, the forest was separated from the coast by mangrove and swamp forests, while to the north it merged into the Guinean ForestSavanna Mosaic eco-region.

Okomu National Park is about 200 km² of wildlife sanctuary, a rainforest ecosystem that is the habitat for many endangered species of flora and fauna. The s t a t e government formally defined the sanctuary in 1986, with an area of just 66 k m 2 before t h e Nigerian Conservation

Gate way into the park

Foundation (NCF) took over management of the sanctuary in 1987, and extended it to 114 km2 by adding a one-mile wide buffer zone. The sanctuary was later taken over by the National Parks Service in 1999.

Okomu is a home of forest elephants, buffaloes, red river hogs, chimpanzees, leopards, putty nosed guenon, porcupine, pangolins, duikers, antelopes etc.

The white throated monkey which is one of the rarest monkeys in the world today is found at the park as well. Butterflies and birds are abundant making it one of the best places for bird watching in Nigeria.

The Nature Reserve The park is made up of GuineaCongo lowland rain forest, which includes areas of swamp-forest, high forest, secondary forest, and open scrub. Among the common trees are Kapok, Celtis zenkeri, Triplochiton scleroxylon, Antiaris

africana, Pycnanthus angolensis and Alstonia congoensis. The park is probably the best example of mature secondary forest in southwest Nigeria that is home to a number of forest elephants and buffalos, as well as a large variety of primates including a small (and very wary) troop of chimpanzees. It is also home to over 700 different butterfly species.

Tree Houses The park has two tree houses, one 140 feet high in a silkcotton tree, from which visitors can view the park from above and observe bird life. This is the most intriguing feature anyone is likely to see in the park.

T h e houses are additional pep to visitors gaining a vintage spot from where to relax and savour the beauties of nature that the park presents. The Tree House has a base with some measure of space and platform to sit on while contemplating how to conquer the 140 feet height.

Bird watching With over 200 species of birds

These houses built on wooden pillars provide relaxation for tourists

recorded at the park, Okomu National Park is very rich in birdlife. These include Angolan Pitta, Grey Parrot, Wrinkled Hornbill, Fish Eagle, hawks, woodpeckers, Great Owl, Grey Hornbill, Cattle Egret, Blackcasqued Hornbill, Yellow-casqued Hornbill, Sabine's Spinetail, Cassin's Spinetail, Black Spinetail, White-breasted Negrofinch, Chestnut-breasted Negrofinch, Pale-fronted Negrofinch and

Yellowthroated Cuckoo etc. The bird hide enables avid bird watchers snipe at unaware avifauna that are wading through the pool overlooked by the hide or foraging within the vicinity.

Nature t r a i l (safari) The park is accessible to tourists, and has well m a r k e d trails. Visitors can stay at chalets built on stilts, just outside the park entrance, surrounded by big trees that are often occupied by Mona monkeys. Guides are available for forest walks, and will point out such things as termite nests and the many medicinal plants. It is home to endangered forest Elephants and one of the rarest monkeys in the world, the White-throated monkey is one of the few remaining pristine rainforest areas in southern Nigeria.

Okomu and Osse Rivers and Arakhuan Stream The Okomu River which flows across the length of the park as well as the Arakhuan stream provide visitors opportunity to engage in water sports such as fishing, boating / canoeing and other water related activities.

Udo and Arakhuan villages These are the villages within the location of Okomu National Park where visitors can learn and feel life in the rural communities.

The villages provide visitors an insight into authentic African village life; meeting the locals and share their historical values.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

PAGE 17 With Sonde Abbah 0803-2159-249 (SMS only) asonde@yahoo.com

The True face of success

H

e is called Isaac Success.

How apt can a name be.

Not only is Isaac a skillfull soccer player, he is also a successful one to boot.

Witness, for instance, the way he single-handedly demolished Ghana's U-17 National team in their showdown with Nigerian's Golden Eaglets on Sunday.

The U-17 African Championship had barely started when success ran haywire. He scored not one, not two, not three, but four fantastic goals.

Thanks to his sublime Salvo, Nigeria outclassed Ghana 6-1 in the match. Take a bow, super success.

Fantastic Feat: Favour flaunts his garland

Favour’s flying feat

H

e is just 20 years old.

Favour Odozor, that is. But what has age got to do with talent or skill or ability? Little or nothing.

Little wonder, this 'Naija' youngster has sparkled like a

million stars in the aviation arena.

Recently Favour emerged as one of the best students at the Africa Union Aviation Academy in South Africa.

This rare feat earned Favour the distinction of being the youngest

commercial pilot ever licensed not only in Nigeria but also in South Africa and far beyond.

Call it Favour's flying feat. Call it Favour Odozor's favourable accomplishment. Youngster, we hail thee!

Is ‘Tam’ targeting 2015?

S

peaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, has been "embracing" the headlines frequently in recent time.

When he is not aiming barbed arrows at his party, PDP, over one foul play or the other Tambuwal would be targeting a certain fumbling Goodluck Jonathan.

The "new" Speaker Tambuwal is reportedly executing such suave shuffles as part of his script to "capture" the presidency come 2015.

None other than ex-military ruler, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, recently hinted that the House of Reps leader is "ripe" for Aso Rock.

Really? We shall see what happens between now and the long-anticipated year.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

PAGE 18

Relationship If you have any relationship story you want to share with our readers, please send to the above address.

Let's share your love story.

Heart Matterz

Now you can stop your divorce or lover's rejection even when situation seems hopeless (I)

With A'isha Biola Raji E-mail: rajia39ishabiola@yahoo.com Phone: 08082071393 (Text only)

My husband thinks I'm having an affair

I

'm a Professor and a mother of two. My husband also teaches in the same college. My husband thinks I am having an affair.

He thinks I'm more than just friends with a fellow Professor whom my husband dislikes a lot. I've tried telling him the truth but he doesn't seem to understand. The man in question is happily married with a kid. Fortunately, our children aren't aware of the turmoil we're going through.

How do I knock sense in my hubby's head?

— Saumiya Dear Saumiya, Your husband is the most insecure guy around. Just because you are friendly and

By Homer McDonald

D

e a r friend, I'll show you step-by-step, exactly what to say and do to stop your divorce or separation. Of course, you want to save your relationship but you're confused, afraid, and you don't know where to turn. You want to save your relationship more than anything else, and you should!

That's where I come in. For over 45 years I've been working in San Antonio, Texas, saving thousands of marriages. It's been my lifelong career.

Over those 45 years, I've discovered exactly what works and what doesn't work when it comes to saving a relationship. Keep reading, and I'll show you exactly what to say and do for your situation.

The first thing we need to do is get you to understand what you're up against. The competition you're facing as you do everything you can to stop your divorce or

“

They do not want a divorce from somebody who's always pleasant and is always seeing their side and always agreeing with them.

That's not the person they're pulling away from.

separation as quickly as possible.

Part of the competition is our addiction to strategies that never work...

Here are four strategies that never work - yet people always try Which of these strategies are you trying right now?

The first is to give them reassurance: "I've changed, I won't be controlling anymore, I won't lie to you anymore, I won't have another affair," and so forth. The efforts to give them reassurance.

This almost never works.

The second strategy is to tell them over and over again: "I love you." That never works.

The third strategy is arguing: Reasoning, trying to talk them into feeling different or doing different.

That never works.

Always agree, if you talk about where they are wrong, they become more wrong and if you talk about where they are right, they immediately become less wrong.

See, most people don't know that if you agree and sound sincere to the other person; you do not explain yourself, they will defend you, they will reverse their position.

It looks you're moving faster toward a divorce but you're getting at the roots of why they want a divorce. They want a divorce because you're always disagreeing with them.

They do not want a divorce from somebody who's always pleasant and is always seeing their side and always agreeing with them. That's not the person they're pulling away from.

They're pulling away from the person who disagrees with them.

"You owe me love because we're married. You've got to love me

because we're married."

No, no. You've got to get rid of the hostility before their good feelings can show and their hostility may seem to you like it's totally independent of anything that you do.

No! You are supporting their negativism by your attitude of needing and pressuring and whining and complaining and trying to argue for your way. Just enthusiastically see it their way.

You're happy to do whatever they want. Wow! That takes the props totally out from under their hostility and they want to continue this attitude.

You are acting secure now when you say, "You're the only one that I can love, you're the only one that I can be happy with, you're the only one," you're really saying, "I'm a pea-brain, I can't really see that the world is full of beautiful women or good looking men, I can't see that, I don't have any confidence at all and don't you want me?" No, they don't.

Pessimism: We become addicted to our pessimism. I once had a man say to me, "I know I can't win, you don't know my wife, she's very stubborn and she never changes her mind."

I said, "Well, I think it's about something this important is precisely what she has changed her mind about. She originally said she was going to stay with you and love you forever. And now, she can't stand you. So obviously, she's changed her mind. So obviously, she does change her mind."

But people fall in love with pessimism. That's one of the strategies that never work but people always try them!

comfortable with a colleague does not mean you are having an affair with him. What is irking him is that he dislikes him, while you get along with him.

May be you need to explain to him that there are several professors and he is just one of them. He's jealous and accusing you of infidelity because your hubby is spineless. There are several women who work and are friendly with male colleagues and that does not tantamount to having an affair. I am sure your husband is also friendly with female colleagues; do you accuse him of having an affair?

Your husband's thoughts are simply ridiculous and need to be ignored.

— Anonymous

“

There are several women who work and are friendly with male colleagues and that does not tantamount to having an affair. I am sure your husband is also friendly with female colleagues; do you accuse him of having an affair? Your husband's thoughts are simply ridiculous and need to be ignored.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

PAGE 19

Beauty Tips

Quick tips on caring & maintaining your Make Up Brushes M

aintaining your beauty is a delicate aspect of overall wellness but I have come to realize that when you don't pay attention to every detail that concerns your beauty or skincare, you do more damage than good. Our make up brushes are tools we use everyday that we need to take care of.

It's like a plate; when you eat off it and fail to wash it soon after the dirt dries off and sticks to it.

Over time you could decide to eat off it again and again without washing and you might still be okay, emphasis on the 'might'.

Give yourself a little over a week and it will eventually start to tell on your health through stomach aches, stomach infections etc.

The same goes for your make up brushes. Over time if you fail to wash them it will take its toll on you and your face. The brushes or applicators acquire cosmetic particles as well as dead skin cells & oils over time and create the perfect living environment for bacteria.

Without proper cleaning and maintenance the dirt can cause skin irritations and infections, not to mention that the brush wouldn't last long. For better ways of taking care of your make up brushes here are a few tips to help you out.

Caring for your brush Caring for your make up brush

requires attention to detail and using proper methods that will give them care without damage.

-After every use apply some anti-bacterial wipes/ wet wipes/ facial wipes to clean the brush.

This takes away excess oils and bacterial accumulation from the brush.

-There are several products that can be used to clean your make up brush and the prices could be a bit steep. A convenient alternative is to use hair shampoo that doesn't contain conditioner to clean them.

-Once a week or every two weeks (depending on the frequency of usage) wash the brushes with baby shampoo and tea tree oil. The baby shampoo

acts as a less chemical wash and washes out the residue of make up while the tea tree oil acts as an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal agent. To wash see the instructions below‌ What You Need

- Tea Tree oil - Baby shampoo - A Lint-less cloth Fill a bowl/ sink with warm water and add the baby shampoo and 3/4 drops of tea tree oil. Place the brushes inside the mix and rub gently wish your fore finger and thumb or spread & twist across your palm for about 2 minutes or more. Rinse until water is clear and shape them back into their original shape if disfiguration has occurred.

Finally place them on a lint-less cloth and let them air dry.

Brush maintenance -Do not boil make up brushes.

Boiling your make up brushes will not sterilize your brushes, it will only ruin them especially if the handles are made from rubber or plastic.

-Always keep used make up brushes away from new ones during storage. The residue of dirt and bacteria could be transferred

from one brush to the other making even your new brushes dirty. You could try storing them separately like in a roll up bag or a glass jar.

-Keep your make up brushes away from direct sunlight. The heat could damage them.

-Classify your make up. Keep the brushes used for liquid make up away from those used for powdered make up.

-Sharpen your pencils; sharpening at least once a week prevents bacteria from settling on the used lead. After using any make up pencil be sure to replace the cap and .

There you have it! Easy and practical steps that could help you prolong the lifespan of your make up brushes and get your face that much closer to perfection. Remember to share some of your tips with us.

Contributed by Jennifer Obiuwevbi

Proper methods of maintaining healthy hair M aintaining your hair is relatively easy with the right kind of steps. Hair is made of protein, so keeping a healthy diet and good hygiene is an essential part of maintaining luscious locks. At the same time, here are some other tips about hair care, and what you can do at home to get unbelievably beautiful hair.

Wash hair sparingly with a good-quality shampoo Many people insist that washing hair too often can leave hair dried out, leeched of its natural oils, and damaged. Shoot to shampoo your hair at most every other day. Some people wash their hair only twice a week.

Try shampoos that do not contain sulfates or parabens.

Sulfates are the chemicals that make shampoos lather up.

Parabens are preservatives that cause irritation and eye problems after prolonged use. Both of these chemicals aren't healthy for you or the environment so try to use shampoos with natural cleansers.

Use conditioner depending on your hair type, length, and

treatment damage. A good rule of thumb is to condition every time you shampoo your hair, although very processed or dyed hair probably needs a little more love than natural hair.

Deep condition once a week, use a store-bought product, or venture out on your own and try a homemade solution.

Follow these steps for conditioning your hair properly based on hair type: For fine hair: If you have very limp hair, try a botanical oil treatment before you shampoo.

Use lavender or tea-tree oil, for example, and work it under your cuticles before shampooing.

For medium to thick hair: use a moisturizer with natural hydrators. Keep your conditioner light. Apply conditioner all over your head and let stay for 2-3 minutes.

Be careful about using products with too much protein.

Too much protein can leave your hair feeling desiccated and brittle. While protein is the building block of healthy hair, use conditioners that come with balanced ingredients.

Don't brush your hair too much One more surprising habit of people with beautiful hair is their reluctance to use a brush. Many women (and men) prefer only using a natural-fiber comb to detangle hair immediately after showering, and only then taking one pass through.

Brushing or stimulating the scalp can pull hairs from the follicles, create split-ends, and create irritation. Contrary to the old wives' tale, giving your scalp a massage or 100 brushes a day will not stimulate hair growth.

Edit Let hair dry naturally After you get out of the shower, give your hair a quick pat-down, squeezing the hair gently between the towel. Do NOT rub the hair, this can weaken the follicle and make the hair brittle and dull. Afterwards, give your hair a quick brushthrough to get rid of tangles and let your hair dry naturally.

Try not to use a blow-drier.

Healthy hair does not respond well to heat. Hair can sustain heat damage easily, especially from

blow-driers. If you have to use a blow-drier, dry your hair using the lowest-temperature setting and limit usage to once a week.

Trim your hair regularly The best way to get rid of split ends is to...do it yourself! Take some hair shears and attack the split ends about 1/4 inch above the splitting. Many women with perfect hair never have split ends because they make it a priority to get their hair trimmed, or trim it themselves, every 6-8 weeks.

Style your hair naturally, minimizing styling damage Styling by itself won't overly damage your hair, but repeated styling multiple times per week put some serious strain on hair.

Avoid perming, crimping, straightening, curling, and bleaching or repeatedly coloring hair if at all possible. So you want to go out on Saturday night and need your hair straightened. That's fine.

Just make it an occasional treat, not a permanent thing.

Don't use rubber bands to pull back or otherwise style hair.

Rubber bands will encourage your hair to get snagged, ripping it out of the follicle.

Eat healthy and give your hair the right amount of vitamins Since hair is made of proteins, make sure that you eat a balanced diet rich in lean protein, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. A healthy diet will ensure better-looking, betterfeeling hair.

Make sure you get plenty of vitamin C (strengthens hair), iron (helps transport oxygen to blood vessels), zinc (grows and repairs tissue), and omega-3 fatty acids (grows healthy hair).

Give your hair some time to show new brilliance. What you eat will not have an immediate difference on the hair you already have, but it will help with hair that is newly growing.

Remove stress from your life Physical and mental stressors will keep your hair from realizing its full potential. Stress can cause hair loss, so try not to let stress overcome you. This means finding healthy emotional outlets for your stress: yoga, biking, meditation, or other forms of exercise all work well.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

PAGE 20

Learning

With Emmanuel Eko 08165618872 junioremma419@gmail.com

Did you know that?

Book Review White Dog Fell from the Sky

By Eleanor Morse

E

leanor Morse captures the magic of the African landscape and the terror and degradation of life under apartheid in White Dog Fell from the Sky, a tense and heartfelt novel set in 1977: The story centers around Isaac Muthethe, a medical student who flees South Africa after military officials throw one of his peers under a train. He is smuggled across the border into Botswana in a hearse, only to be left unconscious by the side of the road; the sole witness to his mistreatment is the thin white dog of the title, a symbol of perseverance and patience. When, coincidentally, Isaac encounters an old school friend named Amen, who

is aligned with violent freedom fighters, Isaac's fate is sealed: "Later, he'd look back and see that this moment led to another that led all the way down a road he'd never meant to travel." He works quietly as a gardener for an empathetic and unhappy American woman, Alice, until his simple desire to earn enough money to rescue his family spirals into a nightmare of misunderstanding and suffering. The trials and discoveries of Isaac and Alice, whose relationship is one of mutual admiration and respect, unfold in parallel plotlines, although their lives collide when Isaac goes missing and Alice's search for him forces a confession.

Tenth of December By Saunders

A

George

cclaimed fiction writer George Saunders has long been drawn to the farcical elements of contemporary life, playing for laughs.

Tenth of December, his first story collection in more than six years, showcases his singular voice, a spirited Americanese that owes as much to marketing as to Melville, yet taps a deeper anguish. Gone are the broken-down

amusement parks and plucky strivers from his earlier work. Here his characters cling to sanity beneath a crushing anomiepawns in the iron grips of evil scientists, corporations, religious sects, and their own dire impulses.

Returning vets, home foreclosures, racial tension-the stories suggest a country on the edge. As one character observes: " E v e r y t h i n g ' s backwards and inverted." And yet there

is a gleam of r e d e m p t i o n : Friendships are forged, families are healed. In the title story, two strangers, a middleaged man with cancer and a bullied boy, save each other from tragedy in a snow-draped forest.

Other stories roam freely over the fading American Dream.

Satirical, searching, sure-footed, the masterful Saunders peers into the wintry twilight ahead, holding love like a fragile lamp to guide us.

The Last Runaway

By Tracy Chevalier

T

racy Chevalier calls her first historical novel set in the United States "my love letter home."

Actually, Chevalier, who lives in London and is best known for the international best-seller Girl with a Pearl Earring, has accomplished something less sweetly sentimental but even more emotionally riveting: The Last Runaway portrays a pre-Civil War America full of contradictions, personified by a heroine facing the kinds of major moral challenges in her life that are playing out on a grand scale in her adopted country.

Honor Bright ends up stranded in 1850 Ohio when the adventurous sister she has accompanied from England dies soon after their arrival. She finds everything in the

Midwest foreign-from the patterns used in quilting to the "quality of the sunlight...yellower and fiercer."

Then there is the specter of slavery, which, as a Quaker, Honor is horrified by. In spite of this, she is drawn to a slave hunter whose sister hides fugitives via the Underground Railroad.

But after finally settling down with a farmer with whom she expects to lead a safe, simple life, Honor herself becomes involved in aiding fleeing slaves, which poses increasingly complicated ethical choices.

The protagonist's vividly human individuality makes the author's pitchperfect set piece about our nation's (ongoing) growing pains irresistible.

• Dogs are the only animal proven to have sixth sense • The average cocaine amount left behind on US one dollar bills is enough that the bills themselves can be smoked to obtain a speedy high .

• Yellow Fin Tuna get their yellowish tint from absorbing human urine in the water around them.

• Albert Einstein was half black.

• Brushing your cat to prevent shedding often causes the animal to go bald.

• Because of high levels of smog in California, children born there tend to have a 5%

higher risk of becoming schizophrenic in their early 20s.

• Cats and dogs have evolved the ability to interbreed, but inherently know to avoid this practice due to the high levels of disease, birth defects, and disfigurement in cat-dog litters.

• A portion of Mona Lisa was actually painted with the subject's menstrual blood.

• When you feel the urge to poop, holding it in for a few extra hours will force your body to absorb extra vitamins and nutrients that it missed the first time.

Chanel Bonfire

By Wendy Lawless

G

eorgann Rea, who has "the icy good looks of a Hitchcock heroine," along with a penchant for Dior negligees, Dunhill cigarettes, and bemused dissatisfaction, is the maternal focal point of Wendy Lawless's darkly comic memoir, Chanel Bonfire.

Driven to improve her social status, Georgann and her reallife Holly Golightly act seem harmless enough, until she betrays her husband and trades up for a handsome millionaire 15 years her senior. (The pair proclaim their love at a party attended by their children and then spouses.) With Lawless and her sister in tow, the new family relocates to a palatial apartment in the infamous Dakota in Manhattan and enters high society.

Still, Georgann is miserable, with "just a more glamorous cage to be locked in." A suicide attempt designed to regain the attention of her new husband fails to do the trick, and she reinvents herself again, this time as a rich divorcée, whisking off her daughters to a Park Avenue apartment and

later a posh townhouse in London. After globetrotting, they return to the United States with Georgann in full Mommie Dearest mode.

Lawless, the ever-dutiful but ironic eldest child, chronicles her mother's decline from sparkling femme fatale to desperate drunk in this simultaneously chilling and hilarious tale, whose unmistakable message is that though Lawless has, in some ways, led a privileged life, she never got the one thing she most wanted: her mother's love.

PAGE 21

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

Wellness

Healthy Living

What is Diabetes mellitus?

A Diabetes expert, Mr. Isaac Yakubu Akogu, is also Pharmacist with over 16 years experience with specialisation in Diabetes Education. Trained by The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) Johannesburg, South Africa, he also acquired training in Tanzania, Uganda and Cameroon in 2011 to qualify as a Diabetes Conversation Map Expert Trainer saddled with responsibility of training doctors, pharmacists, nurses and other health care professionals on current dynamics in diabetes education. He holds a Postgraduate certificate in Diabetes Management from Dares Salaam, Tanzania and is currently the 2nd Vice President of Diabetes Association of Nigeria, North Central Zone. In his weekly column, Wellness, in Peoples Daily Weekend, he brings to you, the appropriate and current information on diabetes and other health matters.

Introduction: The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) estimated in its publication 2011 that the global prevalence of Diabetes mellitus is 366 million persons with a quarter of this figure undiagnosed. In the 15 years leading up to 2010, diabetes in Africa is increasing by 93%(IDF,2003) and the WHO (2005) estimates that around 80% of deaths from diabetes, heart disease, cancer and respiratory disease (non communicable diseases(NCDs)) will occur in developing Countries and those most affected will be in their reproductive phase of life.

Undetected, untreated diabetes mellitus can result in devastating long term complications such as blindness, kidney disease, erectile dysfunction, amputation amongst others.

Definition: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disorder characterized by high blood glucose an end product from the food we eat. The persistent abnormal blood

A Child with Type 1 Diabetes. Age is no barrier to the disease

glucose level leads to array of complications that manifest in a person living with this condition. The body's inability to maintain normal blood glucose is due to relative or lack of a hormone called Insulin. This hormone is produce from the pancreas in the body. It helps to convert glucose into energy for daily body need.

Classification: Diabetes mellitus can be classified into three broad categories for the purpose of the readers to comprehend.

Type 1 Diabetes Type 1 Diabetes which is commonly referred to as Insulin dependent diabetes is mostly common in persons below the age of 30. It has been reported in persons below two years of age. In this type of diabetes, the body fails to produce insulin mostly due to the fact that the pancreas fails to produce insulin or presence of certain antibodies which destroy produced insulin.

Treatment is mainly use of Insulin in form of injection.

Type 2 Diabetes Type 2 Diabetes often develops later in life and results due to either the pancreas failing to produce enough insulin due to insulin producing cells being destroyed or resistance of the body to insulin action. Type 2 diabetes mellitus accounts for 90% of all diabetes Gestational Diabetes This is a form of Diabetes mellitus that appears for the first time in pregnancy. It usually disappear after delivery but the individual is at risk of type 2 diabetes later in life.

Diabetes in pregnancy, especially in a teenage girl, poses particular challenges. Young women with type 1 diabetes have increased risks during pregnancy, which start from conception and continue until after delivery. There are potential complications for both mother and baby. The diabetes may be pre-existing type 1 diabetes or new gestational diabetes. The risks extend to both sets of young women.

Therefore all pregnancies complicated by diabetes should be managed by an experienced team.

Symptoms: They symptoms of Diabetes are many, but the following are

common to observe, -Increased Urination especially at night. The kidney whose main function is to filter excess toxins and waste from the body works to remove the excess glucose in the blood by mobilizing the body fluids to flush out the glucose especially when its threshold for glucose is exceeded.

-Excessive thirst is a common symptom. This result from excess fluid loss by the body via urination, therefore dehydration occurs and the individual feels thirsty.

-There is a profound increase or loss of appetite depending on the individual.

-Loss of weight is another common symptom. The body works to deplete excessive fat to produce energy since it cannot utilize its own glucose to produce energy.

-Blurred vision is a symptom that most times appears early but individuals tend to bear it and attribute it to old age or poor lens prescription. Excess blood glucose in the blood vessels that supply the eyes result to poor vision or cloudy vision which if untreated can lead to irreversible blindness.

-Fatigue- This is a condition in which the individual feels tired always even though no physical work is performed. This feeling results from poor glucose utilization to provide the body with needy energy for its daily work.

-Poor or slow healing of sores or ulcers. The presence of sores or ulcers is difficult to heal. The high blood glucose provides a good environment for bacteria and other microbes to thrive thus making healing difficult and this has lead to amputation in many cases.

-Recurrent skin infections in form of boils and vaginal infections in female or the foreskin in uncircumcised men are common symptoms.

-On urinating on the ground, ants mills around the urine because of its "sweet taste".

It is important to note that an individual may not show all the listed symptoms however, with presence of two or more of the symptoms accompanied by high blood glucose, diagnosis can be made.

Causes of Diabetes:

With Isaac Yakubu Akogu www.diabetesguidenigeria.blogspot.com, 08176179496, diabetesconcepts@gmail.com The cause of diabetes is not known but the following risk factors play a major role in its development.

-Heredity , this is mostly implicated in persons with type 2 diabetes than in persons with type 1 -Infections especially due to virus like Cocksakie, meascle, mumps etc. especially in Type 1 -Early introduction of animal milk instead of breast milk especially in Type 1 Other risk factors includes: Obesity or overweight, High fat diet, Age, Inactive or sedentary lifestyle, Alcoholism and smoking.

Diagnosis: Fasting Blood glucose of ?

7mmol/L or Post meal Blood glucose of ?11mmol/L can be used as a guide to make diagnosis though there are minor variations when other authorities are considered but for the purpose of understanding of the readers, this values can be used as guide.

Treatment Approach: Treatment of Diabetes mellitus has undergone revolution over the years. In the early days before the discovery of Insulin in 1921, Starvation Therapy was the main focus, where an individual is denied any form of carbohydrate but due to wasting and extreme fatique, this form of therapy was

discontinued. Diabetes mellitus presently has no cure though work is ongoing to realizing a cure as enshrined in the motto of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). The treatment is hinged on four cardinal management principles.

Diet Medication Exercise Education These principles will be expanded upon in subsequent publications.

Complications of Diabetes Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to serious complications which can be summarized into the following: Complications of Kidney Complications of Nerve ( Pain and Numbness in feet and Erectile dysfunction) Complication of Eye (Retinopathy) Complications of Heart (Heart Attack) Complications of Brain(Stroke) Complications of Blood vessels ( Hypertension, Dyslipidemia) Complications of Foot ( Foot ulcer) Lifestyle modification and control of blood glucose level within range helps to prevent or delay these complications.

A diabetic patient showing loss of weight

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

PAGE 22

With Aunty A'isha

Sights and sounds Margaret Thatcher, former British Prime Minister

P P

olitician and f o r m e r British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was born as Margaret Hilda Roberts on October 13, 1925, in G r a n t h a m , England.

Nicknamed the "Iron Lady," Thatcher served as the prime minister of England from 1979 to 1990. The daughter of a local businessman, she was educated at a local grammar school, Grantham Girls' High School. Her family operated a grocery store and they all lived in an apartment above the store.

In her early years, Thatcher was introduced to conservative politics by her father, who was a member of the town's council.

A good student, Thatcher was accepted to Oxford University, where she studied chemistry at Somerville College. Politically active in her youth, Thatcher served as president of the Conservative Association at the university.

She earned a degree in chemistry in 1947, and went on to work as a research chemist in Colchester. Later, she worked as a research chemist in Dartford.

Two years after graduating from college, Thatcher made her first bid for public office. She ran as the conservative candidate for a Dartford parliamentary seat in the 1950 elections.

Thatcher knew from the start that it would be nearly impossible to win the position away from the liberal Labour Party. Still she earned the respect of her political party peers with her speeches.

Defeated, Thatcher remained undaunted, trying again the following year, but once more her efforts were unsuccessful. Two months after her loss, she married Denis Thatcher.

In 1952, Thatcher put politics aside for a time to study law. She and her husband welcomed twins Carol and Mark the next year.

After completing her training, Thatcher qualified as a barrister, a type of lawyer, in 1953. She didn't stay away from the political arena for too long, Thatcher won a seat in the House of Commons in 1959, representing Finchley.

Clearly a woman on the rise, Thatcher was appointed parliamentary undersecretary for pensions and national insurance in 1961. When the Labour Party assumed control of the government, she became a member of what is called the Shadow Cabinet, a group of political leaders who would hold Cabinet-level posts if their party was in power.

W h e n Conservatives returned to office in June 1970, Thatcher was appointed secretary of state for education and science, and dubbed "Thatcher, milk snatcher," after her abolition of the universal free school milk scheme.

She found her position frustrating, not because of all the bad press around her actions, but because she had difficulty getting t a re Prime Minister Li tt le M a rg s Hilda Robert Edward Heath to listen to her ideas.

rajia39ishabiola@yahoo.com 08082071393.

SHOR T ST OR Y SHORT STOR ORY

The blind girl and her boyfriend T here was a blind girl who hated herself just because she was blind. She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He was always there for her. She said that if she could only see the world, she would marry her boyfriend.

One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her and then she could see everything, including her boyfriend. Her boyfriend asked her, "now that you can see the world, will you marry me?"

The girl was shocked when she saw that her boyfriend was blind too, and refused to marry him. Her boyfriend walked away in tears, and later wrote a letter to her saying: "Just take care of my eyes dear."

This is how human brain changes when the status changed. Only few remember what life was before, and who's always been there even in the most painful situations.

Life is a gift: Today before you think of saying an unkind word - think of someone who can't speak.

Before you complain about the taste of your food - think of someone who has nothing to eat.

Today before you complain about life- think of someone who

went too early to heaven.

Before you argue about your dirty house, someone didn't clean or sweep - think of the people who are living in the streets.

Before you think of pointing the finger or condemning another - remember that not one

of us are without sin and we will all answer to our Maker.

And when depressing thoughts seem to get you downput a smile on your face and thank God you're alive and still around.

Life is a gift - live it, enjoy it, celebrate it, and fulfill it.

HIS AND HERS’ CORNER

Aso oke: breathtaking traditional wears for children

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

PAGE 23

rajia39ishabiola@yahoo.com 08082071393.

With Aunty A'isha

AFRICAN TALES

MODEL OF THE WEEK

How I realized my shoes are beautiful —Shabana

Rukayya Nasiru Mu’azu Danmusa was three years old on the 14th of March. Happy birthday.

I

was the eighth child and I had seven siblings. We were a large family and my father is the only earning member. All my brothers and sisters were in school.

My sister Samina was the cleverest of us all; she always stood first in class. Atif and I fought a lot. He would always tease me: "Shabana, you're too fat."

Sometimes he would eat the cake that mother would bake for me but we were a close knit family.

My birthday was nearing and I wanted a pair of shoes as a gift.

Unfortunately Mother did not have enough money to buy me a pair. The money she had was to be spent on Samina's gift because she had topped in class.

Instead Atif gave me his shoes because our foot size was the same.

I felt quite sad and embarrassed.

B B

o o k m a r k s are very easy to make and you can make use of the things lying at your home.

What you need: 1. Old greeting card.

2. Crayons.

3. Pencil and eraser.

4. Scissors.

What to do: Take an old greeting card. On the inside, draw a carrot on it. Now cut it in the same shape. Use a greeting card that is made of thick paper so that your bookmark

Everywhere I went I felt people were staring at my shoes.

One day we went to a park near our house.

My embarrassment made me hide my shoes as I played with the other children. I could not forget the fact that they belonged to my brother, a boy, whereas I was a girl.

In school, I used to sit with my friend Henna at the back of the classroom. She was a close friend of mine and we shared all our secrets. I never hide anything from her because she understood me. I told Henna that the shoes I was wearing actually belonged to Atif and that my mother gave them to me on my birthday.

As Henna looked at my feet, comments like "How could you have accepted them?" "You'll be

wearing pants to school tomorrow, right?" etc. started to emerge in my mind that Henna may say but instead she exclaimed, "What a lovely pair of shoes!"

I gazed at her and recalled the times when I had felt uncomfortable about those shoes.

I realized that I was wrong when I felt that children would be having weird thoughts about me wearing my brother's shoes.

Henna had liked the shoes so much that she borrowed them, showed them to her mother who took them to a cobbler to make a pair for Henna.

Henna convinced me that my shoes not only fitted me, they looked good on me as well. Ever since then I wore my brother's shoes with pride.

ACTIVITIES Using different colours of your choice, paint the picture below. Name and describe objects therein. Show your work to your teacher for correction. Cheers!

CREA TIVITY CREATIVITY

Creating bookmarks does not fold or crack easily.

To make a colourful bookmark, use paints, crayons or colour pencils on the plain side of the card.

You can even write your name on it.

Even if you were to turn the bookmark over you will find an attractive pattern on the other side. This way, you have a two-in-one bookmark.

If you have some silken

thread, you could use them to decorate the book mark further.

PAGE 24

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

Entertainment

Kannywood

I trained most musicians in Kannywood – Danko

PAGE 25

With Stanley Onyekwere 08138559513, sunnixman@gmail.com

Paternity mess: My mum told me Pete Emem Isong Edochie met her at Buru-Buru, Kenyan denies turning model, Ephy Saint opens up academy to cartel

A

For decades, Ibrahim Musa Danko, popularly known as Danko, has carved a niche for himself in the Kannywood Film Industry as a musician. The 35-year -old chap, a diploma holder and a father shares his experiences in the music career and challenges confronting it, in this interview with Mustapha Adamu.

H

ow long have you been in the film industry?

I have been in the industry for about 17 years.

How did you become a musician?

Well, I was motivated by one Sani Mu'azu, a director and producer in Kannywood. This happened when he realised my passion and expertise in music because I like music, since my school days, during the era of American musicians like Michael Jackson. He then called me to his office and requested me to engage in music.

Seeing musical instruments that

are even used in America, I happily accepted his request. He then attached me with five musical experts in Jos, Plateau state who were teaching me the music practically.

After I completed learning the practical part of the music, I was then moved to the Nigerian Film Corporation to learn the theoretical part of it.

After I completed my studies, I was then engaged in music making regularly.

You know, music is a profession that makes musicians become independent in the long run, so after

I became independent, I left Jos for Kano where I am still working independently.

Can you tell us how many songs you have produced since joining Kannywood?

Basically, I joined Kannywood as a musician only, not playback singer. It is through the music that I developed passion and ideas which I would use to enlighten the society, hence, I started producing songs. I didn't make the songs to play in movies, I just produced them on my own, to enlighten the society on certain issues that affect our lives.

However, I have produced only three songs that were used in films, titled, "Abaya", "Bunkasa", but I write the songs and assign others to play the songs.

How many films have you featured as musician in films?

I can't specifically tell you the number of times because I have produced many songs for films.

Which was your first film as a musician?

It was a film produced by late Suleman Sa'id, the film which my boss really liked and gave me good commendation.

What is your favourite music among those that you have produced so far?

I have a conviction that my new song, any new song that I make is always my best. If I produce a song today, the one that I would produce tomorrow would be my best. I always have the belief that I would always make better music than the preceding one. I don't always think that what I have made today is the end of my idea for songs, I believe I can do better tomorrow.

Are you married?

Yes, I am married. I have one wife and three children, namely; Fatima, Ibrahim and Halima.

How then do you cope with your fans especially the female ones? And how does your wife react to your interaction with them?

This is normal because there is perfect understanding between me and my wife. I sometimes receive calls from the female fans in her presence and she understands that we owe our success to our fans, so she is not jealous. Only that if some calls are unnecessary I reject them.

As a popular musician in

Kannywood, how do you empower upcoming musician?

Well, let me tell you this, most of the reigning musicians in Kannywood were promoted by me.

This is because I am very fond of producing Hausa talents to become good and popular musicians in the film industry. I trained most of them through dedication and honesty.

Do you use script in music creation?

Yes, we do. Most songs involve use of script.

Can you tell us some of your popular music in movies?

These are, "Nazari", "Akasi", "ukuba", "Ba'asi", "Basaja", among other movies.

What is the biggest challenge(s) you face in your music career?

My biggest problem with music career is "disappointment."

Whenever I am busy, I tend to disappoint my clients and it disgusts me. However, my client are sometimes not just to us because if you are on work for a client, another client comes and insist you to work for him or her, this will certainly make you disappoint people.

Some ladies call me while at work and I take excuse that I will call them later while I believe I will not.

How do you think this problem can be solved?

Only God can solve this problem because we always want people to patronise us, we must adapt to the system and ensure we serve everybody better.

Why are you nicknamed Danko?

Danko is my home town. The name is gradually overshadowing my real name "Ibrahim" as it has become my nickname in the industry. Some call me "Dankon Kida", some call me " Dankon mata" while some call me "Dankonise." (Laughs) To what extent does media contribute to development of Kannywood in your view?

Media contributes immensely towards development of Kannywood as it advertises the industry to the public. It serves as a channel through which artists and their roles become popular as well as the message that they pass to the public.

Nollywood

2

3 year-old Kenyan entertainer popularly known as Ephy Saint in Nairobi, Kenya where he makes waves as actor cum model said he was really bitter that all his effort to meet his father failed.

According to Nigeriafilms.com, when it first came out with a bit of the story, so many things happened, Chief Edochie was contacted by Kenyan journalists and he denied it for the fifteenth time, having anything to do with an offspring in Kenya.

"A call from our office to his line 080920**16* was not picked and even our sms to him was not responded to", it said.

Saint who is bent on unraveling the mystery surrounding his paternity as he claims to be a son to the veteran actor, Pete Edochie popularly known as Okonkwo , opens up on the issue, in an interview with Nigeriafilms.com.

When asked how he now turned up to be who he is, he replied that he was brought up by two strong-willed women, his mum and grandmother, discipline being the core of his upbringing., So he turned out alright.

On where he would love to live aside Kenya, Saint said: "My father's land, Nigeria; Yes, Nigeria! I learnt he's a prominent and well known and respected actor in Nigeria from the South Eastern part of the country, as I am made to believe by my mum.

That's the little I know about him. My mum said so, in fact, he's still very much an active participant in the industry."

Also when asked that a closer look at himself, who does he think his dad

is?, he said, "Well, my mum said and I want to believe her that multiple award-winning actor, Pete Edochie is my biological father, but I can't prove it; I only got wind of it last year; because of distance and lack of information from both of them, my mum and him, that is, my biological father, Pete Edochie.

"My mum sent someone to him and the person returned with his message that he said he never had any fling with anybody in Kenya because he has never been there in his entire life. There are talks here and there that he used to live in Nairobi in Kenya in a small town called Buru Buru between 19871988", he explained.

prolific film maker and proprietor, Royal Academy Empire, Emem Isong, has denied the rumour that her academy has become a cartel where most of her works only favour those who have passed through the institute.

However she denies this. In h e r words, " I don`t have a n y cartel.

I don`t know where t h e clique idea is coming f r o m .

That may b e because I work with a certain group of people every now and then. I think if you`re constantly working with certain kinds of people, there`s the tendency you will keep calling them to do your job for you.

"Sometimes, if we have like

minds, having the same dreams and visions, we may put money together every now and then to produce. I produce with a couple of my colleagues once in a while. It does not mean there is a clique. If you want to be fair, and you watch some of m y movies, I try to introduce n e w faces n o w a n d then.

So how do I run a clique? " I m a y u s e o n e person i n t h e first four films I have done back to back, the next one I use another person.

It is not true. I really don`t see myself as having a clique. I don`t think so at all. Royal Arts Academy is a training school, it is not a clique."

Omotola, Funke Lead other Celebrities to Islander Magazine Awards …As Omotola makes 2013 TIME 100 Icon list

N

ollywood stars; Omotola Jalade Ekeinde and Funke Akindele Oloyede will lead other Nigerian celebrities to the first Islander Magazine Excellence Awards, on Sunday at the Bespoke event centre, Lekki, Lagos, Nigeriafilms.com has disclosed.

The show will be hosted by Yaw and Anita Isedeh aka Omalicha while the blue carpet will be anchored by the duo of Adams of Sound City and Yemisi Jacobs.

Artistes expected to perform at the event packaged by Ola Muhammed's led Islander Magazine include May D, Capital FM, Sexy Steel, Saheed Osupa, Malaika and Tipsy.

Nigeriafilms.com gathered that the event is aimed at rewarding excellence to some top

Nigerians who have distinguished themselves in the fields. Aside Omotola and Funke Akindele, other stars to grace the occasion are Eniola Badmus, Victor Olaotan, Kunle Coker, Gbenro Ajibade, Bimbo Thomas, Remi Surutu, Lizzy Anjorin, Biodun Okeowo, Kabirat Kabidipe, Joseph Benjamin, Chidiebere and Chidimma Aneke amongst others.

Also some top politicians and society big-wigs billed for the awards include Ifeanyi Uba, Amb Musiliu Obanikoro, Femi Obateru, Aare Bashir Olawale Fakorede, Tunde Sobulo, Hon Adeyemi Ikuforiji, Chief Olamilekan Adebola Dosunmu Miss Eunice Efole, Wole Akala, Alh Omobolanle Rasheedat and others.

Meanwhile, O m o t o l a J a l a d e

Ekeinde, the Queen of Nollywood and Africa's most renowned leading figure in the makebelieve world, has added another feather in her cap as she was listed among the 2013 TIME 100 list as an icon.

According to TIME, Nollywood enthralls millions more who come for the thrills, the uplift and the artful agitations of Omotola OmoSexy as she is fondly called by her fans has made 300 or so features, from the 1996 Mortal Inheritance to the 2010 super production Ijé, shot partly on location in Los Angeles.

Happily married to a pilot with children, the actress brings a juggler's grace to her roles as actress, singer, reality-show star, mother of four and philanthropist (the Omotola Youth Empowerment Programme).

PAGE 26

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

Hollywood/Bollywood Robert Pattinson Gave I was told I cannot do movies —Ekta Kapoor Kristen Stewart His Grandmother's Ring - Report D

R

obert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart celebrated the actress' birthday on April 9 with a nice Mexican dinner before Rob gave her many lavish and sentimental gifts, including o n e extremely sentimental ring, report h a s revealed.

Rob reportedly showered K r i s t e n Stewart with $40,000 pen, glamorous accessories, and the said ring allegedly belonged to his grandmother.

According to the report, on Kristen's 23rd birthday, Rob took Kristen to Malo for a Mexican dinner.

However, in addition to dinner, Rob showered his love with the said lavish gifts.

"There were the latest chain and bracelet set from Versace and a Hermès silk scarf," an insider told the magazine.

"He also managed to get a hold of an original vinyl copy of her favorite Van

Morrison song, 'Madame George.'"

"But the gifts didn't stop there as Rob saved the best gift for last when he gave Kristen a piece of jewelry that's

particularly close to his heart", the Hollywoodlife.com quoted Ok magazine reporting so.

"Rob gave Kristen his grandmother's treasured pearl ring," a source close to the pair revealed. "He just casually wrapped it in tissue, but it in an envelope

and slipped it into her mailbox. No note, no words, just the ring. It was a juge statement on Rob's part symbolizing his full forgiveness of Kristen and his renewed trust in her future."

A l s o HollywoodLife.com reports learnt that that the couple was adorable together at dinner, and it's no surprise that Rob showed his love for Kristen w i t h heartfelt gifts, after t h e i r dinner party in Los Feliz.

"They were so c u t e together; t h e y weren't glued to each other's side.

Kristen was being a good hostess and working the room. But whenever they were standing near each other, they were touching.

Rob had his arm draped around her a lot and every once in a while they'd sneak a kiss", the report said.

Jeanne Cooper, 'The Young And The Restless' star, in critical condition Some bad news for The Young and the Restless fans as the show's star, Jeanne Cooper was hospitalized over last weekend, according to CBS Los Angeles, who first reported the distressing news, the 84yearo l d actress is in critical condition and in t h e Intensive C a r e Unit.

Report says while the cause of Cooper's hospitalization has yet to be releasedto the public, her son, Corbin Bernsen, has been updating her fans on the status of her progress over Twitter.

Last Saturday he wrote, "Long day at hospital, mom is resting fine & progressing. Oddly a profound, life affirming day. You were all in the room with us, y o u r power."

A n d then on Tuesday, Bernsen, who is also an actor a n d star of Psych, shared a promising update, "Just heard huge progress with my mom today, breathing apparatus has been removed so now onto underlying issues; your prayers are healing!" he said.

iscouragement and distrust is what producer Ekta Kapoor faced when she decided to make movies, but she took it with a pinch of salt and made a mark in filmdom by churning out hit movies on a wide range of topics - from underworld to supernatural thrillers - and proving naysayers wrong.

"When I did television, I was told that I cannot do movies and I won't be able to understand the medium. People thought my movies will be all about jewellery and 'saas-bahu'," Ekta told IANS in an interview.

In television world, she made an impressive beginning in 1995 with the comedy show "Hum Paanch" about a couple with five daughters. It turned out to be a huge success and changed the fortune of Ekta, then a plump 20-year-old who was carrying the legacy of being actor Jeetendra's daughter.

According to bollywood.com, after that, she produced over 70 shows under Balaji Telefilms, which is now a 19-year-old banner, and includes the long forgotten successful noon show "Itihaas".

She also made "Koshish… Ek Aasha" as well as "Kyunkii… Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi", "Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii", "Kkusum … Ek Aam Ladki Ki Kahani" and "Kasautii Zindagii Kay".

Balaji Telefilms also produced horror and supernatural shows for the small screen - "Mano Ya Na Mano" and "Koi Aane Ko Hai",

to name a few.

She replicated the same success with aplomb on the big screen by making hit feature films - underworld thriller "Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai", "Ragini MMS" on a real life scandal and biopic "The Dirty Picture" - under her moviemaking banner Balaji Motion Pictures.

Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Sanjay Dutt Bhansali to remake another gets 4 weeks southern Hit to surrender

A

ctor Akshay Kumar who was in poor form in terms of spinning the money at box-office revived his magic at boxoffice through 'Rowdy Rathore', which was remake of south blockbuster 'Vikramarkudu' is set to remake one more southern movie named 'Ramana'.

The movie, which starred VijayKanth was directed by A.R.Muragadoss, became blockbuster in Tamil, and was remade in Telugu as 'Tagore' which starred Megastar 'Chiranjeevi'.

According reports online, the movie is going to be titled 'Gabbar', however official confirmation said if title is not yet out but reliable sources said that producers are

mostly likely going to zero on 'Gabbar'.

The movie will be produced by Sanjay Leela bhansali and Sabhina Khan who produced 'Rowdy Rathore' too. Young Telugu director Krish (Radha Krishna) is going to make his directorial debut in Bollywood through this movie. Krrish is known for his thought provoking movies in Telugu, he won many awards locally and won lot of praises from veterans. Directing Akshay Kumar will be a huge thing for him.

'Gabbar' will go on to the floors in august and will be released in summer of 2014.

Let's see if this Akshay Kumar starrer will become even bigger hit than the Tamil and Telugu versions.

S

anjay Dutt who was recently sentenced to jail for 3 more years by supreme court was given 4 more weeks of time to surrender. Sanjay Dutt has already served 18 months of his 5 year prison time after he was accused of illegal possession of arms. He appealed for a bail in supreme court which was approved, but then due to lack of strong alibis Sanjay Dutt had to go back to jail in order to finish his 5 year sentence.

Bollywood.celebden.com reports that the embattled actors recently pleaded Supreme Court to give more 6 months time to surrender, but he got only 4 weeks starting from 18th of April.

According to the report, Dutt is in the hurry to complete his pending projects 'Peekay', 'Zanjeer' and 'Policegiri'. He already finished the shoot of Zanjeer and started dubbing for it, and he needs to spare eight more days to finish off 'Peekay',

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

PAGE 27

Homes

Reinvent your bath and kitchen with tiles

T

he subway tile was so called because of its white, and glossy glazed finish and very thin grout lines used as the wall surface standard in the early 20th century.

Used because of their economical offset pattern and sanitary s u r f a c e , early homes utilized this in their bathrooms as well. Today, utilizing such tiles are a trend that is resurfacing in bathrooms, to k i t c h e n s backsplashes in every colour possible. Here are ways to reinvent your kitchen or bath with these tile.

Bring out the classics: The traditional white tile is nostalgic as it is g o r g e o u s .

Whether you use it in your bathroom to evoke clean and crisp interiors or it outshines your stainless steel appliances in your kitchen, the tile can do it beautifully.

While the classic style is run, the tile pattern horizontally in more modern interiors, designers are running the pattern vertically to give a sense of height and a twist on tradition. Either orientation subway tile makes your home feel like it has a piece of

historical flair to it.

Colors galore: Just like any part of design, architectural or fashion history, when the style comes back it usually reinvents itself in some way.

Subway tile is

n o exception; it now is available in every colour of the rainbow to compliment any decor. In kitchens, use coloured subway tile backsplashes to coordinate or contrast your

countertops, kitchen cabinetry and flooring. In bathrooms, use colored tiles in the shower, or use a wall

wainscot tile from the floor up to a desired height. Be creative with color, as such tiles have opened up a new world of options.

With the more recent popularity of tiles, the offset pattern is also a trend that we now see in more homes.

Choosing a designer tile that may have a raised section, or that has an integral pattern can reinvent the traditional tiles and give your kitchen or bathroom a whole new look. If you are curious to see how a single tile will look set into a subway tile pattern, visit tile showrooms in your geographic area.

You will be pleasingly surprised how one single tile will look in a subway pattern, repeatedly.

Start your own trend: The beautiful part about tradition is your ability to change out parts and make them your own. While such traditional tiles used pencil thin white grout lines that matched the tile, how about using a contrasting coloured grout to make the grout become the focal point? Also try varying your size and variation of your tiles. While traditionally they were all uniform and precise, try using smaller sized tiles and even try using varying colours that resemble natural stone.

The tile world has come a long way; discover the right new style for your home.

Freshome.com

PAGE 28

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

Cuisine

Pots & Pans

Otong Soup with Tuwon Shinkafa

Otong soup This is a delicious cuisine that marks a celebration of the cultural diversities of Nigeria.

Ingredients: 2 cups chopped pumpkin [ugu] leaves (substitute spinach) 2 cups chopped okra 2 cubes maggi ¼ cup palm oil ¼ cup uziza leaves (optional) Dried blended crayfish (1/4 cup) Salt to taste ½ teaspoon dried chilli Meat (cow skin, intestine, and beef) (pre-cooked) You can add turkey and shrimps.

Preparation: In a medium pot, add three cups of water. Set the water on medium heat Pound half of the chopped okra (you can optionally use a blender) Once the water starts to boil, add in the crayfish, maggi, pepper and salt.

Simmer for three minutes Add the precooked meat Add the okra (pounded and chopped), stir.

Add ugu, (spinach) and the uziza Simmer for 10mins.

Add palm oil, simmer for another 10 minutes.

Savour.

Tuwon shinkafa Ingredients:

Otong Soup

1 cup dried rice Preparation: In a blender or dry mill, blend the rice until fine Place a pot on low heat, add in 2 cups of water, and add the grounded rice.

Turn the rice consistently until it starts to thicken Continue to turn the rice until it

Otong soup with Tuwo shinkafa (rice tuwo)

becomes solid Add three teaspoons water Cover and cook on low heat for six minutes Stir one more time Serve with your choice of soup.

Tuwon shinkafa can also be made directly from cooking rice; the process takes about 50minutes.

With Hajiya Ramatu Usman Dorayi

Kunun aya (Tigernut milk) Ingredients: 250g Tiger nuts 1litre of water 100g sugar (or up to 150g) (Optional: a small piece of lemon rind) (Optional: a small piece of cinnamon bark) Extra water to hydrate the tiger nuts Preparation: Ideally hydrate the tiger nuts overnight or up to two days, by covering them generously in cold water and keeping them in the fridge (otherwise they may ferment). If they are really dry and they need two days, change the water each day.

Place the tiger nuts with the sugar, the lemon & cinnamon if you choose to use them, and with about half the water and blend into a smooth liquid paste.

Add the rest of the water gradually. It's best to blend the tiger nuts with half of the water, strain and place the left-over pulp into the blender again with the rest of the water to extract as much as possible. You can press easily to extract all the milk and just leave behind the flavourless powdered nuts.

You can just pour it all in, and just press out all the juice. Leave in the fridge to cool, or even freeze slightly and use a blender to smooth it up.

PAGE 29

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

Womanhood

He raped me and called me prisoner Continued from last week

I

packed my bags and went with Chris. If I had thought that Chris was evil before, that was nothing. The death of Lindsay now had me even more firmly convinced that he was the embodiment of evil. I was afraid of doing or saying anything that would make him angry. I went back to the room where I had been living. I do not know uptill now if Lindsay died of natural causes, or if indeed Chris and his people had killed him.

I stopped thinking about running away, or not being married to Chris.

I was trapped and that was it. I was going to stay married and take him to Canada. I said Chris would not be able to beat me with a stick or do all the other evil things he had done to me, or rape me just whenever he felt like it. I would be in a safe environment, and maybe once he was in Canada, he would find another woman to prey on. I was sick of staying in Ghana.

I decided to petition the High Commissioner to allow for Chris’s processing to be expedited so that I could return to Canada. The High Commission soon answered that the application was straight forward, and that Chris could come for his medical forms. He went to Accra to pick them up. I paid for the medicals to be done, and soon the results were out.

I was really looking forward to returning to Canada.

Schooling was my initial reason for moving to Canada, and I could not lose sight of that goal. After Chris got his Permanent Resident visa, I told him that I would return to Canada, in order to look for money to send to him to come, but he refused totally.

He said we would go together, or that we would not go at all. He asked me to go to Nigeria to get money from my father. I said no! I also said that my mom would take a look at me and know that there was something wrong with me, as I was so sick. He asked me to call my uncle in the UK. I did, but my sister, Ifeoma had told him that I was married to Chris. He was very angry about it, and he refused to help me. He said, “Chris is a man, let him find the money”.

The only one I could think of was a man I will call Sunny to protect his family. He and I had met in Nigeria, and he helped me during the process of applying for my immigrant visa. His wife was from near my village, and she and I spent a lot of time together. I called him and told him that I needed $5000.

Without hesitation, he said, sure come to Lagos and get it. I said I couldn’t come to Lagos without

— True story of woman trapped in abusive relationship... seeing my parents, that it would be very difficult for me. He understood, and said he would fly into Ghana to give me the money and return the next day.

Sunny did come to Accra the next day, and of course, Chris went with me to his hotel, where he gave me the money. He had drawn up an agreement between us which basically said that I would pay him back the money once I returned to work in Canada, and that I would pay $500 a month for 10 months.

I went and booked the tickets for the trip back to Canada. I booked two different seats, one in the middle for him, and one in the far back, near the toilets in the back for myself. The plane didn’t crash, and we arrived in Frankfurt. We walked apart like the strangers that we were. I gave him money and said ‘go find something to eat’, and I went to look for the showers. I paid some money and spent the better part of an hour in the showers trying to wash away the dirt and grime and suffering and shame I had just survived.

We arrived in Vancouver in the first week of December 2001; I had made up my mind after the death of Lindsay that I would stay married to Chris. I didn’t think I had any other option. I called Ifeoma in Nigeria and told her to let my mum know that I was married to Chris.

My mum called me back within a few hours and asked ‘what is this nonsense about marrying anyone?’

Where did you see Chris? I couldn’t tell her the whole story. I said Ifeoma will explain. She said, ‘you are not married, we do not recognize it. Our daughters do not get given away like trinkets. Where is his family and where is your dowry?

You are not married in our eyes

so just forget it. Your father has been ill, and I am not even going to mention this to him. Face your studies and finish your degree. Your father and I will come for your graduation next year, and we will sort out this rubbish then’.

She didn’t know I had not been in the university for over a year at that point. I couldn’t say anything more to her. I started trying to get back to my job at the Surrey Tax Centre. I called and left

many messages for my supervisor Merrill, as I needed to go back to work so that I could start to repay Sunny his money. I did not get any answer.

I told Chris that he would need to start looking for a job. His reading and writing was at about grade 1 level. I said ‘it doesn’t matter what job you get here, you’re going to need to be able to read. Everything here is about paper and forms and there is nothing that you do that will not require the ability to read and write, not just working’. I reminded him about the money for Sunny and he just started to scream at me. ‘Do you think I don’t know that that

big man was your boyfriend?

Christmas and New Year 2002 came and went. On the evening of January 6th 2002, he came in the door, I don’t recall where he had gone to, and he brought a sheet of paper to me, and said, ‘can you tell me what this says’? I was sitting at the computer filling out job applications, as I had not yet received a call back from my supervisor, even

though I called her on an almost daily basis.

I said ‘no, I will never read anything for you. I have told you to go to school to learn English’.

I pushed a big telephone book towards him, ‘look there, and you will see ESL, go find a place to learn English’. He picked up the phone book and threw it at my face. I got up to run, and he caught me and threw me on the ground and started to beat me. I couldn’t get up. I was screaming for the landlord upstairs ‘Pinky, Pinky help me’ I was on the ground, and his foot was close by, so I grabbed it, and before he could move, I bit him just above his ankle.

That earned me even more blows and kicks. Then he suddenly

“

I ended up not moving out, but I also would not allow him to sleep in the room or on my bed. Every night he would force himself on me. When I tried to refuse, he would slap me on the face many times as he raped me and called me names. He would cut off air supply by putting his arm just below my neck and leaning on me, until I was gasping for breath which he never gave me until he was done.

stopped and ran outside. I got up off the ground and was going to sit on the couch when a policeman came in. He said ‘we talked with your husband and he said he asked you a question about that sheet of paper, and you attacked him with a phonebook, causing him to fall on the ground, at which point you proceeded to bite him’. I was dumbstruck. I told the officer what had truly happened and he said, ‘okay, where did he hit you, show me the bruises’.

He said ‘I am arresting you based on the evidence that I see’. So within three weeks of Chris arriving in Canada, I was in jail for the first time in my life.

I was released on bail the next day, on self recognition, and placed on a peace bond.

I had to take an anger management course, and report to a bail supervisor for a couple of months. I returned to the house, and packed up all my things. I called my roommate Rose and told her that I was leaving, that I would come for my computer the next day. Chris refused to allow me to leave.

He said ‘Rubbish Canada. I thought they said women are the owners of this country? I will show you that I am in charge of you here’.

He said if I tried to leave, he would cut his leg with a knife and call the police and I would be back in jail. He tried to beat me again, but I ran into the room and locked the door, determined to leave the next day.

The next morning, he was after me again. He rained all kinds of curses on me. He said if I didn’t show him some respect that he would curse me and I would not be able to get a job or go back to school.

I ended up not moving out, but I also would not allow him to sleep in the room or on my bed. Every night he would force himself on me.

When I tried to refuse, he would slap me on the face many times as he raped me and called me names. He would cut off air supply by putting his arm just below my neck and leaning on me, until I was gasping for breath which he never gave me until he was done.

I kept on trying to call my supervisor, and soon started to get worried about not being able to return to my job, or even to get a new job. I had only ever attended three job interviews in Canada before Chris’s arrival, and I had got the jobs, so I was really worried about not getting called about a job.

I began to be afraid that Chris had indeed put a curse on me.

PAGE 30

Archives

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013 Do you have old pictures for memories?

Send them to junioremma419@gmail.com

(Fourth from right) IBB as an Instructor in the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA)

Ilorin Poultry Market in the 50s Nigeria’s post civil war reconcilliation

IBB (middle) with friends, from left General Abdulsalami Abubakar, former Head of State, Ismaili; from right Ahmed Buba Ahmed, former Minister of Sports and Major General Mohammed Magoro, now a senator.

A soldier involved in the Biafran war in Nigeria in 1968. Veterans of the conflict took part in a rally calling for an independent state of Biafra.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

PAGE 31

Leisure WORD SEARCH

Photo of the day

Find the Mother’s qualities which are listed at the right side of this page in the Mother’s day Word Search grid. The words can be forwards, backwards, up, down, or diagonal. Circle each letter separately and keep in mind that the letters in each Mother word may be used in more than one Mother name.

Mother’s day Word Search

BRUNCH CANDY CARDS CARING CHILDREN DAUGHTERS

FAMILY FLOWERS FRIEND GIFT GRANDMOTHERS HOME HUGS KISS

Quotes Leadership ... the ability to see what no one else sees, to listen when others talk and the ability to be optimistic when others are pessimistic.

– George W. Cummings Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.

– John F. Kennedy The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.

– Socrates

Major events and dates in Nigeria October 1, 1960 - Nigeria gains independence from Britain, with Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as the Prime Minister leading a coalition government of parliamentary system.

October 1, 1963 - Nigeria becomes a republic, breaking away from the British monarchy.

January 15, 1966 - Fall of the First Republic, as Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa is killed in unsuccessful coup led by some Majors.

January 16, 1966 - Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi takes over as the nation’s Head of State.

July 29, 1966 - Aguiyi Ironsi killed in a counter-coup by a group of northern army officers who revolted against the government, and he is replaced by Yakubu Gowon.

January 5, 1967 - Military leaders and senior police officials of each region (East, North and South) sign an accord in Aburi, Ghana and agree on a loose confederation of regions.

May 30, 1967 - Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the Eastern Region’s military governor, announces the break-away of the eastern states as the Republic of Biafra, sparking bloody civil war that led to the deaths of over a million people.

Don’t be afraid to go after what you want to do, and what you want to be.

But don’t be afraid to be willing to pay the price.

– Lane Frost

Truth is the property of no individual but is the treasure of all men.

January 12, 1970 - Biafran leaders – Ralph Waldo Emerson surrender, as the officer administering the government, Phillip Effiong calls for a cease-fire. The region was reintegrated into Nigeria.

July 25, 1975 - Yakubu Gowon overthrown in a coup led by Murtala Ramat Mohammed, while attending the OAU summit in Uganda February 13, 1976 - Murtala Mohammed assassinated in a failed coup attempt. His deputy, Olusegun Obasanjo, takes over September 21, 1978 - A new constitution, styled on American presidential system, published, and the ban on political activity lifted.

1979 - Nation heads to the polls for a general election which saw the election of Shehu Shagari as the democratic president.

January 1983 - Government expels more than one million foreigners, mostly Ghanaians, saying they had overstayed their visas and taking jobs from Nigerians.

August, September 1983 - Shehu Shagari re-elected as the president, amid accusations of irregularities and corruption.

December 31, 1983 - Muhammad Buhari heads military officers who seize power in bloodless coup, to be become Commander in Command and Head of State.

August 27, 1985 - Ibrahim Babangida seizes power in bloodless coup, curtails political activity.

If I’ve got correct goals, and if I keep pursuing them the best way I know how, everything else falls into line. If I do the right thing right, I’m going to succeed.

– Dan Dierdorf ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

CARTOON

PAGE 32

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

F H

ijab is truly the of the

and classy are available to l o o k i n g outstanding hijab fashion revolutionary, to match from who says you stunningly hijabs?

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PAGE 34

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

Business

NEXIM Bank and Nigeria’s manufacturing sector

By Gladstone Ignis Nwamu

B

efore the discovery of oil in Nigeria, the country’s manufacturing industry was flourishing robustly.

Areas such as cocoa, rubber, and agriculture were the mainstay of the nation’s economy. However these sectors went into comatose following the discovery of oil in commercial quantities. Since then, Nigeria’s economy has been anchored on the oil sector.

But the dangers such sole dependence portends might have informed President Goodluck Jonathan’s tremendous commitments to diversifying the nation’s economy. The prospects of his efforts have given hope that sooner than later, Nigeria’s non-oil sector will take the centre stage.

It is against this background that the Nigerian Export-Import Bank, NEXIM, established by Act 38 of 1991 as an export credit agency to promote diversification of the Nigerian economy and deepen the external sector through the provision of credit facilities in both local and foreign currencies, risk bearing facilities, business development and financial advisory services and trade and market information services, has initiated a working blueprint, spanning from 2010 to 2015, to propel the non-oil sectors of Nigeria’s economy to a grand-level. The bank’s key areas of concentration are manufacturing, agriculture, solid minerals and services.

The goal is to become the leading export development bank in Africa.

The objectives of developing these nonoil sectors are to have a clear market focus and become a major contributor to non-oil exports, build a world-class institution which imbibes best-in class corporate governance and risk management practices; be a relevant player in the export market and significantly influence government trade policies; build a profitable institution with a robust balance sheet size with a highly skilled and motivated workforce.

The bank has budgeted about N42 billion for the manufacturing sector’s financing requirement, or six per cent of the manufacturing sector’s financing needs, while accounting for at least 3.71 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2015.

Its managing director Roberts Orya said the bank has already approved and issued $32.3 million worth of guarantees to support the nation’s manufacturing, transport and tourism sub-sectors.

Orya also disclosed that NEXIM Bank has identified manufacturing, agriculture, solid minerals and services, as four sectors of the economy to play in, hence its MASS agenda. The MASS agenda is a corporate transformation project of the bank that was launched in April 2010 to revamp the bank and ensure it becomes the leading African export development bank.

Orya said the bank’s plan under the new agenda is to ensure that whatever product to be exported henceforth has some value addition, and not just raw materials, as was the case in the past.

In his words, “We want some kind of value addition, and are committed to deepening the manufacturing sector in the country by providing all necessary

MD NEXIM Bank, Mr. Roberts Orya assistance to manufacturers.”

With the MASS project, the bank hopes to increase the efficiency and profitability of manufacturing establishments through the funding and acquisition of new technology. It would be recalled with project financing from NEXIM Bank, RIGGS Ventures Plc recently expanded its operations with production capacity increasing from 9 million to 69 million polypropylene sacks per annum, consisting

“

With the MASS project, the bank hopes to increase the efficiency and profitability of manufacturing establishments through the funding and acquisition of new technology. It would be recalled with project financing from NEXIM Bank, RIGGS Ventures Plc recently expanded its operations with production capacity increasing from 9 million to 69 million polypropylene sacks per annum, consisting of cement, industrial and agro sacks.

of cement, industrial and agro sacks. This expansion has created over 300 direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs.

The company has its major customers in Nigeria, Republic of Benin, Cameroon and Niger Republic and other ECOWAS countries. Orya said initiatives like RIGGS are very strategic to achieving the bank’s mandate to deepen the manufacturing sector and create more jobs for the Nigerian youths and thereby contribute to boosting non-oil exports.

He said NEXIM’s commitment to handle bourgeoning manufacturing concerns such as RIGGS Ventures to become supranational entities in the ECOWAS and Central African sub-regions by ensuring that their products are made easily exportable to these markets.

NEXIM Bank operates in a synergy with the Central Bank of Nigeria. NEXIM’s strategic plan for the CBN’s trade development includes enhancing the implementation of ECOWAS trade support facility, becoming the national guarantor for the ECOWAS interstate road transit scheme, facilitating the realization of NEXPOTRADE goals of establishing export houses in all ECOWAS countries, and improving the strategic alliances with multilateral agencies, DFIs and export credit agencies.

In the manufacturing sector from 2010 to 2015, NEXIM Bank has maintained an increased efficiency and profitability of manufacturing establishments through the funding of acquisition of new technology, increased access of manufacturers to short and long-term credit, provide 6% (about N42bn) of the manufacturing sector’s financing

requirement by 2015, account for 3.71% of the sector’s GDP by 2015 and create about 70,479 jobs through project financing activities.

NEXIM to this end identified four subsectors in the manufacturing initiative.

They are food and beverages, wood and wood products, domestic and industrial products (plastic and rubber), and steel and processed alloy. The peculiar features of this subsector are that they are dominated by multinationals, depend on imported machinery; and the abundance of local raw materials.

It is estimated that in 2008, the potential of this sector’s gross domestic product was 4. 19% with a projected growth rate of 7.

14%. Its financing requirement as at 2011 was N522bn while NEXIM’s proposed intervention stood at N12bn.

No doubt, NEXIM is toeing the line of the continent’s parent body the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) which has in the same vein provided about 55mn euros in loans to three local manufacturing firms for equipment procurement and to expand food processing capabilities. It is the bank’s initiative to move Africa away from being an exporter of raw produce alone.

It is expected that NEXIM bank, just like Afreximbank, will increase direct lending and encourage commercial banks to be involved in lending wherever possible.

The roadmap to NEXIM’s success in this aspect is not easy, although the expectations are high that it will be able to wither the storm to reposition Nigeria’s nonoil sector for the better. However, it needs to have a research-based body to identify core areas across the federation with their comparative manufacturing strength, and encourage them respectively through manpower and funds to enable them to develop their respective manufacturing prowess. Again the bank should also ensure that these products are valued well through sound marketing strategies. By so doing, the oil sector will not constitute the core of Nigeria’s economy; above all the prospect of employment, industrialisation and foreign exchange is higher in the non-oil sector.

Orya-led NEXIM Bank is abreast of this having made tours to many countries where EXIM Banks exist. Recently Orya presented a strategic framework to his Turkish counterpart aimed at deepening the already existing collaboration between the two EXIM Banks. The visit to Turkey was borne out of the need to explore additional off-shore sources of financing to cater to the bank’s rising profile of investors in the MASS sectors of Nigerian economy.

The trip involved officials of AFREXIM Bank from Cairo, Egypt, led by the executive vice president finance, administration and banking services, Mr Denys Denya. Also on the trip was Chief Sunny Odogwu of the Odogwu Group of Companies.

It is expected that the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria, business moguls, corporate bodies and investors generally will tap into NEXIM’s manufacturing innovations by becoming relevant stakeholders. That is the only way to realise President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda and the dream for a new Nigeria. The time to do it is now.

Gladstone Nwamu is a public affairs analyst based in Asaba Delta state

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

PAGE 35

Business News World Bank boss suggests ways to end extreme poverty

P

resident of the World Bank Group Jim Yong Kim on Thursday suggested that high economic growth, jobs creation and mitigation of potential shocks should help to end poverty across the globe.

Kim made the suggestion in his opening statement at the 2013 Spring Meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington DC. He said: "if we are to end

extreme poverty within a generation, we will need at least three things to happen. First, the high growth rate in the developing world must be accelerated.

"Secondly, growth has to be translated into poverty reduction and jobs creation and it must be inclusive and must curb inequality and thirdly, we must avert or mitigate potential shocks, such as climate disasters or new food fuel or financial crisis."

According to him, the World Bank boss added that ending

extreme poverty by 2030 was the first among the ambitious agenda for the global community; and the second was to promote shared prosperity by fostering income growth among 40 per cent of the population in every country.

"I have no doubt that the world can end extreme poverty within a generation, but this will be much harder than most people realize; which will take ingenuity, focus, commitment and visionary leaders to do that but if we succeed, we will have

accomplished one of mankind's most historic accomplishments", he explained.

He said that more than four years after the start of the financial crises in the globe, high income countries had continued to struggle with high unemployment, weak growth and economic fragility.

According to him, the good news is that developing nations are doing relatively well with growth, expected to reach about 5.5 per cent this year, which

Stakeholders urge FG to fund research into natural Thursday, also called for continued investors' forum, where all exploitation of these resources," it resources to support awareness workshops stakeholders should be brought said.

P

articipants at a three-day workshop on the development of a road map for mineral and raw materials exploration and exploitation in North West Zone in Sokoto,have urged the the Federal Government to adequately fund research into the nation's abundant natural resources.

The partcipantswho made the call in a communique they adopted at the end of workshop, on

such as this one and for the encouragement of the exploitation of the minerals in the country, with the sustainability of the environment in focus.

According to them, states should also organise artisanal or small-scale miners into cooperatives and arrange for credit facilities for them through the Bank of Industry, NERFUND and commercial banks.

"States should organise

together to fast track the acquisition of mining licence and other documentation needed for the smooth take-off of exploration,'' the communique stated.

It further urged states to embark on intensive media awareness campaign on the available mineral resources:"The three states of Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara should focus on minerals that they have comparative advantage and provide infrastructure for the full

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the communique was jointly signed by DrLawalliAbubakar, the Chairman, Technical session, BilyaminuKaezeem, representative of the Director-General, Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), and AlhajiHaladu Muhammad, the Chief Consultant, Ardo Media Consultants and convener of the workshop.

should be strengthened by 2015, adding that developing countries accounted for more than half of the global growth.

Explaining further, he noted "in Africa, about a quarter of the countries grew at seven per cent or higher last year and a number of them are among the fastest growing in the world, and in East Asia and the Pacific, output is expanding rapidly amid fears of overheating and asset bubbles.''

He reiterated the bank's commitment to ensure an end to extreme poverty in the globe by stepping up mitigation, adaptation and disaster risk management work.

He noted that about 130 countries had asked the bank for assistance in climate change-related work.

"And as we move toward these poverty goals, we must be far more effective in fragile and conflict-affected nations; but we hope to shift more funding toward fragile states under our concessionary lending fund and the International Development Association.

"If we hope to meet our goals of ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity, we must be successful in fragile states,'' Kim said. (NAN)

Ghana signs MOU with IMF to establish regional technical centre

G

(R-L) Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr.Segun Aganga and Secretary of State, Ministry of Economics, Poland, Kona Antonisyn-Klik, during the signing of Memorandum of Understanding on Mutual Cooperation between the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment and Ministry of Economics, Republic of Poland, recently in Abuja. Photo: Justin ImoOwo

Chinese company trains farmers on mechanised rice production

G

reen Agriculture West Africa Limited, (GAWAL), a Chinese rice producing company, says it has started training farmers on mechanised rice production.

MrXuYuangfang, the Head of the seeds production in the company, made this known on Thursday in Wara, Ngaski local government area of Kebbi State where the company is located.

Yuangfang, who spoke during a training programmeorganised by the firm, said that the improved rice seedlings for large-scale mechanised farming was

introduced in 2006; and in 2007, we harvested the rice and refined the seedlings for the development of the new hybrid seeds.

Also speaking, Mr Wang Xuemin, the Director of the firm's agricultural input trade business, said that two million tonnes of rice was being produced annually.

"As part of our efforts to boost rice production, we adopted effective technical knowledge of planting varieties of FARO in December 2012 and we expect to harvest in May 2013.

"We are contributing immensely to make farmers in the area in particular and the country at large, to be rich and reduce unemployment and food shortage," he said.

According to him, the firm will focus on breeding the new crop variety and innovation that include seeds multiplication, processing and sale; and in addition, the company would also establish fine breed multiplication system, modern seed processing and storage system, standardisation of seed quality and inspection system.

"Efforts would be intensified to serve as the development of mechanised farming, grains and food processing with single machines and equipment,which the firm would sustain local and international breeder seeds improvement", he said.

NAN reports that participants in the training were enlightened on the best methods of selecting transplanting area, land preparation for nursery plot and also appropriate rice seeds preservation in nursery, prior to transplanting.

hana and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a newAfrica Regional Technical Assistance Centre (AFRITAC) West 2, in Accra, to serve Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.

According to an IMF report made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abidjan, the agreement was signed ata brief ceremony in Washington DC on Thursday.

The report said that the Ghanaian Finance Minister, Seth Terkper and IMF Deputy Managing Director, MsNematShafik signed the MOU to mark the take-off of the project.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that AFRITAC was launched in May 2002 as part of the IMF's Africa CapacityBuilding Initiative, which is is a response to calls from African leaders for initiative to promote and strengthen the capacity of Africancountries to design and implement their poverty-reduction strategies.

PAGE 36

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

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

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Re: Sovereign wealth fund Letter to our

fallen fathers...

Dear Chinua Achebe, It's no doubt that Nigeria has, in recent times been death-struck! Quite a number of the players in her national life had been reported dead. Prominent amongst them include Justice Kayode ESHO, Gov. Patrick YAKOWA, Gen. Andrew Owoeye AZAZI, and more recently, Prophet (Dr) Timothy O. OBADARE, Chief Oluwole AWOLOWO (scion of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Jeremiah AWOLOWO), not forgetting the literary juggernaut, your humble self, Prof. Chinua ACHEBE. It is also unequivocal that apart from the death of these cosmopolitan Nigerians, quite a modicum of the hoi polloi have also had their share of the various onslaughts perpetrated by the seeming-faceless-but-known BH 'dudes'. Not even the hapless secondary school pupils are spared, the last Friday massacre of some students in Maiduguri who were returning after their WAEC exams is germane!

It will be near-shallow if the mention is not made of those who appeared to some 'do-or-die' politicians as 'cog in the wheel' of their political ascendancy, and as such had to be cleared off the way.

Myriads of such experience abound, one of which was recently but carefully acted! The pogrom-like murder of Chief Nwike, a prominent Action Congress of Nigeria-ACN chieftain from the South East. Things are NO longer at EASE! Everything seems topsy-turvy, things are really FALLING apart, now the centre could hold no further in what appears like the ARROW of GOD is shot!

Look at what obtains in our national life. The Presidency is preoccupied with re-election in 2015 at the expense of delivering dividends of democracy.

Who knows if the entity dubbed Nigeria will still exist by then? After all it's been said over and over, the 'Nigeria' idea

WRITE TO US Peoples Daily Weekend welcomes your letters, opinion articles, text messages and ‘pictures of yesteryears.’ All written contributions should be concise. Word limits: Letters - 150 words, Articles - 750 words. Please include your name and a valid location. Letters to the Editor should be addressed to: The Editor, Peoples Daily, 1st Floor Peace Plaza, 35 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja.

Email: opinion@peoplesdailyng.com was conceived for a 100years. A Nigeria I call "The Mistake of Lugard" This letter should have been sent through the very last "departee", Chief Oluwole AWOLOWO but I consider it imperative to send somebody like you, who already was a trained literati. Your tutelage as a linguist will overtly lend more seriousness to the content of this letter, considering its imperativeness.

Hence, the need to send no one but the OTIGBULUAGU GBURUGBURU of IGBOLAND, himself, your honour, Baba Professor Chinualumogu Albert ACHEBE. The task is simple, our father, Achebe, please, if you see OJUKWU, tell him that some of us now see what he saw in the mid 60's that snowballed into the Nigerian Civil War, that what we witness now is more of pogrom of other ethnic groups in the North, particularly, Kano, Yobe, Maiduguri. Tell Baba Zik of Africa, Nnamdi AZIKWE that what prompted him to cross the ocean more than twice a score rears its ugly head again.

You may also wish to tell the Cicero of the Yoruba dynasty, Obafemi AWOLOWO that Nigeria is preparing for another war, that all his struggles, alongside Baba Anthony ENAHORO for a prosperous Nigeria may end up a fiasco soon. I beg of you to, as a matter of necessity, tell the selfless and doyen of integrity, Sir Abubakar Tafawa

BALEWA that his scions have become bugaboos to the entire nation. Per adventure you come across, Gen. Sani ABACHA, do not forget to inform him that Major Al-Mustapha, his loyal servant is still at the KIRÍKIRÌ prison and loyal as ever. I am sure, sir that you will be magnanimous enough to inform Nigerian president that never was, the June 12 'messiah', MKO ABIOLA that the HOPE he brought in 1993 to put smiles on the faces of the Nigerian masses is now forlorn. In fact, it's a MIRAGE! You may also wish to tell Major-Gen. Musa YAR'ADUA to tell his younger brother, our late president, Umoru Musa YAR'ADUA that the AMNESTY he

granted to the Niger-Delta militants is causing a lot of brouhahas now. I am sure the hooplas concomitant with this get to your ears in the grave. Of course, you will help us inform him that his brother's successor has, albeit controversially granted State Pardon to his kinsman and benefactor, (including other rogues) DSP Alamieyeseigha who looted the treasury of his state and was convicted. Our fear now is that another convict (a second time convict) in person of Thief James Onanefe IBORI may also enjoy State Pardon in no time soon. And also that the current leadership is best described as corruption CZAR! I will have to stop my GOLDEN pen here because the ink is exhausted but I can assure you of another letter in not too long time, sir. I hope you will use your fatherly disposition, not minding me this tiny boy sending you on errand, it's just that I feel the way things are going in the country, we may end up broken like the USSR if nothing drastic is done to address the situation.

CzaR Wisdom Omógbóláhàn KòKúMó Olanbíwonnínú Olórí E;bí-CFR

“

Things are NO longer at EASE! Everything seems topsy-turvy, things are really FALLING apart, now the centre could hold no further in what appears like the ARROW of GOD is shot! Look at what obtains in our national life. The Presidency is preoccupied with reelection in 2015 at the expense of delivering dividends of democracy. Who knows if the entity dubbed Nigeria will still exist by then?

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

PAGE 37

Opinion

By Chido Onumah

Y

o u couldn't miss the headline. I am referring to the conclave of gerontocrats that took place earlier in the week. It centred on former president, Olusegun Obasanjo.

"Anenih in secret meeting with Obasanjo", was how The Guardian headlined the event. If there was any doubt about the purpose of the meeting, Anthony Anenih, chair of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and successor to Obasanjo in the very lucrative post of BoT chairman, dispelled it when he told reporters, "In 2015 we (PDP) will do what we know how to do best". Of course, we all know what the PDP knows how to do best.

And we have Obasanjo to thank for that.

For whatever it is worth, Obasanjo is still held in high regard in the PDP family and he may well continue to direct the affairs of the party as long as he is alive. "I am here to see my leader (Obasanjo). I am here to pay my respect and indeed I am here with my colleagues, some members of the Board of Trustees of our party to discuss some issues that affect the corporate existence of this country," Anenih gushed after the meeting.

"As you can see, we are all smiling, don't you see me smiling? And my leader too is smiling. So, we are quite happy about the outcome".

Unfortunately, the Nigerian crisis is no laughing matter. It would be tragic to leave the discussion about the corporate existence of Nigeria to the Obasanjos and Anenihs amongst us.

Chief (Gen.) Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Aremu Obasanjo, GCFR, is an enigma, in and out of office. I am sure he cherishes that role. Nobody, dead or alive, has had more impact on the course of post-independence history of the country than the retired general.

Obasanjo evokes different memories for different people. Academics and students in tertiary institutions in the late 70s would remember his assault on students, academics and education in general. Those in secondary schools also have memories of that era of despotism. In a remarkable show of defiance, Afrobeat icon, Fela AnikulakpoKuti, withdrew his son, Femi, from Baptist

What does Obasanjo Want?

Academy in Lagos State when Obasanjo deployed soldiers to secondary schools.

Like President Goodluck Jonathan, Obasanjo took charge of the Nigerian state after the death of his boss. It was in February 1976. The head of state, Gen. Murtala Ramat Muhammed, had been assassinated.

That was when Obasanjo came into our consciousness. Before then, the much we knew about him was from the conflicting stories of his exploits during the civil war.

Ever since, Obasanjo has refused to go away. Through a combination of luck, guile and opportunism, he has managed to remain a constant figure in our political evolution. To his admirers, Obasanjo is the "father of modern Nigeria"; the "Mandela" of Nigeria. After all, like the legendary Nelson Mandela, South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician and president (1994 to 1999), he moved from prison to the presidency.

A few weeks ago, after my article titled "IBB's two-party solution", a responder had noted, "I always take the view that Obj (Obasanjo), IBB and Gowon -- in that order -more than any of our ex-rulers had the best opportunities to set our country on a path to true greatness and all of them failed woefully.

It is the enduring tragedy of our (potentially) great nation that the incumbent may yet surpass them all in terms of cluelessness and damage inflicted on our country".

Of course, this is not hyperbole. In 1979, Obasanjo had the chance to launch the country on the path of genuine democracy, but he bungled it. Twenty-eight years later, in 2007, after eight years as civilian president, he had the opportunity to make amends, but he squandered it in his characteristic devious manner.

If you do not know Obasanjo, you would probably mistake him for a global expert sent by the UN to oversee events in Nigeria.

Ever since he reluctantly left power in 2007, he has never missed an opportunity to remind us of how ungrateful we are as a people for not recognising his trailblazing role as the father of democracy in Nigeria.

Obasanjo has warned about revolution.

He has talked about unemployment, corruption and what they portend for the country. "I'm afraid, and you know I am a General. When a General says he is afraid, that means the danger ahead is real and potent," he told the West African regional conference on youth employment in Senegal, earlier in the year. "Today, rogues, armed robbers are in the State Houses of Assembly and the National Assembly,'' Obasanjo said not too long ago. Of course, he is right; except that he failed to take his share of the blame for the emergence of these scoundrels who have taken over our democratic space.

In a keynote lecture at the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI) in Ilorin, Kwara State, Obasanjo again warned, "We are sitting on a keg of gun-powder in this country due to the problems of unemployment of our youths.

We have almost 150 universities now in the country turning out these young Nigerians but without job opportunities for them".

Recently, Obasanjo blamed poor leadership for the country's woes. He forgot to add that apart from his forgettable leadership (1976-1979 and 1999-2007), he carefully orchestrated the poor leadership we had in 1979 and again in 2007.

Fortunately for him, we have in President Jonathan a ruler who has redefined the meaning of poor leadership which in a way makes Obasanjo look like a messiah.

That is Obasanjo's modus operandi. As one writer noted, "In 1983 when the Shagari government started to wobble, he came out to play prophet". It was the same government he installed four years earlier. When the Babangida regime was at its wit's end and its demise looked certain, Obasanjo attacked the regime's disastrous economic policy dubbed Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), arguing that the policy needed a "human face".

Obasanjo understands what democracy entails, but he does not have the moral courage to be guided by its rule. When Gen. Babangida annulled the June 12, 1993, presidential election won by Chief Moshood

Abiola, Obasanjo told a bewildered nation that, "Abiola is not the messiah". Like an addict hankering after a fix, it was his way of saying he needed the job. It was that ambition that landed him in Abacha's prison after he reinvented himself and became a "born-again democrat". It's been twenty years since the annulment; and three disastrous elections (two supervised by Obasanjo in 2003 and 2007) after, we are still talking about Obasanjo.

In a 2008 piece titled "Obama's election and the needed change", Obasanjo, while congratulating then President-elect, Barack Obama, noted, "The feeling of change that Senator Obama engendered through his campaign for the White House represents a significant theme of change we have all aspired and fought for in different areas, regions, cultures and historical times. The desire for change has never been the question nor has it ever been in question. It is the extent, the range, the tone, the quantity, the quantum and the sustenance of change that has always been the question".

"Rooted in the achievements of Senator Obama is a far more significant theme for people aspiring to lead their communities, particularly for young Africans in Africa. It is the aspirations, the determination, the energy, the strategic thinking, planning and execution that Senator Obama and his campaign team have brought into what is being regarded as a movement. Entire generations have been roused and invited to bring about a change that they and the rest of the world desire".

It is a measure of his hypocrisy that Obasanjo has remained the greatest threat to change in Nigeria. How can young Nigerians aspire to lead their communities when men who are almost 80 years old like Obasanjo and Anenih have sworn not to exit the political space? Clearly, in tackling the PDP and Jonathan in 2015, we must realize that we have to contend with the Obasanjo factor.

With all due respect, Mr. ex-President, you have earned the right to leave us the heck alone! conumah@hotmail.com

Park and Pay: FCT minister must save us from this fraud

By Patience Akpan Danison

O

n a daily basis, residents of the Federal Capital Territory, especially vehicle owners and drivers encounter diverse sorts of maltreatments from staffers of “park and pay” companies contracted by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA). Most likely driven by selfish aims to maximize generation of extra revenue, to help self and then government, they claim their insensitivity is based on the bid to meet up revenue targets set up by the FCTA. It was learnt that Park and Pay is one of the items in the Federal Capital Territory’s first of its kind land policy, which was introduced by the Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed-led FCT Administration a few years ago. While it is undoubtedly a laudable policy, on paper, because of its comprehensive approach to tackling the puzzle of land transportation toward entrenching seamless movement on the nation’s roads, it is unfortunate and very sad indeed, that this little aspect of the policy, which tends to control and manage parking of vehicles in designated high brow areas of the city centre is the one making a mess of the whole policy.

In addition to the bus route delineation hurriedly and clumsily embarked upon by the FCT Administration, which was out-rightly rejected by residents forcing the FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed to reluctantly bow to the people’s wish by suspending its

implementation, this Park and Pay fraud is like a storm that is brewing and spreading fast as more residents are daily becoming victims.

Many residents still recall that early in his assumption, Senator Mohammed hearkened to their cry against erection of deadly speed bumps on Abuja roads by swiftly removing them.

Once again, Abuja people, especially the car owners are calling on the FCT minister, Senator Mohammed to prevail on these dubious companies who are daily perfecting ways of extorting money from them. I am not a car owner, but a student of mass communication who has on several occasions witnessed with awe crisis between the staff of these companies and car owners in Abuja.

Researches reliably reveal that many Abuja car owners bitterly complain of the seekand-hide games staffers of these companies play with them. According to them, the Park and Pay ticketing staff usually hide whenever they (drivers) come to park in the parking controlled zones only to appear after they have parked and gone for their lawful business to clamp their vehicles! One James Obinna fumed “why won’t I pay the peanuts; how much does it cost; but I tell you those guys (referring to workers of Integrated Parking System, IPS who dubiously clamped his BMW car) were nowhere to be found when I came here to park, but look at my car now; its clamped and I am asked to pay N5000!”

I also witnessed a fight between staff of

Integrated Parking Services and car owners in the Maitama district, near the Industrial Trust Fund house when I went for National Identity Card registration. On inquiry, I gathered that while one of the victims of this extortionist parked either earlier than the IPS staff reported on duty or they had usually engaged in the seek and hide game, six others (five women and one man) paid for one hour and went in for same ID card registration hoping they would finish within that one hour, but the registration process delayed them. They came back and found their cars clamped. Their pain and anger was why couldn’t the IPS guys just calculated the extra time for them to pay but hurriedly clamped their vehicles, charging them N5000 each as if they were wishing for it in the first place!

Another instance I witnessed was between some car owners resident in the Asokoro district area, around, Protea hotel. A helpless resident just pulled his car out the gate, went back to lock and an overzealous staff of NAJAC, another park and pay company rushed to clamp it. The old man’s pleading could not save him from coughing out N2000 bribe to set himself free and save his time of going to the bank to pay N5000 for “wrong parking.”

My curiosity took me to FCTA Transportation Secretariat to find out reason for such insensitivity and recklessness by the clamp hungry staffers of the park and pay

companies. I could not see the Secretary for Transportation, Engr. Jonathan Achara Ivoke as I learnt he was out of town. His close staff revealed to me that the Park and Pay companies are mandated to generate a certain percentage by the FCT Minister which is why they are so stubborn and at times go over the board to the extent that they have become an embarrassment to the people-friendly and hardworking FCT minister and the administration.

I am sure those who stay in Abuja or visit the city often have their own personal experiences and have no one to turn to. I hope Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, will not turn a deaf ear to the people’s plight, but set up machinery to monitor (or review the contracts and bring in those who can still generate revenue and keep to rules of business) the excesses of these Park and Pay people that have become lords on Abuja roads so that they do not rubbish the essence of his well-articulated land transport policy.

But if this trend is allowed to continue unchecked, without a monitoring eye, I am sure the peace loving people of Abuja will react one day and I hope the minister and his administration will not want to have that kind of a set back again in the implementation of its policy on land transportation.

Patience Akpan Danison, is a final year student of Department of Mass Communication,FederalPolytechnicBida, Niger state

PAGE 38

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

Online comments Sani rejects Boko Haram amnesty panel membership With all due respect, Super comrade; this is a call to serve your fatherland. Please kindly accept the appointment of Mr. President and give all the necessary contribution you can.

Nigeria is beyond Mr. President, you, me and any other person. Thank you sir.

– Mohammed Jamilu Ibrahim A memo to Boko Haram Mr. Adekoya, you have written a well articulated piece that gladdens my heart. I always applaud a person that stands before the truth. This issue of Boko Haram, has thrown us into a very deep pain and sorrow because of their modus operandi. As people of strong faith, they should remember the teachings of the Holy Prophet Muhammed S.A.W, and have a re-think over the poor and helpless fellows. -Abubakar Adamu – Jazakallahukhairan. Mohammad.

Tambuwal: Breaking the jinx of obnoxious party supremacy If after 50yrs, Nigeria cannot produce a quality leader to direct the country to peace, stability, consistency, then it is a big shame. Kings are born; they are not made. What do you expect when you take a man whose guts cannot be firm when matters relating to national securities are tabled before him? Failure. In 2015 election, all the geographical zones in Nigeria should look for a candidate of impeccable character no matter where he comes from. Are we not one Nigeria in the first place, the ruling PDP is a "sham" with corrupt and inconsistent governors everywhere. "ABIA" good example of what a failed state is. Nothing seems to be working. Could you imagine what will happen if all the money used in making bill boards in praise of the governor, are channeled to other things?

– Charlie Dozie PDP Gov's Forum not to divide NGF, says Bamanga Magnificent submit, very informative. I'm wondering

why the other specialists of this sector do not notice this. You must continue your writing. I'm sure, you've a great readers' base already!

– GryDarmowe Book Of Ra Deluxe Milk and sugary foods do increase the risk of acne, say researchers Please let me know if you're looking for an article or author for your blog. You have some really good articles and I believe I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I'd absolutely love to write some articles for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please shoot me an email if interested. Regards!

– Website

Presidential aide lists MDGs achievements

I don't know if Mrs. Precious is aware of this, "NYSC seized their certificates in the guise of giving them an interest free loan to start a medium scale agro based enterprise. They cannot get job because their certificates have been seized. ??nd they cannot start their businesses because some of the project officials fixed the funds in some personal accounts. This is a cruel and inhuman act on the side of the officials of the NYSC/MDGs WAP project.

– Abioye Olaide Blessing Notes on dubious Obasanjo legacy Even though we all know that President Obasanjo made some mistakes, we should not think that he never made any impact.

He did make some appreciable impact and lots of reforms.

Same for the Minister of Finance, Dr. Iweala. She made an appreciable effort at ensuring that the Nigerian economy is put on the right pedestal. Nigerians must not be parochial in our approach! OBJ made an impact, so was NOI. – Jamiu UATH calls on public to donate towards N200m indigent's fund These are actually fantastic ideas in regarding blogging. You have touched some pleasant things here. Anyway, keep up writing.

– Ryan

it!

– Ryan

Okonjo-Iweala, Maku fight over ministry staff

So taking Yakubu to Maiduguri will stop him from saying the truth? We know that the trouble in the north is created for purposes like this.

Now Maiduguri is the Nigerian Guantanamo where those who offended Ibo leaders like Okonjo will be taken? There are more than one million Yakubus who will write stuff like this against any aggressor like Okonjo in the North so Ngozi should get used to it. We are now set to wage pen war against her and nothing stops us. She is nothing but a poser of Biafran

agenda.

– Dansokoto Shuabu deserves to be sacked.

His article smirks of an ethnic bigot.

– Hannah Omywa

Why govt has the duty to uncover 'ghosts' Boko Haram for dialogue

Wonderful article! This is the kind of information that are meant to be shared around the internet. Shame on Google for not positioning this submit Malian rebels fund and equip upper! Come on over and seek Boko Haram – Ihejirika advice from my web site. Thanks It's appropriate time to make some plans for the future and it Garcinia Cambogia is time to be happy. I've read Garcinia this and I wish to recommend Extract to you, few attention-grabbing Cambogia things or advice. Maybe you can Manage your money write subsequent articles effectively, choose a right referring to this article. I want accountant to read even more issues about Great advice, thank you.

PAGE 39

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

International Boston bombing suspects 'identified' as brothers from Russia

A

P sources have identified the surviving Boston bomber as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19. The man is said to be from Russia's south, not far from the Chechen Republic.

The man reportedly lived in Turkey before arriving legally in the US at least a year ago.

The name is listed among the recipients of Cambridge scholarships in 2011.

The second suspect is said to be his brother Tamerlan, 26.

An NBC report claims the two immigrated at least two years ago. One of the brothers is said to have a Massachusetts drivers' license. Some reports say the two may have arrived in the US from Turkey and have Turkish citizenship.

There is a page at the

Russian social network VKontakte (In Contact) with the name Dzhokhar Tsarnaev living in Boston and studying at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. The Cambridge School mentions Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as its athlete of the month for February 2011, saying that he is an athlete.

The VKontakte page studied

by RT mentions a school in Makhachkala, the capital of the Republic of Dagestan, as a place Tsarnaev studied between 1999 and 2001. The Tsarnaev family moved to Dagestan from Kyrgyzstan in 2001, the school spokesman told RT. Dzhokhar studied there for just one year and produced no particular impression, good or bad, on the teachers.

Dzhokhar has several Chechen-related interests stated in his profile. He states that he speaks Russian, English and Chechen and holds career and money as his personal priorities. He claims he is a believer in Islam.

The page has but a handful of posts, most of them jokes.

The owner's last visit of the page was from a mobile phone shortly before the shooting in Boston started. Some Russianlanguage comments on the page accuse Tsarnaev of being behind the bombing. They were posted after the news of a possible connection of a Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to the bombing broke.

U.S. charges Guinea-Bissau coup government leader with trafficking transitional headed by President Manuel

Serifo Nhamadjo, with elections set for within 12 months, a deadline now postponed.

US Drug Enforcement Agency administrator Michele Leonhart said that Indjai's "sprawling drug and terror regime threatened the national security not only of his own country, but of countries across the globe."

Bharara added that "as with so many allegedly corrupt officials, he sold himself and use of his country for a price."

Death toll in Garissa attack hits 10

G

unmen in the volatile Garissa town on Thursday night shot and killed at least ten people, police said.

"The death toll has now reached ten people. Some others died in hospital while

Pakistani police arrest Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad

T

he US has charged the coup leader of GuineaBissau with drug trafficking and seeking to sell arms to Colombian rebels.

Antonio Indjai is now the eighth person accused in the conspiracy.

The indictment charges Indjai with narco-terrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to support a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to import cocaine and conspiracy to transfer anti-aircraft missiles to Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels to shoot down US helicopters.

"From his position atop the Guinea-Bissau military, Antonio Indjai conspired to use his power and authority to be a middleman and his country to be a way station for people he believed to be terrorists and narco-traffickers," Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.

The prosecutor added that Indjai's aim was to help FARC "store and ultimately transport narcotics to the United States, and procure surface-to-air missiles and other militarygrade hardware to be used against United States troops."

Undercover sting operations began in August and culminated in dramatic arrests of some of the accused by US agents on a boat in

international waters off West Africa earlier in April.

Manhattan prosecutors unveiled the charges less than two weeks after bringing trafficking accusations against Guinea-Bissau's former navy chief and four others in the alleged trans-Atlantic plot.

US federal agents have also arrested former navy chief Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto and four accomplices in the raid in international waters. They will stand trial in New York.

Na Tchuto and codefendants Papis Djeme and Tchamy Yala initially appeared in court on April 5.

The judge ordered them detained without bail for plotting to aid cocaine shipments from Latin America to markets in the United States and Europe.

Prosecutors have named the other two caught in the raid, Manuel Mamadi Mane and Saliu Sisse, as Indjai's coconspirators. The remaining two conspirators named by the prosecutors, Rafael Antonio Garavito-Garcia and Gustavo Perez-Garcia, await extradition from Colombia to the United States to face charges.

As the country's military leader, Indjai oversaw an April 2012 coup that ousted the regime of Premier Carlos Gomes Junior. He agreed in May to hand power to a civilian

G

unmen in the volatile Garissa town on Thursday night shot and killed at least ten people, police said.

"The death toll has now reached ten people. Some others died in hospital while undergoing treatment," a police officer told AFP updating an earlier toll of six dead said yesterday, adding that a security operation was underway to track the attackers.

Five other people remained hospitalised from the 8pm attack that saw an unknown number of armed men walk into a local hotel and open fire indiscriminately at the patrons, with what witnesses at the scene

said were AK-47 rifles.

The Kenya Red Cross, in a statement, said that those in hospital had gunshot wounds.

Regional Police Chief, Charlton Mureithi confirmed the incident but could not give more details.

Guns are common in the impoverished north-eastern region, which hosts more than 500,000 Somali refugees.

Kenya has been hit by a wave of grenade and gun attacks -- often blamed on sympathisers of Somalia's Al-Shabaab Islamist fighters -- since its army went into Somalia last year to flush out the Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents.

undergoing treatment," a police officer told AFP updating an earlier toll of six dead said yesterday, adding that a security operation was underway to track the attackers.

Five other people remained hospitalised from the 8pm attack that saw an unknown number of armed men walk into a local hotel and open fire indiscriminately at the patrons, with what witnesses at the scene said were AK-47 rifles.

Boko Haram frees captured French family

A

French family of seven kidnapped by the Nigerian armed group, Boko Haram, in Cameroon in February have been freed and are in the hands of officials in the central African state, President Paul Biya has said.

He made the announcement in a statement read on national radio on Friday which said the hostages - a father, mother, four children aged 5 to 12, and an uncle - had been "handed over last night to Cameroonian authorities".

French President Francois Hollande said on Friday that no ransom had been paid the family's release. Speaking in Paris he said that France "does not cede on [its] principles", the "non-payment by France of ransoms."

The French government said in a statement also on Friday that all members of the family were in good health and had reached the Cameroonian capital, Yaounde.

The Cameroonian and Nigerian authorities were also thanked but the statement also highlighted that another eight hostages were still being held.

PAGE 40

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

Peoples page Grand weddings R

ecently, Ameena Mahey Rasheed & Hakeem Shagaya, got married in grand style. They are children of Alhaji Mahey Rasheed who is chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), and former Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and S e n .

Shagaya respectively.

H o w Ameena & Hakeem met?

T h e b r i d e , A m i n a r e v e a l s : Hakeem and I met at a friend's place in 2008. I happened to be walking in his direction when I tripped over the stairs and fell in front of him. I was with my best friend so she helped pull me up and introduced us.

We were on a balcony and it was really cold outside.

H e removed his jacket a n d handed it to me and we just

started talking. The rest is now history. I remember telling my friend that night that

I have met the 'guy'!

The proposal After I finished my final year at medical school in 2011, I went back to Nigeria. On a Friday in the first week of July, he picked me up from home and said he wanted to show me a house he had been admiring. As we were driving, I began to realise we are going out of town a bit.

We started to climb a hill with his car and in my mind I was like what sort of house is this? We reached the top and sat on a bench.

We were over looking the whole of Abuja. He started to make a long speech about the future and I then knew what was coming! He got down on his knee and asked me to marry him‌Of course, I said YES lol. It was so serene and how I always wanted Personal

and intimate.

This was followed by official introduction/ engagement a few months later and then the main wedding.

The wedding kicked off in Katsina with the Sa Lalle ceremony where the bride was gorgeously adorned with Lalle/ Henna decoration - this event marked the beginning of her bridehood. It was a chance for the women in the family as well as female friends to bond ahead of the rest of the wedding schedule. Up next was the Kamu ceremony. As the bride Ameena is HausaFulani, according to traditional Fulani culture, the Kamu is "the catching of the bride". Her faced was covered and female representatives haggled the groom for a price to see the bride's face. After the amount was agreed and exchanged, her veil was opened and perfume was sprayed on the bride! With the bride Ameena looking lovely her traditional outfit in resplendent aqua blue tones accessorized with gold jewellery; the groom chose a classic cream and ivory traditional attire, it was a night rich in culture and tradition as e v e r y o n e celebrated the j o y o u s union.

After t h e Wedding Fatiha ceremony w a s completed, it was time for more celebration at the the wedding reception!

Ameena looking amazing in her a l l - g o l d

traditional outfit paired with a gold headtie which also complemented her husband Hakeem's white attire. For the wedding reception night party, there was no doubt who the focus of all the activities was as the couple once again emerged with Hakeem dressed in a black Babariga with gold trimmings while Ameena's striking red and gold outfit elicited WOWs from everyone in attendance.

With the formal wedding festivities concluded, it was time for the bride to journey to her new home. As she was unveiled at the Kai Amarya ceremony at her new family home. With that done, a cultural night celebrating the Ameena and Hakeem took place in Abuja. It was a great event with traditional dancing and a traditional play called "Gada".

The wedding cocktail party was so much fun with Burna Boy and Iyanya entertaining guests while friends gave speeches and had a merry time with the couple. The grand finale of Ameena and Hakeem's wedding was their wedding reception at the International Conference Centre in Abuja. The bride had looked so beautiful all through the wedding festivities and she was totally gorgeous once again as she stepped out in her Oscar de la Renta wedding dress. With her hair in a striking high bun accentuated with a glittering hair piece and a dramatic lace veil, she looked stunning! The groom looked handsome in his bespoke double-breasted powder blue suit.

With award-winning soul singer Bez serenading them as they walked hand-in-hand into their wedding reception, it was such an amazing moment. The rest of the event was filled with live performance from superstars including M.I, the couple's first dance, speeches, fun moments with friends and lots more!

Great expectations for Perm Sec's daughter

I

t is always natural that times of marriage between two parties (a man and a woman) are seen as moments of joy and tears shaded on these days are considered as the tears of joy. Indeed, the above is going to be the case at the wedding of Hajiya Amina Aliyu (Laraba) and her heartthrob which comes up on Friday April, 26, 2013 in her home town Dabban in Lavun Local Government Area of Niger State.

Amina at her age 24 is one of the daughters of late Alhaji Ndako Sidi Aliyu, a former Permanent Secretary on the slot of Niger State in the middle of the year 2012. She graduated from Crescent University Abeokuta in Ogun State in 2009 and is presently an employee of Aquila Leasing Limited Abuja. There are great expectations for Amina's wedding which will without doubt; bring in prospects of brighter days ahead and fulfill the hopes of her family in so many ways.

The appointment of Amina's father as the new PermSec was published in LEADERSHIP newspapers of Tuesday 7th August 2012. However, fate had its own plots in store and not up to two months after this meritorious elevation Amina's

father, Alhaji Aliyu who had been battling with an unidentified illness, passed on in September, 2012.

While the family was still grappling with the shock of the loss, Amina's mother, Hajiya Hauwa Aliyu who was at that time battling with an ailment, could no longer bear the pain of the death of her husband and also passed on some months after his demise.

At the moment, preparation for the wedding of their beautiful daughter is in top gear and in a few days, the family will have cause to be happy and joyful again as she says good bye to spinsterhood. It is expected that the wedding will give both families cause to rejoice once again.

Lots of visitors are expected at their family house and from observation; they may be treated to witnessing a royalty kind of fairy-tale wedding.

While making enquiries on how the day of Amina's wedding is set to look like, Amina's only stepmother, Hajiya Ramatu Aliyu expressed optimism all was set for the event and that they will all shade tears of joy at seeing her daughter (Amina) graduating from the state of spinsterhood to marital life.

"The tears we all shed for the loss of her biological parents shall certainly be replaced with the uninterrupted flow of the tears of joy because Amina shall be given a befitting wedding. On behalf of the entire family, therefore, I am wishing her a befitting wedding and happy married life"; she concluded.

It is as if Alhaji Ndako Aliyu knew he was leaving this world at this crucial time. He seems to have made all the required preparations for a successful wedding for his daughter because he left all the necessary human and financial resources behind to stand the wedding rites of Amina and even those after her.

Amina's family members which include her aunts and uncles; Hajiya Ramatu Aliyu, Alhaji Attahir Jibrin, Alhaji Ndako-Alhaji, Alhaji kudu Saurayi, Alhaji Abdullahi Sule, Wangwa-Dabban, Chief Imam Dabban, Mahmud K. Bello(Niger State Commissioner of Finance) Alhaji Mohammed Ahmed Dabban (Babakara) and many others are prepared positively towards this wedding.

Ahmed Dzungi From Minna

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

PAGE 41

Weekend CAF U-17: Golden Eaglets in make or mar clash with Congo

Golden Eaglets of Nigeria

By Patrick Andrew

N

igeria's participation in the forthcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup, with the finest collection of cadet players after the 1993 squad, will be determined today when the Golden Eaglets square up against their Congolese rivals in a make or mar last group game today in Marrakech, Morocco.

The Eaglets, who were delectable in performance but through fate lost 0-1 to the Baby Elephants courtesy a last minute comical errors last Wednesday, are in a must-win situation to snatch one of the four tickets for the FIFA fiesta scheduled next October in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A winner will equally hands them a semi-final ticket in the CAF U-17 fiesta.

Already, hosts Morocco and Tunisia from group A have booked their places while current group B leaders Ivory Coast are likely to qualify if they pull a draw with Ghana and Nigeria draw or beat Congo today.

Weekend Peoples Sports believes that the Eaglets must have learnt their lessons from the shocking loss to the Baby Elephants despite dominating for

the greater part of the game.

In today's crunch tie, the Eaglets should be step up their offensive rhythm with first game hat-trick hero Isaac Success and Ifeanyi Matthew combining to keep off the defensive wall of the Congo lads.

The Congolese are renowned for their stout defensive approach, something Ivory Coast used successfully against Nigeria. This means that Garba Manu must rejig his attacking strategies to ensure the Eaglets are punchy in plot and delivery.

Skipper Musa Mohammed's comical error led to the goal on Wednesday must be level headed and marshal the defenceline properly even as the midfield must be alive to produce telling supplies to the attackers upfront.

There is no room even a margin one for errors as captured by skipper Musa who said. "We are ready for business and we would as usual give more than 100 percent. We are motivated for this match and Insha Allah; we would qualify for the World Cup." Besides, Coach Manu said: "The players have been told what is required and by the grace of God, we need to win our game and we are through to the next stage.

"We don't want to start doing any mathematics or depending on the result of the other match between Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana to know if we are through."

Also, Ivory Coast and Ghana will clash in a match that should be physical and explosive because both teams stand a chance of sealing a place for the semi-finals

of the CAF fiesta and ticket for FIFA U-17 tournament in UAE. All CIV need is a draw while Ghana are in a must-win situation to qualify. Howver, they must beat Ivory Coast with as much as 6-0 after conceding 6-1 in the opening game against Nigeria and being forced to 1-1 draw by Congo.

Champions League

Rangers, Recreativo clash in Enugu

N

igeria's sole survivor in the prestigious clubs championships, Rangers International will play hosts to Recreativo Libolo FC of Angola at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu on Sunday for their CAF Champions League match.

The coal city team, though plagued by non-release of their new sign-on players, have the sterner stuff to impress in the third round of the competition that it needs to win to sustain Nigeria's representation in the clubs' continental championship duel.

Meanwhile, CA Bizertin of Tunisia are set to host CAF Champions League title-holders AlAhly of Egypt in a last-16 qualifier this weekend after threatening to withdraw from the competition.

Ahly, fellow Egyptians Zamalek, Esperance of Tunisia and TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo are the teams to beat as 16 clubs chase eight places in the lucrative mini-league stage.

The title holders can call on stalwarts Wael Gomaa, Sayed Moawad, Mohamed Barakat and Emad Moteab although the absence of on-loan Ahmed Fathy, 'Geddo' and Mohamed Abou Trika could be felt later in the competition.

Zamalek must do without injured veteran midfielder Ahmed Hassan for a Cairo showdown against Saint George, whose side is packed with stars who helped Ethiopia qualify for the recent Africa Cup of Nations after a 31-year absence.

Esperance have reached the past three Champions League finals -- winning one -- and appear too strong overall for JSM Bejaia of Algeria, who stage the first leg after surprising Asante Kotoko of Ghana in the previous round.

Green confident Eaglets will qualify for World Cup

T

he Nigeria Football Federation has assured Nigerians that the U-17 Golden Eaglets, will qualify for this year's FIFA U-17 World Cup finals holding in United Arab Emirates.

Chairman of the NFF Technical Committee, Barrister Chris Green said yesterday that defeat by the Baby Elephants of Cote d'Ivoire at the African U-17 Championship in Morocco on Wednesday has only served to rouse the Nigerian boys to the fact that they are beatable.

"The team had played 28

matches without losing any, before Wednesday's match. I had faith in them to beat Cote d'Ivoire, but they obviously did not do enough as the sharp edge was lacking and they were not as aggressive as they were against the Ghanaians.

"However, I believe this loss has only served to make the team fully matured. The boys have grown up now, knowing they can lose a match if they fail to perform at optimum level."

Green emphasized that the Coach Manu Garba-led technical crew has been working on the boys

to make them forget Wednesday's loss and concentrate on earning the three points against CongoBrazzaville on Saturday.

"All we need to do is get the boys to put the defeat against the Ivorians behind them and keep level head and do what they have to do against the Congolese - win.

Once we qualify for the semi finals, we take it from there."

Qualification for the semi finals will earn the Eaglets, 2007 world champions, a ticket to represent Africa at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in United Arab Emirates.

PAGE 42

NFF orders Rangers to discuss with Warri Wolves over Mba, Agbim

T

he Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has directed Enugu Rangers or any other club keen on having the services of AFCON hero Sunday Mba and teammate Chigozie Agbim to negotiate with Warri Wolves for their services.

The federation, which expressed disssatisfaction with Rangers and Wolves handling of the transfer saga of the Super Eagles' attacking midfielder Mba, declared in clear terms that the player belongs to the Warri Wolves.

Weekend Peoples Sports recalls that the NFF had set up an Adhoc committee to look into the ownership of the players following the clubs' insistence that they both own them.

The committee had recommended that Rangers and Wolves should agree on the transfer fees of both players or the NFF would be forced to fix a fee. Wolves went on to fix N12m an amount the Enugu-based team considered outrageous and even went on air to declare that the transfer saga had been sorted out only for Wolves to debunk the claim same day.

Yesterday, the NFF in no uncertain terms declared that Warri Wolves own the players and have the right to fix their transfer fees and advised whichever club wants their services to negotiate a fee for the transfer of their services.

NFF's Assistant Director (Media), Ademola Olajire, said in a statement in Lagos that the body's President, Aminu Maigari, was disappointed that the clubs failed to resolve the issue after several weeks.

The statement quoted the Maigari as saying that the delay in resolving the case had affected the players' careers which now needed to be put back on track. ``The NFF made it clear in a press statement before the end of 2012 that its ad-hoc committee on the matter had decided that the player has his contractual obligations to Warri Wolves. ``And told both clubs to decide a transfer fee for the player. Unfortunately, both clubs have not been able to do so," the statement said.

It said that Super Eagles' goalkeeper, Chigozie Agbim, was also a player of the Warri Wolves. ``This is also to declare that goalkeeper Chigozie Agbim is legitimately a Warri Wolves' player. Any club in quest of the services of these two players should go and negotiate with Warri Wolves.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

Olympic Stadium sells out fast for Bolt's London return M T his

ens of thousands of tickets for Usain Bolt's return to the scene of London Olympic

victories sold out within 75 minutes of going on sale on Friday, organisers said.

Bolt, who won three

Dibaba, 10,000m Olympic champion

sprint gold in London last year to match his Beijing haul, will compete in the IAAF Diamond League meeting on July 26-27.

Organisers are billing the event as the "Anniversary Games" -- a year after the Olympics.

British gold medalists, Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis, would also take part in the first major sporting event in the Olympic stadium since the Paralympics ended last September.

The attempt to recreate the heady atmosphere of last year's Games prompted a scramble for tickets reminiscent of the build-up to the Olympics.

Tickets were available only to those who had preregistered and were snapped up in little over an hour.

The stadium is expected to have a capacity of between 50 and 60,000 in July, although the exact figure has not been disclosed.

Those who missed out on Diamond League tickets can still buy seats for Sunday July 28 when Paralympic athletes will be competing.

These were also selling well, a spokeswoman for UK Athletics said.

The demand for tickets is a boost for athletics in Britain, a sport that struggles to maintain its profile outside of Olympic years.

UK Athletics this week signed up supermarket group Sainsbury to sponsor its major meetings this summer and back it's Paralympians until 2017.

Its main sponsor, insurer Aviva, pulled out last year and is being replaced by a series of partners.

Besides the Olympics, the charismatic Bolt had not appeared in London since 2009, partly because of tax laws that could have cost him a share of his prize money and endorsements.

Over 2,000 register for Okpekpe Race as Dibabba keeps organisers waiting

ore than 2,000 athletes have registered for the maiden Okpekpe 10km International Road Race even as Olympics 10,000m champion Tirunesh Dibaba is still being expectyed to indicate participation, a top official of the Organising Committee said on Friday.

Yusuf Alli, the Technical Coordinator of the event, confirmed in Lagos that the registration was conducted online and stressed that the step was taken to enable as many athletes as possible to participate in the event.

The race is slated for May 4 in Edo State. ``I cannot categorically say the figure now until we have the final list but as at today, we have nothing less than 2,000 to 2,500 entries already.

Alli, however, expressed optimism that more athletes were expected, saying that Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba had yet to indicate her interest in the race. ``We are still expecting more long-distance runners to feature in the event, and we are yet to get the response of Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia," he said.

Dibaba won the 10,000m women's race at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

The prize money structure for winners are: First position in the male category will receive $25,000; Second position $15,000 and third position will receive $10,000.

The female category's First position will be awarded $5,000; second position will cart way $4,000 and the third position will receive $3,000.

Vetyeka in line to fight Chris John

S

imphiwe Vetyeka may have earned himself fight with Indonesian Chris John in a IBO and WBA featherweight unification title bout.

The new IBO featherweight champion could find himself up against John, the WBA champion, trainer Nick Durandt revealed on Friday.

Vetyeka, 27, won his second IBO title when he stopped Daud

Cino Yordan in the twelfth round in Jakarta last weekend.

John, the longest reigning "world" champion in the world, has held the WBA title for more than ten years. He maintained his unbeaten record when his fight against Satoshi Hosono of Japan ended in a technical draw last weekend.

The fight was stopped in the third round after John had suffered two deep cuts. More

than 60 000 spectators attended the tournament.

South African Vetyeka will not be idle again as he was after winning his first IBO title. He did not fight for 18 months and was eventually stripped of the title.

"I'll see to it this does not happen again," Durandt said.

"Two South African promoters have already approached me to stage a voluntary title defence."

Bolt, his participation in anniversary games has shot up ticket sales.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

PAGE 43

Manchester City count on United sleep T

h e shock of losing last year's title at the last second could derail Manchester United's charge to this season's crown, according to Manchester City assistant Brian Kidd.

With United 13 points clear at the top and able to secure the title as early as Monday, it might sound like the defending champions are clutching at straws but after the manner in which they won it last year they have good reason not to give in.

City clinched their first league title since 1968 when they scored twice in stoppage time to beat Queens Park Rangers 3-2 and win the championship on goal difference from United, who had finished their final game thinking they had done enough.

"There will be some jittery moments," said Kidd, a former assistant to Ferguson at United who was standing in for City manager Roberto Mancini at the club's regular Friday news conference.

"It could turn out a great season for

M

Nasri in action Manchester City," said Kidd, who had spells at both United and City as a player.

"We would win the league and we could win the Cup, what a great season.

City, who made up eight points in six games on their way to the title last

Alex Ferguson's team has been below their best in recent weeks and Wednesday's 2-2 draw at West Ham featured another disjointed display from the champions-

Manchester United players with trophies

year, travel to fifth-placed Tottenham with doubts over David Silva and Sergio Aguero, who have hamstring injuries.

United have 81 points from 33 games, with City on 68 from 32.

elect.

But Jones is adamant United haven't taken their foot off the gas with the finish line in sight and he is certain they will seal the club's 20th title in their next two fixtures.

United would be crowned champions if second placed Manchester City, who sit 13 points behind their local rivals, lose at Tottenham tomorrow and Ferguson's men defeat struggling Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Monday.

Failing that, a win over Villa and another victory the following weekend at Arsenal would clinch the crown.

"We've been confident throughout the season and nothing is going to change now," Jones said.

"We've got a big game against Aston Vila on Monday night and I'm sure, if we can pick up three points there, it will stand us in great stead for Arsenal."

United's belief they can win the title in this round of fixtures will be even higher if they listen to Manchester City assistant manager David Platt.

Chelsea edge closer to Schurrle signing

C

h e l s e a are edging closer to the signing of Germany international Andre Schurrle after Bayer Leverkusen officials travelled to London for negotiations.

Reports in the German media in recent days have claimed Schurrle has agreed personal terms with the Blues, who had failed in an attempt to sign the 22-yearold last summer.

The Leverkusen midfielder is expected to sign a five-year contract in a deal that will reportedly cost Chelsea around •20 million, with Belgium international Kevin De Bruyne joining

Fulham Norwich QPR Sunderland Swansea West Brom West Ham Sunday Tottenham Liverpool

v v v v v v v

Arsenal Reading Stoke Everton Southampton Newcastle Wigan

v v

Man City Chelsea

CAF Champions League JSM Bejaia v Zamalek v Orlando Pirates v Sunday Bizertin v Cotonsport v Enugu Rangers v AC Leopards v FUS Rabat v

United hungry to finish title race a n c h e s t e r United defender Phil Jones insists the Premier League leaders are determined to finish off the title race as soon as possible.

WEEKEND FIXTURES

the Bundesliga club on loan as part of the deal.

Afterwards, Voller travelled to Brussels along with club official Michael Reschke to meet with De Bruyne's agents.

Should De Bruyne, who is currently on loan at Werder Bremen, fail to agree to a move to Leverkusen, Schurrle may cost Chelsea •22 million plus bonuses, according to kicker.

In 60 Bundesliga games for Leverkusen, Schurrle has scored 16 goals.

The former Mainz player has won 22 caps for Germany, scoring seven goals. His contract at Leverkusen ends in 2016.

Andre Schurrle

Esperance Kedus Giorgis TP Mazembe Al Ahly SM Bamako R/ do Libolo ES Setif Sewe Sport

CAF Confederation Cup Azam v FAR Rabat ASEC Mimosas v LLB Academic Sunday R/ da Caala v Etoile Sahel Liga Muculmana v W/ Casablanca CAF U17 Champs Congo v Côte d'Ivoire v French Ligue 1 Marseille v Sunday Bastia v AS Nancy v Sochaux v Reims v Toulouse v PSG v German Bundesliga B/ Dortmund v B/ Leverkusen v Hannover 96 v Hamburg v E/ Frankfurt v Werder Bremen v Sunday VfB Stuttgart v Nurnberg v Italy Serie A Genoa Udinese Sunday Napoli Siena Catania Roma Bologna Fiorentina Juventus

Nigeria Ghana Brest Lille Evian TG Bordeaux Valenciennes Lorient Nice

Mainz Park Hoffenheim Bayern Munich F/ Dusseldorf Schalke 04 Wolfsburg SC Freiburg Greuther

v v

Atalanta Lazio

v v v v v v v

Cagliari Chievo Palermo Pescara Sampdoria Torino AC Milan

Spanish Primera Liga Granada v Real Madrid v Barcelona v Valencia v

Valladolid Real Betis Levante Malaga

Sunday Getafe D/ La Coruna Osasuna Sevilla

Espanyol Athletic Bilbao Real Sociedad Atletico Madrid

v v v v

PAGE 44

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

PICTORIAL

The Professional Footballers' Association has revealed its six-man shortlist for the Player of the Year award, with Gareth Bale the favourite with the bookmakers to win the award for a second time.

Rafael Nadal extends his unbeaten record at the Monte Carlo Masters to 45 matches with victory over Grigor Dimitrov.

Sprinter Sacre will bid for a festival hat-trick, as trainer Nicky Henderson says the horse will run at Punchestown on Tuesday.

Dereck Chisora wants to fight David Price this summer - after he has dealt with Saturday's opponent, Hector Alfredo Avila.

Double Olympic champion Mo Farah says he is running half of tomorrow's London Marathon for the experience, not for the money

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

PAGE 45

Special Report

When KRPC immunised host communities against killer diseases From Mohammed Ibrahim,

T

hree year old Mary (not her real name) lives with her parents in one of the communities hosting the Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company (KRPC). She was penultimate week brought by her mother to the venue of immunisation against Measles and Meningitis in Kamazo village. These are diseases that worry children, particularly their parents in these communities.

According to experts or medical practitioners, measles is a highly contagious viral disease which affects mostly children. It is transmitted via droplets from the nose, mouth or throat of infected persons.

Initial symptoms, which usually appear 10–12 days after infection, include high fever, runny nose, bloodshot eyes, and tiny white spots on the inside of the mouth.

It was said that for several days a rash develops, starting on the face and upper neck and gradually spreading downwards.

It was also explained that there is no specific treatment for measles and most people recover within 2–3 weeks.

However, particularly in malnourished children and people with reduced immunity, measles can cause serious complications, including blindness, encephalitis, severe diarrhea, ear infection and pneumonia.

But one thing for sure is that measles and meningitis can both be prevented through immunization.

The two diseases thrive more during hot season and that was why the management of KRPC found it paramount to immunise residents living in those communities as part of the company's corporate social responsibility.

The host communities are Unguwar Rido, Kamazo and Unguwar Romi. Under these

major communities, there are other villages that benefited for the immunization.

For instance in Kamazo, the centre covered Kamazo, Janwuya, Unguwar Baro, Mahuta and other surrounding communities while at Unguwar Romi, the centre took care of Romi, Matari, Sabon Tasha, Karatudu, part of Juji including Gonin Gora.

The other centre at Rido took care of Rido, Kidunu, Kudansa, Maraban Rido, Katam, part of Masari and part of Mahuta. The venue of the exercise was the palaces of the District Heads of the communities.

Those who benefited most from the company's gesture were children from the ages of two years above who were immunised for measles while those immunised for meningitis were of 8 months above, although few adults too were immunized for meningitis.

The management through its Public Affairs Manager Abdullahi Idris said it was not the first time KRPC intervened on issues that bordered their host communities.

He said it was the company's medical team that advised them to carry out the exercise in the areas.

Alhaji Abdullahi Idris said KRPC is an organization that puts lot of premium on social responsibility and taking care of its immediate communities.

"The season this year has been very hot and this is what led to meningitis and also measles for children. Our medical department has advised that this is the right time to embark on the exercise.

We are targeting most of the communities of KRPC. We are trying to cover as much as possible the contagious communities of KRPC," he said.

The Public affairs Manager therefore called on the communities to always live in peace and to support KRPC management, saying there are

“

The season this year has been very hot and this is what led to meningitis and also measles for children. Our medical department has advised that this is the right time to embark on the exercise. We are targeting most of the communities of KRPC.

The District Head of Kamazo, Auta Makama being immunized at the venue

Little girl being immunised at the venue in Kamazo more projects to be carried out in the communities that will be of benefit to them.

Earlier, District head of Kamazo. Mr. Auta Makama commended the KRPC for immunizing his people, saying it was encouraging. " I received reports from other villages of outbreak of measles but not in Kamazo. But this exercise has shown that they are looking after their immediate communities which is encouraging to us.

Personally this idea is welcome.

I wish the idea continues,' he said.

According to him, Management of KRPC were also trying to address other needs of the communities such as providing them with electricity, water etc, although we learnt that KRPC has constructed a borehole for the people of Kamazo and surrounding communities.

It was also gathered that KRPC have completed plan to provide electricity in the communities, a gesture the

villagers expressed optimism for and commended the company's management.

Janet Bako who brought her one year old daughter to be immunized, has this to say: " we are very happy for the gesture by KRPC. This is really what is expected of them because they have done what any responsible company will do to its host communities" Another parent, Mr. Akpan said " I brought five of my children to be immunised against the killer diseases”.I urge the company to continue the good work".

PAGE 46

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

News Feature

When Esu Karu honoured Gen. Danjuma, Prof Baike L

a s t week Saturday, all roads led to Karu, headquarters of Karu local government area and to the palace of the Esu Karu, HRH Pharmacist {DR} Luka Panya Baba, to witness the colourful ceremony of the conferment of traditional titles and installation of two prominent Nigerians, General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma (rtd) and Professor Adamu Baike, as the Jiji and Kpasi of Karu respectively.

Quite unlike previous conferment and installation ceremonies, this one that held in Karu penultimate Saturday, attracted an array of dignified personalities from across the country, including the former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (rtd), who turned up at the event to felicitate with the celebrants.

Other dignitaries that witnessed the installation ceremony at the palace of the Esu Karu include among others; Prof. Jerry Gana, former Minister of Information, Chief Tony Anenih, BoT chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uzor Kalu, former governor of Imo state and Senator Abdullahi Adamu, who was chairman of the occasion.

Like in similar events, there was the abundance of food and drinks as well colourful renditions from diverse cultural groups from within and outside the state, to feed and entertain the guests while the ceremony got under way, amidst the blaring of royal trumpets as the chairman of the Nasarawa state council of chiefs, the emir of Lafia, HRH DR. Isa Mustapha Agwai II arrived the venue in company of his lieutenants.

In a welcome address, chairman of the occasion and former governor of Nasarawa state, senator Abdullahi Adamu, said he was humbled to preside over the installation ceremony of two illustrious Nigerians, highlighting the contributions of each of the celebrants in their separate fields to the immediate community and the country at large.

According to Sen. Adamu, Professor Adamu Baike has been a symbol of academic excellence, exemplary character, worthy of emulation by his generation and indeed the future generation. He recalled the sacrifices made by the seasoned educationists in the field of humanitarian services variously at the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, where Prof.

Baike started his academic career, his contributions, at a very critical moment, at the university of Benin, as Vice Chancellor, through his sojourn as the Vice Chancellor, university of Lesotho, South Africa.

Sen. Adamu disclosed that Prof. Baike accepted the invitation by the then Nasarawa state government to serve in the technical committee and later as chairman of the implementation committee of the establishment of the state university in Keffi, after which he started the university as an administrator before he became the Vice Chancellor of the institution.

“The legacies he left behind are known and celebrated all over the country.”

For Gen. T.Y Danjuma (rtd), whom the chairman described as one of the pillars holding the country together, “a courageous, articulate and a recognised leader whose services and philanthropy are unrivalled and the most uncelebrated Nigerian war hero.”

Recalling the military exploits of Gen. T.Y Danjuma, which led to the strategic capturing of Enugu, which also led to the end of the civil war, Sen. Adamu maintained that it is on record that the strategy and military manoeuvres that Gen. T.Y Danjuma

Penultimate Saturday, the crème dela crème of the society gathered at the palace of the Esu of Karu, HRH, Pharmacist (DR) Luka Panya Baba, to witness the conferment of traditional titles and installation of two illustrious Nigerians, General T. Y Danjuma and Prof. Adamu David Baike. Ali Abare Abubakar, our Lafia correspondent, attended the colourful ceremony and reports.

Gen. T.Y Danjuma holding his staff of office, flanked by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, the Esu Karu, Prof. Jerry Gana and others developed and executed that led to the capture of Enugu, “has remained to this day a subject of military science in staff colleges around the world.”

“Gen T.Y Danjuma, to say the least, is a soldier’s soldier, a general of high standing and of very few words.”

According to Sen. Adamu, the retired general has touched the lives of people from every part of the country, stressing that it is no wonder that his exploits in the military and public service, have continued to serve as guide for other aspiring leaders.

In conclusion, the chairman of the occasion noted that it is the antecedents of the celebrants in the various offices they have occupied both within and outside the country, which has been a source of pride to all and sundry, that explains why the Karu chiefdom, under the leadership of the Esu Karu, Pharmacist Luka Panya Baba, decided to honour the two illustrious Nigerians with traditional Gbagyi chieftaincy titles.

On his part, the Esu Karu, HRH Pharmacist (DR) Luka Panya Baba, while also welcoming his guests, said the Karu traditional council decided to honour the two celebrants for the indelible marks they made in their respective areas of vocation and to identify with their enduring achievements in various spheres of human endeavour, as well as their immense and indeed, uncommon contributions to the unity, peace and progress of the country.

He described Gen. T.Y Danjuma as a gentleman per excellence, who the traditional ruler said, has created historic footprints in the Nigerian army and contributed in no

small measure to the unity and corporate survival of Nigeria as a nation, with his courageous soldiering and leadership role in defence and security matters, well known and universally acknowledged.

Pharmacist Panya Baba, observes that after staking his life in military service, Gen. T.Y Danjuma, ventured into entrepreneurship where he remains an epitome of hard work and philanthropy, guided by strong moral principles and ethics, with the retired general being a personification of a detribalised and altruistic leader, whose scope of service and philanthropy transcends ethnic, religious or other sectional considerations.

“Perhaps I should mention in specific terms, the Karu community is a beneficiary of General Danjuma’s philanthropic gestures extended to Bingham University, Karu and the Nasarawa State University, Keffi.”

The traditional ruler equally described Professor Adamu Baike as an educationists of no mean repute, an astute academician and scholar of international standing, one of the most accomplished academician and educational administrator that Nigeria has ever produced. Qualities which the royal father said has endeared Prof Baike to the state governmet which invited him in 2000 to midwife the birth of the state university, with his pioneering efforts and dogged commitment to the growth and development of the institution presently bearing fruits.

The Esu Karu went on to say that the two icons being honoured by the Karu traditional council are “truly men of honour, integrity, commitment to noble ideals and above all, men of faith, who have been driven by their passion

for the development of humanity and progress of the country.”

He announced that the Karu traditional council has decided to confer on General T.Y Danjuma, the title of the Jiji of Karu; and on the other hand, Professor Adamu Baike, with that of the Kpasi of Karu.

Explaining further, the Esu Karu, stated that the Jiji is a Gbagyi symbol of shield, protector, defence and unshakable assurance, with Gen. T.Y Danjuma epitomizing these attributes, while the Kpasi is a Gbagyi word for star, connoting attributes of permanence, outstanding source of light and illumination, which are qualities to be found in Prof. Baike, who remains an outstanding beacon of light to be emulated.

While congratulating the title recipients, Pharmacist Panya Baba, urged them to see the gesture as a token appreciation, adding that it is hoped that the honour would spur them to greater involvement and commitment to the development of the Gbagyi people.

Responding on behalf of the recipients, Gen. T.Y Danjuma (rtd), expressed gratitude to the Karu traditional council for what he described as unprecedented honour, adding that they have been overwhelmed not only by the grandour of the occasion but also with the array of personalities that have come to share in the glory.

While extolling the virtues of the Gbagi people, T.Y Danjuma expressed joy that the honour is in recognition of their responding to the call of duty as demanded by identified needs, stressing that “ours is a humble way of responding to social demands and responsibilities.”

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

PAGE 47

From the Pulpit Responding to God's correction (III)

I

'm glad to welcome again to your favourite column. Today I want to conclude this series.

If you missed the previous parts, please ask your vendor to get you copies.

Let me reiterate that God's discipline involves on one hand instruction, teaching and training, and on the other hand correction, punishment, and rebuke for those who fail to heed to the first side of discipline.

Before I rounded off last week, I was talking about God correcting us through godly authority figures. As I've said, parents, especially Christian parents, are instruments of God's correction in their children's lives, and it is a bad parent who doesn't correct his children, and such children become spoilt.

David was guilty of this, especially with regard to his son, Adonijah. The Bible says he never disciplined this young man at any time. "Now his father, King David, had never disciplined him at any time, even by asking, 'What are you doing?'

Adonijah was a very handsome man and had been born next after Absalom." (1 Kings 1:6 NLT) No wonder, while he was still alive, he enthroned himself king. Absalom, his elder brother, had also overthrown his father. Prov 13:24 says, "He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly." (NKJV) Parents are God's servants in the training of their children but they must follow God's instructions in training their children. They themselves must first be submitted to God so that they don't abuse their children. "Teach your children to

choose the right path, and when they are older, they will remain upon it."

(Prov 22:6 NLT) But there is a warning for parents in Eph 6:4. "And now a word to you fathers. Don't make your children angry by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction approved by the Lord." (NLT) Spiritual leaders also have corrective roles to play in the lives of those under them. The Bible enjoins followers to obey their spiritual leaders "Obey your spiritual leaders and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they know they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this joyfully and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit."

(Heb 13:17 NLT) Those who obey genuine spiritual leaders and respond to their corrections always reap the benefits; those who rebel usually regret in future.

In the work place, employers and superiors correct those under their authority which impact positively on their lives especially where such authority figures subscribe to the principles of the Bible. Generally, the Bible enjoins those under authority to obey their masters. "Servants, obey in all things them that are your masters according to the flesh; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord whatsoever ye do, work heartily, as unto the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that from the Lord ye shall receive the recompense of the inheritance: ye serve the Lord Christ.

For he that doeth wrong shall receive again for the wrong that he hath done: and there is no respect of persons." (Col 3:22-25 ASV) But the

Bible balances this obligation when it says, "Masters, render unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven" (Col 4:1 ASV.) Neither are masters supposed to exploit their servants nor servants disobedient to their masters, lazy or dishonest.

-Through mature Christians and Christian friends. It is true that walk with God is a personal thing but we have believers around us who can help us in our walk. Mature friends and Christian friends can become a voice of God in your life whenever you are going wrong. But they must tell the truth in love. (Eph 4:15) The goal should be to restore the erring Christian to do the right thing not to humiliate him or destroy him. Gal 6:1 says, "Dear brothers and sisters, if another Christian is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself." (NLT) -Through circumstances, situations or events. God sometimes uses circumstances, situations or events to correct us although this measure is not the most common.

God may use this means to secure the attention of a Christian when he has failed to respond to other means. A child of God should therefore not wait for circumstances, situations or events to talk to him before he orders his steps aright.

After Balaam negotiated with God his way to go to honour Balak's invitation to curse the children of Israel, God had to use his donkey to talk to him. Unfortunately, Balaam did not see that as a miracle because he was blinded by greed. (Num

GREEN PASTURES

By Pastor T.O. Banso cedarministryintl@yahoo.com GSM: 08033113523 22:31-34) Also David adopted the wrong method to bring the ark from the house of Abinadab putting it on a new cart like the Philistines did the last time they carried the ark. (1 Sam 6:8, 10-11) It took the unfortunate sudden death of Uzzah to correct David that he had violated the word of God on how the ark should be carried. God corrected David through this negative incident. (2 Sam 6:1-11) During the second attempt to bring the ark from the house of Obededom, the ark was carried the proper way by the Levites. (1 Chron 15:2528) It is not every time that God uses circumstances, situations or events to correct like he did with Balaam and David. Neither is it everybody who experiences the kind of correction that Jonah received through a negative event which led to his spending three days and three nights in the belly of the fish before he repented and finally agreed to obey God to go to preach to the people of Nineveh. (Jonah 1, 2, 3) However, sometimes there may not be anything apparently wrong with circumstances, situations or events yet a child of God is wrong and needs to correct himself; the opposite may also be true. Therefore circumstances, situations or events are not reliable means of receiving

correction from God. A child of God should stay open to other means of correction which has been discussed earlier and respond to God's correction.

My prayer is that you will not be obstinate when God corrects you through whatever means he chooses.

TAKE ACTION! If you are not born again, kindly say this prayer now: "0 Lord God, I come unto you today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and resurrected the third day.

I confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour and surrender my life to him today. I invite Jesus into my heart today. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank you Jesus for saving me and making me a child of God" I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations!

You will need to join a Bible believing, Bible teaching church in your area where you will be taught how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like the palm tree and grow like the cedar of Lebanon.

May you grow into Christ in all things becoming all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. May the Lord be with you.

The power of meekness in life and ministry (I) 1.

SUPERNATURAL CONVERSION IN AN UNSPOTTED CHURCH Acts 2:37-42; 3:19,26; Matthew 18:3; 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10; John 17:6-8, 14-16; James 1:27; John 8:31,32; Acts 11:23-26; 14:21-23; 1 Timothy 4:15,16; 2 Timothy 3:14; Hebrews 10:25,38,39.

In response to the question of convicted sinners, the Apostle emphasized, “Repent”. Repentance implies sorrow for sin as committed against God, with a purpose to forsake it. The sinner sees sin to be evil and hates it. He trembles at the thought of future unending punishment and flees from the wrath to come. True repentance is the work of God in the sinner’s heart, and it leads to definite and lasting conversion (Acts 5:31). Such repentance will enable the sinner to turn and to return to the path of righteousness. The whole heart turns unto God, he forsakes sin and follows Christ wholeheartedly.

Turning from all past sins, he receives forgiveness; all the sins are blotted out and washed away and a new life begins in the grace and power of God. These converts gladly and joyfully received the Word; they rejoiced in the privilege of becoming reconciled with God through Jesus Christ. They so yielded themselves

to God with all readiness of mind and submitted to water baptism as commanded by Christ. Immersed in water and raised up, they identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. By the public observance of water baptism, they separated themselves from the world that crucified Christ and would henceforth live and keep themselves unspotted from the world. From that time on, each one knew that “the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world” (Galatians 6:14).

2.

SINGLE-MINDED CONGREGATION, AN UNSELFISH CHURCH Acts 2:43-46; 4:29-33; 5:12-16; 8:6; 15:25-29; Romans 15:4-7; 1 Corinthians 1:10; Philippians 2:2-8; Acts 11:23; Romans 6:17,18; Ephesians 6:5,6; 1 John 3:11-18.

These converts in the sanctified, Spirit-filled church continued stedfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine.

The members of the single-minded congregation were saved, separated, stedfast, sanctified, sacrificial, spiritual and successful in soulwinning. They were cheerfully devoted to the study of God’s Word and dedicated to living by the Word.

Their love for God and for one another was practical, uplifting and encouraging. They all partook of the Lord’s supper frequently and

FAITH DISCOURSE WITH

Pastor W. F. Kumuyi received great spiritual benefits. The week-day prayer meetings and study of the Word were fully attended.

Their commitment to God’s Word, God’s way, God’s will, and God’s worship is an example as well as an encouragement for the Church today.

“And many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.” The Apostles who had just been baptized with the Holy Ghost were endued with power from on high.

They had power to preach, power to heal, power to do exploits and perform miracles, signs and wonders, power to subdue circumstances, to do the will of God, power to live victoriously and overcome the world.

“And all that believed were together, and had all things common,” ministering “to all men, as every man had need.” Faith in Christ enabled these believers and

they loved one another as Christ loved them. There was no discrimination, discord, debate or disagreement among them. Their love had a purposeful, positive and profitable demonstration. The grace of God and the power of the Spirit are still the same and God’s believing people can also demonstrate the same fellowship, love, unity and power today.

3.

SOUL-WINNING COMMITMENT IN AN UNSTOPPABLE CHURCH Acts 2:47,41; 4:4,31-33; 5:14,1720,27-29; 6:4,7; 8:3-5,14,25; 9:2931; 10:24,27,33-44; 11:19-24; 14:13, 21-23; 17:1-4,11,12; 18:4,8-11; 19:18-20.

“And the Lord added to the church DAILY such as should be saved.” Daily evangelism and sacrificial soulwinning characterized the early church. Addition to the church, church growth and church

multiplication naturally became the result of thousands of believers sharing their testimonies, demonstrating the love of Christ, preaching the gospel and leading souls to their Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ. “And the Lord added to the church.” The addition was not through infant baptism; it was through the repentance and conversion of sinners to Christ. The growth of the church was not the result of granting religious titles or position to unconverted people in the society; the Lord added saved souls to His Church. Only the Lord can effectively add to His Church.

Not all the additions done by men are part of His church. Men may add Simon whose heart is not right or righteous (Acts 8:21), Ananias and Sapphira who lie to the Holy Ghost (Acts 5:3), a damsel who follows the servants of God to prayer (Acts 16:16,17) or the sons of Sceva who go about trying to cast out devils (Acts 19:13-15) but all those additions will be separated from the true Church on the final day. “As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom ALL things that offend, and THEM which do iniquity” Matthew 13:40,41.

BIG PUNCH “Since it is the same government, I will not participate in a program which outcome will be mismanaged. They failed to work with what we mutually arrived at in the past, so I will not be part of this one,”.”

– Datti Ahmed on his rejection of membership of amnesty committe

SATURDAY 20 — SUNDAY 21, APRIL, 2013

'Too many refugees!'

D

eir Yassin, was a village of roughly 400 inhabitants at the outskirts of Jerusalem. In the early morning of Friday, April 9, 1948, some 65 years ago, two groups of Jewish underground terrorists, one headed by Menachem Begin, the other by Yitzhak Shamir- both men were later to become Prime Minister of Israel - stormed the village, supported by official Jewish regular army. In the course of the day they had committed a most memorable massacre, the brutality and bestiality of which were simply beyond belief. Richard Catling of the British Palestine Police Force, who investigated the event just a few days after reported: 'There is no doubt that many sexual atrocities were committed by the attacking Jews. Many young schoolgirls were raped and later slaughtered. One story is current concerning a case in which a young girl was literally torn in two. Many infants were also butchered and killed. I also saw one old woman who gave her age as one hundred and four who had been severely beaten about the head with rifle butts.' Reham Alhelsi wrote in occupiedpalestine [9/4/11], quoting Red Cross and other sources which reported women's bellies being cut open, babies being butchered in the hands of their mothers and their heads then cut off, pregnant women being bayoneted, mutilations everywhere and, to add insult to injury, some women and girls being paraded naked in open cars and driven on the streets of Jerusalem where they were mocked, insulted and photographed.

'More than any single occurrence in my memory of that difficult period, it was Deir Yassin that stood out in all its awful, and intentional fearsomeness: the stories of rape, of children with their throats slit, mothers disemboweled, and the like,' recalls the world renown scholar, Edward Said, whose relations were victims of Deir Yassin, in Al Ahram Weekly,17-23/4/87.

'They gripped the imagination, as they were designed to do, and they impressed a young boy many miles away with the mystery of such bloodthirsty, and seemingly gratuitous violence against Palestinians whose only crime seemed to be that they were there.'

Naturally, the world was outraged.

Albert Einstein, one of the greatest minds of all time, himself a Jew,

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saw the massacre as an act of terrorism; other prominent Jewish scholars condemned it as 'a black stain on the honor of the Jewish nation.' In a letter of protest to the then Prime Minister, David BenGurion, four eminent Jewish scholars, Martin Buber, Ernst Simon, Werner Senator and Cecil Roth, observed that the massacre had become 'infamous throughout the whole world,' suggesting that Deir Yassin should not be inhabited, but instead, 'let its desolation be a terrible and tragic symbol of war, and a warning to our people that no practical military needs may ever justify such acts of murder.'

Of course, the terrorists saw the massacre differently. 'Deir Yassin massacre was not only necessary, but without it the state of Israel could not have emerged,' Menachem Begin, said, adding that: 'We created terror among the Arabs and all the villages around.

In one blow, we changed the strategic situation,' so much so that thereafter Israel was able to 'advance like a hot knife through butter,' across Arab territories. In short, Deir Yassin was the foundation upon which Israel was built, it defined its rise, its course, its ultimate destiny.

Edward Said, defines Deir Yassin not as an isolated or accidental evil perpetrated by renegade and extremist groups but as part of an over-all Zionist plan, called Dalet, to systematically empty Palestine of its Arab population, and as part of the Zionist concept of "transfer", imagined, planned for, and implemented to rid their "promised land" of the native people.' Deir Yassin is an idea which epitomizes the very identity of Israel: 'The entire idea has always therefore been to reduce the Palestinian actuality to nil, to efface Palestinians as a people with legitimate rights, to render them alien in their own land.' For that reason and for the sake of its own survival, Palestine must therefore keep Deir Yasin in its collective memory, never to forget it; otherwise Palestine itself will be lost.

Collective amnesia - such as has afflicted the Palestinian people, and even to some extent, the people of Northern Nigeria who are themselves victims of some variant of Dalet, victims of perennial deir yassin perpetrated either by hostile communities or by hostile governments - often leads to collective derailment, to collective paralysis. 'Our leaders negotiate as if from a tabula rasa,' Edward Said

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laments as though he is a Northern Nigerian: 'And we continue to concede, and concede more and concede again, not only in the present, but also in the past and in the future.' So while others keep their collective memory alive, in books, media, public discourses, schools, politics, culture and homes, as a guide for the present and the future, Northern Nigeria is dreadfully mute. Yet, collective memory, as Edward Said observes, is a people's heritage, but also its energy: it does not merely sit there inertly, but it must be activated as part of a people's identity and sense of its own prerogative.

Deir Yassin signaled the birth of Israel. Deir Yassin signaled the birth of the Palestinian Catastrophe and Palestinian Exodus. In 1948, 750,000 Palestinians, two-third of the entire population, were expelled from their homes, and dispersed in different directions and to different countries as refugees.

The goal then was to efface Palestine forever, never to return, never to rise again: 'The old (refugees) will die and the young will forget', David Ben Gurion, first Prime Minister of Israel, and the mastermind of the Exodus said triumphantly. But the Jews forgot

the lessons of their own history, their own dispossession, their own exodus. Instead, they have made themselves oppressors, imitating their former tormentors. 'It is odious to reach for analogies with the Holocaust,' Anne Karpf wrote in The Guardian, [26/3/2002] concerning one of the numerous Jewish terrors on the hapless Palestinian people, 'yet the recent images of the Israeli army rounding up, handcuffing and blindfolding young men in the Dheishe refugee camp and then inking numbers on to their arms made Nazi parallels almost involuntary. And in the Israeli newspaper Ha-aretz on January 25, the military commentator Amir Oren quoted an Israeli officer in the occupied territories as saying that his commanders must "first analyse and internalise the lessons of earlier battles - even, however shocking it may sound, how the German army fought in the Warsaw ghettoas.' During the war on Gaza in 2012, Gilad Sharon, son of a former Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, called for a quick, decisive victory. 'There should be no electricity in Gaza, no gasoline or moving vehicles, nothing. We need to flatten entire neighborhoods in Gaza. Flatten all

of Gaza. The Americans didn't stop with Hiroshima - the Japanese weren't surrendering fast enough, so they hit Nagasaki, too.'

[Jerusalem Post,18/11/2012].

Noam Chomsky, a global scholar, analyses the nature of the aggression on Palestine, which had warranted Sharon's call for extermination. 'Israel,' he says, 'uses sophisticated attack jets and naval vessels to bomb denselycrowded refugee camps, schools, apartment blocks, mosques, and slums to attack a population that has no air force, no air defense, no navy, no heavy weapons, no artillery units, no mechanized armor, no command in control, no army… and calls it a war. It is not a war, it is murder.' [bellacaledonia 19/11/2012] In an extraordinary reversal of roles, it is not the Jews that now suffer wholesale dispossession, threat of extermination, holocaust - or exodus. Palestinians are today the beloved of God who are being oppressed, blockaded, starved, dispossessed, dispersed, mass murdered, showered periodically with bombs of all colors, white, yellow, black - they are the people facing threats of extermination.

They are the servants of God Almighty forced to leave their homeland en masse, and to live in diaspora, as refugees. The refugees of 1948 and their descendants are now about five million people, they constitute the world's largest and longest standing refugee population in the world. They are entitled to the eternal favors which God bestows on all those who suffer similar experience. In other words, Palestine will emerge from exodus, diaspora and holocaust triumphant! From their refugee camps, the Palestinians went to the United Nations seeking recognition as a state, their survival thus far is truly a miracle. In all, 193 nations voted. 138 voted in favor of Palestine; only 9, including America and Germany, voted against, while 41 abstained, some, like Britain, too timid, too embarrassed to show their face. The world has changed. 'In the new Middle East,' Robert Fisk observes [The Independent 20/11/2011], 'amid the Arab Awakening and the revolt of free peoples for dignity and freedom, this UN vote... constitutes a kind of hinge; not just a page turning, but the failure of [American] empire.' In the tragic drama involving the oppressor and the oppressed, someone is rising, someone is falling!

Published by Peoples Media Limited, 35, Ajose Adeogun Street, 1st Floor Peace Park Plaza, Utako, Abuja. Kano office: Plot 3, Zaria Road, Opposite Kano State House of Assembly. Lagos Office: No.8 Oliyide Street, off Unity Road, Ikeja, Lagos. Tel: +234-09-8734478. Cell: +234 803 322 3427. e-mail: contact@peoplesdaily-online.com; pmlnewsdesk@gmail.com ISSN: 2141– 6141