Police arrest 2 sons of Jim Nwobodo

ONLINE Vol. 2 No. 108, February 5, 2015

NIGERIA

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Defacing of Billboards:

Angry youths invade Umeh calls for Imo Govt House Pg. 2 Ekwunife's arrest .

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UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA NSUKKA HONOURS SENATOR IKE EKWEREMADU The Vice Chancellor, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba; Deputy President of the Senate, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu, and his wife, Dr. Nwanneka Ekweremadu during the conferment of Honorary Doctor of Laws on the Senator at the 44th Convocation of the UNN in Nsukka.

ALLEGED THREAT TO FATHER'S LIFE:

Police arrest 2 sons of Jim Nwobodo T

By Ted Peters & Rex Arum

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Continues on page 2

Ohanaeze National Secretariat bombed

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Man cuts off manhood to concentrate Pg. 23 on fasting

wo sons of the former civilian governor of old Anambra State, Chief Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo were arrested in Enugu by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad from Abuja Monday afternoon.

T h e a r r e s t e d , A D V O C AT E NIGERIA gathered was sequel to a petition written by their father, Chief Nwobodo in which he reportedly alleged that his two sons, Usonwanne

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February 5, 2015

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Police arrest 2 sons of Nwobodo Continued from front page and Chukwudi born by his divorced wife, Mrs. Mukosolu were threatening his life.

In the case reported at Area 10 Police Station Abuja, Chief Nwobodo was said to have also named Emeka, the son of his late elder brother, John Nwobodo who allegedly permitted the burial of Dr Ifeanyi Nwobodo jnr in his father's compound on December 16 after the protracted family feud that disrupted the earlier burial arrangement made by the former governor.

Sources said that Usonwanne and Chukwudi whom Chief Nwobodo accused of masterminding the disappearance from the mortuary of Ifeanyi's corpse on December 6, 2014, were arrested by the policemen Monday afternoon and detained at the SARS office from where they would be taken to

Abuja on Tuesday.

Although details of how they were arrested was scanty by press time, it was learnt that the policemen told them that they had orders from Abuja to effect their arrest to respond to various allegations leveled against them by their father.

Efforts by the policemen to arrest Emeka, the son of Nwobodo's late elder brother proved abortive as he could not be found but the sources said a manhunt had been launched for him within the coal city.

Chief Nwobodo had disagreed with his children over the burial place for Dr. Ifeanyi a development that prevented the funeral ceremony in December causing the former governor a huge embarrassment.

He had built a house opposite his

Jim Nwobodo residence at Amechi village where

he directed that Ifeanyi should be buried but his children including the two sons and a daughter based in United Kingdom kicked against his decision to bury their brother who was his first son outside his compound.

The former governor had insisted that the Ifeanyi's corpse would be buried in the new house he built for him after his demise but on the day of the burial the corpse was removed to an unknown place and the dignitaries invited for the funeral ceremony were disappointed.

Following the development, Nwobodo told newsmen that he had disowned the three children and vowed not to have anything to do with the burial of the late son anymore.

However, Ifeanyi's brothers

organized another burial ceremony on December 16 in the absence of their father who had left for Abuja but the corpse which earlier disappeared was buried inside the compound of Nwobodo's elder brother, John which shares the same fence with that of the former governor.

“What is happening is very unfortunate because we had thought that Chief Nwobodo has decided to let the matter die after he had announced that he has disowned his children.

“I am aware that what is happening now is not unconnected with the seizure of Ifeanyi's corpse and the refusal to bury him at the compound where his father built a house for him after his demise but it is wrong to take the family matter this far after the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu and some eminent religious leaders had intervened,” the source said.

Angry youths invade Imo Govt House …Turns Pro-Okorocha rally into violence over non-payment

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hat was planned to be a solidarity rally in favour of Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State on Monday degenerated into a violent protest against the governor leading to a major security breach.

The students' rally was reportedly hijacked by irate youths who invaded the Government House with a different motive.

As early as 8.30 am Monday throngs of students and youths from all walks of life had gathered at the Governor Rochas Okorocha Campaign office along Okigwe road.

They mobilized by the Executive Assistant to the Governor on Students Affairs, one Godstime Samuel, for a solidarity rally in support of the re-election of the governor under the platform called the National Union of Imo State Students (NUISS).

The students who turned out in their thousands were drawn 80 each from each of the 27 council areas in the state. They students indeed staged a massive rally and road show for the governor and reconvened at the freedom square where they were addressed by the Commissioner for Lands, Chief Uche Nwosu and later the governor himself who promised them N4million.

At the end of the rally, the Executive Assistant, Godstime Samuel presented the sum of N1.5million to be shared

among over 10,000 young men.

It was however not clear the reasons given by Samuel; whether N1.5million was all that was provided by the governor or whether he put the rest of the money to other uses, but the students would not buy any of the story.

And in the confusion that ensued, Samuel disappeared from the scene. Angry and unable to locate their Governor Rochas Okorocha contact man for explanations and completion of the money, the frustrated

students went on rampage.

Now chanting solidarity songs in favour of the PDP and its governorship candidate, Chief Emeka Ihedioha, the youths marched to the Government House and forced the gate open in what was described as a security breach as Government House workers scampering for safety.

The action of the students who were virtually unchallenged saw Government House workers fleeing to as far as the Governor's lodge for safety.

Finding no one to address their grievances, the students vandalised and destroyed anything that stood in their way.

The governor's posters and billboards were torn to shreds, Street lampholders, APC flags along the Government House drive-in were destroyed and traffic within the Imo State seat of power was halted.

The students were only restrained when a detachment of combat-ready policemen were drafted to the scene. The policemen had to shoot several canisters of teargas to dislodge the defiant young men.

The incident forced workers at commercial banks along the bank road area near Government House to close down and flee their offices for fear of vandalism and teargas.

Defacing of Billboards:

Umeh calls for Ekwunife's arrest *Umeh is used to blackmail Ekwunife

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he Director General of Chief Sir Victor Umeh Campaign Organization , Barr. Obele-Chuka Obele has called on the Inspector General of Police, Sulaiman Abba and the Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Hassan Karma to enforce the provision of the breach of peace and unlawful Assembly law on Honourable Uche Ekwunife for allegedly destroying the political billboard of Chief Sir Victor Umeh at various locations in Anambra state Central Senatorial District.

Conducting journalists round the sites of the destroyed billboards, Obele-Chuka-Obele disclosed that only the billboards of Honourable Ekwunife are still standing in EziNa-Ano, Enuguw-Ukwu , Agu-

Ukwu- Nri, Adazi , Nwagu-Agulu , Nkpor, Ogidi, Borromeo and other places around the senatorial district as at the time of the tour.

He described the action as most unfortunate. His Words 'We call on the Inspector General of police (IGP) and the Anambra state commissioner of police to immediately enforce the provision of the breach of peace and unlawful Assembly Law, Section 3(2) or that he should prescribe a one-year prison term or one million naira fine or both for its violation.

In spite of these deliberate provocations by this group and also in spite of the fact that Chief Sir Victor Umeh Organization, has the wherewithal, capacity and capability to retaliate ten folds we

still restrain ourselves and resisted the temptation of degeneration to the level of gutter politics and thuggery .

'We are guided by the philosophy of our principal Chief Sir Victor Umeh, to maintain high decorum and run a purely issue-based campaign devoid of any action that might cause breach of peace in the state,' Obele said.

Reacting through the Director General of her Campaign Organization, Hon. Aphonsus Arinze Anagu , Ekwunife dissociated herself from the allegation describing it as a figment of their imagination.

She alleged that her billboards had been destroyed on many occasions, but she decided to remain resolute and embarked on

issue-based campaign devoid of cheap propaganda.

According to the DG, 'We have refused to join issues with Victor Umeh but at this point, we need to clear ourselves and react to the silly allegation.

“To start with, the same Victor Umeh has been going round, saying that our principal is not the candidate of the PDP and the same person is still going round saying she is defacing his billboards…

'Our Principal is a woman, go and ask her numerous supporters , she has never for one day hired thugs, you cannot see thugs in her campaign training.

'You can't see her engage in any illegal activities and she has never asked anybody to go and deface anybody's posters, let alone billboards.”

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Unite against electoral violence, Ekweremadu urges Nigerians

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he Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu has called on Nigerians to unite against electoral violence.

He made the call during the conferment of an honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D) degree on him at the 44 Tth Convocation Ceremony of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

This was even as he called on the nation's higher institutions of learning to rise up to the task of restoring the dignity of man through quality researches that address the nation's security and development challenges.

Speaking during the event, Senator Ekweremadu who also holds a PhD in Law, stressed the need for rigorous advocacy to keep the youth away from electoral violence.

He charged well-meaning Nigerians to rise up in defence of the national interest and in condemnation of acts of electoral violence irrespective of political, ethnic, and religious leanings.

He warned: “Election is not a do-or-die affair. We are worried about the attacks on some political actors by people in parts of the country other than their own. Let us stand together and call the political elites to order.

We must admit that elections will come and go, but that this country will remain. Therefore, we must play politics with every sense of responsibility, ensuring that everybody is accorded his due respect.

“We must also bear in mind that events and utterances that incubate electoral violence start well ahead of elections. We must live with a sense of history and remember that the same tree stump does not trip a wise man twice”.

Referring to the motto of the institution, Senator Ekweremadu who is also an alumnus of the University of Nigeria, said the nation was now in greater need for the restoration of the dignity of man.

He added: “Today, human life is cheap unlike in the days of our fathers. Stealing used to be a taboo. Today, people are kidnapped and armed robbers are on rampage unlike our school days. There are so many churches and mosques today, yet we have more evil. Indeed, there is need for all to rise across religious and ethnic divides to restore the dignity of man”.

Also speaking on the occasion, President Goodluck Jonathan

advised Nigerian universities to broaden the scope of their professional concerns and create innovations in teach­ing to help push the country to compete with advanced nations of the world.

The president also called on the n a ­ t i o n ' s universities to increase their research base, accelerate scientific and technological progress, as well as ensure the overall mechanization and au­tomation of production in all areas.

“This is the only DSP, Ike Ekweremadu way we can join the comity of nations in the the Education Minister, Malam inevitable march to dis­tinctive Ibrahim Shekarau, said. progress,” Jonathan, who was The president disclosed that his represented at the occasion by

administration had carried out re-appraisal and reexam­ination of existing educational policies in order to generate new realities and provide a sound policy capable of stand­ing the test of time.

“Through this method, this administration has succeeded in eliminating bureaucratic ri­gidity and regimentation in the education sector.

“I am pleased to re-affirm our resolve to continue to sup­port the education system, especially the universities, to assist them to overcome their challenges in the areas of capacity-building, knowledge dissemination, r e s e a r c h a n d infrastructure,” he promised.

He expressed delight that since October 1960 when UNN began it “has main­tained its superiority in the nation's educational arena,” saying that

the institution has continued to adhere to the philosophy of its founding fathers, especially in the envi­able mandate of restoring the dignity of man.

Earlier the Vice Chancel­lor of UNN, Prof Benjamin Ozumba in his welcome ad­dress said the convocation which is a weeklong ceremo­ny had set aside the event to reward excellence.

“Apart from conferring degrees on our graduands stretching over different dis­ciplines and classifications, today's ceremony is also designed to honour, in a spe­cial way, eminent personali­ties who have distinguished themselves in various fields of human endeavour,” the VC explained.

He said the university se­lected to honour four distin­guished Nigerians: Senator Ike Ekweremadu; Lady Dr (Mrs.) Valerie-Janette Azinge; Mr Ojunekwu Augustine Avuru and Dr Musa Babayo alongside Prof Paul Akubue and Prof P.N. Okeke for the conferment of professors emeritus.

Enugu PDP raises alarm over smear campaign against Ugwuanyi

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he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Enugu State has raised the alarm over what it described plot by some political opponents in the state to stage a campaign of calumny against its candidates in the 2015 election, particularly the gubernatorial candidate! Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

A statement signed by the Director, Media and Publicity of PDP Campaign Organization in

the State, Chukwudi Achife, said that the party has uncovered a plot led by the gubernatorial candidate of a major opposition party to spread false stories through street newspapers and the social media about Hon Ugwuanyi in a desperate bid to smear his image and reputation before his overwhelming supporters in and outside the state.

Achife said the antics of the

opposition candidate behind the smear campaign, was not surprising since “he is known as a person who has neither conscience nor a defined agenda for the development and emancipation of Enugu State” and therefore resorting to a campaign of falsehood was his only hope of making any impact whatsoever among the people.

The PDP Campaign spokesman however stressed the gambit, like

in previous occasions was bound to fail and boomerang against its originator.

While warning that the, PDP would not sit back and allow its image and that of its candidates to be smeared through falsehood in the name of politics, he advised the general public to ignore such antics from a politician known for “his crass desperation to occupy the Lion building by any possible means”.

Jonathan will win 2015 Presidential poll Ugwuanyi

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he Peoples Democratic P a r t y ( P D P ) Governorship Candidate in Enugu State for the 2015 general elections, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has expressed optimism that President Goodluck Jonathan will be reelected because of his good works and transformational agenda for the nation which have endeared him to the electorate.

Ugwuanyi made this declaration while addressing a mammoth crowd of supporters at the PDP campaign rally in Oji River Local Government Area of the State.

He also commended Governor Sullivan Chime for making governance easy in Enugu State through his unprecedented performance in office, adding that this was the reason why he and his running mate, Hon. Mrs. Cecilia Ezeilo, have accepted to continue and consolidate on the gains of the 4-point agenda of Chime's administration in the State.

The Party's Governorship candidate noted that it will be a disservice to deny the nation the great vision of President Goodluck Jonathan, as was evident in the numerous achievements his

administration has recorded in the last four years.

Ugwuanyi therefore called on the people of Oji River Local Government Area to come out en masse and vote for President Jonathan and other candidates of the Party in the State in the February general elections.

Earlier in his speech, Governor Sullivan Chime who was excited by the huge crowd at the rally, thanked the people of Oji River Local Government Area for expanding their support, goodwill and followership of the party and further urge them to vote for all the candidates of the PDP in the coming elections.

The Governor also urged them to ensure that they collect their Permanent Voter's Cards (PVC)

to enable them vote during the elections.

Other dignitaries that spoke at the rally include, the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who is also the Senatorial Candidate of the Party in the area, the House of Representatives Candidate of t h e P a r t y, H o n To b y Okechukwu, the House of Assembly Candidate of the Party, Hon. Donatus Ozogbado, the State Chairman of the Party, Chief Ikeje Asogwa, the Council Chairman, Hon. Onyemaechi Ikechukwu Jideofor and the Director General of the PDP Campaign Organization in the State, Chief C.O.C Egumgbe, among others

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February 5, 2015

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Chic

NIGERIA

APGA adopts Enugu PDP guber candidate, Ugwuanyi

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he Peoples Demo­cratic Party (PDP) governorship candi­date in Enugu State, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi's electoral fortunes received a boost at the weekend, as the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) adopted him as its gubernatorial candidate for the February 28 election.

The state chairman of APGA , Chief Okechukwu Nkolagu, who disclosed this during a press briefing at the party's state secretariat, said it would have been an effort in futility if APGA fielded any other candidate to run for the governorship other than Ugwuanyi.

He said that his party's choice of Ugwuanyi was predicated on his track record of performance, adding that APGA was convinced that with the PDP candidate as the next governor of Enugu State, the future of the people of the state would be guaranteed and secured.

Nkolagu stated that APGA was cautious of those emerg­ing as governorship candi­dates in the state, disclosing that there was a surge by aspirants who wanted to use the party platform to contest the governorship election, but they were turned down.

“Rather we tried to distill for an aspirant that will com­mand the influence of the ma­jority of the people of the state and one, who

would also be capable of enthroning better governance in the state.

“I have the pleasure to in­form you that the search was rigorous, but at the end, the party settled to adopt Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Gburug­buru) as its governorship can­didate for the February 28, 2015 gubernatorial election in Enugu State,” Nkolagu said.

The APGA chairman noted that the adoption of the PDP candidate was in line with the national party's adoption of President Goodluck Jonathan for president.

“We, therefore, enjoin all our party members, supporters and admirers of APGA in the state to help, work for and de­liver Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi as the next governor of Enugu State. We have no doubt in our mind that he will take Enugu State to a greater pros­perity and achieve a secured future for the state,” Nkolagu said.

He, however, said APGA would only concede to the PDP the presidential and governorship slot and urged the people of the state to vote for APGA candidates in the national and state assembly elections where they have fielded candidates.

Nkolagu disclosed that APGA in the state fielded candidates for the three sena­torial seats, five House of Representatives slots and 11 House of Assembly constitu­encies.

Fulani herdsmen caught with AK-47 rifles in Delta

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wo Fulani herdsmen, Idih and Usman have been arrested with two AK 47 rifle magazines, containing 30 rounds of live ammunition each.

They were arrested by the police patrol team at Aboh division in Delta State.

The arrest was disclosed Tuesday by the Delta State Police Public R e l a t i o n O f f i c e r, D e p u t y Superintendent of Police, Celestina Kalu, who said the two herdsmen were on a motorcycle, with registration number NSK 136 QB before their arrest at

Setraco Junction, Ashaka/Aboh road.

She also disclosed that a similar case was reported by another police patrol team attached to the 'A' Division, Warri concerning a group of suspected cultists, who were sighted along Okpe Street, Off Iyara road.

Kalu said the suspected cultists fled on sighting the patrol team, leaving behind a black bag.

“However, the police found one locally made pistol, two daggers, mask-cap and torchlight when the black bag was recovered”, she concluded.

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February 5, 2015

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MTI Boss applauds Obiano on appointment of Media executives

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he Chief Executive of the Federal Government owned Metallurgical Training Institute (MTI), Onitsha, South East Nigeria, Engr.

Ikechukwu I. Okonkwo has congratulated Sir Chuka Nnabuife and Mr. Uche Nworah on their appointment as the Managing Director cum Chief Executive Officer of the National Light Newspapers, and the Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS) respectively.

In a statement issued in his office in Onitsha, Engr. Okonkwo welcomed the two Chief Executives on board the media organizations, and paid glowing tribute to the Anambra State governor, Chief Willie Obiano for his positive transformation of the two government's media outfits.

The M.T.I. Chief Executive commended the cordial relationship and harmonious co-

existence between the Metallurgical Training Institute Onitsha and the ABS and National Light Newspaper, Awka, and expressed the hope that the cordial relation will grow stronger and stronger.

Engr. Okonkwo praised that Federal and State governments for their efforts to solve the nation's unemployment problem through the establishment of Skill Training Centres in various parts of the country and re-iterated the commitment of the M.T.I Onitsha to contributing its quota in curbing unemployment through its technical skill acquisition programs.

According to M.T.I Boss, the Institution is poised to impact on the nation's work force requisite technical skills to ensure quality service delivery by Nigerian workers, as well as make the teeming young unemployed

graduates job creators instead of job hunters by setting up their own businesses and employing others to boost employment opportunities in the country.

E n g r. O k o n k w o remarked that following the 2008 global economic melt-down and its attendant mass unemployment, huge job cuts and budget deficits experienced in both developed and undeveloped economies, as well as near extinction of Engr. white collar job, Nigerians, particularly the youths, must acquire those necessary basic technical skills to

Ex-Enugu Dev. Area officials cry foul over unpaid entitlements

By Rex Arum

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roup under aegis of Association of former Administrators, secretaries and members of four development Areas in Ezeagu local government Area of Enugu state have cried foul over the nonpayment of their severance, furniture and leave allowances since 2011 when they served out there term in office as appointees of the development areas.

In a letter titled “appeal for payment of severance, furniture th and leave allowances” dated 6 August and signed by Hon. Livinus Ozor, former secretary Ezeagu West Dev. Area, Hon. Simeon Ibekwe, former secretary Ezeagu North Dev Area, Hon Mrs. Nkiru Ugwuagu, former secretary Ezeagu West Dev. Area and Hon Joel Chineke, former secretary Ezeagu South Dev. Area, the group appealed to Governor Sullivan Chime to use his good offices to order the release of all payments due to them which has remained outstanding since they left office in 2011.

The group recalled that 57 development areas of Enugu state were established by an act of Enugu state House of Assembly which was duly accented to by the governor adding that it was further consolidated through the release of a circular from the office of the secretary to the State government with Ref No: th ENS/SSG/M242/IV/91 dated 28 October 2009, titled O P E R A T I O N A L GUIDELINES/ SALARIES AND ALLOWANCES FOR E X E C U T I V E A N D

LEGISLATIVE ARMS OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT SYSTEM. According to the letter the group claimed the circular clearly stated the salaries and allowances of Development Area Administrators, secretaries and members.

The letter read, “In line with the policy of your administration and the circular under reference, then Ezeagu local government under B a r r. J u l i u s O g b u k e h a d processed the payment for all the outstanding allowances for the Development Area, unfortunately payment could not be effected before he left office”.

The group alleged that Barr.

Emeka Ozoagu who took over the local government leadership after Ogbuka declined to pay them the money upon the claim that the governor had told the local government chairmen that “that the Development Areas were 'Illegal entity' and as such the issues of allowances are dead and buried.”

They expressed dismay over the issue, stating “the disappointment and frustration w e e x p er i e n ced i s b etter imagined, moreso since most of us believed that our cheques would be released ..”.

But the plea of these former appointees of the development areas did not yield any fruit as neither the Governor nor any other government official responded to them.

Advocate Nigeria gathered that these former officials letter may have hit a concrete wall in the office of the former chief of staff to the governor Mrs. Ifeoma Nwobodo.

In their resolve to seek redress on

the issue, the former development Area members carried their plea to the Catholic Bishop of Enugu diocese Callistus Onaga asking him to intervene on the matter and plead on their behalf so that Governor Chime would ask the local government Chairman to pay them.

Yet nothing positive has come out of these pleas to well meaning and influential persons in the state as government seem to have deaf ear to their demand.

A member of the group who do not wish his name to be mentioned in print said that all other such appointees in all the 57 development areas in the state are suffering the same fate in the hands of their chairmen.

He said that they have been meeting as a group with a view to pressing home their demands but insisted that they may not withdraw their support for the PDP government candidates during the forthcoming elections if their demands are not favourably considered by the government.

“I think that the idea about withdrawing our support for PDP is a last resort since a government we so much believed in and worked hard towards achieving its set out goals no longer care about us. We shall continue to cry out until a Pharaoh that recognizes Joseph comes on the throne”, he said.

When Advocate contacted the Chairman of Ezeagu local government area, Barr. Emeka Ozoagu for comments on the claims of the former development area appointees, he neither answered calls nor responded to text message sent to his mobile phone.

Youths set Jonathan campaign buses on fire

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Ikechukwu Okonkwo set up their own businesses, work with their hands on graduation and contribute in boosting Small and Medium Enterprises (S.M.Es) which he described as the engine of development in advanced economies.

The Metallurgical Training Institute Director/Chief Executive then charged students of the Institute to guard their loins, for work hard inorder to come out with the necessary knowledge and skills to enable them work with their hands as seen in advanced economies like U.S, U.K, Germany, France to mention but a few for their economic well being, and the development of the nation.

ome irate youths went berserk in Jos on Saturday setting ablaze two campaign buses emblazoned with the picture of President Goodluck Jonathan and his Vice, Namadi Sambo.

The incident, which took place at Zololo junction by Mangu Street, along the Bauchi road in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State, came barely 48 hours to the inauguration of the Peoples Democratic Party governorship campaign in Mangu Local Government Area.

The youths were said to have attacked the buses, said to be coming from Bauchi Road to Terminus. They also attacked another vehicle with PDP logo.

It was not clear why the buses were attacked, but when our correspondent contacted the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Emmanuel Abuh, he asked for some time to contact the divisional police officer of C Division.

Abuh said he had yet to get the details of the incident, but our correspondent gathered that both drivers escaped unhurt.

It was also gathered that after the youths set the buses ablaze, they went on the rampage, smashing other cars on sight.

The incident created tension in the city, especially around Terminus and Ahmadu Bello Way, which was recently attacked by two bombers. (Punch)

I will run people–centered govt, Ugwuanyi promises

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nugu State People's Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for next month election, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, has promised to deliver vital projects in the state based on the needs of the people if elected governor.

Ugwuanyi disclosed this at the weekend when he hosted a delegation from Lagos under the aegis of Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi Support Group, who visited him in Enugu.

He promised that when elected governor, he would call the people of the state and other stakeholders to a town hall meeting where segments and constituents of the state would table their major needs which would guide his administration in taking sensitive decisions on the location of projects.

The group, which has a membership that cuts across the three senatorial zones of Enugu State, donated over 15,000 campaign materials to Ugwuanyi to help him in his electoral bid. The group pointed out the numerous achievements of the lawmaker who has been representing Igbo-Eze North/ Udenu federal constituency in the House of Representatives in the past 12 years

informed their decision to support him. In his brief remarks, chairman of the Lagos support group and native of Awgu Local Council Area, who led the three-man delegation, Chief G.O. Onuorah, explained that as natives of Enugu State living in Lagos, members of the group came together to form a united front in support of him with a view to checkmating those who are hell-bent on fomenting trouble following the emergence of the lawmaker as the PDP candidate.

In his response, Ugwuanyi told the three-man delegation: “My campaign is an instrument of God and this can be testified by even drivers, 'keke' riders on the streets of Enugu.”

He urged the group that apart from campaigning for him in Lagos as shown in the campaign materials produced by the members, they should also join in the various prayer activities embarked upon by many groups which are also drumming support for him. On how his proposed administration would run, especially in developing the state, Ugwuanyi urged them to come up with ideas on what should be done to improve governance in the state if he is elected

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February 5, 2015

NIGERIA

Ohanaeze National Secretariat bombed T

he national secretariat of the apex Igbo sociocultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo was hit by an explosive Monday night destroying part of the main hall where the body holds her meetings and other building within the premises.

The explosive was said to have been dropped by unknown persons inside the conference of the secretariat located at No. 7 Park Avenue, G.R.A. Enugu at about at about 8.45 pm.

The explosion which led to a fire outbreak reportedly caused panic among residents of the area as the heavy bang was trailed by an inferno.

However, no life was lost but the building was badly damaged.

The explosion is coming on the heels of a recent leadership crisis which has pitched Enwo Igariwey led leadership against the Elders Council of Ohanaeze led by elderstatesman Mbazuluike Amechi.

While the executive is claiming a

four-year tenure, which will expire in two years time, the elders council recently constituted a caretaker committee led by Chief Ralph Obioha insisting that the two-years tenure of the executive expired on January 7, this year.

Chairman of the caretaker committee, Chief Ralph Obioha who inspected the Ohanaeze main hall affected by the blast told newsmen Tuesday that the incident was an unfortunate saying such a wicked act has never been witnessed at the secretariat of the respected Igbo umbrella organisation.

"I have inspected the place it's quite an extensive damage. I can't

guess the motive or why such an attack should be targeted at Ohanaeze. It's a mystery and I condemn it in its entirety. It's actually a bomb issue but the motive cannot be explained," Obioha said.

Also commenting the embattled Secretary General of Ohanaeze, Dr. Joe Nworgu said; "I don't know the choice of that target whatsoever; It happened at about

8:45; I was alerted at about 8:55 PM. Its unfortunate."

Reacting to the incident the Enugu Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Ebere Amaraizu said the explosion was not a bomb attack but an attempt by unknown persons to raze down the Ohanaeze building.

He said the police was already in action to find those behind it and the motive.

POLITICAL VIOLENCE IN ANAMBRA:

Opponent destroys Umeh's Campaign Billboards

Board destroys 326,151 beer bottles in Kano

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he Kano State Hisba Board said it has destroyed 326,151 bottles of beer out of the 363, 853 it confiscated from members of the public in the past three years.

This was contained in a statement in Kano on Saturday by the officer in charge of operation at the board, Alhaji Sani Nasidi.

The statement noted that the destruction of the illegal commodity was carried out in three phases within the period under review.

“In the first phase 42, 000 bottles were destroyed while in the second and third phases, 40,000 and 244,151 bottles were destroyed respectively,'' the statement said.

The statement indicated that there were a total of 197, 173 bottles of beer that were yet to be destroyed by the board.

“These remaining bottles of beer are being kept at some of the local government areas where they were impounded and they would be destroyed at a later date. ''But the other bottles of beer were destroyed at Hawan Kalibawa in Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area of the state,'' he said.

The statement explained that the special operations were carried out in collaboration with the eight LGAs that made up the Kano metropolis.

The statement, which commended other security agencies in the state for their support and cooperation with the board, called on them to maintain the tempo. NAN

Umeh's Billboards defaced

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he campaign organization of Chief Victor Umeh, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, candidate for Anambra Central Senatorial election, has raised an alarm over the wanton destruction of the party's campaign billboards by persons believed to be supporters of a defeated senatorial aspirant of another party in the zone.

In a statement posted on its facebook site, Umeh's campaign organization which is headed by Obele Chuka-Obele, said it has observed with concern the defacing of the APGA senatorial candidate's billboards in different parts of the senatorial zone.

It accused one of the aspirants for the senatorial seat who failed to get nomination of her party as spearheading the violent destruction of the APGA campaign billboards.

The organization warned those behind the dastardly act to desist forthwith even as it declared that the defacing of the billboards would not mar the popularity of Chief Umeh, who is favoured to win the Anambra Central senatorial seat in the February 14

National Assembly poll.

The statement reads “A certain shameless pretender who could not even smell the ticket of her political party has been going about venting out her frustrations by defacing Victor Umeh's campaign billboards in Eke Market, Nri and Ezinano Agulu.

Let us tell her emphatically that defacing a million billboards cannot mar the popularity of Ohamadike. Chief Victor Umeh is

a brand that sells itself.

“Every adult and child in Anambra State knows that Ohamadike is the candidate of APGA for Anambra Central. He is the only visible candidate for the Anambra Central Senate seat. Let it be told to the rascal that rascality has no place in Anambra Central.

The Senate is not a place for rascals and shameless characters… Her days of political relevance are over. Come

February 2015, she shall be consigned to where she belongs.”

The ADVOCATE NIGERIA learnt that security operatives in Anambra State have already commenced a discreet investigation to apprehend those behind the destruction of campaign billboards with a view to bringing them to book but it could not be ascertained if any arrest has been made.

Jonathan's rally: Soldiers occupy Rivers stadium as state govt blocks use of facility

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attle-ready soldiers have reportedly taken over the Adokie Amiesimaka Stadium, located in Igwuruta-Ali in Ikwerre Local Government Area, ahead of President Goodluck Jonathan's campaign rally in the stadium.

Jonathan is expected to be at

the presidential rally of the Peoples Democratic Party in Rivers on January 28.

While the state government refused to approve the application from the state PDP for the use of the Adokie Amiesimaka Stadium for its presidential rally, soldiers reportedly took over the place on Friday night.

Tony Okocha, Chief of Staff to Governor Rotimi Amaechi, described the action of the PDP and the Presidency, who might have directed soldiers to forcefully enter the stadium, as criminal.

Okocha called for calm and promised that the matter would be reported to the international community.

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Nigeria must survive and prosper beyond Buhari or Jonathan, by Chukwuma Charles Soludo need to preface this article with a few clarifications. I have taken a long sabbatical leave from partisan politics, and it is real fun watching the drama from the balcony. Having had my own share of public service (I do not need a job from government), I now devote my time and energy in pursuit of other passions, especially abroad.

A few days ago, I read an article in Thisday entitled “Where is Charles Soludo?”, and my answer is that I am still there, only that I have been too busy with extensive international travels to participate in or comment on our national politics and economy. But I occasionally follow events at home. Since the survival and prosperity of Nigeria are at stake, the least some of us

be a pyrrhic victory. None of them will be able to deliver on the fantastic promises being made on the economy, and if oil prices remain below $60, I see very difficult months ahead, with possible heady collisions with labour, civil society, and indeed the c i t i z e n r y. To b e s u r e , t h e presidential election will not be decided by the quality of 'issues' or promises canvassed by the candidates.

The debates won't also change much (except if there is a major gaffe by either candidate like Tofa did in the debate with Abiola). My take is that more than 95% of the likely voters have pretty much made up their minds based largely on other considerations. A few of us remain undecided.

us how much each of their promises will cost and where they will get the money. None talks about the broken or near bankrupt public finance and the strategy to fix it.

In response to the question of where the money will come from, I heard one of the politicians say that the problem of Nigeria was not money but the management of resources.

This is half-truth. The problem is both. No matter how efficient a father (with a monthly salary of N50,000) is at managing the family resources, I cannot see how he could deliver on a promise to buy a brand new Peugeot 406 for each of his three children in a year.

Even with all the loopholes and waste closed, with increased efficiency per dollar spent, there is still a binding budget constraint. To

which areas of waste do they intend to close and how much do they estimate to rake in from them, etc?

I remember that Chief Obafemi Awolowo was asked similar questions in 1978 and 1979 about his promises of free education and free medical services. Even as a teenager, I was impressed by how he reeled out figures about the amounts he would save from various 'waste' including the tea/coffee served in government offices. The point is that at least he did his homework and had his numbers and I give credit to his team.

Some 36 years later, the quality of political debate and discourse seems to border on the pedestrian.

From the quality of its team, I did not expect much from the current

readings the same day.

The austerity measures included the rationing of 'essential commodities' and most states owed salary arrears.

Corruption was said to be pervasive, and as Sani Abacha said in that famous coup speech, 'unemployment has reached unacceptable proportions and our hospitals have become mere consulting clinics'.

General Muhammadu Buhari/Tunde Idiagbon regime made the fight against corruption and restoration of discipline the cardinal point of their administration which lasted for 20 months. I am not sure they had a credible plan to get the economy out of the doldrums (although it must be admitted that poverty incidence in Nigeria as of 1985 when they left

(albeit, non-partisan) must do is to engage in public debate. As the elections approach, I owe a duty to share some of my concerns.

In September 2010, I wrote a piece entitled “2011 Elections: Let the Real Debate Begin” and published

by Thisday. I understand the Federal Executive Council discussed it, and the Minister of Information rained personal attacks on me during the press briefing. I noted more than six newspaper editorials in support of the issues we raised.

Beside other issues we raised, our main thesis was that the macro economy was dangerously adrift, with little self-insurance mechanisms (and a prediction that if oil prices fell below $40, many state governments would not be able to pay salaries). I gave a subtle hint at easy money and exchange rate depreciations because I did not want to panic the market with a strong statement. Sadly, on the eve of the next elections, literally everything we hinted at has happened. Part of my motivation for this article is that five years after, the real debate is still not happening.

The presidential election next month will be won by either Buhari or Jonathan. For either, it is likely to

During my brief visit to Nigeria, I watched some of the campaign rallies on television. The tragedy of the current electioneering campaigns is that both parties are missing the golden opportunity to sensitize the citizenry about the enormous challenges ahead and hence mobilize them for the inevitable sacrifices they would be called upon to make soon. Each is promising an El-Dorado.

Let me admit that the two main parties talk around the major development challenges corruption, insecurity, economy (unemployment/poverty, power, infrastructure, etc) health, education, etc. However, it is my considered view that none of them has any credible agenda to deal with the issues, especially within the context of the evolving global economy and Nigeria's broken public finance.

The UK Conservative Party's manifesto for the last election proudly announced that all its programmes were fully costed and were therefore implementable.

Neither APC nor PDP can make a similar claim. A plan without the dollar or Naira signs to it is nothing but a wish-list. They are not telling

deliver an efficient national transport infrastructure alone will still cost tens of billions of dollars per annum even by corruption-free, cost-effective means. Did I hear that APC promises a welfare system that will pay between N5,000 and N10,000 per month to the poorest 25 million Nigerians? Just this programme alone will cost between N1.5 and N3 trillion per annum.

Add to this the cost of free primary education plus free meal (to be funded by the federal budget or would it force non-APC state governments to implement the same?), plus some millions of public housing, etc. I have tried to cost some of the promises by both the APC and the PDP, given alternative scenarios for public finance and the numbers don't add up. Nigerians would be glad to know how both parties would fund their programmes.

Do they intend to accentuate the huge public debt, or raise taxes on the soon to-be-beleaguered private businesses, or massively devalue the naira to rake in baskets of naira from the dwindling oil revenue, or embark on huge fiscal retrenchment with the sack of labour and abandonment of projects, and

government, but I must confess that I expected APC as a party aspiring to take over from PDP to come up with a knock-out punch. Evidently, from what we have read from the various versions of its manifesto as well as the depth of promises being made, it does not seem that it has a better offer.

Let me digress a bit to refresh our memory on where we are, and thus provide the context in which to evaluate the promises being made to us. Recall that the key word of the 2015 budget is 'austerity'.

Austerity? This is just within a few months of the fall in oil prices.

History repeats itself in a very cruel way, as this was exactly what happened under the Shehu Shagari administration.

Under the Shagari government, oil price reached its highest in 1980/81.

During the same period, Nigeria ratcheted up its consumption and all tiers of government were in competition as to which would outborrow the other. Huge public debt was the consequence. When oil prices crashed in early 1982, the National Assembly then passed the Economic Stabilization (Austerity Measures) Act in one day going through the first, second, and third

office was a just46% according to the Federal Office of Statistics).

We have come full circle. If the experience under Shagari could be excused as an unexpected shock, what Nigeria is going through now is a consequence of our deliberate wrong choices. We have always known that the unprecedented oil boom (in both price and quantitydespite oil theft) of the last six years is temporary but the government chose to treat it as a permanent shock. The parallels with the Shagari regime are troubling.

First, at the time of oil boom, Nigeria again went on a consumption spree such that the budgets of the last five years can best be described as 'consumption budgets', with new borrowing by the federal government exceeding the actual expenditure on critical infrastructure. Second, not one penny was added to the stock of foreign reserves at a period Nigeria earned hundreds of billions from oil.

For comparisons, President Obasanjo met about $5 billion in

I

Continues on page 8

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Nigeria must survive and prosper beyond Buhari or Jonathan Continued from page 7 foreign reserves, and the average monthly oil price for the 72 months he was in office was $38, and yet he left $43 billion in foreign reserves after paying $12 billion to write-off Nigeria's external debt. In the last five years, the average monthly oil price has been over $100, and the quantity also higher but our foreign reserves have been declining and exchange rate depreciating.

I note that when I assumed office as Governor of CBN, the stock of foreign reserves was $10 billion.

The average monthly oil price during my 60 months in office was $59, but foreign reserve reached the all-time peak of $62 billion (and despite paying $12 billion for external debt, and losing over $15 billion during the unprecedented global financial and economic crisis) I left behind $45 billion.

Recall also that our exchange rate continuously appreciated during this period and was at N117 to the dollar before the global crisis and we deliberately allowed it to depreciate in order to preserve our reserves. My calculation is that if the economy was better managed, our foreign reserves should have been between $102 $118 billion and exchange rate around N112 before the fall in oil prices. As of now, the reserves should be around $90 billion and exchange rate no higher than N125 per dollar.

Third, the rate of public debt accumulation at a time of unprecedented boom had no parallel in the world. While the Obasanjo administration bought and enlarged the policy space for Nigeria, the current government has sold and constricted it. What debt relief did for Nigeria was to liberate Nigerian policymakers from the intrusive conditionalities of the creditors and thereby truly allowing Nigeria independence in its public policy.

How have we used the independence? Through our own choices, we have yet again tied the hands of future policymakers. This time, the debt is not necessarily to f o r e i g n c r e d i t o r institutions/governments which are organized under the Paris club but largely to private agents which is even more volatile. We call it domestic debt. But if one carefully unpacks the bond portfolio, what percentage of it is held by foreign private agents? And I understand the Government had removed the speed bumps we kept to slow the speed of capital flight, and someone is sweating to explain the gyrations in foreign reserves. I am just smiling!

In sum, the mismanagement of our economy has brought us once more to the brink. Government officials rely on the artificial construct of debt to GDP ratio to tell us we can borrow as much as we want.

That is nonsense, especially for an economy with a mono but highly volatile source of revenue and forex earnings. The chicken will soon come home to

roost.

Today, the combined domestic and external debt of the Federal Government is in excess of $40 billion. Add to this the fact that abandoned capital projects littered all over the country amount to over $50 billion. No word yet on other huge contingent liabilities. If oil prices continue to fall, I bet that Nigeria will soon have a heavy debt burden even with low debt to GDP ratio.

Furthermore, given the current and capital account regime, it is evident that Nigeria does not have enough foreign reserves to adequately cover for imports plus short term liabilities. In essence, we are approaching the classic of what the Shagari government faced, and no wonder the hasty introduction of 'austerity measures' again.

Fourth, poverty incidence and unemployment are also simultaneously at all-time high levels. According to the NBS, poverty incidence grew to 69% in 2010 and projected to be 71% in 2011, with unemployment at 24%.

This is the worst record in Nigeria's history, and the paradox is that this happened during the unprecedented oil boom.

One theme I picked up listening to the campaign rallies as well as to some of the propagandists is the confusion about measuring government “performance”. Most people seem to confuse 'inputs', or 'processes' with output. Earlier this month, I had a dinner with a group of friends (14 of us) and we were chit-chatting about Nigeria. One of us, an associate of President Jonathan veered off to repeat a propaganda mantra that Jonathan had outperformed his predecessors.

He also reminded us that Jonathan re-based the GDP and that Nigeria is now the biggest economy in Africa; etc. It was fun listening to the response by others. In sum, the group agreed that the President had 'outperformed' his predecessors except that it is in reverse order.

First, my friend was educated that re-basing the GDP is no achievement: it is a routine statistical exercise, and depending on the base year that you choose, you get a different GDP figure.

Re-basing the GDP has nothing to do with government policy.

Besides, as naira-dollar exchange rate continues to depreciate, the GDP in current dollars will also shrink considerably soon.

We were reminded of Jonathan's agricultural 'revolution'. But someone cut in and noted that for all the propaganda, the growth rate of the agricultural sector in the last five years still remains far below the performance under Obasanjo.

One of us reminded him that no other president had presided over the slaughter of about 15,000 people by insurgents in a peacetime; no other president earned up to 50% of the amount of resources the current government earned from oil and yet with very

little outcomes; no other president had the rate of borrowing; none had significant forex earnings and yet did not add one penny to foreign reserves but losing international reserves at a time of boom; no other president had a depreciating exchange rate at a time of export boom; at no time in Nigeria's history has poverty reached 71% (even under Abacha, it was 67 -70%); and under no other president did unemployment reach 24%. Surely, these are unprecedented records and he surely 'outperformed' his predecessors! What a satire!

One of those present took the satire to some level by comparing Jonathan to the 'performance' of the former Governor of Anambra, Peter Obi. He noted that while Obi gloated about 'savings', there is no signature project to remember his regime except that his regime took the first position among all states in Nigeria in the democratization of p o v e r t y - m a s s impoverishment of the people of Anambra.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, poverty rose under his watch in Anambra from 20% in 2004 (lowest in Nigeria then) to 68% in 2010 (a 238% deterioration!).

Our friend likened it to a father who had no idea of what to do with his resources and was celebrating his fat bank account while his children were dying of kwashiorkor. He pointed out that since it is the likes of Peter Obi who are the advisers to Jonathan on how to manage the economy (thereby confusing micromanagement which you do as a trader with macro governance) it is little wonder that poverty is fast becoming another name for Nigeria. It was a very hilarious evening.

My advice to President Jonathan and his handlers is to stop wasting their time trying to campaign on his job record. Those who have decided to vote for him will not do so because he has taken Nigeria to the moon. His record on the economy is a clear 'F' grade. As one reviews the laundry list of micro interventions the government calls its achievements, one wonders whether such list is all that the government could deliver with an unprecedented oil boom and an unprecedented public debt accumulation.

I can clearly see why reasonable people are worried. Everywhere else in the world, government performance on the economy is measured by some outcome variables such as: income (GDP growth rate), stability of prices (inflation and exchange rate), unemployment rate, poverty rate, etc. On all these scores, this government has performed worse than its immediate predecessor Obasanjo regime. If we

appropriately adjust for oil income and debt, then this government is the worst in our history on the economy. All statistics are from the National Bureau of Statistics.

Despite presiding over the biggest oil boom in our history, it has not added one percentage point to the growth rate of GDP compared to the Obasanjo regime especially the 2003- 07 period. Obasanjo met GDP growth rate at 2% but averaged 7% within 2003- 07. The current government has been stuck at 6% despite an unprecedented oil boom. Income (GDP) growth has actually performed worse, and

poverty escalated.

This is the only government in our history where rapidly increasing government expenditure was associated with increasing poverty. The director general of NBS stated in his written press conference address in 2011 that about 112 million Nigerians were living in poverty. Is this the record to defend? Obama had a tough time in his re-election in 2012 because unemployment reached 8%. Here, unemployment is at a record 24% and poverty at an alltime 71% but people are prancing around, gloating about 'performance'.

As I write, the Naira exchange rate to the dollar is $210 at the parallel market. What a historic performance! Please save your breathe and save us the embarrassment. The President promised Nigeria nothing in the last election and we did not get value for money. He should this time around present us with his plan for the future, and focus on how he would redeem himself in the second termif he wins!

Sadly the government's economic team is very weak, dominated by self-interested and self-conflicted group of traders and businessmen, and so-called economic team meetings have been nothing but showbiz time. The very people government exists to regulate have seized the levers of government as policymakers and most government institutions have largely been “privatized” to them.

Mention any major government department or agency and someone will tell you whom it has been 'allocated' to, and the person

subsequently nominates his minion to occupy the seat. What do you then expect? The economy seems to be on auto pilot, with confusion as to who is in charge, and government largely as a constraint. There are no big ideas, and it is difficult to see where economic policy is headed to.

My thesis is that the Nigerian economy, if properly managed, should have been growing at an annual rate of about 12% given the oil boom, and poverty and unemployment should have fallen dramatically over the last five years. This is topic for another day.

So far, the Government's response to the self-inflicted crisis is, at best, laughable. They blame external shocks as if we did not expect them and say nothing about the terrible policy choices they made. The National Assembly had described the 2015 budget as unrealistic. The fiscal adjustments proposed in the 2015 budget simply play to the gallery and just to pander to our emotions.

For a $540 billion economy, the so-called luxury tax amounts to zero per cent of GDP. If the current trend continues, private businesses will come under a heavy crunch soon. Having put economics on its head during the boom time, the Government now proposes to increase taxes during a prospective downturn and impose austerity measures. Unbelievable!

Fortuitously, just as he succeeded Shagari when Nigeria faced similar situations, Buhari is once more seeking to lead Nigeria. But times have changed, and Nigeria is largely different. First, this is a democracy and dealing with corruption must happen within the ambit of the rule of law and due process. Getting things done in a democracy requires complicated bargaining, especially where the legislature, labour, the media, and civil society have become strong and entrenched.

Second, the size, structure and institutions of the economy have fundamentally altered. The market economy, especially the capital market and foreign exchange market, impose binding constraints and discipline on any regime. Third, dealing with most of the other issues insecurity, u n e m p l o y m e n t / p o v e r t y, infrastructure, health, education, etc, require increased, smarter, and more efficient spending. Increased spending when the economy is on the reverse gear?

If oil prices remain between 40- 60 dollars over the next two years, the current policy regime guarantees that foreign reserves will continue the precipitous depletion with the attendant exchange rate depreciation, as well as a probable unsustainable escalation in debt accumulation, fiscal retrenchment or taxing the private sector with vengeance. The scenario does not look pretty.

The poor choices made by the current government have mortgaged the future, and the next government would have little room to manoeuvre and would

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Nigeria must survive and prosper beyond Buhari or Jonathan Continued from page 8 inevitably undertake drastic but painful structural adjustments.

Nigerians loathe the term 'structural adjustment'. With falling real wages and depreciating currency, I can see any belated attempt by the government to deal with the bloated public sector pitching it against a feisty labour. I worry about regime stability in the coming months, and I do not envy the next team.

The seeming crisis is not destiny; it is self-imposed. However, we must see it as an opportunity to be seized to fundamentally restructure Nigeria's political economy, including its fiscal federalism and mineral rights. The current system guarantees cycles of consumption loop and I cannot see sustainable long term prosperity without major systemic overhaul. The proposals at the national conference merely tinker at the margins.

In totality, the outcome of the national conference is to do more of the same, with minor amendments on the system of sharing and consumption rather than a fundamental overhaul of the system for productivity and prosperity.

President Jonathan promises to implement the report of the national conference if he wins. I commend him for at least offering 'something', albeit, marginal in my view. I have not heard anything from the APC or Buhari regarding the national conference report or what kind of federalism they envisage for Nigeria.

In Nigeria's recent history, two examples under the military and civilian governments demonstrate that where the political will exists, Nigeria has the capacity to overcome severe challenges. The first was under President Babangida.

Not many Nigerians appreciate that given the near bankrupt state of Nigeria's finances and requirements for debt resolution under the Paris Club, the country had little choice but to undertake the painful structural adjustment programme (SAP).

I want to state for the record that the foundation for the current market economy we operate in Nigeria was laid by that regime (liberalization of markets including market determined exchange rate, private sector-led economy including licensing of private banks and insurance, de-regulation, privatization of public enterprises under TCPC, etc). Just abolishing the import licensing regime was a fundamental policy revolution.

Despite the criticisms, these policy thrusts have remained the pillars of our deepening market economy, and the economy recovered from almost negative growth rate to average 5.5% during the regime and poverty incidence at 42% in 1992.

Under our democratic experience, President Obasanjo inherited a bankrupt economy (with the lost decade of the 1990's GDP growth rate of 2.2% and hence zero per capita income growth for the decade). His regime consolidated and deepened the market economy structures (consolidation of the banking system which is powering the emergence of a new but truly

private sector-led economy and simultaneously led to a new awareness and boom in the capital market; telecommunications revolution; new pension regime; debt relief which won for Nigeria policy independence from the World Bank and Paris Club; deepening of deregulation and privatization including the unbundling of NEPA under PHCN for privatization; agricultural revolution that saw yearly growth rate of over 6% and remains unsurpassed ever since; sound monetary and fiscal policy and growing foreign reserves that gave confidence to investors; establishment of the Africa Finance Corporation which is leading infrastructure finance in Africa; backward integration policy that saw the establishment and growth of Dangote cement and others; established ICPC and EFCC to fight corruption, etc).

The economy roared to average yearly growth of 7% between 2003 and 2007 (although average monthly oil price under his regime was $38), and poverty dropped from estimated 70% in1999 to 54% in 2004.

Obasanjo was his own coordinating minister of the economy and chairman of the economic management team which he chaired for 90 minutes every week. I met with him daily. In other words, he did not outsource economic management.

We expected that the next government after Obasanjo would take the economy to the next level.

So far, we have had two great slogans: the 7-point agenda and currently, the transformation agenda. They remain empty slogans without content or direction.

Let me suggest that the fundamental challenge for the next government on the economy can be framed around the goal of creating twelve million jobs over the next four years to have a dent on unemployment and poverty. The challenge is to craft a development agenda to deliver this within the context of broken public finance, and an economy in which painful structural adjustments will be inevitable if current trends in oil prices continue. Most other programmes on corruption, security, power, infrastructure, etc, are expected to be instruments to achieve this objective.

So far, neither the APC nor the PDP has a credible programme for employment and poverty reduction.

The APC promises to create 20,000 jobs per state in the first year, totalling a mere 720,000 jobs. This sounds like a quota system and for a country where the new entrants into the labour market per annum exceed two million.

If it was intended as a joke, APC must please get serious. On the other hand, President Jonathan targets two million jobs per annum but his strategy for doing so is a Job Board another committee of sort. Sorry, Mr. President, a Job Board is not a strategy. The principal job Nigerians hired you to do for them is to create jobs for them too. You cannot outsource that job, Sir. Creating 3 million jobs per annum under the unfolding crisis would task our creativity and audacity to the limits.

I heard one politician argue that once we fix power, private sector would create jobs. Not necessarily! Well, this government claims to have added 1,700MW to the national grid and yet unemployment soars. Ask Greece, Spain, etc with power and infrastructure and yet with high unemployment. Structural dislocations play a key role. For example, currently in Nigeria, it is estimated that more than 60% of graduates of our educational system are unemployable.

You can understand why many of us are amused when the government celebrates that it has established twelve more glorified secondary schools as universities. I thought they would have told us how many Nigerian universities made it in the league of the best 200 universities in the world. That would have been an achievement. Surely, creating millions of jobs in this economy would, among other things, require 'new money' and extraordinary system of coordination among the three tiers of government plus the private sector.

Unfortunately, from what I read, the CBN is largely likely to be asleep at this time the country needs the most revolutionary finance. This is a topic for another day. Only the President can lead this effort. Moreover, we are waiting for the two parties/candidates to spell out HOW they will create jobs, whether it is the 20,000 jobs per state by APC or 2 million per annum by President Jonathan. Let us know how you arrived at the figures. Whichever of the two that is declared winner will have his job cut out for him, and I expect him to declare a national emergency on job creation.

S u r p r i s i n g l y, n o n e o f t h e parties/candidates has any grand vision about African economic integration, led by Nigeria. There is no programme on how to make the naira the de facto currency of ECOWAS or the international financial centre that can attract more than $100 billion per annum.

Where is the strategy for orchestrating the revolutionary finance to power the economy during this downturn? For President Jonathan, I find it shocking that the most important initiative of his government to secure the future of the economy by Nigeria refusing to sign the ruinous Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union is not even being mentioned.

President Obasanjo saved Nigeria from the potential ruin of an ECOWAS single currency while to his credit Jonathan safeguarded our industrial sector/economy by refusing to sign the EPA. Or does the government not understand the import of that? It will be interesting to know the APC's strategy for exploiting strategic alliances within Africa, China, and the world for Nigeria's prosperity.

If Buhari wins, he will ride on the populist wind for “change”. Most people I have spoken to who have decided to vote for Buhari do not necessarily know the specifics of what he would offer or how Nigeria would be different under him. I asked my driver, Usman, whom he would vote for President.

He responded: “If they no rig the election, na Buhari everybody go vote for”. I asked him why, and his next response sums it: “The man dey honest. In short, people just want to see another face for that villa”. But if he wins, the honeymoon will be brief and the pressure will be immense to magically deliver a 'new Nigeria' with no corruption, no boko haram or insecurity, jobs for everyone, no poverty, infrastructure and power in abundance, etc.

As a first point, Buhari and his team must realize that they do not yet have a coherent, credible agenda that is consistent with the fundamentals of the economy currently. The APC manifesto contains some good principles and wish-lists, but as a blue print for Nigeria's security and prosperity, it is largely hollow. The numbers do not add up. Thus, his first job is to present a credible development agenda to Nigerians.

The second key challenge for Buhari and his team will be to transit and transform from a group of what I largely refer to as aggrieved people's congregation to build a true political party with a soul from the patchwork of political associations. It is surely easier to oppose than to govern. This should not worry us much. After all, even the PDP which has been in power for 16 years is still an assembly of people held together by what I refer to as dining table politics.

I am not sure how many members can tell you what their party stands for or its mission and vision for Nigeria. The third but more difficult agenda is cobbling together a truly 'progressive team' that will begin to pick the pieces. The lesson of history is that the best leaders have been the ones who went beyond their narrow provincial enclaves to recruit talents and mobilize capacities for national transformation.

In Nigeria's history, the two presidents who made the most fundamental transformation of the economy, Babangida and Obasanjo, were exceptional in the quality of the teams they put together. I therefore pray that Buhari will be magnanimous in victory if he winsto put together a 'team Nigeria' for the rescue mission.

If Jonathan wins, then God must have been magnanimous to give him a second chance to redeem himself.

Most people I know who support Jonathan do so either out of selfinterest or fear of the unknown. As a friend summed it: the devil you know is better than the angel you do not know. One person assured me that we would see a 'different Jonathan' if he wins as he has been rattled by the harsh judgment of history on his presidency so far. I just pray that he is right. In that case, I would just draw the President's attention to two issues: First, beside the coterie of clowns who literally make a living with the sing-song of transformation agenda, President Jonathan must know that it remains an empty slogan. His greatest challenge is how to save himself from the stranglehold of his largely provincial palace jesters who tell him he has done better than God, and seek out 'enemies' and friends who can help him write his name in

history. Propaganda won't do it.

Second, Jonathan must claw back his powers as President of Nigeria.

He largely outsourced them, and must now roll his sleeves for a new beginning. I take liberty to tell you this brutal truth: if you are not reelected, there is little to remember your regime after the next few years.

On 7th January 2004, I made a special presentation to an expanded economic management team to set agenda for the new year (as chief economic adviser). The focus of my presentation was for us to identify seven iroko trees that would be the flagship markers for the administration as well as how to finance them. I use the same framework to evaluate your administration.

What I say to you, Mr. President, is that your record of performance so far is like a farmland filled with grasses. Yes, they are many but there is no tree, let alone any iroko tree, that stands out. Think about this.

The beginning of wisdom for every President in his second term is to admit that he is racing against time to cement his legacy. So far, your report card is not looking great. You need a team of big and bold thinkers, as well as with excellent execution capacity. So far, it is not working!

Under the executive presidential system, Nigerians elected you to manage their economy. You cannot outsource that job. Our constitution envisages a federal coordination of the economy, and that function is performed by the National Economic Council (NEC) with Vice-President as chairman. Indeed, the constitution and other laws of Nigeria envisage the office of the VP as the coordinator on the economy.

All major economic institutions of the federal government are, by law, chaired by the Vice-President including the national planning (see functions of the national planning commission as coordinator of federal government economic and development programmes), debt management office, National Council on Privatization, etc. As chairman of National Planning (with Ministers of Finance, Agriculture, CBN governor, etc as members), the VP oversees the federal planning and coordination.

Then the Constitution mandates the VP as representative of the federal government to chair the NEC, with only CBN governor and state governors as membersto coordinate national economy between federal and states. No minister is a member of NEC. Many people do not understand the logic of the design of our constitution and the role of the VP. Of course, the buck stops on the desk of Mr. President. Only the President and VP have our mandate to govern us.

Every other person is an adviser/assistant. I bet that you will only appreciate this article AFTER you leave office. Now that you are in power, truth will only hurt! Be assured that those of us who are prepared to die for Nigeria will never spare you or anyone else this bitter truth.

Nigeria must survive and prosper beyond Buhari or Jonathan!  Chukwuma Charles Soludo, CFR, was former CBN Governor.

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February 5, 2015

NIGERIA

Water as democratic dividends in Enugu City

By Chiaka Opara & Chukwudi Anosike

W

ater is next to shelter in the provision of basic human needs its importance cannot be over emphasized ranging from drinking, bathing, cooking,

including mopping the surroundings . Any area where there is no water is likely to generate communicable diseases.

One of the most important milestones has been the recognition in July 2010 by the United Nations General Assembly of the human right to water and

sanitation. The Assembly recognized the right of every human being to have access to sufficient water for personal and domestic uses (between 50 and 100 litres of water per person per day), which must be safe, acceptable and affordable (water costs should not exceed 3 per cent

of household income), and physically accessible (the water source has to be within 1,000 metres of the home and collection time should not exceed 30 minutes).

In Enugu state water is now an essential commodity as residents are seen in scattered direction scrambling for it. This is because the hitherto running taps starting from the mid 2014 finally seized

despite the huge sums of money budgeted to the sector since the inception of Governor Chime administration.

There's conflicting reports as to why there's acute shortage of water supply in Enugu state but the advocate gathered that top among the problem due to electricity supply to the water sources and the non-payment of salaries of the Enugu state Water Corporation staff.

It is in the light of these, Advocate Nigeria has taken the pain to find out from residents of the coal city how they have been contending with this indispensable product and how the lack of it or otherwise have affected their lives.

Here are what the people say:

Mr Emmanuel Sibigam My name is Emmanuel Sibigam, I am a management and marketing consultant.

Well, the government is trying, it was not like these five years ago, this is the first time in the history of Enugu, you find taps in front of buildings, people can now collect water without disturbing the residents of the area and go about doing their legitimate businesses.

However, in most festive periods, water becomes scarce which is an evidence of what people say; that the tank drivers bribe the water board members in order for them to sell water to enjoy the yuletide.

Enugu state government In the budget for 2015, should allocate more funds to basic infrastructure like water to be able to provide water, they should employ more staff so that there will be no need to shut down. Moreover, they should have maintenance culture; most of the equipment and taps have decayed and are left for a long time before repairs. If all these things are taken care of, then the availability of water will increase.

Ifeoma Agu I am Ifeoma Agu, I reside at Ozobu street Idaw riverlayout. Hhm! water? Where is water now? There is no water ooh!, I am not enjoying anything called water, all of us here buy water from the tanker drivers every month and imagine how that drains our income. Anything? To start with, they have not been doing anything before now. In fact I do not know if they forgot this part of Enugu. The water board members should come and do whatever they have to do in other for us to get water.

Mr Joseph Akinloye

Mr. Nwosu Christian

PUBLIC NOTICE

I am Mr Joseph Akinloye. The water board members were trying 2 months ago, but now, there is scarcity of water, it is so worse that people do not see water to drink, they go to far places just to get a gallon of clean water and yet we still pay money for water. The water board members should try and make the taps run, or they should put this type that water starts flowing once there is light, our lives will be made easier.

My name is Nwosu Christian; I live at no 17 North first avenue Trans Ekulu Enugu. Well‌in Enugu here I can say that the government is doing well in the provision of some of the basic social amenities, I can say the state government has taken some steps towards that direction, they started by installing of water pipes and connecting water to the people in Enugu state...but this development have been short lived because of lack of maintenance culture by the g o v e r n m e n t o ff i c i a l s a n d members of the Enugu state water board, therefore people living in this area have even forgotten about the existence of those taps and they are now struggling on daily basics to get water from any source they manage to find. I think the state government can resolve this issue of water by inviting specialists, so they can go back to the drawing board of the master plan they made before the instillation of the water pipes, in order to plan a way to reawaken that project and also plan a way to keep it alive this time around.

HIGHER LIFE KINGS CHURCH INTERNATIONAL

Mrs Pat. Ekeuba I am Mrs. Pat. Ekeuba I reside at no. 38 Edinburgh road, Ogui New layout Enugu. No, not really, most of the time they give us water, only once in two weeks leaving us to suffer during the rest of the week.

Within this period we pay dearly to get water. For instance here in Edinburgh a gallon of 25 litres of water is sold at 15 naira, which is not easy for low income earners to afford on daily basis. With this, their method of giving us water once in two weeks is not really helping our difficult condition. I am hoping that the state government would put more effort in their provision of primary social amenities like water.

This is to inform the general public that the above named Christian Organization has applied to the corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) Abuja for registration as Church under the part C of the companies and Allied matters Act 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1. Pastor Izuchukwu Ibeagha 2. Pastor (Mrs) Ekene Ibeagha 3. Pastor David Nwachukwu 4. Pastor Izuchukwu Benson 5. Pastor Obiorah Okoye

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. To preach the gospel of faith in Jesus Christ.

2. Getting men and women on course with God. 3. To unlock the divine treasures in their lives.

4. To carry out Evangelistic missions and other welfare programmes.

Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to the Registrar – General Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420, Tigris Crescent off Aguiyi Ironsi street, Maitama, Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

Signed:

David O. Okafor Esq. Counsel for the Applicants

11

February 5, 2015

NIGERIA

Budget, Constitution amendment top Senate's Agenda, Says Ekweremadu …As, Johns Hopkins University Pledges Support for Nigeria's Democracy

T

he 2015 Budget and the Constitution Amendment Bill are to receive the utmost attention of the Senate on the resumption of plenary, Tuesday.

This was made known by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu while speaking with reporters after a meeting with a delegation of the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington DC, USA, in Abuja Monday.

This was even as he has expressed hope that the presence of the Johns Hopkins University in Nigeria would help to boost the nation's capacity for good governance and development.

On the 2015 Appropriation Bill, he said: “Basically, we are resuming to take care of the issue of the 2015 Budget. God willing, we will go through the Second Reading and send the Appropriation Bill to our Committees for a thorough work.

That means we may have to break off from the plenary and deal with the Budget”.

The lawmaker who also chairs the Senate Committee on Review of the 1999 Constitution further assured that there would be expedited legislative actions on the Constitution Amendment Bill.

According to him: “We received the Report on the Constitution Amendment Bill from the State Assemblies shortly before the

Christmas break. We are hopeful that this week, we are going to report formally to plenary on the returns from the states. We will let Nigerians know the specific Clauses that have been successfully amended; that is, those that received the positive votes of twothirds of the 36 State Assemblies. We are going to articulate it finally and send to the President for his assent”.

On the collaboration between the NILS and the Johns Hopkins University, Senator L-R: Lead Facilitator, Geb Igboko; Director of Executive Degree Programmes, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University, USA, Stephanie Hedge; Associate Director of African Studies, Ekweremadu said that it Prof. Paul Lubeck; Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu; Associate Dean at would help to meet the SAIS, Dr. Melisa Trotta; Director of Executive Education, Lindsey Waldrop; and the DG of the National Institute demands of “Many for Legislative Studies, NILS, Dr. Ladi Hamalai during a meeting with the Senator Ekweremadu in Abuja.

Nigerians who travel abroad to seek quality into a full-fledged university in experience in the Fourth Republic Institute of legislative Studies on e d u c a t i o n o r b u i l d t h e i r the future. is a major achievement as we go expanding education in a truly capacities” “We have had fruitful discussions into another general election. This global, truly networked way that He explained: “Nigerians are today, drawing up a roadmap. In surpasses what most critics will bring benefits to both hungry for quality education and a couple of days we should be able thought Nigeria is capable of. A m e r i c a n a n d N i g e r i a n training. So, I believe it would be to finalise and sign an MoU and I Stabilization of the economy, Students”, he added. cheaper and more convenient for want to assure that within this vibrant press, civil liberties have Speaking, the Associate Dean of us to bring a highly reputable year 2015 the programmes wold improved immensely. Those are E x e c u t i v e E d u c a t i o n a n d institution like Johns Hopkins kick off. great achievements of the Strategic Initiatives at the SAIS, University here. I am happy that In his remarks, the Associate Nigerian democracy at this Dr. Melisa Trotta noted that SAIS following my discussion with Director of African Studies at period. There are, however, had offered executive-styled them in Washington DC last year, SAIS, Prof. Paul Lubeck challenges that we all know training for legislators from the school authorities have agreed commended Nigeria's democratic about.

Nigeria who had come to to come and set up executive strides, noting however, that there “We have held successful Washington to study the federal education programmes here, were still challenges. discussions on the possibilities of b u d g e t p r o c e s s a n d which we hope would blossom He said: “The democratic collaborating with the National executive/legislature relations.

Hoodlums bomb APC, destroy APGA offices in Ebonyi

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s the nation approaches the general election next month, increasing wave of political violence has taken over Ebonyi state with the failed bombing of the All Progressives Congress (APC) office in Abakaliki and the destruction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) office in Ohaukwu local government area of the state.

The failed bombing of APC office which occurred on Sunday, came on the heels of invasion and destruction of APGA office as well as house of some supporters of the party in Ohaukwu local government area of the state by unknown gunmen said to be wearing police uniform.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ebonti state, ASP Chris Anyanwu, who confirmed the failed bombing of APC office, noted that Police in Ebonyi state are currently working to unravel the people

behind the dastardly act.

It was gathered that the APC office along the Kipirikpiri road, few metres away from the Government House and the Headquartres of the police command, which also serves as the campaign office of the Governorship candidate of the party, Senator Julius Ucha, was attacked by unknown persons with objects suspected to be Improvised Explosive Device, (IED).

Though the alleged plots by those suspected to be agents of some political parties in the state was foiled, one of the aides to Senator Ucha, John Ekeh disclosed that the incident occurred in the night of Sunday when they heard a loud sound at the back of the building.

John Eke said they heard a loud sound at the back of the building at 10. 45pm on Sunday night when the suspected terrorists threw in the (IED) through the fence with intention to bomb the office and unfortunately the explosive could not catch up with the petrol that accompanied it.

“it was a clear intention of those that did it to burn down the office but God was on our side because when they threw the objects from the fence, the wire at the fence may have held the can containing the fuel and the intention was when the object exploded, the fuel will catch fire and the entire building would have been razed down he said”.

Meanwhile, Senator Julius Ucha has expressed concern over increasing plots by some political parties in the state to cause violence and loss of lives and property and described the failed attempt to bomb his campaign office as one of the negative signs of what some political parties are planning to do in the state during and after the election.

Senator Ucha called on the Inspector General of Police to order thorough investigation into the incident, while calling on the APC supporters in the state to go about their lawful businesses as he is capable of controlling the increasing violent attempts on him and the party faithful in the

state in the face of all provocations.

However, some senior police officers including the Area Commander and the Divisional Police Officer, in charge of Kpirikpiri police station were at the scene to access the damage and a bomb disposal unit of the Nigeria Police was invited to evacuate the objects.

This is even as the APGA governorship candidate in the Sen Anthony Agbo condemned destruction of the party's office and touching of houses of some members of the party in Ohaukwu LGA. “These agents of destabilization in company of over 20 policemen, attacked the houses of some members in his area”.

“They burnt the party's office and destroyed several properties such as furniture and posters, as the policemen who wore police vests and wielded AK 47 rifles, shot at the houses of our members,” he said.

He warned those involved in the sinister plots against him and the

party, to desist from such acts as he knows their identity.

“It is clear that the forces of good and evil are presently competing for the soul of Ebonyi but I assure the citizens that no amount of evil conspiracy, intimidation, soultrading and plan to rig elections will change the divine purpose and plan for the state.

He called on the INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega to tighten all loose ends to ensure the conduct of a credible election, as the top echelon of this particular political party boasts that it would influence INEC, police and the military.

According to him, the state party chairman was presently in Abuja over the attack on the party, as they would officially report the matter to the police when he comes back.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr Chris Anyanwu, noted that APGA has not officially reported the matter, as it would be handled when reported.

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February 5, 2015

NIGERIA

I will revamp Nigerian Coal Corporation – Buhari *Says Nigeria will be in trouble if PDP is given four more years

Enugu State APC governorship candidate, Chief Okey Ezea and his running mate after receiving the APC flag on Saturday.

P

residential Candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) Saturday promised to revamp the moribund Nigerian Coal Corporation even as he warned that Nigeria would be in trouble if the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) rules for another four years.

2015 elections: Police revoke firearm licences in Rivers ahead of polls

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head of the 2015 polls, the Rivers State Police Command has revoked all licences issued to people with firearms.

The state Police Commissioner, Mr Dan Bature, who spoke through Rivers Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ahmad Muhammad, said the move was aimed at reducing the number of firearms in circulation in the state.

The Commissioner said anyone caught with firearms in the state after the order would be treated like a criminal.

“The Rivers State Police Command observes with grave concern the continued recovery of firearms and ammunition from individuals across the state,”he said.

“Individuals and associations in possession of licensed firearms are by this release informed that such licenses have since been revoked.

“Accordingly, members of the public are ordered to surrender such firearms and ammunition to the public armouries in their area of jurisdiction.

“The Command will henceforth treat anyone arrested with such firearms as a criminal and be made to face the full wrath of the law, please.”

Gen. Buhari, who addressed a large crowd of supporters at a rally of APC held in Enugu on Saturday.

Buhari promised to revamp the Nigerian Coal Corporation in Enugu and use it for power generation to cater for the electricity needs of people in the South-East geo-political zone and beyond.

The former Head of State also assured that moribund industries would be revitalized and that the Agricultural sector would be encouraged through the provision of soft loans to farmers if elected into office.

“We will make sure that there is regular electricity so that people do not buy generator and spend their hard earned

resources to fuel it.

“We cannot achieve these things if you do not vote. We want you to get your PVC's, vote and make sure that your vote counts.

“If you make mistake by giving PDP four more years, we will be in trouble” Buhari said.

He regretted that Nigeria used to have Airways and Shipping > Line but under the PDP in the last 16 years, they have all vanished.

Buhari promised to end corruption in Nigerian by the 30th of May this year if he was elected into office as President.

He lamented that in Baga Borno State, over 300 persons have been killed in the past three days by Boko Haram.

He however made it clear that Boko Haram has nothing to do with religion, saying that those killing in the name of religion, either do not believe in it or know what they are doing.

Buhari recalled that under his administration, he drove Maitesina sect away from Nigeria to Chad and promised to provide security for Nigerians again so that they could once again sleep with their two eyes closed.

Notable among APC chieftains at the crowded rally include Buhari's running mate, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo, Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amechi, and his Imo State counterpart, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, Senator Chris Ngige, Osita Okechukwu and Ogbonnaya Onu. The highlight of the rally was the presentation of flag to the APC governorship candidate in Enugu State, Okechukwu Ezea and his running mate, Mrs. Juliet Ibekaku.

May 29 handover date sacrosanct, Jonathan tells US

P

resident Goodluck Jonathan has as­sured Nigerians and the international community that the Febru­ary 14 elections would hold, stressing that the May 29 handover date is sacrosanct and nothing will be done to temper with it.

He gave the assurance Sunday during a meeting with the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Lagos.

Jonathan, who described the discussion with Kerry on a broad range of issues as constructive, noted that both countries have a common enemy in Boko Haram that promotes fear, division, violation of human rights, especially that of women and children, insisted that the war on terror must be won by all hands being on deck.

The President described Nigeria as a vibrant democracy and the largest trading partner of the United States in Africa, with more than $18 billion in bilateral trade, saying both countries share a mutual admiration for each other and a deep commitment to freedom, democracy and human rights.

He said: “This is why we are together engaged in a struggle against a common enemy that promotes terror, fear, division, and violates human rights, most especially of women and girls, with complete impunity. Winning the fight against Boko

President Jonathan Haram in Nigeria and West Africa is absolutely essential to beat back the tide of religious extremism around the world.

“Our security forces have been working tirelessly and courageously to achieve this goal. I re-affirmed for Secretary Kerry that Nigeria is strongly committed to building the multinational task force to fight Boko Haram in partnership with Cameroon,

Chad, Niger and Benin Republic under the auspices of the Lake Chad Basin Commission. Indeed, I called publicly for such a regional approach at the African leaders summit in Paris in May 2014 and more recently, in multi-lateral meetings.

“We are pleased that the international community is now strongly united behind this initiative and agree that its success is critical. It is equally important that the multi-national force receives the significant support that is required to address the threat through our global partners.

“The United States, more than any other country in the world, has the most experience fighting armed insurgencies. And having suffered the devastating attacks of 9/11, its people also understand the insecurity and fear that is the reality for the vast majority of peaceful, tolerant Muslims and Christians in North Eastern Nigeria.

“This is why I firmly believe that enhancing and expanding various channels of cooperation between our two countries, in the context of growing international coordination, are of the utmost importance. I discussed a number of ideas with Secretary Kerry to move such cooperation forward.

“We are grateful to the United States for standing with Nigeria and its people in our fight against Boko Haram.”

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February 5, 2015

NIGERIA

Why Buhari will never be president of Nigeria, By Femi Aribisala The worst thing that can happen to Northern presidential aspirations in 2015 is for Buhari to be on the APC ballot.

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n Friday, 23rd August, 1985, the military government of MajorGeneral Mohammadu Buhari decided to place me under arrest.

My crime was that I wrote, among others, an article entitled: “Counter-trading Nigeria's Future” in the National Concord, exposing the government's scam of diverting public funds into private coffers through barter-trade with Brazil. A man by the name of Benson Norman was sent from the State Security Services (SSS) to my office to get me. Not finding me, he left a note that I must present myself unfailingly at the SSS office at 15 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi Lagos the next Monday morning.

However, on Sunday, 25th August, 1985, Lateef Aminu came first thing in the morning to my house to inform me that the government of Buhari/Idiagbon had been overthrown. For this reason, I am fond of telling people that God brought about a change of government in Nigeria just because of me.

Coup-plotter Under the Buhari/Idiagbon regime, once you ended up at 15 Awolowo Road, you may never be heard of again. Decree Number 2 of 1984 empowered Tunde Idiagbon to arrest and detain anybody indefinitely without trial and without legal reprieve. After Buhari was overthrown, Mohammadu Gambo opened the prison doors of 15 Awolowo Road on public television, revealing people in various stages of undress and malnutrition that had been kept in the dungeons without trial by Buhari's hound-dogs.

As self-imposed Head of State, Buhari had no regard for human rights. Immediately he seized power, he announced that he would “tamper with” the press. Soon, the infamous Decree Number 4 was promulgated which made even the publication of the truth a punishable offence. Under this cover, Buhari jailed innocent journalists, including Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabo. He abolished civil liberties, promulgated retroactive decrees enabling him to kill Nigerians through jungle justice, proscribed civil society organizations and professional groups and exercised “absolute” power.

This same Buhari would now have us believe that he has gone through some metamorphosis and has become a democrat. I am sure you will forgive me if people like me don't believe him. Buhari is not, has never been, and will never be, a democrat. Only in Nigeria would a man with his track record, who came to power through a military coup that illegally overthrew a

democratic government, now be acclaimed as a democrat. It is on record that Buhari's military regime is the only one in Nigeria's history that failed to promulgate a program for return to civilian rule.

Facts and fiction So what exactly qualifies Bihari as a democrat today? Precious little!

There is nothing democratic about forming and joining political parties just in order to be the presidential candidate. Little wonder then that Buhari's parties have a short shelf-life. Buhari would like to be Nigeria's head of state once again. He can no longer achieve this through the barrel of a gun. The only route now open to him is through the democratic process. That is the reason why he now conveniently fashions himself as a democrat. It is merely a means to an end; no more, no less.

B u h a r i ' s reputation as an anti-corruption crusader is also a myth. As head of state, he did not make any dent in N i g e r i a n corruption. All we got was a cosmetic “war a g a i n s t indiscipline.”

The counter-trade scam happened under his watch.

Rather than deal with it, he sent his hound-dogs after nonentities like me who dared to expose it. That scam was no different, in scope and scale, from the petroleum subsidy and other corruption scandals that have since plagued Nigeria.

The Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) that Buhari headed under Abacha was also a citadel of corruption.

While Buhari himself might not have enriched himself, his cronies and those who worked under him did so handsomely.

On three different occasions, Buhari has run for the presidency.

On three different occasions he has failed. That should really be enough. If, as seems likely, he were to run for the presidency a fourth time in 2015, there is no question that he would fail yet again. Try as he might again and again, Mohammadu Buhari can never be President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Buhari's sectarianism There is a fundamental reason

behind this. Buhari is a lousy politician. He is an unbending former military dictator and not a democratic consensus-builder.

Like his new ally, Bola Tinubu, Buhari is a regional, sectional politician. Such politicians are practically impossible to package and market nationally in the ethnically-delicate Nigeria of today.

Former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Malam Nasir El'Rufai, one of those Northerners who deserve to be serious contenders for the presidency of Nigeria, observed that Buhari remains “perpetually unelectable” as a result of his “insensitivity to Nigeria's diversity and his parochial focus.” This is an elegant way of saying that politically,

Buhari has an uncanny tendency to put his foot in his mouth. He talks before thinking of the political implications of his words. He shoots from the hip.

The strength of Obasanjo, which enabled him to capture the presidency on two different occasions, was that he was perceived as a broadminded politician, not overly partial to his people in the South-West. As a matter of fact, in his first election, his people did not want him. The strength of Goodluck Jonathan, which propelled him to win the presidency, was that he was able to string together a coalition that stretched both north and south of the Niger. The weakness of Buhari is that he is totally unacceptable to people outside his region.

Buhari is a Northern regional champion. As head of state in the 1980's, his government was unapologetically Northern. No attempt was made to balance the ticket at the top. It was the only regime in Nigeria's history headed by two Northerners. When he seized power, Buhari put Shagari, the Northern head of state he overthrew, under house arrest. But then he jailed Alex Ekwueme, the Southern vice-president. You may well ask what makes Shagari less culpable for the misdeeds of the Second Republic than his numbertwo man. The simple fact was that Buhari was Fulani as was Shagari; but Ekwueme was Igbo.

Impolitic words At the height of the Sharia debate during the Obasanjo administration, Buhari declared that Muslims should vote only for fellow Muslims. This was politically suicidal for a man seeking national office. He became an advocate for implementation of Sharia all over Nigeria. He protested to the Oyo State governor, in the context of a dispute between Fulani herdsmen and indigenous farmers in the state, that “your people are killing my people.” This turned out to be unfounded and perhaps the reverse.

His threats during the campaign for the 2011 elections i n c i t e d widespread violence in the North after he lost. His supporters went on a rampage; looting and killing; in spite of the fact that, by all accounts, the elections were adjudged the most free and fair in the history of Nigeria's current democratic experiment. By the time the mayhem had subsided, over 1000 people had been slaughtered in cold blood and some 65,000 displaced.

Forgetting that a statement made in Hausa would readily be translated into English, Buhari later declared unapologetically in a BBC interview: “If what happened in 2011 should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood.” These are the tokens of an irresponsible politician, whose

ambitions for power supersede the national interest. Who then are the dogs and baboons that Buhari has in mind to soak in blood if and when he loses yet again come 2015? Are they his children or are they those of others?

With the Boko Haram insurgency in the north, Buhari played to the Northern gallery yet again, calling the Jonathan government “the biggest Boko Haram.” Wole Olaniyi was a fly in the wall at a meeting in Kano Government House designed to persuade PDP rebel governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, to decamp to the APC. Assuming that only Northerners were present, Buhari declared the Boko Haram was a “strategic plan” by the government of Goodluck Jonathan to “destroy the North.” When Jonathan declared a state of emergency in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states, Buhari still saw this with Northern goggles, insinuating that the President is waging war on the North.

President of the North Without a doubt, Buhari has massive support in the North.

Indeed, he is the most popular Northern politician today. But that precisely remains his undoing at the centre. The more he has been identified as a Northern champion, the less attractive he has become as a national choice. Even in the North, his support base is limited to the Muslim population. He does not appeal to Northern Christians. Then there is the added factor of the opposition of his implacable opponents among the Northern elite. Men like Babangida and Atiku would rather die than allow Buhari get to Aso Rock.

One thing is certain, the SouthSouth and the South-East will not vote for Buhari in 2015. Not only that; there are no buyers for Buhari's sectarian politics in the South-West. No matter what Tinubu might be telling him, the people of the South-West will not vote for Buhari in 2015. We already had the template in 2011, when Buhari tried to sell himself, first by balancing his ticket with a Yoruba man; and then by making sure the Yoruba man is a Christian; a pastor no less. But it just did not wash. It will not work in 2015.

The worst thing that can happen to Northern presidential aspirations in 2015 is for Buhari to be on the APC ballot. That is a sure guarantee that the North will not be providing the next president. Buhari would be a shoo-in in an election for president of Northern Nigeria. But in an election encompassing the entire country, the best he can envisage is to be a kingmaker. He cannot be king. The nearest Buhari will get to Aso Rock in 2015 is by attending the Council of State meetings.

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February 5, 2015

NIGERIA

I beat her whenever she grabs my scrotum – hubby tells court

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31-year-old woman, Omoronike Ishola, on Friday prayed an Alakuko Customary Court in Lagos to dissolve her six-year old marriage over alleged battery and threat to life.

The petitioner, an hair dresser, who lives at 29, Ifalokun Owode St., Ajegunle, a suburb of Lagos told the court that her husband, Wasiu Ishola, is not responsible.

I s h o l a , h o w e v e r, d e n i e d b e i n g irresponsible, adding, “I don't strangle her; I only beat her whenever she grabs my scrotum.

Omoronike had narrated her ordeal in the hands of her Arabic teacher before she met Wasiu.

“I was barely 16 years old when my Arabic teacher raped me; my parents had to relocate me to Lagos because I was no longer comfortable among my peers.

“Eventually, I had a daughter for him but he has never asked after her well-being and she is now 11- year-old.

“It was then I vowed that anyone who was ready to marry me will adopt my child.

“When I met my husband, he promised me heaven on earth and accepted to take my child,; but when we got married, his mother disagreed. So, I left my daughter in my mother's care,” she said.

She said that her husband beats her at every slightest provocation and always try to strangle her in the process.

“Indeed my husband is an example of a

beast, because he beats me without having any human feeling; whenever I sighted him on the street, I ran home because he mustn't get home before me.

“He does not provide for me and the children and he had stopped sleeping in the room with me,” said the mother of two.

She begged the court to dissolve the union and help her summon the man that raped her, so that he can take the responsibility of the child she had for him.

“Living with Wasiu is living in hell fire, I want the court to dissolve our union and summon the man that raped me so that he can take responsibility of his child,” she added.

Ishola, 35, denied the allegations.

“She is very stubborn and fights with neighbours, whenever she starts her troubles, I leave the house; also, I don't strangle her, I only beat her whenever she grabs my scrotum.

“I provide for her and my children, I opened a well stocked shop for her, I still love her, I do not support the dissolution,” he said.

Ishola also told the court he stopped sleeping in the room with his wife because he cannot contain her attitude any more.

The Court President, Chief Awos Awosola, ordered the bailiff to summon the man that raped Omoronike.

He also gave Ishola a seven-day community service for beating his wife.

The case was adjourned till Feb. 3 for further hearing.(NAN)

Judicial workers strike stalls police cases

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he Plateau State Police Command has said that the strike embarked by the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) has stalled about 20 cases t h a t a r e supposed to be heard in court.

State and federal courts around Jos city have been under lock and k e y i n compliance with the strike embarked upon

by JUSUN since January 2.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), Emmanuel Abu, said about 20 cases were ready for filing at the courts, but the strike action made that action impossible.

Abu said: “For instance, I can give you an example of three cases of

culpable homicide in Mangu, Shendam and Qua'an Pan local government areas, where we have concluded investigations and the suspects are in police custody but we are unable to take them to court because of the strike.”

Meanwhile, Plateau State Chairman of JUSUN, Gabriel Muduutdai, has e x p r e s s e d satisfaction at the level of compliance, saying: “I visited all the local government areas of the state and the level of compliance is appreciable.

“It is not only police cases that are suffering but also political cases. It is, however, not our intention to suffer anybody but the federal and state governments have refused to respect the MoU signed.

We want the system to be free from interference to enable the judiciary perform its function.”

Invitation for Expression of Interest Provision of Water/Borehole Systems in PATHS2 Supported Health Facilities in Enugu State The Partnership for Transforming Health Service (PATHS2) project is a 6-year national programme funded by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) to lead health systems strengthening efforts in Nigeria.

The PATHS2 project has developed a service delivery strategy which seeks to work with the State Ministry of Health (SMOH) and other partners to support amongst other interventions, limited infrastructural upgrades that include the provision of potable water to selected health facilities that will enable them meet the minimum quality standard for infrastructure. This will also ensure they are able to provide quality BEOC services in line with the focus of PATHS2 to develop BEOC facilities as Centres of Excellence.

PATHS2 is therefore seeking the services of a mechanical engineering firm to support the provision of water to selected cluster health facilities in Enugu State. This work will involve the drilling of new boreholes, repair of broken down water systems and construction of plumbing systems that will ensure that water is linked to the health facility.

Expected Outputs:  Boreholes in selected facilities constructed or repaired according to laid down standard as certified by the supervising consultant  Repaired/constructed borehole is linked to the facility  Water supply to the key parts of the Health facility functional Specific Tasks:  Conduct a geophysical survey to determine the appropriate site and depth for the borehole to be drilled and drill the borehole  Inspect, recommend and carry out necessary repairs to existing boreholes in facilities where they are available  Provide storage facility that will store 2000 liters of water generated from the borehole and connect water storage facility to the hospital service delivery points  Preparation of a workable maintenance schedule for the boreholes in the facility.

Expected Timeline: February to April 2015 Interested groups or organizations should kindly register their interest by sending an email on or before Friday, 6th February, 2015 to this address: consultantinfo@paths2.org Once Expression of Interest email is received, a full Request for Proposal (RFP) will be emailed to qualified parties.

Ensure you indicate your contact person's name and telephone number in the EOI email.

PATHS2/Abt Associates Nigeria Ltd. 37 Panama Street Maitama, Abuja

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February 5, 2015

NIGERIA

Southern leaders endorse Jonathan's re-election *Condemn continued modern Hausa-Fulani oligarchy in Nigeria

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outhern leaders under the aegis of the General Conference of Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly (SNPA) Tuesday in Enugu endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan as their preferred candidate in the February 14 presidential election.

The three zones of Southern Nigeria were led to the 5th edition of the conference by former Vice President, Dr Alex Ekwueme (South-East), Chief Edwin Clark (South-South) and Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Gbonigi (SouthWest).

The Southern leaders said they unanimously took the decision to back Jonathan's re-election after they have critically examined the prospects of the continued existence of the country as a united and indivisible entity.

Dr Alex Ekwueme who read the communiqué issued after the meeting, said after looking at the state of the nation they were not happy over the continued modern Hausa-Fulani oligarchy in the country.

He also reiterated their earlier

activities, the ruin and destruction visited on innocent Nigerians daily.”

The South-South leader said the worrisome senseless killings carried out daily made him to wonder whether “we all belong to the same country.”

Clark noted that the situation became more worrisome with the alleged indifference of some senior citizens from the North, who refrained from speaking out against B o k o H a r a m Goodluck Jonathan insurgents. resolve for the Independent He lamented that President National Electoral Commission Jonathan's critics had often (INEC) not to create additional accused him of being responsible polling booths, saying the for Boko Haram's unrestrained of members of the assembly attacks on innocent citizens, unanimously endorsed Jonathan. saying an American think-tank When the conference began in the had established that All Progress morning, Chief Clark had Congress (APC) was formed for disclosed that they gathered in the sole purpose of returning Enugu to look at the country “in power to the North. the face of the escalating terrorist “The aforesaid has further

established a nexus between Boko Haram's repeated insistence that President Jonathan should abdicate his constitutional right to seek re-election and General Buhari's claim that he would end the Boko Haram insurgency once elected president. I am wont to believing that General Buhari has been communicating as he had in the past been nominated by the Boko Haram to negotiate with the Federal Government on its behalf,” he said.

This, he said, gave fillip to claims that Boko Haram had formally endorsed Buhari.

Also, Rt. Rev. Gbonigi, who was represented by Bishop Ayo, said insurgency in the North-East had remained a major challenge to the government and security agencies in spite of some successes recorded against Boko Haram.

He regretted that the enthusiasm raised when a cease-fire agreement was declared with Boko Haram died when it was discovered that the sect's negotiators were actually fraudsters.

“These setbacks notwithstanding, we commend the professionalism

of our armed forces in the face of blackmail and propaganda by the sympathisers and sponsors of the insurgents,” Gbonigi said.

Also speaking earlier at the meeting, Ekwueme said the successes recorded by their assembly at the last national conference was evident that the unity of the South was not intended to divide the country, but instead promote and sustain the oneness of the nation.

Ekwueme recalled how the forum shot down the bid by the INEC to create 30,000 new polling units, with 21,500 in the North and only 8,500 in the South, which he said would have caused more confusion.

Other Southern leaders who attended the conference included former Inspector General of Police, Chief Mike Okiro; Ohanaeze Ndigbo President General, Chief Gary Igariwey; Justice Eze Ozobu; Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife; Dr. Dozie Ikedife; Mrs Josphine Anenih; Chief Mbazuluike Amechi; Eze Cletus Ilomuanya; Prof. Anya O. Anya and Chief Adolphos Wabara.

THE COMMUNIQUE COMMUNIQUE OF THE 5TH GENERAL CONFERENCE OF THE SOUTHERN NIGERIA PEOPLES ASSEMBLY (SNPA) HELD AT GOLDEN ROYALE HOTEL, ENUGU, ON TUESDAY 20TH JANUARY, 2014

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he 5th General Conference of the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly (SNPA) was held at Golden Royale Hotel, Enugu on Tuesday, 20th January, 2015. Chaired by the Host Chairman, His Excellency, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, GCON, former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Leader of the South East), the meeting had in attendance Chief Edwin K. Clark, CON (Co-Chair and Leader of the South South) and Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu, representing Bishop Emmanuel Gbonigi (Co-Chair and Leader of the South West).

The Conference which was well attended with over 200 delegates had the following very prominent leaders and elders: Chief Mbazulike Amechi, Admiral Akin Aduwo, Prof. Ihechukwu Madubike, Sen. Akinfenwa Mojisoluwa, Sen. BasseyEwaHenshaw, Dr. Kunle Olajide, Sir Mike Okiro, Prof. UcheAzikiwe, Her Excellency Dame VirgyEtiaba, CON, His Excellency, Sen. Adolf Wabara, Her Excellency, Sen. ofoworolaBucknor-Akerele and Prof. Anya O. Anya. Also present were Sen. (Dr.) Femi Okurounmu, Dame Dr. Esther Uduehi, AVM Larry Koinyan, Dr. Tim Menakaya, Dr. DozieIkedife, Rt. Hon TundeAkogun, His Excellency Dr. ChukwuemekaEzeife,CON and Rt. Hon. AgunwaAnakwe.

Royal fathers in attendance include HRM Eze Cletus Ilomuanya, Chairman South East Council of Traditional Rulers, HRH IGWE Amb. L. O. C. Agubuzu, HRH EzeOzobu, Chief Gary Igariwei (President General of OhanezeNdigbo) HRM King Alfred Diete-Spiff, HRM Oba AdeyemiAdediran (Owamiran of EsaOke) and HRM Oba Elizah O. Oyelade (Salu of Edunabon) representing the Ooni of Ife. The Conference deliberated on the current socio-political and economic situation in the country, particularly the national elections scheduled for the 14th and 28th February, 2015 as well as the unending Boko Haram terrorist activities in the North Eastern part of the country amongst others and noted that

1) The continued escalation of the Boko Haram activities close to 2015 general election is unhealthy to the unity and stability of the country.

2) The unfortunate post-election massacre of innocent Nigerians in parts of the North in 2011 and its portending danger in 2015.

3) The report by the leadership of the attempt by INEC to create 30,000 additional polling units, which would have given the North an undue electoral advantage, which is only being temporarily suspended.

4) That the distribution of permanent voters cards appear to have given the North advantage over the South as over 12 million PVCs have been given to the North West alone.

5) The need to expand the frontiers of cooperation beyond Southern Nigeria for the peace, unity and progress of the country.

6) That there has always been an orchestrated attack on Presidents/Heads of State of Southern Nigeria origin, leading to massive protests and destruction of lives and property in the North simply because it is the thinking of the Northern oligarchy that power must continue to reside in the North.

7) The problems of Nigeria predated the emergence of President Jonathan's administration and he has demonstrated passion and commitment in addressing them through his transformation agenda.

8) that the convocation of the National Conference by President Jonathan in response to our collective calls shows that he is a President with a listening ear who wants the good, betterment, stability and progress of the country.

Accordingly, the Conference resolves as follows: a. Nigerians are full of expectations that the resolutions of the National Conference will be faithfully implemented to resolve the continuing contradictions in the Nigerian polity and lay a solid foundation for a more

just, more equitable society in which all can have equal sense of belonging. b. All attempts by INEC to resurrect the implementation of the 30,000 additional polling units shall be vehemently resisted. c. That the South shall resist any attempt to employ violence to kill innocent Nigerians on account of the outcome of 2015 general elections. e) That the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly do hereby unanimously endorse President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan's quest for re-election as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the February14, 2015 presidential election. We therefore call on all discerning Nigerians tovote massively for President Jonathan as that would ensure equity, fairness, and justice. f) That the decision to endorse President Jonathan is based on thorough assessment of his manifest strides and achievements in the past three and half years as the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. g) That a think-tank of the Assembly should be empowered by the leadership of SNPA to commence the task of advocacy before and after the 2015 general elections.

Long Live Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly!

Long Live Federal Republic of Nigeria !!

Signed for and on Behalf of the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly His Excellency, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, GCON, Coordinating Chairman/Leader of South East Chief Edwin K. Clark, CON Co-Chair/Leader of South South Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu Leader of the South West

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Why I am running for the Presidential seat – Okorie Advocate Nigeria How did you emerge and how prepared are you for the task ahead?

I have never shielded away from rendering service to my people all my life. I will answer you by going a little back to history. When I founded the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, I was eminently qualified to run for the 2003 presidential election. But I felt that the purpose of forming APGA was not just to set a national political party, but also to give the Igbo people of Nigeria the platform to seek the highest political position in the country.

The Igbo have been deliberately alienated from the politics of the country. Then formation of APGA was for them to have a platform to be heard politically and make their own contribution to the democracy of Nigeria.

I therefore threw it open without being a contestant.

At the end of the day, the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu became t h e beneficiary of that project and I went down in history as the first Nigerian to form a political party without using it to contest for any position.

Unfortunately, those who hijacked APGA did not share the same vision and instead of using it to project the Igbo interest; they sold it to other people. The party was never intended to be adopting other candidates of other parties.

This is what APGA has w i c k e d l y d o n e since it was hijacked including the forthcoming election. I went ahead and formed the UPP and in my typical manner of not appropriating the party to myself; I threw the presidential ticket open. The presidential slot had already been zoned to the south east.

Ordinarily, people from the south east were expected to take advantage of the zoning arrangement to come forward. But nobody came up.

Our nomination fee was even the cheapest (N15million) compared to the PDP's N22million and APC's N27.5milion. On the eve of the convention, the national executive committee of our party having received a report that nobody purchased the presidential nomination form, unanimously passed a motion that Chef Chekwas Okorie should step forward for the task ahead. And I said to myself that after offering the platform for people and nobody came up, if I joined in rejecting the offer, it means that I don't know what I am doing. And with the mandate of the national executive committee of

Chekwas Okorie, presidential candidate of the United Progressive Party, UPP spoke to , on why he is running for the presidential seat, citing marginalization of the Igbos as the bedrock of his quest in order to right the wrongs institutionalized by the corrupt practices of the past leaders.

our party, the same type of mandate president Jonathan had from the PDP, I now took it up and quite frankly, I could not resist it especially when I did not see any other Igbo man more qualified than myself to run for the office of the president of this country. I don't see any advantage other candidates have over me other than the incumbency factor in the case of President Jonathan. Our party men and women believe that even Mohammadu Buhari has no advantage over me, except that some people are backing him with huge money. I soar above all

Nigerians want is issue based campaigns. We are coming up with major revolutionary policy.

Outside the usual job creation, agricultural revolution and so on; we will do them in a revolutionary way that has never been witnessed here. But what will mark our government out is the revolutionary policy we are going to bring through the National Assembly. For instance, we want to see a situation where there is an exit clause to allow people who want to move out of Nigeria to do so. You cannot force people to belong to a country where they are

the presidential candidates in integrity. Encouraged with all these complimentary statements, I took it up and began to consult stakeholders all over the world.

We plan to start up our campaign in Owerri, Imo state having had our convention in Aba, the first political party to recognize Aba in that magnitude. We have special recognition for Owerri people to rekindle their hope that the country belongs to all of us.

not comfortable. The Boko Haram issue would have been solved long ago if that clause had existed.

Those who wanted to opt out to establish their Caliphate Empire would be subjected to a referendum and if the people of the area agree, they should be allowed to go. That does not mean you will forfeit your property, only that it will be in another country. Take the case of Scotland and Great Britain. Over the years, Scotland has been angling to be a separate country until recently when that desire was subjected to a referendum and the people voted against separation. Now the Scottish people are better off in Great Britain based on the

What are the issues that dominate your campaign?

President Jonathan has a transformation agenda. Buhari's own is change. Mine is revolutionary leadership. What

concessions the government made to them. In Ethiopia, there is such clause in their constitution which has helped to end internal crisis.

The clause will make the rulers to be more circumvent in their style of leadership or stop some things they do with impunity, knowing that the people they are riding rough shoulders have the option to leave. If voted to power, my government will pursue that clause and I am sure it is going to calm frayed nerves and make people to respect one another. It will eliminate the idea that there are those who will die in Nigeria, no matter the situation they found themselves. None of these presidential candidates will even contemplate this idea because they will tell you the indivisibility of this country. , which is arrant nonsense. Where is the USSR or Yugoslavia? Those countries that made up these entities are better off today. We will also look at the issue of security vote; the level of corruption in the country cannot bring about any meaningful development. We shall insist that security votes be used for security related issues. The issue of immunity needs a proper legislation to limit the immunity of the president, governors and their deputies. Any person that commits crime should be prosecuted no matter his office and once the person is convicted, impeachment becomes automatic.

The immunity clause has been grossly abused. Those who feel they have immunity to behave like tin gods or accumulate wealth for their great grand children will be cut to size. People must pay appropriate taxes for their luxurious lives. You cannot have 100 cars and refuse to pay the appropriate tax. We will plug all those holes from where our common patrimony has been infringed upon and use it for the welfare of the people. Both APC and PDP are two sides of a coin.

The only credible alternative is the UPP.

Don't you think you have a very big challenge at hand?

I am not making a light issue of the matter. The funding is going to be a problem, but we are going to devise a mechanism the every person interested in the alternative platform we are providing can contribute no matter how little. I know it's going to be a big challenge, but a situation where the Igbo people constitute a large population of this country and they are being marginalized, is not acceptable to me. They are more or less the largest ethnic group in

this country but lack the courage to contest the highest political office in this country. For me, it is better I am not alive than to live and be part of class of capitulated leadership or belong to those who have surrendered. What I am doing now happened in the second republic (1979-1983) when Nnamdi Azikiwe had already concluded that he was not going to run for the presidency anymore.

But when he realized that no Igbo man was prepared to run for the presidential election in 1979, as they were all clamouring for the vice presidential slot; he took up the challenge. The NPN even ridiculed the Igbo by giving the slot to the highest bidder. We learnt that Dr Alex Ekwueme paid N2million to be considered to pair with Alhaji Shehu Shagari. In what could be described as a righteous anger, ZIK came out from retirement and picked the NPP presidential ticket. When he was asked why he chose NPP, he told Nigerians that our people were better off being majority in a minority party where their voices would be heard instead of being minority in a majority party where they would be completely absorbed, just like what is happening to them in the PDP. Even in the APC, the Igbo people are not there. The worst is that no Igbo man was considered qualified to be running mate or even campaign manager in the two political parties. The situation has even degenerated to this abysmal level and you don't expect somebody like me with all that I have invested in my life in promoting the political identity of my people to sit back and watch this journey back to “Egypt�. The challenge is there but what I am getting already has encouraged me to move further. Sometime ago, the World Igbo Congress met in USA and agreed that all Igbo in diaspora should prevail on their people at home to vote for Chekwas Okorie and the UPP, the platform to negotiate for the good of the Igbo people. Politics is not all about winning but it has everything to do with alliances and negotiations, but not when you are absorbed inside a big party like the case of Jonah in the belly of whale. My mission and vision is to leave a legacy. If there was no Martin Luther King, there would not have been Barrack Obama today. Even when he was doing that, nobody gave him a chance, he was even assassinated. But today, there is a public holiday in his honour. My mission is not for my immediate comfort, it is for posterity.

February 5, 2015

NIGERIA

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February polls: Nollywood adopts Umeh, Ezenagu, others APGA candidates

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nambra State Chapter of the Actors's Guild of Nigeria (AGN) has adopted Chief Victor Umeh , Chief Godson Ezenagu as well as other candidates contesting on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance ( APGA ) in next month's general elections .

The apex body of the motion picture industry in Nigeria said that the adoption was informed by the fact that Chief Umeh and Chief Ezenagu have been very instrumental to the progress the industry has made in Anambra State and beyond and as such there was need for AGN to throw their weight behind their candidacy.

Speaking at the adoption and endorsement ceremony in Awka, the Executive Chief Chairman of Awka-North Local Government Area Chief Cosmas Okonkwo said that the A ctors 'G uild of N igeria Anambra State Chapter adopted Chief Victor Umeh as the sole candidate they would vote for in the forthcoming general elections .

whom they would will support for the forthcoming house of representatives as well as other APGA candidates involved in all the elections .

The Awka-North LG boss said that the adoption and endorsenent was informed by the outstanding performance of the APGA government in Anambra State.

Vice-President of the Actors' Guild of Nigeria South-East Zone and former State Chairman of the guild in Anambra Barr.Ikechukwu Ezenagu said Chief Umeh was the grand patron of the guild in 2008 and that Chief Ezenagu was crowned patron of AGN in the year 2005 stressing that the duo have been very useful and instrumental to the laudable achievements recorded in the guild .

He said Nollywood decided to pitch tent with APGA in next month's general elections following the party's antecedents in infrastructural developments in Anambra State .

The vice president of the AGN was however of the opinion that Chief Victor Umeh should APGA candidates win in the elections , they would assist C h i e f O k o n k w o f u r t h e r equally adopted Chief Godson Nollywood to combat piracy , explained that the entertainers Ezenagu as the sole candidate

finance , film locations to mention a few of the problematic areas they would prefer lasting solutions.

He therefore pointed out that the position of Nollywood in the 2015 general elections was that Nollywood has officially adopted Goodluck Jonathan as its choice for presidency.

Representative of Chief Victor Umeh on the occasion, Mr.Chuka Obele Chuka said he came with good tidings from Chief Victor Umeh stressing that Chief Umeh and all APGA candidates in next month's polls would ccontinue to assist the guild in all their endeavours .

M r. E d d y K i n g M b a c h u immediate past secretary of the Anambra State Chapter of the Actors' Guild of Nigeria, in his remarks, noted that Nollywood was aware of the antecedents of Chief Victor Umeh ,Chief Godson Ezenagu and other candidates contesting on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance in the 2015 general elections.

Mr.Mbachu said AGN saw it as worthwhile to lend their support through the adoption of all APGA candidates for next month's polls .

Dickson calls for peace, unity of purpose among ex freedom fighters in Niger Delta …as Dokubo asks Niger Delta youths to be 'battle ready’

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overnor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has called on ex-freedom fighters in the Niger Delta and the Ijaw Nation to be united in their support for the re-election bid of President Goodluck Jonathan.Addressing the exfreedom fighters and their leaders at a meeting in Government House, Yenagoa, Friday night, the governor noted that, the time has come for all stakeholders and interest groups in the Niger Delta, especially, the Ijaw Nation to pull their resources together and work in one accord to ensure victory for the President in the February 14th, 2015 general elections.He described the re-election of President Jonathan as key to the developmental aspirations of the Nation and the Niger Delta, stressing that, victory at the forthcoming polls will afford him the opportunity to consolidate on the achievements already recorded in the various sectors of the economy.Dickson condemned in strong terms, the unwarranted attack on the President's convoy in

two Northern States, pointing out that, the opposition presidential candidate was allowed to campaign peacefully in Bayelsa and wondered why same gesture was not extended to the President in Katsina, the home state of the presidential candidate of the main opposition party."On the attack on the President's campaign convoy, you are witnesses to how the opposition presidential candidate campaigned here and left peacefully without any form of molestation," he said.He renewed his call on the youths not to allow themselves to be deceived by vain promises and gifts from mischief makers, noting that, such gifts and situations were not in the collective interest of the State and should be rejected.As youths and freedom fighters, I urge you to woo your neighbours beyond the Niger Delta region to ensure the re-election of the President”.In their separate remarks, the Special Adviser to the President and Chairman of the Presidential amnesty programme, Hon. Kingsley Kuku, Alhaji Mujahid Asari Dokubo, Chief Government

Ekpemopulo (a.k.a Tompolo), Ebikabowei Vi c t o r B e n (a.k.a. Boy loaf) and Ijaw Youth C o u n c i l President, Udengs Eradiri, all pledged to work together with other youth groups and stakeholders to ensure victory for President G o o d l u c k Jonathan in the forthcoming presidential polls.Asari particularly charged the youth to be battle ready, if need be, as "nobody can frighten or Governor Seriake Dickson intimidate us anymore. There is power in Ijaw the same vein, Gen. Boyloaf said: nation. We are going to war, "There is one Nigeria only everyone of us should go and because our oil brings us together. purify himself."Also speaking in

Today, they are intimidating one of our own. We own the resources, yet they say we do not have the right to rule. Then, we must collect our oil back. If they say they want to take the power from us, then we will take our oil back. We are ready to match them bumper for bumper."Boyloaf insisted that "gone are the days when you intimidate people with guns. We are ready. The Nigerian Army cannot police the pipelines from end to end."Summoning up the decisions of the leadership, Kingsley Kuku made it clear the Ijaw nation would no longer tolerate the continued attack on the President in the north, especially after the Ijaw people and nation had extend a hand of friendship to their son when his campaign train came to Bayelsa."We will not take lightly again what has been happening to the President in the north. We will not accept it anymore. For this country to remain united, they should treat our own as we have treated theirs," he warned.The meeting also had in attendance exfreedom fighters and youth groups from other ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta like Urhobo, Itsekiri, Ikwerre and Ogoni.

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Governors, Ministers, NASS members under probe – Lamorde, EFCC boss

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he Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, said Monday that the commission and the Metropolitan Police of London are probing governors, ministers and former heads of the civil service for corruption.

The list also includes members of the National Assembly and exministers He, however, said the agency was keeping the list under wraps until investigation was concluded.

Lamorde said the EFCC would confiscate assets of ex-Governor James Ibori in the United Kingdom.

He dismissed insinuations that the EFCC had abandoned the trial of some ex-governors like Saminu Turaki, Joshua Dariye, Jolly Nyame, Abubakar Audu and Governor Ayo Fayose.

The EFCC boss said the commission recently declared exGovernor Saminu Turaki wanted.

Lamorde made the disclosures in Abuja while hosting to confiscate Ibori's assets in the UK after a meeting with a team from the Metropolitan Police of London, led by Detective Chief Inspector Jonathan Benton.

He said: “In respect of some of the new cases we have embarked upon, we are investigating sitting governors, some ministers that are serving, also ministers that have left office, some former heads of the civil service of the federation and members of the National Assembly.

“We will never mention names, since it's a joint investigation that we are doing. And you know unlike what we do here where some of our people here want sensationalism, that is not the way it works with them. The investigation has to be conducted properly first. It is when the matter is ready to go to court that publicity is given to individual case.

“For the time being, they are here.

We a r e r e v i e w i n g t h o s e investigations and when we are ready to go to court, then names and these cases will be properly mentioned.”

Although Lamorde said some of the cases might take time, it was important for the public to know what EFCC had been doing.

He added: “Another thing I also want to say is that some of these investigations will take a little bit of time. The Ibori case, the investigation lasted about six to seven years before he was again charged and arraigned in court.

“So, we cannot be in a hurry, the most important thing is that people should know a lot is going on.

“And any person either a man or woman occupying public office, who decides to put her hand or his

whether or not you take the money outside this country.

“There are machinery in place to trace this money and also bring such individuals to justice, and we also want to thank Mr Benton and his team, for the assistance they have rendered to us as an organisation and to Nigeria as a country.

“We believe the work they have done to assist what we are Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde doing has helped hand in government coffers to tremendously in making us steal, there is no hiding place, achieve a lot of results. It has also

helped to discourage a lot of people from stealing money from Nigeria and taking it to the UK to either hide or invest, thinking that it will never be detected.

“That has helped the development of Nigeria because the less money is taken out of the country, the more it is retained here for development. Not only that they have done the investigations and confiscated assets and properties, the United Kingdom has always found a way of returning this assets to Nigerians. And I believe shortly we would have more assets that have been confiscated in the United Kingdom being returned to the country.”

Lamorde said in a few months, assets of James Ibori in the UK would be confiscated.

He added: “As you are all aware, we have had a very robust working relationship with the Metropolitan Police dating over 10 years now, and he has come

Niger deputy gov, 200 others dump PDP for APC

N

iger State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Ibeto, and over 200 political office holders on Monday defected from the ruling People's Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.

Announcing his defection to newsmen in Minna, Ibeto said, “I am on my way to welcome our party leader and presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, at Minna Airport for his campaign rally in Niger State.”

Ibeto attributed his defection to injustice meted out to him and

other contestants in the state party primaries, describing the exercise as flawed and stage-managed to favour anointed candidates.

Ibeto said, “The electoral process that threw up Alhaji Umar Nasko as PDP governorship candidate was not in accordance with the PDP electoral law and the constitution.”

“It is true we are defecting to APC because the primaries conducted were not in accordance with the PDP constitution. Myself and other aggrieved party members decided to petition the National

Headquarters of the party on the outcome of the governorship primaries with a view to addressing the obvious injustice but met a brick wall.

“We were expecting justice from the party's national office but nothing was forthcoming, hence we decided to join the APC.” He however appealed to his supporters to be law abiding and not to make politics a do-or-die battle.

Among those who defected from PDP alongside the deputy governor are serving members of National Assembly, members of State's House of Assembly, former commissioners and former local government chairmen. Punch

with his team. The operational members of his team cannot appear with us in the press for obvious reasons, and we are here to review our activities over the years and the current activities we are working on.

“We have a lot of ongoing investigations that we have been doing together. We need to review those cases and how we move them forward.

“You are also very much aware that the Metropolitan Police Proceeds of Corruption Unit is the unit that assisted us in the case of ex-governors DSP Alamieyeseigha and Joshua Dariye in the past. And of course, the big one that everybody is aware of, James Ibori, who is currently serving jail term in the United Kingdom.

“In a few months, there is also going to be a confiscation proceedings in respect of the assets of James Ibori in the United Kingdom which of course we have been working assiduously to make sure it will be successful.”

Asked what has become of some of the court cases against exgovernors and ongoing investigations of some Politically Exposed Persons, Lamorde said the EFCC was still pursuing them.

He said in six months, some of the serving governors would lose their immunity to enable them face prosecution.

Said he: “As I said, these investigations are ongoing. You don't arrest unless you have concluded the investigation and you are ready to go to court, or there is an evidence you want to get by effecting that arrest.

“On the issue of immunity, in less than six months from now, the immunity will be gone, and not only those that are in office, even those who have left office.”

(Nation)

Elechi sacks SSG, reshuffles cabinet

G

overnor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State yesterday, sacked the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Chief Fidelis Mbam and appointed Dr. Boniface Chima as a replacement.

The governor said he relieved Chief Mbam of the position as SSG on health ground. Dr. Chima, was until his appointment, the secretary of Ebonyi Founding Fathers Forum and a retired federal civil servant.

Elechi, who swore in the new SSG Monday at the Executive Chambers of Government House, Abakaliki, commended Mbam for his dedication to service for almost eight years of his administration.

Speaking after he was sworn in,

Chima promised to leave up to expectation by carrying out his duty diligently to the people of the state.

The governor also announced a minor reshuffling of his cabinet due to the resignation of some members of his cabinet to vie for various political offices in the forthcoming general elections.

Under the reshufflement, Dr. Ifeanyi Ike, the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry will oversee the Ministry of Information and State Orientation, while the Commissioner for Works and Transport, Mr. Chukwuma Nwandiugo will oversee the Department of Petroleum, Pricing and Distribution. Chief Jonah Egba, formerly of Inter-Party Dialogue will now take over the

Department of E c o n o m i c Empowerment and Poverty Reduction.

A l s o , t h e Commissioner for Environment, Dave Egbu, will now head Solid Minerals Development Department while his counterpart in charge of Border Peace and Conflict Resolution, Chief Donatus Ajah, moves over to the Ministry of Environment to be assisted by the current SA on Project Monitoring, Felix Otah.

Governor Martin Elechi Meanwhile, Elechi has scrapped two departments of Department of Grants and Donor Inter-party Dialogue and Border A g e n c y a n d o v e r s e e t h e Peace and Conflict.

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February 5, 2015

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Multiple Candidates:

Enugu APC guber candidate wants INEC to sanction PDP

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he All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Enugu state, Chief Okey Ezea has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to quickly sanction the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for its failure to define its candidate for the governorship election next month.

Ezea, who made the call while presenting Mrs. Juliet Ibekaku, a lawyer as his running mate, said the development contravened the Electoral Act and the true spirit of democracy.

According to the APC governorship candidate, contrary to the electoral act, PDP in Enugu state had produced multiple governorship candidates, who are currently campaigning in various places.

Ezea emphasised that it was not only unfair to other political parties but a clear breach of the law. “None of the candidates of the PDP angling to be governorship candidates has been a match to Okey Ezea in any election in Enugu state. They have all been rigging elections since they started politics and we say that enough is enough. If you go to the ordinary citizens of Enugu state, they are saying they are tired of PDP and want a change. We do not have any reason to be afraid of anybody coming from the PDP. What we are saying is that they must define their candidates, so that we know who we are meeting in the battle field,” he said.

He further explained: “What they have been doing is to have multiple candidates and while we do one rally they are doing three.

They must define their candidates and those who are not should quit, otherwise, we will begin our own multiple candidates and there will be anarchy in Enugu state. The law does not support that and if the PDP has become a party for anarchists, they should let us know. The law says each party must present a candidate. If they are not capable of producing a candidate, then INEC should proscribe them because they cannot abide by the rules of the game. PDP is violating the electoral act”.

Addressing a crowd on the occasion in which he also disclosed the manifesto of his government which he said cuts across all segments of the state, Ezea maintained that the problem of Enugu state had been mismanagement, lack of accountability and below average leadership.

According to him, the current regime, despite the huge financial allocations from federation

Chief Okey Ezea account and other sources, had not been able to transform the state to benefit its residents.

He said: “In seven and half years, the present Enugu state government has collected more than N500 billion from federally allocated revenue, nobody has

told us how much we got as internally generated revenue, nobody has told us how much we got as VAT, nobody has told us how much we got as excess crude, as ecological fund; then they have taken a lot of loans.

“As I speak to you today, if you go to debt management office, as at 1st January 2014, Enugu state owed N12.061 billion, later they went to GTbank and borrowed N5billion.

I n November/Decembe r, last year, they went for another N11billion. We have been shouting and till today, the state government has not reacted to our inquiries about the statues of that N11billion. We assume they have taken the money in order to finance election”.

Ezea added: “There are so many abandoned projects in Enugu state. Somebody comes and in

order to award a new contract leaves an ongoing project. I will give you example with the international conference centre at Okpara square.

There is no reason why that centre should not be functional today. It is the property of Enugu state. It is not the private property of anybody and today, there is no such international conference centre where people could get together. What we have are private hotels which do not provide such facilities. If you go to Owerri, within a space of two years, Okorocha has built an international conference centre where many activities take place.

There are several conferences that should have taking place here but because we don't have such facility. So the tourism potential of Enugu is lost”. On how the economy of Enugu state can sustain his programmes without over taxing the people of Enugu state as is the practice presently, Ezea said that Enugu's economy was robust and strong enough to make the people put food on the table, attend good schools and provide good health facilities.

He said: “There are some

countries in African that are smaller than Enugu state. The problem of our economy is problem of corruption, unaccountability on the part of those at leadership and people in charge of our affairs not having ideas on how to generate wealth and reduce poverty among the people of the state.

“Enugu's wealth if well harnessed has capacity to be one of the agricultural areas in Nigeria. We have divided Enugu state into areas capable of production of food crops, fruits. In Enugu state, more than sixty percent of our people are engaged in subsistence agriculture, therefore, if you provide facilities and support these people to earn a good living means you have supported more than 80 percent of the population.

“We are not thinking of a government that is going to be dependent on the fallout from the federal revenue and some touts using horse whips and machetes chasing people around the streets in the name of tax. We are going to go into production to create wealth, setting up agro-based industries that are labour intensive to employ these teeming youths, training and retraining the youths to acquire skills and be able to employ other people”.

DSS Findings on APC:

'We have been vindicated' – PDP

By EUCLID Agunwa, Abuja

F

ollowing the shocking revelations made by the Department of State Security (DSS) on the alleged plans by the main opposition political party the All Progressive Congress (APP) to rig the 2015 general elections, The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said Wednesday that it has been vindicated by the findings uncovered by the State Security Services.

In a press release by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, the party said that all Nigerians and the international community can now see that the ruling party was armed with information and was not just crying wolf when it raised an alarm that the APC was cloning INEC's Permanent Voters Card (PVC) and using sophisticated software to hack into the commission's database.

“When we alerted Nigerians that the APC is on a sinister mission against this country some people dismissed us as crying wolf and playing to the Gallery. Now that they have been

Olisa Metuh exposed, the world can see that the APC is indeed a party of criminals in desperate quest for power.

“Everyone now knows on what

strength a p a r t y w h i c h l a c k s genuine followersh ip among the people has been boasting that it will emerge victorious i n t h e elections w i t h threats of violence if it loses.

According to Metuh, I t i s shameful that while o t h e r parties were busy working hard to win voters, the APC was procuring hacking equipment and training their members on how to steal the mandate of the people.

“This is indeed a slap in the face of

Nigerians and the worst assault on our democracy”, Metuh said.

“What can the supporters of the APC say now that they have been exposed? What can they say now that the true colour of a party, which has been parading itself in a messianic robe, has finally been revealed?

“The APC and its leaders, especially its Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari with his so-called moral credentials are a huge disgrace to our nation. They have proven to be persons of questionable character who should not be entrusted with leadership. They should hide their faces in shame and seek forgiveness from God and the people,” The PDP Called on well meaning Nigerians to continue to be vigilant, urging security agencies not to rest on their oars while charging INEC to ensure that “it is not complicit in this heinous crime against the Nigerian state and its people.”

Metuh, however, admonished the DSS to leave no stone unturned to uncover those behind the national shame, insisting that all those found culpable in the criminal plot should be made to face the full

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February 5, 2015

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Agriculture, panacea to unemployment in Anambra state – Onitsha North LG Boss

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he Executive Chairman, unemployment Onitsha North Local problem.

Government Council, He observed that with Barr. Douglas Egbuna JP (Osita the governor's security said that making agricultural programme, peace and sector profit-oriented will enhance tranquility has returned its value chain by ensuring to the state, creating an maximization of output, and give a atmosphere conducive great boost to Small and Medium for business just as he Enterprises (S.M.Es). commended his Speaking to Advocate Nigeria in e m p l o y m e n t his office in Onitsha, Barr. Egbuna programmes for job noted that Governor Obiano's four creation. wheels of development and their “Governor Obiano has enablers as well as his drive into e v o l v e d a n agriculture and security network unparalleled and a have within just nine months of his holistic approach to administration positively turned tackling crime and a around the economic fortunes of concrete strategic to the state, and placed it on the path fight against of sustainable development. unemployment; Describing agriculture as a major Criminals have been catalyst for self-reliance and sent packing and the Governor Obiano economic growth,Barr. Egbuna upper Iweka in Onitsha predicted a bright future for all sectors of the state economy metropolis hitherto dreaded and Anambra State in view of the high adding that is the panacea to the occupied by criminals, picktempo of development going on in embarrassing young graduates' pockets and hoodlums is now a

safe haven for businessmen and women who go about their normal business without molestation and harassment.

“And this situation has created the enabling environment to boost investment confidence in the state”.

The Onitsha North Council Boss also extolled Governor Obiano for establishing skill acquisition centres to create employment and re-focusing agriculture towards commercialization to move it away from subsistence to mechanized farming.

While describing the governor as a man of strong political will, uncommon sense of patriotism and unwavering dedication to duty, Barr. Douglas N. Egbuna (Osite) remarked that with barely ten months in office, the present administration has broken new grounds in governance by laying a solid foundation for socioeconomic development through

exemplary leadership and uncommon courage and vision, and has created conducive climate for law and order, peace, security and good governance.

According to the Executive Chairman, Governor Obiano's commitment to drive the state on the threshold of socio-economic advancement, his convincing leadership and steadfastness of purpose, and above all his tenacious pursuit of the common good of all aptly demonstrate that leadership is a call to service.

Barr. Egbuna then enjoined staff of Onitsha North Local Government to always be dedicated to duty and exhibit those noble virtues of patriotism, selflessness in service and punctuality but warned against indolence, truancy, absenteeism and even lateness to duty even as he pointed out that the state administration has no room, for such attitude by staff.

Petroleum marketers in S-East defy directive on N87 pump price

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etroleum marketers in the five South Eastern States of the country have continued to sell petrol above the new pump price of N87 insisting that they would retain the old price until their stock was exhausted/ Reports from our correspondents in the five states indicated that Premium Motor Spirit, PMS,

popularly called petrol is still being sold at N97 per litre by major marketers of petroleum product while the independent marketer sell at N100 per litre.

A survey conducted in Enugu indicated that while the major marketers have continued to defy the Federal Government's new price regime of N87 per l

independent marketers who jerked up their pump prices to N110 per litre in December have merely reduced it to N 100 per litre.

But while there are queues at the filling stations operated by major marketers, most of the stations operated by the independent marketers have been deserted.

Only the Nigerian National

Petroleum Corporation, NNPC mega station at the Naira Triangle Enugu adjusted their pump price to N87 per litre few hours after the new price was announced and the station has continued to witness long queue of vehicles.

The situation is the same in the other states of the zone where both the major and independent marketers have vowed to retain the old price to enable them exhaust

FG injects 220mw of power to national grid

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he Minister of power, Prof.

Chinedu Nebo, has said that the 220 megawatts of electricity added to the Egbin thermal station, Lagos, would be re-commissioned by

President Goodluck Jonathan soon. He said this on Saturday while announcing a shift in the re-commissioning ceremony at the thermal plant. “What we have added newly to this plant is

CHANGE OF NAME OBASI – I formerly known and addressed as Obasi Samson Nnamdi, now wish to be known and addressed as Onwe Samson Nnamdi.

All former documents remain valid. The general public, please take note

ANI – I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ani Tochukwu Juliet E. now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ileje Tochukwu Juliet E. All former documents remain valid. ESUT, NYSC, UBA PLC, and the general public, please take note

so huge that it is the President himself that can tell the nation. “Power generation is the backbone of industrialisation and the intention of the Federal Government is to open up the opportunities for industrial revolution in the country,'' he said. Prof.

Nebo added that the sixth unit of the Egbin thermal station had been moribund for about 10 years due to the failure of previous administrations to inject federal funds into the revival of the thermal station. The minister said added that the current feat was achieved through the privatisation of the plant by the Jonathan

administration. “This is a clear indication that the privatisation exercise is yielding fruitful results,'' he said. In an interview with newsmen, the Chief Executive officer of Egbin Power Plc, Mr Mike Uzoigwe, said, “What we have achieved here at Egbin is available capacity of 1320 megawatts. Any day we have gas that will support that amount of load that load will come out. But the important thing is that we have the capacity to go to 1320 mw if need be right now. “Unit six that was recaptured has a steady capacity of 220mw if need be right now.'’

the stock of fuel they purchased before the price reduction.

Some motorists who spoke on the development described the refusal by the petroleum marketers in the South East zone to comply with the new price regime of petrol as a wicked act and a clear case of economic sabotage.

A motorist told ADVOCATE NIGERIA that the marketers have no reason not to comply with the Federal government's directive on price reduction stressing that they would have adjusted their pumps within few minutes if the government had announced price increase.

He said: “These marketers are wicked and I believe they want to sabotage the Goodluck Jonathan government which has decided to alleviate our plight. The marketers have refused to enforce the price reduction because of greed and the failure of the regulatory agency, the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, in the South East to enforce the new price.

“When the Federal government announces price increase the marketers will adjust their pumps in a matter of minutes but when it is price reduction they will come up with different flimsy excuses as to why they cannot implement the directive. They have continued to exploit the people of the zone without any intervention and they want to continue that way even when the government has good intention for the people.”

Efforts by our correspondents to speak with officials of the DPR on the development proved abortive as they were not ready to comment on the decision of the marketers to defy the government on the price reduction.

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February 5, 2015

NIGERIA

Man 25 rape 85year-Old greatold woman on the 25th grandmother in Ekiti year December, 2014 .

In a report from the website of Nigerian Police Force, the victim, a great grandmother was asleep when the suspect sneaked into her room, bolted the door and forcefully took advantage of her. The suspect initially went into hiding after the act but was caught in the dragnet spread for him by detectives.

The police website stated that a medical report during investigation shows that the victim was raped by the suspect adding that the accussed will soon be charged to court.

Baby Born With Teeth

A

newborn baby astonished her parents and nursing staff after she was born with two fully formed lower front teeth, Branson, Missouri, US. The doctors and nurses who delivered Alyssa Bella Bailey on

December 28 couldn't believe their eyes when the newborn baby started to cry.

“Right when she first arrived, everybody was just shocked. Just like, 'She has two front teeth? No kidding? Really?' It was just a big talk about it in the delivery room,”

T Human flesh eaters in a Thailand village C he operatives of the Department of C r i m i n a l Investigation, Ado-Ekiti

have arrested one Familola Ayodeji 'm' of No. 17, Oke Ido Street, Ido-Ekiti aged 25 years for the rape of an 85

facilitate the spread of deadly prone diseases and should not be encouraged.

annibalism is finding its way back to the world in spite of new age civilization. A Village Where People Eats Human Flesh Discovered in far away Asian country.

The inhabitant of this village finds joy in eating human flesh. Although “corpse medicine” (a form of cannibalism) was once acceptable, it started to grow out of favor in the 1 6 t h c e n t u r y.

Cannibalism can

Man cuts off manhood to concentrate on fasting

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27 -year-old man who claimed to be a member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God had reportedly cut off his penis from his body with a machete in order to concentrate in the ongoing 21 days fasting and prayer programme organized by the church.

The unidentified man who ardently believes that fasting and prayers should be embarked upon with piousness decided to obey the instruction of the Bible that enjoined people to cut off any part of their bodies that will lead them into sin.

According to reports, on Sunday,

January 18, 2015 the man was said to be doing great without food and water but revealed that his manhood was obstructing him from getting more devout to God with its little erections on daily basis.

He said, “The penis has a mind of its own and it is capable of doing things which are totally out of my control. It usually gets erect every now and then, and konji sets in.

And you know that konji is one of the things that leads people into sin. The erections were making me weaker spiritually and in the fast. That is why I cut it off. Even Jesus Christ said that we should cut off anything which will make

us sin.”

His neighbors attacked him thinking he was attempting to perform a ritual until he was able

to explain to them what he was doing.

He is currently in one of the hospital in Lagos responding to

treatment and hoping that his penis will grow back on his body after the 21 days of fasting and prayers

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February 5, 2015

NIGERIA

Woes of Africa unveiled, exposes African migrant's ordeal in foreign land

By Uche Chukwu, Awka

A

realistic fictional book titled ''Woes of Africa'' by G e o rg e N d u b i s i h a s exposed the ordeals experienced by young African youths and intellectuals who undertake fruitless journeys through the deserts of North Africa and dangerous seas and oceans across the Atlantic in search of nonexistent greener pastures or otherwise golden fleece in Europe and other Western countries.

The book explores circumstances which compelled Ikenga, the protagonist to leave Umuafor, his village in Igboland of Nigeria, Africa en route Port Harcourt to Germany, in Europe only for him to experience in the process hard, sad and harsh realities of life in the West.

In the process of the journey, writes the author, the Africa migrants perish in the high seas or deserts and their dead bodies are preyed on by wild animals and vultures while back home their relatives keep hope of utopia for their return with dollars and pounds The very few who survive and get to their destination in Europe and other Western countries come to face the harsh realities of immigration laws, police harassment, constant arrests, detention and imprisonment.

These obvious inhuman circumstances, according to the author, compel African migrants to resort to unholy and unworkable marriages with heartless and hostile young girls to remain abroad.

There are some of the migrants who engage in drug deals, drug abuses and drug addiction with a view to reducing the harsh realities of life in a foreign land.

Consequent upon the inhuman

circumstances , they become lawless, dejected, isolated, lose focus, and identity, deteriorate emotionally and psychologically, engage in criminal activities, are arrested, prosecuted and detained in long imprisonment and later deported to Africa.

Ndubisi in his book cites examples of the frustrated Africa migrants like 'Law Professor, Pastor Raymond, Mr Ezeh and Ikenga all of whom he referred to as characters of inglorious adventure whose cerebral components were tampered and they “gave obvious signs and symptoms of emotional and mental breakdown and

degeneration .”

The picture of miserable life the migrants find themselves is painted in the book ''Woes of Africa'' in which Ikenga, the protagonist traveled to Germany to face inglorious circumstances but overcame through Ikenga, the symbol of Igboman's spirit of invincibility and indestructibility, unlike thousands of others that never returned to tell their story.

However, the author reels out Ikenga's woes to include loss of his mother to cold pangs of death, stress and pain he experienced in the hands of his step mother, general poverty arising from his

father's poor economic background, poor academic performance, stealing of idols, harsh ordeals of passage to Europe, sexual pervasion abroad, unsuccessful marriage contracted with white girls, impossibility to secure Permanent Residential Permit, arrest, torture, searches, detention by German security operatives, prosecution and imprisonment.

The author traces the situation that compels young Africans to migrate to poor political leadership in Africa which has made it impossible for the political class to provide good economic base in

Africa with the result that young ones tend to travel to Europe and other Western countries where they erroneously believe life is as easy as ABC, but they learn the hard way that all that glitters is no gold.

The reviewer of the book, “Woes of Ikenga”, the Head of Department of English at the Anambra State University, Dr. Echezona Ifejirika noted that the 315-page book captures a real life situation with the objective being 'to expose Africa youths and indeed Africa as a whole to the hard, sad and unsafe realities in Europe and other Western nations with a view to discouraging ignorant African youths who perceive the West as final destination and promised Land from excessive Exodus to the West where it is assumed dollars and pounds litter the streets.'’

Chibok Girls Get Free Scholarship to Atiku's University

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wenty one Chibok girls have been admitted and given free scholarship to study at the American University of Nigeria (AUN) Yola the Adamawa State Capital.

Furthermore, 18% to 20% of the new students at the University are similarly enjoying free scholarship at the institution with large sums spent on them yearly.

The Chibok girls mostly those who were able to escape from the hands of their captors she told newsmen later in an interview are benefitting even through they are being given special tutorials to make them catch up with the educational qualifications needed for admission.

She had made these remarks Monday on the occasion of matriculation of 125 new students and added that despite security challenges bedeviling the North Eastern part of the country more parents were willing to bring their children to the institution realizing the quality of getting good

Chibok girls education there.

Says Margee, “many of the students are from the southern part of thiscountry and we are making sure that we have students from every stateand geo-political zones here”.At an interview session, the president of the American University (AUN) stated that the

Adamawa Peace Initiative to which she is a member has been finding it difficult in helping the internally Displaced Person (IDPs) even though they have been fending for several hundreds of them.

'Personally, I get emotional when I think about the fate of the Chibok girls who were taken away from

their school by insurgents”, she says.

Dr. Ensign then appealed to the government to be proactive in the handling of the suffering of IDPs. She commended Nigerians saying Nigerian culture was a generous one especially seeing how they have been caring and helping the IDPs. According to Margee Ensign, the AUN has been fending for about 270 IDPS while the Parish of St. Theresa catholic church has been fending for over 1800 IDPs both Christians and Muslims.

She further revealed that the United States Government assisted the API with a hundred Thousand dollars to help ease the API'sinitiatives.

Only on Sunday, the women's wing of the Jama'atul Nasrul Islam (JNI)gave a certificate and a plague to the President of the AmericanUniversity of Nigeria (AUN) in recognition for her contributions tothe development of education and help for the IDPs.In a comment, she said it was the most significant award she has received since she became the president of AUN.

Jonathan tasks varsities on professionalism …As Ekweremadu, Avuru, Babayo, Azinge bag honorary awards at 44th UNN convocation

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resident Goodluck Jonathan has advised Nigerian universities to broaden the scope of their professional concerns and create innovations in teach­ing to help push the country to compete with advanced nations of the world.

The president who gave this advice at the 44th Convocation of the Uni­versity of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) also called on the na­tion's universities to increase their research base, accelerate scientific and technological progress, as well as ensure the overall mechanization and au­tomation of production in all areas.

“This is the only way we can join the comity of nations in the

inevitable march to dis­tinctive progress,” Jonathan, who was represented at the occasion by the Education Minister, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, said.

The president disclosed that his administration had carried out re-appraisal and reexam­ination of existing educational policies in order to generate new realities and provide a sound policy capable of stand­ing the test of time.

“Through this method, this administration has succeeded in eliminating bureaucratic ri­gidity and regimentation in the education sector.

DSP, Ike Ekweremadu

“I am pleased to re-affirm our resolve to continue to sup­port the education system, especially the universities, to assist them to overcome their challenges in the areas of capacity-building, knowledge dissemination, research and infrastructure,” he promised.

He expressed delight that since October 1960 when UNN began it “has main­tained its superiority in the nation's educational arena,” saying that the institution has continued to adhere to the philosophy of its founding fathers, especially in the envi­able mandate of restoring the dignity of man.

Earlier the Vice Chancel­lor of UNN, Prof Benjamin Ozumba in his welcome ad­dress said

the convocation which is a weeklong ceremo­ny had set aside the event to reward excellence.

“Apart from conferring degrees on our graduands stretching over d i ff e r e n t d i s ­ c i p l i n e s a n d classifications, today's ceremony is also designed to honour, in a s p e ­ c i a l w a y, e m i n e n t personali­ties who have distinguished themselves in various fields of human endeavour,” the VC explained.

He said the university se­lected to honour four distin­guished Nigerians: Senator Ike Ekweremadu; Lady Dr (Mrs.) Valerie-Janette Azinge; Mr Ojunekwu Augustine Avuru and Dr Musa Babayo alongside Prof Paul Akubue and Prof P.N. Okeke for the conferment of professors emeritus.

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February 5, 2015

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Soldiers rescue 14 pregnant teenagers, 8 children in Abia

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oldiers from 144 Battalion, Asa, in Ukwa West Local Government Area of Abia State have rescued 14 pregnant teenagers and eight children from a motherless babies' home at Umunkpeyi Nvosi in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area.

Six young men, who claimed to be staff of the home, and two girls, aged 16 and 25 have also been arrested by the soldiers.

However, the proprietress of the home identified as Nma Charity, is said to be on the run.

It was gathered that the proprietress claimed to be running a government-approved home, but engages in child trafficking and hiring of men who impregnates the teenage girls.

Sources said that on delivery, each girl got N20,000, while their babies were sold for between N80,000 and N150,000 for females and males, respectively.

The illicit deal was blown open when one of the woman's suppliers of stolen babies was apprehended.

The suspect, who was caught at Eke-Akpara in Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area, while trying to steal a baby, confessed that he had been in the business with Mrs. Charity for a long period, stating that his role was to

steal a child and deliver it to the suspect, the Commanding Officer woman, who in turn sold it to her 144 Battalion, Lt. Col. Omolori customers.

Rasheed, ordered his men to raid Acting on the confession of the the home where about 14 pregnant

teenagers and six young men were arrested, while the proprietress of the home was away at the time of the raid.

According to the soldiers, the rescued babies who are between ages one and six, and the pregnant

teenagers, would be handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Matters, NAPTIP, while the other suspects would be handed over to the police for prosecution.

Buhari won't scrap First Lady's office – Wife constitution of the he wife of the All country.

Progressives Congress “If the office of the presidential candidate, first lady is Mrs Aisha Buhari, says her constitutionally husband will not tamper with recognised, he will the office of the 'first lady,' if it is not tamper with it, constitutionally recognised. but if it is not, that's Buhari told newsmen on the okay. sidelines of the inaugural “For me, I will meeting of the APC women perform my duties presidential campaign initiative and role as the wife held in Abuja on Saturday. of the President of Wife of the APC presidential N i g e r i a flag-bearer was reacting to her traditionally. Wives husband's promise to scrap the of presidents have office of the first lady because it some traditional was unconstitutional and roles, like receiving alleged conduit pipe for stealing guests, visiting public funds. orphanages, According to her, where such helping the less does not exist constitutionally, privileged people. she will limit her roles to the “They also lead in traditional functions of visiting the fight for the orphanages and caring for right of women and society's downtrodden as the Mrs Aisha Buhari malnourished first lady. children, infant mortality rate, She said, “When my husband is country, he will rule the country fight against kidnapping and girlelected as the president of this within the rule of law based on the child trafficking.”

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While inaugurating the initiative, Buhari urged the women to unite and cooperate with the men by mobilising women at all levels to ensure success at the February polls.

She urged them to double their efforts in educating other women on how to cast their votes and at the same time be civil in their conducts.

Mrs. Buhari added, “As I am talking to you now, more than 55 per cent of registered voters are women hence, it is imperative to have initiatives like this to mobilise fellow women at the grassroots.

“The meeting will plan campaign activities that will showcase the potential of the women wing in selling the programmes of our great party to the women.

“This will include mobilising women by creating voters awareness, particularly in the area of registration, collection of PVC, identifying the party logo and how to cast their votes.”

Pity is when Pastors walk by sight Continued from backpage workers gave Mbaka the opening should pray for leaders. Mbaka processing and manufacturing, projections have always shown O'çonnor and grew so big.

The last that was heard of the founder was that he was conducting counseling in a prestigious hotel.

It was while the Christendom in Nigeria was engaged in contemplation over Okotie's devil's epistle; another pastor with Enugu background released his own bombshell! Though Camillus Ejike Mbaka is a Reverend Father in the Catholic Church, his founding of the Adoration Ministry Enugu, places him side by side with other pastors. Unlike other young reverend fathers, by presiding over the Adoration Ministry, Mbaka became a big boy such that while others could be moved from one parish to another in a periodic transfer, he became a permanent Landlord of Christ the King Parish, of GRA, Enugu.

Perhaps learning some few tricks from a similar Ministry that begun in Obiagu, Father Mbaka begun dishing out fiery homilies in the fashion of charismatic priests.

With time he started attracting the wretched of the earth as he pandered to the whims of the oppressed.

He climbed into reckoning when the Enugu State Government carried out downsizing of the civil service. The disengagement of

to take on the state government.

And when he perceived that the masses were receiving succour from his preaching, he fired on.

This way his parish grew and revenue was coming to the Enugu Diocese which started dealing with Mbaka as an untouchable.

It is against that background that politicians began to court the priest because of the number of faithful that throng his services especially the Friday night vigils.

When Mbaka started the construction of a befitting church complex for the GRA church, he applied the fund raising methodologies of Pentecostal churches. While the construction lasted, Mbaka continued virulent attacks on the administration of Governor Chimaroke Nnamani.

But as many catholic faithful in search of revival or catharsis from far and near continue to attend the adoration meetings, it was not possible to see that Mbaka has long deviated from his calling as a priest.

The reverend father once had an altercation with the Anglican Archbishop of Enugu Diocese, Dr. Emmanuel Chukwuma, over attacks on the government. The Archbishop was said to have reminded the reverend father of Christ's injunction that Christians

was also reported as having some unprintable exchanges with residents of GRA over the encroachment on their land.

Mbaka became so political in his preaching that he once sponsored a governorship candidate in Enugu.

Sometimes, perhaps because of the caliber of political actors that attends his church activities, the young reverend father tends to forget that he is just a Vicar of Christ and not Christ himself.

The above background is needful to understand the recent campaign against President Goodluck Jonathan by Mbaka. When the wife of the president visited his Church, the pastor spoke in voice similar to those of sycophants.

And forgetting that it was the Deputy President of Senate that accompanied the first lady to his church, Mbaka made a turn around to de-market the President by campaigning against his second term ambition.

Many have asked what Mbaka stands to gain by his rash and unguarded utterances. But the fact remains that the priest started behaving very rascally ever since he acquired the status of a shadow Bishop of Enugu diocese of Catholic Church.

With a sprawling business empire ranging from printing, food

father Mbaka has grown too big that he has become a law unto himself. The aspect of his statement which is most worrisome is where he said that because a particular pigeon could not fly, President Jonathan is doomed if he contests the 2015 election.

Mbaka must have been guided by public opinion because what he said had no bearing on Thus Says the Lord, which is the maxim of a true preacher.

Though sources say the reverend father has a native doctor in his lineage, he should know that there is connection between light and darkness. In a nation where people are after results, pastors like Mbaka should remember that Christians are to walk by faith and not by sight. If a pastor would depend on a medium like pigeon to determine whether a venture would succeed or fail, then his followers may as well consider visiting shamans who use yam and other implements in fortune telling.

By depending on a pigeon to foretell the outcome of an election that would depend on a lot of variables, Mbaka has succeeded in making himself a laughing stock before the Christendom. His political calculations and

him as a false prophet! He asked for First Lady's phone number and got her aide's number instead.

Feeling frustrated by that development he descends on the political turf in a show of human foible unbecoming of a reverend and apostle of Christ. What a shame?

No matter what the politicians from the two divides may say in reaction to Mbaka's outburst against Jonathan, in his quiet time, he should know that the glory has departed from his lips. He may consider also the possibility of pulling off his cassock to contest the president or seek appointment as a minister if he believes that governance is as easy as weekly singing and clapping. He should also know that 70 percent of those who throng his arena may be coming to hear his yabis or dance away their sorrows.

Finally whenever commentators accuse so-called men of God in Nigeria of being part of the problem, he should know he recommended his inclusion by his political preachments.

Mbaka's declarations may be a warning to politicians to limit their visits to preachers and places of worship!

Leo Sobechi, is a Journalist and Public Affairs Analyst.

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February 5, 2015

The Advocate Gospel This Week

Cleric condemns increase in Divorce cases in Nigeria

§ says lack of knowledge is cause of marriage break ups § asks politician to imbibe justice and fairness in 2015 election

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TEXT: Matthew 25:41-46 'Then he will say to those on his left, "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was ill and in prison and you did not look after me." They also will answer, "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or ill or in prison, and did not help you?" He will reply, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. (NIVUK)’

NARRATION The popular image of Jesus is that He is a benign person who loves everybody and will not harm anybody. Certainly He is not in any way bad or malignant; and He does love all that He has made (Psalm 145:9). But He will also be a righteous judge: patient yes, but indulgent, no. All the people who do not love Him will be separated out and their destiny will be the same as that of the devil and the demons. If that seems like strong language, it is exactly what Jesus said in these verses.

Judgement and salvation are the two sides of the same doctrine.

Jesus is the King and so He has the right to rule. The people who despise or ignore His authority will be banished from His presence to a place where there is no goodness, only undiluted evil. It is a terrible prospect, but an essential truth to keep us focussed in our dependence on God's grace, on our worship, obedience, service and witness. We are only kept from hell because of our faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death for us.

Some people think that these verses are telling us that if we do enough good deeds, then God will spare us from hell. No, that is not right. The wicked (everybody who chooses to ignore God's call on their lives – however hard they try to be good) do not love God's family, because they do not love Jesus. Why should they then trouble themselves to relieve the suffering of some Christians' lives? That is why their attempts to live 'good lives' have no weight in heaven. It is not so much what we do, but why we do it that counts.

If every Christian would contemplate the hellish fate of apparently nice, honest, moral people who do not know Jesus, what would be the result? We might be more grateful for our own undeserved salvation, the presence of the Holy Spirit and the promise of heaven – it would spur our worship. We would be more aware of our obligation to serve the needs of our Christian brothers and sisters – it would spur our work for the Lord. We would be much more committed to living with integrity and telling our friends and colleagues how they may be saved – it would spur our witness. Otherwise our faith can become a personal comfort and selfish indulgence. Today, worship and work as a person who has been promised heaven; and witness as a person who understands the awesomeness of Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:11)

Prayer:

Holy God. Thank You that Jesus was very clear about the terrible destiny of those who do not welcome Jesus. Forgive me when I have known this truth but have assumed it is nothing to do with me, and that I have no responsibility for the people I live and work alongside. Please help me to take this truth deep into my heart and let it motivate me to worship, work and witness to Your praise and glory, and so that the people around me may turn to Jesus and be saved. In His Name. Amen.

NIGERIA

rimate of Jesus Saves Fellowship, Reverend Chimeremeze Atubowe has reminded Christians that marriage is not a bed of roses but an institute for equipped individuals.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Advocate, the bishop frowned at the increased rate of divorce in the country. According to him: “It all starts with what you make of your life as a youth, you bring into

marriage; who you are as a single person?

Atubowe explained that marriages are drifting apart because jobs separate couples from having quality time for themselves. He added that “if a marriage must survive the pressure of this age, couples must find intimacy first with God in order to put up with each other's defects.”

The cleric also frowned against Christians that abuse the issue of God'swill in the choice of a spouse, maintaining that God only

lead you but doesn't make a choice in marriage matters.

X-raying christianity in modern times, the primate picked on pastors who make themselves more important to the congregation than God himself. He said as ministers we must learn to lead the people to God and leave. It is wrong for us to play the Holy Spirit.”

He also asked politicians in the country to handle politics justice and fairness ahead of the 2015 elections.

‘I know who will be president’ – Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo Matthew Ashimolowo has an estimated net worth of $6 million. He is the Senior Pastor of Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC) in London.

Ashimolowo earned his net worth from his annual salary as senior pastor of Kingsway International Christian Centre as well as from his media company, Matthew Ashimolowo Media.

On January 3rd, the man of God and his wife Yemisi hosted the 9th annual widow's event in his home town, Odeomu, Osun State, Nigeria. At the venue, he told Sunday Sun how God showed him who will win the 2015 elections. Excerpts:

M

atthew Ashimolowo has an estimated net worth of $6 million.

He is the Senior Pastor of Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC) in London. Ashimolowo earned his net worth from his annual salary as senior pastor of Kingsway International Christian Centre as well as from his media company, Matthew Ashimolowo Media.

On January 3rd, the man of God and his wife Yemisi hosted the 9th annual widow's event in his home town, Odeomu, Osun State, Nigeria. At the venue, he told Sunday Sun how God showed him who will win the 2015 elections. Excerpts:

We are in the New Year.

Nigerians would like to know what God is saying to us as a country. Do you have a message for Nigerians?

Very interesting. I believe that globally, there is going to be a shaking of the world. There will be earthquakes in some places.

There might be famine in places they never knew famine, and flooding in places they didn't expect.

For Nigeria, the Lord showed me, who will win the election. I will not mention his name, because I have to be politically neutral. But when the president's name is announced, 20 percent of a certain part of the nation will not agree.

Eventually, after negotiation

Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo they will. We will agree that we're one.

Wales is only 400,000 people or about a million people. They call them a nation, and they call Yorubas who are 27 million a tribe, the Igbo who are 18 million you call them a tribe.

For us to have many nations that make up Nigeria, it was God that made it happen. And that prophetic mandate still remains on Nigeria.

Anyone who incites people to di-vide this nation will lose his chance. Nigeria will remain

one. After all the noise, you will be amazed that also some politicians will be shocked, nobody will be ready to die for them. There will be peace in Nigeria after the election.

I see a man who will one day rise, but I don't know when, I don't think it's up to 10 years though. He will turn the fortunes of Nigeria round.

Nigeria will look like one of these advancing nations like United Arab Emirates, India, and China. That is how Nigeria will be

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February 5, 2015

NIGERIA

Obiano to invite world-class architects to design multi-city model for Awka

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ll arrangements to invite competent world-class architects to design the multi-city concept envisaged for the Awka Capital Territory have been concluded by the Anambra Stat Government, so says the Board Chairman of Awka Capital Territory Development Authority (ACTDA), Mr. Chika Egwuatu.

This was disclosed when he led the 7 month-old Board members and Management staff of the Authority on a familiarization visit and to present an Awka Capital Territory Model to the Chairman of Anaocha Local Government Council, Hon, Ikeobi Ejiofor and his officials, The ACTDA boss pointed out that the advertisement for the bidding of the contract for the designing of the Multi-city concept would be

awarded early 2015 as soon as governor Obiano approves the Development Control Manual prepared by the Board and being vetted by an eight-member Adhoc Review Committee set up by the State government.

Egwuatu, accompanied by the Board's Managing Director, Nwankwo, represented by Joseph Okeke, Arc. Willie Okafor and Arc. Don Ifejika, as well as a management staff, Jude Oguguo stated that, for the first time in the history of South-East Zone, Anambra would be the first State to use an aerial photography with ten centimetres resolution to capture items on the ground within the Territory.

He lamented that absence of a Master Plan since 23 years of existence of the State has

accounted for the haphazard construction being witnessed in the State and pointed out that such developments risks removal, adding that compensation or swapping mechanism might be considered for payment of genuinely acquired land.

Recalling that two indigenes of Anaocha Local Government Area have played key roles in sourcing and piecing together relevant materials for the packaging of the Development Control Manual, Egwuatu stated that the Awka Capital Territory Model took cognizance of good aspects of Dubai, Seoul and Kigali models, and when completed, the Territory would wear a new look.

Egwuatu revealed that multi-city concept would entail developing modern cities in different places

within the Territory and provided with all the necessary facilities, except that the Awka capital city model would have in addition, three arms zone, to accommodate the executive, legislative and judicial arms of government.

He noted that Anaocha falls under the 10 kilometres radius covered by the Awka Capital Territory and that necessitated the visit to brief the Council boss and his team about the plans and projects of the Authority and to seek synergy between the Authority and Council.

In his response, Anaocha Council Chairman, Hon. Ejiofor who is an Engineer expressed delight with the appointment of the 10member Board in May 2014 pointed out that the speed in producing Development Control

Manual within six months lends credence to the fact that the governor picked accomplished professionals who determined to achieve the vision and mission of the present administration.

Ejiofor , accompanied by his deputy, Hon Ben Ogbonna, and Secretary to the Local Government, Hon. Ofoma Onu, as well as some supervisors and top government officials of the Council assured the Authority of all necessary support, noting that his Council area has made a mark in the area of effective planning and development.

He appreciated the speed with which the governor has been pursuing his programmes and expressed the hope that the planned multi-city concept for the Awka Capital Territory would be achieved under the Obiano administration.

Buying PVCs, a waste of time, Jega tells Politicians

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head of the February 2015 polls, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega has advised politicians to focus on canvassing for votes instead of purchasing Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) with paltry sums of money as such may be a journey in futility.

Represented by National Commissioner, Dr. Chris Iyimoga Friday at the 12th Daily Trust Dialogue held at Transcorp Hilton Abuja, the INEC Chairman said any politician who bought a voter's card with the intention of using it during this year's general elections would be disappointed because the PVCs can only be used by their owners.

Said he: “we hope politicians will refrain from buying these cards off innocent hands. Whether you have 10,000 cards in your home that are not yours, you keep them in your box, only cards brought by their owners will be used. So please, do not give your cards out to anybody; not even for N2000.

First of all it is useless if a politician purchases and secondly he will also make you lose your legitimate right to vote”.

The INEC Chairman expressed optimism that this year's elections would be the best ever, with the introduction of the Card Reader machines which would ensure the card belonged to the bearer and eliminated fraudulent tendencies.

“If you go to your Polling Unit, you are expected to produce the Permanent Voter's Card and the Card Reader will ensure that the card is first of all yours”, he said.

While urging politicians to take advantage of Nigeria's youthful population by canvassing for their votes instead of purchasing them

with paltry sums of money, the INEC boss called on stakeholders in the electoral process to assist in dissuading the electorate from the act of selling PVCs. He gave assurance of INEC's commitment to the distribution of all the remaining PVCs to their owners before the first series of election on February 2015.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Suleiman Abba, said the force was working towards changing the attitude of Officers for them to be non-partisan in the electoral process, adding that the Force had published a pocket size pamphlet that would guide officers on election duty and all police officers on Election Duty would work in accordance with the provisions of the law, saying, “anyone of them who defaults would be held responsible for his/her excesses.”

He added that asides conducting

seminars and e l e c t i o n workshops to educate its officers o n t h e i r responsibilities before, during and after elections, the Police Force had been partnering with INEC and other stakeholders to enable the public understand the role of the police in elections.

On his part, the Sultan of Sokoto, A l h a j i Muhammad Sa'ad, who was the distinguished guest of honour at the event, and who was represented by the Etsu Nupe,

Attahiru Jega

Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, advised politicians to look beyond elections and ensure that Nigeria did not only survive but also thrived “for that is the only way they can contest elections and win power again”.

He reiterated the need to i m p l e m e n t t h e recommendations on electoral violence that had been given at earlier discourses, saying, “I hardly need to say that our failure to implement the recommendations is one of those reasons why violence continues to be a feature of our elections.”

The Sultan urged INEC to ensure a level playing field for all parties and candidates. He called on citizens to get their priorities right, shun rumours and be of peaceful conduct.

Ohanaeze youths vow to retaliate attacks on Jonathan

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he youth wing of the apex Igbo socio- cultural organisation, the Ohaneze Ndigbo, has strongly condemned the recent attacks on the campaign train of President Goodluck Jonathan in Katsina and Bauchi states.

The National President of Ohaneze Youth Council, Mr. Okechukwu Isiguzoro, told our correspondent in Umuahia that Igbo youths would use their votes as a reprisal weapon against any attack on Jonathan.

Isiguzoro said any attack on Jonathan would henceforth be considered an “attack against Ohaneze youths because we have

adopted him as our consensus Presidential candidate, and we will use our votes to retaliate by voting against those behind the attacks.”

He said the attacks portrayed grave danger to Nigeria's unity and d e m o c r a c y, a l l e g i n g t h a t “sponsors of Boko Haram are now behind those throwing stones and water sachet at Mr. President.”

This, he said, “shows the desperation of those who are hell bent on thwarting Nigeria's democracy.”

He called on the Presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd), to caution his supporters.

Isiguzoro said Buhari could not be trusted with the security of Nigeria if he could not control his supporters.

He also called on Igbo residents in the North to be vigilant and defend themselves against electoral violence, warning that Ohaneze youths would no longer tolerate wanton destruction of lives and property of Igbos in the North during electoral violence.

Also condemning the attacks on Jonathan's convoy, the Acting National Chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, Chris Uche, said the development was a danger signal to Nigeria's democratic experiment.

Uche, told our correspondent, that the incident had cast serious doubt on the recent Abuja peace accord

signed by presidential candidates.

The APGA boss supported calls for the postponement of elections, citing security concerns.

He said, “This country needs to go back to the drawing board because you cannot be talking of election if people are getting killed.”

“The North is very volatile now and if the people who are ready to unleash mayhem are not controlled the elections may not be peaceful.”

“It may be meaningful to consider the suggestion by the National Security Adviser to Mr. President that the election be shifted,” he said.

APGA therefore cautioned the Peoples Democratic Party and the APC against plunging Nigeria into another civil unrest.

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February 5, 2015

NIGERIA

Bone Stem Cells Regenerate Bone, Cartilage in Mice

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steoarthritis is a common condition seen in older people in which the tissue between joints becomes worn down, causing severe pain. In what could be an important development for people who suffer from it, U.S. researchers have isolated stem cells in adult mice that regenerate both worn tissue, or cartilage, and bone.

For the past decade, researchers have been trying to locate and isolate stem cells in the spongy tissue or marrow of bones of experimental animals.

T h e s o - c a l l e d osteochondroreticular, or OCR, cells are capable of renewing and generating

important bone and cartilage cells.

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center in New York identified these master cells in the marrow.

When grown in the lab and transplanted back into a fracture site in mice, they helped repair the broken bones.

Siddhartha Mukherjee, the study's senior author, said similar stem cells exist in the human skeletal system.

“The real provocative experiment or the provocative idea is being able to do this in humans being able to extract out these stem cells from humans and being able to put them back in to repair complex fracture

defects or osteoarthritis defects,” said Mukherjee.

He noted that children have more bone stem cells than adults, which may explain why the bones of young people repair more easily than fractures in adults.

Mukherjee said the next step is to try to identify the OCR cells in humans and attempt to use them to repair complex bone and cartilage injuries.

Once cartilage is injured or destroyed in older people, as in osteoarthritis, Mukherjee said it does not repair itself.

The research was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society, among others, and is described in a paper published online in the journal Cell.

Schematic of the head of a femur (the thigh bone), showing OCR stem cells in red and the growth of bone (green), cartilage and stromal cells. (Mike Barnett for Columbia University Medical Center)

Health Workers ready to call off strike

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ealth workers under the aegis of the Joint

Health Sectors Union (JOHESU), Lagos University Teaching

Hospital (LUTH) branch, have lamented the insensitivity of government to their demands, expressing

PUBLIC NOTICE UMUEDECHI PEACE/MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT This is to inform the public that the people of Umuedechi village, Amechi Uwani Awkunanaw at its peace meeting th held on 17 January 2015 at Umuedechi, Amechi Uwani Enugu South L.G.A. resolved to dissolve her land committee headed by Ozo Joseph Nnaji and charged with the management of her pieces and parcels of ANIOGUJI LAND(S) known as and called Awkunanaw No. 1 LAYOUT PHASE 3&4 EXTENSION, ENUGU. This is sequel to the expiration of the 2010 empowering document as expressly provided in paragraph (n) page 8.

Members of the Umuedechi Village peace/Management committee include: Rev. Godspower Reborn Nnam, Ozo Amaechi Nnamani, Ozo Obinna Nsude, Ozo Chijioke Ezeoha, Elder Boniface Nweke, Ogaenyi Chukwuemeka Ugwunnaji, Ozo Chief Omeiheukwu Samuel Ewoh, Pastor Okey Egbo (Secretary) and Deacon Eze Nnam Emeka (Chairman).

willingness to call of the strike if the Federal Government would release the much expected circular on their demands.

Chairman, Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI), Kehinde Adegoke, while addressing a large number of health workers bearing placards with inscriptions such as, 'save the lives of Nigerian masses,' 'FG correct injustice in Nigeria health sector,' at the premises of the hospital, said the Union was ready to shift grounds, but for insincerity on the part of those representing t h e F e d e r a l Government.

“Those that are negotiating on behalf of government are not sincere in the arrangement. We have been on this struggle since 2nd November 2014 and the last time we held meeting with

t h e F e d e r a l Government which is on the 22nd December, 2014 they promised that in the next two weeks they will address our issue, it is more than two weeks now we are yet to receive any circular.” “ We k n o w t h a t President Jonathan is having tough time clamouring for vote, but we are urging him to ascend to our demand so as to continue in the business of saving the lives of Nigerians,” he added.

Chairman, National Association of Nurse and Mid wife, LUTH Branch, Oluwagbenga Ajala, spoke in the same vein. He however, warned that if labour disputes, which has led to the breakdown of health services in about 50 federal health institutions in the country are not addressed, the Federal Government may meet a collapsed sector after the February elections.

“We are asking that they promote our members who have

been stagnated for 14 years on a level. We are asking that health workers wage structure be reviewed. We cannot be rubbished by any group in this sector because we form more than 70 per cent of the work force in the health sector.

“We are asking that the Federal Government address needless deaths in its hospitals and put an end to this strike before the elections,” he said.

J O H E S U h a d embarked on an indefinite strike on October 16 in protest of t h e n o n implementation of c o l l e c t i v e b a rg a i n agreement and Memorandum of Understanding it had with the Federal Government. While several dialogues have ended in deadlocks, the present political situation of the country might have dealt the union's action a big blow, as it is not getting the required attention by both the government and Nigerians affected by the strike.

NIGERIA

February 5, 2015

29

Entertainment plus

With Chukwudi Anosike & Chiaka Opara

I wanted to commit suicide because I was Broke – Halima Abubakar

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ometime ago, actress Halima Abubakar said she wanted to commit suicide after going into depression? She has now opened up on the real reason she was in that state of mind.

She was broke! Speaking to journalists on the issue recently, she said, “There were a lot of things that were wrong with me and led to my depression. I was angry, broke, people lied against me and they were also using my name to lie. I was deceived by the people I loved. I was seriously broke at the time and I had lots of responsibilities.

“There were many charity projects I was involved in and I was doing everything with

Halima Abubakar

my money. Everything just got to me at the same time and

I Am Not Like The Arrogant Characters I Play – Genevieve Nnaji

I felt fed-up. I wanted to kill myself because there was nobody to help me. It happened two years ago and it also occurred last year. I thank God I did not kill myself because I realised that nothing is worth it. I was upset with myself when I got back to my senses because the people you want to kill yourself for do not really care about you.

It was a terrible phase in my life,” she said.

When asked why her boyfriend could not help her out, Halima said he compounded her case instead of helping out.

I am into family movie ministry – Princess Ugwu

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G

enevieve Nnaji has been called the Julia Roberts of Africa for her “exceptional talent and glamorous looks”. But there's so much more about this highly sought-after actress. So we take you back to one of her most interesting revelations in an interview she granted Mimi Magazine years back when she talked about the biggest misconception people have about her.

The question the interviewer, Lola Kingo, asked Genevieve Nnaji was, “Everyone thinks they know you, like they're your best friend, what is the biggest misconception people have about you?”

In Genevieve's words: “That statement is so true and nobody has put it quite like that to me. Most people I meet already feel they know me. Some don't realize that I am nothing like the characters I have played. They are surprised that I am a bit reserved. I love listening to people and not the other way round.

I would say that the biggest misconception is that I am an arrogant person. I find that when one is principled or confident, people tend to misread it as arrogance.”

“He was not helping matters. I wanted somebody that would listen and not say that I was lying or exaggerating the extent of what I was going through. Whenever I tell him I am sad, he wants to give me money but it is not all about money all the time.

“Yes, I said I was broke but it was not only about money. I was broken emotionally. If there is no hope, I felt I was broken. I needed a listening ear. The definition of broke is relative but Nigerians think it is only about money. Money was also involved. The first major problem I had was money; then I was also emotionally broken,” she said.

merging Nollywood actress and movie producer Princess Uche Ugwu said her movies are about the family.

Speaking with Advocate Nigeria weekend in Enugu Princess Ugwu said that what she was into movie ministry.

According to her, “my messages are conveyed through the movies I produce. As a minster of God, everybody must not be in church ministry. My calling is to preach against family ills, I create stories in my movies that come with such messages.

Continuing, “Besides many people don't have time for gospel messages in other Princess Uche Ugwu forms but when it is in a movie form, they watch it and grasp in settling family disputes through my the message. messages in these movies”, she said.

“I thought it is a good idea trying to rebuild On her roles in her movies Princess Ugwu families because many homes are in said that the devil is not as dark as it is shambles even when they go to church. painted in pictures and that she does not There's a lot of family breakages and inrepresent the roles she play in movies. house fighting. So I have my core interest

30

February 5, 2015

NIGERIA

By Okey Anyichie

European based Nigerian Strikers in Scoring galore

I

t was a weekend to remember for some Nigeria strikers based in Europe as six of them found the back of the net for their respective club sides in various competitions.

In England Victor Anichebe scored both goals for West Brom who qualified for the round of 16 with a 2-1 win over Birmingham

City while in the Championship Odion Ighalo grabbed the headlines plundering four goals in Watford 7-2 rout over Blackpool.

Uche Nwofor who has been in and out of the Lierse team since joining from VV Venlo of Holland in the summer scored his first goal of 2015, his second of the season overall but his 13th minute strike

was not enough to give his team all three points as Waasland Beveren equalized through Renaud Edmond to tie the game at 1-1.

However his former teammate at VV Venlo Michael Uchebo scored the match winning goal for Boavista of Portugal with eight minutes of regular time left to play to gift his team a 1-0 victory over Sporting Braga.

The goal was Uchebo third since joining the team after the World cup from Cercle Brugge of Belgium but Nigeria top scorer in the Portuguese league still remains Simeon Tochukwu Nwankwo of Gil Vicente who scored his 5th of the season in their 2-2 draw against Victoria Guimares.

In Italy Jerry Uche Mbakogu lone strike was enough to keep Carpi top of Series B as it helped them pip Varese 1-0 in the process he claimed his 12th goal of the season.

€20m Italian International in a move to Arsenal

M

attia Destro is 'likely' to b e c o m e Arsenal's third signing of the January transfer window as Arsene Wenger lines-up a late move for the €20m-rated Italian forward, according to reports.

Destro has emerged as one of the most soughtafter strikers in the Serie A after scoring 23 goals in 52 appearances for Roma since making the move from Genoa in 2012.

However, he's enduring a more difficult time this season with the 23-yearold starting just 9 league games so far and although he's still managed to find the back of the net on 5 occasions, it hasn't stopped speculation linking him with a move away from the Stadio Olimpico.

Reports in Italy earlier this month suggested that Arsenal were keen on offering Destro a fresh start in England and had held preliminary talks with the players agent in London about a potential move this month.

It seems those talks must have gone well as the Daily Star are now citing reports coming out of Spain that claim Arsene Wenger is

Manu wants improvement from Flying Eagles

F

lying Eagles coach Manu Garba insisted his team have to improve on their finishing after they threw away many chances in a 2-0 victory over Enyimba in a Super 4 match on Saturday in Abuja.

The Nigeria U20 team took the lead through a penalty converted by captain Musa Muhammed in the 62nd minute after Ifeanyi Anaemena fouled rampaging Taiwo Awoniyi inside the box.

Substitute Musa Yahaya scored the second goal to seal the victory for the Flying Eagles in the 90th minute.

However, the Flying Eagles were reduced to 10 men in the 57th

minute after Prince Aggreh was sent off after a second booking.

Sweden-based Awoniyi could long have killed this game for the Flying Eagles but he missed several chances.

"The game was a good test for my team because we played against a very experienced side in Enyimba," declared Manu Garba after the match.

"I have seen some of the lapses especially in goal scoring. We missed a lot of scoring chances and that is part of the corrections we would be making for the team.”

He added: "Like I said before, this tournament is a plus to my team because we are using it to fine tune our squad.

“You know we would be going to Gambia for conditioning, it is by then that we would know what our team would be like, but right now we don't have a team.”

Enyimba assistant coach Friday Christopher said Flying Eagles were a fitter team.

"The Flying Eagles are a very fit side. And we are happy that we played against a team that is fit because we know our squad is still rusty," he said.

"We were more experienced but out experience didn't count today because we played a very good

side. We have seen the mistakes of our team and will work on it before our next game.”

Flying Eagles starting XI vs Enyimba Joshua Enaholo Musa Muhammed (Captain), Mustapha Abdullahi, Prince Izu Omego, Zaharadeen Bello Ifeanyi Ifeanyi,Akinjide Idowu, Abdullahi Alfa, Wasiu Jimoh, Prince Aggreh, Taiwo Awoniyi

Ronaldo is the best player I’ve ever seen, not Messi – Kaka Arsenal in a late move for Mattia Destro… ready to make a formal move for the striker and they believe that Destro is 'likely' to become our third signing of the winter window.

There have been rumours that we'll look to secure a loan deal with a view to making it permanent in the summer but the newspaper claims that the Italian international will command a fee of €20m (£15m) should we buy him outright.

Wenger has sent Yaya Sanogo, Lukas Podolski and Joel

Campbell out on loan this month so it wouldn't be a huge surprise if the boss was to bring in another attacker before the window closes and Destro is emerging as the top target.

If he was to make the move to the Emirates, Destro would offer competition to Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck through the middle as he's predominantly a striker, but he's also capable of playing out in the wider positions, so would give us plenty of options in attack.

T

he 32-year-old, who is currently preparing for his first MLS season with Orlando City, has insisted his former national teammate, Ronaldo de Lima, is the best player he has seen.

“For me, the best players are those who are able to think of a play and execute it quickest and in the best way possible, and Ronaldo Nazario has been the best at that,” Kaka said in a press conference on Orlando's media day.

“The speed of thought that he had and the speed he had to carry out his actions were perfect. It was something amazing.

“I've thought a lot about other players before. I think he was a phenomenon.”

Ronaldo won the FIFA World Player of the Year three times as well as two World Cups with Brazil.

He is also the second highest goalscorer for the Selecao, with 62 goals in 98 games, but failed to win the Champions League at club level.

Kaka, meanwhile, has played alongside greats like Ronaldinho as well as Cristiano Ronaldo during his illustrious career which included spells at clubs such as AC Milan and Real Madrid.

NIGERIA

31

February 5, 2015

The Fabled Nigeria Vs India Match:

Everything You Really Need To Know V

irtually everybody born before the invention of the internet must have heard the tale of a nonexistent football match between Nigeria and India that obviously took place in a parallel universe and somehow we got to hear the gory stories of that match.

Though there are many variations of the story, every prevaricator seems to agree on a couple of facts about this fictional football match. Each storyteller agrees that; 1. This match ended with India scoring 99 goals and Nigeria scoring just one goal.

2. Nigerians where unable to kick the ball because the football kept turning to a lion (or something scary) to prevent them from playing the soccer ball.

3. The Indians later agreed that if Nigeria could score a goal, they would concede defeat 4. Samuel Okwaraji scored the winning goal and lost his life in the process.

5. FIFA banned India from soccer because they used black magic in that very game With the help of common sense (not that it was absent back then), quick access to information and the internet, every right thinking Nigerian has come to realise that such a story should be filled under “Blatant Lies”.

Why Did This Story Thrive For So Long?

Most people like to pass off this story as true with the fact that no one has ever seen India in an International Football Match.

Since no one actually saw India participate in most international soccer games, this gave a little credence to the story. India Another reason this lie could thrive for long was the fact that credible information was not readily available at our finger tips. It not like every Emeka, Audu and Ojo could visit Google in a matter of minutes and tell our ominous fabricators that they should stop spreading toxic lies.

And to be honest we have a tingling feeling that this lie was concocted by an elder of a community because, let's be honest who

questions the words of the elders in Nigeria.

Remember, what an adult sees sitting down a child will never see even if he consults Google, Siri or Cortana.

The Element of Truth In This Story On the 12th of August 1989, Nigeria lost Sam Okwaraji.

Sam Okwaraji was the player rumored to have lost his life in that game when in truth he died during a FIFA World Cup qualifying game against Angola in the 77th minute.

He collapsed and died of cognitive heart failure. May his soul rest in Perfect Peace.

AMEN So that is the only truthful thing about that story, the fact that a Nigerian player died during a football match. That's it. The match was not against India, we did not lose the match and as you must have guessed, and there were no lions either.

What Is The Deal With India Anyway?

India qualified for the 1950 FIFA world cup

as a result of the withdrawal of their scheduled opponents. But the Indian football governing body, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) decided against going to the world cup, being unable to understand the importance of the event at that time.

Some of the Reasons shown by the AIFF included the cost of travel, lack of practice time, team selection issued and valuing the Olympics over the FIFA World cup. It should be noted that FIFA agreed to bear a major part of the travel expenses, but it did not really help their decision making.

Was India Banned For Refusing To Play Barefoot?

No. The 1948 London Olympics was India's first major international tournament, where a predominantly barefoot Indian team lost 2 -1 to France.

Following the 1948 Olympics FIFA imposed a rule banning barefoot play.

Mweene rules out Zambia retirement

Z

ambia number one Kennedy Mweene has disclosed that international retirement is not part of his plans.

The 30-year-old Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper has just completed his sixth Africa Cup tour of duty following Zambia's first round exit from the 2015 AFCON currently taking place in Equatorial Guinea.

Mweene hinted that he was looking forward to a seventh successive Africa Cup of Nations appearance in 2017 and also leading Zambia in the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

"I am just 30, unless my legs can not take it any more," Mweene said.

"I still have the energy and I am still available for the national team anytime, any day."

Mweene has been Zambia's number one since Chipolopolo beat Bafana Bafana 1-0 in their final group game at the 2006 Africa Cup in Egypt when he replaced George

Kennedy Mweene Kolala.

Meanwhile, Mweene said he was disappointed with another group stage exit for Zambia coming on the back of their 2013 preliminary phase elimination when they failed to defend their 2012 crown.

“I think as a player I am very disappointed by not going through to the quarter finals," Mweene said.

Mweene and Zambia now switch their attention to the 2017 Africa Cup qualifiers that kick-off in June.

The belief that the Indian team refused to play because they were not allowed to play barefoot is not entirely true according to the then team captain who said it was just a story to cover the disastrous decision of the AFIF. After the 1950 fiasco, India has never come close to qualifying for the World Cup. The reason you do not see India in World Cup competitions is because they do not qualify So Does The Indian Team Wear Soccer Boots?

Yes. In the 1952 Olympics, the Indian team lost 10 1 to Yugoslavia (talking about taking a beating). As a result of this magnanimous defeat the AIFF made it compulsory for its team members to wear boots Is it Possible to win a match with a 99 1 match margin?

Yes. It is absolutely possible to rake 99 1 from a single football match. Let's take a walk down memory lane and see how this is even possible. Now allow us to digress.

The highest scoring soccer game was 1490!

You're probably wondering how a soccer team could be so bad that they let 149 goals be scored, but the truth is it was a form of protest. The event occurred in 2002 after a 2-2 draw between rival teams Stade Olympique de L'emyrne, or SOE, and AS Adema of Madagascar, which resulted in the referees awarding a penalty causing SOE to lose the game.

During a match fixing debacle in Nigeria, the Feeders scored 72 of their 79-0 victory in 45 minutes of play. Police Machine scored 61 of their 67-0 victory in the second half. At one point, they scored four goals in a minute.

Arbroath won Bon Accord 36 0 in 1885. It held the largest margin of victory in professional football where both sides wanted to win.

So, yes, given the “right circumstances”, a team could actually receive 99 1 beating without any black magic whatsoever.

Vol. 2 No. 108, February 5, 2015

ONLINE

**

NIGERIA

Yaya Toure

Back Page Comment

Pity is when Pastors walk by sight *Mbaka has succeeded in making himself a laughing stock

By Leo Sobechi

T

he election year 2015 is here with us after all.

To a very great extent this year could be rightly called the year of division or separation. In politics Nigerians feel the main line of separation lies between the All Progressives Congress, (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP). In economics the theorists and pragmatics are quarreling over the division between the supply side and demand side.

In matters of faith, voters may now be asked to select between fake prophets and genuine prophets. My worry is that among pastors there are those who are out to obey the demand of Jesus Christ on them to “feed my sheep” while the other set are they that feed fat on the flock. It is this latter group that inspired me with the title of this essay. When the bible book of proverbs says if you observe the wind you would not sow, I get the feeling that it was calling those who walk by sight to attention. As Christians we ought to walk by faith!

Perhaps on account of the central position that politics occupy in our national life presently, there are pastors who have chosen to walk by sight instead of faith. Not long ago, Pastor Chris Okotie raised the alarm when he declared that President Goodluck Jonathan's declaration for the 2015 presidential election on November 11, 2014 has occult significance. The pastor of Household of God Church International declared that the exact date the President made his declaration had a ritualistic undertone. The statement by the former pop singer left a lot of people wondering whether he is an occult grand master or a Christian prelate filled with the spirit of God. How Pastor Okotie could be well versed in occult practices to know what abides or does

not agree with the perfect ritualistic undertone? The grammarian of Oregun had said: “The implication of Dr. Jonathan's declaration on that day (11-11-2014) has occult significance. When the number is repeated, it takes a greater ritualistic intensity. In this case, we have 11-11-11, because when you add the date 11-11-2014 as a year together, you arrive at 11 also. This is in consonance with occult numerology. In the pre-natural

world, the number 11 is a powerful occult number; it represents judgment, destruction and death of man.

Each digit in the 11-11-2014 date, when added together, viz: 1+1+1+1+2+0+1+4, you get 11. That's why the declaration was done on 11/11/2014, which is the highest level of occult numerology. This sacred number in the occult world demonstrates an appeasement of the powers of darkness to favour the supplicant. The name of Satan in Latin is LVX. L is 50, V is 5 and X is 10.

When you add that together, you get 65. When you add 6 + 5, you get 11. Satan's number is 11.”

While Okotie advanced his devilish algebra he posited that 11 represent judgment, destruction and death of man.

He therefore posed rhetorical questions: “Can we extrapolate from the experiences of President Goodluck Jonathan's administration so far that number 11 has been prevalent in our nation? Has there been spiritual judgment, has there been destruction and death on a large scale?” It would be interesting if the self-styled man of God has supported his drollery w i t h scripture s. He did n o t perhaps because there w a s none or he was merely blinded b y Jonatha n-hate to rememb er that he is a pastor.

T h e m o s t pertinen

t conclusion that could be drawn from Okotie's Facebook demonic sermon is that he has been occupying his idle times with such books that converted spiritual perverts like him were reading before their encounter with the Holy Spirit. In Acts of Apostle when some make-believers, the sons of Sceva, tried to cast out demons in the name of Jesus Christ (which Paul preached) they were attacked by the same demons.

Consequently those who heard of that encounter became afraid. “Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices. A number of them who had been practicing sorcery brought

their incantation books and burned them at a public bonfire. The value of the books was several million dollars”. There is no evidence that all such devilish books were destroyed. Therefore going by Pastor Okotie's statement about the occultic dimension of President Jonathan's day of declaring for his second term, it could be safely argued that he could have been receiving occult instructions from such curious books.

Some of us who grew up in Enugu knew when Okotie was entertaining the people with his songs as a pop musician.

However somewhere along the line we heard that he has become born again based on the demands of a particular girl he was infatuated with.

Like play like play, Okotie left Enugu campus and next we heard of him was that he had traveled to the United States and joined a bible school.

Thereafter he came back a reverend and behold, a pastor!

Just like that. May be his years of showmanship have not departed from him, but his recent treatise raises the possibility that he may have been exposed to books on spiritism, occult practices and numerology. Unlike Apostle Paul, whom the Ephesians said much knowledge must have mad, Okotie seems to have forgotten that the Bible, being a sealed book, only the Holy Spirit is the key to unseal it. And so bloated by too much head knowledge, the jerrycurl preacher decided to utter inanities forgetting the injunction that “you must build each other up in your most holy faith” (Jude 20).

Some people have in the past alleged that Enugu has a rich past of occultism and voodoo.

Could that be why some pastors that begun in Enugu always veer of the track easily? There was also one evangelist whose Ministry was the talk of the town in the 80s and 90s. The ministry started from a little office in

Continues on page 25

G

négnéri Yaya Touré (born 13 May 1983), known as Yaya Touré, is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for English club Manchester City and the Ivory Coast national team.

Touré aspired to be a striker during his youth and has played centre back, including for FC Barcelona in the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final. He frequently plays as a box-tobox midfielder for club and country and often switches from defensive and attacking positions throughout matches. Touré began his playing career at Ivorian club ASEC Mimosas, where he made his debut aged 18. He was voted African Footballer of the Year for 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

His performances attracted attention from Europe, playing for clubs in various European leagues. Touré played for Beveren in Belgium, Metalurh Donetsk in Ukraine, Olympiacos in Greece, and AS Monaco in France. In 2007, Touré moved to Barcelona, playing over 100 matches for the club and was part of the historic 2009 Barcelona team which won six trophies in one calendar year.

Early career Touré joined the ASEC Mimosas youth academy in 1996 on the recommendation of his long-time mentor Patrick van Reijendam.

A prominent figure in the ASEC academy was Jean-Marc Guillou. In 2001 Guillou invested heavily in a Belgian club, Beveren, with the aim of using the team to showcase Ivorian players in a European league. Touré moved to Beveren in 2001, one of many ASEC players to do so in this period; by 2003 he was one of 14 Ivorians in the Beveren squad.

In the summer of 2003, Touré had a trial with Arsenal. He started a pre-season friendly against Barnet on 19 July, playing as a second striker and then moving up front in the second half. Manager Arsène Wenger recognised his talent but could not decide on his best position and described his performance against Barnet as "completely average." The game finished 00 and the BBC Sport website said that he "blotted his copy book by missing Arsenal's clearest chance of the game, heading a cross from Quincy Owusu-Abeyie wide." Wenger was still keen to sign the then-20-year old but Touré had difficulties in getting a work permit.

Ultimately, Touré grew impatient and opted to sign for Ukrainian side Metalurh Donetsk instead, where he spent one-and-a-half years.

Awards and nominations Touré was nominated in the Personality of the Year category at the 2014 MTV Africa Music Awards. In July 2014, Touré was nominated for Prize in Entertainment at the 2014 The Future Africa Awards. He is the African best player award 2015

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