Thur 04 July 2013

TheGuardian Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Vol. 29, No. 12,607

www.ngrguardiannews.com

N150

20,550 Borno residents flee to Cameroun over Boko Haram From Njadvara Musa, Maiduguri O fewer than 20,550 resiN dents of 15 border communities in Gwoza Local

A cross section of protesters calling for the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo’s landmark Tahrir Square… yesterday. Inset: Chief of Army Staff, Gen. El-Sissi (right), who announced the removal of Morsi, and the ousted president (left).

PHOTO: AFP

Egyptian military sacks Morsi’s govt

By Bola Olajuwon, Seye Olumide, Tunde Akinola and Tobatombo Babayemi (with agency report) GYPT’S military yesterday E made good its threat to remove President Mohamed Morsi if he failed to resign after an ultimatum given him expired.

The coup resolved the question of whether Morsi had come to his final hours as protests for and against him equally raged.

The constitution was suspended and the head of the constitutional court appointed to succeed in the interim.

Fireworks were let off in Tahrir Square, packed with hundreds of thousands of anti-Morsi protesters, as the army delivered a televised address, announcing its “roadmap” for Egypt’s future.

The army’s statement read on state television by the Chief of Army Staff, Gen. el-Sissi, said that Egypt’s constitution would be dissolved “on a tem-

• Protests rage, armoured tanks, others deployed • Momoh, others differ on possible influence on Nigeria porary basis”, and then new elections to form a “technocratic government” would take place.

The army’s general command said that for months, it had been calling for reconciliation. It said it had hoped for a road-map to be put in place, but that Morsi’s speech last night, in which he had talked of his legitimacy as president, was against the aspirations of the people.

Egypt’s people were also warned to steer clear of violent demonstrations. “The armed forces swear they will face up forcibly against anyone who acts outside peaceful means,” the statement said.

Earlier, state media agency, MENA, reported that the army had told Morsi at 7.00 p.m.

(5.00 p.m. GMT) that he was no longer president. MENA al-

so reported that the army’s “political road-map” would see a period of transitional rule, and then new parliamentary and presidential elections.

Across the country, the military has been deployed to proMorsi rallies, media organisations have been “secured”, and barbed wire barriers have been set up around the Republican Guard Barracks where Morsi was located. It has been reported that Morsi has been taken to a “safe location” by the military.

MORE ON PAGES 9 & 11 Earlier yesterday, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood said: “I think the military coup is indeed under way. “I think that we are seeing many signs of that at the

moment and I don’t think that the Egyptian people will tolerate another resurface of the old regime under any banner, and not by bullying of the military machine.”

Before the take-over, cheers, fire-works and the waving of the Egyptian flags signalled the end of the ultimatum the military gave Morsi to resign.

Reinforcing its opposition to Morsi, the military in what was seen as a coup had earlier imposed a travel ban on him and several top Islamist allies over their involvement in a prison escape in 2011.

Airport officials confirmed that they had received orders to prevent the leaders, including Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood chief Mohammed Badie and his deputy, Khairat alShater, from travelling abroad.

The nation’s political situation changed for the worse after the military chiefs, vowing to restore order in a country racked by protests over Morsi’s Islamist policies, issued a call to battle in a statement headlined “The Final Hours”.

They said they were willing to shed blood against “terrorists and fools” after Morsi refused to give up his elected office.

Thereafter, armoured vehicles took up position outside the state broadcasting headquarters on the Nile River bank, where soldiers patrolled the corridors and nonessential workers were sent home.

Despite the tense scenarios, an aide to the Islamist head of state asserted that he was working normally at a regular presidential office in a compound of the Republican Guard in suburban Cairo.

The aide, Yasser Haddara, a communications adviser, said it was unclear if the presiCONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Council of Borno State yesterday fled to Cameroun.

They vowed never to return.

The residents fled after two weeks of Boko Haram gunmen’s attacks that resulted in the destruction of property and killing of 23 people, including clerics, traditional rulers and teachers.

The Internally-Displaced Persons (IDPs) are residents of Barawa, Chikideh, Agapalawa, Ngoshe, Jubrili, Kughum, Ashgashiya villages and seven hill communities of Kunde, Gathahure, Hrazah, Hembe, Gjigga, Tacha and Hwa’a of Mandara Mountains, bordering Cameroun in northeast Nigeria.

Gwoza is a border town, 135 kilometres south of Maiduguri, and an epicentre of Boko Haram’s activities in the northeast sub-region of Nigeria.

Abdu Asghashiya and four other community leaders yesterday told the Borno State Deputy Governor, Zanna Umar Mustapha, at Ashgashiya that over 20,550 residents of communities at the foot-hills and mountain top settlements of Gwoza Local Council fled.

He said that the houses of the fleeing residents were torched and their grains and livestock carted away by the Boko Haram gunmen.

Asghashiya said: “Our people have been attacked and killed severally in their houses, while their food items and livestock were also forcefully snatched away, despite the killings and injuring of my people here and other hill dwellers in communities of Hwa’a, Kunde, Tacha and Gathahure.

“With the displacement of our people by the Boko Haram insurgents, they have CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Senate in rowdy session over State of the Nation Bill -Page 2 U.S. researchers claim cure for HIV, two patients treated with stem cell -Page 3

Why we are reaching out to young African leaders, by Obama - Page 70

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THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

NEWS

Senate in rowdy session over State of the Nation Bill From Azimazi Momoh Jimoh, Adamu Abu, Bridget Chiedu Onochie and Terhemba Daka, Abuja HE Senate yesterday broke into confusion resulting in an attempt by two members to exchange fisticuffs.

It all started with a heated debate over observations raised by President Goodluck Jonathan on the State of the Nation Address Bill which, among others, empowers the National Assembly to compel the President to appear before it to deliver the address once in a year.

Many lawmakers have argued that the President’s observations amounted to a veto of the Bill while others advised that the Bill be reviewed to address the obser-

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vations of the President.

But confusion started when Ita Enang drew his colleagues’ attention to the contradiction between the Senate Rule and the Constitution with respect to the Bill that has been processed by the National Assembly Conference Committee.

At the peak of the confusion, Senate President David Mark confirmed to the lawmakers that “as it is today, we have boxed ourselves to a corner.

We have this rule and as Ita Enang clearly pointed out, any Act that is against the Constitution is null and void, but it is not as simple and straightforward as that because we now have a standing rule”.

He also ruled out the possibility of overriding the

• Reps flay ‘envelope’ budgeting system • Raises panel to probe oil theft amendment as proposed by some lawmakers. According to him, “even if we have to override, it cannot be today because overriding would not be by mouth votes. My understanding of Enang’s conclusion was for us to get interpretation from Supreme Court, but how to go about it is not clear to me”.

As the debate lingered, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu attempted to open a window of escape from imminent trouble by suggesting that the debate be adjourned to allow for consultation with the House of Representatives.

Ruling on the matter, Mark put forward a question on whether or not the debate should be adjourned. The response further confirmed a terrible division among lawmakers. Thus, Mark withheld his ruling on the matter to avert worsening the situation.

Consequently, the entire Senate broke into a 15-minute rowdy break during which Kabir Garba Marafa (ANPP, Zamfara Central) and Igwe Paulinus Nwagwu (PDP, Ebonyi Central), were seen attempting to fight.

It took the intervention of Ahmed Lawan (ANPP, Yobe) and Sergeants-At- Arms to stop Marafa, who was seen attempting to throw a punch at Igwe.

Terribly disappointed by the ugly situation, Mark condemned the unparliamentar-

ily conduct and seized the opportunity to abruptly suspend the debate and adjourned sitting.

Senate’s spokesperson, Enyinnaya Abaribe, quickly dashed to the Senate Press Centre to offer explanation on the exact cause of the face-off between Marafa and Igwe.

According to him, it was caused by a motion earlier put before the Senate by Bashir Garba Lado (PDP, Kano Central) to stop Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari, from arming vigilante groups in the state.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives yesterday set up a 14-member committee to investigate people or institu-

tions allegedly behind oil theft in the Niger Delta and kicked against what it called envelope budgeting system, saying the measure is inhibiting the delivery of democracy dividends.

Envelope budgeting is one in where allocations made for projects are spend periodically, may be monthly.

The lawmakers also mandated the House Committee on Banking and Currency to investigate rising incidences of fake naira notes dispensed by Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and report its findings to the House within three weeks.

The decision by the lower legislative chamber during its plenary session presided over

by Deputy Speaker of the House, Emeka Ihedioha, to slam the envelope budgeting

system followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Beni Lar (PDP, Plateau).

Leading the debate on the issue, Lar expressed regrets that the current envelope budgeting system has made resources allocated to ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to be thinly spread over a large number of projects resulting in non-performance of successive budgets in the country.

Worried by what it described as brazen and unbridled theft of Nigeria’s crude oil, the House on Tuesday urged President Goodluck Jonathan to immediately carry an overhaul of the operations of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta for the purpose of carrying out a more proactive security check of all oil installations in the country.

20,550 Borno residents flee to Cameroun over Boko Haram CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 no other safe place to go but to massively flee to the neighbouring border communities and villages of Cameroun Republic which are within walking distances of two to three kilometres.”

The fleeing residents, he warned, had vowed not to return to their residences, which had been torched by the rampaging gunmen in 15 communities and villages of hill dwellers and farming community of Kughum.

Tada Hamba, a relation of a fleeing resident of Kughum, also said: “My brother along with his five children in a

Camerounian village told me that he is not returning home, as his family members are not safe to further live in Nigeria. My relations and other neighbours in Cameroun are not coming back here to live.”

In a dramatic move before the deputy governor, a Christian community leader of Barawa, Rev. James Ayuba, however, said: “All residents that fled to Camerounian villages are guilty of associating themselves with Boko Haram, as the security agencies deployed in the area are doing their responsibilities according to the rules of en-

gagement.”

In his response to the allegation, Ashgashiya said: “Our people in Ashgashiya, Ngoshe and other villages along the Camerounian border are being killed by men of the Joint Task Force (JTF) since the declaration of state of emergency in the state.

“I have lived in this community for over 50 years, and I have never seen one of my people who killed his/her fellow human being in the name of religion, but it is unfortunate that Nigerian soldiers are coming into this community with a list CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Protests rage, armoured tanks, others deployed CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 dent would be free to leave later to return to the palace where he spent the previous night.

The president’s message to all Egyptians, as stated in a televised address overnight, was that they should resist the “military coup”, Haddara said, but they should do so peacefully, without violence against troops, the police or each other.

In a last-ditch statement a few minutes before the 5.00 p.m.

(11.00 a.m. EDT) deadline, Morsi’s office said a coalition government could be part of an initiative to overcome a political crisis. But opposition parties refused to negotiate with him and met instead with the commander of the armed forces.

As the ultimatum expired, hundreds of thousands of anti-Morsi protesters thronged Tahrir Square in central Cairo.

The Arab world’s most populous nation has remained in turmoil since the fall of Hosni Mubarak as Arab Spring uprisings took hold in early 2011, arousing concern among allies in the West and in Israel, with which Egypt has a 1979 peace treaty.

Despite Islamist talk of martyrdom and warnings of civil war, the dominant mood in Cairo’s streets was one of elation rather than foreboding.

Meanwhile, former Minister of Information and Chairman, Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Tony Momoh, in his reaction to the situation in Egypt said there was no way it could affect

Nigeria negatively because they are two separate nations with diverse backgrounds.

“The problems confronting both countries are different and as a matter of fact, I don’t see how the situation there in Egypt can influence our people to react in such a manner.

Many things worse than what the Egyptians are facing have happened in Nigeria and yet we remain calm and tolerate our leaders,” he said.

According to the CPC chairman, it is only in Nigeria the position of first lady is being celebrated and she goes about with government delegates as if she were on state functions.

To him, it is only in Nigeria that the magnitude of corruption could happen with the flagrant impunity and nothing happens. “Honestly, I am not convinced Nigeria could be influenced or spurred to react by the Egyptian protest,” he said.

Noting the impunity with which the Nigeria’s electoral system is being manipulated by government in power with the support of security agencies and other parastatals in collaboration with the electoral bodies for several years, he said: “We begin to wonder if Nigerians can ever take their destiny in their hands and confront their situation. But in other nations, every institution plays its role separately as the constitution stipulates.

“That is why people refer to Nigerians as a very docile set of people. What the Egyptians are saying is simple and basic, that is supremacy of power relies in the people and not the few in government. But the re-

verse is ours where some cabals in government saw themselves as supreme above those who elected them to office.”

According to Momoh, the Egypt’s situation also has to do with religion, which differs from Nigeria’s context “although some people are now trying to weave our problems into religion.”

But he did not rule out the fact that Nigeria may one day find themselves being pushed to the wall and forced to react.

Also, a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on International Relations and professor of History and Strategic Studies, Akinjide Osuntokun, said the crisis in Egypt would affect Nigeria’s relations with the country because the foreign policy of Nigeria is aimed at supporting democracy.

According to the former Nigerian Ambassador to Germany, although Nigeria acts on the policy of non-interference, the situation would have been different if the crisis was in a country within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region “but Egypt is far away from Nigeria and there is little Nigeria can do about the issue.”

Osuntokun noted that although Egypt had the record of launching the first military coup on the continent under Abdel Nasser, the development could not have any effect on other African countries.

But while acknowledging that Nigeria and Egypt are two different countries, the National Publicity Secretary of

Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, said that “we should not make the mistake of thinking Nigerians are too docile to react. The trend is gradually coming and tension is becoming more and more than it used to be.”

He noted that Egypt has always been in perpetual crisis since the Arab Spring, adding that “Nigerian leaders should watch it and try as much as possible to conduct a national conference before any other election is organised in the country.”

According to former Ambassador to Ethiopia and a member of House of Representatives (Odukpani, Cross River), Nkoyo Toyo, African Union (AU) must review the situation and ascertain whether this is a coup or not.

“If it is a military coup, then the statutes on unconstitutional changes in government will kick in and Egypt government under whatever guise will not be recognised.

But that does not hurt Egypt much since the crisis at home is far greater than the opprobrium associated with nonrecognition. I think for Africa, the question is what lessons?

“Democratic gains have emerged over the last four decades but sustaining them is not easy. For countries that did not follow the first and second wave of democratic change, they are now being compelled to do so through citizens’ action. It may be too hasty to compare Egypt with what is going on in the rest of Africa,” Toyo said.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

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News NUPENG suspends strike

By Tope Templer Olaiya, Abdulwaheed Usamah with agency report HE Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has suspended its three-day warning strike which began on Monday.

The union suspended the action after a meeting between NUPENG and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) including other major stakeholders in the industry.

The NUPENG President, Achese Igwe announced the suspension of the strike during a press conference attended by the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Andrew Yakubu, on Tuesday night in Abuja.

Igwe said: “The Union decided to call off the strike that was scheduled to end on Wednesday (yesterday) following the intervention of NNPC GMD and in the interest of the public.

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INEC blames Imo govt, lawmakers for Oguta polls crisis PDP denies alleged fraud, ACN slams Presidency From Lawrence Njoku (Enugu), Charles Ogugbuaja (Owerri) and Ezeocha Nzeh, (Abuja) HE Independent National T Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday blamed the activities of the Imo State government and some members of the National Assembly for the cancellation of the last

weekends’ re-run election into the Oguta Constituency of the State House of Assembly.

In the same vein, the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has debunked the claim by Governor Rochas Okorocha that it was involved in shady deals with INEC officials to rig the election.

Meanwhile, citing meddle-

someness, the Action Congress of Nigeria (CAN) has slammed the Presidency for seeking to usurp the role of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by describing the rerun election to the Imo House of Assembly in Oguta as inconclusive.

Also, the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties

(CNPP) has urged the INEC Chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega to intervene in the current impasse over the Oguta Constituency House of Assembly election to enable the results be released.

The commission, which disclosed that it has begun preparations to conduct fresh polls in the eight polling units of Oguta Constituency, which

Task force assures of end to herdsmen’s attacks From Isa Abdulsalami Ahovi, Jos HE Special Task Force (STF), T ‘Operation Safe Haven’ has said it has secured the entire southern senatorial zone of Plateau state against further attack by Fulani militia. STF Commander, Major-General Henry Ayoola, stated this yesterday in a chat with journalists in his office at the STF Headquarters in Jos. Some gunmen had invaded three communities of Langtang South Local Government of the State last Thursday killing about 34 members of the communities while several residents fled their homes for fear of the unknown.

Jang seeks peoplecentred constitution From Isa Abdulsalami Ahovi, Jos LATEAU State Governor, Jonah David Jang has stressed that the amendment of the 1999 Constitution should be done in such a way that will favour the generality of Nigerians.

He gave the advice yesterday in Jos at a stakeholders’ meeting, comprising senators, representatives of the state in the National Assembly, state legislative, state executive council members, local council chairmen and leaders of political parties which took place at the Presidential Lodge, Rayfield, Jos. Jang emphasised that the common interest of the state and its people should form the basis of submission by the stakeholders in the build up to the amendment of the Constitution by the National Assembly.

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A cross-section of supporters of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi holding posters bearing his portrait during a rally outside Cairo University … yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

election was cancelled at the weekend, regretted that politicians and hooligans brazenly flouted the restriction order on movement during the election.

It stressed that reports showed that officials of the state government and some members of the National Assembly across party lines moved around freely despite the restriction order – some of them with security escorts!

The commission, which had already announced the cancellation of the election, noted that reports which was received from INEC field officers indicated that the Oguta election was marred with incidents of violence, as well as unruly conduct by officials of the various parties that participated in the election.

Justifying the cancellation of the election in the eight units, the commission stated that field reports showed that even though security agents mobilised adequately for the exercise, there were cases of violence as well as ballots and result sheets snatching by thugs, as a result of which the election was cancelled in the following polling units.

The commission, which stated this in a statement by its Chief Press Secretary, Kayode Idowu, revealed that the total population of registered voters in the polling units affected was over 4,000; adding that the difference between the leading candidate and the next in the collated results was 2,011 votes.

Again, tussle over legal representation stalls NGF suit From Lemmy Ughegbe EARING in the suit filed by H Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) of Lagos State, seeking to stop Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State from parading himself as the chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) was again stalled yesterday, owing to arguments over legal representation of the fourth defendant - Board of Trustees of NGF. Last week when the matter came up, a similar situation stalled the proceedings as two senior lawyers - Tayo Oyetibo (SAN) and Paul Erokoro (SAN) had separately announced their appearances as counsel for Jang and Osaro Onaiwu, while Awa Kalu (SAN) and Friday Nwosu announced separate appearance for the fourth defendant – The Registered Trustees, Nigeria Governors’ Forum.

Following that logjam, the trial Judge, Justice Peter Affen adjourned the matter till July 3, 2013 to enable counsel resolve the issue of legal representation between them and parties.

However, when the matter came up yesterday, the issue of representation had not been fully resolved because

whereas Oyetibo and Erokoro had resolved theirs with the former announcing appearance for Jang and the latter announcing appearance for the third defendant (Onaiwu), Kalu (SAN) and Nwosu were unable to reach a compromise with each laying unwavering

claim to the authority to represent the fourth defendant – The Registered Trustees of NGF. The legal team of Fashola was in harmony from the outset with Prof. Yemi Osibajo (SAN) and Femi Falana (SAN) leading a battery of lawyers.

Whereas Kalu argued that

since he filed a Memorandum of Appearance earlier than Nwosu did, the presumption of regularity that he was the counsel duly briefed to represent the fourth defendant should be conceded to him.

Nwosu opposed that submission by Kalu, submitting that

the timing of his Memorandum of Appearance does not make his claim to the brief of fourth defendant sacrosanct. He, therefore, urged the court to compel the fourth defendant to vide an affidavit whom he wants as his counsel in the matter.

U.S. researchers claim cure for HIV • Two patients treated with stem cell

By Chukwuma Muanya, Lagos and Itunu Ajayi, Abuja HE cure for the dreaded T Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) may be on the way soon with the report yesterday of two patients who were given bone marrow transplants to treat cancer remained free of the virus even after stopping HIV treatment.

The results presented at a meeting of the International AIDS Society in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia may yield growing hope that the virus could someday be cured, not just kept in check with a cock-

tail of medicines as it is now.

Giving an update in an eagerly followed trial, researchers said an HIV-positive infant in Mississippi, United States, who was put on a course of antiretroviral drugs within a few days of birth had remained free of the AIDS virus 15 months after treatment was stopped.

In Boston, United States, two HIV-positive men who were given bone-marrow transplants for cancer also had no detectable virus 15 weeks and seven weeks respectively after stopping AIDS drugs, a separate team reported.

Both research projects are at an early stage and should not be taken as a sign that a cure

for the human HIV is around the corner, researchers cautioned.

Even so, they said it strengthens the motivation for pursuing the once-unthinkable goal of eradicating HIV or repressing it without daily drugs – a condition referred to as a “functional cure” or “functional remission”.

Indeed, an international non-profit organisation dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention and treatment education has reported a breakthrough in the case of two HIV-positive patients who show no trace of virus following stem-cell transplants.

Dr. Timothy Henrich of Harvard Medical School, United States yesterday reported that a 25 year-old amfAR-funded leadership research in the fight against AIDS has at last produced evidence of total cure.

A statement by the organisation indicated that it is closing in on a total cure for AIDS globally.

Henrich’s patients had been on long-term antiretroviral therapy for HIV when they developed lymphoma. To treat the cancer, the patients underwent stem-cell transplants. Since the transplants, Henrich has been unable to find any evidence of HIV infection.

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THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

Oshiomhole berates Works Ministry over projects’ designs, claims From Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu, Benin City DO State Governor, Adams E Oshiomhole, yesterday carpeted the Federal Ministry of Works over the road projects it was executing in the state, stating that the ministry did not provide for drainages, which should be integral to the construction of such roads.

He also opened up on the controversies over the Five Junction, along the BeninShagamu Road, which both the state and the Federal Governments have claimed to construct.

Presenting the project design, contract award documents and evidence of payment to Reynolds Construction Company (RCC) to members of the House of Representatives Committee on Works in Benin City yesterday, Oshiomhole said: “If the Ministry of Works insists it did the work, it would mean it is claiming money for work it did not do and that will be fraud.”

He said he brought the documents of the projects, which include underground drain and roundabout, to settle the issue once and for all, and that if the ministry claimed it paid for the contract, Edo State should be refunded.

While berating the Representatives Committee for its oversight function, he pleaded with the members to intervene in the Queen Ede gully erosion problem in the state capital, which he said, has consumed an entire community.

Govt okays purchase of multiple votes’ detectors for INEC From Mohammed Abubakar, Abuja HE Federal Executive T Council (FEC) yesterday approved the request by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the purchase of smartcard readers to enable it detect cases of multiple voting or impersonation.

The Information Minister, Labaran Maku, while briefing State House Correspondents after the meeting, said the first batch of the cards would involve a total of 17,000 pieces, worth N459 million. The contract for the purchase was offered an indigenous IT firm, Zinox Technologies, and will be supplied in six months’ time.

“INEC brought proposal for the purchase of smartcard readers to verify the identity of those who come out to vote during elections to avoid double voting and also ensure that people who submit their cards are the real and authentic voters,” Maku said.

“In its desire to ensure free, fair and credible elections, the INEC is to procure, customise and configure 17,000 smartcard readers that will be deployed during elections for voter authentication. The cards will be used to verify the rightful owner of the voter’s card presented for identification during elections.”

NEWS | 5

‘North has over 80% unqualified teachers’ From Saxone Akhaine (Northern Bureau Chief) HE Director General of the T National Teachers’ Institute (NTI), Kaduna, Dr. Aminu Ladan Sharehu, has lamented the status of education in northern Nigeria, where he disclosed that over 80 per cent of teachers are unqualified to teach, unlike in the South.

Similarly, Governor Muhktar Ramalan Yero said that about 50 per cent of teachers in the state was not qualified and had been given a time frame to improve.

Both Sharehu and Yero spoke in Zaria yesterday at a national conference on “Quality Assurance and Control in Teacher-Education as Tool for Achieving Millennium Development Goals,” organised by the Federal Col-

lege of Education (FCE), Zaria.

Sharehu stressed the importance of retraining those in the profession, stating that the region has such a huge number of unqualified personnel due to lack of motivation. He added: “You need to train and retrain teachers because NCE is just a start pointing.

Represented by the Commissioner for Education, Mohammed Usman, Yero

wondered, “a majority of teachers we have today in the system are not NCE holders, so how can they qualify to teach the new curriculum?

“As Commissioner for Education of Kaduna State when I came on board, I discovered that 50 per cent of the teachers, particularly in primary schools, were under-qualified. There is no way they can do the job very well.”

Osibajo, Akabueze, others urge Nigerians to walk with God

By Victoria Ojugbana WAY from the basic ecoA nomic principles, the Lagos Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Ben Akabueze, has admonished Nigerians to put God first in all they do, as any journey without His backing is futile and crisis-ridden.

Speaking at the launch of the book, It’s a Journey, written by Bemigho Omayuku, Akabueze likened men to pilgrims on earth, and life to a journey, therefore Nigerians should target the finishing line, where the glory lies. The book, he added, would help bring the desired change the author intends to pass across to the society.

Also speaking at the forum, a former Lagos Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Yemi Osibajo, noted that the 138-page, 13-chapter book was timely and bears hope for hopeless Nigerians living in insecurity.

According to him, the book is an encouragement to the youth, who have been disconnected from the government of the day. Osibajo, who said the insecurity in the country has brought hopelessness, expressed optimism that this system could give hope to everyone in 2015.

Chime sacks commissioner Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega (left) and the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, after a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, Abuja…yesterday PHOTO: PHILIP OJISUA

NUJ panel on blackmail, extortion charge starts sitting COMMITTEE set up by the A Nigeria Union of Journalists’ (NUJ’s) national secretariat to probe allegations of professional misconduct, blackmail and extortion levelled against the publisher and editor-in-chief of a magazine (names withheld) by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on Tuesday began sitting with a pledge to execute its mandate dispassionately with a view to restore the glory of journalism as an objective and trustworthy profession.

Members of the three-man panel are Mr. Gbenga Onayiga (chairman), Alhaji Yusuf Idris (member) and Mr. Akin Orimolade, a lawyer and Northern Regional Editor of

Newswatch Daily Newspapers (secretary).

Three senior officials of the FCTA testified before the panel at the NUJ Press Centre in Utako District, Abuja. They are the Special Assistant (Media) to the FCT Minister, Mr. Nosike Ogbuenyi; the Director of Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS), Hajiya Jamila Tangaza and the Director of Treasury of the FCTA, Alhaji Mohammed Ibrahim Bomai.

The officials strongly debunked a claim by the publisher that a N15 million payment he allegedly demanded from the FCTA via text messages was for advertisement and consultancy services. They said there was

never a time any advertisement or consultancy contract was approved, negotiated or discussed with him or his agents.

The panel members grilled the officials on what transpired between them and the publisher, bordering on professional misconduct, blackmail and attempted extortion of N15 million as bribe by him. The FCTA officials were asked several questions concerning their interaction and dealings with the magazine and its publisher.

The officials who appeared separately with their lawyers answered questions from the panel members during separate sessions that cumulatively spanned about three hours.

The event was witnessed by journalists, civil society members, students and others.

Ogbuenyi tendered as evidence, the text messages sent to him by the publisher allegedly demanding the N15 million bribe in addition to the transcript and CD of the discussions he had with latter already with the panel.

They were accepted as exhibits by the panel.

Speaking at the end of the session, Onayiga assured that the committee would be fair and just to all the parties concerned by discharging its duties dispassionately. He stated that the committee would be guided in its work by the Code of Ethics of the NUJ and its constitution.

From Lawrence Njoku, Enugu N an apparent response to IProvince the demand by the Enugu of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Governor Sullivan Chime yesterday sacked his Commissioner for Education, Simon Ortuanya, and replaced him with Prof.

Chris Okoro.

Ortuanya, who was appointed soon after Chime won his re-election in 2011, had been involved in controversy with the Anglican Church over the way he handled the return of schools to the missions, as well as the distribution of buses recently procured for secondary schools in the state.

The problems climaxed recently with his letter to the church, in which he purportedly classified several schools returned to it in 2007 as “wrong,” and being reviewed.

IGP denies receiving Governor Amaechi’s petition From Karls Tsokar (Abuja) and Ann Godwin (Port Harcourt) HE deluge of media reports on the continued rift between Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi, and the state Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mbu, which prompted the call for his transfer, notwithstanding, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar, said he never received any such request.

When asked yesterday at the Maiden Force (Criminal Investigations Department) CID Annual Awards 2012 in Abuja if he received any petition from Amaechi, Abubakar said he had “not got any petition to the effect yet.”

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• Rivers AG accuses CP of acting outside the law However, Rivers State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Worgu Boms, has accused the Mbu of acting outside the law.

Boms said the state CP has no legal power to ban protests, stating that the Public Order Act authorises only the governor to grant permission for any street procession in the state.

According to him, it is worrisome that Mbu has neglected his primary responsibilities and allowed himself to be used by political forces against the state and its governor.

Boms, who spoke with journalists yesterday in Port Harcourt, decried the utter-

ances and conduct of the CP, which he said, could lead to anarchy. He also faulted Mbu’s refusal to ask his men to vacate the Obio/Akpor Local Council Secretariat, describing his action as ridicule to justice and total disregard of court ruling.

Meanwhile, in recognition of “superior leadership qualities and outstanding performance in running their departments to the fullest potentials, exceptional service, zero-tolerance for corruption and transparency, exemplary leadership qualities, among others,” two CPs, two Deputy Commissioners, a Chief Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, an

Inspector and a Sergeant were honoured by the IGP as CID operatives of the year 2012.

They include CP Ogunsakin Tunde Johnson (Special Fraud Unit, Lagos) and CP Idris Farouk Umar (AntiFraud Section, Abuja), the DCP Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi (Interpol section), and DCP Chris Okey Ezike (Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, FSARS).

Others are CSP Ibrahim Bako, an investigator with the CID Headquarters; ASP Eseile Irioje of FSARS; Inspector Yusuf Audu, also of FSARS, and the only female, Sergeant Joy Oloh, an investigator with Anti-Fraud section.

While reading their cita-

tions, the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of ‘D’ Department, DIG Peter Gana, disclosed that the FCID has conclusively investigated 984 cases which were undergoing prosecution out of the 1,685 still being investigated within the year under review. They have also recovered 115 assorted weapons and 12,529 live ammunition in the past year.

Earlier, the IGP said the intention was to instill the spirit of competition among the officers and men of the force. He said: “It is a big beginning for the officers because we have done a lot of internal trainings that would enable them live their names, not just wearing suits.”

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

6 NEWS

Zik varsity ASUU splits over nationwide strike

Rep chides media over PDP crisis

From Chuks Collins and Uzoma Nzeagwu, Awka HE Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, Anambra State, is divided over the on-going nationwide strike by the body.

Two factions of the body in the institution, one led by Prof. Ike Odimegwu and the other, Committee of ASUU Progressives, led by Prof. Maduabuchi Dukor, maintained opposing positions.

Dukor’s faction, comprising Prof. Edmund Egboh, Dr. Achunam Nwabueze, Prof.

Emma Akuezuiloh and Dr. Jerry Emejulu, among others, said they were standing down the strike for now so as to complete the on-going second semester examinations in the university.

Describing the industrial action as ill-timed, the progressives noted that if UNIZIK joins the strike now, “it would be very suicidal to the interest of the students, parents, stakeholders and the entire university”. They pointed out that it would negatively affect the university’s effort for accreditation in certain disciplines.

“More so such would affect our final year law and medical students who would be prevented from attending the Nigerian Law School and Housemanship programmes respectively.”

They disclosed their readiness to join the strike immediately after the examinations, with due consultation with the stakeholders.

Dukor appealed to the Federal Government to look into the demands of ASUU to restore and guarantee a conducive atmosphere for character and learning in the universities nationwide.

Odimegwu’s faction announced joining of the strike yesterday during the congress held at the multi-purpose hall of the institution.

He said the decision was in the line with the resolution of ASUU, NEC meeting held at the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye last month, directing all university campuses to proceed on nationwide strike.

“Today, we have commenced on a total, comprehensive and indefinite strike. All academic activities, including lectures, supervision of projects, theses at all levels and so on, have been suspended on the cam-

From Tunde Akinola, Abuja

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MEMBER of the House of Representatives, Dr. Stella A Dorgu, has blamed some sec-

Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Peter Orubebe (left); Legal Adviser to the ministry, Ijima Okoro; Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Bank of Industry (BoI), Evelyn Oputu and Acting Company Secretary of BoI, Emmanuel Onoji, during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) bePHOTO: PHILIP OJISUA tween the ministry and the bank on the establishment of fish industrial park in all Niger Delta states in Abuja… yesterday.

‘No credible presidential candidate in North yet’ From John Akubo, Dutse S the North continues to strategise towards producing the next president of the country, the Arewa Youth Assembly has said it has searched throughout the region for a credible presidential candidate but is yet to get one.

The youths said they cannot be impressed by the array of presidential hopeful from the region because most of them contributed to the quashing of the zoning formula in the past when they supported the incumbent president to achieve his ambition.

President of the Arewa Youth Assembly, Ibrahim Waiya, who addressed newsmen in Dutse yesterday, condemned in strong terms the current position of some governors in the North on the presidential zoning formula where they are seeking the support of other northerners to solidify their ambitions.

He disclosed that they had met with 18 governors in the North, including Sule Lamido, on the zoning formula when they all agreed that it

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was the time for the region to produce president, but it eluded it in 2011 after the death of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

Waiya, who was in Jigawa for a sensitisation tour with his members said all those angling to contest for the 2015 presidential election are the same people who betrayed the North in 2011.

“I am surprised that the same group of politicians who campaigned against zoning the Presidency to the

North in 2011 are now positioning themselves to contest the 2015 election if it is zoned to the North. As far as we are concerned, zoning is dead.

“In 2011, we staged demonstrations and campaigns to ensure that our political leaders fight and stand by the zoning principle but they refused, and now they want to contest the 2015 election. We are waiting for them because they must explain their role in trading away the northern

chances in 2011.”

He said the Arewa youths were searching for a credible young northern candidate that can deliver so that they can throw their support behind him.

Waiya, however, stated that Lamido earlier in 2011 supported the zoning formula, but only for him to summersault later to support those that were against the formula as he became the supporter of the current president, Goodluck Jonathan.

Nigerian-American professionals chart path to growth From Lillian Chukwu, Abuja HE Association of Nigerian-American Professionals in Nigeria (ANAPIN) has identified 10 strategic agenda that can aid the country to be ranked among the world’s top 15 economies by 2030.

President of ANAPIN, Emmanuel Okoro, said at a special meet and greet event in Abuja that Nigeria’s aim to be among the global best economies with a Gross Domestic Product of four trillion dollars and an yearly growth rate above six per cent was attainable.

Toxicologist and member of the board of trustees of ANAPIN, Dr. John Tor-Agbdidye, urged government to

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involve the association’s members in progressive policy decision making since past and present leaders of the country have urged Nigerians in the Diaspora to return to their motherland to aid development with their experience.

He faulted some financial experts that are pessimistic that Nigeria will not achieve such a feat even by the year 2050.

Okoro urged the Federal Government to adopt 10 strategic drivers of macro- economic growth with emphasis on rectifying challenges in education, security, youth empowerment, technological progress as well as monolithic dependence of revenue

base on oil and fossil fuels.

He said that investment in infrastructure, private sector participation, creation of strategic structures to address environmental challenges, as well as establishment of productionbased economy rather than a consumption-based and import-dependent economy was imperative for growth.

Okoro said the organization was made up of professionals that seek to promote progress and development by partnering with organizations and government to pursue positive impact policies and practices of Nigeria in line with international best practices.

tions of the Nigerian media for allegedly exaggerating the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Dorgu said the party was only going through what she described as “sibling rivalry” which should not be misconstrued for a political vendetta as Nigerians have allegedly been made to believe.

Speaking with journalists in Abuja yesterday, Dorgu said: “To me, the PDP is only experiencing what I call a mere sibling rivalry. No matter how simplistic it seems, I do not think anybody has the right to bring down the party with words borne out of bitterness.

One thing I am very certain of is that we will come out of this stronger.”

According to her, sometimes the media are responsible for fanning the flames of the crisis rocking the party. “I am a communicator so I know how it is for some people to sell papers and some media houses to give some interesting news even though the issues are not really as grave as they are presented.

“Yes, we have serious problems but I believe we are going to overcome them. It is normal for people to jostle for power in a political setting.

Seminar on new media technology holds tomorrow SEMINAR on leadership A and governance in media and communication is billed to hold at Pan-Atlantic University (VI Campus), 2, Onibudo Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, tomorrow under the chairmanship of Publisher of Vanguard, Mr. Sam Amuka-Pemu, at 10.00 a.m.

The seminar, with the theme “Media in Transition: New Media Technology in Focus”, is being organised by Centre for Leadership in Journalism (CLeJ), a collaborative effort between the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and the School of Media and Communication of the university to raise the standard of editorial output and building the professional and leadership skills of journalists, particularly editors.

Special guest of honour is the immediate past president of NGE, Editor-in-Chief/General Manager (Publication), Vanguard Newspapers, Gbenga Adefaye.

20,550 Borno residents flee to Cameroun over Boko Haram CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 killing our people that they are members of Boko Haram.”

He said the only reason that would make them come back to their houses was when the government assured them that no soldier would harass them again.

Corroborating Ashgashiya’s claims, Sidi Ali said: “The people of Ashgashiya have been living in peace with cordial relationship between Christians and Muslims communities. But immediately after the declaration of the state of emergency, specifically on June 15 and 24, over 10 people were

killed in the community, including a principal of Government Secondary School, Ngoshe, by the JTF, and all complaints to Col. Hassan who is in charge of security in the area fell on deaf ears.”

Suleiman Dalhatu and Abubakar Talamu, who are among those who fled to Cameroun, alleged that they had lost many of their relations to the JTF, adding that nothing would convince them to come back to Nigeria, as they were satisfied with the assistance being rendered to them by the Camerounian authorities.

A teacher with the Universal Basic Education (UBE) at

Chikide, who is also among the IDPs that fled from Agapalwa to Jubrili village of Cameroun, Musa Hassan, said some of their people were ready to come back to Nigeria if government could guarantee their safety from both Boko Haram insurgents and soldiers.

“We are all suffering, as you can see me now. I am a teacher with the UBE. I don’t have anything to eat with my family. We relocated to this village for over three weeks now. We have nowhere to stay not to talk of what to eat, sometimes I have to go to some of the villages of Cameroun to seek

hard labour to enable me feed my five kids,” lamented Hassan.

While addressing IDPs, Zanna assured them that government had provided food items for them to come back and resettle in their communities.

He pleaded with them to bear with the sufferings they might have encountered from the Boko Haram insurgency in the 15 border communities of Borno State.

According to Zanna, government would start to monitor the activities of the JTF, as any security agent that kills innocent civilians will face the wrath of the law.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

Consider views of past constitutional panels, don tells Senate From: Gordi Udeajah, Umuahia FORMER member of the 1994/95 National Constitution Review Committee (NCRC) and the 2005 National Constitution Reform Conference, Prof.

Joshua Ogbonna has asked the Senate Committee on the Amendment of the 1999 Constitution to consider the recommendations of the NCRC on the issue of rotational Presidency.

Ogbonna, who was the chairman of the Abia State Constitution Review Committee, queried the Committee on Constitution Review for failing to consider a definite recommendation on the issue of the rotation of the Presidency with a multi ethnic composition.

While the don welcomed the Committee’s recommendation of a single six year tenure for President and governors, he noted that the issue of rotational Presidency would not have brought unease in the polity had the recommendations of the 1995 Constitution Review Committee on the matter been adopted in the 1999 Constitution.

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News 7

Nigeria, junkyard of 22,000 tonnes of banned pesticides, say experts From Tunde Akingbade, Abuja VER 22,000 tonnes of obsolete pesticides that have been banned worldwide by the United Nations, its agencies, international and government institutions are found in Nigeria, endangering the lives of human beings, animals and the ecosystem.

Even worse is misuse of these chemicals, and ignorance on the part of importers and users have led to no fewer than 220,000 fatalities every year.

Experts believe that Nigeria

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needs about $17 million to clear the mess of the stockpile of these obsolete chemicals, which are either used for agricultural or industrial purposes.

The United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Development Programme and Swiss Chemical Agency, The Guardian learnt, are putting heads together with the Federal Ministry of Environment to fashion out ways of mainstreaming sound management of chemicals into Nigeria’s Development Plans and Policies.

The new findings about the stockpile of obsolete chemicals came out two decades after the old Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) under Dr. Evans Aina compiled a list of over 2,000 potentially dangerous chemicals including explosives and pesticides banned in over 60 countries and imported into Nigeria without restrictions. There were indications that many of these chemicals and pesticides are still being imported and sold freely without proper guidelines.

The Guardian investigations revealed that of recent, stockpiles of expired chemicals and pesticides from some farms in Ibadan were successfully evacuated by the Basel Convention on Trans-boundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes – University of Ibadan Linkage Centre, Ibadan.

According to experts who studied obsolete pesticides and chemicals in Nigeria, the country spends about N35 billion in the importation of pesticides alone, annually.

The experts told The Guardian that Nigeria will need about

Court acquits Zenon’s ex-worker of N500m theft

By Bertram Nwannekanma FORMER worker with Zenon Oil Plc, Mrs. Modupe Makewu has been discharged and acquitted by an Ikeja High Court, Lagos of the N500 million theft charge preferred against her by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Justice Olubunmi Oyewole acquitted Makewu, who was a financial officer of Zenon oil depot at Ibru jetty, Lagos and her alleged accomplice, Mr. Kayode Are, while ruling on their no case submission application.

The duo was arraigned on April 24, 2009 on an eightcount charge of conspiracy, stealing, forgery and uttering.

They were accused of conspiring to fraudulently divert about N500 million being money realised from the sale of the company’s products.

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A’Ibom police present half year scorecard From Inemesit Akpan-Nsoh Uyo KWA Ibom State Police Command has attributed the success recorded by his men between January and June this year to the collaborative efforts amongst the security agencies in the state.

This was revealed by the state Police Commissioner, Mr. Umar Gwadabe, at the police headquarters yesterday in Ikot Akpan Abia while addressing journalists on the successes recorded by the command within the period under review.

According to him, kidnapping cases have drastically dropped in the state, stressing that this has been made possible because of improved strategy of tracking all criminals involved.

“To achieve this, the state command works in close collaboration with the department of State Security.

Consequently, several attempts to kidnap people in the state had been foiled by security operatives.

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Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Danladi Kefasi (left); Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Martins Ohoimobi and Acting Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), Kabir Mashi, during sensitisation workshop for local staff of embassies on Pay AS You Earn (PAYE), Withholding Tax (WHT) and VAT on contractors and Tax Payers Identification Number (TIN) held in Abuja … yesterday.

PHOTO: PHILIP OJISUA.

Edo House to probe Benin varsity student killing From Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu, Benin City DO State House of Assembly yesterday said it would soon set up an independent panel of enquiry into the death of the University of Benin student, Ibrahim Momodu allegedly killed by the police in the state about a month ago.

This position was made by the speaker of the state assembly, Uyi Igbe when a coalition of civil society groups, students and family members of Momodu staged a peaceful protest round the city centre calling for a probe into the killing.

The protesters also went to the palace of the Benin

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monarch, the state Ministry of Justice and the state secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists where they harped on the need for panel of enquiry to be set up into extra judicial killings in Edo State with specific reference to the case of Momodu and that of the late Principal Private Secretary to the Edo State Governor, Comrade Olaitan Oyerinde.

The Speaker said the House would sit and deliberate on the matter so that the house standing committee on security would constitute a separate and an independent panel of enquiry into the killing of the UNIBEN student and as well consider a public hearing into the killing of the Principal Pri-

vate Secretary to the state governor.

The speaker directed the protesting groups to forward 30 copies of their petition to the House immediately to enable the House deliberate the matter.

The speaker said the House was not silent on the case of the late Principal Private Secretary to the state governor but decided to be calm because the governor was making very commendable efforts in the matter, adding that the state House of Assembly would still organise their own public hearing in the Oyerinde case.

Earlier, one of the spokespersons of the group, the Executive Director of Africa Network

We are more concerned about farmlands, not oil, says Kogi From Kolawole Timothy, Lokoja OLLOWING the crisis that Fof engulfed Ibaji Local Council Kogi State and its neighbouring communities in Anambra State over the ownership of the disputed land where oil was discovered, the state government has said that the people of Ibaji are more concerned about access to their farmlands and fishponds and not the presence of oil as is been insinuated by Anambra State.

Deputy Governor and Chairman, state boundary commission, Yomi Awoniyi, made this disclosures yesterday at a pres-

entation to the House of Representatives Joint Committee set up to interface with the parties involved in the alleged encroachment of some parts of Kogi State by Anambra State and to carry out investigation into activities of oil companies in the disputed area.

The Joint Committee meeting was sequel to a motion brought before the House and referred to the Committee’s of Petroleum Resources (upstream) and that of Special Duties.

Awoniyi explained that oil was only discovered somewhere in the present day Bayelsa in 1956, but noted that as far

back as 1922, documentary evidence of colonial times showed that the first crisis between Kogi and Anambra was over the disputed areas of forest reserves under the Kabba province which was encroached upon to establish Anambra Forest reserves.

He also said as far back as 1994 there were already efforts between communities in Kogi and Anambra states to use ethnographic references to resolve the areas of dispute in favour of Kogi State, adding that the inability of the people to access their farmlands and fishing ponds is the state’s concern and not oil.

for Environment and Economic Justice, Reverend David Ugolor said the protesting groups want the House to prevail on the matters so that an independent panel of enquiry would be set up into the UNIBEN student killing.

$17 million to clear up the estimated volume of obsolete stockpiles of chemicals based on the figure given by the African Stockpile Programme as the estimated cost of containing 1.0 tonne of obsolete chemical.

In the bid to assist Nigeria to initiate a policy on sound management of chemicals, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Swiss Chemical Agency (Sida Kemi) have sent an international environment consultant on economics and chemicals to collaborate with Federal Ministry of Environment and Nigerian chemical experts on methodology of removal and sound mainstreaming and management of pesticides and chemicals which have killed and impaired the health of farmers and the populace as well as pollution of ponds, river and the contamination of land.

Nigeria’s key consultants in the project are: Mr. Bosun Oladimeji, Chemical expert and Managing Consultant, Best Environmental Solution Tools Limited, Mr. Ayodele Olojede, Managing Director, Green Energy International Limited and Dr. O. O. Dada, Chairman/CEO, Newport Technologies.

Oladimeji told The Guardian that worldwide, some experts believe the application of three million metric tonnes of pesticides results in more than 26 million cases of people that are hospitalised.

There are approximately 220,000 fatalities and about 750,000 chronic illnesses every year.

Olojede, who also confirmed these figures in a presentation made to the gathering made up of experts and stakeholders including Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Basel Secretariat, Linkage Centre, University of Ibadan, University of Lagos, NGOs said that Nigeria’s population growth rate, increasing poverty amidst annual economic growth averaging 6.5 per cent in the last decade is putting severe demands on the environment.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

8 | NEWS

Benue court upholds judgment in assault case against rector From Joseph Wantu, Makurdi HE Court of Appeal sitting T in Makurdi, Benue State capital, has upheld the judgment of the Chief Magistrate’s Court, which found the former Rector of College of Advanced and Professional Studies, (CAPS), Makurdi, Mrs. Magdalene Damkor Ikpa, guilty on the allegation of criminal use of force on her member of staff, Mr. Benjamin Awua.

Mrs. Ikpa was said to have slapped Mr. Awua without provocation and the latter had sought legal redress at the Magistrate’s Court and won the matter but the former proceeded on appeal.

Mr. Awua, who is still an employee of the institution, was Governor Gabriel Suswam’s teacher during his studies in the school, then called School of Basic Studies (SBS), Makurdi.

Families seek N1b compensation over alleged police killing of suspected kidnappers

By Bertram Nwannekanma AMILIES of two alleged kidFJoelnappers, Philip Tomi and Wolomo, said to have been allegedly killed in Lagos State police custody, on Wednesday sought a compensation of N1 billion from

the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Umar Manko, and two of his subordinates.

In a suit filed before an Ikeja High Court presided over by Justice Yetunde Idowu, the families are urging the court to direct “investigations and prosecution” of Manko and

two others by the “appropriate agencies of government”.

In addition to the N1 billion damages and prosecution of persons culpable in the killing of the suspects, the families want the court to declare that “the deaths of the original applicants by the re-

spondents” were carried out without lawful order of court.

The families also seek a declaration that the suspects, “who were reported dead on December 7, 2012, while in custody of the respondents, had right to life under Sec-

Anambra House summons SEMA over flood forecast From Chuks Collins, Awka HE Anambra State House T of Assembly yesterday summoned the state’s emergency management agency (SEMA) officials and the Commissioner for Environment to appear before it to explain the measures they have put in place for the prevention of any disaster as predicted by the national meteorology office.

Also the Assembly, at its sitting yesterday, presided over by the Speaker, Mrs. Chinwe Nwaebili, confirmed the fiveman state Civil Service Commission, headed by Mrs. Ngozi Melifeonwu.

Melifeonwu, the immediate past Head of Service, a lawyer and career civil servant, has put in years of quality service in the state.

She held positions of high responsibility, including being a permanent secretary from where she rose to become the Head of Service, before her retirement some months ago.

Bauchi concludes plans for 2013 hajj From Ali Garba, Bauchi AUCHI State Acting ExecuB tive Secretary, Muslim Pilgrims’ Welfare Board, Alhaji Umar Yayagana, has disclosed that preparations for 2013 hajj have reached advanced stage with over 2,800 intending pilgrims.

Speaking with journalists yesterday on the activities of his office, he said that following Saudi authorities’ action by reducing the number of seat allocation to all countries, Bauchi State’s allocation was reduced by 20 per cent, which represents 720 seats from the total allocation.

Represented by his Assistant Secretary, Alhaji Ibrahim A. Shehu, he said the board would ensure that all female intending pilgrims produces their Muharram male guides before the completion of the Hajj fare exercise so that it will end grumbling by some male relatives of female pilgrims over the issue of Muharram.

President, Government College Ibadan Old Boys’ Association (GCIOBA) Mr. Biodun Jolaosho (left); Chairman, Governing Council, Government College Ibadan Restoration Project, Dr. Christopher Kolade; Chairman of the event, Prof. Oladipo Akinkugbe, and Dr. Sunny Kuku, during Government College Ibadan’s 250 Million Restoration Project Fund Raising programme at National Institute of International Affair, Victoria Island…yesterday PHOTO: SUNDAY AKINLOLU

Suswam’s security aide assaults journalist From Joseph Wantu, Makurdi POLICE officer attached to A the Government House Gate, Makurdi, simply identified as Gbenga, yesterday assaulted the Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Benue State Council, Chris Atsaka. Gbenga publicly flogged Atsaka with horsewhip, even as he ran to the Government House Press Centre for safety.

The incident, which attracted the attention of members of staff of the Special Duties Office and that of the Office of the Special Adviser to Governor Gabriel Suswam on Media and Public Affairs and members of the correspondents’ chapel, threw the people into confusion.

Narrating his ordeal to his colleagues amidst tears in Government House Press Centre, Atsaka explained that he was at the State House on official invitation by the Chief of Staff to Governor Gabriel Suswam, Prof. Saint Gbilekaa.

He said his visit was to deliver another letter to the Chief of Staff over the planned NUJ Press Week, which the governor had earlier approved, noting that an initial letter sent to the office of the Chief of Staff was allegedly missing.

“On arrival at the gate, I told the SSS officer identified as Manasseh that I was here on appointment with Chief of

Staff to the Governor. Manasseh told me that I couldn’t see him. According to him, ‘You were here yesterday for the same purpose, why did you come back again today?’

“I then called the Chief of Staff who told me that he was not in the office but that he would send someone to meet me at the gate and collect the letter. Meanwhile, I had earlier instructed my driver to go and park the NUJ bus at the

Press Centre. As I made to go to the Press Centre to wait, Manasseh ordered the police officer to beat me up right from the entrance of Government House to the Press Centre in the presence of members of staff of Special Duties Office who watched in disbelief at the barbaric treatment meted out to me”, Atsaka narrated.

It would be noted that it is not uncommon with security

men at the Government House being hostile to journalists even when they are officially called to cover events.

About three weeks ago, a police officer brandished his gun at The Sun correspondent in the state, Mrs. Rose Ejembi, while she was attempting to go inside the State House to cover an event. Also about three days ago, members of the Correspondents’ Chapel who were on the governor’s

tion 33(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.

The families, through their counsel, Mr. Seliwei Baidi, sought these reliefs after the police filed an application opposing a contempt suit earlier filed against Manko.

The police, represented by Mr. Friday Igbinosa, on June 6, 2013, had confirmed the family members’ fear that the suspects might have been killed in custody.

Igbinosa, on the day the court was to deliver ruling on the contempt suit filed against Manko and two others, filed an application giving excuse for their late response to the suit and also declared that the suspects died during investigation.

The police counsel said the suspects confessed to the crime of kidnapping, and were shot by their gang members when policemen escorted them to their hideout for further investigation.

Baidi had, therefore, filed a fresh application seeking the court to substitute the deceased suspects’ names - Mr. Philip Tomi and Mr. Joel Wolomo - with Tomi’s brother, Harvest Tomi.

Harvest Tomi, who is now suing on behalf of the “families of late Philip Tomi and Joel Wolomo”, joined along with Manko, Supol Terry (O/C Anti-Robbery Squad Ikeja) and Sergeant Eric Akinmuyisitan (the Investigating Police Officer), as the defendants.

Tomi, in an affidavit in support of the fresh application, stated that he believed that the police had extra-judicially murdered the deceased persons.

“The respondents’ explanation that only the deceased persons were hit by bullet is unsatisfactory. I reasonably believe that the deceased persons were extra-judicially murdered by the respondents and their bodies deposited in the Isolo General Hospital Mortuary, Lagos, on December 8, 2012,” he stated.

The hearing on the matter, which was stalled on Wednesday due to the judge’s absence, was adjourned till September 26.

Marketers’ trial stalls over representation in N1.5b subsidy fraud case

By Bertram Nwannekanma

• Witness accuses Alao, others of forgery

N oral application made by A a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Lai Babatunde, for

acy to obtain by false pretence and forgery amounting to N1,537,278,880.82 being payments fraudulently received from the petroleum subsidy fund for a purported supply of 15,000 metric tonnes of petrol.

But at the resumption of their trial, Babatunde, who represented Ifeanyi Anosike and Anosyke Group of Companies (first and second defendants), urged the court for an adjournment to enable him sort out the issue of representation with his client.

The learned silk hinged his application on the ground of certain development that occurred in the last 24 hours, which unfortunately, he did not have the opportunity to

reconsideration of his legal representation on a N1.5 billion fuel subsidy trial on Wednesday, stalled the trial of some oil marketers for alleged fuel subsidy fraud.

The oil marketers, Ifeanyi Anosike, Emeka Chukwu, Ngozi Ekeoma; Anosyke Group of Companies and Dell Energy Limited, were charged by the Economic And Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo of an Ikeja High Court in Lagos.

The defendants were re-arraigned before Justice Onigbanjo on an eight-count charge bordering on conspir-

meet with his client before the court sitting.

He said: “As a senior counsel, it is my professional responsibility to the court and the Bar, which supersedes any other thing.

“I am mindful in discharging this professional responsibility, my duty to the client and I will not do anything to prejudice their interest, since legal representation is a very serious matter”, he added.

In his response, EFCC’s counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), informed the court that he would not oppose the application, but want another quicker trial date.

At this stage, Justice Onigbanjo adjourned till September 18, 2013, for mention.

The defendants were charged for conspiracy to obtain by false pretence, obtaining by means of false pretence, forgery and altering documents.

According to the EFCC, the defendants were charged for fraudulently collecting N1,537,278, 880.82 from the Federal Government on January 23, 2012, claiming to have imported 15,000 metric tonnes of premium motor spirit (PMS) with the Petroleum Support Fund.

They were also accused of forgery and altering documents.

Dell Energy Limited, Chukwu and Ekeoma were independently accused of forging Board Solution document purportedly issued by Anosyke Band of Companies for the opening of account with Stanbic IBTC.

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THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

WorldReport Fall of Mohamed Morsi MID unprecedented A chaos, which had the potential of spilling more blood, the Egyptian Armed Forces tactically overthrew the barely one-year-old government of President Mohammed Morsi last night.

Army General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who announced the fall of the government composed by the Muslim Brotherhood, suspended the constitution and named Egypt’s head of the Constitutional Court as the interim president pending when elections are held into the parliament.

Thousands, indeed, millions of Egyptians gathered at the famous Tahir Square, and across the country hailed every nuances of the announcement, especially when Gen. al-Sisil urged the young protesters to continue their protest in peace but they should shelve the bloodshed that had attended the four-day demonstrations to force Morsi out of power.

Morsi had faced series of protests, several of them bloody, since he was elected into office last year.

The military, which reluctantly left the stage after the election, upped the ante of the ‘people protest’ on Monday by issuing an ultimatum to Morsi to respect the people’s demand and quit power within 48 hours.

That ultimatum elapsed last night, heightening tension and expectation that the Military would strike to try to pacify the protesters and restore order in the country.

Indeed, an adviser to the President Morsi said yesterday in the afternoon that a coup was imminent. The adviser termed the military ultimatum to Morsi to quit power within 48 hours as a coup. But the military denied this, stressing that obeying

the people’s demand was only a way out of the impasse.

According to Dalia Ziada, an Egyptian liberal human rights activist, and an executive director of the Ibn Khaldun Centre for Development Studies in Cairo, who peened for the CNN, the current Egyptian military stand is a scenario similar to when President Hosni Mubarak was toppled during the first wave of revolution in 2011.

“The military has abandoned Morsi and announced its complete backing and support for the demands of the people,” she said.

Meanwhile, local press had reported that President Morsi had tactically been stripped of executive power, which he tried to strengthen some months back when he issued an ‘executive order’ to that effect.

Morsi received over 30 million votes at the polls last year, but as at this week had the support of about 200,000 people, who protested in his favour.

The only group in the country reportedly not happy with the happenings since the uprising began is the Muslim Brotherhood and some of their fellow Islamist parties, said Ziada.

“Rather than working on a solution to the political crisis, the leaders of the Brotherhood have responded by mobilising their followers with insane religious rhetoric to start jihad against the opposition,” she said.

On the other hand, millions of people had poured into the Tahir Square in Cairo and other squares across the country, to protest against President Morsi’s continued stay in power.

On Monday when the defence minister gave Morsi

Morsi

and his regime 48 hours to respond to the people’s demands, leaving the current rulers in utter shock and confusion; “many people were congratulating each other, celebrating the return of the military and counting down the hours, minutes and seconds till the Muslim Brotherhood relinquish power.”

“Other major institutions like the police, the church and the judiciary have announced a similar approach towards the demands of the people and applauded the statement from the Military,” Ziada said.

Morsi’s problems stemmed chiefly from the burden of carrying the Muslim Brotherhood, and acting under its influence.

Cynthia Schneider, a professor in the practice of diplomacy at Georgetown University, and a former U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands, who writes for the CNN, gauged the pulse of Egyptians on the streets.

According to her, “expressing a sentiment increasingly heard in taxis and on the streets of Cairo, the actress, Moataza, said, ‘Our protest at the Ministry of Culture is just part and parcel of the struggle of the Egyptians against

the colonisation of the Muslim Brotherhood.’”

“Ironically, in targeting cultural leaders, including (satirist) Youssef (Bassem), the Brotherhood has helped unify its opposition,” she said.

She noted that as fate would have it, the sit-ins at the Ministry of Culture and the nightly performances of dance, music and street theatre “coincided with the growth of the grassroots Tamarrod movement, which says it has collected more than 15 million signatures in order to force Morsi to call for early elections.”

Just as with the 2011 revolution, this “second revolution” began with youth activists, many of them artists, and now has spread like wildfire through the population,” she said.

“Stories abound of traffic stopping in Cairo to accommodate Tamarrod volunteers weaving through cars to gather signatures, often to spontaneous applause.”

Ziada said that Many observers, according to Ziada, had asked why those people, who protested against SCAF a year ago, were warmly welcoming their return. She provided the answer.

“We realised that we committed a huge mistake when we wanted to accelerate the process of democratisation by rushing into presidential elections before drawing up a Constitution first,” she said.

“This mistake has cost us a full year of endless failures and problems. What we are doing today is taking one step backwards to where we were before the Muslim Brotherhood came to power and restarting again on the right foot.”

And last night, the protests paid off quicker than anyone

Al-Sisi: Egypt’s army chief who turned on the president who picked him matum that gave Morsi, the GYPT’S President Mohamed Mubarak’s defense minister man who had chosen him, E Morsi swept aside the age- for two decades.

The army had produced the just 48 hours to agree on a ing commanders of Egypt’s military a year ago and named Abdel Fattah al-Sisi – a soft-spoken, deeply religious younger general – to head the armed forces.

Many saw Morsi’s action as a demonstration that the military was now subordinate to Egypt’s first freely elected leader.

One year after, it was the general picked by Morsi that swept him aside!

According to a report by Reuters, at the time of his appointment last August, the choice of Sisi, 58, seemed to suit both Morsi and the younger generation of army commanders seeking promotion after years under older generals, like 78-year-old Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi,

autocrats that had ruled Egypt for the previous 60 years. It had run the country itself during the tumultuous 16 months after the revolution that toppled the last general to serve as president, Hosni Mubarak.

And it had seemed reluctant to hand power to Morsi until the new president briskly dispatched Tantawi and a host of other commanders into retirement.

Egyptians wanted their soldiers back in barracks, and the charismatic, chisel-jawed Sisi spoke like a man who would keep them there. Over the course of the next year, Sisi warned of unrest and political divisions, but repeatedly held firm in asserting that the army should not return to

Al-Sisi

politics.

“The armed forces’ loyalty is to the people and the nation,” Sisi said in November when Morsi’s supporters and opponents clashed on the streets over plans to introduce a new constitution.

Sisi finally ditched his refusal to pick sides on Monday, announcing a dramatic ulti-

power-sharing deal with his rivals.

A career military man, Sisi was groomed for a leadership role after serving in top roles in the command, intelligence and diplomatic branches of the armed forces.

Among his previous postings were a stint as defense attaché in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and command positions in the Sinai Peninsula which borders Israel and in the Northern Military Region which includes the second city of Alexandria.

“He had been carefully prepared for a high command position,” said Robert Springborg, an expert on the Egyptian military based at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

Mandela’s children’s remains exhumed after family’s rift Leaked court papers claim ex-president’s health ‘perilous’ OUTH African police yesSordering terday enforced a verdict, the remains of three of Nelson Mandela’s children should be exhumed and be returned to his childhood village following a bitter family feud over the ailing anti-apartheid hero’s final resting place.

The public row came as the 94-year-old former political prisoner, who became South Africa’s first black president, lies critically ill in what is now his fourth week in hospital.

Meanwhile, leaked court documents showed that Mandela is in a “perilous” condition on life support in hospital.

The bleak assessment of the anti-apartheid icon’s health came in papers submitted by his relatives on June 28 as part of legal efforts to retrieve the remains of three of Mandela’s children.

“The anticipation of his impending death is based on real and substantial grounds.

The applicants are desirous of burying their father and committing him to the earth in which his descendants’ remains lie,” according to court papers quoted by the Mail & Guardian and other media.

“Nelson Mandela’s health is perilous. (An) affidavit will be provided from physicians that he is assisted in breathing by a life support machine,” it added.

Mandela, 94, has been in intensive care in a hospital in Pretoria since June 8 when he was admitted with a recurring lung infection.

However, in dramatic scenes that unfolded in front of the world’s media, a sheriff forced open the gates to the estate of Mandela’s grandson Mandla with a pickaxe to allow three hearses to enter the property, where the disputed remains were moved in 2011, allegedly without the family’s consent.

It came hours after a court in the nearby city of Mthatha ordered Mandla, 39, to immediately move the graves back to Qunu about 30 kilometres away, where Mandela grew up. Judge Lusindiso Pakade described the grandson’s actions as “scandalous”.

“The exhumation has been concluded now. The remains are being transported to the mortuary in Mthatha,” said police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela.

“They will be kept there until the burial tomorrow (today).”

Mandela has expressed his wish to be buried at his rural homestead at Qunu, and his daughters want to have the children’s remains returned so they can be buried together.

More than a dozen relatives of the revered leader, including his wife Graca Machel, two of his daughters and several grandchildren, took Mandla to court over the dispute.

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THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

Politics Controversy trails 2013 council polls in Ebonyi eligibility to contest the council polls.

Indications series of litigation are in HERE are concerns that the local the offing to truncate the elections council elections scheduled for emerged when the state chairmen of September 28, 2013 may be stopped by Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and litigation. This is sequel to the decision All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), of Ebonyi State Independent Electoral Dr. Sylvester Nwambe and Mr. Commission (EBSIEC) to adopt the Alphonsus Chinedu Nwali, respectiveopen-ballot system (Option A4), con- ly reacted to EBSIEC’s plan to use opentrary to the Electoral Act for the elec- ballot system in the September exercise. tion.

Nwambe said that if the electoral However, some appointees of the state government, especially the coor- body failed to reverse to the generally dinators of development centres, have accepted electoral system of openresigned their positions to beat the 90- secret ballot system, the opposition day deadline placed by the EBSIEC for parties in the state would either head to court to stop the elections or boycott the balSome of the government appointees that had entirely. resigned to contest the council polls include Mr. loting He insisted Nwode Etche of Ikwo Development Centre; Mr. Paul that the opensystem Iganga (Echiaba); Mrs. Franca Okpo (Abakaliki); ballot “lacks credibiliMr. Joseph Obasi (Akaeze); Mr. Ihebunandu Okorie ty and prone to (Okposi); Mrs. Maria Okohu (Imoha); and Mr. Peter insecurity.”

His words: Nwaogbaga of the Amachi Development Centre. “How can somebody be voting behind in the From Leo Sobechi, Abakaliki

T

21st Century? It is not done anywhere. It is also contrary to the Electoral Act. And they can as well appoint people into these offices instead of election.

“Other parties will also boycott the election because the election will lack credibility.

Nobody will accept a situation where people will have to fall behind a candidate. It can also lead to many things including assassination.”

On his part, the APGA state chairman, Nwali, said that his party would not expose its supporters to assassination, intimidation and other unhealthy treatments that might be meted out to them by the ruling party, should the electoral body insists on the Option A4 system of voting.

Elechi He recalled that the ESIEC in 2010 adopted a similar process and intimidated the people against voting the candidates of their choice, pointing out that the APGA

would formally meet with other opposition parties “with a view to finding a common ground to tackle”

the problem.

Meanwhile, the EBSIEC Chairman, Mr. John Nkwuda, while releasing the guidelines for the conduct of the elections, insisted that the commission would go ahead with the electoral system and urged the opposition parties to seek court redress if they felt aggrieved.

“We are not empowered to make laws; if we are empowered to make laws, we are not empowered to execute such laws; otherwise, separation of power will be murdered,” he said.

Some of the government appointees that had resigned to contest the council polls include Mr. Nwode Etche of Ikwo Development Centre; Mr. Paul Iganga (Echiaba); Mrs. Franca Okpo (Abakaliki); Mr. Joseph Obasi (Akaeze); Mr. Ihebunandu Okorie (Okposi); Mrs. Maria Okohu (Imoha); and Mr. Peter Nwaogbaga of the Amachi Development Centre.

Awolowo, Fasehun & okada riders (3)

By F.A.O. Oseni

DOPTION of the philosophy of self-reliance as A our national ideology can also be a very effective tool for pursuing poverty alleviation. This will mean that we must first look inwards to see whether we have individuals in our country that can do whatever we want to do before going to look for or worse begging foreigners to do them for us at prices conditions and terms dictated by them!

In this way, millions of employment opportunities either being neglected or being enjoyed by foreigners, especially through importation of goods and services that used to be produced or can be produced in the country, will be taken up by our citizens, thereby allowing the wealth of the nation to be evenly distributed instead of being concentrated in a few hands.

When employment opportunities abound in the country, there will be no need for our youths, at the most productive stage of their lives, to be desperate to go abroad, looking for opportunity to develop their God-given talents to the best of their ability, ambition and interests.

Today, out of this desperation, many of our youths are dying in the Sahara Desert, the Atlantic Coast of Northwest Africa and the Mediterranean Sea. There is an urgent need to put an end to this disgraceful and avoidable tragedy.

Pursuit of self-reliance will stop us from running our economy on the basis of acceptable national debt level as determined and dictated by the technologically advanced countries and foreign moneylenders. We will then be able to return to the position we used to be during the Third National Development Plan period when we did not owe anybody but rather we assisted some developing countries financially, as pointed out earlier.

We should not aim simply at becoming the 20th largest economy in the year 2010, which is a “second class status;” rather, we should aim at being one of the leading economies in the world in the current century, that is a “first class status.” Only the sky should limit our ambition as an independent nation!

Nigeria as the country, with the largest population in Africa, has to aspire to attain the state of self-sustained growth like China in recent times as quickly as possible instead of remaining an appendage of foreign economies since the days of the slave trade of the 16th to the 19th Centuries, which devastated our continent for more than 300 years.

Awolowo

Also, Nigeria has the largest concentration of black people on this plant and we should, therefore, not shy away from the role, which destiny has thus bestowed on us to be the bulwark of the black race.

We also have to deal with the controversy going on at the international level, albeit in a subtle way, that there is a link between race and intelligence and that the black race is less intelligent than the other races of humans by finding answers to such questions as: • Why have Africans been using their valuable resources, gold, diamonds, tin, timber, oil, etc., to purchase arms from the much maligned erstwhile colonial masters, to kill their kith and kin?

• Why have African countries held sacrosanct the boundaries created out of colonialism by representatives of Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Holland, Portugal and Spain at the Berlin Conference of the 1880s, despite the havoc caused to the harmony of the various ethnic groups on the continent by the boundaries?

• Why has the Organisation for African Unity (Africa Union) not made the continent free of weapons of mass destruction since there are no factories for their manufacture on the continent and thus making Africom unnecessary? It should be mentioned in this connection that undergraduates of the then University College (now University of Ibadan) scuttled the AngloNigerian Defence Pact proposed shortly after our Independence in 1960.

• Why have African countries not evolved a political system that would allow each of their various ethnic groups (with Nigeria alone having

Awolowo

over 400) to live comfortably and peacefully in the areas where God has put them from time immemorial?

• Why have African countries abandoned their traditional “village square” politics based on consensus decision-making for the foreign representative form of partisan politics based on political parties in permanent warring camps looking for elusive compromise?

• Why have indigenous Africans accepted the derogatory depression “Africa south of the Sahara” being used to describe indigenous Africans, because Arabs, who migrated some thousands of years ago from the Arabia Peninsula, to enjoy the comparatively more conductive life of the savannah flourishing in the Sahara of that time but who are now looking forward to joining the European Union, are considered not to be disease, debt and poverty-ridden as the indigenes of the continent? No such derogatory expression is used for any part of the population of the other Continents.

• Why has no African won the Nobel Prize in any science subject?

If Fasehun and any of our current political leaders want to emulate Awolowo and his contemporaries, they need to first find answers to these and similar questions. Lawless Okada Riders are certainly not in a position to do so.

However, to end on a good and promising note, it was reported in the Sunday Guardian of April 21, that four students, two each from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho, will be representing Nigeria at an international

competition on computer usage taking place in St. Petersburg, Russia in July this year. Their names suggest that they are from the former Western Region and that their parents might have likely benefited from the Free Primary Education pioneered by Awolowo.

Today, the world is regarded as being in the Computer Age, just as various periods in the past had been described as Stone, Iron, Industrial (Machine) Ages, etc., depending on the tool most widely used by man at any particular period. The computer is now ubiquitous and it affects our lives daily.

The computer may be described as the most dazzling jewel on the crown of technology, especially since the development of the micro variety in the 1970s in the United States of America. The various machines that have been invented and developed since the beginning of the industrial revolution in Europe in the 18th Century may be considered to be aids to replace and increase human manpower. The computer, on the other hand, may be considered as a means of increasing brainpower.

This can be seen from just two uses to which computers are put, namely mathematical computations and storage and analysis of information. As pointed out by Bill Gates of Microsoft Corporation, man is now operating in these areas at the speed of light.

For several millennia, mankind relied on memory to pass accumulated knowledge and experience from one generation to another. The Yoruba in this connection used Ifa, which had 256 “volumes” at its peak before the invention of writing on papyrus and later on, book publishing. Now, the computer is rapidly replacing books as a means of storing and spreading information.

Furthermore, most of the scientific and applied research going on all over the world is made possible by the use of computers. Similarly, the power and accuracy of many machines have been greatly transformed by the use of computers to control them.

Despite the tremendous achievements already accomplished with the aid of computers, its development is still being considered as being in its infancy. It is gratifying to have some of our youths in the forefront of computer development. This is a sign that with the right political leadership, Nigeria will become one of the leading nations in the world in not too distant future.

CONCLUDED. • Mr. Oseni, an engineer of F.A. Oseni Consultancy Services, wrote from Surulere, Lagos.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

POLITICS

11

Get ready for Egypt’s ‘second revolution’

By Cynthia Schneider, Special to CNN

The opposition to Morsy shows that the Egyptian revolution is not over, she says RTISTS tend to occupy the front A lines against repression. So, it comes as no surprise that the occupation of Egypt’s Ministry of Culture protesting the ‘Brotherhoodization’ of the ministry under the leadership of Alaa Abdel-Aziz, has helped drive the planned massive demonstrations against Mohamed Morsy on Sunday.

Once again, the U.S. government appears to be on the fence in Egypt, with Ambassador Anne Patterson expressing skepticism about “street action” that could result in violent protests.

“People realise that this is about the identity of Egypt,” said Hazem Azmy, a scholar active in the Culture of Ministry occupation.

With Ultras (militant soccer fans) standing by to protect the growing crowds, nightly performances are held outside the ministry, ranging from ballet to an impromptu concert by pop star Ahmed Saad that even had the police dancing.

Artists of Cairo’s famed Opera House — on strike since Abdel-Aziz fired its head, Enas Abdel-Dayem — have been performing, too. Their repertoire?

Excerpts from “Zorba the Greek,” including scenes of defiance.

Expressing a sentiment increasingly heard in taxis and on the streets of Cairo, the actress, Moataza, said, “Our protest at the Ministry of Culture is just part and parcel of the struggle of the Egyptians against the colonisation of the Muslim Brotherhood.”

The Brotherhood is as an interna-

tional organisation with loyalty to its members, not to Egypt. She speaks for many, including people who voted for Morsy in the last election.

However, Patterson, the U.S. ambassador, recently equated protests with “violence on the streets” and urged Egyptians to “get organised... to join or start a political party that reflects your values and aspirations.”

What revolution has ever succeeded in the short term (and 2½ years is a short term) without taking to the streets? Yes, Egyptians need to become better organised politically, but at this early tumultuous stage, that is a long-term goal.

Patterson’s condescending comments ignore history, as well as the specific situation in Egypt. For example, recently, a court sentenced

employees of nongovernmental organisations to jail, effectively curtailed activities of these groups that provide advice and support for the kind of political activities for which the ambassador advocated.

Patterson’s dismissal of “street action” as likely only to “add new names to the lists of martyrs” not only insults the millions of Egyptians who have marched in the streets to change their country for the better, but it also stands at odds with President Barack Obama’s words of praise for the Egyptian revolution of 2011: “We stand for universal values, including the rights of the Egyptian people to freedom of assembly, freedom of speech...”

What was the Egyptian revolution if not “street action?”

It was left to another U.S. “ambassador” to lend support to Egyptians.

On June 21, Jon Stewart appeared on Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef’s popular show, ‘Al Bernameg,’ and told the audience: “Bassem is showing that satire... can carve out a space in a country for people to express themselves. Because that is all democracy is... the ability to express yourself and be heard.”

Ironically, in targeting cultural leaders, including Youssef, the Brotherhood has helped unify its opposition.

For the artists are the canaries in the coal mine, who lead the way in questioning authority and in holding up a mirror to society.

As fate would have it, the sit-ins at the Ministry of Culture and the nightly

By Dalia Ziada, Special to CNN

The Muslim Brotherhood has responded with ‘insane religious rhetoric’, she writes.

OR the fourth successive day (yesFCairo’s terday), millions of people packed Tahrir Square and similar sites across Egypt on Wednesday, calling for President Mohamed Morsy’s immediate resignation and for presidential elections to be held in the near future.

Already, the protests have paid off quicker than anyone expected. In a scenario similar to when President Hosni Mubarak was toppled during the first wave of revolution in 2011, the military has abandoned Morsy and announced its complete backing and support for the demands of the people.

On Monday, the defense minister gave Morsy and his regime 48 hours to respond to the people’s demands, leaving the current rulers in utter shock and confusion. Soon after this statement was broadcast on national television, many people were congratulating each other, celebrating the return of the military and counting down the hours, minutes and seconds till the Muslim Brotherhood relinquish power.

Other major institutions like the police, the church and the judiciary have announced a similar approach towards the demands of the people and applauded the statement from the military.

The only group in the country that has not been happy is the Muslim Brotherhood and some of their fellow Islamist parties.

Rather than working on a solution to the political crisis, the leaders of the Brotherhood have responded by mobilising their followers with insane religious rhetoric to start jihad against the opposition.

On Tuesday night, Morsy himself

Egypt protesters clash with police

PHOTO: MIDDLE EAST AL-JAZERRA

Why Egyptian protesters welcome military’s support made a long speech about his alleged legitimacy: he said blatantly that he was willing to protect this with blood and that he would only give it away when he was dead.

For many Arabic listeners, those words will be clear incitement to jihad: many of Morsy’s followers may be fooled by the fact that he got his legitimacy from God as an Islamist president.

A few minutes after the speech, violent clashes started at several locations across Egypt, resulting in fatalities.

Meanwhile, some international observers have described what is happening in Egypt as a soft military coup.

I reject those short-sighted claims as an Egyptian, who proudly planned for and participated in the toppling of Mubarak in 2011; who condemned the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which governed after Mubarak in 2012 but then failed us;

and who has planned for and is now protesting against the Muslim Brotherhood from a determination to establish a liberal democracy in Egypt.

There is nothing to suggest that the military is implementing or even plotting a coup. Monday’s critical move by the military in favour of the people comes from a patriotic sentiment: to protect the people, with whom they are an integral part and to whom they hold the utmost responsibility to protect and empower.

In March, the Ibn Khaldun Centre for Development Studies ran a , asking Egyptians whether they see the return of the military as a solution for the cumulative political and economic failures of the Morsy regime.

The poll showed that 82 per cent of those surveyed supported the return of the military to power. The majority of the samples were young people under the age of 35, most of whom were protesting against the SCAF a

few months before the Muslim Brotherhood came to power. Those results strongly reflect the huge support we are now witnessing.

The people trust the military more than they trust any other institution in the country. This is partly because of the military’s historical legacy that has left it as the strongest in the region.

Another important reason is that military officers, who are very much part of the fabric of the country, are very patriotic and loyal to no one but Egypt. Much of this is because the military has sustained a professionalism that has allowed it to be independent in making its own decisions.

The interests of the military are not dependent on the interests of the regime or any supreme authority in Egypt.

That is why it was easy for the military to abandon Mubarak in 2011 in favour of the people, something that the police, for example, could not do

performances of dance, music and street theatre coincided with the growth of the grassroots Tamarrod movement, which says it has collected more than 15 million signatures in order to force Morsy to call for early elections.

Just as with the 2011 revolution, this “second revolution” began with youth activists, many of them artists, and now has spread like wildfire through the population. Stories abound of traffic stopping in Cairo to accommodate Tamarrod volunteers weaving through cars to gather signatures, often to spontaneous applause.

Reflecting the mood of revolution in the air, Youssef recently hosted an Arabic version of “Les Miserables” on his show. As the studio audience joined the singing group, Fabrika, in a rousing finale of “Do You Hear the People Sing?” to inspire Egyptians with “the music of the people who will not be slaves again,” artists and activists outside continued their vigil for freedom of expression at the Ministry of Culture.

No one knows what will happen Sunday. Feelings of excitement mix with anxiety about the potential for violence, which the recent thug attack on protesters in Alexandria forebodes.

But the energy of the young activists behind Tamarrod, the passion of the artists inside and outside the Ministry of Culture, and the unified opposition to Morsy’s rule show that the Egyptian revolution is far from over. “Street action” is the kernel of revolution.

• Cynthia Schneider is a professor in the practice of diplomacy at Georgetown University, dean at the School of Diplomacy at Dubrovnik International University and a senior nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution. She is also a former U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands. because their existence relied heavily on the existence of the then regime.

Mubarak’s Egypt was not a military state: rather, it was a police state that abused the armed power of the police to fasten the regime’s grip on the neck of the opposition.

Therefore, many Egyptian people believe the military when they say that they are not interested in playing a political role or ruling again.

It is in the best interests of the military to remain neutral and independent. We were ruled by the SCAF after the fall of Mubarak: after that, both the military and the people knew very well that military leaders couldn’t be good politicians.

The military and the people are now looking for the right civil leader who can lead a liberal democratic state. As soon as Morsy is brought down, the people and the military need nothing more than to agree on a clear roadmap and a specific timeframe to make this happen as soon as possible.

Many observers have asked why those people, who protested against SCAF a year ago, are now warmly welcoming their return. I have the answer.

We realised that we committed a huge mistake when we wanted to accelerate the process of democratisation by rushing into presidential elections before drawing up a Constitution first.

This mistake has cost us a full year of endless failures and problems. What we are doing today is taking one step backwards to where we were before the Muslim Brotherhood came to power and restarting again on the right foot.

• Dalia Ziada is an Egyptian liberal human rights activist, an executive director of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies in Cairo. She has received several international awards and last year was named by CNN as one of the Arab World’s eight ‘Agents of Change.’

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THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

TheMetroSection Resting in peace or burning to ashes…

• How Lagosians view Cremation Law recently passed by the Lagos State House of Assembly

By Tope Templer Olaiya and Abdulwaheed Usamah HE world is becoming a fast changing planet and climate change is just the least of the matter. When I was a child, homosexuality was a crime in the United States of America. As I grew up, it became acceptable. Now it’s legal. I am thinking of leaving America before they make it compulsory, but I am bothered about some disturbing news from Lagos, particularly random kidnapping and the cremation law recently passed by the Lagos State government.”

This view expressed by a Nigerian in the Diaspora, Anthony Roberts, sums up the global trend of change and citizens’ reaction it. Nothing suggested that the signing of the Cremation Bill into law would be stormy. But as it turned out, the cremation law, which seeks to make cremation a legal and acceptable way of handling corpses has attracted widespread outrage from the public.

This move by government, though op- Governor Fashola (SAN) tional for residents, has been seen by place. some as one of the radical policies of What cannot be divorced from govGovernor Babatunde Fashola. The bill ernment’s bold move is the metropolsurvived several readings and stormy itan nature of the state, hosting people debates at the House of Assembly before from diverse background. Thus, the it was passed to the governor for assent. challenges of managing the growing With its passage into law recently, liv- population of residents amid limited ing with the reality of the cremation law land space tend to dictate the kind of has not whittled away the contentious decisions taken by the present adminissues the subject seems to have gener- istration.

While opting to be cremated is a volated, which especially borders on people’s beliefs. untary choice, which must be passed To many, the practice of cremation, down by the deceased to his survivors, which is a process of burning the government is concerned about fuhuman corpse to ashes and sprinkling ture availability of lands for the cussix-feet tomb. the ashes into the sea as predominantly tomary Cremation is not an alternative to a practiced in India and other parts of Asia, is alien to African culture. Africans funeral, but rather an alternative to not only cherish their corpses, but also burial and other forms of disposal. At as a mark of respect, spend huge sums cremation, the remains is reduced to of money to give befitting burials to the fragments that do not constitute health risk. Disposal can either by indead. or preservation.

Apart from the huge expenses in- terment While others prefer to pour body fragcurred in buying expensive caskets and clothes for funeral ceremonies and en- ments into the sea, most people reluctertaining guests of the bereaved, the tant to make the dead a distant significance of the dust-to-dust rite is memory, keep the ashes in flowerpots or carry them around in chain penmomentous.

Here, following religious injunction, dants. And if the ashes were to be inthe bereaved family, who survives the terred, space and land would not be a deceased, take turns to pour sand into problem, as caskets would no longer the coffin or body of the dead, which is be needed.

This, however, goes against all known six feet below them to perform the symbolic ritual of bidding goodbye to the culture and religious beliefs, particubody, void of its essence – the soul, on its larly in Christendom, which preaches homeward journey to its final resting that there is a place called hell reserved

HE Nigerian Army Officers’ Wives Association T (NAOWA), Ogun State branch yesterday lamented over the alarming rate, children were being abandoned in the state.

The Assistant Coordinator of the Abeokuta branch of

rites for Nze DonaFageUNERAL tus Eletuo, who died at the of 83, begin today with

A view of Ikoyi Cemetery, Lagos for sinners and the perverts. To Christians, therefore, it is double tragedy subjecting the dead after a turbulent life to torment before hell.

For Alhaja Aminat Mudashiru, a 60year-old woman herb seller at Agege market, not in her lifetime would any member of her family be subjected to cremation.

“If my children decide to do that to me because the law has allowed it, I would not rest in peace and if I don’t rest in peace, the living cannot live in peace too. If I die today, I would rather prefer am taken to my village where there is enough land for me sleep and rest in peace than be burned to ashes, ” she said.

Fearing that government might wake up someday to amend the cremation law from being optional to mandatory, an Arabic teacher at Ikeja Junior Secondary School, Laitan Sambo, said Muslims have nothing to fear because the Koran contains rules that guide every aspect of life.

“In Islamic, there is a standard rule on how funerals should be conducted.

Even if the portion of land reserved for Muslims all over the world were to be a plot, it would still contain everyone because we don’t bury our dead with coffins. We just wrap them in a white cloth and multiple bodies can be laid to rest at a time. Even members of the

same family who die at different times can be buried in the same grave,” he said.

Reacting to the new law, Prelate of the Methodist Church Nigeria, Dr. Ola Makinde, said the law only provides a choice for Lagosians to either cremate their dead or bury them in the normal way. The clergyman immediately rejected the mode of burial saying nobody should cremate him when he dies.

“The law is against our culture and tradition. Everybody has a choice of burial. My children cannot cremate me and nobody can compel me to be cremated. Cremation is English culture and it is not in the Bible. It is a type of culture where people write in their will to be cremated when they die. The government should think twice; they should pass laws that people will obey.

We should not copy the white people foolishly.”

The Director of Media, Catholic Church, Lagos, Gabriel Osu, towed this line of thought and lamented that the rights of the living and the dead were, and are often violated in the country.

For him, the cremation law is anti-poor and anti-dead.

Waxing emotionally, Osu urged those who passed the law to live by example by allowing their dead loved ones to be cremated first to show that they are really serious about the issue.

Orphanage, Oluwatoyin wondered how a woman who had carried a baby in her womb for nine months and having gone through labour pains, would be so callous to throw her baby away.

“How can a reasonable woman who carried a child for nine months in her womb abandon her child?

I will advise that anybody, whatever the problems, whatever the situation, should avoid throwing away their babies because nobody knows what the babies would become tomorrow,” she said. “ We are here to celebrate with motherless babies.

They are great leaders of tomorrow. They are the fu-

ture of the nation. We know we are going to have commissioners, ministers and President among them in Jesus name. ” Meanwhile, the association said it had concluded plans to build a N25 million Vocational Training Centre at Alamala Barracks for widows of fallen officers and youths .

Police arrest 12 polytechnic students for cultism From Muyiwa Adeyemi, Ado Ekiti WELVE students of the Federal Polytechnic, T Ado Ekiti and a woman beer seller, have been arrested for cultism by the police.

The students, who confessed to be members of the notorious Eiye Confraternity, were arrested while holding a meeting at a popular drinking spot in the town.

Parading the suspects in Ado Ekiti yesterday on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Sotonye Wakama, the Area Commander of Ado Area Command, Mr. Yomi Akinlaja (Assistant Commissioner of Police), said they were arrested following a tip-off that they were meeting somewhere in the Ekiti State capital.

Akinlaja said: “Twelve male and one female sus-

EADING Scotch whisky, L Chivas, in conjunction with new luxury five-star hotel, In-

Eletuo, 83, for burial

Army officers’ wives worry about rate of abandoned children in Ogun the Association, Mrs. Teejay Oluwatoyin, who spoke as part of the activities to commemorate this year’s Army Day celebrations, expressed her worry when she led her members on a visit to the Stella Obasanjo Motherless Babies’ Home in Abeokuta.

After presenting some gift items to the inmates of the

Soyinka, Fashola for Top 100 Nigerian Men award terContinental Lagos, will today honour 100 accomplished Nigerian men in various fields of endeavour at the new InterContinental Hotel, Kofo Abayomi, Lagos.

They include Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, Dr. Newton Jibunoh, Dr. Mike Adenuga, Jim Ovia, Aliko Dangote, Segun Oniru, Tonye Cole and General TY Danjuma among others.

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From Charles Coffie Gyamfi, Abeokuta

Briefs

pects were arrested following a tip-off that Eiye Confraternity was meeting somewhere in Ado Ekiti,” adding that, “the principal suspect is Kolawole Oluwaseun, aged 24.”

The ACP also alleged that Oluwaseun was the second-in-command of the group, and explained that one Martins, who was “the man in charge of the group, was rusticated from the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti and Oluwaseun was second in command and currently in charge.”

He gave the names of the other suspects as Femi Osho, 25; Damilola Omotiloye, 24; Olanrewaju Sunday, 22; Tunde Jimoh, 18; Asaolu Juliana, 50; Adekanye Sola, 23; Ogunmoroti Temitope, 22; Aluk Kehinde, 39; Omoniyi Richard, 22; Martins Chukwumezie, 20; Falaye Omobolanle, 21 and

Ajayi Pete,r 24.

The police chief said a sledge hammer, a stainless steel knife, five short cutlasses; one UTC axe; different charms, red muffler, beret, canvas shoes and blue beret; laptops, DVD tape; one small hammer were among the various items recovered from the suspects.

Akinlaja, who said the suspects were arrested on Thursday, June 27, during a meeting also alleged that two of the suspects robbed a trader in the town, adding that “they threatened the trader with their cult group should he raise any alarm.”

He said that investigations were still ongoing in the matter, saying that the suspects would be charged to court when investigations were concluded.

service of song at his compound, Odah Ohekelem in Ngor Okpala, Local Council of Imo State at 5.00p.m. he will be buroed tomorrow after a funeral Mass at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church.

He is survived by his wife, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren among them is Uche Eletuo of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Business summit at Harvesters’ Church HRIVE, an initiative of HarT vesters’ Church, Gbagada Lagos, designed to promote entrepreneurship and business excellence, holds on Saturday and Sunday at Plot 5-7, Gbagada-Oshodi Expressway, opposite Mobil Petrol Station, Gbagada from 9.30am–1.30p.m on Saturday and 7.15am, 9.00am, 11.00am on Sunday.

The theme is: The heart of business leadership.

Facilitators include Dr. Sam Chand, recently named the 13th most influential global leadership guru; Sam Adeyemi and Tonye Cole. Convener is Bolaji Idowu.

AICL marks second year anniversary

FIRM, Avail International A Consult Limited (AICL), recently marked its second year of operations in the country with seminars, scholarship evaluations, visa counselling, etc.

According to the Executive Director, Mrs. Bola Agunbiade: “Students have had their dreams of attaining worldclass education through our services. Partner institutions have sent in accolades and awards. Avail excelled as the award winner “Agent of the year- 2012” from NAVITAS -foremost group in students’ recruitment to institutions in United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada and

John Akor becomes new Eze of Nimbo FORMER Concord Press of A Nigeria and Radio Nigeria, Kaduna journalist and manager, John Akor, has been enthroned as the new Eze of Nimbo in Uzo Uwani Local Council of Enugu State. He is the 35th Agaba Idu of Nimbo.

The traditional title of Agaba Idu of Nimbo, according to modern records, dates back to early 1200 AD. It is one of the oldest traditional institutions in the former Eastern Region and holders have held the position of first class chiefs since the colonial era.

METRO 13

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

Photonews

Immediate Past President, Rotary Club of Abuja Metro, Vidon Jaule (left), out-going President, Chuka Oboli, in-coming Presiden,t Akin Falodun and Charter President, Seyi Lufadeju during Falodun’s investiture as President...

Some of the coffins of the 25 traders killed by Boko Haram in Borno State last week being taken off one of the buses that brought them back to Ibadan, Oyo State…yesterday PHOTO : NAJEEM RAHEEM

Marketing Manager, Chemical & Allied Products (CAP) Plc., Mr. Dominic Oladeji (left), Managing Director, Mrs. Omolara Elemide, Managing Director, Wow Road Shows Ltd., Mr. Tokunbo Odebunmi and the Brand Manager, Miss Omole Imosemi during the flag-off of the second phase of the Dulux Mobile Room Make-Over Activation… on Thursday.

Director General, National Orientation Agency, Mike Omeri (left), Minister of State for Health, Dr. Mohammed Ali Pate, Director General, Nigerian Institute for Medical Reasearch, Prof. Innocent Ujah and Country Director, FHI-360, Dr. Robert Chiegil at the symposiumon Human disaster risk management: A case sudy of flooding in Nigeria in Lagos...on Monday

Assistant General Manager, Enyser Ltd., Mr. Kennedy Mukusu (left); Chairman, Enyser Ltd., Dr. Vincent Ebuh; Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Thomas Acholo and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Culture & Tourism, Lokoja, Kogi State, Mubo Eniola after the handover of Confluence Beach Hotel, Lokoja to the state government…recently

Lagos State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Obafemi Amzat, representing the Governor of Lagos State (rght), Group Managing Director, HFP Engineering (Nig.) Ltd, Mr. Dele Martins (third from left), Mrs. Funmi Babington Ashaye and others at the unveiling of HFP Industrial park’s commemorative plaque ..at the weekend.

We must not allow a second war, says Halifield

By Felix Kuye IGERIAN leaders have been urged to always take retrospective look at the devastating effects of wars and choose to resolve whatever differences they encounter through the instrumentality of dialogue to achieve peace and meaningful development in the country.

Authorities of the Halifield College, Maryland, Lagos gave the advice at the celebration of 2013 edition of its yearly Salute Programme, an informative and educative event aimed at appreciating major events of the past and pointing out lessons to be

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Dean, Faculty of Science, Lead City University, Prof. Ayo Olukotun (right), Registrar, Lead City University, Dr. Ola Bola Ayeni and Vice Chancellor, Lead City Univeristy, Prof.

Femi Onabanjo at the TOFAC 2013 Annual International Conference on Africans Diaseous held at Lead City University, Ibadan ...on Monday

Firm tasks regulators on integrity of buildings

By Anthony Chidubem Nwachukwu O curb the incessant collapse of buildings across the country, regulatory agencies must brace up to their responsibilities through the enforcement of guidelines for construction of both residential and commercial structures, the Chairman of Bulk Construction Company Ltd., Mr. Agunze Chibueze Ikokwu, has said.

While acknowledging that natural causes such as flood, landslide and earthquake, among others, can cause buildings to collapse, he however, condemned the human errors which include criminal profiteering by construction agents and materials dealers, as well as foolishness on the part of owners, who seek cheap means of attaining their goals.

According to him, human faults come from structural errors, like the deployment of wrong reinforcement bars, wrong mixtures, poor cement quality and under-utilisation of materials due to cost constraint, among others.

“We always advocate that people get the design right, go to architects for the plan, structural engineers for input, electrical and mechanical engineers, as well as quantity surveyors for costing,” Ikokwu said. “If affordable, get qualified persons to construct, but if not, drop it and build up your cash adequacy, not cutting corners, because in the case of buildings, unfortunately, it can cost lives.” He warned against constructing without building approval, else the regulatory agencies have right to move in and demolish. And worried that population density pushes up demands, he lamented that prospective tenants have become vulnerable to exploitation by people who expand aging buildings without approval from relevant authorities and adequate structural adjustments.

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learnt from them.

This year’s event, tagged “Salute the Wars”, focused on the statistics and brief histories of major wars in the past, with special attention played to the causes, effects, duration and parties involved in the conflicts.

The students, who were organized into groups, narrated the destructive South African border war, which was fought between 1966 and 1989 largely in SouthWest Africa (now Namibia) and Angola between South Africa and its allied forces (mainly UNITA) on one side, and the Angolan government, South-West Africa

People’s Organization (SWAPO) and their allies (mainly Cuba) on the other.

They also acted the American Revolution War said to have claimed 25,000 lives.

The principal, Mrs. Kumbi Odubiyi, stated that the insecurity in the country triggered the choice of the theme for this year’s edition of the programme. According to her, the ugly effects of war, including the ongoing onslaught on Boko Haram in the country, are always devastating, considering the records of fallouts of wars in time past as emphasized by the play.

She urged the Nigerian government to practically

combat the insecurity plaguing the country, noting that war brings with it unpleasant memories at the end.

According to her, the Nigerian Civil War is a classic example back home.

“The war cost the Igbo a great deal in terms of lives, money and infrastructure.

It has been estimated that up to three million people died due to the conflict, most from hunger and disease. The heroes of the Biafra War who lived to tell the stories are quick to point out that the best way to resolve conflicts is still the round table,” Odubiyi said.

Witness links Ogun communal crisis to kingship tussle

By Dele Fanimo ran was nominated. ability of the Peace Resolution traditional Prime Minister of He said: “Consequently, an WITNESS in the on-going in- Committee headed by him to the town, said the Peace ResoA appeal was lodged at the quiry into the recent crisis resolve the land dispute belution Committee did all it Court of Appeal by Oba Adeniin Ado- Odo, Ogun State, Chief Mufutau Dosunmu, has linked the refusal of a contestant to the throne of Olofin (ruler) of the town to accept a Supreme Court judgment, which was in favour of Oba Abdulateef Adeniran, to the violence that engulfed the town on April 15, this year.

The witness, who is the Osolo of the town, while testifying before a judicial Commission of Enquiry, sitting at the State High Court, Isabo, Abeokuta, also linked the crisis to the in-

tween the Awori and the Egun in the town.

According to Dosunmu, the opponent of Oba Adeniran in the contest for the throne, Prince Odejide and some of his supporters went to the High Court to challenge the nomination and approval of Oba Adeniran by the Idobarun Ruling House at a family meeting convened on April 8, 1993, adding that the High Court in its judgment annulled the decision of the meeting in which Oba Adeni-

ran against the decision of the High Court. The Court of Appeal Judgment was eventually delivered and in the said verdict, the decision of the High Court was set aside, thereby validating the nomination and approval of Oba Adeniran.

In further appeal to the Supreme Court, the decision of the Court of Appeal was affirmed.

Giving further evidence during cross- examination, the Osolo, who also doubles as the

could to ensure that peace prevailed in the town, adding that if Odejide had exhibited good sportsmanship, the crisis would have been averted.

While disclosing that he was equally attacked during the crisis, Dosunmu said his panel was only able to resolve land disputes in Ayede and Asokere communities within the town.

He noted that the committee was about resolving all disputes arising from the Obaship tussle and land dispute before the crisis erupted.

14 | THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 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 Unity schools’ cut-off marks HE Federal Government’s desire to give Nigerian children equal access to secT ondary education through a liberalized admission process into federal colleges is understandable, especially against the backdrop of a reported drop in school enrolment. As usual, this year’s placement of students into Unity schools across the country has been premised on differential cut-off marks for each state after a competitive entrance examination. It is one design aimed at creating a future for the children but which may actually be truncating that future. The admission exercise, which, over the years, has been bastardized – courtesy of the adopted federal character policy – would continue to be detrimental to the children it is supposed to help. The latest exercise is absurd, unjust, and embarrassing to the country. It is totally immoral and offends sensibilities. Undoubtedly, the nation’s education planners are inadvertently setting the country on the wrong path.

To avert a looming crisis of confidence, the government has to halt this decadence and reverse the unjust system in which children from some states with high scores of over 130, in a maximum of 200 in an examination, are denied admission, while pupils who scored less than 10 marks in the same examination are deemed okay for admission – as in Kebbi (nine marks), Sokoto (nine), Zamfara (four), Taraba (three) and Yobe (two). The indefensible criterion is in favour of the latter category because they are from so-called educationally disadvantaged states. In the 21st Century, this is a clear case of standing logic on its head.

The Federal Ministry of Education had in a publication fixed cut-off marks for the states as follows: Abia (130), Anambra (139), Ebonyi (112), Enugu (134) and Imo (138). From a nearby geographical zone are Delta (131), Edo (127), Cross River (97), Bayelsa (72), Rivers (118) and Akwa Ibom (123). Also in the high scoring class are Ogun (131), Ondo (126), Osun and Oyo (127), Ekiti (129) and Lagos, 133. There are also Benue (111), Kwara (123), Kogi (119), Plateau (97), Niger (93) and Nassarawa, 58.

Other states are progressively lower-ranked.

This gap is indicative of a serious dislocation in a system in critical need of reformation. The root of the imbalance is government’s decision to declare some areas educationally disadvantaged. Decades of implementation of the policy has not helped the education sector in certain states in any significant sense.

Human development efforts in some parts of the country have even become a source of worry and national embarrassment. Decades of mis-governance and misdirected focus have resulted in ignorance being imposed on the people. So, the governors from the affected states must redress the imbalance in the interest of the children, their states, the region and the country generally.

What justice could be served by a system that deprives serious, ambitious children of attaining a brighter future while it pampers others? At play is a situation where pupils are treated unequally by seemingly punishing the best and brightest to appease those who could not compete. It is high time the country faced up to reality: do away with all pretensions about the contraption called Unity schools.

Surely, this policy is not a way to bridge the lamentable educational gap between the North, in particular, and other regions that are still pushing for greater heights. This generation too has a duty not to promote a society that punishes academic excellence while offering incentives to indolence.

A clearing system that pushes unfit students into federal colleges at the expense of fit and proper others is undesirable. Since the child is continuously pushed on against his will, the implication, in later years, is not far-fetched: a manifestation in lower standards at tertiary levels and deficient graduates whose only claim to learning would be a poverty of the intellect. In as much as the country competes in a global space, lowering standards would be detrimental to its future. The country must be saved from the international embarrassment Nigerian graduates are now being subjected to locally and internationally.

The implications of a warped admission policy are many. Policy makers should realize that competent children who are today denied placement in federal institutions by right are a potential threat to the country in future. Loyalty to the same country would be in doubt. There should be alternatives to double standards. Minimum standard is not negotiable. Where there are deficiencies, institutionalized remediation can work. That is, a programme of remedial lessons to get the weak students to catch up and be in a position to compete. So the solution is not in lowering standards, as is being promoted by the current process.

Besides, federal and state governments should invest heavily in education in the north. Education should be made compulsory in the region and perhaps failure to put children in school should be criminalised. An incentive of feeding the children in school at least once a day can be considered. As a national project, no effort should be spared to bring resources from any part of the country on board, like making an effective use of the youth corps members both during and after conclusion of service, to bridge the teaching gap in the disadvantaged parts. Leaders must recognize the importance of education in national life and strive to produce competitive students across board.

LETTERS

Health sector innovation in Abia With the completion of the centre for medical students’ rural women to the nearest hosSeastIR:Firstzone Dialysis Centre in south- i n t e r n s h i p . pital to guarantee safe delivery,

of the country, located among several other health in Umuahia, the Abia State Government has set another pace in health care delivery in the country. The Abia Specialist and Diagnostic Centre, Umuahia was made possible when the Governor Theodore Orji acquired the defunct Alaoma Hospital on Aba road through private-public partnership with international health and specialist organisation – Mecure of India to construct the centre.

Not many believe that the project will come to fruition so soon considering the horrible experiences of private-public partnership projects so far, often leading to its termination or abandonment. The commitment, sincerity and transparency on the part of the state government and Mecure International deserve commendation.

The centre represents a revolution of the health sector in the state, following years of neglect, which forced indigenes or residents to seek medicare outside the state. Governor Orji was happy to announce that all the facilities needed for the take-off of the centre are ready, adding that government is waiting for the technical partners from India who will operate the machines.

It is obvious that the centre will bring succour to people having renal problem. Another good thing is that majority of doctors and nurses that will be in-charge are Nigerians who will undergo training. No wonder recently Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) approved the

In the rural areas, the state government complemented the Federal Government to ensure the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, building 250 health centres in various villages in the state. The government also distributed ambulances to 10 local councils in the state to aid movement of pregnant

projects.

The dialysis centre is a rare feat other state governments should aspire to achieve, because the centre on taking off might witness a large population of patients, especially from the southeast zone.

• Romanus Uwa, Aba, Abia State.

Northern governors should tackle begging IR: It is no longer news that State and the northern region Sconsidering Kano State government is in general. The problem of a ban on beg- street begging is beyond the ging. Sheikh Aminu Ibrahim Daurawa, the state’s Hisbah Commander General stated that the plan was mooted on the grounds that most of the beggars and Almajiranci are not of Kano origin, but have turned the state into haven for begging and ‘Almajiranci’, which ‘embarrasses’ the state.

The CommanderGeneral hinted of a bill being prepared in the State House of Assembly to effectively ban all forms of begging, which implies that all beggars will be deported to their respective states of origin, in the north.

But cutting a tree from its stem will not stop it from growing back. Deporting these beggars to their states of origin will not be of any long-run benefit to Kano

state. It is a northern phenomenon. As such, the solution lies beyond Kano obviously.

The Northern States Governors Forum, instead of concentrating on political issues, as it normally does, should collectively set up a committee which will probe deep into the issue, to uncover the root causes of street begging. Surely through research, empirical evidence can be gathered as to the exact origin and causes of this problem.

The findings of the committee will then serve as a basis for curbing the menace. Only then could there be a chance to permanently rid the region of beggars. Doing this collectively will cost the governments less, but the impacts enormous.

• Abubakar Adamu, Bayero University, Kano.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday July 4, 2013

15

Business Appointments P27 Govt convenes stakeholders’ parley on casualisation in oil sector

Businesses rebound on security intervention, budget implementation, says LCCI

By Femi Adekoya OVERNMENT’S ongoing security intervention in some parts of the North and other measures may have begun to yield returns as latest indicators from the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI)’s 2013 aggregate Business Confidence Index (BCI) have shown an improvement in the Nigerian business environment in the first half of the year.

According to the index, the business environment recorded a significant positive improvement as a result of the take-off of budget implemen-

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tation across the country, ongoing security intervention in some parts of the North, impressive corporate results in most sectors and stable macroeconomic prices, especially in exchange and inflation rate.

Specifically, the indicators showed that apart from the recurrent factors such as poor access to credit, security situation and the dwindling public power supply, the index posted impressive confidence across most business and economic indicators.

In the Q3 report made available to The Guardian in Lagos, yesterday, the confidence

index showed a sustained positive improvement of 24 per cent from the 16.5 per cent and 10.5 per cent it achieved in Q2 and Q1 respectively.

Precisely, the improvement represents 13.5 per cent point movement of the index along a positive trajectory since the beginning of this year.

According to analysts, the steady and significant improvement of the BCI score suggests that business leaders are gearing towards expanding their investments and plant size in the months to come.

A review of activities within the sectors showed that all the

sectors recorded positive confidence.

For instance, the financial sector recorded the highest confidence of 35 per cent closely followed by Hotel & Restaurant and Telecoms & Postal sectors 29 per cent and 27 per cent confidence levels respectively.

Furthermore, the agricultural sector was impressive at 18 per cent but the manufacturing sector remains disappointing at 5 per cent business confidence level.

This implies that expansion and new investment in the Nigerian manufacturing sector remains largely held down

by the lingering challenges confronting business environment in the country.

For the specific regions of the country, the index showed that the confidence level of businesses located in the South West Nigeria inched to a new high of 44 per cent from 38 per cent and 30 per cent in Q2 and Q1 respectively.

Companies operating in the South East and South South with BCI score of 31 per cent and 21 per cent respectively followed this.

For businesses located in the North, the confidence level of

CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

Production Director, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, Dr Nino Ozara (left); Executive Vice-Chairman/ Chief Executive Officer, Babatunde Odunayo; Managing Director, Mt. Olive Nig. Ltd., Mrs. Ajibola Elizabeth; and Director, Marketing, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, Benson Evbuomwan, during Honeywell Flour Mills’ 2013 Customers’ forum, in Lagos, yesterday.

Wigwe to succeed Aig-Imoukhuede in Access Bank’s succession plan

By Femi Adekoya and Helen Oji HE Board of Directors of Access Bank Plc, yesterday, announced its succession plan, positioning its Group Deputy Managing Director, Herbert Wigwe to succeed the current Group Managing Director /Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, when the latter retires at the end of this year.

Specifically, Aig-Imoukhuede will be leaving the group after eleven and a half years of serving the bank.

The bank’s Chairman, Gbenga Oyebode, paid tribute to Aig-Imoukhuede’s unwavering commitment to excellence and sustainable business practices, which have propelled us to a position of

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leadership in Nigeria and the sub-region.

His vision, integrity and enterprise have earned him local and international recognition.”

He added: “Having received the necessary regulatory approvals, I am pleased to announce that Mr. Herbert Wigwe, 46, currently Group Deputy Managing Director has been appointed CEO designate and will succeed Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede at the end of 2013. In line with the bank’s robust succession planning policies, Aigboje and Herbert will spend the next six months to implement a seamless handover.”

Commenting on the succession, Aig-Imoukhuede said “the first chapter of Access Bank’s remarkable transfor-

mation story has been completed and I will retire satisfied and giving God all the glory for the successes recorded during my tenure. I thank the Chairman, Mr. Oyebode, other members of our board and all my colleagues in the Bank for their wonderful support.

“Early in 2012, I disclosed to our Board of Directors my desire to retire at the end of 2013; pursuant to which the Board of Directors unanimously decided that Herbert Wigwe would be the next CEO of Access Bank. He has been an outstanding deputy to me and has a complete understanding of our strategies, culture, technology and competitive environment.

“Importantly, he has strong

relationships with our entire management team and customers. We believe that Herbert’s background and skills make him a perfect fit to lead Access Bank as we enter the next chapter of our transformation”.

Wigwe expressed delight over the succession plan.

“Access Bank has incredibly talented employees and is in a strong position to further its leadership in the industry. I look forward to leading Access Bank in years ahead and helping to make it even stronger than it is today. I would like to thank the board for their strong endorsement and the opportunity to lead this great institution. I look forward to meeting our employees, customers, and

shareholders across our various markets in the weeks and months ahead”, he said.

Wigwe served as an Executive Director responsible for Corporate Banking in Guaranty Trust Bank Plc. In 2002, he resigned to join Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede in transforming Access Bank Plc as Group Deputy Managing Director. Herbert is an alumnus of Harvard Business School, and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). He also holds Masters Degrees in Banking and International Finance from the University College of North Wales and Financial Economics from the University of London respectively.

Forum scores financial inclusion penetration low

By Bukky Olajide and Chijioke Nelson HE nation’s move to ensure cheap, safe and all-inclusive financial services to all through the Financial Inclusion (FI) strategy, may have been assessed as marginal by stakeholders since its launch.

The assessment, was revealed at the ongoing Seminar for Finance Correspondents and Business Editors, with the theme: “Financial Inclusion in Nigeria: Issues, Challenges and Prospects,” in Umuahia, Abia State, even as participants noted that the challenges are surmountable.

Delivering a paper on the topic “Financial Inclusion Initiatives and National Economic Development,” Paul Eluhaiwe, explained that there has been a network of policy makers from developing and emerging economies, who are leading the struggle to promote inclusive finance” According to him, these policy makers have sought to promote consumer protection, mobile financial services, agent banking, micro-savings, data management, among other policies and strategies, in an effort to drive FI. However, there are assessed lower range of financial services, expensive, remote service points for the majority, cumbersome eligibility requirements, which puts the country at 46 per cent level, with the payments system contributing 21.6 per cent; savings, 24 per cent; credit, two per cent; insurance, one per cent; and pensions, five per cent.

Noting that some African countries like Kenya and South Africa are well ahead of Nigeria in various aspects of FI initiative, FI initiative, he said that 2012 survey of Enhancing Financial Inclusion and Access, showed that the exclusion rate had though, declined across the geo-political zones of the country, even though it was still very high.

According to him, the exclusion level in the North East was still high at 59.5 per cent; North West, 63.8 per cent; North Central, 32.4 per cent; South East, 25.6 per cent; South West, 24.8 per cent; and South South, 30.1 per cent, while the national rate declined from 46.3 per cent in 2010 to 39.7 per cent in 2012.

But the Acting Director, Consumer and Financial Protection Department, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs. Dutse Umma Aminu, said that financial literacy and protection through enforcement of consumer rights hold the ace in fast tracking the success of FI in the country.

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CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

16 BUSINESS

Honeywell Flourmills relocates to Ogun State

By Femi Adekoya HE inclement operational environment in Apapa, Lagos business district, currently being accentuated by perennial traffic gridlock, may have informed plans by Honeywell Flourmills Plc to relocate its plants to Sagamu in Ogun state.

Specifically, the company noted that it was planning a bigger factory expansion as it had fully utilized the space allotted to it at the Tin Can Island Port in Apapa, Lagos.

Speaking at the company’s yearly customers’ forum in Lagos, yesterday, the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the company, Babatunde Odunayo, noted that the move became necessary in order to cater for the growing demand of its products as well as innovative enterprise in the years to come.

Odunayo said: “Due to the congestion and space constraint at Tin Can Island Port, we have

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acquired 64 hectares of land around the Sagamu interchange along the Lagos – Ibadan expressway. This vast expanse of land will be used for future expansion including new Pasta, Noodles, and Flour factories for increased production of all our products. The future, indeed, looks very bright for all of us to grow our businesses.

“This expansion is therefore a further testimony of consumers’ confidence and wide acceptance of our products.

We see this positive trend continuing and are very upbeat about the future growth and prospects for this company.

And we know you will support us to achieve this goal.”

He explained that though the company had just merged with another entity, resulting in the emergence of a larger entity, there is a need to expand its operations to cater for growing customer demands.

“Towards the end of last finan-

cial year, following approval of the court and shareholders of the company, a business combination of Honeywell Flour Mills Plc and Honeywell Superfine Foods Ltd was effected. This led to the dissolution without winding up of Honeywell Superfine Foods Ltd and the company has now become the Ikeja Factory of Honeywell Flour Mills Plc. We now have the same Management for the combined business and have fully integrated all our internal processes for greater efficiencies and improved quality of service for you.

“We are pleased to inform you that we have successfully completed our expansion projects with the addition of two new mills which are state-ofthe-art facilities designed, produced and installed by Buhler.

With this expansion, we have increased our production capacity by about 62 per cent to be able to meet your increasing demand for our products.

This will lead to business growth and more profits for you. The expansion project also included the completion of a-first-of-its-kind automated warehouse in Nigeria. These will all allow us to serve you better”, he added.

Speaking on the operating business environment, he explained that the company was able to cope with the harsh business environment despite the increase in duty on flour from 5 per cent to 20 per cent.

The company’s National Sales Manager, Seye Ogunwale said the company was rewarding customers as a result of their resilience and contributions towards the growth of the company.

Some of the customers however commended the company for keeping its commitment towards enhancing the

LCCI hinges business rebound on reforms CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 businesses located in the North central which dropped to zero in Q2 improved dramatically with BCI score of 11 per cent.

Also, North East and North West continue to trail between the negative and neutral confidence trajectories.

Experts from LCCI however noted that the chamber would continue to examine the situation in the region to see how far the ongoing security operation in some Northern states will impact business confidence in its Q4-2013 BCI survey.

“The improvement in the BCI Index suggests that business leaders are likely going to expand their investments in the months to come but we are not able to say by how much. Investors are still wary about the state of the economy in the medium term because the lingering limiting factors are yet to be addressed”, the

Forum scores financial inclusion penetration low CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 Aminu, who was represented by one of the bank’s executive explained that financial literacy became imperative to ensure that consumers are given the knowledge, skills and confidence to understand and evaluate the information on financial products and services.

She said that there must be clear rules of conduct for financial institutions, combined with improved financial literacy for consumers and increased consumer trust in the financial system.

“We have sent out a help desk circular, mandating financial service providers to set structures for complaints’ handling that must be accessible, affordable and fair to consumers. Currently, we are working to design a Complaints Management System to improve efficiency and provide multiple complaints channels to consumer,” she said.

Explaining the rationale for financial literacy and consumer protection, she noted that it is a way to regulate the conduct of financial service providers to support prudential requirements in ensuring financial stability, which is necessary for consumer confidence and trust in the system.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

BUSINESS

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Minister blames low agric productivity on low crop yields From: Terhemba Daka, Abuja HE Minister of Agriculture T and Rural Development, Akinwumi Adesina has attributed the low agricultural productivity in Nigeria to low yields of major crops owing to under utilisation of high quality seedlings and fertilizers by farmers in the country.

Adesina spoke yesterday in Abuja during a public hearing on various Legislative referrals including: need to urgently device a workable system of fertiliser distribution to farmers in Nigeria; need to encourage irrigation farming and food reservation in Nigeria and a bill to establish a national grazing route and commis-

sion and to amend the Nigerian Institute of animal science Act 2007.

According to the Minister, “the average level of use of fertilizers is 10 kilograms per hectare, compared to over 100 kilogram per hectare global average, stressing that level of use of improved seeds has averaged only 8,000 metric tones of seeds, which is below the demand of one million Metric tone needed to transform agriculture.

“With low agricultural productivity and production, Nigeria, which used to be a major player in the global agricultural market has become a net food importing country.”

He said that a situation where

Why Govt is yet to distribute phones to farmers From Joke Falaju, Abuja HE Federal Government has T attributed the delay in the distribution of mobile phones to farmers to logistic problem.

Special Adviser to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dr. Akinwumi Adesina on Media and Strategy, Dr. Olukayode Oyeleye stated this while responding to the outcry by farmers in Imo state to provide them with mobile telephones so as to facilitate the ewallet initiative of the government.

In a telephone interview with The Guardian Oyeleye explained that the logistic problems being encountered by the Growth Enhancement Support Program database was caused by the farmers who registered in groups with only one telephone number.

“One of the problem is that the system does not allow more than farmer to register with a telephone number, so

in the situation that a family of group of farmers register with only one telephone number, only one person’s data will be captured as being registered and that explains why some names are missing on the database,” he said.

He noted that commentators who condemned the move by the ministry to provide mobile telephones to 10 million Nigerian farmers do not understand the concept of the policy.

“The federal government wanted to distribute telephone to farmers, but it generated outcry, most commentators do not understand the concept, they condemned the move without understanding what it means,” he said.

Meanwhile, the National President of AFAN Senator.

Abdullahi Adamu, has urged the government to address complicity encountered by farmer who tried to get inputs through the GESS.

the country spends more than 11 billion dollars on importation of food was unacceptable and a threat to domestic security.

Adesina said it was in a bid to address the development that that government launched the Agricultural Transformation Agenda ( ATA), to radically transform the sector.

He stressed that to achieved

this feat, government has introduced the Growth Enhancement Scheme ( GES) which seeks to improve productivity and enhance income of farmers.

“Under the scheme, seeds and fertilizers will be delivered directly to small holder farmers nationwide in an efficient accountable manner,” he said.

The minister said that the old system of fertilizer distribu-

tion in the country to farmers marred with corruption, have been overhauled to Meet farmers demand, just as he lamented that in spite of the

billions of Naira spent by government on fertiliser over four decades, only 11 per cent of smallholder farmers got subsidized fertilizers.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

18 BUSINESS

TheGuardian SATURDAY, July 6, 2013

Conscience Nurtured by Truth

Much Ado About Capital Punishment?

Does it not make arithmetic sense to terminate a life than endangers many innocent lives? Why must a crooked, twisted fellow who violates the sanctity of life not forfeit his own? But controversy rages over these apparently simple questions…

Does Nutrition Determine Our Fates?

Can what that pregnant woman and her “baby” eat really influence Nigeria’s development? Nutritionists are giving a qualified “yes”.

Kannywood Star...

Hauwa Abubakar

Proudly Fulani, she has worked her way into fame through the movie industry of the North, (Kannywood) —- despite having been married off at 14. She remains decent, humble and looks forward to marrying her soul mate

The Guardian On Saturday...you simply can’t put it down!

Nigeria can earn N200b yearly, says RMRDC From Kanayo Umeh, Abuja IRECTOR General of Raw Material Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Peter Onwualu, has said that fishing business can earn Nigeria about N200,000,000,000 yearly.

Onwualu disclosed this while addressing participants of the entrepreneurship development workshop on fish smoking in Abuja.

The workshop was organised

by RMRDC in collaboration with Kaldan Investments and SMEs Services Ltd., a business development firm.

He decried the situation whereby many unemployed Nigerians especially the youths are not showing interest in fish business despite the efforts being made by the Federal Government through the transformation agenda in the fishing sector.

Citing Vincent Ohonbamu, in Business Report of April 2013, he said Nigeria spends about N50 billion yearly on importation of frozen fish to augment the shortfall in domestic production, put at about 600,000 metric tonnes.

Onwualu stated that the council aims to contribute towards achieving President Goodluck transformation agenda of transforming the fish value chain in Nigeria and ultimately stop the importation of fish.

“It is in line with our mandate of catalysing industrial growth and development in

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Nigeria that RMRDC entered into partnership with Kaldan Investments and SMEs Services Ltd; to develop and deliver high quality entrepreneurship development programmes to prospective entrepreneurs within the Federal Capital Territory and its environs.

“The aim is to impart skills, provide technology transfer, enable access to finance and business capital and improve the overall livelihood of participants. Specially, the training will feature: methods and technology for fish farming and smoking; business training on how to do financial projections; business plans, costing and packaging for loans and investment; financial advisory and one-on-one interaction with banks and financial institutions.

“Fishing is one of the main occupations of the rural populace of the coastal areas of Nigeria. Nowadays, open sea fishing is done concurrently with fish farming, which is becoming a thriving business in Nigeria. People are breeding in artificial ponds, dams

and tanks for commercial purposes.

“From whatever source, fish deteriorates fast, if not processed. It has to be dried or smoked, hence the need to expose people to the various modern methods and equipment for fish smoking for economic sustenance”, he said.

He however told the participants that entrepreneurship spirit is characterised by innovation and risk taking which is an essential part of individuals’ ability to succeed in an ever-changing and competitive global market. One must have the capacity and willingness to develop, organise and manage his/her business along with the attendant risks, in order to make profit.

He further stated that the council is promoting the emergence of raw materials processing clusters in different parts of the country.

Seafood has traditionally been a popular diet in many parts of Nigeria and constitutes a major source of protein.

Rainoil acquires oil vessels to boost fuel supply chain

By Roseline Okere AINOIL Limited, an R indigenous petroleum products marketing company, has inaugurated two

oil vessels - MT Adeline and MT Emmanuel, aimed at boosting petroleum products’ availability and distribution in the country.

MT Adeline is a 20,000-tonnage vessel while the carrying capacity of MT Emmanuel is 15,000-tonnage. Both vessels have world-class facilities and they meet international standards that enable them suitable for quick Ship -To-Ship (STS) loading of petroleum products from one vessel to another.

Inaugurating the two vessels at the Rainoil Jetty and multi-product Tank Farm in Oghara, Delta State, at the weekend, the Executive Secretary, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Reginald Stanley, said the investment was a significant milestone and a big boost to the nation’s economy in the areas of foreign exchange conservation, reduction in the cost of freight of petroleum products, employment opportunities and speedy distribution of products across the country.

“Although Rainoil is a big player in the PMS (Premium Motor Spirit) to the nation, these vessels will provide an excellent logistic to other players in the downstream. ”, he said.

“I therefore urge other marketers to use the services of these vessels, so as to optimise its utilisation, thereby reducing the unit cost of freight. There is also the need to patronise our local fender providers in STS (Ship-To-Ship) operations, so as to build a strong synergy in shipping operations. A situation where foreign fender providers dominate the market should be discouraged”, he said.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

BUSINESS

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CBN worries over import bill on tomatoes From Anthony Otaru, Abuja HE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has T expressed dismay over the N11.7 billion spent yearly by the government for the importation of processed tomato paste, stressing that such a colossal sum of monies could better be used to grow the commodity locally.

The apex bank said that the simple reason for this ugly trend was largely due to the dysfunctional agricultural value chain system in Nigeria, resulting in about 50 per cent of the tomato produced in the country being lost to lack of preservation, poor marketing distribution and access to markets.

The CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi stated this on Tuesday in a welcome address to a one-day Stakeholders Forum on ‘’Partnering to build a competitive tomato industry in Nigeria’’ held in Abuja.

The CBN governor, who was represented by the Deputy-Governor, Economic Policy of the apex bank, Dr. Sarah Alade said, ‘’globally, Nigeria is the 14th largest producer of tomatoes and second only to Egypt in Africa at 1.51 million metric tonnes valued N87.0 billion with a cultivated area of 254,430 hectares. It is worrisome that as at today, Nigeria imports 65,809 tons of processed tomato paste valued at N11.7 billion annually.”

Govt to strengthen group life assurance scheme From Anthony Otaru, Abuja he federal government is T to strengthen the Group Life Assurance Scheme in order to make it more effective and achieve the desired objectives.

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Alhaji Bukar Goni Aji, said this on Tuesday when he declared open a three-day seminar for desk officers of the scheme from all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government holding in Minna, Niger State.

Represented at the occasion by the Permanent Secretary, Service Policies and Strategies Office, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, the Head of Service also said that some lapses observed in the processing and settlement of claims as well as proper documentation, which created some impediments in its effective and efficient implementation at its inception in 2008 had been addressed.

According to him, the seminar was part of efforts made to address other observed lapses and strengthen the scheme.

In a statement, he explained that at inception, the implementation of the scheme was centralised and administered through his office, but since 2010, it had been partially decentralised into an arrangement where the office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation appointed the underwriters and brokers and assigned them to interface directly with the individual MDAs for processing and settlement of claims.

He urged participants to utilise the opportunity of the seminar to acquire the knowledge that would enhance their performance in achieving mandate as desk officers for the scheme in the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies of the federal government.

The Group Life Assurance Scheme is a statutory creation by virtue of Section 9(3) of the Pension Reform Act, 2004 which requires that all employers of not less than five employees must maintain life assurance policy in favour of each employee for a minimum of three times of the employee’s emolument per annum.

The scheme provides that in the event of death of any serving officer, his or her next of kin would be given a relief

equivalent to three times the annual total emoluments of the deceased, in addition to

the normal entitlement of the deceased officer after service.

He said that it was on this premise that the CBN intervene with programme such as the N200 billion Commercial Agricultural Lending —NIRSAL, to support the federal government of Nigeria’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda—ATA. According to the governor, the initiatives were implemented to improve access to finance by the agri-business at single digit interest rate and as part of commitment towards revolutionising the sector.

The N200 billion Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme has disbursed a total sum of N199.25 billion to 270 projects since inception, including 30 state governments’ projects, the SME Restructuring and Refinancing Fund—SMERRF disbursed, N235.00 billion to 535 projects also,’’ he noted.

According to him, in building a competitive tomato industry in Nigeria, developing successful and effective partnership among stakeholders had become very essential element.

He stressed that the forum was therefore organised to focus on strengthening

Nigeria’s tomato industry through partnership.

He charged the forum to forge effective partnerships to address the constraints militating against Nigeria’s full exploitation of the gains of the tomato industry such as poor quality seedlings, low productivity, inadequate infrastructure, lack of effective information and communication flow across the value chain among others.

In her address to the forum, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said that the ministry was ready to work with the CBN and other stakeholders for the transformation of the sector.

Represented by Dr. Ismael Igwe at the occasion, the minister stated that her ministry was already working in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture to ensure that farmers were supported to increase tomato production in Nigeria for local consumption and for exports.

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Ministry, BoI seal pact on fish parks in nine states From Abosede Musari, Abuja INISTRY of Niger Delta Affairs and the Bank of Industry (BoI), have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish industrial fish parks in nine states of the region in order to further close the fish demand deficit in the country.

At the signing ceremony held at the ministry, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe, said the ministry and the bank on equal basis would fund the project.

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Managing Director of BoI, Evelyn Oputu, said the bank is investing in the project to further improve the fortunes of the economy and provide employment opportunities.

Further information from the media office of the ministry indicated that the project, which is already in its 2013 budget, would start with two states among the nine Niger Delta states.

Though the states were yet to be mentioned, the ministry said that the states and com-

munities will also be involved to provide land for the projects and that the eventual cost of the scheme will vary from

state to state, depending on the breed of fish in each park, access to road and proximity to water.

Nigeria currently requires two million tonnes of fish but produces only 200,000 tonnes, thereby having a

deficit of 1.8 million tonnes.

The industrial fish park is targeted at closing this gap and produce enough for export.

Legacy Pension Managers’ assets hit N120.03b From Anthony Otaru, Abuja EGACY Pension Managers, a LAdministrators foremost Pension Fund (PFAs) in Nigeria, has increased its assets base by 32.93 per cent put at N120.03 billion in 2012 financial year ended December 31, compared to N90.3 billion recorded in 2011.

The company also announced an increase of 24.68 per cent in Net Profit before tax from N418.93 million in 2011 to N522.34 million 2012 while profit after tax grew by 24.6 per cent from N278.07 million to N346.47 million. It equally recorded a growth of 15.3 per cent in enrolment figures, which stood at 222,544 as at December 2012.

In view of this performance, the board has proposed a dividend of N69.29 million which translates to 88 kobo per share.

Chairman of the PFA, Mahey R. Rasheed, who made this known during the company’s fifth yearly general meeting in Abuja, noted that the company was able to achieve this impressive performance despite the challenging operating environment due to efficiency initiatives adopted during the year.

“The challenges in the operating environment resulted in the efficiency initiatives typical of our company’s resilience. Cost discipline and tighter risk management regime was further entrenched in our operations.”

According to him, “the pension industry has a large pool of investible assets, estimated at over N3.4 trillion as at December 2012. The growth rate over the last few years has been astronomical. Despite the fact that only six states are fully compliant with the Contributory Pension Scheme, the potential for growth is enormous if other states are to implement the scheme.

“In addition, the Nigerian labour market is dominated

by SMEs and sole proprietorships that are not currently enrolled in the scheme.”

He expressed hope that the pension funds would actively be used to benefit the economy, as is the case of developed economies, rather than having it largely invested in government securities and money market instruments.

The Managing Director, Misbahu Yola, noted that the company’s RSA fund surplus income for the year was N5.434 billion against N1.952 billion in 2011, representing a 178.41 per cent rise 84.83 per cent grossing N623.460 million, up from N337.308 million for 2011. Yearly returns to contributors were 11.49 per cent and 10.11 per cent for RSA Fund and retiree Fund respectively.

“Our unit price of the funds reflects these growths as our RSA as at December 31, 2012 stood at 2.0316 from 1.8222 in 2011. Similarly, the Retiree Fund unit value rose from 1.3734 to 1.5144 as at December 31, 2012”, he noted.

Managing Director, Alpha Mead Facilities, Femi Akintunde (left); General Manager, Corporate Services, Wale Odufale; and Senior Partner, Cluttons, Bill Siegle at the Nigeria facilities management roundtable 2013 in Lagos.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

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Focus Tackling challenge of impunity in grassroots politics

By Wole Oyebade NKNOWN to many Nigerians, crises snowU balling into fisticuffs and outright violence are not limited to states and Federal legislatures.

But because of focus on the two chambers, most of the happenings in the local government legislature across the country are either not reported or considered as issues.

Perhaps, it would become clearer to discerning mind that 14 years into our democratic experience, some chairmen still see their legislative arm as an appendage to the extent of issuing queries to legislators with a firm directive that such queries be answered within 24 hours.

Or how do you explain a situation where a council chairman will arbitrarily suspend a legislator or even the Speaker of the House without the input of the legislators, who are statutorily empowered to carry out such function within the ambit of the law.

Oblivious of some of these anomalies, which have continually assailed grassroots governance, particularly the constant turbulence and its attendant under-development at the grassroots level, Nigerians are wont to blame under-development on low revenue base and the joint-revenue allocation.

This scenario obviously cannot go unnoticed by stakeholders who believe that development should take its root from the local government, which is the closest to the people among the three tiers of government.

In realisation of this all important development challenge facing local government, stakeholders – comprising Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and members of the Lagos State House of Assembly held a round table discussion recently to discuss the way out of this logjam.

The parley, hosted by the Assembly, was to strengthen grassroots governance through monitoring and assessment of Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in Lagos State, with emphasis on the imperative of working synergy between the Lagos Assembly and civil society community in the state.

And true to type, the gathering pondered on the current grassroots politics – whatever it is worth – and the challenges for CSOs. The punch-line was the call on CSOs to begin to monitor performance and activities of their elected officials for actual grassroots governance; after all, ‘the cure for the ills of democracy is more democracy’.

Posers at the parley were: Is there popular participation in the activities of the local governments in Lagos and elsewhere in Nigeria? *How can local government be transformed to local governance? *What is the development output of the current structures in the state and how much resource do they have? *Does the expenditure of local government align with actual projects and how enduring are the projects being implemented? *Do they have value added and are they self-sustaining? *What has being the content of the oversight function of the House in respect of local governments in local level? *Can independent audit of local governance activities by CSOs help to improve governance at the grassroots? *And, what of governance and accountability training?

Opening the parley, the chief host who is also the House Committee Chairman on Information, Strategy, Security and Publicity, Segun Olulade, noted that the subject of discussion was very dear to the House, as an Assembly that is “very passionate about the people at the grassroots level, bearing on the indisputable fact that basic government attention to the critical needs of the people is mostly felt at the grassroots.”

Continuing, he said: “Effectiveness and efficiency of government at this level is very important since the realization of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is most measurable at the grassroots.”

What Olulade did not however mention is that Local government politics in the state, like others, now have a not too flattering reputation for all things ominous and undemocratic. Several reports on abuse of power, still pending in the House, would attest to this.

For instance, the House in April received a petition from Councilors at Oshodi/Isolo LGA alleging “flagrant abuse of power” by the Oshodi/Isolo LGA

A typical rowdy session at a legislative chamber

Ikuforiji Chairman, fueling the crisis ongoing at the council.

The petitioners had called the attention of the House to “violent invasion of the Oshodi/Isolo legislative council by loyalists (touts) of the Chairman, to attack and molest council members.”

The councilors had at a plenary on April 15, 2013 impeached their Speaker for “his inexperience on legislative matters, insensitive to the welfare of the councilors, refusal to approve resolutions of the House” among others.

About two hours following the impeachment and election of new helmsman, hoodlums allegedly visited violence on the legislative building, inflicted injuries on the councils and shut the chamber. Men of the Nigerian Police were invited to save the day.

The House is also not unaware of similar faceoff at Ikorodu LGA, where the LG boss had allegedly issued queries to duly elected councilors, compelling them to answer in 24-hour, otherwise they would face the music.

At one of the recent House plenary, where one of the these petitions was entertained, Speaker of the House, Adeyemi Ikuforiji had irascibly blanketed grassroots politicians in Lagos as “uneducated, as well as ignorant of democratic ideals and limitations set in the law.”

Apparently not unaware of these ‘ills of democracy’ amplified nationwide, Professor of Political Science, Lagos State University (LASU), Abubakar Momoh said it should shock no one that what obtains at the grassroots are mere local administrations and not actual governance with dividends to the needs and aspirations of the people.

In his keynote address at the parley, Momoh observed that LGA, being the third tier of government in Nigeria, had been inconsistent. They had practiced about 13 different systems including zero-party system in the last 30 years but without a hand on meaningful development and actual governance.

Most worrisome, according to him, is that the current system is most destructive, running contrary to the principle of democracy. He noted that a system where every state government that comes into power immediately overruns existing local structure and government “is not only reckless, but also destructive.”

Harrowing on Momoh’s mind were instances in Imo State, where a parallel local government simultaneously runs with elected ones and a scenario where certain percentage of LGAs allocations goes to traditional rulers in some northern states.

He reasoned thus: “Our politicians believe in zero-sum game, against the democratic ideals of collective participation, representation and inclusion in governance. This is why we have no structure in place for grassroots politics but mere anarchy in the air.

“The constitution is so ambiguous that no local government chairmen knows his tenure anymore, because their lives and activities are as dictated by their governors. The LGAs also internalizes this despotism and foist it on their community. What we have in the last 10 years is de-democracy or authoritarian democracy as perpetrated from the Federal government downward,” he said.

The professor added that the political parties should share in the blame, because none of them till date has a clearly written declaration of principles, policies, and objectives to guide their flag bearers both at the state and local levels.

“Even the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) that controls the Southwest, excluding Ondo State, has different programmes running in their states. It is a show of indiscipline along party line and lack of party manifesto. That is why we have ACN states operating different programmes simultaneously.

This would not have been possible in the old United Party of Nigeria (UPN).”

Speaker of the House and member of the ACN, Ikuforiji would deny that the party lacks manifesto, adding that programme disparities in ACN states is due to demands peculiar to each state.

Stressing the role of CSOs amid current challenges, however, Momoh warned that not all over 100 civil groups would be relevant to the task. He noted that some of them are actually fake, but only those that are on ground and known in the community would be useful.

He also advised the House to have a template of cooperation with the CSOs, promote the all-inclusive policy, with agreement to work on specific issues in the communities, on political trust basis.

Right activist, Dr Sylvester Odion Akhaine earlier submitted that the local government – the arm of government closest to the people – has been bastardised. The politics of local government creation underpinned by allocation mathematics is the heart of the problem.

“Besides, under the current dispensation the

Momoh chief executives of the various states of the federation have asphyxiated the local government structures by usurping their financial autonomy in the name of state-local government joint account.

“To worsen matter, virtually all the occupants of the leadership positions of local government are imposed by party stalwarts. So, what you have is local administration and not local governance, which entails inclusivity and actual participation of the local people in the decisionmaking process in the affairs of the local council.

“The idea of participation has to do with people at the grassroots taking part in the determination, execution, supervision and audit of projects as well as partaking in the payback of benefits,” Akhaine said.

Ikuforiji in his remarks agreed with earlier speakers on the need for concerted efforts of all stakeholders to promote actual governance at the grassroots.

While he argued for state-control LGAs, as against autonomy advocated in some quarters, Ikuforiji stressed the need for political education and routine training for elected officials at the grassroots to mitigate one-too-many cases of power tussle between the executive and legislative arms of government at the grassroots.

Such education, according to the lawmaker, is to abreast the political office holders of their statutory functions in a democracy, an ignorance of which the he blamed for crises in the LGAs/LCDAs. In their contributions, representatives of some CSOs argued in support of Local government autonomy, and actually reduction of the influence of the state government.

In similar vein, Abdulsalam Bashiru, representing Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) called for regular Town hall meetings at the grassroots, where the electorate would constantly meet with their representatives for dialogue, like the state government is regularly doing.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

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Appointments Govt convenes stakeholders’ parley on casualisation in oil sector From Collins Olayinka, Abuja N a bid to ward off industriIgovernment al action in the oil sector, has enacted guidelines that will dictate what constitute ‘core jobs’ in the sector.

The National President of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Igwe Achese who revealed this in Abuja on Tuesday, at the joint council meeting of both NUPENG and PENGASSAN (NUPENGASSAN), added that government had also agreed to call stakeholders’ meeting where the implementation strategies would be agreed upon.

This comes as the earlier declaration of a seven-day ultimatum by PENGASSAN had been suspended ostensibly to give room for the new development.

Achese said: “We are happy that a set of guidelines that would checkmate casualisation in the oil and gas sector has been developed and gazette yesterday by the federal government. A stakeholders’ meeting has been scheduled for tomorrow during where we are going to discuss how it will work. The strike action currently embarked upon by NUPENG is still on going, but we are

going for a meeting later this evening and will later convene our own meeting where the situation would be appraised and decision taken. I am aware that the sevenday ultimatum given by PENGASSAN has been suspended.”

Achese, who is the chairman

• PENGASSAN suspends seven-day ultimatum of NUPENGASSAN, said that the oil workers’ unions were desirous of early passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) pending before the National Assembly and, therefore, called on the law-

makers to expedite action on the bill.

The wave of International Oil Companies (IOCs) divesting from Nigeria only to invest in the neighbouring countries’ poses a worry to

President/Chairman of Council, Nigeria Institute of Management (NIM) (Chartered), Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole (left), Representative of the Speaker of House of Representatives, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele, professor of International Law and Jurisprudence, University of Lagos, Prof. Akin Oyebode at the 2013 Distinguished Management lecture, tagged: “The role of the legislature on economic, infrastructural and ethical revolution in Nigeria” held in Lagos on Tuesday.

PHOTO: SUNDAY AKINLOLU

Nebo allays fears over PHCN workers’ sack From Anthony Otaru, Abuja OWER Minister Prof.

Chinedu Nebo has again assured that the federal government would not lay off workers of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), instead he said that they would be severed from public service employment to enable them migrate to the private sector.

Nebo also said that all outstanding benefits to the workers would be paid to them by the end of July 2013.

Speaking in Abuja at the 2nd annual national workshop of the Chartered Institute of Brokers (CIS) themed: “Transformation Agenda: The Real Issues in the Power, Housing and Energy Sector of the Economy”, the minister stated that the current PHCN workers would be

P

retrained to become part of the new energy market or be engaged in other critical sectors of the economy.

He noted that all bottlenecks to the current privatisation exercise were resolved.

In his words, “We have great correspondence with union leaders and have agreed on all the fundamentals of the labour issues, verification of over 44,000 workers and will soon commence payment of their severance benefits.”

He assured investors in the sector of the safety of their investments as well as increased rate of return on investment, adding that a plethora of investments were required to achieve the 40,000 megawatts target as mentioned in the Vision 2020.

The power minister said that

the ministry was already in a process of self-reform to equip itself with the right competitiveness and capabilities to handle policy issues as well as ensuring a conducive environment for investments in the sector.

Also, speaking at the occasion, Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Benjamin Dikki in a remark, assured Nigerians of “drastic improvement” in power supply by September adding that power was expected to be stable by the first and second quarter of next year.

Dikki’s optimism was hinged upon the final takeover of the PHCN successor firms by private investors in the nearly completed privatisation programme of the power sector.

He charged stockbrokers to

take advantage of the huge investments needed in the acquisition of prepaid meters.

Meanwhile, the acting Director General, National Pension Commission (Pencom), Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu bemoaned lack of investable instruments in accessing funds from the untapped pension assets.

Anohu-Amazu also remarked that prior to the current reform programme, there had been “a lot of monsters” in the power sector-a situation, which had hindered the flow of pension assets to that sector.

She said that pension assets were available for long-term investment but the safety of the funds needs to be guaranteed.

Firm seeks govt’s patronage, harps on job creation From Abosede Musari, Abuja PORT-HARCOURT based A company which specialises in the production of injection syringe and other medical consumables, Integrated Medical Industries Limited, has urged the federal government to fulfill its promise of regular bulk purchase of all its products in order to support its profitability, expansion and the creation

the sector. It equally expressed sadness about government’s inaction over the trend saying, “we are worried that government has not responded very well to this ugly development.

Divestment from Nigeria will lower investment and threaten existing jobs while

of jobs.

A statement from the company’s consultant, Izuchukwu Iheanacho, made available to The Guardian in Abuja, read that already, the company had started making some expansion efforts that if sustained could guarantee the provision of hundreds of jobs for Nigerians.

According to the statement, the company recently had a

test-run of its new N275 million power source in Austria and this “will make the company one of the world’s leading manufacturers of syringes. With the level it has attained, the company will be able to provide several hundreds of jobs as well as serve as a veritable platform for the transfer of significant technology”, the statement read.

The company which is jointly owned by Rivers State and the federal government currently produces about 160 million syringes a year and it is hoped that when the expansion programme gets completed in 2014, production will shoot up to 1.3 billion syringes, one billion hypodermic needles, 105 million IV-giving-sets and 90 million IV solution per annum.

putting on hold the prospect of new jobs. Government has the responsibility to create jobs.

While defending the strike

by NUPENG, Achese argued that the action was necessitated by the need to draw the attention of government to the suffering of Nigerian workers in the oil sector.

He added: “Nigerians must not see the on-going strike action as a punishment but rather should see it as a step aimed at drawing the attention of government to the situation of workers in the sector are subjected to by foreign oil companies.”

Meanwhile, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Andrew Yakubu has lauded the leadership of NUPENG and PENGASSAN for the way they have handled the discussions so far held.

He told The Guardian on Tuesday that all the stakeholders were striving to ensure the disagreement was resolved as quickly as possible.

He explained that the corporation had enough stock over 32 days sufficiency of PMS and other petroleum products and there was no need for panic buying of petroleum by commuters.

‘Focused leadership key to poverty reduction’ From Leo Sobechi, Abakaliki of federal governLMr.EADER ment delegation to China, James Aroh Nweke, has said that good and focused leadership were critical to the reduction of poverty in Nigeria stressing that the fact that China with its vast population could feed its citizens, Nigeria could achieve that feat.

Nweke, who is also the Ebonyi State Commissioner for Economic Empowerment and Poverty Reduction, disclosed that delegates from 19 states of the country were in the People’s Republic of China to attend an international seminar on “Rural Development Strategies and Poverty Reduction”.

Besides, Nweke explained that other delegates selected him to lead the delegation pointing out that as a cabinet member in Ebonyi State Government, proceedings from the seminar were like an eye-opener on what government could do to banish rural and urban poverty.

“What we learnt from the seminar is all encompassing, in China what they do is that all the departments are operating in each city are engaged in poverty reduction in the sense that if they see people engaged in any form of production or are under privileged they evacuate them, build houses and open up a

cooperative society for them.

These people would be working there till year end,” he noted.

While hinting that he had submitted the report of the tour to the Minister of National Planning, Nweke added that the seminar, which lasted for 15 days showed clearly that Nigeria had all it takes to clothe, feed and shelter its citizens if only the country’s leaders were focused and stick to the rule of law so as to carry everybody along.

His words: “It is possible for Nigeria to feed its indigenous population if we have the correct leadership because China has a purposeful leadership that abide by the rule of law.

With good leadership, we will be able to achieve that, but if we don’t have good leadership that will be able to carry every person along and that is able to do those things that China is currently doing, we deprive ourselves of so many things.

“They got independence in 1949 but today seeing how far they have gone is impressive.

For instance in Nighy, where we held the seminar is administered by a governor and the hotel there is better than NICON with so many high rise buildings more than what you can see in Abuja. That is basically because of planning, seriousness of the government and good focused leadership.”

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

28 APPOINTMENTS

Amnesty office lists achievements, tasks firms on employment opportunities From Abosede Musari, Abuja S the Presidential A Amnesty Programme draws to the closing date of 2015, the amnesty office recently used the ceremony of its three years anniversary to showcase its achievements especially in the area of human capital development of former militants.

Present at the event in Abuja were 22 graduates and certified commercial pilots trained at the Afrika Union Aviation Academy in Mafikeng, South Africa.

While a few have been employed already, there is plan for them to go and train for their Type Rating in Lufthansa, Germany.

Also showcased at the third anniversary celebration were 25 holders of Master Degree in various programmes from the United Kingdom, five graduates of programme in

drilling who have already been employed and 15 others who have been employed in the private sector.

Chairman of the amnesty programme, Kingsley Kuku, while showcasing various achievements, called for the diversification of Nigeria’s economy to give employment and better living standard to the country’s large and predominantly young population.

According to him, the amnesty programme will end in 2015, adding that it has engendered peace in the Niger Delta.

He said: “State and local governments in the Niger Delta, oil and gas multinationals and other stakeholders cannot continue with business as usual while we make strenuous attempts to reintegrate former agitators.

“The historical grievances that gave rise to the militan-

cy and insurgency must be addressed. These stakeholders must all play a part in finding empowerment and employment opportunities for thousands of youths in the Niger Delta who have been offered skills or are currently being offered skills by the amnesty office,” he said.

It would be recalled that the amnesty office is currently training 14,029 former agitators out of the 30,000 that have laid down arms and have been enrolled by the office. 1,077 are undergoing educational programmes locally, 6,875 are going through vocational studies also locally.

About 688 are in formal education offshore, while 4,425 are going through vocations offshore. The remaining 964 are being trained in the oil and gas sector. These are under the first and second phases of the programme.

Also, 661 were repatriated or reprimanded for poor conduct during their programmes. Trainees of the amnesty programme have been taken into programmes in several foreign countries across Africa, Asia, America and Europe.

Speaking on the exit plan for the amnesty programme, which he said must end in 2015, Kuku explained that his office would complete the training of all enrolled delegates while those pursuing long term programmes meant to outlive the 2015 exit date would be handed over to existing ministries, departments and agencies who were statutorily empowered by extant laws to oversee scholarships and training programmes for the federal government.

“Kindly note that we have been consulting very widely with stakeholders in the

Firms partner on succession planning

By Helen Oji S part of its commitment to A ensure sustainability of businesses and indigenous companies that operate within the economy, Michael Stevens Consulting, a multidisciplinary management and financial consulting firm in collaboration with Pgl Image Consulting has concluded arrangement to hold a seminar for financial institutions and corporate firms on succession planning.

The seminar, which is slated for July 9, 2013 at the

Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos, according to the Managing Partner, Michaels Steven Consulting Francis Kudayah, would expose participants to a deliberate and systematic strategy that corporate firms and financial institutions should engage to ensure leadership continuity in key positions, retain and develop intellectual and knowledge capital for the future to enhance business advancement, ‘even as we begin to experience the emergence of African economies.’

He said, “according to several

published studies, most family businesses do not make it past the second or third generation. It is also documented that approximately 60 to 70 per cent of senior executives brought in from outside fill a C-suite level position tend to leave or asked to leave office after five years”.

Kudayah explained that the sessions would be handled by world’s renowned succession planning expert, Dr. Randal Cheloha, who according to him has acquired almost 30 years of experience working

on issues concerning business growth and success.

“Over the years he has developed expertise in succession planning and has worked with all sizes of companies, across multiple industries, and at all organisational levels with his current practice focused on the C-Suite. He has assessed +3000 senior executives and coached over 120 senior executives. He has consulted on +25 CEO successions with companies with annual revenue of $ several million to over $25 billion.”

Niger Delta and they prefer that we exit the DDR component of the amnesty programme in 2015 as planned so that the budgetary provision for training and monthly stipends of N65, 000 to 30,000 to ex-agitators can be channelled to the provision of critical infrastructure in the zone,” he said.

Giving an overview of militancy in the Niger Delta, Head of Reintegration Unit at

the amnesty office, Lawrence Pepple, said at the height of the insurgency in May 2009, that Nigeria was losing one million barrels of oil per day amounting to N8.7 billion.

“Ten people were kidnapped per month; 128 persons were kidnapped between January 2008 and January 2009. More than 1,000 people died in 2008 and Julius Berger and others abandoned the region,” he

ICEC to promote entrepreneurship development ECOGNISING the strategic R role of entrepreneurship mentoring in economic growth, the Institute of Chartered Entrepreneurs’ Consultants (ICEC) has entered Nigeria to fast-rack this roles for economic advancement.

According to ICEC DirectorGeneral, Dr. Anyanwu C. Francis, the economic condition in Nigeria has clearly shown that paid employment is no more available to absorb the teeming graduates who continue to roam about the street in search of non- existed Jobs.

This, Anyanwu said, has resulted in high rate of unemployment, youth restiveness among others, saying that in the absence of any legitimate means of livelihood, most of them readily take to social vices such as armed robbery, cyber crime, prostitution and so on to keep soul and spirit together.

Though, he said government

is currently channelling resources to the development of small and medium scale enterprises, “ICEC, according to him, would support government’s efforts in accelerating this.

“This Institute will take to the grassroots this policies, supporting structures and action programme related to the growth of this important sector and help business owners to become more effective in managing their businesses.”

According to him, the ICEC, Nigeria, which is a registered independent professional body, has come to the rescue with the focus on promoting entrepreneurship education in Nigeria.

He said ICEC, which will help students, unemployed graduates, youths and retirees acquire the necessary skills and experience to be self employed, would also help diversify business ownership and provide leeway for self-employment in their respective discipline.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

APPOINTMENTS 29

ILO, FAO urge protection for children working in aquaculture From Collins Olayinka, Abuja CALL has come from both A the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) to governments to take measures to protect children from harmful work in small-scale fisheries and aquaculture sectors.

According to a guidance document, published jointly by the two UN agencies, almost every country has signed international conventions to protect children, but many

have not translated these agreements into national legislation.

The document notes that as a result, many children working in small-scale fisheries and aquaculture remain exposed to harsh and hazardous working conditions.

They may have to dive to unsafe depths – often at night, work long hours in unsanitary processing plants where they are at risk of contracting infections, or handle toxic chemicals and dangerous

equipment or gear. Girls working in fish processing depots are also at risk of sexual abuse.

The FAO Assistant DirectorGeneral for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Árni M. Mathiesen said: “Work of this kind is intolerable affects children’s health and learning abilities, and often prevents them from attending school.”

To Constance Thomas, the Director of the ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child

CIMA elects Furber new president ALCOLM Furber has M been elected president of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) at its Annual General Meeting on Saturday, 15 June, in London, United Kingdom.

Keith Luck was elected deputy president and Myriam Madden appointed vice president.

According to a statement, Furber has been based in South Africa since 1980

where he held various senior positions in finance, information technology and corporate planning at Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI).

He now runs his own consulting business and has played a major role in business improvement assignments in both the private and public sector in South Africa, including a two year business intelligence project at the South African Revenue

Akande

Herbert Walker School of Business and Technology, Dr. Benjamin Ola. Akande, has been appointed as vice chairman of Argent Capital Management LLC United States of America.

He holds a PhD in

dren work in agriculture, livestock and fisheries – accounting for 60 per cent of child labour worldwide.

However, there are no aggregate data showing how many children work in fisheries and aquaculture, but case study evidence suggests child labour is a problem especially in informal small and medium-sized fishing and aquaculture enterprises and in family operations.

For her part, Director of the Gender, Equity and Rural

Employment Division of the FAO, Rob Vos, explained: “Children are more at risk than adults from safety and health hazards because their bodies are not yet fully developed. There are many tasks in fisheries and aquaculture that children should not do. We should focus our efforts to prevent child labour.

Programmes to reduce poverty and improve fishing technologies and practices will take away the need for child labour.”

VDT Communications elevates workers ITING dedication to duty, new elevation as an assistant Master’s in Information C the management of VDT general manager. He is an Technology from Ladoke University of Communications Limited has associate member of both the Akintola

Furber

Services. He is the first African-based president in CIMA history.

Argent Capital Management appoints Akande vice chairman PROFESSOR of A Economics/Dean of Webster University’s George

Labour (IPEC), called for a global agreement that would ensure the rights of working children are protected.

“All work that harms children’s physical, mental, psychological, social and educational development is unacceptable and violates international conventions. We need to ensure that agreements designed to protect children from child labour are implemented,” she stressed.

The FAO and ILO estimate that around 130 million chil-

Economics from the University of Oklahoma and post- doctoral studies at Harvard John F Kennedy School of Government and Said Business School at Oxford University. He consults for Fortune 500 companies in the areas of Market positioning, Corporate Responsibility and Strategy.

promoted some workers across board.

According to a statement, the beneficiaries are Adewale Akinade, Omolola Abolarinwa, Timilehin Olatunde and a host of others.

Akinade, who has Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile – Ife, began his career with the firm in 2009 as management accountant, later held the position of finance manager before his

Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) as well as an alumnus of the PanAtlantic University where he obtained SMP certificate.

Mrs. Abolarinwa, the new assistant general manager (Service Management), who bagged a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering, from the University of Ilorin and a

Technology, Ogbomosho, is a COREN-registered engineer and a certified lead auditor for the ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management System.

Olatunde, on his part, joined the VDT family in 2006 as a field engineer and rose to the post of head of the Service Deployment Unit before his new promotion as manager.

He holds Bachelor’s of Engineering degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s in Information Technology.

Akinade

Abolarinwa

Olatunde

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THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

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THe GUARDIAn, Thursday, July 4, 2013

32

ScienceGuardian Quest for biofuels suffers setback

SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGHS

Designing cleaner future: Bicyclean helps recycle e-waste in developing nations slum on the outskirts of Accra, Ghana, received major A media attention in 2010 and 2011 when the outside world realized where computers go to die. In an area called

He european Union (eU) T has spent the past 10 years nurturing a €15-billion ($20-billion) industry that makes transport fuel from food crops such as soya beans and sugar cane in the hope of cutting greenhouse-gas emissions. yet for more than half a decade, scientists have warned that many food-based fuels might actually be boosting emissions relative to fossil fuels.

According to a report published in Nature, now the eU could change course by setting a cap on the use of foodbased biofuel, but pressure from industry, farming and energy lobbies threatens to limit the reversal. Tensions are rising over how much of the emerging science on biofuel emissions will be included in eU policy ahead of a vote on 10 July by the key european Parliament committee dealing with the legislation. europe began mandating the development and use of biofuels in 2003. The two latest laws on the subject, passed in 2009, require a six per cent drop in the carbon footprint of transport fuel by 2020, by which time renewable energy must fuel 10 per cent of the transport sector. Biofuel counts towards that requirement if it produces a 35 per cent emissions saving over fossil fuels, or 50 per cent from 2017 onwards; so far, most of that fuel has come from food crops, helping to generate a thriving biofuels industry based mainly on biodiesel. europe is even importing rapeseed and vegetable oil to meet demand.

But the original accounting

for biofuel emissions was allwrong, as Tim Searchinger, who studies environmental economics at Princeton University in new Jersey, noted in an influential 2008 article (T. Searchinger et al.

Science 319, 1238–1240; 2008).

He and his colleagues found that when agricultural land is

used to plant biofuel crops, fresh land may be ploughed up to accommodate the existing crops that have been edged out. Ultimately, that may drive clearing of forests, peatlands and wetlands rich in sequestered carbon - causing large emissions of carbon dioxide. “It’s kind of obvious if

you think about it,” says Searchinger.

Calculating this ‘indirect land-use change’ (ILUC) effect is complicated, because it is based on economic models projecting behaviour 10 or 20 years into the future. The CONTINUED ON PAGE 34

First bionic eye retinal chip for blind hits market nIveRSITy Hospitals (UH) U eye Institute will be one of the first medical centres in the United States to offer the Argus® II Retinal Prosthesis System (“Argus II”).

The Argus II is the first and only “bionic eye” to be approved in countries throughout the world, including the U.S. It is used to treat patients with late stage retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

Second Sight Medical Products, Inc., located near Los Angeles, developed Argus II.

In preparation for the launch of Argus II later this year, implanting centers, including UH, will soon begin to accept consultations for patients with RP. UH is one of a select number of medical centers in 12 major markets in the nation, and the only one in Cleveland and the state of Ohio, chosen by Second Sight to offer the Argus II, which received United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval earlier this year.

Argus II works by converting

video images captured by a miniature camera, housed in the patient’s glasses, into a series of small electrical pulses that are transmitted wirelessly to an array of electrodes on the surface of the retina. These pulses are intended to stimulate the retina’s remaining cells resulting in the corresponding perception of patterns of light in the brain. Patients then learn to interpret these visual patterns thereby regaining some visual function.

Un forum spotlights role of science, technology, innovation for development in science IfornnOvATIOnS and technology will be vital tackling today’s global challenges, from reducing poverty to ensuring sustainable development, top United nations officials stressed, as they kicked off the annual substantive session of the economic and Social Council (eCOSOC).

President of eCOSOC,

Ambassador néstor Osorio of Colombia, in an address to the opening in Geneva of the high-level segment of the 2013 session of the central Un forum for discussing global economic and social issues said: “Science, technology, innovation and culture can significantly impact each of the three dimensions of sustainable development – eco-

nomic, social and environmental.

“They present huge opportunities. But effectively channelling them for sustainable development also poses significant challenges.”

While eCOSOC’s substantive session runs from 1to 26 July, Government ministers, private sector leaders and heads CONTINUED ON PAGE 34

Agbogbloshie, impoverished residents were burning broken electronic parts, discarded and dumped by wealthier nations, to extract the metal components. Crouched around bonfires, they inhaled toxic smoke and unwittingly leached heavy metals into a nearby river, just to eke out a living.

Harvard undergraduate Rachel Field '12, an engineering sciences concentrator, read the news reports and devoted her senior thesis project to addressing the problem.

"It had gotten so much attention before, but it was amazing to me that almost nobody was trying to actually help out or figure out a solution," she recalls.

The result of her efforts is Bicyclean, a pedal-powered grindstone that pulverizes entire circuit boards inside a polycarbonate enclosure, capturing the dust. Though Field is now a year out of college, her project recently won the silver award at the Acer Foundation's Incredible Green Contest in Taiwan and was displayed for three days at COMPUTeX Taipei, one of the world's largest computer industry expositions.

The $35,000 prize will enable her to return to Ghana to test a second-generation prototype and to seek non-profit status for the endeavor, a significant milestone in a project she was afraid might fall by the wayside after graduation.

Captivated by the problem in her senior year, Field dove headfirst into her research. Supported by a grant from the Harvard Committee on African Studies, she traveled to Agbogbloshie in January 2012.

"It really does look surreal," she says. "An otherworldly place. When I first got there, it was just completely shocking and unbelievable that people would expose themselves to this hazard. But, obviously, most of the people who work there are living in these slums that are right next to it."

So she spent her month-long winter break meeting the community and observing their work.

"I knew it was very important to the project that I see what was going on first hand, and that I really talk to people," she explains. "There was a phase where I had this vision of building something like those emergency trailers that go out after big storms, but with a little chemical lab in it. Of course, once I went there, I realized that would make no sense.

"What's interesting, though, is that a lot of guys there know how to weld. There are a lot of very talented craftsmen, because they're already using these types of skills to very expertly dismantle the electronics."

A device that Ghanaians could actually assemble themselves might work well, she realized.

All undergraduates pursuing the bachelor of science degree through the School of engineering and Applied Sciences (SeAS) are required to complete a senior design project, known as eS 100, with the guidance of an experienced adviser. Design preceptor Joe Zinter and specialist Jordan Stephens helped Field to create a rational list of goals and constraints. "I thought, well, what do I not want them to do? I don't want people to be directly exposed to toxins, and if that's one of the parameters then I don't want people to have to use heat. I want this to be something that people can afford and build from materials that are already available to them."

Bicycle parts are ubiquitous and universal, portable, relatively inexpensive, and -- of course -- human powered.

Field had to learn how to weld, too, with help from Stan Cotreau, manager of the Physics/SeAS Instructional Instrument Lab. To quickly build the first prototype, she also used a laser cutter to fabricate the polycarbonate box, and strips of fiberglass to seal it properly. And she drew on the expertise of her advisers at SeAS to create a mechanically sound design and to model it in SolidWorks.

"Jordan [Stephens] was great for the second half of the project, in terms of making the first prototype," she explains.

"He basically told me, 'If you want to attach a grinding wheel to a bicycle and not have it fly off into someone's face, this is what you need to do.'"

At the competition this June, she was up against a wide range of other "green" projects -- 2,100 of them, in all. The high-profile judges evaluated the entries on the basis of their "earth friendliness, reality friendliness, and innovation friendliness." Teams from around the world had interpreted those parameters to produce an impressive array of solutions to sustainability challenges. The Taiwanese team that won first prize offered a new way to cool a computer without using fans and using minimal electricity; other projects tackled oil spills, reduced waste in food supply chains, and improved public transportation for suburban areas.

"If you listen to Rachel talk about her project, it always starts with, 'I traveled, I saw, I was affected, I was inspired,'" says Anas Chalah, director of the Instructional Laboratories and the Safety Program at SeAS, who has watched the project evolve over the course of two years. "It's not a trivial idea; it's a universal problem.

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THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

NaturalHealth Eating chicken protects children against bowel cancer, study finds RE teenagers who regularA ly eat chicken are less likely to develop bowel cancer when they get older?

Scientists in the study results published online in the American Journal of Epidemiology found poultry reduced adolescents’ risk of a bowel tumour by around 20 per cent and cancer of the rectum by up to 50 per cent.

The research, by experts at Harvard University School of Public Health in Boston, United States (U.S.) shows chicken appears to reduce the development of adenomas, harmful growths, which are a precursor to cancer.

The study is the first to show that bowel cancer risk later in life can be influenced by the type of meat eaten as a teenager.

More than 40,000 people a year in the United Kingdom (UK) are diagnosed with Ginger

Garlic

‘How ginger, onions, garlic, others prevent renal damage’ Kidney failure is on the prowl in Nigeria. More Nigerians are going down with the disease, which has been blamed mostly on complications from diabetes and hypertension. But researchers have found that eating meals rich in ginger (Zingiber officinale), onion (Allium cepa) and garlic (Allium sativum) could be the novel preventive and therapeutic diet or drug against the menace.

CHUKWUMA MUANYA writes.

AN regular eating of C meals prepared with ginger, garlic, onions, lime, grapefruit and vitamin E-rich ingredients protect the kidney against damage from diabetes, hypertension, alcohol, cancer drugs and poisons?

A recent study published in Journal of Renal Nutrition concluded: “This study concludes that alcohol-induced nephro-toxicity was attenuated by ginger extract treatment, thus ginger can used as a regular nutrient to protect the renal cells.”

The study titled, “Ginger feeding protects against renal oxidative damage caused by alcohol consumption in rats,” was carried out by researchers from the Division of Molecular Biology, Department of Zoology, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India.

The study investigated the nephro-protective effect of ginger against chronic alcohol-induced oxidative stress and tissue damage.

The researchers wrote: “This is a prospective animal study in which renal antioxidant enzymes were demolished by alcohol consumption and

bowel cancer. The disease has a high mortality rate – around 16,000 a year – because many victims ignore early warning signs and only seek medical help once the cancer has advanced.

Diets high in fat and red meat, as well as lack of exercise, are thought to be among the main risk factors.

Researchers wanted to see if meat consumption relatively early in life had any impact on cancer risk decades later.

This is because the development of bowel cancer is a slow process that can take several decades.

They tracked nearly 20,000 women who took part in a long-running research project called the Nurses’ Health Study 2, which began back in the late nineties. At the start of the study, all the women had given details of dietary habits during childhood and adolescence.

restored with ginger feeding.

We fed rats with ginger for 30 days to evaluate the nephroprotective effect against alcohol toxicity.

“Twenty-four Wistar strain rats were divided into four equal groups: normal control (Nc), ginger treated (Gt), alcohol treated (At), and alcohol plus ginger treated (At + Gt). Ginger was given to the At group for 30 days and renal antioxidant enzymes were assayed.

“Renal antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione reductase activities, and the levels of glutathione were significantly decreased, whereas malondialdehyde levels were elevated in At group. However, ginger extract supplementation to the At rats reversed these effects and attained the antioxidant status to normal levels. Furthermore, degenerative changes in renal cells with alcohol treatment were minimised to nearness in architecture by ginger supplementation.”

Results of another study published in World Journal of Life Science and Medical Research revealed that Allium

cepa has renal protective effects in diabetic rabbits.

The researchers wrote: “This study conclude that Allium cepa (a very cheap and readily available species of the genus Allium) contains some bioactive substances mostly antioxidants which could prevent renal organ damage from hyperglycemia in diabetes mellitus. Allium cepa contains some bioactive substances (mostly antioxidants), which could prevent renal organ damage from hyperglycemia in diabetes mellitus.

“Further studies would, however, be required to have a comprehensive understanding of the molecular mechanism of the noted effects, and, perhaps, to answer the question as to whether or not some components of Allium cepa may affect (in this case, enhance) cell receptors for insulin.”

Another study published in Science Alert concluded: “This study shows that cadmium induces nephrotoxicity by impairing renal functions and stimulating lipid peroxidation. Pre-treatment and post-treatment of onion extract in cadmium-treated rats produced mild protective potentials. However, cotreatment with onion extract during cadmium administration showed significant antioxidative potentials in preventing cadmiuminduced nephrotoxicity.”

Cadmium is a common nephrotoxic agent in food and tobacco. Other major sources of cadmium include cereals, vegetables and shellfish. Cadmium mainly accumulates in the kidneys and

liver. Cadmium accumulates in the renal cortex and induces tubular toxicity.

Allium cepa, popularly known as onion, has been reported to have protective properties such as reduction of the risk of rectal carcinoma, antiplatelet activity and antioxidant properties.

Meanwhile, results of an animal study published in Food Chemistry found that ginger could help protect against kidney damage, a condition said to threaten one in three diabetics.

The new study assessed the effects of ginger on the blood antioxidant levels and kidney health of diabetic rat models.

Twenty-four male rats were divided into three groups of eight. The first group (control 1) were healthy rats, the second group (control 2) were diabetic and non-spplemented, and the third group (test) was diabetic and had the diet supplemented with ginger powder as five per cent of the daily food intake.

Yet another study published in Indian Journal of Experimental Biology concluded: “Severe congestion and degenerative changes in tubules in alcohol treated rats were restored by ginger extract treatment. The results confirm the renal protective effect of ginger in alcohol treated rats.”

The researchers said superoxide dismutase, ascorbic acid, glutathione and uric acid levels were decreased and xanthine oxidase, glutathione-s-transferase activities were increased in rats treated with alcohol 2 g/kg Continued on Page 47

Smokers report more stress, depression, worry, anger, sadness DULTS who smoke are A more likely to report feeling stressed, depressed, worried, angry and sad than nonsmokers, a survey indicates.

The Emotional Health Index is a sub-component of the Gallup-Healthways WellBeing Index conducted January 3 to June 18 in the United States. The index includes 10 items, asking respondents whether they experienced the following “during a lot of the day yesterday”: smiling or laughter, learning or doing something interesting, being treated with respect, enjoyment, happiness, worry, sadness, anger and stress – and clinical diagnosis of depression.

Smokers were much more likely than non-smokers to report feeling stressed a lot of the day “yesterday” – 50

per cent versus 37 percent.

Smokers were also more likely than non-smokers to say they experienced worry, anger, and sadness a lot of the day “yesterday.”

It is not clear whether experiencing these negative emotions leads people to start or continue smoking, or whether smoking made smokers more likely to report experiencing these negative emotions, Gallup said.

Twenty-six per cent of smokers reported ever being clinically diagnosed with depression compared with 15 per cent of non-smokers.

Smokers were also less likely than non-smokers to report experiencing positive emotions including enjoyment, happiness, smiling or laughter.

Chemical in antibacterial soaps may harm nursing babies MOTHER’s prolonged use A of antibacterial soaps containing the chemical triclocarban may harm nursing babies, according to a recent study from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, United States.

The study, which was conducted on rats, showed that exposure to the compound may reduce the survival rates of babies.

Rebekah Kennedy, a UT graduate student pursuing a dual master’s degree in public health and nutrition, and Jiangang Chen, an assistant professor in the UT Department of Public Health, presented the results this month at the Endocrine Society’s 95th Annual Meeting and Expo in San Francisco.

Kennedy was the study’s lead author.

Triclocarban, a bactericide, is found primarily in antibacterial bar soaps.

The researchers noted that they were not condemning the use of antibacterial soaps.

“People have to weigh their own risks and decide what would be the best route,” Kennedy said. “There’s always a time and place for antibacterial bar soaps, such as in health care settings where the chance of infection and transmission is high. For the average person, antibacterial soap is no more effective than regular soap.”

Chen conducted an earlier study that examined how prolonged exposure to triclocarban affected growth of sex organs in adult male rats.

Kennedy decided to go a step further and look into how it would affect baby rats in the womb and during nursing.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

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Hope dims for biofuels policy CONTINUED FROM PAGE 32 numbers are different for different crops (see ‘Carbon conundrum’). But overall, when land-use effects are taken into account, most varieties of biodiesel turn out to produce more emissions than bioethanol — and often more than fossil fuels.

The effect wipes out more than two-thirds of the carbon emissions that Europe’s renewable-energy policy was supposed to save by 2020, says David Laborde, a researcher at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Washington DC, which has produced influential reports for the European Commission.

In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency did take the land-use effect into account in 2010, when it set standards for which fuels count as renewable. Luckily for US farmers, ethanol from maize (corn) — the main biofuel for U.S. vehicles — was given the green light under the agency’s rules.

But the European

Commission has ducked the issue in the face of strong resistance from the biofuels industry and Europe’s energy and agricultural sectors.

In October 2012, the commission finally proposed that food-crop fuel quotas be capped at only 5% of transport fuel by 2020 — half of the 10 per cent renewables target — effectively allowing existing facilities to continue recouping investment, but stopping further expansion.

“I think they got it exactly right: the answer is to stop,” says Searchinger. Under the proposal, land-use figures would not be used to select one biofuel over another. But fuel suppliers would have to start including land-use figures produced by the IFPRI when they report the total emissions of their fuels, a hint that the official carbon footprint of Europe’s transport fuel might eventually incorporate that science.

The European Parliament now gets to battle over the commission’s proposals. On 20 June, its energy committee voted to push the cap on food-

crop fuels up slightly, to 6.5 per cent. It also removed the stipulation that fuel suppliers report emissions using landuse change figures. Instead, the committee proposed gradually increasing mandates for use of advanced biofuels not made from food crops.

“The science of ILUC is not robust enough for policy,” argues Clare Wenner, head of renewable transport policy at the UK Renewable Energy Association in London. But Europe’s Joint Research Centre in Brussels says that the models used to calculate the land-use numbers are no less certain than the accepted science on the direct emissions of biofuels - and urges that they be included. The environment committee will vote on its preferred policy on 10 July: its lead negotiator on this issue, Corinne LePage, agrees with the Joint Research Centre and is pushing to incorporate land-use change numbers to distinguish between better and worse food-crop biofuels. But she may not get her way.

UN forum champions science development CONTINUED FROM PAGE 32 of UN agencies, funds and programmes are meeting for the next four days for the high-level segment, which this year is focusing on science, technology and innovation, or STI. Osorio noted: “The steadily increasing pace of technological innovation makes ours an era of a long profound change… So many fields of human endeavour – medicine, energy, agriculture – have made significant, even drastic, improvements in just a few generations.

“Yet, in the field of development, despite our progress, there are still over one billion people living in extreme

poverty. And tonight many, if not most, will go to bed hungry.

“This raises the question: How can the world’s intelligence, creativity and energy – the kind that brought us smart phones, digital imagery and the global positioning system – be fostered and harnessed to address today’s major development challenges?”

The need for innovation is clear, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told participants.

“Every development success has drawn in large measure from absorbing knowledge, technology and ideas and adapting them to local conditions. In other words, by

innovating.”

“Ultimately,” he continued, “a successful development strategy must build extensive innovation capacities that address local challenges and foster growth.”

He added that many solutions for sustainable development are waiting to be scaled up, but this requires the right incentives and ensuring that knowledge and information are shared in a collaborative, open and problem-solving manner.

“Young people deserve special attention and support,” said Mr. Ban. “Their passion, creativity, energy and innovation will help to bring new solutions to old problems.”

Type 2 diabetes patients transplanted with own bone marrow stem cells reduces insulin use STUDY carried out in India A examining the safety and efficacy of self-donated (autologous), transplanted bone marrow stem cells in patients with type 2 diabetes (TD2M), has found that patients receiving the transplants, when compared to a control group of TD2M patients who did not receive transplantation, required less insulin posttransplantation.

The study appears as an early e-publication for the journal Cell Transplantation, and is

now freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.c om/content/cog/ct/preprints/ct0920bhansali.

“There is growing interest in the scientific community for cellular therapies that use bone marrow-derived cells for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus and its complications,” said study corresponding author Anil Bhansali, PhD professor and head of the Endocrinology Department at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical

Education in Chandrigarh, India. “But the potential of stem cell therapy for this disease is yet to be fully explored.”

While there is growing interest in using stem cell transplantation to treat TD2M, few studies have examined the utility of bone marrowderived stem cells. By experimenting with bone marrowderived stem cells, the researchers sought to exploit the rich source of stem cells in bone marrow.

Ritalin shows promise in treating addiction SINGLE dose of a commonA ly prescribed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drug helps improve brain function in cocaine addiction, according to an imaging study conducted by researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Methylphenidate (brand name Ritalin®) modified connectivity in certain brain circuits that underlie self-control and craving among cocaine-addicted individuals.

The research is published in

the current issue of JAMA Psychiatry, a JAMA network publication.

Previous research has shown that oral methylphenidate improved brain function in cocaine users performing specific cognitive tasks such as ignoring emotionally distracting words and resolving a cognitive conflict. Similar to cocaine, methylphenidate increases dopamine (and norepinephrine) activity in the brain, but, administered orally, takes longer to reach peak effect, consistent with a lower

potential for abuse. By extending dopamine’s action, the drug enhances signaling to improve several cognitive functions, including information processing and attention.

“Orally administered methylphenidate increases dopamine in the brain, similar to cocaine, but without the strong addictive properties,” said Rita Goldstein, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai, who led the research while at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in New York.”

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NIMR tackles TB, cervical cancer, HIV with new labs

By Chukwuma Muanya and Joseph Okoghenun ITH new Human Virology W Laboratory (HVL) extension, COBAS 4,800 machine for cancer diagnosis and ultramodern bio-safety level 3 (BSL3) national reference laboratory, the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Yaba, on Monday in Lagos said it is ready to tackle the spread of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) especially among persons with Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and cervical cancer in the country.

The ultra-modern bio-safety level 3 (BSL-3) national reference laboratory was established by NIMR in partnership with the Family Health International (FHI360).

The BSL-3 laboratory has inbuilt capacity for diagnosis of drug resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB), using solid and liquid media technique, mycobacterium specie differentiation, drug susceptibility testing for both first and second line drugs, training and DR-TB research.

TB remains an epidemic around the world, especially Nigeria, which is ranked 10th among 22 high TB burden countries that contributes 80 per cent of the global TB burden.

Furthermore, resistance to anti-TB drugs, which often results from treatment with inadequate drugs, improper case management and poor adherence to treatment regimen, is an emerging threat to TB control in Nigeria and has been documented in nearly 90 countries of the world.

According to the National Drug Resistant survey of 2010, the DR-TB prevalence in Nigeria stands at 2.9 per cent.

Minister of State for Health, Muhammad Ali Pate, on Monday at the official commissioning of the new laboratory diagnostic facilities at NIMR said the federal government is determined towards building robust laboratory systems across the country to help tackle the growing burden of both communicable and non communicable diseases.

Pate said the implication of robust laboratories especially the new facilities commissioned at NIMR is “the improvement in the quality of care and also the ability to

understand and do research.”

Pate explained: “With the help of the United States Government through FHI360, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) there is an equipment here that will help isolate multi-drug resistant TB (MDRTB) bacterium from samples, which will help improve the care of people who are infected with TB but also those infected with both TB and HIV. “We have also seen an equipment that can help identify from samples collected from women whether they are likely to be cancerous particularly cervical cancer. You know cervical cancer is a common cancer among women all over the world and a virus contributes to the development of that cancer. There are different types of viruses but in this particular centre the equipment the equipment that they have now installed will be able to tell them, which types of viruses actually are in those samples and whether those samples are likely to be cancerous so that women can get early treatment.”

The U.S. Consular-General in Nigeria, Mr. Jeffrey Hawkins, who represented the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Terence P. McCulley, in his remarks, said the support for the BSL-3 laboratory was one of the several ways of the U.S. government helping Nigeria to reduce her TB burden.

Hawkins said: “The partnership between U.S. and Nigeria in the area of disease control has been fruitful. In particular, the U.S. and Nigeria recognize that TB is a major burden worldwide. Nigeria ranks 10th in the world and 4th in Africa in terms of country with the highest TB burden.

The most important thing in TB control is having affordable and reliable laboratory.

“Through USAID, we are supporting TB laboratories in at least seven different locations in Nigeria totaling about $7.5 million. In other words, the U.S. government is very interested in partnering with Nigeria in different health programmes, including HIV, TB and malaria. We are partnering with the Nigerian government on health because we are in a global community and economy. Health issues of course impact on Nigerians

Director General, National Orientation Agency,, Mike Omeri (left); Minister of State for Health, Mohammed Ali Pate, Director General, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Innocent Ujah and Country Director, FHI-360, Robert Chiegil, at the symposium on “Humanitarian Disaster Risk Management: A Case Study of Flooding in Nigeria” in Lagos on Monday.

PHOTO: FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI

and the rest of the world, including the United States of America.”

Director General of NIMR, Innocent Ujah, called for the expansion of the research base of the Institute. Ujah said although the Federal Government has increased the budgetary allocation to the Institute by 500 per cent that fiver times from what it got in 2012 budget, it has continued to face many challenges of infrastructural decay, poor investment in health research resulting in poor funding.

Ujah said NIMR desires to expand its operational base from two outstations at Kainji in Niger State and Maiduguri in Borno State has been stiffened by inadequate funding.

He said there is need to refocus the Institute’s research activities in all the geopolitical zones as each has distinct social, cultural and religious background that may make it difficult to extrapolate research findings from one geopolitical zone to another.

“There is therefore the compelling need to establish research offices in the zones where currently none exists,” he said.

Ujah, said the availability of facilities in BSL-3 laboratory would in no small measure move the indices of case detec-

NIPRD partners pharmaceutical industries

By Daniel Anazia ATIONAL Institute for N Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) says it will partner with stakeholders in the Nigerian pharmaceutical industry to improve research output in the industry. This was made known during an interactive business summit with pharmaceutical industries in Lagos.

In his keynote address, Chairman of the event, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, said the summit is premised on the hunger in the heart of stakeholders to move the industry from dependence on imported pharmaceutical products and materials

but focus on research and development within the country on such products and materials.

“The industry needs a kick to wake up to the realities of the industry. Everybody in the industry is copying each other and this is not helping the industry in terms of growth and development.

There is need to properly link research and development as well as production as appropriate foundation for the growth and development of the industry”, he said.

He urged the institute to go higher and show the economic and commercial aspect of research and development as government is

looking at the industry as a viable tool for employment creation in the country.

“Africa and Nigeria as an emerging country should not depend entirely on international intellectual property. We must develop marketing strategies that would sell the industry and indeed Nigeria to the world”, he stated.

He noted that a recent report and analysis by Enhancing Nigerian for a Better Business Environment (ENABLE), on the institute revealed the need is room for strategic partnership between certain actors in the Nigerian pharmaceutical industry.

tion and proper diagnosis of TB to reduce the number of deaths currently being recorded from improper diagnosis and treatment of TB patients in Nigeria.

FHI360 Country Director, Dr. Robert Chiegil, said the laboratory was facilitated through USAID funded TBCARE project and the BSL-3 TB laboratory has been equipped to meet international standard and detects TB with maximum accuracy.

Chiegil said: “It (BSL-3 TB laboratory) is a mechanically

ventilated laboratory with a negative pressure containment system with unidirectional airflow while fitted with a heating ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system that guarantees good infection control mechanism. The BSL-3 laboratory consists of a sample reception room, culture room which houses the Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube (MGIT), wash up room, store administrative/data entry room, convenience, emergency shower at

the double-door anteroom and BSL-3 compartment. The entire HVAC system is accommodated on the rooftop. The lab is, therefore, designed to provide high end DR-TB diagnostic services and provide adequate protection with laid down global environment standards.”

BSL-3 is applicable to facilities in which work is conducted with indigenous or exotic agents that may cause serious or potentially lethal disease such as TB as a result of exposure by inhalation route.

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WHO, NAFDAC intensify plans to tackle fake drugs in Africa

By Tony Nwanne fforts to further reduce the E incidence of fake drugs in the country, and Africa in general, on Tuesday, got a boost, when the World Health Organisation, WHO, in collaboration with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administrative Control, NAFDAC, adopted a new strategy to put surveillance system to detect any form of fake drugs in any African countries.

The system, Rapid Alert System, is a surveillance system aimed at monitoring of substandard, spurious, falsely labelled/ falsified Counterfeit (SSFFC) medical products, with the intention of training focal persons from different countries’ medicine regulatory authorities on the use new WHO initiative for SSFFC reporting – The Rapid Alert System.

Speaking at the event to kick off the three-day workshop, the Director General of NAFDAC, Paul Orhii said that it has become imperative to continually fight the scourge of fake drugs, not only in Nigeria, but also in other neighbouring countries in Africa.

The workshop was aimed at training local stakeholders in West Africa on the need to keep daily surveillance to detect fake drugs.

The DG noted that SSFFC medical products have been identified as one of the factors responsible for treatment failures and development of drug resistance. “The scenario has created unfavourable business environment for manufacturers, importers and health care providers. More importantly and regretfully, it has denied access to quality medicines and caused untimely death of many innocent citizens and families creating serious embarrassments

for the Governments”, he said.

According to him, drug counterfeiting is a global problem.

It is more prevalent in developing nations where counterfeiters target drugs that are used in high volume for managing diseases of public health importance.

Counterfeiters produce nearly exact replicas of genuine drugs, copying every detail including packaging and labelling. They have even advanced to imitating holograms and other sophisticated printing techniques.

The workshop, which had over 17 African countries, in Lagos, gave opportunity to each country representatives having noticed the regulatory gaps and poor technical capacities that have led to the continued circulation of SSFFC medical products in Africa.

“Apart from the survey conducted by the British Department For International Development (DFID)/WHO and NAFDAC in 2005 on the prevalence of counterfeit drugs in Nigeria, there has not been any other study to determine the extent of the problem whether nationally,

regionally or internationally”.

The WHO SSFFC Global Surveillance and Monitoring project is therefore designed to significantly improve the quality and quantity of data concerning SSFFC products through the systematic and structured reporting via a Rapid Alert System to the WHO. The system is designed to allow a more detailed analysis of incidents, to be carried out by WHO in order to establish a clearer view of the threat posed to public health

by SSFFC medical products.

Meanwhile, the Project Coordinator, WHO, Deats Michael, noted that monitoring and surveillance are important for any project to succeed. Deploying the right instruments for data collection and analysis is essential for success. The importance of statistics to obtaining a clearer of the global and regional anticounterfeiting challenge cannot be over emphasised.

“The Rapid Alert System will foster greater collaboration on anti counterfeiting within the sub-region and the African continent effort for hosting this workshop.

Director General National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Paul Orhii (left); a representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Mr. Michael Deats; and Chairman Federal Taskforce on Fake Drugs and Director Narcotics and Controlled Substance NAFDAC, Mr. Hashim Ubale Yusufu during the Agency and WHO Substandard/Spurious/Falsely Labelled/Falsified Counterfeit Medical Products (SSFFC) monitoring project for African Region (AFRO) workshop held on Monday at Excel Oriental Hotel in Lagos.

PHOTO: GABRIEL IKHAHON

This workshop will encourage pilot countries to establish networks within their respective countries with

Pharmacovigilance, Laboratory experts and other relevant stakeholders input in order to generate and for-

ward standardised reports on SSFFC medical products to WHO,” he said.

‘New WHO test-based approach against malaria does not work everywhere’ view of the sharp rise in The researchers carried out a treat the patient for malaria.

“During the rainy season, of blood is stained and examItheNtreatment There were also false posi- when malaria is most preva- ined under the microscope. In costs of malaria, study in Burkina Faso to tive tests from people who World Health Organisation (WHO) says that there must be a hard diagnosis before the disease is treated. The WHO is deploying rapid tests, a variation of the well-known pregnancy test in which a drop of blood is used. Researchers at the Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) conclude that the new approach is unreliable and that the costs outweigh the benefits in areas where malaria is highly endemic.

check whether the introduction of malaria rapid tests was worthwhile.

First of all, they showed that the test does not detect all malaria cases, especially in small children who are most vulnerable to the disease.

Furthermore, the researchers saw that nurses were still treating four out of five patients for malaria despite a negative test. Because the disease cannot be excluded based on symptoms, the local habit in the case of fever is to

carried the malaria parasite, whereby they continued to maintain resistance but were ill for other reasons. As a result they underwent an unnecessary malaria treatment while, for example, the pneumonia or meningitis that caused fever were not treated.

“The test-based approach of the WHO is unsuitable for regions where a lot of malaria occurs. The test results are unreliable and it is too expensive to test everyone.

The WHO would do better to just treat children in those areas on the basis of fever.

They are the most vulnerable, while malaria is rarely severe in adult patients.

lent, rapid testing could be used on adults. In this case, on the basis of cost-benefit considerations, a fever-based treatment with a cheap but less effective combination of medicines is an alternative.”

A rapid test costs €0.70, while an artemisinin therapy costs € 1 per child and €2 per adult.

Diagnosis and treatment of malaria cannot be delayed, since a mild illness may quickly develop into a lifethreatening condition.

Treatment was extremely cheap in the past, but the effective drugs, the combinations with artemisinin derivatives, are rather expensive today.

The diagnosis is usually made by microscopy: a drop

Africa, especially in poor countries such as Burkina Faso, microscopy is absent in health centres. There, a diagnosis is made on the basis of symptoms. A reliable rapid test could provide a solution to this. If the test is positive, the patient is treated for malaria. If it is negative, another cause for the fever must be sought. ITM researchers are working on the evaluation and improvement of these tests.

ITM seeks to contribute to eliminating malaria by means of multidisciplinary research in worldwide partnerships. Its researchers search for solutions at the level of the parasite, the mosquito, the patient and the community.

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Mixed reactions greet plans for IVF babies with three parents by 2015

By Chukwuma Muanya IXED reactions have M greeted the plans by the British government to sanction the creation of babies with three genetic parents, despite fears it might lead to ‘designer babies’.

By replacing the Deoxy riboNucleic Acid (DNA)/genetic material with a donor’s, the technique can remove hereditary diseases. But critics query: “Saving lives or playing God?” Critics say it may lead to ‘designer babies’ and for the first time the ‘germ line’ of inherited DNA from the mother would be altered which, marks a turning point in the ethics of test-tube babies or In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF).

However, the Joint Pioneer of IVF technique in Nigeria and Medical Director of Medical Art (MART) centre Maryland Ikeja, Lagos, Oladapo Ashiru, told The Guardian that in Nigeria it will be very useful for women

• Technique to eliminate hereditary diseases, improve pregnancy chances in older women above 40 years trying to have babies using their own egg and who have an undesirable genetic trait they do not want in their children especially the sickle cell trait.

Ashiru said the technique is a simple process once the centre has a setup for Pre Implantation genetic diagnosis. “You be rest assured that we at MART will present this to our research and ethics committee so we can commence same, may be within the next six months,” he said.

Ashiru further stated: “Simply put a woman with old egg or with genetic defect can rather than use donor egg completely as is currently done still use her egg using only the nucleus. However the nucleus in now transplanted into the cytoplasm and mitochondria of a donor egg. This way the baby will still carry all the genetic composition of the mother but

How to prepare children for healthy life, by nutrition experts

By Wole Oyebade OOD nutrition has been G identified as the most important factor in promoting good health and longevity among children.

And according to the advocates, its preparation starts with exclusive breastfeeding at birth, and good diet from childhood.

Nutrition experts under the aegis of Heartwells Complementary Services Limited at an awareness campaign held recently at Grange Schools, Ikeja, Lagos, noted that general awareness of good nutrition culture is key to meeting all health goals in the country.

Former nutrition specialist with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Dr. John Ebucha, said good nutrition is a multi-prong strategy that parents as well as young ones should be aware of, to boost good health in the family.

He explained that the foundation for good health is exclusive breastfeeding. “The right and adequate nutrition at birth is breast milk, which is the milk that mother has to hand down to the child within the first hour of delivery.

“Every mother must put the child to the breast because it contains colostrum, vitamin A, right elements and minerals; all which gives the first line of protection helping the child to live and not die.

“Second, when a mother has breastfed exclusively for at least six months – without giving water or any kind of solution – a mother should then begin complementary feeding. That is, the right things that are eaten in the family are also given to the child along with breast milk.

Breastfeeding still has to continue up to two years,” Ebucha said.

He added that Heartwells is taking the awareness programme to schools to also promote information on good diet (of all categories of

food in their right proportion).

In Nigeria today, he observed, so many children are becoming obese because they eat junk. “Before you know it, the child becomes bloated and obese, which is the foundation for high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases (CVD), cancer and stroke – being the diseases that are killing Nigerians the most but avoidable with the good nutritional balance,” he said.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Heartwells, Ogbonnaya Igbokwe, said further that the nutrition campaign, especially among school pupils, is an avenue to improve the lot of Nigerians in the Millennium Development Goal four and five (MDG 4&5) ahead of 2015.

“We recognise the efforts of the government, institutions and the organised private sector in this direction but have noted that more work needs to be done especially in the area of primary healthcare and health campaigns.

“The current statistics from World Health Organisation, UNICEF, Ministry of Health and the MDG office available on the health situation in Nigeria clearly confirm our position. But there is lot more that we can achieve with improved awareness and embracing the nutrition culture as a people,” Igbokwe said.

Project Manager, Heartwells Complementary Plan 2000, Uloma Ukpabi, said the school project is to fast track the achievement of the millennium goals, by going to schools and organised groups to talk about fighting child and maternal mortality.

“We are starting with public and private secondary schools in Lagos; to help pupils to be better informed.

We’ll keep doing this until we can feel the impact of infant, child and maternal mortality,” she said.

the mitochondria of the donor who is disease free.

“One of our pioneer collaborators at MART Steen Wildasen was among the first scientist to do this in experimental animals. I am very happy that it is being approved by the United Kingdom (UK) government and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), which is a statutory body in the UK that regulates and inspects all UK clinics providing IVF, artificial insemination and the storage of human eggs, sperm or embryos. It also regulates Human Embryo research.”

Meanwhile, the first baby with three parents could be born as early as 2015 after a landmark decision to move

ahead on a controversial genetic treatment.

According to a report by Daily Mail Online, the British Government will publish draft regulations later this year that will bring techniques a step closer to giving women affected by devastating hereditary diseases the chance to have healthy children.

The techniques involve replacing defective DNA in the mother’s egg with material from a donor egg. The resulting healthy child would effectively have two mothers and a father.

But the government’s chief medical officer, Prof. Dame Sally Davies, said the alteration did not affect fundamental DNA that determines

an individual’s make-up such as facial features and eye colour.

Davies compared the new techniques to replacing a defective ‘battery pack’ in a cell that would virtually eliminate the chance of a severe disease in the child.

She said: “Scientists have developed ground-breaking new procedures which could stop these diseases being passed on, bringing hope to many families seeking to prevent their future children inheriting them.”

It is expected that between five and ten healthy babies with three parents could be born each year to couples who might otherwise face the heartbreak of seeing them severely disabled and

often dying prematurely.

In these cases, a healthy child would inherit the parents’ nuclear DNA, along with mitochondrial DNA from a donor.

Dame Sally denied the UK was leading the way to designer babies. She said there was a ban on changing nuclear DNA, which ‘I don’t see changing in the foreseeable future’.

She said: “I do think quite carefully about ethics, I always did as a clinician and I still do, perhaps because my father was a theologian.

“I am comfortable with this.

I think we will save some five to ten babies from being born with ghastly disease and early death without changing what they look like, or how they behave, and it will help mothers to have their own babies.”

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Gynaecologists endorse fish oil-based supplement for women of childbearing age • Consumption linked to lower breast cancer, autism risk, studies find

Heart-healthy foods, prevention of coronary disease (1) HE heart starts beating at about the eighth week of pregT nancy and continues to do so throughout an individual’s life. The heart cannot afford to fail in its function of pumping

Fish oil

By Chukwuma Muanya BSTETRICIANS and gynaeO cologists have endorsed a daily intake of dietary supplement rich in fish oil (Omega 3), twelve vitamins including vitamin E and eight minerals and trace elements comprising iron and selenium, for women of child bearing age.

The vitamins include betacarotene, vitamin B1 to B12, C, D3, E, folic acid, biotin, and nicotinamide while the minerals and trace elements are chromium, copper, iron, iodine, molybdenum, selenium, zinc and magnesium.

Omega-3 fatty acids refers to a group of three fats called linolenic acid (ALA) found in plant oils; eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), both commonly found in marine oils including fish oils.

According to the medical experts, humans cannot make omega-3 fatty acids from scratch, but need them for healthy brain function as well as growth and development.

However, fishes are much more efficient than mammals at converting the ALA to the EPA and DHA omega−3 fatty acids. These acids can be found in fish as well as in foods such as walnuts and flaxseed.

The mother and child care experts, which include a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist and former provost of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, Prof. B. O. Osinubi and consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Reddington Hospital, Lagos, Dr. F. Olufisayo Balogun, at the official launch of Pharmaton Matruelle by Boehringer Ingelheim and Benjamin Michaels said the supplement contains all nutrients needed for mother and baby from before conception, pregnancy and breastfeeding.

The experts said for the mother, Matruelle optimally prepares a woman’s body for pregnancy, all components are carefully balanced to support the mother’s increased nutritional needs, and provides the micronutrients for the extra energy needed during breastfeeding.

For baby, the medical experts said the supplement forms the basis for healthy development and growth right from the start; supports the healthy development of baby’s spinal cord, brain, eyes and all organs; and supports the healthy development of eyesight and brain, nervous system and cognition.

They, however, acknowledged that pregnant mother make require additional folic acid supplementation, which would be determined by their doctors.

Managing Director of Benjamin Michaels Limited, an indigenous pharmaceutical sales and marketing company, Mr. Yemi Amuwo, said adequate intake of Omega 3 will develop the baby’s brain, eyes among other sensory organs right from the womb.

Amuwo said: “The use of Omega 3 also nourishes the mother to effectively carry the foetus all through the pregnancy period. Mineral supplements like Omega 3 is needed during pregnancy to cover for the increase needs of vitamins, minerals, trace elements and DHA during pregnancy. It also helps in providing protection against embryonic neural tube diseases of

the foetus.

“Also during lactation, there is a need to replenish maternal micro-nutrients depleted during pregnancy and increase the concentration of key micro-nutrients in maternal milk. Thus, supplementation is the only guaranteed source of Omega 3 that is mercury free and this is obtained in Pharmaton Matruelle.”

The Managing Director further listed food sources such as cold-water fish (salmon, sardines, herring, mackerel and tuna), fish oil, algae and specialty eggs as some of the intake that could enhance Omega 3 in human bodies. He noted many seafoods available in Nigeria are largely iced fish and not many people get to eat fresh fish.

According to a new study published on Monday in the British Medical Journal, the consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids found primarily in fish is linked to a 14 per cent decline in breast-cancer risk.

The researchers said people would need to eat one to two portions of oily fish such as salmon, tuna or sardines each week to reduce their breastcancer risk.

The study’s results confirm the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) recommendation to eat fish once or twice a week.

Chinese scientists led by Duo Li of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, pooled and analyzed data from 21 previously published studies that had enrolled 883,585 participants. They found that for

The use of Omega 3 also nourishes the mother to effectively carry the foetus all through the pregnancy period. Mineral supplements like Omega 3 is needed during pregnancy to cover for the increase needs of vitamins, minerals, trace elements and DHA during pregnancy. It also helps in providing protection against embryonic neural tube diseases of the foetus.

each 0.1 gram or 0.1 per cent energy increment of fish oils taken daily, the risk dropped by five per cent. Plant-derived fatty acids such as alpha linoleic acid didn’t affect risk, the study said.

“This is a pretty sound result, we are very confident in this study,” Li said in a telephone interview. Polyunsaturated fatty acids “are very, very beneficial for human health.”

The individual studies tracked either how fish or other fish oil sources their participants consumed, or measured how much of the substances could be found in subjects’ fat or blood.

The study belongs to a form of research known as a metaanalysis, which evaluates data from previous investigations without doing new clinical work.

Asian participants were shown to have the largest risk reduction, possibly because of the high level of fish consumption in Asian countries, the researchers said.

A study published recently in the Journal of Child and Adolescent and Psychopharmacology found that omega-3 fatty acid treatment is safe and effective as an autism treatment. However, they also suggest that larger studies need to be conducted utilizing double-blind methodology. They also recommend that future studies include various dosages of omega-3 fatty acids in order to determine the most effective dose in the treatment of autism.

Autism is a neurological disorder diagnosed in childhood and characterized by social interaction difficulties, communication abnormalities, repetitive behaviors and restricted, obsessive interests and activities. Considered a “spectrum disorder,” autism can strike children with varying severity.

blood to the whole body. In performing this function, the heart also ensures that adequate blood is pumped to the heart itself. The arteries that pump blood to the heart are known as the coronary arteries.

Blockage or narrowing of these vessels can lead to what is known as coronary heart disease. As this narrowing increases, a left sided chest pain known, as angina will set in due to a reduction in blood, oxygen and nutrient supply to the heart.

Total blockage of a coronary artery that supplies a section of the heart causes death of that portion of the heart-giving rise to what is known as heart attack.

The commonest cause of narrowing of the coronary artery is artherosclerosis. Artherosclerosis is the build up of cholesterol and fatty deposits known as plaques on the inner wall of the artery. There are certain risk factors associated with coronary heart disease and they include, dehydration, family history, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, stress, lack of exercise, hyperlipidemia and obesity. More than a risk factor, long standing dehydration can be considered a cause of artherosclerosis.

In my article on the management of hypertension, I explained how dehydration causes the brain to send signals to the liver to begin to produce more cholesterol, which come into use when the body goes into a rationing mode as a result of dehydration. In a state of dehydration, water is redistributed from the muscles, bones and joints to the brain, heart, lungs, liver and kidneys - the five vital organs in the body.

Cholesterol will have to be deposited between the cells in the walls of the capillaries to take over the usual adhesive function of water between the cells. Cholesterol, being impermeable to water, drastically reduces the passage of water out of the blood in the capillaries into the muscles. These cholesterol deposits initially found between the cells will eventually begin to grow into the lumen of the capillaries where they join together to form plaques. At this time also, the blood level of cholesterol is very high and such hypercholesterolemia can easily be managed by increasing ones daily consumption of water and sustaining it there.

Principles of prevention of coronary heart disease The first principle is to drink sufficient water on a daily basis.

I will not belabour this principle because I believe that a lot of the readers of this column now practice this principle.

The next is exercise. The heart benefits a lot if we are regularly engaged in exercising. The following benefits can be seen in the lives of those who exercise always: the heart becomes strengthened and the resting pressure at which the heart pumps blood is reduced translating into a lower blood pressure. Cholesterol and blood sugar levels are reduced, thus preventing heart disease. Also exercise helps to create new capillaries for supply of blood and open up blocked ones. This will further cause a reduction of the blood pressure and eliminate the risk of heart disease.

Diet What you eat plays a very significant role in ensuring the good health of the heart. To begin with, whatever you eat must not be excessive. Do not over eat.

You will have to eat more of some food, reduce some and avoid others entirely to keep your heart healthy throughout your life. To keep your heart healthy, you have to eat more of the low calorie, nutrient rich foods like fresh, raw vegetables and fruits. They are rich sources of vitamins, minerals, fiber and substances that directly prevent heart disease.

Whole grains like whole wheat and oats, brown rice, barley and ground flaxseed are also high in fiber, minerals and vitamins.

Also recommended to keep the heart healthy are low fat proteins found in foods like skimmed milk, low fat yoghurt, egg white, cold-water fish such as tuna and salmon. Others are skinless poultry, legumes (kidney and black beans, lentils), soybeans, tofu and lean meat.

To ensure that the heart is healthy, high calorie, high sodium foods like fast foods, processed and refined foods should be avoided. These will include, white flour products such as white bread and cakes, pastries, pasta etc white sugar, table salt and white rice. Others are unhealthy fats like saturated, hydrogenated and trans fats such as is in margarine, butter, shortening etc.

Finally as part of the principles of preventing coronary heart disease you need to take different varieties of the food that you are allowed to take. It ensures that your heart gets all that it needs to stay healthy from different sources and it makes it less boring for you. These are things that you have not been used to eating.

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Ginger, garlic, others restore kidney functions Continued from Page 33 body weight, once daily for 30 days group.

They, however, noted that treatment with ethanolic extract of ginger (100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg body weight, po, once daily for 30 days) these parameters came to normalcy showing the antioxidant effect of ginger. “The antioxidant compounds of ginger may modulate the oxidative stress parameters. The biochemical findings were supplemented by histopathological examination of the kidney,” the researchers wrote.

Garlic (Allium sativum) has also been shown to prevent and reverse kidney damage.

A study published in India Journal of Experimental Biology concluded: “From the results it can be concluded that the garlic extract has a potent nephro-protective effect in STZ induced diabetic animals. In addition, it was also found that the garlic extract has the ability to inhibit vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase-1 (ERK-1) expression, thus attenuating mesangial expansion and early glomerulosclerosis.

“This proves that the garlic supplementation is helpful in preventing the progression of diabetic nephropathy. However, further studies are warranted to investigate the active principles responsible for the nephro-protective effect in garlic extract.”

Another study published in the Journal of Kerman University of Medical Sciences concluded: “Garlic, due to its antioxidant effect, can prevent lead-induced toxicity and tissue damage in the kidney.”

There are several reports about anti-oxidant effects of garlic in the literature. In this study the effect of garlic alcoholic-water extract on the treatment of lead-induced toxicity in kidney of neonatal rat and the protective effect of garlic alcoholic water extract on body and kidney weight and also kidney tissue were investigated.

French and Tunisian researchers in another study published in Food and Nutrition Sciences, 2013, concluded: “Both garlic and tocopherol (vitamin E) plus magnesium treatments appear almost equally able to improve the diabetes-associated pathological conditions in rat brain and kidney.”

The study is titled “DiabetesInduced Damages in Rat Kidney and Brain and Protective Effects of Natural Antioxidants.”

Another study published in Food Chemistry and Toxicology found that ginger alone and in combination with vitamin E-rich foods or supplement (alpha-tocopherol) protect the kidney against cisplatin (cancer drug)-induced acute renal failure.

The researchers wrote: “Oxidative stress due to abnormal production of reactive oxygen molecules (ROM) is believed to be involved in the etiology of toxicities of many xenobiotics. Evidences suggested that ROM is involved in the nephrotoxicity of a widely used synthetic anticancer

drug cisplatin.

“The nephroprotective effects of ethanol extract of Zingiber officinale alone and in combination with vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) were evaluated using cisplatin (single dose of 10 mg/kg body wt, i.p) induced acute renal damage in mice.

“The results of the study indicated that Z. officinale significantly and dose dependently protected the nephrotoxicity induced by cisplatin.

The serum urea and creatinine levels in the cisplatin alone treated group were significantly elevated with respect to normal group of animals.

“The levels were reduced in the Z. officinale (250 and 500 mg/kg, p.o) plus cisplatin, vitamin E (250 mg/kg) plus cisplatin, and Z. officinale (250 mg/kg) with vitamin E plus vitamin E treated groups. The renal antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities and level of reduced glutathione (GSH) were declined; level of malondialdehyde (MDA) was elevated in the cisplatin alone treated group. The activities of SOD, CAT GPx and level of GSH were elevated and level of MDA declined significantly in the Z. officinale (250 and 500 mg/kg) plus cisplatin and Z. officinale (250 mg/kg) with vitamin E plus cisplatin treated groups.

“The protective effect of Z. officinale (250 mg/kg body wt) was found to be better than that of vitamin E (250 mg/kg body wt). The results also demonstrated that combination of Z. officinale (250 mg/kg) with vitamin E (250 mg/kg) showed a better protection compared to their 250 mg/kg alone treated groups.

“This study concluded that ethanol extract of Z. officinale alone and in combination with vitamin E partially ameliorated cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity. This protection is mediated either by preventing the cisplatininduced decline of renal antioxidant defense system or by their direct free radical scavenging activity.”

Another study published last year in The Scientific World Journal confirmed the therapeutic potential of ginger against renal injury induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCL4) in rats.

The Egyptian researchers from the Therapeutic Chemistry Department, National Research Center, Dokki, Cairo, wrote: “The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of successive ginger extracts (petroleum ether, chloroform, and ethanol) against nephrotoxicity induced by CCl4 in rats.

“The evaluation was done through measuring kidney antioxidant parameters: glutathione (GSH), lipid peroxides (LPO), and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Renal function test: urea, creatinine and serum protein values, were also evaluated. The work was extended to examine tissue inflammatory mediators, prostaglandin-E2 (PGE2), collagen content and the kidney

histopathology.

“Severe alterations in all biomarkers were observed after injury with CCl4. Treatment with ginger extracts resulted in markedly decreased levels of LPO, PGE2, collagen and kidney function tests, while increased levels of GSH, SOD and serum protein were observed.

“In conclusion, extracts of ginger, particularly the ethanol, resulted in an attractive candidate for the treatment of nephropathy induced by CCl4 through scavenging free radicals,

improved kidney functions, inhibition of inflammatory mediators, and normalising the kidney histopathological architecture. Further studies are required in order to identify the molecules responsible of the pharmacological activity.”

Another study by researchers from Abia State University, Uturu published in African Journal of Biotechnology confirmed that ginger could be used in combination with garlic and lime due to their very potent antimicrobial potentials.

The researchers wrote: “The crude extracts of garlic and ginger applied singly and in combination did not exhibit any in vitro inhibition on the growth of test organisms.

However with lime they inhibited Bacillus spp, Staphylococcus spp.

Salmonella was resistant to

most of the decoctions. It was only slightly inhibited by lime (singly) and a mixture of aqueous extracts of garlic, ginger, and limejuices. All the test organisms were susceptible to lime juice and control drug (Primpex).

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Education NCE directs varsities, others to accept Senior Arabic, Islamic certificate for admission

By Rotimi Lawrence Oyekanmi HE National Council on Education (NCE) has T just taken a potentially controversial decision. At its 59th meeting, which ended in Abuja at the weekend, it directed all tertiary institutions in the country to henceforth accept the Senior Arabic and Islamic School Certificate (SAISSC) for admission. The little known National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS), which is domiciled in the Ahmadu Bello University’s (ABU) Institute of Education, issues the certificate.

By implication, all Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education in the country are now expected to accept the SAISSC, as an equivalent of the West African Senior School Certificate (WASSC), being issued by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the Senior Secondary School Certificate being issued by National Examination Council (NECO).

But one of the federal universities’ senior officials, who attended the meeting and spoke on the condition of anonymity, criticized the decision and accused the Federal Ministry of Education (FME) of mixing religious sentiments with core academic issues. He insisted that it was wrong for the NCE to legislate for the senate of each university in the country on the criteria for admission.

His words: “A University has its own senate, which is empowered to determine the academic requirements of all students seeking admission for its respective programmes. At a time when even the National Examinations Council (NECO) is still battling with credibility issues, the NCE is now asking universities to accept the certificate of an unknown board, operating from an Institute at ABU for admission? I can understand it if you say, accept the SAISSC for the Arabic or Islamic degree programme in the Universities. But to compel universities to accept the SAISSC for all programmes is a step in the wrong direction. It is like saying that certificates being issued by approved Bible Colleges should now be accepted for admission in the universities like the WASSC. The decision is ridiculous.”

Neither Education Minister, Prof Ruqqayyatu Rufai, nor the Minister of State, Nyesom Wike could be reached immediately for comments.

However, the council has also endorsed the implementation of the revised 9-year Basic Education curriculum, beginning with Primary 1 and Junior Secondary 1, to commence in 2014.

Approval has equally been given for the incorporation of a one-year pre-primary class in the existing 6-3-3-4 system, which will now become 1-6-3-3-4, in all public primary schools across the country. To that extent, states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are now required to establish one-year pre-primary education centres “with adequate facilities in every primary

Rufai

Wike

school.” Many private primary schools across the country already have the pre-class.

Every student in the Federal and State Technical colleges must henceforth offer a technical subject, while the admission ratio of students into technical colleges for science and trade subjects would now be 30:70, in favour of science.

The meeting also approved the reactivation of the Teacher Vacation Course (TVC), to be undertaken by the FME, the states, and FCT, in collaboration with professional associations and subject specialists.

Also approved were: the Isoko Language curriculum; National Policy on Albinism and Implementation Guidelines; adoption and implementation of the strategic plan for establishing education units, development of enterprise programmes and activities in senior secondary schools.

The council directed NECO to produce and release all outstanding certificates before the next NCE and thereafter ensure the release of certificates before the conduct of similar examinations. It ordered the National Universities Commission (NUC), the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and the National Council for Colleges of Education (NCCE) to ensure that all lecturers in tertiary institutions possess teaching qualifications in conformity with the provision of the National Policy on Education.

The NCE directed the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI) to interface with the Nigerian

Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) on the Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (TESSA) Toolkit for teaching practice supervision, in relation to assessment and quality assurance.

The NUC has also been mandated to sanction universities that charge more than N2,000 for the post Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), just as it asked the FME to liaise with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investments, to ensure that the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) caters for and supervises technical college students on SIWES. Significantly, the council requested states and the FCT to appoint only persons with a minimum of first degrees in education as Education Secretaries. It also demanded that states include private school teachers in their respective capacity building programmes, but with the proprietors of such schools bearing the full cost.

The FME, states and the FCT have also been implored to collaborate with the Nigerian Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) in organizing regular capacity building workshops and professional development courses for school administrators and planners.

They were, according to the communiqué, urged to henceforth appoint people with relevant educational qualifications and experience, when constituting membership of boards/commissions of educational institutions to head such entities. The council implored the states to

give due attention to special education “by carrying out more sensitization and capacity building programmes for teachers on inclusive education.”

The council noted that only 10 per cent of teachers in Basic Education schools in the country “are computer literate.” It observed the low enrolment of female students in Science and Technology Education programmes compared with their male counterpart; need to meet the literacy needs of Out-of School youths and adults, by building model Adult and Non-Formal Education Centres in markets, and the low enrolment, retention and completion rates in adult education programmes.

It also noted the need for the states and private school owners to collaborate with the NERDC to sensitise their teachers, principals and career guidance counselors on the selection criteria, structure and objectives of the new Senior Secondary Education Curriculum.

According to the communiqué, Rufai had in her address, listed a number of developments, “which had taken place in the sector so far.”

They include the commencement of Almajiri education in 27 states and the FCT; campaigns on Girls’ education in the north and Boys education in the south to handle out-of-school children; integration of Albinism into the school system through the development of a National Policy and Guidelines on Albinism and the implementation of the Teachers’ Salary Scale in 34 states and the FCT. The Minister also listed the establishment of 25 additional Vocational Education Institutes (VEIs); the development of the National Policy on ICT; setting up of committees to address the challenges of data collection and management in the education sector and the collaboration with UNESCO on a three-year project, aimed at improving levels of adult literacy by 2015.

Participants at the meeting the report stated, include: “State commissioners for education, the permanent secretaries of federal and state Ministries of Education, chief executives of federal and state parastatals, representatives of the Head of Service, the National Planning Commission, National Salaries, Incomes, and Wages Commission, National Bureau of Statistics and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

“Others were Directors of Federal and State Ministries of Education; Directors of Institutes of Education, Directorates of Naval, Army, Air Force, Nigeria Police Education Corps, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), National Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Professional Associations, NonGovernmental Organizations (NGOs) and International Development Partners.”

Experts discuss strategies on proficiency in French language

By Mary Ogar O standardize the training of students in acquiring proficiency in the French Language across the sub region, academics who gathered at the Nigerian French Language Village (NFLV), Badagry. Lagos for the international colloquium of the Network of French Language Centres in Africa, have called on governments of member countries to embrace capacity building mechanisms.

With participants drawn from Nigeria, Ghana, the Republic of Benin, Togo and Cameroun, the theme of the conference was‘ “Teaching of French as a Foreign Language in the context of MultiLinguistic Africa.”

T

The Director General of NFLV, Prof Sam Aje expressed concern that the issue of standard has been on the front burner considering the penchant among graduates of French from Nigerian universities who prefer to pursue their one-year immersion programme in what he described as “sub standard French Centres” outside the country.

He expressed regret that the centres being patronized by the students for their one-year academic immersion programme do not operate at the same standard as the NFLV in Nigeria.

Aje, a Professor of French and Applied Linguistics, said that RECFLEA, which is the acronym in French for the Regional Network of French Language Centres in Africa, came into

existence about eight years ago in Nigeria to standardize the training of students from Nigerian universities in acquiring proficiency in French Language.

With the standard not being the same, he explained that the aim of the network is to bring other centres across the region at par with the NFLV. He said: “Nigerians have the mentality of deriving joy from going abroad and that anything abroad is good. Unfortunately, what they get in some of these centres may be less than what they would have gotten here in the country. We have come to the conclusion that even if that were the situation, we should find a way of bring it to the required level”.

Aje maintained that the NFLV

adheres strictly to the benchmark/ minimum academic standard laid down by the National Universities Commission (NUC) for all universities for 300 level programmes in the French language.

On relevance of the conference, he said: “French is of so much importance to us because starting from the geographical location of the country, we are surrounded by French speaking countries, such as Republic of Benin, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and so on. We should be able to understand our neighbours because if you know the language of your neighbor there would be greater understanding and less fear of war and no reason for distrust”.

He added: “Even our own foreign

policy is geared towards that. We are a member of ECOWAS and majority of the countries within the group are French. Nigeria has made it known that it wants to play a very major role in the continent and we cannot play that role to the fullest when we cannot understand what our neighbours do or speak their language.”

On shortage of French Language teachers in Nigeria, he was of the opinion that the moment Nigeria accepted French as the second official language, that was the moment the government should have started working tirelessly to bridge the gap of teacher shortage. Besides, he

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THE GUArDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

50 EDUCATION

Eniola Bello (left), Adebola Duro-Aina, Mr Tokunbo Doregos, Director, Doregos Private Academy, Lagos; Oluwatoyin Faleke, Abiola Akindele and Opeyemi Akindehin at a welcome reception in honour of the students, who won Gold at the International Sustainable World Energy Engineering Environment project (i-sweep) in Houston, Texas, United States and the Intel-International Science and Engineering fair, Phoenix, Arizona.

Nigerian students win Intel’s science, engineering award

By Mary Ogar Or inventing a urine-powFAdebola ered generator, the trio of Duro-Aina, Oluwatoyin Faleke and Abiola Akindele of Doregos Private Academy, Lagos, who represented Nigeria at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) held in Phoenix, United States, have clinched the United Technology Company’s (UTC) Award for Excellence in Science and Engineering. A scholarship worth US$3000 is attached to the award.

The award-winning invention seeks to provide affordable and sustainable energy sources as a solution to the epileptic power supply in developing countries, without the attendant conse-

quences caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.

According to the students’ teacher, Mr Oluwasey Lawal, who supervised the invention and accompanied them on the trip, “the project works on the principle of electrolysis and energy conversion. It works like the conventional generator; the direct current output of the generator is connected to the urine electrolytic cell, to ensure continuous production of the hydrogen-oxygen, which ensures the continuous running of the engine”.

He continued: “the generator is environmental friendly.

The exhaust gas produced from the generator is water vapour, which is non-toxic, compared to carbon monoxide of conventional carbon based fuels.”

Nigeria’s representatives at

the fair also came tops in the National Science Fair, jointly sponsored by Shell, Interswitch and Intel back in February. Other finalists at the Nigeria level of the fair were Calvary Arrows Comprehensive College, Gboko, Benue state and University Preparatory Secondary School, Benin City, Edo state.

Speaking on the need to encourage innovation among youths, Intel Corporation’s Corporate Affairs Manager, Mr. Osagie Ogunbor said: “Intel has sponsored the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair since 1997, because Intel believes that fostering a passion for mathematics and science in today’s youth is imperative for the global economy and the future of innovation.”

St Saviour’s school unveils N200m facility

By Mary Ogar T was a moment of celebration for the pupils, their parents, staff and management of Saint Saviour’s School, Ebutte-Metta, Lagos recently, when its ultra modern Diamond Jubilee building complete with borehole and water treatment plant was commissioned amid fanfare.

With the commissioning of the educational facility, estimated at over N200 million, the Chairman of the school’s Management Board, Mr. Tom Ogboi disclosed that the school, established 63 years ago, has added to its feat of achievements, such as “being the first primary school in Nigeria to have science and computer laboratories; and the first to teach ICT, music and moral instructions as core subjects.”

According to the chairman, the current innovations in the school is part of efforts to keep the vision of the founding fathers alive by expanding the scope in terms of teaching and learning, delivery system and technology, which were not envisaged at the conceptual stages.

He said: “ We will continue to deliver on the mandate of

I

Although the school remains a Christian school, he noted that it is open to children of all religious beliefs. Ogboi reiterated that the Management Board, with the support of the Board of Trustees has maintained a policy of continuous investment in teaching and learning, human capital development, infrastructure and environmental development the founding fathers, a high quality education, driven by a committed teaching faculty. As a result of this, our children perform excellently in all examinations. We have always achieved a 100 per cent placement in all quality high schools both locally and abroad. Our pupil had the highest score of 194 out of the maximum of 2000 in the latest result of the National Common Entrance Examination.”

Although the school remains a Christian school, he noted that it is open to children of all religious beliefs. Ogboi reiterated that the Management Board, with the support of the Board of Trustees has maintained a policy of continuous investment in teaching and learning, human capital development, infrastructure and

environmental development.

The ultra-modern Diamond Jubilee Building houses eight modern classrooms powered with ICT systems; interactive white boards, maximum airconditioned circulation spaces, well lit and served with fire detective/alarm system, audio evacuation, PAS and portable fire fighting appliances. It also has library facilities, resource centers, language laboratories, office accommodation and a total of 20 toilet facilities, across the floors.

Besides, the borehole and water treatment plant, which have been provided to ensure clean and safe drinking water for the school, has also been extended to serve the railway community to address the shortage of water.

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THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, Junly 4, 2013

Yerima eulogises artists at Redeemer’s first inaugural lecture

By Uju Atueyi HEN his late father Musa, W offered him a ‘Parker Pen 45’ at birth, which he (his father) won on May 8, 1957 as the best overall policeman in Nigeria, and even went further to name him after the pen, Prof Ahmed Parker Yerima must have wondered how his father, who wanted him to become a lawyer or policeman, could have desired such profession for him. The parker pen was like a divine anointment and it was Yerima’s first toy in life.

Today, he has not only returned his father’s Parker pen with a newer model for winning the Kennedy Essay competition when he was in Form 5 in secondary school; he had also made significant contributions to the growth of National Troupe of Nigeria and to cap it all, progressed to a Professor of Theatre Arts with Redeemer’s University (RUN), Mowe, Ogun State.

As he stood before an impressive audience recently to deliver his inaugural lecture titled Refracted Universe, Alternative Realities: The Artist as gOD, Yerima was also making history. He was the first academic to deliver the maiden inaugural lecture at the university.

According to him, the title of the 78-page lecture was taken from the Holy Bible where it was stated that God, as the supreme creator, created man in His own image, after His likeness and also endowed man with the power to create.

But this power, Yerima stressed, is more evident among the artists, “who use their imaginative powers to create something out of God’s reality, God’s universe and God’s truth.”

According to him, an artist could be a poet, a novelist, a dramatist, musician, fine artist, dancer, sculptor of bronze or bass-caster, goldsmith, photographer, film director, cameraman, playwright and a play

director to mention a few.

His words: “you need to read Homer, J.P. Clark-Bekeredemo, Niyi Osundare, Odia Ofeimum’s poetry; Charles Dickens, Chinua Achebe, Cyprain Ekwensi, Safi Attah, Heron Habila’s novel; William Shakespeare, Wole Soyinka, John Iwu, Femi Osofisan’s plays; or listen to Mozart, Laz Ekwueme, Sunny Ade, Oliver De Coque, Dan Maraya Jos, Tuface Idibia, D’banj Flavour, Dagrin’s music; or see the paintings of Yusuf Grillo, Moyo Okedeji, Solomon Wangboje, Lamidi Fakeye; or watch the movies of Mamood AliBalogun, Tunde Kelani, Jimi Odumosu and Kunle Afolayan.

“Is it the way they have captured and translated their individual illusions into forms that we can read, listen to or touch that is not a marvel? Or is it the way they have been able to present alternative universes by first refracting our real societies into their illusionary societies that is not a wonder? Or is it the way they have moved freely from traditional, social and religious emotions to the secular purposes of human existence that is missing on us?

Or better still, is it how well they have captured the process of hybridization that will escape us?

“Any individual who draws from his mental atmosphere and uses his or her artistic talents to tell a story from his own sensitivity and intellectual stature and weaves it through a creative process, inspired into a new spectacle of meaning and beauty, best captures my idea of who an artist is.

“I have unarguably stated that the man, who has most expressed God’s creative gift, is an Artist or as in early days was described as the Creative Poet.

Sincerely, there is creativity in all of us, but the challenge is the ability to bring it out, and this is where artists distinguish the self; a special kind of man, the created product of God; the

man who contemplates the addition of light and beauty to the original work of God in playing the role of little gOD, the artist.”

Yerima said the ability to create characters and put them in a difficult situation, which heightens their despair in a climatic twist, and then resolve the conflict with one stroke of the pen and a change of the mind, is a glorious power to bestow on a mere mortal who was created in the image of God, tapping into His power of creative imagination.

But the power, he quickly added, “is both humbling and intoxicating, to see the scribbling of your idea rise and come alive on a stage, to see actors scamper to learn your lines; to see director bark out stage directions at half confused actors, and to watch critics postulate, theorize and often at one another’s throats, in a desperate effort to convince one another on why you wrote a play this way or that way, to observe students studying hard to understand your play; to find graduate students write doctoral thesis on your plays and receive plaudits and encomiums claiming to be professorial authorities on you and your works.”

He averred that it was also a rare privilege to receive awards, both international and national, placed at one’s doorstep for the mere use of your creative imagination, which was given to you, free, by God. To this end, Yerima, who singled out the playwright as the artist for the purpose of the study, further explained that a playwright uses his special anointing of God to observe

Redeemer’s University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Debo Adeyewa (left) receives the inaugural lecture booklet from Professor Ahmed Parker Yerima, Dean, College of Humanities during the institution’s first Inaugural Lecture held recently.

God’s reality, mirrors such reality in his plays until it refracts God’s reality and as a result, presents alternative universe to his audience and society through which they can learn, by finding alternative solutions to the problems of growth, development and existence.

He continued: “Because the playwright can create his own universe with each play, he sees himself as a little god, totally inferior to God, I must quickly add. But because of his ability to create human beings, give life to them, create a world, and kill his characters all within the ambience of his imagination, he can be consid-

ered a lesser god, worshiped only by his retinue of readers, actors, scholars and audience.”

In spite of all the functions of an artist as a creator of many kingdoms with many tongues colours and shades; Yerima observed that the challenges and limitations of the 21st century artist abounds. He pledged that henceforth his new works shall be stories told by a story teller, who is more informed about his people, determined to be entertained, educated and instructed. “My plays will continue to show mutual human relationship in the face of multi-cultural and ethnic diversity,” he said. “I shall use it to

glorify the presence, essence and awareness of God. Though the works will be critical of the socio-political reality of my immediate society, I shall be mindful of the weight of words and their implications.”

Meanwhile, the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof Debo Adeyewa, who jokingly asked Yerima if was, indeed, referring to artist as a god to be worshipped, expressed joy that Yerima, through his lecture, established his assertion. “From the lecture, it is obvious that an artist is a little god, in his little world of imaginative creation.”

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UNESCO publishes new book on ranking NEW UNESCO publicaA tion, Rankings and Accountability in Higher Education: Uses and Misuses, debates the pros and cons of classifying universities. It brings together the people behind university rankings and their critics, to debate uses and misuses of existing rankings.

This publication emerged from the Global Forum Rankings and Accountability in Higher Education: Uses and misuses, the first-ever global consultation on the subject, organized by UNESCO, the OECD and the World Bank in May 2011 and which brought together resear-

chers, academics, policy analysts, students, and institutional leaders at an international level.

The book develops many of the issues addressed during that landmark consultation.

UNESCO has followed closely the evolution of university rankings, having previously published volumes on ranking methodologies (2005) and the related issue of the “world-class university” (2007 and 2009). In addition, this book is the first in a new UNESCO series, Education on the Move, which aims at bringing the latest thinking in education to specialists worldwide

Lagos chapter hosts UNN alumni meeting HE Lagos State chapter of T University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) Alumni Association will from today to july 7, hold its 84th National Executive Council (NEC) meeting with the theme “Education, Standards and Society”.

The President of the Association, Chief Andrew Oru, who made the announcement in Lagos recently, said the NEC meeting would be an opportunity for the members to participate in the discourse on how to restore the dignity of their alma mater as originally concceived.

He said the opening ceremony scheduled for Saturday at Standard Alliance Events Centre, Lekki, Lagos, would be declaredopen by the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola. Chairman of Elizade Motors, Chief Michael Ade Ojo, who is also the Chancellor of Elizade University, Ondo State, will

chair the occasion.

Minister of Power, Prof Chinedu Ositadinma Nebo, he said, would deliver the keynote address, while the National President, Dr. Nwanne Chioke, will lead other National officers, including Presidents and representatives of over forty branches of the association to the meeting. “Professor Pat Utomi of the PanAtlantic University and Director, Lagos Business School will chair the Local Organizing Committee for the meeting”.

His words: “NEC meeting is an opportunity to bring together all Lions and Lionesses within and outside the country to liaise and discuss arising issues as it affects their alma mater. It also serves as an opportunity to sustain networking among members, as they share their ideas on various aspects of nation-building and professional development, in their respective fields of endeavor”.

NUC accredits Ekiti varsity’s programmes From Muyiwa Adeyemi, Ado Ekiti AjOR restructuring and upliftment of academic programmes at Ekiti State University is already yielding positive results as the National Universities Commission (NUC) has accredited all its programmes assessed by its accreditation panel.

And this is the first time that the 31-year- old university will achieve this feat. The Vice Chancellor Prof Patrick Aina on Tuesday also disclosed it was the first time that the NUC has accredited all the 70 programmes it assessed at the university.

According to him, this is the first time the university will achieve this great feat.”

Aina also disclosed that the university had built a modern medical library for College of Medicine describing it as the best in the nation. He explained that the library was funded through the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the varsity and with the support or the state government. He stated that the medical library worth over N194m indicated the new tempo of construction of functional buildings in the university.

Aina said: “the NUC accreditation visitation team came to assess our programmes in November 2012 and the result is out. The result revealed that all the 45 pro-

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The NUC accreditation visitation team came to assess our programmes in November 2012 and the result is out. The result revealed that all the 45 programmes assessed were accredited. Thirty-four programmes are with full accreditation while eleven had interim accreditation. There are some of the programmes which had earlier been given accreditation by the NUC and their accreditation are still valid grammes assessed were accredited. Thirty-four programmes are with full accreditation while eleven had interim accreditation.

There are some of the programmes which had earlier been given accreditation by the NUC and their accreditation are still valid.

“This is the first time the university will have all its programmes accredited by the NUC and I am proud to tell you that Ekiti State University is one of the few universities with all programmes accredited by the NUC.”

Banjo asks varsities to simplify process of obtaining transcripts EGISTRy Departments in R Universities across the country have been urged to stop the tedious process students are made to pass through in obtaining their transcripts because the practice had often resulted in the students losing admission opportunities.

Former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo made the call during the maiden Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) Registry Lecture titled, “The Registry and its Place in the Administration of Higher Institution” held recently. According to him, “It ought to be possible for transcripts to be offered within twenty-four hours of application, and no one should have to appear personally to collect it”.

He pointed out that Registry plays a crucial role in handling of students’ request and enquiries right from registration to the end of a student’s career and as such, the student’s first impression of the university is formed through their experience at the Registry during registration. Professor Banjo expressed displeasure at the system whereby former students, who urgently need

their transcripts are being called upon to appear personally to process them.

When this happens, the love that such alumni should have for their alma mater are weakened in the process, resulting into negative attitude to the Institution.

Corroborating this, the ProChancellor and Chairman of FUNAAB’s Governing Council, Senator/Sir (Dr.) Adeseye Ogunlewe, showed concern over the fate of overseas post-graduate students from Nigeria, who do not get their transcripts on time thereby forfeiting such admissions. The former Minister of Works said that most Universities in the world issue certificates to deserving students on graduation day, adding that ‘Statement of Result’ is not acceptable anymore. His words, “If you treat the students as friends during the processing, they would want to come back to assist the University”.

While delivering the lecture, Professor Ayo Banjo who acknowledged the pivotal role of the Registry in higher institutions of learning, condemned the dichotomy between the teaching and non-teaching staff, calling on the two to see themselves as partners in

progress. The Emeritus Professor pointed out that the classification of nonteaching staff as ‘non-academic’ or ‘support staff’ is ambiguous and unacceptable as the Registry had progressed far beyond mere clerical functions, and since a University is an elitist institution, only individuals of impeccable academic standing are recruited into the senior cadre of the sector.

The classification which is not only the most acceptable but also the most accurate in modern times, is Teaching and Non-Teaching Staff, he stated.

According to him, “indeed some holders of doctorate degrees have opted to work in the Registry rather than in the academic departments, adding that a University has thus increasingly become not just a community of scholars, indicating only the teaching and research staff, but a community of scholarly people”. He said that, this reinforces the preference for the use of non-teaching staff, instead of either ‘non-academic’ staff or ‘support staff’.

Speaking on the relevance of non-teaching staff in the University, the former ViceChancellor noted that, “the human factor in the operations of a Registry should not

be discounted or devalued.

ICT is, after all, as useful as the user makes it. In any case, the quality and reliability of records can only be guaranteed by human beings”.

Professor Banjo charged every member of the Registry to consider themselves a Public Relations Officer of the University because their schedule bring them in constant touch with the general public or with specific publics that they had to relate to, stating that their relationship with others and attitude to work forms a lasting impression of the University.

Reiterating the administration’s commitment to the training and retraining of staff, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Olusola Oyewole, disclosed that the Registry Lecture Series is a capacity building lecture aimed at broadening the intellectual horizons of both line and staff of the University with a view to improving on their input and output of the overall interest of the system. He assured that adequate measures will be put in place to ensure the sustenance of the Annual Registry Lecture Series and other capacity building workshops and seminars in the University.

Experts discuss strategies on proficiency in French language CONTNUED FROM PAGE 49 also expressed regret that the National Policy on Education (NPE) that prescribed French language as a compulsory subject for Nigerian pupils from primary four to jSS3 and optional from SS1 to SS, did not take into consideration the lack of teachers in French language.

“As far back as 2004, the National Council on Education meeting, which is the highest decision making body on education in the country, mandated the French Village to train and retrain teachers for the takeoff of the national policy on

French language studies in Nigeria. However, about 90 per cent of secondary schools in Nigeria belong to the state governments. Apart from Unity schools, the Federal government is not involved in other secondary schools,” he said According to him while, the NFLV had designed an accelerated programme for graduates of French, to address the shortage of French teachers. He said: “We focused on the WAEC and NECO syllabuses for the graduate teachers and thereafter they would be posted to schools while the French Village monitors their activities in these schools for

one full year, providing for their professional needs. The programme was to be for a period of 12 weeks only, but unfortunately, only very few states complied.

Tunde Fatunde, a Professor of Francophone Literature at the Lagos State University (LASU) maintained that despite the challenge the teaching of the French language in Nigeria, there have also been some success stories. “ French came into the country in 1961 and since then, Nigeria is the largest French language industry in Africa, including Egypt and South Africa. We have gone a long way and if West Africa

has finally recognized the leadership of Nigeria, that is partly because we have a lot of Nigerians since 1960 that have studied French and are working with French in multinational companies, military, immigration and other sectors”.

The hindrance according to him has to do with funding.

He said: “We should devote about 50 per cent of our national budget to education. The multiplying effect is there as no country can make it in this knowledge based century if it does not invest adequately in education, which means investing in human capacity”.

Former Executive Governor of Oyo State, Dr Omololu Olunloyo (left), Chief Arisekola Alao’s representative, Chief Lekan Talabi, President, Ibadan Foundation, Mr Lere Adigun, and eldest son of the Olubadan of Ibadan, Prof. Lana Odulana at the investiture of Arisekola Alao as Grand Patron at the Adegoke Adelabu Memorial Lecture, held in Ibadan, Oyo State on Tuesday.

PHOTO: NAJEEM RAHEEM

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

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Lagos Assembly asks govt to respect pact with ASUU

By Wole Oyebade AGOS State House of Ltasked Assembly on Tuesday the Federal Government to adhere to an agreement it reached with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on the payment of their earned allowance, which include work-load responsibility allowance among others.

The House noted that the agreement was to enhance the welfare of university teachers in the country, and “should not be treated with kid gloves, but as priority of the Federal Government.”

In reaction to the nationwide strike declared by ASUU on Monday, the lawmakers said it was disheartening that President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, through the Federal Ministries of Education and Finance did not prioritize the welfare of the university

teachers, while formulating the 2013 appropriation bill.

The Assembly blamed Federal Government for its non-committance to the 2011 truce with ASUU till it results into another round of industrial action.

In a statement signed by the spokesman and House Committee Chairman on Information, Strategy, Security and Publicity, Olusegun Olulade, the House said: “Granted that the N10 billion meant for the payment of the allowance was not accommodated in the 2013 budget, the Federal Government should go ahead and improvise the fund to ensure that the university teachers are paid without any delay whatsoever.”

According to them, “The option of paying a quarter of the money is not only ridiculous but an insult on the sensibilities of the lecturers as well as a demonstration of half-

hearted commitment towards their plights,” the statement reads in part.

The lawmakers urged the Federal Government to take a cue from what obtains in other African countries like Ghana and South Africa where university workers have no cause to go on strike, making their academic calendar hitchfree.

They also urged the government to ensure quick resolve of the lecturers’ grievances, adding that further delay would expose undergraduates to indulge in all kinds of anti-social activities such as internet fraud, prostitution, armed robbery as well as political/community violence and brigandage.

Olulade also urged university teachers not to foreclose the option of negotiation and dialogue when and where necessary with a view to reaching a reasonable agreement on the issue.

Penny international college wins science competition

By Gbenga Salau HE Managing Director of T Edilcentre Nigeria Limited, Dr Fernando Vega, has said that Nigeria’s quest to leapfrog into a developed nation would require conscious investment in the education sector, especially in the field of science.

He said this in Lagos recently, at the 2013 final ceremony of the Helmbridge Science Challenge, which was won by Penny International College.

The former University of Ibadan don, who was the special guest at the event, likened the fund spent on education to money spent on the foundation of a building, which is usually not visible.

“I believe the education sector requires a special attention on the part of government. A significant part of the problem is that schools

cannot find good teachers because of the poor conditions of service. There are hundreds of thousands of well-qualified Nigerian teachers, engineers, doctors and scientists working abroad. Many have emigrated because they did not find good conditions of service and recognition in the country. And Nigeria needs them more than the developed countries they are presently helping with their effort.

“Let me explain: A man is asked by a friend if his graduate son has got a job after graduating in the university.

The father answers: “No, he is only teaching”. For as long as this is so, we have a problem.

The country must make it a priority to restore the dignity of the teaching profession by rewarding the great effort required in teaching at primary and secondary school

levels. It is a country that has great potentials and needs to develop at a very fast. And the deficit of specialized manpower required will need to be filled by expatriates.

“Lacking good teachers, one could not expect good results. Behind the miracle of the newly industrialized countries of Asia we discover the long-term investment these countries made, and are making, in the education sector, especially in Science subjects. These are a key component of the foundation needed to create the specialized manpower required for industrial development.

Every aspect of scientific research and industrial development requires Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics and Biology. If we do not put the right foundation at the primary and secondary levels, the university cannot possibly invent it.

Ekpo urges transparent use of public funds at WAIFEM seminar

By Mary Ogar OR African countries to be Fglobal fully integrated into the financial system, and not to be considered a failed state, Financial expert and Director General (DG) of the West African Institute for Financial Management (WAIFEM) Dr Akpan Ekpo has called on policy makers to intensify effort towards setting higher standards of transparency, accountability and probity in the use of public resources by converging to the global accounting standards With over 100 countries mainly in the European Union currently adopting the International Finance Reporting Standard (IFRS), he advised countries in the sub region to fast track their migration and compliance to the new international accounting standards.

The DG, who spoke during a regional course on IFRS being organized by the institute in Lagos for participants in the

financial sector drawn from the Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Guinea maintained that migration to IFRS would enable businesses worldwide to follow globally acceptable common set of financial accounting reporting standards which would facilitate national business operations and ensure transparency in financial data disclosure.

According to him, the IFRS are a set of widely used international standards for financial accounting reporting systems including specifications and framework developed by the International Accounting Standards Board (ISAB) an independent accounting standards development body based in London.

He explained that while Ghana launched its adoption to IFRS in 2007, Nigeria however commenced the gradual adoption in 2012 and worldwide adoption is expected to be completed by 2015.

Besides, he warned that because economies within

the sub region are linked to the rest of the world it has become imperative that global accounting standards such as IFRS form the basis for accounting and financial management practices in the sub region.

According to him, adherence to international standard would engender harmonization of accounting framework and practices around the world that would further lead to evaluation of performances, adherence to best practices and comparison amongst similar players.

He said: “ One of the destabilizing factors of the global financial crisis was the procylclical amplification of financial shocks through the banking system, financial markets and the broader economy.

There was widespread criticism that the accounting system and in particular, fair value accounting significantly contributed to the financial crisis and exacerbated the severity of the crisis, in view of its failure to deal with illiquid markets and distressed sales”.

Cross section of graduating students of Avi-Cenna school, at the school’s valedictory ceremony, held in Lagos recently.

Benefits of good learning processes, by Koiki

By Ujunwa Atueyi ITH recognition that life W in the 21st century requires critical thinking skills and a sense of international mindedness that will put Nigerian children on the same pedestal with their global counterparts, Director of Greensprings School, Lagos, Mrs. Lai Koiki has called on Nigerian educators to adopt a learning process that affords students opportunity to question, analyse and evaluate the bases of truth and knowledge.

Speaking at the International Baccalaureate (IB) Orientation Seminar, recently held at Lekki campus of the school, with the

aim of examining the benefits inherent in the programme, Koiki, said that her in-depth study of IB’s learner profile when she first come in contact with it, revealed a missing link in the schools curriculum, thus the quick incorporation of the progamme into the school curriculum.

She said the need to prepare students with necessary skills to conquer the 21st century world prompted the school to adopt the IB learning techniques. IB learning techniques she further explained, affords educators opportunity to teach children the skills that will enable them access information at their finger

tips, evaluate it and discern which is relevant to them.

“It also offers them openness, critical thinking and opportunity to be successful in a complex world. Since IB programme is equipped with vast depth and breadth of knowledge, IB products are global citizens with very good local perspective as we also offer the students opportunity to know where they come from. With all I have seen so far and the outcome of students that goes through IB, I seriously believe that Nigeria needs IB programme for future development of her youths”, she said.

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Special Report: 21st Century Outstanding International School Placement Agencies In Nigeria (PART 1) Theme: imbibing 21st century values and attitudes while developing these factors into a productive way amongst the students”.

Mrs. Bola Agunbiade; Director/Lead Mr. Victor Ariyibi-Oke; Director, Business Mrs. Ebibomo Obaro; President, Maple Mr. Tolu Adeusi; Director, TG Marchnata Mrs. Abiola Anyakwo; Chief Executive Consultant, Avail International Consult Process, Metropolitan School of Business Education Canada Inc. Education Officer, Morgan Consultancy Services Limited and Management (MSBM– Nigeria) APlE Education Canada Inc. is a Canadian educational and immigration consultancy firm established in December 2003. The company is headed by Mrs Ebibomo Obaro, a Certified John residence in British Columbia, where stu- Skills and values for the 21st century: . Avail International Consult Limited: Immigration Consultant (R416647). Mrs Obaro is dents are supervised on a day-to-day basis (for parents who want their children closely superRegarding the quality of education, Mrs Obaro a full member of the Immigration Consultants of Best in International Education Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC). The compa- vised during their first year), Immigration stresses that Canada has some of the best instituny has its headquarters in Fort St. John, British Services, Summer education and recreational tions in the world, preparing students for the Placement Corporate Training, Managing challenges of the global labour market of the Mrs. Bola Agunbiade is the Director/ Lead Consultant, Columbia, Canada, with Nigerian offices in lagos, tour, Port Harcourt and Abuja. Its objective is to pro- Government Scholarship beneficiaries, includ- 21st century. The country’s institutions are fully Avail International Consults Limited (AICL). recruitvide Nigerian and other African students the ing their admissions and visa processing. Maple equipped with state-of-the-art learning ment agency based in Lagos. She possesses extenopportunity to acquire quality and affordable Education’s services also include visa documen- resources and facilities, she says, and their sive and practical experience, having been in the education in Canada. The company is currently tation for its clients, to ensure that they meet the degrees and other certificates are recognised all industry for ten years. affiliated to over 35 institutions (high schools, col- requirements of Citizenship and Immigration over the world. She adds that by studying in leges and universities) spread across Canada. Canada (CIC). The company maintains a very such an environment, Nigerian and other inter- Services/ unique selling points: We try as much as These schools offer grades 10-12 programmes, cer- good working relationship with the Canadian national students develop the critical and inno- possible to verify documents. Our duties to parents Commission in Nigeria. vative skills that they will need in order to com- and students which are delivered with high level of tificates, diplomas, degrees and post graduate High st studies, thereby meeting the needs and prefer- Why Canada: Elaborating on why Maple pete globally in the 21 century. Maple professionalism includes: advise applicants on ences of diverse students. Education Canada Inc encourages students to Education also assists Nigerian students to focus courses, support applicants throughout their on high skills, positive values and responsible Services: Maple Education Canada Inc. offers a study in Canada, Mrs Obaro says it is because the attitudes by providing them with comprehen- application process, ensure that students have the right qualification for the course they want, ensure country and its educational system offer several wide range of quality services to students, in a sive care and counselling, from high school to conscientious, diligent and efficient manner. advantages to international students. She points post-graduate level. For parents who want their that students are well prepared for their studies These services include the following: Academic out that Canada was ranked as the best country children closely supervised during their first abroad, keep in touch with students studying Counselling, Speedy admission processing, Visa to live in, seven consecutive times by the United year in Canada (at North Peace Secondary School abroad regularly, update ourselves on institutions Documentation and processing (Student Visa, Nations. She also emphasizes that tuition and liv- in Fort St. John, British Columbia), Maple and embassys websites regularly, always represent Visitor’s Visa, Investor and Permanent Residence ing expenses are relatively lower in Canada com- Education provides a Nigerian students’ resi- institutions and students in a truthful and honest way, ensure that applicants have the required origi.

Visa), Flight arrangements/Chaperoned travel- pared to other developed countries. dence. At this home-away-from-home, the stuling, Orientation and group tours for students on A further advantage, Mrs Obaro says, is that stu- dents are assisted to develop the positive atti- nal documentations and consequently, send genarrival in Canada, Support for students through- dents have a choice of remaining in Canada to tudes they need to excel in Canada, while also uine students to study abroad. out the duration of their studies in Canada work for one-to-three years after graduation and gaining a better appreciation of their Nigerian (including study permit renewals, work permits can apply for Permanent Residence after gaining identity within the global environment of the What are the basic requirements for prospective students: For undergraduates, they need five credand Permanent Residence application assis- one year of work experience in the relevant skill. 21st century. . its including Mathematics and English. For those tance), Providing unique facilities at her Fort St

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MAPLE EDUCATION CANADA INC: LEADING FACILITATOR OF ADMISSIONS TO CANADA

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Special Report: 21st Century Outstanding International School Placement Agencies In Nigeria (PART 1)

Avail International Consult Limited: Best in International Education Placement who are not excellent in English language; there is this opportunity to take an English test called International English Testing Exams (IELTS). Those born with extra talent and have done A Level are accepted directly unto Year 1 without one-year foundation programme. We accept National Diploma (ND) from recognized schools. They take those ones unto Year 1. For Masters, students must have 2:1 or 2:2. For those with 3rd Class, there is opportunity for them to do pre-masters bridge programme. This is a requirement that runs across most of the countries.

Insight into Avail: Avail International Consult Limited was duly registered as Limited Liability Company in Nigeria in 2011. We are saddled with the mandate of recruiting students for Universities and Colleges in the UK, USA and Canada as well as offer professional advice to students who are willing to have

quality overseas education on: available courses, duration, tuition , accommodation, visa advice and pre-requisites where applicable.

Our promise We will always provide accurate information about International universities and college programs to prospective students. We will maintain a good reputation and refrain from engaging in any activity that might cast discredit to our agency. We will provide a consistent level of assistance to prospective students in accurately completing application forms/ documentation, visa applications. We will counsel students with utmost integrity and accuracy and recruit students in an honest, ethical and responsible manner. We will not engage in any false, misleading or deceptive conduct in counselling students.

MORGAN CONSULTANCY SERVICES: ONE STOP SHOP FOR CANADIAN EDUCATION, IMMIGRATION AND INVESTMENT Yourprofile/services: My name is Abiola Anyakwo, the Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Consultancy Services, an international education placement agent as well as an immigration and investment expert. I am also Executive Director of The International Learning Network. I am a Nigerian- Canadian citizen. My education background is Law and I have practiced law for over 30 years. I lived in Canada for about 10 years where I worked with a business & immigration law firm and then went on to establish my consulting firm both in Canada and in Nigeria.

In Nigeria, Morgan Consulting Services provides immigration, education, investment consulting services to Nigerian and Canadian citizens. In the area of education, we work with a lot of students who wish to study in Canada, both at the secondary school and university level. We assist with career counseling, school placement and study permit processing. In the area of investment, we assist people who are interested in investing in real estate or doing business in Canada. I also belong to a network of professionals who offer legal, real estate agents, mortgage brokerage and other financial services. .

In 2011, I established the International Learning Network, a study center that offers a Canadian Pre-University or Foundation Program as it is commonly called in Nigeria. Students actually accredited Ontario Ministry of Education Courses. The motivation for this came from my desire to prepare children to study successfully in Canada. I was coming across a lot of students who had already moved to Canada but who were struggling with the transition. Education in Canada is an enquiry-base learning system here students are required to know and do. In Nigeria, many students are used to receiving information and simply reproducing it. As a result, they often struggle it the new learning style and the require-

ment to be independent learners. For instance, students at our Learning Center were involved in a novel study the novel was about a young man whose brother had died of leukemia, and who suddenly developed emotional problems and was expelled from series of schools. The Canadian school asked the student to pretend to be the psychiatrist to the man and to write his notes following a counseling session. In such scenario, it involves critical thinking and goes beyond reproducing the information. our Canadian pre-university program: It is delivered in partnership with a Canadian organization called Virtual High School in Ontario. It involves the use of computer-mediated learning tools in a classroom setting. Students work with Canadian teachers who are subject matter experts. Most of our students have secured admission into Canadian universities. It is a preparatory pre-university program for students who have completed their WAEC, or IGCSE’s in Nigeria. Students study grade 12 Canadian pre-university coursesPhysics, Maths etc. The courses are accredited by the Ontario Ministry of Education in Canada.

How do you imbibe 21st century values and attitudes into the students that enroll through your agency: We do lot of work in career exploration, guidance and counseling. We tutor students and work on their leadership skills, life management skills and thinking and learning strategies. Our career workshops utilizing a leading Canadian software installed in over 20,000 schools and libraries in North America. Students explore and see for themselves what they want to study as a discipline and we guide and counsel them. We verify their skills because the software would ask them over 100 questions relating to their interests and then, analyzes their career clusters. We also teach them how to manage relationships and how to go through a decision making process. Our Learning Center also offers after school, weekend and holiday pro-

grams. For adults, we are presently registering students for an online Christian Leadership Program we are developing with Tyndale University College & Seminary.

I have worked with students in Canada over the years and I understand the critical things required of them to ensure success. The tools for success are there. Students must understand how to take advantage of them. During our pre-departure orientation, we explain to the students the challenges they are likely to encounter while in Canada and how to manage the transition period. I understand the environment too well. My firm maintains relationship with both the parents and the students, helps them with their accommodation, visa processing for both the student and the parents, status change while in Canada. I have had cases of one of our students who got married and needed his wife to come over to Canada; we assisted him. We do a lot more for our students. We have a comprehensive package of whatever the students and their parents may need. We are a one stop shop.

From the wig of law to educational consultant: I studied Law at University of Lagos and proceeded to the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom (UK) for my Master’s degree in law. I have always has strong academic leaning and lectured part-time in my early days as a layer. Education has always been dear to me and I am a life-long learner. In Canada, I studied Canadian Immigration Law and Policy at the University of British Columbia. I have not abandoned my legal practice. It is one of the several things that I do. I love the law and still enjoy putting together transactions and reviewing contracts. Much of the work with Canadian immigration is based on the Immigration & Refugee Protection Law of Canada.

Education is a pathway to residency and citizenship.

Why study in Canada through your agency: I am knowledgeable. I studied Canadian Immigration Law & Policy the University of British Columbia. I am a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC). I am a member of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC). I am a trustee of the Nigerian-Canadian Business Association. I have strong professional and social networks in Canada & Nigeria and can open doors for my students. I belong to network of professionals who offer a variety of resources. I have offices in Nigeria and In Canada through which we keep close contact with our students even after they have travelled to Canada. I constantly deploy tools that I have seen my children enjoy in Canada. An example is the Career Cruising Software that we use for career exploration. Another is the Khan Academy tools that our students use for brain teasers. Above all, I love working with students and motivating them to accomplish their full potential in life. they have 1.6 children. By this, they are actually looking up to immigrants to build up their labour force and population.

The new target for immigration policy is international students.

That is why we encourage our students to gain valuable work experience while in school.

METROPOLITAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT (MSBM): BEST IN OFFERING PREMIUM UK MASTERS CERTIFICATE TO NON FIRST DEGREE, HND HOLDERS, OTHERS IN NIGERIA

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THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

Special Report: 21st Century Outstanding International School Placement Agencies In Nigeria (PART 1) An insight into MSBM: It is a United Kingdom (UK) School and was set up as an Online Business School. While for now, it is solely a Post Graduate School, it is expected that in the near future, Undergraduate Programmes would also be considered. The idea of having MSBM as an Online School is that Professionals from different walks of life can take their various courses without necessarily having to leave their place of work.

Masters programme being offered and duration: Summarily, there are two basic forms of the Post Graduate Programmes: The Full Degree Programmes The and Executive Development Programmes. The Executive Development Programmes are further broken down into 3 Forms: The first is The Abridged Masters Programme which is an Online Programme. Here there is the Abridged Masters in Business Administration (AMBA) and the Abridged Masters in Business Management (AMBM) with a duration of three (3) months and another one month to write the Project Course Work.

The second is The Special Executive Masters Programme which is a 5 Day Intensive Classroom Style Training which takes place once a Month at the Sheraton Hotels & Towers, Ikeja, Lagos. Here there is the SEMP Project & Strategic Management, SEMP MBA, SEMP International Business Law and SEMP International Human Resource Management e.t.c.

The third form is the Customized Executive Development Programmes for Companies which are Programmes tailored to the specific need of a Company who wants to further equip their Staffs who work in critical roles and need an intensive course to cover the key areas that drive success and profit in Businesses today! The Full Degree Programmes which is a Classroom Programme with a duration of eighteen (18) months duration has Programmes like the MBA, Masters in Business Management and M.Sc in Strategic Business IT e.t.c.

MSBM started in Nigeria in 2012, with the Abridged Masters in Business Administration & Abridged Masters in Business Management. By November 2013, the Full Degrees Masters in Business Administration (MBA); Masters in Business Management (MBM); Masters in Strategic Business IT, will commence. Currently, the Abridged Master Programmes (Online) in Business Administration (AMBA) and Abridged Masters in Business Management (AMBM) are ongoing. By the end of 2014, MSBM-UK will introduce into Nigeria, Abridged Online Master Programmes in International Human Resources Management; Project & Strategic Management and International Business Law. The Executive Development Programmes are a non credit bearing Programme. This implies that before you can proceed for a PhD Programme, you have to complete the Full Masters Programme. This is because in the UK, there is a certain amount of point required to be met by a student before you can have MBA or PhD. And so, the points for the Abridged Masters Programmes are not adequate to be enrolled into for the PhD programme. The various Masters Programmes require different points. It is dependent on your Programme Courses.

Unique Selling points: For the Abridged

Master Programmes which is done Online, it gives students the flexibility of time, so you don’t have to leave your jobs for classes. Lectures can be taken at your own convenience. It is cost effective and less time consuming. It is a good plus to one’s Curriculum Vitae at the work place.

For the Special Executive Master Programmes and the Customized Executive Development Programmes for Companies, these Trainings are usually taught within 3-5 days with a face to face Training by core faculty members (both from the Nigeria and UK Campuses) who have extensive experience and expertise in Global Business and Teaching Executives. These Programmes have an hands-on and practical approach that is worthwhile to Students. There is also the opportunity to Network.

For the Full Master Programmes, students also enjoy the above benefits. They have the option of finishing their course programmes here in Nigeria or the option of

going to UK for two weeks workshop class in the second year of their eighteen (18) months duration. At that two weeks visit, they will be opportuned to meet other foreign students from various countries and connect with them. While Non Degree Holders and Diploma Graduates can register for the Full Master Programmes, emphasis is on Students’ experiences. If you don’t have a first degree, you must have at least five (5) - seven (7) years Managerial work experience.

The 2013/2014 Registration starts now and ends in October as lectures commences in November, 2013.

What certificate would students be awarded at the end of the programme? It is UK certificate because the school is a UK based school but with a Nigerian campus for the lectures to take place.

Who is eligible to apply? For the Online Abridged Master Programmes, HND and B.Sc Degree holders are eligible.

Usually, you are advised to have at least, two years work experi-

ence because as part of the study, they will be discussing the work place. The whole idea of this programme is that, it enables people to be more competent in their place of work.

TG Marchnata: Standard In Foreign School Placements TG Marchnata (TGM Education) remains a leading International Education Agency in Nigeria with over 22years of professional student placement and visa counselling service experience representing and placing stuA-Level, dents into Foundation, Undergraduate, Postgraduate and PHD degree Programs at top and world ranked institutions around the world mainly in the United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada, Ireland, Singapore, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates. We are very happy to inform you that we still remain unbeatable

with our quality ratings still pegging us at 100% visa success ratings generally, despite the newly introduced student interview sessions accompanying study visa applications. We educate and provide career counselling services second to none. Our seasoned career counsellors are very familiar with the Industrial and International wave in the recruitment industry and business world so that our students are guided into career pathways that get them into top paying jobs in the industry of their choice or help in putting together franchise agreements for business start-ups.

Our clients enjoy inside top job alerts even back here in Nigeria. TGMarchnata popularly known as (TGM Education) is in the character of providing services that are beneficial to the Nigerian people. Our services are free of charge to student going to various study destinations in some locations such as the United Kingdom, United States, and Ireland amongst

others. All they need to do is work into any of our offices to speak to our counsellors.

Canadian Universities have now become popular study destinations for the Nigerian graduates. Now students can gain entrance into top leading Universities in the United States with just Waec/Neco results. At the moment we have achieved a 100% visa success ratings in helping our students secure their place and study visas. Our other interesting study destinations for International students are the United Arab Emirates, Ireland and Australia. There are a few scholarships open to Nigerian student looking to study in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States of America.

Please feel free to contact our office for more details on how to secure your admission and study visa also scholarships available for August/September 2013 Admission and November – January Admission 2014.

To participate in the 2nd edition, Kindly contact 08032189598

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THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

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BUSINESS 63

Elumelu harps on PPP for African’s economic development

By Taiwo Hassan HAIRMAN of Heirs C Holdings, Tony Elumelu has prescribed closer joint collaboration between the public institutions and private sector as a leeway to sustainable socio-economic development in the country, Africa in particular in general.

Elumelu explained that such relationship would ensure that Nigeria and other African countries build establishments that would not only outlive them, but also impact positively to the sustenance of their socio-economic development, beside adding values for future generation.

TheHeirs’boss,whostatedthis at the inauguration of Mrs. Eniola Fadayomi, as the 13th President of the Institute of Directors in Lagos, disclosed that most African countries’ economies are falling apart because their leaders have

• As Fadayomi becomes IOD’s first female president failed to incorporate and work closely with the private sector to build key establishments that would outlive them, add value for their future generation, and provide positive social economic impact on the continent.

He said the onus of building an ideal African economies rests on the African people themselves because no developed country is willing to develop another country in Africa.

Elumelu, who was represented by Mrs. Angela Aneke, said that private sector participation in economic transformation of any country could not be over emphasised, adding that key institutions within the country needed to collaborate effectively to build corporate governance and economy growth.

According to him, the role of public private sector partnership was strategic towards shaping the direction of the economy of any country.

“First in public institution, we must encourage government transparency in the formulation of all policies and we must support the creation of an efficient legal framework once that ensures that our judicial system is independent.

“In the private sector, we must uphold efficacy of corporate board such as the IOD. We must promote ethical behaviour across all sectors, protect the interest of minority shareholders and also strengthen investors’ protection policies.

“By actively doing these things, we are improving our competitiveness on the global ranking scale, increase the chance of our great nation in

the African continent as the next frontier for global business and world trade,” he added.

Elumelu, who is also the founder of Elumelu Foundation and guest speaker at the inauguration, explained that his company was ready to work closely with the IOD and its new president to promote the advancement of professionalism, competency, integrity and enterprise in the country.

“With the investiture of this amiable awesome woman as its President, the IOD has demonstrated once more its commitment to the advancement of professionalism, competency, integrity and enterprise. As someone who understands the value that competent and qualified women bring to corporate board, this

African Glass to expand production capacity with new plant FRICAN Glass (Nigeria) A Limited, the nation’s sole producer of glass windowpanes and louvers, has yesterday announced the planned expansion of its glass operations in the country.

The sole producer of opaque glass in Nigeria intends to set up a state of the art float glass plant with a production capacity of 500 tonnes per day in Ogun State.

The company and its European consultants have completed a market study in the last six months.

The spokesperson for the company, Uche Iwuamadi stated

that the $80 million investment would be the first step in their diversification into the float glass production to supply the Nigerian and West African markets.

African Glass currently supplies glass for construction domestically and to neighbouring ECOWAS countries.

The spokesman added that the size of the investment reiterated the lasting commitment of African Glass to the industrial development of Nigeriadespitetheconstraints on power and natural gas supplies, the import of material from China and the logistical

difficulties associated with both raw material supply and the delivery of finished product.

African Glass is an affiliate of African Industries, a diverse

manufacturing group with long standing experience in Nigeria. African Industries operates in the steel, chemicals, power and glass industries and employs a multicultural work force of 4000 people.

developmentisdefinitelyawelcome and positive one in both

wealth and socio-economic transformation of our great country and indeed the African continent as a whole.”

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THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

NigeriaCapitalMarket NSE Daily Summary (Equities) as at Wednesday PRICE LIST OF SYMBOLS TRADED FOR 04/07/2013

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CAPITAL MARKET

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

NSE Daily Summary (Equities) as at 04/07/2013

LOSERS

PRICE GAINERS

Oando posts N675.5b turnover, N10.9b profit in 2012 Stories by Helen Oji ANDO Plc, listed on both O the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) has recorded a turnover of N675.5 billion in its 2012 operations, up from N573.2 billion achieved in 2011. The company’s profit after tax also rose from N1.8 billion in 2011 to N10.9 billion in 2012.

The percentage increase in turnover was 18 percent while profit grew by 526 per cent.

Profit before tax, according to the company also rose by 35 per cent from N13 billion to N17.5 billion during the year under review.

Based on the performance, the directors have recommended a dividend of N5.1 billion, translating into 75 kobo per share.

Commenting on the results, the Group Chief Executive, Oando Plc, Mr. Wale Tinubu said “We are pleased to report our twelve months performance for 2012, in which we have taken positive steps in the implementation of our strategic focus to build our

diversified higher margin business segment.”

Explaining the performance of the divisions of the group, Tinubu said “in the Upstream division, we listed Oando Energy Resources (OER) on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) in Canada; increased our production capacity through successful drilling campaigns on OML 125, the

Ebendo Field (OML 56) and the Qua Iboe Field (OML13); we also paid a 25 per cent deposit of $435 million for the acquisition of ConocoPhilips Nigerian business, which will add 43kboe to our daily production and substantially increase our 2P reserves and best estimate contingent resources to 235mmboe and 237mmboe respectively. OES

completed a number of successful drilling campaigns on our various drilling rigs, whilst our 4th rig, is currently undergoing refurbishment and expected to be deployed in the 2nd half of 2013.”

He said the Midstream division witnessed a 35 per cent growth in gas supply, mainly from the newly commissioned 128Km EHGC pipeline

in the South East of the country. “ We look forward to the completion of our other midstream projects; our second power plant the Alausa Independent Power Plant (IPP), our maiden compressed natural gas project as well as our third pipeline franchise and the Central Horizon Gas pipeline in Port

Harcourt, Rivers State,” he said.

Regarding the Downstream division, Tinubu stated that the company remained committed to increasing its efficiencies and is in the final stages of construction of a midstream jetty in Lagos that will berth larger vessels and substantially reduce demurrage and lightering costs.

Shareholders’ group seeks improved regulations to enhance market operations PPARENTLY irked by the A huge losses incurred by investors in the nation’s bourse during the recession, shareholders group has urged the regulatory authorities of the Nigerian capital market to institute policies that would make the market more attractive for local investors.

The shareholders under the aegis of Association of Avid Shareholders said that this was important as up till now, a few investors who exited the market at the wake of the meltdown in 2008 were yet to return to the market.

The President of the

Association, Abayomi Obabolujo who picked holes at the seemingly weak regulatory activities of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the management of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, added that both regulators needed to collaborate on ideas, in order to achieve a desired world-class standard stock market.

He decried the situation where some shareholders who lost huge funds in the market were not protected by the regulators, adding that if this had been done, the market would have recorded

increased transactions.

He said, “The SEC and NSE are not doing enough to defend the rights of the shareholders.

This association is formed on the basis that it is only the shareholders that can fight for their right themselves. If you fight for your rights, nobody fight for you; and if you fail to fight for your right, nobody fights for you and things will just remain the same.

“Our target is to ensure that managers of quoted companies sit-up and do what they are expected to do. If you know you do not have what it

takes to manage organisation to make profit within the capital market, why not resign or retire? We want to ensure that Nigerian investors do not put their money in the companies and keep on recording losses.”

While explaining the strategy to be adopted in running the affairs of the association, he disclosed that Avid is currently targeting to have at least 1,000 investors in Lagos and more from other regions across the country.

Obabolujo, who actively operated in the market for more than twenty years, stated that what informed the for-

mation of the association was as a result of the way quoted companies are been managed.

He said, “How can somebody tell me that you are the manager of a quoted company for like six years, record loses year after year without keeping in mind the shareholders’ interest? But you keep getting your salary and other allowances, leaving shareholders stranded for years.

“Companies have been delivering poor results and nobody is blinking eyes with low or no dividend from good companies, high prices in some stocks.”

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THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

Opinion Notes on the current situation (2)

By Edwin Madunagu ASTThursday, in the opening segment of this Lifestations series, I listed some of the weapons and manof the power struggle now going on in the country. My intention was, and is, to examine them and relate them back to the central question: power struggle. Before embarking on this, however, I considered it helpful to start with a number of recent newspaper reports, opinions and editorials that are relevant to the propositions I wish to make and argue. I reported the Leadership’s stories on what the Senate President, David Mark, and the Governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu, said on different occasions on the power struggle, and an editorial by The Guardian on what Kuku, a Presidential Adviser, and Dokubo-Asari, leader of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force, said on President Jonathan and 2015. The present segment proceeds from there.

On Monday June 3, 2013, three weeks after The Guardian editorial summarized in the first segment, the newspaper came out with another editorial: “Regional ‘leaders’ and the state of the nation” in which the paper questioned the credentials, antecedents and patriotism of a group of Nigerians “from the southern part of the country” who “met in Lagos the other day to deliberate on the national security crisis and the premature politicking ahead of 2015 general elections”. The editorial saw sectional and partisan, rather than national interests as informing the conclusions of the meeting – appearances notwithstanding. This second editorial was even harsher in language than the first.

A “universal democrat” or a “democrat-atlarge,” not conversant with Nigerian history and politics, would enthusiastically endorse the two editorials. However, although I also endorse the editorials as general democratic interventions and acknowledge the patriotic spirit in which they were produced, I have a fundamental reservation – because I know Nigeria and I am a Nigerian. My reservation is that the editorials proceeded from a fundamentally wrong, though silent, assumption, namely: that Nigeria’s political class, the mainstream politicians taken as a whole, believe in the Nigerian Constitution and desire to play by the rules of the Constitution or even by the rules and agreements of their own parties. The editorials are

premised on the wrong assumption that the main trend or substantial trend, in Nigerian politics as played since General Olusegun Obasanjo became president in May 1999, is democratic, and that what is needed is to correct or defeat the marginal undemocratic and unpatriotic tendencies and personages. No. What The Guardian criticized and denounced in its two editorials is the dominant tendency in contemporary Nigerian politics.

In its Sunday, May 26, 2013 issue, The Guardian published an interview it had with Dr. Junaid Mohammed in Dutse, capital of Jigawa State.

Mohammed was described by the newspaper as “medical doctor turned politician, convener of the Coalition of Concerned Northern Politicians” and a “Second Republic member of the House of Representatives”. The interview is titled Mohammed: Jonathan merely playing politics with amnesty for Boko Haram, with the rider, Jonathan’s 2015 ambition will destroy Nigeria. I carefully read through the one-page interview (page 58) but had to re-read the last quarter. In that section Mohammed criticized the manner the Nigerian army was conducting the current military operations against the Boko Haram insurgents, arguing that what the army was doing – in particular the killing of innocent people – amounted to genocide going by the Geneva Convention. I noted that several people – inside and outside the country – had expressed similar opinion.

Two particular segments of what Junaid Mohammed was reported to have said, however, disturbed me. First: “… some of the officers under this Ibo man, General Ihejirika, are doing what they like because they think it is their turn to avenge what was done to the Ibos during the civil war. Ihejirika has already finished the extended period given to him. He is there to do a dirty job...” Second: “…If Dokubo or the Ibos who are now ruling the Nigerian army think that they can play with the intelligence of Nigerians let them continue and let the war start tomorrow, nobody is afraid of war. Only cowards make noise. Those who know the real implication of war don’t make noise about it and they do not go to war until war is forced out of them.

If the Ijaws and the Ibo army officers now running the Nigerian army and Ihejirika want a war they will have a war.”

I was disturbed by these passages, as I said. But then, I quickly cautioned myself that they are not the worst of what our print media report

from the “war fronts” and from both sides of the bitter power struggle now going on in the country. By the way, Kuku, Dokubo-Asari and Junaid Mohammed are not politically marginalized; they are not on the fringes of Nigerian politics; they are in the mainstream. This hate politics – for that is what the forces for and against President Jonathan are playing – is not conducted underground; it is conducted in the open, using the media, especially the print media and the Internet. Several national newspapers have literally adopted hate politics as editorial policy. The current situation reminds me of the last months of the First Republic (1960 – 1965).

After this rather long preface, we may now look at the elements of the national crisis – or rather, power struggle – as listed in the opening segment; and, in doing this, we may have recall parts of the preface. I need to present the list again. There are, at present, seven main elements and they are necessarily linked: The politics of Boko Haram insurgency; the crises in the central, regional and partisan forums of Nigerian state governors; attack on, and defence of, President Goodluck Jonathan and the Jonathan presidency; the struggle between office and power; the politics of combination and dissociation (around the country’s two power blocs); the resurgence and intensification of “hate politics”; and General Olusegun Obasanjo’s politics.

We begin with the politics of Boko Haram insurgency and proceed by means of propositions or theses: One: If, for clarity, we make a distinction between a movement and its organisational expressions then it will be correct to say that the historical movement (at once sociopolitical, religious and cultural) within which a specific organisation now popularly known as Boko Haram sprang up a few years ago is an old one – older, perhaps, than independent Nigeria. The specific historical conditions under which the movement was born and the conditions which continue to nourish it, enabling it to continually throw up organisational forms like the Boko Haram can be investigated. The specific historical conditions under which Boko Haram itself came into being can equally be investigated. But that is not the focus of this article.

Two: Thesis similar to the one on Boko Haram can be formulated on organisations like the Movement for the Survival of the Sovereign

State of Biafra (MASSOB), Odua Peoples’ Congress (OPC), the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF). The organisational forms listed above and similar ones not listed, as well as Boko Haram, are not the only types that had developed in the respective movements within which they came into being. There had been, and there are, others whose methods are not “militant” or “violent”. Prominent examples would include the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo and Afenifere. The irony or paradox here is that these “non-violent”, “non-militant” organisations are generally more resilient than the “militant” groups.

Three: The differences between Boko Haram and the other “militant” groups mentioned in the second thesis are: in the first place, that the former is more violent and aims not at obtaining concessions from the Nigerian state or its various governments but at over-throwing the state and establishing a new one – either in the country as a whole or in a substantial segment of it; and in the second place, that the Boko Haram developed in the period of global resurgence of militant political Islam which aims at liberating not a segment of the world, but the entire world. Hence its “internationalism”. Some prominent scholars, including Ali Mazrui, have linked the rise of militant political Islam to the “decline of socialism and communism” and the end of the Cold War. All I would permit myself to say to this is that the three “ruptures” took place about the same time.

Four: The debate as to whether Boko Haram has “sponsors” or not appears to have run its full course. There now appears to be a national consensus: the organization has “sponsors”. The question now is who the “sponsors” are. Fingers are being pointed at different (and opposite) directions by different (and opposite) groups. Accusers have themselves been accused. The Federal Government appears to know the “sponsors” or the directions in which to search for them; but it keeps the information to itself. But this we can say: We know from history, from logic and from social theory that an organisation like Boko Haram (with its record and credentials) must have not just “sponsors” (a term that chases shadows rather than substance), but big “collaborators” in the civil society, in the political class, and even in state institutions and security apparatuses.

• To be continued next Thursday.

Insecurity, a function of political leadership

By Ralph Okwor HERE is no doubt that Nigeria is currently undergoing a seT ries of instability emanating from many sources. Among the sources include political, religious, economic and ethnic crises.

The political crises are characterized by mutual suspicion, distrust, hatred, among the various ethnic groups, all culminating in unmitigated inter-ethnic rivalry, animosity and hostility.

Indeed, these manifestations of political instability had resulted in the destabilizing social upheavals, ethnic wars, attempted secession, numerous abortive military coups and threats of breaking the country. Since its existence as an independent nation, Nigeria has passed through three republics and seven military regimes. Nigeria has also survived a 30-month civil war, more than 16 religious conflicts, the June 12 crisis; endless transition programmes and the Abacha-should-continue syndrome. As if these were not enough, Nigeria has witnessed eight ratified constitutions, five by the colonial masters, two by indigenous civilian regimes and one imposed by a military regime. But, despite these destabilizing phenomena, the latest agent of destabilization currently ravaging the country is the impact of the terrorism being implemented by the agents called Boko Haram.

The perpetual existence of political instability in Nigeria since its inception as a nation-state has been portrayed through many explanations. But the perpetual existence of insecurity in the country is ravaging its citizens without plans for control. The consequences of insecurity in the country are reflected in many ways. Among the ways include countless daily deaths of human beings. Destruction of property of all sorts, disruption of academic processes in all academic institutions, disruption of movements from one part of the country to another, interfer-

ence of routine operations of governmental administration at all levels and freedom of religious practices. The situation is even affecting the country’s international connections. In practical evidence, there are almost daily kidnappings, killings, accidents, bomb blasts, gun shooting, fire burning of markets, shops, government offices, etc.

What is governing the citizens of this country as of now are fear, restlessness, hunger, poor or improper utilization of electrical and other natural resources in the country. All these cumulate to what we call insecurity.

It is my opinion that Nigeria is currently experiencing a devastating problem of insecurity created by corruption, terrorism, uncontrolled individualism, disregard of indigenous cultural heritage and the tendency in imbibing foreign cultural traits, etc. All these factors have put the country in a quagmire. It is my belief that an effective leadership is required to put the country back to the required goals of the original, indigenous freedom fighters who were able to create the indigenous independent Nigeria in 1960. The type of leadership that can create effective and enduring security for the country is that which embraces the qualities of a contingent leader who exhibits the quality of conforming to the qualities and requirements of followership, task situation and the leader’s style, personality and approach to fit the Nigerian society.

This writer believes that while the qualities of the leader is a critical factor in this exercise, it is also necessary and indispensable that the other two factors relating to followership and a clear perception of the prevailing situation cannot be underrated. It is the adequate dynamics of the relationship among these important variables that will bring Nigeria back to greatness. In other words, Nigeria needs a leader who has the qualities of some elements of trait, ability to face the impelling situations and capability to appreciate and adapt to the needs, wishes and

well-being of the followers. Such a leader knows when to apply some element of instrumentality (autocracy), expressiveness (democracy) or transaction in his leadership manifestation. A leader who combines these styles appropriately will provide good governance, which the First African Governance Forum held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, July 11-12, 1999 and printed in The Hard Truth Magazine, December edition, 2011 had recommended. According to this recommendation, good governance is: A process by which governments and people together identify shared values, needs and challenges, set priorities and development programmes to address those needs and challenges and jointly manage implementation of transparent and accountable process with shared responsibility for outcome that are responsive, gender-sensitive and broad based. This requires a climate of respect for the balances and full respect for human rights, with the expressed objectives of maximizing benefits to men and women for the common good.

Thomas Hobbes many centuries ago posited that among the major manifestations of good governance is safeguarding the lives of citizens. This is a strategy for good governance. The ruler or leader should be temperate and the laws he enforces should be just and wise. Good governance, irrespective of ideological leaning or inclination is the advocacy of service to the people.

The recommendation here is that Nigeria should produce a leader who embraces elements of trait and situation qualities (contingency) in order to be an effective instrument to handle the contingent crisis-laden situation and an expressive (democratic) leader to handle an effective leader-follower relation.

This is the contingent leader who can not only remove insecurity but also install security in Nigeria.

• Dr. Okwor is a retired research fellow/lecturer in the Institute of Education, University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN).

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

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Opinion Telecom: Risks, investment and fair profits

By Sade Oguntimehin RECENT declaration of two players as domiA nant operators in two segments of the telecommunications market by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has brought the sector under renewed public scrutiny of late. There have been a number of analyses and opinions published in the media, including one entitled, Impact of telecom sector expansion, written by one Abdulahi Umar and published in this column on June 3, 2013. This article, like a number of such articles spawned by the NCC declaration, was founded on a rather poor understanding of the issues.

First of all, it would seem that a majority of the critics firing furious darts at the two operators declared dominant by NCC are not adequately conversant with the intent of the declaration.

And this is somewhat curious because the regulator in making the declaration took due care to guide against misconception of its announcement by explaining that it was not a negative thing to have dominant operators in a telecom sector. NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo, said on the contrary it was actually a positive indication of the effectiveness, resourcefulness and strategic decisions of the operators in question. Additionally, it is a more relatable crystallization of the immense potential of the country, which many other investors ignored about a decade ago.

What should be the concern of the regulator, as Ojobo also observed, is the use to which the operators put their dominant status. Will the operators use the status to stifle competition or give telecom consumers the short end of the stick? As far as anyone can see, there is no evidence of that yet in Nigeria, and there is therefore no justification for targeting any of the two operators for vitriolic attack for simply investing heavily in Nigeria and managing their investment so well that they outperformed competition.

On the contrary, the operators, individually and collectively deserve every accolade they get for taking Nigeria from a position of fewer than 400,000 functional telephone lines in 2001 to the stage we are in today with over 119 million active lines. It is a feat worth rolling out the drums for every year. The most caustic of critics are forthright enough to admit this fact. The prayer of most Nigerians is that the success recorded in the telecom sector would be replicated in other sectors of the economy so that Nigeria can actualise its dream of being among the 20 largest economies of the world by the year 2020.

It is now easy for some commentators, like Umar, to make light of the contributions that telecommunications has made and continues to make to the economy. After all, it seems like ages ago when state-owned operators in the communications sector were veritable drains on the resources of the country. From supporting indigenous operators in the sector with annual subventions, the government today receives steady revenue from the current crop of operators in the sector in the form of taxes, levies, duties and so on. The only operator that openly discloses its figures, MTN, announced recently it had paid almost N1 trillion in various taxes since 2001. By the time the contributions of the others are added, we are looking at a huge and steady stream of revenue for the government outside of the oil sector.

Indeed, a study commissioned by the United States Embassy in Nigeria in October 2011 indicated that the ICT sector contributed 8.2 per cent to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2010, more than the manufacturing, banking and solid minerals sectors combined.

As a matter of fact, economic growth in the nonoil sector has been led for many years by the telecommunications sector.

Some analysts, like Umar, try to detract from this major contribution by alluding to the hefty profits the operators are raking in for them-

selves and their shareholders. Profits are a legitimate expectation of investors. The globally renowned management expert and author, Peter Drucker, in his book, Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices, lays the fact bare: an investment or business exists because of quest for profit. “If archangels instead of businessmen sat in directors’ chairs, they would still have to be concerned with profitability, despite their total lack of personal interest in making profits,” he says, adding elsewhere in the book that it is even in the interest of a community for its businesses to make profit. “A company can make a social contribution only if it is highly profitable,” he submits.

The operators that Umar is begrudging for making hefty profits have made huge investments and the profits they are making are commensurate with the level of investment they have put in the economy. If we use MTN as a case study again (it’s the only one of the operators whose figures are readily available), we would appreciate the kind of investment that the GSM operators have made to get them to where they are today. Figures released by the company indicate that it invested over N218 billion in network growth in 2012 alone and is investing over N270 billion in 2013. To put matters in perspective, the entire 2013 budget of Niger State is N83.8 billion, and Ekiti State, N93.6 billion.

In the last decade or so, MTN has pumped a whopping N1 trillion into its network in Nigeria. Surely, it’s legitimate for investors and financiers providing such financing to expect some profits in return. The huge potential of the country and the promise of huge returns on investment are some of the reasons that Nigeria was recently listed among the world’s top four investment destinations by KPMG. The exploits of the operators in the telecom sector in the last decade have more than demonstrated this. Their resolve to invest in Nigeria when other investors were scared of the coun-

try’s challenges, and their subsequent success in the country have showcased the immense opportunities in the Nigerian economy and sent more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flying into Nigeria in the last few years. With FDI comes the development of local human capacity and empowerment of the local workforce.

When GSM service commenced in Nigeria, there was virtually no local capacity in that whole area.

However, since then strategic skills-transfer programmes have seen the numbers of expatriates diminish steadily across the networks, as they are replaced with their Nigerian peers. According to an executive of MTN recently, local talent development at the company is currently at such a stage that Nigerians are now being sent to other operations of the MTN Group in and outside the continent to man strategic positions. This aptly demonstrates the point often made by experts that FDI is much more than the funds ploughed into a country.

Umar admits this much in his piece. His only irritation seems to be the propensity of investors to seek to enjoy the dividends of their investment.

But as unpleasant as it may seem, this is an idea that people need to accommodate if only for the sake of integrity. If an investor braves the odds of investment in a particular environment, he deserves to enjoy the dividends of his investment.

And the reward of investment varies from country to country, depending on the risks involved and associated challenges. Comparing the reward of investment in Nigeria with the reward of investment in the U.S as Umar did in his article is simplistic and misleading.

As a corollary to this, seeking to demonise telecom players who have led the so-called telecom revolution is wrong. And if Nigeria is seeking to reenact the telecom magic in other sectors, this is the kind of thinking that should be strongly dissuaded. A question to ask is, ‘When an indigenous company, NITEL, was the dominant operator, what did the Nigerian in the street gain?’

• Oguntimeyin wrote from Lagos.

Between Oritsejafor and Buhari

By Charles Onunaiju OR the years the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) was Fnalled by the venerable scholar-cleric, his eminence John CardiOnaiyekan, the umbrella body of Christians in Nigeria was unarguably the most moderate voice of reason on crucial national issues. Christians and non-Christians alike look in the direction of the CAN to analyze and proffer views on critical national questions.

For instance, in the heat of the 2007 thoroughly discredited election, denounced both locally and internationally, the then CAN leader, John Cardinal Onaiyekan echoed a widespread nonpartisan sentiment, when he charged that “heavens would no fall”, if the election is re-run. The ‘winner’ of the controversial poll, former president, the late Musa Yar’Adua, could not in good conscience accept the poisoned electoral chalice without remiss, and right at the point of receiving the certificate of return at the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the setting up of election reform commission, to make future elections less of a criminal carnival.

The Christian Association of Nigeria then created and promoted inter-faith dialogue, expanding the frontiers of mutual understanding and even respectable disagreements between the two major religions. Above all, there was a reasonable and respectable distance between the CAN and the government of the day. However, since Mr. Ayo Oritsejafor became the President of CAN, everything has changed and one would think that CAN, as many people have suggested, had became the religious wing of the ruling party and the government it formed at the centre.

I deliberately chose the word, religious and not ‘spiritual’ wing of the ruling party, because under the current leadership of the association, it has become too showy, canal and resemble any lobby group peddling influence and throwing weight around for the material benefit of its members.

The explosion of Boko Haram violence is a deadly wind that has blown no good to anyone. The crude and purposeless violence of the group has hit as many innocent Christians as it has numerous innocent Muslims. For the misadventure of the group, widely denounced by every right thinking person, whether Christians or Muslims, the CAN leader has made so much political capital of deepening the religious divide. He claims that the intolerant ideology of the Boko Haram is shared by the political

opponent of his political principal, the Goodluck Jonathan administration. His latest antics is to suggest and call for the arrest of General Muhammadu Buhari, a major figure in the emerging pan Nigerian political alliance aimed at kicking out the ruling party and their inept, corrupt regime.

Justifying the call for the persecution of the respected opposition leader, Mr. Oritsejafor desperately tries to associate him with extremist Boko Haram sect whose ideology is as reprehensible as it is unattainable. General Buhari spoke in a radio interview, which was the subject of Mr. Oritsejafor’s deliberate twisting. In the General’s elaborate interview to Daily Trust Newspaper, his position was very clear. The CAN leader and his ilks for obvious partisan reasons pretended not to see or read the more elaborate interview. General Buhari in the interview, recalled how “somebody recommended me to represent Boko Haram”.

He further said that “I told them the honest truth, I didn’t know who their leadership was and I still don’t know who their leaders are. I don’t know their philosophy because no religion advocates hurting the innocent. So, all those people giving it a religious meaning are wrong. You cannot kill a person and say Allahu Akbar (God is great). It is either you don’t know what you’re saying or you don’t believe in it. It is one of the two”.

A purported Christian leader choose to ignore the clearest denunciation and dissociation of a vile sect from General Buhari and held on to a deliberately distorted version of an obscure radio interview whose transcript is not even publicly available for cross-check. Such fraudulent intention and purpose cannot be contemplated by the Lord Jesus Christ who admonished that intentions would form the benchmark of judgment than public actions. Further implying that General Buhari cuddles the Boko Haram sect, the CAN leader left the impression that he is opposed to the military operation meant to flush out the miscreants. However, the General himself drew attention to an instance where he supervised the crushing of a similar sect, the Maitatsine. He told his interviewers “…as the head of state I flew to Yola and I went to the area where the operation was being carried out by the military. And that was the end of Maitatsine”. Insinuating that General Buhari was opposed to the military operation and was defending the sect was the height of despicable mischief from anybody, let alone a purported Christian leader. The CAN leadership whether as individual or as a group have a right to their political preference, perhaps depending on who ‘butters their bread’ but to drag the ‘body of Christ’ and all those who live by the example of Christ in their choice, is not

only wrong but sinful and would attract sanction in the hereafter.

Opposing the political style of General Mohammadu Buhari should be clearly different than tarnishing and tarring him through deliberate blackmail. One can openly disagree with his politics, where political investment of support may not be rewarded with things like private jets or huge contracts and that will be clearly understandable. But presenting and deliberately tarnishing him by presenting his views and beliefs with a purpose to scare-monger the public about his intention and purpose in politics is wicked. There is still no courageous opponent of General Buhari who has said the real truth that their point of disagreement with him is that the wealth of the nation should remain in the exclusive hands of the few as it is now, while the country and the majority of its people sink into the widening hole of misery and poverty.

Nigerians ought to know the truth that it is not General Buhari’s perceived religious zealotry that scars the governing elite to their marrow otherwise they would have no reason of buying choice properties in Dubai, the capital of the Islamic Emirate where a public hug or private kiss of an unmarried person could land them behind bars. The real reason to which they are mortally threatened by the prospect of Buhari leadership is that accountability, discipline and order will replace brigandage and the mindless pillage of the commonwealth.

The Ayo Oritsejafor led-Christian Association of Nigeria should refocus on the poverty and misery that is ravaging the Christian body of Christ, even in the face of unprecedented receipt of huge public revenue that could have been used to improve their condition. Without any slightest inclination to justify the cowardly targeting of innocent Christians and other Nigerians by the murderous Boko Haram sect, preventable disease like malaria, hunger, violent criminal activities and poverty kills more Christians than the violent Boko Haram. Grandstanding on the obnoxious and befuddled ideology of the Boko Haram sect as a reason to do nothing to the unprecedented assault of the Nigerian psyche by a regime of mindless corruption and incompetence is a complete denigration of the Christian truth. Christians should speak up and make clear to the current leadership of CAN that being bigotedly focused on demonizing General Buhari, a humble ordinary Muslim, without any special claim to piety, is not only diversionary but detracts at the heart of Christian values that our love should extend to others that are not one of our own.

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THe GuaRDIaN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

Issues in the news

Why we are reaching out to young African leaders, by Obama Concluding part of the text of remarks and answers to questions by President Barack Obama at Young African Leaders Initiative Town Hall at University of Johannesburg-Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa.The second part was published yesterday.

that we cannot solve alone — is the issue of climate change.

There are other issues: dirty water, dirty air. but the truth is, is that we’ve made enormous progress over the last several years, over the last several decades in the united states. and if you come to the united states, environmental quality is pretty good. and internationally, we’ve promoted policies around how mercury is released into the environment, and how other poisons are released in the environment, and how businesses abuse: We have time to take one last question from have to be held to international standards in terms of worker soweto. safety. Those are areas where the united states have been at the Obama: If it’s a really short question, I’ll give a short answer and forefront. We’ve been at the front of the line, not the back of the we’ll get two in. (Laughter.) Gentleman right here, yes, go line when it comes to those issues. ahead. everybody has got — you’ve got to describe why you’re all but the existential challenge that we face has to do with a wearing orange. (Laughter.) warming planet. and your generation is the one that’s going to Question: Okay. Firstly, my name is Han Dinkelman (ph). I’m be the most severely affected. Now, the united states and other nervous. (Laughter and applause.) I’m a student at uJ. I’m an highly industrialized, developed countries over the last 50, 100 honor student; also studied education. You said education peo- years have been pumping up carbon emissions into the atmosple should stand up. (Laughter.) My education is — oh, my ques- phere. and slowly, this has been building up and it is warming tion is we’ve got a lot of barriers in this country, and one of those the planet, and we may be reaching a tipping point in which if barriers is the amount of students in our classes versus a single we do not solve this problem soon, it will spin out of control person. and what I find difficult is, how does that one person and change weather patterns in ways that we can’t anticipate, stand up and control, in some cases — we’ve just come back with drought, floods, much more severe natural disasters. and from training — some cases 90 to 100 kids in one class? It’s diffi- unfortunately, in those situations it’s often poorer countries cult enough to carry 40 in my class. How do you carry those 90 that are affected the most by these changing climate patterns.

— I find it very difficult — and try to make an impact in their so I just gave a speech this past week on what the united states lives? is going to do on our next phase of reducing our carbon emisObama: Good. I think that’s a great question. First of all, I think sions. The united states actually reduced our carbon emissions it’s wonderful that you’re going into education. Very proud of more than any other country since I came into office. I you. (applause.) No job more important than educating our just want to make that point. (applause.) We young people. This is a challenge that we have in the united doubled fuel-efficiency standards on cars. states as well, and that is the issue of class size.

We’re investing in clean energy like soNow, our problem typically is that our class sizes are around 35 lar and wind. and we actually want or 33, and we’d like to see if we can get it down in the twenties. If to share that technology, because you’re talking about 90 — (laughter) — that’s a whole other level. we think that all countries need Now, we’re — I’m assuming we’re talking about primary and sec- to benefit. and part of the opondary education, we’re not talking about universities, because portunity for africa is to see by the time you get to university it’s — you better be focused on if we can leapfrog some of your studies. It’s not the job of the teacher to make you do your the polluting practices of work and pay attention, because you’re now an adult. but when america or europe, and it comes to young people, studies do show that particularly for go straight to the poorer children, the more one-on-one attention that they can clean energy strateget from their teachers, the more personalized instruction they gies that will allow can get, the better they’re going to do. you to advance ecoso the first response is, if you can budget — if a government can nomic growth, but budget smaller class sizes, that’s better. but not every country is not corrupt the going to have the resources to do that. and one of the things planet. that we’re starting to see in the united states is, how can you efso we’ve made fectively use, for example, teacher’s assistants in a class, who progress, but we may not be fully certified teachers but can break up, let’s say, a haven’t done class of 90 into smaller groups. This is also where technology enough. and can also potentially make a difference, because it’s conceivable what I did was that if you’ve got some sort of technology — a couple of laptops — to say I chalthat you can leverage one teacher into multiple instruction. lenge the The question you raise, though, makes me want to suggest to united states. my team when we leave here that we start taking some of the I said we’ve got best practices and some of the things that we’re learning in the to do more. united states and seeing if there may be some application we We’re going to can — might be able to start some pilot programs here in south start regulating africa to see if we can make an impact there. (applause.) our power plants Good. all right. Last question? One more. all right. all these more efficiently. folks have been so patient in the back, I don’t want them to feel We’re going to make neglected. so the — this gentleman right here, because he seems sure that we redouble our efvery eager. Right here. Yes, yes, you right there. (Laughter.) Go forts to reduce our carbon emisahead. The — but you guys can — feel free to stand together if sions, and we’re setting a goal to you want, but — (laughter) — I’m only going to take a question meet the agreements that we had from one of you. (Laughter.) What’s your name? both in Copenhagen and in DurQuestion: My name is sydney Mukumu (ph). I’m from ban for advanced countries that Limpopo. (applause.) Thank you. President Obama, I met you have a big carbon footprint. in 2006. I was working for the embassy. but let me make one last point: The President Obama: excellent. united states cannot do it by itself.

Question: Yes. I’m very much worried about some of united and the biggest emitter of carbon states international — I mean foreign policy, especially on the right now is China. They still have a environment. President Obama, today I want you to tell these much lower carbon footprint per peryoung leaders about the foreign policy of the united states on son than the united states, but because the environment. they have so many people, it’s going up President Obama: On the environment? rapidly. and Chinese leaders underQuestion: Yes, because south africa is facing the same probstand this. The same thing that’s lem. Whatever is happening in america, it’s affecting us. Please sending all the carbon into the attell these — this is your children — tell us today — (laughter) — mosphere is also making it diffiPresident Obama: Yes. cult to breathe in beijing.

Question: — just like people who are protesting outside, there so they recognize are people who are crying, and now you must address them they’ve got to here — come up President Obama: Okay, let’s go. with a Question: — and tell them outside what is happening. Make it clear, and then when you go back you will have a safe trip.

Thank you very much, President. (applause.)

President Obama: I’m ready. I’m ready. I’m ready. I’m ready. (Laughter.) I’ll see if I can make it clear. u.s. environmental policy is something that I care deeply about. as some of you know, I grew up in Hawaii, one of the most beautiful places on earth. and as a child, I was just taught to treasure what the earth gives us and to make sure that we leave it for the next generation. and obviously in a country like south africa, with incredible beauty and natural resources, that same mentality about conserving the earth and nurturing it to pass on to future generations, I think, applies here just as much as it does in the united states.

The biggest challenge we have environmentally — and it is an international challenge

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I think it’s wonderful that you’re going into education. Very proud of you. (Applause.)

No job more important than educating our young people. This is a challenge that we have in the United States as well, and that is the issue of class size new development model. India is going to have to come up with new development models — africa.

We’re going to all have to work together to find ways in which collectively, we reduce carbon but we make sure that there’s some differentiation so that countries that are very wealthy are expected to do more, and countries that are still developing, obviously they shouldn’t be resigned to poverty simply because the West and europe and america got there first. That wouldn’t be fair. but everybody is going to have to do something. everybody is going to have to make some important choices here. and I expect that it’s going to be your generation that helps lead this, because if we don’t, it’s going to be your generation that suffers the most. ultimately, if you think about all the youth that everybody has mentioned here in africa, if everybody is raising living standards to the point where everybody has got a car and everybody has got air conditioning, and everybody has got a big house, well, the planet will boil over — unless we find new ways of producing energy. and tomorrow, or the next day, when I visit Tanzania, I’m actually going to be going to a power plant to focus on the need for electrification, but the need to do it in an environmentally sound way. so let me just close by saying this has been an unbelievable conversation. I had a lot of faith in all of you before I came here; now I have even more faith in you. You guys are all going to do great things. I’ll be retired by the time you do them, and so I’ll just sit back and watch — (laughter) — and I’ll be proud of you. but what I promise you is that the united states government and the american people are going to want to be your partner for the duration of your careers. and I hope all of you, again, apply for the Young african Leaders Initiative. We want to hear from you about how we can work even more effectively with this great continent, because we see a bright future ahead.

I hope you’ve enjoyed it.

Thank you, everybody.

God bless you. Thank you. (applause.)

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

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For The Record Nigeria’s national security in an age of terrorism not continue their terror attacks.

Maiden Departmental Lecture Department Of Political Science Faculty Of The Social Sciences University Of Ibadan

By Aituaje Irene Pogoson, Ph.D

-Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia, excerpts of speech at the 13th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement held in Kuala Lumpur (20 - 25 February 2003)

To all victims of terrorist attacks And To God Almighty who ‘will neither slumber nor sleep’ as He “watches over the city…” and “works everything according to the counsel of His will” To Him be Glory, Honour and Adoration now and forever.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT would like to acknowledge and extend my heart felt gratitude to the following people : My Head of Department, Prof.O.B.C Nwolise whose strong leadership and goodness generate a good and enjoyable place to work. I’m grateful for the opportunity to present this lecture and for Prof. Nwolise’s constant encouragement, understanding, subtle reminders and much needed motivation.when the submission of the lecture was long over due. More over, Prof Nowlise’s insightful suggestions enriched the lecture.

I thank Prof. A .O. Olutayo and Drs. Rasheed Okunola and Remi Aiyede for their stimulating and valuable suggestions and contributions during the writing of this lecture. Their willingness to give their time so generously has been very much appreciated. Also, Maduabuchi Ogidi and Tosin Orimolade for assisting with the collection of data for the lecture and Benson Eluma for editorial assistance. Thank you all for your great work on this lecture. Your contributions made a real difference.

I cannot but also acknowledge the importance of the University of Ibadan in my life. As the first female lecturer in the department, I have worked with wonderful colleagues ; senior and junior who have enriched my academic experience in different ways. I honestly appreciate being employed in such a pleasant ambiance where I’ve been able to learn a lot. As a student, I received superb education at Ibadan and would like to thank my lecturers both in History and Political Science Departments for this. It was a most inspiring experience learning from them. Outside academic grounds, growing up as a child in the University campus was another learning place which in itself was one of the stimulating experiences that shaped my life and career and for which I am eternally grateful.

I especially thank fellow members of the Post Graduate Affairs Committee of the Department of which I am the co-ordinator for their incredibly hard work and outstanding contributions to the Committee. I know how much time and energy this assignment demands and I deeply appreciate your skills , attitude to work and all your efforts to make the Committee a success.

Thank you for helping me out. Your hard work inspires me.

I also wish to thank my dear family and friends far and near, and too numerous to mention here who have touched my life in their own special ways. Thank you all for being there for my family and I through some of the most difficult times in my life three yers ago. Thank you for showering us with your love, prayers and kind thoughts in diverse ways. May you all be blessed always.

To my parents, Mr and Mrs A.U. Oboite I say a big thank you for being the world’s best parents.

Thank you for holding my hands when I was learning to walk, for encouraging me when I wanted to run, for motivating me when I wanted to fly. Thank you for making every momemt of my life special. I am proud to have parents like you.

All said, to the glory of God, my special joy is that after the day’s work is done in the department, I have a wonderful home to return to !!! My undying love and gratitude goes to my nearest and dearest : my delightful and loving children and of course, my wonderful husband. Thank you all for understanding why your mum and wife have to travel so often and spend long hours reading in her study, and working on her laptop.

Having you guys in my life, gives me the

I

Pogoson strength to make it through another day.

You are the reason why I can wake up with a smile on my face each morning. Your love gives me the strength to fight against all odds and inspiration towards a better living. I love you.

And finally, thank you Lord, my God , Saviour and Redeemer for all of your blessings, for all the joys in my life, for healing and leading me through trials and fears to success. I thank You ;my Alpha and Omega for showing me the light even in times of darkness and for giving me the strength to come this far. Amazing love !!! It is my joy to honour you Lord, in all that I do.

FOREWORD Security is not just a sacred value for humans, groups and nations, it is the ultimate value.

Security in the world today has become a seriously endangered value.

Our ancestors taught us that it only a tree that will hear it will be cut down and till stand. An animal or human being will run for dear life to safety, while a nation will mobilise its defence and security forces to ensure its survival and continuity even if it means going to war.

It is for these reasons that security has become a value on the front burner of every nation led by leaders who know their onions and love their nation. Infact, the security and welfare of citizens constitute the primary obligations of any government worth its salt anywhere in the world.

Nigeria’s contemporary constitution actually asserts that the security and welfare of Nigerians shall be primary duty of government.

Unfortunately today, Nigeria has become the country where citizens are most endangered today. Apart from the dangers posed by corruption, citizens are daily exposed to the fires from armed robbers, rapists, assassins, thugs, ritualists, human traffickers, arms traffickers, cross-border bandits, drug traffickers, kidnapers, hostage takers, militants and above all, terrorists.

Dr Aituaje Pogoson, the first female lecturer in the Department, is today scoring another first, by delivering the Department’s maiden Annual Departmental Lecture. Infact, she is our Golden Departmental Lecturer, as the Lecture is coming up within the period when the Department is celebrating its Golden Jubilee.

The Annual Departmental Lecture series was conceptualised to complete the vacuum left after the University’s Inaugural Lecture delivered by Professors and the Faculty’s Faculty

Lecture delivered by Senior Lecturers. The Departmental Lecture is carved out for Lecturer I. Dr Pogoson commenced preparation of this Lecture as Lecturer I, but even though she has been promoted to Senior Lecturer, she had the humility to still deliver the Lecture.

She has diligently left for all of us, especially our political leaders, and defence and security commanders, a well-researched, well written, and well delivered mini-treatise on Nigeria’s security challenges faced with global Islamic jihad, with intellectual focus on Boko Haram and ANSARU insurgency traced to their international links with Al-Qaeda.

I commend Dr Pogoson for this very interesting, and educative piece. I must note that one major thing outstanding in the bombings that have rocked Nigerian churches, mosques, markets and military and police barracks etc., and the killings of gunmen is the very loud government silence over the fate of victims. The question is, why has the Nigerian government which has failed in its primary responsibility to provide security to the Nigerian people, also failed to show practical sympathy for the victims of these bombings and their families?

With the above, I heartily commend this piece to all, and welcome the reader to the thought provoking menu here-in. Bon apetit!

O.B.C.Nwolise Professor and Head, Department of Political Science, University of Ibadan, Ibadan NIGERIA Tel: 08037013069 E-mail: osynwolise@yahoo.com INTRODUCTION We live in challenging times…The world is in a state of terror. We are quite paranoid. We are afraid of flying, of going to certain countries, fearful of certain people. We are afraid of white powder, shoes, metal cutlery on aircrafts …We are afraid of Muslims, of Arabs, of bearded people. We are afraid of war, of the disruption it can cause and the uncertainties... We do not know how long we will remain in this state of terror. Fighting global terrorists is not like fighting a conventional war against a country. You can defeat a country and get it to surrender, sign a treaty and bring the war to an end. But global terrorists belong to no country.

Even if their leaders surrender there is no guarantee that other leaders will not emerge, that the followers and new recruits will

The above statement underscores the present challenge posed to global security by international terrorism. There is hardly any argument about the fact that terrorism now has a new face: a face characterized by mass suicide attacks and the use of lethal gas and weapons of mass destruction. We are witnessing a global development that transcends borders and gravely affects the security of all nations, hence, the focus of my lecture on terrorism and Nigeria’s national security.

HOD Sir, it is my pleasure to present this Departmental lecture, especially as it is the first of its type. Indeed, the conception and practice of a Departmental lecture is new in our Faculty, if not the University. We are all used to University Inaugural Lectures, until the Faculty of the Social Sciences introduced the Annual Faculty Lecture Series. Now, the Department of Political Science is introducing the Departmental Lecture series. It is my privilege and I am glad that I am the pioneer lecturer in this category.

HOD Sir, in today’s lecture, I am interrogating a discourse which, in your 2012 Faculty Lecture: the “Spiritual Dimension of Human and National Security” you recognised as being “critical to every living organism-security”.

Whereas in your Faculty lecture you noted that “Spiritual threats to human and national security are real, and therefore, there is no doubt that people and nations all over the world face different forms of spiritual threats to their security”, my discussion today characterizes Nigeria’s security challenge as part of global Islamic jihad and focuses on Boko Haram and ANSARU insurgency links with international terror groups such as al Qaeda or its affiliates as al Shabaab or the al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, (AQIM).

New developments in the international system such as the emergence of new states and new sources of conflict have greatly increased the importance of national security in recent times. Also at play are the increasing role of non-state actors in international relations and many other issues which have generated increased concern for peace and security. The situation becomes more challenging in the heterogeneous environment surrounding each of the modern states seeking peace, stability and security. Indeed, the threats to any nation’s national security are diverse and numerous. These threats are as much from internal sources as they are from external ones.

The nature of the threat confronting different countries varies widely over time. One of the main features of this current situation in international politics and security is the prevalence of international terrorism.

A contentious issue is how nations make sense of the world beyond them. While it may seem that geographical demarcations help to make meaning of what constitutes the external domain, the exact constituent of the external world remains ambiguous. Since nations are essentially imagined communities (Anderson, 1991), physical and geographical criteria may not be sufficient in delineating what is external to a nation-state.

What is perhaps also important, are the ways in which constituent parts of the nation-state imagine themselves in relation with the outside and the modes of affection and solidarity they deem themselves to have with peoples that may not share similar attachments to nation-states and the growing acknowledgement that in the modern world, the enemy or enemies of the national security of nations are not located in the internal domain alone.

The dominance of the geographical mode of thinking of and analysing security in Africa has in some cases produced a highly selective and simplistic interpretation of the African condition. Hence, the conceptualization of security issues in terms of abstract goals, purposes and priorities and the focus of security planning on the mode and mechanics of pro-

TO BE CONTINUED

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Sports Reps panel summons NSC DG over N3 billion From Terhemba Daka, Abuja HE House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts yesterday summoned the Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Gbenga Elegbeleye, to appear before it and respond to several auditor queries raised against the Commission by the Auditor General of the Federation (AGF) totalling over N3.085 billion in the 2010 financial year.

The DG, a former member of the House of Representatives, was earlier invited to appear before the Committee yesterday to defend the queries after several earlier invitations, but he assigned a Director, Mallam Mustapha Mohammed, a development that infuriated the Committee, forcing the chairman to insist on the physical appearance of the director general.

The Committee Chairman, Solomon Olamilekan Adeola ruled that the director was not competent to defend the queries, recalling that the same scenario prevailed when officials of the NSC shielded the immediate past director general of the Commission, Patrick Ekeji, from honouring the several invitations extended to him

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before his tenure expired.

The Committee directed Elegbeleye to appear before it on Tuesday next week by 1.00 p.m. and mandated the Clerk of the Committee, P. W Giwa to send an official letter of invitation by hand to Mallam Mohammed, who will personally deliver it to the Elegbeleye to avoid any further excuse.

The queries raised against the NSC, among others, include what happened to the sum of N3, 022, 643,033.23 released through the Commission to the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), which could not be verified in the latter’s books of accounts despite several demands.

Also queried is the 64 payment vouchers totalling N55.547 million on recurrent expenditure vote not produced for examination despite several demands, payment of N2.448 million to a contractor for the cleaning of all the stadia and security outfits without due process, payment of N4 million for a three-page paid advertisement, which was never published in any of the national dailies and payment of N1.5 million to a staff of the Commission for an overseas trip without the supporting document.

Jang preaches sports for healthy living, decorates Paralympics medalist From Isa Abdulsalami Ahovi, Jos LATEAU State Governor, Jonah Jang has advised Nigerians to embrace sports as a way of life, saying regular exercises is the route to healthy living.

Speaking during the Olympic Day Run in Jos over the weekend, Jang, who was represented on the occasion by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sports and Youth Development, Julie Ampe, said Nigerians would be more productive if they did things that would enhance their health.

The governor used the occasion to present the gold medal won by Roy Ishaku of Bassa Local Government of the state in the last Paralympic Games held in London.

Ishaku, a physically challenged sportsman, who is the current vice president of Paralympics Association of Nigeria, had equally won a bronze medal in Athens 2004 and gold medal in Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.

In the run, which featured

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commissioners and senior civil servants, the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Edward Pwajok said the day was a special day that reminded the participants that they are all humans, who should keep fit at all times, stressing that sports development leads to peace in society.

Pwajok said apart from the special day, he has been exercising almost everyday for his mental and physical health, which also boosts intellectual capability.

“So, when you are fit, you hardly fall sick. People, who are very busy don’t break down possibly because they are fit,” he said.

On this year’s Olympic Day Run, Pwajok said, “I will say it is below average and that is for understandable reasons.

Government set aside this day too to observe the monthly environmental sanitation. So, most of the commissioners are also busy keeping their environment clean.”

Nigeria’s midfielder Olaitan Michael (centre) vies with Uruguay’s forward Nicolas Lopez (left) and Sebastian Cristoforo during a round 16 stage match at the FIFA Under 20 World Cup at TT Arena Stadium in Istanbul on Tuesday.

PHOTO: AFP

Turkey 2013 FIFA U-20 WORLD CUP

Flying Eagles put up a good fight, says Obuh LYING Eagles’ Coach, John Obuh has said his team put up a good fight only to crash out of the World Cup in Turkey to Uruguay on Tuesday night.

“Despite playing a man short for half of the match, we fought a good fight,” declared Obuh. “The match has been won and lost and we accept the loss in good faith.”

He added, “our target at this tournament was not to leave the stage this early, but I hope the next coach will take it from where I stopped.

“What is very certain is that Nigeria is a football nation blessed with a lot of talent.

The players only have a focus and they will be world beaters.”

President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Aminu Maigari commended the fighting spirit of the team, urging them to not allow this setback affect the bright future that awaits them.

“We wish to commend your performance against Uruguay, but unfortunately one team has to win and another has to lose,” he told the team.

“You did your best and went out there to win but it was not meant to be. You should learn from the mistakes you made so that next time we will go all the way.”

Nigeria fell behind after 64 minutes when Nicolas

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Lopez slotted home after goalkeeper, Samuel Okani failed to deal with a free kick from the left.

Olanrewaju Kayode drew Nigeria level in the 69th minute when he let fly from just outside the box. And moments later, Michael Olaitan saw his effort crash against the side netting.

Okani pulled off a big save in the 56th minute and Nigeria created a number of chances thereafter before Uruguay regained the lead from the penalty spot through Lopez in the 84th minute after Wilfred Ndidi had fouled a goal-bound Diego Rolan.

Nigeria began to play with a man short after 40 minutes when fullback Shehu Abdullahi was sent off for a

double-footed tackle on Diego Laxalt.

It was a cagey start by both teams as they tried to settle down.

In the 16th minute, Umar Aminu created Nigeria’s best chance yet when he delivered a low cross into the Uruguay goal area, but there was no one to connect home.

Two minutes later, Uruguay responded when Gino Acevedo dashed through, but his final effort from inside the box was wide off target to the relief of the Flying Eagles.

Aminu then got a chance to give Nigeria the lead in the 37th minute, when he was all alone inside box but he directed his shot straight at goalkeeper, Guillermo de Amores.

S4TC Ogba Tennis Club tourney debuts ESIDENTS of LSDPC R Medium Estate Phase (4) (Scheme 4 Type C), Ogba, Ikeja, will take to the tennis courts this weekend to vie for honours in their maiden championship aimed at keeping them healthy.

The tournament, divided into two weekends, will debut on Saturday and Sunday, and also run on July 13, 14 and 20, 2013.

According to a release by the Estate Resident Development Association, the competition is an “open tennis tournament of residents and non residents to keep fit and key into the beauty of exercise as a necessary tool for good health.”

Egyptian wrestler suspended for allegedly biting Israeli opponent RESTLING’S governing W body says it suspended an Egyptian athlete, who allegedly bit her Israeli opponent during a bout.

Enas Moustafa Youssef Khourshid also reportedly disrespected wrestling protocol by refusing to shake the hand of Ilana Kartysh of Israel before or after their semifinal match at a Grand

Prix event last month in Sassari, Italy.

FILA President, Nenad Lalovic writes in an email to The Associated Press that “the Egyptian female wrestler was immediately suspended.”

The sanction prevented her competing at the Mediterranean Games, which finished on Sunday in

Turkey.

Lalovic says, “our legal commission will soon decide about the final fine” for Moustafa.

Despite allegedly being bitten, Kartysh won the 67-kilogram category match and went on to win the tournament, lifting her FILA world ranking to No. 2.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

SPORTS 73

Quadri settles for bronze, as Edem finishes fourth at ITTF African Senior’s Cup

By Olalekan Okusan IGERIA’S Aruna Quadri yesterday settled for bronze medal at the 2013 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)-African Senior’s Cup holding in Oyo, Congo Brazzaville.

However, it was not same story for Offiong Edem as she failed to toil Quadri’s line after she fell 2-4 to Egypt’s Dina Meshref in the third place match.

Like what he did during the group match, Quadri rounded up Congo Brazzaville’s Suraju Saka 4-0 to pick bronze medal in the men’s singles.

Also yesterday, Egypt’s ElSayed Lashin beat compatriot 4-3, while Congo Brazzaville’s Han Xing overrun Egypt’s Farah Abdel-Aziz 4-0 to clinch the women’s title. Lashin dethroned Saleh to become the new champion.

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Quadri and Edem had maintained 100 per cent records in all their four matches. Edem, who has never won the title, fought hard against Congo Brazzaville’s Han Xing in one of the women’s semifinal matches, but her efforts could not match her Chinese-born opponent as she conceded the victory at 4-2.

Like her compatriot, Portuguese league champion, Quadri continued to play second fiddle to Egypt’s El-Sayed Lashin as he fell 4-1 to the ageing Egyptian in the men’s semifinal clash.

In other semi-final encounters, Congo Brazzaville’s Suraju Saka put up a good performance against defending champion, Egypt’s Ahmed Saleh in the second men’s semi-final match but the champion in Saleh came to fore with the Nigerian-born

An instructor teaching one of the participants the rudiments of cricket during the SuperSport ‘Lets Play’ initiative in Warri…at the weekend.

Saka losing 3-4 to the Egyptian.

The second women’s semifinal match saw teenage Egyptian and defending champion, Dina Meshref, on the losing side as she fell to her compatriot, Farah Abdel-Aziz.

According to the Vice President, Africa Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), Olabanji Oladapo, it is clear that the Egyptians are ahead of Nigerian players in terms of quality of play, adding that with more exposure there is hope for the country.

“There is no doubt that the Egyptians are still the best in Africa because they gave a good account of themselves in the tournament. Our players tried, but I think we still have a long way to go if we hope to catch up with the North Africans. They are indeed out of this world with their quality of play.

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Lanson Champagne Brut and Rose pink variants adorned in Wimbledon official purple and pink polo shirts to truly share in the spirit of sportsmanship and pop up its unique style and pleasures of fruitiness, power and freshness in celebration of tennis stars, guests and celebrity connoisseurs and aficionados converging at the prestigious event.

According to the Chairman/CEO of House of TEO, authorised distributor of Lanson in Nigeria, Tunde Onakoya, Lanson is bestriding the stage at the ongoing prestigious Wimbledon tennis tournament in fulfilment of its exclusive partnership and celebrated unique style brand as the official drink for the championship.

“This year’s Wimbledon tennis tournament, which started on June 24 and will end on July 7, 2013, has Lanson champagne special attractive package and endorsement reinforced by the official Wimbledon polo shirt on display at Wimbledon throughout the competition.

South-South track and field tourney begins in Calabar

Supersport’s ‘Let’s Play’ berths in Warri

HE third edition of the T South-South Track and Field Championships starts

HE oil city of Warri recently T hosted SuperSport’s Let’s Play Initiative, a two-day crick-

today at the U.J Esuene stadium in Calabar, Cross River State.

The championships, which is organised by Cross River State, will run from today through Saturday and has been supported by the Niger Delta Development Corporation (NDDC).

Patrick Ugbe, the state’s commissioner for Youth and Sports, told the media in Calabar yesterday that the championships is open to all the six states in the South South region of Nigeria.

“The championships is for all the states in our region at the primary and secondary

et coaching clinic for children involving the Delta State Cricket Association in conjunction with Extra Cover Cricket Foundation.

The event featured over 200 children from 12 schools in the area, who were introduced to the game.

The first day of the event featured teaching the children the technicalities of the game of cricket, while day two was for practical training on the field.

The Chairman of Delta State Cricket Association, Andrew Orhorho, a former national team player, described the event as “the kind of partnership we have been looking for that targets grooming fresh talent into the game a thrust the association is focused on.

Lanson hosts Lagos Tennis Club’s Wimbledon night S the on-going Wimbledon tennis tournament featuring world class players keeps upsetting bookmakers with such results as the trouncing of sensational Serena Williams, the huge celebration of masterstrokes and hard drives on the grass court will shift to the bars this weekend when Champagne Lanson throws a lavish merriment for tennis players, coaches and technical officials from the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

Simultaneously, the House of Lanson in Nigeria courtesy of its accredited distributor, and importer, TEO Ltd, Lagos, is also raising glasses of champagne as special Wimbledon toast for members and guests at the prestigious Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, Lagos this weekend.

Lanson champagne has been associated with Wimbledon Tennis Tournament since the 1970s and is now proudly established as the “official champagne of the tournament.”

The Wimbledon exclusive banquet treat will feature

Edem Offiong finished fourth at the ITTF African Senior Cup, which singles ended in Congo Brazzaville…yesterday.

“We are delighted to be involved in extending the rare pleasures provided by Lanson for tennis players and it is significant to share happy moment with Wimbledon tennis prodigies in London as the proud official drink and partner,” Onakoya explains.

school levels while the elite leg is open to all elite athletes in Nigeria,” revealed Ugbe, who also expressed the state government’s gratitude to the NDDC for identifying with the championships.

“We are glad that the NDDC has come out to support our desire to develop sports in the state, the South-South region and the country as a whole, as well as, positively engaging our teeming youths,” he said adding that Cross River state is organising the championships as part of the training for its athletes under its sports development programme.

“Apart from engaging our youths in a very productive

manner, we are also organising it as a way of furthering the development of the athletes, who are part of the sports development programme initiated by Liyel Imoke, the executive governor of the state,” added Ugbe.

Some of the top elite athletes already confirmed for the championships include Soudi Hamajam, who was unarguably the best male athlete of the national championships last month in Calabar following his triple gold-winning performance and quartermiler, Patience Okon, who won the 400m silver behind USAbased Regina George at the trials also sponsored by Cross River state.

Golfers battle for car, other top prizes, as Parry Osayande tourney holds in Benin HE Benin Golf Club will T come alive next week when golfers from far and near converge to tee off the Parry Osayande golf tournament, which begins on July 11.

A former Captain of the club and Chairman of the Organising Committee, Dr. Mejuya Okorodudu said yesterday the four-day tournament was put together by friends of Parry Osayande in

Edo State and across Nigeria to welcome him back, after serving as chairman of the Police Service Commission.

“We named this tournament the grand master because that is the name Parry Osayande is known in Benin. He is coming back home after serving as the chairman of the police service commission.

“We are able to put togeth-

A caddie helping a junior player during a recent golf tournament… Friends of Parry Osayande are organising a championship to welcome Chairman of Police Service Commission back to Benin after national service.

er a tournament that will be of befitting to the man himself. It is going to be four days tournament because our cadies will have a day.

On Thursday and Friday, our local professionals and amateur will have their day and the members of the club and our guest will play for another two days. We are expecting large turn out.”

According to Okorodudu, the veterans and guests will also have their day because ‘the celebrant of the tournament belongs to the veterans club.

“We are expecting people from all over the country, especially from Abuja, where he served last. This is the biggest ever tourney to be hosted by the golf section, Benin Club.

“The introduction of first prizes of a Kia Picanto, Return ticket to London and Dubai is to celebrate a man who is unique in nature. He is a free giver and that is why we introduced the aspect of raffle draw. We went the extra mile to solicit sponsors for these prizes that makes it unique from others because he is a unique man,” Okorodudu said.

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THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

SPORTS

European Round-Off

I could see Rooney in a Chelsea shirt, Cech reveals HELSEA goalkeeper, Petr C Cech has revealed that he would be delighted if the west London club signed Wayne Rooney from Manchester United this summer.

The 27-year-old’s future at Old Trafford is currently uncertain after former boss Sir Alex Ferguson claimed the striker had asked to leave the Premier League champion in the closing stages of last season.

Arsenal and Paris SaintGermain have been credited with an interest in Rooney but Cech is hoping the England international moves to Stamford Bridge should he opt for a change of scenery but only if Jose Mourinho wants him.

“I could see him in a Chelsea shirt,” the Czech Republic international told Sky Sports.

“Players can change shirts and obviously he had a fantastic career with Manchester United and sometimes players need new challenges.

Sometimes the consequences are the way that you are looking for the new challenge and change of the shirt.

“So if that happened, obvi-

ously he is a fantastic player and he will be welcome to our squad, but now we are only in the moment of speculation about it so we will see what this week will bring. He’s a great player and you always want to see great players in your team.”

Chelsea has also been heavily linked with Napoli’s forward, Edinson Cavani, although Cech admits he wouldn’t try to influence Mourinho into signing the

Uruguay star or any other player.

“I could see anybody in a Chelsea shirt, it depends if Jose Mourinho wants to see those players in the Chelsea shirt,” he added.

“So I believe that he has his own ideas about the team, he knows exactly what he wants in the team. And as I said, now the transfer window opens and we will see what will be the movement in our squad in reality.”

ARIS Saint-Germain boss, P Laurent Blanc says he “loves” Edinson Cavani and revealed the club is interested in the Napoli striker.

Earlier yesterday the Ligue 1 champions’ Director General, Jean-Claude Blanc cryptically announced that les Parisiens was in talks “with a great player,” prompting speculation that PSG had made a late move to sign striker.

And PSG’s new coach has now confirmed their move for the 26-year-old, blowing the race for the Uruguay international wide open, with Real Madrid and Chelsea previously thought

to be favorites for his signature.

“I love Cavani, yes we are interested,” Blanc told reporters. Representatives from the Ligue 1 giants were on Wednesday present at an appeal against the French Football Federation’s (FFF) to impose a suspended threepoint penalty upon the club in relation to an incident involving Sporting Director, Leonardo.

The Brazilian was notable by his absence, though, but Blanc explained that the former AC Milan attacker was busy “negotiating with a great player,” who is believed to be Real Madrid and

Chelsea target Cavani.

Meanwhile, in a further boost for PSG, Blanc has revealed that he is supremely confident that Thiago Silva will still be at the Parc des Princes next season.

“My position is identical to that of President Nasser AlKhelaïfi,” the ex-France defender declared. “I had Thiago Silva on the phone yesterday (Tuesday) after and I can tell you that he feels Parisien now.”

Silva only joined PSG from Milan last summer but Barcelona has reportedly identified the center-back as one of its primary transfer targets.

I really miss Manchester United, Ronaldo admits RISTIANO Ronaldo has C admitted that he misses Manchester United and English football but insists he is happy with life at Real Madrid.

The 28-year-old Portugal captain has been strenuously linked with a return to Old Trafford this summer where he spent six-years before moving to the Berbabeu for a world record £80 million in 2009.

Ronaldo won eight trophies and scored over 100 goals in his time with United and while conceding he is still emotionally attached to the club, he is happy with life in Spain.

“I miss English football,” said Ronaldo, speaking at a promotional event in Singapore. “For me, it was one of the best years in my career when I was there in

El Shaarawy ‘never doubts’ San Siro stay TEPHAN El Shaarawy has claimed that he never had any doubts over his future at AC Milan - despite constant speculation of late linking him with a move away from San Siro.

It had been widely reported that the Rossoneri were considering cashing in on the Italy international, given his seeming inability to thrive alongside star striker, Mario Balotelli.

However, after showdown talks between the player and the club on Tuesday, Milan CEO Adriano Galliani stated that El Shaarawy would be staying at San Siro.

The striker responded to the announcement by tweeting, “never had any doubts ... always and only Forza Milan!”

El Shaarawy netted 16 goals in Serie A last season, but only one following the arrival of fellow forward Balotelli from Manchester City at the end of the January transfer window.

Blanc admires Cavani

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Rooney

Isco hopes joining Real will boost World Cup chances EAL Madrid’s first signing R of the Carlo Ancelotti era, Isco, said he hoped joining the nine-time European champions would boost his chances of making the Spain squad for next year’s World Cup finals.

The Spanish Under-21 playmaker, who was joined from Malaga for some 30 million Euros, completed a medical and signed a five-year contract before being presented in front of around 5000 cheering fans at a sun-soaked Bernabeu yesterday.

Real Madrid’s new player, Francisco Roman Alarcon “Isco” (right) with Real Madrid’s president, Florentino Perez during his official presentation at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid yesterday. Spanish international Isco has joined Real Madrid from Malaga on a five-year deal.

PHOTO: AFP

“It’s a great opportunity that is always in your head, and if I do things well here, I might have an opportunity to be in Brazil,” Isco, who will wear the number 23 shirt, told a news conference.

Isco, 21, helped Malaga to a club best fourth-placed finish in La Liga two years ago and to the Champions League quarter-finals last season in their debut campaign.

He caught the eye with a series of impressive performances in the European Under 21-championships in Israel last month, scoring a penalty in Spain’s 4-2 final victory over Italy.

The talented midfielder was voted by coaches the ‘revelation player’ of La Liga two years ago and he won the ‘Golden Boy’ trophy as the best Under-21 player in Europe in 2012.

He debuted with the Spain’s full national team in a friendly against Uruguay in February and is one of the popular choices to make the step up into Vicente del Bosque’s side after their Confederations Cup final defeat to Brazil last weekend.

Isco was also a target for Manchester City and their new coach Manuel Pellegrini, who worked with him at Malaga the last two seasons.

“I had offers from other clubs in Europe, but it is impossible

to say no to Real Madrid,” Isco added, when asked why he reportedly changed his mind from signing for City to join Real. I couldn’t let the opportunity pass me by.”

Isco will have to fight for a place in the Real starting line up but he was unperturbed.

“I have a lot of confidence that I will be able win myself a place here,” he said. “No one will gift me minutes but I hope with hard work I will carve myself a niche.”

There has been much speculation in the local media that Isco is a fan of Real’s archrivals Barcelona, fuelled by the fact he has a pet dog called Messi, named after Barca’s World Player of the Year.

While he juggled the ball on the pitch at the Bernabeu, fans chanted for him to kiss the Real badge, which he failed to do, and he deftly sidestepped the question in the news conference.

“It’s true I have been a Malaga fan, now I am the biggest Madrid fan there is. I will give my all for this shirt,” he said.

When asked about his dog, he replied to much laughter: “Yes. But I also had one called (Luis) Figo. It is nothing more than an anecdote.”

Former Portugal international Figo played for Barcelona and Real.

Manchester United.

Everyone knows that it is a club that is still in my heart and I really, really miss.

“But now my life is in Spain.

I am enjoying playing there too.” Ronaldo wouldn’t rule out a return to Manchester.

“Part of my life is there, but in the future we never know,” Ronaldo said. “I am really, really happy in the Spanish league.”

Cavani

Transfer Gossip FRESH bid from Paris StA Germain for Napoli striker, Edinson Cavani could force Chelsea to increase their offer for the 26-year-old to £53m.

However, it is also rumoured that PSG’s new offer for Cavani has put Chelsea off the Uruguayan, with Jose Mourinho intent on pursuing Manchester United striker, Wayne Rooney, 27, and Borussia Dortmund’s 24year-old forward, Robert Lewandowski.

AC Milan have insisted that 20-year-old striker, Stephan El Shaarawy, linked with a move to Chelsea this summer, will remain at the San Siro.

Real Madrid is set to battle Chelsea for the signature of Benfica midfielder, Nemanja Matic. The 24-year-old has blossomed since leaving Stamford Bridge in 2011 as part of the deal that saw David Luiz head to the west London club.

Gareth Bale’s agent says no offer has been made by Real Madrid yet for the 23-year-old Tottenham forward. (Marca TV).

Manchester United are reported to be “very close” to securing the signing of Barcelona midfielder Thiago, 22.

Meanwhile, PSV Eindhoven’s technical manager Marcel Brands says Manchester United midfield target Kevin Strootman, 23, has committed himself to spending another season at the Dutch club.

Arsenal is considering whether to make an offer for Manchester City and England midfielder Gareth Barry. The 32-year-old has a year left on his £100,000-per-week deal, and the Gunners would not be prepared to match those terms.

Liverpool faces competition from Champions League runners-up Borussia Dortmund

to sign Armenian midfielder Henrik Mkhitaryan, 24, from Shakhtar Donetsk.

West Ham and Swansea are battling it out for the signature of Vitesse Arnhem’s Wilfried Bony, 24, after the Londoners matched the Welsh club’s £10.2m bid for the striker.

Cardiff City are poised to make an £11m offer to Celtic for Kenyan midfielder Victor Wanyama, 21.

Joe Kinnear marked his first day as Newcastle’s director of football by arranging to sell midfielder James Perch, 27, to Wigan for £700,000.

League Two side Dagenham & Redbridge could make more than £1m from a sell-on clause if their former striker Dwight Gayle, 22, makes an expected £8.5m move from Peterborough to Crystal Palace.

Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester City are competing to sign Belgium Under-16 striker, Julien Ngoy. The 15-year-old, who has the option of becoming a sprinter, is not currently attached to a football club.

Everton are willing to pay £5m for Swansea winger Nathan Dyer, 25.

Crystal Palace want to sign Leeds right-back Sam Byram, 19, for £3m.

AZ Alkmaar has rejected a bid from Sunderland for United States striker, Jozy Altidore, 20, who has scored 31 goals in 41 appearances for the Dutch club.

And Sunderland’s attempt to sign the Inter Milan trio of Daniel Bessa, Alfred Duncan and Ibrahim Mbaye looks to be on hold until new Inter coach Walter Mazzarri has assessed the players. Bessa and Duncan are 20-year-old midfielders, while Mbaye, 18, plays as a central defender.

Wolves have agreed a six-figure fee with Bolton to sign Wales international defender Sam Ricketts, 31.

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THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

Djokovic sets up Del Potro semi-final clash OP seed Novak Djokovic T reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon for the fourth year in a row with a comfortable defeat of the Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych.

Djokovic, who has yet to drop a set in the tournament, won 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 6-3.

Berdych, runner-up in 2010, broke twice in the second set to lead 3-0 but made too many mistakes at pivotal moments.

Former champion, Djokovic will play Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro, who beat David Ferrer in straight sets, for a place in the final. The Argentine recovered from a nasty fall in the first game of the match to advance to the last four.

Djokovic warned the rest of those contending for the title that he was playing, as well as, he ever has at the All England Club.

“I am really happy with the performance. I am playing some of the best tennis on grass of my career,” he said.

“It was a very close match, it could have gone either way.

He could have won the first two sets, he had a double break in the second. I don’t know how I managed to go ahead, I don’t know how I turned it around.”

Seventh seed Berdych trailed Djokovic 13-2 in headto-head encounters before the match but beat his rival at Wimbledon in 2010, in their only previous meeting on grass.

The 27-year-old Czech pushed the world number one all the way in the first set, although he was unable to make too many dents in the

formidable Djokovic serve.

An energised Djokovic, 26, hit 15 winners and only two unforced errors on the way to winning the opener, which he secured via a tie-break.

But Berdych broke to love early in the second set - only the third time Djokovic had been broken in the tournament - before forcing a double-break to go 3-0 ahead.

However, Berdych allowed his focus to slip in the next game and was broken back before Djokovic raised his levels again to level at 3-3.

And with Djokovic bristling again on Court One, Berdych fell apart when serving to stay in the set, handing it to his opponent with a tame forehand into the net.

It was the same story early in the third set, with Berdych sending down two double faults to give Djokovic a 3-1 lead, after which the steely Djokovic managed to keep him at arm’s length.

Djokovic, winner of the men’s singles at Wimbledon in 2011 and bidding for his seventh major title, has now reached 13 consecutive semifinals at Grand Slam tournaments. Eighth seed Del Potro looked like he might not last a game of his last-eight encounter against fourth seed Ferrer.

The Argentine fell heavily on his strapped left knee during the fifth point of the game, causing the match to be delayed for five minutes while he received treatment.

But the former U.S Open champion eased his way back into the game and saw his feisty opponent off in surprisingly straightforward fashion.

Djokovic

Edmund eases past Jonny Kyle DMUND ended the hopes of E friend Jonny O’Mara as he won an all-British third round boys’ singles match 6-3 6-2 in just 48 minutes on a quiet Court 14.

Edmund played the better tennis, consistently finding the corners of the court with his returns.

O’Mara battled bravely, showing his fighting spirit by serving out to love the game after

taking a nasty-looking tumble near the net.But he was no match for the fifth seed who moved into the quarter-finals.

Edmund later progressed to the second round of the boys’ doubles - a competition in which he and Portuguese partner Frederico Ferreira Silva are top seeds.

They beat unseeded Swedish pair Daniel Windahl and Elias Ymer 7-5 4-6 6-3.

Teenager Harris out of Wimbledon SLE of Man teenager Billy Ipointed Harris said he was disapto be knocked out of the boys’ singles at Wimbledon.

The 18-year-old wildcard entry was beaten by ninth seed Filippo Baldi of Italy 6-1 7-6 (7-4) in round two.

“I was disappointed to lose today,” he told BBC. “I thought I had a chance in the second set but that’s how it goes sometimes. One volley (in the tie-break) turned the point for him and it could have been different if I had made that.”

Playing on a half-empty Court 15, Harris made a poor start and was quickly 3-0 down. He only managed to

Billy Harris

win the fourth game in the first set, but played better in the second, forcing a tie-break in which he led 4-2 before finally going out.

Harris is believed to be the Isle of Man’s first player to win a singles match at Wimbledon, having beaten Chile’s Jaime Ignacio Galleguillos 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-4 in his opening match on Monday.

He admitted he was not aware of the fact and added: “I am proud to be from the Isle of Man. “I don’t get back as much as I’d like and have been training in Spain for the last couple of months but it’s nice to go back and see everyone at home.”

Edmund and O’Mara

It was O’Mara, who had the early chances to make inroads in the singles match, taking Edmund to deuce in his second service game and having a break point which he failed to take in the next.

The pair shared several baseline rallies but, as the sun came out, Edmund’s fortunes changed as a double fault from the Scottish qualifier on his first break point of the match enabled him to move into a 5-3 lead.

Yorkshire’s Edmund then served out to love to take the set in 28 minutes.

The fifth seed cemented his advantage by breaking in the third game of the second set after O’Mara had become slightly unsettled when a line call went against him.

Edmund broke again to lead 41 before O’Mara fell near the net as he raced in to try to reach a drop shot from his opponent.

He lay on the ground for a short while and Edmund leaned over to check on his condition before O’Mara got to his

feet and, holding his left side, moved gingerly back towards the baseline.

Edmund won that game but O’Mara overcame the pain and served out his next game to love. However it only delayed the inevitable and four points later Edmund had wrapped up the second set in just 20 minutes to earn a place in the last eight.

Edmund has been driving O’Mara into the All England Club together from their base at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton.

He had jokingly threatened that on the day of the game he would not give a lift to O’Mara, who told BBC Scotland: “He drove me here today. He went straight there though he didn’t drop me off somewhere in Birmingham or anything!”

O’Mara admitted Edmund had deserved to win, adding: “It was close in the first set, there wasn’t much between us and then in the second set he was far too good and there was not much I could do.”

Last Britons in doubles beaten RITAIN’S interest in this B year’s Wimbledon doubles is over after Dominic Inglot and Johanna Konta went out of the mixed competition in round two.

The home hopefuls were beaten 3-6 6-3 6-4 by Daniel Nestor and Kristina Mladenovic in a late-night encounter which ended at 21:06 BST on Court 18.

With the match poised at a set apiece, Nestor asked for play to be suspended but his request was refused. And he benefitted from the decision as he and Mladenovic wrapped up victory.

The Britons gained the advantage in the first set when Konta poached two winners at the net to break Mladenovic’s serve for a 5-3 lead and Inglot served out the set.

The eighth seeds hit back in the second set by breaking Konta’s serve to go 3-1 ahead and that was enough to level the match. The supervisor was then called after Nestor wanted to stop but she said it

was too early for play to be halted.

Inglot faced a break point in the first game of the decider but rescued it with a 125mph ace. He then faced three further break points in

Inglot and Konta

the fifth game but saved all of those - two of them with more booming aces - before holding.

However, in the wildcard team’s next service game from Konta, four break

points were saved before a fifth was claimed by the Canadian/French pairing to put them 4-3 ahead.

The match ended in the gathering gloom as Nestor served out to love.

76

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

77

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

78 SPORTS

European Round-up

Puyol rules out retirement Barcelona LnotONG-SERVING Captain, Carles Puyol is ready to retire, despite injuries putting his career in jeopardy last season.

Puyol missed a large part of Barcelona’s title-winning campaign with a knee injury that required a fourth operation.

The problem continues to hang over the 35-year-old as he prepares to return to training for pre-season, but he is determined to prove his worth.

Puyol only signed a new deal midway through last season - which runs out in June 2016 - and he believes he could yet play for Barca beyond that date, when he would be 38.

“Now is not the time. I will not retire,” he said in an interview with El Mundo Deportivo.”Right now I feel I want to fulfil my contract and, if I can, make it longer.”

Puyol did reveal, however, that he could call time on his Spain career if it meant extending his spell at Nou Camp.

The defender, who has won 100 Spain caps, is set to hold talks with national team coach Vicente Del Bosque over his international future.

“I have a good relationship

with Del Bosque and will not take a final decision or say anything until I talk to the coach,” he said.

“My goal now is to recover from the knee injury and then next season, we’ll see. I always take the best decision for Barcelona.”

Speaking about his recovery from knee surgery, he

added, “I am recovering slowly but progressing very well.

“This operation is not like the others, the post-operative period is more painful but the recovery is faster.

“My idea is to train on the first day of pre-season, though maybe not with the group at first.”

Puyol

Rooney’s United talks on hold Cassano AYNE Rooney has left W Manchester United’s training ground - and is reportedly yet to hold talks with manager David Moyes over his future.

Rooney, back at Carrington yesterday after his summer break, was due to have medical tests and stayed for just over three hours before departing.

Moyes was also on site in his third day as United manager and it is understood he and Rooney are still planning to meet on Wednesday or at the latest today.

Rooney verbally requested a transfer in May, according to outgoing boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, and Chelsea, Arsenal and Paris St Germain have all been linked with a summer move for the player.

But Rooney is yet to comment publicly on the speculation amid reports he disputes Ferguson’s version of events.

A previous transfer request in the autumn of 2010 ended with Rooney signing a new deal at Old Trafford and helping the club to the Premier League title later that season.

But Ferguson’s former assis-

tant, Mike Phelan, who left United earlier this summer, has questioned whether the 27-year-old really wants to stay this time.

He said, “Wayne is at the greatest club you can be at.

“Why would you want to jeopardise that, unless you want a fresh challenge and you feel that challenge isn’t being met at Manchester United?”

Sky Sports expert, Gary Neville has also this week warned Rooney against quitting Manchester United during the transfer window.

Neville said in an interview with Talksport, “I played with Wayne for many years. He’s a fantastic footballer.

“Personally, with my allegiances, I’d never recommend anyone leave United, because I believe it is a great stage to play football and you can achieve what you want there.”

Neville added, “I’ve seen David Beckham and other big players leave United and it really is something that comes down to the individual and the club.

“I’ve seen Ryan Giggs, when he was 27, linked to Inter Milan, Juventus and AC Milan and stay.”

joins Parma ARMA has completed the P signing of Italy striker, Antonio Cassano from Inter Milan on undisclosed terms.

The 30-year-old former Roma, Real Madrid and Sampdoria striker, who will be unveiled in the Ducale city today, will wear the number 99 shirt at the Stadio Ennio Tardini.

A statement published on fcparma.com read: “Parma can announce the signing of Antonio Cassano from Inter with some satisfaction and officially welcome the player into the Gialloblu family.”

Parma’s Algeria-born striker, Ishak Belfodil is expected to move to San Siro as part of the deal, although the Nerazzurri are yet to confirm any exchange deal.

Cassano, who has signed a reported three-year contract, scored eight goals in all competitions for Inter during the 2012-13 Serie A campaign after switching allegiances from AC Milan in August.

The Bari-born forward has played 35 times for Italy, scoring 10 goals, and underwent minor heart surgery in 2011.

Greensprings School hosts KHF coaching course HE state-of-the art sports T facility of Greensprings School in Lagos will host the maiden Kanu Heart Foundation (KHF) coaching course.

The five-day exercise will commence today with top coaches from the Royal Netherlands Football Association tutoring 30 Nigerian coaches.

In a statement signed by

the coordinator, KHF, Onyebuchi Abia, the coaches are to be tutored on the topics like principles of training, reading the game, technique insight and communication.

Other topics include tasks and functions, life skills, as well as, criteria for age group training.

It will be recalled that the course was last held in

South Africa in May, with former Super Eagles captain, Nwankwo Kanu among the legends that featured in the two legendary matches played at Cape Town and Johannesburg.

According to Kanu, the course is part of his modest way on improving the coaching skills and mental ability of Nigerian coaches.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, July 4, 2013

SPORTS 79

Veronica Campbell-Brown (centre) competes in a recent international athletics championship.

Jamaica’s Campbell-Brown likely to receive six-month doping ban sprinter, JwillAMAICAN Veronica Campbell-Brown • Medallist ran with cancer at London Olympics avoid the standard twoyear ban after testing positive for a reported banned diuretic in May, sources told the Times of London.

The report meshes well with previous remarks from the IAAF that Campbell-Brown’s case, which is ongoing, appears to involve a “lesser” offense, that she did not use the substance, reported to be Lasix (furosemide), to cheat, despite its ability to act as a masking agent for performance-enhancing drugs.

Campbell-Brown, a seventime Olympic medalist and two-time 200-meter cham-

pion, is under a provisional suspension by Jamaica’s athletics federation, whose disciplinary panel is handling the case.

A reduced ban from two years can vary. It can be as little as a public warning.

She has not commented since her positive test was first reported June 14.

If Campbell-Brown receives a six-month suspension, it will draw comparisons to a ban given to fellow Jamaican Olympic champion sprinter, ShellyAnn Fraser-Pryce, in 2009.

Fraser-Pryce tested positive for Oxycodone, but her ban was reduced to six months after her explanation that she took the banned painkiller to treat a toothache.

Jamaica’s top 400-meter runner revealed publicly that she was diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago in an interview with the Daily Mail.

Meanwhile, Novlene Williams-Mills, a 2004 University of Florida graduate, was told she had cancer on June 25, 2012, according

to the report.

“It feels like your own body has betrayed you, like I’ve been stabbed,” she told the Daily Mail. “I’m an athlete. I work out, I train. It can’t be possible.”

She won the Jamaican trials six days later and then finished fifth in the Olympic 400-meter final and bagged her third straight bronze medal in the 4×400-meter relay.

“Was it crazy? Yes,” she told the Daily Mail.

“That’s everybody’s dream, to run at the Olympics. But I

was thinking about my hurdles that I have to come back to fight. I was thinking: ‘Am I going to survive this?’

“My teammates in the relay did not know. But I was standing on the podium, and I didn’t know if I would ever run another race.”

Three days after the Games surgeons removed a small lump in her breast.

She then had a double mastectomy, a further operation to cut out the remaining cancerous cells and reconstructive surgery. Her final operation was on January 18.

Williams-Mills compared her struggle to that of

actress Angelina Jolie, who also underwent a preventive double mastectomy, an operation, which removes all or part of breasts.

It reduced her future risk of cancer from 99 per cent to maybe three percent, she told the Daily Mail.

Williams-Mills returned to competition four months after that final operation.

She won her seventh Jamaican 400-meter title on June 23, booking her place at August’s world championships in Moscow. The 2007 world bronze medalist is still a medal threat. Her season’s best of 50.01 makes her the fifth-fastest woman this year.

“I’m still one of the top 400m runners in the world and I want to see what I can do,” she told the Daily Mail.

“Moscow will be for all the breast cancer survivors out there. I want them to know it’s still possible.”

Murray survives Verdasco at Wimbledon RITISH number one, Andy B Murray kept his hopes of winning Wimbledon alive

Murray

with a dramatic five-set win over Fernando Verdasco on Centre Court.

Murray, the second seed, fought back to beat the Spaniard 4-6 3-6 6-1 6-4 7-5 and reach the semi-finals for the fifth year in a row.

The Scot, 26, had looked like joining Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal as the latest victim of a huge upset, but battled through in three hours and 27 minutes.

He moves on to face 24th seed Jerzy Janowicz in Friday’s semi-finals, after the Pole beat his compatriot Lukasz Kubot 7-5 6-4 6-4 on Court One.

Murray can still take advantage of an unexpected path to the final, but he produced an uncertain performance in the face of some heavy hitting from Verdasco.

The Spaniard, 29, made plenty of errors off his favoured forehand but kept the Scot on the defensive, fending off two break points in the first set with some good serving.

Murray was increasingly under pressure on his second serve, and in an edgy 10th game it came as no great surprise when he handed over the set with a double fault.

It was a poor start but the threat seemed to have been averted when Murray broke at 1-1 in the second, only for

the Briton to give up his advantage with a dreadful sixth game.

Verdasco did superbly to return a smash but Murray should have done better than dump his volley in the net, and backhand and forehand errors followed.

Things got considerably worse when two desperate Murray forehands landed in the net, and Verdasco benefited from an unplayable net cord to break once again, making it five games in a row as he took a two-set lead.

With victory suddenly in sight, the former world number seven faltered and the errors flowed from his forehand, allowing Murray to

break in game two and gain some breathing space.

He powered through the set in 31 minutes, his serve starting to crank into gear, and it came to his rescue four times as Verdasco pushed hard for the break in the fourth set.

Murray was clinging on, but he made the decisive move at 3-3 when Verdasco hammered a forehand long, and the crowd erupted as they headed into a fifth.

Tension gripped the spectators and players alike, Murray reacting badly to a camera flash while serving at 4-3 down, but he stayed on terms with the more aggressive Spaniard and finally broke him down at 5-5 in the

TheGuardian

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

By Michael Ebbi URRENTLY ranked 36th by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a critical appraisal of the Nigerian economy suggests a state of contradictions. Growth was recently accounted at seven per cent in the first half of the year, hugely driven by the agricultural sector. However, this is not reflected in the living standards of the vast majority of Nigerians. Given this country’s vast reserves of mineral and natural resources, a large proportion of the population is stuck in a poverty trap. “Poverty trap is a self-perpetuating condition where a country caught up in a vicious cycle suffers from continuous underdevelopment”.

Power (electricity) is a major driver of industrial growth and development in virtually all sectors of the economy. The parlous state of the power sector is a far cry from what is experienced outside our shores. It’s no news that Nigeria still suffers from power instability even when we have the capacity to generate electricity. The question then is: “Of what effect is this to the economy?” The current power situation is becoming increasingly worrisome for small scale businesses and households.

Yes, solar energy and other forms of energy are alternative sources but how many Nigerians can afford these options.

Nigerians, who have a deserved reputation for being industrious and enduring, have been dragged into this vicious cycle by the nature of governance. Take the case of an average cold room operator who requires constant electricity to ice her commodities. Depending on authorised power regulators would threaten the existence of the business and most likely threaten her source of livelihood. To sustain her business, she has to purchase an electricity generating set. These generators do not only increase liability, they are a source

C

By Ewonro Amune HEN labour union strikes, the government is held on a temporary standstill, but this “W strike is usually finally resolved. When teachers strike, the pupils and students are forced to stay at home, yet this strike is usually finally resolved.

When a strike occurs in any human endeavour, this strike is eventually resolved. But when old age strikes, can any man resolve it?

One day I was in a bus on my way to see a friend of mine. As we went along, the bus stopped for an old man to enter. He was talking to a young lady whom I guessed to be in her early thirties, one you could easily guess to be his grand-daughter.

The young lady tried to help him inside the bus as she held his hand while he smiled. She called him Epa (pronounced Hey Pa) - a word used to address elderly people in Benin dialect) in a lighthearted manner, but one that was not uttered in pity.

This old man was wearing a white-cap-turnedbrown, with blue-lace native African attire.

Through the holes of the lace material, you could see his white singlet, which now brown, reminded me of my late grandfather who was a great farmer.

Although my grandfather had so many singlet’s and clothes which were sent to him by his children who were my uncles, aunties, including my mum, he chose to wear the brown ones, those that I guessed he bought himself. Perhaps, he did not want his less privileged friends to feel distant from him because he had more clothes than they did. Back then in my home town, kinship and kindred spirit was valued more than mere physical possessions.

For what would seem like one or two minutes, everyone waited as this old man struggled to enter into the bus. You could also see that he did not wish anyone to help or assist him but sadly, he could hardly help himself. The young lady held his hand into the bus and waited for him as he pulled one leg repeatedly with his own hand, before both legs finally found rest on the floor of the bus.

You could literally feel the members of his body, as they struggled together to move in harmony. It was like an old piece of engine that was in dire need of great servicing. His body was like an old locomotive that needed grease, engine oil, some replacements in its parts, as well as some electroplating. It was like an old engine that seemed to have overworked its use, yet it never encountered any fatal accident. This engine did not only work hard, but it seemed to have worked its full capacity and bore astonishing results.

When he finally settled, everyone heaved a sigh of relief, a sigh of victory perhaps. It was as though he had today conquered the great opposing forces of nature again. Gravity seemed to be pulling him down, calling for his valiant soul to take rest, yet he did not relent, at least not yet. The midday hot Saharan sun seemed to be pounding on his dark, charcoal-skin, as if to tell his melanin that it had long over-bathed its time. Over 32,000 sun lights must have beaten this dark, strong, hairless, and scaly skin.

“Koo yoo O!” was all he muttered in his native tongue, which meant to say, “Good day”- a common greeting in Benin dialect. It was as though his voice had sent a message, like the computer instructions sent from a keyboard that dashed straight to the instruction-sets inside the comput-

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Nigeria and the ‘poverty trap’ syndrome of environmental pollution. Fuel is needed to power these generators and thus narrows even more, her profit margin. For instance, an average of N1940 is spent on a daily basis on fuel alone for a gross sale of N6000. The excess is shared around other operating costs and family expenses. Little or nothing is left for saving or luxury. Exclusive of fuel costs, the cold room operator has a slim profit margin.

Only last week, I had a discussion with a local barbershop in Ikoyi, an affluent neighbourhood in Lagos. This fellow, a father of four, complained bitterly about the economy. According to him, he had only eaten breakfast and could barely afford a decent dinner.

From our conversation I gathered that, at black market rate, he spends a minimum of N900 on a daily basis to fuel his generator.

According to him, there has been no sign of electricity from power providers in the past four days. So in order to stay in business, he has to rely on a generator, which not only encroaches on his profit but causes sound and air pollution.

Take the case of this small businessman who works nine to 10 hours every day but can barely afford a decent dinner and still has a family to cater for. About 80 per cent of his profit is spent on fueling his generator and he is stuck in a perpetual cycle of poverty. This happens to be the case with many Nigerians who are caught in a similar cycle. This trap has no respect for tribe, religion, location, academic qualification, businesses and individuals. Imagine how much less we would have to pay for goods and services if we had constant power supply. It is only when you calculate how much you spend daily, week-

The strike of old age er’s microprocessor.

The bus quickly responded, some almost shouting back so he could hear their voices. I heard some Benin ladies uttering back, “Epa doomoo!” which meant to say, “Baba well done.” He just smiled. He felt at home perhaps.

There was something unusual about this old, lively man. Although he sat in a row ahead of me inside the bus, it was a 10-seater bus. I could see him from my right side, as if from profile view. I leaned forward and looked closely at him. I saw that his head was tilted slightly, about 15 degrees towards the right from its original upright posture. His trapezius and sternomastoid neck muscles seemed to have lost their elasticity, as he tried to balance his head on his now relaxed body.

In my mind I asked, “Why did this old man refuse to allow the young lady to accompany him to his destination?” Before I could find an answer, somebody in my row shouted, “Driver stop!” He wanted to come down. For him to leave the bus, this old man first had to come down to give a chance for the person to come out. The bus stopped and the old man struggled out of the bus. This time, a younger man about half his age accompanied him out. He had to cajole him to help him. No one complained. I guessed his age to be in his mid-90s.

The passenger quickly rushed out of the bus, so as not to waste Epa’s time. But in Epa’s world, there seemed to be no more time at all.

Although you could see him struggling as he tried to re-enter the bus, you could easily tell that his movements have transcended beyond our own time. His movements had slowed down dramatically, almost getting to a halt.

When he finally sat down again, I noticed his bright red eyes. I saw eyes which must have survived sand dusts, sand blasts, and sand tsunamis in the farm or in the battlefield perhaps.

My grandfather’s elder brother was recruited and he fought in World War II. (I almost forgot he was my grand uncle). I did not grow up to hear his war stories in the battlefield before he

departed.

This old man very much reminded me of my late grandfather. Although my grandfather did not live this long, he died in his early 80s in the early 90s. He did not live to see the millennium.

Yet I could feel that they shared the same kind of powers. Powers that only time could create.

He must have been a patriarch-like my grandfather, one who held a great extended family together. In the midst of family conflicts, their whispers buried hatchets. They held not only families together; they also held and headed clans.

As the bus continued, I leaned forward and looked closely at his hands as he struggled back and forth to regain his lost composure. I could see very thick hands, and strong, strong fingers.

I saw hands which might have held hoes and cutlasses for many years.

In my mind I saw fingers that had fed the lips of many, fingers which must have given great men education; the education that has determined the successes of many a great elite that we see today. I could also see that some of these fingers were bitten. I saw fingers betrayed by the very lips it once fed; the same lips that once cajoled to collect money from it. Yet when it was their turn, these same lips gave excuses and refused to extend their hands of fellowship- maybe to help their less privileged younger ones.

I could not feel pity. This man had sharp eyes, he smiled and he seemed contented. Yet in my mind’s eye I could remember that the lady who accompanied him to the bus did not seem so happy. Was she married? Was she separated?

Or was she the one that everyone had decided should cater for this warrior; yet did not have the chance to live her own life and Epa, knowing all these decided she should take her freedom by not allowing her to help him to move around? How will I ever know?

The bus stopped at Uselu market (a major area in Benin City), and then my eyes went back to this elderly man again. This was Epa’s time to stop. The man who sat by him and assisted him

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Editor: MARTINS

OLOJA

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ABC (ISSN NO 0189-5125)

ly and yearly on fueling your generator that you appreciate there is a trap. A large majority of Nigerians work so hard but have little or nothing to show for it.

Nigeria’s deteriorating power condition has perpetuated a poverty trap and will nullify all efforts to achieve President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation of the economy through job creation and inclusive growth. Inadequate power supply cripples the ability of many to create jobs and thus makes inclusive growth more difficult.

The case of our nation is one where the spirit and body are both willing but infrastructure is weak.

With little or no improvement in the power situation, 10 per cent was allocated to the same sector in the public budget for 2013. Nigerians are tired of this cycle and demand an urgent change.

Interestingly, you really don’t have to be an economist to identify challenges trailing the country and most likely proffer solutions to them. One begins to wonder why the delay when solutions seemingly appear easy.

From my appraisal, some of the major setbacks that have encroached on our ability to progress include delayed implementation and misguided priorities. Good policies are made, committees are set up, and experts are consulted but implementation is either delayed or never carried out. Like any other trap, we can be delivered from this trap. However, it requires a conscious effort by leaders to consolidate on national interest rather than individualism and tribalism that has engineered this trap.

“If we keep doing what we have always done, we would remain the same people that we have always been.”

• Ebbi is an economist and business strategist

earlier happened to be stopping also. He accompanied Epa out while the bus waited to collect other passengers.

I looked at the faces of the other commuters in the bus. Some shook their heads in pity; some stared with great awe and wonder. But in my heart I felt many of them might not live this long.

I could see they would not even wish to.

I turned back to see Epa again. The younger man, now by his side, held his hand, as they both waited to cross to the other side of the road. Although the younger man seemed to be trying to lead Baba in haste; Baba took all his time and walked gallantly. His posture, now slightly bent forward, he held the younger man’s hand and it took them about 20 seconds to cross the road.

The cars slowed down to a halt. The vehicles on both sides of the road watched and waited patiently for this old man to cross to the other side of the road. Nobody complained. I could see that in a world where people did not care, both lanes showed an unusual form of respect, as though they were paying their last respect.

Then I saw that old age had struck a once young, vibrant, effective, energetic, enthusiastic and probably handsome man. Yet he continued to battle with it. How long will this strike last? Then a thought struck my heart- when old age strikes, both the rich and the poor will be humbled. No wealth in this world can redeem the time. After old age, death finally creeps in and strips man of all forms of attachments to the things of this world. In death, he becomes a total stranger to his own possessions and to those he once called his most beloved. Dust he came and to dust shall he return.

Then I realised, like that old man crossing to the other side of the road, so will a man cross to the other side of his own existence. And when he is crossing (although many may not be aware), all will stand still and wait patiently by his grave for his body to finally depart, like the vehicles that once waited for that old man to cross. They will watch in mourning and silence as the body crosses from the outer world into the heart of the earth, into the underworld.

And when the body finally crosses underneath like the old man who crossed the road, others will continue to move to their various destinations like the cars and vehicles that once waited for what seemed like eternity.

Yet in all these, I began to feel that some people will cheat old age and death. Those who will do will not have to rely on the finest cosmetic ‘agemiracle’ products. They will not require special medicinal pills to freeze the cells in their body.

They will not even rely on any form of cosmetic surgery.

To cheat death, these few persons will have to rely on something that is greater than death itself. But not many will want to find out, let alone be willing to pay the right price.

As the bus stopped, I looked around as though I had woken up from a dream. I saw commerce and enterprise, people coming and going, gates opening and closing, phones ringing and singing, people speaking to themselves and to the winds, footsteps counting and slippers dragging...

Then I looked again as the noises and colours faded into shaded greys. ‘O man,’ thought I, ‘Why can’t you see? Short as your life is, you make it shorter still, by your careless use of it’. ”