Peoples Daily Newspaper, Saturday 26, January, 2013

www.peoplesdaily-online.com

www.peoplesdailyng.com

VOL. 3 NO. 25 SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

. . . putting the people first

RABI’UL AWWAL 13 - 14, 1434 AH

N150

PDP: Jonathan vs Govs: Who blinks first? *Jonathan strategises for 2015 *Governors insist party’s machinery is theirs *Tukur faces task to retain position

Suicide:

Was James, 25, frustrated with life?

>>Page 3

>>Pages9,9,10, 10,11, 11,12, 12,13 13&14 &14 >>Pages

How mad man slaughtered 5 villagers in Benue >>Page 4

Oppostion not fair to governor Mu’azu, says >>Page 45 aide

Passage: Hajiya Zahra NaNono dies at 60, in Kano

>>Page 8

Oct 1st bomber gets life jail >>Page 14

‘Obasanjo has questions to answer on corruption’ >>Pages 34,35

Former Gov. Ohakim sighted at EFCC WWW.PEOPLESDAILY-ONLINE.COM

Sen. Ahmed Zakari

>> Page 5

PAGE 2

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

My thoughts With Ayodele Samuel 08074420617 (SMS only)

News

Nigerian youths are today's leaders, tomorrow is far...

T

h i s week I decided to speak the minds of many young Nigerians who are dreaming of a better fathers’ Land in their life time, which should start from strong participation of the youths in Nigerian political process and governance.

During the recent Constitutional Review programme by the National Assembly, we came under the banner of Youth Alliance on Constitution Review (YACOR), a coalition of 30 groups to fine-tune our inclusion in the new constitution, removal of the age requirement for elective offices hurt us most.

One thing that took centre stage at the twitter conference was the constitutional role of Nigeria’s youths in democracy, the disjointed, disoriented, disorganized and incoherent pattern of youth’s involvement in political governance.

The constitutional denial of many youths, who are eager to make political changes if given the chance, must be addressed in the ongoing amendment process.

Nigerian youths constitute over 50 per cent of the voting population but lack the opportunities to correctly participate in the nation's political process except in casting votes that often end in trash bins. This however is contributing eminently to our woes over the years.

The current minimum age requirement for elective offices in Nigeria needs to be abolished.

Youths are the strength of every nation. Aside being the active age group and dominant of the nation's labour force, Nigerian economy to a large extent depends on its youths due to their awesome efficiency in private businesses and other endeavours within and outside Nigeria which impact on the country's revenue and international relevance cannot be overlooked.

It is a well-known fact that youthful exuberance, enthusiasm and energy tend to fuel organisational activities when exhibited in a controlled and tactical manner. Therefore, of what reason, why should youthful participation in politics, power and state resources control be delayed when the old ones have few steps away from their graves?

The age limit bar must be

redressed if we want to stop recycling these old hands in new garments that form our government. We need a younger generation of successive and responsible leadership to pilot the affairs of the country and the constitution amendment should allow this.

At the gathering, many of us (youths) asked for outright removal of age limit or in the alternative reduction of age qualification for contesting election to the office of the president from 40 years to 35 years; governors and Senate (30 years); House of Representatives and state Houses of Assembly (25 years).

We must not wait till when we are aging and our strength is lost to personal pursuits and accomplishments before we are allowed to undo the mess, the old generation has plunged us into.

If the popular excuse remains "wealth of experience". Fellow Nigerians, I think these politicians' experiences are needless, what has the experienced leaders since 1999 led us into, uncontrollable corruption, bad roads, massive unemployment, insecurity and many other chaotic situations.

Yet we wonder how same people that had failed us still find their way back to power to continue their looting spree, crumbling our brighter future because we are not allowed to challenge them at the polls. We can’t take this anymore.

Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikwe, Ahmadu Bello were in their youthful age when they made their landmark achievements for this country.

How old was General Gowon, Murtala Muhammed when they became Head of state? Yet their impacts were felt. 19 years old lady, Proscovia Alengot Oromait of Uganda is Africa’s youngest legislator.

Chad Barefoot at 29 and Rep. Justin Burr at 26, are the youngest Senators in the US congress, why are we denied of same? Nigerian youths have many positive things to contribute in governance if given the chance to seek elective positions.

We can rebuild this nation, we have the strength, we give a damn about our future, we are not the leaders of tomorrow but leaders of today. We are ready now!

Responses to Thoughts Mindless police killings, IGP, fish them out. Some Nigeria policemen are monsters, killing people the way they like. IGP should address this now! Weldone.

Sir James Ugo, Abuja Not all policemen kill innocent citizens, we still have good ones amongst them.

Ibrahim Ali, Kano What is the role of the media in stopping police killings? What has the media done to help stop this? Do you know how many policemen have paid the supreme price for Nigeria, but whose family are still being neglected?

ASP, Amodu Jalingo Improve the lives of policemen and you will see changes, it’s not easy to carry arms in Nigeria as policemen.

Uche Michael, Abuja

Nassarawa State Governor, Tanko Al- Makura, (right) with old women and Children displaced by Bassa, Fulani communal Clash, during the Governor’s visit to their temporary Camp centre, recently in Garaku, Nassarawa State. Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

Kwankwaso donates N3m, three houses to families of slain palace guards From Edwin Olofu, Kano

K

a n o state governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has donated the sum of N1 million and a three-bedroom house to each of the families of the aides of Emir of Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero who lost their lives during attack on the emir's convoy last weekend.

Presenting the cash and allocation forms to the next of kins of the slain palace guards, Governor Kwankwaso said the gesture was aimed at alleviating the sufferings of the bereaved families, saying his

administration has always been compassionate to the families of those who lost their lives in the line of duty.

Governor Kwankwaso noted that the gesture of the state government would also be extended to the four other people who sustained injuries during the attack.

"Apart from donating N1 million and a house to each of the three families of the slain guards, government has decided to give four people who suffered injuries the sum of N250,000 each," said the governor.

On bringing succor all

indigenes of the state who were killed or suffered injuries, the governor said since January last year, government has been helping the families of those who lost their lives through a committee headed by respected elder statesman, Malam Magaji Dambatta.

He said the government has also directed the Kumbotso local government council to arrange a similar gesture for the families of the late Interim Management Officer (IMO) of the council and his aide, who were also killed during the attack.

Man, 65, seeks dissolution of 40-year-old marriage

A

65-year-old man on Friday prayed an Igando Customary Court in Lagos to dissolve his 40 year-oldmarriage over alleged fetish behaviour by his wife.

Mr. Kareem Adesina, said he would no longer tolerate his wife, Memunat’s regular visits to witch doctors.

"My wife is very fetish and uses juju (charms). I am afraid she will harm me with her charms.

“I am not ready to die now; separate us before she kills me”,

he said.

He also told the court that Memunat had become uncontrollable.

“She goes out and returns home late; sometimes, she does not even come home”, Kareem submitted.

He added that he no longer loved his wife.

However, Memunat, 56, said that her husband abandoned her and their five children for another woman.

"He deserted us for the past nine years; I have been the one responsible for the upkeep of the children”, she said.

She submitted that she used the charms for prayers and not to harm.

Memunat pleaded with the court to save the marriage, saying that she still loved Kareem.

The President of the court, Mr. R.I. Adeyeri, adjourned the case till March 26 for possible reconciliation. (NAN)

EFCC attaches Ibori’s property in Lagos

By Julius Ogar

T

he Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Thursday, attached a property belonging to former governor of Delta state, James Ibori who is serving a jail term in a United Kingdom prison.

The property situated at No 5, Alpha Beach Road, Lekki, Lagos, is suspected to be one of the proceeds of money laundering for which the ex-governor was convicted in the UK. A statement signed by EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, said the attachment of the property is a fallout of the

continued efforts by the anti-graft agency to trace, find and seize properties that were acquired with stolen funds by the former governor.

The release adds that the property in question is a mansion with a mini reception at the ground floor and a detached Boys Quarters.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

PAGE 3

Feature Suicide

Was James, 25 frustrated with life?

From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

P

o l i c e authorities in Bauchi have begun investigation into the death of a young man, who allegedly hanged himself on a road path near the Bauchi-Jos highway, last weekend.

Residents said they woke up that Saturday to see the dangling body of the deceased who was later identified as James Ishaku, 25. He hailed from Alkaleri local government area of the state.

The police took his remains to the Trauma Centre of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital where a doctor certified him dead.

“In the process of investigation, we discovered the name of the man was James Ishaku,” Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) DSP Abbas Abdullahi, said, adding that his men have launched further investigations into the matter.

The PPRO explained that, “the Federal Highway Patrol team first saw the corpse dangling from the top of a tree along Wuntin Dada quarters on Bauchi-Jos highway and they reported the matter to the GRA police station and a team of policemen were sent to the scene where they removed the corpse and deposited it at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital Bauchi.”

Some of the items found on the deceased included, a Bible, photographs of his baptism by a clergy, dated September 2012, with jubilant people at the background taking pictures of the ceremony.

Another photograph of the deceased showed him smiling during his immersion in the water.

Also recovered is the deceased handset with his photograph,

sporting a polo T-shirt and a pair of jeans, on the screen.

Speaking with our correspondent, the Village Head of Miri, Samaila Inuwa, said he was at home when the news reached him that a man was seen hanging on a tree near the village.

He said, “I went there but I could not identify him. But he was young and it is so sad. I want to appeal to people to have faith in God no matter what they are going through in life rather than taking their own lives.”

According to an eyewitness, Adamu Wunti, “when I got to the scene, I met the man dangling on the branch of the tree. I saw a lot of people and travelers who stopped their cars to look atthe body hanging there. His legs were touching the ground and as the number of people kept increasing, the police came to remove his corpse.”

The two major religions in the country frown at suicide with Islam regarding it as one of the greatest sins and detrimental to one’s spiritual journey. A verse in the Quran instructs; “And do not kill yourselves; surely God is most Merciful to you,” and as narrated by Abu Huraira, the Prophet of Islam said that, “whoever purposely throws himself from a mountain and kills himself, will be in the (Hell) Fire falling down into it and abiding therein perpetually forever and whoever drinks poison and kills himself with it, he will be carrying his poison in his hand and drinking it in the (Hell) Fire wherein he will abide eternally forever; and whoever kills himself with an iron weapon, will be carrying that weapon in his hand and

james Ishaku’s clothes and shoes

Ishaku terminated his life in Bauchi stabbing his abdomen with it in the (Hell) Fire wherein he will abide eternally forever.”

In Christianity, death by suicide is also considered a grave sin, based on the reasoning that one’s life is the property of God and a gift to the world and to destroy that life is to wrongly

assert dominion over what is God’s.

Chairman of the Bauchi state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Lawi Pokti, notes that anybody who terminates his life prematurely goes to the Hell Fire.

Village head of Miri, Samai’la Inuwa

“We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to Him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance,” says a catechism of the Roman Catholic Church.”

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PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

Feature How man slaughtered five villagers on Sunday morning esidents of Tse-Alaaigyu, Ikyaghev district of Naka, Gwer West local government area of Benue state woke up on Sunday January 20, 2013 to the horrifying news that a man, Edwin Gyado, who has a record of insanity, had slaughtered five residents of the community. The incident shook the foundation of the town as residents ran helter-skelter for cover and also in search of loved ones who were not at home as at the time of the incident.

Eyewitness accounts said that trouble started that fateful day when 27 years Edwin, popularly called ‘Nomjov’ who owns a local brick molding machine at the Naka dam invited his 15 years old younger brother, Iior Iorguma, to the dam claiming he wanted to show him something. The unsuspecting lad accompanied his elder brother there where Edwin chopped of his head in one fell swoop.

Having set the stage, Edwin, according to the accounts, went upstream and caught up with 10 years old Dangote Samuel of TseUchough Nyamshi village and another girl, nine years old Joy Ortwav, and inflicted deadly machete cuts on them. Doctors at the Federal Medical Center, Apir, confirmed the two girls dead a few hours later.

Not done yet, Zaki Tor Gbenda who identified himself as Edwin’s friend narrated how the lunatic continued the killing spree, hacking off the head of 30 years old Mrs. Nyishima Tyosue a native of Tse-Dzwatema. Edwin had moments earlier slaughtered the woman’s nine years old son, Terhile Tyosue.

According to Zaki, “the murdered woman is my uncle’s wife.

I watched from afar as the woman pursued Edwin with a stick after he had killed her son. Apparently, her strength failed her and she fell down.

Edwin then ordered her to kneel down. I thought she wanted to forgive her but instead struck her

on the shoulder with the machete and cut off her head. I shouted and he ran after me.”

The slaughter would have continued but for the intervention of youth from the villages who eventually over powered Edwin and clubbed him to death on the spot.

“My husband was a nice man and I never envisaged that he would commit such an act,” Edwin’s widow, 21 years old Philomena told our Correspondent.

But Edwin’s elder brother, Daniel Gyado, a health worker at the local government, gave an insight to what might have led to the mindless slaughter of innocent people. According to him, Edwin lived a normal life and interacted very well with the people until a day earlier, on Saturday January 19, “Edwin complained bitterly to me that his in-laws were pressurizing him to complete the bride price of their daughter. When he told me this, I encouraged him not to be worried by their complaint and assured him that we will pay his wife’s dowry after consultations with the village head. But I was shocked when someone called woke me up at about 5:30 am on Sunday to say that my younger brother had gone on rampage in the village, killing five persons including a woman and her daughter.

“I could not believe it and so, I set out to look for him. Someone had spotted him at Imande village but later I discovered that a mob had killed him at Makurdi road in Naka.”

The death toll may rise as, as at the time of this report, Felix Tyosue, was still lying unconscious at the Fr. Mathias Health Care Clinic where doctors are still struggling to revive him.

The man had collapsed on hearing the killing of his wife and son.

Chairman, Gwer West local council, Mrs. Eunice Mbajwa, who described the incident as horrifying, said she has not been able to sleep since the incident noting further that there has not been peace in the area ever since.

Zaki Tor Gbenda, friend of late Edwin

Philomena, wife of late Edwin

From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

R

Late Edwin Gyado, ran amok, killed 5

The State Police Public Relations’ Officer DSP Daniel Ezeala confirmed the incident and said investigation was still ongoing to ascertain whether Edwin was actually insane.

Peoples Daily Weekend gathered that Edwin’s insanity had indeed started sometime in 2002 while at the Mount La Salle College where he was a student but he was treated at the Federal Medical Center, Makurdi. After regaining sanity, he returned and completed his secondary education and later gained admission into Calvin College of Education where he graduated with the National Certificate in Education (NCE).

NCE. He got married to Philomena in 2010 but the marriage was yet to produce any children as at the time of the incident.

The stream from where water from the earth dam flows.

Daniel Gyado

The burnt brick area where late Edwin murdered 5 people.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

PAGE 5

Photo News

L:R, Deputy Governor of Kaduna state Ambassador Nuhu Bajoga, Bishop Mathew Kukah of Sokoto Diocese, Senator Solomon Ewuga and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal during the thanks giving mass in Honour of Bishop kukah at Anchunu village, Kafanchan L.G. Kaduna state on Friday.

Mr. Sam Asowata's daughter, Princess Joy Isoken Samuel, wedded Seth Henshaw Azekhuoria Okoduwa, on December 15, 2012, traditionally and at the Heritage Assembly, Benin City, Edo State.

L-R: National president, Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Michael Alogba, Secretary General NUT, Obong Ikpe Johnny Obong and the National Publicity Secretary of the Organisation, Comrade Suleiman Gambari, during the Union 2013 Solemn Assembly, recently in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

News

Former Gov. Ohakim sighted at EFCC

By Jamila Nuhu Musa

T

he embattled former Governor of Imo state, Chief Ikedi Ohakim was sighted at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), headquarters, Friday, 25 th , January.

A reliable source told Peoples Daily Weekend that Ohakim was at the EFCC at about 5.30 pm yesterday wearing a cream coloured Safari suit, and probably

showed up at the anti graft headquarters at that time to avoid undue publicity.

According to the source, ‘Ohakim was invited by the EFCC to present himself at the headquarters on the 29th, January, but the former Governor went, ahead of the invitation and apparently waited to be briefed on the allegation of N62Bn fraud leveled against him as contained in a government audit report. However, it was

not certain at the time of filling this report whether he was detained or not.

It would be recalled that Ohakim, recently denied being arrested or detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC).He reportedly told newsmen in a telephone interview that he was never arrested as published in an Owerri- based tabloid and widely rumoured in Imo state.He described the newspaper report as “a figment of the

reporter’s mind.”Stating, “What did I do that EFCC should arrest me? If EFCC invites me, I will answer them. In fact, before now, the agency had invited me once or twice to come and give some information.“I have never been arrested before by EFCC and as I am speaking, I am holding a meeting in my office in Asokoro, Abuja,” Ohakim had said.An audit report entitled, “Imo State Account Reconciliation June

2007-May 2011”, submitted to the state government recently, alleged that the former governor defrauded Imo Government of N62 billion.The Chairman of the committee, Mr. Jude Agbaso, who presented the report, said the alleged fraud was carried out through the over valuing of contracts and absence of payment vouchers for contracts awarded.Agbaso, who is the Deputy Governor of the state, alleged the lack

of due process in the award of contracts, improper authorisation of payments and the lack of projects executed by the administration.Ohakim explained that before he left office, he prepared a 300-page handover note and an accompanying 22-page summary, which he handed over to Gov. Rochas Okorocha.Attempts to reach Acting Head of Media and Publicity, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren proved abortive.

PAGE 6

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26— SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

News EFCC arraigns Ikuforiji’s aide, two others over N1.5bn scam

Kano Emirate Council support ban on okada From Edwin Olofu, Kano

T

he Kano Emirate Council has thrown its weight behind the recent ban of motorcycles in Kano by the state government in the wake of the incessant attacks by gunmen on motorbikes in the commercial city.

Speaking to newsmen at the Emir’s palace in Kano on Friday, the senior councilor of the Emirate, Alhaji Abbas Sunusi, who is the Wamban Kano said the council is fully in support of the action taken by the state government to ban motorcycles from carrying passengers in the city.

It would be recalled that recently unknown gunmen on motorbikes attacked the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, killing six people.

The incident prompted the state government to ban commercial motorcycles within the municipality.

Wanbai pointed out that apart from the attack on the emir, motorcycles have are being used to perpetrate all kinds of crime in the state, hence the ban was timely and good for the security of the people.

He commended the state government and the security agents for taking the decision, urging the people of the state to support the security agents in ensuring that Kano is safe for all again.

Sunusi urged the state government to ensure they provide alternative jobs for some of the commercial motorcyclist who may have lost their means of livelihood by the action of the government.

81 lost to fires in Bauchi in 2012 From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

N

o fewer than 81 people lost their lives as a result of fire outbreaks which occurred in different parts of Bauchi state last year.

Statistics obtained at the state Fire Service Department showed that a total of 114 lives were saved while 296 calls were received in the year under review.

Properties worth over N209 million are estimated to have been destroyed while more than N404 million worth of others were saved.

Speaking on the causes of fire outbreaks, the Acting Director of the state Fire Service, Babayo Umar Misau, advised people not to leave candles burning before going to bed.

According to the report, the highest number of deaths was witnessed in the month of February 2012 in which 43 people were killed in fire disasters while 19 lives were saved that same month.

Umar Misau also advised against placing candles on top of refrigerators, furniture, electronic appliances among others.

T Acting Director, Engineering and Technical Services, Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), Engineer Aderinto Samuel, Director-General NIMET, Dr. Anthony Anuforom and Director-General, Nigerian Air Space Management Agency (NAMA) Mazi Nnamdi Udoh, during media briefing and introduction of. New Calibration Machine, that will improve Aviation safety by NIMET, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo.

Jonathan in close door session with NASS leaders

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

P

resident Goodluck Jonathan yesterday held a closed-door session with leaders of the two arms of the National Assembly.

The meeting which was held at the State House, Abuja lasted for about two hours.

Senate President, David Mark, led the National Assembly delegation that included Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu;

and the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, to the meeting.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, did not attend.

Vice President Namadi Sambo also attended the meeting whose agenda was not made public.

Mark did not answer reporters’ questions when he was approached for comments after the meeting.

While he was making his way into his waiting car, the President of the Senate kept referring journalists to the duo of Ekweremadu and Ihedioha who also quickly jumped into their cars.

When reporters accused him of always failing to speak with them after meetings with the President, Mark said amidst laughter, “When next I come here, I promise to deal with you directly. This is a promise from me”.

PDP backs Jonathan’s CNN comment on Boko Haram, power

By Lawrence Olaoye

T

he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday declared its support for the comments made by President Goodluck Jonathan on Boko Haram and power in his interview with the Cable Network News (CNN) on Wednesday.

The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, said the President was absolutely right when he declared that the Boko Haram phenomenon was not a product of misrule or poverty

but a local terror group.

It also agreed with the President that there has been tremendous improvement in power supply in the country under the current dispensation.

Dismissing the insinuation that poverty is the reason behind the rise of the Boko Haram insurgency, the PDP argued that poverty is not a recent phenomenon in the country and therefore cannot form the basis of the sudden wave of criminal attacks on innocent victims, most of who live within the poverty bracket.

“The President is right and we

fully align with him on his position that Boko Haram is not a product of poverty or misrule as some people are suggesting. We agree with him that it is a local terror group.

“There have been successive regimes before this administration but this insurgency increased the same way terrorist activities are escalating in other parts of the world at this time. So it is clear that some people are out to perpetrate acts of terrorism in Nigeria to create a semblance of insecurity as it obtains in other troubled spots of the world”, the party said.

Minister wants Nigerians to report any case of guinea worm

T

he Minister of Health, Prof.

Onyebuchi Chukwu, has promised to give N25, 000 to any Nigerian who reports any case of guinea worm.

Chukwu, who made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Friday, said that it was necessary to put this incentive in place to ensure a guinea wormfree country.

According to him, “if you see or suspect any case of guinea

worm, you report to World Health Organisation (WHO) because it is WHO that decides.

“They will take it to their laboratory and if it is guinea worm, you get N25, 000”, Chukwu said.

Chukwu said that there was currently no incident of guinea worm in the country and stressed the need to sustain it.

He recalled that “in 1988, Nigeria had half of the guinea worm cases in the world, but over

a period of years we have been able to eradicate it”.

However, there was still need to sustain the eradication, he said.

The minister also recalled that in February 2011, the Carter Centre in U.S gave an award to Nigeria for the eradication of guinea worm.

He said: “we have been guinea worm-free for 40 months, though we are yet to receive our certification”. (NAN)

he Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Friday, arraigned the trio of Oyebode Atoyebi, Personal Assistant to Adeyemi Ikuforiji, Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly; Olayinka Sanni, a former manager with Intercontinental Bank Plc (now Access Bank), and a company, Sidaw Ventures before Justice D.O Oluwayemi of a Lagos State High Court sitting in Igbosere on an eight count charge bordering on conspiracy, stealing and forgery amounting to about N1.5billion.

This was contained in a release issued by Wilson Uwujaren, Ag. Head, Media & Publicity of the EFCC. According to the release, the accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, urged the court to give a date for trial and that the accused persons be remanded in prison custody.

Defence counsel, O.S Showemimo, told the court that he had filed a bail application on behalf of his client, Olayinka Sanni. He told the court that the offence for which Sanni “is being held is bailable and he should be presumed innocent until he is found guilty”.

Oyedepo, however, objected to the bail application. He placed a 16paragraph counter-affidavit before the court stressing that Sanni is a serial offender who had three other cases in courts. He, therefore, urged the court to deny him bail.

Abiodun Onidare, who appeared for Atoyebi, also urged the court to grant Atoyebi bail on liberal terms.

Onidare told the court that he had reliable sureties who are willing and ready to stand for the defendant.

Oyedepo objected to the prayers of Onidare saying that the proof of evidence he had on Atoyebi showed that it would be hazardous for the court to trust him with a bail offer.

Justice Oluwayemi, after listening to all the submissions adjourned the matter till February 7, 2013 for ruling on bail applications and ordered that the defendants be remanded in Ikoyi Prison.

The trio of Olayinka Sanni, Oyebode Atoyebi and Sidaw ventures were recently arrested over a case of conspiracy, stealing and forgery amounting to about N1.5billion.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

News Sokoto state govt donates cash, food items, clothing to quadruplets

T

he Sokoto state government on Thursday donated N100, 000, children's wears, milk and 10 bags of rice to the father of a set of quadruplets.

The father, Mas’udu Musa, 30, hails from Asare village in Wamakko local government of the state.

The items were handed over to Musa by Malam Sani Umar, the Senior Special Assistant on Media Matters to Gov. Aliyu Wamakko.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the donations were made at the Specialist Hospital, Sokoto, where the mother of the quadruplets was delivered of the babies.

Shafa'atu Ibrahim, the 22 year-old mother of the new born babies, said she was hale and hearty.

She was delivered of them around 1.00 am on Jan 21 at the hospital.

The quadruplets were made up of one boy and three girls, although the boy and one girl are both dead.

Umar said the gesture was to help the parents of the children to adequately take good care of them.

Dr. Attahiru Isa, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, told NAN that the remaining two babies and the mother were in stable condition.

“We may likely discharge them in the next 24 hours as we are satisfied with their current medical condition," he added.

The father of the new born babies, Musa, said: "this is the fourth delivery of my wife.

“The first and second births produced one child each, while the third one produced a set of twins. So we now have eight children”. (NAN)

PAGE 7

NCC announces N4 price for all T he Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), on Thursday set a price cap of N4 per message for all domestic Off-Net Short Messaging Service (SMS), with effect from Feb. 5.

Ms. Josephine Amuwa, the Director, Legal and Regulatory Services of the Commission, made this known in a news statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in

Lagos.

Amuwa said the policy had been communicated to the operators since Jan. 3, adding that the commission would, however, not place a price cap on international SMS. “There was a general recognition that the cost of SMS is too high, especially in view of the interconnection rate of N1.02 for SMS as determined by the Commission in 2009.

“In accordance with the powers conferred on the Commission under Sections 4 and Chapter V11 of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), 2003, the Commission hereby sets a price cap of N4 for Offnet SMS. “The new rate shall be implemented within 30 days from the date of the directive’, Amuwa said.

She also noted that the operators had proposed a price cap

ranging between N5 to N10 per message for Off-Net SMS. The Director said that the Commission would not set a cap for international SMS for now, since interconnect rates for international SMS were outside its control.

According to her, international SMS are terminated through international carrier service providers in various jurisdictions.

(NAN)

Non service of summons stalls Turaki’s N36bn money laundering case From Ahmed Abubakar, Dutse

T

h e N36 billion money laundering case against the former Governor of Jigawa state, Saminu Turaki, which came up for mention yesterday at the Federal High Court, Dutse, was stalled due to the absence of the first accused person and lack of proof of service of summons.

The presiding judge, Justice Sabiu Yahuza who earlier asked if the accused and former Governor of Jigawa state, Alhaji Saminu Turaki was in court; to which Turaki’s counsel, Barrister Danjuma Ayeye, responded that he was there to represent Turaki.

The judge who did not find the comment funny, declared that "it is common with this kind of accused persons to be shielded from the court.

The judge however declared that "because of the absence of evidence of service of summons on the accused, the case has to be started afresh as if nothing has been done in the past. The prosecution should assist the bailiff to serve a proper summons on the accused; it is only when there is proof of service that the court can proceed".

Turaki was earlier arraigned before the FCT High Court Maitama, Abuja on a 32-count charge for money laundering punishable by section 14 sub section 1b of the Money Laundering Act 2004 and had pleaded not guilty in 2007.

L-R: Director General, Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), Mr. Afam Ezekude, Director of Prosecution NCC, Mr. Abdul Kohol and Director Administration NCC, Mrs Doris Osahon, during the Commission,s Score card for 2012 and the Agency action Plan for 2013, media briefing, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

Yero commends air force on security operations From Mohammed Adamu, Kaduna

G

overnor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero of Kaduna state has commended the performance of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) in returning peace and security to Kaduna state.

The governor stated this in an interview with newsmen during the passing out parade and commissioning ceremony of the Direct Short Service Course 21/ 2012 cadets of the 325 Ground Training Group at the Nigeria Air

Force (NAF) Base, yesterday, in Kaduna.

He said the air force has given tremendous contributions towards maintaining lasting peace and security within the state and in the country.

"We have a good partnership with them and that is one of the reason why we have to participate in their programmes because they have been helping us a lot even with the ground troops that form part of the state's Operation Yaki as well as in providing air surveillance in the state".

He congratulated the 144

Flying Officers for successfully undergoing the six months intensive training in the Air Force Training Command.

The Reviewing Officer and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh, said the officers will be deployed to crisis-torn areas in the country.

"Over the years, the NAF has played a leading role in the maintenance of peace and security.

"The service has also participated in several peacekeeping operations particularly in the West African sub region", he said.

Yuguda lays foundation for N7.9bn airport From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

B

a u c h i state governor, Isa Yuguda has urged Nigerians to harness the tourism potentials in order to generate income instead of relying just on oil.

Yuguda stated this yesterday while performing the formal foundation laying ceremony of the Bauchi International Airport. He said the strategic location of Bauchi

state as a gateway to the NorthEast geo-political zone of the country made the construction of the international airport imperative.

He described the airport as an asset not only to the state but also to the North-east and the country in general.

According to Yuguda, "the location of Bauchi state as a gateway to the North-east subregion and also being home to West

Africa’s premier game reserve, the Yankari Game Reserve, makes the construction of an international airport imperative.

He said an efficient transportation system was necessary for the socio-economic development of any society, adding that an efficient and effective transportation system was needed to facilitate the movement of the people and goods within the state.

"It is in realisation of the direct bearing transportation has on the overall socio-economic development of the state that our government has since inception embarked on the construction of roads in different parts of the state.

He noted that with an international airport in place, the state would attract more visitors, both local and foreign, as well as more tourists to the Yankari Game

Reserve, declaring that, “this will go a long way in boosting the economy of the state”.

He said the objective of constructing the airport began with the constitution of the Bauchi State Special Projects Tender Committee which was charged with the responsibility of fast tracking the award of contract for the execution of some special projects in the state in line with the principles of due process.

PAGE 8

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

Special Report

Maulud celebration in Kaduna r o p h e t Muhammad, the last Messenger of Allah (pbuh) and the last of Allah's messengers was born on 12 Rabial- Awwal, the third month of the Islamic calendar. The Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is known as Maulud ar Rasul.

Maulud always falls on the same day of the Islamic (Hijrah) calendar, the date varies from year to year on the Western calendar, and this year, it was celebrated on Thursday, 24th January.

On this day, the celebration in Kaduna started from Tudun Wada where almost two hundred Islamic schools had gathered.

Tudun Wada was the take off point for the march past organised

by Fityanul Islam to celebrate the day.

To many in Kaduna the volume of sound around Ahmadu Bello Way, seemed a little bit louder than usual that they thought something was wrong, as according to a man, “ it was as I walked towards Katsina road roundabout that I realised it was Zikr and there was singing and praises of the Holy Prophet (SAW).

The sound of young voices raised in praises of the Prophet (SAW) filled the whole street, drowning the usual bustling sound of cars, okadas, commercial buses with their familiar "barnawa, narayi" screams in soliciting for passengers as experienced around the Ahmadu Bello Way.

Our Correspondent in Kaduna observed that the procession was very colourful with different schools showcasing their banners.

In his account, he says “your eye runs all over the place trying to see everything”.

It was observed that the procession had a carnival feel to it, and as if to buttress that point, a group of young men passed by singing songs of praises to the Prophet (SAW).

The schools were a mix of all girls and all boys’ schools, kitted in their uniforms and school colours.

Then there were those groups of young men who had no affiliation with any school but constituted themselves into a unique group of singers and comedians.

As the march past moved on, stopping traffic towards Murtala Square, it was noticed that a small group of about 10 kids between ages 5 to 10 were dressed in Khaki green with a unique marching style, they had a large crowd of the public clapping for them and their unique style despite their young age made them favorites of the crowd which had formed during the procession.

With such massive crowd and the day getting hotter, it was observed that officials of Fityanul Islam had people carrying cold water and distributing it to the students who evidently needed it due to the heat.

Some of the schools also had snacks and drinks given to their

D

Hajiya Zahra NaNono dies at 60

By Nasiru Mu’azu Isa

P

e v a s t a t e d by her death, late Hajiya Zahra's husband, Muhammad Sabo Na Nono, described his wife as the most honest person he ever knew, a woman who was a true mother, and gave what she had for the benefit of all.

Speaking with Peoples Daily Weekend at his residence at the Nasarawa GRA in Kano, Na nono said his late wife was the third person after his own parents that he respected the most in his life because of her honesty, a virtue of truthfulness in Islam, a religion which teaches that the virtue transcends being only truthful in speech. Hajiya Zahra Na Nono exemplified honesty in its true form and this endeared her to her husband greatly.

He reiterated, "Zahra was the most honest person I ever lived with in my life; she was also the third after my father and mother amongst the people I respect the most."

He described her death as "a great loss not only to me but to her family, friends, my children, as well as the general public." Sabo said.

He disclosed, "Though she never bore me a child, she took care of my children after our marriage".

"This is one of her qualities that made her special and made me to respect her a lot, the fact that she took my eleven children as her

Mini Durbar staged at maulud celebration in Kaduna

contingent.

As Peoples Daily Weekend moved along with the procession, it observed that even members of the public had started donating pure water to the students’ procession with various set of first aid teams strategically placed at intervals of the procession to forestall any health problem.

Mal. Suleiman Alhassan, a member of the first aid group, said they volunteered to provide medical service to anyone in need of it during the procession.

Mal. Alhassan said members of the first aid team included doctors and staff of hospitals.

At the venue of the event a

Hajiya Zahra Na Nono, an educationist and philanthropist in Kano state, is dead. She battled kidney problem and diabetes for about 5 years until the ailment claimed her life on Wednesday, 23rd, January, reports Mustapher Adamu, in Kano.

Late Hajiya Zahra Na Nono own, shouldered their responsibilities and treated them with love and affection". He said.

Hajiya Zahra's husband narrated briefly how her ailment led to her death, saying she suffered kidney problem and was

also diabetic.

"Zahra was diabetic before her death and she had kidney problem for about five years but the illness got worse about two years ago to the extent that she underwent dialysis." He prayed to the

large crowd of onlookers had already arrived and were waiting for the procession even as they cheered the students who were slowly marching past.

During the celebration, some of the speakers called on all Muslims to emulate the qualities of Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

Different scholars in their speeches told the crowd of how the Prophet lived with both Muslims and non Muslims.

Sheik Sani Khalifa Abdulkadir Zaria, leader of Kaduna state chapter of Fityanul Islam called on leaders to emulate the habits and virtues of both Muhammad (SAW) and Jesus (pbuh) of honesty and

Almighty Allah to grant her soul Aljannah Firdaus and rest her soul in perfect peace.

Similarly, her siblings have described her death as quite painful even though they accept that death is inevitable. The deceased younger brother, Umar Nuhu Wali, described her death as a big blow to her entire family and will remain ever-green in their minds.

"I lament her death; it is a great loss to us. She was a good person who loved people and she had had this trait since her childhood."

"We were told that she loved carrying babies on her back including us, when we were young."Umar recalled.

To Mustapha Nuhu Wali, another brother to the late Hajiya Zahra, "she was a philanthropist and academician who contributed immensely to the development of education in Kano state".

According to Mustapha, "she pioneered Qur'anic competition in Kano, an initiative which was later carried to the national level".

He pointed out that she recently organised and sponsored the first National Qur'anic Competition for Girls' Non- Arabic Secondary Schools which was hosted in Al-Ansar Girls' College,

fairness to all.

Sheik Abdulkadir said there is need to educate the public and other Muslims about Prophet Muhammad (SAW) because he was a man above all who led by example.

The crowd of people were entertained with stories of the prophets of Allah such as Musa(Moses), Ibrahim (Abraham), Suleiman (Solomon), Isa (Jesus) and Muhammad, peace be upon them all, as well as songs of praise from renowned Islamic singers.

The event rounded up with prayers for peace and unity in our country, Nigeria.

Kano and as a philanthropist she has contributed immensely to propagating Islam through various activities amongst which is the building of a Mosque in Kauran Wali town in Makarfi Local Government area of Kaduna State. Like her other relatives, Mustapha said her death would remain indelible in his mind as it is indeed a great loss to all members of her family as well as all those who knew her.

Hajiya Zahra Nuhu Wali, left behind her husband and relatives.

In her early years she attended Masallaci primary school and then proceeded to Government Girls' College Dala, and later gained admission to the Bayero University Kano, where she graduated from the Hausa Department. She was a three times Commissioner in Kano state and served in the Social welfare, Education and Health ministries respectively. She was proprietor of Al Ansar Girls' College, Kano, which since inception has churned out female Qur'anic memorisers who competed favourable with their counterparts in other schools in the north. She loved feeding and helping the needy during her life time. May Allah forgive her sins and grant her paradise. Amin.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26— SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

Cover

PDP

PAGE 9

Jonathan vs Governors: Who blinks first?

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26— SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

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Cover

Jonathan vs Governors: Who blinks first?

By Lawrence Olaoye, Adesoji Oyinlola, Agaju Madugba & Abubakar Jimoh

U

nlike his seemingly jolly ride to the coveted seat of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan's reported quest to continue in that office beyond 2015 does not promise to be a tea party.

Currently battling to mend his disintegrating People's Democratic Party (PDP) whose membership continues to thread divergent paths on virtually all issues; rumours have it that the President may throw in the towel, apparently overwhelmed by hostile opposition to his aspiration.

The anti-Jonathan members hinge their opposition to what they describe as the President's inordinate ambition. Indeed, the situation has actually gone beyond mere insinuation or speculation as events of the past two weeks confirm Jonathan indeed has his eyes glued to 2015.

Apart from this consideration, other factors might have engendered the frosty relationship between Jonathan and the governors.

But the question on the lips of Nigerians especially members of the PDP is why did the party allow the problem to generate to such a level that it has become public embarrassment.

Those who are privy to the cause of the crises ravaging the self-acclaimed biggest party in Africa hinted that the crisis started at the party's convention, last year when Jonathan nominated Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as the party's National Chairman, against the wishes of members of the National Working Committee (NWC) and other stakeholders including the governors. In spite of the stiff opposition then, Jonathan ensured that Tukur emerged chairman.

The development was said to have jolted the governors and others who however struck a deal that the position of the National Secretary must be occupied by

President Goodluck Jonathan Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, a former member of the PDP governors' forum from Osun state. until the recent developments leading to Oyinlola's ouster by a court decision and in spite of the PDP's face saving moves to contest the court judgement, party men argue that Oyinlola and Tukur actually worked like cat and mouse within the period they were together, a development which may not be unconnected with the speed at which Tukur swore- in Oyinlola's successor, Solomon Onwe as Acting National Secretary.

In an obvious move to flex their muscle and avoid being pushed around within the party, the PDP governors were said to have used the Adamawa PDP imbroglio to make a statement which eventually

Chairman, Governor’s Forum, Gov. Rotimi Amaechi

PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur rocked and is still threatening the party's foundation.

The crises do not seem to be over yet since it has become obvious that the governors want Tukur out while he remains Jonathan's point man, as part of the earlier moves to continue in office in 2015. In order to confirm the governors' disdain for Tukur, they boycotted a recent peace parley intended to resolve the festering crises in the party.

The situation tended to worsen when Tukur allegedly obtained a recording of a recent meeting of the governors and transmitted same verbatim to Jonathan. According to a party source, "the contents of that tape made it possible for Jonathan to fully grasp the depth of the crisis in the party and the level of loyalty of each of the PDP governors to him and the national chairman."

Our correspondents gathered that the governors are also aggrieved because Jonathan allegedly initiated

moves to breach an agreement prior to the 2011 presidential elections that he would not seek another term in office.

Following an endorsement of that which was conveyed to the President, the governors had proceeded from the Presidential Villa to the national secretariat of the PDP where their resolution was announced by Governor Shema of Katsina state.

Apparently targeted at the governors, Tukur who is still struggling to demonstrate a level of control had warned recently that no single individual or individuals should be considered greater than the party as an entity. A potential ally of Tukur emerged last Thursday in the person of a prominent Ijaw leader and Jonathan's kinsman, Chief Edwin Clark, who launched a verbal attack on former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the governors over Jonathan and denied that the President signed a pact

with them in 2011, concerning the 2015 presidency. In a veiled reference to the struggle between Jonathan and the governors, Clark who addressed a press conference in Abuja noted that recent developments and moves credited to the governors portray them as not only oppressive but also dictatorial.

As Clark put it, "the governors' forum is now acting as an opposition party to the Federal Government. It deliberately breaches with impunity, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Constitution of the PDP. The forum (of governors) has now become a threat to the peace and stability of Nigeria. Most of the governors today are more dictatorial than the then military governors. I have seen and made inquiries about their counterparts in the United States of America, USA. Each of the governors of the 50 states in the USA who want to become the President of the country does not use the forum to achieve this ambition. There is no unity in the party, it is fragmented everywhere and the slogan of the party has been turned upside down."

That may well be the case even as Tukur has apparently lost in the first round of the battle in Adamawa state and to certain level, a victory for the governors against Jonathan.

The President has reportedly decreed that none of the children of Tukur and the Adamawa state Governor should be governor of that state in 2015. The Adamawa crisis was linked to the question of who succeeds Nyako as he had positioned his son for the job while Tukur too wanted his son to occupy the position.

According to a party source who attended a recent meeting to resolve the impasse, "the President was angry that succession agenda was the crux of the crisis in Adamawa PDP and held that the only way to achieve peace was to stop both aspirants from the election.

The President also warned that he would not take it lightly with anyone who flouts the recommendation of the reconciliation committee." The source noted further that the Adamawa issue served as a litmus test that Jonathan has lost the 2015 bid to the governors who are currently discussing the candidate they will put forward who should be acceptable to a large section of the not only that PDP but to Nigerians as well. As the source put it, "with this NWC structure, Jonathan has to forget the 2015 presidential ticket. If they (governors) can

11

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26— SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

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Cover 10

Jonathan vs Governors: Who blinks first? applicant herein seeks to protect its interest in the present action by this application."

But as the simmering rift between Jonathan and the governors continues, Clark may have summed up the entire scenario to the attitude of those he refers to as greedy and corrupt politicians within the PDP who used the party to make money and currently using the same money to destroy the party.

Niger state Governor, Aliyu Babangida do it on Adamawa crisis, they can upturn the table when it comes to presidential primaries. This is the main worry of the President's thinktank."

Contrary to insinuations that the PDP wants to field Jonathan in 2015 by seeking to be joined in a law suit to stop the President, the party explained that a fundamental implication in the process included a move that would deny the party from fielding a presidential candidate in 2015 if the suit is successful. A member of the PDP from Rivers state, Henry Amadi, had filed a case at an Abuja Federal High Court in Abuja urging it to bar Jonathan from contesting the 2015 presidential election.

According to the PDP, "by the very tenor of the reliefs sought by the plaintiff, this suit questions the right of the

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu

applicant (PDP) to sponsor one of its members for the 2015 presidential elections. The

Battle for selfish interests The crisis in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is fast metamorphosising into a direct battle between the state governors on the platform of the party and the head of the federation, President Goodluck Jonathan.

Although the party Chairman has severally denied the speculations that the governors are up in arms against his continued leadership, owing to his

Congress for Progressive (CPC) leader, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari

Gov. Nyako unalloyed loyalty to the President, unfolding events have indicated the contrary.

The bone of contention in the bitter struggle for power is obviously the 2015 Presidency.

While the governors want to continue to dictate the pace of events in the ruling party, the President, who by all his body languages, has indicated his ambition to re-contest the Presidency come 2015 who not allow his political future to be in the hands of the state governors. President Goodluck Jonathan, who is fast learning the ropes in the politics of the PDP and that of the country, has found it politically expedient to have a firm grip on the party's political apparatus and would not take anything for granted ahead of the 2015 Presidential primaries in the party.

The PDP governors, especially those from the North, on the other hand have suddenly realized that they could also ride on the crest of public disenchantment with Jonathan's administration get the party's ticket for the Presidency in 2015. They have

begun to strategise among themselves to see how they could clinch the Presidency and send their boss back to Otuoke in retirement as a statesman by 2015.

But less than two years to another general election, the public has not been left in doubt

that Jonathan is keen to represent himself for another four years. He had implicitly made this known at several quarters. One of these included his notable assertion during the last Presidential media chat, where he said that four years is not enough for any

Prof. Jerry Gana 12

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26— SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

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President to make impact.

Moreover, the nation's capital was recently struck by the posters of President Jonathan, conspicuously warning that there is no vacancy in Aso Rock in 2015.

In addition to this, a PDP member, who is alleged to be sponsored by the Jonathan campaign organization, recently filed a suit saying that Jonathan has the right to contest the presidency again on the platform of the party. The party itself recently filed a suit in an Abuja High Court pleading the court to rule that it reserved the right to present Jonathan as its Presidential candidate in 2015.

With these developments, it has become crystal clear that the struggle for the party's presidential ticket in 2015 has begun and obviously is ready to throw in his weight into the contests not minding whose ox is gored.

Part of the strategy to ensure the realization of his ambition, of course, is to ensure a firm grip on the party by checkmating the influence of the governors who have recently begun to exert their influences on the leadership of the party. As a first step, Jonathan has made frantic efforts to ensure that whoever becomes the Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) remains his 'yes'man. But, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the former President, who is still being taunted as the 'godfather' to the governors on the platform of the party also wants to continue his relevance in the scheme of affairs in the party. The election slated to hold recently to select the BoT Chairman was botched.

Gov. Godswill Akpabio

Jonathan vs Governors: Who blinks first?

Gov. Gabriel Suswam

Olagunsoye Oyinlola Still not satisfied, Jonathan recalled the nation's Ambassador to Canada, Chief Ojo Maduekwe and charged him with the responsibility of managing crises in the party with Professor Jerry Gana mandated to work for the reconstitution of the BoT membership with a view to weeding out those perceived to be anti-Jonathan.

Sensing the political game plan of the President, the PDP governors have recently called to the party's National Executive Council (NEC)'s meeting where knotty issues confronting the party are expected to be sorted out. But Tukur and Jonathan, aware of the enormous influence wielded by the governors in the NEC would not allow such meeting until they are sure of having consolidated their hold on the lever of power in the party.

A member of the party's

National Working Committee (NWC) who craved anonymity for obvious reasons said "Indeed, the governors are in control of the party but the Presidency is leaving no stone unturned to take-over the PDP because not doing so would be calamitous to his 2015 Presidential ambition. For instance, look at the composition of the NWC and you will realize that the members are loyal to the governors except for the National Chairman. With the power game going on now, the President must have determined to take effective control by empowering Tukur, more than ever before, to whip erring members back into line."

According to him, part of the strategy is to enlarge the current membership of the NWC to bring in all the regional National Deputy Chairmen in order to neutralize the influence of the governors. The NWC as presently constituted only has 12 members with 10 working for the governors leaving out the Chairman and the Acting National Secretary, Onwe S.Onwe, on the side of the President.

To effectively whittle-down the governors' influence, Tukur promptly obeyed the court order sacking the party's National Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, a former Osun state governor, by making his deputy take over his job even when he had applied for stay of execution and appealed the ruling. Oyinlola was the arrowhead of governors' influence in the PDP NWC. With Oyinlola out of the way, the Presidency had mandated Tukur to whip the remaining members of the NWC back into line. But the governors are not letting go.

The governors have constituted themselves into indissoluble force that is fiercer than the opposition to the Presidency. They are able to do because of the critical roles which they stand to play in nominating the party's

delegates who will vote at the PDP's national congress.

Already, some governors, including the Governors of Jigawa and Niger states, Sule Lamido and Babangida Aliyu, have surreptitiously indicated interest in the number one seat.

Bearing in mind that Jonathan was once a member of the PDP Governors' Forum before he became the Vice President and subsequently the substantive President, the signal has been sent that the body is very much prepared to dump him for another candidate from among themselves.

All things being equal, the only loophole in doing this is by seizing the machinery through which the PDP's Presidential candidate is produced, which is the party's internal and external structure across the states. It is on this basis that President Goodluck Jonathan is currently pitched against the governors.

The first test for might on who controls the soul of the party was the Adamawa crisis.

Adamawa state governor, Admiral Murtala Nyako, supports the Minjiyiwa Kugama'sled state Executive Council but the PDP

Chief Edwin Clark

Chairman felt otherwise. The state exco was dissolved and a care-taker committee was constituted in its place. The care-taker committee conducted fresh congresses but 10 out of the 12 member NWC, under the influence of the state governors, outlawed the congresses so conducted and reinstated the Kugama led sacked exco.

Only recently, Tukur ordered the inauguration of the newly elected state PDP Chairman, Chief Joel Madaki and thus effectively factionalizing the PDP in Adamawa. With the development, the governors are kicking and are urging the party to convene the NEC meeting where it was gathered that they have perfected their strategies to pass a vote of no confidence in the party's leadership.

With the crises in the PDP festering by the day, political observers have reasoned that the unresolved misunderstanding amongst its members may as well become the gain of the proposed mega opposition party especially where the governors could not be effectively reconciled with the party's leadership and the Presidency.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26— SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

PAGE 13

Issues

Still on ‘Katsina - The rampaging first ladies’

By Ahmed B. Kaita (MHR) hese are certainly lean times. Nothing proves t h i s better than the growing army of media ‘ supporters’ living fat on the foibles of our rulers whose pastime of choice would seem to be meting hardship and all manner of injustice on helpless and frustrated Nigerians in the name of leadership. These socalled leaders, particularly governors, have tur ned into a destructive cult with the support of unscrupulous elements whose conscience is easily for sale to the highest bidder. Success of governance has since been reduced to the ability to assemble a park of paid hack writers to defend the indefensible, which they often do incoherently. One of such hired pens is one Ahmad Abdullahi, who writes with all the coherence and eloquence of a kindergarten pupil suffering from the Down syndrome.

It was with such ‘expertise’ that the said Ahmad Abdullahi reacted to my article "Katsina The Rampaging First Ladies”.

An obvious non-starter in the business of Blackberry-iPad journalism, going by his rumblings, Abdullahi must no doubt be a disappointment to his paymasters. Who else would start a rejoinder by jumping the guns and pre-empting the reaction of his target by capturing precisely the motive of his adventure? In his opening statement, Abdullahi wrote: "The writer which I am responding may think that I have been hired or directed to do so." Well, as the Hausas would say; "In ba rami mai ya kawo maganar rami? (If there is no hole, why the mention of a hole?)"

Abdullahi, apparently basking in the euphoria of having made it to the inner circle of the paid image launderers who survive on defending the lies periodically posted on Katsina state government website and the suffocating jingles on the government's media outfits, came as empty as those before him. Still, his convoluted language, which he believes makes him a better vanguard than those before him, didn't answer any of the questions raised in my article. Instead of attacking my person, Abdullahi should have concentrated on answering questions like the serious imbalance between investment and returns on investment in the affairs of

T

Katsina state government. If he were an indigene of Katsina, he should have been bothered more on the billions of naira purportedly spent on different sectors of the state's economy with pretty little on ground to show for that expenditure.

Incidentally, Abdullahi, who claimed to be doing a humanitarian service defending a supposedly "maligned first lady", ended up making a bad case even worse.

Hear him - "It might interest you to know that this project (Mrs. Shema's pet project) is sponsored by international bodies, humanitarian donors and other philanthropists within and outside the state."

Sadly, in his confusion he forgot to mention these “humanitarian donors and other philanthropists” within

and without that are financing the pet project. Even more absurd, he couldn't say why Mrs. Shema decided to float an NGO only after her husband became the "King" of modern Katsina. I don't want to assume Abdullahi is under the impression that being a first lady is part of the criteria for floating an NGO. In any case, he should know Katsinawa are too sophisticated to be deceived in as such a cheap way.

In his desperation, Abdullahi failed to grasp the seriousness of my article for which he toiled to defend the "King and the Queen." I thought we were talking about a married woman who jumped the boundaries of her matrimonial responsibilities to take a damning decision on something strictly official as

“

sacking a constitutionally recognised government functionary as reported by various credible news agencies - none of which is yet to be sued for libel despite the swiftness with which people are dragged to court for expressing their views in Katsina. Yet, hear him again - "There was never a time when Hajiya Fatima Shema ever participated in the governmental affairs of her husband." If this doesn't qualify for interference, I wonder what does.

In any case, whatever definition Abdullahi gives this recklessness I challenge him to come to Katsina and make this declaration publicly for him to have taste of what Katsinawa have in store for his master. It is not enough for him to question my capacity as a

we were talking about a married woman who jumped the boundaries of her matrimonial responsibilities to take a damning decision on something strictly official as sacking a constitutionally recognised government functionary as reported by various credible news agencies - none of which is yet to be sued for libel despite the swiftness with which people are dragged to court for expressing their views in Katsina.

politician, a public office holder and stake holder in the affairs of my state from his comfort zone away from the epicentre of political earthquake destroying our collective destiny. Abdullahi's rantings about my duties as a member of the National Assembly are something I have grown tired of responding to. In that regard, I implore Abdullahi to google my name and read my numerous responses to such hollow cries. Matter of fact, I want him to do so because he might come up with answers to some of the many questions I have asked but that nobody has yet to answer from the stable of his principal.

Questions like why Governor Shema went to court to deny Dr. Mustapha Inuwa access to documents pertaining to “capital” projects, especially roads and education for which hundreds of billions have been wasted without much in evidence.

Only recently, the governor was in the air blowing his trumpet of success at the launching of a hastily packaged mobile ambulance service that is bound to fail for total lack of comprehensive strategy.

He accused "imaginary enemies" of questioning his good intentions towards the state. Well, why shouldn't they? There is nothing to support his words or actions to improve the fortunes of Katsina, while there are evidences to support his self agrandisement and selfish disposition. In any case, why should anybody believe such an unrealistic project when simple rural/urban healthcare services are more a myth than reality?

Abdullahi should tell the world why Governor Shema, who is a lawyer, should disrespect the recently passed Freedom of Information Bill (FOI) by refusing to give access to documents that would prove the veracity or otherwise of his constant and irritating claim of purpose-driven leadership.

Or are we to assume all the noise of probity and prudence assaulting our eardrum are, after all, just that? Abdullahi should concern himself more with the sleepless nights these answers are giving his principal than trying to defend the irresponsible action of the governor’s wife.

Kaita is a member of the House of Representatives representing Kankia/ Kusada/Ingawa Federal Constituency of Katsina state

PAGE 14

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

News Jonathan not to blame for decay in Police College – Obi · ‘No clues yet on floating corpses’

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem overnor Peter Obi of Anambra state has said the Federal Government is not responsible for the rot in the Police College, Ikeja.

G

He however said the administration is working hard to solve the problem and others facing security agencies in the country.

Obi spoke with State House correspondents yesterday at the

end of a meeting of the Police Fund Committee chaired by Vice President Namadi Sambo.

He said Jonathan was

Suswam’s foreign trips: Commissioners abdicate duties From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

C

ommissioners in Benue state have abandoned their offices following the absence of Governor Gabriel Suswam who is said to have travelled to United States in over two weeks.

Our reporter’s checks showed that most commissioners now patronise drinking spots and attend to

their private businesses. Even civil servants have seized the opportunity to abscond from work.

The deputy governor, Chief Steven Lawani who is acting governor has failed to strictly monitor the activities of the commissioners.

There has been mounting pressure on Governor Suswam to effect changes to his cabinet as Benue people have

consistently expressed disgust at the performance of the crop of commissioners in the state.

The state has continued to experience slow development as a result of the governor’s incessant foreign trips.

Meanwhile, efforts to get the reaction of the Secretary o the State Government, Dr. David Salifu on the matter were fruitless as his phones were switched off.

Judge’s absence stalls arraignment of suspected ThisDay bomber

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

T

he absence of Justice Adamu Bello of a Federal High Court, Abuja on Friday, stalled the arraignment of a man alleged to have participated in the April 2012

bombing of a building occupied

by ThisDay, The M o m e n t a n d T h e Sun newspapers in Kaduna state.

The suspect, Mustapha Umar, was to be tried for a onecount charge of terrorism

related act.

He is alleged to have driven a white Honda Academy car with registration number AL 306 MKA fitted with improvised explosive devices into the premises of SOJ Plaza and detonated same.

L-R: FCT Commandant, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC), Aminu Kofasoro with the FCT Commander, Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Denis Obiefule, during the media briefing on the arrest and sizure of illicit drugs by NDLEA, recently in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-owo

Rainy season has not started, NIMET says

By Ibrahim Kabiru Sule

A

s some parts of the country including Abuja have experienced heavy rainfall over the last two weeks, the Nigeria Meteorological Agency, (NIMET) has informed that rainy season has not yet started in the country.

The agency said the rainfall was not permanent but a transient one and that within the next few days harmattan features will return.

This was disclosed by the Director General of the agency, Dr.

Anthony Anuforom during a press conference jointly organised by NIMET and the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), on Friday at Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja.

Anuforom said Nigeria is a member of World Meteorological Organisation and that warrants NIMET to operate with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) manual, making its operations to be in conformity with world standard.

“NIMET has whatever

weather equipment to make adequate observations. The Upper Air Station was only one in the country before this administration, but now there are up to 7 Upper Air Stations in the country,” the DG said.

He observed that the with the aid of some of the new equipment, like the Instrument Calibration Laboratory, as well as the Wind Tunnel, which only South Africa, Egypt and Kenya have it in Africa, the agency is now “measuring weather with greater precision”.

committed to changing the fortunes of all security agencies in the country, especially the police.

“We are looking at the overall picture, not just rot here or rot there. The rot (in Police College, Ikeja) was not brought about by this administration but this administration is striving to solve it and we can’t solve it without funding. We can’t provide adequate security without funding. We will come up with something that will make meaning to Nigerians.

“We are fast-tracking everything. I believe that if we continue the way we are going, we will be able to do something that everybody will be proud of,”

he added.

The governor said despite his promise of N5 million for people with useful information, he had no clue yet on the causes of the corpses found floating on a river in his state recently.

“As it is now, I have offered N5 million for whoever can give me clues. I am looking for clues.

If you look at the way the bodies are, they must have lasted for days in the water.

“I have said we must do proper autopsy on each body just to tell what happened. So far, nobody has come to say they are missing somebody, no communal clash, nothing. So what do I do? I am not a magician”

…As October one blast suspect gets life imprisonment

A

Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday, sentenced one Edmund Ebuware to life imprisonment for his involvement in the anniversary day multiple bomb blasts in Abuja on October 1, 2010.

No fewer than 12 people died in the blasts, several cars were burnt and several other persons sustained serious injuries in the incident.

Delivering the judgement which lasted about four hours, the trial judge, Justice Gabriel Kolawole, said Ebuware violated the provisions of Section 40 (b) of the Criminal Code Act by concealing information of the intention of Henry Okah (convicted in South Africa for terrorism related offence) to carry out acts of terrorism on the Federal Government and caused havoc in the country on October 1, 2010.

According to Kolawole, the convict failed to disclose the information to either the President, Governor or Peace Officer as prescribed by law and is therefore guilty of the threecount charge preferred against him by the Federal Government.

Kolawole said the anniversary day bombings in 2010 would have been averted if the convict had informed appropriate authorities of Henry Okah’s plan to cause havoc on a day where prominent Nigerians and diplomats gathered in Abuja to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Nigeria’s independence.

“The testimony of the accused is so hard to believe. From the evidences of the prosecution witnesses, the accused had foreknowledge of the intention of Henry Okah to attack the government”, the judge held.

In spite of the plea by the defence counsel, Godwin Uche for the court to tamper justice with mercy in the sentencing of the convict, the judge went ahead and sentenced the convict to life imprisonment with a caveat that the convict can be recommended for consideration under a prerogative of mercy after serving 32 years in prison.

The judge ordered that the two mobile phones seized from the convict be forfeited to the Federal Government.

It would be recalled that the defence counsel had told the court that the extra-judicial statement obtained from his client could not be relied upon as his (Ebuware) confessional statement, saying that there was no admission by the accused person to indicate that he committed the offence.

The defence counsel further argued that the charges brought against the accused person was not known to law, adding that, “Until Henry Okah is tried and convicted for similar offence, the trial remains an injustice”.

According to Uche, all the prosecution witnesses brought to testify on the matter did not establish anything against the accused person to suggest the extent of his involvement, adding that their testimonies were against the Evidence Act. Countering these arguments, Dr. Alex Izinyon, counsel to the SSS, submitted that Section 40 (a) (b) and (c) of the Criminal Code negated that submission that the accused person could only be brought to justice when the principal offender, (Henry Okah) was brought to justice.

He explained that the “the intention of Okah which was verbalised in a conversion with the accused person via the telephone eventually took place on the Independence Day of 2010”.

Izinyon submitted that the elements needed to commence the prosecution of the accused person were thoroughly considered before heading to court.

The court had on May 3 removed Ebuware from the list of suspects charged with the Independence bombing.

Kolawole granted the order sequel to a motion filed by the accused for an independent trial.

Others charged with the bombing are Charles Okah and Obi Nwabueze, while the fourth accused person, Tiemkemfa Osuvwo died in Kuje Prison.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26— SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

PAGE 15

Peoples Page

Meet ‘Aduniya’: The shoe maker

F

or Nigeria, as a country to get out of her mess, she must stand up as a bull, so strong, so big, that can pull down a wall. Therefore with the increasing poverty, joblessness, unemployment, helplessness and lack of good education, all hands must be on deck, if we have to avoid crisis and eminent revolution. Jobs must be provided for drop outs from secondary school, who have taken to drugs and loitering dangerously in the neighborhood. They have become violent, armed robbers; they rape and even beat their mothers: I want to say that it is not going to the University and acquiring the first degree that matters. It is how to utilise the degree productively, prolifically, fruitfully and be of use to one self and the society. I have seen many of those who went to the University and had the first degree, but cannot feed themselves, no good house, perpetually, they are in beer parlors', and seem out of space.

Therefore, when someone is purposeful, mature and able to take care of himself at the base degree, he should be commended and encouraged.

Mohammed Nasir (aka) Aduniya is from Tudun Wada Bazza, Michika local Government Area in Adamawa

State of Nigeria. He dropped out of Secondary School, in 1978.and relocated to Port Harcourt in Rivers State. While there, he leant how to make shoes of any type for women, men, children, boys and girls, male and females.

The other time, when I was buying newspapers at the gate of the motor park from Sani Suleiman, the vendor in charge there came in, Mallam Mohammed Nasir (aka) Aduniya with his wares. I chose one fine shoe, all black with 'adunuya' inscribed on it I asked how much and he said seven thousand naira. I asked whether the shoe was from Italy or Britain, because it was well done, well made, shining, with all the accessories in a good shoe. There were many more, about ten Pairs.

I looked at the gentleman and he had no more marks. And asked whether his was from the East or South, and he said he was from Tudun Wada_Bazza, Michika local government Area. I still queried, whether he got his supplies from Kano, Kaduna, Onitsha, Aba, Cotonou or Lagos, he replied, none of the above, that he made the shoes himself. That was when my eyes opened and I understood the reality. If you have bought a pair of shoe of

A shoe maker at Kafar Wambai market in Kano

from his earning he buys hides and skin with it, whether hides of cows, sheep or goats and he has extended his business to Aba and Onitsha, where he sources chemicals for treatment. He has only two boys that he is training. He has an office in Tudun Wada,Bazza and opposite Michika, motor park, where he has opened one recently. We must help. We should help and

thirty five thousand naira like myself, you will understand my amasement when a local chap can be a manufacturer of this magnitude in my locality, Michika with such great mental capacity.

I wanted to title this column 'please help him', nonetheless if you are reading the piece, then you are in a position to help the man to fund, this his laudable Ventures. He has never gotten help from any individuals he emphasised. The little he saves

assist. This is a master. He can be an employer of labour in the nearest future. Mohammed Nasir (aka) Aduniya. This is ingenuity, innovativeness, resourcefulness and skillfulness that he has generated through the hard way. The local acquisition skill in Adamawa State has not noticed this lad.

Infact I call on Governor Murtala Hamanyero Nyako, if perchance he is reading this column, to instruct for this man to be brought before him, you will see wonders, your Excellency. "Aduniya" is his nickname and how he got the name? He revealed that it was

when he was doing the job in Part Harcourt, people will come and collect two to three pairs and say in the next one or two weeks, they will pay and they will not bring the money. Some even left Part Harcourt without

paying.

All he kept saying is that all wealth would be left here in the world, that is in the world. No matter how rich, no matter how wealthy, they will be left here in the world, on earth.

You cannot take anything to heaven: "Aduniya" in the world here only. He never bothered to pressurize them, he never bothered to remind them, if they brought it, fine; if they didn't bring it fine; because, "Aduniya" All things end here in the world, here on earth. Nothing goes beyond here "nothing". That is the principle of this energetic visionary, well focused young man who relies on his skills to feed himself. He is a subject of discussion of the Millennium Development Goals official anywhere in the county. He is a course of study for New Partnership for African D e v e l o p m e n t (N.E.P.A.D.)official anywhere resident in Nigeria or Africa or if you are reading this article on line.

The story is that Nigerian leaders should learn to activate these seemingly odd jobs, computer training, welding , shoe making, carpentry, tailoring, fashion designing, knitting and welding, hair design and what a view. With a soft loan, assistance, encouragement and motivation from the government and guidance from parents, traditional rulers, the problem of unemployment and joblessness will be reduced drastically. It is not compulsory to acquire a certificate from a tertiary institution which cannot be translated proficiently, productively, fruitfully into works. We can acquire skills that can be translated into big companies with time with systematic training, workshop and, seminars, a person who never went to any tertiary institution can be nurtured and molded into a business mogul, useful to himself and useful to the society. Here is one, his name is Mohammed Nasir (aka) Aduniya. You can contact him t h r o u g h emmanuelyamekwache@yahoo.com Kwache contributed this piece from No. 30 Gambia Crescent, Bekaji Street, Jimeta Yola, Adamawa state

PAGE 16

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

Tourism

Bird watching at HadejiaNguru Wetlands

T

h e Hadejia - Nguru Wetlands are situated in the arid Sahel of Jigawa and northern areas of Yobe State. The flood - plains, lakes and marshes which constitute the Hadejia Nguru Wetlands form part of the Kumadugu Yobe basin in the Northern part of Nigeria.

The Wetlands are perennially inundated with water of many river channels and underground water draining from the Jos and Biu Plateau in North Central and North Eastern Nigeria, respectively. The environment which forms the Hadejia - Nguru Wetlands support an ecological unit consisting of varied fauna and flora interacting with each other and their surroundings. The benefits of the wetlands are greatest during the dry season when they support the inhabitants' farming and fishing activities as well as their animals such as cattle, camels, sheep and goats. The wetlands also provide a conducive habitat for a larger flock of birds from Asia, Europe and other countries in Africa.

The Hadejia-Nguru Wetlands

(HNWs) are located in the Sahel zone of north-eastern Nigeria. The area is a floodplain wetland comprising permanent water bodies and seasonally flooded areas.

The wetlands constitute important feeding grounds for different migratory bird species. In addition the area supports about 1.5 million farmers, herders and fishermen, who depend on the wetlands for their livelihoods. The water in the wider basin is most important for drinking and agriculture purposes.

However, the construction of several upstream dams outside the HNWs has significantly modified the natural pattern of annual floods, and this represents a major threat to the natural water balance of the wetland system. As a result of this man-made change, large areas of farming and grazing land and important fish ponds have either gradually dried up along blocked channels now occupied by the invasive Typha grass, or have been flooded. As a result, local farmers and grazers have been forced to over-harvest the fewer remaining natural resources, and encroach on some protected areas.

Nigeria's first storey building at Badagry

B

a d a g r y (traditionally Gbagle) is a coastal town and local government area (LGA) in Lagos State. It is situated between Metropolitan Lagos, and the border with Benin at Seme. The 2006 census results estimated the population of municipality at 241,093.

Founded in the early 15th century on a lagoon off the Gulf of Guinea, its protected harbor led to the town becoming a key port in the export of slaves to the Americas, which were mainly to Salvador, Bahia in Brazil. From the 1840s, following the suppression of the slave trade, Badagry declined significantly, but became a major site of Christian mission work. In 1863 the town was annexed by the United Kingdom and incorporated into the Lagos

colony. In 1901 it became a part of Nigeria. Badagry subsists largely on fishing and agriculture, and maintains a small museum of slavery for tourists.

The first storey building in Nigeria, overlooking the Marina

waterfront was built between 1842 and 1845 by the missionaries. The area is led by a traditional chief, Akran De Wheno Aholu Menu - Toyi 1, who is also the permanent vice-chairman of obas and chiefs in Lagos State.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

Weekend

PAGE 17

Cocktail

Fati Auta

‘I appreciate your calls but am in a relationship’

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

PAGE 18

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

Let's share your love story.

Heart Matterz

Eternal love regret

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

Why are guys full of ego?

I

've been in relationship with this guy for five months now.

I really love him and recently, I have come to realise that, he loves me too but the problem is that he doesn't show me how much he cares about

By Jemery Bismanos

A

r e you in love with a lady and finds it difficult to walk up to her and say your mind? You might be missing a lifetime chance on love if you continue shying away from your feelings. If you love her, be bold, you might not know what she feels for you too.

The story below will open your eyes to dangers of keeping love feelings to yourself.

As I sat there in English class, I stared at the girl next to me. She was my so called "Best friend." I stared at her long, silky hair and wished she was mine. However, she didn't look at me like that and I knew it. After class, she walked up to me and asked me for the notes she had missed the day before and I handed them to her.

She said "thanks" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I wanted to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends. I love her but I'm just too shy and I don't know why.

Eleventh grade The phone rang. On the other end, it was her. She was in tears, mumbling on and on about how her love had broken her heart.

She asked me to go over because she didn't want to be alone and I did.

As I sat down next to her on the sofa, I stared at her soft eyes, wishing she was mine. After two hours, one Drew Barrymore movie and three bags of chips, she decided to go to sleep. She looked

at me, said "thanks" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I wanted to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends. I love her but I'm just too shy and I don't know why.

Senior year The day before school dance party, she walked to my locker.

"My date is sick" she said; he's not going for the dance. I didn't have a date and in seventh grade, we made a promise that if neither of us had dates, we would go together just as "best friends" and we did.

On dance night, after everything was over, I was standing at her front door step! I stared at her as she smiled at me and stared at me with her crystal blue eyes. I want her to be mine, but she doesn't think of me like that, and I know it. Then she said "I had the best time, thanks!" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I wanted to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends. I love her but I'm just too shy and I don't know why.

Graduation day A day passed, then a week, then a month. Before I could blink, it was graduation day. I watched as her perfect body floated like an angel up on stage to get her diploma. I wanted her to be mine, but she didn't notice me like that, and I knew it. Before everyone went home, she came to me in her smock and hat and cried as I hugged her. Then she lifted her head from my shoulder

and said, "You're my best friend, thanks." and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I wanted to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends. I love her but I'm just too shy and I don't know why.

A few years later Now I sit in the pews of the church. That girl is getting married now. I watched her say "I do." and drive off to her new life, married to another man. I wanted her to be mine but she didn't see me like that and I knew it. But before she drove away, she came to me and said "You came!"

She said "Thanks." and kissed me on the cheek. I wanted to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends. I love her but I'm just too shy and I don't know why.

Funeral Years passed, I looked down at the coffin of a girl who used to be my "best friend". At the service, they read a diary entry she had wrote in her high school years. This is what it read, "I stare at him wishing he is mine but he doesn't notice me like that, and I know it. I want to tell him, I want him to know that I don't want to be just friends. I love him but I'm just too shy and I don't know why. I wish he would tell me he loved me! I wish I did too... I thought to myself and I cried. I Love You! If you like someone, tell them.

Don't wait until it's too late as it may lead to a life of eternal regret.

me.

This attitude of indifference and the way he pretends about his true feelings for me really hurts but I love him so much. Please advise me on what to do.

—Amanda

Re: Why are guys full of ego?

Y

o u should talk to him but don’t plead with him. You have to be strong. If you know he loves you and you are certain, then that is a good thing but why does he give you such attitudes and when does he behave like that? Men aren't nearly as expressive as we ladies are, but there is a way to spill his heart and that is to be confident in yourself.

How do you want him to show

you? What is it that you want from him? TELL HIM! Men don't always know what to do.

Sometimes you have to let them know not in a mean way but tell him, "Wehave to change a few things and grow together as one."

COMMUNICATE; it's really important because that is the NUMBER 1 key to a healthy relationship 'GOOD COMMUNICATION.' —Mrs. Bright

“

That girl is getting married now. I watched her say "I do." and drive off to her new life, married to another man. I wanted her to be mine but she didn't see me like that and I knew it.

PAGE 19

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

Beauty Tips

Home remedies for sunburn S

u n b u r n is a form of radiation burn that affects living tissue, such as skin, that results from an overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, commonly from the sun. Usually, normal symptoms in humans and other animals consist of red or reddish skin that is hot to the touch, general fatigue, and mild dizziness. An excess of UV radiation can be life-threatening in extreme cases. Exposure of the skin to lesser amounts of UV radiation will often produce a suntan.

Everyone loves the warm sun but it inevitably leads to pain, flaking and peeling. Soothe your skin with these home remedies for sunburn.

Sunburn is one of hot season's greatest pitfalls, bringing with it a range of complaints and discomfort. Treat sunburn with pick-of-the-best home remedies and reclaim the joy summer brings.

Aloe Vera: One of the most well-known home remedies for sunburn, aloe Vera provides a cooling sensation to soothe sunburn. It's best in its natural form so snap off a piece of aloe and rub the juice on your sunburn. If you can't find an aloe plant, try aloe Vera juice or gel.

Vitamin E: Vitamin E is well known for its ability to promote healthy skin, but it can also help to soothe and heal sunburn as well.

Applying vitamin E lotions, creams and oils directly to the skin may provide some relief.

Apple cider vinegar is believed to help prevent peeling and blistering and soothes and

Apple cider vinegar

cools the skin as the vinegar evaporates. Apply apple cider vinegar to your sunburn with a cotton ball or soft cloth or add it to your bath.

Aspirin: Due to its anti-inflammatory properties aspirin helps to reduce the swelling and inflammation associated with sunburn. Try

crushing the aspirin up and mixing it with a little water or lotion to create a paste and then apply to the sunburn.

Baking soda: Baking soda can be very soothing for irritated and inflamed skin. Taking a baking soda bath can help to soothe a sunburn. Or mix baking soda

into a thin paste and apply to the sunburnt areas.

Cabbage: Boil a few cabbage leaves and allow it to cool for a few minutes.

Once the cabbage is slightly warm, break off a few pieces of the cabbage and place it directly

Aloe Vera

onto the sunburn. Leave it on for 15-20 minutes. Then rinse it off with cool water. You should feel less pain, see less redness, and feel more comfortable.

So try the home remedy that takes your fancy and kiss your sunburn goodbye.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

PAGE 20

Learning Book Review

With Augustine Aminu 07038749120 julius2001_a@yahoo.com

A small lump of coal

H

e was just, "A Small Lump of Coal" A bouncing baby-boy arrived on the Paoli, Indiana scene in1942. He bounced from household to household and from mother, to grandmother, to aunt, to foster parents and back again until he was fourteen years old.

He bounced back and forth between Paoli and Bedford, Indiana and between Lakeland, Gainesville, and McIntosh, Florida. He never spent 36

consecutive months with any family from his birth to his marriage.

His grandparents claimed to have adopted him and his birth mother refered to him as, "Her brother," as did his aunts and uncle, but he was never adopted.

He never met his real father. His first stepfather gave him his surname and nothing else. His second stepfather was physically abusive when he was drinking and he seldom

stopped drinking.

His mother birthed eleven children. He was the oldest. Four of his siblings died before they were two-years-old, She gave five of them away before their fourth birthday. She raised the eleventh child. He knew the location of only one sibling for most of his life.

He quit school when he was sixteen, married when he was seventeen, and had fathered five children before he was twenty-five.

Any Psychologist will tell you that he was destined to fail. BUT HE DIDN'T! He is a loving husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather.

Wherever he worked, he was a valued employee. He served as Parks and Recreations Manager, City Councilman and Mayor of the city where he lived after moving from Indiana to Florida. He owned and operated a successful General Contracting Company and he was actively involved in the organization of two successful churches.

Two major car wrecks, colon cancer, and a debilitating heart attack forced him to take early retirement, but nothing could stop him from putting the family back together that his mother and others tore apart. He has located and reestablished a sibling relationship with all of his living brothers and sisters.

Would you like a slap with that?

From catering illustrious celebrityfueled events to bouncing from table to table at a high-volume restaurant, "Slap" is an unflinching, humorous look into waiting tables. Savor 30 short & sweet vignettes of hospitality colliding with absurdity (which averages out to 40+ full pages).

Do you need to be a waiter / waitress to appreciate this? Not if you can laugh at yourself! For the love of preserving basic manners, anyone that isn't offended by mild language should read this book.

If you're looking for breezy-filler, a heady / ego-stroking psych-analysis of the service industry, "Victorian" etiquette lessons, or you just want to take a stroll down memory lane through fluffy memoir-this book is NOT FOR YOU. Save your buck and use it to tip a hardworking bartender! (Please!) "Slap" is simply a book that goes straight for the cheek and delivers rude people their just desserts. Are you ready? Dig in ...

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This can take care of a number of issues you may be experiencing. These are advanced repairs an should not be done at home. When you open a device you can damage it more including irreparable damage. Let a professional take care of your expensive device.

Did You Know?

Norwegian prison, Bastoy is one of the best in the world. It houses 115 criminals in one of its most luxurious set up —New born babies have a natural reflex to swim for the first 4-6 months of their life. The instinct then disappears and must be re taught.

—Norwegians pay half tax in November so everyone has more money for Christmas —There is an office building in Japan which has a high way passing through it —In 2005, a Supreme Court decision declared, it is NOT the duty of any police force in the US to protect citizens, but to enforce laws and there will be no need to protect anyone.

—Queen Elizabeth’s used pant sold for $18,000 —Didaskaleinophobia is the fear of going to school —You can stop hiccups by swallowing a teaspoon full of sugar —Abraham Lincoln was a tremendous, skilled, wrestler. He once beat a man with a single toss and challenged a mob that had gathered, “Any of you want to try it? No one stepped forward.

—A man left his job to devote his time to playing video games. He died from dehydration and heart failure after playing for 50 hours straight.

—Women find men more attractive when they notice other women looking at him.

—Cats make over 100 vocal sounds, dogs make 10 —Orange, lemon and lime, all repel spiders —In 2001, Kenny Waters, a man who was wrongly imprisoned for 18 years for murder was finally freed after his high school drop- out sister went to law school and proved his innocence.

PAGE 21

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

Healthy Living

Baby born with heart outside her body undergoes surgery, discharged A

By Claire Bates

baby girl who was born with her heart beating outside of her body has been discharged after she was given a pink protective shell to protect her vital organ.

Audrina Cardenas was born in October with a rare congenital disease called ectopia cordis, where her heart formed outside the chest.

The disease affects only one in eight million and nine out of 10 sufferers are stillborn or die within three days.

But on Wednesday, the three-and-a-half-month-old defied the odds when she was released from Texas Children's Hospital in Houston and taken home by her mother Ashley Cardenas.

The happy youngster left the hospital with a pink external heart shield that she will wear moving forward to protect her heart as she grows. In a few years she will have surgery to place a more permanent protective shield inside her chest wall.

It is a relief for Audrina's mother who has had sleepless nights every day since she found out about her daughter's lifethreatening condition at a routine check-up when she was 16 weeks pregnant.

Ms. Cardenas was given three difficult options, abort the baby, carry her to term knowing she would die, or have doctors to construct a hole in her baby's chest shortly after birth in an attempt to make room for the heart.

She said, "After my doctors explained just how sick my baby was and what options I had, it didn't matter how scared I was, I knew I had to do anything possible to save my daughter's life."

Matching: Mum Ashley seems intent on making Audrina a girly girl with her big pink bow and frilly socks to match the color of the casing She was evaluated by Texas Children's Fetal Centre a few weeks before she was scheduled for delivery. They gave her an ultrasound, foetal heart scan and foetal MRI and found that a third of the baby's heart was outside her body.

On October 15, Ms. Cardenas gave birth via caesarian section the next day her daughter was

whisked away for heart surgery.

Dr. Larry Hollier, chief of plastic surgery at the hospital said, "Once the cardiac surgeons were finished operating on Audrina, the plastic surgery team played a pivotal role in completing this surgery as we were responsible for covering her heart beneath her skin and

On the mend: Cardenas talks to Dr. Charles D. Fraser, Jr. about her daughter's protective shield

muscle."

Five weeks later doctors declared the little girl was out of the woods and yesterday she was finally allowed home after they said she was 'doing very well.'

But the infant isn't in the clear yet, surgeons said that she'll need more surgeries in coming years to repair defects in her heart.

However, they must wait for Audrina to heal and gain strength before attempting any additional procedures.

Modern medicine: Doctors at Texas Children's were able to successfully place the newborn's

heart back into her chest during a six-hour surgery Audrina will need to see a cardiologist for the rest of her life, but doctors said the prognosis is good.

Dr. Carolyn Altman, a pediatric cardiologist at the hospital, said in a release, "Despite Audrina's misplaced heart; she was born with no other syndromes or genetic conditions that would cause additional stress or complications on her heart.

"Although her future prognosis is uncertain, Audrina is currently thriving and making progress each day."

Modern medicine: Doctors at Texas Children's were able to successfully place the newborn's heart back into her chest during a six-hour surgery

PAGE 24

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

PAGE 25

Kannywood

Entertainment ‘I appreciate your calls but am in a relationship’

Nollywood ANCOP warns Nollywood on parley with FG cver centenary celebration

Fatima Muhammad also known as Fatima Auta, is a 22yr-old business administration student who has been singing for the past four years. In this interview with Nasiru Mu'azu Isa, she shares her experience about her music career, the challenges facing upcoming artists and the general problems of the industry.

H

ow long have you been in the music industry?

I have been around for close to 4 years now.

How old are you now?

I am 22 yrs old now and happen to be among the youngest musician in the industry now.

What motivated you to go into music?

As a child I have always loved songs and gradually I started singing by imitating those songs I heard on the radio.

What do you do apart from singing?

I'm a student of Kaduna state university where I'm studying business administration.

Are you going to stop singing after your studies to do business?

Not really, I'm hoping I'll do both at the same time.

How many albums and songs do you have so far?

I have an album which I just finished and will be releasing into the market in a few weeks but I have over 50 songs that I have recorded.

What is the name of the album?

Which are your most popular songs?

One of my most popular songs is "Uwa bada mama".

Did you sing the song for your mother?

Yes but not just her but all mothers.

Most musicians I have talked with, especially one as young as you have faced serious opposition to their career by their parents, did you face such a problem?

Yes, not much but I definitely faced some issues. My father was not keen on me singing because he wanted me to go to school. After agreeing to continue my studies, my parents agreed to allow me continue my singing career as long as I keep going to school. I promised them I would not allow my singing career to interfere with my studies and they accepted.

I have always loved singing and as a kid I loved music, then when there were dramas in school I joined just so that I can sing and even when I listen to songs on the radio I try to follow them even if I don't know the lyrics of the song and that is how I grew up loving music.

How do you cope with male fans?

The name of the album is "Martabar Aure".

Before I started singing hardly does my phone ring but after I joined I am constantly receiving calls from my fans and I appreciate all their calls and love. For those who are interested in something else, I have to beg them forgiveness because I'm not available.

Most musicians I have talked with concentrate on singing wedding songs or songs for politicians, why do you think this is so?

Yes I agree with you but there are a few who release albums and for those who do that, there is more respect than those who just concentrate on singing for weddings and politicians. Those that release albums are better appreciated than this who sing for weddings, but that is not saying that they are not as good as those who release albums, but it is better in my view to release albums than just concentrate on wedding songs.

What kind of songs do you do most?

I sing political songs and wedding songs.

Most of our musicians are not educated, unlike you, why won't you do something different considering that you are in school and there is a difference between those that are educated and those that are not?

The thing is when you join an industry, it is better to follow the trend and then later on you can introduce a different style but if you decide to come in with a new style the chances are that no one will accept you and your new style but I'm gradually going to introduce a new style.

I also sing to educate, I have a song that talks about the negative aspects of what married people do as well as young men and women in a relationship.

Fatima Auta

Which songs do you like most in the album?

Well apart from "Uwa bada Mama", and the song about

he Association of Nollywood Core Producers (ANCOP), has warned stakeholders in Nollywood to be careful of the bait being dangled before them by the federal government through its secretary, Anyim Pius Anyim, seeking the industry's support for Nigeria's centenary celebration holding in 2014.

In a press statement signed by ANCOP's president, Comrade Alex

Well you know marriage happens at the right time and I don't think the right time for me is now but I do have a boyfriend.

One of the major problems in my view is that upcoming artists are not willing to take advice from more experienced artists and such becomes a problem.

Another major problem is lack of cooperation with one another.

There is need for an organization that will give artist an opportunity to discuss among themselves, where issues can be discussed and new artists can be guided, but right now we don't have such and it is a major problem.

Marketers have been identified as another source of problems in the industry, do you agree?

It is not true because just like every other profession you have bad eggs the same thing applies to us. The ladies I have met in the industry don't behave that way and I think it is unfair to label us by the actions of a few people.

What is your advice to young artist and the more experienced ones?

My advice to the experienced artists is to help and assist upcoming artists, to the upcoming artist, believe we need to be humble and willing to learn and take advice. Those upcoming artists who feel that they have arrived because they are singing and have a couple of songs out should realize that arrogance and pride will not take them anywhere.

sessions with other sectors.

"If and when the government wants to meet with Nigerian journalists, it goes straight through the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), for Lawyers it's the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), for Accountants it is mainly ICAN, for Doctors it is NMA, for Advertisers it is APCON. Government even knows how to centrally reach transporters, okada riders, market women/men etc.

S

ultry Nollywood actress, Benita Nzeribe has said that she refuses to believe evil prophecy that the angel of death is at work in Nollywood because of the recent deaths in the industry.

Speaking to HVP recently, Benita said, "I don't know why people get too pessimistic about such things. People are saying that a lot of people in Nollywood are dying. A lot of bankers are dying too. It's not narrowed down to Nollywood alone.

It is the way God has willed it; If God did not allow it, it wouldn't happen."

Benita was reacting to the recent prophesy that there would be more deaths in Nollywood this year.

According to her, "I say no those people who say that the angel of death is upon Nollywood. Such an angel has not seen Nollywood, it does not have our address and it will never see us. I am passionate about it, and I reject that. I will not believe in the idea that the angel of death visited us. I don't like to hear that."

Fatima Auta

Yes I do, the marketers have a way of over pricing your work in a way that does not allow the artists to make something good from the sale and I think it is not fair to the artist because they are the ones who do all the work and spend their money in doing the album.

There is this view that women in the industry are very loose, do you agree?

Eyengho, the movie producers' body warned that the era of reducing Alist movie stars to mere ball boys, clappers, dancers, servers of food and drinks to the amusement of the politicians and their special guests are over.

According to Eyengho, "let me make it clear that neither ANCOP nor I as the President are against this interactive session with Nollywood. I am aware that the SFG held similar

Benita Nzeribe: The angel of death not at work in Nollywood

What do you think are the problems musicians like you face in the north?

Are you married?

Not yet.

So how do you know anything about marriage since you are not married?

Well I live with married people and by observation I have an idea of what marriage is all about. My observations give me enough to sing about it.

T

marriage "Martabar Aure", there is one more about young men and women.

You seem to be seriously interested in marriage, are you getting ready for marriage, if not do you have a boyfriend?

Police arrests Bisi Komolafe's husband over property

T

he family of late actress, Bisi Komolafe have used the police to arrest and detain Tunde Ijaduola for failure to return the properties of the late actress.

MetroNews exclusively gathered that Tunde was arrested on Tuesday at his family house in Epe and was brought to State Anti Robbery Squad office in Ikeja where he is currently cooling off as a guest.

It could be recalled that the family of the late actress have been at war with Tunde after the death of the actress over her properties which they believe are in possession of Tunde.

Last week,he returned the Honda Pilot car to her Ikorodu house but still took a Tv set which he claimed was his inheritance from his late dad.

PAGE 26

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

Hollywood/Bollywood Sandra Bullock unveiled as latest model addition to Madame Tussauds

S

he's been working in Hollywood for over a quarter century, so its about time Sandra Bullock was immortalised by Madame Tussauds.

The Academy-Award winner's likeness was captured and revealed at the Venetian Casino and Resort on recently in Las Vegas.

Although Sandra wasn't at the unveiling ceremony herself, her wax doppelganger will certainly have many double-taking.

The lady in red looked ready for the premiere of her latest movie, wearing a scarlet offthe-shoulder dress with black heels and holding a metallic clutch bag.

Her dark brunette locks were styled straight into a side parting that allowed the hair

Lady in red: The 48-year old sets off her alabaster skin to glowing perfection in scarlet at the Oscars 2011

to flow down over her right shoulder The hairdo seemed to be based upon the look worn by Sandra the night she won Best Actress for her portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blind Side at the Academy Awards ceremony in 2010.

The real Sandra can be seen on the silver screen with the upcoming release of her latest comedy The Heat this Easter on April 5th.

The Oscar winner plays uptight FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn who is forced to join forces with foul-mouthed Boston cop Shannon Mullins played by Bridesmaid's Melissa McCarthy - to bring down a ruthless drug lord.

Though at first the pair seem incompatible, they soon become drug-busting buddies.

American Pie singer Don McLean fined $400 for speeding

A

merica Pie singer Don McLean was fined $400 on Thursday after being found guilty of speeding while driving past a school.

Judge Patricia Worth ruled that the 67-year-old was driving his Chrysler too fast in a school zone last September in Rockland, Maine.

The judge lowered what would be a $515 fine if uncontested to $400, and Don paid the levy immediately after leaving the courtroom.

The singer had contested the charge in September, saying school zone warning lights

weren't flashing, and he had requested a trial.

The officer told the court that he had been parked by Route 90, and that and the flashing yellow lights were on when he spotted McLean's Chrysler traveling at 43 miles per hour.

Don stated to the court that he believed the lights were not flashing, and said of being pulled over by the officer: I was amazed,' he said.

He stated that he is familiar with the stretch of road and always drives slowly in a school zone, but that on this occasion there were no flashing lights.

Don who lives on the Maine coastline, burst onto the music scene in 1971 with his hit American Pie. The song about the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper in a plane crash in February 1959 coined the phrase: 'The day the music died'.

Another hit song associated with McLean, though never recorded by him, is Killing Me Softly.

Singer Lori Lieberman saw Don performing his song Empty Chairs in concert, and afterwards wrote a poem about the experience.

What the hell is this? Little Luca looks throughly annoyed by the rain as Hilary Duff carries him out of Auntie Barbara's Kids Boutique in Beverly Hills last week

Hilary Duff's son Luca is shocked by wet weather Old Favourite: Don played at Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in New York in November 2012

Amitabh Bachchan wins India’s Prime Icon title

B

ig B was crowned Thursday, by Big CBS Prime`s show "India`s Prime Icon", where he was competing alongside actors Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan (SRK), Salman Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, A.R. Rahman, and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, among others.

Amitabh was greeted by actresses Priyanka Chopra and Anushka Sharma.

"Honoured and humbled that Priyanka Chopra and Anushka Sharma took time out to present me India`s Prime Icon of 2012 at CBS/ BigFm," Amitabh tweeted after winning the title.

"Prime Icon??!! Gosh that is far too far fetched for me ... and to have Sachin (Tendulkar), Lataji (Lata Mangeshkar), Aamir, SRK, Modi (Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi), Nitish (Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar)... as contenders," he further posted.

Also present at the event

were director Sudhir Mishra, actress Neetu Chandra and Mr. Anand Chakravarthy, business head - BIG CBS. "We couldn`t have asked for

a better grand finale to the show, with the most deserving, Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, being conferred the title of the India`s first ever Prime Icon.

Epitomizing the word Icon, we are happy that India has selected the most commendable icon," Chakravarthy said in a statement.

H

e’s a lucky boy to be growing up in the sunny city of Los Angeles.

But little Luca got a taste of life in the real world recently as he was caught out by a sudden rain shower.

The handsome toddler looked genuinely shocked by the wet condition as his mother Hilary Duff carted him out to their waiting vehicle.

The pair had been shopping at a children's boutique in Los Angeles when things turned stormy.

Luckily Hilary was dressed for the weather in Wellington boots and a warm sweater.

Her ten-month-old was equally prepared in a warm padded vest and an adorable pair of mini Converse trainers.

The onetime Lizzie McGuire star will make her TV comeback in February, playing the role of Jimmy's (lucas Neff) exgirlfriend in an episode of Raising Hope called The Old Girl.

Viewers will see Hilary's character Rachel arrive in town following his marriage to Sabrina (Shannon Woodward).

Last year the 25-year-old blonde signed a deal which will see her produce and star in a new TV series for 20th Century Fox. But Raising Hope will mark her first appearance on TV since the birth of her son last year.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

PAGE 27

Homes

Kids have more interior décor items than adults —Ladi Solomon

Miss Ladi Solomon is a manager at OD Interiors and Entertainment Abuja. In this interview with ZainabYahaya Kandi, she speaks on what it takes to make the home achieve a radiant and beautiful look, saying it is easier to decorate kids' rooms than adults.

C

a n you please tell us about yourself?

I am Miss Ladi Solomon. I am from Kogi State. I work with O D interior and entertainment as the manager of the company.

What is your job description?

I am an interior decoration expert. I work in this company as a manager. Here, I manage the company; we do interior and home finishing.

What exactly is interior decoration all about?

Interior decoration as the name implies, has to do with anything that is within and inside the home. It refers to the designing and furnishing of interior spaces in homes, offices, schools, and public spaces. It deals with all aspects of lighting, color, texture, paint, furniture purchase and flooring. It also includes selection and window treatments.

Decoration is complimenting the interior. The two actually work together.

Can you tell us how you started?

I started working here some months ago, but I have previous experience which has aided me on how to become an interior

decoration expert.

What did you study at school?

I study business administration from university of Abuja.

What motivated you to this business?

It is a corporate world actually.

Our office is a corporate office and initially I have always loved anything that has to do with fashion and interior decoration is just an interesting aspect of fashion. That is why I opted for interior decoration.

Are you encouraged with the patronage you get?

Yes, I am but I need to make more clienteles because in our day to day business, you don't get tired of meeting people. So I look forward to meeting people this year because it's a new year.

How lucrative is the business?

The business is lucrative such that if you work for a month or you are able to get a project going well for you, you will decide to take two months break still the business will be going on well. That's how lucrative it is.

How do you get funds to manage this business?

We don't actually get funds, we

Exciting décor for kids' bedroom

work on our budget and the budget is like capital. When we meet a client who wants us to do a job for him, we get back whatever funds we are supposed to make. So we don't get funds from anybody or Government. It is a private company; we run our business by ourselves.

Are you really making profit out of it?

Yes, we are making profit out of the business. A person cannot establish a business which will not be beneficial to him. As you can see, the business is progressing and we thank God. Are you only specialized in interior design?

Yes, I am only specialised in interior designs but I do a bit of fashion and designing because I love fashion. We do home beautification and everything that has to do with design of housing. And I think fashion and design work hand in hand that's why I am into interior.

Can you explain what an exterior means?

Exterior decoration is a little bit part of interior that does not tally with it because we see everything like interior, anything about housing either interior or exterior,

Ladi Solomon people call it interior, because the word is not usually been used as such, but anything exterior has the same thing and also plays the same role with interior. The only difference is that, interior has to do with designing of inside or within while exterior has to do with outside decorations.

Talking about finishing, what does it entail?

Finishing could be anything. It could be like a structured building, which you want to paint, design or furnish, do wallpaper for, flooring and everything that has to do with interior designs What tips do you have on curtain fabric, color choices, furniture and window treatment when decorating a home?

Talking about fabrics, there are different types of curtain. We have the Irish one, American one and a lot more. American curtain is what people normally go for, because of its quality and appearance. The colors are very beautiful, the print is very nice and they last longer. About window treatment, must people prefer to do blind for their window.

They do financial blind and all

manner of blinds for their kitchen and houses. When we talk of treatment, there is no special treatment, just a normal house cleaning. If you are using a good quality curtain, you can pull it out once in a while for dry cleaning. And when decorating a place, choose a color that compliments each other.

That sounds nice but how then do you treat a window?

Window treatment is just a normal way of cleaning and removing cobwebs in your window.

Use water and rag to clean it, or window cleaner to clean the window. It doesn't have a special treatment; window treatment is just a normal way of cleaning the house, making your window very comfortable and beautiful.

What tips do you have for our readers on decorating rooms for kids?

There are actually stuffs for decorating rooms for kids. Kids have the most beautiful things for interior, ranging from their wallpapers and flooring. The kids love to watch cartoon, they love colors. So in decorating their room, we try to get wall stickers for them like babbie doll and pictures of the normal day to day cartoons they watch. We have a way of creating their bedrooms, and their bed is different from the way of creating and decorating beds for adults. In arranging kids' rooms, we get a double bunk bed for them; we get all manners and shapes of bunk for the creation of beds. I think kids have an upper hand in interior décor more than adult, which is fascinating and beautiful.

How does a man manage a wardrobe?

Managing a wardrobe depend on the budget, a wardrobe is where you keep things you use for day to day outing. There are some certain people who don't know what to wear and having difficulties in what to wear.

If a man want to manage his wardrobe, depend on the budget the person is keeping or laying down for us and we work with the budget.

For instance, if a man want a wardrobe management for a month, six months or a year, it's depend on how much budget the person give. And we will be able to prepare for him, his day to day wears, his casuals to his outing and his ceremonial wears.

PAGE 28

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

Cuisine

Pots & Pans

With Hajiya Ramatu Usman Dorayi

Plantain buns, minced meat flour soup

Ingredients: Four large plantains minced meat, fresh pepper, onion, curry and thyme, seasoning cubes, salt, flour and vegetable oil.

Method: Wash plantain and peel. Wash fresh pepper and onion and pound. Add plantain and pound together. Add some seasoning, salt, curry and thyme, pound until smooth, and then put in a clean bowl.

Add some flour and mix very well, then mould into round shapes, deep fry in hot oil until golden brown. Put minced meat in a clean pot and add some water and seasoning, salt, chopped onions and fresh pepper.

Cover and allow to cook until soft, then mix some water with flour, add to the cooking minced meat little by little until you obtain a smooth tasty flour soup. Serve the soup on top of plantain, garnish with fresh lettuce.

Banana shake Ingredients: Two large bananas, one tin of evaporated milk, two tablespoon honey.

Method: Wash banana and peel. Put in a blender, add milk and honey. Blend until smooth then pour in a clean container and serve cold.

Bell pepper nutrition facts

W

h e t h e r you prefer red, orange or yellow, bell peppers are packed with dozens of heart-healthy nutrients like lycopene and folic acid. And recent research suggests digging into a pepper every day may lower your risk of developing lung, colon, bladder and pancreatic cancers.

Bell pepper or sweet pepper is the most popular of the chili peppers in the Capsicum annum family. It is a fruit pod of small perennial shrub in the nightshade or Solanaceae family, of the genus, capsicum. Scientific name: Capsicum annum.

Unlike their fellow capsicum members, sweet peppers have characteristic bell shape with crunchy, thick fleshy texture. On comparison to other members, bell (sweet) peppers feature characteristically least pungency that ranges from zero to very minimal hotness. For the same reasons, they generally treated like vegetables instead of spice.

Bell pepper contains an impressive list of plant nutrients that are known to have disease preventing and health promoting properties. Unlike other chili peppers, it is very low in calories and fats. 100 g provide just 31 calories.

Sweet (bell) pepper contains small

levels of health benefiting an alkaloid compound capsaicin. Early laboratory studies on experimental mammals suggest that capsaicin has antibacterial, anti-carcinogenic, analgesic and anti-diabetic properties. When used judiciously, it also found to reduce triglycerides and LDL cholesterol levels in obese individuals.

Fresh bell peppers, red or green, are rich source of vitamin-C. This vitamin is especially concentrated in red peppers at highest levels. 100 g red pepper provides about 127.7 Îźg or about 213%

of RDA of vitamin C. Vitamin-C is a potent water soluble antioxidant. It is required for the collagen synthesis in the body. Collagen is the main structural protein in the body required for maintaining the integrity of blood vessels, skin, organs, and bones.

Regular consumption of foods rich in this vitamin helps the human body protect from scurvy; develop resistance against infectious agents (boosts immunity) and scavenge harmful, proinflammatory free radicals from the body.

PAGE 29

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27 JANUARY, 2013

Womanhood

Reasons women need more retirement planning than men T

h e good news for women is that, they live longer, so they will have longer to enjoy their retirement. The bad news however, is that they live longer, and so their retirement will be much more expensive than for their male counterparts.

Women tend to outlive their husbands. Only one-third of women over sixty-five are married, and on the average, women tend to survive their husbands by fifteen years.

The combination of being on their own and living longer means that women need far more retirement income than most men do.

Today, more and more women are leaving the work force, because of layoffs, poor job prospects, or to spend more time with their families. On the average, women are out of the work force for at least ten years,

while men, on the average, take just one year out of the work force.

Women often think that they can rely on their husbands' pensions, but they are wrong.

Let's assume that a couple is living on the husband's pension, and the woman dies. Though grief-stricken, the husband suffers no financial detriment, and goes on collecting his full pension. But let's say the husband dies first, as is ordinarily the case.

His wife will probably get only 50% survivor benefits, which won't come close to providing her the income she needs to carry on with the family upkeep. No wonder 41% of older women are living close to the poverty line. Not surprisingly, most widows who are poor now were not poor before their husbands died.

Whether you are married or not, here are some of the things that you can do to build a secure retirement for yourself.

Make retirement plans a priority when you consider a job Consider sacrificing some current salary in return for a good retirement plan, and seek out employers who will match part or all of your savings in a contributory plan.

Work as long as you can at the highest salary you can The longer you work, the more you can sock away for retirement. And the older you are when you retire, the fewer years of retirement you will have to fund.

Put money away for retirement on a regular basis Just N500 to N1000 a week can add up, especially if you start young. For example, N5000 a week invested in growth mutual funds from age 40 to age 65 will build to a nest egg of N500,000. Start at age 25, and it will grow to nearly N800,000.

Learn about your finances Identify your financial assets and debts, and begin to save for your future by paying down debt and budgeting.

If you are married, be sure that you and your husband each understand what you own and what you owe, and use insurance to plan for the possibility of death or disability. www.wife.org

PAGE 30

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

Archives

Do you have old pictures for memories?

Send them to julius2001_a@yahoo.com

Late Afrobeat King ,Fela Anikulapo Kuti seen here playing table tennis in the early 80s..CKN

Chief Justice Sir, Algernon Brown, and Premier Alhaji Sir Ahmadu Bello, attending the new Law Courts building dedication. The building houses the Chief Justice's Court, the Federal Court of Appeal, and the Sharia Court of Appeal. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Life magazine and traveled to Africa from August 18, 1959 to December 20, 1959.

LATE Muhammadu Sanusi (1907) was emir of Kano (1954-1963) and the eldest son of Abdullahi Bayero, he succeeded his father in 1954. He was a member of the Northern delegation to the National Constitutional Conference in 1958, and was made K.B.E. the same year. He was also a Minister of State without portfolio in the Northern region, and once acted as Acting Governor of the region.

IBB's wedding card in the 70s

Onyeka Onwenu in the 60s

Peter and Paul Okoye as kids in the 80s

Segun Arinze in the 70s

The City of Kano, Nigeria, in December 1930. Air photo taken by Swiss pilot and photographer, Walter Mittelholzer (1894-1937).

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

PAGE 31

Leisure WORD SEARCH

Photo of the day

With Augustine Aminu

A Real Lagos Child

Find the words of the things moms like from the bottom in the mom word search grid. The words can be forwards or backwards, vertical, horizontal, or diagonal. Circle each letter separately, but keep in mind that letters in each word may be used in more than one word. When the mom word search puzzle is complete, read the remaining letters left to right, top to bottom, to learn an interesting fact about moms.

Things Mom Likes Word Search Puzzle A N Q E W S

U F

D Y H A S

F

S

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APPRECIATION CANDLELIGHT CANDY CHILDREN CHOCOLATES DIAMONDS FLOWERS FREE TIME HUGS JEWELRY

KIDS KISSES PEACE PRESENTS QUIET RESTAURANT ROMANCE SNUGGLING SWEETS THANK YOUS

Quotes Dale Carnegie If a woman is to find happiness at all in her husband, she is to find it in his appreciation and devotion.

Katherine Anne Porter Our being is subject to all the chances of life. There are so many things we are capable of, that we could be or do. The possibilities are so great that we never, any of us, are more than one-fourth fulfilled.

Thomas Jefferson Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits.

Martin Luther King Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

John F. Kennedy Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings H. Page Williams All a man needs to do to have a great deal more happiness and bliss is to love his own wife

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

African proverbs If a man is not clean and smooth, there is nothing he can really do about pride.

Even an old woman may run when a goat carries her snuff-box.

A man who is advised and he takes it, is still a man who acts from his own free will.

When a ripe fruit sees an honest man, it drops.

It is one person in a street that kills a dog and the street is named a street of dog killers.

When a fowl gets to a new town, it stands on one leg until it knows that it is a town where people stand on their two legs.

When a face is sullen it remains there to be seen on its owner.

When a woman cannot have good palm-nuts to give her rich oil, she still has to maintain decency in order to remain one of those that sell good quality oil.

A man who has one finger pointing at another has three pointing towards himself.

A man who eases himself in public, gives cause to others to despise him.

The man who is honored, has first honored himself.

CARTOON

PAGE 32

F

Michelle's brand new bangs

By Augustine Aminu

M

i c h e l l e debuted the new hair cut on her birthday via the new FLOTUS Twitter account.

Everyone has had something to say about the trim, even her husband, Obama. "I love Michelle Obama," the President said.

"I love her bangs". She looks good she always looks good." While the first lady may be the newest member of the blunt-bang club, other notable women seem to be jumping on the fringe trend, including Kate Middleton. Ladies, see the different face-framing bang styles.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

PAGE 33

Business

Enhancing road construction efficiency through innovation

By Stanley Onyekwere

T

here is no denying that civil engineering works especially road and housing construction anywhere in the world do not come cheap as it most often than not involves huge amount of material and human resources like money, time, skills and equipment. Even after having successfully executed a project, with time, issue of maintenance takes centre stage.

Conventionally, in construction projects around the world, developers are able to build roadways on their lots, use those roadways to populate their division with buildings, housing, and parking lots. For instance, constructing road involves excavating the existing soil and replacing it with stronger aggregate before asphalting. No doubt, this is a costly process, requiring a great deal of time and expenditure.

And in Nigeria, where there are many unsealed roads lacking the ideal range and distribution of particle sizes to give a good load bearing capacity. This according to experts when wet (coarse particles) or sufficient (clay) when dry. In the same vein, all dry gravel roads also suffer some surface abrasion loss resulting in dust since the adhesion between the particles is reduced.

Also, research show that loose material on the road causes dust that blows away or washes off under heavy rain. Therefore, over time, the amount of fine blinding soil in the road is reduced and gradually larger particles break away. At a point, the loose surface becomes prone to increased dust, pot holes and corruption, making the road uncomfortable and deadly to drive on.

Even when the roads are sealed with conventional materials as they are not immune from damage. And to compound issues, is the astronomical cost of maintenance, and with time the fines are lost and the road deteriorates faster requiring more regular maintenance. This is far off from challenges housing related issues, but the only parting lane is only in magnitude.

To this end, over time in Nigeria many reports of hardship and death from road and housing mishaps abound to portray the far reaching cost of providing and using any of this essential amenities in any society. This, many attributed to the inability of the existing conventional methods of construction especially in this part of the world, where there is heavy reliance on this system without seeking ways of improving on it.

But the attendant

L-R: Company Secretary, Axion Global Engineering Limited, Barr. Uyai Abasi Ikoiwak, company Engineer, Mr. Ogwuegbu Herbert, and Managing Director of the company, Hon. Okey Eze, during the introduction of Axion product into Nigerian market, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo inefficiency in the sector, arising from the strict application of the old system in the country would soon be history. Thanks to the introduction of modern innovative method of construction in form of additives to strengthen construction works especially road and housing aspects.

On Wednesday January 23, in the nation's capital, Abuja, an indigenous firm, Axion Global Engineering Ltd (AGEL) made headline when it introduced a proven cutting edge range of additive technology in construction works.

From reports gathered, AGEL, is a subsidiary Axion Canada, with clientele base in Africa and beyond has over the years developed innovative road construction, and advanced construction method that saves 60% over conventional system , that is 30 % on completion of construction and 30 % savings in maintenance for period of not earlier than ten years plus. The technology was first introduced in the 1970's to the United States of America (USA) army and later gained worldwide acceptance for its uses.

As back as in 1974, it was developed as an advanced technology used for fasttracking road construction in particular providing rapid deployment of airline landing areas for the US army.

But In 1994, Axion began offering these military grade products and services commercially to markets worldwide. And today, it has become a world leading fast tracking road construction industry, serving over 36 countries worldwide.

As it stands, experts are of the view that its durability has out aged the traditionally ways of building roads by over 15 years. This is because according to experts, the application of these innovative additives, allows for construction to go much smoother, for sections of development to open later, and wherein tear on equipment are significantly reduced.

Interestingly, these innovative materials are Axion Turffcrete powder, Axion Solid Base stabilizer and Axion Bitumen Boost Refiner; all with common features of the brands of additives under the staple of the company such as come in powdered and liquid, and colour variants.

Checks reveal that, for instance, Axion Bitumen Boost Refiner, which is applied to eliminating hairline cracks, solving rutting problem and increasing water resistance of both asphalt layer and prolonging its life expectancy.

Regarded as the only binder in the world that makes the bitumen used in constructing

roads water resistant, it combines the ability to increase the volume of bitumen, stabilizes and improves its elasticity. It also offers the widest heat range, tested to allow asphalt to withstand temperatures as low as 28C (-18F) and as high as +72(162F).

However, some highlighted benefits of using this technology include cost-effective, easy application to wide range of construction like road base, foundation reinforcement, some grade improvement environmentally safe and longlasting.

At the introduction of the Axion product line in Abuja, the company's representative, Barr.

Uyai Abasi Ikowak, explained that the additives when applied in construction works reduces cost, time and energy deployed in conventional construction as it can deliver one kilo meter road in 48 hours and it is ready for use.

According to her, in addition to the above benefits the technology allows for construction to go much smoother, for sections of development to open later, and wherein tear on equipment are drastically reduced.

Also, it is believed that through application of the technology, development of low cost houses and eliminate incidences of erosion in the

country would be greatly enhanced as it helps to stabilize earth surface, thereby curbing menace of erosion without incurring much cost in the process.

On the rationale behind the introduction of the technology in commercial quantity in the country, AGEL chairman, Okey Eze, disclosed that it was the company's passion to ensure safe qualitative service and contributing to the nation's economy through job creation delivery in the sector.

According to him, beyond the importation of the additive components, the company is working in conjunction with the mother company to developing manpower on the application of the technology and train Nigerians on acquisition of technical know-how to develop the products locally.

"Taking cognizance of the local content Act, AGEL has acquired and will continue to acquire cutting edge equipment to ensure safe and qualitative services to deliver and develop local manpower", Eze explained.

By most accounts, the application of this innovative additives technology in construction works in Nigeria that reduces cost and wastages incurred in conventional construction system would enhance road construction efficiency in the country.

PAGE 34

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

Interview

"Obasanjo has questions to answer on corruption" From Ahmed Abubakar, Dutse

T

he nation's electric power sub-sector has continued to fluctuate in spite the huge amount government claim to have injected into it. The development has led to closure of a number of industries nationwide with attendant unemployment. Don’t you think this may have contributed to the general state of insecurity in the country?

The Federal Government should do all within its power to ensure that the hydro-power project at Mambilla is given serious attention. I can recall that this project has been on-going since the early 80s during the Second Republic. During our time in the

“

Yet the sector has gulped so much money that we have almost lost count of the exact figure but it is in the neighborhood of $20 to $30 billion in less than 15 years.

Senate, when former President Shehu Shagari brought up the issue in the budget in 1998, we voted some money for feasibility studies and subsequent work to be done but to our chagrin, at the end of the Second Republic, the military intervened and during the almost two decades of military reign, no attention was given to the project.

When the civilians came back in 1999 the same problem persisted. In 2003 Obasanjo made an attempt and the consultants were here in Nigeria but to our surprise, Obasanjo had a second term when he was supposed to have completed the project but it is still almost at the drawing board despite whatever fees were paid the consultants, we are still back to square one.

This makes most Nigerians to feel that the government is not really interested. The Mambilla project alone

In this interview with Ahmed Abubakar in Dutse, Senator Ahmed Zakari, who represented Hadejia/Kazaure in the old Kano state from 1979-1983, says former President Obasanjo cannot disassociate himself from allegations of corruption against the government of President Goodluck Jonathan. He also speaks on the insecurity situation of the country and other national issues.

I think both of them may be correct.

Jonathan as the President definitely would say that he is fighting corruption and Obasanjo as a former President and a mentor to Jonathan also knew what happened before and n o w .

Therefore, if he claims the government is corrupt or the present administration is corrupt then there must be a link between the two because t h e corruption did not start today, it has been on through the military days till today. I recall that during Obasanjo's regime, the railway line project was introduced though the rail line rehabilitation which was started during the military, during the regime of the late Head of State, Gen. Sani A b a c h a , there

if completed can generate over 100 megawatts of electricity.

Adding 1000 megawatts to the existing 3000 megawatts and above, we would have been getting about 4000 to 5000 megawatts. That can really impact positively on the economy by bringing back the industries that have closed shops due to lack of electric power.

Yet the sector has gulped so much money that we have almost lost count of the exact figure but it is in the neighborhood of $20 to $30 billion in less than 15 years.

The common belief of almost every Nigerian is that monies voted have not been deployed for the purpose but for the leaders to share. What the current leaders should do is to pay more attention to electric power generation and distribution because all the happenings in Nigeria are not unconnected with that. If one recalls, in the early 60s or 70s, you will just need to go to Kaduna south and see how our energetic youths were engaged through gainful employment but now, more than 95 per cent of the industries are closed.

The same thing happened in Kano. Gusau was a fast growing and upcoming industrial town during the same period but today, about 97 per cent of the industries have also gone. This has created so much of the unemployment situation today and considering the saying that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop, then we may as well say that the development may not be unconnected with the current security challenges.

Reports suggest that corruption is linked to t h e non-

Sen. Ahmed Zakari

completion of the project and former President Olusegun Obasanjo recently described

President Jonathan's government as the most corrupt. What do you think?

was an attempt then and during the regime of Gen. Abdulsalami

Contd on Page 35

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

PAGE 35

Interview "Obasanjo has questions to answer on corruption" Contd from Page 34 Abubakar, and later during the democratic rule under Obasanjo.

Billions of dollars was invested in the project and Obasanjo even launched it at Yaba, in Lagos, during the early part of his administration but up till the time he left after eight years, nothing happened. I think Jonathan might have done better to my understanding because the rail lines have started to roll, at least, we have witnessed the arrival of what we call Lagos limited train. During our youth days, it was leaving Kano for Lagos three times every week. That the train has arrived Kano is a credit to the Jonathan administration. Honestly speaking, a lot of money went down the drain for the railway project but nothing came out of it. That is why I said that Obasanjo cannot completely disassociate himself from the whole scenario because if he says Jonathan's government is corrupt then he must have inherited it.

Obasanjo advised Jonathan to change tactics on his approach to the insecurity situation while some other people are calling for dialogue with the insurgents because the situation has adversely affected the economy.

What is your view?

That may not be different from the thinking of ordinary Nigerians. I am also of the view that the tactics have to be changed because going by global trend, most of the countries that encountered some of these problems had to, at the end come back to the table and get those involved to a dialogue. Even in a war situation, in the history of wars, I think it is only the Nigerian civil war that ended without dialogue though before the war there were series of conferences.

There was the Aburi conference and others aimed at averting the war in the first place. But at the end, the war was fought and won but the approach of the leadership then made almost everybody feel at home because we are all brothers and sisters.

That should have served as a lesson for us but this time around, it is not a war but the impact appears to be worse than that of a war situation.

What I am saying is Obasanjo being an elderly person and a mentor to Jonathan should not have made the

Sen. Ahmed Zakari comments in the open.

He could have taken him into confidence to give him a road map which he should adopt and I think it would have been much more honorable. But all the same, if government thinks it has the wherewithal to suppress the insurgency, it should remember it is a guerilla type of thing which is not easy to contain. Remember the Korean War. Similarly, the Soviet Union in the early 80s was in Afghanistan and though it

“

deployed hundreds of thousands troupes but they had to pull back just for an agreement to be reached.

Ours is an insurgency because there was a reason for it. When it started, the military were in Borno in Maiduguri.

They raided the headquarters of the Boko Haram. They arrested their leader alive and that we watched on the television and to our surprise we saw the killing as it was beamed by Aljazeera. What happened is against any convention when a

Honestly speaking, a lot of money went down the drain for the railway project but nothing came out of it. That is why I said that Obasanjo cannot completely disassociate himself from the whole scenario because if he says Jonathan's government is corrupt then he must have inherited it.

person is arrested and you kill him extra-judicially. For me, that was the beginning of the insurgency.

Government should have investigated to know those who took part in that operation and the culprits punished accordingly.

It could have been the security agents or even the governor of the state. As the governor, he had to sanction the killing and if that was not the case, then the security agents should be tried and the appropriate punishment administered even if it is the death penalty. I am sure if that was done, the current insecurity situation would not have arisen.

Again, we watched the case when some persons were arraigned before a Federal High Court in Abuja as the alleged killers, about four or five of them. Nobody has told us how the case ended or what happened. It is possible they may have been released. That is why the people are worried. Were they properly prosecuted and in the open and not in secret? This is because it affects everybody and the people would want to see that justice is actually done.

Records indicate daily trading in Kano was to the tune of about N2 billion before the insurgency but today it has gone down to as low as N250 million. What should be done to save the situation?

For me, the security challenges cannot be surmounted if the tactic is not changed. There are so many road blocks. The security agents should fortify security in their barracks and offices but they should leave the roads within the city free of the blockades because the roadblocks frustrate business activities. If you notice any suspicious person, then you follow him. You do not need to be visible to follow suspicious movements. But so many road blocks constitute another form of security threat can scare businessmen from deploying their resources. If the roadblocks can be removed, it will ease business.

The road block mounted along BUK road by the AIG office was removed and his office has been walled. The mobile barracks in Hotoro has been walled so there should not be any road blocks there. They should keep to their barracks gates from where they can watch the streets and if there are any suspicious movements, then they should act.

There is the belief that the huge security votes in 2012 was really meant to secure the security agencies and government officials while the citizens are left at the mercy of the insurgents. Do you also share that view?

It is the view of the ordinary Nigerians. Allocation to security is too high and the way to reduce it is to dismantle the roadblocks and they should keep to their barracks. That way, the money needed may be less than half of what is being used today.

The remaining can be used for other things. Indeed the protection is really given to the security agents more than the people.

PAGE 36

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

OUR MISSION “To be the market place of ideas and the leading player in the industry by putting the people first, upholding the truth, maintaining the highest professional and ethical standards while delivering value to our stakeholders”

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Re: Sovereign wealth fundup Nigeria won’t break H

o w many times have we heard the expression “Nigeria won’t break up”? This clichéd expression has become the chorus of Nigeria’s ruling elite; an elite that will not raise a finger to defend the territorial integrity of Nigeria if it becomes necessary to do so.

Like every bankrupt ruling class, ours never ceases to find an opportunity to proclaim its commitment to the country and her unity. One such opportunity offered itself a few days ago during the Inter-Denominational Church Service to mark the 2013 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebrations at the National Christian Centre in Abuja.

The Armed Forces Remembrance Day, also known as Remembrance Day, was celebrated on November 11 to coincide with the Remembrance Day for veterans of World War II in the British Commonwealth of Nations. The date was changed to January 15, in commemoration of the surrender of Biafran troops to the Federal troops on 15 January, 1970, an action that brought the Nigerian Civil War to an end. January 15 is also remembered for another important event in Nigeria’s tortuous road to democratic governance and nationhood.

It was on that day, 47 years ago, that the first of many military coups took place, ending Nigeria’s First Republic.

It is understandable, therefore, if presidential emotions run high on Remembrance Day. While lauding the Armed Forces and other security service for their efforts to “keep the nation one and in peace” the president assured Nigerians that the country would not break up. “Some people talk about disintegration of Nigeria, now even at political levels some people take it as a weapon … when they want to discuss politics. But my conviction and I believe that of most people here and those listening to us, is that Nigeria will continue to remain a united nation,” the president averred.

Two months ago, at the height of the debate about another petrol price increase, the president had likened the pains Nigerians were experiencing to a boil on the face of a five-year-old girl.

WRITE TO US Peoples Daily Weekend welcomes your letters, opinion articles, text messages and ‘pictures of yesteryears.’ All written contributions should be concise. Word limits: Letters - 150 words, Articles - 750 words. Please include your name and a valid location. Letters to the Editor should be addressed to: The Editor, Peoples Daily, 1st Floor Peace Plaza, 35 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja.

Email: opinion@peoplesdailyng.com Then, he had suggested surgery for the little girl with an assurance that “if she bears the pain and does the incision and treats it, after some days or weeks, the child will grow up to be a beautiful lady”. The president was saying in essence that Nigerians should be ready to bear the pain of his government’s agonizing policies.

This time around, President Jonathan likened Nigeria to a 100-year-old marriage which, in his wisdom, is indissoluble.

“Nigeria will not disintegrate… I know Nigeria will remain one”, the president assured his audience. “In 2014 we will celebrate our centenary, 100 years in existence. It will only take two mad people to stay in marriage for 100 years and say that is the time you will divorce and we are not mad. If there are issues that have been brewing over the period and we have been managing, we will continue to manage.”

I wonder why the president keeps coming up with this crude comparisons.

First, there are not many people in the world who live up to 100 years and there are even fewer who are married for that long. Even if we assume that the president was speaking metaphorically, there is no law that says people who have been married for so long can’t go their separate ways. You don’t have to be mad to divorce after being married for a long time.

Sacrifice, yes, but marriages survive based on trust, love and respect, not because of how long. No marriage can survive for too long if it is based on abuse, neglect and deprivation.

Mr. President, we can’t continue to manage after over five decades of independence and almost a century of amalgamation and billions of dollars in earnings. Every Nigerian, including those

whose actions have brought the country to its knees, has become a professional manager. No country can survive that continues to patch rather than fix once and for all the long-term structural problems that continue to hold down its progress.

Waxing patriotic, President Jonathan had this to say about the motherland: “I always say that Nigeria is great not because of our oil, because we have people that produce more oil than us but we are appreciated and still reckoned with because of our size and diversity both for human beings and environment. These are areas we should exploit for unity and development”.

Mr. President, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the reality is that Nigeria is only great in our imaginations. Nigeria is big for nothing! We are not respected in the comity of nations; our citizens are mistreated around the world, sometimes because of their actions, and other times simply because they have a green passport.

What is there to respect? Even with the abundance of human and natural resources, we have one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. We are ranked amongst the most corrupt nations in the world and we are in competition with Afghanistan, Chad, Angola, DR Congo and Pakistan, for countries with persistent polio transmission. To our eternal shame, while Afghanistan’s polio programme has been described as “consistently performing at a reasonable level”, Nigeria’s “has slipped back in a quite alarming way”.

That President Jonathan – like those before him – has to use every opportunity to proclaim that “Nigeria won’t break up” is reflective of the state of our union. Forty

three years after the civil war ended, we have a virtual war on our hand. The same issues that existed before the civil war began are still with us, except that today they have grown worse. The president is unable to visit certain parts of the country; fiends are murdering at will in the name of religion; militancy has become profitable; armed robbers and “freelance assassins” prowl the country while kidnapping has become a lucrative profession; poverty, anger and disillusionment are rife; and our corrupt public officials have graduated from 10% to 150% kickback. What this means is that our rulers, and their collaborators in the private sector, have become so brazen that contractors are guaranteed to receive full payment for a contract that was never started, much less completed. And they are entitled to an additional half of the total contract sum after a review of the contract in line with the rate of inflation.

Indeed, we are witnessing a scenario worse than the country breaking up. The real fear shouldn’t be the country breaking up because that is a harder and much longer route to travel. The real fear is the possibility that anarchy will envelop the country and we will go the route of Somalia, the poster child of failed states.

The president admonishes “us all (to) stand up and condemn those who say otherwise about our unity. Those who call for our disintegration or who make similar statements should be condemned by all Nigerians”. I agree with the president. Now also is the time for all Nigerians, including the president, to rise up in one voice and condemn those ills that breed terrorism, anger, disillusionment, poverty and threaten the unity of the country. Ills like corruption, abuse of power and suppression of the rule of law.

Ultimately, Nigerians would have to take control of their destiny and decide the shape of things to come. If in the end the country survives the doomsday prophesy, it won’t be because the present administration has done anything to stem the slide.

Chido Onumah conumah@hotmail.com

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

PAGE 37

Opinion Jonathan’s unpopular New Year ‘gifts’

By Ibrahim Kabiru Sule

I

n an aberration to the usual pledges contained in New Year messages by successive administrations, President Jonathan, last year, brought shocker to Nigerians instead of optimism by announcing the total removal of fuel subsidy!

Accordingly, the year witnessed an unprecedented number of painful calamities that tormented all parts of the country.

Presumably, the nature of condemnation that greeted last year’s subsidy removal announcement made the

President to avoid repeating same unpopular decision, as Nigerians primed to hear what this year’s New Tear message entailed.

And just at the time when everybody was convinced that nothing of that nature would happen, the Federal Capital Territory, two weeks into the year, announced this year’s tarried but unwelcomed gift by banning commercial vehicles from flying some strategic roads that record daily activities of Nigerians.

This new transport policy, in no time took toll on people in the FCT, as hundreds of would-be passengers reluctantly trekked to a long distance before reaching their

offices or destinations.

Heavy security personnel, including the military, the AEPB staff were deployed in such areas as if it’s a war-front zone area.

People were reported to have spent many hours waiting for the few commercial vehicles that endured to work.

Although the authority might say the action was intended to rid the city, especially the Wuse market area, of the obnoxious congestion, yet the failure to provide alternative motor parks crippled the decision.

And the seemingly belated setting up of a committee to further look at the decision by the minister, which temporarily casts a

reprieve to both the passengers and commercial vehicles for at least three weeks, ought to have been done before enforcement of the policy.

One could only pray that it will not be the prima facie signal of what the year conceived, as last year’s same ‘gift’ bore a number of catastrophes within the year.

It is worrisome that the reminiscences of last January struggles and hardships have surfaced in the minds of Nigerians, no thanks to the policy of Jonathan administration’s evident wrong New Year ‘gifts’, and these are wrong signals for 2015, Mr. President.

Sule is a staff of Peoples Media Ltd

More grounds for party deregistration

By Sani Abubakar Sadiq

P

a r t i e s are into a game called politics. Every game has rules and regulations. Participants must comply with the rules of the game. The umpire doth no wrong when he issues a red or yellow card to those who flout the rules of the game. Come to think of it, politics particularly the electoral contest is like the game of football. A football team may lose some of the time but it must win most of the time or risk being disbanded. Ask the Super Eagles!

I read with unmitigated shock Mr. Ralph Egbu’s insipid arguments in his Sunday Sun column of January 6, 2013 where he expressed the view that INEC’s deregistration exercise was an overkill. Do we need to equivocate on grave national issues like the one being discussed? Do we realize that all it takes Nigerians to hand the keys of the coffers of the Central Bank of Nigeria over to rogue parties is a careless or carefree Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)? Rooks and crooks can band together to form a political party if the rules are not stringent and strictly enforced as Prof. Attahiru Jega is about doing. Before you know it the economy is looted and we end up in the hands of the liquidators of our national economy.

Methinks the deregistration of frivolous parties is a healthy development. What is a non-performing team or player doing on the field of play if not to cause national embarrassment? Prof Jega owes a duty to the nation to protect the national economy by checkmating irregular outflow of cash in the form of the honorarium or subsidies paid to non-performing political parties for merely achieving registration. Whether they field contestants or not has not disqualified them from making this claim and drain on our national economy. Let this payment of subvention to non-performing parties stop forthwith.

It is because INEC has not been carrying out this house cleaning exercise that ruffians, rooks and crooks have inundated our political space. Please let no press man or press agent plead the case or cause of delinquent parties. If anything, this brawn and new found bravado evinced by Prof Attahiru Jega is a healthy development that will force parties to realign to forge ideological mergers or alliances.

President Goodluck Jonathan, must be a good ‘fisher’ of men to have fished out Prof. Attahiru Jega, a man of integrity and honour who knows the nuisance value of non-performing parties and their predilection to becloud choice and engender needless multiplication of the

instruments of terror and coercion. How does one choose a winning party from an unwieldy list of 66 registered parties? We have largely an illiterate electorate. Even the literate ones cannot intelligently choose “1 from 66” within the voting time frame on a voting day! The voter willynilly howbeit unwittingly gives his/her vote to the party that has conscientized him or her not necessarily to a performing party. A party that cannot open office in all the 36 state capitals can ill-afford the cost of disseminating voting messages to relevant stakeholders. Political parties are into some form of oligopolistic competition.

If they cannot innovate, they must at least imitate for shrewd management of voter responses.

So far only the PDP, ACN, CPC and the newly registered UPP routinely interrogate the environment of party programmes, policies and plans to identify opportunities and threats and to respond proactively.

Other Lilliputian or atomistic parties don’t have the resources to grapple with the need to inform and enlighten their voters. These parties only exist on the voter’s card. But their existence is only assured when they exist in the voters mind. The measures taken

by INEC will make the deregistered parties to reorganize and register again. So when Mr. Ralph Egbu said deregistration poses a

challenge to mass participation in a nation’s democratic process in many ways, he failed to streamline and analyze the ways.

INEC’s strategic move will promote mass participation and not hinder it. INEC is merely calling for political interest aggregation. People are free to articulate their interests but similar or like interests should come together. The constitution merely stipulates multi-party system, so INEC is free to roll-back the party system to a manageable optimum. This writer has once advocated a “two-and-half” party system for Nigeria. By this I mean that ideally, Nigeria should have two dominant ideological parties. The “half party” is a generic tearm or metaphor for all other fledgeling - less-than dominant parties. If the “less than dominant parties” are not more than three, then we have a total number of five political parties still within multi-partism! This does not mean that INEC will stop registration of new parties.

Party registration is an on-going process.

INEC will continue to interrogate the political system to identify parties that fail to comply with rules and regulations and deregister them. In short we have a fluid situation and a proactive INEC. This is a very healthy development.

Uwalaka, an author and political systems analyst wrote from Lagos

How indiscipline retards our growth

By Sani Abubakar Sadiq

L

o n g m a n 's Dictionary of Contemporary English defines indiscipline as the "Lack of control in the behaviour of a group of people, with the result that they behave badly".

Nigeria as it is now is affected by so many problems ranging from terrorism, power shortage, disunity, bribery and corruption etc. the actual reality on ground is that Nigeria is a country in which the citizens view the leaders as a set of corrupt fellows that use power to manipulate their ways, while the leaders view the citizens as bunch of illiterates that are affected by peculiar kind of amnesia that makes the citizens indifferent to their squandering and looting.

This disconnect between the leadership and the citizens is what has given rise to the myriad of problems affecting Nigeria as a nation. Corruption tends to be the cankerworm that have eaten deep into the fabric of the nation, it is the cancer that has led to all of the other problems because it cuts across all of Nigeria's social strata.

The leadership of every nation is a reflection of the true colour of the citizens of that country. Whether we like it or not, Nigeria's leadership can also be used to measure the average Nigerian's intellect and manners. After all President Goodluck Jonathan was once a shoeless kid in the remote Nigerian village of Otuoke, and we have all seen what he has metamorphosed into.

Former governor Ibrahim Shekarau of Kano State was the normal civil servant retiree that you will pass on the street but we all saw what he turned Kano State's treasury into, we are all witnesses to how his formerly middle class commissioners turned into multi-millionaires overnight.

We have seen how former governor Lucky Igbinedion from a rich background nearly ran Edo State down. We are also living witnesses to how a former petty thief got access to the Delta state treasury and transformed into a big time power broker who, by the way nemesis caught up with and is cooling his heels in a UK prison. In essence, what I am trying to portray is that all classes of Nigerians have the tendency to

be corrupt.

Bribery and corruption are acts of indiscipline because it is all about giving favour to someone who doesn't deserve it. So also is tribalism, because it promotes characterisation of a personality based on his tribe rather than his actual individual character. As Nigerians, majority of us are either Christians or Muslims while a minority are animists. All of these faiths promote discipline, peaceful living, and obedience to a supreme being. All of our cultures also promote selflessness, valour and communal living. All of these a fore mentioned qualities are disciplined acts that if adhered to will bring sanity to the way we do our things.

A look at all the developed nations that we are all trying to emulate will show that the main difference between us is discipline.

They keep to schedules, are orderly on queues, pay their taxes as and when due, they obey traffic rules etc. It boils down to the point that being disciplined makes life a lot easier for not only the individual but for the society in general because the whole

society becomes well synchronised and everybody knows what to expect all the time.

Discipline is what will give the citizens the moral right to confront bad leadership.

In a community or a nation where all or majority of the citizens obey all constituted authorities, and fulfill all that is expected of them, the leadership will have no excuse but to be forth right in its duties and as said earlier, the leadership of a nation is the true reflection of its citizens.

In conclusion, in as much as we want a better Nigeria; the change has to begin from us. We have to stop all the lamentations and face the challenges ahead. Being disciplined is not about depriving yourself of any luxury; it is about coordinating your activities to sync with those of others for the mutual benefit of everybody. With time, a disciplined Nigeria will go a great way in producing purposeful and visionary leadership that will see to the development of our dear nation.

Sani Abubakar Sadiq <sanisadeeq@yahoo.com>

PAGE 38

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

Interview

'Women have been the focus of Al-makura's administration' S

ince your inauguration as the commissioner in charge of this ministry, what can you say has been your experience so far?

We met a lot of challenges on arrival but by the grace of God, we were able to forge ahead and tackle particularly, issues that were pressing then. One of such issues has to do with the low level of girl-child enrolment in school.

Statistics from the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEC), put us among states with the least girl-child school attendance and this was a major source of concern. The prevalence of girls hawking on our streets and major roads, was also an eye sore. My first responsibility therefore was to tour the 13 local government councils on a sensitization campaign, to create awareness among our various communities, especially parents at the grass root, on the need and significance of the girl-child education.

We took our campaign to all the nooks and crannies of the state, educating parents on the need to also send their daughters to school. We emphasised on equality between boys and girls, and on the need to train the girls so that they can help in building the society. It is true that our effort was made easy through the overwhelming support of Governor Umaru Tanko Al-makura, who demonstrated his capacity to nurture the girl-child and to improve their economic well being. So far, we have began to record successes in terms of the number of girls attending school. Take for instance, the oft reported cases of girl hawkers along the Akwanga/Keffi road, both at the Akwanga check point as well as the Gudi cross over. The good news is that most of these girls seen hawking fruits and local snacks, have all enrolled in one school or the other. They merely augment the income of their parents and help them towards paying their school fees. This is aside of our direct intervention towards encouraging the girl-child education through the identification of talented but less privileged girls and paying their school fees.

For some of them, the ministry took it upon itself to sew uniforms for the girls to enable them go to school. There is a special scholarship scheme for girls but the education ministry will be in a better position to tell you about that. There are challenges of course but we are determined and our governor is demanding for change. By and large, we are beginning to witness a change in the number of girls enrolling in school. On the part of intervention from the state government also, particularly with His Excellency's penchant for encouraging the girl-child education, all the girls' schools in the state have been singled out for total rehabilitation. Now these schools wear new looks, with fence built around them.

Particular attention has been accorded to feeding and hostel accommodation for female students, all in a bid to bolster girl-child enrolment in school.

So, Gov. Al-makura has taken it upon himself to address the low level of girl-child enrolment in school, but what other interventions came the way of women in the state?

Gov. Al-makura has been magnanimous in his bid to improve the lot of women in the state. Since the inception of his administration, he has carried women along As you can see, more women have been appointed into political offices and we are all putting our best to see that we assist the governor achieve his vision for the state. There are deliberate efforts by the state government to include women in all

Hajiya Hadiza Safiyanu Alakayi is the Nasarawa state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development. In this interview with Ali Abare Abubakar, Lafia correspondent of Peoples Daily Weekend, she explained the various interventions employed by the administration of Governor Umaru Tanko Al-makura, geared towards improving the lot of women, youths and the physically challenged persons in the state.

Hajiya Hadiza Safiyanu Alakayi aspects of governance, particularly through concerted effort to make them economically viable. Women in the state have been co-opted into various cooperative societies and are benefiting from special schemes targeted at improving their standards of living. In this guise, it is worthy of note that the wives of the governor, in their separate pet projects, have contributed immensely in giving women and the youths a sense of belonging. Through their empowerment drives, women from across the state continue to benefit from skills acquisition programmes, where women are taught various craft as well as other trades they will explore to improve their economic well being.

Just recently, we rose from a meeting to put finishing touches on a plan by the state government to recruit 30 youths from each of the 147 electoral wards in the state, in a bid to reduce unemployment. Of course, among these youths, there will be women among them that would be recruited as traffic warders, sanitary health inspectors, among others.

Recently the state witnessed series of disasters, the flood incident as well as renewed ethnic communal clashes. In all these, women and children have always been at the receiving end. What has the government done to alleviate the plight of this vulnerable group?

It is true that whenever there are crises, women and children suffer the most. But thank God for the state to have Al-makura as governor. Since his inauguration, he has taken it upon himself as a duty to personally attend to issues relating to victims of such disasters. Even before the federal government intervened shortly after the floods that ravaged some parts of the state, the governor already committed huge sums of money in providing relief materials to victims. The governor set aside official hours to visit crisis areas, to sympathise and identify with the plight of the

victims, providing succour while finding a lasting solution to the skirmishes. Take for instance the recent crisis in Bassa of Kokona local government, which led to the victims fleeing their homes and taking refuge in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Garaku. The governor took it upon himself to not only visit the crisis area but also led a detachment of security operatives that will be stationed in the area to safeguard the lives and property of returning displaced persons.

This is aside of the donation of N500, 000 to each of the communities affected, as well as the provision of food stuff, building materials and medical supplies. We were even supposed to have the weekly state executive council meeting but the governor was away to attend to the victims of the Bassa crises and to assure that adequate security is on ground to protect the people.

The welfare of the physically challenged persons fall under the jurisdiction of your ministry. What has been government's intervention in this area?

The physically challenged persons in the state, as well as the country at large, have never been luckier, what with Al-makura, who considers himself as one of them, as governor. Since becoming governor, he has

personally interacted, intervened in every issue regarding this group of people. He is presently the grand patron of the National Association for Displaced Persons. He recently appointed a Special Adviser on people with disabilities, which is an innovation. He is always available to attend to issues relating to people with disabilities. Recently, shortly after returning from a trip to the USA, he announced his administration's plan to establish three special schools for the blind, deaf and crippled, one each to be sited in each of the three senatorial districts of the state.

Again, the old school of nursing along Makurdi road will be converted into a special school for children with disabilities. Only recently too, the governor magnanimously assisted a talent child, one Liman, afflicted with autism to attend a special school in Bwari. He sponsored the national convention of persons with disabilities and is in the fore front in the clamour for creating enabling environment for physically challenged persons to attain their potentials and live fulfilled lives. In terms of the welfare of the members of the Nigerian legion, the governor has continued to demonstrate a fatherly disposition towards alleviating the plight of the ex-service men and women. He has donated to them various sums of money, help the built an administrative block, gave them a bus, as well as trailer loads of rice, maize and sugar.

As a mother, how do you balance your official responsibilities with running the home?

Well, I was born in a family home in Keana and grew up just like everyone, learning to live with my family members as well as the extended family. While growing up and attending school, I was able to understand the significance of planning my work well. Before my appointment as commissioner, I was a director at the planning, research and statistics department of the ministry, so I have been coping all along. What I usually do is to plan very well. You know that when God created the world, He worked according to plan. As human beings, we try to set away time for every of our endeavours. I have 5 children and I consider them my primary responsibility. I usually take time to look after my children and to make sure they are alright.

I never allow my dual responsibilities to clash, such that Iam able to carry on without undue disruptions. In life one has to plan ones activities so that at the end we are all able to not only cope but do our best to further our course.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

Take for instance, the oft reported cases of girl hawkers along the Akwanga/Keffi road, both at the Akwanga check point as well as the Gudi cross over.

The good news is that most of these girls seen hawking fruits and local snacks, have all enrolled in one school or the other.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

PAGE 39

Reporters’ Diary Reminiscence: The January 2012 Kano massacre

still unclear why the insurgents decided to launch such deadly campaign on Kano, the t was some few minutes past five o’clock renown centre of Islamic knowledge not only on an otherwise peaceful evening of in Nigeria but throughout the entire Friday, January 20, 2012, when my continent of Africa. Kano, hub of the true phone rang and on picking it, the caller was practice of the religion of God, populated since yelling, “uncle, I heard that the Zone One time immemorial with pious men. Kano, a office of the Assistant Inspector-General of city with the highest population of genuine Police is under attack by some assailants, lovers of the noble Prophet, Muhammad the building is on fire and several people (SAW) and Kano, a city with unique feature have been killed!” I demanded to know when of being must religiously civilized, most the incident occurred and the voice replied tolerant and most accommodating and that the attack was still on-going. With the friendly. What possibly can then justify such hysteria in her voice, I could not but imagine an attack? how devastating the scene could be with It is worrisome to note that before the Kano sympathizers and survivors wailing and incident, there had been several other similar mourning. The least I could do then was to attacks and organised assassination in Borno, console the caller, urging her to calm down Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe and Adamawa states and pray for Allah’s intervention to thwart during which hundreds of innocent lives were the evil intentions of the attackers on the lost. But the question remains, for how long city and its residents. should we remain under such siege? What That day will perhaps remain indelible should we do in order to return to the glorious past in our in the minds society? It is residents of the disheartening to ancient city and note that may go into the history books as That day will perhaps remain indelible activities of this one of the darkest in the minds residents of the ancient group certainly days for Kano city and may go into the history books contravene the teachings of the because terrorists overran the city as one of the darkest days for Kano religion of Allah, because terrorists overran the city ( A l - I s l a m ) , and at the end of v i r t u a l l y the day, no fewer and at the end of the day, no fewer crippling the than 300 persons reportedly lost than 300 persons reportedly lost their economy of the their lives in the lives in the coordinated attacks which affected areas. Is it germane to coordinated took place simultaneously at five conclude that attacks which different police and other security the perpetrators took place of these crimes simultaneously formations in the state. a g a i n s t at five different

The Ebira girl in me (II)

By Lamara Garba Affa

I

“

police and other security formations in the state. Apart from the office of the AIG, the Yar Akwa Police Division, the Farm Centre Police Division, State Security Service Head Office and the Bompai Police Command were bombed. Aided by the whistling harmattan breeze, thick smoke enveloped the chilly atmosphere, meandering towards the skies, seemingly freezing all activities in the ever bubbling city, and moments later, Kano became literally dead. Even animals and birds fled, along with residents, characteristics of the “Day of Armageddon.”

We all pray never to witness it again.

A year on after the dastardly attack, it is

humanity have the intention of exterminating selected states in the north and perhaps northern region by extension?

For sure, it remains inconceivable why a group of persons would throw bombs and shoot innocent and defenseless persons in their places of worship, places of work and in their homes, in the name of religion?

For the martyrs we pray the Almighty Allah will reward them with the best of paradise and may He bring peace and tranquility in our homes, towns and the nation as a whole. May Kano, and indeed, other towns or cities in Nigeria never witness such attacks in future. Amin.

Students

and not men. You may agree with those who say my people are temperamental but let me ask a question " being temperamental, is it related to only a particular ethnic group or to an individual? It's like saying all those from the Eastern part of the country are ritualist, all those from South West are lousy,all those from the North are potential suicide bombers and all South South indigenes are militants and the women are promiscuous.

Lets all try to avoid creating these stereotypes. The painful part is when I see learned individuals partaking in such act.

Am proudly Ebira and would always be and

By Rahma Ashraff

G

etting to 200level, the stereotype had become so bad that my elder sister wanted to totally stop speaking Ebira in school. I had to speak to her to make her see reasons why she shouldn't stop though I didn't blame her for wanting to take such decision. Whenever we break from school, we always narrated our ordeal to our mum but she never believed, she always thought we were merely looking for an excuse not to associate ourselves with the Ebira speaking people we had around us in school since we weren't fluent in it . Later on she heard same stories from our family friends then she realised we were not making up tales.

In the female Hostel in school, I I came to realise that also made friends stereotypes attributed to my from diverse people such as Ebira girls are e t h n i c backgrounds promiscuous, diabolical in nature, t h o u g h extremely stubborn, they never majority were Northerners forgive and violent prone were and once in a mostly carried around by women while, they and not men. would tell me and my sister how surprised

“

they were with our behaviour considering the fact we were from Okene.

When the time to date came, it was more of a Herculean task. Having admirers wasn't an issue but keeping the one we wanted was due to pressure mounted on us either from close female friend or relations.

To an extent I can say that a larger number of the men don't have any issue with dating an Ebira girl, the only issue was that posed by female family members who most time always opposed the relationship.

The interesting part of it is that, men not only want a wife but a woman who would be a homemaker which Ebira women posses; not all men want women who can't do the essentials in a home without the assistance of a maid.

I came to realise that stereotypes attributed to my people, Ebira girls are promiscuous, diabolical in nature, extremely stubborn, they never forgive and violent prone were mostly carried around by women

I love where am from and my people however, this doesn't prevent me from letting them know when they go wrong. I know several Ebiras who bank on this n e g a t i v e perception to threaten and bully people with the saying " don't you know am Ebira". This is really sad. Why

embrace a negative perception and boast with it? It's pathetic.

A lot of Ebira ladies I know may not speak up but the very few who do would agree with me that its really a hard life outside Kogi. We wish deep down that we won't be judged by where we come from but rather by who we are as a person. I won't be boasting when I say "Ebira ladies are the best "wife materials".

Ebira ladies are homemakers not homebreakers. If as a woman you feel your husband takes side with his Ebira bride, then check yourself properly the fault might as well be from you not her.

Before you draw conclusion on others, first take a good look at yourself. I don't regret where am from rather, I look forward to representing where I am from positively. As an Ebira lady, I bring peace to your home. Have I still committed a crime by being an Ebira girl?

Concluded

PAGE 40

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

Feature Nigeria’s centenary celebration took front burner at Media Trust’s 10th dialogue

By Ibrahim Kabiru Sule

S

peakers at the 10th Daily Trust Dialogue have agreed on the need for the country to celebrate its 100 years of existence as a nation ever since its amalgamation of Northern and Southern protectorates by Lord Lugard back in 1914.

The annual Dialogue, which came into being in 2004, aims to deliberate on the history and development of Nigeria as nation and proffer solutions to the myriad of challenges staring the country as it match on the development path.

The theme of this year’s dialogue was “Nation building: Challenges and Reality” upon which the four invited speakers: Ms Ann-kio Brigss, a Human Rights Activitist, other three speakers: Dr. Sule Bello, Director of African Research and Development Agency, Bishop Mathew Kukah, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese and Femi Falana (SAN), of West African Bar Association each gave an in-depth look at the topic as it relate to Nigeria.

Former Botswana President Festus Mogae chaired the event, and as the Media Trust Chairman, Kabiru Yusuf stated in his welcome address, the annual dialogue has been inviting guests and speakers from Nigeria and abroad.

The Media Trust chairman also hinted that five former Nigerian leaders: Earnest Shonekan, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, Olusegun Obasanjo, Yakubu Gawon have all chaired the dialogue in the past.

Mogae in his remarks at the end of the speakers’ presentations summed up the issues raised and stressed that Nigerians are not oblivious of their problems, but only lack the total commitment to tackle them.

“The practice of impunity must be stopped. You have the competence to stop corruption but you are not doing enough. A lot of development has taken place but the country is yet to realize its full potential. It’s therefore, your responsibility to do something about it,” said the former president.

The Nigerian government, under the direction of its Secretary, Anyim Pius Anyim, is set to mark this epoch-making event. And from October this year “there will be many events in Abuja and other states. The government is planning this extended celebration not because it enjoys celebrating, though from all indication it does, but I heard directly from the Secretary himself, it offers us unique opportunity to reflect our tumultuous journey as a nation,” said Kabiru Yusuf as he reflected on the planned centenary celebration by the Nigerian government.

In his key note address, the Spreaker of House of

From Left, Former Chief Justice of Nigeria Mohammed Uwais, Chairman Media Trust Malam Kabiru Yusuf, the Speaker House of Reps, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambwal and former President of Botswana, Festus Mogae at the 10th Daily Trust Dialogue themed Nation Building: Challenges and Reality, held in Abuja recently Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal commended Media Trust Company for sustaining the dialogue, which has turn out to be “a veritable platform” for discussing critical national issues.

“The challenges of Nation building are huge but if we resolved to work together, we can vanquished them”, the Speaker said.

In preparation for the all important 100 years existence of Nigeria as a united country, the federal government recently unveiled plans to celebrate the centenary with huge sum of money set to be spent on the month-long celebration.

However, one of the speakers at dialogue, who is also a human right activist, Ms Ann-kio Brigss has lambasted the planned budget for the celebration, saying there is nothing Nigeria should celebrate in 100 years of existence.

Buttressing her view further, Brigss, who hails from Niger Delta region, flayed government on a number of infrastructural deficits in the country, affirming that “there is nothing that Nigeria can celebrate in 100 years. There is nothing that we can say that we have in Nigeria that we can be proud of. In building nationhood, democratic governance remained elusive. We do not have a common identity as Nigerians. People are disappointed with this government which they put to office” The activist, despite the ensuing number of questions from the audience about her stand on the celebration, insisted that “the problem with Nigerians is that we

pretend a lot. We agree that all is well even when they are not”. She maintained that Nigeria has nothing to celebrate but corruption and lack of accountability.

However, apart from Ms Annkio Brigss, other three speakers: Dr. Sule Bello, Director of African Research and Development Agency, Bishop Mathew Kukah, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese and Femi Falana (SAN), of West African Bar Association have all saw the need to celebrate Nigeria’s existence, the myriads of challenges notwithstanding.

Presenting his paper tagged “Nation Building in Africa: Realities, Challenges and Prospects” Dr. Sule Bello observed that despite the continued foreign incursion into the African countries’ decision making, a situation that robbed them of the popular sovereignty.

Bello opined that “Powerful nations of the West always oppose rational African leaders” and they succeeded in institutionalizing ideology of tribalism in Africa.

But “to be united between two parts in a country is an essential part of nation building, justifying the course for celebrating the 100 years of Nigeria’s existence.

On his part, Femi Falana frowned at the African leaders that always shy away from practicing true federalism, noting that only Murtala Muhammed and Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso practiced true federalism during their times.

While acknowledging that “there is no country in the world that is free from corruption,” the

prominent lawyer urged Nigerians “not be too apologetic with the issue of corruption. The culture of impunity is what we should worry about” In other places, the process of integration is the norm but here in Nigeria, the process of disintegration is the norm,” Falana lamented.

Falana recalled with dismay President Jonathan’s claim that demonstrators of the January 2012 protest were sponsored, saying “it was Jonathan that instigated the demonstration” and that musicians who normally collected millions from the ruling PDP decided to give their part in that demonstration for free.

The lawyer, while answering question from audience on the recent de-registration of political parties and the call for the ban on religious groups, flayed Sanusi Lamido’s call for the ban on the religious and other groups in the country.

“He must recognise their right to exist in the constitution, why shouldn’t he said we should also ban traditional institutions?”

The fourth speaker, Sokoto Diocese Bishop Kuka dispelled fears of imminent revolution, saying “I have been listening to what people are saying about revolution. But I can tell you very frankly that no revolution is going to take place in this country.”

Most Nigerian leaders found themselves in office by accident, and that “their good luck may have been our bad luck, but that’s a different matter. But the point needs to be underscored because it is important for our

understanding how we might begin to recruit leadership in a way and manner that can guarantee us a future.”

The event saw the presence of many dignitaries across the length and width of the country, that include the former Chief Justice of the federation, Justice Mihammad Uwais, former Kano state governor, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, former Speaker Aminu Bello Masari, with Secretary to the Borno state government, Amb. Ahmad Jidda representing Borno state governor and other prominent personalities also attended the dialogue.

“

There is nothing that Nigeria can celebrate in 100 years. There is nothing that we can say that we have in Nigeria that we can be proud of. In building nationhood, democratic governance remained elusive.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

PAGE 41

Weekend

Outrage over Egyptian referee penalty award

By Patrick Andrew

S

o c c e r pundits across the world were unanimous in their condemnation of Egyptian referee Grisha Ghead for awarding an unmerited penalty against the Super Eagles in Friday's crunchy clash with the Chipolopolo of Zambia.

Onazi Ogenyi was adjudged by the referee to have brought down Emmanuel Mayuka in the box though television replays showed it was the softest of contact and that even outside the box. Also, the relay showed that the referee had actually backed the scene of action and could not have seen the incident.

Nonetheless, he pointed to the penalty spot without the benefit of consultation with his assistance and goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene stepped forward to deliver Zambia's much needed breather in the 85th minutes.

In a swift reaction, former skipper of the Super Eagles, Sunday Oliseh, dumbfounded as he could decipher the reasons for the call.

"Where did that come from? Just where did the referee draw the rules from to award the Zambians the penalty?"

According to Yahoosports report, "Mayuka had the ball on the edge of the box, and he was backing into Osazi with both players grabbing on to the other’s shirt.

"Egyptian referee Ghead Grisha pointed to the spot, even though noone had appealed and any foul looked outside of the box."

Skysports report equally says, "Zambia were given a lifeline when the referee awarded a very harsh penalty in the 85th minute when Nosa Igiebor was adjudged to have fouled Emmanuel Mayuka.

"It was a highly contentious award, with both players slightly holding on to each other and contact appearing to be outside the box.

Also, the BBC Sports Alive commentary wondered how earth the referee could award such soft penalty even when the two tugging players were inches outside the box.

Head Coach Stephen Keshi was lost for words as he barely queried "How could that be a penalty? Didn't you see that even the Zambian player was shocked that such call was made?

He didn't even jubilate even when his teammates urged him to," he said stressing that it seems Nigeria are being made scapegoat of bad officiating.

Baf ana, Mor occo Bafana, Morocco ma tc h sold out tch matc

T

i c k e t s for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) match between Bafana Bafana and Morocco on Sunday are sold out, the SA Football Association (Safa) said on Friday.

Safa president Kirsten Nematandani, speaking in Johannesburg, urged those with tickets to the match to turn out in their numbers in Durban.

"Those with tickets, please don't stay at home, we want to see the stadium full," he said.

Bafana Bafana must draw or win against Morocco, in their final Group A match at Moses Mabhida Stadium, to ensure progress to the playoffs of the continental competition.

If the hosts lose against Morocco, they need Angola to beat Cape Verde WEEKEND Algeria Tunisia

FIXTURES vs Togo vs CIV Sunday S/Africa vs Morocco Cape Verde vs Angola RESULTS Nigeria 1 Zambia 1 B/ Faso 4 Ethiopia 0

in a simultaneous game in Port Elizabeth to reach the next round.

Perennially late Sports minister Fikile Mbalula, who arrived 50 minutes after Friday's media conference was scheduled to start, praised the efforts of Bafana after the national team beat Angola 2-0 on Wednesday to move top of their group.

“We stand here as a proud and confident nation imbued by the resounding thrashing, walloping and gregarious defeat of the Angolan national football team by the astonishing warriors Bafana Bafana,” Mbalula said.

He believed Bafana had been "unfortunate" in the games leading up to the Angola match, with the South Africans struggling to find the back of the net.

“Like combat-ready warriors, the team turned the misfortune of being denied goals in the warm-up matches and first game against Cape Verde into a promising festival of goals during our last game against Angola.”

Mbalula slammed the local media and the public for their criticism of the national side.

The Egyptian referee Grisha Ghead being confronted by the Eagles over the decision

B/F aso maul Ethiopia as B/Faso emains upbea t Keshi r remains upbeat

T

he Stallions of Burkina Faso posted the highest goal margin so far by beating Ethiopia 4-0 and climb on top of Group C. The will play Zambia in their final group match on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, co a c h Stephen Keshi has admitted that Nigeria's journey to glory at the 29th Africa Cup of Nations now faces serious threat even as he dismissed all

references to the sad draw against Zambia instead would focus team on their final Group C tie against Ethiopia on Tuesday.

The Eagles failed to increase the solitary lead despite having the chances and like was the case against the Stallions of Burkina Faso could not defend their lead as they allowed defending champions to fight back and cancel out Emmanuel Emenike’s 57th minute opener.

Nigeria and Zambia have now

recorded two points apiece in as many matches.

“We wanted the three points today with due respect to Zambia, they are a great team and have been together for the past four years and also they are the defending champs,” said Keshi.

When both teams last clashed in Addis Ababa two years ago, the match ended in a 2-2 draw with Nigeria needing a last-gasp equaliser.

Second c hance ffor or Alg eria, Togo as CIV host Tunisia chance Algeria,

A

l g e r i a and Togo will be targeting maximum points when they meet in a crucial 2013 Africa Cup of Nations encounter at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium today, while Cote d' Ivoire tackle Tunisia almost certain for a quarterfinals spot if they win.

Algeria went into the tournament as the second-best ranked team in the continent and were tipped to go through to the next round alongside favourites Ivory Coast, but lost to Tunisia courtesy a dying minute goal.

While a draw will not necessarily mark their elimination, Vahid Halilhodzic says his side have to go for maximum points before their final Group D match against the Elephants.

"There is some force in this team," he said. “We will do everything to try to win the second match because now we find our backs against the wall. We are left with no other choice but to go for the win."

The Algerians will have to find a way to rebound mentally from what

was an extremely disappointing defeat against Tunisia.

Nonetheless, the Bosnian coach is expecting a tough battle against the Sparrow Hawks who held their own during the 2-1 loss to Ivory Coast until they were sunk by a late Gervinho winner.

While a number of Algerian stars will look to redeem themselves in front of goal, the same goes for Togo captain Emmanuel Adebayor who will aim to open his account in the tournament after missing some chances against Ivory Coast.

PAGE 42

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

Aussie Open: Murray beats Federer in five, faces Djokovic A

Novak Djokovic

Andy Murray

n d y Murray set up an enthralling Australian Open final against world No 1 Novak Djokovic after a high-quality victory against Roger Federer yesterday.

The 25-year-old Briton, who had never beaten Federer in a grand slam previously despite being one of the few players to hold a superior career record against the Swiss, advanced to the final with a 64 6-7 6-3 6-7 6-2 win in four hours.

Murray had looked the more likely to win the match from the outset with a superior service game and aggressive

Azarenka faces headwinds in back-to-back bid

V

i c t o r i a Azarenka's bid for successive Australian Open titles today pits her against an opponent in the form of her life and a centre-court crowd wary of any hint of bad sportsmanship.

The Belarusian will take on sixth seed Li Na, who has not dropped a set all tournament and boosted her sky-high confidence further by demolishing last year's finalist Maria Sharapova 6-2 6-2 in the semifinals.

If Azarenka requires any additional motivation on Saturday, she knows she will lose her world No 1 ranking to Serena Williams if she fails to take the title.

Li, who will turn 31 next month and is bidding to become the tournament's oldest women's champion, is in the shape of her life after a punishing off-season bootcamp under new coach Carlos Rodriguez, former mentor to seven-times grand slam champion Justine Henin.

Li said she was better prepared to take the title after being overwhelmed in her first attempt against Clijsters, which was also her maiden grand slam final.

Rodriguez has not only encouraged the hard-hitting Li to use more topspin as a defensive weapon and to mix up her play, but also brought a more tactical approach to her game.

The approach was obvious against Sharapova, as Li dominated the baseline and turned her soft serve into a slicing weapon that rarely allowed the Russian a free hit.

Most of Rodriguez's work has been between the ears, however, teaching the temperamental Li to silence the voices of doubt in her head and trust in her game.

Azarenka holds a 5-4 record over Li and has won their last four matches, the most recent a tight battle in October at the WTA Championships in Istanbul that ensured she would finish

the year as world No 1.

Li, however, is 2-0 up in grand slam encounters, having beaten Azarenka at Melbourne Park in 2011 and again during her run to the title at Roland Garros.

CHANGE OF NAME I, FORMERLY KNOWN AS MUSA HARUNA SHITTU, WISHES TO BE KNOWN AS MUSA SHITTU MAISALATI. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. ZAKI LOCAL GOVRNMENT AREA AND GENERAL PUBLIC TAKE NOTE.

CHANGE OF NAME I, FORMERLY KNOWN AS ASHOM LUKKA AJANG, WISHE TO BE KNOWN AS USMAN LAWAI. ALL OTHER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. TAFAWA BALEWA L.G.A AND GENERAL PUBLIC TAKE NOTE.

Li Na

shotmaking, but the 17-times grand slam winner proved he was still a force to be reckoned with by forcing a fifth set.

The US Open champion, however, got off to a storming start in the fifth, racing out to a 3-0 lead and after being two points from the match in the fourth set was not prepared to let the opportunity slip again.

Murray produced a superb service game in the first set, broke in the third game and

gave Federer only one break opportunity to take the first set 6-4 in 45 minutes.

Neither player was prepared to give any quarter in the second set as they thrusted and parried, punched balls down the tramlines, produced delicate drop shots and running cross-court passing shots from amazing angles to force a tiebreak.

Murray was the first to blink when he allowed Federer

to a 4-1 lead and while he battled back to 5-5, Federer seized the opportunity from a mistimed overhead from Murray to level.

The Swiss, through sheer force of will, forced a tiebreak and deciding set, though Murray powered through it in just 30 minutes as he broke in the opening game and held his own serve to love twice to set up the final against the Serb.

Lucas to test punch against Dallas

A

fter knocking out his opponents in each of the 30 fights he has won, Lucas Matthysse takes on Mike Dallas Jr in Las Vegas this weekend.

The big-punching Argentinian has lost two of his 32 professional fights. All the others he won inside the distance.

Now the 30-year-old WBC interim light-welterweight champion takes on Dallas, a Californian, at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on Saturday night.

His only losses were to Zab Judah in November 2010 and Devon Alexander in June 2011. He lost both fights against highly skilled opponents on split decisions.

Matthysse, who is from Buenos Aires, is a pressure fighter who absorbs punishment well.

He was most impressive in his two most recent fights. He stopped veteran Humberto Soto (58-7-2) in the fifth round and stopped Ajose Olusegun (30-0 at the time) in the tenth last September.

The 26-year-old Dallas has a professional record of 19-2-1, including 8 knockouts. He made his professional debut in March 2008 and was undefeated after his first 18 fights. He then lost twice in a row – to Josesito Lopez by a knockout in the seventh round and to and Miguel Gonzalez, on points over ten rounds.

Since then he knocked out Javier Castro, in the sixth round in June last year, to win the WBO Latino lightwelterweight title.

The fight is a match-up between boxers with contrasting styles. The shorter Matthysse likes to work on the inside. Dallas, who has good hand speed and a solid left jab, tends to throw punches from the outside.

Dallas is ranked No 33 by

the WBC. The champion is American Danny Garcia.

On the undercard, welterweight Selcuk Aydin (23-1; 17) takes on Jesus Soto Karass (26-8-2; 17) over ten rounds.

In Chihuahua, Mexico, former WBO junior flyweight and WBA junior bantamweight champion Hugo Cazares (37-7-2; 26) returns to action when he faces Filipino Rey Perez (17-2; 3) in a 12-round bantamweight fight on Saturday night.

In Verona, New York, former WBO junior middleweight champion Sergiy Dzinziruk (37-1-1; 24) faces Brian Vera (21-6; 12) over ten rounds in a middleweight bout. Dzinziruk has lost only once – in March 2011 when he was stopped by

Lucas Matthysse

Sergio Martinez.

Vera, 31, from Texas, has been a pro for eight years and comes off a good win over the experienced Sergio Mora in August last year.

On the same card Miguel Gonzalez (20-3; 15) and Tony Luis (15-0; 7) meet in a tenround junior welterweight clash.

In Huntingdon, New York, former Olympian Demetrius Andrade (18-0; 13) fights Freddy Hernandez (30-3; 20) in a junior middleweight bout over ten rounds.

Hernandez has lost only to Andre Berto and Erislandy Lara, both classy fighters.

In the co-feature, junior welterweights Raymond Serrano (18-1; 8) and Emmanuel Taylor meet over ten rounds.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

Sissoko to join Newcastle from N Toulouse

e w c a s t l e has added to their French contingent by signing midfielder Moussa Sissoko, says his club Toulouse.

Sissoko would follow forward Yoan Gouffran and centre-back Mapou YangaMbiwa in this week, while right-back Mathieu Debuchy signed on 4 January.

Sissoko has won six caps for his country and is the latest Frenchman to take a place in Alan Pardew's squad.

Before Gouffran was recruited from Bordeaux and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa from Montpellier, Debuchy arrived from Lille.

Joining on the same day as Sissoko is leftback Massadio Haidara, who joins from French side Nancy.

Yohan Cabaye, Hatem Ben Arfa, Romain Amalfitano, Sylvain Marveaux and Gabriel Obertan are already at St James' Park.

Pardew's side finished fifth in the Premier League last season but they are 16th in 201213, two points above the relegation zone.

The Magpies have been hit by defensive injuries and the new arrivals may help cover the possible departure of Captain Fabricio Coloccini, who has reiterated his desire to leave for personal reasons.

Ferguson chase Zouma as Vidic replacement M

a n c h e s t e r United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has identified France Under 19 centre back Kurt Zouma as another summer transfer target.

Ferguson wants to buy a long-term replacement for Nemanja Vidic at the end of the season and has sent scouts to watch Benfica's Ezequiel Garay several times.

The United boss is also keeping a close eye on St Etienne's Zouma, 18, a player tipped to be one of his country's best.

Zouma has been offered a new contract at St Etienne, so United may have to move this summer if they want to buy him for his £8m valuation.

United striker Wayne Rooney trained fully on the club's trip to Qatar yesterday after limping out of Wednesday's session holding his left thigh.

The Football Association has received Sir Alex Ferguson's observations about his postmatch comments at Tottenham last Sunday and has until Tuesday evening to decide whether to charge him.

Newcastle signs Haidara from Nancy

N

e w c a s t l e has completed the signing of defender Massadio Haidara from Nancy on a five-anda-half year contract.

The 20-year-old left-back, who has represented France at Under-20 and Under21 level, moved to St James' Park for an undisclosed fee.

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew said: "Massadio is very highly thought of in France and he's somebody who our scouting team have been greatly impressed by.

"At the age of 20, he will only continue to get better but he's already played a lot of games in his country's top division and represented France at Under-19, Under-20 and Under-21 level.

Nemanja Vidic

Juventus sign Ecuador Milan may sell youngster on loan Abate to sign Balotelli

E

Moussa Sissoko

PAGE 43

cuadorian youngster Jose Francisco Cevallos Jr has signed for Juventus on loan for the rest of the season and will link up with the club later this month.

The midfielder, who only turned 18, last week, has scored nine goals in 45 top-flight appearances for LDU Quito and is currently representing his country at the South America Under-20 tournament.

Cevallos' club confirmed on Thursday that he will join the Bianconeri on loan for the remainder of the European season once the Under-20 competition ends, while the player himself is confident he can challenge for a firstteam place, despite facing strong competition.

Cevallos' father - Jose Francisco Sr - is himself a former international goalkeeper and faced Italy in the group stage of the 2002 World Cup. "In the 2002 World Cup, Gigi Buffon exchanged shirts with my father," Cevallos added. "If I get the chance, I'll ask him if he remembers that."

It appears likely that the player will form

part of the Juventus youth team which will head to a prestigious tournament at Viareggio next month

Jose Francisco Cevallos Jr

I

g n a z i o Abate’s agent believes AC Milan could be willing to consider further offers from Zenit St Petersburg as they need to raise cash to fund a deal for Mario Balotelli.

Zenit, led by former Roma coach Luciano Spalletti, have seen a •10 million bid for Abate, 26, rejected and it would appear the full-back is likely to stay with the Rossoneri.

However, Milan has sold Alexandre Pato to Corinthians this month, and it would appear that Robinho remains keen to secure a return to Brazil. That would leave the club short of numbers in attack, and Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani has made no secret of his interest in Manchester City striker Balotelli.

As such, agent Claudio Pasqualin feels there is still a chance Abate could be moved on.

Milan has also expressed an interest in signing Shanghai Shenhua striker Didier Drogba.

Atletico keen on Gourcouff loan deal

A

t l e t i c o Madrid have confirmed that they are interested in taking Yoann Gourcuff to Spain on loan but cash-strapped Lyon will not let the France international playmaker go cheaply.

Atletico, currently second in La Liga, see Gourcuff, 26, as a player who can boost their bid to secure Champions League football next season.

The Europa League holders want to take the midfielder on a six-month loan before making any permanent move, and are balking at the Ligue 1 club’s demand of •3 million for the loan deal.

The clubs are yet to get as far as discussing how much that option would be, but Lyon would be unlikely to recoup the •22 million they paid Bordeaux for Gourcuff, then the rising star of French football, in summer 2010.

Gourcuff inspired Bordeaux to the Ligue 1 title under Laurent Blanc in 2008-09, but has failed to scale those heights at Lyon, where he is the highest-paid player.

The former Rennes and AC Milan man who recently turned down a move to Fenerbahce, according to reports in the French media - is under contract at Lyon until 2015.

Mario Balotelli

PAGE 44

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 26 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

PICTORIAL

Cuba are rocketing up the global pecking order after beating Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti en route to their first Caribbean Cup crown, proving that baseball isn't the only sport on the island.

Barcelona has set up a Copa del Rey semi-final showdown with Real Madrid after defeating Malaga 4-2 in the second leg of their thrilling quarter-final tie

Niger earned their first ever point at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations after they held Congo DR to a 0-0 draw in Port Elizabeth, leaving them with an outside chance of reaching the knockout stages.

Cheltenham officials expect the Festival trials meeting to go ahead on Saturday but will hold a precautionary morning inspection

Roger Federer wins second set 7-6 to tie Andy Murray at 1-1 in the Australian Open semi-final in Melbourne

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26— SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

PAGE 45

Politics

Oppostion not fair to governor Mu’azu, says aide Engineer Mohammadu Dabban is the Special Adviser, Political to Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu. In this interview with Iliya Garba, he spoke on the performance of the governor so far, as well as his presidential ambition among other issues.

A

group of PDP members recently accused the governor of nonperformance and even submitted a petition to the House on the issue. What will you say to that?

In any given society even in a house, there is always opposition, opposition in the sense that the real opposition is not an enemy but in a place where somebody might have some problems, it might be personal, it might be group against one another, then you are bound to face a lot of problems or crises. Those people that you so termed as PDP members who wrote the petition to the State House of Assembly, most of them virtually have left the party. They are no more with the party, even though they are our brothers and sisters and to me they have the right to say things democratically in an opposition manner, but at the same time, they should always enquire to know facts before going to house of assembly and most of the issues they raised, in their petition are found to be false. There is no truth behind it, and that is why Niger State House of Assembly found it not credible and that is the reason why they threw away the petition.

With the situation we are facing and also heading for 2015.

You will be hearing a lot of stories, and for us as politicians, and for those that have been in this game for quite a number of years, to me it is not a threat, but it is an issue that will make you to adjust and also be prepared for the rainy day. As a politician you must always look for or expect people to criticize you and that is why it is called democracy.

What is your reaction to the recent publication made by opposition parties on the sale of government properties?

Although David Umaru’s publication was on some national dailies and the letters we saw in those dailies are identified as the signature of an official of the state government.

What they published is not a hidden agenda neither is the government of Niger state a cowardly organization, it is an open organization. It is an

organization of the people, by the people for the people, therefore what David Umaru said about the houses amounts to ignorance because the sale of government houses is a continuous process and it will continue to happen.

Previous governments have been selling houses to civil servants or the people of the state once they find them to be of age.

It has happened during the military, it has happened at the beginning of this democratic dispensation. I mean from 1999 to date and the same thing is happening now, and if you could access the houses provided by the Chief Servant throughout the state today, is more than the houses we inherited. We provided 500 houses at General Wushishi Housing Estate in Minna, 500 Talba housing estate in Minna, so if you can put this two together, it gives you more than 1000 houses, if you go to Bida, is now on and the same thing Kontogora and each of them is having about 250 houses making 500 houses, so if you add this all together, you will find that the government of the day is doing all that is could to see that accommodation and housing is being provided for the masses of the state, so for someone to come and said that houses are been sold and so on, to me, it is irrelevant to go and talk about this, he should have talked on how to provide more houses for the people of the state and not the question of selling.

Since you gave an impressive assessment of the Chief Servant in the last few years, do you think it’s enough grounds to aspire for the Presidency?

I am quite aware of the trip of the state Chairman, National Youth Leader and other officers of the state, but what actually surprised me was the statement that people made behind their tour. The tour was meant to go and say thank you for those who elected the National Youth Leader, it is not to canvass for the presidential ambition of the Chief Servant. For the Chief Servant to become the president of Nigeria is not until when we go out and start lobbying, the PDP has put down rules and regulations that nobody should start campaigning now for 2015.

We must go and face the promises we made during the 2011 electioneering campaign promises.

What is your take on the Local Government/State joint account controversy?

With regard to Local Government/State affairs, either you call it joint, or you call it affairs, local government and state are brothers, senior and junior, they are together. Niger state took a stand during the last zonal constitutional review of the public hearing in Makurdi. Also

“

With the situation we are facing and also heading for 2015. You will be hearing a lot of stories, and for us as politicians, and for those that have been in this game for quite a number of years, to me it is not a threat,

Engr. Mohammadu Dabban recently the national “ALGON” the organ that controls all the local governments of the country came to Niger they even invited Chief Servant to Enugu to come and chair one of their meetings and to me, I will not mention anything about whether to be joint or not to be joint, because it is a state wide issue which concerns whether there should be joint account or there should be no joint account so on that respect to me I will not comment much, because government and people of Niger state have already decided on that and to me I don’t have the paper around me now I would have quoted what the people have said. But if it is general issue that I can be able to comment as a political adviser, I will do so, because the two issues there, each of them have advantages and as well as disadvantages, and the way and manner some states understand joint account defers from one state to another. Joint account in respect of how it is content in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it does not mean that the state should control all the resources of the local government neither but the state also has a contribution to make to the resources of the

local government when it comes from Abuja.

The states also have certain percentage from internally generated revenue of 10 percent that the state also will add to the one that comes from Abuja. It is there and then the council, I mean the Chairman, the Secretary and the Treasurer, will sit with the Commissioner for Local Government, they will discuss of how to share the money. Like us in Niger state there are some local governments that even if they collect their allocation from the Federal account, they cannot even pay the salaries of their staff. The state government has to add or assist one another just like left and right otherwise some local government cannot move because they have no avenue to generate internal revenue.

The Federal allocation that comes from Abuja cannot sustain them to pay teachers and other salaries. They have to receive some degree of assistance from the state, and also some even from the main money that comes from Abuja they have to help one another because some of the local governments are not viable.

PAGE 46

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26â&#x20AC;&#x201D; SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

International UN â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;finalisingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; peace agreement in DR Congo

By Lawrence Olaoye

F

T

he United Nations is close to finalising a peace deal in the eastern DR Congo, sources have told Al Jazeera.

Sources said on Friday that a group called "eight plus one", which includes the DR Congo, regional countries and the UN, had committed to the peace plan expected to be signed on Monday.

The plan hopes to end perennial insecurity in the eastern parts of the country.

"We have been told that the agreement is still vague, just two pages long, and does not include the specifics like the disbanding of the M23," Al Jazeera's correspondent James Bays, reporting from Addis Ababa, said.

As part of the agreement, the UN will name a special envoy to the great lakes region, to assist with its implementation, our correspondent said.

The latest development comes as the UN Security Council has approved the use of surveillance drones over eastern Congo to monitor rebel groups in the troubled region.

Diplomats say drones would enhance ability of peacekeepers to track armed groups in eastern DR Congo [Al Jazeera]

Sri Lanka to ban maids going to Saudi Arabia Greek subway strike ends after arrest threats

S

triking Greek subway workers have trickled back to work after the government threatened them with arrest, ending a nine-day walkout that paralysed public transport in Athens.

Traffic slowly resumed on Athens' subway lines on Friday afternoon after workers protesting wage cuts were served orders to return to work or face jail, the first time the government has invoked such legislation since it took power in June.

The showdown had turned into the latest test for Greece's fragile three-party ruling coalition as it faces down unions to try to implement austerity measures demanded by foreign lenders as the price for bailout funds.

"The workers who were handed the notice didn't have a choice. We are exploring legal options," said Manthos Tsakos, general secretary of the main subway workers' union.

Earlier in the day, some 300 riot police stormed a train depot to break up the sit-in and briefly detained at least 10 workers.

The radical leftist opposition Syriza party, which is leading in some opinion polls, said the police intervention was a "barbaric" attack on workers' rights.

Mali troops push towards Gao after air raids rench and Malian troops have advanced into northern Mali and reached the town of Hombori, about 160km south of the rebel stronghold of Gao, after French air strikes drove back the fighters, military sources say.

Sources on the ground, who declined to be identified, said on Friday the Malian army had moved forward after taking the central town of Douentza on Monday.

"We have taken Douentza and are now moving into other rebelheld towns," Diaran Kone, defence ministry spokesman, told Reuters news agency, without providing further details.

Meanwhile, French and Malian troops have staged joint patrols for the first time in Mali's east, AFP news agency said quoting a Malian military source.

"It's a first" in the region near the border with Niger, the source said.

French fighter jets bombed two rebel bases near Gao early on Thursday, targeting Ansongo, about 80km from the town and extremist bases in a nearby village, according to Malian and Niger security sources.

Meanwhile, Mali's government has warned soldiers to respect human rights following reports that the military killed civilians at a bus stop in central Mali.

A government statement said "the army should be irreproachable".

Clashes mark Egypt revolution anniversary

E

Protesters in Sri lanka were calling for Nafeek's release after she was convicted of killing a child [Reuters]

S

ri Lanka will gradually stop allowing women to work as housemaids in Saudi Arabia after a Sri Lankan was executed in the country over the death of an infant in her care, the Colombo government said.

The government said it would raise the minimum age for female domestic workers to be eligible to seek employment in Saudi Arabia to 25 years from the present 21 with an eye on eventually stopping such employment altogether.

"Gradual phase-out is the idea," government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said. "We can't stop it overnight. It's a

gradual process and increasing the age limit is part of that."

Colombo recalled its envoy to Saudi Arabia in response to the beheading on January 9 of Rizana Nafeek, who was sentenced to death in 2007 accused of killing her employer's daughter while she was bottlefeeding.

A third of the two million Sri Lankan maids working abroad are in Saudi Arabia, according to the country's foreign employment bureau.

Many households in the Middle East are highly dependent on housemaids from African and South Asian countries.

In some cases of reported domestic abuse, maids have attacked the children of their employers after they were mistreated themselves.

In the case of Nafeek, the Saudi interior ministry said, the infant was strangled after a dispute between her and the baby's mother.

Rights groups have criticised the beheading and Saudi Arabia's handling of the case.

In a statement before the execution, Amnesty International said that it appeared Nafeek had no access to lawyers either during her pre-trial interrogation or at her trial in 2007.

gyptians have returned to the streets to mark the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, the former president.

Thousands took to the capital's now iconic Tahrir Square on Friday, where youths protesting against President Mohamed Morsi clashed with Cairo police.

An official with the central emergency services said that 110 people were wounded in the violence.

Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Cairo, said that the crowds were starting to clear by late evening. although sporadic clashes, she said, were still taking place and police continue to use teargas to push protesters away from government buildings.

"They're shouting right now, saying 'irhal' - leave, leave - in reference to Mohamed Morsi, and the feeling here on the street...is the the Muslim Brotherhood aren't interested making changes to better the lives of people," said Tadros.

"What they're interested in is strengthening their girp on power."

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

PAGE 47

From the Pulpit Doing what is right in God's eyes

I

'm glad to bring you the concluding part of this message which I began some weeks ago.

Be blessed as you read in Jesus' name.

Whereas what seems right to man is not always right, God's ways are always right. God is just. (Ezek 18:25) The Bible says the ways of the Lord are right. (Hos 14:9)The statutes of the Lord are right. (Ps 19:8) His precepts are right. (Ps 119:128) The Word of the Lord is right. (Ps 33:4) You can't go wrong when you follow God's statutes. If you follow His Word, His statutes, His precepts, you will always do what is right in the eyes of God and not what right in your own eyes. Ultimately, it is doing what is right in the sight of the Lord that guarantees your approval by God. "Suppose a certain man is just and does what is lawful and right, and he has not feasted in the mountains before Israel's idols or worshiped them. And suppose he does not commit adultery or have intercourse with a woman during her menstrual period. Suppose he is a merciful creditor, not keeping the items given in pledge by poor debtors, and does not rob the poor but instead gives food to the hungry and provides clothes for people in need. And suppose he grants loans without interest, stays away from injustice, is honest and fair when judging others, and faithfully obeys my laws and regulations. Anyone who does these things is just and will surely live, says the Sovereign LORD." (Ezek 18:5-9 NLT) God has made Himself very clear and simple but man has chosen to complicate Him and His ways. Man keeps pursuing his selfish desire rather than obeying the simple command of God wherein lies man's Matthew 7:7-11

C

h r i s t ’s statements in our text are simple and sublime.

These are not words to hurriedly read through and forget.

They are words that open our eyes to heaven’s provision and they disclose the great storehouse from which all our needs for spirit, soul and body are supplied. Learning from the Lord on prayer as declared in these verses, living as He has taught and practising the precepts without turning to the right or left hand will bring the supernatural into our natural lives and open both the windows and gate of heaven to us. These verses will make the present and the future much brighter than the past, however bright the past has been.

Praying to God has been a common practice since the creation of man. Both saints and sinners have always prayed. However, prayer had become a ritual among the heathen and a religious duty among the Israelites (Matthew 6:5-8). Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, the Light of the world, now throws light on the great privilege of praying. He clears the way to the Father and removes all misconceptions concerning prayer. He lifts us up from the dark lane of beggars pleading for crumbs to the blessed presence of the Father, confidently asking for promised blessings. He has taken away the seat and place of an intermediary and He beckons us to

blessing. "If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you." (Ex 15:26 NKJV) Did you see that phrase? - And do what is right in His sight. That's God's standard, and He says it over and over in the Bible. Deut 6:18-19 says, "And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the LORD swore to your fathers, to cast out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has spoken." (NKJV) Please take note again the blessing of doing what is right and good in the sight of the LORD. Deut 12:25 expresses the same truth about the blessing of doing what is right in the sight of the Lord.

"You shall not eat it, that it may go well with you and your children after you, when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD." (NKJV) Hear also verse 28 of the same Scripture: "Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God." (NKJV) Did you see that phrase again? - When you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God. But man will rather disobey God, do what seems right in his own sight and turn round to pray and fast for God's blessings.

Here is another Scripture on doing what is right in the sight of the Lord and the blessings that will accrue to you if you do so: "So none of the accursed things shall remain in your hand, that the LORD may

turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and multiply you, just as He swore to your fathers, because you have listened to the voice of the LORD your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you today, to do what is right in the eyes of the LORD your God." (Deut 13:17-18 NKJV) In the history of the divided kingdom of Israel, the Bible records some kings as doing what was right in the sight of God and recorded some as doing what was not right in the sight of God. That means that those who didn't do what was right in the sight of God did what was right in their own eyes. Even some kings the Bible records at a time in their reign did what was right in the sight of God deviated, derailed and didn't end well.

You must not only do what is right in the eyes of God, you must continue to the end to do what is right in the eyes of God. He that continues to the end shall be saved. (Matt 10:22, 24:13, Mk 13:13) And in order to continue to the end to do what is right in the eyes of God, you must ensure that your heart is right with God. You can only continue to do what is right in the eyes of God if your heart is right with God. In the mighty crusade that God did through Philip in Samaria, the Bible tells us that a sorcerer called Simon "also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done."

(Acts 8:13 NKJV) But the same man later offered money to Peter when Peter came to lay hand on believers and they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It was most likely that Simon was not genuinely converted

GREEN PASTURES

By Pastor T.O. Banso cedarministryintl@yahoo.com GSM: 08033113523 and only joined the new movement as a face-saver since everybody used to call him "the great power of God." and Philip was the new man in town everybody was following. (Acts 8:10) Another possibility was that his heart was drawn back to his sorcery after his conversion and baptism.

Consequently, he offered money to Peter so that he would give him the power to lay hand on people and they would receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and probably add this to his power of sorcery. The summary of his problem as stated by Peter was that his heart was not right with God. "You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God." (Acts 8:21 NKJV) You are not to do what is right in your own eyes but what is right in the eyes of God. You don't always know what is right. You cannot depend on your senses and preferences. What you think is right even at the best of your sincerity may be wrong. "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." (Prov 14:12 NKJV) Pro 16:25 says the same thing. There is a way that may seem right to you now but ahead there is danger. God always knows where every road leads and how every journey will end.

God's standards are higher than man's standards and God has set His standards in the Bible for humans to rise up to. "'My thoughts are completely different from yours,' says

the LORD. 'And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.'" (Isa 55:8-9 NLT) It is as you renew your mind daily in the Word of God that you begin to align your thoughts with His thoughts, and your ways with His ways. Commit yourself to doing what is right in God's sight not what seems right in your own eyes.

TAKE ACTION! If you are not born again, kindly say this prayer now: "0 Lord God, I come unto you today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and resurrected the third day. I confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour and surrender my life to him today. I invite Jesus into my heart today. By this prayer, I know I am saved.

Thank you Jesus for saving me and making me a child of God" I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations!

You will need to join a Bible believing, Bible teaching church in your area where you will be taught how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like the palm tree and grow like the cedar of Lebanon.

May you grow into Christ in all things becoming all God wants you to be.

Christ’s promise for seeking God by prayer come directly to the Father. He gives each of us a special place in the family and now we can all ask, seek and knock.

1.

ALL-EMBRACING PROMISES TO SEEKERS OF GOD WHO PRAY Matthew 7:7,8; 2 Chronicles 7:14; Jeremiah 29:11-13; Ezra 8:2123; 2 Chronicles20:1-4, 14-24; Daniel 9:3,4,20-22; Psalms 34:1019; 69:32-36; 77:1-12; Zechariah 8:21-23.

“Seek, and ye shall find. He that seeketh findeth.” Seeking is used in the sense of praying, as the scriptures quoted above show.

Praying in ignorance is like seeking for a precious object hidden in the dark. We must turn on the light so we can see clearly while we seek diligently (Luke 15:8,9). Ignorance of the promises of God, the Fatherhood of the merciful and loving God, the faithfulness of God as Father, the relationship of sonship to the heavenly Father, keep us from seeking with faith that cannot be denied (Romans 9:31,32).

God’s promises for all true children of God who pray to Him and seek His face, are all-encompassing. The promises are many and varied; they provide for both our natural and spiritual needs. Our common needs as well as special or peculiar needs are all provided for. Early in life or

FAITH DISCOURSE WITH

Pastor W. F. Kumuyi late in life, when we are young or when we are growing old, even at death when changing our earthly address to an eternal residence, appropriate promises abound. In company of people or in solitude, in the family or in widowhood, while sick or healthy, weak or strong, in adversity or prosperity, in all situations or circumstances, God’s promises are ours to experience.

Circumstances should not embitter our lives when God is our Father as He has thought of all things we would ever need in our pilgrimage until we see Him face to face in heaven. Read the Bible and see the promises. Note the conditions attached to the promises. Keep those conditions as patients keep to the doctor’s prescription. Believe God as much as you believe a loving and faithful earthly father. In fact, you ought to believe God more than any

human friend or father. Trust God implicitly without any shadow of doubt. Seek and you will find; pray and God will answer.

2.

ALL-CONSUMING PERIL FOR NOT SEEKING GOD IN PRAYER 2 Chronicles 16:7-13; 1 Samuel 28:3-8; 1 Chronicles 10:13,14; 2 Kings 1:2-4; Isaiah 8:19,20; 31:1-3; Jeremiah 10:21; 2 Chronicles 25:1416,20; 33:9-13; 1 Chronicles 15:1214.

All men feel their insufficiency and see the need to ask for help at different times in their lives. Being ignorant of who the true God is and the adequate provisions He has made for them, unbelievers seek and pray to gods who “have mouths but speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: they have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through

their throat” (Psalm 115:4-8). Others sell themselves, spirit, soul and body to Satan through a covenant. They “seek unto them that have familiar spirits and unto wizards”, they seek a “hiding place” in a “refuge of lies” (Isaiah 28:15-20; 8:19,20; 47:11-15).

Even sinners and unbelievers who seek help, healing, power, protection, prosperity and any other thing from evil spirits and Satan are severely judged and punished for doing so (Deuteronomy 18:9-12).

Seeking for any blessing must be only from the true God, the God of heaven, the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ and our Father. It dishonours God when any child of His forsakes Him and looks up to Satan or Satan’s messengers for help. It exalts the power of Satan above that of God. Such a person who belittles God in his heart and, by his action, magnifies Satan is worse than an atheist. The danger and damnation of such a person is a million times greater than the pain or the problem he is trying to overcome.

3.

ALL-INCLUSIVE PROSPERITY FOR SEEKERS OF GOD IN PRAYER Matthew 7:7,8; 1Chronicles 16:11-29; Job 5:8,9; 8:5-7; Psalm 63:1-5; Lamentations 3:22-25; Isaiah 55:6-13; Hosea 5:15-6:3; 10:12; Luke 11:9-13.

BIG PUNCH “It is a matter of grave concern that when a respected monarch, with all the retinue of security staff, could be so gruesomely attacked on the street, what hope is there for the ordinary Nigerian in this dispensation”.

–CPC

SATURDAY 26 — SUNDAY 27, JANUARY, 2013

If governance fails?

T

w o weeks ago, we asked some questions about what happens if certain avoidable failures occur, for example if agriculture, which has the best capacity to offer employment to millions of people, feed the teeming population, ensure food security and prosperity for the country, fails.

Today, we ask: what happens if governance fails? Answer: development fails, the country itself fails, and the prospect of the Nigerian people losing their beloved country, their only home, looms large. To be human means, in large measure, to possess the ability to solve problems, and to be able, by concerted efforts and superb strategy, by planning and foresight, to move, in the words of the Quran, 'onwards from stage to stage.' Most of the intractable problems that are thwarting our progress have persisted for so long unresolved and have become more complex, producing and multiplying other problems. Yet it is never in the true nature of a human being to be without initiative, to keep repeating failures, to remain stagnant and morbid, when his genius is intrinsically to move, to change, to advance, to innovateceaselessly. The failure of the human genius is probably the greatest undoing of Nigeria, and the curse stubbornly persists.

Nigeria is an enormously endowed country, but one that does not take adequate care of its citizens; fails in most important areas of human development and yet is neither ashamed nor afraid to fail; is not making serious efforts to move upward in the scale of human progress; does not behave sensibly and credibly; and foolishly but ominously maintains the level of inequality upon which no nation may survive. Less than three percent of the population owns the wealth of the country - a perfect recipe for insecurity and possible collapse. Of the many dangers which confronts the world today, inequality is ranked among the most potent. This disturbing fact has triggered OXFAM to issue a stark warning just a few days ago.

Its picture of an unbalanced and dangerous world runs as follows: 'At a global level, the top 1% (60 million people), and particularly the even more select few in the top 0.01% (600,000 individuals - there are around

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1200 billionaires in the world), the last thirty years has been an incredible feeding frenzy.

Globally the incomes of the top 1% have increased 60% in twenty years. The growth in income for the 0.01% has been even greater.

The IMF has said that inequality is dangerous and divisive and could lead to civil unrest. Polling shows the public is increasingly concerned about growing inequality in many countries, and by people across the political spectrum.

'Consolidation of so much wealth and capital in so few hands is inefficient because it depresses demand. If this money were instead more evenly spread across the population then it would give more people more spending power, which in turn would drive growth and drive down inequality. The top 100 billionaires added $240 billion to their wealth in 2012 -enough to end world poverty four times over. If, in the words of the old adage 'money equals power' then more unequal societies represent a threat to meaningful democracy. Capture of politics by elites is also very prevalent in developing countries, leading to policies that benefit the richest few and not the poor majority, even in democracies. Extreme wealth and inequality undermines societies. If you are born poor in a very unequal society you are much more likely to end your life in poverty.'

Failure of governance does have other ramifications apart from undermining the cohesion and equilibrium in society.

Governance fails principally because it is not accountable, because it is not knowledgeable, because it is not in charge. Policies and decisions are made which have no bearing whatsoever on the reality on the ground or on the vital interests of the people and the country. Inequality represents an existential threat to Nigeria but those 'in charge' do not seem to know or care; instead they see a danger elsewhere.

So we ask, for example, why is Nigeria in Mali? The best we have heard so far is that Nigeria is in Mali to fight 'Islamic Terrorism.'

This is the language of Western powers, which Nigeria repeats, ad infinitum, parrot-like, and it is a false and dishonest language.

That means, in effect, that Nigeria does not at all comprehend the complex Malian

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President Goodluck Jonathan situation, whose genesis dates back to half a century, and has been further compounded by what Heather Hurlburt, [guardian.co.uk, 15/1/13, 1525 GMT] calls development failures.The present crisis is altogether preventable. It is a matter of social justice and inclusiveness, the right to self determination, good governance, national freedom and independence. But we know that Nigeria is in Mali at the behest of Western powers, not on its own volition. At the heart of it all is the desire of Western powers to engage mercenaries in their wars, in what amounts to a paradigm shift. They no longer want to risk or waste the lives of their citizens, even in pursuit of national interests. So Africans, especially Nigerians, should be engaged instead; they are cheap, disposable, worthless.

Nigeria, they reason perhaps correctly - given the country's penchant for blood letting and pogroms - can afford to waste the blood of its citizens, the blood of fellow Africans; and can afford to waste its resources and the resources of the people of Mali on a cause that should best be

resolved peacefully. The West has strategic goals in Mali which, according to the British Prime Minister, involves 'a generational struggle' and will take decades to achieve. Seumas Milne explains [guardian.co.uk, 22/1/13, 2200 GMT] writes as follows: 'Underlying the growing Western military involvement in Africa - from the spread of American bases under the US Africa Command to France's resumption of its post-colonial habit of routine armed intervention - is a struggle for resources and strategic control, in the face of China's expanding economic role in the continent. In North and West Africa, that's not just about oil and gas, but also uranium in countries like Niger and Mali. Terrorism has long since become a catch-all cover for legitimizing aggressive war.

'The idea that jihadists in Mali, or Somalia for that matter, pose an existential threat to Britain, France, the US or the wider world is utter nonsense. But the opening of a new front in the war on terror in north Africa and the Sahel, accompanied by another murderous drone campaign, is a potential disaster for the region

and risks a new blowback beyond it.

The past decade has demonstrated beyond doubt that such interventions don't solve crises, let alone deal with the causes of terrorism, but deepen them and generate new conflicts.

More military intervention will bolster authoritarian regimes and its rhetoric further poison community relations in the intervening states. It seems the price has to be paid over and over again.'

The contrast can't be more stark: Nigeria is in Mali to fight 'Islamic terrorists' while France, Britain and America are in Mali to hunt for gold and uranium! At the end of the day, if all things go as planned by the West, and if, as is highly unlikely, the law of unintended consequences does not take effect, Nigeria will return home empty handed, poorer because of wasted lives and resources, while the Western powers will have taken absolute control of oil, gas, gold, uranium and other resources of Mali, Niger, and other countries of the region. And, after its 'reconquest', as the French President calls it, Mali will still remain, as Hurlburt suggests, one of the poorest and least developed countries on earth.

And what about the possible unforeseen and unintended consequences? What about the possible blowback on Nigeria, the new recruit in the war on terror?

Remember the original War on Terror now winding down, and its blowback on the perpetrators, and its calamitous impact on the world.

'Instead of fighting terror, it has fueled it everywhere it's been unleashed: from Afghanistan to Pakistan, from Iraq to Yemen, spreading it from Osama bin Laden's Afghan lairs eastwards to central Asia and westwards to North Africa - as US, British and other western forces have invaded, bombed, tortured and kidnapped their way across the Arab and Muslim world for over a decade,' observes Seumas Milne. And the law of unintended consequences manifested itself in a spectacular fashion, the geopolitics of even a larger part of the world changed strategically. America's economy was ruined, the myth of its invincibility shattered and its decline precipitated and made irreversible.

And perhaps after Mali, Nigeria may be next.

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