Botswana serves Nigerians quit notice by Advocate Nigeria

Vol. 1 No. 29, Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

N150

FG's mass literacy programme suffers setback in Enugu Pg 2

18 g P

·300 centres in 10 LGs shut down

PROGRESSIVE GOVERNORS FORUM MEETING IN LAFIA

...Taking health sector to higher level All Progressives Congress (APC) Governors after their meeting in Lafia on Wednesday… It is a Broom Affair

Pgs 15, 16, 17

Botswana serves Nigerians quit notice Sends 7 Nigerians to deportation camp, detains 16 By Ted Peters The arrest is illegal - Embassy officials

African Dubai-Taiwan concept remains my vision for Anambra – Soludo Pg 20 ·Says 'APGA is party of my people’

undreds of Nigerians seeking greener pastures in Botswana, South Africa are now facing serious difficulties in the hands of security agents who claimed that the Lieutenant General Seretse Khama Ian Khama administration has directed that Nigerians should be flushed out of the country. Although no official reason has been given for the secret directive, Nigerians in that country said it was a

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Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

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Botswana serves Nigerians quit notice authorities declined. We went Sends 7 Nigerians to deportation camp, detains 16 there at 8 am and we were on the matter until 4pm trying to The arrest is illegal - Embassy officials persuade them to release

Continued from front page further demonstration of the deep-rooted hatred which the South African country has for Nigerians. Officials of the Nigerian High Commission in Botswana confirmed to The Advocate Wednesday that 41 Nigerians were officially reported to have been arrested and detained for allegedly violating the country's immigration law last weekend. The officials, however, said the arrest was illegal and a gross violation of international convention which gives those with genuine permits the right to reside in the South African country. According to Mrs. Obka Vi c t o r i a O j e k a - E j e , Minister/Acting Nigerian High Commissioner in the country, 18 out of the 41 Nigerians arrested in several raids conducted by security agencies last week had been released though their passports were still being held by the authorities. She said that seven other Nigerians were transferred elsewhere awaiting deportation while 16 persons were still in detention just as the crackdown on Nigerian citizens had continued. Mrs Obka, who is standing in for the Nigerian High Commissioner, Mr. O. C. Cocodia, currently on home leave, said no official explanation had been given regarding the ongoing crackdown on Nigerians. It was gathered that the government of Botswana had between last Thursday and weekend arrested and detained about 50 Nigerians but no official reason was given for the crackdown. The development has forced Nigerians in that country to abandon their business and working places as they have gone into hiding to avoid being deported. The security agents who carried out the raid reportedly told the detainees that the government had directed Nigerians residing in that country to leave. The Advocate gathered that many Nigerians residing in the country now live in serious fear and have raised an alarm over their plights in that country. They pleaded with Nigerian government to urgently intervene and save them from further maltreatment and humiliation. A Nigerian resident in Botswana, who identified himself as Lawrence Bassey, had on Monday sent an electronic mail to The Advocate alleging that the action of the government, which is centred on hatred and racism, had

our people but all to no avail. “They are relying on municipal law which according to their arguments, it seems they don't know the convention that binds us (Nigeria and Botswana). The convention says when ever any of our citizens is arrested the Ambassador should be notified within 24 hours but they have failed to comply. “Our citizens are saying that they were detained without water and food for days and we have let the authorities know that it is wrong for our citizens to be detained without water more than 30 minutes except if the person is fasting. They don't seem to understand the implication of what they are doing. President Jonathan and President Khann of Botswana during Nigerian president’s visit to Botswana in September 2012 “However, we wrote them officially today (Monday) become very worrisome. Bassey said that the big boss “Before now Nigerian-owned He said: "What we experienced (security chief) whom he businesses have been subjected to to let them know that what they here in Botswana from Thursday identified as Mr. Kosi told the an untold routine check three to are doing is wrong because the to Friday last week was very N i g e r i a n d e t a i n e e s t h a t four times every week asking for affected persons have genuine tragic and devastating. Many law- "Botswana does not want you permit, license, and asking silly resident permit. abiding Nigerians with official Nigerians here; what we are doing q u e s t i o n s l i k e h o w m a n y “The Acting High Commissioner Nigerians are working here?, how wrote the immigration requesting permits doing their legitimate is operation clean up Nigerians.” businesses here in Botswana were "If your home government cannot many Nigerians do come here? to meet with him on the issue forcefully arrested, beaten, take care of you, it is your Where are they residing? If you today (Monday) but all to no avail, detained and were refused visit by business not ours, so you guys are courageous to ask them why we haven't got from them We learnt, though their relations. must leave," Kosi was quoted as they are doing this, they will tell officially. unofficially, that the authorities "The sick ones among them were telling the Nigerian detainees in you that they don't want you made a similar arrest of China Nigerians again." denied access to medication and their cells. Mr. Rasaq Lawal, a staff of citizens last week but we don't their wives were not allowed to C o n t i n u i n g , B a s s e y s a i d : see them hence no food and care. "Majority of the people in Nigerian Embassy in Botswana have details. We won't relent in Most disturbing is the fact that the detention have valid permit issued told The A dvocate w hen defending the interest our people reason for their arrest has not been to them by the immigration but contacted on phone Monday that here. We have to continue with the disclosed to them up till now and unfortunately they turned around the Embassy got reports of the struggle.” some people who went to ask the to say that it is not valid because mass arrest of Nigerians by the Lawal said although Nigerians authorities what the problem is the company is not exiting; the Botswana government and had were arrested in batches and were also detained." question now is do the Botswana promptly intervened to secure detained at different locations, According to Bassey, some of the Immigration issue permit to their release, but the authorities “we counted 41 Nigerians in detention that Saturday and most affected Nigerians were picked up people who are not working? Or had remained adamant. from their business places, on the to companies which do not exist? H e s a i d : “ T h e N i g e r i a n of them are from Imo and Edo, road, in their cars while driving “We are asking the Nigerian Ambassador here is currently on Delta and Rivers States, nobody and even to the extent that the government to please ask all home leave and Mrs. Obka who is from South West and Northern security agents (DIS) bumped Nigerians in Botswana to please acting for him will be in the best states.” their cars to get them arrested. vacate the country immediately position to answer your questions However, the Acting Nigerian “Another gentleman was picked because of the high level of hatred but being a staff of the embassy I A m b a s s a d o r , M r s O b k a , up where he was buying air time being shown to her citizens at al can tell you the much I know. We described the action of the simply because he did not speak levels. The development has received the report of the arrest of Botswana government as illegal Seswana. The big boss of the become very alarming and it is some Nigerians here on Saturday saying the embassy had taken up security agency was involved and clear that our safety can no longer morning and we went there the matter with the government. immediately to meet with the But she expressed regrets that the personally decided who should be be guaranteed. put in which prison and ordering “If possible the Nigerian Embassy authorities but we were not authorities were not ready to give the beating of any person who should be closed because the allowed to see the people arrested. official reason for the crackdown asks what he has done wrong," relationship between the two “We were referred to the Assistant on Nigerians stressing that the Bassey said. countries has broken down. Commissioner of Police who later release of some of the detainees He pointed out that the current Nigeria should stop issuing visa to granted us access to the people. and the arraignment of others in “dehumanizing treatments” being the people of Botswana, not less We had access to discuss with court were indications that the meted to Nigerians in Botswana than 50 - 70 Botswana citizens them and they said they did embassy's concern was being "has nothing to do with one not come to Nigeria every month but nothing to warrant their arrest and addressed. having resident permit or trading how many Nigerians come here? that they have all necessary It would be recalled that about 300 Nigerians were reportedly license but rather “a clear Those who apply for Botswana permits to reside in the country. demonstration of arrogance and are being subjected to a serious “ We m a d e t h e B o t s w a n a deported from Botswana last year deep rooted hatred for Nigerians check only to be denied straight government to know that what but the authorities denied the by Lieutenant General Seretse away. Even Nigerian government they did is against international reports saying only about 14 K h a m a I a n K h a m a officials are treated the same way norms and demanded that our persons were sent packing for administration.” citizens should be released but the alleged immigration offences. as there is no exception.

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Uba absent as PDP unveils 11 guber aspirants at Anambra peace rally …Endorses Jonathan's re-election

PDP to be united, you should begin from now to reach out to your members at the wards and various levels, "Emeakayi stressed. The aspirants were given two minutes each to address the

had rocked the party had come to an end, but pleaded that the best candidate for the party should be elected during the primaries. Nwoye,who was feared disqualified during the party

By Uche Chukwu & Paulinus Onah, Awka

hat was on the lips of supporters and members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the peace rally of the party at Ekwueme Square Awka, Anambra State capital, last weekend, was whether the Senator representing Anambra South senatorial district, Senator Andy Uba has moved out of the party in search of a fresh ticket on another party's platform. This is as a result of his conspicuous absence at the Ekwueme Square Awka peace rally where 11 aspirants were unveiled to the mammoth crowd numbering about 80,000 from the 326 wards of the state. But in a swift reaction, Uba denied it saying he had delayed flight which result in his coming into Awka after the function, just as he pointed out that he was part of the peace process that would see all the aspirants support the eventual flagbearer in the November 16, 2014 governorship election. The unveiling ceremony was also witnessed by key zonal officers and representatives of National Working Committee officers, including the South East Zonal chairman of PDP, Col. Austin Akobundu RTD. The 11 governorship aspirants who spoke one after the other on the reason why they want to be governor at the event include former Women Affairs Minister, Mrs Josephine Anenih, three-time governorship contestant, Dr Alex Obiogbolu, Senator Emma Anosike, Walter Ubaka Okeke, Barrister Sylvester Okonkwo, former state chairman of the PDP, C o m r a d e To n y N w o y e , Ambassador Jerry Ugokwe, Ugochukwu Okeke, Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Technical Matters, Nze Akachukwu Nwankpo, first Igbo man in the FCT to become a House of Representatives member, Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu and Barrister Obinna Uzoh. Others were Nwoye, Okonkwo and Ugochukwu Okeke who were among those reportedly disqualified, said they had sorted out their disqualification matter and expects the appeal panel to come out with the true position of things. The former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme was equally absent allegedly on health ground. Moving the motion which was seconded and unanimously supported by a crowd numbering about 80,000 party supporters, the recognized state chairman PDP, Prince Ken Emeakayi called for inclusion of the resolution in PDP constitution for an automatic ticket for President Goodluck Jonathan

Andy Uba to run for the second term as a consensus candidate on 2015 on account of his scintillating performance. He said that the state would mobilize other states in the federation to take similar resolution to adopt and insert it in the PDP Constitution at its next national convention. Soon after the adoption of the resolution conferring the right of automatic ticket to Jonathan, the Party moved to launch its operation “win-to-win", aimed at making PDP win the forthcoming Council polls on October 4, 2013 and governorship election in November 16, 2013. This was also followed by the unveiling of eleven governorship aspirants of the Party. The state party chairman urged the Party members to work hard to ensure victory for the party in all the 326 wards of Anambra, stressing there was no crisis in

Akachukwu Nwankpo PDP, other than the struggle to beat ruling party in the Sate, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). Emeakayi urged the aspirants to reach out to the electorates at the grassroots to sell themselves in the primaries as the state chapter has agreed on a resolution against imposition of candidates on the party especially those from Abuja. Furthermore, he announced that the PDP would select whoever would be the deputy Governorship candidate of any person elected as the candidate, adding that the primaries would be free and fair. He called on the aspirants to abide by the decision for the losers to support the eventual winner to carry the party's flag successfully in the governorship election. "We have come here to launch operation win to win, I urge you as go home, tell those who are still angry that the fighting is over and the crisis has ended, we want all

Nicholas Ukachukwu massive crowd. In her brief remarks, the former Women Affairs Minister and only woman aspirant, Josephine Anenih said that her reason for aspiring to be Governor was to provide jobs, quality education and good health for all, wondering why previous administrations has failed to address the problem. Ukachukwu stated that aspirants should tell the people what they had done in the past to assist in job and wealth creation to reduce unemployment saying besides the state government, he remains the next highest employer of labour among those in the race. Also speaking, Nze Akachukwu Nwankpo said that the new found unity in PDP in Anambra State should be sustained and used to help in delivering the state to the party come 2014. Also, the former state chairman of PDP in the State, Dr Tony Nwoye said it was good that the crisis that

Emma Anosike screening, said that he was later cleared by the National secretariat, The former state chairman of PDP said screening was a continuous process, adding that they would face the appeal committee on Tuesday to present the original copies of whatever receipt. Sen. Emma Anosike promised that even if he failed to emerge as the PDP candidate for the governorship that he would make sure that he delivered all the four local government areas in his area. Okonkwo who said he has been cleared after the reported disqualification said the only issue with his clearance was that he presented a photocopy of his receipt instead of the original copy. The PDP National Director in charge of logistics, Dr Effiong told the crowd that what they had seen was a surprise, and made it clear to the PDP faithful that Prince Kenneth Emeakayi is the state chairman of PDP and not any other person.

FG's mass literacy programme suffers setback in Enugu ·300 centres in 10 LGs shut down By Obianuju Nwankwo & Princess Ojiyi

HE Mass Literacy programme of the Federal Government has suffered a setback in Enugu State as majority of the local government areas in the state have shunned the programme. As a result, over 300 adult and youth literacy centres in 10 local government areas have been completely shut down following the failure of the councils to fund the programmes, which sources said, they did not regard as a priority. Only about 200 centres in seven councils are functional as the council chairmen have promptly paid the allowances of the

facilitators and as well as provided other necessary support for the programme. The councils are Enugu East, Nkanu Ease, Udi, IsiUzo, Igboese North, Igboeze South, and Udenu. Programme Director of Enugu State Agency for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-formal Education, Dr. Chinwe Anibueze, who disclosed this during the six-day training workshop on Revitalizing Adult and Youth Literacy in Nigeria (RAYLN) in Enugu, stressed the need for all the local government areas to resuscitate the literacy centres in order to improve the literacy level of their people. She called on the 10 councils whose adult and youth centres had been closed to re-open them and endeavour to pay the facilitators

and coordinators who earns N7,500 and N10,000 respectively as monthly allowance. She said that the Federal Government had mobilised $6.5m for adult and youth literacy programmes in the country and had since signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UNESCO to implement a three-year project on the literacy programme. Anibeze said the Federal Government's aim was to educate four to five million illiterate adults and two million out-of-school youths over the next three years. According to her, the collaborative effort is already yielding results, as UNESCO Institute for Life Long Learning welcomed 10 Nigerian researchers to Hamburg between April and June this year, in order to support them in developing

projects and research evidence. “One person out of these 10 international scholars from Nigeria was selected from Enugu State,” Anibueze pointed out, urging all stakeholders in the state to support the programme in view of its enormous benefits. The state Commissioner for Education, Professor Chris Okoro, who declared the workshop opened, said adult education was important for the survival and happiness of mankind, explaining that “its fundamental aim is the improvement of the lives of adult learners through the provision of relevant programmes which enable adult men and women to acquire the knowledge and skill they need for meaningful community life.” He assured that the state government would support the programme to enable the people of the state reap its benefits and participate actively in economic activities which is being powered electronically across the globe.

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A'IBOM to benefit from World Bank N300m Youth empowerment fund

kwa Ibom State is among the states in Nigeria that would soon benefit from the World Bank $300m Youth Empowerment Fund. The Sector Leader, Human Development of The World Bank, Professor Foluso Okunmadewa, who disclosed this Wednesday when he paid a courtesy visit to Governor Godswill Akpabio at Governor's Office, Uyo, said “Recently, The World Bank through the request of the Federal Ministry of Finance has approved a $300m intervention for youth empowerment. And I know youth empowerment is extremely important in your administration. I can tell you that based on the insistence of the Country Director of The World Bank, Akwa Ibom is one of the states expected to benefit from this”. Professor Okunmadewa accompanied by other World Bank officials said that they had mobilised zonal managers in-charge of Community Social Development Project (CSDP) from 26 states of the federation including Federal Capital Territory, Abuja for The World Bank/Joint CSDP Review Management meeting in Uyo, noting “There are so many youths both in the rural areas and in Uyo that need to be empowered”. He pledged the continued readiness of The World Bank to partner with Akwa Ibom State, and commended the state government for partnering with the World Bank particularly in human development, health sector and education. According to him, “I am here principally to

appreciate your partnership with The World Bank particularly in the area of human development. Human development activities of the World Bank clearly complement your transformation agenda that has been widely regarded as uncommon”. In his response, Governor Akpabio who thanked The World Bank for their partnership in human capacity development, advised the bank to focus their development attention in the state, adding “There is a lot of problem at the shoreline of Akwa Ibom State”. “I am excited about the youth empowerment programme of The World Bank and our state would be very delighted to take part in it. Youths of the Niger Delta are so many and need to be empowered. Our own is a little bit sad because this is a civil service state and we are trying to lay foundation for future industrialization. Other states are lucky to have industries, factories and all that. So, they have various means of employment but here we don't have,” Akpabio said. The Governor directed the Commissioner of Finance to immediately release pending N300 million counterparts funding to the bank to enable the state to benefit from other World Bank-assistance projects, assuring the bank of the continuous support of Akwa Ibom people and government in its effort to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians.

Imbibe the culture of personal hygiene - Kogi residents told

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ogi state government has warned that refuse collection and waste disposal in Lokoja the State Capital will no longer be business as usual, but will be pursued with the seriousness it deserves. The State Governor Capt Idris Wada who was represented by his Deputy, Yomi Awoniyi while inspecting work at the on-going first ever dump site in the State capital since the creation of the State, said refuse disposal in the state capital has become an issue of great concern to the present administration and can no longer be business as usual. Capt Wada said the State Government places emphasis on the beautification of the State capital and was committed to making the capital city take its pride of place as the first capital of Nigeria. The Governor who described cleanliness as next to Godliness, called on the people to have an attitudinal change adding that efforts will be made to step up sensitization campaign on the need for people to maintain a clean environment. Wada disclosed that very soon, the State Government would acquire refuse collection trucks, called for collaborative efforts from the citizenry to enable Government achieve its objectives.

While the present administration, Wada explained, would create an enabling environment for public private partnership to thrive in the cleanliness and beautification of the State capital adding the huge capital outlay involved in cleaning the State capital, made the State Government to be committed to putting the necessary infrastructures in place, before a final transfer to the private sector for effective sanitation of the State capital.

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Kogi Cassava processing zone to attract subsidiary industries â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Idris Wada

he Government of Kogi State has disclosed its readiness to carry out site and services scheme in the Cassava Processing Zone located in Alape Community in KabbaBunu Local Government Area of Kogi State. The Kogi State Governor, Capt. Idris Wada, stated this while inspecting the extent of work done in cassava planting at Alape, one of the two approved Cassava Processing Zone in Nigeria. The State Governor who was represented by his Deputy, Yomi Aw o n i y i s a i d t h e S t a t e Government is ready to partner with the Federal Government and KAGIL, the anchor investor in the project to make Alape an industrial city developed with a master plan that has provision for adequate infrastructure. The State Governor, who described the investment that would be attracted to Alape Community as massive, however warned against haphazard development, adding that a comprehensive master plan that would enable the location of other industries in the area would be deliberately worked out. Capt. Wada who commended the Federal Government for selecting Alape Community in OdoApe community of Bunu district in Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area as divine,

assured that the State Government would provide the needed security and other support for the successful realization of the Processing Zone, which when operational, would head to the location of several other industries.

In his remarks, James Awoniyi, a consultant from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture on the project, said the project is an initiative of the Federal Government and KAGIL Group who are the anchor investors and the third largest food

manufacturing company in the world noting that when operational, the processing zone would attract massive investment and job opportunities to the State. In his own speech, Dr. Femi Abolarin, Commissioner for Agriculture, Kogi State said the process of land clearing and planting has begun and explained that the project is concerned with

Akpabio flags off construction of Eket-Ibeno road Niger Delta Development Commission and Akwa Ibom Government. Chief Akpabio, speaking Friday at the official f l a g - o f f ceremony of the road, publicly handed over the Executive Director of C C E C C , Michael Bill to the Chairmen and Paramount Rulers of Eket, Esit Eket and Ibeno Local Government Areas to ensure the protection of the contractor's equipment and

By Christopher Okon, Uyo

overnor Godswill Akpabio has formally flagged off the construction of Eket-Ibeno Road as a dual carriageway recently awarded at about N24.9 billion. The 20-kilometre road awarded to Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) Nigeria Limited which has four bridges, 300mm laterite sub-base course, 200mm crushed stone base course, 60mm asphalt binder course, 50mm asphalt wearing course, 1.80m walkways, 2.75m parking lane, 20.1m carriageway and street light, among others is billed to be completed in 24 months. The road, when completed will create easy access to Qua Iboe Terminal, access to Stubb Creek natural habitat, opening to Ibeno Beach for tourists and a gateway to the social and economic

development of Eket, Ibeno and Upenekang, and has such stakeholders as ExxonMobil,

personnel. The Governor, however, thanked NDDC for handling the construction of the road for years

EBSIEC Boss expresses fear over council election By Ngwuta Chinedu, Abakaliki

ollowing the apprehension which the just concluded Ebonyi State People's Democratic Party, PDP, Ward primary election generated in the State, the Chairman of Ebonyi State Independent Electoral Commission, EBSIEC, Chief John Nkwuda has expressed fear over the conduct of the forthcoming council polls in the State. Chief Nkwuda disclosed this at the Commission's headquarters in Abakaliki , the Ebonyi State capital during a one day meeting with security chiefs in the State. Addressing the security chiefs, the EBSIEC boss who, however, reiterated the readiness of the Commission to conduct the local government election slated for September 28 expressed fear, stressing that the violent outcome of the Ward Councilors and Chairmanship primaries which took place on July 23 and 25 respectively if allowed to be repeated is capable of

raising commercial farmers. The Representative of Alape C o m m u n i t y, P r o f . F e m i Eyinmidu, assured of the cooperation of the community to the successful takeoff of the project and called on the State Government to address the nomenclature of where the processing zone would be located.

destabilizing the existing peace in the State. According to him, the government of Ebonyi State had been regular in the conduct of local government election in the State even as he noted that security agencies had been doing their best in handling security issues during election but called on them to re-double their efforts. He said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The situation has always been properly handled, and Security Agencies as major stake holders in the conduct of local government election have major and very important role to play in providing security during and after the election, I therefore request the Security Agencies to ensure proper conduct of the election'' He explained that there were seven approaches which are very important during the period of election which include ensuring that all election campaigns are peacefully carried out by political parties following the electoral guidelines, that adequate security is provided for electoral officers and materials from the point of

t a k e o ff t o t h e r e s p e c t i v e destination, that adequate security arrangement are made for the peaceful conduct of the election throughout the states by sustaining vehicular patrol throughout the period of the election and that any group that may have potential for violence are identified and contained. Others are, to ensure orderliness at the polling unit/stations, preventing loitering and carrying of sensitive weapons within and around the polling areas that all participants in the election conform to the electoral law and restriction of movement during the election. Nkwuda added that the build up to the election has resulted in the increase of the tempo of political activities pointing out that the recently concluded political party primaries which occasioned some crisis leading to breakdown of law and order by members of some political parties need to be properly looked into so as to nip it in the bud to avoid a repeat during the election. Speaking during the meeting with the EBSIEC Chairman, security agents in the State identified lack of fund as one of the problems militating against free and fair

election in the State. The Assistant Police Commissioner in- charge of operations in Ebonyi State, Mr. Stephen Ejemojo, who thanked EBSIEC Chairman for his cooperation with the Security Agencies serving in the state, lamented lack of adequate logistics as a major problem hindering the conduct of free and fair election in Ebonyi State. On his part, the Director of States Security Service (SSS) Ebonyi State represented by Mr. Ihejirika hinted that voting apathy cannot be overruled in Ebonyi State going by the experience Ebonyians had during 2011 general election which was conducted in line with INEC Electoral law adding that it may be worse going by the open ballot system which demands that voters must queue behind the candidate of their choice. He, therefore, advised the EBSIEC Chairman to ensure that what happened during the 2011 general election did not repeat itself; a situation that allegedly led to the suspension of workers' salaries because they voted for candidate of their choice in another political party other than the People's Democratic Party (PDP).

now, saying that his government flagged off the construction of the road as part of the uncommon transformation going on in the state. He commended the three local government chairmen and ExxonMobil for cooperating with the state government and called on them to mobilize youths in the areas to support the contractor by staying away from any form of kidnappings, warning that the law would deal with any person caught committing such crime that will derail the job. Akpabio thanked ExxonMobil for its readiness to partner the state government in the construction of the road, noting "I am not here to play politics, but to do a serious business. We are not taking over the job from NDDC but to assist it. I feel that we can remove potholes from EketIbeno Road by constructing a new one... After this, I'll commence the remodeling and beautification of Eket urban. This area produces the money that the entire country is using". The Governor dispelled the rumour peddled by some people that ExxonMobil has paid compensation on the recent oil spill to affected persons, an act some miscreants relied to wreck mayhem in the area, remarking that the payment must undergo due process and a committee would be set up to establish genuine beneficiaries before payment is made. The Paramount Ruler of Ibeno, Owong Effiong Achianga described the Governor as a good man and a man of vision particularly for awarding contract for the construction of the road hitherto forgotten and abandoned by past administrations in the state. Owong Achianga who commended Akpabio for judicious utilization of public funds for the benefit of the masses and according respect to royal fathers in the state, appealed to him to intervene in the alleged payment of compensation as some miscreants in the area recently capitalised on the rumour to wreck mayhem in his palace. He appealed to youths in the area to lay down their arms and cooperate with the contractor to ensure speedy completion of the project.

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Orji woos Abians resident in China to Chime reiterates commitment invest at home to promotion By Emmanuel Iheanacho, here just recently to commission the completed diagnostic centre Umuahia

premium on health especially hospitals in Amachara, Ikwuano, Ohafia and Aba. Others include Okeikpe in Ukwa West and other local government Areas to complement the over 200 health centers across the 17 LGAs. On education, Chief T. A. Orji

said his administration has made a mark noting that the state government has written to the Federal Government to come and take over Arochukwu College of Education and Abia state polytechnic in order to reduce the burden of the state in maintaining these institutions.

initiated and built by my administration.” bia indigenes residing in China have been called T h e g o v e r n o r s a i d h i s upon to return and g o v e r n m e n t p l a c e s h i g h invest at home as to contribute their quota towards the development of the state. The governor, Chief T. A. Orji who made the call while fielding questions from journalist at the By Our Reporter government House Umuahia shortly after his arrival from ogi State Deputy China said his trip to China G o v e r n o r , Yo m i would benefit Abia State Awoniyi, has urged government. Muslims and Christians to live Orji who traveled to China with in peace so as to promote President Goodluck Jonathan on economic mission said he used development in the country. the opportunity to have a town In a press statement issued and hall meeting with Abians signed by Abu Micheal, Chief residing in China, adding that Press Secretary to the Deputy very soon the state would be a Governor, Awoniyi called on “Muslim faithful to pray for the destination point for investors progress and development of the “I have spoken to those who have made it there to come back State” as well as commended the home and invest especially now religious harmony existing in that the state is safe. Abia is now the State. The state Deputy a destination point for investors Governor who also had joined because it has a good business Muslims in observing the fast through the Ramadan, urged climate that will be profitable.” adherents of both religions in the According to Governor Orji, state to embrace one another for areas considered during the the growth and progress of the meeting with the would-be present administration and investors includes Agriculture, adviced Muslims to use the holy power and education sector, pointing out that projects p e r i o d t o e m b r a c e t h e i r completed by his administration Christian counterparts. had been commissioned by the While describing Islam as a their brother's keeper, the last few days of the Ramadan religion which gives humanity minister of Health. statement called on faithful to period and prayers made for the “The Minister of Health was abundant opportunities to be reflect on the importance of the peace and oneness of the nation.

Kogi Deputy Governor calls for peaceful co-existence of religious groups

Akpabio tasks Council Chairmen on rural development By Christopher Okon, Uyo

hairmen of local government councils in Akwa Ibom state have been charged to embark on development projects that would have direct impact on the people and improve the living standard of the rural populace. Governor Godswill Akpabio gave the charge last Monday, at a civic reception organised in his honour at Nto Edino, headquarters of Obot Akara local government, after inaugurating 13 projects executed by the State Interministerial Direct Labour Committee in the area. Represented by his Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Dr. Glory Edet, Chief Akpabio reminded local government helmsmen of the need to invest tax payers' money on meaningful projects that can empower the people and create job opportunities for the masses.

He urged council chairmen to regard their positions as opportunities to serve the people through efficient service delivery for meaningful impact in the lives of the people. This he said would help to engrave not only their legacies, but also their names on the sands of time. Chief Akpabio noted that as third tier of government, local administration remained the closest to the people at the grassroots and that it was necessary for the operators at that level to show greater commitment and sincerity in serving the people. To ensure accountability and greater delivery of the dividends of democracy to the people, the Governor advised council chairmen against embarking on white elephants, projects stating that, “it is one thing to embark on projects and another to complete those projects,” as, according to him, “monitoring and evaluation are key elements in project execution.” He called on local government

administrators to take a cue from the Commissioner for Finance and Chairman of the State Interministerial Direct Labour Coordinating Committee, Mr Bassey Akpan, whose determined efforts he said, saw to the completion of the 448 projects being inaugurated, across the 31 local government areas of Akwa Ibom. While praising the Chairman of Obot Akara local government area, Mr Idongesit Ntekpere for his development strides, Governor Akpabio observed that “If other Chairpersons will do what Mr. Ntekpere has done, all local government areas will be on the fast lane of development” The Chairman of Obot Akara, Mr Ntekpere while welcoming the Governor and his entourage, used the occasion to highlight some of the projects executed by his administration. These, he enumerated to include, establishment of an Oil Palm Depot at Nto Ndang; massive grading of feeder roads; rehabilitation of Mbiaso Bridge; construction of a Town Hall; and reconstruction of a befitting

building for Methodist Church Nigeria, Nto Edino, in appreciation to God for his elevation and the Church for their prayers. He thanked Governor Akpabio for providing basic infrastructure such as electricity, schools, potable water and health centres for the people of Obot Akara and pledged his continued commitment to partner the State government in the drive to bring development closer to the people at the grassroots. The projects inaugurated were, Ultra-modern Library Complex at Nto Edino; a 2-bedroom Flat Semi-detached Doctors' Quarters; a Maternity Block, both at Health Centre, Abama; a 4-classroom block/Office at Group School, Usaka Annang; a 4-classroom block/ Office at QIC Primary School, Ikot Abasi Eduo; a 3-classroom block, a 4classroom block, and a 3classroom block/Office, as well as an Assembly Hall/Office block at St. Patrick's Primary School, Abama. Others were electricity at Nto Ekpu Ikot; Nto Esu; Abama and Abiakpo Ukap.

of culture By Our Reporter

he Governor of Enugu State, Mr. S ullivan Chime s ays his administration would continue to encourage the promotion of the rich cultural heritage of the Igbo race and Nigeria in general. Speaking while presenting a star prize of Hyundai Elentra saloon car and five hundred thousand naira to Miss Chinenye Ugada, the winner of the 2012 Nwa-Ada Igbo beauty pageant at the Government House, Enugu the Governor congratulated the Nwa-Ada Igbo Queen, Miss Ugada and her runners up on their victory and charged them to be good ambassadors of Ndi-Igbo in whatever they do. Also at the ceremony, the Governor presented a Hyundai car and two hundred and fifty thousand naira to Miss Onyinye Okoye and Home Theater LD Television and One hundred thousand naira to Miss Ijeoma Nnanna as first and second runners-up at the beauty pageant competition. He reminded them that their position as Nwa-Ada Igbo carries with it a lot of responsibility and therefore they should endeavour to protect the dignity of womanhood and promote the culture of the people. He also commended the re-branded state cultural troupes that performed at the presentation ceremony and described it as an improvement from what it used to be in the past years. The State Chief Executive commended the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Ozo Joe Mamelu for his initiative and efforts to package the cultural troupe, adding that from their performances, they will go places. Earlier in his speech, Commissioner Ozo Mamelu thanked the Governor for the support the ministry received from him which made the Nwa Ada Igbo beauty pageant contest and re-branding exercise a huge success. The commissioner explained that over one hundred ladies took part in the beauty pageant contest out of which three emerged the queen and two runnerups, adding that the competition was transparent as the judges were picked at the venue of the competition. He said that this year's (2013) beauty contest will feature Nwa-Ada Igbo beauty pageant and Traditional wrestling contest to produce Oka Mgba. The commissioner stated that the rebranded cultural troupe included costume and newly introduced dance steps among others, adding that they newly recruited dancers among the troupe had been offered employment by the state government. The Nwa Ada Igbo Queen, Miss Ugada in a brief remark, thanked the Governor for the car and cash reward and promised to protect the crown to justify the honour. Miss Ugada said that her pet project will include the teaching of traditional way of cooking to our young girls in a programme she called Traditional Vintage Cuisine.

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Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

EKWULOBIA PARK CRISIS:

My life is in danger, says Park Manager By Rex Arum & Ted Peters

erhaps Ekwulobia town in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State would not be known in Nigeria except for the menace of erosion which has wiped some of its villages. But the current story making waves is that of man's inhumanity to man; a situation in which property worth millions of naira were destroyed while many people got severely injured. Our reporter gathered that the community has never known peace since one Mr. Jimmy Okonkwo lost the management of Ekwulobia Motor Park. The park is said to be second largest after Onitsha Park, in Anambra state. It was also gathered from a reliable source that the new managers of the Ekwulobia motor park, the QUALITY CONSULTING AGENCY has found it an uphill task to manage the park following the alleged connivance of Okonkwo and some people in the community who are hell-bent on scuttling the smooth operation of the park in order to hijack it from the new managers. Following the development, the MD of Ekwulobia Urban Mass Transit, Mr. Obi Okoli has raised an alarm over several alleged attempts on his life. He claimed that he no longer lives a free life or operates his businesses without fear of being killed. Okoli's only offence, he claimed, was that he remained resolute in the defence of the mandate, he said, was given to him to manage the park by the State ministry of transport. He recalled how some policemen alongside a bus load of suspected thugs reportedly swooped on him while he was worshipping inside one of the new generation churches during a Sunday service. The undesirable act, which Okoli described as abnormal ended up disrupting church activities, although it was all in a bid to arrest him. Okoli told The Advocate in an interview, “God has been helping us until late 2011 when the fracas in the park started, my life is in danger that was why I cried out to the press and the public for help. I have not been sleeping in my house for long because of the threat messages I have been receiving and even as I am talking to you I am making every effort to relocate my family from my present residence to a place we will be secured.” He further claimed, “There was this man from Agulu, Jimmy who is the principal person after my life. For about three weeks I haven't slept in my house, it was only yesterday that I managed to visit my family and early this

morning I sneaked out of the house. “This man who had been an agent of the government was working there until sometime around February 2012 when after a critical review of how he was running the park which resulted in government revocation of his right of management and after a fresh bid our company won and was consequently awarded the retainership to manage the park. Okoli also alleged, “Before then he had attacked my private transport business at the park, destroyed fifteen buses and three cars. Police intervened, arrested some of them and charged them to court. As a result, the town union wrote to the government that they don't want this man in Ekwulobia because he has committed many atrocities. When the government now saw it they put Ekwulobia on vigilante. “On March 21, 2012 the army took over the park, the town union wrote to the commander to intimate him of the development and the same day the vigilante was withdrawn. On 6th of August this Jimmy Okonkwo and his thugs stormed the park again and police arrested him with 'pump action gun' charged them to court and the matter is still pending in court. “He went and wrote a petition that I robbed him at Ekwulobia and police came to the church service in Deeper Life where I worship, they disrupted church services and said they wanted to arrest me, but I said even if you people want to arrest me, is it not wise you wait outside then after service you can arrest me. The issue of coming into the church to make arrests is wrong. “But the worst scenario was that within a short time the police

came, we saw about four or five buses with a flag in front of them written “Association of Igbo Youth” they came in and began to beat people; When I saw them coming I ran into the pastor's office and locked the door, I called the DPO and the traditional ruler of Ekwulobia and they said they were coming. As I was waiting for the police intervention, they used the axes and hammers they came with and broke the iron door. “After beating me, they stripped me naked and took me to an unknown place and later to SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad), Awkuzu where they produced a statement against me; they claimed that I confessed to being an armed robber and they took me to Abuja. The next day I was taken to one CP who said I should be released.” Okoli further claimed that he and some staff of the company have suffered untold hardship ranging from intimidation, brutality and sadism. “I have suffered a lot in the hands of these men; they had earlier on July 12 2013 arrested my senior brother and locked him up at Nnewi police station.” According to him, his workers were also arrested and charged to court for alleged armed robbery case that purportedly took place one year ago by the same group who are after his life. He said when the matter got to court, the magistrate doubted if any of the suspects or defendants took part in the alleged armed robbery incident. Consequently, the Magistrate, F. N. Nweke sitting at Ekwulobia Magistrate court, faulted the police prosecution and stated as follows: “I have gone through the duplicated police case file in the court case file and I am surprised that there was no place the names

of any of the defendants were mentioned as taken part in the robbery incident. In fact, the complainant never mentioned the name of any of the defendants here before me; in his statement likewise his witness, one Ifeanyi Nwankwo. All the defendants denied taking part in robbery incidents. So there was nothing in the duplicated police case file pointing to the fact that any of the defendants took part in the alleged armed robbery. “I doubt if any investigation was carried out at all by the police in this case. There is no police investigation report in the case file. From the statement of the complainant, the alleged armed robbery incident took place on the 6/8/2012 and not the 16/2/2013 stated in the charge sheet.” Nweke also said, “The defendants were arrested on the 12/7/2013. So, it was not even the case of the defendants being seen at the scene of the armed robbery incident on that day. The police after more than 1 year the alleged armed robbery incident took place arrested the defendants at the alleged scene and wants this court to remand the defendants in prison custody without any fact to at least show the court that they participated in armed robbery. The magistrate further contended, “I think the liberty of the citizen of this country is sacred and that is why the right to personal liberty is enshrined in the constitution and I believe that it cannot be taken away from individual just to show superiority or show of power and might. “That right can only be violated by presentation of justifiable reason by the police and failure to do so, this court refuses to be used to foster illegality. This is because court of law is a court of justice and it is not only court of justice for the powerful members of the society but for a common man also.” The court, however, adjourned the case sine die. According to Okoli, “If it were not for the position of the court on that matter our workers would by now be languishing in jail for no reason they can account for.” He told The Advocate that given the circumstances in which he found himself, he petitioned the Civil Liberties Organisation and Moral Mentorship organization, a Non-governmental organisation with focus on community conflict resolution for intervention. The Director Moral Mentorship organization, Maureen Chime while speaking to journalists during a press briefing on the matter in Enugu said, “there is a tussle, political tussle between some huge personalities in the park who want to either unseat the people that are managing the park or to ensure that they grab the park

at all cost. Chime also explained, “It is a worrisome situation since it borders on the moral values and comfort of the people living there and of course a threat to the travelers who might make use of the park. “It is also a problem to the Ekwulobia Park as it affects it's economy and serenity as Ekwulobia has one of the biggest parks in Anambra State. Things have been going wrong in the park even to the detriment of some security agencies who had suffered several abuses and false allegation.” In a document made available to The Advocate by Moral Mentorship during the briefing, a Consultancy company known as Q U A L I T Y C O N S U LT I N G AGENCY being the accredited agents managing the park wrote to the traditional ruler of Ekwulobia accusing him of wanting to take over the park. The letter signed by a Director of the company Hon. Willy Okeke states, “We wish to note that on several occasions you have expressed tour misgivings about the alleged misconduct of some of our Directors, management and staff. As the traditional ruler of the h o s t c o m m u n i t y, y o u a r e bestowed with numerous responsibilities which we full recognize. We therefore find it difficult to reconcile your traditional/cultural responsibilities in Ekwulobia town with your concerted effort and unrelenting insistence that hand over the management of Ekwulobia central motor park to you simply on the basis that you are not comfortable with some of our management team and staff.” Earlier, Okoli had alleged that the traditional ruler of Ekwulobia Igwe Onyeneke seem to share interest in the taking over of the park from the company he represents. He explained that the Traditional ruler had gone to the ministry of transport for that purpose but was told to go back and do his job as a custodian of culture and tradition of his community. But when contacted, Igwe Onyeneke vehemently denied the allegation. He said, “If I had my way I will remove the park from my kingdom because it breeds criminals and it has caused us a lot of havoc. Some people have been killed there in the past and we cannot continue to condone that.” He insisted that he has no hand in the park crisis and emphasised that the park has been a flashpoint in the community. He added, “How can I be taking sides or have interest in removing the leadership of the park wherefore I had sent reports to both local and State governments to come and help us sanitize the place? ” For now, no one is sure when sanity will return to the infamous Ekwulobia motor park where peace and harmony have so far escaped from.

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Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

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US assures Nigerians on painless visa process

IGERIANS, who seek to migrate to the United States under its various visa categories, would henceforth, worry less over visa procurement, as they have been assured of a smooth and successful visa processing. The assurance was made by the U.S Consul General, Jeffery Hawkins, during a meeting to usher in United States bi-national commission's build-up dialogue with the Nigerian government. The development would ensure that every Nigerian who intends to migrate to the U.S for various reasons are given special consideration, given the fact that both countries have maintained consistent and cordial bi-national relations in various key areas of their economies. Hawkins who indicated that Nigeria was the United States' most important partner in Africa, given its demonstration of a high degree of friendship, trust and cooperation for tangible progress on critical issues of both countries' mutual interest, added, “For Nigerians who wish to visit the United States, my goal is to ensure that the visa application process comes as painless and pleasant as possible. This is because we have invested in new staff, installed new equipment and overhauled our processes, so as to provide Nigerian visa applicants with the best of visa services.” He also stated that, “The wait time for non-immigrant visa appointment is now just a fraction of what it once was, in order to ensure that Nigerians are not kept waiting for more than they would want to.” The consul general who expressed the need for applicants to desist from submitting fraudulent documentation, the number one reason for denial visa, implored all intending visa applicants to ensure that they provide the consulate with authentic and stipulated visa requirements in order to avoid visa denial or ban as the case may be. In other words, applicants who submit fraudulent documentations to the U.S Consulate for their visa processing would have to accommodate the sad end that such singular action would cause them. It is important for applicants to note that the U.S consulate has several detective devices to ensure that they process only documentations from the right Nigerian issuing authorities. In view of the foregoing, therefore, applicants who provide fraudulent documentations and or uncompleted embassy stipulated requirements in relation to required visa types, are bound to either have their visa application returned or denied.

Jeffery Hawkins

1.5m Nigerians grow US economy IT is estimated that more than 1.5 million Nigerians resident in the U.S, and about 31,000 United States citizens resident in Nigeria, have invested enormously to the growth of the economies of both countries. This number of Nigerians reportedly migrate to the U.S yearly, as immigrants, tourists, students and workers, and presently. Nigeria has about 7,000 of its bright young populace pursuing higher education in various academic fields in universities across the U.S. The engagement may have contributed to the U.S government's proposed invitation of a very special set of young Nigerians with track records of leadership and services to their communities to visit the U.S in 2014, through the

Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders platform. Under the platform, selected fellows will be moved to top American universities for trainings in entrepreneurship, management and leadership. This is expected to be seconded with internship and job opportunities at top companies in Africa. These commitments to an extent confirm the fact that both countries are seriously engaged in efforts aimed at promoting cordial bi-national relationships to achieve good and productive ideas, which in turn they both would benefit from. United States consul general in Nigeria, Mr. Jeffrey Hawkins, told Vanguard, “Each year, a handful of young officers at the Consulate mentor and support 15 young Nigerians who have ideas for community service projects. Subsequently, the United States Carrington Youth Fellowship Initiative, CYFI, and the results regularly astound me, because the Carrington fellows have touched the lives of tens of thousands of their fellow Nigerians, and they have themselves developed into more capable and confident leaders.”

Muslim Brotherhood says more than 100 dead in Cairo

gypt's Muslim Brotherhood said at least 100 people were killed and over 2,000 injured We d n e s d a y i n a p o l i c e crackdown on two major protest camps held by supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi. “100+ dead & 2000+ wounded,” Brotherhood spokesman Gehad al-Haddad said on Twitter. There was no immediate independent confirmation of the tolls. Egypt grounds all trains to prevent protests moving outside Cairo. Egypt's interior ministry said security forces have “total control” over the smaller of two protest camps in an operation Wednesday to clear away supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi. Al-Nahda Square was “totally under control” and “police forces have

Egyptian ousted president Mohamed Morsi addressing his supporters managed to remove most of the tents in the square,” the ministry

said. A security official told AFP that dozens of Morsi supporters

had been arrested with the help of residents from the area.

Keita wins Mali presidential election

he former Malian Prime Minister, Mr , Ibrahim Keita, accepted his presidential election victory, after rival Soumaila Cisse conceded defeat in a run-off vote that Malians hope will bring stability and democracy to the country. “You have done this not for yourself, not for me, but for the good of Mali. Your visit was a symbol of the new Mali,” Keita told Cisse on Malian television. Earlier in the evening, Cisse had visited the former prime minister in his Bamako home to congratulate

him on his second round win. “You are my big brother, and so it is the role of the little brother to congratulate the eldest for his victory,” said Cisse, Keita's spokesperson Mamadou Camara said. Although official results were not yet released, the former finance minister conceded defeat after radio stations had broadcast partial vote counts, showing a major lead for Keita. Widely known by his initials “IBK”,Keita won double the number of votes as Cisse in the first

round of voting on July 28, and received endorsements from nearly all of the other candidates from the first round. European and African election observers declared the elections to be “credible and transparent”. The election is pivotal to helping Mali end a period of instability as it attempts to recover from a military coup last year and an Islamist insurgency that prompted France to send troops to its former colony. France launched a military operation in January to stop the

militants from advancing towards Bamako, the capital and largest city. A UN peacekeeping force is deploying to replace some 3,200 French troops in Mali. Keita was the only candidate who did not criticise the March 2012 military coup and is considered to be favoured by the army. Some four billion dollars in development and reconstruction aid should now flow to Mali from the international community, which made a democratically elected government key to unlocking the promised funds

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Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

INEC rejects PDP-backed Anambra chairman, Emeakayi

he leadership crisis in Anambra State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party took a new twist on Sunday as the Independent National Electoral Commission rejected Mr. Ken Emeakayi as the chairman of the party in the state. Emeakayi is reported to be backed by the national headquarters of the party. He is also said to be supported by Senator Andy Uba, who is an aspirant for the November 16 governorship election in the state. Instead, the commission said it recognised Mr. Ejike Ogbuebego as the chairman of the party. A letter by Mr. U.F. Usman on behalf of the INEC Secretary, Mrs. Augusta Ogakwu, to PDP Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, dated August 11, 2013 and obtained by journalists in Abuja, also said the commission “did not monitor the processes that brought Emeakayi to power.” He said, “The commission found that whereas it monitored the state congress of the PDP in Anambra State in 2010 at which Chief Emma Nweze emerged as the state chairman of the party, it has no record of how Emeakayi suddenly became the chairman of the party in the state.” The commission having considered all the cases on the Anambra PDP crises, said it was not bound by the judgment of the FCT High Court, which nullified the congress at which Ogbuebego was elected. Usman said the commission “did not monitor the processes that brought in Emeakayi as kthe chairman of the state chapter of the PDP.” The letter added, “The commission has resolved that it will not withdraw its letter with ref No. INEC/EPM/PDP/24/1/153 of

judgment of the FCT High Court delivered on July 5, 2012 in suit No. FCT/HC/CV/2631/2012 between Emma Mbamalu vs PDP, by which the court declared the ward, local government and state congresses held in March 2012 in Anambra state at which Ejike Ogbuebego emerged as state chairman of PDP, null and void and ordered the PDP, to conduct other congresses in Anambra State, though the commission was not a party in the suit.

Bamanga Tukur July 26 2013 by which it recognised Ejike Ogbuebego as chairman of PDP in Anambra State and shall be bound by the recent order of FHC, Port Harcourt.” The commission stated that in March 2012, the PDP conducted another congress in Anambra State in which Ogbuebego was

elected the state chairman, adding that both INEC and PDP had recognised Ogbuebego as chairman, “until the commission received a letter of the acting national chairman on July 31, 2013.” Usman added, “The commission notes with abhorrence the deliberate concealment of the

One killed, two injured as hunters shoot vigilantes in error

t was a case of the hunter being hunted in Yagba West Local Government Area, Kogi State, Monday, as one of two sets of vigilante groups deployed to a crime zone fell to the bullets of another who mistook their colleagues for robbers, leaving one dead and two others badly

wounded. Eye witness accounts of the tragedy which occurred between Okunran and Okoloke communities were unanimous that the incident followed a tip-off that highway robbers were operating along Egbe-Pategi federal road, dispossessing travellers of

Boko Haram: Adopt my Biafra War strategy, Gowon tells Jonathan

ormer head of state, General Yakubu Gowon, at the weekend, tasked President Goodluck Jonathan to take the case of Boko Haram insurgency in the country to God, adding that when faced with similar situation on Biafra, he consulted God in prayers before taking up arms against Biafra secessionists. The chairman and convener of Nigeria Prays made this disclosure in Sapele, Delta State, at the instance of the second synod of the Diocese of Sapele (Anglican Communion). “Before and during the launch of the Federal Government's offensive against Biafra, I went on my knees and prayed to the Almighty, asking that all actions

“The revelation of the existence of the judgment by PDP only on July 31, 2013, has imposed serious constraints on both the commission and the party.” Police foil robbery attempt, arrest suspect in Enugu The police in Enugu, Sunday, foiled an armed robbery operation at Onyeama Hill along Enugu Onitsha Expressway arresting one suspect who was wounded in a gun duel. The arrested suspect identified as Monday Ogbodo, a native of Akpugo in Nkanu West Local Government Area of the state and two others allegedly attacked one Albert Chinwuko while driving a Honda CRV with registration number AbJ 831 AA on the road

Sunday morning. The victim was said to have made a distress call which was promptly responded to by operatives of the Urban Patrol of the state police command, who rushed to the scene. The State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, who confirmed the incident, said that the robbers engaged the patrol team in a gun battle during which one of the hoodlums was wounded and arrested. He said that two other members of the gang escaped with severe bullet wounds while their colleague arrested claimed to be a Tinker at New market Enugu but residing at Iva Valley Enugu. The PPRO said items recovered from the hoodlums included one locally-made pistol and two matches. “Full scale investigations have commenced into the incident just as the state commissioner of police, Abubakar Adamu Mohammed, has applauded the efforts and gallantry of the operatives,” he said. In his reaction,the victim, Albert Chinwuko thanked God and the police for their quick response to his distress call which made his rescue from the hands of the

taken to protect our nationhood should be out of love, not hatred; that we should be guided in all our tasks and that we should do only those things that were acceptable to Him. “God answered our prayers and the result was that we were able to achieve fast and deep reconciliation, the kind of which had not been achieved in the history of civil wars in the world,” Gowon said. The former Nigerian leader prescribed similar antidote to overcome Boko Haram and other terrorists hell-bent in capsizing the ship of the country. He urged Nigerians, especially Christians, to engage the fireworks of prayer and love to pull down the walls of terrorism.

Gowon, who spoke on the theme of the synod, “The Church: Instrument of national unity and development,” warned Christians against engaging in religious war to avenge the killing of Christians in the North. “We do not need to take up arms or be lured to fight religious wars, as has happened in the Middle East. We should leave vengeance to God and allow government to handle issues of justice and the promotion of law and order in our society,” the elder statesman warned. According to him, political office holders should always remember that power belonged to God and should, therefore, seek His guidance and direction to bring about

valuables. Following the tip-off, it was gathered that a distress call from the local vigilantes in Okoloke was made to the local government council, which responded by mobilizing more vigilantes from neighbouring Odo-Ere, the council headquarters and Egbe, the commercial nerve centre of the council, for reinforcement. A team of vigilantes, numbering 12, immediately reported to the police divisional office at OdoEre before embarking on the rescue mission. Confirming the incident, Media Assistant to Governor Idris Wada on Research and Documentation, Mr Ralph Agbana, who hails from the council, told newsmen that as part of their strategies, the local government vigilantes, on arrival at the scene, decided to split into two groups of six preparatory to engaging the robbers. He said: “On their way, they met a car driven by one of the victims of the robbers who narrated his ordeal to them, confirming that the men of the underworld were still operating. A group of vigilantes then entered the car towards the scene. But as soon as the robbers sighted the car they had robbed, they took to their heels. The vigilantes came down and fired at the robbers but their efforts were too late as they all disappeared into the bushes. As the vigilantes re-strategized to

ambush the robbers, another set of six hunters from Okoloke, joining forces with the vigilantes to dislodge the robbers but who claimed ignorance of the deployment of vigilantes from the local government, opened fire on the local government vigilantes who were caught off-guard. One of the victims, whose name was given as Abayomi Sunday, was said to have died instantly from bullets that hit him on the head. Two of his colleagues, whose names were given as Bamidele Olayemi and Dele Asebiobirin, however, survived with bullet wounds on their leg and thigh and are said to be responding to treatment at the ECWA Hospital, Egbe. Vice chairman of the council, Hon Omoniyi Adeyemi, also confirmed the incident, saying five of the unregistered hunters who allegedly opened fire on the vigilantes have been arrested and are being detained at the Divisional Police Office, OdoEre, while a sixth suspect was still at large.

The council chief further disclosed that although the shooters were identified as hunters who claimed to have joined in the onslaught against the robbers as volunteers, they were not members of the official vigilante group recognized by the council authorities.

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Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

WASTE MANAGEMENT IN ENUGU:

Residents score ESWAMA low By Ojiyi Princess & Ani Beatrice

ating far back to the British colonial era, Enugu, the coal city has stood as a pillar when it comes to the cleanliness of its roads and environs. The government in power never relented in giving necessary attention to the area of waste management, to ensure the state maintained its beauty and standard in cleanliness as the capital city of the old Eastern Nigeria, the defunct Biafra and old Anambra state. Presently, the administration of the State Government headed by the Governor, Barr. Sullivan

Chime have assiduously proven it’s desire to see Enugu come back to its former glory following the institution and equipping of the Enugu State Waste Management Authority (ESWAMA) as the body charged with the responsibility of waste management in the state. Sadly, the restoration sought is not quite evident as the roads and streets of Enugu are littered with refuse accruing from the dump sites which have been heaped up with piles of refuse for weeks leaving a sore site to behold. It is obvious that ESWAMA has not fully lived up to the expectations of the government and people who have bestowed upon them the

onerous responsibility of keeping the coal city of Enugu clean and who solely believe in them to effectively carry out this noble duty. From the aggregate opinion of the people in Enugu, the performance of EWAMA in the area of waste management is considerably low. ESWAMA which is undoubtedly equipped with the necessary tools and equipment to collect and dispose at dump sites of refuse regularly, is found wanting in doing so effectively. Designated dump sites which are supposed to be disposed of refuse daily as a result of the heavy domestic waste from the people are left to pile for days and weeks before being

carted away by the environmental authority. One may wonder the reason for this slack in duty by the body responsible for waste management in Enugu, is it the lack of infrastructure to properly carryout their duty? Or could it be inadequate funding, or mere lack of motivation and zeal to doggedly perform their duty to the best of their ability? This unhealthy cycle is a major threat to the people especially those living close to the areas where these dump sites are located as they are more vulnerable to contract air borne diseases and other ailments. Proper action ought to be taken to reverse this

unhealthy cycle and address this ill management of waste in the state. The obvious poor coordination of the designated dump sites should be addressed to bring about the desired change. Majorly, the designated dump sites are not enough for the vast population of Enugu to utilize for the purpose of waste disposal, there now lies the need to create more dump sites. Also, the need arises to create a location for these dump sites in areas a little distant from the working and living neighbourhood, so as to save the people from the hazards of air pollution and other unhealthy vice and repulsive stench accruing from these dump sites.

What the people say about waste management in Enugu

TITUS NKEMGBUNAM CHUKWEUMEKA NDUBUISI OKPARAUGO NJIDEKA

ENGINEER RAYMOND

PRINCE EMMANUEL ANIH

am a retired mining e n g i n e e r, s e l l i n g cement now at trans ekulu. As for me, I think ESWAMA is doing a very nice job in Enugu state because there is no dirt around my street and the waste cans have been properly disposed overtime. My only problem is with the uncultured attitude of its workers who proffer arrest to the people forcefully without consideration.

am a driver who delivers goods to different part of Enugu state, and I think that the issue of poor waste management in the state is a general problem that needs urgent solution. It is quit embarrassing because Enugu is a big city. I am suggesting that Government should call ESWAMA to order, they should try to find out what their problem is and if possible monitor them.

'm not satisfied with it. They don't come regularly to dispose of the refuse that are dumped along the road in Owelli street, Achara layout and these refuse produces bad smell that causes sickness and diseases to us who work in the area. We are begging them to come at least twice in a week to remove these refuse and not to leave it for close to two or three weeks interval as they usually do because before then the whole dirt will cover the road”.

'm not happy with the way ESWAMA handles it in my area, Achara layout, because there is only one site where they dump refuse and the whole place is congested. Even when they pack the refuse before 24 hours it is filled again and sometimes it blocks the road and causes traffic jam that is hold up. They need to decongest the dump site because the bad odour is too much and it causes environmental pollution. What I'm suggesting is that they should decongest the refuse dump site by creating another place for the refuse to be dumped alongside the previous site”.

'm a business woman, working in a restaurant alongside where they dump refuse in my area Timber, Achara layout. The waste management is not good because it causes many problems and disease to our health. And one, they are not always coming to remove it when it is full and this affects my business because the bad smell makes one unable to stand there. I want them to find another dump site far from where people stay to dump these refuse because it is affecting our health and my business”.

OGECHUKWU OKOYE

think waste management is not properly handled in this state especially in my street where we have over 300 residents with just two refuse bin for disposal. Now, you are not allowed to throw dirt outside on the floor and you cannot leave it inside your room smelling and those in charge have refuse to provide the necessary equipment for the disposal. Even the two refuse bin has not been disposed for quite a long time now. We sincerely need help

THE

ADVOCATE

Woman killed as truck crushes six vehicles in Abuja

ragedy struck in Abuja weekend when a woman was crushed to death by a heavyduty truck and injured many others at Biaji Road in Kubwa . The accident which occurred at 12. 00pm was attributed to the brake failure from the truck which made the driver to lost control of the vehicle and rammed into a woman who about to climb a motorcycle known as (Okada) and killed her on the spot while many others were said to have broken their hands and legs. An eyewitness who pleaded anonymity said that the truck hit the woman, throwing her body parts and her body into pieces. The vehicle somersaulted several times before it plunged into the ditch. “The car was coming from Biaji to Kubwa Village and was loaded with beer but if not because of these bumps (speed breakers) the truck would have rammed into the residential building and kill many people. The woman wanted to climb a motorcycle but was hit from behind by the truck, and the okada man escaped unhurt. The accident, which involved six cars includes; a Toyota Carina 11, Gulf 3, Saloon Jeta, Mercedes Benz (230), Nissan Sunny and a Toyota

Rav 4 were all damaged beyond repair. The vehicles were parked along the shoulder of the road while the owners were said to have been relaxing at a beer joint nearby. As the time of filing this report the body parts of the woman were still scattered about the scene of the accident while the Toyota Carina and Saloon Jeta was trapped under the truck as large numbers of onlookers gathered at the scene. Officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and Nigerian Police were seen at the scene of the accident

collating necessary information on how the accident occurred. The Kubwa-Biaji road has become a death trap in the recent times as many people have met their untimely death as a result of incessant crashes of vehicles and motorcycles. Residents of this area have made several appeals to the Bwari Area Council and the authorities of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to come to their aid to no avail. It would be recalled that some people lost their lives recently in a fatal motor accident in Zuba when a truck rammed into several commercial vehicles, including BRT bus popularly called (El-Rufai) .

My calling is to win souls, money is secondary advance God's kingdom – Ven Arinze Egemba Continued from page 26 millions of dollar, we all know that when we finish everything here on earth the only thing we can go back to God is the souls. The word of God says that he that wins a soul is wise so it is a wise decision and that is why we are not leaving any stone unturned, is a programme for all denominations that is for outreach programmes like Night of Grace, Celebration of Grace Crusade (CGC) then for programmes like Night of wonders etc. are basically for the church to build up those who have already accepted Jesus.

What was the experience of the last out-reach programme (Night of Grace)? I want to sound concisely and also to be careful not to exaggerate, in simple expression it was a huge success. God over thought our imaginations, the whole place was parked with people who came longing to encounter the master then in the aspect of souls who were touched, people had the word of God and surrendered to him and the awesome power of God was released upon them.

Are the programmes annually or organized when led? When we started with the annual programme called 'Celebration of Grace Crusade' (CGC) normally in November, we did it first for about

Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

three-four years then after the fourth season God now told us to begin to organize Night of Grace, it is like an off-shoot of CGC. By God's grace we will be hitting Enugu again with CGC come 1st-3rd November 2013 at Nnaji Park New/Haven. I believe in raising Godly youths and to the glory of God, there have been a lot of efforts made by the youths to win souls for Christ. There have been series of programmes organized by them, last July they had one the 'Winning Edge' and by 30th and 31st of August they will be having their annual conference tagged “Impact Conference” where youths within and outside Enugu sit under seasoned speakers to get their lives impacted because that is the essence of living. I want to thank God for his grace that is at work in our lives

What are the challenges you face as a priest?

The ministry of God in this age is for those who are ready to pay the price, anointing in ministry is free but not cheap our going to heaven is free but not cheap Jesus died for it, if we want God to go with us we must be ready to live the life of Jesus make personal sacrifices in studying the word, preparing ourselves prayerfully, committed in living a holy life. Financially, ministers are not poor and they are not multi-millionaires God sent money for ministerial work, he is not interested in wastage, can I tell you that I don't regret serving the Lord He's being a blessing to me but more than that what brings conviction is that you are working with Him.

Do you have a message for the aspiring priests?

Last message to the general public on Jesus second coming (Rapture)

Yes I have a message for every person desiring to come into priesthood, I want to encourage them to first of all make sure that they are called by God and be committed to God. There are a lot of distractions to set somebody away. They shouldn't come into the ministry because someone compelled them to do so, or to represent a group, they should have a prove that God has called them but when the opposite is the case the person's life will not be fulfilled because the ministry is not a buoyant one, is a place you come and

The truth is that we are in the end time what we see now confirms his second coming but God is preparing his people the question now is, are you among them? Because any day, anytime, anything can happen, our lives are in God's hand he takes it any time and that is why we must live our lives with eternity in view. If any one has not accepted Jesus this is an opportunity to do so because without that encounter bible says no eyes shall see Jesus so that his second coming will not catch anyone unaware. God bless you

Lagos 'deports' fresh 46 destitute to Osun

sun State Government, Wednesday, said it received 46 additional destitute including two children evacuated from Lagos State. Receiving the destitute at the National Youth Development Centre, Ode-Omu, Wednesday, the Special Adviser to Governor Rauf Aregbesola on Youths, Sports and Special Needs, Hon. Biyi Odunlade said that the state government has no option than to take care of its citizens in any part of the country. According to him out of the 46 destitute evacuated from Lagos, only 26 were genuine indigenes of the state after their screening. Odunlade disclosed that about 150 destitute have been repatriated to the state from Lagos, Oyo and other places since the current administration came on board. His words; “We were invited by Lagos State to pick our brothers and sisters who were destitute and 46 persons were brought, out of which we discovered that just 26 of them are actually indigenes of the state, comprising of 19 males and five females with two children who are from different local governments in the state. “It is our responsibility to take the matter up because Governor Aregbesola believes in quick and responsible action, and that is why the state government insisted that any time Lagos invited us for their evacuation, we respond on good time.

Orji inaugurates 12-man Vigilante group in Abia By Nwokenna Emma, Umuahia

overnor Theodore Orji of Abia Government has inaugurated a twelve man Abia Vigilante Group Advisory Committee with a charge on them to ensure Abia remain the safest state country. Our correspondent reports that the committee is headed by Chief Udeka Onuoha Retired Commissioner of Police, Mr Martins Idika State Commander General Abia Vigilante Group and Treasury, Emeka Ekeke. Other members of the committee drawn from other security organisations and market groups include; Mr Eleanya Okoroji, Dr Okezie Agharaukwu, Friday Eze, Uzoma Onyenufo, Christopher Okoronkwo, Jones Onyebuchi and Rev, Ernest Onyeukwu, the secretary. Performing the inauguration in Umuahia, Orji represented by Prof. Mkpa Agu Mkpa, Secretary to Abia state Government said extra time was taken in selecting the members of the committee due to crucial function they would perform adding, “the state was willing to maintain the present lead as one of the most peaceful and secured state in Nigeria.” Orji told the committee that the role was to among other things monitor the wave of criminal activities in the state and determine effective means of control. He also urged them to exercise disciplinary control over members of the vigilante groups, and maintain the hard earn peace in the state. On the tenure of the committee, he said, a part from the state leader of the vigilante group, other members would function for two years, adding ``any member found wanting would be removed by two-third majority.'' Responding on behalf of the committee, Onuoha thanked the governor for the confidence reposed in them and assured that members of the committee would do all in their powers to support efforts by other security operatives in securing Abia. He said though security task was onerous but with the support of government and the people, the committee would surmount the challenge.

THE

Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

AMAECHI, JANG CLASH AGAIN OVER NGF MEETING

You are an imposter – Rivers Gov

Jang and Amaechi

actional Chairman of Nigeria's Governors Forum (NGF), Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State, and Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, leading a group of 19 governors, appeared back in the trenches, yesterday. Jang and Amaechi renewed the NGF crisis after the former scheduled meeting of governors for Abuja today (Sunday). The Rivers governor kicked against the meetings, describing his Plateau colleague as an impostor, desperately trying to portray himself as the leader of the NGF. Amaechi, who trounced Jang by 19 votes to 16 during the May 24 election of the NGF to emerge the group's Chairman, warned Jang to desist from further acts of impersonation, saying he might

be compelled to take action against him. Jang was said to have called the meeting of the NGF for Abuja today, during which very sensitive national issues are expected to be discussed. It was gathered that the meeting, expected to take place at the Jang's faction office in Maitama,

is to discuss the issue of local government autonomy that was killed by the Senate in the constitution amendment process but endorsed by the House of Representatives. It was also learnt that dwindling earnings to the Federation Account from oil arising from unabated theft in the Niger Delta

is listed for discussion by the NGF faction. A notice of the meeting released Saturday reads: “The Chairman of the Nigeria Governors' Forum, Gov. Jonah Jang of Plateau State, has summoned an emergency meeting of members of the forum. ”The meeting will be held on Sunday, August 11, 2013 at the NGF Secretariat, 2 Nana Close, off Erie Crescent, Nile Street, Maitama, Abuja at 7.30 p.m. “The agenda for the meeting are: Constitution Amendment.” But Amaechi, in a short message to newsmen asked his fellow governors to ignore the meeting and wait for a formal notice of meeting from him, as the Chairman of the group. The Rivers governor said that the NGF, under his leadership, had not scheduled any meeting for today and that issues to be discussed would be made known to them when a meeting date was taken. Amaechi said: “Again, I want Nigerians to know that Jang is an impostor, having tried to steal my victory. He was not elected by the majority of governors, who were in attendance during the election on May 24. “On what basis does he summon a meeting of the NGF? Nigerians

ADVOCATE should tell Jang to respect himself and desist from impersonating me”. Amaechi disclosed that he was in touch with the leadership of the National Assembly on the issue of constitution review and that the NGF would take a decision on most of the issues deliberated upon by the NASS. 'We won't attend' It also emerged yesterday that many of the 36 governors might not attend the Jang group's meeting because of the controversy generated by recent events in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the NGF. None of the five PDP governors from the North, who are uncomfortable with the leadership of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, is likely to attend the meeting by the Plateau Governor, whose leadership is seen as a ploy by the Presidency to weaken the Amaechi's leadership of the NGF. One of the five governors, Murtala Nyako, of Adamawa State, who was contacted through his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Ahmed Sajoh, said there was no way he could attend any meeting called by Jang since he did not win the election of the NGF. Nyako said: “As far as we are concerned, Jang cannot call a meeting of the NGF because he is not the Chairman and there was no time that we elected him as such. That is our position.”

Diamond Thinkers set to curb child sexual perversion By Ojiyi Princess

iamond Thinkers' Club reiterates its commitment to the vision of building lives and

saving the child from widespread sexual perversion and neglect, as it commemorated its 7th anniversary on Saturday 10th August 2013.

Cutting of the anniversary cake by Diamond Thinkers club members

The founder of Diamond Thinkers' Club, Mr Lemi Jonathan made this known in his speech, during the anniversary celebration held at Agbani road, Enugu State. Jonathan expressed his gratitude to God who has been their source from inception in 2006 till date. He said the vision of the club is not to form a church but to bring people together and teach them what the church can't and to also bring out the diamond in them. He enlightened the participants of the anniversary on the outreach programmes of the club, the Lover's Guide which runs on facebook, that provides a forum for all relationship questions to be answered as well as the Save the Child Family conference also aimed at rescuing the neglected child in the society and in the busy family where parents are overwhelmed in their pursuit of ends meet. “We conduct rescue missions in secondary schools because of the sexual perversion there” he said. Speaking on the theme, 'Heart

of Excellence', the guest speaker, Pastor Freeborn Atagamen described the heart as the seat of emotion and tension when combined with excellence produces an excellent pure heart that can access God. Pastor Atagamen urged the young participants to protect themselves very well and avoid those things that will put them into trouble and maintain a true identity that would distinguish them whether in school or at home. A member of the club, Miss Joy Samuel who was present at the anniversary expressed her delight in the programme and its impact in her, adding “the program was awesome, I really learnt a lot especially from the message by the man of God, the main part I enjoyed a lot was where he said that wherever you are you should not do things because others are doing it, but you should just be you because you are unique.” The highpoint of the occasion was the cutting of the anniversary cake by members of the club.

THE

ADVOCATE

Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

“We ask victims, 'Will you become Muslim…and he refuses, we will slaughter him like a goat.” Born again Boko Haram member

is physique could hardly fit into the temperament of his persuasion. He is frail, he talks slowly and you would have no qualms passing him off as one naïve, harmless young man. But all that is a façade. Beneath it nestles a motivated terror. Nasir Isiaku, 27, has zealous hatred for Christians. Hear him: “If we asked our victim, 'Will you become a Muslim or not and he or she refuses, we will slaughter him like a goat…” He talked of himself as an Islamic warrior who delights in chopping off people's head with a stroke of his dagger. However, all of that was, according to him, up until he made a turnaround in a most dramatic way. Nasir Isiaku is from Gusau in Zamfara State. He said while still in the group, he killed many Christians when he reigned as second-in-command to a terrorist group that wages war against nonMuslims in northern Nigeria. The group, Shitte, is a Boko Haram franchise. “Our own group is called Shitte but we have the same agenda with the Boko Haram sect. You people have only been hearing of Boko Haram, but there are other deadly Islamic groups who are also part of Boko Haram sect,” he said, adding: “Whenever we heard that any of the sects was fighting Christians, we always joined them,” He was speaking to a gathering of Christians recently of his activities as a member of the terror group. He also told of how he renounced what he called “the cult” where he drank his victims' blood so their ghosts would not appear to him in dreams. This is Isiaku's testimony as he told it himself. We have slightly edited it, so as to preserve its narrative purity. “I joined the Bafarawa Arabic Islamic Centre in 2010 and they were teaching us Arabic language. Every year, we take about 20 people to Iran for special training because our zonal headquarters is in Iran. Our own group is called Shitte but we have the same agenda with the Boko Haram sect. You people have only been hearing of Boko Haram, but there are other deadly Islamic groups that are also part of Boko Haram sect. I can count up to six of them that I'm very much aware of. Whenever we heard that any of the sects was fighting Christians, we always joined them. My own group has been an Islamic movement for a long time, even before I was born. It reigned in the north during the Abacha military regime and it has many branches in the north. We are in major northern states such as Kastina, Kaduna, Zamfara, Kano, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Zaria a m o n g o t h e r s . Sometimes, when we want to wreak havoc on Christians, we hire our own bus because we have our own weapons, which we use against the Christians. We usually

Nasir Isiaku join the Boko Haram sect whenever they wanted to fight the Christians or the soldiers because we usually hear that soldiers kill our Boko Haram brothers in Maiduguri, Yo b e a n d P o t i s k u m . I used to be one of the most trusted hands in the group because I was a very obedient and loyal follower. I had my own secret office where I received delegates from our sponsors whenever our leader wasn't around and where I attend to the needs of any of our members. This is why I didn't participate in many of our attacks against the Christians or the soldiers because I used to take care of the home front. Our leaders usually psyched us up, they brainwashed us to fight against Christians because they are enemies of Allah. They taught us that the more Christians we were able to kill, the more our chances of entering Alijonan(heaven). Many of our trainings hold in the night, around 10pm. There is a bush around the school where we usually go for trainings. Some aspects of the training we receive are not ordinary; we used to drink what one could call spiritual water because it is not ordinary water. We also used to receive strange visitors who were not equally ordinary humans. We receive the visitors in a strange way, our leaders used to summon them: they used to instruct us to recite some passages in the Quran and whenever we do that, the visitors would appear to us during those unholy hours. They could come in three or four. They appeared like humans but they are not humans. We know they are not humans. They usually fortify us with charms for the task before us. They used to instruct us to be strong and fight. Our leaders also used to render a lot

of assistance to support our cause. They bring a lot of money in a pick up van and asked us to use the money to buy guns. Many of our supplies come from the zonal headquarters and sometimes, there is a popular Bayelsa man who is, though a Christian, supporting our cause in cash and kind. I can't remember his name now. The Bayelsa man gave us money and also supplied us with weapons for the mission. I am the second in command in my camp in our group, and whenever our president travels to the headquarters in Iran, I used to coordinate the group and receive our sponsors on his behalf. This is why I am able to sit with the sponsors and know what happens. We had vowed to first kill all Christians in Kaduna before dealing with others in the north. Whenever we take the spiritual water, we become more daring to do any evil. It makes us more dangerous and if we were annoyed at such moment, we could kill. The water also fortifies us against gunshots. When we have taken it, bullets will not harm us. Also, we get mystery ring from our leaders. About eight of us were selected for the ring, and that ring provides almost anything we asked from it. It is like a personal power for us. I can't recall the number of people I have killed. I don't use gun most times. We usually use guns to shoot people on the leg. If we ask a victim: “Will you become a Muslim or not? And he or she refuses, we slaughter the victim like a goat. And after killing the victim, we collect his or her blood in a very small cup and then drink it. After drinking the blood, the victim's ghost could not hunt us in dreams. That is what our leaders told us. And indeed, once we taste

the blood of people we kill, we will not see them in our dreams. Sometimes, when we don't feel like drinking the blood from the cup, we used our fingers to touch the victim's blood and taste it. It will still prevent ghost of victim from hunting us in dreams. We used to kill Christians because we believe that by killing them, we will enter heaven at death. Our leaders used a Quranic passage that seems to support our action (Recites some Quranic lines). In interpretation, the passage says: “O you believers, you should not be friendly with your enemies.” 'Believers' here means we, the Muslims and 'enemies' are the Christians. The leaders of our group and the sponsors are many. Our sponsors are wealthy Nigerians. They are in government, and many are past Nigerian leaders. If I mention their names, you would think I am just telling lies. We have governors, senators who sponsor us heavily. Our sponsors are many (Names mentioned are withheld). You wouldn't believe some of them are really part of us. We usually invite them to the graduation of the students in the school. That is when many know them as part of us. We have days we go to town to preach and win more members. On such days, we add a red cap to our white T-Shirt and trousers. On another occasion when we put on black caps, it means we won't fight. We have infiltrated the Nigerian forces. We have our members in the police and army. Those members help us a lot whenever we want to fight. However, we are very secretive, my blood brother who is not a member didn't know I was part of the sect. I kept my association with the sect secret from people close to me who don't share our views about Christians. My father loved me very well. Right from the time we attended Chachangi School, a lower school in my place, our Islamic instructors had been drumming it into our ears that we should tighten our belts to fight the Christians. They instructed us to always be armed, either with knife or gun. They even told us to have our own gun and get l i c e n s e f o r i t . My own area in Kaduna is Torumada, it is a haven for many Islamic terrorists in Nigeria. Before I joined the Shiite school, I took part in several fights in which we massacred many Christians. The Christians in Sokoto are most vulnerable to attacks from our people because they are just within our reach, but they have also been very lucky because a major Islamic cleric in the state is always pleading that we shouldn't touch them. We actually found out many places in Sokoto where Christians are living. One of them is Ota Road, but in order to respect our Islamic cleric, we haven't touched them. Boko Haram has their men trained

in Afganistan. I don't know if you have been hearing about the Taliban, those who sacrifice their lives through suicide bombing. The Talibans are the ones who are training Boko Haram men. I know Boko Haram usually have about 60 men who go for training in Afganistan. They train them on how to go on suicide bombing, make their own bombs and fight and do other dangerous things. They also provide them with sophisticated weapons such as bombs and all that. Since I gave my life to Christ, I have been getting several attacks from the cult. There was a Thursday evening in Sokoto, I was supposed to go to vigil with a roommate named brother Matthew. He asked me to go with him but I declined, saying I was tired. When it was well into the night, I suddenly heard a loud, disturbing knock on the door. The voice that called out to me resembled that of brother Matthew. It said that I should open the door. The man actually spoke in Hausa, asking me to open up for him, but something pulled me back. My heart pounded and I suddenly realized it could be an impostor coming to attack me. But then, I couldn't pray, all I could only mutter was Holy Ghost fire! I said this repeatedly till the stranger disappeared. And then I heard the barking of a dog from somewhere in the neighourhood. Eventually, when the real Matthew came from church and asked for the door to be opened, I became hysterical with him. I demanded his explanations for the earlier visit but he said it wasn't him. Initially I didn't believe him. It took the explanation of another brother who confirmed that he was actually in the church all through the night for me to let things be. I could have killed him. Before the attack, I had been keeping indoors. I couldn't go out just anyhow because I knew members of the group would be looking for me. So, after that incident, my pastor decided to take me to his village, away from the area where everyone k n e w m e . It is only God that can stop the war Boko Haram and other Islamic religious sects have started against the Christians in Nigeria. I thank God that I am out and now a Christian. The frank advice I can offer to all Christians is that they should start securing their own weapons, tighten their belts and prepare for war. The terrorist sects are prepared for war already. I am just looking at all Christians in Nigeria as dead people because of the level of preparations the sects have made. It was on March 6, that I had a strange encounter that turned me into a completely different person. We usually go for our preaching on Fridays and Saturdays. I had just

Continues on page 22

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Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

ADVOCATE

Nigerian Military Heads of State (6)

eneral Sani Abacha (20 September 1943 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military dictator and politician. He was the de facto President of Nigeria from 1993 to 1998. His regime was tied to human rights violations and allegations of corruption.

according to Muslim tradition, without an autopsy. This fueled speculation that foul-play was involved and that he may have been poisoned by political rivals via prostitutes. On the contrary, Nigerian military rulers cited his cause of death as a sudden heart attack.[ It is reported that he was in the company of two Indian prostitutes imported from Dubai. It is thought that these prostitutes laced his drink with a poisonous substance, making Abacha feel unwell around 4:30am. He retired to his bed and was dead by 6:15am. After his death, Maj. Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, Nigeria's defense chief of staff, was sworn in as the country's head of state. Abdussalam Abubakar had never before held public office and was quick to announce a transition to democracy, which led to the election of President Olusegun Obasanjo. Abacha was married to Maryam Abacha and had seven sons and three daughters.

Early life and education A Kanuri from Borno by tribe, Abacha was born and brought up in Kano, Nigeria. He attended the Nigerian Military Training College and Mons Officer Cadet School before being commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in 1963.

Military Career Abacha was commissioned in 1963, after he had attended the Mons Defence Officers cadet Training College in Aldershot, England. Before then, he had attended the Nigerian Military Training College in Kaduna. He took part in the countercoup of July 1966, from the conceptual stage, and may have been a participant in the Lagos or Abeokuta phases of the January 1966 coup. He was also a prominent figure in three coup d'etats of later decades, the first two of which brought and removed General Muhammadu Buhari from power in 1983. When General Ibrahim Babangida was named President and Commanderin-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1985, Abacha was named Chief of Army Staff. He was later appointed Minister of Defence in 1990. Abacha took over power from the interim government of Chief Ernest Shonekan on November 17, 1993. Shonekan was installed as head of the Interim National Government by General Ibrahim Babangida after his annulment of the 12 June 1993 elections (won by Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola). The annulment caused a massive popular uproar, which in turn caused untold hardship for a lot of Nigerians.

Human rights abuses On 6 September 1994, Abacha declared that his regime had absolute power, placing his government above the jurisdiction of the courts. He did, however, promise to hand the government over to civilians in 1998. Abacha's government was accused of human rights abuses, especially after the hanging of Ogoni activist Ken Saro-Wiwa by the Oputa Commission (only one of several executions of Ogoni activists opposed to the exploitation of Nigerian resources by the multinational petroleum company, Royal Dutch Shell Group); Abiola and Olusegun Obasanjo were jailed for treason,

Recovery of stolen funds

and Wole Soyinka charged in absentia with treason.His regime suffered stiff opposition internally and externally by pro-democracy activists who made the regime unpopular, and responded by banning political activity in general and by controlling the press in particular; a significant fraction of the military was purged. Abacha surrounded himself with approximately 3,000 armed men loyal to him. His government compared to other Nigerian governments was characterised by an inconsistent foreign policy: He supported the Economic Community of West African States and sent Nigerian troops to Liberia and Sierra Leone to restore democracy to those countries while denying it at home. Abacha scoffed at the threat of economic sanctions on account of the world's dependence on petroleum, of which Nigeria is a major producer. Despite being repeatedly condemned by the US State Department, Abacha did have a few ties to American politics. In 1997, Senator James Inhofe (ROklahoma) travelled to Nigeria to meet with Abacha as a representative of "The Family", a group of evangelical Christian politicians and civic leaders.

Abacha and the Family had a business and political relationship from that point until his death. Abacha also developed ties with other American political figures such as Senator Carol Mosley Braun, Rev. Jessie Jackson and Minister Louis Farrakhan. Several African American political leaders visited Nigeria during his reign and Farrakhan supported the regime, while it was seen as an international pariah. Farrakhan also had a street in Nigeria named after him. The street name was changed back to its original name after Abacha's death.

Corruption allegations During Abacha's regime, a total of ÂŁ5 billion were reported siphoned out of the country's coffers by the head of state and members of his family. At that time Abacha was listed as the world's fourth most corrupt leader in recent history. Abacha's national security adviser, Alhaji Ismaila Gwarzo, played a central role in the looting and transfer of money to overseas accounts. His son Mohammed Abacha was also involved. A preliminary report published by the Abdulsalam Abubakar transitional government in November 1998 described the process. Sani Abacha told Ismaila Gwarzo to provide fake funding

requests, which Abacha approved. The funds were usually sent in cash or travellers' cheques by the Central Bank of Nigeria to Gwarzo, who took them to Abacha's house. Mohammed Abacha then arranged to launder the money to offshore accounts. An estimated $1.4 billion in cash was delivered in this way.

Death Early in 1998, Abacha announced that elections would be held on 1 August. It soon became apparent, though, that Abacha had no intention of permitting an honest vote; during the spring he strongarmed the country's five parties into endorsing him as the sole presidential candidate. A few months to the elections, and with much tension in the land, a pastor called a press conference in which he asked Nigerians not to demonstrate against the planned election. He said God had told him that Abacha would not succeed in transiting to a civilian head of state, that Abacha would step aside 'under mysterious circumstances', so that the 'Joseph' from God would take over. This was published in the Punch newspapers. Abacha died in June 1998 while at the presidential villa in Abuja. He was buried on the same day,

After Sani Abacha's death, the Obasanjo government implicated Abacha and his family in a wholesale looting of Nigeria's coffers. According to post-Abacha governmental sources, some $3 or $4 billion USD in foreign assets have been traced to Abacha, his family and their representatives, $2.1 billion of which the Nigerian government tentatively came to an agreement with the Abacha family to return, with the quid pro quo being that the Abachas would be allowed to keep the rest of the money. Although this proposal caused a massive outcry at the time for seeming to reward the theft of public funds, it was subsequently rejected by the late dictator's son, Mohammed Abacha, who continues to maintain that all the assets in question were legitimately acquired. In 2002, Abacha's family agreed to return $1.2 billion that was taken from the central bank. He has fifteen grandchildren eight girls and seven boys.

False representation of name The names of Sani Abacha, his wife Maryam, and son Mohammed are often used in advance fee fraud (419) scams; he is "identified" in scam letters as the source for "money" that does not exist. One website that is dedicated to exposing advance fee scammers and similar schemes, ebolamonkeyman.com, exposed one use of the Abacha family name -- resulting in a wider exposure and awareness of these types of scams in general.

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Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

T.A Orji â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s Legacy:

...Taking health sector to higher level By Emmanuel Iheanacho, Umuahia

ith the recent commissioning of Abia Dialysis centre in Umuahia, by the Hon. Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, the State Governor Chief Theodore Orji has added another feather to his cap this time in taking Abia Health sector to higher level. Speaking on the occasion Prof. Chukwu advised Nigerians to take health issue more seriously and explained that in the event of a serious health problem, many Nigerians will be embarrassed to realize that they cannot pay their medical bills. The minister said that the Health Insurance Scheme will be a way out of high cost of medication in Nigeria, maintaining that with Nigeria population of over 160 million, if every Nigerian adult pay one thousand naira to help finance the National Insurance Scheme it will amount to over 160 billion naira. He said that such huge amount will go a long way to smoothen matters in the health sector and commended those who played one role or the other to aid the accomplishment of the visionary governor of Abia State Chief T.A Orji which culminated in the commissioning of the state-ofthe-arts renal center complex; a center consisting of a waiting section, intensive care unit and a dialysis section. There is no gainsaying that before

the inception of Chief T.A Orji's Administration, many Governor both military and civilian has come and gone yet the health sector suffered untold neglect in the State as all the state own health care establishments were not only under staffed but had staff morale and commitment was as its lowest ebb. In those days cost of drugs and other medical services was beyond the reach of ordinary Abians, consequently maternal and child health indices in the

destination for medical tourism. It is on record that Chief T.A Orji has distinguished himself in empowering Abians through massive provision of health services as follows: Construction and equipping of more than 250 health centers in the 291 political wards in the State. Each of the health facilities is compliant with the Millennium Development Goals MDGs which includes the provision of generators, a borehole and a tricycle to convey patience to and from the health centers whenever the need arises. In addition, community ambulances have been provided in all the Local Government Areas in the State such that a patients who cannot be helped at the primary care level could easily be transported to the nearest secondary or tertiary health care center, provision of over 18 administrative vehicles for primary health care activities in the Local Government Areas as well as operation of free maternal State was poor compared with care services for all pregnant mother in the State up to 6 weeks. others states statistics. However, the Governor Chief T.A Similarly, functional secondary Orji was not deterred as he health care system is in place in immediately went into action each of the 17 Local Government believing the saying that health is Areas and at present over 10 wealth and therefore decided to hospital project are ongoing in the make affordable health care a State while services at Amachara cardinal focus of his people hospital in Umuahia South Local Government have improved oriented government. Today, Ochendo as he is fondly tremendously. called has put in place first class In addition, a storey building facilities for effective health care which have been constructed for delivery at all levels. He has also house officers alongside the two transformed Abia into a veritable storey building complex meant for

resident doctors besides the hospital's theatre also being renovated, work has been completed at the accident and emergency units of the hospital. The general hospital in Ohafia, Okeikpe in Ukwa West L.G.A and Arochukwu are being expanded. The Governor is building a 100 bed hospital in Arochukwu just as Obingwa L.G which never had a hospital is now boasting of a functional hospital. The 100 bed hospital is being replicated in all the 17 L.G.A of the State. The high point of the Governor's intervention in the health sector is at the tertiary level where Abia Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Center built by Chief T.A. Orji boast of world-class equipment for diagnosis and treatment. The State government has also entered into partnership with MeCure health services of India in the provision of the facility and man power training. Today, many Nigerians who would have been flown abroad for emergency medical treatment are patronizing the Abia Diagnostic centers located in Aba and Umuahia. The State is also partnering with pharmaceutical companies such as Neimeth and Emzor to provide affordable and quality drugs to its citizens. In addition, the State government has strengthened its community health insurance, which it developed in collaboration with the National Health Insurance Scheme. Three communities in the State namely, Ohafia, Umuahia North, and Osisioma are in the pilot programme that is aimed at making people participate as well as make healthcare available and affordable. The upgrading of the Amachara general hospital as part of Abia State teaching hospital and diagnostic center which has secured accreditation from the medical examination board for training of house officers, construction and equipment of a functional chest clinic in partnership with Agbami Partners of Chevron Oil Field, organization of series of medical missions under the office of Her Excellency involving screening of communicable diseases, treatment and control of breast cancer, eye diseases and surgeries are some giant strides of Orji's administration that stand out in area of healthcare delivery. All these facilities have been painstakingly provided by one man, the Ochendo of Abia State, whose mission of giving a better life to his people is unprecedented. The Governor has been able to achieve all these projects because he first made Abia one of the safest states in the country which earned him an international award as pillar of security.

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Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

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Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

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Man burnt to death for impregnating mother, daughter

he university town of Nsukka in Enugu State has witnessed yet another brutal death as a tipper driver who allegedly impregnated a widow and her daughter has reportedly been burnt to death by son of the widow, Sunday Ugwoke. The tipper driver, Sylvester Ezema, attached to Ferguson Nig. Limited hailed from Akpa Edem, Nsukka Local Government Area, Enugu State and shared a common fence boundary with his widowed lover, Mrs. Ugwoke. Report said he had been having amorous dealings with the woman's daughter too unknown to the widow before he died a few days ago. According to report, Sylvester was allegedly burnt to death by Sunday, who had warned him to leave his mother alone and stop making love with her in his late father's bedroom, which is adjacent to his room, a warning the deceased allegedly turned down and continue with his amorous act. Sylvester was said to have ignored all the warnings by Sunday, saying the widow was a family friend and as such nobody would suspect them. Having defied his warning, Sunday, armed with grinded pepper and petrol ambushed the lover boy. As Sylvester stepped out of the house, Sunday poured the powdered pepper and petrol on Sylvester and set him ablaze. It could not be ascertained by press time if the matter was reported to the police but sources said Sunday fled the house after setting the lover boy ablaze.

Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

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Landlord sets six youths ablaze for smoking hemp

heated, Adebesin reached for a can of petrol which he emptied on them. “The victims attempted to flee when it dawned on them that the liquid poured on them was petrol. “But they caught fire from a stick of the Indian hemp being smoked by one of them. They suffered high degree burns due to the incident.” Adebesin, who is currently

being detained at Oke-Itoku Police Station, was said to have turned himself in to the police immediately after the incident. Our correspondent gathered that other youths in the area, on learning of the development, stormed Adebesin's compound, and vandalised his apartment and injured his wife who is currently receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital in Abeokuta. The state Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, said that investigations had already commenced into the matter. Adejobi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said, “Adebesin might be charged to court after the conclusion of investigations. He said four of the youths had been admitted at the General Hospital, Ijaiye, while two others were taken to a private clinic for treatment. “Information available to us is that the suspect had an argument with the youths before he poured PMS on them. For now, we cannot ascertain other circumstances that led to the incident but we have the suspect in our custody.” The police spokesman added that the command's commissioner, Mr. Ikemefuna Okoye, also warned youths in the area not to engage in any reprisals, saying the police would not condone any act that could disrupt peace in the state.

accused Esther, who resides in the same house with him, of bewitching him whenever he planned to get married. It was said that he used to see her in his dream, whenever he is

with a woman that he wanted to get married to and she used to prevent him from getting married, which prompted him to hit her with a hammer on the head and also twisted her neck. The police prosecutor, Inspector Edet Okoi, told the court that the defendant committed the alleged crime on August 3, 2013, at about 8 pm, at 29, Ifekoya Street in Agege area of Lagos State. He said that the defendant, while inside the room with his sister used hammer to hit her head severally. Okoi said the defendant also twisted the victim's neck, in order to strangle her. However, when the charges were read to the defendant, he pleaded not guilty. Magistrate Dan-Oni granted him bail in the sum of N200,000 with two responsible sureties, who are gainfully employed, resident in Lagos State. One of the sureties must be a clergy man while one must reside in his property and show evidence of tax payment and address verified. She adjourned the case to October 2, 2013, for mention and ordered that the defendant be remanded in Kirikiri prison, pending when he is able to

Seteolu, Sodeinde and the house

he Ogun State Police Command has arrested a middle-aged man, Mukaila Adebesin, for allegedly setting ablaze six people in Ita Balogun Compund, Ago-Oko, Abeokuta. The victims are Adesanya, 20, Sulaiman Adebesin, 20, Saburi Seteolu 18, Raheem Bello 19, Azeez Alabi 20, and Kola Sodeinde 19. It was gathered that the victims

were allegedly set ablaze by Adebesin at 7pm because they were gambling and smoking Indian hemp on his premises. A witness, who pleaded anonymity, said Adebesin, a commercial bus driver, had just returned from an outing when he saw the six youths in his compound. He said, “Their activities made the driver engage them in an argument. As the talks became

Man Buries Brother's Man docked over attempt to murder sister Son Alive

man and two other accomplices have been arrested and charged to court for burying his 3-year old brother's son alive for money making ritual. The incident happened in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, southwest Nigeria. The man, Amidu Jimoh, 25, was arrested along with the herbalist, John Joseph, 60, who allegedly told him to carry out the dastardly act and another suspect, Maliki Aderounmu, 27. After they were charged before an Ibadan Chief Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, they were remanded in prison custody. The three accused persons were arraigned on a two-count charge of conspiracy and murder. Specifically they were accused of burying alive a three-year old boy for ritual purpose. The police prosecutor, Inspector Adewale Amos, told the court that the first two accused persons, Jimoh and Aderounmu, conspired to embark on money ritual and solicited the assistance of Joseph. The herbalist, a resident of Osunara village, Igangan, demanded for a child for the ritual. Amos said Jimoh took away his brother's son who lived in the same compound with him to about 20 metres from Bada's Compound and buried him alive in a shallow grave.

43-year-old security man, Matthew Erazele, was yesterday arraigned before an Ikeja Magistrate Court, over attempted murder, of his sister, Esther Erazele.

Erazele, who was docked before Magistrate Margaret Dan-Oni, is facing a count charge of attempted murder preferred against him by the police. It was said that the defendant had

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Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

2015:Igbos bid for Presidency started very late – Chief Ogbonna Chief Joshua Nnanyerem Ogbonna is the Senior Special Adviser to Governor T.A. Orji on Print Media Research and Documentation and also the publisher of the Rising Sun Newspaper. In this Exclusive Interview with our Abia State Correspondent, Emmanuel Iheanacho, in Umuahia, Chief Ogbonna faulted the clamour for Igbo Presidency in 2015 by Njiko Ndigbo insisting that Igbos started very late. Excerpts Sir 2015 election is around the corner, do you think Igbos can produce President for this country as Njiko Ndi Igbo are clamoring for? To tell you the truth, Igbos have just started very late, I don't need to draw unnecessary attention, but if the Igbos can come together it is the right thing to do for the Igbos to take over the leadership of this country. But for us as a people, have we actually come together to take over? You don't dash power to anybody, people struggle for power. The Yorubas wanted power and they went all round with everything they had. Their media was all over the place. They formed associations to realize their dreams. Abiola could not take over but Obasanjo took over and ruled the country for eight years and was even preparing to go for the third term. Here we are, the minority of the south-south the Niger Delta team also came up. You must say,”Here I am” before somebody will say, “There you are”. They now enjoy power because their man from the minority is now in power for about six years. It is Igbos that made themselves minority by their action of MASSOB. If you are fighting for the Independent of your people without arms, so how far can you go? Yet the MASSOB are driving people away from being counted during census, today we are suffering the effect. But Igbos are the people you can see in all parts of the world. Where you don't see Igbo man, it means life does not exist there. What I am saying is that Igbos have created a problem for themselves but the problem are not beyond redemption. We still have one year to go for the 2015 presidential race and our people can still come together and say they want the presidency and reach out to other groups, then we can get it but the problem is that we have selfish leaders who gets to Abuja and say don't mind them give me my own. If we say we have Deputy Senator President, what is it and what is the Deputy Speaker when the Senate President and Speaker are there.

What is the way forward in realizing Igbo presidency come 2015? The way forward is for us to come home and re-organize ourselves,

on the Federal government to take over Abia poly and college of education in Arochukwu, does it mean that Abia government cannot fund higher institutions?

The fact is that the Federal Presence is nowhere in Abia. We don't have Federal presence, the Federal presence we have is the Prisons and Police Force. So if the Abia State government wants to attract Federal presence, it is a welcome development. Not only taking over Abia poly, they should also take over the area of economy, the roads are there which the State government are channeling our little resources but these are Federal roads such as Umuahia-Ikot-ekpene road, Abaowerri road, Aba-Portharcourt road and Arochukwu road in Abia north Senatorial zone. If you go to Arochukwu, you will cry because of the deplorable condition of the road. I want to use this opportunity to call on whosoever that is in-charge of works at the federal level to wake up from his slumber because Abians do not have good roads as I speak to you now and Abia State has spent a lot of money in maintenance of these federal roads which has not been refunded to the state government.

Governor T.A. Orji have been receiving so many awards from within and outside the country so what is the magic behind? Chief Joshua Ogbonna reach out to other groups and establish structures, we don't even have the media because it is the media that will deliver message to the people and reach out to the international communities. People fought for the independent, without them, where do you think the Nigeria nation would have been? If you look at the history of Africa, almost all those that fought for the independent of their country were executive president such as Kwame Nkuruma, Jomo Kenyatta, even Mandela of South Africa, Zik fought for the independent of Nigeria and yet he was a ceremonial president. We should come home and see ourselves as one, let's make use of our resources then we will realize the presidency.

In Abia PDP government said they will zone the next Governor to Abia South, do you think the zoning arrangement will work? Yes it will work if we put our mind on it, if the State government has said so then it will work but it is left for the people to put their house in order and support the government. Unless the people said that they don't want by their

action that is only when it will not work. The people of Abia south should help the government to allow such intention to work but if they do otherwise some other person may take it.

What is your reaction on the State government call

Yes, the magic was performances to the people. Chief T.A. Orji has performed in Abia and Nigeria that is why people and organizations are pouring awards on him. Recently, the Minister of Health Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu was in Abia and commissioned diagnostic center in Umuahia. The diagnostic centre will save

people’s time and money from traveling abroad for their medical treatment. Government has reduced the cost of treatment very low and affordable to enable Abians have access to those equipments. If other Governors has performed like Chief T.A. Orji the money his administration is spending on legacy projects would have been used for other developmental projects in the state. It is on record that the Governor has within the period built an International Conference Centre, New Abia Workers Secretariat, New Government House, New Court Complex in Aba and Umuahia, ultra-modern Umuahia Market at Ubani Ibeku, all these projects were lacking before the present administration of Chief T.A. Orji came into power. In Health and Education the Governor has also performed well, these and others are the reasons both people and corporate bodies deem it wise and found him worthy of these awards.

What is your message to Abians in choosing their leaders as we approach 2015? Abians should look up to their leader Chief T.A. Orji and follow him to choose their leaders. 'The saying that Igbos doesn't have king or a leader' is not good. In every society, there must be a leader, so today Chief T.A. Orji is the leader of Abia State. I will advise that Abia people should give him their maximum support that will enable him transit from this administration to another administration, we need a leader that will continue from where he stopped and not a leader that will take us back to Egypt, not a leader that will see Abia as his personal asset. We need a leader that will be very equitable in sharing of offices and amenities to the people.

UPP cedes Governorship ticket to Anambra North By Ojiyi Princess

he United Progressive Party, UPP has ceded its governorship tickets to Anambra North senatorial zone for the 2013 governorship election in the state. National chairman of UPP Chief Chekwas Okorie made this known in a press conference held in Enugu on 31st July 2013. Chief Okorie stated that this move taken by the party was geared towards giving liberty to Anambra North senatorial zone to acctualise their political

aspiration and agenda and thereby assuage the long borne feeling of political marginalization of the people of that area. He said, “The principle stand of UPP in this matter is in accordance with the party's disposition to address all cases of political oppression and alienation. It is for this and other reasons that UPP immediately upon its registration by INEC resolved by the National Executive Committee NEC to reserve its presidential slot for the south East Geo-political Zone for the 2015 presidential

election”. The Chairman declared that the planned presentation of UPP to the Nigerian public in the 36 states of Nigeria is on course as it has commenced in Imo state on the 5th to 7th of August 2013. So far, UPP has completed their preparation to participate fully in the forth coming local government election in Anambra state and are poised to win the November 2013 governorship election based on a credible political campaign devoid of violence and political manipulation.

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Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

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African Dubai-Taiwan concept remains my vision for Anambra – Soludo ·Says 'APGA is party of my people’ In this interview, the former Central Bank Governor, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, who is highly favoured to emerge as the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA's governorship flagbearer in November 16 election in Anambra State, gave reasons why he dumped the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP for APGA. He explained that he did not join APGA simply as a vehicle race to contest the governorship of Anambra State, but because “I want to breath it, I want if you like drink it, I want to exude it, I want to because in totality I agree with the essence, the trust and the objectives of APGA.” Soludo also talked about his first attempt in the guber race of the state, controversy over the stand of the Anambra North Senatorial zone that it is their turn to produce the next governor and some other issues. Excerpts: go. So, I am not joining APGA simply as a vehicle to contest the governorship of Anambra State, I am joining APGA because I want to breath it, I want if you like drink it, I want to exude it, I want to because in totality I agree with the essence, the trust, the objectives of APGA.

Why dump PDP for APGA? The first reason is the response to what you asked and which is for me to confirm whether I have left PDP and that am moving into APGA and so on, the short answer to that is, it is true that I have resigned my membership of PDP, as you can see, this is a copy of my letter to the national, exco. I have formally written to the National Chairman of the party which I have delivered in a letter dated 17th of July. I have formerly resigned my membership of PDP that is point number one. Point number two is that, is quite fortuity that you also arrived at the point where you saw the executive committee of APGA has come to now formally register me in APGA and issue me with a membership card, you can see my membership card of APGA. It's been a long process of taking this decision, I must say that this decision is the product of months of consultations among my people, I will say basically from January 2nd this year I started the process of consultations on our political future, on what next, how next and the political arena. I remained convinced about the greatness of Nigeria, its potentials, and also convinced that it is only through the political process that you can make the greatest impact in terms of changing the society. It is the political processes under a democracy; there is no other way. I remain convinced that we need to engage, those who believe they have something to offer to a country like Nigeria at its level of development; everybody who has something to offer must get involved. It is this conviction that led me to engage in wide consultations in the beginning of this year to ask our people; to ask wide-ranging questions. Basically, it centered around them. Does it make sense for us to get into the train again to say we are running for public office? Which office? Which level of engagement should we get into? Should we just kiss it goodbye and or should we remain engaged? In what form should we

APGA, Anambra North and zoning?

remain engaged? If we have to remain engaged in a political party system, which party? These are questions that formed the wide consultations that I said must have started in January 2nd intensively. Of course, informally these discussions have been going on for sometime.

Why the choice of APGA? There is also even greater demand that I should run for the office of Governor to be able to put Anambra State you know, building on the foundation that Governor Peter Obi has laid, to be able to take Anambra to the next level. This will be a moment of continuity and transformation. That we need continuity and transformation, we need to consolidate on the gains of the past eight years and those of his predecessors because he also built on something. That we need to continue to set the pace in leaps and bounds, so we need continuity to consolidate. There

is also overwhelming demand of our people that I should join the party that our people call their own, the party that represents the essence, the aspirations, the hopes of all Nigerians in general and more particularly the Igbos. It is a party that is a mass movement; it lives in the consciousness of the people. When I was running for election the other time, the overwhelming message most people gave me was that, people told me, you are the best candidate but you are in a wrong party. And through the months of consultations, the basic message that has been delivered to me every time, everywhere, high, mighty, the low, everybody, the man in the street, the man upstairs and so is that, you got to be in the party of your people. And for me I have reflected on this quite deeply, and come to this conclusion and conviction, not just that people demand for it, I have also become convinced that, that is the only reasonable way to

Well I am not aware of an APGA's position on zoning. I have read through the constitution of APGA and I did not see zoning or rotation or anything, it is not anywhere in APGA constitution. So I am not aware that there is an APGA position stating what you just said, where to the contrary the party that explicitly has zoning in its constitution is the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and is the only party that I know that has zoning and rotation in its constitution. APGA, I've the constitution from cover to cover and there is no mention about zoning and rotation. Having said that much, this is a democracy eventually and it is the people who will make the decision, I understand it that people have different preferences and people will always have preferences about where things should be and so on. I understand the Governor's point, I understand his facts, I understand the argument he is making and I say it is an i n t e r e s t i n g a rg u m e n t , n o questions, within the logic of what he said I understand him but again like I said the system is democracy and only the people will say that. Already when you said that in the state, I think that the people of Anambra really need to discuss that, I said the people of Anambra need to discuss the issue of zoning and rotation because you cannot have

zoning without zoning , then you will have to say which other zone that will follow after this one and then you must get all political parties to sign on to it, if you don't have it, then because already we see the key political parties such doesn't seem to be an issue. Because if you say it is this place, you can only say that within the context of a particular political party, it is difficult to say it for the entire state because other political parties might bring out their candidates not from there and the masses will be faced to vote and they will make their choices. So it is a decision only the people can make, so like I said I understand the point he is making but I also said it is the people of the state that will decide.

The Soludo Solution in the new race You are absolutely right, I can tell you that, that's why that demand by our people, I think once a people has been exposed to an idea that they like, it is difficult to take it back. They have been excited by the idea, the dream of taking to the next level and the promise to taking Anambra, putting Anambra on the map. The African Dubai-Taiwan concept which people think it means in four years Anambra would look like Dubai of course that's not, it is a vision. If you go to Dubai and they show you before and after, Dubai wasn't built in a day, it wasn't built in four years, it wasn't built in eight years, but it all started in somebody's ideas that you must define a destination, if you don't know where you are going to any road will take you there. So the people I believe have been excited by this vision of a glorious future, the important thing is that we are on a pathway. A lot has happened in the last 12 years if you like, especially since the democratic dispensation started, each regime has tried to move on to the next level. Governor Mbadinuju who came in took over from the military; he did his best within the resource base available to him, people forget that. For the first time I could come down to this state without fearing that I will lose my car, that was the time of car jacking, before then once you cross the Amansea your heartbeat will be pounding, you aren't sure if you will go home with your car again and so on and so forth. At least you could now pass, you could drop your wallet and pick it back and so we can't forget that it is a bit he did with N800 million monthly allocations, one point something billion or thereabout, you know people do comparison without comparing the resource base. Ngige came, of course revenue was better and he did better

Continues on page 21

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APC will bring positive change in Anambra — Obiadi what effort will you make to see that the communities are carried along?

Barrister Ndubuisi Obiadi is aspiring to occupy the Chairmanship seat of Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra State on the platform of the newly registered All Progressive Congress, APC in the forthcoming council poll. In this interview with The Advocate, Obiadi speaks of his vision for the third-tier of government and promised to effect a positive change in the administration of the council, if given the mandate.Excerpts: Can we meet you? I am Barrister Ndubuisi Obiadi from Anaocha local government. I am running for the Chairmanship of Anaocha Local Government in Anambra state.

Nigeria to a better height. I want to participate in transforming my local government to a greater height that was what prompted me to join the party.

Do you think the people of M a y w e k n o w y o u r your local government; will accept your APC agenda? background? I grew up here in Enugu State. I am the son of late Chief Clement Obiadi who was one time Permanent Secretary of old Anambra state and Chairman Civil Service Commission new Ananbra state. I had my secondary school in All Hallows Seminary Onitsha. I read Law at Nnamdi Azikiwe University and I am a practicing lawyer. I had my own firm I am into property, legal consultation. My firm is Filcom Properties.

What informed your decisions to get into the race? What prompted me to get into the race was the hunger to change my local government, to transform and make it a better place, to give my people a better livelihood , to raise educational status in the rural area because my father gave me a quality education, and I want to do the same for the people in the rural area, I want to give them a sound education, I want to make sure that they are not deprived of that qualitative education. I want to make sure that the women are given the chance to prove themselves in government, just as the president said that he wants the women to be given that chance so I want the women to be given that chance in my local government and my state as well.

You are running on the platform of APC, what is your chance in the election, considering the fact that Anaocha is the home of the present governor?

Yes, because we need change , even the children and adult need change, they have been clamouring for change and APC is the only party in Anaocha local government who can affect that.

There is a clamour for local government autonomy, the state have interfered so much with the local government business, what is your view on that?

If elected what are the things you think the present people in power are not doing well that you need to change? As I said earlier on quality education for younger ones will be my priority. By quality education, I mean improving the quality of schools in the local government. I for a person, I did not go to a private school, I went to a government school and I saw the quality of teachers they have and I intend giving people of rural area that same quality education they see in urban areas. I intend bringing what we have in private schools to them as education is the key. I intend to give a basic health system, making sure that those drugs meant for rural areas get to them, because health is life. I promise the people of Anaocha that we will not be deprived of any government health care; my aim is to improve their livelihood.

Anambra state is currently being ruled by APGA, what are the chances of APC in the election? As you can see, there are lots of crisis everywhere but now people are not interested in the party itself, it's the candidate not the party that counts. What you can do for your people, how to transform the lives that have been deprived from them, should be the most important question. I believe that APC will bring the change that they need. I am not saying that the present admininistration did not try, they have done their best and you cannot deny that but APC will do better in the transformation of Anambra State.

Well, to that effect I don't look at the home of the present governor it is not what I look into. What I want to look into is the party itself, what they have in mind for the common people,APC is not a party whereby you are been excluded from airing your views, it is a party that brings in everybody together. If you look at the symbol of the party you will Ahead of October council see a broom which signifies poll, what message do you togetherness, unity and the party has been united from its have for the people of formation, the three parties that A n a o c h a l o c a l merged together has the hunger of government? transforming Nigeria and to bring One, they should not be bothered

Basically, my administration is for everybody, is not for a particular set of people, it's not for particular persons that called themselves god-fathers; it's for the grass-root, for the common man and woman in the village. It's for the children, we have one door, our gates are open, everybody is free to air his/her view, am available to everybody and I promise an administration that will listen to both women and children at home, people air their views, we listen and do what people want and not what we want; I am not promising you that we will build mansion with the resources made available to the local govt. I will reach out to them and make sure that they will not regret voting this administration.

about the party; again they should look up to the individuals coming out for the election. They should not sell their votes to unscrupulous politicians, because when you sell your votes, you have sold your conscience. They should vote for the right person, vote for candidates on the basis of character, background and they should vote wisely. If they do so victory is assured. It has been long since local

government election has been held in Anambra, there are so many candidates in the race, do you think your capacity can match the contest? The only thing I can say is that with God all things are possible; with God I can match any candidate in the race

Local government is the government at the grass root level, if you are elected,

Yes, I will say that local government should have their own autonomy, not because I am vying for this post but is something that is worth doing, separate the local government from the state government so that it can give them the edge to reach out to the people, edge to do what they have been longing to do for their people. We have a lot of local government chairmen that want to do things for their people but because of the joint state and local government account they can hardly do it for them and people see them as not being competent, that is not their fault, I so much believe in autonomy and I pray that the National Assembly should do something about this and pass the bill into law so that they have their own autonomy and do more for their people at the grass root.

African Dubai-Taiwan concept remains my vision for Anambra – APGA ·Says 'APGA is party of my people’ Continued from page 20 especially some major road networks and so on, good, he spent three years off. Governor Obi has come within eight years he's raised it even much higher. So, systematically, you then need to now build on that and take the state even far much higher. And I think it is important to understand all of these and for me, actually it won't make any sense if we are not talking about the transformation. Because what else am I living for?

Is service, you ask yourself, if not you who, if not now, when? What are we living for? So what I do say to you is to say, I think this is for me a call to serve and like I said, after more than a year of consultation, the overwhelming voices that I hear are saying I think you should not abdicate responsibility and for me I simply make an offer. Is not a do or die thing for me, you offer yourself and this is important, I mean I will only offer myself to members of APGA to

say I am willing if granted the opportunity to fly your flag. The decision is not mine, the decision as to whether I ran or not under APGA belongs to members of APGA. If they give me the honour and privilege of flying the flag of APGA, I am fairly confident that we would get out there and contest and believing, convinced that we are going to have a free and fair election. And in a free and fair contest, I am confident we are going to win. In a free and fair contest, I believe we are the ones to beat in the coming elections.

THE

Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

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Two suspected attackers of Bayelsa NYSC member nabbed

Miss Folakemi whose right hand was almost he police in Bayelsa State Folakemi Akinbode, a National chopped off, Monday night, at have arrested the alleged Youth Service Corps, NYSC Obunagha in Yenagoa Local a t t a c k e r s o f M i s s member, serving in the state Government Area. Meantime, an Italian firm has agreed to sponsor the overseas trip “We ask victims, 'Will you become Muslim… of the victim, who has regained consciousness for proper medical and he refuses, we will slaughter him like treatment and rehabilitation. a goat.” – Born again Boko Haram member The two suspects, identified as After he had finished cutting my Continued form page 13 hair, I opened up to him. I told him Ebi Jatto and Weriye Aluwa, who about my encounter with the returned from one of such outings strange old man in white and he in Bodinga Local Government said that the man must be God Area of Sokoto State, it was around reaching out to me. I asked him 3pm. I was about to start taking why God would want to reach out ablution for the evening prayers to me. He then asked me if I was when it happened. A man in pure, ready to give my life to Christ and etectives attached to the resplendent white attire just serve God and immediately I said homicide unit of the appeared to me. And once I saw yes. I was even surprised at the Adamawa State police him I was scared and dropped the way I simply took it. command have commenced small keg of water and ran off to Since I started fellowshipping with investigations to unravel the my office. My people were asking the church, I have become a circumstance that led a 24-yearme and I told them that I saw a man different being. The experience old man to behead his five-yearin white but they said they didn't was like I had a thorough bathe, old son. see anybody and even when I went which washed off all impurities back to the spot where I had seen like diseases and all that. Before The dastardly act occurred last Wednesday in Ganji suburb of the man, he was no longer there. the experience, I used to walk Gombi Local Government of Then that night when I slept, the around like one afflicted with strange man in white came to me insanity, but now, I am more Adamawa State, when Baffa Alti, again. He was holding a stick and relaxed and composed. I now take 24, a cattle rearer, lured his then I was frightened and I shouted time to take care of myself and biological son, Buba, to the farm and woke up with a start. My even have inner peace. I used to and beheaded him. people rushed to me and said I was live on drugs but now, I don't take Adamawa State police command where the suspect alongside his having a nightmare. Our leader drugs any longer. I feel healthy. said that the man in white must be It is not easy to quite the accomplice were paraded gave a an evil one. They took me to a brotherhood because we undergo vivid account of how the suspects powerful Mallam in Gombe who terrible and diabolic initiation were arrested. did some prayers for me to ward process that hardened us. It is only The command's Public Relations off the evil man in white. After the by God's touch that anyone could O f f i c e r , P R O , I b r a h i m prayers, the Mallam assured me renounce the group. When I was Mohammed, a DSP, told newsmen that nothing would happen to me still there a certain high profile that the father of the prime and I returned to our base. But then member of the Boko Haram sect, suspect, Alhaji Guza, had earlier when I slept again the following named Shuaib, renounced the reported to the police in Gombi night, the same man in white group. I was part of many others that his grandson was missing. appeared to me again and this time, who personally swore that we Guza also told the police that the he spoke to me. He said: “God has would ensure that we skin Shuaib boy went to the farm with his father, only for the father to return chosen you”. He said that three alive if we see him anywhere. times and I again woke up with a But I want to tell my colleagues home without him. start and that again alarmed my who are still in it to have a change According to the police, when people. But when they asked what of heart. I now realize that killing Alhaji Guza accosted his son, happened to me, I lied to them that Christians would not take me to asking for the whereabouts of his grandson, he told his father that he there was nothing. heaven; instead, it will take me to When it was morning, I took my hell. And I'm ready to live a good left him behind in the farm and that he would return later. bathe and deliberately went to see life as a Christian.” Days rolled by and the boy did not a barber friend who is a Christian.

are currently in police custody, were nabbed 72 hours after the attack through the support of the Obunagha community youths. Miss Akinbode was attacked with a machete for reportedly refusing to hand over unspecified amount of money in her possession while returning from work that fateful, Monday. It was reliably gathered that the suspects were arrested at Koroama community about two kilometres from the scene of crime while attempting to sell the mobile phone of their victim. A security source that the suspects had confessed to the crime and claimed that the lady struggled with them in their attempt to snatch her bag. The corps member, was attacked at about 8.30pm while returning to the lodge near the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobori, her place of primary assignment. Miss Akinbode, 26, a graduate Nurse of Madonna University was reported to have been in charge of huge amount of money used by the hospital to pay blood donors at the blood bank section of the hospital. The arrested suspects, according to a security source, were present during the payment made to the blood donors by the corps

member. According to the security source, “they claimed that all they wanted from her was the remaining money she kept in her bag after the payments in the afternoon. When she struggled and identified one of them, she was attacked with machete.” Confirming the arrest, the traditional rule of the Obunagha community, the Ibolou XI, H.R.H Godsgive Apoh, said the prompt arrest of the suspected attackers was made possible by emergency meeting of youth vigilante body set up to investigate and apprehend those involved in the attack. The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Alex Akhigbe, confirmed the arrest but said they were yet to establish the motive behind the attack. Victim for overseas treatment Meanwhile, an unnamed Italian firm, it was learnt, is making frantic effort to fly the victim overseas for treatment. Sources, however, said that the move was stalled, yesterday, due to the Sallah holidays and other logistics. “We are optimistic that the problem would be sorted out on Monday after the Sallah holidays to enable her travel overseas for proper medical attention and rehabilitation,” a source said.

How father beheads 5-yr-old son for N1m in Adamawa

return from the farm which made Guza to lodge a complaint at the Gombi divisional police station where a search party was commissioned. The search led to the discovery of the beheaded decomposing body of Buba under a tree in the farm covered with leaves. The suspect was later arrested and on interrogation, he said one Alhaji Sange Hassan, 63, told him to bring a human head for N1

million. B a ff a D a t t i c o n f e s s e d t o committing the act, saying he intended using the money to raise the status of his father, mother and his family. Alhaji Sange Hassan who is now cooling his heels in the cell of the state CID with Baffa Alti however, denied ever telling him to bring a human head. The suspects, according to the police, will soon be charged to court after investigation.

THE

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Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

Nigerian universities now produce quarter-baked graduates - ASUU

HE Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT chapter, yesterday, blamed the falling standard of education in the country on poor funding, saying Nigeria has degenerated from producing half-baked graduates to quarter-baked graduates. Members of the union , who are currently on strike ordered by their national leadership to protest the non-implementation of the 2009 ASUU/Federal Government agreement on improved funding for the nation's universities among other issues, said that the recent findings by the Needs Assessment Committee that visited various universities should be a major concern for the authorities in the education sector. Addressing a news conference in Enugu, Acting Chairperson of ASUU-ESUT, Mr. Uche Omeje, said that the numerous challenges confronting the education sector particularly at the tertiary level would have been tackled had the federal government implemented the 2009 agreement. He said: “The present ASUU strike is beyond salaries and allowances for lecturers. Since the 2009 agreement, government has set up fact-finding missions to ascertain the state of Nigerian universities. Panels of inquiries for need assessment for universities have been set up and reports have been submitted, yet the authorities in the

education sector seen to have shunned implementation of the recommendations. “The Needs Assessment Committee went round the universities in the country and what it found was shocking. First, it found that the teachers-students ratio was 1-400 on the average instead of being 1-40. It found that the classrooms were grossly inadequate and could accommodate only about 30 percent of the number of students that needed to enter those classrooms, and while most students were standing in their lecture theatres other students write on their backs as lectures

were held under trees in some of the universities.” According to Omeje, the committee also discovered in some university laboratories that people were using kerosene stoves instead of Bunsen burners to conduct experiments, adding that specimens were kept in pure water bottles instead of the appropriate places where such specimens should be kept. “The committee found chemistry labs without water; they found people doing examinations called theory of practical and not the practical. They found students living in the hostels without functional toilets and conveniences. They found heaps of human feaces in the classrooms where our future leaders are

produced. “With overcrowded classrooms, dilapidated infrastructure, illmotivated staff and students and, in some cases, unqualified staff, Nigeria universities have fallen to the level of routine producers of uncultured or uneducated school leavers. Some of those who can afford it, especially government officials, have since resorted to taking their children to our neighbouring countries Ghana, Togo, Ivory Coast, Liberia etc for their university education. This is a clear loss of faith in Nigerian university system. This is why we are on strike,” Omeje said. Insisting that the government must without delay honour the agreement it freely entered into with ASUU, the union leader said

“it is demeaning, despicable and an expression of lack of integrity on government's part to renege on its promise. The union called on allstakeholders, clergy and traditional rulers to prevail on the Federal Government to respect the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement and make integrity its watchword, stressing that ASUU and Nigerians were worried by the “institutionalized falsehood and lack of integrity exhibited by the Federal Government and hence condemns this perfidy in its entirety.” Omeje said that all members of ASUU ESUT branch were determined to continue with the ongoing strike until the government implemented the pending agreement.

Oshiomhole invites 1,300 Edo teachers to defend certificates

he Edo State Government has invited 1,300 primary school teachers with irregularities in their education certificates and age records to appear before a verification committee to defend themselves. This was made known during a meeting of the state Govenor, Adams Oshiomhole with the leadership of the state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) led by Mr Emmanuel Ademokun and the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) led by Mr Patrick Ikosimi. The governor, who said the exercise was not to witch-hunt

FACT BOX Compiled by Patrick Okolie Most variable stature (only person to have been a dwarf and a giant) At the age of 21 in 1920, Adam Rainer (Austria) measured 1.18m (3ft 10.5in). He then had a rapid growth spurt and by 1931 had reached 2.18m (7ft 1.75in). As a result he became so weak that he was bedridden for the rest of his life. When he died in 1950, he measured 2.34m (7ft 8in). He remains the only person to have been a dwarf and a giant. Most infectious disease The common cold caused by a group of rhinovirus of which at least 180 types affects almost everyone on earth except for those living in small isolated communities or in the frozen wastes of Antarctica. There are at least 40 different viruses either airborne or transmitted by direct contact, which cause symptoms such as sneezing, coughing, sore throat, running eyes and nose, headache and mild fever. Most premature baby to survive James Elgin Gill was born to Brenda and James Gill (both Canada) on 20 May 1987 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 128 days (21 wks 5days) premature and weighing 624g (1lb 6oz). The normal human gestation period is 280 days (40 wks). Much of James' body was still developing including his skin, hands, ears and feet with his eyes still fused shut. James survived and is now a healthy teenager. James Gill is a typical teenager struggling with the pressures of university life. Eighteen years ago, he was struggling to live. The world's most premature baby is now a student living for the first time away from the parents who went to extremes to bring him into the world. e-mail: jesuskidallday@gmail.com Phone: 08132597886

anybody, however, insisted that it would not be business as usual and that those who had become too old to teach would have to go. Oshiomhole said: “it is not my wish to preside over dismissals, first, it is not cheap. Secondly, I have a responsibility to keep Edo going and ensure that our children are in good hands of teachers, who are not senile and also still strong to stand and competent to teach. “If the facts reveal that there are teachers in the classrooms who do not have the requisite qualification, you cannot insist that they remain in the system. “The good news is that those who are not too old, who are capable of being trained will remain. If we find that some are deficient and it is possible for them to benefit from training, we will give them training, what is not acceptable is to say it is business as usual,” he noted. The governor argued “we can mismanage everything in our country, if you mismanage education, you are killing our tomorrow, our collective future. The roads we are building, we won't have brains to look over them. In the absence of brains, we won't have growth and development. “I have asked the Ministry of Education to invite those category of teachers, whose number is about 1,300, who, from the records appear to have started their primary school before they were born to come and speak to the fact because we are not assuming that those documents are iron-cast.” He said the primary school teachers would be paid their salary, which was withheld while they embarked on strike, having agreed to cover the lost ground. Recall that the governor had, at a Town Hall meeting on education in the state on July 31 said an audit carried out by the state Information and Communications Technology unit showed that 789

teachers out of 1,379 obtained their Primary School Leaving Certificates before the age of 8 or 9.

He said at the meeting that “some of the records show that there were a few who were particularly gifted and they finished primary school before they were born. “We found that of all our Primary School Teachers, only 1,287 representing 9% out of 14,484 teachers have proper and accurate records in our system.” 91% have various forms of discrepancies in their records. Oshiomhole said “about 1,379 teachers representing 11.5% claim that they obtained their Primary School Certificates after they had been employed as teachers. In fact, some obtained their Primary School Certificates not more than two years ago, from the school in which they were employed as teachers.”

French Govt to promote teaching of French in Higher Schools By Christopher Okon, Uyo

he French Government has stated its intention to cooperate with the Federal Government in the education sector by promoting the teaching of French language in higher schools in the country. The Consul-General of French Embassy in Nigeria, Mr. Francois Sastourne disclosed this Thursday at the State Banquette organised by the Akwa Ibom State Government to honour his visit to the State. Mr. Sastourne said France also wants to extend their cooperation to Nigerian higher schools in sciences, technology, medicine, among others, stressing that there had always been an economic cooperation between Nigeria and France. "The cooperation between the two countries, Mr. Sastourne said, "was important to France as Nigeria was the first African country to partner with France economically".

He further disclosed that they are in Akwa Ibom State to partner with the State in the area of investment, adding that he was impressed with the quality of infrastructure in the state. The French Consular-General lauded Governor Akpabio's vision in the holistic development of the state, describing it as “transformation extra-ordinairy”. Responding, Governor Akpabio who said the state government was always ready to partner with foreign investors in the development of the State, called on the French government to partner with the state in medical sector, explaining that “French medical practitioners can work in the on-going specialist hospital in the State”. Akpabio highlighted other areas of possible cooperation to include the Ibaka Deep Seaport, Power distribution from Ibom Independent Power Plant and Akwa Ibom International Airport and called on the French embassy in Nigeria to promote the policy of economic assimilation in Nigeria.

THE

Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

2015:

We’ll win S’East, APC boasts

By Emmanuel Iheanacho, Umuahia

s political parties in Nigeria are warming up for 2015 general election the All Progressive Congress [APC] has stormed Abia state with a boast of taking over the state and the entire South East from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party [PDP], as five political parties that merged to form the new mega Party met in Umuahia. Speaking with newsmen shortly after their meeting, the APC National Vice Chairman South East, Anyim Nyerere Chineye said that the meeting was to interact with the members of the political party on the need to explain to them what has been happening. Anyim said that the political party is technically registered as they have done and provided all the requirements needed by the INEC for political party to be registered, stressing that now it is registered, all the other parties will return their registration certificates to INEC. He said, “now that our new party is registered and the certificate given to us, all the five political parties that came together to form the APC will return their registration certificates to INEC as they will seize to exist as political parties”. The national vice chairman of APC said that the party is the hope of the people of Abia and the South East come 2015, “As we are ready to take over the reign of leadership of the geo-political zone from the PDP which has plundered the area for 16 years now”. Anyim said that the hope of the

people of Abia state and the entire South East lies on the policies of the APC which has been designed to uplift the welfare of the people of the state and the zone, after being subjected to hardship through miss rule. He said that APC is the party of hope, “Where the will, hope and wishes of the people will be

respected, as they will be paramount to the party. It is said that evil cannot produce good, it will always produce evil. We are determined to make a change in the lives of the masses”. The APC stalwart said that the doors of the new party are open to all to enter, as they are ready to receive people of like minds,

stressing that the change is sweeping around the country and the people of the South East should not be left behind. Anyim denied the rumour that APC is a party of the people from the Northern and the Western part of the country, pointing out that the people from the Eastern side of the country have vantage positions in

ENSG vows to meet MDG targets

nugu State government has affirmed her determination to sustain the measures being put in place by the administration to meet the target set in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) programmes in the state. Governor Chime gave the affirmation through his deputy, Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi in an address when the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs, Dr. Mrs. Precious Kalamba Gbeleon paid a courtesy call at the Government House, Enugu. The governor noted that his administration takes the MDG programme seriously and on assumption of office designed programmes to ensure its success in the state. According to the governor, the administration established a full fledged Ministry of Human Development and Poverty Reduction and launched free Maternal and Child Health Care delivery programme in the state to address the issue of poverty and unemployment and reduced maternal and child mortality.

He also added that the state launched free primary and junior secondary education which had led to increase in school enrollment in the state and appointed women into various top political and administrative positions. Chime commended the President's

Aid for the passion she has for the programme which necessitated her moving to various states in the country to interact with the stakeholders on the way forward. He informed Dr. Gbeleon that the fund her office had been releasing to the state for the programme was judiciously utilized. T h e G o v e r n o r, however, regretted that financial allocation to Enugu state is far less when compared with what other states in the zone receive, enjoining her to address the imbalance and increase her office allocation to the state. He recalled with dismay that request made to the SSA's office for financial assistance to the state for the provision of water to enhance the implementation of the programme in the state did not

Kogi Government laments the haphazard development on Lokoja ·Pledges to change that toga of unplanned development in the state By Our Reporter

otorists and car owners in Kogi State have been told that they cannot continue to live in the past where every available space has been turned into motor parks or car parking spaces. Capt Idris Wada the State Governor stated this at the Trade Fair complex along, Lokoja Okene highway, the proposed location for the first designed Motor Park in Lokoja. The Governor who was represented by his Deputy,Yomi Aw o n i y i , d i s c l o s e d t h a t Government is worried about the haphazard development on Lokoja A b u j a h i g h w a y, lamenting the present situation where the highway has been turned into motor parks and He said Government has decided traffic that flows across the State. to turn the complex into a T h e Tr a d e F a i r C o m p l e x market places. development spot to harness all Governor Wada explained would

now house the first proposed designed Motor Park in Lokoja, equipped with shops for the relocation of traders who sell on the roadside. While describing development in the State capital as unplanned and worst off in the north Central States of Nigeria, he said that the time for a change of attitude by motorist is now. Government, Wada disclosed, is committed to changing that toga of haphazard development and indiscriminate erection of Parks along highways in the state capital adding that the present administration has physical development as its focus. The Governor then appealed to the citizens of the State to key into his dream of transformation which seeks to make Lokoja, one of the most planned cities and State’s capital in Nigeria.

ADVOCATE the party. He noted that it is a political party that will give everyone the right and opportunity to perform and express themselves, “It is a political party that has no ethnic affiliation, but a party for all the people with the mandate to change the system for the good of the country and its people”. Highlight of the meeting include the inauguration of a 21 man committee to see to the unification of the five political parties that will become APC.

receive any positive response and enjoined the Senior Special Assistant to assist the state to continue to deepen the relationship exiting between it and her office. Earlier in an address, Mrs. Gbeleon noted that her office has been partnering with the state since 2006 and has built an appreciable relationship in the execution of Millennium Development Goal projects in parts of the state. The President's Aid gave breakdown of fund sent to the Enugu state government and some local government councils in the state for the implementation of Millennium Development Goals in the state and commended the state/local governments for prompt payment of their counterpart funds. According to her, the sum of over one billion naira counterpart fund was released to the state in 2011 for the execution of Health, Education, Water and Sanitation projects in Isi-Uzo, Igbo-Etiti and Aninri council areas of the state. Also in 2012, one hundred million naira each was given to four (4) local government areas in the state for the execution of projects including animal husbandry, social safety network, healthcare and poverty eradication. The four local government areas are Nkanu East, Ezeagu, UzoUwani and Oji River. The SSA to the President explained that the MDG projects in the country will wind down in 2015, adding that the sum of one hundred and fifty million naira counterpart is for the programme in 2013 in six local government councils in the state and enjoined the state to fast track the implementation of the programmes in the state, as release of more fund by her office is dependent on judicious and timely implementation of the programme. She called on all communities that are beneficiaries to the programme to own all projects in their areas and suggested the inclusion of more local government areas in the project in the state in future. She enumerated benefits recorded by the programme as protection of women and child right, extreme poverty reduction, child right education and putting food on the tables of the people, among others.

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Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

Muslim Kogi SEMA set to tackle 2013 flood Community Charged To Be Peaceful

By Ngwuta Chinedu, Abakaliki

n order to ensure a peaceful co-existence between Muslim community and her Christian counterpart in Ebonyi State, the former has been urged to sue for peace and eschew evil attitudes capable of leading them into committing crimes and other social vices. In a statement signed and issued to newsmen in Abakaliki, the National President of the Christian and Muslim youth's foundation for peace and unity, Alhaji Idri Musa, called on Muslim communities across the country to pray for the peace and success of the present government. He regretted the negative activities perpetrated by some individuals in the country which has led to the destruction of the lives and property of innocent Nigerians, saying that there w as the need for Christians and Muslims to show mutual co-operation as the country can only progress when there is mutual understanding and co-operation between one another. Musa called for a collaborative support from Muslims and Christians to the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan to enable him succeed in his agenda of providing the dividend of democracy to the Nigerian populace. According to him, Nigeria is known for peace and unity and enjoined all youths to always be of good conduct and avoid activities that would result to insecurity of the nation. “I call on all Nigerian Muslim to rededicate themselves to Almighty Allah and also uphold the virtues of pity, fairness and sympathy for the less privileged in the society which the Ramadan fast teaches and promotes. But enjoined them to always maintain peace and assist one another” He added that prayer for the success of those in authority was necessary. He called on politicians to avoid embezzlement of funds but to channel the limited resources at the country's disposal to better the lots of the common rural dwellers

he Kogi State Emergency Management Agency, says it is making adequate arrangement for as many as would be displaced if the 2013 flooding prediction by the National Metrological Agency (NIMET) becomes a reality. The Agency Acting Director, Mrs. Alice Ogedengbe disclosed through a statement that her

Agency is not limiting its arrangements to a specific number; rather it is making adequate arrangement to cater for those that would be displaced. The Acting Director described as unrealistic the 50,000 target quoted in a section of the media as those expected to be rescued by her agency but noted it had over 600,000 persons displaced by last

year's flood who were housed in camps by the state government, said effort is being made to ensure that the state caters for as many that would be displaced using a genuine data capturing method. Mrs. Ogedengbe stated that “the 2012 flood disaster was devastating and going by the prediction that 2013 would be more severe, arrangement is on

Lotto provides jobs for over 1000 conjunction with that of the state youths in Abia - Co-ordinatorpool control board inorder to

n a bid to provide employment, Abia State Cocoordinator of Lotto games Chief Sunday Uche has disclosed that the organization has created jobs for over one thousand (1000) applicants youths in the State. Chief Uche who made the disclosure while speaking with our reporter in his Office in Umuahia said with the employment of over one thousand youths, the organization has contributed its quota in creating employment in the society. According to the Abia state Lotto Coordinator, the organization started its operation in Enugu, Owerri, Umuahia and Aba Abia State under the South East zone while that of South South zone is operating in Port-Harcourt and Bayelsa State. On whether the organization is registered and approved by government, Chief Uche disclosed that Lotto is a registered business and duly approved by the Federal Government and regulated by the National Lotto Commission, adding that as at now about 12 companies have been issued licenses by the Federal government to operate in Nigeria. Fielding question on the benefit of

lotto game, the Abia State coordinator said the benefit of lotto are many as it will assist the public in their daily financial needs particularly applicants youths in the society. Chief Uche warned that lotto games are not meant for little children below the age of 18, pointing out that the organization has set up its monitoring team in

ensure compliance to the rules. He explained that they have arrested many under aged youths and handed them over to the police in the state adding that one can start playing lotto with just a token sum contrary to that of pool betting business where adults stake bigger amount which tend to have some effects on the income management of some stakers.

ENUGU: Udi cultural complex, others gantries and switch panel among to gulp N321m others; a project that would be

nugu State Executive Council has approved over three hundred and twenty million naira (N321, 000,000) for the implementation of various infrastructural developments in some parts of the state. This was disclosed by the State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Chuks Ugwoke in a press briefing at the end of the council's meeting presided over by Governor Sullivan Chime at the Government House, Enugu. According to Commissioner Ugwoke, of this amount, the sum of one hundred and eleven million, seven hundred and twenty-seven

thousand, four hundred and fiftyseven naira (N111,727,457) was approved by the council for the electrification of theme the Park Entertainment and Cultural Complex at Udi Native Authority, Udi local government area. The commissioner who was accompanied in the press briefing by his Ministries of Environment and Lands counterparts, Dr. Nnaemeka Chukwuone and Dr. Chukwemeka Ujam as well as the Special Adviser to the Governor on Economic Matters, Prince Ogbogu Asogwa, added that the electrification project included the construction of high/medium voltage lines, installation of

Rivers deports 113 non-indigenes

he Rivers State Government has sent to their home states, about 113 beggars and lunatics removed

top gear to cater for a possible increase if the flood occurs but using a well structured method in data capturing as provided by UN and NEMA templates.” As part of the preparation for the flood, the human capacity of SEMA as well as other agencies related to rescue and emergency management, Ogedengbe disclosed, have been trained assuring that her agency will work with the UN and NEMA in rescue operations and better camp management this year. The statement disclosed that nine affected flood areas in the state last year have been visited while suitable sites for the location of 16 camps as against 200 last year has been concluded. Efforts at making the place habitable with the necessary infrastructures, the SEMA Acting Secretary explained is on-going to cushion the hardship likely to be faced by those that would be displaced.

from the streets of Port Harcourt, the state capital. The Rivers State Government warned that it would soon embark on another removal exercise. The Chairman of the c o m m i t t e e , M r. Mina Jamabo, said o u t o f t h e 11 3 beggars, destitute and lunatics removed from the streets, some had been taken to the state's rehabilitation centres for treatment. Jamabo said nonindigenes had since been repatriated to their various states, while the indigenes would be treated by the government until they were fit to re-unite with their families.

Jambo, however, did not give the figure of the destitute sent to their home states. The Permanent Secretary in the state's Ministry of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation, Mrs. Stella To b y, h o w e v e r, u n f o l d e d government's fresh plans to remove beggars and destitute from streets in the state. She made the announcement in an interview with journalists, in Port H a r c o u r t o n M o n d a y. Toby said the beggars, destitute and mentally-ill people were constituting problems on some major streets and roads in the state. The Permanent Secretary said the state government had set up a special committee charged with the responsibility of restoring sanity on major areas of the state. “Most of the beggars are from neighbouring states and I can assure you that they will be removed from the streets and repatriated to their respective states,” she said.

executed by the State Rural Electrification Board. The State Information boss also disclosed that the sum of one hundred and seventy-one million, two hundred and sixty-three thousand, one hundred and seventy-two naira (N171, 263,172) was approved by the council for the construction of buildings perimeter fence, and renovation works at the Special Education Centre, Oji River through direct labour. The commissioner noted that the building construction in the school entails construction of two hostel blocks, five classroom, four units of two bedroom staff quarters, construction of a sick bay and the renovation of library/classroom block. Mr. Ugwoke noted that the sum of ninety-six million, seven hundred and ninety-two thousand, nine hundred and fifty naira (N96,792,950) was approved for the construction of new buildings and renovation in the school by the council, adding that the project when completed would provide conducive learning environment and give the students sense of belonging. He said that the remaining seventyfour million, four hundred and seventy thousand, two hundred and twenty-two naira (N74,470,222) from the among approved for the projects in the school is for the construction of perimeter fence through direct labour, by the M i n i s t r y o f Wo r k s a n d Infrastructure. He said that the sum of thirty-eight million, six hundred thousand naira (N38,600,000) was approved by the council for the tiling and other ancillary works at the Enugu State Judiciary Complex, specifically at the Chief Judge's Court, Judiciary Complex.

THE

Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

The Advocate Gospel This Week

DESERTED BUT NOT ABANDONED TEXT: 2 Timothy 4:16-18 At my first defence, no-one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (NIV)

My calling is to win souls, money is secondary – Ven. Arinze Egemba Indoor sports hall of Nnamdi Azikiwe stadium was all decked out on Friday when the servant of God, vibrant-looking, Ven. Arinze Egemba ministered God's grace to thousands of people in one of his outreach programmes “Night of Grace”. In this interview with The Advocate’s Nwankwo Obianuju, he sheds more light on his ministry. Excerpts: Can you please tell me a little about yourself? I am Ven. Arinze Chibueze Egemba, I pastor the Church of the Resurrection Power New/Haven Anglican communion Enugu Diocese.

NARRATION There is no record of all the events of Paul's imprisonment and trials in Rome; but this episode was clearly dramatic. The Apostle was being tried in a criminal court, and no Christian wanted to stand with him to support or testify in court. He was deserted by his friends, with the death sentence hanging over him death by ferocious lions in an arena watched by jeering crowds who saw it as sport. But he was not alone because he knew that the Lord Jesus was standing there, holding back the lies of his accusers and preventing a guilty verdict. Instead, Paul was able to explain the gospel in open court, no doubt telling them about Jesus Christ the Son of God who died as a sacrifice and was raised as a victor. The experience had not weakened his resolve to preach the gospel; rather, it had made him bolder. Paul also hoped that it would be an encouragement to Timothy when he faced similar dilemmas. For the Apostle, death was inevitable sometime; the only uncertainty was when and how. Its threat would never deter him from speaking about Jesus, for when death came Paul was confident that God would safely bring him into His presence for ever. Until then, Paul was determined to continue preaching so that Christ would be glorified. Although it is good to have support from believing friends, it is never guaranteed nor is it essential for us to serve the Lord. Yes - team ministry, personal encouragement, mentoring and accountability relationships are very helpful but there will be situations where nobody else is there to reassure you and spur you on. Although it is wonderful to be part of the Body of Christ, our essential connection is with Him who is the Head of the body. He never leaves us and will never forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6 ). Even if everybody deserts us, the Lord will stand by our side. So even if nobody else stands with you for Christ where you work, He stands for you! So do not be disheartened or afraid.

Prayer: God of all strength and comfort. Thank You that You will never leave me alone. Forgive me when I become frightened when my friends disappear; I know that You will never leave me abandoned. Help me to trust You so that when circumstances close in on me, I may know the powerful liberty of Your presence. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

ADVOCATE

One remarkable thing that has happened in your life after experiencing the “Second Grace”? There are several of them but each time I remember how I encountered God personally, how He opened my eyes to show me that the direction I was going wasn't His will for my life, He humbles me to desire to serve him, is like a force an inspiration. Then between 1992-1997 when he was preparing me for the work he called me in the dream like Samuel, through audible voices it was just too clear to me.

Priesthood and f a t h e r h o o d responsibilities, how has it affected you?

How did you find yourself in the ministry, I mean the story so far? Well, It is a big question you asked me. The whole journey started in 1992 when I had an experience I called the “Second Grace”, people call it born again. Then I was working with Nigeria Brewery Ibadan. There, the word of God touched my life and I gave my life to Jesus Christ, and God began to open my eyes to discover that what I was doing wasn't His will for my life, so from there through revelation, personal encounter, it became obvious to me that God's will for me is to become a preacher of the word, then we began to plan out the way forward by the pastoral guidance of my mentorthe then priest now a Bishop, Rt. Rev. Dr. Nwaobi Isaac, Bishop of Isiala Ngwa South, he guided me to come fully into the ministry, he gave me a letter of recommendation, brought me down to Enugu Diocese, because God told me that my ministry is going to be in the East, so by his recommendation I came in and became a sexton of the Cathedral Church of the Good Shepherd and from there as God was granting us the grace and the ministry was prospering. We were recommended for ordination training, then I went to high school at Trinity Theology college Umuahia where I got my Bachelor and Diploma. In 2001 I was ordained and preferred Canon under three years and last year his lordship our Bishop, Bishop Emmanuel Chukwuma preferred me Archdeacon.

Well as a priest, I have two families one is the family of God where I am serving as a priest and also seen as a father, another is my marital family where I have my wife and the children, I want to say that it is not easy to combine both because sometimes the bigger family that is the church may be demanding for my attention and at the same time my marital family but the grace of God has remained sufficient so I wouldn't say my priesthood has affected my role as a father negatively rather it has affected me positively because when you know that you are a father in the larger family (church)it helps you to condition yourself to be a good father in your marital home.

You are passionate about organizing outreach programmes not considering the funds, Why is it so? Well, I will just say one, the first source of our inspiration is our calling. I discovered that it is my calling, there are many priests who are in the field that are not involved in it and who are not seeing what we are seeing. One thing about this calling is the area God calls you He opens your eyes. Secondly all over Enugu we see that we really need to touch lives when you ply the high way you see that a lot of people seem to be far from God, they don't know what it takes to be Christian in practice and some people go to church but do not have personal encounter with God. We that have encountered him our lives are touched so when we see those people we are inspired and moved to carry the gospel to them, so that they will hear and encounter him personally. Talking about the funds, for us who know the worth of souls to heaven money is secondary; the word said that a soul is worth more than millions of dollar so when you see us go out spending millions to propagate the gospel it is because we know that one soul you get for heaven is worth much more than

Continues on page 11

THE

ADVOCATE

Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

25,000 jobs lost in Vegetable Oil industry as sector faces extinction

egetable oil and related products industry in Nigeria are nearing total collapse as no fewer than 25, 000 out of the 30,000 direct jobs in the sector have been lost due to the influx of substandard processed oil dumped into the economy. This near collapse is as a result of government unfavourable policies and policy reversals. This is coming on the heels of government propaganda on job creation in the midst of continued rising unemployment in the country. It will be recalled that Financial Vanguard had on July 15, raised alarm over the looming collapse of the sector due to government's import waivers granted to few privileged Nigerian politicians and portfolio businessmen to import refined vegetable oil, Soya bean meal and related products. One of the few surviving manufacturers of vegetable oil in the country, Sunola Oil Nigeria Limited, owned by Kewalram Chanrai Group, weekend confirmed that the sector is in real danger of imminent collapse and called on Government not to allow the sector go the way of the Textile industry in the country. The company expressed sadness that “out of top eight Oil Mills in Nigeria, only three are working at the moment below installed capacity. If drastic measures are not taken immediately, Oil Mill Industry will go into extinction like the textile industry.” Group Deputy Managing Director, of Kewalran, Mr. Victor Eburajolo, at a briefing in Lagos, lamented that the industry had lost the capacity to generate employment as “not less than 25,000 direct jobs have been lost in the last few years because of unfavourable operating environment. At its peak, the industry created over 30,000 direct jobs. But today, the sector cannot boast of 5,000 jobs. As a Nigerian, I am very worried because of the increasing growth of idle hands that ordinarily should contribute to the development of the country, but are now being wasted and the unfortunate ones become willing hands and tools for mischief and crimes.” According to him, the industry is seriously distressed because of unfavourable policies and policy summersaults and called for total ban on importation of finished products like vegetable oil, drive to improve infrastructure like power, fuel, railway, roads etc to support capacity increase in processing as well as farming inputs. He called for support of private sector by funding at minimal cost storage of soya beans and buying up excess

produce at good price from local markets during harvest season to enable farmers benefit. He lamented that one of the major problems confronting the sector is “import duty waivers on products like oil and cake to compete with the already well developed palm industry in the Far East which has resulted in inability of local manufacturers to compete against such imported oils resulting in huge finished

inventory stock of oil and DOC (oil for making cake) running into several billions of naira. He stated that the cost of funds is also a major burden considering the huge stock held, saying that seed price has now crashed as a result of serious uncertainty in the industry and the inability of local manufacturers to compete with imported oil price. This he said will eventually result in farmers getting discouraged contrary to the drive of the present

government transformation agenda.” Lamenting on duty waiver, import permit of banned edible oil, Eburajolo displayed a copy of such waivers granted to a company (name withheld) with r e f e r e n c e n u m b e r BO/R.10260/107 to import 250,000 metric tons of refined vegetable oil to supposedly cushion the effect of climate change and floods. He equally displayed another waiver of Soya

DOC importation, which reads “In order to cushion the present effect of the scarcity and high prices of essential raw materials for feed production in the country. His Excellency, Mr. President has granted approval for a concessionary rate of 0 per cent duty and 0 per cent VAT on importation of Soya Bean meal for poultry consumption by poultry farmers with effect from 1st March to 31st December 2013.”

NCC, NBC to cooperate towards industry transformation

h e N i g e r i a n Communications Commission and the National Broadcasting Commission, which are government parastatals, have pledged to work more closely together in order to deliver the dividends of modern technology to the Nigerian people. The Chief Executive Officer, NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, while congratulating the new Director General of the NBC, Mr. Emeka Mba, who paid him a visit, said that, “We NCC and NBC have always been sister regulators and our roles will become more intertwined because of development in technology. These days it's either you broadcast through the internet or through the other traditional channels that we were used to.'' He noted that the importance of the regulatory responsibilities of the two agencies made it overriding for them to always look for avenues of cooperation so that important issues can be resolved before being escalated to platforms like the Frequency Management Council, which they both belong to. “It is not a question of fighting for turf but to do things properly so that people can know that we are working well in Nigeria for the good of those who need our services,” Juwah said. The NCC boss also stressed the importance of the transition from analogue to digital transmission; a process that should terminate in 2015, according to the I n t e r n a t i o n a l Telecommunication Union timeline, but which he observed is running very late in Nigeria. He pledged the NCC's commitment to the process while declaring to render any assistance that may be required. While embracing Juwah's optimism of a brighter future for the two industries that technology is blurring into one, Mba admitted that the, “Two agencies share very unique responsibilities together. While we deal with content, programming in the broadcast sector, you will agree that technology is muddling the differences, bringing industries together.”

Executive Vice-Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Eugene Juwah Mba also noted that as the country pursues the digitisation process, it had become more expedient for the two agencies to create stronger bonds so as to overcome every hurdle on the way. He said, “There is the need to work together, not just work

together but to build more respect for one another, and develop stronger relationship. Because more and more, as we go forward with digitisation and what this new ecosystem will bring for the sector, you will find telcos who want to be broadcasters and broadcasters who want to be

telcos. “We have to find ways to work together for the benefits of Nigerian consumers,'' Mba added, thus re-echoing Juwah's position that the future of the two industries will not be about frequency but about quality service to the consumers.”

Nutrition Society of Nigeria Endorses Cadbury Bournvita By Our Reporter

eading Nigeria food drink, Cadbury Bournvita, has been reendorsed by the Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN). The certificate of endorsement was presented to the leadership of Cadbury Nigeria Plc at a special ceremony in Enugu. Speaking, while presenting the endorsement certificate, Prof. Ngozi Nnam, President of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria said: “the decision to endorse Cadbury Bournvita was taken after a multi-step process including independent laboratory tests of the brand claims that lasted several months. Cadbury Bournvita is clearly a food drink that is rich in energy and essential micronutrients”

Emil Moskofian, Managing Director, Cadbury Nigeria, said “Cadbury Nigeria is proud to have its flagship brand, Bournvita re-endorsed by the highest collection of nutrition experts in Nigeria. We dedicate this endorsement to the loyal consumers who have chosen Cadbury Bournvita and made it the leading food drink in Nigeria. We also thank our trading partners who have helped to ensure that Bournvita is consistently available in every city, town and village of Nigeria over the past 5 decades”. Dele Anifowoshe, Marketing Director, Cadbury Nigeria, who was at the presentation, said, “after a clear and thorough certification process, this endorsement of Cadbury

Bournvita puts the brand ahead of its contemporaries as pacesetters in the food beverage market. I am pleased to note that Cadbury Bournvita is the only food drink in Nigeria endorsed by the Nutrition Society of Nigeria Having pioneered the fortification of food drinks in Nigeria in 1994, it is very satisfying to obtain this verification by the experts as we evidently stand tall when it comes to nutritional contents, rich cocoa taste and non-stop vitality.” The presentation event was held at the prestigious Golden Royale Hotel, Enugu and was attended b y g o v e r n m e n t o ff i c i a l s , nutrition practitioners from the industry and academia, trading partners of Cadbury, the press and the general public.

THE

Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

The Bitter Truth About the Igbo Continued from back page Ironsi. How many Igbos know about that and how many times in our history have they made such sacrifices for the Yoruba? Would Aguiyi-Ironsi, or any other Igbo officer, have stood for Fajuyi, or any other Yoruba officer, and sacrificed his life for him in the same way that Fajuyi did had the roles been reversed? I doubt it very much. Yet instead of being grateful the Igbo continuously run us down, blame us for all their woes, envy our educational advantages and resent us deeply for our ability to excel in the professions and commerce. Unlike them we were never traders but we were (and still are) industrialists and when it comes to the professions we were producing lawyers, doctors, accountants and university graduates at least three generations before they ever did. That is the bitter truth and they have been trying to catch up with us ever since. For example the first Yoruba lawyer Christopher Alexander Sapara Williams was called to the English Bar in 1879 whilst the first Igbo lawyer, Sir Louis Mbanefo, was called to the English bar in 1937. Again the first Yoruba medical practitioner, Dr. Nathaniel King, graduated in 1875 from the University of Edinburgh whilst the first Igbo medical practitioner, Dr. Akannu Ibiam, graduated from another Scottish University in 1935. Yet despite all this and all that they have been through over the years and despite their terrible experiences in the civil war we are witnessing that same attitude of “we must control all”, “we must own all” and “we must have all” rearing its ugly head again today when it comes to their attitude to the issue of the deportations from Lagos state and when you consider the comments of the Orji Kalu's of this world about the Igbo supposedly “owning Lagos” with the Yoruba and supposedly “generating 55 per cent of the state's revenue”. It is most insulting. And I must say that it is wrong and unfair for anyone to lay the blame for the perennial suspicion and underlying tensions that lie between the two nationalities on the Yoruba because that is far from the truth. We are not the problem, they are. Please tell me, in the whole of Nigeria who treated the Igbo better than the Yoruba after the civil war and who gave them somewhere to run to where they could regain all their “abandoned property” and feel at home again? Who encouraged them to return to Lagos and the west and who saved the jobs that they held before the civil war for them to come back to when the war ended? No other tribe or nationality did all that for them in the country only the Yoruba did so. And the people of the old Mid-West and the Eastern minorities (who make up the zone that is collectively known as the “south-south” today) have always viewed them with suspicion, have always feared them and have always resented them deeply. From the foregoing any objective observer can tell that we the Yoruba have always played our part when it comes to accommodating others. This is particularly so when it comes

to the Igbo who we have always had a soft spot for and who we have always regarded as brothers and sisters. It is time that those “others” also play their part by acquiring a little more humility, by knowing and accepting their place in the scheme of things and by desisting from giving the impression that they own our territory or that they made us what we are. Now let us look at a few historical facts and one or two more Igbo “firsts” that many may not be familiar with to buttress the point. The igbo people were the FIRST to carry out a failed coup on the night of Jan 15th, 1966 under the leadership of Major Emmanuel Ifejuna, Major Chukuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, Major Christian Anuforo, Capt. Ben Gbulie, Major Timothy Onwatuegwu, Major Donatus Okafor, Capt. Ude, Capt. Emmanuel Nwobosi, Captain Udeaja, Lt. Okafor, Lt. Okocha, Lt. Anyafulu, Lt. Okaka, Lt. Ezedigbo, Lt. Amunchenwa, Lt. Nwokedi, 2nd Lt. J.C. Ojukwu, 2nd Lt. Ngwuluka, 2nd Lt. Ejiofor, 2nd Lt. Egbikor, 2nd Lt. Igweze, 2nd Lt. Onyefuru, 2nd Lt. Nwokocha, 2nd Lt. Azubuogu and 2nd Lt. Nweke in which they drew FIRST blood and openly slaughtered and butchered leading politicians and army officers from EVERY single zone in the country except their own. I should also mention that even though this was clearly an Igbo coup there was one Yoruba officer who was amongst the ringleaders by the name of Major Adewale Ademoyega. It was a very bloody night indeed. Amongst those killed were the Prime Minister, Sir Tafawa Balewa, the Premier of the Western Region, Chief S.L. Akintola, the Premier of the Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Federal Minister of Finance, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, Brigadier Zakari Maimalari, Brigadier Samuel Ademulegun, Colonel Ralph Shodeinde, Lt. Colonel James Yakubu Pam, Lt. Colonel Abogo Largema and numerous others. They did not just kill these reverred and respected leaders but in some cases they mocked, tortured and maimed them before doing so, took pictures of their dead and mutilated bodies and killed their wives and children as well. For weeks after these horrific acts were carried out the Igbo people rejoiced and celebrated them in the streets and markets of the north, openly displaying pictures and posters of the Sardauna's mutilated body with Nzeogwu's boot on his neck, loudly playing a famous and deeply offensive anti-northern song in which northerners were compared to goats and listening to it on their radios, jubilating that they had brought an end to what they described as “northern rule and Islamic domination” and openly boasting that they themselves would now “rule Nigeria forever”. Though the first coup failed the matter did not end there. The very next day after the Jan.15th mutiny and butchery had failed and did not result in Ifeajuna taking power in Lagos, the Igbo people set their “plan B” in motion and they were the FIRST to carry out a successful coup in Nigeria just one

day later on Jan. 17th 1966. This was when the Igbo Major-General J.T.U. Aguiyi-Ironsi (who was Supreme Commander of the Nigerian Army and who had inexplicably and suspiciously not been murdered by the young Igbo officers in their violent mutiny and killing spree the night before) in collusion with the Igbo Acting President Nwafor Orizu and the entire Igbo political leadership of that day, invited the remnants of Sir Tafawa Balewa's cabinet to a closed door meeting, threatened their lives and took power from them at the point of a gun. Aguiyi-Ironsi did not just ask them to give him power but he took it from them by force by telling them that he could not guarantee their safety if they refused to do so. Meanwhile Orizu point blank refused to do his duty as Acting President and swear in Zana Bukar Dipcharimma as the Acting Prime Minster when the members of the cabinet and the British Ambassador (who was also at the meeting) implored him to do so since by that time there was a power vacuum because the Prime Minister, Sir Tafawa Balewa, had gone missing and had probably been murdered. It was in these very suspicious circumstances and as a consequence of this murky and deepseated Igbo conspiracy that General Aguiyi-Ironsi came to power. Amongst those that were present at that famous “meeting” that are still alive today are Alhaji Maitama Sule, Chief Richard Akinjide and President Shehu Shagari who were all Ministers in Balewa's cabinet. Those that doubt the veracity of my account of this meeting would do well to ask any of them exactly what transpired during that encounter. Yet the seeming success of the conspiracy was short-lived. Only six months later, on July 29th 1966, General Aguiyi-Ironsi and no less than 300 Igbo army officers reaped the consequences of their actions and plot when they were all slaughtered in just one night during the northern officers revenge coup which was led by Lt. Colonel Murtala Mohammed, Major Abba Kyari, Captain Martins Adamu, Major T.Y. Danjuma, Major Musa Usman, Captain Joseph Garba, Captain Shittu Alao, Captain Baba Usman, Captain Gibson S.Jalo and Captain Shehu Musa Yar'adua as they then were. Lt. Colonel Yakubu Gowon was put in power by this group after that and a few weeks later between September 29th 1966 and the middle of October of that same year approximately 50,000 Igbo civilians were attacked and slaughtered in a series of horrendous pogroms in the north by violent northern mobs as a reprisal for the killing of the northern leaders, including Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, by Major Nzeogwu, Major Ifeajuna and other junior Igbo officers on the night of Jan. 15th 1966. Please note that despite the fact that a number of Yoruba leaders were killed on that night as well no Igbo civilians were massacred anywhere in the west by mobs in reprisal killings throughout that period. The Igbos understandably left the north in droves after those terrible pogroms and fled back to the east from whence they came. And

perhaps that would have been the end of the story but for the fact that they also declared secession and sought to dismember Nigeria. They then made their biggest mistake of all by provoking a full scale military conflict with Nigeria when they launched a vicious and unprovoked attack against the rest of the south attacking and conscripting the eastern minorities , storming the Mid-West and attempting to enter Yorubaland through Ore to capture it. Thankfully they were stopped in their tracks by the gallant efforts and courageous fighting skills of the Third Marine Commando (which was primarily a Yoruba force and which was under the command of the great Colonel Benjamin Adekunle, 'the Black Scorpion'), prevented from entering the west, driven out of the Mid-West, pushed back into the East, defeated in battle after battle and were eventually brought down to their knees and forced to surrender to the Federal forces in Enugu. The Igbo and their Biafra fought Nigeria and killed Nigerians for 3 hard years in that brutal civil war in which over one million courageous, loyal and faithful sons and daughters of the Federal Republic lost their lives at the war front trying to stop Biafra from seceeding from the federaration, from taking our land and from taking the minority groups of the Mid-Western Region and Eastern Region and our newlydiscovered oil with them. Yet despite our massive casualties and the monuemental loss of life that the Federal side suffered (a total of 2 million died on both sides) the Igbo people were welcomed back into Nigeria after the war with open arms. Yet it was only in Yorubaland and especially in Lagos that they were given all their “abandoned property” back and welcomed back as brothers and sisters without any reservations o r s u s p i c i o n s w h a t s o e v e r. Everywhere else in the country for many years they were denied, deprived, shunned, attacked, killed, discriminated against and humiliated but never in the southwest or Lagos. It is the Igbo people more than any other that have complained about marginalisation in Nigeria, forgetting that there is no other country in the world in which there was a major civil war and yet only 10 years after that war ended the losing side produced the Vice President for the whole country in a democratic election in 1979 in the distinguished person of Vice President Alex Ekwueme. Some have described my submissions in this debate as being ''inflammatory'' and have claimed that I am “not a true progressive” for making them. I reject these labels and I wonder whether those people that conjured them up described the comments of my dear friend and brother Chief Orji Kalu as “inflammatory” and whether they labelled him as “not being a true progressive” when he erroneously claimed that the Igbo generated 55 per cent of the revenue and owned 55 per cent of businesses in Lagos and that they are effectively the owners of the state. Unlike most of those that are attempting to label me and brand me as a tribalist I know the history of Lagos and the Yoruba very well. We will not let anyone poison the minds of our Yoruba youth or dispossess them of their heritage by keeping silent when we witness the

ADVOCATE irresponsible and dishonest propagation of the most desperate and despicable form of historical revisionism that some Igbo leaders are suddenly churning out. If anyone thinks that they can intimidate us into keeping quite when their leaders say such things then they will have the biggest shocker of their lives. We shall not be silenced and they shall not pass. Lagos and the Yoruba generally have much stronger historical, cultural and trading ties with the Bini, the Itsekiri, the Uruhobo, the Isoko, the HausaFulani, the Tapas, the Nupes and the Ijaws than they do with the Igbo. The input of those other major ethnic groups to the development of Lagos and their stake in her is far greater than that of the Igbo. Whether anyone wishes to accept it or not that is the bitter truth. We will not let anyone distort history and we will not keep silent when we hear the irresponsible and disrespectful effusions of those that seek to substitute truth with falsehood. When it comes to Lagos it is time that everyone respected themselves and knew their place. The Igbo particularly should display a much higher degree of respect and gratitude to those who were gracious enough to accept them in their land as equals when things were very difficult for them and who treated them with love, respect and kindness after the civil war when hardly anyone else was prepared to do so. We the Yoruba have accommodated others in Lagos and throughout the south west and we have let them live in peace for the last 100 years. As a matter of fact we have been glad to do so because as far as we are concerned that is one of the hallmarks of civilisation - the ability to accommodate other faiths, other cultures, other races and other nationalities and to create an equitable and just racial melting pot where equal opportunities are available to all. It is a great and noble virtue to be open and tolerant but that does not mean that we are fools and it does not mean that we do not know who we are, where we are coming from, what is ours and what our heritage is. The fact that we have allowed others to thrive and settle in our land and share it with us does not mean that we have stopped owning that land. The suggestion that Lagos is a “no-man's land” and that the Igbo or any other nationality outside the Yoruba generate up to 55 per cent of its revenue or business is absolutely absurd and frankly it has no basis in reality or rationality. It is not only a dirty lie but it is also very insulting. Guests, no matter how welcome, esteemed, cherished and valued they are, cannot become the owners of the house no matter how comfortable they are made to feel within it. Those guests will always be guests. Lagos belongs to the Yoruba and to the Yoruba alone. ALL others that reside there are guests, though some guests are far closer to us than others. The Igbos are the least close, the most distant and the least familiar with our customs and our ways. They ought to be the last to be claiming our heritage and coveting our land and neither can they claim to have made any real input to our glaring success. For them to think otherwise is nothing but delusion.

Culled from the Facebook page of former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode.

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Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

gist

“I Am A Victim Of Domestic Violence”

ritten by herself, Actress Chike Ike tell her fans about the physical abuse she suffered in the hands of the man she called her husband for five years. Read below; The past three years has been a very emotional period for me. I focused my energy on work and to build back my self esteem. its been really hard for me to come out straight and talk about this because sometimes I pinch myself to wake up and not believe that I was a victim of domestic violence. I've been through a lot in my life, faced a lot of challenges but this is one topic I've tried so hard to avoid and have been waiting for the right time but I have come to a resolve that there's really no right time because every second of the day,lives are being lost due to

domestic violence. I was a victiim of domestic violence in my marriage and that was the singular

reason I left my marriage, aside other reasons. Growing up as a girl. I was always

known as the sweetest kid on the block, before I got married, I have been through some relationships and for once no man had ever laid a finger on me. The first time it happened in my marriage I didn't understand it because I am not the type of woman a man beats but I guess there are no types. It just happens and no woman deserves it. As a young girl I thought it was love or his way of expressing his emotions,after every beating he pleads , cries and says it won't happen again, once again I thought it was love and made excuses for him. Over the years when it kept happening consistently I started looking for other definitions for it. I started loosing my self pride,self esteem , self worth, and most painfully i lost a pregnancy (Miscarriage) I almost lost my life in the process then I realised how serious and abnormal it really was. I have heard and read a lot of accusations from ignorant people who don't know my story,I guess that's why they are ignorant. I was

20yrs old and very naïve to the world when I got married .“ They said I married for money“ LOL. I was married to a corporate guy,who had a 9_5 job in a bank, Lives in a rented 2 bedroom apartment at Egbe.. So do the maths! . I married for love. I did a traditional wedding. A white wedding and a court wedding. So that's how much I wanted to be married forever. For five years I hoped, prayed & wished that one day it will all change. But the last straw that broke the carmels back was during a heated argument he threw a glass jug to my face and I dogged it and it shattered on d wall. I saw death flash before me and I made a decision to save my life. I left my marriage. Am not saying this to draw pity from anyone because we are entitled to our opinions and believes. I am not also saying this to discourage people from falling in love because its a beautiful feeling and I still believe in it. I am saying this to educate, share and talk about my experience as a victim of domestic violence because it is real.

Omotola, Genevieve, Monalisa, others make African Oscars list

lavour N'abania just concluded his US Tour 2013. The sold out tour saw him perform live with his live band in Dallas Tx, Houston Tx, Maryland MD, and New York NY. He performed some of his old hits and fresh tracks from his

he nominees for the third annual African 'Oscars' organised by Nollywood and African Film Critics, USA Washington DC has been released with Omotola Jolade Ekeinde,

Genevieve Nnaji, Monilsa Chinda and Uche Jumbo Rodriguez among A-rated Nigerian actresses nominated in various categories of the awards. Organisers say the ceremony

which holds on the 14th of September 2013 at Warner Theatre, will air worldwide with over 500 Million viewers expected to tune in to the glitz and glamour of NAFC Awards Night.

“Blessed” album and put up a great show. The tour is presented by Big A Entertainment and African Muzik Magazine, two entities that are committed to promoting African Music outside the borders of Africa.

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Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

Stories by Okey Anyichie

Nigerian Pioneer Football Clubs (7)

cc lion's football club of gboko, Benue state was among the strong football clubs that impacted on the national soccer scene from the mid-80s. The club was formed in 1982 by the Benue cement company based in Gboko, Benue state. After the formation of fabulous soccer outfit owned by the cement company in Benue state, the club in 1989 became the second football club to win the Nigerian challenge cup soccer competition from the northern part of the country. Hence it would be recalled that in 1953, Kano first eleven team became the first football team from outside Lagos to win this first major soccer competition called the challenge cup but now is known as federation cup(FA) The winning of this FA cup in 1989 by BCC Lions football club of Gboko made the club to be one of the club sides in the country then as a force in football. In 1990, when the professional league soccer fiesta began, was among the pioneer clubs that started the professional league in the country. And in 1994 won the premier league soccer championship. Apart from winning the league championship in 1994, the clubs showed its standard in FA cup soccer championship by winning after 1984, again in 1993, 1994 and 1997. With this performance in both the

BCC Lions Football Club Of Gboko. l e a g u e a n d FA s o c c e r championship, the club played for Nigeria in the continental championships in league and CAF cup competitions. In 1990, the club beat club Africa of Tunis, Tunisia won the cup for Nigeria, after 3SC and Rangers football clubs of Ibadan and Enugu won the continental soccer fiesta in 1976 and 1977. The Gboko based club

side nearly retained the championship in 1991 but out to a Zimbabwean club side in the final in 1995 the club made the first appearance at the continental league soccer championship in 1995 but crashed out in the second round of the competition. The club made appearance at 1994 CAF cup competition after 1990 and 1991. In 1994 competition got

eliminated in the quarter finals and the last appearance in this continental soccer competition fell by the way side in the first round in 1998. After this last appearance at the 1998, competition the fortunes of the club dwindled and was relegated to the lower league division and later disbanded. However with the background of

this Gboko based club side, the team deserves an accolade as in mentioning the football clubs that did Nigeria proud in the past, Bcc lion's football club qualified for honorable mention. For if anything, the club side won the CAF cup competition for Nigeria, like the two other Nigerian club sides 3SC and Rangers of Ibadan and Enugu did.

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Nigeria at world athletics championship-taking stock of participation and how well will Nigeria athletes fare at the track events, hence they are participating in track events. As they had left for the competition in Russia last Monday (5th August), expectations may not be too high on their standard. A glance at Nigerian athletes and

he 16th edition of world athletics championship began on Saturday, 10th August 2013 in Moscow, Russia and expected numerous countries will be at the venue of the sports extra-vaganza, Nigeria is among the countries that would be involved in this world field and track events. This competition would remind sports analyst and writers on the 1980 Olympic games WHERE FIELD AND TRACK events formed a robust part of the 1980 Olympics Games. Nigeria was also at that 1980 Olympic Games in Russia which was bedeviled by U.S.A and her allies. However the games went on and ended without U.S.A and her allies participation. Now it is only the field events that would involve countries from all the nooks and crannies of the world from 10th 18th August, 2013. Again this global track and field events in Russia would be a dress rehearsal of the 2016 Olympic Games in the South American country of Brazil. For Nigeria it would also be a testing ground for her athletes, some of whom would represent Nigeria in the 2014

Commonwealth games in Edinburgh, Scotland and 2015 All Africa games. These two regional games have made Nigerian sportsmen and women very effective after participation at the two regional games. However the fortunes of Nigeria in these games have continued to dwindle over the years. Even at the global games, Olympics, it is almost becoming non-event for Nigeria, hence the 2012 games in London England was a colossal failure.

Nigeria is set to compete for gold, silver and bronze medals. This global track and field events in Russia is expected to produce the best especially in sprint events of 100 and 200 meters. It is expected that 'sprints-juggernaut' Usain Bolt will improve on his 2012 Olympic standard in London. However an upset is not ruled out as track events sometimes produce a 'dark horse'. Now we zero in on Nigeria's impact at the competition how far

their events may not produce fantastic result. But all eyes are on Blessing Okagbare, who set an African record in 100m in a time of 10.79 sec. Here are the names of Nigerian athletes and events they would participate in:

Blessing Okagbare – 100m/200m/long jump Gloria Asumnu – 100m Regina George – 400m Ajoke Odumosu – 400m Hurdles Omolara Omotosho – 400m Ehigie Josephine – 400m Okon Patience – 400m Stephanie Kalu – 100m Ugonna Ndu – 400m Hurdles Uko Peace – 4 x 100m Mayungbe Ibukun – 4 x 400m Abogunloko Bukola – 4 x 400m Egwereogho Oghene – 100m Noah Akwu – 200m Momoh Leoman – 800m Tosin Oke – Triple jump Onakoya Abiola – 4 x 400m Salihu Isah – 4 x 400m Ogunwa Tobi – 4 x 400m Odeka Gerald – 4 x 400m With these members of the team at Russia, their efforts would be known on Saturday 18th August at the end of the events.

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Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

Rafael Nadal beats Novak Djokovic to reach Rogers Cup final Bolt regains world 100m title in emphatic style

pain's Rafael Nadal handed Novak Djokovic another semifinal defeat when he beat the world number one at the Rogers Cup on Saturday to set up a title decider against local favourite Milos Raonic. Nadal held off a surging Djokovic to win 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2) in a pulsating semifinal that resembled a heavyweight boxing showdown with the duo trading breathtaking winners. The victory was Nadal's second successive over Djokovic at this stage of a tournament following his epic five-set triumph on clay at the French Open in June. "To beat Novak on any surface is very important," Nadal said in a courtside interview. "His level is always high and you have to play well ... almost perfect to beat him.” Nadal made a flying start in front of a capacity crowd as Djokovic was unusually tentative and struggled on serve. But the lull did not last long as the Serbian, two time defending champion, stormed back into the contest, unleashing some crunching forehand winners as he drew level. With the audience roaring their approval at every thrilling rally, Djokovic looked to have the momentum in the match as he continued to find success in going for his shots, keeping his opponent pinned on the baseline.

Rafael Nadal But all the while Nadal showed off some magic of his own and it became clear that this highquality encounter, the 36th between the pair, would need a tiebreak to settle the issue. Nadal went up another gear in racing a 6-0 lead in the breaker but even in defeat Djokovic went down swinging. He saved two match points with

winners before a forehand drifted long to hand the Spaniard a first hard court victory over his rival since 2010. "It was a very close match," Djokovic told reporters. "There were very few points that decided the winner. "I had my chances. He had his chances. At the end he played better.”

MANDELA CHALLENGE CUP FULL TIME RESULT

Nigeria 2 – 0 South Africa

amaican sprint star Usain Bolt lifted track and field out of the doping doldrums as he reclaimed his world 100m title in emphatic style on Sunday. Bolt clocked a season's best 9.77 seconds in heavy rain at the Luzhniki Stadium, with American Justin Gatlin claiming silver in 9.85sec and Nesta Carter, also of Jamaica, taking bronze in 9.95sec. Athletics' credibility had again been called to account in recent weeks, notably after American sprint rival Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell tested positive for drugs. Once again it was Bolt, the powerfully-built 26-year-old world record holder in both the 100 and 200m, who came to the rescue, at least in the short term. The sole blot on the Jamaican's copybook since winning treble gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was a false start two years ago in the Daegu worlds that saw now-injured teammate Yohan Blake takes the blue riband title. The race itself was “classic” Bolt in front of a Luzhniki

Okagbare jumps to silver, pockets N4.8m

lessing Okagbare, the 24 year-old Delta-born athlete, who is leading Nigeria's medals chase at the ongoing IAAF World Athletics Championships in Moscow, yesterday proved that she was destined for great things when she jumped to a silver medal win in the Women's Long Jump event at the Luzhniki Stadium Okagbare's penultimate jump of 6.99m was only surpassed by the defending champion from America, Brittney Reese, whose second jump of 7.01 was enough to win her the gold. With one giant leap, Reese again rose to the occasion and became the first woman to win three long jump titles at the world championships. Despite losing the gold to the American, Okagbare was gracious in celebrating her silver-medal feat, by hugging the champion from America. Tipped by many athletics buffs, including Mary Onyali to win at least a medal at the world championships, Okagbare was all smiles as she celebrated with

Okagbare the Nigerian flag draped around her to the delight of the few Nigerians at the stadium. Okagbare's silver earned her $30, 000 from the IAAF. Reese pocketed $60, 000 for her goldmedal win. Remarkably, Reese, gold medallist in 2009 and 2011, had

scraped into the final on countback after a below-par showing in Saturday's qualifying but the American had no intention of losing her crown and, after opening with a foul, leapt 7.01m. Her jump was the only seven metre jump of the competition Serbia's Ivana Spanovic was

third with a national record 6.82m on count-back from Belarussian Volha Sudarava. Before celebrating, Olympic champion Reese put on a t-shirt bearing the words 'Team Reeset', hugged Okagbare and then holding the Stars and Stripes flag, posed for photographs.

Stadium that was far from being a sell-out in stormy weather. Modestly, but safely, out of the blocks, Bolt's head and shoulders remained low as he drove into the opening metres. While his reaction time might have been slower than all but one other in the field, he soon reeled in the opposition. Come the 50 metre mark and Bolt pushed his huge frame through his renowed transition phase, head coming up and long legs pumping, teeth gritted and eyes on the big screen beyond the finish line. He moved past Gatlin on his left and had a brief look over at Carter on his right before putting on the after-burners. In the build-up to the evening session, the “Bolt effect” could be seen in the crowd, as one of sport's biggest names once again proved his worth as an athlete and main drawcard for a track and field meet. The sparsely-populated stadium had filled out and excitement grew as the race approached. With Bob Marley blazing over the tannoy, television cameras picked out each racer, but played on Bolt in lane six, dressed in black and green shorts and the yellow and black singlet of the Jamaican team. To the delight of the crowd, he mimed getting out a portable umbrella as heavy rain started to fall, drawing laughter and applause. As the starter called them to the blocks, Bolt put a finger to his lips to hush the crowd, briefly crossing himself and looking skywards as the television zoomed in and his picture was broadcast on the big stadium screen. The race didn't even last 10 seconds but the gold saw Bolt also move within touching distance of equalling American sprint legend Carl Lewis' record of eight world gold medals. Just before the hour mark, United extended their lead as Evra, Cleverley and Welbeck helped to work the ball from left to right to Van Persie, whose shot deflected off James Perch and left Carson with no chance.

Vol. 1 No. 29, Friday, August 16 - Thursday, August 22, 2013

Peter Utaka Back page comment

The Bitter Truth About the Igbo By Femi Fani-Kayode

ermit me to make my second and final contribution to the raging debate about Lagos, who owns it and the seemingly endless tensions that exist between the Igbo and the Yoruba. It is amazing how one or two of the numerous nationalities that make up Nigeria secretly wish that they were Yoruba and consistently lay claim to Lagos as being partly theirs. Have they forgotten where they came from? I have never heard of a Yoruba wanting to give the impression to the world that he is an Igbo, an Ijaw, an Efik or a Hausa-Fulani or claiming that he is a co-owner of Port Harcourt, Enugu, Calabar, Kano or Kaduna. Yet more often than not some of those that are not of Yoruba extraction but that have lived in Lagos for some part of their lives have tried to claim that they are bona fide Lagosians and honorary members of the Yoruba race. Clearly it is time for us to answer the nationality question. These matters have to be settled once and for all. Lagos and the south west are the land and the patrimony of the Yoruba and we will not allow anyone, no matter how fond of them we may be, to take it away from us or share it with us in the name of “being nice”, “patriotism”, “one Nigeria” or anything else. The day that the Yoruba are allowed to lay claim to exactly the same rights and privileges that the indigenous people in non-Yoruba states and zones enjoy and the day they can operate freely and become commissioners and governors in the Niger Delta states, the north, the Middle Belt and the south-east we may reconsider our position. But up until then we shall not do so. Lagos is not a “no-man's land” but the land and heritage of the Yoruba people. Others should not try to claim what is not theirs. I am not involved in this debate for fun or for political gain and I am not participating in it to play politics but rather to speak the truth, to present the relevant historical facts to those that wish to learn and to educate the uninformed. That is why I write without fear or favour and that is why I intend to be thoroughly candid and brutally frank in this essay. And I am not too concerned or worried about what anyone may think or how they may feel about what I am about to say because I am a servant of truth and the truth must be told no matter how bitter it is and no matter whose ox is gored. That truth is as follows. The Yoruba, more than any other nationality in this country in the last 100 years, have been far too accommodating and tolerant when it comes to their relationship with other nationalities in this country and this is often done to their own detriment. That is

why some of our Igbo brothers and sisters can make some of the sort of asinine remarks and contributions that a few of them have been making in this debate both in the print media and in numerous social media portals and networks ever since Governor Fashola “deported” 19 igbo destitutes back to Anambra State. In the last 80 years the Igbo have been shown more generosity, accomodation, warmth and kindness and given more opportunities and leverage by the Yoruba than they have been offered by ANY other ethnic group in Nigeria. This is a historical fact. The Yoruba do not have any resentment for the Igbo and we have allowed them to do in our land and our territory what they have never allowed us to do in theirs. This has been so for 80 long years and it is something that we are very proud of. As I said elsewhere recently, to be accommodating and generous is a mark of civilisation and it comes easily to people that once had empires. The reason why

many of our people take strong exception to the apparent outrage of the Igbo over this “deportation” issue and the provocative comments of my friend and brother Chief Orji Uzor Kalu when he described Lagos as being a “no man's land” is because the Igbo have not only taken us for granted but they have also taken liberty for licence. We cannot be expected to tolerate or accept that sort of irreverent and unintelligent rubbish simply because we still happen to believe in “one Nigeria” and we will not sacrifice our rights or prostitute our principles on the altar of that “one Nigeria”. Whether Nigeria is one or not, what is ours is ours and no-one should test our resolve or make any mistake about that. “One Nigeria” yes but no-one should spit in our faces or covet our land, our treasure, our success, our history, our virtues, our being and our heritage and attempt to claim those for themselves simply because we took them in on a rainy day. It is that same attitude of “we own everything”, “we must have everything” and “we must control everything” that the Igbo settlers manifested in the northern region in the late 50's and early and mid-60's that got them into so much trouble up there with the HausaFulani and that eventually led to the terrible

pogroms where almost one hundred thousand of them were killed in just a few days. Again it is that same attitude that they manifested in Lagos and the Western Region in the late '30's and the early and mid-40's that alienated the Yoruba from them, that led to the establishment of the Action Group in April, 1951 and that resulted in the narrow defeat of Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe in the Western Regional elections of December, 1951. As a matter of fact they were the ones that FIRST introduced tribalism into southern politics in 1945 with the unsavoury comments of Mr. Charles Dadi Onyeama who was a member of the Central Legislative Council representing Enugu and who said at the Igbo State Union address that “the domination of Nigeria and Africa by the Igbo is only a matter of time”. This single comment made in that explosive and historic speech did more damage to southern Nigerian unity than any other in the entire history of our country and everything changed from that moment on. To make matters worse, in July 1948 Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe made his own openly tribal and incendiary speech, again at the Igbo State Union, in which he spoke about the “god of the igbo” eventually giving them the leadership of Nigeria and Africa. These careless and provocative words cost him dearly and put a nail in the coffin of the NCNC in the Western Region from that moment on. This was despite the fact that that same NCNC, which was easily the largest and most powerful political party in Nigeria at the time, had been founded and established by a great and illustrious son of the Yoruba by the name of Mr. Herbert Macauly. Macauly, like most of the Yoruba in his day, saw no tribe and he happily handed the leadership of the party over to Azikiwe, an Igbo man, in 1945 when he was on his dying bed. How much more can the Yoruba do than that when it comes to being blind to tribe? Can there be any greater evidence of our total lack of racial prejudice and tribal sentiments than that? If the NCNC had been founded and established by an Igbo man would he have handed the whole thing over to a Yoruba on his death bed? I doubt it very much. Again when northern military officers mutinied, effected their “revenge coup” and went to kill the Igbo military Head of State, General Aguiyi-Ironsi on July 29th 1966 in the old Western Region, his host, the Yoruba Col. Fajuyi (who was military Governor of the Western Region at the time), insisted that they would have to kill him first before taking Aguiyi-Ironsi's life and the northern officers (led by Major T.Y. Danjuma as he then was) promptly obliged him by slaughtering him before killing Aguiyi-

Continues on page 28

Peter Utaka (born 12 February 1984 in Enugu) is a Nigerian footballer with a Belgian passport currently playing for Chinese club Beijing Guoan. He is the younger brother of John Utaka, who currently plays for Montpellier in France. Club career Utaka moved to Croatia as a 16-year old to play in Dinamo Zagreb. In 2003 he moved to Belgium from Dinamo and signed for K. Patro Eisden Maasmechelen of the third division. KVC Westerlo moved to sign him the following season, and in his first season in the top flight. He joined Royal Antwerp FC in January 2007 where he became a first team regular, and he helped Antwerp qualify for the playoffs, finishing second. On 30 August 2008, it was announced that Utaka would join Danish club OB. Utaka joined Danish side OB in 2008. In his first season he finished joint fourth place on the scorers list, while he led all scorers in his second season. He finished with 18 goals in 33 matches, the first time in five years an OB player was top scorer in the league (last was Steffen Højer in 200405 with 20 goals). In January 2012, Utaka moved to Chinese Super League club Dalian Aerbin. He transferrd to Beijing Guoan on 9 July 2013.

International career On 21 September 2009, national coach Shaibu Amodu selected Peter for the Nigerian national football team. Utaka made his debut for Nigeria months later in a 52 home win over Congo DR on 3 March 2010, despite only getting his call up late after the NFF called his mother looking for him. He scored the first goal and assisted on the second] He scored twice against in a Nations Cup qualifier against Ethiopia.