Wed 23 April 2014 by The Guardian Newspaper

TheGuardian Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Vol. 30, No. 12,900

www.ngrguardiannews.com

N150

CAN rejects composition of confab panel on religion From Nkechi Onyedika, Terhemba Daka and Karls Tsokar, Abuja ITING bias, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has faulted the composition of the National Conference Committee on Religion, alleging that the Chairman of the Conference, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, was working out a script to undermine the

interest of Christians in the dialogue body. In a related development, delegates at the conference have attributed the snail pace economic growth of the country to wanton corruption and inconsistent policies of government. In the same vein, conferees in the Political Parties and Electoral Matters Committee have

• Accuses Kutigi of pursuing Islamic agenda • Delegates link slow economic growth to graft, others faulted the manner with which partisan politics is being practised and advocated an overhaul of the political terrain. According to CAN, “Justice Kutigi has done his wish to en-

sure that the leadership of the committees favours Muslims in Nigeria. In a statement by CAN Director (National Issues), Mr. Sunny Oibe, the association observed that religion is a sen-

sitive issue, adding that Kutigi did not include any delegate representing CAN in the committee. CAN added that members of the Committee on Religion as obtained from the Confer-

ence Secretariat are Alhaji Nurudeen Lemu (chairman); Bishop Felix Femi Ajakaiye, cochairman (representing Ekiti State at the conference); Hajia Shetu Alfa, Bishop Joseph Bagobiri, Hadija Dije Dattijo, Prof. Obini Ekpe, Pastor Bosun Emmanuel and Prof. Layi Erinosho.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Suspected terrorists kill Borno council APC chairman, youth leader – Page 3 Researchers identify new variant of Ebola virus in Guinea – Page 3

Delegates’ committee may prune FG’s powers –Page 4 Court strikes out criminal charge against NAICOM chief –Page 5

Chairman, sub-Planning Committee and Chairman, Troyka Holdings, Biodun Shobanjo (left); the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba (Dr.) Sikiru Kayode Adetona and Vice Chairman, sub-Planning Committee, Fassy Yussuf, during a world press conference in commemoration of the beginning of Awujale’s 80th birthday ceremony in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State… yesterday. PHOTO: SUNDAY AKINLOLU

25 die in fresh militia attacks in Taraba From Saxone Akhaine (Kaduna), Emmanuel Ande (Yola) and Charles Akpeji (Jalingo)

• Police warn Nyako against obstructing Jonathan’s visit to Adamawa • Don’t incite North against Jonathan, Abubakar Umar cautions gov

ESPITE a growing presD ence of military and other security officials deployed

That was a few hours after Jukun women from the southern part of the state, domiciling in the Federal Capital, trooped to the premises of the Africa Independent Television (AIT) to protest killings in the state. Meanwhile, the Police Commissioner, Adamawa State Police Command, John C. Abakasanga, has advised Governor Murtala Nyako not to go ahead with plans allegedly aimed at denying the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) the use of Ribadu Square for the party’s rally when President

from neighbouring Adamawa and Gombe states, the bloodshed, especially in the southern part of Taraba State, continued yesterday with the reported killing of 25 persons in Ndo-Yaku Village, Wukari Local Council. The attackers, who were said to have been armed to the teeth and wore military uniforms, stormed the village not too far from the administrative headquarters of the council at about 9.00 a.m.

Goodluck Jonathan visits the state next week. In a two-page letter titled: ‘Redenial of use of Ribadu Square’ dated March 31, 2014, addressed to the governor and copied to the InspectorGeneral of Police (IGP), the Police Commissioner warned that the state was already in a fragile situation and that he would not tolerate any act that could lead to a deterioration of the situation in the state. In a related development, former Governor of Kaduna State and civil rights activist, Col.

Abubakar Dangiwa Umar (rtd), yesterday criticised Nyako over allegations of genocide he had levelled against the Federal Government and his call on northerners to rise against the government. Umar said such a pronouncement was inciting. Expressing his disappointment over Nyako’s comments, Umar said as a retired former military officer, the governor should be aware of the weighty nature of his statement that President Goodluck Jonathan and his

administration were responsible for the genocide in the North as a result of the insurgency by Boko Haram. Confirming the attack to The Guardian, the immediate past president of Jukun Youth of Vision, Wukari, Luka Agbu, a lawyer, said the ongoing attack is targeted at the Jukun. “We don’t know what the Jukun people have done to deserve these killings.” Agbu said the attackers were militias who were hired to reduce the population of the Jukun ethnic group in the state. “It is only the Jukun that they concentrate on, and as I am talking with you now, apart from the killings, several

houses were burnt completely as well.” The militias, who he said were heavily armed, attacked with General Multipurpose Machine Guns (GPMG), thereby overpowering the security personnel in the area. He stressed the need for the state government to collaborate with the Federal Government so as to deploy more soldiers and anti-riot policemen to villages in the council and the southern part of the state as such would go a long way in checking the activities of insurgents. Also speaking on the crisis, the President of Jukun Youth of Vision, Wukari, Audu Kefas, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

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Police warn Nyako against obstructing Jonathan’s visit to Adamawa CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 wondered why the killings have persisted in spite of the claims that enough security personnel have been deployed to the council. He observed that immediately the acting governor left the area last weekend, the killings resumed. But Umar, who spoke with reporters, denied knowledge of the Ndo-Yaku killings even as he confirmed that about 50 ad-

ditional soldiers from Adamawa State have been deployed to Wukari. He confirmed that the insurgents were not “from Benue State but from Nasarawa State” and that were around the rivers. “We have put additional troops on the rivers.” The acting governor also said the government was giving support to the security officials. To cushion the effect of the hardship so far imposed on the people of the affected areas, about 29 trailer-loads of relief materials have been designated to the various affected communities. When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Joseph Kwaji, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), said he was yet to be briefed by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), stating: “In fact, I am still waiting to hear from the DPO.” Villages so far attacked by the

insurgents, which The Guardian could verify, include Ando-Ikwe, Ando-Manu, Akwana, Nayinawa, Tudunwada, Bakundi, Nwunkun, Gidin-Dorwa, Nyakwala and Ndo-Yaku, all Jukun settlements. Part of the letter Abakasanga wrote to the governor read: “The command is strongly of the opinion that His Excellency should have a re-think and rescind his objection to the use of the venue by any political party whose integrity is not in doubt. Our state is fragile and we must do all it takes to maintain relative peace. “It is not in dispute that Ribadu Square is a public venue which is meant for both official and private lawful functions of the government and people of Adamawa state, provided conditions for the use of the venue are met. “It is also to be noted that the purpose for which the PDP intends to use the venue is to carry out its party’s rally and or other lawful party activities. “We believe that refusal to allow some groups of people the use of the venue for lawful activities and granting of approval to other groups to use

the same venue could cause more tension than making the venue available for use by every group. “I hereby recommend that the state government makes the venue available for use by the People’s Democratic Party and other political parties wishing to do so, since police presence will be visible at all meetings at the venue”, the letter concluded. The Guardian gathered that Abakasanga’s letter to Nyako was because of a petition by the Adamawa State chapter of PDP dated March 19, 2014 over the refusal of the state government to approve the venue for the party’s rally at which the President will be in attendance. Reacting to the security challenge in the North and Nyako’s statement in Kaduna, Umar said: “The statement of Governor Murtala Nyako, coming from a retired military officer, is shocking and worrisome and I hope people like him should not put the nation on fire and should desist from making wild allegation. “What is his aim? Does he want northerners to pick up arms against the Federal Govern-

ment or what? These are comments that should not come from leaders who want the nation to progress and move forward, especially a state governor and a retired military officer. “How can he prove the allegation he made against President Goodluck Jonathan that he is encouraging genocide in the country? Doesn’t he realise the implication of this kind of statement, that the statement can set Nigeria on fire? Does it augur well for stability and unity of the country?” Umar urged Nyako and other North-East governors to channel all grievances over the current insecurity in their domains through the appropriate channels rather than embark on anything that could worsen the security problem the country is facing already. Said he: “I expect Murtala Nyako to attend the next Security Council meeting of the Federal Government that Jonathan is calling on Wednesday (today) and raise those issues at that forum. But the way he is going on air and through the media and making allegations against

government and even talking of government engaging in genocide, I think, is not something Nyako’s calibre of person should have embarked on. It is very un-statesmanlike and can lead to the destabilisation of the nation. Umar continued: “What I think should happen now is for all the governors of the North-East to work together with President Jonathan so that they can discuss better ways of handling the current security challenges. But, you know, for one of the governors to wake up and start making wild allegations is unbecoming of a man of his calibre and it is irresponsible. “We cannot win the war against insurgency by making wild allegation. Murtala Nyako should understand the implication of his statement. When he said the President is engaging in genocide against the North, what he is simply doing is asking northerners to rise up against Jonathan or the Federal Government. And this is unexpected of a governor and a retired military officer of his stature.”

CAN accuses Kutigi of pursuing Islamic agenda CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Others are Malam Muzzammil Sani Hanga, Prof. Andrew Haruna, Monsignor Obiora Ike, Godswill Iyoha Iyoke, Prof, Munzali Jibril, Hajiya Talatu Nasir, Justice Mamman Nasir (rtd), Dr. Jonathan Obaje, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede and Hajia Amina Omoti. The statement reads: “Justice Kutigi is from Niger State and the Committee on Religion should be a sensitive committee. The chairman has decided to scatter the Christians in the conference and now brought Nurudeen Lemu, the son of Sheikh Lemu, who is also from Niger State, to chair the committee and did not pick any delegate representing the CAN. The supposed Christian in the committee, Dr. Jonathan Obaje representing the Diaspora at the conference, has been given express permission by Kutigi to travel back overseas for holiday; he is not even in Nigeria at present and does not represent CAN. The delegate is not around and Christians will be affected during voting. Bishop Felix Ajakaiye who was named co-chairman in the committee is representing Ekiti State and not CAN. In that case, we have already lost and the ratio will now be 12 members for Muslims and six for Christians.” “To us in CAN, Justice Kutigi is working out a script to undermine the interest of Christians at the conference. Ordinarily, the Christians who have been on the receiving end from members of the Boko Haram Islamic sect in the North should be a co-chairman in the Committee on Religion. But what Kutigi did was to pick a Muslim from the North as chairman and a Christian from the SouthWest (Ajakaiye) who has little or no knowledge of what is happening in the North as cochairman. The interest of Christians in this case will not be adequately protected.” The association also noted that even though President Goodluck Jonathan had good intentions by convening the conference, the talk body was

already being stage-managed as there is a problem in allowing Kutigi to be chairman. According to CAN, “Justice Kutigi is from Niger State and he decided to pick his Muslim brother from Niger State to head such a sensitive committee. So, Christians in Nigeria are not happy and we don’t expect that a man who is highly placed like Justice Kutigi would allow his religion to override national interest. That is why he decided to keep the issue of religion and the committee to himself closely. So, we are asking the Vice Chairman of that Conference, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, what he is doing there? It may also interest Nigerians to note that none of the delegates sent by CAN was allowed to head any committee at the conference; this is unfortunate. Where is the transparency? Where is the equity and fairness? “For us, we have no problem with Ajakaiye but we see his choice as a mischief by Kutigi. Ajakaiye is a Christian from the South-West but to us, a Christian from the North and CAN delegate who knows how Christians are being slaughtered on daily basis by Boko Haram should be the co-chairman of the committee. But Kutigi refused because he is carrying out an Islamic agenda. These are the same people who claimed that President Jonathan skewed the conference to favour Christians. But the truth has now been revealed that Kutigi is the person who skewed the committee to undermine Christians.” Stressing the need to ensure equal representation at the conference, CAN insisted: “If Muslims are 12, Christians must be 12 in the religious committee. We demand that the man in The Diaspora should be replaced because he doesn’t know what is going on in this country. We want a Christian from the North to be a co-chair. Anything short of that means Kutigi is biased and playing an Islamic agenda against Christians in this country. We are, therefore, doubting his credibility to pilot the affairs of the good con-

ference put together by Jonathan’s administration.” Conferees in the Committee on Economy, Trade and Investment yesterday at the beginning of deliberations at the committee level were of the opinion that consistent policies that would encourage development and growth have been stifled with corruption in tow. The committee, being chaired by Bola Shagaya, also noted that defective value system and ethics, coupled with other inconsistencies on the part of government towards industrialisation and economic development, have grossly affected the country’s growth. A delegate, Akande Onikepo in her submission, suggested that any genuine attempt at reviving the nation’s economy must first start with addressing the issue of unemployment, including creating policies to promote favourable investment environment. “We need to industrialise, it is very relevant because most of the industries are dying. In the past, most industries did very well but presently, they are all dead. Another delegate on the committee, Ibrahim Waziri, said beyond clamouring for industrialisation and other source of economic sustenance for the country, there is need to revisit the fundamental issues of why previous policies have not benefited the nation. “Let us look at the fundamentals, why do some economies work and others do not, can we as a nation isolate ourselves out of the global economy in today’s world realistically and say we want to do this. Meanwhile, four other subcommittees were constituted to ease the work of the committee. They are sub-committees on Manufacturing and Production, Trade and Investment, Financial Systems and Economic Philosophy. Also, the Committee on Foreign Policy and Diaspora Matters, chaired by Prof. Ibrahim

Gambari, also broke into subcommittees, where according to Bunmi Oke, issues of the concept of foreign policy, major issues and challenges under foreign issues and Diaspora matters, participation in international organisations like the United Nations (UN), ECOWAS AU, among others and legal issues relating to extradition and prisoner exchange are on line for the committees to deal with. The committee co-chaired by two former Senate Presidents, Iyorchia Ayu and Ken Nnamani, with 24 members, started with a call by Ayu for members to intervene on a possible work plan that would guide their activities and deliberations toward bringing out recommendations to the plenary. Abdullahi Elayo lamented that the conduct of free and fair elections was a far cry to the extent that contentions begin from primary elections before the main poll “and it is getting worse, such that judgments are no longer given in details. Something is fundamentally wrong with us not the laws.” For Abdullahi Adamu, “the entire process is deeply corrupt, how then do we come up with the right suggestions that would minimise the gross corruption. Looking at how much a senator invests in his campaign today, a governor must keep aside two billion naira before starting his campaign.” He said money politics is a serious challenge that must be dismantled. Also, “the issue of Executive controlling political parties is against the norm. While the President controls the affairs at the centre, the governors assume leadership of political parties at that level and the local council chairmen as well at their level, this is not correct, and must be corrected. While others also maintained that electoral malpractices must be discussed, Ishaq Kawu of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) said in drawing out the plan, note must be taken of the changing times in the 21st century.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014 | 3

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News Jonathan meets 36 govs, security chiefs today

Researchers identify new variant of Ebola virus in Guinea

From Mohammed Abubakar, Abuja N enlarged security meeting is expected to hold between President Goodluck Jonathan, 36 state governors and the leaders of Nigerian security agencies today to deliberate on how to find perfect solutions to the security problems in the country. The meeting, which is expected to hold at the State House, Abuja, by 4.00 pm today, will be attended by Vice President Namadi Sambo; the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, who will lead other service chiefs; Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS); National Security Adviser (NSA); Defence Minister, Gen. Mohammed Aliyu Gusau (rtd) and the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Dahiru Abubakar. The meeting is coming amidst hot exchange of words between Adamawa State Governor, Murtala Nyako and the President, where the former accused the latter of allegedly instigating a campaign of genocide against the North, an allegation vehemently denied by the Presidency. An earlier meeting, which took place, was re-scheduled from Thursday last week following the confusion that trailed the non-attendance by All Progressives Congress (APC) governors, even though the governors of Anambra and Ondo states, Willie Obiano and Olusegun Mimiko, joined their counterparts from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It was gathered that today’s meeting would deliberate on whether to extend the state of emergency in the three northeastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe. The emergency ended last Saturday, April 19. The North-East governors and major stakeholders from the area had at different fora last week expressed opposition to the extension of the emergency, claiming it had not achieved the desired results. The President earlier met with security chiefs after which he joined the governors, who were already waiting for him for the commencement of the enlarged meeting. All the governors of the APC were conspicuously absent even though the information sent out by the government on Wednesday was that all governors were invited for the meeting. Their absence was apparently responsible for the postponement of the meeting to 4.00 pm on Wednesday as the President reportedly wanted all 36 governors in attendance. Briefing State House Correspondents after the meeting, which lasted for two hours, Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom confirmed that APC governors were indeed not invited, adding that it was a PDP gathering. APC last night issued a statement corroborating Akpabio’s assertion.

By Chukwuma Muanya

ESEARCHERS from R Inserm (Jean MérieuxInserm BSL-4 Laboratory,

Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola (left); author of Giants of History, Lateef Ibirogba; Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola; representative of Oyo State governor, Prince Gbade Lana and Chairman of the occasion, Chief Pascal Dozie, during the book presentation in Lagos…yesterday PHOTO: OSENI YUSUF

Why Nigeria is enmeshed in insecurity, by confab panel From Terhemba Daka and Karls Tsokar, Abuja EMBERS of the M Committee on National Security at the ongoing national conference yesterday declared that Nigeria’s security system is sick and, therefore, requires the collective efforts of all the citizens to facilitate its speedy overhaul. The Committee on National Security is one of the 20 set up by the national conference. It is also one of the most critical, given the central role of security in the life of a state and national development. Chairman of the Committee and former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Muhammadu Gambo Jimeta, who opened discussions at the inaugural

meeting of the group at the National Judicial Institute (NJI) in Abuja yesterday, lamented the prevailing insurgency in the country, saying the solution to the challenge lies within the purview of all Nigerians. “The country is sick, otherwise how will people organise themselves and kill innocent students, how could people gather together and rob, how will people gather together to vandalise pipelines? It means the central system is sick and that is national security,” Jimeta lamented. He blamed the current insecurity situation in Nigeria on alleged failure of the leadership of succeeding administrations to implement recommendations of the vari-

ous panels set up by the authorities in the past to address the myriad of security challenges confronting the country. “Going through my library, I found tons and tons of books on this subject, studies by governments, recommendations and white papers made, but none of them has any impact, mainly because the leaders involved have missed it. “Baring the importance of national security and the impact it has on every citizen, there is nothing you can do except you have satisfied the various demands, including the budgeting to support the pillars of national security,” he added. According to Jimeta, there is need for immediate review of

the country’s national security stratagem with a view to addressing the challenge of Boko Haram and other critical security issues besetting the country. At their first sitting yesterday, the committee’s delegates adopted a work-plan and consequently set up three sub-committees, which include: committee on crisis management bodies, committee on law and order infrastructure and the committee on defence infrastructure. Members of the sub-committees are expected to meet separately and reconvene on Friday to harmonise their various positions, which will form the fulcrum of the entire committee’s submission to the leadership of the national conference.

Suspected terrorists kill Borno council APC chairman, youth leader From Saxone Akhaine (Kaduna) and Njadvara Musa (Maiduguri)

• ‘Abducted girls will be found’

IOLENCE is yet to abate in V Borno State as gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram

vehicle was ambushed near Mafa Town. According to an eyewitness and resident of Mafa, Fogu Fannami, the insurgents blocked the road with wood and tree branches to force the vehicle to stop. They shot to death two persons on the spot and fled towards Dikwa, a border town with Cameroun. “The party chairman, along with other passengers in the ambushed vehicle, were first stopped by flagging down the driver for identification of the occupants before three gunmen on motorcycles shot dead two people at close range and fled towards Dikwa,” Fannami said in Maiduguri. According to him, the gun-

sect members shot dead Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kala/Balge Local Council, Alhaji Modu Janga and the party’s Youth Leader, Alhaji Abba, near Mafa Town on the Maiduguri-Dikwa Road at about 11 a.m. on Monday. Meanwhile, Governor Kashim Shetima has pleaded with aggrieved parents of the abducted school girls to remain calm and prayerful, assuring that their children would soon be found. Janga and Mafa were said to be returning to Gudumbali from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, when their

men did not rob the APC officials as their vehicle was abandoned at the scene of the incident. The road was also said to have been closed for two hours by soldiers and policemen to prevent further attacks. On whether other vehicles were ambushed during the attack, the eyewitness said: “These gunmen could have targeted the APC officials returning to the council area of Kala/Balge before they were ambushed on that road leading to Gudumbali, the council headquarters.” The Guardian learnt that Mafa Town was attacked three times this year by terrorists, destroying several

public buildings and vehicles and killing many people, including three policemen and a soldier. Chairman of Kala/Balge, Alhaji Alifa Bukar Rann, yesterday in Maiduguri, at the Government House, confirmed that two officials of APC were shot dead near Mafa Town while returning to Gudumbali from party engagements. Also confirming the incident yesterday in Maiduguri, the Borno State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Gideon Jibrin, said armed hoodlums ambushed a vehicle on Dikwa Road on Monday and two people were feared dead, before the security agents closed the road for two hours to prevent further attacks.

Lyon, France and the Institut Pasteur have identified a new variant of Ebola virus in Guinea. In an article, which appeared in The New England journal of Medicine, the researchers published their initial findings on the characteristics of the Ebola virus discovered in Guinea. Initial virological investigations enabled them to identify Zaire Ebola virus as the pathogen responsible for this epidemic. Performed in less than a month, sequencing of the complete genome and subsequent phylogenetic analysis show that the virus, present in Guinea, forms a clade (variant) that is distinct from strains previously identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Gabon. Epidemiological investigations also linked the laboratory confirmed cases with the initial deaths recorded during the December 2013 outbreak. Ebola virus is a lethal, highly contagious virus for which there is presently no treatment. The symptoms are somewhat non-specific and include fever, severe diarrhea and vomiting. Between 30 and 90 per cent of those infected with this organism die as a result. On April 2, 2014, the World Health Organisation (WHO), in a statement published by the United Nations, reported that it had recorded five new cases of Ebola fever in Guinea. Since January, the total number of suspected and confirmed cases of Ebola fever in the present outbreak in Guinea is 127, with 83 deaths, according to WHO, which states that 35 cases were confirmed by laboratory testing. The initial samples were analysed in Lyon in the Jean Mérieux-Inserm BSL-4 Laboratory directed by Hervé Raoul, Inserm Research Director, by the French National Reference Centre for Viral Haemorrhagic Fevers (attached to the Biology of Viral Emerging Infections Unit at the Institut Pasteur, directed by Sylvain Baize). A positive diagnosis was made. A mobile BSL-4 laboratory was deployed in Guinea to provide assistance with diagnosis in the field. This mobile laboratory was developed as part of a European project, “EMP4,” coordinated by German researchers, and in which the Jean Mérieux-Inserm BSL-4 Laboratory is the French partner. The researchers were able to analyse blood samples from 20 patients. Various tests were conducted by the scientists in order to establish a specific identity card for the virus.

4 | NEWS Wednesday, April 23, 2014

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Panic at Bauchi schools over rumoured Boko Haram attack • NACCIMA chief, Lawson, wants borders closed over insurgency • Group cautions against illegal foreigners From Charles Coffie Gyamfi (Abeokuta)Ali Garbi (Bauchi) and Nnamdi Akpa (Abakaliki) HERE was palpable tension and panic yesterday as hundreds of students of Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic, Bauchi and A.D Rufa’I College for Legal and Islamic Studies, Misau, fled the schools following rumours of planned Boko Haram attack of the two institutions. The threat, which caused serious panic among staff and students of the institutions, also crippled activities yesterday there. Meanwhile, the Deputy National President of Nigeria Chambers of Commerce, Industries Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Iyalode Alaba Lawson has called for the closure of Nigeria’s international borders to forestall further Boko Haram threats. In a related development, a group, The Eastern Pioneers has urged the Federal Government to caution all the countries that share borders with Nigeria in the north, namely, Republic of Niger, Chad and Cameroon to tighten security at their borders to prevent bandits from entering Nigeria from such outposts. A notice of the intended attack was pasted on the schools wall, a situation that made students to leave the schools for fear of being harmed. When The Guardian visited the Abubakar Tatari Polytechnic Bauchi, some students were seen attending lectures while others were leaving the school premises. Some lecturers and students told The Guardian that they had to leave the school to enable the authority provide adequate security in the institutions. When contacted, the Rector of the polytechnic, Dr Bala Adamu, could not confirm the attack threat, saying he just returned from Abuja.

However, a reliable source from the College for Legal and Islamic Studies said the school authority was aware of the rumoured planned attack and has held a meeting over the issue. The State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Haruna Mohammed said he was not aware of the attack threat, but assured that the command had taken all the necessary measures to protect lives and property in the State. Also a security source said the threat was a false alarm raised by people who want to create fear in the minds of innocent citizens. Lawson, who made the call yesterday in Abeokuta, stated that the measure was pertinent following indications that the insurgents enter Nigeria through the neighbouring countries borders. Lawson, who is also the chairman of NACCIMA South West, spoke at the First South West Farmers Summit where the six states in the region gathered to parley on improving crops and animals output. She condemned the people at the helm of affairs for pretending they didn’t know what to do to checkmate the insurgents. She added: “The government knows what they ought to do, it is just that they are not doing it. I have said it several times that the insurgents come into the country through the borders. Let the government close the borders and embark on aerial surveillance to know the areas that require urgent attention and strengthen measures to address the problem.” The NACCIMA chief lamented the rate at which young ladies and women are being raped and killed by the insurgents who have been suspected to be from neighbouring countries.

Chief Executive Officer, Fine and Country W.A, Udo Maryanne Okonjo (second right) receives the 2014 International Arch of Europe Quality Award from President and CEO of BID Quality Convention, Mr. Jose E. Prieto (second left); President of the Quality Mix, Norman Ingle (left of Udo) and President of the QC 100, Craig Miller (right) during the award.

Delegates’ committee may prune FG’s powers From Terhemba Daka and Tsokar Karls, Abuja HERE are indications that the Federal Government may have its powers whittled down, if submissions by the Committee on Political Restructuring and Forms of Government are anything to go by. This follows the decision of the Committee to hinge its assignment on true federalism as the recommended form of government for the country, just as most delegates and members who spoke during its maiden meeting yesterday backed the opinion that power should devolve to the federating units. Also, the Committee on Public Finance and Revenue chaired by Adamu Aliero yesterday , accused the Federal and state governments of encouraging impunity among local contractors without recourse to good conscience, saying payment for contracts is selective and not favourable to promoting investment in the economy. Aliero said that domestic debt was accumulating by the day and had led to many contractors abandoning projects

• Accuse FG of encouraging impunity • Summon CBN, RMAFC, ICRC, others “We should focus not only on bonds and over drafts but contractors liability because it has a lot of impact on the economy. If a contractor finishes his job and his not paid you have tied his capital, his employees will be out of work. You are contributing to unemployment and the economy will be deflated. On the possible reduction of the powers of the Federal Government, a delegate, Femi Okunronmu had noted that what sets true federalism apart from other forms of government is power-sharing, submitting that the Committee should be ready to address power -sharing during its deliberations. “If we are going to operate a federal system, the present arrangement can not succeed because the States are too small and won’t be able to wield such powers, which makes such powers meaningless. “Secondly, the present arrangement does not give a balanced platform for true federalism with the North having more states than the South,” he added. Okunronmu who traced the political imbalance to the administration of Gen. Murtala Mohammed said the Gen. Yakubu Gowon ensured balance between the North and the South with 12 states while Murtala Mohammed’s regime created the imbalance in order to perpetuate the domination of the North over the South with the creation of 19 states. The delegate argued that the imbalance in the number of states between the North and the South should be addressed. “Restructuring must address this imbalance and I suggest that it is either we go back to 12 or the six geo-political zones because they were balanced”. Former governor, Peter Odili advocated for the supremacy of the Federal Government with states as federating units rather than regions or local government. According to him, the structural problems would always arise if geo-political zones were made the federating units, and added that many of the states that make up a geopolitical zone had several ethnic nationalities, while some

were homogenous in nature adding that there would always be agitation for recognition. On his part, a former military governor, AVM Mohammed Mukhtar said states would be scrapped from the constitution if he had his way, as according to him, state governors are the major problems confronting the country. He said governors have created the problem of imposing their cronies, without consideration for merit on the country, adding that even the imposition of Caretaker Committees on Local Council was part of the impunity perpetrated by the governors. Former governor Sam Egwu canvassed states as federating units as against geo-political zones based on the peculiarity of the situation and historical antecedents of the Igbo. “My position is based on the fact that, the Igbo are the most backward in terms of education and infrastructural development due to our previous experience before state creation,” he said. He therefore called for equitable distribution of states in the zones with one more state added to the South East. Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) President, Abdulwaheed Omar noted that the current structure was not a problem but governance. He said local councils should rather be strengthened as it is a major catalyst of employment generation in the country. While advocating for the autonomy of the Local councils with redefined functions, Omar regretted that politicians contributed largely to the rot in the local government administration. Dr. Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosumu said cost of governance is a problem that should be addressed, while also advocating for regional zones as federating units. Pastor Tunde Bakare supported six geo-political zones as federating units that would have their own constitutions. According to him, State creation was an unnecessary duplication of resources, while noting that the multiplier-effect of reducing cost of governance should not be overlooked by the committee. He also said there should be

clear definition of powers of the federating units in the constitution. A member of the Committee on Public Finance from Rivers State, Chief Segent Awuse accused the Federal Government of not taking local contractors into consideration when the rebased Gross Domestic Product was being calculated. “There are thousands of Nigerian contractors that the government has refused to pay. They are financing government projects. As long as that debt is not paid, it is a source of fund for government. So when people turn around and say the GDP has been re-based, who and who is contributing to that GDP? “There are contractors in Nigeria owed five years not paid. What do we do to stop this recklessness on the part of civil servants and politicians. People will not come and invest. You are owing them and you want them to invest. This is not limited to the Federal Government, it is found in all three tiers of government. They do it with impunity. They don’t care to pay. They politicize payment and that is not the best way to run a government “ Awuse said. Meanwhile the Committee on Public Finance and Revenue have sent invitations to the officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), among others to appear before it to contribute to the work it is doing. Committee Chairman Aliero, said the Joint Tax Board, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Debt Management Office, Nigeria Customs Service, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission and others will also make presentations. The committee, which will focus on domestic and external debt, tax administration, tax contribution, internally generated revenue, externally generated revenue, regulation of external borrowing by states and local governments and productivity, has Senator Azu Agboti as deputy chairman. Committee members, after deliberating on how to improve efficiency and transparency in revenue generation agreed to go through all past reports of related committees, saying it will also design roadmaps on reducing dependence on petroleum as source of revenue.

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

Wednesday, April 23, 2014 NEWS | 5

Why we call APC leaders to order, by PDP Members seek nullification of south-west caretaker committee From Azimazi Momoh Jimoh (Abuja), Bertram Nwannekanma (Lagos) and Emmanuel Ande (Yola) ELEASES from the Peoples R Democratic Party (PDP) exposing the negative conse-

George Etomi (left); Mrs. Maiden Alex Ibru; bride’s father, Dr. Seyi Roberts; couple, Abayomi Olusegun and Princess Morounke Akin-Olugbade; bride’s mother, Dr. Alero Roberts and Dr. Doyin Okupe at the wedding reception of Segun and Morounke in Lagos.

Suspected oil thieves roasted to death in Edo From Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu, Benin City

O fewer than two persons N suspected to be involved in oil bunkering were roasted to death in a tanker explosion at Ivue-Uromi, Esan North-East local council of Edo State yesterday, while others rescued with different degrees of burns have been taken to the hospital. The incident was said to have occurred at about 1:30a.m following the accident that involved a crude oil-laden truck, which driver lost control of

Police, prison warders clash in Nasarawa From Msugh Ityokura, Lafia CLASH between men of the Nigerian Police and Prisons Service temporarily halted commercial activities in Lafia, Nasarawa State yesterday, as shops and other commercial activities hurriedly closed to avoid being caught up in the fight. The street leading to the prisons, located behind the state CID, had been blocked by the police as their state commissioner, Ibrahim Idris, was said to be parading suspected criminals at the headquarters of the state Criminal Investigative Department (CID) on Jos Road. However, a warden wanted to drive out of his office at that time and was asked to stop, but to no avail, leading to the fight. Though the commissioner ordered the persons involved arrested, his order was not effected as the policemen on duty halted on seeing more prisons wardens trooping out to rescue their bruised colleague. The policeman involved, whose name could not yet be given, was said to be a driver attached to the state CID. He was also seen wearing on his right hand the amulet commonly worn by the notorious Ombatse cult group. Meanwhile, newsmen were told that 80 per cent of the weapons recovered in the state were locally fabricated, as 16 armed robbers, five cultists and four thieves were arrested while four locally made pistols, one locally made AK 47 riffle, dane and pressure guns were recovered.

the vehicle and crashed it into a high tension pole. The electric cable was said to have collapsed on the truck, causing it to burst into flames. According to the spokesperson for the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Uromi, Augustine Apili, the accident could have been caused by reckless driving in an attempt by the alleged bunkers to escape the soldiers, who were said to be trailing them. He said the survivors would

be arrested on recovery to assist in investigation. A resident of the community, Collins Uhebaghi, said he was attending a burial ceremony close to the scene when he heard the explosion, adding that two persons were rescued and taken to the hospital. Meanwhile, the Red Cross Chairman in the area, Michael Odiahi, said they were on ground to prevent people from the getting too close to the burning truck in case of

quences of the unguided utterances by politicians have succeeded in sobering some All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders, the ruling party’s National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, has claimed. In a statement yesterday, the Metuh said: “As a responsible party, the PDP has made its point on the utterances, comments and statements by politicians, which tend to influence and/or instigate people to violence, and we believe that our statements have made APC and some of their leaders more responsive to their collective duty of verbal restraint. “However, we still decry attempts by the APC to seek cheap publicity by making classless, childish, immature and ineffective statements on terrorism matters. Sometimes they even speak as if they control their actions.” Meanwhile, 17 members of the PDP yesterday urged a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos to nullify the appointment of the party’s South-

Lawmaker seeks increased protection for girl-child By Adeyemi Adepetun MEMBER of the House of Representatives and Chairman, House Committee on Diaspora Matters, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has called on the Federal Government to increase protection around young women and the girl-child across the country. Speaking yesterday in Lagos at the Tech4D Forum organised by the Women In Technology in Nigeria (WITIN),

she lamented that the nation was passing through a bad time as, over a week since 234 secondary school girls were abducted, fewer than half of them have been found. According to her, when a similar incident occurred in Kenya recently, Nigeria was one of the first countries to condemn it, but it is regrettable that those who perpetrated the havoc in Kenya have been apprehended and brought to book while the

same havoc occurs in Nigeria everyday and nobody is punished. She stressed that because of the insecurity at home, Nigerians are running to other less-endowed nations and are getting killed and subjected to all manner of maltreatment on daily basis. She stated: “In Ghana, our citizens are being killed; in India, three Nigerians have been imprisoned for no just course.”

Court strikes out criminal charge against NAICOM chief, Fola Daniel By Bertram Nwannekanma USTICE Okon Efreti Abang of Jyesterday a Federal High Court, Lagos, struck out a criminal charge filed by the Federal Government against the Commissioner for Insurance and Chief Executive Officer of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Fola Daniel. This followed an application for withdrawal filed by the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF) on behalf of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN). The application was based on the constitutional powers of the AGF to institute and discontinue with criminal cases. Daniel was facing a six-count charge of criminal misrepresentation of facts and deliberate falsehood as well as an alleged misrepresentation of facts involving Alliance and General Insurance Limited. A private prosecutor, Mr.

Chijioke Ndubuisi, had filed the motion together with a six-count charge against Daniel at the court and subsequently wrote for a fiat of the AGF. The AGF declined the fiat but instead elected to do the prosecution. In the said charge, Daniel was alleged to have deliberately made a number of misleading and malicious misrepresentations against Alliance and General Insurance Limited to a number of public officers and agencies, with the intention of damaging the reputation of the said company. He was further alleged to have committed the same offences against Fidelity Bond Group by representing that it had infracted the Insurance Act of 1997. A part of the six-count charge stated that he “did present information to the Minister of Aviation that there is no subsisting court

order against the commissioner prohibiting the commission from enforcing its regulatory functions, which information you (Daniel) knew to be false in any material particulars and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 89 (1) and (2) of the Insurance Act, 2003. “That you, Fola Daniel, on or about August 7, 2012, while being in the employment of the National Insurance Commission, knowingly informed the chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) that Fidelity Bond Group and A&G Insurance Plc had been prohibited from doing business, the information which you know to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 89 (1) and (2) of the Insurance Act and punishable under section 89 (2).”

West Zone Caretaker Committee. The plaintiffs in the suit before Justice Okon Abang argued that the party cannot appoint any other person to replace them, as they remained valid members of the committee by virtue of a court order. Nevertheless, the party said it was erroneous that there was a court order asking it not to hold the congress. According to PDP, the plaintiffs thought an Ekiti State High Court had given an order stopping the congress, but they later found out there was no such order. It also noted that the plaintiffs were not bound to continue in office even though the congress did not hold, since they had tendered their resignations. Judgment on the matter has been fixed for May 16. The PDP also condemned Adamawa State Governor, Murtala Nyako, for his “tendentious letter to the governors of the 19 northern states,” expressing shock that such came from an elected person. It urged him to learn from other APC leaders, who have started guarding their utterances. “Governor Nyako must desist from such and learn from other APC leaders who are now comporting themselves better as a response to PDP statements which succeeded in exposing the link between their unguarded utterances and escalation of violence and insurgency in our nation,” the party said. The party also charged political figures across board to desist from making violence-instigating statements even as it implored President Goodluck Jonathan and the 36 governors to come up with a strong resolution against the trend. It further urged Nigerians, especially politicians, to con-

tinue to unite against terrorism and all tendencies that promote violence and divide rather than unite the nation. “Our resolve is to join hands with responsible, respectable and patriotic Nigerians to highlight and promote our desire to live together in a strong, peaceful and united Nigeria,” the statement read. The plaintiffs are Ishola Filani, Banji Obasanmi and Prince Tope Ademiluyi (Ekiti State), Chief Pegba Otemolu, Olawunmi Oshinmoluke Yuba, Seun Adesanya and Semiu Babatunde (Ogun State), Adedeji Doherty, Bolaji Jeje and Olalekan Abubakar (Lagos State), Rasak Adekonla Akanni, Lawal Waheed Olatunde and Emmanuel Oladejo (Oyo State), Orimolade Olanrewaju, Shola Oludipe and Prince Omoniyi Alo (Ondo State), and Tunde Olowofoyeku (Osun State). They sought a declaration that based on Justice Abang’s judgment of April 9, 2013, following which they were appointed into the caretaker committee until the conduct of a zonal congress to elect new officers, the PDP cannot dissolve the committee until new officers have been elected. They prayed the court to hold that the resignation of their positions in the committee was to enable them contest for a substantive office during the congress scheduled for August 24, 2013, and that since the congress was cancelled, their resignation was, therefore, of no effect. They further sought an order restraining the party from appointing any other person in their place as the zone’s caretaker committee, while praying for an order nullifying any such appointment, and an order restraining PDP from dissolving or disbanding their committee or recognising any other caretaker committee, among others.

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

NEWS Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Police alert over rising students’ role in crime From Abiodun Fagbemi, Ilorin WARA State Police Command has raised the alarm over alleged rising cases of undergraduate students of tertiary institutions involvement in series of criminal acts. Parading yesterday seven criminal suspects arrested in the past one week in Ilorin, the state’s Commissioner of Police, Ambrose Aisabor said four of the suspects are alleged male students of Federal Polytechnic, Offa, arrested for armed robbery. Aisabor, who said one of the suspects was a neighbour to the victim, added that the students on interrogation, confessed to be members of Eiye Confraternity cult group. It would be recalled that the state police command paraded some suspects, who were students of College of Health Technology, Offa last month for offences ranging from rape, cultism and armed robbery. He gave names of the recent suspects paraded yesterday as Olawuyi Babatunde, Os-

• Lawmakers ask Ahmed to tackle flood adahum Matthew, Bamikole Emmanuel and Adebisi. According to him, “on April 18, 2014, at about 0015hrs at Atari area of Offa while on raid of criminal hide out by eagle eyed officers of the command, the suspects were arrested after successfully robbing one Adeolu Emmanuel, male of his properties such as laptops, four assorted telephones, one deck with speakers and N30, 000 cash while armed with dangerous weapons like cutlasses, axe and mask. “On interrogation, the suspects confessed to be members of Eiye Cult and also confessed to have been responsible for robberies around Offa and its environs in recent times,” he said, adding that the case would be charged to court after investigation is concluded. The police boss added that his command also recovered two AK 47 rifles, which were abandoned by hoodlums in

a bush before The Federal Polytechnic, Offa, while being chased by officers of the command. The command, which saved a madman from the hands of mob as he was about to be lynched and set ablaze, has also warned residents of the state to desist from lynching suspected kidnappers, saying, “madness is not synonymous with criminality.” He said policemen would be justified to use firearms on mob wherever they try to set suspects on fire, maintaining that, “we are in a lawful society, not a lawless society.” Aisabor advised the people to remain security conscious by not overlooking substances, parked vehicles, strange faces around them, maintaining that security is not for police alone to handle. Meanwhile, the state House of Assembly yesterday advised the state government

to urgently commence measures that would assist curbing effects of perennial flooding in some flood prone parts of the state. The House made the call in its resolution after adopting the explanation on loss of unspecified number of lives and property occasioned by recent flood at Atikeke area along Ajase Ipo road, Ilorin. Alhaji Saadu Tanke, (APC), representing llorin South Constituency raised the issue during yesterday’s plenary under a matter of urgent public importance. The House in its resolution expressed sympathy with the families of three lives that were lost in the flood and urged the state government to immediately embark on measures that will curb flooding. The legislature urged the state Ministry of Works and Town Planning Development Authority to be alive to their responsibility by providing

proper drainages along waterways to check flooding. The House canvassed provision of drainage along Atikeke area in Ilorin to cater for annual occurrence of flood being experienced by residents of the area. The Legislature advised residents of the state to refrain from dumping refuse along drainages especially during rainfall to guide against blockade and flooding. The House also directed the state government to provide relief materials to over 100 residents rendered homeless by rainstorm in Baruten Local Council Area of the state. This followed an explanation on the plight of the victims raised by Suleiman Sunaboro (APC) representing Ilesha Gwanara constituency under matter of urgent public importance. He said the rainstorm, which occurred last Sunday affected Shinau, Alafiaru and Sinau where Victims are currently taking refuge in Mosques, churches and some other public buildings in the

HE Peoples’ Democratic T Party (PDP) in Taraba state has berated Senator Alhassan Aisha Jumai over a statement alleging that the acting governor has failed the state and God. In the said publication, (not in The Guardian) Jumai was reported to have accused the Acting Governor, Alhaji Garba Umar of being insensi-

tive to the plights of the people. The statement, according to the PDP is “blasphemous.” Briefing journalists, the party’s Public Relation Officer (PRO), Napoleon G. Adamu maintained that the senator, has not only betrayed the party but has also betrayed the teeming people of her constituency, who worked tirelessly to ensure her victory in the last general elections.

According to Adamu, “Aisha should be full of remorse by now for betraying the Northern Senatorial zone, Taraba State and the Peoples Democratic Party at large under whose platform she was elected senator.” “The electorates in the Northern Senatorial zone defied difficult weather conditions to exercise their voting franchise to make sure that Aisha was pronounced and

returned winner.” Before dumping the party that gave her the meal ticket for the All Progressive Congress (APC), PDP said she should have engaged in wide range of consultations stating that “if Aisha wanted to defect from the party (PDP) that elected her to the APC, she ought to have made wide consultations to ascertain whether she had the blessings of her constituency or not.” PDP attributes her action to her alleged “over-ambition” to become the next governor of the state come 2015, a dream, which it said is a mission impossible. “But for her vaunting ambition to become the governor come 2015, she thought she could impress her admirers by whipping up sentiments.” Adamu, who was very hopeful that the seat of the senator would soon be declared vacant, added, “thank God the court has ruled that those who toed the path of Senator Aisha, whether in the National or state House of Assembly would have

From Joseph Wantu, Makurdi HE people of T Makurdi/Gwer-West Local Council Area of Benue State under the auspices of Tyoshim Development Association, TDA, have urged the Federal Government to reject calls for the creation of grazing reserves for pastoralists on their land, saying such would trigger conflict rather than curtail it between the Fulani cattle herdsmen and the Tiv farmers. The association, in a statement made available to The Guardian signed by its National President, Dr. Sylvester Ugbegili and Secretary, Mr. Joseph Mom also called on government to direct the peace keeping force deployed to the area to evacuate the herdsmen already occupying houses belonging to the displaced Tiv farmers and ensure that the rightful Tiv owners return back to continue with

Anambra records 80 per cent MDGs targets HAIRMAN, Anambra UniC versal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Chief Nzemeka

Taraba PDP chides senator over comments on Umar From Charles Akpeji, Jalingo

Benue group rejects calls for grazing reserves

their seat declared vacant.” However, in a swift reaction, one of her aide told The Guardian that the said senator though a female is not “afraid of the threat” that is coming from the “shattered umbrella of the PDP.” The aide, who spoke in anonymity said “it is unfortunate that you caught me unawares because I am supposed to take permission from her (Aisha) before speaking to the press, but since you promised not to make my name public, all that I can tell you now is that what the PDP in the state is saying about our senator is just like the ranting of an ant.” “As far as we are concern, PDP in Taraba State is dead, and her teeming admirers would not want to see her continue staying in a party that is insensitive of the people. See the killings that is going on in the state, what has the PDP government put in place to stop it or cushion the negative effects it has brought to the people.”

Olisa said on Tuesday that the state had achieved more than 80 per cent target of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Olisa told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the success was recorded in the areas of education and others. ``Making reference to my state, Anambra, I know we may not have 100 per cent achievement, but I know we have already over 80 per cent achievements of the MDGs goal. ``With what is on ground now, with the way the implementation of projects are moving in my state, by the time we do a final push, predominantly the state will achieve the goal, especially with respect to the access to school. ``A lot of work has been done there and it is still on going. There is improvement in education, a lot has been on ground. So, I want to believe that there are hopes, apart from my state, Nigeria as a whole will achieve the goal. It may not be 100 per cent, but a good percentage is already on ground and any additional effort will improve the projects,’’ he said.

15m people suffer from stroke globally, says don From Abiodun Fagbemi, Ilorin CONSULTANT Neurosurgeon at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Dr. K. W. Wahab has said that about 15 million people suffer yearly from stroke worldwide. He, however, said five million of the victims are likely to die from the effects, while 5 million are to live with the ailment, just as the rest five million would be successfully treated without any trace of the disease. Wahab, who made the disclosures yesterday during the health talk programme organised by the Islamic Welfare Foundation (IWF) in Ilorin, added that in 2005 alone, 5.7 million people died as a result of stroke-related ailments in the world. He said that stroke occurs when blood circulation to the brain ceases. During the lecture, entitled:

“Stroke and its Prevention,” the neurologist said that 80 per cent cases of stroke would be recorded in the low income and middle-income nations of the world by the year 2030, just as he canvassed concerted effort to reduce and prevent stroke among the people. Wahab, who is also a senior lecturer at the Department of Medicine, University of Ilorin, stated that the two major causes of stroke include blockage of blood flow and blood seeping into the brain, adding that hypertension accounts for 65 to 85 per cent of stroke cases in Nigeria. The don said that indiscriminate intake of alcoholic drinks increases the risk of both Ischemic and hemorrhagic type of stroke, stressing however, that “having a risk factor doesn’t mean one will suffer stroke and not having a risk factor doesn’t

mean you will avoid a stroke”. Proffering some ways of preventing stroke, Wahab advised that people should always engage in daily body exercise, quit smoking, check their blood pressure regularly, take their drug regularly if hypertension patients, and always watch their weigh. The consultant gave other measures of preventing stroke as including, avoidance of junk foods, keeping blood pressures normal, reducing salt consumption, avoiding deeply fried foods, eating vegetables and fruits regularly and taking balanced diet. In his remarks, the Chairman of the occasion, Dr. Kamaldeen Ghazali of the University of Ilorin, who said lecture was thought-provoking, urged participants to spread the lessons learnt towards a drastic reduction in the effects of stroke in the society.

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

Wednesday, April 23, 2014 NEWS | 7

NIIA postpones monthly lecture

Senator cautions against assumptions on people behind attacks HE senator representing Plateau-North District, Senator Gyang Pwajok, has cautioned against assumptions over those responsible for t attacks in the country, as more communities come under threats. Pwajok told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos yesterday that “Nigerians must think deeper, search wider and push much stronger; we must spread our dragnets all over and broaden our horizon in our desire for an end to these evil deeds. We must never just assume because that is a very simple tendency that could affect the possibility of reaching the attackers and unveiling their sponsors and motives.’’ Pwajok particularly faulted the tendency to blame “Fulanis and herdsmen” for attacks in the North-West and North-Central of Nigeria. He said: “When we blame the Fulani herdsmen, we communalise the crime and reduce investigating opportunities. Similarly, when we blame people of a particular tribe or religion over the attacks, we narrow the search for the culprits, who might just be bandits out to kill, destroy and tear our country into shreds. “Cattle rustlers are also on the prowl all over the country; the rustlers could even be among the herdsmen and their host communities. We must not limit the search for such thieves to a particular group. Experience has shown that practically all Nigerians have suffered the effect of these attacks in one way or the other because bombs, bullets and machetes are blind to race or colour,” Pwajok added. The senator noted: “Again,

HE public lecture of the T Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) for this

month has been postponed following the unavailability of the guest lecturer and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bashir Wali, who is on national assignment outside the country. In a statement by the Acting Director, International Cooperation Department of NIIA, Alex Ekeanyanwu, the lecture was scheduled to hold tomorrow but had to be shifted to a yet-to-be-decided date. Meanwhile, the May edition of the lecture will hold on May 29 while the guest lecturer is the High Commissioner of Canada to Nigeria, Mr. Perry J. Calderwood.

National prayer breakfast holds tomorrow HE Trustees of the Christian T Laity Association of Nigeria will hold the 34 Annual Nath

Students of the Edo State School of Nursing protesting the non-accreditation of courses and insufficient teachers in the school, among issues, along the streets of Benin City…yesterday PHOTO: ALEMMA-OZIORUVA ALIU

Nursing students in Edo protest non-accreditation of school, others From Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu Benin City ITING the foisting of a C principal, non-accreditation of the school in the last two years and insufficient teachers to teach them, among others, the students of Edo State School of Nursing yesterday protested on the streets of Benin City. Carrying placards with various inscriptions, the students, who marched to the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat in Benin City, spoke through the Vice President, Students’ Union

Government (SUG) of the school, Marris Osadolor and said the state government had transferred the principal of the state School of Midwifery to head their school, insisting that they wanted a nurse to head their school. Osadolor said: “The state government has asked that the principal of the School of Midwifery should become the principal of the School of Nursing and the students are saying no. The ministry has assured us that the School of Midwifery and the School of Nursing are going to get their accreditations very soon.

Now, if they are transferring the principal of the state School of Midwifery to the state School of Nursing, is the ministry closing down the School of Midwifery? That is what we want to know”. Osadolor added: “The ministry is telling us that our tutors are not qualified to occupy that position, whereas we have enough tutors who are qualified. They should send down somebody neutral to us and not the principal of the School of Midwifery becoming the principal of the School of Nursing, we don’t want that. What we want now

Christian, Muslim coalition flays bombings, abduction of girls HE conveners and memT bers of Inter-Faith Activity and Partnership for Peace (IFAPP), a national platform for interfaith dialogue among Muslim and Christian clerics and leaders, have expressed distress and alarm over the bomb explosion perpetrated by suspected Boko Haram sect on Monday, April 14, 2014, in Nyanya, which killed more than 72 people with over 250 others injured. In a statement issued on Monday and signed by the joint conveners, Mallam Nuruddeen Lemu and Rev. Fr. George Ehusani, IFAPP said the attack shows that the “Nigerian government is not doing enough to protect public places where large number of its ordinary citizens

routinely gather. “In addition to the tragedy of the frequent loss of innocent lives, the persistence of this high level of insecurity is likely to lead ordinary Nigerians to take matters into their own hands through acts of vigilance and jungle justice, which would further worsen the state of inter-group relations and tension in the land.” The group, in very strong terms, also condemned the attack on Government Girls’ Secondary Schools in Borno and Bauchi states in the past week. “These brazen attacks on the girl-child and enslavement of our daughters must stop. We find it inexplicable that citizens of this country can be

under such frequent attacks by gangs of terrorists freely moving about and sustaining their evil operations for hours un-intercepted by security forces.” It urged the Federal Government and its security agencies not only to investigate the deplorable incidents and make those responsible, especially their sponsors, face the full weight of the law, but also to take more effective measures to prevent them. It noted that the current situation in which a hugely disproportionate percentage of the security forces are deployed to protect the few member of the political and business elite while the security needs of the over-

whelming majority of Nigerians are left unattended to, is patently callous, unjust and ultimately a threat to the peace and safety of everyone, including the governing elite. IFAPP urged members of Boko Haram, their supporters, financiers and sympathisers to put an immediate stop to all attacks on defenceless and innocent Nigerians, as such actions cannot produce any positive outcome or lead to the resolution of any of their grievances. “We commiserate with the victims and their families, especially those who lost their loved ones. Our prayers are with the victims and their loved ones. May God heal, console and

Commotion as police battle robbers on Lafia-Makurdi highway From Joseph Wantu, Makurdi EOPLE living around P Daudu settlement in Guma Local Council Area of Benue State were yesterday gripped with fear and confusion when suspected armed robbers, who were on their way from Lafia in the neighbouring Nasarawa State, engaged the police in a gun-battle, trying to stop them from making their way into Makurdi. Eyewitnesses, particularly

tional Prayer Breakfast tomorrow at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos, by 7.00 a.m.

drivers plying the highway, told The Guardian that the ensuing confusion caused serious traffic hold-up on the Makurdi-Lafia road, leaving commuters to spend valuable hours before reaching their destinations. One of the drivers said commuters and drivers had thought the Fulani herdsmen were at it again when they saw the way people were running in confusion while gun-shots were being heard in the dis-

tance close to Daudu Town. It would be recalled that Daudu Town is one of the communities in Guma Local Council Area of Benue State ravaged by insurgents and herdsmen and is just trying to bounce back to life when this incident happened. However, the state Police Spokesman, SP Daniel Ezeala, debunked insinuations that the area was under attack of herdsmen or insurgents, explaining that it was the

armed robbers riding in a Volkswagen Golf car heading towards Makurdi from Lafia that some policemen on “stop and search” duty intercepted. Ezeala said that as soon as the police stopped the armed robbers, they jumped out of the car, started firing shots while escaping into the bush, thus causing commotion in the area. He said the police, however, swiftly apprehended two of them and recovered three AK-47 rifles from them.

is how to get our accreditation and not changing principals from school to school. Until the government restores our accreditation and gives us a new principal, the school will not open and that is the reason we are protesting. “They assured us that they were going to do something about our accreditation. We don’t have enough lecturers, no school bus as promised and we are demanding that these be restored. The few lecturers we have are just managing a lecturer to three to four courses; we lecture ourselves too and we don’t want that anymore,” the SUG said. All efforts by The Guardian to speak with the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Aihanuwa Eregie, were not successful as the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr. Peter Ugbodaga, was said to be on leave.

However, an official of the ministry, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Guardian: “The principal was sent there in acting capacity because their substantive principal retired few days ago and with time, a substantive principal will be appointed. But in any case, what is their interest about who becomes their principal? Their responsibility is to go and study in the school.” On the accreditation of the school, he said: “The non-accreditation does not affect the students already in the school. The school suspended admission of new intakes while those already there would complete their programmes. The state government, through the ministry, is already working to ensure that the school and that of midwifery get their accreditations back.”

8 | THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

PHOTONEWS

Bishop, Methodist Church of the Trinity Tinubu, Rt. Rev. Omotayo Oladapo Babalola (left); Prelate, Methodist Church Nigeria, His Eminence Dr. Samuel Chukwuemeka Uche and Proto-Presbyter, Methodist Church of the Trinity, Tinubu, Very Rev. Stephen Tunde Adegbite during Easter Sunday service in Lagos. PHOTO: GABRIEL IKHAHON

American film producer/special guest, Danny Glover (left); CEO, Africa Movie Academy Award (AMAA), Peace Anyiam-Osigwe; Director General, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, Sally Mbanefo and book presenter, Sunny Odogwu, during the public presentation of AMAA at 10 Coffee Table book, “From Dream to Reality: The AMAA Legacy” in Lagos.

Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Air Chief Marshal, Alex Badeh (left); Executive Director, Toyota (Nigeria) Limited, Kunle Ade-Ojo; Director of Procurement, Major General Tukur Buratai and Principal General Staff Officer to CDS, Air Commodore James Gwani during Ade-Ojo’s courtesy visit to the Chief of Defence Staff in Abuja. PHOTO: PHILLIP OJISUA

Former Vice-Chancellor, Bayero University Kano (BUK) Professor Dandatti Abdulkadir (left); Head, Personal and Business Banking, Standard Bank, West Africa, Lincoln Mali and Vice-Chancellor, BUK, Professor Abubakar Rasheed, at a public lecture presented by Mali at the institution in Kano.

Groom’s parents, Lara and Ladi Ogunneye (left); the couple, Nusirat and Oluwaseyi Ogunneye and bride’s parents, Lai Mohammed with his wife, Kudirat, during the wedding ceremony of Lai Mohammed’s daughter in Lagos. Hon. Dr. Olise Imegwu (right) receiving an award from President General of Aboh Ladies League, Chief Anabelle Nkonyenum Uniakpa (left). With them is the chairman of the occasion, Brig. Gen. Alabi, during the Conference, Health Fair and Award Ceremony 2014 at Aboh, Delta State. PHOTO: GBOGIDI

The management team of Redeemer’s University with the team from the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, after the latter’s presentation of accreditation certificate to the institution’s Department of Transport and Tourism.

Head, Liquefied Petroleum Gas, Sales and Operation, Oando Marketing Plc, Olabiyi Babafemi (left); Acting Matron, Lagos Cheshire Home, Feyiola Oforomeh; the Care Giver of the Home, Basirat Ogundare; home resident, Toyin Olowoporoku; Sales Business Development and Marketing Manager, Oando Marketing Plc, Taiwo Gaji and other residents of Lagos Cheshire Home at the presentation of O-GAS Cooking Gas to Cheshire Home in Mushin, Lagos. PHOTO: FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

WorldReport Russia ‘trying to pull Ukraine apart’, says Joe Biden S a Cold War-style conA frontation over the former Soviet republic ratcheted up,

Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge (second right), receives a gift from a young Aboriginal boy during a visit to Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre at Uluru in the Northern Territory in Australia yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

Cries of anguish as S’Korea ferry toll hits 113 or a moment there is silence in the tent where bodies Ffrom the ferry disaster are brought for identification. Then the anguished cries begin. The families who line up here to view the decomposing bodies have not known for nearly a week whether they should grieve or not. Now that they know, they sound like they’re being torn apart. “How do I live without you? How will your mother live without you?” a woman cried out yesterday. She was with a woman who emerged from the tent crying and fell into a chair where relatives tried to comfort her. One stood above her and cradled

her head in her hands, stroking her face. “Bring back my daughter!” the woman cried, calling out her child’s name in agony. A man rushed over, lifted her on his back and carried her away. The confirmed death toll from the April 16 disaster off South Korea’s southern coast reached 113 yesterday, officials said, and about 190 people were still missing. Four crew members accused of abandoning the ship and failing to protect the passengers were arrested, three days after warrants were issued for the captain and two other crew. The victims are overwhelmingly students of a single high school in Ansan, near Seoul.

More than three-quarters of the 323 students are dead or missing, while nearly twothirds of the other 153 people on board the ferry Sewol survived. The number of corpses recovered has risen sharply since the weekend, when divers battling strong currents and low visibility were finally able to enter the submerged vessel. Emergency task force spokesman, Koh Myung-seok said bodies have mostly been found on the third and fourth floors of the ferry, where many passengers seemed to have gathered. Many students were housed in cabins on the fourth floor, near the stern of the ship, Koh said.

S’Sudan rebels refute slaughter claim EBELS in South Sudan have R denied a United Nations (UN) report that they killed hundreds of civilians after taking control of the oil hub, Bentiu, last week. Brig Lul Ruai Koang told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) there was a security vacuum after government forces left the town. The UN said that civilians were killed along ethnic lines at a mosque, a church and a hospital. More than a million people have been forced from their homes since fighting broke out in December 2013. The conflict pits President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, against his former VicePresident, Riek Machar, from the Nuer community. Although both men have prominent supporters from various communities, there have been numerous reports of rebels killing Dinkas and the army targeting Nuers. But the killings in Bentiu are among the most shocking

since the conflict began. The UN’s top humanitarian official in South Sudan, Toby Lanzer, told the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme that he had seen “piles of [the bodies of] people who had been slaughtered” last week. He said they all appeared to be civilians. Non-Nuer South Sudanese and foreign nationals were singled out and killed, the UN Mission in South Sudan (Unmiss) said.

Some 200 civilians were reportedly killed at the town’s Kali-Ballee mosque where they had sought shelter. At the hospital, Nuer men, women and children, who hid rather than cheer the rebel forces as they entered the town, were also killed, it said. The statement also said that hate speech had been broadcast on local radio stations, urging men to rape women from certain communities.

Wade returns to Senegal former president, SturnENEGAL’S Abdoulaye Wade is due to rehome today after moving abroad following his election defeat, his party said, a move that comes as his son faces trial for corruption. Wade, who held power from 2000 to 2012, spent nearly two years in France after suffering a bitter defeat to current President, Macky Sall, his former prime minister turned arch-rival, in March 2012.

During Wade’s absence, the country’s new authorities have gone after his son Karim, accusing him of using corrupt means to amass a fortune when he was a so-called “super minister” in his father’s cabinet. Karim Wade, 45, whose wealth includes land in Dakar, a fleet of luxury cars and media and finance companies operating across Africa, is due to be tried in June.

United States Vice President, Joe Biden has accused Russia of “trying to pull Ukraine apart” and pledged Washington’s strong support for Kiev’s leaders. Biden was speaking in Kiev amid worrying signs on the ground that diplomacy was failing to calm the crisis. Pro-Kremlin rebels in Ukraine’s east overnight claimed control of the police station in the town of Kramatorsk, where they already occupied the town hall. Ukraine’s acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, said the new seizure “puts a cross through all the agreements reached in Geneva”. That referred to an accord signed last Thursday by Ukraine, Russia, the United States and Europe designed to de-escalate the volatile situation and prevent it spiralling into civil war, or worse. But the pro-Moscow separatists — who Kiev and Washington say are backed by Russian special forces — are ignoring the accord’s demands that they disarm and cease occupying buildings in a string of eastern towns. Russia says Kiev’s leaders — whom it regards as illegitimate — are to blame for the collapse of the accord. It says ultra-nationalists involved in months of Kiev

protests that ousted proKremlin president Viktor Yanukovych in February killed rebels in an attack Sunday near the eastern town of Slavyansk. A funeral for the militants was held yesterday. Bells rung loudly from Slavyansk’s Orthodox church and women wept as three coffins were carried out. Tens of thousands of Russian troops are massed on Ukraine’s eastern border in what NATO believes is a state of readiness to invade. The United States and NATO have responded by boosting their own forces in eastern Europe. Biden, after meeting Ukraine’s leaders in Kiev,

called on Russia to pull back those forces, and to reverse its annexation last month of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula. “We in the United States stand with you and the Ukrainian people,” Biden said in a joint news conference with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. Russia, Biden said, faces “more costs and greater isolation” if it keeps fuelling separatist unrest in Ukraine. “There are some who are trying to pull Ukraine apart,” he said. Washington has threatened to impose more sanctions on Moscow, on top of travel bans and asset freezes already applied to members of President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.

African troops capture LRA rebel commander FRICAN troops captured a A junior commander with the Lord’s Resistance Army and rescued 10 people, mostly children, abducted by the rebels, Uganda’s military said yesterday, the latest blow against the rebel group in an international hunt for its fugitive leaders. The commander, a rebel lieutenant known as Charles Okello, was seized after a firefight in Central African Republic, where Uganda-led African Union troops are hunting down the rebels in

vast jungle, said Ugandan military spokesman, Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda. Up to 10 civilians, seven of them children, were rescued from the rebels, he said. African troops are being assisted by United States military advisers in the search for LRA leaders. Last month the U.S. deployed more forces to assist in the hunt for warlord Joseph Kony and other rebel commanders, more than doubling the number of American forces on the ground to 250.

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Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Politics THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE DEBATE

‘We need six vice presidents for the zones’ The National Conference is designed to last for three months. Having used one full month to discuss President Jonathan’s inauguration speech, the committees are expected to go into sitting this week. But while delegates still bicker on the inappropriateness of their placement on the committees, Dr. Nelson Uwaga, a delegate, who is the President of Nigeria Institute of Management (NIM), holds that if members are serious, they can complete their assignments within the stipulated timeframe. He spoke to Terhemba Dakaand Karls Tsokar on this and other issues. • Delegates should be conscious of confab timeframe HAT is your opinion on the confab commitW tees and the disenchantment that trailed their composition? When the argument was going on, I didn’t think it was necessary because before you were invited by the federal government to join this national conference, it is people who were expected to have knowledge in the society — knowledge that covers every sphere of life; that is what makes me a manager. So, it doesn’t really matter. As one delegate pointed out, no matter the committee you find yourself, it’s just a matter of acclimatising, getting information. We know what the solutions are; you don’t have to go back to school to understand. It’s difficult for the conference to be able to put everybody in the right committee and all that. So, wherever you find yourself, opinion would be heard. Like in NIM, we have a position paper on most of the issues, which we think we submit and our opinion would be heard even if we were not in the committees. I’m in Foreign Affairs and Diaspora. So, I think it doesn’t matter where you are. Wherever you want to make a presentation, you can go there and do so because if we continue to do these adjustments, we would not go anywhere. It is as if we are not serious with the way things have been going. I think we need to go into committees. Government is spending so much to put us together and all we do is wrangling; it is not right. We are cheating the nation that brought us together, and I think we need to move on. Do you agree that the committees are too many; they would have been compressed? I totally agree that it should have been so. It was Dr. Agbakoba who made that suggestion: that we address fundamental issues. If you read the president’s speech, there are fundamental issues, which probably had not gone beyond four, five committees. Those are the things because, if we are able to address the issue of political restructuring, economic restructuring of the country, that can open up the economy so that people can express themselves; devolving power from the centre to the federating units, and then the contentious issue of what makes up the federating units. But however you look at it, it’s difficult to distribute these committees within the short time that the conference secretariat had; it would be difficult to be able to put everybody in the right committee that is required; so you might find us really arguing throughout. I think we need to accept it as it. Already, we have lost almost one month and go into deliberations at the committee level. The NIM has positions, and we are making our positions in a booklet to distribute to the different committees. We will go to the committee that is handling issues that we have concerns and give it our position paper or even asked to be given a day to address such a committee. We want to make sure that there is equity and fair play that can open up the economy and people would be able to express themselves. Some of the committees that have been set up have not enough time because some of them are highly technical committees and there might not be enough time to address issues properly. However, government has agencies that are looking into some of these issues because every inch of the soil in this country has one mineral or the other. But right now, all we do is just feasting on the mono-product, oil, because it is being cooked, baked and everybody just come to share from it. How do we develop these other solid minerals that are there begging for attention? Right now, we hear the Chinese and Indians have flooded the place and there is illegal mining going on. If

Uwaga we can do illegal mining, why can’t we do legitimate one? I think it’s just a case where people would be ready to work, open up the economy and let the federating units express themselves by way of working and paying taxes to the centre to maintain some general services like security, currency. We can do it; we have done it before the incursion of the military in 1966. HOW do you assess the failure of the two systems of government and the advocacy for an untested structure? My professional body has gone a step further that if the British parliamentary system failed, as they are claiming, though I don’t agree that it failed us; of course, the presidential system is simply not good for this country; it is so costly to maintain. The cost of governance is so high and it puts too much power on the president and it is like once a president comes from one geopolitical setting, it means that ‘everybody in his area has to come,’ as it is said in the local parlance, ‘and chop.’ So, political patronage takes preeminence and you find lazy people, who did not work for the money, line their pockets with too much money at the detriment of the majority. NIM has gone a step further to propose a collegiate system of government, which really makes a lot of sense. We are so many in this country; presently, we are in six regions or zones. We say for the political parties, they can raise six presidential candidates from each of the zones that would vie for elections and out of the six, the

person that would win from the zone would form a collegiate kind of presidency, where one person would be the president and the others would be vice presidents. And after one year, the next person from the other zone takes over, and it would revolve like that so that in those six years, the six zones would have tested power, if that were the issue. But then, what we do know is that once the excessive power and wealth that is at the centre — you know in actual fact we are practising a unitary system — once you reduce that power, the attraction would not be there for people to begin to kill, insult and all that just to grab power. On the possibility that the constitution is not amended to make room for the confab to issue a referendum, what happens to your resolutions? I want to believe strongly that the National Assembly would create that provision. Everybody is affected by what is going on in Nigeria. Even though some at the National Assembly would try to — there might be some kind of gang-up to make it difficult — but 2015 is staring us in the face. So, you might find a situation where if you frustrate the recommendations of the conference, it can be used as a political weapon against you. That is what we think. But because everybody is so much affected, take insecurity, for instance, you and I don’t even know what will happen tomorrow. Thus, it would be foolhardy for anybody in the NASS

The federal government invited us to join the conference. At the Nigeria Institute of Management, we talk about management best practices. The core problem of Nigeria, like anywhere in the world, is about managing the human and material resources that God has blessed us with. So, we interface between everything that you would talk about at the conference, as there is an element of good management there

to try to frustrate it. That’s not to say that some people won’t try, but if you watch the proceedings at the national conference, you find that some people are simply still in their old ways; if they find a way, they can scatter it; they talk in a way that is rude and all that. But I very strongly believe that because NASS is made up of politicians, they would be reluctant to expose themselves to frustrating the recommendations from the conference. They would make it work, and appear to Nigerians that they are good people so that they can win elections. You people were looking for extension of time; do you think it is possible? If we are serious, I don’t think we will be asking for extension of time. But if the way we have gone in the last one month is anything to go by, we may not have enough time to finish. Don’t forget, the committee stage now is crucial, but more crucial is the plenary when we eventually assemble. With what we are seeing now, you can imagine what will happen there! That is really where the Chairman and his team will need all the dexterity to manage the entire process. On the issue of insecurity, what will you suggest should be the right course of action? For everything we are talking about, what comes topmost is security; if it is not there, you cannot talk about restructuring and all that. So, we need to look at it. In countries where you have security concerns, it is a joint venture between the security agencies and the public. That is why if you go to an environment that is conscious, some one would just alert the police that a stranger is in the vicinity. Unless you give the operatives information, they are not magicians. That is one. Two, we don’t have enough security personnel to man this country. Security is big business, but in Nigeria, half of the policemen are attached to the executives and the big shots. The governor would have 30 security men attached to him; his deputy has as much; the wives, the commissioners, and others all have in their houses. So, they (security) are just not enough to solve the problem. What exactly is the agenda of the NIM at the conference? The federal government invited us to join the conference. At the Nigeria Institute of Management, we talk about management best practices. The core problem of Nigeria, like anywhere in the world, is about managing the human and material resources that God has blessed us with. So, we interface between everything that you would talk about at the conference, as there is an element of good management there. For NIM, it is to tell Nigerians that if the value we share as good managers — training young ones and even civil servants in managing best practices — if you follow the values of equity, fair play, responsibility and so many other things we talk about, we will not need to fight. It would even get to a point where we do the right thing and every right thing would follow suit. If the country accepts those values as our grundnorm, society would not even accept corruption and corrupt practices looking at the economy. If, for instance, somebody is heading an office and loot and have to buy a very big vehicle that we know his salary cannot afford and the society frowns at it, the person can’t enjoy it. But in Nigeria, no matter what you do, you flaunt it and maybe your people might give you a chieftaincy title and the church would make you an Elder; these are the main things. But we know that it (debate) would be more of ethnic fight and all that, but we would make the conference to understand that it is more of managing the human and material resources that this country has.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

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12 | Wednesday, April 23, 2014

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Conscience Nurtured by Truth

FOUNDER: ALEX U. IBRU (1945 – 2011) Conscience is an open wound; only truth can heal it. Uthman dan Fodio 1754-1816

Editorial Impunity of the high and mighty HAT officers of the Nigeria Police and other security operatives could be T illegally deployed and used wantonly by privileged Nigerians (especially politicians and government contractors) to harass and assault other citizens, or address personal grievances reflects the level of impunity in the land. It also exposes the unprofessionalism and administrative decadence in the law enforcement and security circles. Recently, insalubrious events brought this to public focus. Prominent among them was an Abuja High Court award of N5 million exemplary damages against the Inspector-General of Police for human rights abuse of one Bonny Okonkwo, a businessman and critic of Emeka Offor, a chieftain of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Okonkwo was said to have been arrested on July 17, 2013 at his Lagos residence by a team of policemen and illegally detained for 37 days. The police, it was gathered, charged Okonkwo with writing an alleged defamatory article against Offor on a website. Similarly, officers of the Abia State Police Command, supposedly acting on the orders of the governor of the state, Theodore Orji, stormed the Surulere, Lagos residence of The Sun newspaper’s Ebere Wabara, arrested him, had him handcuffed and driven to the state capital, Umuahia. The state government was later to charge Wabara with the obnoxious and outdated law of sedition. In Lagos, recently, the Governor of the state, Babatunde Fashola, reported a case of lawlessness and intimidation carried out by the newly appointed Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro. Obanikoro purportedly caused Federal Government reclamation signposts to be erected on some large expanse of land, which the Lagos State had earmarked for the development of affordable houses for low and middle class workers in the state. He was even alleged to have led soldiers to halt the construction of the flats in the Ilubinrin Housing Scheme on Lagos Island. The aforementioned are, of course, not the only persons involved in this valorisation of impunity. On the political plain, for instance, a deeper strain of this impunity abounds in the spectacle of politicians who, though standing trial, are still contesting for various positions in forthcoming elections. Although some of them might have been cleared by the court of law, the court of public opinion has not cleared them. In concord with the dictates of right reason and good conscience, this barefaced debasement of the law and law enforcement agencies by persons, who by association with democratic rule, should be ambassadors of civil decorum, respect for the rights of persons and the rule of law, deserves condemnation. If powerful individuals who are government contractors would turn the police into a tool to fan their egos, it is at least the duty of the Orjis and Obanikoros of this country, who are government officials and ought to know better, to negate this anomaly by their stately comportment. What mandate as a junior minister in the defence ministry would even empower Obanikoro to dabble into land reclamation matters when there is a sitting Minister of Works and Housing? This action is belittling and contemptible; it is an abuse of office and it is morally wrong. However, in all this, it is the security operatives, most especially the Nigeria Police, that should be held morally accountable for this inveterate display of impunity, by cheaply availing itself to the self-serving and unpatriotic interests of politicians and government cronies. It is disheartening that despite the state of insecurity in the country, the police, in concert with acclaimed chieftains of the ruling class, would visit such lawlessness on an already embattled polity. This unholy union between security operatives and the privileged in society cuts across party loyalty, ethnic affiliation, or religious leaning. Anyone who is privileged to be associated with a high ranking police officer or military personnel may likely arrogate onto himself the powers of life and death, courtesy of the dubious efficiency of the security forces. There is nowhere in the Nigeria Police Act that empowers it to be turned into illegal instruments of brutality and aggression to be employed by the high and mighty against perceived offenders. The Nigeria Police is not a private militia of private individuals. It is a security service to the state, whose primary purpose is to maintain law and order, and ensure security of lives and property of all citizens. The police and other security agencies, including the armed forces must return to their primary principles and practice and resist all attempts to be used by privileged individuals to settle personal scores.

LETTERS

God bless Hon. Avine Agom IR: Apart from the governSgious ment of Benue State, relibodies and some civil

dispute prevention and resolution that would be handling anything that has to do societies who have been work- with disagreement or misuning hard towards assisting the derstanding of two or more victims of the Fulani invaders, ethnic groups instead of Avine Agbom representing Makurdi North in Benue State House of Assembly is another person to recognised for his IR: We are still finding it difefforts in assisting the affected ficult to understand the people during the massacre of gruesome murder of about Tiv people. Agom has been spending his 200 villagers who were personal money to buy relieve reportedly holding meeting materials such as rice, clothes, to improve security in their beds and even providing bet- domain and thus checkmate ter accommodation for the the activities of armed bandits surviving victims to help giving them sleepless nights. Accusing fingers are being them cope with their present pointed at some cattle condition. When discussing with anoth- rustlers while some attriber honourable, efforts made uted the mayhem to the handso far by Agom towards assist- work of some armed robbers. ing the people affected by the The unfortunate incidence crisis, he told me that what reportedly moved the goverAgom is doing is campaign nor of the state to tears. Why? towards 2015 general elec- This governor in an effort to maintain law and order has tions. Thereafter, I asked him what procured some arms and has he done for the people ammunition to counter the who voted him as a councilor? activities of these undesirable The young councilor clearly elements that have been tertold me not until he has recov- rorising his state. Unfortunately, the Federal ered the money he spent during his campaign before he Government prevented him would think of what to do for from implementing his his people. I was surprised. Is scheme even though the govthat what politics is supposed ernor claimed that he had to be? What if you cannot received clearance from the Force Headquarters (FHQ) in recover your expenditures? However, if having the inter- Abuja before the importation est of the people at heart, (of the arms and ammunithereby rendering humani- tion) so that he could effectarian services to them is a tively protect lives and propcampaign for 2015 elections, erties of residents in Zamfara. then I urge Agbom to contin- This issue has brought to the ue with his campaign because front burner again the agitation or the desirability of state it is beneficial. Meanwhile, government police to complement the should think of a ministry of efforts of the federal or the

always setting committee of inquiries to look into incessant disagreements and misunderstandings among the people. • Awunah Terwase, Mpape, Abuja.

Zamfara: One massacre too many

Nigeria Police. In the light of the above unfortunate massacre coupled with some internal security challenges being witnessed in most of the states in the northern part of the country (and especially in Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Kano, Benue, Plateau, Bauchi and Nasarawa), there may be need to revisit this proposal for State Police. Modalities can then be put in place to ensure that some state governors as chief executives of their respective states do not abuse this provision and use it to harass or molest some perceived enemies or members of the opposition. However, there is the need to ensure that we do not throw away the baby with the bath water. Our National Assembly members should look at this proposal again with a view to improve the internal security of nation since the personnel of the proposed state police will know the terrain better than federal police men from other parts of the country. The ongoing National Conference can also discuss this issue of state police after a section of the members must have woken up from their sleeping sessions. • Gbemiga Olakunle, JP. General Secretary, National Prayer Movement,

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Opinion Paradoxes of rich country, poor people By Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka IGERIA, by the recent rebasing of its GDP, N emerged the richest country in Africa. This is really not too surprising given what most analysts know about the rapid growth of the services sector over the last decade plus. Ordinarily, Nigeria should not be a poor country, so on the strength of this news, there should not be much drum beating because tempering the news of a growing wealth status, we are now caught in a paradox of poverty-prosperity conundrum. Our country has a GDP of US$ 510 billion (2014) but a GDP/Capita of USD 2700, less than half that of South Africa with a total GDP of USD 370. While Nigeria has leapfrogged into the number twenty-six richest country, it ranks 153rd out of 187 in the United Nations Human Development Index. Other indices show consistent ranking of Nigeria as a country rich in material and human resources but perversely underperforming in translating the entrepreneurial energy of its people, the abundant resources of oil, gas, gold, coal and other minerals into tangible wellbeing for its people. The Social Progress Index (SPI) is a recent metrics, which rates 132 countries on more than 50 indicators, including health, sanitation, shelter and personal safety, access to information, sustainability, tolerance and inclusion and access to education. In the 2014 SPI Ghana with a similar GDP per capita as Nigeria ranks 96th where Nigeria is 123rd meaning it outperforms our country on social progress. In effect, economic success alone should not be seen as the end of development because social conditions provide a more accurate measure of the “wealth of nations”. In my book with the title Rich Country Poor People due to be released in the middle of May 2014, I employ the UNDP Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) to analyse Nigeria’s socioeconomic conditions with fairly identical outcomes showing that high rates of GDP growth (Nigeria has averaged five to eight per cent) does not automatically translate to improve-

ment in human wellbeing. Our country should boast very high global living standards but it is shackled by poor living standards. All these, as a senate leader remarked recently, have subjected the nation to ridicule. Between 1980 and 1996, Nigeria’s poverty level rose from 28 to 66 per cent; 17.7 million people lived in poverty in 1980, the population living on less than $1.40 a day rose to 67.1 million by 1996 and remain same currently. Poverty and inequality have worsened and, while relatively less well-endowed countries are lifting large populations out of poverty. In some regions of our country, poverty rates are as high as 80 per cent. The problem is not so much that development has failed as that it was not really on the agenda in the first place. The agenda, which will promote the greater good of the greatest number has not always been leadership priority. The nature of perverse politics is proved so poignantly by the rising poverty far above levels of ten years earlier and significantly by the trend of seemingly unbridgeable gap between the rich and the poor. Uneven development is a direct result of the inequality of opportunities experienced by large swathes of Nigerians and the mistrust that has developed between leaders and followers, between the elite and the poor. Also, the erosion of social norms and the weakness of political and economic institutions that regulate human behaviour, which hitherto promote equality have also led to widened inequality and poverty. We need to revisit the development imperative that makes a great nation. First we must recognise that inequality is a drag on growth and development. There is a strong relationship between inequality and slow growth in poor countries and, as shown in my book, a strong association between opportunity equality and human well-being reflected in better health and long life. In addition, a poor family does not bear the burden of poverty alone, the children suffer relative multiple deprivations and so do their

offspring. Clearly, a country featuring high degrees of inequality tends to grow more slowly and it will take a longer time to achieve desired development. Inequality is growth inhibiting – and inclusive growth is what our country requires the most. The effect of inequality on growth can be seen as a rough indicator of inequality of opportunity and limited social mobility in a particular setting, a phenomenon sometimes also referred to as “destructive inequality” Again, inequality matters because a country such as Nigeria is not developed and by the very nature of Nigeria being a developing country, it is characterised by relatively weak markets and comparatively less effective governments when it comes to compensating for these weaknesses through public policy. The weakest link in societies, as with most systems, tends to act as a rate-determinant for the rest of that society – and developing countries are dominated by low value-adding, informal activities and lowskilled workforces that are increasingly made up of unemployed youths. I, therefore, agree with scholars who have argued that inequality is inefficient from an economic perspective; the poverty of social development indicators such as widespread illiteracy, malnutrition, lack of health facilities and medical networks is a barrier to the full realisation of Nigeria’s potential. How should we begin to redress the situation? We need to take serious the widely debated point that underdevelopment and Inequality stem from bad governance, which in turn breeds mistrust. There is a wide and complex relationship between political governance, public service and policy processes but at the heart of it all is the quality of political leadership. Without the explicit support of the political leadership, the state is rudderless. As an African saying goes, “the fish starts to rot from the head”. The head controls all the organs of the body as the political leadership affects the rest of the government, so if there is a problem with the head, it eventually affects the remaining part

of the body. The average Nigerian has grown weary of the leadership, the people are cynical of the government and prone to disbelieve it. This book argues that we must all take responsibility and that the present darkness has a long history and cannot be ascribed only to one or current government. It seems long ago now but in the 1980s we had a board at the Ajaokuta Steel Company. Whenever they held a board meeting, the company for weeks had to endure shortage of petty cash because our esteemed board members will mop up every available fund! They carry away the cars that were supposed to be used by them temporarily never to be seen again. These privileged individuals allocated the construction of staff houses to themselves but once they collect “mobilisation fees” the houses were promptly abandoned. Not surprising, the mistrust of governments developed from a long history of broken promises, dreams unfulfilled and unrealised potentials, particularly in the face of glaring growing wealth that is attended by progressive and grinding poverty. The most invidious challenge of leadership is the inherent mistrust of anything government due to the loss of faith in the leadership. There is a widely held view that our governments (federal, state and local with few exceptions) are unaccountable, corrupt, repressive and obstructive to the smooth functioning of markets and the economy. Truth be told, it is difficult to ignore this view, given the available economic indices. This is where must start, to build trust and keeping promises by delivering the development agenda of wiping away mass poverty, closing the inequality gap and reducing mass unemployment that is threatening to tear the country apart. We owe it a duty to our generation, our children and to Africa to show that contrary to popularly held and scary belief, we are not a wasted generation. • Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, a professor, is the most senior director (Monitoring & Research Division UNHABITAT) and Nigerian at the UN headquarters in Nairobi.

Ekiti 2014: Judgment, integrity at stake By Vincent Bamigboye “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” (Edmund Burke; 1729 - 1797 Irish PoliticalPhilosopher and Statesman) AY back in 1979, after the nightmarish “general elections” that brought Alhaji Shehu Shagari to power, one resolved never to participate in Nigerian politics. The 1979 elections supervised by General Olusegun Obasanjo were massively rigged. Hence, one was determined to only just listen to the various arguments, or lack of them, and vote according to one’s conscience in the hope that the master riggers would obey the simple law of competition, which states that “you lose some, you win some”. It is no secret that the governorship election in Ekiti State takes place on June 21, 2014. One is hoping and praying for a clean contest devoid of riots, destruction of lives and properties that have characterised previous elections in Nigeria. Governor John Kayode Fayemi has put himself up for re-election on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC). His erstwhile party member and friend, Opeyemi Bamidele is flying the flag for Labour Party while, to one’s consternation and embarrassment as an Ekitiman, Ayodele Fayose has picked up the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) nomination. The nomination of Fayose by the PDP was enough to pull one out of “siddonlook”, compelling one to come off the fence and make one’s feelings known about the political situation in Ekiti State. The outcome of the election has implications for how the next four years would play out in the lives of the wonderful people of Ekiti State. Fayose is not a new face in Ekiti politics. He “defeated” the incumbent Governor, Niyi Adebayo in the 2003 elections supervised by erstwhile President Olusegun Obasanjo to become governor. What transpired between his inauguration and eventual removal by his own PDP-dominated Ekiti House of Assembly are the stuffs nightmares are made of. The beautiful land of Ekiti witnessed the worst one can ever imagine in thug-

gery and violence. A few good Ekitimen lost their lives in suspicious circumstances. Dr. Daramola from Ijan-Eliti, a World Bank Consultant, Mr. Omojola of Ifaki-Ekiti, Mr. Fasubaa of Ado-Ekiti and several others were killed and nobody had answered for the crimes till date. In Fayose’s regime, Ekiti State witnessed the worst financial profligacy ever. One remembers him, sitting on the bonnet of a car in Ijigbo Street, distributing money to hapless people in utter disregard of sensible financial management. Up till today, there are cases in the Courts of Law regarding stealing and financial mismanagement during his tenure. These cases have been deliberately delayed, taking advantage of the loopholes in the Nigerian legal system. One cannot fail to mention the inferior amenities provided under his regime. All the roads constructed under Fayose failed within a short period of time; while the so-called Poultry Project, widely derided by the ultimate Poultry Farmer in the person of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, served as conduit pipe for unbridled stealing of public funds. These, and many more, were some of the excesses of Fayose known to all and sundry. This same Fayose wants the Ekiti people to believe that he is a changed man and deserves a second time in office. The happenings since he declared his candidature have not supported the image of a changed man. If anything, the proverbial leopard cannot change its skin. The PDP field, where Fayose emerged, was filled with very competent hands, which include the former Chief Executive of WEMA Bank, Bisi Omoyeni, Adedayo Adeyeye, and Gbenga Aluko etc. Thus one submits here that it the highest level of insensitivity and lack of good judgment for the PDP to not only allow Fayose to contest the elections, not to talk of him emerging as candidate. Fayemi came into office via the electoral tribunal, having had to fight for his mandate. He had approached governance with an eight-point agenda that address various developmental parameters that are important in the lives of Ekiti people. His Operation Renovation of All Schools has seen the dilapidated schools’ structure either demolished and rebuilt or completely renovated, laptops have been distributed to school

kids, a lot of township and connecting roads have been constructed and reconstructed, the healthcare programme has received a facelift, the old Textile Mill has been converted to Oodua Skill Acquisition Centre while a lot have been achieved through tourism especially with complete overhaul of the Ikogosi Warm Spring Project. Agriculture is once again receiving necessary attention while the Freedom of Information (FoI) has been domesticated in Ekiti State. Unfortunately the paucity of funds has adversely affected the full implementation of the programmes. Most importantly, the stealing, poor accountability and financial recklessness that characterised Fayose’s era have been stamped upon. The Fayemi administration has hardly been tarnished with allegations of corruption and financial recklessness. Until the kick-off of electioneering campaigns, Ekiti State has been exceptionally peaceful. This, however, is not to say that Governor Kayode Fayemi is a saint He has made his own share of mistakes, which includes his overzealousness to get things done rather too quickly. The controversy surrounding the localisation of the Federal University at Oye-Ekiti was an unnecessary distraction. One is sceptical about the sustainability of his Social Security Scheme particularly that Ekiti State depends on handouts from the Federal Government. Dr. Kayode Fayemi undoubtedly deserves re-election in order to continue with the good work he has been doing. His rival, Fayose suffers from deficits in integrity on nearly all fronts. His antecedents do not recommend him to the Ekiti electorate. In fact, the Ekiti people could be derided as lacking in integrity if he should be their next governor. It speaks volumes that a Senator, a PDP stalwart and governorship aspirant, has declared his preference for Dr. Fayemi over and above his own party’s candidate in the person of Fayose. The June gubernatorial election will be a judgement about the characters of the political pugilists as well as those of the Ekiti voters themselves. • Bamigboye is a consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, UK.

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14 Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Opinion Less than monkeys (2) By Obu Udeozo Continued from yesterday E do not need to miss this interesting northern city; Biu a major town in Borno State. You are face to face at last with the monster, the tormentor and conqueror of the Nigerian people: the black nylon bag. As if in secret wedding with the natives; black nylon bags, like sacred turtles in pagan societies, snooze without concern upon the cityscape. Waste and litter, like deliberate decorations plaque and plaster every face of earth in that town. The great woe and tragedy is that black nylon bags now broadcast the blindness of human inhabitants south of the Sahara desert. Yet these giants of the continent, have no clue that geological estimates grant undisturbed nylon bags nearly a life span of between 30 - 50 years before they degrade or decompose - in nature. Still we permit these vermin to compete for accommodation with our crops, to block our drainages and sources of water supply. Like scorpions and snakes fired from the pit of hell; Nigerians endure the wanton prosperity of black polythene bags across our communities. And absent mindedly, our citizens watch helplessly and wait for accidental fire or flood to taxi their slag, ditch-water, and garbage - one arms length or stone-throw away from their doorsteps. Perhaps because the city planners did not countenance their biological truth; the caste retaliates against that megacity’s splendour. Maiguards, cooks, gardeners and the homeless, gleefully haul ‘mobile toilets’ again in black nylon bags unto any spaces and tarmacs in Abuja till date! Abuja, a fresh city accelerating towards senescence and gerontocracy. Overcrowding and conurbation is compelling Abuja to pre-mature ageing! So what you witness across the 36 states of the federation are the reversal of sanity, decency, wisdom and elementary common sense. So called human beings, with creepy containers, lay ambush till twilight to discharge filth, quagmire, muk, rotten newsprint, pigs swill, dross, sluttishness, and the constant companion of sprinkled faeces in our state capitals and towns across Nigeria. Like civilised nations, instead of flowers and gardens, eyesore, effluence, and oozing smell salute us from different sectors of our society. Ugliness, dirt and decay molest and embrace us across this country - on a daily basis; like the millennial vomit of demons.

We have become victims of self-pity, despair and self-immolation. The failure of public decency has imposed a peculiar violence upon us in Nigeria. And violence is not merely a metallic event. Violence is not limited to machetes, guns, bombs and acid attacks. Violence is when as a result of the failure of public common sense; citizens of a nation are compelled to witness and endure savagery which they will otherwise not encounter or tolerate. We glide past Nigeria’s arrogant and boastful refuse dumps at varying degrees of decomposition - everyday. And we wonder where to hide or hang our nostrils and vital organs from their ferocious assaults. Mrs. Bisi Adewale, says, “I fear for this little child each day I bring her to this shop because this place is not good for her. I can close my nose with handkerchief or hold my breath for some time, but she breathes the air without any precaution. Their activities here in Olusosun Market in Lagos State, constitute a health risk”. As reported by Tell Magazine, “several studies have shown that refuse dumps impact negatively on the environment. The place harbours flies, fleas, mosquitoes, rats and other vectors which could cause several diseases such as Lassa fever, malaria, filariasis and yellow fever among others. Already, a recent report reveals that malaria, diarrhea, intestinal worms and upper respiratory tract infections are now prevalent in communities around dump sites.” Daily, we are dehumanised in this country by this pathetic oversight, ignorance, strange laziness or simple bestiality to confront the elementary requirements of living organisms worldwide. Any society or species that cannot organise the proper disposal of their biological residue, have forfeited the barest definition of human beings. Continuing, the Tell issue states: “Apart from the contamination of soil and agricultural land by other elements, lead alone has a poisoning effect. Environmentalists say that the toxicity of lead alone could lead to encephalopathy, renal and hematological problems. The World Health Organisation, WHO, had confirmed the effects of lead intake to include abortion, infant mortality, malformation of foetus, genetic mutilation, retarded growth, intoxication, depression of respiration and chromosomal aberrations. Improperly managed solid waste emits offensive odour, thus polluting the air and favour the breeding of rodents, mosquitoes and harmful reptiles. “

With this deluge of evidence before us, it is therefore ridiculous and tantamount to criminal libel to drag the noble names of monkeys into this unconscionable squalor. We can surmise that no people in our planet’s history advertize such brazen and willful surrender of the barest minimum of elementary hygiene. Yet Nigeria is replete with elementary schools, colleges and universities where health science, and ethics are taught. Indeed, we have Federal and State authorities, like Executive Governors, Senators, Royal Fathers, Clergy men and women, The Police, The Customs and Immigration Services, Civil Defence Corps, and The Nigeria Armed Forces. But instead of being messiahs, we are stranded witnesses to the display of negative authority across the land. Otherwise, how can you explain that after nearly a hundred years of our existence as a nation; we are yet to summon the outrage and will power to say enough- and clean up our environment on a peaceful, predictable, respectable and sincere platform. Do we really have a head? Or to paraphrase Rochas Okorocha, is the error in the state of our heads? Do they have shame? Do they have ears? Do they fear God? A Yoruba proverb says that a head without ears is just a mere rubber ball! If you ever strongly raise objections over the unhygienic ways of our public domains, or even broach to a market woman the need to tidy her small corner of petite trading; she will invoke the usual refrain: government. Therefore Motor Park Communities across Nigeria are waiting for Government. Onitsha Market Traders are waiting for Government. Abaji Vegetable Market Sellers in Abuja, are waiting for Government. Aba Manufacturers Association are waiting for government. Residents in Akpata Street, Jos, Plateau State, in Biu, Maiduguri, Warri, Kano, Kafanchan, Kaduna, Sokoto, Oyo, Ogun, Uyo, and Abakaliki to name a few: all Nigerians like Samuel Beckket’s Godot, are waiting for The Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to send emissaries and dedicated funds to move the refuse at their door step - one arm’s length and one stone throw away from their sight! And when that doesn’t quite happen, as it hasn’t happened; Nigerians retire to the benevolence and mercy of natural agencies to come to their rescue. Nigerians secretly pray for rains, flood and fire; to help them over the crippling refuse

dumps across their landscape. When the former American Secretary of State, General Collin Powell truthfully declared that we have failed to even maintain the barest legacy from our colonial culture, ‘they’ forced the gentle army officer to a public retraction of an unassailable fact. But have they changed? Can Nigerians ever, ever, change? Much redemptive parallels over this topic exist in Aristophanes’ The Frogs. It was said that after 406 BC the three supreme masters of tragedy were gone, leaving none to fill their place, or even approach it for nearly two thousand years. Syllogistically, with the ascendancy of refuse dumps and their wanton violence upon our souls and spirits; like the Greeks of that era mourning Euripides, Sophocles and Aeschylus; shall Nigerians now begin calling on Murtala Mohammed, Tunde Idiagbon or Chukwuma Nzeogwu to resolve the impasse? For indeed it was said: “Search as you will, you’ll find no poet now With grit in him to wake a word of power …” Who shall clear our refuse dumps for us? When will the yoke of grime, defilement, sewerage, putrescence, and bilge-water be removed from our communal necks? Concerning spiritual blindness, our Lord Jesus Christ told the Pharisees: If you were blind, you will not be guilty of sin; but now you claim you can see, your guilt remains …. John 9:41 And should we be accused of scoring provocative ‘own goals’ by calling our distinguished compatriots “Less than Monkeys”; the ideal challenge henceforth is to prove our case with concrete policies, police, and permanent measures, Not just rhetoric, more speeches, more committees and more white papers… Finally, though Xanthias was actually carrying a heavy baggage from which he was suffocating and complaining about; Dionysus had the wit to reply him thus: “You are not carrying things. They are carrying you!” If indeed we are not less than monkeys, may we use the weeks ahead to prove the status of homo sapiens to the entire world. Abi? Madu ono kwa ebe a? Onye nwe akwa ewu na taa? How can we call ourselves human beings and permit the outrageous despotism of refuse dumps to so willfully violate our communal spirits across Nigeria on an hourly basis? Concluded. • Udeozo is of the University of Jos, Plateau State.

As corruption, insecurity stifle Africa’s growth By Emmanuel Onwubiko T exactly 6 a.m. on Monday morning, I was rudely awaken by A the sad breaking news of a bomb explosion in Nyanya, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory which reportedly resulted in scores of fatalities made up mostly of the struggling masses who had just woken up from their ramshackle huts in distant villages to proceed to Abuja in search of what to eat. For the benefit of those unaware of how Abuja has become the perfect scenario of class segregated society I will offer the following explanation: The developed and advanced segments of the Federal Capital Territory made up mostly of the Abuja Municipal Area Council are occupied by mostly few people who can afford the crazy rents and other service charges that confront the occupants on daily basis. An average of a room, self contained apartment, in a place like Maitama (the most sophisticated residential area for the rich elite) goes for as huge as N1 million and prospective tenants are compelled to pay for two years. The same extortion goes on proportionately in places like Asokoro, Wuse two, Garki and Gwarimpa estate although the cost varies progressively. These crazy cost of accommodation has made it imperative that over 75 per cent of the peasants and low level civil servants including teachers who work in the government offices to migrate to far distant villages in Nasarawa and Niger states to stay in fairly affordable but poorly developed houses. This is the category of persons that were mostly bombed out of existence in the early Monday morning (April 14th 2014) bomb attack by suspected armed insurgents as these poor class of persons were struggling to gain their way to the few available rickety buses provided for commercial services by the grossly incompetent officials of the Federal Capital Development Authority. This very ugly bomb blast is a return to the very worrying dimension of targeted attacks of specific government institutions by suspected armed members of the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents some few years back. These armed insurgents had earlier attacked the United Nations building and the Force Headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force.

Sadly, till date, there has been no single conviction and/or arrest of the suspects responsible for these dastardly acts of violence even as the police as an institution has continued to operate as if everything is normal. I have said much about the ineffectiveness of the nation’s policing institutions and have also proffered workable panacea on how best to reform the decadent Police Force. Fortunately, a former Georgian President who was visiting Nigeria was quoted in our media as advancing the same sets of solution I had suggested in several articles in which I called for the overhaul and total disbandment and reorganisation of the Nigerian Police. He, however, added a new dimension to my call when he also stated that in his country, the Customs, Immigration and Police forces were all disbanded and reorganised, which had facilitated the emergence of a new Georgia. May I adopt the suggestion of this gentleman from Georgia because the ineptitude of Customs and Immigration departments make it possible for small arms and other assorted weapons to flood Nigeria from the porous borders even as these Customs and Immigration officials are busy collecting bribes from these arms importers. For now I will proceed to tackle the menace of corruption which is another layer of the problem that has created Nigeria’s current security nightmare and will begin by commending the Federal Attorney General and Minister of Justice Mohammed Bello Adoke for making bold statements and taking courageous steps to tackle these two hydra headed monsters of corruption and terrorism even with existing legal encumbrances and challenges with never ending adjournments and slow dispensation of justice. The office of the federal attorney general and minister of justice has recently disclosed that it was making use of the recently signed anti-terrorism legislation to prosecute suspected terrorists even as the son of the late military dictator Mohammed Abacha was dragged to court for alleged theft of several hundreds of billions of public fund that disappeared at the time of his late father’s infamous military junta. This is the umpteenth time that a member of this family would be taken to court on charges of theft of public fund.

Talking about corruption, Nigeria and other African ministers of finance at the just concluded IMF/World Bank group meetings have urged the multilateral institutions to help Africa put a stop to the over $50 billion that leaves the continent annually. Nigeria Minister of Finance Dr. Okonjo-Iweala said that the Group of African Finance Ministers, requested that the bank and the fund should look into the issue of illicit financial outflows from the continent. Specifically, findings by a panel chaired by former South Africa President Thambo Mbeki revealed that about $50 billion a year is disappearing from the continent. It is almost certain that the bulk of these stolen money are stolen from Nigeria. The World Bank and IMF will help in two ways, one is capacity building, because the need for specialised skills and manpower to be deal with transfer, pricing, over invoicing and missed pricing can never be over emphasized. These Briton Wood Institutions will also help through information sharing. Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala it could be recalled is a product of the World Bank and so Nigerians expect that she would use her connection rightly to put into action these two recommendations as ways of stopping the proliferation of massive capital flight from Nigeria by corrupt government officials and their criminal collaborators in the private sector. While I strongly support the Finance ministers in their current campaign to end illicit money transfer, it is also imperative that the member nations of the African Union should individually tighten up their anti-graft legislative frameworks and resolve to punish corrupt officials with the stiffest legal sanctions including forfeiture of proceeds of crime and the death penalty. My take in this piece is to call for the disbandment of the Nigeria Police, Nigeria Immigration Service and the Nigeria Customs Service and the reconstitution of same institutions with young Nigerians with unimpeachable crime free records. As long as the three institutions are infested deeply with personnel who are prone to corruption, no matter what measures are adopted, insecurity and graft will continue to constitute veritable grave threats to the corporate existence of Nigeria. Let us kill the monster by cutting off its head. No half measure will work. • Onwubiko is head, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria.

Wednesday, April 23 2014 15

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TheMetroSection African migrants jump fence to enter Europe HEY perched atop a barbed-wire T laced fence for more than seven hours, hands and feet bloodied, buffeted by chill winds whipping the cliffs of Africa’s Mediterranean coast. The 27 sub-Saharan African migrants were literally on the edge between Africa’s economic misery and the long-dreamt riches of Europe: On one side of the fence was Morocco, on the other the Spanish enclave of Melilla. Thirst, hunger and exhaustion wore the migrants down. One by one, they shakily climbed down the ladder that Spanish authorities had propped up on their side of the fence. Spanish police led the Africans back to Moroccoand into the hands of their waiting Moroccan counterparts. The men are part of a spring migration offensive from Africa to Europe, with record numbers of desperate people risking death in their quest for a better life. They use perilous routes such as Mediterranean Sea crossings on rickety boats to the Italian island of Lampedusa or treks through desert, jungle and mountain that culminate in attempts to scale fences erected to keep them out of Melilla and Spain’s other North African enclave, Ceuta. Official data for 2013 is not yet available from Spain- but already in the first three months of this year, the number of migrants making it into Melilla has surpassed the estimated 1,000 who got in last year. On March 18 alone, a record 500 people made it over, while weeks before the Moroccans blocked another 700 migrantsnumbers unheard of in the past. The increasing pressure of African immigration is felt across Europe, with the U.N. reporting a 300 per cent rise in migrants this spring attempting boat crossings to Lampedusa. Italy picked up some 4,000 migrants at sea in the last two days alone, the government said Wednesday. This year, 15,000 migrants have already been rescued by Italy, with another 300,000 waiting in Libya to board dangerously unsafe smuggling boats. For the Melilla migrants, most of whom spent at least two years traveling from their destitute homes in central and west Africa to get here, the climb-down will be a temporary setback. In weeks, they will likely be back, trying once more to enter Europe. Dozens are wounded with every attempt. There are often fatalities, including 15 who drowned in waters outside Ceuta on Feb. 6 after Spanish guards fired at them with rubber bullets. Spain’s Supreme Court banned the use of rubber bullets after the drowning deaths caused an outcry. That may have just emboldened the migrants. “They feel less threatened,” said Anke Strauss of the International Organization for Migration. Melilla and Ceuta offer the only land route between the world’s richest and poorest continents. Nearly every week, hundreds of migrants sneak down from mountain camps to throw themselves at Moroccan police and try to clamber over three layers of fences, using poles to pull down the rolls of barbed wire and boosting themselves over each other’s bodies. “As long as there is such a big difference in wealth and there are problems in Africa, there will always be immigration,” said Adil Akkid of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights, which works with the migrants camped around the Moroccan city of Nador, outside Melilla. “Europe is the richest and closest continent.” Along the Spanish enclaves, the rise is partly due to success by Morocco and Spain in discouraging sea routes between the two countries. In February, Morocco announced that it had reduced illegal immigration to Spain

Briefs CAN declares three-day fasting for abducted girls HE Borno State chapter of T Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN), has declared a three-day “fast and prayers” for the unconditional and safe release of 77 abducted girls by suspected Boko Haram last Tuesday at Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok. Declaring the fast and prayers at a recent news conference in Maiduguri, state chairman of CAN, Rev. Titus Pona, appealed to members of the Boko Haram sect to release the abducted students unconditionally without being unhurt, before handing them to their parents and guardians in the state. His words: “We are calling on all Christians in Borno State and Nigeria to fast and pray for the release of more than 100 girls who were kidnapped. I am calling on all Christians to fast and pray so that God will intervene.” He called on members of the sect to lay down their arms and dialogue with the federal and state governments. “We are calling on members of the Boko Haram sect to lay down their arms and pursue their case through dialogue, because if they dialogue with the government, maybe their problem will be solved”, he said.

RAGE summit on youths development holds today ORRIED by what has been W described as wrong economic ideology handed down

Some of the migrants perching atop a barbed- wire fence...to enter Europe using boats by 93 per cent. Spain has sounded the alarm on illegal migration, with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy asking last week for “greater commitment” to deal with the pressure on Ceuta and Melilla. Moroccan and Spanish authorities have estimated that there are no less than 30,000 illegal immigrants in Morocco, most hoping to get into Europe. Under such pressure, the countries are resorting to increasingly brutal tactics, human rights groups warn. In February, Human Rights Watch slammed the countries’ security forces for beating migrants, as well as expelling those who had made it over the fence without considering asylum claims. Rough treatment doesn’t deter the migrants. While African migrants shuffling along on crutches with broken legs from failed attempts can be seen in the streets of Nador, there are many more waiting to try. Mount Gourougou looms over Nador and Melilla, and its wooded, often fogshrouded slopes are home to thousands of African migrants. They live in makeshift camps as they prepare to

creep through the night for dawn assaults on the fences. For all of them, it is the final stage of a years-long journey through treacherous terrain. “I don’t even know how long ago I left home,” said a young tired-looking Senegalese man carrying empty plastic bottles up the mountain after a day of scavenging for food in nearby Moroccan villages. “When I think of the place I left behind, I can’t go home-to go back empty-handed after all this? Not possible.” His companions, including a 16-yearold youth from Cameroon, nodded before trudging up cactus-laden slopes as a light rain began to fall. None gave their names for fear it would harm their chances of getting to Spain. The sound of sirens and men shouting erupted in the distance. Migrants said it was the racket of Moroccan police forces carrying out a daily comb of the mountain to flush out migrants. Despite the police efforts, several hundred migrants clambered down for an assault later that night. Of those, 27 ended up stranded on the fence the

next morning, while the rest were repulsed. “We only have five minutes to cross the wire because then security calls for reinforcements- and if we get across before they come, we can make it,” said Aba, a muscular young man from Cameroon outside the temporary camp for refugees in Melilla. In contrast to the grim expressions of those on the mountain, the migrants at the Melilla camp are quick to smile for they are now in Europe. After a few months wait, they will be transported to mainland Spain where they will either be processed for repatriation- a difficult process if they lack documents and lie about their nationality- or more likely eventually turned loose. “Nothing in the world is as hard as that fence and there is always a loss of life,” said Jackie Mefire, an aspiring rapper from the Central African Republic, who was kicked back to Morocco three times before finally reaching Melilla. Behind him, affluent Spaniards could be seen putting on the nearby Melilla golf course.

Courtesy AP

to Nigerian youths by economic and political leaders of the country, the Capstone Church, to celebrate its 10th year anniversary, is organising a week long programme for Nigerian youths, designed to sensitise and empower them through training and mentoring. Entitled: "RAGE Conference for Youth Development and Empowerment," it seeks to train Nigerian youths to have sound economic and political ideologies that will make them future kingdom-class leaders. The programme, which holds today at the Church Auditorium in Yaba, Lagos, will have Prof. Pat Utomi of the Lagos Business School, deliver a paper on 'The role of Youths in

Alice Udoh for burial HE family of Ezekiel Udoh T has announced the death of Mrs. Alice Ezekiel Udoh (nee John Peter). A statement by Mr. Imeh E. Udoh says: “She died on January 3, and will be buried on Saturday, April 26, at her compound, No. 1, Ikot Abasi Ufat Road, Afia Nsit Atai, off Enen Nsit, Uyo Road, Akwa Ibom State.” She is survived by Deacon M. J. Peter (brother), many children and grandchildren.

Udoh

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

16 Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Lagos Speaker leads safety awareness campaign on highways cautious behind the wheels, stressing that their lives and those of their passengers are N the spirit of Easter celeimportant to the state. brations and to enhance He said: “It is only when you safety on the road, the are alive that you can live to Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi eat the fruits of your labour, Ikuforiji has urged motorists so I implore you to follow the on strict adherence to High- law guiding road usage in this country,” he said. way Codes. He added that the safety Ikuforiji, in company of campaign was more imporother lawmakers and offitant in the festive periods, cials of Federal Road Safety considering the high volume Corps (FRSC), made this call of travelers on the road. during a safety campaign The Speaker, however, and patrol along LagosIbadan Expressway, as part of warned: “As you (motorists) efforts to sensitize motorists drive and take passengers to their destinations, ensure the on the dangers inherent in roads do not lead to your over-speeding. graves. Your lives are imporDressed in his Special Martant to your families as well shall outfit, Ikuforiji at the as the state. But the only way weekend distributed safety to ensure that is by being fliers to motorists around Old Toll Gate, Berger Bus Stop safety-conscious all the time,” Ikuforiji said. and Ogunnusi Road on the Lagos State Sector ComOjodu axis of the state. mander, Chidi Nkwonta, said The flier sums up basics of the significance of the camthe Highway Codes: Speed paign was to let the mothrills, but kills… Keep to torists realise that public 100km/hr on the Expressway office holders are also part of (private cars)… 90km/hr for the safety campaign. buses…50km/hr in built up Nkwonta explained that areas… Drive to stay alive. Addressing commercial bus road safety should be everydrivers at Berger Motor Park, body’s business, adding that, Ikuforiji enjoined them to be “it cuts across every segment

By Wole Oyebade

Schneider Electric partners FSD on vocational training CHNEIDER Electric, global specialist in energy management, has singed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Field of Skills and Dreams (FSD) Vocational and Technical Training Academy, Lagos, for training of individuals in electrical installation and maintenance. The partnership is aimed at developing local skilled workforce to compete effectively with foreign technicians as well as curbing unemployment. Executive Director of FSD, Mrs. Omowale Ogunride, said the training to be carried out at the academy will involve an interactive teaching methodology that focuses on practical experience at a laboratory fully equipped with Schneider Electric training solutions to enable students to acquire hands-on practical skills in a safe and efficient way. “Schneider is one of the world’s leading energy management companies with notable expertise in vocational training brought into the development of this programme whereas FSD has been offering effective technical and vocational training for 10 years. With international recognitions and awards, FSD’s capacity has been tested and proven to be effective in providing its trainees with jobs and setting them up,” she said. Ogunride said the training, which would commence June in Lagos, is an upgraded course for people with minimal or no experience in electricity and electricians, students and graduates with need for further practical training. She said Schneider’s involvement is part of the company’s decision to help in promoting standards in electrical installation manpower development. Ogunrinde, founder of FSD, said the course would go a long way in reducing youth employment in the country, adding that it is unfortunate that there are still huge manpower shortage in technical areas whereas the country is suffering mass joblessness. The Country President of Schneider Electric Nigeria, Marcel Hochet, was excited about possibility replicating the company’s training initiative, Access To Energy, through FSD. He said: “I am particularly delighted that this collaboration between Schneider Electric and FSD will empower many Nigerians to get employment and contribute to the country’s growing power sector. ”

Kate Henshaw, Ali Baba, others walk at Irede Foundation’s Out-on-a-Limb’ for child amputee awareness campaign CE Nollywood Atress, Kate Henshaw and comedian, Ali Baba A joined other celebrities, topnotch personalities, professionals, and children with limb loss on the second edition of the foundation’s child amputee awareness walk initiative tagged ‘Out-On-ALimb’ to advocate support for child amputees and their families. The 20,000 -metre walk which kicked off at exactly 7:30a.m. from the YMCA Building premises on Awolowo Road Ikoyi had close to 1,000 participants including children walk to Falomo Roundabout and back. The ‘Out-on-a-Limb’ is a child amputee awareness initiative of The Irede Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Crystal Chigbu in 2012 to ensure that every child amputee is given a chance to become a champion; living above the limitations of missing limbs whether congenital or acquired. Inspired by the congenital limb loss of her daughter Beulah Chigbu, Crystal with the support of her husband set out to help other families who are burdened with similar cases of limb loss. Crystal says “Our focus is empowering children with prosthetic limbs, encouraging the children to live a normal life, educating care-givers and the society. Children between the ages of 1-10 years are our target beneficiaries as they are in the most vulnerable position to personally live above the limitations of amputation. Our support for them is continuous till they attain the age of 18. This support includes continual replacement of their prosthesis as they grow and having support group meetings to ensure they are living life to the fullest. We are ecstatic to have restored hope to 5 children in the past year, providing six prosthetic limbs and we are determined to do more in this year 2014. We stand for Hope....We Educate, Encourage and Empower!”

of the society including the so-called highly placed individuals.” “Everybody must ensure that our roads are safe,” Nkwonta said. The Commandant com-

mended the Lagos legislative arm of government for participating in safety awareness, adding that it was a feat such as had never been seen anywhere in the country.

He said the sensitisation would go a long way in creating a synergy between Lagos State government and the FRSC. Nkwonta added that the easiest way motorists could

get acquainted with the traffic law is to get a copy of the Highway Code, which, according to him, is always available to motorists and easy to understand.

Ikuforiji during the awareness campaign

Groups fete orphans, visit bomb blast victims in Abuja From Terhemba Daka, Abuja NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATION based in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Sure Smiles Women and Children Advocacy Initiative, at the weekend doled out Easter food and other assorted items to orphans as part to its reach-out endeavour to vulnerable groups in the society. The group also used the Easter occasion to visit the Asokoro and Nyanya District Hospitals to show love and sympathy to the victims of last week’s Nyanya bomb blast that killed over 175 innocent Nigerians. Speaking to newsmen shortly after visiting St. Benedict Catholic Church at Loko-

goma Estate in Abuja, the Founder and Coordinator of the NGO, Mrs. Chioma Uzoudegbunam, said the visit was to share the joy of the season and to bridge the gap between the haves and the have-nots. “The Easter celebration is a season to demonstrate love to all especially the less privileged in the society. Our mission here is a practical demonstration of love to this vulnerable group and to appreciate God for His kindness towards us. We have decided to give to others out of the abundance God has blessed us with,” she said. In another development, Women for Change and Development Initiative

(W4CDI), an non-governmental organization (NGO) founded by the wife of the President, Dame Patience Jonathan, has donated a busload of medical supplies to victims of the recent Nyanya bomb blast to show love in this Easter season. Making the donation at the National Hospital, Abuja, the National Coordinator, W4CDI, Princes Rabi Ibrahim said it was premised on the fact that their supply must have been exhausted, considering the huge number of casualties they had to attend to. Ibrahim said the visit was at the instance of Mrs. Jonathan who had already visited but felt that her NGO should also contribute in alleviating the

sufferings of the victims. She went on to observe that the president’s wife, as an advocate of peace, enjoins all Nigerians in respective of religion, to live in peace with one another, that it is only through peace the nation could grow, adding that the Mrs. Jonathan’s love for peace is why she is the President, African First Ladies Peace Mission and that it has also earned her the title: “Mama Peace” across Africa. She appealed to the Boko Haram sect to make its grievances known so that amicable resolutions could be sort. According to her: “The wanton killing and maiming of innocent Nigerians is no longer acceptable”.

Group remembers, laments neglect of NYSC Bauchi post-election victims’ families by govt tional Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to process same; that the government would proseT was an agonizing occacute the offenders and that sion and painful reminisNYSC would be reformed. cence as “Friends of Ike and “We use this medium today the Bauchi 10 Solidarity Movement” in Lagos marked to call on President Jonathan to remember these corps the third year of the 10 slain members whose deaths are as youth corps members brutally murdered in cold blood old as his ascendance to the office of the President and fulon April 18, 2011 at Giade in fill all the promises he made Bauchi State soon after the to their families including imannouncement of the Presidential election result of 2011. mortalizing them.” “The voice of Ikechukwu and Ikechukwu Favour Ukeoma and nine others were part of friends still cry for change the volunteer ad-hoc staff for that they died for according to the last message Independent National ElecIkechukwu posted on his face toral Commission (INEC) during the election that pro- book where he was hiding before he met his brutal, unduced the sitting President. According to the movement, timely death: “I am very happy I could stand for my it is regrettable that up till God and my Nation. To all now, not all the promises made by President Goodluck you corp members that stood for the right thing despite Ebele Jonathan to the families of these promising grad- these threats especially in the uates have been fulfilled. This North, I say bravo! ‘Nigeria include immortalizing the 10 Our change has come.” “We also call for reforms on corps members, the sum of N5, 000, 000 to be given as a the decree establishing NYSC token to the affected families in 1973 with the initial intention of fostering national for burial expenses, an autounity and now make it opmatic employment for a tional to serve in the Northgraduate sibling of each of ern part of the country and or the murdered corps memto make it mandatory for the bers in any government parastatal of their choice and Northerners to serve in any of the States in the North and the Director General of NaBy Isaac Taiwo

Southerners to serve in any part of the South since it is obvious that the Government can no longer guarantee the life and security of harmless Nigerians who willingly decide to serve their fatherland. We mean that graduates should now serve in their geo-political regions.” “It is very sad to also note that for three years since the struggle began, change is yet to come, promises are yet to be fulfilled and insecurity is on the rise with more lives being hacked down daily,” the movement said. Speaking at the occasion, one of the survivors, Omowunmi Adeliyi said: “They were my friends and we all served together. The President made some promises to compensate the families of the victims with N5, 000,000 and give automatic employment to one of the siblings of the families of the victims. He only fulfilled the monetary aspect of the promise to those who were lucky to have it but did not fulfill the job aspect.” “Today is three years after the incident and we do not know what is happening with no one to contact or

speak to us. It is quite unfortunate,” she lamented. “The President should fulfill his promises and compensate the families of those who died for his cause before the end of his tenure. Apparently, his tenure is going to an end. He should console the families. There is no compensation that can really suffice, but fulfilling his promises would do a bit.” she said. A friend of Aik, Aik Onwunra said: “It is only humane the President fulfill the promises he made to the families of those who died as sacrificial lambs for him to have his position, though no compensation can replace the lives of those corps members. He should discipline anyone who has failed to carry out his instructions on this matter,” he said. A lawyer and an activist, Barrister Chioma Ferguson said a parent of one of the victims, Adowei Elliot, is suffering greatly as the N5, 000,000.00 released to the family was yet to be received till now and that this should be investigated. “We are taking it up in court after this remembrance occasion.” she said.

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com 17

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Focus 1914: Year of divine visitation for Nigeria By Michael Omolewa HE year1914 can be said in some ways to have T stood on a tripod. The first arose from the events of Thursday January 1, 1914, when the amalgamation of the Protectorates of the North and Southern Nigeria was proclaimed in Lagos at a simple ceremony as one single administrative unit. The second took place about two months later, on Saturday March 7, 1914, when Elder David Caldwell Babcock, pioneer of the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Christian missionary work in Nigeria, and his family, arrived in Lagos to begin his missionary work. The third was the outbreak of the First World War on Tuesday, 28 July 1914. The three events had a lasting impact on the development in Nigeria and dictated the course of events in many areas which affected the history of the nation. First, the fact that the amalgamation of Nigeria had taken place gave Elder Babcock the opportunity to travel across the country and benefit from the counsel of the British residents about the possible mission stations that could be explored all over Nigeria. It can be seen therefore that these two seemingly parallel developments of 1914, the amalgamation of Nigeria as one single administrative unit and the arrival of Babcock and the beginning of the Adventist work in Nigeria were important determinants of the course of Nigerian history. It can indeed be said that both developments were the maturation and crystallization of events in the same year: one was of course Christian and missionary, and the other political, and administrative. Both were nonetheless aimed at ushering in a new direction for the peoples of Nigeria. Three important events took place in 1914 that have continued to have a major impact on Nigeria and given credence to the idea that the year was unique momentous and memorable in many ways. One hundred years later, the nation is celebrating and thanking the Lord whom many believe remains behind all these events, watching over His own people. The question which one may wish to ask is whether this is just a coincidence, a mere chance or whether there was some hidden hand, behind directing all of this development? Believers often see the Lord always moving events and people. The Bible has stories of events being guided by the mighty hands of God in ways that could not be understood by people at the time. King Solomon had in his wisdom made the important observation of the leading of events by the Lord when he remarked in the Book of Proverbs 16:9 that “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps”. Attention may be dawn to the reference in the Scriptures to the spiritual significance of the number 14 in the passage in which the genealogy of Jesus was listed in Mathew 1: 17: “So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations, and from carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations”. The reference to the number 14 in the passage would also make 2014, a century after 1914, of special importance. It can thus be concluded that what was happening in Nigeria was beyond mere coincidence and that indeed there are no coincidences in life but that for them who love the Lord as promised in Romans 8:28 Without in any way trying to force a comparison between Babcock, the gentle evangelist and missionary, and Lugard who has been described as a cynical imperialist, we may make the observation that both Babcock and Lugard set out to transform the Nigerian nation, building schools, hospitals and bringing innovations in human resource development, spiritual life, health, social services. Both worked to introduce new dimensions to employment policies and practices, use of languages and new criteria for individual and social mobility and progress. Babcock worked for three eventful years before departing from Nigeria leaving behind a thriving SDA missions, Churches and schools in several parts of the country. Lugard, after five years also left behind lasting legacies including the development of an efficient railway and transportation system between the North and Southern parts of Nigeria. Some observers have argued that there was not much difference between the work done by the colonial officials and that of the missionaries. But the truth is that the story of Babcock and Lugard in Nigeria confirm that there were major differences in the orientation and objective of the work of the missionary and that of the colonial ruler. For example, while the colonial ruler worked for the King and his country, the missionary worked for

Prof. Omolewa the transformation of the faith of the people into the acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Saviour of the world. Christian missionaries were thus known for their complete commitment, sacrifice and selflessness. The missionaries lived frugal lives of simplicity, doing all they could to adapt the local meals to their own taste and living among the people. This of course was also the example of the chief of the apostles, Paul who was always contented with all the situations he found himself. For as he put it, in celebrating the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus while on earth,” For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor”. The missionaries were less concerned about their salaries, or wages or convenience but derived immeasurable joy from investing their time, talent and treasure in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ to save a soul. This attribute was of course by no means unique to the Seventh Day Adventist missionaries but was noted in other Christian denominations. For example, among the Holy Ghost Fathers who also arrived much later in Nigeria, Father Lutz, a French priest and the founder of the Holy Ghost Mission in Nigeria is reported to have prayed in 1900: ‘On my knees I beg the favour of devoting my life to the salvation of souls in Africa, even though it means death. Let me save but a single soul and I shall die with the desire of my heart fulfilled’. In a similar way, the account of a dream in which Father Shanahan of the Holy Ghost Mission to Nigeria had protested to a superior, who had insulted him, could summarise this selflessness to missionary work by the French priests:‘Insult me – yes, by all means! Insult my country – perhaps! But insult Saint Patrick – never! Never – mon pere – never!’ Neither the empire builder, Goldie nor his employee, Frederick Lugard, had any room for evangelism or any place for religion or mission-

ary objective. As John Flint, the biographer of Goldie put it, ““On 20 August 1925…unshaken in the belief that there was no God and no life to come, Sir George Goldie came to the end of his seventy-nine years of life”. The two personalities, Frederick Lugard and David Caldwell Babcock, were also different in character, style of governance and values. While Babcock held extensive consultations with the people at all levels, and promoted consensus building, remaining sensitive to the desires and wishes of the people, including those at the grassroots, and eager to build lasting friendship and relationship with the local people, Lugard had an imperial mission and he was not prepared to be distracted by anyone or anything. Lugard worked in great secrecy, referring matters to the Colonial Office in London for approval. The newspapers in Lagos were most critical of the arbitrariness of the military dictatorship of Lugard. Perhaps the most vocal of them, the Lagos weekly record, was loud in its condemnation of Lugard whom it described as “the conquering hero of punitive expeditions” and “the victim of exaggerated personality, induced by the autocratic power conferred upon him through the indiscretion of a Lewis Harcourt”. The paper’s observation confirms the view that Lugard did not consult the indigenous people before taking decisions, and says that “So high was he in the clouds that he saw very little of the people he was called upon to govern; and divorced as he was from their local sympathies and liberal aspirations”. The paper noted that Lugard had contempt for the “educated natives”. As it put it: “True to his disposition, Sir Frederick loathed the educated native and lived in constant dread of the Native Press, which at every turn foreshadowed his sinister movements”. The Lagos Weekly Record explains the decisive role played by Lugard in all matters concerning the administration of Nigeria in its editorial:

The outbreak of the War affected the plan of Lugard to move the capital city of Nigeria to Kaduna and away from the South. For a long time, Lugard had felt most uncomfortable about the attacks on him and his administration by the educated elite of Southern Nigeria and in particular the press

“The contests between Sir Frederick, the Educated native and the native Press over his manifold administrative schemes were intellectual contests, pure and simple; and in every such encounter the honours remained with the Educated Native and the Native Press; for Sir Frederick was hopelessly out of date, and it was quite easy to knock the bottom out of any political or administrative scheme deriving its solitary sanction from the bottom of my will is my law and the autocratic power conferred by the indiscretion of a Secretary of State for the Colonies”. The work of Babcock continued to be appreciated. Some members of the SDA Church in West Africa have named their children David Caldwell Babcock. As recently as in June 1991 it was reported from Hampton in the United States that one David Caldwell Babcock, a native of Sierra Leone, West Africa, died on Sunday, Jan. 13, in his home, aged 73. The announcement stated that “Mr. Babcock was a Peninsula resident for 48 years. He was the organist and choir director at Epworth United Methodist Church in Norfolk. He was a member of Hampton Roads Seventh Day Adventist Church where he served for many years as head elder and chairman of the Church Board”. The first Private University established by the SDA in Nigeria has also been named after him. The work of Babcock continued after him. His son, also named David Caldwell Babcock became an ordained pastor and leader of the Church. Lugard, on the other hand, was celebrated in Britain where he was elevated to a peerage as Baron Lugard of Abinger. Lugard Avenue has been named after him in Lagos and there is also a Lugard Hall in Kaduna and a Lugard Road in Jos. As he was however childless, his barony died with him and became extinct. He has also remained a controversial figure, at once praised and detested by many. For example at the retirement and subsequent departure of Lugard from Nigeria in 1919, The Lagos Weekly Record reported in February 1919: “The news of the retirement of Sir Frederick Lugard from the Governor-Generalship of Nigeria, which was flashed down by Reuters during the latter part of January, has been received with great joy and gladness by the loyal natives of Nigeria. So overwhelming is the people’s emotion that almost in every nook and corner but chiefly in the inmost recesses of their hearts they have offered and continue to offer day by day some silent prayer to the god of the Negro for his tender mercies in delivering his dusky children from the baneful effects of an inglorious administration which constitutes … a standing disgrace to the cherished traditions of British colonial policy in West Africa”. The impact of the outbreak of the War affected lives beyond measure. For example it determined the future of the missionary work of Babcock. Babcock had decided to leave Nigeria to attend to his health and also search for additional support for the work in the country. On his way to the United Kingdom, his ship which was hit by enemy action torpedoed and sank. He and his family safely completed the journey and managed to stay alive. Babcock however never again returned to the country. Rather he was posted to the Virgin Islands and later British Guiana before his retirement and death in 1932. The outbreak of the War affected the plan of Lugard to move the capital city of Nigeria to Kaduna and away from the South. For a long time, Lugard had felt most uncomfortable about the attacks on him and his administration by the educated elite of Southern Nigeria and in particular the press. He had started ‘the planting of Dhub grass in Kaduna to supplant the coarse prairie grass’. He had also reported that he had installed a temporary piped water supply, pumped from the Kaduna and that a racecourse, polo, tennis, cricket and golf grounds had been cleared and laid out. The outbreak of First World War shortly after the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern parts of the country, with its resultant financial stringency, made it difficult for Lugard to continue with his proposals for the location of the capital city of the country from Lagos to Kaduna which he considered a ‘central place’. It seems clear that 1914 was by no means an ordinary year for Nigeria and there may be a justification for special prayers to be said to make its celebration one hundred years later a blessing to the peoples of the country. •Professor Omolewa is Emeritus Professor of the History of Education at the University of Ibadan and Emeritus Professor of History at Babcock University.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

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Business Niger to build N1.3b mall in Minna HE Niger State government said on Sunday that T it is to spend N1.3 billion in

the construction of a new mall at the site of the old Central market in Minna, the state capital. The Director-General, Directorate of Special Projects, Alhaji Hassan Nuhu, who disclosed this in a statement in Minna, said that the project was conceived as part of efforts to enhance socio-economic activities in the state. The statement said that the state government and a firm, Messrs MBHH Nig. Ltd, had signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the project, which is expected to be completed in November 2014. It said that the mall would not only boost economic activities in the state but also provide employment opportunities for over 1.000 youths, as well as improve the internally-generated revenue of the state government. According to the statement, Messrs BOTONN Nig. Ltd., a reputable firm, will manage the mall for five years, to enable the state government recoup its investment. It said that the mall would have 18,600 square metres of space that would be let out to reputable retailers for direct sale of goods to the citizens, as was obtainable in all Shoprite outlets in the country. The statement further said that the construction of the mall was part of strategies being employed to make Niger state one of the best three economies in the country. The Chief Executive of MBHH Nig. Ltd, Mr Hamman Issam, promised that the project would be completed on schedule, adding that all the contractual agreements would also be met.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, UBA Cote d’Ivoire, Franklin Erebor (left); welcoming President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, at the Yamoussoukro Airport, during the 44th ECOWAS summit held in Yamoussoukro, Cote d’Ivoire.

External trade volume up by 5.9 % From Chuka Odittah, Abuja IGERIA’S total foreign trade N volume has grown by 5.9 per cent,even as the country’s external trade has hit N5.66 trillion during the third quarter of 2013, the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS) has stated. The increase in foreign trade, according to the third quarter trade report made available to The Guardian, was driven by a 30.4 per cent rise in the value of imports from N1.59 trillion in the second quarter of 2013, to N2.08 trillion in the third

quarter of 2013. The bureau explained that rising imports coupled with a 4.5 per cent decline in exports from N3.74 trillion in the second quarter 2013, to N3.57 trillion in the third quarter, resulted in a trade balance of N1.49 trillion, 30.6 per cent lower than the volume recorded for the second quarter. “In comparison to the corresponding quarter of 2012, total merchandise trade in the third quarter of 2013 declined by 21.2 per cent from N7.18 trillion recorded in the previ-

ous year. This is largely attributable to a 39.5 per cent lower value of exports year-on-year. Imports on the other hand, were 64.0 per cent higher compared to the corresponding period. Consequently, the trade balance was 67.9 per cent lower in the third quarter of 2013 relative to the corresponding period in 2012. Year to date, total merchandise trade stood at N16.1 trillion, down by 22.9 per cent from the N20.9 trillion cumulative total recorded

through the third quarter of 2012”, the bureau said. However, details of the trade report showed that the crude oil component of exports in the third quarter of 2013 stood at N3.09 trillion, an increase of N377.5 billion, or 13.9 per cent when compared with the second quarter of 2013. In contrast, the non-crude oil component of exports exhibited a sharp decline from N1.03 trillion recorded in the second quarter to N486.5billion recorded in the third. Year-onyear, crude oil an non crude oil exports were down by 25 per

cent and 72 per cent respectively. Meanwhile, the total volume of Nigeria’s imports was said to have amounted to N2.08 trillion in the third quarter of 2013, a total of N486.5billion higher than N1.6 trillion recorded in the previous quarter of 2013, and 64 per cent or N813.5 billion greater than the value of imports recorded in the third quarter of 2012. According to the bureau, the increase from the previous quarter was largely attributed to a rise in the import value of the beverages and tobacco section, which increased by N208.9billion or 35.7 per cent. Other sectors are machinery and transport equipment, which increased by N145.2billion or 54 per cent, while the other is the food and live animals which increased by N51.5 billion or 35.7 per cent. Analysis of imports by Broad Economic Categories (BEC) statistics, released by the NBS showed that the largest contributor to the value of import were Industrial Supplies which stood at N494.2 billion or 23.7 per cent of total imports. But goods not elswhere specified stood at N474 billion or 22 per cent and capital goods, which totaled N299.0 billion or 14.3 per cent. Other sectors which swelled import levels were prepared food stuffs, beverages, spirits and vinegar, which clocked N355.6 billion or 17.1 per cent of total imports, mineral products took up N325 billion or 15.6 per cents of total imports and vehicles, aircraft and associated parts gulped N238.8 billion or 11.5 per cent of total imports.

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FinancialReporting

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GUARDIANENERGY Africa’s oil presence heightens, as more projects emerge – 24

Schneider Electric inaugurates electricians’ rewards scheme –25

OIL

GAS

Firm acquires new technologies to foster gas monetisation - 25

POWER

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2014

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Four years after, Local content reigns in oil, gas sector • Investors stake $100m yearly

CNS Marine vessel

By Sulaimon Salau ARELY four years after the B Local Content bill was signed into law by the Federal Government, the indigenous operators in all facet of the sector are now assessed with significant contributions to the growth of the nation’s petroleum industry. Although, investigations showed that there are numerous challenges to attaining the local content mandate, some indigenous operators that sprang up from the initiative are now big enough to muscle strength with the International Oil Companies (IOCs). However, many more prospective operators are awaiting a breakthrough that would lunch them into the sector, yearning for the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). The Nigerian National Petro-

leum Corporation (NNPC), has however estimated that indigenous operators are now investing more than $100 million yearly to expand capacities. The Group Managing Director, NNPC, Andrew Yakubu, said at an industry event recently that the result of local content is quite impressive and there is tremendous growth in the local participation in the oil and gas value chain. He stressed: “There has been a huge Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in this regards. We have new fabrication yards built, old ones have been upgraded, and modules that couldn’t have been built in Nigeria before now, are now built here in Nigeria. It is believed that our people now invest close to $100 million yearly to expand capacities,” Raising the hope of stake-

holders on the passage of PIB, Yakubu said: “The PIB is supposed to add value to the industry, and bring more sustainable fiscal regime that will guarantee investments,” An indigenous operator and Managing Director, Elshcon Nigeria Limited, Emi Membere-Otaji, said, local participation in the oil and gas industry has increased tremendously, as more capacity has been built, in terms of human and technical competence. He said: “The local content law 2010 has really improved participation of the indigenous firms in the industry, jobs that could not be secured by local companies earlier, are now being done by them. A lot of things have happened especially in the deep water projects that were never extended to local companies, many of us are now implementing proj-

ects for deep water projects which was a great value addition. Applauding the federal government for making such law, he said local content has significantly broadened the capacity level of Elshcon Nigeria Limited, which focuses on fabrication, construction and marine services. We have now acquired a lot of vessels and equipment for construction, because the local content law has raised our hope. We are really upgrading our facilities, because we have confidence that jobs are coming, and otherwise the jobs will not come, except for the support of government through the content law 2010. Membere-Otaji however urged the Federal Government and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to further perfect the enforce-

ment of the law so that much more can be achieved to aid the economy The Group Managing Director of Arco Group, Alfred Okoigun,who described the initiative as belated, said if it has been done earlier, Nigeria would have been exporting locals as experts to other countries by now. He however lauded the government for not just putting the law in place, but also ensuring that the agencies put in charge are monitoring the situation. He therefore urged the key players in the industry to take advantage of the law to grow Nigerian companies to be viable participants in the industry “even at this late hour”. “I am not saying that they should be philanthropic to a fault. All I am saying is that beyond making money, there must be legacy to boast of like

the Shell example in Malaysia. I make this case, not just for Arco, but for other wholly Nigerian companies operating in the oil and gas industry. I am of the opinion that the changes taking place now can encourage other Nigerians investors to come into the business to boost employment of our youths,” he said. Relating the story of his company, he said: “When Arco started business 34 years ago, it was with a couple of hands. Today, we have over 400 personnel in our payroll and 200 of them are engineers and technicians. We can imagine the number of skilled and semi-skilled manpower that oil and gas industry can mop up if a lot more indigenous companies are gainfully involved in the industry. We strongly believe that when jobs are created, poverty will be alleviated.”

Midway Resources to acquire Ekeh oil field By Roseline Okere HERE are indications that Cayman Islands-based oil T group - Midway Resources International, is trying to buy into the Nigerian Ekeh oil field. Midway Resources International (MRI) has already requested a consultant to produce a competent person’s report on its estimates of contingent resources for the Ekeh Field in Nigeria. The Guardian learnt that the planned acquisition is currently under negotiation. The proposed acquisition will include as conditions precedent the novation of the un-

derlying Chevron/NNPC Farmout agreement and lease of Middleton Production Platform that were made to give effect to the original marginal fields programme award of the Ekeh Field to Movido Exploration & Petroleum Nigeria Limited in 2003. The Ekeh Field, discovered in 1986 (Ekeh-1) is currently in the appraisal stage with a second well already drilled (Ekeh-2H). It is proposed to further appraise, place the field on production with two wells via an Early Production Scheme (EPS), and then fully develop the field with further wells using an unmanned well head platform

tied back seven kilometers to existing processing facilities on the leased Chevron’s Middleton Production Platform. The Ekeh-1 well is assumed plugged and abandoned, but the Ekeh2H well required abandonment during the first phase of planned field activity. The Ekeh Field contains some 55 to 110 MMstbbl of oil in place plus 32 to 42 Bcf gas in place, distributed amongst a series of stacked reservoir. Field development options have been investigated to develop the oil resources. Some of the gas resources will be used for fuel and gas lift, but the majority will be re-injected.

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ENERGY Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Africa’s oil presence heightens, as more projects emerge By Sulaimon Salau HE black continent of Africa may have further entrenched its strength in the comity of nations producing hydrocarbon resources, as more new projects and discoveries emerge across borders. The upcoming oil producing countries are assessed to be fast growing behind the continents oil giant Nigeria and Angola, who are members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Although, some of them have discovered oil at commercial quantity, others are at the growing level, even as they continued to discover more hydrocarbon basins believed

to be well endowed with crude oil. This is coming, as the crude export from Libyan oil terminal resumes. Libya is restarting the process of exporting oil after an eight-month stand-off with rebels who blockaded a number of the country’s most prominent ports ended following negotiations between the rebels and the Tripoli government. The Libya’s state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) spokesperson, Mohamed AlHarari said a further “800,000 barrels of crude will be ready for export from the Hariga Port within the next 10 days,” adding that he expected the government to

step up activity at the port in an attempt to make up the losses incurred since the closure. Meanwhile, France’s Total last week said its Saphir-1XB exploration well on Block CI514, offshore Ivory Coast, has encountered hydrocarbons. Lying in 7,550 feet of water, Saphir-1XB is the first well drilled in the block. Drilled to a depth of 15,270 feet it found approximately 130 feet of net pay that contains light (34-degree API) oil in a series of 1,150 feet of reservoirs. Total said the data acquired

during drilling are being analyzed and will be used to determine the area’s potential as well as the design of the delineation program. The firm also has plans to drill two wells in blocks CI-515 and CI516 by the end of this year. Also, an Italian oil services group Saipem said it had been awarded two contracts with a combined value over $4 billion by Total, to carry out work in Angola. The contracts involve engineering, procurement and production as well as commissioning offshore and on-

shore work for Floating Production Storage and Offloading projects, according to Saipem. The main project relates to two units that will have capacity to treat 115,000 barrels of oil per day. In another development, oil output from Ghana’s offshore Jubilee oilfield is expected to hit between 105,000 and 110,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2014 versus a budgeted 110,000 bpd, according to Ghana National Petroleum Corporation. The Chief Executive Officer,

Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Alex Mould, said: “It is expected that the field could produce an average of 100,000 barrels, which is budgeted for, but I am sure we will hit about 105,000 to 110,000 barrels in 2014. “The average oil production as of March 25 was about 104,000 barrels. We’re currently at about 109,000 barrels. Ghana has lifted approximately 20 percent of the crude produced from the time Jubilee started in Dec 2010 to this March,” Mould said.

IPMAN tasks marketers on efficient fuel distribution By Sulaimon Salau HE Independent PetroT leum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has urged its members to focus more on efficient fuel distribution system that is aimed at growing national economy. The association, in a communiqué issued after their National Executives Council (NEC) meeting held in Lagos, said the need for better fuel distribution system became imperative following the global challenges and dynamics of the sector. Special Assistant on Media to the IPMAN National President, Alhaji Danladi Pasali, who signed the communique, said that the members needed to focus on how to improve the socio-economic growth than creating national disorder. He said: “We urge members to embrace peace and unity among one another in other to move the association forward,” Pasali said that the current administration will ensure credible and transition of new members, pledging the association’s commitment toward a credible election. He therefore appealed to warring members to be law abiding in the interest of national development.

“We are appealing to all our members to be law abiding, prepare for the upcoming elections which will soon be conducted for eligible candidates who wish to vie for any office at the national, zonal and depots position as the case may be. “We also appeal to our members to carry on with their legal and normal businesses without the fear of anything in order to serve our fatherland the association primary objective of supplying petroleum products throughout the country,” he said. He said that there is no crisis in IPMAN family and he will not allow illegality and those who feels they are above the association to disrupt the process. “IPMAN will ensure free and credible election when the election process is drawn. The legitimacy of the National President of IPMAN would be better enhanced when the voice and votes of members count,” Pasali said. He said that the leadership of IPMAN played a vital role in ensuring stability in petroleum product distribution across the country. Pasali said that IPMAN members’ interest and welfare would be best protected under one united and indivisible association.

Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke (left); Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Andrew Yakubu; and the Per. Sec. Ministry Of Petroleum Resources, Alhaji Musa Abdulkadir, at Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting in Vienna, Austria. Ladi Ogunbiyi

Acugas, FBN Capital, Ecobank sign $170m gas financing project By Roseline Okere CUGAS Limited, a subsidiary of Seven Energy International Limited, has signed a $170 million (N27.2b) 5.5-year medium-term acquisition finance facility with FBN Bank (UK) Limited, FBN Capital and Ecobank Nigeria Limited. According to Acugas, FBN Capital Limited acted as structuring bank, sole initial man-

dated lead arranger, financial modelling bank and global facility coordinator. It disclosed that Aluko & Oyebode acted as lenders legal counsel, royal haskoning DHV Nederland BV represented the lenders on environmental / technical due diligence matters. UUBO and Addleshaw Goddard acted as the Borrower’s local and international legal counsels respectively. The facility part-finances the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of East Horizon Gas Company Limited (EHGC) for a total consideration of up to $250 million. EHGC was established by Oando Plc with the intention of constructing and operating an 18-inch, 128 km gas pipeline that connects with the Obigbo-Alscon pipeline at Ukanafun to supply gas to an industrial offtaker located in Mfamosing, Cross River State, and to meet the needs of other industrial users in the Calabar region. Through its assets and subsidiary, Accugas, Seven Energy has a number of infrastructure projects in the region, including a gas processing facility at the Uquo Field and a gas pipeline network, which will have the capability to supply gas in the Port Harcourt, Aba and Calabar areas. In consolidating the gas infrastructure assets of Accugas and EHGC, Accugas aims to strengthen its distribution

Through its assets and subsidiary, Accugas, Seven Energy has a number of infrastructure projects in the region, including a gas processing facility at the Uquo Field and a gas pipeline network, which will have the capability to supply gas in the Port Harcourt, Aba and Calabar areas. platform, increase efficiency and broaden its geographical reach, furthering Seven Energy’s intention to create a leading gas distribution business in Nigeria. Commenting on the transaction, Chief Executive Officer, Seven Energy, Phillip Ihenacho, described the feat as a landmark transaction to the company. “We are delighted to expand our midstream operations in Nigeria with this investment. It is a perfect fit to our strategy of investing in core midstream infrastructure assets in the South East region of the country. I would also like to thank the entire team for their achievement in bringing this important financing transaction to a close.” Chief Financial Officer, Seven Energy, Bruce Burrows, commended the Lenders, FBN Bank (UK) Limited and Ecobank Nigeria Limited, for their support, and in particular, their dedication to ensure that the completion of the EHGC acquisition process was in line with the sponsors’ timetable. Burrows also noted FBN Capital’s role, particularly in work-

ing closely with Seven Energy, the Lenders and the various independent consultants in concluding the transaction. Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of FBN Capital Limited, Kayode Akinkugbe, said that FBN Capital is very proud of the instrumental role it played in assisting Seven Energy to structure and arrange the financing for the acquisition. He added: “FBN Holdings Group feels a strong sense of responsibility towards fostering growth in the power, gas pipeline and oil and gas sectors and we will continue to deploy our extensive debt arranging experience and structuring expertise in executing robust transactions in record time”. Speaking on the transaction, Director and Head Debt Solutions, FBN Capital Limited, Patrick Mgbenwelu, said: “We appreciate the responsibility and trust Seven Energy has placed with FBN Capital to advise and arrange the financing for the acquisition of EHGC. FBN Capital remains committed to further strengthening this relationship and supporting Seven Energy in realising its various financing goals and objectives”.

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NERC vows to punish electricity thieves By Roseline Okere

• Denies increasing tariff

HE Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has vowed to bring to book anyone caught stealing electricity in the country. Besides, NERC said that it has not increased electricity tariff, but has only adopted the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO). The MYTO provides a 15 year tariff path for the Nigerian electricity industry with limited minor reviews each year in the light of changes in a limited number of parameters (such as inflation and gas prices) and major reviews every five years, when all of the inputs are reviewed with stakeholders Chairman and Chief Executive of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) Dr Sam Amadi, said in Abuja last week, that the commission has not increased electricity tariff, but has benchmark the cost. He cleared the air over the misconception with regard to MYTO, stating that it is a five years tariff arrangement, which means that the amount has been benchmarked. Amadi spoke on the backdrop of the public outcry on the fixed charges on electricity bills, which has prompted protest from some quarters in the light of low electricity supply. Amadi explained: “When we say that we have not increased tariff, we do not mean that the

tariff you paid in 2011 is what you are paying now, rather we mean that the order of the tariff published has not been changed. That is why it is called Multi-Year Tariff Order, it simply means that we have benchmarked the cost’’. He added that by June first of every year, the tariff changes such that there is a tariff for the next five years. He therefore called for customers understanding; that distribution companies should not be accused of increasing tariff arbitrarily with regard to the fixed charges since it has been factored into the MYTO tariff plan. NERC’s helmsman also said that the Commission expects a robust metering of customers by the Discos, warning that reckless estimated billing must stop. He said that “someone does not have a meter does not mean that he must be over-estimated. Meters must be read and customers charged accordingly”. He urged distribution companies to fast-track metering of customers. Amadi used the occasion to appeal to electricity customers to pay their bills and called on those who indulge in electricity theft to desist, warning that Discos Commission’s authority to punish anyone caught bye-passing meter. He said anyone caught will be made to pay fifty times what

Schneider Electric inaugurates electricians’ rewards scheme CHNEIDER Electric, the Sergyglobal specialist in enmanagement has launched the Schneider Electric Green Currents loyalty programme for electricians as part of its initiative to develop the electrical retail business in Nigeria. At a special induction event to welcome the first 250 members of the club in Lagos, Country President, Schneider Electric, Marcel Hochet, said: “The essence of the programme is to build a critical manpower base for the electrical retail sector by connecting and growing the electricians club members to a network of accredited distributors and resellers ensuring availability but more importantly safety and reliability of new or renovated electrical installations.” Hochet noted that electrical installations are a strategic part of any building as the safety of lives and property depend on it. Also speaking at the event, Vice President, Retail Business, Schneider Electric, Tonye Briggs, stated that the loyalty programme was designed primarily to reward loyal electricians and electrical contractors and encourage them to patronize only an accredited network of resellers. He said “Schneider electric is a major player in the power sector today, partnering with

the government especially in ensuring stable and reliable distribution of power at the grid level. Today, we have added another focus to our business, electrical retail. This is to ensure that the final consumer in his home or office receives the full benefit of the power privatization which essentially is safe, clean and available power”. Briggs noted that the Schneider Electric Green Currents Club offers four levels of membership with associated discounts, trainings and rewards based on level of purchases. “One of our goals with this loyalty programme is to structure our market so that everyone in the value chain benefits”. He revealed that the company plans to extend this programme to enrol up to 6000 electricians across the country and create a network of no less than 300 resellers. Commenting at the event, the Public Relations Officer of the Licensed Electrical Contractors of Nigeria (LECAN), Waheed Bada, commended Schneider Electric for this initiative and reiterated the association’s commitment to support companies investing in developing the electrical and business skills of the sector. He noted that training as one of the rewards of the club will help to improve the expertise of the sector and prevent electrical accidents.

Omotosho power plant

Firm acquires new technologies to foster gas monetisation N indigenous oil and gas A service firm, Tricontinental Group (Tricon), has unveiled its plans to further exploit the nation’s abundant gas resources for economic benefits through strategic gas monetization. The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Tricontinental, Prof. Toyin Ashiru, in a statement to The Guardian, said the company has recently acquired several technologies to aid gas utilization as well as supporting efficient oil production processes in the country. Ashiru, who was highly optimism about the future of oil and gas in Nigeria, said: “Our effort should focus on monetisation of gas. One aspect of the Nigerian oil industry that people do not know about is that, gas is a great money- making venture, which can lead to better opportunities than crude

oil. “We should look into areas where we can use gas, not only as Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), but also, in making polyethylene, methanol and other polymeric products. These products have derivative use in the production of several materials,” he said. He said his company has therefore recently developed and acquired innovative technologies that are used for integrity enhancement of industrial components in the oil and gas industry. He identified some of the technologies as DALIC, Sponge-Jet, Enecon, Eneflow, among others. According to him, Dalic selective process is a form of electroplating that repairs damaged components in a plant. It enables services in maintenance, repairs and restoration; corrosion control,

plant integrity enhancement, plant construction, plant and facility inspection; subsea engineering, pipeline technology. This technology can respond to major problems in the offshore drilling business, because offshore oil and gas platforms are subjected to hostile corrosive marine environments, which require continuous preventive and corrective maintenance to ensure prolonged and safe operations. He stressed that the Dalic process is effective for fixing corrosion on ball valves, corrosion and abrasion damages on gas turbines, scratches on flanges of swivel on Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessels (FPSO). Ashiru added that Sponge-Jet, another technology, is a dustfree abrasive blasting technology that can be used for surface preparation prior to

coating application or scale removal in industries. Tricontinental Industrial Academy provides diverse customized training programme and career development services for the oil and gas; construction and engineering; manufacturing, power, finance, information technology, marine and government’s establishments. The programme enhances the technical and management skills of participants, to make them effective drivers of positive change in their various organizations. Ashire said the company’s main objective is to impact relevant knowledge that will improve efficiency in industries and organizations to a comparable level with the developed nations. The academy fosters the training of operators and industry workers, by exposing them to the use of modern day technologies.

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Money Better mortgage options: When shall it be?

Dr. Sarah Alade, Ag. Governor, CBN Stories by Chijioke Nelson E may not be getting it right in our W clime, that is, Nigeria, in terms of mortgage financing, the truth is that well structured mortgage system has the positive multipliers- first to the borrower and second, to the economy in general. Of course, while mortgage rates have stayed low for longer than most experts had expected, and could just stay this way for some time in some economies, their concern now is only to evolve the smartest strategy for homeowners to make extra principal payments for mortgages? However, in some developing countries like ours, the concern has never shifted from the dilemma: “Does it make sense for intending homeowners to incur principal and/or extra payments from mortgages? The reason being that, while in some economies, mortgage rates have remained in target band of 2.5 per cent to 5.5 per cent, in Nigeria, it is from 20 per cent upwards. If eventually one gets a mortgage company that is willing to give 18 per cent, it becomes a fortune. For Example, as the spring home buying season kicks into higher gear in United States and other developed economies, mortgage interest rates seem to be co-operating with eager buyers. The BankingMyWay.com Weekly Mortgage Rate tracker pegs 30-year fixed mortgage rates at 4.28 per cent this week, down from 4.43 per cent last week. Fannie Mae’s weekly mortgage rate survey hit 4.34 per cent this week, down from 4.41 per cent last week. Both rate updates reflect a softening in mortgage rates, which should favour new homebuyers, although the rates are still way above the 3.43 per cent mortgage rates buyers were seeing at the same time last year. Five-year adjustable-mortgage rates and 15year fixed mortgage rates are down too. BankingMyWay lists the former at a yearlong low of 3.167 per cent, while 15-year mortgages are down to 3.54 per cent. “We won’t likely see rates that is low again anytime soon- not with the economy improving, albeit slightly, even as the Federal Reserve opts to keep interest rates low well into 2015.” The odds here are that while mortgage companies in some economies are in real competition, wooing customers with varying rates and extended services, in Nigeria, the lenders are more like a cartel- they seal their rates, with stereotyped responses, such that

Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor-designate what company “A” did is exactly what companies “B to Z” will do. Even the launching of the Nigeria Mortgage Refinancing Company has not impacted on the mortgage rates in the country at the moment. Uncertain rates and hidden charges have frustrated the system here to the extent that many are afraid of the venturing into the transactions. Of course, here, the lenders are more concerned about recovering their money than helping the borrower in restructuring a better plan so that he/she can be able to pay. Sometimes, there used to be assessed disconnection between the economy and policy directions, such that it becomes doubtful whether the economy responds to positive trends at all. An economist who pleaded anonymity observed: “Nigeria and its economy are such peculiar ones. In fact, they defy well established economic orders, especially positive ones and advances negatives ones almost immediately. What is the impact of NMRC so far? But in some economies, it would have crashed mortgage rates beyond imaginations since the launch, even before launch on speculations. Why are rates in double digit amid single digit inflation? Why is speculation sustaining high interest rates and refuses to enthrone low interest rates in Nigeria? Our economy managers should scrutinize themselves very well.” In some economies too, a prepayment is also an option adopted to reduce and end the burden of mortgage payment. Note that prepayment is a payment above what is required for a given month. It reduces the principal, or loan balance. But in Nigeria, what is the standard of living like? What is the level of disposable income of an average Nigerian? The fact is that many who are into mortgage financing are struggling to meet the obligation, not to talk of paying more than monthly requirement. However, owing less helps the homeowner to be charged less for interest. Prepayment means that means more of each future payment goes to principal rather than interest, reducing the balance even further for a snowballing effect. Over time, this can reduce interest charges substantially, and by reducing the debt faster it speeds the building of equity, the difference between the home’s value and the loan balance. The question is: Does this payment plan exist in the mortgage financing system in Nigeria? Can this model ever be promoted by a typical Nigerian lender? The reason for the questions is that it seems the model

Femi Johnson, President, Mortgage Bankig Association of Nigeria

favours the borrower than the lender, even though lenders prefer quick payment. So every prepayment, whether a large lump sum or a small amount kicked in every month, is a kind of investment. “The returns is equal to the loan rate. If you pay 4.5 per cent, each $100 in prepayment saves you $4.50 a year in interest, just like earning 4.5 per cent in a savings account.” Which bank or mortgage lender in the country will pay interest on prepayment to the tune of lending rate? In fact, the deposit-lending rates in the country keeps widening in favour of the lending rates, even after the 3.6 per cent interest on savings directive came in force, some lenders are still falling behind the level. It’s easy to see that this investment (prepayment) is more profitable when loan rates are high, but can still pay off under today’s relatively low rates. Whether a prepayment makes sense depends on what you could earn in another investment. Stocks, of course, can pay much more in the good years, but come with lots of risk. Beside investment in mortgage, prepay-

ments are typically compared with other investments, such as bank savings or shortterm bonds, that have guaranteed yields and little risk. With the average five-year certificate of deposit yielding only about 0.75 per cent, a prepayment earning 4.5 per cent looks pretty generous. There are some other factors that make prepayment alluring. By paying down mortgage balance, it makes one a better candidate for other loans in the future like car loans, home equity loans and loans for a child’s education. Indeed, a prepayment makes sense only if there are free flowing fund and sustainable level of disposable income. People with more than one property should also weigh the potential for future refinancing, he says. For example, a prepayment on one property might allow you to get the debt down to 80 per cent or less of the property value, eliminating the need to pay mortgage insurance. You might want to wrestle this debt down first, even if another loan had a higher interest rate.

Lagos lauds Ecobank, others for socio-economic support HE Lagos State government has commended Jawando pointed out that this year’s event T Ecobank Nigeria and other corporate organi- attracted huge turnout, including eight states, zations for their consistent support to the devel- which participated for the first time and a foropment of tourism in the state. Speaking at the 2014 Lagos Water Regatta, last the weekend, the state’s Commissioner for Tourism and Intergovernmental Relations, Disun Holloway, said the sponsors of this year’s programme, among which, is Ecobank, must be commended for supporting tourism development. He noted that it was an opportunity for the supporting corporate organizations to showcase their brand to millions of people home and abroad through the branded boat and exhibition stands. The Commissioner explained that Regatta is a fun filled water-based cultural sporting and recreational activity put together to showcase the aquatic splendour of the state. The Chairman, Planning Committee of the event,Otunba Olusegun Jawando, said the decision of the private sector to support the good initiative of the state government in the development of tourism was a welcome development. According to him, ‘it is a good avenue for publicity and to showcase their products. As you can see, the benefits and exposure is well received by thousands of people that have come to be part of this event.”

eigner in the swimming competition. “The Lagos Water Regatta was conceived as a means to preserve our socio-cultural sporting heritage in water sports, traditional games and other ways of exploiting the water for human social needs. Above all, we are using the annual Lagos Water Regatta to promote the state into the global tourism destination map” Jawando added. This year’s Lagos Water Regatta, which is the fifth edition, attracted dignitaries including the state governor, Babatunde Fashola, members of the state executive and fun seekers from different parts of the world. The Regatta consist of large fishing boats, ferries, barges and other marine vessels adorned with colours and decorations depicting the social, cultural, traditional folklores and occupational aspects of the Lagos people. There was a parade of floats and canoes with traditional, cultural and social troupes from 20 communities of the five divisions that make up the state. Boats branded by sponsoring corporate organisations and jet skis from members of the Aquamarine Boat Club would participated in water racing and perform stunts to delight the audience.

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‘Poor QoS challenge is beyond operators’ control’ HE factors aiding the downward T profile of quality of services in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector are said to be beyond the operators’ control. Speaking to The Guardian, the Pres ident, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria

(ATCON), Lanre Ajayi said poor quality of network service is caused largely by conditions outside the control of operators. Ajayi, an engineer listed these challenges to include delay in granting permit for right of ways; vandalisation of infrastructure; multiple regu-

lation and taxation among others. According to him, to address the issue of poor quality of network service, there is need to increase capacity by building more infrastructures, “but if operators are not given the required permits and access to right of ways to rollout these infrastructures,

how would capacity be increased and poor quality of network service be improved?” On the same issue, the General Manager, Corporate Affairs, MTN Nigeria, Funmilayo Onajide said Nigeria is credited with a highly

competitive Information and Communications Technology and telecommunications sector and it has remained so, but that quality of service issues, which affect every operator, are as a result of various infra-

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Telecoms sector to leverage on rebased GDP for expansion Stories by Adeyemi Adepetun HE recently published new rebased Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures put the nation’s telecommunications sector as a star performer in the economy. Truly, the sector, through various spectrum licensing had contributed over N500 billion to government coffers. Infact, the country’s teledensity grew by 2500 per cent between 2003 and 2013, with the subscribers growing by 3,000 per cent within the same period, with no other in Africa. Apart from the various Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) the sector attracted in the last 12 years, players in the sector claimed to have paid over N160 billion in taxes to the government, while putting the country’s mobile coverage above 60 per cent as at 2013. As at last year, operators claimed to have created over 20,000 jobs directly and about 1.1 million indirectly. Indeed, for the first time in two decades, Nigerian government engaged in overhauling its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data, with the GDP figures indicating that Nigeria has surpassed South Africa as the largest economy in Africa and 26th biggest globally. Until now, the GDP estimates for Nigeria have been based on a base year of 1990, which means that current GDP prior to the release of the rebased GDP figures are expressed in terms of prices of goods and services as at 24 years ago. Rebasing or re-benchmarking of the national account series (GDP) is the process of replacing an old base year to compile volume measures of GDP with a new and more recent base year or price structure. According to analysts, economies are dynamic in nature: they grow, they shrink, add new sectors, new products and new technologies, and consumer behaviour and tastes change over time. The rebased figures showed a remarkable change in sector by sector contribution to the country’s GDP. As Nigeria’s new GDP data include previously unaccountedfor industries such as telecoms and information technology, music, online sales, airlines and film production, The telecoms sector is, however, clearly identified as a major contributor to the economy in terms of investment inflow as well as its positive impacts on other sectors of the economy such as agriculture, commerce and industry, oil and gas, education and so on. The Nigeria’s rebased GDP figures for 2013 released by the Statistician-General of the Federation, Dr. Yemi Kale, showed an 89 per cent jump in the estimated size of its economy with the inclusion of these industries. The new rebased data showed that the size of the Nigerian economy is now estimated at N80.3 trillion ($510 billion) for 2013.According to the rebased GDP data, the telecommunications and information services sector currently contributes 8.68 per cent to the Nigerian economy equivalent to N6.97 trillion ($44.3 billion) out of the total rebased GDP estimate of N80.22 trillion ($510 billion).This compares with N364.4 billion ($2.3 billion) in the 2012 non-rebased GDP time series thereby positioning Nigeria’s ahead of other newly added sectors, as the star performer in Nigeria’s rebased GDP figures. Meanwhile, analysis of the extant and ongoing programmes by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), in collaboration with the supervising Ministry of Communication Technology, has shown that the star performer status being accorded telecoms sector would be a sustained development. According to NCC, if the sectors growth is sustained, it is projected that telecoms will contribute about 15 per cent to the country’s (GDP) by 2015. A National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report showed that the sector contributed from 2006 to 2012, 1.91, 2.31, 2.92, 3.66, 4.56, 5.67 and 7.05 per cents, respectively to the GDP.” Going forward and with all eyes on the telecoms sector, analysts opined that the new licences being issued by the regula-

Telecoms Mast tor would open the sector to more players, thereby engendering increasing competition in the sector and investments. Already, the NCC on February 19 auctioned the 30MHz slot of the 2.3 gigahertz spectrum to Bitflux, which is a consortium of three companies. In addition, licences are to be issued to seven new infrastructure companies (InfraCos), before the end of 2014 in a move to deepen broadband infrastructure rollout across the country. Following the auction of the remaining 30MHz spectrum in the 2.3GHz band in February this year, the commission has concluded fresh arrangement to license another available frequency slot in the 3.5GHz band. According to the regulator, “NCC, in exercise of its functions enshrined in the NCC Act 2003, is pleased to announce to in-

terested public, the availability of 3.5GHz band in some states and the federal capital territory, which the commission is willing to sell to the public.” The spectrum is available in 27 states and Abuja, the capital territory, with all the states having 25 MHz bandwidth available, except for Abuja that has only 20 MHz bandwidth available. The spectrum is expected to be licensed on a state by state basis in the states where it is available, which means that winners of the spectrum licence will operate within the state or states where the licence is situated.In the meantime, the Commission has asked interested candidates to submit application of interest, to enable it come up with a timetable for the auction. Also, the 700MHz spectrum band licence is also planned for auctioning next year.According to analysts, the issuance of all these spectrum licences would go a long way in helping the country to transmit the huge international bandwidth brought by undersea cables, across the nooks and crannies of the country to make more services available Nigerians. Today, international bandwidth in Nigeria has increased about 26 times to more than 9,000 gigabits per second (9 terabits) over the past four years. Another factor is the need-driven demand in the area of data. Telecoms experts have noted that data being truly driven by broadband network is the next frontier for telecoms revenues. Currently in the country, individuals, businesses and government are having avid taste for data services. Latest industry data by the regulator has indicated that there were 129 million active telephone subscriptions in the country as at the end of February, 2013. Of this figure, 63.4 million are active mobile internet subscriptions on the GSM networks, indicating that there is increasing demand for data-enabled services. The improving connectivity and increase in businesses done online is also spurring the need for data centers. For instance, one market research firm suggests that Nigeria, which is Africa’s most populous country, will have almost tripled its online purchases in just three years to more than $1 billion by 2014. This compares with South Africa, whose e-commerce sales were just 4 billion rand ($409 million) last year, according to research firm, World Wide Worx, estimates.The number of payments in Nigeria made by mobile phone’s more than doubled to 2.4 million in the first half of 2012 from the same period a year earlier, while Internet payments rose 9.3 per cent, according to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Analysis of telecoms sector has also revealed that there are low level Internet penetration points to pent-up demand translating to opportunities. Broadband penetration has been quoted at six per cent with plan to further deepen the penetration by close to 30 per cent in the next few years.Indeed, new policies, such as the National Broadband Plan and others, are also going to play a key role in making Nigeria’s telecoms sector an attractive investment destination. As at the middle of 2012, the telecoms sector had recorded a whopping $25 billion local and Foreign Direct Investment, up from the $500, 000 recorded in 2001 with a plan to double the $25 billion in the next years. Broadband is prided as being the potential investment booster for the industry. The NCC’s Open Access Model will continue to be another fillip to increasing growth in the contribution of telecoms sector to the nation’s GDP. The model will provide for more collaboration and in form of infrastructure-sharing business model among the operators and this is also expected to put telecoms ahead in its role to the economy in the new rebased GDP era. Lastly, the Liberalisation of the sector, which has ensured freedom of the NCC, according to experts, is another key factor that will encourage new investment in the industry and expansion.

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Mobile Software Solutions offers leeway in tackling malaria with technology By Adeyemi Adepetun HEAD of this year’s World A Malaria day on April 25 and winning the fight against this menace, the involvement of technology has been stressed. According to a Nigerian startup firm, Mobile Software Solutions Limited, technology can to a larger extent help to mitigate the impact of malaria scourge on the populace. For effect, Mobile Software Solutions, which is introducing the Malaria Destroyer Game (MDG), stressed the importance of increased political commitment and expanded funding in Nigeria. The firm explained that MDG is a newly developed solution can help reduce cases of malaria by 50 per cent. A World Health Organisation’s Malaria Report 2011 informed that in 2010,

approximately 216 million malaria cases and 655,000 malaria deaths occurred. According to the firm, this year’s theme is “Invest in the future. Defeat Malaria”, stressing that the introduction of technology to fight malaria may have accelerated the hope to save more lives than ever before. Chairman of Mobile Software Solutions, Chris Uwaje said that the world can save more lives by introducing the right technologies to fight and destroy malaria, since majority of the death are due to ignorance, adding that Information Technology is therefore the sustainable answer and solution for Africa’s malaria problem and Nigeria can lead the fight to destroy malaria by example – through her current mobile phone ubiquitous advantage. Uwaje who is also the imme-

diate past president of the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON), said that technology is imperative for surveillance and monitoring. The former ISPON boss said reports have it that malaria still kills an estimated 627 000 people every year, mainly children under five years of age in sub-Saharan Africa, adding that in 2013, 97 countries had on-going malaria transmission. Every year, more than 200 million cases occur; most of these cases are never tested or registered. Emerging drug and insecticide resistance threaten to reverse recent gains. According to Uwaje, Nigeria must adopt technology strategy and apply the mobile phone and App advantage, where Nigeria currently has a lead.

He said the application will be deployed online to reach 50-250 million mobile phones and offline on personal computers/tablets to reach 20-50 million students in tertiary institutions in Africa, adding that it is a full graphics animated mobile game, which runs across all mobile platforms – Apple IOS, Andriod, Blackberry, Symbian, among others.” “With more than 120 million mobile phones in the hands of Nigerians, we now have the capability to engage and destroy the malaria. Malaria Destroyer Game is the ultimate solution” he added. MDG deploys and applies technology to reach millions of people world-wide and destroy malaria. According to Uwaje, “the MDG is a digital knowledgeentertainment and educational mobile psycho-game,

and is endorsed by the United Nations (UNESCO Chair on eLearning for Africa), Open Media, Centre for Values and Leadership, University of Tampere, Finland, among others” “The application/solution is geared towards the eradication of malaria in Africa and the world over. Its central focus is to ensure that Nigeria attains a fundamental requirement of the United Nations’ Millennium

Development Goals. The strategy aims to reduce the cost of lost productivity in Nigeria and Africa by 50 per cent by 2015.” The MDG aims to bring more to intuition the awareness on how to fight/eradicate mosquitoes from the environment thereby preventing malaria and early death of African children.

Firms hold seminar on data centre management HE improving connectivT ity and increase in businesses done online is spurring the need for data centres. These infrastructures are expected to provide reliable Internet access and host information for clients such as banks, phone companies, government bodies, and a growing number of dot-com businesses. In view of this, Global InfoSwift, an indigenous Information & Communications Technology (ICT) firm, in strategic partnership with TechXact Group, a leader in designing, developing, implementing, and supporting robust, reliable, fully redundant, highly secured, highly available, and highly scalable Data Center and Infrastructure Solutions with the lowest cost of ownership possible, and the largest provider of Professional Data Center Training Seminars, is hosting a Data Centre Seminar May 5 to 9, in Lagos. TechXact provides the most unique and comprehensive

data centre training programmes worldwide, specifically designed for executives, CIOs, CTOs, ICT & data center managers, consultants, senior operators, project managers, engineers, designers & planners. President, TechXact Group Corporation, USA, Mehdi Paryavi said the main challenge in data centres today is that issues are not being handled by the right people. “Unfortunately, the challenges today are mostly being addressed by vendors which are not the ideal pursuit for the Information Technology (IT) industry”, he said. Deputy Director, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Chidi Umeano will deliver the keynote address and Solomon Edun, Managing Director, Global InfoSwift, is the chief host. The training seminar focuses on the fundamentals as well as essentials in order to evaluate, design, build, and manage advanced data centres at the optimum efficiency and cost effectiveness.

Telecoms service challenges beyond operators CONTINUED FROM PAGE 35 structural and environmental challenges. Indeed, reports have it in the last few years, about N2 trillion invidually and collectively by the operators have gone into network infrastructure upgrades across the country. The ATCON boss noted for example that to get people in the rural areas to have access to broadband network is to encourage operators to deploy infrastructure in the rural areas, stressing that particular attention has to be placed on small operators who are more flexible than the big ones to go to rural areas to deploy services. According to him, the operators have to be given necessary incentives like grants and license exempt frequencies, as it is been done in many other countries. Interestingly, today, Nigeria’s telecommunications sector, whose worth is put at over $25 billion; growing on a yearly basis of 30 per cent, which President Goodluck Jonathan affirmed to at the last International Telecommunications Union (ITU) conference, in Bangkok, Thailand, contributes currently about 8.53 per cent to the GDP. According to NCC’s statistics; Nigeria has close to 130 million active subscribers, while about 155 million lines are connected as at February, from a meager of 400, 000 lines in 2000. The country, which according to the World Bank has about 170 million currently, has a teledensity of over 90 per cent. Indeed, the last 13 years of the telecommunications revolution has been tremendous in Nigeria, but one thing kept soiling its image—-poor quality of service, though not limited to the country, but the impact appears very huge in the country.

A connected USB stick

Wednesday, April 23, 2014 i-Tech & Telecoms

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Nokia X demonstrates class, innovation OR a long while, people Fbuilthave clamored for a Nokia Android device, especially when looking at what competitions are enthroning. Today, the device has been unveiled. The Android smartphone, which was first unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain in February, comes in three specs including Nokia X, the Nokia X+, and the Nokia XL. The Nokia X is a dual-SIM device, so it’s great for traveling internationally or for those that need multiple connections to stay in touch with family or business. The dual SIM smartphone comes with a fresh, tie-based user interface inspired by the Lumia including fastlane features, which aid simplicity and enhance the consumer experience. From a design perspective, the Nokia X does exude that Nokia look and feel that have become familiar with, and although it’s not nearly as premium as Nokia’s flagship devices, the build quality actually isn’t that bad, and it actually feels pretty solid in the hand. It’s a little bit on the thick side, at 10.4 millimeters, but overall it feels pretty small and compact. The outer shell is comprised of a soft touch rubbery material, which lends to a great in-hand feel and gives the phone a very nice grip. The device runs on the Nokia X software platform and powered by a 1GHz dual core Qualcomm Snap dragon processor.

On the right side, the phone has the standard power and volume keys, which are actually pretty tactile and responsive. On the top of the device is 3.5 mm headset jack, along with the micro USB port on the bottom, and following along the back, is a three megapixel camera with a sin-

gle speaker in the bottom right corner. On the front of the device is a single back button flanking the bottom of the display instead of the standard array of Android buttons. The outer shell is removable, giving access to the two SIM slots, the microSD which supports up to 32Bg, and the 1500 mAh hour battery. Though, scrolling can be a little janky at times, and while native applications like the dialer, messaging, and contacts open up reasonably quick, third party apps like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, load within seconds. According to analysts, combination of the features will resonate with consumers globally, especially the techy ones, and set a great precedent for the level of quality that can be achieved in the fast growing smartphone market.

Dataflex bags Oracle award for solution T the just concluded ORAA CLE Partner Day in Accra, Ghana, Dataflex Nigeria was honoured with the 2014 Oracle ‘Specialized Partner Of The Year Award’ for Servers and Storage. This was the first time Oracle had organized an award ceremony in this region since its purchase of Sun Microsystems over two years ago. Dataflex Nigeria, in a statement, said it greatly values her partnership with ORACLE,

which is just a little over one year. This recognition of Dataflex by Oracle is attributed to the huge investments in human and Capital resources DATAFLEX have committed itself to since the inception of its partnership. According to Oracle VP Africa Operations, Janusz Naklicki, “Dataflex has shown it is a partner of focus to watch and work with as Oracle expands its strength in the African Market’.

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Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Maritime Govt to tackle grey areas in transport bills

Jonathan By Moses Ebosele

COMMITTEE headed by VicePresident Namadi Sambo has been raised by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to address grey areas in all transport sector bills including the National Transport Commission (NTC) Bill and the Ports and Harbours Bill. Minister of Transport, Idris Umar who spoke at a stakeholders’ forum in Lagos organised by the Nigeria Shippers’ Council (NSC) explained that delay in the passage of transport sector reform bills was due to pending issues raised by some members of FEC. Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport, Nebolisa Emordi, an engineer, Umar pledged to carry all stakeholders along in the on-going reform efforts. Already, the Vice-President has raised another sub-committee headed by the Attorney General of the federation to harmonised various positions. Emordi said: “The honourable Minister has presented this memo after which the Attorney General vetted it but due to certain issues raised by the Federal Executive Council, Mr. President had to set up a committee under the vice president to make sure that all issues are addressed before the representation to FEC for approval”. He added: “The Vice President has since set up another sub-committee headed by the Attorney General and as soon as they finish their work, I believe within the next three, four weeks all these things will be completed and a representation will be made to the FEC.” Meanwhile, Seaport Terminals under the aegis of Seaport and Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) has blamed Federal Government agencies for not keeping all aspect of the concession agreement entered into in 2006. The group described lack of public power supply to the terminal as additional cost to their operations,

Bello

Haastrup “while still paying Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) electricity bill”. Chairman of the group, Princess Vicky Haastrup who spoke on behalf of members at the stakeholders’ forum urged NPA to consider putting independent power plant production in place. According to Haastrup, Multiplicity of service process by customary government agencies in the port and frictions among maritime statutory agencies due to alleged overlapping functions constitute bottleneck to international best practices in seaport terminal operations. “Port access vehicular traffic control system is chaotic. It has reduced the turnaround time of trucks resulting in high cost of haulage and congestion of the terminals. Dependency on only one mode of transport for movement of cargo from the port terminal is a big challenge”, Haastrup added. The group also described what it identified as “uncoordinated and high level on unprofessionalism of freight forwarders” as one of the factors responsible for improper documentation “that delays cargo release”. The group also made reference to what they identified as inconsistent government policy and cumbersome documentation procedures such as Risk Assessment Report (RAR) to Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR), adding that it is a challenge and “hindrance to prompt cargo delivery from the terminals”. Calling for a stronger collaboration among stakeholders, Haastrup said there are bright prospects for ports terminal operations in Nigeria especially with the appointment of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council as interim Economic Regulator of the ports. Haastrup said: “This is only if the Council will be ready to take up this challenging assignment to sanitize the Ports and rid it of intruders and their undesirable activities”. She added: ”The Council must be decisive in its regulatory role so as to

ensure uniformity in the imposition of charges and fees. It must also ensure that only those necessarily required to be operating at the Ports are allowed to operate. “In doing this, the Council must be consistent, independent, accountable, transparent, and predictable. “There is need to urgently pass the port and harbour bill still in the National Assembly to give legal backing to the concession programme. “The Shippers’ Council as current commercial regulator should be an unbiased umpire therefore ensuring that every stakeholder including ministries, departments and government agencies (MDGs) play their role very well “There must be establishment of national coast guard to check water front security threats, and deal with sea piracy, which should be independent of all existing military / paramilitary agencies. “There is need for long term lease instead of current short term lease. This will encourage concessionaires to inject more capital to various areas of concession in order to guarantee returns on this capital-intensive port operation. “Development of rail network and inland water ways to de-emphasize port road over land conveyance. “Expansion and regular maintenance of port access roads. Relocation of farm tanks installa-

tions within the port area to ease access to the Port. Effective Customs’ on-line service connectivity to all stakeholders for a seamless port operation. The need to have bigger berth draft in the port system “For more prospects that the maritime industry portends, in terms of employment, revenue and international relevance, the federal government should encourage indigenous investors by maintaining stable policies and keeping to its end of the agreement on the concessions. “The Federal Government generates a lot of revenue from the Port Terminal. The recent policy somersault on imports resulted in revenue drop across board, even in the Nigerian Customs, whose revenue dropped from N191.3Billion in the first quarter of 2013 to N77.9 Billion in same period of 2014. “Port operation is capital intensive therefore financial concession should be given to terminal operators especially when government policies adversely affect the throughput and guaranteed minimum tonnage (GMT) of the terminals”. The Chairman Governing Board of the Nigerian Shippers Council, Lt General Salihu Ibrahim (rtd) and the Executive Secretary/ Chief Executive Officer, Hassan Bello, said the appointment of the agency as Economic Regulator is in line with

the present administration’s transformation agenda. Various stakeholders who spoke at the event said the appointment of NSC as economic regulator is expected to empower the Council to perform its functions without difficulties. The Director-General Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Patrick Akpobolokemi, in his submission, called for regular meeting of stakeholders to discussion the proposed regulatory functions of the Shippers Council. Highlighting gains recorded since the ports were concessioned in 2006, the Terminal Operators said: “Improved quick turn-around time of vessels. Vessels that were spending weeks and months now spend few days to complete discharge. “High cargo throughput: unprecedented high cargo traffic were handled by concessionaires in terms of cargo tonnage and Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs). For instance before 2006 Apapa port handled only a maximum of 1.2million metric tonnes per year whereas ENL Consortium alone has handled over 4million metric tonnes in one year. “High berth occupancy rate of ninety percent (90%) has been achieved until recent economic policies that are diverting vessels for Nigeria to neighbouring countries”.

Firm takes delivery of cargo barge N line with its expansion agenda, the area of offshore towage”. Offshore Limited, Dr. Emi Idelivery Elshcon Nigeria Limited has taken A press statement explained that with Membere–Otaji, commended the of another 3,800 gross ton- the increasing deep-water oilfield devel- Federal Government for “vigorously nage ballast/cargo barge, identified as “ENL Triumph 2” and an anchor handling tug, “Nelson 2”. The vessels, which according to the company weathered through the worst tropical cyclone in the Indian Ocean on their way to Nigeria from Singapore are expected to further “practice the Nigerian Content act in

opment not only in Nigeria but also in Africa in general, towage marine services are increasingly becoming relevant. According to the statement, Elshcon is a wholly Nigerian owned company in the deep-water towage marine business. In his remark, Managing Director of Elshcon Nigeria Limited and Elshcon

pursuing the Local Content policy”. He also commended the Federal Government for engaging banks to fund new vessel acquisition so that Nigerian ship owners can compete effectively with their foreign peers. Membere-Otaji also used the opportunity to thank Access Bank for partnering with the company.

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Wreck-removal convention comes into force in 2015 HE Nairobi International T Convention on the Removal of Wrecks will enter into force on April 14, 2015 following the deposit, on 14 April 2014, of an instrument of ratification by Denmark, with the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Among several provisions, the Convention will place financial responsibility for the removal of certain hazardous wrecks on ship owners, making insurance, or some other form of financial security, compulsory. Denmark became the 10th country to ratify the convention, thereby triggering its entry into force exactly 12 months later. The Convention will fill a gap in the existing international

legal framework by providing the first set of uniform international rules aimed at ensuring the prompt and effective removal of wrecks located beyond a country’s territorial sea. The Convention also contains a clause that enables States Parties to ‘opt in’ to apply certain provisions to their territory, including their territorial sea. The Convention will provide a sound legal basis for States to remove, or have removed, shipwrecks that may have the potential to affect adversely the safety of lives, goods and property at sea, as well as the marine and coastal environment. It will make ship owners financially liable and require them to take out

insurance or provide other financial security to cover the costs of wreck removal. It will also provide States with a right of direct action against insurers. Articles in the Convention cover: •Reporting and locating ships and wrecks - covering the reporting of casualties to the nearest coastal State; warnings to mariners and coastal States about the wreck; and action by the coastal State to locate the ship or wreck; •Criteria for determining the hazard posed by wrecks, including depth of water above the wreck, proximity of shipping routes, traffic density and frequency, type of traffic and vulnerability of port

facilities. Environmental criteria such as damage likely to result from the release into the marine environment of cargo or oil are also included; •Measures to facilitate the removal of wrecks, including rights and obligations to remove hazardous ships and wrecks - which sets out when the ship owner is responsible for removing the wreck and when a State may intervene; •Liability of the owner for the costs of locating, marking and removing ships and wrecks - the registered ship owner is required to maintain compulsory insurance or other financial security to cover liability under the convention; and settlement of disputes. Although the incidence of

marine casualties has decreased in recent years, mainly thanks to the work of IMO and the persistent efforts of Governments and industry to enhance safety in shipping operations, the number of abandoned wrecks has reportedly increased and, as a result, the problems they cause to coastal States and shipping in general have become more acute. There are a number of problems: first, and depending on its location, a wreck may constitute a hazard to navigation, potentially endangering other vessels and their crews; second, and of equal concern, depending on the nature of the cargo, is the potential for a wreck to cause

substantial damage to the marine and coastal environments; third, in an age where goods and services are becoming increasingly expensive, is the issue of the costs involved in the marking and removal of hazardous wrecks; and fourth, most of the dangerous wrecks lie in shallow coastal waters, within the territorial sea, where coastal States have unrestricted rights to remove them, without engagement of the shipowner. The convention attempts to resolve all of these and other, related, issues. The Convention was adopted by a five-day International Conference at the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON), Kenya, in 2007.

COSCO Vessel

Customs generates N2.1b at Seme border in Q1 By Moses Ebosele

OR the 2014 first quarter, Fof the the Seme Area Command Nigeria custom service (NCS) collected a total of two billion, one hundred and thirty three million, seven hundred and seventy six thousand, three hundred and sixty seven naira thirty one kobo (N2,133,776,367.31) as revenue. According to the command, the amount surpassed the sum of N1,858,206,624.95 realised within the same period last year(2013). The command within the same period also made 252 seizures with duty paid value of N140,575,660.00 and handed over narcotics and artifacts to the relevant government agencies. A statement issued by the command’s Public Relation Officer (PRO), Ernest Olottah has reiterated its to fight smuggling and facilitate legitimate trade while collecting all revenue due to the Government. Willy Egbudin, the Customs Area Controller of the command had last year emphasised on the need to ensure that no area of revenue leakage is tolerated either

through under declaration, concealment or outright smuggling. The seizures include motor vehicles, rice, frozen poultry products, vegetable oil, secondhand clothes, narcotics, and cartons of soap, among others. The statement said: “The seized narcotics were handed over to operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for investigation and possible prosecution of suspects.“ Explaining further, the statement said: “Within same period, the command also handed seized artifacts worth $16,870 (Sixteen thousand, eight hundred and seventy dollars) to the National Council for Museums and Monuments (NCMM). “In the month of March 2014, the command did not only try to meet its monthly revenue target but, reinvigorated all patrols as the customs area controller, ensured that the full work force of the command was on ground to provide round the clock security and preventing importation of prohibited and unwholesome substances”. The command recently

impounded not less than 800 bags of rice hidden a truck loaded with pineapples. According to Egbudin, the 800 bags of rice were hidden under a truck with Benin Republic registration number. He said the truck was intercepted at Aradagun/Mowo, near Badagry, Lagos State at midnight on Feb. 18, 2014, adding “These seizures were made due to intelligence gathering we were able to get with the help of our officers”. Explaining further, he said:

"Our men had monitored the truck right from the loading point and allowed it to enter Nigeria. "It was intercepted at Aradagun/Mowo near Badagry where the bags of rice were hidden under pineapples". Already, according to Egbudin, the driver of the truck confessed that few days before his arrest, he tried a similar operation but was not successful. “He confessed that he loaded a locally constructed vehicle with about 40 bags

of rice and covered it with pineapples to experiment to see if he would catch the security agencies napping. "The car and goods were impounded but he was able to escape," he said. He added that the driver was undergoing interrogation and would be charged to court. Also recently, the command made a seizure of rice, boat with outboard engine and vehicles for conveyance valued at N7.5m.

Dikko

IMO, Bangladesh seal pact on ship recycling HE International Maritime and tant, second only to neighAshadul Islam, T Organization (IMO) and Additional bouring India in terms of volSecretary, the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh have signed an agreement to work together to improve safety and environmental standards in the country’s ship-recycling industry. A Memorandum of Understanding formalizing the cooperation between the two was signed recently by Nicolaos Charalambous, Director, Technical Cooperation Division, IMO

Economic Relations Division of the Ministry of Finance of the Government of Bangladesh. IMO and Bangladesh are expected to jointly implement a project entitled “Safe and Environmentally Sound Ship Recycling in Bangladesh – Phase I”. With an annual gross tonnage capacity of more than 8.8 million, the Bangladesh ship recycling industry is one of the world’s most impor-

ume. The project, which also aimed at improving standards and sustainability within the industry, will consist of five work packages, covering studies on economic and environmental impacts coupled with the management of hazardous materials and wastes, recommendations on strengthening the Government’s One-Stop Service.

IMO explained that the principal funding for the project will come from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), while the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (BRS) will also support the project by mobilizing some European Union funding towards the work package related to the management of hazardous materials, which will partly be implemented by BRS.

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Industry ‘Investments in value chains to aid intervention funds’ access’ Stories by Femi Adekoya OLLOWING the growing Fnesses concern on inability of busito access intervention funds, stakeholders within the real sector have advocated continued investments in the value chain process as a means of attracting funds to viable businesses. Indeed, the stakeholders comprising the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Bank of industry (BoI) among others noted that increasing access to intervention funds have become necessary in the face of poor access to finance and high cost of credit from the conventional lending institutions in Nigeria. According to the chamber, it has become pertinent for stakeholders to review and share briefs on the various intervention funds and how to improve access to the funds. Acting Managing Director, BoI, Waheed Olagunju, while speaking at a seminar organised by the financial services group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Lagos recently, noted that the bank as part of its strategy in driving the Federal Government’s transformation agenda developed a value chain finance model to cater for processes that would aid the country’s industrialization. Olagunju, who was represented by the Assistant General Manager, Joseph Okechukwu in his presentation, ‘Intervention funds: The journey so far’, added that as government’s fund manager for some intervention funds, the bank is assessing intervention needs in different industries with a view to addressing the gaps created by funding challenges. Olagunju explained that the intervention in the agribusiness sector is geared towards encouraging a shift from primary to manufactured products; traditional technologies to modern technologies and innovation; comparative advantage to competitiveness; and production to market orientation.

According to him, such intervention would aid investments in the value chain processes. For instance, in the automotive sector, the bank explained that it was partnering the National Automotive Council on the establishment of six prototype mechatronics centres. He said the centres, which have been equipped by NAC from the NAC-AD Fund, was aimed at capacity building of auto-technicians and improving the skills of auto technicians in handling modern diagnostic equipment to carry out routine servicing and maintenance of new generation vehicles. He identified the centres saying: “The centres are Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu; Rivers State Polytechnic, Bori; Kaduna State Polytechnic, Kaduna; Metallurgical Training Institute, Onitsha; Federal College of Education, Gombe and Federal Science and Technical College, Orozo, Abuja. “Collaboration is also in place with reputable microfinance banks for on-lending to auto technicians to enable them acquire simple modern tools while a portion of the loan is being deployed through other financial institutions for procurement of locally assembled vehicles.” According to him, the NAC facility is currently being provided at 7.50 per cent interest rate for term loan and 10 per cent for working capital loan. On the Cotton, Textile and Garment Fund, meant for resuscitating existing CTG projects, Olagunju said N51.326bn has been disbursed to sixty projects since the inception of the scheme. He added that as of December 31, 2013, 77 applications amounting to N58.603bn have been approved. He, however, said the manufacturing and Small and Medium Enterprises sector were still plaqued by heavy debt, especially to commercial banks due to high cost of fund in the acquisition of operating assets. According to him, there also

is less than 30 per cent industrial capacity utilisation resulting from lack of power supply, while dependence on high import with the associated foreign exchange risk remains a major challenge resulting in the inability to compete in the global market place. The President, LCCI, Alhaji Remi Bello, explained the seminar was aimed at provid-

ing a platform for BOI, and other stakeholders to meet with the business community to share briefs on the various intervention funds. He said the major concern has been how to improve access to the various intervention funds established to cater for certain categories of business. “The intervention funds have become necessary in the face

Olagunju

of poor access to finance and high cost of credit from the conventional lending institutions in Nigeria,” he said. The Chairperson, LCCI Financial Group, Mrs. Olajumoke Fashanu, stated that in every developing economy, such as Nigeria, the financial services sector is confronted with various challenges. She said, “As part of its contri-

butions towards the development of this sector, interactive sessions such as this are organised by our group to give participants from diverse corporate lineage an opportunity to express their views on topical issues and proffer solutions to challenges and problems that may confront them in the course of their business operations.

Bello

NACCIMA, Namibia deepen bilateral ties with agreement O further promote mutual T business cooperation between Nigeria and Namibia, the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), the apex Business Association in Nigerian has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) to such end. According to a statement by NACCIMA, the MoU, which is aimed at promoting mutual business cooperation between the two countries, was signed

at the Nigeria-Namibia Business and Trade Forum held in Windhoek, Namibia, recently. Indeed, the Memorandum of Understanding is expected to yield joint venture partnerships for the private sector of both countries. NACCIMA National President, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar, who was represented at the Forum by a National Vice President of the Association, Ide John Udeagbala expressed hope that the MoU would consolidate business deals that would be beneficial to both countries.

Udeagbala explained that the peculiar challenges of Nigerian business and investment environment like that of Namibia have tremendously improved with numerous opportunities in Agriculture, Manufacturing, Solid Mineral, Oil and Gas, Tourism, Electricity (Power) and Telecommunication. The President of Namibia Chamber of Commerce, Martha Namundjebo-Tilahun said the agreement is expected to yield joint venture partnerships for the private sector of both countries, as she appealed for exchange of rele-

vant know-how where appropriate for the promotion of economic cooperation. The Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade & Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, led discussion on areas of cooperation between the two countries, while commending NACCIMA for its efforts in collaborating with the government to achieve speedy economic transformation plan. Areas of collaboration identified during the discussion include mining, tourism, oil and gas, as well as agriculture.

enough extension. What we are saying now is that there is no room for further extension. Every product irrespective of where it comes from, must have identification marks acceptable by us and the reason for that is to help trace these products at any point in time whether it is in a failed building or markets so that we can say that this product has come from a particular company.” He said the agency is doing its best to carry out its mandate of ensuring compliance with standards and also helping to create the right atmosphere and environment for the Nigerian industrial sector to harness its potential by ridding it of substandard products.

Managing Director, Real Infrastructure Steel Limited, Subhash Gupta, while speaking during the verification exercise, described the move as a welcome development that would further help the sanitisation of the sector. He said his company identified with the agency’s resolve in the area of quality while advising that the local operating environment be made more conducive for manufacturing companies generally, and steel firms to do their activities profitably. “In 2013, the company launched the thermal mechanical treatment bars (TMT bars) in the Nigerian market so as to reduce the importation of TMT bars and eliminate total importation in the nearest future”.

SON reappraises audit of steel industry S part of measures towards A ensuring that only iron and steel products that meet the minimum acceptable standards in terms of tensile strength and chemical composition are allowed to circulate in the nation’s market, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), commenced an audit of activities within the steel sector. Besides, operators within the steel sector have urged the Federal Government to ban importation of the product into the country going by ability of local manufacturers to meet market demand as well as to encourage increased participation within the sector. The exercise, which saw the agency paying unscheduled, visits to firms and carrying

•Operators seek ban on product’s importation out on-the-spot assessment of steel products in Lagos and Ogun States is part of efforts to bring sanity in the industry. It could be recalled that the agency had last year embarked on a first phase of the verification exercise with emphasis on establishing the reliability of data presented in the steel sector in Nigeria, especially their installed capacity; the current production capacity; employment generation and contribution to the overall growth of the economy. In the renewed exercise last week, the SON team visited and assessed companies within Lagos and Ogun states, some of which include, Monarch Steel Mills, and Real

Infrastructure Nigeria Limited. Director-General, SON, Dr. Joseph Odumodu who led the verification team, said the exercise was necessitated by the need to ensure that companies were adhering to established standards and guidelines. He said: “The annual requirement for enforcement bars in Nigeria is about 1.8 million metric tonnes and the industry installed capacity is about that number. The operators are saying that they have a challenge of using only 75 percent of this number. As a result of this, we have an opportunity to import some of these products but we are

saying is that the locally produced ones already have a set of criteria like the identification marks but some of these products imported into the country do not have identification marks making it difficult for traceability. “We cannot be producing the same quality of steel as the imported ones and then, the imported ones would take over the market. This anomaly should not be allowed, as local steel companies are creating jobs for Nigerians and supporting the policies and programmes of the federal government. They should not be allowed to suffer. “A directive was given in 2010 that there should be a code on every reinforcement bars in the country which we gave

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MarketReport EQUITY MARKET SUMMARY

AS AT 22-04-2014

PRIMERA AFRICA www.primera-africa.com

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MARKET INDICATORS

AS AT 22-04-2014

PRIMERA AFRICA

NSE’s market capitalisation depreciates by N97b Stories by Helen Oji ESPITE price gains that D outweighed losses, equity transactions on the Nigerian Stock Exchange re-opened on a downward note yesterday, as market capitalisation slides by N97 billion. Also, investors exchanged 372.431million shares valued at N4.955 billion in 4984 deals. This is against 788.934 million shares valued at N5.695 billion traded previously by investors in 4385 deals. Specifically, market capitalisation of listed equities stood depreciated by N97 billion from N12,927 trillion recorded last week Thursday to N12,830 trillion N12.830 trillion while All Share index rose by 96.73 basis points to 39408.33 points from 39311.60 pointed traded previously. The drop in indices, may, however, be attributed to the two-day holiday to commemorate Easter celebration. An analysis of the transaction showed that Larfarge Wapco led gainers table growing by N1.98 kobo to close at N111.99 kobo , Okomu Oil Palm followed with a gain of N1.78 kobo to close at N37.80 kobo, PZ Cusson gained N1.67 kobo to close at N35.12 kobo while Total and Stanbic IBTC grew by N1.50 kobo and N1.03 kobo respectively to close at N164.00 and N22.39 kobo. On the

Specifically, market capitalisation of listed equities stood depreciated by N97 billion from N12,927 trillion recorded last week Thursday to N12,830 trillion N12.830 trillion while All Share index rose by 96.73 basis points to 39408.33 points from 39311.60 pointed traded previously. contrary, Nestle Nigeria Plc recorded the highest loss for the day, shedding N38.90 kobo to close at N1111.00, Seplat trailed with a lose of N33.33 kobo to close at N633.46 kobo while UBA loss N0.30 kobo to close at N6.75 kobo . Others were Redstarex and Nascon which declined by N.0.15 each to close at N4.06 kobo and N11.40 kobo respectively. FBN Holdings was traded the highest volume of shares, exchanging 149.224 million shares valued at N1.865 billion, Skyebank followed with account of 33.720 million shares valued at N117.146 million while GTBank sold 24.746 million shares cost N679.144 million. United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 24.494 million shares worth N166.021 million and Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) exchanged 18.769 million share valued at N70.330 million

NSE to include Lafarge Cement among ‘high priced stocks’ HE Nigerian Stock T Exchange (NSE) has concluded plans to add Lafarge Cement WAPCO Plc to the number of companies existing under the high priced stocks, as part of its plans to improve liquidity and deepen the market. The Head, Market Operations of the NSE, Ade Ewuosho explained that initially, for the price of any stock to move upwards or downwards, the brokers needed to have a volume of 50,000 shares and above. He pointed out that with the introduction of NSE pilot programme for its new market structure and the rollout of market making, stockbrokers can move prices of some high priced stocks with 10,000 shares. These ‘High Priced Stocks’, according to him, are securities that have traded an average of N100 or more per share in four out of the last six months period. Justifying the inclusion of Lafarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria Plc in the high priced stocks profile, the Head, Market Surveillance of the NSE, Abimbola Babalola said a review of trading activities of the company in the last six months showed that the company met the criteria set by the Exchange. “The Exchange commenced the pilot programme with

The Exchange commenced the pilot programme with nine stocks -Dangote Cement, Guinness Plc, Nestle Plc, Nigerian Breweries, SIM Capital Fund, Skye Shelter Fund, Nigerian Energy Sector Fund (NESF) and Total Plc. The Programme became permanent in 2013 and the nine initial pilot stocks remained. Lafarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria Plc will become the 10th stock on the programme. nine stocks -Dangote Cement, Guinness Plc, Nestle Plc, Nigerian Breweries, SIM Capital Fund, Skye Shelter Fund, Nigerian Energy Sector Fund (NESF) and Total Plc. The Programme became permanent in 2013 and the nine initial pilot stocks remained. Lafarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria Plc will become the 10th stock on the programme. “We have observed that the prices of these ‘High Priced Stocks’ have been rather stable with none falling below the N100 mark which is currently the benchmark” said Babalola. Stockbrokers would be able to move the prices of Lafarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria.” he said.

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Midweek Arts Countdown to Soyinka at 80 begins with Life Paintings show By Tajudeen Sowole HEAD of the 80th birthday celebration of A Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka in July, an exhibition of the celebrant’s life paintings recorded as part of The Living legends project will be mounted from tomorrow through mid-July, 2014 at the Ogun State Cultural Center, Kuto, Abeokuta, Ogun State. The exhibition, according to the organizers, also marks the 5th edition of WS80 International Cultural Exchange programme. Accompanying the display will be a weekly workshop session for secondary school students drawn from many schools in Ogun State, stated Alhaji Teju Kareem, CEO of Zmirage Multimedia Company and Executive Producer of the WS80-ICE project. He added: “It will serve as a source of inspiration to youths who will be availed the opportunity of attending daily workshops during the 80 days’ display.” Kareem also disclosed that the exhibition, which is in conjunction with the Ogun State Ministry of Education, and Culture and Tourism “will be declared open by His Excellency the Executive Governor of Ogun State at 11am tomorrow.” Among other dignitaries, Soyinka is expected to grace the opening with notable artists, art patrons and collectors. The works were among the volume of life paintings and sculptures produced during the maiden edition of The Living Legend Series coordinated and curated by Olu Ajayi Studios. About 20 artists of diverse orientations and techniques had few years back hosted the Nobel laureate in a Studio session, and painted him life. Since it began, The Living Legend Series had also featured Prof Yusuf Grillo, Dr Bruce Onobrakpeya, Oba of Benin, Omo’Noba N’edo Erediauwa Uku Akpolokpolo, and lately Prof. John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo. The project is an initiative to preserve, document, promote and celebrate distinguished Nigerians that have exhibited exemplary character and contributed positively to the growth of Nigeria and the world. Olu Ajayi Studio believes that the documentation in painting and sculptures of the immortal deeds and accomplishments of the featured Nigeria’s icons will ignite the spirit of emulation; re-awake national consciousness and patriotism in line with molding the ideal Nigerian citizen. The project commenced in 2008 with the Nobel laureate as a distinguished guest to sit for a life painting and sculpture with twelve artists and two art historians in attendance, which lasted for hours. Lillian Amah-Aluko stated that other highlights of the WS80/ICE programme to mark Soyinka’s 80th birthday in July would include plan to stage 80 performances featuring Poetry/Spoken Word artistes from all over Nigeria, parts of Africa, USA and the UK; the Essay Competition that will feature 80 student-finalists drawn from around Nigeria; command presentations of at least two of Soyinka’s plays, including the hardly-staged Dance Of The Forest’ – which is slated to be presented in the Site-specific theatrical format. There is also the London leg of the programmes that will feature play presentations, advocacy lecture and others. The Open Door Series Project WS is an International Cultural Exchange (ICE) Program designed for the purpose of using the platforms of Literature, Arts and Culture to affirm and uphold the dignity of man. Focusing on the youths as the future of humanity, the ICE seeks to foster unity among mankind regardless of nationality, ethnicity and religion. The Project is a partnership between the Zmirage Multimedia Company and Global NewHaven led by Prof. Segun Ojewuyi of Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, USA, who is co-Executive Producer of the WS/ICE project. The first edition in 2010 fully sponsored by Zmirage Multimedia with support from the Ondo State government, had ICE participants

tour Nigeria, Barbados and London where Mr. Henry Foluso of FOLAG gave generous support and assistance to the project and its team. With the theme Arts and Culture as a Tool for Global Diplomacy, the plays Preemptive by Niyi Coker Jnr. and “Seven” by Rachel Hastings — both directed by Prof. Segun Ojewuyi — were apt and very well received by the audiences at all the venues. The essays for that year had senior and junior categories. The senior version had the theme of the year as its topic while the juniors wrote on The Wole Soyinka I know. With various prizes at stake including an all-expenses paid trip to London which was won by Gbenga Adeniji (a journalist with Punch newspapers), the essay competitions were fun for all the participants. In 2011, the governments of Ogun and Ondo states joined Zmirage in sponsoring the ICE. The tours that year took participants to several states in Nigeria and London. I love my Country was the theme for that year and Dance of Liberation, an adaptation from Wole Soyinka’s Kongi’s Harvest was the play that graced the stage. In Nigeria and London, the audience giggled and asked for more as the dancers gyrated and gesticulated while the actors strutted and pontificated. Also, the essay competition in 2011 took a different form as only secondary school students were allowed to compete. Aaliyah Ibrahim from Zamani College Kaduna emerged victorious and smiled home with a scholarship worth N250,000, a laptop computer and a desk top computer for her school. 2012 was a breakthrough year for the organisers as they had the first platinum sponsor in the Ogun State government of Senator Ibikunle Amosun. However, Ondo State government led by Olusegun Mimiko faithfully continued their friendship and support by again providing substantial sponsorship. Ghana, Nigeria and a London euphorically celebrating the 32nd Olympiad were the tour destinations. The theme, The mind of a patriot resonated in the play Home by Samm Art Williams, directed by Prof. Ojewuyi, which was taken on tour. Prof. Robert Fox of Southern Illinois University, Carbondale delivered the advocacy lecture with

Artistes capturing Prof. Wole Soyinka at the first edition of Living Legends… in Lagos in 2008 the title From Tigritude to transcendence; The Conscience and conscientiousness of Wole Soyinka. Sopuruchi Mgbeahurike of Graceland international secondary school, Port Harcourt won the WS essay trophy and like Aaliyah before her, carted away a scholarship, laptop and desktop. WS78 came to an end with an exciting two-day event in London with dance workshops, lectures and performances. Last year’s edition was the start of the countdown to the 80th year mark – the highlight of which is the grandiose dream to stage 80 performances featuring Poetry/Spoken Word artistes from all over Nigeria, parts of Africa, USA and the UK, for Soyinka’s 80th birthday. Tagged WS79, it took place as usual in Lagos where the students wrote the essay on July 13 under the watchful eyes of the judges led by Dr. Razinat Mohammed. The “Do your own thing” at Freedom park featuring over 600 students from about 20 schools based in Lagos in addition to the 79 essay finalists who came from all over the country also took place on the 13th. The theme for the year was “Memoirs for the Future”. On the 14, the 79 essay finalists, the judges and

Prof. Yusuf Grillo (left); Prof. Soyinka; and David Dale with participating artistes at the event

officials of the ICE project accompanied by teachers, parents and officials of some state ministries of Education all moved in convoy to the office of the Ogun State Governor where the result of the essay competition was announced and prizes presented by the Governor. From there, the convoy moved to the Ijegba estate country home of Prof. Soyinka where the Nobel laureate waited as usual to receive the finalists. The winner presented the trophy to him, the students and officials availed themselves of the graciously offered photo opportunity and finally, the students got the most important gift of all – a question and answer session with the literary giant. For a priceless two hours, the youths threw all manner of questions and Soyinka graciously answered every one. Nothing was out of bounds to his young guests. The action filled day was far from over. From Ijegba estate, the convoy moved to the Ogun State cultural center. They were joined by 1000 Ogun State students colourfully clad in the state’s traditional fabric – adire, a gift from the Project WS79 organizers. The youths had lunch and bonded with each other in the spirit of cultural exchange. Thereafter, First Lady of Ogun State, Mrs Olufunsho Amosun accompanied by the state Commissioner for Health and son of the Nobel laureate, Dr. Olaokun Soyinka arrived. The first lady mentored the youths, there were performances of poetry, spoken words and dances by the students and then the distinguished hosts took photos with the very excited students. And on July 15, the group in convoy again set off for Osun State. The venue was Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU) where the deputy governor, Mrs Grace Laoye Tomori and the First Lady, Mrs. Sherifat Aregbesola received the guests. After an exciting time in Osun, the Nigerian leg of Project WS79 came to an end with the 79 essay finalists departing for their homes. The tour train moved to London where Prof. Wole Soyinka, Mrs. Foluke Soyinka and Mrs Amosun joined several other dignitaries at the public presentation of Memoirs for the Future, a compilation of essays from the WS essay competition over the years. That done, there was a youth summit after which the venerable Nobel laureate took the hot seat and answered questions from adults and youngsters. The overall objective of the project, stressed Amah-Aluko, is “to engrave in the hearts of the youth the uncommon view that education, art and culture are authentic panaceas to fear, violence and their resultant erosion of individual will and self-actualization.”

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She Lives … a living hope for Motunlayo By Omiko Awa HERE is no better way to pay back an incurable giver than to impact on the lives of the indigents and reciprocate the giver’s gesture, especially when he or she in need. It is in the light of this that a photo show is being put together to raise funds to save the life of Motunlayo Adefunke Sofowote, founder/president of Glowing Channels Foundation, a notfor-profit organisation that has in the last 15 years been providing succour to the less-privileged in our society. With the theme She Lives On, the show organised by Mrs. Adefunke Sofowote Cancer-Fighting Fund Team, would run from May 4 to 11 at Freedom Park, Broad Street, Lagos. Mrs. Sofowote has been critically ill since August 2013 and requires urgent financial assistance to enable her continue treatment at the University Teaching Hospital, Lübeck (also known as Universitats Klinikum Schleswig-Holstein, UKSH), in the Northern part of Germany, where she has been hospitalised. Life took a new turn for the lady known for charity, in late 2011, when she was preparing for her yearly Glowing Channels

Foundation charity concert. She took ill and was later diagnosed to have cervical cancer, a deadly ailment that is said to be responsible for the death of a woman in every hour in Nigeria. As her treatment at the EKO Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos, progressed just before Christmas, she found that she was getting weaker and had to be flown to Germany. For a woman who has been very active over the decades, as a writer, motivational speaker, philanthropist and a regular volunteer in a number of activities for the upliftment of humanity, it was a telling sign to slow her down. The 67-year old fondly called ‘Mummy Sofowote’ has since f o u n d herself in repeated life-threatening situations. She

is currently receiving a series of medical treatment at the German hospital. However, close friends and family members have continued to provide fund for her treatment. As a result, some measure of success has been achieved. But the challenge is, a bigger amount of money, which is far beyond the scope of what her immediate family members and friends can afford, is now required. The turn her medical treatment has taken since August 2013 has gone beyond the scope of her immediate family and friends. According to her husband, Segun Sofowote, a renowned dramatist, writer and broadcaster, “every session of treatment she undergoes costs over a million Naira. We need now N35 million — N25 million to pay for her hospital bills, N5 million for her medications and prescriptions and another N5 million for her living expenses in Germany. The costs themselves are threatened by the fluctuating rates of the foreign exchange market.” Mummy Sofowote’s predicament is awkward. Not getting the required financial support at the right time to continue treatment could be critical. She is being taken through a series of treatment regimes that would span over a long period of time. As a result, she is not expected back in the country till about the end of next year. “The exhibition is a creative way of raising the necessary funds for her treatment,” Charles Ayo Dada, the coordinator of the show noted. “The idea is to give back something to the patrons,” he added. In his view, those who would support the cause of this exhibition would come in different categories. His words: “Those pictures have their own appeal, so, there are those who would buy because they love art. And there are those who may be moved to give more than the cost of those pictures, if they see it as a fundraising activity. There would also be those who would buy because of the theme of the activity, particularly because they know the woman at the centre of it all and would want to identify with her project.” As a dedicated part-time photographer with longstanding experience, Mummy Sofowote has quite a unique collection of photographs from which 40 have been selected for the show. “We have had to go through a collection of photographs she had taken over the years to select the ones we would put on display,” Dada revealed. Sofowote, 67, is a passionate giver. Every December since 1998 (with the exception of the last one), she has remained committed to her yearly

Glowing Channels concerts aimed at giving succour to the needy and provide wholesome entertainment for families. Over the years, the likes of Kayode Olajide, the late Benjamin Aderounmu (better known as Kokoro), Bright Chimezie (a.k.a. Okoro Junior), Therese D’Avila, superior soprano from Cote d’Ivoire, and groups like Notes and Tones, Seye Aluko’s Sound Foundation and Professor Mosun Obidike’s The Symphonic Voice from Ibadan, Oyo State, have featured at the concert. Glowing Channels was inspired by the memory of the late Adeyemi Lawson. It is to revamp wholesome entertainment for the spiritual upliftment of people, as well as a vehicle to raise funds for the less privileged in the society. As those who know her very well would readily attest, Mummy is a warm, modest and elegant woman. As a writer, she provides rare insights. “I’m motivated to write from the deep well and wealth inside of me,” she said at the launch of her fourth book, 366 Days Of Soulful Planting’ in May 2009. Chike Ofili, former chairman, Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Lagos, remarked at the time that what is interesting about Sofowote is that her interest lies in altering the nature of man for good. According to Ofili, “Mummy does this altering with all her being: her dressing, politeness, relationship with people, her concerts and her writings. She is just amazing in the entire medium she brings to play on the continuous ennoblement of man and woman.” As if she saw it coming, in 2010, Mummy Sofowote instituted the Glowing Channels Foundation to take over the activities of putting together the yearly charity concert from Glowing Channels Ventures, so that the work can continue even when she ceases to be. It was not as if she had a premonition of the illness, but she believes firmly that there is a need to separate Glowing Channels from her person. “Many things fizzle out the moment the arrowhead of an organisation is no longer there; I don’t want that to happen to Glowing Channels,” she noted then. The way things are now, the giver herself stands in need of much giving and it is hoped that many who have enjoyed her large heart of sharing in different ways, including charity, entertainment and writing over the years would respond to her own urgent need. It is on this note that I would want us to meditate on the words of that American author, Albert Pike (1809-1891), which says, “what we do for ourselves dies with us, but what we do for others and the world remains immortal.” So, let’s come out en-masse for She Lives On and contribute to save the life of a giver, Motunlayo Adefunke Sofowote.

In Abuja, Agbese’s lens exposes Vanishing Cultures From: Oludare Richards, Abuja HILIP Agbese’s solo show titled P Vanishing Cultures would be open for three weeks. Still showing at the French Cultural Centre, Abuja, the show features 30 photographic prints on canvas that chronicle the daily bustling of city life and the boisterous conviviality associated with rural areas. “Each print featured in the show was chosen for its subject matter and artistic merit and placed together to present windows into scenes of the Nigerian multi-ethnic cultural landscape, creating opportunities for reflection on the life, art and history of the people,” Agbese said. Culture Programme Officer, Institute Française, Alice O’Reilley remarked: “Agbese is a Nigerian photographer whose works represent the evolution of the Nigerian culture, putting his creativity at the service of the universe: the preservation of the intangible cultural heritage of Nigeria.” According to its definition in the UNESCO Convention signed in 2003, the intangible or ‘living cultural heritage’ is transmitted from generation to generation and is

consistently recreated by communities and groups, in response to their environment, interaction with nature and history. It provides people with sense of identity and promotes cultural diversity and creativity. “Drawn from different areas of the country, the photographs on display embrace realism, using it to capture images of our fast changing traditional societies,”Agbese noted. By illustrating everyday scenes, Agbese aims to connect the past with the present for the average Nigerian and visitors, making them to be part of the artistic dialogue of a changing world. O’Reilley informed that through out the show, students from secondary schools would be allowed to visit the Institute and partake in the games and quizzes about the works of the photographer. She said: “This show is a very good way to see the many facets of the Nigerian culture and would enable viewers to learn more about Nigeria. I hope this intangible and immaterial cultural heritage will continue to live and not ‘vanish’ in the near future.”

The French Ambassador, Jacques Champagne de Labriolle, who was guest of honour at the exhibition, is discussing with Mr. Agbese Philip Jnr. while the Culture Programme Officer, Institute Française, Alice O’Reilly looks on.

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Sports MTN Football Scholar Season Four kicks off

NFF needs presidential task force, says Maigari From Ezeocha Nzeh, Abuja He Nigeria Football T Federation (NFF) yesterday declared its readiness to work with the Presidency if it sets up a task force for the Super eagles’ participation at the Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup. NFF President, Aminu Maigari, told journalists in Abuja that although he was not aware of any move to set up such a committee, the Federation would see it as a Presidential blessing, stressing that everybody’s input was required to ensure that Nigeria performs well at the World Cup. Maigari, who disclosed that the federation has received President Jonathan’s approval for the World Cup budget, noted that the federation has urged the Super eagles’ chief coach to ensure that players were called up for the World Cup on merit. “For our preparation, are very much on track and we have received the presidents approval for the world cup

funding. “We are not under any form of pressure and it us our belief that the eagles will do well at the World Cup and we need everybody’s input to actualize it,” he said. Maigari acknowledged that the selection of the players “is the prerogative of the coach and I believe he is up and doing and ready. I do not want to overblow the situation. The 35 or 40-man list I believe will be ready today. “The NFF will never in any way say Keshi you must bring this player or that. We have given him the mandate, trust and confidence and we believe in him. Part of the meeting we had was on the need for a reasonable outing in Brazil. “We want to set a record and we are advising the coaching crew to ensure that the best players that we need in Brazil are taken to the World Cup. We advise that he should please make sure that we present the best and that is everything that Nigerians would want,” Maigari noted.

Feyenoord arrives for NNPC/Shell Cup He Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) has entered a strategic partnership with the Youth Academy of Feyenoord rotterdam Football Club, one of the biggest football clubs in the Netherlands, to help improve the football talents of the 16-year old NNPC/Shell Cup. As part of the partnership, a three-man Feyenoord rotterdam youth coaching team are already in Lagos to kick start activities for the finals of the 16th edition of the championship. Speaking at a meeting with the team yesterday, SPDC’s regional Communications Manager, Philip Mshelbila, said: ‘Building on the many successes of the NNPC/Shell Cup, we have entered this partnership with Feyenoord in demonstration of our commitment to giving values to our youth. The idea is to see players and coaches from all the schools that qualified for the semi-finals of the championship leave with life changing experiences from this interaction with Feyenoord rotterdam FC.’’ “We’re excited to be in Nigeria in this partnership

with the SPDC JV. We look forward to exciting coaching sessions with students and coaches in the NNPC/Shell Cup this week.” said Gido Vader, Feyenoord International relations Manager. He added: “Feyenoord Youth Football Academy has a big bank of professional skills to impart to the teams and we believe that they are as eager as we are for this interaction.’’ A former Nigerian international, Michael Obiku, is a member of the Feyenoord team.

Here was great excitement T among young football enthusiasts, who are aiming to

Uche still hopes to make Keshi’s World Cup team.

PHOTO: AFP.

Ahead Brazil 2014 World Cup

Uche still hopeful of making World Cup team ILLArreAL striker, V Ikechukwu Uche, who many believe will not make

Coach Stephen Keshi’s team to the 2014 World Cup going by the gaffer’s recent comments, still feels he has a chance like every other player to be in the Mundial Coupe squad. Keshi recently accused Uche of being “tactically indisciplined” and has snubbed him since last year’s Africa Cup of Nations triumph in South Africa. The coach sent his provisional World Cup list to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) yesterday. The 30-year-old Uche has been one of Nigeria’s most reliable strikers, with 18 goals

in 44 matches for the country. He has scored 12 goals in the Spanish La Liga this season. Uche’s fate has become a hotly debated topic among Nigerian commentators, with most saying the striker should be on the World Cup roster. Skipper Joseph Yobo and Stoke City striker Peter Odemwingie, two other players who had fallen out of Keshi’s favour, are both expected to be recalled by Nigeria in time for the tournament in Brazil. According to NFF President, the technical committee will study the list and discuss certain aspects of it with Keshi before making it public.

Nigeria is scheduled to face Scotland in a World Cup warm-up match on May 28 in London before they fly out for a two-week training camp in Houston, Texas. While in the United States, the African champions will also play warm-up matches against Greece and the United States.

Etisalat, Skye Bank book Remita Corporate Champions’ Cup final tickets TISALAT and Skye Bank e stormed back from imminent defeats in their respective semi-final clashes of the 2014 remita Corporate

David Moyes: Ferguson ‘must take share of blame’ He sight of the Grim reaper T wielding an imaginary scythe in the direction of Manchester United manager David Moyes when he returned to everton was part publicity stunt and part black humour. And yet, with all manner of irony, it was the humiliation Moyes suffered at his former club that sounded the death knell for the Scot and provided the signal for United’s owners the Glazers to mark the end of an error.

The sight of everton, the team he left behind after 11 years last summer, outplaying United with a verve and swagger under roberto Martinez that has barely been seen since Moyes succeeded Sir Alex Ferguson, was clearly the final straw. And the sound of Moyes talking up aspects of an abject United performance in the 20 defeat only confirmed the long-held suspicion that he simply could not come to terms with the standards the

club and their supporters demand. United’s hierarchy have done their best to be supportive of the man they handed a sixyear contract on the advice of Ferguson but the evidence of their own eyes has convinced them they cannot afford to slide any further. The planned summer overhaul could not be entrusted to Moyes. The sacking of the 50-year-old will also be a personal embarrassment for Ferguson. His endorsement of Moyes, a

combine football with academics, as MTN launched the Season Four of its soccer and academic scholarship yesterday at Campos Square, Igbosere, Lagos. With an overwhelming media attendance and strong stakeholders’ presence, including former national team players and members of Lagos Sports Council, the Season 1 winners and the selected Season 3 scholars, who are gearing up for their trip to the United States for college scholarship, gave the spectators a taste of what the future holds for Nigerian football. Declaring the Season Four open, Kola Oyeyemi, General Manager, Consumer Marketing, MTN, said, “MTN believes in creating a better future for young talented Nigerians, who aspire to build a career in football by helping them combine the game with education, at the highest level, in colleges overseas. “This is in line with the brand’s philosophy of moving its customers from good to better.” Also speaking at the event, a Season One football scholar, Abdulsalam Oganla, who is currently studying economics at Knox College, in Galesburg, Illinois, United Sates, said “MTN Football Scholar has actually given me a chance to be a better person by helping me grow academically and continue my football career.” The 21-year-old was among over 20,000 talented Nigerians who registered for the scholarship in the year 2010. He is in Nigeria to attend the Season Four official launch of the project alongside fellow scholar, Ifeanyi edemba, a native of enugu and student of Knox College.

manager he saw in his own younger image and likeness, has proved to be a flawed one. United may now be regretting taking the unusual step of allowing a manager, no matter how successful, to hand-pick his successor in an organisation of such scale. If there is blame to be apportioned, Ferguson must take his share. Moyes looked a safe and sensible line of succession after Ferguson ended 26 years with United’s 20th crown.

Champions Cup to win a place in the finals coming up this weekend at the Campos Square playground on Lagos Islands. David Ore had opened scoring for the Telecom Games champions in the first half, but saw his lead cancelled out by Nestle’s Victor edafe and then Sodiq Soliu put the Milo Boys ahead before the break. On resumption, etisalat fought back and it paid off when Solomon Ajala levelled scores at 2-2 and Yaqub Kasim sealed victory to take the telecom giants to the finals. The second semifinal followed just the same pattern as the first, save for the number of goals and it was Tayo Ogunji that struck first for the robb Boys in the first half, a lead they sustained to the second half before rotimi Saka evened scores. A dogged PZ Cussons side remained undaunted by the pressures from the Bankers Games champions and dragged the game into extra time only to capitulate to a first half of extra time strike by Chukwuma Okoh.

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Cricketweekly Farbrace leaves Sri Lanka, may join ECB AUL Farbrace, the Sri Lanka P coach, has resigned with immediate effect in order to take up a role with the ECB, Sri Lanka Cricket has confirmed. The development came a day after Farbrace returned to Colombo and met with SLC officials to discuss his position, following reports that he had been approached by the ECB to become assistant coach to Peter Moores, the new England coach. Farbrace had been expected to have further meetings with SLC yesterday, but had sent in his letter of resignation before the board had had a chance meet him. SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga said that although the board regretted his decision to leave the role, they had understood the reasons behind it. Significantly better pay and a desire to work in the country of his birth are believed to be the primary reasons for Farbrace’s early departure from Sri Lanka. After talks on Monday, Ranatunga said Farbrace had been offered an “attractive package” by ECB, the likes of which SLC could not hope to match. The salary SLC had offered had been deemed too modest by several high-profile coaches, before Farbrace, who was Yorkshire’s second XI coach at the time, was signed by the board. Farbrace was a little over three months into his twoyear contract with SLC. His tenure was marked by offfield upheaval, as much as onfield success. Sri Lanka lost only one out of 18 matches under his watch, winning the World T20 and Asia Cup in that time, but at his time of departure, the players remained locked in a contracts dispute with the board, seven weeks after their previous agreements expired. Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara also clashed with SLC officials over

the announcement of their T20 retirements. Farbrace said, however, his experience in the role had not been soured by off-field events. He had also said he had not applied for the England position, but was approached by the ECB on Thursday, two days before the ECB confirmed Moores as head coach. It is understood Moores had a major say in who he wanted to work with and was strongly in favour of Farbrace. SLC have not yet worked out the legal repercussions of Farbrace terminating his contract, Ranatunga said. The coach has walked out inside a six-month probationary period, which may mean neither he, nor ECB, are liable to compensate SLC, even though another clause in the contract states Farbrace must give six months’ notice before leaving the role. Sri Lanka’s short-term plans have been landed in some disarray by Farbrace’s departure, as they prepare for a tour of Ireland and England that begins on May 7. Following that tour, Sri Lanka is set to host no.1 Test side, South Africa, at home in July, before Pakistan’s expected arrival for another full tour in August. Their plans for the 2015 World Cup will also have been somewhat hampered. Culled from cricinfo.com

MS Dhoni pulls one away during the Chennai Super Kings versus Delhi Daredevils’ India Premier League game on Monday. Chennai Super Kings routed Delhi Daredevils by 93 runs in Abu Dhabi. PHOTO: BCCI.

Ukpong lists challenges to cricket development EAM Manager of the senior T national team, Okon Ukpong, has disclosed that the major challenge stalling Nigeria’s cricket development is lack of the resources to build infrastructure and also power the Nigeria Cricket Federation’s (NCF) grassroots programme. Ukpong, who lamented that the major challenge facing the NCF was getting sponsors for

its programmes, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) the federation had lots of grassroots developmental programmes waiting to be executed. According to him, corporate bodies tend to give the impression that the federation is under the National Sports Commission (NSC) and as such, they find it difficult to sponsor their pro “Generally, now we are trying to see that our programmes are executed. We are having

issues in getting sponsors for our programmes, especially our grassroots programmes.’’ Ukpong said the federation intended to organise an administrative course for its officials and also a National U15 competition. He said, however, that the federation was making some slow but steady progress in ensuring that its programmes were executed. Also speaking on the state of the sport, a coach with the

Lagos State Cricket Association, Joseph Eshua, has appealed to the federal and state governments and corporate organisations to support the sport to enable it to thrive. Eshua said there was the need for governments to support and promote cricket to facilitate its development. He said that there was the need to organise cricket competitions on a quarterly basis for discovery and grooming of budding talents.

Eshua said such competitions would also serve as a platform for athletes to prepare for local and international cricket competitions. “Our aim is to ensure that talents are discovered and built at the grassroots; with continuous competitions and training, we will produce best. “We want to give youths an opportunity to express themselves on the pitch and show the stuff they are made of,” Eshua said.

18th Howzat National Junior Cricket Super League

Ansar-Ud-Deen Grammar School, Lagos, wins Philip Asiodu trophy Stories by Christian Okpara NSAR-UD-DEEN Grammar School, Lagos, at the weekend in Umuahia defeated Comprehensive High School, Ayetoro to win the Philip Asiodu trophy at the just-concluded 18th Howzat National Junior Cricket Super League. The competition, which was hosted by Government College, Umuahia, had 10 schools playing at the school ground and Ibeku High School field. Among the schools were Ansar-Ud-Deen Grammar School, Lagos, Comprehensive High School, Ayetoro, Ogun State, Oke Ado High School, Ibadan, Oyo State, Ambrose Ali University Secondary School,

Captain of Ansar-Ud-Deen Grammar School, Lagos, savouring the Philip Asiodu trophy at the end of the Howzat Foundation National Junior Super League, held in Umuahia…at the weekend.

Ekpoma Edo State, Federal Government College, Warri, Delta State, Bishop Crowther Seminary, Awka Anambra State and Government Secondary School, Owerri, Imo State. Also in attendance were Enitonna High School, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Government College, Umuahia, Abia State and Government College Afikpo, Ebonyi State. After the preliminaries and semifinals, Ansar-Ud-Deen qualified to meet Comprehensive High School, Ayetoro in the final, while AAU Secondary School, Ekpoma met Enittona High School, Port Harcourt in an interest-

ing encounter of 15 Overs for the third place. Needing to defend its paltry 72 runs scored off 20 overs, Comprehensive Secondary School fell to the superior firepower of Ansar-Ud-Deen, who surpassed the target losing only four wickets in the process. The victory gave Ansar-UdDeen their first victory in the 18-year history of the Junior League, which, however, has been dominated by Lagos schools. In the third-place match, Enittona defended their 77 runs in the last over to win the bronze medal. Among dignitaries at the closing were the Executive

Secretary, Abia State Educational Management Board, Ndubuisi Umezuruike, Special Adviser to the Abia State Governor on Media Matters, Permanent Secretary of Sports, Mrs. V.O Chigbo and Commissioner for Education, Dr. Mrs. Monica O. Philip. Speaking at the end of the competition, the co-ordinator, Joshua Eshua, thanked the trophy donor, Chief Philip Asiodu, for his continuous support for Nigerian cricket, the principal of Government College, Umuahia, Chief Jerry Onyemachi and his management staff “for hosting this important aspect of the game and being very supportive through out the tournament.’’

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AFN Golden league train moves to Ilorin • Asumnu, others battle in Penn Relays in USA hE Athletics Federation of Nigeria’s (AFN) premier event, the Golden League is set to take center stage at the University of Ilorin Sports Complex in Kwara State this weekend, as athletes continue their fight for the N2million prize money at stake. AFN Vice President, Tunde Abdulkareem and other officials have assured that the event must live up to expectation, following the maiden leg of the competition which was held in Abuja two weeks ago. Yussuf Alli is expected to function as the technical delegate of the meet whilst Prof Olatunde Makanju, Mr. Ado Maude, Mr. Seigha Porbeni and Dr. Ken Anugweje will serve in the same capacity in subsequent editions in Akure, Kaduna and Port harcourt

Heineken, LCM back Apapa Club Tennis Tourney hE Apapa Club will come T alive this weekend as are the much-anticipated Tennis Tournament organised by the tennis section of the club takes place on Friday and Saturday. The event is supported by heineken and Lagos Channel Management (LCM). Captain of the tennis section, Dozie Udeze said that the opening ceremony would commence at 4:30pm on Friday, while the first playing session will take place from 5:30pm to 9:00pm. According to him, the second playing session will serve off at 9:00am on Saturday, while the final playing session which will have members of the Nigeria Ports Authority Sports Club in attendance, will hold from 4:30pm to 7:30pm. Udeze revealed that over 60 players would slug it out in the three closed categoriesveterans, main draw and the women‘s category, which is making its debut, as well as the open invitational. he explained that sponsors of the event, heineken and LCM have decided to partner the Apapa Club following the giant strides made by the club under the leadership of the President, Tunde AkinTaylor and Chairman of the Tennis Section, Ben Ozoadibe. Ozoadibe said, “Udeze has turned around this section in less than one year and has brought in a lot of corporate sponsorship to the section. “I am sure our sponsors have been following the tremendous transformation going on here especially in the Tennis Section and have chosen to identify with us. We are a club of great history having been established in 1930. “We decide to introduce the women singles so as to encourage our female members for their loyalty and steadfastness.” Defending Champion in the men singles is Emeka Ebinum while Dom Uche won the veterans title last year. All the finalists will receive prizes courtesy of heineken.

respectively. Meanwhile, some of the country’s top athletes will don the country’s green and white colours at the Penn Relays, which started yesterday. It will end on April 26 in Philadelphia in the US. It will be recalled that the team also featured in the Mount Sac Relay in California last weekend. The Nigerian athletes are set to rub shoulders with some of the best in the world as more than 60 countries around the globe have athletes competing in the Penn Relay, which is said to have more than 22,000 entrants annually. The AFN president, Solomon Ogba who is with the team in the US stated further that the relays would be used to analyze

and better the performances of the athletes ahead of the IAAF Relays in the Bahamas, the Commonwealth Games and African Senior Athletics Championships respectively. The team under the tutelage of former world and Olympic champion, Maurice Greene will feature in the elite category of the men and women’s 4x100m and 4x400m events. Some of the athletes expected to participate include Gloria Asumnu, Obinna Metu, Amaechi Morton, Regina George, Nicholas Imhoapermhe, Noah Akwu and Abiola Onakoya. Others are Isah Salihu, Orukpe Erayokan, Stephanie Kalu, Peace Uko, Omolara Omotosho, Bukola Abogunloko, Folashade Abugan and Josephine Ehigie.

Super Eagles’ former coach, Austin Eguavoen (left), winners of MTN Football Scholar Season 1, Charles Edemba and Abdusalam Oganla, as well as former national team star, Taribo West, at a press conference to unveil MTN Football Scholar Season 4 at Campos Mini Stadium, Lagos…yesterday.

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Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

By Tony Usidamen S events to commemorate Nigeria’s centeA nary (January 1, 1914 – January 1, 2014) continue, and as I reflect on the condition of Nigerian youth today, the perception of the precarious world that has been shaped for us over the last 100 years became stronger than ever. Unarguably, the generations of young people who have come on the scene, one after the other, in decades, have found a country whose characteristics and “climate” are changing. Today, the greatest challenge is being young in a nation dominated by fear and uncertainty. Graphic, empirical or quantitative evidence strongly supports this assertion: According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), “2012 Youth Baseline Survey Report”, the population of Nigerians below the age of 35 years comprises 60 per cent of the entire population of the country. Assuming that the 2006 census and the 2012 estimate of 167 million for people resident in Nigeria are correct, then the youth population in Nigeria today may well be over 100 million. Of this number, an alarming 54 per cent are unemployed, the NBS report shows (I reckon that the underdevelopment of agriculture through years of neglect and poor policy administration, comatose extractive/mining sector, de-industrialisation and the failure of manufacturing over time have contributed in no small way to the poor employment figures). Also, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in its 2013 Human Development Index (HDI) Report, ranked Nigeria amongst countries with low development index at 153 out of 186 countries that were ranked. Adult illiteracy rate in Nigeria is 61.3 per cent. Life expectancy is placed at 52 years while other health indicators reveal that only 1.9 per cent of the nation’s budget is expended on health; 68.0 per cent of Nigerians are stated to be living below a miserable $1.25 daily. Additional worrisome data are that, while South African and Egyptian universities make the list, no single Nigerian university is ranked among the best 10 in Africa and top 400 in the world, as the “Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2013-2014” show. “T.H.E. Ranking” is the only global university performance table to judge world-class universities across all of their core missions—teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. Of course, social services today are exceedingly poor and the decay in public infrastructure is glaring for all to see. Or does one need any data to appreciate the challenges that the problem of ethnicity, diminishing national consciousness, religious intolerance and unchecked activities of militias and terrorist organisations pose to security at societal and individual levels in Nigeria today? The gory pictures from the recent massacre of over 30 students in Yobe State by Boko Haram insurgents tell the tale better. As gloomy as they appear, all the data given above do not sufficiently portray the ‘real’ drama of today’s youth. The critical issue is something denser; something that goes beyond the unemployment statistics and the tables confirming that the world has changed and that the guarantees of a generation ago are almost impossible in today’s times of ferocious competition and obligatory flexibility. At the heart of the matter is the question of ideology. Today’s youth are immersed in epochal changes. We were not born in historical circumstances in which time-tested, traditional value systems are handed on almost mechanically. We find ourselves before a diversity that forces us to choose. Sadly, the ideology that reads everything in terms of “individual” success; where the value of a person is measured by the possession of material wealth (materialism), is what many young people, in recent decades, have lived by (how much culture, movies, and music bear this terrible news!). Relationships, family, ideals have been pruned, cut away. “Solipsism” - the belief in oneself as the only reality - and, even worse, “Nihilism” (the belief in nothingness), are gradually taking root in our youth. The results? Various forms of impatience, disappointment and, yes, fear —so

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Young people and the time of Nigeria

much so that many young people today have become violent against themselves, others and the world. While everything in a person tends to search for something that satisfies fully his desire for beauty, truth, and justice, what we meet and what is proposed publicly and privately seems marked by condemnation, precariousness, uncertainty, and doubtfulness. The real drama, therefore, lies in truly finding

something that satisfies one’s life. And life as it is, with its limitations and its precipices, not life as a soap opera. This is the story, splendid and terrible, that is on the stage in the Nigerian theater, and pertains to all. Traitor fathers But where has the father, in his inexcusable absence, gone? Italian author and playwright, Giovanni Testori, wrote about those “traitor

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fathers” who had coined a medal with no flip side, “the medal of easiness that did not envision its flip side: difficulty.” They then passed it on to their children, betraying the very ones they had generated. Indeed, the Nigerian society today is full of such “traitor fathers” who have failed to transmit to the young the values of hard work, dignity in labour, selflessness, social responsibility, accountability, fairness and respect for others, reminding us that fatherhood is not a “natural” given but is cultural and educative. The dearth of “adults” who are a presence bearing a true identity, a positive hope, a constructive certainty or meaning for their lives leaves many young people in an immense solitude, which they fill with the easy and sometimes terrible “games” that are readily available. Thanks to these traitor fathers who have institutionalised corruption in every facet of our public life through years of bad leadership (with a score of 25 out of a possible 100 points, and ranked 144 out of 177 countries measured, Nigeria emerged the 33rd most corrupt country in the world in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index 2013), our youth have imbibed a lifestyle of greed and a “get-richquick-at-all-cost” mentality. But how can the youth see things any different in a society where corruption is the norm and thieving politicians and fraudulent businessmen are celebrated as heroes? Where a poor, hungry man who steals another’s ‘cube of sugar’ is imprisoned while a public official who embezzles ‘billions of dollars’ of our common wealth is allowed to go scot-free, or even granted Presidential pardon? The need for re-orientation At individual and national levels, there is a paramount need for reorientation; a changed set of attitudes and beliefs. There is need for an education (The fundamental idea in the education of the young is that it is through the younger generations that society successively rebuilds itself), and parents and religious leaders have a role to play here, as much as educational institutions do. Let’s be clear: The concept of education I am referring to is not “mere acquisition of academic qualifications” (as, unfortunately, obtains in most institutions of learning today). No! I mean education as Luigi Giussani, Italian educator and founder of International Communion & Liberation Movement, describes it in his book “The Risk of Education” -An introduction to total reality.” To educate means to introduce a person to reality by clarifying and developing his primary or original view. True education, therefore, has the inestimable value of leading a person to the certainty that things, in fact, do have a meaning, and “tradition” is an important component of the educational process. Unless young people are taught about the past (tradition) from within a life experience that highlights a correspondence with the heart’s deepest needs; in other words, from the context of a life that speaks for itself (a true father figure - who could be a parent, teacher, or any responsible role model), they will grow up either unbalanced or skeptical. If they have nothing to guide them in choosing one theory (a working hypothesis) over another, they will invent skewed ones. The youth must take this past and these reasons, look at them critically, compare them with the fundamental desires of their heart, and say, “this is true”, or “this is not true”. As they grow older, following this educational method, their passion for life acquires an intensity and brilliance that even the educator could not have fathomed, and discloses to them the dignity of their personality and the affinity with the divine that gives it its substance. Of course, this “recollected awareness of the ultimate sense of life’s mysteries” must become a spiritual exercise, an ascetic path, and thus a suitable perspective from which to live out a goal worthy of their lives.” • Usidamen, a communications expert, wrote from Lagos. Email: tonyusidamen@yahoo.com, Twitter Handle: @tonyusidamen