Peoples Daily Newspaper, Wednesday 21, August, 2013

www.peoplesdailyng.com

Vol. 11 No. 68

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

. . . putting the people first

Shekau: Questions over JTF claim >> Pg 2

Shawwal 14, 1434 AH

N150

Gunshots rock Damaturu

Abuja residents decry rising crime

>> Pg 3

>> Pg 5

Gunmen raid Kaduna police post From Mohammad Ibrahim, Kaduna

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nknown gunmen yesterday launched attacks on the police in Kajuru and Nungu villages in Kaduna state, killing three cops and a civilian.

Kill 3 cops, civilian

According to our correspondent, two policemen were killed in the attack in Kajuru, with an unspecified number of people who sustained injuries, while a

policeman and a civilian were killed in the incident in Nungu, in Sanga local government area of the state.

Governor Muktar Ramalan Yero of Kaduna state who visited

the Divisional Police headquarters in Kajuru after the incident, condemned that attacks and vowed to “tackle the activities of criminals, who are bent on creating tension in the state.

“This ugly trend has to stop and we are committed to bringing

the perpetrators of this attack to book by all means possible”, the governor assured in a statement made available to newsmen by his spokesperson, Mallam Ahmed Maiyaki.

“At such sad moments, our Contd. on Page 2

FG bows to ASUU

As Jonathan seeks quick end to strike APC thumbs down government

By Aisha Biola Raji, Abuja, and Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

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he Federal Government may have yielded to the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) as President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday directed the two government committees negotiating with the lecturers to take immediate steps to end the ongoing strike.

This development came on the heels of a call by the All Progressives Congress (APC) on the government to honour its commitment to the university lecturers, to ensure a speedy end to the lingering crisis in the nation’s education sector.

Chairman of the Universities Needs Implementation Committee, Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue state, announced the presidential directive after a closed-door meeting of the two committees and other stakeholders with President Jonathan at the State House, yesterday in Abuja.

Those in attendance include Vice-President Namadi Sambo, Chairman of the Earned Allowance Committee and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, Contd. on Page 2

L-R: INEC National Commissioners, Mrs. Thelma Iremiren, and Dr Abdulkadir Oniyangi, with the electoral body’s Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, discussing with Director, International Co-Operation And Protocol, Mr. Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi (behind them) during a knowledge-sharing and confidence-building workshop with political parties, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: NAN

Why North is divided, by Danmasanin Kano

>>Pg 3

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PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

News CONTENTS News Editorial Op.Ed

2-10 12 13

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

24-25 26-27

Motoring Arts

28 29-30

FAAN and quest for befitting airports in Nigeria, Page 4

Int’l

31-34

Strange World Digest` Politics Newsxtra Leisure Sports Columnist

35 36

37-38 39 40 41-44 48

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Shekau: Questions over JTF claim From Edwin Olofu, Kano, Femi Oyelola, Mohammed Ibrahim, Kaduna & Yakubu Mustapha, Minna

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igerians from various walks of life have continued to raise questions over the claim made by the Joint (Military) Task Force (JTF) that the leader of the dreaded Boko Haram sect, Abubakar Shekau, was shot and that he might have died in one of its military operations in Borno state.

The JTF had claimed on Monday that Shekau may have died following gunshot wounds he sustained during an attack by some of its operatives on his hideout in Sambisa Forest on June 30.

Reacting to the report, a former Lagos state Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Abubabkar Tsav, described the claim by the JTF as an act of cowardice and lack of professionalism in the military.

According to him, it is only professional that in such operation the suspect is pursued and either arrested or killed and his dead body recovered before making it known to the public.

“If the military are sure they have killed Shekau, then that is a good thing because he has led the

assault on innocent people in this country especially in the north.

And many lives and properties have been lost.

“But my surprise is that the Nigerian Army has started behaving like the Nigeria Police.

“For example, the police will tell you that they chased robbers and they engaged them in a gun battle and many of them escaped with gunshot injuries and at the end of the day we will not see those who escaped with gun injuries.

“As far as I am concerned, the act of the Nigerian Army is simply an act of cowardice and lack of professionalism in the military today.

“Because you cannot just say you went for an operation and you are not sure if you got the target.

“There is nothing wrong with that but you should not come to the public and tell them probably the suspect is dead but you are not sure, that is nonsense to me.”

Similarly, National President of African Conflict Resolution Council, Dr. Suleiman Yerima, noted that it is the responsibility of the JTF to prove that they actually killed the Boko Haram leader and not to leave the people guessing.

H said the statement attributed

to the JTF left more questions than answers because it was not categorical.

According to him, the JTF itself was not sure of whom they actually fired at because their statement said it was in an exchange of fire with the subordinates of the Boko Haram leader that he was said to have been hit.

Yerima pointed out that the JTF could have done its homework properly if it had visited the hospital that Shekau was treated and said to have died in Cameroun and conducted a DNA test on the body to let Nigerians know the true position on the matter.

According to him, “when the American forces claimed that they killed the late Al Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden, even though the operation was being monitored on the screen, the American military still performed a DNA test on the body and came out with a result to prove that they actually killed him and 24 hours later, his subordinate issued a release that actually he was killed.

“Therefore, we will keep on waiting on the JTF to prove to us that Shekau is dead.”

Also reacting to the report, the ACF National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Anthony Sani, regretted that that the JTF was not categorical

FG bows to ASUU Contd. from Front Page and Minister of Education, Prof.

Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i. Others were Labour and Productivity Minister, Chukwuemeka Wogu, Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Julius Okogie, and Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Mike Oghiadomhe.

Briefing newsmen after the meeting, Suswam said it was convened by the President “to take some decisions that would end the strike.

“The President has instructed us, as to what to do, and he has shown a lot of commitment to flagging off projects worth about N100 billion in all the universities in the country, about 61 of them.

“So, we are hoping that we will be able to see the end of the strike very soon.

“At the end of the day, we hope ASUU is satisfied with the measures that have so far been taken.

“The Federal Government will also be meeting with the Universities Councils and Vice Chancellors of our universities within the week towards updating them on some of the decisions taken,” he said.

In the meantime, the APC, in a statement issued yesterday in Abuja by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai

Mohammed, said no government worth its salt can afford to play with education, because it is the path to national development.

It said ASUU was not making any fresh demand beyond the agreement it reached with the government in 2009, adding: ‘’Agreements are meant to be honoured, and breaching them comes with some consequences.’’

APC said the strike which has kept students in public universities at home for many weeks is a further blow to the country’s education system, which has deteriorated so much that no Nigerian university is currently listed in the top 100 universities in the world, and that only a few varsities in the country have made the top 100 in Africa. ‘’It is an indication of the kind of priority that this Federal Government attaches to education that while it has refused to meet its own side of an agreement it reached with ASUU since 2009, it could pay out N3 trillion in non-existent fuel subsidies to fat cats, spend 10 billion naira annually to maintain the jets in the presidential fleet and do little or nothing to prevent the stealing of 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day, which translates to $120 million in a month, money that surely ends up in some people’s pockets!

‘’What we are saying is that if the Federal Government would reduce its profligacy and cut waste, there will be enough money to pay teachers in public universities, as well as fund research and upgrade infrastructure in such institutions. Hungry teachers can neither teach well nor carry out research. And poorly-taught students can neither excel nor propel their nation to great heights,’’ the party said.

It added that: ‘’Education is the key to national development.

This is why UNESCO has recommended an allocation of at least 26% of national budgets to that critical sector. Therefore, talking about national growth and development without adequately funding education is a pipe dream!’’

It will be recalled that discussions between representatives government and members of ASUU) ended in yet another deadlock on Monday.

The meeting, which was held at the SGF’s Office, got to a dead end when the lecturers turned down an offer by the government of N30 billion to settle arrears of earned allowances.

The varsity lecturers had insisted that the 2009 agreement it entered into with the Federal Government was non-negotiable.

about the speculated death of Shekau.

According to Sani, “if confirmed, the death could ease the path to constructive engagements with the sect, considering the reports that Sheik Shekau has been the sandbag on the path of the dialogue.

And, President, Niger state Muslim Students Society of Nigeria, Musa Shehu Kwazo, in his reaction said he was not surprised that Shekau was killed.

He however lamented that the people have lost confidence in the nation’s security agents.

He said Shekau was reportedly killed, “instead of arresting him in order to get vital information.

“We expect another terrorist group of the sect to emerge because security has failed in their responsibility.”

For a New York-based Analyst and Managing Director of New York Da Mina Advisors LLP , Sebastian Spio-Garbrah, “the media should take the claim with a pinch of salt until the death is independently confirmed.”

He warned that the Boko Haram sect will remain active, “for the foreseeable future as the material social-economic conditions which led to its rise and sustains it are still there,” he said.

Gunmen raid Kaduna police post Contd. from Front Page hearts and prayers are with the immediate families of those that died in the ugly incident. We pray that the Almighty God repose their souls and give their families the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss,” he said.

While at Kajuru, the governor urged the people to remain calm, reassuring that government will provide the necessary support to security agencies to maintain peace and secure lives and properties of the people.

Governor Yero also promised to provide assistance to all victims of the incidents and disclosed that the state government would pay the bills of those receiving treatment at St. Gerald’s Catholic Hospital in Kaduna.

The attackers were said to have robbed some members of the Nungu community of their monies and other valuables.

When contacted on phone, the Public Relations Officer of St. Gerald’s Catholic Hospital, Mr Sunday John Ali confirmed that two people were receiving treatment at the hospital.

“Yes, four people were brought to the hospital and two are in critical condition. There were two dead among them. The governor visited them at the hospital”, he said.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

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News

Why North is divided, by Maitama Sule From Edwin Olofu, Kano

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former Nigeria’s Permanent Representative at the United Nations, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule (Danmasanin Kano), has linked divisions in the north to what he described as the abandonment of legacies of the late Premier of northern Nigeria Sir, Ahmadu Bello.

Sule who spoke at a parley organized by the Arewa Citizen

Action for Change, noted that the unity of northern region is what makes it a formidable force in the scheme of the Nigerian polity.

According to him, “I remember that while Sardauna was spearheading the activities of the region as the Premier he was key to the establishment of Northern Association of Christians of Nigeria before it was adopted by all and transformed to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)

today, against the backdrop of the fact he was a disciple and blood descendent of the late Usman Danfodio and the leader of the Nigerian Congress of Muslims.

“That was how the north was built, regardless of religious and or ethnic leanings, which ensure that nobody identifies himself or herself with his religion or tribe instead people, were proud to associate themselves with the northern region.”

Yusuf noted that unless the current crop of leaders in the north rule with justice and fairness to all, the disunity in the region will continue.

He hinted that the dream of leaders like Sardauna was that Nigeria should be in the rank of developed nations after 20 years but that the dream has since been shattered by the current leaders who he described as looters.

He said Sardauna died as a

pauper without any bank account anywhere or shares in any company.

“But we have leaders today as a result of the oil discovery who buy luxury cars for their girlfriends, they imbibe the culture of stealing large amounts of money and they have the habit of building mansions where there is no road network, that is why today Nigeria yearn for leaders who are generous kind and patriotic.”

Gunshots rock Damaturu From Uche Nnorom, Damaturu

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here were reports of gunshots heard in parts of Damaturu, the Yobe state capital as we were about to go press last night.

Details were sketchy as most residents hid in their houses since the city is under curfew.

However, when contacted by our correspondent, the JTF spokesman, Captain Eli Lazarus, noted that the gunshots were suspected to have come from the Zango area of Damaturu.

Zango area houses prostitutes and its Nasarawa section was at a time regarded as “very dangerous” because it was notorious for insurgent activities.

L-R: Managing Director, Embassy Pharmaceutical Ltd, Sir Nnamdi Obi, NAFDAC Director General, Dr. Paul Orhii, representative of Minister of Health, Joyce Ugwu, and Director, Chemical Evaluation and Research, NAFDAC, Mr. Momodu Segiru-Momodu, during the meeting organised to sensitise stakeholders on the commissioning of mega Centre Pharmaceuticals Limited, Onisha yesterday in Lagos.

Photo: Olawale Rotimi

2015: INEC vows to monitor campaign expenses

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

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s part of its efforts towards ensure that electoral rules are strictly obeyed by politicians and political parties in the 2015 general election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that the commission would be strict in the monitoring of the campaign expenses of candidates of political parties in elections.

Speaking in Abuja at a workshop organised to boost confidence among the youth and women, ahead of the general elections, the Chairman of the Commission, Attahiru Jega, also criticised the leaders of the political parties in the country for running their parties like garrison commanders.

Jega also lamented that party

Accuses parties of arming youths leaders engage in abuses during campaigns rather than discussing issues.

“It is clear that there are certain limits imposed in the legal framework as to how much candidates can spend during electoral campaigns.

“Regrettably, we have not been able to monitor this in the past and we are doing our best so that as we approach 2015, we should be able to monitor campaign expenditures of candidates,” Jega said.

The INEC Chairman further decried the tendency of politicians to behave like military officers, adding that this had resulted in lack of internal democracy within the parties.

He said, “they have to be

democratic, they need to be have civility in the way they manage and run the parties.

“If they act like military garrison commanders in their own parties, then obviously there will be serious problems in terms of maturing if democracy and helping to strengthen and defend democracy in our country. So these are some of the issues.”

Jega lamented that politicians had formed the habit of buying drugs and arming youth in the country in their desperate bid to emerge victorious in elections.

“Youth are misused if not abused.

“Candidates and even parties provide drugs, provide arms and they negatively direct the energies

of the youth in the political process.

“This should not be allowed to happen. Immediately you as youth leaders have a responsibility to ensure that youth and women are not used in negative ways.

“Politics is not a do or die affair.

“Electoral contest should not be seen as a war contest. And the bottom line is if politicians buy arms and drugs and give to the youths it will not augur well for our electoral process. But INEC will not hesitate to arrest and prosecute offenders if they are caught.”

Apparently referring to the ruling People’s Democratic Party, whose immediate past youth leader was over 60-years-old, Jega said parties ought to elect people between 18 and 35 as their youth leaders.

COAS, General Ihejirika

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Our error

n our edition of Monday, August 19, 2013, we reported Pastor Tunde Bakare in the front page lead story as describing APC governors as a bunch of looters.

We have found out that the report is not factual.

We regret any inconvenience that report might have caused Pastor Bakare.

— Editor

Taskforce impounds cash loaded police bullion van, arrests driver From Ayodele Samuel & Mariam Nurudeen, Lagos

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he Lagos state Taskforce on Environmental and Special Offences yesterday impounded a cash loaded police registered bullion van and arrested the driver for violating the road traffic law 2012.

The driver of the cash loaded van with registration number PF

4582 SPY, Mr. Joseph Edo, 50, was later arraigned at the Special Offences Court, Alausa.

Speaking in an interview, Edo said that, “when I left a commercial bank at Alausa Secretariat, Ikeja, I drove towards my normal route.

“But immediately I heard a gunshot, I had to option than to drive against the traffic.

“And this was based on my experience last year when one of

our officers was killed in a gun battle with armed robbers.

“At that time when I was apprehended, I don’t know if I was the only driver who heard the shot and drove against the traffic.

However Chairman of the task force, Chief Superintendent of Police, Bayo Sulaimon, who led his team on their usual morning patrol, said that the driver was

caught while driving against the traffic at about 12 pm on ACME road, Ikeja.

He added that a police officer escorting the van was also apprehended for not reprimanding the driver when he drove against the traffic.

“He had no reason to have done that because the road was free and we tried to stop him but he sped off.

“He attempted to hit me and some of my men but we were able to arrest him and the police escort while we seized the bullion van with the cash and moved it to our premises in Alausa.”

He explained that the fact that they were involved in the movement of cash did not exempt them from the law, warning erring drivers would be made to face the wrath of the law.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

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Page 4 Report

FAAN and quest for befitting airports in Nigeria Commerce that the white elephant standing as the international terminal building be opened to the public for their use. After all, the government that built it said it has finished work on this airport and its attention is now on Lagos, Port Harcourt, and other airports.

From Suleiman Idris, Lagos

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he transformation agenda of the current administration has recorded varying degree of success in different sectors. One of the areas where the agenda has been quite successful is the aviation sector, with many airports wearing a modern look and air travellers having a positively different experience from what had been their lot in the past, as the airports are better, more beautiful and more efficient.

Although the transformation agenda in the sector has been championed by the Minister, Princess Stella Oduah, the driver of the process is the Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. George Uriesi, who has brought about many changes in the nation’s airport in just two years.

However, Uriesi’s efforts at changing the face of the aviation industry in the country have not gone unnoticed as he is to be conferred with the National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM) award by President Goodluck Jonathan, sequel to the significant improvement he has brought into the management of Nigerian airports since his appointment as the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria in October 2011.

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he transformation of aviation sector has resulted in a new General Aviation Terminal (GAT) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, a new GAT at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, a new terminal at the Benin Airport and a re-modelled Malam Aminu Kano International Airport, among others. All of the airports had suffered absolute neglect that had made the execution of their basic functions a Herculean task.

Speaking on the rationale behind re-modelling the airports, Uriesi said many of the facilities at the airports had become obsolete with little or no effort to upgrade them despite the fact that aviation passengers had more than doubled over the years. He added that the airports were contending with severe infrastructure maintenance deficit due to a long-term breakdown in planning.

On the benefit of investing in re-modelling the airports, the FAAN CEO, who said the transformation that had happened in the sector would have been impossible without the immense support of the minister, noted that apart from making them more appealing to the users, it would also increase the revenue generation of the agency. He said by the time all the 22 airports were fully re-mod-

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Arrival and departure lounge of Murtala Mohammed Int’l Airport, Lagos elled, the agency would be earning about N126billion annually as against the N24 billion it currently earned.

well as consumers, it should be provided with the infrastructure that will facilitate aviation related commercial activities within and

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ccording to him, “You take Enugu for example, if Enugu was making N100 a month and FAAN was spending N1000 on it, the net loss was N900. With the re-modelling, the N100 Enugu was making is going to become N800. It may become profitable as an airport simply because of the commercial offerings it has, or at least it may pay off its bills and save FAAN from subsidising it. So, as we replicate all these, the income from every airport is going to go up, in my estimation, by at least 500 percent.”

While assuring that the new facilities in the airports would be properly maintained to ensure their optimisation, Uriesi said, “We are going to set up a scorecard in all the directorates of FAAN so as to monitor and appraise our performances. Everybody has a stake in the transformation. If we don’t manage FAAN well, it will go the way of Nigeria Airways. We all need to realise that is what would happen if we are not meeting our financial obligations.”

The re-modelling of the airports is intended to pave the way for aerotropolis, the idea of turning airports to destinations on their own rather than a route to another place with a view to making them an economic hub. This is hinged on the belief that since an airport is a point of convergence for manufacturers, suppliers as

shops, among others.

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peaking on this, Uriesi said, “The way the airports are designed is that they do not give room for non-aeronautical revenue. The present ratio of aeronautical revenue to non-aeronautical is about 80-20; this is not ideal. We are going to offer people more investment opportunities, propping up non-aeronautical revenue. That is, we are going to make more commercial offerings with more investment opportunities, so that we will have a successful business model, and we’ll be less dependent on aeronautical revenue.

H MD/CEO, the FAAN, Mr. George Uriesi outside its premises.

“With this, airports are able to create vast business and employment opportunities and have a profound impact on the economy of the area of location. That is what happens in other climes where airports have a business life of their own and offer other services such as luxury boutiques, restaurants, spas and gadget

owever, for those travellers using the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) for international travel have been wondering how the government’s much touted transformation agenda in the airport works. The airport, which has a “re-modeled” international terminal building majestically spread across the apron in bright red colours, has been lying in disuse.

There is equally a domestic terminal named after one of aviation’s towering giants, Muhammadu Adamu Dankabo. After its completion, it lied fallow until the Central Bank of Nigeria, through its corporate social responsibility schemes, came in to furnish its lounges.

Of recent, there have been several outcries by stakeholders, including the Kano Chamber of

n its comment on the issue, the Kano Chambers of Commerce raised a simple question: How can all those airlines desirous of landing in Kano come when the infrastructure and basic facilities for their use are unavailable?

However, in a reaction, the spokesman of the Aviation ministry, Mr. Yakubu Dati, along with some directors in the FAAN have taken turns to accuse the Kano stakeholders and the newspapers that cover their views as engaging in politics of blackmail.

Dati said, “An airport viability and utilisation is dependent on passenger movement” and added that it would be “difficult for economic activities to go on under threats to lives and property”, claiming that their attacks on the project were political: “Attacks against the project (MAKIA) in some sections of the media are to score cheap political points” as the criticisms stemmed from “ignorance and mischief of some anti-progressive elements”.

He further said: “If the terminal or the airport is alleged to be dormant, it means there is low passenger movement and it is not the responsibility of FAAN or the Ministry of Aviation to attract passengers to the airport”.

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hile it will be dishonest of anyone to deny that Boko Haram insurgency in Northern Nigeria had caused much damage to Kano, it is not right for an official to blame the fortunes of the airport as regards to its non-usage to insecurity. Moreso, when for Kano and much of the North, the worst is now over.

Stakeholders have said that “to blame ‘unseen hands’ for influencing newspaper reports calling for the completion and utilisation of the Kano airport is nothing short of blackmail. They say imagined conspiracies cannot be a substitute for the political will to do things right at first and that it is unpardonable not being able to plan, implement, monitor and evaluate a worthwhile government project.

All things said, this government should take the full benefit of the suffering being visited upon international passengers using the Malam Aminu International Airport.

What Kano people do not lack is entrepreneurial and business skills but without the needed infrastructure, these alone cannot bring about the transformation the government wishes to achieve.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

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Jonathan commissions refurbished Force CID building

By Stanley Onyekwere

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resident Goodluck Jonathan yesterday, in furtherance of his administration’s resolve to effective policing of lives and property of all citizens across the country, commissioned the renovated Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) Complex of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), in Abuja.

Jonathan, who was represented by Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo, said the project was significant to improving efficiency, a modern and well-motivated and welfare of the NPF. According to him, “it showcases the resolve of government to provide an enabling environment for the security of lives and property of Nigerians and that the necessary support infrastructure is also provided aimed at improving efficiency and welfare of the Police Force.”

Commending the Inspector General of Police and his team for carrying out the project at a reasonable cost in record time Jonathan said that, “it goes a long way to demonstrate the resolve and desire of the Inspector-General of Police for a modern and wellmotivated Police Force.”

Flood: Yuguda declares two days work free From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

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ollowing the heavy dawn pour persistently for over one week that cause havoc and floods in many parts and damages cause to resident in Bauchi state.

Governor Malam Isa Yuguda has declared yesterday Tuesday and today Wednesday as work free day for Bauchi state workers to enable them clear their drainages to avoid flooding.

The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Ishola Michael Adeyemi, told news men that, “two days was declared work free day in order to clear our drainages to allow free flow of heavy rainfall to avert flooding and to chlorine our wells to ensure safety of our people" He expressed worry over what he described as lukewarm attitude of some residents towards blocking water channels, lack of proper clearing of gutters and dumping of refuse indiscriminately on waterways Yuguda advised people who reside near Yobe Komadugu to relocate to other places.

Vice-President Mohammed Namadi Sambo (middle), cutting the tape to commission Force CID building complex, yesterday in Abuja. With him are Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar (left), Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh (2nd left), Chief Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Dele Ezeoba (2nd right), and Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade (right).

Photo: Joe Oroye

Abuja residents decry rising crime

By Stanley Onyekwere

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ome residents at Area 2, 3 and 8 of Garki district of the FCT have expressed displeasure over the unpleasant noise and insecurity from public parks and gardens located within the area.

The residents decried that life in the area, especially at night as residents expressed worry over the development.

A resident at Area 8, Jane Emma, was par-

ticularly regretted that the night activities there would impact negatively on health of the residents.

“With these people every night turning the area into night club, the whole place has virtually become a den of criminals,” she said.

Another resident of Area 2, Muhammed Abu, said, “there is no way that these owners of the pubs can restrict their activities within the limited field space and given the strate-

gic location, it is only logical that within the shortest time they will flood everywhere.”

He noted that for sanity and orderliness to prevail around the area, there is the need for displaced drinking joints owners in any part of the city, to relocate to designated places for their trade or be forced to do so.

On her part, one Aishat Umaru of Area 8, described the development as sad noting that, “I don’t

understand why innocent residents are often made to pay the bitter price for any reform policy in the FCT?” When Peoples Daily contacted the Public Relations Officer of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) of the FCT, Mr. Ifeanyi Ughamadu, he identified the areas as “green areas” designed for parks and gardens and not meant for solid structures.

According to him,

parts of the areas being cleared were meant to be developed as parks and gardens, which were long ago approved to beautify the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

As he puts it, “these areas used for parks and gardens are green areas which are meant to beautify the FCT and residents are not in the position to decide for the Federal Government what these places should be used for.”

PDP convenes NEC over crisis Bida Federal medical centre tion from an Osogbo High Court

By Lawrence Olaoye stopping the special congress gets new medical director

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he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will tomorrow hold its emergency National Executive Council (NEC)’s meeting to deliberate on the crises rocking the party and assess the success of the reconciliatory efforts made by its National Working Committee.

The party’s highest decision making organ will also ratify the August 31st date for its Special National Congress.

The party’s NEC held on the 20th of June had earlier proposed July 20th for the Special Congress but the date was later moved to 31st of this month.

The meeting is also billed to discuss the crisis currently rocking the South West region of the country as information filtered in yesterday that certain stakeholders have obtained a court injunc-

scheduled to hold in the zone this weekend.

Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, the ousted National Secretary of the party, had obtained an. Junction retraining the PDP from conducting the South West zonal congress on the ground that he still has a pending matter at the Federal Court of Appeal.

The court ruled that status quo be maintained pending the determination of the case.

The sacked National Auditor of the party, Chief Bode Mustapha, is also challenging his removal from the party’s National Working Committee of the party at the Supreme Court. He was sacked for violating the PDP constitution for holding the position of National Auditor of the party without being a professional Accountant.

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resident Goodluck Jonathan has approved the appointment of Dr. Usman Mohammed Aminu as the new Medical Director, Federal Medical Centre, Bida, Niger state.

The appointment was contained in a letter signed by the Minister of Health Prof. Christian Onyebuchi Chukwu, which was made available to newsmen on Tuesday and said the appointment was for a term of four years with effect from August 12, 2013.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that this followed the expiration of the 8 years term of the former medical Director (MD) Dr. Alaba George Okuku.

The President while congratulating the new MD on his appointment however enjoined him to work hard to ensure that the

hospital is positioned to provide quality health care services to the people.

The new MD, aged 49, is an indigene of Bida, Bida local government area of Niger state.

He is a graduate of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria with a MDBS degree in 1989, a fellow of West African surgeons in otorhinolaryngology since 2003 from University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.

The medical director is also a registered member of the Medical and Dental council of Nigeria (MDCN) since 1990 and until his appointment a senior lecturer at the Ahmadu Bello Teaching Hospital, Zaria as well as the Director of the University Health Services, ABU Zaria. (NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

PAGE 6

News 2015: Run for Presidency, forum urges Lamido

By Lawrence Olaoye

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ational Forum for Lamido 2015, consisting of politicians, youths and businessmen from the 36 states of the federation and Abuja, has called on the Jigawa state governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, to contest the 2015 presidential election.

The forum in a statement issued by its Secretary General, Chief Ibrahim Babatunde Olorogun-Etti, emphasized that the governor could be trusted with the highest position in the country.

The group said Lamido’s endorsement was borne out of its belief that he has the qualities to reposition Nigeria.

He stated “We want the governor to contest the 2015 presidential election because of his proven leadership qualities and our belief that he can pilot the ship of Nigeria to a safe destination.”

National Forum for Lamido 2015, according to the statement, is a political organization established to mobilize Nigerians at home and abroad towards ensuring the emergence of Alhaji Sule Lamido as the President of the country in 2015.

Nasarawa govt denies mismanagement of resources

By A’isha Biola Raji

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asarawa state government has denied mismanagement accusation allegedly leveled against it by opposition party, describing it as means of distracting the APC led government of realizing its developmental projects.

In a statement signed by Alhaji Abdulhamid Kwarra, Senior Special Assistant, Public Affairs, Nasarawa state, the calculated strategy sponsored by the opposition is to deny the people of Nasarawa state, dividend of democracy which has been on since the two years of Al-makura’s tenure.

He said, “the last 2 years has provided for critical sectors such as roads, education, health- care delivery and youth empowerment among others. “The efforts of government in these sectors of the state economy are not only visible but also touchable.

“In only 2years, what this administration has done to the people of the state far outweigh what the previous administrations did in 12 years. “These are facts that are verifiable.”

According to Kwarra, Almakura government has paid off the sum of over N30bn as liability inherited from previous PDP administration. The statement further read that, the administration has so far avoided excess spending. “Since Al-makura led administration came on board, it has never even for once, tolerated wastages in spending of government funds. “Indeed, probity and accountability has constituted a cardinal objective of government,” echoed the statement.

L-R: Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Dr. MacJohn Nwabiala, Niger state Governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, and Deputy Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Mr. Akinbode Agboaye, during the 3rd African Regional Centre of Expertise Continental meeting, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

Land dispute: Committee puts development on hold S From Omale Adama, Lokoja ale of land and development of any form in the disputed Zariagi community between Adavi and Okehi local government areas of Kogi state have been put on hold by the boundary committee.

Pending when the area is properly demarcated, the action became necessary due to trouble, brewing between the two local government areas from the central senatorial district.

The temporal measure to

forestall outbreak of violence between members of the local government areas by the state boundary committee followed a resolution reached at the meeting of stakeholders on Adavi/Okehi Inter Local Boundary Committee presided over by the state’s deputy governor and chairman, state boundary committee, Mr. Yomi Awoniyi.

A resolution was reached to avert trouble by the appointment of an independent agent to collect revenue on the land in dispute would be paid

into an ex-crow account pending the resolution of the lingering boundary matter.

The Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Joe Abraham, who represented the deputy governor, commended the sacrifice made by the two local government areas that was intended to usher in lasting solution between them.

Though intended to ease administrative convenience, Mr. Awoniyi disclosed that the creation of more local government councils and districts in Kogi state,

particularly during the military era, had posed additional boundary demarcation challenges for which the state is yet to overcome.

He however cautioned the people not to see boundary demarcationexercise as a means of creating division between them.

In their separate remarks, Hassan Yusuf and Salihu Adaviriku, Chairman of Okehi and Adavi local government areas respectively, assured of their councils’ support that would lead to amicable resolution of the disputed boundary.

Kaduna state promotes 13,667 teachers From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

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aduna State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) has approved a backlog of promotions of 13,667 teaching and non-teaching staff as against the 15,758 earlier short-listed for the 2010 and 2011 promotion exercise.

The Executive Chairman of the Board, Mr. Ishaya Dary Akau disclosed this in a statement made available to the media in Kaduna

yesterday.

The Executive Chairman said a total of 8,360 staff were short-listed for the 2010 and 7,398 for the 2011 promotions exercise for senior staff (GL 07 and above).

The statement read, “15,758 senior staff short-listed for the 2010 and 2011 promotion includes both teaching and non-teaching staff across the 23 local government areas of the state.

“The approval granted the 13,000 senior staff was informed by the

performances exhibited by each of the candidates in the written test and oral interview conducted across the three senatorial zones.”

Mr. Akau further disclose that, henceforth, promotion of teachers will no longer be business as usual as no teacher will be promoted to the next grade level until the learning outcome of the pupils he/she teaches improved greatly. “Time has come for every teacher to be conversant with the approved state benchmarks

on literacy and numeracy as they will now serve as yardsticks in the subsequent promotion exercise.

“We are still working assiduously to ensure the speedy completion of the 2012 and 2013 promotion exercise scheduled before December this year. “We advised all those that have failed in the 2010 and 2011 promotions exercise to make another attempt in the 2012 and 2013 promotion exercise,” read the statement.

Forgery: Court fixes Sept 10 to hear no case submission From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

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Kaduna Chief Magistrate Court has fixed September10, 2013 to hear a no case submission in a case of fraud, forgery, criminal intimidation and giving false information to deceive public office holder brought against a Kaduna based businessman Alh. Lawal Danmuluki.

The Defence Counsel to

the Accused person, Barr.

AutaMaisamarihad moved for an adjournment to enable him prepare a case of no submission brought against his client.

Earlier in the day, the 3rd Prosecution Witness (PW), Inspector HamedRaboMukhtar of the Force CID, Kaduna State who investigated the matter testified before the Court, saying that on 19th May, 2008 his office received a letter from Kaduna

State Police Headquarters, CID Division directing him to investigate a petition brought by ITCC Limited and its directors.

Mukhtar informed the Court that upon receiving the petition, he called the petitioners for verification and later invited the accused person, who made a voluntary statementin English Language,for further investigations.

According to him, “the investigation also led us to Zamfara

State precisely the Ministry of Local Government & Chieftaincy Affairs, and a detailed report was written at the end of the investigation.”

However, efforts by the Director of Public Prosecution, Kaduna State,Gamaliel B. Kore, to tender the said statement of the accused, and a detailed report of the investigation and a statement by one MantzenCaszer as exhibits, was objected to by Counsel to the accused.

PAGE 8

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

Photo Splash

Kano state Deputy Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje ( standing 5th left), Speaker, Kano state House of Assembly, Hon. Gambo Sallau (standing 5th right), in a group photograph with members of the state House of Assembly, during the 2013 Kano state House of Assembly Legislative Retreat, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

L-R: Former Lagos state governorship aspirant, Jimi Agbaje, Host, Niyi Adesanya, President, Campaign for Democracy/ Center for Change in Community Development and Public Awareness, Joe Okei-Odumakin, and President, Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE), Femi Adesina, during the Meeting Point, a platform connecting visionaries with luminaries, recently in Lagos.

Photo: Olawale Rotimi

R-L: Kebbi state Governor, Alhaji Saidu Dakingari, Kebbi state Chief Judge, Justice Bala Mairiga, new khadi, Alhaji Bello Raha, during the swearing-in of Alhaji Bello as Khadi of Sharia Court of Appeal, on Monday in Birnin Kebbi.

Photo: NAN

Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Ibrahim (left), in a handshake with former Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie (middle) during the inauguration of the renovated force Criminal Investigation Department complex, yesterday in Abuja. With them is another former IGP, Alhaji Aliyu Attah (right).

Photo: NAN

Chairman, National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS) Assessment Implementation Committee of Universities and Benue state Governor, Mr. Gabriel Suswam, briefing journalists after his meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan on the ASUU strike, yesterday at the State House, in Abuja.

Photo: Joe Oroye

PAGE 9

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

Demolition: Court restrains Lagos govt From Matthew Irinoye, Lagos

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Lagos High Court, presided over by justice Josephine Oyefeso yesterday ordered the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LSBCA) to desist from carrying out demolition exercise on some buildings at Ologunfe Boundary in Shasha, Akowonjo area of Lagos.

The Landlords and Residents Association had challenged the decision of the state government to demolish the structures and convert the affected lands into a market place.

Also joined in the suit is the Attorney- General and Commissioner for Justice and LSBCA. The landlords had prayed the court for a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants whether by themselves, agents, servants or privies from demolishing the buildings, structures and from disturbing the claimants’ possession of the said land.

They also asked the court to declare that the land which is the subject matter of the suit is the original property of the claimants and free from any government acquisition.

During the hearing of the matter yesterday, the claimants, through their counsel, Chief Adekunle Funmilayo told the court that officials of the LSBCA had been coming to the area to terrorize the landlords, threatening to demolish the properties if they refused to vacate the land despite the fact that the case is pending in court.

Contrarily, counsel to Lagos state, J. Kasali, a senior state counsel, informed the court that there was a communication break-down between the landlords and the state, adding that LSBCA will not embark on any action that will contravene the laws of the state.

Justice Oyefeso in her short ruling, ordered both parties to maintain status quo pending the determination of the suit in court.

The case was however adjourned to September 25 for continuation of hearing.

Emulate Yar'adua's funding of Polys, Rector urges govt From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

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he National Chairman of Council of Heads of Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology (COHEADS) and Rector, Hussaini Adamu Polytechnic, Kazaure in Jigawa state, Dr. Ibrahim Kabir Matazu, has called for more funding of Polytechnics in Nigeria.

Matazu made the call yesterday in Ilorin during the 126th regular meeting of COHEADS held at Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin.

He noted that it was dur-

I

n an effort to equip all the Jigawa state Judges of the state High court and Kadis of the Shari'ah court of Appeal with their chief Registrars on modern ways of information and communication technology, the state Judicial Service Commission has organized a five day workshop at the Yankari Game Reserve Bauchi state.

According to a press release made available to Peoples Daily in Dutse yesterday and signed by the

ing the regime of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua that Katsina Polytechnic got sufficient funds to stand out among other technical institutions in Nigeria.

He said, “During that period, the Polytechnic was the best funded Polytechnic in Nigeria.

“The Polytechnic received 100 per cent payment of salary for its staff and a significant amount as monthly overhead and release of more than 80 per cent of its yearly approved capital budget.”

According to him, state governments should approve pay-

ment of CONTEDISS\COWPCASS salary structure and approve retirement age of 65 years for academic staff.

The Chairman of COHEADS who eulogized late Yar’Adua’s achievement urged other state governments including Kwara state to emulate his gesture.

Addressing Kwara state governor at the event, he said, “It is our hope that Kwara state Polytechnic will be like Hassan Usman Katsina Polytechnic under your eight years as the executive governor of Kwara state.”

The Rector of Kwara state Polytechnic, Alhaji Mas’ud Elelu in his welcome address, commended the state government for providing education facilities for institution as well as prompt payment of staff salary stressing that the e-Library of the institution would be completed soon.

He added that the institution had procured new water tankers that regularly supply water for students in hotels stressing that it also got brand new ambulance bus under the NHIS Scheme.

L-R: Clerk/Permanent Secretary, Kano state House of Assembly, Alhaji Lawan Badamasi, a member of the House, Hon. Salisu Ibrahim Riruwai, Speaker, Kano state House of Assembly, Hon. Gambo Sallau, and Retreat Consultant, Engineer Abubakar Kabir Bichi, during the 2013 Kano state House of Assembly Legislative Retreat, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Housing ministry to lunch new building code tomorrow

By Lawrence Olaoye Following incessant occurrence of collapsed building across the country, the minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Amma Pepple has disclosed that a new National Building Code would be presented to the public tomorrow.

The minister made this disclosure yesterday while briefing members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peo-

Jigawa trains judges, Khadis on ICT From Ahmed Abubakar, Dutse

News

state Judicial Service Commission’s Public Relations Officer, Comrade Abbas Rufa’i Wangara said the significant of the IT has penetrated almost every aspect of modern world, which affected the entire human endeavors.

Addressing the participants at the on-going workshop, state Secretary Judicial service commission Barrister Muhammad Ado Dahiru said such workshop organized by the commission was aimed at equipping the participants with the knowledge of computer processing as well as how to solve some related problems.

ples Democratic Party (PDP) led by its National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.

According to the minister, the building code is supposed to be reviewed by the government every three years but the one in use in the country was last reviewed in 2006.

She however pointed out that the nation is facing frequent collapse of buildings not for dearth of requisite law to regulate activities of professionals in the sector, but for the fact that the major

challenge in the sector is the enforcement of existing laws.

According to her, the ministry has put in place stringent measures to ensure the prosecution of impostors in the housing sector just as the Nigerian Society of Engineer (NSE) has been mandated to sanction any of its erring members involved in activities leading to collapse of any building anywhere in the country.

While reiterating the determination of the ministry to ensure

adequate delivery of housing to the teeming public in line with the PDP manifesto, Pepple disclosed that 62.7 per cent of the total N41.9 billion 2013 budget has been released to the ministry.

She further disclosed that the ministry has been able to deliver 8,069 houses of various categories at affordable prices to the teeming public even as the minister added that her ministry generated the total revenue of N1.3 billion in the 2012 fiscal year.

Russia seeks closer relations with Nigeria From Ayodele Samuel & Gabriel Johnson, Lagos

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ussian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Nickolay Udovicheuko yesterday expressed his country’s readiness to strengthen the level of bilateral relations and agreement with Nigerian especially with the Lagos state government.

Udovicheuko, who made this known during a courtesy visit to Governor Babatunde Fashola

of Lagos, said that the need for stronger ties with Nigeria especially Lagos was informed by its strategic position of the country and the state.

The ambassador explained that some of the areas in which the agreement would be strengthened include education, economy and cultural exchange.

Responding, Fashola assured the envoy that the doors of the state are open to ideas that will fast track development of the

state.

He declared that government was looking forward to buying into the success story of the railway system and the avalanche of successes recorded by the country over the years.

Earlier, Fashola had reiterated the commitment of his administration to continue to develop strategies to improve the skills and competencies of the 120, 000 civil servants in the state.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

PAGE 10

News

Nasarawa to recruit 400 teachers From Ali Abare Abubakar, Lafia

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he Nasarawa state government has embarked on a recruitment drive of about 400 teachers from across the

state.

Executive Chairman of the Nasarawa State Universal Basec education Board (NSUBEB), Malam Abdulkarim Abdullahi Muhammad, disclosed this on Monday at the inauguration ceremony of members of the board, performed by the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Hussaini Ibrahim Abubakar.

Muhammad said that the recruitment exercise will take place simultaneously at three senatorial zones of the state, warning that the exercise would be a clean break from the past where merit and competence was sacrificed for political patronage.

According to him, “it will not like before when we are expected to offer patronage to some people.

“The exercise will be strictly based on competence so that we can better enhance our capacity to deliver quality basic education to the children of Nasarawa state.”

He explained that 12 teachers will be recruited from each of the local government and development areas with another additional slot for 12 for non-indigenes who desire to teach in the state.

Nasarawa state Governor, Umar Tanko Al-makura

Taraba: Umar urges Mambilla Plateau communities to embrace peace From Yusha’u Alhassan Jalingo

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araba state Acting Governor, Alhaji Garba Umar, has urged the people of Sardauna local government area of Taraba state to embrace peace and unity as panacea for development.

Umar gave the advice when the Sardauna communities paid him a thank you visit at the Government House, Jalingo over the appointment of their son, Gavey Yaweh, as the new Secretary to the State Government (SSG).

Umar said the visit of the representatives of communities from the Mambila Plateau showed that the appointment of Gavey Yaweh was not only acceptable but an elevation of the Sardauna communities.

He urged the people to continue to pray for peace and remain united so as to reap more dividends of democracy adding that both Christians and Muslims in the state were members of one family.

Umar regretted that those he described as intruders cause were misunderstanding amongst the

good people of the state.

He warned against rumour mongering and advised them to report suspicious elements in their communities to the appropriate authorities for necessary action.

Earlier spokesman of the communities, Rev. Jonathan Yeb, said they were at the Government House to thank the Acting Governor Garba Umar for the appointment of Yaweh as SSG, award of contract of Bali- Gembu road and approval for the installation of their first class chief in Gembu.

ASUU strike: Consultant fingers NUC By Tobias Dapam

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Lengnan

n education consultant, Prof. David Iornem, of New Idea Management Consultants, has reviewed the lingering strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), arguing that the National University Commission (NUC), has failed Nigerians.

Iornem who addressed a press conference in Abuja on Monday alleged that the NUC has failed to carry

out its mandate of ensuring quality education at the universities.

According to him, “it is unfortunate that the people overseeing our universities have turned their offices into business making venture and they worship the people in power.

“These people have no focus or do not even know what they are supposed to do.

“This has led to the deplorable state of education in the country. For instance, lack of ICT and

other things ASUU are advocating for will help revamp the system.”

He said there was need to tow the line of other developed countries which invest a lot into the sector to attract people from developing countries.

"It is not late for Nigeria to appoint the right people with proper ideas that will develop the sector.

“We need to move from where we are so as not to create a system that keeps people in the street instead of school,” he said.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

PAGE 11

Money Sense

Make money recycling: How to turn trash to cash

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he recycling industry has become a multi-billion dollar business, proving that you can make money recycling. The revenue generated from recycling bottles, cans, paper, electronics and other materials was in US last year was $75 billion.

Due to the increase in recycling companies, and the vast array of recyclable items, it is easier now than ever before to get paid to recycle. Grab a couple of trash bags and prepare to turn your trash to cash.

Unfortunately some people aren’t as quick to catch on to the benefits of recycling. However, conscious people are well aware of the importance of recycling, but many may need an added incentive. Local governments should put in place recycling programs that will allow people to make money recycling. There are also other creative recycling ideas that pay off in the end.

You can decide to get the biggest trash bag you could find, and slowly compile as many cans as possible. Fill the multiple bags and store them in the corner of the house until they are full enough to haul to the nearest aluminum can recycling center. Aluminum can recycling prices vary from N80-N120 per.

Recycling bottles and cans is probably the most obvious and old fashioned way to make money recycling but there are several other ways. There is a lot of value in recycling scrap metal.

Aluminum and iron are the most commonly found scrap metals.

Aluminum generally goes for N120 a kilo, so if you manage to find a heavy item like an old gutter or an aluminum door, it can start to add

up pretty quickly. If you look in the right places, such as construction sites or in trash, you may be able to see those dough stack up.

Another way to make money recycling is taking advantage of old threads and having a clothing consignment shop. Some people

situation for the environment and you.

• 3 bins • Permanent marker • Water • Vehicle Step 1: Identify the types of plastic used in your home. There are over 50 types of plastic, but three main types for recycling: HDPE are opaque bottles, PVC

are clear bottles with a seam running along the base and PET are clear bottles with a hard, molded plastic center on the base.

may throw out old clothing and some may donate it, but if it’s in good enough condition, you may as well get paid for the items that spent your hard earned cash on if the clothing consignment store is developed.

E waste recycling has become a very popular way to make money recycling. Many electronic waste disposal sites will collect your electronic goods for free, but many companies are now offering cash for used cell phones, computers, TV’s, VCR’s and printers. In addition, many businesses also offer rewards when you recycle ink cartridges.

Recycling is a great way to reduce waste and help save the environment, but it’s also an easy way to make money. So next time you go to throw something away, remember the phrase, “one man’s trash, is another man’s cash.” You may not get rich from recycling, but I’m sure most people would enjoy a few extra Naira and a clean conscious knowing that they are making a difference in the environment.

…How to make money recycling plastic

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ecycling is important when you think that it takes between 100 and 1000 years for plastic to decompose in the landfill. Plastic is also made from oil; the same oil that is in high demand to make petrol.

Recycling is something simple that can be done in your home and can generate income for your household. It is a win, win

Step 2: Label your bins for each type of plastic with a permanent marker.

Step 3: Place the bins in a convenient location out of the way.

Step 4: Fill the bins with your used plastic products that have been rinsed with water.

Step 5: Locate your local recycling center using the phone book or Internet.

Step 6: Transport the bins to your local recycling center once they are full.

Step 7: Collect payment from the recycling center for your plastic.

Money Tip: …also how to start plastic recycling business Consider interior decorating as channel of cool cash flow

T

his startup idea is great because all you have to do is, make yourself available. The materials needed for interior design will usually be bought by the clients and you will simply be paid for your labour. Part of it may involve helping clients to choose the materials such as furniture, window curtains, flower vases etc. you can earn a living by being their interior décor designer!.

Quote For all of its faults, it gives most hardworking people a chance to improve themselves economically, even as the deck is stacked in favor of the privileged few. Here are the choices most of us face in such a system: Get bitter or get busy – Bill O’ Reilly

P

lastic recycling can be lucrative, but it’s hard work.

Plastic recycling can be a lucrative business for those with eco-friendly interests, but it takes hard work. Before you begin, acquire knowledge of the industry including which plastics can be recycled and which are in demand by manufacturers. Before opening shop, research the market in your

area, locate potential sources of plastic, identify buyers and secure needed equipment.

Step 1 Research the plastic recycling market and competitors.

Determine what types of plastic you will collect, which types are most useful to potential buyers, such as manufacturers and how much buyers will pay for

recycled plastic. Research local manufacturers in need of recycled plastic, inquire about their rates of payment and contracts. Determine whether there is a need for plastic recyclers in your area, or if that need is already being met before you start your business.

Step 2 Determine where you will get recyclable plastic. Consider

whether you will pick up or collect plastic from households, set up a drop-off center at your business’ location, enlist the help of volunteers, such as local youth groups to collect plastics for you, or contract with local businesses to pick up recyclables. Talk with local businesses and groups about collecting their recyclable plastics.

Step 3 Acquire a business license from respective authorities.

Step 4 Find a location for your plastic recycling business. Look for space in a safe neighborhood that will be convenient for drop-offs if you’ll collect plastics in this way. Make sure there is enough space for vehicles to drop off plastics as well as enough space for the necessary processing equipment.

Step 5 Purchase plastic recycling equipment. Look for used extruders, shredders and crushers online through recycling industry websites. Compare prices on multiple sites before purchasing equipment. Consider outsourcing plastic processing to a processor for a fee if you have limited start-up funds and cannot afford expensive equipment. Cleaning supplies, such as washers and solar dryers, are other investments to consider.

Secure a vehicle for hauling

PAGE 12

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

EDITORIAL

lessing Okagbare ended Nigeria’s 12-year medal drought at the World Athletics Championships by clinching silver and bronze in long jump and 200m events respectively at the just ended fiesta in Moscow, Russia. Her feats restored some pride to Nigeria which for over a decade failed to win any medal in spite of parading large contingents to the biennial championships. Before now, she had won the long jump event at the IAAF Diamond League on July 5 in Lausanne, Switzerland with a 6.98 metres leap. At the Monaco IAAF Diamond League she recorded a personal best of 7.04m also in the long jump. Besides, she collected the maximum IAAF Diamond League points to take her tally to 10, two behind Fraser-Pryce, who could only manage a fourth place (10.94) in the 100 metres.

The USA-based Nigerian athlete had also stunned her contemporaries at the London Olympics Games anniversary championship in Stafford, London where she clocked 10. 86 seconds to break Gloria Alozie’s 19 years old national record (10.90 seconds) in the 100m. Her photo finish with Murielle Ahoure of Cote d’Ivoire in the women’s 100m at the Moscow championships marked African women’s sprint into a new era because it was the continent’s first ever medals in women’s world 200 metres finals.

Even though she did not eventually win the gold in the 100 and 200 metres, Okagbare’s sterling individual performance demonstrated just what a determined, focused and

ambitious athlete can achieve even with little or no support from the state.

Only last December, she had railed at the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) for failing to lend her logistical and moral support preparatory to both the Samsung Diamond League and the IAAF World Championships. For a fact, the AFN has identified with the

“

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Build on Okagbare’s Moscow success

All said, Peoples Daily believes the nation can build on the momentum of Okagbare’s impressive performance to kick-start preparations for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow only few months away. aspirations of forward-looking and ambitious athletes like her, but the federation has been handicapped by paucity of funds to respond maximally to athletes’ training needs as they prepare for international meets.

Unlike federations in Europe, Oceania and the Americas that are financially independent and have secured high-tech training facilities for their athletes, the AFN has relied solely on government that is struggling to balance competing priorities. Worse, unlike other athletic power houses in Africa like Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal, Cote d’ Ivoire and Morocco that have

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”

high altitude training centres, Nigeria cannot boast any such facilities. This means that athletes must embark on foreign training which gulps a lot of money, money that the federation cannot afford. What more, the NSC has been slow in releasing the newly introduced meager grants for elite athletes while multi-national corporations have not shown a readiness to sponsor Nigerian athletes as is the case overseas.

Perhaps, this is time to implement the tax rebate policy in favour of organisations that take up sponsorship of sporting events and athletes. The government should also discourage “ambush marketing” whereby organizations only identify with athletes and teams after they have won major competitions. Another imperative is to consider removing demurrage on sports equipment or reduce it to the barest minimum to allow sports federations to clear some of the equipment donated gratis to them by international federations.

All said, Peoples Daily believes the nation can build on the momentum of Okagbare’s impressive performance to kick-start preparations for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow only few months away. Government’s moral and financial support will ensure that athletes do not burn themselves out as they globe-trot to participate in championships to earn enough cash for survival. That was what happened to Okagbare at the 2012 London Olympics Games and again that was her Achilles’ heel at the World Championships in Moscow.

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OUR VISION

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

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HEAD, LAGOS BUREAU ADESOJI OYINLOLA

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PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

PAGE 13

Opinion Mendicants, social parasites, and human rights

By Ifeanyi Uddin

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he most unusual contribution (thus far) to the current conversation over the forced internal relocation of mendicants in the country (the recent action by the Lagos state government has been in the centre of this exchange, but, apparently, other states had done the same thing before) reprises an old argument. Some 25 years ago, I had this friend (quite prominent, today) who would not give alms “because acts of charity compromise the objective conditions necessary for a revolution”. The “poor and the vulnerable” should not be dandled if truly we looked forward to a revolution (and, I guess the eventual de-kulakisation of the wealthy) in Nigeria.

In order for the awareness of the poor to make the necessary leap from quantity (the coins in their begging bowls are counted one-by-one, remember) to quality (when count is lost of the extent of the “political repressions, including arrests, deportations, and executions of millions of the bourgeoisie, better-off peasants and their families”), which a revolution requires, they must suffer more. And where the beggary of the poor is not sufficient, “true revolutionaries” must support programmes (pogroms – which would have been far easier under this mindset – will not do, I suppose, since this will reduce the number of “our”

foot soldiers when the revolution commences) that inflict new levels of hardship on them. History does play strange tricks on us, by going round in a circle. We inflict worse on ourselves, however, by failing to learn anything from these circles and forgetting everything else.

Two centuries ago, a conservative politician declared that “The real grievance of the worker is the insecurity of his existence; he is not sure that he will always have work, he is not sure that he will always be healthy, and he foresees that he will one day be old and unfit to work. If he falls into poverty, even if only through a prolonged illness, he is then completely helpless, left to his own devices, and society does not currently recognize any real obligation towards him beyond

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the usual help for the poor, even if he has been working all the time ever so faithfully and diligently.

The usual help for the poor, however, leaves a lot to be desired, especially in large cities, where it is very much worse than in the country”. And so, in the 1880s, the Iron Chancellor bequeathed to us, social security legislations anchored on the belief “that the healing of social wrongs must be sought not solely through the repression of social democratic excesses but just as much by positively advancing the wellbeing of the workers”.

We, on the other hand, only wish to “sharpen the contradiction in the Nigerian society and make the objective conditions for the elusive Nigerian revolution to ripen”. In pursuit of this noble goal, however, the burden on

the poor must not be in the nature of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, slavery or servitude, and/or forced of compulsory labour. Remember, our constitution expressly forbids all of these unspeakable practices.

At this point, I am not too sure whether to roll on the floor, laughing out real loud, or to shake my head in disgust, take a deep breath, pinch my nostrils, and try to live through the stench that our country is becoming.

Indulge in the legal arguments, all you will. But my point remains that the argument for forcibly relocating (internally) beggars are easy to indulge in, today.

None of us is a panhandler, yet.

But what is to stop this new argument from being applied to any other category of Nigerians?

Bankers, for instance? There

Indulge in the legal arguments, all you will. But my point remains that the argument for forcibly relocating (internally) beggars are easy to indulge in, today. None of us is a panhandler, yet. But what is to stop this new argument from being applied to any other category of Nigerians? Bankers, for instance? There is clear evidence that their every day job may be militating against the development of those “objective conditions necessary for a revolution”. Who knows by how much they harm the “subjective conditions”, too? And then, there is the evidence of their deleterious effects on the Nigerian economy! Did you not read the last communique of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s policy-setting committee?

is clear evidence that their every day job may be militating against the development of those “objective conditions necessary for a revolution”. Who knows by how much they harm the “subjective conditions”, too? And then, there is the evidence of their deleterious effects on the Nigerian economy! Did you not read the last communique of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s policy-setting committee? It describes vividly how these folks fleece the state, by taking deposits from ministries, departments, and agencies of the state (for a song) and lending it back to government for a king’s ransom!

Should we not also forcibly relocate such people? Before you fall on the floor rolling with laughter on my take on this matter, recall that at Joseph Brodsky’s 1964 trial the judge asked him “Who has recognised you as a poet? Who has enrolled you in the ranks of poets?” The Soviet State had earlier charged him with “social parasitism”! As we look for innovative ways to address our own social parasites, we are allowed to address the new Nigerian state and its new “judges” in two ways. Either through Joseph Brodsky’s peerless response: “No one! Who enrolled me in the ranks of the human race?” Or in FelaAnikulapoKuti’s fiercer broadside: “Human rights na my property! Animal can’t dash us human rights”!

Ifeany Uddin’s professional profile is on LinkedIn.

Baddies of yesterday, goodies of today

By Olanrewaju Daodu

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his is Nigeria where the sympathizers cry more than the bereaved and you can’t but marvel at chameleonic and sudden metamorphic transformation of past public office holders in the Nigerian government. These were the chronic and irredeemable looters and kleptomaniacs our dear country has ever had-the magnitude and dimension of the looting is catastrophic and has left the economy and the people in prolonged comatose.

Some of these ‘heroes’ and ‘heroines’ are professional ‘armed’ robbers-they are armed with exalted offices, funds, green pens and their spiritualists. They are robbers because they have captured and stolen the future of this country and converted it to a ping-pong passed down from one generation of robbers to another generation of advanced robbers- in any case kept perpetually in the bondage of parasitic cabalistic dictators.

This is pathetic. The proportion of funds stolen and diverted to promote purses and pockets under their commands and operations is outrageous. No group of public office holders in any part of the world can rival them-they have become a reference standard in the game of mindless stealing.

They have done more damage than the whole of witches and

wizards in Africa combined. They are vampires. They have sucked hopes out of the young people in Nigeria who have since forgotten about any glimmer of brighter tomorrow. These ‘heroes’ and heroines’ are worst nightmare of the Nigerian state. Thanks to these ‘celebrities’ 10.5 million children will not go to school in Nigeria-in fact, Nigeria has the highest out of school population in the world and increasing levels of pockets of violence in education underprivileged regions. Worse still, the entire university community in Nigeria has been grounded for more than 50 days without any resolution in sight. Is there any hope for the youth of this country? Due to the heartless manner and nature with which these ‘saints’ handle matters

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of national importance, there is a proportional collapse in the infrastructural and social amenities (if any really) in the country.

Countless people have accident plane crashes more than whooping cough and malaria combined. Do we really have access to any good public utility?

Our dear ‘heroes’ and ‘heroines’ are not alone-they have wide follower ship and fans as expected. These blind and deaf followers and fans are untreatable imbeciles and morons or they are consciously helping themselves with the crumbs from the hijacked national cake-you can’t blame them because there is so much poverty in the land. Together this unholy matrimony is architectural design of our misfortune as a

people blessed country with colossal poor citizens-our blessing hasn’t translated into the general commonwealth for the entire populace. Some of our ‘heroes’ and ‘heroines’ schooled in the best schools in the world. Others are stark illiterate and who can’t use the bottom of a bottle to inscribe letter ‘O’- the dumbest we ever had.

All of these people have contributed to the woes of this country! Fast forwards, now they are out of public offices, broke and hungry-ok maybe a little broke!

Their tenure has expired and they are out of circulation. Some of them (our present ‘heroes’ and ‘heroines’) are now indebted to many financial institutions and the lenders are calling for their wives and children. Life is tough for them

In Nigeria, since its independence from Britain, nothing has out-sold religion. Very many evils have been perpetuated in the name of religion. Our heroes and heroism are currently taking cover under its shade cashing in on the people’s ignorance and fearful gullibility. This group of celebrities have since become advocate of social justice and equity. Some have suddenly caught strange fire and become overnight crusaders and noise makers.They are very active on social media-obviously out of job and as such finding solace and comfort in the youth community.

now. Yes, they still have few things going for them-contacts they made while in office, few currencies laundered in foreign accounts and of course a few escorts.

They have eventually returned to their abandoned houses and communities- they are now visible parts of us. Because some of them have PhD in sociology and political psychology. It is easy to make a transition from villainy to heroism is very easy when you combine these disciplines with religion. They have successfully integrated and settled amongst us.

In Nigeria, since its independence from Britain, nothing has out-sold religion. Very many evils have been perpetuated in the name of religion. Our heroes and heroism are currently taking cover under its shade cashing in on the people’s ignorance and fearful gullibility. This group of celebrities have since become advocate of social justice and equity. Some have suddenly caught strange fire and become overnight crusaders and noise makers.They are very active on social media-obviously out of job and as such finding solace and comfort in the youth community.

But we know what they are up to.

What you have read thus far is the constant nightmare of the Nigerian people as batons change hands in the political space.

Olanrewaju Daodu can be reached on www. allternativecommunication.

PAGE 14

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

Opinion

Are we victims of too much religion?

WRITE TO US A

By Abiodun Ladepo

few miles to Lagos, just outside the village of Mowe, I hit the mother of all traffic.

A couple of the churches along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway were holding their Revival services. I spent five hours on standstill in that traffic, unable to make a U-turn and return to Ibadan, and unable to move forward. As it turned out, another prevailing narrative in the land was that you were not a good Christian if your proselytizing did not involve shutting down major highways; forcing pregnant women to deliver their babies in unsanitary roadside conditions; forcing people to defecate on themselves while trapped in commercial vehicles holed up on public highways. You, as a “man of God” could then bury your head in the sand like the proverbial ostrich and act as if you did not know what was going on around you.

If you pull a pastor to the side and attempt to have a commonsense discussion with him about the need to respect the rights of others as he exercises his right to religion, his antenna for Defense Mechanism of Projection springs into action. He lectures you about how Jesus Christ is the ONLY path to heaven and how we must worship Him at all times and at all costs. He asks you why you worry about the public expressway he has blocked when the expressway to heaven through Jesus Christ is twice as wide and pothole-free.

The imam at the nearby mosque tells you that Prophet Muhammad

handlers until charged all he totally Muslims to call imbibes the one another to principle prayer regardless Peoples Daily welcomes your letters, opinion articles, of selfof whose ox is text messages and ‘pictures of yesteryears.’

All written abnegation, gored. The Boko believing Haram fighter contributions should be concise. Word limits: Letters that he must tells you the - 150 words, Articles - 750 words. Please include your sacrifice his life Prophet charged name and a valid location. Letters to the Editor should be for the good him to wage a addressed to: of others. At perpetual Jihad this point, after until the rest being fully of the world is The Editor, radicalized, he converted to Peoples Daily, 1st Floor Peace Plaza, is ready for the Islam. And the last stage on majority of us buy 35 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja. the continuum that nonsense.

Email: opinion@peoplesdailyng.com of extremism – The feeling SMS: 08134607052 activism. This of existential Almajiri boy, insecurity leads us now a grown to accept at facevalue the balderdash that spews man, is ready to act out his radical In a million years, Boko Haram forth from their mouths. views in the form of the sort of will never eliminate Christianity Yet, both the pastor and the mayhem that Boko Haram now from Nigeria no matter how imam are themselves victims of inflicts on Nigeria. And on the few vicious it gets. But the sadistic and an all-encompassing ideological occasions that some Boko Haram narcissistic tendencies associated indoctrination which has turned activists have been arrested, they with religious bigots will never their world into a cocoon. Were allow those members to see reason. have used this self-abductive logic their worlds open, they would, to rationalize their inhumane and From infancy, they had been of course, question the process exposed to the propaganda and barbaric atrocities. that got them to the extremes ONLY the propaganda that paints As a nation, we failed these of their ideologies; for religion non-believers as evil. They have young men much as we failed oscillated, at various times of their is nothing but ideology. I know the young men co-opted into the childhood, between indoctrination that the ultra-religious reader Niger-Delta militancy a few years and radicalization. The rest of will question my assertion that ago. A viable nation ought to Nigeria neglected to notice the religion is ideology, and may, in be able to recognize the usually Almajiri boy in Damaturu who, fact, consider it blasphemous. But obvious signs of degenerative with no obvious physical defects, I challenge them to read up on social malaises such as the absence skips school but roams the streets the histories of both religions, and of functional education, functional begging for money and food. At the other major ones – Hinduism, medical services, and functional the end of the day, that boy is Buddhism, Sikhism, etc. What the basic amenities. Early diagnosis pulled into a Madrassa in Birnin overzealous imam and pastor have of some of these problems allows a done with Islam and Christianity is Kebbi and pumped full of food and viable Nation to proactively devise re-package and propagate the ideas a hefty dose of more propaganda means of interdicting the slide. in order to enrich and hasten (or ideologies) of the Prophets in Up till this moment, our solution his radicalization process. He is order to make them palatable for to the Niger-Delta crisis has been nurtured like this by his extremist the gullible. nothing short of plastering the

wound with a bandage. We did not apply any deliberate, permanent solution to the problem. In essence, once a new government comes to power and refuses to dole out cash to those militants like GEJ is currently doing, we would be back to square one. We would again then offer the likes of Edwin Clark the opportunity to stoke the bandwidth of discussion with incendiary remarks that serve only as accelerant that will help incinerate the polity. We would allow him to again revive and spread the old, tired feeling of victimization - the same feeling being adduced today by the aggrieved Boko Haram fighters.

Worse, we the followers celebrate these thieves. We clear the road for them when they come through. We shower chieftaincy titles on them. We kiss their feet and swear by their names. We the followers follow these faux leaders blindly. We let the poverty of our stomach lead us into poverty of ideas and poverty of courage.

Rather than ask questions; rather than demand answers, we cower at the feet of these empty-headed leaders begging for crumbs from their ornate tables. We eat their left-over foods and the next day we rejoin the cycle of abject poverty to which they have consigned us.

We watch them drive their exotic cars and wear their imported designer shoes. Their children go to school overseas and their family (including the family dog), receive regular medical check-ups in Europe. We see them everyday in our churches and in our mosques.

And we pray to God to enrich us like he enriched them. We are victims of too much religion.

Abiodun Ladepo is based in Los Angeles, California, USA (Oluyole2@yahoo.com)

King of the season and who it will be

By Ose Oyamendan

I

love days like this. After the doldrums of the summer, when all you’re consigned to as a sports fan is watching female basketball, here comes life again. Not that anything is wrong watching ten tall, sweaty and screaming women run up and down the court. If they were rolling through my room individually in their bikinis, I’ll stay up all night just to pray with them. But, nothing compares to football.Football is the king of sports. Thrills and madness. When you think you’ve had enough, these gladiators on the green grass take it up another level.

And, this is the day before hopes are systematically crushed. So, you learn to enjoy it.

If you’re an Arsenal fan, for instance, you know this is the last day you can conceivable think you have a shot at winning a title, any title. When the men come to play, the fans know the boys who have refused to grow up will queue behind their manager and whine until the season fades away.

I mean, the invisibles of yesterday can not even win the only cup they’re guaranteed of, their own preseason tournament! If you love football, you must know a team of rascals down in Madrid. In the post-Jose Mourinhoera, and with Barcelona seemingly in a funk, they

seem poised to stay atop the twoteam race in Spain. But, this little fascination with Gareth Bale may just derail them a little bit. A team in debt in a country in economic crisis is hoping to lure a #100m talent! It’s like me showing up in a bank and trying to withdraw a billion naira. I’ll either be laughed off or arrested for wasting the bank’s time.

This year, all necks have got to be craned in the direction of Munich where Bayern is threatening to be the new Barcelona. They don’t have the skill that makes people suspect Barcelona always play with a ball magnet in their cleats but they have a system that feels like a train on a roll. They may just continue to roll all over Europe. But, nothing compares to the English Premier League. It’s the king of all leagues.

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It attracts both the sane and insane.

Or, how do you explain a bunch of guys on the west coast of the United States of America waking up at 4 am just to watch their team play? If that’s not madness then I’m completely sane. Or, in Nigeria for instance where people have shunned their own league in embrace of a league whose leaders are charging them #3,000 to even be considered for a visa.

The EPL turns you into a zombie, a reference number at a team’s ticket offices or just a plain number in the offices of some data crunchers for team sponsors.

You become a walking wallet. You drink the official beer, you wear the official shirts, you stay on hold forever waiting for an extra ticket to a game and you worry for hours on end about a team list while the

coach is busy sampling the menu in another city. The one I love the most is the official bra and bikini.

It helps these days that women are getting more and more interested in football. Hell, they play it better than most men over here anyway.

Since they have to strip before they wear it and since I’m a Christian who likes to pray, I always insist on two things – that they put the bra and bikini on as they normally would when I’m not there then before they take it off, we hold each other and say the Lord’s prayer but skip that bit about “lead us not into temptations”.

I’m too way deep in tempt-ville.

This season looks like a very open one in the premiership – at the bottom. Who would get relegated?

It seems the consensus is that Chelsea will coast home with the

The EPL turns you into a zombie, a reference number at a team’s ticket offices or just a plain number in the offices of some data crunchers for team sponsors. You become a walking wallet.

You drink the official beer, you wear the official shirts, you stay on hold forever waiting for an extra ticket to a game and you worry for hours on end about a team list while the coach is busy sampling the menu in another city. The one I love the most is the official bra and bikini.

crown. But, never underestimate a Manuel Pelligrini coached team.

He’s done splendidly with little.

He may yet turn golden with his spoilt, rich bunch at Manchester city? Then, there’s Arsenal, a team whose coach has admitted that their ceiling in 4th place. I suspect this is Arsene Wenger’s last year and I can’t wait to see him march off leaving his team wrapped in the stench of failure.

You must wonder about Manchester United. Alex Ferguson was always good for ten points a season on his own. He did that by cajoling and intimidating the league and the referees. David Moyes is good but this is really not a league of the blind where the one-eyed man is King. Everyone has 20/20 vision here. Is this the year Manchester United will start their slide? And yes, have a good laugh now when you can. I’m a rabid fan of the mighty Tottenham of London. This year, we will march on and conquer England and annex the Europa Cup. We have the players and the coast seems really clear. This is the season we will fulfill our potential and be the team. Come on you Spurs. Wait, I said that last year. And the year before. And, we crumbled. Oh, well – this is what makes football fun.

Ose Oyemande is a Nigerian filmmaker based in Los Angeles, California, USA.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

PAGE 15

Comment Almajiri education: Let’s engage civil society

By Simon Nwakaudu

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here are critical reasons why President Goodluck Jonathan is personally addressing the Almajiri challenge to a logical conclusion. First, the almajirai constitute over 9 million out of the estimated 10.5 million Nigerian children who are out of school. At present, the nation has the highest in the world. Therefore, ensuring that the almajirai are in school goes a long way to critically tackling the root of the nation’s out of school problem. Furthermore, if the almajirai are continually left out of the educational and social system, the national development will remain stunted as a large chunk of the population will be socially excluded, with this population serving as a threat to other citizens.

Already, Nigerians are witnessing the disadvantage of them being out of school.

Fundamentally, tackling the almajiri challenge cannot be an issue for the Federal Government alone. It was for this reason that the Minister of State for Education, Barr. Nyesom Wike met with leaders of 40 prominent civil society groups on August 15 to solicit their cooperation in the implementation of the almajiri education programme and other federal government programmes aimed at addressing the nation’s out of school challenge.

The civil society groups were drawn from different parts of the country, with the aim of ensuring

that the effect of the interactive session gets to all the nooks and crannies of the nation. The objective is very clear. To engage the groups who represent different aspects of the society, outside of government, so that they can contribute their quota towards putting to rest the social problems that confront the nation because some children are not in school while their mates are in class learning.

Already, the federal government is directly engaging the mallams who are the custodians of almajirai. The engagement with the mallams is being implemented by technocrats from the Federal Ministry of Education and the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC. This is being done preparatory to the September commencement of academic activities in the schools. These mallamswho will play key roles in the success of the programme.

The interaction between the government’s technicrats and the mallams has been fruitful. The successful take off of the historic programme is certain.

For the Federal Ministry of Education, this is the beginning of a process to undo years of neglect of the education sector by previous administrations. On this note, the Federal Government says it will continue to intensify work on increasing the school enrolment of less privileged out of school children across the country to improve the living standard of

these street kids being used by politicians and other religious bigots to cause unrest and derail the development process. This was the commitment made by Barr.

Wike who spoke at the interactive session with civil society groups.

“The decision to start addressing the out of school challenge from the Almajiris was borne out of the fact that the Almajiri were more than 9 million out of the 10.5 million.”

In his remarks, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Dr. MacJohn Nwaobiala said that the ministry adopted total transparency to ensure that the projects are delivered according to specification. “You have seen the Minister of State for Education engage contractors publicly and personally inspect projects. We are committed to transparency and that is why we are engaging the members of the civil society”, he said.

Farouk Umar of the Transparency Centre Network, stated that the direct engagement between the minister and the civil society groups signified that the Federal Government was keen to partner with all interest groups in its quest to reach the less privileged. He opined that the Almajiri Education Programme being implemented by the Jonathan administration was one of the most positive people oriented programmes ever executed.

Northern Peoples Agenda, represented by its executive

secretary, Mohammed Zannah, pointed out that the fact that the management and officials of the Federal Ministry of Education are directly engaging the mallams indicates that the administration is committed to the overall success of the programme. He believes that since the mallams have been involved in the execution of the project, they will actively work towards its success. National Coordinator of Human Rights Writers Association, HURIWA, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said that the President’s programme for Almajiri and other less privileged children deserves commendation. He said that the civil society will continue to engage the government for better results in the people oriented programme. Prince Elias Odoemena of African Network for Peace Progress and Development shared the same view.

Some civil society groups raised questions about the sustainability of this historic project. To this, the minister outlined some measures taken by the Federal Government to ensure that the programme survives the teething challenges expected as it takes off. First, a memorandum of understanding between the Federal Government, states and traditional rulers has been signed. This spells out the responsibilities of each party in the project. For now, it is being followed religiously. The Federal Government has also committed itself to continuous advocacy

The Nigeria of my dream

By Omano Edigheji

I

dream of a prosperous country where every Nigerian will live in dignity. I dream of an end to high levels of poverty, inequality and unemployment in Nigeria. I dream of a Nigeria where the rule of law will prevail and where there will be observance of human rights. I dream of a Nigeria where government at all levels will prioritize human capital development, and industrial development. I dream of a country where governments will ensure that citizens have access to quality healthcare; and where the rich will patronize local hospitals rather than go abroad for medical treatments, for the locals would provide same quality healthcare as their counterparts anywhere in the world. I dream of a Nigeria where people die in the presence of loved ones rather than in lonely foreign hospitals. I dream of Nigeria with reduced infant and maternal mortality rates. I dream of a country where the rich invest in the health sector – build world class hospitals – rather than waste money to place adverts on obituaries of loved ones, most of who die because of the poor state of the Nigerian healthcare.

I dream of Nigeria where every Nigerian child has access to quality education; a country with some of the best universities in the world that parents will see as the first choice for their children.

I dream of truly world class research universities in Nigeria. I

dream of an era where there will be no strikes by academic and non-academic staff in our higher education institutions. I dream of students unions that will truly prioritize the welfare of students.

I dream of an end to cultisms in the Nigerian campuses. I dream of Nigeria where lecturers will not seek sexual favours from students, and where lecturers won’t pass off the work of students as theirs. I dream of a country where admission to higher education institutions will be on merit.

I dream of Nigeria where every child, including the girl child, will have access to quality education at all levels; a country where the girl child is in schools rather than being married off; and a society where the girl child has the same rights as the boy child. I dream of a united, stable and peaceful country. I dream of a Nigeria where ethnic and religious militancy will be a thing of the past; and where there will be no basis to reward ethnic and religious militants with

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amnesty and juicy government contracts. I dream of a country where freedom reigns. I dream of a country where citizens will reclaim their humanity. I dream of Nigeria where citizens will stop worshipping the god of money. I dream of a country where people worship the creator – the real God and not “the Nigerian god”. I dream of Nigeria where everyone will be defined by the content of their character rather than their religious and ethnic backgrounds, or by state of origin. I dream of a country where our common humanity and citizenship define us.

I dream of a country where public servants will be servants and not lords over citizens. I dream of Nigeria governed by decent people rather than criminals who parade themselves as politicians. I dream of a country where politics is a second profession; and when a politician doesn’t win an election , s/he goes back to his or her primary means of livelihood. I dream of Nigeria where public

service is not a means of primitive accumulation and of a society where public officials will not loot the national treasury and our commonwealth. I dream of Nigeria where those that attempt to dip their hands into the national purse become outcasts in society, and not rewarded with traditional and religious titles.

I dream of a country that rewards hard work and excellence, where entrepreneurs and not politicians are the richest. I dream of Nigeria where the politicians and other public officials are not the richest among us. I dream of a society driven by politics of ideas rather than godfatherism, and ethnic and religious considerations.

I dream of a country where gender equality is practiced in all walks of life, including the political sphere. I dream of development and governance, and consequently public policy, based on scientific ideas, hence evidenced-based rather than on myths and superstitions.

I dream of a country that rewards hard work and excellence, where entrepreneurs and not politicians are the richest. I dream of Nigeria where the politicians and other public officials are not the richest among us. I dream of a society driven by politics of ideas rather than godfatherism, and ethnic and religious considerations. I dream of a country where gender equality is practiced in all walks of life, including the political sphere.

to ensure that the states and other institutions increase their investment in basic education.

More importantly, the new almajiri education programme does not seek to replace Qur’anic education that the almajirai are presently exposed to. What it brings to the table is the assurance that the Almajiri will have access to quality basic educaction in an environment backed by an adequate feeding programme and quality educational resource materials. The almajirai will also be exposed to skills that will enable them participate more actively in the society, other than beg for survival. They will be housed in their respective hostels with facilities that are of high societal standards. Simply put, the government has put in place several measures to ensure the retention of these Almajiri in the schools.

This programme like several others by the Jonathan administration has gone beyond rhetoric. Its now in the court of the community. Its in the position where community members and the international community will have to contribute to ensure that this phenomenal success is sustained for the complete eradication of the Almajiri system from our nation. At least, everyone agrees that this system has brought no advantage to our beloved country.

Simeon Nwakaudu is on LinkedIn I dream of Nigeria with moral icons like Mandela and Tutu. I dream of a day Nigerians will have leaders that are unifying figures and who command moral authority. I dream of a country with true statesmen/women. I dream of the day when every Nigerian will experience uninterrupted power supply. I dream of a country that will take advantage of our natural environment to generate electricity.

I dream of green energy as one of the main sources of power supply in Nigeria. I dream of Nigeria where oil companies will observe the international standards of environmental protection. I dream of the Nigeria with free and fair elections, where politicians will not be experts in writing election results to change the will of the people. I dream of the day when genuine losers of elections will accept the results and move on until the next election. I dream of Nigeria without electoral thuggery.

I dream of a country where our very best, both morally and professionally, will dominate the political space. I dream of Nigeria where election periods will not be cycles of politically motivated killings.

I dream of Nigeria inspiring the African continent and the black race to become important players in the international community.

I dream of Nigerians heading major international development bodies like the World Bank and the African Development Bank, not because of acts of charity, but the strengthen of its economy.

Dr. Omano Edigheji is a Senior Researcher at the Centre for Policy Studies, Johannesburg, South Africa and is on twitter@omanoe.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

PAGE 17

Metro

I am confident on FCT minister’s Land Swap policy - AMAC chairman INTERVIEW Hon. Micah .Y. Jiba is the Chairman of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC). Recently, he spoke to journalists on his two-point agenda during his past and present administration and gave an overview of his plans to transform the lives of the residents in AMAC through the Primary Health Care scheme empowerment programmes.

Adeola Tukuru, who was there, reports. Excerpts:

W

hat are the agenda you came with during this tenure?

Our last administration came with a two-point agenda, which are Education and Empowerment. There is no way you can face the new road without passing through the old one and we have not deviated from the two-point agenda, because this is the administration that is dealing directly with the people at the grassroots level.

When we are saying the issue of amenities, we don’t have to start and stop somewhere, it’s a continuous process. The social amenities that the people need are water, light, roads and I have not deviated from it; we have started and we will improve it. So we are still on the two-point agenda, but we have to make the critical infrastructure and capacity building, to make sure that we are taking care of the female and male youth, by giving them proper empowerment and not a partial one, so that in the end, the youth will come out and say: “Yes! I have done something and the area council has touched my life”.

Talking about this empowerment, how far has your administration gone to empower women and youth in AMAC? I remember, during our last administration, we employed over 120 youth and trained them on how to produce recharge cards in our council; because these are the people that are at the grassroots.

We brought them from different wards in the council, to train them by giving them empowerment; it is not an easy thing. They were taught on how to produce recharge cards and today, they are on their own; after training them we bought a recharge-card producing machine for them.

Just about a month ago, we employed about 400 youth for the Sure-P programme; we are

the only council that have done that. We are paying them N10, 000 every month. Some of them have been trained on vocational works, like tailoring etc. The major challenges we are facing is that most people will come and say they want to go into farming but they don’t have the money to buy farming inputs like fertilizers, insecticides, sprayers etc; we are ensuring that all these things are put in place for them. We want to turn them into commercial farmers.

How does your administration tackle youth restiveness?

We are doing our best; you know one cannot do all, we can only try and leave the rest to God. We are just starting our administration; but very soon we are going to mark 100 days in office, so there is still more we are yet to do.

On the Land Swap policy, how is AMAC benefitting from the programme?

I can’t say much about the Land Swap policy, but am certain that the FCTA administration is capable of handling the issue of the Land Swap and I have confidence in him that he can handle it. This particular project is nationwide and is not only focused on the FCT area councils

and the whole country is going to benefits in the approach. With the system that I am seeing on ground I want to believe that everybody will be carried along.

As the member of the committee on Land Swap, what is the progress report on the issue, because we are aware that your committee is recently working handin-hand with the original inhabitants who are asking for a percentage from the investors 50% stake?

What will bring about achievement is not just done in a day, it is something that has to take a gradual process; the issue of Land Swap is a gigantic process and needs a proper attention. We need to properly create awareness for our people. We can’t just say we will use one day to convince or create awareness to our people.

The Land Swap policy has never existed since the beginning of the FCT; it has to take a gradual process, but I believe that everybody will be satisfied.

As ALGON chairman, recently, the National Assembly rejected the bill on Local Government autonomy; would the bill, if eventually passed into law, make any difference on the area councils in Abuja or

“

The major challenges we are facing is not at the state or national level, but at the grassroots; people from the grassroots must be attended to, by alleviating their poverty. The National Assembly should look at the issue of the local government autonomy and review the issue

Hon. Micah .Y. Jiba not?

We are not happy that we, the area council chairmen in the FCT are getting our allocation from the source. We are saying that what is happening in the six area councils in the FCT should be the same thing in the 36 states. We want everybody to be carried uniformly.

Even our president comes from a local area; he once said it that he went to school barefooted back then.

What we are trying to say is that the issue of rejecting this bill is not possible; if they are talking about the three-tiers of government, is the local government not part of it? We are all human beings; this is our country Nigeria. The major challenges we are facing is not at the state or national level, but at the grassroots; people from the grassroots must be attended to, by alleviating their poverty. The National Assembly should look at the issue of the local government autonomy and review the issue.

What is your take on the Health Insurance scheme in AMAC? Anything concerning health is life, it is a welcome development.

I said it sometime ago, that the project will help our people; for example, where the area councils did not accomplish with this project, these people can have access to the Health Care scheme.

The programme will go a long way in AMAC and in other area councils; we are will to work in collaboration with them.

How do you intend to restructure primary health care at the local level in AMAC, as recently, the Minister of State,

Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide lamented that Primary Health Care system in the area councils are not well-equipped and are not accessible?

In life, what we call maintenance is very important in life; it is not just building a structure but its maintenance is very important. When we look back the history of AMAC for over 28 years now, the first chairman in AMAC was Kauta Yepwe; he built some Primary Health Centres just as others, but all these structures need maintenance.

A few days ago, we had a bid here that private investors should come and partner with us on primary health centre in AMAC. Our Minister of State of the FCT has emphasised on it; that attention is going to be given to it; in fact, go now and see what is happening in the Primary Health Centre in Waru community. I am assuring you that the transformation that took place there is what will happen around all the Primary Health Care centres in AMAC. We intend to reconstruct some of these structures.

Also, in terms of the environment, we are working hand-in-hand with other stakeholders; in fact, I want to commend the Minister of state for FCT for giving us approval on additional Supervisory Councilors on environment and sanitation, because she wants to see how the department will improve.

Our environment department is always on site; AMAC was recently commended by the FCTA on sanitation.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

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Pegyi community laments lack of social amenities

By Usman Shuaibu

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esidents of Pegyi village in Kuje Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have decried over the lack of social amenities to boost socio-economic growth in the area calling on the chairman of the council, Hon. Ishayaku Shaban Tete to come to their aide.

They also urged the chairman to construct a road from Kuje to Pegyi village to enable the residents have access road to transport their farm produce to urban market for sale.

Residents, who made the call in an interview with Peoples Daily in Pegyi, accused the former chairman of the area council, Hon. Danladi Etsu Zhin of failing to provide basic amenities for the inhabitants during his administration.

A resident, Mr. Samson Audu alleged that no tangible project was being carried out by the former chairman of the council, while calling on the incumbent chairman of Kuje to focus on the development of the area.

Audu appealed to the Federal

Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and the leadership of Kuje Area Council to join hands to develop the Pegi village, noted that most of the people resident in Pegi were relocated to the area, as a result of demolition which took place during the former minister of the FCT, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai at the city centre of Abuja.

On his part, the chairman of Igbo Community Assembly Chief Ezugwu Hiary who is residing in the area, urged the present chairman of the council to expedite action to

provide infrastructural facilities for the community.

Hiary pleaded with Tete’s administration to construct boreholes to boost potable drinking water in the area, as according to him, the former chairman had neglected the place.

Also, a resident, Mr. Iliyasu Inuwa, berated the immediate past administration of the council over the nonchalant attitude towards the provision of basic necessities of life for the people in Pegi community and asked the present council boss to transform the area.

NDLEA command nabs Reggae artist in Abuja

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he FCT Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested Joel Onyenwoke, 50, a popular Reggae Artist in Abuja, with 25 bags of the banned substance.

This is contained in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the NDLEA, Mr Peter Adegbe.

The statement said that the 25 bags of the banned substance, suspected to be cannabis sativa, weighed 208 kilogrammes.

It stated that NDLEA operatives, acted on a timely intelligence report and raided the house of the Reggae artist in Aso ‘A’ Mararaba, Nasarawa State.

It added that the suspect would be charged to court after the ongoing investigations. (NAN)

Over 300 students get scholarship worth N4m in Abaji

By Adeola Tukuru

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A green area being cleared for Parks and Gardens by the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), in Area 7, Abuja. Photo: Justin Imo-owo

FCT residents get one week free medical services

By Adeola Tukuru

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volunteer team from the United States is currently in Kubwa General Hospital offering a one-week free medical service to its residents and environs.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), E Jays Charity, a nonprofit organization based in New York, Dr Ijeoma Nduka Nwosu, said the multi-

disciplinary group had visited other states like Imo, Abia, Nassarawa and they are in Abuja to conduct general surgery, appendectomy and treat fibroids among others for people who cannot afford to pay for their services.

An occupational therapist on the team, Alice Massa said she will coordinate rehabilitation services for children with birth defects and difficulty in

eating, standing or dressing themselves.

She said the team will also handle neurological cases and older patients with diseases that come with age and generally rehabilitate them so that they can function normally where they live, adding that local health staff will be engaged in the services offered so as to share experience and impart knowledge.

Also, FCT Secretary of Health and Human Secretariat, Dr. Demola Onakumaiya , said surgical, medical and therapeutic cases will be handled by the visiting team.

Chief Medical Officer, Kubwa General Hospital, Dr. Ahmed Danfulani, said it is a good thing that the team is visiting to deal with chronic illness, adding that residents to take advantage of the opportunity.

Ex- Kuje chair celebrates success in office

By Usman Shuaibu

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ormer chairman of Kuje Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Hon. Danladi Etsu Zhin, has celebrated thanksgiving for the six years of his successful administration in the area council.

Zhin, who stated this in an interview with newsmen in Kuje, thanked God for sparing his life throughout his administration in the area.

He expressed appreciation for the support and cooperation accorded to him by the residents of Kuje during his tenure.

The ex-chairman, however, told the gathering that his administration was able to provide the dividends of democracy for the entire people of Kuje Area Council.

Speaking earlier, the chairman of Kuje Area Council, Hon. Ishayaku Shaban Tete, commended Zhin for his leadership qualities being rendered to

the people of Kuje.

Tete said that he would not hesitate to support Zhin when aspiring for a bigger position in future.

On his part, the chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Hon. Micah Y. Jiba, prayed for Zhin’s protection for another responsibility in future.

ver 300 students yesterday got the second phase of scholarship disbursement worth N4.4million in Abaji Area Council.

The Chairman of Abaji Area Council, Hon. Yahaya Garba Gawu during the flagg-off of programme said his administration is ever committed to the development of education sector in Abaji.

In his words: “The event today is a manifestation of our administration commitment towards improving the standard of education even though what we are giving to you is a stipend but it will help in no small measure to cushion some of your problems” Gawu called on the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the council gesture and reciprocate by putting more effort in their studies to achieve a successful result.

Also, the secretary of the scholarship committee, Barr.

Yusuf Saleh Ashafa explained that the categories of the beneficiaries, Batch “A” have already received their scholarship, and now the total number of three hundred and twenty four students are captured in Batch “B” to benefit in three wards which are Gawa, central, and Alu-Mamagi wards respectively.

Ashafa said the student who are graduates are to receive the of N30,000.00 and N25,000.00 each. While other under graduate student and NCE are to receive N15, 000.00 each.

One of the beneficiaries and president of Abaji Student Union Government, Abdullahi Aliyu Allahiru thanked the council chairman on behalf of the union and promise that they will not leave stone unturned in their studies.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

PAGE 19

INSIDE

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

Globalcom employees cry out over slavish employment contract

By Chris Alu

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mployees of Globacom Communications Limited and its affiliates may have come under new rule of engagement which many described a bond of slavish employment contract, an online news portal, Global Village Extra has reported.Under the new rule, Globalcom owner, Mike Adenuga, compelled staff to sign nondisclosure bond agreements or risk being sacked.

Almost all employees at the Glo World have fallen victim to “forced labor”, trapped in jobs which they were coerced or deceived to take and from which they cannot leave easily, says Global Village Extra.

The report quotes one Jane Oladapo, (not real name) as

saying: “I was employed in late 2006 by Contact Center Services Limited a Globacom subsidiary; four years later I was asked to sign a document with another company called Global Manpower alongside a bond”. “I was not given a copy of the bond, neither was I informed or advised of the content”.

“I was asked to sign it to guarantee my job in the presence of a senior official of Globacom, and my cluster manager, who gave me a minute to sign it and hand it back to him”.

“In November 2012, I got an offer of employment from an insurance firm, I wrote an official letter of resignation with enough notice time,” I was however shocked when I was informed that I will have to pay the sum of N10 million Naira for me to leave”.

PSN obtained a letter written

by Globacom, and signed by one AdewaleSangowawa, executive director, requesting for the sum of N10 million from Oladapo.

The letter stated that, “Please recall that it was clearly stated in clause 5 of the agreement part of the bond as follows, In the event that the employee disengages from the services of Glo at any time before the expiry of the bond, the employee hereby agrees to pay Contact Center Services Limited, CCSL on behalf of Globacom the sum of =N=10,000,000.00 (Ten Million Naira)”.

A preponderant of staff in the same predicament as Oladapo claimed they did not know that they had signed a bond contract until they were about to quit Globacom.

Mr. Sangowawa the Executive

Director Human Resources of Globacom however wrote another letter to Oladapo early this year informing her of where to make the payment.

According to him, “You are to write a cheque to pay the above stated sum of N10, 000,000.00 (Ten Million Naira) in full amount in favor of Glo Mobile Limited and send to the Human Resources Department. In the alternative, pay to Account Number 2576747778111 at any Sterling Bank branch and thereafter send the teller evidencing the payment to the same Human Resources Department”.

All efforts made by Peoples Daily to verify the veracity of the claim were futile as phone calls and SMS put across to Globalcom spokesperson, Charles Ikoabasi yielded no response.

FG identifies 34 solid minerals in commercial quantity - Pg 22

Absence of coherent aviation policy responsible for most air mishapChris Aligbe - Pg 20

Union wants FG to enroll 2006 retirees on pension pay roll - Pg 21 Exchange Rates CBN

as at 20th August, 2013

Buying

L-R: Coodinating Minister for Econormy/ Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Chairman, IBTC Bank, Mr. Atedo Peterside, Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Benjamin Dikki, Chairman, Forte Oil, Mr. Femi Otedola, and, President, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, during the meeting of Economic Management Team, yesterday at the State House, in Abuja.

PHOTO: JOE OROYE

NDIC pays N6.82 bn to depositors of closed banks

By Abdulwahab Isa and Kerem kurugh he Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) said it had paid cumulative sum of N6.82 billion to 528,212 to the insured depositors of closed banks

by December 31, 2012 as against N6.68 billion paid to 527,942 insured depositors as at December 31, 2011.

The figures are contained in the 2012 Annual Report & Statement of Accounts of the Corporation made available yesterday.

Similarly, it said a total sum of N2.505 billion was paid to 75,322 verified depositors of 95 out of 103 closed Microfinance Banks

T

during the year as against the sum of N2.249 billion paid to 72,062 verified depositors in 2011.

Also, the sum of N73.58 billion had been paid as liquidation dividend to 250,209 depositors of Deposit Money Banks as at December 31, 2012 adding that, a total of fourteen out of the thirtyfour banks-in-liquidation prior to 2006 had declared a final dividend of 100% of their total deposits, indicating that all depositors of the affected closed banks had fully recovered their deposits.

The NDIC, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), conducted Risk-Based Examination of sixteen DMBs

during the year. It also led the examination of six of the banks while the CBN led in ten.

Furthermore, the two institutions conducted a maiden examination of the three banks acquired by AMCON, namely: Keystone Bank, Mainstreet Bank and Enterprise Bank during the year. While the CBN led the examination of Mainstreet Bank and Enterprise Bank, NDIC led the examination of Keystone Bank.

The Corporation in collaboration with the CBN also conducted the maiden examination of Jaiz Bank Plc and the Stanbic-IBTC NonInterest window during the year under review.

Selling

$

154.76

155.76

€

242.43

£

207.09

Riyal

41.26

YEN

1.59

1.60

CFA

0.2958

0.3158

243.99 208.34 41.53

MANAGEMENT TIP OF THE DAY Could you be a change agent? Assess your internal network

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he difference between a leader who can successfully manage change and one who can’t is often the effectiveness of their networks.

To find out if you’re connected in the right way, ask yourself these questions: Do people come to me for work-related advice? When colleagues rely on you, it signals that they trust you and respect your competence, wisdom, and influence. The more they turn to you, the more central you are to the company network.

Are my network contacts connected to one another? This

is advantageous because it leads to a cohesive network with high levels of trust and support.

Information and ideas are corroborated through multiple channels, so it’s easier to coordinate the group.

Who in my network is ambivalent or strongly opposed to a proposed change? If it’s not obvious where your contacts stand, pay attention to how people behave; ask questions, both direct and indirect, to gauge their sentiments; and keep a mental record of your observations.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

PAGE 20

Aviation Company News FG moves to simplify procedures for crossborder trade

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he Federal Government on Monday inaugurated the Nigeria Trade Hub Portal and the Nigeria Import, Export and Transit Process Manual that would help to harmonise and simplify the procedures for cross-border trade.

The NTH is an interactive portal to assist importers and exporters to obtain correct and timely information that will enable them to make informed decisions about doing business in Nigeria

FG to generate 30% electricity from coal –Jonathan

Absence of coherent aviation policy responsible for most air mishap- Chris Aligbe

F

ormer General Manager (public Affairs) of defunct Nigeria Airways limited, Mr. Chris Aligbe has reflected on numerous air-mishaps in the country including the one which claimed late Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Ibrahim Maciddo and a popular televangelist Mrs. Bimbo Odukoya and attributed their causes to absence of a statutory regulatory authority and non-implementation of key aviation policies.

Speaking in Lagos, Aligbe said between 2002 and 2006 former President Olusegun Obasanjo had assembled aviation experts to design policy frame work aimed at repositioning aviation industry

adding that the outcome of meeting which was submitted as policy document was abandoned in the government shelf.

According to him, while policies formulated were lying prostrate on government table, there was no agency vested with a strong regulatory authority to oversee the activities of airlines in the country, a situation he said set in technical laxities.

Among planes that crashed landed during the period are the Chanchangi Airlines Boeing 727-2M7 5N-BCF that crashed in Lagos on June 12 2005, a Fokker 100 5N-COO IRS Airlines plane also in Lagos 17 days later and a

Bellview Airlines Boeing 737-2L9 5N-BFN with 117 persons on board which crashed near Lisa in Ogun state on October 22 of the 2005.

Others are a DC-9-32 5N-BFD Sosoliso Airlines which crashed in Port Harcourt killing all 103 on board mostly school children on 10 December 2005, a DHL Aviation Boeing 727-277 ZS-DPF that went down on 7th September 2006 and the 29th October 2006 Boeing 737-2B7 5N-BFK ADC Airlines plane that killed the late Sultan of Sokoto and over a 100 others near Abuja international Airport.

The former national carrier spokesman presentation centered

on , ‘Policy Implementation: The bane of Aviation Development’.

He said that conditions precedent for any successful policy implementation must include the evaluation of existing ones in relation to their implementation and changing environment and the understanding and recognition or relevant sector that will interface with the policy.

Others include stakeholders’ inputs, legislative backing as well as endorsement alongside a national plan and policy objectives suggesting that the country must use case studies as a platform to clearly understand how well it has perform.

P

resident Goodluck Jonathan on Monday said it was the plan of his administration that 30 per cent of the nation’s electricity generation should come from coal.

He said this during a workshop of solid minerals development held inside the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The President said the coal resource was an excellent opportunity for the nation to diversify its energy stock.

Capital market gains N4.2tn in one year

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he equities section of the Nigerian Stock Exchange has been on a steady rise in the last one year, leading to a total appreciation of N4.6tn as of Monday’s closing.

The steady climb in the market, which began towards the end of October 2012, largely continued into the year 2013, with the market capitalisation of the listed equities rising to N11.654tn on Monday.

This represents a significant appreciation of 57 per cent or N4.2tn compared to the N7.417tn, recorded at the beginning of the year.

Thailand to help Nigeria in rice, cassava production

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hailand is to help Nigeria to improve the local production of rice so as to reduce the importation of the commodity and to add value to cassava production.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand, Mr. Surapong Tovichakchaikul, said this on Monday in Abuja while signing a Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of bilateral consultations with Nigeria.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, who signed for Nigeria, expressed the hope that the bilateral engagement would lead to closer cooperation between both countries

Abuja international Airport.

Ethiopian airlines commences international flight operations in Enugu airport next week Idris suleiman, Lagos

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he Ethiopian airline is set to make its inaugural international flight from Enugu, the South East zone of Nigeria to Addis Ababa next week, thus deepening the economic potentials of the zone.

The commencement of international flight from the airport, follows federal government approval of direct flight operations the airport recently commissioned by the President Goodluck Jonathan.

Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah who confirmed the decision said leading Africa carrier, Ethiopian Airlines will kick off the first international voyage with an inaugural flight from Enugu to Addis Ababa, the East African nation’s capital on August 24 2013.

The flight marks the first international flight operation from the Akanu Ibiam International Airport since it was designated by the Federal Government as the only international airport in the South East zone and as part of

the aviation master plan of the administration.

Oduah said she had written letter to the President informing him about the historical flight which will arrive the Enugu airport by 12.30 pm and depart by 1:30 pm local time in the four times weekly operation from the Coal City, largely regarded as the capital of the South East zone.

“The operation of Ethiopian Airlines into Enugu will be the satisfaction of an enduring call from the people of the South East who have for many years clamoured for an international airport for the zone, which they believe will reinforce the resourcefulness of the people known for their entrepreneurship and trade.

“Henceforth businessmen and other travellers from Enugu, Aba, Abakaliki, Onitsha, Owerri, Umuahia and as far as Asaba and Benin will be saved the distress of travelling for hours to Lagos and Abuja to catch international flights, trips that are sometimes

fraught with problems, including dangers on the road as they fight for time to catch their flights to international destinations” she said.

She explained that many of the

passengers have lost their goods on transit as they convey them from these cities to their final destinations on their arrival from their overseas trips.

Oduah commends Uriesi over merit award

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inister of Aviation Stella Oduah said the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Mr. George Uriesi, truly de (FAAN) served the National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM) award bestowed on him and 19 other distinguished Nigerians by President Goodluck Jonathan on August 15, 2013 in Abuja.

The minister made the remark when she made an unscheduled appearance at a reception held in honour of Mr. Uriesi by some staff of FAAN in Abuja.

She affirmed that Mr. Uriesi had turned the fortunes of FAAN, from that of a parastatal reeling under the weight of heavy indebtedness, to generate funds in excess of N8billion to become one of the

financially self-sustaining bodies in less than two years of his appointment as the authority’s chief executive officer.

She described Mr. Uriesi as “a true professional who understand his tasks and is bent on achieving them” adding that he inherited one of the worst Government agencies in Nigeria which he had undoubtedly transformed, through his “passion to deliver”.

The Minister told FAAN staff present at the event that they did not have any choice but to transform the authority into an efficient agency that would contribute significantly to the socio-economic development of the country, promising that government was willing to encourage them to make that goal feasible.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

PAGE 21

Pension&Insurance Union wants FG to enroll 2006 retirees on pension pay roll

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he Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), Federal Civil Service, Lagos Sector has urged the Federal Government to enroll 2006 retirees on the pension pay roll.

The Chairman of the sector, Mr Pius Chukwura, made this appeal when he spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

Chukwura said many of the pensioners were actually suffering and were living on `handouts’ from

families and friends.

“Many of them have not been paid their gratuity since 2006 when they were retired till date, not to talk of being on the pension pay roll.

“Those of them who can make it still come to the secretariat here at the Federal Civil Service Club, Ikoyi, to update their records.

“We have about 10, 000 of such members who have done their paper works and completed the necessary forms which we have sent

to the Head of Service.

“Uptill now, nothing has come out of it,” he said.

Chukwura said that the appeal had become necessary to ensure that the hardship being faced by some of their members were reduced.

“We are not saying that all the names should be included in the pay roll at once, but it would be a relief if during our Wednesday meetings, some pensioners were told their gratuity had been paid or their

names are now on the pay roll.’’

The chairman, who is also the NUP National Secretary, said that its secretariats nationwide were always updating the lists of pensioners.

He said that they also assist members in completing necessary forms and the documents to submit and forward same to the Head of Service.

Chukwura said the union also took statistics of pensioners who received their pay every month and hose who

were not paid.

He said they also update the list of those who died each time they held their meeting.

The chairman said the union would cooperate with the 25-member committee set up by the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation.

He said the cooperation would be to ensure that all pensioners were accurately captured in the database to receive their monthly pensions.

(NAN)

Yuguda, Insurance chiefs for Business Journal 5th anniversary lecture/awards

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R-L: Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Dr. Godknows Igali, Nigerian Ambassador to Portugal, Ambassador Ijeoma Bushe, and Director, IRI - Lunar Consult Limited, Professor Ike Ukeji, during their working visit to the ministry, yesterday in Abuja.

Stanbic IBTC Pension launches mobile office Stories FROM NGOZI ONYEAKUSI, LAGOS tanbic IBTC Pension Managers has launched its mobile office to educated and provide the public with an easy access to information.

Speaking at the launch of the product in Lagos, the Managing Director Dr Demola Sogunle said the company took the step to bring pension services closer to the people, adding that the vehicle which is equipped with the state-of-the-art information and communications technology devices would be driven round the state to meet the pension needs of the public.

According to Sogunle, the firm would soonest launch the scheme in Abuja, Port Harcourt and other major cities in the country.

He said the company has a client base of over 1 million Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders, as well as assets of over N941 billion, adding that the PFA currently serves as an administrator for over 50 Approved Employee Schemes (Gratuity and Provident Fund Schemes) and total assets under such schemes are valued at over N141 billion.

He noted that the firm pays about N1.8 billion to about 26,000 retirees

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monthly and over N178 billion had been paid on time to such retirees since inception in 2006.

He said: “At Stanbic IBTC, we are driven by our 5 key pillars which form the basis of our unique selling proposition. These are safety; track record, convenience, service and transparency. Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers is backed by strong and reputable financial institutions and is a member of the over 150 year-old Standard Bank.

“We have access to Stanbic IBTC group’s in-depth market research which boosts our research investment decisions. The Stanbic IBTC group has been managing funds for companies and individuals for close to 2 decades.

“We are in over 180 locations nationwide and have also provided account access via internet, telephone, email, SMS and ATM. We offer value added services such as pension payments, retirement planning advice, personal financial planning calculator, and financial reporting as well as providing transaction notification on all contributions, quarterly statements and quarterly newsletters to enable clients better understand the working of the CPS and management of their RSAs.”

Insurance industry consultative committee commences today

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he Insurance Industry Consultative Committee (IICC) which was designed to unite and promote common interest among the various arms of the sector will be inaugurated today.

The Acting Director-General, President Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) ,Kola Ahmad, who confirmed this, said the Commissioner for Insurance Fola Daniel, would flagged-off the committee at the CIIN headquarters in Lagos.

The committee, according Ahmad would be made up of executives of the various arms, which would before coming to meetings, meet with their members and table issues bothering on their operations and practice, and present same to the committee to be chaired by the Commissioner for Insurance.

The initiator of the committee, the immediate Past President of CIIN Dr. Wole Adetimehim, said issues such as the modalities, objective, constitution of membership, regularity of frequency of

meetings, chairmanship of the body, administration of the body, who qualifies to be member of the committee, have all been sorted out.

He noted that for many years, if the industry has had this kind of bonding, it would have made tremendous progress.

He said: “What has been in place for many years, was that the various arm of the industry, do approached and sort out issues with our regulator oneon-one, whether the interest of the other arms are affected or would be affected, there has never been any recognition of that possibility. At the end of the day, in the past, we often have conflict of interest.

“The Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), would sorted itself out, whether the interest of brokers are taken care of nobody bothers. The Nigeria Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), would approach the regulator with issues, they would be trashed out, whether the Institute of Loss Adjusters of Nigeria (ILAN), has been stepped upon, nobody cares.”

allam Isa Yuguda, Executive Governor of Bauchi State and Chief Executives of leading insurance firms in the country are set to grace the 5th Anniversary Lecture/ Awards of Business Journal magazine scheduled for Friday, September 6, 2013 at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja.

A statement by Prince Cookey, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Business Journal, stated that Yuguda would be the special guest of honur at the event and will also receive an award: ‘Champion of Good Governance & Sustainable Development’ in recognition of his sterling qualities in promoting the tenets of good governance in Nigeria and embarking on sustainable developmental strides in Bauchi State .

In the same vein, leading insurance firms in the country would be honoured with ‘Insurance Industry Leadership Award’ in recognition of their corporate achievements and performance in the insurance industry over the years.

Cookey said the anniversary lecture which has at its theme: ‘Is Nigeria Growing Forward or Developing Backward’, is designed to provide a platform for stakeholders in critical sectors of the economy to review the state of the media industry and national economy, and draw a roadmap for sustainable future.

He said the theme is apt given the inability of the economy to create jobs and reduce high level of poverty in the country despite Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of between six and eight per cent per annum, according to latest figures from the government and various international financial institutions.

The Business Journal publisher said the event would be chaired by Engr. Ernest Ndukwe, immediate past Executive Vice-Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) while the guest speakers include Mr. Chike Mokwunye, Group Managing Director/CEO, Royal Exchange Plc and Mr. Roberts Orya, Managing Director/CEO, Nigerian ExportImport Bank (NEXIM).

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PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

Business

FG identifies 34 solid minerals in commercial quantity

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he Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Alhaji Musa Sada, said the federal government had identified over 34 different solid minerals in commercial quantity in different parts of the country.

Sada, said this in a message he sent to a workshop on Economic Diversification and Enhancement of Revenue Generation, taking place in Gombe.

The workshop was organised

by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) for the North-East subregion.

Represented by the Chief Accountant in the ministry, Mrs Edith Ezeokoli, the minister said diversification of the economy was a major component of the federal government’s transformation agenda.

He said a lot of the minerals had been found in the North-

Eastern part of the country, which according to him, when harnessed, can benefit the host communities.

“The North-east geo-political zone in particular, is endowed with a variety of mineral resources comprising clay, coal (lignite), kaolin, marble, limestone, barite, bentonite,and lead/zinc ores, among others.

“Exploitation of some of these minerals, has made this part of

the nation, especially Potiskum and Fika, hubs for gypsum trading activities.

“The discovery of very high grade iron ore in Nangere Local Government Area of Yobe State and Trona in both Borno and Yobe states, have joined to make these states, and indeed the North-East Zone, a centre for sourcing trona for domestic and industrial use,” he said.

The minister called on mining operators to add value to their products before selling them to enhance their economic value.

He also called on researchers to conduct researches on how to add value to Nigeria’s mineral resources before exporting same.

The minister urged state governments to provide logistic support to local mining companies to increase their productivity and jobs creation potentials. (NAN)

GT Bank reports N57.36Billion PBT From Ayodele Samuel, lagos

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L-R: Gombe state governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo, and Chairman, Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMATC), Mr Elias Mbam, during the commission’s North-east zonal advocacy workshop on economic diversification and enhanced revenue generation, on Monday in Gombe.

PHOTO:NAN

ATCON calls for more local online applications

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he President, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) Mr. Lanre Ajayi has called for more local applications on the internet.

Ajayi made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

He said that putting more applications on the Internet would enable people to utitlise the available broadband on the country’s shore. ``From the result we received, less than five per cent of the capacity of the bandwidth is being used, which means that there is more supply than demand. ``We have abundant supply at the shore, but they are not being consumed. ``We need to put up

applications that will motivate people to use the Internet and applications that are relevant to people’s life,’’ he said.

According to him, applications such as e-learning, e-health, e-government, e-commerce and others, will motivate people to go online and consume the available network capacity.

He said that connectivity was another factor militating against full utilisation of the available broadband.

Ajayi said that the issue of lack of broadband connectivity in the hinterlands had made the available bandwidth to lie fallow. ``The distribution network and the capacity that will take the supply to various locations around the country seem to be having some challenges,’’ he said. (NAN)

CISLAC advises FG to ensure judicious allocation of resources

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non-governmental body, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), has advised the Federal Government to ensure judicious allocation of resources to enhance the welfare of the populace.

The Executive Director of the group, Malam Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, made the call on in Abuja at a one-day dialogue session on the cost of governance in Nigeria.

The session was organised by CISLAC with support from the Federal Public Administration Reform Programme.

Musa stressed the need for the government to accord priority to the welfare of citizens, adding that citizens’ welfare was the

primary purpose of governance.

The executive director said that no nation could develop without substantial and consistent investments in critical sectors that would promote opportunities for citizens to be productive.

He said that every government was duty-bound to increase income generation and wealth creating opportunities for its citizens.

“Effective planning with prudent and judicious management of public expenditure would be necessary to deliver on good governance,” Musa said.

He attributed some of the societal ills in Nigeria to mismanagement of resources by public officials. (NAN)

uaranty Trust Bank plc yesterday released its audited financial results for the half year ended June 30, 2013 to the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges.

A review of the June 2013 result shows positive performance across all financial indices. Gross Earnings for the half year period of 2013 stood at N124.20 billion an increase of N10.68 billion from the N113.53 billion reported for the corresponding period in 2012. Profit Before Tax was N57.36billion, up from N53.64 billion recorded in June 2012. The Bank reported a 2013 half year Profit After Tax of N49.01billion an increase over the N45.55 billion reported in June 2012.

The Bank closed the half year ended June 2013 with Total Assets and Contingents of N2.50trillion, customer deposits of N1.25 trillion and Shareholders’ Funds of N296.95 Billion. The Bank’s nonperforming loans remained low at 3.41%. On the backdrop of this result, Return on Equity (ROAE) and Return on Assets (ROAA) closed at 33.78% and 5.45% respectively for period ended June, 2013. The Bank is proposing interim dividend payment of N7.36 billion to Shareholders (N0.25 per ordinary share of 50 kobo each).

Mr. Segun Agbaje, the Managing Director/CEO of Guaranty Trust Bank plc attributed the Bank’s success during the half year period to the continued support of its customers, hard work of its dedicated staff and strong corporate governance standards.

According to Mr. Agbaje, a major objective for the Bank this year is adding value to its stakeholders through excellent customer service delivery, innovative products and value adding services. It is the Bank’s beliefs that success on these fronts would enable it deepen its share of market across all sectors and improve profitability, despite today’s extremely challenging business environment. He also thanked the customers for their loyalty and staff for their continued hard work and dedication.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

PAGE 23

Stock Watch

Report as at Tuesday, August 20, 2013

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

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PAGE 25

Special Report

Repositioning Nigerian youths for a better future Today’s youths are angry at the nation’s leaders. They are exasperated by the tale of how good the nation once was to its youths, a story that runs contrary to their experiences. Chris Alu and Evelyn Okakwu reports.

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or nearly two years that the current President Good luck Jonathan has presided over the affairs of this nation, a major landmark of his administration has been the appointment of very young persons in very sensitive positions of public trust at the national level.

It is clear that the current administration is well aware that engaging the Nigerian younger persons with the requisite skills and technical acumen was one of the fastest way of growing the economy of Nigeria and repositioning Nigeria to assume the rare position as one of the nations in the third World that is willing to witness swift transition from the current less than impressive global position to the lofty position as a developed economy.

A former Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Engineer Ernest Ndukwe once told the story of how he landed a job before the completion of his youth service.

According to the former NCC boss, “I graduated from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo) in 1975 and went for my National Youths Service Corps in Lagos.

Before I completed the youth service, I got job offers from two companies. After the service, I decided to join a company called Radio Communications Nigeria Limited (RCN). In those days, you had a choice of job selection.

“I was offered a job with Lever Brothers Nigeria Ltd as a trainee manager with a higher remuneration. It was a 50 per cent higher pay than my salary at RCN but because I felt RCN was more in tune with what I studied, I jettisoned the idea of working with Lever Brothers. I remember Lever Brothers offered me N5,000 per annum while RCN offered N3,500 per annum. But I was looking for relevance in my chosen field, not the money and that decided for me the company to join.”

Many of today’s youths would love to trade places with Ndukwe, whose story is like that of nearly all those who graduated from the universities in the 1950’s 1960’s, 1970’s and the early 1980’s, because unlike the former NCC boss and others of his generation, the youth of today are faced with diminishing job opportunities despite the growing rate of the economy.

Then, university graduates were treated like royalty, they

had the world at their feet and had vast opportunities laid out for them. Not only was securing a job a cinch, the job was often accompanied with a car as well accommodation. Tertiary education was then seen as the key to success.

Because they had easy access to jobs, the youth of old were able to devote their energies and intellect to positive endeavours and ended up contributing immensely to national development. Chief Anthony Enahoro, who moved the motion for Nigeria’s independence, became a member of the parliament in his twenties, Professor Chinua Achebe wrote his award winning novel, Things Fall Apart in his twenties and became the Director of External Broadcasting at the Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) in 1966 at the age of 36; Professor Wole Soyinka became a literary icon before he turned 30, Chief Emeka Odimegwu-Ojukwu became governor of the Eastern Region in his mid 30’s, Olu Akikungbe became a professor at 34 and later served as vice chancellor in two federal universities; Dr Omololu Olunloyo became a commissioner at 27 while Chief

An uncertain future awaits these National Youth Service Corps members during their passing out parade.

Some youth gathered at a public rally in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, recently Richard Akinjide became a minister in his late twenties.

Globally, most developing economies have already accepted the practice of appointing or electing younger citizens into sensitive political positions as a given which is why a young upwardly mobile community development worker and junior Senator in the person of Barack Obama was elected January 20th 2009 as the first black President of the United States of America (at age 48) and that is precisely why in places such as Australia (Julia Gillard) and the United Kingdom (David Cameron) were elected at one time or the other as Prime Minister of their respective nations.

It was the good life that university education bestowed on the graduates of the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s that spurred many people to seek the Golden Fleece. Many parents deprived themselves of all comforts for their wards to have tertiary education. However, things have changed.

A degree no longer guarantees a good employment neither does it confer on the holder the much desired good life. The opportunities have thinned out; the number of job seekers outstrips, by far, the available job opportunities. It becomes more difficult by the year for university graduates to get a job because the number keeps increasing annually.

For every advertised vacancy, at least 1,000 qualified

candidates will apply. Hence, for the youth, frustration is a constant companion. Their frustration soars with every job opportunity that passes them by.

With the frustration has come anger. The youth are angry that unlike what obtains in other societies where a generation makes sacrifices for the succeeding one so that it can have a better experience, the situation in the country is that the leaders have lapped up all the opportunities and have left the succeeding generations to carry the can. Their anger has given rise to protests. Young people are always in the vanguard of protests in this country.

When the Federal Government attempted to remove fuel subsidy in January 2012, the youth took to the streets and forced the government to cut back on the fuel price increase. Again, youths are the champions of the protests against the ongoing strike action embarked upon by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

Their anger has also resulted in deviancy, quite a number of Nigerian youths have taken up behaviours that are at variance with the culture and practice of the society. Today, prostitution is practiced with pride. Those engaged in the practice, some of who are graduates of tertiary institutions, have shunned all forms of shame; they claim they have to use what they have to get what they need.

Similarly, the youth engage in all manner of violent crimes.

The youth are mainly behind armed robbery, kidnapping, pipeline vandalism and oil theft.

They are also the brains behind internet fraud and many other crimes. They claim this is their own way of moving against a society that has shut all doors of opportunities to them.

Expressing her frustration and anger, a graduate of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Aisha Augie said, “The United States of America is viewed as a land of opportunities because its story keeps getting better one generation after the other. However, in Nigeria, every generation narrows the opportunities available to the succeeding one. That is why every succeeding generation seems to be worse off than the preceding ones and the glorious days in the country seem to be in the past. It is common place in

the country to refer to the past in glowing terms and the present in gloomy tones.

How far can we get as a people if things keep going from good to bad and bad to worse with every generation?

The leaders are only interested in their own affairs, that is why they have made it difficult for the youth to thrive. Unfortunately, they keep blaming the youth for their own failings.”

Speaking in a similar vein, Abubakar Saddiq, an unemployed university graduate, observed that the generations before his own had robbed his generation of the joy of being Nigerians. “Time was in this country when everyone who had the mental capacity could get a scholarship to see them through the university. That is no longer available, you have to pay through your nose or get involved in untoward things if you have the misfortune of being

born by struggling parents.

“Time was in this country when there were job opportunities for university graduates. The leaders have wiped away the opportunities.

Time was when the universities in the country were rated as highly as other notable universities. Our leaders, for their lack of vision, have destroyed the university system. Time was when the hospitals were healing centres and not consulting centres. Time was when pipe-borne water was available and nobody had to sink a borehole. Time was when the roads were very good and not death traps. Time was when new cars were affordable.

The preceding generations had the good life and destroyed it for the succeeding generations.

It was as if they deliberately destroyed the ladder that took them up to make it difficult for others to also get up. What kind of country is this? How can a young man with all the energy and intellect be happy with these destructive leaders?”

Commenting on the frustration of the youth, Mohammed Abdullahi, a 2010 Political Science graduate of the University of Abuja in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), who said if he felt bad that at 28 years of age he still had to depend on his parents and siblings to get basic things because of his unemployment, observed that “It is as if the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the teeth of the children are set on edge. To my mind, the most unfortunate thing

that can happen to a country is to have leaders who have no plan for the future. Unfortunately, that is the situation we have in this country.

“We have leaders who do not believe in creating opportunities; they are more interested in wiping them out. They know nothing about preparing for the future, making sacrifices is a tall order for them; their interest is in feathering their own nest. They have no plan for succeeding generations because that will affect the satisfaction of their greed. That is why they take loans and blow the funds on frivolities; that is why they are only interested in sharing the cake and not baking it, that is why our elected representatives have no qualms stealing from the treasury because they only live for the moment. They have, however, forgotten that if the nation’s founding fathers had had the same disposition, they would have had a difficult time.”

Speaking on the expectations of the youth, Aisha said, “For years, they have referred to us as the leaders of tomorrow but the same people that were in power in the 1960’s are still largely the ones around now.

So, when will the future they had been talking about since the 1960’s come? They should give the youth a chance to lead. In the civil service, the elderly keep falsifying their ages so that they can remain in employment and by so doing deprive the youth the opportunity of being employed.

“The leaders should replicate

“

A degree no longer guarantees a good employment neither does it confer on the holder the much desired good life. The opportunities have thinned out; the number of job seekers outstrips, by far, the available job opportunities

Some youths ina group discussion at a tertiary

what the founding fathers of the country did so that we can have a better country. Sir Ahmadu Bello ensured that the economy of the North thrived just as Chief Obafemi Awolowo did all he could to give a good life to the people of the West and Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe also ensured that things went well for the people of the East. How did they do this? They created opportunities for the people. That is what we demand of the current leaders. I don’t think that is too much to ask”, she stated.

Speaking along the same line, Abayomi said, “Former President Olusegun Obasanjo recently said some young people that were given opportunity in political leadership misbehaved. While that may be true, the indisputable fact is that some of them performed creditably well. Then, since the African Youth Charter and the Nigerian constitution state that the youth should be allowed to participate in the process of nation building, the leaders need to deliberately make room for us to participate in political leadership.

“The leaders already have an edge over the youth, so they have to make deliberate efforts to help the youth into leadership positions if they mean what they say that we are the leaders of the future because the future starts now”, he said.

The position of the youth corresponds with that of Mr. Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations,

in a statement he released on the occasion of this year’s International Youth Day. Annan observed that “Young people – with their dynamism, their energy and their inherent understanding of our interconnected world – have much to teach us. Increased educational attainment, advances in technology and the spread of information have made this generation the best educated, most connected and most informed in history.”

Annan added that the youth “Committed to finding solutions to some of our most enduring challenges, they show just how much young people have to offer if given the opportunity to step up and take on leadership roles... I am convinced more than ever that any society that does not succeed in tapping into the energy and creativity of its youth will be left behind.”

In the context of the 2015 election that we are preparing for, the Nigerian youth are well advised to key in into the active politics of their respective communities and states even as they ought to join the political party of their choice through which they can contest for any elective positions of authority in the 2015 elections.

More importantly, they ought to develop workable blueprints on changing the face f politics n Nigeria from what we know as politics of looting of public fund to politics of development and human capital development.

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PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

Property

Udenna Orji@yahoo.com

What you need to know about mortgage tenor Debating between a 15 and 30 year mortgage? Check out the pros and cons of each to help you pick the right loan

By Udenna Orji

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f you're thinking about buying a new home or refinancing your current home loan, one big thing you're probably contemplating is your mortgage term. So, what's better, a 15- or 30-year mortgage plan?

Unfortunately, there's no right answer. There are pros and cons to both, but the secret to making the right decision is understanding your budget and financial needs.

So, depending on your financial situation, there are pros and cons to both a 15- and 30-year mortgage. Keep reading to learn more...

Short-Term Loan (15 years) The Pros...

P

aying Down Your Loan Faster: There has been a jump in the 15-year fixed-rate mortgages as more people choose to pay down their debts. This happens if interest rates are low as the monthly payment difference can be minimal. Families who can afford the higher 15-year mortgage payment choose it so that they

can own their homes sooner and avoid the pressure of payments if hard economic times are ahead.

Lower Interest Rate: Shorterterm mortgages -for example, a 15-year mortgage instead of a 30year mortgage - generally have lower interest rates. Lenders offer a lower rate because they know you will pay it back sooner. The new mentality of the consumer is, 'Let's get ourselves into a better financial picture.' A lot of people see this as a tremendous opportunity to get into a situation so that when they retire they'll have minimal debt on their house or none.

The 15-year payments force people to spend their extra cash on their home and thus pay it off sooner and with less interest.

The Cons...

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igher Monthly Payments: The drawback to a 15-year loan for some consumers is that the payments will naturally be higher whereas payments stretched out over 30 years will be lower. This is typically the factor that determines which type of loan the homeowners will choose.

You have to make sure you have the ability to repay and know where that payment is going to fit

into your budget. If the cost of the house is, say N25million, monthly payment is going to be quite a bit more than what it would be if it were a 30-year mortgage.

If you can't afford a 15-year loan right away, start off with a 30-year mortgage with the goal of refinancing (replacing the current loan with one that has different terms) later on.

It's so much better if you can do a 15- or even a 10-year loan because of the savings you're going to get.

Long-Term Loan (30 years) The Pros...

S

o if everyone agrees that a 15-year mortgage pays down principal sooner and costs less in interest, are there any reasons to even consider a 30-year plan that will last longer and cost more? Plenty, it turns out.

Lower Monthly Payments: "Some people just don't have the financial resources to make the higher payment. So the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has been a tremendous saving grace to them.

It allows them to drop their payment and get their financial house

a little bit in order.

People who are approaching retirement might want a lower payment so they can have more spendable cash. Others who may benefit from lower payments include people who have lost their job, or self-employed individuals whose business has dropped.

If you're thinking about refinancing, for example, the 30year loan allows people to reset to a lower payment to get them through tough times. To some, it might mean the difference between keeping their home and not keeping their home, or the difference between having a lot of stress and breathing easier.

Extra Cash for Investments: Another positive of a 30-year mortgage is that a lower mortgage payment allows consumers to put any extra money they have into other investments each month.

If there's still money leftover, they can use it to make additional principal payments and still pay off their home sooner.

Inflation Agrees with a 30Year Mortgage: There's one more reason a 30-year mortgage might turn out to be more desirable than a 15-year mortgage. One of the biggest concerns economists have

is inflation taking off. If that happens, it's good to have a fixed-rate 30-year mortgage because you'll be paying back the loan with diluted money - money that buys a lot now but won't in the future.

The people who benefit during inflation are the ones who owe someone else money.

The Cons...

Y

ears of Accrued Interest: The main reason to avoid 30-year loans, if possible, is that you'll end up paying a lot more in interest, and thus causing a home to cost much more than its selling price. What's more, for the first few years, your payments will be going primarily to interest.

And while you'll be able to write off your interest payments on your taxes, the amount drops off as the interest is paid down.

The Verdict When it comes to choosing the right loan term for you, the pros agree that there's not one answer to fit everyone. The key is to examine your own situation - your earning potential, as well as your short-term needs and long-term goals. Once you've assessed your needs, then you can decide which solution is right for you.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

PAGE 27

Property

Bankers forecast growth for Nigeria’s real estate market

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new World Bank report says Nigeria has the potential to become Africa’s foremost economic power, with an average GDP of six per cent per annum, buoyed by a young and growing population of 160 million. Morgan Stanley, an investment banking institution, has also predicted that Nigeria’s economy would outperform South Africa’s by 2025 to become the biggest in Africa.

Both institutions say Nigeria’s macroeconomic outlook is favourable. With an expected stable inflation rate, five per cent rural to urban immigration, and three per cent population growth, the financial institutions say Nigeria is a huge real estate market by all standards.

‘Nigeria’s housing deficit caused by poor mortgage devt.’

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he nation’s shortfall of over 16 million houses has been attributed to the deficient structures of the mortgage industry in Nigeria.

Mr. Elias Ovesuor a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) and Managing Partner, U.K. Ovesuor & Partners who made this known said “mortgage financing as an instrument for home financing for now, I can say we are having problems with it because the Federal Government is trying to inject funds into the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) which is like a CBN to the primary Mortgage Institutions (PMIs). But the structures are still deficient and the people are not well organized, because of that, what the FMBN is supposed to do, it is not doing. So, as we are talking now, the things that are supposed to be happening in the mortgage sector are not happening.

Mortgage finance as far as I am concerned, is not functioning effectively in the country. Only a few people are benefiting from it as opposed to the spirit of the institution which makes it mandatory for a lot people to benefit.”

Why real estate opportunities in Nigeria keep growing Stories by Udenna Orji

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

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

new housing policy.

The reason for the blossoming real estate sector in Nigeria, according to Seyi Oyetunde, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Continental Estates, is because “real estate cannot crash, it stabilizes. Demand is higher than supply in real estate.

I tell you there is nowhere else like real estate. The richest men in the world, if you look at their wealth, the bulk of it comes from real estate. I can’t remember exactly now but I know about 90 per cent of the world’s richest men thrive in real estate. Even when they do other things, it is based on their stock of real estate. They own corner shops everywhere, corner shops that enjoy appre-

ciation. Because they own their own shops, they don’t rent and if at all they’ve got to rent, maybe it’s out of compulsion. But 90% or 95% of their locations are out rightly owned. People whose wealth is phenomenal and will last about four generations without effort are in real estate. I tell you it is exodus syndrome that happens in Nigeria. With the direct foreign investment into the Nigerian market too, many shops are opened, so many people globally are beginning to realize that the local market in Nigeria is attractive for their various businesses. One of the first things they will need is commercial real estate and then maybe back it up with one serious luxury

apartment for the CEO and then the other managers can be given housing allowances and the rest of them.”

Analyzing further, he said “Nigeria is a seriously emerging economy, the opportunities here are phenomenal. When I say phenomenal I mean it’s pretty huge. We have seen the impact of direct foreign investment into Nigeria in the past three years and there is a lot more to be said.

“The capital market has witnessed its boom; it is right now in a depression and real estate which was neither here nor there for a long while is suddenly beginning to enjoy unprecedented gains too.

Those are the things that

drove the likes of myself about four years ago to cultivate a new set of clientele, the billionaire’s club, people who have loads of money, intelligent people but with no wherewithal on real estates. We’ve been able to cultivate and build serious portfolio for them and for all its worth, most of them can boast of not just having money alone locally or offshore, they can boast of owning an estate.

“When I say estates, we are not talking of one house or two houses or multiple of duplexes but holding huge chuck of real estate that over time has enjoyed serious appreciation. That is what I would want to say about ourselves.”

Industry operators propose strategises to boost affordable housing

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eal Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), has called for a national strategy to boost the development of low cost housing and social housing in Nigeria.

Among its proposed options is the need for governments at the various levels to compel estate developers in high brow areas like Ikoyi, Lekki, Asokoro in Abuja, Port Harcourt to incorporate in their schemes, low cost housing for the workers that are serving

residents and owners of high end properties in these estates. This means that ongoing and new developments in high brow areas must make provisions for the low and medium income groups with 10 per cent of houses in such estates set aside for the low income group, another 10 per cent for the medium income earners and the balance of 80 per cent set aside for the high income group.

To achieve this, REDAN is facilitating a meeting of stake-

holders, including the Minister of Housing, Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN).

According to a REDAN official, Mr. Shola Enitan, the association is also canvassing support for social housing provision whereby people in distress can be temporarily accommodated in decent government houses before they are able to sort themselves out. “Except for the des-

titute, there must be a place of temporary abode for a family, who may have accommodation crisis, either with their landlords or by other means. No Nigerian should be allowed to spend all his earnings paying house rent to landlords, either private landlord or government for ever, and in a situation by which government is the landlord, the tenants must have the opportunity to buying off the apartment at the long run without much sweat,”

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

PAGE 28

New Jeep Cherokee marks return of classic jeep

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Motoring

he 2014 Jeep Cherokee marks the return of a classic Jeep nameplate. Previous Jeep Cherokees were no-frills off-road vehicles that provided little more than basic transportation when you got them on the pavement. The 2014 Cherokee is wholly different. It’s a small crossover SUV. And while it still has a fair

amount of allterrain ability, this new Jeep is more remarkable for its spacious and attractively furnished cabin, pleasant ride and smooth V6 engine.

Although the 2014 Cherokee has about the same footprint as the Dodge Dart sedan (with which it shares its basic platform architecture), it feels far roomier on the inside and has one of the most accommodating rear seats of any compact crossover in this price range. The downside is that prioritizing passenger space has resulted in a lower maximum cargo volume: With its rear seats folded, the Jeep has 10-15 fewer cubic feet than most competitors.

So it won’t haul as many packages of toilet paper, but the 2014 Jeep Cherokee has something most rival SUVs don’t: an optional V6 engine. Based on the powerful Pentastar six-cylinder used in the Grand Cherokee, this 3.2-liter V6 engine makes an impressive 271 horsepower and delivers that power in a smooth, refined manner via an all-new nine-speed automatic transmission. The nine-speed automatic is also included with the base

2.4-liter four-cylinder engine.

On paper, the four-cylinder makes competitive power for this class, but the Chero-

kee is heavier than most rivals, so real-world acceleration is sluggish.

Both engines are available with front-wheel-drive and fourwheel-drive configurations. Jeep is actually offering two 4WD systems. Active Drive I is your basic light-duty 4WD system (basically what most shoppers think of as all-wheel drive), and it’s just fine if you merely need a little extra traction in winter snowstorms.

Next up is Active Drive II, which adds low-range gearing and is aimed at Cherokee buyers expecting to venture farther off the beaten path.

It’s nice to have that go-almost-anywhere capability when you need it, but the 2014 Jeep Cherokee also comes with some new tech features that you’ll probably make use of a lot more often. An 8.4-inch touchscreen interface is available in most models, and there’s also an option package that bundles forward collision, lane departure and blind-spot warning systems with automatic high-beam control, adaptive cruise control and an automated parallel and perpendicular parking system. Indeed,

the Cherokee is the first Jeep that will park itself, and it’s an unu-

sual f e a t u r e to see in this class.

However, the small crossover SUV class is loaded with excellent choices. You’ll definitely want to look at top sellers like the 2014 Ford Escape and 2014 Honda CR-V, as well as the Mazda CX-5, as all of these crossovers match up well with the Jeep and offer better performance with their four-cylinder engines. If a V6 is a must for you, the similarly sized 2014 Kia Sorento has more cargo room and an available third-row seat. Finally, if you’re really interested in going off-road, you’ll find that more utilitarian vehicles like Jeep’s own Wrangler and the Toyota FJ Cruiser offer more capability on rough terrain. Unquestionably, though, the 2014 Cherokee is the most complete small Jeep we’ve driven in years, and it’s worth a look if you’re shopping for a small SUV. Body Styles, Trim Levels, and Options The 2014 Jeep Cherokee is a small, five-passenger crossover SUV offered in four trim levels: Sport, Latitude, Trailhawk and Limited.

Standard equipment on the Sport includes 17-inch steel wheels and all-season tires; airconditioning; power accessories; keyless remote entry; a tilt-andtelescoping steering wheel; a 60/40-split folding and reclining rear seat; Bluetooth phone and audio connectivity; and a six-speaker audio system with a 5-inch touchscreen interface, USB/iPod integration, an auxiliary audio input and an SD card reader. Options include a Cold Weather Group package with a

wiper de-icer and heating for the front seats, steering wheel and mirrors. You can get alloy wheels, a rearview camera, satellite radio and a CD player a s

s t a n d alone options.

The Latitude adds alloy wheels, roof rails, foglights, body-color door handles and mirrors, privacy-tinted glass, LED interior lighting, a folding front passenger seat, a leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls, vinyl trim on the door panels and a 115volt outlet. In addition, Jeep Cherokee Latitudes come with a wider range of options, including a V6 engine, dual sunroofs (the front roof opens; the rear glass is fixed), an upgraded ninespeaker audio system and an 8.4inch touchscreen interface with smartphone app integration. The Comfort/Convenience package bundles a power liftgate, automatic headlights, dual-zone automatic climate control, an eightway power driver seat, a rearview camera, satellite radio, remote start and a cargo cover and net.

The off-road-themed Trailhawk is 4WD only and comes with slightly wider 17-inch wheels and all-terrain tires; unique suspension tuning (aimed at making the Jeep more capable in the dirt); a rear locking differential; functional skid plates and tow hooks; unique fascia trim and side moldings; upgraded instrumentation; the 8.4-inch touchscreen and satellite radio. The upgraded audio system and Comfort/Convenience package are also optional on the Trailhawk, but now you have access to a panoramic sunroof (that opens over the rear seat if desired), leather upholstery and a navigation system. You can also get the Technology package, which includes automatic highbeam control; adaptive cruise control; forward collision and lane departure warning and mitigation systems; blind-spot and rear cross-traffic warning systems; and an automated parallel and perpendicular parking system.

Source: Edmunds.com

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

PAGE 29

Arts & Culture

FROM THE LIVE STAGE

BRIEFS

‘African Politics and Society in the 21st Century’ Book Reviews

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yodzua Atim points to African leadership as source of cultural weaknesses MAKURDI, Nigeria – According to author Tyodzua Atim, most African countries are, after more than 100 years of statehood, still facing serious challenges of political instability, low growth, underdevelopment and stagnation.

Atim’s new book, “African Politics and Society in the 21st Century” (published by Author House), explores those challenges and their

Author: Tyodzua Atim Title: “African Politics and Society in the 21st Century” Publisher: Author House Page: 450 pages causes, offering leadership a path out of the hard times.

“These challenges have created a dysfunctional African society and destroyed the heroic and proud myth of resilience and hard work associated with a typical African,” says Atim. In the book, he analyzes the trends and what he calls the “dynamics of the breakdown of family and instructional values, which have necessitated the classification of most African

states as failed.”

“African Politics and Society in the 21st Century” relies on empirical evidence to demonstrate that African culture has hindered initiative and promoted mediocrity, deceit and tyranny.

“I want readers to gain exposure to the latest antics of those in power arising from the quest for democratization in the world,” says Atim.

“The Power to Actualize Your Dreams”

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BUJA, Nigeria – In “The Power to Actualize Your Dreams: The Pathway to Achieving Sincere Fulfilment and Freedom” (published by Author House), Nelly Chinenye Reuben’s new book of guidance and advice, young readers discover the power they have to shape their dreams and find success.

Reuben touts “The Power to Actualize Your Dreams” as an action-focused book designed to help people attain greatness in life. She emphasizes realistic guidelines, offering processes, steps, strategies an principles of conceiving ideas into action. Reuben teaches readers to become what she calls “the master in actualizing [their] ideas, talents, dreams and vision,” and she makes clear the qualities a person needs to exemplify to succeed. An excerpt from “The Power to Actualize Your Dreams”: “Dreams are interesting! There

Author: Title: Publisher: Page:

Nelly Chinenye Reuben “The Power to Actualize Your Dreams” Author House 152 pages

are various forms of dreams across different areas of nature, such as career, relationship, marriage, future, and leadership. All these are different dreams with one common attribute: the power to actualize. Is there any dreamer who does not wish to actualize his or her dream? Everyone does!”

Reuben subscribes to the idea that giving young people the keys to success has a positive impact on society as a whole. “There is a need to focus more on utilizing and maximizing the talents of the people,” she suggests. “Talents are the greatest seed of investment. Discovering and utilizing it will bring comprehensive, positive change the fortune, growth and development of society.”

UNESCO begins to rehabilitate cultural sites destroyed in northern Mali

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he UNESCO has launched activities to rehabilitate the cultural heritage sites that were destroyed in Timbuktu, northern Mali, a source from the town has said.

The rehabilitation work will mainly be carried out on Djiganrey ber mosque, El Farouk monument, the mausoleums of the saints and other cultural buildings that were destroyed by the islamists.

The source said the ceremony to launch the rehabilitation work was attended by local elders, a delegation from UNESCO office in Bamako and the chief architect, Alpha Diop.

In remarks during the forum, Sokona Tounkara, a local UNESCO official, said the organisation will work with the Timbuktu community to rehabilitate, restore and protect their cultural heritage.

Also speaking on behalf of the Timbuktu community, Addramane Ben El Sayouti, the Imam

of Djiganrey ber mosque, hailed UNESCO for keeping its promise to rehabilitate the monuments and mausoleums.

The inhabitants of Timbuktu (the city 333 saints) are hope-

ful that the rehabilitation of the monuments will restore the town's tourist and historic status and that the acts of the islamists will just be a sad memory. (Xinhua/NAN)

Some of the cultural heritage destroyed by the insurgents

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

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INSANITY

here are moments one wakes up and it feels that this beautiful country is one huge lunatic asylum and that knowingly or unknowingly we are all insane. There was once this thinking that all public and even private officials need to undergo psychiatric evaluation. I believe the FRSC actually started and still conducts psychiatric evaluation for some line of people who handle the steering but are actually destined for the graveyard.

So in attempts to save them from apparent suicide, evaluate their level of sanity.

I am of the view that a lot of us need to go for this form of treatment and then some of us need to go for the extreme of actually been chained to trees like some animals. You recall that some native doctors still chain mentally ill patients to trees with unending flogging – in their minds this is the only form of treatment for this line of people. A lot of our public officers and officials deserve this plus more.

Why and at what point did we resort to treat ourselves like animals? Animals have even been known to show compassion to their likes. With all our religion, with houses of worship defacing our landscape and all manner of people springing up claiming direct access to God, we are still a very wicked and evil set of people.

Ten years ago, in a remote part of Abuja lands were sold. People proceeded to build. The authorities kept quiet. A decade later some people appear that they are contractors and that the entire area has been designated as a right of way for train tracks. Compensation will be paid and those who want will be resettled. However, enough time will be given for people to relocate. The buildings in the area are crossed with red paint. A couple of years later, they return and tell the people that the tracks will take another route. More people buy lands and some resell. Two years ago, the contractors return that there has been a change of mind. The route will still pass through this community that people should move. A year later while people were still at work, the contractors appear and invade the privacy of homes claiming they are evaluating the houses for compensation. Why at a time when people had gone to work? It is after this ‘invasion’ that they leave an address that people should come to their offices with papers showing proof of official allocation. The people meekly comply though they had to travel four hours to get to these offices.

At the beginning of 2013 the real insanity. Come today, come tomorrow. The community is invaded. The houses are double crossed again. Some with as many as three red marks. Demolition will commence at any point now they kept threatening. The whole community is under siege and those whose blood pressures could not bear the siege died in the process and some got very sick.

Three months into the year, the contractors appear with letters asking people to vacate their houses. No word is made again of any form of compensation for according to them the lands were illegally acquired. These were lands with official titles.

Then one morning, while people had gone to work and only children and housewives and the elderly were left in the houses, heavily armed soldiers, policemen and civil defence wielding sticks, guns and small knives appear. The clouds have gathered and it soon starts to rain. It is under such circumstances that the demolition starts. Those who were quick, got some of their property outside and with the sky blazing forth with rains, it was really not worth it but they still tried anyway. Those who dared to protest this inhumanity were humiliated and some thoroughly flogged in the rain.

Could this not have been done in a more humane manner? Yes, it is good to have rail tracks but we all know how some of these things function – the tracks might not arrive until a few months to 2015. Who took the decision to suddenly evacuate this community? And why under such beastly circumstances? In the name of compensation, some were paid peanuts a day before the demolition with the assurances that they will be given enough time to evacuate since the level of work was still far away, most were not paid. I ask, are these not Nigerians? Do they usually bring aliens to carry out these tasks hence the apparent evil in the way it is carried out? Must we treat ourselves so badly for us to be seen to be doing our jobs?

I once sat in a press conference organised by the chief executive of a parastatal to give his score card for the outgoing year.

Throughout the duration of the conference, what we were regaled with was how his agency demolished 25 structures! That was his scorecard for the year. What manner of insane people are these?

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

PAGE 30

Arts & Culture

Yellow-Yellow Rivers of Dreams (I) Book Review

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ugust 2007. I am alive. I just shook myself off a journey that I was definitely unprepared for. Ogun has sacrificed a mangy dog on behalf of my shivering spirits and thunderous sparks of fire mark Sango’s outrage at that cursed spot on America’s highway where the cutlass, hungry metal danced pangolo on a concrete road waiting for me, bush meat for evil deities. My faithful SUV looks like the broken trap that barely missed a prize antelope. I am alive, lucky antelope, and Sopono says to Iku, a pox on all your friends and our enemies! There will be another day when that journey will begin for me. But not now. Life is short. nd so I land in August, bleary-eyed.

FelaAnikulapoKuti is glaring at me.

Ten years ago, AbamiEda, the Weird One moved on, wagging his saxophone at us. The people remember Fela in song and they celebrate this meteor that came streaking by in slow motion. Christopher Okigbo is staring at Nigeria shaking his head at empty volleys of thunder. Forty years ago Christopher Okigbo moved on. We remember Okigbo and we shake our heads. What happened? And Chinua Achebe sits in chilly exile looking out across the Atlantic, Okonkwo in the winter of his life.

Fifty years ago, Chinua Achebe birthed Things Fall Apart. We remember and we shake our heads.

What happened?

Author: Title: Reviewer: Publisher: Page:

Kaine Agary Yellow- Yellow Ikhide R. Ikheloa Nnamdi Dtalkshop ( 2006) 179 pages

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A

nd so the other day, googling for Half of a Yellow Sun, I somehow came upon KaineAgary’sYellow-Yellow.

I had never heard of KaineAgary and the fact that the book was published in Nigeria by DTALKSHOP publishers aroused my interest.

I have been trying without much success to learn about Nigerian writing published in Nigeria and I was pleased to see that I could buy the book off the Internet at amazon.com. I can only say that this is the first time that I will agree with the blurb writers of a book when I quote RumbidzaiBwerinofa (“a truly authentic narrative of a region”) and Toni Kan (“stark and socially realistic”). Yellow-Yellow is not an easy book to write about; it is understated in an honest way and the writer’s limitations, if we call them that, ironically provide ammunition and strength to the telling of a great story. There is this spiritual defiance and attitude in Agary’s willingness to ignore traditional writing convention in order to birth a story about a phenomenon that I had never seen documented, certainly not in this fashion.

M

e, I am definitely not ready to move on. Life is too good. Even in exile. Besides, try to imagine a world without ME. Olorun ma je! I wake up born again, all sweaty in the dying heat of the August of yet another dying summer in America. What am I going to do with myself, my lawyers have given me a thorough medical examination and they say I am not fit to do anything until the insurance company of the olodo that tried to send me off settles me with oodles of useful US dollars.

Medical malpractice, say hello legal malpractice.

A

ugust, and I am restless. I turn to the priest Chinua Achebe for meanings locked tight in his brooding scroll Hopes and Impediments.

We should all read that book again and again. The answers that elude us are there. What is our purpose?

Why are we here? What are you doing with our gifts in the service of our people? Why am I asking all these questions? Perhaps my lawyers are right; this journey that missed me really messed up my thinking cells. It shall be well with me. Pray for me, people!

M

y lawyers are right; I ache all over, I ache badly – to wrap my eyes around a good book, just like my daughter Ominira yearns for a good summertime cheeseburger. So as I loiter around my hut

cally to come to terms with the meaning of life the alien planet that is America. Poignant, evocative, haunting in the desperation of the lives of the exiles, and just plain gripping is how I would describe both books. In the novel, The Namesake, Lahiri flawlessly executes the daunting transition from a writer of short stories to a novelist. Well almost, I do prefer her book of short stories. I read both books with a deep sense of envy and sadness in knowing that the books swirling around in my head have already been written by a goddess of letters. And I am left to wallow in the cloying discomfort of my alienation, with no hope of profiting from my neuroses. Read both books and you’ll never be the same again.

Cover off the book C waiting to be settled, I have been reading, searching for the book that will slake my thirst. I read Sidney Poitier’s latest, The Measure of a Man. I greatly enjoyed The Measure of a Man because I greatly enjoyed Poitier’s earlier book This Life (published in 1980).

The Measure of a Man, published in 2007, is a smaller book but it pursues the same themes (the black immigrant’s experience in America) and also updates Poitier’s thoughts from the benefit of an older man. Sidney Poitier is a great man; an amazing warrior who exudes dignity, charm, grace, and genuine, unique, self-refined intelligence, traits that give me goose bumps each time he appears on the screen. There are a few truly greats that will cause the earth to wail inconsolably when they step onto that pantheon in the sky and Sidney Poitier is one of them. I would strongly recommend The Measure of a Man to anyone interested in the immigrant experience, especially from the perspective of someone of color. Sidney Poitier

gets it. Read both books of his if you can get a copy of This Life. This Life is grittier than The Measure of a Man, with a delightful edge that has dissipated with age. This Life is also a bit more candid. Both books do complement each other in my view and I think that the reader would be enriched immensely from reading both.

I

read JhumpaLahiri’s two books, Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake. I simply could not put them down and do something else with my life.

Interpreter of Maladies,Lahiri’s debut book of short stories earned her a well-deserved Pulitzer Prize.

I don’t remember the last time I read short stories this gripping. If you enjoyed reading ChimamandaAdichie’s novel Half of a Yellow Sun, then you must hurry to get Lahiri’s books. Like Adichie, Lahiri faithfully and with a mythical intelligence records the lives and anxieties of Bengali immigrants struggling mightily, sometimes courageously, sometimes comi-

W

hat is this book about?

The main character Zilayefa or YellowYellow is the half-caste product of a Port Harcourt tryst between an expatriate Greek named Plato Papadopolous and an Ijaw woman.

The father promptly abandons Yellow-Yellow and her mother and they live a life of quiet desperation in the village. In between long stretches of tedium, Yellow-Yellow dreams of finding a Prince Charming to rescue her from her colorless empty existence and take her to the city where the streets are paved with gold. It is really not as banal as that as the reader soon finds out. Yellow-Yellow is the story of the multitude of multi-racial children that are born of the liaisons between whites and Asians and the women of the Nigerian delta.

Agary does a great job of tracing the history and documenting the generation (and generational differences), and subculture of these half-castes or “Yellow-Yellow” as they are popularly called.

POEM OF THE WEEK The song of a choirgirl She dares not Speak of the mental illness That runs in her Family.

She has stepped Into a meadow (her guard down)– Her shell of pain Wet and bitter.

She’s exiled relationships, Lives like a nun and relishes prayer.

For her meditation although cold Is a delight to her senses.

Words only have Meaning for her when flat And licking the page– And once their Vision is dead to her She rises up–her tears, salt Meeting the life-lines Of skin and air.

She prefers the coolly Detached, lusts after marked Roads opened to her By her moods.

This is how this Choirgirl swings, flies– She abandons gaiety For snow falling In the nest of her Lovely skull–this is her Season, her feastmeal.

Her sky, her footfalls On the steps–her Frightening challenges that She never speaks of to Break away from death.

Source: Africanwriter.com

QUOTE “Someone who dreams cannot be forced to stop — there are no limitations to dreams, because we do not own dreams, dreams are from God.” ― Christina Westover, Poisoning Sylvie

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

PAGE 31

International

Still in the dark on Myanmar’s nuclear ambitions ANALYSIS

By Robert Kelley, Francis Wde

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hree years ago a defector from the Myanmar military fled the country with extensive documentation of a nascent secret nuclear programme. The chain of custody and validation of the material he possessed rivals the equivalent information currently attributed to Iran, whose own ambitions have become the target of threats of war from the US and Israel.

But after initial alarm, the world has largely fallen silent on Myanmar’s programme.

In November last year the government made a welcome promise that it would signthe International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Additional Protocol, thereby allowing the IAEA to carry out nuclear inspections inside the country to resolve outstanding allegations of a past nuclear programme. To date, however, no such protocol has been signed, and Myanmar remains hidden behind an old agreement that allows them to state that they have no significant nuclear materials, and avoid inspections or even answering questions.

The upshot is that the world remains as in the dark about the work being undertaken in highly secretive factories operated by the military as it did when photos and testimonies first emerged. In addition to the evidence of the early stages of a nuclear programme aired in a documentary co-produced b y the D e m o c ra t ic V o ic e o f Burma and Al Jazeera in June 2010, it is widely known that some 5,000 young Myanmar engineers have been trained in Moscow in missile, engineering and nuclear technologies. So when senior Myanmar officials deny the existence of any nuclear programme and stonewall the IAEA, suspicions are aroused.

Myanmar’s immediate neighbours have also fallen silent on the issue. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc has not followed through in investigating the allegations, given the rush to take advantage of opening markets and lucrative oil and gas contracts. Perhaps this selectivity has also guided Washington’s reluctance to press Myanmar as hard as it has other global nuclear threats.

The US has pointed out that missile cooperation between Myanmar and North Korea is real and must be stopped.

Leaked photos and documents from a 2008 visit to North Korea by Shwe Mann, then the Myanmar junta’s third-incommand, and now a powerful

Questions have been raised over the resources pumped into Myanmar’s military, which receives more than a fifth of the total state budget each year speaker of the Lower House world press and is an ideal venue i n v e s t i g a t i v e b o d i e s a n d in the country’s north, but its with presidential ambitions, for Myanmar to boldly follow a p p r o p r i a t e l e g i s l a t i o n s o leaders refuse to acknowledge showed the delegation touring through on the signing promise. that they can respond to IAEA any such work. If there is no missile factories and meeting It would receive considerable requests for information in an prohibited activity, Myanmar should allow those inspections with Jon Byong Ho, who was a world attention and be another orderly and complete way.

T h e b e s t w a y t o m o v e immediately. key figure in North Korea’s own step on the road to normalcy.

Eight months has elapsed One word of caution is forward is for Myanmar to proliferation programme.

While nuclear cooperation required. When a country signs sign in September and then since the promise to sign was between the two countries is a treaty or agreement, it does not immediately inform the IAEA made. In that time, questions a much lower concern - little take effect until the legislature that the Additional Protocol has have been asked of the need for e v i d e n c e e x i s t s t o s u g g e s t of that country ratifies it. In been signed. Myanmar should the colossal resources pumped that Pyongyang has supplied the Southeast Asia region we then immediately voluntarily into Myanmar’s military, which i n f o r m a t i o n o r m a t e r i a l t o h a v e e x a m p l e s , s u c h a s t h e respond to the IAEA as if the still receives more than a fifth of support such a programme in Philippines, which signed an Protocol were in force. This the total state budget each year, Myanmar - the administration Additional Protocol but did not would allow pressing questions dwarfing both healthcare and of President TheinSein could bring it into force for 12 years. to be posed and inspections to education combined. Millions of clear up whatever lingering Malaysia and Thailand signed take place almost immediately, dollars from this will have gone doubt is there with openness and in 2006 but have yet to ratify it, and begin to close the books into a series of major assaults on presumably because it is a low o n M y a n m a r ’ s p a s t n u c l e a r Kachin rebels in the country’s candour. north, who were last year ambitions.

A n o p p o r t u n i t y p r e s e n t s priority for the governments.

Failure to do so should rouse targeted with air strikes. Any Even when the treaty is itself in September. The IAEA w i l l b e h o l d i n g i t s a n n u a l ratified, the internal efforts suspicion, and renew scrutiny suggestion by the government General Conference (GC) where needed to bring it into force of what projects Naypyidaw is that it is scaling back the might of all state parties to the Nuclear require many administrative pursuing in its secretive facilities. its monolithic army, comprised Nonproliferation Treaty will be a n d l e g a l s t e p s , i n c l u d i n g Already we know of possible of some 400,000 troops, can be present. The GC is covered by the e s t a b l i s h i n g r e g u l a t o r y a n d uranium mining and processing roundly dismissed.

These are all concerns that conflict with President TheinSein’s claims of a break with Myanmar’s past. Washington’s demands for transparency and military reform in its new ally should take precedent in its policy toward the country, over that of access to markets. It is also on TheinSein to come clean on the ambitions of his military.

One step toward achieving this could be taken with the signing of the Protocol in September.

“

The upshot is that the world remains as in the dark about the work being undertaken in highly secretive factories operated by the military as it did when photos and testimonies first emerged.

Source: Al Jazeera

PAGE 32

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

International

Egypt arrests Muslim Brotherhood leader

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“The leader of the Muslim Brotherhood is just one individual... among the millions who oppose the coup,” he said.

Badie and his powerful deputy Khairat el-Shater, who is in custody, will go on trial later this month for their alleged role in the killing of eight protesters outside the Brotherhood’s Cairo headquarters in June.

Mike Hanna, reporting from Cairo, said the arrest was “incredibly significant.”

“The arrest of the spiritual leader was always seen as a red line, even Hosni Mubarak never arrested him, but this military-led government is clearly ignoring that.”

Bernard Smith, reporting from Cairo, said Badie had been seen

in public only once since Morsi was overthrown and that, with his arrest, most of the Brotherhood’s leadership are now in the custody of the military-led government.

“He made an appearance on stage at the sit-in protest at Rabaa Mosque,” our correspondent said.

“That was the only time anybody seen him. He’s been in hiding since then.”

The Facebook page of the Interior Ministry also displayed pictures of Badie with a caption confirming his arrest.

“Carrying out the decisions of the public prosecutor to arrest and bring forward the general guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie, and through collected information and observation of movements it was possible for the criminal search apparatus under the direction of Cairo’s security [services] to arrest him,” the caption said.

A son of Badie was killed in Cairo during last week’s “Day of Rage” protests against the army-backed government and the crackdown on its opponents. AmmarBadie, 38, died of a bullet wound sustained while taking part in protests in the city’s Ramses Square,

Cairo court has set a September trial date for Mohamed ElBaradei, the recently-resigned interim vice president for foreign affairs, on charges of “breaching national trust.”

The charges against ElBaradei were filed by a law professor

at Cairo’s Helwan University, according to a report in the staterun Al-Ahram.

He stands accused of “betraying” the public by resigning on August 14, a misdemeanour charge that could carry an $1,430 fine if he is convicted.

KhaledDawoud, a former spokesman of the National Salvation Front of which ElBaradei was one of the founders, said that the prosecutor general’s decision to refer the case to court was probably a consequence of the current atmosphere of polarisation in the country.

“This is a reflection of the atmosphere in Egypt right now. You cannot take your independent stand or otherwise you will be considered breaching national trust” Dawoud said.

“The complaint against ElBaradei is ridiculous. I just even could not believe this kind of case will be filed.”

The longtime diplomat stepped down hours after security forces brutally dispersed two protests in support of deposed President Mohamed Mursi, killing at least 830 people, according to official figures.

In his resignation letter,

ElBaradei lamented the violent crackdown, warning of a “state of polarisation and grave division... the social fabric is threatened as violence breeds violence.”

According to the complaint, ElBaradei’s resignation gave the wrong impression to the international community, suggesting that the Egyptian government had used excessive force against protesters. “[This] contradicts reality,” the complaint said.

Under Egyptian law, anyone can file a criminal complaint, which is usually investigated by a judge who decides whether or not to refer the case to trial.

In ElBaradei’s case, however, because it is a misdemeanor offense, the case will proceed directly to trial; the judge will decide at the first hearing whether to allow it to proceed.

ElBaradei left Egypt for Vienna days after his resignation, and remains outside the country.

enya has signed deals worth $5bn (£3bn) with China to build a railway line, an energy project and to improve wildlife protection, officials say.

They were signed during Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta’s first visit to China since his election in March.

Mr Kenyatta’s “vigour” would lead Kenya to “greater accomplishments”, China’s President Xi Jinping said.

Mr Kenyatta has a strained relationship with the West as he is facing violence-related charges at The Hague.

He is due to go on trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC)

later this year for allegedly fuelling violence after disputed elections in 2007, charges he denies.

During Kenya’s election campaign, the European Union said it would have limited contact with him if he was elected president.

The US warned Kenyans of “consequences” if he was voted into office.

Mr Kenyatta accused them of meddling in Kenya’s internal affairs, and pledged to strengthen ties with the East.

In a statement, his office said the deals with China were a “massive boost” to his government.

“The rail link, particularly, is important in the context of East

gyptian security forces have escalated their crackdown on deposed President Mohamed Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood by arresting its top leader.

The interior ministry said police picked up Brotherhood chief Mohamed Badie near Rabaa al Adawiyah square, where more than 280 Mursi supporters were killed last Wednesday as police cleared their protest camp.

It released a video of the 70-year-old, sitting impassively on a sofa, bottles of juice and water placed conspicuously in front of him.

Following his arrest, the Muslim Brotherhood has temporarily appointed Mahmoud Ezzat, Badie’s deputy, as the spiritual leader.

Interior ministry sources saidBadie was moved yesterday morning to Tora prison, located in southern Cairo, where ousted President Hosni Mubarak and other leaders from his regime are being held.

A senior Brotherhood official, Ahmed Aref, said on its website that Badei’s arrest would change nothing.

Badie, hours after his arrest

Cairo court sets trial date for ElBaradei

Baradei

A

Kenya signs $5bn deals with China K

Kenyatta (R), alongside Xi Jinping during his visit to China Africa’s shared goal of ensuring quicker movement of peoples, goods

and services,” it quoted Mr Kenyatta as saying.

US rejects call to lift Zimbabwe sanctions

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he United States believes Zimbabwe’s recent election was flawed and it doesn’t plan to loosen sanctions against President Robert Mugabe’s government, the State Department said, despite a call to scrap the sanctions from Southern African leaders.

Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, is set to be sworn in as president as early as this week, extending his 33-year rule of the country after winning the July 31 election.

The 15-nation Southern African Development Community, which helped broker a power-sharing deal after disputed elections in Zimbabwe in 2008, backed Mugabe’s re-election on Sunday.

“The United States stands by our assessment that these elections, while relatively peaceful, did not represent a credible expression of the will of the Zimbabwean people due to serious flaws throughout the electoral process,” said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

“We have made clear to the government of Zimbabwe and the region that a change in US sanctions policy will occur only in the context of credible, transparent and peaceful reforms that reflect the will of the Zimbabwean people.”

The US, Britain, and the European Union have imposed sanctions against Mugabe and senior leaders of his ZANU-PF party for human rights violations and suspected rigging of previous elections Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s constitutional court yesterday ruled that a disputed elections which handed Robert Mugabe five more years in power were free and fair, dismissing allegations of voterigging.

“The Zimbabwe presidential election held on 31st July, 2013 was in accordance with the laws of Zimbabwe,” Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku said on Tuesday.

“The said election was free, fair and credible.”

Zimbabwe’s top court threw out a petition to challenge the July 31 poll outcome, ruling that incumbent president Robert Mugabe is duly re-elected.

Chief justice ChinembiriBhunu said Zimbabwe’s elections were “free, fair and credible.” “Consequently the results of that election is a true reflection of the free will of the people of Zimbabwe who voted,” Bhunu said.

The court judgment did not come as a surprise as regional blocs which sent the bulk of foreign observers to the elections have largely endorsed the outcome.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

PAGE 33

International

Musharraf charged with murder of Benazir Bhutto A A

Asia & Middle East

court in Pakistan charged former military dictator Pervez Musharraf yesterday with the 2007 murder of Benazir Bhutto in an unprecedented move likely to anger the all-powerful army.

The indictment of the army chief who seized power in a 1999 coup, once Pakistan’s most powerful man, was almost an unthinkable event in a nuclear-armed country ruled by the military for half of its 66-year history.

Bhutto, a former prime minister,

died in a suicide gun and bomb attack in December 2007 after a campaign rally in the city of Rawalpindi, not far from the heavily guarded court room where the charges were read out yesterday.

“He should be tried,” the public prosecutor, Mohammad Azhar, told reporters after a brief hearing during which the three charges of murder, conspiracy to murder and facilitation of murder were read out to Musharraf.

The case has shattered an unwritten rule that the top military

brass are untouchable as the South Asian country tries to shake off the legacy of decades of military rule under the new government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

It was Musharraf who toppled Sharif’s government in the 1999 coup, and memories of that time are still fresh in the current administration.

Sharif was sentenced to a life in jail

by Musharraf but was eventually allowed to go into exile.

Security was tight in Rawalpindi - the seat of Pakistan’s military headquarters - after a previous

Musharraf escorted into court

hearing on August 6 was delayed due to threats to Musharraf’s life. The Pakistani Taliban have on many occasions threatened to kill him.

Hundreds of police were deployed along the main road leading to the court as well as on rooftops as Musharraf’s car arrived. Journalists were not allowed in the court room for the hearing which lasted about 20 minutes.

Musharraf, who turned 70 on August 11, made no public remarks as he arrived but denied all the charges against him once inside the court room, a lawyer from his defense team told Reuters.

“All the cases against Musharraf are fabricated. He denied all the charges,” said AfshanAdil, the lawyer. The next hearing was set for August 27.

Observers believe it is still possible Musharraf would be allowed to go back into exile in a face saving solution.

ImtiazGul, an independent security analyst, said the indictment might be profoundly symbolic but there was still little chance of Musharraf actually being convicted.

“Legally, it means it will be a long drawn-out case because it will be very difficult if not impossible to prove the direct involvement of Musharraf,” Gul said.

Gul said the army - which would not comment on Tuesday’s indictment - had tried to warn Musharraf about the legal dangers he faced before he decided to return from exile this year to contest a May election.

Palestinian youth shot dead by Israeli army

A

19-year-old Palestinian boy has been shot dead by Israeli forces at a refugee camp in the Occupied West Bank, Palestinian medical officials have said.

Two others were injured in the incident, which happened in the Jenin Refugee Camp earlier yesterday.

The condition of one of the two injured is serious.

Doctors at a Jenin hospital said MajedLahlouh was killed with a bullet to his heart. The wounded men also suffered gunshot wounds, they said.

An Israeli military spokesperson had no initial comment.

Eyewitnesses said the Israeli

troops entered the narrow streets of the Jenin camp at dawn, apparently seeking to arrest a local resident.

Palestinian youths threw stones at the soldiers, who responded with live gunfire.

Violence in the West Bank has worsened since the beginning of 2013. Israeli forces have killed 11 Palestinians there this year, most

of them in clashes, compared with three killed in the same period in 2012, according to United Nations figures.

Last week Israel and the Palestinians resumed US-brokered peace talks after a three-year breakdown although neither side has expressed much optimism for a major breakthrough.

China floods leave hundreds dead

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looding in China’s north and south caused by heavy rain has left at least 107 dead and inundated roads and farmland, the government and state media said.

Three provinces in China’s northeast bore the brunt of the floods with 85 dead and 105 missing in Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning as of 4pm on Monday, the government said.

A total of 37 million residents in that region were affected by flood waters, Xinhua said, which were described by a local newspaper as the worst in 50 years in Liaoning province.

More than 787,000 hectares of farmland in the region, a major

grain growing area, were flooded and pictures showed roads in many urban areas looking more like rivers.

Xinhua said that the People’s

Liberation Army had been mobilized to carry out rescue work.

At the opposite end of the country, rainfall in the wake of

A car submerged by floodwaters in China

Typhoon Utor, which made landfall in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong last week, has killed 22 people and caused 8.6 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) of damage there.

Dykes ruptured near Shantou in eastern Guangdong flooding lowlying homes and killing 10.

Some internet users criticized the official response to the floods.

“Government rescue is too slow. They send troops overseas for military exercise, but don’t care about its own people,” said a user of the Twitter-like SinaWeibo with the name @Lingchenliangdinan.

“Our farmland is completely flooded. The past year’s effort is all gone,” said another user @ WoxiaotarenkanbuchuanL.

Muslim Rohingya escape Thai detention center group of Muslim Rohingya asylum-seekers in southern Thailand escaped from an immigration detention center yesterday, highlighting the growing desperation of a stateless minority fleeing sectarian violence in Myanmar.

Rights activists are critical of Thailand’s response to the influx of Rohingya and have urged the authorities not to deport the refugees back to Myanmar, where they face pervasive discrimination.

The 87 escapees used blades to cut through iron bars and hacked at cement walls before disappearing into nearby rubber plantations, prompting a large search operation, said SuwitChernsiri, police commander of the southern province of Songkla.

“The men were detained for many months and tensions were high,” Suwit told Reuters. The jail break was the second after a group of 30 escaped from a Songkla police station earlier this month.

More than 1,800 Rohingya who fled Myanmar by sea this past year are being detained across Thailand, often in overcrowded centers and shelters, and thousands more have been intercepted and pushed back out to sea by the Thai authorities.

The deputy interior minister expressed fears that the asylumseekers would harm locals and discourage tourists from visiting Thailand.

“The monsoon season will be over in two months and more boat people will come. We’ve asked the UNHCR to help fix this problem,” WisarnTechathirawat, deputy interior minister, told Reuters, adding the UN agency only took on a few asylum-seekers.

Myanmar, a majority Buddhist country, says the Rohingya are Muslim migrants from Bangladesh. A 1982 Citizenship Act excluded Rohingya Muslims from a list of 135 designated ethnic groups, effectively rendering them stateless.

Thailand also denies Rohingya citizenship and considers them illegal migrants. Bangladesh also does not recognize them.

Many Rohingya hope to end up in neighboring Muslim-majority Malaysia where some have extended families but often fall prey to smugglers and traffickers in Thailand.

A Reuters investigation found that Rohingya who fail to pay for their passage are handed over to traffickers, who sell some men into slavery on Thai fishing boats or force them to work as farmhands. Thailand’s navy denies its personnel are involved in smuggling and trafficking networks.

Wisarn told Reuters that the foreign media were guilty of painting the shelters and detention centers in a bad light and that the Rohingya had a tendency to act up for foreign media.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

PAGE 34

International

Britain made us destroy Snowden material- Guardian newspaper

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he British authorities forced the Guardian newspaper to destroy material leaked by Edward Snowden, its editor has revealed, calling it a “pointless” move that would not prevent further reporting on U.S. and British surveillance programs.

In a column yesterday, Alan Rusbridger said he had received a call from a government official a month ago who told him: “You’ve had your fun. Now we want the stuff back.” The paper had been threatened with legal action if it did not comply.

Later, two “security experts” from the secretive Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) had visited the paper’s London offices and watched as computer hard drives containing Snowden material were reduced to mangled bits of metal.

Asked by the BBC who he thought was behind those events, Rusbridger said he had “got the sense there was an active conversation” involving government departments, intelligence agencies and the prime minister’s Downing Street office.

Downing Street and GCHQ

declined to comment.

Rusbridger said the “bizarre” episode and the detention at London’s Heathrow airport on Sunday of the partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald showed press freedom was under threat in Britain.

The nine-hour detention under an anti-terrorism law of David Miranda, Greenwald’s Brazilian partner, has caused a furor with

Brazil, British opposition politicians, human rights lawyers and press freedom watchdogs among those denouncing it.

Greenwald was the first journalist to publish U.S. and British intelligence secrets leaked

by Snowden, a former U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who is wanted in the United States and has found temporary asylum in

The Guardian newspaper editor Alan Rusbridger

Russia.

Britain’s Home Office, or interior ministry, defended Miranda’s detention on Tuesday.

“If the police believe that an individual is in possession of highly sensitive stolen information that would help terrorism, then they should act and the law provides them with a framework to do that,” it said in a statement.

London’s Metropolitan Police said Miranda’s detention had been “legally and procedurally sound”.

He had been ferrying materials obtained from Snowden between Greenwald and Laura Poitras, an independent film-maker based in Berlin who has also published reports based on Snowden material.

Miranda has launched legal action against the British police and government to question the legal basis of his detention and stop the authorities from viewing, copying or passing on his data, his lawyer Gwendolen Morgan told Reuters.

The White House said on Monday Washington was given a “heads up” ahead of Miranda’s detention but had not requested it.

Britain rejects Spanish request for Gibraltar talks

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ritain rejected a Spanish proposal to hold one-on-one talks over the sovereignty of the contested British overseas territory of Gibraltar yesterday after Spain issued an appeal for such negotiations to be held “as soon as possible”.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo made the appeal in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, but a spokeswoman from British Prime Minister David Cameron’s office said London would not enter into any talks on the subject.

“Sovereignty is clear in our minds,” said the spokeswoman, saying the only talks Britain could envisage would be between Spain

and Gibraltar over fishing practices, but not over the enclave’s sovereignty or control of its fishing waters.

A diplomatic war of words over the rocky Mediterranean outpost erupted in July after it built an artificial reef in contested waters using concrete blocks. Spain said the reef restricted access for its fishermen.

Spain lays claim to the territory, which has a population of just 30,000, but which it ceded to Britain by treaty 300 years ago.

“Since the beginning of the current legislature, the Spanish government has urged the UK to resume bilateral negotiations as soon as possible on issues of Gibraltar’s sovereignty, which have

been on hold for too long,” wrote Garcia-Margallo.

Spain tightened border controls in retaliation for the reef and threatened to take further action, including a 50 euro ($67) border levy. The European Commission said on Monday it would send a fact-finding mission to Gibraltar to examine the legitimacy of those controls.

Opposition parties in Spain and Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Fabian Picardo have accused Spain’s ruling center-right government of using the conflict as a smokescreen for a corruption scandal involving senior politicians.

Garcia-Margallo reiterated Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s

demand for Britain to remove the blocks used for the reef. He said Spain was also open to hosting meetings on the topic between other authorities, like the Gibraltarian government and the local government of neighboring Spanish region Andalusia.

“The dialogue must be bilateral and respect international, European and national laws,” he said.

But the British spokesperson made it clear any talks would be limited in scope.

“There needs to be some dialogue on fishing,” the spokeswoman said.

“But that would not be about who’s responsible for the waters as that’s clear.” Another British spokesman said on Monday that Spain had built similar reefs along its own coastline.

Turkey’s Erdogan sees Israel’s hand in Egypt crisis

Erdogan

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urkish Prime Minister TayyipErdogan accused Israel yesterday of having a hand in the Egyptian military’s overthrow of president Mohamed Mursi, making comments likely to further undermine efforts to restore Ankara’s strained ties with Israel.

Erdogan, who has become one of the fiercest critics of the Islamist leader’s removal last month, also said he feared “autocratic regimes” would take root if the West failed to respect election results.

Almost 900 people have died in the past week since the militarybacked Egyptian government cracked

down on supporters of Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood, who want the country’s first freely-elected president reinstated.

“What do they say in Egypt?

Democracy is not the ballot box. What is behind it? Israel. We have in our hands documentation,”Erdogantoldprovincial leaders of his AK Party.

TheIsraeliForeignMinistrydeclined to respond to Erdogan’s allegation.

“This is a statement well worth not commenting on,” said ministry spokesman YigalPalmor.

Mursi was the most prominent Islamist to gain power through the ballot box after the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings and ruled for a year until his removal on July 3. Erdogan’s AK party, which has won the last three Turkish general elections, traces its roots to a banned Islamist movement.

Erdogan did not say what documentation he had, but referred to comments he said an Israeli cabinet minister had made before Egyptian parliamentary elections held after a popular uprising pushed President

Hosni Mubarak from power.

“Before the 2011 elections, during a session in France, the justice minister and an intellectual from France he’s Jewish too - they used exactly this comment: ‘Even if the Muslim Brotherhood wins the election, they will not win because democracy is not the ballot box’,” Erdogan said.

“That is exactly what happened,” he said in the comments aired live by state broadcaster TRT, without naming either the minister or the French intellectual.

Earlier this year, Erdogan called Zionism “a crime against humanity”, prompting objections from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

President Barack Obama subsequently orchestrated an Israeli apology for the Mavi Marmara raid.

Erdogan repeatedly blamed unnamed foreign circles for those protests, in what he deemed an antidemocratic effort to undo Turkey’s last three elections, in which the AK Party increased its share of the vote each time.

Europe and Americas US seeks 60year prison term for Manning

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rosecutors say Bradley Manning acted as a “determined insider” in leaking classified information about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and should be locked up for at least 60 years.

Manning’s lawyer contend he can be rehabilitated and should not “rot in jail.”

The two sides have delivered their final sentencing arguments. The judge started deliberating yesterday.

Manning faces up to 90 years behind bars for the largest leak of classified information in U.S. history.

“There may not be a soldier in the history of the Army who displayed such an extreme disregard” for his mission as a soldier, Capt.

Joe Morrow, the prosecutor, said Monday.

His arrogance, according Morrow, meant he “felt he alone was knowledgeable and intelligent enough to determine what information was to be classified.”

Morrow asked that Manning, 25, serve a minimum sentence of six decades behind bars, saying his actions created grave risk, disrupted diplomatic missions and endangered lives.

Defense attorney David Coombs did not ask for a specific sentence, but said his client was an excellent candidate for rehabilitation, and that he should not be left to “rot in jail.”

“Perhaps his biggest crime was that he cared about the loss of life that he was seeing and couldn’t ignore it.” Coombs said of Manning’s decision to turn over the explosive information to WikiLeaks.

“This is a young man capable of being redeemed,” Coombs said in final remarks. “The defense requests, after the court considers all the facts, a sentence that allows him to have a life.”

Col. Denise Lind, the judge who convicted Manning at trial and will now determine his punishment. recessed the proceedings until Tuesday morning. It is not clear when she will render a decision.

Manning was convicted of numerous counts in July, including espionage-related charges. He avoided a potential life sentence when Lind rejected charges that his actions aided the enemy.

In addition to prison, prosecutors also want Manning to forfeit pay and benefits and pay a $100,000 fine.

Officials indicated a single sentence would cover all of the guilty counts.

Manning

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

PAGE 35

Strange World

Job seekers display themselves in windows hoping to get hired U nemployment in Europe has recently hit record highs, and although Denmark has been shielded from the eurozone’s economic problems thanks to its low public debt, qualified professionals are still finding it tough to get a job.

Danish marketing firm Reputation Copenhagen has come up with an ingenious way of helping academics get noticed – putting them on display in storefront windows.

Many highly-trained professionals, ranging from former CEOs to lawyers and tax experts are currently finding it increasingly difficult to find decent employment on the Danish job market. Some of them have been trying for years, leaving their resumes with dozens of companies, without ever hearing back from them, and are now at a point where they are willing to try anything.

Even putting themselves in display windows like mannequins, hoping to get noticed by someone in need of their services. Alexander Peitersen, managing director of Reputation Copenhagen came up with the idea of using his company’s office as a storefront for the campaign, as there are many businesses nearby that might be interested in the talent on display.

So he set up a small desk, put up the “an available academic is sitting here” sign, and asked the unemployed to just sit in

the windows like merchandise.

It seems like a pretty desperate measure, but at least it works; according to the agency’s website 3 of the job-seekers in their window display got a job in a day or two.

“I’m willing to try anything,” Hannibal Camel Holt, an unemployed political scientist, told the Wall Street Journal.

Despite his qualifications and speaking six languages, he has been looking for work on and off for the last four years. ”I feel like a monkey…in a cage as people walk by and just stare at me,” the former tax ministry employee said while working at his desk and occasionally glancing at passersby hoping for a positive reaction.

The ingenious campaign has proven a hit with both unemployed professionals and headhunters, so Reputation Copenhagen has extended the two-week run, to keep up with demand. Company representatives or business professionals interested in the

The tapeworm diet – ingesting parasites to lose weight

T Holt displaying himself.

Professional mattress jumper is an actual job

A professional mattress jumper.

Y

ou probably thought those high-end mattresses people pay thousands of dollars for are hand-made. As it turns out, they’re also foot made, as someone is actually getting paid to jump on them hundreds of times in order to compress no fewer than 28 layers of cotton batting.

Growing up, you probably dreamed you would one day find a job that would require nothing else than jumping on beds. Well, it turns out such a job actually exists, only those doing it insist it’s not child’s play.

academics on display can scan a QR code to watch a presentation of the person sitting behind the glass, check out their LinkedIn profile or come inside and have a talk with them.

Peitersen says he came up with the idea after realizing human resource managers get hundreds of job applications every day, which look more or less the same, and that creative thinking is required in order to increase the chances of finding employment.

Apart from companies interested in qualified job-seekers, the stunt has also attracted the attention of both local and international media.

The concept of using real-life people in window displays to attract attention isn’t new. It’s been used for years in Amsterdam’s Red Lights district and just last year French dating service AdopteUnMec opened a popup boutique where ladies could window-shop for dates.

“It’s work,” professional mattress jumper Reuben Reynoso says. ”It’s not for everybody. There is a right way and a wrong way to do it.” It’s not about achieving a great height or doing back flips and somersaults, but using his soles to compress the mattress layers and detecting any pea-size lumps in the filling.

To do that, Reynolds uses a very precise, grid jumping pattern, making sure he covers the entire surface. ”This is not a game,” he says. ”Not to me.” And I’m inclined to believe him.

After all, we’re talking about $2,700 mattresses, here, not trampolines.

Working at the McRoskey mattress factory on San Francisco’s Potrero Hill, Reuben Reynoso starts his job by placing a thick protective mat goes over the mattress, to prevent the scent of his feet from being absorbed into the fabric.

Then he steps onto the middle of one edge and jumps five steps forward and five steps back. He has set up a jumping pattern that allows hims to cover the entire mattress and at the same time make sure he doesn’t jump on it too much.

Moderation is key in a job like this, as too many jumps will either puncture the mattress or make it too compressed, while too few will cause it not to fit in the giant stitching machine for the final sewing.

So although he enjoys his job more than anything he’s been involved in the past, Reuben tries not to go overboard with the jumping. Because the jumper has to be careful and thorough with his jumps, he can only prepare three mattresses per day.

It might seem like a job fit for an energetic child, but Reuben Reynoso says it suits him just fine. “It just feels good to make one of these,” he said.

“Sleep is so important. Everybody in the world has to do it. I like being a part of that.”

he things people will do to shed a few unwanted pounds. A woman from Iowa has reportedly swallowed a tapeworm she bought from the internet in order to drop a few pounds, thus proving the tapeworm diet is more than a myth.

You can buy a lot of crazy things online these days, and apparently the tapeworm is one of them. Back in 2009, reports surfaced that dieters in Hong Kong were ingesting giant intestinal roundworm eggs in a desperate attempt to lose weight, and according to a number of sources, tapeworm pills are legally available at a number of clinics in mexico.

The tapeworm diet is officially banned in countries like the U.S. and Britain, but as a recent case revealed

by Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, the medical director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, proves, that doesn’t mean it’s not still practiced by extreme dieters.

According to Today.com, a woman from Iowa went to her doctor and

A tapeworm

told him she had bought a tapeworm pill from the internet and swallowed it to lose weight. Unsure of what to do in such a situation, the physician contacted the state’s public health department for advice. In her weekly email to state public health workers, Dr. Quinlisk provided a treatment option and talked about the dangers of this bizarre practice.

“Ingesting tapeworms is extremely risky and can cause a wide range of undesirable side effects, including rare deaths,” Quinlisk wrote in her email.

“Those desiring to lose weight are advised to stick with proven weight loss methods — consuming fewer calories and increasing physical activity.”

Apparently the tapeworm pills that can be purchased on the internet are heads of Taeniasaginata, also known as the beef tapeworm, which develop into 30-foot-long tapeworms inside the body. The parasite uses the tiny hooks on its head to grab on to your intestines and consume a large part of the nutrients you ingest.

PAGE 36

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

Digest

Breastfeeding for six months ‘can halve risk of children becoming obese’

By Jenny Hope

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reastfeeding can halve the risk of children being obese by the age of eight, a study says.

The risk of children being overweight is also cut by around 15 per cent in those breastfed for six months, compared with those fed formula milk.

Only a small number of women in the UK breastfeed for long periods, with less than two per cent of babies being breastfed exclusively for six months.

A new study from Japan says breastfeeding should be encouraged ‘even in developed countries’ because of the longterm impact on weight gain among children.

Previous research shows breast milk protects babies against stomach bugs, chest infections, asthma, and allergies, and confers health advantages in later life, with some studies suggesting a small cut in the risk of obesity.

But only a small number of women in the UK breastfeed their babies for long periods and the number of new mums starting in 2011 fell slightly to 73.9 per cent.

Less than two per cent of babies are breastfed exclusively for six months.

Researchers carried out a study involving 43,000 Japanese children where they had information about their feeding during infancy around 2001.

They measured for underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obesity at 7 and 8 years of age defined by using international cut-off points of body mass index by sex and age.

Around 20 per cent of children in the study were exclusively breastfed for six months.

The study found exclusive breastfeeding for the first six or seven months of life compared with formula feeding led to a

Benefits: The risk of children being overweight is cut by around 15 per cent in those breastfed

reduced risk of overweight and obesity among school children.

At the age of seven, breastfed children were 15 per cent less likely to be overweight and 45 per cent less at risk of obesity.

The reduction in risk of becoming overweight was similar at the age of eight, but the chances of being obese were even lower with a cut in risk of

55 per cent.

The study took account of factors affecting children such as sex, television viewing time, and computer game playing time and maternal factors including educational attainment, smoking status, and working status.

The study led by Michiyo Yamakawa, of the Okayama University Graduate School

Encouragement: Researchers say women should breastfeed for longer, even though it is less fashionable than it once was

of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama City, was published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

Dr Yamakawa said ‘Breastfeeding is associated with decreased risk of overweight and obesity among school children in Japan.

‘Therefore, it would be better to encourage breastfeeding even in developed countries.’

Breastfeeding is known to be

associated with slower weight gain which appears to establish healthier eating patterns - while it is thought infant formula increases the production of fat cells, fuelling weight gain throughout childhood.

Latest figures for England show one in 10 children was obese when they started school in 2011.

The proportion doubled to almost 20 per cent among children going to senior school at the ages of 10 and 11 in the same year.

Overall Clare Byam Cook, former nurse and midwife and independent breast feeding counsellor, said mothers who can breastfeed their babies easily are giving them a great start in life.

She said ‘But most women who give up find it too difficult to continue.

‘They are not unaware of the benefits to the baby, they have been brainwashed into thinking if they don’t their baby will miss out and it can be a very worrying time.

‘But many find it too difficult to continue and they don’t get long-term support.’ The UK has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in Europe, with almost one in four new mothers never attempting to breastfeed compared with two per cent in Sweden.

By four months old, 75 per cent of babies in Britain drink formula rather than breast milk.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

Later problems: Breastfeeding can ease difficulties with overweight children

Could singing stop snoring?

By Emma Innes

A

simple set of daily vocal exercises can strengthen the weak throat and palate muscles which are a major cause of snoring, experts believe.

The discovery was made after a singing teacher devised a way to help a friend stop snoring.

Alise Ojay designed a programme of singing exercises which targeted the throat and stopped both chronic snoring and sleep apnoea, which causes people to stop breathing during deep sleep.

Her finding prompted a major

study at Exeter University and the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS

Foundation Trust.

It saw 30 snorers try the

A simple set of daily vocal exercises can strengthen the weak throat and palate muscles which are a major cause of snoring

exercises for a few minutes every day for three months.

By the end of the trial, their snoring had significantly improved compared to 30 others who didn’t try the treatment.

Malcolm Hilton, a consultant otolaryngologist who led the research, said: ‘Alise told me that a number of people had benefitted from the singing exercise programme she had devised to strengthen the throat muscles.

‘I then set up this trial and the results have been really interesting.’

‘The conclusion that we came to was that the three month programme of daily singing

exercises reduced the frequency and severity of snoring, and improved overall quality of sleep.’

Mr Hilton said all the trial participants found the singing exercises easy to perform and were able to keep them up throughout the three months.

He added: ‘It opens up a whole new avenue of potential treatment which avoids surgery, so it is definitely good news for snorers.

‘However, it must be used in conjunction with lifestyle changes.

Being overweight, for example, is the biggest, single independent predictor of snoring.’

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

PAGE 37

PDM crumbles Tukur’s structure in Adamawa From Umar Dankano, Yola

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here indications that the political profile of the National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, may have suffered a major setback with the registration of the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM).

The new PDM is being rumoured to have he imprimatur of he former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

The Secretary of the ruling

Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in the Adamawa state, Mr. P. P. Elisha, loyal to governor Murtala Nyako, disclosed this to reporters in Yola, stressing that the national chairman of the party “is stranded politically because his political structure has crumbled in Adamawa state (in his home state)”.

Elisha stressed that Tukur’s political structure has finally crumbled in the state following the decision of the former Vice President’s political associates to abandon him, adding that the

recent registration of the PDM was a last stroke that broke camel’s back that made Tukur, to be shattered politically as the structure he relies on belongs to the PDM in the state.

According to him, Tukur’s illegal state executives led by Chief Joel Madaki in the state has already crumbled because 80 percent of them belong to PDM structure whom by implication have now moved out of the party.

Elisha explained that majority of Tukur’s men are Atiku associates who he brought back from Action

Congress (AC) later to help the PDP boss to factionalize the party.

Elisha said “When Tukur wanted to hijack the PDP structure in the state from Governor Murtala Nyako, he solicited for former Vice President Alh. Atiku Abubakar structure which is rooted in PDM, and they gave him their office and money; now they have told him they are leaving PDP” He explained that Nyako has been vindicated with the new political development stressing that the illegality would never stand the

No interim steering officers in Ogun APC, says chieftain

L-R: Ogun state Deputy Governor, Prince Segun Adesegun, the state Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Chairman defunct CPC Ogun state Chapter, Hon. Kunle Mudasiru, and Chairman defunct ACN Ogun state chapter, Alhaji Tajudeen Olaotan Bello, during the official launching of All Progressive Congress (APC), on Monday at Ake palace ground, Abeokuta, in Ogun state.

By Umar Muhammad Puma

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ll Progressives Congress (APC) will take over the mantle of leadership in Nigeria come 2015, House Deputy Minority Leader, Rep. Suleiman Abdurahaman Kawu Sumaila, has said.

Speaking in Kano when he led other APC leaders and supporters to welcome the former state governor and APC chieftain, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, to Kano, Kawu said the presence of an unprecedented crowd on the Kano-Zaria express way who went to welcome Shekarau was a clear indication that the people were ready for change in the state come 2015.

“Change is already done in Nigeria with coming of the APC. As you can see all over the country, Nigerians have responded positively to the emergence of the APC; the cloud is here, and very soon there will be a heavy downpour of rains of change in this country. APC one Nigeria, one Kano state,” he said.

“We have nothing to say than to thank God almighty because people have responded to our call. God is intervening in the affairs of Kano State and it’s people because we handed over everything to him and as you can see, he is with us. By God’s grace, we won’t allow the oppression of the Kano people to continue. With our sound health, strength and God’s guidance, we won’t allow what is happening in Kano to continue because God will ask us if we remain silence,” Kawu said.

According to him, “It is compulsory for us to stand up and fight for our people and emancipate them from this bondage. As you can see, Sardauna (Shekarau) is here and you witnessed the mammoth crowd that are here to receive him. Kano has responded to our call for change.

Kano people are now more then ever before yearning for change.”

Both Shekarau and Kawu drove in a long convoy of vehicles from Ciromawa to the former’s residence in Nasarawa G.R.A of Kano metropolis for seven and half hours from 12 noon to 7:30 pm due to the number of people that came out to welcome the leaders.

text of time.

“Tukur’s political structure had died a natural death with movement of Atiku supporter out of the PDP as they have communicated him that they are going back to his PDM” said Elisha.

He added that Governor Sule Lamido presidential committee report that the party structure should be harmonized has no impact again stressing that Alh. Mijinyawa Umar Kugama remains the authentic leader of the party in the state.

APC will rule Nigeria in 2015- Reps deputy minority leader

By Umar Muhammad Puma

A

ll Progressives Congress (APC) will take over the mantle of leadership in Nigeria come 2015, House Deputy Minority Leader, Rep. Suleiman Abdurahaman Kawu Sumaila, has said.

Speaking in Kano when he led other APC leaders and supporters to welcome the former state governor and APC chieftain, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, to Kano, Kawu said the presence of an unprecedented crowd on the Kano-Zaria express way who went to welcome Shekarau was a clear indication that the people were ready for change in the state come

2015.

“Change is already done in Nigeria with coming of the APC. As you can see all over the country, Nigerians have responded positively to the emergence of the APC; the cloud is here, and very soon there will be a heavy downpour of rains of change in this country. APC one Nigeria, one Kano state,” he said.

“We have nothing to say than to thank God almighty because people have responded to our call.

God is intervening in the affairs of Kano State and it’s people because we handed over everything to him and as you can see, he is with us.

By God’s grace, we won’t allow the oppression of the Kano people to

continue. With our sound health, strength and God’s guidance, we won’t allow what is happening in Kano to continue because God will ask us if we remain silence,” Kawu said.

According to him, “It is compulsory for us to stand up and fight for our people and emancipate them from this bondage. As you can see, Sardauna (Shekarau) is here and you witnessed the mammoth crowd that are here to receive him. Kano has responded to our call for change. Kano people are now more then ever before yearning for change.”

The Deputy Minority Leader also disclosed that he was still contesting for the position of the

Kano state governor saying, “I am still in the race for the position of the Kano state governor by God’s grace because it is not my decisions any more, it is the decision of the people of Kano for me to contest.

They have decided for me and they are busy working day and night to see that they actualize their dream of getting a listening leader; a leader that will be there for them.”

Both Shekarau and Kawu drove in a long convoy of vehicles from Ciromawa to the former’s residence in Nasarawa G.R.A of Kano metropolis for seven and half hours from 12 noon to 7:30 pm due to the number of people that came out to welcome the leaders.

New parties can contest in Anambra governorship election – Jega

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NEC Chairman, Attahiru Jega yesterday in Abuja said that the newly registered political parties were free to field candidates for the forthcoming governorship election in Anambra.

He told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the commission had

critically viewed the laws and ``as long as they can meet the regulations, they are eligible’’. ``We have looked at the laws and with the current time table, the party is free to field in candidates,’’ he said.

INEC on Friday registered

two new political parties, the Independent Democrats (ID) and the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM), in addition to the approval of All Progressives Congress (APC).

With structures in place and with ability to conduct primaries,

congresses and make nominations in compliance with the legal provisions, then they could contest the election, he said.

He said the extent to which the parties could comply with the laid down rules were the main issues.

(NAN)

PAGE 38

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

Politics 2015 and Soludo’s political travails Feature

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

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hortly after he served out his tenure as the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Chukwuma Soludo ventured into the slimy political terrain of Nigeria, apparently on a wrong footing, which has remained the progenitor of his lingering political misfortunes till date.

Being a first class academic from the prestigious University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), and most likely a political greenhorn before he was appointed the CBN boss, Soludo’s first port of call in real politics kicked off with the 2010 governorship contest in Anambra state, where he obviously received his first baptism of fire.

At the build up to the 2010 governorship election in Anambra, he was the anointed candidate of the current chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), Tony Anenih. This was even when the Uba brothers were enjoying the sympathy of former President Olusegun Obasanjo for the election.

According to reports, Anenih, then with the help of the national leadership of PDP led by Anthony Ogbulafor, jolted the Uba family and foisted Soludo on the Anambra state PDP, as their governorship candidate.

It would be recalled that Andy Uba then had a court case where he was asking the court to declare him governor in waiting, having been duely elected as the state’s governor in 2008, when he served for only seven days before the Supreme Court sacked him to enable Governor Peter Obi complete his first tenure.

It was reasoned that this, and other political considerations made the late President Umar Musa Yaradua, Ogbulafor and Anenih, to back Soludo, having anticipated that if Andy Uba looses his Court suit, event may twist such that PDP may not have a candidate in the election.

Moreover, Soludo was a household name in the governorship contest then in Anambra state, having recorded tremendous success as the CBN governor. However, the decision by the PDP national caucus to back Soludo, forced Andy Uba, who was also jostling for the party’s ticket, to defect to Labour Party (LP), where it was alleged that his mission was to ensure that Soludo’s vote was decimated such that he did not win the election.

Expectedly, both Soludo in PDP and Andy Uba in LP, failed at the polls. But, shortly afterwards, Uba returned to the PDP folds, from where he won the Anambra South Senatorial seat in 2011.

However, since then, it appears the Nigeria’s political water is becoming more turbulent for the brilliant Professor of

Prof. Charles Soludo Economics. Even though he has not been so conspicuous in the PDP activities after he failed the 2010 election in Anambra state, political observers thought he was recuperating from his tortuous political ordeal until, like a bolt from the blues, he declared again for the 2014 governorship on the platform of the crisis ridden All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) few weeks ago.

On Friday last week, the committee set up by APGA to screen the party’s candidates ahead of its primaries in Awka, barred Soludo from contesting the governorship election on its platform.

According to APGA screening committee, he was disqualified because of the invitation extended to him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for clarification on some issues regarding his tenure as CBN boss.. Though he was barred alongside five others, his case has generated tension and comments, due to its peculiarity and the allegation that it stems from clandestine political witchhunt by the powers that be in the Presidency.

While others were disqualified for genuine reasons ranging from lack of party’s membership card, voters cards, tax clearance certificate and financial capacity to prosecute the election, his case was viewed as too mild by political observers.

Analysts are arguing that there are apparently more to his disqualification than met the eyes. Currently, so many interpretations are being tied to this development by analysts.

According to observers, mere invitation to him by EFCC is too innocuous to earn him disqualification by APGA, particularly as enthusiasm is rife in Anambra over the ability to get a credible candidate to continue

APGA National Chairman, Victor Umeh with Obi’s legacy.

There are insinuations that his disqualification is traceable to his fraternity with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who was the arch contender to President Jonathan in 2011, and who is likely to remain his major contender again in 2015.

Undoubtedly, Soludo would have made a credible and popular candidate for APGA if he had scaled through the screening, but since APGA national leadership has taken a position. Who will challenge it? His disqualification is already being analysed at some quarters as part of the President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 game plan.

According to this view, the President may not be comfortable with Soludo as the Governor of Anambra, especially when his fate in 2015 is still volatile. This idea appears more convincing considering the fact that Soludo was the right-hand man of Atiku, when the later was campaigning for the 2011 Presidential ticket.

He was with Atiku in Enugu when he paid a political visit to the South East political class.

On this basis, President Jonathan, having enjoyed

the loyalty and support of the outgoing Governor Obi, may have preferred a governor who would be obedient to him and also be willing to deliver the state to him in the 2015 Presidential poll, particularly as All Progressive Congress (APC)’s popularity gathers momentum.

Therefore, even though APGA might prefer Soludo to succeed Obi, being a sound Economist, the Presidency might have left Governor Obi with the option of losing the state to PDP’s candidate, except if the party would give him a governor that will secure Anambra for him in 2015.

The condition seems to be that if APGA had insisted on Soludo, the Presidency would mobilise in full force to wrest the state from APGA, so as to plug any loophole for defeat in 2015.

Many political observers have already posited that, all things being equal, Atiku may defect with his loyalists to APC before the 2015 elections. By this calculation, the already aggrieved PDP governors, including Musa Kwankwaso of Kano, Aliyu Babangida of Niger, Magatakadar Wamakko, of Sokoto, Chibuike

“

There are insinuations that his disqualification is traceable to his fraternity with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who was the arch contender to President Jonathan in 2011, and who is likely to remain his major contender again in 2015

Amaechi of Rivers state, Murtala Nyako of Adamawa and Sule Lamido of Jigawa, would also move to APC with him.

Already, APC has eleven governors in its folds, and if Atiku, alongside the six aggrieved PDP governors, decide to abandon PDP, then APC will have seventeen states to contend with PDP’s nineteen states.

From the above analogy, one can understand why who takes over Anambra is very critical to the President at this point in time.

It is believed that since Soludo is a political ally to Atiku, if the above six PDP governors moved into APC, he would definitely defect also, thereby leaving both PDP and APC with strength of eighteen states each.

This, it was reasoned will therefore create a real problem for the ruling party, hence the intrigues about the disqualification of the former CBN Boss.

Investigations in the party revealed that his disqualification came as a surprise to some prominent members of the party.

A source in the party told Peoples Daily that it appears as if the screening committee worked on a mandate to eliminate all the popular candidates.

Speaking in similar vein, a member of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party, Willy Ezeugwu, said the screening committee did its work without any interference from the party’s leadership.

Ezeugwu, who is also the National Secretary of Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), said the screening Soludo out will in no way affect the performance of the party in the election. Though the APGA primary has already come and gone, this singular disqualification will remain a topical political issue for a while in the country.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

PAGE 39

News Extra

BRIEFS Kaduna pilgrims’ board

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aduna state Pilgrims Welfare Board has called on all intending pilgrims in the state to complete payment for their hajj seats on or before Friday, August 23, 2013.

The Board’s overseer, Alhaji Kabiru Kasim, while announcing the 2013 hajj fare in Kaduna, said no payment will be entertained after the deadline.

According to him, intending pilgrims for minimum seat will pay N650,770.24 while those for the medium seat will pay N687,270.24 with the maximum seat going for N765,270. 24.

“The Board is set to do its best to give you good and conducive atmosphere to do hajj mabrur,” he said.

From Mohammad Ibrahim, Kaduna

Kogi nurses

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he Kogi state chapter of National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), has called on the government to take urgent steps to address challenges of infrastructure and dearth of manpower in the state health sector.

The NANNM Chairperson, Mrs. Lilian Kanjuni, made the call in Lokoja on Monday during an interactive session with journalists.

According to her, health institutions, especially hospitals in rural areas of the state are grossly under-staffed.

According to her, health institutions especially hospitals in the rural areas are grossly under-staffed while facilities are forced to operate below the World Health Organization (WHO) standard which stipulates a ratio of one nurse to four patients.

From Omale Adama, Lokoja

Ikoyi Prisons gets ambulance

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L-R: Assistant General Manager, Monitoring and Advocacy, Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Deji Koko; Assistant General Manager, Corporate Services of LAWMA, Fatai Odejaiye; Acting Managing Director of LAWMA, Abimbola Moses Jijho-Ogun, and Director, Finance and Administrative, Lagos state Ministry of Environment, Alhaja Dawuda Hussainat, during the LAWMA children initiative programme, tagged: “Waste to Food” initiative, recently in Lagos.

Photo: Olawale Rotimi

World Humanitarian Day: Stakeholders call for more collaboration

By Mohammed Kandi

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s Nigeria joined the rest of the world to celebrate World Humanitarian Day (WHD), participants on Monday called for more collaboration among benevolent individuals and oragnisations in humanitarian work to provide more support for the vulnerable people in the society.

Addressing participants on

that over 700 humanitarian workers had died in the course of sending relief to those in need.

According to him, “the total number of people affected by natural disasters has risen over the past decade, and about 211 million people are directly affected each year.”

Sani-Sidi, who described the theme of this years’ WHD as apt considering myriad of environmental challenges facing the

country, called on humanitarians to provide “support for different world challenges such as hunger, gender-based violence, refugees and displaced people, help for children, as well as access to clean water and sanitation.”

He said, “women and children are especially affected because of their on-going struggle with poverty, insecurity, hunger, poor health and environmental decline.”

FG upgrades Ningi VVF centre

By Abbas Aminu Bamalli

non-governmental organization (NGO), the Stephen and Solomon Foundation has donated provided an ambulance to Ikoyi Prisons.

The inmates had in 2005 set the prison’s ambulance ablaze during a protest over alleged government neglect then.

Handing over the ambulance to the prisons authorities at a ceremony, the Foundation’s Chairman, Chief Gabriel Giwa-Amu, also announced the donation of seven telephone lines “to service the inmates and this ambulance.”

From Matthew Aramunde, Lagos

the occasion of the 2013 WHD in Abuja, Director-General of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Muhammad Sani-Sidi, stressed the need to reflect on millions of global citizens who lost their lives to various disasters, as well as the humanitarian workers who died in the line of duty.

Represented by the agency’s Director of Admin and Supplies, Dr. Zanna Muhammad, Sani-Sidi noted

T

he Federal Government has inaugurated a 19-member committee for the takeover and upgrade of the Vesico Vaginal Fistula (VVF) Centre in Ningi, Bauchi state, to a centre of excellence for obstetric fistula treatment, training, rehabilitation,

prevention and research.

Inaugurating the committee in Abuja, Minister of Health, Prof.

Onyebuchi Chukwu, explained that the approval for the upgrade

by President Goodluck Jonathan followed a request by the Bauchi state government at the 54th National Council for Health.

The minister said taking

over of the centre by the Federal Government would bring about expansion of services for the prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of VVF patients, thereby reducing the backlog of VVF patients in Bauchi, the Northeast and the country at large.

According to him, “the transition process necessitates

the constitution of the takeover committee that will assess the facilities on ground, identify gaps and areas of need and make recommendations for the upgrade of the centre.”

“I therefore urge the members of this committee to remain focused and committed to the assignment,” he said.

Police arrest 50 suspected cultists in Benue From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

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he police in Otukpo yesterday paraded 50 suspected cultists said to have been picked up at different locations in the area by the combined team of Police and vigilante

group.

Chairman of the local government council, Dr. Innocent Onuh, expressed displeasure at the continued activities of cult groups in the area in spite of efforts to curb the dangerous act.

Onuh who said the council would

not condone acts of cultism, robbery or any other criminal acts, reiterated his determination to ensure the total security of the area.

The Divisional Police Officer in the area, Francis Obinwa, said the suspects would be thoroughly

investigated and those found guilty would be taken to Makurdi, the state capital for further action.

He urged residents to refrain from any action that would pose security challenges to the local government.

2015: APC has no structure to win election, says PDP auditor

By Chris Alu

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he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) North-central Zone Auditor, Alhaji Shamsudeen Abubakar

Maikasuwa, has described the All Progressives Congress (APC) as lacking in structure to win elective positions in 2015.

He noted that it has been much more easier for

the PDP because the party has structures.

Maikasuwa spoke with newsmen at the wedding ceremony of Mr. Joseph Kaaba Fishim in Gboko, Benue state at the

weekend.

According to him, APC is a toothless bull dog that can only bark without biting, adding that the party is coming not to take over power from PDP

but to test its ground in the next year’s general election.

Maikasuwa explained that the PDP Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, is competent to handle the

affairs of the party.

He said that those calling Tukur’s resignation should support his peace process in order to settle the perceived frictions within the party.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

PAGE 40

Leisure

Some Interesting Facts

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uring a solar eclipse, the shadows of leaves make the same crescent shape of the eclipsing sun. The image is made by light passing through tiny holes in the leaves.

Monks in the 16th century recorded seeing a giant explosion on the side of the Moon. It most likely was a large meteor that slammed into the Moon and left a large crater. It was a good thing the Moon was between us and the meteor!

See the rings of Saturn while you can. They slowly wobble up and down over the years as Saturns poles point away from then towards the sun. The rings disappear when edge on to our line of sight. Currently they are almost at their widest point and can be seen even in binoculars and small telescopes.

A star has been found moving closer to the sun. In a million years a star named Gliese 710 will have moved to within 6/10ths of a light year from the sun. This is more than six times closer than today’s nearest star, Alpha Centauri, which is over 4 light years away.

Stars viewed through even the largest telescopes look like tiny points of light. But astronomers, using the Hubble Space Telescope to photograph a star called Betelgeuse (pronounced “beetle jooze”), have now been able to see the surface of another star. Betelgeuse is a red, giant star located at the left shoulder of the constellation Orion and is the largest known star in our galaxy.

Not all stars are found inside galaxies. Astronomers have found stars moving between the galaxies, which are millions of light years apart. These stars may even have planets, possibly with intelligent life on them. If they do,

these beings would see a lonely sky with just one star (its own sun) and a few faint galaxies.

Tired of the cold weather? Take a vacation on the hottest planet in the solar system – Venus. At over 800 degrees, it is hotter than Mercury because the clouds and abundant carbon dioxide hold in most of the heat received from the sun.

Ever notice on a map how the South American and African coasts, along the Atlantic, fit together like two pieces of a giant puzzle? That is because at one time, millions of years ago, they were one continent. Magma from deep in the Earth broke through thin places between these continents and pushed them apart. They are still slowly moving apart and the Atlantic ocean is growing wider.

The lead in pencils, really graphite, is made of the exact same thing as

diamonds. Both are pure carbon which just formed under different pressures and temperatures.

Intense heat and pressure form the carbon atoms into crystals making diamond, while lesser heat and pressure form the carbon into sheets making graphite.

Geologists have discovered there seems to be more water miles deep between the rocks of Earths mantle than in all the oceans of the world.

The intense pressure of the tons of rocks above keeps the hot water from turning to steam and escaping.

If you were to place the planet Saturn in a big enough bowl of water, it would float!

Submitted by: Mark-Robert About 20 percent of the earths land is made up of desert, and the worlds largest desert is the Sahara of North Africa.

Black Holes are disappearing!

At first, it was believed that nothing could come out of a black hole and they would be around forever. But a famous physicist, named Stephen Hawkings, discovered that black holes lose energy and eventually evaporate away. But don’t wait around for one to “disappear” because it will take trillions and trillions of years to happen.

On a clear night, the human eye can see between 2,000 and 3,000 stars in the sky.

Water is the only substance on earth that is lighter as a solid tha than a liquid.

The White Sandsna nati tio iona nal alpa park rk in New Mexico iss the the lar larges gestt dese esert rt wi witth the fine whi whitte sa san nd, mad madee ofa of ami min neral eral cal alled led gy gyp psum. psum m.

Our su sun n is over over 2.

2.5 5 mill illio ion on miles miles aroun round nd at it itss equa quator tor.

Say what?

SUDODKU

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Record Breaking: Asha Mandela started growing her hair 25 years ago following a ‘spiritual calling’ Mrs Mandela, 47, holds the Guinness World Record for the longest dreadlocks.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

PAGE 41

World Cup qualifiers:

Keshi invites 42 for Malawi

By Albert Akota

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he Chief Coach of the Super Eagles Stephen Keshi has invited 24 players from the local league and 18 from overseas for next month’s World Cup qualifier against Malawi.

Only five of the 24 home boys will eventually join the 18 overseas-based stars for the big game, as well as for a friendly against Burkina Faso in Kaduna on Tuesday, September 10.

Usual suspects, goalkeeper Chigozie Agbim, defenders Azubuike Egwuekwe, Solomon Kwambe and Benjamin Francis, as well as midfielders Sunday Mba and forward Gambo Mohammed headline the home boys’ contingent.

Defensive pillar Godfrey Oboabona has been called, but will come in as an overseasbased professional if he is able to conclude his transfer to Rizespor of Turkey in a few days.

All 24 home boys are expected at the Bolton White Apartments, Abuja on Sunday, August 24, while the 18 Europe-based stars are expected to arrive unfailingly in Calabar on Monday, September 2.

“We are calling up 24 home boys in order to be able to identify new players for the 2014 African Nations Championship, for which we have already qualified,” said Keshi.

Goalkeepers Vincent Enyeama and Austin Ejide, defenders Efe Ambrose and Elderson Echiejile, midfielders Mikel Obi, Ogenyi Onazi and Victor Moses and forwards Emmanuel Emenike, Ahmed Musa and Brown Ideye top the list of the Europe-based pros.

Two-goal hero against South Africa in last week’s Nelson Mandela Challenge, Uche Nwofor retains his slot while Spain-based midfielder Nosa Igiebor returns for the first time since the Africa Cup of Nations finals.

England-based Shola Ameobi and Lokomotiv Moscow’s Obinna Nsofor also return.

Nigeria, on nine points, need only avoid defeat against sevenpointer Malawi at the U. J. Esuene Stadium on September 7 to reach the 10-team final elimination round of the African qualifying race for next year’s showpiece event in Brazil.

The friendly against the Etalons at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium three days later brings together the two teams who battled for the Africa Cup of Nations trophy in Johannesburg on February 10.

LIST OF HOME-BASED PROFESSIONALS Goalkeepers: Chigozie Agbim

(Enugu Rangers); Daniel Akpeyi (Heartland FC) Defenders: Azubuike Egwuekwe (Warri Wolves); Godfrey Oboabona (Sunshine Stars); Solomon Kwambe (Sunshine Stars); Umar Zango (Kano Pillars); Benjamin Francis (Heartland FC); Kunle Odunlami (Sunshine Stars); Chibuzor Okonkwo (Enugu Rangers); Yinka Adedeji (Sharks FC); Ganiyu Ogungbe (Kwara United) Midfielders:Sunday

Mba

(Enugu Rangers); Solomon Jabason (Akwa United); Olufemi Oladapo (Shooting Stars); Etebo Oghene (Warri Wolves); Rabiu Ali (Kano Pillars); Moses Orkuma (Lobi Stars) Forwards: Muhammad Gambo (Kano Pillars); Ifeanyi Edeh (Enyimba FC); Mbah Ezekiel (Akwa United); Barnabas Imenger (Lobi Stars); Izu Azuka (Sunshine Stars); Dimgba Stanley (Kwara United); Osadaiye Joseph (Warri Wolves) LIST

OF

FOREIGN-BASED

PLAYERS Goalkeepers: Vincent Enyeama (Lille FC, France); Austin Ejide (Hapoel Be’er Sheva, Israel) Defenders: Elderson Echiejile (Sporting Braga, Portugal); Efe Ambrose (Celtic FC, Scotland); James Okwuosa (Chippa United, South Africa) Midfielders: John Mikel Obi (Chelsea FC, England); Fegor Ogude (Valerenga FC, Norway); John Ogu (Academica de Coimbra,

Portugal); Victor Moses (Chelsea FC, England); Ogenyi Onazi (SS Lazio, Italy); Nnamdi Oduamadi (AC Milan, Italy); Nosa Igiebor (Real Betis, Spain) Forwards: Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow, Russia); Brown Ideye (Dynamo Kiev, Ukraine); Shola Ameobi (Newcastle United, England); Emmanuel Emenike (Fenerbahce FC, Turkey); Obinna Nsofor (Lokomotiv Moscow, Russia); Uche Nwofor (VVV Venlo, Netherlands)

Kwankwaso doles out Naira to Kano Pillars

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Eagle’s players celebrating

2014 CHAN: Leopards arrive Cameroon today

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R Congo’s local team will arrive today in Cameroon where they will oppose the Lions at the Roumdé Adjia stadium in Garoua in the first leg of their 2014 African Nations Championship play-off.

Winner of the first edition of the CHAN in 2009, the Leopards stumbled against the “Diables

Rouges” in the previous qualifying round in the Congolese’s derby and are now in the obligation to beat the Indomitable Lions if they want to travel to South Africa in January next year.

Coach Santos Muntubile will have back in the squad the four TP Mazembe’s players called in (Jean Kasusula, Joël Kimwaki, Eric

Bokanga and Ilongo Ngasanya), who were competing in the CAF Confederation Cup this weekend, but is not certain to be able to rely on AS Vita Club’s defender Djo Issama Mpeko and striker Emmanuel Ngudikama both injured.

The second leg of the play-off will take place a week later at the TP Mazembe stadium in Lubumbashi.

he joyous momentum continues in Kano as the executive governor of the State, Alhaji Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has rewarded players of Kano Pillars with the sum of N500,000 each for winning the 2012/13 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) title.

The ceremony took place at the government house, State road in Kano State on yesterday.

The Sai Masugida were confirmed champions on the last day of last season in Akure after losing 1-2 to Sunshine Stars in an entertaining encounter.

The governor also dashed out the sum of N750, 000 each to all the officials of the Nigerian champions.

Alhaji Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso could not however, hide his feelings as he expressed how excited he was to newsmen.

“Kano Pillars made me happy by winning the League title and I have to reward them awesomely.

“To win the Nigeria League title is not an easy task and I’m therefore challenging them to win again this season,” the governor told supersport.com at the government house in Kano.

Kano Pillars’ players and officials have also been given a Picanto KIA Car each for winning the 2012/13 premier League title.

Sharks can beat Kano Pillars with fair officiating, says coach

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he Head coach of the Blue Angels has beckoned on match officials to apply the tenets of their profession to the letter as the league season enters the home stretch Sharks helmsman Gbenga Ogunbote has stated that the Blue

Angels can beat Kano Pillars, Heartland, Enyimba anywhere with good officiating.

The Port Harcourt side has been insipid since the start of the season but they have managed to turn their season around albeit temporarily

having posted impressive outings in their last five matches where they have chalked home 13 points out of a possible 15.

Ogunbote noted that match officials should learn to uphold the tenets of the game if they want

Nigerian football to flourish like what is obtainable overseas.

He stressed that Sharks would continue to be competitive until the league season ends and that the players would not be carried away by their recent rise on the log.

PAGE 42

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

Sports FCT FA solicits for league sponsor

Confederation Cup semi-final: Wolves battle Akwa United in Bauchi as Enyimba face Lobi Stars at Benin City today Stories by Albert Akota

FCT FA Chairman, Musa Talle

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he Federal Capital Territory Football Association (FCT FA) Secretary Abdullahi Ibrahim has called for sponsorship to ensure the success of the ongoing 2013/14 league.

Ibrahim, who disclosed this yesterday in Abuja, said that although the league kicked off yesterday, the association had yet to get sponsors for the matches.

He said letters had been sent out to individuals and corporate organisations to sponsor the competition but no response had been received.

The secretary said there were no prizes of cash and trophies for the winners yet.

Ibrahim, however, expressed optimism that the competition would be successful, adding that finance and sponsorship had always been limiting the activities of the association.

“I wish that our competition this year will be a successful one, although, I am appealing to the general public, private enterprises and multinational companies to please try and sponsor our activities.

“We are supposed to have started the state league before now but the lack of sponsorship delayed the event from holding as planned.

“This is the constraint we are having because up till now, we are yet to get sponsors for any of our activities,’’ he said.

The secretary, however, acknowledged the assistance of those who had been sponsoring the association.

“Kanu Foundation has been the one sponsoring our activities.

We have also written him to help sponsor us this year but he has not yet responded.

“We are still counting on the Kanu Foundation to come and assist us the way they have been doing earlier.

“They have been the ones presenting prizes. We are still hopeful that the Foundation will respond so that we can have prizes for the winners,’’ Ibrahim said.

Ibrahim said 42 clubs were participating in the ongoing competition and wished the winners would smile home with something worthwhile.

Peoples Daily Sports gathered that 90 matches will be played at the preliminary stage while the final is billed for Sept. 15.

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he Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) top-flight clubs Enyimba and Lobi Stars will battle in Benin City today for a place in the final of this year’s Federation Cup billed in Lagos.

Enyimba are on course for a third cup triumph having won it in 2005 and 2009, while Lobi Stars have won the trophy once.

Both clubs will fancy their chances of reaching next month’s cup final in Lagos.

Enyimba coach Imama Amakapabo said that even though they are now top of the league table, they will not take struggling Lobi lightly today.

“We are in good form, but we know that Federation Cup is different from the league games, we won’t underrate Lobi because for them to be in semi-final of the competition, it shows they are good,’ said the former Sharks goalkeeper.

“We will approach the game with all seriousness a top clash like this deserves; we know there won’t be a second chance as it is a knock out stage.

Enyimba pipped Nasarawa United 1-0 to reach the last four of the competition.

However, Lobi coach Evans Ogenyi said his team will be gunning for victory against his former club Enyimba.

“I am happy we are in the semi-final. We will face Enyimba with all the seriousness and the urgency the match requires,” said Ogenyi aka Jose Mourinho.

“I don’t dwell in the past and I believe my past experience at Enyimba will not count as most of the players I worked with are no more there.

“The target is to lead Lobi to success in this competition and win the cup after we lost the trophy last year to Heartland.

Lobi Stars defeated giant killers Akwa Starlets 2-1 to reach the semi-final of the competition.

Akwa against Wolves player in recent rescheduled league clash

UCL group stage: Arsenal, Schalke aim to bounce back after poor league start

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nglish Premier League side Arsenal and Germany’s Schalke want to put poor season starts behind them as they aim to reach the group stage of football’s Champions League.

Arsenal slipped to a 3-1 home defeat to Aston Villa Saturday and has several injury problems ahead of Wednesday’s first-leg play-off in Istanbul against Fenerbahce.

Arsenal players in good mod

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kieran Gibbs are both set to miss the match while Bacary Sagna and Tomas Rosicky face a race to be fit.

Wenger is hopeful that Jack Wilshere will recover from playing 90 minutes at the weekend, on top of his performance for England in midweek.

And the Frenchman has to lift his side after their disapppointing opening-day defeat at home.

The Gunners, who are aiming to reach the group stage for the 16th successive time, come up against a Fenerbahce side fighting to stay in European club competition following banishment by European governing body Uefa.

The ban has been temporarily lifted while Fenerbahce appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, where a ruling is expected at least before the group stage draw next week.

The Turkish side under new coach Ersun Yanal was also on the losing side on Saturday, going down 3-2 after leading 2-0 against promoted Konyaspor in their opening Super Lig game.

Schalke entertain Greek side PAOK Thessaloniki on Wednesday coming off a 4-0 defeat at Wolfsburg, which had followed a 3-3 draw with SV Hamburg, and with striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar sidelined with knee ligament damage.

PAOK only got their chance after Uefa barred Ukrainian side Metalist Kharkiv in another ruling in connection with match-fixing allegations.

Jaja urges Keshi to qualify Nigeria for 2014 World Cup

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he Former President of Nigeria Referees Association Dr Sam Sam Jaja, has urged Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi, to ensure Nigeria’s qualification for FIFA 2014 World Cup competition in Brazil.

Jaja said that Keshi should continue with the good work he was doing with the national team to qualify the team for the football tournament.

He also urged Keshi not to allow criticisms to distract him, saying: ``First and foremost, I commend him for the good job he’s done so far.

“As somebody who had been there, had his successes and challenges at different times, he should know that this one is the most critical challenge he is going to face.

“He is coaching his national team. A team he had played for.

It’s quite different from when he coached the national teams of other countries.

“To qualify for the World Cup in Brazil is a must for this country.

Therefore, he should apply all manner of psychology.

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

PAGE 43

Sports

pens Mourinho has plan C, Verratti PSG new contract if Rooney pursuit fails M J ose Mourinho says that nothing has changed in Chelsea’s pursuit of Wayne Rooney, but that the club have a “plan B and C” if Manchester United remain steadfast in their refusal to sell.

The Portuguese coach has pursued Rooney all summer and openly talked about the prospect of the transfer, but was a little less willing to discuss other potential targets.

Chelsea sources said that the club is interested in Samuel Eto’o despite the fact no formal contact has yet been made and Galatasaray’s Buruk Yilmaz.

It is understood that there is an increasing acceptance at Stamford Bridge that United will not sell Rooney, but Mourinho admitted they are still interested.

The Chelsea manager also said he agreed with Newcastle boss Alan Pardew’s comments that the transfer window is open for too long.

Rooney

arco Verratti has finally put pen to paper on his long-awaited contract extension with Paris Saint-Germain after securing the pay increase he had sought.

After arriving a year ago as a virtual unknown from Pescara, Verratti, 20, developed into a key part of the Ligue 1-winning squad last season, featuring in 27 league matches and nine Champions League fixtures under Carlo Ancelotti.

However, the Italy international felt his €850,000 annual salary, part of the five-year deal he initially signed at the Parc des Princes, did not befit his newly earned status as a first-team regular.

Linked with a move to Juventus, Fiorentina and Napoli in recent months, Verratti had given his agent, Donato di Campli, a mandate to seek a pay rise from PSG, while both Di Campli and the player himself had insisted his priority was to remain in the French capital.

Martinez blasts Man United bid for Fellaini Pardew condemns Arsenal’s Cabaye bid M

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lan Pardew has branded Arsenal disrespectful, accusing them of unsettling Yohan Cabaye with the timing of their offer for the midfielder.

The Gunners submitted a £10 million bid for the France international, which Newcastle rejected, but Pardew omitted Cabaye from his side for their opening league fixture, a 4-0 defeat at Manchester City.

And the Newcastle manager, who believes Cabaye was not in the right frame of mind to play, was annoyed by Arsenal’s approach.

Pardew believes the transfer window should have been closed before the start of the campaign and thinks the summer’s transfer sagas are proof it ought to be shut earlier next year.

“This is a terrific player. He is a player where you put him in the [Luis] Suarez and [Gareth] Bale situation which he has found himself in. There is a question about the window being closed before we kick off the Premier League season.

Pardew revealed defender Steven Taylor has apologised for his

first-half dismissal in their defeat at the Etihad Stadium. The centreback was shown a straight red card for violent conduct after a clash with Sergio Aguero and now faces a three-match suspension.

Cabaye

anchester United’s approach for two leading Everton players is a waste of time, the Merseyside club’s manager Roberto Martinez said yesterday.

The Spaniard’s comments came the day after the club’s director of communications Alan Myers branded the bids for Belgium midfielder Marouane Fellaini and England defender Leighton Baines as “derisory and insulting”.

He questioned whether the transfer window should even still be open when the season was underway, echoing the views of Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew who on Monday was angry about the timing of an approach

by Arsenal for midfielder Yohan Cabaye.

According to media reports United, now managed by former Everton boss David Moyes, offered a total of 28 million pounds ($43.88 million) for Fellaini and Baines.

United, who began their title defence with a 4-1 win at Swansea City on Saturday, are yet to make a significant transfer-window signing with their public pursuit of Barcelona’s Cesc Fabregas so far coming to nothing.

Valencia close to completing Pabon deal

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alencia has paid the buy-out clause to secure the services of Colombia striker Dorlan Pabon from Monterrey, though the Mexican club is disputing the details of the deal, the Spanish side said yesterday.

The 25-year-old forward, who played part of last season on loan with La Liga side Real Betis, will

come in to help fill the gap left by the sale of Roberto Soldado to Tottenham Hotspur.

Valencia is struggling with crippling debts which have forced them into selling their leading players each summer.

Salvo said for the first time Valencia had used a third-party investment fund, Doyen, who

had put up half the money to help finance the operation.

France defender Aly Cissokho is close to completing a loan move to Liverpool, goalkeeper Vicente Guaita is reportedly being followed by Arsenal and France defender Jeremy Mathieu hinted yesterday he was considering his future.

Marouane Fellaini

Rabiu to join Krasnodar

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vian Thonon Gaillard has agreed to sell Ghana international midfielder Mohammed Rabiu to Russian side Kuban Krasnodar, the French Ligue 1 club said yesterday.

Krasnodar will pay a 2.6 million euros ($3.47 million) fee for the 23-year-old Rabiu, who has won 10 caps with Ghana.

The midfielder played 64 games altogether for Evian in Ligue 2 then Ligue 1 after joining them from Udinese in 2010.

Krasnodar is ninth in the Russian championship standings with six points from five games.

They finished fifth last season and host Feyenoord in their Europa League playoff, first leg tomorrow.

Mohammed Rabiu

PAGE 44

PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

Sports

Michael Jamieson

Glasgow 2014: Jamieson set for home city excitement

US Open: Murray will play under pressure, says McEnroe W

imbledon champion Andy Murray must get used to being “the hunted” as he prepares to defend his US Open title, says John McEnroe.

The American, a four-time winner at Flushing Meadows, believes that as the reigning

champion Murray, 26, faces a different kind of pressure when the tournament begins on Monday.

Murray, 26, has reached the final of the last four major tournaments in which he has competed, but has not made it past the quarter-finals in his two events since his victory at Wimbledon.

He remains in with a chance of ending the year as the world number one but slipped behind the in-form Rafael Nadal to third in the rankings on Monday.

McEnroe, 54, managed to follow Wimbledon victories with success at the US Open twice during his career, in 1981 and

1984, and both times ended the year as the world number one.

McEnroe also believes the fact that Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open, Nadal won the French Open and Murray won Wimbledon means the US Open could effectively decide who has been the best player of 2013.

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laswegian Michael Jamieson will use Bath as his training base in order to focus ahead of the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The Olympic 200m breaststroke silver medallist said training in his native city would prove too difficult.

Jamieson, in Glasgow for a Games ticket launch, is content with his decision on where to stay ahead of the Games.

Speaking at the refurbished Tollcross International Swimming Centre, Jamieson added: “I’m in a privileged position, to have competed at a home Olympics last year and a home Commonwealth Games next year. It doesn’t get much better than that.

And Jamieson insists he will get over the disappointment of finishing fifth in the 200m breaststroke final at the World Championships in Barcelona.

“It was so frustrating to be in Barcelona last month and not get the result I knew I was capable of,” he said.

“Now that disappointment has subsided and I’m laughing it off, thinking of better ways to set up the Commonwealth season after the disappointment.

“I’m hungrier and more motivated than ever and I know everyone at home is expecting results from me.

Murray

Nadal top Murray in world rankings

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afael Nadal will head to the US Open as world number two after winning the Cincinnati Open on Sunday.

He has overtaken defending champion Murray, who is set to

I prefer winning medals to setting records, says Gemili

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printer Adam Gemili says winning medals in his career is more important than setting records.

Gemili, 19, became the second Briton to run under 20

Gemili breaks 20-second barrier in 200m

seconds in the 200m at the World Championships in Moscow.

The Blackheath and Bromley Harriers athlete ran a time of 19.98 seconds in his 200m semifinal heat in Moscow.

That time puts him behind British record holder John Regis, who clocked 19.87 seconds in Italy in 1994.

Gemili went on to finish fifth in the 200m final but he says the experience he has gained from the Championships will benefit him in the long term.

Before the World Championships in Russia, the Dartford-based athlete spoke of his desire to compete over both 100m and 200m in the future.

The former footballer hopes he will be able to run the double at next year’s European Championships, which will be held in Zurich, Switzerland.

be named third seed for the final major of the year which starts in New York on 26 August.

Roger Federer drops to seventh, his lowest ranking for 11 years.

Laura Robson is in line to be the 31st seed - the first time a British woman has been seeded at a Grand Slam since Jo Durie at the 1987 Australian Open.

The 19-year-old, who made her major breakthrough by reaching

Nadal

the fourth round at Flushing Meadows last year, is an injury worry because she has been struggling with a wrist problem.

Heather Watson, the 2009 junior champion and world number 77, is the other Briton with direct entry into the US Open singles draw.

Nadal is enjoying his best ever run on hard courts. The Spaniard, 27, beat John Isner to claim his ninth title of 2013 at Cincinnati.

He has won all 15 matches on the surface in 2013, taking Masters Titles in Indian Wells and Montreal .

It is a remarkable turnaround for the 12-time Grand Slam champion, who was out for seven months with a knee injury following last year’s Wimbledon.

He slipped as low as fifth in the rankings but now returns to number two for the first time since July 2012.

Since returning from injury in February, Nadal has reached the final in 11 of the 12 tournaments he has played, winning nine, with his only early exit coming against Steve Darcis in the first round of Wimbledon.

He now heads to New York looking for his second US Open title, and in position to go on and end the year as the world number one.

Murray has reached the final of the last four Grand Slams he has played, winning at the US Open and Wimbledon, but slips to three in the latest rankings.

Federer has fallen two places from fifth after a season in which he lost in the second round at Wimbledon and fell in the semifinal in Australia and quarter-final at the French Open. He has lost a quarter of his 40 matches in 2013.

www.peoplesdailyng.com

. . . putting the people first

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013

SPORTS LATEST

Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup tickets go on sale

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he first batch of one million tickets for next year’s World Cup in Brazil went on sale on the internet on Tuesday, with some Brazilian fans complaining about high prices.

The chase for tickets began at 1000, even though World Cup qualification is far from over and the draw for the final phase does not take place until December 6.

At least 300 000 of the tickets that went on sale are reserved for “those over 60 years old, students and recipients of the Bolsa Familia family grant”, the International Football Federation (Fifa) said on its internet site.

Those tickets are branded Category 4, cost between $15 and $82.50 (11-62 euros), and are available only to Brazilians.

Tickets in those categories for the opening match on June 12, 2014 at the Itaquerao stadium in Sao Paulo cost between $220 and $495 while those for the final at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana on July 13 will set back fans a minimum of $440 up to $990.

But some Brazilian fans find the tickets, except for the discount categories, too expensive.

The monitoring committee has been highly critical of the way the tournament is being organised.

Many local fans are keen to see the national squad play in Rio but this will happen only if the Selecao reach the final.

The first phase of sales, relating to around a third of the total number of tickets available, lasts until October 6, after which a ballot will be held to determine the successful applications.

So far only hosts Brazil, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Iran have booked their places at the finals.

The World Cup will take place across 12 cities with around 600,000 tourists expected to attend the tournament.

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QUOTABLE QUOTE Yes, you have had few cases of soldiers relating with the adversary but a unit commander worth his onions will turn such a soldier into an asset, a veritable asset.

— Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika

This is pro-poverty, not pro-poor The world’s hunger is getting ridiculous. There is more fruit in a rich man’s shampoo than in a poor man’s plate - An inspirational thought online.

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vidence that Northern state governments’ halfhearted attempt to lift their Muslim masses out of hunger in the Ramadan fasting period did not bear fruit was brought to the consciousness of Nigerians by a recent News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report. M.A. Islahi, a Muslim thinker, states that “fasting inculcates in us a sense of sharing and, therefore, we feel a compassion for all beings”. He says “one who observes fasting becomes kind-hearted and avoids crudeness while dealing with others. There is greater understanding.”

It is thought that this was the driving spirit in the decision of many of the states up North to provide free feeding to the poor and the destitute throughout the Ramadan period. This had the effect of removing beggars off city streets. Fasting now over, the feeding schemes have stopped and the beggars have poured back onto the streets. What kind of thing is this? What is the message that the governments want to convey to their various publics?

Without meaning to pontificate, or engage in moral one-upmanship, the lesson of that period is simply this: Bad habits dropped during the cleansing period should be done away for good; good deeds imbibed should be taken forward beyond the Ramadan. The man who womanizes, or is a smoker, an alcoholic or an excessive consumer of even the good things of life is not expected to resume the bad habits because the Ramadan period has passed. If this is the lesson for individuals, why should state or local governments which take up the responsibility of feeding their poor drop out of it because the month-long period of fasting is over? The sense I make of this

“

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MUSINGS By

Garba Shehu garshehu@yahoo.co.in

Chairman, Northern States Governors Forum, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu is that governments in this flipflop are telling their people that they are wicked and heartless.

They pretended that they cared for the poor people in Ramadan but in truth they did not. If they can undertake the feeding of the poor for the Ramadan period in July, why not take it through August, September, and on and on? This inconsistency only serves to underline the shaky grasp by our political class in general of our economic and social issues. It confirms that Northern political leadership across party lines are out of touch with the reality of the living conditions of their people.

The NAN report in question

states that “a week after the termination of the Ramadan feeding programme, the destitute have resurfaced on the streets of Kano begging for alms.” According to the report, “the destitute have taken over major junctions, markets, motor parks, public places and other strategic locations of the metropolis seeking for alms…” The report went on: “some of them told NAN that they disappeared from the streets during the fasting period because of the free feeding programme executed by various state governments in the North during Ramadan. Saminu Audu, one of the destitute said if the governments would continue with

Northern Nigeria is one of the greatest poverty havens of the world. Given the existing level of poverty, governments’ attempt to administer welfare homeopathically (through minute doses) simply doesn’t work. The problem calls for more than half measures. It is only when our governments cast aside their hesitancy, laziness and selfishness and adopt bold approaches to reform that this segment of the population can be lifted out of the scourge of poverty. In this regard, the revival of textile and other agricultural industries in the region will make for a good start. When these agro-industries thrived in the past, they created a lot of jobs.

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the largesse, or provide at least a meal a day, they would vacate the streets.” To borrow words from Chetan Bhagat, who wrote an article with a similar headline “poverty is a terrible thing”, “There are few things as demeaning to a human being as not having the means to fulfill his basic needs in life.”

Northern Nigeria is one of the greatest poverty havens of the world. Given the existing level of poverty, governments’ attempt to administer welfare homeopathically (through minute doses) simply doesn’t work. The problem calls for more than half measures. It is only when our governments cast aside their hesitancy, laziness and selfishness and adopt bold approaches to reform that this segment of the population can be lifted out of the scourge of poverty.

In this regard, the revival of textile and other agricultural industries in the region will make for a good start. When these agro-industries thrived in the past, they created a lot of jobs. Nigeria has been importing nearly all its textile and processed agricultural goods, leading to massive unemployment at home.

This, coupled with the lethargy and poor leadership at the top, created a situation in which crime and insurgencies like the Boko Haram thrive in the region. To get out of the illness, one needs to take some bitter medicines. Northern governments must listen to advice by experts on the issue of poverty and implement it. They should increase investment in agriculture, industry and infrastructure especially independent power supply.

They should open up governance by imbibing transparency and accountability.

Let them cut much of the wasteful expenditure.

Political leaders must also reduce their corrupt acts. They have taken enough from the people and it is time now that they gave back to the nation. By way of atonement, they may quickly prevail on the National Assembly to pass the Food Security Bill, which among other things, seeks to ensure this country does not allow its poor to die of hunger. States that have fed their destitute and poor for a month have no moral right to suddenly withdraw this arrangement simply because the Holy month of Ramadan is over. An Arab proverb says “a hungry man can fight the king”. Does anyone sincerely think that the North can get out of the debilitating Boko Haram insurgency if they continue with this type of complacency, paying shabby attention to the hungry men and women in their midst?

Published by Peoples Media Limited, 35, Ajose Adeogun Street, 1st Floor Peace Park Plaza, Utako, Abuja. Kano office: Plot 3, Zaria Road, Opposite Kano State House of Assembly. Lagos Office: No.8 Oliyide Street, off Unity Road, Ikeja, Lagos. Tel: +234 814 292 9046. Cell: +234 802 443 2099; 803 7007 759. e-mail: contact@peoplesdailyng.com; pmlnewsdesk@gmail.com ISSN: 2141– 6141