Fri 14 June 2013 by The Guardian Newspaper

Report ranks Nigeria low on global peace index By Ade Ogidan IGERIA has been ranked N 148 peaceful country in the world, making it one of th

the 14 most unsafe nations among the 162 that were assessed in this year’s Global Peace Index (GDI). The Sydney, Australia-based

Institute for Economics and Peace, initiated the GDI, regarded as the benchmark study in measuring peace, in partnership with non-governmental organisations and academic institutions around the globe. The yearly report usually takes into consideration the

security issues prevailing in various economies, particularly the extent of conflicts and degree of militarisation. Nigeria’s low ranking among the peaceful nations around the globe may have obviously been informed by the Boko Haram saga in the north eastern part of the

country and the pervading cases of kidnappings in several parts of the South. Last year, the nation was ranked 146 among the 158 countries that were assessed in the peace index. Afghanistan topped the list of unsafe countries in the survey, followed by Somalia, Syr-

ia, Iraq, Sudan, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Russia, North Korea, Central African Republic, Yemen, Israel and Zimbabwe. Despite financial turmoil of recent years, Iceland topped the list of peaceful nations in the survey, thanks largely to its political stability, low

homicide rate and small prison population. The top of the list of assessed peaceful nations was dominated by Western European nations that have long been peaceful, like Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden and Belgium, which CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

TheGuardian Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

Friday, June 14, 2013

Vol. 29, No. 12,587

www.ngrguardiannews.com

N150

Crisis rocks APC’s registration, new rival group heads to court • INEC faults merging party’s application • APC insists it has fulfilled all requirements From Ezeocha Nzeh, Abuja HE political party that will T eventually use the APC acronym may be decided at the nation’s courts, following the decision of another APC to challenge the registration of the merging All Progressives Congress (APC) by the Independent national Electoral Commission (INEC). Barely six days after the merging, All Progressives Congress (APC) approached the INEC for registration as a political party, another rival group, All Progressive Congress of Nigeria (APCN) has threatened to take INEC to court to secure an order restraining it from registering any group with such an acronym . The threat was also coming as the INEC set more hurdles A Cessna aircraft with registration No. N972TF belonging to the late Apostle Gabriel Oduyemi of Bethel Ministries at Dapsey Filling Station, Igando, Lagos... yesterday. (Inset: An unidentified man with a placard on the street at Igando). Stories on Pages 3 & 12 PHOTO: ADENIRAN AYODELE

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Govt freezes MDAs’ accounts over diversion of revenues From Mathias Okwe (Assistant Busines Editor, Abuja) PERIOD of reckoning is A here for all Federal Government’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies ( MDAs) which have been generating revenues and diverting them instead of remitting them into the Federal Government’s Consolidated Revenue Fund ( CRF) Account maintained at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). For such MDAs, their accounts at both the CBN and banks across the country are to be frozen until all their obligations to the CRF are liquidated. This is real and the

• Identifies N58 billion hidden funds • CBN, banks to close accounts Monday enforcement takes effect on June 17, 2013. The action is being taken by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who yesterday revealed that a preliminary search had already identified N58 billion of such funds by some MDAs which had been kept away from the CRF.

The revelation is contained in a statement by the minister herself yesterday in Abuja. It reads in part: “It has come to the attention of the Federal Ministry of Finance that some Federal Government’s agencies that generate independent revenue, in collusion with some banks, have refused to remit monies to

the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the Federal Government which they are obliged by law to do. “We have identified about N58 billion of such monies which rightfully belongs in the CRF. This unwholesome practice has persisted despite the efforts of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) to encour-

age the agencies and the affected banks to do the right thing. “Rather than comply, the agencies and banks, through their lawyers have engaged in all manner of legal subterfuges to ensure that monies which are due to the Federal Government are not remitted. The objective of this conspiracy against the national interest is clear: to keep government monies indefinitely in accounts earning interest for individuals at the expense of the Federal Government and the Niger-

Govt orders free treatment for diabetic children –Page 3

ian people. “This is totally unacceptable and the Federal Ministry of Finance is determined that this practice must end forthwith. Starting Monday, June 17, 2013, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, in exercise of its powers under the extant laws and rules, will close the accounts of agencies involved in this practice in ALL banks. “This process of systematic closure will continue until all monies that should be in the Consolidated Revenue Fund are retrieved.” The action is part of the minister’s effort at curbing waste in the public life and directCONTINUED ON PAGE 2

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

2 NEWS

Court rules July 29 on alleged Amaechi’s murder plot

Five NANS leaders die in auto crash From Gordi Udeajah, Umuahia

From Ann Godwin, Port Harcourt

IVE members of the NationFStudents al Association of Nigerian (NANS) were report-

PORT Harcourt High Court A has fixed July 29, 2013 to rule whether the Police have right to investigate claims of assassination plot against Governor Chibuike Amaechi and the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Otelemaba Dan-Amachree. The Speaker was reported to have written an open letter to President Goodluck Jonathan to wade into the political crisis rocking the state where he raised alarm of assassination plot against him (Amachree) and the governor. Sequel to that, the State Police Command invited the Speaker and the Chief of Staff to Governor Amaechi, Tony Okocha, for questioning following claims about a grand plot to assassinate Amaechi and his top supporters in the state. But the Speaker approached the court to stop the police invitation and possible investigation on the matter. After a heated argument between counsel to the applicant, Mr. Emenike Ebete, and counsel to the respondent, Donald Deewigwe, on the police invitation as well as investigations on the matter, Justice Adolphus Enebeli adjourned ruling till July 29, 2013.

Members of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue at the Kirikiri Maximum Prison, Lagos... yesterday.

We’ll reposition police, says Okiro HE new Chairman of Police T Service Commission (PSC), Sir Mike Mbama Okiro has assured Nigerians that the agency under him would “reposition” the Force to make it one of “our dream”. He gave the assurance shortly after the new Commission was inaugurated by President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja. Okiro noted that after the screening of the commission’s new members, Senate President David Mark “did not mince words when he said the

Govt accuses MDAs of diverting N58b CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ing government’s scarce resources to fix critical infrastructure for which the country has always resorted to either domestic or foreign borrowing to fix. The action is coming on the heels of a similar probe of banks collecting the Federation Account revenue from the Nigeria Customs Service

and the Federal Inland Revenue Service belonging to the three tiers of government which began last month, owing to the establishment of the fact that some of the revenues were being diverted by the banks with the connivance of officials of the two revenue agencies. The report of the probe is expected late August this year.

Nigeria Police Force is one of the problems in the country and they require radical improvement.” The former Inspector-General (IG) acknowledged that the Nigeria Police Force has been greatly demoralised, dejected, frustrated and rejected, and consequently sought the support of the media, the youths

and all well-meaning Nigerians. Okiro assured that with the new opportunity given to him by the President, “there will be more fruitful innovations in the area of creating a Nigeria Police Force of our dream after wide consultations with all stakeholders”. On some critical functions of

the commission, the chairman said section 6(1) (e) empowers the PSC to “formulate and implement policies aimed at efficiency and discipline”. He however regretted that some of the critical functions were in the past “down-played with greater emphasis on appointment, discipline and dismissal of officers”.

INEC faults merging party’s application CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 for the merging opposition parties before registration. There is the fear, however, that the merger group may suffer the same fate with the rival African Peoples Congress (APC) which the commission had earlier rejected its application. INEC sources yesterday disclosed to The Guardian that the application for registration by the merger group did not come with names and addresses of their national officers, as required by Section 222 (a) of the Nigerian constitution, rather the group submitted an application that was signed by only the national chairmen, secretaries and treasurers of the merging political parties. But in a swift reaction to claims by the INEC, a member of the opposition merger committee, Osita Okechukwu noted that the committee had fulfilled all the requirements to merge into a single political party, adding that the group carefully involved the National Chairman of the ACN, the National Secretary of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) and the National Treasurer of the Congress for

Progressive Change (CPC) who endorsed the letter of request for registration to INEC as interim leadership of the party with its national office at Wuse District in Abuja. He added that the office was donated to the party by an official. “Both INEC and the other group should commend us for showing a little experience in our request for registration. We carefully used and involved the leadership of the three merging parties who signed the letter. We could not have planned to fail when we involved the services of senior legal experts in the country for advice and writing of the letter to INEC,” he noted. But in a move that suggests more trouble and confusion for the merger group, a third group, the All Progressives Congress of Nigeria (APCN), threatened to take the INEC to court over an alleged attempt to register another group with a similar APC acronym. The group, which is bearing the same name and acronym with the merger parties (All Progressive Congress) disclosed that it commenced its registration process with INEC with a letter of intent sent to the commission on March 5,

2013, same time as the controversial African Peoples Congress which is also laying claim to the APC, adding that INEC in a reply signed by its National Secretary Abdulahi Kaugama, dated March 15 advised the group to change the name claiming that a group had earlier come with the same acronym for registration. According to the National Secretary of the group, Oguzie Ikechukwu, the group acted in compliance with INEC advice and re-applied for registration in March 28 as All Progressive Congress of Nigeria (APCN). But INEC again advised the group to still change the name for the same reason that another group with a similar acronym had approached the commission for registration. Wondering why INEC couldn’t register his group as a political party even when it has changed from APC to APCN, Ikechukwu disclosed that the party had also in a similar letter to INEC dated May 22 asked the commission to furnish it with the name of the group it claimed had earlier applied for registration under such an acronym relying on the freedom of Information Act.

Report ranks Nigeria low on global peace index CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 all made it to the top 10. In the sixth place, with stringent laws on possession of firearms and good neighbourly relations, is Japan. At the other extreme, Afghanistan continues to languish in 162nd position despite the drop in the number of people killed as a result of internal conflict, refugees and displaced people. The country fared particularly badly on the “political terror scale” - an indicator that uses Amnesty International (AI) and the U.S. Department of State’s Country Reports on

Human Rights Practices to evaluate levels of political violence and terror. Somalia narrowly beat Syria to 161st place in this year’s table. Other countries that were considered amongst the most violent and unstable were Iraq, Sudan, and Pakistan and, less frequently cited, Russia. Several of these countries were also characterised by high levels of bloodshed within their territories. Côte d’Ivoire, which has experienced heightened violence since its President was ousted from power, as well as Burkina Faso, where the

army has gone on a series of destructive rampages, are two other countries that have seen severe deteriorations in peacefulness. Analysts were divided on the prospects of Nigeria becoming a peaceful haven for investors. While some cited the ongoing clampdown on terrorists and kidnappers as potent strategy for attaining peace, others believed that the coming electioneering campaigns and the lingering dearth of equity in resource distribution may fuel further crises within the system.

ed dead yesterday morning along Umuahia- Ikot Ekpene Road on their way to Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital. About four others that sustained different degrees of injuries were receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia. Abia State Governor, Dr. Theodore Orji, who quickly visited the hospital, sympathised with Nigerian students over the death of their five executives that included their believed Senate President, Donald Onukaogu. The governor, at the hospital, described the incident as a calamitous and sympathetic. He cautioned drivers to be careful while on the wheels as well as to maintain a manageable speed, maintaining that many would not have died if they were not on high speed. The governor said the incident was disheartening, as future leaders of the country have lost their lives through the accident. Chief Orji advised the student leaders to embark on negotiation with the authorities before they resort to violence, saying that not doing so, some times resulted in catastrophe.

Jonathan’s supporters demonstrate in London From Tunde Oyedoyin, London OR the second time in a Fseatweek, Nigerians went to the of the British government and demonstrated in front of the Prime Minister’s office at No 10, Downing Street in London. But unlike last week Wednesday when the demonstrators were anti-government, the organisers of yesterday’s action were on the side of the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan. Coming under the umbrella of VISTA International (a UK based non-governmental organisation ), the demonstrators, numbering over 20, displayed various banners that showed they were in support of Jonathan’s government and his efforts in tackling the menace of the terrorist group, Boko Haram. After maintaining their presence for about 20 minutes, the President of the organisation, John Osa Okuonghae and a few of his cabinet members crossed to the other side of the road to deliver a letter to the Prime Minister, David Cameron – through the policemen that kept the security at the entrance of the Downing street. The demonstrators stayed for about 30 minutes before proceeding to the Nigerian High Commission to deliver another letter meant for the President to the High Commissioner, Dr. Dalhatu Sarki Tafida. Speaking with The Guardianat Downing Street, Okuonghae said “we are here to support the government of Nigeria, irrespective of who is in power. We are against people who go outside the country to bash the government and thereby damage our image. We are here to help restore the image of the country.”

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

News ‘Why 2006 housing census was not published’ From Lillian Chukwu, Abuja

Posers over parked plane in Lagos suburb

HE Chairman of the T National Population Commission (NPC), Festus

By Wole Shadare and Chika Goodluck-Ogazi

• It‘s not a crash, says NAMA

N what has remained a puzzle to many, an aircraft was yesterday packed in a filling station at Igando, a Lagos suburb. Many described it as a ‘mystery’ plane while the rumour mills tagged it a crash landed aircraft as they could not understand how a Cessna aircraft belonging to the late Bishop Gabriel Oduyemi of Bethel Ministry found its way to a petrol station rather than being in the sky. No one was on hand to offer explanation to where the disused aircraft was being towed to before it made its way to Dapsey Filling station located on Olowonla bus stop, along the LASU-Isheri/Iyana Oba

Road. Curious to get more ‘facts’ about the ‘mystery’ plane, thousands of people thronging the filling station to catch a glimpse of the plane with United States registration, N972TF. But NAMA’s Managing Director, Mr. Nnamdi Udoh in a statement yesterday said that the said plane did not crash as rumoured, adding that it was actually a junk one belonging to Oduyemi of Bethel Ministries and had long been parked at a NAMA facility up till Wednesday night when it was eventually removed. The back wheel of the plane had burst just as the tyre could be seen almost rolling out, the reason the plane could no

Odimegwu has said that the 2006 census housing enumeration data was not published because it was altered by census officials due to corrupt practices. He said this yesterday in Abuja at the request by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega during an official visit to the commission for “accurate and available” 2006 population census enumeration data of all localities. Odimegwu said that publishing the 2006 census would have amounted to causing more crises because of no-end court cases that will result because of the questionability of such data. He said that though the 2010 census data which have been updated was published “there is no officially certified data for all localities (for the 2006 census) because when I resumed office and saw what they called the compendium of localities, l found out how the enumerations area were bought and sold and how certain things where done in a way that is not professional.

longer be towed easily. Officials of Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), led by Mr. T.A. Adedoyin were among the first to arrive the scene, adding they were there to see things for themselves and to know whether it was a crash as reported earlier in social media. The presence of armed security operatives prevented onlookers from moving very close to the aircraft, as many confessed that they were seeing a plane at a close range for the very first time in their life. The incident caused traffic snarl, but for the quick intervention of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and men of the Lagos State Transport Management Agency (LASTMA), it

would have been difficult to navigate the area. There are, however, posers over the manner the aircraft was towed, just as many want to know who authorised the release of the airplane to be towed on road. There are also questions as to why the NAMA and not the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) was the agency that released the airplane since the FAAN is in charge of airport while NAMA only controls the airspace. According to Udoh, “The aircraft was actually released to Captain M.J. Ekehinde who will be using it for educational purposes in Badagry, Lagos. A crosssection of the wings was removed to ease transportation to its new location. While we appreciate the concern of the public on sighting the plane at

ACN cautions Abati over alleged foul language LLEGING incivility, the A Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has decried the growing

Nigeria, Japan partner on security, others From Madu Onuorah, Abuja INISTER of State for M Defence, Dr Erelu Olusola Obada yesterday said Nigeria and Japan are to strengthen strategic cooperation in the defence and security sectors. Commissioning a 32-room participants hostel built by the Japanese government as part of its support to strengthen Peace Support Operation (PSO) training and institutional capacity in West Africa, Obada said: “We want to deepen our relationship with Japan. We have had a very cordial relationship with the country for many years. We will like to have it strengthened. And that is why we are celebrating this partnership today. What we have come to witness today is yet another journey that will take both countries to greater heights.” The project, constructed with $1 million donation and executed through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), was built for the benefit of National Defence College (NDC) African Centre for Strategic Research and Studies Abuja. It has fully furnished 30 single en suite rooms and two executive rooms, office accommodation for management, a dinning space, laundry lounges and a mini gym. Obada stated that Nigeria is seeking the strengthening of cooperation with Japan in the area of technological transfer especially Japanese private sector partnership with the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON).

an unusual site, we urge that people should always contact the police and local government officials for proper information before spreading the news of a crash involving any aircraft”. Meanwhile, the owner of the filling station, Oladapo Cocker lamented the way his business was paralysed yesterday, disclosing that he was waiting for his lawyer before pressing charges against the owners of the airplane. “I was called at about 1 a.m. yesterday from the Divisional Police Officer of the area that a light aircraft they were towing to Badagry had broken down at the middle of the highway and that they would need my premises to park it. I obliged them thinking it would be for few hours before they would come and remove it”.

Three Lebanese and co-owner of Amigo Supermarket who were arrested over an illegal Armoury in Kano, at the Federal High Court in Abuja … yesterday. PHOTO: PHILIP OJISUA

Govt orders free treatment for diabetic children From Itunu Ajayi, Abuja N what would give a new Ifering lease of life to children suffrom diabetes, the Federal Government has ordered the Ministry of Health to commence the immediate free treatment of diabetic children in all government owned hospitals across the country. Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu disclosed this in Abuja yesterday while giving the midterm report of the achievements of the present administration. He said henceforth all children suffering from diabetes whose parents are registered with the national health insurance scheme irrespective of their location across

the country would enjoy the free service. He reiterated the need for parents to key into the scheme which require a monthly contribution of N150 to gain access to the medicare. Onyebuchi said the scheme has been highly subsidised by government in order for the informal sector to be accommodated. The minister said only about one per cent of Nigerians can now have reasons for travelling abroad for medical treatment, noting that all necessary equipment for diagnosis and treatment were now available both in government and private hospitals. Giving instances of equipment installed in the past few years, the minister said

bone marrow transplant, open heart surgery, kidney transplant, microsurgery, laparoscopic surgery, total knee and hip replacement and other medical interventions that usually take people abroad can now be handled in teaching hospitals in Nigeria. He noted that anyone who chooses to go abroad for treatment does so for personal reason and the government would not trample on anyone’s fundamental human right. According to the minister, his ministry has successfully combined infrastructural development with health service delivery. He explained that the rehabilitation and equipping of Obafemi Awolowo University

Teaching Hospital and that of University of Benin had already been completed while Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital and the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital have reached 80 per cent completion. He said his ministry was also able to establish trauma centres both in the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital Gwagwalada and the national hospital. Onyebuchi said during the period under review, the Federal Government doubled the funding of polio eradication activities to N4.7 billion and made a further commitment of N2.5 billion in the current year. This action, he said brought about a new robust polio eradication emergency plan with an accountability framework.

propensity of presidential spokesman, Dr Reuben Abati to resort to the use of foul language against critics of the President Goodluck Jonathan Administration, saying such crude verbal attacks may boomerang on the Presidency if left unchecked. In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said there is a difference between a vicious verbal attack, which Abati now engages in with relish, and a robust response to critics of the administration, which is what is expected of him. ‘’Contrary to what Abati may think, ‘attack’ and ‘criticism’ are not synonymous. An effective presidential spokesman is not the one who employs gutter language to respond to critics of his principal, or one who makes more enemies than friends for his boss, but one who is able to convey the activities and achievements of the president to the citizenry with dignified language. ‘’By virtue of what is believed to be his sound education, professional training and exposure, Abati should be well placed to know how to tell a man to go to hell and the man will still be smiling! ‘’To be sure, the use of dignified language by a presidential spokesman is important because whatever he says is believed to have emanated from his principal. It is therefore unimaginable that President Goodluck Jonathan will resort to the use of the kind of language that has been spewing out of the mouth of his spokesman in recent times. To the best of our knowledge, no presidential spokesman in Nigeria’s history has employed such base language in defence of his principal,’’ it said.

4 NEWS

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

Jonathan denies ordering dismissal of police officers From Mohammed Abubakar, Abuja HE Presidency yesterday T refuted a report in some national dailies that President Goodluck Jonathan ordered the sack of some senior police officers, describing it as false and misleading and a far cry from the President’s position. The government views “the highly sensationalised reports” as deliberate attempt to cause anxiety and disaffection among the top hierarchy of the Nigeria Police through the willful misrepresentation of President Jonathan’s remarks at the swearing-in of the new chairman and members of the Police Service Commission. In a statement in Abuja, the Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to the President, Dr. Reuben Abati, noted that the thrust of the President’s remarks at the swearing-in on Wednesday was a charge to the commission to strive to effectively discharge its functions of enhancing discipline and efficiency in the service by ensuring that performance, competence and merit are the primary criteria for career progression in the police. According to him: “The full transcript and recording of the President’s remarks at the occasion are available to all sections of the media and they clearly show that at no point in the course of his

comments did the President “order” or “direct” the Police Service Commission to “sack” any police officer. “The import of President Jonathan’s comments was that the new Police Service Commission and other bodies charged with overseeing the career progression of officers and other personnel in the police and security agencies should work to achieve greater

competence levels in the services by upholding extant regulations without fear or discrimination.” “President Jonathan was certainly not giving fresh orders or rewriting the rules when he said ‘people who are promoted to Assistant Commissioner of Police and above must merit the rank. If you don’t merit the rank, you should be retired from the service’.

tion, falsification and perversion of the President’s remarks.” Abati said the Jonathan administration had granted access to all media organisations, who wish to report on its activities, and done everything possible to facilitate the performance of their duty of correctly informing the public in keeping with the spirit of democratic governance.

“As all police officers and their counterparts in the Armed Forces and security agencies know, the President’s words were fully in line with existing rules and regulations guiding career progression in the services. “Therefore, headlines such as ‘Jonathan orders sack of top police officers’ and ‘sack corrupt, immigration officers, Jonathan orders PSC, CG’ are a complete distor-

“In return, the Presidency expects a much higher standard of professionalism and accuracy than that being exhibited by sections of the media,” the Presidency said, warning that “those guilty of deliberately distorting or twisting the President’s words to promote sectional agenda and fan the embers of discord in the polity should desist from doing so.”

N894m House of Reps contract followed due process, says EFCC witness By Lemmy Ughegbe, Abuja WITNESS of the EconomA ic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Bukoye Lasisi, yesterday at the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, said due process was followed in the award of the N894 million supply contract in the House of Representatives during the reign of Dimeji Bankole as Speaker. Bankole is being tried by the EFCC on allegation that due process was not followed in the contract award. Lasisi, who is the Director of Finance and Account of the National Assembly, testified before Justice Elvis Chukwu that due process was diligently followed in the award of the contract and that the Clerk of the National Assembly was the person

that authorised the payment for the contract for which the former Speaker is being tried. He claimed that the Office of the Speaker was “too busy” to be involved in such issues relating to calling for bids and selection, adding that the tender’s board did all those things in the award of the contract and strictly followed the due process. Bankole is being prosecuted by EFCC on a 16-count criminal charge bothering on contract inflation and abuse of office when he was Speaker of the House of Representatives. At the resumed hearing of the matter yesterday, the prosecution witness, under a cross-examination, told the court that “the general practice for the award of contract at the House of Representa-

TheGuardian Rising Incidence Of Homicide! SATURDAY, June 15, 2013

tives is that the Speaker and the Clerk of the House give authorisation for payment for any contract, but, in this instant case, it was the Clerk of the National Assembly that authorised the payment for the contract.” The prosecution witness further told the court that the former Speaker did not take part in the placement of advertisement calling for bidding, opening of the bidding, verification of the binding and selection of the winner and in the other processes that led to the award of the contract. The Clerk of the House of Representatives, Mohammed Ataba Omolori, in his evidence, earlier, said the contracts, for which Bankole is being tried, were approved by a Body of Principal Officers of the House of Repre-

The Suntai Palaver

Suntai’s health? Or why would anybody head to court to stop an enquiry into his real state of health? Controversy continues to rage Who is afraid of revelations months after Suntai was about the true state of Tara- flown abroad after injuries ba State Governor, Dambaba suffered in an air crash?

Cheating Dons…

Plagiarism, the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own, is becoming quite common among lecturers. Has this any link with the falling standard of education? The economy? General moral decay? What is going wrong?

These and many more in The Guardian on Saturday. Book your copy now!

of value to the national treasury and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 58(4) (e) of the Public Procurement Act, No.14 of 2007 and punishable under Section 58(5) of the same Act. A lead investigator with the EFCC, Ibrahim Ahmed, had earlier narrated how fake companies were awarded contracts amounting to N894 million during the period Bankole held sway as the Speaker. The witness said spirited efforts by the agency to trace the benefiting companies proved abortive as they were non-existent. He said the investigation was prompted by a petition that was lodged before the anti-graft agency by Bankole’s colleagues in the House of Representatives, led

The-

SUNDAY, JUNE 16, 2013

Conscience Nurtured by Truth

The frequency with which citizens take the lives of fellow Nigerians has become worrisome. What social or non-social factors are responsible for this trend? Clerics, psychologists, others speak

sentatives, headed by Bankole. He said that the tender’s board later awarded the contract based on the approval by the Body of Principal Officers. Led in evidence by prosecution lawyer, Festus Keyamo, Omolori said at the time the controversial contracts were awarded, Bankole was just the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Specifically, the anti-graft agency alleged that Bankole rigged bid for the purchase of three units of Mercedes Benz S-600 cars, two units of Range Rover vehicles (without bullet proofs) and 400 units of DSTV systems, by refusing to follow all the procedures prescribed for public procurements in Sections 17 to 56 of the Public Procurement Act No.14 of 2007, leading to a loss

Much Ado About Constitution Amendment O much about constitution amendment. Will this attempt really stabilise the polity or will it be another drain on resources? Read the facts in The Guardian on Sunday.

PLUS:

Anambra 2014

ABUJA

...Residents Groan Under Pay ‘n’ Park Policy.

HY it W is a hot cake; almost too hot for comfort!

BUSINESS: ELP! H State s are quaking under huge debt burden.

IBRU CENTRE: Christians As Change Agents. The Guardian On Sunday is new, fresher, bolder; a delight to behold and more importantly, reader-friendly! Book a copy today.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

NEWS | 5

Anambra group threatens protest over council elections

Gunmen invade Kaduna villages, kill two soldiers

From Uzoma Nzeagwu, Awka

From Saxone Akhaine (Kaduna) and Njadvara Musa (Maiduguri)

HE Movement for the ConT duct of Local Council Election in Anambra State has vowed that the forthcoming governorship polls would not hold if the state government refused to conduct the election in Anambra State. Chairman of the Movement, Osita Obi, while fielding questions from newsmen after a consultative meeting with Governor Peter Obi on the election issue in Awka yesterday, warned that they are ready to take actions, including going to court and civil disobedience to frustrate the governorship polls if the council election is not conducted in the process. Obi disclosed that the group is made up of chairmen and councillorship aspirants drawn from the 21 council areas of Anambra, and numbering about 20,000 members.

HERE was pandemonium T in Birnin Gwari Local Council Area of Kaduna State yesterday when gunmen invaded some of the villages, killing several people and injuring others. It took the intervention of armed soldiers who engaged the gunmen before they fled. The resultant gun duel involving the soldiers and the insurgents at Kwasakwasa Village in Birnin Gwari Council Area led to the death of two soldiers, while many of the armed gunmen were

• Residents want troops to remain in Borno communities • ‘Boko Haram attacks have raised cases of cardiac arrest, others’ killed. The attack, which came four days after a similar one on three villages in the area, was said to have occurred at about 6 a.m. yesterday. A resident of Kwasakwasa, located about 70 kilometres from Birnin Gwari Local Council Headquarters, Malam Isa Jatau, said that four vehicles belonging to security personnel were also set ablaze by the gunmen. Jatau said several other villagers and security men were

injured, adding that the bravery of soldiers and other security officers helped to ward off the attackers. Secretary of the local council, Alhaji Zubairu Zakariya, also confirmed the attack, but said details on the casualty were being compiled. According to him, Chairman of the council, Alhaji Idris Alhassan, had helped to convey the victims of the attack to Birnin Gwari General Hospital. Assistant Director of Army

Public Relations, 1 Mechanised Division, Nigerian Army, Kaduna, Colonel Sani Usman, who confirmed the unfortunate attack by the armed gunmen in Birnin Gwari yesterday, said in a text message: “Sorry, I am attending a programme in Jaji. Yes, I can confirm to you there was an encounter between our soldiers and insurgents in Birnin Gwari in which a number of the assailants were killed. Unfortunately, we also sustained two casual-

Fashola restates commitment to anti-climate change drive By Isaac Taiwo AGOS State Governor BaL batunde Raji Fashola has called on the citizens of Lagos State not to relent in waging war against climate change with the consciousness that the devastating effect does not preclude anyone. He said this yesterday at the 5th Anniversary of Climate Change Clubs in Lagos Schools held at Police College Ground (GRA), Ikeja, Lagos. In his keynote address, Fashola said the Climate Change Club was born as part of global adaptation and mitigation response towards environmental challenges confronting humanity. “We recognised, as a government, that dealing with climate change now is an obligation we owe future generations, and if we fail by any means, posterity will judge us by our inactions. We, therefore, seized the initiative by actively involving our children in the decisions and actions that will directly affect their future, more so, that the four pillars of the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC), which include protection, survival, development and participation validate the rationale of allowing children’s voices to be heard in advocacy and policy, which also include climate change and disaster-risk reduction”, he said.

CAN tasks CAC on registration of churches From Gordi Udeajah, Umuahia ORRIED by the proliferaW tion of churches even as not all were duly registered, Chairman of the Abia State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop Goody Okafor, has advised the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to be more diligent in processing applications for registration of new churches. Bishop Okafor, who is president of the Peculiar People’s International Ministries Incorporated, told The Guardian in Umuahia that CAN was aware of the existence of many unregistered churches whose claim is just that they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Rotary International District 9110 Governor, Kamoru Omotosho (right), past Governor, Prince Julius Adeluyi-Adelusi (middle), incoming governor, Olugbemiga Olowu (second left), at the presentation of cheques to 2013 recipients of its DEWEF programme in Lagos…yesterday

Adigwe denies involvement in N87.5b irregular transactions By Bertram Nwannekanma ORMER Managing DirecFMainstreet tor of Afribank Plc (now Bank), Sebastine Adigwe, yesterday refuted allegations of irregular banking transactions during his tenure in the bank. The former bank chief’s denial came through his counsel, Anthony Idigbe (SAN), at the continuation of his trial before an Ikeja High Court, Lagos, presided over by Justice Olabisi Akinlade. Adigwe is charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly stealing N87.5 billion belonging to the bank. He was arraigned alongside five other former directors of the bank namely: Osa Osunde, Isa Zailani, Chinedu Onyia, Henry Arogunde and a stock broker, Peter Ololo. Earlier, the first prosecution witness and a former Head of Special Project of Afribank, Mr. Ndubuisi Osakwe, had told the court that loans were granted to some companies in September 2008. Osakwe said the credit facilities of between N15 billion and N13 billion were granted to the companies for the purchase of Afribank shares from the Capital Market.

According to him, the beneficiaries of the facility included Rehoboth Assets Management Ltd., Falcon Securities Ltd., Resolution Trust Investment Ltd. and Petosan Oil and Gas Ltd. The witness also stated that the companies later issued cheques in various sums in favour of one of the bank’s subsidiaries, Afribank Securities Ltd. According to him, Afribank

Securities Ltd. later transferred the money into the account of Assets Management Nominees (ASEMAN) Ltd., another company owned by the bank. However, Idigbe, who was cross-examining the witness, maintained that the transactions followed normal banking procedures. He said the transactions were initiated to forestall a hostile takeover of Afribank

by Bank PHB and Access Bank, which were buying large quantities of the bank’s shares. “The funds were placed in ASEMAN’s account, which is controlled by the bank as a form of security to have control over the shares. “The bank gave out its money to these companies. There was no movement of the funds to the personal account of the first defendant

ties, other details later. Thank you”. Meanwhile, residents of Kirenoa Town in Marte Council Area and six other communities in the Lake Chad Basin Areas of Borno State on Wednesday appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to allow the military dislodging Boko Haram terrorists remain in that part of the state. Since the deployment of troops to the area in May, the residents said yesterday they have experienced peace, spared of incessant attacks and killings and devastation of their wheat and rice fields of the South Chad Irrigation Project (SCIP) of Chad Basin Development Authority (CBDA). The Federal Government, according to Audu Ibrahim at the Town Hall Meeting with Governor Kashim Shettima and Commander of the Combat Force in Marte, Lt.-Col. Gabriel Olufemi, has liberated the people of Marte and the entire Lake Chad Basin Areas of Borno State by destroying the Kirenoa training camp and hideout of the Boko Haram sect members. His words: “All of us here that assembled this afternoon are breathing fresh air, and we are going about our farming and fishing activities in the Lake Chad Basin Areas. The continuation of the liberation of Marte by soldiers has to be guaranteed with the establishment of a permanent barracks in tightening the security of lives and property in our area. “Our dire need to have a permanent Army Barracks cannot be over-emphasised, especially with the current security challenges. We are afraid the Boko Haram terrorist may return if and when the military rounds off their six-month mission to Marte, we wish the President will establish a military barracks here in Kirenoa to check activities of the Boko Haram sect.” Ibrahim, however, noted: “We are happy the President ordered the deployment of troops to Marte, though, initially we were afraid of the soldiers because of what happened in Baga recently. But they have proved us wrong with their disposition towards us; we don’t want

Ondo indigenes seek govt’s help in feud with Chevron From Niyi Bello, Akure EOPLE of the oil-producing P community areas of Ondo State have urged the state government to intervene in the implementation of the General Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) signed with the oil companies operating in the state. The people, under the auspices of the Ilaje (Ugbo) Coastal Communities Development Committee, want the state governor, Olusegun Mimiko, to call one of the companies, Chevron Nigeria Limited, to order over the implementation of the document. According to a letter addressed to the governor and signed by leader of the com-

mittee, Oba Obafemi Ogbaro; the secretary, Kunle Alli and 13 others, the committee accused Chevron of not implementing the GMoU in the past three years. The committee stated that the document was initiated to regularise and coordinate the dealings between the company and the host communities with a view to providing enabling environment for the company. It explained that when the issue of non-implementation was raised, Chevron directed that all negotiating communities’ oil associations operating in the area should be merged latest by the end of April. The letter read: “In order not to allow Chevron’s luxury give

excuse for not implementing the GMoU, all the stakeholders of oil-producing communities in Ilaje, in conjunction with the Ondo State government and after due consultation and adequate consideration, inaugurated the committee otherwise known as Ilaje in (Ugbo) Coastal Communities’ Development Committee”. But the communities said they were surprised to know that the organisation was coming up with a series of allegations against the committee, having beaten the April 30 deadline. The committees said: “We implore Mr. Governor to call Chevron to order and also beware of the divide and rule antics of Chevron, which is its

stock in trade”. The committee, therefore, demanded the release of all pending projects’ funds and other benefits due to the oilproducing communities, calling for a meeting between it and Chevron. Apart from this, it also demanded for an upward review of the number and monetary value of the scholarship being given to beneficiaries of the host communities. The letter also read: “The communities have already issued Chevron management a seven-day ultimatum and at the expiration of the said ultimatum, no one would be able to guarantee the safety of CNL offshore facilities”.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

6 | NEWS

NGF getting undue attention, says Wamakko Tambuwal backs gov over suspension from PDP From Eric Meya, Sokoto EMBER of the Nigerian M Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Governor of Sokoto State,

Sympathisers at the Rolling Dollars’ grave side, Ikorodu … yesterday.

Okorocha gives feuding communities two weeks ultimatum From Charles Ogugbuaja, Owerri LL troubled communities in the 27 local councils of Imo State, where communal and kingship tussles still exist, have two weeks to settle their differences or face severe consequences from Governor Rochas Okorocha. In the same vein, the governor has announced to the indigenes the upgrading of the state Chairman of Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze Sam Ohiri, to fifth on the state’s protocol list. These were disclosed on Wednesday at the Ahiajoku Convention Centre in Owerri when Okorocha met with monarchs, government liaison officers, community liaison officers and executive secretaries of the community government councils (CGC) in the 637 communities of the state.

Plateau Speaker tasks civil society on irrelevant laws From Isa Abdusalami Ahovi, Jos PEAKER of the Plateau State SClark House of Assembly, John Dabwan, has urged civil society organisations in the country to draw the attention of the Federal Government to laws that are not relevant to states. Dabwan was reacting yesterday to a paper entitled, “Adaptation of Federal Laws at State Level,” which was presented at a retreat for lawmakers in Plateau and Cross Rivers states, organised by the nongovernmental Conrad Adenuwa Foundation in Calabar. According to him, most laws at the federal level do not consider the peculiarity of the situations at the state level hence the need for provisions allowing the states to make changes to suit the peculiarities of their people. Other lawmakers from the state, including the Deputy Speaker, Johnbull Shekarau, agreed that there was too much concentration of power at the centre, which they claimed has created a lot of problems in not allowing the states to function effectively.

PHOTO: FEMI KUTI

Orubebe denies rift with Delta PDP, Clark, meets Ijaw monarchs Says no going back on Dec. 2014 deadline for East-West Road From Chido Okafor, Warri INISTER of Niger Delta AfM fairs, Godsday Orubebe, yesterday met with Ijaw traditional rulers and leaders at the Warri home of the monarch of Ogulagha, Delta State, after which he denied having problems with the state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which last week approved his suspension from the party. The meeting with Ijaw monarchs and leaders lasted for several hours. Orubebe said he was in Warri on the invitation of the traditional rulers, who wanted him to put the records straight and to correct the false message that had been making the rounds in the state concerning his alleged governorship ambition. “The traditional fathers are

worried,” he said. “They invited me and I came to brief them on how I have lived as a minister and to debunk all the stupid things they said about me.” Meanwhile, he stressed that the December 2014 completion deadline of the East-West Road would be actualised, as 36 of the 42 bridges had been built, and he had successfully created a plan for the project, which had no plan. On his alleged suspension from the Burutu council PDP, Orubebe said the development was created by those he described as “charlatans dancing to political tones and ascribing to themselves powers they don’t have,” adding, “they are still my brothers and sisters and I will continue to support Delta PDP and the governor.” He also reacted on the frosty

relationship between him and his alleged political godfather, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, stating, “Chief E. K. Clark is the leader of the Ijaw people. He is a father and our relationship is very cordial.” He maintained that the PDP remained the strongest party in the state and that no party could successfully challenge it, and describing the state chairman as a vibrant person.

Aliyu Maagatakarda Wamakko, has joined many citizens who believe that the body was getting undue attention at the expense of more important issues confronting the nation. Addressing party supports at the Government House on Wednesday night, Wamakko, who belongs to the Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State-faction of the NGF, said the body was not provided for in the nation’s constitution and was not part of the major challenges facing the country. He wondered why the Presidency was devoting much attention to its affairs instead of tackling issues relating to the needs and aspirations of the citizenry. The governor, who returned to the state after a visit to the Netherlands, described his suspension from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) while he was away as illegal and of no effect whatsoever. Meanwhile, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, while also addressing the party supporters, said that as a

Nasarawa varsity VC returns, denies alleged N20m theft From Mohammed Abubakar, Abuja HE suspended Vice ChanT cellor of Nasarawa State University, Keffi (NSUK), Prof. Shamsudeen Amali, has returned to office following the intervention of the House of Assembly, which nullified his

suspension, even as he denies the alleged theft of N20 million from the institution’s coffers. Amali, alongside his management team, was suspended last month reportedly on the orders of Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, who

Lagos, NMA condemn commercial blood donation NARD calls for speedy passage of health bill, adequate funding By Chukwuma Muanya and Wole Oyebade (Lagos), Charles Coffie Gyamfi (Abeokuta) and Itunu Ajayi (Abuja) S countries commemorate A the World Blood Donor Day (WBDD) today, the Lagos State Government and doctors in the country have condemned commercial blood donation in the country, as against Voluntary Non-Remunerated Blood Donation (VNRBD) that is approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO). At separate fora yesterday, the Lagos government and doctors, under the aegis of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), said though voluntary donation was still low in Nigeria, accounting for about eight per cent, donation for commercial purpose portends greater danger to provision of effective and efficient blood transfusion system in the country. In another development, the National Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria (NARD) yesterday called for the speedy passage of the health bill to lay a solid foundation for equitable access to

qualitative healthcare in the country. The association also lamented what they described as grossly inadequate funding of the “Residency Training Programme” in the 2013 budgetary allocation, accusing the Federal Government of not taking their welfare and training seriously, and which is not in the best interest of the country’s healthcare delivery system. NARD President, Dr. Ismail Akinlade Lawal, told a press conference in Sagamu, Ogun State, that most of the facilities they use for training were obsolete and no longer ideal for training. Akinlade also condemned the incessant “attacks and harassments” of his members in the course of their duties in their various hospitals and appealed to government at all levels to initiate moves towards finding lasting solution to it. Lagos Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, told reporters at an event to commemorate WBDD yesterday that the state joined the rest of the world in condemning blood donation for non-altru-

lawyer, he had checked and double checked but found no constitutional justification for the governor’s suspension from the PDP. He described the party in the state as one united political family under Wamakko and that, “as the leader of our movement, anything that touches him touches us.” According to him, the governor pandered to the wishes and aspirations of the people, that was why party leaders from ward to state level, including members of the National Assembly from the state except two, who were absent for good reasons, were present at the gathering to show solidarity with him. He assured the governor of absolute support and urged him not to waver in steering democracy and justice because he would be protected by God. According to Wamakko, “the action is a display of ignorance of the rules involved and total disregard to the provision of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Section 40,” adding that those behind the so-called suspension were “mere opportunists” and sycophants who do not mean well for the PDP and Nigeria.

istic reasons and would, if notified, immediately clamp down on any centre that perpetrates such act in Lagos. He explained that it has been established that blood from voluntary donors is the best, because donors come forward to donate only for altruistic reasons. He added: “The paid donor is likely to involve in other activities for money as well and will most likely not be leading a healthy lifestyle.” This year’s commemoration is tagged, “Give the Gift of Life: Donate Blood,” which highlights the paramount importance of every blood donated and the vital role being played by all citizens who donate voluntarily. Idris added that in recognition of the critical issues of blood donation and its transfusion, the state government established the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Committee (LSBTC) by law in 2004, created 20 blood donation centres for voluntary donors in the state’s health facilities and 100 blood banks registered with the committee. He continued: “The largest users of blood each year is the

department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G). This is because the major cause of maternal mortality is haemorrhage (bleeding). Safe blood therefore needs to be available in adequate quantity for obstetric emergencies for the reduction of maternal mortality in the state.

is Visitor to NSUK, following the bloody clash between students and security agencies, which led to the death of some students. Faulting the governor’s action, however, the lawmakers described the suspension of the school’s principal officers as a contravention of sections of the law setting up the institution. Meanwhile, Amali, a one time VC of the University of Ilorin, has denied bolting with the institution’s money amounting to N20 million, stating that questions about the missing money should be directed to his successor. He told newsmen in Keffi that the alleged theft of the money meant for the upgrade of water facility in the university smacked of mischief by those bent on ensuring his removal from office through the backdoor.

Court acquits ex-deputy gov, Botmang From Isa Abdusalami Ahovi, Jos HE Federal High Court 3 T sitting in Abuja yesterday discharged and acquitted the former Deputy Governor of Plateau State, Michael Botmang, of all the 31 counts brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Botmang held forte for Governor Joshua Dariye, who was impeached by only six members of the House of Assembly but was later reinstated by the Court of Appeal in Jos, and upheld by the Supreme Court. While holding sway

as governor, he was accused of financial misappropriation and charged to court. The allegations bordered on conversion of billions of naira belonging to the Plateau State Government. But yesterday, Justice Olotu held that the prosecution failed to prove the allegations against Botmang and therefore discharged and acquitted him. The court added that there is evidence that the money borrowed from Intercontinental Bank when Botmang was governor was used to pay workers’ salaries and other govern-

NEWS

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

Abia Assembly insists on financial autonomy From Gordi Udeajah, Umuahia BIA State House of AssemA bly members have vowed not to shift ground in their quest for financial and administrative autonomy, stating that any time the matter resurfaced, their stand and voting would not change. Speaker of the House, Ude Oko Chukwu, who stated this on Wednesday when a delegation of the State Accountability and Voice Initiative (SAVI) paid the House a sensitisation visit, disclosed that the last attempt to secure autonomy for the Legislature failed because members were not carried along as stakeholders. Chukwu said that since the issue bothers on democracy, which his members are always poised to promote, it should be thrown open for all to participate in the decisionmaking. Meanwhile, SAVI Regional Adviser (South) and leader of the delegation, Mr. John Mutu, said they were at the Abia Assembly to interact with members towards strengthening democratic institutions, including the independence for state Legislatures. According to him, this has become imperative now in the light of current moves to review the 1999 Constitution. Another delegate, Mr. Walter Adogu, who was the Clerk of Anambra State House of Assembly, said it would be ideal for Houses of Assembly to be autonomous, well funded and independent of the Executive arm of government.

Okeke has case to answer over interim injunctions, says NJC From Lemmy Ughegbe, Abuja HE National Judicial CounT cil (NJC) yesterday said the retired Justice of the Federal High Court, Okechukwu Okeke, misled the public when he claimed that he was a victim of injustice in the Nigerian Judiciary. In a statement released in Abuja by the NJC Acting Director of Information entitled: “Re: Warning of Hon. Justice Okechukwu Okeke, Retired Justice of the Federal High Court by the NJC, Setting the Records Straight,” the body said the retired jurist still has

a case to answer. Before Okeke retired from the Federal High Court Bench, the body said, there were five different petitions against him and only three were considered by the NJC at its meeting of April 24 and 25, 2013. “In the course of deliberation, council noted that Justice Okeke would be retiring from service on May 19, 2013,” the statement read. “At the end of deliberation, council noted the three petitions and Okeke’s reactions and decided to warn him to desist from acts that are prejudicial to the integrity of the judiciary and

administration of justice. “It is to be stressed that Justice Okeke’s responses to the remaining fourth and fifth separate petitions did not form part of the decision of the council at its meeting on April 24 and 25, 2013.” It added: “For avoidance of doubt, the fifth petition dated March18, 2013, by Chief Michael Afolabi Dada & 4 Ors, owners of the property at No. 5A, George Street, Ikoyi, is the Asset Management Company’s (AMCON) case wherein Hon. Justice Okeke gave an exparte order in favour of AMCON.

“By the Provision of Rule 2(2) of the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, ‘a judicial officer must avoid the abuse of the power of issuing interim injunctions ex-parte.” According to the NJC, a thorough examination of the fifth petition and Okeke’s response showed that the ex-parte order he granted in favour of AMCON established a case of misconduct contrary to Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Nevertheless, the NJC noted that the said petition and

Assistant Director, Blindness Prevention Global Alliance Eye Foundation Hospital, Dr. Akinwale Akinfe (left) and Partner, Global Alliance Eye Foundation, Abike Dabiri-Erewa (second left), attending to children at Ikorodu Local Council Secretariat in Lagos State… yesterday PHOTO: OSENI YUSUF

BINI socio-cultural group, A Benin National Congress (BNC), yesterday faulted the 92 per cent Nigerians against same-sex marriage, poll reveals Federal Government’s line-up of activities for Nigeria’s 100 years celebration, saying the organisers failed to create any space for traditional rulers and institutions who initiated resistance to colonialism, which paved way for the country’s eventual independence in 1960. In a statement, BNC President, Ayanmekhue Edokpolo, wondered why the likes of Oba Ovonranmwen, who was exiled to Calabar because of his opposition to colonial rule and died in 1914, was never accorded due recognition in government’s activities. According to him, the Bini Kingdom was the last resistance that gave way to the eventual amalgamation of Southern and Northern Protectorates of the Niger to form Nigeria and as such, should be accorded due recognition. BNC added: “As a socio-cultural organisation, we have a mandate to sound out ethical issues that can undermine mutual cooperation among ethnic groups in Nigeria. “This is why a formal appeal to President Goodluck Jonathan has become expedient to confer a sense of belonging and history on Edo people at home and abroad, because their current feeling of alienation within the components of Nigeria, is unhealthy and carries with it some level of inferiority complex.”

Okeke’s reaction were not considered by council because of time constraint. The statement added: “Council is, therefore, constrained to state that Justice Okechukwu Okeke misled the public into believing that the NJC issued him a warning letter based on the ex-parte order he gave in the AMCON case: (the fifth petition). Justice Okeke had claimed at the valedictory court session held in his honour that he was a victim of injustice in the Nigerian judiciary.

10 women diagnosed of cancer in Kwara MONG the 200 women A recently screened for cancer-related cases in Ilorin,

Bini group tasks govt on centenary celebrations From Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu, Benin City

By Femi Adekoya ATEST Fundamental L Human Rights Poll conducted by NOI Polls on the Anti Same-Sex Marriage Bill recently passed by the Senate, now awaiting concurrence by the House of Representatives, has shown that nine in every 10 Nigerians support the bill. Specifically, the poll shows

that Nigerians in support of the bill see it as a move to address issues on morality and religion, noting that most Nigerians see the proposed bill as not infringing the human rights of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) community because homosexuality is not a Nigerian culture. In a report made available to The Guardian, findings

showed that 92 per cent of over 1,004 randomly selected Nigerians representing the six geo-political zones want the House of Representatives to pass the bill into law. The poll asked respondents five questions ranging from their level of awareness about the issue to justifications for their positions. A majority (69 per cent) was

aware of the recent ban on same-sex marriage, considering that the bill was passed in the last week of May and the poll was conducted in the first week of June. And whereas 69 per cent strongly supports the passage of the anti same-sex marriage bill, 23 per cent only support the bill while five per cent oppose it, with three per cent remaining neutral.

Kwara State capital, 10 have been diagnosed with cancer, just as the detected cases also showed that breast cancer was more common, then cancer of the cervix. The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Prof. Abdulwaheed Olatinwo, told The Guardian in Ilorin yesterday that the statistics were from the cancer screening recently bankrolled by the wife of Kwara State Governor, Mrs. Omolewa Ahmed. Olatinwo, who lauded the initiative, stated that if discovered earlier, cancer-related cases could be effectively managed by medical experts, thus reducing the mortality rate of carriers. Nevertheless, he does not believe that cancer-related cases were on the increase in Nigeria, stating rather that, “aggressive awareness on it is making many people who could have died silently unrecorded to be coming for screening and management of the disease.” “The recent aggressive campaign is beginning to yield more results in women in the state. Out of about 200 women screened in the exercise, 10 have cause to visit the UITH. Many women are now presenting themselves for screening and this may be sending a wrong signal of rising cases.”

Stakeholders parley, as call to review new aviation policy heightens By Wole Shadare GAINST the backdrop of A criticisms that have trailed the new aviation policy, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) held a twoday meeting with all the airlines in the country to review it and find ways to strengthen air safety. They advised on the need to address the drift in the sector, particularly some controversial issues with the new civil aviation policy. This is coming as President Goodluck Jonathan is said to be uncomfortable with the controversies surrounding Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s chopper. The aircraft was grounded by the Nigerian Airspace

• Operators fault loss of BASA revenue Management Agency (NAMA) over allegations that the captain did not pay Passenger Service Charge (PSC) for the occupiers of the aircraft, while also alleging that the captain did not submit manifest before he was cleared for the operation. A top official of an airline, pleading anonymity, said the meeting of all the operators and NCAA followed the President’s displeasure with the issue and the embarrassment it caused him, as many insinuated that he was behind the detention, as well as the grounding of Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s jet in Akure, Ondo State.

An official of the umbrella Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), Mohammed Tukur, confirmed the meeting, which started with private airline operators on Tuesday and continued on Wednesday with scheduled airline operators. “We (operators) registered our complete rejection of the way and manner the new Civil Aviation Policy was drafted and smuggled to the Executive Council for endorsement,” he said. The airlines had insisted in a letter of May 24, 2013, to the Senate President, that standard civil aviation policy document is usually midwifed by

the Minister of Aviation through the interplay of various stakeholders. The letter by the AON Secretary General, Captain Muhammed Joji, lamented that the policy speaks glowingly about autonomy of aviation agencies, particularly in the area of regulations, “but on a closer look recreates the pre-2006 period, which hallmark was extensive ministerial control and outright management of the sector. “The policy enlarges the role of the ministry by assigning functions in licensing and economic regulations, and determining operations rules and laws guiding aircraft operations. All these functions, as at today, fall

under the purview of the NCAA as contained in the 2006 Act.” Meanwhile, he noted that since the scrapping of Nigeria Airways, ministry officials completely took over the negotiation of Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) and commercial agreements - issues in which they have at best scanty and un-updated knowledge - regretting that the ministry speaks volume of loss of revenue due to BASA accruals. Joji said: “Technically, BASA is auctioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through Note Verbale and exchange of diplomatic notes. This will then be followed by the Ministry of Aviation allocating specific limited frequency to the participating countries.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

WorldReport UN claims 93,000 killed in Syria, expresses fear over Aleppo offensive Y United Nations human B rights office estimation yesterday, the death toll in Syrian war reached about 93,000 at the end of April just as it explained that the true number of victims from the violence now in its third year may be much higher. Navi Pillay, UN Commissioner for Human Rights, voiced fears that the bloodshed in recent battles for the Syrian border town of Qusair would be repeated in the northern city of Aleppo. “All the reports I’m receiving are of augmentation of resources and forces (for an Aleppo offensive) on the part of the government,” Pillay told Reuters Television. The military balance has shifted in President Bashar alAssad’s favour in the last two

months, with Lebanon’s Shi’ite Hezbollah fighting openly alongside the Syrian military, helping it to recapture Qusair from rebels on June 5. Rebel forces have held parts of Aleppo, Syria’s biggest city, since July. The new UN figure of 93,000 people killed in the Syrian conflict, which began with peaceful protests against Assad in March 2011 and turned into an armed rebellion a few months later, replaces a UN estimate of 80,000 issued in mid-May. The UN report said almost 38,000 reported killings had been excluded because records - which require the victim’s full name and date and location of death - were incomplete. “The true number of those

The new UN figure of 93,000 people killed in the Syrian conflict, which began with peaceful protests against Assad in March 2011 and turned into an armed rebellion a few months later, replaces a UN estimate of 80,000 issued in mid-May. killed is potentially much higher,” Pillay said. The death toll has averaged more than 5,000 a month since July, and Pillay said this reflected the “drastically deteriorating pattern of the conflict over the past year”. The Damascus region, Homs and Aleppo have been hardest hit. The UN figures, based on data from the Syrian government and seven human rights monitoring groups, in-

clude civilians and combatants, but give no breakdown. They show that about 6,561 children were among the dead. “There are also well-documented cases of individual children being tortured and executed, and entire families, including babies, being massacred - which, along with this devastatingly high death toll, is a terrible reminder of just how vicious this conflict has become,” Pillay said.

U.S. leaker, Snowden, under criminal investigation, says FBI chief IRECTOR of United States D (U.S.) Federal Bureau of Investigation, Robert Mueller, yesterday revealed that American government has launched a criminal investigation and is taking “all necessary steps” to prosecute Edward Snowden for exposing the controversial secret surveillance programmes At a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, Mueller said: “These disclosures have caused significant harm to our nation and to our safety.” “As to the individual who has admitted to making these disclosures, he is the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation,” he said. “We are taking all necessary steps to hold the person responsible for these disclosures.” The FBI chief’s comments offered the first explicit confirmation that the U.S. government was pursuing Snowden, the 29-year-old

American IT specialist who has admitted to leaking information about far-reaching surveillance programmes. Snowden, who worked as a subcontractor handling computer networks for the National Security Agency (NSA), is in Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous Chinese territory, where he has vowed to contest any possible extradition in court. Mueller defended the collection of American phone records and Internet data related to foreign targets, which officials were legal programmes and were approved by a judge and were in accordance with the Constitution. He added that the government was determined to safeguard privacy rights and civil liberties even as it seeks to prevent possible terrorist attacks.

American Supreme Court says human DNA cannot be patented HE United States (U.S.) T Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that human genes may not be patented, but artificially copied DNA can be claimed as intellectual property. The court quashed patents held by a Utah-based firm on two genes linked to breast and ovarian cancer. The opinion said DNA came from nature and was not eligible for patenting. The U.S. biotechnology industry had warned any blanket ban on such patents would jeopardise huge investment in gene research and therapies. “We hold that a naturally occurring DNA segment is a product of nature and not patent eligible merely because it has been isolated,” Justice Clarence Thomas Britain’s Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (right) and Captain Tony Draper (left) during a ceremony to officially name Princess Cruises’s new ship ‘Royal Princess’ in Southampton, southern England…yesterday. The Duchess of Cambridge, as the ship’s godmother, officially named the Royal Princess with a traditional blessing involving smashing a bottle over the ship’s hull in what is expected to be her final solo engagement before the birth of her and Prince William’s child. PHOTO:AFP

Tsvangirai rejects Zimbabwean polls’ date

Concerns raised over Iran’s polls, reformists hopeful of victory

RIME Minister Morgan P Tsvangirai declared yesterday that Zimbabwe’s President

ITH Iran’s conservative W camp divided, reformists were confident of a good

Robert Mugabe has acted “unconstitutionally” by declaring an election date Tsvangirai’s comment came after Mugabe set the polls for July 31 – the deadline given by the Constitutional Court. The prime minister has been pushing for key reforms as a condition for elections. After four years of coalition government, the two men are set to resume their bitter rivalry in the presidential polls, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Tsvangirai, 61, pulled out of the second round of the previous election in 2008, accusing the security forces and proMugabe militias of attacking his supporters around the country. But Mugabe, 89, denied any

showing by the moderate cleric they back for today’s presidential vote as they seek to avenge the disputed re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad four years ago. Thanks to a late surge of support, cleric Hassan Rowhani has emerged as one of the frontrunners in the poll with a real chance of forcing a runoff against the conservatives, analysts say. However, two top Canadian and United Nations (UN) diplomats have expressed concerns over the election. Calling Iran’s presidential election a “sham,” Canada’s top diplomat urged Iranians yesterday to “make their

voices heard” by casting protest ballots, boycotting the vote or using satire to express criticism. “Despite all the efforts of the regime to control the process and the outcome, the hopes and aspirations of the Iranian people are not bound by the artificial choice that the regime has forced on Iranians,” Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said. “While the regime tries to silence the voices of the Iranian people, Canada encourages Iranians to make their voices heard,” he added, calling Friday’s vote a “sham election.” Also, a United Nations human rights investigator said in Spain that Iran’s presidential election has been neither free nor fair as Tehran has silenced

journalists and opposition leaders in the run up to today’s vote Ahmed Shaheed, UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, warned in March that he was concerned that the outcome of the election would lack legitimacy because dozens of Iranian journalists were behind bars and hundreds of political prisoners remained in custody. “I absolutely think the fears were warranted as has been bourne out by events,” he told AFP on the sidelines of the World Congress against the Death Penalty. “The mass disqualification of candidates, especially for reasons that were not transparent and that appear to be quite un-

reasonable, for one violates the right to political participation. Meanwhile, support came for Rowhani after the moderate and reformist camps this week joined ranks behind the 64year-old politician after pressing the sole reformist candidate, Mohammad Reza Aref, to withdraw from the race. Sources said behind-thescenes negotiations were underway in the conservative camp yesterday in a last-ditch attempt to unify ranks in a bid to beat back Rowhani’s challenge. Unofficial polls show the conservative frontrunners to be former foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati, Tehran mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.

wrote in yesterday’s opinion. But his ruling said that synthetic molecules known as complementary DNA can be patented “because it is not naturally occurring”. Yesterday’s compromise decision, which had been urged by the Obama administration, saw shares rise in the company affected, Myriad Genetics. The legal battle was prompted by a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in 2009 that centred on whether companies should be able to patent genes. Currently, researchers and private companies work to isolate genes in order to use them in tests for gene-related illnesses, and in emerging gene therapies.

links to the violence. The president named the election date using a presidential decree to bypass parliament, reports the Reuters news agency. “Given the deadline imposed by the Constitutional Court, it is inexpedient to await the passage through Parliament of an act dealing with the situation,” it quoted Mugabe as saying in an official government notice. Tsvangirai told journalists in the capital, Harare, that Zimbabwe could not hold elections before 25 August. “President Mugabe is acting unlawfully and unconstitutionally,” Tsvangirai said. “As prime minister, I cannot and will not accept this.” Mugabe had previously said he would abide by the court ruling and the coalition had “outlived its usefulness”.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

20 Years After June 12

Those who support June 12 annulment do so for personal interest, says Kanu At a media chat in Lagos during the week, Rear Admiral Ndubusi Kanu (rtd), former military governor of Lagos and Imo States and a chieftain of NADECO, spoke on why the body organised a colloquium to celebrate the late Chief MKO Abiola and his experiences aftermath of the June 12, 1993 election annulment, reports Seye Olumide ADECO’s colloquium to celebrate Chief MKO Abiola held on June 11 instead of June 12, as it has always been for almost two decades. Why the change? The colloquium is June 12 programme. It is not a day before June 12, as you might be thinking. June 12 is all about what took place on June 12, 1993. But June 11 is about the Epetedo Declaration on June 11, 1994. The value we want to add is that June 11 occurred because of June 12. As our Secretary (Chief Ayo Opadokun) rightly explained earlier, at the colloquium, there would be many issues for discussion by many people who did not want Nigeria to disintegrate. We have invited so many people to be part of the historic event that happened 19 years ago. We would even not be discussing a Sovereign National Conference that we stand for. We want to strategically make some pronouncement. We want to compare the Martin Luther King junior’s proclamation, ‘I have a dream’ along with what Chief MKO Abiola said 19 years ago during the Epetedo event before he was arrested, detained and killed by the state apparatus. NADECO is known for clamouring for a Sovereign National Conference. With its re-emergence, would it come up with new tactics? Is a SNC still relevant in Nigeria’s political situation? People really need to understand what a Sovereign National Conference that we clamoured is all about. People have explained it to make mischief out of lack of knowledge. With reference to quite some people in governance, they don’t really understand SNC. When you take a young man who was just 15 years in 1993, how old would he be today? Where are they today? They are in governance, quite a few of them and they had only seen twilight of Babangida’s administration. They go further to later years, from Babangida to Abacha, to annulment, to seeing how much money or contract you can get at the corridors of power; then come to assassinations, stealing, organised armed robbery, and now kid-

Kanu

napping. So, persons like that cannot understand what a SNC is all about without applying the mind. If the pressure of living and pressure of enjoying overwhelm the mind, you cannot understand what SNC stands for. If you look back, the problem in Nigeria did not really start from the military. It was when the Federal Government stepped into sovereign matter of the region that the problem started. The military now came in. Even under the first military rule, we had federalism. We have been saying these all this while that under the military that was an aberration, I never asked to become governor of old Imo State and later governor of Lagos State. Let me repeat that even under the military that time, there was no unitarism like we have now established by the military so-called Constitution. Then, as a military governor of Imo State, I derived my powers from the Constitution of Eastern Nigeria. As governor of Lagos then, I was subjected to the Constitution of Western Nigeria and Lagos Colony. There was no question by then of suspending a governor by the Federal Government. For instance, in spite the fact that I was the governor of Lagos State and Muhammadu Buhari was a federal commissioner for petroleum, he came with his ministry officials and applied for pipeline right of way for the Federal Government. The issue is that, if you take the unitary system of governance we have now, you cannot blame those who are operating it. But if you look at the issues that are dragging the nation back critically like security and power, you will understand that it will take the synergy of all the units (regions) in the country, in that diversity to move forward. But in a situation where those in power are concerned more about accumulation of material wealth, that is where corruption will continue to thrive. We are running a unitary system of government in Nigeria. There are so many connotations that we can go on talking about. The truth is, many unbelievable

things are happening in the country and if we don’t act, we may be heading to a tough time. Democracy is what NADECO ‘fought’ for. Are you pleased with the present politics and governance since the return to civil rule in 1999? It is good to look back and look around, too. Yes, we can see a few infrastructure development put in place, infrastructure like communication advancement and other level of development. However, the body politic of Nigeria is facing a greater danger and sliding further backwards. In the circumstances we came about this sorry state, we have been saying — and we will continue to say — that only a peaceful way can lead Nigeria back to the right path. Let me state briefly here that the annulled June 12 was a free and fair election; an election that Nigerians let off religious sentiment, left everything and voted their conscience; when bribery and intimidation weren’t the case; when young men and women counted votes one by one. I wish we could play back what happened in those days before the election was annulled. The question is, what made it possible to get that free election annulled? What made it possible for the military to annul the election? What followed? What if Nigerians, if NADECO or no NADECO protested, everybody just accepted what the military did? What do you think would happen if the whole country rose up against the annulment? Of course, what goes round will come round. When you do wrong to the people, you will never know it will flip to the other side. So, inequity is inequity and it will go round. It’s the same thing with equity. So, what happened? We have been operating civil rule for 14 years. Ask yourself what has happened? To put it briefly, we are not yet there in the democracy we fought for. This is not a matter of trying to blame anybody. Issues have gone beyond blaming anybody. The cost and effect is what really matters. What does it cost Nigeria to be going through what we shouldn’t go through? What are the collective factors? When we are talking about SNC, we are not talking of just to go and sit down and talk; we are talking about going back to the sovereign people, who are suffering in the midst of plenty. We are talking about people that wanted to live together as a country and surrendered their sovereignty to administrative control, central governance on their own free will. There are no two ways about it. If we don’t go back to the feelings where all of us, different people with different backgrounds accepted to live together as one, then, the crisis will continue to stare us in the face. If we have got a fundamental problem in the land, these matters will keep on increasing. That is the factor why NADECO decided to intervene. We are saying, let’s quickly find a peaceful

and lasting solution to all these problems. We have been saying it for long; we would keep saying that the country is heading towards where it shouldn’t go. What are your experiences like during the struggle against the military government after the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election? Many things had been written before about that; many things had been spoken and narrated before about my experiences of those periods. I want to appeal to you, let’s shift our attention from our experiences in NADECO; let’s shift to motivation — what really pushed us into the struggle and what was the position of those things in Nigeria today. Many Nigerians will still like to learn from your experience as a military officer who had served at high positions at a time but later joined forces to ensure the military return power to the people. What’s your experience like? Anyway, at the beginning, I was picked at home one morning by a group of policemen, led by someone who later became a DIG in this country. Before he died in a crash, we later became friend. There is one retired ACP; he was CSP then and up till today, I still relate with him after all. Yes, first thing in the morning, I was led to the Force Headquarters. While there, I was told I was carrying arms and ammunition. And then, they brought a paper for me to write a statement. They also brought a paper allegedly prepared by me, as NADECO’s Chairman of Action Committee, where I had recommended massive arms and ammunition importation. But I made it clear that if I prepared the paper brought to me, they wouldn’t see it in the first place. They also made remarks about Dr. Beko Kuti and some other members of NADECO until the wee hours of the following day. Later, I learnt they were looking for cars and I asked what for? They said we are travelling to my hometown. It was around 4am. I said, ‘no, I am not travelling anywhere,’ and that whatever they wanted to do to me, they should do it there. I said I was not going. I even told them that I wished they took me back to my house because I would not stay at the Force Headquarters. In the morning, they were all around. We all took off to the airport. Four plain-clothes policemen were with me. We flew to Port Harcourt, and from there, we drove to my hometown and to my house. While there, they said I should come inside and join them in searching but I declined. One of them threatened me that what would happen if they planted something that was capable in putting me in serious trouble. I said would be between them and their conscience. I remained at my balcony as they conducted their search of the whole house. I overheard one of them saying this man had nothing to hide and that was where it ended and I was flown back to Lagos.

There were so many harassments meted out at me thereafter, purposely to break me down. I don’t want to go into all that. But at a time, I decided to send a message to Abacha. Admiral Akhigbe was by then the Naval Chief. The message I sent then was that I shouldn’t be subjected to unnecessary harassment after serving my country well, defending her territorial integrity. There are so many things to tell as regards my experiences when NADECO was running from pillar to post. What motivated you to join NADECO when it was formed? I don’t mind telling anybody who cares that I am a well-trained Naval Officer. I don’t mind taking on any Admiral anywhere in the world, any day, any time. While I was in the service, where I was trained in India, there was an inscription on the dome there. It was, ‘Safety, Honour and Welfare of your country come first, always and every time. The Safety, Honour and Welfare of the men you command come next. Your own safety and welfare come last.’ And there was no training that talk about being a governor. My first military appointment was when I was in the Supreme Military Council (SMC). I was put under General Murtala Muhammed. The Head of State did nothing single-handedly; everything was from the SMC. Olusegun Obasanjo was a member, likewise myself and other officers. Obasanjo was not superior to any member of the council. So, anytime Obasanjo says he did this or that after the assassination of Murtala, there is nothing he did independently; all actions were by the SMC. I also partook in Babangida’s Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC) after Ebitu Ukiwe’s exit. I was also a member of the Political Bureau set up by the Babangida administration. There was a fixed programme for return to civil government but they changed the whole thing. In fact, after the annulment of June 12 election in 1993, someone like (the late Mr. Clement) Akpamgbo said anyone that talked about June 12 was inciting people and risked treason. (Senator Uche) Chukwumerije, too, along with Akpamgbo, talked against June 12 but deep inside their hearts, they could see clearly that ordinary Nigerians, who voted during the election, were angry about the turn of events. Anybody in uniform or out of uniform, I mean anybody who, in his right senses for any reason supports the annulment of June 12, 1993 presidential election, is personal to him. The annulment is against the country and the people anyhow you look at it. So, there is no need saying that anybody, including IBB (Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida) himself, (Senator) David Mark, who is there today (as Senate President) and Obasanjo, who was at the helm of affairs of this nation between 1999 to 2007; anybody at all, whoever that gave support to the annulment of June 12, 1999 election did not give their support to serve the interest of this nation

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

TheMetroSection Metal birds hit the road • Mystery plane found in Lagos filling station, another on the highway

The plane parked at a filling station By Laolu Adeyemi

OME thought it was another plane Squeuing crash, others joked that it was up to buy fuel, but it was an anxious moment yesterday morning when residents of Igando, a Lagos suburb, woke up to the unusual sight of a plane in a filling station. A supposedly scrap private plane belonging to Gabriel Oduyemi World Crusade Ministry caused panic and fear yesterday morning as the rumour spread that another aircraft had crashed at Elewe-nla bus-stop in Igando, Lagos. . On hearing the news, hundreds of residents trooped out in droves to the scene with their camera phones and queued behind the high fence of Dapsey Oil filling station at Igando where the plane was packed. When The Guardian got to the scene at around 9.30 am, it was gathered that the plane was parked by some group of people towing it down to Magbon in Badagry at around 200.am. The private plane with registration

PHOTO: LAOLU ADEYEMI

number N972TF has an inscription of Gabriel Oduyemi World Crusade on it. Eyewitnesses said it was accompanied by some team of security agents towing it towards LASU-Ojo Road before one of the rear tyres burst. With no smoke signs, no sign of crash-landing or blast, Gabriel Oduyemi World Crusade’s plane was parked directly at the back of a petrol tanker inside the Dapsey filling station at Elewe-nla bus stop. One of the filling station attendants, who craved anonymity, also disclosed that the plane was allegedly removed from the Ikeja Airport to be towed down to Badagry by road when one of the tyres burst and it had to be parked at the filling station at about 2.00am. According to him, one of the tyres of the private jet rupturted around Olorunfemi in Igando but the group was left with no option than to park it at Dapsey filling station that was the nearest place to them. The police and some other security agents had tough time controlling

ing that he was waiting for his lawyer before pressing charges against the owners of the airplane. “I was called at about 1 am yesterday from the Divisional Police Officer of the area that a light aircraft they were towing to Badagry had broken down at the middle of the Highway and that they would need my premises to park it. I obliged them thinking it would be for few hours before they would come and remove it”. To quell the conflicting reports, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had confirmed that it was an old plane being towed away to decongest the airport. Meanwhile, another private jet, named Capital Airline with registration number 5N-BLN, was also seen cruising along Apapa and moving towards Oshodi very early in the morning yesterday. The plane was as at press time parked at Sanya bus stop, along the Apapa-Oshodi expressway unattended to and information about its destination is still very sketchy.

Delta Police rescue kidnapped woman, three kids in Edo By Odita Sunday

N a bid to fully reintegrate police personnel attached to the dissolved joint patrol into the mainstream of state Police Command’s established crime-fighting structures, the Delta State Police Command has embarked on re-training of its officers and men to fit into the new order. It has also rescued a woman and her three children, who were abducted in Asaba and taken to the kidnappers’ den in Abudu, Edo State. The Command’s boss, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, a Commissioner of Police told The Guardian that ‘the need to set the ball rolling on the much- needed paradigm shift towards intelligence-oriented policing’ necessitated the retraining exercise. According to Aduba: “It is in an effort to be in tune with the Inspector General of Police’s agenda that the Delta State Police Command organized a one-week intensive training programme with particular emphasis on combat craft, intelligence gathering and arms stripping for some of its personnel hitherto involved in Joint Patrol duties.” The personnel were particularly, tutored on ambush/ counter- ambush techniques by personnel from sister security Agency; The Nigerian Army. “Our colleagues from the State Security Serv-

Aduba and his Deputy, Taiwo Lakanu

ice (SSS) equally tutored them on intelligence gathering. It is hoped that a combination of these acquired experiences in the course of the said internal training, coupled with the gains garnered during the dissolved joint patrols, would impact positively in our general efforts at stemming the tides of violent crimes and other forms of criminality in the State. “The personnel were further tutored on the need to be civil to members of the society; zero tolerance on corruption and to be fully ac-

Adekunle, 70, passes on UNERAL rites for Mrs. ComFAdekunle, fort Mojisola Ayoka who died at the age of 70, begin on Friday, June 21, with a service of songs at her residence in Ishokun Oyo, Oyo State. She will be buried in Saturday, June 22. Guests will be entertained at the old National Park, Iseyin Road, Oyo. She is survived by her husband, Mr. Steve Ade Adekunle and children among whom are Mrs. Sade Adejumobi, Dapo Adekunle and Ayo Adekunle.

Another plane sighted on Oshodi-Apapa Expressway...yesterday

the swelling crowd and the traffic the plane had generated. Another senior officer at the filling station confirmed the story saying the private plane was being towed from the Lagos airport. He said: “The wings were removed and tied to the roof just to ensure safety since it will be going by road. The tyre burst along the line and they had to park it here through police intervention. The plane did not crash at all and if anyone says it crashed, where are the casualties and where are the impact on this filling station?” he asked rhetorically. Attempts to speak to the Divisional Police Officer of Igando, Mr. Olugbemiga Adeoye met with a brick wall as he declined comment on the matter, claiming he lacks the power to speak on the matter. “It is only the Lagos Police Public Relation Officer that can talk on this matter,” he said. Meanwhile, the owner of the filling station, Oladapo Cocker lamented the way his business was paralysed for the whole of yesterday, disclos-

Briefs

quainted with the Force Code of Ethics, which is well-documented in the IGP’s recently rolled out treatise on Code of Conduct.” In a related development, the Command, through what it called “relentless pressures mounted on her captors”, successfully secured the release of the Queen of Ughelli 24 hours after her abduction by hoodlums. The Police are currently demolishing the operational base of the kidnappers and four suspects, including two men and two women, had been arrested in connection with the incident. Aduba also said that detectives were quizzing the suspects. “Also, 24 hours after a kidnapping incident that occurred in Asaba, personnel from our Command’s Special Anti-Kidnapping Squad, in conjunction with our master trackers, successfully effected the release of a woman and her three children unhurt at Abudu in Edo State. They were kidnapped on June 8, 2013, along GSM Road Asaba. The rescued victims had since been reconciled with their family while efforts are on top gear to effect the arrest of the remaining fleeing suspects. We enjoin the good people of Delta State not to relent in their current efforts at partnering effectively with security agencies as we continue undeterred in our efforts at stemming the tides of violent crimes and criminality in the state,” he said.

Adekunle

Sisters’ convention HE Redeemed Christian T Church of God, Lagos Province 37, will today begin its Sisters’ Convention with the theme: “Dependable helpmeet at this end timem” at its Headquarters, Ogbomoso Avenue, Dopemu, Lagos from 9.00a.m. -3p.m. daily. It will end on Sunday with a thanksgiving service. Host is Pastor V. O. Ajayeoba.

Schools hold exhibition USYBEES and West Mills B British School, Apapa GRA, Lagos will tomorrow hold its Science and Technology Fair from 9.00amnoon. This year's exhibition will feature lots of budding scientists, showcasing several inventions and innovations.

Firm wins award

FIRM, De-Tastee Fried A Chicken (TFC) Ltd., has received the 2013 Community Engagement Awards, as being a generous supporter of communities in Nigeria from the Capital Finance International (cfi.co), a news and online resource organization that provides news and commentary on emerging markets. According to the Managing Director, Mrs. Olayinka Pamela Adedayo, “We thank God for the recognition and we promise to continue to support the cause of the abandoned, the less-privileged and children ”.

40 schools set for Pedachess championship HE sixth edition of the T Pedachess yearly all- primary schools chess championship is scheduled to hold on Tuesday, June18 and Wednesday, June 19, at the school hall, Chrisland Nursery and Primary School, Opebi, Lagos. According to Mr. Olanrewaju Ajibola, a director with Pedachess, the championship aims at discovering and developing chess talents at the primary school level and 40 schools would compete in this year’s competition.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

TheGuardian

14 | THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

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 Nigeria and UN Security Council Seat HEN Nigeria’s bid for the United Nations Security Council non-permanent seat received a boost from the African Union (AU) at its Golden Jubilee Summit in Addis Ababa the other day, Africa sent an appropriate signal to the world that it could work in unity in pursuing its collective interest. The country was endorsed by the AU Executive Council in a pleasant display of solidarity and consensus. Coming against the background of an earlier endorsement by the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS), this new wave of solidarity is commendable. It should be harnessed to win the support of more member states of the global body at the crucial vote of the United Nations General Assembly. The support of other regional groupings such as AsiaPacific group, Eastern European group, Latin America group and Western European and Other Groups (WEOG) is quite important to the venture. This auspicious opportunity should not slip away. Sustained diplomatic effort is required as winning the seat will enable the country to play a significant role in global affairs and a good compliment to its well-acknowledged peacekeeping role. A Security Council seat is significant in many respects. Firstly, it must be acknowledged that the Security Council is the organ of the United Nations empowered to make key decisions in the area of international security and despite the veto enjoyed by the five permanent members, non-permanent members can also make their voices heard on important global issues and act as moral check against the bullying attitude of the permanent members. This is an important reason countries are often motivated to fight for a seat in the Security Council. Secondly, given the enormous power of the council under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, membership of the council is prestigious and provides opportunity to influence decisions such as the use of sanctions and military force in situations likely to cause a breach of international peace and security. Thirdly, it has also been acknowledged by experts that rotating members are able to extract rents during their time on the council. Truly, pay-offs follow during important decision-making. This likelihood tends to boost the diplomatic importance of members of the Security Council. Fourthly, non-permanent membership carries the symbolic indication of who needs to be on the table in the context of the reform proposal for democratisation of the Security Council. And finally, it provides a rare opportunity to defend regional interest besides the descriptive representation in substantial ways. Beyond particular attraction, it has to be noted that the Security Council has played important role in the maintenance of global peace and security, particularly since the end of the Cold War. Beginning from the late 1980s, there was a leap in the number of peacekeeping operations and observer missions authorized by the Security Council. The number is put at about 36 missions between 1987 and 2000. There were UN missions in the Balkans, Angola, Haiti, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Somalia. This has further increased since the last decade. Nigeria’s role in all of these missions has been acknowledged even by successive Secretaries-General of the UN, including the incumbent Ban ki Moon. Looking back in time, Nigeria has occupied the Security Council seat a few times since becoming a member of the global body in October 7, 1960. It was in the Security Council in 1966 – 1967, 1978 – 1979, 1994 – 1995 and 2010 – 2011. It exited in 2011 after producing the Council’s president in the person of Professor Joy Ogwu, the Permanent Representative at the UN. Having the opportunity to occupy the seat again would not be out of place especially in the light of emerging global issues, including terrorism, of which Nigeria has become a victim. The seat, if secured, is also a plus for Nigeria’s quest for a permanent seat on the world body’s most powerful organ. If it wins this slot in October, Nigeria will now rank highest of African countries that have been elected into the Security Council. The support of the permanent members – USA, UK, Russia, France and China is important just as the human rights record of an aspirant-country. Nigeria should therefore exploit existing bilateral relations with each of the permanent members to gain their respective support. To make Nigeria’s position secure, African countries would need to go beyond the Addis Ababa endorsement to woo support for Nigeria in the spirit of the Ezulwini Consensus which advocates that Africa be fully represented in all UN organs, specifically the Security Council. However, the task ahead of the country is enormous. African countries, which previously occupied the non-permanent seat at the Security Council, namely South Africa and Gabon, could not prevent the use of force against two African countries, namely, Libya and Cote d’Ivoire in preference for an African solution. So the capacity of the members to mainstream the continent’s interest is important in the murky waters of international diplomacy.

LETTERS

Kidnapping: Can we end this madness? Kidnapping for ransom has SandIR:become an institutionalised flourishing crime in Nigeria with police and other security agencies struggling to curb this menace. Perhaps we need to take the war beyond this current tempo of being reactive and declare a state of emergency on this since it is only emergency rule that brings out seriousness in us. We cannot win war on kidnapping without proactivity and usage of intelligence gathering and collaboration with traditional institutions. The only time we see much activity around this menace is when a high profile person is affected. The recent kidnapping of family members of a serving Supreme Court justice has increased security activities around Edo State. Prior to this, scores of people are being abducted daily on the Benin-Ore end of the expressway. We all witnessed how America speedily dealt with the Boston bombing within few days. This shows the seriousness of the Americans to handle their affairs. Ours is lack of will to deal with daily challenges that gradually turn to anarchy and state of hopelessness. We don’t handle issues until they snowball into a catastrophe. Our nation has gradually crawled into a failed state simply because people in authority have failed to deliver on their constitutional responsibilities. The Nigerian people have themselves to blame as leaders should be held accountable for their actions and inactions. It should no longer be business as usual with leaders only interested in enriching themselves. We need to up our game in this

country and get people saddled with the responsibility of protecting lives and properties to change their leadership approach and deliver on those things that will make life meaningful to the masses. We cannot read out sound economic metrics achieved when an ordinary man in the street cannot relate the metrics to the difficulties he faces daily to make ends meet. How many jobs have we added to the economy with those metrics? Have we been able to stabilise power

and get people engaged in their various trades? On the part of security agencies, we need commitment, skill and resources to end this kidnapping scourge and it is high time the president declared emergency in this sector to deal with the root causes which are largely poverty, unequal distribution of income or resources of the nation, injustice and unemployment. We are walking a mine field. There was a country called Nigeria. • Azubike Okonkwo barthlini@yahoo.com

Why child marriage must end IR: Northern Nigeria has some control only over marriages that Smarriages of the highest rates of child take place within the civil system. in the world. Girls who marry so early are often susceptible to health risks associated with early sexual initiation and child bearing, including HIV and obstetric fistula. Because they lack status and power, these girls are often subjected to domestic violence, sexual abuse isolation. social and Furthermore, early marriage always deprives girls of education or learning a vocation, which leads to persistent poverty. The Child Rights Act of 2003 has raised the minimum age of marriage for girls to 18. However, the federal law may be implemented differently in the various 36 states of Nigeria. To date, very few states implement the law. To complicate matters, Nigeria has three different laws operating simultaneously – civil, customary and Islamic – and federal and state governments have

Child marriage perpetuates an unrelenting cycle of gender inequality, sickness and poverty. Despite universal condemnation, this practice still thrives: 51 million girls are lead into forceful marriage worldwide. If nothing changes, another 100 million will be involved within the decade. Statistics show that only two per cent of 15-19 year-old married girls are in school. Education is a fundamental human right and an educated girl is likely to take control of her destiny and contribute to change in her community. Domestic violence is also another problem related to child marriage. A study on Demographic and Health Survey data suggests that the lower the age at marriage, the higher the risk of domestic violence. The time to change this trend in Nigeria and elsewhere is now. • Vincent Egede, Lagos.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

Business AutoWheels P41

BusinessTravel P43

Automobiles with top safety challenges

Flight delays, cancellations blight air travel thrills

Bond market yields N21b issues By Chijioke Nelson, with agency reports IGERIA’S debt profile may N have risen further by N21 billion, courtesy of recent activities in the bond market. Specifically, data from the Debt Management Office (DMO) yesterday, showed the country sold $131.56 million (N21.05 billion) worth of bonds, with maturities ranging from five to 20 years and all with higher yields at Wednesday’s auction. According to the data, all notes were re-opening of previously issued bonds, and the DMO sold only a quarter of the amount initially offered. The debt office sold N2.01 billion in the bond maturing in 2030, against N35 billion initially planned, N18.8 billion in the note maturing in 2017, less than the N25 billion initially offered, and N24 million in the debt note maturing in 2015 against N25 billion advertised for offer. The debt notes were sold at higher yields with the 2030 maturing paper attracted 13.5 per cent compared with 12.79 per cent at the previous month’s auction, the 2017 paper attracted 13 per cent compared with 12.25 per cent, while the 2015 attracted 12.25 per cent against 11.6 per cent. Recently, the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala, gave indications that the nation’s rising local debt profile may have raised serious concerns and that plans were underway to reduce projected borrowings. She also said that the country has retired matured bonds worth N75 billion, which matured in February, with plans to reduce this year’s local borrowing target of N577 billion to N500 billion next year. “No one in government is supportive of a Nigeria that returns to a high state of indebtedness. Our current approach balances Nigeria’s needs for investment in physical and human infrastructure, with a strong policy to limit overall indebtedness in relation to our ability to pay,” she said. As at March 2013, domestic debt stood at N6.1 trillion, while foreign debt stood at $6.7 billion. There were also indications that the government is planning to increase foreign borrowing to about 40 per cent of total debt from current 14 per cent, in a move to access cheaper, longer-term foreign loans to reduce short-term domestic borrowing.

Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga (left); President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Chief Kola Jamodu; and Managing Director, Nigeria Breweries Plc, NicolaasVervelde, during the presentation of the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan, yesterday, in Lagos.

Investors lose N486 billion as ASI, capitalisation drop on the Exchange By Helen Oji, with agency reports HE All-Share Index (ASI) on T the Nigerian Stock Exchange recorded a record drop in more than three years on speculation that foreign investors exited the world’s fifth-best rally this year on concerns that global stimulus measures may ease. Also, market capitalization dropped significantly by N486 billion, from N12,502 trillion recorded on Wednesday to N12, 017 trillion, while the AllShare index dipped by 1508.81 points or four per cent from 38,915.54 to 37,406.73. The index of Africa’s biggest oil producer and largest stock market after South Africa retreated 3.9 per cent to 37,406.67 at the close in Lagos, the commercial capital, its biggest decline since March

2010. The measure fell to the world’s eighth-best performer, as 55 stocks fell, 14 rose and 137 were unchanged. Before today the index had risen 39 per cent this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Emerging markets from Brazil to India took steps to stem an outflow of capital on concerns developed nations are close to ending an era of unprecedented liquidity. The moves follow the Bank of Japan’s decision this week to refrain from adding stimulus and Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s May 22 statement that the U.S. Federal Reserve could scale back asset buying if it’s confident of sustained economic growth. “The Nigerian market is responding to a global trend,” Pabina Yinkere, an equity analyst at Lagos-based Vetiva Capital Management Ltd., said

by telephone today. “Many foreign and local investors want to cash out before a drastic fall hits the market.” Nigerian Breweries Plc (NB), the West African nation’s second largest company making up 11 percent of the index, fell for a fourth day, down 7.4 per cent to N157.5. “The foreign guys have just seen that Nigerian has been very, very rewarding to them over the past few months” and “they want to realize their gains,” Jude Fejokwu, managing director of Thaddeus Investment Advisors & Research Ltd., said by phone today from Lagos. “When they pull out it shakes the market and they’ve put in a lot of money.” Foreign investors accounted for 43 per cent of trades in March and 61 percent in all of 2012, according to the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Net

foreign inflows into Nigerian equities amounted to 29.3 billion naira ($182 million) in March, compared with N93.8 billion in 2012, according to the bourse’s figures. Meanwhile Nestle Nigeria Plc, West African nation’s largest food company by market value, headed for its largest retreat on record as investors sold shares on speculation the stock was overvalued, FBN Capital Ltd said. The stock fell for a second day, sliding as much as 10 percent, the most on a closing basis since at least Jan. 25, 2002, when Bloomberg started compiling the data. It traded 7 per cent lower at N930.01. About 1.7 times the three-month daily average volume of shares were traded. Nestle Nigeria’s shares jumped in May, pushing its relative-strength index above 70, an indication to some

traders that the stock may be overbought. The level dropped to 35.6 yesterday as the shares’ decline over the past five trading days extended to 16 per cent, the fourthworst performer on the Nigerian Stock Exchange’s All Share Index. “There is a general selloff after the price rally,” Bunmi Asaolu, an analyst at Lagosbased FBN Capital, said today by phone. “Our target price for the stock is N852, based on cash flow.” Nestle Nigeria said on May 3 net income for the three months through March declined to 5.99 billion naira ($37 million) from 6.2 billion naira a year earlier. Revenue rose to N30.7 billion from N28.7 billion, it said. The company’s shares rose 29 per cent this year, in line with a 29 per cent gain in the allshare gauge.

Govt yet to approve Chevron’s plan to sell OML 83, 85 By Roseline Okere fresh controversy may A have hit plans by Chevron to auction its stake in Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) 83 and 85 offshore Nigeria, as indications emerged that Nigerian National Petroleum

Corporation (NNPC) was yet to approve the scheme. A top source in NNPC, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said recently that Chevron was yet to officially notify them of their plan to relinquish its interest in the oil field. But when The Guardian con-

tacted Chevron’s General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affair, Deji Haastrup, he said that the company was following due process in its plans to sell off the assets. Haastrup said: “Everything is being done transparently and as required by regula-

tion.” He said that the move was part of the company’s continuous evaluation of opportunities and the need to prioritise its portfolio. He assured that the multinational oil firm would implement the divestment in line with the local content law, as

indigenous investors are considered the preferred. Chevron acquired OML 83 (Anyala field) and OML 85 (Madu field) after its acquisition of Texaco. The oil fields are situated in shallow water offshore Bayelsa State in the

CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

16 BUSINESS

Value addition imperative for agric sector’s growth, say stakeholders By Femi Adekoya HE contributions of the T agricultural sector to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of country may remain low until government addresses the issues of value-addition and inconsistency in its policies. Specifically, stakeholders attributed government’s inadequate support to the processing industry and inability to sustain the cassava flour inclusion policy as well as other agricultural products to the sector’s low contribution to the country’s GDP. Besides, the stakeholders

have prayed the National Assembly to enact the cassava flour inclusion bill into law to encourage local consumption especially by other stakeholders in the value chain, as well as drive growth of the sector. The stakeholders, while speaking at a forum organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on “High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) Production and Utilization in Baking and Allied Industries: Current Status, Trend and Opportunities” in Lagos, yesterday, decried government’s neglect of activities within the

Govt yet to approve Chevron’s plan to sell OML 83, 85 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 Niger Delta and have reserves of about 250 million barrels of oil and 14.1billion cubic metres of gas. The company said in its 2013 Fact Sheet released recently that in 2012, its net daily production in Nigeria averaged 238,000 barrels of crude oil, 165 million cubic feet of natural gas and 4,000 barrels of Liquefied Petroleum Gas. It said that through its principal subsidiary in Nigeria, it has been able to operate and hold a 40 per cent interest in 13 concessions under a jointventure arrangement with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Chevron stated: “In 2012, our

net daily production in Nigeria averaged 238,000 barrels of crude oil, 4.6mn cubic metres of natural gas and 4,000 barrels of LPG. “Our move is the latest in the pool of divestment by the oil multinationals in recent times. The sale follows the divestment by Shell, Total and ENI of their joint venture onshore interests in the country.” It disclosed that it was involved in natural gas projects in the western Niger Delta and Escravos areas, including the expansion of the Escravos Gas Plant (EGP), construction of the Escravos Gas-to-Liquids (EGTL) facility, the Sonam Field development and the Agura Independent Power Plant.

sector, especially in the area of policy implementation. President of the chamber, Goodie Ibru, noted that despite the nation’s strength as the highest producer of cassava and other key products, the effect has not been felt in the economy due to low valueaddition in the agricultural sector. He said: “Nigeria is one of the highest producers of cassava in the world but this has not translated into a buoyant economic value-chain due to its abysmally low value addition. There is need to utilize our cassava more in food processing chain and for export. The twin advantage is that we would make significant savings in foreign exchange and boost export earnings. “If there is any time we should worry about self-reliance in the Nigerian economy, it is now. Oil prices are on the decline; demand for oil is falling; and supply is increasing. All these have implications for fiscal sustainability of the economy. We are very vulnerable to global shocks.” He however urged government to provide the enabling environment for the cassava initiative to thrive. Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Yakubu Olajide also tasked the Federal Government to develop sustainable policies that would address the problems of food insecurity, low production, and self reliance in order to move agricultural production forward.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

Weekend

Between ‘June 12,’ and MKO’s business empire

Arts & Culture P. 38

Autowheels P.41

Fatai Rolling Dollar…

Business Travels P.43

Flight delays, cancellations blight air travel thrills

Automobiles with top safety challenges

THE GUARDIAN, friday, June 14, 2013

20 WEEKEND

How foray into politics ruined Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola paid the supreme price in his struggle to actualize the mandate freely given to him by Nigerians in the June 12, 1993 Presidential election. But his businesses also suffered tremendously as a result of several intrigues embedded in the course of events that followed the historic election, report SEYE OLUMIDE WOLE OYEBADE and TUNDE AKINOLA

MKO Abiola EfORE he ventured into Nigeria’s murky B political landscape that eventually cost him his life in July 1998, Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola was already an internationally acclaimed and highly successful businessman, with an unparalleled record of philanthropy. But many of the businesses began to fail one after the other, following the June 12, 1993 elections, which pitted Abiola and Nigerians who voted for him, against Gen Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) led military junta, which annulled what is still considered the country’s freest and fairest election to date. The general belief is that since the federal government was the main customer for Abiola’s companies, it was easy for this powerful customer to cripple his businesses by simply not honouring its commitments and paying for the services already rendered. Abiola came from humble beginnings. Born in 1937, he was the 23rd child of his father’s three wives and ironically the first to survive, which explains why he was named “Kashimawo” (Let’s see if this child will survive). His mother, a kolanut trader, provided support for his early education. At the age of nine, Abiola was already trading in firewood in Abeokuta, Ogun State, to support his family. After one year, he had saved enough money to hire a Tanioroko, an old military Austin lorry, sold by tender after the Second World War. However, business expansion was cut short by resistance from villagers where the firewood was collected. At 14 in 1951, MKO was admitted at the Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta, but his fees were not paid; yet he continued because of his strong academic performance. During this period, he established an agidigbo (a musical group), named “Kashy Mambo Orchestra,” to entertain at social functions in Abeokuta through which he saved over £700. After school, he had a spell as a bank clerk before obtaining a Western Region scholarship to study Accountancy at the University of Glasgow, United Kingdom, between 1961 and 63. He acquired his professional qualifications within three years, with distinction in all papers. He returned home in 1966 with the intention of joining Guinness, the multi-

national brewer, but he encountered discrimination against Nigerians working there and opted instead for the post of an accountant with the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). He later joined Pfizer Products Ltd, an American Pharmaceutical Company and was given considerable managerial authority. He was involved in the building a feed-mill plant for the company in Kumasi, Ghana, but the bar on holding shares in the company rankled him. He resented the ‘perpetual status of a bridesmaid,’ and left the company to set up his own firm as a chartered accountant. However, he responded to the advertisement of an unnamed company, which was looking for a first class chartered accountant in Africa. He found out at the third and final interview in New York, United States, that he was being recruited by the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (ITT), joined the company as Comptroller in 1969 and this proved to be the turning point in his career. Incidentally, Nigeria had owed the ITT £3.5 million for telecommunications equipment for three and a half years. Abiola’s first assignment was to recover this debt. Early one morning in the early 1970s shortly after the civil war, he confronted Lt. Col. Murtala Mohammed, an Inspector of Signals, who had just returned from the war front. The Chief of Army Staff at that time, Brigadier Usman Kastina found them arguing and Alhaji Yusuf Gobir, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence was called in. Eventually payment was made. Armed with the cheque, MKO flew to London, which culminated in the series of event that led to the exit of the expatriate managing director of ITT Nigeria. MKO also requested for a 50 per cent shareholding in ITT Nigeria, and when the company refused, he formed his own telecommunication company, Radio Communications Nigeria (RCN) Ltd in 1971, and secured a £3 million contract from the army. News leaked to ITT that RCN had se-

cured the contract, whereupon the company offered MKO 49 percent of ITT communications. Abiola became vice-president for Africa and the Middle East thereby joining the inner circle of the company. The post helped to launch him internationally and further his political ambitions. In 1975, ITT secured a very large contract for telephone exchanges in all parts of the country. RCN also received substantial military contracts, providing communications for the Signals division and setting up training programmes in the United States and United Kingdom. After the success of ITT (Nigeria) and RCN, MKO set up a number of other ventures and also took to politics. He was chairman of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in Ogun State. His wives played important roles in his business affairs. His first wife, Simbiat Abiola (193892), was vice-chairman of the Concord Group of Newspapers, which he set up, and played a prominent role in setting up other ventures like the Wonder bakery. MKO’s fourth wife, Dr Doyin Abiola, a journalist, became editor of the National Concord and in 1985 became managing director and editor-inchief of the Concord Press. Abiola’s publishing interests were instrumental to his finding favour with the Congressional Black Caucus in the United States and also promoting his Pan African vision. He became the Patron of the Caucus and won the Black Heritage Award of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) in 1987 and 1988. Another venture was a N2.5million investment in a modern automated bakery in Lagos. The Wonder Baking Company opened in 1980 and employed 140 persons in 1981. It used the specific Wonder bread recipe, as is done in the large chain of continental bakeries in the United States and Britain, under the brand name of Mother’s Pride. A second plant, planned for Abeokuta did

In the mid-1980s Abiola began to invest in agriculture. About 50, 000 hectares were acquired in five states: Ogun, Kwara, Gongola (now Adamawa and Taraba), Akwa Ibom and Lagos). Small scale cultivation of maize in Gongola started in 1988 (100 hectares) and a further 1,500 hectares were cleared in 1989. About N10 million was invested in a 10, 000ton drying silo complex in 1987. It was planned to produce maize oil and animal feed

not materialize. The bakery was managed by Simbiat and later her son, Deji. In the mid-1980s Abiola began to invest in agriculture. About 50, 000 hectares were acquired in five states: Ogun, Kwara, Gongola (now Adamawa and Taraba), Akwa Ibom and Lagos). Small scale cultivation of maize in Gongola started in 1988 (100 hectares) and a further 1,500 hectares were cleared in 1989. About N10 million was invested in a 10, 000ton drying silo complex in 1987. It was planned to produce maize oil and animal feed. Other ventures include Concord Airlines, African Ocean lines (1985), Abiola Bookshop (1986), Summit Oil and an interest in Decca (WA) Ltd. In the case of African Ocean Lines, the largest shareholders were Abiola and late retired Major-General Shehu Yar’adua (27.5 per cent each). Two ships were purchased from East Germany in 1986, at a time when the shipping policy was in favour of local operators as a result of which the federal government established the National Maritime Authority. However, the company had problems attracting cargo and in 1988 the ships were sold. Abiola and Yar’adua were also the largest Nigerian shareholders in the Habib Nigeria Bank Ltd, Kaduna, in which the Habib Bank, Pakistan also had 40 per cent shares. It started operations in 1983. Summit Oil was a recipient of the federal government’s discretionary allocation of two exploratory blocs in the Niger Delta. It discovered oil in commercial quantities in 1992. It employed Nigerian chemical and petroleum engineers and was managed by Kola Abiola, MKO’s first son, who studied business administration and also managed Abiola farms and Concord Airlines. Abiola’s philanthropy was also monumental. He supported two football teams, established a comprehensive high school in Abeokuta in 1979, donated huge sums of money to many state development funds, Colleges of Arabic and Islamic Studies in Sokoto and Abeokuta and several entities. A northern prominent traditional and religious leader once said Abiola had financially and morally assisted the propagation of

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

WEEKEND 21

MKO Abiola’s vast business empire

MKO Abiola Islam more than any other Nigerian in contemporary history. Abiola was also involved in fund raising activities for 63 secondary schools, 41 libraries and 21 water projects in 17 different states. In 1990, he donated N1 million to each state university and provided money for students’ welfare, publications and polytechnics. In two decades, he had awarded over 1000 scholarships. He also held over 140 traditional and chieftaincy titles across the country, including the revered Aare Ona Kakanfo (Generalissmo) of Yorubaland. Apart from paying the supreme price for democracy, Abiola also lost one of his wives, Kudirat, who was assassinated in broad daylight at Ikeja, Lagos. In an interview with The Guardian, Kudirat’s son, Alhaji Lekan Abiola lamented that his father’s businesses were deliberately ruined by the federal government as a result of his insistent on claiming his mandate given to him by Nigerians at the June 12, 1993 poll. His words: “With all that my father did for this country; the fact he was very successful and lost his life in the process (of actualizing the June 12 1993 mandate), and fact that his businesses were ruined has been so painful. The family is yet to recover from it. “Everybody knows that in Nigeria, one cannot really succeed without government’s patronage. The (federal) government is a big factor in our economy. They (government) give out big contracts and my father was into telecommunication. He was a supplier of telephone lines and things like that. He was also a supplier of equipment like the two-way radio to the military. So, when you become an enemy of government, so to speak, the first thing they would do is to cripple your business. “For instance, they would not pay for the supplies you have made or they could cancel your contracts after you have made payments for those supplies. “We had two oil blocks which were seized after my father had spent money trying to do some exploration on them. Concord Airline and Concord Newspapers were grounded. The equipment he (MKO) bought for his farms were seized because they said they (equipment) were meant for rebel activities. They seized a lot of tractors and fertilizers because they said we wanted to use them to make bombs. My Mum (Kudirat) used to import chemicals. They (chemicals) were seized and auctioned. “These businesses have salaries to pay and they have environments to maintain. And once you shut them down for three or four years, what happens is that the salary bill will shoot up and your equipment would run down. So, even if they (government) pay you the money you are owed, you already have a backlog to

Kudirat Abiola

Yar Adua

Babangida

pay – the salaries you owe – and you have to maintain and refurbish your equipment to bring the company back. So, eventually we had to shut down some of the companies. “Two of our oil blocs were seized but one was returned. They delayed us because they asked us to bring foreign investors before they could approve it. At the end of the day, things were not the way they used to be.” On the insinuation that family issues may have caused the slowdown in Abiola’s business, Lekan said every family has its issues. He insisted that in Abiola’s case, what happened to his businesses were politically motivated. He said: “Before, we had up to seven Abiola farms. But now, they are two. The bookshop is no longer functioning because we supplied a lot of books to the Federal Government but they never paid. Berec Batteries and Concord Newspapers are no more functioning. “My old man (Abiola) was a very hardworking man and he was the Chief Executive Officer of all his businesses. When he was detained, he lost control of all of them because that (detention) was a major distraction. My father went from being a politician to becoming an activist. He was basically such a dominant figure and he did not expect all the intrigues that played out to happen.” Several prominent citizens have continued to criticize the federal government over its refusal to formally recognize Abiola’s sacrifice and the significance of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. According to Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, President, Campaign for Democracy (CD) and recipient of United States International Women of Courage Award, the major significance of June12 and its aftermath is the foundation upon which Nigeria’s democracy today was built. She said: “This is not just the opinion of those of us in the prodemocracy movement. This fact has also been admitted by even key actors in the scenarios that played itself out during and after June 12.”

“My old man (Abiola) was a very hardworking man and he was the Chief Executive Officer of all his businesses. When he was detained, he lost control of all of them because that (detention) was a major distraction. My father went from being a politician to becoming an activist. He was basically such a dominant figure and he did not expect all the intrigues that played out to happen

Lekan Abiola According to her, the implication of the admission by Professor Humphrey Nwosu (who headed the electoral body that conducted the election) is that after a very long time, there has been a justification for the decision taken on June 12, 1993 by Nigerians and the subsequent struggles towards the actualisation of the mandate before the unfortunate death of the acclaimed winner of the election. “This should be a clear message for the present ruling political class in Nigeria on the need for the Nigerian government to formally recognise Abiola as a former President of Nigeria,” she said. On former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s refusal to honour Abiola, Okei-Odumakin said the intrigues are best known to Obasanjo himself. But to an average Nigerian, she observed, the issue is perceived as a display of ingratitude by a man, who became the first major beneficiary of the June 12 struggle, for which Abiola had to pay the ultimate price. “I think Obasanjo still owes it a duty to let Nigerians know why he failed to recognise or immortalise the memory of June 12 and Abiola,” she said. A member of the Presidential Advisory Council on International Relations and a Professor of History and Strategic Studies, Ambassador Akinjide Osuntokun said: “This is a historical fact and there is no point beating about the bush and describing Abiola as the “presumed winner of the election.” He was the winner indeed and in fact. I was an Ambassador in Germany when this (election) took place and the European Union Electoral Monitoring Group confirmed this fact. This election was also the cleanest election Nigeria has ever had and it is a pity that what would have been the cause for celebration was turned into a tragedy. For almost two decades, Professor Humphrey Nwosu’s lips were sealed until recently when he came out in his book prevaricating about the outcome of the election. “Naming the University of Lagos after him was an attempt to depict him a tribal South-Western leader which he definitely was not. At the same time, we must congratulate President Jonathan for at least trying to honour him. The problem was that his choice created more problems than it solved. President Jonathan should still go ahead and name a national monument after him. But whatever the monument that would be named after him should be in Abuja and the obvious choices are the National Stadium because Abiola was the Pillar of Sports in Africa and the University of Abuja because, at a certain point in time, he gave each Nigerian University N10 million naira and each polytechnic one million naira. He established a bookshop to cater specifically for tertiary education and I believe he deserves the two being named after him.”

Abacha

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

24 ARTS

History&Heritage

In association with

Tilley-Gyado

By Marcel Mbamalu T her Ikoyi office early in the week, Brigitte A Sesu Tilley-Gyado, the chief executive of the Africa Heritage Group, spoke so animatedly about her vision and the need for Nigeria to recover its past, its fast-fading heritage. Her radiant looks — obviously in sharp contrast to the antiquity she so passionately seek to restore — probably raises hope in the beauty of this very past. Led by Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi, as chairman, and erudite board, comprising esteemed private-sector individuals, the Africa Heritage Group has, this year, managed to congregate a group of talents in the fields of architecture (Papa Omotayo), Film (Francesca Tilley), Theatre (Wole Oguntokun), and Finance, among others, to push Nigeria back to its past glory in culture and arts. “We are all united by our shared passion for our heritage, a vision of our future, and our gritty determination to realise our aims; we hope to find support from private individuals, private sector and government to realise our dream,” Sesu told The Guardian. Indeed, the group plans “to showcase the best” of the nation’s heritage during its first public outing in October, Tilley-Gyado disclosed. “We want to make our history come alive and put it on an appealing platform, Sesu declares. “We have a three-pronged business approach to solving the heritage problem. It wasn’t just enough to build a museum or something like that; we don’t currently have a museum-going culture in Nigeria. ‘ Our first approach is the Production of heritage related content: films, short documentaries, plays, books, etc with the AHG brand,

The earthworks attest the development of urbanization and rise of state societies in subsaharan Africa, a process that began in the seventh century A.D. and culminated in the founding of the Benin Kingdom of Bronze and Ivory in the fourteenth century.

Tilley-Gyado eyes re ing Africa’s lost heritage

most of which showcase Nigeria and its cities from the point of view of history, heritage and tourism. ‘ The Group, according to Sesu, is already creating branded heritage-related Productions “We are working with a private sector company to create a compilation of the best of Nigeria’s music from 1914 to date, as well as a book on the history of Nigerian music and its musicians. We also are currently producing a documentary film series showing the history of the whole country as well as individual cities. “Our second activity obviously is continuous Capacity Building activities. We aim to work with different groups, as well as Federal Government, State Governments, families, and the private sector to enrich the heritage-scape of the country. As you know, we have the Centenary of Nigeria’s existence coming up next year. AHG will have an Africa Heritage Group’ Heritage Week, where we would showcase lectures, historical plays, exhibitions, concerts, workshops, all commemorating our history throughout Nigeria.” Our third approach is restoration/commercial repurposing projects. Africa Heritage Group has a project to identify historic buildings, restore these and repurpose them for commercial use in a way that actually makes sense to any potential investor. Investing in such projects, you don’t have to tear down existing old buildings but we can actually restore it and repurpose the interior in a way that would meet

people’s modern business specifications. We can still maintain our history which makes sense commercially as well. It would, however, seem that Sesu understands that the task of getting Nigerians keyed into the project would be a no mean project. Asked to share her views on how daunting this challenge could be, she said: “The challenges we have in the heritage sector are awareness related. We aim to address this through capacity building initiatives that show that we can profit both culturally and economically by looking towards our history. Developing this sector not only bolsters the sense of cultural identity much needed in Nigeria, but also the internal and international tourism market in Nigeria will see an improvement with this increased awareness.” No doubt, Sesu had an idyllic childhood, having grown up in one of those beautiful colonial houses in Ikoyi with a verandah and a large garden — an old house, which unique architecture and sense of history, she loved so dearly. “This love of the past was strengthened when I went to school in the UK and then Cambridge University, where I read Spanish and Portuguese,” she explained. But, like many returning Nigerians, she probably did not realise how much Nigeria was ingrained in her heart until seven years ago when, according to her, she fell in love with African history. Five years later, the AHG chief executive probably thought she was just coming to perform in

the 2011 Lagos Jazz Festival (she is a trained Jazz musician and historical writer) and jet off to perform at a culture show in the United States, but that was not to be: while in Lagos, she suddenly noticed threats of extinction boldly written on the walls of those beautiful architectures she once cherished: The Brazilian and Cuban influences and the allures of nature, which formed Sesu’s ‘nostalgic’ past, were all missing. “From the moment I arrived, I knew I couldn’t leave Nigeria when I saw the heritage and history being torn down to make way for new buildings. “The beautiful architecture with its Brazilian and Cuban influences, not to mention the colonial British buildings, were being razed to the ground to make way for new high-rise edifices. It became clear to me that we, as Nigerians, are so excited about going forward that we are forgetting to look back and preserve our past. It was astonishing the level and ignorance about the decaying treasures and the history we have right here, and I became determined to do something about it.” This realisation, according to Sesu, gave birth to the Africa Heritage Group to raise awareness about the past and the importance of preserving and promoting it. “I teamed up with a fantastic group of talented people, and collectively, we are AHG, dedicated to promoting, preserving and protecting heritage throughout Nigeria,

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

ARTS 25 vernacular elite architecture with red-fluted walls. The Punitive Expedition was carried out with the permission of Queen Victoria to punish Oba Ovonramwen who was seen as an obstacle in the British-dominated oil-palm trade of the palm oil rich Niger Delta region. The Oba held sway over the region, and was therefore an impediment to Britain’s aim to ‘open up’ the region and control its resources trade by creating a unified Protectorate, and later, a Colony.

The global significance of the Benin Empire Sesu Tilley-Gyado shares a story of the past From Igodomigodo to Edo/Benin HE first ruler was Igodo circa 650 AD, the first Ogiso (Ruler from the Sky) a prominent elder in his community (Odionwere) who exercised authority over all other elders (Edionwere). He ruled and amalgamated various small communities collectively formed the kingdom known as ‘Igodomigodo’, meaning ‘land of Igodo’ or ‘town of towns’. The kingdom thus began as a union of juxtaposed clusters of independent communities, each surrounded by a moat. It later became known as ‘Edo’, a corruption of the word Igodomigodo. The modern name Benin was afforded to Edo/Igodomigodo City by the Itsekiri who described the Edo tribe as ‘Ubini’ to the 15th Century Portuguese explorers. The Portuguese wrote down this description as ‘Benin’.

singers, dancers, jesters, story tellers, and the warriors. Before its destruction, Benin City possessed an extensive network of streets up to 131 feet wide, as well as drainage and oil based street lighting system. A complex city wall system with nine gates, numbering among the most impressive earth structure in the world, protected the city from intruders. The palace compound itself occupied a large part, and is meant to have encompassed a surface area of 1148 x 2133 feet

Stolen Artefacts:

The Great Wall: Collective Fortification of Benin City

The Great Wall’s Heritage and Legacy:

HE Guinness Book of World Records initially HE defensive fortification of Benin City, the capital, T consisted of ramparts and moats, called Iya. Patrick Tdescribed the walls of Benin City as the Darling, an archaeologist, estimates that the complex world’s second largest man-made structure

system was built between 800AD and 1000 AD with finishing touches added in the late fifteenth century The earthworks served as a bastion and also afforded ENIN (in modern day Edo State) was a vast, control of access to the capital which had nine gates culturally and economically vibrant African that were shut at night. Empire, which had strong trading relationships It enclosed 6,500 km² of community lands. Its length with the Portuguese and Dutch merchants from was over 16,000 km of earth boundaries. The ramthe 15th Century. parts range in size from shallow traces to the imIn the 19th Century, Benin and the Niger Delta mense 20-meter-high rampart (66 feet) around Benin was a global giant in the oil-palm trade, which City. used to lubricate the machinery of Europe’s Industrial Revolution, was the most prized commodity of the era. ENIN was destroyed in the February 1897 Punitive Benin society was centred around the Oba. The Expedition led by Rear Admiral Harry Rawson and Palace had been like the sun in the heart of Edo, Walter Egerton. The largest such Expedition at the with all roads radiating from this life-giving time, the strike force of two thousand Euopean officore. cers and eight thousand conscripted Africans ranThe Ore ne Okhua, the public sector, was divided sacked Benin, looted its artefacts and deposed the into guilds. Every person belonged to a guild Oba Ovonramwen who was sent to exile in Calabar. and lived in their guild’s own section of the Ore The Oba’s (King’s) Palace, the Iyoba (Queen ne Okhua according to their profession- the gold- Mother’s) Palace, and the entire city was deliberately smiths, brass smiths, the blacksmiths, the peace razed to the ground by Expedition Forces. enforcers, market men and women, sewer Semi-automatic Maxim guns, canons, manpower, as maintenance, sportsmen, wrestlers, farmers, well as deliberate city fires aided in the systematic decarvers, town criers, builders, barbers, tradistruction. tional priests, drummers, theatrical groups, Scattered pieces of the structure remain in Edo, with the vast majority of them being used by the locals for building purposes. Sadly, what remains of the wall itself continues to be torn down for real estate developments. However, significant stretches of the Benin walls remain, enclosing innumerable red earth shrines and

Benin-City Scape Pre 1897

Destruction of Benin:

claimbeginning with Lagos.” Sesu regrets that the “stories of the founding of our cities are being overlooked. People walk past our historic buildings every day and know nothing about them.” Peeping into history, the multi-lingual chief executive observed that the mid-19th century Lagos was formed by a sort of cultural ‘Big Bang,’ as four cultures — the royal Yoruba (as indigenous community), the colonial British (who arrived mid-century), the Cuban and Brazilian slave descendants (who came back) and then the West Indian/ Sierra Leonean slaves (who had just been liberated and who quickly became very wealthy) collided. “In just 10 to 15 years, the face of Lagos changed during this century and it was a very exciting time — just like now,” she said. “But many Lagosians are completely unaware there is a little Cuba and a little Brazil in the heart of Lagos. These days

some of these historic buildings are filled with squatters and local drunks use them as toilets. To these people they are just derelict, but in reality, they are national treasures. “Take Broad Street in Lagos, the old commercial centre purposely built by the British in the style of Paris, with wide avenues in case of fire. Here were the merchant houses and banks, missions, telegraph offices and shops. “These days the buildings are full of offices, but the problem is the façade, which is crumbling. The trend of facadism in the UK preserves the original outer features of buildings even when the interior has been modernised, but here in Nigeria there is as yet no such concept. “There is a tragic beauty in Nigeria — everything is either in a state of being built or falling down. We currently have no designated body such as the National Trust in the UK that preserves buildings for future generations. “So I realised that education must go hand in hand with development. For example, restoration itself is not enough. Preserving heritage must include delivering innovative products, restoration and capacity building exercises. If we are to restore buildings of historic interest, we must convert them to self-sufficient commercially viable places for business, tourism and education. We must think differently, radically, and act fast,” Sesu stressed.

To offset the cost of the Expedition, some 10,000 religious artifacts, Benin visual history, mnemonics and artworks were plundered by the Expedition Forces and sold at private auctions to collectors in Germany. The Benin art was copied and the style integrated into the art of many European artists and thus had a strong influence on the early formation of modernism in Europe. Eg Picasso, Miro .

after China’s Great Wall), in terms of length, and the series of earthen ramparts as the most extensive earthwork in the world. However, with more recent work by Patrick Darling, it has been established as the largest man-made structure in the world, larger than Sungbo’s Eredo (also in modern Nigeria). Fred Pearce wrote in New Scientist publication: “They extend for some 16,000 kilometres in all, in a mosaic of more than 500 interconnected settlement boundaries. They cover 6,500 square kilometres and were all dug by the Edo people. In all, they are four times longer than the Great Wall of China, and consumed a hundred times more material than the Great Pyramid of Cheops. They took an estimated 150 million hours of digging to construct, and are perhaps the largest single archaeological phenomenon on the planet.

Rethinking Our Past: HE earthworks attest the development of urT banization and rise of state societies in subSaharan Africa, a process that began in the seventh century A.D. and culminated in the founding of the Benin Kingdom of Bronze and Ivory in the fourteenth century. Pre- Colonial African societies were far from the barbarous uncivilized entities that have been presented. Instead, the majority of them were complex and accomplished, each with their own distinct history, culture, and stories.

Horsfall on the hot seat at Rainbow Book Club By Uche Udoh ER audience sat at the poolH side a fortnight ago at Le Meridien Place Hotel, Ogeyi, Port Horcourt, as they listened to May edition of Book of the Month session moderated by Mrs. Daniella Menezor of Rainbow Book Club. Mrs. Titi Horsfall’s audience comprised of grandparents, other adults and students from her alma maters, Bereton Montessori School, Port Harcourt, and Federal Government Girls College, Abuloma, as she gave everyone present a glimpse into the hard work and thought-process that went into the making of her book, From an Orphan to a Queen Esther. An accomplished PR and Communications Specialist with Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas company, Horsfall holds degrees in marketing, banking and finance, and an MBA in oil and gas management. In responding to the question, ‘why write at all?’, she stated that writing had been part of Horsfall’s life even before she began secondary school. She explained that her mild temperament influenced her choice of hobbies, which include reading

and writing. The author said the book took more than 12 years to complete because as a fictional account of a factual story, she had to do a lot of research on the bible as well as from history in order to be convincing enough to a presumed intelligent readership. Some in the audience commended the author for her ability to keep the suspense high regardless of whether they have read the biblical account of Esther or not. Other questions posed included how she was able to juggle the roles of a worker, wife, mother, and writer. She was also praised for her commendable portrayal of the role of a man in the upbringing of a child such as the

Horsfall

one Mordecai played in Esther’s life. The author ended by speaking specifically to the children present about the importance of living a simple life as key to achieving their goals. Although the book of the month, the Rainbow Book Club brings noteworthy books to the public’s attention. Each month, book lovers meet to discuss a pre-selected book. This month’s meeting will hold at the same venue (Le Meridien, Ogeyi Place) on Friday, June 28th, 2013. The book to be discussed is Jokes Apart, by Julius Agwu; it is available for purchase at the Rainbow Book Club office, 20 Igbodo Street, Old GRA Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

26 ARTS

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14,

Literature Kole Omotoso at 70... Birthday notes to a lost Nirvana By Femi Osofisan KNOW Kole Omotoso. Wrong. I used to know ItyKole Omotoso, the Nigerian writer. Some thiryears ago, when we were both at the dawn of our literary career, he was my friend. This week, on the 21st April precisely, he will attain the ripe age of 70; it is worth a celebration. Many of the present generation will not know him. He has not been much around in recent years, nor featured in current debates. Kole left Nigeria in 1990, virtually in a state of desperation. His latest novel then, Just Before Dawn, had been more successful than his earlier works, but it was a mingled success, mired in controversy. Reactions generally were mixed, but in the quarters that mattered, Kole felt that the response was not only hostile, but increasingly menacing, to the point that he believed that, out of prudence, he should quickly get out, if only for a brief while. There were other pressures of course at the time, mainly to do with the sad and foreboding plunge the country was taking already towards its current state of anarchy. But the threat of suppression or physical harm was the most dire. So Kole quit his job abruptly, took his family, and left. Abroad, he floated for a while, adrift like others, until he finally found anchor in the South African labour market, and settled there. He has been there since. But misfortune sometimes has its gains. In that foreign country, fame came of itself to find him. In an extraordinary manner, and within a short time, Kole found incredible renown. Today, in South Africa, everyone will tell you that, next to Nelson Mandela, the most popular face is, unarguably, that of the Nigerian Kole Omotoso. On huge billboards right from the gleaming airport to the city slums; and numberless times on the TV, Kole’s face will be there, with his close-cropped hair, his thin, pepper-and-salt beard, and his big eyes, soliciting you to become a client of one of the country’s mobile phone companies. Most people probably do not know his real

Omotoso and Ondo State governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko during the former’s celebration in Akure name; but ‘Yebogo’, his trade call, is known in every household. And it has become the name by which the whole population celebrates him. It is a modern fairy tale. Forced out of his own country, out of the familiar ambiance of his birthplace, here he was abruptly on the lap of incommensurable success. It was like King Oedipus, at the opposite end of his predicted destiny. Except that, for some of us, it was not the right kind of honour he deserved. Kole deserves acclaim for many things—his unique creative talents, his fertile imagination and literary skill, his social and political vision, his commitment to the ideal of literature as a

plausible weapon for communal restoration. But not, surely, for a cameo role in a phone commercial? Fate had obviously been both kind and cruel; in its munificence was a touch of mischief. Indeed, fame in those days was not our goal at all, strange though it may sound now to say so. In our late twenties and early thirties, the only passion that burned in our heart was that of changing the world, our world. And the most frequent word on our lips was ‘Revolution’. Although we ourselves did not approve of sanguineous upheavals, our heroes were those who had inspired or led bloody uprisings— names like Lenin, Marx, Castro, Cabral, Fanon,

From servant to shepherd leadership By John Mever R. Isokari Francis Ololo’s The Shepherd D Leader: The Unexplored Leadership Style (CreateSpace, North Charleston, SC, U.S.; 2012) by Isokari Francis Ololo reminds one of Lorin Woolfe’s The Bible on Leadership (2002), which talks about a leadership model based on biblical teachings. Ololo uses the shepherd metaphor to show how leadership should be conducted in all spheres of human endeavour, stressing that servant leadership, which is being currently propagated by some Nigerian leaders, could only make meaning if it is stepped up to shepherd leadership. This is because, according to the author, shepherd leadership mould encompasses humility and service-mindedness that conforms to biblical doctrine. “We must progress from servant leadership, a leadership style which stresses humility and service-mindedness overtly, to shepherd leadership, which encompasses humility, servicemindedness, and recognizes the obsession of the leader to lead and be prepared to die for his flock. A servant does not provide legitimate leadership, and must have a master!” he says in the opening chapter. To substantiate the superiority of shepherd leadership over servant leadership, and other leadership models, the author quoted copiously from the Bible, especially from the leadership style of Christ and some prophets like Moses who used the staff and the rod in their divine leadership. In the first chapter the author posits: “For a shepherd leader, the rod means power to sanction the led, while the staff means influence and power applied for the benefit of the people. For the organizational leader, the rod stands for all administrative, transformational tools, and mechanisms that

are deployed to shape the organization and its people. For instance, the strategy, plan, reports, performance appraisals, queries, and warnings are all shaped to steer the organization in the right direction.” He advises on the right use of the rod and the staff, saying when only the rod is applied, leadership becomes too autocratic and egotistical, and when the staff is overused the extreme reverse becomes the case. “The rod

and the staff complement each other. They must be applied together.” In the chapter titled ‘Harvest and Hunger’, the author highlights ‘trust’ as one of the most important elements in shepherd leadership. According him, the characteristic of trust is important for any successful leadership, and that when this vital component is removed, the leader becomes inconsequential. The leader’s attitude toward being trustworthy is very significant, because one’s attitudes control his life. “Attitudes are a secret power working twenty-four hours a day for good or bad. It is of paramount importance that we know how to harness and control this great force. Great leaders are able to influence their subjects because their subjects trust them,” he stressed. Some political analysts have repeatedly spoken against money politics. But Ololo does not see anything wrong with the rich occupying political or elective positions if such persons do not use their wealth to manipulate the political process that enthroned them, as it is being done in Nigeria. In his words: “Helpless and poor people are never made to lead very important groups, even when they are endowed with wisdom, because followers look up to their leaders for everything. The metaphoric sheep solely rely on the shepherd for sustenance. This then means that shepherd leaders must be empowered leaders who can affect their followers in a positive and empathetic way.” The author also stresses the need for leaders to serve as good examples not only in ensuring practical results and an enduring legacy for the people, the issue of security should be uppermost in his mind. “In shepherd leadership, the leader primarily faces the bullet in an attack while safeguarding the sheep.

and so on—these men who, under the impulse of idealist visions, had burned their names onto the pages of history because of the urge to make the world better for the under-privileged. We yearned to be their reincarnations. We longed to build a new society, liberated from the scourge of poverty and under-development. We wanted to obliterate retrograde superstitions, destabilize ancient but oppressive traditions, subvert obsolete hierarchies. And in our hurry to do these, Time was an enemy, an obstacle. Twenty-four hours were just not enough for all that needed to be accomplished in a single day. Like Césaire’s King Christophe, we wanted our leaders to squeeze into a week, into an hour, the work that others had done in a century! Returning in the 1970s to the country with our PhDs, we forged friendships and alliances on this revolutionary vision alone; and avidly sought to mobilize kindred minds. We began to write poems, and plays, stories and essays and newspaper articles, with the sole aim of provoking a violent change in the consciousness of our people—and in particular of our ruling elite—such that they would be shaken to the pressing need to transform our society, create social justice, build modern institutions and infrastructure, and so on. With time, we became a conspicuous presence in the in the Ibadan-Ife axis. In order to communicate fully, and be equally accessible to the educated elite as well as the common folk, we renounced the elevated jargon of our training as professional academics, and adopted ‘quasi-guerrilla’ tactics, in the form of performance poetry, ‘oral’ prose, popular travelling theatre, samizdat publishing, and so on. We established various organs such as the Positive Review, the Opon Ifa Chapbooks, the Akwei Circle, the APMON (Anti-Poverty Movement), the Kakaun Sela Kompany, and so on. But among us, Kole’s writing was the most unique. His stories were the most startling in innovative strategies, and the most brilliant in the conception of fresh and astounding plots. Kole has always had this uncanny ability to design original narrative sequences and to fabricate totally novel techniques and story lines. With the use of short, swift chapters, of simple diction and a handy vocabulary, Kole thought up the most arresting scenarios, again and again inventing, and effortlessly too, some truly ingenious approach to the art of story-telling. He was, potentially then, the most appealing of all of us. And I say, ‘potentially’, advisedly. Because in this business, the successful weaving of plot, however deft or dazzling, is just never enough. But on this point, we quarreled endlessly. Kole’s problem, we thought, was his legendary impatience, his innate and incurable restlessness. He seemed born with an absolute inability to stay still for any length of time, and he brought the same restiveness to his creativity. Now, a work of art, like wine, requires time to mature. You need patience to complete the careful chiseling out, the polishing that would add refinement, the meticulous distillation that leads to mellowness. But Kole had no such gift of serenity. His mind bubbling with a thousand turbulent ideas, all in a simultaneous rush to express themselves, he would abandon his story in the raw, in its crude and unpolished state of parturition, and hurry on to the next script. And inevitably this reduced the value of the works. But examine his works closely, and you would see at once how much he was always in advance of the rest of us. In The (Golden) Cage, his first major play, he was the first on our stage to use symbolic ciphers for actual characterization, much like in, say, Ionesco. His novel, Fella’s Choice, was the first to exploit the genre of espionage and crime fiction for a serious didactic intent. And Just Before Dawn was the first attempt to narrate the biography of our country in the disguised form of fiction, thus inaugurating here the literary category now known as ‘faction’. And so on.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

ARTS

VisualArts Artists of Nigeria… A new, bold leap into documentation By Tajudeen Sowole across seven sections, 110 artists SriodPREAD placed within one and half-centuries’ pedefine the content of modern, contemporary art of a nation, so suggests a new book entitled Artists of Nigeria. Written by Onyema Offoedu-Okeke, an artist, the book, which was presented at The Wheatbaker Hotel, Lagos, recently surpass the numerical list of artists in most of the previous works of similar subject. And with 576 pages, including scholarly researches as well as high well reproduced images of artists’ works, the book thickens with layers of interest, which has been emerging recently in the documentation of art of Nigerian origin. Quite contrary to what observers described as a lull on the book shelves, about five works have been launched in the last one year. The last of such books, Conversation with Lamidi Fakeye, authored by Prince Yemisi Shyllon and Ohioma Pogoson was presented in March at Freedom Park, Lagos. Ahead of the presentation of Artists of Nigeria, the author stated that his focus was not confined to Nigerian professionals, or those practicing at home, but include artists whose works have links with the country’s space, thus recognising expatriates and Diaspora artists. But there is a kind of exclusion, which conspicuously leaves some notable artists out. In such case, it’s either that the copyright or enough materials of such artists were not available, Offoedu-Okeke explained. With the sheer volume it’s a wonder that some artists are still left out of it. Also, the criteria, such as year of graduation of artists used in categorisation undermine the periods, which such artists made strong impacts. The artists are grouped in seven sections tagged: Colonial Era, 1851-1950; Pre-Independence, 1950-1960; Independence and Post-independence Eras, 1960-1970; Civil war Aftermath and oil boom, 1970-1980;The Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) Era, 19801990, and Regeneration and The New

Author, Onyema Offoedu-Okeke

Century, 1980-2010. In the introductory pages of each section, the book offers quite a scholarly articulation of the subject, apart from separate forewords by representative of Ford Foundation in West Africa, Dr. Adhiambo Odaga and Professor of Global African Art History and Visual Culture at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Sylvester Ogbechi. Under the heading Modernist Aesthetics and Living Art, the author faults the existence of modernity that is confined within the frame line of European definition, leaving African art “mainly in ethnographic term”. African art, he stresses, has its own “agents of modernity”. Offoedu-Okeke supports his argument by using the aesthetics of renowned sculptor, Olowe of Ise (1875-1938) against the assertion of ‘neo-traditional’ art. Olowe’s sculpture, the author argues, exemplifies African artists “who appropriate or continue to produce forms of traditional art also combine traditional aesthetics with contemporary ideas”. Such works, he adds, “are no less complex as those produced by the Zarianists under the banner of Natural Synthesis”. Indeed, Olowe’s aesthetic existed ahead of his time, so suggests the revered status of his work. In fact, his work has been well acknowledged by the west as his sculptures such as doors and columns have become case studies at institutions of higher learning abroad. Despite the book’s recognition of Olowe’s work as an example of African modernity that projects traditional form, the sculptor is missing among the list of artists profiled under Colonial Era: 1851-1950. Artists profiled under this era include Aina Onabolu, Akiola Lasekan, Ben Enwonu, Susanne Wenger and Lamidi Fakeye. Deservedly, photography gets a fair share of space in the book with highlight on J.D Okhai Ojeikere, grouped under Pre-Independence Era. And the inactive years of photo artists shows clearly as no photographer surfaced until the ‘Regeneration and The New Century’, which features Deji Ajose, Kelechi Amadi Obi,

Cover of the book. Mudi Yahaya, George Osodi and Uche James Iroha. As much as the author attempts to situate the growth of photography in Nigeria, the name, Jonathan Adagogo Green (1873-1905) is missing in Artists of Nigeria. The omission again stresses the reluctance of Nigerian art historians to accept the Ijaw-born photographer – known as J.A. Green – in the nation’s modern art space. Green, according to an American art historian, Lisa Aronson, was a British colonialists’ photographer whose works are documented in portraits and landscapes. During the presentation of her research at Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA), Lagos, last year, the scholar extolled the creative content of Green’s work. Veteran photographer, Tam Fiofori – also missing in Artists of Nigeria – has been a lone voice agitating for the inclusion of Green in Nigeria’s modernity. Over the decades, art historians, at home and in Diaspora, have taken it for granted that Onabolu is the founder of Nigerian modern art, hence the country’s modernity starts from the art teacher’s period of colonial era. As commendable as the boldness of Artists of Nigeria is, its categorization of artists like Abiodun Olaku in a separate section from Olu Ajayi and Sam Ovraiti, for example, is debatable. The groupings in the book suggest that Olaku’s well known significant period of career predates that of Ajayi and Ovraiti. With such groupings, it would appear that the book’s criteria in grouping is the period of graduation or birth, rather than the time such artists started impacting on their environment. The Olaku example is a typical case study: though graduated earlier than the other two artists, he is best grouped in the SAP Era because his impact, particularly in the area of inspiring full time studio practice, came at the same period as artists such as Ovraiti, Ajayi and others, who were also championing similar goals. Offoedu-Okeke’s Artists of Nigeria may have its minor errors such as misspelling of names and “1987” instead of 1897, but whoever

missed the opportunity of being documented in this voluminous work is left out of one of the most comprehensive and scholarly works on artists from Nigeria. Odaga, in the foreword, says Ford Foundation is pleased to have supported the publishing of the book. Ford, adds, hopes that “Artists of Nigeria will deepen our collective knowledge and admiration of Nigerian and indeed, the revolution of Africa’s remarkable art history”. Of the author, Nigeria has its assess in “uniqueness- the ethnic plurality” as a “strength garnered from cultural concord is exemplary of how a nation of more 200 ethnic languages can draw supreme strength from the composition of its various abilities and become a true technological and economic power”. Offoedu-Okeke argues that art drives “any industrial revolution”, especially in areas such as generating models in the creation of auto technology and construction. Therefore, the book, he explains, “is my gift to humanity. It is my wish that this book will increasingly stimulate discussions and initiatives to drive the economic revolution Nigeria needs”. Offoedu-Okeke had contributed articles to several art exhibitions such as an essay on Nigeria’s modernism featured in the catalogue of U.K.-based artist, Yinka Shonibare’s show, Double Dutch held at Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. After his debut art exhibition titled Spring Forever in 1997 at the Russian Cultural Centre, Lagos, Offoedu-Okeke had a solo exhibition in 2000, titled Idioms of Butterfly Kisses at Mydrim Art Gallery, Lagos Island. Some of his shows abroad include the tour event in 2000, Our World in the Year 2000, held at Mall Galleries, London, England; World Trade Centre, Stockholm, Sweden; United Nations Headquarters, New York, U.S. Last year, some of the books presented by other authors that document Nigerian art and artists include Making History: The Femi Akinsanya African Art Collection, edited by Ogbechie; Contemporary Nigerian Art in Lagos Private Collections by Jess Castellote.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

28 ARTS

Brand girl, Aina-Scott returns with Colours On My Mind By Tajudeen Sowole GAINST the current trend of filling the A Lagos’ art space with all sorts of experimentations under mixed media and contemporary, behaviourial forms, designer, Ronke Aina-Scott reminds art lovers of past trends and suggests that art can still be appreciated in its simple rendition. Currently of the Head, Design and Production Unit, Marketing Communication Group, at Fidelity Bank, Aina-Scott brings back the old trend of art known in the 1980s/90s; it was part of her solo art exhibition titled Colours on My Mind. It opens on Saturday, June 22, and ends on July 12, 2013 at Mydrim Gallery, Ikoyi, Lagos. Metaphorically, she said the theme is designed “to encourage creative people to be motivated and come out to express themselves”. It’s quite understandable that such theme should be coming from an artist who, for a long time, has waited for the moment to prove that not being a full time studio artist is not enough reason to perpetually conceal one’s creativity from the public. She had shown such traits in several group exhibitions such as Best of Ife ’95, MinajTV Exhibition (1997)

Iya Ni Wura by Ronke Aina-Scott

and Naija Woman Exhibition by Tourshop (2007). But since she graduated from obafemi Awolowo University (oAU) in 1995, Colours on My Mind has offered her a wider ventilation to express her creativity, and perhaps bring a bit of branding flavour into art gallery space. Largely of representational images, the works depict human activities including domestic and outdoor routines; quite a revisit of the themes common among artists 15 to 20 years ago. And the styles are no different. Aina-Scott’s strokes are synonymous with the highly colour-competitive periods of the past when artists were rated based on their drawing skills and ‘bold’ application of colours. These values, she stresses in her debut solo exhibition as she looks forward to testing the waters of the mainstream Lagos art scene after over 10 years working across press and branding sectors. Basically, her technique is a derivative of Pointillism, and so pronounced, such that some of the works could be grouped in the family of ‘araism’, Despite her long absence on the art exhibition turf, Aina-Scott will not walk alone when Colours on My Mind opens. She has quite a list of dignitaries to support her. The high profile guest list is led by Managing Director & CEo of Fidelity Bank Plc, Mr. Reginald Ihejiahi, who will chair theevent, as special guest of honour. other dignitaries include executive directors of Fidelity Bank Plc, IK Mbagwu, onome olaolu, John obi; Chijioke, Ugochukwu, Nnamdi okonkwo and Mohammed Balarabe. Aina-Scott was one of the founding graphic artists at the Daily Independent Newspaper, but later moved to FSB International Bank. Thematically, the show focuses on issues of African culture, the role of the African woman, deforestation, conservation, and highlighting what she noted as “fast disappearing fishes from our rivers due to the effects of global warming; non-availability of clean water in most African societies; the influence of mothers on their children and also the love of a mother for her child”. over the past one and half decades, some young artists seemed to have been highly experimental, particularly in application of diverse media, either in sculpture and painting. Having been monitoring the art scene from the confines of her branding is Aina-Scott aware of the changes on the art exhibition turf? Not exactly shut out of the changes, she

NICO’s Indigenous Language Competition inspires students By Mary Ogar

said, “But when I decided to have this show, I got in touch with some established artists who are very regular on the art scene, for guidance”. Whatever the changes are on the art scene, the artist insisted on maintaining an identity and expressed confidence that her natural talent, which has brought her thus far is her strength. She recalled her long journey from childhood: “As a little girl, my colour pencils were the most prized of my earthly possessions and whenever they got missing, which was very often, I was usually reduced to tears. Painting fills me with a sense of accomplishment and I am most at peace with myself when I am at work on my canvas. Art for me has proven a most amenable vehicle for translating inner vision to outer reality”. Full time studio practice is not exactly missing in the career of Aina-Scott. Her job definition as Head of the Design and Production arm of The Marketing Communication Group of Fidelity Bank is basically art-related, she said. “It is an in-house design studio; I am responsible for design and production of corporate items which include branded and branding items. The unit is also responsible for production of marketing items such as fliers, brochures, etc. I am also involved in event packaging and give branding support to

Ronke Aina-Scott.

‘Art of horology goes beyond timekeeping’ By Tajudeen Sowole

T was a rare kind of art exhibition at the gallery of Visual o mark this year’s edition of the World Culture Day in Nigeria, Arts Society of Nigeria the National Institute for Cultural orientation (NICo), Lagos office has inspired junior secondary school students via Nigerian (VASoN), situated inside Freedom Park, Lagos when the Indigenous Language Quiz Competition. business of timekeeping took In the Igbo Category of the competition, New Era Girls Junior over the walls. School, Surulere claimed the first position, while Community Secondary School and Holy Infant School came second and third organised by horologist, Adebusola Akinnubi’s Clockmarespectively. From the Yoruba Category, Tender Grapes International School nia and supported by omooba Yemisi Adedoyin emerged first while Julewubi Foundation School and Foucos Shyllon Foundation (oYASAF), Secondary School picked the second and third prizes. the exhibition titled UnleashThe colourful event, which was held at the Institute’s complex, ing the Creativity in Horologist National Theatre Annex in Lagos, also featured a workshop for had diverse designs, old, new, traditional rulers in Lagos state with the theme “The role of Trafrom abroad and local ones ditional Rulers and Social Stability in a Multi – Ethnic Society’. It on display. was held in conjunction with the Lagos State Council for Arts If a clock were confined and Culture. within the functionality of In his address, Executive Secretary, NICo, Dr. Barclays Ayakotimekeeping, Aknnubi’s exhirama who was represented by the Head Lagos office, Mr. Louis bition would have been irreleEriomala, expressed dismay over the challenge of schools disvant in this age of digital couraging students from communicating in their mother gadgets, as sources of monitongues during school hours. toring or keeping time are According to him, the issue has to be effectively addressed as other nations of the world such as Japan, China and India, have built in nearly every software recorded accelerated development because they retained their of communicating tools such indigenous languages as medium of official communication. as handsets. He expressed concern over the fact that some Nigerian parents Apart from the antique wall reprimand children for speaking their mother tongue or any and floor clock pieces Akinubi other indigenous languages. “The results today show that chilacquired or loaned for the dren can neither speak their mother tongue nor communicate show, quite some designs in good English. The quiz competition, he said, is therefore were from her creative efforts aimed at correcting the erroneous impression and make people using discarded materials. take pride in speaking their Indigenous Languages”. In sculptural form that comAlso, the Commissioner for Education, Lagos State Mrs. olayinka bines functionality and aesAdedunjoye in her remarks urged the institute not relent in its thetics, Akinnubi employs effort to take the programme to other local government areas of discarded CDs, vinyl disc, mothe State. “The participating students are lucky for having this nopoly table, computer comtype of programme as it would help improve their spoken lanponents, fan blades and guage”, and give them confidence to communicate effectively. buttons of clothing.

From Ronke Aina-Scott, a painting titled Back from the Stream.

Impressed by creating art out of horology, particularly in recycling context, chairman of the exhibition’s opening, Chief Bintan Famutimi, argued that “this is another form of art”. He commended Akinnubi for her sense of recycling, and assured, “I will send some of my dead gadgets to her for conversion into clocks”. While explaining the importance of timekeeping, Famu-

timi, a businessman and Chairman, Tricontinental oil and Gas Services Limited, said time was one of the most precious aspects of living as well as an easily perishable assets. He noted that as the heart of a man working from birth, so does time ticks. He said, everybody, irrespective of class, has equal time of 24 hours, noting, “You cannot be very rich or poor and have more or less time than any

Exhibited horologist, Adebusola Akinnubi; Chief Bintan Famutimi and visiting Director of African Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Dr. Johnnetta Cole during the exhibition

other person”. Indeed, in this age of mobile phones and IT when clocks are imbedded in soft wares, what is the relevance of clocks in the traditional form? “At home, office or hotel, clock remains relevant beyond telling the time; they also add beauty and style as they are also art pieces”, Akinnubi argued. The horology-artist disclosed how her love for the aesthetic of clock blossomed out of the formal training. She stated, “I did not study Horology formally. It started with my passion for unusual clocks. I sell exotic clocks and I wanted to do more challenging things as anyone can sell clocks hence the beginning of my Horology story”. The art content in her customized designs, she explained, “comes from the fact that the clocks we have are not regular timepieces you see around. our clocks are more of art pieces”. Actually, clock falls into the sculpture genres of art. one wonders if Akinnubi is working towards having indigenous production of the kind of sophisticated, imported clock in masterful, sculptural pieces displayed during the show. “Eventually we will get there as we are taking one day at a time,” she said, hopefully.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

ARTS

Film By Hassan Momoh HE dust over who was rightly appointed as Chief Executive Officer for the Nigerian T Film Corporation (NFC) has been settled. Government has formally appointed Dr. Danjuma Dadu, a lecturer at the Department of Building of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria as the substantive CEO of the government agency in charge of film development. Dadu whose impressive curriculum vitae does not however show that he has done any academic or field work around film or film related activity reportedly showed up at the Jos headquarters of the NFC last Thursday with a signed letter from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation conveying President Goodluck Jonathan’s approval of his appointment as the fifth CEO of the agency. Usually, the letter conveying such approval emanates from the supervising Minister, in this case, the Minister of Information. But Dadu got a letter from the Office of the SGF fuelling speculation that the process of Dadu’s appointment was ‘’packaged, signed, sealed and delivered’ at the office of the SGF without any input from the supervising ministry. Ironically, it wasn’t Dadu that government named in the first place as substantive CEO of the NFC. Government had three Thursday’s ago named Engineer Danjuma Dabo who was not known at all in film circles either at home or abroad as the new Managing Director of the Nigerian Film Corpo-

Building engineer takes over as film corporation’s head ration (NFC). Dabo, one time Executive Director at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency was to succeed Mr. Afolabi Adesanya, the fourth Managing Director of the government agency who served out his eight years tenure as MD/CEO in March 2013. Adesanya is an accomplished filmmaker and film journalist so for his predecessors who were either filmmakers or historians and scholars. In fact Engineer Dabo’s appointment was contained in the same statement that named heads of 5 other government agencies including the appointment of Emeka Mba as new head for the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and Mrs Sarah Mbanefo as new head of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC). How an Engineer Danjuma Dabo has suddenly become Dr. Danjuma Dadu is one question on the lips of many. But close watchers of development around what they have described as ‘the misguided appointment of a non professional to

head such a vital agency as the film corporation’ say they were not surprised that government will find itself in this kind of ‘name switch’ mess. A critic who didn’t want to be named said:‘’ I am not surprised at all. I mean this is a government that has appointed a dead man into a government board. So they may have just appointed a party man who didn’t apply for the job and knowing the technical nature of the job, such a person will quietly decline the offer as I think Engineer Danjuma Dabo did’’. Indeed the protest that greeted the news of Engineer Dabo’s appointment was enough to scare the marine engineer away. Practitioners of the motion picture industry who have for a long time been clamoring for the appointment of professionals to man agencies like the NFC and the NFVCB considered Dabo’s appointment as a slap on them. They threatened to boycott all government programmes including the planned centenary celebration and the proposed launch of the 3billion naira YOUWIN grant if the appointment of the marine engineer is not reversed. President of the Movie Producers and Marketing Association Norbert Ajeagbu told the Guardian at the weekend that the decision to appoint Engineer Dabo who was not known to anyone in the industry was ‘a slap on the practitioners’. He noted that it was disturbing to note that the same government that has shown enough commitment to improve the fortunes of the industry would now turn around to appoint a non practitioner to head a vital organ like the film corporation. ‘’It is so unfortunate that the President have allowed people to soil his relationship with us’ lamented Ajeagbu who revealed that the practitioners have at two separate occasions extracted assurances from the President that only practitioners would be appointed to head agencies directly connected to the creative industries hinted that the practitioners have mobilized to stage a protest if the decision is not reversed. When days passed and the appointment was not reversed, the industry in a letter to President Goodluck Jonathan signed by the headship of all the guilds and associations in Nollywood said they ‘’completely disagree with the appointment of

Dadu

Nollywood group plans demonstration over copyright infringements By Florence Utor GROUP of Nollywood practiA tioners has risen against cases of illegal exploitation of film works going on unhindered in the industry. The group known as the Nollywood Alliance Against Copyright Infringements (NAACI), has therefore called on the relevant authorities, especially the Attorney General of the Federation to use his good offices to make sure that intellectual rights so far exploited illegally, especially in the film industry are adequately compensated. The group, which has concluded plans to stage a peaceful protest to the National Assembly to drive home its point, is also calling on the Na-

tional Assembly as well as regulatory agencies like the Nigerian Copyright Commission to wake up to its duty in ensuring that some of the producers whose works have been violated by corporate entities no matter how highly connected are brought to book in the interest of fairness and justice. Spokesperson of the group, Uzee Madubogwu, a film director, said much as President Goodluck Jonathan has shown genuine interest in the growth of the industry, it was high time the government deployed necessary might in ensuring that works from the industry were protected. The group cited the case of Charles Uche Ayike, a notable Nollywood producer, whose works Arrows of Love (1&2) was il-

legally exploited by a cable pay station, MYTV without authorisation. According to them, the case has proven the unwillingness of relevant regulatory authorities to ensure that the rights of film producers are guaranteed, citing that the action of the cable TV station has brought untold hardship to the producer who lost all his investments in the project. Madubogwu said, “This case has seen petitions written to the Presidency, and we are still calling on him to look into matters of this nature. The facts of the matter has been documented by the Technical Adviser, Enforcement at the Nigerian Copyrights Commission, and it is clear that Charles Uche Ayika’s movie, Ar-

rows of Love was shown on MYTV without the authorisation of the producer. “And when the producer confronted the pay TV channel, it stated through its lawyers that the rights was obtained from an agent, Guniks Ltd (headed by Godson Nwosu), who also said he obtained the rights from Romney Bright Productions, headed by Romanus Eze. If you obtain a copy of the report by the Technical Adviser Enforcement at NCC, a portion read: ‘In his statement, he admitted selling the movie to Guniks as he had earlier obtained the consent of the producer to sell the broadcasting rights. However, he failed to prove or show the evidence of his authority from the producer’.

Danjuma Dabo as the Managing Director of the Nigerian Film Corporation’’. The practitioners argued that the film Industry’s capable of providing a veritable platform for socio – economic emancipation, to motivate and unite Nigerians towards having a deeper patriotic zeal for their fatherland and so they reasoned that the regulatory agencies of the Industry therefore, require purposeful, practical, dynamic and experienced leadership at the helm, especially during this transformational period. Consequently, the practitioners say they reject wholeheartedly the appointment of Engineer Danjuma Dabo as according to them ‘’ it is tantamount to putting a round peg in a square hole’’. But that protest was for Danjuma Dabo. There is a Danjuma Wurim Dadu, until last Thursday a lecturer 2 at the faculty of environmental design of the ABU, fully in charge now. But the practitioners say they will still have nothing to do with ‘’Dadu or whatever he is called’’ as it shows total disregard of the availability of numerous astute, qualified, experienced and well positioned film makers, scholars and critics, some of whom have put over 20 years of their creative life, into the film Industry. Ajeagbu said: ‘I wonder why at this critical period of rebirth and renewal, Government deems it fit to do a policy somersault and endanger the spirit of consultation and cooperation currently pervading between Government and the Film Industry. This is an appointment that has the capability of regressing the giant leaps that have been achieved in times past and is viewed by many as a complete slap on the face of the creative industry in Nigeria’’. President of the Association of Nollywood Core Producers (ANCOP) Alex Enyegho wants Dadu’s appointment reversed. Eyengho who was recently elected Vice President of the Federation of International Film Producers is of the opinion that leaving a technical position such as that of the film master of the federation to the whims and caprices of political interest will do the industry more harm than good. ‘’It is like drawing the hand of the clock back. We don’t want aliens to be imposed on us as heads of these two federal regulatory agencies. We wear the shows and certainly know where they hurt’’ the ANCOP President said. Notable scriptwriter Kabat Esosa Egbon though described the appointment as ‘’very odd’’ lashed out at his colleagues, especially those close to ‘’people in government’ for not taking advantage of their closeness for the good of the industry. ‘It serves us right. I am prepared to keep an open mind. Who knows, he may be the messiah. Those calling for the reversal of the appointment can keep calling for it but it serves us right. It just shows that all our association with government means nothing to them’’ Egbon said. So, until the appointment is reversed, the practitioners would have to deal with Dadu, a native of Jos, Plateau state who will be the first nonfilmmaker, scholar or critic to head the agency that was established in 1979 as a statutory corporate body with responsibility for the development of the film industry in Nigeria. Dadu’s CV does not show that he has worked in and around the film industry. He has attended several conferences and delivered numerous papers but the papers are focused on volcanic deposits, chemical characteristics and cement blending. One of his most recent presentation was titled ‘Jos Plateau Volcanic Deposits as Sustainable Cementitious Materials for Partial Replacement of Portland Cement in Concrete Mixture’ presented at the 4th West Africa Built Environment Research. However Dadu has pledge to re-engineer the Corporation for the transformation of the Nigerian Film industry. He has also pledged to make the industry one of the very best in the world and he has also assured that he will pursue sustainable programmes and activities that ‘’will reposition the NFC to tackle trends in film development; towards making the sector a drive to economic prosperity of the country and a tourist destination; and thus contribute to the enhancement of our collective culture in our children and youths’’. In this direction, the NFC he says ‘’will work towards the production of cartoons in the three major Nigerian Languages and Pidgin English’. Dadu acknowledged the giant strides recorded by his predecessors in office, and stressed that no stone will be left unturned to ensure that he (Dadu) contributes his quota to the growth of the Nigerian Film Corporation and the Nigerian Film Industry.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

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Revue By Benson Idonije

HE exit last Wednesday morning of palm wine guitar stylist and highlife singer, Fatai Rolling Dollar marks the end T of an era in the evolution of traditional highlife and Nigerian popular music. He would have been 87 years in July 2013. While he lived, he served as the link between contemporary highlife and the roots of the music. A product of the traditional juju music era which began from the 1920s to the 60s, Rolling Dollar epitomized palm wine guitar and highlife, the folk music of the musty creeks, shanties and back streets of West Africa which constituted the first hybrid of native African and Western music. He structured and accomplished his simple melodies as well as harmonic progressions with the guitar, an instrument originally introduced to African music by

Portuguese and Spanish sailors via the coastal urban centers of Africa - where he first encountered the instrument, as a sailor himself. Rolling Dollar endeared himself to this generation of music lovers with a youthful performing energy level even in his eighties, identifying with the young generation and reminding them about early highlife and the need to fuse their music with this cultural heritage. Towards this end he released a CD with Jazzhole Records which contained Okere si number, a simple, melodic tune that became an instant hit. A source of inspiration to the new generation, Rolling Dollar became a relevant force in the Nigerian music industry in the past fourteen years, playing live shows with his own band and identifying with hip hop artistes who have had a lot to tap from his musicianship and wealth of experience. Many of them, including my grandson Burna Boy, were looking forward to doing ‘collabos’ with him so they could fuse the culture of hip hop with that of traditional highlife. They are all shocked and disappointed that this dream will no longer materialize. The late Oliver De Coque who came into prominence in 1980 with the hit song, Funny Funny Identity is down in highlife history as the man who introduced flamboyance to the music in terms of his dress essence and active stage presence. But Rolling Dollar went a step further to add female singers and dancers to his performance to upgrade the culture of the music and make it appeal to today’s generation. In addition, he composed a few songs whose performances became resplendent with rock and other fusions in the bid to expand the scope of the music. In his eighties, he was active. He was busy. He was lively. He was relevant! However, it was not all rosy for the octogenarian super star. For over fifteen years, he went into oblivion and was completely forgotten before he bounced back in 2000 even though his career began on a brilliant note in the 50s. Fatai Rolling Dollar emerged from the traditional juju music era which started in the 1930s with the likes

of Irewolede Denge who walked the streets of Lagos, singing and playing the guitar - an era which became consolidated with the emergence of Tunde King under whom juju music got its name. It evolved through the years – in its traditional form - in the hands of musicians such as Sunday Harbour Giant, Ambrose Campbell, Ayinde Bakare,Tunde Western Nightingale, Theopholus Iwalokun, J.O. Oyesiku, Julius Araba, Adeolu Akinsanya, I.K.Dairo. Fatai Rolling Dollar began his career with Julius Araba and His Afro Skiffle Group, a formidable quartet - before he struck out on his own to take up a performing residency at Boundary Hotel, Idioro. So successful was his stint that he became the mentor of many young and promising musicians that included Chief Ebenezer Obey who is now an evangelist. Fatai Rolling Dollar’s musical fortunes started to dwindle; and his popularity began to wane in the early 70s when juju music, which was hitherto a product of traditional music, transformed into an urban social music type (without distinctive melodies and lyrical lines) in the hands of new wave musicians who merely used high

voltage amplification and multiple guitars as vehicles for hyping the music. He refused to join the band wagon and stuck to his lean but melodically authentic sound the way Fela Anikulapo Kuti refused to play soul music in 1968 when Geraldo Pino almost swept the Koola Lobitos off the scene upon the advent of soul music. However, he was able to hold out till 1976 before he finally filtered into oblivion as a result of being irrelevant He however came out of retirement in 1979 when he was heard on an Afro rock album headlined by the late Easy Kabaka Brown and his Okpotpo, the group.The outing was accidental while his recognition was short lived: Rolling Dollar had been invited by Easy Kabaka Brown to do a session with him in the studio. Short of materials to fill the album, Fatai composed a tune titled On bu mi on the spur of the moment, featuring the late Crosdale Juba on trumpet. This song turned out to be the one that sold the album for Polygram Records. He did not perform again until 1994 when the late Steve Rhodes told the story of highlife in concert at the Randle Memorial Hall, Lagos. The next time Rolling Dollar came out of forced retirement again was five years after

Fatai Rolling Dollar…

Rolling Dollar with wife, Zainab, on his return from a recent U.S. tour

Rolling Dollar and his family

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

ARTS

Rain of tributes for Rolling Dollar By Kabir Alabi Garba, Shaibu Husseini, Gbenga Salau, and Sony Neme N Monday, June 10, before the late highlife maesO tro, Fatai Rolling Dollar was taken to Maritol Medical Centre, Surulere, Lagos, he had called his

in 1999 on the bill of the first edition of the Great Highlife Party sponsored by the Goethe Institut and coordinated by this writer and Jahman Anikulapo. He played palm wine guitar with rhythm accompaniment. His notes were as clean as ever. His chords were brilliant. The big opportunity came for him in the year 2000 when I was invited to help initiate promotional programmes for OJez Club which was then operating at Iwaya, Lagos. The reason I took the job was to promote highlife and jazz. I had in mind Fatai Rolling Dollar and Peter King who both had potentials for breaking out; and as soon as I settled down, Peter King started a monthly ‘Jazz Alive’ programme that was very popular. On the other hand, I put in place a programme called ‘Elder’s Forum’ where Fatai Rolling Dollar performed on monthly basis along with Alaba Pedro and Maliki Showman who are both dead. The programme also featured Tunde Osofisan with Y.S.Akinnibosun as the standing orchestra. As if he already had a band in place, Fatai often came with his own musicians where others relied on the standing band. While others were repeating the same songs for lack of rehearsals, Rolling Dollar often came

prepared with chorus girls doing group – vocal harmonies and call- and- response patterns. While his colleagues were playing copyright, Fatai was performing his own original materials. He immediately became the top of the bill! Further enhancing the promotion of the club and the musicians was the involvement of the Committee For Relevant Art (CORA) where Toyin Akinoso and Jahman Anikulapo stepped into the spotlight. I had approached them to help give the highlife revival initiative a boost by using it as a platform for honouring their artists. Almost all the great artists in the country including the Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, Femi Osofisan, Uche Okeke, Bruce Onobrakpeya and all of them were celebrated. And of course the whole project was backed up with regular previews and reviews in the Guardian. This was how the popularity of Fatai Rolling Dollar reached its apotheosis. His introduction to Kunle Tejuoso of Jazzhole put the final seal on it with the release of Okere si number. Fatai Rolling Dollar will be greatly missed by the numerous fans he cultivated in the last fourteen years.

Highlife music machine stops rolling

Sympathisers with two little children at his home in Agege on Wednesday PHOTOS BY: FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI

wife, Mrs. Zainab Olagunju, to bring his children to him because he would want to interact with them. The wife did, and with Fatai’s fragile frame and composure, one could see the deep love he had for the two kids as he was struggling to communicate and interact with the children. But the wife got the message, her husband was about to exit the mother earth, so, it was like a farewell ritual. And so it was three days later, as he breathed his last at exactly 9:15am on Wednesday, June 12 at the same Surulere hospital. And since then there has been rain of tributes on the legendary artiste who was described as “the last gasp of the root of highlife.” To Ade Bantu, one of the artistes who plays the genre of music of Rolling Dollar, he was a great friend, an incredible mentor. He said that the highlife maestro was honoured to have done one of his last recording for a documentary called Elders corner. “Over the years, we got to be very friendly and close and he was always very supportive and open. I always like the childlike spark in his eyes whenever he came to do a music and we shared the stage on numerous occasions. “I learnt a lot from him. His creativity, patient, humility and most important to me is that he enjoyed life to the fullest and towards the end of his life people got to appreciate his greatness because very few old legend lived to be appreciated to their very last” To honour him, he suggested that “people should go into the archive and discover the Fatai Rolling Dollar beyond won kere si number . His recordings are incredible treasure from which you can sample to be inspired. I think if we want to honour him, he was somebody that did not take music lightly. He was always rehearsing, challenging himself. At the hospital, he was still working on his finger to play his guitar despite the pain because music meant everything to him.” Also, the Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, said the death of one of the frontrunners of Juju/highlife music, Pa Fatai Olayiwola Olagunju (aka Rolling Dollar) was a huge loss to the entertainment sector in Nigeria. Aregbesola, in a statement by the Director of Bureau of Communications and Strategy, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, described the octogenarian high-life maestro as testimony in perseverance and hope. The governor said Rolling Dollar’s life sojourn demonstrated that no time is too late for man to have a breakthrough in life. He stated that the star of the old artiste, who trained Ebenezer Obey in his heydays, shone at his old age when nobody ever taught of a musical success for him again after his initial popularity at the beginning of his career. Aregbesola said, “The ace musician’s ultimate comeback is a testimony that no time is late in the life of human being. “Pa Fatai Rolling Dollar’s story of a meteoric rise to fame is a confirmation that success can come at any time in a man’s life. “Rolling Dollar was a force to reckon with in high life music and he would stand tall in the nation’s music hall of fame and counted among musical genii like Cardinal Rex Lawson, Bobby Benson, Adeolu Akinsanya among others. “The nation’s music and entertainment industry as well as his fans and Nigerians generally will miss the great musician and his exit will create a big vacuum in high life music. “The government and people of the State of Osun, where the music legend hailed from, send our heartfelt condolences to the immediate and extended families of late musician, his band members, fans and the government of Lagos.” Prof. Tunde Babawale, Director-General, Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC) said the demise of music maestro did not come as a surprise because of his old age. “But nonetheless, made one quite unhappy and sad because he represented a beacon of hope and tenacity of purpose to younger generation of artistes. “And his life exemplified perseverance, commitment to professionalism and excellence. This was what made him to attain recognition in the twilight of his life such that he became more popular more than he was even as a young musician. “We mourn the death of this titan whose departure marked the end of an era in the Nigerian music industry. “Our heart goes to his immediate family, his friends and associates, the Lagos State Government, and Nigerian artistic community. How can we fill the vacuum his departure has created?” Babawale asked rhetorically. Also filmmaker Femi Odugbemi who recently completed and premiered a documentary on Fatai rolling dollars which he titled “Fatai rolling dollars unplugged” said the legendary artiste will be sorely missed. “This is one sad development. It’s a big loss. He has left a shoe too big for anyone to wear. But we are consoled in the fact that he left something

behind. He made his mark. He didn’t die unappreciated or unrecognized. Even if he didn’t get the national honors, we in the artiste community loved and honored him. I am grateful to God for the inspiration he gave us to do a documentary on him. We are glad as a company that we did that while he lived and didn’t have to be putting stuffs together now that he is no more. We will miss baba. There were no two Fatai rolling dollars,” Odugbemi said. Management of Daily Needs Industries Limited, makers of De-Deon’s Syrup of Haemoglobin, the brand which the iconic music-legend represented successfully as brand ambassador for over five years expressed deep shock over his death “at this point when Pa Rolling Dollar’s career is receiving enormous boost both in Nigeria and in the diaspora.” According to the Marketing Manager of the company, Mr. Sola Adeyi, ‘the death of Pa Fatai Rolling Dollar is a painful loss to the staff and management of our company. Our prayer is that May God grant his soul eternal rest and may his legacies continue to thrive forever. “While acting as the brand ambassador of our premium brand of blood tonic - De-Deon’s Syrup of Haemoglobin Vitamin B12, Pa Rolling Dollar’s personality and professionalism resonated positively with our brand. And both him and his family are our friends till he passed on.” For clarification, Adeyi noted further “the deceased has just returned from a private musical tour of the United States of America where he took ill and was diagnosed of Cancer. On his return to Nigeria, we took up his medical case with all the importance it deserved. We took him to Maritol Medical Centre in Surulere for proper medical care where further checks confirmed that he had Cancer of the Lungs. But Hospital cares, God determines who survives. Until his death he received the best of medical care and comfort and passed on peacefully.” Tunde Akanni, Journalism teacher at the Lagos State University said “as an Ede indigene and arts enthusiast, I reckon with Baba Rolling Dollar as a foremost musician with an unequal spirit of endurance and incurable optimism for success in life. Baba rose and then rose and rose. He practically lived in line with Awolowo’s philosophy of greatness which is about ‘rising after every fall in life.’ I particularly feel proud sharing the same indigeneship with him, although I met him only once in life at Dennis Hotel in Abuja in 2009.” President, Ede Descendant Union, Alhaji Dele Adeyemi also mourned the great musician. “We deeply mourn the great loss of Pa Rolling Dollar. His death is a great loss to Nigeria, music industry and Edeland in particular. May God grant us the fortitude to bear the shocking and great loss. He was a good ambassador of Ede and he was inducted into Agbale Hall of Fame. “As soon as I get to Ede from Abuja, I will call a meeting of the executive council and propose that our new city hall, which is near completion should be named after him. May God grant him eternal rest.” Sidney Esiri, popularly known as Dr Sid of the MAVIN, in his own view noted that Pa Fatai Rolling Dollar was a man that over time affected the Highlife music scene, adding that he indeed a man of the people. The CEO of storm Record, Obi Asika, in his own remarks noted that his death is a huge shock for the industry, not only in Nigeria, but the whole of Africa at large. He is one great and oldest musician Nigeria ever had, and for the legacies he left behind. “Its indeed a great loss for the industry, he is a true African legend, and one of the oldest Nigerian musician who is lucky to be celebrated in Nigeria. An humble and easy going person, Pa Fatai, before his death affected so many lives around him with his little fame that he has. He was old but never tired in what he does, May his solu rest in the bossom of the Almighty.” Known for his popular hit track, Won Keresi number among several others, Rolling Dollar was a until his death, one of the faces of the popular herbal drink, Yoyo Bitters. He was also one of the foremost members of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) and his song, Won Keresi was celebrated as one of the great songs of the 60’s at the recently held COSON Song Awards. Expressing shock at the news of the passage of Rolling Dollar who was the oldest member of COSON, Chief Tony Okoroji, who is presently on an official duty outside the country called in to say, “Just before leaving the country, I had been given a hint by a mutual friend, Mr. Niyi Ojemakinde, the radio personality, that Pa Fatai Rolling Dollar was in hospital. I had so badly wanted to go and see him but there was just no time. He was a legend, a fantastic person with a very positive attitude to life who treated everyone with courtesy. “I believe that his attitude to life was responsible for the long life he lived and that should be a lesson for all us. He was committed to the unity of the Nigerian music industry and never missed any meeting of COSON. He will be missed by a lot of people whom he inspired. COSON will ensure that Fatai Rolling Dollar is immortalized.”

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

40 ARTS

ArtHouse Celebrating women

exhibition titled Akaraka continues to exhibit OMEN Celebrating Women (WCW), will take till the end of August 2013. place tomorrow at the Eko Hotel & Suites from 7pm. Voting for Entrepreneur award The line up artists entertaining the audience ends June 25 at the event include USA’s Dionne Warwick, FTER three weeks of open nominations, Trinity 57; Sunshine Anderson, Sister Sledge, organisers of The Freshmen Concert & Jessica Reedy and Nigeria’s Tiwa, Waje, Entertainment Awards – UNILAG 2013, R.O.A.G, Omawumi, Chidimma among others. has unveiled the nominees for the event, as voting ends June 25. It is first of such awards Atmosphere holds 6th edition in the university and aimed at celebrating HE sixth edition of Atmosphere comes up newly admitted students of the university and tomorrow at 3pm at kilometer 110A also the creative and pro-active students by Alalubosa. rewarding their outstanding entrepreneurial Eghosa Imaseun, Tosin Gbogi, Unoma Azuah skills on campus. and Tolu Oloruntoba will be in the house.

SPAN graduates first batch

AINTER and corporate brand designer, P Ronke Aina-Scott opens her solo art exhibition titled Colours on My Mind on Saturday

Encased opens on Sunday

June 22, ending July 12, 2013 at Mydrim Gallery, Ikoyi, Lagos.

UKE Asidere’s art show titled, Encased, D opened on the 12th of June and continues till June 18, at the Alexis Gallery, Victoria Island, Ben Orise in concert during the recent launch of his album, Celebration in Lagos

Colours on my Mind for exhibition

OCIETy for Performing Arts in Nigeria will graduates its first set of students today, at the Eko Hotel and Suites, at 6pm.

Ankara continues to exhibit

Lagos.

T Art Twenty One, Eko Hotel and Suites, A Victoria Island, Lagos Nnenna Okore’s art exhibition titled Akaraka continues to exhibit

Ankara continues to exhibit

till the end of August 2013.

T Art Twenty One, Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos Nnenna Okore’s art

Omu Eleni Day, celebration of a people’s heritage A ITH their different head gear and cap moderately set on their head planning to make the day out of the competition in mat weaving,this year omu eleni day has came and gone but the artistic and traditional attires would still be the subject of discussion after-what. With Little or non at their disposal at the creation of the town some decade ago, the indigene of omu eleni in Odogbolu local government were counting their blessing and be grateful to monarch Oba Mobolaji Oludaisi Mosuro for a leadership purposeful. At the annual festival event in Omu -tagged omu eleni day, hundreds of indigene from far and near converged at the village square to celebrate the age long festival which usually comes up every Saturday of every Easter Celebration. The celebration had in attendance the who-is-who in the state, including the minister of Culture and tourism Edem Duke, Member Ogun State House of Assembly Remi Hassan,Chief Executive Officer wesco pools and lotto Barr.Wale Oshinubi, government functionaries and business moguls . Omu is situated on the coastal plain of Ogun State, South West, Nigeria.Precisely, it is on Kilometer 83 on the Ejinrin Ijebu with one of the four towns constituting the IjebuSouthern District Council Area in the Old “Western State of Nigeria”. It is 16km South of Ijebu Ode, the Head quarters of Ijebu Ode Local Government

and 6km North of Ketu in Epe Local Government of Lagos State. At the event,His Royal Highness Oba Mobolaji Oludaisi Mosuro Said the festival was burn out of desire to improve upon the lives of the people as well as galvanize resources in moving the Community to an enviable high as well as rejoice during the Easter festival in order to setting new record of achievement for others to see.

He Stated that it was during his reign as the Oba that he initiated a forum where the omu’s abroad can be lined with the people at home in order to bring about desire result . Mosuro noted that the Oba in Council has concluded plans to reward and as well award extraordinary Student on Scholarship ,the Scheme which was floated to help the indigene on the education careers and in turn improve upon the lives of the people.

–––Compiled by Florence Utor

EVEN Nigerians were Sawarded among 17 personalities honorary citizenship Seven Nigerians bag State of the state of Arkansas in the U.S., each with a key to the city of Little Rock, the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports. Governor Mike Beebe of Arkansas also proclaimed May 30 of every year as Nigeria Day, which was celebrated with a spectacular display of fireworks. The certificate for the procla-

of Arkansas’ Honourary Citizenship awards mation was handed over to Prof. Ade Adefuye, Nigeria’s Ambassador to the U.S., who was represented by Mr. Baba Garba of the Consulate General of Nigeria in Atlanta.

L-R: Prof. Julius Okojie, Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission, NUC, Arc. Kester Ifeadi, the Managing Director of Contemporary Group Ltd. and Mr. Mark Stodola, the Mayor of the City of Little Rock Arkansas, U.S.A

The recipients of the awards are Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Group; Sir Joseph Arumemi-Ikhide, Chairman of Arik Air, Gov. Rabi’u Kwankwaso of Kano State; Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Prof. Tajudeen Gbadamosi, a former lecturer of University of Lagos. Others are Prof. Ade Adefuye, Prof. Julius Okojie, Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission, NUC; Chief Temitope Ajayi, the Coordinator of Nigerian American Agricultural Empowerment Programme, NAAEP; Mr. Robert Brunner, the Vice President, America Arik Air International and Mr. Kester Ifeadi, the Managing Director of Contemporary Group Ltd. Beebe and Mark Stodola, the Mayor of the City of Little Rock, presented the awards during the Nigeria-Arkansas Economic Development Forum last Saturday. Governor Beebe said that the awards were as a result of the recipients’ contribution to economic development and their selfless service to humanity.

Exhibits of old Benin Kingdom’s photographer boost centenary celebration From Lillian Chukwu, Abuja HEAD of Nigeria’s 100 years celeA bration as a united country, America’s Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art (NMAFA) is to promote arts and culture with an exhibition of works of one of the first indigenous photographers of the royal court of 20th century Benin

kingdom, Solomon Alonge. Curator of the museum, Amy Staples told journalists in Abuja that Alonge’s photographic collection from 1926 to 1989 “represents an alternative visual history of Nigeria from an insider’s perspective. “Historical images that provide important visual data for examining the transformation of colonial-

ism in Africa and Nigeria under conditions of modernity and global capitalism in the early mid-twentieth century,” she said. Co-founder, Didi Museum, Elizabeth Jibunoh said that the NMAFA’s initiative on Alonge’s photograph exhibition was apt as it was imperative for the global exposure of African arts, especially the Nigerian rarity and historical value.

Associate Director for advanvement at NMAFA said that the collection viewing will open at the NMAFA in Washington in September, 2014. She said that the Alonge collection provides important cultural and historical context for the display of royal Benin art in the museum’s permanent collection including cast bronze plaques from the 16th to the 17th century.

Staples said that the exhibition of Alonge’s photographs will be subdivided into four main sections including early years (1930s t0 1040s) and the ideal photo studio in Benin city, benin social life, royal court photography of Oba Akenzua II and palace chiefs and the commemorative objects of photography in other mediums like textiles, plates and funerary objects.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

AutoWheels Automobiles with top safety challenges

Nissan patrol N 2012, drivers filed just under 30,000 complaints about their cars with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The complaints included problems with brakes, powertrains and every other part of the car imaginable. The most complained-about cars are not necessarily the least popular ones. They include some of the most-purchased cars in America and some of the least. Dodge and Nissan, which sold more than five million vehicles from 2005 through 2012, had the fifth and sixth most complaints per 100,000 vehicles sold. Other makes with a high number of complaints per vehicle, like Mini, sell less than 100,000 units per year. For many of the cars that received the most complaints, the issues may be affecting customer loyalty. For the five worst performing brands on the list include: Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Mini and Smart, less than one-third of car owners purchased the same brand again. The top car brands for customer loyalty retain 45 per cent to as much as 60 per cent of their customers. In most instances, the number of complaints in 2012 rose compared to previous years.

Suzuki Grand Vitara For example, 4,958 complaints were lodged against Ford Motor Company vehicles, much higher than the 3,395 yearly average of complaints between 2008 and 2012. It is important to note, however, that vehicle sales also have notably increased in the past several years. In 2009, Ford sold just over 1.4 million vehicles. The number of vehicles Ford sold in each of the years after rose, reaching almost 2.2 million by 2012. Similarly, for Chevrolet, sales have risen from 1.3 million in 2009 to more than to 1.8 million in 2012. To determine the vehicle models with the most complaints, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed sales figures and information on complaint submissions to the NHTSA published by Edmunds.com for the year 2012. We then calculated the complaints made in 2012 per 100,000 vehicles sold by brand between 2005 and 2012. Makes were excluded from the list if complaints figures were not available or if the car brand was no longer actively manufactured and sold in the United States, eliminating makers such as Mercury and Saturn. These are the cars with the most safety complaints. Hyundai

Complaints per 100k sold: 27.96 Total 2012 complaints: 1,025 Model with most complaints: Sonata 2012 sales: 703,007 Hyundai sold nearly 3.7 million cars between 2005 and 2012. Its sales have been on the rise every year, climbing from roughly 400,000 in 2008 to 700,000 in 2012. However, many drivers also have complained about their cars, with nearly 28 complaints to the NHTSA in 2012 for every 100,000 recent Hyundai cars on the road. Last year alone, more than 1,000 complaints were filed against Hyundai. The most common of these related to power trains, interior electronics and hardware, as well as airbags and seat belts. Ford Complaints per 100k sold: 33.95 Total 2012 complaints: 4,958 Model with most complaints: Escape 2012 sales: 2,168,392 Ford was America’s best-selling make in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Unfortunately, Ford also has recently led the nation in complaints, with nearly 5,000 filed against the carmaker last year. Of these complaints, roughly 60 per cent were related to the cars’ power trains. Still, like

Ford escape other large carmakers, Ford had exceptionally loyal customers, with almost 50 per cent of customers trading in their cars electing to buy another Ford, among the highest percentages among carmakers. Also, despite the volume of complaints, customers also were likely to hold onto their Fords longer than most car brands, at an average of close to 6.4 years, before trading them in. Volkswagen Complaints per 100k sold: 34.52 Total 2012 complaints: 667 Model with most complaints: Jetta 2012 sales: 438,134

Of all the 667 complaints about Volkswagens in 2012, 368 involved the power train. There were 65 complaints about the interior hardware and electronics and 63 about the body and glass. In the first three months of 2013, there have been 117 complaints regarding Volkswagen vehicles. Of those, 59 per cent involved the power train. Since 2009, Volkswagen sales have been on the rise, climbing from 213,453 in 2009 to more than 438,000 by 2012, making it among the top 10 best-selling car brands. BMW Complaints per 100k sold: 36.78 Total 2012 complaints: 676

Model with most complaints: 3 Series 2012 sales: 281,460 Of all 676 complaints regarding BMWs in 2012, 175 centered on the airbags and seat belts, while an additional 150 complaints were related to the cars’ powertrains. BMW is already off to a rough start in 2013, logging 183 complaints in the first three months of the year, including 116 in the month of February alone. The 3 Series was the most complained about BMW model that month, with concerns about the powertrain receiving the most complaints.

Lagos reaffirms commitment to Mile 12-Ikorodu BRT project’s completion By Taiwo Hassan HE Lagos State Government T said that it had reached an advanced stage at the construction on the three lots of additional lanes on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) expansion project in Ikorodu designed to boost additional public transportation in the state. According to the government, the promoters of the project, Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), in conjunction with other ministriesMinistry of Physical Planning and Urban Development and Ministry of the Environment are already working out

modalities to ensuring perfect solution to the right-of-way and flooding issues relating to the road project. During a joint courtesy visit to the project site to evaluate the work progress, few days ago, House of Assembly member and Chairman, House Committee on Work and Infrastructure, Rotimi Olowo said that the two issues (rightof-ways and flooding) were being looked into holistically, but admitted that the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development was already scrutinising more than 70 property owners’ claims, who had submitted land documents for land com-

pensation. According to the commissioner, government was trying its best to ensure that all the necessary things needed to be done to find a lasting solution to the BRT project expansion is achieved ahead of its commissioning date next year. Olowo said that the ongoing Mile 12-Ikorodu town BRT extension project was first of its kind on the continent, adding the multi-million Naira project was designed to extend BRT service from Mile 12- Ikorodu, while also improving the Ikorodu road network infrastructure. He explained that with the

extent of work, especially relating to the demolition of buildings, bridges and culverts, government was determined to do everything possible to safeguard the interest of the people. He, however, described as unacceptable the practice of erecting structures illegally, especially on water path. According to him, the Ministry of Environment, Office of Drainage Services would take a holistic view of the situation and come up with a lasting solution that would safeguard all the communities along the Wetland Areas. Director, Special project,

Office of Drainage Services, Mrs. Akinkunmi O.A, in her contribution at the event said it was important that the future of the state’s environment be considered and protected, adding that her office would work together with all the relevant agencies to resolve the flood problem. The Ayangburen of Ikorodu, Oba Salaudeen Oyefusi, however, commended the state government for the bold move to extend Bus Rapid Transit to Ikorodu, affirming that the Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola-led administration would go down in history as a government that implements pro-people project and

Fashola called on the citizens to support and buy-in into the project.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

42 AUTOWHEELS

Indigenous firm to produce haulage firm trailers, fuel tankers, train wagons Stories by Taiwo Hassan and users of Ies,MPORTERS modern locomotive coachespecially oil tankers and heavy duty tractor bodies (like open body trailers, semitrailers and flat body cargo carriers), who specialise in sourcing their raw materials outside the shores of the country, may reconsider their stance and look inwards to patronise made-in-Nigeria manufactured ones. Reason: An indigenous company, Gorgeous Metal Makers Limited based in Kaduna has concluded plans to start producing a wide range of heavy duty vehicle bodies for different applications, in addition to thick pipelines, surface and beneath-the-surface tanks. The company is also on the verge of building coaches and wagons for rail transportation and corporate use.

Chief Executive Officer of Gorgeous, Murphy Ugwu, who made this known at a media parley, few days ago, said that arrangements had been completed with all necessary feasibility studies towards the manufacturing and assembling of local fuel tankers and trailers in-country. According to him, the move to embark on the production of haulage and logistics equipment was borne out of the desire that local manufacturers could excel in that sub-sector, if given the necessary business environment. Though, he admitted that his company commenced commercial production activities only last year, but was satisfied with the patronage, especially with the reputation of being one the most modern range of machines and equipment in the sub-sector.

Ugwu explained that the products from the plant, especially the fuel tankers and the trailers had started attracting the patronage of a lot of vehicle fleet owners with their high quality, even as there are plans to use coaches from the factory on the proposed new rail line between Abuja and Kaduna. He said that he had studied the logistics needs of oil companies like Oando NNPC, Mobil and Total, and manufacturing giants like the Dangote Group, Coca-cola, Nestle and other beverage companies before designing tankers and trailers to meet their needs. He revealed that at the company’s Kaduna plant, there was ongoing welter of manufacturing and construction activities by a team of Nigerian technicians and technical partners, making

An oil tanker under construction

use of state-of-the-art equipment like CNC Plasma Cutting machine, Arc submerge welding machine, which can design anything with steel, a huge welding machine,

another that puts into proper form what has been designed, a conveyor system helped by rail lines, and many others. “These experienced technicians handle fabrication. The

fabrication is done in accordance with the detailed shop drawings produced in our technical office. Our engineering teams supervise every stage to eliminate

Volkswagen Centre commissions new facility in Lagos HE Volkswagen Centre, authorised dealers in T Volkswagen automobiles in the country, has opened a multi-million Naira state-ofthe art avant-garde showroom “that truly depicts the Volkswagen DNA.” Speaking at the official launch ceremony in Lagos recently, the company’s

Head, Sales and Marketing, Manish Daryanani said that the showroom was fundamental to the harmonisation of ideals and re-evaluation of the Volkswagen brand. According to him, the new office was strategic in nature, noting that it would integrate attractive pricing structure and riveting after sales

service initiative that would re-enact the confidence of the motoring general public in Volkswagen automobiles. The facility, which is situated in the highbrow area of Lagos, also has the Audi, Skoda and Porsche showrooms in one location. Daryanani said that the onestop shop facility was set up

to ease access to these European automobiles and also serve as a rallying point for European brands of automobiles marketed by the Stallion Group. “This facility is borne out of Stallion Group’s commitment to the Volkswagen dealership as well as her determination to reawaken the confi-

Volkwagen passat black

dence of the teeming motoring publics in the VW brand,” he said. The company’s sales and marketing helmsman explained that Stallion Group was determined to reposition Volkswagen brands in the country, adding that the facility was a platform to achieve the objectives. “We are looking forward to unlocking the huge potential of the showroom which will give us great opportunity to present the Volkswagen range to our valued customers in all its variety.” A subsidiary of Stallion Motors, the new Volkswagen Centre follows VW adaptable module concept design that is gradually being rolled out across Volkswagen dealership worldwide. The new VW showroom is clad in white-framed aluminium with seamless fusion of style and elegance to signify the Volkswagen corporate identity. Also intended as an architectural masterpiece of sort, the centre is imbued with crystal display area for up to 10 vehi-

cles with an ambience and spacious climate controlled drive-through reception area and comfortable customer lounge that makes shopping a cinch. The showroom also has a coffee bar as well as free WIFI access and broadcasts on flat screen TVs while shopping for their choice Volkswagen cars. Daryanani, however, said that the company had concluded plans to increase Volkswagen model line-up by adding new vehicle segment such the Polo ‘G’ and new Jetta to enable lovers of auto wheels in the country to have variety of models to choose from. On the company’s expansion plan, he said that the Volkswagen workshop in Lagos had been relocated to Amuwo Odofin along Apapa/Oshodi Expressway from its previous location at Gbagada, adding that the move was part of the company’s plan to offer better after sales service to existing and potential customers.

Mercedes Benz dealer rates Nigeria auto industry high, pledges more investments showrooms across the counESTSTAR Associates, dis- ating in the auto industry has try and ready to partner with W tributor of Mercedes always been challenging in other auto dealers to promote Benz range of automobiles in the country has said that the Nigerian market remained strategic to the growth of its market share in the continent especially having invested billions of Euros in the country’s auto sector to maintain its benchmark. Managing Director of the company, Mirko Plath, who made this disclosure at the company’s premiere of its new automobiles in Lagos, pledged that the auto manufacturer would not compromise its standard/benchmark because of its history and contribution towards growing the nation’s auto sector. According to him, the company was satisfied with its market share for its brands in the country, adding that oper-

recent time because of the influx of different auto companies especially from Asia. He said that having discovered the importance of the country’s auto market, the company had invested a lot of fund to strengthen its after sales services segment to meet the future challenges of automobiles from the stable of the company meant for the Nigeria bound market. Plath, a German, also added that apart from strengthening the after sales services, the auto giant had continue growing capacity building among its Nigerian technicians through exposure and reinventing education programmes. He however said that it would continue to open more

its range of automobiles in the country. Speaking on the newly launched vehicles, the managing director said that the event was staged to allow the general public get feel of the company’s latest auto wheels in the country, adding that Mercedes-Benz A-Class and the E –Class models highlighted the company’s potential and objective for the industry. According to him, the new AClass comes with a completely new design, thus setting a novel standard in the auto industry. Apart from car’s design, which was not the only thing new, it also has a new chassis, which ensures driving stability and ride comfort at all

Mercedes-Benz S165 amg black series

times. In addition, it comes with a 3spoke multifunctional steering wheel with 12 function buttons; automatic headlamp

activation and saloon seats with artico man-made leather upholstery. “Customers will admire its ability to run with agility due

to its quiet but powerful fourcylinder petrol engines; plus the full range of entertainment systems which include the audio five USB,” he said.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

BusinessTravel Flight delays, cancellations blight air travel thrills WOLE SHADARE writes that airlines are exploiting government’s indifference and passengers’ ignorance to trample on their rights in the area of service delivery in the country’s aviation industry

Notable aviation experts who spoke about problems associated with the domestic route, said that passengers were expected to be refunded immediately an airline cancels its flight and, in the event of a delay, passengers are expected to be provided with refreshments

infuriate travellers and have cost the country billions of naira in lost productivity. DInELAYS addition to the direct costs to the airline

at 8 am in the morning, the passenger that is on the 18th plane is going, probably, to be 40 minutes late. But in Nigeria where the airspace is not busy or where only two airlines depart at 7 am, these delays that have become regular feature among the airlines are unpardonable, except when it is for technical reasons. A travel analyst, Mike Uchendu said that it was important to note that aviation is growing, adding, “It’s becoming a form of mass transportation for a number of people. Our volume numbers are up and that’s having an effect on the delay numbers as well.” Uchendu’s argument is faulty considering the fact that passenger traffic for domestic travel oscillates between six and seven million. With a population of over 150 million, it simply means that less than two per cent travel domestically and less than five per cent of that huge population take to air travel for both domestic and international travel. On a daily basis at airports across Nigeria, airlines delay flights for hours while passengers’ appointments are cut short. Concerned stakeholders lament that flight

industry and its customers, flight delays have indirect effects on the Nigeria’s economy. The inefficiency in the air transportation sector increases the cost of doing business for other sectors, making the associated businesses less productive. Nobody can really put a figure to what the nation is losing to this, as there are no accurate data to rely on. A study estimated that air transportation delays reduced the United States States’ gross domestic product (GDP) by $4 billion in 2007. When a pilot or commander of a flight suddenly announces that the flight that had been on the tarmac for several hours can no longer takeoff ‘due to technical reasons,’ what comes first to the minds of those who are already seated in the aircraft? What would you expect to hear from a passenger who had boarded a 7 am flight to resume duty at 9 or 9:30 am at his destination after an hour flight, say from Lagos airport? The booming economy has clogged the skies. For Europe, Asia, United States and other busy destinations, it is understandable. If we’ve got 16, 17, 18 aircraft, which is common, all departing

schedules are subject to almost hourly delays and sudden cancellations with total disregard for passengers’ own schedules, and such delays and cancellations are blamed, by the airlines, on “weather and operational reasons beyond our control.” Even when there are no weather problems, what has become the norm in the sector are incessant delays or outright cancellation of flights, which leave passengers losing valuable time, and resources as appointments and business opportunities are missed. Nigeria is a signatory of the Montreal Convention. A lot of travelers are yet to take advantage of that window to test the law by asking for damages whenever their rights are infringed upon by airlines in cases that are not related to technical or weather reasons. A legal practitioner had sued a leading airline for making nonsense of a brief he had in Port Harcourt, Rivers State recently. His case was pathetic. According to him, his flight billed for 7 am was postponed to 11 am. He was not bothered. The appointment he had was for 1 pm. By 11 am, the carrier made another announcement that the

flight would eventually depart at 4 pm. This got him infuriated as he rushed to another terminal to see if he could get another flight that would take him to his destination. His effort proved futile, as he has to abort the journey and subsequently lost a brief that could have fetched him over N50 million. He sued the airline and was awarded over N100 million for damage caused him. According to a stakeholder, “because the airlines know that most passengers are not aware that they have a right to complain and get financial compensation when they don’t get the right services, the airlines tend to get away with the unscrupulous act, violate passengers’ right and subject them to physical and financial trauma.” Notable aviation experts who spoke about problems associated with the domestic route, said that passengers were expected to be refunded immediately an airline cancels its flight and, in the event of a delay, passengers are expected to be provided with refreshments. The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had last year formulated regulations that spell out penalties for specific offences by airlines regarding flight delays and cancellations. For international routes, when an airline reasonably expects a flight to be delayed beyond the scheduled time for departure, passengers are entitled to meals and refreshments in relation to the waiting time and two free telephone calls or emails or faxes. But these are not offered to Nigerian travelers in most cases.

IATA seeks industry partnership for aviation sector’s growth By Chika Goodluck-Ogazi HE International Air Transport T Association (IATA) has called for a combined agenda between airlines

First British Airways A380 rolls out of the hangar

British Airways to take delivery of first A380, expands West coast operations By Wole Shadare RITISH Airways is poised to B become the first airline in Europe to introduce both the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 787 into its fleet. The airline will take delivery into the UK of its first two 787s on consecutive days, June 26 and 27, followed by its first A380 on July 4. They will arrive around mid-morning. Chief Executive of the airline, Keith Williams, said that the delivery of these exciting aircraft opens a new chapter in British Airways’ history, adding that they were proud to be leading the way in Europe in operating both these air-

craft types. “Over the next 12 months, we will take delivery of new long-haul aircraft at an average rate of one every two weeks. “These deliveries form the centrepiece of the £5bn investment British Airways is making in new aircraft, smarter cabins, superb lounges and new technologies to make travel more comfortable in the air and on the ground. “Both aircraft types make major environmental advances and will contribute toward our ambitious targets for noise and carbon reduction.” Following their arrival, both aircraft types will begin a complex ‘entry into service’ programme, which will see pilot and cabin crew training taking

place at Manston Airport in Kent, customer service trials at Heathrow and short-haul flying for both aircraft, including flights within the UK. Seats on the A380 are currently on sale for travel from October 15 to Los Angeles and from November 15 to Hong Kong. However the airline is advising enthusiasts, eager to be on the very first long-haul services to hold off booking as the dates of the inaugural services are yet to be announced. The first destinations for the 787s, and the date tickets go on sale, will be unveiled shortly. Meanwhile, the airline said that it was increasing its West African schedule adding a fourth weekly

flight to Sierra Leone and Liberia. British Airways Expands West African Services The disclosure comes just nine months after the airline started operating on the routes and will add 33 per cent more capacity to between Freetown, Monrovia and London. “It is unusual to add more flights so soon after starting a new route, but we’re responding to strong demand in these fast-growing West-African economies. In scheduling the flight we’ve taken into account feedback from our customers about onward connections and on which days they’d prefer to fly,” says General Manager for Africa and Europe, Gavin Halliday.

and airport authorities, towards addressing the mutual challenges of growth and sustainability in the aviation industry. The Director General, IATA, Tony Tyler said: “Airports are airlines’ closest partners. Neither of us could exist without the other.” Speaking at the Airports Council International (ACI), Europe/World Annual Congress and Exhibition in Istanbul, recently, he noted that major of investments in infrastructure will be needed to meet the global demand for air connectivity which is growing at about 5 per cent annually. According to IATA, meeting these requirements efficiently will require close cooperation between airlines and airports. It added that over the long term, airline profit margins have been insufficient to cover their cost of capital and this also has been the case for some airports. Tyler stated: “Neither partner can afford poorly-thought out and overly expensive infrastructure development. To avoid this, we must work together in a collaborative process based upon the basic principles laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) which include consultation with airport users, transparency, non-discrimination, cost-based charges, and strict safeguards on pre-financing of future infrastructure,” he pointed. He added: “Decades of practical experience, longstanding and credible economic theory have shown that most airports have substantial market power. According to him, “Strong independent regulation is required to provide the cost discipline that otherwise would be imposed by the free market. And the ICAO principles offer sufficient flexibility for regulators to apply various levels of economic oversight where market forces do exist.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

Opinion Why the Governors’ Forum matters By Abiola Philips ANY once thought of it as just a cosy club of 36 M very powerful men; now we have incontrovertible evidence that the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) actually matters. It has in recent times become a repository of inchoate power, the likes of which is rarely found outside the hallowed chambers of the nation’s Presidency. The consequences of the leverage that power is subject to, particularly in the run up to general elections, is why the outcome of the election of its chairman descended from an unseemly charade into a farcical caricature. The election for Chairman of the NGF and its shambolic aftermath is testimony not just to the catalytic power at the disposal of the Forum but is also damning evidence of a near total dearth of democratic acculturation amongst those who parade themselves as the leading lights of our pretensions to democracy. Where the head is rotten, the body is putrid: how, we must now ask, are those who seek to subvert and pervert a prima facie transparent exercise of a right and a rite, to don the cloak of guardians of democracy-in-progress? If the manner the electoral process transpired is a sign of things to come, there are choppy waters ahead. An electoral roll of no more than 36 eligible voters is hardly a daunting task, even where there is a manifest preponderance of mala fides. There was a clear winner of the election for a chairman of the NGF held on Friday, May 2013, and yet those who insist on having their way (as assured them by their preelection straw polls) refuse to go away, choosing instead to da si rough! What then are we to look forward to if 2015 fails to throw up clear winners in its elections? Is this a dry run for how elections in the balance will be cudgelled into pre-determined shape? Are we in for another bout of do or die elections? To enable us better understand why the election results were so blatantly subverted, let us look at what the NGF was meant to be and juxtapose that with what it has become. The NGF is an aggregation of governors modelled on a similar body in the United States that brings together state governors across the party political divide to meet, compare notes and, hopefully, benefit from each other’s experiences. The strength of the idea lies in its disavowal of party political fault lines as the defining quotient in addressing functional challenges; a laudable idea but one bound to set those that see party politics as a fight to the finish on a collision course with those seeking to advance effective governance. By the very nature of the NGF’s process for selecting a leader – consensus masquerading as a simple majority – the Peoples’ Democratic Party was always bound to be at an advantage. The importance of the leadership of the NGF was of little consequence in

its earliest incarnations but that began to change with the role the body played in the transition from an ailing President Yar’Adua to an expectant President Jonathan. From that crisis onwards, the NGF had begun to flex its muscles, demonstrating a capacity to be greater than the sum of its parts. This propensity and potential was to further come to the forefront under Governor Chibueke Rotimi Amaechi. Among the areas the NGF has focused on in the last two years are the establishment of a good governance and peer review mechanism; the fight for fiscal federalism; issues of state police; and, economic research. I do not contend that these by their nature inevitably lead to alienation from the centre but a closer look at how the Forum operating as a policy hub and resource centre has affected debate in these areas where federal and state interests overlap may allow us to pierce the veil and better understand why Governor Amaechi has become a lightning rod for elements in the Presidency obsessed with a search for enemies. The NGF’s State Peer Review Mechanism (SPRM) is geared towards the sharing of best practices, providing good governance and improving service delivery across states. Through peer review, State Governors can learn about innovative and best practices and adapt and adopt them to their own peculiar circumstances. The SPRM’s Steering Committee’s timetable envisaged all 36 states being reviewed by 2015. Through the NGF, the states have continued to engage the federal government on a range of issues, including the Excess Crude Account (ECA), the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), Fuel Subsidy deductions and NNPC withdrawals from state FAAC. While this has facilitated releases of up to $1 billion by the Federal Government to the states from the ECA, it has also involved some bruising encounters. Given that power abhors a vacuum, another element that has enabled the NGF to blossom has been the fact that its collective strength has had as its mirror image a President who has too often conveyed the impression of lacking vision. As part of its drive towards greater fiscal federalism, the NGF was instrumental in investigating pre-2011 Federation Accounts and unearthing a number of inconsistencies: N230 billion, N143 billion and $22.6 million were unravelled in 2012 under the delicious euphemism, “understatement and accounting errors”; the errors were accordingly redistributed. The NGF’s position on SWF too has seen it championing the cause of constitutionalism to the chagrin of a centre that is prone to devise and declare policy with only scant regard for constitutional propriety. The NGF’s position on policing in the country needs to be “viewed in the context of policing at the

national and sub-national level and in securing security at the community level”. The areas of contention have been on the potential misuse of sub-national police forces by regional potentates and the ability of states to fund their own police forces. Again, the NGF has opted for informed debate rather than just toeing the line of the centre; an approach that in certain quarters could conceivably be viewed as disloyal and confrontational. An Economic Research unit responsible for the provision of economic analysis and other technical values tailored to the needs of the states was instituted at the secretariat of the Forum. It continues to provide analysis, data and knowledge that significantly assist evidence-based policy making at the state level. Areas the unit has looked closely at include analysis of the $79 p/b benchmark oil price and its implications for states revenue inflows; the impact and implications of macroeconomic performance on sub-national governments revenue inflows; and, sectoral growth trends and their impact on youth unemployment across the states. In all of these, the centre has found itself confronted with often uncomfortable mirrors. Lest I appear to paint a picture of the NGF as a body continuously in an adversarial stance with the federal government, mention needs to be made of the Forum’s activities in many other areas including health interventions (particularly for polio and immunisations); promoting ideas for more Internally Generated Revenue; agriculture; and, the environment. All offer examples of the benefit of a body unhindered by the obligation to line up on party political lines and the importance of tackling dysfunction. It is precisely at this intersection of what the NGF was conceived to be and how it has turned out that the friction was ignited. Governor Amaechi’s less than forthright disavowals of any ambition to run on a presidential ticket alongside his role as primus inter pares in an increasingly assertive NGF took on an altogether more incendiary hue. All of a sudden the potential for an NGF, led by a politically astute Chairman, to become an obstructive force on the road to a Jonathan second term became the scenario of preference for the cottage industry of naysayers that always surround potentates. For his part, President Jonathan appears to have been eager to see reds under his bed. What Amaechi has done as chairman of the NGF over the last two years is to seek at every turn to assert and reaffirm the clarity with which the country’s constitution outlines the roles and responsibilities of the federal executive in contradistinction to that of the state executives. In so doing, he has been cast as an enemy of the state (the state having been misinterpreted as the Presi-

dency). History is replete with examples of individuals equating their continued stay in office with the continued well-being of the state. The swine swirling around the Presidency and feeding off the scraps that such blurred lines afford are the ones that persist in stoking the fires of discord and dissension. We can either choose to realise our destiny to be a federation of quasi-autonomous states, with residual powers accorded the centre or, we can persist in the futility of paying lip service to federalism while superimposing on our constitution the language and litany of unitary governance. The former is the only viable road to an enduring national identity; the latter is what we have been locked into from the time of our military misadventures till this day. The naked need to manifest supreme power is what lies behind the crass and crude conduct unbecoming of state chief executives. An election that appeared to have been conducted in an atmosphere free of rancour is now being pilloried by a phalanx of paid public affairs analysts (sic), as well as some particularly brazen governors whose vision and recollection are equally compromised by base considerations. The presidential endorsement of the unelected Jang faction of the NGF was an unwarranted intervention by a Presidency that has exhausted us with its claims to being unconcerned with and unconnected to the denuding of the NGF. What the Presidency has succeeded in achieving is the breakup of an NGF that represented a possible banana skin on the road to re-election; it was a course of action presaged in the setting up of a PDP Governors’ Forum. The next obstacle to be swept aside is the Northern States’ Governors’ Forum because it too could become an obstacle in the drive to ensure that President Jonathan is the undisputed candidate of his party for the 2015 presidential elections. The metric for judging the success or otherwise of the NGF ought to be its efficacy in providing a forum for state governors to reason in tandem without the constraints of party political rectitude, as well as the degree to which it operates as a check on the abuse of executive power at the centre. Regrettably, the abuse of public trust is as evident among state executives as among the federal one. That disposition, when aggregated into a body like the NGF, has produced opportunities for abuse that those that have rounded on the NGF rightly draw to our attention. What we must seek is the preservation of what works in the NGF, while devising ways of ensuring that it’s potential for abuses are exposed to the harsh light of statutory and regulatory oversight. What the President ought to do, but will not, is call his attack dogs to order and look to genuine reconciliation. If he does not, there will be political bloodletting aplenty before this Presidency’s day is

Ribadu, an ethically-challenged hypocrite By Reuben Abati HE Presidency totally rejects the false, hypocritical and selfT serving claim by Mallam Nuhu Ribadu at a lecture in Kaduna on Saturday that Nigeria under President Goodluck Jonathan is a “sinking ship” in which the yearnings of the masses are being neglected by a tyrannical leadership. We find it very sad and utterly deplorable that Nuhu Ribadu has resorted to shameless wolf-crying, the peddling of arrant falsehood and the denigration of the elected government of his fatherland in furtherance of his selfish quest for continued national political relevance after his wholesale rejection by Nigerian voters in 2011. It is very unfortunate indeed that the once highly respected former EFCC Chairman has now taken to political prostitution and developed a penchant for irresponsible and reckless utterances aimed at improving the electoral fortunes of his new friends and “leader”, who he once famously denounced as a crook who is “not fit to hold public office”. There can be no doubt that nothing else but blind ambition for an office for which he is clearly unfit is driving Ribadu to infer that an Administration led by a President who welcomed him back to the country after his self-imposed exile, restored his rank in the Nigeria Police to save him from the shame of demotion and converted his dismissal from service to retirement has now become tyrannical and anti-people. We take special note of his ingratitude.

If Nuhu Ribadu wants to talk of tyranny then he should talk of the days when he orchestrated the impeachment of governors with an illegitimate quorum of legislators who had been threatened by the EFCC under his watch. It beats the imagination that Nuhu Ribadu, a man who once presided over an EFCC which in 2007 compiled a list of disqualified politicians aspiring for office without a court order or legal backing now has the guts to accuse the man under whom Nigeria has had the most credible elections in this Fourth Republic of being the leader of a “sinking ship”. Can there be a greater tyranny than the tyranny of removing governors via undemocratic means and barring legally entitled persons from contesting elections? Nothing else but misguided ambition could have driven Ribadu to urge Nigerian youth to rise up and save the country from an Administration which he willingly served recently, but which he now duplicitously and insincerely claims is “imposing private interests on the majority”. It is certainly the height of hypocrisy for Ribadu who built his entire reputation as an anti-corruption crusader by completely disregarding the rule of law and recklessly trampling on the rights of perceived enemies of the government of the day, to now accuse an administration that has consistently upheld the rule of law and respect for fundamental human rights of being tyrannical. It is only a shameless man that will turn around and accept to be the political lackey of a man he once openly accused of corruption at various times between 2004 and 2007. Now that he

has been used and abused by the undemocratic overlords that reign over the ACN and fearing that he may soon be dumped now that that vehicle is about to be subsumed into the so called All Progressives Congress, Ribadu is desperately seeking fresh relevance. Ribadu’s descent into a moral abyss since leaving the exalted office of EFCC Chairman, his equally ethically-challenged new friends and his willingness to vituperate against any person or institution he perceives as a challenge to the fulfilment of his unattainable ambitions, have clearly exposed him for what he truly is – a thoroughly unprincipled attention-seeker whose entire career in the public service was built on bootlicking and doing the bidding of the powers of the day without a care for legality which should have been his primary concern as an officer of the law. President Jonathan and his Administration will not be distracted from the diligent implementation of the agenda for national transformation by the falsehoods and vituperations of Ribadu and his new friends. Far from being tyrannical as Ribadu falsely alleged in Kaduna, President Jonathan will, as he has consistently done since assuming office, continue to strengthen institutions of democratic governance in Nigeria, uphold the fundamental human rights of all Nigerians including the youth, and protect their right to elect leaders in free, fair and credible elections. • Reuben Abati, Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity).

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

Opinion Manifesto of the poor By Yima Sen HERE is a sharp and dangerous social divide developing in NigeT ria today. On the surface it seems to be ethnic, sectional or religious as it seems some elements of the elite desire. In reality, however, it is a division between a substantially thieving rich and a battered degraded, traumatised, oppressed and a subsequently corrupted poor. The present crises of militancy are related to a youth bulge of poverty and unemployment. As a result, the ruination of Nigeria is endemic, ubiquitous and ingrained in the mind-sets of both the rich and the poor in Nigeria. A sort of totalistic disaster which we must reflect upon during this mid-term of the federal and state governments. Make no mistake; Nigeria has many of the attributes of a failed state. The classical definition of a failed State is one that has failed to discharge its obligations to the citizenry. The question is, how has the Nigerian state fared in discharging its constitutional and normative duties, responsibilities and obligations, de jure and de facto, to the Nigerian citizenry? The answer is so obvious, we do not need a soothsayer or super- power to tell us that our state could fail, or has already failed and is dragging the society along with it, rich and poor. So should we abandon Nigeria or go with the rather asinine refrain that “Nigeria will break up” or “Nigeria will become history”? The point is that a break-up of Nigeria will never create better national or state entities. In fact some of them will be afflicted by worse maladies related to state and societal failure: 419, drug trade, cultism, armed robbery, kidnappings, crudeness, and a general march away from civilization, by any definition. In other words, we will get fragments of mal-development, degradation and retrogression. What hope then? Two perspectives are illuminating. One, from Chinua Achebe and the second from Lee Kuan Yew. According to Achebe, one of Nigeria’s and Africa’s leading story tellers, in his nonfiction work on the problem with Nigeria, it is leadership. So also says the Asian leader Yew: that leadership makes the difference under any circumstances. However, in view of the Achebe – Yew thesis on leadership, it is the key, regardless of ideology, manifesto and policy. There are useful as organizing principles but the “steersman” or navigator is extremely important. To this extent, the Nigerian President of Nigeria in 2015 must be a rallying point for the reunification of a divided Nigeria. All Nigerians must feel a sense of kinship with their President. The President of Nigeria cannot succeed if he or she becomes provincialized into ethnicity, region, section, religion or even gender. A state governor or local government chairman would similarly fail if he or she becomes encased in a cocoon of prejudice. Successful management of difference or diversity is a recipe for successful governance of the affairs of heterogeneous humanity. Nigeria was never a mistake in 1914, because no single country on earth as we know the world today was perfectly manufactured by God and delivered onto this planet. Today’s modern states all conceptually emerged after the Peace of Westphalia of 1648. The states of Africa were specifically the products of the Berlin Conference of 1884 – 1885.This is elementary history. So how has Nigeria become a mistake and South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Somalia and Gambia as examples are not?

So the President of Nigeria, who should be the leader of Africa and the black race, must also be respected and recognized in Ghana, South Africa, Harlem, Brixton, Ethiopia, Egypt, Senegal, Congo Democratic Republic and all the 774 local government council areas in Nigeria, and of course in the rest of the world. Since this is also a job, he should at least have reasonably good university education, with well-articulated views on national, continental or international life, over the years. Perhaps, most importantly, he or she must reflect daily on the challenges that face the head of every family unit in a given day, and address those issues with seriousness. In addition, due to the present state of collapse or decay of Nigeria, which is palpable even from driving conduct in the towns and country-side of Nigeria, the 2015 President of Nigeria must be an incorruptible rescuer, redeemer or restorer. To help further, here is a poor man’s manifesto for him or her based on extant policy architecture and my 2010 Carleton University lecture which is online. It is contextualised within the offers of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), President Yar’Adua’s Seven Point Programme, and Vision 20: 2020. Values, national orientation and the way the world views Nigeria These need a total reorientation from top-to-bottom and from bottom-up. Nigerians must change their world-view from a brutish state of mind to civility, love and respect for humankind. Corruption is damaging these and the mass media, families, schools, religious institutions and Nollywood need to be employed, among other interventions, to change things for the better. Good governance and democracy These form the bedrock of modern public administration and the political empowerment of the citizenry. Without their solid establishment, no society can thrive or survive. Corruption is damaging these in the electoral, judicial and administrative facets of the polity. In addition to properly institutionalizing democracy, the public sector will be drastically overhauled. Poverty and empowerment These are also responsible for high corruption and criminality. Poverty which dehumanizes people can be eradicated. Focusing on women, youth and elders, a civil society approach employing well – managed and properly funded development foundations in each state can tackle unemployment and poverty through self-employment and empowerment – thereby by-passing the profit-obsession of the private sector, and the strictures and corruption of the public sector. Food and water are basic to human survival and existence All-year-round agriculture, improved technology and seedlings and livestock breeds, adequate land access, good water supply and demand management are essential. Best practices from China, India, Mexico, Russia, Israel and other places will be adopted. Agriculture employs about 70 per cent of the labour force and contributes about 40 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Education and human development These are key in transforming social capital into national wealth and human development. From the bottom, there must be free to some level and the rest affordable, as well as a demonstration primary school in each ward, a demonstration secondary school in each local government area council as well as a craft school. There must be a university in each senatorial district, public or private, to ensure that there are about 500 qualitative universities in Nigeria.

There must be 20 Ivy League-standard universities, three in each of the six geo-political zones developed from the leading existing universities, as well as a national medical research university and the defence university already in existence. There shall be many interventions to manage quantity to produce quality. Transportation and communication These are key to mobility and human intercourse in modern society. The communication sector, including mass communication, will be improved while the transport sector will be revolutionized. Three wide-gauge rail lines and dual carriage freeways within the same corridors and bridge systems, north-to-south and east-to-west will be developed. Waterways will be developed and transportation improved. All the state capitals and major cities will be linked to the major rail and road networks, and as feasible to the waterways. The existing narrow gauge railway system will be repaired for goods haulage only. Land and Housing These will be made user-friendly. Land speculation and corruption will be eliminated and residential housing costs totally devalued. These shall be massive high-quality Chinese-type housing schemes for low, medium and high income earners in 1,000 towns or cities in Nigeria, certainly not the ugly and rickety structures being developed by certain concerns now. The cost of building will be drastically lowered through appropriate policy interventions. Security and health These are indispensable to the well-being of the citizenry. Human security is social and protective; both are related to poverty and empowerment. However, protective security can be tackled by improving the working and living conditions of security personnel, especially the police. Health can be substantially tackled through the use of preventive health –primary health (polyclinics in each ward of the federation, a general hospital in each local government area (with mobile and tele clinic facilities) and a specialist hospital in each state. A national medical and research centre will be the apex medical advancement and excellence institution. Energy This concerns electricity and hydrocarbons. Electricity supply has been virtually destroyed by corruption and over centralization. Expansion and stabilization will involve thermal, coal, nuclear, solar, water and wood. The oil and gas sector has been simply infested with corruption and criminality, including negative community resource nationalism. This sector is the fifth highest contributor to GDP and accounts for more than 90 per cent of foreign exchange earnings. Manufacturing and industry These involve creating a functional and productive economy. The underlying factors are provision of adequate infrastructure and services and a supportive policy framework. A non-manufacturing and non-industrialized economy is not a modern economy. Today this sector is the sixth contributor to Nigeria’s GDP. Is there anybody in Nigeria who can assiduously implement this 10-point programme as President? He or she could be a politician, professional, an activist, an academic, or a patriot with a responsible background. He or she should be mature, exposed, courageous and firm, even revolutionary. He or she should not hate some sections of Nigeria. He or she should know Nigeria, understand Africa and appreciate where the world is today. God, please give us this person as President of Nigeria in 2015. Amen. • Sen, former United Nations official and two-time presidential aide in

Smoking and the corporate challenge By Moses Obaloju HE Lagos State House of Assembly recently T held a public hearing on ”A Bill for a law to provide for regulation of smoking in designated places in Lagos State and for connected purposes”. The Bill, which was sponsored by Honourable Gbolahan Yishawu, seeks to legislate smoking within designated areas in the city. Stakeholders at the hearing included members of the organised private sector, government officials from the key ministries, tobacco control advocates and representatives of the tobacco industry. Though the legislators were lauded for taking the initiative to prohibit smoking in certain areas, they were also asked to ensure that all stakeholders’ views were taken on board. The former Lagos State Attorney General (AG), Prof. Osibajo, in his submission at the hearing, said the State Government is thinking of empowering citizens to sue tobacco companies for distribution of harmful products. This is in addition to the on-going civil charges levied against several tobacco companies by the State for similar reasons. Though this may look like a practical solution to addressing the issue of tobacco smoking, many will see it as setting a legislative precedence, which other

companies such as the alcohol and sugar manufacturers may most likely, become culpable. Driving policies to protect public health is a laudable move that should always be approached within the context of the issues at play. Looking critically at the tobacco industry and the regulatory strategies deployed in several countries, many have not succeeded in curbing the incidence of tobacco smoking, but have instead ended up in allowing unscrupulous tobacco smugglers to gain foothold in the trade. Canada, which has one of the harshest tobacco regulations, is currently battling with the problem of smuggling. “Contraband tobacco is still a big problem in Canada. Despite new powers given police to crack down on contraband dealers, sales of bootleg smokes are on the rise in Atlantic Canada, the National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco said at an Ottawa news conference. The coalition said criminal organisations in Ontario and Quebec have also adapted to new laws designed to curb the problem. “The Canadian, Ontario and Quebec governments have all given police new powers to investigate and charge those that traffic in the trade,” said coalition spokesman Gary Grant. “But the ille-

gal cigarette industry continues to evolve to compensate.” Whilst the former AG may have good intentions, this in itself is not the answer to the solution; the reality is that several other products today are deemed to be as injurious as tobacco. In a Sunday Morning Herald article titled “Sugar as harmful as tobacco and alcohol”, three U.S. scientists from the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) maintain sugar is more than just “empty calories” that makes people fat. They argue that high calorie; sweetened food is indirectly responsible for 35 million annual deaths worldwide due to lifestyle related conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Professors Robert Lustig, Laura Schmidt and Claire Brindis call for restrictions and controls on sugar that mirror those on tobacco and alcohol. This call for controls on the use of sugar invariably affect so many beverage companies, who have been restricted from marketing in schools in the U.S. and have started to look at driving low calorie alternatives, a strategy which is similar to the production of alternative and harm free tobacco products. Also recently, Coca-cola in a pledge on responsible marketing said they would not market their products to children under the age of 12.

An Economist article entitled ‘No Smoke, Why the fire’ spoke about the introduction of ‘E-cigarettes’ into the market, thereby bringing in more health related benefits accruable to public health: “some inventions are so simple, you have to wonder why no one has come up with them before. One such is the electronic cigarette... E-cigarettes do not just save the lives of smokers: they bring other benefits too. Unlike cigarettes, they do not damage the health of bystanders. They do not even smell that bad, so there is no public nuisance, let alone hazard, and thus no reason to ban their use in public places. Pubs and restaurants should welcome them with open arms.” Appropriate and effective legislation coupled with educational campaigns and corporate accountability or responsible practices should be the main focus for the government on all these products. Instigating legal actions against businesses will simply add to the list of negative economic policies such as multiplicity of taxes which investors face in Lagos State. Question is how many companies will be sued? Alcohol companies, energy drinks, beverage companies with high calorie content or fast foods? Also who stands to benefit, the government, the people or the litigators? • Obaloju wrote in from Lagos.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

FridayWorship By Afis A. Oladosu In the name of Allah, the beneficent the merciful“… and they say, “Indeed, he is mad. But it (the Quran) is nothing except a reminder to the worlds.” [Quran 68:51-52] N other words, dear brethren, the mentally challenged is human and Icannot stop being one. Except that he hardly cries, except that he hardly experiences emotions of loss and pain, the deranged man and woman are mirrors of others like them in our society – those suffering from acquired derangement. Brethren, those suffering from acquired madness are essentially humans, like those mentioned above. But unlike IM, they experience fits of madness because of their incontinence and their excessive acquisition of the material. Like the involuntary sick man, the voluntarily one feels a sense of completeness only when he is surrounded by the material- the useful and the useless. Like those suffering from IM, the voluntarily madman equally gathers every rubbish and scrap he can lay his hands on even though they are of no use to him! In fact he carries and conducts his affairs as if he is mentally deranged. He lives amidst the community as if he lives all alone. He prefers to be alone, to eat alone, to sleep alone and, yes, to die all alone. Like the mentally deranged, he lives in the inside as if he is on the outside. Brethren, the VM man could be the billionaire on the street. He builds houses for those who would fight over and inherit them. Al-Rasul once

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

It is a season of anomie (2) asked his companions: “Who among you loves the money of his inheritor more than he does his own?” All the companions chorused: “we all love our money, not that of those who will inherit us”. But al-Rasul said the similitude of he who loves someone else’s money is he who keeps his money away and refuses to spend it on the path of the Almighty”. But the VM man would be happy counting his wealth as they accumulate. He would not take heed of all admonitions. “O mankind, thus goes the admonition. You have been distracted by the rivalry of piling up worldly gains against one another. You will never be satisfied until you get into the grave. Nevertheless, soon you shall come to know. Again, nevertheless, soon you shall come to know. Nay! Would that you knew through the real knowledge provided to you in this Qur’an and care about your life in the hereafter. Because on the day of judgment when you shall see the hell, and see it with the certainty of your own eyes; you shall believe it, but that belief is going to do you no good because – on that day, you shall be questioned about the blessings (faculties and resources that you were given in the worldly life - as to how you used them? (Q 102:1-8) In a more direct rev-

elation, the Almighty says: And those who hoard (Kanz) gold and silver and spend them not in the way of Allah, announce unto them a painful torment (Q 9: 34) Heedless of this Divine advice, the sick man in the village continues to live life as if the curtains would not fall. He buys estates all around the world. He derives pleasure in the ephemeral, in the transient. He builds his hopes on the sand. His ‘derangement’ would manifest once you attempt to take away one of the needless things from him. He would charge violently at you once you tell him that what he gathers from the world is like collecting water from the ocean with the bare palm. But aside from the wealthy guy in the neighbourhood, there are other troubled men all around the city. They now have a club. They now have a forum: Nigeria’ Madmen’s Forum. It is a forum for the powerful men of today who nonetheless desire more power. It is a forum for the nobodies of yesterday who, by virtue of your votes, have become “Mr. Somebodies” of today. What else other than a troubled state of mind could explain the inability of 35 “men of wisdom” to conduct an election that would be free of rancour. What else other than the ascen-

sion of anomie could validate the impunity of those men who throw away decorum and dignity based on political expediency and convenience? Suddenly, all that mattered was who became the chairman of the forum not the dilapidated primary and post-primary institutions in their respective states. Suddenly all that mattered was who became the chair of the forum not the recent increases in the prices of food items in the market. To this group of individuals, the pursuit of the comfort of ordinary Nigerians can wait and indeed suffer until their political fancies and that of their principals are satisfied. I contemplated the posture of that villagehead who stood in front of the camera to protest the ‘rigging’ that took place during the election. Then I remembered the following verse of the Quran: “Do not look at what these people of luxury and their likes and peers have of nice comforts. For verily, it is only short-lived splendour and a feeble bounty, which we are using to test them with. And very few of my servants are truly thankful.” Thus dear brethren, if you were to ask one of the “powerful” men of today: why these excessive pursuit of power? He would probably tell you it is all based on the desire to gain the

best of this world, to enjoy life. But the above verse of the Quran speaks to the reality of this life: that human life is short and trifle. All human enjoyments be it food, drinks, sleeping and sexual intercourse for which these men are threatening to burn this village are ephemeral. In fact, the pleasure we derive in these activities inheres in their ephemerality, in the necessity to return to them again and again. Brethren, can you imagine the possibility of a sexual intercourse that would last for eternity? I once contemplated the balloon that was used in beautifying a hall for a particular public function. From a distance, the beauty conferred on the hall by the balloons was simply infectious. But after a while, the balloons began to explode one by one. It felt as if they were programmed to implode, to self-destruct. The beauty and ambience they wrought in the hall consequently disappeared. Then I began to wonder: could this not be the similitude for the enjoyments and the earthly pursuits for which these men desire to kill and maim? Are these balloons not ideal metaphors for the world, for duniya? The Almighty has revealed the secret of the world to humanity in many verses of the Qur’an. On the day of resurrection, a man would be asked: “How many years did you spend in life? He would respond: “We tarried there only for a day or part of a day. Ask those able to count!” Face to face with the reality that only very few among men can make sense of these facts, the words of the mad man in the psychiatric hospital came to my mind once again: I wonder how

CAPITAL MARKET

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

NigeriaCapitalMarket NSE Daily Summary (Equities) PRICE LIST OF SYMBOLS TRADED FOR 13/06/2013

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

CAPITAL MARKET 55

NSE Daily Summary (Equities) as at 13/06/2013

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LOSERS

FBN Holdings targets 20 per cent increase in return on average equity in 2013 By Helen Oji BN Holding Company Plc Fincrease has projected a significant in return on average equity from 18.8 per cent recorded in 2012 to 20 per cent in 2013. The Chief Executive officer of FBN Holdings, Bello Maccido, while explaining the ‘Facts Behind its Figures’ to dealing members in Lagos yesterday, expressed optimism that with capital adequacy ratio which currently stood at N20.5 per cent , above regulatory requirement, the Group is well positioned to unlock opportunities that will put other subsidiaries at the fore to contribute to the overall growth of the company, as well as enable the Bank to sustain its leadership position across sub-saharan Africa. Maccido explained that the Group recorded a year on year aggregate earnings of N360.3 billion, from N273.8 billion posted in 2011 while Profit before tax also rose from N35.9 billion to N92.7 billion, representing an increase of 158 per cent. “What we have witnessed in the last one year is enhanced regulation from Central Bank

of Nigeria, where cash reserve ratio was enhanced from eight per cent to 12 per cent and net position decreased from three per cent to one per cent. “What this has done was to reduce the quantum of loan able funds available in the market , in addition, we have witnessed the erosion of certain fees element. There was also the withdrawal of ATM charges and recently, CBN issued reversed banking tariff where they have stipulated higher interest on savings from one per cent to 30 per cent which translate to about 6.6 per cent, as well as a gradual phasing out of over four year period of Cash On Transaction(COT) . In spite of all these, he explained that the company maintained pre-eminent function in various areas such as total asset, gross loan, and total deposit. According to him, total asset stood at N3,186 billion, an increase of 11 per cent, from 2011 position, while deposit base rose to N2,400 billion, which represent 23 per cent increase when compared to 2011 which added additional N449 billion to its deposit base. He added that its loan portfo-

lio increased by 23 per cent, which, according to him was additional N289 billion it added as loans and advances to various sectors of the economy. He attributed the improved performance to aggressive mobilization strategy deployed by the management as well as alternative distribution channels and innovative product development initiative put in place

by the Group. He explained that the company paid severance benefit and gratuity of about N21.5billion last year, adding that its PBT of N92.7billion would have been the best in the when added to the amount spent on severance benefit during the year under review. To consolidate on the performance, the FBN Holding boss said it has deployed

2,200 ATM services and 4,500 point of sale terminal in order to increase its customer base across the country. In readiness for the COT which would take effect in the next two years, Maccido said the Group had last year reinforced its position as a retail franchise by adding 70 branches to the existing ones, thereby bringing the number of branches to 807.

“This would drive the mobilization of low cost deposit so that we locate ourselves to other areas and where we loose on COT, we compensate ourselves with volume.” He added that the Group has obtained license to operate on mobile money transfer (First money) without any equity partnership with any telecomm firm in order to derive the benefits inherent in the business.”

Union Bank returns to profitability By Bukky Olajide NION Bank has declared U Profit After Tax of N7.8 billion, a growth of 49 percent from first quarter of 2012 while Profit After Tax was N4.8 billion, up 21 percent from first quarter of 2012. Profit Before Tax of N4.6 billion, was up 16 percent from N4 billion in the first quarter of 2012. This is contained in the report of the bank for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013. Gross Earnings for the Group for the first quarter of 2013 totalled N29.8 billion, while Gross Earnings for the Bank stood at N25.4 billion. Profit Before Tax for the Group was

•Continues transformation plan N7.7 billion, up 40 percent from N5.5 billion in Q1 2012, while the Bank recorded. Earnings Per Share for both the Group and the Bank improved, with the Group recording 52 kobo in Q1 2013 compared to 28 kobo in Q1 2012, and the Bank recording 28 kobo in Q1 2013 as against 23 kobo in Q1 2012. Customers’ deposits with the Bank stood at N483 billion at the end of Q1 2013, versus N482 billion at the end of 2012. The Bank’s Shareholders’ Funds at the end of Q1 2013 stood at N176.8 billion, versus N171.7 billion at the end of 2012. The

Bank’s Total Assets stood at N851.2 billion while Group Total Assets stood at N997.3 billion. Operating expenses improved for both the Group and the Bank, with the Group recording N16.2 billion in overhead expenses as against N18.4 billion in Q1 2012, and the Bank recording N14 billion compared to N15.6 billion in Q1 2012. In the words of Emeka Emuwa, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive of Union Bank: “2012 financial year marked the return of Union Bank to profitability, we

are pleased, in the first quarter of 2013, to have built upon that accomplishment. We are encouraged as we continue in our efforts to build a reliable institution – one which delivers the best service possible to its customers and consistently creates value for all its stakeholders”. Also speaking, Oyinkan Adewale, Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer said, “Our first quarter 2013 results show that we have sustained our return to profitability, we believe that, as we continue to implement our Transformation Programme, we will maintain this trajectory”.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

Sports FUTA sports facilities thrill MISTON LOC, players

Eagles threaten to boycott Confederations Cup over bonus

LAYERS and organisers of P the Mimiko International Soccer Tournament were left

• Injury rules out Onazi From Ezeocha Nzeh, Abuja LAYERS and officials of the P Super Eagles’ yesterday refused to leave their camp in Namibia for Brussels, Belgium, where they were supposed to board a flight to Brazil for the FIFA Confederations Cup slated to begin tomorrow. The team, which had earlier rejected the reduction of their match bonus by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), told the federation that they would not accept the $2,500 earmarked for them as reward for the draw with Namibia in the World Cup in Windhoek. The NFF, claiming paucity of funds, had reduced the team’s winning bonus to $5,000 after the victory against Kenya in Nairobi, but the players insisted that the federation must pay them $15,000 for the two matches, rather than the $7,5000 or forget the planned trip to Brazil for the FIFA Confederations Cup. The players accused the NFF board and officials of insensitivity by not reducing their own estacodes and other allowances in line with their cost reduction strategy. A Super Eagles official, who spoke to The Guardian from the team’s base in Namibia, revealed that the team put on

hold its plans to depart Windhoek yesterday for Brussels, where they were expected to connect a flight to Brazil as a result of the disagreement, stressing that the team would depart today if the issues were sorted out. The official, who pleaded anonymity, said, “the boys have threatened to return to their various bases unless the NFF paid them $15,000 as bonus for the games. But the NFF is still pleading with them to accept the $7,500 bonus for the two matches. The players are arguing that the federation board members and officials should as well show their commitment to the issue by cutting down their own allowances and estacodes in the spirit of cutting cost, rather than shifting the entire burden to the players and officials of the team.” The Eagles are due to play their first game in the competition against Tahiti in Belo Horizonte on Monday. Meanwhile, Lazio of Italy and Super Eagles’ midfielder, Ogenyi Onazi has been ruled out of the Confederations Cup following the knee injury he sustained in the team’s 1-1 draw with the Brave Warriors of Namibia. The team doctor, who examined him after the game, ruled the player out of the competition.

Super Eagles’ Ogenyi Onazi (in front) contests with Cote d’Ivoire’s Didier Drogba during the 2013 Orange African Cup of Nations quarterfinal match at Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, South Africa.

America’s Demby dreams 110m hurdles prize, as Warri CAA Grand Prix holds From Gowon Akpodonor, Warri HE city of Warri is agog T with activities, as both foreign and local athletes get set to burn the Warri City Stadium tracks this afternoon. It is the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) Grand Prix, a one-day event with many incentives lined up for the winners. In contention for the prizes

Cross River/All Nigeria Athletics Championship gets entry standards HE Athletics Federation of T Nigeria (AFN) has unveiled its entry standards for athletes wishing to participate in next week’s Cross River State-sponsored All Nigeria Athletics Championships. The championships, which will be used to select Nigeria’s representatives to August’s 14th IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Moscow, Russia, will hold from June 19 to 21 at the U.J Esuene Stadium, Calabar. Athletes wishing to compete in the 100m men and women events have until today to run the 10.60 and 11.65 seconds respective times, while those for the 400m must have run 48.50 and 55.00 respectively. There are, however, no standards for the men and women 5, 000m, 10, 000m, the marathon, 3,000m steeplechase, as well as, the heptathlon/decathlon.

Today’s Warri Relays/CAA Grand Prix serves as the final chance for athletes, who have not made the standard to do s o . Meanwhile, the Cross River State government has assured athletes, officials and

spectators, who will throng the U.J Esuene Stadium, Calabar, next week for the AFN flagship event that it would host a world-class event comparable to the USA and Jamaican national championships. .

are athletes from 14 foreign countries, 113 local stars and some Nigerian athletes based a b r o a d . At the Cyprien Hotel camp, along Refinery Road in Warri, where foreign athletes are lodged, one of the foreign stars, Nichole Demby, from the United States, told The Guardian yesterday that she was confident of winning the 110m hurdles this afternoon, no matter the opposition. With a season best (SB) of 13.08 in the 110m hurdles, Demby is favoured to pick the gold if she got things right. “I’m in Nigeria to run and have fun, but I can assure you that I will pick the gold in my event because I have been training for it,” she told The G u a r d i a n . The athlete praised the

organisers of the event, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), saying, “this is great. I have been to the accreditation center and everything is working on fine. They have tried and I hope things will continue this w a y . ” Apart from the American hurdler, focus will also be on Great Britain’s Prehard Stracher in the 400 hurdles event. With a season best of 45.94 seconds, the athlete said the battle for the gold would be an interesting one. Both the President of AFN, Solomon Ogba, Technical Director, Navy Commodore Omatseye Nesiama and other key officials of the body were on ground at the Warri City Stadium yesterday putting things in other.

Taekwondo federation begins athletes’ insurance scheme, set up new structures By Olalekan Okusan O ensure that athletes are T well catered for during and after representing the country, the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation (NTF) has announced a new programme - the National Membership and Insurance License (NMIL) scheme. According to the President of NTF, George Ashiru, the scheme would require all athletes competing at the national events to have an

annually renewable license, which contains medical insurance, while the exercise would also extend to all coaches/instructors, as well as, referees. “The Athlete, Coach, and Referee Licensing scheme is international best practice, which the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) introduced globally a few years ago. “At the national level we have added the compulsory insurance due to the imperative of protection against

injuries and related medical emergencies in the course of partaking in national events. It gives both the NTF and the players and their families peace of mind that they have taken steps to protect their own welfare. It will be renewable annually,” Ashiru said. He listed the benefits of the scheme as keeping an official data of all active players, instructors and referees in taekwondo as well as providing professional development for each category of

members. He added that the exercise would help to establish a code of conduct to protect the sport from abuse while it will protect the public from unscrupulous persons masquerading as coaches and instructors. However, the federation also announced its corporate restructuring with the various departments that will assist the executive board in running the federation for the next four years.

in awe of the facilities they saw at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) and the disposition of the staff and students of the institution, which has hosted some of the matches of the competition. The officials and teams described the well-groomed field and the state-of-the-art tartan tracks as excellent, saying the pitch brought out the best in them, just as they commended staff and students of the school for trooping out en masse to watch all the matches. The Vice-Chairman of MISTON LOC, Akin Akinbobola, who described the staff and students of the school as the best supporters and spectators during the tournament, said during the group matches and quarterfinal games held at the FUTA Sports Centre that the school’s sports centre had the capacity to host major events. FUTA Sports Centre hosted Group B games and the quarterfinal matches of the tournament with Young Stars FC of Akure, Prestige Height International FC of Ghana, Yobo Football Academy of Lagos and Vocam Revival Academy, Makurdi playing before an enthusiastic crowd of students and staff.

Cyclefest Lagos gets Lucozade Sport boost UCOZADE Sport, the world Lteamed leading sport drink has up with Cycleshop Limited for the maiden edition of Cyclefest Lagos, a national Cycling competition endorsed by the Nigeria Cycling Federation. The championship, which will feature over 150 professional male cyclists and 40 female professional cyclists, will hold on Sunday.There will also be 30 male and 20 female Recreational Cyclists participating in the event. Head of Marketing N u t r i t i o n a l s , GlaxoSmithkline (GSK) Consumer, makers of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (including Lucozade and Ribena), Cherry Eromosele said the company’s decision to partner with Cyclefest is consistent with the brand’s engagement of the community through activities that promote healthy lifestyle. “Lucozade Sport is supporting this unique national event in Lagos because Cycling is a niche and health promoting sport that draws participation from across almost all demographics, economic and social class” explained Cherry, who also noted that “it is equally important that Lucozade Sport, the world’s leading sport drink provides backing for this positive step to reviving Cycling as a professional and lifestyle sport in the country.”

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

SchoolSports We will build on our success in Delta Governor’s Cup, says principal By Gowon Akpodonor HE principal of T Comprehensive secondary school, Ogwashi-Uku, winner of the maiden Delta Governor’s Cup football competition, Prince Henry Okoh, has said that the school would do everything possible to retain the trophy next year. Comprehensive school defeated Alegbo secondary school, Effurun 1-0 to lift the cup two weeks ago at the Warri City Stadium. The victory fetched the school a 30seater coaster bus, N2million cash prize and a ticket for a playing tour in Europe. Speaking with The Guardian during the week, Okoh, who assumed duty as the school principal on November 17 2012, said that his team had the materials to defend the title, when hostilities begin for the second edition. “First of all, we thank God for rewarding our effort in the

competition. We actually planned well for it and our team did not disappoint in any way. We are very grateful to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan for reviving the culture of school football in the state. Our team had been together for long. We represented Delta State in the 2013 Shell Cup football competition, where we lost to Ekiti State in the group stage in Benin City. “Some of the boys will pass out before the second edition, but I have the confidence that we will defend the title because a majority of the players are still around. A player like Victor Odiwanor, who emerged the highest goals scorer with nine goals, is in SS2. We are praying and eagerly waiting for the playing tour of Europe because it will serve as exposure for the boys,” he stated. Okoh, who played for St. Paul Grammar school, Ebu in

Oshmili North in his secondary school days, revealed that he inherited some financial liabilities, when he assumed duty last year. “When I came in, the former principal handed over some liabilities which included money spent in camping the team for past football competitions. You can see that our journey started long ago. I thank the Commissioner for Education, Prof Patrick Mobuoghare for this great vision. Before he came in, school sports in Delta State had died down, but everything is taking shape now, both in football and athletics.” An official of the MOC for the Delta Governor’s Cup has revealed that the winners may visit Camp Nou play ground of FC Barcelona or the Bernabeu of Real Madrid during the playing tour of Europe. The second edition of the competition will kick off in October this year.

Shell reiterates commitment to school sports From Lawrence Njoku, Enugu HE Shell Development T Company of Nigeria has restated its commitment to the support and development of school sports in Nigeria, stressing that its involvement in football has produced great players who have won laurels for the country. Speaking at the presentation of a cheque of N2.5 million to Purple Krown College, Enugu, the winner of the 2013 NNPC/SHELL Cup competition, the company’s Communications Production Services Manager, Peter Ademu-Eteh said for the past 15 years, the company had kept faith in the vision of getting students engaged in developing both their education and football talents. He noted that the company through the age-grade football tournaments had helped to prove that it is possible to excel in education while

playing football, noting that from about 2000 schools and 60,000 students in 1999 when it commenced the competition had grown to about 2500 schools and over 75,000 students across the country presently. Ademu -Etteh said the NNPC/Shell Cup has continued to provide avenue for the discovery of talents for the various junior and senior national teams in Nigeria, adding that one of the players that won the 2012 African Cup of Nations in SouthAfrica with the Super Eagles, Ejike Uzoenyi emerged from the NNPC/Shell competition. He noted that Uzoenyi had represented Global Secondary School, Onitsha and went on to play for Nigeria in the Ghana-Nigeria Academicals international football tournament sponsored by SPDC and its joint ventures. He however commended the support of several stakeholders including the

Nigeria Schools Sports Federation (NSSF), the federal and state Ministries of Sport and Education, which had helped the company and its joint ventures in recording its successes over the years. Commissioner for Education in Enugu State, Dr Simon Ortuanya in his remarks expressed appreciation to the SPDC for its commitment in sports development in Nigeria which he said had gone a long way in helping the country to excel in the area over the years following the discovery of great talents. While urging other multinationals to borrow a leaf from SPDC by engaging in corporate social responsibilities, the commissioner said disclosed that the state government had continued to invest in school sports in order to fish out talents that ordinarily would have been ignored at that level.

Action from the semifinal tie of the GTB Heritage Cup held at Onikan Stadium.

1084 students for Enugu sports fiesta From Lawrence Njoku, Enugu BOUT 1084 youths drawn A from various secondary schools in Enugu state are participating in this year’s second edition of the Enugu State school sports festival, which kicked off at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, yesterday. Declaring the event open, Secretary to State government, Amechi Okolo reiterated the determination of government to sustain the school sports festival as an annual event. He recalled that a year ago

that government resuscitated school sports after being in abeyance over 20 years to fish out budding talents in various sports activities that could be developed for national and international standard. He noted that Enugu was known for breeding notable sportsmen and women in the past, and enjoined participants to take the competition serious and obey the rules and regulations guiding the competition. He thanked the organizers of

the festival, especially the State Ministry of Youths and Sports, various school heads and game masters for making the objective of government in that sector realizable Also speaking, the State Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Chijioke Agu disclosed that 1084 participants qualified from various schools and sporting events. He commended the state government for resuscitating the State School Sports Festival and encouraging sports in schools’ curriculum.

Calabar Municipality wins Cross River Schools Athletics/Swimming Championship From Anietie Akpan, Calabar ITH 11 gold, six silver and W nine bronze medals Calabar Municipality at the

Athletes compete at Cross Rivers athletics meet.

PHOTO: FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI

weekend emerged champions of the Fourth Cross River Secondary Schools Athletics and Swimming Championship held at the U.J Esuene Stadium, Calabar. At the final of the championship, which had in attendance the state Governor, Liyel Imoke and members of his executive council, Ikom Council won nine gold, one silver and two bronze medals to pick the second position, while Akpabuyo’s six gold, nine silver and 11 bronze medals fetched the third position. In the Primary School, Team

Ikom won eight gold, seven silver and two bronze medals to come first, while Yala and Akpabuyo contingents won five gold, six silver and two bronze medals and five gold, three silver and six bronze medals to win the second and third slots respectively. In the swimming event, Obubra contingent emerged first with 22 gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals. The Obubra contingent also came first with 17 gold, seven silver and seven bronze medals in the primary school’s category, while in the secondary category, it carted home five gold, one silver and one bronze medals. Imoke, who declared the championship closed, laud-

ed the performance of the youths and commended the organisers and all the local councils’ chairmen for a job well done. Most of the athletes ran barefooted in the championship, a development, which Imoke, who was represented by his deputy, Efiok Cobham, frowned at, while assuring the athletes that they would be well kited in the edition. He particularly commended Yala and Ikom councils for excelling despite the fact that they have no stadium to train on, just as he promised that his government would endeavour to complete the work on the stadia in the areas.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

GolfWeekly

Kids trying out their golf skills at the Starting New At Golf (SNAG) free demonstration at Astro Turf in Ikoyi, Lagos, while SNAG’s Europe master trainer, Tony Howarth (third right) watches alongside some certified trainers and kids

2AT partners Astro Soccer to fast-track grassroots development Stories by Eno-Abasi Sunday RANCHISE holders of F(SNAG) Starting New At Golf in Nigeria, 2AT Nigeria Ltd, have taken a bold step in their bid to deepen the game of golf in the country with the signing of a partnership agreement with private sports facility provider, Astro Soccer Nigeria Limited (ASNL), owners of Astroturf 2000 five aside football arenas. Specifically, the firm has concluded plans to take golf to the same venues where other organised sporting activities thrive all in a bid to make it percolate fast, win more converts, as well as, avail parents of young golf enthusiasts the opportunity of introducing their wards to the game. According to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed recently in Lagos by the two firms, all Astroturf 2000 facilities will be made available for golf, a development aimed at introducing golf in a fun and accessible way to as many children as possible, using SNAG’s well established first touch development programme to provide golf learning experience for children

aged five to 12 years in a safe, affordable and accessible environment. Managing Director of 2AT Nigeria Limited, Adekemi Badmos, while speaking at the MoU signing ceremony, expressed her delight at the partnership with Astroturf 2000 saying, this is a major step in our quest to introduce golf to as many children as possible and grow the game in Nigeria. “The initiative to bring golf to the same venues where other

organised sports thrive will definitely make it easier to develop future golfers,” Badmos stated adding, “we hope this initiative will introduce hundreds of new players to golf and become an important step in attracting children’s interest to the sport early so that they can transit with confidence to play with actual golf equipment on traditional courses. The more fun we make golf for children, the higher the chances they have to play the game for a

lifetime.” Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ASNL, Aderoju Ademoroti, said at the ceremony that although soccer remains the driving theme of their facilities, golf in the mould of SNAG fits perfectly into their vision of introducing kids to sports. He stressed that this informed the partnership and also reinforces the vital need for the establishment of state-of-the-art sports facilities in urban areas and at community level, which he

said was the focal point of his firm’s corporate strategy. Astroturf 2000 facilities are presently in Ikoyi, Victoria Island, VGC and the University of Lagos. Additional sites are being developed across Lagos and Nigeria. SNAG is a proven first touch developmental programme, designed for new learners of golf of all ages. It is also the skill–acquisition programme used in national school golf programmes worldwide. The

programme is currently being used in the United States (World Golf’s Foundation’s First Tee Program), Canada (Golf in School Programme), Scotland (Clubgolf), Belgium (Junior Golf Programme) and Japan (School Golf Programme) amongst other c o u n t r i e s . Presently, SNAG is being taught in a number of schools across Lagos by trainers deployed by 2AT Limited under the “Let’s Play Golf In Schools” Programme.

WAAGI to attract amateurs from 16 countries to Nigeria ITH a successful national W championship, the Le Meridien (LM) Open Golf Championship, which six editions have so far been held, the International Management Group (IMG), says plans are afoot to add other tournaments to the list of its offerings. The next on the list, it said an international tourney to be christened West African Amateur Golf Invitational Tournament (WAAGI). It would be for the exclusive delight of elite amateur golfers from the 16 countries

that make up the West African sub-region. And baring any hitches, the first edition of the championship would hold by year-end. Disclosing this to The Guardian, IMG’s General Manager/Consultant at the Le Meridien Ibom Hotel and Golf Resort, Uruan, Akwa Ibom State, Sam Logan said the best two amateur players from the 16 countries would be invited to contest for honours at the three-day championship. “We will invite the two best amateur players from the 16 West African countries to com-

pete against each other adopting a format similar to that of the World Cup of Golf for professionals, and we will have two teams, scramble and bestball. It will be a three-day tournament to be hosted by Nigeria. At the end of which, a West African champion will emerge. Logan revealed further that, “I am talking to two companies (one is in telecommunication business while the other is in financial business),” adding that “even though both of them have presence in most parts of West Africa, one

of them will emerge the major sponsor for WAAGI.” The IMG chief informed that that “my goal is to stage the event either in November or December this year because that is a great time weatherwise in Nigeria, so the course will be in fine condition. Hosting it right here at Le Meridien Ibom Hotel and Golf Resort, will contribute a lot to the tourism drive of the state and indeed the country. IMG had earlier mooted the idea of staging events like the African Open or the African Masters for African profession-

als, soon after the LM Open series debuted. But that has not yet seen the light of the day. Logan, however, added that a successful WAAGI, would serve as a forerunner for either of these. “The success of WAAGI would inevitably make the idea of an African Open or the African Masters, a possibility. The cost of bringing amateurs here is about one third of what it would cost to stage a professionals’ event. However, the African Masters or the African Open is an event I am still planning for the professionals.

SPORTS

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

Keshi relishes underdog tag ahead Confederations Cup UPER Eagles’ Coach, Stephen Keshi hopes his side can fly in stealthily under the radar and surprise at the Confederations Cup - just as they did when winning this year’s African Nations Cup, reports Reuters. Keshi says a hectic schedule of matches over the last fortnight means he has hardly had time to think about the eight-team tournament, which starts in Brazil tomorrow, but he hopes to repeat their exploits in South Africa. There Keshi’s youthful and inexperienced side attracted little of the pre-tournament attention usually accorded the Super Eagles and were given little chance by the pundits. Nigeria had been through some lean times and were in a rebuilding process, yet caused a surprise as they won a worthy title to qualify to represent Africa in Brazil. “We are not a team that is loud. We try to focus on what we are coming to do and then take it from there,” says a laconic Keshi, toothpick in mouth and lounging on a hotel sofa in an interview with Reuters. Before the Nations Cup kicked off in January, Keshi insisted his was a side still in a building phase at the start of a five-year plan focused on the 2018 World Cup in Russia. “It’s a little of psychology with my players, trying to let

them feel they have the potential but they must still work hard and be at the top of their game to get where we want to be.” Nigeria will arrive in Brazil after an exhausting three weeks in which they have criss-crossed continents, starting off with a brief training camp in Germany, playing Mexico in a friendly in Texas, then travelling to Kenya and Namibia for World Cup qualifiers on successive Wednesdays. It means there has been little time to plan for their Brazilian expedition, were they play minnows Tahiti first on Monday, followed by Uruguay and world champions Spain. “We have not been able to look that far ahead but these things take care of themselves,” suggests Keshi with an air of a devil-may-care attitude. “We are happy as a team to be at the tournament and we know we’ll learn a lot. But my players all know about Xavi and Iniesta and how they play, and I don’t really need to go on a lot of planning for that.” Keshi said that the door was still open for new players despite the Nations Cup success. “If I see a new, quality player, I’ll bring him in. You never stop building. I’m just 15

months in the job and it’s not like I’ve had the players together for a long time,” he said. Though still a largely inexperienced squad, Keshi has great faith in his players. “I know what these players can do. I know each player’s confidence, his preparation, his condition,” he said. “Others might see them as ‘no-names’ and therefore see it as a risk but they all know that I have strong belief in them.

Countdown To FIFA U-20 World Cup

Obuh raises alarm over unpaid salaries From Ezeocha Nzeh, Abuja ATIONAL Under-20 team N Coach, John Sam Obuh has cried out again over the deplorable welfare condition of the team and crew, saying the situation is a major distraction both to himself and crew members as the team prepares to fly to Turkey for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. The coach raised the alarm from the team’s camp in Germany yesterday barely three days to their departure to the World Cup venue. He disclosed that his family and dependents and those of

his crew members were in dire straits back home in Nigeria because of the failure of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to pay their monthly salaries and undisclosed backlog of allowances running into several millions of naira. “It is difficult to be saying this because when you open up on some of these things, people may read different meanings to it. But I must tell you that my situation and to a large extent too, that of my crewmembers, is not the best. “For somebody going to a tournament like the World Cup and everyday my family members will be calling about their welfare and I am supposed to be working. As I talk nobody is saying anything

about our salaries. I am not talking about the backlog which they promised to pay during the African Championship but for which nothing has been done,” lamented Obuh, who maintained that such concerns are big distraction to the crew. “Everybody wants the team to do well, which is good, it is our desire to do well. Coming this far we all want to do the best for our country. That is what every football fan wants. But it is important that people also realise the challenge we face in this other aspect,” he disclosed. Despite the difficulties, the coach is confident in his team, saying they are ready to go all the way.

Nigerian kids excite MTN Football Scholar’s foreign coaches coaches preparing FthirdOREIGN Nigerian youths for the edition of the MTN

Keshi (left) with star midfielder, Mikel Obi, before a training session

Football Scholar have given a thumbs-up to the kids currently being screened for the programme. The programme Co-ordinator, Tom Demaio said the youths that made the list this year are very talented, adding, “this year we got a lot of good kids and we hope to get a lot of placements for them. We are sacrificing to give them the basic techniques and understanding of different playing formations in order to make a good show before the U.S

coaches. But they are very talented individually,” he stated. He described the boys as smart academically, but added that some have gaps in schooling. “However, we are working with them to overcome that and that is one of the challenges as well,” he noted. Demaio said the schools and the American Embassy were involved in the programme “as you can see from the number of coaches here. The embassy has seized the opportunity to help Nigerians achieve their dreams, so they are very excited about what we

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, June 14, 2013

TheGuardian

Friday, June 14, 2013

Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

By Dolapo Aina

“The glory of an elder is his experience but the advantage of the young is his strength” King Solomon “Leadership must never be accidental in Nigeria. Must be deliberate and we must never assume that people are by default able to govern effectively. We go to driving schools before driving a car, why won’t we attend a Governance School before governing?” Kola Oyeneyin

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The 68 million generation

HE fifth Bola Tinubu Colloquium was held T on March 29, 2013, at the MUSON Centre. The theme for the colloquium was “Beyond Mergers: A National Movement for Change; A New Generation Speaks.” As a member of the new generation, I was interested in what the veterans of the old generation had to say and the well-rehearsed and now too familiar rhetoric of blame games. The speakers were young individuals from Kola Oyeneyin, convener of SleevesUp; Myani Bukar, lawyer; Bankole Wellington, the R and B artiste better known as Banky W and Hafsat Abiola-Costello, daughter of the winner of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election. The lead speaker was Femi Edun, a veteran financial analyst while the chairman of the occasion was Prof. Wole Soyinka, who had to attend another function and passed his role to Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the Central Bank Czar. If the theme were to be taken with any iota of seriousness, then the proverbial Nigerian time of lateness wasn’t adhered to. The booklet stated that a documentary on Bola Tinubu, welcome and introduction, would begin at 3.30 p.m. and 4.10 p.m. respectively. And true to the organisers’ itinerary of events, the colloquium commenced on schedule. While Mr Myani Bukar related his topic with personal experiences, saying that political ethno-religious conflicts aren’t new in Nigeria. Banky W basically clamoured for the youths to be part of the process and, if necessary, engage in peaceful protests. Mrs Hamsfat Abiola-Costello clamoured that Tinubu Nigeria has to have a functioning economy. Programme, vandalised tion, had stated, “our generation is full of She asked a pertinent question, “How can a Adjustment pipelines, exiles, epileptic power supply.” As global influencers – known globally for minister stay for four years and can’t reveal the majority of the audience roared in their community development work; 30 any project he/she has accomplished?” agreement and urged him on, he went CEOs who make Forbes list – making global The aforementioned speakers were quite headline in Business; young political eloquent in their various presentations but it further and didn’t apply the brakes. He strategists – engaging political bodies and continued by adding, “infrastructural was the first speaker, Kola Oyeneyin who forming policies; movement builders – steered the entire auditorium into several dilapidation, dysfunctional educational forming alliances to draw attention to system, and that dreaded ‘C’ word, corrounds of uproarious frenzied yelling, shoutnational issues; entrepreneurs – creating ruption.” According to him, “these experiing and clapping, all in agreement with what innovative businesses that tackle social ences have shaped who we are and how he had to spill out from his belly. So much so, issues; socially savvy youth – organising most of us view Nigeria.” he espoused the practice of “sexy politics”. events that shape national scenes; technoIf there was one statement which trigGovernor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola logically advanced technocrats – leveraggered a frenzied applause from audience, and Bola Ahmed Tinubu were “flabbergasted” ing on technology to do just about anyit was when Oyeneyin stated that “politics and “overwhelmed” by Oyeneyin’s oratory that thing and intelligent – highly educated and politicians have used and dumped the they were stunned, open-mouthed, with the middle-class.’’ no-holds-barred speech. Oyeneyin, the con- Nigerian youth time and again.” He quoted Oyeneyin, who it must be said, is in touch Reuben Abati, special adviser to the vener of SleevesUp, enumerated and elucidatPresident on Media Affairs, as saying that with the present economic and social realed many astounding facts. ities went on to say, “despite the push back While introducing the 68 million genera- “this generation are “children of anger” from the system, young people continue to ready to explode at every opportunity.” He tion, Oyeneyin uttered some startling statiscreate social, economic and political initiaalso quoted Governor Rotimi Amaechi of tics which ought to prick at anyone’s thought tives and platforms that shape our nation Rivers State who once painted this generprocess. In his words, “youth, not oil, will be from LightUpNigeria Campaign; Slum to ation as ‘children of entitlement’, waiting for the country’s most valuable resource in the School Initiative; North Youth Agricopportunity to “chop”. st 21 century. With an estimated population of The passionate convener of SleevesUp, prenuer Move; Dustbin Village; Occupy 68 million, Nigerian youth is easily a demoNigeria Movement; Youth Presidential graphic majority. If the Nigerian youth popu- espousing the positive side of this generalation were to be a nation, it would be the fourth largest country in Africa and 19th in The YOUTHSPEAK Column which is published daily is an initiative of THE GUARDIAN, and the world. Oyeneyin went further to state powered by RISE NETWORKS, Nigeria’s Leading Youth Development Centre, as a substantial that currently, the above mentioned 68 mil- advocacy platform available for ALL Nigerian Youth to engage Leadership at all levels, engage lion generation is twice the population of Society and contribute to National Discourse on diverse issues especially those that are peculiar to Nigeria. Regarding submission of articles, we welcome writers‘ contributions by way of Ghana and more than the population of well crafted, analytical and thought provoking opinion pieces that are concise, topical and South Africa bigger than the population of non-defamatory! All articles (which are not expected to be more than 2000 words) should be the United Kingdom. As he rolled out the sta- sent to editorial@risenetworks.org To read the online Version of this same article plus past tistics, he said, “with the sheer numerical publications and to find out more about Youth Speak, please visit strength, it would therefore be a major country.” www.risenetworks.org/youthspeak and join the ongoing National Conversations. While the enthused audience were literally chewing the startling figures, he said “but we are a generation that have never witnessed a Also join our on-line conversation 21676F3E @risenetworks RISE GROUP good nation, a good Nigeria.” In his words, “all Published by Guardian Newspapers Limited, Rutam House, Isolo, Lagos that myself and those within my age bracket Tel: 4489600, 2798269, 2798270, 07098147948, 07098147951 Fax: 4489712; Advert Hotlines: have ever seen are kidnapping, coups and countLagos 7736351, Abuja 07098513445; Circulation Hotline: 01 4489656 er coups, military dictatorship and now fragile All correspondence to Guardian Newspapers Limited, P.M.B. 1217, Oshodi, Lagos, Nigeria. democracy, weak institutions and fractured E-mail letters@ngrguardiannews.com; www.ngrguardiannews.com ABC (ISSN NO 0189-5125) mentality, election annulment, Structural Editor: MARTINS OLOJA .

Debate; RSVP – Register; Select; Vote; Protect, Campaign for elections. He also mentioned some youth-led platforms such as Leap Africa, Rise Network, Enough Is Enough, Ajegunle.org, Co-Creation Hub, The Future Projects, Beacon – Grassroot Empowerment Nigerians are known to always ask a rhetorical question which goes thus, how come the same people still hold sway in the Nigerian political terrain? The initial answer to the aforementioned question was revealed by Oyeneyin, who wasn’t done with facts which can be verified. The elder statesmen who still have influence began meddling in politics at an early age. Examples were given by Oyeneyin: Shehu Shagari (federal legislator at 30, minister at 35). Richard Akinjide (minister of Education at 32) M.T. Mbu (minister at 25, High Commissioner to the UK at 26), Maitama Sule (Oil minister at 29) Yakubu Gowon (military head of State at 32). More than half of the Balewa cabinet were 40 years and below. With an astonished audience including the press section, Oyeneyin revealed the current situation of the young generation, stating, “at best, young people are only involved at these levels: voters, political thugs, electoral watchers/monitors, commentators/bloggers, attending party meetings/rallies.” He stated every young individual’s unspoken apprehension(who was present at the event) when he said, “but if this merger will truly deliver on its promise and failure is not an option, then what the younger generation are allowed room to offer has to be beyond these”(the aforementioned footmen involvement). With the knowledge that majority of the present elder statesmen were in the early 20s and early 30s in the First and Second Republics, Oyeneyin proffered this: “Politicians should squash ‘the leaders of tomorrow mentality’, future is now upon us, deliberately make young people leaders of today!” According to him, this can be achieved through, creating access, not just opportunity, for opportunists. Good Governance Kindergarten—this can be achieved by fielding young people as councillors, local government chairmen, state legislators etc. and also, by creating generational transition plan through the younger generation. Also, he spoke at length on political mentorship, stating that there is nothing wrong with positive God-fatherism. Joel Bricks was one of Obama’s Chicago Godfathers; a positive one at that. He challenged the prominent politicians at the gathering to “identify the leading light in this younger generation and begin to provide the right kind of mentoring.” But one new terminology of Oyeneyin at the colloquium which took everyone by surprise and is now a part of some government officials’ glossary is the act of making politics “sexy”, stating that “the days of rice-based politically rallies are numbered.” In continuation, he said that the proponents of the new party should “engage and create a Democratic Party-Style Convention that appeals to the intellectuals and filters down to the grassroots.” Oyeneyin quoted one of Chinua Achebe’s books, “Nigeria is the way it is because her leaders are the way they are.” This cannot be wished away by any right thinking Nigerian. With passion, he stated, “the question is not whether the fathers and mothers in this room can; the question is whether the fathers and mothers in this room will.” This writer can’t but re-iterate a pertinent observation made by Oyeneyin. If truly Nigeria has had exceptional leaders, why aren’t or as aptly put by Oyeneyin “where is Awolowo, Sule Maitama, Nnamdi Azikiwe or Bola Tinubu’s School of Governance?” This and more questions, the 68 million Nigerian young generation should be asking elected government officials, so that the statement by CBN Czar, Mallam Sanusi that “Nigeria is a giant with clay feet” won’t become a reality. For Nigerians’ dignity, we need to be asking questions about our politicians. • Aina lives in Lagos.