Fri 21 Feb 2014

TheGuardian Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

Friday, February 21, 2014

Vol. 30, No. 12,839

www.ngrguardiannews.com

N150

Jonathan suspends Sanusi

By Ade Ogidan, Chijoke Nelson, Geoff Iyatse (Lagos), Adamu Abuh, Azimazi Momoh Jimoh and Terhemba Daka (Abuja) RESIDENT Goodluck P Jonathan yesterday ordered the immediate suspension from office of Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Jonathan’s action was contained in a terse statement by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, which directed him (Sanusi) to hand over to the most sen-

ior Deputy Governor, Dr. Sarah Alade, who will act as the governor until a substantive one is appointed.

According to the statement, the action was taken in pursuance of Jonathan administration’s determination to urgently re-position the CBN for greater efficiency, and respect for due process and ac-

MORE ON PAGE 3 countability, which were thrown away under the watch of Sanusi as the CBN boss.

It said in part: “Having taken special notice of reports of the

• SSS allegedly seizes his passport • Nominates Emefiele as replacement • Alade to resume in acting capacity • CBN ex-chief to query removal in court • Senators, Reps disagree Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria and other investigating bodies, which indicate clearly that Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s tenure has been characterised by various acts of financial recklessness

and misconduct which are inconsistent with the administration’s vision of a Central Bank propelled by the core values of focused economic management, prudence, transparency and financial

discipline; “Being also deeply concerned about far-reaching irregularities under Malam Sanusi’s watch which have distracted the Central Bank away from the pursuit and achievement of its statutory mandate; and “Being determined to urgently re-position the Central Bank of Nigeria for greater efficiency, respect for due process and accountability, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has ordered the immediate suspension of Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi from the Office of Governor of

the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“President Jonathan has further ordered that Malam Sanusi should hand over to the most senior Deputy Governor of the CBN, Dr. Sarah Alade, who will serve as Acting Governor until the conclusion of on-going investigations into breaches of enabling laws, due process and mandate of the CBN. “The President expects that as Acting Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Alade will focus on the core mandate of the bank and conduct its affairs CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

How trouble began for him

By Martins Oloja HE President’s decision to T suspend the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was not a spontaneous action, after all, The Guardian confirmed last night.

It was learnt last night that trouble began brewing for Sanusi following the Presidency’s decision to seek the Senate’s approval for his suspension three weeks ago to pave the way for a full-blown probe into the apex bank over infractions allegedly discovered in its book and operations.

It was confirmed last night that President Goodluck Jonathan had four weeks ago signed a nine-page letter writCONTINUED ON PAGE 4

I’m not going back to the job, says Sanusi — Page 24

Sanusi

Emefiele

Alade

‘Changes in apex bank won’t affect economic stability’ From Mohammed Abubakar, Mathias Okwe, Anthony Otaru (Abuja), Marcel Mbamalu and Bukky Olajide (Lagos) N assurance yesterday A came from the Presidency and the Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy and Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, that the suspension of Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would affect the monetary policy of the country, but was intended to re-engineer strong and viable economy.

The Special Adviser to the

President (Media and Publicity), Dr. Reuben Abati, who stated this yesterday while answering questions from State House correspondents, also gave details of the alleged financial infractions as reported by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria.

Abati said there was no need for public anxiety as no new decision had been taken on the country’s monetary policy as it remains the same and there is stability in the system and so investors in the Niger-

ian economy have no reason whatsoever to fear.

He said: “That decision was taken only with regards to internal governance issue within the CBN. In the statement, issues raised were very clear that there are issues of internal governance. Government remains committed to the stability of the economy, stability of the naira and stability of the country’s monetary policies.

“The lady who has taken over in acting capacity has been long within the system and so

everyone can remain assured that there will be stability and that the institution will remain very strong.”

Okonjo-Iweala declared the preparedness of the Federal Government to manage the post-Sanusi economy in such a way that it would continue to be the envy of all stakeholders.

She added: “When the news broke out on the suspension of Sanusi, the governor of the CBN, there have been concerns in the market, which is

not unusual. You know when there is movement of one of the major avenues for managing an economy, there are bound to be some reactions but I just want to use this opportunity to focus on our market participants of the resolute attention of this government to begin to manage the economy.”

In this regard, she said the Federal Government would continue to maintain macroeconomic stability with a view to transforming the different

• Why NNPC can’t remit all revenues, by Adoke — Page 4 • WRAPA wins $750,000 MacArthur award — Page 5

sectors of the economy.

“Our objective remains to maintain macro-economic stability that has been the hallmark of this government and of this administration. It is the maintenance of macroeconomic stability that has enabled us to continue to transform the different sectors of the economy and that will not change”, she said.

Analysts believe the suspension of Sanusi will weaken the autonomy of the CBN governor. They added that the suspension may also weaken domestic and foreign investors’ confidence in the Nigerian financial markets.

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THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

Friday, February 21, 2014

A quintessential banker takes the helm ROM all available records, the newly-appointed Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has, among others, manifest intellectual and managerial qualifications for his latest office.

With a banking experience spanning over 26 years, Emefiele was until his appointment the Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank Plc, a position he has held since August 2010. Until then, he was the bank’s Deputy Managing Director, having been so appointed in 2001.

He has been on the bank’s management team since inception and has held various management positions in the bank, including as its Executive Director, Corporate Banking, Treasury, Financial

F

Control and Strategic Planning.

Before he became the Group Managing Director, he was directly responsible for the group’s Local Subsidiaries, Treasury and Correspondent Banking, and Multilateral, Conglomerates and Private Banking. He also had responsibility for direct supervision of a majority of the bank’s branches in Lagos and northern Nigeria.

Under his leadership, Zenith Bank has strengthened its position as a leading financial institution in Africa, winning recognition and getting endorsement at home and abroad for giant strides in key performance areas like corporate governance, service delivery and deployment of cutting-edge ICT, as well as impact in the bank’s numerous spheres of operations.

In 2012, his visionary leadership saw Zenith Bank receive recognition from such reputable institutions as World Finance, CFI and FTSE Global Markets, which named Zenith Bank the Best in Corporate Governance, Best Commercial Bank in Africa, and Emerging Global Super brand respectively.

Emefiele holds a B.Sc and an MBA in Finance, both from

the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN). Before commencing his banking career, he taught Finance, Bank Management and Insurance at the

UNN and the University of Port Harcourt respectively.

He is an alumnus of Stanford University, Harvard and Wharton Graduate School of

Business, where he took courses in Negotiation, Service Excellence, Critical Thinking, Leading Change and Strategy.

Emefiele

Alade as interim boss R. Sarah Omotunde D Alade was appointed Deputy Governor (Economic Policy) Central Bank of Nigeria on 26th March 2007. She attended the University of Ife, Ile-Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) where she obtained a B.Sc. (Hons) degree in Economics in 1976.

She also obtained an M.Comm degree at the University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia in 1983 and a Ph.D. Management Science (Operations Research), from the University of Ilorin in 1991. Dr. Sarah Alade commenced her working career in 1977 with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, Ilorin, Kwara State.

In 1991, she joined the University of Ilorin as a Lecturer in the Department of Accounting and Finance and in 1993, went over to the Central Bank of Nigeria as an Assistant Director in the Research Department where she served as Head, State Government Finance Office (1993-1996), Head, Federal Government Finance Office (1996-2000) and Head, Fiscal Analysis Division (20002004).

CBN ex-chief to query removal in court CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 with greater professionalism, prudence and propriety to restore domestic and international confidence in the country’s apex bank.”

The Federal Government reassured all stakeholders in the financial and monetary system that this decision had been taken in absolute good faith, in the overall interest of the economy and in accordance with the nation’s laws and due process.

Jonathan has nominated the Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank Plc, Godwin Emefiele, as the next Governor of the CBN. The Presidency conveyed Emefiele’s nomination in a letter to Senate President David Mark which was read on the floor of the Senate.

Jonathan, who urged the Senate to treat the nomination with dispatch, also nominated Adelabu Adebayo Adekola, an Executive Director at First Bank, as Deputy Governor of CBN. Before becoming Chief Executive Officer and Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank Plc., Emefiele had served as Deputy Managing Director of Zenith Bank Plc. He was also an Executive Director in charge of Corporate Banking, Treasury, Financial Control and Strategic Planning of Zenith Bank Plc; and had been on the management team since inception.

An online source said yesterday that officials of the State Security Service (SSS) seized the travelling documents of Sanusi, shortly after he arrived in Lagos from Niger where he had gone to attend a meeting of governors of central banks in the West African sub-region.

Shortly after his plane landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, he was accosted by plainclothes operatives who detained him briefly and insisted he must surrender his passport.

They also insisted that he

would not be allowed to leave the airport until the Lagos State director of the SSS arrived.

But after a while, the operatives had a change of heart after communicating with their superiors.

The CBN governor was allowed to leave but only after his passport was confiscated.

The report of the arrest, was however, not confirmed by the SSS. Sanusi himself may have become aware of the plan to arrest him, compelling him to change his travel plans. He landed in Lagos instead of Abuja.

In Lagos, Sanusi’s associates and friends, led by a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nasir el-Rufai, were on hand to receive him at the airport.

They drove out of the airport in a convoy heading towards Ikoyi. A member of the delegation said Sanusi was heading to a friend’s place to relax.

But Sanusi has announced in CNBC Africa’s interview that he would challenge his suspension in a court of law.

Sanusi was away attending a three-day meeting of the West African Central Bank Governors, including Sarah Alade, the highest ranking Deputy Governor of the regulatory body, whom the President ordered him to hand over to.

On whether his suspension was politically-motivated, Sanusi said: “It is not for me to comment. I am not sure about that…I think the answer to that is obvious.

“Even if I challenge it successfully, I will not go back to it. I think it will be in the interest of the institution for the courts to establish once and for all if the President has the powers to do this… If it is not challenged, the next Central Bank Governor cannot be independent with fear of being suspended by a politician.

I do plan to have the courts confirm if indeed that authority exists and I will challenge it.”

The suspension attracted re-

actions from the Senate. The Senate’s spokesman and chairman of its Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Enyinnaya Abaribe, told journalists at the National Assembly yesterday that Jonathan’s suspension of Sanusi was well within the range of his statutory function as the President.

“The President only suspended Sanusi; he did not sack him. So, he acted within his powers”, he said.

However, Abaribe declared that the only communication to the Senate in relation to the CBN was the forwarding of the name of the new governor for confirmation by the Senate as well as a new deputy governor.

“The new governor will only assume office at the expiration of Sanusi’s tenure in June,” he said.

On their part, the House of Representatives yesterday faulted Jonathan on the removal, noting that the action was not in line with the provisions of the law.

The House also mandated its committees on Justice, and Legislative Compliance to compile all resolutions of the House whereby the President failed to take necessary actions on all indicted public officials found wanting of misdemeanor.

The issue which split the lawmakers along party lines and pitted the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers against their All Progressives Congress (APC) counterparts was initiated by the House Minority Whip, Samson Osagie, who alluded that the suspension of the CBN governor was a clear case of political witchhunt.

Osagie (APC-Edo) remarked that the suspension was coming at a time when the CBN governor had made an unresolved allegation of missing funds to the tune of billions of naira that were unremitted into the Federation Account.

Asserting that the suspension was uncalled for since the allegation of recklessness

by the Financial Reporting Council was yet to be substantiated, the lawmaker who was repeatedly interrupted by PDP members warned against allowing the matter to lie low, noting that “we are in a democracy. The rule of law and not the rule of man is the only condition that can guarantee freedom and protect the rights of the citizens and remove impunity.”

Moments after introducing the motion, proceedings on the floor of the chamber were stalled temporarily as lawmakers on both sides of the divide threw caution to the wind and bickered over the propriety of Sanusi’s suspension.

Before the controversial motion was taken, Deputy Majority Leader, Leo Ogor, maintained that the President acted appropriately since he only suspended Sanusi and not the issue of removal that would have required the approval of the Senate.

Raising a point of Order, Raphael Nnanna Igbokwe (PDP-Imo) cited the provisions of the CBN Act, arguing that the President who is empowered to appoint the governor equally has the prerogative to mete out sanctions when the need arises.

But Nkoyo Toyo (PDP-Akwa Ibom), who expressed concern that the issue was being politicised by her colleagues, noted that there was the need for the House to consider the issue dispassionately since it bordered on a key institution like the CBN. At this stage, the Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal who presided over the session, ruled in favour of Osagie’s motion after a deafening voice vote obviously to prevent the situation from getting out of control. This did not go down well with the PDP members in the chamber who were sighted staging a walkout apparently in protest against the decision that could have gone either way.

Friday, February 21, 2014 | 3

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

The Sanusi suspension ‘President has power to suspend CBN governor’

‘It’s to distract attention from allegedly missing $20b oil money’

By Ajibola Amzat HAIRMAN, Board of C Trustee, Centre for Criminal Justice Reform and Citizens Awareness, Dr. Paul Obianoso, has advised Lamido Sanusi not to challenge his suspension by the Presidency.

In an interview with The Guardian, Obianoso said the President has the power to suspend because he who has power to appoint has the power to remove.

According to him, Section 11 (2f) of CBN Act grants the President such power. “In fact, he should have been suspended before now when he said he preferred to be emir of Kano than to be CBN governor. That statement alone should have earned him removal long before now among other careless comments.

“The directive does not even have to come from the President directly; the Minister of Finance, the CBN Board or permanent secretary can issue the directive because the governor is a civil servant. And his appointment letter is subject to term and conditions of civil service employment. My advice is that he should go on suspension instead of going to court; else he may be committing treasonable felony.”

From Kamal Tayo Oropo, Bertram Nwannekanma (Lagos), Emeka Anuforo (Abuja) OME civil society organisaSEconomic tions, including the SocioRights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) yesterday described the suspension of Lamido Sanusi as “a distraction and can only contribute to shifting the focus of the government from the real issue, which is finding the missing $20 billion oil money.”

SERAP, in a statement yesterday by its Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, said: “The government should not politicise the fight against corruption. Our concern remains the urgent, thorough, transparent and effective investigation into allegations that $20 billion oil money missing from the account of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

“If it is true that the suspension is linked with Sanusi’s public disclosure of the missing funds, SERAP believes that this will be clearly wrong and contrary to the government’s

From Abba Anwar, Kano UT the Kano State goverB nor, Rabi’u Kwankwaso said the suspension was illegal.

Speaking at a public function in Government House yesterday, Kwankwaso alleged that the suspension was a grand design to dislodge Kanawa (Kano people) from the economic and financial decision-making agencies of the Federal Government in order to further impoverish and marginalise the state.

Sanusi

obligations under the UN Convention against Corruption to target a whistle-blower simply for public information in the public domain.

No one should be victimized for contributing to the fight against corruption, which is the moral and legal responsibility of any serious, open and people’s oriented government.

“Unless the government comes clean about what exactly has happened to the $20 billion missing oil money, the NNPC will remain unaccountable to Nigerians for its action. This will not be consistent with the attitude of a government establishment funded with tax-payers’ money. The govern-

ment’s action in finding the missing money and punishing suspected perpetrators is critical if it is to enjoy the trust and confidence of Nigerians in the fight against corruption.”

HE All Progressives ConT gress (APC) has described the suspension of Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as patently illegal, poorly thought-out and in bad taste, noting that it will definitely have negative consequences for the nation’s economy.

Also, the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) faulted President Goodluck Jonathan’s decision to suspend Sanusi.

In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, APC said the action is the clearest indication yet that President Jonathan is willing to silence

any whistle-blower, no matter his or her status. ‘’As the country wallows in unprecedented corruption, the President may have finally decided to send a strong signal to all Nigerians that it will not tolerate any exposure of corruption under any circumstance. What better way to do this than to silence the man who has exposed the alleged missing $20 billion in the NNPC accounts?’’ it queried.

The party said while Section 11 (f) of the CBN Act 2007 empowers the President to remove the CBN Governor, the section is clear that he can only do so if he has the support of two-thirds majority of the Senate. ‘’Nowhere in the Act is it

The Chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Alhaji Balarabe Musa and members of the Northern Civil Society Coalition, also faulted the suspension, saying it is a plot to perpetuate corruption in the country.

Musa said “the manner in which the President suspended the CBN governor is suspicious and looks like an attempt to engage in a cover up on the corruption allegedly uncovered in NNPC and also, not to allow further exposure of corruption by Lamido. I think it is not proper to suspend Sanusi without cogent reasons, otherwise people would suspect that he has been suspended because he is exposing corruption.

Suspension long overdue, say experts

By Joshua Nse, Bukky Olajide and Helen Oji FINANCIAL analyst, Simon A Osigwe, said the suspension of Lamido Sanusi should have been carried out long ago, not at the time he alleged missing of $20 billion oil money.

But, according to him, it is

obvious that Sanusi’s policies are not in tandem with the transformation agenda. “I do not support a core banker as CBN governor. I prefer an academic or an investment banker. Nigerian bankers cannot change their mindset on forex and high interest rate, and the appointment is rather hasty. You do not expect

Sanusi’s suspension illegal, in bad taste, say APC, CNPP

By Samson Ezea

Kwankwaso flays action

Jonathan

National Coordinator of HURIWA, Emma Onwubiko is of the view that the sudden suspension would create apprehension and cast doubt over Nigeria’s efforts to fight what he described as official corruption and economic crimes.

Human rights lawyer, Mr. Bamidele Aturu, said: “The decision is symptomatic of the desperation that has gripped the Presidency and its allies in the wake of the troubling allegations made

by Sanusi that public officials in the NNPC are looting the country blind in the name of subsidy payments. To the best of my knowledge the allegation has not been coherently answered by the corporation or by the government.”

said that the President can suspend the CBN Governor, as he has done,’’ it said, adding that the reasons given by the Presidency for Sanusi’s suspension are as puerile as they are unprecedented, and amount to calling the dog a bad name just to hang it.

The party said the questions that arise, based on those reasons, are: ‘’Why has it taken almost five years of Sanusi’s tenure for the President to realize the irregularities of CBN under Sanusi? Why is the President acting on questionable allegations against Sanusi at a time the CBN Governor has opened the can of worms in the NNPC? Why has a President, who has always treated glaring cor-

ruption allegations against his political appointees with so much levity, now so quick to move against a CBN Governor who has never been accused, let alone indicted of corruption?”

APC expressed serious concerns at the implication of Sanusi’s suspension for the nation’s economy, especially on the value of the naira; local and international investments; the stock market; inflation and the overall health of the economy.

In a statement by the CNPP National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, the group was at a loss as to why the President suspended Sanusi who of late had been exposing the rot in the polity.

Sanusi’s sack to die quietly, you do not appoint a replacement when it’s a suspension,” he said.

Ayo Turton, a constitution and corporate attorney, said if the United States Bernanke could say just one per cent of what came out of Sanusi’s mouth, only God knows what will happen to USA economy and the stock market within 24 hours of opening his mouth.

“Where did Sanusi get the authorisation to spend N138 billion in ‘intervention fund’ unbudgeted? After Sanusi pumped several billions of taxpayers’ money into the banks he selectively seized, did any of them survive? No! He sold them for crap, some of the banks to their biggest debtors.

Are you aware the sleaze allegedly going on at AMCON is unimaginable. Do you know that establishment is alleged to be indebted to the tune of over N5 trillion all under Sanusi’s watch?

But Jonathan must finish what he started by sacking all the bosses of every establishment involved with the $20 billion scandal,” he said The General Secretary, Independence Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Adebayo Adeleke, noted that the suspension of the CBN governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was long overdue.

Groups, lawmakers, ex-bankers, others hail action From Isa Abdusalami Ahovi (Jos) and Emeka Anuforo (Abuja) ROM the Citizens Centre Fment for Integrated Developand Social Rights and other quarters came commendation of President Goodluck Jonathan for suspending Lamido Sanusi.

“I love the courage of Sanusi but I hate his inaccuracies at that high level.

Nigerians will support him if he sustains this campaign against corruption after office,” social commentator and Executive Director of the Centre, Emeka Ononamadu, said.

Ononamadu, however, warned government not to sweep the allegations of the missing oil funds under the carpet.

He told The Guardian: “The Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) should be involved as observers of the probe and inquest currently going

on so that the government and public officer will not settle themselves after playing to the gallery. I wish Nigeria benefits better from this situation. Nigerians at this moment need to turn any situation into an advantage.”

Describing the suspension of the CBN governor as being in order, he said: “What Nigerians should demand instead of playing politics with it, is the reason for the suspension. We should analyse the reasons so as to question or support the suspension. It certainly will be easy for those who play to the gallery to link the suspension to his recent utterances over unaccounted funds by NNPC. What has been politically tagged revelations from Sanusi is what NEITI past audits had indicated as an area that requires

urgent remediation. The level of transparency of NNPC should improve but not on the pages of newspapers where politics is played.

“The question is: does the President have the power to sack the CBN governor? The answer is no! Does the President have the power to suspend the CBN Governor?

The answer to me is yes! But how he discharges this power in terms of basic working relationships between this regime and Sanusi is another matter.”

The member representing Jos South/Jos East in the House of Representatives, Bitrus Kaze, described Sanusi’s suspension as a welcome development.

In a statement, he wondered “why it took President Jonathan such a long time in taking this very decisive action.”

According to Kaze: “But for

the fact that I am a lawmaker, who understands the weight of the law and due process, I would have preferred if he had been sacked outright and handed over to the law enforcement agents for immediate prosecution.

“However, President Jonathan must quickly empanel a team of professionals of unquestionable character to beam a searchlight into the dark years of Sanusi as CBN governor.

“I am unable to recall that any previous CBN governor has done incalculable damage to the integrity of the CBN and invariably the economy of Nigeria compared to Sanusi whose reign of impunity is unequalled in the history of the CBN.” A former director in CBN and an economist, Mr. Titus Okunronmu, said Sanusi’s pronouncements of recent

might have been responsible for his suspension. He said Sanusi should have resigned a long time ago instead of denting his image by the suspension.

He wants the next CBN governor to be a core professional with multi-disciplinary experiences.

Former Managing Director of the defunct Citizens Bank, Mr. Okechukwu Unegbu, commended the action but said the President acted very late.

According to Unegbu, Sansui had engaged in so many activities that are outside the functions of the CBN. The General Secretary, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Mr. Adebayo Adeleke, said Sanusi’s suspension was long over-due and that his tenure as CBN governor should be investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commis-

sion (EFCC).

Another member of the House of Representatives, Ralph Igbokwe (PDP-Imo), said that the President acted within his powers in suspending Sanusi.

According to him, the CBN is a public institution and the governor cannot operate outside the laws and rules governing the public service.

Igbokwe said that since Accounting Standards Board had raised a lot of issues, it was appropriate for the President to suspend Sanusi.

Rev. Timothy Ajibola, the chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ogun State chapter, said the suspension would not affect the economy.

“I believe the President must have taken this decision in the best interest of Nigerians and Nigerian economy,” he said.

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THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

Friday, February 21, 2014

13 feared killed in fresh Plateau violence From Isa Abdulsalami Ahovi (Jos) and Ali Garba(Bauchi)

• ‘Why crises persist in the N’East’

O fewer than 13 persons N have been confirmed killed in a fresh attack by un-

Administrator of Barkin Ladi council, Mr. Habila Dung, yesterday described the attacks as sad and barbaric, adding that “the attack took place around 1.am today (yesterday) and 13 persons were killed in their sleep.”

Dung further said those killed included nine children, two women, two men while five persons were injured and were currently receiving treatment in the hospital.

Also confirming the attack to journalists in Jos, the Plateau

known gunmen in the early hours of yesterday at Rapyem village in Barkin Ladi council of Plateau State.

Meanwhile elder statesman, Alhaji Maitama Yusuf Sule, has attributed the current crisis in the country particularly in the North-East where Boko Haram insurgency has claimed thousands of lives to social injustice.

On the incident, the Interim

State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Deputy Superintendent Felicia Anslem, said there was an attack and people were killed in Fan district of Barkin Ladi council of

the state. She said the police were working on the casualty figure, but maintained that calm has since returned to the area.

Maitama Sule made the assertion yesterday in Bauchi during the second yearly lecture to mark Bauchi Radio

Corporation at 36, saying that injustice was the reason behind crisis everywhere in the world.

Speaking on the theme :Nigeria’s Centenary Euphoria: A catalyst for a united Nigeria, he said the current crisis bedeviling the country was not

new, stressing that Nigeria has been dogged by crises since its amalgamation in 1914.

He traced insecurity in the country today to injustice in the colonial rule, which was inherited by the country’s leadership.

Why NNPC can’t remit all revenues, by Adoke From Azimazi Momoh Jimoh, Abuja MID the controversy trailA ing the remittance of oil revenue, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke, told the Senate yesterday that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was not bound to remit all revenues derived from upstream petroleum operations.

In a related development, the Senate yesterday mandated its committee on finance to investigate the claim that about N700 million was being spent daily on kerosene subsidy.

Adoke also accused the suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Malam Lamido Sanusi, of attempting to whittle down the constitutional powers of the attorneygeneral.

Adoke, who appeared before the Senate Committee on Finance yesterday to provide legal opinion on some of the issues raised during the investigative hearing on the alleged missing $49.8 oil funds, declared that despite the constitutional provisions requiring that all revenues be paid into the Federation Account, NNPC could still deduct its cost of business.

“Thus, it is my considered view that the provision of section 162 which requires all revenue to be remitted to the Federation Account does not preclude the deduction of NNPC’s expenditure or cost of business.

“This is more so as the federating units do not contribute to the funding of upstream petroleum operations of the NNPC and its subsidiary”, Adoke stressed.

According to the attorneygeneral, “only the net revenue from upstream petroleum operations of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) should be paid into the Federation Account by the NNPC. In other words, NPDC is required to pay only what amounts to dividend and its crude oil proceeds to the NNPC (as its holding company) and the NNPC will in turn pay that into the Federation Account. Consequently, what the NNPC is required to pay into the Federation Account is the ‘net revenue’ as opposed to the gross revenue.”

And the committee directed the CBN to provide a more specific assertion on how much it alleged that NNPC ought to pay to the Federation Account out of the $6 billion it said had been paid to

the NPDC. The committee had sought to know the legality of such transfer.

Meanwhile, the NPDC said yesterday that the only money it deducted was what was budgeted for its operations.

Managing Director of NPDC, Victor Briggs, however promised to provide details of its budget to the committee before the end of this month.

Adoke also said yesterday that the NNPC could legitimately transfer its participating interest in the oil mining lease to its wholly-owned subsidiary NPDC. Adopting a motion sponsored by Senator Babajide Omoworare (Osun East), the Senate also asked the committee to ascertain the extent to which section 80 (2 and 3) of the constitution which conferred the power of appropriation on the legislature had been allegedly abused.

Federal Capital Territory Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed (left) with the elder statesman and former Minister of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, during a condolence visit by Clark to the minister over the death of his elder brother, Mallam Mohammed Yusuf Bala, in Abuja… yesterday.

‘How Sanusi’s trouble began’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ten by the Attorney General of the Federation Mohammed Adoke with input from the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) for the consent of the Senate for the suspension.

The transmission of the letter to the Senate was delayed by the President’s trip to Addis Ababa for the African Union meeting, at the time. The letter had then documented the infractions allegedly committed by the current management of the apex bank led by Sanusi Lamido.

The letter which was expected to be delivered to the upper chamber on February 3, was predicated on the preliminary findings of the FRC that reviewed the bank’s operation and its 2012 account, which the CBN board and Ernst Young, its auditor have not signed.

The letter, sources said, was to be sent also to the board of the CBN to intimate the members of the government’s decision and reasons for the President’s planned action.

The letter that was to be read on the floor of the Senate in the first week of February was to bring to an end, preliminary investigation of the apex bank spanning about 10 months.

The origin: The Presidency, based on the preliminary findings by the FRC had in May last year, queried the CBN governor over 22 infractions discovered in the apex bank’s book. The response, it was learnt, was not satisfactory while the Presidency also wanted to put things in proper order ahead of the re-

sumption of a successor to Sanusi Lamido who is expected to leave office on June 2.

Sources disclosed that the bank’s management violated Sections 6, 49, and 50 of the CBN Act and this is reflected in the accounts and explain why the accounts have not been signed by relevant authorities.

Section 6 (3d) provides that the board of the bank shall make recommendation to the President for the appointment of auditors in accordance with Section 49 of this act, the provision of the necessary facilities and the rates of remuneration.

Presidency sources said the CBN management did not seek the approval of the President on the appointment of Ernst and Young, its auditor and the N400 million allegedly approved as its remuneration.

The management also ran foul of Section 49 (4) of the CBN Act which stipulates that “the bank shall as soon as may be practicable after the last day of each month make up and publish a return of its assets and liabilities as at the close of business on that day, or if that day is a holiday, as at the close of business on the last preceding business day.”

Section 50 (5) provides that “a copy of the return referred to shall be forwarded to the president and shall be published in the gazette.”

Sources also revealed that the current management has never, since the assumption of office of Sanusi, published its account or submitted its monthly report to the President or publish them in the gazette.

The Presidency is also said to

have condemned the failure of the apex bank to transit to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the new accounting regime which banks under its supervision have since adopted.

Sources said the Presidency became suspicious when the CBN could not submit its 2012 account to the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the body with the mandate to ascertain the compliance of companies with IFRS. Rather, the bank requested seven years’ grace for it to be able to transit to IFRS. The President reportedly gave the CBN account to the FRC for review and part of the issues allegedly detected is the refusal of its auditors, Ernst and Young, to sign the account but rather, saying that it complied with the CBN Act. Another infraction allegedly detected included the investment of a huge amount of money in an Islamic bank in Malaysia where Presidency sources said would not generate income.

Others are write-off of about N3.5 billion housing loan to some CBN staff and the donations to a political party to open up offices across the country.

This donation, which was under the special access item in the account, was to feather Sanusi’s political ambition after leaving office, sources alleged.

Other issues are the non-consolidation of the debt of the Asset Management Company (AMCON’s) in the CBN account as well as the non-disclosure of the total liabilities through the bond floated by the company.

There is also, according to Presidency sources, alleged discrepancies in the 2012 account of the

Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company, a subsidiary of the apex bank.

“In the account of Mint, N29 billion was recorded as the turnover as against N60 billion in the book of the apex bank.”

Other issues include the donations to some higher institutions but which findings allegedly show were inflated.

Bayero University Kano was said to have collected only N1 billion as against N4 billion allegedly reported by the apex bank. There are other illegal donations to churches, mosques and sundry sources, which the CBN Act never provides for.

Financial experts had then listed some of the implications of the complicated accounts of the apex bank: • The successor to Lamido will have challenges with the financials of the apex bank since the accounts are not balanced and have not been signed. It also provides the opportunity for the successor to abandon caution and ethics.

• It goes to confirm that the President and this administration lack the courage to fight corruption.

• No deterrent to corruption as people can now beg their way out of corruption or indictment.

• CBN might lose moral justification to compel banks that it supervises to abide with laid down rules, e.g its refusal to transit to IFRS which the operators had adopted since January 2013.

• The CBN will have credibility problem if the infractions committed are not properly addressed and prevented from recurrence.

PDP, Imo disagree over alleged plot to scuttle Jonathan’s visit From Charles Ogugbuaja, Owerri HEAD of President GoodA luck Jonathan’s visit to Imo State tomorrow, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the state government are already trading words over an alleged plot to scuttle the visit.

Briefing journalists yesterday in Owerri, the chairman of the Central Planning Committee on the President’s visit, Senator Hope Uzodinma, accused the state government of charging the party N5 million for the use of the Dan Anyim Stadium for the sensitisation rally instead of about N500,000.

He also alleged that the banner and other insignia bearing President Jonathan’s photographs and other inscriptions at the Sam Mbakwe International Airport, Owerri (landing ground for President) were allegedly destroyed and removed by the agents of the state government.

But countering the allegations, the Senior Special Assistant, Media (SSA), to Governor Rochas Okorocha, Mr. Sam Onwuemedo, faulted the party.

He stated that the fee charged for the use of the stadium is about N3 million and not N5 million.

Onwuemedo further disclosed that as at about 3.35 p.m. yesterday, Governor Okorocha was yet to be informed officially on the President’s visit.

THe GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

Police deploy sniffer dogs at airports From Karls Tsokar, Abuja O strengthen the war on T terror on all fronts, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar, has ordered the immediate deployment of sniffer dogs to the nation’s airports.

The move is meant to “reduce crime, provide and maintain safety and security of persons, protect vulnerable and critical government infrastructure, reduce arms’ smuggling through our airports and generally bolster the war against terror,” the IGP’s order read.

According to a statement yesterday in Abuja by the Police Public Relations Officer, Deputy Inspector General, Operations, Michael Zuokumor, the sniffer dogs will, among other things, be used to detect explosives, rescue operations, on perimeter patrols, patrols of parking lots and apprehension of offenders who resist or attempt to evade arrest.

He charged the dog handlers to “respect the fundamental rights of citizens and work in collaboration with other security agencies towards providing effective security at the airports,” just as he asked for the cooperation of the general public to achieve the right result.

The Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja; Murtala Muhammed International Airport I and II, Lagos; Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa; Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano; Jos Airport and Akanu Ibiam International Airport, enugu, will first host the dogs.

Friday, February 21, 2014 NeWS | 5

Braithwaite, Fasehun seek all-inclusive Yoruba representation at confab

By Abiodun Fanoro CONFeReNCe for the PanA Yoruba Agenda has called for the inclusion of every relevant spectrum of the Yoruba stakeholders, especially the youth, as representatives of the region at the forthcoming national conference.

Convened in Lagos yesterday by the National President of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), Dr. Frederick Fasehun, in conjunction with other Yoruba groups, mainly from the self-determination bloc, the conference acknowledged the resolutions of the recently held Ishara meeting as the vanguard of a formidable Yoruba agenda.

However, Dr. Tunji braithwaite, who presided at the event and made the acknowledgement, noted in his opening remarks that the Ishara meeting failed to involve the youth in all its deliberations and decisions.

The legal icon expressed delight that the Fasehun-led gathering fully comprised Yoruba youths, who he insisted, must have a meaningful say in how the future of the race and the country will be determined. braithwaite urged Nigerians not to miss the opportunity of correcting the anomalies inherent in the current system of governance of the country, which the national conference provides.

Braithwaite, who presided at the event and made the acknowledgement, noted in his opening remarks that the Ishara meeting failed to involve the youth in all its deliberations and decisions.

He averred that politically and legally, the 100-year-old amalgamation was no longer binding on Nigerians and further warned that if Nigerians fail to take the right and bold decision at the conference, they could be sending themselves to another era of slavery.

Raising the alarm that those benefiting from the status quo were scheming to manipulate the conference to achieve their selfish intention, he called for vigilance

and urged citizens not to allow themselves be railroaded into taking or accepting a decision that is not in their best interest. braithwaite further charged Nigerians to continue demanding and insisting that the resolutions of the conference be subjected only to a referendum for ratification, not the National Assembly.

Meanwhile, Fasehun opined that the conference be steered by a committee of eminent non-Nigerians so as

to obviate mistrust among Nigerians. He listed the former United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Walter Carrington; erstwhile United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan; former South African President, Thambo Mbeki and former Ghanaian leader, Jerry Rawlings, among such eminent international personalities.

The OPC leader also described the three-month duration of the conference as insufficient, stressing that a country cannot be born in three months, just as the proposed 75 per cent requirement for adopting any decision is not realistic. He advocated a simple majority or two-third majority.

WRAPA wins $750,000 MacArthur award OMeN’S Rights AdvanceW ment and Protection Alternative (WRAPA), which promotes and protects women in Nigeria, has been named as one of the seven recipients of this year’s MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions.

According to a statement by the MacArthur Foundation yesterday, the award, ranging between $750,000 and $1million, recognises exceptional grantees, which have “each demonstrated outsized impact in improving the lives of people and com-

WRAPA nets $750,000 that comes with the award and will be joined by six others: Campaign Legal Centre, ($750, 000); National Housing Trust, ($1 million); NatureServe, ($1 million); ProPubilca ($1 million); the University of Chicago Crime Lab, ($1 million) all based in the United States of America (U.S.); and the Citizen Lab, based in Canada ($1 million). munities.” besides, the award does not only recognise past leaderships and successes, it is also the foundation’s way of investing in the awardees’ fu-

ture. Recipients are to use proceeds of their awards to create endowments or innovation funds, increase their capacities and upgrade technology and physical infra-

structure.

WRAPA nets $750,000 that comes with the award and will be joined by six others: Campaign Legal Centre, ($750, 000); National Housing Trust, ($1 million); NatureServe, ($1 million); ProPubilca ($1 million); the University of Chicago Crime Lab, ($1 million) all based in the United States of America (U.S.); and the Citizen Lab, based in Canada ($1 million). executive Secretary of WRAPA, Hajia Saudatu Shehu Mahdi, who was elated yesterday when The Guardian

called, said: “The award is dedicated to the Nigerian women”.

The foundation does not seek or accept nominations for this particular award. Organisations must demonstrate exceptional creativity and effectiveness to qualify.

They must also have reached a critical or strategic point in their development, show strong leadership and stable financial management, must have previously received the Foundation’s support and engaged in work central to one of its core programmes.

TheGuardian on Saturday

POLITICS

Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

COVER

SATURDAY, FebRUARY 22, 2014

LOVE&LIFE

The new National Chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Mr. Maxi Okwu, who was recently affirmed by a court judgment, speaks on the lingering leadership crisis in the party.

endless Boko Haram attacks in the northeast, especially borno State, continue to raise more questions, less answers, as the fears, worries and fate of residents heighten amidst uncertainties.

True Confession: ‘I can’t help being in love with my uncle.’

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in charge of Cross River State, Mr. Mike Igini, throws more light on preparation for 2015 by the Independent national Electoral Commission (INEC) and the allegation that the commission has become an appendage of the President.

These and many more in The Guardian tomorrow. Book your copies now!

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6 | NEWS Friday, February 21, 2014

Jonathan appoints Ahmed as PPPRA scribe From Mohammed Abubabar, Abuja RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday named Malam Farouk A. Ahmed as the new Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA). He succeeds Mr. Reginald Stanley, who is retiring after 35 years in service.

A statement by the Presidential Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said the incoming Executive Secretary, who hails from Sokoto State, is the current Managing Director of Nidas Marine Limited, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC).

“He comes to his new job at the PPPRA with over 28 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry and a sound commercial and trading background having held senior positions in the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry including manager, Crude Oil Programming, Nominations, and Ship- First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan (right), condoling with Mary (middle) and Paulina, widows of Senator Isaiah Balat during the First Lady’s condolence visit to their residence in Abuja... yesterday. ping and Terminals.”

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Jonathan wants medical tourism checked, opens Turkish hospital

By Chukwuma Muanya (Lagos) and Emeka Anuforo (Abuja) HE relations between NigeT ria and the Turkish government got a boost yesterday as President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday commissioned the Nigerian-Turkish Nizamiye Hospital, which he said would reduce the tendency of Nigerians to travel to foreign hospitals for treatment.

President Jonathan said: “Undoubtedly, private sector initiatives such as this hospital, will help government’s efforts to halt the enormous capital flight arising from increased medical tourism and the avoidable stress experienced by Nigerians on such missions.”

He added: “Today’s commissioning of the Nigeria-Turkish Nizamiye Hospital in Abuja, represents another important landmark in the existing cordial relations between Nigeria and Turkey. I am glad to note that our relationship is steadily growing into several facets of our national economy, including the education and health sectors.

“If our citizens are not healthy, then the efforts and resources we have expended in transforming our country will be in futility. Therefore,

* 57% of Africans risk malaria infection * NMA lauds Senate over passage of health bill investment of this nature deserves to be encouraged.

This action also demonstrate a concrete and commendable response to government’s clarion call for enhanced private sector participation in healthcare delivery in Nigeria, which is the bedrock of our Transformation Agenda. The determination of government is to ensure access to quality and affordable health care services to our citizens. In this regard, the role of the private sector in complementing government’s effort is crucial,” said Jonathan.

Turkish ambassador to Nigeria, Mustafa Pulat, described the hospital as a major contribution to Nigeria’s healthcare system.

His words: “This hospital is another token of our interest and determination to come to Nigeria in the best way we can, of course. It is our own investment in the human capital of Nigeria.”

Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Mustafa Ahsen, listed brain surgery as one of the areas of strength of the hospital. “Nizamiye Hospital provides excellent care and servic-

es with the highest level of compassion through a broad range of state-of-the-art clinical programmes and the most advanced treatments and diagnostic services. Specialties include modern radiology biochemistry lab, four operation theatres, intensive care unit, 30 consultation rooms and 80 bed facility.”

Meanwhile, notwithstanding over N480 billion investment by African countries on malaria control in the past 10 years, almost 60 per cent of the population continue to live in moderate and high-risk infection areas.

A new study published yesterday in The Lancet by researchers from the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KMRI), the World Health Organisation (WHO) Office for Africa, and the University of Oxford (UO) in the United Kingdom (U.K.), in 2010, revealed that 90 per cent of all malaria deaths occurred in populations living in the African region.

According to the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), malaria is a major public health problem

in Nigeria, where it accounts for more cases and deaths than any other country in the world.

National Coordinator, NMEP, Dr. Nnenna Ezeigwe, said malaria is a risk for 97 per cent of Nigeria’s population and the remaining three per cent of the population live in the malaria free highlands.

The KMRI, WHO, UO researchers analyzed data from 26,746 communitybased surveys of parasite prevalence since 1980. The surveys included 3,575,418 people from 44 malaria-endemic countries and territories in Africa. Using this data, the investigators estimated the proportion of the population aged between two and 10 years who were infected with varying levels of a malaria-causing parasite called Plasmodium falciparum across Africa between 2000 and 2010.

The researchers pointed out that a part of this increase is attributable to population growth. There are now 200 million more people living in malaria-endemic regions of Africa than there were in 2000.

The research team also found that the number of people living in very low-risk areas increased by 64 per cent over

the 10-year period, from 78.2 million to 128.2 million, with four countries (Cape Verde, Eritrea, South Africa and Ethiopia) demonstrating malaria transmission levels that indicate realistic malaria elimination.

However, the investigators said it is a concern that the number of people living in moderate to high-risk infection areas has increased.

They point out that just 10 countries account for 87.1 per cent of these people, and three of these countries are not a part of the WHO Malaria Situation Room - a worldwide joint initiative that aims to provide support to the 10 countries with the highest malaria burden in Africa.

Also, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has commended the Senate over Wednesday passage of the National Health Bill.

President of NMA, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, said in a statement yesterday, “While we commend the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for her passage of the National Health Bill, we call on the leadership of the House of Representatives to do same and give Nigerians cause for greater joy and celebration within the shortest possible time.”

UN Habitat tasks Nigeria, others on housing, climate control From Nkechi Onyedika (Abuja) and Ali Garba (Bauchi) ITING an estimate of 1 billion Africans dwelling in slum conditions, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) has canvassed a holistic city development, climate action plans and implementation strategy to look at human settlement and urbanization process in order to minimize the number of people who are living in slum conditions.

Deputy Executive Director and Assistant Secretary General of the UN-Habitat, Dr.

C

* Govt inaugurates national habitat committee * USAID lauds partnership with govt Aisa Kirabo Kacyiri, who made the call at the inauguration of the National Habitat Committee in Abuja yesterday, noted that even though many people have been moved out of slum conditions, many more have gone into slums globally.

Kacyiri said, “The plans initially was to get at least 100 million people out of slums and slum condition, that has been achieved but mostly in Asian countries especially

India and China. When you look at Africa generally, in the process of slum upgrading, many people have gone out but so many have gone into slums. Today, we have almost 1 billion people in slums. We need to move faster in terms of planning and providing basic services, when you plan ahead, then you prevent. Therefore, preventive mechanism is much stronger.”

According to her, some

efforts are being made to include the issue of climate change in urban planning.

“We have been working with African member states to ensure they have Climate Action Plans, we are working with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) to ensure that apart from just having that, holistic city development plans.”

Kacyiri, who noted that Africa is the fastest urbanizing continent in the world today, stressed the need to expand infrastructure so that what is built today would reach sustainable develop-

ment for better future for the people of the continent.

While inaugurating the committee, the Supervising Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mohammed Musa Sada said that the Federal Government is currently upgrading infrastructure in order to address the problems of urbanization.

He said, “It is time for the world to take stock and address problems facing the World’s cities and towns where an increasing proportion of the population resides.

Gay activists protest at Nigerian embassy, London From Tunde Oyedoyin, London RO gay activists under the P umbrella body of LGBTI (Members of the Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transsexuals and Inter-sex) in the Diaspora yesterday protested against Nigeria’s prohibition of same sex marriage outside the Nigerian High Commission in London.

The protesters started trickling in ones and twos just before the 3p.m (4p.m. Nigerian time) and completely caught the High Commission unawares. When The Guardian asked a senior staff of the High Commission, who was returning from shopping if the embassy was aware of it, he expressed shock and responded, “where are they?

They’ve always told us they’re coming, we don’t know it’s today,” before quickly entering the office.

Led by a cheerleader carrying a megaphone, they chanted and blew horns, “shame on you Nigeria, shame, shame, shame.” The leader, shouting with the zeal of an evangelist, screamed and alleged that ‘’many Nigerian lawmakers are lesbians and gays, but hiding under cover to prosecute ordinary Nigerians.”

The cheerleader, Davis MacIyalla, asked by The Guardian if he has any proof that some Nigerian leaders are gays and lesbians, he nodded in the affirmative and said, “Yes, I know at least seven in both the Senate and House of Reps.” When The Guardian asked if he could mention names, naturally, he declined, saying “they are in the minority and it will be wrong of me to mention their names, but they are there.”

Afemai seek more slots for ethnic groups at confab From Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu, Benin City HE Afemai Forum made up of the six local councils; Akoko-Edo, Etsako West, Etsako Central, Etsako East, Owan West and Owan East that make up Edo North Senatorial District, yesterday in Auchi declared support for the planned national conference by President Goodluck Jonathan but vehemently opposed submitting the outcome to the National Assembly.

Chairman of the meeting, the Otaru of Auchi, Alhaji Haliru Momoh, told The Guardian yesterday that if he has the opportunity he would recommend human rights activist, Mike Ozekhome to represent the zone.

A leader of the Forum, Sir S. J. Ojeikere said the number allocated for delegates of ethnic nationalities “seemed programmed to be transformed into a toothless bulldog in a conference that was originally intended for ethnic nationalities.”

Ojeikere wondered ‘’how many delegates from Afemai would benefit from the 15 slots for socio-political and ethnic nationalities when we have six states in the zone?

Will we be satisfied with one slot for Afemai? Our appeal is that the slots to socio-political and ethnic groups should be doubled and that ethnic nationalities be allowed to nominate delegates directly for consideration. Delegates of Abuja-based groups should be reduced.”

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Friday, February 21, 2014 NEWS | 7

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Orji cautions against politicising Ndubuka’s death, visits family

Church opposes fixing of polls, exams on Saturdays

From Gordi Udeajah, Umuahia

By Chris Irekamba

• Clocks 100 years

S the Seventh Day AdvenBIA State Governor A Theodore Orji has paid a Atist Church in Nigeria condolence visit to the family marks 100 years of existence of the late Mr. John Ndubuka, who was shot dead last Saturday after a civic reception held for the governor by Ikwuano Ndi Umuahia at the old Umuahia Market site. Orji warned against politicising Ndubuka’s death.

According to Orji, rather than make negative insinuations on Ndubuka’s death, people should await and cooperate with the police, whom he urged, to make thorough investigation to unravel the cause of his death.

The governor, who was accompanied on the condolence visit to Ndubuka’s family house in Umuahia metropolis by some top government officials, including the Deputy Governor, Chief Emeka Ananaba, described the death as shocking and unexpected at the time it occurred.

He said the late Ndubuka was his blood relation, whom he offered employment in the civil service and deployed to the Government House but later, due to his hard work and skills in youth mobilisation, he was posted to assist his son, Chinedum Orji, in youth mobilisation. He lamented that Ndubuka died at the venue of the reception.

Governor Orji told the family to be consoled by the death, promising that he would personally assist the family, including Ndubuka’s young wife who already had a son and is expecting another baby soon.

on March 7, this year, its leadership has restated its stand that elections and examinations be fixed from Mondays to Thursdays instead of Saturdays, which the church sets aside to worship God. Speaking at a press conference in Lagos yesterday to announce the Centenary celebration of the church with the theme: “A Century of God’s Amazing Leading to the Blessed Hope”, President, Seventh Day Adventist Church in Nigeria (Western Nigeria Union Conference) and Pro-

Chancellor of Babcock University, Dr. Oyeleke Owolabi, said: “We must state here that our church members have faced some challenges such as writing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Examination Board (JAMB) on Saturdays, which infringes on our freedom of worship because of our belief on the sacredness of the Seventh-day Sabbath.

“Secondly, over five million Nigerians are disenfranchised due to our faith in the Bible. Elections are fixed on Saturdays, which makes it dif-

ficult for our members to exercise their rights to vote and be voted for. Moreover, some states schedule environmental sanitation exercises on Saturdays. Nigeria is a multi-religious society that respects the religious rights of its various constituents.

We, therefore, appeal to the Federal and State Governments to grant us the same rights as other Nigerians, so that we can worship our God and also discharge our civic responsibilities without any hindrance.”

On Babcock’s alleged expensive school fees, Pastor Owolabi, who disagreed, argued that there are only a few universities in the coun-

try and these universities can hardly take the teeming population of the Nigerian students.

According to him, “The church in Nigeria is gaining nothing for establishing those schools, but we are helping to partner with the government to develop potential that have been buried in our society. And when people are not informed, the country can never grow and that is the church is investing in the area of education. We spend millions of naira every single month to keep Babcock University going, up to standard and we are collecting back zero kobo.”

ALN announces Nigerian law firm as new member N alliance of leading indeA pendent African law firms known as ALN has announced a prominent player in the Nigerian corporate legal market, G. Elias & Co., as its newest member.

According to a statement, ALN members share common values and standards and are committed to providing world-class service across Africa. The alliance stretches from its East and Southern Africa base to West Africa and reinforces its unique position as top African law firms led by Africans working on-theground in Africa.

Speaking on the development, the Chairman of ALN, Dr. Cheick Modibo Diarra, said: “Nigeria is currently Africa’s number-one investment destination and will

soon become Africa’s largest economy; so it is a crucial country for ALN’s expansion.

We are delighted to have G. Elias & Co. as our new member there. As attested by Chambers & Partners, G. Elias & Co. has built the practice on intellectual rigour, speed and client satisfaction rendering them a top-tier firm, which is a prerequisite to being an ALN member. G. Elias & Co. brings important complementary skills to ALN.” Prof. Gbolahan Elias, Partner at G. Elias & Co., said: “We are very happy to be joining ALN and delighted to be their first member in West Africa. We look forward to working closely with our new partners and being part of ALN’s significant cross-border capability.”

It was learnt that like other

ALN members, G. Elias has advised on cutting edge deals including representing African Export-Import Bank in an $ 83 million bridge financing to a telecommunications infrastructure sharing company; advising First

Rand Bank on a joint venture for a real estate development worth approximately $100 million; and advising on a $1.5b forward sale of crude petroleum by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The Adventist cleric described Boko Haram members as neither good Christians nor good Moslems. He said it was a demonic device to truncate democracy, which Nigerians are enjoying, calling on all and sundry to help fight the scourge.

Comparing the achievements of the church vice versa the nation as a country, the Pro-chancellor of Babcock University said Nigerians should thank God for keeping the country together these years.

“The amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates took place in 1914 and Nigerian federalism was born and from that time to this time, having fought the Civil War, it still remains as a nation; that is a credit and that is a credit that must go to God Almighty and not any human being. It’s a huge success that Nigeria as a Federal Republic has been together for the past 100 years with all kinds of diversities in political ideology, in socio-cultural background and in every aspect that you can think of”.

Ondo Assembly approves N168b 2014 budget From Niyi Bello, Akure HE 2014 Ondo State Appropriation Bill where Governor Olusegun Mimiko proposed to the House of Assembly a budgetary proposal of N162 billion was yesterday passed into law by the Legislature but with additional N6 billion to make a total of N168 billion.

Assembly members passed the bill after the House considered the report of its Committee on

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Finance and Appropriation presented by Fidelis Akinwolemiwa, who justified the increase on the ground that the budget would address the development needs of the people of the state.

The report specifically stated that the increase was necessary to accommodate demands made by some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and that the committee

also engaged objective comparative analysis between the previous year’s spending and the proposals in the 2014 budget.

The budget, as approved by the House, showed that N153 billion was expected from statutory allocation, value added tax, mineral derivation, grants, loans, among others, while N15 billion was being expected from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

TheGuardian SUNDAY, February 23, 2014

2015: Eventful And LOADED

NEWSFEATURE

LASU Bleeds under high fees and maladministration.

BUSINESS:

SANUSI:Whither The Central Bank Without Sanusinomics!

OR close to five years, he raced Fbullthrough the banking sector like a in a china hall. He turned things up side and down, courted controversy and called everyone’s bluff. Now that he’s out, how does the banking sector react?

IBRU: Pastor Moses Alu shares his prison experience and regrets that there is nothing in Nigeria’s prisons to reform anybody.

He said the prisons are breeding grounds for criminals.

HIS year, INEC will conduct two governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun. This is the year of Nigeria’s centenary celebration, after which we launch into the national conference.

Political parties will commence full activities in the last quarter and INEC would be there to observe. The same INEC has not issued permanent voter cards, only promises. Yet, the commission has violated the Electoral Act, which provides for Continuous Voter Registration. And the question is; how does Nigeria and INEC manage this eventful year without a hitch?

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SPECIAL REPORT:The Arts and Politics: How symbiotic is the relationship in a democracy?

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8 | PHOTONEWS Friday, February 21, 2014

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Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi (second right); Chinyere Okunna (first right); Beatrice Okonkwo (first left); Governor-elect, Dr. Willie Obiano (3rd left); the European Union Ambassador to Nigeria, Michael Arrion (third right), and the Head of Political Section, Henry Prankerd during Obi’s valedictory visit to the European Union office in Abuja.

The Managing Director, Resourcery, Tani Fafunwa (left); Chief Executive Officer, Tree-Mind, Accra, Ghana, Liora Rosenblum; Managing Director, Kitskoo Cloud Services, Tunde Fafunwa and Executive Director, Kitskoo Cloud Services, Monu Ogbe, at the Data Recovery business session organised by Kitskoo Cloud Services in Lagos… yesterday.

PHOTO: GABRIEL IKHAHON

Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Eugene Juwah (left); Chairman, Board of Directors of NCC, Peter Igoh; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Communications Technology, Dr. Tunji Olaopa and Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management of NCC, Okechukwu Itanyi, at the historic auction of 2.3GHz (Gigahertz) spectrum

President, Galilee International Management Institute, Dr. Joseph Shevel (left); Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, Barrister Nta Ekpo and a member of board, ICPC, Professor Olu Aina, during the Graduates’ Meeting of Galilee International PHOTO: LADIDI LUCY ELUKPO. Management Institute, Israel held in Abuja.

Managing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc., Nicolaas Vervelde (left) presenting a cheque of $1 million to the Vice Chancellor, Pan Atlantic University, Prof. Juan Elegido, being sponsorship by Nigerian Breweries/Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund of Pan Atlantic University’s Faculty of Engineering and Technology.

Chief Academic Officer, Kepler, Chrystina Russell (left); CEO, TEP Centre, Dr. Modupe Olateju; Lead Discussant/CEO, ThistlePraxis, Ini Onuk; Director, Organisational Development & Leadership, Etisalat Nigeria, Rabi Isma; Lead Discussant, Prof. Pai Obanya; State Team Lead, ESSPIN, Olabode Oyeneye and Co-Founder, West African Vocational Education, Misan Rewane, at the just concluded Sustainable Conversations™ 4 on Education organised by ThistlePraxis Consulting, sponsored by Etisalat Nigeria.

General Manager/Chief Executive Officer, Sokoto Investment Company Limited, Mallam Usman Ahmad (left); Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, the Infrastructure Bank, Kunle Oyinloye; Acting Managing Director, Ebonyi State Investment Limited, Esther Ajaero and Executive Director, the Infrastructure Bank, Taiwo Dauda, during the investiture of Oyinloye as the new chairman of Association of Nigeria Development Finance Institution in Lagos.

Retail Sales Manager, Infinix Mobility, Israel Ajiboye (left); winners of grand prize of a romantic weekend getaway, Mr. and Mrs. Lanre Odukoya and Network Operations Manager, Infinix Mobility, Bayo Shobanjo, at the prize presentation ceremony of Infinix Mobility ‘Share the Love’ Valentine promo.

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

Friday, February 21, 2014

WorldReport

Kim Song-Yun of South Korea (left) with her two sisters, Kim Seok-Ryo (left) and a niece, of North Korea, during a reunion event for families divided by the two countries, at the North Korean resort area of Mount Kumgang yesterday. The first North-South family reunion for more than three years began with a mass gathering in the main hall of a resort on North Korea’s Mount Kumgang, a Unification Ministry official said in Seoul. The event was the result of tortuous, high-level negotiations between Pyongyang and Seoul, which nearly broke down over the North’s objections to overlapping joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States.

PHOTO: AFP

Ukraine truce fails, as death toll hits 50 RESH fighting broke out in Fshattering central Kiev yesterday, a truce declared by Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovich, as the Russianbacked leader met European ministers demanding he compromise with pro-EU opponents.

According to Reuters, bodies of 21 dead civilians in Independence Square, a few hundred meters from where the president met the EU delegation, after protesters who have occupied the area for almost three months hurled petrol bombs and paving stones to drive riot police from the plaza.

“Berkut” riot policemen, shown on television, fired bursts from automatic rifles on the run as they covered retreating colleagues fleeing past a nearby arts center. In other video, an opposition militant in a helmet fired from behind a tree.

Other protesters used police riot shields for cover, while some fell wounded as the

protest camp became a killing zone.

The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland were to report back in Brussels later in the day to EU colleagues, who will decide on possible targeted sanctions against those deemed responsible for the worst bloodshed in Ukraine’s 22 years of independence since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Russia criticized the European and U.S. measures, calling them “blackmail” that would only make matters worse. It also stepped up pressure on Yanukovich to crack down and restore order if he wanted more, desperately needed, loans - the Russian prime minister said it would not hand over cash to a leadership that let opponents walk over it “like a doormat”.

A Ukrainian presidential statement said dozens of police were wounded or killed during an opposition offensive hours after Yanukovich

and opposition leaders had agreed on a truce.

Witnesses said they saw snipers firing during the clashes. The Health Ministry said two police were among yesterday’s dead.

That raised the total death toll since Tuesday to at least 51, including at least 12 police.

Local media said more than 30 protesters were killed in flare-up.

The country is the object of a geopolitical tug-of-war between Moscow - which sees it as a market and a cultural ally and also fears protests spreading to Russia - and the West, which says Ukrainians should be free to choose economic rapprochement with the EU. The renewed fighting, which subsided after about an hour, heightened concern voiced by neighboring Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk that Ukraine could descend into civil war or split between the pro-European west and Russian-speaking east.

Singapore jails senior civil servants over corruption OR embroiled in corrup- pleaded guilty. and presidential trips overFdented tion scandals that have Several corruption scandals seas. the government’s rep- prompted the government According to charge sheets,

utation as one of the least corrupt worldwide, Singapore yesterday passed prison sentences on two senior civil servants.

Lim Cheng Hoe, 61, the former head of protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was sentenced to 15 months in jail for inflating expenses for thousands of dollars’ worth of pineapple tarts and wine bought as gifts for dignitaries.

In a separate case, Edwin Yeo Seow Hiong, 40, an assistant director at the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, was sentenced to ten years in jail for misappropriating Sg$1.76 million ($1.4 million) worth of government funds.

The two men had earlier

last year to introduce new rules in the civil service to further deter graft.

“This case has caused public disquiet as it involved a highranking public officer who deceitfully obtained public funds by virtue of his position and the trust reposed in him,” district court Judge Eddy Tham said in a written judgement in the case involving senior diplomat Lim. State prosecutors had initially slapped Lim with 60 charges of overbilling the government for gifts bought for foreign officials during overseas visits, totalling Sg$88,997 (US$70,280).

Lim headed the foreign ministry department responsible for organising ministerial

Lim claimed for more than 10,000 boxes of pineapple tarts, a savoury popular in Singapore, but only 2,200 were used as gifts.

Lim asked vendors for blank receipts and overstated the number of boxes purchased.

He also claimed for 248 bottles of wine but only bought 89.

In Yeo’s case the judge said the decade-long prison sentence was necessary since he was a law enforcement officer and the court had to “signal the society’s moral opprobrium over his offences and deter any like-minded offenders”.

Yeo had used the government funds he misappropriated to gamble at a casino.

9

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

10 | Friday, February 21 , 2014 POLITICS

Politics Mark’s achievements in Benue South (Reply to Omadachi’s alleged letdown of Benue-South people)

By Adakole Elijah, Makurdi ARTISAN time is by the corner and so politiP cians, who want to be noticed, will not hesitate to make unguided statements in order to be perceived as ‘Local champions’ preparatory for the declaration of their ambitions.

Most often and quite unfortunately, while I concede the natural right of every human being to nurse sentiments, the colour of sentiments played at partisan times are usually devoid of any modicum of sincerity or the genuine conviction of even the authors to serve the interest they seem to project.

It is on this premises that I find the statement credited to one Chief Madaki Omadachi Ameh, titled, ‘Mark Has Failed The People Of Benue-South,’ where energy has been dissipated in a futile attempt to cast unnecessary aspersion against the person of the President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator David Mark, quite laughable, amusing and inconsequential.

Ordinarily, one would have ignored or disregarded Omadachi’s jaundiced, puerile and infantile tantrums chiefly done to cajole Nigerians with the wave of the hands. But for the purposes of putting the records straight, I hereby respond to all the issues raised in his tirade.

First, Omadachi, in his jejune remarks, stated that, “Mark, after occupying the seat for the past 16 years, since inception of the current political dispensation in 1999, without meaningful contribution to the Idomas, doesn’t deserve another term.”

Haba! Omadachi, why are you lying in order to be noticed? Why are you approbating and reprobating at the same time? At the beginning of Omadachi’s statement, he ingloriously stated that the Senate President had done nothing and mid way, he queried why the execution of Agatu-Oweto road is moving millipedeously.

What a paradox.

But since Omadachi appeared ignoramus about achievements of the president of the Senate in Benue South since his emergence in the political horizon of Benue-south in this democratic dispensation, I make bold to inform and educate him and his co-political travelers.

First, the very Otukpo-Agatu-Oweto road pointed out by Omadachi is Senator Mark’s brainchild. He initiated the idea that River Benue could be bridged at Loko, for a road to be constructed in order to facilitate easy movement from and to Abuja.

The road, which today stops at Oshigbudu, ranks as one of the best in the country. At least,

President had constructed multi-million naira health centres at Egba-Agatu and AkpegedeOtukpo.

N the area of youth development, Senator ICentre Mark, apart from locating a National Youth each in Ugbokolo, Obagaji, Ohuma and

Mark Omadachi is a living testimony to this because the road passes through Adoka, his ancestral home. The road before now was like a bush path.

The Ogoli and Onaji bridges on that road before now were death traps. At least, with the construction of that road as facilitated by Senator Mark, people are plying that road with comfort.

Therefore, Omadachi’s postulation that the road was being reconstructed was just a mere conjecture. If he has any problem with the project, all that is expected of him was to channel his grievances to the appropriate quarters.

Senator Mark, since assuming the political leadership of Benue State South senatorial district has attracted the following projects to his people: Otobi Multi-purpose Dam; OtukpoNobi Earth Dam; Akpegede Dam; Otobi-Otukpo Dam; Owukpa and Otukpa Earth Dams under construction; motorised boreholes at the College of Education Oju, Obarike-Ito, OgiUtonkon, Ipolo-Ugboju and Egba-Agatu, as well as over 20 boreholes at different locations in Benue South senatorial district.

Perhaps, Omadachi is unaware that the Senate

Having pointed out some of the physical development projects, it is necessary for me, at this juncture, to also inform Omadachi that through political brinksmanship of the distinguished Senator Mark, the Otukpo-Enugu road is being given a facelift, at least, up to Ugbokolo.

That Akpagede road has not been given a firstclass facelift like the Otukpo-Enugu road is a clear testimony that Senator Mark is not a selfish leader. Otherwise, he could have done that road at the expense of the Agatu-Oweto road and Otukpo-Enugu road.

Mark is not a senator of Akpegede alone but a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, representing the good people of Benue-South senatorial district.

It is equally important to inform Omadachi and his hobnobbers that Senator Mark has developed an impressive humanitarian enterprise for the people, especially women and youth in his constituency. This can be periscoped from the establishment of cottage industries in the nine local government areas.

Aside from this, he also established a scholarship scheme in which students from Benue-South and indeed the entire Benue State are benefiting.

Over 10,000 students have benefited so far.

Similarly, Senator David Mark has facilitated the recruitment of many Idoma youths into federal agencies and parastatals.

As for Omadachi’s ambition, I do not begrudge him since that is his entitlement. My happiness is that Senator Mark has become a commodity that other products have to lean on in order to be marketed.

Omadachi, who is angling to go to the upper legislative chamber after a futile attempt to go to the House of Representatives in 2011, should first of all endeavour to comprehend the workings of the parliament before venturing into it.

As it is today, he is misunderstanding the legislature as an extension of the executive; hence, he is viewing contract awards and executing as functions of the parliament.

He should also try to utilise the instrumentality of persuasive communication to showcasing himself to the electorate, instead of denigrating the Senate President with monochromatic accusations.

The achievements of Senator Mark, as a true representative of his people, are obvious and visible.

They cannot be diminished by the unfounded allegations of Omadachi.

Otoda-Otukpo, had equally built a block of three classrooms each in the following schools: LGEA primary school, Ogam-Agatu; LGEA primary school, Ugbobi-Apa; LGEA primary school, Uwokwu-Oju; LGEA primary school, Ibilla-oju; and LGEA primary school, Ohuma-Obi. Others are: Community secondary school, Itogo-Obi; LGEA primary school, Eke-Olengbecho; St. Edward’s primary school, Owukpa; LGEA primary school, Akpoge-Ogblolo; LGEA primary school, Igumale; LGEA primary school, Otobi-Akpa; LGEA primary school, Agadagba-Akwunu; LGEA primary school, Ochobo I; and Devine secondary school, Ochobo.

Currently, the President of the Senate is constructing a block of three classrooms each in the following schools: St. Joseph’s primary school, Otada-Otukpo; LGEA primary school, Emichi-Otukpo; LGEA primary school, Akpachi-Otukpo; Wesley primary school, Utonkon; LGEA primary school, Okuntungbe; LGEA primary school, Inyuma-Oju; LGEA primary school, Allan-Akpa; LGEA primary school, Ipega; Adum-Ona, Orokam, as well as Igumale community secondary school, Igumale.

It might also interest the self-acclaimed “Okaleya” that the Senate President also attracted a colossal 18 federal roads to the rural communities in Benue-South.

These are: Igumale-Ulayi-Ijigban; OshigbuduObagaji-Okokolo; Ugbokpo-Edikwu-Opaha; Adumeast-Ohuma-Ojou; Oju-Ebenta-Uwoku; Ukwo-Aho-Owukpa; Okpudu-Idiri-Ikomija; and Ochobo-Agadagba-Onyagede.

The rest are: Adoka-Umogidi-Opaha; Ugbokpo-Ojantele-Ikobi; Ogoli-Ipolo; AwulemaAigaji-Ogene-Alaglanu; Efoyo-Ikpogo-Omadewu-Eboya; AdumeastAdiko-Okumtungbe; Otada-EmichiOkpoumaju-Odudaje; Egwuanokwu-Aigaji-Idekpa; and Oju-OjumaEdumoga-Ohuma roads.

There are also several electrification projects initiated by Senator David Mark in various • Mr. Elijah wrote in from Makurdi, Benue State. communities of Benue-South.

2015: Orji, Nwaogu to swap positions From Gordi Udeajah, Umuahia MERGING political scenario E in Abia State suggests that the second and last term serving Governor Theodore Orji and the second-term serving Senator Nkechi Justina Nwaogu will swap their positions in 2015 and will accordingly contest the elections.

Both the governor and senator are of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and belong to the same Abia Central senatorial zone.

Under this scenario, the governor, who has already been pressured into accepting to run for the zone’s Senate seat, will contest for it accordingly.

Senator Nwaogu, according to pressures from across the zone, state and country, including from the female folks, has also accepted to contest the 2015 governorship election.

This likelihood has become more possible and real in view of the fact that the governor did not accept to run, using his advantage, to unseat Senator Nwaogu if she had bid to return to the Senate in 2015.

Long before the urge on the governor to contest for the Senate seat, Senator Nwaogu

Orji had publicly declared her resolved unwillingness not to recontest, to return to the Senate in 2015 when she would have served two terms, in addition to the one term she served in the House of Representatives before the Senate.

At a media interaction, Nwaogu had pleaded with her senatorial district and Abians not to send her back to the Senate in 2015.

Rather, they should consider sending her to somewhere outside the National Assembly, indicating that she would, after consultations with stakeholders, announce her 2015 political direction.

Last weekend at the Owerri road primary school, Osi-

Nwaogu sioma, Senator Nwaogu, while commissioning a classroom block she attracted from the MDGs for the school, announced that she would contest the 2015 Abia State governorship election on the PDP platform.

She expressed optimism that she would become the first elected female governor of the state.

Likewise, last Saturday, Governor Orji said that he could no more withhold not reacting to the pressure on him to run for the Senate in 2015.

“Where you want me to go is where I will go and be,” he told the people of Ikwuano/Umuahia at a grand civic reception held in his ho-

nour.

At the event, the people, who renewed their call on him to contest the Senate seat, presented Orji with a ‘Campaign Hummer Bus’ even as another person pledged to purchase the Senate nomination form for him.

The Guardian gathered that plans have been set into motion for Senator Nwaogu’s formal declaration, which has tentatively been slated for the Easter period.

Various supporters are said to be paying her solidarity visits, pledging one form of support, assistance or another.

According to a member of the planning committee, the supporters cut across the

state.

Specifically, female folks see it as their contest even as wives of many state governors, including the wife of the President, Dame Patience Jonathan, are among others elected to attend the declaration, which venue is yet to be made known.

A traditional ruler in Abia State told The Guardian that Senator Nwaogu’s aspiration is divine. “Don’t you see how she has swapped her Senate position for the governorship with the Governor Orji,” the royal father said.

“Everybody will be happy to vote for the two for Senate and Governor. Nwaogu is also an Ukwa Ngwa, whose turn it is to produce the next governor.

“She has rich political experience, which includes 12 years as a national lawmaker.”

The traditional ruler noted that Nwaogu won her elections on personal merit and not based on any godfather or godfatherism.

“Recall that she won her election into the House of Representatives from the former All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), which was then not the ruling party,” he said.

“She has done and is doing well at the National Assembly.

She is a very loyal party member and above all, a daughter that we, Ukwa Ngwas, are very proud of.”

Also supporting her aspiration, the Chip Whip of the Abia State House of Assembly, Dr. Ikechukwu Nwabeke, representing Osisioma Ngwa North Constituency, described Senator Nwaogu as the best candidate for the next Abia governorship.

Speaking at the commissioning of the MDGs classroom block, Nwabeke based his stance on the senator’s long political experience.

“If you take into account what she has done on her own and her effective representation in the legislature, you could easily conclude that she will perform wonders if elected governor,” he said.

Indeed, at the commissioning ceremony, Senator Nwaogu affirmed this sentiment. She said: “I know the needs of our people. I will build on what has been done and being done.

“Hence, governance is a continuum, we need national reach. I pledge to my God that I can serve my state as the first female elected governor and I shall, in this position, add value to and put smiles on the people.”

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

Friday, February 21, 2014

11

TheGuardian

12 | Friday, February 21, 2014

www.ngrguardiannews.com

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 Needed: A team of achievers

LETTERS

More quintessential leaders, please Governor Babatunde Raji have placed him eminently resentment. It is also obvious SanceIR:Fashola’s enviable perform- among his contemporaries that Fashola has insatiable in Lagos State must have and other performing gover- dreams for Lagos State and

been the cynosure of all eyes as his government is being HERE is no doubt that Goodluck Jonathan’s Presidency has been acutely recognised by local and the undermined by a coterie of lowly rated personnel that constitutes its kitchen international community amongst which is the Lo and open cabinet, a reason why it is deemed to be underperforming. This phenomenon must change if the administration would ever be able to deliver on its Spazio della Politica – a conpromises. For whether a president would succeed or not is a function of the type glomeration of compendium scholars and scientists based of cabinet or aides he has assembled. The concern of most Nigerians is that in Italy. Foshola was recogPresident Jonathan has not been too painstaking in his choice of aides and that nised among the LSDP Top 100 the citizens’ yearning to have the right calibre of people in charge of affairs global thinkers of 2013 remains unrealised. Although appointments are made from time to time by the because he made Lagos State an African hub of innovation Federal Government to sensitive positions, the perception is that mediocrity and collaborated with remains dominant.

Kennedy School in Yet Nigerians are blessed with a vast array of highly competent persons who are Harvard the United States by launching globally acknowledged as distinguished professionals, persons of honour and the Lagos Innovations integrity. There is, therefore, no reason the country cannot be governed with the Advisory council. Another best hands except for the wrong approach or disposition of the appointer. notable Nigerian in person of As Jonathan’s government is winding down with its eyes on the possibility of a Adefunke Ekine (fellow renewed mandate, it must raise the stakes. The President in particular must con- Echidna global scholars, Nigeria) also made the list as front all the obstacles that make it impossible for him to appoint the right and she was also recognised for best persons into offices. He must demonstrate a capacity and the will to rise to her outstanding experience of the occasion and weather the storm. This is a convenient point at which to take a teaching and directing break from the errors of the past by making the best of the on-going cabinet schools in Africa. Particularly, for the promotion of science reshuffle. among young female stuIn other words, in assigning portfolios to the newly screened ministers, in replacing ministers and aides who have been dropped and others who may soon dents.

The world is now a global vilbe dropped, the President should put in those who understand the system and lage where every individual, who have what it takes to make the system work so that at the end of the day, he organisation, religion and would have surrounded himself with the best in the land. He should keep at government activities are arm’s length parvenus, court-jesters and opportunists who are likely to see their under the close watch of the appointments as an invitation to “come and eat” instead of being an opportuni- international community.

Fashola’s political persona, ty to serve. What the country deserves at this critical time are statesmen and consistency and pragwomen of good conscience who are not perverted by the spoils of office but are vision, matic approach to governance

T

persuaded by conviction as opposed to convenience.

Those are the ones who would look the President in the face and tell him the bitter truth where his desires and policies are inimical to the health of the nation. They are those who merely by looking at the President’s face know what his pains are and what to do to ease the pain in the interest of the nation. Those attributes come with experience, discipline, patriotism, altruism and competence. Very few of those who desire public offices or have been appointed into same are imbued with them. Greed, self-centeredness, myopism, ungodliness, crude incompetence, dishonesty and consummate eyes for the benefits which the office can offer, all amounting to self aggrandizement are what many have in abundance. What they are capable of contributing to the growth of the nation, nay the enrichment of its people counts for nothing. Regrettably, these are the ones who often catch the fancy of the powers that be.

The political consideration that determines persons’ appointment to offices may be favourable to the President but in the long run it is the nation that suffers for it. This is not without collateral damage to the President himself or his name in the final analysis. When he makes the wrong choices, he ends up having to fire such appointees once again in the future. That does not allow for consistency and sustainability of policy, a minus for government and its programme.

As the Chief Executive Officer of the federation, the president has the right to hire and fire his appointees at will. This right is constitutionally guaranteed and consistent with common sense. It is just that Nigerians bear the brunt of such poor choices any time he hires the wrong set of people. That is why his right to hire must be exercised with circumspection and great introspection. He owes Nigerians good governance as a matter of obligation and social contract. So, his right to hire is curtailed by the right of Nigerians to be governed well, responsibly and productively. Because in the ultimate, the people pay the remunerations of the President and his appointees and they are the ones who must be satisfied with the performance of all.

Just as important, it is one thing to appoint the right set of persons into offices, it is another thing to do so as at when due. Doing the right thing at the wrong time may emasculate the potency of the effort or the desired consequence, particularly where time is of the essence. Nigerians find it difficult to understand why their president allows sensitive offices to remain unmanned for a long period of time when vacancies occur.

Prudence demands that before an incumbent is fired, his replacement must have been identified and announced almost immediately to stave off pressure from irresistible quarters. Presidential dilatoriness invites unholy pressure which crystallizes into wrong choices or appointments as has been seen time and time again in the life of this Administration. Every leader must take personnel and the management thereof very seriously. Dr. Jonathan owes himself the duty of not being an exception. So far, he has been.

nors in Nigeria. Nigerians in the Diaspora are happy and encouraged for this laudable achievements and recognition of these Nigerians.

Fashola is a quintessential leader who does not hide under the yoke of religion, ethnicity and inconsequential issues in carrying out his constitutional duties for the good people of Lagos State.

His political ideology clearly shows that he practises politics of inclusion rather than

Nigeria, and one can only wish for Nigeria that the likes of Fashola metamorphosed to the top to effect the changes we desperately yearn for, and rescue Nigeria from this impending doom hovering over its political clime.

It’s high time we deconstructed our warped minds, vote wisely to elect good people and begin to rebuild Nigeria for future generation.

• Yahaya Balogun, Arizona, USA.

Weststar’s new product launch IR: This letter refers to your S“Automobile publication captioned: expert laments influx of Chinese buses” in respect to the Mercedes-Benz press briefing organised by Weststar Association on February 6, 2014.

The management of Weststar expresses deep discontent and disapproval in regards to the content of the publication as it was misleading to the public, as well as misrepresenting and damaging to, not only the managing director of Weststar Association, but to the company as a whole.

In his attempt to introduce

a new product through a press briefing into the market, the Managing Director, Mr. Plath was thoroughly misquoted, and his responses to journalists’ questions were taken totally out of context.

Weststar was set to promote its new product and did not, in any way, wilfully or deliberately set out to damage any product, persons or companies in the process. The benefit of the ‘Neobus NewRoad N10’ was the aim of the press briefing and not a discourse about the influx of Chinese buses into the market.

E. Hegbe, GM, Weststar Associates, Lagos.

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

Friday, February 21, 2014

13

Opinion The limit of partisanship

By Pat Utomi HE season of politics is upon us; should be T a time to enjoy being a citizen. A time to hold people who were elected yesterday accountable and those who seek to be elected tomorrow show how their lives before desiring public office showed public spirit and service to others as well as capacity to get things done. Unfortunately, our politics does not always follow democratic expectations.

While all hands need to be on deck to make that change, a few needling issues with the partnership of the moment need reflection.

One of them is the limit of partisanship. The nature of traditional western Competitive partisan politics is adversarial, just like the law courts’ prosecutorial tradition. The sometimes unhealthy divisiveness of that tradition is the reason one argued for the one party starter in post Colonial Africa, to safeguard the unity of the colonially forged states with many centripetal forces puling at the core of its essence. All quickly found that the oneparty state was an apologia for personal power and proved detrimental to the hopes and dreams of the struggle for emancipation from colonialism. So the fight for multiparty democracy became a cause célèbre across the continent.

Does the fact of an adversarial multiparty democracy mean not being able to see beyond partisanship to some shared values of an elite that puts Nigeria first? Look at how our Lawyers are using the excuse of the adversarial process to subvert justice and make decent people avoid being witnesses in pursuit of truth, because they do not want to go

from witnesses to victims, on the excuse that it is part of the games of the adversarial nature of the process, and see how same is making partisanship so destructive of what should be for the good of all. But this need not be as we see from practice in those democratic cultures that have made adversarial partisanship the norm in the practice of Democracy.

Let us take notice, for example of how the United States foreign policy has profited from a tradition in which the Democrats have been traditionally cast as the liberal Doves and the Republicans as the Hawks. When America’s interests are better advanced by diplomatic, less militaristic disposition, the Democratic Party seems to be better favored while the opposite is the case, when America needs to exercise military might.

So in times when Americans need a party plank that is liberal and perhaps Keynesian in its economics, but people fear for safety in a world of military adventurism, Democratic Presidents have had the good sense to enhance confidence, by appointing Republican Defense Secretaries, as President Barack Obama has done, even at a time when extreme partisanship is seen to have dominated the budget process.

The point is that bipartisan consensus, a convention of boundaries beyond which positions were considered anathema, and crossing party lines to appointing people who provide confidence to the system, are among ways those societies have checked the negatives of extreme partisanship. Yet none of these take away from the benefits of the spirit of competition on ideas and policies

that are hotly canvassed along partisan lines on how to move society forward.

Part of the check on partisan competition that prevents the dynamics of process from the tendency towards extreme corners is the role of civil society and institutions of the establishment such as the judiciary, Think Tanks, and bodies like the Council of State, or Elders.

For some reason, there seems to be limited effectiveness of civil society in moderating the tendency to move partisan contestation for political office away from do or die and failure to collaborate on points of strength for advancing the Common Good.

The second moderating influence is clarity of what the party represents which then accentuates the strengths and weakness of the partisans in specific contexts. I am optimistic that the on-going efforts of the APC to define itself as left of centre, peoples entrepreneurial and justice focused party will cause the PDP to better define itself in a different direction and so move Nigeria to a desirable place on the spectrum where partisans who know where they are coming from and where they are going, can better compete and cooperate. Many of the goods of democracy will come from the competition of their partisanship, but some may come from their coopetition, (competing and cooperating at the same time) that might be necessary in certain contexts. These possibilities are easier when politics are about issues, values and ideology. Social conditions that have regards for the dignity of others also matter much in this regard.

My annual birthday reflections on the nature of man in society, this year, focused on

the virtue of forgiveness. It flowed from that of last year, on gratitude. Should we learn to forgive one another, put yesterday, which adds little to tomorrow, behind, and live in a robust today with a generous human spirit, it will be easier to show difference without being spiteful, and to cross the party lines, on the national interest, without being seen as betraying the tradition of the party. Another point here is how important the personal integrity of the players matter here. I recall visiting Washington during the Clinton years when a Republican Senator opted to become an independent, thus denying the party its thin majority. The following afternoon I went to lunch with an old friend who had worked in the Reagan White House, the same friend that invited me to the last Republican Convention in Florida and to dinner with New Jersey Governor Christie. The lunch was, understandably, at the Republican club. I got to chat with a few Republican Senators about what happened the day before. It was polite but you could tell how unhappy they were about it. Straight out of the lunch, my friend Michael was driving me up to Union Station to catch the train to New York.

As we approached the station an old man was walking across the lawn into the station.

Michael jokingly said I wish I could break his leg. All by myself, walking to catch a train was the man who barely hours before had tipped the scales in American politics, I could not believe he would be so care free on the streets. It said a lot for both the motivation and integrity of the man and the system.

• Utomi, Political Economist and Professor of Entrepreneurship, is Founder of the Centre for Values in Leadership.

Macabre dance to Sodom and Gomorrah

By Phil Aragbada HE transnational brouhaha that witnessed the Presidential T assent to the anti-gay bill coupled with the subdued din of some homosexuals and their apologists could have been dismissed as tea pot tempest but for the episcopal and pontifical interventions from Britain and the Vatican which added a spiritual tone to this touchy issue.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby who doubles as the Supreme Prelace of Anglican Communion all over the world, formally appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria and his Ugandan counterpart, Yoweri Musoveni to rescind the anti-gay bills passed in their respective countries. The man of God, who is battling with a factious communion in Africa and United States over disagreement on gay ordination, must have unrobed his canonical scapular for secular consideration and sentimentalism. This should be so as the Bible and the Qu’ran are unambiguous about the damning consequences that await the practice of homosexuality.

While Genesis 19 (vs. 1-28) is filled with rebuke and caustic damnation for this human perversion, the Qu’ran (Surah 29) describes it as abomination. Surely, these biblical and Qu’ranic verses, in the opinion of same-sex apologists, may look like mere religious narratives and dogma, the fact stands that religion is all about faith and dogma which of course, is far superior to logic, which is an intellectual exposition devoid of spirituality.

On medical ground, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) – the umbrella body of all medical practitioners in Nigeria – is unequivocal in its condemnation of same-sex marriage. It highlighted the inherent health risk in the practice of

While not celebrating mythologies, it is a matter of fact, as historians will testify, that the intimidatingly powerful Roman Empire started its cascade to the nadir of infamy and imperial nothingness with the first same-sex marriage of Emperor Nero (37-68 AD) who gleefully and legally married two men in a flamboyant ceremony. Unfortunately, human kind, by nature, is allergic to the lessons of history.

homosexuality. The former President of NMA, Dr. Omide Idris in a Press Conference in Abuja some years back, stressed the hazard posed to health management by same-sex relationship and vehemently warned against liberalising the practice.

What may be of shock to discerning observers is that the United States of America (USA) which has been in the fore front of liberalising gay practice in other countries has only six out of the 50 states of the union legalising same-sex marriage with one of the six pro-gay states considering a repeal of the law – what a hypocrisy!

The argument of same-sex apologists that sexual relationship between two adults is purely a private business is patently pretentious and will collapse irretrievably when exposed to the rigour of logic and morality. It is generally accepted that human beings are guided by norms, values and conventions which prevent them from falling into animal kingdom, where incivility and relational anomie reign supreme. To allow the sexual perverts amongst us to have their way under the veil of human rights, portends a gargantuan danger to our religious and collective cultural values. It is an invitation to those with incestuous, polyandrous, paedophiliac, philadrous and the sexually bestial orientation to troop to the streets to demand for their “rights”.

The exploitation of the much vaunted human rights conventions to justify the glorification of homosexuality is neither here nor there. These conventions to which Nigeria is a signatory, take cognizance of the customs and values of Nigeria like any other country. These are cultural systems that are inviolable. For instance, polygamy which is accepted under customary and Islamic marriage laws in Nigeria is not only a taboo but also a serious criminal offence in the Western world, punishable by imprisonment. In fact, Muhammed Alli (Cassius Marcellus Clay), a United States citizen and the most celebrated world heavy weight boxing champion of our time, tried in vain to contract another marriage in the 70s, without divorcing his first wife on the basis of being a Muslim convert with a right to marry up to four wives. In fact, any African immigrant in the Western world who relies on customary marriage system to satisfy his lust for many wives may surely be a permanent resident of maximum prison yard.

It must be put on record that while United States demonstrated a diplomatic decorum with Nigeria in its opposition to the anti-gay law, same cannot be said of Canada which not only

cancelled the visit of Nigeria’s President to that country, but had earlier threatened to sustain opposing Nigeria at all international forums until the law is repealed. It is saying the obvious without being immodest that this kind of harsh response to Nigeria’s legitimate action is a visible assault on our national integrity. Nigerian President cannot be seen as one of those leaders. Our population, human and natural resources make the country a force that any nation can only be ignored at its own peril. It is expected that international honour of a Nigerian President should just reflect that status. Truncating a presidential visit by a host country to protest a purely internal action taken in the best interest of Nigerian citizens without a reprisal from Nigeria is definitely a diplomatic goof.

While not celebrating mythologies, it is a matter of fact, as historians will testify, that the intimidatingly powerful Roman Empire started its cascade to the nadir of infamy and imperial nothingness with the first same-sex marriage of Emperor Nero (37-68 AD) who gleefully and legally married two men in a flamboyant ceremony. Unfortunately, human kind, by nature, is allergic to the lessons of history.

It is ironic that homosexuals and their protagonists have always argued for the right of gays to adopt children of heterosexuals. That this tribe of sexual deviants could appreciate the products of natural procreation which their orientation detests is nothing but eating one’s cake and still interested in having it.

It is also saying the obvious that the right of the child so adopted by gay is being violated, considering the fact that the hypothetical child from a heterosexual family, in the eyes of the law, lacks rational choices like other right thinking members of the society. To have communed a heterosexually “oriented” child with homosexuals at his formative age is to inadvertently incubate a future gay. However, like any Christian, Muslim, traditional religion worshiper and even atheist, the common doctrinal catch phrase is “love thy neighbour as thyself.” This makes it incumbent on all the living to love gays. Their sexual aberration which has been medically confirmed to be self-immolating is what we condemn. This tribe needs our compassion and genuine help. But they must first accept their deviance and treatable neurosis. That is where it should begin. Of course, there exists an option. That option unfortunately, is a short cut to Sodom and Gomorrah.

• Aragbada is a former newspaper editor and retired bank executive.

14

Friday, February 21, 2014

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

Opinion Osun: Putting education in proper perspective

By Bola Oke GAINST the needless controversies over peripheral issues in Osun’s bourgeoning education policy, there is now an urgent need for a summit of all stakeholders to address the spate of misrepresentations and tension being created around the Osun public school policy.

Hopefully, all stakeholders would be availed of the opportunity to dissect all the components of the policy and scrupulously prevent a situation in which an otherwise excellent public policy document will be compromised by a miasma of scurrilous political intrigues and parochial religious predilections.

It is sad and unfortunate that a unique and rich policy that could have translated into a national strategy for bail-out of the shambolic public school sector, has suddenly assumed religious and political colourations, fuelled largely by mischief and partisanship.

The current trend of discussion relating to the Osun School system in circles expected to churn out informed opinions continues to focus solely on the reclassification of schools and aggressively attempts to rubbish the wider public spirit and mission of the policy. It is strange that the vocal minority raising hell over fringe issues in the policy conveniently forget the holistic beneficial impact of the various components of the policy such as the OUniform, OMeal and Opon Imo, O School, etc which have been adjudged as revolutionary concepts in public school management approach in the country.

The on-going rejuvenation of the public school sector in Osun is at once a strong rebranding project that has begun to impact positively on the state’s overall education management profile as well as the state’s economy in key areas like job creation, empowerment and agricultural development. It is providing a much needed fillip and boost for children to inculcate ab initio, a frenetic and unflagging desire to excel in life through a prism that provides easy elbow room for initiatives and exemplary conduct and scholastic aptitude.

It is against this backdrop that all well meaning Osun indigenes must shun base sentiments and support the effort to create a new public school order in the state for the future of Osun children.

The proposed symposium must seek to dissect the various components of the much ma-

A

ligned Osun policy on public school management with a view to enhancing public understanding and appreciation of its desirability. The symposium will also serve as a platform for constructive engagement of critical stakeholders to ensure the non-derailment of the noble vision behind the policy formulation.

It would be recalled that while counting the modest gains recorded by the state’s new education policy in less than two years of its implementation, the state governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, had posited that the need for the policy as a comprehensive and holistic response to a scandalous educational rot, which had threatened the socio-economic growth of the state, was non-negotiable.

“Our education policy is tailored towards making the Osun public schools system produce the complete child, to become the complete youth and grow up to become the complete citizen, empowered in learning and in character, in the best tradition of the Yoruba Omoluabi. That way, they would be equipped, culturally and academically, anywhere they find themselves in the world, aside from becoming patriots, to take care of their state and country that had earlier taken care of them”, he explained.

He equally noted then that the reforms have had tremendous multi-level impacts on the Osun educational competitiveness.

For instance, in the area of funding, the re have led to a radical increase in grants forms and subventions for the administration of public primary and secondary schools as total grant for the 1378 public primary schools in Osun jumped from N7.4 million a year to N424 million a year.

Additionally, Osun, from a 34th placing among Nigeria’s 36 states in 2010, moved to 18th position in 2011 and 8th position in 2012, in performance rankings in the West African School Certificate Examinations (WASCE). Pupils from the state have also chalked up improved performances in national and international competitions, according to compilations by the Osun Ministry of Education. In addition, the reforms have earned a partnership with UNESCO to build a regional teacher training institute in the state, and a fresh programme in the area of adult education.

And since the critical success factor for any

The on-going rejuvenation of the public school sector in Osun is at once a strong rebranding project that has begun to impact positively on the state’s overall education management profile as well as the state’s economy in key areas like job creation, empowerment and agricultural development. It is providing a much needed fillip and boost for children to inculcate ab initio, a frenetic and unflagging desire to excel in life through a prism that provides easy elbow room for initiatives and exemplary conduct and scholastic aptitude. reform is sound management and welfare, at sets of the uniforms produced under the the heart of the new education reforms is a rescheme were distributed free to the pupils. It structured Education Administration Modalis difficult to imagine that a peculiar school ity which involves creating specialised uniform will prevent indiscipline in each reagencies to address key components in pubspective school as some interests laughably lic schools management. According to pontificated. Uniform or no uniform, a child Aregbesola, one such special agency created with impaired impulses will always turn out by the new education policy is the Teachers Esa miscreant; contrariwise, a child well nourtablishment and Pension Office (TEPO). ished, properly husbanded and deliberately “As the name clearly implies, aside from cultured through a full-orbed school policy teacher recruitment, TEPO takes charge of hucan always be trusted to excel. The issue at man capacity development in Osun public stake is not about a parochial attachment to a schools: teachers’ career advancement, trainuniform or to a school; it is about an egalitaring and retraining, teaching incentives, proian approach, all embracing, that must promotion, prompt payment of salaries and vide the generality of students with the boost allowances. TEPO not only tackles teachers’ to excel in life. This cannot and must not be left welfare while they are in active service, it also to chance. looks after their pension after retirement”, On the school feeding scheme, branded governor Aregbesola further explained.

O’Meal and currently being implemented in Let it be also resoundingly noted that the the Elementary Schools with nearly 255, 000 role of the Opon Imo initiative is an integrative pupils served highly nutritive daily lunch on approach to providing qualitative learning school days, the idea was founded on the prinaids by the instrumentality of ICT. Unquesciple of good nutrition as incentive for learntionably, the initiative has been hailed as a ing readiness. The scheme has helped to boost masterstroke by many education pundits public school enrolment figures in the state, within and outside Nigeria. It has also rein addition to serving as a catalyst of backward ceived the commendation of the United Naintegration for a renewed Osun agricultural tions as a revolutionary learning innovation programme. It is on account of its eminent to help Africa and the rest of the Third World and laudable underpinnings that Aregbesola improve its educational capacity. was invited to Westminster, London about a A word on the standardised school uniform month ago, to share the Osun concept with is most pertinent here. The concept of stanother like-minded interests. dard uniforms for Osun public schools, Let us dissect the issues as dispassionately as branded O’Uniform, was conceived with an it is required, especially for the sake of our chileye to rebrand public schools in the state as dren. If there are contentious issues that truly well as reflate the Osun economy to employ need a review, no one can reasonably oppose as many designers, tailors, local textile workthat. But we must be careful never to allow the ers and allied artisans as possible, in the prochicanery of petty politicians or the folly of reduction of school uniforms. This culture-fired ligious bigots to derail a policy that is sure to indigenous and standardised uniform for stand out the crop of present students as truly 750, 000 public school pupils, which the distinguished and accomplished citizens a Omoluabi Garments Factory is currently imdecade from now. plementing, has received international com• Oke is a public policy analyst based in Osogbo. mendations from UNESCO, just as the first

Demystifying a master strategist

By Godwin Adindu HE former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, is opening T old wound by reminding the people of a past they have struggled to forget. Kalu, in his characteristic fashion, has been taking on the person of the Ochendo, Governor Theodore Orji and to denigrate the personality of the well-meaning leaders and elders of the state. Truth is that Kalu’s time and age in Abia had been swept into the dustbin of history; a fallen emperor who is still living in the delusion of self-importance. No amount of insult can diminish the towering profile of the governor because his achievements and reputation are ahead of him. Governor Orji is an agent of change.

Rather than throw invectives on Governor Orji, Kalu should rather embark on a critical post-mortem to understand the errors that led to his downfall. At what point did he transcend the borders and transgressed? The 2011 election for him was a strident demystification of a self-styled master strategist, the unmasking of the masquerade, and the humbling of the enfant terrible. Kalu lost the election for the senatorial seat of the Abia North, while his brother, Nnanna Kalu also lost his seat in the House of Representatives, and yet another brother who was the Chief of Staff to the governor also lost out in the power games that culminated in the liberation of the state from the stranglehold of their family’s political dynasty.

Today, Kalu is in political limbo, having been celebrated as the quintessential political Maradona. And, indeed, he was. He deployed a combination of street intelligence, manipulation, and selective generosity to build a cult of loyalists and a fortress of power under the banner of the Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA). Confident that he has consolidated his regime, he

boasted that his structure would rule Abia for 50 years. At the national level, he had confrontation with the then President.

Kalu’s popularity was later to soar when he took up the populist posture of a self-appointed advocate of Ndigbo. But many discerning Igbo were not deceived, and they were vindicated.

His demystification was a gradual process which started with the self-assertion of Governor Ohakim, who quickly extricated himself from the PPA fraternity and abandoned Kalu mid-way.

The lesson of that incident did not crystallize on him, for it became obvious that this strategist was not even a good student of the history of power. He dared to query a man who has power in his hand, the last straw that brought him down. From that moment, Governor Orji took the bull by the horns. Kalu is coming to grips with the bitter lesson of the aphrodisiac of power. He should pause to identify the critical point of departure and not seek to stop a man that God has used to bring succour to Abians.

His first casualties were the elite, who were sidelined out of power, while miscreants were elevated to have a congregation of sheepish loyalists who were to deify him as their “maker”.

In this mission, also, he deconstructed the entire Abia society, reduced the revered traditional institution into a calling for commoners and ridiculed the political class. He balkanized many ancient kingdoms and in his own Igbere community, he created 21 communities out of a single community. He thus left, as heritage, a societal anomie that resulted in the regime of crime with many youths taking to kidnapping and all manners of vices.

The people of Abia have since moved on. You cannot run naked to the streets. This is the attitude of all well-meaning people of Abia today. Elections are won on the ground. The refer-

ence to his presidential ambition for which a leader of Ohanaeze was said to have visited to dissuade him is the same old gamji that climaxed with his speech at the palace of the monarch of Enugu Ukwu in Anambra State, entitled: I am the Face of the new Igbo, but which ended with the monumental “summersault” of 2003 when his second term bid came under threat. It’s all a script for relevance. Unlike his co-travellers who are facing investigation by the EFCC, he is the only one who has embarked on open grandstanding, instead of maintaining a dignified silence.

How can somebody who threw Abia State backward for 11 agonising years talk about leadership or mention the word leadership? The public cannot be deceived. But, the major blame goes to the EFCC which has slumbered on these cases and have, in the circumstance, encouraged insult on the nation’s sensibilities.

Governor Theodore Orji has struggled to organise the house and to bring decorum to the state after the 11 locust years, when Kalu had introduced a new lexicon to the political dictionary of Nigeria known as Mamacracy. It was a system where anybody of worth must take instruction from his mother.

Abians are not in a hurry to forget the reign of terror orchestrated by a special gang known as Bakassi. The highpoint of the activities of this group came when people died after being locked up overnight in an abandoned shipping container in Aba. Kalu has a load of moral and spiritual burden which he needs to clear before he could look at Governor Orji eyeball-toeyeball. He shouldn’t merely try to pull the wool over the eyes of the discerning publics, as Abians will resist him.

• Adindu is the President-General of the Abia Renaissance Movement (ARM)

Friday, February 21, 2014 15

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

Business Nigeria secures $160m facility for job, growth project From Itunu Ajayi, Abuja HE World Bank has comT mitted $160 million to the employment and growth project geared towards the development of enterprises in Nigeria, while the United Kingdom Department of International Development is providing a grant of $100 million.

The Minister of Industry,

Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga made the disclosure in Abuja, yesterday, while inaugurating an inter-ministerial committee to oversee the project.

The National Steering Committee for Growth and Employment project, headed by Aganga, as its chair is expected to deliver results on the impact of the facilities from the agencies in the next

six months.

According to Aganga “This project is very important to government and the economy. The growth employment project is an employment project by the ministry supported by the World Bank with a loan of $160 million while the United Kingdom department of international development is providing a grant of $100

million.”

He explained that the project is aimed at job creation and increased growth in specific high potential value chain sector.

Aganga said after sectors with potential growth in the economy had been identified, it became obvious that those identified areas would affect the rapid growth of the economy in tandem with the

Managing Director, Linkage Assurance Plc, Godwin Wiggle (left) Vice Chairman, Babatunde Fatayi – Williams and Chairman, John Anderson Eseimokumoh during the 19th Annual General Meeting of the company in Lagos.

PHOTO: FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI

Facebook acquires WhatsApp for $19b has announced Fto ACEBOOK that it is paying $19 billion buy the OTT messaging service WhatsApp The deal is a mix of cash and shares and brings some 450 million messaging users over to the social media giant Facebook is offering $16 billion, including $4 billion in cash and approximately $12 billion worth of Facebook shares. The agreement also provides for an additional $3 billion in restricted stock

units to be granted to WhatsApp’s founders and employees that will vest over four years subsequent to closing.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said that the deal had been arranged over just 11 days and described WhatsApp’s services as “incredibly valuable”.

Facebook has fast been moving towards becoming a mobile-first company, with the acquisition of Instagram,

and the latest financial figures showing half its revenue now comes from mobile users.

Although WhatsApp charges $1 per year for its service, the addition of WhatsApp customer based makes Facebook potentially the largest mobile advertising agency in the market.

WhatsApp co-founder and CEO, Jan Koum said, “WhatsApp’s extremely high user engagement and rapid

growth are driven by the simple, powerful and instantaneous messaging capabilities we provide. We’re excited and honored to partner with Mark and Facebook as we continue to bring our product to more people around the world.”

WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum said he planned to operate the firm “independently and autonomously”.

He will though also become a member of Facebook’s board of directors.

SMEs get NEDEP’s fund this month

By Femi Adekoya HE first tranche of fund disbursements to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), under the National Enterprise Development Programme (NEDEP) would be effected this month, even as the Federal Government restated its commitment to enhancing market access for small businesses to promote their competitiveness in regional and global markets.

The approval for award of funds was obtained after the cooperatives’ business plans successfully passed the requisite assessment and evaluation of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigerian (SMEDAN) and the Bank of Industry (BoI).

The scheme, which was officially flagged-off by President

T

Goodluck Jonathan recently, is the flagship programme of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, domiciled in SMEDAN, BoI and the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) for implementation.

Director General of SMEDAN, Bature Umar Masari, in a chat with journalists in Lagos on Wednesday, disclosed that the NEDEP programme entails the implementation of the One Local Government One Product (OLOP) programme, based on a borrowed idea from Japan, which had seen the country developing economically.

“So far, we have been able to cover 22 states within a period of three months and we have also formed as at the end of December 2013, 20,111 cooperative bodies all over the country who are now very

busy being guided by SMEDAN to come up with bankable business plans.”

“We have received and handed over those business plans that are ready to BoI, a collaborating partner of the NEDEP programme, with a view to providing financing for the enterprise of their choice along an identified product’s value chain. And I believe that before the end of this month these ones that have qualified will start getting financing from BoI,” he said.

According to him, some of the successful cooperatives with bankable business plans have already received letters of award from the bank.

He stated that the rate of lending shouldn’t be a problem as BoI is ready to lend at a single digit rate as they have

different products under cooperative funding and that the rate of lending in some areas could be as low as five per cent where there are matching funds from state governments but never up to ten per cent.

He explained that all developed business plans must come through SMEDAN before it goes to BoI who also in turn gives SMEDAN a copy of their assessment and evaluation of the cooperative, stressing that all these are done in order to minimize the incidence of defaults.

He also disclosed that the Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Olusegun Aganga and SMEDAN were also reaching out to other commercial banks because of the need for competition even in the area of access to finance.

plan of the federal government in its industrial revolution plans.

According to him, “it is expected that the project will run from June 2013 to September 2018 would create a minimum of about 460,000 jobs, 110,000 of that would be direct and about 350,000 will be indirect jobs.

The areas we have identified that are also areas of focus in the industrial revolution plans and the national enterprise development program are about eight of them. It included the services sector and the light-manufacturing sector.

“In the services sector you have the ICT, whole sale and retail trade, you have hospitality and tourism, these are all areas that would create a lot of jobs and have the potentials for growth.

The minister said those are the areas the World Bank study identified as areas of strong influence in the economy that would generate a lot of employment.

He said the project has been put in place supported by the two agencies to remove the obstacles to growth in those sectors and increase the competitiveness of these sectors noting that the fundamental part of the industrial revolution plan is competitiveness.

The project, Aganga explained would complement the industrial revolution strategy and enterprises development strategy.

He said the project would fund localized infrastructure

and address gaps in fibre optic backbone for Nigeria to compete in the global market place and it will also address new business model, which would provide technical assistance and linkages services to the small producers in the eight targeted sectors to enable them to supply local and global supermarkets chain and also support local construction companies to improve quality, low cost innovation and production standards and help to improve the business environment.

Aganga stressed that the number of services that would be required has been identified in each of these sectors; number of enterprises that would support in each of these sectors and some of the enterprises will receive grants.

All these he said is geared towards removing obstacles to growth and making sure that issues concerning the sectors are addressed.

The Sector Leader Finance and Private Sector World Bank, Michael Wang said the project will create a platform for enterprises to relate with one another in the country and bring different knowledge to bear while they would also have access to financial services and all other services they should have access to.

“We have enough plans and provision to ensure that with consistency, by the time the project is over, we should be able to reach 10,000 enterprises throughout the federation”, he said.

16 BUSINESS Friday, February 21, 2014

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

AU, EU to strengthen partnership on energy for Africa

By Bola Olajuwon HE African Union (AU) and European Union (EU) have agreed to collaborate and provide solutions to make power available to millions of people in Africa.

The agreement was reached at the end of their two-day second high level meeting held under the Africa-EU Energy Partnership (AEEP), at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the parties agreed to continue to define priorities for collaboration as well as providing solutions to make power available to millions of people in the region.

The AEEP is a long-term strategic framework for cooperation between Africa and the EU on energy issues, which aims to create a political platform to share knowhow, connect resources and work to further enhance and coordinate energy policies within Africa and between Africa and Europe.

The meeting came after the First High Level Meeting of the Energy Partnership in 2010, where African and EU ministers set ambitious tar-

T

gets in the areas of energy access, energy security, renewable energy and energy efficiency to be reached by the year 2020.

Ever since, progress on achieving these targets has been tracked and collected in the First Status Report of the Africa-EU Energy Partnership: for instance the capacity of solar energy has seen rapid growth since 2010, and is projected to exceed original target – additional 500 MW by the year 2020 – by far.

At the current electrification rate, the target set by African and EU Energy ministers back in 2010 to provide 100 million Africans with access to modern and sustainable energy services may be met in 2020.

However, with the African population rapidly growing, the share of the population without access to electricity in 2020 is expected to grow substantially.

The leaders agreed from inception of the initiative that strong political commitment and deliberate engagement of stakeholders is key to encourage investment and action towards bridging the

gap of energy poverty in Africa.

The 2nd high level meeting was opened by the African Union’s Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, Dr. Elham Ibrahim.

Commissioner Ibrahim, who highlighted the efforts being

undertaken to improve energy access in Africa, mentioning the different projects under the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA).

But she lamented the prevailing low energy access on the continent.

Also, the Head of the European Union Delegation to the African Union, Mr. Gary Quince, noted that Africa’s recovery from the global financial crisis had been faster than that of any other continent, with Africa achieving growth rates of between

four and five per cent per year in the 2010-2014 period.

This recovery, according to Quince, is a sign of Africa’s economic growth, which, along with population growth, is fuelling the significant increase in Africa’s energy demands.

Chairman of the occasion, Ayodele Sangosanya (right); President, Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, Emeka Eleh, the guest speaker, Joe Idudu and Asiwaju Dosu Fatokun during 20th John Wood Ekpenyong Memorial Lecture and 2014 Fellows Induction Ceremony of the (NIESV) at the Civic Centre in Lagos, yesterday.

PHOTO: GABRIEL IKHAHON

CAMAC for listing on J’burg Exchange on Monday From Laolu Akande, New York S-based international oil and gas company, CAMAC Energy, would be listed next week on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange; JSE as the Nigerian owned firm expands its reach in Africa.

CAMAC Energy will become the first New York Stock

U

Exchange listed company to be listed also on the JSE, an African exchange as the company enters a $270 million partnership with South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation.

Speaking exclusively with The Guardian, yesterday, the Chairman and CEO of CAMAC Energy, Dr. Kase Lawal confirmed that the publicly quot-

ed firm will make history next week Monday February 24 as the “first NYSE-listed company to do an inward listing on the JSE.” An inward listed company in the JSE is a foreign company trading on the exchange, allowing the JSE to raise its volume of trading and aggressively pursue a wider range of investment poten-

tials.

In October 2011, the South African government had proposed allowing foreign listed firms like CAMAC Energy to be listed on the JSE in order “to enhance the ability of the JSE to attract new listings and boost investments into Africa.”

Recalling that CAMAC Energy is the only AfricanAmerican and African owned company listed on the NYSE in the oil and gas sector, Dr. Lawal explained that the South African listing reflects the company’s determination to create an increasing access and opportunity for AfricanAmerican and African investors in the global oil and gas sector.

Although Lawal’s stake would now be diluted as a fallout of South African Public Investment Corporation, PIC investment in CAMAC Energy, the Nigerian-born oil guru noted that the changes to the share structure is a positive reflection of increasing African partnership in the alltoo -important sector, adding he is delighted at the development.

“I have always believed in an international platform that recognizes and brings together the diverse interests and expertise that makes the oil industry tick, “ Lawal stated.

He added: “It is a delight that CAMAC is making history and is leading in the widening of the access with the additional listing on JSE.” While several African nations are known to be blessed with oil, the control and ownership of the industry is still largely foreign.

While this ownership pattern has been explained away based on the capital intensity of the industry and its profound technical requirement, industry observers say CAMAC Energy’s ownership structure and its listing in leading stock exchanges around the world including in New York Stock Exchange points to a gradual change in favor of Africans and African-Americans.

Friday, February 21, 2014 17

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

TheMetroSection Briefs

‘My hand has been paralysed ’

Pa Ojiyi passes on at 77 HE death has occurred of T Dr. Sir. Samuel Chukwuemeka Ojiyi at the age of 77.

• How a Nigerian envoy accused a hotel employee of N12 million theft and disappeared

By Odita Sunday OR Mr. Edward Abele, life has not remained the same ever since he was severely beaten by a witch-doctor around Agege area in Lagos on the orders of a Nigerian Ambassador to one of the African countries.

Trouble began for Edward, staff of a Lagos-based hotel, when a guest at the hotel where he works raised an alarm over the theft of a whooping 75,000US Dollars from his hotel room. The ambassador did not point any accusing finger to anyone else except Edward whom he had accused of opening his luggage and stealing the sum, which translates to N12million in Nigerian currency.

The suspect was allegedly taken to a witch doctor where he was beaten up and his hand allegedly paralysed.

Officers from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) who held him in their cell, expecting the ambassador who ordered his arrest and detention to show up and order his release, waited for a long time, but the ambassador never came back.

The policemen released Edward since his accuser failed to show up.

But he is now living with his two hands paralyzed after his encounter with the native doctor.

Edward is now urging Nigerians to help him get justice for being humiliated and rendered useless for a crime he claimed he knew nothing about.

“I work in a hotel as a porter. An ambassador (names withheld) accused me of stealing his N12 million in the hotel. I told him I did not even sight any money. He took me to a native doctor’s place where I was severely tortured. I can’t make use of my hands anymore due to the torture. I was hospitalized after the beating; it was at the hospital that men from the state Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) came to arrest me.”

“I did not commit any crime that would warrant my hand being paralysed. What happened was that on that fateful day I saw three of our customers coming in; I assisted them to the receptionist where they booked for their room. The receptionist gave me key to show them up to their room. They rejected the

I work in a hotel as a porter.

An ambassador accused me of stealing his N12 million in the hotel. I told him I did not see any money. He took me to a native doctor’s place where I was severely tortured. I can’t make use of my hands anymore due to the torture

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Abele room I gave them, I had to go back to pick the key for another room. I left their bags with them, they told me they liked the second room I gave to them. One of them, a driver to the Ambassador, told me that his boss would like that particular room.”

“I switched on the lights and the television for them and ensured they were comfortable before I left to my duty post with my supervisor. I was shocked when the ambassador came

down after 10minutes to say I should give him that 75,000 US Dollars that I stole. I told him we were not trained to steal. I asked him, ‘Where can I see such money, I have never set my eyes on such sum of money.’ I cannot hide such money in our hotel because there is camera everywhere. He said he checked his bag when he left the airport and it was still there. As at the time he was querying me, the three people who

came with him had driven away. He told my colleagues that those people couldn’t take his money because he has been working with them for a long time.”

“As we were talking, his driver said there was a native doctor at Agege who can expose who stole the money. I refused to follow them because I am a Christian, but my colleague told me to follow them and that I would be vindicated when I get there. With open mind, I followed them that night at about 11pm to the witch doctor’s place.

When we got there, he asked us to return the following day. The next day, by 6.00am, we set out to the place. My supervisor was with us that fateful day when we got there,” he recalled.

He added: “The man consulted his oracle and told them I was the one who stole the money. The native doctor asked everyone to go and left only me. They handcuffed me and started beating me. They paralysed my hand and as I am talking with you now, I cannot hear very well.

After all the beating, the hotel management saw my condition and took me to the hospital.”

“The police people came from SARS and arrested me at the hospital.

They released me and asked me to come back and meet with the Ambassador, he never came back. That is why I want to tell the world to help me ask the Ambassador to show up his face and prove to the world that I actually stole his N12million. Nigerians should help me get justice over this matter,” Edward pleaded.

Kidney failure patient pleads with kind-hearted Nigerians to save his life with N3.5million

By Isaac Taiwo RANKLIN Uche Onuoha’s travail began on November 8, 2013, when he fell into coma, which resulted into his being rushed to a nearby hospital, where the family thought he would just recuperate and be brought back home.

However, it turned out that Franklin, 35, was in a coma for three days. He was unable to eat, drink or urinate.

The problem degenerated.

Franklin’s genital organ was swollen and his face pale.

The sordid situation, according to Franklin, compelled him to go for dialysis in different hospitals for about seven times, that gulped N400,000.

“The last time I went for dialysis was two years ago. Then, the situation was not as painful as it is at present. I took some drugs and it calmed me down but this

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Franklin time, it is worse. I cannot take my bath without being assisted. I can neither eat nor sleep. Doctors say that the only way I could save my life is to go for a kidney transplant.

I don’t want to die and that is why I am making this appeal,” Franklin lamented.

Franklin, a graduate of International Relations from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, is pleading with wellmeaning Nigerians, corporate organizations and religious organisations to save his life from death, promising that he would appreciate the

gesture.

He said Nigerians are wellknown for being compassionate whenever it comes to a situation like his. And pleaded with them to assist him.

His septuagenarian father, Vincent Onuoha, said they were able to get support from St. Vincent De Paul Society of St. Vincent’s Catholic Church, Olodi –Apapa, Lagos, with which they were able to do the analysis.

He added that time was no longer on Franklin’s side, who should quickly undergo kidney transplant to save his life.

He appealed to kind-hearted Nigerians who wish to contribute to save him to pay into Fidelity Bank, account number 4020096826 with the name Vincent Onuoha. Payment could also be paid to Roseline Onuoha’s account at First Bank, with the account number 3000033515.

Brief Onukaba, Daily Times ex-MD loses mother AJIYA Aishatu Onukaba, the H mother of former Managing Director of The Daily Times of Nigeria Plc, Adinoyi Ojo Onukaba, has died at the age of 82 and was buried on Thursday February 13, 2014, according to Islamic rites at Oboroke, Ihima, Kogi State.

She was a respected woman leader in her community, a devout Muslim and a kind and caring mother.

Final burial service holds on May 3, 2014 at Oboroke, Ihima in Kogi State.

Onukaba

A service of songs holds at his residence, 7, Carter Street, Enugu, on Monday, March 3, commendation service at Cathedral Church of Good Shepherd Enugu on Tuesday March 4, 2014. He will be buried on Thursday March 6, after a funeral service at St. John’s Anglican Church Nise, Anambra State.

He is survived by his wife, Grace Ojiyi, eight children and many grand children.

Ojiyi

Church holds programme HE monthly prophetic outT reach of Afolabi Samuel Coker has begun at The King’s Chambers, 42, Association Avenue, Ikorodu Road, by Obanikoro Bus Stop, Ilupeju, Lagos. Tagged “Settle Me O’ Lord” every Sunday at 8.00a.m.

Hymns Assembly holds Sunday at LASUTH HE next Hymns Assembly T holds on Sunday, February 23, at the MRC auditorium, LASUTH, Ikeja, Lagos at 4.30p.m. With the theme: Showers of Blessing: Come let’s sing untothe Lord, convener is Joko Okupe

JCI holds business forum / dinner UNIOR Chamber InternaJAssociation tional Nigeria (JCIN) Senate holds her second yearly Business Forum and Dinner on Saturday, March 29, 2014 from 7.00 p.m. to 10.00 p.m. at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.

According to the Chairman, JCI Nigeria Senate Association, Ray Fintan,“ the business dinner /forum is for achievers, leaders and entrepreneurs for the purpose of re-uniting and networking between members and the investing public.”

Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at holds confab HE Ahmadiyya Muslim JaT ma'at, Nigeria, hold its third Northern Region Jalsa Tarbiyyat Conference On Moral Training, on Friday, February 28 and Sunday March 2, 2014 at the Abuja Central Mosque, of the Jama'at at Plot 579, Independence Avenue (behind Honda Place), Central Business District, Abuja. . The Amir of the AMJ, Nigeria, Dr. Mashood A. Fashola will deliver the keynote address.

The Deputy leader of the Jamaat, (Naib Amir north), Dr. Yakeen Habeeb, said the conference would educate members as well as other Muslims on their rights and obligations to their Creator (Allah) and responsibilities to humanity .

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18 Friday, February 21, 2014

Briefs Esan youths condemn call to dismember varsity HE Esan Youth Association has faulted recent calls by the Afemai Youth Coalition for the decentralisation of the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Esan West Local Council of Edo Central Senatorial District.

The coalition wants the College of Medicine of the university to be moved to Edo North Senatorial District, and other campuses created for Akoko-Edo, Owan and Etsako areas of the state.

But in a statement by its National President, Oyomon Francis, Secretary General, Okojie Linus and Financial Secretary, Ehiagwina Peter, the Esan Youth Association described such calls as not only myopic and devilish, but also a threat to the peaceful co-existence of the various ethnic groups in the state.

The association said it would resist this attempt to dismember and destroy the legacy of Professor Ambrose Alli, who set up the university.

It would be recalled that when a similar attempt was made to dismember the Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi, it took the intervention of Gen. Agbazika Innih, as Bendel State Governor, to reverse the movement of some of its departments from Benin City to Auchi.

The association said rather than dismember the university, which it referred to as a glorified secondary school due to neglect by successive Edo State Governments; efforts should be made to consolidate and improve on its infrastructure in the overall interest of our educational development.

It wondered how the state government would be able to run a mini-campus university when it had not been able to manage successfully the uni-campus that Ambrose Alli University runs.

Consequently, the association calls on Governor Adams Oshiomhole to continue the capital development programme of the university and not bow to any pressure to dismember this cherished institution.

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Lucy Abhulimhen, 85, for burial UNERAL rites for Mrs. Lucy Unemhin Abhulimhen, who died FChristian on November 19, 2013, at the age of 85, begin today with a wake at her compound in Obolo Emu, Esan South East Local Council of Edo State.

She will be buried tomorrow after a funeral service at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church, Emu at 8.00a.m A thanksgiving service holds on Sunday, at the same church at 9.00a.m.

She is survived by Chief Gidoen A. Abhulimhen, Mrs. Patricia Ariegiegbe; Mr. Peter I. Abhulimhen and Paul O. Abhulimhen.

Abhulimhen

Expert tasks govt on stable public education HE Nigerian government needs to oversee a stable public eduT cational system that will contribute and benefit the young population of Nigeria. This is the submission of the Principal, Lead-Forte Gate College, Mr. Ben Greyling in a statement.

According to Greyling: “Nigeria has an enormous influence on the African continent and is one of the financial power houses in Africa. Future generations are the key to the growth and success.

Lead-Forte Gate College wants to be part of the development of future leaders that would be able to contribute positively to the future of Nigeria.” He said the vision to produce world-class leaders with proficiency and excellence in their various fields of endeavour brought about the establishment of Lead-Forte Gate College, a Nigerian/British curriculum co-educational secondary school embedded in tireless efforts of providing an all-inclusive world-class education that develop students’ knowledge, skills and attitudes, thereby harnessing their potentials and equipping them to become future leaders, role models and global citizens.

Father of five commits suicide in Ogun

By Gbenga Akinfenwa HE sleepy community of T Itori, headquarters of Ewekoro Local Council, Ogun State was last week thrown into a state of mourning, when the decomposing body of a popular youth in the community, Ibrahim Ishola, 34, was seen dangling on the wall of an uncompleted building.

He was alleged to have committed suicide and found three days after he was declared missing by his family.

On Thursday, when his remains were being interred in Ago Owu area of the community, tears flowed freely as mourners and his friends wept uncontrollably. Those who knew him well, as a hardworking fashion designer, could not fathom why the father of five took his life.

It all started on Saturday, February 8, 2014 when he had a serious argument with his wife for coming home late. This later led to fisticuffs that forced the wife to flee to her parents’ home in Papalanto, leaving the children behind.

The Guardian gathered that at midnight, the deceased left his house to the Camp area, a new site in the community, to hang himself.

It was the horrible odor permeating the area that forced the residents to organise a search party, which discovered his decomposing body. Due to his deformed body, nobody could recognise him until the Police from Itori Police Command came to remove him.

It was the recent calls to his cell phone found in his pocket that was used by the police to discover his identity.

Before and after his burial, lots of sacrifices and rituals were performed to cleanse the land.

Nobody could explain why Ibrahim killed himself but there were rumours making the rounds that after he was separated from his first wife who bore him four children and married the new one, whom he fought with prior to his death, he had been inconsistent in his job and always complaining of no money.

Another rumour claimed that the former husband of

Ishola Ibrahim’s second wife, whom she bore three chil-

dren before they parted ways, was behind Ibrahim’s predicament.

All efforts to get the deceased’s wife proved abortive but the Chairman of Nigerian Union of Taylors (NUT), the union controlling fashion designers, Aderemi Adeoye, confirmed that his problem started when he married the second wife.

He noted that he turned himself to a recluse of sort, adding that, “he had been rescued on three different occasions while attempting to commit suicide.”

Aderemi who claimed the deceased was like a brother to him, described the incident as a serious calamity to the community.

A senior police officer at the Itori Police Command, who spoke to The Guardian, confirmed the incident.

He noted that police are investigating what really led to the deceased’s taking his life, saying they would explore other avenues to unravel mysteries behind the tragedy.

He added that they couldn’t conduct any autopsy on the body because of cash con-

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Weekend

The threat against book publishing

Arts & Culture P. 35

Autowheels P.43

Business Travels P.45

Sikiru Ayinde Barrister‌

Still, vintage Mercedes Benz C-class

DANA Air re-launches daily flights to Port Harcourt

Putting Barry Wonder’s works in perspective

20 WEEKEND Friday, February 21, 2014

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Opportunities, challenges of book Since the advent of the Internet, nothing has remained the same across the globe. And with emergence of electronic books in Nigeria, fears are being expressed about the possible extinction of book publishers, with the attendant loss of investments and jobs. ANOTE AJELUOROU reports on the fears and opportunities of the new reality.

Osun State students, displaying their e-learning tablet, Opon Imo provided by the state government IGERIA has had a fairly robust book pubN lishing history, starting from the establishment of the University College, Ibadan (UCI) in 1948. With the promising scholarship which such a milestone institution was bound to generate, some of the leading publishers from the United Kingdom (UK) such as Longman, Heinemann, Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press, took steps to be part of the new beginning that UCI represented.

Ibadan, also, naturally became the pioneering city of publishing in the country.

Expectedly, it lived up to expectations, as the young institution soon began to produce prodigious talents in all spheres of scholarship. From school texts to literary works, to leisure reading materials, the arena became vibrant for both the publishers and writers.

Publishing became big business, especially as the need to fill the literacy level became high and school enrolment also rose phenomenally.

The trend was raised a notch higher at independence in 1960. Nigeria was poised for the path of greatness it heralded, with its abundant human and material resources. But there was a temporary halt with the outbreak of the fratricidal civil war. When the war ended in 1970, the book industry picked up once again. It wasn’t just the old, foreign publishers doing business any more; local publishers saw the need to be part of the ever-expanding book terrain, occasioned by rapid expansion of schools, universities and allied institutions. The trend continued till the mid 1980s, when the bubble burst with the introduction of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) by the retired General Ibrahim Babangida’s administration in 1986.

Although, the devastating effect of that economic policy hit all sectors of the economy, it appeared the book publishing industry and the education sector were worse off.

The foreign publishing houses could not repatriate their invested funds; local purchasing power dwindled drastically, such that book sales dropped radically. It gave way to the era of handouts in universities as books became scarce.

Also, the three paper mills at Iwopin, Jebba and Oku Iboku gradually came to a grinding halt, as importation of paper became the

norm.

The foreign publishers soon pulled out of Nigeria, thus leaving their local inheritors to their fate. It wasn’t just books that were hard hit; the education sector also suffered acute neglect by government.

A brief period of mixed military-democratic government saw many states introducing free education in primary and secondary schools. It came with free books, freely distributed to schools for the pupils. Rather than strengthening the book chain, it further caused chaos in the sector.

Some of the books did not only fit, they were grossly mismanaged. Some found their ways into the open market and were sold by unscrupulous persons even when ‘Not for Sale’ was clearly imprinted on them. After this, things went from bad to worse, with education getting smaller and smaller budgetary provisions, far less than the 26 per cent recommended by UNESCO. This situation made linguist and African languages expert, Prof. Emmanuel Nnolue Emenanjo proclaim in a recent lecture: “Nigeria is a chronically bookless country and most Nigerians are neither great lovers, great buyers, avid readers, nor fanatical users of books!”

He continued: “Nigeria produces less than one per cent of her actual book needs, which should now stand at some 199.76 million books per year. This calculation is based on a modest estimate of four to six books per child in primary school, for 20.4 million pupils; eight books per student in the secondary school, for 6.4 million students; and eight books per student for close to one million students in tertiary education…

“Nigerians have the lowest rate of paper consumption in the world with only 3 kilos

of printed materials per person, per year as against South Africa, with 100 kilos, Europeans - 250 kilos, Americans - 270 kilos and Japanese -300 kilos”.

This is a grim prospect for the country’s educational and book industry. But government and policy makers don’t seem to have a clue on how to stem the tide.

Since the collapse of Heinemann’s African Writers Series (AWS), which late legendary literary icon, Prof. Chinua Achebe pioneered as editorial adviser, with the publication of his iconic novel, Things Fall Apart in 1958, publishing of literary works in the country and Africa has plummeted.

This led to the era of self-publishing and the rise of a few small scale publishing houses that specialized in fiction or literary publishing. A few examples in Nigeria in recent years include Ibadan-based Kraftbooks Ltd and Bookcraft; Lagos-based Farafina (Publisher of Chimamanda Adichie, Sefi Atta and Eghosa Imasuen’s works); Abuja-based Cassava Republic Press (publisher of Lola Shoneyin and Toni Kan’s works); Jalaa Writers Collective (publisher of Akachi Ezeigbo, Jube Dibia), Parresia Publishers (Molara Wood, Abubakar Ibrahim).

Some of the old publishers, seeing the apparent boom in literary publishing by efforts of self-publishers and smaller ones, have tried to come into the fray, half-heartedly.

Macmillan Publishers used to have a literary series called ‘Pacesetters’ back in the 1980s. It died years ago under the SAP-induced problems. Its new imprint, ‘Night & Day’ is floundering; its authors are not promoted and so unknown and not read.

The Ibadan-based University Press Plc tried to introduce ‘New Horizon,’ but it was yet another failure, as no meaningful book has come

Nigeria produces less than one per cent of her actual book needs, which should now stand at some 199.76 million books per year. This calculation is based on a modest estimate of four to six books per child in primary school, for 20.4 million pupils; eight books per student in the secondary school, for 6.4 million students; and eight books per student for close to one million students in tertiary education.

Nigerians have the lowest rate of paper consumption in the world with only 3 kilos of printed materials per person, per year as against South Africa, with 100 kilos, Europeans - 250 kilos, Americans - 270 kilos and Japanese -300 kilos

out of that effort. Longman Plc also tried to revive its previously famous ‘Drumbeat’ series that nurtured a generation of young and adult readers in the 1980s and 1990s.

But lack of promotion of its new titles made the effort fall flat on its face.

Nelson Publishers, one of the old generation publishers, has made a fairly successful effort in literary publishing of late. Dr. Wale Okediran’s Tenants in the House, a work depicting intrigues in the Federal House of Representatives, has signalled a near comeback for the company into the fiction terrain. A lull ensued that was only broken last year, when it came out with a short story collection titled, Dream Chasers, in its new series.

However, while literary writers (authors of fiction – drama, novels, short story, poetry, etc) are having a hard time getting the attention of the big publishers, authors of academic works or school texts have continued to be the brides to be wooed.

This is so because with the economic hardship publishers encounter, it has engendered in them an instinct for survival.

And survival means that they cut down on what they presumably regard as luxury publishing, which literary publishing represents, as there is little patronage on account of poor book promotion and low purchasing power of majority of the populace. Textbook publishing has then become the name of the game, as it guarantees returns on investment, since schools and students are bound to buy recommended textbooks for class work.

Only the recommended literary texts continue to thrive in the unfriendly bookpublishing environment and the big publishers are doing their best to fill it.

According to reports, they have been making it big. Indeed, this has given impetus to school text authors in tertiary institutions, secondary and primary schools, as there are ready buyers and readers for their books. This is where literary text authors have lost out except the few whose texts make it to the syllabuses of examination bodies.

Authors of school texts or texts recommended by examination bodies have a ready market. Most times, the big publish-

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publishing as e-books take root ers actually commission authors to write books specifically tailored-made to attain such objectives. They also go the extra miles to woo educational officials to have their books in school syllabuses thus creating unhealthy competition among themselves.

The big publishers, represented by Nigerian Publishers Association (NPA), have often accused the Nigerian Educational, Research and Development Council (NERDC) of double standards as the body also publishes educational materials and thus encroaches on the turf of NPA. Clearly, the allure is with educational publishing for which the risk of incurring loses is slim. All a publisher requires is to be smart enough to have his book in a school syllabus or on the recommended list of an examination body like WAEC, NECO or JAMB and he can be rest assured of breaking even and making a profit. So that in spite of the harsh economic environment. University Press Plc , for instance, declared N2 billion as profit before tax in 2013! Other publishers made their own modest profits as well, which came from textbook publishing, easily the cash-cow of the sector at the moment.

With the explosion of the Internet in recent years, and its phenomenal impact on virtually all facets of life, the book has also found a comfortable place in it. The advent of the Internet has made some pessimists to proclaim or prophesy the death of the ‘traditional paperback book’! Writers of all shades have lashed onto the borderless category or community that the Internet represents, to sell their ideas and ideologues. Book publishing, which is usually regarded as a conservative sector, did not escape being sucked into the pervasive web, with the e-book or e-learning becoming the vogue.

All sorts of devices are being introduced in the markets, and Nigerians have been embracing them. Such devices as the Kindle, e-reader, iPads, iPones and e-tablets are already defining the e-book revolution.

But what is the fate of publishers in this e-book rat race?

How are the publishers coping? How involved are they in getting on the web and how would that impact on traditional book publishing? How ready are Nigerian publishers in embracing the new online bug for books?

Kenyan writer and former director of Chinua Achebe Centre at Brown University, Rhodes Island, U.S., Mr. Binyavanga Wainaina, has also predicted death for books. He said: “The book is dead as it is today! So, why not put content on screens for our pupils – mobile phones, laptops. We are no longer in a place of choice. We need not fear change”.

Only last year, the Osun State Government introduced a tablet, Opon Imo, to its secondary schools as alternative platforms for books. It was provided by one of the big publishers, Evans Publishers Ltd, as further evidence that some of the local publishers are abreast of developments on the larger world stage. Most of the school texts and recommended texts were uploaded onto the tablets for the students’ use. According to the state’s Deputy Governor, Mrs. Grace Tomori, the tablets “are installed with software of lesson notes and textbooks on 17 subjects offered by secondary school students, as well as past questions and answers on the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), Senior School Certificate Examination (organized by the National Examination Council Examination) and the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), which will help facilitate students’ preparedness for these examinations.

“The launch and distribution of the computer tablets, which also contain other extra-curricular subjects including Sexuality Education, Entrepreneurship, Civic and Computer Education, Yoruba History and Traditional Religion to secondary school students across the various public secondary schools in the state, is a further attestation to the resolute pursuit of innovation in the state’s education sector”.

Implicit in this e-learning tool are serious implications for traditional, paper publishing in the country. Issues that immediately arise include the future of traditional paper books, piracy, legal and administrative framework for this new platform to benefit everyone concerned, including publishers, authors and many others.

The Executive Secretary of Nigerian Publishers Association (NPA), Mr. Kunle Sogbehin, stated that the reality of e-books taking roots in Nigeria cannot be contested, but he advised local publishers to embrace it “for their own good, as it signified the future of publishing.”

His words: “The trend throughout the world now is that content delivery will no longer be in the form of paper.

Electronic delivery of books is now something that publishers cannot run away from any more. What we’re doing now is to make sure that publishers know their role basically, as content providers. Now, whether you like it or not, publishers must still provide content that will be loaded into those devices. What publishers are doing is to actually position themselves so as to provide the right content.”

In other words, publishers will need their authors to write books, which would then be uploaded as e-books before they can be delivered to the end-users – readers. By so doing, publishers make themselves indispensable to the learning process.

He further stated: “For instance, the Osun State’s Opon Imo (e-book tablet) for its senior secondary school students is the brainchild of a major publisher in Nigeria, Evans Publishers Ltd. But the problem is that, for now, we don’t have enough infrastructure in Nigeria to support it, otherwise it will even be convenient for publishers to deliver content in electronic format. The short-term defect is that people may think it will replace the book in paper form. But we’re going to have a mixed ecosystem of paper and digital books, side by side, for a long time.

“The only important thing is for publishers to be well positioned to churn out good content. If you don’t have content, it will be hard to fit into the digital system. But a lot of our publishers are positioning themselves to partner with IT companies, which don’t have content, which publishers have. So, that is what we have; this applies all over the world – IT companies partnering with those who have content to deliver such content to consumers”.

Unlike Wainaina, Sogbehin has an ambivalent view of the situation. He firmly believes in the continued existence of traditional paperback books while keeping a close eye on the new development that the e-books represent. He argues that both formats can and will co-exist to give options to book lovers of all categories.

He said: “For a long time, we’re going to have a mixed ecosystem in the book industry. For instance, only short excerpts of novels and such materials will fit the electronic

Managing Director, University Press Plc, Mr. Samuel Kolawole

Osun State governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, with officials at the launch of Opon Imo

Digital platforms will reduce a lot of production costs – no leasing of warehouses or going abroad to produce books, as is the case currently. However, publishers need to have agreement with government on proper pricing. For instance, if a publisher sells to Osun State and next year, the state hands them over to the next set of students and so on down the road, how will it benefit publishers? So, there should be a licensing arrangement for its continuity; they have to look at issues of digital rights management, so it is not circulated round other would-be users and not be paid for

gadgets, and not the full length. If the e-books can work in the long run, it will actually provide people that can generate content a lot of alternative platforms to deliver materials and it will enable content providers to send their content anywhere in the world without the barriers traditional books pose – long travel and haulage and all its encumbrances in our bad roads and warehousing that are expensive.

“However, for a long time the digital or e-books are not going to displace the traditional, conventional paper books.

What we will have is a mixed ecosystem of both books existing side by side for a long time. “ Many publishers are actually working to get onto the digital platforms like the Ipon Imo tablet in Osun State, which was provided by a major publisher, Evans Publishers”.

Although the Managing Director of University Press Plc, Mr. Samuel Kolawole, raised issues of infrastructural problems, piracy associated with e-books, availability of electricity to charge the devices, he said e-books were desirable and that Nigerian publishers were positioning themselves for the challenge ahead. He assured that Nigerian publishers were not far behind in embracing the digital revolution hitting the book industry, in spite of the teething problems that may be associated with it. Kolawole, however, said challenges like copyright issues needed to be resolved before such platform could become operational and take firm root.

A senior official of Longman Ltd, a Lagos-based leading publishing firm, who chose to remain anonymous, said although the advent of e-books was a positive development and not a big deal or threat to publishers, there is the issue of proper evaluation and constant review of the operational framework, so that publishers would not be short-changed in the process.

He noted while e-book publishing had picked up elsewhere, it was just starting in Nigeria, and care was needed to midwife it. He also raised the issue of infrastructure, like epileptic power supply as possible impediment to the platform. Cost of purchasing and maintaining such electronic device, he further argued, might pose a challenge given Nigeria’s poor maintenance culture”.

On the example of Osun State’s launch of Opon Imo for its secondary schools, he expressed reservations on how far it could go. He said: “How far do they want to go? When will they start with the primary schools, for instance? It’s a positive development but can government afford to buy such device for all? Won’t the cost be higher than traditional books?

From publishing perspective, it’s not a big deal; we provide the content, the purveyor of knowledge. They should be able to migrate to these platforms.

“Digital platforms will reduce a lot of production costs – no leasing of warehouses or going abroad to produce books, as is the case currently. However, publishers need to have agreement with government on proper pricing. For instance, if a publisher sells to Osun State and next year, the state hands them over to the next set of students and so on down the road, how will it benefit publishers? So, there should be a licensing arrangement for its continuity; they have to look at issues of digital rights management, so it is not circulated round other would-be users and not be paid for.

“So, it’s not a negative development, but let’s ensure we have a system in place to work out all the details regarding its usage so everyone benefits”.

No doubt, the book industry has come a long way. Still stretching ahead of it is the e-book revolution that is just unfolding. Whatever the challenges, it appears both authors, publishers and book lovers are upbeat that the book will continue to deliver knowledge, which ultimately is wealth for all, especially in a knowledge economy world that the internet foreshadows!

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BusinessRound-Up MTN & VODACOM REMAIN A DUOPOLY

By Farhaanah Mahomed OBILE OPERATORS MTN and Vodacom’s rates are still some of the highest in Africa despite recent price deductions.

“The high retail prices relate to high wholesale prices, which is the interconnection charge that companies pay each other to terminate the calls of their customers on each other’s networks. Now those have been historically very high and if costs are high it means your retail costs have to be high,” Allison Gillwald, executive director at Research ICT Africa told CNBC Africa.

Around the world, she further explained, mobile termination rates have been reduced which has ultimately led to the reduction in retail prices.

Prices have also been reduced in South Africa over the last three years however remain higher than other countries, including those in Africa such as Kenya, Nigeria, Namibia and Uganda.

“That has been far too little too late in a sense and other countries have gone further more quickly so although South Africa’s prices have come down over the last three years, and we eventually see a positive effect of a reduced mobile termination rate, that is now plateaued,” explained Gillwald.

In association with

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BIDVEST & PIC BULLY ADCOCK'S BOARD

By Lesego Motshegwa

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HE PUBLIC Investment Corporation and the Bidvest Group have jointly demanded that the Adcock Ingram board appoint new company directors.

Both the PIC and Bidvest sent identical letters to the drug maker at 3.40pm on 18 February 2014 stating that new company directors should be appointed by no later than 5pm the same evening.

According to a statement by the drug maker, the Adcock Ingram board had to appoint nominated individuals who included Brian Joffe, Lindsay Peter Ralphs, Dr Anna Mokgokong and Roshan Morar as directors of the Company; and secure the resignation of Dr Khotso Mokhele as a director of the Company and accordingly Chairman of the Adcock Ingram Board.

In the letters, Bidvest and the PIC further advised that in the event that the Adcock Ingram Board failed to comply with the demands by the appointed time the drug maker would be in contravention of the section 61.3 of the Companies Act and clause 11.2 of the Company’s memorandum of incorporation (MOI) to call a shareholders’ meeting. “[The meeting would be called for the purposes of considering and approving resolutions to remove Dr Khotso Mokhele as a director of the Company and accordingly Chairman of the Adcock Ingram Board and elect each of the nominated individuals as directors of Adcock Ingram,” the company said.

If the medication manufacturer fails to organise the meeting by 4 March 2014, Bidvest and the PIC have the right to pursue legal action.

However, due to the response deadline stipulated the company said that the time was inadequate for the board to deliberate the demands and follow internal corporate governance processes regarding the appointment of directors.

In response to the letters, the company acknowledged that both Bidvest and the PIC owned about 55.5 percent shares collectively.

“The Adcock Ingram board wishes to advise shareholders that it intends to convene the requested shareholders’ meeting, in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act and its MOI,” the company said.

The Adcock board also announced the resignation of its non-executive director and Chairman Dr Khotso Mokhele. “[We] thank Dr Mokhele for his significant contribution to the company over the past seven years and specifically for his leadership of the board during a highly challenging period for the company these past 11 months.

The board regrets the circumstances that led to Dr Mokhele’s decision to resign as a director and chairman of the Adcock Ingram Board.”

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“You basically have an effective duopoly in mobile with the associated price setting, they [Vodacom and MTN] match each other’s prices so it’s not very competitive.”

As a result, new entrants in the market such as Cell C are still small and yet are charged high interconnection rates, therefore they are unable to price challenge the incumbency or make the necessary investments in their network to drive the quality of their service.

Therefore, the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa has proposed further mobile termination rate deductions over the next three years in an effort to bring down mobile rates in the country.

She added that while these regulatory interventions is an extreme intervention that does distort the market, its purpose is to give the small players like Cell C a short period of time to increase revenues as well as challenge and bring down market prices.

“I think regulatory intervention is always contested so where it has been done in other parts of the world, operators will fight it as it can affect their bottom line. Although one should indicate that this isn’t retail regulation, it is wholesale regulation. It’s trying to bring efficiencies into the market, it’s trying to get cost based wholesale rates, that would be there if there was more effective competition,” explained Gillwald.

B-BBEE STILL HAS A LONG WAY TO GO

By Wilhelmina Maboja

The changes to the B-BBEE legislative framework What we see now [is] contradictions in variare however encouraging and moving in the right ous sectors in B-BBEE, and particularly around enterprise deESPITE the existence of Broad-Based direction, but the lack of cohesion among role velopment, large enBlack Economic Empowerment legis- players, even within government, has been an adterprises which lation, changes on the ground are few ditional setback. have an impact and far between.

“There’s lack of cohesion which I think, at the cenon employment “The president’s [State of the Nation Adtre of it, is because there’s no strategic vision [and] in transdress] was very good in presenting the suc- around this. The Department of Trade and Indusforming the cess especially in the economic front, and try [for example can] come up with a nice frameeconomy,” also in addressing the social imbalances. work. [When] you deal with other departments, said Sekese.

However, I think it fell short in terms of the they come up with policy frameworks that conimpact that the Broad-Based Black Ecotradict the objectives of what the DTI has come nomic Empowerment had in transforming up with. You get a sense that the policy makers the economic environment of our society,” are not talking from the same reference source,” SizweNtsalubaGobodo CEO Victor Sekese Sekese explained. told CNBC Africa.

Getting to the heart of B-BBEE’s setbacks is “I think there’s been some achievement as however not an easy issue to address, but putfar as B-BBEE is concerned but I believe ting forward a vision and ensuring that there’s still a long way to go in terms of other plans revolve around achieving what we want to see.” that vision will be key Sekese added the emergence of large black- in the future success owned and black-managed enterprises since of the legislation. the Broad-Based Black Economic Empower- “In policy framement (B-BBEE) legislation have also been work, and in decifew, in spite of President Jacob Zuma’s call sions that are for more black industrialists in his address. being made, B-BBEE is legislation that acts as a transfor- what is it that mative measure to enable South Africa’s we want to black majority more access and opportuni- achieve? ties to the country’s business and economic landscape.

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“We need to step up and maybe have a vision driven by government to say ‘what does government say around the establishment, development and support of large black-owned enterprises?’”

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THE GUARDIAN

Friday, February 21, 2014

www.ngrguardiannews.com

INTERVIEW

“I’m not going back to the job” –Sanusi

AS this come as a surprise to you and have you received any formal letter to this respect?

Well, I’ve been told by my office that a letter was received. You know, I flew in this morning to Niamey along with other governors from West Africa Central Bank to meet with the president of Niger and the president of Ghana as part of the watch group on the West Africa currency zone. Now fortunately I did come in with my deputy who is Sarah Alade who I’ve been asked to hand over to, so I’ve left the meeting and handed over the meeting to her. I have just met the Nigerian ambassador to Niger who said to me that the presidency asked him to inform me of this decision.

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Speaking earlier on today to the special advisor for Media and Publicity to the presidency, Rueben Abati, he said that the presidency has received reports from the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria and other investigating bodies which have shown that your tenure has been characterised by what they call various acts of financial misconduct and recklessness and they say that this is the basis for the suspension.

Well, I don’t know what they are talking about.

What I’ll do is, when I come back, I’ll see what those allegations are. I’m aware that sometime ago, the Financial Reporting Council went through our audit accounts, asked questions that were frankly just questions which we responded to the president and we didn’t get any feedback. I don’t think there’s any issue that’s been raised that has not been raised before, but you know, we all know what this is about, this is about the consequences for the changes that I have made and this is something that is long overdue. I’m surprised it took them so long.

That is quite interesting, now we are seeing some reactions at the financial markets, just this morning we saw the naira spike to 169 naira to the dollar and shortly after that we were expecting the bond market to open but that’s also been shut down. Traders that we spoke to, say that they are afraid of a major sell off. What is your biggest concern right now for the market?

Basically, my biggest concern is for the system and I hope that the Nigerian economy will not be hurt by this. I also hope the integrity of the central bank will be protected. I’ve been fortunate to have had an opportunity to do some good work on the bank on stability and I will not want to see all of that unravelled and no individual is worth it.

Do you think this suspension is politically motivated?

It’s not for me to comment. I think the answer to that is obvious but I’m not going to comment on that.

pendent in fear of being suspended by a politician. So I plan to have the court confirm if indeed that the authority exists and I will challenge it.

Because all the analysts I have all spoken to all say that they believe that this could be a witch hunt and they said it’s because you’ve been outspoken about the government in recent months and so they say they believe that this could be politically motivated.

I mean there is also the legal side. There is the legal question as to whether the president has who does not have the authority to remove the central bank governor can suspend the governor and whether suspension is not removal.

But you know I’m not interested in the job. I’ve always said it. I was invited to serve the country, if the government at any time says it feels it’s time to go out, I don’t know what to do, I think in terms of the institution, it will be helpful to establish the principle by court and I think that is what has been missing.

Now, I asked that question because there have been questions or concerns about your legacy, you only have a few months till the end of your tenure, and many people believe that there’s been a positive impact on the Nigerian financial systems since you took over in 2009 so of course there are worries and concerns about the kind of legacy that you will be remembered for especially as this is happening.

No, no, my legacy is given, my legacy is what it is as at the time I leave office today, my legacy of low inflation, stable exchange rate, of a reformed and well governed banking system, of robust reserves, the legacy of an independent central bank, it’s a legacy of financial inclusion and so on, so history will record this. You can suspend an individual but you can’t suspend the truth. If this is all about the concerns about oil revenues in the oil sector, if this is going to bring back the $20 billion then that is fine.

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So are you saying you are not going to challenge this suspension?

Look, even if I challenge it, I’m not going back to the job, even if I did, still I will not go back but I think it would be in the interest of the institution for the court to once and for all decide if the president has the power to do this. The reason is that, if it is not challenged, then the next central bank governor cannot be inde-

Now, you’ve said that you do not believe that going forward if you do accept the suspension that you do not believe that we would have an independent central bank going from here.

What kind of message do you think this is going to send to international investors especially how the market would be perceived from here on?

Look, even if I challenge it, I’m not going back to the job, even if I did, still I will not go back but I think it would be in the interest of the institution for the court to once and for all decide if the president has the power to do this. The reason is that, if it is not challenged, then the next central bank governor cannot be independent in fear of being suspended by a politician

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Nigerian Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, spoke out for the first time since the announcement that he has been suspended by President Goodluck Jonathan.

CNBC Africa’s Esther Ugbodaga spoke to the suspended Governor yesterday about the recent allegations made by the government, his thoughts on the Nigerian economy and the most memorable moment of his tenure.

You know, Nigeria as a country is very important to me, I would be the last person to do anything that would hurt, encourage or make it difficult for my colleague to manage the institution. Sarah Alade is a very good and competent person, the governors are still there, the bank MD’s are there, I’m sure the system will take it, it is bigger than any one individual, my concern like I said is to see whether this is in fact legal, again, I personally think I’ve had my last day at the job, whatever happens, I don’t plan to go back. It’s never been my desire to hold on to any job and I think it’s important to establish the point legally whether this can happen because if it’s not established then the very next governor of the central bank can be suspended for any reason and the independence of the central bank is totally undermined.

Since the governor cannot be removed, he cannot be suspended. If it is established, I mean I can be queried, if there is a query, if I’ve been convicted, if a crime has been established, that is a different matter, but to exercise this arbitrary, and in a letter signed by the secretary of the government not even by the president, these are questions that need to be asked in the court of law.

Sanusi if I can just come in here, Sarah Alade will be taking over you as acting central bank governor, now we also know that she is also a member of the monetary policy committee are you hoping that she will continue with the monetary tightening that we are seeing right now and also point out the fact that at the last MPC meeting, she was the only member who voted for the depreciation of the naira moving the band from the current band that we have.

Sarah Alade is a very competent person, I don’t think that she is going to change the monetary policy for a long time, actually I flew in here with her to Niger, and once we got the news, I asked her to sit in on the meeting with the governors, I’m planning to go back to my country. I have every confidence in her ability to run the central bank, I wish her the very best and I’m happy for her. I have no regrets and I have no ill feelings. I’m with no sadness, I’m happy and I’m

Nigeria’s equity market lost 6.2 per cent year to date and in the fixed income market, rates spiked higher last week across all maturities. Some analysts anticipate that Pension fund Administrators could take advantage of the prevailing high yields going forward. CNBC Africa’s Didi Akinyelure spoke to Demola Sogunle, CEO of Stanbic IBTC Pension Fund managers on how portfolio investors are investing in these times.

Pension Fund administrator’s investment strategy.

ET’S GET your thoughts on how the market is doing now especially the Marco economic outlook. How is this affecting your investment strategy now?

Basically, we are looking at a couple of things. The first one is the fact that we have seen the tapering of QE and to that extent we’ve also seen some of the offshore portfolio investors pulling back. Number two is the fact that whether we like it or not, it’s been front loaded in terms of the political activities and we are seeing that come through in terms of what the government is trying to do. The third one is the fact that central

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let’s say even before this time and we felt that whether we like it or not, throughout this year, we’ll be watching closely in terms of trying to raise the gains on what we’ve got in fixed income securities because we think that we would be able to extract value there. Num- So what sectors are you moving ber two, on the equities side, don’t into, in the equities space? forget that even before this time, I’ll be very careful to mention secsome of the equities –I won’t like to tors as there are some names that mention names- are actually over- we wouldn’t like to mention now valued when you look at some of but in terms of the general goods, the multiples and we believe that let’s say the building materials, we would hold our position and let’s say for the banking industry, Now what is this having on your as- when the time is ripe, to that exthere are some names there that sets allocation? tent, we would have a kind of re- when you look at in terms of the Number one, we’ve looked at it, entry opportunity.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 25 bank is really concerned about the pressure on FX and to that extent, we’ve seen CRR going up especially for public sector going up, there’s rumour that it’s actually going to 100 and let’s say the one for the private sector will go to 15 per cent. To that extent, we are made to see some pressure in terms of what you have, in terms of some of the values of these Federal government instruments and we are ready and positioned to take advantage of those things.

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

TANZANIA LNG PLANT SITE MAY BE ANNOUNCED SOON

By Reuters IL AND GAS firms working on a project to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant in Tanzania have picked a location.

The government has asked these firms to make their plans public as early as next week, Tanzania's energy minister said.

An announcement of a site could be a major milestone for the project, even though a final investment decision is not due for years. Only a few LNG export projects have won a final investment decision over the past two years.

"The location of the plant will be left to the companies - BG, Statoil and their partners Exxon Mobil and Ophir," Minister Sospeter Muhongo told Reuters on Friday on the sidelines of a conference in Oslo.

"They have now selected one site and we've told them to make an announcement, and I'm hoping they'll do it next week," Muhongo said.

Tanzania and neighbouring Mozambique are in a race with Russia, Australia and Canada to build LNG export plants, aiming to exploit a gap in global supply that is expected to open up by 2020.

Tanzania estimates it has 42.7 trillion cubic feet of gas following big finds off its southern coast.

Tanzania's deputy minister for energy and minerals said in November the southern region of Lindi was being considered for the location of the LNG liquefaction plant.

Such a decision could cause controversy in nearby Mtwara, which has been the supply base for offshore exploration and where residents have protested that they have not received a big enough share of the benefits.

Muhongo said the government supported the firms' choice of location, considering it a professional decision, and that he planned to meet with the oil firms in April to draw up a timeline for development.

"I'm meeting with them in April, including Statoil and BG, and I want them to submit an implementation plan," he said. "The time frame will be like for other similar facilities."

Muhongo said the oil industry's reduction in capital spending plans would not affect the plant, given the booming demand for LNG. "The demand for gas, LNG is increasing. There are new players coming from Asia and Europe, so there is no risk of a delay," he said.

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KENYAN SMES SET TO RECEIVE NEW INSURANCE COVER

By Dara Rhodes he National Industrial Credit Bank (NIC) partnered with the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) to lessen the lending gap in Kenya.

Under the partnership, NIC bank will take up ATIs insurance cover product to protect their portfolio of trade finance borrowers against the risk of failure and non-payment risks that have prevented most African banks from lending to SMEs. “What we realised after dealing with most of our customers especially the banks, the challenge is, SMEs could not borrow easily because of the fact that most of them do not have collaterals and they also don’t have enough financial data,” George Otieno CEO, African Trade Insurance Agency told CNBC Africa.

As the access to credit remains the biggest challenge for SMEs in the region, the credit insurance cover will help extend credit facilities such as short term loans, invoice discounting, bank guarantees and letters of credit without the requirement of the solid securities as is the current practice.

“What we did is that we looked at what we could do to make it easy for SMEs to borrow and we designed this product. It took us quite some time, we’ve been working on it for almost a year with the NIC,” he explained.

According to him, other banks in the country have begun looking at it and he believes that it will roll out in other countries where they do business in Africa.

“What is going to be able to happen now is that NIC is going to be able to turnaround and within 48 hours be able to offer a loan facility because they don’t have to go through the process of charging any property, doing a search, and so on and so forth,” he added.

The ATI products also stand to impact the Kenyan financial industry as it provides protection against credit default risks thus opening up a window of opportunity of both the SMEs and the banks to benefit.

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EU AND EAST AFRICA COMMUNITY EXPORT DEAL STILL UNDERWAY

By Wilhelmina Maboja ALKS between the East African community and European Union regarding levy export taxes on goods traded to Europe continue to hit a wall.

The negotiations, which were meant to be concluded in December 2007, have been complex and are now running into their tenth year.

“We have made progress and it has all along been a process.

We are, on both sides, extremely keen to conclude as soon as possible. We’re actually already into overtime. It’s important to underscore that market excess in goods as such is no longer an issue between us,” Lodewijk Briet, head of the European Union delegation to Kenya, told CNBC Africa.

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Friday, February 21, 2014 Once the agreement has been made, the European Union is expected to open its market fully for all East African products duty and quota free.

The East African community will also be given a grace period of some 20 years, by the end of which the region is expected to in turn open its between 80 per cent and 83 per cent of its market to the European Union.

“The East African community has already agreed to fully liberalise worldwide its trade to the tune of 65 per cent. It’s only really an additional 18 per cent of tariff lines that are at stake.

The remaining 17 per cent are considered excluded sensitive products. What we are talking about here are the ancillary issues, one of them is to a so-called most-favoured nation clause,” Briet explained.

“It means if the European Union gives you specific advantages, you’re not supposed to turn around and grant a better deal on different issues or the same issues to another trading bloc that is of the same size as the European Union.”

Briet is however confident that the deal will be concluded before the life of the current European parliament despite the number of number of stumbling blocks preventing the agreement’s conclusion. A show of flexibility on both sides is also necessary in finalising the dealings.

“As far as I have followed those discussions, I think the atmospherics are there, and the possibility is there. The next talks are going to take place in March, and we must succeed.

I don’t think that the problem is one particular country dragging its feet,” said Briet.

“There’s still a lot of local, regional confidence building taking place. These negotiations have been so protracted that we have lost the momentum. There is to some extent a loss of trust, and I think that we have to regain that.”

RWANDA LIKELY TO MISS 2013 GROWTH TARGET OF 6.6%

By Reuters WANDA is likely to miss its 2013 economic growth forecast of 6.6 percent.

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This follows after the performance of its service sector fell short of expectations due to the effects of aid cuts the previous year.

The country's finance ministry said in a document released on Wednesday the outturn for the year was likely to fall below 6 percent.

The landlocked east African nation of about 10 million people suffered from cuts in budgetary support by donors in 2012 after it was accused by the United Nations of backing rebels in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

Those cuts caused the government to curb its spending, limiting average growth for the services sector in the first three quarters to 4.6 percent, down from 12.2 percent in all of 2012.

"This moderate performance was due to cuts in government expenditures and slowdown in credit distribution to the private sector," the ministry said.

The industrial sector held its own during the period, growing by an average of 11.6 percent in the first three quarters, the finance ministry said, without giving the comparative growth rate for the previous period.

All aid was resumed in 2013 in some form at least, with some aid that was direct budgetary support going into programme support. Growth forecasts for 2014 are likely due next month.

Inflation was likely to be stable at around 5 percent this year on the back of projected good production of food and stable oil prices in global markets, the ministry said.

The rate fell to 2.4 percent in the year to January.

AGOS HOSTS AFRICA'S SOCIAL MEDIA WEEK

By Dara Rhodes AGOS HOSTED Africa’s largest social media gathering and the event has claimed its place as the biggest new media and business conference.

The event which is in its second year attracts some of the continent’s most forward thinkers, brands, learners and creators to explore a wide range of topics including education, business, entertainment, art banking and politics.

“There are some conversations that are going on on social media. Conversations that have to do with governance, that have to do with policy planning, that have to do with products.

What we want to do, is to have data that makes those conversations really rich,” Oge Modie, CEO NOI Polls told CNBC Africa.

Using the theme, ‘connecting Africa through data on social media’, NOI Polls will be sharing some of its ideas on the use of polling data to support policy planning.

“We are doing approval ratings for the president, his approval ratings were forty in December, 61 per cent in January, what happened? An anti-gay law was passed,” said Modie.

According to her, the data enables people to make informed conversations on social media such as twitter or facebook, and NOI Polls aims to enrich those conversations as they happen.

“It is exciting that people are getting into this conversation, some are questioning the data, some are saying, fantastic, this is rich data, and we need this sort of [input] to enrich our conversations to have very good debates and not just speak with very generic information,” she said.

Nonetheless, as the polls only survey about 20,000 people out of Nigeria’s 160 million population, there are some doubts about the external validity of the data.

“Internationally, you poll a 1,000, that’s the sample size with an error margin of about three per cent with 95 per cent confidence. Our technical partners are Gallup and they are the leaders in polling in the world,” she added.

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SANLAM TAPS INTO NIGERIA’S INSURANCE MARKET

By Dara Rhodes N an effort to gain access to the Nigerian insurance market, Sanlam's associate company FBN Life Assurance acquired 71.2 per cent of Oasis.

Lagos based Oasis Insurance has capital in excess of three billion naira and the 71.2 per cent stake will give Sanlam and FBN Holdings, which respectively hold 35 per cent and 65 per cent in FBN Life, admission into the insurance sector.

“We entered Nigeria in about 2010, we entered as a joint venture with FBN and established FBN Life, so our entry into the Nigerian market has been via the Life company and part of our strategy is to deepen our relationships with our existing partners,” Thabied Majal, Corporate Development Executive at Samlam told CNBC Africa.

The Nigerian insurance sector of the economy has been growing in excess of 7.6 per cent a year on average since 2003 and the South African financial services group plans on leveraging on this sector.

“We certainly do not plan on going ahead to try and replicate what we have in South Africa. So we work with our local partners to understand the local working conditions, what the locals needs are and then we go and source the necessary technical skills and then take it to those markets,” he explained.

According to Majal, Sanlam already has a bold representation in Nigeria and plans on working with the local partners and entrust local management to run the operations.

“Some of the lessons we’ve learnt is to be humble as to entrust and empower the locals to run the company. We don’t try and impose how we do it or even adopt a 'thou shalt not' attitude with the local companies so it’s really working with them.”

Statistics from Nigeria showed that the general insurance sector contributes close to 80 per cent of total insurance premiums.

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Pension Fund administrator’s investment strategy.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24 impact on cash reserve requirements on their P and L margin, they would be able to absorb that and we think that at the right time, we would go in.

Now you mentioned QE tapering in the US and the impact the impact that this is having on your investment strategy but what impact has this had on foreign portfolio inflows?

I’ll say net inflows have actually been negative. Some of the portfolio managers have actually started to pull out funds and it’s expected …

Is that worrying?

For us, it is not a worrying trend per say but what we look for is to look for opportunities within what is unfolding and don’t forget that in terms of our own liabilities, the liabilities are domicile in naira and it gives us opportunities to look at some of those stocks again and as they pull out, we will look for re-entry opportunities and take positions.

So tell us your investment strategy for the fixed income space because you mentioned that is something that you are focusing on at the moment.

Now, we have a range of prices for most of the maturities, treasury bills, 90 days, 91 days instruments even up to one year so on the short end, we will actually see a lot of activities there and on the longer end, until we see a lot of improvement in the yield premium, then we’ll take advantage but for now, we’ll stay on the short end.

What about the outlook for inflation and how that’s going to affect things?

The outlook for inflation is actually encouraging for us. If inflation is around, let’s say eight per cent, the outlook is that maybe we’ll still stay single digit throughout this year.

For us, it’s encouraging which means that if we are trying to outpace inflation, we are trying to give a yield or an annual return that is better than inflation. Anything let’s say from 12, 13 per cent per annum, when it comes to fixed income, we will actually go for that. So for us we take comfort in the fact that CBN is really focused on making sure that inflation does not go out of sync.

What about what CBN is doing with the naira at the moment. How concerned are you about the currency?

I mean we are concerned to the extent that look it has impact also on so many variables, don’t forget that we are an import dependent economy and the exchange rate has a lot of impact . now the point is, if you don’t see a creation, If we don’t see foreign reserves actually going up because of so many things that we’ve seen in the oil industry, then it puts a lot of pressure. Whether we like it or not, if we don’t see foreign reserves going up, Central Bank at the end of the day will have to make a cut and will have to devalue.

You mentioned the CRR going up and the possibility of that going up to 100 per cent. I know you don’t want to mention any stocks or sectors, what impact is that having on your asset allocation of banking stocks at the moment?

People are running away but don’t forget that we are long term investors, coming from pension, you know just because of the duration of our liabilities, we are long term investors so when people are running away, we are looking and we are searching for opportunities.

THE GUARDIAN

Friday, February 21, 2014

www.ngrguardiannews.com

BusinessRound-Up MTN & VODACOM REMAIN A DUOPOLY

By Farhaanah Mahomed OBILE OPERATORS MTN and Vodacom’s rates are still some of the highest in Africa despite recent price deductions.

“The high retail prices relate to high wholesale prices, which is the interconnection charge that companies pay each other to terminate the calls of their customers on each other’s networks. Now those have been historically very high and if costs are high it means your retail costs have to be high,” Allison Gillwald, executive director at Research ICT Africa told CNBC Africa.

Around the world, she further explained, mobile termination rates have been reduced which has ultimately led to the reduction in retail prices.

Prices have also been reduced in South Africa over the last three years however remain higher than other countries, including those in Africa such as Kenya, Nigeria, Namibia and Uganda.

“That has been far too little too late in a sense and other countries have gone further more quickly so although South Africa’s prices have come down over the last three years, and we eventually see a positive effect of a reduced mobile termination rate, that is now plateaued,” explained Gillwald.

In association with

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BIDVEST & PIC BULLY ADCOCK'S BOARD

By Lesego Motshegwa

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HE PUBLIC Investment Corporation and the Bidvest Group have jointly demanded that the Adcock Ingram board appoint new company directors.

Both the PIC and Bidvest sent identical letters to the drug maker at 3.40pm on 18 February 2014 stating that new company directors should be appointed by no later than 5pm the same evening.

According to a statement by the drug maker, the Adcock Ingram board had to appoint nominated individuals who included Brian Joffe, Lindsay Peter Ralphs, Dr Anna Mokgokong and Roshan Morar as directors of the Company; and secure the resignation of Dr Khotso Mokhele as a director of the Company and accordingly Chairman of the Adcock Ingram Board.

In the letters, Bidvest and the PIC further advised that in the event that the Adcock Ingram Board failed to comply with the demands by the appointed time the drug maker would be in contravention of the section 61.3 of the Companies Act and clause 11.2 of the Company’s memorandum of incorporation (MOI) to call a shareholders’ meeting. “[The meeting would be called for the purposes of considering and approving resolutions to remove Dr Khotso Mokhele as a director of the Company and accordingly Chairman of the Adcock Ingram Board and elect each of the nominated individuals as directors of Adcock Ingram,” the company said.

If the medication manufacturer fails to organise the meeting by 4 March 2014, Bidvest and the PIC have the right to pursue legal action.

However, due to the response deadline stipulated the company said that the time was inadequate for the board to deliberate the demands and follow internal corporate governance processes regarding the appointment of directors.

In response to the letters, the company acknowledged that both Bidvest and the PIC owned about 55.5 percent shares collectively.

“The Adcock Ingram board wishes to advise shareholders that it intends to convene the requested shareholders’ meeting, in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act and its MOI,” the company said.

The Adcock board also announced the resignation of its non-executive director and Chairman Dr Khotso Mokhele. “[We] thank Dr Mokhele for his significant contribution to the company over the past seven years and specifically for his leadership of the board during a highly challenging period for the company these past 11 months.

The board regrets the circumstances that led to Dr Mokhele’s decision to resign as a director and chairman of the Adcock Ingram Board.”

T

“You basically have an effective duopoly in mobile with the associated price setting, they [Vodacom and MTN] match each other’s prices so it’s not very competitive.”

As a result, new entrants in the market such as Cell C are still small and yet are charged high interconnection rates, therefore they are unable to price challenge the incumbency or make the necessary investments in their network to drive the quality of their service.

Therefore, the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa has proposed further mobile termination rate deductions over the next three years in an effort to bring down mobile rates in the country.

She added that while these regulatory interventions is an extreme intervention that does distort the market, its purpose is to give the small players like Cell C a short period of time to increase revenues as well as challenge and bring down market prices.

“I think regulatory intervention is always contested so where it has been done in other parts of the world, operators will fight it as it can affect their bottom line. Although one should indicate that this isn’t retail regulation, it is wholesale regulation. It’s trying to bring efficiencies into the market, it’s trying to get cost based wholesale rates, that would be there if there was more effective competition,” explained Gillwald.

B-BBEE STILL HAS A LONG WAY TO GO

By Wilhelmina Maboja

The changes to the B-BBEE legislative framework What we see now [is] contradictions in variare however encouraging and moving in the right ous sectors in B-BBEE, and particularly around enterprise deESPITE the existence of Broad-Based direction, but the lack of cohesion among role velopment, large enBlack Economic Empowerment legis- players, even within government, has been an adterprises which lation, changes on the ground are few ditional setback. have an impact and far between.

“There’s lack of cohesion which I think, at the cenon employment “The president’s [State of the Nation Adtre of it, is because there’s no strategic vision [and] in transdress] was very good in presenting the suc- around this. The Department of Trade and Indusforming the cess especially in the economic front, and try [for example can] come up with a nice frameeconomy,” also in addressing the social imbalances. work. [When] you deal with other departments, said Sekese.

However, I think it fell short in terms of the they come up with policy frameworks that conimpact that the Broad-Based Black Ecotradict the objectives of what the DTI has come nomic Empowerment had in transforming up with. You get a sense that the policy makers the economic environment of our society,” are not talking from the same reference source,” SizweNtsalubaGobodo CEO Victor Sekese Sekese explained. told CNBC Africa.

Getting to the heart of B-BBEE’s setbacks is “I think there’s been some achievement as however not an easy issue to address, but putfar as B-BBEE is concerned but I believe ting forward a vision and ensuring that there’s still a long way to go in terms of other plans revolve around achieving what we want to see.” that vision will be key Sekese added the emergence of large black- in the future success owned and black-managed enterprises since of the legislation. the Broad-Based Black Economic Empower- “In policy framement (B-BBEE) legislation have also been work, and in decifew, in spite of President Jacob Zuma’s call sions that are for more black industrialists in his address. being made, B-BBEE is legislation that acts as a transfor- what is it that mative measure to enable South Africa’s we want to black majority more access and opportuni- achieve? ties to the country’s business and economic landscape.

D

“We need to step up and maybe have a vision driven by government to say ‘what does government say around the establishment, development and support of large black-owned enterprises?’”

The GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

28 ARTS Friday, February 21, 2014

Tourism 20 resorts in 20 locations… La Campagne berths in Cote d’ Ivoire with style • Leads Nigeria Team to SITA 2014

By Florence Utor OLLOWING the successes FIkegun and recognition of the Village, Ibeju – Lekki, Lagos-based La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort, which features the inviting ambience of the Atlantic ocean and the fresh water lagoon, as a world class Africa themed resort, the government of Cote d’ Ivoire has agreed a partnership deal that would see to the creation of 20 La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort at 20 different locations in the country by La Campagne.

This development was the outcome of a meeting between the Founder and President of La Campagne, Otunba Wanle Akinboboye and the government of Cote d’ Ivoire led by the Minister of Tourism, Mr. Roger Kacou and the President of the country’s Tourism Development Fund, Mr. Marc Vicens.

In a letter conveying this decision, the Cote d’ Ivoire Minister of Tourism, Kacou said the decision to partner with La Campagne is because of the African concept of La Campagne, its infusion of Africa architectural design and culture blended with a contemporary feel.

Kacou revealed that it is this kind of concept, which allows for the promotion of Africa culture, the natural and eco – tourism friendly element of Cote d’ Ivoire and other Africa countries that his country look to promoting as its stepped up plans for the revival and promotion of its tourism.

Work is expected to begin soon on the building of these 20 La Campagne resort as the 20 locations for the project have already been identified and even toured by La Campagne president during his recent visit to the country.

In a related development, La

Campagne has also been invited alongside Nigeria officially as special guest to SITA 2014 with La Campagne mandated to organise and lead the Nigerian team to the event, which is bill to hold at the Golf hotel, Abidjan between Feb 26 and March 2.

SITA, is a yearly travel and tourism trade exhibition organised by the country’s Ministry of Tourism to promote Cote d’ Ivoire tourism and encourage interaction with businesses and other key stakeholders and operators in the different sector of the economy.

Nigeria has been offered an exhibiting space of 40 sq metres at the Village decouverte Du Monde to display her attractions and also allotted 15 minutes to perform at the opening ceremony as with Nigerian Day fixed for February 28.

A big and sumptuous gala night is expected to hold on Saturday, March 1 with Nigeria as special guest and has 30 minutes to perform at the event. La Campagne is given an exhibiting space of 18 sq metres to also exhibit its various products, particularly a model of La Campagne, which is to be one of the major highlights of the exhibition.

Already, La Campagne has intensified preparations for the event as it has presently embarked on a national mobilisation effort to enlist the participation of the various tourism associations, operators, stakeholders and allied businesses. The Federal Ministry of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) and states ministries of Culture and Tourism are also being canvassed for the five days event.

La Campagne has promised to make the event one of the best outings for Nigeria in recent years as only the best and serious minded operators and businesses would be selected from the growing list of Nigerian operators and companies who have indicated in-

Oba Ilerigi

Tourists at the beach front, La Campagne

National Security: FCT’s NIPR harps on collective responsibility Media he Federal Capital Territory, Abuja ChapT ter of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) has re-iterated the need for all hands to be deck in the on-going drive to address the spate of insurgent in some parts of the country.

Reacting to the recent inauguration of the Forum of Spokespersons in Security and Response Agencies (FOSSAR) by the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, the FCT Chairman of the Institute, Ohaeri Osondu commended the Federal Government for this initiative of providing a common platform for Public Relations Officers from the Military and Para-military agencies to collectively work towards the peaceful co-existence of the country.

According to him, “it is interesting to note that this platform will not only eradicate unhealthy rivalry among the security agencies but will create extensive mileage for information sharing, intelligence gathering and purposeful management of the emerging security-related trends” Recalling the statutory role of Public Relations, he added “ by this gesture, the Federal Government has once again, identified the statutory role of Public Relations practitioners under a given context, to act as build builders for corporate goodwill and public acceptance in view of their expertise on crisis management, through strategic communication, analysis/ prediction of trends and counseling of government on appropriate line of action” While congratulating the newly inaugurated members of the forum, the NIPR

Chairman reminded them of the potency of accurate and responsible public information as vital to the war against terror and charged them to vigorously pursue greater cooperation and synergy among the spokespersons of security agencies on information management and urged them to be proactive and responsive to major issues that require urgent attention.

Speaking further, the NIPR Chairman disclosed that with the on-going repositioning and restructuring process being undertaken by the newly elected National executive body of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, wider spectrum has been initiated for Public Relations practitioners to contribute immensely to the national growth and also urged other professional bodies and the general public to perceive the on-going war against terrorism as a col-

lective responsibility towards restoring decorum and safety of lives and property in some parts of the country which are presently under siege.

While commending the Federal Government for including the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations as delegates to the proposed national conference, the FCT Chairman indicated the willingness of the Institute to serve in any capacity at state and national levels, towards fostering corporate goodwill and national growth.

The Nigerian Institute of Public Relations is a body of Public Relations practitioners established in 1963 and chartered by Decree 16 of 1990 with the primary objective of advancing the standard of public relations profession and provide members with professional development opportunities.

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The group listening to Tass about the water of Elisha Springs.

Prof. Omolewa (third left) with the group at Sea of Galilee

Tombs of Benei Hezir and Zechariah.

Pastor Lisa Bourland and Prof. Omolewa preparing to drink from the water of Elisha Springs

Jerusalem Institute… promoting multicultural understanding among nations

By Kabir Alabi Garba EYOND the news of attacks and counter-atB tacks that always emanates from the Middle East, especially Israel and Palestine, efforts to foster better understanding of issues at stake appear to be yielding positive results.

A centre, Jerusalem Institute of Multicultural Studies based in Bethlehem, has been working in collaboration with the Palestinians, the Israelis and the Christians to enhance peaceful co-existence in the place.

Last January, the institute held the maiden edition of its yearly two-week programme that attracted participants from Latin America, United States, Canada, Europe and Africa.

Emeritus Professor Michael Omolewa was among the facilitators at the programme.

Sharing his experience with The Guardian recently, Prof. Omolewa said the Institute is founded by a U.S.-based organization, Father’s House and its flagship project is tagged ‘Children of Abraham’. “This is because Abraham is the father of Ismail and Isaac. It is also traced through Rebecca, Jacob, Boaz, Ruth, David and to Jesus and so Abraham is a central figure. So, the Institute spent time in Hebron where Abraham and Sarah were buried and of course, you know that place is under Palestinian territory. This institute goes there because it has no allegiance to any of these because it wants to reconcile all the various people to-

gether. Now, the institute recruits students from across the world; they have students from Latin America,” reminisced Omolewa, whose presentation laced with humour during the programme, was hailed by participants.

A student’s evaluation summary alluded that “Prof. Omolewa’s humour along with his knowledge of the Bible was very interesting,” although the student enjoyed the speakers as well as all the sites visited and people encountered during the two weeks’ event.

Continuing, the participant said, “All lectures were well-researched and well presented. I adored experiencing the lives of the Palestinian/Jewish people. The opportunity to meet with those with whom relationships were already formed as well as building own relationships through the church, hotel, prayer meeting, etc, is an aspect I will cherish for the rest of my life”.

The name of the institute - Multi-cultural Studies-, Prof Omolewa stressed, “is already testifying about the expectations from the institute namely that, the faculty members as well as the students will represent the diversity of cultures, peoples and learners all over the world, and therefore the first set of students included those from Latin America, United States, Canada, Europe and Africa.

“The curriculum is such that you start with zero tolerance for prejudice. In other words, the idea is for you to grow up ensuring that

Omolewa at the 7th Step which was the highest point the Jews could go when the area was Arab controlled your respect is for the truth and diversity.”

Highlighting the nitty-gritty of the event, Omolewa said, “We had programme that took us to the Sea of Galilee where Jesus walked on the sea; we had programme that took us to Hebron where Abraham and his children - Isaac and Jacob were buried. We went to Caperneum where Jesus visited severally, and of course, we went to Jericho, which is also under Palestinian authority. What we did was to meet the people of Jericho themselves who are Palestinians to see what they are doing during this time and how they are looking at the future and that also helped in the course offering of the institute.

“We tried to encourage students to try to form

an alumni association that will propagate the expectations of the institute to help people know that hatred, prejudice, enmity don’t pay, but that what pays is integrity, justice and commitment, because all of us will vacate wherever we are at some point and whatever we take with us is what is left with us.”

According to him, the institute is likely to converge again in June or July, but certainly “every January there is always a programme. It was a beautiful experience for me because I made presentations, since I am already familiar with Israel that I have visited many times. I was able to once more enjoy the cultural diversity and the heritage sites that have been approved for Israel by UNESCO’s World Heritage Site.”

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30 ARTS Friday, February 21, 2014

Film Filmmakers to President Jonathan: ‘Transform Nollywood’

By Shaibu Husseini HE visit last Tuesday by members of the T Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) and prominent players of the Nollywood industry to President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, Abuja was not the first by members from the creative community. But this visit led by the President of the AGN Ibinabo Fiberesima was perhaps the first by practitioners of the movie industry, where the President was told pointedly that the Nollywood industry in spite of its many successes needed drastic transformation.

In an address she presented during the visit that attracted some notable figures in the Nollywood industry including Monalisa Chinda, Ini Edo, Stephanie Linus Idahosa, Chief Zeb Ejiro, Fidelis Duker and Segun Arinze, the actors guild president requested the President to review the appointment of both the Director General of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) and the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) as they have shown lack of capacity to put the industry on the path of growth.

“Your Nollywood is in dire need of purposeful, practical, dynamic and experienced leadership at the helm of affairs of the two regulatory agencies. Those that have been appointed to run those agencies have shown lack of capacity to put the industry on the path of growth especially in this transformational period. We implore Mr. President to review those appointments and appoint administrators with passion, zeal and total dedication to the development of the film Industry,’’ Ibinabo said.

The actor’s president added that while it has roundly been acknowledged that Nollywood has the potentials to generate employment and also help in projecting the image of Nigeria positively abroad, practitioners have found it difficult to achieve those objectives because of piracy and lack of effective distribution mechanism.

Ibinabo specifically told the President that Nollywood was in dire need of a modern, responsive legal environment for it to continue to thrive and remain relevant. She said, “the present Copyright Act is now grossly inadequate particularly in digital and Internet environment. We are aware of the various abuses that Nigerian movies are subjected to, while the regulatory authorities are helpless.

The criminal sanctions for piracy and other copyright infringements have become ridiculously low and no longer as sufficient deterrent to infringers. Considering the pre-eminent position of the copyright industries and their contribution to national growth the comprehensive reform of our copyright system should be given immediate attention.’’

Also Ibinabo requested the President to direct the relevant government agencies to negotiate and sign various co-production treaties that exist between Nigeria and several countries for the benefit of the industry. However, what Ibinabo said was urgent was for President Jonathan to ensure full implementation of the revised National Film Policy (NFP) and to present the bill on the setting up of the Motion Picture Practitioners Council of Nigeria (MOPPICON) as an Executive bill that should speedily be passed into law. She said, “Nollywood does not have a single co-production treaty with any country. This is the invisible ceiling that has hindered the ordered and structured international development of the film industry and the subsequent loss of potential Foreign Direct Investment and its positive impact on job creation.’’

Ibinabo told the President that the implementation of the revised national film policy which provides among other things, for the setting up of community cinemas in each of the local government area of the country, the setting up of MOPPICCON and the setting up of a sustainable film fund, is the most important intervention tool that the Nollywood requires to address some of its structural deficiencies.’’

However, Ibinabo who said the visit was to appreciate the President for his consistent support to Nollywood, did not end her address without making some demands, which she said were specific to the actors.

First, she requested for a land and building in the FCT to be used as national secretariat, which she said would be named ‘The Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Screen Actors House’. Ibinabo thanked the President for considering members of Nollywood worthy for federal appointment but she asked for more appointments for

Nollywood delegation with President Jonathan on Tuesday… in Abuja Nollywood practitioners and made a passionate plea for members of the creative industry to be given a slot in the proposed National Conference. She also requested that the AGN be empowered to produce a historic film on the Nigerian centenary.

President Jonathan responded shortly after he was decorated as Grand Patron of the AGN. The President thanked the delegation for the visit and assured that he will look into their request.

He acknowledged the contribution of the industry in promoting the image of Nigeria and expressed confidence in the ability of Nollywood to change and redefine the country and the African continent. “We cannot quantify what you have been doing for this country. Our people who watch probably just watch for pleasure, but what you have been doing for this country is much more than the pleasure that we get from watching you people. You are really a tool, not just by the jobs you are creating, but which we are grateful to the industry, because you have

created a number of job, directly and indirectly, but how you have been able to project the image of this country almost to the whole black race is commendable,” the President said.

Reacting to the request for the provision of land and building, President Jonathan said that while allocation of land to the guild can be guaranteed, he would discuss the possibility of helping the actors build the secretariat with the FCT Minister.

Two Ministers, that of information Labaran Maku and Chief Edem Duke of the Tourism and Culture Ministry whose ministries have direct relationship with the Nollywood industry also spoke during the visit that had several Ministers including the Minister of the FCT in attendance.

They both alluded to the potentials of the industry especially in the area of employment creation and image building.

Maku congratulated the Nollywood industry for the giant strides they have recorded and assured that whatever request that the actors

have made through their president that require government assent will be presented before the Federal Executive Council. “I am sure that with the support of the actors’ guild, our transformation agenda can reach greater audiences. You are the people who have the voice and who have the reach and I call on them to continue to promote these issues that the actors’ guild president has raised concerning the future of our country and the great job you are doing for Nigeria,’’ Maku said.

Also, Chief Duke called on practitioners of the industry to continue to portray the positive values of the country in their narrative. “I want to exhort you that in every story that you tell and in every production that you embark upon, that you must sustain the positive values of this country, maintain the integrity of this nation, and ensure that in telling the Nigerian story, we win more hearts and minds for this country,’’ the Minister said.

Triumph for Asian Cinema as curtain falls on Berlinale

By Shaibu Husseini (who was in Berlin) a victory for Asian Cinema ItheTatwas the gala awards ceremony of 64th Berlin International Film Festival otherwise called Berlinale as a Chinese film Bai Ri Yan Huo (Black Coal, Thin Ice) by Diao Yinan clinched the festival top prize- the Golden Bear. The movie also grabbed the Silver Bear best actor award for its star actor, Liao Fan. Asia also got the best actress prize. The Japanese actress, Haru Kuroki received the award, for her role as a discreet housemaid in wartime Tokyo in Yoji Yamada’s The Little House (Chiisai Ouchi).

The Berlinale Golden Bear is awarded to the best film presented in the competition category of the festival. The award is usually presented at a gala award ceremony that wraps-up the 10-day long festival. However, the Berlinale closed formally last Sunday but the award ceremony held on Saturday.

Director of the winning film, Diao Yinan displaying the Golden Bear Hailed roundly as a Chinese noir mystery, Yinan’s compelling narrative revolves round a washedup ex-cop investigating a series of

grisly murders. Trying hard to fight back tears, Yinan said during his victory lap that it was hard to believe that his dream of winning

the bear will come true. “It’s hard to believe really,” he said at a post gala event.

The eight-man jury of the festival headed by American director and producer James Schamus, named American director Richard Linklater as winner of the best director crest for his film Boyhood and picked Wes Anderson’s historical film, The Grand Budapest Hotel for the second prize of the Silver Bear grand jury prize. The movie had opened the Berlinale on February 6. It was however Linklater’s ambitious feature Boyhood that festival goers picked to win the top prize. They said it successfully charted a new path in movie making as it was made over 12 years with the same actors.

Described as one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious film festival, over 400 films were screened during the festival, with 23 of them in the competition category.

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Revue Fuji Chamber Museum project… SOS to Fashola

By Kayode Adejumo-Bello T the burial fidau prayers for the late Dr. A Sikiru Ayinde Barrister MFR in the weehours of December 30, 2010, His Excellency, Mr. Raji Babatunde Fashola SAN personally pledged to facilitate the conversion of the iconic Fuji Chambers into a museum; in recognition of the pioneering role Barrister played in the creation and popularization of Fuji music as an indigenous Lagos-originated music genre.

Mr. Raji Fashola went further to promise that a new access road will be built to further open up the Fuji Chamber to the world. The world celebrated that well thought and kindly intended pledge coming from the Lagos State Chief Executive. Every black man across all continents of the world felt proud and was ‘wowed’ that the Lagos State government was set to immortalize a worthy Lagosian, the Africa’s International Music Ambassador and a global citizen.

The enthusiasm on the project was high and sustained. It was a case of ‘if Gov. Fashola promises it, then it will be done’! Governor Fashola was always as good as his words. And with his performance and track records in office; everybody went to sleep counting the day when the project will be commissioned.

Alas, three (3) years down the line, even the sod on the project was yet to be turned. As at the time of writing this speech, the project seems consigned to the dung-hill of ‘well-intentioned but not executed government project.’

It is therefore imperative at this historical junction to write this appeal to our Excellency, the People’s Governor: Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola to kindly and most befittingly commission the project. This will be a worthy 3rd memorial anniversary package in honour of the music legend and icon; late Dr. Sikiru Ayinde Barrister MFR...more so imperative as 2015 general elections approach; who knows if the next administration will be willing to take on an inherited ‘liability’ as the project may have turned to then.

Ayinde Barrister deserves this great honour and recognition. He toiled hard and long to give birth to Fuji music that rose to become the most popular indigenous music in Nigeria. He in his quest ended up creating job and source of income and livelihood to several thousand-if not millions of people who are directly and indirectly employed by the music.

The creation of Fuji music also was a check on violence and crime in the neighborhoodmany who would have been touts and miscreants found gainful engagement through Fuji music as band leaders, percussions men, chorus, technical hands, shows managers, promoters, parkers etc.

Barrister deserves this honour because he was a role model to integrity, hardwork, patriotism and selfless service to the community.

Immortalizing him with a museum as promised will go a long way in the integration of the values he lived for in generations yet unborn.

This is a call to National duty-the labour of our hero’s past shall never be in vein. This is a call to honour; Gov. Fashola has promised, it’s time to fulfill the promise. This is a call to do what is right. To immortalize the legacy of a truly great Nigerian.

• Adejumo-Bello is the Convener, Ayinde Barrister Legacy Club

Gov. Fashola

Sikiru Ayinde Barrister… Putting Barry Wonder’s works in perspective

By Gbenga Salau

This year’s edition of Barry Day held on February 8, 2014 at the Airport Hotel, Lagos lived up to expectation as fans of the fuji music legend, Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister came from far and near to honour the great musician who was fondly referred to as creator and originator of fuji music genre. Apart from rain of tributes showered on the late fuji music international ambassador, the presentation by the Vice-Chancellor, Kwara State University, Prof. Abdulrasheed Na’Allah lifted the intellectual content of the yearly event being anchored by Ayinde Barrister Legacy Club.

T the peak of his creativity, he A had a cult following. His songs were like anthems. He connected with the people with his songs because the songs were not just ones that excite the listeners; they were embellished with proverbs and wise sayings.

Barry is gone, but the legacy he left behind, his collection of works, are now tools for discourse at intellectual gathering.

This is reflected in the second colloquium held in his honour in Lagos recently, with the Vice Chancellor of Kwara State University, Prof. Abdulrasheed Na’allah, as the guest speaker. He spoke on the topic, ‘The Traditions of Oral Performance and National Identity Phenomenon in Dr. Sikiru Ayinde Barrister’s Fuji Music’, which was delivered on his behalf by Dr. Femi Abiodun.

Na’allah observed that with the death of Sikiru Ayinde, otherwise known as Barry Wonder (BW), the network of independent and allied investigation of works and life of BW shows evidence of global distribution of his music, adding, “BW’s music within the historical, cultural, political, social and musical analysis showcases variety of sonic essence in order to maintain and identify with national issues. The music has remained relevant and significant in the national development programmes in Nigeria.

“The music is functional and has been made to perform sonic, and non-musical function in Nigeria for 52 years (from age 10-62). The contemporariness of BW’s music is evident in the way the music moves with time. An analysis of the different periods of his music shows a proof of contemporary musicality of his music.”

For Na’allah, BW’s music is sentimental in that it exhibits feelings of tenderness in Yoruba culture while jealously guiding his own personal experience, sensation and sentimental value.

He also stated that his music is equally satirical in its use of humorous, ironic exaggeration

or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices.

According to him, “His words are humorously critical with a lot of sarcastic admonitions. His music has moved from local to international level. It touches many lives positively and he used his talent to bring joy and hope to the depressed. He has contributed to the collective development of Nigeria and notably, propagating Islam.

“His music has provided educational aesthetic experience of what oral tradition is in Yoruba and in Africa generally. BW is an embodiment of contemporary creative art, expressions of music, dance and oral tradition. When a person like BW dies, it was as if a whole library is gone.”

He went on to say that fuji music in the hands of BW became a communicative medium where personal, cross-cultural messages were disseminated.

“Even though the music is contextualised within the Yoruba culture, the message has a national outlook. His mellow age c o n d i tioned by maturity and experie n c e brought him out of conflict with other fuji music i a n s , which in the 1970’s and 80’s was a noticeable musical style. He has mellowly attained the age of musical maturity when he

produced the album Maturity’.

“His music features mythological narratives, philosophical ethics, performance and contextual components of African identity.”

Commenting further on his style, the university boss observed that his music spreads beyond written literature, adding, “Many Nigerians are still illiterate. Even the literate ones do not read because the whole continent has no reading culture. Oral literature in the form of sayings, ballads, songs, folklore, and chants becomes a medium of transmitting cultural materials from one generation to another.

Within the academic discourse, oral tradition is a method used to study the culture of a people, which include history, customs, values, philosophy and so on.

“Most fuji composers share similar oral history, formative influence, developmental history and creative output. Their performance therefore may look alike in rhythmic pattern, form, sequences, melodic pattern, harmonic arrangement, instruments and instrumentation and so on.

“BW’s music and his creative styles l e a v e imprints of Africanness in some unique guiding creative philosophy defined by the Yoruba socio-cultural principles.

Over the years, he has

developed an ethnographic acumen, which helped him to understand his environment: the political, economic, social, physical, mental, spiritual and religious environment.

“BW’s work is equally a product of musicological nuances developed from his study of other music around him where he evolved his own music. His compositional technique has helped to evolve a unique musical identity, traditional, artistic and aesthetic convention that is unique to him.”

Doing an analysis of his work, the Professor came up with these positions, and argued that the following are evident in his style: “the influence of western culture through the use of western musical instruments devoid of musique concrete; some music idiomatic expressions are peculiar to BW and these expressions are musical, (vocal & instrumental), linguistic and literary. The music reflects integration of other musical arts. One can notice Macosa, juju and apala flavours. Musically, we often find original impulse in his music.

They appear as we can see in Barry’s artistic action in the form of dance, voice patterns and organisation of his music. Within the contexts of orality, creative essence has shown a great deal of indigenous African musical identity in its rhythmic, formal, melodic, instrumental, modal, and performance organization.

ON his personality, the Na’allah said that he was a folklorist whose musical ideology was prominent and standardized beyond the historic-geographic region, noting, “He is a historic figure and a conceptual fuji musician. He has creatively and intellectually popularized fuji music, enhancing a tradi-

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Ogbomoso… ancient land of warriors in print BOOK titled Ogbomoso in the Early Times, A Modern Era and in Today’s Contemporary World written by Chief Samuel Oyebisi Okewuyi was launched recently at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso.

The reviewer, Prof. AbdulGaniy Olayinka Raji hailed the historical colour of the package as it contains detailed information in form and content covering about four decades.

According to him, the account spans the whole length of history of Ogbomoso from the ancient till contemporary periods.

In his words: “The author basically presented historical records of past and present heroes/heroines and men of honour who laboured and sacrificed all they had, including lives, to maintain the existence and develop a conglomerate of settlements to a formidable community and eventually a city.

The similarities between the modes and methods of struggle and defence adopted in the past (wars and migration) by the Soun’s (starting with Soun Ogunlola), his descendants, other brave Ogbomoso leaders and warriors such as the Olugbon, Aresas, Onikoyi, men and women of substance and the modern day (education, professionalism and politics) and currently being adopted by the sons and daughters of Ogbomoso were highlighted.

“The author chronicled the roles played by

the sons and daughters of Ogbomoso right from inception till date. The book was conceived to highlight the uniqueness, attributes, inner talents and a display of professionalism of the indigenes and settlers who adopted Ogbomoso as their home at improving their community.

“It is not an ordinary historical rendition of events but a book that emphasised on the bravery of the sons and daughters of Ogbomoso who did not only struggle to ensure Ogbomoso exist but protected and preserved the Yoruba race.

“This is evident from his account of history of the Yorubas and emphasis on the unique roles played by seven out of the 14 Generalissimos (Aare Ona Kakanfo) that had ever served and sacrificed to protect the Yoruba race being from Ogbomoso (Most of them were Souns). No Yoruba town has a history of brave leaders like this.

“These brave sons of Ogbomoso led the army when necessary and also used their intellect to protect the Yoruba race against invaders and oppressors as applicable in time. The activities of the leaders and warriors in Ogbomoso that led to its unique position as a town that was never ravaged by war, the emergence of ruling houses, history of migration and settlement resulting from the bravery of the founders of a number of families currently in Ogbomoso today were rendered

comprehensively in the book,” he said.

Raji explained further that the accounts attributed the roles of these heroes and heroines to the reason why Ogbomoso has been and remained the largest city, unlike all the other towns/cities acclaimed to be the largest but are actually metropolitans (formed from a combination of villages).

Ogbomoso, the author argued, remained one of the largest in terms of territorial coverage. This could be attributed also to those heroes of the past and present who did not only had and utilised their might to protect settlers but were very accommodating.

“Many Yorubas and non-Yorubas have therefore adopted and are still adopting Ogbomoso as their own. The accommodating nature is also evident in the modern day and the contemporary Ogbomoso men and women who are found in every nook and cranny of the world.

“The heroic blood in the Ogbomoso people is still running in the modern day Ogbomoso men and women who have served in many facets of lives ranging from Politics, Military, Education, Business and Entertainment.

“The brave roles played by the reigning Soun of Ogbomoso, Alhaji Jimoh Oyewumi Ajagungbade III in business, Oba Samuel Adegboyega Osunbade, the Olugbon of Igbon an Accountant of repute; Oba Sunday Oladapo Oyediran Olagbami, the Onipetu of

Ijeru, the Alajiwa of Ajaawa, the Alayede of Ayede, the Onisapa of Isapa and the other royal fathers who have used their level of education with royality blood and exposure to better the lots of their subjects.

“The Premier of Western Region, S. L. A. Akintola in governance, brave soldiers like Shittu Alao, Benjamen Adekunle, my cousin Oladayo Popoola and Sunday Adewusi, Academics of repute like Professors N. D. Oyerinde, Ayandele and a host of others were highlighted among many. However, some others like historian turned politician, Dr Saka Adegbite Balogun are conspicuously missing,” he said The reviewer acknowledged the fact that the book is a product of deep research and references to existing literatures, living witnesses, historians and elders with experience in reliable oral accounts and traditions.

“It is very obvious that the author was not trying to just give information or validating information by dramatising but presenting a unique account of history often neglected or underplayed in historical accounts.”

Certainly, the book targets modern day Ogbomoso men and women with a view to create a driving force in them to rise up to the challenges of the contemporary world in politics education, administration and other professional endeavours, using the experience of the past heroes, to move Ogbomoso forward.

Cutting of Ayinde Barrister’s post humous birthday cake at the event

Intellectualising Fuji music and tradition of oral performance CONTINUED FROM PAGE 35 tional genre. His music is a model of oral tradition.

“Barry Wonder was a complete man who had a record that can be likened to the Greek education system where you have to be enlisted in the military to become a citizen. At 10, he was a noble musician of Were music; he was a civil servant; he joined to fight the civil war (1967-1970) and after the war, he embarked on what he believes in (musicianship) until on the morning of Thursday, December 16, 2010 at the age of 62, when he sang to glory.”

Discussing fuji music within the context of African oral performance, Na’allah said that fuji is a trans-cultural popular music of the subSahara Africa that evolved in the middle of 20th century.

According to him, it is a genre that has a blend of Were and Apala in its adapted and adopted form and premised on cultural elements and Islamic music principles and doctrines.

“This style has become regionalized or indigenized for its use of Yoruba language is a pointer in this direc-

tion. It is a part of musical de-colonisation of the mid-20th century Nigeria, which since its inception continually interacts with the living Yoruba folk culture.

“The practitioners of this type of music, according to Collins (2002), are drawn largely from the intermediate layers of African society who neither belong to the peasantry nor the elite. They therefore act as cultural managers and nexus between the modern and traditional; imported and indigenous musical heritage.

“The history of fuji music in Nigeria begins the history of its oral performance in the hands of the Ajiwere in the South-Western Nigeria. The history dates back to when Islam found its way into Yoruba land. It was made popular after independence. Were is the music of Ramadan season only used to wake-up faithful Muslims for fasting process.

“While Were was a religious music, Apala was a social music which was made popular in the 1960s in the hands of Haruna Ishola and Ayinla Owowura, who were performing the music for social and ceremonial

occasions then. Apala music of Haruna Ishola was swift and slow, and loaded with philosophical sayings, adages, proverbial words and soft praises. Apala music is the music of the elders with a mix of passages from Holy Quran as well as traditional metaphor. Apala provides a musical base for fuji performance.

“Fuji unlike Were moved out of religious boundaries to the social, economic and political boundaries. The formative years began with the first competition among Were singers in Lagos where BW, Kollington Ayinla and others were part of the competition. Musical evidences of what is now termed fuji music started after the competition. The source of the name fuji is blurred and cannot be clearly traced to a substantial source. The nexus between fuji, as a name of a musical genre and Mount Fuji in Japan, is incongruous and out of place since the music was never played in Japan before the name emerged. What was common in Nigeria then was the Fuji Camera film. This also is incongruous to the source of the name fuji as a musical genre.

“New fuji music tradition that incorporates inspirations from both traditional musical elements and western idiom form the nucleus of the full-grown fuji music. BW’s music explores the indigenous creative potentialities, which are inherent in Yoruba traditional musicals and using some western musical instruments generates a new-orderly-fuji music (NOFM), which enhances an evolutionary process in fuji music.

“The commercialization stage of fuji looks enterprising as young fuji musicians are out to display their talents and innovative capacity.

They come out with many albums showcasing quality voice production, less-harsh melodies, organized musical packages, synchronized multiple rhythmic patterns, better arranged forms and harmonious melodies. Controversies about fuji music organization are subtly reconciled. This includes choice of musical instruments. The dundun drums are the basic musical instruments; other musical instruments are supportive. Sakara drums are still part of the instrumentation.

“The musical concept has not really

changed from what it was in terms of sound production. The basic rhythmic pattern of fuji music performance is still in place though voicing may be different and relatively personal, but the basic sound pattern is still maintained.

“The song-text was basically the Were texts at the early stage of the formative years. The present fuji music explores texts that cover issues on mass mobilization, political, social, economic, educative, informative, health, historical, communicative, philosophical issues as they come up in the society.

‘The audience of the music is the people of Nigeria, especially the Yoruba speaking people of the world who live in all regions of Nigeria, African, Europe, America and even Asia. The different tour of all these continents is evident of the spread of fuji audience. Of note is BW’s tour of London in the early stage of his musical career. The different fans of the music spread over towns and villages of Nigeria is also evidence of its popularity among its fans.”

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

Friday, February 21, 2014 ARTS

37

VisualArts Return of artefacts: Greece, Nigeria may bring new methods

By Tajudeen Sowole N Nigeria and Greece, there are Iturning indications that the issue of reeach country’s cultural objects held in foreign museums will take new dimension.

A group that is sympathetic to the plight of Greece, known as International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS), late last year, sent a letter to the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, requesting for the return of the controversial ancient frieze of Athens origin from the holder, the British Museum. IARPS members are in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.S. Coincidentally, Nigeria’s House of Representatives has commenced what could be termed an intervention of the parliamentarians in the protracted restitution stalemates between the country and foreign holders of its artefacts.

Some days ago, a member of the House Committee on Tourism and Culture, who did not want his name mentioned, disclosed that the lower house will soon commence a process of meeting the parliaments of some of the foreign museums that are in possession of looted Nigerian cultural objects. The thinking of the initiators of the inter-parliament negotiation, it was gathered, premise this move on the fact that the powers to return the artefacts may be beyond the jurisdiction of most of the foreign museums’ authorities.

With inter-parliaments meetings between two countries in a dispute, restitution could be achieved easily, the member of house added.

He hinted that a motion urging the House Committee on Tourism and Culture to intervene was already on its way to the Rules and Business Committee. “The motion is before the Culture Committee and they will send it to rules and business.” He assured that the motion “will be before the house by month end.”

Nigeria is facing a herculean task of recovering her artefacts incarcerated in museums across Europe and the US. Top among these cultural objects are the Queen Idia mask in the British Museum, Nok Terracotta in Louvre, Paris, France, and several other Benin bronzes and ivories said to have been looted during the 1897 invasion of the old Benin Kingdom by the British soldiers, but currently housed in Vienna, Austria and German museums. In fact, latest of such artefacts are several dozens of works in Benin bronzes and ivories recently acquired by the Museum of Fine Art (MFA), Boston, US. As part of effort towards the return of the works, the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) hosted a meeting with the authorities of the foreign museum in Benin, last year.

In attendance were Dr. Michael Barrett and Dr. Lotten Gustafsson-Reinius representatives of the National Museum of Ethnography of the Museums of World Culture Stockholm, Sweden Dipl. Ethn; Silvia Dolz of Museum für Völkerkunde Dresden, Staatliche Ethnographische Sammlungen Sachsen of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Germany; Dr. Peter Junge represented Ethnologisches Museum -Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany; Dr. Barbara Plankensteiner represented Museum für Völkerkunde, Vienna, Austria; and Dr. Annette Schmidt of the National Museum of Ethnology of the Netherlands.

Also in attendance were Rosemary Bodam, Peter Odeh, Babatunde Adebiyi (NCMM delegate); consultant of legal-related cultural object matter, Prof. Folarin Shyllon; and representatives of the Benin monarch, Prince Edun Egharese Akenzua (Enogie of Obazuwa) and Chief Stanley Obamwonyi (Esere of Benin).

During the meeting, the Director-General of NCMM, Mallam Usman Abdaldalla Yusuf, stated that the collective sharing idea of the holders has not found much understanding with the original owners “whose moving tales have become strident finding listeners all over the world in support of the call for the repatriation of these artefacts.”

The meeting produced what was tagged as Benin Plan of Action. It included a projection that could facilitate the return of the.

Artefacts. However, experts and observers were skeptical about the strength of such a gathering getting the controversial artefacts returned.

The Benin Plan of Action did not excite Prince Edun Akenzua.

He advised on a legal option. “My personal suggestion to government is to take the case to the international court,” Akenzua said. “If we lose in court, there is nothing more to lose.”

Also, a prominent commentator on restitution, Dr Kwame Opoku faulted the Benin Plan of Action.

Opoku noted that the document lacked “time framework or concrete restitution proposals.” He argued that the document “is not in the interest of Benin, nor of Nigeria nor of Africa.”

But shortly before the meeting an official statement from the Oba of Benin, OmoN’oba Erediauwa appeared to

have predicted the current process of the House of Representatives.

Akenzua, in the monarch’s speech, stated, “our legislature should show more interest in the recovery of these cultural properties.

Our law pundits should examine various aspects of the matter.”

Greece’s Parthenon Marbles — named Elgin marbles by the British Museum — share similar protracted issue of ownership with the Nigeria’s Benin bronzes and the Nok Terracotta in foreign museum. It’s been a long journey of several failed attempts to unite the marbles in the British Museum with those in the new Acropolis Museum in Greece. The sculptural marbles of representational figures were thrown into pieces during the Ottoman era invasion. Out of an estimated 160 metres original of these marble sculptures, 75 are known to be in the British Museum while the rest are in Greece and Italy. Build-up to the completion of the museum suggested that the British Museum’s argument that “Greece lacks the right condition to receive the marbles” would be dead when the museum opens.

During the opening ceremony of the museum, Greek President, Karolos Papoulias said the museum offers the opportunity “to heal the wounds of the monument with the return of the marbles, which belong to it.” But the Britons were not moved, even by the £110 million ($182m; 130m euros) cost of the new Acropolis

Museum.

In 1817, during the Ottoman Empire, British Ambassador Lord Elgin was said to have negotiated the removal of the Parthenon sculptures with the Turks authority.

On return to Britain, and after a public debate in parliament, Elgin’s action was exonerated and the marbles purchased by the British government in 1816.

The deputy head of the board of trustees of the British Museum, Bonnie Greer, told the Greek authority that the marbles should remain in London.

She argued in favour of “an international cultural context,” and suggested a loan of the sculptures, only “if Greece acknowledges British ownership of the marbles.”

Currently the row is back in the news courtesy of the letter by IARPS and fueled by a statement credited to George Clooney, an American actor-director of a movie of related subject, The Monuments Man, In the letter, dated December 2, 2013, the Chairman of the IARPS, David Hill, urged Britain to accept the recent offer of UNESCO to mediate on the issue.

He stated that there “are now volunteers in 16 countries” committed to supporting the Greek claim for the sculptures to be returned.

Hill reminded Cameron about the Director General of UNESCO, Irini Bokova’s letter the British government over a proposal “to participate in a process of mediation to settle the dispute over the Parthenon Sculptures.”

Referencing a 2010 UNESCO advisory on mediation procedures, Hill urges Cameron “to accept the UNESCO invitation for Britain to participate in the proposed mediation process.”

Meanwhile, the filmmaker’s advice, last week, which also urgedUK to return the controversial marble, has pitted him against the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. The mayor described the actor’s statement as advocating nothing less than the Hitlerian agenda for London’s cultural treasures.” But Clooney told The Guardian of London: “When it comes to real facts, not imagined history, you need only to look at the UNESCO rulings that have been agreed to by all parties. An occupying nation can’t sell off the national heritage of the country it occupies…”

Perhaps, based on the 2010 UNESCO intervention about mediation procedures as related to illicitly acquired cultural property, Nigerians who are passionate about the return of the country’s artefacts may join Hill’s IARPS.

THe GUArDiAn www.ngrguardiannews.com

38 ArTS Friday, February 21, 2014

How Art of Football brings Brazil 2014 World Cup to Lagos Stories by Tajudeen Sowole OOTBALL frenzy of the 2014 Brazil FiFA World cup may start in nigeria through the eyes of a show being organised by African Arts resource centre (AArc) and titiled, Art of Football, the group show is sceduled to hold from may 16 to 17 at Terra Kulture, Victoria island, Lagos AArc’s 2014 edition of the yearly Experience Nigeria show will bring together artists under 35.

The show is organised to expose young and relatively known artists.

And quite coincidental Art of Football shares similar concept with Futball, a gathering of over 30 artists currently showing at Lacma, US, as part of the Brazil 2014 buildup. Among the exhibiting artists in the U.S show are nigerianborn America portraist Kehinde Wiley, Andy Warhol and controversila chinese artist Ai Weiwei For AArc, art and sport are not strange bed fellows; the Oladele Olaopa-led group has been draging golf into the art space of nigeria in the past four years. With the support of nokia, AArc’s Experience Nigeria show had Art of Golf at ikoyi clib 1938. But the global appeal of the world, Olaopa explained, provdes opportunity for new and young artists to be exposed.

Olaopa recalled that taking footb all into the terrain of art “was an idea i had four years ago, but did not come to frution for lack of sponsors.”

For the maiden edition of Art of Football, the themes, he disclosed, will “capture all aspects of the culture of football in general and its peculiar influences in nigeria.” noting that football, otherwise known as the ‘beautiful game’ is the most popular sport in the world and enjoys massive followership in nigeria, he assured that Art of Football “Will create a huge forum that is capab le of drawing on the popularity of the sport to attract traditional and non-traditional audiences.” Among the high profile visitors to the exhibition, he said, are the minister and commissioners of Sports, executives of nFF, nPFL, SWAn etc, past and present national football icons, football enthusiasts and celebrities

F

among others.

The Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde raji Fashola, is expected at the show. modalities for participating artists, Olaopa explained include entries for the exhibition will be rewarded with cash prizes and trophies at the African Art Awards ceremony during the show. Outstanding contributors to the Art industry will also be recognised and rewarded with trophies and gifts.

This event will be spiced up with a diverse repertoire of high quality entertainment and refreshments.

Other sport dignitaries listed to witness the opening include chief Segun Odegbami mOn, Special Guest of Honour: Alhaji Bolaji Abdullahi.

Over 100 entries are expected for Art of Foot ball betweeb now and April 15 2014. (He prizes for the winning works are worth n1,000, 000 cash. continuing in its tradition of recognising professionals and patrons in the art, Olaopa stated will give awards in categories such as Lifetime Achievement Award, Sponsor of the Year award, Art Teacher of the Year award, Art Journalist of the Year award, Gani Odutokun Award for excellence in Art. Last year, it was a double for Experience Nigeria: made its first outsude Lagos debut for the 22nd edition in Abuja and Osogbo. Tagged Splashes of Nigeria… Shades of things To Come, late renowned artist, Gani Odutokun got posthumour recognition in Abuja. in Osun State, the show was titled Experience Osogbo Art Fair, in collaboration with the state government, and focused the culture identity, which Osogbo has been known for in the past decades.

Artists whose works were shown included Sunday Osevwe, Kayode Adewumi, Lanre Ayuba, Sangorinu Adewale, Akangbe Ogun, iyiola Kazeem, Adeyinka Fabayo, Olaitan Bolarinwa, rotimi Togbe, Adewale Oloruntogbe, Femi Johnson, Ademola Onibonokuta. The Experience Nigeria art competition and exhibition, which moves to Abuja in november 2013 has been supporting young artists since 1991.

Five artists take Nigerian art R-evolution to global fair in UK OKAri Douglas-camp, VicShenye, tor ekpuk, Kainebi OsaGeorge Osodi and Victoria Udondian will be the face of nigerian art, as Lagos-based Arthouse contemporary joins a global gathering in the UK. Significantly tagged R-evolution, the Arthouse stands at the global art fair, Art14, holding from Friday, February 28 to Sunday march 2, at Olympia Grand, London offers the world an opportunity to see more of nigerian art that have been surging of recent.

After lifting the status of nigerian art at home, Arthouse will be maximising the opportunity of showing with over 170 galleries from 39 countries at the fair sponsored by citi Private Bank.

Works across diverse medium such as painting, sculpture, photography, drawing, video and digital art are expected to feature in the 2014 Fair.

For example, Stand G8 of Arthouse’s R-evolution brings to the fair ekpuk’s blend of

drawing with painterly flavour, soft metal sculptural skill of Douglas camp, abstractive impression of Osahenye, exotic captures from lens of Osodi and deep contemporary contents of Udondian. These artists represent the diversity of the nigerian art.

The organisers noted how “evolution of contemporary nigerian art” of recent “has triggered a revolutionary group of artists.” The artists, they argue, have been “producing works, which are dynamic, conceptual and reactive; constantly pushing the boundaries. The show propels viewers into a dialogue confronting the complete and marked transition of art in nigeria in the 21st century.”

The organisers recall the debut editions as a success.

When the fair started last year, an estimated 25,000 visitors was said to have been recorded and the gathering “was a success with critics, galleries, collectors and art lovers alike.”

A mixed media weaving by Victoria Udondian

Stephanie Dieckvoss, Art14 London Fair Director said “Wallpaper praised the fair’s ‘impressive scope’, while the Financial Times reported on Art13 London’s ‘refreshingly different’ approach.”

Artists, collectors, curators, buyers and visitors are expected from regions such as Asia, the middle east and Africa. The fair “also presents two specially selected sections - ‘London First’ and ‘emerge’ - giving you the chance to discover new artists and new work.”

For ArtHouse contemporary, which has been in the forefront of secondary art market in nigeria, the fair offers a window to consolidate its relationship with nigerian artists, home and the Diaspora. And that two of the artists, ekpuk and Douglascamp are based abroad confirms the spread and vision of Arthouse.

Dieckvoss stated: “We are delighted to increase the geographical spread of countries represented. The fair is growing organically, so visitors and collectors will have a more comprehensive experience in discovering exciting works from around the globe. We continue to have a strong presence from Asia with leading and new galleries from across the continent.

We are also excited to welcome newcomers from all four corners of the world, including Lagos, Berlin, Beijing, Dubai, Buenos Aires, Osaka, mumbai, and São Paulo.”

Phone signal capture from Africa wins World Photo Contest 2013 mericAn photojournalist, John Stanmeyer, A has won first prize in the 2014 World Press Photo awards for his image of African migrants near Djibouti city.

Stanmeyer’s work is a moonlit image, which shows some men trying to get a phone signal from nearby Somalia.

Last year, a picture of group of men carrying the bodies of two dead Palestinian children killed after israeli military attack, and taken by Paul Hansen of the Swedish daily, Dagens Nyheter, won the World Press Photo of the Year 2012.

Other winning works of the 2013 awards include Phillipe Lopez France, Agence France-Presse, Typhoon survivors, Tolosa, the Philippines, John Tlumacki, USA, The Boston Globe, Boston marathon bombing; Taslima Akhter, Bangladesh, Victims of garment factory collapse, Dhaka, Bangladesh in the Spot news Singles categories According to a statement from the organisers, the jury gave prizes in nine themed categories to 53 photographers of 25 nationalities from Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, china, czech republic, el Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, iran, italy, Jordan, mexico, The netherlands, new Zealand, Poland, russia, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the USA. One of the jurors, Jillian edelstein, from the UK/South Africa said of Stanm e y e r ’ s work: “it’s a photo that is connected to so many other stories—it opens up discussions about technology, globalization, migration, poverty, desperation, alienation, humanity. it’s a very sophisticated, powerfully nuanced image. it is so subtly done, so poetic, yet instilled with meaning, conveying issues of great gravity and

concern in the world today.”

Susan Linfield, jury member from the USA, said: “What we’re looking for in the winning image is the same quality you would look for in a great film or in literature—the impression that it exists on more than one level, that it makes you think about things you haven’t thought about. You begin to explore the layers not only of what’s there, but of what isn’t there. So many pictures of migrants show them as bedraggled and pathetic…but this photo is not so much romantic, as dignified.”

David Guttenfelder, jury member from the USA said: “The photo is like a message in a bottle, it is one that will last for all of us. People will bring their own life experiences to it as they stand in front of it.”

The judging was conducted at the World Press Photo office in Amsterdam. All entries were presented anonymously to the jury, who discussed their merits over a two-week period. The jury operates independently and a secretary without voting rights safeguards the fairness of the procedure. The contest drew entries from professional press photographers, photojournalists and documentary photographers across the world. By the midJanuary deadline, 98,671 images had been submitted by 5,754 photographers from 132 countries.

Friday, February 21, 2014 ArTS 39

THE GUArDIANwww.ngrguardiannews.com

Literature ‘We need entrepreneurial, ambitious people in book publishing’

By Anote Ajeluorou

E

ASILY the most humorous short fiction writer in the country, Chuma Nwokolo, who trained as a lawyer, brings a certain performative breeziness into his reading events that endear him indelibly to his audience. And he was his usual theatrical self last Saturday at Quintessence book and art shop at Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, when he read from his latest collection of 100 short stories, How to Spell Naija.

Although a well-known bookshop that only recently relocated from Awolowo Way, Ikoyi to its precent location, Quintessence, according to Nwokolo, had lost its former bookshop vitality, as there were far more other articles on sale other than books fro which it derives its fame.

But Nwokolo wasn’t too surprised at the new turn of affairs at Quintessence and other such outfits, as the country’s book culture continues to receive sundry economic and philistine assaults. For there to be a change, the short fiction author, who started out his writing career in London, said the book sector, especially publishing, needed entrepreneurial, business people to drive it to achieve the success it lacks at the moment.

Nwokolo recalled the glorious 1980s, when Nigeria’s book culture was at its peak and such series as Longman’s ‘Drumbeat’, Macmillan’s ‘Pacesetters’, Heinemann’s ‘African Writers Series’ and a few other smaller series dominated the literary scene with titles that nurtured a generation of young and adult readers. These series eventually disappeared in the heat of Structural Adjustment Programe (SAP). But Nwokolo singled out Macmillan’s ‘Pacesetters’, as the commanding series at the time for young readers, a series he also contributed a few titles.

He said ‘Pacesetters’ impact was phenomenal, as writers from across Africa contributed to it and it gave that generation of readers a cross-cultural taste of continental writing that was lacking at the moment.

However, the author of Diary of a Dead African,

The Ghost of Sanni Abacha and Other Stories and other titles stated that although the ‘Pacesetters’ novellas were apt at the time for their audience, they were no longer so today, as such modern gadgets such as mobile phones, computers, iPhones and iPads were not in vogue back then as now and so young people might not relate to the limited socio-cultural setting well enough.

But he was full of praises for the titles back then, particularly as Macmillan deployed an effective marketing strategy to get the books to every nook and crannies of the country. In this wise, Nwokolo charged that it would take people with business ingenuity to achieve what Macmillan achieved back then, noting, “We need ambitious publishers to do what Macmillan was doing for the ‘Pacesetters’ series. We need to have the right books for the right audience. We need entrepreneurial, business people into publishing”.

Nwokolo was responding to what makes a writer a truly fulfilled person since there was no money, so to say, in writing, and how he combines writing with law practice. He stated simply, “You have to be a man of modest desires. Many writers have their heads in the clouds, and don’t have entrepreneurial skills. You have to be a missionary writer and not a purist depending only on writing but you take on other functions as well to survive”. It’s for which reasons, he argued, that there was need for ambitious publishers to give writers a measure of financial sucour for their writing.

All his short fiction collections are self-published efforts.

Nwokolo, who read from a couple of stories in How to Spell Naija and an excerpt from Diary of a Dead African, said the short story rather than the full length novel works for him, as explanation on why he has produced more short stories as against the

Nwokolo at Quintessence last Saturday novel. He also stated that his stories derived from emotional truth, noting, “There’s emotional truth in my fiction. When you read it you feel it. Usually, true life is not as interesting because it’s still unfolding. But in fiction, you try to end it and get some sort of closure for it.

Only emotional truth is what I give my fiction.

True life doesn’t end. The short story works for me because of its intensity. I write it seamlessly in one stretch. I persuade my inspiration to fit a short story. Periods of estrangement come to me in longer fiction (novel), where I lose trend of what had gone before”.

Family life and all the drama that go with it fea-

ture recurrently in Nwokolo’s stories, which he attributed to the value he places on the family unit, as having a strong place in society, pointing out, “Human relationships are very important to us in every sense”.

Humour is Nwokolo’s strong forte, and he said, “My life is not funny, so I try to make my stories funny to amuse myself. If you crack the same joke many times you try to make it funny. I try to look at the world from a funny perspective; I don’t want to die young. I hope to write stories that are redemptive. I can’t do stand up comedy, but I only write humourously in my room. I’m not a comedian but a humourist”.

Book on how to curb board, management excesses

By Charles Nwabulu HE notion of corporate gover“T nance can simply be put to effective governance of the corporation in the real sense of the words – ‘corporate’ and ‘governance,” according to Dr. Fabia Ajogwu, author of Corporate Governance & Group Dynamics.

It has been argued that shareholders have an incentive to invest resources in curbing issue both managerial and owner opportunism, however the recent experiences show that the significant shareholders that are most capable of curbing board and management excesses have showed an apparent unwillingness to oppose the management and the boards of the companies.

This situation is more prevalent in companies operating within group structures (companies having parent–subsidiary relationships). recent crisis in Nigeria raised serious questions about the adequacy of corporate governance arrangements particularly in the banking sector, and show that not only must existing corporate governance arrangements be questioned in terms of their ability to cope with managerial problems but also in terms of ability to cope with the complexities of group structures.

The book, with a foreword by Dr. Christopher Kolade, formerly President of the Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria, examines the existing models of corporate governance in

Nigeria to see if they are adequate to cope with the complexities of group structures. It concludes with the finding that corporate governance within groups is better observed when the respective boards of the parent as well as the subsidiaries are accountable to their respective shareholders and stakeholders, and takes responsibility for the direction of the specific enterprise that they are by law responsible for. The book further recommends that it is this specific responsibility of each board that could ensure proper disclosures, integrity in financial reporting and a duty of accountability of management to the shareholders.

The book sets out as a background the different waves of corporate failures or challenges that prompted the rethink of existing corporate

governance models. The author discusses the modern corporate governance questions and premises after reviewing existing corporate governance works. Theories of corporate governance were carefully examined in the context of today’s company administration. The singleentity focused statutory approach as well as the categories of codes of corporate governance as well as disclo-

sure requirements regarding corporate governance. The Author lays out the following crucial questions: Does the control of a subsidiary by a parent company, together with the functional reporting lines that exist between the management of the parent company and those of its subsidiaries, not raise concern for effective corporate governance?

What is the corporate governance

impact, where a significant shareholder in a group wears several hats (e.g. shareholder, creditor, supplier,) in relation to the company?

Are existing models of corporate governance in Nigeria adequate to cope with the complexities of group structures especially in the banking and financial services sector?

•Nwabulu, formerly tutor, University of London, (Ext).

Avi-Cenna School holds literary week

By Felix Kuye Or a whole week, it was celebration of literature in Avi-Cenna International School, Ikeja, Lagos during which the students brought to the fore the lasting artistic merit of written works and demonstrated their intellect in other areas of the subject.

The school’s Literary Week began with pomp and pageantry, with the students dressed in different colourful and creative costumes that reflected different characters from the novels the school recommended for them to read. Selected students provided insights not only in the characters whose appearance they imitated, but

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the novel, authors and other interesting aspects of the novel. Junior students’ proficiency in the use of English and their ability to think on their feet were put to test as they participated in the discussion forum that served the extra purpose of facilitating strong teamwork. The performance was nothing short of impressive.

As part of the activities, there was re-enactment of scenes from literary texts being studied, which were educative and entertaining. They were essentially dramatisation of scenes from Charles Dickens Oliver Twist to the creative display of some aspects of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice that the students will remember with relish

for a long time to come.

Besides, the students had the opportunity to present poems they wrote themselves. “Avi-Cenna intends to celebrate these budding poets by publishing their work in the school’s forthcoming anthology,” the Principal, Mr. David Ogburn, said. “I was bowled over by the sheer

enthusiasm of the students during the Literary Week and I eagerly await next year’s event.

Literature broadens the mind of our students and helps them to link emotional and intellectual ideas in a very potent way. Literature is, after all, about reality,” Ogburn added.

Students of Avi-Cenna School performing

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

40 ARTS Friday, February 21, 2014

When Whitesands School hosted poet laureate, Ipadeola

By Gbenga Salau IS uncle told him he would starve if he ticks H to just writing as a profession. Thereafter, his father, a teacher, never believed that Tade Ipadeola was a good poet in spite of winning several laurels in literary competitions as a student.

Despite these negative comments coming from people who nurtured him, which should have affected his moral and commitment to the arts, especially literature, younger Ipadeola kept his his commitment. Today, he is not just a good poet recognised within his village or community, he is now a renowned poet, winning international laurels for himself and his country, Nigeria. His uncle’s grim verdict on writing a ticket to starvation drove him to read law. But years after writing has given him fame and fortune that Law probably hasn’t given him. Last year he won The Nigeria Prize for Literature 2013, sponsored by Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) company.

As the winner of the NLNG Literature Prize, the management, staff and students of Whitesands School, Lekki, Lagos, hosted him last week. At the school, he shared with students and staff his journey to winning the coveted prize.

Before doing that, the Principal of the school, Dr. Lorenzo Manuel David, Jr. took the guest round the school, showing him the facilities, highlighting their quality and how the school has won many laurels in competitions.

In one of the instances, he said the school’s Biology Laboratory is better than many Biology Labs in some Nigerian universities, even in developed climes. He said this was based on a testimony given by a scholar who visited the school.

At the hall, where Ipadeola was hosted, the Principal said the school has it as a tradition to host literary winners because the school is committed to the total formation of its students. He thanked Ipadeola for visiting the school, observing that poetry is one of the highest forms of art.

On why the school hosts literary stars, David said, “It is for the total formation of the students and it is a very good experience for the students. I think you will agree with me that it is something that is not common among sec-

ondary schools. So, when we are able to do it, we do it”.

Ipadeola, in his remarks, stated that it was his first visit to a school after the announcement of the 2013 NLNG Prize for Literature since October last year. He said it was an incredible experience for him when he was announced as the winner. According to him, he felt highly elated about the award because it was a tough year, as great poets – Professors Femi Osofisan and Remi Raji-Oyelade, Drs. Ogechukwu Promise and Obari Gomba and seven others were on the list. So, for him to have won in the mist of these people was really great.

While providing an insight into his journey to the prize, he said it was not easy because, “My uncle said that I was going to stave if I will be doing writing for the rest of my life”, and encouraged him to do something else outside writing. “So I studied law, though it was actually poetry before law. I do not have any regret reading law and practicing law.

“The day I wrote ‘Songbird’, I had just left the court and I was taking a stroll down Ring Road, Ibadan, which is a long stretch of road. Between the time I left the court and got to my house, about 45 minutes, I had composed the poem in my head and I knew it was going to win”.

For him, Nigeria is where the best writing is going on in Africa now, though a lot of people are writing across Africa and in many languages “but I think Nigeria is where a lot of good writing is going on right now. That is not to say a lot of rubbish is not coming out. If you ever have gone to a workshop, you know that before you can produce a masterpiece you have to encounter some rubbish.

“There is a lot of great writing. Take the literature prize for 2013, anybody on the long list of 11 could have won the prize because all those books are good. And that is just poetry. When you go to drama, fiction, children’s literature, you will see that people are writing extremely well if we consider that Rotimi Babatunde won the Cainne Prize in 2012 and all other efforts are ongoing. Yes, there are a lot of works that are sub-standard but there are works that are excellent”.

Ipadeola said that he was lucky that his parents were teachers, his father a literature teacher, which made it easy for him to have access to literary books.

Ipadeola and Whitesands’ school principal, David at the event Besides his parents being teacher, he said he was lucky because his parents were not too much after material things, which helped him, adding, “You will have a problem if you have an artistic sense and your parents are people who value material things. My father teaches literature, so I was lucky as I read a lot of books. I was very lucky that people around me who encouraged my reading, who, when they travel abroad, brought me books”.

He encouraged the students to read like nothing else matters because at the end of the day, “it is not the size of your car or house but the size of your mind.

“Read as widely as you can; that is the only way to be able to stand as a writer, because you are talking about ideas. The more you read, the more you have ideas because you are able to judge. I really wanted to be a teacher; I still love to teach because I believe that teachers have very influential positions in the society. They are the gatekeepers of the mind. But unfortunately, I am not a teacher”.

On the relationship between poetry and law, Ipadeola said both share the issue of how to think about what a person knows, “On the surface, they do not have anything in common, but when you look at them closely, you see that they have things in common”.

He commended the students who read some of the poems they composed, saying, “I was challenged by some of the poems some people here wrote because they demonstrated character, clarity and a lot of boldness.

“It is a good sign for the future of Nigeria. If young people can be interested in the things of the mind rather than material things, it is a positive sign and I am impressed by the students”.

On why, in spite of great writing going on in Nigeria, many of the films made in Nigeria are considered sub-standard because of poor stories, Ipadeola said some scholars have observed that Nollyhood likes to steal scripts from authors, noting, “What happens is that people will see a storyline, they will steal the idea, remove some sections so that nobody will sue them, but by that, they would have removed the essence of the story”.

He suggested that the way forward is for there to be a creative relationship between literature and film, adding, “Nigeria has produced really outstanding works of fiction so these works can be translated into film in the proper manner. Gradually, it is happening; people like Prof.

Akinwunmi Ishola is collaborating with people like Mr. Tunde Kilani. Chimamanda Adichie’s book, Half of a yellow Sun, has been adapted into film format. So, if we have more of that we would have better films coming out of Nigeria instead of what we have now”.

Midway to the session, he read his poem, ‘Songbird’, which won the Delphic Laurel Prize in South Africa in 2009. The students also interacted with him as they asked varied questions to which he provided answers.

Wake Up Everyone ... A call for better environment

By Omiko Awa ES, it was Paul Watson, the founder of Greenpeace, in warning the world of the negative effects of climate change that said: “It doesn’t matter what is true; it only matters what people believe is true”.

This aphorism, however, is played out in a play, Wake Up Everyone, written by a Nigerian playwright and academic, Greg Mbajiorgu.

Published by Kraftgriots, the 78-page play centres on the effects of climate change and how governments, especially developing countries, are playing poltics with develompental and lifethreatening issues.

Written to tell the world that the stage has the dynamics of presenting any issue to its aduience, Mbajiorgu combines songs, dance and recitations to present the message of the negative effects of c l i m a t e change and the dangers of not planning ahead of time to curb them.

It opens with the main character, M a u k w e Aladinma, a retired professor of agriculture, discussing with the chairman of Ndoli Local Government Area on how to build flood defences and

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also make local farmers use organic waste and plant stronger, nonGenetically Modified Organism (nonGMO) seeds. The professor, a dramatist too, goes to supervise the rehearsals of his troupe.

In a play-within-a-play, the actors of the professor’s theatre company rehearse scenes describing the negative effects of climate change, especially those happening now across the globe and the anticipated ones such as rivers drying up, earthquakes, torrential floods, tornadoes, plagues, famines and poverty. The rehearsal is a play to be performed at the launch of an envisioned project, which did not hold.

Wake Up Everyone, shows the insincerity of our leaders in their planning and implementation of policies, as the local official, Chairperson of the Ndoli council, Hon. Edwin Ochonkeya, t h r o u g h intrigues, blocks the building of the defences, but lauds the project when it is presented to him.

However, things go sour, when f l o o d s w e e p s through the land, with the farmers becoming angry and they run to the the professor for help.

The

professor, not able to help out, tells the people how Ochonkeya has blocked the project to satisfy his lust. Aladinma’s disclosure stuns the people, who recall how he was voted into power.

With a strong focus on the insensitivity of leaders, the play evokes emotion, as it reminisces on how Ochonkeya, a militant against the oil companies in his comminity, was on the verge of forming his own kidnapping gang when a massive oil spill damaged his family’s farmland and killed his father. He employed a lawyer to bring action against the companies, but they agreed to settle out of court for N300,000.

Added to the money, the companies jointly funded his campaign for local office on the condition that he would not make any further case on behalf of

affected farmers. He won his campaign with the rhetoric of environmentalism: “Before this plague of climate change, the oil companies had milked our land dry and have not given anything to nourish it. All that is left (of my family’s farmland) is thick layers of oil; oil in our waters; oil in our wet lands; oil in our fragile soil, down to the roots of our edible crops; oil and more oil…’

Realising that Ochonkeya only used them to achieve his goal, and that he has no plans to mediate or adopt policies that would put an end to harmful practises that would checkmate climate damage, least of all alleviate the plight of the peole, the farmers run to his office to vent their anger for their destroyed land and crops.

Mbajiorgu’s play is timely and purposeful, too. He systematically

passes on the message in a simple form that is devoid of the many terminologies of most environmentalist, thereby making it an easy read for anybody, even for primary school pupils. The importance of this style of writing is that it attracts readership and thus makes more people to know the harm the human race face. It would also help to build resilience against the effects of climate change in the rural areas, where bushburning, tree felling and the use of firewood is the order of the day.

Howerver, coming as a warning sign to Nigerians, especially now that the election year, 2015, is fastapproaching, the play calls on the voters never to vote for those that would come with empty rhetorics just to win elections. It implores Nigerians to vote for people with the pedigree of living up to their words.

Ifowodo leads empowerment writing workshop in Warri SSISTANT Professor of Poetry A and Literature at Texas State University, San Marcos, U.S., Dr. Ogaga Ifowodo, will lead a threeday Youth Empowerment Creative Writing Workshop for secondary school students selected from 10 schools in Warri and its environs— including his alma mater, Federal Government College, Warri, from February 26 -28, 2014. The workshop is supported by the International Institute of Education’s small grants programme in collaboration with the Delta State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education.

It will be declared open by the Delta State Commissioner for Higher Education, Prof. Hope

Eghagha, while a representative of the state’s Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Prof.

Patrick Muoboghare, will give the closing remarks and present book prizes to the participants, including the literature teachers from the 10 schools with whom Ifowodo will have a roundtable on the third day to discuss problems in, prospects for, and approaches to, the effective teaching of literature at the secondary school level.

Ifowodo will be joined by the fiction writer, journalist and culture advocate, Molara Wood, author of the recently released and brilliant book of short stories, Indigo. Ms Wood, whose story ‘The Last Bus Stop’ is part of the workshop readings, will

not only be a guest writer and facilitator, but also participate in a Question-and-Answer session with the students.

The choice of venue and participants is informed by two major considerations. First, as a deliberate attempt at extending writing workshops beyond Lagos where they always seem to take place—and only for practising or aspiring professional writers at that. Second, as an intervention in a part of the country, the Niger Delta, where massive unemployment and shocking poverty in the midst of the abundant oil and gas wealth expropriated therefrom tend to lead the youths to serious crimes and other anti-social activities.

Friday, February 21, 2014

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

41

ArtHouse Ugomma comes on live stage

LL roads will on Sunday, February 23 lead to VGinis Event A Centre and Eatery, Opposite WAEC building and Yabatech, Yaba, as Toms Production/Wazobia Theatre House will thrill lovers with one of their classics play, Ugomma. Filled with serenading songs and dance, Ugomma centres on two youths, who fall in love at first sight. Though the boy has been a player, the girl, Ugomma, is just experiencing love for the first time. Spine tingling, the play which will be shown twice at 3pm and 6pm, would make the audience recall the first day they fell in love.

The Queen of the Night at Freedom Park

HE Lagos Theatre Festival will stage The Queen of the Night, T which will be directed by Wole Oguntokun at Freedom Park, Broad Street from February 28 to March 1 - 2. Time is 3.15pm and 6.15pm. These personalities, Steve Ayorinde, Olarotimi Michael Fakunle, Ojoma Ochai, Toset Toset, Ben Evans BeCreative, Oyinlola Moneybender, Olumide Iyanda, Jahman Anikulapo, Tony Okuyeme, Fusi Olateru-olagbegi and Adebayo Olasunkanmi will make the show thick! Tickets available at the gate.

Saint Psalmstars Artsvile presents poetry icon contest

AINT Psalmstars Artsvile presents poetry competition tagged Stional ‘In the Spirit of Poetry’, an initiative aimed at solving educaproblems in Nigeria among arts students by demystifying curricular poetry for students, who are in dire need of understanding poetry.

The event will take place on February 27 at the post-graduate lecture theatre, Covenant University, Canaan land, KM 10 Idiroko Road, Ota, Ogun State. Time is 10am.

Mrs. Vijaya Rao, Principal Ambassador, Nnefuro Kurubo Model Secondary School, Eleme shaking hands with Programmes’ Coordinator, Port Harcourt World Book Capital (PHWBC), Mr. Wale Salami after the official project briefing of Principals and Head Teachers for the PHWBC Reading Tree programme on Tuesday… in Port Harcourt.

Mai Atafo, Taryor Gabriels, other designers for WED Expo

Lummy rocks with Kilamiti

O provide an exciting platform for designers across Nigeria to showcase their designs to an international audience, WED Magazine, organisers of Africa’s largest wedding exhibition, WED Expo is set to host the WED International Fashion Week.

The event is scheduled to hold as a co-located event with WED Expo Lagos 2014 from Friday, March 28 -30, 2014 at The Haven Event Centre, Ikeja GRA, Lagos.

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ANA postponements February reading

HE Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Lagos Chapter, has T postponed its February reading event tagged ‘Vintage Wine, Fresh Blends. A statement from its chairman, Femi Onileagbon said the cancellation is “due to the unavailability of our Vintage Wine, Prof. Akachi Adimora Ezeigbo. The event will come up on March 22, when Prof. Ezeigbo and Literamed Publications’s chairman, Otunba Lawal-Solarin will be in attendance, as publisher-infocus. The Venue remains Rotunda Hall, National Library, Alagomeji. Time is 2pm.

Compiled by: Florence Utor

NE of Nigeria’s fast-rising young O stars, Adesida Oluwapelumi, popularly known as Lummy, is gradually carving a niche for himself in the music industry, with his recently released new singles titled Kilamiti, produced by Tarri T Beats, mixed and mastered by Teepiano-Green. The dancehall track is bound to get attention, as evident when played at clubs and airwaves.

The Mass Communication graduate from Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, Ondo State, has more in store as he is currently working with fliptyce on his next song and has promised more phenomenal tunes.

Lummy began his career in 2004 and has gone through several rigor-

ous mentorship and self-development trainings and fast coming of age. He has worked with OJB Jezreel in the past and has performed in various concerts alongside Olu Maintain, Timaya, Terry G, Faze, Suny Neji and a host of others.

Lummy began his career in the church, where he started singing at the tender age of nine. He was acknowledged for his early prowess by family and friends, who nicknamed him ‘D Couzn’.

Identifying the path set before him in 2003, Adesida Oluwapelumi dropped his nickname ‘D Couzn’ and picked up the stage name Lummy, which has stuck.

Censors board seeks media partnership Kupa Victory brings back memories with Do me right for better performance Stories by Florence Utor ADDLED with huge responsibility Svideo to liscense and censor films and works as well as regulate and control cinematographic exhibitions and premises in Nigeria and classify all films and videos whether imported or produced locally, register all film and video outlets across the country and keep a register of such registered outlets, the director general of Censors board, Patricia Bala appealed to the media as

Patricia Bala

belonging to the same family who share the same media landscape of serving as watchdogs for greater good of the society for the best interest of the nation, to share ideas that would move the industry forward.

Speaking at the media parley in Lagos last week, Bala highlighted the major problems of the board as, inappropriate content that are unsuitable to the Nigerian brand which that should be project to the world, gaps in marketing and distribution standards, competiveness in the global space and many more.

She added that the non-compliance of some practitioners in sending in their films to be censored continues to pose a set back to the efforts made by the board in achieving results.

She cited the example of the Tiv people of Benue State who are producing massively in their language and are not sending the films for censorship.

She added that, “the government funds injected into the industry is to improve production yet while the rich, cultural and intellectual traditions of Nigerian movie industry make an attractive choice and great story lines for producers we still find ourselves swimming in the bottle, recycling same storylines over and over again, adding that it does not speak well that considerable content

still present crime, cultism and rituals as means of solving problems” Lamenting the dearth of children films, she said, “there is a serious gap that needs to be filled. Even with the prize we created for this category, only about seven of such films came in last year.

Another thing is the DStv classifications, which are different form ours needs to be addressed.”

She asserted that, “Pornography is a crime in Nigeria so it is not solely the job of censors’ board but everybody including the police. The board has been working very tirelessly trying to pin down the people who sell these films but it is difficult since they keep moving from one location to another but the few who own shops have even changed their line of business due to our constant harassment.”

She however gives credit to Nigerian as been more astute than the pedestrian portrayal and as such need credit. Pointing out that there is an overwhelming public consensus that the movie industry needs reform especially in relation to the movies that are thrown into the market.

She concluded by emphasizing on the partnership to be more responsive to challenging task of bequeathing to the society and indeed the world a better sense of our creative prowess.

INALLY it’s dropping today like a Fgreen blast from the past. The ever single by veteran reggae dance hall artiste, Victory Okelezo, a.k.a Kupa Victory, which has been much anticipated by is officially out today.

The single is titled Do me right initially done by popular American legendary group Dynasty.

No one will forget the old days when Dynasty made waves with several hits like Do me right which was one of their biggest hit ever.

Today those memories of old are been brought back by our very own reggae dancehall star Kupa Victory in a Dancehall/R&B fusion style. It sounds so energetic, a club banger, danceable, and lyrically meaningful and mind blowing for this season of love no wonder its release today to complement the festival of love as Da pumpum lovah.

The song is now on air in all radio stations across the country; fans can also download for their enjoyment via online links by visiting his facebook fanpage:

42 Friday, February 21, 2014

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

ExecutiveBrief

EDITION 296

In association with TRIPPLEA ASSOCIATES LIMIED

Kayode Obembe: Passion Drives Excellence And Productivity tomer. The purpose of our being in business is to provide future community development that constitutes a safe environment, vibrant neighborhoods as well as modern business & institution; Promote new age construction through solar, wind technology and to re-develop the Nigerian community as a whole through integrity, honesty and transparency. Timing is also crucial. Successful development projects that produce short-term benefits must be interwoven with project that take much longer to accomplish. At the beginning of a development effort, it is important to quickly show tangible progress so that a reputation will be created that will attract attention to our ongoing work and bring in positive influence. Whether mass produced or customized development, Kayode Obembe & Co Ltd can fit your needs. We can bring your vision to reality. The goal of Kayode Obembe & Co Ltd is to create a unique, modern, and thriving neighborhood that attracts investment and composed of a rich and varied mix of residential, commercial and institutional buildings, with green space for recreation & leisure. Good design is crucial to building and rebuilding real estate investment projects. Aspect such as character, scale, and organization of building element define an urban environment. The architectural design will strive to create a unique, functional, affordable, safe and beautiful location.

Kayode Obembe & Co Ltd is a full service consulting/general contracting firm with experience in commercial and residential real estate. The organization specializes and committed in the acquisitions, community development, construction management, property management and asset management in Nigeria. Kayode Obembe, The Managing Director of the firm strongly believes that you need to have passion for success to succeed in entrepreneurship. Mr. Obembe is a crusader of entrepreneurship, because he believes it is the easiest way to creating wealth. He is also a Pastor of The Lamb Christian Centre. In this Interview with NNAMDI NWOKOLO, Mr. Obembe bared his mind on the role of entrepreneurship to national development. He also runs The Lamb Empowerment Summit that deals with the power of ideas, entrepreneurship and understanding business.

What can government do differently to help the industry grow?

I believe the future of every economy lies in the hands of entrepreneurs. Every major economy in the world today owes its dominance and success to the spirit of enterprise.

Governments can only do so much. Entrepreneurship promotes creativity, innovation and rapid development by encouraging and rewarding free enterprise. The government needs to provide infrastructure to move the nation forward. It is the responsibility of government to provide roads, electricity, pipe borne water and social amenities.

Anybody who is expecting anything more is wasting his time. We also do youth empowerment through entrepreneurship because that is the only way we can support the government is doing to reduce poverty. If the populace can see themselves as the government, you may not be able to sweep the whole Lagos like Fashola, but you can sweep your immediate environment, and the country will be better.

ANY entrepreneurs complain about not succeeding in M business due to lack of adequate funding, what is your take on this issue?

Entrepreneurs need to be creative. Sometimes lack of funds is good because it makes people to think outside the box. Without sounding immodest, this organization was started with N6, 000.00 but to the glory of God, it is worth millions today. Money should not be the motivating factor to start a business; go and check businesses that were started with big money; you see some of them have closed.

Any business you start with zero naira and it becomes successful, no financial crisis or economic cancer can bring the business down. The only thing that can make the business fail is your attitude, character and integrity. You need passion to succeed in whatever you do, because without passion, the moment you are not making profit, you quit.

It is only passion that can make you hang on even when you are running at a loss. The problem with people is that they are less concerned about their personal development. As you are doing the business, you’ll be exposed to a lot of things and people will begin to trust you and the money will be attracted. Money is like an eagle, when you go after it, it goes farther where people are not after him.

When you have it at the back of your mind that the purpose of entrepreneurship is to add value, you can stay in business for long.

What has been your biggest challenge and how were you able to surmount it?

As an entrepreneur, you should minimize your operating cost and delay gratification. You must be persistent and persevere to really overcome challenges. I could remember in those days, when I don’t see myself making any profit, because for every kobo we make, we plough it back into the business; it wasn’t spent on personal or family related issues. The beauty is that we persevered. I remember when we used to do catchy advertisements at one thousand naira per box. Sometimes I’ll pay for two months and immediately I pay, I’ll be broke. I was constant because, I know publicity is power. Apostle Paul said, “How will they know of whom they’ve not heard”. You need to set your goals and pursue it without distraction because what the enemy has come to do is to kill, steal and destroy. The moment you are distracted, you lose focus and that’s the end. I’ll advice entrepreneurs to be determined, focused and delay gratifications, focus on the growth of the business first before any other thing. Try to reduce liabilities in your enterprise. Ideas and strategic planning are critical for success in business.

What is your take on the general notion that entrepreneurs should build a business around what they naturally love to do? I subscribe to it completely. Passion drives

Kayode Obembe excellence and productivity. A time comes in every business growth when the going gets really tough. At that point it takes passion to weather the storm. For instance, if someone who finds it difficult to wash and iron his clothes delves into dry cleaning business; be rest assured that at the long run, the business will collapse, because he will soon be irritated and fed up when the profits are not coming. When you do something you love, you won’t be fed up with it easily because the passion will always fire up the enthusiasm to do more. You cannot make money out of something you don’t love. I honestly believe that the key reason for the death of small businesses is wrong choice of business. An entrepreneur who loves and takes pride in what he does is more likely to pay attention to quality and excellence, rather than just pursue profits.

What is the Unique Selling Point of your organization?

We are set to create wealth for people. We see a lot of poverty in the land because most people lack information. When you lack information, you lack wisdom and knowledge which eventually make you poor. Our mission is to create affordable commercial and residential development while our vision is to create a lasting property wealth for our cus-

Your organization is involved in land acquisition, what’s your take on the land use act?

The hardest part in the real estate industry is land acquisition. It is more or less a calling, if you don’t have the calling, it will be difficult to succeed. The land use act is developmental inclined. No area can develop without government acquiring the lands. If government steps into an environment, that’s when the land will begin to appreciate. They know efficient & effective land administration. It is the government that has the financial muscle to really develop the rural communities. The essence of government acquiring land is basically for public use not for personal aggrandizement. If the land is left in the hands of the natives, it will derail government policies because the land owners will find it difficult to relinquish the land.

On the Centenary of Nigeria’s amalgamation, do you think it is worth celebrating?

Where we are is not where we are supposed to be. If you have a boy who is supposed to be walking and he is still crawling, there’s nothing really to celebrate about. If not for bad governance and corruption, Nigeria would’ve been very far from where we are. The rate of development has been slow.

What drives you?

I draw inspiration from God. It might not be acceptable to some people but that is the truth. I don’t have any other God, so my inspiration comes from the “Throne of Grace”.

A lot of people join all manner of groups but with the wisdom of God in me, it makes me above them. When you are looking for power, it is better to go for the highest power.

Whatever kingdom you want to join, first of all ask them what the kingdom has to offer. I know the Kingdom of God offers wisdom, power, honour, wealth, glory, strength and vitality Etc.

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Friday, February 21, 2014 43

AutoWheels Still, vintage Mercedes Benz C-class

Rear view of the c-class

By Dele Fanimo FTER the hype comes the big masquerade. It is not really a clear departure from the mark of excellence, but with added value to tradition.

A glance at the pictures on this page can only assentuate your desire to feel and own the all new Mercedes benz c-class.

Not to worry, it has touched down in south Africa, spreading to Southern Africa and soon across the continent.

The German automaker insisting that it sets new standards in its segment. Mercedes-Benz says that an intelligent lightweight design concept has resulted in weight savings of up to 100kilogramme, while improved aerodynamics and more economical engines see the C-Class establish new benchmarks.

The C-Class model range will initially comprise of the C 180, the C 200, the C 220 BlueTEC and the C 250.

Model variants with the higher capacity engines will be introduced at a later stage,” said Selvin Govender, Divisional Manager, Product and Marketing, Mercedes-Benz South Africa.

“The C-Class is our biggest-selling model series and global sales of the preceding model, which was launched in 2007, total over 2.4 million vehicles. Locally, even in its last full year of its lifecycle, this model range topped the mid-luxury segment with phenomenal sales,” added Govender.

“The new C-Class offers sensuous and clear design and a host of technical innovations as well as a comprehensive scope of standard equipment and exemplary emission and fuel consumption values. This all adds up to substantial added value and long-term savings.”

The C-Class has grown – with an 80-millimetre increase in the wheelbase (2840 millimetres) compared with the previous model, the vehicle is 95 millimetres longer (4686 millimetres) and 40 millimetres wider (1810 millimetres).

The new C-Class also outstrips its predecessor in terms of boot capacity, at 480 litres.

There is a choice of two different faces: sporty with centrally positioned star or – for the Exclusive line only – the classic saloon radiator grille featuring the Mercedes-Benz star on the

A

All new mercedes Benz c-class bonnet.

The new C-Class comes with H7 halogen headlamps as standard. In addition to the standardfit headlamps, two energy-saving LED variants are available: a static system and a dynamic version with “LED Intelligent Light System”.

On vehicles with manual transmission, the centre console is slightly steeper and features two separate trim elements in order to create ample space for ergonomic operation of the shift lever.

A centrally positioned free-standing central display is the main feature across the centre console – with a screen diagonal of seven inches, or 8.4 inches if COMAND Online is specified.

There’s also a touchpad in the hand-rest over the Controller on the centre tunnel and a head-up display.

Three different design and equipment lines for the exterior and interior offer further scope for

individualisation in addition to the standard equipment and appointments.

The Avantgarde line showcases the C-Class as a sporty sedan, the Exclusive line places the emphasis on sophistication and modern luxury and the AMG line lends the C-Class a decidedly sporty character.

Four engine variants are available at market launch – a diesel in the guise of the C 220 BlueTEC (125kW and 400Nm) and the three petrol models, C 180 (115kW and 250Nm), C 200 (135kW and 300Nm) and C 250 (155kW and 350Nm). There is the choice of a six-speed manual transmission or 7G-Tronic Plus automatic transmission.

The new C-Class sedan is fitted as standard with a steel suspension. Three Direct Control suspensions with selective damping systems are available in conjunction with this suspen-

sion, dependent on exterior package selection. The new C-Class is also the first vehicle in its segment that can be fitted with an air suspension on the front and rear axles.

The driver can use the Agility Select switch to choose between the various characteristics: “Comfort”, “ECO”, “Sport” and “Sport+”. The additional “Individual” option enables drivers to configure their vehicle according to their own wishes.

The new C-Class offers numerous innovative safety and assistance systems. It is fitted as standard with Attention Assist and Collision Prevention Assist Plus. New assistance systems and existing assistance systems with a host of enhanced functions from the new S-Class and E-Class are also optionally available.

ABC Transport acquires 80 trucks BC Hauls has acquired eighty A (80) Shacman heavy-duty trucks, thereby increasing its haulage business by an additional 3,200 tons capacity. ABC Hauls is the haulage division of ABC Transport, Nigeria’s most innovative coach operator.

Expansion of ABC Hauls began in earnest between late 2013 and mid-January of 2014, with an investment of over #1 billion on trucks, human and material resources. The increase in capacity and investment were a direct result of the new and renewed contracts between ABC Transport and certain major manufacturers in the industry.

Consequently, ABC Hauls has diversified from transporting only cement products (bagged

and unbagged) to accommodating other structures of the economy. Doubtless, ABC Hauls is set to becoming a total logistics organization, and will now convey fast moving consumer goods. Its partnership with DHL (the world’s leading logistics company) will see ABC Hauls participating in the distribution of the products of UNILEVER West Africa across Nigeria. Another strategic partnership with Procter and Gamble (P &G), a multinational consumer goods company, will also see ABC Hauls distributing hygiene and healthcare products along west coast corridor of Africa.

With demand for increased capacity in the haulage business nationwide, ABC Hauls is poised to satisfy the rising demands of

high-profile clients. ABC Hauls’s choice of Shacman truck was due to the auto-maker’s success in many difficult terrains such as Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Russia, and Iran. Shacman is a leading Chinese truck maker.

Meanwhile, ABC Hauls has acquired three (3) hectares of land in Calabar, Cross River state.

The land will serve as a truck park, maintenance depot, and transit accommodation for the driving crew. In order to further provide seamless haulage transportation across the breadth of Nigeria, ABC Hauls has installed online tracking software for its numerous trucks as well as speed limiters.

Presently, hundreds of staff are being recruited to fill up the openings arising from the expan-

sions in the haulage business, while a productivity and safety enhancement training has been scheduled for truck drivers and attendants in Calabar and Ewekoro respectively, within March 2014.

ABC Hauls is a leading haulage operator for United Cement Company of Nigeria (UniCem) and for Lafarge-WAPCO, another notable cement manufacturing company. ABC Hauls also provides haulage transportation for non-cement manufacturing companies such as Nestle Waters, GZ Industries, and Beta Glass. ABC Hauls is operated by ABC Transport, the only road transport company currently quoted on the Nigeria Stock Exchange.

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THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

AUTOWHEELS Friday, February 21, 2014

Dana Motors partners Kia on raising autoplant in Nigeria

By Adeniyi Idowu Adunola S part of efforts to drive A the nascent national automobile industry initiative, Dana Motors limited, has signed an agreement with Kia Motors Corporation of South Korea, to establish an assembly plant in Nigeria.

Dana Motors, which is the sole distributor of Kia motor in Nigeria, said it was part of its commitment to the development of the auto policy in Nigeria.

According to the auto firm, the choice of the firm was not out of place considering its technical know-how and world class facility.

Dana said the Korean auto giant would provide the technical know-how for plant, machinery and assembly of the vehicles, restructuring its existing short term obligation to align with investment done in long term assets.

The Auto policy forms part of the agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan’s Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan and the National Enterprise Development programme.

The President’s plan is commendable and fully supported by Dana Motors and KIA, as it is setting the stage for a new era of industrial, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises development in the country intended to transform the nation’s industrial landscape, leading to an increase in skills development, job creation and conserve foreign exchange.

The Auto Policy, which has been promoted by the Ministry of trade and investment under the leadership of Dr. Olusegun Aganga, will accordingly fast-track industrialization, accelerate inclusive economic growth, trans-

form Nigeria’s business environment stopping the drain foreign reserves by importing and start production and assembly locally.

Dana Management team led

by Mr. Jacky Hathiramani (MD/CEO) and KMC official Mr. Homer Kim leading the delegation of officials from South Korea were present at the ceremony to sign the document in the presence of Director of policy and planning Luqman Mamudu for the National Automotive Council (NAC) representing the DG. The Director NAC, commended Dana Motors for taking a bold step to establish a Motor vehicle assembly plant which will create significant good quality employment and a wide range of technologically advanced manufacturing opportunities. Dana Motors CEO in his response said that Dana Motors aims to set an example for others to follow, with state of the art systems, technology and logistics applied to the assembly plant. He further communicated that the project has been planned to have minimal adverse effect on the health and safety of the workers.

“Dana Motors aims to surpass customers expectations and with the growing population of KIA cars across Nigeria there is a need to better support for maintenance by upgrading facility and investing in people thereby creating jobs, increasing skills and ultimately producing cost effective vehicles and also to promote the development of the automobile sector and drive the components parts requirement of international standard at competitive prices” concluded Mr. Hathiramani.

Group initiates road safety campaign

By Tolulope Okunlola N wheels magazine in collaboration with officially approved safety institutions has initiated a road safety education campaign for families designed to inform, educate and sensitize road users on the rules and regulation that guide them on the road.

In a statement by Wheels Magazine, its Publisher, Mr Jabez Aina-Scot, said that the campaign was set aside to create awareness on the need for women to abide by the rules and regulations of the road.

He further said that the safety education would be the first edition aimed at enlighten them on the basics of driving, to prevent accidents and reduce death rates.

The first edition of road safety initiative campaign tagged ‘Women on Wheels’ (WOW) is specifically targeted at mothers, sisters, aunts (women in general) to show case their talent.

Speaking on the event, the coordinator, Mrs Julie Chi-

O

Nwaoha said “the Wow Auto Rally is designed to create safety awareness among a specific and defined target group of road users while creating marketing opportunities for automotive brand owners through product association”.

According, to her, “the drivers who will be screened and selected are expected to choose the brand and model of their choice from available automobiles while only thirty participants with current drivers’ license will be shortlisted for the active driving from Ikeja to Elegushi Beach, Lekki”.

The organizers said further that the first part of the event is scheduled for March 1,2014 (pre-event) at the Federal Road Safety Commission Auditorium where participants will be more informed on the basics and tenets of Road Safety and the rules and regulations guiding the rally.

The Deputy Governor of Lagos State Mrs Adejoke Orelope Adefulure, is expected to flag-off the main event which will hold on the March 22, 2014

Chairman, Stallion Group,Mr Sunil Vaswani (right) and Head, Hyundai Africa and Middle-East headquarters Mr Tom Lee at the signing of the partnership agreement between Hyundai and Stallion Motors to manufacture Hyundai range of vehicles in Nigeria

Peugeot Plans to inject $7.26b on research, development RESH initiative towards Fbrand’s pushing Peugeot Citroen bottom line Appears sure footed with the planned injection of $7.26 billion investors fund into the firm.

PSA Peugeot Citroen’s newly appointed Chief executive Officer, Carlos Tavares, said that the French automaker, which has fallen behind competitors in spending on new technology, needs to increase research and development funding and focus model offerings on the most profitable vehicles.

The money will come in part from a 3 billion-euro capital increase, in which Dongfeng Motor Corp. (489) and the French state will contribute about half the money in exchange for stakes of 14 percent apiece. Banco Santander SA (SAN) will also provide funds through a partnership with Peugeot’s lending arm.

The reorganization brings to an end control by the Peugeot family of the 118-yearold carmaker, which was unable to keep up with rivals as the automotive industry shifted from a regional focus to large worldwide players.

Peugeot, which has been forced to slash costs as Europe’s auto market declined for six straight years, currently spends 1-to-2 percentage points less on R&D than the industry average.

“This company has the potential to become a global car company,” Tavares told analysts on a conference call.

He said his plan is to focus on fewer models and “scare” competitors with the new vehicles in the coming years.

Peugeot, Europe’s secondlargest automaker, surged as much as 9.1 percent to 13.64 euros, the highest intraday price since March 20, 2012, and was trading up 3.2 percent as of 2:47 p.m. in Paris.

Dongfeng fell 1.1 percent to HK$10.84 at the close of trading in Hong Kong.

Tavares said he’ll detail his Back in the Race turnaround plan in mid-April as he looks to end Peugeot’s steady loss of competitiveness to regional leader Volkswagen AG. (VOW) VW controlled 24.8 percent of the car market last year in western Europe, more than double Peugeot’s 11.1 percent share. Ten years ago, the region’s two biggest carmakers were much closer, with VW’s share at 18.2 percent compared with Peugeot’s 14.8 percent, according to data from industry trade group ACEA. While Paris-based Peugeot largely stayed focused on mid-market cars in Europe, the German competitor expanded the luxury Audi brand and invested abroad, especially in China. Since 2003, VW’s global deliveries

have surged 94 percent to 9.73 million vehicles, while Peugeot’s have declined 14 percent to 2.82 million, according to data compiled

by Bloomberg.

It won’t be a quick fix. With new model taking years to develop, Tavares said remaking the DS subbrand into a full-fledged marque that can compete with the likes of Audi may take two decades.

Tavares’s strategy also includes scaling back Peugeot (UG)’s line-up in countries such as Russia, where the automaker currently sells 27 models and is losing money.

“We envisage a future where, in the near term, Peugeot has to increase its spending significantly and yet does not expect to see the benefits for many years,” Kristina Church, a London-based analyst at Barclays Plc, said in a report to clients.

Peugeot is aiming to remake its fortunes by teaming up with Dongfeng to expand in China, the world’s largest auto market. Dongfeng, set up in 1969 and based in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, already operates three factories in the country with the French partner. The companies plan to raise joint production by two-thirds to 750,000 vehicles by the end of 2015. Dongfeng said it’s targeting 1.5 million in annual deliveries under its own

Hyundai Santa Fe wins award OLLOWING one of its best FHyundai years in history, the Santa Fe was awarded with MotorWeek’s Drivers’ Choice Award for “Best Large Utility’ at the 2014 Chicago Auto Show. MotorWeek, television’s longest running automotive series has presented the Drivers’ Choice Awards annually since 1983.

“The Santa Fe hits all the large family utility hot buttons and then some,’ said MotorWeek editorial staff.

“There are tons of standard

features, an eye pleasing design, and even above average comfort in the third-row.’

MotorWeek editors evaluated vehicles to judge the best new cars and trucks of the year based on what consumers value most: price, practicality, performance and fuel efficiency. The best models are then selected for each category. The annual award aims to produce a list of winners that can be used as a practical guide for car shopping.

“Since the launch of the allnew Santa Fe , the vehicle has earned countless accolades for its performance, sleek styling and advanced technology offerings,’ said Scott Margason, director, product planning, Hyundai Motor America. “This award further demonstrates Hyundai[s proven success in the highly competitive CUV/SUV segment & ndash it[s an honor to be recognized by one of the most trusted names in automotive media.’

nameplate and the Peugeot and Citroen brands by 2020.

Peugeot, among the producers hardest hit as Europe’s auto market contracted to a two-decade low, reported a 177 million-euro operating loss in 2013, its second unprofitable year in a row.

That was narrower than the 247 million-euro average loss of nine analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Cash consumption was cut 86 percent to 426 million euros, beating Peugeot’s target of reducing the figure to about 1.5 billion euros.

“The balance sheet at the end of second half is actually much better than I would have thought,” Erich Hauser, a London-based analyst at International Strategy & Investment Group who recommends buying the shares, said by phone. “They’re not doing this deal out of necessity, but out of choice. It makes an important distinction.”

Dongfeng and France will buy their holdings in a twostep transaction, initially acquiring new stock at 7.50 euros a share and then spending more in a rights offer on the same terms, Peugeot said. The founding family will take part in the capital increase so its ownership matches the Dongfeng and French state stakes. The Peugeots, Dongfeng and France will each hold two board seats.

“It’s an absolutely strategic investment,” French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said on RTL radio station.

“The idea for the state is to guarantee the presence of PSA in France. We’ll be a stable, sound and non-sleeping shareholder.”

The family, which steered the automaker through two world wars, was split in recent months over the best rescue plan, with Chairman Thierry Peugeot arguing for a go-it-alone strategy while his cousin Robert, who also sits on the board, backed bringing in Dongfeng and the French state.

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

Friday, February 21, 2014 | 45

BusinessTravel Stories by Ibe Uwaleke ANA Air last Tuesday, D February 18, 2014, relaunched two daily flights between Lagos and Port Harcourt as it aims to expand its route network. The recommencement of its flight services between Lagos and Port Harcourt route is coming on the heels of the recent addition of a Boeing 737-500 series aircraft as well as the successful outcome of an operational audit conducted on its entire operations by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority Flight Safety Group (FSG) in partnership with their foreign collaborators.

Speaking to journalists at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Ikeja, venue of the take-off, the chief operation officer of the airline, Yvan Drewinsky said that the reason for this development was because the airline was responding to passengers’ demands as well as its primary objective of re-integrating major cities into its route network in order to offer convenience to the travelling public.

“We feel greatly humbled by the unprecedented support we have received from our guests since we re-commenced flight operations and our sense of appreciation is better understood when you consider that within this short while of operating the Lagos – Abuja – Lagos route, customers have shown preference for our product offering as we offer both business and leisure travelers an opportunity to experience an unrivalled hospitality and world-class service delivery,” he said.

On the choice of Port Harcourt, he said that a good number of the company’s customers on this route had been asking the management of the airline to re-launch its operation on the route because ‘they say they like flying with us.’

Regarding the number of passengers the airline had been able to board on each flight since it started normal operations, Drewinsky replied that the passengers had been trickling in their hundreds on the average of 60 to 70 per cent daily which he said was not bad in any way.

He also added that the fare was affordable as tickets were

Quote of the week “Mistakes are inevitable in aviation, especially when one is still learning new things. The trick is not to make the mistake that will kill you.” — Stephen Coonts ibeuwaleke2012@yahoo.com 08033151041 (SMS only)

DANA Air re-launches daily flights to Port Harcourt

now sold for from N12, 600 either at its website, www.flydanaair.com and at designated sales points nationwide.

According to him, ‘the Port Harcourt route recommencement daily flights was scheduled to kick off at the end of February, but had to be brought forward due to increasing demands of the customers who wanted it as quickly as possible and because we are also ready to serve our customers.’

He further said that as soon as DANA re-launched its Abuja route fares on that route dropped tremendously which he said made for a healthy competition in a healthy market.

“Our schedule has been developed to enhance both business and leisure trips as guests now have the option of catching an early flight between Lagos and Port Harcourt with ease of onward connectivity to Abuja

or beyond to keep appointments and return same day using our service. Dana Air will offer choice as it operates two daily flights between both cities using the Boeing McDonnell 83 and Boeing 737500 aircraft series to service the route,” he added.

The COO who spoke in company of the head of commercial of the airline, Obi Mbanuzuo further noted that Dana Air’s route network expansion plan was predicated on service standards which the airline had clearly maintained since inception as the goal of the airline was to enhance the service options available to the travelling public throughout Nigeria.

He also announced that the expansion programme would continue to other routes based on the demands of the customers, adding that the company would constantly

continue to build up, having done that with Abuja and now Port Harcourt for better service delivery.

Drewinsky used the occasion to hint that his airline was also planning to interline with other airlines, a new order introduced by Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in the aviation industry whereby airlines were encouraged to interline to take passengers to their destinations when delays and cancellations were occasioned by one airline or the other.

But the COO said that even though interlining involved a complex process of accounting and ticketing, it had worked in other climes and therefore should work in Nigeria.

On his expectation for the next aviation minister, he counselled that the next min-

Chief Operating Officer, DANA Air, Mr. Yvan Drewinsky (middle) and Head Commercial, Mr. Obi Mbanuzuo (right) being received by Station Manager, Port Harcourt, Mr. Francis Ofangba on arrival at Port Harcourt Airport as Dana Air re-commenced flight operations on the Lagos – Port Harcourt and Port Harcourt – Abuja routes. ister should be one who knew how the aviation industry operated and also be prepared to bring down taxes and charges on the airlines, which was increasingly making their operations in Nigeria very costly thereby forcing operators to flee the Nigerian domestic routes.

It must be recalled according to him that DANA Air is ‘inspired by its past and driven by the future and has consistently offered better value and

convenience to its numerous guests. The airline has overtime introduced several innovative bouquet of payment options which include online booking and payment at www.flydanaair.com as well as the book and hold option that allows guests to pay at designated banks, or by using interswitch enabled Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and at all Dana Point Of Sale (POS).’

Arik Air strengthens Dakar route with Cotonou, Accra connections RIK Air, one of the West and Central A Africa’s airlines has extended two of its existing routes as the airline continues its expansion programme for the regional West African services.

Starting March 10, 2014, Arik Air will add Cotonou to its daily route network by operating the Lagos-Dakar flight via Cotonou, the economic capital of Benin Republic.

Similarly, Arik Air will from the same date extend its daily Abuja-Accra service to Dakar.

The Lagos- Cotonou –Dakar route will

operate daily with the outbound flight departing the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos at 7:15 pm (local time) and arrive at Cotonou International Airport at 7:45 pm (local time). The flight leaves Cotonou at 8:30 pm (local time), arriving in Dakar at 11:00 pm (local time).

Inbound flight departs Dakar at 11:45 pm (local time) and arrives in Cotonou at 4:15 am (next day). The flight leaves Cotonou at 5:00 am (local time) arriving Lagos at 5:30 am (local time).

Getting rid of aerophobia One of the best ways to distract yourself during a flight is to bring a book that you’ve already started and are deeply engrossed in or a season of your favourite television show. If there is a television on the plane people will feel relaxed and

The Abuja-Accra-Dakar service, which will also operate daily, departs Abuja at 5:00 pm (local time) and arrives Kotoka International Airport, Accra at 5:50 pm (local time). The flight continues on to Dakar departing Accra at 6:50pm (local time) arriving Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport, Dakar at 10:05 pm (local time). The flight thereafter departs Dakar at 1:50 am (next day) and arrives Accra at 5:05 am (local time). At 6:00 am, the flight departs Accra and arrives Abuja at 8:50 am (local time).

As a result of these developments, Arik Air will be the only carrier offering daily nonstop service to Dakar from Accra and Cotonou each respectively catering for the needs of both the business and leisure passenger market segments.

The two routes will be operated using the Bombardier CRJ900 aircraft configured to sit 10 Business Class and 64

Economy class passengers. These routes shall be upgraded to the larger Boeing 737-700 aircraft from the upcoming summer season onwards providing freight forwarders of an additional two tons of belly cargo space to facilitate import and export of commercial goods.

Arik Air’s managing director/executive vice president, Chris Ndulue com-

mented on the new routes this way: “As the dominant commercial airline in West Africa, Arik Air is always seeking to strengthen its services in the region to give guests comfort and value for money. We will not shy away from providing greater choice and a convenient, accessible network to our valued customers in the West Coast of Africa.”

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BUSINESSTRAVEL Friday, February 21, 2014

Boeing delivers first two 787-8s business jets in 2014

By Chika Goodluck-Ogazi OWARDS improving its T market demand, Boeing Business Jets has celebrated the first two BBJ 787-8 deliveries of 2014.

The deliveries, made over the past week to separate undisclosed customers has marked the second and third BBJ 787 airplanes delivered to date.

The BBJ 787-8 has a range of about 9, 260 nautical miles. It also features increased headroom, cleaner air, enormous cargo space and breakthrough fuel efficiency.

As awe-inspiring as its commercial counterpart, the BBJ 787 takes advantage of technological advances such as lightweight composite structures and a cabin environment designed for new heights in passenger comfort.

The first BBJ 787-8 was delivered in December 2013. To date, customers have ordered 13 BBJ 787s, with deliveries occurring through 2018.

Boeing Business Jets delivers the airplanes to customers unpainted and without an interior.

Boeing Business Jets offers a wide variety of ultra-largecabin, long-range airplanes perfectly suited for the private jet market. A completion centre of the customer’s choosing installs the jet’s VIP interior.

The product line includes the BBJ, BBJ 2 and BBJ 3 – highperformance derivatives of the commercially successful Next-Generation 737 airplane family and the new 737 MAX family – as well as Boeing twin-aisle airplanes including the 747-8, 767, 777 and 787.

More than 400 Boeing air-

Boeing jet planes are in service in the VIP market.

The President, Boeing Business Jets, Captain. Steve Taylor said: “It’s terrific to see two BBJ 787s deliver within a week. “The BBJ 787 joins the BBJ family, a full line of the most capable airplanes in the VIP market.

“The 787’s combination of phenomenal range, high cruise speed, low cabin altitude, big windows and ultraquiet cabin make the 787 ideal for BBJ customers. This year will be a very exciting year for BBJ with many major milestones to celebrate,”

Taylor said.

He said: “In addition to the deliveries of three more BBJ 787-8s, the first BBJ 747-8 we delivered last year will enter into service with its completed custom interior later in the year.”

Meanwhile, Boeing has started assembly the first NextGeneration 737 to be built at the increased rate of 42 airplanes per month.

Since 2010, production of the 737 has increased about 33 per cent, from 31.5 to 42 airplanes a month, its highest rate ever.

South African Airways celebrates 80 years anniversary African Airways, one StheOUTH of the leading carriers on African continent, will this

choose to fly with it.

Apart from SAA celebrating 80 years of existence, the airline’s group is also celebrating great achievements this year. SAA’s frequent flyer programme, Voyager, which was one of the first ever-frequent flyer programmes in Africa, is also celebrating its 20th anniversary this month as well as SAA’s low cost operator Mango which turns eight this year.

With all these milestones the airline is set for a return to profitability with its longterm turnaround strategy and gaining altitude in place, which sets a long-term view for returning the airline to profitability.

The strategy sets five strategic objectives which are:

Support for South Africa’s national developmental agenda, to achieve and maintain commercial sustainability, provide excellent customer service, achieve consistent, efficient and effective operations and foster performance excellence.

The gaining altitude strategy is well into its implementation phase and specific milestones have been reached.

Loss making routes such as Bujumbura and Kigali, have been closed, with the route to Buenos Aires to be closed at the end of March 2014.

Last year alone SAA implemented five new code share agreements, which are considerable boosts to its route network without operating its own aircraft on those

built at the new rate is scheduled to be delivered in the second quarter. As previously announced, the 737-production rate is scheduled to increase to 47 airplanes a month in 2017.

Also, Boeing and Linhas Aereas de Mocambique have announced an order for three Next-Generation 737-700 airplanes. The order, valued at $228 million at list prices, includes purchase rights for three additional NextGeneration 737s.

The order, formally signed in November 2013 and was pre-

Qatar Airways launches all business London route ATAR Airways has Q announced the launch of a new daily all premium

By Ibe Uwaleke

month mark its 80th anniversary of gracing the global skies. The airline was founded in February 1934.

Over the years it has faced many changes over its illustrious history and has experienced many highlights and some turbulent times too.

Through the years it was reportedly said that the airline and its employees had shown extraordinary resilience and capacity for change for the better.

Today, SAA is indeed a modern, technologically advanced airline that flies millions of people every year. It is also said to be an award winning airline over the years until recently when it received for the 12th consecutive year, the Four-Star airline ranking, from Skytrax, the independent global airline rating organisation.

It is on record that SAA remains the only carrier on the African continent to achieve this high level FourStar airline rating.

Again, the airline’s safety record and its outstanding ontime performance remain key drivers as to why customers

According to the Vice President/General Manager, 737 Programme, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Beverly Wyse: “This rate increase once again reflects our commitment to put the world’s best-selling airplane into the hands of our customers as quickly as possible.

“Efficiency improvements in the factory, many of them developed by our employees, are a big part of why we are able to successfully increase the number of airplanes we build.”

The first Next-Generation 737

viously unidentified on the Boeing Orders & Deliveries website, is part of the Mozambique flag-carrier and the country’s ministry of transport and communication’s long-term strategy to increase flight frequency and provide greater route flexibility to and from the southern African nation.

“In order to thrive in this highly competitive environment, LAM - Linhas Aereas de Mocambique has developed an in-depth Strategic Business Plan which resulted in the restructuring of its network to facilitate its growth and expansion,” said Marlene Mendes Manave, chief executive officer, LAM - Linhas Aereas de Mocambique.

“This investment in the NextGeneration 737-700s will help Mozambique to remain at the forefront of the growing demand for air travel in our region and enable expansion into several new markets.”

The airplanes will also feature the popular passengerinspired Boeing Sky Interior, with modern sculpted sidewalls and window reveals, LED lighting that enhances the sense of spaciousness and larger pivoting overhead stowage bins.

Capable of carrying up to 126 passengers in a two-class configuration, the 737-700 is one of the most successful selling versions of the NextGeneration 737 family.

Known for its reliability, fuel efficiency and economical performance, the 737-700 has been selected by leading carriers throughout the world, and has contributed to the strong success of over 6,600 Next-Generation 737 family orders.

business class service from its hub in Doha to London Heathrow Airport.

According to the airline, the new service will be the first of its kind in the Middle East, commencing on May 15th 2014, with an Airbus A319 aircraft fitted with an all business class, single aisle, 2–2 seating configuration offering 40 seats.

Qatar Airways currently operates five daily flights to London Heathrow and the additional sixth all business

class daily service has marked the start of new era for travellers to and from the UK, who can experience complete comfort and privacy with the airline’s award-winning five-star hospitality.

The new additional flight will step up the frequency on the Doha – London Heathrow route from 35 to 42 weekly services.

The Chief Executive, Qatar Airways, Akbar Al Baker said: “Today’s announcement reaffirms Qatar Airways’ determination to continue its expansion drive by improving an already superior in-flight

product.

“The airline goes to great lengths to consider passenger convenience and comfort at every step of their journey.”

He added: “The Doha–London Heathrow route is one of Qatar Airways’ most popular international routes and it was only fitting that we introduce an all business class service on this key route, where customers will also be able to benefit from our new Qatar Airways premium lounge in London Heathrow’s terminal four, and of course the Premium Terminal in Doha.”

Friday, February 21, 2014 BUSINeSSTrAVeL 47

The GUArDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

Overland Airways offers reduced fares on routes

By Chika Goodluck-Ogazi Airways has OVerLAND introduced special fares

on Lagos-Asaba, Lagos-Minna, and Minna-Ilorin routes to reward their customers for their loyalty.

According to the company, effective February 17, 2014 passengers would enjoy Overland Airways flight serv-

ices from Lagos to Asaba and return, Lagos to Minna and return at N20, 000. 00 and Minna to Ilorin and return at

SAhCOL asks staff to exceed customers’ expectation

By Ibe Uwaleke he Skyway Aviation T handling Company Limited, (SAhCOL) has concluded a four-day management retreat, with a call by its Chairman, Dr. Taiwo Afolabi for staff to aim at exceeding customers’ expectation.

The retreat which has its theme as “exceeding Customers’ expectations in 2014 and beyond” was held at the Grand Inn hotel and Suites, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State and was attended by executive and middle level managers of the company.

While thanking the staff for their efforts in 2013, and in the past years since the takeover of SAhCOL by the Sifax Group, Afolabi said through collective efforts of all staff SAhCOL has lived and continued to take steady steps in the direction of its vision. he stressed that though SAhCOL is nowhere near its destination, he is convinced that by the commitment, loyalty and dedication of staff to duty, SAhCOL will get there.

The Chairman recalled that when Sifax Group invested in SAhCOL in 2009 through the BPe, the objectives were to reverse the trend of decline and build a company that can effectively compete in ground

Chairman of SAHCOL, Dr. Taiwo Afolabi inspecting the ongoing construction of the warehouse handling, not just in Nigeria but globally; and also to provide a platform through which employee would develop expertise and achieve their various ambitions.

Afolabi recalled that primarily the focus has been on the provision of quality service as well as the welfare of all staff in SAhCOL, stressing that these values have not changed, and that the Board is even committed to doing more.

The chairman said that in the last four years, huge investment had been made in critical ground equipment running into billions of naira, while

plans are on to take delivery of more modern equipment in the months ahead.

“The Ultra-Modern Cargo Warehouse which will become operational in the second quarter of 2014 is state-ofthe-art and the first of its kind in West Africa.” he said that the warehouse would be equipped with modern infrastructure and having been designed to eliminate unprofessional cargo handling practices that are peculiar to the Nigerian environment, which are borne out of “our commitment to change all aspects of ground handling

and we will not despair.”

Commenting on the retreat theme for 2014, Dr. Afolabi advised, “as service providers, customers are the only reason we are in business today, and for us to remain in business tomorrow, our collective efforts must be directed at delivering quality service that will exceed their expectations.

“Customers’ satisfaction is the guarantee that the company will earn revenue which will translate into salaries for staff and profits for shareholders, hence we must place premium on having them satisfied beyond bounds,” he said.

Complete Oduah’s projects, ATSSSAN tells govt.

By Ibe Uwaleke Ir Transport Services Senior A Staff Association of Nigeria ATSSSAN has volunteered to work with government to ensure that all on-going proj-

ects in the aviation sector commenced by the immediate past minister, Mrs. Stella Oduah, for the benefit of Nigerians are promptly completed.

In a release signed by its President, Benjamin Okewu

and Deputy National Secretary, Tarnongu Captain at the end of the association’s meeting in Lagos, said that all hands must be on deck to ensure that the exit of Oduah did not in anyway negatively affect the aviation industry.

The statement read: “On behalf of the members of our union across the nooks and crannies of this country in the aviation and allied industries, we are driven by patriotic fervor and an un-alloyed commitment to sustainable transformation of our great country to recognise the monumental changes currently on-going in our governance polity.

“As we commend the federal government for its boldness in charting these audacious steps,

we also enjoined all well meaning Nigerians to maintain hope and strive to make our country the cynosure of all eyes in the world.”

The union said that it was not averse to change since it was the only thing that is constant in life adding that it was time for the president to appoint a person with sincere and fundamental interest of the aviation industry at heart.

The association assured President Goodluck Jonathan of its readiness to provide the necessary platform and safety verve to support the in coming minister and the team to ensure that the transformation agenda of the president in the aviation industry in Nigeria was not truncated.

N10, 000.00 only every day of the week.

It said that Overland Airways’ introduction of the reduced fares is to appreciate and reward customers for their patronage and loyalty since Overland Airways resumed flight operations at Minna Airport and to reward customers for their patronage over the years on Lagos-Asaba route. The fare reduction on these designated routes is also one of Overland Airways’ own way of promoting air transportation to Nigeria’s hinterland.

In order to serve its esteemed customers better, Overland Airways has also reduced its flight frequencies on Lagos/Asaba/Lagos routes from Monday – Friday to Monday, Wednesday, and Friday every week.

Overland Airways flights will still depart Lagos to Asaba at 11:50 am while Asaba to Lagos will depart at 1:20 pm.

Overland Airways flight from Minna to Ilorin departs at 8:30 am and Ilorin to Minna departs at 4:20 pm while Minna to Lagos departs at 8:30 am and Lagos to Minna departs at 3:00pm Monday – Friday.

Overland Airways is committed to delivering safe and effective flight services that meet the needs of our customers at all times.

Meanwhile, the airline has also announced the commencement of scheduled weekend flight services on Saturdays from Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos to Ibadan Airport connecting

Abuja Airport via Ilorin International Airport.

Overland Airways will also commence Sunday flight operations on Abuja – Bauchi route.

The commencement of weekend flights operations on the designated routes is part of overland Airways’ objectives of providing comfort and facilitating social ties across the country. effective Saturday, February 22 2014, Overland Airways flights to Ibadan will depart Lagos at 8:00 am and arrive Ibadan at 8:30 am while flights from Ibadan to Abuja via Ilorin will depart at 9:00 am and arrive Ilorin at 9:20 am to depart for Abuja at 9:50am and arrive Abuja at 10:50am.

On the Abuja – Lagos route, flights will depart Abuja at 3:00pm and arrive Ilorin at 4:00pm and depart Ilorin at 4:30pm and arrive Ibadan at 4:50pm. It will then depart Ibadan at 5:30pm and arrive Lagos at 6:00pm.

In addition, Overland Airways Sunday flights on Abuja – Bauchi route will depart Abuja at 2:15 pm and arrive Bauchi at 3:15 pm while the return flight to Abuja will depart Bauchi at 3:45 pm and arrive Abuja at 4:45 pm.

With the commencement of this new weekend flight, people that need to attend to urgent social, family, etc events on the Lagos – Ibadan – Ilorin – Abuja route will have Overland Airways offering them quality flight services with their safety and comfort as our number one priority.

NAMA converts Abuja old radar site into conference hall he old Selenial Terminal manager, Ugbuga Ndukwe T radar site at Nnamdi turned around the edifice Azikiwe International Airport, that transformed the abanAbuja, which until October 18, 2010, was a beehive of activities by Air Traffic Controllers, has been caught up with technology as it gave way to Thales’ new radar system, Total radar Coverage of Nigeria (TrACON).

The old site, which was commissioned in 1979 by Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime, is one of the de-commissioned sites that were established in Abuja, Maiduguri, enugu, Kano and Sokoto.

Following the decommissioning of the old radar, the big radar site was left unutilised for more than three years.

Managing director of NAMA, Mazi Nnamdi Udoh, airspace

doned building into a state-ofthe-art conference room with sophisticated audio-visual furniture and a sitting capacity that accommodates up to 100 persons.

The new conference hall, which has already been commissioned, is also available for workshops, training, seminars as well as management meetings for the agency.

It would be recalled that due to reasons of obsolete technology and unavailability of spare parts, the old radar system sited in the above locations was phased out, giving way to a more digital and cost effective TrACON.

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48 Friday, February 21, 2014

FridayWorship “Surely, the religion with Allah is ISLAM,complete submission”... Qur’an 3:19

On sagging, tattoos and masculinised girls

By Afis A. Oladosu In the name of the Almighty, the beneficent the merciful “O ye Children of Adam! We have bestowed raiment upon you to cover your shame, as well as to be an adornment to you...” (Q 7: 26)

RETHREN, on a visit to Kwara the other B day, I became acutely aware of this era.

I came face to face with “modernity.” I was reminded by what I saw that I belong to the modern age. I came across a Muslim woman in a flowing gown, which looked every bit like the Jalabiyya- the flowing white garment that is usually worn by (Muslim) men.

It was on a Friday. I thought she was going to pray. Yes- she was a Muslim woman in a male garment on her way to the mosque. Then, I thought it was an accident, a happenstance. “She probably wanted to wear an “abayyah”, I placated myself.

However, on a visit to the “Centre of Excellence” a couple of days thereafter, I discovered that the new fashion statement in town, among young Muslim women, is the appropriation of what is traditionally deemed to belong to men.

Young Muslim women now find men’s clothing more seemly. Young Muslim women appear to be getting tired of their feminine identities; they appear to be on a migration, like the transgender Americans, from femininity to masculinity.

Before now, dear brethren, I had always wanted to know why young girls and nubile ladies, on campus and in the city centres, prefer the jeans trouser, which I thought belonged to men, to the skirt, which traditionally belongs to them. I had craved to know why girls of today prefer men’s garment and styles to those dresses that projected the femininity of their mothers in the most admirable ways. I desired to know how and why boys in the city began to wear earrings, thereby causing unwarranted hike in price of that ageold feminine commodity.

In other words, Brethren, I always wondered how we lost the big trousers known as kembe in Yorubaland to the hegemonic suzerainty of the American jeans. The kembe, which is usually sewn in such as a way as to allow constant ventilation of the phallus, is a homegrown dressing for the male. It was designed by our forebears in recognition of the tropical nature of this region of ours; they knew that the phallus needs constant ventilation for maximum performance.

But the jeans trouser is designed for extremely cold regions of the world such as America and Europe. There, people need to keep warm constantly. In those parts of the world, the tighter and harder the fabric or jeans, the safer and warmer the citizen becomes. Thus phallic health is often sacrificed for general wellbeing of the Westerner; it is he who is alive who remembers his sexuality.

But there are Muslim women in our midst who desire to travel the pathway described above. They are my sisters who usually try to “Islamise” Western dressing styles by adorning the hijab. This is like saying “In the name of the Almighty” while taking alcohol!

What about the boys? They, like our girls, have also become “moderns.” They have

become “saggers.” Sagging is a manner of wearing trousers such that the top is significantly below the waist, sometimes revealing much of the underwear. It is a dressing style, which was adopted from the United States prison system where belts are sometimes prohibited to prevent prisoners from using them as weapons or as instrument with which they can commit suicide. The culture of sagging was later popularised by hip-hop artists particularly the blacks in the 1990s. Soon it became a symbol of freedom and cultural awareness among some youths or a symbol of their rejection of the values of mainstream society.

During the first decade of the 21st century, many North American local governments, school systems, transit agencies, and even airlines passed laws and regulations against the practice of wearing sagging pants or trousers. In certain parts of America – the ‘Gods-own-country’, sagging is a crime punishable under the law. It is deemed to be a crime because it involves unwarranted and indecent exposure of what every sane society would refer to as the private parts of the body. America frowns at such indecency but it celebrates a greater evil- homosexuality and lesbianism.

But Nigeria is not America. Here no law exists against sagging. In fact, the Nigerian society has not yet seen this trend as an infraction of its values the same way it abhors lesbianism. Thus our boys are sagging. Yes, the sagging culture continues to catch on. Secondary school boys now ‘sag’ the trousers of their school uniforms.

They do so out of ignorance, following ‘fashion’- ignorant of the fact that it was prisoners who started it all in the United States; fashion because in the estimation of these young boys any new style or social stream that emerges in the west, including the ones devised by mad men and women, is good and should therefore be adopted.

But remember, brother, fashion is your ability to remain sane in a world that has gone gaga like Lady Gaga; it is not and should not be your preparedness to tattoo your body in order to create yourself anew.

Truly dear brethren, I grew up in the backwater of that town to discover my elderly female siblings with some inscriptions on their hands. Most of the times, in that village, tattooing the hands, that is, between the ankle and the wrist, and wearing the henna represent markers of femininity.

Even then, women who used to indulge in the habit usually maintain the thick line between modesty and vulgarity.

Women of yesterday would do their ‘thing’ for themselves not because they desire to become sexual objects on the pathway to the stream in the village.

Today is a new age. Our age is that in which the line separating femininity and masculinity has been blurred if not completely elided. Today is a new age. Every fashion statement being made by our men and women is deemed incomplete until it exposes the body. Today is the new age.

Whereas tattoos were usually worn on the hands in the past, it is now being worn on all parts of the body, including the bosom.

Thus the Biblical assumption that the human body is the temple of God has been consigned to be rubbish can of history.

To be continued.

(08122465111 for texts only)

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Friday, February 21, 2014

MarketReport EQUITY MARKET SUMMARY

AS AT 20-02-2014

PRIMERA AFRICA www.primera-africa.com

Friday, February 21, 2014 MARKET REPORT

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MARKET INDICATORS

AS AT 20-02-2014

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NSE’s market capitalisation depreciates by N186 billion Analysts attribute slide to market uncertainties Stories By Helen Oji price losses FtheOllOwING incurred by virtually all blue-chip companies, transactions on the trading floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange closed on a downturn yesterday, causing market capitalisation to depreciate by N186 billion.

Specifically, at the close of trading yesterday, the market capitalisation of listed equities dropped by 1.47 per cent to N12.468 trillion from N12.654 trillion recorded the previous day.

Also, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All Share Index (ASI) went down by 580.90 basis points from 39397.09 points traded on wednesday to 38816.19 points.

The NSE trading result showed that investors traded 483.545 million shares worth N4.857 billion in 4539 deals against 303.346 million shares valued at N3.804 billion traded by investors in 5911 deals.

Analysts attributed the slide in market indices to uncertainties that surround the Nigerian Capital Market currently, noting that investors are yet to ascertain the direction the market would take.

According to them, the removal of the CBN governor may result to policy change, which, according to them, may impact negatively on the market.

A breakdown of the transaction indicated that Zenith International Bank Plc was

the most active stock for the day, exchanging 69.655 million shares valued at N1.366 billion, Access Bank followed with account of 57.538 million shares worth N492.757 million while FBN Holdings sold 37.615 million shares cost N459.117 million.

United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 28.610 million shares valued at N201.785 million and Skye Bank exchanged a total of 26.879 million shares worth N90.822 million.

Further analysis of yesterday’s trading revealed that nine stocks appreciated in price, as Dangote Cement led the gainers table, enhancing by N1.92 kobo to close at N239.92 kobo, PZ Cussons came second with a gain of N1.86 kobo to close at N39.12 kobo while International Breweries, NAHCO and Air Service appreciated by N0.35 kobo, N0.17 kobo and N0.11 kobo respectively to close at N29.50 kobo, N5.87 kobo and N2.47 kobo.

Conversely, 46 stocks constituted the losers chart, as Guinness Nigeria Plc recorded the highest loss for the day, declining by N8.90 kobo to close at N171.10 kobo, Nigerian Breweries trailed with a loss of N4.89 kobo to close at N146.61 kobo while Unilever Nigeria Plc loss N2.00 to close at N48.00.

Other stocks that depreciated in price were Oando Plc and GTBank which dropped

by N1.29 kobo each to close at N18.96 kobo and N24.62 kobo respectively.

UBA Capital pledges world-class financial, investment services BA Capital Plc has U pledged to leverage its formidable team of experts to continue to deliver worldclass financial and investment services with high standards of disclosure and transparency to its stakeholders.

Speaking during the bell ringing ceremony at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in lagos, yesterday, the new Group Chief Executive Officer of the company, Oluwatoyin Sanni said: “UBA Capital is leveraging on a formidable team of experts, and we are wellpositioned to continue delivering world-class financial and investment services to our stakeholders. As a publicly-listed company on the NSE, our shareholders can be assured of high standards of disclosure and transparency, in addition to our superior performance in investment banking, trusteeship, asset management and securities.

Sanni continued, “In the coming week, we will unveil a series of leading and industry shaping initiatives which will redefine the financial services landscape, deliver significant value to our stakeholders and clearly set UBA Capital apart from our competitors.”

The company’s Chairman, Chika Mordi said: “It has been a privilege for us to be honoured in this way by the NSE. Our ringing of the bell at the NSE today is clearly symbolic, because we intend to make great, resonant sounds throughout this year.”

UBA Capital had in January 2014, announced the appointment of frontline capital market operator Oluwatoyin Sanni as the new Group CEO, and veteran banker Chika Mordi as Chairman.

Comprising investment banking, trusteeship, asset management and securities arms, UBA Capital has emerged in recent years as a clear market leader in each of these areas. In her statement to the floor, Sanni unveiled the group’s plans for accelerated growth and sector leadership this year.

Consolidating its 78.4 per cent rally in 2013, UBA Capital Shares have gained 23.7 per cent YTD, bucking the recent bearish run in the market. Closing at N2.56 on Tuesday, 18February, the highest price since its listing on 11 January 2013 at N1.16 per share, the market is increasingly re-pricing the compelling fundamentals of UBA Capital Plc.

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Sports Ahead Brazil 2014 World Cup

Dike’s surgery successful, Keshi still hopeful of star’s recovery for Mundial UPER Eagles’ striker, Bright Sthrough Dike, yesterday went a successful surgery on an Achilles injury, raising hopes that he could be ready for the Brazil 2014 World Cup. Coach Stephen Keshi had high hopes of the Major League Soccer (MLS) star’s contribution to his World Cup team during the Mundial before Dike’s injury setback.

But the coach has not given up on him.

Dike, who was set to play against Mexico in a friendly on March 5, wrote on Twitter, “surgery went well.”

But it remains to be seen whether the 27-year-old will recover in time to play in the World Cup, which will be held in Brazil from June 12 to July 13.

“We will surely miss him if he is not ready for the World Cup,” Keshi said on Wednesday.

“It is very sad. I can’t believe this is happening to a player with such enthusiasm to play for Nigeria at the highest level. United States-born Dike has spent his whole career in MLS, playing for Indiana Invaders, Portland Timbers, Los Angeles Blues and Toronto.

“I won’t think about bringing in a replacement for now until we get to the real facts of the matter.”

Dike tore his Achilles tendon

for the second time in three years during a Toronto FC training session on Monday and he wrote on Twitter that it was the “worst day of my life.”

And the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) said at the time that Dike’s injury was a massive blow.

“It is such a shame that we have lost a player of his calibre for the friendly against Mexico and possibly the World Cup,” NFF spokesman, Ademola Olajire told BBC Sport.

“Bright Dike is a top professional and very humble guy. It is a blow for him personally, and for both his club Toronto FC and Nigeria.”

Dike, who had recently returned from a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee, scored his second goal in as many starts for the Super Eagles in November’s 22 friendly draw against Italy.

His first international goal against Catalonia in January was not enough to earn him a place in the 2013 African Cup of Nations squad.

But in November, Dike told BBC Sport that he would fight to force his way into Nigeria’s squad for the World Cup and he had earned his chance to impress after being called up

by Keshi for next month’s friendly.

NFF increases Flamingoes’ win bonus, allowances ahead of U-17 Women World Cup O motivate the T Flamingoes to victory at the forthcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup billed for Costa Rica from March 15 to April 4, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) yesterday announced the increment of allowances and match bonus of the women cadet national team by 100 per cent.

The association disclosed the raise in the allowances in a statement by its Assistant Director, Ademola Olajire in Abuja.

The statement noted that the NFF President, Aminu Maigari made the announcement when he visited the team’s camp in Abuja, adding that the Federation’s boss charged the girls to do Nigeria proud at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup finals.

“Only yesterday, President Goodluck Jonathan pledged more support for sportsmen and women vying to

bring glory to Nigeria.

“As you are also aware, every individual or team that lifts the name of the nation in one way or the other has been honoured by him (President Jonathan).

“The NFF, therefore, implores you to concentrate very well and be focused during your final training and pay attention to the instructions of your coaches.

Bosso

Bright Dike (left) celebrates with Ogenyi Onazi after scoring for the Super Eagles in a recent international friendly.

Lagos International Polo Tournament

Valkyrie wins again, Kano Titans beaten NE of the shining lights at O the on-going Lagos International Polo Tournament, another tight match played today, Lagos Valkyrie, continued their winning streak in the twoweek championship yesterday when they defeated Ibadan Challenge by six and half to six chukkas.

The competition keeps producing surprises, with the latest in the two-day old championship being the

defeat of favourites, Kano Titans/Ibah, by Lagos Sao Polo.

Kano Titans/Ibah came from behind on Wednesday to win their first match, but they could not replicate the same form as they fell six and half to six to Lagos Sao, a team that lost Polo their first match yesterday by five chukkas to three to Lagos Unity Polo.

The match between Lagos Ashbert and Lagos Kashton/Lintex ended with

Ashbert thrashing Lintex, a team that flattered to deceive in the opening exchanges.

Lintex led in the opening chukkas, but a loss in concentration allowed Ashbert to come from behind to take the match, winning with a convincing six chukkas to three and half.

Lagos Iron Clad/Tale Veras almost upset Lagos Shoreline, even leading in the first and second chukkas, but they could not sustain

their challenge and by the end of the third chukkas, both teams were level at three apiece. Buoyed by their resurgence, Lagos Shoreline went on to take the game by eight chukkas to five.

Among the dignitaries at the Lagos Polo Club ground, Ribadu Road, Ikoyi, yesterday were Chairman of the Dangote Group of Companies, Aliko Dangote, Senators and members of the House of Representatives.

Bosso unveiled as Abia Warriors’ technical adviser REMIER League new boys, P Abia Warriors of Umuahia, yesterday unveiled former Flying Eagles Coach, Ladan Bosso, as their new technical adviser.

Unveiling the highly experienced coach to the players, management board, sports enthusiasts and the supporters of Abia Warriors at the Umuahia Township Stadium, club Chairman, Emeka Inyama said, the club had always admired the technical quality of Bosso and was happy to have him at last.

While describing the coach

as one of the best in the country, the chairman hoped his experience would ensure that Abia Warriors did well in their debut Premier League Season.

He commended Governor T. A. Orji for approving the appointment of Bosso, who led Bayelsa United to the third position in last season’s Premier League and promised that the team would not disappoint him and their teeming supporters, adding that his contract is laden with lots of incentives in order to motivate the coach to greater performance.

In their speeches, Abia State

Commissioner for Sports, David Chigbu, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Sports, Ejikeme Ikwunze and the Vice Chairman of the Board, Nwoke Nwoke, all expressed happiness at the arrival of Bosso and expressed confidence that the Niger State-born tactician will take the club to the expected heights.

Speaking to the fans after his unveiling, Bosso said he came to Umuahia to succeed, adding that he was happy to be part of Abia Warriors FC despite qualifying Bayelsa United for the African Confederations cup.

The former Kano Pillars’ tactician, who is also the Vice President of the National Association of Nigerian Coaches, said he has set a target for himself in order to remain a role model to his colleagues across the nation and solicited the cooperation of other members of the technical crew, the players and the entire Abians.

As part of his contract, Bosso would earn N5 million bonus if he took Abia Warriors to international football.

He is on a year’s contract worth N1.5 million monthly following the abolition of signing-on fee by the league.

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SPORTS Friday, February 21, 2014

Heroes Of For Emmanuel, basketball provided Martina Onma Emmanuel is a coach with the Benue State Sports Council, who has dedicated herself to the training of young kids through her annual basketball camp. She started out as a handballer, but soon switched to basketball and went on to win a bronze medal at the Nations Cup in 1997. She told ADEYINKA ADEDIPE that basketball has taken her to a height she never imagined HE decision to take to sports wasn’t a tough T one, but it turned out a challenging exercise for Martina Onma Emmanuel since she also had her school works to grapple with. She had to remind herself several times that she was in school to study, but the love of basketball was so much that she had to device a way to keep up with both endeavors. To ease the pressure, she was always in class for academic work, while she didn’t miss any period allotted to sports.

However, the 47-year-old Emmanuel, who was born in Kano, began her adventure in sports at St Andrew Primary School, Otukpo after her parent relocated to Benue State in the early 1970’s. According to her, the girls skipped the rope, while they also joined the boys to play football for fun.

There were no organised sporting activities in her school at that time, but all the events they engaged in during break time prepared them for the task ahead.

After leaving St Andrew Primary School, while she also knew netball, but didn’t have the opportunity to play, she enrolled into the Government Girls Secondary School, Aliade, Benue State in 1977.

She was one of the first sets of students in the school, but sickness curtailed her involvement in both sporting and academic activities; and she had to leave the school for Mkar Teachers College.

It was at Mkar that Emmanuel’s involvement with organised sports took off, taking to handball immediately she got to the school. A diehard perfectionist, Emmanuel did everything she could to ensure she excelled in her new-found passion.

“My school had all the sports facilities and it was very difficult not to find the one you would love to engage in. So, I settled for handball and I enjoyed those early when I got myself acquainted with the rudiments of the game.”

However, her romance was short-lived, as she switched to basketball three months after. It wasn’t her decision but fate had a hand in it. She explains: “One day during the break period, I was passing by the basketball court and a senior boy, John Apir summoned me to the court and ordered me to throw the ball into the basket, which I tried a couple of times without success. After that experience, I was determined to give the game my best shot and that was how I dropped handball for basketball.”

According to Emmanuel, the selection of Josephine Akiga to play for Nigeria at an international championship was also instrumental in her decision to play basketball. The fact that there was no coach to put her through the basics of the game did not deter her. Due to personal sacrifice, she soon learnt the rudiment of the game and became a member of the school team almost immediately.

“My early days as a basketball player were very tough. I had no coach to put me through and I had to learn from those who played in school, while also training myself at my spare time. As a young, tall and aggressive kid, I was determined to play and I did everything possible to realise my dream,” she added.

In the school basketball team, she joined forces with Akiga, Monica Gondu, Monica Wende, Veronica Anedum and a host of others. The same year, the team was in Abeokuta for the Teachers’ Games, where Emmanuel realised that she still had a lot of work to do to become one of the best in the slam and dunk game.

She had thought being strong and tall were all she needed to excel, but after she the tough chal-

Emmanuel lenge she faced in Abeokuta, she knew she had to train harder. Despite being under the guidance of Coach Eddy Ameh and Lucy Adengbe, the team failed to do well.

One of the decisions she took was to train on her own, and it paid off with Apir also giving her success tips. “It was really a huge challenge in Abeokuta. We didn’t win anything, but it was an eye-opener for me because it became clear that I had a lot of work to do to become a top player. And I did everything possible to knock myself into top

form. But despite the disappointment in Abeokuta, it was a good experience for the entire team.

At Mkar, she successfully combined education and sports because the school had sports in its curriculum and it was compulsory for students to engage in a sport of their choice every day. “The love of basketball filled my heart and it became difficult to combine studies and sports, but one of my teachers Ephraim Shende, who was like my guide, would always remind me not to relegate my

“The love of basketball filled my heart and it became difficult to combine studies and sports, but one of my teachers Ephraim Shende, who was like my guide, would always remind me not to relegate my studies to the background. I love sports and basketball in particular and that is why I have been involved in the game since I started playing in my secondary school days. I will love the government to do more for the sports so that we can continue to create an avenue for the youths to reach their potential. If I didn’t get the opportunity when I was young, I wouldn’t be where I am today.” studies to the background.”

In 1983, the University of Benin (UNIBEN) offered her admission to study Physical and Health Education at the diploma level, which she grabbed with both hands. When she got to UNIBEN, one of her classmates encouraged her to take to judo due to her size; and she won

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School Sports platform to greater heights gold for UNIBEN in Judo and Basketball in the Nigeria University Games (NUGA) in Ife in 1984.

“I was surprise at the rate I learnt Judo, a naval officer, Isaac, who was my classmate at UNIBEN told me I could do well in judo because of my physique and the way I carried myself. I gave it a trial and within a short time I mastered the act and was chosen to be part of the Judo and basketball team to the 1984 NUGA. Surprisingly, I won gold in judo and went on to claim another in basketball.

While in UNIBEN, she and her teammates formed the Benin Queens and the team started playing in the national league, giving established team like First Bank of Lagos a run for their money. It also gave the players the opportunity to be together and understand each other better. “The best thing we did was to form the Benin Queens. It afforded us the opportunity to gain experience by playing in the league and preparing us for the NUGA. “I had teammates like Stella Agu, Helen Nwabialor, Esther Abuche, Pamela Esiri and some others who stopped playing immediately we left University.

Playing in the league, Emmanuel noted, was a fantastic experience but very challenging, describing games against First Bank, which had national team players in its fold as the toughest.

“Playing against First was fantastic and amazing. The team became a target because it had national team players and every team was out to outshine it. The other teams would beat us but we played First Bank to a standstill and also Emmanuel (middle) at the All African Games In Kenya in 1987 secured two victories against them.” playing in Lagos and she and some others playAfter her diploma course in 1985, Emmanuel and the lack of exposure showed. They had to ers were summoned to Makurdi and given emleft UNIBEN and the Benin Queens. She moved contend playing against the top teams like the ployment, while Josephine Akiga opted to stay back to Benue State before but was soon back host, Senegal and Cote D’Ivoire, failing to bring with First Bank. to Benin Queens in 1986 after the Director of home any prize.

Despite the disappointment in Zaire, the enEmmanuel became one of the pioneering playSports summoned her back to Benin. ers of the Benue Princess, plying alongside Lucy She recounted: “I was in Makurdi thinking of tire team was immediately drafted into the naAdangbe, Julie Obekpa, Florence Okorodudu, what to do after my diploma course and the tional team that was preparing for the 1987 All Charity Ameh among others. After signing for Bendel State Director of Sports spotted me and African Games in Kenya. It was another disapthe Princess, Emmanuel was involved in the Natold me to come back to Benin where I was pointing outing as the team finished seventh tional Sports Festival (NSF) in Port Harcourt in given employment in the states sports council, managing to beat Kenya, while losing to the 1988 but was ruled out of the tournament after playing for the Benin Queens again. I was so likes of Zaire. She stated: “It was a very difficult championship for us. We gave our best, but sustaining a knee injury in the second game. happy to be back and I gave the team my best.

She was also on the way to the top at the next In the I986 season, Emmanuel and her team- our efforts were not enough to win us a medal edition before Imo won a protest against Emmates defeated First Bank and represented as we ended up seventh.

“My teammates were Josephine Akiga, Helen manuel and Benue State team was disqualified.

Nigeria in the African Club Championship in “I was not lucky playing in the National Sports Zaire. For most of the players, it was their first Nwabialor, Augusta Chigwe, Dorcas OgunFestival. I was injured in my first attempt in time playing at an international championship sanya, Joan Essien, Angela Wimbe, Elizabeth, Angela Ofu, who was the captain, Mariam Don1988, while a protest against me knocked my ald, Melvis Simpson (a Ghanaian), while Coach team out in the next edition. So, I would say the Agbola Pinhero was our coach.

NSF was not a good hunting ground for me.”

“We were sad that we could not come back After representing the country in several with a medal after the hard work we did before major competitions, Emmanuel finally won a we departed for the event. But all the same, we medal, a bronze medal in her last outing at the took solace in the exposure and experience we Nations Cup in Kenya in 1997. The team had got,” she added.

Taiye Adeniyi, Mactabene Amachree, Glory EdAfter the All African Games, she was spotted ward, Julie Obekpa, Dorcas Ogunsanya and by the Benue State Governor, Idris Garba while Shola Ogunade.

Emmanuel

Emmanuel with Coach Adeka Daudu at the Mark the Ball Basketball Clinic

“It was a relief that I finally won a medal with the national team after being in the team for 11 years. It was my final year in the team, as I had to retire due to injury. It was interesting playing with the team. Most of us matured into sports having started very early and we were like family, looking forward to see eachother in camp. Playing the game gave us confidence and we all played for Nigeria for the love of the country and not because of money.”

Before she quit the game in 1997, she had started doing some coaching in colleges where she taught young kids on how to play basketball as a staff of the Benue State Sports Council. Her first assignment was to handle the Makurdi Local Government for the retired Brigadier Championship in 1997, but she had to leave for her last national assignment.

After she came back, she started coaching local government teams working with Makurdi LG and Otukpo. However, in 1999, he was posted officially to Otukpo, where she became the coach of the Otukpo Blazers. Some of the players she worked with were Igoche Mark, who now sponsors the annual Mark the Ball event in Benue State, Ishiaku Ajadi and George Attah.

She was also giving the added responsibility of grooming the female team too, while also working with the youths. Emmanuel, who is now the coach for the Benue State female team, says working with the female team is more challenging.

She said: “It is more difficult to work with the female team because most of the players are too emotional. You will want to teach them to be tough but most of them are too conscious of their body, whereas the male players are ready to go to any length to be the best.”

In 2001, she attended the National Institute for Sports where she qualified as a basketball coach, which has helped her in climbing the ladder in her place of work. She also do holiday camps for young kids, while she is actively involved in the Mark the Ball event in Markudi with Obanbe Ogbole and Mark.

According to her, sports is life and she would walk the same road if given another opportunity. “I love sports and basketball in particular and that is why I have been involved in the game since I started playing in my secondary school days. I will love the government to do more for the sports so that we can continue to create an avenue for the youths to reach their potential. If I didn’t get the opportunity when I was young, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

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60 Friday, February 21, 2014

SchoolSports Shell Cup: Akunne Oniah Memorial School, 36 others for zonal matches

By Tony Nwanne KUNNE Oniah Memorial A Secondary School, Onitsha and imam College, Kaduna are among the 37 schools scheduled to begin hostilities in the zonal preliminaries of the 2014 All Nigeria Secondary Schools Football Championship, also known as Shell Cup. The zonal preliminaries,

which is for states’ champions of the competition, will hold in nine cities across the country, including Osogbo, Ado Ekiti, Benin, Yenegoa, Enugu, Lokoja, Keffi, Katsina and Jalingo.

To qualify for the zonal preliminaries, Akunne Oniah Memorial School defeated Austica Memorial College, Nanka, 4-0 to become Anambra State champions, while imam College, Kaduna,

beat Government Secondary School Kofar Doka, Zana, 1-0 to win in Kaduna State.

Other states’ champions are Progress Comprehensive High School, Modakeke, who beat Osowusi Muslim Commercial High School, 4-0, to win in Osun; Brightville College, ibadan won in Oyo State by beating Success High School, Babanla, ibadan 5-2 on penalties after the regulation time had ended 2-2, while

Kwara Football Academy Secondary School, Ilorin and National Foundation Academy, Ughelli, Delta State fighting for the 2012 Shell Cup trophy at the Teslim Balogun stadium, Lagos. The zonal preliminaries of the competi-

ISL, Vivian Fowler lift trophy at Doregos basketball tourney ATiONAL School Basketball N Champions, international School, Lagos (iSL) have claimed their fifth title in the boys’ event of the annual Doregos interSchools Championship.

The school, however, failed to re-enact glitter in the girls’ event as they conceded defeat to Vivian Fowler in the final of the competition held at Doregos Private Academy, ipaja, Lagos. in the boys’ grand finale, iSL defied all odds to trash hosts – Doregos College 43-26 to

become the only team to win the tournament for a record fifth time. in the girls’ category, iSL failed to match the firepower of the girls from Vivian Fowler losing 44-20. it was the second loss in a row in the final.

For their feat, iSL went home with a cash prize of N100, 000 courtesy of the sponsor of the competition, Mrs. Clementina Doregos.

Aside the cash prize, the team was presented with branded jerseys and a trophy for their

efforts.

An elated Coach Ernest ijeomah expressed happiness over his wards’ feat in an interview with The Guardian stressing that his team showed consistency in the competition.

He, however, lauded parents and guardians of the players for their support and understanding, as well as the management of the school for their enormous backing.

Out of the 10 titles staked in the competition, iSL claimed five in the boys’ category.

Delta Governor’s Cup:

Omughele wants NFF coaches to monitor players

By Gowon Akpodonor S the 2014 Delta Governor’s A Cup soccer competition approaches the knockout stages, ex-international, John Omughele, has enjoined handlers of the Golden Eaglets and Flying Eagles to beam their searchlights on the players with the aim of discovering talents for the country.

The second edition of the championship kicked off early this month with matches played on intra-local council level.

Already, the defending champion, Comprehensive Secondary School, OgwashiUku and others like Adaigbo Secondary School and Emo Eni Secondary School, Ellu, are having a field day, recording fantastic results in their prelimi-

nary games.

Speaking to The Guardian during the week, Omughele, a product of school football in the defunct Bendel State said that the Delta State government and the competition’s Local Organising Committee (LOC) had simplified the duty of the national teams handlers saying: “All they (coaches) need to do at this stage of is to go to the match venues and monitor the boys and pick those who fit into their programme. “i am saying this because the essence of the Delta Governor’s Cup competition is to revive culture of school football, which produced so many players for the country way back. i am a product of the Academicals and if our coaches really want to get quality materials for the national teams,

they should look in the direction of school competitions like the Governor’s Cup instead of waiting for readymade players from the premier league,” Omughele said.

Omughele advised the players to make good use of the opportunity provided them by the competition to lay a good foundation for their football career, adding that with seriousness, determination, dedication and discipline, they would have a lot to gain.

“Apart from the immediate financial and material gains, a competition as the Governor’s Cup gives you the opportunity to lay the foundation of your career and i see many Jay Jay Okochas, Davidson Owumis, Omugheles and Victor ikpebas emerging from these students.”

Government Unity Secondary School, Malumfashi beat Government Pilot Secondary School, Mani, 1-0 to become Katsina State champions. in Ogun State, Adeola Odutola College, ijebu-Ode defeated Alamuwa Grammar School, Ado-Odo 5-4 on penalties after the regulation had ended 1-1; Government Day Secondary School, Dange, walloped Sokoto Teachers College 4-0; Kwara Football Academy school, ilorin, drubbed Government Day Secondary School, Sao, 6-1, while De-fortune Academy, Calabar South, lost 5-6 to Multinational Secondary School, ikom after the regulation period had ended 1-1.

The Ekiti State final saw Annunciation School, ikere Ekiti, emerging champions with a 2-0 defeat of Babatope Memorial High School, ijero, with Government College, Keffi, defeated Government Science School, Audana, 2-1 to become champions in Nasarawa State. in Abia, Government College, Umuahia beat ibeku High School 2-1; Government Day Secondary School, Danbaba lost 3 to Dangogo Secondary School, Bangudu in Zamfara; Government Model School, Kontagora beat Muslim Model School, Borgu, 2-0 in Niger State, just as Govt.

Science Secondary School, Dawakin-Kudu walloped G. S. S. Sumaila, 4-0 in Kano State.

Community Secondary School, Abueke ihitte Uboma, will represent imo State in the zonal preliminaries after beating Boys Model Secondary School, New Owerri, 1-0; Government Secondary School, Kopyal Bokos defeated Government Secondary School, Sabon Gida South, 3-0 in the Plateau State final, just as ikare City Academy beat Winners College Worldwide 1-0 to win the Ondo State final.

To also feature in the zonal preliminaries are St. Augustine Secondary School, Kabba, 2-1 victors over ASCO Comprehensive Secondary School, Ajaokuta; Anglican Secondary School, Makurdi, which defeated Dav. Memorial Secondary School, Gbajimba, 31; Borno’s Unimaid Demonstration Secondary School, Maiduguri, which beat Government College, Maiduguri, 3-2.

Again, Jaja retains title at Greensprings sports meet like they did in 2013, Jaja JtheUST House (Orange) held on to title at the yearly interhouse sports competition of the Anthony Campus of Greensprings School. inspired by their fleet-footed duo of Akpovbovbo Ogheneochuko and Daniel Ajuonuma, Jaja House never hid their desire to retain the title after picking their first gold medal in the march past following their colourful display.

On the tracks, they amassed 15 gold, 12 silver and 13 bronze medals to beat Amina House (Red) to second place.

Amina House garnered 10 gold, nine silver and 11 bronze medals.

Abubakar House (Blue) had nine gold, six silver and nine bronze medals, while Azikwe (Yellow) earned eight gold, 11 silver and seven bronze medals to finish third and

fourth respectively.

Throughout the one-day tournament, the conduct of Enahoro House (Green) on and off the track earned them the best behaved team award, but they had to settle for fifth place on the medal’s table with six gold, eight silver and nine bronze medals, while Moremi House (Purple) tallied with Enahoro in terms of gold medals, but finished last with six gold, eight silver and five bronze medals.

For their performance, Jaja’s Ogheneochuko and Ajuonuma were adjudged the best female and male athletes of the competition, while Ajuonuma was confirmed as the competition’s overall best athlete. in his remarks, Head of Education, Harry McFaul, said sports remains an essential ingredient in balancing a healthy and busy life.

Builders International School sports meet holds tomorrow LL is set for the third ediA tion of Builders international School’s biannual inter-house sport competition billed to hold at the LASU Museum, Oba Akinjobi Road in Lagos, tomorrow. in a statement issued by the school management, the Proprietress, Oluwamodupe Lawrence disclosed that the school has continued to make giant strides in academics, aside from promoting and maintaining high co-curricular activities.

The school’s bi-annual interhouse sport is a competition that is primarily aimed at testing the physical skills and strength of young athletes. it is also an avenue for promoting unity and friendship among students as they compete in various field and track events.

Lawrence also explained that the event would serve as a nurturing ground for developing team spirit in the pupils, adding, “everything in school is not about academics, but also about how to develop pupils for greater challenges in the future, which include athletics and other games that require skills. Nowadays sportsmen contribute immensely to the growth of the society.’’

According to her, sports open up opportunities for pupils to choose career at young age, adding, “the inter-house sports of this nature will expose the pupils to competition in sports or other vocations.”

Builders international Group Schools was established in 1998 to offer educational development for kids who are leaders for tomorrow.

13-year-old JSS 3 student emerges Kaduna Faith Academy’s MVP From Saxone Akhaine, Northern Bureau Chief iTH nine gold medals, 13W year-old Junior Secondary School (JSS) three student, Joy Emmah Anna, has emerged the Most Valuable Athlete at the just concluded 4th inter-House Sport competition of the Faith Academy, Kaduna.

13-year-old JSS 3 student, Joy Emmah Anna, receiving her Most Valuable Athlete award from a representative of the NSC Director General during the Faith Academy, Kaduna, Inter-House Sports Competition…recently.

At the end of the competition, Red House took the overall winner’s trophy with 260 points, followed by Green House, Blue House and Yellow House with 260, 212 and 196 points respectively.

The football final between the Red House and Green House saw Red House winning the gold medal by 1-0 s at the end of play.

Speaking at the occasion, the Principal of Faith Academy, Pastor Abiodun Adefoluke, said about 21 students from the school have been selected to participate in the forthcoming All Nigeria Secondary School Games schedule to take place in Port Harcourt later this year.

Pastor Adefoluke explained that one of the students penciled down for the event is the 13-year-old Joy Emmah Aina, who emerged as the most valuable Athlete.

Adefoluke stated that as an institution one of its responsibilities is to give young people the foundation to build a full and active live.

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NEWS Friday, February 21, 2014

Ahead 2014 World Cup

Eagles must be technically disciplined to succeed in Brazil, says Agu

By Alex Monye ORMER Super Eagles’ goaltender, Alloy Agu believes the senior national team could qualify for the semifinal of the World Cup if Coach Stephen Keshi corrected the technical deficiencies in the team.

Saying he is concerned by the inability of the Eagles inability to utilise set pieces, including penalties and corner kicks to win matches, Agu argued that teams excel in big championships, including the World Cup, if the technical crew explored all avenues to get information on other teams in the championship.

The former Flying Eagles

F

assistant coach advised Keshi to play quality friendly matches to expose the weaknesses of the Eagles, saying that adequate preparation would make the team formidable in the Mundial.

“The inability for the Super Eagles’ players to make use of the penalty, corner and free kicks to win matches is one factor that the team must work on.

“So many teams in modern day football use this avenue to win matches when the need arises. If you recall Argentina used corner Kick to run away with victory in two previous editions of the World Cup they played against the Eagles.

“The Super Eagles boss

should work on this aspect and also ensure he gets the tapes of all the participating teams in the World Cup. This would afford him full information on how to face any team that comes his way,” he said.

He also enjoined the Eagles’ technical crew to give all the invited goalkeepers equal chance to fight for shirts, stressing that goalkeepers should be judged by their current form.

Coach Stephen Keshi parleys with Super Eagles players before a recent training session.

Be fair to all clubs, Jang advises NFF From Isa Abdulsalami Ahovi, Jos LATEAU State Governor, Jonah Jang has advised the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) to be fair to all clubs in the League irrespective of their status.

Speaking on the backdrop of the ‘injustice’ to Plateau United, which saw them miss out on promotion last season, Jang said it was unfair to

P

treat clubs differently.

The governor, who donated two buses to Plateau United and Mighty Jets of Jos at the Government House Rayfield, Jos, said he was disappointed by the NFF’s handling of the issues involved in the Premier League promotion race and appealed to the federation to abide by the rules and ensure that only teams

Lagos Premier Lotto Athletics begins Monday VER 8000 pupils from O 1000 secondary schools in Lagos State will compete

El Kanemi Warriors and Kano Pillars fighting for possession during a recent game. Governor Jang wants the NFF to be fair to all clubs.

PHOTO: FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI.

NOGIG Games: Final phase begins Sunday

By Adeyinka Adedipe HE final phase of the 15th edition the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Games (NOGIG) will commence on Sunday and end on March 1, as athletes from 12 companies battle for honours in Lagos.

Chairman of the organising committee, Louis Ogbeifun, said the event started as a mono-sporting event with only squash at the inaugural Games with a few participating companies.

“Over the years, it has grown tremendously to staging 12 events with 12 participating companies this year. The companies are: AGIP, ADDAX, CHEVRON, EXXON, Department of Petroleum Resource (DPR), Nigeria Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Nigeria Liquefied and Natural Gas (NLNG), Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC), OANDO, Total, Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) and Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).”

He stated that the essence of the games is not just about winning, but enhancing the participants physical well being and mental alertness in adherence to the industry’s Health, Safety, Environment

T

and Quality (HSEQ); create a forum for the unity, bonding and friendship among staff of the industry, networking to reposition the industry for competitive edge and breaking the barrier of officialdom and bureaucracies.

The events to be competed for are football, squash, table tennis, lawn tennis, scrabble, chess, snooker, swimming, golf, basketball and athletics.

Ogbeifun stated, “it will interest you to know that the biennial games started 28 years ago in Eket. It is an industry sporting event for all confirmed employees of companies in the Oil and Gas Sector of the economy. It has afforded sports men and women in the industry the opportunity to come together under a convivial atmosphere to interact with one another and promote friendship through sporting competition.”

The venues to be used for the event are Teslim Balogun Stadium, Chevron Club House and Ikoyi Club.

Representative of the supporters of the event, Globacom, Kamaldeen Shonibare said his outfit was proud to associate with the event and promised that they would do more in subsequent edition.

in the second edition of the Lagos Premier Lotto Athletics Championship billed to start on Monday at the Teslim Balogun Stadium.

This is as a result of the successful organisation of the maiden edition, which has encouraged many schools in the state to register for this year’s edition.

The State’s Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Wahid Enitan Oshodi stated that the discovered athletes would be nurtured to worldclass athletes.

He said the programme would afford discovered athletes the opportunity to be part of the holiday programme, which would be supervised by former Olympics gold medalist, Lee Evans and Tony Osheku at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere.

While appreciating the

sponsor, Chief Kessignton Adebukola Adebutu, for his support for the growth of sports in Nigeria, Oshodi, said that products of the championship, who took part at the maiden edition, would be part Nigeria’s team to the African Youth Championship.

Tournament’s coordinator, David Mohammed, said the registration for this year’s event Lagos Premier Lotto Athletic Championship had been very encouraging, as it demonstrates the appetite of the schools for competitions of this nature.

He observed that effective school sports was the foundation for a successful sports policy, stressing that Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Sports and Social Development and the State Amateur Athletic Association are delighted to have the support of Premier Lotto Ltd in driving the revival of sport in sec-

that win matches on the field of play gain promotion to the elite league.

According to Jang, “what I know is what has happened to Plateau United, and we don’t want it happening again. We will not accept it and we will not tolerate it again. For every competition if done fairly, the best will always come to win.”

He challenged both Plateau United and Mighty Jets to reciprocate the government’s gesture by giving him a special gift before he leaves office in 2015, promising to revamp the states’ Governor’s Cup Football Competition so as to discover more talents and encourage football development in the state.

Jang promised that his

administration will construct a new sports hall to fast track sporting activities in the state, stressing that government will not relent in the provision of basic infrastructure.

He added that the incoming elected local government chairmen would be encouraged to construct mini-stadia in their localities, adding that the state government would start implementing strategies towards sports development in its secondary schools.

Also at the event, the Permanent Secretary in the State Ministry of Sports, Mrs. Julie Anpe disclosed that the New Zaria Road Stadium, which is of FIFA standard, has been completed and was waiting for commissioning.

Sixth annual HotSports Squash Ladder Challenge serves off HE annual HotSports T Ladder Challenge, a squash competition sponsored by the marketing Communications outfit, kicked off at the squash section of the Lagos Country Club yesterday with the players eager to take on one another to clinch the ultimate prize.

Sixth in the series, the tournament features skillful and veteran squash players in top rated duels with the highest points earner emerging the overall winner.

General Manager, HotSports Nigeria Limited, Daniel Adeniran; the company’s CEO, Taye Ige; Chairman, Lagos Country Club Squash Section, Demola Olusunmade and Secretary, Lagos Country Club Squash Section, Imo Udo-Akagha, during the opening ceremony of the 2014 Annual HotSports Ladder Challenge at the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja…on Wednesday.

According to CEO of HotSports, Taye Ige, the competition was conceived as a platform to promote squash and also engender bonding among members of the section, as well as Nigeria’s squash fraternity.

He expressed delight that the tournament has continued to deliver on these premises, Ige thanked the section for providing a platform for the company to demonstrate its commitment to the development of the game and pledged HotSports’ continued sponsorship of the tournament.

“Because of HotSports commitment to the development of the game in Nigeria, we will continue to sponsor this tournament,” Ige assured, while urging the participants to abide by the rules of the tournament.

Also speaking on the competition, Chairman of the Lagos Country Club Squash Section, Demola Olusunmade, commended HotSports for sustaining the sponsorship of what has become the foremost competition in the club.

He said this year’s edition would feature the Men and Veteran categories, explaining that the Veteran category is meant for players, who are 50 years and above.

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GolfWeekly

Locals from Akpegede village learning the ropes at the driving range of Otukpo Golf and Country Club, Akpegede, Otukpo, Benue State

PHOTO: ENO-ABASI SUNDAY

New tournament policy gaining momentum, says PGAN Stories by Eno-Abasi Sunday HE fear of falling foul of the T new tournament policy of the Professional Golfers’ Association of Nigeria (PGAN), and its attendant consequences may have succeeded in forcing some sleepyheads, who were contented with paying their annual subscription fees and playing only in events that catch their fancy, out of their comfort zones to tournament venues.

Though it may be too early to describe the policy as highly successful, early signs including the attendance of the three events so far held, are indicative of the fact that a high level of compliance would be recorded.

In the recent past, some pros had gone into sleep mode.

Apart from being contented with paying their subscription fees, teaching the game

at their respective clubs, their participation in PGAN activities including tournaments was at its lowest ebb, forcing the body to tinker with certain areas of its tournament policy.

In effect, the new tournament policy indicated that the era where some tour professionals delight in playing only large purse events or those that catch their fancy was over for good.

Asked if the intended aim of the new policy, which was to whip fumbling pros into line and ensure greater commitment to their trade was yielding expected dividends, both the PGAN’s Tournament Director, Martins Odoh and Secretary General, Jide Lamidi responded in the affirmative.

According to Odoh, “What is happening now is what we hoped for when we effected the changes we did. The

effected changes have given a lot of our members a sense of direction and caused most of them to take their profession seriously, as reflected in the turnout for tournaments.

“Having said that, I must add that many of them have taken the rules change seriously because they do not want to get into the hassles of pre-qualifying for tournaments if they do not do the right thing. So the leadership of the body is pleased that members are fighting for slots on the Order of Merit.

He added that at the next event, the ULO Open, which is slated for next month at the Otukpo Golf and Country Club, those that have already earned their tour cards would be handed same, a development he said would spur others to sit up.

Speaking in the same vein, Lamidi said, “even though we have played only three events so far this year, the turnout has been quite impressive.

For instance, of the 164 members that we have, 48 turned out for the tour opener at the

Rayfield Golf Club in Jos, Plateau State.

“In the second event, the Benue Governor’s Cup, which had N10m as prize money, about 105 members played while the third, which still held at the same club-Pa Mark Memorial tourney- saw over 80 members playing,” Lamidi stated.

He expressed confidence that with the trend already set, tournament venues would record higher turnouts just as the tournaments proper would be high-

...As 2014 AGM holds March 20 in Otukpo HE 2014 Annual General T Meeting of the Professional Golfers’ Association of Nigeria (PGAN) is slated to hold at the Golden Palm Hotel, Otukpo, Benue State on March 20.

The choice of location and

time, the body says is both logistical and strategic as it would afford a greater number of members to take part in electing the new executives as well as in fashioning out how they are led.

Among other businesses, the AGM will feature the dissolution of the present executive and the election of a new one to pilot the affairs of the association for the next two years.

PGAN’s Tournament

More countries indicate interest in All Africa Junior Championship S preparations for the 3rd All Africa Junior Championship slated for the golf section of Ikoyi Club 1938 enters a higher gear, indications have emerged that more countries would send in representatives. The latest in this direction is the confirmation that junior players from nextdoor neighbour, Ghana would participate.

Scheduled to hold from April 13 to 17, the tournament, a counting event for World

A

Amateur Golf Ranking, will feature boys and girls from age five to 23 as at August 31st, 2014. At the behest of Kids Golf International (KGI), the tourney is done in partnership with the host club and with support from the Nigeria Golf Federation (NGF).

“KGI international status is increasing this year with the inclusion of players from Ghana. In the past, we have had youths from six countries play at the tourney. They include the United Kingdom,

ly competitive.

Ahead of the commencement of the 2014 season, the PGAN reeled out a new tournament policy, which it hopes would inspire hard work and inject sanity within its ranks.

The new policy among other things tinkered with the association’s tournament rules and regulations regarding pre-qualifying round (Preq) and made cut to be determined by the prize money (winning purse) in some cases.

United States, India, South Africa, Zimbabwe and France.

“The players expected to participate from Ghana were registered by Lady Anne Beverley Brown, who runs a junior golf outfit called, The Putters League in Ghana. We look forward to meeting Lady Anne and her team in Lagos,” President/Founder of KGI, Kenny Thompson said in a release.

Thompson also informed that for kids that take part in the championship, there were

more international events to qualify for in different parts of the world.

“Following out most successful outing to date at the 2013 U.S Kids European Championships, we feel that we are confident enough to open our talented players to more events around the world. The 3rd All African Junior Championships will help identify potentials for these world-class events. Golf is no doubt a long journey and like China, KGI recognises

this.

“While we are not in hurry to shine, it is important we start taxing down the runway as we prepare ourselves for a final take off with a blast and letting the world know that African junior players too can play golf. Some of the events we are looking at fielding players are the USGA Junior Amateur Championships; the U.S. Kids World Championships in Malaysia, the USGA Amateur Championships to mention but a few.

Director, Martins Odoh, in an interview with The Guardian said the decision to have the AGM on the sidelines of a major tournament was an adaptation of what other prominent tours, including the Sunshine Tour do, to ensure full participation of members in decision making.

Informing that notices for the AGM have already been sent out to members, Odoh added that the forum would present a veritable opportunity for the outgoing executive to enumerate their achievements, reveal the challenges they encountered with a view to guiding the incoming executive on how to surmount them.

The Minna, Niger State-based pro some members of the outgoing executive were qualified for re-election to their present office while most would seek election into other offices.

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Friday, February 21, 2014

Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

By Idris Katib HE word patient (as a noun and a word used in medical context) takes its root from the Latin word patiens meaning someone who suffers (from pains, ailments or diseases). The other patient is an adjective describing the quality of being able to endure something for a long time. In the estimation of this piece, a patient is a person who needs medical attention as a result of illness or injury. Therefore, it is the responsibility of health workers such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory scientists and all other allied medical staff of a medical facility to attend to the affected persons to attain full recovery.

Each time I visit a hospital to see doctor on call, nothing short of compassion comes to my mind especially in the Nigerian medical context where doctor-patient ratio is about 1:3,500 as against the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) ratio of 1:600. When people mention “sudden death”, those who are familiar with the workings of healthcare know that there is nothing like that because symptoms of deaths are all around us every second, every minute and every moment.

In our clime, a large number of people don’t visit any health care facility until the last resort.

When the body system has reached a breaking point, when they suffer sleeplessness, when they have persistent headache or when they cannot breathe properly that is the time a majority of the patients consult their GP whom they take for a magician.

Headaches alone can manifest in individuals as a result of several ailments — hangover, stress, malaria, insomnia, dental problem, ear infection etc. We are informed by biological scientists that the most important parts of our body are the brain, the heart, the lungs and the kidney. All these should be well maintained to function well. We are encouraged by health care professionals to do medical check-ups once or twice a year to ensure that all these function well.

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In our clime, a large number of people don’t visit any health care facility until the last resort. When the body system has reached a breaking point, when they suffer sleeplessness, when they have persistent headache or when they cannot breathe properly that is the time a majority of the patients consult their GP whom they take for a magician.

Headaches alone can manifest in individuals as a result of several ailments — hangover, stress, malaria, insomnia, dental problem, ear infection etc. We are informed by biological scientists that the most important parts of our body are the brain, the heart, the lungs and the kidney. All these should be well maintained to function well. We are encouraged by health care professionals to do medical check-ups once or twice a year to ensure that all these function well.

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Why are patients not patient?

Vital signs refer to the functioning or state of human temperature, pulse, heartbeats as well as blood pressure, showing the state of health of an individual. Even if we feel healthy and fine, we are still encouraged by medical professionals to visit healthcare facilities periodically to find out the state of our health.

It is observed that many patients don’t tell their doctors the whole truth about their health condition or ailments but doctors by their experience and knowledge will always ask specific questions on variables like family history, lifestyle, diets, environment, symptoms, environment, psychology and Also join our on-line conversation

marriage. After their clerking based on patient’s responses and complaints, they make their prescriptions. The doctors have to go extra miles to unveil possible related causes of ailments. We are told in medicine that certain drugs cannot be used together as the situation may become harmful to the patient or one substance affecting the other’s performance. For instance, taking a grape fruit can neutralize the power of some sedatives or pain killers. If patients disclose what they have taken earlier to the doctor — often, patients conceal drugs they are taking from their doctors during consultation — this, in fact, makes it difficult for physicians to make

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Another interesting aspect of medical environment, which makes many patients to be impatient with healthcare practitioners, is difference of opinions of doctors in terms of prescriptions. One has witnessed at different occasions dissenting opinions of doctors as regards prescriptions for patient’s ailment. A bronchopneumonia patient is already on Erythromycin by a doctor’s prescription. The doctor on the next duty comes for a ward round and instructs the patient to discontinue and quickly places her on Augmentin.

Perhaps, differences in their opinions are largely due to the fact that many bacteria are consistently defying medical drugs. It is instructive at this juncture that as people always remember to go to their popular ‘joints’, eateries or social functions, so should they in their own interest monitor the state of their health by checking periodically with qualified practitioners. good progress on the patient. With the knowledge of the kind of drugs or therapy a patient has taken before, the doctor will recommend which drug to continue or discontinue after the diagnosis of the ailment.

Another interesting aspect of medical environment, which makes many patients to be impatient with healthcare practitioners, is difference of opinions of doctors in terms of prescriptions. One has witnessed at different occasions dissenting opinions of doctors as regards prescriptions for patient’s ailment. A bronchopneumonia patient is already on Erythromycin by a doctor’s prescription. The doctor on the next duty comes for a ward round and instructs the patient to discontinue and quickly places her on Augmentin. Perhaps, differences in their opinions are largely due to the fact that many bacteria are consistently defying medical drugs.

It is instructive at this juncture that as people always remember to go to their popular ‘joints’, eateries or social functions, so should they in their own interest monitor the state of their health by checking periodically with qualified practitioners.

Many patients, for instance in Nigeria, find it difficult to pay their medical bills even in government hospitals where the bills are supposedly subsidised. As a result, many people living with certain health issues do not even bother to visit any hospital owing to their financial status. Such will prefer to buy over-the-counter drugs or any drug whatsoever by the roadside.

• Katib is Public Relations Officer, Crescent University, Abeokuta.