Friday 01 March 2013 The Guardian Nigeria

WILL no longer be Pope “I but a simple pilgrim who is starting out on the last part of his pilgrimage on this Earth… I am happy to be with you surrounded by the beauty of creation. Thank you for your friendship and affection.”

With these words, Pope Benedict XVI yesterday said a final goodbye to thousands of cheering supporters from the

At last, Pope Benedict quits the grand stage balcony of the Papal residence at Castel Gandolfo near Rome before starting a life of retirement as the first Pontiff to resign in over 700 years.

Benedict – who would now be known as Emeritus Pope – earlier left the Vatican in a white

helicopter emblazoned with the Vatican flag, seeing St. Peter’s Basilica from the sky for the last time as Pope.

As he took leave of his closest aides in an emotional ceremony in the Vatican where he was applauded and cheered by

priests, nuns and liveried Swiss Guards, agency reports indicated that Vatican members of staff lined the route of his motorcade and applauded.

The bells of St Peter’s Basilica rang out as the helicopter took

off from the Vatican’s helipad.

The Pope said in a final tweet sent from his @pontifex Twitter account just before taking off: “Thank you for your love and support.

“May you always experience the joy that comes from put-

ting Christ at the centre of your lives.”

The Twitter account will now be suspended until a new Pope is elected in a conclave next month.

He later arrived by the helicopter at Castel Gandolfo near Rome shortly before he officially resigned his eight-year Papacy at 1900 GMT.

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11 govs meet, say no going back on APC • Donate N200m to Yobe, Borno for emergency relief From Njadvara Musa (Maiduguri), John Ogiji (Minna) and Charles Ogugbuaja (Owerri) PPOSITION governors yesO terday restated their determination to take over the Presidency in 2015 through their new party, All Progressive Congress (APC).

The 11 governors of Borno, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Lagos, Nasarawa, Ogun, Osun, Yobe, Zamfara and Oyo states yesterday reiterated their “irrevocable commitment” to the emergence of the new APC .

The commitment was declared yesterday in a one-page statement of the third meeting of the 11 governors held at the Government House, Maid-

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Catholic faithful waiting for Pope Benedict XVI to step down in the Papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, Rome, to begin his retirement… yesterday. (Inset: Retiring Pope Benedict XVI) PHOTO: AFP/FILIPPO MONTEFORTE

John-Abba Ogbodo, Assistant Political Editor of The Guardian, dies in car crash. – Page 2

Reps move to unravel status of N2tr assets seized by EFCC From Terhemba Daka, Abuja CLEAR picture of the staA tus of over N2 trillion assets seized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is set to emerge as the House of Representatives has mandated a committee to carry out a thorough investigation into property confiscated by the anti-graft agency.

The House, which tasked the Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes to conclude the assignment within two weeks, adopted a motion on the matter introduced by Toby Okechukwu and 15 other members who expressed the need for prop-

er management of the assets.

Leading the debate on the motion, Okechukwu informed the parliament that the EFCC had between 2003 and 2010 confiscated over 200 mansions estimated to be over N2 trillion through 46 forfeiture court orders.

He said the affected landed property and business concerns included billions of naira in bank accounts, shares in blue-chip companies, exotic vehicles, fuel stations, hotels, warehouses, shopping malls, schools,

bakeries, estates, telecommunication companies, radio stations in and outside Nigeria.

The lawmaker pointed out that the EFCC had within the terms of its mandate at many times confiscated through court orders assets from accused and convicted persons, including prominent Nigerians and corporate organisations.

He, however, expressed concern that there have been cases of vandalism, abandonment and waste of hitherto operating companies

prior to forfeiture.

He further expressed worry over the status of the property and the lack of clarity on their use while litigation is on, and the reported breach of the seal of EFCC and attempts at unlawful and forceful repossession by those whose property had been confiscated.

Other lawmakers, including Benjamin Aboho, Micah Umor, Manir Baba, Khamir Akinlabi Mudasiru and Friday Itula, also spoke in support of the motion.

Similarly, the parliament

yesterday committed to its Committee on Works, a motion for urgent intervention in the reconstruction of the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway for further legislative action.

The motion, introduced by Solomon Adeola on behalf of nine other members had raised the alarm, stating that the federal road was on the verge of collapse, thereby causing loss of lives and property.

Adeola had informed the parliament during the session presided over by the Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tam-

Tennis: Hit your overhead smash with confidence! – Page 58

buwal, that the road serves as a major economic and trade route between Lagos and Ogun states and the entire South-West.

Also, a Bill for an Act to amend the Federal High Court to increase the number of judges of the Federal High Court from 70 to 100 was read for the third time and passed by the House.

Also read for the third time and passed by the parliament were a Bill for an Act to provide for the establishment of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development Commission, as well as a Bill for an Act to establish the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

2 NEWS UARDIAN Newspapers LimG ited (GNL) was thrown into mourning yesterday as its newly promoted ace Assistant Political Editor based in Abuja, Mr. John-Abba Ogbodo, died in the line of duty.

Ogbodo, last week, was elevated for his hard work and professionalism.

Reactions to his demise came

John-Abba Ogbodo, Assistant Political Editor of The Guardian, dies in car crash swiftly with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and The

Guardian Editor, Mr. Martins Oloja, under whom John-Aba Ogbodo worked as Abuja Bureau Chief for more than a decade, described the deceased remarkable journalist.

Ogbodo, who hailed from Adoka in Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State, died in a ghastly motor accident on the Anyigba– Ankpa road in Kogi State, while on an official assignment to Awka, Anambra state. He was confirmed dead at the Catholic Hospital, Anyigba where his body has also been deposited at the morgue.

He was among a team of journalists travelling to cover the Nnamdi Azikiwe Annual Lecture to be delivered by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu.

The last story he wrote cap-

tioned, “PDP can present Jonathan for 2015 polls, says Tukur,” led The Guardian on Thursday February 28, 2013, the day he died.

Kola Ologbodiyan and Paul Mumeh, Special Adviser andChief Press Secretary to the Senate President, as well as Paul Ibeh of the Atiku Media Office were some of the early callers at GNL’s Abuja Bureau office.

Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Abuja Chapter Chairman Mr Chuks Ehirim, also led some of its executive members to the Abuja Guardian office to express condolences.

Ehirim described Ogbodo as a very hard working journalist that would be sorely missed by not only The Guardian but the entire NUJ and the Media industry in the country.

Chairman of the Senate Press

Ogbodo Corps, Mr. Cosmos Ekunobi said : “The death of our dear colleague, Mr John Abba-Ogbodo I would say was the greatest

shock I have ever received in recent time. It is shocking because I was in touch with Ogbodo a few hours before the sad incident occurred. They said Ogbodo was supposed to have travelled with me the next day. We arranged to meet somewhere in Lagos. In fact, I was about to buy a ticket for him for the same trip before somebody called that this was no longer necessary. It was a very big loss not only to The Guardian family, but to all of us his colleagues. He was a very amiable colleague that all of us would continue to miss.”

Fighting back tears, Oloja noted: “John will be missed by his colleagues. He is a detective on the Senate, Police and PDP beats which he covered so remarkably.

“Above all, John was an ethical journalist who would not seek crumbs from the tables of sources he covered after the events.”

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President Goodluck Jonathan (left) and Ivoirien Minister of Infrastructure Economic, Patrick Achi, during the closing ceremony of the 42nd Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Yamoussoukro, Cote d’Ivoire… yesterday.

PHOTO: STATE HOUSE

11 governors say no going back on APC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 uguri.

Rauf Aregbesola, the governor of Osun State, who read the statement, said that yesterday’s meeting in the Borno State capital was also to sympathise with the governments and people of Borno and Yobe states over the Boko Haram insurgency.

While commending the Central Merger Committee (CMC) of the APC on the progress so far made in the establishment of the new party, Aregbesola said: “The three major committees on constitution, manifesto and legal/INEC compliance have already been inaugurated by the 11 progressive governors in the country.”

Aregbesola also disclosed that “we wish to inform Nigerians that we shall soon embark on a national outreach and sensitization activities,” calling on all Nigerians to fully support the efforts of the progressive governors on rescuing the country from a “visionless leadership.”

The statement also reads in part: “In solidarity with the government and people of Borno and Yobe states, we are pleased to witness an upsurge of tranquility and happy that the situation has calmed down considerably in Maiduguri.

“Contrary to the image of rampant violence that has been painted to the whole world, we have discovered that the people are going about their busi-

nesses without let or hindrance. We wish to commend the efforts of our brother-governors in the two states and the security agencies for the restoration of peace and stability.

“We also sympathise with the families of those who lost their lives and property and wish to donate the sum of N200 million to the two state governments for emergency relief and support.”

The governors who attended the Maiduguri meeting included Adams Oshiomole of Edo State, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, Raji Fashola of Lagos State, Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun, Kashim Shettima of Borno, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa and the deputy governor of Yobe State, Alhaji Abubakar D. Aliyu. The governors of Zamfara and Oyo expressed their apologies for their absence.

And from former Military Ibrahim Gen. President, Badamasi Babangida (rtd), a leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), came approval for the merging of opposition parties.

Noting that the merger is good for political development in the country, Babangida said that he had been vindicated for his initiative to introduce a two-party system for Nigeria during his administration between August 27,

1985 and August 27, 1993.

Babangida who spoke while answering questions from reporters on Wednesday at his residence shortly after hosting members of the new Governing Council of the National Examinations Council (NECO) led by its chairman, Dr. Paddy Kemdi Njoku, maintained that the emergence of APC was a welcome development and democracy. for good “In fact, I was a very good advocate of a two- party system and when I said the nation should operate a two-party system during my tenure as military president, you said no and that I am a soldier and an idiot.

But now you are seeing reasons why I advocated that and I think now you are seeing reasons why I said so. I think I am happy at the new development because it is working for the nation’s political developstated he ment,” Babangida’s government established the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which ushered in a partial and short-lived civilian 1992. administration He condemned the existing political class for not making concerted efforts at enlightening the ordinary Nigerians who form the bulk of the nation’s eligible voters and whose overwhelming votes determine the clear winners in a free and fair general election in

country. the According to him, “things are getting better because we are now talking about it, though we can continue to dissipate our energies on talking about portfolio…” appointment Besides, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State yesterday night said he supported the merger of opposition political parties to rescue the people of the South-East geo-political zone from alleged woes of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

During a press briefing at Government House, Owerri, Okorocha who spoke on varied issues, said people of the zone were also tired of the PDP, adding that it no longer enjoyed grass-root support.

He said: “I support the merger of the APC and I don’t intend to turn back from APC. I believe that APC has come to replace PDP in the South-East.”

Denying the insinuation that the Igbo could not work with the Yoruba in the merger arrangement, Okorocha said that the Yoruba were not at war Igbo. with He also used the forum to deny that he was not friendly with Presidency. the Okorocha said the concept and execution of the Community Government Council (CGC) in Imo State under him had come to stay, urging the people and the country to embrace it for grass-root development.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

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News ANPP accuses PDP of deception over power From Adamu Abuh, Abuja HE All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) yesterday accused the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of not painting the true picture of electricity supply in the country.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Emma Eneukwu, ANPP said it is disheartening that the government is yet to go near fulfilling its 14,000 megawatts promise to improve electricity supply by the end of this year.

The party accused President Goodluck Jonathan-led government of plotting to avoid the wrath of Nigerians by the time the elections would be due in 2015 by shifting the power roadmap policy to 2016.

In a statement recently released from the office of the Presidential Task Force on Power (PTFP), the spokesperson for the Task Force, Mrs. Awele Okigbo, was said to have stated that the electricity load shedding experienced by Abuja residents had been a result of the Shiroro Power Plant shut down for long-postponed maintenance evaluation, affirming that the shutdown resulted in the loss of 130 megawatts from February 12, causing electricity supply in the city to be affected predominantly during the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

But the ANPP noted that for the ordinary resident of Abuja and elsewhere, there was no difference between the time Shiroro Power Plant was shut down and the time it worked at full capacity because electricity supply was always erratic.

According to the ANPP, the PTFP’s excuse epitomises the constant rationalisation the Federal Government dishes to the people in order to cover

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Deputy Governor, Yobe State, Abubakar Aliyu; Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Imo State Governor, Rachas Okorocha; Nasarawa State Governor, Tanko Almakura; Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi; host Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shetima; and Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, during the All Progressive Congress (APC) Governors Merger Meeting in Maiduguri, Borno State … yesterday

Senate panel on floating bodies seeks support

up its inability to fulfill its promises to Nigerians on electricity supply.

The party noted: “ In 2010, Jonathan launched the Power Road Map which contained policies and institutional reforms. It promised to implement a super transmission network, generate additional 5,000 megawatts through the international oil companies, and active exploitation of hydro, nuclear and coal power, privatisation of the power sector and an addition of 4, 775 mega watts from the Independent Power Plants (IPPs).

“He promised Nigerians that they should expect 14,000 megawatts power generation at the end of 2013. We are now almost ending the first quarter of 2013 and Nigeria cannot boast of 4,000 watts anymore. The unbundling of the PHCN and the implementation of the Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO 2) have not resulted into improved power supply, rather it is squeezing out more electricity tariff from the hapless citizens.

“What the PDP government has done is to hastily postpone the Power Road Map. In the policy somersault, the projections for the use of the various fuel and energy sources have now been conveniently shifted to 2016, so that Nigerians will not hold them accountable at the end of this tenure in 2015.

“Meanwhile, our economy is bleeding heavily from the monies spent on alternative power supply. Good Governance Initiative in its 2013 report stated that N3.5 trillion is spent by Small and Medium Enterprises, manufacturers and families to generate electricity for private consumption while the bills incurred by government institutions and establishments also run into trillions of naira.”

From Lawrence Njoku, Enugu HE Senate Committee investigating the floating of bodies on the Ezu River located on the boundary of Enugu and Anambra states has called on the people of the state to help unravel the mysteries behind the incident.

This is as a member of the committee, Dr. Chris Ngige disclosed yesterday that result of autopsy conducted on the floating bodies would be made known in a couple of days.

Speaking when he led members of the committee on a courtesy call to the Government House, Enugu, its Chairman, Paulinus Igwe Nwagu, said unraveling the incident is the only way to ensure that it does not reoccur, stressing that the victims came from homes.

Guest Lecturer/Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (left); wife of Vice President Namadi Sambo, Amina; and Deputy Governor of Osun State, Titi Laoye-Tomori, during the 2nd convocation ceremony of Fountain University, Osogbo… yesterday.

Gunmen kidnap travellers

Why Vision 20:2020 may not be achieved, by leaders

From Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu, Benin City HE criminal act of kidnapping took an alarming dimension in Edo State as gunmen yesterday abducted five Lagos-bound travellers from the vehicle in which they were travelling and were said to have released the driver and a passenger to go “and tell others what you have seen.”

The Guardian gathered that the incident happened near Ogbemudia Farm but the travellers were coming from Warri, Delta State. They were said to be in a Spacewagon Sienna bus belonging to Greener Line transport company.

The bus were said to have slowed down when a truck blocked them, pretending to have broken down but suddenly, gun-wielding men were said to have emerged from the bush and took the passengers hostage. They allowed the driver and one passenger to go and give information about the incident.

By Bankole Shakirudeen Adeshina and Paul Adunwoke OME eminent Nigerians, including Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, yesterday took a critical look at the state of the nation and expressed regret that Nigeria has consistently failed to practically meet its development goals, including those set in the Vision 20: 2020.

According to them, development plans will never translate into realities unless they are complimented with aggressive investment in relevant infrastructure and executed with strategic plans.

The leaders spoke at the inaugural ‘Nigeria: Arise and Shine Annual Lecture’ organised by the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) in Victoria Island, Lagos yesterday.

The lecture titled ‘’Appraisal of Vision 20:2020: Perspective of Power Generation and National Development’’ was delivered by a member of the Local Central Working Committee, Nigeria’s Vision 20:2020 Board and Vice Chan-

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cellor, University of Lagos, Prof.

Rahaman Bello.

Dignitaries at the lecture include Governor Babatunde Fashola, represented by his Head of Service, Adesegun Ogunlewe, Minister for National Planning and Development, Shamsudeen Usman, who was represented by the ministry’s Director of Economic Planning, Babatunde Lawal, former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Musiliu Smith, Air Vice Marshal Olufunsho Martins (rtd) and the moderator, former Vice Chancellor, University of Uyo, Prof. Fola Lasisi.

Immediate past pro-chancellor, University of Lagos, Deacon Gamaliel Onasode, President and Chairman, Governing Council, National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria, Chief Lugard Aimiuwu, President and Chairman-in- Council of NIM, Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole, Registrar of UNILGA, Mr. Oluwarotimi Shodimu and the Head of Department of Law, Prof. Akin Oyebode were also at the event.

In his remarks, Fashola said critical questions should be asked on why Nigeria, over the

years, has failed to deliver stable electricity supply to its people.

“Power generation and distribution has been of concern to many Nigerians because power is central and key to growing the economy. The questions we have to ask ourselves at this forum are: How do we achieve this vision; what do we need to do as citizens; what do we need to do as government; what do we need to do jointly and severally to have regular power supply that will drive our economy? Has the over-centralisation of power at the centre helped us as a nation or it has retarded us, is it in tandem with federalism as practised in other climes?

“May be we need to address fiscal federalism that will allow each federating unit the elbow room and wherewithal to develop at its pace. We do not have the same challenges neither do we have the same resources available to meet our aspirations. A situation where the centre sits on more than 50 per cent of resources while the federating units and local governments that are closer to the

grassroots depend on the ‘crumbs’ or benevolence of the centre is not encouraging.”

In his lecture, Bello explained that according to the originally adopted master plan of Vision 20:20:20 Development Goal, especially as it relates to power generation and national development, Nigeria had projected to generate 35,000 megawatts of electricity in seven years.

But he said in practical term, this may not be achievable, as the nation’s current electricity generation capacity, according to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, is pegged at 10,000 megawatts. He noted that this figure is inclusive of additional inputs from all the infrastructure of the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) across the country, and has exposed a shortfall of 25000 megawatts.

According to him, “ the vision 20:2020, therefore, recognises that for the Nigerian economy to become one of the top 20 in the world, it has to generate and make available to its citizens adequate power for economic and social purposes.

But electricity supply has been unstable in the country and consequently stunted economic growth because of multiple factors, ranging from lack of adequate investments in maintenance and new infrastructure to abandonment of other reliable sources of cleaner and sustainable electricity like coal, solar, nuclear, wind and bio-gas.

“Unfortunately too, most of the power sector infrastructural facilities in Nigeria were built in the 1970s and ‘80s. Due to lack of maintenance and adequate expansion of the facilities, the country has had to live with epileptic and limited availability of electricity.

Currently, less than 50 per cent of the Nigeria’s total population has access to the national grid due to inadequate transformation and distribution networks. Also, aging and poorly maintained infrastructure, weak and radial network configuration and overloaded transformers result in frequent system collapse, high transmission and distribution losses and poor voltage profile.”

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

NEWS | 5

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

Abia task force destroys property of alleged kidnapper

Atiku, others mourn Ogbodo

From Gordi Udeajah, Umuahia

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WO houses located in T Umuahia, the Abia State capital, and said to belong to

Atiku condoled with the family of Ogbodo and GNL saying: “It is sad receiving the painful news of the death of John, an erudite, young and dedicated journalist who over the years had covered the National Assembly and the politics of our dear nation in a manner that I have personally come to admire his style of writing and the credibility of his reports.

“Being in the National Assembly for a long while now and working for the flagship of Nigeria media – The Guardian, tells a lot about the work ethics and the strength of character of this great journalist who died serving his country.”

Atiku prayed God “to accept the gentle soul of the departed; protect and console his family and grant them the fortitude to bear the irreparable and sudden loss.”

The former Vice-President urged The Guardian family and all journalists to “take heart, be prayerful and not to be discouraged by the death of their colleague as only God the Creator knows everything and will help them overcome this painful loss.”

Atiku also condoled with the Senate, NUJ particularly its Abuja chapter and the Senate Correspondents Corps.

He wished all the other journalists who survived the crash and are receiving medical attention speedy recovery.

an alleged kidnap kingpin, Mr. Olisagbo Ifedike, alias Ofe Akwu, were yesterday demolished by the state task force on environment and allied matters.

The exercise was said to be in compliance with the provisions of the state’s Anti-Kidnap Law as amended.

According to a report, Ifedike, who was said to hail from Oraifite in Ekwusigo Local Council of Anambra State, was arrested last year by the anti-terrorist team in Enugu for involvement in many kidnap and armed robbery activities following a tip-off.

One of the destroyed property was used as a commercial bar/restaurant called Akoto Resort, located at Afara Umuahia, while the other, a twin bungalow at Agbama Olokoro, near Umuahia, was his place of residence, which some described as a hide-out where his family members also resided.

Court orders release of Babalakin’s passport

By Bertram Nwannekanma and Yetunde Ayobami-Ojo N Ikeja High Court, Lagos, A has ordered the release of the travel document of the Chairman of Bi-Courtney Ltd., Mr. Wale Babalakin, to enable him travel abroad for medical treatment.

The trial judge, Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo, gave the order yesterday following Babalakin’s request through his counsel, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).

According to the application, Babalakin is hypertensive and needed to travel for treatment at a South African hospital.

Responding to the application, council to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), urged the court to ensure that Babalakin returned to Nigeria before March 27 to avoid stalling his trial.

Edo abattoir operators sue union over rights From Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu, Benin City OLLOWING a bloody clash Fbetween that erupted on Monday officials and aggrieved members of the Edo State branch of the National Union of Butchers, the aggrieved members yesterday dragged the body before the Federal High Court, Benin City, seeking to restrain the leadership from further harassment and violation of their fundamental human rights.

Joined as respondents are the state chairman of National Union of Butchers, the Commissioner of Police (CP) and the Inspector-General of Police (IG) in the suit brought

by Mrs. Juliet Osagie and three others, who are plaintiffs. They alleged that the action of the union leadership constituted gross violation of their fundamental human rights and freedom of association.

Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko (middle), his wife, Olukemi (left) and Dr. Tunji Braithwaite, during Mimiko’s second-term inauguration ceremony in Akure.

ECOWAS heads of state admit high-level insecurity From Oghogho Obayuwana (Foreign Affairs Editor), Yamousoukro has been interpreted IfactasN what an open admission of the that security threat to the region has reached monumental proportion, leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) yesterday affirmed their commitment to fight terrorism in their areas.

Also, the Authority of Heads of State has given the incumbent President of Cote d’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, another one-year tenure as chairman of the 15-memberorganisation.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s diplomatic missives on continental leadership, which was recently re-circulated, bore a major fruit yesterday as the leaders unanimously endorsed her candidature for the position of non-permanent member

• Endorse Nigeria’s UNSC candidature of the United Nations (UN) Security Council (UNSC).

At the end of their 42nd ordinary summit yesterday evening in Yamousoukro, Cote d’Ivoire, the leaders endorsed the ECOWAS counterterrorism strategy and implementation plan alongside the political declaration on a common position against terrorism.

Acknowledging high-level security threat, the leaders also declared their “determination” to combat piracy, illegal and irregular fishing, drug trafficking and other forms of transnational organised crime in the Gulf of Guinea.

The leaders urged the transitional authorities in Mali to expedite action on the establishment of the National Commission on Reconciliation and Dialogue in order to

promote, through the broadest possible representation, national reconciliation and restoration of sustainable peace, which are pre-requisites for the conduct of free, fair, transparent and inclusive elections.

A major decision was also reached in the health sector, where anti-malaria drug manufacturing plants and laboratories have been approved to be cited in Nigeria, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. The malaria fight reached commendable heights in this regard last year with the signing of a tripartite agreement between ECOWAS, Cuba and Venezuela.

On Guinea Bissau, the authority urged President Manuel Serfo Nhamajo to propose a technically-feasible draft of revised transitional

road-map to the country’s National Assembly for the preparation and conduct of free, fair and transparent general elections before the end of 2013.

In this regard, the leaders exhorted the National Assembly to adopt, as soon as possible, the said draft roadmap and requested the Regional Contact Group on Guinea Bissau to ensure follow-up.

There is already on ground the ECOWAS Mission in Guinea Bissau (ECOMIB). In extending the transitional period in Guinea Bissau till December 31 this year, the leaders welcomed the imminent commencement of the implementation of the Defence and Security Sector Programme (DSSRP) in Guinea Bissau within the frame-work of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the country and ECOWAS.

Abubakar Audu’s son gets bail From Abosede Musari, Abuja ETAINED son of the forD mer governor of Kogi State, Prince Abubakar Audu, Mustapha, was yesterday granted bail by Justice Abubakar Sadiq Umar of a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in the sum of N5 million and two sureties in like sum.

Mustapha Audu is standing trial alongside his wife, Zahra, and their company, Constructor Guild Limited, over an N18 million land scam. The couple was arraigned on February 26 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly obtaining the sum of N18 million from one Nike Kolawole under the pretence of getting her a four-bedroom house at Katampe Extension, Abuja, and another property at Caemly Estate, Idu Sabo, FCT.

Adoke clarifies stance on Oyerinde’s murder From Lemmy Ughegbe, Abuja PPARENTLY embarrassed A at the submission by a lawyer in his office, Mr. Thompson Olatigbe, during the public hearing organised by the House of Representatives into the controversies surrounding the murder of Olaitan Oyerinde, the personal aide to Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Justice Minister, Mohammed Bello Adoke, yesterday rejected the claim in totality.

While appearing before the House Committee on Public Petitions on Wednesday at Adoke’s instance, Olatigbe had claimed that the conflicting investigation reports from the Nigeria Police and the State Security Service

(SSS), which threw up different sets of suspects, confused the Ministry of Justice and made it impossible for it to prosecute anyone.

But in a stout rebuttal of Olatigbe’s claim, the AGF yesterday forwarded a letter stating that his office was clear on the position of the law and bowed to it with respect to the exclusive rights of states within the federation to handle cases of murder.

In the said letter titled, “Invitation to Investigate Hearing,” referenced HAGF/NASS/2013/VOL.1/2, Adoke said that Olatigbe’s statement was a figment of his imagination and that he acted contrary to his instruction.

The letter read: “My attention has been drawn to the

representations made by Mr. O.T. Olatigbe, Deputy Director, Public Prosecutions of the Federation, on behalf of my office and the Federal Ministry of Justice at the public hearing organised by your Committee on February 27, 2013 on the alleged complicity and improper investigation in the murder of Oyerinde Olaitan, an aide to the Edo State governor.

“It has been widely reported in the electronic and print media that Mr. Olatigbe, while making his presentation to the committee, stated among other things that the Ministry of Justice was confused as a result of the investigation reports it had received from the Nigeria Police Force and the State Security Service (SSS), which appeared to have indicted

different sets of suspects for the alleged murder of Oyerinde, and that the ministry could not proceed further with the prosecution of the suspects because of the need to harmonise the two reports.

“I wish to completely disassociate myself from the comments purportedly made on my behalf by Mr. Olatigbe, as the comments were at best a figment of his imagination and very far from the truth.

Mr. Olatigbe was under firm instructions to inform the committee that: • (a) The Federal Ministry of Justice had examined the powers of the State Security Service as provided by Section 3 of the National Security Act, Cap. N.74 LFN, 2004 and the powers of the Nigeria Police Force as provided by Sec-

tion 4 of the Police Act Cap. P.19 LFN, 2004 and had come to the reasoned conclusion that the power to investigate crimes of the nature under consideration (murder) resides with the Nigeria Police Force while the power to gather intelligence lies with the State Security Service, and • (b) murder, the offence allegedly committed by the suspects, is exclusively within the jurisdiction of the states in the federation. The Criminal Procedure Act, Cap. C. 38 LFN, 2004 is very clear on this matter. The Federal Ministry of Justice, therefore, has no power to prosecute murder cases as murder is a state offence committed against state law and that the matter was already being handled by appropriate authorities in Edo State.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

6 | NEWS

Bomb blast kills three soldiers, injures others From Njadvara Musa, Maiduguri GAIN, Maiduguri came A under the reign of terror as four multiple bomb blasts rocked the State capital, killing three soldiers and injuring several others.

The blasts occurred while the

11 progressive governors were holding their meeting at Government House, Maiduguri according to an eye witness said that one of the blasts which occurred at the Customs area of the metropolis and killed the soldiers, was targeted at the security men

while they on patrol in the area at about 2.15pm.

Confirming the incident, the Joint Task Force (JTF) spokesman, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa said that the blasts were targeted at JTF patrol vehicles in various parts of the metropoli

He said: “I am right now not in Maiduguri, but in Katsina.

The casualties of today’s (yesterday) multiple blasts include three soldiers on patrol and a civilian Two others were injured and taken to University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) for treat-

ment.”

Also, UMTH’s authories told The Guardian that three bodies of soldiers and four injured ones were brought into the hospital’s morgue and the Accident and Emergency Unit (A&EU) for identification and treatment.

Families of dead officers get N9.8m From Ahmed Mohammed, Bauchi HE Inspector General of Police IGP Muhammad T Abubakar has disbursed about N9.8milion to the families of policemen and who lost their lives and those injured while in active service in Borno and Yobe States.

Distributing the cheques to the next of kins of the deceased and injured policemen yesterday in Bauchi, the IGP who was represented by the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 12 Ibrahim Abdu, condoled with the families of the deceased and advised them to make the best use of the token amount given to them by the IGP before they entitlements.

He said they should not forget that their deceased ones lived fulfilled lives defending their fatherland and prayed to God to give them eternal rest The IGP added that Police authorities decided to pay them the token amount at the Police zonal commands to ease their sufferings of going to Abuja.

Farmers group faults call for leaders’ probe From Niyi Bello, Akure HE new leadership of the T Ondo State branch of Agbekoya Farmers’ Association,

Kanu Nwankwo (Papillo) paid a courtesy call on the Speaker, House of Representatives... yesterday

Why prisons congestion persists, by minister From Saxone Akhaine, Northern Bureau Chief INISTER of Interior, Abba M Moro in Kaduna yesterday, blamed the delay in the nation’s justice system on the congestion of prisons across the country, saying that this was time for better reformation of the nation’s judiciary.

Stressing the negative impact of the congestion in the prisons, the minister argued that the delay in dispensing justice in courts had caused innocent Nigerians on awaiting trial to perpetually languish in the prisons.

He explained that the present situation was unacceptable, adding , “as a result of the delay in the justice system, those that have no business being in prisons are there languishing.”

Moro who spoke at the commissioning of a medical centre for the Borstal Institute, Kaduna insisted that the ministry was looking into initiative of ensuring that those awaiting trial that “has no business being there” are set f r e e .

The minister stated that in line with the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, the ministry would support any initiative that would ensure that the prisons service were reformed.

He further reminded prison officials that such places should be reformatory centres rather than a places for punishing inmates, stressing, “the prison system is not one whose major plank is punishment”.

He added: “it’s a system which

deter inmates from committing crimes. It is important to realize this because prison officials should be reminded that rather than punishing prisoners, they are to mold them”.

Moro added: “I would like to enjoin the Comptroller-General of Prisons to ensure that this clinic is regularly maintained as the

facility is not only capable of promoting the sound health of the students and staff but engender job satisfaction for the health officers working in this institution.”

He however, warned prison officials against tampering with equipment, noting that deliberate efforts would be

made to ensure constant inspection of the clinic.

He added “the completion and commissioning of the medical centre , essentially conceived to provide basic health services to students and staff the institution was coming at a time when the Federal Government is strengthening primary

health care services across the country.I want to use this forum to inform you that the Federal Government does not only place high premium on the health of all Nigerians irrespective of their status but also determined to turn around the fortunes of all N i g e r i a n s . ”

Okah’s legal team withdraws, new one takes over O allow for fresh legal repT resentation, the lead counsel of Henry Okah’s legal team yesterday at the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg announced the team’s withdrawal from the terrorism case.

Okah is the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND).

Defence counsel, Lucky Multulanta told the trial Judge, Neels Claassen that they withdrawing from the case to allow a new legal team take over the trial that might go to appeal and beyond in the coming days and months. ``Having discussed with my client, we came to agreement that it is appropriate for us to step down from handling the matter and allow a new legal team to take over from the mitigation of sentence to the appeal court hearing. ``My client has the right to change his legal team, and now he has decided to change the legal team representing him in this case, we are both happy about the decision,’’ Multulanta said.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the defence counsel had asked the court to grant them postponement to call at least five witnesses from Nigeria and the United States to testify at the mitigation of sentence hearing.

Justice Claassen granted the defence the postponement for February 28 to March 4 to call their witnesses. ``We have experienced a lot of frustration in getting our witnesses to come to South Africa to testify on the mitigation of sentence for my client ``I don’t know the reason why it is difficult for the South Africa Embassy in Nigeria to issue visas to our witnesses. We have made all effort to get the visas but up till now their visas have not been issued,’’ Multulanta said. Justice Claassen expressed his disappointment in the withdrawal of Okah’s legal team. ``On the last sitting of the court I told you that there will be no further postponement in this case, now you are coming to announce

your withdrawal from the case. ``I must tell you that I am very disappointed about this decision, how am I sure that is not a deliberate attempt to further delay the administration of justice. ``I just hope this is not a tactic to further delay the court processes, both of you may be happy about the change of the legal team, but it is against the legal procedure for you to take such decisions after several postponements. ``Changing the mainstream at this stage is a very serious thing to do. I have to show my displeasure about the way and manner you have handled the case,’’ Claassen said.

Prosecuting counsel, Shauns Abrahams, told the court that the change in the legal team is aimed at frustrating court proceeding. ``My Lord, this sudden change in legal team of the accused is a deliberate attempt by him to frustrate the court proceeding. ``The defence counsel approached the Nigeria High Commission in Pretoria for visas to visit Nigeria and talk

to their witnesses on Feburary.

12, and the officials at the embassy asked them to come back the following day for their visas. But up till now they have not gone back for their visas. ``Only for the legal team to say they are having problem getting to their witnesses, this is all attempt to frustrate administration of justice,’’ Abrahams said.

The judge ruled that the accused has the right to change his lawyer at will. ``In as much as I am not happy about the change of legal team at this stage of the proceeding, I must say the accused person has the right to change his legal team at will. ``But I must say this is going to be the very last time this case will be adjourned,’’ Claassen said.

The new lawyer, Gerrit Miller asked the court for an adjournment to allow him prepare and consult with his client. Claassen adjourned hearing in the matter to March 20.

a body of local farmers from across the country, has flayed its erstwhile state co-ordinator, Adeyemi Basorun, for his call on anti-graft agencies to probe the group’s national executive.

But reacting to the publication, the new Coordinator of the state chapter, Emmanuel Sasere in a statement in Akure, asked the anti-graft agencies to ignore Bashorun’s statement.

Sasere alleged that Bashorun was not happy because the coordinators of the group across the 18 local government areas in the state removed him recently for not being competent to lead the association.

While leveling the allegations, Basorun called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices (and other related offences) Commission (ICPC) to invite the national leaders for questioning over the group’s finances.

SSANU opposes NEEDS panel report From Niyi Bello, Akure O avoid another round of T paralysing strike in Nigeria’ public universities, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has urged the Federal Government to reject the report of the NEEDS Assessment Committee it set up on Nigerian universities.

The union in a meeting held at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) yesterday, resolved to give government a two-week ultimatum to grant its request.

Chairman of the FUTA branch of the association, Mr. Benedict Chukwuma, while addressing the emergency meeting of the union, said apart from the rejection of the report, the association had also demanded the payment of the earned allowances as agreed to by government and SSANU. He said the association rejected the report of the committee because it was aimed at down sizing the members of the association with a claim that the system was top heavy.

9

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

WorldReport Obama, IMF worried about U.S. spending cuts

Pope bids last goodbye before historic resignation Pledges ‘unconditional obedience’ to his successor Buildup to selecting his successor begins Cardinals begin arriving in Rome for conclave WILL no longer be Pope “I but a simple pilgrim who is starting out on the last part of his pilgrimage on this Earth… I am happy to be with you surrounded by the beauty of creation. Thank you for your friendship and affection,” with these words, Pope Benedict XVI yesterday said a final goodbye to thousands of cheering supporters from the balcony of the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo near Rome before starting a life of retirement as the first pontiff to resign in over 700 years.

Benedict – who would now be known as Emeritus Pope – earlier left the Vatican in a white helicopter emblazoned with the Vatican flag, seeing St Peter’s Basilica from the sky for the last time as pope.

As he took leave of his closest aides in an emotional ceremony in the Vatican where he was applauded and cheered by priests, nuns and liveried Swiss Guards, agency reports indicated that Vatican members of staff lined the route of his motorcade and applauded.

The bells of St Peter’s Basilica rang out as the helicopter took off from the Vatican’s helipad.

The pope said in a final tweet sent from his @pontifex Twitter account just before taking off: “Thank you for your love and support.

“May you always experience

450,000 petitioners seek freedom for Chinese detained Nobel laureate, wife O fewer than 450,000 citN izens in 130 countries have reportedly joined 134 Nobel laureates in demanding that China’s new leader release Liu Xiaobo – the only imprisoned Nobel laureate.

As part of the campaign being championed by the International Committee for Liu Xiaobo with the support of Amnesty International, petitions signed by hundreds of thousands of people around the world were delivered on Wednesday to to embassies Chinese demand the immediate release of imprisoned the Nobel Laureate and his wife, Liu Xia. The petitions were also part of a campaign created by Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Change.org.

The campaign was launched in solidarity with a letter signed by 135 Nobel laureates demanding Liu’s freedom.

The petitions were reportedly delivered to Chinese authorities in Hong Kong, Taipei, Paris, London, New York, and Washington DC.

the joy that comes from putting Christ at the centre of your lives.”

The Twitter account will now be suspended until a new pope is elected in a conclave next month.

He later arrived by the helicopter at Castel Gandolfo near Rome shortly before he officially resigned his eightyear papacy at 1900 GMT. He will reside in the summer papal palace for the first two months of his retirement.

However, Benedict XVI also yesterday vowed “unconditional obedience” to his successor on his historic final day as leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.

“Among you there is also the future pope to whom I promise my unconditional obedience and reverence,” the pope said as he bade farewell to cardinals in the Vatican’s ornate Clementine Hall.

“Let the Lord reveal the one he has chosen,” said the 85year-old pope, wearing an ermine-lined red stole over his white cassock.

“We have experienced, with faith, beautiful moments of radiant light together, as well as times with a few clouds in the sky,” Benedict said, reprising a theme from his adieu to some 150,000 pilgrims in St Peter’s Square on Wednesday.

At 1900 GMT, Benedict was no longer be pope.

The Swiss Guards – a military corps that has protected the papacy since the 15th century and is best known for its brightly-coloured uniforms – then leave their posts and return to Rome.

Following tradition, staff in the Vatican were expected yesterday to apply seals to the doors of the papal apartments and the lift that leads up to them – to be broken only once a new pope has been elected.

Benedict is only the second pope to resign in the Church’s 2,000-year history.

Meanwhile, with the throne of St Peter declared empty and the interregnum formally begun, as many of the 208 cardinals who can make the journey will be expected to travel to the Vatican to help run the church.

Although all members of the college of cardinals are entitled to have their say in the general congregations, only 117 cardinal electors – those cardinals aged under 80 – have the final vote.

However, only 115 of them are expected to attend this year.

Letters inviting cardinals to join the conclave will be sent out by today, but the first meetings to discuss a new pope are unlikely to take place before next Monday, with the conclave itself following a few days later.

The conclave is a highly secret affair, with the cardinal electors confined to their Vatican guesthouse when not deliberating in the Sistine chapel, and any leaking punishable by automatic

S the United States looks forA ward to automatic sequester in less than 24 hours,

Benedict XVI saying a final goodbye to cheering supporters from the balcony of the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo near Rome before starting a life of retirement...yesterday.

PHOTO: AFP excommunication.

But Benedict was also expected to remove the personalised signet ring – known as the “Fisherman’s Ring” – before he leaves office and it will be destroyed, a tradition to ensure the papal seal is not misused.

The German pope stunned the globe when he announced on February 11 his decision to step down, saying he no longer had the “strength of mind and body” required by a fast-changing

world.

The news has captured massive media attention, with the Vatican saying that 3,641 journalists from 61 countries will cover the upcoming conclave – on top of the regular Vatican press corps.

The ex-pontiff will formally carry the new title of “Roman Pontiff Emeritus” or “pope emeritus” for short, although he will still be addressed as “Your Holiness Benedict XVI”.

the President Barack Obama and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have warned separately that American economy would take a “big hit” and other countries would also suffer when the harsh spending cuts come into effect.

The drastic cuts, known as sequester, were mandated after Democrats and Republicans failed to reach an agreement on budget deficit reduction.

Republicans blame Obama for the sequester, saying it was his idea, though the White House points out that Republicans in the House and Senate voted for the measure before the president signed it into law.

Agency reports indicated that Obama has, therefore, invited congressional leaders to the White House today – the day the $85 billion in cuts begin, as he renewed his warnings to Republicans that a deal to avert the so-called sequester must include new tax revenue.

“This is going to be a big hit on the economy, both the private sector, as well as the public sector – economists are estimating we could lose as much as six tenths of a point, maybe a little bit more, of economic growth,” Agence France Presse (AFP) cited the president as saying.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

10

Politics Jonathan has right to seek second term, Says Odom From Adamu Abuh, Abuja HIEFTAIN of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, Chief Chuka Odom, has said that President Goodluck Jonathan is not obliged to respect any pact that would stop him from seeking a second term in office in 2015.

Odom, a legal practitioner and former Minister of State of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, argued that by convention of the presidential system, the president has first right of refusal to seek another term in office.

“Let me state clearly that under our constitution, the president has every right to seek a second term in office. And in accordance with the convention of the presidential system of government, which we practice, he remains his party’s flag-bearer without going through a primary,” said in an interview in Abuja.

“In fact, the convention is usually a mere formality, as was witnessed in the Democratic convention in the United States last year. It is only the candidate of the opposition party that emerges through their primary.”

Odom referred to a so-called understanding that Jonathan would only do one term, which, he said he understood the Presidency had denied.

“However, if such a discussion ever took place, it constitutes a clear violation of our Constitution,” he said. “The parties engaged in such talks (if ever) are clearly trying to engage in illegal activity. This is because any agreement that tends to override the express provisions of the Constitution is not only unenforceable but a clear undermining of the Constitution.

“Such talks should not be heard amongst people who swore to uphold the Constitution. It is only a sitting president that has power to decline to seek a second term. He must exercise that right freely and without coercion; otherwise, it becomes a subtle coup attempt to force the president out of office.”

Odom noted that at the moment, “what we have before Nigerians is he said, they said. Nobody has published any document.”

“I believe that whatever document was agreed upon or whatever agreement that was reduced into writing; that document is an illegal act,” he said, “in so far as it seeks to undermine the express provisions of the Constitution.”

He countenanced the moral content of the political expediency that might have informed such a discussion. “What we are talking about here is that a group of people sat down and agreed to undermine the Constitution they swore to uphold,” he said.

C

“It is a legal issue and it is a moral issue as well.”

His query: “If we believe that it is the turn of a particular zone to produce the presidency, why are we not starring the truth in the face and implement that zoning principle?

“Because the moments you deviate from that arrangement and then you now seek shelter under a document that obviously is in contradiction of the Constitution, there is no moral basis for upholding that document.”

Odom asserted that the Constitution is our grundnorm, adding that if any group of individuals wished to change any part of it, they must engage their representatives in the National Assembly to push for the amendment of the section or sections.

He said those urging the president not to seek a second term in 2015 “cannot create another document to compete with the Constitution. This is a non-issue.”

On whether the newly formed All Progressive Congress (APC) could succeed in upstaging the PDP, Odom said nothing good would come out of a group of strange bedfellows.

According to him: “It depends on what they set out to achieve and their definition of success. It also depends on what the merging parties have at the back of their minds.

“Look, I do not think this will work and I will be surprised if I am wrong. You see you cannot bring a Christian and a pagan to form a church.

It will not work, (as) one end of ‘the church’ will be an altar and the other end will be a shrine, and the worshippers will end up fighting each other.”

He said that alliances are created along ideological lines, noting that, “this merger is being cobbled together by ideological opposites with the sole aim of grabbing power.”

“It is not an effort at creating a new ideological platform, an alternative to the current arrangement. It holds no attraction to a new voter looking for a brighter future for Nigeria or an alternative to the PDP.” AS he explained, each of the merging party has its private agenda and led by people with deep interests in the status quo.

“However, the good news is that the attempt to create an opposition platform will help force the PDP to put its house in order,” he said. “It is evident that there is no opposition today except the one created by the PDP within its ranks.

“It is a testimony to its democratic credentials that PDP accommodates internal dissension; it is doing its own internal fumigation. I think time will tell but what I see currently is mere posturing (of the opposition).”

Odom On the renewed agitation for Igbo presidency in 2015, Odom said there is nothing wrong with the agitation, though he wondered how the goal could be actualised under the Jonathan presidency.

He said: “However, it is important to ask who is agitating? Do they represent mainstream Igbo political or cultural leadership?”

He recalled the adoption of Jonathan by the Igbo for the 2011 election, stressing, the Igbo overwhelmingly supported Jonathan for the presidency.

“At the Southeast town hall meeting held at Nike Lake Hotel, Enugu, on November 21, 2010, the entire Igbo political social and cultural leadership adopted the candidacy of Goodluck Jonathan for the 2011 presidential election,” he said.

“This summit preceded the meeting of Southeast governors at the same venue where they also lent their support to the Jonathan presidential bid. What has changed since then to warrant the Igbo to walk away from the project?”

Odom said he was under no illusions then that the Igbo support meant eight years of Jonathan presidency because no president could be stopped from exercising his right to re-election.

“It is left for the masses or voters to accept or

reject him at the polls based on his performance,” he said, warning that, “Igbo must not run the risk of jumping from pillar to post at every election. It serves only to delay the day an Igboman will sit at the Presidential Villa.”

He implore the people to be realistic more politically mature and think strategically to occupy the Aso Villa.

Odom revealed how in 2011, he went to Lagos as part of the effort to mobilise Igbo in Lagos for Jonathan.

“When I arrived the home of Admiral Ebitu Ukiwe, one of the most respected Igbo leaders, I met Senator Ben Obi, who also came to seek support for his political affiliation then,” he said.

“Senator Ben Obi, another respected Igbo man, is serving in Jonathan’s government (today). I do not think he believes in the feasibility of Igbo presidency in 2015.”

He said the lesson is that Igbo are still behind Jonathan and will be behind him in 2015 and beyond. “That is the choice we made in 2010,” he said.

“It is rather important for the Igbo to help Jonathan succeed in addressing the numerous problems confronting this country. That is the only way to strengthen his hands when he finishes his tenure,” he said.

“An unsuccessful president may not have the leverage to influence who succeeds him. This is the reality of politics in Nigeria today.”

On the desirability of the power rotation principle, Odom said: “I am very suspicious of any system that talks about rotation and observes it in breach. Honestly, this Federal Character thing and rotation, whatever name they call it, is all put in place to ensure that no one ethnic group dominates another since our perception of governance is where people go and benefit the people from their zones.

“So, there is the need to allay the fears of the minorities or allay the fears of people who might be in certain positions of power and ‘seize’ the power and refuse to let it go to the next zone.

These are all very good principles.

“The important thing there is that there is a document that guards our political engagement. If we so strongly believe in all of these, why don’t we make it part of the Constitution? Why do we always go back to do informal arrangements and keep it as a breast-pocket handkerchief, which, when it is good for us, we put it to look nice and when it is not convenient for us, we remove it and say it is not nice. That is my problem with it.”

Tofa lists ways for APC survival From Adamu Abuh, Abuja RESIDENTIAL candidate of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC), Alhaji Bashir Tofa, has cautioned against any moves to stop the joint ticket of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the presidency on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC).

Tofa, a chieftain of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), also expressed surprise that in spite of the existence of the rule of law, there were subterranean efforts to stop President Goodluck Jonathan from seeking a second term in office in the 2015 poll.

Fielding questions from The Guardian, he stated: “I have observed that in recent days, people have been making some statements about whether President Jonathan has promised or not promised to contest in 2015. And in the ranks of new-to-be APC and other pundits, some are suggesting that General Buhari and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu should step aside for some younger politicians.

“My immediate reactions are: In the case of President Jonathan’s ambitions for 2015, does it really matter what either former President Obasanjo or any one else heard what Jonathan said or signed about the contest in 2015? All these hearsays are totally irrelevant.

What we need to know is what the law says about President Jonathan’s situation, not what someone else says he heard or saw him sign.

P

“Our constitutional experts should be brave enough to speak on relevant sections of the appropriate law. If the law allows him to contest the election, then, it is up to him and the PDP to decide whether he should or not. But if the law says he cannot, either because he is now serving his second term, or because he cannot be sworn-in as president three times, or because he cannot serve for more than eight tears, then, he just cannot contest and must forget about it. Period.”

Tofa said it was not for him (Jonathan) or anybody to decide whether he could contest or not; it was for the law to determine that. “So, all this debate about what he said or what he promised is just a waste of time. We are not yet a banana republic, as some people who spread this hear-say seem to believe.”

Tofa, who bared his mind via an email, warned that the APC would suffer dire consequences if Buhari and Tinubu were denied their democratic rights.

He said: “I also read and heard some people saying that General Buhari and Bola Tinubu should step aside. That will be a terrible mistake, if the APC insists on that. Buhari, not CPC, is the important factor in this merger. And Tinubu, not ACN, is the key factor in this merger.

“If their personal ambitions are axed out of the equation, APC will not get anywhere. General Buhari will lose his political purpose, and Tinubu will lose his interest. That will be a serious blow

• Says party is finished without Buhari, Tinubu • Wants the law applied in Jonathan’s case

Tofa to the APC, in my opinion.

“So, they must be allowed to aspire to whatever they fancy, and let democracy determine their nomination for that position.”

He cautioned that if Buhari withdrew, 95 per cent of CPC would be out of the APC; likewise, if Tinubu lost interest in the party, 50-70 per cent of its funding would be lost!

“But if they genuinely decide on their own, without any pressure from anywhere, to opt out and stay faithful to the new party, that will be a big credit to them,” Tofa said. “But I do not see that happening without a

serious loss to the new party.”

He also advised the APC to be careful about the exclusion nature of zoning, stressing that if they zoned the presidency to the North and the vice presidency to the Southwest, or even SouthSouth, the Southeasterners would have no place in the APC, and any Easterner who joined the APC would be seen as an Igbo traitor.

“The Igbo, who quite rightly have their eyes on the presidency this time around, need to be given the chance, like everyone else, to go to the primaries and try their luck,” he said. “That is democracy. But to say they are zoned out from the onset will be a serious goof.

“The best thing for APC to do is to have an open and free presidential primaries for all. Whatever leadership they appoint now to run the party at the national level must be on an interim basis. Their main role will be to organise state leadership elections from the ward levels upwards.

“Only after the presidential primaries are concluded would the APC hold the National Convention to elect the permanent National Executives. General Buhari and all other aspirants from all parts of country must be sorted out at the convention.”

Tofa listed the procedure thus: Only after a Presidential Candidate (1) is properly elected, would any allocation

of positions be proposed. And the only safe positions to be distributed are that of the VP (2), the Chairman Board of Trustees (3), the National Chairman (4), the Deputy National Chairman (5) the National Secretary (6). One slot for each zone but they must be contested for by aspirants to those positions within the zones.

Another point that the APC must be wary about is alleged PDP treachery,” Tofa said, imploring, “do not assume they (PDP) will just sit by and allow the new party to threaten them; they will do whatever they can to put obstacles in the way.”

According to him: “One easy one (treachery) I see is to witch-hunt some of those 10 (opposition) governors, including Tinubu himself, just to create confusion in the ranks of the party.

“Another is if INEC collects and cancels the certificates of merging parties and then say there are certain conditions that are yet to be fulfilled, delaying the merger for months, while the old parties were dead and buried.”

He continued: “But the obvious and sure trouble is the ambitions of politicians at all levels, when electing party leaders, and more dangerous divisions that may surface when electing candidates for the various government and legislative posts.

“Whether the members of the old parties will see themselves as united members of the new party, not as factions in the new party, is another matter that will break or make the APC. We will wait and see.”

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

11

NIGERIAN MARITIME ADMINISTRATION AND SAFETY AGENCY (NIMASA) (Established under the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency Act, 2007) Maritime House, 4Burma Road, Apapa, P.M.B. 12861, Lagos PABX: 5804801-4, FAX 01-5871329

GENERAL PROCUREMENT NOTICE FOR 2013 CAPITAL AND RECURRENT PROJECTS INTRODUCTION The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), a Parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Transport, wishes to undertake the procurement of various projects under the Agency's proposed 2013 Capital and Recurrent Budget.

In compliance with the Public Procurement Act 2007, the Agency wishes to put on notice all interested and reputable Contractors, Suppliers and Consultants with relevant experiences for consideration for the execution of the projects listed below: S / N GOODS 1 Supply of office stationery 2 Printing of Administrative & Operational Documents 3 Printing of Promotional Manuals/Brochures 4 Supply of office Equipment [Stabilizers, Photocopiers, Printers, Toners and Ancillaries].

5 Supply of Tyres for operational vehicles 6 Supply of Fire Extinguishers, C-Caution, Signs.

7 Supply of Maritime Books to the Agency’s Library 8 Supply

of relevant International Maritime Organization [IMO] textbooks on Marine Environment Protection 9 Furnishing of Nigerian Maritime Resource Development Center[NMRDC]: a) Guest House b) Library and Multi-Purpose Block 1 0 Furnishing of Head Office, Zonal & Port Offices: Head Office, Apapa Port Office, Lokoja, Eket, Sapele.

1 1 Supply of customized Floor Mats to the Agency 1 2 Supply of uniform and Protective clothing

WORKS

1 3 COMPLETION OF NIGERIAN MARITIME RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT CENTER [NMRDC]:

i. Guest House ii. Library and Multi-purpose Hall 1 4 Modification and Expansion of Helipad 1 5 Construction of Pollution Response Equipment Storage Facility at Lagos 1 6 Maintenance of Lift Dry-docking of Boats 1 7 1 8 Procurement of Mobile Medical Boats & Accessories 1 9 Construction of Zonal Office at Port Harcourt 2 0 Clearing and Removal of Water Hyacinth from Nigerian Waterways 2 1 Procurement of IT Infrastructure 2 2 Construction of Buildings, Civil and Mechanical Works at the Institute of Maritime Studies, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State 2 3 Construction of Buildings, Civil and Mechanical Works at the Institute of Maritime Studies, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos State 2 4 Construction of Buildings, Civil and Mechanical Works at the Institute of Maritime Studies, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida University, Lapai, Niger State 2 5 Construction of Buildings, Civil and Mechanical Works at the Institute of Maritime Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State 2 6 Construction of Access Roads, Drainages, Mechanical and Electrical Works at the Ship Building and Ship Repair Yard, Okerenkoko, Delta State 2 7 Construction of Buildings, Civil and Mechanical Works at the NIMASA Science and Technical College, Okoloba, Delta State 2 8 Construction of Buildings, Civil and Mechanical Works at the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Delta State

NOTATION: § Specific Procurement Notices for these procurements will be placed on the Notice Boards of the Agency, the Agency's website, Federal Tenders Journal and National Daily Newspapers as may from time to time, be applicable; § Interested eligible bidders, who wish to participate in the bidding process, are advised to be on the lookout for the Advertisements; § Please note that all the documents on Responsive Criteria such as Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Value Added Tax (VAT), Pension Commission (PENCOM) and Tax Certificates may be referred to the Security Agencies, Corporate Affairs Commission, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), National Pensions Commission and other relevant bodies for verification. The Agency also reserves the right to invoke Section 28 of the Public Procurement Act (PPA) 2007 without incurring any liability to the bidder; § This notice shall not be construed to be a commitment on the part of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency to award any form of contract to any respondent nor shall it entitle any Company/Firm submitting documents to claim any indemnity from the Agency; § Procurements of various projects/services shall be subject to the approval of the Agency's 2013 Budget by the National Assembly.

SERVICES

2 9 Design of Zonal & Port/Jetty Offices in Warri and Bonny 3 0 Land

acquisition for the Construction of NIMASA office at Lekki Free Trade Zone [LFTZ], Lagos.

SIGNED: MANAGEMENT

12

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

TheMetroSection Barricades: Agura Hotel, other businesses in Abuja almost paralysed

Streets cordoned by the military in Abuja for security reasons

From Itunu Ajayi, Abuja

S

INCE the terrorism activities of the Boko Haram started, it has adversely affected business activities in the northern part of the country and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) which has had its own dose of these attacks, too. . Business transactions in Agura Hotel and other private businesses in the area have suffered setbacks in the last one year, due to the security threats occasioned by the Boko Haram activities in and around the FCT. The hotel which was commissioned in 1986 and opened to the general public to provide hospitality and other services is now practically under siege. Other private business owners located in the hotel complex, too, are groaning under the heavy financial loss they have incurred due to the practical shut-down of the hotel.

The hotel plays host to an eye clinic, a fitness centre, a boutique and other sundry private businesses. Anybody who is familiar with hotels’ operational systems would appreciate that lodgers in hotels are the same people who patronize any business outfit located inside such hotel, as it is not common for a passerby to enter a hotel premises to transact business there.

In Abuja, the bombing of the United Nations headquarters, the New Year’s Eve attack on an army barracks in Abuja, the Christmas day bombing of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church in Suleja and other cities in the northern part of the country still readily come to mind. All these attacks and threats of many more to come had compelled the military to take stringent actions to ensure that security is not breached.

There had been threats from this group that they would still bomb some areas, which informed the reason why some military formations had cordoned off all the lanes of road leading to their offices in Abuja leaving just a lane to be shared by motorists who were supposedly enti-

tled to two lanes. This has resulted in a terrible gridlock with many motorists spending hours on the road in the hot scorching sun of Abuja as they try to navigate their way through the capital city.

All around the city, going through Wuse Market to Zone 7, one would see a long queue of vehicle as a result of the barricades in front of the Area 7 junction where the Zone 7 police headquarters is located. The front of the ministry of defense is another hot spot of unending traffic. The Guardian spoke with some business owners in and around the Area 10 axis where Agura Hotel is located and it was a case of sour tales with the usual resignation to fate.

The management of Agura Hotel admitted that they had lost a reasonable number of customers since the unending drama commenced, as a lot of their customers are not finding it easy to access the hotel. The management told The Guardian that they had enjoyed patronage from the military formations the hotel shared boundary with as the uniformed men usually lodge their guests within the hotel.

In the past the location of the hotel alone gave guests a sense of security because of the presence of the military, so they had actually enjoyed the largesse of the military in two most important areas, security and patronage. In view of this, the hotel management said it was willing to endure whatever hardship it needs to, believing that the situation on ground is just a passing phase.

The Guardian gathered that the military, too, are not insensitive to the plight of the hotel, the management said they had been having series of meetings with the military and there is nothing really they can do about the situation now as security is everybody’s primary concern. They posited that maybe the hotel would have been a target of the sect if not for the presence of the military around them. They concluded that life in itself is give and take, while admitting that they had lost

Photonews

Jerry cans of fuel suspected to be products of vandalism discovered by official of Nigerian Security Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Abuja...yesterday

Another street

considerably in terms of revenue, as the hotel, which used to be a beehive of activities, is now a shadow of itself. This they affirmed had affected the payment of salaries and wages of their employees.

The owner of a relaxation joint in the area who wanted his name off-print told The Guardian that their customers are afraid to come to the relaxation joint these days as most people are even afraid of the sight of the fierce-looking military men, which has consequently dwindled his income.

Different strokes they say are for different folks. Another relaxation center owner very close to the Ministry of Defence (Ship House) said he was glad that the military are around his area. The Guardian met fully kitted military personnel at the center having a cold bottle of beer.

“Can you see for yourself? They even come here to relax when they are not on duty or whenever they are tired, so anyone who wants to come for anything bad will think again before doing anything foolish. Once in a while, they come here and just go round without

drinking or eating anything. All is about security. The only thing that has changed here since this Boko Haram problem started is the time we close, I make sure we close early now, you know for security reasons” he explained.

The station manager of Area 10 PHCN Office which shares a fence with the Ministry of Defence, Mr. Emmanuel Okoli, said the station is challenged as a result of the prevailing situation. He said customers who has issues with their meter or any other issues with PHCN are finding it difficult to approach the office and the administrative office close to the American embassy to lodge their complain. He feared that this development might stare up the activities of touts, which had always been one of the major challenges faced by the organisation over the year.

“We no longer receive complaints from our customers as we used to in the past.

People are afraid to come to this area to complain about problems they are having with their meters or any other sundry challenges. Our administrative block in front of the American embassy, too, is a no go area. This has affected the money generated from these stations.”

Briefs Ilasa community worries over imminent flooding ESIDENTS of Ese-Odo comR munity in Ilasamaja area of Isolo Local Council have made an urgent appeal to the chairman of the council to come to their aid and check the menace of flooding in the area.

In a copy of the complaint letter to the Isolo Local Council Chairman, which was released to The Guardian, members the Ese-Odo Community Development Association (CDA) expressed their disappointment that nothing visible had been done to ameliorate their sufferings since last year that the chairman promised to come to their aid.

They noted with “great pain and disappointment” that nothing visible had been done since the meeting the chairman held with their community leaders last year during which he promised to expeditiously address the life-threatening issues affecting them.

“In fact, the only visible development we have noticed since then is the unabated, increased and continued menace of dumping of refuse at the illegal Atinuke Shopping Complex/PHCN 132 Power Station site.”

“The situation is made worse by the caving in of the huge refuse into the canal through which the flood from the Limca Area, Ire-Akari and Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, by Cele Bus Stop overhead bridge could flow . This unfortunately led to the mass flooding of Ese –Odo community with the first rains of year 2013.”

“We are compelled to bring this, for the umpteenth time, to your attention because of the danger these issues pose to our lives and property as law-abiding citizens of Ese-Odo community. We plead to you to please stop the burning of refuse and clear the drainage today,” they said.

Glorious Hymns Assembly HE Glorious Hymns Assembly holds its ninth session of T singing Hymns as Praise on

Brief Funeral for Pa Gordian Onwugaje, oldest man in Anambra, holds at Umuoji this weekend rites for Pa Gordian FmanUNERAL Ibuadinma Onwugaje, the oldest in Umuoji, Idemili North Local Council of Anambra State, and one of the oldest men in Nigeria, began on Wednesday and will end to Sunday at his residence in Ekwulu, Umuoji, Idemili North Local Council.

A statement by the Head, Department of Communication and Media Enterprise, School of Media and Communication, Pan African University, Victoria Island, Lagos, Dr. Isah E. Momoh, said: “Pa Onwugaje, whose first son, Nicholas Chudy- Onwugaje, was the first Managing Director of Minaj Systems TV, Obosi, one of the first private Television outfits in Nigeria, died on January 5, 2013 at age 109.

“The celebration of late Pa Onwugaje’s life continues today and Saturday with entertainments, dances, songs, etc as thanks-giving for his long and prosperous life..

He is survived by over 60 children, grand children and great grand children spread across Nigeria, Europe, the United States.

According to Chudy Onwugaje, because of the longevity of his life, his burial is more of carnival of thanksgiving than a funeral; and so sev-

eral masquerades including the majestic Ijele and some from neighbouring Igala will regale guests, well-wishers and family members during both during the four-day funeral ceremony.

This Nigerian version of the funeral ceremony follows an earlier one held in Viruocity Hall (formerly the Multi Ethnic Centre) in Houston Texas, where Mr. Chudy Onwugaje is based with his family.

Onwugaje

Sunday, March 24, at 4.30p.m. at Dansol High School, 13/15, Acme Crescent, Agidingi, Ikeja, Lagos at 4.00p.m.

The Convener, Mr. Joko Okupe, said that ‘a special hymns singing assembly would be held in June in memory of the first anniversary of Dana Air crash victims.

Pa Akinde dies at 83

HE Supreme Head of the T Eternal Sacred Order of the Cherubim & Seraphim, His Most Eminence Baba Aladura Amos Akinsanya Akinde is dead. He was aged 83.

The General Secretary of the Holy Order, Senior Superintendent Apostle Kola Odunsi who announced the passing on of the revered clergyman, said his burial arrangement would be announced later.

Baba Aladura Akinde was ordained the head of the church on June 4, 2005.

Akinde

METRO 13

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

Photonews

Church members may sue bishop over cleric’s demotion From Muyiwa Adeyemi, Ado Ekiti HERE may be no end yet T to the crisis trailing the demotion of the Vicar of St.

Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime (left) and the State Commissioner of Police, Tonye Ebitubituwa, decorating the Governor’s Aide-De-Camp, Mr. Arthur Amobi, who was recently promoted to the rank of a Deputy Superintendent of Police...

Paul Millennium Church, Odo Owa-Ekiti, Rev. Mike Ogunniyi, for spending the N5 million donation from Governor Kayode Fayemi without getting approval from the Bishop of EkitiWest Diocese, Most Rev. Oludare Oke, as some church members have threatened legal action against the bishop.

Some members of the Provincial Church Council (PCC), who spoke with journalists yesterday at Odo Owa community, said they have resolved to take legal action if the Primate of the Anglican Communion, Nicholas Okoh, did not overrule the bishop on the demotion.

Fayemi had, during the burial of Primate Abiodun Adetiloye, donated N5 mil-

lion to the church for the continuation of evangelism, which the Adetiloye championed in the community and to maintain the church building.

But Bishop Oke was said to have instructed that the money be kept as a trust fund. But the congregation and the PCC did not agree with the bishop and decided that N3 million should be used to buy a new bus for evangelism, N1 million for the renovation of the church while the balance should be kept in the church account.

According to the source, “It is going to be unacceptable that after spending the money according to the PCC approval, the bishop descended heavily on the vicar to the extent of demoting him.”

A source in the community said youths in the church, who protested last Sunday

and prevented worshippers from entering the church, would this weekend, proceed to Ijero-Ekiti where the bishop officiates, for another protest.

The source said some members of the church had sent a delegation to the bishop for a rethink because they would resist any plot to transfer Ogunniyi from the church. The source disclosed that while the Bishop assured them that the Vicar would not be transferred, he however, kept silent on the demotion, which they said, would relegate the status of the church.

He said: “The demotion of the Vicar has a damaging effect on the status of the church because it would no longer be regarded as the seat of archdeaconry. The church might also be left with no option than to pull out of the Ekiti-West Diocese.”

Demolition of illegal shops begins at Ladipo Market

By Tolulope Okunlola and Bukola Ojeyemi HE Lagos State Ministry of the Environment has begun partial demolition of illegal shops at Ladipo Market after the inspection of the market by the Commissioner of the Environment, Tunji Bello, two days ago.

The demolition is part of the agreement reached between the Lagos State government and the market union before the market could be re-opened.

One of the officials carrying out the demolition told The Guardian that the illegal structures and store-owners were not to be consulted before the structures could be demolished.

T

Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha and Mrs Nkechi Onumajuru after being sworn-in as the Head of Service of Imo State at the Government House, Owerri ...

Meanwhile, the Secretary of the Ladipo Auto Centre Executive Committee (LACEC), Pastor Steve Paul confirmed to The Guardian that after the visit of the commissioner, they came to a conclusion and itemized the illegal structures by the setback of the canal.

Furthermore, he said the LACEC was not aware of the presence of the illegal structures and shanty stores that were marked.

Interestingly, one of the occupants of the illegal structures by the setback of the canal presented documents allocated to them by the Lagos State government to operate on the set back of the canal but he said that

the set back was allocated for waste bin and public toilets.

“Apparently, the canal was turned into a refuse dump as a result of the evacuation of the dustbins from the market area by the LAWMA officials,” he said.

According to the Secretary, the Ndigbo had a closeddoor meeting with the government officials to speed up the demolition of the marked illegal structures in the market.

He pleaded on behalf of the traders that the government should speed up the demolition process for the traders to get back to where they were earning their daily bread.

Woman in police net for beating another woman to death From Muyiwa Adeyemi, Ado Ekiti HOUSEWIFE, Mrs. Ayegbusi Mercy has been arrested

by Ekiti State Police command for allegedly beating one Mrs. Iyabo Dada to death.

Both of them were married to the same family at Aafin compound, Iropora, Ekiti.

The Police spokesperson, Mr.

A

University of Lagos Branch Manager, Mr. Jide Lafihan (left); Guest Speaker, Mr. Willie Jolley; Group Head, Retail Banking FirstBank Limited , Mr. Tunde Owolabi and Head, Publications & Conferences FirstBank , Mr. Oze .K. Oze FirstBank Youth Excel Series which took in the University of Lagos recentl

Commander, Second Division, Intelligence Group, Nigerian Army, Col. Ibrahim Salihu (left); Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi; General officer Commanding 2 Division, Nigerian Army, Ibadan, Maj. Gen. Ahmed Jibrin; and Commander 32 Artillery Brigade, Akure, Brig. Gen. M. Dan-Ali, during the GOC's working visit to the Governor, in Ado-Ekiti... on Wednesday.

Olu Victor Babayemi said they had a disagreement over a domestic issue, which resulted into a brawl.

According to Babayemi: “During the fight, the victim slumped and was rushed to Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Ido-Ekiti where she was confirmed dead.

The corpse has been deposited at the same hospital morgue awaiting autopsy.”

He said the suspect is now at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Ado-Ekiti where she is being interrogated and will be charged to court as soon as investigation is concluded.

Director, Greensprings School, Lai Koiki (right), Managing Director, Samsung Electronics (West Africa), Brovo Kim and Head, Business to Business Division of Samsung, Ayodele Adegboye at the launch of Samsung’s Smart School Solution at Greensprings in Lekki. Lagos ...on Wednesday.

PHOTO: FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI

14 | THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

TheGuardian 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 SON and substandard products ECENT disclosures by Mr. Joseph Odumodu, Director General of Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) that 80 per cent of products imported into Nigeria are fake and substandard while five per cent of such products come from the Nigerian manufacturers did little credit to the image of his organisation. Odumodu’s revelation is a pathetic admission of SON’s failure in the discharge of its statutory responsibility. To that extent, his statement amounts to serious selfindictment.

Section 4(1) of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria Act empowers the organisation, among other functions, to “organise tests and do everything necessary to ensure compliance with standards designated and approved by the council”.

Obvious from this provision is that the job of the organisation is not merely to raise alarm or act as a whistle blower, but to tackle headlong the incidence of substandard products, which by its own admission is common place in our markets and public place.

That SON is either bereft of ideas or has no capacity, is cognizable from the statement credited to its DG that it would start parading on television importers of fake products, make them apologise to Nigerians for their nefarious activities, as “part of Federal Government’s zero tolerance campaign… targeted at eliminating, as well as discouraging the importation of substandard products”.

It is curious that in spite of the so-called zero tolerance campaign, which reportedly began in 2011, markets are still replete with substandard products two years after the takeoff of the campaign. When would the campaign start yielding dividend?

Imagine the danger posed to lives and property by proliferation of sub-standard tyres and electricity cables, which makes the duty of SON highly compelling and urgent. But it seems the organisation is shirking its responsibility and the urgency attached to it. The director general reportedly said that his organisation had to slow down on the seizure of sub-standard tyres in the markets due to what he described as storage problems. Does SON need to store confirmed sustandard products or destroy them outright? Won’t the products find their way back to the market the longer they stay in the storehouse?

SON seems ill-prepared for the challenges at hand.

Odumodu needs to be proactive. He must go back to the drawing board and come up with a strategy that will rid the markets of fake and substandard products.

Also, the Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) must wake up and be alive to its statutory responsibility of seeking means of eliminating hazardous products from the market. It should, in line with its statutory obligation “issue guidelines to manufacturers, importers, dealers and wholesalers in relation to their obligation under the Act, and compel them to certify that all safety standards are met in their products”.

Right now, only few Nigerians are aware of the existence of the CPA due largely to its obvious inertia. SON on its part must not hesitate to exercise its prerogative “to ban the sale, distribution and advertisement of products, which do not comply with safety or health regulations”.

A synergy of efforts on the part of SON and CPA will certainly drive fake products out of Nigerian markets.

R

LETTER

What I saw in my daughter’s varsity IR: From the handful of uniSparts versities we had in different of Nigeria barely a decade ago, the number has soared significantly over the years. The result is that wherever you go across Nigeria these days, a private, federal or state university is bound to be located somewhere nearby. It is, however, one thing to have a varsity; having a university that stands out in terms of good governance, infrastructure, laboratory, and high academic standard is a different ball game.

Against this background, I travelled to the Nasarawa State University (NSU), Keffi in Nasarawa State, recently to visit my daughter-in-law, Patience, that weekend.

“Mama Williams”, as we call her, had gained admission into the institution after a rigorous process; a process that had kept all of us in what an old “customer” of JAMB once called “suspended animation”. Although I had been to the school once or twice before now for sundry reasons, I hadn’t paid much attention to the place. But now that I am a stakeholder of sorts, by virtue of my daughter-in-law being an undergraduate there, it became imperative to take a closer look at the institution.

In terms of size, NSU is, in my view, not all that impressive.

Particularly, when compared with a number of other universities that one has been privileged to visit in recent

Bearing in mind that the size of a school has little or nothing to do with its academic prowess (as evidenced by the unimpressive performance of many high profile private and public schools in national examinations) your attention now shifted to the lecture theatre, classrooms, facilities, and sundry other infrastructure. years. But when you realise that the institution is relatively young, even as it grows in leaps and bounds, it becomes obvious that it needs time to develop according to expectations.

Bearing in mind that the size of a school has little or nothing to do with its academic prowess (as evidenced by the unimpressive performance of many high profile private and public schools in national examinations) your attention now shifted to the lecture theatre, classrooms, facilities, and sundry other infrastructure.

In these areas, judging by what one witnessed here live that day, NSU is ahead of its time, particularly, when compared with some other public institutions of higher learning that are of the same age.

It is common knowledge that lack of maintenance culture is at the root of the rot in many a public institution in ‘Naija’,

including office buildings, residential apartments, vehicles, furniture, and the like. This malaise seems to have been kept at bay here at NSU. Like any other parent, however, what concerns me most is the quality of academic work.

When I sought her opinion, my girl said, in her usual melodramatic manner, that: “they are killing us o.” To which I inquired: “Killing you? How?” Her response: “The lectures are too much; there is hardly any space to breath or time to rest; it is lecture, lecture, all the time.” What about strikes, riots, cultists and the like, I prodded.

She shrugged. “So far, at least, I haven’t witnessed any such things here; I heard that the Vice Chancellor is a no-nonsense man who doesn’t allow such things happen here.”

That, to those who know the NSU helmsman, Prof.

Shamsudeen Amali, is hardly surprising, given that he had conjured a similar feat at his old duty post – the University of Ilorin.

Indeed, based on what I witnessed in my daughter’s university that day, I can say without fear of contradiction that Prof. Amali, has “transferred” his inimitable leadership and administrative acumen to NSU. I went back home after spending some time with my daughter, sincerely convinced that “Mama Williams” and the hundreds of other students are in good hands.

• Hajia Jamila Mohammed, Abuja.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

15

Business AutoWheels P43

BusinessTravel P46

Hyundai celebrates world’s first zero-emission vehicle

Nigerian airlines and the long route to survival

Govt tasks new power firms on contractual pacts Stories Roseline Okere HE preferred bidders of 10 Distribution Companies (Discos) and five Generation Companies (Gencos), which signed take-over contracts with the Federal Government last week, may lose out in their respective deals, if they fail to meet the 15 business day deadline of signing their respective agreements as well as pay the outstanding balance of 75 per cent after 90 working days.

The government however, pledged to ensure that come next year, power generation level would be upscaled to 14,000 mega watts.

The 15 business day deadline

T

•Targets 14, 000mw electricity by 2014 will expire on Thursday.

The Managing Director of Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), Rumundaka Wonodi, disclosed this to The Guardian yesterday, on the sidelines of Akindelano Legal Practitioners seminar titled: “Transforming the Nigerian Power Sector: Challenges and Solutions”.

According to him, any bidder who is unable to meet up with the deadline given to them by the Federal Government would be replaced with the next preferred bidder.

Reacting to a story in the

media yesterday, that some bidders were complaining of not being given adequate notice before the signing of the contract, Wonodi stated: “I doubt if the bidders will actually complain because they are already aware about the timeline, therefore they should not be saying that they were not adequately informed”.

Chairman and Chief Executive of Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Sam Amadi said at the event that the country presently generates 4,500MW of electricity, which it hopes to

increase to 7,000MW target

by December this year.

He added that the government was determined to ensure that by 2014, the country would be able to generate 14,000MW of electricity.

Amadi said that NERC has entered into a partnership with Nigerian University Commission to embark on power management training of its students in order to provide the needed manpower for the country’s power sector.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive of Niger Delta Power Holding Company of

Commissioner for Information, Delta State, Chike Ogeah; Chairman, Delta State Economic Advisory Team and Managing Director of Financial Derivatives, Bismack Rewane; and Commissioner, Economic Planning, Delta State, Kenneth Okpara, during the state’s economic advisory meeting in Lagos.

Experts favour conventional crude oil production to shale the commodity. Any thing HE rising profile of shale •Raise alarm over depleting ‘reserves addition’ that happens in any parts of T oil production in the the world, in respect to enerUnited States of America may after all, not upstage Nigeria’s position in oil export business, going by the growing market for the country’s sweet crude.

Besides, the country’s potential to produce the shale oil has also been established despite its current higher relative cost of production, as recently assessed by experts.

Oil shale, also known as kerogen shale, is an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen from which liquid hydrocarbons called shale oil can be produced.

Shale oil is a substitute for conventional crude oil; however, extracting shale oil from oil shale is more costly than the production of conventional crude oil both finan-

cially and in terms of its environmental impact.

Deposits of oil shale occur around the world, including major deposits in the United States. Estimates of global deposits range from 2.8 to 3.3 trillion barrels (450×109 to 520×109 m3) of recoverable oil.

Shale oil gains attention as a potential abundant source of oil whenever the price of crude oil rises. At the same time, shale oil mining and processing raise a number of environmental concerns, such as land use, waste disposal, water use, waste-water management, greenhousegas emissions and air pollution. Estonia and China have well-established oil shale industries, and Brazil, Germany, Russia also utilise

oil shale.

The Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationist (NAPE), which revealed the level of shale oil deposit in Nigeria to The Guardian, believed that the hydrocarbon would not be commercially viable in Nigeria due to its high cost of exploration.

President of NAPE, George Osahon, told The Guardian that the country should not fret over the current exploitation of shale oil in the United States, as the country can boast of the hydrocarbon in large quantity, but would do better in exploiting the conventional oil production.

Osahon stated: “The discovery of shale oil is all over the world, but the United States is the country, which has actually started the production of

gy must affect the global energy mix. For me, there is nothing to worry about concerning the discovery of shale oil.

Nigeria should not fret over this new way of oil exploitation. In fact, we should be worried finding out way to continue to be relevant in the global oil market.

“Don’t forget that when it comes to oil and gas, we have not fully exploited what we have in the country. We have so many basins in Nigeria, which have not been exploited. We have shale oil in Nigeria, which can be exploited, but the question is ‘what is the cost of exploiting a barrel of shale oil compared to the cost of exploiting conventional oil’? What we need to do is CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

Nigeria, James Olotu, said that the country has benefited historically from different economic drivers, “but the power sector has the singular potential to reignite the entire economic system”.

Speaking on the challenges in the power sector, he noted that there was an absence of legally binding long-term gas supply, purchase agreement in the country.

He listed other challenges to include inadequate gas transportation infrastructure; lack of guarantees and credit enhancement for gas payments; and commercial pricing not in place.

He disclosed that there was still lack of commercially viable tariff; high level of customer resistance to tariff hikes; very few strong and financially viable Discos; government subsidy regime still in place and lack of data on customer demand/behavior; high technical losses and much commercial losses

from unremitted collections and illegal connections.

He added: “There is still high political interference in the recruitment process; there is bureaucracy and weak incentives for professionalism; political interference in the appointment of contractors is a big challenge; there is underdeveloped or non-existent market structures; the presence of illiquidity from inefficient cash-collection and control is not promoting the sector: high and unsustainable levels of government subsidy and absence of private sector participation in the value chain.”

Speaking on what is required to drive the country’s power sector reform programme, Olotu stressed the need for the government to institute structural reforms by way of enabling laws and incorporate standing institutions to drive the conceptualization, execution and delivery of the Power Transformation Project.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

16 BUSINESS

NCC sanctions telecoms operators for promo ban contravention

By Adeyemi Adepetun HE Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has slammed four mobile service providers, Airtel Networks Ltd, Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services Ltd (Etisalat), Globacom Ltd and MTN Communications Nigeria Ltd, with a N22 million being the cumulative amount in sanctions for contravening the ban on promotions and lotteries in their respective networks.

NCC explained that MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd is to pay N10 million on account of five promotions at N2 million for each promotion while Etisalat is to pay N6 million for three promotions in its network. The regulator fined Airtel N4 million for running two promotions against the ban while Globacom will pay N2 million for one promotion.

All the operators have seven days to pay their respective fines from date of receipt of the sanction notice on February 22, 2013, and are liable to payment of N1 million for any day that the contravention persists.

T

NCC’s Head of Media and Public Relations, Ruben Mouka, further explained that MTN's sanction was as a result of five promotions which include; Free Airtime for MTN to MTN calls (8AM – 5PM), MTN to MTN SMS and free MB for Data. Dial *559#; Free N100.00 airtime for MTN to MTN calls, Airtime Bonus valid for life.

Dial *559#; MTN Super Saver, get 500 per cent, bonus valid till midnight. Dial *507#; Recharge with N100.00 today and get N500 free credit instantly. Hurry and recharge before January 22nd.

In the case of Etisalat, three promotions that attracted it sanctions include, according to the regulator were the buy a MIFI device and get 1GB free for six months; buy a Router device and get 50 MB free data spread over four months and get 30 per cent instant bonus on every plan subscription/renewal over 200MB. On the other hand, Airtel, according to NCC, was sanctioned for two promotions including; dongle and MIFI offerings and the reverse auction service.

NCC accused Globacom of one contravention, which was for one Samsung Galaxy SIII, or Galaxy Note II and get free 500 MB on activation, and free 100MB X 6 Months.

Indeed, the notice of the sanctions, signed by the commission’s Director of Legal and Regulatory Services, Ms. Josephine Amuwa, said: “In the event of further non-compliance with the ban, and or refusal to pay the sanction amount within the stipulated time, the Commission shall have no other option than to impose stiffer penalties in accordance with the powers of the Commission, including but not limited to payment of N1 million for each day that the contravention persists.”

The notice stated that the failure of the service providers to discontinue the promotions in accordance with the commission’s directives is a direct contravention of Guidelines on Adverts and Promotions, as well as the Nigerian Communications (Enforcement Processes among others) Regulations 2005.

Expert raise alarm over depleting ‘reserves addition’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 to concentrate in exploiting the conventional oil, which is cheaper, before going into the exploitation of the more expensive shale oil”.

Meanwhile, Former President of the association, who is also the Managing Director of Seplate Petroleum Development Company, Austin Avuru, has raised alarm over the declining rate of the country’s yearly crude oil reserve addition,

which he said, was getting close to zero flat line.

Avuru, while speaking at the February Technical Meeting of NAPE on Wednesday, stated that the country has the lowest reserve and production ration for crude oil among Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

According to Aruru in a paper titled: “Policy and Activity in the Nigerian Petroleum Sector”, “our current oil reserve estimates

stand at about 35 billion barrels. Average yearly reserves addition in the last 10 years is about 800 million barrels, while average yearly withdrawal rate over the same period is about 840 million barrels. This would seem to suggest that we are already at, or very close to the zero flat line in net reserves addition. The situation, of course gets worse as we strive to attain a target daily production rate of four million barrels”.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

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ForexWatch FXTM FINANCIAL WEEKLY DIGEST 18th February - 24th February, 2013

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1 , 2013

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Refugees in their own country

Weekend

Arts & Culture P. 26

Autowheels P.44

Business Travels P.46

Benin Plan of Action‌ Plotting repatriation of looted artefacts

Hyundai celebrates world’s first zero-emission fuel cell vehicles

Nigerian airlines and the long route to survival

20 WEEKEND

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1 , 2013

Displaced Badia residents, Residents of Badia, a densely populated slum in the heart of Lagos, are still in shock over the sudden demolition of their houses and businesses by the Lagos State Government. On the other hand, traders of the Ladipo auto spare parts market, a sprawling commercial entity, are also coming to terms with its sudden, “unexpected closure.” The Lagos State government and the displaced residents and traders, are now trading blame over the propriety of both actions.

Amudat Lawal with her child and other displaced residents of Badia

By Godfrey Okpugie and Wole Oyebade HE impression they all had, about Governor Raji Fashola of Lagos State from a distance, was that of a compassionate, focused ruler, with the determination to turn the state into a haven for all. But for the displaced people of Badia, a sprawling ghetto on the state’s mainland, that impression changed sharply on February 23, when bulldozers suddenly appeared at their doorsteps, rolled across their community, leaving wanton destruction in their trail.

On the other side of the state, where the popular Ladipo auto spare parts market, less than a kilometer from Oshodi, had also been shut down by the state government, the affected traders have been counting their losses.

Although, demolition exercises are not strange to Badia residents, the consensus among members of the community is that the latest one, which began in the wee hours, and took most of them unawares, has so far been the most brutal.

“How can the Lagos State Government just come here and chase all of us away like that without warning,” an obviously dejected mother of three, Amudat Lawal, told The Guardian on Wednesday. Standing on the wreckage of what used to be her house with arms akimbo, Lawal described the state government’s action as “wicked.” She narrated what happened: “Just like everybody else, we woke up to see caterpillars and soldiers in the community. Initially, I thought it was a fight, which was not unusual among the boys around here. But before I knew what was going on, someone told me that (the state) government wants to demolish our houses, just like that! We were not informed this time. There was no notice. The next thing I heard was the noise of approaching caterpillars and soldiers pursuing everybody. The whole place was destroyed.”

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Pointing to a weather-beaten deep freezer a few metres away, she continued: “I now put my mattress on this, and I sleep there with my three children. We sleep here because we have nowhere else to go. The mosquitoes here have dealt with us. Look at my body, look at my children’s bodies. Look at what mosquitoes have done to us.”

She added: “This is a community of all tribes in Nigeria. We have been forced to live here due to the harsh economic condition.

No one wants to live in a ghetto, but at least, we still survive here. This was where I grew up and raised my three children. So, how will government just come and chase us away just like that? We are human beings too, with blood, like theirs, flowing in our veins.”

Indeed, when The Guardian visited the site last Wednesday, what used to be a bustling community had been reduced to rubbles by the Lagos State Environmental and Sanitation Task Force. Residents said that they watched helplessly as the bulldozers brought down on structure after another, with only a few scrambling to salvage whatever they could. Several women, children, the young and old were seen bemoaning their fate. Ita was alleged that policemen attached to the task force chased residents out of their homes as the demolition unfolded. As things now stand, several residents, from the major tribes in the country now sleep in open spaces with their left over belongings, which they are keen not to lose to thieves, who might want to cash in

on the situation.

Mr. Sunday Peter, who sobbed as he related his experience, said that children have been the worst hit. “They have no place to lay their heads when they return from school in the evening,” he lamented. “Majority of them stay behind at school to do their assignments meant to be done at home, while several others take such assignments to under the big umbrellas, which now serve as emergency daytime abode for many families.

Peter, a trained carpenter turned driver, when carpentry could not put food on his table, noted that he lost all he ever had to the demolition. He said: “My television set was destroyed with the DVD. My clothes are all gone. I lost all my carpentry tools that I kept in a big box in the room. In fact, I am yet to remember all that I lost in this human inflicted disaster. We now sleep outside at night, and in daytime, we cook and have our meals in the open. We take our bath in makeshift bathrooms.”

Recalling how the news of demolition reached him, Peter said he was not at home when the bulldozers came. His words: “I traveled to Abuja as a driver and it was only my son that was at home at the time the bulldozers came. Even now that I have returned from the journey and met my apartment in ruins, I have not seen my son that I left at home when I embarked on the journey.” He said he returned from his Abuja trip on February 25, three days after the destruction of the community.

Atiti was not the only person affected in

Just like everybody else, we woke up to see caterpillars and soldiers in the community. Initially, I thought it was a fight, which was not unusual among the boys around here. But before I knew what was going on, someone told me that (the state) government wants to demolish our houses, just like that! We were not informed this time. There was no notice

the house at 9, Aworetan Street, (Bale’s Compound), where he lived. According to him, there were 12 other tenants that lived in the destroyed house, excluding the landlord and his family members.

Mr. Oluwagboyega Aworetan, an evangelist and the Baale (local chief) of the destroyed community, said his late father, Chief Titus Aworetan, was the one the Federal Government relocated to the virgin community in 1973, from the site where the National Theatre was constructed. Hear him: “When my father was relocated to this place with about 50 of his family members, many other people were also asked to go to Orile, Surulere, Alaba Suru, Gaskiya, Amukoko and other areas.

“At that time, this area now known as Badia community, was swampy and it was only the railway tracks that served as the access road to this place. The government gave my father and all those that came here with him documents to support their relocation.

The Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) was then known as T.L.O and was also known as license of occupancy.

“My father did everything within his power to develop the area. Nowadays, government officials who are desperate to use their official position to acquire land or use developers to make money, have been coming here to harass us. Several attempts have been made to demolish this place in the past, but when they hear that the federal government gave us documents to occupy the place, they would retreat.”

Aworetan said that last year, “some hired thugs descended on my house and other people’s houses in this same place and demolished them, but that when Human Rights lawyers and activists stepped in, we were compensated with various sums of money, with some of us getting N380,000, N170,000 and so on, from the World Bank

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1 , 2013

WEEKEND 21

Ladipo traders bemoan losses

Policemen supervising the eviction of Badia residents during the demolition exercise.

Project.”

Aworetan averred that the community had not fully recovered from the trauma of the previous year’s demolition, when this year again, “they came with bulldozers to wreck havoc on us.”

Asked how the affected residents were coping, he replied: “We sleep outside. If you come here at night, you will see a lot of people sleeping on the road and in any available space. The Lagos State government should just leave us alone. If they want to develop this place, what we want them to do is to treat us as human beings who have a right to life like every other living being. They should stop turning us to refugees every time. If they want to come and develop this place, what they should do for us is to provide decent accommodation to over 50,000 people affected by the recent destruction.”

Another displaced resident, who could not spare the governor of unprintable words and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the state government had for several years “terrorized the community.” But, “none has been as brutal as what was done on Saturday,” he fumed. “We have never asked for anything from the government and we don’t disturb them. But to chase us away because their plan to build ‘low cost’ houses for themselves, is the worst thing that can ever happen in a civilian government.”

At the Ladipo market, which was shut down by the state government on Monday, the affected traders have been converging in small groups around the market like displaced wasps, discussing their plight. Apart from the traders, The Guardian discovered that many other people, who also earn their living as artisans, mechanics, food vendors and petty traders in and around the market were also affected by the closure.

An octogenarian, popularly called Mama Sunday, who sells petty items like sweets, kola nuts, bitter kola, assorted biscuits and different brands of cigarettes in the market, and who also resides in her stall, now has no place to sleep.

She complained to The Guardian that her wares were under serious threat as the fresh stock of kola nuts and bitter kola she just went to the market to acquire to replenish her stock before the closure, were fast turning bad. The policemen deployed to the market ordered her to vacate her stall.

Mama Sunday wondered why the Lagos State government headed by Governor Fashola, “who everybody seems to love and voted for during the election,” could come out now to be so hard on the people including herself, who queued patiently the other day to vote for him.

“Please help me tell Fashola to tell the police to allow these hard working and industrious children in this market to come back to their businesses. Closing the market and sending them away from their sources of livelihood is not the best way to compel them to do what is required of them. There are other ways to make them do what is expected of them,” she said.

Chinedu Okokwo, a trader in the market, complained that the closure of the market had adversely affected him because the peo-

Blessing, one of the displaced Badia residents with her baby, in the rubble of her demolished home

Suleiman insisted that the now displaced residents of the area were illegal occupants, who had been given adequate notice by the state government to vacate the place. He also affirmed that officials of the state government had three weeks ago, also met with the Badia community leaders and had advised them to vacate peacefully without being forced to do so ple who were supposed to pay him “a huge some of money and take delivery of their spare parts” could not do so as a result of the closure.

An official of the Social and Economic Rights Action Centre (SERAC), a non-governmental organization (NGO) working with the displaced people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Guardian that the Badia community member had first expressed worry, when they sighted a team of Lagos State government senior officials, along with armed police escorts, at Badia East a few days before the demolition.

According to the NGO official, the state officials denied demolition plans at a meeting held on February 22 between them and the SERAC team, only for the bulldozers to move in barely 24 hours later.

The global Human Rights group, Amnesty International, also accused the state government of gross violation of human rights with the demolition of houses and forced eviction of residents.

A statement by the London based group appealed to the state government to “immediately stop” such evictions. It alleged that “no adequate notice was given to the residents of the community before the demolition commenced,” although it acknowledged that an eviction notice was only given to the Baale “on Wednesday February 20.”

The group’s Deputy Director for Africa, Lucy Freeman declared: “The eviction of people from their homes without the appropriate legal and procedural safeguards, including prior and adequate consultation, adequate notice and the provision of adequate alternative housing constitute a forced eviction and is a gross violation of human rights including the right to adequate housing.”

Chairman of the Lagos state task force, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Bayo Suleiman, said that the demolition was to enable government put up befitting low cost houses on the site.

Suleiman insisted that the now displaced residents of the area were illegal occupants, who had been given adequate notice by the state government to vacate the place. He also affirmed that officials of the state government had three weeks ago, also met with the Badia community leaders and had advised them to vacate peacefully without being forced to do so.

Mama Sunday, one of the petty traders affected by the closure of the Ladipo auto spare parts market

Another displaced nursing mother at Badia

Emergency open bedroom, Badia

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ExecutiveBrief In association with TRIPPLEA ASSOCIATES LIMITED

EDITION 254

EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT INFOTECH4DEXECUTIVES CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE EXECUTIVE FINANCE

ubegs Global Concepts Nigeria is a market leader that is D committed to providing speed, reliability and competency in all areas of customer relations as a customer centric company. Always looking ahead to bring to the customer what’s next in top of the range automobiles. The organisation maintains consistent good quality, short-delivery periods, competitive price, and committed technical support, thereby becoming a reliable partner for a long and trustworthy working relationship. In a bid to reposition the organization for a better future, the organization diversified into real estate development and oil and gas sectors of the economy. Mr. Dubem Chukwurah, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the organisation is an enterprising business leader of global repute. In this interview with Nnamdi Nwokolo, Dubem, who built the organisation from the scratch to a world class company, spoke on the challenges and prospects of enterprise development in Nigeria and sundry issues. He believes that you can be in business and touch so many lives by creating employment opportunities but a greater of people’s life will be positively affected if good policies are formulated by the government.

In diversifying your business, did you have the competence to really manage the business? The beauty of managing a business is not what you do yourself, it is the ability to synergize what people around you can do and harness the full benefits positively, is what makes a great manager. You can never do it alone. In the industry that we operate, we have professionals that run the place. They only come to me for advice. What I do is to make funds available and sometimes put my personal touch to it to make sure it’s done in a way that will be beneficial to the organisation. My job is basically supervision, most times their ideas could be better than mine, but I only have the opportunity of listening to so many people and putting their ideas together. It’s not what you do per se, but the ability to harness the potentials of your colleagues is what really matters;

Redefining Service delivery in the Authomobile Industry that is why no one takes glory for whatever success that is achieved, because it is propelled by teamwork.

What are the initial challenges and how were you able to surmount them?

One thing I’ve learnt in the course of this business is that integrity equals capital. The only way we overcame the issue of financing was to build up our integrity. We operate in a difficult environment, so daily; you meet a lot of challenges. What has actually kept us going is determination, integrity and the Grace of God. What you need is a great deal of goodwill; make people to believe in you. The moment people identify you as a reliable organization, you are on track. What you now need to do is to deliver on two or three promises, which will act as a reference point for your organization. Setting up this organisation is really capital intensive, and I don’t have such funds, so I relied on friends and associates to get this place started. But in everything, we give thanks to God for his mercies. We have endured a lot of difficult situations, but because of the transparent nature of our operations, our staff, clients and associates believe so much in us. We are so transparent that even our financial supporters have so much belief in our ability to deliver on our promises.

ate and appraise performances.

When and how do you think we can have a Made in Nigeria car?

The issue of a Made in Nigerian car is long overdue. The idea behind it is that, apart from lifting the image of this country, it will give people the opportunity to buy brand new vehicles at affordable prices. The most important factor towards the actualization of that dream is the constant availability of power. If there’s no power, it’s not possible. No economy can have any meaningful growth without constant and uninterrupted power supply. Can you imagine that despite the huge earthquake that ravaged Haiti they still had uninterrupted power. Made in Nigeria car will always be a mirage without power. This is one of the major reasons why many multinationals are relocating to Ghana where there’s regular power supply. We can only achieve success in power if a ban is placed on generators.

What can government do differently to get things right?

If the government can formulate and sustain policies that will help the business community, the entire country will be better for it. This can be done by strengthening the Naira against the dollar, provision of infrastructures, and create employment opportunities for our youths. The import duty should be reviewed also to encourage enterprise development in Nigeria. It is very easy for people to wake up and start criticizing the governUnique Factors that stand your organisation out: ment for what have done or what they have failed to do. If we The things we do are governed by core values and beliefs, understand the extent of dearth of our infrastructures over the which include integrity. The direction we are taking is to redeyears, we’ll begin to appreciate the efforts being put in place by fine the service level in the automobile industry, so that customers will have real value for the government of President Goodluck Jonathan. Although, we’ve not gotten where we are supposed to be, but I think the their money. Our cars are top of the range and our prices are government is making slow and steady progress especially in the provision of power, security and freedom. We are very impatient competitive. This will go a long way to define who we are with ourselves, take for example what happened in South Africa where we lifted the Cup of Nations after 19 years; nobody gave and the kind of organisation the team a chance, but they succeeded because of their tenacity. I we are trying to build. Our team maintains a strong foun- believe that with the right support from every Nigerian, the government will succeed. Governor Babatunde Fashola has equally dation of trust and mutual exhibited the Nigerian spirit in the transformation of Lagos state. respect generated through They need to be commended for their efforts even though a lot positive relationship with needs to be done. associates, clients and all stakeholders. Our mission is to What are the focus/projections for the organization? create, retain and sustain com- I must confess to you that this brand will be well known globally. petence in partnership with At the moment, people identify with us, but there’s a level we are our customers by delivering taking this firm to. We have strategic alliance with partners service and maximizing profit abroad. In the next five years, I want to have one of the best for all partners involved. We equipped showrooms in this country that will meet global stanhave a very good knowledge of dards. Our focus is to replicate what we have done in the automothe industry and our knowlbile industry to the real estate development and oil and gas edge base is our competitive industry. We have carefully strategized to equip everybody in this advantage over who our com- organization for the global challenge ahead. I encourage my petitors are. At our office in employees to develop their competencies while giving them Awolowo way, Ikeja, we have ample opportunity to express themselves. We will get there established a dedicated cusbecause I try to earn their trust and confidence by being friends tomer care desk to handle all with them, with that we will be able to flow together. our customers’ complaints with a swift response on 01How do you stay in touch with people at all levels in the organiza7605014 and 08035221077. tion?

With all humility, I’ll tell you that my management style is an What are the critical factors for interactive one. I personally get in touch with everybody irrespecbusiness success in Nigeria? tive of his position, because I believe that when you get close to The prospects of enterprise people, you’ll be able to know their strengths and weaknesses development are enormous in which will enable you take strategic decisions for the overall benthe country considering our efit of all of. In this organization it is always difficult to identify potentials. The major factors the CEO and the workers, there’s no bossy kind of attitude here. of success are arguably knowl- That is our style and a key attribute of a good leader. edge, integrity and vision.

Action inspired by, knowledge What advice will you give to young and upcoming entrepreis very important to success. neurs?

Success can only be achieved Aspiring or upcoming entrepreneurs should understand that through the application of there is dignity in labour. They must psychologically prepare ones knowledge. Integrity is themselves away from the path of least resistance. Sometimes also very important. If you the result may be delayed. They have to be persistence without have a clear vision of where being stupid. They should know that whatever venture they get you are going, you must get themselves into, it must succeed provided they are ready to pay there in the fullness of time. some personal sacrifices. The support system should try to The key to any business sucencourage young entrepreneurs. Training is also an integral part cess lies in understanding the of success in any venture they go in, be sure to have a good secrets of the business and the knowledge of the business you are going into and above you environment. It is the bedrock should love and enjoy whatever you want to do. of strategy itself. You can’t How do you maintain work/life balance? craft a strategy that is indeI have no challenges at home. I have a wonderful and capable pendent of the environment.

Understanding your business wife and children. My time at home is qualitative because in whatever I do, I put my family first. It is not the number of hours environment helps you to one stays in the office that matters, it is the quality of your output define competition, to evaluthat makes the difference.

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Dubem Chukwurah

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24 | EXECUTIVEBRIEF

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

Executive Management

By Peter A Hunter he Trouble with Management is Manager’s.

Managers believe that the job of Management is to manage, to administer, to control, and that is the problem. If they had a workforce who were willing to be Managed like this, “Managing to Control” would remain a valid management strategy. Since early in the last Century the Social Map has changed massively. Most of us noticed that our managers didn’t. The workforce expectation has developed and employees are no longer prepared to be the passive recipients of monosyllabic one way communication that they once were. The workforce are now educated, frequently to a level in excess of their managers, they are literate, numerate, curious, experienced, skilled and energetic.

These qualities can’t be quantified in a contract of employment; they are in the gift of the employees to give to their employer, at the employee’s discretion. If the employee has a choice of two buses to take to work, one allows him to arrive

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The Trouble With Management

20 minutes early, clock in, get a coffee, have a gossip and be at his workstation, comfortable and prepared for work. The other arrives fifteen minutes later, allows him to clock in, exactly on time, if the bus is punctual. If the bus is late he uses his work time to enter into a dispute with HR about whose fault his own lateness was and when the bus is on time he gets to his workstation at the appointed hour but is not ready to work and spends the first part of his working day trying to catch up what could have taken only a few minutes if he was not trying to work at the same time.

employee to take the later bus because which bus he takes is a decision over which he has control. The employee will always have a brilliant and unassailable excuse for why he could not take the early bus because his excuse was developed during the time that he took for his second slice of toast and another cup of tea.

It is in all of our natures to resist being controlled, we want to be able to make our own decisions about the environment in which we exist and when someone tries to take away our ability to choose, we resist. The above suggests a particular scenario in which the The fifteen minute difference manager does not appear to to the employee at the beginhave any physical control over ning of the day may have a tiny the employee other than to personal significance but the behave towards him in a manknock on effect of not taking ner that forces the employee to the earlier bus is huge to the do the opposite of what the organization he works for in manager requires. In this sceterms of lost productivity. His nario the manager may take an manager is completely aware increasing amount of time to of this but has no ability to devise strategies to force the make his employee take the employee to catch the earlier earlier bus. If his manager tells bus but the more he tries the him to take the earlier bus, more the employee will continhuman nature will force the ue to get the later bus and the

Executive Health

Success Strategies

7 Attributes of Healthy Life

By Dr. Brett Saks By Enoch Tan he level of your health is no mystery. Your health is determined greatly by your everyday lifestyle. Putting things into perspective however always, and certainly, leads us to 7 of the most important things YOU can do to improve and insure your health, energy, and vitality. Here are some helpful things to think about:

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that they don’t want to be managed. In any situation the employee can choose to give better his excuses will be until how in any situation, at work, the employer his discrethe whole exercise becomes a or not, every employee has in tionary effort. The delivery of clash of wills that the manager the delivery of that discrethis effort does not depend can’t win. tionary effort, massive potenon money, it depends on the Many managers will recognise tial. The workforce want to way that the employee feels the above developing scenario deliver that effort, they want to about what he does, and that show what they are capable of, and realise that ultimately the depends on the way that his they want to be able to be increasing drain on their own manager behaves towards proud of what they do, but time will produce no return. him. For management to stop Their only recourse is therefore they are prevented by the being a problem they have to behaviour of their managers. to look for another way to manstop behaving in a way that age their employees from which The trouble with management prevents the release of their is that they want to manage. they might expect a return in employees’ discretionary terms of increased productivity. The trouble with employees is effort.

Unfortunately what we have seen here is a single, simple example of the way that an employee manages his discretionary effort. His discretionary effort consists of the range of abilities, the energy, the skills, the experience, all of the things that every employee can bring to his work, but none of which can be quantified in his contract of employment. In the above example, because the effort required is clearly not within his working time, it is easy to see how the employee can deny the manager control over his discretionary effort. What is less clear to the manager, but still perfectly apparent to the employee, is

ing you a hard time, deal with it and don’t let it get you down so low that you’re depressed. We all have to accept that life is not perfect, but we can create our responses to all of those little things that get us down.

Food: I am extremely interested in diet and nutrition. Some simple guidelines to optimal health through nutritional intake are; eat regular size meals, eat plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, meats and grains, avoid or eliminate Sunlight: Do you know that sunlight is a vital nutrient? Well it is. It helps our bodies function processed foods and sugar, do not eat too close in many ways. Two important ways are: a) our to bed-time, and keep your blood sugar regulatskin produces vitamin D when in the presence ed properly.

Water: One of our most important nutrients, of sunlight, a vitamin essential for absorbing calcium. b) The pineal gland, a small gland in and we can live only a few days without it. It’s the brain, is affected by sunlight and helps our vital for almost all of life’s processes including digestion, circulation, and nervous and immune bodies regulate sleep patterns. If you are taking calcium supplements or are using supple- system function. Drink as close to one quart of ments like melatonin, maybe you are just low fresh, clean water per fifty pounds of body weight per day. I recommend reverse osmosis on sunlight! water; it is inexpensive, tastes great and really Exercise: All of know that exercise is a good helps your body work properly. part of any health regimen. I recommend Air: Something we all have to work on here in walking 30 minutes to an hour at least three times per week. The benefits are innumerable, Phoenix with all of the pollution. Walking in the morning before all of the cars and traffic gets but here are a few: a) helps to move the lymphatic fluid throughout your body which car- started is helpful in getting fresh air. Bring plants ries important nutrients to your body tissues into your house and at work if you can, they breathe in the carbon dioxide we breathe out, and walking also helps to remove unwanted and they give off fresh oxygen which helps us waste products and chemicals. b) stimulates metabolism for hours, even days after you have feel more alert and allows us to live healthy. We can only live a few minutes without air, so try to exercised. make the air quality you breathe the best it can Rest: You might be thinking about sleep, but be. How you breathe is also important. Shallow sleep is only part of rest. Hopefully you are a breathing from the chest is how most of us getting sufficient amount sleep and you feel breathe. But it is not the best way. Try breathing rested upon awakening. Remember that rest is 25 breaths in the morning, afternoon and also the time spent away from repetitive evening from your stomach, it can help increase and/or stressful activities. energy and reduce stress tremendously. If we Positive mental attitude: Your attitude is your consider these things optional, we undermine altitude! Make your days GREAT. Only you have our health and reduce the natural levels of enercontrol of how your days are spent. If life is giv- gy and vitality we are meant to feel.

Key to Success: 10

3 Things That Every IT Manager Wants

By Dr. Jim Anderson e’ve all seen the movie or read the book where the hero gets three wishes and then spends the rest of their time trying to make the right decisions. This brings up an interesting point for IT managers: if you had 3 wishes that you could use to make your current job better, what would they be? I’ve taken the time to sit down with a number of IT managers and I asked them this question. As you can imagine, a lot of their answers were all over the map (they ALL wanted to be paid more!) However, after sifting through the various unrealistic requests, I found three common themes for what IT managers really want.

W

Autonomy - During the course of an average day, how do you determine what you are going to work on? The IT managers that I talked to told me that what they really wanted from their job was self-directing freedom - the ability to pick and choose what they are going to work on next. The thinking goes that we’re all professionals here. We don’t really need a lot of close supervision because we all know what we need to be doing. If our management can provide us with good direction on where we should be steering our teams, then we’ll be able to focus on doing our best work.

Affiliation - The best IT managers understand that this is a very social job - you can’t keep your head down and simply send out emails all of the time. Instead, you need to be up and moving around so that you can interact with as many people each day as is possible.

To get the most out of your IT manager job,

Action is the foundational key to all success. Pablo Picasso

you are going to want to work with people that you both admire and get along with. At the same time, since you (and your team) will be part of a group you want to feel a sense of belonging. If you can achieve both of these things at the same time, then you’ll have the IT manager job that you’ve always wanted.

Workspace - IT managers tend to get caught up in all of the important things that have to do with our job: hiring and firing team members, planning budgets, managing projects, etc. It can be very easy to overlook something that is actually pretty important: where we work.

I’m talking about the little things. You know, the location of your office, whether or not you have a pleasing work environment or just have gray paint on the walls, if your commute is easy, etc. Taken together, these all play a role in how you view your current job.

What All of This Means for You - IT managers want to do the best job possible. If they had magical powers, almost all of them would want to make some sort of change to their current job so that they could do better work. In talking with many different IT managers, 3 common themes emerged. The first was that they wanted autonomy to decide what work they were going to do at any given point in time. The next was that they wanted to be affiliated with a group of people that they respected and looked up to. Finally, they wanted to be able to perform their work in an attractive, positive work environment.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

26 ARTS

Revue Benin Plan of Action… Plotting

repatriation of looted artefacts

lective sharing, the west had argued, is best achieved in European and U.S. museums space where ‘adequate protection’ of the culDialoguing with keepers of Nigeria’s tural objects is assured. Usman noted that “as lofty as the European views are, they have not looted cultural objects as a fresh found much understanding with the disposstrategy in the efforts to reclaim these sessed, whose moving tales have become strident finding listeners all over the world in treasures appears to be yielding result support of the call for the repatriation of with the emergence of ‘Benin Plan of these artefacts.”

At the end of the deliberation, the Benin Plan Action’ as the outcome of the meeting of Action document highlights “developing a held last week in Benin, the capital data bank by the collaborating institutions on Benin art collections in their holdings in form city of Edo State. of a digital archive of electronic and hard copies; all collaborating institutions upon OSTED by Nigeria’s National Commission request shall have right of producing free of for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) in charge photographs of Benin art objects in Benin City last week, and specifically focused the collection of collaborating institutions on the Benin bronzes, it was coincidentally particularly for scholarly purposes; staff of held on February 19, the same date the British the collaborating institutions shall have colonial army invaded Benin in 1897. The organaccess to Benin Collections in their holdings isers described the gathering as a follow-up to in accordance with the existing procedures of two earlier meetings on the subject, held in the institutions; the NCMM shall improve the Vienna, Austria in December 2010; as well as university education of its staff working on Berlin, Germany, October 2011. the collections and on this basis collaborating Earlier, before the Vienna meeting, some agitainstitutions will assist in securing support for tor countries, including Nigeria had met at a internship and scholarship for postgraduate two-day conference tagged International studies on the Benin collections.”

Cooperation for the Protection and Also included in the seven-points Benin Plan Repatriation of Cultural Heritage, held in Cairo, of Action are measures to encourage collaboEgypt. Organized by Egypt’s Supreme Council rating institutions in assisting “with expertise of Antiquities (SCA), the participants called for in the establishment of a conservation laboraa collective approach to restitution, and promtory in Nigeria; collaborating institutions ised to meet again. shall assist the NCMM in developing its But the Benin meeting brought a dialogue library and archive facilities; NCMM and coltone into restitution issue: for the first time, a laborating museums shall create an enabling claimant country hosted representatives of environment for an increased exchange of possessor museums. touring/travelling exhibitions for the Benin Participants included Dr. Michael Barrett and art objects and other art traditions where the Dr. Lotten Gustafsson-Reinius representatives European and Nigerian museum experts will of the National Museum of Ethnography of the work together in the planning and execution Museums of World Culture Stockholm, Sweden of such exhibitions.”

Dipl. Ethn; Silvia Dolz of Museum für It added: “that these individual steps are part Völkerkunde Dresden, Staatliche of the dialogue which goal is to lead to the Ethnographische Sammlungen Sachsen of the display of the objects in Nigeria.” And more Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, importantly, the Benin Plan of Action will Germany; Dr. Peter Junge revisit the 1970 UNESCO Convention, in its represented Ethnologisches Museumnext agenda.

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany; Dr. To a keen observer of the restitution warfare, Barbara Plankensteiner represented Museum some of the items in the Benin Plan of Action für Völkerkunde, Vienna, Austria; and Dr. are familiar: it’s an extension of the usual colAnnette Schmidt of the National Museum of laborative projects, which the NCMM has Ethnology of the Netherlands. been engaging with the possessors in the past Other participants from Nigeria seven years. included Rosemary Bodam, Peter Odeh, However, what offered hope of possible Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, High Chief Edem Duke addressing participants.

Babatunde Adebiyi (NCMM delegation); conreturn of the Benin objects, and perhaps by sultant of legal-related cultural object due to unresolved traveling logistics. Other par- Chief Stanley Obamwonyi (Esere of Benin). extension other artefacts of Nigerian origin matter, Prof. Folarin Shyllon; and representaIn his speech at the opening of the meeting, ticipants from Nigeria included Rosemary under incarceration in museums abroad, is tives of the Benin monarch, Prince Edun Bodam, Peter Odeh, Babatunde Adebiyi (NCMM the Director-General of NCMM, Yusuf Abdallah the expectation that the 1970 UNESCO Egharese Akenzua (Enogie of Obazuwa) and delegation); consultant of legal-related cultural Usman revisited several arguments of the Convention will be discussed in the next Chief Stanley Obamwonyi (Esere of Benin). holders, which appeared to have been object matter, Prof. Folarin Shyllon; and repremeeting, may be with a push to draw the British Museum, according to NCMM, was also sentatives of the Benin monarchy, Prince Edun summed up by the museums’ declaration of a invited, but the representative could not come global sharing of the looted artefacts. Such colCONTINUED ON PAGE 27 Egharese Akenzua (Enogie of Obazuwa) and

By Tajudeen Sowole

H

The D-G, NCMM Yusuf Abdallah Usman, flanked by Dr Barbara Plankensteiner from Austria and Dr. Peter Junge during a press conference after the meeting.

From left, High Priest Osemwegie Ebohon, Chief Stanley Obamwonyi and representative of Oba of Benin, Prince Edun Akenzua.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

ARTS 27

‘We ‘ve had enough talks, let’s act now’

By Prince Edun Akenzua the National Commission for IingTHANK Museums and Monuments for organiz this conference and inviting me to it.

Participants at the workshop

...Repatriating looted Benin artefacts CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26 attention of the rest of the world to the need for a review.

Aside the argument of a universal space being promoted by the museums holding the controversial objects, the 1970 UNESCO Convention, tactically, gives cover to the possessors.

At the press conference where the plan of action was unveiled, Usman, in response to a time frame and specificity for the return of the bronzes, noted that the meeting with the holders “is the beginning”.

Also, Dr. Junge of Ethnologisches Museum, Germany assured that the meeting had given a window that may lead to a new dawn in agitation for the return of the Benin objects. He noted that in over one and a half centuries of the Benin bronzes issue, parties in the dispute have not really come so close in dialogue as the just held meeting. “Between 160 years ago and now, nothing has been done, but the dialogue has started now,” Junge said. “The idea of Benin objects will change in our minds”, he assured.

“I am sure, you will see the objects in Nigeria.”

He however cautioned that “I am not saying in three days, next month or next year, but it will happen.” Junge’s concept of getting the works to Nigeria, it was learnt, would be with an understanding of loaning for showcasing and return them to the possessors’ museums.

And as the issue of restitution becomes more complex, offering perpetual cover to the holders under the 1970 UNESCO Convention and International Institute for the Unification of Private Law otherwise known as UNIDROIT 1995, Prof. Shyllon, an expert in antiquity laws picked holes in the document. Conventions, he noted, “don’t have retroactive effect.” He argued that “no country would enter into a convention about what happened yesterday.

You cannot force a country to comply.” It should be recalled that the 1970 UNESCO document on cultural object is silent on the pre-convention disputed artefacts from repatriation cover.

Article 7 (b) (ii) of the Convention recommends “appropriate steps to recover and return any such cultural property imported after the entry into force of this Convention in both States concerned, provided, however, that the requesting State shall pay just compensation to an innocent purchaser or to a person who has valid title to that property.” Clearly the pre-convention looted artefacts were not in the radar of the drafters of the document.

And more complex is the UNIDROIT. It states in Article 3, paragraph 3: “Any claim for restitution shall be brought within a period of three years from the time when the claimant knew the location of the cultural object and the identity of its possessor, and in any case within a period of fifty years from the time of the theft.”

Although no formal claims from either the Nigerian museum authority or the Benin monarch met the UNIDROIT convention, there are grounds to press for restitution. For example, part of the introductory section cautions that “this Convention will not by itself provide a solution to the problems raised by illicit trade, but that it initiates a process that will enhance international cultural co-operation and maintain a proper role for legal trading and inter-State agreements for cultural exchanges”.

However, what offered hope of possible return of the Benin objects, and perhaps by extension other artefacts of Nigerian origin under incarceration in museums abroad, is the expectation that the 1970 UNESCO Convention will be discussed in the next meeting, may be with a push to draw the attention of the rest of the world to the need for a review.

Perhaps, a window such as this informed the argument of Usman who noted in his opening speech on Day-one of the conference that those who drafted the documents “understand that

Dr Barbara Plankensteiner addressing the audience

the Conventions are mere aggregates of different views of varying and divergent interests.” He noted that “the drafters suggest that parties may seek other complementary means, other arrangements that will be agreeable to all parties.”

Also, the Hon Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke acknowledged the complexity in restitution, but pleaded with the visitors. He noted what he described as “the hurdles placed on our way by the various Conventions and applicable international laws that govern repatriation of heritage objects.”

He however urged the “visitors to earnestly reconsider the injustice that led to the uprooting of these cultural icons.”

In his response to the Benin Plan of Action, Akenzua (Enogie of Obazuwa), noted that “there is nothing in the Plan of Action that really address restitution.” He argued that the CONTINUED ON PAGE 28

The letter by which I was invited states that the Commission also invited representatives of some major European Museums to come and discuss the prospects of repatriating Benin objects located in their museums.

It says this meeting is a follow-up to an “ongoing discussion on the ownership status of Benin Art works in foreign collections and the first and second rounds of the dialogue were held Vienna and Berlin in December 2010 and December 2011 respectively.

May I ask, respectfully, if the museum representatives present here today can take a decision on a matter that involves national policy on to return or not to return the artifacts?

I wonder!

As for the ownership status of the works, who does not know that Benin is the true owner despite the semantics and legalese by the international community?

I attended an exhibition of Benin works in Vienna in 2007. It was the first of a joint event by four nations: Austria, United States, Germany and France. the exhibition was attended by the Nigerian Minister of Culture and Tourism and the DirectorGeneral of the NCMM. the Oba of Benin sent a 4-man delegation, including this speaker. I addressed the meeting. The situation of things at that time has not changed. Permit me therefore to quote from my address in Vienna. (Excepts) ‘...I commend the organizers of this exhibition. I thank for the invitation to His Majesty the King of Benin to send representatives and Prof Wifried Seipel for giving me this opportunity to say one or two things. it was said that this is the first time these Benin works have been re-united in this fashion since they were forcibly removed from Benin more than 100 years ago.

As a member of the Benin Royal Family, from whose palace the works were removed in 1897, we are seeing some of these works for the first time, We are overwhelmed by nostalgia. We wish the re-unification of these works taking place in Benin, the natural habitat of the works.

In the second preface to the catalogue of the exhibition, the Museum Director, Dr Christian Feest and his colleagues wrote that it was the most comprehensive exhibition on the subject ever to have been mounted. permit me to quote them: ‘.....The military act (by the British against Benin) seems unjustifiable, however, we must recognize the role it (the military act ) played in bringing these works of art to far broader attention. They are now forever on the map of the world art.......

The transformation of what has been treated as architectural ornaments into veritable archival documents, which had occurred up to their alienation from the Benin Royal Court, illustrates the steady changes in the attribution of meaning and value even within their local context.

The present consideration of these works within multi-layered discourses on the past and on identity in the competing contents and claims of local tradition, the nation state and globalizationIs part and parcel of the continuation of shifts in meaning and the persistent viability of the material documents of the past...”

“There may be a shift in the allocation of meaning to the viability of the material documents of the past. But that shift seems to occur only in the minds of non-Benins, especially scholars, who see the works only from the narrow prism of scholarly interpretation or from a mere aesthetic consideration.

“The Director-General of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments, at that time, Dr. O.J. Eboreime, expressed his pleasure that the exhibition was mounted.

He said through it the creative and technology genius of the African artist would be better appreciated.

“I am afraid, the Director-General, himself a scholar, fell into the same trap into which other scholars had fallen.

If I may ask, why won’t interested scholars go to Benin City and study the works?... And said the act only seems unjustifiable.

I attended an exhibition of Benin works in Sweden, Stockholm in 2009. Only last September, I was special guest at the British Museum in London.

I can perceive two reasons, veiled as they are, for these museums to be mounting these exhibitions.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

28 ARTS

Peter Badejo...

Another feather to his cap AST Friday at Finsbury town LAssociation hall, London, the of Dance of the

Peter Badejo OBE being presented with his award by Derrick Anderson, CBE Chief Executive Lambeth Council, London

...Repatriating stolen treasures heats up CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27 European delegation at the Benin conference were not policy makers, but professionals.

“They are just like the museums professionals we have here, so they can’t make policy on restitution.”

If the Benin Plan of Action, in his opinion fell short of expectation, what would the Benin monarch recommend to get the works returned? “Currently, I don’t have the position of the Oba of Benin on the Plan of Action. But 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.” He recalled that “we requested for the Idia mask for FESTAC ‘77, the British government asked Nigeria to pay two million pounds.”

Coincidentally, there came a warning of a long and difficult battle ahead when the British Prime Minister, David Cameron – about

the same time of the Benin meeting – described restitution as impossible. He reacted to the request for the return of Koh-i-noor diamond, an Indian origin gem, currently a central component of the British Crown Jewel mounted at the Tower of London. Cameron was on a visit to India, specifically, the site of British colonial massacre of protesters at Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar. He used his response on the return of Koh-i-noor diamond to address the issue of restitution generally.

“The right answer is for the British Museum and other cultural institutions to do exactly what they do, which is to link up with other institutions around the world to make sure that the things which we have and look after so well are properly shared with people around the world.” Cameron was emphatic when he added “I certainly don’t believe in returnism, as it were. I don’t think that’s sensible.”

A cross section of European delegates to the meeting during the opening ceremonies

African Diaspora (ADAD) awarded Peter Badejo, OBE with a Lifetime Achievement accolade for his contribution to the development of the practice of Dance of the African Diaspora in the UK. This citation which was read out on the evening Peter Badejo OBE is one of Nigeria’s foremost choreographers, dancers and African performance specialists. After a long and distinguished career in Nigeria, United States as a performer,director teacher and academic ,peter moved to Britain in 1990.

Peter is the artistic director of Badejo arts a company he founded in 1990. In addition to his own productions of allegorical contemporary African dance ,including “Emi ijo”. The Pain of Aspiration , Sisi Agbe Aye (Opening the Gourd } ,The living Circle and Ebo Iye (Transitions ) Elemental Passions, Peter Badejo has appeared in major drama’s such as Cambridge University’e Eshu’s Faust,Talawa Theatre company’s The Gods AreNot To Blame,Phylida Lloyds production of Medea and Death of the Kings Horseman.

Dance companies throughout Africa, Europe and America have commissioned Peter Badejo’s work ,Peter’s list of collaborators and commissions include Adizdo Pan African Dance Ensemble .Kokuma, Irie Dance theatre,Sakoba Productions,The royal Exchange Theatre Manchester,Cambridge Arts Theatre, The School of African and Oriental studies London ,The University of Surrey,amongst others .

Greatly in demand as a teacher he has conducted residencies and workshop programmes throughout the UK for organisations such as the international workshop festival, London contemporary

dance school, The Birmingham summer school as well as WOMAD. During his tenure as artists in residence at John Moore University b assisted in the development of African Dance. Between 1993 and 2005 professionals and seasoned performers flocked to his annual dance and music summer school “Bami Jo”which was originally designed to provide a training ground in African and caribbean dance for dance companies before being subsequently developed to provide intensive training for independent professional dancers and musicians ,Peter Badejo was honoured by Her Majesty the Queen with an OBE for his contributions to

the arts in 2001 Peter Badejo’s commitment to the field of African performance arts has involved research conducted through the Universities of London, California, Ghana, Ahmadu Bello University and the University of Surrey. Peter Badejo now freelances worldwide. He directed one of Nigeria’s contribution to London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, additionally he has been the artistic director for a number of international arts festival hosted in Abuja and Lagos, EKO 2012 and The Lagos Black Heritage Festival.

In his acceptance speech Peter Badejo dedicated the award to the practitioners that had came before him.

‘How ICT is shaping broadcast journalism’ From Abdulwarees Solanke, Kuala Lumpur HE momentous revolution in information and comT munication technology which is shaping journalism and broadcasting practice calls for the acquisition of new skills among mass media professionals, network in the media industry and support from the government.

The Malaysian minister of Information, Communication and Culture, Dato Seri Dr. Rais Yatim made the submission at the opening of the First International Conference on Broadcast Training in Kuala Lumpur last Monday.

Yatim who observed that broadcasting, evolving from analogue to digital since the 1990s, has come a long way, leading to the innovation of HDTV. “This innovation would invariably require new skills and personnel empowerment”, he said as he commended the conference organizers, the sultan Abdulrazaq Institute for

Broadcasting and Information, IPPTAR and the Asia Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development, AIBD, for their initiative.

Explaining the rationale for the conference, the Director of IPPTAR, Dato Adilah Shek and Dr. Ynag Binyuan emphasized the imperative of training broadcasters “because of the daunting challenges, as a paradigm shift is needed in media education.” Such shift should recognize the interrelationship between culture, programme production and broadcasting.

The Secretary General of the Malaysian Information Ministry, Dato Seri Kamaruddin Siarraf noted that the theme of the conference “Building Competences in an evolving media environment would reflect the constantly shifting media landscape and the challenges or opportunities for broadcast training institutions in this age, with particular emphasis on capacity building.

Immortality of the written word

By Kenechukwu Ezeonyejiaku HE saying that ‘Life ends, but art lives forevT er’ came to stage as friends and colleagues of late author, writer, poet, playwright, editor, film producer/director, Ebereonwu and Okey ‘Foot’ Okpa gathered to remember, honour and also pay tribute to their own.

The event which was held at Onabolu Gallery, National Theatre, with the title, ‘Immortality of the Written Word’ saw friends and members of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) pay glowing tributes in the form of speeches to the late authors.

Speaking with The Guardian, one of the four friends of Ebereonwu and Okpa and an ExOfficio member of Association of Nigeria Authors, Mr. Hyacinth Obumselu who organized the event said that they “put the event together because it seems that they are going extinct.”

According to him, “they are no more as popular as they used to be in their life times and we put this event together to bring them into life as they were.

“Ebereonwu was a great writer and person who wrote so many great books within the short period of his life and also my author because I own and published his works in my company, Hybon Publications Limited.

“Okpa was not a writer per se but an editor per excellence. He edited so many books and he didn’t charge much to those. He was in fact writers friendly and that is why we deemed it necessary to celebrate them because it would a long way to answer this question; does a writer die with his work or does his works live after he might have died?”

This question posed was truly answered by Ebereonwu in one his works, one of the friends, Mr. Monday Michaels Ashibogum revealed.

According to him, “Ebereonwu wrote in one his books that having children to take after you when you are gone is actually one of the least ways for someone to be immortalized. If you want your name to be immortalized, record an achievement and that will be indelible in the minds of people and you will be remembered for generations to come.

“This I felt was the reason he didn’t marry until he died at the age of 39years but focused his time and energy in his immortality. He wanted to be immortalized through his published works than his film works and that was the reason why he used the proceeds from his film works to sponsor his written works,” he said.

So many people who spoke about him described him as a satirist, a critic, ebullient, very unique, a mini spirit and someone who said his mind no matter who was involved.

In his poem titled, ‘Preferably Hell’ in one his books, ‘Unpublishable Poems’, Ebereonwu showcased his characteristic of boldness in the lines of the poem where he wrote very strong words of his estranged late father who was a policeman.

“Last week, my father departed this earth, His next destination I do not care, Whether hell or heaven, only God knows, But what I am surely sure is: We have parted and parted forever more.

If he is in heaven, I will prefer hell.

But I am surely sure that no man Good like me will end up in a pit of fire, And no man bad will be admitted into heaven.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

ARTS 29

Showblast Ik, Vimbai to host AMVCA, as Amstel Malta hails Ukaeje’s nomination Stories by Chuks Nwanne HEAD of the maiden edition of the muchhyped AfricaMagic Viewers’ Choice Awards A (AMVCAs) billed for March 9, organisers of the

MTV Base Official Naija Top 10 host Ehis Okoeguale with MTV VJs Nomuzi and Cynthia

AMAA 2013 nominations… Francophone countries in the lead S African Movie Academy A Awards celebrates its 10th edition this year there is an unprece-

the best and biggest in Africa. I want to give kudos to the promoters of this award for the commitdented upsurge in the number of ment and dedication. It is a lot of films that have been submitted by hard work to really get the French film markers across Africa and in speaking countries to believe in the Diaspora, with the AMAA. Francophone African countries “Before now, we usually got films leading the pack. from more than two to three franAccording to the list made avail- cophone countries, but this year, it able to the media by Shuaib is a clean sweep. We have entries Hussein, a member of the awards from Togo, Congo, Cote D’voire, jury and chairman of the College of Mali, Niger Republic, Benin Screeners, a total of 671 films have Republic, Guinea, Senegal and been submitted for AMAA this year, Cameroun. We are happy about compared to average of 300 plus this development. The promoters that were entered in previous ediof AMAA have ensured that the tions. integrity of the award remain unas“This year is a milestone for sailable and this account for the AMAA as the award will hold its level of huge participation across th 10 edition and surprisingly the Africa and the Diaspora,’’ he noted.

French speaking African countries Hussein, a notable movie critic have finally embraced the award as also revealed that filmmakers from

South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Gambia, Zimbabwe and Sudan also entered their films for the most prestigious reward system for motion picture industry in Africa.

“From Diaspora filmmakers, we received entries from United States, Brazil, Singapore, UK, Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica. This is a fitting way to celebrate the 10th edition of AMAA,’’ he said.

Giving the breakdown of the entries, the chairman of the College of Screeners said 184 short films, 108 Diaspora features - documentaries and shorts films, 60 documentaries from Africa and 319 feature films from within and outside Africa, including films made by Africans living abroad, were received.

On how far the screeners have gone with the process, Hussein

informed that his team started full camp on February 25 in Banjul, capital of Gambia. The 15member screening body has members from Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Senegal, Cameroun, Benin Republic, Mali, Burkina Faso and Togo.

“Before the camping stage, which has started in Gambia, all the films have been pre-selected by members of the academy’s preselectors scattered all around Africa. At the pre-camp stage, films are pruned down and films weeded out were those that do not meet entry rules such as films that are more than 2 hours long; films that are inconclusive, language films or films in vernacular that are not subtitled and films that are generally of poor quality,’’ he said.

MTV Base VJ, Ehis makes debut with Naija Top 10 EEKS after he was declared winner of the 2013 edition of the MTV Base VJ Search, Ehis is set to host his frit TV show tagged The Official Naija Top 10. Celebrity guest, Jimmy

W

Jatt, will join the host on the first episode of the show and subsequent weeks will see presenter joined by other well-known celebrities and/or members of the chart selection panel,

Ace set to Dominate E might not be a housetered by Alex Lowe of Red H hold name in the showbiz Tuxedo Mastering. Both proindustry, but Chuks Austine, fessionals have worked with otherwise called Ace is not a stranger as well; he has been around for sometime, performing at both local and international gigs. Ahead of the release of his debut album, The Ace Project, the singer recently dropped a new single, Dominate.

Released under Glitterati Record Label, Dominate, which was produced by Shizzi, will take listeners on a ride and get many moving with banging Afro fusion beats.

This single was mixed by Cody Sciara of ZAC Studios in Atlanta, Georgia USA and mas-

Grammy Award winning artistes hence the audio quality of this project is world class.

Already, the song, which is dedicated to women who love to dominate their territory, is gradually gaining airplay.

Ace has since jetted to South Africa to shoot the video of the single, with the plans of releasing the work on March 21, to coincide with his birthday. With other singles such as Lalale Friday and Show me what you got, Ace is set to take his chances in the blossoming music industry.

Ace

as they take viewers behind the scenes for exclusive music news and insider knowledge as well as the hottest tracks and artists Nigeria has to offer.

Produced by MTV Base, the weekly music chart countdown, which focuses on Nigerian contemporary music, will air on MTV Base, STV, NTA and AIT from 8 March 2013.

According to MTV Base’s Tim Horwood, “the show has been specially created by MTV Base in conjunction with an elite panel of Nigerian broadcasters, music specialists and tastemakers including DJ Jimmy Jatt, Cool FM’s DJ Xclusive, DJ Humility and Big Time (Rhythm FM), DJ Case and Toolz (The Beat FM) and Osagie Alonge (The NET NG). The Official Naija Top 10 will be based on a wide range of sources, including radio airplay, digital downloads and industry insights, and is designed to play a similar role to the Billboard charts in the USA,” he hinted.

Each week, The Official Naija Top 10 will be published in Nigerian Entertainment Today.

“I’m so proud to be part of the team involved in this project. Both the Nigerian music industry and music fans will benefit from this authoritative and independent chart that will play a major role in promoting Nigerian talent and musicians at home and overseas,” the frontline DJ said.

movie award have unveiled Big Brother Africa presenter, IK Osakioduwa and gorgeous StarGist lady, Vimbai Mutinhiri as hosts.

Source has it that both were selected due to their experience and passion for the African entertainment scene, thereby presenting them as unique ambassadors for the project.

Organised in association with MultiChoice and sponsored by Amstel Malta, the event, which will be staged at the Expo Hall, Eko Hotel & Sites, Victoria Island, Lagos, will be screened to television viewers in 47 African countries.

“IK’s cool, calm professionalism combined with his effortless charm is clearly a benefit during busy live broadcasts while the always optimistic and stylish Vimbai’s enthusiasm for lifestyle programming makes her the ideal cohost for what we are confident will be a glittering, glamourous night for African stars, industry insiders and audiences watching at home,” Biola Alabi, MD M-Net Africa said.

Already excited with her role at the AMVCAs, Vimbai described the opportunity is an honour to be part of the initiative in the African film and television industry.

“I feel there is no better way to pay homage to the outstanding stars we have on this continent than to be a part of the grand occasion to honour each one of them. I am sincerely humbled.”

Zimbabwean Vimbai, who first shot to fame as a housemate on Big Brother Amplified and is now a co-host of hot celeb and showbiz program StarGist, added: “I am expecting to see and hear Africa’s finest putting their best foot forward on March 9. The AMVCAs promises to be a night of glamour and excitement, so I can’t wait to see the finest couture on the continent. I’m also looking forward to some hot entertainment.”

A lover of African cinema, Vimbai said, “it tells my story; it talks about my challenges and experiences. It motivates me, educates me and inspires me. What I love most about it is that it’s real. We very rarely sugar coat issues in African film and TV, and that authenticity is so appealing to me.”

For IK, who has been involved in big projects such as Big Brother Africa, hosting AMVCA is another opportunity to expand his horizon.

“It’s a really big deal when you think about it; this is the first time AfricaMagic is doing anything like this. This is going to grow really huge over the years. So, to be selected to be a part of the very first one is just amazing,” he enthused.

Aside from the glitz and glamour of the red carpet, IK is particularly looking forward to the speeches by the winners.

“There are quite a few names there that are not as widely known as others. A closer look at these relatively ‘new’ players will reveal the maturity and finesse of their craft. That’s why it’s important to appreciate what they do. Of course I’m also excited about the nominated veterans who never fail to deliver great quality in their movies. We could never celebrate them enough!”

The AfricaMagic Viewers’ Choice will be screened live to DStv and GOtv audiences on Saturday, March 9 at 20:00 CAT on AfricaMagic, AfricaMagic Entertainment and AfricaMagic World as well as AfricaMagic Movies and Movies 1.

Meanwhile, Amstel Malta, sponsors of the project, has congratulated Okechukwu Chukwudi Ukeje on his nomination for the maiden edition of the award package.

Ukeje, a one-time winner of the Amstel Malta Box Office (AMBO) reality TV show, is a nominee in the Best Actor In A Drama category for his role in the movie Two Brides And A Baby.

Ukeje will slug it out with Fabian Adeoye Lojede and Kenneth Uphopho, who were given nod by the jury for their roles in Jacob’s Cross and Down & Out respectively. Also nominated in the same category are Edward Kagutuzi for Mirror Boy and Jafta Mamabolo for his role in Otelo Burning.

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36 ARTS

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

VisualArts

Founder of GreenHouse Art Empowerment Centre, Princess Iyase-Odozi (centre) with members of staff.

GreenHouse…

Iyase-Odozi’s creativity centre for art empowerment, tourism

By Tajudeen Sowole a country like Nigeria where the dearth of infrastructure impeding development, particularly, in the creative secItor,Nkeeps a private venture, GrenHouse Art Empowerment Centre, is an invaluable asset to its community and beyond.

Situated in an unusual environment, it’s the initiative of artist, Princess Tessy Iyase-Odozi, which focuses informal art education, art appreciation and domestic tourism in collaboration with individuals and groups as well as private and public schools.

Few minutes before Iyase-Odozi took her guest round the three-floor building GreenHouse’s facilities in Olambe, Ogun State, near Ojodu, a Lagos suburb, pictures of the artist’s recent activities replayed in one’s memory. Formally unveiled by the Governor of Ogun State, His Excellency, Senator Ibikunle Amosun few months ago, but the initiative has been a quiet contributor to art appreciation and education within the two states, in the past few years. GreenHouse was earlier noticed on the Lagos mainstream art gallery scene as one the regular participants at the yearly Art Expo Nigeria International, which debuted in 2008.

Still on the strength of the founder, a naturalist painter’s blossoming art career, GreenHouse gradually warmed its way into art connoisseurs’ heart with an emphasis on conservation and naturalism. While that was ongoing, the focus shifted to schools in what she tagged Greenhouse Moving Art Exhibition, a travelling show across selected schools in Lagos and Ogun State.

Having distilled GreenHouse Art Empowerment Centre from her activism in art in the past few years, a window into the several departments of the project, she thought, should be her solo art exhibition. “I titled the exhibition A Tale of Two Cities,” IyaseOdozi stated as she led her guest into the moderate art gallery space of the ground floor. “It’s about living and departing; the spirituality of our being on earth and beyond.” When she had her debut solo art exhibition Arrival, in 2009 at National Museum Gallery, Onikan, Lagos, simplified naturalism breathed into the Lagos art space. Extending that identity, she hovers around naturalism and spiritual realm in the current effort, which featured some installations and crafts, providing a view into the broad focus of the GreenHouse concept.

From the ground floor of the gallery, the depth of the GreenHouse structure was obvious; it provided a view into the upper floors. The upper floors, she explained, include ancient and contemporary art galleries, conference and workshop sections.

A physical structure for GreenHouse appeares like a long time plan, isn’t it? Not exactly, so suggested two installations, depicting barren stems of trees. The trees, Iyase-Odozi disclosed “are in their natural positions; they were here before we started building.” Retaining the trees, and creating an art pieces from them, she explained, has significance to the “sudden” idea of a building for GreenHouse. “I thought it was alright just taking the GreenHouse traveling art programmes from one place to another.” No, all that changed, she recalled when “someone, pleasantly forced me to accept the land on which the building now

stands”.

And with over about 10 staffs as well as emerging replica of ancient museum alongside workshops/training in contemporary art, crafts, music and other culture-related disciplines, the dream appeared to be blossoming beyond her imagination.

Consciously, Odozi had the passion for promoting art education and appreciation before the emergence of a physical structure for GreenHouse. For example at one of the Art Expo Lagos events, she presented a lecture titled Catch Them Young!

Mentoring And Coaching Artists Through The Moving Art Exhibition. Part of the text reads: “Mentoring and Contemporary Art Gallery section of GreenHouse Art Empowerment Centre. coaching of Nigerian Artists is a highly desirable objective in the context of developing artists and the art sector to play its important role in national development.” She shared her “experience,” stressing that “the best time to begin is when the potential artists are very young and amenable to absorbing enduring values such as art.” And when she assured that “we intend to sustain this initiative,” it was based on the passion for empowerment.

Several years after the Art Expo lecture, she insisted that schools constitute the ideal vehicle for promoting art. “Indeed, it has been well established that early exposure of children to art education, especially through exhibitions, not only stimulates enthusiasm for art but also tends to enhance their overall development and preparation for future self-employment.”

The response, she noted, has started coming almost immediately after the opening. “We have been receiving requests from schools that want to visit our museums and galleries for excursions.”

Though still emerging at the time of the visit, the Iyase-Odozi Art Educational Museum section of the GreenHouse, she said features “collection of replicated artefacts of Ancient and donated works of contemporary art,” adding that the ancient works represent different historical eras and kingdoms in Nigeria.” The rooms are thus labeled: Contemporary Museum 19001960; 1961-1975; 1976-1985; 1986-1999. Ancient Museum: South West (Benin, Ife, Osun, lagos, Owo; East, south South (Ifbo Ukwu, Iriji, Mwenka, New Yam, A`bia, Enugu); North (Nok, Argungu, Exterior of the GreenHouse Building.

Hausa, Kogi, Igala) The main goal is that “School children and other visitors are ing, Goldsmith, Sculpture / Ceramics, Draughtsmanship, Canthereby enlightened on the culture of each kingdom.” dle Making, Soap Making, Hat Making/Millinery, Drawing/ Aside making the museums available for excursion and visits, it Sketching, Water colour painting, General Crafts also serves “research or other educational purposes; to dissemiAnd giving back to a section of the Olambe community is nate useful information about various kingdoms represented Iyase-Odozi Foundation, which she described as “an N.G.O dediand some aspects of their culture; as a tourist attraction.” cated to supporting the less-privileged and marginalised For an emerging community, which include middle class, groups in society and enhancing the quality of their lives.”

Olambe already has an art gallery in the GreenHouse, which Activities if the foundation, she listed, include poverty alleviadisplays collection of works such as sculptural art to paintings tion initiatives in its host community; coaching, mentoring, for sale and exhibition. It’s an extension of the gallery’s expericounseling and inspiring the youth to enable them achieve ence having participated at different level of art appreciation in their potential; working through the GreenHouse Art Empowmainstream art scenes of Lagos. erment programme to remove unemployed people, particuOn the workshops and conferences activities of GreenHouse, larly the youths, from the streets in the host community by Iyase-Odozi listed areas of coverage as skill acquisition in Music, imparting skills in Arts and Crafts for self- and paid- employacrylic painting, Oil painting, Mixed Media, Tie & Dye, Designs ment. (freehand and computer-aided), bead-making, Fashion Design-

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

ARTS 37

Life in My City… Robust concept in dire need of patronage

Eze Mariagoretti Chinenye’s Rejuvenation

By Chuks Nwanne ROM a humble beginning, the yearly CalFmajor abar Christmas Carnival has become a part of the country’s event calendar attracting tourists and visitors from different part of the world. Through the project, which now enjoys full patronage from the State government, Calabar, once described by many as a sleeping town, has become a choice destination for tourists.

In Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Carnival (CARNIRIV) is fast picking up, gradually changing the face of the Garden City. A city once dreaded for kidnapping and militancy, now boasts of tourist destinations and vibrant night-life, courtesy of the on going effort by the state government to rebrand the city through festivals, carnivals and art related initiatives.

Right from inception, the Osun Osogbo Festival was conceived as a platform to project the rich culture and tradition of the Osun people. Now an international festival, the project is a celebration of culture and fulfillment of the pledge between a people and a goddess. It underscores a long history that revolves around early settlers of the town, Osogbo, who came very close to a river as a result of drought from their initial place of dwelling; hence they decided to settle in the thick forest. In recognition of its global significance and cultural value, the Sacred Grove was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. Till date, the festival remains a great platform for projecting the state internationally.

In far away Kebbi State, the Argungu Fishing Festival is a yearly four day festival that usually takes place in Argungu, the capital city of Argungu Emirate Council. The festival began in the year 1934, as a mark of the end of the centuries old hostility between the Sokoto Caliphate and the Kebbi Kingdom.

From Lagos to Abuja, Benin, Uyo… similar initiatives exit, playing vital roles in projecting the cultures, traditions and destinations in the host states.

In his published article titled The Art Centers of Enugu, renowned artist Krydz Ikwuemesi recalled that, since the 1960s when the Mbari Club was brought down to Enugu

by Uche Okeke and others as they fled the Igbo-targeted hostilities in the wake of the civil war, the Coal City has been a centre of arts and creativity. The establishment of a department of fine and applied arts at University of Nigeria, Nsukka as early as 1960 owing to the interest of Nnamdi Azikiwe (the university’s founder and first Chancellor) and through the professional advice of Ben Enwonwu (Africa’s first artist to achieve international acclaim) also influenced the position of Enugu as a burgeoning centre of creative excellence.

By the 1970s, when another art department was established at the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu became home to more and more artists. For many logical reasons, the artist observed, such a growing number of artists should attract complementary institutions such as museums, exhibition centres, private/public galleries, sculpture parks, among others.

Though Enugu may have a large number of artists, but the necessary patronage is almost

non-existent, even with the recent proliferation of banks and related businesses in the city. On the other hand, Ikwuemesi argued that government has not given adequate attention to art and the creative industries as means to tourism and socio-economic development.

“Not unnaturally, these factors have created some gaps in the evolution of art and its ecology in these parts, as they have also put added pressure on the artists,” he said.

In a bid to restore the lost glory of Enugu as the home of arts in Nigeria and also put the city on the international platform through art, an outdoor advertising agency, Rocana Nigeria Limited, in collaboration with the Alliance Francaise network in Nigeria, in 2007, instituted Life In My City Art Festival. With strong support from the Pan African Circle of Artists (PACA), the belief of the founder, Chief Robert Orji, is that the knowledge of art is crucial in every area of life, and that its absence has caused a major dislocation in the way the Nigerian society now perceives and carries itself.

According to the former Director General, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Kevin Ejiofor, there had been a struggle to revive the Coal City as the centre of arts and artistic expression since the end of the Civil War in 1970 with little success. Ejiofor, a strong partner in the project, stated that the city had been very quiet artistically until when the Rocana-led agency started the Life in My City Art Festival to gather together young people to showcase their talent.

A yearly celebration of creativity and fresh talents in the Nigerian landscape, Life In My City features art exhibitions, talent contest, symposia and workshops designed to encourage creative enterprise. The initiative provides space through art for young people to make meaningful statements about the lived environment. On the other hand, Life In My City empowers young artists by promoting and commercializing their creative endeavour on a national and international platform.

Unfortunately, the Enugu State government appears not to have seen the many possibilities of the project, which has been churning out great artists yearly. Aside from the efforts of Rocana, Alliance Francaise and PACA, with support from private institutions such as First Bank, Access Bank, Fit Consult, Diamond Bank, National Gallery of Arts, Digital Dream, the Enugu State government, through the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, needs to tap from the opportunities provided by the art festival and possibly ustilise it in projecting the state, like its counterparts mentioned above. Being the home for all Igbos, building a strong festival to open up the city as a tourist destination is long overdue. And from the achievements so far, Life In My City Art Festival seems perfect for such venture.

Meanwhile, as a build-up to this year’s celebration, the registered trusteeship (Life In My City Art Initiative), has created a zonal centre of the national youth art competition for Lagos with effect from this year. As a result, there will now be a special Lagos zonal exhibition of the best entries from the ‘Centre of Excellence’ at a venue to be announced later.

This disclosure was made at an interactive session with the festival’s friends and stakeholders including art editors, artists, photographers and officials held at the Alliance Francaise centre in Yaba Lagos recently.

At the event, the Artistic Director of the Festival, Mr. Ayo Adewunmi gave a detailed presentation of the history of the seven-year old festival, explaining that the organizers had since recognised that Lagos as the art capital of Nigeria, must be given the pride of place it deserved in the scheme of things as far as the festival was concerned. But this had not been possible before now because of logistic challenges in Alliance Francaise Lagos.

Mr. Adewunmi explained that a situation whereby entries by artists in Lagos had to be taken to Ibadan for adjudication and exhibition, as had been the case since 2007, was an obvious anomaly detrimental to the growth of the festival.

He expressed gratitude to the Director, Lagos who is also Delegate General of the Alliance Francaise network in Nigeria, Madam Christine Deuve, for making the new arrangement possible and for making herself and her staff available to help create and sustain the new Lagos centre of LIMCAF. A statement by Kevin Ejiofor, Executive Director of the festival noted that the implication of the new Lagos centre was that Lagos would now serve as both a collection centre and an exhibition zone and will therefore host a special exhibition of the artworks selected from the Lagos area before the grand finale in Enugu.

With the theme, Out of the Frame/Out of the Box, which gives the young people much more room than in the past to express themselves, the objective of LIMCAF is to contribute significantly to the economic empowerment of the youth through art and also to provide opportunity for young people to make meaningful statements on issues of significance within their living environment.

Ultimately, the organisers hope to establish a thriving art international tourism destination in Enugu to complesment current efforts in this regard in Lagos and Abuja.

To participate in the contest, interested artist must be bellow 35 years of age by October 26, 2013 and must have been residing/working in Nigeria for at least five years before the date.

Available categories are painting/drawing/mixed media, sculpture/installation/ceramics, photography/multimedia and graphics/textile. Application forms are obtainable from the collection centers in Enugu, Port Harcourt, Jos, Owerri, Lagos, Kaduna, Kano, Ibadan, Abuja, Auchi, Uyo and Calabar. Each participant is entitled to a maximum of 2 entries, out of which only one may be selected. Entries would include details of work (title, medium, size, year of production), while deadline for submission of entries is Monday, July 1, 2013. The grand finale will open in Enugu from Monday, October 14 and end on Saturday 26, with an Award Nite.

CBAAC invites papers for 2013 colloquium in Jamaica HE Centre for Black and African T Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC) has begun preparation for this

year’s colloquium which is billed to hold from October 30 to November 3, 2013 at the University of the West Indies, Mona Kingston, Jamaica.

With Toward A New Pan-Africanism: Deploying Anthropology, Archaeology, History and Philosophy in the Service of Africa and the Diaspora as theme, the international conference is in collaboration with PANAFSTRAG and the University of the West Indies.

The colloquium is expected to bring together Pan-Africanists, historians, academics, archaeologists, anthropologists, philosophers, activists and other experts within Africa and the Diaspora.

Leading scholars, intellectuals and organizations will participate

to provide lead papers, plenaries and perspectives on the six thematic areas of the conference as framework for critical reflection.

The general public is also invited to participate and, as participants, propose contributions of papers that bear relevance, provide insight and illuminate these themes including anthropological, archaeological, and historical investigations of the areas of origins and contemporary domicile of the African Diaspora; anthropological, archaeological, and historical investigations of African and African Diaspora resistance and resilience; anthropological, archaeological, and historical investigations of material culture and technology of African Diaspora; as well as anthropological, archaeological, and historical investigations on the construction of social space and identity of global and Diaspora

Africa.

Other areas of interest are Philosophy, Religions, and Ritual Practices of Global Africa for Empowerment; Culture, Education and Leadership and Global African Development; African and African Diaspora Political Economy; Old and New Configurations of Dependency in Africa and the Diaspora; Globalization and Information Super-highway and Africa Union; as well as Rediscovering Africana Renaissance among others.

All abstracts, the organizers have advised should include title, the author(s) name, institutional affiliation, address, telephone number and email address. All abstracts must not be more than 300 words. Abstracts for consideration which must be in electronic format should be received not later than April 9, 2013 by all of the following individuals: tunde.bewaji@gmail.com; and ibraheem_muheeb@yahoo.com

Authors whose abstracts are accepted would be notified not later than May 15, 2013, while all papers for presentation must be received in electronic format not later than July 15, 2013.

The colloquium derives its essence from the understanding that “historians are still debating the demographic, economic, social, cultural and religio-metaphysical consequences of enslavement, the slave trade, and the “middle passage” on/for Africa, Africans, and people of African descent in the Caribbean, the Americas and elsewhere.

“It is extremely difficult to settle the debate with population figures everybody will agree with. However, the long term psycho-behavioral consequences on the survivors, both in Africa and the Diaspora, have never been addressed systematically.”

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

38 ARTS

Literature Achebe and the moral obligation to be intelligent

By Damola Awoyokun WRITER should not be an accomplice to A lies. Even when thorns infect the land, a writer must embody and defend the perennial destiny of high values and principles. It is not the business of a writer to side with the powerless against the powerful; the powerless can be thoughtless and wrong. (The Nazi party was once a powerless group). A writer should not prefer falsehoods to reality just because they serve patriotic ends. In times of great upheavals in a multi-ethnic society, a writer should get out and warn the society that the more perfect the answer, the more terrifying its consequences. Pride in one’s ethnic identity is good, patriotism is fantastic but when they are not properly moderated by other higher considerations, they can prove more destructive than nuclear weapons.

I was in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife when another round of the war of self-determination and secession broke out between Modakeke and Ife. As the war escalated, a single bullet wasn’t enough to kill the “enemy,” he had to be butchered into little pieces and the severed heads displayed at each other’s market squares to huge approval and celebration. Such was the power of the mutual hatred unleashed from their pride in their respective ethnic identities that these two communities were not rebuked by the fact that were both Yoruba, both Nigerians, or that the massacres were being conducted around the famed cradle of Yoruba civilization.

Patriotism when deployed must always be simultaneously governed by something higher and lower than itself like the arms of a democratic government. These provide checks and balances so that patriotism doesn’t become a false conception of greatness at the expense of other tribes or nations. It is for this reason that we proceed to discuss Achebe’s patriotic autobiography, There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra in the light of something higher than it: 21,000 pages of Confidential, Secret, Top Secret US State Department Central Files on Nigeria-Biafra 1967- 1969 and something lower: The Education of a British Protected Child by Chinua Achebe himself. …A Country is written for modern day Igbos to know from where the injustice of their existence originated. Achebe’s logic is neat but too simple: Africa began to suffer 500 years ago when Europe discovered it (that is, there was no suffering or intertribal wars before then in Africa!) Nigeria began to suffer when Lord

POETRY

Sisters of Men Reciting thunderous incantations Reclaiming salvation for mankind You should have known my type, The Angel who wrestle the day And still shine at night.

Achebe Lugard amalgamated it. And Igbos began to suffer because of the event surrounding the Biafran secession. To Achebe, there should have been more countries in the behemoth Lord Lugard cobbled together called Nigeria.

What Achebe does not take into account is the role rabid tribalism plays in doing violence to social cohesion which makes every region counterproductively seeks a perfect answer in demanding its own nation state. There are over 250 tribes in Nigeria and there cannot be over 250 countries in Nigeria. There are officially 645 distinctive tribes in India and only one country. All over the world there are tens of thousands of tribes and there are only 206 countries. What the tribes that constitute Nigeria need to learn for the unity of the country is the democratization of their tribal loyalties. And that inevitably leads to gradual detribalization of consciousness which makes it possible to treat a person as an individual and not basically a member of another tribe.

That is the first error of Achebe.

Instead of writing the book as a writer who is Igbo, Achebe wrote the book as an Igbo writer hence working himself into a Zugzwang bind.

In chess once you are in this bind, every step you make weakens your position further and further. All the places that should alarm the moral consciousness of any writer, Achebe is either indifferent to or dismisses them outright because the victims are not his people.

However, in every encounter that shows Igbos being killed or resented by Nigerians, or by the Yoruba in particular, Achebe intensifies the spotlight, deploying stratospheric rhetoric, amassing quotes from foreign authors with further elaborations in endnotes to show he is not partial. Achebe calls upon powerfully coercive emotive words and phrasings to dignify what is clearly repugnant to reason.

Furthermore, not only does he take pride in ignoring the findings of common sense, he

None will return hanging a vest Nor tie sisters of Men gave this advice, Bury your pride I will forever remain your tribe.

I confess to you secret of life My strength are elementary lies, Since I can’t germinate a child.

My sister opens her mind To vomit me with opened eyes.

Today, she reads as I write Sisters of men is this heavenly spices Her alone accepts fertility from Divine, The Almighty made this shrine.

Today is my marriage night My desire is her virginity inside the night, Promise to go in gently and forever Remain kind sisters of men where layed to weep nd cry.

Without tears none will find wealth Never should you criticize my existence Nor inflict injury on my breast Sister of men multiply life.

— Habib Akewusola

Gloria

allocates primetime attention to facts-free rants just because they say his people are the most superior tribe in Nigeria. The book, to say the least, is a masterpiece of propaganda and sycophancy. And yet it is not a writer’s business to be an accomplice to lies.

First let’s take Achebe’s Christopher Okigbo.

Throughout the book, Achebe presents Okigbo in loving moments complete with tender details: Okigbo attending to Achebe’s wife during labour, Okigbo ordering opulent room service dishes for Achebe wife in a swank hotel while Achebe was out of the country, Okigbo being a dearly beloved uncle to Achebe’s children, Okigbo opening a publishing house in the middle of the war. Out of the blue he writes that he hears on Radio Nigeria the death of Major Christopher Okigbo. Major? The reader is completely shocked and feels revulsion for the side that killed him and sympathy for the side that lost him. Unlike other accounts like Obi Nwakanma’s definitive biography of Okigbo, Achebe skips details of Okigbo running arms and ammunition from Birmingham to Biafra and also from place to place in Biafra; he supresses the fact that Okigbo knew of the January 1966 coup beforehand through Emmanuel Ifeajuna; he omits the fact that Okigbo was an active-duty guerrilla fighter killing the other side before he himself got killed. Like many other episodes recounted in the book, Achebe photoshops the true picture so that readers would allocate early enough which side should merit their sympathy, which side should be for slated for revulsion. Pities, cheap sympathy, sloppy sentimentalism, one-sided victimhood are what are on sale throughout the book. Achebe of course is preparing the reader for his agenda at the end of the book.

To Achebe, the final straw that led to secession was the alleged 30,000 Igbos killed in the North. He carefully structures the narrative to locate the reason for this systematic killing/pogrom/ethnic-cleansing in the socalled usual resentment of Igbos and not from the fallout of the first coup in the history of Nigeria. Achebe dismisses the targeted assassinations as not an Igbo coup. The two reasons Achebe gives are because there was a Yoruba officer among the coup plotters and

that the alleged leader of the coup, Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu was Igbo in name only. “Not only was he born in Kaduna, the capital of the Muslim North, he was widely known as someone who saw himself as a Northerner, spoke fluent Hausa and little Igbo, and wore the Northern traditional dress when not in uniform(pg 79).”

Really? First, it was not mysterious that Azikiwe left the country in October 1965 on an endless medical cruise to Britain and the Caribbean. Dr. Idemudia Idehen his personal doctor, abandoned him when he got tired of the endless medical trip. Not even the Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ Conference never held outside London but hosted in Lagos for the first time in early January was incentive enough for Azikiwe to return and yet he was the president of the nation. In a revelation contained in the American secret documents, it was Azikiwe’s presidential bodyguards from Federal Guards that Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna, the coup’s mastermind, used to capture the Prime Minister, Abubakar Balewa. Once Ifeajuna and Major Donatus Okafor, the Commanding officer of the Federal Guards tipped off Azikiwe about the planned bloodshed, Okafor, Godfrey Ezedigbo and others Guards became freer to meet in Ifeajuna’s house in Apapa to take the plan to the next level. The recruitment for the ringleaders was done between August and October 1965. Immediately Azikiwe left, planning and training for the execution began.

Second, the eastern leadership was spared when others were brutally wasted. Third, the head of state Major-General AguyiIronsi, an Igbo, didn’t try and execute the coup plotters as was the practice if it were a pure military affair. (Ojukwu told Suzanne Cronje, the British-South African author that he asked Aguyi-Ironsi to take over and told him how to unite the army behind him.

That was the reason he made him the governor of Eastern Region.) Four, when Awolowo, Bola Ige, Anthony Enahoro, Lateef Jakande, etc were imprisoned for sedition, they served their terms in Calabar away from their regions as was the normal practice.

Youngster thrills with her debut short stories LORY Osandatuwa, a 12 G year- old, JSS 2 student of Preston International School, Akure, Ondo State, elicited strong commendations recently at the launch of her debut novel, Jacky The Hardworking Spider.

The event, which was held at Great Hall, Chevron

Recreation Centre attracted people from all walks of life and the cream of the society in Warri and environs.

The teenage author attracted dignitaries including Mrs Sheila Roli Uduaghan, wife of the Delta State governor; Hon. Matthew Mofe Edema, a former Chairman of Warri South

L.G.A.; Elder (Engr.) Theo Odigie (JP); Dr Mark Erumi, the Chaplain of Warri Kingdom among others. Dr Tony Akpokene, Managing Director of Flomat Books Ltd reveiwed the book.

Apkokene expressed a high optimism that the author is a budding talent that would grow into the stature of great Nigerian authors like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Chinua Achebe. The reviewer commended her parents, Mr and Mrs Jolomi Osandatuwa for the effort in discovering her talent and urged other parents to do same.

A literary scholar, author and promoter of children’s literature, Pastor Ulisanmi Edukugho described Glory’s work as one of the many exciting collections of children’s literature in Warri.

According to him, Glory was particularly lucky to have parents who spotted this talent and decided to nuture and develop it. At the end of each chapters, there is a section on morals and a set of comprehension questions drawn from it for readers . It also contains a mini glossary of words and a ‘do you know?’ session that explains concepts that may be new to other young minds.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

ARTS 39

Theatre

By Omiko Awa CCORDING to Vanessa Williams Singer, a forA mer United States of America beauty queen, “everybody wishes they can erase their mistakes. But that is not how life works.” For Inua Ellams those mistakes of the past, though multifarious, can be hilarious told for people to learn from them.

This spoken word artist did just that when during the British Council organised Lagos Theatre Festival, which was held recently, he presented The 14th Tale.

Embracing the finesse of language Ellams tells the story of a young Black boy growing up in three cultures across the globe.

Opening with a man sitting on a single hardbacked chair, shirt and trouser stain with blood, he anxiously awaits someone, probably the receptionist, to tell him the true health condition of his father, whom he brought to the hospital.

As he waits, sometime barking orders at the people and sometimes also taking instructions or apologising for his unruly behaviour, one expects to hear another horrific tale of a young Black man humiliated in London, but instead Ellams provides a complex tale of his family life, friendship, hate and love.

The tale, a sequence of autobiographical sketches, takes him from the dusty roads in Nigeria to a London classroom, then to the streets of Dublin, racing back at intervals to a moment where he sits jumpily in a hospital reception, waiting to hear from the receptionist or any medics about his father.

Ellams narrative is fleshed out by his agile shimmying across the stage, arousing fellow feeling and evoking mood. Recalling he is heritage in rhythmic poetry Ellams says, I come from a long line of troublemakers, of ash skinned Africans, born with clenched fist and a natural thirst for battle.” He reveals how his grandfather and father were infamous in their village for their troublesome tricks.

CLEARLY intent on upholding his birthright, he causes trouble wherever he goes and invariably gets caught.

Though Ellams only makes a glance references to racism, emigration and displacement, these themes, however, form the backdrop to a narrative that focuses on his rebellion as a child and teenager with an irrepressible disruptiveness inherited from his father and grandfather.

th

14 Tale, A revisit

of Ellams’ past Regardless of how evoking and poignant the narrative seems, some of the pranks such as provoking the wrath of a ‘hurricane nun’ in Bible class, coating the bedclothes of a boarding school enemy with toothpaste are laughable, while the likes of urinating against the school wall setting thumb tracks on the way of his secondary school senior that bullied him or playing basketball with mates on the rooftop in Dublin seem relatively tame.

On the whole, despite their geographical locations, the men of Ellams family have a common denominator — mischief.

Produced by Fuel Theatre Company, but written and directed by Inua Ellams (himself), the monologue reveals a strong ties between Ellams and his father; a relationship that would have further given the audience a better understanding of him (Ellams’ father) and the tale had he been exposed.

There is also a need for the tense moments to take us past the genuinely charming story teller and unveils the person telling his family story in a tee shirt and trouser stained with blood.

With the lighting appropriately projecting the different locations and creating nostalgic feelings, Fela’s music at the background further brings to life that wistfulness to the listener, conjuring the restive traits common among the men in Ellams’ lineage.

Also of note, is the venue, Casa Chianti Restaurant, which is too small and poorly ventilated to accommodate large number of people. Aside from this, the stage is low with clustered chairs that make the audience to stretch their necks to catch a better view of the performance; besides it would have been a better space for musical performance.

On the whole The 14th Tale showcases a story of a man grounded in his past, proud of his heritage and mixed cultural upbringing.

Scenes from the performance

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

ARTS

ArtHouse Epic return of ‘The Village Headmaster’ By kenechukwu Ezeonyejiaku N reaction to popular demand from the pubIrepackaging lic and some of the pioneer casts for the of one of Africa’s first television

Kabiyesi Oloja of Oja village, Chief Dejumo Lewis (left), producer of the Village Headmaster, Chief Tunde Oloyede, Media Facilitator, Wole Adediran, Amebo in the Village Headmaster, Chief Mrs. Ibidun Allison, Mr. Jimi Olusola III and the company secretary, The Village Headmaster Productions, Barrister Segun Sulaimon at a media briefing to announce the coming back on set of the drama, The Village Headmaster in Lagos…recently

HOG award for Artus

By Geraldine Akutu Sunday, Citi Lodge Hotel and Conference LfansAST Centre, Lekki, Lagos was besieged by excited and friends of Frank Artus, who was awarded the 2012 Nollywood Star Of The Year, by HOG, (Hall Of Grace) magazine.

The Liberia-born actor known for his daring roles in Ghanaian and Nigerian movies has featured in a lot of African films such as Trapped in the game, Heart of a widow, One last feeling, Mad dog and others.

The award was presented to him by the Managing Custodian, HOG Awards/Editor, HOG Magazine, Mr. Rupert Ojenuwa.

Ojenuwa said the award was given to Artus as a result of his exceptional roles and character interpretation.

For the actor, Nollywood is a place where wonderful talents abound and he is here to play his part and contribute to its growth.

According to Artus, “for a non Nigerian actor to grab Nollywood Star of the Year award shows

that my work is appreciated and I must say this is an honour well deserved. My greatest achievement is the bold step I took to come and join nollywood, which makes me feel happy.

On what he feels about the stiff competition and rivalry among top actors for roles, the Human Resource graduate of AME University, Monrovia, says, “I am not afraid of competition because I believe in my work speaking for me. I am a versatile actor who loves to interpret roles to my best ability and I am a simple, young and talented guy.”

Artus describes Nollywood as, “the biggest movie industry in Africa and I see myself making more impact in the Nollywood industry. For me, I am moving forward”.

The Chairman and Grand Custodian of HOG Magazine and Awards is Chief Alex Akinyele.

Personalities who have benefitted from the Awards are Dame Abimbola Fashola, Dr. Michael Adenuga Jr, Kenny Ogungbe, Dayo Adeneye, Bisi Onasanya (GMD First Bank), Azuh Arinze and others.

drama series, The Village Headmaster, consultations have been made and plans concluded to bring back in a couple of weeks the teledrama, which was the toast of all and sundry in the last century.

Key pioneers of the initial TV drama amongst who are Oba Sanya Dosunmu, Mr. Segun Sofowole, Chief (Mrs.) Ibidun Allison, Mr. Dejumo Lewis and Mr. Jimi Olusola will all feature in the play with Chief Tunde Oloyode, the longest producer of the play who produced and directed 364 episodes, as the producer, who will design the concept and outline of the new generation of The Village Headmaster that will guide the creative crew.

Speaking at a media interaction at Ajibulu Muniya Gallery, the home of the creator of the play, the late Ambassador Segun Olusola, Oloyede, in company of Lewis, popularly called ‘Oba’ and Allison, said that the play would come out in three formats, namely: as an epic two hours film in DVD, on stage and on television.

Oloyede, who repeatedly stressed on the play maintaining its originality and flavor even though some of the initial actors had died and most villages now modernized, said, “It’s restaging is to remind us of what we had in the past and prepare us for where we are going in the future and the identity will not be changed but will be preserved.”

He further revealed how important and uttermost it was in the mind of the creator of the play, Olusola before he died, for the play to come back on stage and how significant it was in the everyday life of Nigerians back then.

“You know that The Village Headmaster was not an ordinary production and was not only just to entertain; it was about culture. It did so

much about communal living at that time that it became a way of life when it was running. It became something so important that even Heads of States would stop meeting to go and watch The Village Headmaster.

“Before the ambassador died, we have been working to bring it back and on one occasion, he asked me, ‘Tunde, will this thing be done while I am still alive?’

“The exercise was to give us something that we will keep for memory and if anything happens to any of us, there will be something to keep our memories alive.”

They, however, assured Nigerians of the capability of the crew to produce a classy production, which will be a true Nigerian programme and what every home would love to have, noting, “Tell Nigerians that we are coming in full force. Our producers are able and capable and we urge Nigerians to wait and see what they will do with the scripts.

“We have done it in the past and we will do it better this time around. And so the viewers should trust us because the experience we had in the past stands for us and we will not associate ourselves with anything less.

“The Village Headmaster remains a reference point and we promise that we will improve on what we did. We have the best engineers and actors who have worked vastly and proven themselves.

“With what we are doing, we hope that every home will have a copy and thank God that they have the opportunity to get for their children.”

He also paid tribute to the originator of the play, late Chief Olusola and one of the principal actors, Justus Esiri, who recently passed on. He frowned at the corrupted version, which the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) is currently showing titled Odo Wura, which he said could also be translated as The Village Headmaster and stated; “Why did NTA wait till Olusola died for them to bring out what is called Odo Wura?”

OYSAA gets governing board ITH a view to creating W necessary structure that can enhance the efficient delivery of its mandate, the governing board of the Oyo State Signage and Advertisement Agency (OYSAA) has been inaugurated.

Members of the board were drawn from the seven geopolitical zones of the state, professional bodies such as Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria, Nigeria Institute of Public Relations, Oyo State chapter, state ministries of Environment and Habitat, Physical Planning and Urban Development, Justice, Works and Transport. Others are

from Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and Ministry of Information and Orientation.

At the inauguration ceremony last week in Ibadan, the State Acting Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Barrister Adetunji Wasiu Gbadegesin who represented the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice urged the Board members to bring their wealth of experience to bear in discharging their duties at all times.

The Chairman of the Board, Honourable Yekeen Popoola who also spoke at the occasion while thanking the representative of the Attorney General promised that the Board

By Gbenga Salau HE management of Promasidor T has called on journalists to develop high interest for the Quill Award being sponsored by the company through submitting entries.

The Quill Award is a platform in Nigeria to reward journalists for dedicated news reportage in Industry, Education, Corporate Social Responsibility and Nutrition issues all year round.

While speaking on the project in Lagos, Head, Legal and Public Relations Officer of Promasidor, Mr. Andrew Enahoro, said the categories in the award are Brand Advocate of the Year, Best CSR Report of the Year, Education Reporter of the Year, Best Reporter on Nutrition and Best Photo Story of the year.

According to him, all the cate-

would discharge its duties as specified by the Law and ensure that through the activities of the Agency, Oyo State is brought back to its position as the Pace Setter State in Nigeria.

The Director General of the Agency. Mr Yinka Adepoju in his closing remarks noted that the world has become more technologically advanced hence his Agency would ensure that billboards and signs in the state are 21st century compliant. He said, “We are mindful of the herculean task ahead of us but the agency will ensure that standards are not in any way compromised in order to enjoy sane and safe outdoor space in Oyo State.”

OYSAA Board members

‘Why we initiate Quill Award for journalists’ gories will be based on creativity, accuracy of facts, frequency, educational value, in-depth research and analysis, quality of information and newsworthiness.

He implored journalists to put in for the awards, as they needed to be rewarded for their efforts and creativity. He disclosed that apart from the gifts that each winner would take home, all the winners would be enrolled at the Lagos Business School to take a programme that will further sharpen their journalistic skills and take them to another level professionally.

Enahoro stated that the Quill award, targeted at journalists, is one of the CSR projects of the organization. According to him, all the CSR

initiatives of the company are under the thematic areas of education, healthcare and nutrition, sports and empowerment and mentorship, which actually define the company’s CSR roles and commitment.

He noted, “Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is in our DNA. When Promasidor started, the key thing it decided to do was to come out with innovations to sell milk at affordable price in small offerings.

“The average man was able to buy 10 grams of milk for himself and his family. The company decided that it has an obligation that nutrition is available and affordable to all and that is how we started our CSR commitment and that has cut across all CSR initiatives”.

He listed the initiatives to include fortifying its milk to ensure healthy bone and teeth, donation of equipment to University College Hospital (UCH), sponsoring of Para-soccer and Lagos NYSC Volleyball competition, Mathematics competition and donation of a computer laboratory to the Orile Igammu Community Association.

He disclosed that all the CSR projects of the organization were guided by corporate governance policy with stakeholders evolved in the planning and execution.

Promasidor is 20 and Enahoro said since 20 years is a landmark, the organisation would celebrate it, stating, “1993 was a time things were quite hard in Nigeria and that

did not deter the founders and owners of the company from setting up shop. We intend to go to town and celebrate this feat because it is something to ginger the people who have brought this dream to life. Without doubt, we are pacesetters in quite a number of areas in the fast-moving consumer goods sub-sector of the industry. Our small package innovations have since caught on”.

He said that though it has not been rosy, the company has been lucky to surmount every challenge that came its way.

He specially thanked the company’s directors for the company’s CSR commitment.

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

FridayWorship In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

“…Do not perpetrate corruption on earth, for Allah does not love the corrupt ones…”(Quran 29: 74).

By Afis A. Oladosu RETHREN, I met with Alhaji F just last week. It was at an event on the University campus. He was invited to chair the occasion. He arrived on schedule and entered the hallowed precinct of the mosque incognito. I looked at him and beheld a combination of wisdom and experience. I looked at him and began to wonder how he had overcome the many trials and tribulations of life all of which had made a believer out of him.

I was enthralled by the way he carried himself. He was flat-bellied, healthy looking and athletic. What else do you expect of a man who follows the strict Islamic regimen: no alcoholism, no debauchery, no adultery, no gambling. He caught a personality, which was built on simplicity. His mien gave a sense of a man who appreciated what Divine grace meant.

Brethren, after Alhaji had taken his seat, we began to while away the time in expectation of the official commencement of the event. What better way could we have spent our time other than in lamentations. We were grief-stricken by the failure of those at the helm of affairs yesterday and today who are hell bent on mortgaging the future of Nigeria tomorrow. Alhaji happened to be a witness to some of the scenes of that inglorious past which Nigeria still

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“Surely, the religion with Allah is ISLAM,complete submission”... Qur’an 3:19

When a multi-billionaire becomes a pauper strives to overcome today. He went on to share one of the stories of that odious past with us. It was a story that is worth being shared with you, at least in series. It was a story of how some Nigerians collaborated to destroy the national patrimony in order that they might build their own economic empire. It is the story of how some Nigerians emerged as billionaires today even though the very root of those billions is the plunder and pillage of our national wealth.

Brethren, he was appointed secretary, over 40 years ago, to one of the Federal Ministries in charge of economic prosperity of this country. He was appointed after he passed a qualifying exam and series of interviews.

Part of his schedule of duties was the supervision of procurement of certain materials for the whole nation.

Brethren, if Alhaji F had wanted to fraudulently become a multi-billionaire today, he could have achieved that through the privileged position he occupied. But that would have meant an infraction of the Divine rule, which he believed in. Thus he chose to live within his means. He swore to remain incorruptible. He opted to prevent corruptible actions even from among his superiors.

Thus was he was loved by some among his subordinates, who shared his vision. He was loathed by others, most of whom desired to

exploit and corrupt the system, but could not do so. In other words, while Alhaji F was in the civil service, he ensured every kobo of the ministry was accounted for; he would not steal and would not allow others to steal.

Brethren, one day, he returned home after close of work to learn he would never go back to his office again. He never knew that the powers-that-be had decided that it was high-time he was sacked from office.

Thus before dawn, the office complex was taken over by military men. His office was put under lock and key.

Messages were sent to him that he had been sacked and that he should not venture to go near the ministry.

The person who was asked to take over after him was Mr J who took the sixth position when the test for the position of Company Secretary was conducted years before then. He was asked to take over the secretariat of the company not because he could add any value to its operations.

Rather, he was asked to take over because he could “add value” to the fraud and corruption the leadership of the Ministry wanted to perpetrate.

Brethren, three things subsequently happened. Junior officers who worked with Alhaji F and had thought that probity, honesty and integrity were needed to survive in the civil service, quickly joined the new dispensation. They queued behind Mr J who opened the pathway

to sleaze and corruption in a manner that was previously unknown in the ministry. Soon, the company under his watch became bankrupt and was consequently declared insolvent.

While the company was being wounded up, its managers were busy counting millions of naira.

Brethren, Mr J eventually became a billionaire like the Minister-inCharge of the Ministry. He bought nothing less than 15 houses in London and over a dozen of mansions in Nigeria. He also changed his name. He was wiser than Rasheed Maina who recently became the “newest hero” in town for setting the record for the most corruptible public servant in the country. But I thought Maina was not smart enough. He ought to have resigned from the civil service immediately he cornered the billions of naira that belonged to the Pension Fund Commission. He ought to have changed his name like Mr J, and probably his face too!

Brethren, Mr J was dealt with by the unseen mover of movements in our world. The fate which befell him awaits those who are amassing wealth illegally all around the country today. At the onset of the political experiment that followed the liquidation of the company, he sought to become a member of the Nigerian Senate. He, therefore, sold all his mansions in London. When this

proved inadequate, he also sold his houses in Nigeria. Eventually, he lost his bid for the political post. Soon, he began to find it difficult to live and survive. One day he was invited over to Abuja by one of his old friends with whom they stole millions that belonged to the said ministry. The day he set out to meet the said friend of his happened to be his last day on earth. He died in a car accident before he could begin a new life.

Today dear brethren, we have many Mr Js in the civil service: servants of the nation who have become masters of the nation; public officers who have become millionaires and billionaires. The question is never asked: how could a civil servant whose annual salary is not more than a million naira end up building mansions in choice cities across the country?

Brethren, the worst scenario is the assumption by some among these elements that once they built mosques and established Islamic charitable outfits, these will obviate the oddities of their treacherous and iniquitous ways. They assume the Almighty will not question them thereafter with reference to how and where they got their wealth. How mistaken could they be.

Al-Ghazali says the example of those who commit fraud and bring same to the mosque is like that of a woman who commits adultery and proceeds to prepare a sumptuous meal for her husband with the money the adulterous partner gave her.

No matter the quantity of the honey added to the cup, poison will always be poison. No matter how hard the thief strives to keep what he stole, what belongs not to him will never stay with him. guardianfridayworship@gmail.com

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

AUTOWHEELS

AutoWheels Hyundai celebrates world’s first zeroemission fuel cell vehicles

Hyundai ix35 fuel cell vehicle

Hyundai ix35 fuel cell vehicle

By Taiwo Hassan YUNDAI Motors has announced the manufacturing of a new white Hyundai ix35 fuel cell vehicle, which rolled off from the assembly line at the company’s Ulsan manufacturing complex on Wednesday, thus, making Hyundai became the world’s first automaker to begin assembly-line production of zeroemissions, hydrogen-powered vehicles for fleet use.

The ix35 fuel cell vehicle, based on Hyundai’s popular ix35, C-segment SUV (Tucson in some markets), exited the assembly line at Hyundai Motor’s plant number five during a launch event attended by Hyundai top management and VIPs. “With the ix35 fuel cell vehicle, Hyundai is leading the way into the zero-emissions future,” Hyundai Motor ViceChairman, Eok Jo Kim said at

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the ceremony.

“The ix35 fuel cell is the most eco-friendly vehicle in the auto industry and proves that hydrogen fuel cell technology in daily driving is no longer a dream.”

The ix35 fuel cell, which was unveiled at the ceremony, will be one of 17 destined for fleet customers in City of Copenhagen, Denmark and Skåne, Sweden.

The Municipality of Copenhagen, as part of its initiative to be carbon-free by 2025, will be supplied with 15 ix35 fuel cell vehicles for fleet use, according to an agreement that was announced in September last year. While two ix35 fuel cell vehicles will be supplied to Skåne, Sweden.

Speaking on the milestone history, the Mayor of Ulsan city, Mang Woo Park said: “Assembly-line production of fuel cell vehicle marks a crucial milestone in the history

of the automobile industry not just in Korea, but throughout the world.”

“By supplying more hydrogen refueling stations to support the eco-friendly fuel cell vehicles produced, we will make Ulsan the landmark for eco-friendly automobiles.”

Hyundai plans to build 1,000 ix35 fuel cell vehicles by 2015 for lease to public and private fleets, primarily in Europe, where the European Union has established a hydrogen road map and initiated construction of hydrogen fuelling stations.

The strategy of leading automakers in Europe and the United States is to supply hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and establish refueling stations in order to prepare the market for mass production of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

After 2015, with lowered vehicle production costs and

further developed hydrogen infrastructure, Hyundai will begin manufacturing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles for consumer retail sales.

Built with proprietary technology, Hyundai’s ix35 Fuel Cell is powered by hydrogen.

A fuel cell stack converts the hydrogen into electricity, which turns the vehicle’s motor.

The only emission generated by the ix35 fuel cell is water.

Hyundai’s ix35 fuel cell boasts drivability and performance similar to that of the petrol ix35.

The development and application of a new radiator grille, bumper, fog lamps, super vision cluster and 7-inch GPS exclusively for the hydrogen fuel cell vehicles enhances the ix35 fuel cell’s marketability.

Furthermore, modularisation of fuel cell systems for the core part of the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle-fuel cell stack,

driving device and inverter enabled the engine to be downsized to match the size of a gasoline engine while improving productivity and making maintenance more convenient In January 2013, the ix35 fuel cell won the prestigious FuturAuto award at the Brussels Motor Show, celebrating its technical innovation.

The ix35 fuel cell is the halo vehicle in Hyundai’s Blue Drive sub-brand, the badge worn by Hyundai’s cleanest vehicles, including Sonata Hybrid, i20 Blue Drive and BlueOn, Hyundai’s batterypowered i10.

As governments around the world step up regulations to reduce carbon output and fossil fuel dependency, zeroemissions mobility solutions such as Hyundai’s ix35 fuel cell will become a driving force of change.

The ix35 fuel cell aligns with the 2009 agreement by the European Union’s G8 countries to reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 and California’s zero emission vehicle regulations.

The ix35 fuel cell can be refuelled with hydrogen in only a few minutes. It accelerates from zero to 100 km/hr in 12.5 seconds, has a top speed of 160 km/hr and can travel 594 kilometres with a single charge.

The ix35 fuel cell is the result of 14 years and several hundred million euros of research by hundreds of engineers at Hyundai’s fuel cell R&D centre in Mabuk, Korea.

The car has logged more than two million miles of road tests in real-world conditions in Europe, Korea and the U.S. The first ix35 Fuel Cell vehicle rolled off the assembly line will be displayed at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show.

Automakers and the future of diesel vehicle

By Taiwo Hassan, with agency report S consumers clamour for cars with higher millage numbers and with rigorous new federal fuel economy standards on the horizon, carmakers are exploring all their options.

This has largely meant improving the gasoline internal combustion engine’s efficiency and offering a few hybrid and electric vehicles.

Conspicuously absent from many lineups in the U.S., however, have been vehicles with diesel powerplants.

And understandably so: The American public has been

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reluctant to embrace diesels ever since General Motors and other automakers sold noisy, dirty, and unreliable versions back in the ‘80s. But modern diesel systems are clean, powerful, and fuelefficient.

Recent diesel options in the United States have largely been limited to luxury European brands, but Volkswagen’s years of steady diesel sales show that there is a demand for them in mass-market segments.

Now other automakers want in on the action.

Three cases in point: the new Grand Cherokee, Chevrolet Cruze, and

Mazda6—mainstream debuts this year from automakers not typically known for diesels.

In addition, Porsche has introduced a diesel version of the Cayenne, and Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz are all slated to expand their diesel selections.

Even the Ford Transit and Ram ProMaster vans are joining the fray. All told there will be more dieselpowered passenger vehicles for sale in 2013 than ever before in the U.S. This is good news. Because diesel engines operate at a high compression ratio and the fuel has a higher energy

density (about 15 percent more than gasoline), fuel economy is high and torque is abundant. With excellent thrust off the line and long cruising ranges, diesels fit the driving style of most Americans. Of course, there’s a catch: Diesel vehicles come at a premium, and in the past two years diesel fuel has cost 10 to 70 cents more per gallon than gasoline.

Making up the purchaseprice difference in fuel economy takes tens of thousands of miles. Even so, consumers already pay extra for hybrid efficiency.

For those seeking an alter-

This is good news. Because diesel engines operate at a high compression ratio and the fuel has a higher energy density (about 15 percent more than gasoline), fuel economy is high and torque is abundant. With excellent thrust off the line and long cruising ranges, diesels fit the driving style of most Americans. native, or for people who just hate stopping to fill up, a diesel vehicle might be the perfect solution.

Diesel combustion creates two emission problems: particulate matter and nitrogen oxides (NOx).

The particulate filter traps soot caused by incomplete

combustion. The soot burns off eventually.

SCR uses an aqueous urea solution (aka diesel exhaust fluid, which is kept in an onboard tank) with a catalyst that reduces NOx to nitrogen, water, and carbon dioxide. Smaller engines can get by without SCR.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1 , 2013

AUTOWHEELS

Revamping the new Aston Martin wagon model for the future

By Taiwo Hassan hile wagons remain a W rarity in the United States, the rest of the world has renewed its appreciation for the most useful of automotive forms.

From the Ferrari FF to the new Mazda6 wagon (which won’t be sold here), the

wagon’s shape allows designers room to play with surfaces with a grace not found in SUVs. To drive the point home in style, Italian design firm Bertone revealed this week it had built a single copy of a wagon built from an Aston Martin Rapide, adding a hatch to the 476-hp, V-12-pow-

ered sedan.

Dubbed a shooting brake in the British style, Bertone says the car was commissioned by a wealthy Aston Martin collector who wanted something unique, and from what these drawings show, has far better taste in bespoke cars than whomever custom ordered the McLaren X-1.

The interior was also revamped to add a few extra accoutrements, from custom leather to fold-flat seats with a sliding electric cover, for those unexpectedly bountiful trips to Costco.

Bertone says the Rapide shooting break shows it can now tailor the body of nearly any model to a customer’s

wishes, much as the coachbuilders before and after World War II were able to, and will show the finished car next week at the Geneva Motor Show.

“If every one of them turns out as graceful as the Rapide wagon, it might make up enough karmic points to absolve Aston Martin for building the Cygnet.”

Bertone’s Aston Martin Wagon

Honda’s ECO Assist honoured as top green car technology key enabler of high fuelA economy marks throughout the Honda lineup the automaker’s ECO Assist feature has been named to the Top 10 Green Car Technology List for 2013.

The annual recognition program is presented by the Green Car Journal and was created to honor the new technologies that are helping to create the next generation of environmentally friendly automobiles. Which is certainly the case for ECO Assist.

Available in many of the brand’s most popular and efficient models, ECO Assist actually provides drivers with two ways to squeeze the most mileage from their Hondas.

First, the system uses instrument-panel graphics to “coach” operators into driving more efficiently; then, for enhanced fuel-economy performance, drivers also can engage an ECON button that retunes important vehicle systems for optimum efficiency.

“Honda’s ECO Assist system was selected as a Green Car Technology Award finalist for its innate ability to help drivers enhance their fuel efficiency,” said Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of the Green Car Journal. “In an era

of increased demands on environmental performance from consumers and government alike, we wanted to highlight the innovative technologies like ECO Assist that make their incredible achievements possible.”

“Honda developed the driver guidance and driver feedback functions of ECO Assist to help drivers improve their fuel economy, and in turn, to also benefit our environment,” added Art St. Cyr, vice president of product plan-

ning and logistics at American Honda. “The visual nature of the technology is intended to help drivers improve their efficient driving skills by making it a more fun and rewarding experience.”

Honda’s ECO Assist feature

FRSC insists on renewal of drivers’ licences, number plates HE Enugu State FRSC Sector T Command says there will be no going back on the

October 1st deadline for enforcement of the upgraded drivers’ licence and number plates.

The Sector Head of Drivers’ Licence, Anthony Uga, made this disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Wednesday, in Enugu.

He said that the essence of the exercise was to improve on drivers’ electronic data bank and for security purposes.

According to him, since the exercise commenced on

March 1st, 2011, motorists in the state had been responding positively as the command captured an average of 45 to 50 persons daily. ``Since March 1, 2011, when the scheme kicked-off, the response is very encouraging.

People have been coming for the new upgraded drivers’ license. ``For renewal, the applicant will come with the expired drivers’ license, and on-line demographic application will be raised. He goes to the bank to pay N6, 350 at our accredited bank.

He said that the applicant would go for Vehicles

Inspectorate Organisation (VIO) test and if certified, would return for biometric physical capture. ``We will then raise a temporary document which he uses for one month before a permanent licence will be issued,’’ he explained.

Uga said that for a fresh licence, the applicant would go to an accredited driving school, which would forward the applicant to the FRSC after training, where he or she would undertake processes for acquiring a licence.

He said that the command would soon commence issuance of commercial dri-

ver’s licence for bus, lorry and articulated vehicle drivers.

According to him, applicants for such licences would undergo medical fitness test for such ailments as arthritis, epilepsy, diabetes, hypertension, hearing and sight before undergoing the biometric data capture process.

On the new number plate, Uga said that unlike the old ones, which were attached to the vehicle, the new number plate was detachable if the owner wished to dispose of the vehicle.

He said that the exercise was forge-proof, and urged motorists to use the remain-

Osita Chidoka, FRSC boss ing seven months to renew their licences and number plates to beat the deadline.

Uga identified epileptic power supply, breakdown of equipment and inadequate logistics as part of problems affecting the exercise.

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Safety Tips Protecting cars from rust, wear and tear

By Taiwo Hassan oised by the lack of effective protection of automotive vehicles in the country, an indigenous automotive firm, Automotive Care Products Limited, the exclusive distributor of American ValuGuard care products, has assured auto stakeholders operating in the country of the availability of standard cars treatment products.

According to the company, the reason for introducing the range of car products into the Nigerian market was borne out of the need to give lasting durability to vehicles that are being imported into the country to ensure their optimum value service delivery.

Managing Director of the company, Ifeanyi Akpelu, made this disclosure in Lagos at a media briefing, said that the products are endorsed by the giant automobile makers, like the General Motors, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Hyundai, Mazda and a host of others motor companies.

He said that the products are engineered to reduce corrosion, protect paint from acid rain and industrial fallout, and repair faded trim parts on vehicles.

Akpelu noted that the products are made from the highest quality raw materials available, adding that it set the standards for environmental protection, prep and reconditioning chemicals, body shop and retail products globally.

Speaking on the range of the products, the managing director said that the ValuGuard protective coating chemical: thoroughly encases every fiber and thread of a vehicle’s fabric.

The touch coating prevents stains from coffee, soft drinks, milk and most spills.

It prolongs fabric life; spills just bead up and wipe off.

Applies easily using fabric spray applicator. Safe for employee applicators, millions of vehicles have already been treated and successfully protected against permanent staining.

Leather and Vinyl protector Beautifies leather interior surfaces while protecting against permanent staining.

Unlike dimethal and polydimenthal siloxone based products, ValuGuard Leather and Vinyl protector is a specially formulated acrylic coating that lasts for years and does not evaporate from the treated surface.

A non-greasy formula, Leather and Vinyl protector does not attract dust nor leave surface slippery, virtually a liquid vinyl to expensive interior components.

Generation 7 paint sealant This new generation 7 formula features an amino functional polymer resin that provides outstanding protection against fading, chalking and oxidation while providing a deep, long-lasting high glass shine as durable as it is attractive.

This same product is private labeled for some of the leading vehicle manufacturers.

In excess of seven million vehicles worldwide have been treated with ValuGuard pint sealant.

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

BusinessTravel Nigerian airlines and the long route to survival

By Chika Goodluck-Ogazi IGERIAN domestic airlines have been described as neither having the capacity to operate on international flights, nor meet with the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) they entered into with over 50 countries.

Many of them currently bogged down by various challenges, their hitherto competitive edge may have gone out through their respective rustic wings.

They are constantly agitating for more routes when it is obvious they do not have the capacity. They already have flight right as enshrined in the BASA between Nigeria and other nations.

Why other carriers especially from Europe utilise theirs, the nation’s carriers have no answer for the predatory nature of foreign mega airlines.

BASA is an agreement, which two nations sign to allow international commercial air transport services between their territories.

According to experts, there are procedures, processes and certain requirements that the Nigerian airlines need to acquire before they can be qualified to operate on foreign routes, which most the local carriers have failed to abide.

Consequently, the country may have lost over N100 billion in form of capital flight by the operation of foreign airlines, who are capitalising on the operational inertia of the local carriers.

It could be recalled that Nigeria has over 60 BASA across the globe with different countries for economic and air transportation benefits, but Nigerian airlines do not have the capacity and capability to reciprocate the pact, as only about 15 were being serviced while the others were virtually of little benefit, except for commercial income of $20 per seat carried by the foreign airline on routes not plied by Nigerian airline.

Speaking on the issue, the President of Aviation Round Table (ART), Captain Dele Ore said that the local carriers are required to meet particular criteria, experience and financial & managerial capacities that would enable them meet the stan-

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Aero contractors aircraft dards of operating international flights.

Also, the Group Captain John Ojikutu rtd, reiterated that the Nigerian local carriers do not have the capacity, the fund, the aircraft and management to survive on international routes.

According to him, they do not have the capacity to airlift the local passengers in Nigeria, in terms of aircraft, to talk of foreign passengers.

He said: “We are talking of remodelling 11 airports in the country, how many passengers go to Sokoto, Kaduna, Warri, Enugu, Uyo, Owerri, Bauchi, Madugari, today. Those vibrant ones are, Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kano airports. “I would advise the government to concentrate on these four airports and put more money on them, instead of spending resource on those airports that are not vibrant”.

His words: “The government should stop them from going to those places.

Let them be limited to viable routes, so that when British Airways drops passengers in Lagos, our domestic airlines can carry them to Abuja or when Virgin Atlantic drops passengers in

Arik Air aircraft

The policy is expected to in the long run to favour the country that enters into the agreement and then, the consumers of aviation services of those countries Abuja, our local carriers can take them to Lagos.

“By so doing, our domestic airlines will make more money that way. But when the government allows these foreign airlines to carry the passengers to these places, where the local airlines are supposed to make money, you are killing them, and you are saying that you are helping them by giving them fund from the central bank.

He continued, “You are not making them to grow, by giving them invention fund, which they cannot pay back. They owe for landing, parking, aircraft services, and they have not been able to pay. If you want to establish them with fund to help the domestic airlines, let them know that you are giving them free. Don’t give them intervention fund that they would not be to make good account of ”.

Ojikutu however, advised that airlines should buy aircraft that they can be able to manage, so as to survive in their airline business.

The Director, Research and Strategy Zenith Travel and Tours, Olumide Ohunayo said: “Well, Nigeria is under utilizing its BASA, because we have opted for toll collection rather than participate. Therefore, built a finance chest that was subject of authorization at a time, presently opened for the airport-remodeling programme.

According to him, “if the airlines cannot operate foreign routes why are they not attracting code share partnership with foreign airlines?

He cited that Etihad Airways has code share with Kenya Airways while Air France did the same with Air Burkina and Air Mali, yet they are all increasing gauge and frequency into Nigeria. We need to address it.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government’s open skies policy with other countries has been said to only favour foreign airlines over their Nigerian counterparts, as over $700 million is being made by foreign airlines in form of capital flight.

The open skies policy was first introduced by the United States to liberalise the skies and provide for seamless operations of air transportation among countries.

The policy is expected to in the long run to favour the country that enters into the agreement and then, the consumers of aviation services of those countries.

Currently, over 24 foreign countries operate flights in and out of Nigeria with over 80 frequencies. Although, the agreement was signed in the hey days of Nigeria Airways when the airline could at least reciprocate some of the frequencies operated into Nigeria from Dubai, London, Johannesburg, Kenya, US and others, the reverses was the case now, as foreign airlines continue to take undue advantage of Nigeria’s nonchalant attitude to its domestic business.

Ibom Airport, will emerge a model in Nigeria’s aviation industry, says Nkanga The Akwa Ibom International Airport at Uyo has secured favourable rating from stakeholders, even as works progress on its contruction. In this interview with WOLE SHADARE, Chairman, Ibom Airport Project Implementation Committee, Air Commodore Idongesit Nkanga (rtd) spoke on the relevance of the project to the state’s economy. Excerpts The decision to invest in airport project IRST and foremost, the plan of the state government is to make the airport a gateway to this region and as a reference point for this country in aviation industry. That is what we want to do and we are still on track on our mission. We are having tremendous support from the government and the regulatory body, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has been working with us for us to get to where we are now, but we will want to move further than that. That is why we have succeeded so far.

The entire plan of the state is to develop the airport in three phases; we have finished phase one basically with a lot of overlap of the items on phase one to phase two and then, the ultimate phase. At the beginning, we looked at an airport that would assist our people to move out because

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we were coming from a point that if you wanted to come into this state, you have to go through the neighbouring states, Calabar or even Port Harcourt. The roads were not the very best and any businessman that wanted to come here must devote about two days to do that. It has never been something satisfactory to us.

We realised that not just moving out of the state, which is passenger aspect of aviation, but we realised that there was a part of aviation, which government has paid very scanty attention to and that was maintenance. That was why we could not get the required categorisation internationally because if you are flying international, they must make sure you have a place where you can easily do basic assessment facilities in your country of origin, but we didn’t have that for many years.

Since the regime of General Ibrahim Babangida, we’ve been planning to build a national hangar, which up till today, Nigeria has not been able to build, but Akwa Ibom State took it up as an invest- Nkanga ment and that is why we have today, the state government. On the MRO, we realise that Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility, we won’t just look at just the operator, but a which you’ve seen and by the time we finish, known name in that business so that people will there won’t be more than two that can compete be encouraged to bring their aircraft in. Before with it in the continent and we are happy for that. you could touch somebody’s aircraft, the manuPartnership with private sector to develop MRO facturer must certify you and we are almost facility and a cargo terminal through with those things that have the We are talking to people on this. There are some approval. They came here and gave us people at people who have shown interest now that will supervisory level and you know the state governcome in, take the design, build it and operate for ment has spent a lot of money training engisometime. That will be the agreement with the

neers on ground.

They were in the United States of America for training, they came back and we attached them to some of the airlines and some have gone back to Ethiopia and they spent 14 months there again to make sure that their licenses are up-todate. They are just waiting for the MRO to be ready. Those that are on avionics, power plant and others also joined the engineers that are working with some of the experts to maintain the airfield facilities and all that.

The call by Federal Government to support the state on the MRO project It will be our pleasure if the federal government takes over the MRO facility, but from the outset, before we brought the federal Government in, they said they wanted to build a national hangar and now that Akwa Ibom is doing it, they said they would like to partner with us and they said it was going to be a national hangar.

It was the former Minister of Aviation, Mallam Isa Yuguda that signed on behalf of the federal government. President had agreed, but I can tell you that up till now, not a kobo of federal government has come into this project. At a point, we wrote letters and requested for waivers for some of the things that we import, but it was not accepted. Everything that we imported from abroad, we have had to pay full duties, but we are hoping that the federal government will still come in and assist even if not to take over

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‘Ibom Airport, a reference point for aviation in Nigeria’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 46 the project. If they take over, that will be fine, but where we are now, if they don’t come in quickly, we want to operate this airport as a private sector driven.

On the second phase of the Ibom Airport project The second phase of the project consists of the parallel taxiway, which will come in handy whenever a repair work is being done on the main runway; we can actually use the taxiway for a certain categories of aircraft because the load facilitation factor will not be the same. On the taxiway, about 30 metres will be the full compact while on the main runway is about 45 metres.

Also, part of the second phase is the second runway; this is necessary because the traffic will surely grow in the future. This phase also involves the expansion of apron because as you can see, the apron we have for now is small. The MRO apron, what you find is just about onethird of what it should be. If the MRO starts having its own aircraft, we will not be able to make use of the apron.

The international terminal also involves getting fuel underground. So, the fuel matter is going to be very seriously addressed because of the things we are doing and the fuel will pass through underground so that fuel contamination will be eliminated and all that. We also hope that all these things would be through by 2015 and the rest of the work would be done by subsequent administration. In any case, by that time, we would have gotten to a point investors can now comfortably come in because an investor will not come and build a runway, taxiway and those things for you, they will just come and build maintenance hangars for their helicopters and other projects.

Also, we have here, which you may not find in other airports, an emergency airport control centre, we noticed that sometimes when there is an accident, you see a lot of people trying to bombard the airport for information in a disorganised way, but with what we’ve done here, that is eliminated.

When the NCAA came here, they were quite happy with us and they’ve upgraded the facility to a Search and Rescue (S&R) Centre for this region Fire fighting facilities We have three fire tenders at the airport, which

are primarily aimed to combat fire in case of an incident or accident. When we had our inaugural landing in 2009, the then Minister of Aviation saw it and said he was going to recommend such for the Federal Government and we hope they have done so.

Also, we have an effective warning system in place. Essentially, in this region, we have bird strike as an issue and we decided to get this equipment to combat the situation. It is the only airport in this country with such equipment because if you have a bird strike, it can damage an entire aircraft engine and that can result to accident.

We have minimised wildlife and bird strike within the airport because if they hear the sounds, the birds would move away from the airport. It was an engineering thing that was actually designed by the American Air force for Europe and they use it in their places there. We are the first in the continent to have this kind of equipment to scare away birds; Combined Land and Air Warning Systems (CLAWS) is the name of the equipment.

I’m not saying the equipment eliminates bird strike incident, but reduces to the barest minimum bird strike within the airport.

On security I know a lot of passengers are happy for the convenience they are getting within the airport today, but the most critical aspect is the safety and security as you said. We have paid a lot of attention to security in this airport. Not too long ago, NCAA rated us as the most secured airport in the country and we are proud of this achievement, but we are still lifting the standard up so that others would follow. At this airport, we have a perimeter fence, internal fence for the airside and perimeter road.

Beyond that, we have a full command system in this building. From there, you can see whatever is happening within the airport to the extent that if you are coming by the gate there, we can read your number number and this goes into our data.

If anything goes wrong and we want to investigate, we play it back. The equipment is being handled by the Nigeria Air Force.

Also from the tower, we have security, which triggers off automatically in case of anything; it is automatic and gets information of the aircraft into the control tower there. These are some of the gadgets that we put in here and NCAA seems to be in love with us.

Annual passenger traffic at AKIA It varies, you know we started in 2009 and there

was a period that the Calabar Airport was totally closed and then, most of the traffic moved to this airport. At present, we are beyond 500, 000 passengers now annually. Also, we do operate some international flights for pilgrimage, we’ve been doing that consistently for the past three years for the state and some of the neighbouring states, but we are moving closer towards a million annually, but we are far beyond 500, 000.

Training of personnel As far as 2008, we trained people in Air Traffic Control (ATC), but because of the existing laws, they were not licensed and you know in an airport you want to operate continuously, the ATC must be in good numbers. Then, we were having that handicap and NAMA sent a few people on Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) basis because they are the service provider, but we have our own people that we trained, who were not licensed then for them to take responsibilities because of an existing 1964 law, but that has changed now.

Cost of training The state has spent something in the neighbourhood of N2.5bn on training of manpower in different countries both in Africa, Europe and America.

Aviation business is highly capital intensive, but it will pay you more in the future Cost spent on the project so far You can’t get that straight off from here, but I can only say we estimated $250m for the project then before we went into phase two. I won’t think we have exceeded that for now, but again, we’ve gotten to a stage now that investors would come in.

On fear the project may be a white elephant project at inception I was not discouraged because I have pursued this project with passion and that is because I have history behind me. When I was overseeing the affairs of this state, I knew very well that we needed an airport in this state. As a matter of fact, when the former president came, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, my request was for us to have an airport, which he accepted and the Minister of Aviation was Graham Douglas. The president did not just see it as a project for Akwa Ibom, but its proximity to Equatorial Guinea because as at then, we were having hostilities with South Africa and all that and if the military aircraft takes off then, they will finish all these economic belts.

Overland resumes flight services on Akure-Abuja route

By Chika Goodluck-Ogazi VERLAND Airways has O resumed its domestic flight services from the Akure Airport to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja with effect from February 25, 2013.

Speaking on the resumption, recently in Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer of Overland Airways, Capt. Edward Boyo said, “the resumption of flight services on the Akure – Abuja route is part of Overland Airways’ objective of improving interconnectivity and facilitating social and economic ties across Nigeria.

With this new route, Overland Airways has now covered the

whole of the South-west zone”.

The airline noted that the airline’s flight to Akure will depart Abuja at 09.45 in the morning and arrive Akure Airport at 10.45 while the return flight from Akure will depart at 1100 and arrive Abuja at 1200 noon every day of the week.

It stated that Overland Airways service on Sundays would depart Abuja at 1200 noon and arrive Akure at 1300. The return flight from Akure to Abuja on Sundays will depart Akure at 1330 and arrive Abuja at 1430.

The airline will also operate on this route all the days of the week except on

Saturdays with its fleet of modern ATR-42/72 aircraft.

Passengers can also book and pay for their tickets on this service online at www.overland.aero.

Boyo added that: “Akure is an important city in the Southwest zone of Nigeria, and by linking it with the nation’s capital city, Overland Airways will bring succour to the people of Ondo State and the neighouring states of Ekiti and Edo. Overland’s resumption of service to Akure will support the development drives of these states and other private initiatives geared at improving the socio-economic lives of their peoples”.

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Opinion Death in the mines of Bagega

By Kingsley Amaku HE desperation shows. For many citizens, T life really has been a walk on the edge of a ledge. People are freely exposed to environmental hazards in the quest for daily bread, women and children with no choice but to risk it all. They all face apparent risk of certain death, in particular children; the gold mines in Zamfara State have become a sort of killing field. How else can one describe the situation in Bagega – a remote village in Anka LGA of Zamfara State, which the Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology led by Senator Bukola Saraki visited recently as part of its oversight activities. The delegation was faced with distressing cases such as a woman who had lost nine children and another woman who had lost three children to lead poisoning.

Yet, these women continue with this deadly occupation of gold mining knowing well enough that this is the precursor of death among their children. But there is a way for government to support gold miners to work safely and improve their livelihoods whilst earning an income.

On January 24, the Senate Committee had taken time out on a public holiday to visit Bagega after receiving ominous reports both from the media and experts in the field testifying to how lead poisoning is ravaging Zamfara. The report estimated that over 400 children had already died from lead pollution.

Moved by their plight and the obvious implication on the environment, committee chairman, Senator Saraki led a delegation to Bagega to see what could be done to turn the tide and save the vulnerable children from death.

Bagega is very far-flung and remotely located, little wonder that most key leadership in Nigeria have shied away from visiting the place.

The delegation gathered that the death toll was as a result of the very crude gold mining techniques adopted by the villagers in the mining and the processing, so people were inadvertently poisoning themselves and their

children. The gold ore was heavily laden with lead, which the children ingested freely.

The Committee was on fact-finding mission but more importantly, to consult with relevant authorities in the state with a view to finding a remedy and bring succour to Bagega children. The Committee had been informed prior to the visit that several villages had been impacted by the lead poison scourge, but through the help of non-governmental bodies like Medecins Sans Fronteres (MSF) and Terragraphics International Foundation, many of the other villages had been remediated and the children in those areas treated, leaving Bagega, the biggest village – the size of the entire five villages earlier rescued, still contaminated. In Bagega about 1,500 children remained poisoned.

At the time of the visit, the window of opportunity to assist the area stood at roughly four months. However, the remedial process for Bagega could take as much as five months to complete. Essentially, time is fast running out. The good news is that since after the Committee became aware of this situation and sought the intervention of government, there has been an impressive response on the part of the administration as it has moved swiftly to approve the necessary funds. This example shows a collaborative effort between NGOs, the legislature and the executive can have the positive outcome on saving lives.

The human tragedy in the Bagega situation illustrates in vivid terms how the nation state has become so distant and removed from its citizens’ welfare that its body of laws no longer supports their right to survive but rather stifles opportunities. Though their method is crude, which means that they lose much of their output, it is very clear that a lot of the deaths recorded would never have happened if we had a more inclusive structure for wealth creation and opportunity, a people welfare oriented regulatory system, which in the end could have benefited both the government and the people immensely. Moved

by the plight of the women and children, their industry and desire to eke out a living, the chairman urged the women to come together and form a cooperative as a means of raising capital to set up better and safer cottage industry in the area. He did not leave them with just consolatory words, he immediately provided them with N500,000 seed money to help them start the cooperative.

The team saw just misery and death everywhere. But things could have been a lot better. Let me explain. The lead contamination results from the dry mining process and the fact that the ore is associated with high levels of lead. As the dust from the processing activities distributed the lead, much of this lead is involuntarily shipped home by the workers through body contacts, clothing, implements etc and the children who are closer to the ground feed upon it, inhale it and absorb it.

But the people simply had very few choices available for survival in a very arid and dry place like Bagega. It was hard to imagine the kind of grinding poverty that pervades in Bagega. It was clear that these people had a stark choice to make: mine, feed and die or don’t mine and die of hunger. They chose to at least feed before dying.

It could have been a very different story if government engaged them. If they had been licensed to mine and given access to knowledge on safer mining techniques and technology, they could have done it differently and in turn, government could have bought whatever is produced off them to resell to some to industries that could have utilized them locally rather than making the raw commodity available on the cheap to some foreign merchants who flock the area, paying peanut to the locals. Things could have been different. In organized set ups, the people would have been availed of better livelihoods and life expectancy, government could have made money through taxes and more employment generation. The trickle effect would have been enormous, and a boost in boosting

Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) both for government.

It is not too late. If we really want to grow the entrepreneurial abilities in our people, we need to begin to think outside of the box. The story of Bagega can still be retrieved from death and squalor to one of growth, development, and most importantly industrialization.

First, let the remedial work start in earnest with the release of the funds. Secondly, money should be made available for training of the miners on safer mining technique that will preserve their lives, the life of their loved ones and give them greater efficiency in output and reduce waste. The next is provide the artisanal miners with soft credit and access to technology and then formalize their opportunity through simple registration and provide them security. The government then in turn taxes them on output.

It is time to create true opportunities for our people who are less privileged, not just handouts. We need more intelligent laws and rules that are inclusive rather than exclusive. We need to use our oil resources, mineral resources and other such natural resources on our land to expand economic participation of our people. This is one of the easiest ways to create capital, expand knowledge and development and move people out of poverty. As the committee chairman observed, we need a horizontal economic integration process in order to empower our people. A vertical integration can only go so far. A horizontal integration starts first from getting the framework for citizen participation in the economy right. The people cannot be lifted from poverty line through revenue sharing alone. The answer lies more in wealth creation through broadbased participation in the economic activities of the country as envisaged by Section 16 of chapter 2 of the 1999 Constitution. The paradigm is as the Constitution stated “the welfare and security of the people first”.

• Amaku is a Senior Legislative Aide to Senator Bukola Saraki.

The synthetic of Aso Rock

By Eric Teniola ET’S take a close look at the seat of Government in France, Lto Great Britain and United States of America, in comparison our own – the Presidential Villa, which we refer to often as Aso Rock in Abuja.

Downing Street is the seat of the British Government. It was named after Sir George Downing (1623-1684). It is a street in the West End of London, Westminster in short in central London.

Along the street are the British Foreign Ministry as well as the official residence and office of the British Prime Minister. It has been so since the time of Sir Robert Walpole (1721-1742). Tourists go there often. It belongs to the British people. Prime ministers often test their popularity or the acceptability of their policies, through the mood of those who gather often along that street.

The Elysee Palace in Paris has been the official residence of the president of France since 1873. The palace is on the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore. It was built in 1718 and was once property of Mme de Pampadour. The Landlord of the Palace is France and the first tenant was Louis XVIII, brother of King Louis XVI. General Charles De Gaulle (1890-1970) once said that Elysee Palace is the only barometer through which he feels the heat of France. Elysee Palace is a pride to every Frenchman. Pictures of the Palace form part of the architecture of France. If you get to Paris and you want to get to the Palace, just to view the place or photograph it, you will be welcome.

When the United States government moved to the largely unfinished new capital at Washington, DC, in 1800, President John Adams and his wife, Abigail entered with some trepidation into the executive mansion. After the design competition had been won by Hoban, construction began in 1792 and the original structure was built by 1800 at an estimated cost of $400,000.

When President Thomas Jefferson (who had submitted a lasting design) moved into the White House in 1801, he began, energetically, to plan additions, but these were not finished until after the mansion was partly burnt by the British during the war of 1812. It was painted white for the first time under James Madison, filled with elegant French furniture by James Monroe and graced with indoor plumbing by Andrew Jackson and given the official designation ‘White House’ by Theodore Roosevelt.

The White House contains 54 major rooms, including porticos

and measures 168 feet in length by 152 feet in width. It is surrounded by more than 18 acres of landscaped lawns and gardens. The facility is normally open from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday to Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in summer. Only the public rooms on the ground floor and state floor may be visited. As everyone knows, it is the residence of the President of the United States.

On August 27, 1985, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (72) toppled General Muhammadu Buhari (71) and was proclaimed President of Nigeria by the then General Officer Commanding Second Infantry Division of the Nigerian Army based in Ibadan, Major General Sani Abacha.

On December 20, 1986, the then Minister of Defence Major General Domkat Bali (73) announced that the government had uncovered a plot to overthrow the government of General Babangida. Major General Ajiya Mamman Vatsa (1940-1986) and others were implicated in the coup attempt and those found guilty, including Major General Vatsa were executed following a trial headed by the Delta State born Major General Charles Ndiomu. Other members of the tribunal were Major Akin Kejawa, Brigadier Yohanna Kure, Commodore Murtala Nyako, Colonel Rufus Kupolati, Group Captain Tony Ikazohbo, Lt. Col. Dansogo Muhammed and Police Commissioner Mamman Nassarawa.

On April 20, 1990, another coup attempt was made on General Babangida’s government in Lagos by Major Gideon Gwaza Orkar and others. After a military trial headed by the then General Officer Commanding the first infantry division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Ike Omar Sanda Nwachukwu (72), 42 of the coup plotters, including Major Orkar, Captains Nimibowei, Harley Empere and Perebo Aboela Dakolo, Lts. Awokoya, Akogun, Cyril Okusor Ozoalor and Nicholas Odey and second Lieutenants Arthur Badenyinte Nmukoro, E.J. Esuku and Emmanuel Alade were executed on July 27, 1990 in Lagos.

But nine others were declared wanted, including: Lt-Col. G.A.A. Nyiam; Majors Saliba D. Mukoro, C.O. Obahor, C.O. Edoga; Captains V.S. Tolofari and B.I. Ozeigbe; and Lts S.O.S. Echendu, A.H. Ogboru, P.C. Obasi and also Chief Great Ogboru.

In a recent television interview, General Babangida disclosed that but for Captain Bade Omowa from Oka Akoko in Ondo State who smuggled him out of Dodan Barracks in an old Volkswagen car, anything could have happened to him. His then

A.D.C., Lt. Col. Usman K. Bello was not that providential, for he died in the failed coup. So as to prevent another coup in Lagos and obsessed with insecurity in Lagos, General Babangida on December 12, 1991 moved the presidency from Dodan Barracks to the Presidential Villa in Abuja, ignoring the gradual movement as it was being done in Brazil, and as recommended by Dr. Akinola Aguda’s committee, which was inaugurated on August 5, 1975 by the former Head of State, General Murtala Muhammed.

By the time General Babangida landed in the Presidential Villa in Abuja on that sunny day, there was no accommodation for his top aides, including his then deputy, Admiral Augustus Akhabue Aikhomu (Oct. 20, 1939 to August 17, 2011) except for them to sleep in hotels.

Between 1991 and when he handed over power to his appointed successor, Chief Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Shonekan (77) on August 26, 1993, General Babangida was literally guiding his personal safety. In short he went to hide in the Presidential Villa in Abuja and not to govern, hence the terrible mistakes he made in the last months of his regime, including the annulment of the presidential election, which is still affecting his destiny. He moved to Abuja to cache. He glued himself to the villa, constructing structures in the villa and other parts of Abuja while the rest of the country was getting poorer.

General Babangida and his other successors made Abuja an El Dorado while the rest of the country is still wallowing in poverty and neglect. The villa was designed purely to cut off the people. It is anti-people. It occupies one-tenth of the whole central district of Abuja and it is one of the biggest Presidential Villas in the world with a large undeveloped space. The villa is like a golden palace.

The tragedy in our presidential system of government is that the people really have no role. Once they vote, until the next four years they are completely ignored. Only the executives and legislators profit from this democracy. We have a system of government that slights the people and a Presidential Villa that has completely fenced them. Double punishment. Worse still, they are now constructing an express lane from the villa to the Nnamdi Azikiwe airport in Abuja, which will make our leaders to be completely invincible to the people. Pity.

• Teniola is a former Director in the Presidency. He now lives in Lagos.

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Opinion Ajimobi: From ‘too slow’ to ‘too fast’

By Festus Adedayo N reflection, the excitement and thirst for good governance O May 29, 2011 were palpable, not only in Oyo State pre and post-inauguration, but in the hearts of lovers of the state. So when, six months down the line in the government of Senator Abiola Ajimobi, those ground-breaking projects and developmental milestones seemed to be far between, the apprehension and complaints that followed could easily be understood and articulated. Stoked by the fire of the opposition PDP, the typecast soon stuck to the government as a ‘Go Slow’ administration.

Every effort made by the government to explain that no sane government jumps into its milestones without adequate superstructural arrangement fell on deaf ears.

Twenty months on, however, the sing-song of the opposition and even the good people of Oyo State has changed considerably. Berating the government in a recent release, the state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) condemned Ajimobi for “lack of foresight” in “constructing too many roads in the same axis at the same time,” thereby, according to it, inflicting a traffic snarl on the good people of Oyo State. The PDP was making reference to the almost six-decade old Bodija bridge, left un-rehabilitated, which over-filled its banks in the August 2011 flood, but which the Ajimobi government was reconstructing; the monumental Mokola flyover bridge and the Cele/Mokola road being rehabilitated.

The PDP in the state, and even at the federal level, which has no history of creating as massive a job scheme as the 20,000 Youth Empowerment Scheme of the Ajimobi administration, also picked holes, sometime last year, in the systemic hiccups that delayed the salaries of the cadets for about two months. Even the Mokola bridge, which is the first of its kind by any civilian administration in the state in the last 30 years, received mordant criticisms of the PDP henchmen. Comparing its N2.5 billion cost with a similar bridge in Abeokuta, Ogun State, the opposition party reasoned that graft must have played a part in the negotiation. But when its counterpart in the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) took the henchmchildrenen on a detailed explanation, one would be sorry for a party like the PDP, which, in the first instance, pushed out such illogical reasoning.

Senator Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, former governor of the state, has also been enjoying the panoply of make-believe hypes that attended his Accord Party of recent. Preening own feathers like a peacock that is thrilled about its well-burnished beauty, late last year, Ladoja had told the world that most of those lofty projects that Ajimobi embarked upon, he provided their intellectual superstructure. In specifics, a sneaky politician that he is, with his understanding of the emotions of the electorate, Ladoja had

said that during his administration, he dreamt to build overhead bridges round Ibadan and Ajimobi had merely come to put his imprimatur on these dreams. But then graveyards are replete with unrecognised dreamers who died unsung and that the world only celebrates those who actualise dreams.

The complaint in Oyo State today is that there is traffic bottleneck everywhere, occasioned by a huge construction estate that Ajimobi had turned the state into. From Challenge area of the state capital where the administration is making good its promise to dualise major entrances to all major towns in the state, you are confronted by this temporary road construction pains that will shortly give way to everlasting happiness of the people. Tractors cutting at heavy ends of the road, huge drainages as well as ceaseless roars of caterpillars are the ‘nuisances’ that confront passers-by and commuters in Challenge. Making a triangular construction shape, the dualisation snakes past from Challenge, to Efunsetan roundabout, back to Orita Challenge and down to Adegoke Motors.

If you move towards Magazine Road, Onireke and Fijabi axis of that road, you would be amazed at the change that the Ajimobi administration has made in a short while. Being roads that had hitherto been neglected by previous administrations, a guest who had been away from Ibadan for a while would miss his way.

One very instructive bit about this road construction is that many of the companies along this route like Evans, University Press, The Booksellers, Olatunde Oginni, etc. willingly pulled down own fences even before the mowers set in. This showed the thirst of the people of the state, in spite of their momentary pains, to collaborate with government to change the age-long typecast of Ibadan, nay Oyo State, as an unplanned city of filth and ‘anything goes’.

The plan of the state government to dualise major entrances to major towns in the state is also going on simultaneously in Oyo, Ogbomoso and Iseyin. Virtually everywhere in the state is benefitting from over 200 roads that are in various stages of completion. Perhaps the most visible of the massive efforts of the state government in changing the face of the state is its urban renewal efforts. Many unsolicited commendations from within and without, except from the ranks of the opposition parties in the state, have likened what the Ajimobi government is doing in its urban renewal programme to a Copernican Revolution.

Ranked in a global agency’s assessment of cities filthiest cities, running neck and neck with Aba, the Enyinmba City, dirt had before now typecast Oyo State people, to the chagrin of everyone.

Situated in a plan-less landscape, Ibadan, the capital city, was everything but aesthetically fascinating. These years of impunity have eaten into the fabrics of the society and like swine regale in mire, Oyo State people had taken dirt to be a fact of life, until Aji-

mobi came.

Right now, Ibadan has received unquantifiable face-lift. The Iwo Road axis, which had become a symbol for the lethargy and conspiratorial buy-in of past governments to under-develop the state, has received so great turn-around that pleasantly baffles visitors. It is not yet raining season and the greenery of Iwo Road has not fully manifested, but the order that is replacing the chaos that Ajimobi met is so palpable.

Of significant mention is the Toll Gate area, hitherto a hub of miscreants and which projected Oyo as a state of filth. Right now, this area, especially the interchange is aesthetically appealing. Take for instance the Molete under-bridge, Bode, OjaOba, Bere, Oje Eleso and Gate axis, as well as the Challenge/ Ring Road axis, the changes in these areas are so monumental that Ibadan residents berate the governor for embarking on too many projects at the same time. Right now, the mantra on the streets of Oyo State is that the governor should slow down and remember that the rot in the state was not accumulated overnight and would not leave overnight.

The civil service used to be a subject of the demagogic mantra of a former governor of the state. Having paid the 13th month salary of the civil servants, which he paid in half, he used to claim that he was the number one friend of the civil servants.

However, in the last 20 months, Ajimobi has surpassed any governor, dead or living, in the training, retraining and welfare of civil servants. Realising that the civil service is the engine room of governance, the government has trained over 13,000 civil servants so far. A few weeks ago, the governor appended his signature to the promotion of 12,211 teachers, as well as ensuring the promotion of 1,714 civil servants through the Civil Service Commission. He broke the stagnation of hundreds of typists who had been on same spot, reviewed upward staff housing scheme and will, in few days’ time, launch 100 Ajumose Bus Shuttles, 10 of which will be free for civil servants and students in the state.

This is aside prompt payment of salaries latest by the 25th of every month and the payment of full 13th month (bonus) salary, for two consecutive years now, to the workers.

In the area of agriculture, Ajimobi recently did what is akin to a revolution when he bought 320 tractors for 20 local councils in the state. At a ratio of 1,500 persons per tractor estimate of a world agricultural body, an estimated 480,000 people would be beneficiaries of the scheme. On the health scene, there are 36 ambulances procured by the state government; in education, the renovation of over 1,500 blocks of classrooms and provision of 3,000 pieces of furniture, as well as several other infrastructural interventions. For a half term scorecard, even unrepentant critics would want to rate Ajimobi on the high side.

• Adedayo is the Special Adviser (Media) to Governor Ajimobi.

Ezeilo, the mathematician takes his exit

By John Erinne HE passage of renowned mathematician and university administrator, Prof. James Okoye Chukwuka Ezeilo in a way marks the end of an era. For those who had the privilege of meeting and associating with this extraordinary academic and advocate of mathematics education, news of his death has been rather shocking.

Born on Friday, January 17, 1930 in Nanka in the current Orumba North local council area of Anambra State, Prof. Ezeilo was one of Africa’s foremost mathematicians and university administrators. He was a one-time ViceChancellor of the University of Nigeria where he left positive marks.

The second child of his parents, the late James spent most of his early years at various Anglican missions in Eastern Nigeria where his father who was a church catechist worked. He attended the famous Dennis Memorial Grammar School (DMGS), Onitsha for his secondary education from 1943 to 1948. On completion, in 1949, having achieved the highest score in the prevailing University Entrance Examination, he was admitted to study Mathematics at the then University College Ibadan (UCI), a college of the University of London at the time. He graduated with a B.Sc First Class Honours in Mathematics in 1953 and followed that up in 1954 with a distinction in a B.Sc Advanced Degree before successfully completing an M.Sc. in 1955.

While at UCI, Ezeilo won the university’s Major Scholar award along with numerous other faculty and departmental prizes. In 1955, he was awarded a Leverhulme scholarship to the prestigious Queens’ College Cambridge,

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for doctoral research studies. He successfully completed his studies and was awarded a Ph.D. in Mathematics by Cambridge University in 1958.

He returned to Nigeria same year and took up an academic position as Lecturer II in Mathematics at UCI, rising to Senior Lecturer in 1962.

He went on a one-year sabbatical leave in 1963 as a Visiting Lecturer and Research Associate at the Department of Mathematics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA. Upon his return, he was appointed Professor of Mathematics in 1964. He transferred his services to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) in 1966, at the onset of the crisis leading to the Nigerian civil war, as a Professor of Mathematics, subsequently becoming the Head of Department in 1967. He remained in that position till 1975, broken only by the civil war period, 1967-70, and by a brief stint as Acting Vice-Chancellor of UNN for four months (Nov. 1970-March 1971). In 1975, he was appointed the substantive Vicechancellor of the university. He also served as Vice-Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano, between 1978 and 1979. Thereafter, he proceeded on a one-year sabbatical leave as Visiting Professor of Mathematics at Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota and Howard University, Washington DC, both in USA. He returned to UNN in 1980 as Professor of Mathematics and stayed on till 1988, when he was appointed the founding Director and Head of the National Mathematical Centre (NMC) at Abuja.

In 1996 Prof. Ezeilo went to University of Botswana for one year as a Visiting Professor of Mathematics. Thereafter, in 1997 he took up a similar post at the University of Swaziland, until his final return to Nigeria in 2001. Not one to stay away from Mathematics and the ac-

ademia for too long, JOC as he was popularly known took up a position of Professor of Mathematics at the budding Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki on a part-time basis in 2002, remaining there until his final retirement in 2009.

Among his past students are highly distinguished academics and professionals who have made their marks in various fields of endeavour, including the public service, education, industry, commerce and even religion. He was also in addition an External Examiner for graduate degree examinations at 16 different universities in Nigeria and Africa at various times.

In his extraordinarily impressive career, JOC published over 90 articles in international scientific journals. For some of these, he received international awards of distinction. The Nigerian Mathematical Society in particular honoured him with a commemorative plaque for outstanding pioneer contributions to the advancement of mathematics in Nigeria in 1993.

He was a fellow of six mathematical societies, including the London and American Societies, the Mathematical Association of Nigeria (Past President), the National Mathematical Society (Past President), the Nigerian Academy of Science (foundation member), the African and Third World Academies of Science. In addition to these, he chaired or presided over 15 different scientific organisations, institutions, agencies, councils etc across Nigeria and Africa. He was a member of the Scientific Council of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) Trieste, Italy for four years and was the Representative for the ICTP’s West African Region for seven years. He was also a Member of the Scientific Council of Institut de Recherche et Mathematique, Abidjan and the Scientific

Council of Institut de Mathematique et des Sciences Physiques of Porto Novo, Benin Republic. He chaired the governing boards of PRODA, Enugu and Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, and was a member of the board of the Nigerian Institute of Policy & Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos for several years.

JOC received an honorary D.Tech Degree from the Federal University of Technology, Akure in 1995 and honorary D.Sc Degrees from the University of Maiduguri in 1989, UNN in 1996, and Anambra State University in 2008. In further recognition of his outstanding achievements and service to Mathematics and the university, he was awarded a Professor Emeritus by UNN in 2006. Prior to this, he was awarded national honours as a Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) in 1979, in consideration of his distinguished service to the nation.

As a devout Christian of the Anglican persuasion he was admitted into the knighthood of St. Pauls by his then home Diocese of Awka, in 2001. He was a very loving husband of his wife of 52 years (Dame Phoebe Uchechukwu Ezeilo, nee Uzoechina) and a doting father of his four children: Ada Erinne (medical doctor), Okechuku (mechanical engineer), Obasi (architect) and Ijeoma (computer systems engineer), as well as his six grand children (Bosah, Sophie, James II, Nnamdi, Okechuku Jnr. and Lotachukwu).

In his lifetime, JOC was variously member, Charter President and Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary Club of Nsukka, as well as member of the Rotary Club of Garki, Abuja. Professor Emeritus JOC Ezeilo (CON) passed away peacefully on January 4, 2013.

• Dr. Erinne is the President of Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSChE).

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1 , 2013

NigeriaCapitalMarket NSE Daily Summary (Equities) as at 28/2/2013 PRICE LIST OF SYMBOLS

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

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NSE Daily Summary (Equities) as at 28/2/2013

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Standard Chartered packages IFC’s N12b Naija bond

By Bukky Olajide TANDARD Chartered Bank has successfully completed a N12 billion ($76million) senior unsecured fixed rate notes issuance due 2018 for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group.

A statement made available by the bank’s head of corporate affairs, Diran Olojo, said it is a landmark transaction, achieving a number of significant milestones, including being the first onshore issuance in the Nigerian Naira market by an international issuer and the lowest spread achieved for an onshore issuance in the Nigerian Naira market.

As such, IFC has established a benchmark for other international issuers to tap the growing Naira market. The orderbook saw excellent support from a range of high quality accounts allowing the deal to be upsized from the initial launch size of N 7.8 billion ($50 million equivalent) to N12 billion.

Commenting on the bond, Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Limited, Mrs. Bola Adesola said: “We are excited to be part of this landmark transaction which breaks the glass ceiling in capital markets dealing for Nigeria.

We believe this is a turning point for domestic growth and development in our local economy”.

According to the statement, Standard Chartered Bank is the lead issuing house and lead bookrunner for this bond. Proceeds from the bond will be used by the IFC to support its private sector

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d e v e l o p m e n t programme. Chapelhill Advi sory Partners were joint lead issuing house and joint bookrunneron the transaction.

The IFC Naija bond was issued to support Nigeria’s domestic capital market, increase access to local-cur-

rency finance and target investors such as pension funds, insurers, asset managers and banks seeking to diversify their respective portfolios. IFC is rated tripleA by Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s.

IFC’s Country Manager for

Nigeria, Solomon AdegbieQuaynor added: “The IFC Naija bond will support the government’s efforts to deepen domestic capital markets in Nigeria. It will also help pave the way for other issuers in the domestic markets and make available funds that can be put to work

in the local economy.”

The IFC Naija bond was issued by IFC in collaboration with the Nigerian government, regulatory authorities and market participants.

IFC’s committed portfolio in Nigeria currently stands at $1.1 billion, the largest country portfolio in Africa and the

eighth-largest globally.

IFC’s Vice President and Treasurer, Jingdong Hua said; “The IFC Naija bond will be a milestone achievement as we continue to work with governments and local authorities to strengthen domestic capital markets in the region.”

Shareholders okay Honeywell’s restructuring exercise

By Helen Oji HAREHOLDERS of Honeywell Flourmills Plc (HFMP), yesterday unanimously endorsed the restructuring exercise which Honeywell Superfine Foods Limited (HSFL), a new division of the group.

HSFL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Honeywell Flour Mills.

Addressing shareholders at a court-ordered meeting of Honeywell Flour Mills Plc. in Lagos yesterday, the President, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Sir Sunny Nwosu commended the management of the company for their efforts to entrench good corporate governance in its operations.

He noted that the restructuring exercise was a strategic plan to eliminate duplication of activities, enhance speedy decision making, as well as optimize the balance sheet since the subsidiaries were wholly owned by Honeywell flour Mills.

Specifically, Nwosu explained that investors are looking at areas of making more profit and value for shareholders, adding that the exercise would bring good dividends to shareholders.

“Bringing it to a division will reduce duplication of func-

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tions by these other subsidiaries, because as looks at the moment, most of the functions are cross functions.

So, it will definitely reduce expenditure as a result of the cross function and bring synergy.

“We are expecting that this idea will translate into a better dividend to the shareholders, because whatever they are able to save from the duplication of functions will now go into Honeywell and

increase its portfolios. ” The National Coordinator, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr Boniface Okezie said the conversion would definitely add value to shareholders and enhance dividend payment.

“Our holding is intact and we are not reconstructing shares. I commend the board and management for the decision because the division would enhance efficient saving through consolidation of

duplicate functions.”

Earlier, the Chairman of the company, Oba Otudeko, told shareholders that though both companies have hitherto enjoyed certain synergies as a result of their forward/vertical alignment, there was still considerable scope for the derivation of other benefits with further integration.

Otudeko stated that “to further enhance shareholder value, an internal restructuring of the Honeywell Flour

Mills Plc Group is required to optimize operational efficiencies, reduce costs and extract more synergies from HSFL and its parent company, HFMP. After the absorption, according to him, the resultant entity will benefit from more efficient allocation of resources from the streamlining of support functions like Marketing, Logistics, Information Technology, Human Resources Management and Finance.”

Union Trustees Mixed Fund declares four kobo to unit holders

By Helen Oji MID harsh operating environment, Union Trustees Mixed Fund, manages by CDL Asset Management limited has declared four kobo per unit distribution to its Unit holders for the financial year ended April 30, 2012.

Speaking at the yearly general meeting of the company in Lagos on Tuesday, Bade Adesina, the Chief Executive Officer of CDL Asset Management explained that the company’s gross income increased to N248.7million from N128.0 million posted in 2011 which, according to him

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represents an increase of 94.3 per cent.

He explained that the Fund also posted a net income after tax of N75.3 million while retained earnings stood at N429.6million.

Net asset value of the Fund, according to him also stood at N1.8 billion.

“The Fund declared and distributed four kobo per unit dividend to the Unit hold. This makes the one out of numerous Funds in the market that has consistently declared dividend to the Unit holders over the last four years,”.

According to him, the prospect in the current year

appears very promising with the appreciable vibrancy in the capital market and increase in the offer and bid prices that presently stand at about N1.55 and N1.52 respectively.

“With this capital growth, the unit holders are set for improved earnings in the current year and subsequent years,” he said.

Adesina said “in the face of volatilities in the financial markets in general and capital market in particular, the Fund remains one of the best investment options that shrewd investors can take advantage of to meet their

investment objectives. The Fund is professionally managed for consistent capital growth and regular dividend income for the Unit holders”.

He explained that it is structured in a flexible manner aimed at providing unit holders the opportunity of investing in a select portfolio of securities and instruments such as the money market instruments, quoted securities, fixed income securities and real estate investment trust or real estate related securities. “The Fund seeks to optimize growth of returns on investors’ capital over a long term through investment in these securities”.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

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Sports Ahead Brazil 2014 World Cup

NNPC/Shell All Nigeria Secondary Schools Championship

Kenyan coach dismisses Eagles’ threat HAT Nigeria won the 2013 African Nations Cup is not enough reason for Kenya to feat the Super Eagles, says newly appointed Kenyan Coach, Adel Amrouche.

Amrouche, who has not even met all his players ahead of the 2014 World Cup qualifier against Nigeria on March 23, says the Harambee Stars would tackle the Super Eagles on the same footing.

Kenya is bottom of Group F with one point, three points behind leader, Nigeria.

But that does not stop Amrouche as classifying Nigeria like just any other country, adding that playing against the Super Eagles was enough motivation for the East Africans.

“As I coach I don’t fear Nigeria although I know they are a good team. As a team we must have belief in ourselves and work hard on winning

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10 schools battle for semifinals’ tickets

By Tony Nwanne

matches without getting worried of the opposition,” he said.

Speaking about the demand for results by most fans, the former Burundi coach said it is the case everywhere.

“This is a problem not only in Kenya, but also in the continent. Don’t believe and rely always on what people say, when you don’t work with passion you cannot achieve results,” he offered.

Amrouche on Wednesday named a provisional squad of 30 locally based players, who are expected to start training next week.

Among those on the squad is Sofapaka Captain, James Situma, who missed the recent friendly away in Libya.

Nigeria’s Coach, Stephen Keshi is expected to name his squad for the game next week.

EN schools, including T Government College, Ibadan and Sani Dingyadi

FA Cup triumph would be ‘massive’ Sunday Mba is expected to lead Nigeria’s home-based players to the Super Eagles camp when the team begins camping for the Brazil 2014 World Cup qualifier against Kenya. for Chelsea, says Moses HELSEA attacker, Victor son, so this one would be Delta speaker, others head sports associations HE indoor sports hall of the They include Hon. Victor Ochei (Weightlifting), Dr. C Moses has suggested that massive for the club,” Moses winning the FA Cup for a sec- told the club’s official web- TAsaba Township Stadium Ochei, speaker, Delta State Henry Ofah, member of yesterday witnessed a verita- House of Assembly Desopadec, Delta Central ond consecutive year would site. mark a successful ending to an otherwise disappointing season for the club.

The Blues are 19 points short of Manchester United at the top of the Premier League and have endured disappointing exits from both the Champions League and Capital One Cup this season.

After scoring in a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough Wednesday, which sealed the Blues’ place in the FA Cup quarterfinals, Moses underlined the importance of lifting the trophy. “(The FA Cup) will be important for us, we’ve already lost a few competitions this sea-

The 21-year-old went on to praise his teammates for their performance during a potentially tricky away tie at the Riverside Stadium.

“It was a great win for us,” Moses said. “Right from the start we wanted to get the game out of the way.

“They were a good side, they had a few chances as well, but we managed to capitalise on the ones we had and win the game. In the first half both sides had chances. We had our own but weren’t able to take them and we knew in the second half that if the chances came we’d have to take them.

ble gathering of titans and consummate personalities during the inauguration of 32 sporting associations in Delta State.

The chairmen and members of the inaugurated sports associations are expected to identify talents with programmes put in place for their development, raise funds from the private sector to organise adequate competitions and carry out sensitisation on fair and drug-free regime by athletes, among others.

Executive Chairman of the Delta State Sports Commission, Amaju Pinnick urged them to take sports to the next level in order to consolidate Delta State leadership position in Nigeria, especially in the National Sports Festival.

(Wrestling), Hon. Daniel Mayuku, (Golf), Tony Obuh, permanent secretary, Government House (Darts), Chris Oghenechovwe, (Kickboxing), Hon. Funkekeme Solomon, commissioner for Works (Squash), Architect (Barr) James Akporero (Table Tennis), Hon. (Mrs.) Pat Ajudua (Baseball/Softball), Prof.

Patrick Muoboghare, commissioner for Education, Basic & Secondary (Taekwondo), Dr. Pius Sinebe, former PDP chairman, Delta State (Handball), Hon. Barrister Raymos Guanah, former Commissioner for Lands & Survey (Cycling).

Others are Hon. (Chief) Benjamin Okiemute (Shooting), Engr. Santino Ozah (Boxing), Mr. Emmanuel

(Scrabble), Hon. Olatilewa Edwards (Basketball), Chief Chinonye Dafe (Swimming), Hon. Ochor Ochor, Chairman transition committee, Ukwuani LGA (Hockey), and Hon. Solomon Golly (Rugby).

Others include Dr. (Mrs.) Rukevwe Ugwumba (Sports Medicine), Mr. Gberimi Eyewuoma (Volleyball), Dr. F.O. Thorpe (Special Sports), Mr. Paul Evuarherhe (Traditional Sports), Mr. Ebisan Rewane, represented by Sir Patrick Ferife, Commissioner for Lands & Survey (Tennis), Mr. Emma Elili (Athletics), Mr. Emma Grey (Kungfu), Mr. Chamberlain Dunkun (Gymnastics), Mr. A. Oghoro (Judo), Mr. Robert Asibor (Chess), Mr. Andrew Orhorho (Cricket) and Chief Earnest Juweto (Sports For All).

Lagos International Polo Tournament

Ericsson pips Ironclad Hustlers in 11-goal thriller OLO enthusiasts were treated to the best of the game of P kings yesterday at the Lagos

Ibadan Eleyele battling with Kano Ibah on the opening day of the 2013 Lagos International Polo Tournament.

Polo Club where Mumuni Musa inspired Lagos Ericsson to a 6-5 victory over Lagos Ironclad Hustlers.

It was the second day of the 2013 Lagos Polo International Tournament, and it proved to be a rewarding day for all polo enthusiasts at the venue to savour the game.

The Dansa Cup match was heading into a whitewash when Ericsson raced to a 4-1 lead in the first chukka, but Salisu and Amodu Umar had other ideas.

The smooth-playing duo spearheaded a halt to Ericcson’s march when they led the Hustlers to level scores at 5-5 after the fourth and last chukka.

With the goal widened by an additional 50 per cent, Musa calmly converted a golden goal penalty to win the tie for Ericsson, one of the favourites to win the title.

In the day’s second match, TRaiders took HST to the cleaners with a resounding 7 ½ -2 win over its higher rated opponents in another Dansa Cup encounter.

Rotimi Makanjuola scored in

quick successions to give the Raiders a 4½ - 0 lead before Mohammed Mdheli pulled a goal back for HST at the close of the first chukka.

Raiders’ hitman, Bashir Musa, amended for his 60-yard penalty miss as he scored for a 5½ - 1 lead and by the end of the third chukka, the lead had been extended substantially to 7½ - 1.

Funsho George scored the only goal of the fourth chukka and the game was brought to an end in a comical way as Mdehli was denied what was a clear chance as his pony kicked the ball off the goalmouth just before the end of the match.

Secondary School, Sokoto, will this weekend in centres across the country battle for the four semifinals tickets in the on-going NNPC/Shell All Nigeria Secondary School Football Championship.

The quarterfinal clashes will begin today and end on Sunday with the qualifiers from the zonal preliminaries played in nine cities across the country battling for the four slots.

Aside Government College, Ibadan, other schools in the quarterfinals battles are Henson Demonstration School, Benin, Annunciation, Ikere, Akunne Oniah Memorial Secondary School, Onitsha, Purple Crown, Enugu, and Government Comprehensive Day Secondary School, Bauchi.

Others are Government College, Maiduguri, Government Secondary School, Wuse, Government Arabic College, Gwale, and Sani Dingyadi Secondary School, Sokoto.

In the quarterfinals fixtures released by the organisers, Government College, Ibadan, will square up to Henson Demonstration Secondary School, Benin, in Oshogbo, while Port Harcourt will host the encounter featuring Akunne Oniah Memorial Secondary School, Onitsha, Purple Crown College, Enugu, and Annunciation Secondary School, Ikere.

At the Minna centre, Sani Dingyadi Secondary School, Sokoto will clash with Government Secondary School, Wuse and Government Comprehensive Day Secondary School, Bauchi, while the Kaduna battle would feature Government Arabic College, Gwale, Kano and Government College, Maiduguri.

The four qualifiers from the quarterfinals will meet in Lagos for the semifinals on March 22, and the third place and the final matches, all scheduled to hold at the Teslim Balogun Stadium on March 24.

Defending champion, Kwara Football Academy, Ilorin surrendered its title by failing to qualify for the quarterfinals from the Ado Ekiti zone, which also had teams from Edo, Kogi and Osun states.

Henson Demonstration School, Benin, qualified from that zone.

Officials of the Nigeria Schools Sports Federation (NSSF) have promised hitch free quarterfinals, which will be monitored by scouts from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to ensure that outstanding talents are picked for the national youth teams.

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

Heroes Of John Omughele: The ‘Baptist,’ who After playing second fiddle to Ghana Black Stars for several years, the Green Eagles finally got it right during the qualifiers for Los Angeles ’84 Olympics. The Adegboye Onigbinde-led Eagles were forced to a goalless draw in Kaduna in the first leg, when the National Stadium in Lagos was under renovation, and all hopes were lost since Nigeria had never beaten Ghana at senior level away from home. It became an impossible mission, but John ‘The Baptist’ Omughele,a product of the then Bendel State school football, pulled the trigger against the Ghanaians in front of their home crowd in Kumasi to give the Eagles a 2-1 victory. It was one of the biggest celebrations in Nigerian football, especially after the Black Stars had just won the Nations Cup at Libya ’82. The young Omughele was still in secondary school at Hussey College, Warri, when he joined Eselemo Diamond Football Club, a soccer outfit owned by the late philanthropist, Chief Eselemo. After leading the college to many victories in the prestigious Principles Cup competition against such prominent schools as Urhobo College, he left for Adolo College in Benin City, when some of his results were withheld. It was at Adolo College that he won the Principles Cup by defeating New Era Grammar School, which had such greats as Humphrey Edobor, among others. Soon after secondary school, he took his soccer trade to the famous Bendel Insurance FC, where he partnered the likes of Clement Temile to rule the National League and FA Cup. Omughele was so dedicated as a player that he was shuttling between his club (Insurance FC) and the national team camp in Lagos during the qualifiers for the 1984 Nations Cup. He actually featured in all the qualifying games for the Green Eagles, but an injury he suffered in a league game between Insurance and Rangers FC at the Ogbe Stadium in Benin City ended his dream of making it to the Nations Cup in Cote d’Ivoire. That injury paved the way for the selection of the late gangling striker Rasheed Yekini, who was playing for UNTL Football Club in Kaduna at that time. Speaking with GOWON AKPODONORduring the week, Omughele narrated the story of his life, including how his father used to starve him of food as a teenager in order to discourage him from playing football. He advised students to combine sports activities with academics to build a career early in life, just as he counselled parents to allow their children take to sports of their choice.

OHN OMUGHELE is a man of many nickJ“Paolo names. While some soccer fans call him Rossi” after the legendary Italian striker, who led his country to FIFA World Cup victory at Espana ’82, others simply refer to him as John “The Baptist,” a name he bagged from his supporters after leading the then Green Eagles to beat the Black Stars for the first time in Ghana in the race for Los Angeles ’84 Olympics.

From a humble beginning as a pupil at Ajeromi Central Primary School 1, Lagos, in the 1960s to his post-elementary school, first at Essi College in Warri and later at Hussey College, also in Warri, and then at Adolo College in Benin City, Omughele went through the complete training mill as a striker. When he finally arrived, his impact was felt beyond his birthplace, Ogunamen-Olomu, a community in the present-day Ughelli South local council of Delta State.

Apart from his exploits as a participant in the prestigious Principals Cup and the Academicals in the then Bendel State, Omughele won many followers of then senior national team, the Green Eagles, with his winning goal against Ghana Black Stars in the race for Los Angeles ’84 Olympics. Many soccer fans adored him for his devious moves whenever he held the ball in front of the opponent’s goal area.

Before that spectacular victory in 1983 in Kumasi, the Green Eagles had suffered untold hardship in the hands of Ghana at the senior level. The fiery but healthy rivalry between the two West African countries could be traced to an international competition between the two, the JALCO Cup, which kicked off in Ghana (then Gold Coast) in 1951.

Gold Coast had won every tie it hosted in 1951, 1953 and 1955, while Nigeria won at home in 1952, 1954 and 1956. Then, Ghana was simply better than Nigeria in the round leather game in the ’50s through the 70s/early 80s. The Black Stars won more laurels and had better players. But when Ghana’s economy collapsed in the 80s, the country’s football went down drastically and they had to withdraw from major competitions. Gradually, the Green Eagles started

catching up with the Black Stars and later began to out-play them.

One of the matches many Ghanaian fans will live to remember was that defeat in Kumasi in 1983, a year after the Black Stars won the Nations Cup in Libya ’82. In the period leading to Eagles’ victory in Kumasi, many Ghanaian fans saw Black Stars’ goalkeeper, Joseph Carr, as the best in the world.

As Omughele said, “they thought that no player could score him in a football match.

But in that particular game in Kumasi, something told me that the story could change.

“We conceded a goal early in the game and everybody thought it was over for us, but Chibuzor Ehilegbu equalised in the second half and I scored the winning goal close to the end. Even before the referee signalled the end of the match, many Ghanaian fans had started leaving the pitch in frustration. The celebration was overwhelming because it was the first time the Green Eagles defeated the Black Stars in their own soil.”

The victory in Kumasi prompted officials of the Nigerian Sports Commission (NSC) and NFA to approve an instant jumbo pay for players and officials of the Green Eagles, as Omughele recalled, “we got the highest ever match bonus immediately after that game.

Each player got N1,500 as winning bonus and we were on top of the world. You could see what victory could attract at that level of football.”

Omughele’s football career was planted long before he gained admission into Essi College in Warri. “I ventured into sports very early. In primary school at Ajeromi Central I in Lagos, I didn’t get home until dark because we normally played football until we no longer saw the ball. That was in the mid

John Omughele

1960s,” he noted. But his movement from Essi to Hussey College brought a great turnaround in his sports career.

“I gained admission into Essi College in 1971

The likes of Christian Chukwu, who was playing for Rangers FC, came from Enugu to watch the game because they felt that NNB might sell out. It was a very tough match. After a goalless first half, I scored two late goals in the second half for Insurance to carry the day. I was carried shoulder high round the stadium by the fans, who also sprayed cash on me. The money I realised that evening was more than my two months salary.

and was in form three when the late Chief Eselemo took me to Hussey College on scholarship because of the potential he saw in me,” he recalled. “At that time, Chief Eselemo was running a football club called Eselemo Diamond FC at Hussey College. It was there I met the likes of Thompson Usiyen, Eric Afejuku and others.”

Before he finally settled for football, the young Omughele ventured into other sports, including track and field. He said with nostalgia: “It was at Hussey that I discovered that apart from football, I could equally run the 400 and 800 metres races. I represented my

57

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

School Sports ‘insured’ Eagles against Ghana in Kumasi I gained admission into Essi College in 1971 and was in form three when the late Chief Eselemo took me to Hussey College on scholarship because of the potential he saw in me. house and school in both events and I did very well. The most memorable school competition I played at Hussey College was when we played Urhobo College three times in the semi-final of the Principal’s Cup. “Our first meeting was at Government College in Ughelli and it ended in a draw. The second match took place at the Sapele Township Stadium and it was also a draw. The game was eventually moved to the Warri Township Stadium, where I scored the two goals that edged Urhobo College out. I will never forget that moment.”

Interestingly, Omughele had his worst moment in school sports also at Hussey College. After labouring to stop Urhobo College in the semi-final, he and his “gang” felt that no other school could stop them from lifting the trophy, but they were proved wrong soon after.

According to him, “our opponent in the final was New Era College and as is typical of Warri boys, we drummed all the way to Benin full of hope that our time had come to capture the trophy. In the end, however, Hussey lost the Principle’s Cup to New Era Grammar School. I am sure we lost as a result of over-confidence. Some of us wept all the way to Warri. It was as if we lost a FIFA World Cup trophy.”

Omughele left Hussey soon after for Adolo College in Benin City when some of his WAEC results were withheld. And as a young lad with football blood flowing in his vein, he quickly adjusted to the system, making new friends, especially on the soccer pitch.

The movement to Adolo College gave him the opportunity to celebrate with the Principle’s Cup. In what looked like a revenge mission, Omughele, playing for Adolo College, was pitched against New Era Grammar School once again in the final with the great Humphrey Edobor commanding in the opposing side. He noted, “we won that game and I was a fulfilled man because it was the same New Era College that stopped us from celebrating with the trophy at Hussey College.”

Fresh from Adolo College, Omughele made his way into the all-conquering Bendel Insurance FC. Here, he teamed up with great players like David Adiele, Sam Okpodu, Clement Temile, George Ebojor, Roland Ewere, Monidafe, Bright Omokaro, Tarila Okorowanta and Lawrence Akpokona to rule the land. They won several league trophies, including the famous win against the crowd-pulling Stationery Stores of Lagos in the final of 1980 Challenge Cup at the main bowl of the National Stadium in Lagos.

Another major victory for Insurance during the exploits of Omughele and his “gang” was the 2-0 win over rival NNB FC on the last day of 1983 National League. He captured it this way. “In that particular year, Insurance of Benin and Rangers of Enugu tied on same points on top of the table, but we had a game at hand against NNB at the Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City. Then, Stephen Keshi was the main man for NNB but he was in the national camp with the Green Eagles in Lagos. He was recalled to Benin for the match.

“The likes of Christian Chukwu, who was playing for Rangers FC, came from Enugu to watch the game because they felt that NNB might sell out. It was a very tough match.

After a goalless first half, I scored two late goals in the second half for Insurance to

carry the day. I was carried shoulder high round the stadium by the fans, who also sprayed cash on me. The money I realised that evening was more than my two months salary.”

As he took a retrospective glance at his days in school sports - from Essi, Hussey to New Era, Omughele lamented that school sports in Nigeria has declined tremendously, saying: “In our days, they used to call us ‘schoolboys international.’ That goes to show that even as students, we were already known as stars of the future. But today, we no longer hear such names in our schools. The government has a lot of work to do to revive the system.”

Nevertheless, in recognition of his exploits as a schoolboy player, Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, recently named Omughele, alongside others like Austin Okocha, Davidson Owumi, Victor Ikpeba, Seigha Porbeni, and Prof. Patrick Muoboghare in a committee to revive school sports in the state. They are spearheading the competition tagged: Delta Governor’s Cup, which started late last year and is now in the knockout stage.

According to Omughele, such steps taken

by Governor Uduaghan should be followed by other governors for school sports to thrive once again. He noted, “I am happy for the initiative of Governor Uduaghan, who is doing everything possible to bring back the old culture of school sports. Other state governors should take a cue so that school sports could come alive again. It is only in school sports that you can catch them young as growing stars.”

He advised students to embrace sports early in life, adding, “they should cultivate the habit of combining sporting activities with education so that they can build a career for themselves early in life. Again, parents should allow their children to take part in whatever sport they are good in.”

While his father, the late Rogers Akpolubo Omughele, hailed from Ogunamen-Olomu in Ughelli South council area, his mother, the late Catherine Omughele, was from Kiagbodo in present-day Burutu local council of the state. As a teenager, the footballer had a rough encounter with his father, who did everything possible to discourage his son from sports, though his mother saw things differently.

“My dad used to punish me for coming late from school,” he recalled. “He would ask my mum never to give me food. But you know what mothers are! She will hide to give me food and ask me never to allow my father to know.”

With the all-conquering Bendel Insurance team filing out against Stationery Stores at the National Stadium, Lagos, in the 1980 FA Cup, which Insurance won.

With his wife, Mrs. Josephine Omughele during a birthday party for their son, Oghenemaro

John Omughele

Bendel Insurance FC before their final league game against rival NNB Football Club in 1983

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

58

Tennis Hit your overhead smash with confidence!

By Tom Avery OW MANY of you dread it when you see your opponent throw up a lob? You get that sinking feeling in your gut, and you think, “I hate these shots. Why doesn’t he just hit the ball?”

Well, a lob is a very good shot to use in certain situations. Even top players like Roger Federer use it. And the shot is not going to go away.

H

In association with

The truth is, you lack confidence in your overhead smash. If you can’t overcome this crisis of confidence, you’ll continue to tense up every time you see a lob coming your way, and that will lead to errors.

So, how do you gain more confidence in your overhead smash?

The first thing you need to realize is how much time you may or may not spend working on your overhead smash. If you’re like most tennis players, you probably spend very little time working on it. In fact, it’s probably fair to say that the overhead smash is the least practiced shot in tennis. You need to make a commitment to practice the overhead on a regular basis.

Practice the shot with a partner by asking him or her to hit you some lobs for at least 10 minutes, and do this regularly. You

can also work on your overhead with a ball machine, a teaching pro, or even against a wall or backboard. Before you play a match, make sure you have your opponents hit you some lobs in the warm-up.

Here are a few key points you’ll want to keep in mind: * Act confident. Yes, the quickest way to start developing confidence is to simply act confident. That’s right, fake it if you have to. When you see a lob coming your way, from now on—whether in practice or in a match—think: “I love these shots. I can’t wait to smash it.”

You may not totally feel that way deep inside now, but you will, if you keep “acting and practicing.” * Move your feet. Often, the No.

NIGERIA

SOUTH AFRICA

Williams sisters partner always brand to inspire, empower Nigerian girls

Williams sisters ‘breaking the mould’ project

1 reason players miss overheads is because of a lack of footwork. Try to move your feet 5 to 10 steps before hitting the overhead. This will help you start to get your feet in gear every time someone throws up a lob, which is a good habit to get into.

longer than he needs to. This helps ensure that he will not drop the head and chest too soon. If your head or chest drops too soon, it will pull your racquet off line and you’ll mis-hit the ball.

Launching an effective overhead smash into your opponent’s court is not rocket sci* Keep your head and chest ence. Try to keep it simple and up at the moment of contact. concentrate on these few, funIf the head or chest drop damental points—and you’ll before contact, there’s a good hit a winner every time. chance your smash will land in the net. So, keep your head Tom Avery is the author of the and chest up until the ball is “Consistent Tennis Wins” DVD off your strings and on its series and owner of the Avery way to the other side of the Racquet Company. To see more net. than 60 minutes of free instant Try to purposely keep your download video lessons, visit head and chest up longer www.TomAvery.com. Tom can be than is necessary; Federer is a reached at 800-758-WINS or master at keeping his eyes info@TomAvery.com. fixed on the contact area

NTERNATIONAL tennis stars, Ijoined Venus and Serena Williams forces with leading global feminine protection brand, Always to empower and inspire girls at the Government College, Lagos.

The duo boosted the morale of the girls.

Their life story displays a tale of passion, determination, hard work and self-belief that has triumphed over obstacles and circumstances to become world champions on and off the tennis court.

Commenting on the Williams sisters’ visit, Temitope Iluyemi from Always says, “The Williams sisters being here today has empowered more girls to break the moulds that have stood between them and their potential. Their support of our puberty education programme is another way to help give these girls the confidence to enjoy womanhood without limits.”

IN THE GYM

OHANNESBURG, South Africa - Serena Williams Jautographs for fans after Soweto Tennis Clinic.

The Williams sisters played a two-hour tennis clinic at the Arthur Ashe Academy in Soweto, an urban area of Johannesburg. They also headed to the Monte Casino for a press conference to discuss the empowerment project, as well as talk about one of their biggest sources of empowerment - their long and illustrious careers.

Tone your biceps and triceps in the gym or at home

Build Better Biceps A trick for standing exercises is to bend your legs slightly, taking pressure off your lower back, and stagger your feet to create more balance. As the weight gets farther from your body during the movement, you will need more force to overcome its relative weight. You need good balance and control.

One of the biggest mistakes lifters make is to start the movement by launching the bar or dumbbell with momentum. Creating momentum at the waist causes the lifter to lean back, moving the tension from the biceps to other muscle groups. Lifters often cheat at biceps exercises when it gets most difficult, usually at the 90degree angle. However, working through that sticking point will truly enhance overall improvement in the biceps. The desire to

cheat by launching the weight with momentum is natural, but the best results will come if you force yourself to work harder when it gets harder.

Developing the biceps takes time and patience. Don’t give up on them. Any pulling exercise will work these muscles. If you are having a difficult time developing these muscles, try isolating your arm muscles by inserting an arm-only day into your training program once a week. No single exercise can effectively target a specific area of the biceps, so your keys to success are performing a variety of exercises and using a full range of motion.

Another good tip is to get a spotter to assist you. Don’t be afraid to get some help. Instead of using momentum and cheat-

When you extend your arms, ing through the tough areas, get the entire range of motion. use a gentle lock at your a buddy to help you a little, and That means using a smaller force your body to remain dumbbell and lighter weights. elbows; do not snap them into a full lockout. Use a thumb-lock upright during the lift. To really grip. A loose grip will prevent work your biceps, try 10 reps overexertion, but you need to with a heavy weight, forcing the be able to hold onto the barbell last few reps. or dumbbell. The most imporTips to tone triceps tant tip, however, is to make Proper execution is the key to sure that the plates are secured success. During triceps exercisto the barbell or dumbbell. You es, the less you move your elbow will quickly learn why supine back and forth, the more you triceps extensions are called emphasize the triceps. nose breakers if a plate falls off Maintaining proper posture is a while you are performing one. must. To keep proper posture, Although injuries are rare, olecontract your abs and keep your cranon bursitis (swelling in the chest up. Many lifters note that elbow) may occur if you overdo the abs feel as if they work durit. If your elbow is sore, do not ing triceps exercises. This is a do triceps exercises. If you feel a good thing because it means slight pain during a particular that proper body posture is exercise, try a different hand being used. grip. It is not uncommon to To get a true horseshoe-like find that some exercises bother appearance in your triceps, use

the elbow but others don’t.

Get a grip!

Do not neglect grip work in your training, especially if you play tennis, golf, baseball, softball, or any other sport that requires you to hold a hitting implement. The heavier the weight you use and the slower you perform the movement, the greater the training effect will be.

Using dumbbells with spinning plates allows the weight to move properly, but if you don’t have dumbbells with spinning plates, don’t worry.

For the most part, if the dumbbell plates are secure, then wrist curls are safe. It is difficult to do any major damage unless you really overwork your wrists. The first few times you do these exercises,

CONTINUED ON PAGE 61

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

IN THE GYM

59

Don’t let your child be a ‘clone’

By Steve Smith

Tone your iiceps...

Dear Tennis Parents:

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 60

UNIOR PLAYERS today have no Jtoday options. It is a safe bet that a kid has an extreme grip on the

you may get sore, but in time the soreness will go away and your grip strength will improve dramatically.

TRAIN AT HOME You have several options for working out your arms at home. If you take a good look around, you’ll discover a variety of hometraining tools, and when you understand the way a muscle is worked, you can find a method to stress them enough to create a challenge.

Using the straight bar curl position, you can curl resistance tubing to work your biceps. The best way to make use of the tubing is to grab the handles on either side and stand on the middle. For your triceps, pull the tubing up to your shoulders, extend your elbows overhead, and perform arm extensions overhead (triceps extensions).

Don’t forget about your own body weight.

Doing push-ups with your hands together will get a good triceps burn. There are also plenty of heavy objects in your house that you can curl. Grab either end of a rolled towel with an object hanging from the middle. Pull upward on the towel handles, creating a curl-like movement for the biceps.

Training your forearms at home is also an easy task. If you have made your own wrist roller you are set, but another option is to grab nearly any object in your house that is heavy enough to make your forearms work.

Popular items include soup cans, heavy pots, heavy books, and even your kids.

While holding the object, squeeze tightly and curl your wrists upward, then reverse the position and extend your wrists backward.

From “Fundamental Weight Training,” by David Sandler. Copyright 2010 by Human Kinetics Publishers Inc. Excerpted by permission of Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL. www.HumanKinetics.com.

forehand, a two-handed backhand hit with two collapsed wrists, and a toss that is way back behind an arched back. Volleys are nonexistent and a conventional approach volley is totally extinct.

Almost every kid plays the same—a slugfest from the baseline. As Vic Braden says, “If you play someone who is better from the baseline than you, you should just mail in the scores.” Why show up if you have no capabilities to adjust your tactics? And yes, your tactical options are based on your technical skills.

In the last official match Pete Sampras played, he came to the net 104 times in four sets. Kids today do not come in 104 times in four months. Martina Navratilova won Wimbledon nine times, and since she retired, I bet you can’t name nine players who are serve-andvolleyers.

Why? Because at all levels the majority of players, parents and pros are totally confused. Yes, winning in tennis is confusing. If a kid is playing one-up, one-back doubles as a freshman in high school, what do you think they will be playing as a sophomore, or junior or senior?

Of course, they will continue to go with what works. Unfortunately it will only work at the level they are currently playing.

You only learn from making mistakes, so let your kid make the right mistakes. They need to play principled tennis and go to the net. Sure, little kids will lose points at the net; they do not have the reach and as a result get passed and lobbed quite easily.

But they need to work on principles. For example, if the ball is short, move in and go to the net off an approach shot. Give the opponent less space. Know the stats. If your kid wins two out of three, they are dominating. And they’re building for the future.

Develop Offensive Skills Parents, watch the drills your kids are doing. If the drills are all actionpacked and “game-based,” beware.

The more fun the drill, often the less effective it is. If your child spends a good portion of practice working on aspects of their game

they do not use in match play, it is probably a good thing. Wouldn’t it be terrible to play in the 12th grade the same they played in the sixth grade?

Many college teams have players who are stuck playing at the bottom of their team’s line-up. There is a good chance that some of those kids were the best “little kid” players in their respective countries. But “little kid” tennis and “big kid” tennis are two different things.

Make sure your child is developing offensive all-court skills. College dual matches start with doubles and that means having the “know how” to serve and volley. Get your child to work on his serve and volley today, even if he or she is 9 years old. This will be one of the many bonuses of the QuickStart Tennis format, where kids 10 and under are playing a big game on a little court with ageappropriate equipment. Great tennis teachers have had their kids play

Rafael Nadal

mini-tennis for years.

The tennis clones today have an extreme grip on the forehand side.

They hate low balls. But they are safe because the player that is approaching to their forehand cannot keep the ball low, since they also have the same extreme grip and do not volley either. It is trajectory that keeps the ball low. But the player with the extreme grip typically just hits high arcing groundies; good enough to win in the early age groups.

The most prestigious tournament is Wimbledon. It’s played on grass and demands that players have an aggressive all-court game. How can kids dream of playing big time if they do not have big-time skills?

Right now, they are clones, only playing a defensive, one-dimensional game. And the coach that allows this is a clown.

You have to love Rafael Nadal. He is changing before our eyes. Watch his stats on the grass. The world’s pre-

mier clay-court player is coming to net more and more on grass.

Your Child Should Be Versatile Your child’s coach should not allow their young players to play a limited number of patterns. If your kid plays six matches on the weekend and wins the tournament, yet doesn’t hit at least six overheads, don’t be satisfied. The overhead indicates that the player is controlling the point. That’s what your child needs to develop.

We all know the kid can hit overheads in practice when the coach finally gets around to getting the kids off the baseline. But because they do not go to the net in match play, when they finally get an overhead in a match, there’s a good chance they will miss.

But don’t just watch your kid, look at the kids in your section. I have often asked top 18-year-olds to name the kids in their section who occasionally serve and volley. They can at best name one or two. You can go to a high-level national tournament and be hard-pressed to find even a couple of kids who are able to play different patterns.

You would think that if a kid were up 40-love, they would realize that the math is on their side to take a risk. Move in. Serve and volley—at least once a match. Add an option to your game.

Tennis is an art form. And yes, many skills are becoming a lost art.

Steve Smith has 35 years of diversified experience. Academically, he designed and developed the first accredited comprehensive degree program for tennis teachers. Six of his former students, ones developed in their formative years, have won NCAA National titles. Clinically, he’s studied under and worked for tennis teaching legends.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

60

SchoolSports Milo Secondary School Basketball Championship

Premier Lotto Lagos Schools Athletics Championship

Ebonyi, Bayelsa begin title defence, as state finals dunks off Monday

Finalists emerge in three districts for grand finale

By Olalekan Okusan

C

OME Monday March 4, defending champions, Ebonyi’s St. Augustine Seminary and Bayelsa’s St. Jude’s Girls’ Secondary School will begin their title defence as the state finals of the 15th Milo Secondary School Basketball Championship dunks off across the country.

To be crowned winners in 2012, the Ebonyi team overcame Kano’s Ahmadiyya College to win the boys’ category, while the Bayelsa girls defeated Delta’s Asaba Girls Grammar School.

Speaking at the press briefing to unveil programme for this year’s edition, Managing Director/ Chief Executive of Nestle Nigeria Plc, Martin Woolnough, said this year’s competition hopes to bring out the champion in the students.

Woolnough, who spoke passionately about the company’s commitment to the tournament, saying, “at Nestle Milo our commitment to basketball is evident in our actions. In 2007, we engaged with 2500 schools, we doubled that num-

ber by last year to 5000. Our commitment is solid and we will continue to support basketball in Nigeria for a long time to come.”

For the participants, Woolnough said, “in the spirit of this year’s championship, we encourage participants to

demonstrate all the qualities of champions both at the state and at the conference levels. We look forward to receiving the eventual champions in Lagos for the grand finale and then we will truly live up to this year’s theme and say welcome ‘champions’ it’s dunking time.”

Special Guest of Honour, Nelson Ovhori (right), decorating Emmanuel Obiahu of Loyola House, while Chigbo Okeke (middle) of Regis House and Shaiyen Umar (left) of Connelly House wait for their turn during the medal ceremony of the just concluded Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja, Inter-house Sports Competition.

FTER three days of action, A finalists have emerged in three Lagos education district for the March 9 grand finale of the maiden Premier Lotto Lagos School Athletics championships.

With some feat achieved in some events, thousands of

students taking part in the championships believe such competition would help them to showcase their talents.

From district three, Oloyede Ajibola of Methodist Boys High School and Abire Mercy of Lagos State Model College

won the 100metre. 44 other finalists will compete for district three in the finale.

Excited students, who thronged the Teslim Balogun Stadium for the district finals, however lauded the organisers and sponsors for staging the competition.

Regis House wins 13th annual Loyola Jesuit College sports festival EGIS House, which lost the R top spot narrowly to Connelly last year, on Saturday at the school’s sports complex beat all the contenders to win the 13th edition of the competition.

In a grand festival that featured cultural dances and other side attractions, Regis House, led by Chibuzor Ajaero, garnered 25 gold medals, to beat its closest rival, Connelly (12 gold medals), to the second position.

Four houses, Connelly, Loyola, Regis and Zavier competed for honours in the sports meet.

Ajaero, who won five gold medals for Regis House, being the immediate past head girl of the school may be heading to Loyola, Maryland University, California United States on scholarship with the aspiration of becoming a cardiologist.

Another outstanding performer at the games, Adaora

Ezike, the female house captain, took four gold medals, just as Zimuzo Chigbo-Okeke reigned supreme also with four gold medals in the boys’ category.

Second-placed Connelly House also produced a fourgold medalist in Princess Jewel.

The students vied for honours in the 1,500m and 800m races; 4 x 400m, 4 x 100m relays and invitation relays of both gender.

Other events included 100m, 200m and 400m races, as well as, the high jump, long jump, javelin, shot put, and discus events.

Speaking at the end of the competition, the special guest of honour at the festival, Nelson Ovhori, commented Loyola Jesuit College for including sports in its education agenda.

He also said, “the promotion of grassroots sports embarked by the school will help in pro-

ducing future athletes for the nation,” just as he commented the school for organizing a spectacular and improved inter-house sports.

Apart from sports, Loyola Jesuit College is noted for its academic excellence.

The school represented FCT in the National MILO relay competition in 2002, and has produced athletes, who represent their schools in inter-collegiate games in the UK and US, including Tony Akande, Kene Nwanna, Ifeanyi Edochie, Raymond Utuk, John Yusuf and others.

In academics, Loyola Jesuit College is also a pace setter of secondary education in Nigeria having maintained its standard in WAEC and NECO examinations since inception in 1996, including being among the top performers in the Cowbell Mathematics National Competition.

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

Barca aims to bounce back ARCELONA will look to B exact revenge on Real Madrid when the giants of Spanish football meet in tomorrow’s Primera Division ‘Clasico’ at the Bernabeu.

Barca suffered a painful 3-1 home defeat to Jose Mourinho’s side on Tuesday as they were dumped out 4-2 on aggregate in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. That defeat, allied to the Champions League loss against AC Milan, has led to suggestions from some in the Spanish media that teams have figured out how to counter Barcelona and minimise the threat of Lionel Messi, who is expected to feature this weekend despite feeling unwell earlier this week.

Barca hold a dominant 12point lead over second-placed Atletico Madrid in the title race, with Real a further four points adrift, and the Catalan side have followed each of their five defeats this season with a victory.

But they will be keen to prove they have not been unduly affected by the absence of coach Tito Vilanova, who is currently in New York receiving treatment after having a second lump removed from his parotid gland last month.

Madrid may be effectively out of the race to secure the La Liga title, but their victory is a timely boost for Mourinho, who has come under severe pressure.

And midfielder Xabi Alonso has heaped praise on the Portuguese ahead of tomorrow’s clash.

Speaking to UEFA’s Champions Matchday magazine, the Spain international said, “above all I am struck by his ability to empathise with and reach his players, which is

a hard thing to do. When you see a group in front of you that support you, believe in the ideas you are transmitting... that’s what a leader does. And our coach is a leader like that. For me, he is one of the best coaches.

“Apart from his knowledge of the game, he masters many

Messi

elements in terms of tactical variations within each match.”

Elsewhere, Atletico, boosted by their own passage to the Copa del Rey final by seeing off Sevilla, will look to try to take advantage of any slip-ups from Barca when they travel to face Malaga on Sunday.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

62

Golf Weekly

SNAG master Trainer, Tony Howarth (third from right) and some certified trainers watch one of the kids during the free demonstration session of Starting New At Golf (SNAG) at the Astro Turf in Ikoyi, Lagos.

SNAG will engender mass participation in golf, says Howarth Stories by Eno-Abasi Sunday EAD PGA Golf Professional H at Total Golf Centres, United Kingdom and Starting New At Golf (SNAG) master trainer, Tony Howarth, has deplored the slow pace of golf development on the African continent saying programmes like SNAG were designed to effectively reverse the ugly trend.

Speaking at a SNAG inaugural demonstration at the Astro Turf in Ikoyi, Lagos,

Lagos set to adopt programme for kids which was at the end of a four-day train-the- trainer programme, Howarth lamented the fact that only a few countries on the continent have been able to produce high-flying professional golfers despite abundance of talent.

At the event, which was at the behest of 2AT Nigeria Limited, an indigenous golf promotion outfit in collabo-

ration with International Golf Development, Howarth said, “we have seen South Africa and Zimbabwe turn out many top professionals over the years, including Gary Player, Ernie Els and Nick Price to name a few.

“However, the rest of Africa is still a continent in the early stages of golf development and programmes such as Starting New At Golf in

Nigeria will go a long way to introducing the sport to the masses,” he stated.

In her remarks at the demonstration session, Adekemi Badmus of 2AT Nigeria Limited expressed delight at the way the event turned out saying “golf holds a lot of potentials for the Nigerian environment. So when we help the kids to imbibe the game this early, we are simply equipping them with life skills to grow up with, even beyond the pos-

African Junior Championships excites IBB Club, says Addeh ADY Captain of the IBB Golf L and Country Club, Mrs. Anne Addeh says the club is delighted to host the forthcoming African Junior Championships, which holds from April 2 to 5.

Junior golf players from African countries including hosts Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa will converge on the IBB Golf and Country Club, Abuja, for the championships, which is in its second edition.

The developmental programme, that has the blessings of golf’s world governing body, the Royal and Ancient (R&A) Club, St. Andrews, Scotland will have on offer, world ranking points in the amateur category.

It is also now a prerequisite for junior golfers to qualify for the United States Kids European Championships

and the United States Kids World Championships qualifier for more tournaments in the United States such as the Callaway World Junior Championships and The Taylor Made World Junior Masters.

The competition, one of the most prestigious junior golf events in the country, is organised by Kids Golf International in partnership with the Ladies Section of the club.

Addeh, who was part of the delegation that led the team to Europe and the United States in 2012, said she was happy to be part of the movement by Kids Golf International (KGI) to develop golf in Nigeria and West Africa.

According to her, “KGI is an exceptional company with genuine passion, mission and vision for development of jun-

ior golf in the country and we at IBB are proud to be part of that movement.”

KGI is poised to develop the game of golf in Nigeria and West Africa through tournaments and training programmes for children aged 5

to18 years old.

The outfit is affiliated with organisations such as the U.S. Kids Golf Foundation, where young talented golfers are exposed to international tournaments in Europe and the U.S.A.

sibility of making golf a profession.

She continued, “at 2AT, we are excited that the programme has got off the ground and we are even more delighted that the kids find it fascinating and a golf body is already seeing possibilities with us. For now, all we are concerned with is getting more schools to buy into SNAG and getting more kids on board.”

The golf body Badmus was referring to is the Lagos Amateur Golf Association, which Honourary Secretary, and immediate past Tour Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer of the PGA Nigeria Tour, Mr. Sola Lawson said found the SNAG curriculum complimentary to its state wide golf campaign and will adopt it for children in Lagos State.

Lawson remarked at the event that the new board of

the association led by Habeeb Fashinro has outlined ways it intends to take the game of golf to schools in the nooks and crannies of the state.

“We want to make the game as easily accessible to kids as possible. And with what we have seen the kids display here, there is no point trying to reinvent the wheel-so to speak.

LAGA will work with this firm as this programme has made a lot of things very easy. So there is nothing wrong with sitting down with them and setting a goal of reaching 50, 000 kids in our first year,” he said.

One of the trainers, a Physical Education teacher, Innocent Alonge, who was making his first contact with the game of golf said, “this (SNAG) has made the game of golf very simple, even for me as a trainer.

This is very revealing and I am sure it will be an interesting class for kids when we take it back there”.

Balk triumphs at Ikoyi Club 2013 Valentine tourney RS. Y.M Balk has emerged M the overall winner of the 12th Valentine Golf Tournament staged at the golf section of Ikoyi Club 1938.

Balk carded a nett score of 67 to win the 18-hole tournament held to celebrate this year’s St. Valentine’s Day, by three-shots.

Though playing in a group, which comprised of three former lady captains at the section, Balk steadied her game

and remained undaunted in her quest to carry the day.

In the tourney, E. Anukwuem came in the second position after shooting a nett score of 70, beating third placed Joel G. on countback.

Joel also signed for 70-nett.

In the second category opened to lady golfers within the handicap range of 0-36, Mrs. I. Onukwuba, with a net score of 73 led the category.

Mrs. Schultssak D, with 78

nett score in second while David T. finished third with a nett score of 79.

Among the ancillary prize winners in the ladies category were Mercy Freely, who won the longest drive on hole-18 and Gassauert, who won the nearest to the pin on the same hole.

At the one-day competition, which also had men playing as guests, Remi Olukoya, Adebesin,

Ogunrinde and Semowo won different prizes.

Speaking at a dinner/prize presentation ceremony, Bola Cusworth, who has organised the tournament since 2000 thanked all those who made the dream a reality.

She praised First Bank Plc and

her committee members for their support over the years, pledging to continually work towards an even better tourney.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, March 1, 2013

63

TheGuardian

Friday, March 1, 2013

Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

By Chiedu Uche Okoye HEN people call Nigeria the giant of Africa, W I laugh as the statement is a hyperbolic expression and distortion of reality. But, the truth is Nigeria has the potential to become the true giant of Africa given its vast human and material resources.

After gaining political freedom in 1960, Nigeria has not realised its potential. Nigeria and Malaysia were once at par, but the Asian country has overtaken Nigeria in many areas. Japan is not endowed with natural resources as Nigeria, yet it is a technologically advanced country that earn huge foreign revenue by exporting its products to other countries. South Africa, which emerged from the suffocation of Apartheid regime in the mid 1990s, is ahead of us, economically. Aren’t Nigerians economic exiles in South Africa, today?

Chinua Achebe diagnosed Nigeria as having leadership problem and not a few Nigerians agreed on the fact that corrupt and inept political leadership is at the root of our national woes.

In the past, we experienced a gratuitous bloody civil war and military dictatorships that nearly dismembered our country. Thankfully, we came out of them intact as one country.

But, Nigeria hasn’t got it right, politically. When the departing British imperialists surreptitiously installed Alhaji Tafawa Balewa as prime minister, they laid the foundation for political godfatherism and imposition of leaders in Nigeria.

Dr. Azikiwe and Chief Awolowo fought more than the Prime Minister for the political emancipation of Nigeria.

How Alhaji Shehu Shagari, a political dark horse, when placed alongside Dr. Azikiwe and Chief Awolowo, clinched the 1979 Presidential election baffles me. His victory can be explained by the imposition of leaders by kingmakers. In order to appease the indignant Yoruba over the June 12, 1993 annulled Presidential election, northern interests and other kingmakers to ensure and guarantee the political stability of Nigeria helped Chief Obasanjo to power. And, it is common knowledge that the departing Chief Obasanjo installed Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in power in the spirit and interest of rotational Presidency to serve the turn of the North.

President Yar’Adua admitted that the election that brought him to power was flawed, but, how did Alhaji Shehu Shagari, Chief Obasanjo and Yar’Adua (beneficiaries of imposition of leaders) fare while holding power? When a country is denied the leadership services of her best citizens, the country will not achieve technological and economic advancement.

Nigerians are not unaware that luck, providential intervention and the incumbency factor played big roles in the emergence of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as our president. He served the remainder of the first term of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua before winning the 2011 Presidential election. Millions of Nigerians cast their lot with the meek Dr. Goodluck Jonathan whose piteous tale of childhood suffering resonated with us. We believed him to be the messiah that would salvage our ruined country and set it on the path of economic recovery and moral rectitude. But, with the passage of time, the true personality of President Jonathan has unfolded and unraveled, and we’ve seen the real man behind the mask.

In January 2011, President Jonathan removed fuel subsidy, which brought untold hardship on us. However, he reversed his anti-people economic policy when Nigerians took to the street to protest the removal of the fuel subsidy. But, for all the revenues that accrue to Nigeria through the sale of crude oil, millions of Nigerians live below the breadline.

Now, millions of young Nigerians are unemployed. Graduate unemployment has remained a problem in the country. Daily, unemployed Nigerians roam the streets searching for the elusive white and blue-collar jobs. The federal government seems to have no clue as to how to tackle the unemployment issue.

An adage says: “An idle mind is a devil’s workshop.” The insecurity problem threatening to tear Nigeria apart may not be unconnected with the high rate of unemployment in Nigeria.

Armed robbers do storm banks in broad daylight to cart away money. Kidnappers seize wealthy people at will and will not release them until they’ve collected huge ransom payments that run into millions of naira. In the north, members of Boko Haram bomb churches, government buildings and telecommunication companies’ installations. Sadly, the federal government has failed to check these acts of lawlessness in the country. What we have is an anarchic situation, which stalls national development.

Again, President Jonathan has failed in the area of infrastructural development. The Eastwest road remained in a deplorable condition, as is the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway. But, wellasphalted thoroughfares will open up the country for rapid industrialisation. Our health sector has collapsed. Well-heeled Nigerians seek medical treatment for minor ailments outside

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Jonathan, Nigerians are watching you!

Nigeria. Likewise, our educational system is dysfunctional, which is the reason why many rich Nigerians send their children to schools in Ghana and Europe to acquire quality education.

Here, power supply is erratic. So, small businesses like saloon shops and cyber cafés rely on generators to function. At night, we’re thrown into darkness and our homes resound with deafening roar of generators, which cause noise pollution. Generators are now our alternative source of power.

President Jonathan excused his inability to speedily bring the dividends of democracy to us on his leadership style. He said that he thought through problems in order not to make mistakes or rash decisions. So, will it take him an eternity to take decisions that will affect our collective destiny and future? He has at last appointed a new minister of power, an exceedingly crucial office that Nigerians had waited on him for several months to fill.

The bane of Nigeria is that people who are unprepared for leadership positions are helped to occupy important positions in the executive arm of government and the bureaucracy in the country. A politician who aspires to lead Nigeria in the future should have a good grasp of Nigeria’s history and the problems confronting us as a nation. If he or she is elected the president of the country, he or she will have his or her blueprint of policies ready.

A president who desires to take his country to a great height should have the political will to execute populist policies, and surround himself with technocrats and capable people whose leadership initiatives will improve our lot as Nigerians. Those put in office by accident are prone to inflicting accidents on the coun-

try.

President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigerians are watching you.

How to solve our national problems Time marches on, interminably. It is human beings that divide time into year, month, week, day and hour. The year 2012 was a period in our nation’s history. It is now a page in our book of history. It was a year filled with gory and chilling tales. The Boko Haram group, who wants to Islamise the country, inflicted maximum havoc and harm on Nigeria in 2012.

In the past year, kidnappers abducted prominent Nigerians and received huge ransom payments before they released them. And, in the immediate past year, armed robbers would strike at banks in broad day light with dynamite to cart away millions of naira.

We are in the year, 2013, and the status quo ante is yet to change. The federal government can’t combat insecurity challenges that threaten our corporate existence as a united country.

But, it is not only the problem of insecurity that has stalled our national progress. Our current political leadership, whose incompetence is obvious and indisputable, has failed to create employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed millions of Nigerians. In 2012, people with Ph.D certificates competed with holders of first school leaving certificate for driving jobs in Dangote Transport Company.

Economic deprivation has pushed highly educated Nigerians to seek employments that do not befit them. People with doctorate degree certificates should seek for places in our universities, as driving trucks for a living does not befit them.

Again, this Administration has failed to revamp our dysfunctional system. But, our

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leaders are not unaware that education is the pivot of all forms of development. With skilled manpower and knowledgeable citizens, in addition to our vast national resources, Nigeria can drive its technological and economic initiatives.

But, now, sadly, well-heeled Nigerians send their children to schools outside Nigeria and pay exorbitant school fees, thus causing capital flight here.

Our health sector is as bad as other areas of our national life. Many sick Nigerians have died in hospitals outside Nigeria where they had gone to seek medical treatment. Here, doctors in the employ of the government embark on industrial action to agitate for better welfare packages.

So, for all our human and material resources, Nigeria hasn’t become an economic power. It has not realised its potential. As a country, given our endowments, Nigeria has the capacity to become one of the leading economic powers in the world.

Aren’t we blessed with favourable weather conditions and fertile soil? Beneath our land lie crude-oil deposits, limestone, tin-ore and others. Here, the acts of nature that devastate other countries seldom happen here.

So, why is Nigeria not a developed country?

Everybody is not unaware that corrupt political leadership is at the root of our problems.

Chinua Achebe, the father of modern African fiction, diagnosed Nigeria with leadership problems. Corrupt political leadership is the debilitating cancer choking life out of Nigeria.

Billions of naira had been proposed for building a modern banquet hall and official residence for the vice president in a country where millions of people are without shelter. Is this how the government can address our housing problem? The President of Uruguay lives in his wife’s farmhouse. Again, under the fuel subsidy regime, billions of naira is paid to importers of petroleum products for what they didn’t import. Nigeria is the cash cow into which people in the corridors of power have thrust their knives to get their slice of the national cake.

Nigeria is sliding towards the brink of disintegration owing to the Boko Haram insurgency and corrupt political leadership that exist here.

Nigeria can’t get out of the mud of under-development and insecurity challenges unless people with moral scruples and fear of the Creator assume the leadership of this country.

Nigerians are afflicted with spiritual aridity and moral vacuity, so we don’t set store by honesty, integrity and probity. In fact, the man who passes up the opportunity to corruptly enrich himself while occupying a crucial position of power will become a butt of jokes when he leaves power. His kinsmen will refer to him as a sucker. Conversely, ex-convicts, nation-wreckers, felons and villains are given national honours and conferred with honorary degrees and chieftaincy titles. This is a country of anomalous happenings; a country where bad is referred to as good and the bad deed will become an acceptable norm.

Here, everybody pretends to be a devout Moslem or a pious Christian. Every Sunday, our churches are filled to capacity and the overflow stand or sit in the scorching sun to worship.

Worshippers wear somber and pious looks and frequently call on the Lord. Yet, our actions contradict our religious avowals. Our deeds as professed Christians and Moslems are not in harmony with the teachings of the Bible and the Koran.

So, there is no gainsaying the fact that Nigeria is a country of spiritual aridity and moral vacuity irrespective of our religious pretensions. So, what we need mostly and urgently is moral regeneration. Concerning effecting moral rebirth among us, the churches should inculcate virtues and ennobling virtues in their members and shelve their prosperity message which encourages criminal deeds. The Mosques should do the same thing as the Churches are doing.

A morally upright person who fears God will follow the dictates of his conscience when discharging his duties. A man with scruples will not dip his fingers into our financial till to steal our collective money. When the righteous is in power, corruption will become a thing of the past and as they say, a nation prospers. Nigeria will be set on the path of technological and economical advancement.

Again, the factors of imposition of leaders and luck, which determine the emergence of our national leaders, have always thrown up people who are either ill-prepared or incompetent to tackle our national problems. Has Nigeria ever been led by its first eleven? The answer is a categorical No. Our electoral system should be rejuvenated and revamped to eliminate election rigging and ensure that those who are elected into office represent the collective will of the people.

Nigeria is not past redemption; we can still retrieve our country from the jaws of destruction and mud of underdevelopment.

• The two contributions are made by Chiedu Uche Okoye, a public affairs commentator, UruowoluObosi, Anambra State.