Peoples Daily Newspaper, Monday 23, October, 2012

www.peoplesdaily-online.com

Vol. 9 No. 52

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

. . . putting the people first

Zhul-Hajj 7, 1433 AH

N150

2015: PDP sticks to zoning formula, says scribe

By Lawrence Olaoye

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ontrary to speculations making the rounds in political circles that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has jettisoned its zoning arrangement in distributing

political offices, the National Secretary of the party, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, yesterday declared that zoning still exists in the party.

The party scribe, while responding to questions from newsmen, said zoning has been

one of the practices in the ruling party that makes it the darling of the people and as such it would be politically suicidal to jettison the practice.

He said “What has endeared that PDP to the people from all over the country has been the zoning

arrangement which has given the hope that those in the minority in the country would have access to power.

“There is an adage in my language that says when a medicine is working for you, you don’t throw it away. So we will

continue with zoning arrangement because it is working very well,” Oyinlola declared.

Commenting on the ongoing merger efforts by the opposition parties with the aim to wrestle Contd on Page 2

Borno indicts JTF . . . Says soldiers destroyed N188m property

From Mustapha Isah Kwaru, Maiduguri

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committee set up by the Borno state government to assess the damages allegedly caused by the operatives of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Gwange ward in Maiduguri, the state capital, two weeks ago, has indicted the security apparatus saying its men destroyed property belonging to innocent people worth about N187.8 million naira.

Men of the JTF were reported to have gone on rampage allegedly killing about 30 persons and burning houses, cars and other valuables in a supposed reprisal after an officer and two soldiers were killed in an attack by suspected insurgents.

Presenting the report to Governor Kashim Shettima, Contd on Page 2

PD INDEX

22nd Oct., 2012

CBN RATES $ £ EURO CFA RIYAL

BUYING 154.76 248.1886 202.21 0.2885 41.267

SELLING 155.76 249.792 203.516 0.3085 41.5

PARALLEL RATES EURO £ RIYAL $

BUYING 202 243 40 155.5

SELLING 205 247 42 158.50

L-R: Former Governors of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Joseph Sanusi, Malam Adamu Ciroma, Hon. Manir Dan Agundi, and Deputy Governor of CBN, Mrs. Sarah Alade, during a public hearing on a Bill for an Act to amend the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007 No 7, organised by the Joint Committee on Banking, Currency and Justice, yesterday at the National Assembly, in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Senator Zanna quizzed, released by SSS >> PAGE 2

Pension scam: Senate in fresh moves to arrest Maina >> PAGE 3

Potiskum crises: Yobe govt imposes partial curfew >> PAGE 3

PAGE 2

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

CONTENTS News

2-11

Editorial

12

Op.Ed

13

Letters

14

Opinion

15

Metro

16-18

Business

18-19

S/Exchange

23

S/Report

24

Defence

26

Agriculture

28

Salami retirement setback for judiciary - NBA

T

he Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Ikeja branch, has faulted the directive by the National Judicial Council (NJC) that Ayo Salami, the suspended President of the Court of Appeal, should proceed on early retirement.

The NJC had in a meeting on Oct.18 in Abuja recommended early retirement with full benefits for Salami.

Mr. Salami, who was suspended from office on August

18 by the NJC, is due for retirement on October 14, 2013.

The Chairman of the NBA, Ikeja branch, Onyekachi Ubani, in a telephone interview on Monday, described the decision as a setback for the judiciary.

“This is the worst decision ever taken by the NJC because it is a clear case of evil triumphing over good.

“Salami represented an interest. He represented those who believed in the truth. He

represented those who were bold and courageous.

“The decision is a great setback to the judiciary because it is a clear case of punishing somebody for what he did not do,” the lawyer said.

According to him, the NJC’s directive contradicted the muchcanvassed judiciary reform of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Aloma Mukthar.

“If this can happen in Nigeria, it means that all the so-called talks

FCT Auditor General, family allegedly kidnapped

By Richard Ihediwa, & Lambert Tyem with agency reports

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rmed kidnappers may have started targeting high profile government officials in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja as the auditor general of the FCT, Administration Fred Omaka alongside his wife and other members of his family are now feared kidnapped by gunmen Already the kidnappers are said to be asking for a N20 million ransom before they will release the family.

The International Centre for Investigative Reporting reported yesterday that the kidnappers intercepted Omaka

along with his wife and an unspecified number of children when the family was returning to Abuja from a trip to Edo State, his home state on Sunday. The incident is said to have happened around 12 noon on Sunday.

As at press time yesterday, details of the incident were still sketchy but an ICIR source, who is a friend of the family, said that the kidnappers had already contacted the family and demanded a N20 million ransom.

It was however gathered that members of the victim’s family who have been cautioned not to speak to the press on the matter are now making frantic effort for the release of those kidnapped.

Efforts to get officials of the FCT Ministry to speak on the matter failed as aides of the FCT minister did not pick their calls when Peoples Daily sought information on the matter.

Also the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command yesterday said it was not aware the alleged kidnap of the Auditor General.

Spokesperson of the Command, DSP Doris England said last night that she has no such information though she has been in the office since morning.

She however promised that she would get across to the Federal Command for information on the issue.

She later could not be reached on phone as at press time.

about judicial reforms are mere talks.

“This has greatly reduced the people’s confidence in the judiciary,” he said.

Senator Zanna quizzed, released by SSS

S

enator Ahmed Khalifa Zanna was yesterday quizzed and eventually released by officials of the State Security Service [SSS] for allegedly harbouring a top member of the Boko Haram sect in his residence.

The senator who was held at the SSS headquarters for eight hours was later released at about 8 40 pm last night.

Details of what transpired at the interrogation were not known as at press time.

He was however asked to return today.

The JTF last week in Maiduguri alleged that it arrested a high profile member of Boko Haram, Shuaibu Mohammed Bama, in the residence of the senator who represents Borno Central zone in the Upper chamber.

Zanna however denied the allegation saying that the suspect was not picked up in his house but that of the former state governor, Ali Modu Sheriff.

Borno indicts JTF . . . says soldiers destroyed N188m properties Why Mimiko floored ACN, PDP in Ondo, Page 4

Inter’l Interview

31-34 36

Politics

37-39

Sports

41-47

Columnist

48

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

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

Phones for News: 070-37756364 09-8734478

Contd from Page 1 Chairman of the committee, Baba Bashir Garbai, said a breakdown of findings by the committee indicated that 142 houses and shops, 21 vehicles and 14 tricycles belonging to residents were destroyed in the incident.

Garbai, who doubles as the Commissioner for Local Government, said the committee carried out its assignment with fairness and justice. He added that the committee outlined several recommendations on how to curb the recurrent mayhem in the state.

Receiving the report, the governor commanded the committee for their contribution, promising to commence payment of compensation to victims.

The JTF had at the wake of the reported rampage denied

attacking innocent people or destroying property in the area.

In two separate statements issued in the wake of the incidences, the JTF spokesperson, Sagir Musa, said officers of the JTF have never been involved in extra-judicial killing saying there have been no “established or recorded case of extra judicial killing, torture, arson or arbitrary arrest by the JTF in Borno state”.

In the first statement the JTF denied extra-judiciously killing the civilians while in the second statement, it denied burning houses and other property along Lagos Street in Maiduguri.

On the burning of the houses, the JTF said it was the explosives used by suspected insurgent to attack its men that set the houses and shops around the vicinity on fire.

The statement said the explosives contained “acid and

highly inflammable substances that propagate blasts and thermal effects which set houses and shops around the vicinity on fire.”

Despite the statements, residents in the area insist that the operatives actually killed civilians even as they accused them of going on rampage.

Witnesses were reported to have said that the angry soldiers fired indiscriminately on residents killing several while also burning homes and shops in the area.

Meanwhile, the JTF yesterday said it has fresh information indicating that insurgents were planning to launch massive attacks in the city during the Sallah festivities with the support of foreign mercenaries.

According to the JTF in a statement yesterday: “Information available before

the JTF indicates that the Boko Haram men are planning to launch massive attacks on military and civilian targets in Borno state before, during and after the forth coming Sallah celebrations. Subsequently, the terrorist have sought the support of foreign mercenaries to partake in the attacks” The JTF however assured that effective measures have been put in place to check the said insurgents and as such urged residents not to panic and go about their normal activities during the festivities.

It equally advised the public to purchase sufficient food stuff and other routine household need as curfew might be imposed in the event of the breakdown of law and order.

The task force also solicited the assistance of the public by reporting any suspicious persons or movement to the nearest security outfit so as to ensure the safety of all.

2015: PDP sticks to zoning formula, says scribe Contd from Page 1 political power from the ruling party by 2015, Oyinlola said the ‘gang-up’ of the opposition against the PDP would fail as such efforts in the past have not succeeded.

According to him, it was only because those parties were weak that they were seeking for alignment and coalition. The PDP Scribe added that his party is not losing any sleep over the merger

plans by the opposition.

He also disclosed that efforts are ongoing within the party to reconcile members of the party ahead of the 2015 general elections so that those states lost to the opposition, especially in the South West, could be regained.

He noted that three states in the South West including Ekiti, Osun and until lately Ondo were lost to the judiciary and not

directly to the opposition even as he declared that those who voted the opposition were the aggrieved members of the ruling PDP who would be reined back into the party through the reconciliatory efforts of the party’s Reconciliation Committee chaired by the former Vice President, Alex Ekwueme.

On the resolution of the crisis currently rocking Adamawa state, Oyinlola said the PDP

National Working Committee (NWC) is working hard to resolve the issue; more so when the state governor, Murtala Nyako, has pleaded with the party’s leadership to temper justice with mercy.

He however added that the Alhaji Bamanga Tukur’s led PDP NWC would not compromise on party discipline for whatever reasons.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 3

Gunmen kill Pension scam: Senate in fresh moves to arrest Maina two cops, injure two in Plateau

By Richard Ihediwa

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From Nankpah Bwakan, Jos

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unmen yesterday killed two policemen while two others who sustained various degrees of injury are currently receiving medical attention in an unknown hospital in Barkin Ladi local government area of Plateau state. The assailants attacked Heipang Airport police outpost while the Minister for Information and Communication, Mr. Labaran Maku was on the National Good Governance Tour of the state.

However, the Special Task Force (STF) gave a different account of the incident. Media and Information Officer of the STF, Captain Salisu Mustapha, said unknown gunmen attacked a police station in Heipang of Barkin Ladi local government killing one police man while the second police officer escaped in the process.

he Senate says it has concluded arrangements to order the arrest the Chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), Adulrasheed Maina, for refusing to appear last Thursday before its committee probing the alleged fraud in the handling of over N2 trillion pension funds in the country.

But in a swift reaction an embattled Maina had dared the upper house saying he will no longer appear before the Senate Joint Committee on Establishment and Public Service and State and Local Government Affairs whose

members he accused of bias.

Maina had also written to Senate President David Mark demanding that the committee be reviewed to ensure equity and fairness to all.

But the committee, led by Senator Aloysius Etok at the weekend, insisted that Maina, as a Director in the Customs, Immigration and Prisons Pension Office (CIPPO), has serious questions to answer in the scam and that it will not hesitate to order his arrest if he fails to appear on its next sitting.

The Senate panel was forced to adjourn sitting last week following Maina’s refusal to appear before it. The Senate had

earlier asked President Goodluck Jonathan to sack Maina over the matter.

Sticking to his gun on not appearing before the committee, Maina had written to the panel saying his decision was based on a letter of protest he earlier sent to the Senate President in which he accused the panel members of witch-hunting him.

In the letter by his lawyer Kashim Ibrahim, dated October 16, 2012 Maina said he and the PRTT management staff have lost confidence in the ability of the Senate investigative panel to conduct unbiased investigation.

He said he was compelled to write the Mark in view of the

“display of glaring persecution” exhibited by the Senate probe committee against the Pension Task Team.

The letter acknowledged the constitutional right of the Senate to investigate but argue that it must be “without prejudice and with fairness to all Nigerians”.

It also noted that the Senate Committee has failed in its constitutional duties and responsibilities adding that in that situation, the Senate has a duty to critically review the committee, in order to protect justice, fairness and equity and the integrity of the Senate as an institution.

Fraud rocks Katsina Revenue Board

From Lawal Sa’idu Funtua, Katsina

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our officers of the Katsina State Board of Internal Revenue were arrested over fraud running into millions of naira through faking of vehicle licenses and other vehicle registration particulars.

The chairman of the revenue board, Alhaji Aminu Dabarati confirmed to our correspondent that four staff of the board were under investigation for their alleged roles in the scam.

He noted that during the last vehicle inspection exercise, it was discovered that some of the vehicles licences and other particulars issued to vehicle owners were fake and on further investigation it was discovered that the culprits were behind the illegality.

According to him a committee set-up by him with all the directors of the board as members has caught the culprits neck deep in the criminal act, adding that the report of the committee was sent to the Commissioner of Finance.

He said it was based on that report that the commissioner sought further investigation which led to the arrest of the suspects by the police, adding that their indictment was not based on malice.

Our correspondent gathered that the four suspects include three revenue officers and a vehicle inspection officer. ‘

L-R: Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, and Senate President David Mark, going through Mark’s presentation at the plenary session of the 127th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly, yesterday at Quebec, in Canada.

Potiskum crises: Yobe govt imposes partial curfew

By Adamu Saleh

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he Yobe state government has announced the restriction of public movement in Potiskum town from 4:00pm to 7:00am daily, starting from Monday, October 22, 2012.

A statement signed by Abdullahi Bego, Special Adviser, Press Affairs and Information to Governor Ibrahim Gaidam, stated that the decision was taken following a meeting the governor had with heads of law enforcement agencies in the state.

“The measure is designed to ensure the protection of life and property and the maintenance of law and order”, the statement affirmed.

Gaidam, appealed to Potiskum residents to cooperate with the

security agents as they continue in their efforts to ensure the restoration of peace and security in Potiskum and around the state in general.

The governor also extended condolences and sympathies to the families of those who were

killed by criminal gangs and those whose properties were burnt in Potiskum over the last few days.

He called for more prayers for The Almighty Allah to restore peace in the state and the nation in general.

“His Excellency assures Potiskum residents and all the

people of the state that his administration will do everything within its power to assist and partner with the security agencies to maintain law and order and protect the life and property of the people”, the statement added.

Ondo polls: NLC wants Jonathan to implement Uwais electoral reforms

By Muhammad Nasir

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he Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), yesterday, called on President Goodluck Jonathan to implement the Justice Uwais Electoral Reform Committees report in full, stressing the fact that it will ventilate Nigeria’s political system and deepen democracy.

A statement issued by the Acting General Secretary of the NLC, Comrade Emma Ugboaja, stated that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has so far confirmed to Nigerians that under a patriotic and focused leadership, the commission can conduct free and fair elections. The statement said the Attahiru Jega leadership has demonstrated a

high sense of responsibility, patriotism, sincerity and commitment to credible electoral processes.

“As we move away from violent, manipulative elections; it is important our politicians also change their political methods. It should be clear now that rigging, vote stuffing, and manipulation are no longer attractive”.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

From Ayodele Samuel, Akure

I

t does not require any keen observation to know that two key factors played the decisive role that ensured the overwhelming victory for the ruling Labour Party in Weekend’s gubernatorial election in Ondo state. The resentment some Yoruba/Afenifere leaders harboured for Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) National leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the division within the ranks of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), were largely contributed to the huge loss both parties recorded in the election that was described as free and fair.

Observers of the keenly contested election therefore ascribed Mimiko’s victory substantially to deft planning and the exploitation of the weaknesses in the two major rival political parties, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

A source told Peoples Daily that Mimiko played up the angle of a ‘godfather’ desirous to direct the affairs of the state from the comfort of his home in Lagos to sway the people to his side. “The people of the state accepted the campaign message of the Labour Party candidate, Mimiko that a mere expansion of the political territory of a rival party leader would not work for the people”, said the source.

“So, the people voted on Saturday against some hegemonic interests in the SouthWest, hence the support of Afenifere, a socio-cultural group that had always wanted to pay back a particular party leader who allegedly attempted to destroy the group, the same leader from Lagos who now wants to capture Ondo…,” was the way an elder analysed what happened last night.

Also, Mimiko was said to have capitalized on useful information from the PDP, revealing a lack of cohesion among its national leaders to give unflinching support to the party candidate.

Some of the national leaders allegedly undermined concerted efforts by the party to raise enough funds for Oke. While the Labour Party and the Action Congress of Nigeria had unfettered access to cash for the conduct of the election, Oke was said to have been starved in such a way that he hardly had enough to prosecute his campaign successfully.

“The opposition to his candidacy was so stiff that some people penetrated the party’s national body to work at opposite direction to his ambition. That was why only a paltry N600 million or thereabouts was available to their former National Legal Adviser, Mr. Olusola Oke who gave Mimiko the biggest headache in the race”, a source said. It was not even clear if the president’s support for Oke’s candidacy was total.

It was learnt that last Wednesday, when the president met with Oke in Abuja, the division within the party was clear when the president himself opened up to him about why he

Why Mimiko floored ACN, PDP in Ondo While last Saturday’s governorship election in Ondo state has been won and lost, political pundits are still trying to come to terms with the factors that were responsible for the total routing of the candidates of both the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olusola Oke by Governor Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour Party. It is amazing that despite the pre-election rating that gave Mimiko little or no chance of returning to the Alagbaka Government House, the governor was able to floor the two candidates at the polls.

Olusegun Mimiko (Oke) was left in the lurch for a long time. And that meeting led to the militarisation of the state before Saturday election.

It was understood that Oke had been uncomfortable with the dearth of support from Abuja where he was until recently the ruling PDP’s Legal Adviser.

Sources close to the meeting said the president told Oke that he had not initially been keen about the Ondo state election because a former President from the South-West had earlier told him to back off from the Ondo state project on the ground that PDP had been very weak in the state and would therefore not be able to win an election there.

Besides, the president was said to have told Oke that he (president) was, however, jolted recently when the same former president who discouraged him from supporting the Ondo PDP was spotted campaigning on television for the PDP candidate in Ondo.

However, his last minute change of mind to campaign for the PDP candidate when he stormed the state capital shortly before the election failed to sway the people who had already made up their mind on where their votes would go.

Another factor for Mimiko’ success was a 2011 miscalculation on the part of the PDP that gave him the opportunity to nominate almost

Rotimi Akeredolu

Olusola Oke all political appointees from Ondo town and its environs. The minister from Ondo state is from Ondo, a daughter to a high chief in the town. The presidency is regretting the 2011 miscalculation whereby even the Special Adviser of Foreign Affairs who is from Ile-Oluji near Ondo is not from the ruling party.

It was believed that these people could not campaign

a g a i n s t Mimiko as they are from either the same town or from the s a m e senatorial zone and overtime have become v e r y inseparable.

T h e a c r i m o n y between the ACN and Mimiko dated back to the post election period of 2007, when the latter was shopping for helping hands to prosecute his legal battle against former g o v e r n o r O l u s e g u n Agagu. Tinubu offered him his assistance and probably took it for granted that Mimiko would join rank with the ACN after his judicial victory.

So pained was Tinubu that he allegedly relocated to Ondo for about two weeks to personally direct affairs of the campaign.

While Tinubu and his group continued to whip up sentiments against Mimiko, he, in turn, busied himself infiltrating the ranks of Tinubu’s political

enemies. It was therefore not surprising that some groups that had hitherto stayed away from the campaigns surfaced at the last minute to condemned Tinubu’s foray into Ondo state politics while they gave open endorsement to Mimiko.

Another factor that worked against the chance of the ACN is the general perception by the people that only two governors, Mimiko and Fashola are really performing among their peers in the south west. They therefore see no reason to send a performing governor away when they are not sure of his rival’s pedigree of service.

The final result released by Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) indicated that Mimiko polled 260,199 votes winning in 13 local councils; Chief Olusola Oke of the PDP came second in terms of figures with 155,961, winning two local councils while Rotimi Akeredolu of the ACN scored 143,512 votes, winning three local councils.

The governor was returned with 44 percent of the 594,244 valid votes cast from a total voter population of 1.6 million, while 30,415 votes were rendered invalid.

Moments after the announcement was made around 2 p.m. yesterday, the state capital, which in the last three days had been taken over by various security forces to ensure a hitch-free polling exercise, erupted into frenzy with hundreds of residents jubilating along major streets of the metropolis.

Addressing a crowd at the Government House, Mimiko, in the company of the National Chairman of the Labour Party, Dan Nwanyanwu and some political office holders, including Kayode Akinmade, the Commissioner of Information, said the glory of the election should be given to President Goodluck Jonathan “who created the atmosphere for us to be joyous today. The president came here and promised to provide a levelplaying field for all contestants.

He said he was going to deal with anybody that planned to thwart the decision of the people of Ondo state. He said he was going to protect the sanctity of the ballot paper. And the President did that. That is why we are all happy.”

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 5

NEMA evacuates 215 Nigerian fishermen from Gabon

By Mohammed Kandi

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he National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Sunday night evacuated 215 stranded Nigerians from the Republic of Gabon to Nigeria.

A statement issued by the Agency’s Head, Public Relations, Yushau A. Shuaib, was necessitated after the Gabonese authorities issued an eviction notice to Nigerian fishermen living in Islands of Nende, Mouka and

FG declares 25th, 26th October Sallah holidays

By Muhammad Sada

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he Federal Government yesterday, declared Thursday 25th and Friday 26th October as public holidays to enable Nigerians mark the 2012 Eid-el-Kabir festival.

This was revealed by the Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, in Abuja yesterday.

The minister also called on

Nigerians to imbibe and emulate the tenets of Islam as practiced by the holy Prophet Mohammad (SAW) which is tolerance and peaceful and harmonious coexistence.

Also, in a statement issued by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of interior, Daniel Nwaobia, the minister called on citizens to pray for peace and prosperity of the nation.

NEMA tasks stakeholders on fire outbreaks From Lawal Sa’idu Funtua, Katsina

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he National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has tasked stakeholders n disaster management to strengthen measures and procedures aimed at stopping fire outbreaks through early detection and prompt response.

The North-west coordinator of the agency, Alhaji Musa Ilellah, stated this in Katsina at

the flag-off of the 2012 sensitisation workshop for teachers, district heads and health workers on preparedness against fire outbreaks.

The coordinator, who was represented by the agency’s Head of Training, North-west zone, Alhaji Aliyu Kafindangi, noted that organising such a campaign at this time was timely as the harmattan period is fast approaching.

Kenza.

It said those evacuated from the Islands were forced out of the area despite the fact that majority of them had lived there for several decades doing legitimate businesses.

The statement also said

the distressed who are mostly from Bayelsa, Ondo, Akwa Ibom, Imo and Abia states, were flown to Port-Harcourt International Airport before their onward journey to their respective home states.

Meanwhile, it was learnt

that, Nigerian government through the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant agencies had undertaken on-the-spotassessment of the situation before the evacuation process was conducted.

By Abdulwahab Isa

entitled: Request for protection against threats to myself and my family resulting from my petition to you on corruption in security and defence contracts and the media exposure of the scandal”, Alhaji Hassan alleged that he has been receiving “all kinds of threats, veiled and open from unknown sources”.

Meanwhile, Alhaji Hassan said the actual scam perpetuated by Messrs Maj. Shay and David Maman in connivance with the chairman, Presidential Implementation Committee on Maritime Security (PICCOMS), AVM Saliu Atawodi, is 15.5million Euros and not 6million Euros as reflected in last week’s report by Peoples Daily.

He also commended the role

played by former National Security Adviser, Gen. Owoye Andrew Azazi which he described as very positive. “As far as the case of the Army boat is concerned, Gen. Azazi played a very positive role by stopping the PICOMSS scam and saving the Federal Government of Nigeria over N13 million Euros. If Azazi was part of the scam, he won’t have done this. Azazi insisted on buying the boats for the army at the actual cost I bought at auction which is 250,000 Euros each or 1.5 million for the six boats. Add the cost of the optional items like bullet proof, radar, night vision, spare parts etc, Azazi actually got the six boats about three million Euros as against 15.5 million Euros PICOMMS wanted to pay”, he clarified .

Army boat contract scam: Biz man alleges threat to his life

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lhaji Rabiu Hassan, Managing Director/CEO of Hpertech (UK) Limited, who blew the lid on the N3 billion Nigeria Army patrol boat contract scam, has raised alarm over threats to his life.

Hassan alleged that he has been receiving death threats from Messrs Maj. Shay and David Maman of M15 Consultants/ International Security Consultants ever since the scam on boat contract became public knowledge.

In a petition dated 19th October, 2012, addressed by Hassan to the Director-General, State Security Services Department of State Security (DSS), headquarters, Abuja

Ahmadu Bello Foundation offers relief to flood victims in Niger From Iliya Garba, Minna

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he managing director, Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, Kaduna, Dr. Shettima Ali, on Sunday in Minna, donated on behalf of the Board of Trustees of the foundation, 270 pieces of blanket, 250 pieces of mattresses, 325 pieces of wrappers for women, 325 pieces of fabric for men and 300 cartons of noodles to flood victims in Niger state to ease their sufferings.

Ali said flooding is a phenomenon that challenges

our collective humanity and expressed concern on the hardship it has inflicted on people and the state.

“This is a disaster that elicits sympathy and compels individuals and organisations of good will to spare a thought for afflicted through donation of materials and resources to support the afflicted”.

In his remarks, the governor of Niger state, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, thanked them for their kind gesture, saying “is all about showing concern to people and areas that are affected”.

Former EFCC boss laments injustice From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

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ormer chairman of Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri, has frowned at the injustices meted out to innocent Nigerians while the real culprits always go scotfree.

Mrs. Waziri who made this condemnation in Makurdi during an interview with newsmen in Government House where she had gone to donate relief materials, lamented the manner cases of advanced fee fraud are handled.

The former EFCC boss who also visited the displaced persons’ camps in Makurdi, intimated that she has decided to establish a non-governmental

organisation called Women, Youths, Children and Crime.

She explained that the donation by her NGOs to the displaced persons was part of her contributions to supplement the efforts of government in reducing the pains of the flood victims, adding that her organisation had over the years put smiles on the indigent people of the society.

The former anti graft boss also disclosed that her organization in conjunction with other partners like Helping Hand Foundation and Primus International Hospital are helping the displaced persons in reducing their agonies even as she urged other well meaning individuals to assist the flood victims to better their lives.

R-L: Yobe state Governor, Malam Ibrahim Gaidam, watching as Chairman of the State Assembly Service Commission, Alhaji Abubakar Lawan Yunusari, takes his oath of office, yesterday at the Government House, in Damaturu.

N47.1b theft: Judge forces Akingbola, others to close defence From Francis Iwuchukwu, Lagos

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Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja, presided over by Justice Habeeb Abiru, on Sunday, forced troubled former managing director of Intercontinental Bank Plc (now Access Bank), Erastus Akingbola, to close his defence on the allegation of stealing N47.1 billion, filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The court took the decision to close the defence following what the judge termed the inability of the defence team led by Chief

Felix Fagbohungbe to call further witnesses in the matter despite his undertaking to do so.

Justice Abiru had fixed the date for the continuation of Akingbola’s defence over the allegation, but at the resumed hearing of the matter, Fagbohungbe informed the court of the defence’ inability to produce the witness.

Praying for further adjournment to enable him produce the earlier witness whom he said was sick, Fagbohungbe informed the court of the defence’s predicaments at producing further witnesses, who

normally declined to come for the fear of the EFCC. Fagbohungbe also referred the court to the proceedings at the Federal High Court where he said the prosecution was in the habit of harassing their witnesses.

In response, the prosecution led by Godwin Obla objected to the application by the defence saying it was a ploy to delay the trial.

Akingbola is being charged alongside his associate, the General Manager of Tropics Securities Limited, Bayo Dada for the offence.

PAGE 6

Robbers raid filling station, kill two cops, others From Matthew Aramunde, Lagos

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bout 15 armed robbers, on Sunday night, shot four person dead including two policemen in an attack on World Oil Filling Station at Ibafo, along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Witnesses said the robbers came in some jeeps to the filling station, parked and opened fire on a uniformed policeman.

When they were challenged by some policemen and vigilantes at the filling station, the robbers shot sporadically, hitting an unspecified number of people.

The entire premiseswas deserted and the walls of the filling station riddled with bullets yesterday morning when our reporter visited the scene.

It would be recalled that robbers had raided Jimken Filling Station a few metres away from World Oil Filling station two weeks ago and shot dead an unidentified civilian.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

From Francis Iwuchukwu, Lagos

A

Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, yesterday, struck out a bail application filed by the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)of Capital Oil and Gas Limited, Ifeanyi Uba, and four others charged with alleged fuel subsidy fraud.

The court, presided over by Justice Okon Abang in his ruling yesterday, described the application as incompetent, defective and so, incurable by amendment.

Justice Abang also held that counsel to the applicant, Mr Joseph Nwobike (SAN), failed to inform the court that the applicants were detained on a subsisting order of remand made by Magistrate Martins Owumi.

The court also insisted that this fact was not deposed to by the applicant's counsel in their affidavit of urgency before the court, neither did they inform the court that they had a pending bail application before the same magistrate court.

"I have gone through the affidavit filed by the applicant counsel, and I find no place where it is stated that

Court rejects bail for Capital Oil MD, others the there was a subsisting order for remand by the Magistrate Court.

"I cannot possibly comprehend why the learned SAN has chosen to hide this fact from the court," he said.

Justice Abang also stated that although the applicants could bring an application for bail before the court, they could not do so under the Fundamental Human Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules.

According to the judge, "Where bail is refused an applicant at the magistrate court, he has the right to bring his application before a higher court, but he has to do so within the confines of the law.

"I cannot make findings on the bail application of the applicants, brought pursuant to the Fundamental Human Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules.

"The applicants cannot use

this rule to challenge a subsisting order of court.

"The applicant could have appealed against the order for remand made by the Magistrate before the high court, pending the arraignment of the applicants, or apply for an order of Cetorarai, to purge that order, pending their arraignment, or apply to the High Court for a fresh summons for bail pursuant to Section 118 of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA).

"The police possess the constitutional right to arrest any person accused of committing an offence, even if it is based on suspicion.

Mr. Nwobike in his remark informed the court that the applicants had already been admitted to administrative police

bail on Friday October 19, 2012 by the Special Fraud Unit (SFU).

Ifeanyi uba, Nsika Usoro, Godfrey Okorie, Chibuzor Ogbuokiri, and Joseph Orji, were ordered to be remanded on October 11, 2012 by Magistrate Martins Owumi of a Tinubu Magistrates' Court, for 14 days at the special fraud unit (SFU).

The order for remand was made based on an application for remand signed by Superintendent of Police of the SFU, Mr Effiong Asuquo, against the five suspects over an alleged fuel subsidy fraud.

Asuquo had stated that the suspects were reasonably suspected to have committed the offences of economic sabotage, obtaining money by false pretence, stealing of N43.291 billion, property of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, money laundering and forgery.

FG set to lower education cost

By Adeola Tukuru

T

he Federal Government has reiterated its commitment to develop the education sector to make it available and affordable for every Nigerian child.

Wife of the Vice President, Hajia Amina Mohammed Sambo, gave this assurance in Abuja during the "Check Out For Children" awareness walk organised by the United Nations International Children Educational Fund (UNICEF) and Sheraton Hotel and Towers.

Hajia Sambo, who was represented by the Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Olajumoke Akinjide, said the Federal Government would ensure that every Nigerian child was educated.

She stated, "Education as we all know is a right of every child irrespective of his or her status, race or belief. It is therefore very important for all to contribute in whatever way to promote and make education available to the children.

"The present Administration is committed to developing the education sector through various programmes and policies aimed at making it available and affordable to every child. Let us support these efforts by contributing our quota individually and collectively so that together we can swim and float to safety."

She noted that last year's campaign by UNICEF generated over US$1.5 million which was utilized in supporting various education projects for thousands of poor children across the world, including Nigeria.

L-R: Director General, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Barrister Yusuf Nuhu, former Director of Programme, NTA, Dr. Eze Victoria Okonye, and Zonal Director of FRCN, Dr. Samson Alhaji Shuaibu, during the 10th anniversary celebration of KAPITAL FM 92. 9, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Shettima inaugurates LG caretaker chairmen From Mustapha Isah Kwaru, Maiduguri

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overnor Kashim Shettima of Borno State yesterday inaugurated new caretaker committees for the 27 Local Government Areas (LGA) of the state.

Shettima said at the inauguration in Maiduguri that members of the committees must work towards ensuring

development at the grassroots.

He said that the committee members were selected based on their track record and urged them justify their appointment by working hard to implement people-oriented programmes.

Shettima explained that each of the 27 LGA caretaker committee chairmen would be requested to sign a performance bond with the state government soon after assuming office.

"Each of the chairman must also produce a proposed details of his programmes and what he wants to achieve in office,'' he said.

Shettima also advised the committees to shun acts of corruption or other unlawful acts,would be dealt with according to the law.

The governor also administered the oath of office on the new Head of Service,

Alhaji Yakubu Bukar.

Shettima urged Bukar to follow the footsteps of his predecessor, the late Zanna Mallam Gana who was killed last month by unknown gunmen in Bama.

The state government had Aug. 14, sacked the former caretaker committees, after the expiration of their six months tenure as prescribed by the 1999 constitution.

Banker wife murder: MTN witness stalls trial of youth pastor From Francis Iwuchukwu, Lagos

T

he trial of a youth pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Akolade Arowolo, before Justice Lateefa Okunnu of a Lagos High Court sitting in

Ikeja, over alleged murder of his wife who was a former Skye Bank staff, Titilayo Omozoje at their home on June 24, 2011,could not go on as scheduled yesterday, due to the absence of a witness expected from MTN Nigeria Ltd. At the resumed hearing of

the matter yesterday before the court, the prosecution led by the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution, Mrs. Olabisi Ogungbesan, had informed the court that they have not seen the witness being expected from the MTN. According to her, they had

served the telecommunication outfit a subpoena to appear before the court to testify on some issues .

"We have asked around the court but they are not here this morning," she added.

Ogungbesan then prayed the court for a short

adjournment to enable them straighten things out and close the prosecution's case.

At the instance of the prosecution, Justice Okunnu adjourned further hearing in the matter till November 19, 2012 for the prosecution to take its last witness and close its case.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 7

Anonymous philanthropist donates N16m to widows in 25 years

By A’isha Biola Raji

A

philanthropist, who insists on remaining anonymous, has been donating millions of naira to widows across Abuja.

The individual has disbursed within 25 years, a total amount of N16million under a foundation called Kingdom Care.

The current disbursement, N2million was yesterday given to widows drawn from various ethnic and religion background across the Federal Capital Territory during the 10th year anniversary celebration of Kapital FM 92.9 According to the Director General, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Barr Yusuf Nuhu, Kapital FM has undertaken social responsibilities through the

“Lean On Me” programme, hence the choice by Kingdom Care Foundation to use it as its platform for identifying the real beneficiaries of the fund.

He advised that FM stations

should not only play music but should introduce programmes that will have positive effect on the lives of people. “The achievement of Kapital FM has come in the era where FM

stations lack content and only thrive on music”, he said.

In her speech, the representative of the anonymous philanthropist, who is also a former Director of

Programmes of the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), Mrs. Victoria Eze Okoye, enjoined the widows to also share from whatever amount is given to them with the less privileged.

Journalists raise alarm over high malnutrition among children From Ali Abare Abubakar, Lafia

J

ournalists from the North, have decried the prevalence of severe malnutrition among children in the region, urging governments from the affected states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe among others, to urgently address the situation with a view to saving the lives of thousands of malnourished children.

The journalists made their resolve known via a

communiqué issued at the end of a one-day advocacy and sensitisation meeting held at the Tahir Guest Palace, Kano, sponsored by the United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF), for states in its D Field Office.

The sensitisation meeting which was essentially held to increase reportage on the severity of malnutrition and create awareness among stakeholders, also called on governments in the 10 DFO states to provide more funding

and other resources to scale up the services including provision of routine drugs and equipment for the management of the deficiency in therapeutic feeding sites as well as accelerating the establishment of state statutory food and nutrition committees.

After listening to a power

point presentation by a nutritionist from UNICEF on the consequences of severe acute malnutrition, participants undertook a field visit to a Community based Acute Malnutrition Management (CMAM) site in Malikawar Garu, Bichi local government area in Kano state.

Nigeria partners Chinese company to avert flood

By Adeola Tukuru

T

he Nigerian government is set to partner with Chinese Company, (CGCOC) group in developmental infrastructure and to avert flood in some parts of the country.

President Goodluck Jonathan who was represented by the Minister of Works, Arch Mike Onelehmenme, when the CGCOC visited the ministry yesterday, said the company had so far provided one billion litres of water for Nigeria daily; built about 2,800 kilometres of roads and has also employed 10,000 Nigerians, and therefore deserves to be taken seriously.

Jonathan further stated that to meet with the huge infrastructure demand of the country, considering the

population of about 170million, the CGCOC can never go wrong with any investment it makes in the country. ”We are willing to discuss that with you and if the conditions are favorable on our part, we can present them before the Economic Management Team and the Federal Executive Council (FEC), for consideration approval .These are areas where we can expand and collaborate with your company in the delivery of developmental facilities in our country,” he said.

The president of the CGCOC group and also the leader of the delegation, Mr. Ji Weimin, explained that for the past 10 years, the firm has had much support from Nigeria and is therefore willing to do its best to work in Nigeria.

Unilorin produces 37 first class graduates From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

L-R: Minister of Sports, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, during the Presidential Sports Sector Retreat, yesterday at the State House, in Abuja.

Photo: Joe Oroye

Lagos commuters groan as ban on Okada takes toll

From Matthew Aramunde, Lagos

C

ommuters in Lagos in their thousands were stranded at various bus stops across the metropolis as the available vehicles plying the roads could not accommodate the volume which kept increasing.

The reason for the development could easily be traced to the absence commercial motor cycle riders popular called okada from major roads.

For the first time since men of the Nigeria Police and other relevant agencies saddled with the responsibility of enforcing the recently enacted Lagos traffic law that placed ban on the use of okada as a mode of transportation on certain routes began the enforcement, the rippling effect

was felt heavily as most commuters as at midday were still standing helplessly at the bus stops.

Most of those who supreesed their anger to talk with our correspondent, said they were at loss as they could not come to a decision to either abort their effort at getting a vehicle to their places of work or return to their homes and face the consequences of either losing their jobs or getting queried.

The commuters who blamed the government for arbitrarily enacting laws with devastating effect on the common man, vowed to teach the ruling party some lessons whenever they come seeking their votes in subsequent election.

Steve Okafor, a trader at the

popular Oshodi market said he trekked from Abule- Egba to Ikeja bus stop before he managed to board an Oshodi bound bus.

He blamed the government of Babatunde Fashola for the plight of Lagosians.

“What the government should have done is to re-orientate this class of workers because the market is already saturated with unemployed Nigerians and swelling it by this ban, the government will have too much on their plate to chew”.

A Lagos based Lawyer and Human Rights activist Chief Gabriel Giwa-Amu in his response, said he sympathised with those who are presently undergoing hardship as a result of the ban on commercial motorcycle riders.

T

he Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof.

Abdulganiyu Ambali, has disclosed that the institution has produced 37 first class out of 5,556 graduands for 2011/2012 session.

Ambali who confirmed this during the 28th convocation ceremony of the university yesterday, said out of the number, 988 made second class upper, while 2,746, 1234 and 310 made second class lower, third class and pass respectively.

The new VC who appraised

the graduands said the institution also graduated 61 diploma as well as 180 post graduate students.

While charging the graduands to be good ambassadors of their families and alma mater Ambali said “don’t drag your family names and the name of your alma mater into mire or disrepute”.

Ambali who acknowledged the achievement of his predecessors said the university was fortunate to have them as its leaders, stressing that the big shoes they left behind would be an honour for him.

Kebbi sponsors 32 medical students to Sudan – Official

T

he Kebbi state government has sponsored 32 students to study medicine and other science courses in Sudan.

Alhaji Murtala Yauri, the executive secretary, state Scholarship Board, said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Birnin Kebbion on Sunday, that the students would study pharmacy, engineering and computer science.

NAN reports that the figure raises the number of students sponsored to Sudan by the state government in the last five years to 565.

He said the government had paid N62.6 million to cover the tuition, registration and other fees of the students.

Yauri said 12 of the students were female while 20 were male, adding that they would depart for Sudan next week. (NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 8

Eid-el-Kabir: JNI urges Muslims to fast on Thursday From Agaju Madugba, Kaduna

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L-R: 2nd Vice-President, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Uche Ojinmah, NMA President, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, and NMA Secretary General, Dr. Akpufuoma Pemu, during a press briefing to the flag-off of the NMA 2012 Physicians Week, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

Diet, exercise essential in cancer treatment – medics

M

edical experts in Lagos have renewed the call for healthy diet and exercise in the treatment of breast cancer among women.

Some of the experts who spoke at the 15th Breast Cancer Support Group Meeting of Sebeccly Cancer Care and Support Centre at Sabo, Yaba, emphasised good diet and exercise as a way out of the menace.

According to them, many cancer treatments have resulted into complication due to poor diet and failure of the patients to engage in profitable exercises.

Bolanle Tijani, Principal Dietician, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, said food should be what the body of an individual requires to maintain a good living.

Tijani said there was the need for cancer patients to concentrate more on vegetables and fruits, and

cautioned on meat, oily food, refined sugar and flour, canned juice, salad cream, charred meat and others.

“Eating healthily helps you to keep your emotional state stable and makes you happy because healthy food means looking good and beautiful all the time.

“Cancer patients should eat more of plant-based food like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fish, green tea, garlic, and others.

“Eat meat one or two pieces per day, if you cannot avoid it.

Avoid the assorted like ‘round about’, ‘saki’, kidney, liver and burnt meat.

“Remove your eyes from cake, doughnut, meat pie and all fried food to protect your own life”.

Happiness Awero, a consultant in physiotherapy and lecturer at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, said exercises reduces some side

effects of the treatment of breast cancer.

Awero noted some complications associated with the treatment of cancer like decreased quality of life, loss of arm strength, weight gain, sleep disturbances and cancer- related-fatigue (CRF) would be reduced.

“Exercise is an effective intervention to improve quality of life in the treatment of cancer.

Exercise is a must prescription when treating cancer that must not be under dosed and overdosed.

“Aerobic exercises (like jogging, walking, cycling, and swimming), resistance/strength training exercises, flexibility/ stretching exercises and breathing exercise are of great benefit in the treatment of cancer.

“These exercises improve cardio respiratory function,

Defence chief charges MDA on skill acquisition From Muhammad Adamu, Kaduna

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hief of Defense Staff (CDS), Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim, yesterday in Kaduna urged ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and the private sector to support communities acquire skills to reduce their dependence on relations.

The CDS made the appeal at the opening of a 6-week Defense Headquarters’ (DHQ) 2012 Skill Acquisition Programme for spouses and dependants of military personnel at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), Jaji, near Kaduna.

“If every segment of the Nigerian population is adequately

empowered there would be more persons committed to the cause nationhood, there will be less crime as more people are meaningfully engaged in productive ventures.

“The patriotic zeal among the citizenry will be further kindled and the rich potential of our great country will be adequately channeled to make her the true Giant of Africa”, Ibrahim said.

Represented by the Acting Chief of Administration, AVM Nicholas Spiff, the CDS said the programme was “in tandem with the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in economic development aimed at eradicating poverty from the ranks of the military and

by extension the Nigerian society.

Ibrahim said the this year’s programme was unique because the 2012 DHQ-SAP was collaborating with both public and private sector including “National Directorate of Employment (NDE), foreign embassies/missions, nonprofit oriented financial Institutions like JAIZ Bank and some state governments”.

“One unique feature of the DHQ-SAP 2012 is that beneficiaries will be entitled to empowerment grant at the end of training as well as counseling by consultant on how to create well thought out projects”, Ibrahim said.

He said that 16,000 spouses

Clinical trial can empower nation’s healthcare system, expert

P

rof. Ifeoma Okoye, the chairperson, Association for Good Clinical Practise in Nigeria (AGCPN), says clinical trial has the potential to empower the nation’s healthcare system.

She told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos yesterday that clinical trial also has the capacity to improve the

wellbeing of citizens.

Okoye, the African coordinator, Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI), said clinical trial would open the window of business opportunities in the country when it fully comes into effect.

“The enterprise is going to create job opportunities. The

Clinical Trial Professional Associates and Clinical Research Organisation have the potential to create jobs.

“It will impact positively on our ability as a nation to be more productive in the area of new drugs development.

“The current situation is that our drugs are only marketed

reduces CRF, assist in weight management and chemo brain (forgetfulness), and maintain blood cell”.

The consultant, who urged patients to take a 15-30 minutes walk for five to six times in a week, also advised them to rest when tired.

Awero condemned the high cost of treatment of cancer disease in the country, and called on the government to subsidise the treatment to save more lives.

“Lots of people die of cancer in this country because they do not have the money to take care of themselves. We can save their lives if the cost of treatment is reduced”.

Dr. Robbert Alero, from LUTH, also condemned the high cost of diagnosis and treatment of cancer in the country, saying that it causes lots of people to hide the disease. (NAN) and dependants of the military personnel had so far benefitted from the programme since its inception in 2008 and is currently being run in nine locations across the country.

Earlier, AFCSC’s commandant, AVM Ahmed Muazu charged the participants to dedicate themselves to the programme to ensure that they acquire adequate skills to make them self-reliant.

The programmes include both theory and practical training in nine trade areas, including hairdressing and beauty salon management, ICT & business centre management, agriculture and allied businesses, soap making, hats and beads, tailoring, catering, heat transferred printing and photo processing. within Nigeria for consumption

by Nigerians”.

She said that once everything had been done and properly regulated, there would be greater chance that indigenous drugs would be acceptable for marketing outside the shores of the country.

“They cannot say we don’t have drugs, but it may not be vibrant. (NAN)

he Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), has called on the Muslim community in Nigeria to observe fast on Thursday which is Arafat day, as recommended for nonpilgrims.

A press statement by the JNI Secretary General, Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, noted that “taking into cognisance that Thursday 25th October, 2012 will be the Arafat day, therefore Friday 26th, 2012, will mark the Eid-el-Adha.

“In the light of which we remind the Ummah not to be oblivious of the Arafat day fasting recommended for nonpilgrims.

“Similarly, Muslims are called upon to pray for the peaceful co-existence of Nigeria.

As for those travelling, we implore all to be wary of our roads and drive with caution, taking into account all the precautionary measures while driving…”

Canadian government seeks stronger investment deal with Nigeria

By Mohammed Kandi

F

ollowing the evolution of road map for solid mineral development by the Federal Government, the Canadian High Commission in Nigeria, yesterday sought stronger investment collaborations with Nigerian government.

The Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Chris Cooter, who led delegation of investors to the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development yesterday in Abuja, said the aim of the visit was to partner with the Federal Government on development of the country’s solid minerals, saying “there is great demand for Canadian investment in Nigeria”.

Cooter, who recalled that both countries had enjoyed good diplomatic relationships, assured that Canadian investments in Nigeria’s minerals and metals sector would boost the economy of the country.

He said that the Canadian companies were ready to collaborate with the Nigerian government through public private partnership with the aim of developing the sector.

In his remarks, Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc. Musa Mohammed Sada, said: “With the recent discussion on the road map for solid mineral development, we are going to have lots of activities in the sector”.

PAGE 10

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

officials hoard relief Shonekan urges dialogue Camp items for Benue flood victims with insurgent groups O F From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

ormer head of state, Chief Ernest Shonekan, yesterday in Abuja, called for dialogue with leaders of those responsible for the spate of insecurity in parts of the country.

He made the call at the graduation ceremony for participants in Executive Intelligence Management Course (EIMC) 5, of the Institute for Security Studies.

Shonekan, who was the chairman of the occasion, said the dialogue was necessary to ascertain why the belligerents y engaged in violence and to find ways to end the crisis.

“They are Nigerians, and to that extent, we must find ways and means of engaging them in robust dialogue to make them see reason and eschew violence.

“Such dialogue will also enable us to know the reasons behind their actions and how to end the violence.

“Perhaps there are other key things they would like government to do in order to

stamp out insecurity from the country”, he said.

Shonekan noted that there could not be sustainable socioeconomic and political transformation in a country where there is no security of life and property.

He said not only would such country have political instability but investors would also shun it.

Shonekan said the Boko Haram disturbance in parts of the North, oil theft by militants in the Niger Delta and the crisis in Plateau state were indications of the level of insecurity in the country.

He called for concerted efforts to address the crises and restore security across the nation.

Shonekan also identified the breakdown of age-long cultural values of honesty, hospitality, respect for elders and constituted authorities, ignorance and unemployment as some of the factors responsible for the current insecurity.

“We must therefore retrace

our steps by returning to those age-long much cherished cultural values and also include them in the curricula of schools so that our children can learn the proper ways of behaviour.

“We must improve the economy and ensure employment opportunities for our youths to stem the tide of violent organised crimes that give rise to insecurity in the country”, he said.

Earlier, Mr. Ekpeyong Ita, the Director General of the State Security Service (SSS), said that the activities of terrorists had affected the image and development of the country.

Ita, however, gave the assurance that the security agencies were working hard to contain them and neutralise their activities.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 48 participants, drawn from 19 organisations, including the SSS, police, military, para-military bodies, and NGOs participated in the nine month course. (NAN)

fficials of the State Emergency, Relief and Management Agency (SEMA) in Benue state, have continued to deny victims displaced by floods materials donated to alleviate their suffering.

This again came to the fore when the Federal Ministry of Health at the weekend in Makurdi, Benue state capital donated, drugs and medical equipment to the state government for the flood victims.

It was observed at the store house in Wadata camp which is manned by a photographer who refused to divulge his name, that there were lots of mattresses and other food items meant for the victims but still locked up. All the victims in the camp sleep on mats and old mattresses which they had brought from their homes.

One of the refugees, a mother of two who declined identification, decried the attitude of the camp officials, maintaining that they treat them with scorn and refuse to give materials donated to them by corporate organisations and well spirited individuals.

“Imagine, we sleep on mats while there are good mattresses

and other food items in the store house. Do they want to sell them or use them to open up hotels later? she asked.

The representatives of the Minister of State, Health, Dr. Akin Oyemakinde, Chief Consultant, Epidemiology, and Dr. John Kehinde, Desk Officer, Response/Disaster Management, could not help but express their disgust over the inability of the store officer to give proper inventory of the materials in his custody.

Meanwhile, the minister donated anti-malaria drugs for children and adults as well as water filters.

He lamented the misfortune that has befallen the state especially the victims, assuring that the Federal Government is concerned about their health.

Benue state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Orduen Abunku who received the drugs on behalf of the state government, expressed appreciation to the Federal Ministry of Health for the donation which he noted was timely though he appealed for more assistance in the area of diagnostic kits.

“These would help us identify if any of the victims may be suffering from either cholera or diarrhea so as to nip it in the bud”, he said.

FG launches PIF scheme in civil service

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

A

Minister of State for FCT, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide (middle), leading children, during the road awareness walk organised by UNICEF, at the weekend in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Kwankwaso awarded honourary doctorate degree From Edwin Olofu, Kano

K

ano state governor, Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, was at the weekend conferred with an honourary doctorate degree in Political Science and International Relations by Crescent University, Abeakuta.

Other conferees were the governor of Katsina state, Ibrahim Shehu Shema, and the Awujale of Ijebu-Land, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona.

Kwankwaso was conferred with the degree in recognition of his achievements in education and youth empowerment.

Kano state government’s efforts in widening and broadening access to education at all levels were particularly highlighted.

He was also commended for empowering women and youths in the area of skills acquisition and establishment of 21 new institutions including a new university, the Northwest University.

Reading the acceptance speech on behalf of other recipients, Kwankwaso thanked the university for the honour and pointed out that it will spur the receipients to be more dedicated

in the service of the country.

He said Kano State government will continue to accord education priority because it is the foundation for any society’s development.

That is why, according to him, the government selected 501 young men and women with first class and second class upper degrees and sponsored them to go and study for their master’s degrees overseas.

He also disclosed that all primary school pupils in Kano are being fed free lunch five days in a week and also given two sets of uniform for free.

s part of measures to improve the quality, efficiency and access to services provided by Federal Civil Service, the Federal Government has launched the Performance Improvement Facility (PIF) scheme in the 10 pilot MDAs. Speaking at the launch of the scheme in Abuja at the weekend, Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Alhaji Isa Bello Sali, said government was deploying technology as a platform to deliver programmes and services in line with global best practices.

“It is also being used as an enabler to make services available, integrated and accessible to citizens through all modes of delivery channels. It is therefore our duty to take a government-wide approach to improve service delivery and to use technology creatively to support this vision,” the HOS said.

He continued: “In pursuit of this objective, the office undertook an Identity Needs Assessment of the administrative and technical methods and processes that hinder efficient service delivery in the federal civil service”.

According to the Head of

Service, the outcome revealed the need to adopt truly innovative practices to effect change in service delivery to citizens.

Consequently, through the support of the World Bank Economic Reforms and Governance Project (ERGP), we engaged the services of seven reputable consultancy firms to deploy information and communications technologies to improve the quality, efficiency and access of services in 10 MDAs of the federal civil service.

The permanent secretaries in charge of State House, Office of the Secretary to the Government of Federation, ministries of Labour and Productivity, Information, Works, Trade and Investment, Science and Technology, Niger Delta, Bureau of Public Service Reforms and Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation were involved in the scheme.

Speaking earlier, the Permanent Secretary in charge of Manpower Development Office/ Bureau of Public Service Reforms, Mrs. Nkechi Ejele, said the consultancy firms would deploy ICT systems from Monday, 21st of October to 15th of January, 2013 in the pilot MDAs.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 11

Tricks on how to earn more and spend less Compiled By Muhammad Sada

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et as their salaries increase, they continue to spend what they earn and more. For many years past, people collectively spent more than they earned, Families haven't taken charge of where their money goes and how much they spend. They are stuck in a pit they created by poor financial planning. And it's not easy to climb out of the pit of credit and growing debt. Taking on debt leads to a relationship of dependence to the lenders.

Many people believe that having more money is the solution to money problems.

When families continue to live beyond their means, sooner or later they must face their spending and lifestyle habits.

Today many consumers are being forced to confront their financial balance sheets.

Taking a good look at the financial picture now and turning to positive solutions will help avoid more problems down the road.

Finding ways to spend less than one's income and following through

with these solutions can lead to a more rewarding and satisfying life. Rewards of Spending Less Than You Earn You can manage your financial obligations more easily. There are countless decisions and choices to make in life. One question you may need to revisit is, "What's enough for me?"

Ninety-five percent of families do not consistently budget. What is sufficient for you in the areas of housing, transportation, clothing, food, and entertainment? Focus more on the necessities and less on the extras.

Decide what is enough for you and your family, and what you can live without.

Look for ways to simplify your life and own fewer things. As you look for expenses to cut, you'll realize that it is possible to be content with fewer things.

Decide what compromises need to be made and how much to spend for food, clothing, and shelter. Figure out how to

spend wisely. It's more important to eat together as a family than where you're able to eat. Older children can be a part of the decisionmaking process of the budget. Take a team approach.

Discuss the benefits of budgeting. By careful planning and staying with the plan, everyone involved can make a big difference.

You are better able to save. Another real reward of spending less money is having more to save. Think of your savings as insurance for future needs. Instead of reaching for your credit card to pay for a car repair, take the money from your emergency fund. Following your spending plan will help you keep expenses down and increase your savings and investing amounts.

By systematically building your savings accounts, you become more financially independent. You'll benefit from the time value of money, having interest work for you.

You are less likely to lose your possessions. When you

spend less than you earn, you are better able to keep your home and car. Fifty percent of subprime mortgages were made to people with bad credit and no proof of income.

Families invite financial difficulties into their lives by living "on the edge." They spend frivolously, living in houses and driving cars they can't afford. If they don't put the brakes on their spending, a crash is inevitable. Purchases are often made to impress friends or family.

Or purchases are based more on wishes and dreams than on solid long-range planning.

Assets can be fleeting.

Some families have not lived frivolously, yet have found themselves in tough financial circumstances.

You are more prepared for a job loss. When money is tight, it's even tougher to handle a layoff from work. In today's global economy, changes in one business sector can affect other business sectors. With today's rapidly changing business environment, you can no longer expect long-term

security in your job. But when your family's budget is balanced and you have money set aside for emergencies, the loss of a job is less devastating.

There are physiological and psychological benefits to spending less than you earn.

Better communication exists among family members when there is less preoccupation with money problems. Couples and families lead happier lives and relationships improve.

There's less anxiety and stress.

This contributes to better health today and in the future. How can you have financial stability?

A workable spending plan can reduce wasteful and impulse spending.

Figure out manageable strategies to meet your goals. It is possible to turn money worries into a rewarding spending plan.

With fewer financial obligations, you're able to have a surplus for future needs and wants.

When you have a proactive financial plan, you are more prepared for the changing stages of life. And you can look forward to the future with more hope and confidence.

Learn more on some key E-mail: A perfect business planner internet banking terms P

A

dware - also known as Spyware. Any software that covertly gathers user information through the user's Internet connection without their knowledge, usually for advertising purposes. Spyware applications are typically bundled as a hidden component of freeware or shareware programs which can be downloaded from the Internet.

Once installed, the Spyware monitors user activity on the Internet and transmits that information in the background to someone else. Spyware can also gather information about email addresses, usernames, passwords and credit card numbers.

Anti-virus software consists of computer programs which attempt to identify, thwart and eliminate computer viruses and other malicious software (malware). Anti-virus software is only as effective as the last update.

Quote "Everyone who achieves success in a great venture solves each problem as they came.

They helped themselves and they were helped through powers known and unknown to them at the time they set out on their voyage. They keep going regardless of the obstacles they meet."

– W. Clement Stone

You should download the latest anti-virus software and signatures regularly from your preferred supplier.

BOQ Security Token - is a hardware device that generates a random number as a secondary form of authentication for some Value Transactions carried out through Internet Banking. Also known as a Token.

Browser hijacker - a program which takes over the user's control of a web browser.

Cookie - information which a website places on your harddrive so that it can remember something about you at a later date. Typically, a cookie records your preferences when using a particular site. Most browsers automatically accept cookies. You can set your browser options so that you will not receive cookies.

You can also delete existing cookies from your browser.

However, you may find that some sections of some websites will not function correctly if you refuse cookies.

Customer Access Number (CAN) - is the unique number allocated to a Customer by us which identifies the Customer and Nominated Accounts to us and, when used in conjunction with a Personal Access Code and User ID (if any), enables Users to access Internet Banking or EasyPhone Banking. Also known as a CAN. Denial of Service Attack (DoS) - a simple form of DoS attack is by sending large volumes of data to a single server thereby making it unstable or even crashing it.

hones are built to ring, just never when you expect them to. Phones ring when the caller wants them to, and due to an inexplicable law this is hardly when you would want to be called (though you do want everybody to call, generally).

With email, this does not happen. With all the talk about spam and viruses and phishing emails that make you a victim of email, it is easy to forget that email does put you in control. You can check your emails when and how often you want, and you can reply when it pleases you most. The great advantage of email vis-à-vis the phone and instant messaging and other walkie-talkie-like forms of personal communication is its asynchronous nature.

Avoid Email Interruptions All that said, it is still a good idea in the light of efficiency to deal with an email reading and deleting it, replying or filing it - the moment you read it first. This helps tame email overload, but if you have your email client check for new mail every 5 or just 15 minutes (and are either tempted or diligent enough), it makes email a horribly interrupting medium.

Fortunately, it is easy and hopefully helpful to •Turn off automatic mail checking in your email client.

Less Administration, More Action For a maximum of

productivity (and fun is certainly more productive a use of your time than spending weeks on email every day), •set aside a few dedicated times for dealing with email every day and •Check for new messages only then. Of course, this plan still allows for a lot of flexibility. You could have your email client chec k the email account every few minutes and set up filters looking for specific senders or subjects, for example - that notify you of messages that

Saving for tomorrow

are worth the interruption while all other messages are only turned to once or twice every day. If you think this, turning to urgent mail while postponing the less important, is just what you do if you check for mail in five-minuteintervals, you are probably right. Fortunately, it is usually not necessary to visit and read and ponder all these postponed messages twice or three times. If you turn to email only a few times every day, you can spend more time on anything but redundant administration.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 12

EDIT ORIAL EDITORIAL

The 2 Sudans’ latest peace pact

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efore the one year anniversary of its independence, Africa’s 54th and newest state, Republic of South Sudan, went into a brief but brutal confrontation with its northern neighbor, Sudan with which she split ranks on July 9 2011. The skirmish between the two Sudans last April created fresh concerns on the continent about the two neighbours whose perennial conflict, going back a half a century, was believed to have been brought to an end with the independence of South Sudan.

However, a strong sanction threat against the two forced them to pull back and grudgingly express a desire to engage in negotiation. South Sudan was widely chastised for igniting the brief war. However, the brief flareup was not wholly unaccepted.

Among the several provisions of the 2006 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which laid out the roadmap for the referendum that finally enabled the South Sudan to go its separate way, there were numerous issues that unresolved before the referendum, even though its outcome was hailed across the globe. Crucial issues that the CPA did not fully resolve not disappear, however. Indeed, they would return to stoke the fire of mistrust between the two Sudans.

Very fundamental to the survival of the new state of the

South Sudan are its huge oil deposits, but the infrastructure for exporting the crude is in Sudan.

The issue of the appropriate charges for the use of Khartoum’s pipeline and port facilities through which the oil would get to the international market was the first issue to spark the April seizure of an oilfield near the town of Heglig at by South Sudan, leading to

“

A genuine commitment to peaceful co-existence means that Both Khartoum and Juba must end their support for armed opposition groups that are fighting a low-level proxy war on the two states' territories military retaliation by Sudan.

However, pressurized by the African Union and United Nations, the two agreed to talk peace at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Precisely on September 28, a flicker of hope appeared when the two sides agreed on a tentative truce. Its high point was that it would allow South Sudan to resume oil exports.

Besides, the two sides agreed on a demilitarized zone and the commencement of border demarcation.

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However, the contentious issue of the status of Abeyi, a region claimed by both sides, remains unresolved. Even the status of the two states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan was also not decided.

The CPA actually envisaged that the territorial issue would have been resolved before the independence referendum.

However, we commend the governments in Khartoum and Juba for the lofty statements they made for about Addis peace agreement. The South Sudan President, Mr. Sylva Kirr, said it marked a 'great day' for the two nations, hoping that greater momentum would be added to address outstanding issues. We urge him to supply the process.

His Sudan counterpart, President Omar el-Bashir, welcomed the deal, saying it reflected “a desire to achieve peace, stability and mutual benefit” of the two nations. A genuine effort, in our view, on Khartoum’s side to translate these good words to practical commitment will be a welcome genuine step toward resolving the outstanding issues that kept the two nations in a state of war.

A genuine commitment to peaceful co-existence means that Both Khartoum and Juba must end their support for armed opposition groups that are fighting a low-level proxy war on the two states’ territories.

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OUR VISION

CHAIRMAN MALAM WADA MAIDA, OON, FNGE DIRECTOR/ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF RUFA’I IBRAHIM EDITOR, DAILY ABDULAZEEZ ABDULLAHI

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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

By Ugochukwu Raymond O.

A

traditional African adage states that “the time a dead man’s funeral arrangements are being discussed is also the best time to discuss who is to inherit the dead man’s widow.”

The gubernatorial contest in Ondo state may have come and gone but the ripples will continue to reverberate within political circles across the Nigeria space. The election was remarkable in so many respects: First, it was an electoral contest that involved the two dominant political parties - the PDP and the ACN deploying every ammunition in their weaponry to snatch power from a relatively miniature opponent the Labour Party.

Second, the election became a litmus-test for ACN’s acclaimed invincibility and its quest for total political control of the SouthWestern region. In specific terms, the election offered one last chance for the ACN’s benefactor - Bola Ahmed Tinubu - to annex the only renegade enclave (Ondo state) to become part of his towering political empire. For Mimiko’s Labour Party, the election was not just a contest for the re-election of an incumbent, but a battle for the propagation of multi-party democratic politics in a region notorious for monolithic, single-party dominance.

One interesting experience born out by the Ondo election is the singleminded resolve of the voters in the state to assert their sovereignty by

By Yushau A. Shuaib

W

hile addressing the nation in a broadcast over the unprecedented flood disaster that ravaged many communities in Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan’s eyes and head movement, betrayed the fact that he was reading from a prepared text, though there was no sign of a speech on his table.

His stiffness said it all. He neither gesticulated nor moved parts of his body as he is wont to in normal discussions and addresses to the rhythm of the broadcast. Aside from the motion of his mouth as he uttered the words and the intermittent sounds of billions of Naira donations to some federal institutions and states, the broadcast was a mere dictation session.

However, an opportunity to study the natural moods of the President to the devastation away from the dictates of protocol, came when he undertook a tour of some selected states affected by the flood.

He was accompanied on the tour

by Minister of Environment, Hajia Hadiza Mailafiya and Director General of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Muhammad Sani-Sidi among others.

The tour was indeed an opportunity to see him move in flesh and react naturally in his interaction with victims. He responded directly to their plights and walked under the sun to inspect the internally displaced persons’ (IDPs) camps.

Uncharacteristically, there were few body guards and security men accompanying the President on the visits. In fact, any displaced person could easily walk to him and hold his hands as if it is not the same almighty Nigerian leader. The

PAGE 13

Rethinking Lagos’ workability

choosing a leader whose emergence would not be predetermined by the tyrannous dictates of a distant godfather. It is in this respect that many commentators have hailed the outcome of that election as “a victory for democracy.”

Importantly, some have described it as “a big nail in the coffin of political godfatherism.”

That brings me to the travesty that has been playing out in Lagos for quite some years since the return of democracy in 1999 and the emergence of ACN as the ruling political party in the state.

Democratic elections in the state have always turned out as a huge caricature. In the name of democracy and party primaries, one man would sit at Bourdillon and determine the selection of coucillors, council chairmen, House of Assembly members, commissioners, federal legislators and even the governor of the state. In the name of democracy, thugs are massively mobilized and incentivized to truncate the voting process and perpetrate electoral robbery. The sense of variety, ideological competition and principle of separation of powers (which are cherished democratic ideals) are completely sacrificed at the alter of patron-client relationships which define the mode of one’s selection into any political office in the state.

In the midst of these blazing contradictions and anachronisms, Lagosians (especially, those who claim to be activists) have become, rather mystically, hypnotized and brainwashed into the dogmatic belief that “Lagos is working.” In their craze to project the superiority of the state in relation to other states in the federation, they eagerly condone and overlook every manner of arbitrariness being unleashed by the state government against Lagos residents. In their desire to subscribe to the hollow creed of “Eko o ni baje,” they accept every unjust policy of the government as normal but prefer, rather hypocritically, to lambast and attack President Jonathan and to criticize everybody and every policy associated with the President.

Let’s take a more critical look at the fallacy that “Lagos is working.”

Since 1999 when democracy came into force in Nigeria, I challenge anybody to compare statistically the standard of living in Lagos state then and what currently obtains now. I also challenge Lagosians to compare the level of commitment to infrastructural turnaround during Fashola’s first tenure as against what is happening presently. When we engage these posers with some modicum of sincerity, it becomes easy to see the

idea that “Lagos is working” as a red rag to a bull!

One of the hallmarks of a true leader with an unflinching commitment to democracy is his readiness to be attentive to the critical interests of the people he is leading when designing and implementing policies that will have direct impact on their lives.

On this score, the Lagos state government, especially at the outset of Fashola’s second tenure, has shown crass indifference to the harsh and deleterious impact of some of its intended policies on the lives of citizens resident in the state.

The controversial Lekki - Epe multiple toll plazas, the exponential hike in tuition fees for LASU student, the ban on the use of motorbikes or “Okada” in the midst of an appallingly chaotic traffic situation in the state, the discriminatory policy on vehicle plate-numbers are all very fresh in our memories.

Often times, we latch on to our perception regarding the impressive beauty of places like Ikoyi, Victoria Island, and Ikeja. We then proceed to equate such impression as being representative of the entire Lagos. This tendency is tragically misleading and grossly reductionist. If democracy is rightly conceived to mean a system of governance in which the interest and wellbeing of the people are

taken seriously, then one only needs to visit any of the suburban towns and villages situated outside the Lagos metropolis. In most of these areas, the condition of human existence is still largely primitive, squalid, tortuous and bereft of any infrastructural succour. For majority of these suffering Lagosians, the only experience that reminds them that they are part of Lagos is when they encounter uniformed touts recruited to extort all manner of phony levies from them even as they struggle to eke out a living in their stalls, kiosks and even by the roadside.

If there is anything the Ondo election has achieved, it is to puncture the inflated and overrated glorification of Tinubu and his talismanic ACN. Whereas the Lagos voter had always chosen to vote with his two eyes closed, the more enlightened Ondo voter has done so by “shining his eyes.” Now, the challenge for the former is on how best to domesticate the heroic success of the Ondo experience. Their critical concern should center on how to deepen the roots of genuine democracy in the state by initiating a process that will guarantee their politico-electoral liberation come 2015.

Ugochukwu Raymond O. is reachable on Ugoray2010@yahoo.co.uk

atmosphere was quite convivial.

In all the states he had visited, President Jonathan encouraged leaders of the IDPs to voice out their minds openly on their plights. In response, victims narrated how they lost their homes, livestock and farmlands. They gave gory tales of deaths, missing persons and submerged markets, schools, police stations and places of worship.

In Kogi, for instance, President Jonathan was in a melancholic mood. His mien fell further when mothers brought newly born babies to him. He also learnt that some men committed suicide following losses of loved ones and lifelong investments.

He admonished victims to desist from taking extreme decisions. He said: “please, don’t commit suicide.

You have a government that will assist you. Even, if you borrow money from banks, don’t worry, when the flood is over, we will know how to deal with it. Be rest assured that the government will take care of the situation.’’

In Adamawa state, he disclosed that the government plans to construct more buffer dams on rivers Niger and Benue to check the menace of flooding in communities along the river banks and from neighbouring countries.

He disclosed that the flood this year was a natural phenomenon due to climate change occasioned by global warming and pointed out that government would take steps to prevent a future re-occurrence.

In Delta, President Jonathan inspected a camp, equipped with a skills acquisition centre where displaced persons were learning trades, artwork, music, drama, hair dressing and computer skills.

While he believed that such facilities

could make them useful after leaving the camp he disclosed that the government had initiated measures for proper resettlement of flood victims.

While addressing displaced persons in Anambra, he advised them not to worry as the Federal Government was collaborating with sympathetic groups and individuals to make life better for them after leaving the camp.

In Rivers and Bayelsa states, President Jonathan confessed that the flood disaster, which destroyed property worth billions of naira, was beyond the capacity of the Federal Government to solely remedy. He therefore solicited the supports of development partners and international bodies.

In Taraba state, while assuring that the European Union and the World Bank have indicated their readiness to assist Nigeria, the President stated that the water level was gradually reducing. He gave the assurance that the Federal Government will urgently provide farmers with early maturing seedlings that will guarantee early harvest of farm produce. This may be the antidote to the much anticipated food crisis.

In all the states he had visited,

President Jonathan allowed governors to present their opening address and thereafter, stood and listened attentively to the victims.

His responses were calm, reassuring and warm as he sometimes cuddled new born babies while addressing the mostly women and children victims.

The President had also explained that the inauguration of a high power committee on Flood Relief Fund co-headed by billionaire businessman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and human rights activist, Chief Olisa Agbakoba was to raise funds, which will mitigate the effects of the of the devastation. He explained that membership of the committee included “individuals who could not steal people’s money because they include philanthropists and advocates of transparency and accountability who will not also condone injustice.”

While most of the utterances and actions of President Jonathan over the flooding are commendable, the establishment of the Dangote’s committee should have been in consonance with the enabling laws.

As former Chairman of the governing council of NEMA, the President would recall that there is a provision envisaging such

development in the law that established NEMA: Act 12 as amended by Act 50 of 1999. Among other things the law empowers NEMA to “co-ordinate the activities of all voluntary organisations engaged in emergency relief operations in any part of the Federation; Receive financial and technical aid from international organisations and nongovernmental agencies, for the purpose of disaster management in Nigeria; Collect emergency relief supply from local and foreign source and from International and nonGovernmental Agencies; and distribute emergency relief materials to victims of natural or other disasters and assist in the rehabilitation of the victims, where necessary…”

In view of the above therefore, the government could delegate and designate the Dangote Committee, as National Fund Raisers, to assist in the mobilisation of funds for the relevant established agencies including State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMA) to manage the processes judiciously.

The secretariat could be in NEMA. If government is still more concerned about the selected individuals, the President could nominate them into membership of NEMA governing council.

It does not augur well to relegate established statutory institutions to the background due to vague misgivings. No-one is infallible, our leaders need to be supported and guided appropriately to take rational decisions to better the society without entertaining any fear whatsoever.

Yushau A. Shuaib is reachable on yashuaib@yahoo.com

Floods in the eyes of Mr. President

“

It does not augur well to relegate established statutory institutions to the background due to vague misgivings. No-one is infallible, our leaders need to be supported and guided appropriately to take rational decisions to better the society without entertaining any fear whatsoever

PAGE 14

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

Ondo gubernatorial election: Another proof of Jonathan’s commitment to democracy

By Reuben Abati

A

s Nigerians continue to celebrate the success of the just-concluded governorship election in Ondo State, it is important to note that although the president would naturally have wanted his party, the PDP, to win the governorship election in the State, the fact that he has never abused the enormous powers of the presidency to influence the outcome of elections shows that he is a man of his words, a committed democrat and a President who believes in the rule of law and the supremacy of the will of the people. Ahead of the Ondo State 2012 Gubernatorial elections, here is what the President said at the Democracy Park in Akure, Ondo State on October 13, 2012: What we can guarantee the people of Ondo state is that the commitment of this present administration to ensure that Nigeria continues to remain high in the comity of nations in terms

By Lewis Akpogena

A

ndrew Sullivan, a columnist and practising Catholic, wrote a Newsweek cover story titled “Christianity in Crisis.”

He argued that Christianity is being destroyed by politics, priests, and get-rich evangelists. This would “baffle Jesus of Nazareth,” Sullivan wrote. “The issues that Christianity obsesses over today simply do not appear ... in the New Testament ... It seems no accident that so many Christians now embrace materialistic self-help rather than ascetic self-denial ... [and] no surprise that the fastest growing segment of belief among the young is atheism, which has leapt in popularity in the new millennium. Nor is it a shock that so many have turned away from organized Christianity.”

My take is that people are leaving organized Christianity because it has left behind the radical message of its founder.

This has been a long and continuing struggle. Jesus taught and embodied a revolutionary, transforming love. Forsaking wealth and power, he constantly reached out to those on the margins of society. Renouncing violence, he loved not just his friends but his enemies. Condemning religious self-right-eousness and hypocrisy, he healed broken lives and opened eyes and hearts to the near presence of the kingdom of God. The church confesses him as the risen Savior and Lord. But then, so often, it tries to domesticate him, explaining away those sharp, demanding edges of his compelling words,

of how we select our leaders free and fair election and nobody President Jonathan’s watch. remains constant. It is going to will frustrate the commitment of Apart from ensuring free and be one man, one vote, one government to project Nigeria fair elections in Edo and Ondo woman, one vote, one youth, one truly and nobody will allow as in every other part of the vote. thuggery. country, President Jonathan While reacting to the news The President made a was also the first person to that some congratulate p o l i t i c a l G o v e r n o r parties were Mimiko.

A mobilizing man of his Peoples Daily welcomes your letters, opinion articles, text thugs for the words! A true e l e c t i o n , sportsman! messages and ‘pictures of yesteryears.’ All written President President contributions should be concise. Word limits: Letters - 150 J o n a t h a n Jonathan also words, Articles - 750 words. Please include your name and added: I was commended a valid location. Letters to the Editor should be addressed told that some the dutiful, to: people are patriotic and mobilizing law-abiding The Editor, thugs from electorate of Peoples Daily, 1st Floor Peace Plaza, everywhere, if Ondo State as 35 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja. they like they well as the Email: let ters@peoplesdaily-online.com can go to INEC personnel anywhere to and security SMS: 07037756364 bring thugs, the agencies who F e d e r a l ensured that Government will not allow any similar promise, most recently the elections were peacefully thug to come out that day, and if in Edo state. And he kept his and successfully conducted in you know you are a thug or your words. He has kept his words keeping with his child is to be used as a thug, carry again. Discerning Nigerians A d m i n i s t r a t i o n ’ s them away from Ondo state, will readily admit that commitment to making because government will never Nigeria’s electoral process has elections in Nigeria tolerate any rubbish. It will be been truly transformed under progressively better organised

WRITE TO US

and more credible.

As Governor Mimiko prepares for his second term in Office, the President has urged him to rededicate himself to work even harder to justify the trust and confidence reposed in him by the people of Ondo state who voted overwhelmingly for his re-election.

President Jonathan has assured Dr. Mimiko that the Federal Government will continue to engage constructively and positively with the Ondo State Government in collaborative efforts to achieve faster socioeconomic development and better living conditions for people in the state and all other parts of Nigeria.

Ondo Gubernatorial Election: Another bright moment for Nigeria! President Jonathan’s transformation agenda remains sure and steady.

Dr. Reuben Abati is the Senior Special Adviser on Media to President Goodluck Jonathan.

Why Christianity is losing its flock and finding theological excuses for not following his radical ways. We call upon people to believe in Jesus.

But the question is whether we believe Jesus. In Ephesians 3:16-19, we read about the radical love of Christ: “I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Deciding to root and ground your life in this love is a lifelong journey. And it begins only when, in mysterious moments of grace, you discover that this vast and immense love has reached out to you. And while this love comes to us freely, the invitation to respond is costly.

And full of risk. You have to bet your life that this love is real, trustworthy, and at the center of all things. This love of Christ overwhelms our understanding, shatters our restrictive categories, breaks open our hearts, and animates our vision.

Maybe it’s something like hearing your favorite piece of music in surround sound with the volume turned up all the way.

Your whole body and soul seems to reverberate as you

listen with your entire being.

The problem throughout history, however, is that institutionalized Christianity wants to turn the volume down, remove some speakers, muffle some of the words, and subdue the real message. But it’s there, always able to be recovered.

Simply reading the gospels, and listening to Jesus—at full volume—is a way to start. And then each of us can ask, What if what Jesus said is actually true?

And what if how he lived is the real Way? AS CHRIST DWELLS in our hearts, through faith, we become rooted and grounded in love “with all the saints.”

Together and with one another—it is this vast love that becomes embedded into our core being.

However, organized Christianity has perfected the art of breaking away from one another. We have become Balkanized into tribes often warring against each other.

Disagreements justify division by those who hardly seem to think twice about what it means to sever the body of Christ. It has reached such a lamentable extent that in 2012, as absurd as it seems, there are 42,340 Christian denominations in the world. Plus, most of the news made by Christians today comes from fighting over topics— including homosexuality or contraception—that Jesus never mentioned. But this love directs us on an entirely different path.

We can’t retreat into protective enclaves of those who selfrighteously think alike and judge others, and then expect to know the depth and breadth

of this love. Rather, it means moving out of our comfort zones and into that place where we know our only comfort comes from belonging not to ourselves, but to each other and ultimately to the One who is the source of this love. Such love not only transforms our inner being, but it also transforms the world. The breadth, length, height, and depth of this love can never be constricted to just the human heart because it embraces the whole creation.

What it touches it yearns to change, and bring into the fullness intended by God. So whenever we turn to organized Christianity to prop up our own comfortable systems or try to reinforce our preferences and prejudices, we trivialize God’s love. Rather, we should be prepared to know that this love will fearlessly confront all that perpetuates injustice, all that destroys creation, all that protects greed, and all that extols selfish ambition. When 80 percent of the real increase in wealth in the U.S. in the last 30 years has gone to 1 percent of the population, we no longer comprehend the breadth of the love of Christ. When we’ve experienced the hottest year on record and continue to destroy the integrity of creation, we no longer comprehend the depth of the love of Christ. When we condone economic practices that sanctify short-term gain and greed to the expense of the long-term common good, we no longer comprehend the

length of the love of Christ.

And when we bless the unbridled, self-seeking ambition of television preachers, polarizing politicians, or entertainment personalities, we no longer comprehend the height of the love of Christ. So much depends upon opening our inner lives and becoming rooted and grounded in this love. It’s more than just our personal redemption. This love desires to save the world. The prayer in Ephesians is that “you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit.” And that, actually, is the hard part. It doesn’t come naturally; our culture seems to wire us to be rooted and grounded elsewhere, especially in unconscious addictions.

And it can’t all be changed by a momentary visit to a spiritual phone booth, like Clark Kent suddenly becoming Superman.

It requires disciplined practices and habits that can sustain you for the long haul, not unlike the way an athlete trains for the Olympics. And it begins by recognizing that this love “surpasses knowledge.” Just as the love of a romantic partner cannot be understood intellectually, the love of God is immeasurable. We can’t know, contain, or rationally control it. It “surpasses knowledge.”

Certainly it engages our mind. But if this love takes hold of us, it grips our soul.

Dr. Lewis Akpogena can be reached on akpogena@yahoo.com

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

By Pelumi Olatinpo

I

n 2008, a nation frustrated with the bickering and gridlock in Washington, D.C. found the rhetoric of candidate Obama quite musical. Barack Obama waxed poetic about the new day that should come and how he, by sheer force of will, would inject bipartisanship and functionality into a government increasingly acrimonious, polarized, and dysfunctional.

Four years later, whatever his reasons are, this house is as broken as Obama inherited it.

After the first 2012 presidential debate, surveys showed voters enthusiastically favored Mitt Romney’s talk of professionalism and bipartisanship.

Unfortunately, the second debate quickly crushed any such notion that Mr. Romney would be a messiah.

This is because if there was a palpable theme in the second debate, it would be this: Contempt. The contempt both candidates exhibited toward each other. While a good amount of adversarial contempt is almost needed in these sort of things, Tuesday night’s debate in New York bordered on foreplay before an all out brawl.

By Uche Igwe

I

was not so surprised to read that Nigeria has joined the ten bottom governance performers in Africa. The latest Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s Assessment of Governance in Africa ranked Nigeria 43 out of 52 countries assessed - slightly above Equatorial Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Cote d’ Ivoire and Zimbabwe.

These ‘bottom’ countries are either failed or failing states with about the lowest values of per capita gross domestic product in the world.

Cote d’ Ivoire, for instance, is just recovering from war. Equatorial Guinea and Zimbabwe are bastions of ‘kleptocracy’ and cronyism with the worst global human rights records. So how did Nigeria come about this disgraceful ranking?

Mo Ibrahim himself defined governance thus: ‘governance is about harnessing resources to achieve the results that any citizen living in the 21st century has a right to expect’. By implication this means that in countries like Nigeria where natural resources are abundant, good governance should be a right and not a privilege. How come that, instead, governance indices have steadily declined leading to a drop from position 37 in 2006 to 43 in 2012?

A deeper analysis will offer clarity to the depth of the decay.

Let us re-examine the four sets of issues examined by the Mo Ibrahim Report. The first category measured safety and rule of law. Probably one thing that is known to every toddler in Nigeria is that no one can take safety for granted anymore. From kidnapping and armed robbery in the South to Boko Haram insurgency in the North, to other ‘mystery’ events that resonate in between the two, the countrywide situation is fast snowballing into a Hobbesian

PAGE 15

Who knows, I’ve seen miracles happen What I found spectacular was former governor Romney’s unapologetic and all-too-eager disrespect for a sitting American Head of State. Somewhere about the 17 minutes mark, Romney in so many words chided the president to go sit down, that he wasn’t done talking. The audience in the room gasped. It was a tone that continued throughout the night.

If the broken government in Washington is to be rebuilt; this, unquestionably, is not the attitude that rebuilds it.

Barack Obama, in the first two years of his presidency, was unsophisticated to the obscene level of intransigence he would face from the Republican opposition. Or maybe it was that he was overly optimistic.

Or maybe he, as of today, is still a man learning the intricate art of deal making and leading among wolves. For even after being told in private meetings at the White House by Republican Congressional leaders that they shall not be cooperating with him and are bent on frustrating his presidency, even then, Obama

thought he could still navigate the muddled waters of Washington, successfully.

This is why the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, languished in Congress for almost two years and almost suffered a death that would have crippled the young presidency. I remember that, as I was one of the pundits who castigated the president on his insistence on working with an uncooperative Republican caucus. The president shortly thereafter abandoned all hopes of bipartisanship and the bill passed strictly along party lines.

In this instance, you could chastise me as partisan. But I am well aware that the polarization and dysfunction which led us here is unsustainable. A nation that must dream big and do big things can’t afford to constantly loop a rope around its neck in some twisted American remix of the Russian roulette. While other nations of the world are not on par with the U.S., it would be dumb to think they are not at the door. Countries like China and Germany are making advances and

innovations that will one day threaten the super elite status of the U.S. As it stands, one of the consequences of this breakdown is that President Obama is set to have fewer lower-court appointments than President Clinton and President W. Bush had at the end of their terms. Therefore, vacancies abound in the judiciary system. Charlie Savage of the New York Times eloquently describes it best: “Even when the White House produced nominees, they faced significant obstacles on the Senate floor. Republicans used procedural rules to delay votes on uncontroversial appeals court nominees and on district court nominees, forcing Democrats to consume hours of precious Senate floor time on confirmation votes for judges of a type that previously would have been quickly handled.”

And this coming January, the nation faces a slew of steep arbitrary spending cuts agreed upon by Democrats and Republicans to force each other into debt-reduction

negotiations.

Unless a compromise is reached, taxes will go up for all of middle-income Americans, as well as cuts in social programs for the poor.

The tone Mitt Romney visibly struck in this last debate offers not much hope that partisan gridlock will abate in Washington.

The approval rating of Congress is at an alltime low. Citizens are looking for an executive who is pragmatic and able to navigate this logjam to get things done. In the current environment, there’s little encouragement Obama can accomplish much if presented with a second term.

And, on the other end of the spectrum, there’s no doubt Democrats, who own the Senate, will frustrate every breath of a President Romney.

Unless something drastic happens, neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney has demonstrably shown they can lead this nation beyond the vitriol which threatens to choke it. But, who knows, I have seen miracles happen.

Pelumi Olatinpo is on both Facebook and Twitter.

Nigeria: A powerhouse in decline state. Violent crimes and social unrest have become the order of the day. Political acrimony and vendetta have allegedly metamorphosed into religious violence as mutual suspicion deepens among the population who hitherto coexisted in harmony. Interestingly, these wicked onslaughts do not seem to respect class or position. Everyone seems to be at risk.

On the rule of law, with minor exceptions, justice is available to be procured by the highest bidder - he who pays wins. Judicial independence is increasing becoming an impracticable theory as corruption seems to have permeated all facets of our national life. From our politics to our bureaucracy, if you cannot join the plunder, then forget it!

The second category measured participation and human rights.

Arguably, elections have been neither free nor fair as political parties have been partially or completely hijacked by political contractors. The power to govern has therefore been hamstrung by the shenanigans of those whose duty it is to frustrate competition and celebrate coronation.

Incompetence has been elevated in the guise of loyalty. The knowledge and political will that drives political liberty and legislative vision is either absent or only exists among a minority.

Gender balance in our politics has been shamelessly substituted with spousal appendages - slots are filled with wives, concubines, sisters and daughters of the same vampire elite to continue to suck our collective patrimony. The marginal gains in the area of human rights have been eroded by political impunity. Many alleged high level political assassinations remain unresolved and young people (many of them

former political thugs) become frustrated and wreck mayhem in their communities where their political masters used and dumped them.

The third category measured sustainable economic opportunity. As a country almost wholly dependent on rents from natural resources, the word sustainability is not yet in our policy dictionary. Statistical data for planning have been continuously manipulated to produce pre-determined outcomes. Critical figures are either unavailable or incomplete.

Public revenues leak directly to private pockets. Budget is a dubious technical aggregation of dry figures. Reform has become repetitious rhetoric. Planning is by conjecture and bureaucracy is bloated to service geography and celebrate profligacy. Though digital connectivity continues to flourish, consumers pay dearly for services they never get while regulators allegedly continue to cover up. The climate of fear has engulfed the entire social and political space. Citizens that dare to travel by air, do so in mute apprehension. Others that go by road are at the mercy of criminals, rapists and other marauders. The rail networks remain a political promise to hoodwink a gullible electorate – endlessly in the pipeline. Rural areas are forgotten

except where it matters for selfish political ends and the dialogue between the political elite and non-state actors is sterile. Nonstate actors themselves are often mere extensions of the rot that has invaded the political arena.

Critical issues like disaster management are left deliberately ad hoc to pave way for duplicity.

The forth category measured was human development.

Poverty has grown in leaps and bounds that it has become the excuse for everything from petty corruption to kidnapping-forransom and even suicide bombing.

Everybody and anybody could be the next target.

Nigeria still ranked 156 out of 187 in the Human Development Index as at 2011. Educational standards have become so bastardized that even teachers now take their children abroad for school. Innocent children going to school have become targets of attacks by ‘unknown gunmen’ ostensibly to express one grievance or another.

Millions of dollars are paid out annually to schools in United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and even Ghana in search of good education for Nigerian citizens.

Graduates from indigenous universities brandish doubtful even forged credentials. The disdain for institutions based in Nigeria even manifested in the

“

From kidnapping and armed robbery in the South to Boko Haram insurgency in the North, to other ‘mystery’ events that resonate in between the two, the countrywide situation is fast snowballing into a Hobbesian state. Violent crimes and social unrest have become the order of the day.

Mo Ibrahim Foundation Report.

Not a single organisation from Nigeria was allowed to contribute data to the surveys. The dividends of development like drinking water are available only to the rich and lucky in my country. In 2011, UNICEF estimated that about 33 million Nigerians do not have access to toilets. Maternal mortality is still estimated at 40,000 per annum, higher that the rate in Democratic Republic of Congo. Infantile mortality at 88 deaths out of 1000 live births remains the highest in Africa.

What a shame!

What do we then do with all of these? The Mo Ibrahim Index is a reminder of how far things have decayed in our country.

Are these reversible? Yes. But, we must fix our institutions to translate the rhetoric of reform into verifiable action codified by law. We must do away with the current crop of misguided political elite - somehow. Yes, somehow. These figures clearly show that they have failed woefully. Our bureaucracy must be depoliticized and professionalized for effective service delivery. An emergency should now be declared once again in the educational sector.

Civil society groups and the media must rise to their responsibility of keeping vigil on our democracy. The governance decay in Nigeria is threatening our position in the continent.

South Africa is 5th on the Index while Ghana occupies the 7th position. This powerhouse is declining and, sadly, time is running out.

Uche Igwe is a governance expert at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. He can be reached on ucheigwe@gmail.com

PAGE 16

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

Eid-el-Kabir: Abuja motorists, passengers demand regular supply of petrol

S

ome motorists and passengers in Abuja have urged for regular supply of petrol to ease vehicular movement before and during next week’s Eid-el-Kabir festival.

A cross-section of the motorists and passengers told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the Jabi Central Motor Park that this would prevent transport fare increase during the festive period.

They told NAN that past experiences had shown that a regular supply of petrol would prevent the increase in transport fare during the period.

NAN reports that the festival will take place on Friday, Oct. 26

(the 10th of Dhul-Hijja) when pilgrims’ performing this year’s Hajj in Saudi Arabia must have descended from Mount Arafat.

Mr Samuel Agbana, the ViceChairman, Long Journey Bus Branch of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), said he had observed a reduction in the queues at the filling stations.

“But government has to maintain the tempo of supplying the product to alleviate the present suffering of motorists and passengers and also prevent it from escalating during the festive period,’’ he said.

Agbana said the union’s members had done their part so

far by not increasing transport fares in spite of having many of their drivers’ queuing for petrol at the filling stations.

Another member of the union, Mr Abdullahi Mohammed, said he and other drivers were however yet to feel the impact of the festival in the park as passengers were yet to travel for the festival.

He urged government to improve on the supply of petrol as passengers would begin to travel for the festival from next week.

“For now our vehicles are waiting for passengers. But I believe that by next week, the park will witness a high influx of passengers. I just hope that

government will ensure a stable supply of fuel,’’ Mohammed said.

Some passengers also told NAN that they wanted government to redouble its efforts at ensuring a regular supply of petrol during the festive period.

Alhaji Usman Yinusa, a passenger who described Eid-elKabir as a big festival, said many Muslims normally celebrate it at their various family homes.

“It won’t be good if inadequate fuel hinders them from travelling home,” he said.

Yinusa also urged government to devise means of making fuel available at all times as its scarcity might affect activities during the period. (NAN)

Man hawking peppered chicken parts at the Millennium Park in Abuja yesterday.

Photo: Miriam Humbe

Optometrist harps on use of sunglasses

A

n optometrist in Bwari General Hospital in the FCT, Dr. Ochei Louis, has advised people to use sunglasses to prevent conjunctivitis, an infectious eye disease.

He gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bwari at the

weekend in view of the prevailing dusty weather in the area.

Louis said that conjunctivitis had been high among patients that were treated for eye infections at the hospital in recent times.

He said that the several cases of eye infections recorded at the

hospital were found to have been caused by dust and direct exposure to the sun.

“Of all the eye cases, we have more conjunctivitis cases reported to the clinic; conjunctivitis is simply an inflammation of the conjunctiva part of the eye which is the white

part of the eye.’’

He warned that “some sunglasses contain refractive errors that can create problems to the eye even though they are plain glasses.’’

He, therefore, advised that they should be tested in good eye clinics. (NAN)

25-year-old man docked for allegedly causing hurt

A

25-year-old man, Ogbaji Jonah of Anguwan Cement, Abuja, was on Friday arraigned before an Abuja Magistrates court for allegedly causing grievous hurt.

Police prosecutor Simon Emmanuel told the court that Daniel Oloze of Anguwan Cement, Abuja, reported the

case at the Life Camp Police Station, Abuja, on Oct. 14, 2012.

Emmanuel said the suspect and the accused are friends and reside at the same residence.

He said the complainant reported that while he was shopping at a supermarket, the accused attacked and hit him with an iron rod, and he

sustained injuries in the process.

The prosecutor said the suspect had earlier accused Oloze of poisoning his drink before he left home for the supermarket.

The prosecutor quoted the suspect as saying that he started having severe pains in his abdomen immediately after the

meal they eat together.

Emmanuel said the offence contravened the provisions of Section 246 of the Penal Code, but the accused pleaded not guilty.

The Magistrate, Mrs Sadiya Mayana, granted the accused bail in the sum of N20, 000 with two reasonable sureties, and adjourned the case to Nov. 15, 2012 for hearing. (NAN)

NGO seeks corps members’ partnership in healthcare services in FCT

By Adeola Tukuru

A

non- governmental organization (NGO), known as the Diabetics and Hypertension Help Society (DHHS) has called for partnership from corps members in offering free medical screening and counseling to FCT communities.

The Chief Executive Officer of the NGO, Mrs Adanma Odefa made the call in Kwali, FCT at the opening ceremony of a free health screening exercise organized by a corpse member, Mr Okeke-Eweni Kanayo.

Odefa urged corps members to impact on their host communities added that the event was organized in partnership with the NGO. She said the partnership was to educate communities on the need for regular medical checkup and, where necessary, counsel those at risk of hypertension and diabetics.

The NGO boss said the free screening would cover blood pressure, glucose level, weight, body mass index as free medical consultation.

“I want to use this opportunity to encourage, not only corpse members but every Nigeria not to hesitate in affecting the lives of members of their host communities,” she said.

Odefa commended Kanayo for the initiative adding that the doors of the NGO were opened for partnership aimed screening and educating community members on the need for regular medical checkup.

In his remark, Kanayo said the preventive screen was necessitated by increasing incidences of hypertension, heart attack and stroke.

He said the exercise would no doubt increase awareness on the need for regular screening and by extension, reduces the incidences of noncommunicable diseases.

Similarly, Mr Godwin Ehiabhi, Kwali NYSC Zonal Inspector commended Kanayo for the initiative adding that several projects aimed at promoting healthcare services had been executed by him.

He pledged the commitment of NYSC to continue to encourage corpse members wishing to embark on projects aim at impacting on their host communities.

PAGE 18

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

Abuja residents, FCTA plant 3,000 tree seedlings in Bwari ByAdeola Tukuru

A

Mrs. Jumai Ahmadu (middle) donating gift items to one of the 157 widows on the care list of her pet project, Helpline Foundation for the needy, at the Millennium Park in Abuja yesterday.

Photo: Miriam Humbe

NGO doles out food items, clothes to 157 widows, 200 orphans’ in Abuja

By Miriam Humbe

A

n Abuja based nong o v e r n m e n t a l organization (NGO), Help Line Foundation for the needy yesterday put smiles on the faces of over 157 widows and 200 orphans in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) when they dished out various donations of items which included food items and

clothes to them.

The President of the NGO, Mrs. Jumai Ahmadu while speaking at the Fun Fair in Millennium Park, Abuja said the essence was to empower the widows and orphans so as to reduce the onslaught of poverty on families.

In her words: “The challenge of providing for the needy cannot be handled by government alone”

and called on the widows to “trust in God and not lose hope as there is light at the end of the tunnel”.

While commending the efforts of the NGO, Pastor Mrs. Blessing Ikoroha who said she also operates an orphanage home in Karu,FCT commended the efforts of Help Line Foundation and called on other well to do Nigerians to repent and start contributing to the cause of the less privileged in the society.

One of the beneficiaries, Mrs. Esther Daniel of Kado Village expressed gratitude to the NGO for meeting her at the immediate point of her need.

In her words: “I don’t have food in my house. As at yesterday before this rice was given to me, I didn’t have even a cup of rice in my house. I was wondering what my daughter would eat tomorrow when she comes out of school.”

2 unemployed men arraigned for alleged forgery

T

he police have arraigned two men, Okadigbo Egbuna, 25, and Romanus Odugwu, 50, before an Abuja Magistrates‘ Court for allegedly forging the particulars of a vehicle belonging to one Simon Ibrahim.

The accused, who claimed to be unemployed, are standing trial on a two-count charge of joint act and criminal breach of trust.

Police prosecutor Buba Irimiya

said the offences contravened the provisions of Sections 79 and 312 of the Penal Code.

He said the case was reported at the Utako Police Station by one Simon Ibrahim of No. 10, Pretoria Close, Wuse zone 6, Abuja, on July 19.

Irimiya said the accused, sometime in January, conspired and forged the particulars of a vehicle belonging to the

complainant.

He said the accused forged the particulars of the complainant’s Carina 2 vehicle with Reg. No. AM 453 KWL, without his consent in order to dispossess him of the vehicle.

The prosecutor said the accused confessed to committing the offence during interrogation, but they pleaded not guilty to the charges in court.

He asked the court to fix a date to enable him present his witnesses.

In his ruling, Magistrate Musa Jobbo granted each of the accused bail in the sum of N100, 000 and one surety each in like sum.

He said the sureties must be resident with the jurisdiction of the court, and adjourned the case to Nov. 7, 2012 for hearing.

(NAN)

Man granted bail for allegedly stealing BlackBerry phone

A

n Abuja Magistrates Court yesterday granted bail to one Offiong Effiong, of Area 1, Garki, Abuja, who is arraigned for allegedly stealing a BlackBerry phone.

Police prosecutor Musa Abdullahi told the court that on Oct. 20, 2012 ,one Aisha Ibrahim of Durumi village, Mpape, Abuja,

reported the case at the Wuse Police Station.

Abdullahi said that sometime in July the complainant met the accused at Wuse Market, Abuja, and they exchanged phone numbers.

He said the accused visited the complainant in her house at Mpape and asked for her BlackBerry torch

phone valued at N75,000, to enable him urinate, but absconded it.

The prosecutor said that when the complainant cited the accused at the Wuse Market she got him arrested.

He said that the offence contravened the provisions of Section 257 of the Penal Code, but the accused pleaded not guilty.

Presiding Magistrate Musa Jobbo granted the accused bail in the sum of N100,000 and two sureties in like sum.

Jobbo said the sureties must be resident at a fixed and verifiable address within the jurisdiction of the court, and adjourned the case to Nov. 13, 2012 for further hearing.

(NAN)

buja residents and also the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) have planted 3,000 tree seedlings in Ushafa, Bwari Area council, FCT as part of this year’s the commencement of Tree planting campaign.

The tree planting campaign was launched last week Thursday by the Honourable Minister of State for FCT, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide was said to tackle environmental challenges such as erosion, flooding and desertification threatening several nations including Nigeria.

The minister, who confirmed this in a Statement on Monday by her Special Assistant on Media & Publicity, Mr. Oluyinka Akintunde, said 2,200 tree seedlings were planted by the Administration through its Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat.

She noted that additional 800 tree seedlings were given to members of the public for further planting in their areas of abode. ”The current global environmental challenges such as erosion, flooding and desertification, among others that are directly threatening Nigeria now call for aggressive sensitization on tree planting since it is the only known natural solution to curbing the menace. ”The negative effect of this is the colossal waste of lives, properties and even agricultural crops which is a bad signal to food security, an essential part of Mr. President’s Transformation Agenda,” she stated.

She assured that the FCT Administration was committed to providing a secured and safe environment to all residents and visitors, and appealed to them to imbibe the culture of planting trees around their homes.

“Tree planting is a continuous and daily exercise if we are to make any meaningful impact in curbing the menace of environmental degradation,” she added.

The minister warned developers and residents against distorting the Abuja Master Plan, noting that the FCT Administration would ensure strict compliance with the approved land use master-plan.

She advised developers and individuals to desist from building on designated green areas as well as flood and disaster prone areas.

The Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat, Mrs. Olvadi Bema Madayi, disclosed that Forestry Sub-sector of the Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat was currently executing some projects to mitigate the effects of erosion, landslides and flood.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 17

1

. Women selling yam, yesterday in Karmo yam market, Abuja

2. A butcher selling meat to a customer, yesterday in Nyanya.

3. middle-aged man selling tomatoes to his client, yesterday in Karu, Abuja.

4. Two teenage girls hawking groundnut chatting, yesterday in Area 3, Garki, Abuja.

1 2

5. A charcoal seller waiting for buyers in his shop, yesterday in Karmo, Abuja.

Photos: Justin Imo-owo

3 4

5

BUSINESS

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

Email: aminuimam@yahoo.co.uk

PAGE 19

INSIDE

- Pg 20

NNPC gives condition for repair of vandalized pipeline

Mob: 08033644990

CBN, stakeholders reject amendment bill on CBN Act

T

he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and some Stakeholders in Abuja have rejected a bill seeking to remove the bank’s Governor, Deputy Governors and Executive Directors from the bank’s board.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the rejection was the consensus of submissions at a public hearing organised by the House of Representatives Joint Committee on Banking, Currency and Justice on a bill to amend the CBN Act, 2007 in Abuja.

The proposed amendment provides for a former Governor of CBN to be board chairman while also divesting the board of the power of consideration

and approval of the bank’s annual budget.

Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, said in his submission that the financial autonomy for the bank was germane to its operations.

“An efficient CBN is one that is truly independent,” Sanusi said.

Sanusi represented by Mr Tunde Lemo, CBN’s Deputy Governor, Banking Operations urged the National Assembly to drop the proposed amendment and enhance their oversight activity through quarterly briefing by the governor.

The Governor said that the amendment would damage the reputation of the CBN as a lender of last resort and impact negatively on the confidence of

Nigerian banks in international arena.

According to him, taking away the financial autonomy of the bank would limit its ability to fulfill its lender- of - last resort function of providing loans to distressed banks.

He said that the bill if passed into law would also limit the ability of the bank to achieve its mandate of ensuring financial system stability.

“By removing this function from the bank, the proposed amendment will increase the investors’ perception of risk in the banking industry,” he said.

He said that a strong independent CBN was required to achieve the goals of the federal government vision 20:2020.

Mallam Adamu Ciroma, former CBN Governor in opposing the amendment, said that the bill would be counterproductive.

Ciroma who cautioned the House of Representatives against the amendment said that the people proposed to be on the board might not be knowledgeable in the operations of the bank.

“If the board of CBN excludes the governor of the bank, it means it will comprise of people without the knowledge of the operations of the bank.

“There is great danger in excluding the governor from the chairmanship and staff who have knowledge of the system from the board, “he said.

He urged the committee to give the proposed amendment a serious thought, as autonomy of the bank allowed it to operate maximally.

Mr.Joseph Sanusi, also a former governor of the CBN said that the governor of the

bank should be allowed to continue to be the chairman of the bank.

He called for a workshop to educate Nigerians and members of the National Assembly on the operations of the bank.

Rep. Chukwudi Onyereri (PDP- I mo), the Chairman of the committee said that they would be looking at a more dedicated and deliberate regulatory structure for the commercial banks.

According to him, the committee would be considering varied models. “ I wish to reiterate our neutrality and emphasize our commitment in discharging our constitutional responsibilities of law making, oversight and representation without fear or favour,” he said.

The other stakeholders at the hearing were the NLC, Zenith bank Plc, Eko Bank Plc, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) and Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) among others. (NAN)

Unity Bank CEO, Wanka, gets CIBN fellowship award

T

L-R, President/Chairman of the Council, The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, (CIBN), Mr. Segun Aina. presenting Award of Honorary fellowship of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria to the Managing Director/CEO, Unity Bank, Alhaji Ado Yakubu Wanka and Chairman, Board of Fellows, Otunba Mrs. Debola Osibogun, at the CIBN 2012 Fellowship Invetituture Award, held recently at Federal Palace, Lagos.

Naira firms on Shell, NLNG dollar sales

T

he local currency, naira firmed against the U.S dollar on the interbank market yesterday , supported by dollar sales by two energy companies, which boosted greenback supplies.

The local currency strengthened to 157.30 to the dollar on the interbank market, firmer than the 157.40 it closed on Friday.

“The market liquidity was boosted by dollar sales by Shell and Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) company, which provided support for the naira,” one dealer said.

Traders said the naira should remain stable around the present level as dollar inflows from month-end sales by energy companies and offshore investors

buying treasury bills at an auction this week could balance out demand in the market.

On the bi-weekly auction, the central bank sold $150 million at 155.76, same amount and rate at the last auction.

Nigeria’s currency had

weakened to around a three week low last week, pressured by demand for dollars from gasoline importers, but the local currency rallied on dollar inflows from oil companies and from offshore investors buying bonds.

(Reuters)

he Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Unity Bank Plc, Ado Yakubu Wanka has been conferred with the Honorary Fellowship of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (FCIB).

The award was bestowed on him by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria CIBN at an elaborate ceremony held in Lagos.

President/Chairman of Council, CIBN, Segun Aina described Wanka as a distinguished banker and resourceful member of the banking industry. The CIBN boss said the award confines on the recipient, all rights, privileges and obligations that come with it.

He advised the Wanka to always inspire young professional bankers s such would improve the quality of manpower in the banking sector while also carrying out his duties with integrity, competence and uprightness.

Wanka on his part promised to abide and protect the CIBN

Management Tip of the Day

Make progress on that long-term project

B

ig projects with far-off (or non-existent) deadlines can often be the most nerveracking: You might put them off until the last minute, or let them sit on your to-do list mentally torturing you for months. Here's how to keep moving forward: Make it a priority. If you

have too many important goals, you'll never get to the big ones.

Slash your list until you're left with only five, the long-term assignment being one of them.

Round up what you need.

It's hard to get started without the necessary tools, information, skills, and support.

Break it into smaller pieces. Group the work into manageable chunks and make sure you know how to do the first thing. Set a deadline for that first task and put it in your calendar.

Source: Harvard Business Review

Act, remain diligent in his work and contribute to the growth and professionalism of the sector. “I affirm that I will abide and support the CIBN Act, Codes and adhere strictly to the ethics of the banking and finance industry. I promise to be diligent and contribute to the programmes and activities of the CIBN,” he said.

The bank CEO said he was overwhelmed by the gesture adding that it was expected after putting in over 30 years of service in the banking sector. He said the award remains an incentive to work with the Institute to ensure that professionalism is promoted above mediocrity in the works of bankers.

Wanka said that the banking profession is noble and must be practiced with trust and integrity at all times to earn the confidence of regulators and customers.

“It is a very big honour for me after being in the industry for close to 30 years, I have seen it all. And then I am being recognised by the Institute, it is a great honor. I am sure that it is the biggest honour one can ever get,” he said.

He said the recognition will ginger him into putting more effort in what he has been doing in order to protect the interest of members and the Institute.

According to him, there is need to improve capacity building in the sector, and ensure that integrity and sound corporate governance practices are promoted in the sector.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 20

COMPANY NEWS

External reserves

L

atest figures from the Central Bank of Nigeria have shown that foreign exchange reserves jumped to $42.02bn by October 17, the highest in 32 months and an increase of 3.11 per cent, monthon-month.

Figures on the CBN website showed that the reserves, which stood at $40.75bn a month ago, were last around $42.02bn on February 17, 2010, when $42.22bn was recorded.

The Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Mr. Bismark Rewane, in a report made available to our correspondent on Friday, said the level could cover over 10 months of imports.

Railway

F

ollowing the repairs of two railway bridges which collapsed some years ago between Zingeru and Akere in Niger State, the Nigerian Railways corporation is to commence full operations between Lagos and Kano

by December 2012, just as the Federal Government promised that by the beginning of 2014, train services in the country would return to the glorious state before they went comatose.

Minister of Information,Mr. Labaran Maku disclosed this when he led the Good Governance Tour Team on a demonstration ride from Zingeru-Akere stated that currently, the trains are already operating regularly between Minna and Kano as the only stretch remaining is between Zingeru and Minna which is at the completion stage.

The Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah, on Sunday said the site of the reconstructed old domestic terminal popularly called General Aviation Terminal did not belong to BiCourtney Aviation Services Limited, the concessionaire and operators of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two, Lagos.

Nigeria's N3.9trn telecoms industry

P

oor quality of service characterized by drop calls and incoherent transmission is threatening Nigeria’s N3.9 trillion telecommunications sector. Drop call is the termination of telephone calls before the speaking parties could finish their conversation or before one of them could hang up.

Poor quality of service has become more rampant in the last couple of weeks, from the four telecommunications companies, Globacom, Airtel, Etisalat and MTN, operating in the country.

IMF warns African oil producers to avoid white elephants Stories by Muhammad Nasir, with agency reports

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he International Monetary Fund yesterday urged African oil and gas producing nations to direct their revenue in infrastructure and education rather than on “white elephants”.

Exploration in east and southern Africa has been high in recent months as a result of big oil and gas discoveries in Tanzania, Mozambique, Kenya and other regional countries.

Antoinette Sayeh, the IMF’s director for Africa, said oil and gas sector does not create as many jobs as other sectors of the economy, but if the revenues were directed to education and transport links they would help create jobs.

Sayeh said nations could set up sovereign wealth funds to invest for future generations and to provide cash, which could be used to help their economies navigate times of volatility in

IMF director for Africa, Antoinette Sayeh, the global economy.

“It is not enough just to maximise your revenues and then to spend them on white elephants, you have to really be using them wisely and leaving

some of the wealth for future generations as well,” she said.

Sayeh said the IMF is advising Mozambique, Tanzania and Niger to help them boost revenues from oil and gas

exports.

However, Washington-based agency projected in its Regional Economic Outlook launched in Japan earlier this month that Sub-Saharan Africa will grow by 5.25 percent this year and next, driven by robust domestic demand, investments and newly-found natural resources.

Despite this forecast, there are concerns that although some of the world’s fastest growing economies are African, the rapid growth rates have failed the inclusion test due to lack of jobs especially among young people.

The IMF has predicted inflation in the region would fall to 8 percent at the end of this year from 10 percent in the same time last year, before falling further to 7 percent in 2013.

Sayeh urged policymakers in countries that are still facing double-digit inflation, like Nigeria, Guinea, Malawi and Ethiopia to adopt policies that will help lower inflation.

LG mediates between gas plant, communities in Akwa-Ibom

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he Chairman, Esit Eket Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom, Ibanga Etang, said that he had taken steps to resolve the conflict between the gas communities.

“We hope members of the community would resolve the matter peacefully and also support the Uquo Gas Development Project which will be of benefit the entire community and not just a few people, Etang noted.

It would be recall that on Oct. 17, hundreds of protesters at the oil field were dispersed by policemen while 13 youth leaders, who masterminded the protest, were arrested.

Etang said that a committee would be set up to look into the allegations against members of Uquo Marginal Oil Field

Development Board.

He announced that the youth leaders detained over the protest had been released by police following the intervention of the local government.

The Uquo Marginal Oil Field run by Frontier Oil, an indigenous firm, is located within Esit Eket council where a gas plant is currently under construction.

The youth leaders were detained because they demanded for employment reserved for them in the memorandum of understanding signed by the company.

As a result of the conflict security was beefed up around the gas plant with the deployment of more soldiers and policemen.

Etang urged the youths to

remain calm and law-abiding while the leadership of the council would seek ways to resolve the conflict.

“I want to make it abundantly clear that there is absolutely no reason to obstruct the development process within this council area.

“The benefits of the project are many. Remember that gas supply from here will ensure uninterrupted power supply to the entire state.

“The state and Federal Government want to see the plant commence operation.

“From what the governor has said, the project is due for commissioning by Mr. President and we are committed to providing an enabling atmosphere of peace and harmony,” he said

The youth leaders pledged to maintain the peace brokered by the council chairman.

Mr. Thomas Dada, Managing Director, Frontier Oil Ltd., told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the protest was not linked to the firm.

He urged the host community to resolve their differences amicably through dialogue.

“The protest was about intercommunity grievances and had nothing to do with FOL, its contractors and service providers. ”We will continue to work with the legitimate representatives of the communities as stipulated in our MOU to ensure all parties adhere to the terms and conditions of the MoU,” Dada said.

NNPC gives condition for repair of vandalized pipeline

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he Nigerian National petroleum Corporation, NNPC has vowed not to commence the repair of the damaged pipeline in Arepo, Ogun State until the safety of its personnel is guaranteed by security agencies.

The damage of the pipeline at Arepo and the delay in settling the subsidy claims of some marketers, which have forced them to reduce importation, have been cited as responsible for the current fuel scarcity.

The General Manager, Media Relations of NNPC, Dr. Omar Ibrahim, had early last month expressed the readiness of the corporation’s engineers to return to the site of the pipeline vandalism for a quick repair in view of the difficulty in

distributing the products in the affected areas.

But in his response to People’s daily enquiries on the need to ensure a quick repair of the damaged pipeline in view of the current challenges posed by poor fuel distribution, the Acting Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs of NNPC, Fidel Pepple, said he could not say exactly when the current difficulty in fuel distribution would end because the corporation was not prepared to send its personnel to Arepo until the security agencies were able to guarantee their safety.

“The management of NNPC has resolved not to risk the lives of its personnel by sending them to Arepo until their safety is guaranteed.”

Ibrahim had four weeks ago raised the prospect of NNPC engineers returning to the site to fix the pipeline, saying the corporation had already met with the leadership of the Special Task Force on Anti-pipeline Vandalism set up by the Inspector -General of Police to ensure adequate security for NNPC officials.

He said the task force recently arrested six suspects in connection with the vandalism and expressed optimism that more arrests would soon be made.

Some yet-to-be-identified vandals had in August punctured the Arepo pipeline, which carries between 10 million litres and 11 million litres of fuel per day to Lagos and

its environs and some states in the northern part of the country.

The vandalism of the pipeline led to huge disruption in the supply chain and shortage in fuel supply to most parts of the country.

The development prompted NNPC to increase the use of trucks to cushion the effect of the damage on supplies, pending the completion of repairs at the site.

However, some officials of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of NNPC, sent to repair the pipeline were recently attacked by hoodlums at the site. Three workers were reportedly killed by the vandals, prompting NNPC’s resolve not to return to the site unless their security is guaranteed.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 21

NCC goes tough on sale of pre-registered SIM cards N

igerian Communications Commission (NCC) Head of Enforcement, Mr. Efosa Idehen has warned Nigerians to desist from patronising hawkers of pre-registered SIM cards.

Idehen told newsmen in Ibadan that those who purchased pre-registered SIM cards were sabotaging government’s efforts and would henceforth be prosecuted accordingly.

“Except you have criminal intentions, you don’t need to purchase pre-registered SIM card that does not bear your real data,’’ Idehen said.

He said the data capturing of SIM cards had enormous usefulness, adding that it assisted government in planning as well as aiding the work of the security agencies.

Head of Enforcement, NCC,Mr. Efosa Idehen Idehen said the data would also help the NCC in getting the statistical numbers of phone

users in the country at a given time.

He said the NCC was on the

look out for violators, adding that those arrested for hawking the cards would be handed over to the police for prosecution.

“SIM cards cannot be activated without the data of the buyer being captured, therefore, Nigerians should always reject cards which activate immediately after purchase without data being captured,’’ he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that three culprits have been arrested by the enforcement team in the Southwest and were handed over to the Police for prosecution.

Speaking on the NCC’ s recent case against a branch of First Bank Plc for illegal use of frequency, Idehen said the matter had been handed over to the police for prosecution. (NAN)

R-L: Former Former Ogun state Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, National President of Chartered Institute of Economists of Nigeria, Mr. Sola Samuel Eshiobo, Professor Oyewo Tobiola Ajagbe, Mr. Friday Okai of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and MD/Editor-in-Chief of Compass Newspapers, Prince Shina Kawonise, during the conferment of the prestigious award of fellow on Otunba Gbenga Daniel by the institute, recently in Abuja.

Photo: Joe Oroye

Subscribers take on NCC for mis conduct by operators

By Chris Alu

A

consumer advocacy group known as C o n s u m e r s Empowerment Organization of Nigeria (CEON), has petitioned Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for anti-competitive conducts against Airtel, Glo and MTN, Nigeria’s for services reservations and discriminations In a complaint addressed to Dr. Eugene Juwah, Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, titled “Request for Investigation” the group requested the Commission to commence investigation to determine if the GSM service providers are engaging in “concerted practices” collectively discriminating in providing access to their networks’ infrastructure to competing Mobile Content Service Providers (MCSPs).

They also ask the commission to find out whether the operators are abusing their dominant positions in the market for access to 2G and 2.5G mobile network infrastructure by discriminating in the provision of access to their mobile network infrastructure to competing MCSPs. Adedeji Babatude, coordinator of the group, who signed the compliant letter, said that such discriminatory conduct by the named GSM operators is capable of distorting competition in the Mobile Content Applications space through constraining the choice of consumers as well as retarding innovation.

The group is also urging the NCC to invoked Section 1 of the Competition Practice Regulation 2007. Under the Regulation, NCC in considering whether an investigation is expected to issue a written notice to the parties, identifying whether it will take action, the specific action to be taken and the basis for its decision within thirty days of submission of the complaint by CEON.

SON confiscates N10m worth of substandard phones

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he Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has raided the computer village in Ikeja and seized substandard mobile phones estimated at N10 million.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the raid caught the marketers unaware as the enforcement team stormed the market in the early hours of the day.

The team interrogated owners of 12 shops raided and none of them could give satisfactory response on the

quality of their wares.

Some of the shops raided included Jefflink Global Services, Eddie Vine Communications, Obino Resources Ltd., Booster Communication and K2 mobile.

Others were C.don Communication, Ozidy International Ltd., Mustard Communication, AKA Communication, Eddie Ben and Beco Systems.

The Zonal Coordinator of SON, Mr Achema Alewu, told newsmen, after the raid, that the organisation acted on

information through its surveillance on the some shops.

“We have warned the marketers against selling substandard products.

“But we got information that these products still existed and that is the reason for this specific exercise,’’ he said.

Alewu said that the seized products would be subjected to laboratory tests and those found to be substandard would be destroyed.

“Genuine ones will be returned to their owners,’’ he

added.

He said that the organisation would not hesitate to go after the makers of the seized brands if found to be culpable.

“We are not after any brand or individual marketer; our major concern is to get rid of substandard products,” he said.

The coordinator enjoined those affected by the raid to visit the SON office for further clarifications.

In his reaction, Mr Ikechukwu Nwosu, the President of the Phone and Allied

Products Dealers Association of Nigeria, Lagos Branch, expressed confidence in the ability of SON to rid the country of fake and substandard products.

“We have always maintained cordial relations with SON and this exercise, though caught us unawares, is to the benefit of every Nigerian.

“Our members are ready to cooperate with SON in whatever capacity to rid the market of fake and substandard products,” he said.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 22

Flood is part of insurance coverage- MD Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc H ow would you assess the insurance Industry in 2012?

The year 2012 actually started with a lot of hope as we all thought that the Federal Government transformational agenda which identifies several economic sectors will spill over on insurance, thus creating insurance boom. As a major spender if government had executed the transformational agenda in its real content; then of course other sectors of the economy would have benefited. We thought things will go upwards, but l do not see that for now. We are in October almost the end of the 10th month; I do not think that has happened. I will say that the industry has not really grown but we will still be providing immediate services to the general economy as a stabilizer.We have witnessed key event that sharpened the industry. The first is the Dana air crash; secondly, we are currently experiencing what would have been said will never happened in Nigeria- flooding. We have not identified Nigeria as a natural disaster zone as such; most insurers will always look at special risk of flood as just flood from leaking overhead tanks. This flooding affects both the high and the low. Even President Goodluck Jonathan’s house in the village was not spared which means it is not just my house or yours in the village or town that was flooded.

This flood is no respecter of anything and that flood risk is the situation we face today which means that the risk is with us and we must take all the measures to plan for it and to manage it effectively.

Fortunately, for us as an insurance company, l will say that we are happy with where we are with a very modest growth.

The key drivers of our business remain that from the start we have focused on our people as very major drivers of growth, the staff and our support from the board.

We have continued to improve on the hosting of our Annual General Meeting by investing so much on the processes. Each year we try to bring forward the time we hold the AGM. Since 2007 we held the AGM in August then July and this year, 2012 we held it before the first half of the year. As we move on we will continue to improve on the time of the AGM. What do you think would be the Impact of flood threats on food Production and insurance market?

The obvious fact remains that our market will be threatened by these events. We have had this flooding incident before.

Obviously some of them have been insured. However, it depends on how long the flood remains with us. May be insurance might

Managing Director, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc. Eddie Efekoha at an interactive session with journalists recently in Lagos, bared his mind on topical issues in the industry, Ngozi Onyeakusi was there ..excerpt development.But for a true flood, like the rain we had in Lagos some time, insurance came to the rescue – we all recall the claim from Friesland WAPCO. It is flooding but as a result of rainfall.

But the current flooding is not rainfall, but as a result of other issues.

So to that extent, flood is part of what we cover in insurance and each case like we say will be looked at on its own merit.Those affected by flood and whose properties have been destroyed by this recent case and have insurance should put up their claims and the respective insurance companies will look at it within the ambit of the policy they have issued.

Are we expecting changes in the market following the new NAICOM guideline on premium receivables?

Managing Director, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc, Eddie Efekoha not be taken up on them anymore or for a long time to come. Then you will expect that premium to the industry will reduce.

As we speak, there are a lot of temporary camps for many of our brothers, sisters and friends in affected areas and this era of MDRI when we want to grow the retail market l had thought that these are the people we are focusing on, small peasant farmers and rural population, but if they are battling for survival insurance will be the last thing that will be in their priority list. MDRI might suffer some little setbacks because these people will need to be reestablished to get a decent accommodation and guarantee survival before insurance is looked into. By and large I believe the flood will impact on the level of premium being thrown into the industry.

Now that flooding is taking a bigger dimension in our environment, how prepared is the industry to provide cover on this?

Flooding is part of what we regard as special peril and is part of the fire policy. But whether the current flooding is what we anticipated becomes another issue because natural peril is difficult to cover and that is why government is regarded as an insurer in case of natural perils.

But as far as this one is concerned, a lot of the places that were affected are not major buyers of insurance yet because each time l go out l ask – “Do you have any flooding claims so far reported”? And many have said they do not have, because most of the affected areas (villages) are still yet to see much

“

Obviously some of them have been insured. However, it depends on how long the flood remains with us. May be insurance might not be taken up on them anymore or for a long time to come. Then you will expect that premium to the industry will reduce.

The circular will take effect from January1, 2013. So the effect will be felt then. It is hoped that it will resolve part of the problem we have with receivables in the industry. But whether it will totally eliminate that problem or not will be discussed by stakeholders later.

Is claims negotiation a process in the business of insurance?

Claims in insurance are premised on the understanding that premiums are paid and put in a pool where the unfortunate members of the pool are compensated in the event of loss.

Everybody is contributing to it; therefore, the fund must be judiciously applied or used. When claims are made on that pool, they are not just paid but must be negotiated.

If somebody experiences a situation of negotiation, l thinks it is normal.

However, in negotiating, several conditions might prevail and the conditions may be that the premiums could have been paid after the risk has matured. In that case, somebody is saying is not responsible but because we know you have suffered loss, so we will give you 30 per cent. If you like it you take it, if you don’t you can go to NAICOM or NIA Complaint Bureau to make your case. It happened to one of our clients. A ‘tokumbo’ vehicle was insured for N8 million while the market value was about N2.6 million. It was overvalued to get insurance policy. The client contributes between N5 million and N10 million premium yearly to the company. But when the vehicle got burnt and it was priced, it was then discovered that the market value was N2. 6 million and we insisted on buying a new vehicle

or paying the equivalent in cash, but the client insisted on the N8 million but we refused. In our final notice we made it clear to the client that if she does not like a new vehicle or equivalent in cash she can go to NAICOM or NIA Complaint Bureau.So if such a client comes to you as a Journalist, you may not really understand the issues concerning the “negotiation” because each case is looked at on merit. No insurance company in this market under the current regulatory regime will refuse to pay claims. If it does, it is either the license or the person will go.

In the aspect of Insurance education/ awareness, what difference in terms of training and its impact on the public?

The industry is doing everything to create insurance awareness. We have PILA that has continued to do awareness programme for the young ones and they have sustained the programme in the last four years.

The programme continues to push insurance to children who are leaders of tomorrow.From the institute, the College of Insurance is about to take off. We are encouraging more people to take up Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) examinations if you go to the centre these days the number of interested candidates has been on the increase. At some point, the institute targeted 5, 000 new agents and people but we have not achieved that yet.

However, it is important to set our targets and work towards that.When we hold the seminars and conferences these days we moved from what will interest us as practitioners. At the last education conference in Abuja, we talked about climatic change and we had NIMET and we talked about insecurity at a time the Boko Haram has not assumed this level. And if we had taken all the presentations seriously, perhaps we would have been better protected today. The institute is preparing for educational seminar in Port Harcourt and we think of making insurance count.

We agreed that insurance is not counting in a lot of our corporate and personal budgets. We are engaging government as well because we cannot remove government from this.Even in the school curriculum, we are trying to bring insurance to a lower level to make it part of the syllabus for secondary schools. If you have insurance today as a subject at WASC level then many students will pick interest in it and before you know it, it will assume a greater proportion and the value to the society will be enhanced.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 24

PAGE 25

Africa’s claims for Security Council seats still in limbo A

fter 20 long years of negotiations on a proposed expansion of the Security Council, African countries continue to be left out in the cold – even as African leaders complain that the international community has failed to respond to their demands for two permanent seats in the most powerful body at the United Nations.

When heads of state took the podium at the General Assembly sessions last month, an overwhelming majority of the more than 40 African political leaders criticised the marginalisation of their continent.

Speaker after speaker complained about the continued absence of Africa among countries which hold the five permanent seats (P5) in the Security Council – the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia.

Africa’s longstanding demand for at least two permanent seats with veto powers, and five nonpermanent seats, as agreed

by African heads of state back in March 2005, is still far from reality.

But there is a reason for this, says Dr. Kwame Akonor, associate professor of political science at Seton Hall University in New York, who has written extensively on the politics and economics of the continent.

“That the membership and power relations of the

of African members of the Security Council should be a matter for the AU to determine, taking into consideration the representative nature and capacity of those chosen.

Akonor told IPS that for Africa, the question of representation is more fraught because it cannot seem to agree on which country (or countries) to represent it at the Security Council.

“The paralysis, amongst African leaders, when it comes to how it will be represented has contributed to the c o n t i n e n t ’ s marginalisation on discussions on any plausible reform measures,” he said.

One solution, he argued, is for African states to take the concept of Pax Africana seriously

and rely on themselves when it comes to the e s t a b l i s h m e n t , enforcement and consolidation of their own peace and security.

As current negotiations stand, there are four countries (G4) who are frontrunners for permanent seats (without vetoes): India, Brazil, Germany and Japan.

A longtime political observer who has been monitoring the negotiations told IPS the simple answer is that the G4 never gave the African countries a firm commitment for two African seats (with veto powers).

Subsequently, the G4 gave up their bid for veto powers, agreeing to a new category of “permanent seats WITHOUT veto power”. But this is not acceptable to the African

“

Malawi’s President, Joyce Banda, said Africa makes up the single largest region within the United Nations, and a very significant proportion of issues discussed in the Security Council concern the African continent

U.N. Security Council (UNSC) are anachronistic and inequitable, given the geopolitical realities of the 21st century, is irrefutable,” he told IPS. But any significant reform aimed at changing

Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi

the membership or procedures of the UNSC will meet fierce resistance from the five veto-wielding permanent members, who are unlikely to relinquish their rights easily, said Akonor, who is also director

of the Centre for African Studies and the African Development Institute, a New York-based think tank.

Addressing the General Assembly sessions last month, Joyce Banda, the president of Malawi, said Africa makes up the single largest region within the United Nations, and a very significant proportion of issues discussed in the Security Council concern the African continent.

But still, she said, Africa’s longstanding demand is in limbo.

Robert Mugabe, the long time president of Zimbabwe, was one of the most vociferous in demanding representation in the Security Council.

“For how long will the international community continue to ignore the aspirations of a whole continent of 54 countries?” he asked.

“Is this good governance?

Is this democracy? And is this justice?” he asked. “We shall not be bought off with empty promises, nor shall we accept some cosmetic tinkering of the Security Council disguised as reform.”

The president of Gambia, Yahya Jammeh said, “Our collective security will

continue to be undermined by geopolitical considerations unless and until we find the courage to reform the Security Council.”

The demand for permanent representation in the UNSC also came from several other leaders and officials from Africa, including Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic and Tanzania.

At a meeting of African leaders in Ethiopia in March 2005, the African Union (AU), which represents virtually all of the states on the continent, adopted a resolution calling for two permanent and five nonpermanent seats.

But the AU did not identify the two countries for the permanent seats because that question has remained divisive, with at least three countries making claims: South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt, among others.

The resolution laid down the following conditions: Even though Africa is opposed in principle to the veto, it is of the view that so long as it exists, and as a matter of common justice, it should be made available to all permanent members of the Security Council.

Secondly, the African Union should be responsible for the selection of Africa’s representatives in the Security Council, and most importantly, the question of the criteria for the selection

President Goodluck Jonathan

The paralysis, amongst African leaders, when it comes to how it will be represented has contributed to the continent’s marginalisation on discussions on any plausible reform measures

South African President, Jacob Zuma

Group.

Had the Africans ever come on the side of G4, they would have had the required two-thirds majority in the General Assembly to push forward their claim for permanent seats, he added.

Rev. Gabriel Odima, president of the Africa Center for Peace and Democracy, told IPS there is no doubt the West has marginalised the African continent. But he also blamed African leaders for the status quo.

Impoverishment and conflict are the basic tools and economic forces which have engulfed the continent of Africa for years, he pointed out.

“The rampant corruption in countries like Uganda, Nigeria and Kenya provides an opportunity for the major players at the Security Council to block Africa from occupying the two permanent seats at the Security Council,” he said.

The absence of

democracy, human rights abuses and poor governance continue to undermine Africa’s effort to play a role on the world stage, said Rev Odima.

“How could (permanent UNSC seats) be possible when the continent has failed to prevent the massacre in the Democratic Republic of Congo, human rights violations in Uganda and the looming crisis in Kenya? How could this be possible when African leaders have failed to manage their own affairs at home?” he asked.

The international community should help Africa move from the stigma of colonial legacy to a viable society where hunger is no longer a threat to human existence, where ballots replace guns, and where dictators will be brought to justice and held accountable for their atrocities against their people, he added.

(International Press Service, IPS )

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 26

Dupe Ibrahim takes over DEPOWA’s affairs Stories by Joy Baba

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he wife the Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) Hajia Aminat Dupe Ibrahim has urged members of the Defence and Police Officers’ Wives Association (DEPOWA), to remain loyal and supportive of the executive of the association in pursuit of its aims and objectives.

Mrs. Ibrahim stated this while taking over the affairs of DEPOWA as the 7th president of the association at its national secretariat, Asokoro Abuja recently.

Signing the takeover book at the occasion, DEPOWA president called on wives of the security officers in the country to entirely contribute their quotas towards achieving the lasting peace deserved by the nation “as I’m taking over the affairs of DEPOWA today, I seek your general support, most especially the Executive members of various services like the Nigerian Army (NAOWA), Navy (NOWA), Air Force (NAFOWA), and the Police (POWA) among others. We all know the sensitive nature of our husband’s job, coupled with the security situation of the country, we therefore need to show love, loyalty and total support to our husbands; thus, we hold the peace of this nation which must be unconditionally sustained.”

Handing over the flag of

L-R: Wife of Chief of Defece Staff (CDS) and President of Defence and Police Officers Wives Assocation (DEPOWA), Hajia Aminat Ibrahim and former president of DEPOWA, Mrs. Apollonia Petinrin, during rhe handover ceremony.

DEPOWA, the immediate past President of the association, Mrs. Apolonia Petinrin thanked the entire members especially the executive of DEPOWA for their unalloyed loyalty, unrelenting supports, and appreciable contributions towards the remarkable upliftment of the nongovernmental organisation to its present status.

Mrs. Petinrin further said Hajia Ibrahim is a competent leader which DEPOWA deserves at this moment in order to keep the flag flying. She therefore called on members of the association to continue to give their total supports to the new person at the helms like they did for her, to help in the realization of the association’s dream in due

course.

It would be recalled that Mrs. Apolonia Petinrin took over the affairs of DEPOWA on the 8 of September 2010 following the appointment of her husband, former CDS, Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin who has recently retired after a meritorious service to his fatherland.

Former CDS donates bus to ministry of defense The Minister of State for Defence, Erelu (Dr) Olusola Obada middle receives the key to a Marcopolo 52 Seater Bus donated by the former Chief of Defence Staff - Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin second left. With her, Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Azubike Ihejirika; former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Dikko Umar; Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Ibrahim; the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Prof. Nicholas Damachi and the Director, Human Resources Management, Mr. Godwin Ademu Oguche.

J

ust before his pulling out, the former Chief of Defense Staff, (CDS) Air Chief Marshal (rtd) Oluseyi Petinrin donated a 52 seater bus to the ministry of Defense saying that the gesture was meant to cement

the cordial relationship between the military and its civilian counterpart.

The former CDS while presenting the marcopolo bus to the ministry also introduced the newly commissioned Naval

camouflage uniform to the ministry’s civilian community.

In her response, the Minister of State for Defense, Erelu (Dr) Olusola Obada said the provision of the welfare bus will greatly assist the ministry in movement

of its members of staff to and fro work easier noting that it will motivate them to report on time to their duty post.

The minister further said this is another way good governance could reach targeted audience assuring staff of the ministry that the bus will be used judiciously to convey them in good time to and from the office.

Thanking the former CDS for his kind gesture, Obada said the donation is part of the transformation agenda of this administration.

Badeh expresses confindence in NAF pilots

T

he Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Air Marshal Alex Sabundu Badeh has said the recent increase in demand for pilots of the Nigerian Air force (NAF) to man different aircraft types operated by various agencies of government which are key to national security and development is an indication of the confidence repose in NAF’s ability fly safely.

Badeh stated this in Abuja at the maiden edition of a safety seminar organised by NAF with the theme “optimising aviation safety in a developing nation” The air chief said the seminar was necessary because it is pertinent to always set aside time to rub minds on safer conducts of air operations to ensure that NAF continues to accomplish its assigned constitutional roles which are encapsulated in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

According to Badeh, NAF has in the last few years ensured that most of the Nigerian aircraft fleet returned to active flying this he said came with some challenges which necessitated the development of an appropriate mechanism to ensure safety.

In his welcome address, the chief of standards and evaluation, headquarter NAF, Air Vice Marshal Chimechefulam Onyemaobi said the subject of safety is gradually attaining prominence in all operation and public discuss of the NAF which is why national assembly has passed a bill on the establishment of occupational safety and health commission to promote and ensure safety and health of all workers.

Health he said has become necessary when discussing safety because officers and men work in high risk and stressful environment; managing disaster both natural and manmade as well as violence of all kind.

Onyemaobi further said a lot need to be done in safety matters as senior management need to show more commitment for work safety practice and have it institutionalised.

He said though the aviation industry has significant strides in safety management, the unfortunate incidents of air mishaps in the history of Nigeria Aviation industry attest to the fact that safety standards and oversight functions over our operations need significant improvement noting that losses of lives and properties could be averted or at least minimised if safety issues are taken more seriously.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 27

NAF: Challenges before Badeh

By Joy Baba

O

n Friday, October 19, 2012 an era came to a close while a new chapter was opened in the history of the Nigerian Air Force when the immediate past Chief of Air Staff, (CAS) Air Marshall Dikko Umar (rtd.) was flown out of service, leaving the reign for the new CAS, Air Marshal Alex Badeh.

The colourful ceremony took place at the NAF Base, close to Nnamadi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja Before he left, Umar took time to speak passionately about the arm of the military where he spent over three decades serving the nation. Umar grew through the ranks and rose to the position of CAS which he held for two years before his retirement early this month.

The former CAS was full of praises for the Air Force he met and which he was leaving. He however did not mince words in letting his successor know that the secret of success at the level of the CAS was hard work and dedication to professionalism even as he reminded him of their attendant challenges.

Those challenges include the issues of strategies to maintain a battle ready Air Force hinged on adequate provision of equipment, personnel training as well of adequate funding to ensure welfare of the airmen.

Arguably, the Air Force is the most capital intensive of all arms of the military as especially regarding the purchase and maintenance of equipment, particularly aircrafts and training of pilots.

It is against the backdrop of this that the former CAS called for increased funding for the Air Force by the Federal Government.

Umar laid the burden on Badeh's shoulders charging him to ensure he gave the Air Force the leadership it deserved in order to effectively carry out its mandate of defending the nation against aggressions and promoting national unity.

He charged the new air chief to formulate a new road map that would in the situation of the ever evolving security challenges provide fresh conceptual template on how its constitutional role could be effectively enhanced.

The former CAS however did not mince words in arguing that said any road map for improved capacity building, efficiency and effectiveness for the Air Force without proper government budgetary appropriation will not yield positive result.

Umar's achievements in the Air Force are not far-fetched.

When he took over as CAS in 2010, he came up with a vision to position the Air Force for sustained employment of air

power to meet joint national defense imperatives as well as provide swift response for emergency and internal securities challenges To achieve this, he crafted five key drivers which include; mission oriented force development and focused logistic support for greater efficiency as well as higher productivity, qualitative training, personnel motivation and increased inter service cooperation among others.

NAF foundation during his tenure was unbounded and replaced with four subsidiaries, all with the aim of addressing the welfare of NAF personnel, NAF wide construction of offices and living accommodation for all ranks and non-air crew allowance was institutionalised.

His administration saw the upgrade of some selected medical facilities which led to the 445 NAF hospital laboratories being adjudged the first five-star medical laboratories in Nigeria.

NAF also within his two years of leadership saw over thirty pilots including a woman winged and aircraft serviceability status doubled within the period with a better relationship between NAF and other government agencies.

Over the years, the Air Force could be said to have come of age and the new CAS is expected to use his wealth of experience to ensure greater achievements and battle readiness in the force.

Badeh is coming in with 33 years of experience in the Air Force having been commissioned as a Pilot Officer on 3 July 1979 and having held several command and staff appointments.

He was at different times Staff Officer 2, Operations at Training Command; Commanding Officer Administration Operations Support and Operations Wings as well as Fleet Operations Officer in the Presidential Air Fleet. He was also the command training officer at Headquarters Training Command. From June 2002 to October 2004, he was appointed Commander Presidential Air Fleet and from 2008 - 2009. Air Marshal Badeh was a directing staff at the National Defence College, Abuja, Nigeria and subsequently became the Director National Military Strategy at the same college. Thereafter, he moved to Defence Headquarters as Deputy Director Training and later became the Director of Research at the Defence Headquarters.

From October 2010 to March 2012, Air Marshal Badeh moved to Headquarters, Nigerian Air Force as Chief of Policy and Plans. The senior officer has over 6000 flying hours on several aircraft types in the Nigerian Air Force.

Stakeholder and Nigerians generally believe that Badeh can take NAF to the next level.

Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal (CAS) Alex Badeh presenting a gift to the former CAS, Air Marshal Dikko Umar at his valedictory dinner in Abuja.

Former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Dikko Umar (rtd), his wife, Hajia Aisha Umar and daughter in a NAF aircraft.

Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba and Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Azubuike Ihejirika, taking salute for the former CAS during a parade in his honour.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 29

Agric show: Organisers are not fair to us, says Benue Perm Sec

By Mohammed Kandi

F

ollowing Kano State’s emergence as the overall winner of the just concluded Agricultural Show, organised by the National Agricultural Foundation of Nigeria (NAFN), Benue State, the acclaimed “Food Basket of the Nation”, has critisised the results saying it could have been crowned as the first position.

The Permanent Secretary, Benue State Ministry of Agriculture, Prince Andy A. Uwuoku said “I am not really

As the controversy on whether Cassava bread constitutes some health hazards or not gradually fades away, and or if the product is affordable or accessible to consumers constantly, Managing Director of UTC, bakers of Cassava bread other products, Mrs. Foluso Olaniyan, in this interview with Mohammed Kandi, assured that, not only is the company intensifying efforts on making the products available to Nigerians but that, the products are ready for export. Excerpt:

W

hat happened to UTC’s cassava bread in the past two months that it has not been on the shelf in the market?

We took a little break. The launching of Starloaf cassava bread in the first quarter of the year put a strain on our equipment output, hence the need to fasttrack routine maintenance by two months, on the advice of our engineers. During the period of maintenance, we did not produce Starloaf.

But now, the Starloaf is back, this time with additional quality and with a higher inclusion level of high quality cassava flour (HQCF).

Is the Starloaf still the same old size?

We currently have two products in our cassava bread range. The additional product came out after our routine maintenance exercise. In addition to the 400 grammes sliced loaf we had before, we have come out with a 200g kiddies’ loaf in tamperproof pack affordable to an average Nigerian family, an appropriate single meal for a normal Nigerian child. It is the same as Starloaf but in a smaller portion. Because the children are a sensitive group, we take extra care. This makes the product unique and is by far the cheapest today.

How and when did you start producing cassava bread?

Last year, when we concluded our production and equipment strategy and plan at the end of the

satisfied with the result and as far as I am concern, we would have become first position, unfortunately, the overall first position was not given to us.”

“Though not officially, we hear rumour that we didn’t emerge first because our products are presented in a raw form unlike Kano state that added value to virtually all the crops they showcased and that they were able the process them into secondary stage.

“But, the result is a wakeup call that will prepare us better for the next

Show, even as we really thought we would be the overall winner of this year’s Agric Show. Even the FAO commended us as we have done so well, better than other states. They also rated us high in root and tuber crops,” he explained.

On whether his state was making additional efforts in value addition across the value chains of crops, the permsec said, “Our Government is really trying to step up our capacity on the value addition and processing of crops, with assistance of some private organisations that involved

in processing of fruits like mangoes, oranges and tomatoes. These are also for export purposes.”

It would be recalled that Kano state emerged the best exhibitor among participating states, farmer group, cooperative societies, research and financial Institutes that partake in the 6th National Agric Show for the second consecutive time.

The state was rated best having certify the required standards of best displayed food items, skills and presentations, which is in line with

the measures of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda, organizers of the Show said.

While announcing the results, the Coordinator, NAFN, Dr. Samuel Negedu, said Kano State was selected overall best having evaluated variety of crops, livestock and aqua culture items including mobile zoo its farmer’s displayed at the Show.

While Bauchi state emerged the second runner-up, attaining second best position, Akwa Ibom State was rated third best among other states that in the 2012 Agriculture Show.

Cassava bread: We are set for export — UTC’s MD third quarter 2011, we were not aware of the cassava bread issue.

We were intimated on December 23, 2011, at a meeting called at the instance of the Honourable Minister of Agriculture, where four corporate bakers were brought to start the inclusion of cassava flour in bread this year.

As a patriotic company, we went to work immediately after the Christmas holiday, despite the 10-day nationwide strike. And within eight weeks we had run 92 trials and we were able to achieve a sustainable cassava bread recipe with 20 per cent HQCF inclusion.

This was done at that time with zero support from any external body. Based on our own promptings and breakthroughs, other corporate bakers followed suit.

In addition to bread, we started inclusion also in our mass market range of snacks, namely UTC Chopsy beef roll and UTC marble cakes. These are long-life products with close to two weeks shelf life. We are the largest consumer of the HQCF in the banking industry because we use it for a range of 12 products, although we have our no-cassava range for those averse to cassava taste. Because we respect human rights, we give our consumers the options of choice. Our cassava range is clearly marked with the cassava logo, while the no-cassava range is devoid of cassava logo.

What are your coping strategies, getting into an area you have just started venturing into?

In the private sector, company budgets, encompassing equipment and production strategy and plan are always concluded at the end of the third quarter of the year preceding implementation. Despite the ten day national strike we were able to hit the market the 8th week of the year. We branded, sold for cash and followed up with tasting sessions which we opened to the public. We went a step further by allowing bakers, millers, NAFDAC and international agencies to come in and verify our inclusion claims and they left pleased and satisfied.

What are your next steps on cassava bread?

Mrs. Foluso Olaniyan Because we realised that these products have been tasted and commended by presidents and heads of governments of some countries who visited our president, we decided to step back, improve on quality and delivery standards. We are also looking at exporting them to neighbouring African countries to support government’s advocacy of cassava usage as raw materials for bread and other

food products.

The new, improved ones have been made to international standards; kiddies’ loaf with tamper proof packaging; batch numbers for traceability; ‘best before’ dates to protect consumers and instill consumers’ confidence; barcode for scanning purposes in retail outlets and increased cassava flour inclusion, to reduce the intake of gluten by gluten-intolerant consumers and

“

We are spreading the cassava tidings across Africa. As we speak, we have appointed agents for the products in Cotonou and Accra. We are just waiting to fine tune our MoU and all necessary paper works before we commence delivery

to address concerns expressed n glycaemic index of wheat flour by health-conscious consumers.

Were you instructed by any authority to include any of these new ideas?

All these are mandatory standards for international products. We are crafting the Starloaf as an international product as we hope to start exporting to other African countries by Christmas, beginning with West Africa. We want to make this years’ Christmas a cassava-filled Christmas for African nations.

We are spreading the cassava tidings across Africa. As we speak, we have appointed agents for the products in Cotonou and Accra. We are just waiting to fine tune our MoU and all necessary paper works before we commence delivery.

Not all Nigerians have known of cassava bread, but now you are talking of exporting?

We, as a private organisation, are interested in shareholders values which come with profitability.

Hence, our readiness to embrace consumers who are ready to pay the price, irrespective of where they are as long as it contributes positively to our bottom line. Private companies are created for profits.

Cassava-based products create values health-wise and increase productivity as the inclusion of cassava flour reduces production costs.

But the federal government has made a pronouncement on an intervention fund to support producers of cassava bread. How much has your company received from the fund?

We appreciate the efforts of the Honourable Minister of Agriculture in attracting attention to cassava bread from UTC, we are waiting for support via the cassava bread fund instituted by the President in June to enable us grow our output of the cassava loaf to significant levels that will actually impact on the Nigerian farmers. If the uptake is high, the drive towards use of HQCF will follow suit. It is our hope that more corporate bakers will adopt the policy and get creative.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 28

Cocoa reforms: Meeting the 500, 000 MT deadline

By Mohammed Kandi

T

he ongoing Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) programmes, which the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is currently executing across the value chain of some crops, has received a major boost.

The ministry has again convened a dialogue session, involving experts and major stakeholders in the sector to determine ways of fast-tracking plans of meeting up with the 2015 deadline of achieving the cocoa production to 500,000 Metric Tones (MT).

While the ATA focuses on assuring food security, reducing expenditure of foreign exchange on food imports, diversifying the economy, generating foreign exchange and create jobs for Nigeria’s teeming faming populations, It would be recalled, however, that the “Cocoa Strategy” was developed in partnership and with inputs from all relevant stakeholders, simple and sophisticated, traditional and modern, small scale farmers, big traders and processors, all along the whole value chain.

The strategies, as mapped out by the Cocoa Transformation Team, are developed across three-prong; Maximize, Rehabilitate and Expand.

As part of the ministry’s ways of enhancing the realization of the MRE strategy, it intends to professionalize cocoa production by investing in producers’ capacity building in good agricultural practices (GAP), business and entrepreneurial skills and organization of farmer groups and cooperatives.

It has also developed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Cocoa Livelihood Program of the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) to train the first batch of 70,000 of 100,000 farmers and strengthen 100 farmer groups.

Besides, it is in partnership with the WCF’s African Cocoa Initiative, so as to strengthen the extension system for cocoa.

In the meantime, it is supporting the implementation of the Certification Capacity Enhancement (CCE) Scheme in Nigeria. These initiatives will make cocoa production a viable commercial enterprise feeding sustainable processing industry.

In his presentation during the recent launch of new value added meeting at MULTITREX PLC, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, said “First we are focusing on maximizing yield per unit land area on the current 650,000 ha of active plantation through efficient use of critical inputs like agrochemicals, fertilizer and good agricultural practices.”

“To this end, the customized Cocoa-Growth Enhancement Support Program (Cocoa – GES) is being implemented. In partnership with the private sector the Government is supporting the most vulnerable cocoa farmers’ access to critical yield enhancing inputs.

“Our goal is to leverage Cocoa GES

A farmer harvesting cocoa from her farm. Inset: Agric Minister, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina to lift these farmers out of the trap of poverty and set them on the path to become sustainable commercial farmers. The targeted support provided through the Cocoa – GES program includes a discount of 50 % off the cost of these critical inputs (1) 200 sachets of approved fungicides, (2) five 50kg bags of NPK 20:10:10 fertilizer with 5 kg Agrolyzer and (3) 50 sachets of insecticides. This translates into N43, 000.00 in support to the most vulnerable cocoa farmers.

“On the issue of rehabilitation, we are poised to rehabilitate some 200,000 ha over the next four years through an aggressive plan developed in partnership with the private sector.

The ministry has recently sent an initial team of experts to Indonesia to study Indonesia’s impressive cocoa plantation rehabilitation strategy. It would interest you to know that this was with the support of the private sector. In addition, we are in consultation with key State Governments and private sector players on the implementation of this strategy.

“Finally on the issue of expansion, we are currently growing cocoa on less than one-quarter of the 3 million hectares of land suitable for cocoa production in Nigeria. To facilitate this expansion the Cocoa team has led a monumental effort to produce 3.6 million hybrid pods, free of charge to Nigerian farmers and investors. These pods will produce enough seedling to establish more than 100,000 ha new cocoa plantation. In addition we are working in partnership with State

Governments to facilitate land acquisition by investors to expand commercial production of Cocoa,” Adesina explained.

He added that; “Yield per unit land area must be maximised by GAP, ferteliser and improved seedlings.

Cocoa GES is to lift farmers out of poverty, a discount of 50% on inputs, 250sachets of pesticides, 50 sachets of insecticides and NPK ferteliser.

Ogun oyo Osun Ogun and Rivers have partnered with us on this project.”

Similarly, the Governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako, during a dialogue session from the Africa Cocoa Initiative meeting held in Ibadan last week, stressed the need to consider the effect of climate change as well as the ecology of cocoa in the country. He added that “High yielding early maturing materials should be encouraged, propagated as against the former 3 years as experienced.”

“There is need to increase utelisation of cocoa to meet the needs of increasing population to meet 150 million people. Increased processing must be encouraged and export of primary produce discouraged, bean shell of cocoa can be used to regenerate the land,” he said.

In his remarks, Governor Ondo State, represented by Ademola Olorunfemi, Commissioner of Agric in the state, called for private sector driven economic system, saying “Higher productivity in quantity and quality must be enforced, however the big vacuum has to be filled which is a reliable data, hence information is

needed on cocoa buyers, exporters and farmers is needed to plan effectively hence a census is needed and not a baseline.”

The Chairman, First Bank Board of Directors, Chief Ajibola Afonja, in his contributions noted that “FBN aims at increasing stake holding in the cocoa sector. It must be private sector driven and public sector enabled.”

“First bank believes the crops are not commercialised the way it ought to. In the 1960s the proceeds from cocoa built the first television, liberty stadium, cocoa house and health facility. There is need to diversify investment to create employment.

“Cocoa sector holds the key to achieve this target. 2.8billion was earned from non-oil i.e. 36%. Annual world market has grown above $2,500/ tonne with stagnation of 0.5% annual growth rate, the lowest among cocoa producing countries and value addition is almost none existing with a decline of 10.8%. Price of cocoa from Nigeria is regularly discounted because of poor quality. Nigeria produces about 250,000 metricc tonnes as against 1.4 million in Cote D’ Ivore,” he stated.

On sustainability of the cocoa production in the country, Ambassador Sunny Ebai, an expert on “Road to Public Private Partnership platform, said “Sustainability is being able to have enough of what you need today and to have enough factors left to produce another day. If a farmer is not producing enough cocoa to make a life out of it, then the cocoa production is not sustainable.”

Flood: Agric ministry strategises to forestall food crisis

By Mohammed Kandi

T

he Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has commenced fast-track measures to increase food production through dry seasonplantinginthecomingdryseason to forestall food shortage following the flood disaster in many states of the country.

The measure, according to Dr. Olukayode Oyeleye, Special Assistant Media and Strategy of the Ministry, is evident in a meeting of directors and heads of departments, held with the minister last week.

Oyeleye said: “Stocks were taken andplanswereoutlinedonhowtoobtain farm inputs, including certified seeds, fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides needed to aid dry season production” adding that “To ensure early responses and proper targeting, messages have gone to the state directors of the federal ministry of agriculture to get us the list of farmers affected in various states.”

He informed that, food items in the strategic grains reserve would be deployed to cushion the effects of food shortage, noting that “For the production, the regional and state office directors of the ministry will be working with the states’ commissioners and directors of agriculture on how to go about the intervention of emergency Growth Enhancement Support (GES) platform.”

In his remarks, the Minister Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akin Adesina, said “the more delays we have,thelesssuccessfultheinterventions will be”, and announced that, “where the GSM system is not functioning, we can use the voucher system. We don’t want a situation in which seeds and fertliser are given and they disappear. We want a system that we can account for.”

“In some states, the dry season intervention will involve a double-up approach. For the double-up approach, also, the regional directors have been directed to register farmers and harness those already registered on the platform of GES for the purpose of additional food production,” Adesina added.

“Those who have already lost crops to flood, we will use our strategic grains reserve to support. Mr. President has released money to the states: they can buy.”

As a part of preparation for the dry season, the minister promised to give free seed and fertliser to those affected areas, saying the same would be given in the double-up areas.

“The emphasis should be that, what is being done here is a one-time intervention strategy in response to the present emergency,” Adesina stressed.

“Among the various inputs, 36,000 litres of herbicides, 22,000 litres of insecticides have been estimated as urgently needed. For fertiliser, although a total to 610,000 MT is expected by December, records from the ministry show that 167,540 MT is available now, going by feelers from “those that have responded to our inquiries on availability.

“We wrote to about 12 of those fertiliser companies – those that performed well. Six of them have sent their stock position to us, on what they can produce between now and December.” Efforts are already being made to import173, 000 MT and produce 260,000 MT locally by December.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 30

I

n today’s highly polarized political environment it is somewhat surprising to find voters who backed John McCain in 2008 and now support President Barack Obama, but they exist.

Roughly 5 percent of respondents in Reuters/Ipsos polls said they chose the Republican contender in 2008 and will switch to Obama in 2012. This number peaked at around 9 percent two separate times over the summer, according to data collected since January.

Jeff Waltrip, 56, is a retired electrician and retail worker who has voted Republican all his life. But in his view Obama “has done a good job with what he was left with, and I truly believe that allowing Mitt Romney in there is going to make the world a whole lot worse than it is now.”

Waltrip said he liked the Republican ticket in 2008 because McCain is a veteran and because Sarah Palin “made me laugh.”

The McCain-to-Obama switchers are 55 percentmale, and 34 percent of them are 55 or older.

(Overall, Obama trails Romney 34 percent to 52 percent among white men over 50.) About 72 percent of them are white.

They are largely from the East Coast; nearly 4 in 10 live in the midor South Atlantic. Nearly 3 in 10 finished their education after high school, and nearly 2 in 10 have a bachelor’s degree.

McCain voters defecting to Obama are older white males Two-thirds say they are absolutely going to vote, choosing “10” on a 1-10 scale for likelihood of voting.

Even though 38 percent of all voters believe the economy is the election’s most prominent issue, just one-third of the McCain defectors agree. Character matters more.

“Right now if I had to choose it would be Obama, because he’s more personable,” said William Holliday, a 58-year-old retiree from Convis Township, Michigan. “Romney has changed his position so many damn times, you don’t know what he thinks at all. But they’re both liars.”

Holliday said that in general he leans Republican. “I did vote for McCain four years ago in spite of the fact he picked Palin. Because I thought that was a cheap trick he pulled there.” He worries that if Romney is elected he will put “Cheney and Rumsfeld back in there to run the show.”

Jeffrey Baker, 56, a retiree in Strong, Maine, thinks Romney’s refusal to release his taxes disqualifies him. “If you can’t be honest from the start, I don’t want you in the Oval Office,” he said.

Romney, whose personal worth has been estimated at roughly $250 million, has faced criticism from Democrats for not releasing enough years’ worth of his tax returns.

“Four years ago I voted for John McCain because I thought he was more experienced, and I thought we needed someone with some military background,” Baker said. “Mitt

Romney - I don’t believe he has the experience that’s needed. He’s a businessman, he knows how to make money. That’s all well and good, but we’ve got people to worry about.”

Baker is unhappy with the entire campaign. “There’s nothing going on. No information, no nothing,” he said. “Everybody says they’re going to do this, they’re going to do that.

Senator John McCain

But nobody says how they’re going to do it.”

He’s basing his vote on a general sense that “Obama is more for the whole country than Romney is,” alluding to the leaked video.

“Romney, that’s his honest feelings.

He doesn’t really care about the 47 percent.”

Waltrip also believes Romney is out of touch with lower-income Americans, and he mistrusts the candidate’s religious convictions.

“I’ve always felt like the Mormon Church was more of a cult,” Waltrip said. “I’m sort of afraid that his interests are going to be strictly for the Mormon Church.”

Overall about 34 percent of likely voters said they would be less likely to vote for a presidential candidate if he or she were Mormon, according to a Reuters/ Ipsos poll conducted during the week ending October 21.

The defectors to Obama remain a smaller subset of respondents than those who voted for him in 2008 and now support Romney. The Reuters/ Ipsos polling shows 10 percent of voters plan to cross the aisle in that direction.

Romney has path to victory, but Obama still has slight edge

S

uddenly, Republican Mitt Romney has a viable path to victory in the tight battle for the White House.

Democratic President Barack Obama still appears to have the upper hand in the state-by-state fight to cobble together the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency in the November 6 election.

But Romney’s recent surge in the polls after his strong performance in his first debate with Obama on October 3 has propelled the Republican into the lead or within striking distance in enough states to give him a reasonable chance of beating Obama to the finish line.

Ohio, long seen as the key to unlocking the White House, looms large in every victory scenario for either candidate - particularly Romney. Until the last two weeks, polls did not show Romney with enough support in other crucial states to give him a clear path even if he won Ohio.

But he has that now, as the campaign enters its final two weeks with eight states in play as toss-ups.

“Before the first debate the electoral math looked like a real reach for Romney. Today, it looks quite possible,” said Peter Brown, a pollster at Quinnipiac University.

“Ohio is the big unknown, and it’s Romney’s biggest obstacle,” Brown said. “If Romney can win Ohio, he’s likely to win the election.”

The changing map has led Romney to make some shifts in strategy.

He began moving some staff from North Carolina, a one-time battleground where he now has a solid lead, to other swing states this week. The former Massachusetts governor’s campaign also bolstered its television advertising in Iowa and Wisconsin, where polls indicate Obama has slim leads.

The RealClearPolitics average of polls gives Obama a lead of at least four percentage points in states that account for 237 electoral votes, while Romney enters the final stretch with an edge of that size in states that represent 206 electoral votes.

That leaves a reduced battlefield of eight toss-up states and 95 electoral votes, all won by Obama in the 2008 election - Colorado (9 electoral votes), Florida (29), Iowa (6), Nevada (6), New Hampshire (4), Ohio (18), Virginia (13) and Wisconsin (10).

In the last two weeks Romney has moved into a small lead or a virtual tie with Obama in Florida, Colorado, New Hampshire and Virginia, which together account for 55 electoral votes. A sweep of all four still would leave Romney nine electoral votes short of victory - a big reason why the race is boiling down to the battle in Ohio.

A win in Ohio would put Romney over the top and give him some margin of error to lose other states that are still in play. If he does not win Ohio, either Wisconsin or a combination of Nevada and Iowa still could be enough to win, although Obama, in addition to having slim leads in Wisconsin and Iowa, also leads in Nevada.

“Things have moved consistently in Romney’s direction, but he still hasn’t unlocked the gates to enough places yet,” said pollster Thomas Riehle of YouGov, a market research company that is conducting polling in swing states.

“Romney needs more good news before he’s a safe bet to win.”

The tightening race has created many different scenarios, including the possibility that the Electoral College winner will not capture the most votes nationwide - similar to what happened in 2000, when Republican George W. Bush got

more electoral votes than Democrat Al Gore, who received more of the popular vote.

The prominence of Ohio also has invoked memories of 2004, when Bush won re-election over Democrat John Kerry in the early hours of the morning after Election Day by a margin of less than 120,000 votes in the Midwestern state.

Both candidates are pouring time and resources into Ohio, where Obama has held a steady lead for months and now has an average poll advantage of more than 2 percentage points, according to RealClearPolitics.

Romney, a wealthy former private equity executive who opposed the Obama-backed federal bailout of the auto industry, has struggled to connect with blue-collar voters in Ohio, where one in eight jobs is tied to the auto industry and the state unemployment rate is lower than the national average of 7.8 percent.

Iowa and Wisconsin, where RealClearPolitics puts Obama’s average lead at between two and three percentage points, also have lower state unemployment rates than nationally.

Along with Ohio, they could give the Obama campaign a Midwestern stronghold of 34 electoral votes that protects him against potential losses elsewhere.

“As you look across the country, you are seeing the president is continuing to be very strong in the Midwest in places like Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin,” Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said. “I think we’ve held our support in the Midwest.”

If Obama wins the states where he currently has comfortable leads and adds just those three Midwestern states, he would have 271 electoral votes - enough to be reelected.

“Until we see something that suggests other states are in play, these Wisconsin, Iowa and Ohio numbers mean it’s still a reach for Romney to win,” said Lee Miringoff, a Marist College pollster.

He released surveys on Thursday showing Obama with a lead of eight points in Iowa and six points in Wisconsin, although a survey by Public Policy Polling on Friday gave Romney a one-point edge in Iowa.

Romney campaign aides say they are confident that he has enough momentum in Ohio and other swing states to pull out a win, pointing to his growing crowds and improving poll numbers, including those from the campaign’s own surveys.

“The dynamic has very much changed in the swing states,” said a senior Romney adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The underlying fundamentals in the swing states have changed dramatically in Romney’s favor.”

In states where Romney has made gains, they have been fueled in part by improvements in his personal favorability ratings, gains with independents and a reduction in Obama’s large lead among unmarried women voters.

Romney advisers said the first debate eased the concerns of some voters in swing states who have been bombarded for months by attack ads portraying the Republican as an outof-touch multimillionaire with little sympathy for the middle class.

“People are getting a lot of information and what they’re seeing is very much at odds with the ads that have run,” the Romney adviser said.

“That has been the biggest impact.”

The Obama campaign is counting on what polls show is strong support from the growing Hispanic community to make a difference in Nevada and Colorado,

although the level of intensity and voter turnout among Hispanics will be a wild card.

Any gains for Obama among Hispanics could be offset, however, by what polls have found is decreased support among the young and first-time voters who helped sweep Obama to victory over Republican John McCain in 2008.

Most national polls show Obama and Romney deadlocked. A Reuters/ Ipsos daily online tracking poll on Saturday gave Obama a 1-point national advantage. Ipsos projects the president will win 315 electoral votes.

In such a close race, any surprise development during the final two weeks could loom large.

Obama and Romney will have their final debate, on foreign policy, on Monday in Boca Raton, Florida, where Romney is once again likely to challenge the president on his handling of the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

The White House on Saturday denied a report by The New York Times that the Obama administration and Iran had agreed to hold one-on-one talks about Iran’s nuclear program, another issue that could shape the narrative of the campaign’s final days.

Meanwhile, Obama’s handling of the struggling economy will again be the focus when the Department of Labor releases the unemployment figures for October on November 2, just four days before the election. The report for September gave Democrats a boost by showing that the nation’s unemployment rate was 7.8 percent, down from 8.1 percent in August.

“It was always going to be a really close election,” Ipsos pollster Julia Clark said. “But the electoral math still adds up in Obama’s favor at the moment.”

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 31

ANALYSIS

By Richard Falk

I

n 2008, Barack Obama rekindled faith in the American electoral process for many, and revived the deeper promise of American democracy, bringing to the foreground of the national political experience a brilliant and compassionate African American candidate.

When Obama actually won the presidency, it was one of the most exciting political moments in my lifetime, and rather reassuring as a sequel to the dark years of George W Bush's presidency.

Of course, many Americans didn't share such positive feelings.

An important embittered minority believed that the election of a liberal-minded black man was the lowest point ever reached in national politics, challenging this segment of society that now was deeply alienated from the prevailing political current to mobilise their forces so as to win back control of the country on behalf of white Christian Americans, and also a time to indulge such absurd scenarios as an imminent Muslim takeover of the society.

Such polarisation, gave rise to an Islamophobic surge that revived the mood of fear and paranoia that followed upon the 9/ 11 attacks and was reinforced by evangelical enthusiasm for Israel.

In this regard, the Obama phenomenon was a mixed blessing as it contributed to a rising tide of rightest politics in the US that poses unprecedented dangers for the country and the world.

Nevertheless, as mentioned, Obama's campaign and election was at the time a most welcome development, although not entirely free from doubts. From the outset, my hopes were tinged with concerns, although I did my best to suspend disbelief.

All along I found little evidence that Obama's leadership would liberate the governing process from its threefold bondage to Wall Street, the Pentagon and Israel. Such a political will to mount such a challenge was never in evidence and never materialised.

Even in lucid moments, however, I reasoned it was important to elect Obama, despite his endorsement of a woefully deficient set of foreign policy assumptions, because more would be done to give assistance to those impoverished and hit by unemployment and home foreclosures, better judges and diplomats would be appointed, and more attention would be given to climate change.

After four years, I continue to believe that these differences matter sufficiently to make it irresponsible not to support Obama and the Democratic Party, especially in so-called swing states.

And if there was excitement in much of America during the 2008 electoral campaigned, it was mild compared with pro-Obama sentiments in the rest of the world four years ago, which reached dizzying heights after his victory.

This enthusiasm was a compound of several elements: Obama's success lifted confidence throughout the world that the US

Barack Obama

From hope to fear: 2008 versus 2012(I) could again play a benevolent role on the global stage.

Also because, it validated that mythic image of America as a country where it was truly possible for anyone in the society, including members of minorities long discriminated against, to reach the pinnacles of wealth and power provided only that they were sufficiently talented and determined, and some would add, lucky.

There remains little doubt that if the peoples of the world were allowed to vote in American elections, as might be appropriate in a globalised world, it would have produced a landslide of unprecedented magnitude in Obama's favour.

All at once in 2008, it became evident that an American presidential election was no longer just a national ritual that bemused outsiders who watched it as a kind of spectacle, but a global event that affected the entire world.

In fact, the selection of a leader for the US might be in some respects more important for other societies than for

America. Further, the outcome of an American election could have a greater impact on countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America than the effects of their own national elections, a significance reinforced by intense global media coverage of the American election in real time.

In this respect, the 2008 election of Barack Obama made many of us aware that "political globalisation" was now as much a part of our experiences as "economic globalisation". We were no longer living in a world where the standard map based on the borders of territorial sovereign states depicted the essential organisation of political life on the planet. Our globalising world had made the geopolitical cartography of influence much more spatially elusive, almost impossible to depict visually, but no less real.

Overall, the initial candidacy and election of Obama was, despite my qualms, more about hope than fear. There were concerns to be sure that the McCain/Palin

“

Republican opposition would be dangerous for the world, but such anxieties were relatively subdued, and did not extinguish the strong positive expectations generated by Obama. And these hopes seemed somewhat justified in the first months of his presidency.

In April, Obama delivered a visionary speech in Prague that articulated a strong commitment to work toward a world without nuclear weapons. The newly elected president also seemed determined to carry out his campaign pledge to end the Iraq War in a responsible fashion, although this welcome move was offset by a disquieting hint that such a demilitarising move in Iraq would be balanced by an increased commitment to prevailing in the ongoing war for the control of Afghanistan.

In June, Obama made a relatively forthcoming speech in Cairo, promising a new more positive relationship with the Islamic world as a whole and to the Middle East in particular. The president referred to the long ordeal of the Palestinian people and proclaimed his dedication to

All along I found little evidence that Obama's leadership would liberate the governing process from its threefold bondage to Wall Street, the Pentagon and Israel.

achieving a peaceful and just resolution of the Israel/Palestine conflict, including a most reasonable call upon Israel to freeze all settlement expansion while peace negotiations were taking place.

That this call on Israel to stop unlawful activity during negotiations was treated by the media as such a bold step tells us just how biased the mainstream attitude toward the conflict had become. When Israel rejected Obama's moderate plea, it experienced no adverse consequences, although the White House was put on the defensive because it had dared to push Israel to take a step that was against its wishes.

This initiative, followed by its withdrawal, demonstrated to the world the extent to which the US government was in Israel's corner.

It revealed to all who cared to notice that the only superpower in global politics was a paper tiger when it came to the pursuit of a just outcome of the conflict.

As already indicated, I half expected disappointments in 2008.

I worried about Obama's typical liberal effort to demonstrate his tough approach to national security, including support for a bloated defence budget in the face of a fiscal and employment crisis, about his lame effort to distinguish between Iraq as a bad war and Afghanistan as a war necessary for American security, and hence a good war.

Source: al Jazeera

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 32

Egypt to discuss $2 billion aid from Algeria Somali pirate attacks show sharp fall

T

he International Maritime Bureau says the number of ships attacked by Somali pirates this year has decreased dramatically.

Just 70 attacks were reported by ships in the first nine months of this year, compared with 233 incidents in 2011.

International intervention and new security measures are deterring pirates, the IMB adds.

But the organisation warned seafarers to remain vigilant in the waters around Somalia.

Captain Pottengal Mukundan, the director of the IMB, said: "It's good news that hijackings are down, but there can be no room for complacency - these waters are still extremely high-risk and the naval presence must be maintained."

More attacks are being reported in the Gulf of Guinea, where the Nigerian navy has begun patrols. The waters off Benin and Togo are also highrisk areas.

The IMB says the attacks are often planned to steal refined oil products which can be easily sold on the open market.

Though just one attack has been reported off Somalia in the past three months, pirates there are still holding 11 vessels for ransom with 167 crew members as hostages on board.

Twenty-one more kidnapped crew members are being held on land. Some have now been detained for more than 30 months.

Somali pirate pose behind a dumped ship

Egypt"s Prime Minister Hisham Kandil

E

gypt's government will discuss gaining assistance worth $2 billion from Algeria during a visit to the country by Prime Minister Hisham Kandil on Monday, an Egyptian newspaper reported, citing an unnamed official.

Egypt needs help from foreign donors to rein in its budget deficit and avert a balance of payments crisis until it can secure a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.

Two official sources confirmed to Reuters that Cairo was seeking

aid from the fellow north African state although they said it was not clear what form the assistance would take. One said the amount in question was around $2 billion.

Newspaper al-Masry al-Youm did not give a direct quote from its source, but wrote that: "An official

source said that Egypt will negotiate a deposit worth $2 billion to be put in the central bank and that negotiations that prime minister Hisham Kandil will do today with Algerian prime minister Abdelmalek Sellal will involve this subject."

It gave no indication if the money was to be a loan or some form of grant, or of any conditions attached.

Transfers from Saudi Arabia and Qatar since June have helped shore up state finances weakened by more than a year of economic turmoil since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.

Strong demand for natural gas and relatively high world energy prices have helped Algeria add this year to a foreign exchange reserve pile that was worth more than $186 billion at the end of June.

The newspaper said Kandil's visit was also aimed at solving a shortage of butane cooking gas in Egypt, which counts Algeria among its top suppliers.

One Egyptian official told Reuters he understood that Egypt was seeking about $2 billion in assistance from Algeria but did not have details on what form the assistance would take.

Ghana says sailors on seized Argentine ship free to leave

T

he crew of an Argentine naval training vessel impounded in Ghana by a firm seeking to claw back $300 million in defaulted bonds are free to leave the country, a government official said on Sunday.

The ARA Libertad and its crew have been detained in Ghana's port of Tema since October 2 by a court order obtained by NML Capital Ltd in a dispute which has strained relations between the west African country and Argentina.

"They are free to leave after going through the standard immigration process," a senior government official told Reuters,

Members of the crew of the Argentine naval vessel Libertad leave the boat to take the bus

asking not to be named.

NML, an affiliate of investment firm Elliott Management, said it would only release the ship if Argentina pays it at least $20 million.

Argentina defaulted on debt a decade ago and faces a raft of lawsuits in U.S. courts by socalled holdout bondholders.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez on Saturday ordered 326 sailors on the detained ship to evacuate - leaving just the captain and a core crew claiming their human rights were violated because a judge had prohibited fuel deliveries required to run plumbing and emergency equipment.

Guinea-Bissau accuses Portugal of coup bid

G

uinea-Bissau has accused Portugal, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) and a former prime minister, of backing a coup bid after a gunbattle that claimed at least six lives.

Gunmen staged a pre-dawn raid on the barracks of an elite army unit near the capital's airport on Sunday, sparking a firefight in the latest unrest to blight the chronically unstable country.

"The government considers Portugal, the CPLP and Carlos Gomes Junior as the instigators of this attempt at destabilisation," a government statement, read out

by Communications Minister

Fernando Vaz, said.

Its aim had been to overthrow the transitional government, undermine the political process, bring Gomes Junior back to power and justify an international "stabilisation" force, the statement added.

Witnesses said the raid had been led by Captain Pansau N'Tchama, the head of a commando unit that assassinated president Joao Bernardo Vieira in 2009.

It was not immediately clear why N'Tchama might have carried out the assault, but the captain is a former associate of the government overthrown in an April 12 coup.

General Antonio Indjai (5th left) with military personnel at the scene of the attack

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

Asia and Middle East

C

lashes have broken out in several areas of Lebanon following Sunday's funeral of the senior intelligence official, Wissam al-Hassan.

The most serious confrontations were in the northern city of Tripoli, where at least three people were killed as Sunni and Shia gunmen

PAGE 33

Lebanon sees sectarian clashes after Hassan killing exchanged fire.

In Beirut, there were clashes between soldiers and armed men in the Sunni Tariq al-Jadida district.

Gen Hassan, a Sunni, was killed

by a car bomb in the capital on Friday.

He was the head of the intelligence branch of the Internal Security Forces and an outspoken critic of Syrian President Bashar al-

Assad, a member of the Shia-based Alawite sect.

Opposition figures have blamed the Syrian government for the attack.

Kuwaitis protest electoral law changes

P

olice in Kuwait have used teargas, stun grenades and baton charges to disperse tens of thousands of demonstrators protesting against changes to the electoral law, which the opposition has called a "constitutional coup" by the government.

Protesters gathered in various parts of the capital, Kuwait City, on Sunday to march towards the government's headquarters, but riot police swiftly surrounded some groups and used teargas and stun grenades to disperse them, witnesses said.

The opposition decided to take to the streets after the government which is dominated by the ruling alSabah family - announced last week it was calling elections for December

Gunmen walk through the streets of Kaskas

L

incidents is intensifying," it said. "With overwhelming indignation, we must question the present efforts of the US forces to prevent such incidents from happening."

The arrest last week of two 23-yearold sailors for the alleged rape of a local woman worsened already strained ties between the large US military contingent and their island hosts.

The US Forces have imposed an 11pm to 5am curfew on all military personnel in Japan in response to the incident.

The resolution demanded "a fundamental review of the Japan-US Status of Forces Agreement", which Okinawa governor Hirokazu Nakaima said effectively made the island an extraterritorial space for the US military.

South Korea blocks leaflets campaign

A

Civic group members protesting against the alleged rape in Tokyo

1 and would change the electoral law.

The opposition called for a boycott of the poll, which follows the dissolution of the parliament elected earlier this year in which it had held a majority.

The announcement was the latest move in an intensifying power struggle between the ruling establishment and parliament that has seen eight governments come and go since the emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, came to power in 2006.

The interior ministry said in a statement that 11 policemen were wounded after protesters threw rocks at them, adding that police only acted after protesters became violent.

The ministry said groups of

Okinawa legislators protest alleged US rape egislators of the Japanese island chain of Okinawa have passed a resolution expressing "overwhelming indignation" at the alleged rape of a Japanese woman by two US servicemen.

The resolution approved on Monday demanded proper punishment and victim compensation in the rape case.

The legislature says 5,747 crimes are on record involving US military personnel since Okinawa was returned to Japan in 1972. It says that in some cases criminal activity is getting worse.

The resolution said US military top officials were not doing enough to control their thousands of personnel present in the area.

"Yet another incident has taken place. In fact, the severity of the

Protesters gathered near the iconic Kuwait Towers

They have called on Prime Minister Najib Mikati to resign, saying he has failed to protect the country from violence perpetrated

by Syria.

ctivists in South Korea have been stopped from sending balloons carrying propaganda leaflets over the border with the country's northern neighbour.

Groups of defectors from North Korea had planned to launch 200,000 leaflets denouncing Pyongyang, but were blocked by South Korean troops and riot police on Monday.

North Korean officials had threatened a "merciless military strike" in response to the launch, warning residents of the launch site's neighbourhood to evacuate the area.

"The surrounding area will become targets of direct firing," said a Pyongyang statement.

Scuffles broke out between

activists and police at roadblocks surrounding Imjingak Park on the border, near the town of Paju, some 60 kilometres north of Seoul.

"This event has been authorised by the government. This is ridiculous," complained event organiser Park Sang-Hak, who blamed President Lee Myung-Bak for caving in to pressure from the north.

"Lee Myung-bak woke up this morning and got scared of some immature kid [North Korean leader Kim Jong-un] and decided to stop us.

"We are not here to provoke a conflict but to convey the truth to North Koreans. President Lee will be remembered as a cowardly leader who succumbed to North Korean threats," Park said.

PAGE 34

Europe and Americas

Russian anti-Putin activist 'admits riot plot'

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

France to battle Corsica gangs F

rench Prime Minister JeanMarc Ayrault has announced new measures to tackle organised crime in Corsica.

The move comes six days after the murder of a prominent lawyer, shot in his car on his way to work.

Mr Ayrault said emphasis would be placed on fighting money-laundering and racketeering by criminal gangs,

notably in property development.

Gang warfare on Corsica has resulted in the island having the highest murder rate in Europe.

"Business and financial affairs are behind most of the homicides," Mr Ayrault said.

He also promised police would be given more resources to "identify mafia networks and investigate the

movement of assets and irregular financial transactions".

Critics say organised crime has flourished in Corsica because there is little coordination between the different branches of the security services.

Mr Ayrault has promised to address this failing. He is to establish a system of regular meetings in a bid to speed up investigations.

Antoine Sollacaro, a lawyer who was a leading figure in the Corsican nationalist movement, was shot dead six days ago.

He was the 15th person to be murdered on the island this year.

Since the start of 2011 there have been 37 murders and 117 attempted murders, more per capita than anywhere else in Europe.

R

ussian investigators say a detained anti-Kremlin activist has admitted trying to foment riots with funding from a Georgian MP. Leonid Razvozzhayev disappeared in the Ukrainian capital Kiev on Friday, after meeting officials at the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, a UN official said.

Fellow opposition activists say he was kidnapped by Russian agents.

Russia's Investigative Committee (SK) says Mr Razvozzhayev turned himself in and confessed to Russian police.

He is an aide to Russian opposition MP Ilya Ponomarev and an ally of leftist opposition activists Sergei Udaltsov and Konstantin Lebedev.

Last week the SK - a Russian police body modelled on the American FBI - confined Mr Udaltsov to Moscow after questioning him about an alleged plot to seize power in Russia.

A recent documentary on Russia's NTV channel, which is seen as close to the Kremlin, showed what it said was footage of Mr Udaltsov meeting officials from Georgia to discuss mounting a coup in Russia.

The SK said it had begun an investigation into Mr Udaltsov, Mr Razvozzhayev, Mr Lebedev and others on the basis of the allegations made in the documentary, Anatomy Of A Protest II. In its latest statement, the SK says an arrest warrant was issued for Mr Razvozzhayev on 18 October.

On Sunday he turned himself in to the SK and said he wanted to make a confession, the statement added. He will soon be charged with attempting to foment riots, it said.

"In it he gave details of the preparations by him, Sergei Udaltsov, Konstantin Lebedev and other individuals for organising mass unrest in the Russian Federation, and also about those named individuals' involvement in the public disorder that took place on 6 May 2012, on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow," the SK statement said.

"According to Razvozzhayev's confession, [Georgian MP] Givi Targamadze financed this unrest."

Leonid Razvozzhayev

Remains of Mr Sollacaro headed for the cemetery

UK high commissioner meets Gujarat chief

T

he UK's high commissioner in India has met Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat state, ending a 10-year boycott

of the controversial leader.

The UK and other Western governments suspended ties with Narendra Modi, after religious

British High Commissioner James Bevan (R) called on Mr Modi on Monday

riots in 2002.

An estimated 1,000 people were killed, most of them Muslim, three of them British citizens.

Mr Modi was accused of not doing anything to stop the violence, but he has always denied any wrongdoing.

One of India's most prominent politicians, he has been exonerated by several inquiries.

The British government this month changed its policy and said High Commissioner James Bevan would travel to Gujarat.

Mr Modi has been tipped as a potential future prime minister, partly because of his record of turning his state into one of India's economic powerhouses.

The UK has had no official contact with him since the

communal riots in Gujarat because of his alleged complicity in the violence against Muslims, which saw hundreds killed by Hindu nationalists.

Many Britons of Indian descent trace their origins to Gujarat, and London says British interests, such as boosting investment ties, are better served by engagement, not continuing isolation.

Gujarat is one of India's most economically advanced states and many British companies are already investing in it, while others are waiting to, correspondents say.

But human rights groups and relatives of three Britons who were killed in the riots have criticised the meeting.

Cuba's Fidel Castro attacks 'lies' about his health

F

ormer Cuba's revolutionary leader Fidel Castro has written a strongly-worded article condemning persistent rumours that he is on his death bed.

The 86-year-old attacked international media "lies", and published photos of himself in Cuba's state media.

He said he was in good health, and could not even remember the last time he had a headache.

Venezuelan politician Elias Jaua said on Sunday he had a five-hour meeting with Mr Castro the previous day.

He presented a photo of the encounter, and said the former Cuban leader was "very well, very lucid".

The last images of Mr Castro to be made public had been from March, when the Cuban ex-leader briefly met Pope Benedict during the pontiff's visit to the Communist island.

Mr Castro's long absence from the public stage had fuelled rumours on social media sites that his health had deteriorated, or that he may even have died.

"Although a lot of people in the world are taken in by the organs of information, almost all of which are in the hands of the privileged and the rich that publish these stupidities, people are increasingly believing less and less in them," Mr Castro said in his article.

He went on to say that he was

keeping himself busy writing and studying, but had decided to step back from public life "because it certainly is not my role to occupy the pages of our newspaper".

He finished off by saying: "I don't even remember what a headache is. To show what liars they are, I'm offering these photos to accompany this article."

A series of photos, taken by his son Alex, show him outside wearing a cowboy hat and a checked shirt. In some photos, he is reading Friday's copy of the Communist Party newspaper Granma.

Fidel Castro led Cuba after the revolution in 1959, first as prime minister (1959-1976) and later as president.

In 2006, surgery took Fidel Castro out of public view. His brother Raul became acting president.

In February 2008, Fidel Castro officially handed over power to Raul who has been leading the country since then.

Fidel Castro

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 35

11-year-old girl caught trying to smuggle 74 mobile phones and a gun into Colombian jail

P

rison officials in Colombia say they have caught an 11-year-old girl trying to smuggle dozens of mobile phones and a gun into a jail.

The guards became suspicious when they saw what they described as irregular shapes underneath the girl's jumper.

When they investigated they found 74 mobile phones and a revolver taped to her back.

The girl said she had come to the prison in Medellin to visit her brother, who had been jailed for illegal gun possession.

She was accompanied by a 25-year-old woman who identified herself as the girl's sister.

Authorities at the Bellavista prison say the two had made it past one security control, where the woman's identity was checked.

Reports say the girl was trying to slip past the second checkpoint, where visitors are patted down and their bags searched.

It was there that security

Mobile phones wrapped around her waist personnel spotted something on her back and carried out the search, which a guard told Caracol radio revealed 'two Blackberries, 72 mobile phones of varying quality, and a .38calibre gun'.

The girl had the phones and weapon taped neatly to her torso as she attempted to visit her imprisoned brother.

The two are being held pending further investigation.

The girl was taken to the

Boy, 14, travelled 1,500ft through sewers after being sucked into drain

Firefighters heard a cry and lifted up a manhole to find Jeff LaPorta waiting below, nearly a mile away from where he was sucked into a sewer pipe

A

14-year-old Ohio boy playing in a rain storm was suddenly sucked into a sewer drain pipe.

Jeff LaPorta was riding his bike in Parma, Ohio on Tuesday and decided to have some fun, prancing around in some puddles in a parking lot when he accidentally fell into a creek.

He was carried 1,500 feet in the underground sewer system and was finally discovered by firefighters after 40 minutes.

'There were big puddles and I was splashing through them and stuff having fun,' LaPorta told ABC News.

The teenager stomped around and entered what appeared to be just a puddle, but was actually a creek.

Then suddenly, LaPorta was swept away by the water's swift currents and was sucked into a drain pipe.

The rushing waters carried him

1,500 feet from the entrance of the pipe as LaPorta struggled to keep his head above water.

'It was dark, it was scary, it was nasty. It was like somebody is putting you in a big whirlpool and spinning you around and getting your head knocked on the ground,' he remembered.

But the teen fought against the water and resolved to keep going.

'I was not going to give up,' he said.

The boy's friend, Miguel Torres, saw the teen get swept away and immediately flagged down help.

'I started thinking the worst,' recalled Torres.

The local fire department was called and searched manhole after manhole, fervently trying to find the boy in the world below the streets.

After 40 minutes, they heard a scream from below and finally located the terrified teen.

'They lifted the manhole cover and I said, 'Hey buddy, you alright down there?'' Parma firefighter David Higginbotham said.

'He was crying. He was terrified.'

LaPorta shared that during the frightening ordeal, he kept praying that he would be spared.

'In my head I'm like, 'Thank you, Lord.' I was praying,' said LaPorta.

'I'm a little bruised up, but I'm lucky to be alive.'

The teen suffered scrapes and bruises and received six stitches.

The teen had to get six stitches on his arm

Medellin office of Family Welfare where authorities hope to establish who told her to smuggle the items.

A prison official told newspaper El Colombiano that children are frequently used to

smuggle prohibited goods into jail.

According to the newspaper, women frequently smuggle phones, drugs and even knives hidden around their private parts.

Girl, 13, drives 800 MILES from home after stealing brother’s car

The 13-year-old left a letter for her parents saying that she was running away

A

lovesick 13-year-old Texas girl was found safe and sound after traveling hundreds of miles to visit a boy she has been talking with over an Internet game, and on Friday the two were allowed to finally meet face to face.

Elizabeth Annette Robinson, of Cypress, Texas, was tracked to Nashville, Tennessee, where a trooper stopped the teen Thursday after he noticed that the car she was driving matched the description included in an Amber Alert which had been issued for her.

Harris County Sheriff's deputies said Robinson was released to her parents Friday morning in Nashville, according to the Houston Chronicle.

The 13-year-old was reported missing Thursday after her mother said she had sneaked out of her bedroom the night before.

Robinson decided to run away after getting into an argument with her parents over a 12-year-old boy from Kentucky she had met on the Internet through the Xbox video game Call of Duty.

Elizabeth Robinson

PAGE 36

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

The threat of arrest made me to join the Police Force – Umar Manko Lagos CP Y

our family background, your growing years, and the boy Umar, was he the stubborn or a quiet looking someone?

Stubborn, not at all, quiet and easy going Yes, the boy Umar is the son of Musa Manko, who was the grandson of King Masaba of Nupe, we were nine of us by our parents and as at the time that I was growing up, my father had passed on. However, coming from a royal family, you cannot go around without notice, but all the same, I used to be a very good footballer, sometimes I avoid going to school because then, I did not like schooling, but all in all, I happened to be a very quite person, but that does not mean that if you annoy me, I won’t talk.

I am well built physically and full of strength and so if you annoy me unnecessarily, I will fight back.

Eventually, you became a policeman, was there any external influence that informed your decision?

No, the thing is that in those days, you have what was then called Native Authority Police, the one in Bida where I came from, has as it leader one Usman Isah and as the head of the Native Authority Police, we call him Geda, he was so influential, and was admired by all and sundry.

The man was a well known person and was extremely handsome, and so it was that anytime he appears in that Native Authority Police Uniform, he looks graceful and everybody admires him. He was like a cousin or more so, like an elder brother to me. So whenever the opportunity avails itself, we go to watch he and his colleagues at their place of work and we also did that during the independence celebrations and that indeed had some impact on me, but coming to me enlisting into the Nigeria Police, I will tell you that I was never prepared for it.

I was in my second year in the University of Sokoto of those days, it is now called Uthman Dan Fodio University and so it was that there was this publication by the Nigeria Police informing that they needed some young undergraduates who wish to make a career in the Nigeria Police Service. They immediately give the authorities a postscript that was introduced by them for onward transmission to the students.

Coincidentally, one of my school mates Alhaji Bashira was a law student and was also a Chief Superintendent of Police at that time and we were close and this man whenever he comes for lectures in Police uniform adorning his rank one falls in love because he looks admirable . He retired with the rank of an AIG. He was the one who persuaded me into accepting the postscript when I initially sneered at it. Upon his persuasions, I now consulted one of my friend Ahmed Sharu , who is now a retired Colonel for

American car manufacturer Henry Ford (1863-1947) once said “that the whole secret of a successful life is to find out what it is one’s destiny to do, and then do it”. For Umar Manko a Prince from the historical and popular Nupe Kingdom and the incumbent Commissioner of Police Lagos State, his journey to attaining his present status is unarguably a potpourri of Ford’s line of thought and the benevolence of God Almighty who at different times, placed on his track certain individuals when it was obvious he might derail from his predetermined journey in life. In an exclusive interview with our Crime Correspondent Matthew Aramunde in Lagos, he espoused on issues of his growing years, his enlistment into the Police Force and other sundry issues that bothers on security and the IGP’s reformatory agenda. Excerpts: his views and he simply told me that it is worth the while trying it, and so I applied and was invited for the interview.

After my graduation, I was posted as part of the National Youth Service Corps scheme to Alagbon close where I saw what is policing practically and I must confess the whole thing then was repulsive and I said to myself, if this is the police they want me to join, I am not going to be part of it.

Again, there was another officer who was then as an Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Criminal Investigation he hails from Kastina and I am from Bida, and from the Nupe angle, there is this age long affinity between the two tribes, and we on knowing each other maintained this affinity in our relations and so one day, he called me and said the Police have advertise for eligible candidates for Cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police course , go and apply, I told him out rightly that I will not apply because I have made up mind to return home. Then he said when I eventually get home, what I am going to do, and I replied that I wish to get employment in the Civil Service because my ambition is to become a Permanent Secretary.

He okay that is fine, and with a tinge of seriousness in his tone, he announced “I think you know we have your records with the Police, if you go, we shall come and arrest you” If that sounded like a joke, I wasn’t quite prepared for it because fear immediately registered in my mind (general laughter). So I picked up the form, went through it and as they say, the rest is history and here I am today.

What indeed was that thing that you never liked about the Police at that time?

One I discovered that policemen work twenty-four hours in a day, and this is not restricted to a particular rank, be it a junior or a senior officer, they are all there together (general laughter), so I looked at the whole scenario and said how can someone resume at his place of work at 7.00am and by 7.00pm, he is not assured when he is going to close for the day.

Compare and contrast the Police Force you joined at that period and now?

No, no, you see the police I joined then was the one that was grounded in service to humanity.

Then you find people that were real professionals to the core, they knew their limits and you know

CP Umar Manko them as a policeman, their allegiance is to the government of Nigeria and the public. Then of course everything you needed to perform your duty efficiently and effectively was provided for you so much so that if you were to be travelling the authorities write off your travelling expenses.

With nostalgia I remember vividly that when I passed out of the training college, I was posted to FCT Abuja, and whenever I had cause to travel from Abuja to Lagos, there was always a vehicle made available for that purpose and perchance the journey was to be undertaken by flight, there was also what was referred to as Air warrant, that was available then and all you needed do is to approach Nigerian Airways officials who in turn will issue you a rebate ticket and almost immediately ,you are paid your allowance right on the spot.

With this type of arrangement, you have no cause to seek for help outside, that to come And if you are to go by road, all that you needed was the available land Rover vehicle and the log book, and there was no need to carry jerry cans of fuel along with you, what happens is that the moment you observe that you are running out of fuel, drive into any nearest police post for a refill, because there were full dumps within every Police post and having filled your fuel tank, it is recorded in the log book which will immediately be handed over to you which in turn you turn in when you get back home.

Give us your assessment of crime rate since your assumption of office?

Well I would have loved you to do that for me, because my assessment might be subjective, but I do know that in Lagos State, crime rate has abated, there is no society that is crime free, but Lagos State with its size and the strategic position it occupies, one should expect that once in a while crime of any nature could occur, but Gods willing, those glaring ones that are overwhelming are being contained and it is subsiding.

Most Lagosian see policemen as enemies rather than friend how do you hope to change their perceptions?

I have seized several opportunities to talk to policemen on this subject and the need to partner with citizens of the state, so much that I have made available to the general public my telephone lines, I do not have a secret number, even on the internet, they could reach me.

I went to the extent of instructing every DPO and Area Commanders to publish their telephone numbers and display them at strategic points in their various police stations, so that people who are in need, could make use of them. I have also made it compulsory for DPOs and Area Commanders to hold regular town hall meetings with the people with a view to hearing from the people themselves, I do likewise with groups of security stakeholders right here at the headquarters.

The closer we are to them, the more of a benefit it is for us because it is only when you are close to them, that you strike a working relationship and they would volunteer information about those who live around them as we

know and commonly say criminals are no spirit, they live among us.

Some Lagosian blamed the successful operations of armed robbers few weeks ago on the absence of road block.

Do you query that?

You see my friend, when people say the armed robbers had a field day, I disagree with that, agreed that some miscreants came into Lagos to test our strength and at a point they found to their chagrin that the place was not conducive for them and they made to flee and in the process they had an encounter with the policemen and some policemen were killed. In their bid to escape, they were shooting indiscriminately and in the melee some innocent civilians were killed.

However, the cheering news is that all those who carried out that act, are now in our cells here.

In the area of road blocks that are dismantled, it does not mean the absence of policemen from our roads, the IGP simply said remove the blockage and replace them with motorized patrol. On that fateful day these robbers from our findings were not here for child play, they had the ulterior motives to rob banks and some other places but that was made impossible by our men. I think replacing road blocks with patrol team is yielding dividends. The Lagos State government and the IGP who no doubt could safely be referred to as a Lagos man having stayed and worked here and whose interest in what happens here in Lagos has not diminished are doing their level best as it concern security within the metropolis. I must tell you that the killings of innocent Lagosians on that day really sadden my heart and that is why we vowed to smoke them out and we are succeeding.

What is your philosophy of life?

Simplicity because it sometimes attract peace, if you are big and you know that I am not as big as yourself, it does not give you any added advantage over me. I believe wisdom of God and common sense demands that life should be lived with the benefit of hindsight that people have come and gone. There is nothing permanent except change and when you make a true assessment of yourself, you will remember that whatever position you find yourself today, is an opportunity and it should be used to the glory of God and the benefit of mankind.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 37

Tambuwal woos investors from Japan

By Lawrence Olaoye

S

peaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has disabused the minds of foreign investors against the speculations in the international circles that Nigeria is no more a safe haven for investment as a result of insecurity in some parts of the country.

Speaking when he fielded questions from members of the Japanese Parliament in Tokyo yesterday, Tambuwal said the Federal Government had taken proactive measures in the past two years to bolster security in all parts of the country.

A statement from the Speaker's

media office in Abuja quoted Tambuwal as saying that the government has injected more funds into training of security personnel, as well as in the procurement of modern security gadgets.

For instance, he informed Mr Takahiro Yokomichi, Speaker of the Japan House of Representatives and Mr Kenji Hirata, President of the House of Councillors, similar to the Senate of the Federal Republic, that a large chunk of the 2012 budget was voted for security. To demonstrate government's commitments to tackle the menace, Tambuwal added that the sector would also be accorded priority in the allocation of resources in the next year budget, which is now

before the National Assembly.

Mr Yokomichi sought to know from the Speaker the state of insecurity in Nigeria as no investors will want to invest in an unsecured environment where terrorism reigns.

The Speaker answered "It is true that terrorism is one of the security challenges facing Nigeria, but I can assure you that our government is doing everything possible to tackle the challenges. In 2012, we devoted a large chunk of our national budget to security.

"In addition, the Parliament is giving more powers to the security operatives to tackle terrorism by amending the laws to strengthen them.

"More importantly, the people are co-operating with government by assisting our security with useful information. As a people and government, we are rising to the challenge."

Tambuwal stated that government was aware that an unsecured business environment will not attract investors, hence the commitments by the people and government of Nigeria to face the challenge headlong, even though terrorism has become a global phenomenon.

Tambuwal, who commended some Japanese firms for doing business in Nigeria, said that there are opportunities in other sectors like oil and gas, solid minerals, real estate

and solar energy.

He invited the Japanese parliament to be part of history of establishing an e-parliament in Nigeria and in the training of parliamentary staffs.

Mr Yokomichi thanked the people and government of Nigeria on the support given to Japan when hit by a devastating earthquake sometimes last year.

The Speaker and his delegation of 12 members and the Nigerian Ambassador to Japan, Ambassador Agbo were later taken round the Parliament Buildings built in 1936.

Japan Parliament has 242 Councillors (Senators) and 480 members in the House of Representatives.

Ondo guber: No need for Tribunal, Mark, Ihedioha tell PDP, ACN, others

By Richard Ihediwa

S

enate President David Mark has counseled the defeated governorship candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), the Action Congress of Nigeria(ACN) and others in the last Saturday's Ondo state governorship election not to waste time going to tribunal to challenge the winner, Governor Olusegun Mimiko.

Mark, who stated this yesterday in Quebec, Canada, where he is currently attending 127th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) meeting, said that the result of the election confirmed that the wishes of the Ondo people prevailed.

According to Mark, "It would therefore be an exercise in futility if some people go to court to challenge the outcome of the polls even with an overwhelming

victory". We, Nigerian politicians must start embracing the democratic culture where the power of the people as expressed through the ballot is respected and seen as supreme".

He said Mimiko had worked hard to secure the victory, thus making sentiment canvassed by some politicians during the campaign irrelevant to the people.

Also commenting, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sir Emeka Ihedioha said that the result of the election in Ondo has shown that the people appreciate performance.

According to him, reports on ground before the election showed that Mimiko had worked hard for the people in his first tenure and that it was only good that the people of Ondo reward him with a second term in office.

Party chairman wants NASS to pay more attention to oversight functions

T

he National Chairman, Progressive Action Congress (PAC) Chief Charles Nwodo, yesterday in Abuja called on the National Assembly members to pay more attention to their oversight functions for the development of the nation.

Nwodo, who made the remark in an interview with the New Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the quality of elections determined the quality of elected representatives in any part of the world.

He urged the present National Assembly to be proactive in the way it went about its oversight functions. “When elections are conducted under conducive atmosphere, it always brings about credible leaders that people can rely upon. “Oversight functions of the National Assembly can only be enhanced where the majority of the members are dedicated and determined to perform the duty

assigned to them,,� he said He regretted that some members could not handle their assignments diligently, due to negligence on the part of the members.

He said in spite of the challenges they faced in the discharge of their duties, the issue of corruption constituted great impediment to the conduct of oversight functions.

Nwodo urged the National Assembly members to punish any erring contractors who failed to live up to expectations within the areas of their oversight functions.

He noted that where some members of National Assembly found it difficult to carry out their oversight functions, it could hamper performance.

The chairman regretted that today, the issue of constituency projects was still engulfed in suspicion on who carried out the contract transparently at oversight functions. (NAN)

Members of Adamawa state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Elders Forum addressing a news conference, yesterday in Yola to declare support for the appointment of a caretaker committee.

Photo: NAN

Alleged defamation: Lamido forgives ACN Chairman From Ahmed Abubakar, Dutse

T

he case of defamation of character before a Kiyawa High Sharia Court has taken another dimension yesterday as the accused Alhaji Hassan Fulata who is also the Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Jigawa pleaded for forgiveness from the governor, Alhajio Sule Lamido.

Earlier, the defence lawyer to Fulata, Barrister Dalhatu Shehu Usman, has pleaded with the Shariah Court Judge to discard the pronouncement of the crime before the court as according to him his client was willing to seek for the Governor's forgiveness.

The state Attorney General, Barrister Yakubu Abdullahi Ruba, who also doubled as counsel to the governor urged the court to consider section 142 of the Sharia Penal code that stipulates that it is obligatory for the court to mention to the accused his charges even in situation were compromise seems to be agreed upon.

Meanwhile, the defence lawyer argued that it is immaterial for the court to re-mention the case of which, according to him, may confirm that the accused has indeed committed the crime and that may subject the court to take a definite decision on his client.

On his part, the Sharia Judge Alhaji Aliyu Muhammad Abdullahi overruled the counsel to the accused that in accordance with section 297 of the Jigawa Sharia Penal code procedure it is mandatory for the court to read out to the accused his charges despite the agreement of reconciliation in which he said would also guide the court on the actual offence committed and its ruling.

Fulata who was docked pleaded guilty of the charges read to him of defamation of the character of the governor which he thereafter pleaded that the governor forgives him.

"His Excellency Alhaji Sule Lamido as the leader in Jigawa is also my leader and my god father, my friend and my political mentor I solicit for your kind heartedness to overlook and forgive my declaration that you

have not attended school and that you have forged your certificates as the work of the devil," Fulata said.

Lamido who was also docked, on his part stated that, "After we have worked together and if you have just realised that I have not attended school because of politics causing untold injury on my person, my family, my friends and associates that were highly embarrassed by your declaration even though I won the case up to .the Supreme court I have decided to seek redress before a Sharia Court for Kazaf", said Lamido.

"But now that you have openly stated that you have lied against me, I, Sule Lamido, I have entirely forgiven your past deeds even as I know we would all stand before our creator one day to account for our deeds," he declared.

After listening to both declarations the Sharia Court Judge observed that it was obvious and highly appreciable for one to forgive especially in this month of dhul hajj when good deeds were highly recommended.

PAGE 38

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

Adamawa: High court restrains ADSIEC from conducting LG elections From Blessing Tunoh, Yola

T

he Adamawa State High Court has granted an injunction restraining the Adamawa State Independent Electoral Commission from conducting Local Government Elections.

Acting Chief Judge of the state Justice Bobbo Umar made the pronouncement following an exparte motion by one Abdulkadir Sambo and three others.

The plaintiffs in their prayer had sought for an order of interim injunction to restrain the ADSIEC being the first respondent in the case from conducting elections into local government councils in the state until the matter is determined.

The motion is on the basis of the

“special” ward and local government area congresses purpotedly conducted by the PDP for electing chairmanship and councillorship candidates in the state.

The plaintiffs also sought the court to set aside any further steps taken by the PDP in giving effect to the same supposed “special” local government and ward congresses for electing chairmanship and councillorship candidates in the state.

Counsel to the complainants Ahmed Isa also submitted a thirty paragraph affidavit along with twelve exhibits to prove that they were denied from participating in the supposed election.

The counsel also told the court that contents of the exhibit file include payment receipts and

nomination forms among other items and insisted that there was never a primary election in the state.

He also presented an affidavit of urgency as according to him the PDP has concluded plans to conduct general elections into local governments the state and prayed that the interest of justice the court grant the application.

Delivering his verdict, Justice Bobbo Umar said the application satisfied all necessary incidents and granted the request as prayed and adjourned the case to November 2nd.

The CJ had earlier made a similar pronouncement in a motion that appeared before him which one Vidiyeno Bamaiyi filed against the state electoral commission, Lamurde local government PDP and twelve others.

Counsel to the complainant

Leonard Nzadon told the court that rather than conduct the supposed primary election in the local government headquarters it was diverted to a hotel in Numan council area.

Nzadon said his client paid N350, 000 to participate in the election but names of “winners” were later submitted to ADSIEC. He also argued that the National Working Committee had earlier rejected the primaries but the state PDP flagrantly ignored them which according to him makes all subsequent steps taken by the PDP without substance.

Nzadon presented a twenty six paragraph affidavit with ten exhibits and prayed the court to restrain ADSIEC from acting on the list of candidates submitted to it by PDP pending hearing.

Public commentator urges states to improve on IGR

A

Maiduguri-based public commentator, Mr Ojetola Andrew, yesterday called on state governments to improve on their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for effective service delivery.

Andrew, who made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, said “the major thing the states have to do is to look inward, for the generation of revenue, just as the president has advised.

“If you want development at all, it cannot come just like that, the resources must be there and that is number one,” he said.

According to him, the allocation the states are receiving from the federation account is small. There is nothing they can do to effectively deliver the dividends of democracy to the people, in such situation.

“States should not only focus their attention on what they will receive on monthly basis from the federation allocation, but be pragmatic about how they can generate their revenue to augment federal allocation.

“They should know that Federal Government has other numerous activities to attend to.

“For instance, in terms of security, the Federal Government needs to spend more money and so many other things,” he said.

He, however, commended Lagos state government for its “outstanding IGR effort”, and called on other states to take a cue from the state.

“Now, Lagos IGR will be within 20 billion to 30 billion in a month, which is very good, although, there is a lot of business activity going on in Lagos.

“Though we cannot compare Lagos with other states in this regard, but other states can still look inward, since every state in Nigeria has one resource or more to develop,” he said.

Andrew urged the states to invite the Federal Government to come to their aid and assist them to develop their minerals.(NAN)

L-R: Member, Governing Council, National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS), Senator Chris Nwankwo, Chairman, Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service, Senator Aloysius Etok, and Chairman, House Committee on Internal Security, Hon. Aliyu Gehsi, during NILS round table discussion on promoting security for a sustainable democracy, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

NGF congratulates Mimiko

By Lawrence Olaoye

T

he Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has congratulated the newly re-elected governor of Ondo state, Olusegun Mimiko.

The NGF in a statement signed by its Director General, Asishana Okauru stated “This victory is

recognition of your achievements since you came to office and an endorsement of your plans for the next four years.

“The Forum associates itself completely with the majority of the people of Ondo State for voting you back as their Governor. While calling on Your Excellency to be humble in victory, the Forum

implores all other contestants to be gracious in defeat.

“This is the minimum we owe our fledgling democracy. On a final note, the Forum wishes to commend the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), our security agencies, the media and several other stakeholders for a job well done.”

Tsav warns against re-absolving Ayu into PDP From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

S

ocial critic, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, has condemned the calculated attempt by second republic Senate President and chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria from Benue state, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, to stage a return to the ruling People's Democratic Party as a belated move.

Tsav in a chat with newsmen in Makurdi yesterday maintained

that the erstwhile Minister for Internal Affairs during the Obasanjo's administration had lost political relevance in the state, adding he would, in his usual manner, cause disaffection in the party like he did during the administration of the former governor of the state, Chief George Akume.

He urged that the doors of PDP be shut against Ayu so as to safeguard unpleasant experiences

especially with his overbearing influence on party machinery which has been his stock in trade in the past.

"Frankly if you see what I'm talking, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu is more of a liability rather than an asset because the man has exhausted his usefulness and consequently, even his defection to the party would be of no relevance rather than contribute immensely in depreciating the value of the party", he warned.

Rep condemns deportation of Nigeria fishermen from Gabon

By Lawrence Olaoye

R

ep Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Affairs has criticized the illegal and inhuman deportation of 215 Nigerian fishermen from the Republic of Gabon back to Nigeria.

In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday, the lawmaker condemned the act, describing it as “ unwarranted hostilities against Nigerians doing legitimate businesses in Gabon by the Gabonese government’’.

Apparently furious about the inhuman treatment meted to Nigerians by a sister nation, DabiriErewa described the action of Gabonese government as “insensitive and unAfrican ’’.

The lawmaker said that she was not against deportation of any Nigerians who run foul of the law of the host country but “definitely not those doing legitimate business”.

She said reports had it that those deported were involved in legitimate businesses in the country, wondering why such people should be humiliated having lived in Gabon for decades and contributed to the socio-economy development of that country.

Dabiri-Erewa called on the Federal Government and other stakeholders to look into the matter urgently and rehabilitate those affected with human dignity in line with its citizens diplomacy policy.

The lawmaker also called on NEMA to ensure that the deportees were well rehabilitated and taken care of pending the resolution of the matter.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Sunday night evacuated 215 Nigerian fishermen from the Republic of Gabon back to Nigeria.

NEMA said the evacuation was necessitated after the Gabonese authorities issued an eviction notice to Nigerian fishermen.

It said the affected fishermen lived in Nende, Mouka and Kenza Islands to move away even though majority of them had lived there for several decades doing their legitimate businesses.

NEMA said the distressed returnees who are mostly from Bayelsa state and few from Ondo, Akwa Ibom, Imo and Abia States were flown to Port-Harcourt International Airport before their onward journey to their respective home states.

Before the execution of the evacuation process, NEMA said the Nigerian government through the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant agencies had undertaken on-the-spot-assessment of the situation before a chartered aircraft was deployed for the evacuation.

In an effort to ensure full rehabilitation of the distressed Nigerians and to protect their belongings NEMA promised to also ship their outboard engines, fishing nets and other working tools to Nigeria.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

Election Observers urge Oke, Akeredolu to accept election result

By Lawrence Olaoye

I

ndependent election observers that monitored the governorship election in Ondo state last weekend yesterday urged the losers in the election to accept the result announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as the result reflects votes cast by the electorates.

The election observers operating under the aegis of Project Swift Count, PSC, said in a post-election briefing that the order and magnitude of the INEC results for each of the political parties is the same as the Swift Count estimates.

According to the first co-chair, Dafe Akpedeye (SAN), because Project Swift Count was able to independently collect and collate official results from polling units and arrive at the same results as INEC, political contestants and the public alike should have a high degree of confidence that the official results as announced by INEC reflect the votes cast in the Ondo State governorship election.

"Project Swift Count finds generally that the process provided most of the people of Ondo State with a meaningful opportunity to exercise their right to vote and that the official results as announced by INEC accurately reflect the ballots cast at polling units".

PSC congratulated the citizens of Ondo state for their peaceful and substantial participation in the election and observed that the adequate security presence was of tremendous help in maintaining the peaceful environment.

PSC also declared that though INEC has improved but meeting the 7:30am target for arrival of voting materials at polling units still remains a challenge.

"As of 7:30 am, polling officials and election materials had arrived at 47% of polling units across Ondo State. This is comparable to Kebbi (53%) and Sokoto (43%), and is better than Edo (26%), Cross River (19%) and Bayelsa (32%).

"Accreditation of voters had started by 9:00 a.m. at 70% of polling units. This is worse than Sokoto (73%) but better than Kebbi (65%), Edo (44%), Cross River (35%) and Bayelsa (32%).

However, by noon accreditation had commenced at 98% of the polling units.

He also noted that secrecy of the ballot continues to be a challenge, violating a fundamental dimension of democratic elections.

"Across Ondo State, 8% of the polling units failed to provide secrecy of the ballot for voters.

While this is better than some of the previous elections, INEC should continue to improve the processes to ensure that voters may cast their ballots free from scrutiny. In addition, INEC should provide suitable environment and adequate cubicles for voter to achieve the required secrecy".

PAGE 39

CNPP lampoons Benue govt. over verbal attacks on journalists From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

A

social critic and Benue state chairman, Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, CNPP, Engr. Baba Agan has castigated the state government's verbal attack on a section of the media for reporting the ills going on in the various internally displaced persons camps.

Engr. Agan in an interview yesterday with journalists in Makurdi described the action as reckless and foolhardy.

His comments come against the backdrop of a press statement issued by Special Adviser to Governor Gabriel Suswam on

Media and Public Affairs, Dr. Cletus Akwaya, that was aired several times on the state owned radio station lambasting some correspondents who exposed the nefarious acts of rape and diversion of relief materials carried out by officials of the State Emergency, Relief and Management Agency, SEMA. Akwaya had referred to the newsmen as mischievous, wicked and evil but the CNPP chieftain reminded the government that declaring war on the media would amount to pouring water on stone.

"The statement against journalists in Benue state is

highly condemnable, and goes to expose the insensitivity of the government to the plight of the displaced person.

"Terrible things are happening in these camps yet government is turning a blind eye to them. Journalists took it upon themselves to expose some of the ills going on in the camps and somebody somewhere is feeling very uncomfortable hence the resort to verbal attacks and insults on journalists who played key role in the survival and development of our modern world.

"I urge the Benue state government to immediately

investigate the ugly developments in the camps and ensure a dispassionate monitoring of activities of those entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing the displaced persons' camps because the stories we hear on a daily basis from the camps have become a source of worry for everyone", Agan advised.

He also challenged the Benue state Police Command to ensure the safety of all practicing Journalists in the state warning that any act of intimidation or harassment of media men in the state would be highly unacceptable.

Emulate Ondo people’s maturity- IG urges Nigerians

By Lambert Tyem

I

Senator Ahmad Zannah, representing Borno Central Senatorial Zone, addressing journalists over his alleged connection with Shuaibu Bama, an alleged Boko Haram member, yesterday at the National Assembly, in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Ondo: Kwara PDP, govt shameless, irresponsible - ACN From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

K

wara state chapter of Action Congress of Nigeria(ACN) has urged the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) to bury its head in shame and be remorseful of the “failures and irresponsibility” of its government, rather than busy itself attacking the opposition in the state.

The party which was reacting to a statement by Kwara PDP Publicity Secretary, Masud Adebimpe, which claimed that ACN’s defeat in Ondo was a sign that the party stands rejected in the South/West including Kwara.

ACN chairman in Kwara, Mr. Kayode Olawepo, said in a statement issued in Ilorin that the PDP ought to be bothered instead by the ineptitude and failures of its government as shown in the widespread protest against its land policy and inability to pay workers for three months.

“Months after shouting itself

coarse that opposition does not exist in Kwara State, we are glad that finally Kwara PDP could no longer issue a statement without acknowledging in principle the threat we pose to their irresponsible government built around a political ideology representing under development, poverty, deceit, oppression and corruption.

“And as the PDP was issuing its baseless statement, the suffering council workers have declared indefinite strike to protest the nonpayment of their salaries for three months running.

“While Kwara workers are groaning under excruciating poverty and denial arising from non-payment of their legitimate salary, the PDP rather than bury its head in shame over the failures of its irresponsible government still finds time to attack the opposition in the guise of congratulating Ondo Governor-elect Olusegun Mimiko whose opponent incidentally includes PDP’s former Legal Adviser

Olusola Oke, who, typical of the lawless nature of the PDP, was arrested in the early hours of Saturday roaming the street against the restriction order.

“We leave the public to judge who is being rejected by Kwara people between the ACN and the PDP whose government has recorded countless up risings against its policies and is on record to expose the state to national disgrace almost on a monthly basis: from laughable oil discovery claim to CBN blacklist, burglary in the state’s Ministry of Finance and theft of documents relating to issues over which its leadership is being investigated and of course incessant workers’ protests over nonpayment of salary etc. “ As we speak, Kwara council workers have embarked on an indefinite strike because the government has continued to invent lies upon lies to deny workers their entitlements.”

nspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed D. Abubakar yesterday called on Nigerians to emulate the maturity displayed by Ondo State indigenes in the conduct of last Saturday’s governorship election in the state.

Police spokesman, Frank Mba, said Ondo State indigenes exhibited maturity not just in election related issues but every area of their lives.

The IGP further commended the efforts of police and other security operatives deployed to Ondo State for the election pointing out that high level of commitment and professionalism were exhibited by the security agenda.

According to the IG, the election had shown that all the security agencies, as well as the general public, could work together in harmony to achieve security of lives and property.

“The IGP is particularly appreciative of the high level of turn out, discipline, orderliness, patience and understanding displayed by the people even in the face of some operational and logistic challenges.

“The IGP enjoins Nigerians in all works of life, irrespective of differences in tribe, tongue and culture; to emulate and replicate, not just in political and election-related matters, but in all ramifications of life, the maturity displayed by the people of Ondo State.

“The IGP also notes with satisfaction the high level of commitment, professionalism and patriotism exhibited by officers and men of the Police, the military and other security agencies.

“He commended their discipline, dedication and hard work in ensuring a most conducive environment for the peaceful and crisis-free conduct of the election. The remarkable synergy amongst the various security agencies is a clear signal of the new collective resolve and commitment of all law enforcement agencies to work together for the greater good of the nation,” Mba said.

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PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

CPC protests Sen. Bello’s alleged imposition of Kaduna LG candidate From Muhammad Adamu, Kaduna

T

he leaders of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Kaduna North Local Government yesterday protested over what they described as anointing and imposition of one Samaila Sulieman as the Chairmanship aspirant of the party

by Sen. Kanti Bello.

The Chairman, CPC Kabala Ward, Saidu Mohammed who led the protest on behalf of the 146 executives and delegates of the Kaduna North Local Government lamented that they have been denied their constitutional right to elect a candidate who will contest the forthcoming election in the state against candidates from other political parties.

Some of the CPC protesters who carried placards with different inscriptions read ”The same Kanti Bello that insult Buhari is now in CPC” Kanti Bello don’t destroy CPC” No leadership in Kaduna CPC” No CPC primary elections in Kaduna State” called for cancellation of the exercise.

“It would be recalled that in the build-up to the 18th October, 2012 local government Chairmanship primary election in the state, the national leadership of CPC set up the Sen. Kanti Bello committee to come to Kaduna with the aim of reconciling LG Chairmanship aspirants from the 23 LGA’s in the state.

“It was also hoped that when a consensus is reached, a single candidate will be presented and where the consensus failed, a primary election will be held, but to our greatest shock, the committee turned out not to be a reconciliation committee but an anointment committee.

“Instead of promoting harmony and reconciliation among the Chairmanship aspirants, Kanti Bello made it very clear that he came to anoint and impose Samaila Sulieman on the party as its Chairmanship candidate for Kaduna North LG and that he was not prepared to listen to any opposing views,” he emphasized.

Continuing, he said, based on the tussle that was going on, the CPC state leadership set up a screening committee which screened all the aspirants from the 23 LGAs and four aspirants emerged including Sadeeq

Mamman-Lagos, Garba Adamu, Shu’aibu Lili and Samaila Sulieman.

He lamented that the CPC state Chairman, Alhaji Ahmadu Cocacola disingenuous removed the page containing the names of the other three candidates except Samaila Sulieman claiming he was the only aspirant who appeared for the screening.

“We the executives and delegates of the 12 wards of Kaduna North LG say that there can never be affirmation when there is more than one person contesting for a position because to do so will be illegal

and an abuse of the party constitution.

“It is illegal and unconstitutional for a reconciliation committee to disqualify an aspirant just because he insists on exercising his democratic right.

“We want to state clearly and unambiguously that we want to exercise our right of electing our candidates, that neither election nor affirmation took place on Saturday, 20th October, 2012 and that as at this moment, we do not have a candidate for the post of Kaduna North LG Chairman.

L-R: Chairman, House Committee on Banking and Currency, Hon. Jones Onyeyeri, House Leader, Hon. Mulikat Akande-Adeola, and Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking and Currency, Senator Bassey Otu, during a public hearing on a Bill for an Act to amend Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007 No 7 organised by the Joint Committee on Banking, Currency and Justice, yesterday at the National Assembly, in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Ondo Election: ANPP chieftain hails Jonathan, INEC

F

ormer All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) governorship candidate in Imo, Mr. Bernard Lemchi, yesterday described President Goodluck Jonathan as a committed democrat.

Lemchi made the remark in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt, while congratulating Gov. Mimiko of Ondo state on his re-election on Oct. 20.

He applauded the role of the Independent National Electoral

Commission (INEC) for its impartiality in the governorship election.

Lemchi said that Jonathan had proved that he was a man that upheld the rule of law and lover of democracy, by allowing a free and fair election.

According to the ANPP chieftain, Jonathan has delivered his campaign promise by ensuring credible elections in the country.

“Jonathan has done it in Adamawa, Edo and now Ondo; he is

an avowed democrat.

“If our past leaders were like him, we would have gone very far in terms of credible elections and democracy,’’ he said.

Lemchi lauded the Prof. Attahiru Jega-led INEC for conducting a transparent election in Ondo, adding that it had shown a high level of electoral responsibility.

He advocated for a takeover of council elections by INEC, and alleged that election at the third tier was characterised by fraud and electoral

stage management. “ I suggest, INEC should take over the conduct of elections at the local government areas.

“Many governors have abused the process, and it has been the major cause of under-development and suffering of the local communities,’’ Lemchi said.

Lemchi, however, congratulated the people of Ondo State for exercising their franchise in favour of a great achiever at a time it mattered most.

(NAN).

Adamawa PDP elders declare support for caretaker committee

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group of PDP members, who identified themselves as Adamawa PDP elders forum, have declared their full support for the newly constituted Adamawa PDP caretaker committee.

The elders, who paid a solidarity visit to members of the committee in Yola, said they were happy with the action of the National Working Committee (NWC) for dissolving the state party executives and appointing the caretaker committee.

Spokesman of the elders, Amb. Wilberforce Juta, assured the committee of the forum’s support in executing its mandate in Adamawa.

“We are here to pay a solidarity and courtesy call to welcome you to Adamawa state.

“We are happy happy with the steps taken by the National Working Committee and we assure you of our support,’’ Juta said.

Responding, the chairman of the caretaker committee, Amb.

Umar Damagun, thanked the forum for the support and solidarity and noted that the committee would do its best to strengthen the party in the state.

Damagun urged support and cooperation of all stakeholders, adding that the committee was for all and would consult all before taken decision on any matter.

“We want to to leave a party of all inclusive PDP. We are not here to witch hunt anybody,” Damagun said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that another group of PDP members protested against the appointment of the caretaker committee by the NWC. The group under Alhaji Umaru Kugama, had gone to court to challenge the NWC action which they said had not given the state executive fair hearing.

It it’s ruling on the mattering Friday, the Adamawa High Court judge, Justice Umar Bobboi, had restrained PDP NWC from dissolving the state executive.

National good governance tour begins in Plateau

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he national good governance tour, initiated by Information Minister Labaran Maku kicked off yesterday in Plateau.

A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN covering the tour, reports that the tour team, led by Maku and Water Resources Minister Sarah Ochekpe, began with a visit to the Yakubu Gowan Dam at Shen in the Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau.

Plateau Information Commissioner Abraham Yiljap, who addressed the team, said that the Plateau government had spent N2.2 billion to rehabilitate the water treatment plant at the dam.

He said all the equipment and components at the plant had been replaced with new ones, adding that some of the pipes were installed 50 years ago and had rusted before they were replaced.

According to Yiljap, the plant pumps 25,000 cubic litres of water daily to serve Jos and Bukuru, adding that to complement supply, the Laminga Water Treatment Plant provides 18,000 cubic litres.

Other projects to be visited by the team include the permanent site of the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), the University of Jos Educational Trust Fund projects, the FIFA Stadium along Zaria Road, and the fly-over on Goodluck Jonathan road. (NAN)

Tribunal adjourns Bayelsa census case to Nov. 8

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he Census Tribunal sitting in Abuja yesterday adjourned to Nov. 8, for definite hearing, a case filed by the Attorney-General of Bayelsa and others against the National Population Commission (NPC).

The Bayelsa State Government had, in the case, objected to the census figures provided for some of its Local Government Areas by the NPC after the 2006 national head count.

Mrs Miannaya, a member of Tribunal ‘A’ , who stood in for the tribunal chairman, gave the adjournment based on application by the respondent Counsel, Mr Obina Chukwu, for extension of time to enable him go through application for amendment of complaint filed by the counsel to the complainant.

The case was initially scheduled for hearing today but was adjourned based on the inability for the Complainant’s counsel to serve the Respondent’s counsel with the motion for amendment of complaint on time.

Chukwu, however, described the application as unripe for hearing, stressing that he received a copy of the motion for amendment of complaint less than 24 hours ago.

The Complainant’s counsel, Mr Albert Akpomudje, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said the application was aimed at amending the earlier compliant filed before the tribunal.

(NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 41

Gov’s Cup tennis: Nigerian players bounce back in 2nd leg

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hree of the 16 Nigerian players in the Week 2 Futures tournament of the ongoing Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis, yesterday advanced into the second round of the championships.

This represent some progress because they were beaten in the first leg of the tournament decided last week. Also, 16 Nigerians are made up of 10 males and six female players are participating.

The 10 male players include Monday Igbinovia, Abdulmumuni Babalola, Sanni Adamu, Umaru Balami, Henry Atseye and Shehu Lawal. Others are: Samuel Omoile, Kehinde Alade, Onyeka Mbanu and

Clifford Enosoregbe.

The six females players are: Fatima Abinu, Blessing Samuel, Christie Agugbom, Chineye NdidiIzuogu, Abiodun Oyekoge and Blessing Anuna.

Atseye got to the quarterfinals of the first-leg of the tournament, which ended on October 20, All others crashed out mostly in the second round.

Of the three player who played matches yesterday, Lawal, in the men’s singles, Abinu and Anuma in the women’s singles, qualified for the second round .

Lawal, who is ranked 1,392 by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), humbled his compatriot,

Babalola 7-6 (2), 6-4, to move to the second round. Babalola, with an ITF-ranking of 1,668, managed to break Lawal’s serves twice in the first set, to set a tie-break and ended the set at 7-6(2).

In the women’s singles, Nigeria’s top female player, Abinu defeated her compatriot, Samuel, 6-3, 7-5 while Anuma also defeated her Oyegoge 6-1, 6-0.

Meanwhile, Atseye and Chritistie Agugbom have both crashed out in the first round of the tournament.

Atseye lost 2-6, 0-3 (rtd) in the men’s singles to German Mario Eckardt, while Agugbom lost 0-6, 0-6 to German Michaela Frlicka in the women’s singles.

NFF lauds Sunshine Stars in spite of team’s exit

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Sani Ndanusa, President of NTF The championship is jointly sponsored by the First City Monument Bank and telecommunication company, Etisalat Nigeria, would end on October 27.

L-R: Chief of staff to the president, Chief Mike Ogiadohme, Rivers state governor, Mr. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, vice-president Mohammed Namadi Sambo, and president Goodluck Jontahn, during the presidential sports sector retreat, yesterday at the state house, in Abuja.

Photo: Joe Oroye

Sports Retreat: Jonathan says ruling the world Nigeria’s ultimate

By Patrick Andrew

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resident Goodluck Jonathan has declared that his administration intends to ensure that Nigeria becomes the best sporting nation in Africa, is one of the top four in the Commonwealth, and ultimately rule the world.

Speaking yesterday at a Presidential Sports Sector Retreat held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Jonathan said the present administration has resolved to tap into the potentials of sports because globally it has become a major tool for demonstrating economic and social strength.

Accordingly, the president said, his administration does not want to lag behind in maximizing the potentials of sports, stressing that the present government sees sports as one of the major elements it intends to use to drive its vision for national rebirth.

“It must constitute a driving force and indicator of our progress towards becoming one of the

leading economies of the world by the year 2020,” he said.

Stressing the importance of sports as a binding force and source of joy for people of sundry social backgrounds, Jonathan said the vision was realistic and attainable with commitment, hard work, greater sense of purpose and dedication.

“No nation can afford to overlook the relevance of sports to national development and national wellbeing. As a powerful socio-economic tool for youth development, nation building and instilling core values of social justice, sports is at the heart of our Transformation Agenda,” he said.

He recalled the superlative performance of Nigerian athletes at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, particularly the performances of Chioma Ajunwa, who won the first individual gold medal for Nigeria, and the Dream Team, led by Kanu Nwankwo, that won the soccer gold.

However, the president noted the steady decline in Nigeria’s sports fortunes, noting that the retreat is intended to help retrace the

country’s sporting path.

“This retreat is timely, given the recent disappointing performance of Team Nigeria at the 2012 Olympics in London and our recent lows in football competitions among others.

“This unacceptable trend points to systemic failures that urgently call for a drastic and holistic review of our sports policies,’’ he said Earlier, Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said the objective of the retreat was among others, to evolve initiatives for further development of the sports sector over the next one to three years.

She asserted that regaining the nation’s glory in sports remains imperative, considering the importance of the sector to national development adding that it is a major employer of labour.

She illustrated the claim with a UK example where in 2008 consumers in England spent about 17.4 billion Pounds on sports-related activities which she said represented about 1.5 per cent of the country’s GDP.

The minister said, compared to Nigeria, sports, recreation and entertainment activities represented only about 0.25 per cent of the GDP.

he Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) yesterday commended the performance of Sunshine Stars FC of Akure in the CAF Champions League for 2012.

Sunshine Stars’ dream of lifting the trophy ended on Sunday following their 4-3 aggregate loss to Al-Ahly of Egypt.

The Egyptian side defeated the Nigerian team by one goal in the second leg match played in Cairo after recording a 3-3 draw in Ijebu Ode in the first leg encounter.

The Chairman of the NFF Media and Publicity Committee, Chief Emeka Inyama, however, said that the team must be commended for their efforts.

“Sunshine Stars of Akure gave a good account of themselves in the competition and deserve plaudits from Nigerians.

“The same club got to the semifinal of the CAF Confederation Cup last year and has made an indelible mark in the 2012 CAF Champions League.

“Surely, the team could have done better in the first leg against Ahly if not for the strike action embarked upon by the players before that match,’’ Inyama said.

He urged the Nigeria Premier League’s (NPL) 2010/2011 runners-up to build on their experience in the competition for future competitions.

“We believe that with the experience the team has gained on the road, it will be better equipped next time to go all the way in any continental campaign,” he said.

18th NSF: President, 36 govs, to hoist flags Nov. 3

P

resident Goodluck Jonathan will hoist the national flag at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos on November 3 as part of activities leading to the commencement of the 18th National Sports Festival.

The Secretary of the festival’s Main Organising Committee (MOC), Alhaji Abba Yola, who disclosed this yesterday, said the contingent from the FCT and the 36 states of the federation would be participating in the festival, with more than 22,000 athletes and accompanying officials also in attendance.

“President Jonathan, who is also the festival’s Grand Patron, will be the Special Guest at the occasion, tagged “Flag Hoisting Ceremony” and scheduled for the stadium’s Main Bowl, where he will hoist the national flag.

“He will be joined by the

governors of the 36 states and the FCT minister, who will all also hoist their states’ flags at the venue. This event, the hoisting of flags, is to practically demonstrate the festival as a symbol of oneness and will also serve as an endorsement for the event,’’ Yola said.

The MOC secretary said the festival’s Delegates Registration Meeting (DRM) has also been scheduled to hold from November 2 through November 9 in Abuja.

The meeting would allow state directors of sports, or their representatives to confirm their respective contingent’s size and final entries in terms of athletes and officials in each sport, according to him.

The festival will begin on November 27 and end on December 9.

PAGE 42

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

2013 Nations Cup finals

Chipolopolo to camp in India

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Palancas Negras dare Super Eagles in friendly duel

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ngola, who stopped Nigeria from the Germany 2006 World Cup finals, have proposed a warm-up game for the Palancas Negras and the Super Eagles before the 2013 Nations Cup finals, officials said. Angola Football Association vice-president, Joao Lusevikueno said yesterday that they wish to test their readiness for the forthcoming AFCON in South Africa against Nigeria.

“We have proposed to play a match against Nigeria and we hope it is come through,”Lusevikueno said in a radio interview.

Both countries clashed in a similar game in January while Angola were preparing for the 2012 tournament in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

The match against Nigeria’s home-based stars in Abuja ended in a goalless draw. Angola qualified for their seventh Nations Cup after they eliminated Zimbabwe.

The Palancas Negras, who played hosts in 2010, beat Zimbabwe 2-0 at home to cancel out a 3-1 loss in Harare to go through on the away goals rule.

Nigeria defeated Liberia 8-3 on aggregate to reach 2013 AFCON. They take on Venezuela in a friendly next month in the United States of America, while a training camp for players in the Nigeria Premier League has been planned for Europe before a final residential training most likely in Zimbabwe.

he Football Association of Zambia and Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) are finalising arrangements for an intensive Zambia training camp as a prelude to preparations for the 29th edition of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations finals.

The camp is scheduled to commence at the close of the 2012 FAZ MTN Super League season and a few weeks before African champion coach Herve Renard names his provisional squad to commence preparations for the Africa Cup of Nations finals.

“The camp in India will be an opportunity for the local players to get together and get into the strides and ethics and working culture of the Chipolopolo.

It will provide an opportunity for a number of local league players and some internationals to get their act together and a stake a claim in the African champions’ provisional Nations Cup squad, which is expected to be announced soon after that tour of duty of India,” FAZ spokesperson Erick Mwanza.

N

Shola Ameobi

Felix Katongo of the Chipolopolo as Zambia won her maiden Nations Cup final,

beating Ivory Coast in the 2012 final.

Can ‘Big Boss’ Keshi deliver top prize?

‘Big Boss’Stephen Keshi has qualified Nigeria to the 2013 AFCON and the next poser is if he could now win the top prize in South Africa, writes Samm Audu of mtnfootball.com.

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he Super Eagles have won the Nations Cup twice with the last being 18 years ago when incidentally Keshi was captain of the team.

His contract clearly stipulates a semi-final target at South Africa 2013, but recent noises by top officials including the country’s sports minister suggest they want Nigeria to go all the way and win a third Nations Cup trophy.

After the catastrophic outing

by Nigeria at the London

Amokachi offers Ameobi Eagles hope allegiance to Nigeria after they igeria assistant coach Daniel Amokachi has offered Newcastle striker Shola Ameobi more hope he will soon make his Eagles debut.

Ameobi and Victor Moses have changed their international

“Going into the 2012 Nations Cup finals we had very successful camp in Goa, India. Yes, India is much more known for cricket but as repeatedly stated, our tour of duty of India will avail us excellent training facilities and a tranquil environment which will allow the technical staff and players enjoy the training.”

KCM Chief Executive Officer Jeyakumar Janakaraj said KCM is pleased to partner with FAZ in arranging the Indian training camp which, he hopes, would set the tone for a successful preparation of the Chipolopolo.

“We’re focused on continuously helping advance the high standards of football. As such, we are making arrangements with FAZ to take the national team to India for a training camp so that we produce more good players for the Africa Cup,” Janakaraj said.

In the last training tour of India, Nathan Sinkala, Hichani Himoonde and Chisamba Lungu made the Nations Cup team and went on to become key members

represented England at agegrade levels.

Chelsea winger Victor Moses has since February debuted for the Eagles, while Ameobi has yet to be called up.

However, assistant coach Amokachi said the Newcastle striker will soon get his chance with the national team.

“With the formation Stephen Keshi is playing now, we would need a big, strong striker and Shola (Ameobi) is one of such players. He will get his chance soon,” disclosed Amokachi, who in his playing days featured for Everton also in the EPL. Ameobi’s younger brother Sammy, who also features for Newcastle, has already trained with the Nigeria U20s even though he has since chosen to feature for the England U19s.

Olympics, the country’s top officials are desperate for heroes to show off so as to keep their plum jobs.

As a coach, this will be Keshi’s fifth AFCON having assisted both Jo Bonfrere and Shuaibu Amodu in 2000 and 2002.

On both occasions, Nigeria reached the last four, while he crashed out in the first round with Togo and Mali at the 2006 and 2010 tournaments, respectively.

For many, Nigeria remain one of the biggest underachievers in African football despite the huge promise they have shown for many years.

German coach Berti Vogts guided the Eagles to the 2008 Nations Cup and after their laboured flight was cut short by the host country Ghana in the quarterfinal, he lost his job.

Against most odds, Nigeria placed third at Angola 2010 and coach Amodu was then shown the exit door as the 2010 World Cup fever caught up with everyone in the country.

Preparation for the forthcoming AFCON will be crucial to how far Keshi could go in South Africa.

The Eagles will play a friendly on November 14 in Miami against Venezuela, a decent South American side, while a two-week training stint in Europe for the players in the domestic league is also on the cards.

Depending on where the team will be based for the first round of the tournament, Nigeria also plan to set up a training site in Zimbabwe or Mozambique, going by the proposal before the NFF. The NFF have done well to prepare the various national teams adequately for major

competitions and so the build-up to the 19th Nations Cup is not expected to be any different.

The AFCON will afford Keshi at least two weeks to work with his best players. This is something of a luxury when the longest time he has had with his players from Europe has been a week to a major qualifier.

And the team will be better for it if they then reach at least the last four in South Africa as they would have stayed together as a team for an additional three weeks.

This can only stand the Eagles in good stead for their 2014 World Cup qualifier at home against a re-energised Harambee Stars of Kenya.

Keshi must be clear on how he wants to go about his toughest coaching test yet.

Will he go with committed but not very experienced players from the NPL or will he give another chance for the Europebased stars to prove they are ready to put their body on the line for Nigeria as they did against Liberia?

Despite the flattering 6-1 home win over Liberia recently, the Eagles still remain very much a work in progress.

The defence, especially at right back and in the centre, is vulnerable, while Keshi’s Eagles are still in dire need of a creative central midfielder in the mould of the great Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha.

Chelsea midfielder Mikel Obi is not this player. He has already been tried out in this role with very little success.

Nosa Igiebor is too attackminded to assert himself in midfield, but the versatile Fengor Ogude and Raheem Lawal may well be the missing link.

Lawal has finally sorted out his club problems, while Ogude is fit again and could shine in the role to dictate the game from midfield if given the confidence to do so.

Another cause for concern is that the Eagles are still not playing as a team and have relied mainly on individual brilliance to get by. This is an age-long problem.

The time these players have played for each other, Nigeria won the 1994 Nations, qualified for the 1994 World Cup and clinched an historic Olympic Gold in 1996.

This is a coaching problem and if Keshi can fix it in South Africa, Nigeria’s long-suffering fans could well have yet another reason to maintain that the team would have won this same competition in 1996 but for a senseless boycott.

Stephen Keshi

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 43

Wenger in pensive mood over Gunners’ league standing

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rsene Wenger had hoped for nothing but the maximum points in the Gunners’ game against Norwich City. But as it turned out, Arsenal did not even have the consolation of a shared point.

Instead, they were beaten by a better organised, more purposeful Norwich City that had waited for the victory for more than 20 years. What’s more, they were superior tactically and took the only clear chance that came their way.

Thus, an “angry” Wenger has admitted to his concern at an “unpleasant” gap separating his Arsenal side and the pacesetters in the Premier League.

Ten points now distance Arsenal from league leaders Chelsea, and Wenger has expressed his frustration at a disappointing display by his players at Carrow Road.

“We gave an easy game away and I am angry,” Wenger, who celebrated his 63rd birthday on Monday, said. “In the end, Norwich gave us a good lesson, but it is one I would rather not have.

“They wanted the win more than us, showed more desire

Arsene Wenger

and it is hard for me to admit that. Too many lessons like this and you stand at the end of the season with too many regrets.”

He added: “The gap is very unpleasant. We had an opportunity that Tottenham could win and we could win, and we both lost. That of course makes the gap a lot bigger.

“You cannot say you do not worry about that, but what is more disappointing is that we could not score. After we went 1-0 down we had the ball for 70 minutes and could not score a goal.”

Wenger was asked after the game whether he could look to sign a striker in the January transfer window, following a lack of firepower demonstrated against Norwich.

He said: “I cannot answer that question now. We did not create enough against Norwich, that is for sure, but we have players coming back and have to assess how things are progressing in January before making decisions.

“There are far too many players who are below what is required in the Premier League, and the players weren’t at their best in terms of their concentration or commitment.

We have to face the reality.”

Eto’o confesses PSG interest, talks F

ormer Barcelona and Inter Milan goal ace and now Anzhi Makhachkala striker Samuel Eto’o has revealed that he held talks with Paris Saint-Germain in the summer over a possible transfer.

The Cameroonian, who is the highest paid player in the world, confessed that he had seriously considered the offer to join new big money spending PSG last summer.

Eto’o, 31, is currently plying his trade in Russia after joining the mega-rich Anzhi last summer from Inter Milan in a deal believed to make him the world’s highest-paid player.

And the Cameroon international has now

admitted he came close to joining one of the world’s other big-money clubs, in the shape of PSG. Eto’o confirmed the two parties held negotiations recently adding, however, that the French side decided to opt for the signing of Zlatan Ibrahimovic instead.

“PSG is a great team with a great coach but it did not happen,” he told Canal Football Club radio show. “They took a very great player creating good things for them instead (Ibrahimovic).”

Also present on the radio show was PSG boss Carlo Ancelotti, who confirmed that talks did infact take place between Eto’o and the club.

“I do not speak with

players directly,” he said.

“Leonardo (PSG director of football) did these things.

Eto’o is the friend of Leo. I think they spoke many times.”

Despite the talks with PSG, the former Barcelona man insists he is enjoying life in Russia with Anzhi, while he is also focusing on doing well for his country after making a recent return from the international wilderness.

“I continue with Anzhi,” he said. “A return in the coming months in a club in the West is unthinkable.

“I’ll also continue with Cameroon. I was asked to come back, I did not choose.

Hopefully we’ll qualify for the next World Cup. While ruling out a move back to the west for the

S

Samuel Eto’o mean time, the striker is not placing any further limitations on the rest of his playing career.

“Stop in six months? It is a fantasy,” he said. “As

Messi bears down on Pele, Muller goal marks

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Pele

Sunshine Stars may protest Cairo harrassment

ionel Messi’s hat-trick in Barcelona’s 5-4 tightrope walk of a win over Deportivo La Coruna has brought the forward closer to beating Pele and Gerd Muller’s all-time calendar marks of 75 and 85 goals respectively.

Messi has now scored 71 goals in 2012, meaning that by his standards he is only a couple of games away from surpassing Pele’s 1959 tally of 75 for Santos and Brazil, Catalan daily El Mundo Deportivo pointed Lionel Messi out on Sunday on its website.

“Messi now has 71 goals, 12 of those for Argentina, and has another eight weeks to boost the tally,” the paper noted.

“Everything therefore points to him beating ‘O Rei’ (‘king’ Pele) and maybe also Muller, who in 1972 ... piled up 85 with Bayern and the German national side,” the Barcelona daily continued.

Messi, also looking for a fourth FIFA World Player of the Year award, has already set a new Barcelona record in scoring 59 goals already in 2012 this year one more than his total in 2010.

He has also managed 15 league hat-tricks for Barcelona, with Saturday’s effort moving him ahead of legendary former star Cesar.

A further two trebles in the Spanish Cup, three more in the UEFA Champions League and one in the Spanish Super Cup mean he has 21 overall for his club.

Gerd Muller

long as I continue to have fun, I will play. I started for the money. Nowadays, it is not a question of money because they pay me well.”

unshine Stars, Nigeria’s CAF Champions League representatives, who narrowly missed qualifying for the final of the continental clubs’ fiesta, may have officially lodged a protest with CAF over harassment by Al Ahly fans.

The Nigerian side, who needed to beat their hosts to secure the ticket to the final, were blocked in their hotel by protesting soccer fans, who were angry that the Egyptian FA’s directive canceling the remaining fixtures of their domestic league.

Speaking after the second leg of the semi-finals match, head coach Gbenga Ogunbote was absolutely livid at the way things unfolded in Cairo on Sunday night. His team was defeated by a lone goal but he has much more to gripe about.

Over 5 000 protesters moved to the Egyptian presidential palace after the EFA canceled the Egyptian league and some of them blocked the Nigerians delegation in their hotel.

“We played in a weird atmosphere, the protesters blocked us at the hotel and that made the players feel afraid, I will wait and see what CAF will do with Al Ahly,” Gbenga said after the match.

“I will not talk more about the game, but what happened was very bad, for African football and we will complain after what we saw here” he pointed out.

“I think if Al Ahly was in same position when they were in Nigeria, I think they would not have played the game,” he added angrily.

PAGE 44

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

Blanc, Deschamps, Desailly and not Zidane were the backbones of French World Cup winning team, claims Trezeguet

David Trezeguet

River Plate captain David Trezeguet , the Frenchman with Argentinian roots, has amassed a formidable medal collection during his career, notably at Italian giants Juventus and with the national side including victory at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA EURO 2000.

The Juve’s fourthhighest goalscorer of all time told FIFA.com about his early days in French football, his time with Les Bleus and his emotional bond

“

France gave me so much, but I’ve always been Argentinian at heart and I’ve always been very fond of its football and national team.

But, of course, when I had to take them on I’d give my all for France.

Zinedine Zidane any people won’t be aware of the sacrifices you made early in your career, so can you tell us about how you left Argentina to try your luck in the French game?

I wouldn’t class it as a sacrifice so much, because when you’re 18 you don’t think about things too much, either on a footballing or personal level. My objective was to go to France, and I didn’t think about what I had here.

My folks had good jobs here, my sister was going to school. We were doing well and didn’t lack for anything. But anyway, when you’ve got enough enthusiasm and don’t over think, things turn out well. It was a unique experience for me over there [in France].

I joined a big club like Monaco and it was extraordinary for my growth as a player. That gave me the chance to break into the national squad, win the 1998 World Cup, the EURO in 2000, and make the leap to Italian football.

Do you think you played your best football on Italian soil?

That’s where I spent the biggest chunk of my career, having been at Juventus for ten years. That was the best thing that happened to me because it was where I got to know real football, at an ambitious club with ambitious players.

Having experienced that, I don’t feel out of place giving out advice or an opinion on what River could do to achieve what I did over that decade. I had the chance to play with three Ballon d’Or winners in (Zinedine) Zidane, (Fabio) Cannavaro and (Pavel) Nedved, as well as getting to know the likes of (Alessandro) Del Piero, (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic, Emerson, (Lilian) Thuram and (Patrick) Vieira.

They were extraordinary players who, as well as being talented, always had a fierce desire to win titles. That level of ambition is vital if you want to achieve your goals.

How important was Thierry Henry in the early stages of your career?

I’ve got a very strong friendship with Henry, because he helped me so much when I joined Monaco. The team was made up of players who were 28, 30 years old or above, and he was the only lad who was 19.

And well, even though I didn’t yet speak the language, he’d take me out places, keep me company and he helped me find out about and learn a lot of things. I’ve got so much time for him because he’s someone who really helped me evolve, not just in footballing terms but socially and culturally too.

What was the hardest part of that adaptation process?

At the time the most difficult part of being in France was the language.

I’ve always been a very open person when it comes to adapting to new things and learning the language was vital for that.

I found it tough, but I got there.

At the age I was then, my family had the biggest role to play: the fact that my parents and my sister were there too gave my life crucial stability.

Things have been fairly black-and-white for you at the FIFA World Cup: a winner in 1998, out in the first round in 2002 and a beaten finalist in 2006...

There were a lot of changes [in personnel] in between. After the 1998 and 2000 era when we won everything, the team underwent a generation overhaul. We lost the likes of [Laurent] Blanc, [Didier] Deschamps and (Marcel) Desailly, Marcel Desailly

M

all of whom were very important to the side and vital members of the French set-up.

Over here in South America people tend to remember Zidane more, as he was key in technical terms, but there were other players who were more important to us out on the field and were the glue that kept the side together.

Blanc, who’s now the ex-national team boss, alongside Deschamps, the current coach, were the two most important parts of the backbone of our team. And, as with every national side, bringing a new generation through is a struggle.

And then what happened?

Both 2002 and 2004 were difficult periods for France. By 2006 that core of new players had begun to find their feet, but later on came a number of external issues that overshadowed the football side of things.

Your last involvement at a FIFA World Cup was a penalty in the shoot-out against Italy in the Final of Germany 2006. Was the fact you were facing Juve team-mate Gianluigi Buffon partly the reason you missed your kick?

Not at all. That’s the kind of thing the press might say, but it’s got nothing to do with it. Every penalty, however well you know someone, is a one-off duel. Clear proof of that is the fact that Buffon knew me well and even so he went the wrong way. Despite the fact we’d been playing together for nigh on six years he guessed the other side, but the ball came back off the bar. Every penalty has its own story and the fact he was a club-mate made no difference.

You know Didier Deschamps well, so how do you think he’ll do at the France helm?

I think it’s looking good, which is how I felt about Blanc when he was in charge too. They’re both good coaches who see the game the right way. Of course, you can’t know what went on inside the camp, but Blanc decided to step aside and that’s when Deschamps stepped in. I’m hoping France can qualify for the next World Cup and continue to grow from there, because they’ve got a good enough core of players to achieve big things. They’re still evolving, and that must be allowed to continue.

Having chosen to play for France, how close a bond have you felt for the Argentinian national team over the years?

I’m fond of it. I’m certainly not disinterested. Even as an Argentinian, I’ve been very clear in my attitude towards France: I’ve always had a huge amount of respect toward a country that took me in and gave me so much.

I’ve even got two French children now! France gave me so much, but I’ve always been Argentinian at heart and I’ve always been very fond of its football and national team. But, of course, when I had to take them on I’d give my all for France.

How did it feel to play against Argentina?

I played a friendly against them in 2007, which I remember Argentina winning 1-0 with a Javier Saviola goal. Even though those games are never totally ‘friendly’, the circumstances, mental preparation and objectives aren’t the same as in a World Cup. I’d have liked to play against them in a competitive game, but I didn’t get the chance.

Mauro Camoranesi, a friend of yours, told us recently that he and his Italy team-mates were relieved to be facing Germany not Argentina in the semi-finals of Germany 2006.

Did you also want to avoid La Albiceleste?

Both Argentina and Brazil have earned a huge amount of respect in European footballing circles. And they both share the same goals as teams like Italy andFrance: to win the World Cup. Argentina have always been a fearsome side due to their characteristics and individual quality.

What are the main differences between the style of play of South American and European sides?

European teams have always shied away from South American football. They struggle to get to grips with it. The South American game is more technical and about keeping possession, while European football is more dynamic, physical and direct. When they (European teams) play sides that slow the game down it causes them problems.

Laurent Blanc

Didier Deschamps

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 45

A

B

A/ Seven sides have 100 per cent records to defend on Matchday 3 of the UEFA Champions League: big guns Porto, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United, and the surprise duo of Malaga and BATE Borisov.

F

PICTORIAL

B/ Sir Alex Ferguson says his disagreement with Rio Ferdinand was due to a "communication problem" and has been resolved.

C

C/ Brit Insurance will not renew its sponsorship of the England team when its four-year deal ends in early 2014.

D/ Phil Ball witnessed the striking brilliance of Falcao, as the Atletico man made it 16 goals in his last 10 outings.

E/ Lance Armstrong is stripped of his seven Tour de France titles by cycling's governing body the UCI.

E

F/ British and Commonwealth champion David Price, who floored Audley Harrison, will fight Matt Skelton on 30 November at Aintree.

G/ Victoria Azarenka will be out for revenge over Serena Williams when they meet at this week's WTA Championships in Istanbul.

G

D

PAGE 46

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

18th NSF: Benue hopes to surpass previous record in athletics

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ohn Jinawa, Head Coach, Benue State Athletics Association yesterday said the state is fully prepared to surpass its previous performance in athletics at the upcoming National Sports Festival (NSF).

Jinawa said in Lagos that the state won a gold, three silver and two bronze medals at the last festivals the Garden City Games in Rivers. He said that government had pledged to give all the necessary support to ensure

that the athletes excel at the festival.

“We want to increase our medals haul at the festival in November. The athletes are training hard to ensure the state triumphs in athletics.

“I am happy to tell you that the level of attention we are receiving from the state government is a big plus to our preparation for the festival,’’ he said.

The coach said the athletes were paid allowances by the state, adding that this had further encouraged the athletes’ preparations.

“The allowance will encourage them to train hard. It will also boost their morale and motivate them to put in their best to make the state proud,’’ Jinawa said.

The coach, then, urged the government to continue to devote more attention to sports generally, saying it would go a long way in engaging youth in the state.

... Official promises Lagos handball gold medals

A

Roger Federer

Victoria Azarenka

Federer, Azarenka stay top of ATP rankings

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oger Federer and Victoria Azarenka remained top of the men and women ATP tennis rankings released yesterday. Whereas Federer maintains his leadership ahead of Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, not so the female rankings as Germany’s Angelique Kerber and Italy’s Sara Errani both climbed a place, improving to fifth and seventh places, respectively.

Swiss Federer stayed on 12,165 points, with Serb Djokovic still 195 points adrift on 11,970, while Britain’s Murray remains on 7,690 in an unchanged top 10.

Belarussian Azarenka has 10,190 points, while Maria Sharapova of Russia stays second on 9,115 and Serena Williams of the U. S. remains third on 7,900 going into this week’s season-ending WTA Championships in Istanbul.

Men’s top 10 rankings

1. (1) Roger Federer, Switzerland, 12,165 points 2. (2) Novak Djokovic, Serbia, 11,970 3. (3) Andy Murray, Britain, 7,690 4. (4) Rafael Nadal, Spain, 6,995 5. (5) David Ferrer, Spain, 5,360 6. (6) Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic, 4,985 7. (7) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France, 4,815 8. (8) Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina, 3,740 9. (9) Janko Tipsarevic, Serbia, 3,160 10. (10) Juan Monaco, Argentina, 2,775.

Women’s top 10 rankings (1) Victoria Azarenka, Belarus, 10,190 points 2. (2) Maria Sharapova, Russia, 9,115 3. (3) Serena Williams, U. S., 7,900 4. (4) Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland, 7,095 5. (6) Angelique Kerber, Germany, 5,470 6 (5) Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic, 5,215 7. (8) Sara Errani, Italy, 4,855 8. (7) Li Na, China, 4,726 9. (9) Samantha Stosur, Australia, 4,120 10. (10) Marion Bartoli, France, 3,740.

Gora tasks AFN on coaching seminars

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lias Gora, a former Vice-President of the Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN), has stressed the need for athletics coaches in the country to get exposed to such training programmes that would boost their competence.

Speaking after the threeday seminar for coaches organised by the Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN), the former NOC scribe, who is also the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) instructor, said previous exercises did not yield the desired impact.

Consequently, he urged the AFN to align its training activities with the international federation’s guidelines, adding that the forum/clinic held from October 18 to October 20 at the Media Centre of the National Stadium, Lagos, was meant to do just that.

“If the AFN is organising a seminar, it is indeed a step in the right direction, but the key question is ‘who the resource persons are’ and ‘its duration’.

“Another question to ask is ‘whether the training is in line with the IAAF developmental coaching

CHANGE OF NAME I, FORMERLY KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS HADIZA UMAR BABA IBBI, NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS HADIZA UMAR MOYI. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. GENERAL PUBLIC SHOULD PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

CHANGE OF NAME MY PRIMARY SCHOOL CERTIFICATE CARRIED IZUAJE VAUGHAN, MY INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT IS CARRYING HENRY JAMLECH IYOGUN BUT NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AS IYOGUN VAUGHAN MILEJELI. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. GENERAL PUBLIC SHOULD PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

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programme’ and ‘what the course content is,” the former AFN vice-president said.

Gora, who was the country’s Chef De Mission to the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games, stressed that the quality of coaches invited to such a programme was also critical to its effectiveness.

“Are the invited coaches individuals that have the ability to disseminate

World cycling body strips Armstrong of Tour titles

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ycling’s world governing body UCI yesterday ratified the U.S. AntiDoping Agency (USADA) decision to strip Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles.

It follows examination of the USADA report which said Armstrong led “the most s o p h i s t i c a t e d , professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen’’.

information cogently?; that is the issue at stake for me. I have nothing against any coaching seminar.

“But it should be done appropriately for us to get the required development of our athletes at international competitions,’’ Gora added.

deola Opeifa, Chairman, Lagos State Handball Association, has reiterated the association’s determination to win the gold medals in the event at the 18 thNational Sports Festival.

Opeifa, who made the pledge yesterday in Lagos in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the association was 80 percent ready for the biennial Games.

“Government has tried a lot and we must reciprocate the huge spending by winning laurels for the state. By my assessment, we are 80 per cent ready for the festival.

“We have been in camp from March till date and have held four championships to put the athletes in good shape. Our athletes have been exposed to regular competitions and they are training hard to win,’’ she said.

According to her, 24 male and 24 female players are currently in camp at Mayon Barracks, Yaba, and 16 would be selected from each category for the fiesta.

Opeifa lauded the Lagos State Government for the attention it was giving to sports development at the grassroots, saying there must be a “‘give and take’’ principle.

“Government programmes are fantastic and we will do our best to get the gold medals to compensate the state’s efforts, I assure you,” she said.

The chairman said the association was planning to organise a friendly game with its Oyo State counterpart, to further perfect its preparations for the festival. We intend to go for a friendly match with Oyo State in November, if fund is available,’’ she said.

He urged the Federal Government to focus on the provision of equipment, regular competitions and good welfare packages to motivate athletes.

Nigeria, 59 others for 2013 World Universities Games

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igeria and 59 other countries have expressed readiness to compete at the 2013 Summer Universiade in the city of Kazan, Russia, the organisers said yesterday.

The organisers, the International Federation of University Sports (FISU), said in a statement in Abuja yesterday that 36 of them applied online, while the rest completed general entry forms by mail.

It would be recalled that the World Universities Games is scheduled for July 6 to July 17, 2013 with 205 countries already invited.

The final list of participating countries is not being expected until Jan. 6, 2013 which is the deadline for all applications, the statement said.

It said that countries which had submitted general entry forms included Nigeria, the U.S,, Canada,

China, Great Britain, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, New Zealand, Uruguay, Pakistan, Italy and Ukraine.

The statement said the organisers would be expecting about 170 participating countries, with the total number of athletes and officials expected to reach a record level of 13,500.

It quoted Igor Shuvalov, the Chairman of the Kazan 2013 Organising Committee and First Deputy Chairman

of the Government of the Russian Federation as saying that four countries were being looked up to for the event.

“The largest delegations of up to 500 athletes and more are being expected from such countries as the U.S, Canada, China and Great Britain,’’ it said.

The number of participants per team and rosters will be announced not later than one month before the start of the Games.

Bolaji Abdullahi, Sports Minister

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

PAGE 47

Say what?

Source: Reader's Digest

Quick CrossWord (53)

FACTS * The highest point in Pennsylvania is lower than the lowest point in Colorado. * The Bible has been translated into Klingon. * Toto was paid $125 per week while filming the "Wizard of Oz". * All polar bears are left handed. * To help reduce budget deficits, several states have begun reducing the amount of food served to prison inmates. In Texas, the number of daily calories served to prisoners was cut by 300, saving the state $6,000,000 per year. * The only member of the band ZZ Top without a beard has the last name Beard.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

1 Religious pamphlets (6) 4 Wattle (6) 8 US organisation once headed by J Edgar Hoover (inits) (3) 9 Moving to another place (9) 11 Famous West End statue (4) 12 Top hotel rating (4-4) 15 Small sausage (9) 19 Derision (8) 19 Oil company (4) 21 Wastes away (9) 23 Bed for babies (3) 24 Carried heavy equipment over rough ground (6) 25 Keen on equitation (6)

DOWN 1 Crested (6) 2 Basic protein component (5,4) 3 Mountain lake (4) 5 Giant’s __, Irish landmark (8) 6 T’ai __, Eastern movement system (3) 7 Moddens (6) 10 Common herd (3,6) 13 Conducts (business) (9) 14 Acolyte (8) 16 Squeaking and unoiled (6) 17 Inclined to backchat (6) 20 European capital city (4) 22 Spirit distilled from molasses (3)

* Pope John Paul II is the world's Scrabble champion in the over-70 category. * Montpelier, Vermont is the only state capitol without a McDonald's. * In 1993, the board of governors at Carl Karcher Enterprises voted (5 to 2) to fire Carl Karcher. Carl Karcher is the founder of Carls Jr. restaurants.

Yesterday’s answer

* The little hole in the sink that lets the water drain out, instead of flowing over the side, is called a "percolator." * The wingspan of a Boeing 747 jet is longer than the Wright Brothers' first flight.

Source: Weird facts

ACROSS

A man transports used empty plastic cans on a horse cart to a junkyard at Panchkula in the northern Indian state of Haryana.

Source: Reuters.com

www.peoplesdaily-online.com

. . . putting the people first

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

QUO TABLE Q UO TE UOT QUO UOTE This country, in my view, has failed because of lack of mentoring. People come into positions unprepared, without guidance and they try to learn on the job and it has happened to the most sensitive positions and offices in the country.

– CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

SPORTS Achebe: A man and his people LA TEST LATEST

Manu to pick 18 'warriors' against Guinea

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olden Eaglest head coach, Manu Garba will pick 18 out of the 30 players in camp later this week for the crucial second round-second leg African Under-17 qualifier away to Guinea.

The Eaglets take a three-goal lead to Conakry but Coach Garba reckons that his wards are battle ready and would scale the Guinean hurdle.

"Our training and preparations have been going well and we are happy with the condition of the players,” Manu said after yesterday morning training."The players have coped very well despite the tough schedule they have been going through."

The team failed to meet its six goals per match as they squandered several opportunities in their first leg 3-0 win against Guinea in Calabar penultimate weekend.

Also speaking, Assistant coach Nduka Ugbade said the team would do well in Conakry: “We created about 12 scoring in the first leg against Guinea but we were able to score just three goals,” stated the erstwhile captain of the Golden Eaglets.

The Eaglets have scored a total of 13 goals in three qualifying matches but conceded a goal which was a spurious penalty in the 4-1 win in their away game against Niger in Niamey.

Altogether, the Nigerian youngsters have banged in 76 goals in 17 matches and Ugbade said he was confident that the team would make things difficult for the Guineans.

“We are hopeful and our confident is based on the fact that we can create chances and the more this is done the better for us," he noted."I'm sure we should be able to score in Guinea and that would compound their problems based on the away goals rule."

Meanwhile, there are no injury worries for the Golden Eaglets with confirmation from the team’s doctor, Dr. Ayodeji Olarinoye that all the players jostling to be part of the contingent to Conakry are in good health.

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t is becoming increasingly worrisome that Professor Chinua Achebe will end his long, glorious career just as it began - mired in controversy.

And that is not the best epitaph any patriotic Nigerian would want to read about a man who, to my mind, should in his characteristic humility accept the honour of being the greatest Nigerian alive. At the beginning of his career, Professor Achebe spiritedly fended off charges of plagiarism from a fellow Igbo when he published his best known novel, ‘Things Fall Apart’. His accuser had charged then that the young Achebe reworked and took the credit for his own account of life in pre-colonial Igbo society. For very obvious reasons, Professor Achebe’s accuser was cajoled and persuaded to drop his charge rather than spoil the party for a rising star. In most Nigerian traditional societies, it is considered a taboo for a man to attempt to pour sand into the bowl of garri of another member of society.

But we are talking of the 1960s, a time when the internet never even existed in the imagination of men. In today’s jet age, Professor Achebe would have had more explaning to do. When Professor Wole Soyinka was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986, many Nigerian critics in the Yorubaspeaking south west expressed indignation with the choice by positing that Professor Achebe, an Igbo, not Professor Soyinka who is ‘one of their own’, indeed a Yoruba man who globally campaigned on behalf of Biafra, was better suited for the award.

In fifty years, ‘Things Fall Apart’ has become an all time classic and has turned to be one novel that placed Nigeria on a high pedestal.

Take it or leave it: if ordinary Nigerians had a hand in awarding the 1986 Nobel Prize for Literature, it is most likely Professor Achebe would have picked it. Yet there were those who argued then, rightly or wrongly, that Professor Achebe was probably sidelined because of the ‘unsettled dust’ over the plagiarism charge that greeted ‘Things Fall Apart’.

Nearly fifty years on, Achebe is again in the eye of a storm. He has just published his war memoirs, ‘There Was A Country’, his own account, captured from a safe distance far from the trenches, of the 30-month long civil war that consumed an estimated one million lives. So far, the raging debate on the book is set to dwarf the controversy that surrounded ‘Things Fall

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GUEST COLUMNIST Abdulrazaq Magaji (magaji777@yahoo.com)

Prof. Chinua Achebe Apart’. At issue, and the portion of the book that has proved to be controversial, is the role Professor Achebe said certain Nigerians played in an admittedly uncivil war that some Nigerians prefer to refer to as genocide.

Specifically, he hinted that Chief Obafemi Awolowo, first premier of the defunct Western Region and his principal, then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, displayed genocidal tendencies when the federal government adopted hunger as a weapon of war. For obvious reasons, we have to excuse General Gowon: he was the head but Chief Awolowo, his federal commissioner (minister) of finance is credited with initiating moves to end the war.

Truth is, there is nothing new or original in what Professor Achebe wrote; if anything, what he wrote should be a matter that appeared settled while Chief Awolowo lived. Way back in 1979, and as he did in several publications before then, Chief Awolowo, typical of him, maintained his ground that, in war time there is no point feeding an adversary to fight you. He was convinced till the end that had the vital food supply lines to combatants in the trenches not been cut, chances were the needless war could have dragged for far much longer and many more lives would have

been lost. Of course, the first casualty of the decision was the ordinary Biafran who, in any case was forced to cut his ration as sacrifice toward prosecuting the war. Expectedly, the unwilling sacrifice ended when supply lines were cut after which the hunger pangs that had been the lot of struggling and sacrificing Biafrans became more pronounced among the combatants on the battlefront.

Truth be told, hunger-induced weak limbs, not shortage of firearms and certainly not the absence of young men to handle those firearms, killed the Biafran dream. And that precisely was the aim Chief Awolowo said the federal government sought to achieve by cutting vital food supply lines to Biafra.

Aside from advocating hunger as a weapon of war, Chief Awolowo and by extension, the Yoruba people (Awolowo was the Asiwaju or Leader of Yoruba) are still to be ‘forgiven’ for not supporting the Biafran cause.

While in the federal cabinet and after, Chief Awolowo maintained an earlier vow while on a ‘thank you’ visit to General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu to the effect that there would be no basis for the Yoruba speaking people of the south west to remain in Nigeria if any part of the country was allowed to secede. The visit, in the words of General Ojukwu, took place in Enugu after he released Chief Awolowo from Calabar prison few days before the war started.

Even to his bitterest critics, Chief Awolowo was unequivocal in his belief in the oneness of Nigeria.

Like Sir Ahmadu Bello, the late premier of the defunct Northern Region, Chief Awolowo was a Nigerian leader who was revered by his people. Sadly, his patriotic wake-up call against allowing a section to secede rather than being taken to be what it was meant to be was given a different interpretation.

Of course, Chief Awolowo paid for his actions nine years after the end of the war. In the heat of the 1979 presidential campaigns and despite picking Chief Phillip Umeadi as his running mate and having the erudite Chief MCK Ajuluchukwu as the main

spokesman of his Unity Party of Nigeria, Chief Awolowo was forced to cancel scheduled rallies parts of Igboland and once, he was hurriedly ferried to safety in his waiting helicopter when he was attacked by angry stonethrowing Igbo youth. Till he died, the Biafran leader never shared the anger of many of his fellow Igbos and never wavered in his description of Chief Awolowo as an authentic Nigerian hero. But for his own admission, the world would not have known that Chief Awolowo was a childhood hero of General Ojukwu. At the burial of Chief Awolowo in 1987, Ojukwu must have angered some of his fellow Igbo when, besides his prominent presence at the final rite of passage for the Asiwaju of the Yoruba in Ikenne, he proposed an enduring epitaph for Chief Awolowo as ‘the best president Nigeria never had’.

Nigeria has come a long way since the end of the war nearly 43 years ago. At the end of the war, Nigerians were told not to see one section of the country as the victor and the other as the vanquished. Like the Igbo, many Nigerians feel strongly that many things are wrong with their country and, the Igbo, despite having one of their own as vice president less than ten years after the civil war, have a genuine cause to complain about the slow wheel of their integration. Indeed, it was Ojukwu who, in the heat of the June 12 crisis in 1993, told Igbo traders to resist attempts by street urchins to push them out of Lagos. The message was simple and clear: if a war was fought to unify the country, then every Nigerian should feel safe to live and do business in any part of the country. But again, we have Ojukwu to thank for advocating the emergence of the right type of leadership, not the façade of a national conference, which he once said was another way of attempting to break up the country and which, in effect, was another way of sending young men to their untimely death.

Ordinarily, ‘There Was A country’ should be a fresh addition to libraries if the intention of Achebe were to publish a war memoir which he pieced together from a safe distance. But in rehashing wellknown but better forgotten facts to whip up sentiments, Achebe runs the risk of treading a weather beaten path which for thirty months led to the death of some one million Nigerians.

Incitement?

Published by Peoples Media Limited, 35, Ajose Adeogun Street, 1st Floor Peace Park Plaza, Utako, Abuja. Lagos Office: No.8 Oliyide Street, off Unity Road, Ikeja, Lagos, Tel: +234-09-8734478. Cell: +234 803 606 3308. e-mail: contact@peoplesdaily-online.com; pmlnewsdesk@gmail.com ISSN: 2141– 6141