Thur 28 Mar 2013 The Guardian Nigeria

TheGuardian Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Vol. 29, No. 12,509

www.ngrguardiannews.com

N150

Tribune publisher, Oluwole Awolowo passes on at 70

By Felix Kuye HE family of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, has lost one of its illustrious sons and Vice-Chairman of African Newspapers of Nigeria (ANN) Plc, Publishers of the Tribune titles, Chief Oluwole Awolowo. He was 70 years old.

A statement by Edward Dickson, Managing Director/ Editor-in-Chief, ANN Plc, said last night: “Chief Awolowo died this evening at Wellington hospital, St Johnswood, London following complications arising from a car crash that occurred on September 30, 2006.

“He had been in and out of hospital, home and abroad, since he was involved in the ghastly accident seven years ago on the Lagos- Ibadan expressway.

“Despite his health challenges following the accident, Chief Awolowo devoted his life to the service of God and was deeply involved in evangelical

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Senate meets service, security chiefs over insecurity- Page 2

FEC approves N47.8b projects, flays Kalu over insecurity • Minister slams sponsors of malicious fliers

By Mohammed Abubakar, Abuja OVERNMENT yesterday apG proved the construction, rehabilitation and reconstruction of 13 road critical projects nationwide worth about N47.8 billion.

It also approved another N3.6 billion for the purchase of multi-user licence and multispectral map imagery equipment. The map will cover all major towns and villages and will be completed in two years.

Work on it has reached 35 per cent completion.

Addressing State House Correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja yesterday, Information Minister, Labaran Maku, in company of his counterparts at Works (Mike Onolememen), as well

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Finance Director, Julius Berger, Wolfgand Kollermann (right); President/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nestoil Plc., Ernest Azudialu-Obiejesi; Managing Director, Julius Berger, Wolfgang Goetsch; JBN Project Manager for new Nestoil office, Jochen Stolle and Executive Director (Administration), JBN, Zubari Bayi, during the signing ceremony for the construction of the N24 billion new Nestoil Headquarters in Abuja… yesterday.

Worry over poverty as govt spends N18tr in one year From Mathias Okwe, Assistant Business Editor, Abuja T least, N18.844 trillion was A generated and spent between 2011 and last year in Nigeria by the Federal and State governments, according to figures by the Budget Office of the Federation.

The Budget Office also declared that the country recorded real growth, the Gross

Domestic Product (GDP) of seven per cent in 2011 and 6.28 per cent in 2012. Apparently, these are impressive numbers and really support the classification of Nigeria by the Breton Wood Institutions as a medium income country.

But stakeholders are worried that though the country is rich, a vast majority of her citizenry continue to live in abject condition as the recently-

launched United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Index (HDI) has indicated, signifying that most of the Nigerian people are excluded from the “impressive growth.”

The UNDP report places Nigeria amongst the least countries of the world that recorded achievement in the upgrade of the welfare of their citizens - the Low Human De-

velopment category, where mostly poor nations or low-income countries as they are called belong. Overall, Nigeria on the rating table is placed number 153 out of a total of 186 countries around the world where the survey was conducted. The countries are classified into four categories, namely: Very High Human Development; High Human Development; Medium Human

Maina gets reprieve over arrest warrant by Senate— Page 4 Diamond Bank receives nod to own bank in UK — Page 4

Development and the least, Low Human Development.

The indications as contained in the report on Nigeria are frightening as they are disturbing. For instance, the report says 143 under-five children die yearly of preventive diseases out of every 1000 births; 630 women die out of every 100,000 deliveries in the country; the population of people living under one United States dollar and twenty five cent per day (an average of N170) is 68 per cent while life expectancy is 52.3 years, meaning the majority of Nigerians CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

2 NEWS

Senate meets security chiefs over rising insecurity From Bridget Chiedu Onochie, Azimazi Jimoh Momoh (Abuja) and Murtala Muhammed (Kano) ORRIED by persistent violence, especially in the northern part of the country, the Senate yesterday met with service chiefs and heads of security agencies.

At the end of the marathon meeting that lasted six hours, Senate President David Mark said the upper legislative chamber in a closed session was briefed on the security situation in the country by the service chiefs and heads of security agencies.

Addressing journalists later, Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Enyinnaya Abaribe, said: “The intention was to be able to find out what the problems are and also to be able to work with the security agencies to bring the very serious security problems we have to possible resolution.”

He, however, maintained that the Senate was impressed with the outcome of the interaction, especially the commitment of the security agents to tackling terrorism.

“We are satisfied with the level of interaction and the commitment of the security agencies

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Mark seeks death penalty for oil theft Police intercept bomb-laden vehicle in Kano to making Nigeria a far safer nation.

“We are also calling on all Nigerians to co-operate with them in order to help us resolve the issue. We promised that we will continue to have regular interactions with security agencies and this is one of those interactions,” he said.

Abaribe, who declined most of the questions by journalists on whether an alternative security strategy was reached as recommended by the Senate recently as well as the issue of amnesty, said it was not in the place of the Senate to reach resolutions on security options or to discuss amnesty with security agencies.

He insisted that any other option was a policy decision that should be made by the Presidency. According to him, the length of time spent at the meeting was informed by the issues discussed but that policy decisions were not made in a briefing session like they had.

At the meeting were the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Admiral Sa’ad Ola Ibrahim, the Chief of Army Staff (CAS), Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba and the Chief of Air Staff (CAS),

Air Marshal Alex Barde. The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar, was represented by the Deputy Inspector-General, Administration, Suleiman Fatai.

Meanwhile, the Senate has adjourned sitting till April 16.

Besides, the Kano State Police Command yesterday intercepted a bomb-laden Golf 3 car, 238 live ammunition, 14 handgrenades, and seven remotecontrolled bombs, among others.

Unveiling another success of the command in the fight against terrorists at a press conference, the Kano State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Musa Daura, said the police tracked down the insurgents on Tuesday following a tip-off but the four occupants escaped with bullet wounds after a gun duel with the police .

Other dangerous weapons found inside the Golf car included one AK47 rifle, eight AK 47 magazines, one rocket launcher, two cylinders, one assault rifle, and four rolls of wire connectors.

Meanwhile, in view of the rising cases of oil theft in the country, Mark yesterday advocated death penalty against the

crim At the inauguration of the Senate joint committee on Petroleum Industry Bill, Mark lamented that those involved in oil theft were wealthy and influential people.

He described the situation as an unusual one that requires an unusual solution. He said that if death penalty would stop the incidence of oil theft, he would endorse it.

“The bill must ensure that the current pace of oil theft is reduced to the barest minimum.

It appears we are beginning to get bad names in the international community. Few individuals must not make us earn such bad names.

“The law must prescribe huge punishment that will serve as a deterrent. If it will attract death penalty, I am ready for it; I will endorse it. Oil theft cannot be done with a tea cup, big men involved in it are powerful, it is an unusual situation that requires an unusual solution.”

Mark said that the oil law should not divide the nation but should unite the country towards one purpose. “It is not a bill to divide the country but one which should unite us towards one purpose and at the same time, encourage economic prosperity and attract foreign investors,” he said.

Minister slams sponsors of malicious fliers CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 as Mines and Steel (Mohammed Musa Sada), said the council approved the ratification of President Goodluck Jonathan’s earlier anticipatory approval for the award of contracts.

Jonathan presided over the meeting.

Maku said the approval followed a memorandum submitted by Onolememen, which sought for the council’s ratification of the President’s anticipatory approval for the contract awards worth N47.8 billion.

Onolememen said when completed, the roads would boost commercial activities within their immediate environments, reduce vehicle operating cost, travel time and rate of accidents.

And the Federal Government has described as outlandish, ir-

responsible and unbecoming of a leader of his stature, a claim on Tuesday by a former Abia State governor, Orji Uzor Kalu, that security agents were behind recent bombing incidents in the country.

Maku and his Police Affairs counterpart, Caleb Olubolade, also speaking after the FEC meeting, said it was unfortunate that Kalu had decided to make such a remark in the face of all the efforts being made by the government to contain the rising insecurity.

Kalu had on Tuesday, while hosting members of the FCT chapter of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), said the security agencies and not Boko Haram were to blame for some of the bombings, adding that they were doing it to attract more funding.

But Maku said such an allega-

tion was unbecoming of such a highly-placed former public official whose words could dampen the enthusiasm of the security personnel who are sacrificing their lives for the country.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, has slammed “some disgruntled elements” in the society who he said were plotting to distract him through circulation of malicious fliers defaming his person and the FCT Administration.

A statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Nosike Ogbuenyi, stated that while the FCT Administration and the minister acknowledge the right of individuals to express their views freely, they would not bow to cheap blackmail. It added that “the FCT Adminis-

tration under Senator Mohammed will not be deterred by the antics of those who are driven by selfish motives and blind ambition to malign innocent people.”

Ogbuenyi called on the public, especially the residents of the FCT, “to ignore the falsehoods being orchestrated and spread by these elements through their dubious fliers and unwarranted alarms.”

He stressed that the FCTA under Mohammed remains firmly committed to the delivery of good governance to the people through the provision of basic infrastructure and services such as water, electricity, environmental sanitation, street lighting, mass transportation and above all security of lives and property in and around the entire territory in accordance with Jonathan’s transformation agen-

Worry over poverty as govt spends N18tr in one year CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 die before even the public service’s retirement age of 60 due apparently to deprivation.

This is so, according to the report, because Nigeria’s public spending on health yearly, relative to the size of her GDP, is just 1.9 per cent, which earned the country a score of less than one per cent - at 0.510 per cent.

The report says: “The HDI represents a push for a broader definition of well-being and provides a composite measure of three basic dimensions of human development: health, education and income. Nigeria’s HDI is 0.471, which gives the country a rank of 153 out of 187 countries with comparable data. The HDI of Sub-Saharan Africa as a region increased from 0.366 in 1980 to 0.475 today, placing Nigeria below the regional average. The HDI trends tell an important story both at the national and regional level and highlight the very large gaps in well-being and life chances that continue to divide our interconnected world.”

Perhaps, it is this worrisome human development numbers that informed the World Bank’s latest intervention in the country where it is expected to commit $300 million on a social safety net programme aimed at attacking poverty by directly identifying the vulnerable in the society with the sole aim of ad-

dressing the sharp inequality in the country where a few are stupendously rich while the majority continue to wallow in abject want.

As a prelude to the commencement of this new initiative, which is a partnership between Nigeria and the Breeton Wood Institutions, its Director for Human Development Group, Dr. Ritva Reinkka, was in Nigeria penultimate week on an assessment and on the spot analysis visit.

At the end of the country tour, Reinkka explained that the new initiative known as Youth Employment and Social Support Operation was the World Bank’s new strategy of combating poverty through prosperity sharing and cash transfer by critically identifying the core vulnerable in the society and empowering them, as opposed to the several social safety net programmes in the country that may have been hijacked by the privileged few and directed at the wrong people, thus widening the gulf between the haves and the have-nots.

Already, Reinkka assured that the board of the bank is to give approval for the release of the credit before the end of March to enable the project to kick off next month.

Although she said 20 states in the country had indicated interest to participate in the project,

the pilot scheme is to start in seven states: Bauchi: Niger; Cross River; Ekiti; Osun; Oyo and Kwara.

Under the scheme, the vulnerable will be identified and selected for the purpose of conditional cash transfer under the social safety programme like public works and skilled acquisition programmes as an empowerment tool to give them a lift in life.

Reinkka expressed concern that though Nigeria was recording growth, it was not inclusive as there was still wide disparity between the haves and the havenots in the country with even a large population of about 10 million Nigerian children dropping out of school because of funding.

She said: “There is a lot more that needs to be done to have inclusive growth in Nigeria and scale up on child and maternal mortality rate and the quality of education. It is disturbing that about 10 million kids are dropping out of schools in Nigeria.

Nigeria does have a special challenge in this regard because it is one of the countries in the region with the biggest challenge in this regard. There is a big issue concerning the quality of education. There is a concern that your education leaders and leaders in finance are doing well but a lot still needs to be done.

“In health, what we see in Africa

is that under-five death is reducing. We are hoping that Nigeria will join other 14 countries that have halved the under-five mortality rate.

“We are also concerned about the growing inequality and the different income and human development indicators between the North and the South of Nigeria. That is why under our social protection and safety now a reality in Africa, we are going to the Bank’s Board for approval of a $300 million next week for social safety in Nigeria.

“This is in line with the thinking of our President, a medical doctor who sees himself as a civil society activist as he is shifting emphasis from inputs and consultancy to results and output.

He has been shaping our thinking to accelerate the speed to poverty reduction,” the visiting director further said.

Present at the briefing were the Nigerian World Bank Country Director, Madam Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly and the Sector Leader of Human Development for the World Bank Country Office Nigeria, Prof. Foluso Okunmadewa, among others.

Each year since 1990 the Human Development Report has published the Human Development Index (HDI) which was introduced as an alternative to conventional measures of national development, such as level of income and the rate of economic growth.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

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THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

4 NEWS

Atuche gets bail in alleged forgery case on self-recognition

By Bertram Nwannekanma and Yetunde Ayobami-Ojo ORMER Managing DirecFstone tor of Bank PHB (now KeyBank), Mr. Francis Atuche, was yesterday admitted to bail on self-recognition by Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo of an Ikeja High Court, Lagos, over a forgery charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

In his ruling on Atuche’s bail application filed by his counsel, Mr. Tayo Oyetibo (SAN), Justice Onigbanjo said that despite the antigraft agency’s opposition, the court must also consider its records.

“The court in exercising its discretion on bail considers many things, and in this situation, I must consider the attitude and adherence to previous bail conditions. I hereby grant him bail on self-recognition,” he said.

Oyetibo had in the bail summons urged the court to grant his client on selfrecognition or on conditions earlier stipulated by the same court in other matters, which he said were based on the same transaction.

He argued that the charge was an offshoot of the one before Justice Lateefa Okunnu in the same court, of which he is currently on bail, and that the EFCC had never reported that he defaulted on the bail conditions. According to him, “this case is simply an attempt by the prosecution to patch a collapsing case before your sister judge. Also, his travel documents are already in the custody of the EFCC.” The prosecuting counsel, Mr. Ben Ubi, had opposed the bail application on the ground that the offence the

Tinubu colloquium holds today HE fifth edition of Bola TinT ubu Colloquium in celebration of the 61 birthday of st

the former governor of Lagos State, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is billed to hold today at the MUSON Centre, Lagos.

Titled, Beyond the Merger: Movement for National Change, A New Generation Speaks, the programme focuses on the merging political parties under the All Progressives Congress (APC) towards providing a veritable alternative to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 elections and ultimately lead to a change in the cause of Niger-

defendant was standing trial for was different from the one that he was enjoying bail in. However, if the court was inclined to grant the bail, he argued, it should not be on self-recognition.

However, his argument was discountenanced by the court based on the fact that Atuche was always present in court for his cases and adhered strictly to earlier bail conditions.

Atuche and two officials of the bank, Joachim Nnosiri and Uguru Onyike, were on Tuesday arraigned on a nine-count charge bordering on forgery, conspiracy and the use of forged board resolutions belonging to Futureview Securities Ltd, Tradjeck Ltd and Extra Oil

Diamond Bank gets nod to own bank in UK NITED Kingdom’s (UK) FiU nancial Services Authority (FSA) has approved Nigeria’s

Chairman, North-Central Zone of Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM), Raymond Ihenacho (left); Chairman of Council, Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered), Michael Olawale-Cole and Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, during a press conference in Abuja… yesterday.

PHOTO: LADIDI LUCY ELUKPO

Oluwole Awolowo passes on at 70 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 activities. In the past four years, he authored a Christian column, OBA’S LECTERN, in the Sunday Tribune.

“He fought a good fight and has gone to rest with his Maker.

“We ask for prayers at this most trying time for the Awolowo family and for the ANN Plc.” Wole Awolowo was born in Ibadan on December 3,1942.

He was the third child and second son of the late sage.

He grew up among his grassroots generation of the era without any elitist trait from his parents. He never discriminated against friends and relations who knew him as ‘Unbreakable’, a title given to him by Papa Awolowo himself for his tenacity of purpose.

His contemporaries always described him in the superlative as kind, considerate, compassionate and diligent, studious and enthusiastic in sports, his main forte was the game of soccer.

At the age of 12, his independent mind led him into joining the youth wing of the NCNC, the political party led by the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe which was opposed to his father’s Action Group.

This was not an act of rebellion, but freedom of expression and association which, in fact, Papa Awolowo admired in his son.

From Ibadan Grammar School, he proceeded to Leighton Park School, Reading Berdshire, England for further studies. He was admitted into the famous Leeds College of Commerce

Oluwole Awolowo where he graduated in Business Studies in the early sixties.

After sojourning abroad

successfully, he returned to Nigeria when the inclement clouds were gathering on the Action Group and his

revered father was unjustly being bufetted by the perfidious political turbulence of the era. Making a virtue of the necessity, Oluwole took his destiny into his own hands and set to job with several organizations at the middle level managerial cadre at the Nigerian Tobacco Company, Ibadan, the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation and the Nigerian Television Service, Lagos.

Having acquired experience at the public service, his entrepreneurial spirit propelled him into the business of transportation, petroleum products dealership and estate management and development,s among others.

Maina gets reprieve over arrest warrant by Senate From Lemmy Ughegbe, Abuja HE Federal High Court, Abuja Division yesterday quashed a warrant of arrest issued against the embattled Chairman of the disbanded Pension Reform Task force Team, Abdulrasheed Maina.

It also issued an order of perpetual injunction restraining the upper legislative house from taking any step towards arresting Maina.

Justice Adamu Bello, delivering a judgment in the enforcement of Fundamental Human Right suit instituted by Maina, premised his decision on the failure of the Senate to follow due process in issuing the warrant of arrest. The judge said the Senate failed to annex all necessary documents to aid the dismissal of Maina’s request before the court.

But he explained that his judgment did not mean the Senate did not have the powers to investigate or summon any person to give evidence regarding any subject matter under investigation.

He held that the said injunction was about the warrant of arrest being set aside.

Maina had taken the Senate as well as its President and Clerk before the court.

He joined the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service, Senate Committee on State and Local Government Administration and the Inspector General of Police.

Others are Alloysius Etuk, Chairman, Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service, and his Committee on State and Local Government Administration counterpart, Kabiru Gaya.

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Maina had asked the court to quash the purported report of the Senate Committees resolutions and declare the warrant issued as unconstitutional, null and void.

According to Justice Bello,”from the reliefs sought by the applicant, the application is challenging the powers of the Senate to issue a warrant of arrest, a careful perusal of Section 35(1) shows clearly the right of liberty guaranteed the applicant by the Constitution, but however the right is absolute.

“Going by this, the applicant is entitled to a fair hearing.

The issue now is to determine whether the applicant’s case falls on the exceptional clauses.

“Section 88(2) of the 1999 Constitution gives the National Assembly the power to invite or summon an individual for questioning in order to expose corruption, inefficiency among others.

“However the power of the Senate is subjected to the provision of Section 88 of the 1999 Constitution which highlighted the conditions to follow before an individual will be summoned.

“This power of the Senate should be free from abuse and the term of reference should be clear. Any invitation by the Senate outside the purpose highlighted in Section 88(2) is illegal and unconstitutional.

“The Senate ought not to have invited the applicant in the first place, a proper investigative committee must have been constituted in accordance with constitution.

“The power to call for investigation by the Senate under

Section 88(2) is predicated on a published resolution.

“The respondents have failed to produce or annex vital documents to their counter-affidavit, they only exhibited the warrant of arrest signed by the Senate President.

“The implication of not producing such vital documents means there is no evidence before me to show that investigation is going on the subject matter.

“The warrant of arrest was not validly issued, it is therefore set aside. Relief one is hereby granted, the respondents is perpetually restrained from arresting the applicant on account of the warrant arrest being set aside.

“I will only advise the applicant to submit himself to the Senate.”

Reacting to the judgement, Maina through his counsel, Mahmud Magaji (SAN), he maintained that the rule of law has prevailed.

He said: “We are not in any way challenging the powers of the Senate; neither are we encouraging anyone to be disrespectful to them. All we are saying is that, in the course of exercising their powers, the rule of law must be allowed to prevail.

“We are only saying that the right thing should be done rightly.”

Magaji denied that Maina ran out of the country to evade arrest, saying that he only went underground because of the threat to his life.

He added that he was ready to make the international passport of his client available with a view to proving that he never left the country.

Diamond Bank Plc’s application to own and operate a bank in that country.

In a statement, the bank’s Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Alex Otti, stated that the approval signals the conclusion of a process that started months ago.

He said: “We at Diamond Bank are delighted to secure the affirmation of the FSA for our bid to set up a UK subsidiary to enable us offer wholesale financial services, including facilitating international trade to new and existing clients. This approval also provides a unique opportunity for Diamond Bank to establish its presence in London, which is a hub for finance and banking activities in Europe.”

Following shareholders’ approval at the last Yearly General Meeting in May 2012, the CEO had hinted during the 2nd Quarter 2012 investors conference call in July 2012, that Diamond was determined to leverage on its international banking licence with the acquisition of a niche bank in Europe.

Having realised this goal, Otti stated that “this acquisition is another milestone in our drive to become the leading financial institution in Nigeria. We welcome members of staff and customers of the new acquisition into the Diamond fold with our promise of unparalleled customer experience which has become our practice across our locations nationwide and the West African coast.”

NAF probing PHCN’s alleged brutality, alleges blackmail From Madu Onuorah, Abuja HE Nigerian Air Force (NAF) T yesterday said it was “duly investigating” reports of alleged brutality and physical torture of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) workers at the Ibadan Zone by its personnel and would sanction anyone found to fall short of expected standards.

NAF Spokesman, Air Commodore Yusuf Anas, said the report of the alleged brutalisation, which has resulted in threats to shut down electricity supply in the South- West and across the country by April 2, was misplaced and aimed at causing unnecessary sufferings to Nigerians.

According to him, “negative individuals or groups” working with PHCN in Ibadan zonal office, who have an axe to grind with the revitalisation of the power sector through independent power projects in the area, are using the media to disrupt the ongoing Federal Government programme.

Anas said: “It is also curious to note that despite the gravity of the allegation, nobody from the entire PHCN officials could produce anybody who received bodily injuries from NAF personnel in the area, especially in this era of citizen journalism and social media.

“While we uphold the right of the aggrieved to seek redress, we are however compelled to state that the issue had earlier been reported to the authorities of NAF and investigation going on to get to the root of the matter.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

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News Minister redeploys top FCT chiefs for better service delivery • Tangaza now AGIS director From Terhemba Daka, Abuja O boost efficiency in servT ice delivery to residents of the Federal Capital Territory, the Minister, Bala Mohammed, yesterday approved the redeployment of some top officers to commence what he called “repositioning drive” for the FCT administration.

According to the minister, in a statement, the personnel redeployment is aimed at placing officers in positions where their optimum contribution would impact positively on the overall performance of the FCT administration.

Consequently, the first phase of staff movement involves the posting of a seasoned broadcaster, Hajiya Jamilah Tangaza, formerly Senior Special Assistant to the Minister on Information Management Systems, to head the Abuja Geographic Information Services (AGIS).

Other officers affected by the redeployments are Dr. Isa Jalo, former director of AGIS, now director, FCT Archives and History Bureau, while Mr. Charles Irodi Nnodim of FCT Archives and History Bureau is to take over in Health and Human Services Secretariat as director of Admin and Finance.

The minister, in the statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Muhammad Hazat Sule, also approved the appointment of Mrs. Aishatu Adebayo as the Acting Director of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB). Until her new appointment, Adebayo was a deputy director in AEPB. Mohammed has therefore directed that the processes of handing over or taking over of this first phase of redeployments of management staff be concluded not

later than today, March 28, 2013.

The minister instructed that effective from April 1, 2013, the three-month preretirement leave be complied and enforced in the services of the FCT Administration.

He assured Nigerians that his administration is poised to translate the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan to all strata of people who are resident in the Federal Capital Territory.

Chief Executive Officer, Enhancing Financing Innovation Access (EFina), Modupe Ladipo (left); Chairman, EFina, Olayemi Cardozo; Founding Director, PEP Intermedius of Kenya, Frederick Eijkman and Director, Banking Payment Services, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dipo Fatokun, at the EFina forum with the theme: Deeping financial inclusion through agent banking held in Lagos …yesterday.

PHOTO: SUNDAY AKINLOLU

Reps reject N5.6b contract for protection of oil pipelines From Terhemba Daka, Abuja

• IPMAN lauds NNPC, PPMC

HE House of Representatives has faulted the Federal Government’s decision to embark on an annual spending of N5.6 billion on contracts for protection of oil pipelines by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Consequently, the House, which adjourned plenary session for the Easter break yesterday, mandated its committees on Interior, National Security and Intelligence, and Petroleum Resources (Upstream) to investigate the Oil Pipeline Protection Contract which it described as a violation of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Act of 2007.

The panel is expected to submit its report to the parliament within four weeks.

The resolution came following the adoption of a motion titled “Violation of the provisions of the NSCDC Act, 2003 (as amended) and the nonutilisation of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps for their statutory assignment,” introduced by Robinson Uwak.

Specifically, Uwak had

observed that despite the provisions of the NSCDC Act on the protection of pipelines, the Federal Government, through the NNPC still embarked on spending the colossal amount, which according to him, violated the NSCDC Act. He said the Act explicitly gave the NSCDC in Section 3 (1) (e) the powers to protect pipelines all over the country; arrest, detain, investigate and prosecute any person suspected to be involved in the act of pipeline vandalism.

“This breach of the NSCDC Act by the Federal Government through the NNPC also violates the objectives of the intendment of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to minimise waste.

“The huge sums of money spent in servicing pipeline contract could be invested in funding the NSCDC to enable the Corps carry out its statutory function rather than giving it to a private firm in violation of the law and a condition that could compromise the national security,” he submitted.

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The lawmaker further argued that the mobilisation of the officers of the NSCDC to locations and operations not covered by the Corps’ Act, 2007 and the constitution of the International Civil Defence Organisation of which Nigeria is a member, as it denigrates the Corps and officers, violates the Act and reduces the number of officers available to carry out their statutory duties.

However, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, (Western Zone) has commended the NNPC and its downstream and marketing subsidiary, the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) for the comprehensive rehabilitation of pipelines and depots under the System 2B Pipeline which services the Southwest geo-political zone of the country and the Ilorin axis.

The Acting Group General Manager Group Public Affairs of the Division of NNPC, Tumini Green, who disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists stated that IPMAN’s appreciation was conveyed to the Corporation in a letter

jointly signed by its Western Zonal Chairman, Olumide Ogunmade, Western Zonal Secretary, Dr. A. O. Idowu and the chairmen of Mosimi, Ibadan, Ore, Satellite and Ilorin Depots.

She quoted IPMAN to have stated: “We have noticed the gradual restoration and reactivation of almost all the depots under System 2B and the renewal of the facilities at Mosimi Depot which is central to the activities of depots under System 2B. We have also been informed of the extensive rehabilitation and expansion of the Atlas Cove Jetty and wish to congratulate you on all these efforts.

“We have also noticed the determination of PPMC/NNPC to tackle the ugly problem of pipeline vandalism along System 2B. The effort of the Corporation to tackle vandals at the black spots in Arepo and other areas is beginning to yield positive results.”

The independent marketers also pledged their loyalty and support to the corporation in ensuring a hitch-free supply of petroleum products in the Western Zone in particular and across the country in gen-

Tukur laments blood shedding, craves foreign intervention From Azimazi Momoh Jimoh (Abuja) Emmanuel Ande (Yola) and Njadvara Musa ATIONAL Chairman of the N ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, on Tuesday night lamented the level of blood shedding in the country and declared that Nigeria is under severe attack by those he described as evil men working for their selfish interest.

Tukur, who spoke in Ganye during his condolence visit to Ganwari Ganye, Alhaji Umaru Adamu Sanda, to commiserate with him on the last weekend massacre of 25 people in the area by gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect, said the attack was a confirmation that Nige-

• JTF kills four insurgents in Yobe ria is under attack.

“Our nation is under attack, it is no longer the issue of PDP, ACN, or CPC, all Nigerians are involved, all of us should come together and face these challenges. It is happening in Abuja, Adamawa, Kano and Lagos, nowhere is now safe for us”, he said.

Tukur, who appealed to other countries that are friends of Nigeria to extend their hands of friendship and assist Nigeria tackle insecurity which he noted is threatening the unity of the country, pointed out that it is the responsibility of all Nigerians to put their political differences aside and confront the challenge.

“It is for all Nigerians and all

Nigeria’s friends to come together and proffer lasting solutions, and confront these evil acts being perpetrated by people who are out to cause trouble in the country.”

The PDP national chairman, who claimed that the current administration is confronting insecurity with all seriousness, appealed to the media to help the government educate Nigerians on the danger the crisis would cause the nation if they fail to cooperate with government to find a lasting solution to the crisis.

Tukur further appealed to all Nigerians to “refocus their ideas on the crisis” and not to blame it on a particular section of the country or religion,

saying everybody should participate by coming out with unadulterated ideas on how to tackle the senseless killing of innocent Nigerians.

Meanwhile, some gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram sect members have ambushed a military post of the Joint Task Force (JTF) with Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and petrol-bombs at Geidam, leading to exchange of gunfire that lasted for an hour at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

According to a resident, the shooting spread to Hausari and Bulabulin wards of the towns, forcing many people to scamper for safety by shutting off their houses and shops till the early hours of yesterday.

Geidam is a border town with

Niger Republic and the homestead of Governor Ibrahim Gaidam, 180 kilometres north of Damaturu, the state capital.

The JTF spokesman, Lt. Lazarus Eli, in a statement yesterday said the gunmen were repelled, with four of them killed while many arms and ammunition were recovered.

“The attack was repelled by the JTF troops. Four of the gunmen lost their lives in the duel, while three AK 47 rifles, five rifle magazines and 72 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition were recovered.”

Lazarus assured all law-abiding and peace-loving people of the state of JTF’s unflinching commitments to full restoration of peace and security in the state.

Kwara relaxes curfew on Offa, Erin-Ile From Abiodun Fagbemi, Ilorin HE Kwara State government T has relaxed the nine-hour curfew imposed on Offa and Erin-Ile communities to between 11p.m. and 6 a.m. to allow for the celebration of Easter festivities.

Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Isiaka Gold, who announced this in a statement yesterday, said Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed gave the directive following an inspection of ongoing projects in Offa and Oyun local councils.

Gold said the relaxation of the curfew was also sequel to a review of the situation in Offa and Erin -Ile by the security agencies.

He called on residents of ErinIle and Offa to continue to comply with the curfew and maintain the peace in the interest of development in both communities.

He charged the Olofa of Offa and the Elerin of Erin-Ile to ensure continuous peaceful co existence by impressing on their subjects the need for harmonious relationship between both towns.

‘EFCC can’t give information on seized Cecilia Ibru’s property’ From Abosede Musari, Abuja HE Economic and Financial T Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday said it cannot release information on the forfeited properties of the former managing director of the defunct Oceanic Bank, Mrs. Cecilia Ibru.

A statement from the commission claimed that by order of the court, the custody of the said properties has been passed to Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and that the Commission cannot provide any information since it does not control the properties.

“The attention of the EFCC has been drawn to media reports, alleging that the Commission failed to comply with an order by court to disclose the extent of assets recovered from Cecilia Ibru, former managing director of Oceanic Bank Plc.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

6 | NEWS

S’Arabia may bar hajj pilgrims over new rules From Mohammed Abubakar, Abuja EGINNING from next year, B any country, whose citizens perform the yearly Moslem pilgrimage, would not be granted entry visa into Saudi Arabia if its registration process is not computerised.

As a consequence, before visa is processed for pilgrimages, whether hajj or Umrah, all the services must have been identified and paid for so that the information on a particular pilgrim would have been known at the point of entry, and all the payments that need to be made must have been fully done for before the visa is stamped.

Executive Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Alhaji Musa Bello, who stated these at the opening of a two-day stakeholders’ meeting between the commission and states’ chairmen and secretaries of Pilgrims’ Welfare Boards drawn from across the country yesterday, said the decision was part of the resolutions arrived at during the recent signing of memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Saudi Arabia recently.

He disclosed that while the Saudi authorities might enforce the new visa regime this year, they have made it clear to all the participants at the MoU signing ceremony that beginning from next year, any country that does not comply with the new rule would certainly not be part of those to participate in the holy pilgrimages.

“This places a lot of burden on us as leaders of the Pilgrims’ Welfare Boards from our various states to ensure that we are fully compliant with the new regime, by telling our respective state governments on the need to change our patterns of operations.”

Besides, the NAHCON leader cited inadequate knowledge

about hajj details, especially Saudi Arabian laws, as responsible for why Nigerian pilgrims run into trouble during hajj operations.

Yesterday’s meeting, according to him, a follow-up to the hajj post-mortem conference of the 2012 operation, which took place last month, was part of the early preparation for the 2013 hajj operations, as

it would give all the stakeholders the opportunity to take stock of the challenges experienced during the 2012 hajj exercise and come out with possible solutions to them.

He has, therefore, tasked states’ pilgrims welfare operators to intensify pilgrims’ education and orientation, not only on hajj rites but also ex-

tend the enlightenment on how pilgrims should behave to avoid running foul of the laws of their host country.

He also admonished officials of States’ Pilgrims’ Welfare Boards on the need to be equitable, fair and just in the allocation of seats to intending pilgrims by following strictly the 80:20 ratio for first timers and repeated hajj goers.

“While it is gratifying that we have in recent times been able to surmount some of the issues that had hindered the smooth operations of the conduct of hajj in the past, it is important that we continue to work on some of the minutest details that, even though not seemingly important, have continued to draw us backwards with a view to once and

ASUP issues ultimatum over pact with govt From Isa Abdulsalami, Jos OR the umpteenth time, the FPolytechnics Academic Staff Union of (ASUP) has issued a 21-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to address the issues raised by the union, including the continued delay in the re-negotiation of FGN/ASUP agreement, or have all the polytechnics nationwide shut down indefinitely.

The union also decried the delay in the review of the Polytechnic Act and the non-release of government white paper on the visitation panel to the polytechnics.

This was contained in a communiqué issued yesterday at the end of the 73rd National Executive Council (NEC) meeting and signed by the union’s National Publicity Secretary, Clement Chirman.

According to the statement, ASUP also faulted the non-implementation of the 65 years’ retirement age in some polytechnics and monotechnics, adding that the implementation of the reviewed Scheme of Service and CONTISS 15 as it affects the lower cadre were among the demands of the union.

AP chieftain escapes assassination From Iyabo Lawal, Ibadan Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State (middle), Chairman of the state Sports Commission, Mr. Pinnic Amaju and Mrs. Mary Onyali-Omagbemi, during the inspection of the Warri City Stadium and facilities put in place for the First African Youth Championship (AYAC) in Warri…yesterday PHOTO: HENRY UNINI

Court sets aside earlier ruling on ownership of Daily Times

By Joseph Onyekwere HE Lagos Division of the T Court of Appeal yesterday set aside an earlier ruling by Federal High Court on the ownership of Daily Times of Nigeria (DTN) and ordered a retrial in the case.

The appellate court, presided over by Justice Amina Adamu Augie, while delivering judgment in the appeal filed by

Folio Communications Limited and four others to challenge the nullification of their acquisition of the majority shares of DTN by Justice Okechukwu Okeke of a Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos in 2010, ordered that the matter be taken back to the Federal High Court and be re-assigned to another judge to start afresh.

On the issue of jurisdiction raised by the appellants, Justice Augie held that the lower court erred in not considering the issue before delivering its judgment.

According to the judge: “Having not considered the issue of jurisdiction raised by the appellant, every decision taken by the lower court is accordingly declared a nullity”.

The lower court in its judgment had declared that Folio Communications Limited, which is owned by Fidelis Anosike, did not pay for the majority shares of DTN and that it was unlawful for the company to still parade itself as a shareholder of DTN. Justice Okeke accordingly held that the acquisition was null, void and of no effect whatsoever.

The lower court judge had also reverted the shares acquired by Folio Communications Limited to DTN. The plaintiff, in an affidavit in support of the suit deposed to by one Chinedu Oranuba, had argued that the Federal Government, represented by NICON Insurance, held 96.05 per cent of DTN shares and that pursuant to the privatisation programme of the government, bids were invited from prospective investors.

Anosike had also argued that Folio Communications Limited later emerged the preferred bidder for the Federal Government shares in DTN, but because Folio Communications was not able to make immediate payment

for the shares, it resorted to borrowing the sum of N750 million for the purchase of DTN. The petitioner had explained that immediately the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) handed over the business and undertakings of DTN to Folio Communications, Anosike and his brothers, Charles and Noel, pounced on the assets of DTN to the detriment of other shareholders of the newspaper house.

But not satisfied with the judgment of the lower court, the appellants approached the appellate court praying the upper court to set aside the judgment, contending that the said judgment was delivered without hearing the issue of jurisdiction raised by the appellant.

They had also prayed for an order of the upper court remitting the case to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for re-assignment to another judge to hear the issue of locus standi of the petitioner; DSV Limited, promoted by Obiora Ikechukwu.

Aside this, the Anosike Brothers had contended that the trial judge erred in law when he dismissed their application for leave to raise the issue of jurisdiction, which challenged the locus standi of DSV Limited before the delivery of the judgment.

The appellants had also insisted that the trial judge erred in law when he held that Folio Communications Limited did not pay for the 140,252, 900 shares allotted to it.

But ruling on the appeal filed by the Anosikes, Justice Amina Augie, who read the judgment on behalf of other judges, frowned at the fact that the lower court refused to allow the appellants raise objection on the question of locus standi, which she said, was a fundamental error on the side of Federal High Court.

According to Justice Augie, it

was trite that no matter the pressure, the court should have listened to the objection; ruled on it before moving forward knowing that its outcome was of serious importance to the entire matter.

The Anosike Brothers had filed three appeals consolidated and numbered as 298, 298(a) and 298(b). While 298 deals with the Ruling on Course of Action, 298(a) predicated on the ruling on the application of the appellant to raise objection on locus standi while 298(b) bothers on the judgment proper.

Having considered appeal 298(a) on the issue of locus standi, Justice Augie said there was no need any longer to waste time considering the other grounds of appeal since its success had nullified the other grounds on which the ruling was made.

This, she said, was because the error committed by the Federal High Court in not allowing appellants raise the objection was fundamental and, therefore, had grievous consequences on the entire ruling.

The Court of Appeal, therefore, set aside the earlier judgment, ordering that the case be reverted to the Federal High Court with another judge to be assigned to it.

The Anosike Brothers, through their company, Folio Communications Limited, bought 96.5 per cent of Daily Times in the privatisation of the company carried out by the Federal Government under former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

They made complete payment of N1.2 billion and ownership of Daily Times was transferred to them by the Bureau of Public Enterprises but in a twist of fate, Ikechukwu, through DSV Limited, had gone to court claiming ownership of Daily Times as a result of debt dispute between the parties.

CHIEFTAIN of the Accord A Party in Oyo State, Ayodele Adigun, on Tuesday night survived an assassination attempt on his life by unknown assailants.

However, his night guard identified simply as Pa Olapade, an ex-service man, was not that lucky as the assailants killed him. His corpse has been deposited at the Adeoyo Maternity Hospital, Yemetu, Ibadan.

Adigun, a former Secretary to the State Government (SSG) in the administration of Senator Rashidi Ladoja, was away in Ekiti State to open an office for the Accord Party, when the hoodlums struck.

The corpse of the night guard was discovered yesterday morning by the day guard, Wasiu Adeniran, when he came to resume his daily shift at the Akobo GRA residence of Adigun in Ibadan.

Judge warns counsel in Agbaso’s case over conduct From Charles Ogugbuaja, Owerri USTICE Florence DuruohaJyesterday Igwe of Owerri High Court warned the two counsel involved in the ongoing impeachment case of Imo State Deputy Governor, Jude Agbaso, not to intimidate her, pledging to ensure that justice prevailed at the end of the matter.

Not happy with the manner the arguments adduced by the counsel were going, DuruohaIgwe said she was not afraid of losing her job in the course.

Meanwhile, Duruoha-Igwe has fixed for Thursday, March 28, ruling on the issue of jurisdiction of the court to entertain the case.

She said: “I can not be intimidated. Even if I lose my job, I will carry out my duties without fear or favour”.

Counsel to the Imo State House of Assembly, Niyi Akintola (SAN), argued that the court has no jurisdiction to hear the case of stopping impeachment process against Agbaso, while the applicant’s counsel, Patrick Ikwueto (SAN), insisted that the on-going impeachment process on Agbaso was an infringement on the fundamental human right of his client.

News 7

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

Orubebe visits Amaechi, seeks support From Ann Godwin, Port Harcourt INISTER of Niger Delta AfM fairs, Godsday Orubebe has sought the co-operation of Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi in the development of the Niger Delta region.

Orubebe made the request yesterday when he led top government officials of the Niger Delta Ministry on a courtesy visit to the governor at the Government House, Port Harcourt.

He said over 80 per cent of the nation’s resources came from the Niger Delta, and that there was need to fast track development to improve the standard of living of the people of the area.

He, therefore, called on Amaechi to join hands with him and other governors in the region as well as the private sector to effect the desire development.

‘Aregbesola, a servant leader’ LAGOS lawyer, Yinka MuyiA wa has described Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola as servant oriented leader of his people, saying that his people oriented policies had endeared him into the mind of the people of the State.

Speaking yesterday at a public presentation of a volunteer group in the state, “De Raufs” with a theme: “Servant Leadership Model-Best Practice for Sustainable Democracy, held at, Osogbo, Muyiwa maintained that the variables of a servant leader were humility, altruism, vision, trust, moral, authority and empowerment.

He added: “Servant leadership is all about the greater number of people to exercise the greatest good. The leader provides an environment for optimal conditions for the growth, development and self-improvement of every individual connected to the organisation or society.

U.S., Kanu, others laud Okei-Odumakin over award

By Tunde Akinola and Ibukunoluwa Kayode (Lagos) and John Okeke (Abuja) ORE accolades have continued to come for one of the recipients of this year’s International Women of Courage Award, Dr. Joe OkeiOdumakin, as the United States Mission in Nigeria, prominent leaders and activists have hailed her for the honour.

Speaking at a roundtable organised by the Public Affairs Section of the United States (U.S.) Consulate General in Lagos yesterday, its Public Affairs Officer, Mrs. Dehab Ghebreab said the award was given to Okei-Odumakin due to her consistency in the struggle to liberate people locally and internationally over the past 25 years.

Others who hailed her for the award include Political/Economic Chief, United States Consulate General in Lagos, Rolf Olson, former Lagos State Military Governor and Chairman, National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), Rear Admiral Ndubisi Kanu, ex-Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mrs. Priscilla Kuye, gubernatorial candidate in Lagos State in the 2011election, Jimi Agbaje and the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) Gani Adams.

M

Okwu faults INEC, insists on planned APGA convention From Adamu Abuh, Abuja NTERIM National Chairman IAlliance of the All Progressive Grand (APGA), Mr. Maxi Okwu yesterday said there was no going back on the resolve to convene the national convention of the party.

Speaking to reporters yesterday in Abuja, he said that only a court of competent jurisdiction could stop the party from going ahead with the planned national convention slated for April 8, 2013.

He said a directive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in a correspondence dated March 1, 2013 stating that only the National Chairman of APGA can convene the convention of the party could no longer stand.

Arguing that the APGA’s constitution vests the powers to convene a national convention on the National Executive Committee (NEC), he said: “Contrary to the position of INEC, the power to convene a national convention is vested on the NEC. See Article 22(1) of the constitution of APGA duly filed with INEC. “It was on the strength of this that on March 11, 2013, a notice of convention slated for April 8, 2013, pursuant to Section 85 of the Electoral Act 2011 (as amended), was duly served

on INEC. The resolution to issue this notice was made at an emergency meeting of the rump NEC of the party at a meeting on 8th March 2013 at Awka. See Article 22(2)c of the APGA Constitution.

“This is the position. We are satisfied that the convention of April 8, 2013 of our great party to elect a brand new NEC would hold. Only a court order can stop it now, and as we speak there is no such court order. We would advise the opposition to retrace

It was on the strength of this that on March 11, 2013, a notice of convention slated for April 8, 2013, pursuant to Section 85 of the Electoral Act 2011 (as amended), was duly served on INEC. their steps and join the new movement in the party. No amount of spin or subterfuge can stop this moving train.

Get on board or get out of the way.”

He also faulted the constitution of a special panel of the Court of Appeal in Enugu to

hear the appeal filed by the sacked chairman of the party, Chief Victor Umeh, adding that it was part of a grand plot to stop the conduct of the convention.

According to him: “On Monday March 25, 2013, the matter of the appeal lodged by the

Chime asks MDAs not to reject corps members From Lawrence Njoku, Enugu

Oshiomhole urges patriotism

OVERNOR Sullivan Chime G of Enugu State has directed government Ministries,

Represented by his Deputy, Sunday Onyebuchi at the closing ceremony of the 2013 orientation exercise for the NYSC Batch A, Chime commended the corps members for maintaining high level discipline throughout their orientation course, urging them to maintain same in their places of primary assignments.

Chime enjoined the corps members to regard places of their primary assignment as their homes with a view to improving the lives of the people through their activities.

Chairman, NYSC Governing Board, Enugu State and the

Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the state not to reject corps members posted to them for primary assignments.

He said that this was to fulfill government’s policy on the acceptance of corps aimed at ensuring that the objective of the scheme was realised.

Meanwhile, Governor Adams Oshiomhole has urged youth corps members to see themselves as part of the nation’s security agents to help the country overcome insecurity.

State Commissioner for Youth and Sports represented by a Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr. Joseph Omeh, asked the corps members to strive to make their contributions towards the realisation of the objectives of the NYSC Scheme.

He reminded them that their predecessors in the state had left behind laudable legacies, which must be sustained and improved upon.

Speaking Tuesday at the closing ceremony of the 2013 Batch A Corps members at Okada, Oshiomhole said the youth corps members

Ondo govt, opposition trade words over workers’ sack From Niyi Bello, Akure LAIMING irregularities in C their appointments and outright inclusion of fictitious names on the payroll, Ondo State government has sacked about 6,000 workers describing them as “ghosts”.

The sacking of the workers, who were said to be on the payroll of the state’s 18 local councils, was sequel to the report of a staff audit committee set up by the government.

Meanwhile, the opposition People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate in the last governorship election, Chief Olusola Oke, has condemned the sack of over 17, 000 local government workers.

He said the retrenchment of 709 in Ilaje, 800 in Odigbo, 550 in Akoko South West local governments among others came on the heels of the sack of 96 at the state university and 43 of the polytechnic.

However, Governor Olusegun Mimiko has been commended for implementing power and industrialisation policies that were described as steps in the right direction.

Specifically, his government’s independent power partnership initiative and resolve to industrialise the state and turn Ore to a commercial hub were commended.

An organisation, Ondo Professionals Group (OPG), made the commendation, describing Dr. Mimiko as a visionary leader with a sincere desire for the growth of the state and the nation.

In a statement, the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Rotimi Adelola, said the sack of the ghost workers followed the discovery of monumental fraud in phantom and unauthorised recruitment carried out at the councils of unqualified workers or non-existing individuals whose names are being used to deduct salaries from the local government’s accounts monthly.

The statement said a probe committee observed that the

Professionals laud Mimiko difference in nominal roles of the councils between December 2008 and December 2012 was over 10,000 workers claimed to have been employed.

Also, more than 6,000 junior workers and about 4,000 senior ones were recruited within the same period without following due process.

“Before any recruitment could be done at the local government level, the express approval of the state governor should be sought and the local government chairmen should consider if they have the fund to pay the wages of such new recruits,” he said.

The statement added that in the last two and half years, the government has been augmenting the salaries of local government workers with between N400 and N500 million monthly, lamenting that the development made it possible for a few to line their pockets with money which could have been used to add value to the lives of the people.

The government vowed that the fraudsters would be punished.

But Oke, a former PDP national legal adviser, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Kunle Adebayo, condemned Mimiko for “unleashing an unprecedented 7,000 per cent tax burden upon the

common man, artisans, roadside computer operators, corner shop traders, truck pushers, food vendors, photographers, barbers and newspaper vendors in the name of local revenue drive.”

He added: “It is also no longer news that both the sacked 17,000 local government workers and the state civil servants who were hoodwinked with improbable promises and used by the governor as evangelists of his second term bid are now gnashing their teeth and blaming themselves for being used and dumped while all the sweet promises put off like a cigarette in the rains.”

In a statement in Akure by its Publicity Secretary, Moyosore Abdul, an engineer, OPG said the delivery at the weekend of turbines for the state’s independent power project at Ore to industrialise the area would greatly transform Ondo’s fortunes, expose its potential and boost employment.

The “Ore Sunshine City” project is expected to latch on to the Omotosho Power Plant and is expected, at installation, to generate about 30 megawatts to the Odigbo/Ore axis, which according to the blueprint of the state for industrial growth, will be turned into a hub of productive activities.

Some captains of industry

such as Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Nigerian Breweries as well as other local and foreign investors have shown interest in the planned Ore Sunshine City.

erstwhile national chairman of our party, Chief Victor Umeh came up at the Enugu Division of the Court of Appeal. We were surprised to notice that a special panel of the Court of Appeal had been constituted and sent down to take the matter.

“This was totally strange as we could not see what was so special about this case to warrant the composition of a special panel. Secondly it was done without notice to the respondent.

should have faith in the nation and refuse to be discouraged by the recent events in the country.

According to him, “at this point, far too many Nigerians are wondering if we have a country. Many have given up and it appears that criminals have taken over our land. I ask you to have faith and not to be discouraged by what is being done by some of our elders. You must refuse to be discouraged. There is no leadership anywhere in the world that has the capacity to provide what God has endowed Nigeria with.

“If we the elders have wasted our past, you must resolve that you will secure our future, if the present leadership does not know what to do, you must resolve to do the right thing. You must be interested in how our economy is managed. You must be interested in how we drive our politics. You must be soldiers of democracy. You must mobilise the people to interrogate those in power as the resources of the nation belongs to the people”, he

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

8 | NEWS

Ekiti road contractors get deadline From Muyiwa Adeyemi, Ado-Ekiti

OAD contractors in Ekiti State whose contracts were awarded during the Segun Oni-led administration but who are yet to complete the projects, now have 30 days to complete them or have their agreements revoked.

Governor Kayode Fayemi, who handed the affected contractors the 30-day ultimatum during a meeting he held with them in AdoEkiti on Tuesday, also gave an October deadline to contractors that were awarded contracts by the current administration.

Fayemi was apparently miffed at the slow pace of work on some of the projects and had called for the meeting to re-appraise the efforts of contractors handling the road projects.

While urging the contractors to buckle up and expedite work on the projects so as not to be hindered by the approaching rainy season, the governor stated that contractors had no excuses not to deliver at the scheduled time.

R

Why TB persists in Nigeria, by experts

By Joseph Okoghenun NADEQUATE and ineffective compliance to treatment have been identified as some of the major challenges facing Nigeria in checking the spread of tuberculosis (TB).

Experts stated this in Lagos yesterday during a breakfast meeting with artiste Bez Idakula organised by Friends of the Global Fund Africa (Friends Africa) - a health advocacy group - to commemorate World TB Week.

They added that to surmount the challenges facing the country in making TB a nonpublic health issue, all hands must be on deck.

Chief Executive Officer/Founder of Friends

I

Africa, Dr. Akudo AnyanwuIkemba, said although Nigeria had effective TB treatment system, the disease has become a public health issue in the country and in sub-Sahara Africa.

She listed drugs’ adulteration, patients’ preference for alternative or spiritual treatment and inaccessibility of treatment as some of the challenges confronting the country in the fight against the disease.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), Nigeria has moved from 4th to 10th position among 22 high-burden (HB) countries with TB in the world. Other HB countries on the list are Afghanistan,

Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia and Kenya.

Others include Mozambique, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, Uganda, Tanzania, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

WHO puts Nigeria’s TB mortality rate for 2011 at 17 per 100,000 population and prevalence rate at 171 per 100,000 population with HIV plus TB incidence rate placed at 30 per 100,000 population.

Anyanwu-Ikemba listed the symptoms of TB to include persistent cough with or without blood for at least two weeks; chest pain, sweating at night, fever, loss of appetite,

weight loss and weakness of the body.

She urged anyone with such symptoms to seek urgent medical help from the nearest hospital for diagnosis, as treatment for the bacterial has been made free, courtesy of donor agencies like The Global Fund.

Ikemba said any patient who failed to adhere to TB drugs’ regimen at least for six months would risk developing multi-drug resistant TB (MDRTB), which could take at least two years to treat.

He called on Nigerians to support The Global Funds in form of donation so that it will continue to ensure that patients enjoy free malaria,

UNTH resumes open-heart surgery From Lawrence Njoku, Enugu LMOST 10 years after it was suspended owing to the movement of the hospital to its permanent site, the open-heart surgery programme of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku Ozalla, Enugu State, has been resuscitated.

This is as the Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, who visited the hospital on Tuesday to personally witness an open liveheart surgery being performed at the hospital with a United States-based non-governmental organisation, the VOOM Foundation, restated the commitment of the Federal Government to restore UNTH as centre of excellence for open-heart surgeries in Nigeria.

He was full of delight to discover that four patients, who had already undergone heart surgeries at the newly refurbished heart centre of the hospital, were not only successful but also doing very well.

A

Lawyer wants judges to retire at 70 From Isa Abdulsalami, Jos GAIN, it has been advocated that the constitution be amended to allow High Court judges and those of Sharia and Customary Court of Appeal to retire on the attainment of 70 years.

A Jos-based constitutional lawyer, Mr. Gabriel Ofodile Okafor (SAN), stated this on Tuesday in Lafia, Nasarawa State, at a valedictory court session in honour of Justice Badamasi Maina, the chief judge of Nasarawa State, who was retiring after 35years of service.

Okafor said his submission was without prejudice to those who by reason of illhealth or declining productivity would wish to retire much earlier.

“But looking at our retiring Chief Judge (Justice Maina) and even Justice Ahmed Ubangari, who retired a few years ago, they could still put in a few years of good service.

Judges are like palm wine, the older, the better,” he stated.

A

Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko (middle); widow of Prophet Timothy Obadare, Elizabeth (right) and his eldest son, Paul (left), during Mimiko’s condolence visit to the Obadares in Akure

HIV and TB treatments.

Friends Africa Ambassador and Nigerian-born fast rising singer, Idakula, said TB is an airborne disease, which is highly contagious.

Babalakin gets court’s nod to travel abroad

By Bertram Nwannekanma, Yetunde Ayobami-Ojo and Joseph Onyekwere USTICE Adeniyi Onigbanjo of Jterday an Ikeja High Court, Lagos yesgranted the Chairman of Bi-Courtney Limited, Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN), permission to travel abroad for medical treatment.

This is the second time the judge is granting Babalakin leave to travel abroad for treatment since he was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged money laundering.

Specifically, Babalakin was arraigned alongside his companies, Stabilini Visioni Limited, Bi-Courtney Limited, Renix Nigeria Limited and Alex Okoh on a 27-court charge of criminal conspiracy and money laundering to the tune of N4.7 billion on behalf of the convicted former Delta State governor, James Ibori.

Justice Onigbanjo’s order permitting him to travel was based on Babalakin’s application seeking for further medical attention.

The judge, however, ordered that he must return to the country 72 hours before the next trial date.

Babalakin was also ordered to return his passport to the EFCC not more than 48 hours upon his return.

“I hereby order the EFCC to return the first respondent’s (Babalakin) passport to enable him attend to his health on the ground that he returns to the country for his trial, if the need arises and returns the passport to the EFCC 48 hours before the trial date,” the judge said.

Saraki urges Jonathan to sign agric law From Bridget Chiedu Onochie, Abuja HAIRMAN, Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology, Bukola Saraki, yesterday urged President Goodluck Jonathan to sign the Agricultural Biotechnology Bill into law in the interest of the nation.

Meanwhile, to help reduce unemployment, Saraki has asked unemployed graduates with first class honours in any

C

• To provide jobs for first-class graduates discipline to send copies of their Curriculum Vitae (CV), degree certificates and cover letters stating the duration of previous employments (if any) and how long they have been unemployed.

Speaking in Abuja, Saraki, representing Kwara-Central, stated that signing the bill, which had since been passed

by the two chambers of the National Assembly into law, would complement Federal Government’s effort at ensuring food security in the nation.

“It is imperative to sign the bill into law as it will compliment the Federal Government’s efforts towards ensuring food security in the

country. As a matter of fact, the benefits of signing the bill into law by Mr. President are numerous. These include regulating the safe application of biotechnology in Nigeria to harness benefits in fields of agriculture, environmental sustainability and industrial growth”, he said.

Saraki recalled that the passage of Agricultural Biotechnology (Biosafety Bill) by the

National Assembly was predicated on the emergence of biotechnology as a powerful tool that has contributed to increase in agricultural productivity in many countries.

“Since 1996, biotechnologydriven crops have been commercially planted and their adoption has increased steadily; over 8.5 million farmers in 21 countries now plant them.

PHCN workers appeal ejection order over forfeited Ibru’s property

By Joseph Onyekwere ISSATISFIED with the deciD sion of Justice Okechukwu Okeke of the Federal High Court in Lagos not to stop their ejection by the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), five staff of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) yesterday urged the Appeal Court to halt their ejection from the PHCN property forfeited to the Federal Government by former Managing Director of Oceanic Bank, Cecilia Ibru.

The workers, in a notice of appeal, faulted Justice Okeke for refusing to vacate his earlier order granting leave to AMCON to take over the property.

Ibru forfeited N191 billion worth of assets to the Federal Government through AMCON as part of the plea-

bargain arrangement between her and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

As a result, AMCON had on March 6, 2013, forcefully ejected the PHCN workers from the property, which is located at No. 5A George Street, Ikoyi, Lagos.

But the workers, through their counsel, Femi Falana (SAN), had urged Justice Okeke to vacate the order on the ground that it was obtained by AMCON through fraud and suppression of material fact.

Falana had also contended that the said property allegedly acquired by Ibru, was at all material time, the property of PHCN and so, Ibru had no right to forfeit same to the Federal Government.

The appellants are: Afolabi Dada, Charles Amadi, Lawan Muhammad, Comfort Odili-

Iwuafor and Anthony Abikoye.

However, Justice Okeke refused to vacate the order, saying it had already been executed and as such, he could not undo a completed act.

Falana in the notice of appeal insisted that Justice Okeke erred in law, because there were exhibits before him to show that the ejection order was obtained by fraud, as there were three pending suits on the subject matter.

He, therefore, urged the appellate court to stay further execution on the order and also restrain AMCON and Deputy Sheriff of the Federal High Court from demolishing the property.

Prior to the filing of the appeal, Falana had also filed a motion before the lower court seeking for leave to appeal against the ruling and

stay of execution.

Falana, while arguing the motion for vacation of the ejection order, told Justice Okeke that AMCON acted fraudulently when it obtained a court order, which granted it leave to seal off the plaintiffs’ premises.

He further argued that while ownership of the said property was still the subject of a pending litigation before the court involving AMCON, the respondent had gone behind closed doors to obtain an order to levy execution on the property.

He told the court that in 2010, when a forfeiture order was made by Justice Daniel Abutu to relinquish the said property to AMCON, the applicant filed a similar suit, seeking to set aside that forfeiture order.

Falana argued that despite AMCON’s knowledge of the

pending suit before the court, it still went ahead to obtain an order to seal off the premises.

He told the court that the act of the respondent was fraudulent and should be set aside.

Counsel to AMCON, Felix Azu (SAN), had, while responding to Falana’s argument, stressed that when the order for forfeiture was made, the applicants neither appealed the decision nor applied for a stay of execution of the order.

Azu said by their inaction, they had represented that they had no intention to challenge the order.

He said although the applicants had filed a suit to set aside the order made by Justice Abutu, the respondents were privy to that suit and did not appeal against the order of the court granted to them.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

9

WorldReport Russia angered by Arab League’s recognition of Syrian opposition USSIA has criticised the R Arab League’s decision to allow Syria’s main opposition coalition to take the country’s official seat at its summit.

In a statement, Moscow described the move as “yet another anti-Syrian” step and illegal under international law.

Russia’s statement followed similar disapproval from Iran, which said it was “dangerous behaviour”.

Meanwhile, President Bashar al-Assad called on the emerging “BRICS” nations to seek an end to the Syrian conflict.

In a letter to South African President Jacob Zuma released by Syrian state media on Wednesday, he said Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa should push for a political solution to the crisis.

On Tuesday, Ahmed Moaz alKhatib, of the Syrian National Coalition, said assuming the Arab League seat had “restored legitimacy”.

Mr al-Khatib, who has already said he wants to resign as head of the coalition, was applauded as he formally assumed the seat at the summit in Qatar.

Later, the Arab League authorised member states to give military support to Syrian rebel groups.

A resolution said the summit affirmed the “right of every state to offer all forms of selfdefence, including military, to support the resistance of

the Syrian people and the Free Syrian Army”.

The Arab League decision met with a strongly worded response from Russian foreign ministry spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich.

“We are talking about open encouragement of forces which, unfortunately, continue to bet on a military solution in Syria without taking a look at the pain and suffering of Syrians, which is growing

from day to day,” he said yesterday.

“In terms of international law, the decisions taken by the Arab League in respect of Syria are illegal and void because the government of the Syrian Arab Republic was and will remain the legitimate representative of the UN member state.”

Moscow’s disapproval was echoed in Tehran, where officials and Iranian media also

criticised the Arab League’s move.

“Assigning Syria’s seat to the Arab League to those who don’t have the backing of the people establishes a pattern of dangerous behaviour for the Arab world,” news agency Isna quoted deputy foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdullahian as saying.

“These actions will bring an end to the organisation’s role in the region,” he said.

prosecutor, Abdel Maguid Mahmoud, that was sacked

by President Mohammed Morsi in November.

The court also cancelled Mr. Morsi’s decision to appoint a new prosecutor general, Talat Ibrahim.

Morsi’s removal of Abdel Maguid Mahmoud angered senior judges, who saw it as an attack on their authority.

The sacking was one of his first moves after issuing a decree granting himself sweeping new powers.

The decree took away judicial powers to reverse decisions made by the president. But Morsi eventually retracted it after a rising tide of protest.

However, he kept in place his new appointment as prosecutor general.

The incumbent prosecutor, Mahmoud, had been appointed by ousted former President Hosni Mubarak.

In December, amid outrage over his appointment, Ibrahim made, and then retracted, an offer to resign.

Unless the appeal court verdict itself is overturned, Ibrahim will be compelled to resign and Mahmoud will be returned to his post.

NITED Nation Special U Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown, has condemned the shooting of a female teacher in Pakistan as a “Malala-style” incident.

Shahnaz Bibi was shot dead on Tuesday by two motorbike riders as she disembarked from a passenger van near the school where she taught in the Khyber tribal region.

The area is about about 4km (2.5 miles) from Peshawar.

The Taliban attempted to kill schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai in October.

The teenage campaigner for girls’ education survived being shot in the head by gunmen in Swat, a bullet was later removed from her skull by surgeons. The Taliban said they targeted her for “promoting secularism”.

Officials say that Ms Bibi was shot in the Shah Kas area of Khyber as she was travelling with her young son, who was unhurt.

In a statement Mr. Brown said that she fought for girls’ education in Pakistan and that he had written to President Zardari calling for heightened security measures to protect girls and teachers going to school.

The former British prime minister said that he “feared a wave of threats, intimidation, burnings and bullets” following the killing of the 41year-old teacher.

He has called for governments, teachers and parents around the world to condemn the attack.

“No one should be shot for wanting to go to school or wanting to teach girls,” the statement said.

North Korea severs strategic military hotline with South ORTH Korea yesterday scrapped the Korean War N said it was cutting a mili- armistice agreement.

While the situation is curtary hotline with South Korea, amid high tension on the peninsula.

The hotline is used to facilitate the travel of South Korean workers to a joint industrial complex in Kaesong.

Pyongyang has been angered by fresh United Nations sanctions following its February 12 nuclear test and US-South Korea military drills.

In recent weeks its habitually fiery rhetoric has escalated, with multiple warnings issued.

On Tuesday, it said it had ordered artillery and rocket units into “combat posture” to prepare to target US bases in Hawaii, Guam and the US mainland.

It has also threatened a “preemptive” nuclear strike against the US in recent days and told the South it has

Egypt court overturns sack of top prosecutor

by Morsi N Egypt appeal court has A ordered the reinstatement of the country’s top

UN envoy, Brown, condemns murder of Pakistani school teacher

Al-Khatib

African-led support mission in Mali may take off in July From Oghogho Obayuwana

would still take a little before the restoraItionTwhile mission in Mali becomes a full-fledged African affair as envisaged by global conflict resolution experts.

The reinvigorating of the African-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA) is now expected to take off effectively in July this year. And this is still tentative.

Going by the recommendations of the Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff (CCDS) of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which ended their extraordinary meeting in Yamoussoukro, Cote d’Ivoire yesterday, the African force troops strength would now be 11,200 (military) and 1,440 police officers.

Although the ECOWAS chiefs are yet to give a country-bycountry breakdown of personnel contribution in their summary notes made available to The Guardian yesterday, they maintained that “a robust assignment” is envisaged in the desire by the

United Nations and the African Union to “rid Mali of terrorism and criminal insurgency and also to restore the country’s territorial integrity with support for the national armed forces” But what is most desirable now, according to the regional military top brass is “effective cooperation and coordination to ensure a seamless transformation of the AFISMA into a United Nations field operation” The two-day meeting, which also discussed modalities for the transformation of the mission further recommended that in the days ahead, “regional cooperation should be strengthened in the area of intelligence and information sharing, while troops-contributing countries should equip their staff as planned and continue their deployment.”

The AFISMA mission, comprising troops from ECOWAS member states and Chad, is expected to be strengthened under a “force generation plan” also discussed at the

Yamoussoukro meeting.

The Yamoussoukro meeting, a follow-up to the 14 to 16 March 2013 meeting between AFISMA Headquarters and a UN technical team in Bamako, Mali, was briefed by the AFISMA Force Commander Major General Shehu Abdoulkadir, the Commander of the French SERVAL operation in Mali, Gen. Gregoire De Saint Quentin and the Commander of the ECOWAS Mission in Guinea-Bissau, Col. Gnibanga Barro.

The UN military adviser on peace keeping Lt. Gen. Babacar Gaye also made a presentation on the standard requirements for UN operations, while another UN official, Mrs. Kathryn Jones, discussed the UN policy on human rights protection, highlighting the UN policy against forces that violate human rights.

On Guinea-Bissau, the regional chiefs of defence staff called for the integration of civilian and military actions in the ECOWAS Mission in Bissau (ECOMIB),

an urgent inspection of troops and materials on ground, while the regional group fulfills its commitments to troop-contributing countries.

The meeting also recommended that an ECOWAS technical team should visit Guinea Bissau for a technical assessment for the deployment of the naval component of the mission.

Speaking through the Chief of Staff of ECOWAS Standby Force, Gen. Hassan Lai, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Mrs. Salamatu Hussaini Suleiman commended France, the United States, the European Union, the African Union and the UN for their understanding and continued support towards the resolution of the security situation in Mali.

Also in attendance at the extraordinary meeting, were the Chadian Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Brahim Sehid Mahamat as well as the ECOWAS Special Representative in Mali Aboudou Cheaka Toure.

rently unpredictable, some analysts believe Pyongyang may be trying to force the U.S. and others into negotiations, with all-out war unlikely.

U.S. Pentagon spokesman, George Little said on Tuesday that North Korea’s threats “followed a pattern designed to raise tensions” and that North Korea would “achieve nothing by these threats”.

North Korea has already cut both a Red Cross hotline and another used to communicate with the UN Command at Panmunjom in the Demilitarised Zone that divides the two Koreas.

“Under the situation where a war may break out any moment, there is no need to keep up North-South military communications,” a senior North Korean military official was quoted by KCNA news agency as telling the South before the line was severed.

Until now, operations at the joint complex have been normal despite the rise in tensions.

South Korea’s Ministry of Unification confirmed that the North was no longer answering calls to the hotline, reports Yonhap news agency.

When the North also previously cut the military hotline in 2009, operations at the joint complex continued because other channels of communication were used, Yonhap added.

An inter-Korean air-traffic hotline still exists between the two sides, according to reports.

The move came as South Korean President Park Geunhye set out policies towards the North “designed to establish peace and a foundation for reunification by building and restoring trust”.

“Without rushing and in the same way that we would lay one brick after another, based on trust, (we) will have to develop South-North relations step by step and create sustainable peace,” Yonhap news agency quoted her as saying.

10

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

Politics When national discourse on corruption turned political From John Ogiji, Minna HE one-day seminar on national discourse on T corruption, organised by the Niger State government, couldn’t have come at a better time, especially in view of the devastating effect of corruption on the national economy in the last five decades.

According to the United Nations office on drug and crime, not less than $400 billion was stolen from the Nigerian Treasury between 1960 and 1999.

As a result of this, the Global Financial Integrity ranks the country No.7 among the top 20 countries with the highest illicit financial out flows between 2001 and 2010 with the total illicit financial out flow from Nigeria put at $129 billion.

The theme of the seminar was, Confronting Trends of Discipline, Corruption and Disregard for Rules and Regulation in Nigeria. But rather than focusing on this subject, the event turned out to be a political discourse. Politicians and human rights activists hijacked the occasion, to voice their frustration on the 14-year reign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the President Goodluck Jonathan two and half years administration.

The chief host and Niger State governor, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu, could not help the situation either, as he deviated from the main subject of discussion for the day to reaffirm his disclosure that President Jonathan signed an agreement with the PDP northern governors to serve only one term in office.

According to the governor, “we must look at it that we have problems that we must confront.

We have issues that we must correct and that the promise or an understanding or an agreement made in secret has the same moral strength as the one made in public.

“I said what I knew and somebody said that is political illiteracy and I said if to be truthful is to be illiterate, I remain so; I stand by my words.”

The first to speak among the politicians was the former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mallam Hakeem Baba Ahmed, who took a swipe at the PDP. He said that the 14-year rule of the party had reduced the country to a beggar nation and therefore, urged Nigerians to unite and force the party out of power come 2015.

Ahmed alleged that PDP had rigged every election in the country since 1999, and that Nigerians would not fold their hands and allow the party to rig itself into power in 2015.

He predicted that the party was heading for the rocks with emergence of the APC and urged the (PDP) governors and those who do not want to crash in 2015 to disembark and join the “moving train.”

But Ahmed’s remarks did not go down well with Governor Aliyu, who is among those accused of rigging elections, because as a member of the PDP, he (Aliyu) has contested election twice and won.

The governor said that he was not surprised why people called the party all manner of names. “Having been in power since 1999, it is obvious that people will naturally find fault with it.”

But asked if anyone could show him a party that could have done better than what PDP is being accused of doing today.

According to governor Aliyu, “If you said you are not controlling the centre, what of the party that are controlling the state? From what they are doing at the state level, could they have done better or anything different if they are running the centre?

“Show me any party, who, by the ideal of electing the national chairman or board of trustees chairman, that has done any better than what the PDP has done. So, the problem is either this party or that party; the problems are with us as Nigerians and we must dissect them.”

While saying that he has taken the criticism of the party in good faith, Aliyu pointed out that he did not see Baba Ahmed’s comments and other comments on PDP as a condemnation of the party.

“I see it as saying to someone, who is holding something and they are telling you, ‘make it bet-

Minister of National Planning Commission, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman (left), Governor of Niger State, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and former Minister of External Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, at the workshop. ter or it will fall down.’ Somebody is talking of intrigues and confusions in the party, point- Akinyemi said the way out of corruption in the about PDP or talking about negative things; we ing out that it was a case of “once, I was blind but country is to have a 25-year development plan, must look at it that we have problems that we now, I can see.” when there will be a genuine war against cormust confront and that we have issues that we He described the attempt by the INEC to deny ruption, where there will be no bail for those must correct,” he said. the APC registration, as an African magic, “which charged with corruption, no appeal to high On the call by Ahmed for PDP governors to join can never be a reality.” court during trial and life imprisonment in the opposition parties ahead of the 2015 gener- He warned that any attempt to stop the resolve addition to forfeiting all stolen assets. al elections, Governor Aliyu said he was still a of the ‘party of the people, by the people and for Akinyemi maintained that a deliberate war on loyal member of the PDP, but admitted that the the people’ would be met with a strong resist- poverty should be intensified in such a way that request was a wake-up call. ance by Nigerians because power belongs to the within that period, the poverty level in the But Mr. Dino Melaye, former Reps member, people and “the voice of the people is the voice of country would have been reduced to one per had a contrary opinion about the PDP. He said God.” cent. that President Jonathan should be blamed for However, one fundamental thing from the one- He concluded that within five years, Nigeria the entire woes of the country and that of the day national discourse is that corruption had should aim to be in the high development cateparty. grown in leaps and bounds 10 years after the gory of the United Nation Human According to him, since he assumed office, the nation’s independence in 1960 (from 1970), Development report, which means the country president had refused to take any deliberate when only $2.2 million was reported by the must inject more funds into education, power action towards fighting corruption. “Rather, he Global Financial Integrity reports released in and health sectors. has continued to encourage corruption.”

2010 as having constituted illicit financial flows However, the Minister for planning, Dr. He said that Nigerians must agree that democ- from Nigeria.

Shamsudeen Usman, in his remarks, regretted racy is a government of the people, by the peo- That grew to a huge amount of $52 billion in that the economic indicators, according to ple and for the people and should resist any 2008 and sadly enough, the statistics also show United Nations Human Development Index attempt by the ruling class to turn democracy that all regimes, both military and civilian, reports show that the country was so wealthy, into a government of the greedy, by the greed which claimed to have intervened in the politics so endowed; resources are so abundant and yet, and for the greedy, as they have turned democ- of the country to solve the problem of corruption the people remained poor, and the country still racy into in Nigeria today. were in one way or the other involved in the eco- unable to provide adequate social amenities “We are talking about corruption here today nomic dismemberment of the country. and public facilities for the people. but corruption in this particular government, In his lead paper titled, Corruption: Danger To He blamed this on corruption, indiscipline, at all levels, has graduated from stealing mil- National Unity, delivered at the occasion, former lack of regard for the rule of law and decline in lions, billions and today, it has graduated to Minister of External Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, ethics and values in both the public and private stealing trillions,” he said. submitted that, “it smacks of hypocrisy for for- sectors.

“We have ministers that have been indicted in mer presidents and heads of state to continue He warned that, “until these issues are tackled this government but these ministers, despite with their sanctimonious anti-corruption ser- in earnest, our economic potential will remain their indictment, are gorgeously dressed and mons as if their administrations were clean.” stunted, our ability to adequately respond to sitting at the Federal Executive Council, decid- If that was not disturbing enough, the Human the need of our people will remain undering the fate of Nigerians.”

Development Reports produced by the United mined, and our position as a leading African Melaye held that the PDP-led government had Unions Development Programme (UNDP), quot- nation will be threatened.” failed Nigerians in all ramifications, as the 14- ed by Akinyemi, which grouped countries of the He suggested that in addressing these issues, year PDP administration in this country had world into four categories, showed that Nigeria changes must come from the top for it to trickproperly institutionalised corruption at all lev- has always been ranked in the low development le down and spread across the country, stressels of government. cadre despite her material resources. ing that, “a fish rots from the head downwards; He stressed that the emergence of the All For example in 2007-2008, according to the in the same vain, healing can also come from Progressives Congress was the best thing that report, Nigeria ranked 158 out of 177 nations; in the head.” had happened to political development in the 2009, 158 out of 182; in 2010, 142 out of 187 and in Usman commended President Jonathan for country, 2011, 156 out of 187. ensuring the independence and strengthening “The emergence of the APC has actually Prof. Akinyemi noted the prevalence of the new of the Judiciary, empowerment of the brought about the political obituary of the PDP species of corruption called “quiet corruption,” Economic and Financial Crimes Commission because Nigerians are disenchanted, Nigerians as recently discovered by the World Bank, under (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices are not happy, Nigerians are disillusioned with which people are not receiving services for (and Other Related Offences) Commission the PDP,” he said. which public officers have been paid to deliver (ICPC); and above all, ensuring due process in “It has been 14 years of agony, 14 years of pains, He stated that teachers not turning up in the the award of contracts and public procurement 14 years of confusion and 14 years of corruption classroom, doctors and nurses not turning up in as a way of showing exemplary leadership. in high places and it is time Nigerians said no to the hospitals to attend to patients and public ser- He hinted that the economy of the country has this oppression and the only way to national vants not always on seat were examples of “quiet been growing, resulting the International revival is the emergence of the APC.” corruption.”

Monetary Fund (IMF), in its global GDP ranking Melaye admitted that as a former card-carryEven though many did not agree with him Nigeria as number 44 in 2009 while in 2011 it ing member of the PDP, he had to leave because when his paper was discussed by discussants, rated the country as No. 39.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

POLITICS 11

PDP intra-house crisis bothers me, says Balogun A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State, Senator Lekan Balogun, fielded questions from DELE FANIMO on the problems in the party, and on sundry issues.

HY is PDP crisis intractable in W Oyo State?

It seems to be intractable, but it is not. Conflicts of interest, conflicts of aspiration and so on, and people with conservative turn of the mind, want to have their way at all times.

People with the radical turn of the mind would have criteria that will make some things acceptable, some concessions and compromises that are not beyond them to make.

But I think it is beginning to dawn on everybody that if nobody is compromising, nobody will win. We are beginning to compel people to see reason and make them realise that to gain half of what you wanted is better than gaining nothing.

The dawning of that realisation has compelled everybody in the last few weeks to begin to reconcile themselves to compromises.

Does that explain the seeming rapprochement that the national body of PDP is extending to the likes of Mimiko and Ladoja, as reported?

I’m not aware of the rapprochement to these people. I read in the newspapers that some rapprochement was made but I do not know how correct that information is. If I don’t know its true value, then I will not want to comment on it a great deal.

But compromises and rapprochement are inevitable in life processes.

And, of course, democracy means the more the merrier. If it was agreed based on principle, why not? But the Nigerian constitution does not disagree on principles.

Disagreements often come out of conflict of interest and aspirations.

We must begin to reconcile ourselves with the principles of governing and governing well. If that is the source of our disagreements, then

we can understand and it will be easier for us to make compromises.

It appears that in the course of the seemingly stubborn crisis in the PDP, some people are leaving the party for Accord Party?

I don’t think that is also true. I am from here, and a grassroots politician at that. People are coming from Accord and from ACN as well. So, the crisis accounts for the apparent silence of the operation of the PDP, but we are very much on ground.

The gospel truth is that the membership of the PDP is swelling. The crisis in the party accounted for the invisible nature of this development. Nobody is making noise about it.

Election is less than two years away and you are still finding ways of getting yourselves together…

I will tell you what I keep telling journalists like yourself. I will keep reminding you of what Winston Churchill of England said a long time ago: ‘24-hours is a longtime in politics.’

Six months, three months to AlaoAkala’s defeat, you didn’t know it would happen. So, two years is a very long time in politics. What bothers me about the PDP and the future is not local variables or local matters.

If tomorrow comes and Ladoja decides to come to the PDP, what will be your take?

He is my brother and my friend. He can come. It is not my wish that he is out of the PDP because we are common brothers; he knows me and I know him very well. At the right time, I think he will come. This concept of one-man party and one-state party is not good for him, too.

That is your prediction?

Yes, that is my prediction. That place (Accord Party) is not for Ladoja. And because of the limitation of Accord as a party — one-man party and onestate party — he is not likely to thrive there.

He might be worried about the crisis in the PDP. If I were in his shoes, I would be worried, too. But I will be less opportunistic about it. It won’t be a matter of joining the winning group, but going to join the group that can deliver to the people when

Balogun they win election; the people that can sustain their image, even intellectually.

Besides the crisis in-house, there is also crisis at the national level. Does that portend good omen for the PDP? Those are the challenges that any governing party has to face. Back in the NPN days, it was the same scenario. And it is like history is repeating itself. What bothers me is not the amalgamation of the other parties against PDP; what bothers me really is the intra-house crisis at the national level of the PDP. The crisis might result from the president wanting another term and some people are saying, ‘to hell, he can’t have it’ for whatever reason.

That is worth much more than the threatening amalgamation. That amalgamation will not work; it has never worked in the history of this country and in most part of the world, it never worked.

Has there been a new “progressive”

formation from a “progressive?” I’m careful not to call them progressives.

A mass exodus of the group will move to PDP as well and beam fresh light to the PDP. But the massive realignment of forces won’t result in one giant progressive party to upstage the PDP. If you are to advise the PDP at the national level, do you think rocking the boat would be your focus?

Democracy is all about the wish of the people, and individuals cannot always have their way. No man is an Island. We must find a way for ordinary Nigerians to be happy and buoyant. All these notions of individualism have no place in my thinking.

On monumental corruption in the country, are you not worried that the party is not checking the trend?

Again, I will talk scientifically and be abstract. Social changes in this country are inevitable. Monumental corruption, I’m worried about it and will always be. But something will give way; what it is, I don’t know yet.

Nature is dynamic and we can’t carry on like this. Lately, I know that there is high unemployment in Nigeria. Over the last 30 to 35 years that I’ve been active in politics, I’ve never had the kind of deluge of applicants for job that I’m getting lately.

Once an X organisation is employing that I get to hear, more than 50 applicants would approach me to help them get a job in this place. It never used to be that bad. They may go employing for more than a month that I won’t know. But by the time I know, maybe two or three people will show interest.

You are even ashamed of going around with a large number of people with no job. So, something is wrong socially and ideological and definitely, something must give way.

What it is, as I said, I don’t know.

This is not a party matter, rather that of the Nigeria nation. A party may be able to evolve solution to the problems and thereby succeed, but it is not a party issue. All of us have a stake and a say in the governance of this country. All the parties have their state and areas of governance, and not much is promising to change.

In the next one year, will there be solution to the Oyo PDP problems, and what solution will you proffer?

The solution will go by one word prescription — unity. Unity promises good governance; it promotes collective gains and global interest.

That done, in a matter of weeks, the PDP will be back where it used to be maybe even better. Self-interest, unfortunately, is a conservative world outlook, but it has to give way to recognition and interest in the global interest and greatest good of the greatest number.

The two factions have lately been working together. It takes time to shelve your self-interest, but it is beginning to happen. The alternative is far more dangerous, when nobody wins anything.

When some people win some things, then, they could show others the benefit of their victory. But when neither wins, then, it is a disaster and that is beginning to dawn on people — that it is a dangerous alternative.

UNDP tasks stakeholders on gender-balanced election in 2015

By Tunde Akinola HE 2015 general elections might be another opportunity for Nigerians to witness a genderbalanced and appropriate representation of the various stakeholders in the polity.

It has been emphasised that the practice of democratic governance should encourage a wide range of political participation which embraces a free, fair and credible electoral process, a vibrant civil society, media and a space for equal participation of both women and men at all levels.

Having described the democratisation of a political system as a concept that requires the establishment of democratic institutions and procedures of democracy, it is expected to establish the respect to the principles of the separation of powers and independence of the branches of government, the exercise of power in accordance with the rule of law, respect of human rights, effective people’s participation, as well as transparent and accountable processes and institutions.

Ahead of the 2015 polls the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Democratic Governance for Development (DGD) held a fiveday training of not fewer than 40 civil society organisations across the country, on the BRIDGE (Building Resources in Governance and Election) Module on gender and elections.

The training which was organised by UNDP and supported by its international allies like, European Union (EU), the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), aimed at promoting a wide scope of political participation within the confines of democracy.

According to UNDP/DGD Project Director Dr. Mourtada Deme, UNDP is committed at strengthening Nigeria’s democratic character and outcomes through consolidating and advancing democratic governance and accountability, to achieve the country’s stated development priorities and goals.

Deme who was represented by a National Gender Expert at UNDP/DGD, Hajiya Mufuliat Fijabi, said the objective of the training was to “provide tools for civil society organisations to

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critically assess elections from a gender perspective.

According to him: “Improvement in understanding of civil society organisations on the importance of gender mainstreaming in the electoral process, improvement in civil society organisations’ capacity to manage interventions pre, during and post election periods.”

The training was to provide strategic support for the promotion of women’s participation in electoral processes particularly at the higher level.

Participants were expected to have been empowered to carry out gender analyses of elections, increased understanding of gender mainstreaming and electoral processes.

The training was also to develop the capacity to intervene in the areas of gender and elections and strategic contribution to qualitative participation of women in the electoral process.

In order for the aim to be achieved, the training identified four components: Promoting credible, transparent and sustainable electoral processes; improving the democratic quality of political engagement; enhancing participation by women, youth and other marginalised groups; and strengthening channels of civic engagement.

Among the participants included civil society organisations like Youth Action Initiative Africa (YAIA), Gender and Development Action (GADA, Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND), Center for Religion Cooperation and Tolerance (CRCT), Women’s Aid Collective (WACOL), BAOBAB For Women’s Human Rights, among others.

The Executive Director, KIND, Mrs. Amy Oyekunle the BRIDGE Module on Gender and Elections had equipped participants with how to address issue relating to women participation in politics.

Oyekunle urged young women and female political aspirants on political education and

voter education for young people. She also encouraged women to observe and monitor elections.

Worried by the spate of violence against women during elections, Oyekunle said: “Violence against women continues to happen with impunity. Violence against women during elections is less heard off but nevertheless it happens.

Women political aspirants and voters alike are often harassed, intimidated.

In a similar vein, the Executive Director, Gender Equality, Peace and Development Centre (GEPADC), Professor Patricia Donli the workshop gave participants the chance to explore the nittygritty of the issues bordering in the mainstreaming of the womenfolk in the polity.

According to her, there had been several theories concerning the issue but through the training they were able to put in practice all they had read and learnt about gender analyses in elections.

“It is our hope that as we go towards 2015 we can start working with men to ensure that women are brought on board this time,” she said.

Professor Donli noted that moves to ensure a gender-balanced election should have started immediately after 2015 election if the goals are to be achieved. She disclosed that they will be engaged in a lot of sensitisation and civic education, capacity building, advocacy and lobbying of legislators both at the federal, state and local government levels.

She encouraged the men to help the women to achieve this aim, noting that there is no way women succeed without the help of men. “We have to work together as partners, a development that does not take women on board is a development is like a pot that stands on two stones,” Donli said.

She noted that the country has not progressed overtime like other countries because women had not been considered in the running of the

Improvement in understanding of civil society organisations on the importance of gender mainstreaming in the electoral process, improvement in civil society organisations’ capacity to manage interventions pre, during and post election periods.

country’s affairs.

She said the electoral act should be clear on the issues of violence and appropriate sanctions should be doled out to culpable people.

According to her, that is how a free and fair election can be achieved in 2015.

According to the South West Zonal President, Women Empowerment Forum, Mrs. Adetoun Adediran, the forum created an opportunity for stakeholders from different civil societies to meet and dialogue over the country’s well-being.

Adediran who was the Deputy Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, the training emphasises the need for women to participate in the decision-making positions in the country. She urged Nigerian women to engage themselves with politics right from the grassroots.

According to a youth specialist at Youth development Initiative, Kingsley Bangwell, the raining as been revealing. He thought gender training was only about women, but he thoughts had been broadened on the issue.

He noted that the training has made him know the disadvantaged position the Nigerian woman were placed and that he has been equipped with the strategies to imbibe.

He said violence against women is a social cultural problem that must be checked. He noted that people perpetuating such acts should be sanctioned. He said people that promote genderbalanced environment should be honoured and encouraged.

The Programme Manager, Centre for Religion Cooperation and Tolerance, Ibrahim Adediran, said the training was “expository, educational and inspiring” in nature.

He said the training made clear the importance of a gender-sensitive representation in the country’s political process.

He said the programme has mandated them to sensitise people and women in particular.

The training was facilitated by Rindhai Chiptunde Vara from Zimbawe, Tomise Dlamini South Africa, the Director of Civil Society Organisations (CSO) and Gender Desk of INEC Mrs, Magaret Ejeh Ikwunja and Mr Rabiu Sabo Abdullahi who is Chief Admin Officer Operations.

12

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

TheMetroSection ‘I smuggled drugs for love’, Senegalese peddler confesses

By Odita Sunday

No reason is strong enough to engage in drug trafficking.

Drug barons may claim to be in love with unsuspecting couriers. They may even present themselves as philanthropists, members of the public are advised to shun drug trafficking THIRTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD SeneA galese woman has confessed to narcotic investigators of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) that she smuggled drugs for the love she had for her Nigerian boyfriend.

The suspect, Kamara Oumou with a Senegal international passport number 400680371 was found in possession of 680 grammes of narcotic that tested positive for heroin and cocaine.

She was apprehended by officials of the NDLEA at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos while attempting to board a flight to Dakar, capital of Senegal.

NDLEA airport Commander, Mr.

The suspect, Oumou

Hamza Umar explained that the suspect used industrial tape in sticking three parcels of cocaine weighing 515 grammes on her waist while six wraps of heroin weighing 165

grammes were inserted in her private parts.

According to Hamza: “It was a carefully concealed method but not intelligent enough to escape our detection”.

However, unlike most drug couriers that smuggle drugs for money, Kamara Oumou shocked her investigators when she said that she smuggled the drugs for the love she had for her Nigerian boyfriend.

“How can I ask my boyfriend to pay me? I smuggled the drugs for the love I have for my Nigerian boyfriend,” Kamara said. She simply identified her boyfriend as Hakeem.

Preliminary investigation revealed that they both met in Dakar where Hakeem is believed to have lived for 11 years. Their relationship lasted only six months before Hakeem left Dakar in December 2012. The said Hakeem, who is now at large, invited Kamara to Lagos from Dakar and lodged her in a hotel where they both spent a week together. Within this period, he made necessary arrangement for her to go back with the drugs.

Kamara said that it was her first time of seeing drugs.

“I had a good relationship with Hakeem until my arrest. The day he

brought the drugs to the hotel room was my first time of ever seeing drugs. He called the drugs “products” and that his business partners were unfaithful and he wanted me to take the products to Dakar because he trusted me. Hakeem taught me how to pack the drugs and also took care of my travel arrangements. He said that he lives in the East but he took good care of me in the hotel in Lagos. We were to travel together to Dakar but he suddenly changed the arrangement. Hakeem travelled to Dakar a day before my trip,” Kamara said.

Chairman of the NDLEA Mr. Ahmadu Giade advised members of the public to be careful of the tricks employed by drug trafficking syndicates.

“It is wrong to commit a criminal act. No reason is strong enough to engage in drug trafficking. Drug barons may claim to be in love with unsuspecting couriers. They may even present themselves as philanthropists, members of the public are advised to shun drug trafficking,” Giade noted.

Spokesman of NDLEA, Mitchelle Ofoyeju told The Guardian that the suspect would soon be charged to court.

Physically -challenged persons protest against govt’s neglect in Kwara From Abiodun Fagbemi, Ilorin VER 100 physically-chalO lenged persons yesterday stormed the Kwara State House of Assembly and the Government House in Ilorin, protesting the alleged neglect of their members by the government.

Speaking under the aegis of Concerned Citizens on Disability (CCD), the group led by Teslim Balogun, a leg amputee, said unless the government

promptly acceded to their demands, they would continue to constitute nuisance to the state, its people and the government.

Their demands tabled before the Speaker of the House, Abdulrazak Atunwa and the Permanent Secretary of the Government House, Saadu Alabi, who received them on behalf of the Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, included one of them to be appointed as a Special Adviser on Disability Mat-

ters.

Besides, they rued the absence of job opportunities for their members, especially, the talented athletes and those with required educational qualifications, warning that all efforts aimed at eradicating begging in the state without adequate care for the physically challenged persons would be an exercise in futility.

Balogun said: “We are not saying that the government

should spoon-feed us, but it must cater for our needs especially some of our members who are qualified but have no job. We are citizens of this country and we must have a voice in government as well.

This voice knows how we feel and will therefore represent us better.”

He added: “If the government must make its street clean, then it must provide for the beggars. Otherwise, begging will continue as nobody wants

to stay indoor and die in silence.”

It was a smooth sail protest into the House as the Speaker and some other principal officers received them.

Atunwa, however, regretted that the development had degenerated to its present level before it was brought to his knowledge.

He urged CCD members to maintain peace, as their demands would be promptly brought to the knowledge of

Osun rehabilitates Ede water works with N2 billion ing pumps. The Adviser said the intervention staper cent of water supply in the state was from the O increase availability of potable water in Osun bilised the water supply in the state even as the facility water work.

T State, Governor Rauf Aregbesola has revamped the Williams said at the inception of the Aregbesola ad- was still working far below its capacity.

Ede water works. The N2 billion rehabilitation and modernisation project will be delivered in 12 months.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Water Resources, Mrs. Tawa Williams broke the news at the weekend during a ceremony to commemoration the World Water Day in Osogbo at the weekend.

The Ede water works, which was constructed about 60 years ago, served 12 local councils, 160 towns and villages in the state. When it was working efficiently, 70

ministration, the capacity of the project had dwindled to a mere 15 per cent with major equipment completely broken down.

She said when the governor came on board, Aregbesola released N417 million to rescue the machineries of the facility from corrosion with the installation of two brand new intake pumps, 1.5 MVA generating set, two 2MVA transformers, seven doz-

General Manager, Osun Water Corporation, Mr. Gbenga Awojuyigbe (left); Special Adviser to the Governor on Water Resources,Tawakalitu Williams; Deputy General Manager, Commercial Services, Elder Abayomi Olufemi and Deputy General Manager, Design and Construction, Apara Olusegun, during the 2013 World Water Day press conference, at Governor’s Office, Osogbo t...on Friday.

She said: “It is instructive to note that a water work that was a beauty to behold suddenly became a derelict infrastructure. No thanks to the neglect, mismanagement, lack of maintenance by the past administrations. When Aregbesola assumed office, he released funds to rehabilitate the water works.

“Embarking on full rehabilitation, this administration has set aside a whopping sum of N2 billion sourced through ingenious financial expertise for the fullscale revamping of Ede water works and shore up its capacity into almost a 100 per cent. This project is marked for completion within 12 months. We are in active discussions with the original contractor, who handled the work initially to also undertake the rehabilitation works to make for continuity.”

Stating that improvement in water supply was a key component of Aregbesola’s six-point agenda for the rebirth of the state, Williams said the administration had pulled resources and work in synergy with several agencies to provide clean water for citizens of the state.

She added: “In the state, as we have already noted, improvement of water resources is central to the developmental programme of this administration. The government is very much on course in its strategy to ensure that every resident in the state has access to potable water. It would be self-defeating to invest money in other sectors without people having access to water. This is why in Osun State, today’s observance of World Water Day should not be seen as just another day in the calendar. We are demonstrating our readiness to promote and improve availability of water for all.”

She said before the commemoration of another water day next year, the government would have successfully solved the perennial challenge of inadequate potable water in the state.

Briefs Lagos to offer free bus ride on Easter Monday O ease movement of comT muters during the Easter holiday, the Lagos State government is offering residents free bus ride on Easter Monday.

A statement made available to The Guardian yesterday, said Lagosians along the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) would enjoy free ride from Mile 12 to CMS while those on the Bus Franchise Scheme (BFS) would ride free on Ikotun-Ikeja-Maryland, Iyana-Ipaja Maryland, IkotunIyana-Ipaja, Igando-Iyana-Ipaja, Igando-Ikeja and Igando-Maryland routes.

The Managing Director of the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Dr. Dayo Mobereola urged Nigerians to do everything in moderation during the holiday period and ensure that accidents do not occur on the roads.

DeltaWalk4Autism holds April 2 HE Centre for Autism and T Developmental Disabilities (CADD) and Punuka Foundation are partnering to organize a road walk tagged "DeltaWalk4Autism", on Tuesday, April 2, from Asaba Stadium to the Delta’s Secretariat The event, which hopes to raise awareness about Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), is in commemoration of United Nations' World Autism Awareness Day (WAAD).

A statement by co-signed by Okey-Martins Nwokolo for CADD and Ada Okwara for PUNUKA Foundation stated that interested participants should assemble at Asaba Stadium’s take off point at 7.00a.m. The United Nations had in 2007 declared April 2 of each year as WAAD.

Eko Int’l School holds inter-house sports today HE Eko International School T will today hold its yearly inter-house sports competition at the Air Force Base Secondary School, Shasha, Lagos at 11.00a.m.

The administrator, Titilola Folowosele said the event aims at the child's overall growth and development.

Abraham Outreach visits old peoples’ home

O mark the Easter and show T love to the aged, the Abraham Outreach for the Needy will tomorrow visit the Old Peoples’ Home, near Queen’s College, Sabo, Yaba, Lagos at 10.00a.m.

For further enquiries, call 08023721660.

GKS holds conference HE yearly Lay Members’ ConT ference of the God’s Kingdom Society (GKS) holds on Saturday, March 30, at Salem City, Warri, Delta State. It will be declared open by the Chairman, Executive Board, Godwin Ifeacho, while the chairman of the laity, Emmanuel Ogidi will speak on the theme; ‘Seek Ye First The Kingdom of God’.

It will be preceded by Youth Fellowship, Women Fellowship, Urhobo National and Isoko National Conferences on Friday, March 29, and end with a special thanksgiving service on Sunday, March 31, at GKS Service Hall, Salem City, Warri.

METRO 13

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

Photonews

Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko and his wife, Olukemi with some Ondo State residents displaying their Ondo Residency Cards (Kaadi Igbe Ayo) at the formal launch and distribution of the card at the Gani Fawehinmi Arcade, Akure...on Tuesday

PHOTO: SAN

Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun (second right); Akarigbo of Remo land, Oba Michael Sonariwo (left); Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo (second left); Ogun State Deputy Governor, Prince Segun Adesegun( middle) and Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Muyiwa Oladapo at the inauguration of Sonariwo as the Chairman of Ogun State Council of Traditional Rulers in Abeokuta...on Tuesday PHOTO: NAN

NSCDC accuses Police of killing two of its officials • Force spokesperson denies allegation

By Odita Sunday WO officials of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were in the early hours of yesterday allegedly killed by some policemen, over an operational disagreement in Ikorodu on the outskirts of Lagos.

The Guardian learnt that five other NSCDC officials sustained various degrees of gunshot injuries during the incident, which occurred at about 3.00a.m.

The slain officials: Gabriel Adaji and Innocent Akegbe, were on duty with their colleagues when a disagreement ensued between them and the police.

It was gathered that the NSCDC officials were killed after they had successfully arrested some pipeline vandals with their exhibit.

Sources disclosed that as the operatives were taking the suspects to their office in Alausa, one of the suspects made a call and it was not long before they encountered the policemen that opened fire on them.

A source at the NSCDC Command Headquarters in Lagos, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Guardian that the policemen that killed their officers were collaborators in the pipeline vandalization.

The source said: “ Operatives of the Nigeria Police laid ambush and opened fire on men of the anti-vandal squad of the Lagos State Command of NSCDC, killing two of them on the spot while others escaped with gunshot wounds in Ikorodu area.”

“This incident occurred at about 3.00a.m. on Wednesday.

The officers and men of the corps were returning from a successful anti-vandal operation where vandals were arrested along with their exhibits. However, as the suspects were being transported back to the state headquarters of the Corps, an eye witness said the vandals made calls to their police collaborators for support since they could not overwhelm the anti-vandals team of the Corps.

“Immediately the Police got wind of the information, they

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laid siege for the Corps operatives and open fire on the NSCDC patrol vehicles killing two operatives instantly while others made desperate efforts to escape even as they were also hit by police bullets. The vandals were released immediately by the police,” the source explained.

Another senior official of NSCDC said, “Around midnight, a team of NSCDC officials had just arrested some suspected vandals during a raid.

After the raid, the officials were driving along the expressway when they were accosted by a team of Mobile Policemen. An argument ensued as one of the policemen said we had no right to operate in the area.”

He added: “The NSCDC men explained that it was their duty to protect all government facilities including oil pipelines. After some time, our men left but unknown to them, a team of policemen laid ambush ahead.

“The policemen opened fire on our men, killing two and injuring five. The policemen then fled.”

In a swift reaction to this allegation by the NSCDC, the police have issued a statement denying the whole allegation.

A statement signed by the spokesperson for the state police Command, Ngozi Braide, reads: “The Lagos State Command wishes to use this medium to put the records straight on what actually transpired at Isawo-Ikorodu in the early hours of yesterday 27/3/2013 between the NSCDC and the Police.”

“At about 0145hrs of date, there was a distress call from DM Security PPMC, Mosimi that they were experiencing drop in pressure on the pipeline. The Unit Commander in charge of Konu immediately pulled out his men on Konu axis under Inspr Sunday Gabriel to proceed to the scene.”

“As they were approaching, they heard sound of serious gun firing in their area of pipeline coverage and the Inspr instructed his men to proceed to that direction as it could be the activities of vandals. Upon arrival, they saw a group of Civil Defence Corp Members coming out from the direction where the shooting was earlier heard. The NSCDC men challenged the Policemen who were about four in number on what their mission was in the

area; “saying that it was their sole responsibility (Civil Defence) to guide and protect pipelines”.

At this juncture there was an argument between the NSCDC and the Police and the most senior NSCDC officer DSC Olufemi ordered his men who were about 14 in number to disarm, arrest and handcuff the Police team leader and three other members of his team. The NSCDC succeeded in disarming the Police team leader Inspr Sunday Gabriel, handcuffed him, collected his service pistol, walkie-talkie, and Police I.D card.

“As they were about dragging him into one of their standby Hilux vehicles, a phone call was put to the Police Unit Commander reporting the situation.

The three other officers resisted the arrest and this infuriated Civil Defence Officials who started shooting sporadically to intimidate and subdue the Police officers.

Before the Police Commander could arrive the scene, the NSCDC officials had taken to their heels abandoning the handcuffed and leg chained Police Inspector with one of NSCDC personnel.”

“Therefore, it was shocking that at about 0400hrs, the Civil Defence Corp Commander called the Police Commander, Mosimi to say that he lost two of his men and their corpses have been deposited at the hospital.

Up till now, the pistol of Inspr Sunday Gabriel who was badly beaten and stabbed by the NSCDC officials, including his other accoutrements, are still with NSCDC.’ Subsequently, in Alausa, Ikeja, at about 0800hrs today, the NSCDC officials abducted and assaulted three Policemen namely: Sgt Charles Igiebor, Cpl Ekun Julius and Cpl Okoro Charles who went for National I.D Card registration exercise.

They also started attacking Policemen on sight in other parts of the State.”

“The Commissioner of Police Lagos State Command immediately went on air to warn policemen not to engage in any form of confrontation with the NSCDC officials.”

“However, investigation into the matter has commenced while Lagosians are advised to maintain peace and remain

Marketing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc., Walter Drenth (left); Corporate Media/Public Relations Manager, Nigerian Breweries Plc., Edem Vindah and Brand Manager Star, Omotunde Adenusi at the launch of Star National PHOTO. SUNDAY AKINLOLU consumer promo press briefing in Lagos ...yesterday.

Regional General Manager, Samsung. Ahmed Magdy (left), Acting Director General, Consumer Protection Commission (CPC), Emmanuel Amlai and Managing Director, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Brovo Kim at the launch of Samsung Smart Care Centre in Ojuelegba, Lagos...yesterday PHOTO:FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI

Lagos allows free movement on sanitation day to mark Easter AGOS State Government has lifted the order LMarch restricting vehicular movement during the monthly environmental sanitation exercise so that for those who may wish to travel on Saturday could do so to mark the Easter celebration.

The Commissioner for the Environment, Tunji Bello, who stated this at an interactive session with journalists, in Ikeja said that Lagosians

should now rise up and “take the sanitization of their environment very seriously as we are gradually approaching the rainy season.”

“We cannot but encourage cleanliness in all aspects of our physical and spiritual life, having just completed the 40 days of the Christian fasting. I, therefore, wish to enjoin all and sundry to ensure that the festival is celebrated in the cleanliest environment possible.”

The Managing Director, Connect Marketing Limited, Mr Tunji Adeyinka (left), the Chairman, Board of Directors, Noah’s Ark Communications, Mr. Kola Abiola and the Managing Director, Noah’s Ark Communications, Mr. Lanre Adisa at Noah’s Ark Creative Safari in celebration of the Agency’s fifth anniversary in Lagos...

14 | THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

TheGuardian Conscience Nurtured by Truth

FOUNDER: ALEX U. IBRU (1945 – 2011)

Conscience is an open wound; only truth can heal it. Uthman dan Fodio 1754-1816

Editorial Revocation of Orji Kalu’s degree OMING amidst lingering tension between Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State C and his predecessor, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, the recent revocation of Kalu’s Bachelor’s degree in Government and Public Administration, by the Senate of the

state-owned Abia State University (ABSU), which awarded the degree 12 years ago, is an institutional tragedy of great magnitude. Not only has academic tradition been brought low, both the state government and the university in question are now objects of ridicule.

The state government has sought, without conviction, to exculpate itself of any complicity in the matter. A statement signed by ABSU registrar and secretary to Senate said the Senate of the university cancelled and subsequently withdrew the degree result and certificate awarded “on the strength of the findings and recommendations of an investigative panel into allegations of breach of the extant Academic Regulations of Abia State University, in the admission process and graduation of Kalu Orji Uzor in the discipline of Government and Public Administration…”

Kalu’s university admission had been embroiled in questionable circumstances.

It was claimed that he had been a student of the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), where 18 years earlier he was a Political Science major. Kalu was said to have left school in protest against alleged persecution of student union leaders, but the claims were apparently not verified. Thereafter, he ventured into business, where he was successful. He later delved into politics, contested and won the gubernatorial seat of Abia State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 1999.

By November 2001 he gained admission into the Department of Government and Public Administration of Abia State University, Uturu, and before long he had earned a Bachelor’s degree while in office as governor and Visitor to the university.

Even though the university senate, in a recent advertorial, provided some backing to justify its actions, it is worth recalling that it was before the sycophantic glare of university administrators and the then Chief of Staff, Mr. Theodore Orji (who providentially is the incumbent governor), that Kalu’s first day as an ABSU freshman was publicly celebrated, while his retinue of aides and guards flocked about him.

Did the former governor transfer his academic credits from the University of Maiduguri to Abia State University? If so, was this done with or without the instrumentation of the university system? How was he able to do this if indeed his studentship had lapsed as being alleged? It is a standing rule in the management of students that should a student be absent from school for a period of time without Senate approval, he is automatically withdrawn for lapsed studentship. In the case of Mr. Kalu, the period between his studentship at University of Maiduguri and his transfer to ABSU was nearly two decades. The question begging for answer is: Had Kalu been deferring his studentship all those years so that he could transfer his credits from one university to another, to make up the minimum credit units for graduation?

Unless credible answers are provided for these posers, it would appear that UNIMAID, its authority at the time, Mr. Orji Uzor Kalu, Governor Theodore Orji and the Abia State University are complicit in this show of shame. Going by the barrage of accusation and counter-accusation oscillating between the state government, the university and supporters of the embattled Kalu, it is glaring, among other things, that the present Visitor has visited opprobrium on the state; that academics and university administrators have compromised their hallowed positions by availing themselves as instrument to desecrate the Ivory Tower; that the purity and sanctity of the processes in the academia are being brought to ridicule.

Apart from cultivating some minimum level of public decency, it is high time governors and political officer holders understood that the job of a state governor is not a part-time one. In this regard, there is need for a code of conduct to address the degree-crazy adventurism of political office holders. This is to enable them pursue the business of governance with the dedication, diligence, service and sense of responsibility it deserves. If a governor is so desirous of acquiring academic degrees and licentiates, he should do so either before or after his gubernatorial engagement. Committing taxpayers’ resources to unnecessary adventurism is unacceptable, contemptible and a disservice to the people Although ABSU’s belated courage to come out clean may be commended in some quarters, its action is tantamount to a regime of despicable selective justice, whereby people create or invoke a particular law to suit their interest. How come there is an overturn of a decision witnessed by these parties just when their political interests parted ways? Didn’t the university know what it was doing at the time it admitted Kalu as a student of the institution? Why did it take the university 12 years to realize that Orji Uzor Kalu did not satisfy the condition for graduation and award of degree? Is this scandal a fall-out from the tension between the two Orjis?

Notwithstanding the systemic decadence occasioned by increasing mediocrity in the nation’s tertiary institutions, it must be recognized that the university, being a citadel of learning and a bastion of civility and culture, ought not to be turned into an arena of invidious political ping-pong as witnessed in Abia State.

Moreover, being at the forefront of university leadership, academics should eschew the desecration of noble academic traditions in consonance with their adulatory certification of ‘worthy in character and learning’. They should continually withstand the subterranean influences of dirty politicking by insisting that only men and women of proven integrity are elected to leadership position in the university system.

Beyond this, the people, to whom the government belongs, should exercise their moral obligation to demand quality service from those who serve them. The country will be well served and saved from the foible and folly of charlatans, if the people persistently demand quality service from public officers.

LETTERS

Tribute to Gboyega Eko, 1950-2013 IR: Mr. Simeon Adegboyega schools due to the nature of his Road, as a SNigerian. I Eko was one wonderful father’s job at the Nigerian Pharmacology was not privileged to meet him, in spite of many years of inter-personal communications. The late Eko had, sometime in the late 1990s, written to say he had not failed to buy a copy of any newspaper that published my articles since he started reading one in the 1980s. We became friends and regularly exchanged views on important national issues.

Mr. Eko came across as a wellinformed person, a Nigerian who wished the best for his nation. His anger at the culture of corruption was as burning as was his impatience with the cluelessness of political leadership. He was a great human being who had nothing but encouragement for others – someone I will continue to miss as, I believe, will his other friends.

Eko was born on June 26, 1950.

He attended three primary

Railway Corporation. For primary education, he attended St. Peter’s School, Faji, Lagos from 1956-1958; Methodist Primary School, Offa, from 1958-1959 and the Alaafia Institute in Ibadan.

He was an active member of the Olivet Baptist Heights Old Boys Association until his death. He also attended Ibadan Boys High School, Ibadan from 1968-1969 and Yaba College of Technology from 1975-1977. He worked briefly at the Lagos State Magistrates Court, Igbosere, as a stores officer before going to the University of Ibadan between 1978 and 1981 to obtain a degree in Pharmacology. He did the NYSC at the School of Nursing in Ilorin between 1981 and 1982. He also worked briefly at McDonalds in London. He was employed by the Lagos State Ministry of Health and was deployed to the Lagos State School of Nursing, Awolowo

lecturer in in 1982 and retired from service in 2009. He was also a student of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).

Eko was a committed member of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, a member of Men of Valour and Prophetic groups. He was committed to reading and took an active part in the editorial team of Battle Cry Ministries. He was duly acknowledged as a loving husband, a caring father and a respected neighbour as well as a selfless individual committed to doing good to everyone he met.

He was the author of Medical Pharmacology for Nurses Books I and II and was working on an ebook entitled “Drug Abuse” which he concluded just one day before his death. He is survived by wife, children, and other relatives. May his soul rest in peace.

• Anthony Akinola, Oxford, UK.

What is being Christ-like?

IR: It is dangerous how propa- many Christians without Christ. diately requested to swear by the Sviduals ganda can go and how indi- I’ve also seen many so-called bible. The judge took a psychoand organisations use it. Christians whose behaviours por- logical glance at him and refused It is with absurdity when I hear religious bigots say, “Without Christ you are in crisis”.

Hmmm! I am not too sure what these people make of ‘being in Christ’. Some people who say this think that being in ‘their’ Christ is all about cramming the bible verses from Genesis to Revelation. If saintly behaviour is what being in Christ means, then, I’ve seen many nonChristians with Christ, and

tray crisis. And you still see them use the mantra of religious propagandists: “A life without Christ is crisis” and you wonder where the Christ in them is. Rubbish!

In response to my post that being a Christian does not make one all Christ-like, and being nonChristian does not make one evil, Obim Onujiogu in Training Leaders responded: At Ogidi High Court, a Christian knight was called in as a witness, and imme-

to use the bible. The judge offered him a rusted gun from Agbo Edo shrine to swear by and he refused, admitting that his prepared statement was fabricated.

The point is that 80 per cent of bible-Christians go there for social fellowship. (Yet, they tell you that, “Anyone who is not in Christ is in crisis”). What is being Christ-like?

• Odimegwu Onwumere, Rivers State.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

BUSINESS 15

Business Appointments P29 Dangote heads national body on technical training

Transfer payments to Nigerians on Western Union hit $10b

By Adeyemi Adepetun the Regional ViceFandROM President, North, Central West Africa of the Western Union Company, Aida Diarra came the revelation that about $10 billion may have been transferred to Nigerians via the Western Union platform yearly.

Diarra, who based the fig-

ure on World Bank statistics, stressed that some other platforms put the figure at over $4.5 billion.

Indeed, the World Bank said Nigeria with a population of more than 160 million and over 105 million mobile phone subscribers received $21 billion in yearly remittances in 2012, but that despite this, only 29.7 per cent of adults over the

age of 15 are banked.

Diarra, who spoke in Lagos, yesterday, at the signing in partnership for a cross-border mobile money transfer service in Nigeria between Western Union and Virtual Terminal Network (VTN), a Central Bank of Nigerian licensed operator, noted that in 2011, about $411 billion were exchanged globally via

mobile payment.

“Today, I can say that the total principal amount that comes to Nigeria varies according to different organizations that looks at the industry. World Bank put the figure at about $10 billion every year and another body says it is around $4.2 billion and $4.5 billion. Indeed, I may not be able to say the figure from

General Electric (GE) President for Africa, Jeff Immelt (left); Head, Supply Chain, Sub-Saharan Africa, at GE, Phil Griffith; Tilone Executive, Stanford Tassie; and Sourcing Manager, Sub-Saharan Africa, GE, David Kirubi, at the Engineering Fair organised by General Electric for suppliers and power industry stakeholders, in Lagos.

CMEC-Pacific takes over Ondo power plant From Mathias Okwe, Assistant Business Editor (Abuja) and Roseline Okere (Lagos)

HINA National C Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corporation- Pacific (CMEC–Pacific), has been confirmed the new owner of Omotosho power plant located in Ondo State.

This is sequel to the offer letter released to the company by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), yesterday in Abuja.

The offer letter was in respect of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for the sale of Omotosho power plant.

The sale transaction is through a debt-equity swap process.

Presenting the offer letter to the Chairman of CMECPacific, Adedeji Adeleke, the acting Director-General of the BPE, Benjamin Ezra

Dikki, said that it was in fulfillment of the decision of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), which approved the sale at its last meeting.

NCP had approved that CMEC-Pacific should pay $217.5 million for the power plant. However, the net total amount accruable to the Federal Government for the plant would be $82.3 million given that $30.3 million would be deducted from the capital cost for the construction of a switchyard for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

It would be recalled that the first phase of Omotosho power plant, which has a capacity of 335MW was constructed in 2002. The total price under the turnkey contract was $166.7 million.

The Federal Government funded 35 per cent of the cost while the balance of 65

per cent was financed through vendor financing provided by China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corporation (CMEC), at the interest rate of six per cent yearly.

It was initially conceived that the power project, after completion, would operate commercially and the proceeds from the sales of electricity will be used for the repayment of the vendor financing and the interest payment.

However the delay in the completion period coupled with limitation in gas supply and paucity of funds at Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) resulted to default in the payment of the debt leading to the accumulation of unpaid invoices to CMEC. This responsibility was taken over by the Debt

Management Office (DMO) which informed the Bureau of Public Enterprises, that it had paid approximately $104.3 million to CMEC for the plant as at September 30, 2012.

Based on the approval received by the Federal Ministry of Power from President Goodluck Jonathan on July 18, 2010 to proceed with the proposed divestiture of Federal Government’s investment in the plant, the Bureau sought and received NCP’s approval for the divestiture of Omotosho Power Plc through debt-equity swap during its first meeting of May 12, 2011.

NCP also approved the transfer of assets to the project company –Omotosho Power Plc— which was incorporated on November 10, 2006, as a vehicle to own the

Western Union perspectives, but from all indications and statistics mentioned, you will know that we are the leaders in this industry. The fact remains that we are growing faster than what the market is doing today”, she stated.

According to her, the exchanges showed the extent of the magnitude and the dynamism of the transfer payment industry, saying Western Union recognized the importance of remittance for economic development, stressing that the company takes the role of supporting the diaspora to move money across border very seriously, because the company understand how important the industry is.

She explained that the company moves money seamlessly, quickly and reliably through over 500, 000 locations in more than 200 countries and territories, including Nigeria, stressing that the company has one of the biggest footprints globally.

According to her, basically up till today Western Union

encourages migrants, say in Boston in U.S.A to Point of Sales (PoS), put money on the counter, allow the person to send money to a recipient in a receiving country, say in Nigeria and collects the transfer at the point of sales.

Diarra, who affirmed that cash remains the preferred method of sending and receiving money, but stressed that with the explosion of technology, the trend may change, “Just to give you some global numbers, it is estimated today that mobile networks cover 90 per cent of the world population. If you take Western Union senders and receivers only, 90 per cent of them have access to mobile. What is interesting to note and quote is that mobile phone access far exceeds access to banks.

“Out of the seven billion population globally, five billion people today have access to mobile. So, that is just to put into context the importance of mobile financial services and how we need to improve on that”, she said.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

16 BUSINESS

‘Nigeria requires N60tr to bridge housing funding gap’ RENOWNED investment A banker, Chibundu Edozie, has said that Nigeria’s massive housing deficit requires the entire federal budget compounded over 10 years to build estimated between 12 million to 16 million housing units.

Applying a mid-level unit price of N10 million, Edozie who is the Group Deputy Managing Director, BGL Plc said bridging the gap would cost this country between N50 trillion and N60 trillion. ‘’To meet the housing needs of Nigerians, therefore, the real estate sector is witnessing huge levels of investment. The basic needs of the market are affordable modern houses; built with quality materials and managed by experienced facility managers. All of this provides numerous opportunities for reputable developers’’.

According to him, Nigerian banks have followed the well-worn tradition and financed the budding market for real estate through share capital and deposits generated from the public.

Like financial institutions in developed markets soon found out though, he noted with dismay that this has limited the amount of lending feasible. ‘’This limitation also presents a challenge on the demand side.

Unsurprisingly, the low supply of housing units has prompted inflation in house prices whilst the limited resources for mortgage

lending is gradually putting upward pressure on lending costs over and above the general market rate. All of this could constrain the sector’s growth despite the huge potentials for real estate investments’’.

He however, expressed enthusiasm in the decision of UPDC, a leading property development company in Nigeria, to float a Real Estate Investment Trust REIT on the nation’s capital market with a view to unlocking liquidity via various avenues, including the REIT offering, to enable it focus on the premium real estate markets of carefully selected cities in Nigeria.

He said the company intends to continue to acquire, develop, sell, lease and manage choice residential and commercial real estate properties across the country with special emphasis on high quality commercial and residential properties.

According to the finance expert, ‘’developments in our financial services sector have proved that there is substantial value locked up in tangible long term assets, rather than short term “volatile” assets. Financial institutions and investors should look at building a viable market out of real estate products such as Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) and Real Estate Investment Trust schemes (REITs), especially in a country like Nigeria which begs for infrastructural develop-

ment’’ Rather than the over-concentration of investments in traditional equities and fixed income instruments, he pointed out that a balanced portfolio including an aggressive exposure to the real estate sector would present a better picture for investors, including institutional investors like pension funds, mutual funds, and insurance and asset management companies. Whilst some analysts would argue that the global financial crisis was directly precipitated by a mortgage-linked real estate meltdown in the USA, he quickly added that all observers of Nigeria’s burgeoning urban real estate market unanimously project a strong outlook in both size and sophistication.

With yields on fixed income securities on the downward slope, Edozie explained that the UPDC REIT provides a competitive alternative investment class for the general populace.

Coupled with UPDC’s long history of pedigree and tract record, he said a high return was guaranteed to investors. In addition, the REIT has been given a BBB (f) rating by Global Credit Rating Company. ‘’UPDC has already made headway in this investment scheme as the REIT assets are fully tenanted with no vacancy. This is quite assuring to potential investors as it proves the sustainability of the scheme and affords them immediate benefits some of which include immediate invest-

ment income, stable and regular distributions of profits, exposure to a diversified property portfolio of income generating assets and low maintenance costs of properties’’, he said.

The BGL boss noted that UPDC REIT is a landmark transaction basically because it’s the first Initial Public Offer IPO in recent years, subsequent to the capital market meltdown of 2008, stressing that unequivocally, the IPO also goes to support the Securities and Exchange Commission and Nigerian Stock Exchange initiatives and aims to deepen and broaden our capital market with alternative tradable securities and instruments.

Speaking in the same vein, BGL Head of Structured Finance, Sesan Adetiloye, further explained that the REIT provides UPDC a window for cost effective capital to finance on-going real estate developments and also to own a substantial, stable and guaranteed income generating stake in a high grade investment vehicle that has a portion of the company’s properties as underlying securities without outright sale of those prime properties. ‘’This is in addition to providing an alternative investment asset class for Nigerian investors as well as collaborating with capital market regulators on their aspirations to grow and deepen the capital market for value creation’’, he said

Governor Adams Oshiomole of Edo State, buys and cuts a watermelon during his visit to the Oba market in Benin City, yesterday

Osun lawmakers pass N234b appropriation bill From Tunji Omofoye,Osogbo FTER a major upward review by N51billion, Osun State House of Assembly yesterday, passed into law, the 2013 appropriation bill of N234.3billion.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola had presented a fiscal estimate of N183.1billion to the House for consideration on on January 22, but the figure was jerked up by the lawmakers to meet certain exigencies The Speaker, Najeem Salaam called for the

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release of funds to agencies of government and urged performance of such agency in the area of revenue generation.

He said the Ministry of Finance should expedite action on the implementation of relevant revenue laws in the state particularly the state Revenue Administration Law, 2012.

He further directed that that necessary machinery should be put in place to ensure that the Internal Revenue Service becomes

autonomous and be provided with enabling environment for optimal performance.

According to Salaam, the Ministry of Finance should ensure prompt release of fund to agencies whose activities are seasonal including the ministries of Agriculture and Food Security, Works and Transport.

He also noted that quarterly budget meetings be initiated by the Ministry of Finance for the purpose of reporting financing and

budget performance to the finance and appropriation committee of the house.

Salam directed the Internal Revenue Service to brief the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation on monthly basis and the entire house on quarterly basis on its revenue drive.

The Speaker also sought quarterly report of the debt profile of the state to be forwarded to the House by the ministry of finance in line with existing state Debt Management Law, 2012.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

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Appointments Dangote heads national body on technical training From Karls Tsokar, Abuja RESIDENT Goodluck P Jonathan has appointed businessman Alhaji Aliko Dangote as Chairman of the National Partnership committee of Government and Private Sector on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) with the charge to design relevant programmes of education for industrial usage and growth.

At the inauguration on tuesday in Abuja, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation Anyim Pius Anyim who performed the ceremony on behalf of the president said, the choice Dangote “is intentional” given his track records at managing large-scale industrial organization successfully as well his exemplary contributions to national development.

Anyim said “the choice of Aliko Dangote to head the committee is intentional. He is a global industrialist who understands the basics of running succeeful industrial organizations. His untiring efforts and outstanding contributions to the social and economic well being of Nigerians in particular and other citizens of the world is something that we are proud of”.

The SGF said the TVET is vital for the development of the requisite skills to drive national development, citing China, Malaysia, South Korea, Brazil and Indonesia as country where human capital has steered the desired growth. He expressed confidence that “with his leadership, there will be a new direction to developing human capital to further

Partner of White & Case LLP and ISLP volunteer, Charles Nairac (left); Hon. Justice (Mrs) R. Adebiyi; Hon. Justice (Mrs) F. Atilade; President of Lagos Court of Arbitration, Babajide Ogundipe and Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer Lagos Court of Arbitration, Megha Joshi at a two-day training workshop for Lagos State Judges on arbitration and alternative dispute resolution in Nigeria, at the weekend. drive Nigeria’s industrializa- the economy”.

Private sector like that the government was lis- ``Skilled manpower ensures tion.

Manufacturers association of She said TVET is one of the key tening and therefore aware of that organisations are able to The Minister of Education areas of the 4-year strategic the hindrances to the indus- innovate and with innovation Nigeria, Nigeria chamber of Ruquayyatu Ahmed Rufai, plan of the ministry that must tralisation process in Nigeria. comes continuous progress. commerce Mines and who was also present at the be addressed “successfully in He said, “global competive- ``This comes with improved Agriculture (NACCIMA), inauguration of the 18 man our quest to meet the strate- ness is determined by the employment and related Council for the Regulation of committee said, the occasion gic education goals of availability of skilled man- enhancement in social and Engineering in Nigeria sets the stage for ensuring Nigerian education access power. For us to be a global economic activities. This com(COREN), while the Executive that “our education system and quality”.

Secretary of the National player as a number of govern- mittee therefore comes at the and its institutions have the Chairman of the Committee ment policy promotes, we right time, ‘’ he said.

Board for Technical capacity to produce individu- Dangote in his response said must start with developing The members of the Education (NBTE) Masud als that are able to function he believed that setting up of the appropriate human capi- Committee include Joe Kazaure is to serve as the effectively in diverse sectors of the committee clearly shows tal” Secretary.

Makoju, representatives of the

ITF seeks N148b for training centres • Warns erring firms over remittances

By Femi Adekoya O aid the realisation of Nigeria’s industrial and economic growth, the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has stated that Nigeria may need about N148 billion to establish training centres for the unemployed and small businesses across the country.

Specifically, the ITF noted that with the high rate of skills importation in the country, the nation would need about N4 billion to establish a training centre across the 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory for capacity building of Small businesses and the unemployed.

Besides, with the review of the Act establishing the ITF, the agency said it was going to begin the enforcement and punishment of erring firms in the remittance of their funds.

Already, the body noted that

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with the growing imbalance of trade between Nigeria and other nations due to skills deficit in the country, there is a need to address the trend before Nigeria begins to lose Foreign Direct Investments (FDI).

Speaking on ‘Accelerating

Nigeria’s development and economic growth. The imperative for technical vocational skills in Nigeria’ at the ITF-Port Stakeholders forum in Lagos, recently, the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of ITF, Prof.

Longmas Wapmuk, decried the dearth of funds to the agency, noting that commit-

ment to manpower training and skills development would create an enabling environment for investments and industrial growth.

He explained that no country has become rich and moved a huge number of its citizens out of poverty by exporting raw materials and

foodstuffs, as well as skills without having a modern industrial sector supported by a vibrant service.

He said: “This means shifting from trading commodities to higher value products. It means a refocusing on manufacturing and on natural resources. Above all, it means looking objectively at the

concept and aims of international development cooperation - and taking the route of wealth creation to reduce poverty. Anything else, is a “missionary approach to poverty reduction”, which has kept about half the Nigerian population poor, despite decades of long interventions.”

GTC Energy begins leadership-training programme in oil sector From Collins Olayinka, Abuja

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LANS are underway by an oil and gas service company, GTC Energy, to introduce training programmes that are aimed at mitigating conflicts between oil exploration companies and host communities.

The Director Energy, GTC Energy, Mr. Idy Ekong, said in Abuja that the training programme was launched around technical aspects of oil and gas industry.

He stressed that the training is largely based on how to

avoid contentious issues that often lead to conflicts, compensation to locally people and the understanding of remediation to areas affected by exploration degradation.

He explained that GTC is collaborating with Middlesex University to offer Masters degree to Nigerians using distance-learning method at reduced cost.

He explained: “A programme with GTC will allow our trainees have Masters’ degree with Middlesex University on distance learning basis. By our arrangement with the

university, a Nigerian will have to pay less than half the price that they will have to pay if they were funding it themselves. Our framework of learning includes case studies base on empirical evidence, methodology, theories, group discussions reflective learning and action plans that is the difference between what we do. At the moment, we are working with a number of Nigerian organisations who are talking very seriously about putting together an internal academy where we

will train them and co-sponsor for instance their IT project because it will be such a strong blend of great development. Again, we have plans to give out scholarships to deserving participants.”

Ekong dispelled widely belief that Nigerian scholars are inferior to their foreign counterparts saying, “I don’t think there is any difference between Nigerian graduates and those from other parts of the world. I think that everywhere in the world, we are churning out graduates who

are not necessarily trained for the working environment because they went through the academic methodology without any work-based training. I guess the difference in Nigeria is that the universities are available for the rich manchild and not available for the poor. I think that is where there is a slight disconnect but I have to say that in terms of academia, however, GTC creates a work based environment rather than academic which is why we are partnering with the Middlesex.”

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

38 APPOINTMENTS

Gbedebo takes over as Flour Mills’ GMD,

By Taiwo Hassan LOUR Mills of Nigeria Plc has announced the appointment of Paul Gbededo as its new Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer with effect from April 1, 2013.

Gbededo is succeeding Chief Emmanuel Ukpabi, who retires at the end of this month and assumes the posi-

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Ukpabi now Vice-Chairman tion of Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company.

The new GMD/CEO, Gbededo has spent over 30 years with FMN Group, who he joined as the Group at Nigerian Bag Manufacturing Company Plc (BAGCO) in 1982, where he

Accounting firm adopts new name N indigenous accounting A firm, Balogun Badejo and Co, has announced the change of its name to BBC Professionals, as part of its repositioning agenda.

According to a statement signed by the Chairman/ Managing Partner of the company, Dr. Joseph Asaolu, the name change became imperative in order to reposition the firm towards worldclass technical and quality performance and also render excellent professional services to its clients.

He said that the new name also reflected its partnership with the third largest association of accounting firms in the world, PrimeGlobal.

He also disclosed that its global partner, IGAF Polaris had undertaken a transformation and has launched a new image and name — PrimeGlobal.

According to him, the transformation was a reflection of its status as the third largest association of accounting firms in the world.

He maintained that the new PrimeGlobal provided BBC Professionals with significant expertise and resources to meet growing clients’ needs, both locally and internationally.

acquired extensive experience in manufacturing and general management positions and became the first Nigerian production director in 1996.

Gbededo, a fellow of the Polymer Institute of Nigeria was educated at The Polytechnic of North London, United Kingdom (UK), where he obtained Graduateship of Plastic and Rubber Institute and Associateship of National College of Rubber Technology in 1980.

He also holds an MSc. Degree in Polymer Technology (1981) of Loughborough University of Technology, UK. An alumnus of Lagos Business School, he has attended several professional, managerial and strategic leadership courses locally and abroad.

In 1998, he moved to Flour Mills as General Manager/Director in charge of fertilizer operations where he pioneered development of the Golden Fertilizer business.

He also was pioneer General Manager/Director of Golden Pasta Company, which has grown to become Africa’s biggest pasta manufacturing plant.

In 2012, he was elevated to the position of Managing Director, Agro-Allied Division, with responsibility to formulate and drive the Group’s backward integration policies, programmes and initiatives.

He currently sits on the board of Golden Sugar Company Limited and other FMN subsidiaries and he is wholly responsible for the strategic direction of Golden Penny Rice Limited.

ICPC chief tasks women to fight against corruption From Iyabo Lawal, Ibadan the fight against corFfulOR ruption to have meaningimpact, women in the country must take up their responsibility as mothers and role models in the society.

The Oyo/Osun state coordinator of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Olusesan Olukile who spoke at a sensitisation workshop for Oyo Women Alliance Against Corruption said that the charge became necessary in view of the sensitive role women played in the society as wives, mothers and “builders of homes/families where values of ethics were inculcated into children right from childhood.”

Also speaking, Kevin Mead, chief executive officer, PrimeGlobal, said: “The new PrimeGlobal name, logo, and website set us apart in the same way that the expertise, relationships and global connectivity of firms like BBC Professionals set us apart from many other associations in our market space.

“Underlying the new look and feel are all the core values our association stands for: international reach, strong personal connections, technical depth and experience and elite quality and service.

“The PrimeGlobal name and image clearly express how we are viewed as an association both by our membership and by the clients that we serve.”

PrimeGlobal is an association of independent accounting firms, presenting international reach, strong personal connections, technical depth and experience, and elite quality and service to its members.

Over the years, the partners have built a cohesive yet flexible working team, creating a friendly working environment.

The company said that its growth had been due to the Newly elected President of Chartered Institute of Personnel Management, Victor Famuyibo,(left), the out-going high standards of technical President, Abiola Popoola, and Chairman, CIPM Electoral Committee, Oladimeji Alo, shortly after the Presidential election of the Institute at the 44th AGM held in Lagos expertise it had set for itself.

In the paper entitled Corruption, Effects, Value Reorientation and the Role of Women in the Crusade Against Corruption presented by Jimoh Oladapo Sulaiman of the ICPC Education Department in Abuja, the women were described as “moulders of the society, the anchor on which national development is tied.”

The guest speaker noted that the role of the women in the development of a nation “is crucial and so should be encouraged in view of the underdevelopment staring us in the face.

“In various capacities as mothers, wives and professional groups, women contributions to good governance stem from their position as builders of homes. Women’s inimitable role as supports and backbones to their family and husband cannot be underestimated as this impacts positively on the family and the society at large,” he noted.

He further charged them to act as the touchstone of integrity both at home and in work environment, saying, “it is expected that you carry the flame of integrity and accountability high in order to achieve the much desired good governance and national development.

“Good governance cannot be achieved with the endemic corruption that pervades the system of governance in Nigeria. Therefore, you must hearken to the clarion call by the ICPC to all and sundry, to come on board and join hands in the fight against corruption and entrenchment of good governance,” the guest speaker added.

39

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

ScienceGuardian Universe little older than thought HE universe is a little older T and perhaps a bit stranger than previously thought, according to the best measurements ever taken of the radiation left over from just after the Big Bang.

Presented March 21 at a news conference in Paris, the data from the Planck satellite combine to form a map of the remnant glow that largely affirms scientists’ theories about the universe’s early history. But the results also reveal a few quirks that scientists will have to explain.

“The clarity and precision of Planck’s map is stunning,” says Richard Easther, an astrophysicist at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, who is not on the Planck team. “It’s as good as anyone could have hoped for.”

Launched by the European Space Agency in 2009, the Planck satellite scans the sky for the cosmic microwave background, radiation that dates back to about 380,000 years after the Big Bang. That radiation was originally

about 2,700° Celsius but has cooled to a mere 2.7 degrees above absolute zero. Planck is essentially a supersensitive thermometer that can probe the temperature of this radiation to millionths of a degree.

That extraordinary precision allowed researchers to map tiny temperature fluctuations in the radiation across the entire sky. (The red spots in the map are about one part in 100,000 hotter than the average temperature, while the blue spots are slightly colder.) These subtle perturbations in the early universe eventually grew into stars and galaxies.

The image, said George Efstathiou, an astrophysicist at the University of Cambridge who presented the Planck results in Paris, “might look like a dirty rugby ball … but some cosmologists would have given up their children to get a copy of this map.” Now that cosmologists do have access to the map, they can make many conclusions about how the

Clocking the human exodus out of Africa IKE bloodhounds on the Lconvict, fading scent of an escaped researchers have

tried for decades to trace the ancient footsteps of the first modern humans who left Africa. Even though this exodus was one of the most important events in human evolution, scientists have been unable to pinpoint when and where it began.

Now, using ancient DNA for the first time from ancient Europeans such as Ötzi, the famous Iceman and from earlier fossils, a team of evolutionary geneticists has dated the start of this legendary journey to less than 95,000 years ago and, possibly, as recently as 62,000 years ago.

The findings published in Current Biology fit with the evidence from fossils and stone tools, but they contradict a spate of recent genetic studies. Those studies determined the mutation rate for the entire genome from living humans by counting the number of new mutations that arise in the nuclear DNA of a newborn baby compared with its parents.

The number of mutations per generation- the mutation rate- can be used to fine-tune a molecular clock that has long been used to date key events

in human evolution. This supposedly better molecular clock has pushed back several important dates, such as when the ancestors of humans and chimps split and the exodus of modern humans out of Africa. Indeed, one team revised the date of the migration out of Africa from less than 80,000 years ago to at least 90,000 to 130,000 years ago.

Evolutionary geneticist Johannes Krause of the University of Tübingen in Germany, however, wasn’t so sure that a mutation rate calibrated for living humans could be applied so far back in time. He and his colleagues decided to test the idea by sequencing the DNA from the maternally inherited mitochondria (mtDNA), or powerhouses of the cell, from fossils of modern humans who lived in the past 40,000 years and whose age was reliably known from calibrated radiocarbon dating methods. If the age of the fossil was 40,000 years, for example, it would be missing 40,000 years of evolution that took place in the lineage of a living person—and, therefore, missing mutations that would have arisen during the time since the fossil human died.

Scientists alter mosquito genome to stop disease transmission • Experimental malaria drug may beat parasite resistance

Anopheles albimanus mosquito feeding on a human arm. This mosquito is a vector of malaria and mosquito control is a very effective way of reducing the incidence of malaria.

By Chukwuma Muanya with agency reports CIENTISTS have recorded Stheir two major advances in efforts to eradicate malaria with an experimental drug that stops the parasite from transmitting malaria and the discovery a gene disruption technique aimed at disrupting the transmission of diseases such as dengue fever.

In the first study published in over the weekend in Science Translational Medicine, tests in mice showed how an experimental drug zaps the malaria parasite at multiple stages of infection.

The United States researchers believe the find may have an important upside: it does not appear prone to drug resistance, the Achilles’ heel of malaria medicines.

The second groundbreaking study published this week in the journal PLOS One, the scientists used a pair of engineered proteins to cut DNA in a site-specific manner to disrupt a targeted gene in the mosquito genome.

Science magazine heralded

these transcription activatorlike effector nuclease proteins, known as TALENS, as a major scientific breakthrough in 2012, nicknaming them “genomic cruise missiles” for their ability to allow researchers to target specific locations with great efficiency.

While TALENS have been previously used to edit the genomes of animal and human cell cultures, applying them to the mosquito genome is a new approach.

The researchers believe though preliminary, the findings offer welcome news in a field beset by uneven performance as the malaria protozoa subvert drug after drug.

The situation has gotten so bad that the World Health Organization (WHO) now recommends that doctors prescribe two drugs at once to increase the odds of killing the parasite without allowing a resistant form to emerge.

In the face of this gloomy picture, authors of the new study are decidedly optimistic. A biochemist Michael Riscoe of Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, United

ASTRONOMY

The visual comets of 2013 (2)

By J.K. Obatala UMAN fascination and (in H times past) fear of comets arises from their spectacular and comparatively rare visual appearance. “Visual” is the operative term here, because comets, as a class of objects, are not in the least rare.

The ones reaching us are exiles from two cometary encampments, situated beyond the orbit of Neptune: Kuiper belt objects, orbiting the Sun in roughly the same plane as the planets, and Oort cloud comets, which swarm in all directions around the solar system, rather like bees buzzing about a hive.

Each year, large numbers of

icy masses, originate from these two reservoirs. Jonathan Shanklin, director of the British Astronomical Association’s (BAA’s) Comet Section (and discoverer of the Antarctic ozone hole), listed 50 comets with 2012 perihelion (closest) approaches to the Sun and 57 for 2013.

According to a posting of BAA and the Society for Popular Astronomy (also British), 16 new comets were discovered from February 17th to March 16th this year. But not all of these objects have a 2013 perihelion, and few will be visible to the unaided eye.

The Kuiper belt is about 50 Astronomical Units (AU) from the Sun (i.e., 50 times 149 mil-

lion km), while the Oort cloud is a thousand times farther away! Consequently, telescopes can only detect those comets that have been ejected from their icy abode and are hurtling towards the inner solar system.

Chaisson and McMillan note that comets “are usually discovered as faint, fuzzy patches of light…while still several astronomical units away from the Sun, in whose direction they are racing.”

I will explain why (and how) some comets are kicked out of their homes later. Suffice it to say now, that, as these ejected ice-blocks approach the Sun, they reach varying degrees of brightness. It is this brightness

that determines their visibility.

Seiichi Yoshida is a famous Japanese amateur astronomer, whose authoritative home page on bright comets is widely consulted.

His projections are that, in 2013, 196 comets will make appearances in Northern Hemisphere skies—63 in the evening and 64 at midnight, with 69 morning apparitions.

How bright a particular comet becomes, depends on its physical, mechanical and chemical properties: On its size and structure, the nature and amount of volatile ices and dust it contains as well as its trajectory and proximity to the Sun.

States, said: “We do hope this is a game changer.”

Other scientists inject a note of caution. “No matter how good the drug looks at this point, most likely the parasite will figure out how to become resistant to it,” says Roland Cooper, a pharmacologist at Dominican University of California, in San Rafael. “The parasite is just a clever beast.”

But, he said, the experimental drug could still offer patients a benefit. Since the drug candidate takes a long time to break down, it might last long enough in the body to clear infections. What’s more, the multipronged attack is unusual for malaria drugs. “It’s just exciting to have a drug look this good,” he says.

Riscoe and his colleagues tested hundreds of compounds to find ones that combat malaria parasites, including Plasmodium falciparum, the species responsible for the most severe form of the illness.

The novel drug candidate dubbed ELQ-300 showed a strong antimalarial effect against multidrug-resistant strains of P. falciparum and P. vivax malaria obtained from the blood of patients on the island of New Guinea.

ELQ-300 targets the parasite’s mitochondrion, the intracellular factory that supplies energy for a cell. In the singlecelled parasite, the mitochondrion is also instrumental in manufacturing DNA building blocks, which are essential for survival. Lab tests showed that ELQ-300 sabotages the activity of mitochondrial proteins.

One currently used drug, atovaquone, also binds to mitochondrial proteins. But the malaria parasite has developed a genetic mutation that hinders this binding, says study coauthor Roman Manetsch, a chemist at the University of South Florida in Tampa. To test for resistance to the new drug candidate, the scientists exposed P. falciparum in the lab to ato-

vaquone or ELQ-300 and checked whether the parasite survived in culture over eight weeks. As the scientists expected, some parasites exposed to atovaquone survived after becoming resistant. However, none survived ELQ-300 exposure.

People get malaria from the bite of an infected mosquito.

The parasite goes through three broad stages once inside a human: one in the liver and then, in the bloodstream, an active stage that causes symptoms and a reproductive stage that can be transmitted via mosquitoes to others.

When tested in malariainfected mice, ELQ-300 looks like a triple threat, hitting the parasite at each of these life stages. Like many antimalarials, ELQ-300 bested the parasite in the bloodstreams of the mice. But the experimental drug also stopped it in the liver. Parasites lodged in the liver can reemerge later, Manetsch says. “If you don’t clean out the whole host, there might be enough left to start a new infection.” These data are particularly heartening, Cooper says, because few drugs can do this.

Another experiment showed that the drug kills the parasite in its reproductive stage in mosquitoes that had eaten a blood meal containing ELQ300. Riscoe said the malaria protozoa reside in the female mosquito for a week or two, so if the mosquito draws blood during this time from people who have ELQ-300 in their system, the drug should kill the parasites inside the bug, rendering it unable to infect people.

Meanwhile, Zach Adelman and Kevin Myles, both associate professors of entomology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and affiliated researchers with the Fralin Life Science Institute, study the transmission of vectorborne diseases and develop novel methods of control, based on genetics.

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SCIENCE & HEALTH

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28 , 2013

WHO prequalification team to visit Nigeria in April May certify three local drug firms CHI Pharmaceuticals introduces novel Zinc/ORS to tackle diarrhoea

By Chukwuma Muanya HREE Nigerian firms may be certified for Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and their products prequalified by a team from the World Health Organisation (WHO) after their expected visit to the country next month.

The Guardian reliably gathered that the WHO has reduced the number of Nigerian pharmaceutical industries they will audit during their visit from five to three. The probable three companies are: CHI pharmaceuticals; Swipha; and Evans/May & Baker.

The WHO team’s visit was confirmed to The Guardian by the Director General of the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Paul Orhii, who is championing the course.

Orhii at the launch of Zinc/Oral Rehydration Salt (ORS) to combat diarrhoeal diseases in children, last week in Lagos, by CHI pharmaceuticals in partnership with Society for Family Health (SFH) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) said products from some Nigerian drug firms such as Zinc/ORS may be pre-qualified by the WHO next month.

The launch of Zinc/ORS is recommended by the WHO to put an end to the death of children from diarrhoea, which could be prevented with the use of quality WHO prequalification of medicines is a service provid-

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ed by WHO to assess the quality, safety and efficacy of medicinal products.

Originally, in 2001, the focus was on medicines for treating Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), tuberculosis and malaria.

In 2006, this was extended to cover medicines and products for reproductive health and again in 2008, to cover prequalification of zinc, for managing acute diarrhoea in children. At the end of 2012, the WHO List of Prequalified Medicinal Products contained 316 medicines for priority diseases.

Orhii said CHI Pharmaceuticals is currently one of the few companies in Nigeria undergoing WHOGMP assessment and the only company in West Africa to present zinc sulphate for WHO-prequalification programme.

Recently, the United Nations Commission on Maternal and Child Health (UNCMCH) co-chaired by President Goodluck Jonathan and the Norwegian Prime Minister has intervened in the area of access to quality essential medicines that is necessary to meet the challenges of high maternal and child mortality in Africa, including Nigeria.

As part of efforts to achieve these goals set by UNCMCH, the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has developed programmes and strategies.

Director General. National Agency for Food Drug and Administration Control (NAFDAC) Dr Paul Orhii (right) Managing Director. Society for Family Hearth.

Bright Ekweremadu. Chief Executive Officer, National Primary Hearth Care and Development Agency. Dr, Ado Muhammed. President, Society for Family Hearth Board of Trustees. Prof, Gyoh Shima. Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer. Chi Pharmaceuticals. Steve Onya and Director. Lagos State Ministry of Health.

Dr, Jemilade Longe at the Launching of the First locally manufactured ORS and Zinc for the management of Diarrhea in Children by Chi Pharmaceuticals and Society for Family Hearth in Lagos PHOTO: FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI Executive Director of NPHC- CHI Pharmaceuticals, Steve leave the body without the Diarrhea duration was shortDA, Dr. Ado Gana Onya, said in response to the water and salts that are neces- ened by 15 percent among Mohammed, said the pri- need to provide quality essen- sary for survival. In most peo- children who received zinc mary aim of the intervention tial medicines in line with the ple diarrhoea is caused by treatment.

In 2004 WHO and UNICEF is to save lives of mothers and UN and WHO mandate, the severe dehydration and fluid children especially the vul- company has pioneered the loss. Children who are mal- released a joint statement for nerable group. He said “Save local manufacturing and nourished or have impaired treatment of acute diarrhea One Million Lives” (SOML) launching of these essential immunity are most at risk of recommending therapeutic was part of this initiative. medicines like Zinc/ORS with life-threatening diarrhoea. zinc for 10–14 days along with UNICEF procures dis- newly formulated oral rehy“The federal government has good access to the grass root. also included this maternal “The Zinc sulphate comes in a persible zinc tablets and dis- dration salts containing and child health as a major dispersible form with a pleas- solvable ORS for treatment of lower concentrations of glucomponent of the Subsidy ant taste for children. The ORS diarrhoea. ORS contain salts cose and salt. The statement Reinvestment and is that of low osmolarity as and sugar, which helps the also emphasizes early adminof increased Empowerment Programme approved by the WHO. child to absorb water to istration (SURE – P); thus demonstrat- SFH/USAID and other donor replace that lost during diar- amounts of appropriate ing their commitment to the agencies will support CHI rheal episodes. As well as ORS, home fluids at the onset of overall health of the mother Pharma in the area of aware- a 10-14 day course of zinc, diarrhea, continued feeding and child,” Mohammed said. ness, demand creation and reduces the duration of the or increased breastfeeding Chief Executive capacity building areas like episode as well as its inci- during the diarrheal episode, Officer/Managing Director of training at the grass root,” he dence and severity of diar- and increased feeding after episode. rhoea in the subsequent the said.

The challenge is to make Onya said that through this months.

Zinc therapy together with zinc therapy and ORS a roueffective distribution, the company would make the ORS reduces the frequency, tine practice both in the product readily available and duration, and severity of diar- home and the health facility. accessible at affordable prices rheal episodes. Diarrheal ill- This will require the availabilat all community pharmacies, ness kills approximately 2.5 ity, procurement, and distripatent medicine stores and million children under the bution of a quality and approprimary healthcare centres. age of five years each year. priate product; health worker According to the United Studies indicate that children and physician training and Nation Children Fund treated with supplemental endorsement; and social mar(UNICEF), some 800,000 chil- zinc had a 19 percent and 13 keting campaigns to prodren under-five die from diar- percent reduction in average mote the correct use of zinc rhoeal disease every year, stool frequency in acute and and ORS. The main gap curmaking it one of the largest persistent diarrhea, respec- rently is lack of universally killers of children. Diarrhoea tively, compared to those approved products of high can last several days, and can who received no supplement. quality.

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THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2012

NaturalHealth Early malnutrition bodes ill for adult personality

Experts raise alarm over widespread unhealthy drinking M

Food deprivation in infancy may promote negative traits at age 40

Alcoholic drinks...there is widespread of unhealthy drinking globally

• 180,000 yearly deaths worldwide linked to sugary soft drinks • Eating too much salt causes 10 times more deaths than sugary drinks • Consuming energy drinks may increase abnormal heart rhythm risk • Drinking coffee lowered crash risk by 63 per cent

By Chukwuma Muanya with agency reports EVERAL recent studies have raised alarm over growing and widespread unhealthy drinking globally.

A new study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) shows that alcohol is now the third leading cause of the global burden of disease and injury, despite the fact most adults worldwide abstain from drinking.

This research, part of the 2010 Global Burden of Disease study, was published in this month’s issue of the journal Addiction. It also found that Canadians drink more than 50 per cent above the global average.

Also, sugar-sweetened sodas, sports drinks and fruit drinks may be associated with about 180,000 deaths around the world each year, according to research presented at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism 2013 Scientific Sessions.

Sugar-sweetened beverages are consumed throughout the world, and contribute to excess body weight, which increases the risk of developing diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and some cancers.

Using data collected as part of the 2010 Global Burden of Diseases Study, the researchers linked intake of

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sugar-sweetened beverages to 133,000 diabetes deaths, 44,000 deaths from cardiovascular diseases and 6,000 cancer deaths. Seventy-eight per cent of these deaths due to over-consuming sugary drinks were in low and middle-income countries, rather than high-income countries.

Also, 15 per cent of all deaths from heart attacks, strokes and other heart-related diseases throughout the world, in 2010, were caused by eating too much salt, according to research presented at the American Heart Association.

A recent Harvard study had found that sugary drinks contribute to the deaths of around 180,000 people yearly, but these latest finding are much more worrying.

The researchers analysed 247 surveys of adult sodium intake, stratified by age, gender, region and country between 1990 and 2010 as part of the 2010 Global Burden of Diseases Study, an international collaborative study by 488 scientists from 303 institutions in 50 countries around the world.

Nearly one million of these deaths - 40 per cent of the total - were premature, occurring in people 69 years of age and younger.

Sixty per cent of the deaths occurred in men and 40 per cent were in women. Heart attacks caused 42 per cent of the deaths and strokes 41 per cent. The remainder resulted from other types of cardiovascular disease.

Eighty-four per cent of these deaths due to eating too much sodium were in low and middle-income countries, rather than highincome countries.

Meanwhile, energy drinks may increase blood pressure and disturb your heart’s natural rhythm, according to research presented at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism 2013 Scientific Sessions.

Researchers analysed data from seven previously published observational and interventional studies to determine how consuming

energy drinks might impact heart health.

In the first part of the pooled analysis, the researchers examined the QT interval of 93 people who had just consumed one to three cans of energy drinks. They found that the QT interval was 10 milliseconds longer for those who had consumed the energy drinks. The QT interval describes a segment of the heart’s rhythm on an electrocardiogram; when prolonged, it can cause serious irregular heartbeats or sudden cardiac death.

Lead author of the alcohol study, Kevin Shield, said: “Alcohol consumption has been found to cause more than 200 different diseases and injuries. These include not only well-known outcomes of drinking such as liver cirrhosis or traffic accidents, but also several types of cancer, such as female breast cancer.”

But another study found that drinking coffee or other caffeinated beverages to stay awake is linked with a 63 per cent lower crash risk for longdistance truckers.

Australian researchers looked at 530 truckers who had a crash while on a longdistance trip and 517 who did not have a crash in the previous year. The study was con-

Alcohol consumption has been found to cause more than 200 different diseases and injuries. These include not only well-known outcomes of drinking such as liver cirrhosis or traffic accidents, but also several types of cancer, such as female breast cancer....The global burden of disease and injury attributable to alcohol is large and growing. In 2010, it was responsible for 5.5 per cent of this overall burden, third after high blood pressure and tobacco smoking, among 67 risk factors overall.

ducted between 2008 and 2011 in New South Wales and Western Australia.

Forty-three per cent of the drivers in the study said they consumed caffeinated products - such as coffee, tea, caffeine tablets or energy drinks — to help them stay awake while on the road.

After adjusting for age, sleep patterns and other factors, the researchers found that drivers who consumed caffeine to keep them awake were 63 per cent less likely to have a crash than those who did not use caffeine, even though those who used caffeine drove longer distances and slept less.

Meanwhile, the journal Addiction study found that the amount and patterns of alcohol consumption by country for 2005, and calculates estimates for these figures for 2010. It revealed vast differences by geographical region in the numbers of people who consume alcohol, the amount they drink, and general patterns of drinking. Some other findings: Drinkers in Europe and parts of sub-Saharan Africa are the world’s heaviest consumers of alcohol, on average.

People in Eastern Europe and Southern sub-Saharan Africa consumed alcohol in the unhealthiest manner, as they frequently consumed large quantities, drank to intoxication, engaged in prolonged binges, and consumed alcohol mainly outside of meals.

The global burden of disease and injury attributable to alcohol is large and growing. In 2010, it was responsible for 5.5 per cent of this overall burden, third after high blood pressure and tobacco smoking, among 67 risk factors overall.

This study summarised the results from population surveys, sales or production data, and data on alcohol consumption not covered in official records, from all countries, territories and regions.

Researchers also found that almost 30 per cent of alcohol consumed in 2005 was “unrecorded” alcohol- referring to alcohol not intended for consumption, homebrewed alcohol, and illegally produced alcohol. In some regions, unrecorded alcohol constituted more than half of all alcohol consumed.

A study author and director of CAMH’s Social and Epidemiological Research Department, Dr. Jürgen Rehm, said: “The amount of unrecorded alcohol consumed is a particular problem, as its consumption is not impacted by public health alcohol policies, such as taxation, which can moderate consumption.

ALNUTRITION in the first year life, even when followed by a good diet and restored physical health, predisposes people to a troubled personality at age 40, new research suggests.

The study of 77 formerly malnourished people represents the first evidence linking malnutrition shortly after birth to adult personality traits. The traits in some cases may foretell psychiatric problems, says a team led by psychiatrist Janina Galler of Harvard Medical School in Boston and psychologist Paul Costa of Duke University Medical Centre in Durham.

Compared with peers who were well-fed throughout their lives, formerly malnourished men and women reported markedly more anxiety, vulnerability to stress, hostility, mistrust of others, anger and depression, Galler’s team reports March 12 in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. Survivors of early malnutrition also cited relatively little intellectual curiosity, social warmth, cooperativeness and willingness to try new experiences and to work hard at achieving goals.

Previous studies of people exposed prenatally to famine have reported increased rates of certain personality disorders and schizophrenia.

Another investigation found that malnutrition at age three predisposed youngsters on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius to delinquent and aggressive behavior at ages eight, 11 and 17.

As is true in the new study, distrust of others, anxiety and depression often accompany high levels of anger, says psychologist Adrian Raine of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, who directed the Mauritius research. “Poor nutrition early in life seems to predispose individuals to a suspicious personality, which may then fuel a hostile attitude toward others,” Raine proposes.

Galler cautions that her study examined general personality traits in adulthood, not personality disorders as diagnosed by psychiatrists.

The new investigation was part of a long-term health project conducted on Barbados, an English-speaking Caribbean country.

Participants included 77 adults who had been admitted to a hospital for malnutrition at about age seven months. After admission and up to age 12, the kids and their families participated in a government programme that provided health monitoring, home visits, nutrition education and food assistance.

Another 57 Barbados adults examined by the researchers were the same age as the formerly malnourished volunteers but had always had enough to eat.

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THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28 , 2013

SCIENCEGUARDIAN

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U.S. promises more support for National Fistula Hospital HE activities of the T National Fistula Hospital, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, have caught the attention of the Consul General of the United States (U.S.) Embassy in the country, Jeffrey J. Hawkins, who has assured fistula clients in the county of the continued support of the U.S. government.

Hawkins who was on a working visit to the National Fistula Hospital, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State recently said the U.S. remains committed to the fistula treatment and prevention programme of the Federal Government and that he was satisfied and proud of the quality of treatment and care offered fistula clients at the centre.

The U.S. Consul at the end of his tour of facilities at the hospital said: “We recognise the good work that the federal and state government is doing on this project and the excellent services that the people are getting from this project.”

Meanwhile, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been supporting the hospital through the USAID Fistula Care Project, managed by Engenderhealth in the provision of quality services to fistula clients.

Hawkins described the quality of services at the hospital as excellent. “I am very happy to say that the government of the U.S. is a part of this. We recognise the excellent impact that your work can

have in the lives of not the women but on families as a whole,” he said.

The U.S. Consul added: “We met some of the clients receiving treatment at this hospital, their lives have been changed, completely transformed by the surgery and support they have been given by this institution.”

Hawkins said the direct impact of the excellent services offered at the hospital could be life changing. “We talk not just about the treatment but also the education that comes with it, which can really do so much to prevent the devastating and debilitating medical issues,” he added.

Hawkins noted that if the health care needs of women especially pregnant ones are adequately provided, the future of the country is better assured.

He said: “This is because it is the women that will give birth to the future of Nigeria.

It is really very important to the government at the federal and state levels as well as friends of Nigeria to do something about this health challenge (fistula).

“This hospital is one of the 12 fistula centres in the country.

The centres form part of the partnership between the United States government and the government of Nigeria in the area of health.”

As at today, the Consul General said the U.S. government spends about N80 billion ($500 million) in health

Governor’s wife urges pregnant women to patronise primary healthcare

By Oluwakemi Ajani S part of effort to eradicate maternal and child mortality in the state, wife of the Lagos State Governor, Mrs. Abimbola Fashola, has identified the need for pregnant women to patronise primary health care centres.

Fashola, who spoke at the town hall meeting on Maternal and Child Mortality Reduction Programme held at the Oshodi Isolo Local Council recently, said that it is very essential for pregnant women and nursing mothers to always visit health care centre to avoid congestion at the general hospitals.

“Over the years, we have witnessed various initiatives by the state government to demonstrate its commitment towards ensuring joyful procreation that no woman should lose her life while giving birth. All these efforts have not yielded positive results to achieving millennium development goals.

But we can achieve if people at the grassroots are well informed on what to do when faced with health challenges during pregnancy and after delivery,” she said.

She noted that it is the responsibility of the government to provide health facilities and infrastructure, adding that the desire objective of reducing maternal and child death will not be achieved if pregnant women and nursing mothers do not use these facilities.

She commends the state government through the Ministry of Health for coming up with strategy.

She also appeal to everyone

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particularly nursing mothers to embrace the initiative and be properly informed about the dos and don’ts in pregnancy, nurturing, caring and growth of the children.

She expressed gratitude to the community leaders who participated in meetings to work alongside with the state government to encourage their neighbours to utilise the health facilities in the primary health care centres and maternal care hospitals in the senatorial district.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, stated that the town hall meeting is meant to enlighten the public on the efforts made by the state government to reduce maternal and child mortality as well as open their minds to the role they need to play to ensure the success of the programme.

He noted that the need for interaction with the people at the grassroots cannot be over emphasized such that the need to address issues that involve people in the implementation of the programme to achieve the desired results, adding that people have a role to play in the success of the campaign.

“We are revitalising the primary health care system to address the issue of accessibility. We are renovating and upgrading primary healthcare centres to meet maternal and child health needs of the people. And also ensuring that there is a proper referral system that will address the issue of basic and specialist care from the primary to the tertiary levels of care”, he said.

programmes in Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Health, especially in the area of Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV).

He praised the foresight and commitment of the wife of the Ebonyi State Governor, Josephine Elechi, for initiating the hospital project before its takeover by the Federal Government. “Before we came here we have had of the excellent work you are doing here and the work you have undertaking to do for the people” adding “Madam I want to compliment and praise you for your concern for your people. To the physicians and staff of this hospital I want to say that my heart really goes out to you.”

Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Sunday Ileogben

Adeoye, had told Hawkins that physicians and staff of the hospital are trained to offer “holistic” services to its clients. “We also try to manage them even after treatment.”

He said treatment and other services offered at the hospital are absolutely free. “The clients do not pay anything, once they come in we provide them with all that they need, this is why we often do not encourage relatives of clients receiving treatment to stay to care for them.”

But he said this policy had changed gradually over time because of the needs of nursing mothers under treatment.

“We discovered that with such women you need to have a caregiver around to take care of the baby while the mother receives treatment,” he said.

Aside of that, he said clients under treatment are given toiletries, beddings and even fed at no cost for the duration of their treatment. Responding to a question by Hawkins on the waiting time before surgery, Adeoye said clients are usually admitted and treated within the first three days of their arrival at the hospital, but waiting time after operation is between 21 and 23 days but it can be more depending on individual case profile.

“If it is a normal case of fistula, it takes about three days from the day of her arrival to surgery, unless the case comes with other complications like high blood pressure and high sugar, when that is the case we normally would stabilise the situation before surgery, this can take between

one week and one month before surgery can be done,” he said.

Adeoye said the hospital is not about treatment alone.

“We also do a lot in terms of preventive services, our prevention services are equally as important, because fistula is a condition that should not happen in the first place.”

He said one of the cardinal messages of the prevention services of the hospital is that fistula can happen to any woman anywhere in the country for as long as there is pregnancy. “We let people know that it is wrong to say that fistula is a problem of one part of the country” adding “majority of the women that have been treated at this hospital are from the southern parts of the

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THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28 , 2013

‘Family planning will reduce maternal deaths by 30 per cent’ • UNFPA, NURHI woo health educators to demand creation

Representative of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Mariam Sissoko (left); Director General, National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr Paul Orhii and Chairman, National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Alh. Ahmadu Giade at the launch of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) Annual Report 2012 in Abuja recently.

PHOTO: LADIDI LUCIE ELUKPO

By Wole Oyebade ITH improved demand and access to Family Planning (FP) commodities, Nigeria will reduce her maternal mortality burden by about 30 per cent, reproductive health experts have said.

Besides mortality reduction, FP or child spacing method will also help Nigeria to inch closer to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) before 2015.

This was the submission of experts at a three-day training programme in Lagos, for state health educators on demand generation for Family planning. It was organised by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Nigeria in collaboration with Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health (NURHI) and Centre for Communication Programme Nigeria (CCPN).

Representative of Lagos Liaison office, UNFPA Nigeria, Dr. Olubunmi Asa, observed that Nigeria has one of the worst health indices in the world and still a mockery to the MDGs programme in the country.

With a yearly population growth rate of 3.2 per cent and total fertility rate of 5.7 per person, Nigeria has about 167 million population. But about 70 per cent live below the poverty line, life expectancy at birth is pegged at 48 years and Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) rate is 545/100, 000.

“The implication of the MMR is that over 30,000 women are dying of child-birth related causes. A lifetime risk of maternal death is 1:23,” Asa said.

While family planning or child spacing would have helped in reducing the burden, Contraception Prevalent Rate (CPR) is still 10 per cent low, (compared to 22 per cent in South Africa, 60 per cent in Egypt) coupled with about 20 per cent unmet need of contraceptives.

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Continuing, Asa said: “We have a high percentage (23 per cent) of adolescents coming up with unwanted pregnancies. They go through complicated abortion and add to the mortality rate that is already high.”

Asa further observed that FP strategy has proven to be an effective strategy around the world in promoting maternal and child health. “Several countries including Iran, Egypt and Bangladesh have proven that FP helps to promote maternal health and reduce mortality. If we promote it more in Nigeria, it can help us reduce maternal morality by 30 per cent,” she said.

Family planning, according to World Health Organisation (WHO), allows individuals and couples to anticipate and attain their desired number of children, the spacing and timing of births.

It is achieved through use of contraceptive methods and the treatment of involuntary infertility. A woman’s ability to space and limit her pregnancies has a direct impact on her health and well-being as well as on the outcome of each pregnancy.

Asa said the benefits of FP, which include preventing pregnancy-related health risks in women; reducing infant mortality; prevention of HIV/AIDS infection; empowering people and enhancing education; reducing adolescent pregnancies and slow population growth, all contribute to meeting the eight MDGs. Addressing health educators from 36 states of the federation including Federal Capital Territory, Asa said: “Current demand for FP is poor, that is why we need foot soldiers like you as the critical link to improve on these gory statistics.

“If the Federal Government has invested so much in commodities and has said contraception is now free, then we

need you to take the message down to the communities and people should come out and save lives,” she said.

Executive Director CCPN, Babafunke Fagbemi, explained that family planning method is a natural and social issue that should be discussed freely.

Underscoring the important role of women to FP, she stressed the need to equip women with skills on how to start and talk about childspacing with their partners.

“We must equip them with the right knowledge and to talk about it at the right time.

Family planning is a normal way of life; the methods are safe and effective. There is a method that best suits every women and the family.

“Also, encourage integra-

tion of FP with other medical programmes like Antenatal Care (ANC), immunisation, HIV/AIDS screening and so on. For every woman you help adopts FP, you have changed the life of an entire generation,” she said.

Communication and Advocacy Programme Analyst, UNFPA Nigeria, Adeola Olunloyo, added that the health educators have a duty to teach individuals, families and communities what to do to have improved health, avoid illness and death.

“If we do our work well, our women will not be dying of preventive causes. It is the duty of educators to make husbands and wives understand the need for FP, the benefit for the family and the society at large,” she said.

24-hour service reaches Lagos PHCs • As communities tackle traditional beliefs

By Wole Oyebade UCCOUR may have come the way of rural dwellers in Ibeju-Lekki axis of Lagos, as functional healthcare services now take centre stage in the remote agrarian and riverine communities.

Through the collaborative effort of Partnership for Transforming Health Systems Phase II (PATHS2) and the communities, care service is now available, accessible and affordable at Ibeju and Orimedu Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs).

Funded by UKaid from the Department for International Development, PATHS2 is a sixyear development initiative that aims to ensure that Nigeria achieves important health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The intervention programme, however, is still under the shadow of the people’s traditional belief system.

The 250,000 inhabitants or more have relied on traditional practitioners for ages and that, according to some resident, is not going to change anytime soon.

While the Ibeju PHC, almost opposite the local council secretariat, has existed in structure for about 15 years, it has since been abandoned until late 2010 when PATHS2 team came to town.

It was an intervention that started with the renovation of the facility, training of caregivers and Ward Health Committee (WHC) to ensure community ownership of the programme.

About two years since the intervention programme, Chairman of the WHC, Olusegun Bankole, said the facility had not only come alive, but “also meeting the healthcare needs of the surrounding communities 24hour a day.”

The PHC is at the centre of seven communities: Iba-Oloja; Oko Godofi; Oke-Ogun; Igun Bale; Oko-Oba; Kayetoro and Emu Ogogoro.

The chairman noted that advocacy training by PATHS2 had helped the programme in its house-to-house campaign for patronage at the facility.

On tour of the facilities recently, Knowledge

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Experts raise alarm over erectile dysfunction

By Joseph Okoghenun XPERTS have called on Nigerians with challenge of erectile dysfunction (ED) to seek medical help in hospitals.

The experts, who spoke recently during a public lecture organised by Bask Nutrition and Herbs Limited in Lagos, said ED was becoming rampant than thought.

Professor of urology at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LUTH)/Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM), Prof. Julius Esho, who delivered the public lecture in a hall full of consultants and resident doctors, said though the problem of ED was common in men than is being thought, most men with the challenge often shy away from discussing it even with urologists, except when specifically asked by the doctors.

He, therefore, urged doctors to always ask their male patients of their sexual health even when they come with other complaints.

Going down memory lane,

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the urologist said King Solomon of Israel, in spite of his sexual prowess had ED, adding that the condition was becoming a national, community and family problem.

Explaining ED to involve repeated failure to maintain and achieve erection within three months period, Esho listed the significance of erection in men to include procreation, family cohesion, authority and pleasure.

He listed consequences of ED to include loss of self-confidence, depression, avoidance of spouse, family disharmony, separation, adultery between spouse and divorce.

ED is said to affect 40 per cent of men aged 40, and 70 per cent of men over 70, mainly as a result of age and other medical conditions like diabetes and stroke. Esho said stress; strained relationship anxiety, depression, hard drugs, gross obesity, alcohol, smoking and drug for treating other conditions could contribute to the condition.

Distinguished Professor of

Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Prof. Osato Frank GiwaOsagie, who was the chairman of the occasion, said the men hardly discuss the problem in public, especially in the presence of their wives.

“One only hears of it in social functions when men talk of it in low tone. When I go to Ikoyi Club, people whisper it to years. But ED is nothing to be ashamed of,” he said.

Managing Director of Bask Nutrition and Herbs Limited, Dr. Patience Ikeme Ogbuli, a Cambridge University trained nutritionist, said some Nigerians were having health challenges, including ED, because people no longer eat healthy meal.

She said her company, which started operation in the U.S. in the field herbal medicine, was in the country to correct the anomaly through quality supplementation.

She presented three of her company’s herbal products Taccumi, Bask Maca Supreme and Nutri-Max. Taccumi is said to enhance sexual arousal, lasting erection, pleasurable ejaculation and nor-

Management Officer PATHS2, Lanre Alabi, said community members and health committee members were empowered to raise their voices about service delivery issues. They had teamed with health workers to conduct community outreach, educating the community, especially on safe motherhood.

Bankole told The Guardian: “We have been involving the village chiefs in our outreach programmes. We enlighten our people that the facility is now working and mobilise them to patronise it and we have seen great improvement because the people have been coming.”

Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) of the PHC, Elizabeth Unoroh, added efforts by PATHS2 had transformed the centre.

At the heart of the PATHS2 programme is strengthening health systems through building capacity of efficient caregivers and infrastructural development.

Unoroh noted that the Ibeju PHC had been strengthened because the capacity of care providers had been developed to effectively give quality Maternal Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) services.

She added that “they have renovated the centre; provide drugs through the recently launched State Drug Revolving Fund (SDRF) initiative; borehole and power supply by 20 KVA generator and 10 KVA inverter.”

“They understand that the caregivers have important role to play in community health. So, we have been trained on advanced life savings skill, emergency newborn care among others and other skills to prevent and manage major killers of women and babies.”

Her counterpart at Orimedu PHC, Folake Giwa, has similar testimony. Giwa added that “PATHS2 has employed more Community Health Workers (CHEW) who mobilise and ensure that people attend the facility.

“Availability of drugs has helped a lot in here. We are now able to meet patient’s needs by at least 90 per cent. It is encouraging for them when they come here and are able to get all that they need,” she said.

Besides the heavy presence of care-seekers at the facility, when The Guardian visited Ibeju PHC, the fact sheet also attested to the rising important of the primary care facility. Deliveries have improved from 2.5 in May last year to 12 in February 2013.

In Orimedu PHC, a total number of 924 Antenatal Care (ANC) visits were recorded in 2012, being 60 per cent improvement from the previous year. While ANC first visit improved from 16 to 37 and live birth moved up from two to 12 every month, only 84 deliveries were made at the centre in 2012. That is, of the huge number of pregnant women that attended ANC at the PHCs, less than 30 per cent still deliver at the centre.

The question is: where are about 70 per cent pregnant women in Ibeju-Lekki delivering their babies? “They are still delivering at homes, churches and Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs),” Unoroh said.

She added: “We know that they are delivering every day outside the hospital. It is because of their beliefs in traditional practitioners.”

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SCIENCE & HEALTH

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Adelusi-Adeluyi, Orhii, Agbaje others charge new PSN Fellows, President on repositioning of pharmacy profession

Pesident, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Pharm Olumide Akintayo left, Professor of Pharmacognosy, University of Lagos, Professor Olukemi Odukoya and Managing Director, Cipla Evans, Wale Oyenuga during the inauguration ceremony of Akintayo as president of the society and investiture of the new fellow in Lagos recently.

PHOTO; OSENI YUSUF

By Chukwuma Muanya TAKEHOLDERS in the pharmacy profession have charged the newly inaugurated President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Olumide Akintayo, and 55 new Fellows of the Society on the urgent need for repositioning of the profession.

The stakeholders at the inauguration of Akintayo and investiture of the new Fellows on Sunday in Lagos said the accomplished PSN Fellows could bring about their wealth of experience, exposure, network and capacity to meet set goals and objectives to move the pharmacy profession forward.

The stakeholders include: past Federal Minister of Health and founder of Juli Pharmacy, Prince Julius Adelusi- Adeluyi; Director General of the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Paul Orhii; President, Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Mr. Foluso Phillips; former gubernatorial candidate in Lagos state, Jimi Agbaje; the Director General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Dr. Joseph Odumodu; among others.

Agbaje, who is also a pharmacist, in his keynote address titled “Repositioning The Pharmacy Profession - The Role of Fellows” said that the PSN is being restructured to be in the best position to: protect the rights of pharmacists and patients; care about Nigerians’ social and health problems; work cooperatively with other health providers as a measure of our belief in the team concept in healthcare provision; engage in activities that will promote and improve local capacity in drug manufacture and production; improve education and training of pharmacists at all levels to improve their skills and competence at all times.

Agbaje said: “The Board of Fellows must constitute itself in a way that it supports the President in achieving the Society’s set goals and objectives. It should set up committees around those set objectives working with principal officers of the Society and its Standing Committees.”

He said being appointed a Fellow of the Society is one of the highest honours that can be bestowed on a member of

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the pharmacy profession. “It is an honour which recognises those individuals who have attained distinction in a particular aspect or aspects of their pharmacy career. Since majority of fellowships are based on nomination from the State branches and in few cases from members, it signifies the esteem in which a member of the Society is held by his or her peers. It also provides commitment to the profession. Fellowship is an honour that all members should aspire to,” Agaje said.

Agbaje further explained: “After about four decades of existence, the PSN decided to start honouring deserving outstanding members of the Society with the award of the Fellowship of the Society that is Fellowship of The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, FPSN. The first to be so honoured was the late Azariah Olusegun RansomeKuti, post humously, in 1971.

Number so honoured up till 2012 stood at 431, out of a registered pharmacists’ population of about 17,000, making them the creme-de-la-creme of the profession.”

Akintayo in his remarks said pharmacists, as experts in medicine, have always been known as an accessible and trusted source of advice and treatment. “Today, our contribution to healthcare is devel-

oping in new ways to support patients in their use of medicines and as part of the clinical decision making across the range of ailments. Professions exist to serve Society, therefore our mission, as pharmacists must address the needs of Society, our duty is to work and ensure that the added value we bring to healthcare and our potentials are taken into account and respected by policy makers and other health professionals. We note here that there is a lot of competition, confrontation and distrust in the health sector,” he explained.

Akintayo added: “This situation must give way for collaboration, consultation, cooperation in the interest of the health consuming public. We must open our hearts and minds to allow the team concept to rule our worlds in healthcare delivery. There is no doubt that the cost of fighting against disease and preserving health will continue to increase in spite of constant control and intervention.

There are manifold reasons and benefits for wishing to create a genuine cooperation between pharmacists and other healthcare providers.

Pharmacists will therefore provide leadership to ensure unity among all the stakeholders in healthcare delivery.”

The new PSN President gave assurance that pharmacy will take its pride of place in the annals of a great nation that will ultimately evolve. He said PSN under his leadership shall encourage practitioners of community pharmacy to begin to exploit opportunities in maternal and child mortality, which continues to ravage the population, while the Society will stabilise hospital practice by ensuring hospital pharmacists can reach the apogee as stipulated in the scheme of service for pharmacists.

Akintayo said local pharmaceutical industry would be vigorously supported to come up with good manufacturing practice (GMP) compliant factories as prescribed by the World Health Organisation.

“We shall also encourage patronage of the local industry, while academic pharmacists will be strengthened to be result oriented by inculcating a practice philosophy that compels teachers to teach what they actively embrace on the field,” he said.

In attendance at the event were the Special Guest of Honour, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, the Governors of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko and Taraba State, Alhaji Umar Garba, who were ably represented.

WHO, NIMR seek end to TB

By Joseph Okoghenun HE World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged governments across subSahara Africa to make “ambitious declarations” in view of reducing the scourge of tuberculosis (TB) globally.

WHO Country Representative, Dr. Rui Vaz, who spoke in Lagos on Tuesday during a public lecture organised by the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) in collaboration with Journalists Against AIDS (JAIADS) to commemorate World TB Day, said TB was ravaging the African continent than expected.

Vaz, who spoke through a representative, however, called for concerted efforts to stop the scourge.

The theme of World TB Day is “ Stop TB in My Lifetime”. The

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theme is most appropriate to help countries like Nigeria to achieve WHO set-goal of halting the burden of TB by 2015.

Although Nigeria has made progress in moving from 4th position to 10th position among 22 countries with highest burden of the bacterial infection, experts said Nigeria still has a lot to do to stop the scourge, as TB has become a big challenge in the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

And TB Mortality in Nigeria is put at 27 per 1,000.

NIMR Director General, Prof.

Innocent Ujah, said TB has become a major and escalating public health problem as evidenced by its high disease and interlocking association with HIV and the increasing incidence of multi-drug resistance TB (MDRTB) to traditional anti-bacterial drugs.

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U.S. malaria initiative begins indoor residual spraying campaign in Nasarawa

By Chukwuma Muanya ETERMINED to reduce malaria-related deaths by 50 per cent in 19 high-burden countries thus protecting approximately 450 million people, prevent and treat malaria, especially among vulnerable populations (pregnant women and children under five years of age), the United States President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) Africa-wide Indoor Residual Spraying (AIRS) has simultaneously flagged off the second spray cycle at Nasarawa Eggon and Doma LGAs of Nasarawa State.

The PMI/AIRS programme uses four highly effective interventions: insecticidetreated mosquito nets, indoor residual spraying with insecticides, intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women, and prompt use of artemisininbased combination therapies for people diagnosed with malaria.

The Country Technical Manager, PMI |AIRS Project, Nigeria, Dr. Petrus Inyama, at the flag-off ceremony last week said the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) sponsored AIRS Project is being implemented by the Abt Development Foundation under the PMI. “The project aims at demonstrating IRS best practices for other states and IRS implementers in Nigeria to emulate as well as reducing the burden of malaria in the target local councils,” he said.

National Coordinator, National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP), Dr. Nnenna Ezeigwe, represented by the National IRS Focal person, Mr. D.A Ordu, explained that the National Programme plans to distribute over 61 million Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs) in Nigeria to fight malaria. “Only four states are yet to be covered by this universal campaign.”

She said that malaria has been a problem and has cost the country unquantifiable amount of money. She fur-

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ther said that NMCP is spearheading the distribution of Artemisinin- based combination therapy (ACTs) and is insisting that every person must be tested for malaria before treatment, not presumptive treatment any longer. NMCP is supporting a cross-cutting approach in the fight against malaria. She thanked partners for their support and appealed to the states and local councils to support IRS in their domain by providing water for the spray operators and should be ready to sustain and scaleup IRS when the sponsors are gone.

Executive Director, Community Vision Initiative (CVI) and the immediate past National Coordinator for NMCP, Dr. Chioma Amajoh, thanked the PMI and the U.S. government for investing in IRS in Nigeria. She said CVI is an NGO committed to ensuring that the rural communities receive malaria control support.

Amajoh said that malaria causes over 300,000 deaths yearly in Nigeria and a very high maternal mortality rate among pregnant women.

She appealed to the communities not to overlook IRS but to open their doors and allow their homes to be sprayed.

Going memory lane, she said between 1970 and 1976, the Garki project took place in Nigeria and IRS was advocated for. She said IRS should be continuous in order to achieve impact and protect people. She also appealed to both the states and local councils to sustain IRS in their domain.

Permanent Secretary, Nasarawa State Ministry of Health, Dr. Monday Christopher Gamaliel, said IRS is one of the key vector control interventions for malaria prevention in Nigeria.

He said that the National Malaria Control Strategic Plan (2009-2013) states that IRS at 80 per cent coverage of targeted structures will be used to protect 20 per cent of the total households in Nigeria progressively by the

year 2013. Gamaliel, however, said this is quite an enormous task to achieve because of the huge resources that will be required.

“To accomplish this enormous task, therefore, we must have to do it right in order to contribute effectively to the elimination of malaria in Nigeria. It is my belief that certain efforts need to be put in place for us to be successful in the use of IRS for malaria control in Nigeria,” he said.

The permanent secretary further explained: “Information available to me indicates that almost 60,000 structures were sprayed by the PMI /AIRS Project in both Nasarawa Eggon and Doma LGAs (about 99.1 per cent spray coverage), protecting 346,115 people, 52,584 of whom were children under the age of five, while 15,900 were pregnant women. It is also heartwarming to note that more than 500 sons and daughters of Nasarawa State were provided employment opportunities by this project being implemented by the Abt Development Foundation.

“Equally gladdening is to hear that our people are cooperating greatly to ensure the success of this noble state-of-the-art IRS implementation in our communities. This has led to a massive reduction of malaria incidence rate in our locality.”

He said that Nasarawa state relies mostly on partners for LLINs and IRS. “Assistance from these partners drives distribution of the LLINs and IRS. In 2010-2011, a total of 864,019 LLINs were distributed on the basis of two nets per household on the principle of national coverage.

These nets were provided by the NMCP with support from Global Funds. In March 2012, USAID- funded Malaria Action Plan for States (MAPS) provided 200,000 LLINNs for distribution to pregnant women attending antenatal clinics (ANCs) in public health facilities.

“All these have been complemented by the IRS being car-

ried out by the PMI/ AIRS Project in Nasarawa Eggon and Doma LGAs. Let me use this opportunity to sincerely thank USAID/PMI for their support for malaria control in Nigeria and to assure them of our commitment towards the success of all their malaria control supported interventions.

“Our traditional heads, religious leaders and other stakeholders are well appreciated for accepting to support IRS in their domain.

“I appeal to our communities to open their doors and allow their houses to be sprayed during the 2013 exercise. In addition, we need to keep our environment clean of all breeding sites of mosquitoes so that we can collectively reduce mosquito density. Together we can eliminate mosquitoes, which cause malaria in our communities.”

The Transition Management Committee Chairman, Nasarawa Eggon Local Council, Habibu Sambo Agah, represented by the Director of Personnel Management, Mallam Mohamed Rabiu Zangina, called on all residents of the local councils to cooperate with health workers during the spray round.

Other dignitaries that graced the occasion include Dr. Mark Maire, the Resident Advisor, USAID Mission Office Abuja; Lena Kolyada, Technical Director of the PMI/AIRS Project (Washington DC); Assistant Police Commissioner, Prince Mohamed Ozi Momoh, who represented the Commissioner of Police Nasarawa State, Hajia Mariam Buba; former Commissioner for Planning, Nasarawa State, Mr. Joseph Agu; the State Roll Back Malaria Manager, Mr. Enock Anyamkpele who represented the State Coordinator National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), community heads, religious leaders and women groups among others.

Some of the dignitaries at the flag off ceremony of the United States President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) Africa-wide Indoor Residual Spraying (AIRS) seconspray cycle at Eggon and Doma local councils of Nasarawa State… recently.

67 per cent deaths in Nigeria are due to communicable diseases • Epidemiologists canvass for local production of vaccine From Itunu Ajayi, Abuja WHOPPING 67 per cent of Nigerians are said to be dying of communicable diseases, which are largely preventable by the simple act of administration of vaccines meant for their prevention. These diseases experts said range from polio, malaria, measles, Lassa fever, tuberculosis and cerebrospinal meningitis. Nigerians they said has no business dying of these preventable diseases if adequate measures are put in place for their prevention. The unfortunate trend they said reflects the poor state of public health in the country.

Prof. Abdulsalami Nasidi, director of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, revealed this at the opening of a two-day symposium organised by the Nigeria Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme (NFELTP) in Abuja recently. He called on the Federal Government as a matter of urgency to establish vaccine producing factories that would cater for the needs of the people as importing such important desirables has cost the country more than necessary in terms of fund and besides, northern Nigerians are skeptical of the source of the vaccines they are being given as a result of their religious believe.

He said communicable diseases are not what should be killing Nigerians at this time and age. He lamented that Nigeria is the only country in the world where wild polio virus is uninterrupted, noting that the country had recorded 122 cases in 13 states across the country.

He added that Nigeria ranked second after South Africa in the incidence of HIV, first in malaria and fifth in tuberculosis. This trend, he said, could be arrested if the government can invest in public health which would in turn improve the health indices of the country rather than the government appropriating bogus budgets on health every year with nothing to show for it, and with so much health workers in circulation in the country, Nigeria is still under the attack of preventable diseases.

Nasidi said non-communicable diseases like high blood pressure, tobacco smoking, physical inactivity, obesity, overweight and rise in cholesterols level may continue to be on the increase if people do not change their ways of life.

He added that quick response to disaster should be given a place of priority as the current state of response to disaster shows that it is not coordinated. He said the desire to improve the coordination to quick response in order to intervene in the challenges faced by Nigerians in times of disas-

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ter and prevention of communicable diseases was the major reasons why the centre for disease control was established in replica of what obtains in places like the United States of America and South Africa.

He lamented the bureaucratic nature of governance, noting that while people are dying on the field as a result of an outbreak of disease or disaster, files kept on moving at snail pace in the ministry.

Nasidi who maintained that Nigerians have no business dying unnecessarily, enjoined the Federal Ministry of Health to establish more laboratories for research purposes because according to him: “Without improved coordination to response, it would be impossible to intervene”.

He also charged the government to increase the total expenditure on health from its current five per cent to 15 per cent as obtained in other Africa countries. He said the infant mortality put at 88, under five mortality at 143 per thousand birth and life expectancy put at 53 for male and 54 for female, Nigerians deserves better deal in the area of public health.

He said training of more epidemiologists is required in the country to meet up with at least 10 per state, a figure he said currently stood at five, this he described as inadequate.

Dr. Akin Oyemakinde in his submission outlined the outcomes for Nigeria field epidemiology and laboratory training programme to include functional and robust public health surveillance, timely and effective response to public health emergencies including outbreaks, culture of evidence based decision making in public h e a l t h , strengthening public health workforce, contribution to reduction in morbidity and mortality from priority diseases and networking within the country and other countries of the world.

He added that the symposium is meant to bring key players in the health sector together to discuss ways of strategising and repositioning public health in Nigeria, noting that hardly would there be a disaster without health implications.

The two-day symposium would tackle issues on HIV/TB prevention and control, vaccine preventable diseases and polio eradication efforts in Nigeria, zoo noses/one health, outbreak investigations and laboratory support among others. The NFELTP has over the year recorded landmark achievement in having a total of 154 resident epidemiologists of which 86 are medical epidemiologists, 27 veterinary epidemiologists and 41 laboratory epidemiologists.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

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Fashola commissions Ikota medical centre

How safe is the plastic bottle (2) week Thursday we Lty AST began to look into the safeof the plastic bottle for our

Programme Director, Family Care Association (FCA), Joshua Kempeneer (left); Matron, Family Care Ikota Medical Centre, Paulina Abah; Group Managing Director, Kewalram Chanrai Group, Siva Subramanian; Lagos First Lady, Abimbola Fashola; representative of Minister, National Planning Commission, Emmanual Haruna, Chairperson Lebanese Ladies Society (LLS), Suzi Abou Matar and Ojomo of Ajironland, Oba Adetunji Akinloye during the commissioning of the FCA hospital, Ikota, Lagos recently

IFE of the Lagos State govW ernor, Abimbola Fashola, has commissioned an ultra

–modern medical centre recently expanded and renovated by ‘Family Care Foundation’, a faith based Non Governmental organisation.

Family Care Association (FCA) built the center in 2005 and it serves as a primary health care centre offering 24hour affordable, high quality health care to the low- income earning Ikota community of Lagos State.

Commissioning the centre, the First Lady commended FCA for its commitment to humanitarian work through the construction of medical facility for the health care needs of the people of Ikota Community in Eti – Osa Local Government.

She added that the facility would compliment government efforts to ensure that every Lagosian, irrespective of socio economic status had access to quality health care service.

Her words: “I am informed that this hospital which will provide quality medical care to the less privileged at highly subsidized rates is equipped with modern medical equipment and well trained staff who will operate 24/7.

“Few days ago, the first series of town hall meetings on maternal and child mortality was held at Oshodi- Isolo Local Government for the Lagos West Senatorial District 1. The essence of this meeting is to encourage pregnant mothers

to make use of the Primary Health Care Centers provided by the State Government so that there will be a significant reduction in the cases of death of pregnant women and children under five years,” she said.

Fashola commended Oba Adetunji Akinloye and the people of Ikota Community who donated the land on which the hospital is built. He described the gesture as a clear example of a good partnership that brings development and progress to a peace loving community.

Also speaking at the occasion, Program Director Family Care Association, Mr. Joshua Kempeneer said the ‘Family Care Ikota Medical Center’ (FCIMC) has recently been expanded and renovated to better fulfill her mission of providing sponsored and subsidized medical and maternity care and consultancy to the less privileged in Ikota community and the surrounding communities.

Joshua noted that the new Medical Center has a dedicated delivery suite, operating theatre, laboratory, consulting rooms, nursing station, female ward, male ward and private ward.

“We believe all patients regardless of ethnicity, class or cultural background deserve dignity in service delivery and the best health care services available. It is with this vision that we have developed and equipped the Medical Center to international standards.

“We are therefore in a position to offer first class medical services and treatment equally to all our patients, whether the treatment is free, subsidized or paid for in full. The medical centre also boosts the latest “green” and sustainable technology with a prototype solar water heating system and inverter backup capable of powering the facility.”

Minister of National Planning Commission, Dr Shamsudeen Usman said that FCA had contributed immensely to the needy at the grassroots level through the management of rural village schools, assistance to the motherless baby’s home, support to orphanage, and communities through its rollback malaria activities around the country.

He said that the programme might be in small measure but had impacted positively in improving the lives of the needy, orphans, children and pregnant women in Lagos, cross river, Akwa Ibom, Imo, Delta, Ondo, Uyo, Plateau, Kaduna, Zamfara, Kogi and the Federal Capital Territory.

Usman said, “Over the years, Nigerians especially the needy at the rural communities have benefited from Family Care Association’s Anti Malaria intervention programme in the country.

“As contained in the national planning commission data base 36, 784 children and pregnant women benefitted from free treatment, Malaria prevention and control education; 32, 967 individuals bene-

fitted from the free rural medical programme such as; Free eye care, donation of eye glasses and surgical operations while about 475 orphans have benefited from orphanage support programmes.

“Another 3,310 benefitted from free and subsidize health care treatment services and about 125 individual were trained on employment opportunities among other notable achievements.

“Permit me to express my gratitude to the country representative of FCA for his relentless effort in supporting the Federal Government of Nigeria in the quest to improve the lives of Nigerians.

It is a fact that the activities of FAC will further strengthen the ties between the Federal Government of Nigeria and its international development partners.”

He, however, challenge all development partners in Nigeria to take advantage of slightest opportunities available to them to promote more technical and orphanage support programme that will improve the lives of Nigerians.

The centre provides emergency health services, consultation and treatment for routine care, prenatal and dental services. The center promotes health education on immunisations, hygiene, infant care, roll back malaria and HIV/AIDS screening awareness. The medical facility is equipped with modern medical equipments procured with funds from donor organisations including Kewalram.

President, Medicine and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, Dr Ayuba Wabba left, Chairman Teaching Specialist Hosiptal and Federal Medical Centre, Senior Staff Association of University Teaching Hosiptal, Prince Ogundipe Olawale and National President, Nigerian Union of Health Professional, Felix Olukayode Faniran during the joint media briefing by the Joint Health Sector Unions and the Assembly of all Health Professional Associations in Lagos yesterday.

PHOTO OSENI YUSUF

drinking water. As a surprise to me is the fact that a lot of people already know about this offending chemical known as Bisphenol A (BPA) which is used for the manufacture of plastics.

However, I found out from a few people I discussed this issue with, that the level of awareness people have of this chemical and its adverse effects was not enough to scare them from the use of it.

Now, lets consider a few questions and find answers to them. How widespread is Bisphenol?

In a study carried out in America, it was found that 93 per cent of the volunteers for the test had BPA in their urine.

From the tableware we use for meals, to the plastic bottles for water and infant feeding bottles to the compact discs, CD, VCD and so on and pipes and cans for storing food lined with epoxy resins (these also contain BPA), you find that wherever you turn to, you will encounter BPA. It seems that foetus and infant are more vulnerable to the effects of BPA. Indeed, researchers have found out that the effects of prenatal exposure to BPA appear later in life. Several research groups are today studing BPA and its effect on man.

What are the effects of BPA on the human body? With the numerous research findings all over the world, it is becoming a lot more evident that this chemical, affects every organ in the body. Be that as it may, it is the classification of BPA as a xenoestrogen that I intend to discuss. Not only that, space will not permit me to discuss all the possible health effects of BPA. A xenoestrogen is a xenohormone that mimics the actions of oestrogen. It is capable of binding to the eostrogen receptors in the breast and stimulate them to proliferate as though they were stimulated by oestrogen, oetradiol in particular.

Xenoestrogens are either natural or synthetic, like BPA and because they imitate the action of oestrogen, they can easily increase the amount of unopposed oestrogen in the body. In other words, the level of oestrogen becomes higher than available progesterone can cope with. The end result of all of this is cancer of the breast, uterus and of the prostate in men. It is not impossible that the increase in the rate at which cancer is diagnosed in women today is directly connected to the increase in the use of PET bottles.

Also, the rate at which BPA leaches from the bottle into the water or food is directly proportional to the temperature of the water or food in the bottle or that of the bottle itself. In the past, breast cancer was considered a disease of the older women. It can no longer be said to be a disease

I want to believe that these people that collect these bottles from the refuse dumps or party sites soak and wash them in hot water.

Unknown to them they render hundreds of thousands of molecules of BPA free. Heating food in plastic plates and bowls in the microwave is a sure way of increasing this carcinogen in our bodies.

This oven may have been a blessing years ago when it got into town. of grand ma because it cuts across all ages, from the twenties through the forties to the very elderly. I have seen a 16year old girl with terminal stage breast cancer. My only explanation for this until I am proven wrong, is the use of BPA laden-bottles. Why not? I ask myself. All our drinking water in these bottles are left outside to boil under the sun or exposed even in the van that is bringing them from where they are produced to the shops where they will be sold. As if that were not enough these bottles are used repeatedly to sell beverages like kunu, zobo and all sorts of yellow and black drinks in motor packs.

I want to believe that these people that collect these bottles from the refuse dumps or party sites soak and wash them in hot water. Unknown to them they render hundreds of thousands of molecules of BPA free. Heating food in plastic plates and bowls in the microwave is a sure way of increasing this carcinogen in our bodies. This oven may have been a blessing years ago when it got into town.

However, we know better today and I actually consider it evil to give your own out to somebody else.

What then can be done to either eliminate this BPA or reduce exposure to it. I believe that time has come for government to legislate against it and ban it as they have in Canada, some European countries and some states in America. Avoid the use of microwave oven. Sellers of drinking water must be counseled about the danger of leaving water in PET bottles in the sun. Do not drink water that you left in your car for a long time in a very hot day.

You will agree that such water and bottle can become extremely hot. As much as possible do not drink anything from a used bottle. We have to go back to the days of storing water in bottles.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

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Education Stakeholders chart new path for Rivers’ education sector

By Rotimi Lawrence Oyekanmi and Mary Ogar N attempt by the Rivers State government to A critically evaluate its multifaceted efforts to turn around its education sector since 2008, has yielded dividends. The impressive array of eminent academics and other stakeholders, including Nobel Laureate, Prof.Wole Soyinka, that attended the two-day summit, held at the government house between last Monday and Tuesday, offered fresh ideas.

One of the new discoveries was the realization that the state government did not take the interest of physically challenged pupils into consideration in the design of almost all its model primary and secondary schools. The strategic importance of teachers to the reform agenda was reiterated. Some unintended complications that arose as a result of the state’s free education policy, in which a 17-year-old male pupil was discovered in the a Junior Secondary Class (JSS) 1, where the average ages of the male and female pupils were between 10 and 12 years, were also thrown up.

Rivers, like all other states in the South South region, had been bogged down by the negative activities of militants, who claimed to be fighting against both the degradation of the environment and for a share of the oil wealth domiciled in the zone in the early 1990s. Insecurity became rampant as several criminal activities mixed freely with genuine intentions.

The federal government first reacted by cracking down on the so-called militants in 2008 through 2009, until the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua granted amnesty between August 6 and October 4 2009.

This was about the time the Rivers State government, under Governor Rotimi Amaechi was also preparing to launch an offensive to cleanse its rotten education sector. A summit was held in 2008 to look at he issues holistically. Among the discoveries was the realization that most of the militants domiciled in Rivers never went to school. The rot in the state’s education sector, especially the primary schools was seen the underlying factor that discouraged many children from going to school.

After the summit, the state government began the construction of model primary and secondary schools, provided free books and uniforms and began the process of retraining the teachers. The summit, with the theme: “Enhancing Sustainable Development in Education” was intended to examine the journey so far.

Soyinka

Lawrence-Nemi

The state’s Commissioner for Education, Rivers State, Dame Alice Lawrence-Nemi explained some of envisaged goals: “The present administration is determined to embark on some education reforms that would enable the children in Rivers state fit into a globalized system and be able to compete with their peers anywhere in the world,” she said.

Soyinka described the situation in the country’s education sector as desperate, especially with the relentless attacks of schools, by members of the Boko Haram sect. According to him, those who express hatred for education in the name of Islam are ignorant of the tenets and history of the Islamic religion. “They (Boko Haram members) are not educated. They think they are, but they are not. They do not even know that some of the greatest scholars in history were Muslims. They need to be re-educated about the religion”.

Emeritus Professor of English and former vice chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Ayo Banjo,

who spoke on “Agenda for Educational Development” decried what he described as the usual alibi of the poor countries, which gives the impression that they cannot afford the costs of quality education. “Yet this cannot be true,” he asserted. “In this same country, 60 years ago, Obafemi Awolowo decided to offer free primary education to the children of the Western Region, and instead of complaining about costs, simply devoted 40 per cent of the region’s budget to education. When he needed more money, he levied an education tax, which the citizens willingly paid because they could see the benefits unfolding before their very eyes.”

According to him, Ghana also currently spends a similar percentage of its budget on education.

“And now,” he observed, “Nigerians concede that that country has better educated citizens, while Nigerian parents are sending their children over there in droves for secondary and tertiary education. Perhaps what is preventing parents from sending their children over to Ghana

for primary education is the merciful proliferation of high quality private primary schools at home”.

Banjo who traced the Students’ woeful performances in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) to the poor foundation at the elementary level, also attributed low quality of many university graduates in the country to the same source.

According to him, one other important role of primary education in terms of access and quality, often overlooked in the country, is in ensuring quality leaders for a country. To bring about an educated population, he suggested an overhauling of the primary system, to enable it play its role.

His words: “Proper schools have to be built with functioning toilets and adequate playing grounds. Proper teachers have to be provided in place of the present demoralized work force.

Such teachers have to be provided with continual re-training and paid a decent wage. Proper supervision through a corps of inspectors should be maintained. In sum, the children should be given a decent start in life so that they can grow up into decent citizens.”

Another area of concern, according to Banjo, is the assumption made by the experts on the purported superiority of the 6:3:3:4 system of secondary education over the sixth form system.

He said: “It has recently been revealed that one of our major universities has 80 percent of its students graduating with third class honours.

While that university deserves to be praised for not lowering its standards in order to achieve a more favourable profile, this situation, which is likely to be repeated in some other universities, raises a cause for alarm. It would appear, at least impressionistically, that the entrants into universities were much better prepared when they came from sixth forms or with ‘A’ levels”.

According to him, the most telling comment of the experts is that the 6:3:3:4 system is admirable in design, but has not been implemented faithfully. “ But if after so many years, a faithful implementation is not yet in sight, it is surely time to consider alternatives”.

Prof Joshua Aisiku, who spoke on “Quality Teacher Professional Development in Rivers State,” admitted that if any meaningful initiative is to succeed, teachers must be recognized as the hub, stressing that a nation’s greatness depends not on an army of soldiers, but an army of quality teachers.

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An unusual approach to governance in Garden City

By Rotimi Lawrence Oyekanmi ITIzENS of Rivers state have C different opinions about him. Some say he has not been pursuing the construction of roads as expected. “Most of our roads are still bad and there’s too much traffic congestion during the rush hours,” George, a cab driver and native of Ikwerre, complained as he drove his neat, rickety Toyota Corolla cab from the Port Harcourt International airport the other day. George, like others in his line of business, believes he will spend less amount of money on his cab’s maintenance if all Port Harcourt roads are properly fixed.

But Tony, a thickset, middleaged bartender in one of Port Harcourt’s popular hotels, wants him to bring in “rich investors” more quickly, “so that our children will not have

to go to Abuja to lobby for jobs.” As he mixed the contents of a bottle of cocacola with ice cubes in a transparent tumbler, Tony offered his reasons: “I have two children who are graduates and their demands are now beyond my pocket.”

However what almost everybody praises Rotimi Amaechi, the unassuming governor of Rivers state for, is his uncommon approach to fixing the rot in the state’s education sector.

Like no other governor in the country, Amaechi has been commended by even his critics, for transforming public primary and secondary schools in River state. He demolished the 1,300 dilapidated primary schools he inherited upon assumption of office and began the construction of several model primary schools, many of which are already in use.

Amaechi

Over 5000 teachers have been re-trained and about 13,000 new teachers will be given appointment letters this

week to fill portions of the huge gap in the state, which needs 91, 000 teachers, according to estimates. Last year,

Rivers state won N400 million for its outstanding implementation of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) scheme from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC). And for this year, Amaechi has allocated N47.13 billion to the education sector.

But the governor’s conduct during the state’s two-day Education Summit, held at the Government House in Port Harcourt and which ended last Tuesday, will be remembered by stakeholders for a long time. Unlike other governors who would disappear after the opening ceremony of such summits, Amaechi not only stayed throughout, he also acted as an alternative Master of Ceremony. After each round of presentations by eminent scholars, Amaechi took the floor to expose “state secrets” and even challenged his Commissioners and top

civil servants at the event to answer questions from the audience without fear or favour. He discussed the state’s challenges freely and also answered questions directly.

For instance, he admitted that some of the state’s civil servants were part of the problems facing his reform agenda.

He knew that it was one thing to build model schools, but he also admitted that if there are no good teachers or if the schools are not well maintained, the reform process might not endure.

Amaechi related different stories on his personal experiences. Quite unusually, he would personally drive his car to any school chosen at random to find out how things were or were not working.

Through such efforts, he discovered many things his offi-

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THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

Winners emerge in Leoplast essay competition

Olupona decries decline in education quality From Abiodun Fagbemi, Ilorin

HE Leoplast renowned Professor of T Foundation has extendA African Religious ed its annual essay compeTraditions from Harvard tition, which commenced in 2011 beyond Lagos State, Winners of the last edition were honoured at the prize giving ceremonies, held recently in Lagos and Ogun States respectively.

Leading Edge Consulting, managers of the Foundation, conducted essay-writing competitions in public schools within the Leoplast Group catchment areas in Lagos and Ogun States at a twoday competition in December 2012. Three independent examiners appointed from the academia and media graded the essays. The three best students in each state were determined and the winners, their parents, wellwishers and other stakeholders converged at the Leoplast Industries Offices in each state for the prize giving ceremonies.

In Lagos State, the first position was taken by Miss Chidinma Okonkwo from Ijeshatedo Grammar School, Okota-Isolo. She received a cheque of N100,000 and a brand new laptop. The second place winner was Miss Chizoba Uchendu from Okota Senior High School, Okota-Isolo, who got a cheque of N75,000 and award winning books. The third prize went to Master Samuel Martins from Okota Senior Secondary School, Okota-Isolo, who got a cheque of N50,000 and award winning books by leading African writers.

University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, Jacob Olupona, has alleged that the “the tragic decline in the quality of education” in the country could not be divorced from the alleged high rate at which Nigerians flock to other countries for educational pursuit.

Olupona, who holds the twin chair of African and African American Studies as well as African Religious Traditions of Harvard Divinity School, said yesterday in Ilorin while delivering the University of Ilorin Public Lecture entitled, “Rethinking Higher Education in Contemporary Nigeria: Reforms, Challenges and Possibilities”.

The Don explained that there is no clearer sign of the decline of the Nigerian universities than the number of students who turn to universities abroad for their education.

According to him,“available statistics suggest that this figure is astronomical, and of course, we know for sure that those who have the means to go abroad are the children of the elite.”

Lamenting that “the high demand for education abroad is a response to the poor quality of education we provide at home, as well as the pitiable access to higher education offered in the country”, Olupona noted that “Nigerians seek to reap the benefits of others’ labour without seeking to transform our own institutions into ones that will attract others to Nigeria.”

In the incisive and well-

Stakeholders chart new path for Rivers’ education sector CONTINUED FROM PAGE 55 Some of his recommendations, especially on the newly recruited teachers include: State provision of Induction; Internship mentoring and professional development opportunities through the use of experts and other consultants; Use of specially designed evaluation instruments for teachers’ continuous learning and self improvement; and the establishment of Teacher Professional Development Centres (TPDC) in the State.

In his paper on “ Implementing the Revised 9Year Basic And Senior Secondary Education Curricula: Structures, Strategies, Challenges And Opportunities,” the Executive Secretary Of the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), Prof Godswill Obioma, explained that the goal is to systematically phase out the current curriculum, by September 2016, the first batch of JSS students, based on the new edition of the Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) would graduate.

On the roles and responsibilities of Rivers state government in the effective implementation of the new curriculum, he recommended the mass procurement and distribution of the Senior Secondary Education Curriculum (SSEC).

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He said: “there should be monitoring and evaluation of the level of implementation of SSEC in schools. There should be enlightenment and capacity building activities on effective teaching, learning and assessment of Trade/Entrepreneurship subjects in schools.

At the Ambassador sixmonth-old Nne Furo Kurubo Model Secondary school, being managed by an Indian firm, Educomp, journalists were told the school enjoys 24 hours of power supply, has well equipped laboratories, a Smart class, sports’ and other facilities.

Catering for 700 under-privileged children, who ordinarily would not have had the opportunity to acquire education, the Director, Mr. Shantaram Hegdekatte, said education should not only provide children with the opportunity of being academically sound, but should also be multi-dimensional.

At St Andrew’s Primary School, a very confident Master Promise Akonemo, a pupil, stated: “In my village, the school I was attending was very dirty. The environment was dirty and we were always getting dirty because we play a lot and the teachers don’t mind if we are playing because they hardly come to class. But here, you must work very hard. I have used the computer and I like my teachers a lot.”

received lecture, organised by the Centre for International Education (CIE), University of Ilorin, the Walter Channing Cabot Fellow stressed that foreign institutions made sacrifices in building their institutions and advised Nigeria to do the same.

In order to correct the decline and rot in the country’s education system, Olupona called for an urgent rethink of public education in the country “as an honorable and worthy goal to pursue.”

Wondering why the nation’s political leaders would not consider education a significant place to invest for the future of our children, the guest lecturer decried “the situation where

education has been so largely relegated to the for-profit sector, as we see in the private universities.”

The Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM) award winner also advised Nigerian universities to stop bestowing honorary degrees on unqualified individuals, stating that university officials must feel the pulse of both the University Senate and the common people to determine if a citizen deserves such a significant honor.

Olupona said, “honoring the undeserving degrades the status of a university’s degree and demeans the community of learning”, adding that “such practices send the wrong signals to those in the outside world,

who justifiably believe that honorary degrees have become a ‘cash and carry’ phenomenon in Nigeria.”

The multiple award-winning scholar also tasked government to stop appointing politicians who are non-academics into the University Councils, saying that “the ruling government has enough committees on which to place party members, whose job it is to serve the nation.”

He pointed out that “partisan politics and the gross negligence of government officials” must not be allowed to ruin the nation’s universities and institutions of learning, explaining that “when politicians are appointed as members, or even chairs of University

Councils, they often insist on controlling the governance of these institutions.”

He suggested that distinguished educationists, retired Vice-Chancellors, and industrialists should be appointed to serve on the University Councils.

“In governance, agriculture, information technology, health, and learning practices, Nigerian institutions have critical roles to play in renewing and re-engineering this nation,” Prof. Olupona said, adding that “We cannot continue to ask for divine intervention alone, as is the common practice in our nation today. Yes, I believe in divine intervention, but human hands have as much of a role to play in our redemption as divine grace”.

LRCN seeks improved funding for library, information science HE Librarians’ Registration exist; to equip them on how to are giving grants to libraries Council is organizing this T Council of Nigeria (LRCN) is package winning proposals annually but hinted that workshop to equip librarians seeking measures to ensure for grants and attract funding Nigerian libraries have not with necessary skills on proadequate funding for the library and information science (LIS) sector. This is because, Nigerian libraries, as a result of zero budgeting and budget cuts in the country need to seek and attract additional funds from both national and international agencies and donors. But this can be achieved when libraries and librarians have clear understanding of the mechanisms in proposal writing, grantseeking and fundraising.

Registrar/CEO of LRCN, Dr Victoria Okojie, at the opening ceremony of the national workshop on ‘Proposal Writing, Grant- Seeking and Fundraising for Improved Library Services in Nigeria’ held recently in Enugu said that it is common knowledge that inadequate funding often cripples activities and hinders professionals (librarians) from attaining their desired goals.

“However, we are aware that funding can be sourced from many donor agencies,” she said. “A yawning gap exists between professionals and these opportunities.”

Okojie stated that the workshop was put together by LRCN as an attempt in trying to bridge the gaps and to expose librarians to the numerous opportunities that

to improve the quality of service delivery.

She noted the existence of some library-focused donors such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Access to Learning Award and eIFL who

taken full advantage of these opportunities.

“To further promote professional excellence, quality information service and improve the financial base of libraries in Nigeria, the

posal writing, grant seeking and fundraising.”

She said LRCN, as a regulator for the LIS sector will continue to work towards popularizing the library use culture in Nigeria.

Deputy Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Akure Prof. Akim Osunde (left), immediate past Vice Chancellor, Osun State University, Prof Sola Akinrinade; Managing Director, Executive Trainers, Ajoke Ogunsan and the Chairman, Ayo Ogunsan at a recent training in Pace University, New York, United States (U.S)

A governor’s unusual approach to governance CONTINUED FROM PAGE 55 cials would never tell him.

He told his audience several stories of such discoveries. On one occasion, he went to one particular model primary school unannounced, only to discover that the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) gadgets provided by the state government were not being used. “I had said that all our facilities must be put to use and there should be no excuses for not using the equipment we spent so much money to put in place,” he said.

When he asked the head teacher what the problem was, Amaechi was told there was no diesel to power the generator.

“Did you tell anybody about your challenge,” he asked the female head teacher. “Yes sir,” she affirmed, “I reported (to the State Universal Basic Education Board) over three weeks ago.”

The governor talked about the challenge of getting qualified teachers to teach in the

schools. “I know that even if we build model schools and equip them, we cannot achieve our objectives if we don’t have good teachers.” He revealed that the first approach was to invite the British Council to retrain the existing teachers.

“But we were told that 45 per cent of those teachers copied from one another during tests,” he told his bewildered audience. “So, how will a teacher who cheated while on training, handle a student who engages in examination malpractice?”

Amaechi also admitted the difficulty in getting committed teachers. He stated that while studies revealed that Rivers state would need 91,000 teachers, he had quickly approved the immediate employment of 13,000 new ones. Instructively, it was discovered during the recruitment exercise, that only about 47 per cent out of over 18,000 applicants had the required qualification to teach. “We are looking for teachers with pas-

sion and commitment, and not those who will move on once they get another job even as a driver to a state governor.”

Of particular concern to him is the practice by some primary school head teachers and secondary school principals of collecting fees from hapless pupils. He regretted that despite providing everything virtually free, some head teachers still designed ways of collecting illegal fees from their pupils under various guises. Of course, Amaechi vowed to deal with such cases as they unfold.

The state’s first citizen also stated that many people had been asking him about what would happen to his reform programme when his term expires in 2015. He said: “They have been saying to me, ‘when you leave office, what is the guarantee that your successor will continue with your work?’

But are these not the same people who said I was too young to be the governor of Rivers state? How come they are now

suddenly praising me? My belief is that, there are still those who can do even better than me in governing Rivers state. So, I am not worried about 2015.”

Amaechi also related his experience at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), where he recently had a running battle with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over the appointment of the Vice Chancellor. His words: “I drove to the university to apologise for appointing a vice chancellor without due process,” he stated. “They were surprised that the governor could take such a step and so, they were eager to listen when I said I had come with a proposal. And my proposal was that, the Rivers State Government will be prepared to sponsor anybody that wants to teach in the university up to the doctorate (PhD) level in a foreign university; all expenses paid. But since I gave them that proposal, only six individuals have come forward.”

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Stakeholders task parents on sexuality education

By Joseph Onyekwere TAKEHOLDERS in the educaSparents tional sector have called on to engage their chil-

Vice Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha (left), honorary awardee, Gen Theophilus Danjuma, Vice President, Alhaji Namadi Sambo, Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar at the recent convocation ceremony of ABU in Kaduna recently

ABU old students mobilize funds to save alma mater LD students of the O Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria have come together to rescue their alma mater from its present poor financial state. This informed the decision to launch a N50 billion development fund to construct phase two of the fifty year old university and rehabilitate some already existing structures and facilities. The launch coincided with the convocation ceremony last year, but a special doctorate degree awardee and old student of the institution was noticeably absent.

General Theophilus Danjuma who studied at the institution therefore had a Special convocation held in his honour recently where he was conferred with a Honorary Doctorate Degree of Science.

He did not disappoint his alma mater as he single handed committed himself to the construction and equipment of a brand new science faculty to include an administration block, a modern and fully equipped library, main auditorium with adequate sitting and learning facilities and the landscaping and the beautification of the faculty. Flanked by his wife, Senator Daisy Danjuma and several of his associates, the former Chief of

Defence Staff also pledged to provide every other structure and facility needed at the new faculty except for the department building with everything at an estimated N2.3 billion.

Danjuma in his address identified Science and Technology Development as the key to economic and industrial growth for Nigeria and any nation which seeks to take its place on the global stage. In his characteristic blunt fashion, Danjuma warned that the North, due to the educational deficiency of its citizens in comparison to their counterparts from other parts of the nation is at the risk of anarchy which is being fuelled by the activities of the Boko Haram sect.

He lamented that the Northern forebears; Sir Ahmadu Bello, Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa and others, placed prime premium on merit, self reliance and sought to create a society with respect for human life regardless of tribe, religion or ethnicity.

They would be appalled at ongoing situation in Northern Nigeria where bombings, murders and lawlessness have become the order of the day, he added.

“Human life is very cheap in Nigeria and impunity has

become a norm. In the case of the North, the danger is very real indeed. Ladies and gentlemen, we are in the middle of a civil war in Northern Nigeria.

There is no defined front in this particular war and worse still; the enemy is faceless and unknown. There is no immunity for anyone, moreover, this war is highly contagious, and needless to say the social and economic cost is incalculable,” Danjuma warned.

Former President Ibrahim Babangida lauded his former superior in the military as a Nigerian who has contributed the most to the development of education in the country right from his days in the military and more after his retirement.

Other donors rallied round to revive the ailing institution which is regarded as a flagship in the North. The Northern Governors’ Forum (NGF) with Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu as Chairman donated ‘initial’ N100 million with a pledge from the member Governors to pick particular projects and execute them.

Sokoto state pledged to construct two units of 45 roomed hostel while banks donated monies ranging from N3 million to N5million.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who was represent-

ed by his son, Adamu Abubakar donated N25million. A consortium of 34 architecture firms owned some old students donated their designed the plan for the phase two. They donated their charge of about N7 billion back to the institution.

Dignitaries at the event included Vice President Namadi Sambo, Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Mohammadu Sa’ad, Niger state Governor Babangida Aliyu and his Kaduna counterpart, Muktar Yero, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tabuwal, former Information Minister Professor Jerry Gana, Education Minister Prof.

Ruqayyatu Rufai and a host of northern stalwarts.

The Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha in an earlier address reaffirmed the readiness of the school to become a world class institution comparable to any other in imparting contemporary knowledge using high quality facilities and multi-disciplinary approach.

He added that the institution is ready to live up to its name and break new grounds through teaching and quality research, and to foster national and international integrations and development of African traditions nod culture.

Commissioner cautions against interference in education policies From John Akubo, Dutse HE Jigawa commissioner for T education, Prof. Haruna Wakili has said he would not allow his ministry to be dragged in to the needless tussle for emirate supremacy in the distribution of State institutions.

This is coming against the backdrop that the emir of Gumel Ahmed Muhammad Sani was alleged to have raised an eyebrow over the citing of the State University in Kafin Hausa rather than Gumel. The State has been bedevil led by tussle for supremacy among the five emirate councils which has worked against its development in the past.

Wakili who gave the indication in his office as a response said the establishment of the new

state university in Kafin-hausa is to ensure even distribution of tertiary institutions across the state.

Wakili explained that the choice of Kafinhausa was part of a deliberate policy to enhance access to quality education. “The present government does not belief in emirate politics, we do anything based on the need and aspirations of the people.

“Before the establishment of this university, a committee was set up and it met with relevant stakeholders to decide on where the institution is to be sited and other issues” he said.

He said Governor Sule Lamido administration has been fair, equitable and just in the distribution of Government projects to all the people and the areas of the state.

The commissioner indicated that the North-west senatorial district of the State already had four tertiary institutions, North-central has four while North-east had only one before the establishment of the university in the zone.

Wakili said that the new university would help their children to have access to university education which had been difficult for them over the years.

In the same vein he said the state government has expended N701 million for various capital projects in the state college of education, Gumel between 2007 and 2012.

Wakili stated that the institution was under funded by the previous governments before the Governor Sule Lamido came on board to reorder the

anomaly. “From 1999 to 2007, the state college of education got only eight million Naira for capital projects in eight years, from our records,” he said.

He stated that from 2009 to 2011, the institution also got N1.8 billion from Tertiary Education Trust Fund to embark on capital projects.

The commissioner said that all these were done to enable the college run degree programmes.

Wakili noted that the state college of education would run the degree programme in collaboration with Bayero University, Kano.

He reiterated government’s commitment to providing more facilities in the school in order to produce more qualified teachers in the state.

dren in early sexuality education in order to avert future hazards. The stakeholders made the call at the weekend while speaking at a one day seminar organised by the Dinma & Nedum Foundation in Lagos on how best to imbibe positive virtues in children, especially in a corrupt society.

Dinma & Nedum foundation is a family centred organisation aimed at building marriages by empowering couples.

Head of Mathematics department, Federal Government Girls College (FGGC) Shagamu, Mrs Dasoye Opute urged parents to be explicit in teaching their wards about sex.

She said once these children begin to ask questions touching on their sexuality, parents must ensure that those questions are answered satisfactorily but with caution.

Opute said that where sex education is given to children, it should be done in the right direction and with a sound advice to such a child. She said it was wrong to think that giving sex education to our children is shameful and urged mothers to tackle such situation when it arises with wisdom.

According to Opute, the growth of a child is in different phases and knowing about their sexuality is one of such phase.

Also speaking, Mrs Abimbola Ozomah, a teenage Counsellor, decried the attitude of parents who shy away

from giving their children sex education, adding that such attitudes was based on the erroneous belief by some parents that these children would seek to practice what they told.

Ozomah condemned such wrong perception adding that where such vital information is hidden from children who ought to be informed, they soon become gullible to societal vices.

“A handful of our young ones have fallen into wrong hands due to the ineptitude of some parents who failed in their parental responsibilities.

Some parents even reprimand their children for asking questions about sex, with a warning never to repeat same.

“Now, these children having been shunned by their parents, may in the long run, satisfy their curiosity from a wrong source, and the consequences may be grevious.

“It is always safer for parents, especially mothers, to ensure that they teach their children all they need to know about sex education in order to avert cases of rape, unwanted pregnancies and other vices.

A Retired Guidance Counsellor with FGGC Ijaniki, Lagos, Mrs Regina Ofole also urged parents to devote quality time for their wards. She said a lot of mothers were responsible for the improper upbringing of their children all in the name of been a working class or a career woman.

Ofole explained that it was important for parents to often pay a visit to the schools of their children and ascertain how their wards behaved outside their homes, adding that such would assist parent to correct any error discovered in the child early enough.

Peacock College unveils programmes on offer in Nigeria

By Mary Ogar O contribute to the internaT tionalization of education and contribute to human development, Mr. Segun Phillips, a Sociology graduate of the University of Lagos has commenced the operations of Peacock College, a professional and degree-awarding institution in United Kingdom.

The UK-based College, which was established in 2012, has also been approved as a candidate for accreditation by the British Accreditation Council for Independent Further and Higher Education.

Speaking to journalists in Lagos recently, Phillips who retired from the Federal Civil Service to launch into tour and travel business said the desire to prove to foreigners that not all Nigerians are crooks also contributed to his setting up the institution which has received the International Student Association accreditation to deliver professional and academic degree and postgraduate programmes.

He further encouraged Nigerians who desire to be on their own never to entertain fear. “When we started the institution, I know that we would not have problem getting accreditation because Europeans respect laws and if you can follow their rules to the letter, where you come from would not matter. That is why we are excited at the progress made by the institution”.

With the accreditation by ISA, he said the college is now qualified to offer certificate, diploma and degree pro-

grammes in its main campus in London.

On the approval of the National Universities Commission (NUC) to start for the programmes in the country, Phillips said “that would not be a problem since both the ISA and BAC accreditation enjoy global acceptability. As a responsible institution, I’m sure that if we have been able to pass the strict accreditation guidelines in the UK, doing so here, I believe, should not be a problem”.

In a statement signed by the college Principal, Mr. Zenon Adamek, a Briton, he attributed the feat made by the college to hard work, transparency and its passion for development.

He added that the college has been drawing upon the experience and expertise of academics, professionals working in the pertinent industries and colleagues with wealth of practice and knowledge to deliver professional academic programmes in Business Management, Health and Social Care, Hospitality Travel and Tours and Information Technology.

He added that these programmes would be delivered as certificate, diploma and extended diploma all at level 4 to 7 of UK National Occupation Standards.

While Level 4 to 7 certificate of the UK NOS is an equivalent of first and second degrees in Nigeria. He affirmed that the implication of ISA accreditation is that the college could now award first degrees and professional degrees at postgraduate level.

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SPOTLIGHT ON THE DISTINGUISHED LECTURE SERIES 1 AND MAIDEN MATRICULATION OF THE ELIZADE UNIVERSITY.

ELIZADE UNIVERSITY: THE UNIVERSITY OF THE FUTURE ODAY, a new Flower-Elizade T University, Ilara-Mokin, Ondo State, will burst out among the LILY in

the nation’s tertiary institution as the first set of 64 students matriculate.

Pioneered by the business mogul, icon and industrialist, Sir (Chief) Michael Ade.Ojo (OON), ELIZADE UNIVERSITY is poised to surpass the achievements of other higher institutions that have existed before it.

The university which is located in a serene environment has a lot of natural sceneries surrounding it would enhance and promote learning.

Coming at a time when there are diversities of opinion concerning the number of private universities in the country, the progenitors of the institutions have put in place a lot of structures and facilities to ensure its success. The institution is dotted with a lot of modern infrastructures which spread across the vast land the institution occupies.

Among the structures are the well fortified cafeteria centres, the sport centre, modern faculty buildings with lecture rooms adorned with up to date furnitures. Similarly, the students’ court yard is of international standard with a stand-by-clinic within the campus.

The love of the founder to promote the interest of students to learn at beautiful environment, has also made the ELIZADE University to support the senior staff of the school with accommodation comprising block of flats and duplexes among other structures.

In case of power failure, the school has put in place a lot of facilities including generators and transformer.

The school commenced academic session on January 5, 2013, with the pioneer students already settling down. The university has an array of courses that will shapen the future of the students of the school. The university is starting with two faculties which are Humanities and Management; and Basic and Applied Management.

Among the courses offered in the two faculties are Accounting; Banking and Finance; Business Administration, Human Resource Management; Office and Information Management; History and Applied Studies and English Language. Others are Biology, Microbiology, Chemistry, Physics, Computer Sceince and Mathematics.

Speaking on why the university came into stream, Chief Michael Ade-Ojo said that “It has been the dream and aspiration of my late wife, Chief (Mrs.) Elizabeth Wuraola and my humble self to intervene and address the marginalization of the people of our community, Ilara-Mokin and its environ in particular and Nigeria in general, by establishing an educational institution of international standard. In order to realize this dream, the ELIZADE OJO FOUNDATION was established.”

According to him, the establishment of the proposed ELIZADE UNIVERSITY, the baby of the foundation, is not only a dream come true for me personally, but it also marks another major step toward the growth and development of our dear country adding that the fact we shall be training young men and women, who shall be our future leaders, imbues

Sir (Chief) Micheal Ade.Ojo, OON, KJW

with a lot of hope for the rapid transformation of our society,” gives me joy.

Stating that he is poised to establish an institution that is unique in design and character and depth in the physical structure including the quality of wouldbe graduates, he stressed that the whole idea is to save parents from the heavyburden of high cost of learning in foreign countries and to reverse the craze for overseas education.

The vision of ELIZADE UNIVERSITY is “to be a world-class institution dedicated to the pursuit of academic excellence in the context of relevance of knowledge to the developmental aspirations of mankind.”

The MISSION of the school is “to be a specialized institution that shall be an epitome of the best traditions in the production of self reliant, ethnics-conscious, globally competitive graduates imbued with requisite skills, competencies and ability to be key players in the nation’s quest for socio- economic and technological development.”

ELIZADE University has set a lot of objectives and philosophy to guide the institution in the coming years. The philosophy of the school is based on the need to apply education and knowledge for self-reliance, socio-economic development and for total up-liftment of mankind. It is also based on the conviction that it shall produce the total man and woman who shall be equipped with the relevant knowledge and skills to enable them compete favourably in the world of challenges.

The ELIZADE University plans to achieve the philosophy by: • Adopting pedagogical approaches that emphasize practical skills acquisition rather than role learning, • Creating an enabling atmosphere with the state-of-the-art facilities and

employing quality staff where teaching, learning and relevant research are celebrated.

• Producing through her teaching and research activities thinkers, researchers, scholars and leaders of tomorrow.

Among the objectives of the institution are: • To promote world-class graduates in different disciplines who are highly skilled, ethics-conscious and well rounded and will be useful to commercial ventures soon.

• To ensure appropriate industrial and commercial inputs informal education and training forging a dynamic link with industry and commerce; • To produce internationally acceptable graduates that could compete favourably with peers anywhere in the world; • To play a critical role in the development and incubation of engineering and technology knowledge and in the dissemination of that knowledge; • To carry out basic and applied research learning to the domestication and application of new technology to the Nigerian context; • To establish a centre of entrepreneurial studies to stimulate job creation and innovative abilities in students from onset in their studies, in such a way that graduates shall be resourceful, selfreliant and job creators and • To undertake other activities appropriate for teaching, research, and community service as expected of a university of high standard.

A cursory look at the institution shows that eminent Nigerians are in support of the university which would dazzle among the universities in the country. If the university takes a cue from its parent company, the sky is the limit for it.

A peep into the life of the founder of

ELIZADE UNIVERSITY shows that he is like an oak tree which grew from the mustard seed. Born on June 14, 1938, at Ilara-Mokin in Ondo State of Nigeria to a family of Chief Solomon Ojo of the Lamilohun Lisa Chieftancy House and Chief (Mrs.) Beatrice Ademolawe Ojo, Chief Ade Ojo had his primary education at St. Michael’s Anglican School, Ilara-Mokin. He later proceeded to the famous Imade College, Owo under the leadership of the late Pa Adekunle Ajasin in 1954 and finished in 1958. He thereafter undertook an 18 months course at the School of Agriculture, Akure after which he had a brief working stint as a Laboratory Technician in the Ministry of Agriculture, Moore Plantation, Ibadan, Oyo State.

Chief Ade Ojo proceeded to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, (UNN) in 1961 to study Business Administration and graduated in June 1965 with a Second Class (Upper Division). He also attended various top Management Development Courses including the Chief Executives.

Programmes of the Lagos Business School (CEP-7) and the IESE/LBS Seminar on Competitive Strategy and Value Creation in Barcelona, Spain.

After leaving school in 1965, he worked with various companies including CFAO (which had sponsored him in his last two years in the university). The Federal Inland Revenue Department and British Petroleum Nigeria Limited (now African Petroleum) where he distinguished himself as the Best Sales Representative.

In fulfillment of his resolve to establish his own organization within ten years of graduation, Sir Michael AdeOjo abandoned the certainty of a plum colonial job for the uncertainty of private enterprise. He later set up the ELIZADE Independent Agencies, a family business co-founded with his late wife Chief (Mrs.) Elizabeth Wuraola Ojo. It was later incorporated into ELIZADE Nigeria Limited. The company deals in motor vehicle sales, spare parts and service.

Today, the company which Sir (Chief) Michael Ojo started with just one support staff in 1971 has become a giant with several subsidiaries including Toyota Nigeria Ltd and Oodua Creation Ltd. among others. Chief Ade Ojo is the Chairman of various companies including Toyota Nigeria Ltd., Moore-house Sofitel Ltd., Imperial Telecomunications Limited and Courteville Investment Company Plc among others.

On the efforts the university is making to introduce more courses in ELIZADE UNIVERSITY, Mr. Omololu Adegbenro, the Registrar, stated that efforts are on to get approval from the Nigerian University Commission (NUC) to commence the Engineering, Economics, Mass Communication, Biotechnology, Tourism and so on in the 2013-14 academic session.

To Chief Ade-Ojo, he said that the journey has been very challenging but the outcome is encouraging and deserving. He thanked all the groups, individuals, bodies including executives of NUC for their support of the ELIZADE University.

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BUSINESS

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NEXIM to invest $60m in intra-Africa shipping initiative

By Femi Adekoya O foster bilateral trade among West African countries, the Nigeria Export Import Bank (NEXIM) has announced plans to commit $60 million to the intra-Africa shipping of goods under the regional sealink project.

The Managing Director of the bank, Robert Orya made the declaration yesterday while addressing members of the private sector, under the aegis of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), on the need to partake in the investment opportunity.

“It is less expensive to carry a container from China to Lagos. It costs about $2500 to move products from Lagos to Douala while it costs about $3500 to move the same products from China to Lagos. If you want to take goods to Tema port in Ghana from Nigeria by road, it takes six days with a lot of hassles, but if you want to move it by sea, it takes 60 days because you will use European vessels to take the goods to Europe first and then bring it back to Ghana.

“So, a quick win solution for us is to set up a maritime shipping company since most members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Central African countries are coastal nations. That way will liberate our countries and our businessmen and help them to keep the margins of their businesses instead of paying it to European shipping companies,” he said.

Analysing the structure of the regional sealink project, he said the $1.5 million of the $61.5 million investment will go into the setting up of the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the project; setting up of other preliminary structure of the project embarking on feasibility studies in the various countries; organising board meetings; and interfacing with the various government.

Orya added that the $60 million will be for actual investment of the project with $36 million, which will be sourced as equity going into the procurement of vessels, equipment, office space and other infrastructure, while $24 million to be sourced as debt, will go into the project as working capital to cover general and administrative expenses.

Highlighting the importance of the project, the

T

NEXIM boss said growth of intra-ECOWAS trade has grown from 4.7 million tonnes in 1998 to 13.2 million tonnes in 2008 without any corresponding increase in road or rail transport logistic infrastructure.

He noted that there is a low level of African container traffic at less than one per cent of the total world container traffic of over 400 million containers.

He also identified the increase in West African loaded and unloaded dry cargo in million tonnages from 41.4 and 66.2 in 2009

to 53.8 and 73.2 in 2010 respectively as well as Central Africa rise from 8.5 to 9.2 and 10.9 to 11.4 respectively.

He outlined the benefits of the project to include unlocking the opportunities in the maritime sector through effective indigenous participation, thereby stimulating maritime-related employment as well as minimise the incidence of freight rate payment capital flight of an average of $5 billion yearly from import and export tonnages.

He also said the project

would facilitate the realisation of the various maritime-related laws like the Cabotage and NIMASA Acts and the implementation; provide immediate impact to the amelioration of basic road or rail infrastructural deficit challenges that affects regional integration and a major cause for the muted growth of the intra African and ECOWAS trade levels of about 10 per cent and 12 per cent respectively.

“It would enable NEXIM achieve its projected credit growth towards improving intra-regional trade from

current intra-regional trade levels to a minimum of 15 per cent annually,” he said.

National President, NACCIMA, Dr. Herbert Ajayi said the West African market is huge and had not been fully tapped as a result of challenges being faced when goods and persons are being transported due to the time of freight and the attendant high cost, due to absence of direct shipping line plying the West and Central African corridor.

He commended the full support of the Federal Government to the project

and the endorsement of NEXIM Bank as the facilitating and the coordinating agency, stressing that the success of the project would bring about an increase in intra regional trade flow from the current flow.

“It would also enhance capacity building in international trade and structured trade financing and create job and investment opportunities thereby meeting the Federal Government economic objectives and transformation agenda,” he added.

Afren offers $37m for stake in Nigerian asset

By Sulaimon Salau FREN Plc a U.K.-based oil and gas company is planning to expand reserves by 29 percent after increasing its stake in an indigenous firm, First Hydrocarbon Nigeria Company Limited.

Afren, according to a statement obtained by The Guardian, said the proven and probable reserves would climb to 270 million barrels of oil equivalent from 210 million barrels.

The statement said Afren has agreed to pay about $37 million for 10.4 per cent of First Hydrocarbon Nigeria Co. (FHN), raising its stake to about 55 percent.

The board noted that “COGIL has exercised the terms of an amended agreement under which Afren would acquire the beneficial interest in approximately 10.4 per cent of the issued share capital of FHN in exchange for an aggregate consideration of $37.05 million, payable in cash.

Under the terms of agreement, Afren will acquire a beneficial interest in 15 million shares in FHN. Following the acquisition Afren will have a beneficial interest in 54.8 per cent of the issued share capital of FHN. This will also result in a material change in 2P reserves net to Afren.

It stated that the Group’s pro forma net proved and probable reserves is expected to increase from 210 mmboe to approximately 270 mmboe, adding that it plans to increase its net proved and probable reserves by 29 per cent after completion of the deal.

The agreement also emphasized that FHN will remain as an indigenous Nigerian oil and gas company.

FHN was established in

A

June 2009 in direct response to the Nigerian government’s policy to increase indigenous participation in the Nigerian upstream oil and gas sector and its commitment to deepening indigenous involvement in the sector at all levels.

Afren initially held 40 per cent of FHN’s issued shares and currently holds (directly or indirectly) 44.5 per cent of the issued share capital of FHN (46.7 per cent as at 31 December 2012 prior to a new issue of shares by FHN).

In December 2011, FHN acquired a 45 per cent interest in the OML 26 portfolio of assets in Nigeria from

Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, Total Exploration and Production Nigeria and Nigeria Agip Oil Company.

The OML 26 portfolio of assets holds two producing fields (Ogini and Isoko), with 2P oil reserves estimated at 134.6 mmboe and gross contingent resources estimated at 68.0 mmboe as at 31 December 2012, according to a technical expert’s report prepared for FHN by Netherland Sewell & Associates International, and three proven but undeveloped fields (Aboh, Ovo and Ozoro), with gross contingent resources estimated at 144 mmboe and a further 615 mmboe of gross

unrisked prospective resources on the block across multiple prospects that Afren expects will continue to be worked up in parallel to and integrated with the development plans.

The Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, the oil and gas exploration and production subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Company, is the operator of OML 26 and works closely in partnership with FHN on the redevelopment of the assets.

In 2012 gross average production from the Ogini and Isoko field totalled 6,010 bopd, of which 1,217 bopd were attributed to Afren,

with gross production going beyond the ceiling of the asset pre-acquisition of 8,000 bopd at times during the second half of 2012. The current forward work programme for FHN is expected to increase production to more than 40,000 bopd through a phased development process by 2015 and ultimately take production to 50,000 bopd.

The board of FHN includes two Afren representatives, Egbert Imomoh and Osman Shahenshah, out of a total of nine directors.

FHN’s chief executive officer is ‘Labi Ogunbiyi, previously an executive director of Afren.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (left); Chinese President, Xi Jinping; South Africa President, Jacob Zuma; Brazil’s President, Dilma Rousseff; and Russian President, Vladimir Putin at BRICS Summit in Durban, South Africa, yesterday.

Petrobas to divest from Nigeria’s oil blocs

By Sulaimon Salau with agency reports Ndications have emerged that the Brazilian oil giant-Petrobas may sell its stakes in Nigeria’s oil blocs.

Specifically, Brazilian Oil Company plans to sell its stake in Agbami and Akpo oil fields offshore, Nigeria.

This is coming few weeks after ConocoPhillips unveiled plans to sell its Nigerian businesses to Oando Energy for about $1.79 billion.

Sources said the move might not be unconnected with the quest for energy sufficiency by the nations, coupled with the new shale

I

oil development.

Petrobras, according to sources, would auction its stakes in Nigerian oil fields to raise cash for domestic projects, a deal that may fetch up to $5 billion.

The state-controlled company, formally known as Petroleo Brasileiro SA, has hired Standard Chartered to run the process, which will kick-off in the next two months, banking and oil industry sources said.

Petrobras is said to have hired Standard Chartered to run the process, which will kick off in the next two months, banking and oil industry sources said.

Asian state oil companies

are expected to bid in the hopes of adding more production assets to their respective portfolios.

Private equity funds are also interested, banking sources said.

Standard Chartered and Petrobras declined comment.

Petrobras will sell its eight per cent stake in the Nigerian offshore Agbami blocks, which are operated

by U.S. energy major Chevron and its 20 per cent share of the offshore Akpo project, operated by France’s Total.

Crude oil production from the Agbami field fields began in 2008. Output from

the project can reach 250,000 barrels per day (bpd), and it holds estimated reserves of 900 million barrels.

Akpo began production in 2009 and has plateau output of 175,000 bpd of light condensate oil and 9 million cubic meters of gas. It has proved and probable reserves of 620 million barrels of condensate and more than 28 billion cubic meters of gas, according to Total.

Petrobras began operations in Nigeria in 1998 in the deep waters off the coast of the Niger Delta.

Petrobras is divesting assets and redirecting

investment towards higherreturn activities such as exploration and production to finance a five-year, $237 billion capital spending plan, the world’s largest corporate investment programme.

Petrobras hopes to more than double current oil and gas production by the start of the next decade to about 5.2 million barrels of oil equivalent a day and also help Brazil become self-sufficient in refined products as well.

By divesting assets such as the Nigerian blocks, Petrobras can focus more on exploring for oil in a vast deep sea region off the coast

of Brazil known as the subsalt, thought to contain dozens of billions of barrels of high-quality oil.

Cash flow has been crimped by falling output and the government’s refusal, on anti-inflation grounds, to let Brazilian gasoline and diesel prices rise in line with world prices. This has forced Petrobras to subsidize consumers even as its debt rises above its internal limits.

The company recently cut its asset sale goal to $9.9 billion from nearly $15 billion after it failed to get attractive offers for energy assets in the Gulf of Mexico.

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CAPITAL MARKET

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

NigeriaCapitalMarket NSE Daily Summary (Equities) PRICE LIST OF SYMBOLS TRADED FOR 27/3/2013

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

CAPITAL MARKET

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NSE Daily Summary (Equities) as at 27/03/2013

PRICE GAINERS

LOSERS

SEC set to revamp Abuja Commodity Exchange

By Helen Oji S part of strategies to A attract the needed investment in the Nigerian Capital Market, the Securities and Exchange Commission, yesterday, explained that plans are underway to revamp the Abuja Commodities Exchange Market in such a way that 70 per cent of the commodities, under the privatization agenda would be sold to the private sector while 30 per cent would be retained by the government . Besides, the National

. As PENCOM invests 416b in equities Pension Commission (PENCOM) assets which is currently put at $20billion representing N3.2 trillion would have 13 percent (N416b) invested in the NCM. Addressing Journalists yesterday in Lagos, the Director-General of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Ms. Arunma Oteh, explained that when these plans are approved by the privatization Committee, it would strengthen the market in

terms of liquidity as well as enhance market stability.

She said the process is currently on-going, adding that stirring committee has already being set up to guide the process.

She explained that the value of retail investors in the equity market, as at February hit 61 per cent while foreign portfolio dropped to 39 per cent from 70 per cent last year.

To attract and retain the value of retail investment in the market, Oteh

explained that the Commission has concluded plans to launch the National Association of Securities Dealers and Financial Market Dealers Association platform in may 2013.

The two platforms, according to her would broaden the capital market coverage and allows bond transactions and securities traded on the Over the Counter to become more transparent and provide a medium for long term financing for

infrastructure development and Small and Medium Enterprise growth.

She explained that the Alternative Securities Exchange which would be launched in April this year would attract more companies to the market, as the listing requirements have been made less stringent than those of the main board.

She added that these companies would later be listed on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

On the issue of dematerialization of the Exchange,

the Commission is currently reviewing the report put forward by the committee set up last year on dematerialization, adding that Sec would speed up processes to ensure that the exercise commence soon.

Concerning Market Making, she explained that all securities, except those trading on par will be eligible for market making. “The programme wa s a pilot phase and going forward, all the securities will be eligible, except those trading at par.�

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GlobalStocks Global stocks, euro fall on fears of wider euro zone woes AJOR stock markets fell M and the euro slumped to a four-month low against the dollar on Wednesday, hit by a disappointing Italian bond auction and concern about the potential for a wider impact on the euro zone from Cyprus’s bailout.

Bleak euro zone economic data added to a sour tone in markets, driving demand for safe-haven assets.

U.S. Treasuries debt prices jumped, with benchmark yields falling to their lowest levels in three weeks and German Bunds also gained.

Gold rose above $1,600 an ounce.

At a debt auction on Wednesday, Italy paid more to borrow over five years than it has since October as lack of progress in forming a new government and worries about Cyprus hurt demand.

Cypriot banks are due to reopen on Thursday.

Cyprus is putting the final touches on capital control measures to prevent a run on banks after the country agreed to a bailout deal that will wipe out some senior bank bondholders and impose losses on large depositors.

The worry among investors is that despite attempts by some officials to dismiss the idea, the plan could become a blueprint for any future euro zone bailout.

“The overhang of the Cypriot bailout, and especially its implications for euro zonewide banking depositors, along with a dip in confidence and lackluster Italian debt auctions, have upset the apple cart for U.S. investors determined to assault record stock market highs,” said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak + Co, LLC in New York.

U.S. stocks fell after a rally on Monday propelled the S&P 500 to within striking distance of an all-time closing

high.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI dropped 41.51 points, or 0.29 percent, to 14,518.14. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index .SPX fell 3.78 points, or 0.24 percent, to 1,559.99.

The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC lost 5.28 points, or 0.16 percent, to 3,247.21.

MSCI’s index of world shares .MIWD00000PUS, which tracks 6000 stocks in 45 countries, fell 0.3 percent to 358.38 points. European shares .FTEU3 dropped 0.3 percent to 1,185.07 points.

Benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury notes were up 16/32

Rising Italian borrowing costs and its political situation are both negatives,” said Greg Anderson, G10 strategist at Citigroup in New York. “Investors are not overly short the euro, so there is plenty of scope for the euro to test the lows of the past cycle. in price to yield 1.854 percent.

The euro fell as low as $1.2750, the weakest since November 21, and last traded at $1.2782, down 0.6 percent on the day.

“Rising Italian borrowing costs and its political situation are both negatives,” said

Greg Anderson, G10 strategist at Citigroup in New York.

“Investors are not overly short the euro, so there is plenty of scope for the euro to test the lows of the past cycle.”

Data on Wednesday showed confidence in the euro zone’s economy fell more than

expected in March after four straight months of gains.

Other reports showed a slump in Italian manufacturing and retail sales and contraction in France’s economy at the end of last year.

The dollar slipped 0.1 percent to 94.36 yen, while the dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of major currencies, rose to a more than seven-month high of 83.302 .DXY. The index was last up 0.4 percent at 83.194.

German government Bund futures, an asset that investors value in times of increased tension, rose 75 ticks, their biggest jump since

inconclusive Italian elections last month rattled markets.

Gold rebounded from early losses, with spot gold rising to $1,604.84 an ounce from $1,598.59 on Tuesday, as investors piled money into safe-haven investments.

Brent crude hovered around $109 a barrel in choppy trade and U.S. crude futures fell 31 cents to $96.03, pressured by rising crude stockpiles in top consumer the United States and festering worries over the euro zone.

The weakness in the euro eroded the attractiveness of oil priced in dollars.

Trading on New York Stock Exchange, yesterday

U.S. shares decline over Europe concern, home sales data .S. stocks declined, after the U Standard & Poor’s 500 Index yesterday approached a record high, as concern over Europe’s debt crisis intensified and pending American home sales slipped in February.

Banks fell as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. lost at least 0.9 percent. Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (CLF) tumbled 16 percent after Morgan Stanley downgraded the shares. Apple Inc. slumped 2 percent after Pacific Crest predicted it would miss revenue expectations. Dollar General Corp. (DG) slid 2.3 percent after saying 30 million shares will be sold in a secondary offering. Mattress Firm Holding Corp. surged 11 percent after Raymond James & Associates Inc. raised its rating.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.2 percent to 1,560.84 at 1:45 p.m. in New York, paring an earlier decline of as much as 0.8 percent. The equity benchmark rallied 0.8 percent yesterday as orders for durable goods and home prices exceeded estimates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 37.98 points, or 0.3 percent, to

14,521.67 yesterday. Trading among S&P 500 shares was 15 percent below the 30-day average.

“Investors are expecting a healthy pause in the market due to lingering concerns on the Cyprus bailout,” said Steven Neimeth, a money manager at SunAmerica Asset Management in Jersey City, New Jersey, which manages about $12 billion. “It appears that investors are becoming increasingly concerned that financial jitters spread through Italy and Spain.”

The Institute of International Finance said banks in Portugal, Spain and Italy may come under funding pressure after a deal earlier this week in Cyprus rescued the island’s financial system at the expense of bank creditors, European governments and the International Monetary Fund agreed Monday to lend Cyprus 10 billion euros ($13 billion) as long as the country liquidated its second-largest bank and forced losses on bank bondholders and deposits of more than 100,000 euros.

Fewer Americans signed contracts to purchase previously owned homes in February, indicating a pause in momentum for an industry that is helping power the economy.

The index of pending home sales fell 0.4 percent to 104.8, the second-highest level since April 2010, after a revised 3.8 percent increase the prior month, the National Association of Realtors reported.

“Housing is getting better,” John Fox, a Cobleskill, New York-based fund manager and director of research at Fenimore Asset management, which manages about $1.5 billion, said over the phone.

“There’s absolutely no question about that if you look at all the data, not just one month. Investment is starting to come back and one of those legs is housing.”

The S&P 500 (SPX) rallied yesterday to within two points of its record of 1,565.15 reached in October 2007. The benchmark gauge has surpassed the 1,560 level on six days since March 14, only to fall short of the record each time. The Dow

climbed to another record yesterday, after first surpassing its 2007 all- time high on March 5.

The bull market in equities entered its fifth year this month as the S&P 500 more than doubled from its bottom in 2009, driven by an unprecedented three rounds of bond purchases by the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 is up 9.3 percent for the year.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index (VIX), which measures the cost of using options as insurance against claims, rose 3.1 percent to 13.17 today. The KBW Bank Index dropped 0.8 percent, as 19 of the gauge’s 24 members retreated. JPMorgan slid 1.9 percent to $47.71 and Citigroup lost 0.9 percent to $44.43, pacing declines among financial firms.

Cliffs Natural Resources plunged 16 percent, the most in the S&P 500, to $17.97.

Morgan Stanley cut its recommendation on shares of the biggest U.S. iron-ore producer to underweight, the equivalent of sell, from equal weight.

The company’s iron-ore business will be halved in the com-

ing years because of increased supply in the Great Lakes area, analysts led by Evan Kurtz wrote in a note.

Separately, Credit Suisse Group AG cut its 12-month estimate on the share price to $10 from $20, while maintaining an underperform rating.

Apple slumped 2 percent to $451.80. Pacific Crest analyst Andy Hargreaves said the company may miss revenue expectations during the second and third quarters, due to “relatively soft” sales of large-screen iPads and iPhones. Apple shares have slumped 15 percent this year, sliding to their lowest price in more than 13 months on March 4.

Dollar General fell 2.3 percent to $51.01. The discount retailer said 30 million of its shares will be sold in an underwritten secondary public offering.

The offer is by certain existing shareholders and no shares are being sold by the company, Goodlettsville, Tennesseebased Dollar General said in a statement.

Best Buy Co. dropped 3 percent to $22.03. S&P Capital IQ cut its rating on the electron-

ics retailer to sell from hold.

Mattress Firm Holding rallied 11 per cent to $34.32.

Raymond James equity analyst Budd Bugatch lifted his rating on the Houston-based retailer to outperform from market perform.

SAIC advanced 4.8 percent to $13.44 after the eighth- largest contractor to the U.S. government said late yesterday it will pay a special dividend of $1 per share. The company forecast full-year earnings of $1.16 to $1.33 a share.

AOL Inc. (AOL), the Web publisher that owns the Huffington Post and TechCrunch, climbed 7.6 percent to $38.93. Barclays Plc raised its rating on the company to overweight from equalweight, saying profit will increase faster than analysts’ estimates on cost-cutting and modest revenue growth.

Humana Inc. jumped 2.5 percent to $68.35 and UnitedHealth Group Inc. rose 1.7 percent to $56.57, after congressional researchers said the U.S. Medicare program has the authority to raise payments to insurers.

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Opinion The Hugo Chavez revolution

By Edwin Madunagu EFORE finally settling for the title that appears here, I had considered, and serially abanB doned, three other captions: Hugo Chavez’s revolution, Hugo Chavez’s socialism and Hugo Chavez’s 21st century socialism. Although any of these rejected captions could have served my purpose, I chose The Hugo Chavez revolution because, on the one hand, I wanted to avoid anything that smells of the notion that what happened in Venezuela under Hugo Chavez was an experiment in governmental style, or Hugo Chavez’s “thing” that would disappear like bad dream, that would not survive the man; on the other hand I have not been comfortable with the slogan “21st century socialism”. I call what happened in Venezuela The Hugo Chavez revolution simply as an acknowledgement of the critical and decisive leadership role played by the man in the revolutionary process while he lived.

Hugo Chavez, who had been president of Venezuela for 14 years, died on Tuesday, March 5, 2013. But several weeks before then any person interested in that country, for whatever reasons, knew that for the army paratrooper it was a matter of time before he departed the planet earth.

For someone re-elected president in a keenly contested election and whose opponent had the explicit support of the world’s only super power to be unable to take his oath of office for reasons of ill-health is not like failing to attend an event for “unavoidable circumstances”. I knew from that moment that not only was Chavez marching to the exit door but also that the revolutionary process in Venezuela was approaching a definitive crossroads.

Like Fidel Castro, his mentor, Latin American compatriot and friend, who also revealed that he was seriously ill and then handed over his state duties to his deputy, Chavez made public his affliction, kept the public abreast of its development and the fight against it, and urged the people to support the vice president should he become permanently incapable of resuming his duties. Adults should know what that meant, and what to expect.

However, I believe, or rather, strongly suspect, that Hugo Chavez’s ailment, like that of Yasser Arafat about a decade ago, was artificially in-

duced. This is not the question of my being a Nigerian for whom there is hardly a natural death. Just think of a situation where the foreign ministry of the world’s only super power (a department of state next in power only to the presidency itself) would establish a separate directorate to coordinate a project to liquidate, by all means, a popular social experiment going on in a poor, but independent Third World country and discredit its example! Several “experts” in medical sciences in North America have said it is impossible to induce an illness like cancer. I am also aware that one particular “expert” had declared such belief an “insanity”. My immediate response is that we should all wait for revelations.

Worldwide reactions to Chavez’s death came in torrents. We all saw mass expressions of pain. For television viewers across the globe what happened inside Venezuela and in some other South America countries need no retelling. You many compare this to reactions to those that came at the death of President Abdel Nasser of Egypt in September 1970 or that of General Secretary Joseph Stalin in March 1953, all depending on your reading of history and mass psychology and your current ideological persuasion. However, no ruler, no revolutionary leader, would have wished for a more glorious departure than that of Hugo Chavez.

What I consider important to this article are the reactions of current rulers of this world and the more representative opinions of nonruling, ordinary people. But I shall make only a short selection. Let me, however, say upfront, that my main concern here is the lessons of the Hugo Chavez revolution. This is not for “academic” reasons or to “live up to expectation”. I am taking up this issue because I have been convinced for a long time that, ultimately, there will be a fundamental, non-sectarian and mass-engineered rupture in the structure and content of the Nigerian state. What I may now add is that I believe that the rupture here will be a historically-determined variant of what took place in Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela, if I may use that expression for precise historical periodisation. Some would like to amend this proposition by adding the phrase “that is, if Nigeria survives its current systemic crisis”. My

response will be that the rupture I am talking about is fast becoming a condition for Nigeria’s “survival”.

When Hugo Chavez died: From Ontario, Canada, Paul Kokoski, writing under the caption The death of Hugo Chavez in his letter to the editor of The Guardian in the paper’s issue of March 11, 2013, said: “Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez was a communist dictator whose heroes were Fidel Castro, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, Robert Mugabe, and Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah. One of his major goals was to integrate Cuba, Venezuela, Honduras, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Ecuador under one Marxist-socialist government umbrella…” Then followed a bitter denunciation, ending with: “Like Stalin, he will not be missed.” Kokoski thus listed some of the main grievances of the bitterest opposition to Hugo Chavez.

Under the caption, Hugo Chavez’s rotten legacy, The Economist, in its editorial (“leader”) of March 9, 2013, said that, “with luck, chavismo (that is, the Chavez – inspired revolutionary movement) will now have lost much of its sting. His death could help break the deadlock that has stalled Latin American integration. The Chavez formula – exploiting inequality and social grievances to demonise the opposition – will remain a powerful one.

But now that the man has gone Latin America’s democrats have an easier task”. The Economist thus intellectualized Kokoski’s opinion.

President Barrack Obama of the United States of America carefully and decently selected his words, but his thrust was clear: “At this challenging time of President Hugo Chavez’s passing, the United States re-affirms its support for the Venezuelan people and its interest in developing a constructive relationship with the Venezuelan government.

As Venezuela begins a new chapter in its history, the United States remains committed to policies to promote democratic principles, the rule of law, and respect for human rights”. (The Guardian, March 7). A former American president, Jimmy Carter, pointed at something he saw. He said that Chavez “will be remembered for his bold assertion of the autonomy and independence for Latin

American governments”. (The Guardian, March 7).

This is a different thing from what Kokoski and The Economist saw, or a different interpretation of the same thing that Kokoski and The Economist saw.

The government of the Peoples Republic of China, towing its well-known line of “non-interference,” simply said that Hugo Chavez was a “great friend of the Chinese people” and a “great leader of Venezuela who had made an important contribution to the friendly and cooperative relations between China and Venezuela” (The Guardian, March 7). The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, said that Hugo Chavez was an “uncommon strongman who looked into the future and always set the highest target for himself” and thanked him for “laying the solid basis for Russia-Venezuela relations”. The European Union (EU) said that, “Venezuela has stood out for its social development and for contribution to South America’s regional integration”. The governments of Cuba, Iran and Syria also sent messages. But we all know the lines all these “villains” of the American power would tow. The details may therefore be omitted.

Coming home now: The Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, said that Hugo Chavez “greatly endeared himself to the ordinary people of his country with his admirable efforts to improve the living conditions of underprivileged Venezuelans” and that the late president did the very best that he could to uplift his people and country in the 14 years of his presidency”. Oh! Mr. President! Your words are too weak. And they are not political.

Then came a star representative tribute. Writing under the caption The colonel in heavenly cockpit, Tatalo Alamu (in his The Nation on Sunday column, Snooping around) of March 10, 2013), said: “With the passing this past week at the age of 58, of Hugo Chavez the late Venezuelan leader, Latin America has lost one of its most colourful leaders and potent force against global imperialism... But more importantly, by allowing the Venezuelan people to enjoy their god-given bounty, Chavez has returned us to the first principles of sovereignty: that power and national resources belong first and foremost to the people and not to a thieving political elite. The world and humanity at large may yet have the Latin Americans to thank for providing us with a way out of the 600 years epistemological cul de sac of western modernity…”. Three powerful theses.

• To be continued next Thursday.

Chinua Achebe: There was a country (2)

By G. G. Darah Continued from yesterday HIS is a leitmotif in his creative and analytical writings. He tries to tackle it philosophically in his novel, Anthills of the Savannah (1987). Here Achebe takes political risk to explore the metaphorical projection of activist intellectuals who engage in revolutionary work to rescue their country from the fatal grip of military tyranny. Chris, the head of the militant group, reminds readers of the portrait of Christopher Okigbo, the inimitable Nigerian poet who died fighting during the Nigeria-Biafra war.

It is in this fictional anthill, too, that we encounter a radical female patriot, Beatrice, who shares the dreams and dangers of change with her ideological fellow travellers. In the experience of these characters is prefigured the glimpse of formulas that future generations could adapt to navigate their journey to redemption.

Achebe is being mourned across the world because he put his genius and art at the service of the oppressed and dispossessed.

Some of us his literary offspring sometimes complained that he was not militant enough, especially as he never publicly espoused any of the “isms” of the 20th century. But he was a quintessential humanist and radical reformer, much like Caseley Hayford of Ghana and Sol Plaatje and Thomas Mofolo of South Africa in the 1920s. These were nationalists who employed the felicitous weapons of literature to radicalise consciousness. As an indomitable defender of freedom and democracy, Achebe is clearly in the universal pantheon of the likes of John Milton of England, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy and Maxim Gorky of Russia, Lu Xun of China, W.B. Yeats of Ireland, Rabindranath Tagore of India, Edgar Alan Poe, Ernest Hemmingway and Frederick Douglass of the United States.

Among his African peers, he shares the platform of honour with Wole Soyinka and J.P. Clark of Nigeria, Sembene Ousmane and Mariama Ba of Senegal, Ama Ata Aidoo and Ayi Kwei Armah of Ghana, Naguib Mahfouz and Nawal El Shadawi of Egypt, Ngugi wa Thiong’o of Kenya, Okot p’Bitek of Uganda, Nurideen Farah of Somalia, and Alex La Guma and Nadine Gordimer of South Africa. In the Caribbean and South America, Achebe’s kindred spirits include Aime Cesaire of Martinique, George Lam-

T

ming of Barbados, Alejo Carpentier of Cuba, Jorge Luis Borges of Argentina, Mario Vargas Llosa of Bolivia and Federico Garcia Lorca of Peru.

Achebe’s outrage against the failed Nigerian nation-state is served raw in his last testament – There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra (2012). In the introduction to the epic narrative, he regrets the loss of the utopian country called Nigeria: “Most members of my generation, who were born before Nigeria’s independence, remember a time when things were very different.

Nigeria was once a land of great promise and progress, a nation with immense resources at its disposal – natural resources, yes, but even more so, human resources. But the Biafran war changed the course of Nigeria. In my view, it was a cataclysmic experience that changed the history of Africa”.

Achebe was a roving ambassador of Biafra and he committed limb and intellect to its defence. The defeat of Biafra within three years and the horror and the number of the dead, especially innocent children, constituted another chapter of “things fall apart” for him. The failure of post-war leadership, the ogre of blood-thirsty military dictators, and the oil-nourished corruption of the bourgeoisie crippled Nigeria’s capacity to convert the challenge of the war to opportunity for industrial take-off and improved living conditions. As J.P. Clark alluded to in his volume of poems on the war, both victors and vanquished became “casualties” in an absurd drama choreographed by what Soyinka describes as “mad men and specialists”.

After the war, the banditry and hooliganism of the No Longer At Ease era became entrenched in politics and public life as rascals and rogues had access to enough financial influence to subvert electoral verdicts. Achebe’s Anambra State was once a notorious site for this type of brigandage and he wrote bitter diatribes on the situation. In 1990 the literati of the world gathered at Nsukka for Achebe’s 60th birthday christened “Eagle on Iroko”. Shortly after, he had an automobile accident. The country’s bad highways and inadequate medical services were exposed; he relocated to the United States to seek healing and care.

He was, therefore, forced into exile at 60.

As I was working on this short tribute I checked my goatskin bag of names of the 1948 pioneer set at the University College, Ibadan. Achebe’s name is the first on the list of the Arts Class of

that historic year. In truth, he was admitted to read Medicine but he switched to English, History and Theology, an act that caused a storm in his family as the British colonial government immediately stripped him of a scholarship to train as a doctor.

Consider what the world of literature and humanistic civilization would have lost if Achebe were compelled to study Medicine at Ibadan! His contemporaries in the 1948 Arts Class included Emeritus Professor Jacob Festus Ade Ajayi and Professor Grace Alele-Williams (both former Vice Chancellors), Alhaji (now the late) Abdul Yesufu Eke (Minister of Education), Ambassadors Josiah Tonye Fubara Iyalla and Augustus Oluwajimi Jolaoso. Others in that set are the late Justice Victor OvieWhiskey and Professor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti (former Minister of Health).

With Things Fall Apart translated into over 50 languages in the world, Achebe’s immortality is firmly established even if Nigeria ceases to exist. As we await the funeral events in Ogidi, his birthplace, many governors of power and monarchs of money (eze-ego) now pouring encomiums on him may not have read any of his major books. In Asia, Europe, and the Americas, members of the educated and political elite are expected to be knowledgeable in their nations’ heritage of letters, which is the repertoire of the accumulated wisdom, thoughts, and classical expressions of the various peoples across the millennia. As we escort Achebe across the luminous threshold, let no government seek to “re-immortalise” him by naming physical facilities after him; such projects may go to ruin or be abandoned the way Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe’s mausoleum in Onitsha has been left uncompleted since the 1990s.

To sustain Achebe’s immortality and turn it into an asset for Nigeria and Africa, President Goodluck Jonathan’s government should set up a Chinua Achebe Endowment to publish his major novels and children’s books in all Nigerian languages and distribute them free to schools in Nigeria, Africa and the African Diaspora. This is how best to celebrate the historical fact that, for Achebe, there was truly a country.

• Concluded.

• Prof. Darah, former chairman of The Guardian Editorial Board, teaches literature and folklore at Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

84

Opinion The Ondo and Bayo Akinnola (1934- 2013)

By Eric Teniola MS Grammar School, Bariga, Lagos is the first C secondary school to be established in Nigeria.

It was established in 1859. Methodist Boys’ High School Lagos was established in 1878, Methodist Girls’ High School Yaba in 1879, Baptist Academy Lagos in 1885, Hope Waddel Training Institute in Calabar in 1895, Saint Annes School, Molete, Ibadan in 1896, Etinan Institute, Etinan in AkwaIbom State in 1902, Methodist School, Oron in 1903, Kings College, Lagos (FLOREAT) in 1909, Saint John’s School Bida in 1904, Abeokuta Grammar School in 1908, Alhuda College Zaria in 1910, Eko Boys High School Lagos in 1913, Ibadan Grammar School (Deo Et Patriae) in 1913, Ijebu-Ode Grammar School (Non nobis Domine) in 1913, Government Secondary School, Ilorin in 1914, Government College, Katsina-Ala was established in 1914, Murtala Muhammed College in Yola in 1920, Barewa College in Zaria in 1922, Methodist College, Uzuakoli in 1923, Government College, Ibadan in 1927, Government College Umuahia in 1927, Queens College, Lagos in 1927, Aggrey Memorial College, Arochukwu in 1931, Saint Gregory’s College, Obalende (Pro Fide Et Scientia) in Lagos in 1928, Igbobi College, Yaba, Lagos in 1932, Saint Theresa’s College in Ibadan in 1932 and Christ the King College, Onitsha in 1933.

Christ School Ado-Ekiti (Christus Victor) was established in 1933, Ilesha Grammar School (Ehuwa Omoluwabi) founded in 1934, Saint Patrick’s College in Calabar, 1934, Dennis Memorial College, Onitsha in 1935, Holy Rosary College in Enugu in 1935, Government Secondary School, Owerri in 1935, Olivet Baptist High School, Oyo in 1935, Edo College, Benin in 1937, Ibadan Boys High School in 1938, Offa Grammar School, 1943, Government College, Ughelli in 1945, Remo Secondary School, Sagamu, 1946, Imade College, Owo, 1946, Emmanuel College Owerri, 1947, Hussey College Warri in 1947, Victory College, Ikare in 1947, Stella Maris College, Port-Harcourt in 1948, Aquinas College, Akure (Integratis) in 1951, Oyemekun Grammar School, Akure in 1953, Gboluji Grammar School in Ile-Oluji in 1954, Saint Finbarr’s College in 1956, Igbo-Elerin Grammar School, Ibadan in 1957, Olofin Anglican Grammar School Idanre (illuminatio In-rupe) 1957, Edo Boys High School, Benin in 1960, Government Comprehensive School, Port-Harcourt in 1962, Comprehensive High School, Aiyetoro in 1963, International School, Ibadan in 1963, Federal Government Col-

lege, Ido-Ani in 1977 and Vivian Fowler College in 1991.

All these institutions, thousands of them, which cannot be mentioned in this article for lack of space, all have history behind their establishments by communities, governments, religious bodies and individuals, including Lagos City College, Yaba, Lagos established by Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe on January 3, 1963 and Titcombe College, Egbe founded by Reverend Tommy Titcombe on behalf of Sudan Interior Mission on January 26, 1951.

I am sure that our secondary school experience must have shaped our lives either personally or collectively. And in the words of Sesan Ogunro, an exstudent of Christ School, Ado-Ekiti, whom I agree with when he said, “Christ School to me was the university of life, it taught me all I need to make it in life, how to laugh in the face of hardship and lack, how to be positively competitive, how to be a friend before having a friend, how to trust and love Jesus Christ as our cornerstone and more importantly how to handle success with humility. These were the lessons that prepared me for life”.

The subject matter is the first secondary to be established in the present Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, Delta and Edo states, that is – Ondo Boys High School in 1919.

In 1917, the then Osemawe of Ondo, Oba Jimekun worried about the absence of secondary school in the town and the ordeal, which his subjects experienced in sending their children outside Ondo for secondary school education, set up a six-man planning committee in collaboration with Canon Moses Craig Akinpelu Adeyemi for the establishment of a secondary school in Ondo. Members of the planning committee were Chief Logbosere Cornelius Awosika (Secretary/Treasurer), Chief Lomafe Olatunji Awosika, Mr. Daniel Rogers, Chief Seriki Akinrosotu, Chief G.O. Fajiye and Mr. J.O. Akinwotu all late. In 1918, the committee recommended for the establishment of Ondo Boys High School and Canon Adeyemi who later married Miss Elizabeth Modupeola Okuseinde, became the first principal of the school. That is why today a College of Education, which I understand is now a university is named after Canon Adeyemi.

Not only had the Christians contributed to the education in Ondo. The Moslems also did. For Islam arrived in Ondo in 1888 through Alfa Abubakar Ajao who made his son Alhaji Habeeb Ajao, the first Chief Imam of Ondo Kingdom in 1885. In 1942, the late Seriki of Ondo, Alhaji Saheed Tugbobo Fawehinmi donated five acres of land for the establish-

ment of the first Muslim Secondary School in Ondo in 1942. The present Seriki of Ondo State, Alhaji Khaleel Fawehinmi is the grandson of Saheed Tugbobo.

The establishment of Ondo Boys high School in 1918 gave the Ondos a window of opportunity to advance in commerce, agriculture and education.

Who are the Ondos? They occupy part of the present Ondo Central Senatorial District. Most of them are farmers producing cocoa, rubber and timber.

The Ondos, Ile-Olujis and the Idanres speak identical dialect. Traditional political authority is vested in the king (the Osemawe), who is generally considered the spiritual and political head of the Ondos. He heads the council of senior chiefs called Eghae; these are (Lisa, Jomu, Odunwo, Sesare, Adaja, and Odofin) who with him make up what is considered a cabinet, referred to in other Yoruba towns as Iwarefa. The Obaship is hereditary, and currently, three ruling families are recognised to produce candidates, one after the other. These are: Okuta, Foyi, and Leyo. The coral beads worn on their wrists and ankles as well as the big drum “ugbaji” which they and a few Ekule Chiefs are entitled to beat during ceremonies distinguish the Eghae.

Next in rank to the Eghae are the Ekule Chiefs who are six in number. They are Arogbo, Logbosere, Odofindi, Sagwe, Sara, and Lotuuomoba. There are other junior chiefs under the Ekule category.

Elegbe chiefs are third in rank and consist of Ayadi, Orunbato, Sokoti, Gbogi,Luogho, Losare, Likoja, Loyinmi, Odole, and Saogho. Most of the ward chiefs in the city report directly to Elegbe principal chiefs named above. Elegbes under Ayadi performed security functions. These are other chiefs under the 15 Elegbe chiefs such as Yegbata, Bafan, Lomafe, etc. Apart from these chiefs, there are also chiefs for spiritual duties called Alarowo. They are Sora and Akunnara, who are Oramfe priests.

At first the Ondos were not keen on public service, they were more interested in commerce where they excel but at the urging of, Late Osemawe of Ondo, Dr. Festus Adesanoye who was Federal Permanent Secretary as far back as 1963, Professor Olu Akinkugbe and others, their interest in public service grew and so were the opportunities.

As of today, the Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, the Minister of Communication, Mrs. Omobolanle Johnson, the senator that represented Ondo Central Senatorial district for 12 years, Senator Gbenga Ogunniya, and the special adviser to the former President on Energy, Professor Segun Anthony Adegbulugbe are all from Ondo.

As a result of their link to education as far back as 1919 and with two universities and over thirty-four secondary schools, coupled with their hard work and foresight, the Ondos have produced eminent sons and daughters who have distinguished themselves in their chosen careers.

If I may mention at the risk offending many, they include Bishop D.O. Awosika, the first Primate of the Anglican Communion, Bishop Omotayo Olufosoye (1907-1992), late General Adesujo Ademulegun (1923-1966), Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), the present Osemawe, Dr. Victor Kiladejo, Chief Alex Akinyele, Chief Gbenga Akinnawo, Captain Fola Akintotu, Professor Olu Adegoke, Sunny Ade, Ope and Jimi Bademosi, Sandoye Fadojutimi, Kole and Gbenga Ademulegun, Yele Ogundipe, Bode Betiku, Feyi Famutimi, Ronke Akinsete and her dad, Dr. E.O. Akinsete, Dele Akinyele, Chief Segun Adegoke, Boluwaji Akinyemi, Rafiu Akinso, Ernest Femi Akinmade, Brigadier Oyeneyin, Chief Dayo Duyile, Raheem Ayo Akinkotu, Seye Ladapo, Kunle Bolodeoku, Fusi Adefusika, Mrs. Omobolanle Johnson (nee Akinnola), Engineer Akinyinka Akinnola, Mrs. Yewande Zaccheus (nee Akinnola), Mrs. Aarinola Kola-Daisi (nee Aakinnola), Jise Akinmurele, Abbas Akinwande, the Akinboboyes, the Awosikas, the Ladapos and many more too numerous to mention.

But one name that stands out is, Chief Oreoluwa Ilemobayo Akinnola, who answered the final call recently. He was the Mayegun of Ondo in 1978, Lotin of Ondo in 1984 and the Lisa in 1992. Tall, big and dark; he was a vibrant human being. His hobby was courting friendship and he courted the friendship of so many, including mine, President Olusegun Obasanjo, Dr. Segun Agagu, Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi, Chief Subomi Balogun, General T.Y. Dajuma, Chief Pius Olu Akinyelure, Chief Igbinedion (the Esama of Benin), Brigadier Mobolaji Johnson, Chief M.K.O. Abiola, Chief Kunle Ojora, Chief Olu Falae, the Ooni of Ife, Kabiyesi Oba Okunnade Sijuade, the Deji of Oyemekun, Oba Biyi Adesida, General Abubakar Abdusalam, General Ibrahim Babangida and so many more.

Femi Agagu once described him as the Lisa of the Universe while Muftau Akinloye, former Features Editor of the Nigerian Tribune calls him Bros B, and his cousin, Allijoe Ogundipe described him as ojo gbogbo bi o dun (every day’s fun). He was always at home with the young and the old, the poor and the rich, the famous and the powerful.

May his soul rest in peace.

• Teniola, a former director at the Presidency, lives in Lagos.

Abia and politics of state debts

By Jude Chibuoyim EFORE the Domestic Debt Data Exercise and Solvency Test conB ducted in the 36 states across the country by the Debt Management Office (DMO) in December 2012, which findings were recently published in The Guardian newspaper, many Nigerians were quite aware that some states are in serious financial quagmire to the extent that they are surviving on borrowing. Some of the state governments have not helped matters as they fail to cut the states’ coats according to the available cloth. While some of them have been able to do so prudently by plugging wastages and extravagance in governance, others have continued to be wasteful in managing the government fund under their control.

With this development and with 2015 fast approaching, some politicians in a desperate bid to score cheap popularity and gain relevance had falsely accused their state governors of reckless borrowing from financial institutions to run and develop the states.

None of these politicians have been able to substantiate the allegations with accurate and verifiable data before now. Prominent among such politicians were ex-governors who had fallen out of favour with their successors due to the former’s overbearing influence and interference in governance, which the successors have stoutly resisted. Many of us from Abia had always believed such allegations by some politicians from the state, thinking that they have more information regarding government activities than most of us.

Besides, in what looked like lending credence to the allegations, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had in January this year warned money-deposit banks in the country against the continued lending of credit to states, local councils and their agencies because of the risk implication.

So we had before now believed totally, the allegation by the former Governor of Abia state, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu that his successor, Chief Theodore Orji has been massively borrowing from financial institutions to run the state, thereby putting the state into high profile debts. Though I am aware that sometimes at the beginning of his administration, Orji tried to raise bonds from the capital market for developmental projects, but the idea was heavily criticized and opposed by the opposition party members in the State Assembly then. That was how the idea became dead on arrival. Since then, we have not heard anything publicly about the state government borrowing.

But even at that, Kalu had ahead of 2011 general elections made a

publication claiming that Orji had been borrowing since he came into office, despite that he did not inherit any debt from him (Kalu) in 2007. But Orji’s administration presented a documentary evidence which were advertised in newspapers showing that they inherited more than N29.9 billion debts from Kalu’s administration in 2007, which include backlog of council workers’ salaries and arrears, adverts placed during Kalu’s presidential campaign, and others Orji’s administration insisted that it had not borrowed and is not borrowing to run and develop the state since it came into office.

Rather, it has been servicing the debts inherited from its predecessor and at the same time utilizing the state resources prudently to provide the expected democracy dividend for the people.

Despite that explanation, and following the release of the DMO Report on states debt profile and solvency across the country, my expectation was that Abia would top the list of indebted states in the country considering the massive ongoing, completed projects, and others nearing completion across the state now, coupled with the allegations by Kalu that the present government in the state has been surviving by borrowing from financial institutions.

But to my greatest surprise, Abia was among the high profile indebted states in the country today. The Report has vindicated the Abia State government and some other state governments that have been falsely accused by the political enemies of the governors without accurate data from the relevant authorities. The DMO report has shown it all and Nigerians can now separate the rice from the chaff as concern their state’s debt profile and financial solvency status.

The Report showed that Abia, like other states is owing, but not as high as alleged by those opposed to the government of the state.

After all it is not unexpected that the state will owe considering the projects in the state. With the Report, it is now clear that considering the unprecedented development in Abia today, the present government in the state is a good example of prudent management of both material and human resources; a development that has placed the state among the fastest growing investment-driven states in the country today with a unique peaceful and secured environment. If truly Governor Orji has been borrowing from financial institutions as alleged, there is no way such would not reflect in the DMO Report.

According to the breakdown of the DMO Report, Lagos State has the highest exposure of N83.001 billion commercial bank loans portfolio. However, her indebtedness to contractors is very low at just N537.75 million as at end of June 2012. It is followed in terms of

commercial bank loans exposure by Imo State that has just grown her level of borrowings from the sector to N29.892 billion from a stock of N3.640 billion in December 2011. Cross River State is third with banks’ credit of N25.941 billion; contractors’ pending bill of N31.908 billion; government-to-government liability of N22.341 billion; and another stock of liabilities classified as ‘others’ put at N16.353 billion.

Also greatly indebted to commercial banks is oil-rich Bayelsa and Rivers states. Bayelsa is owing the banks N19.300 billion and contractors N92.307 billion, while Rivers’ exposure to banks is N18.497 billion and another higher stock of N86.755 billion to contractors that have delivered services and have been certified. Kaduna State is one of the few states in the North that is highly exposed to bank’s credit. It is indebted to the tune of N19.494 billion and is equally owing her contractors N6.777 billion. Oil-rich Delta State too has a bank loan portfolio of N18.164 billion and contractors’ debt stock of N14.582 billion, while Kwara has a commercial bank’s loan stock of N12.152 billion. Akwa Ibom is the only state in the South-South zone that has not contracted any bank loan as at end of June 2012, though the state is owing contractors a huge debt stock of N41.092 billion.

Most of the states in the North-West and North-East, except Bauchi State, are either not indebted to banks or owing below N5 billion.

This Report exposed the armchair criticisms of some politicians and their cohorts against their state governments; it has equally shown that the present government in Abia in the face of overwhelming challenges is performing, considering the little resources at its disposal.

Looking at the high profile debts of some of the states as indicated in the Report and comparing it with the level of infrastructural developments in such states, one would be forced to ask what do their state governments do or are doing with their monthly federation allocation, Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and the borrowed funds. This is because what were on ground in the states in terms of infrastructural development and others are not commensurate with the states’ debts profile; a situation that has put question mark on the financial prudence and accountability of some state governors.

More worrisome is the fact that some states with high debts profile have nothing to show or justify such debt in the area of human and infrastructural development. All those who have falsely deluded the public for so long by accusing the present government in Abia State of under-performance and over-borrowing before now should openly apologise to the state government and the people of the state.

• Chibuoyim, a cleric, wrote from Owerri, Imo State.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

85

Sports African Youth Athletics Championship

Team Nigeria stops Brume, as security operatives search for missing athletes From Gowon Akpodonor, Warri NE of Nigeria’s brightest female athletes in the youth category, home girl, Ese Brume, will not compete in the maiden African Youth Athletics championship (AYAC), which flags off this afternoon at the Warri City Stadium.

Brume, a student of the University of Benin, had stormed Warri on Tuesday with the hope of competing for Nigeria in the competition.

She had told The Guardian on arrival in the city that she had been training under the supervision of two coaches in Benin City for the championship, adding that she was a potential medalist in the 100 metres, long jump and high jump events.

But the girl was dropped from Team Nigeria’s contingent by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) on ‘technical ground.’

Confirming the story to The Guardian yesterday, the Technical Director of AFN, Commodore Omatseye Nesiama, said the federation took the step because Brume was preparing for her transcript in the university, adding that the AFN does not want a situation whereby the athlete is distracted in the competition.

The athlete, Brume, told The Guardian she has taken the AFN decision in good faith, adding, “I am not competing in this championship. I will explain later.”

Meanwhile, security operatives have moved to secure the athletes and officials at the AYAC following the rumoured disappearance of two Nigerian athletes on Tuesday.

O

NSC’s North Central Zone 1 U-15 Inter-Club tourney debuts HE North Central Zone 1 T headquarters, Jos, of the National Sports Commission (NSC) is organising its maiden edition of the U-15 Youth InterClub sports competition and symposium with the theme, Organisation and administration of sports clubs in schools and communities,” for Gamesmasters/Mistresses, as well as, local government sports officials.

The competition will feature the following events; Athletics, Taekwondo, Chess, Table Tennis and Volleyball.

In a release by the zonal Coordinator, Caleb Gidado, the programme is geared towards exposing youths under the ages of 15 years to competitive sports in a bid to catch them young and thereafter groom them to stardom.

“The programme also seeks to update the knowledge and skills of Gamesmasters/Mistresses and local government sports officials in the area of the formation and administration of sports clubs in schools and communities at large.

Azubuike Ewa from Ebonyi State battles against Ogun State’s Toyin Adebiyi, during one of the wrestling events of the 17th National Sports Festival, tagged: Garden City 2011. An IOC committee has recommendPHOTO: FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI ed that from 2020 wrestling should no longer be an Olympic sport.

Minister urges NFF to maximise Nations Cup victory’s marketing potential From Ezeocha Nzeh, Abuja INISTER of Sports/ Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Bolaji Abdulahi has urged the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to strengthen its marketing department to maximise the benefits of Super Eagles’ Nations Cup victory to get corporate bodies’ support.

The minister, who noted that the NFF required a lot of funds to prosecute its numerous activities, disclosed that the Commission has never withheld anything meant for the federation’s activities, adding, however, that the Federation should not solely depend on

M

the insufficient fund from the federal government.

Reiterating that it has become obvious that what government gives to sports would never be enough for all the sports federations, Abdulahi urged the corporate organisations to seize the opportunity of the Super Eagles’ feat to do business with the Nigerian football house.

The minister also urged the NFF to make its marketing department active to utilise the opportunities as it is done in other countries.

The minister said, “the NSC does not give NFF cash. It is

not the responsibility of the NSC to give money to NFF. At the end of every year, we do a budget, the NSC as the supervisory body to the NFF takes this budget to the National Assembly.

“So whatever NASS approves is what the NFF gets. It does not do a stop over at the NSC before it gets to NFF, it is paid direct from the Finance Ministry to the NFF. So it is not about us at the NSC giving them money or choosing what we give them.

“The point is that NFF cannot get all the money they require from budgetary allocations.

Prosecuting one game alone is

extremely expensive.”

He pointed out, “by the time we returned from AFCON, the budget for the NFF is already drawn by 50 per cent. But we still have many other qualifiers like the World Cup, U20 team in Algeria, U23, the youth team and the women teams. They cannot get enough money from the Federal Government, and that is why we keep hammering that the marketing department of the NFF have to be made stronger, and they have to capitalise on the AFCON victory to reposition the marketing department,” Abdulahi emphasised.

Nigeria protests planned removal of wrestling from 2020 Olympic Games IGERIA has joined the N rest of the world to protest the recently announced recommendation by the executive board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that wrestling be removed from the 2020 Olympic Games.

Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Dr. Patrick Ekeji, disclosed the government’s stance on the issue when the petition and protest letter by the Nigeria Wrestling Federation was submitted to the country’s IOC representa-

tive, Engr. Habu Gumel, for onward submission to the general congress.

Ekeji expressed the Federal Government’s dismay at the IOC’s executive board decision to eliminate wrestling from the Olympics, stressing, “wrestling is a foundation sport in the Olympics and for us in Africa it is a traditional sport.”

He said he strongly believed that the general congress would upturn the unpopular decision, noting that wrestling was one of the six Olympic sports celebrated at

the first modern Games.

Ekeji said the grounds advanced by the executive board for planning to eliminate the sport was “not good enough reason to eliminate the sport from the Olympics.”

Earlier, President of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation, Austin Edeze, described the elimination of wrestling from the 2020 Olympic Games would pose a big challenge to the world’s wrestling community and Nigeria, in particular, where the Federal Government

selected it as one of its core sports.

“Removing wrestling as an Olympic sport shall have devastating effect and major discouragement for both the athletes and all lovers of the sport, especially in Nigeria where we have in excess of 5 million wrestlers,” he added.

Responding, the country’s IOC representative, Engr.

Gumel, pledged to present Nigeria’s petition to the general session scheduled for September in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Search for right grass delays Abuja Stadium pitch project From Ezeocha Nzeh, Abuja HE inability of the contractor handling the renovation and re-grassing of the Abuja National Stadium to get the grass suitable for the arena’s main bowl pitch may further delay the use of the pitch by the national teams two years after the filed was abandoned by the teams.

The contract for the re-grassing of the stadium, which has not been in use since January 2012, was awarded to Messrs Julius Berger Plc, which promised to complete the project by June 2013.

The stadium’s problems were compounded by its vandalisation of electrical cables, which affected maintenance of the structure.

The Guardian gathered that work at the stadium pitch was stopped by the contractor, after completing the scrapping and landscaping because it has not been able to get the suitable grass for the pitch even after combing Europe for the material.

Confirming the delay in completing the project, Minister of Sports/Chairman of the NSC, Bolaji Abdulahi said the contractors have intensified efforts to get the suitable grass, adding that he has always been in touch with them.

“It has nothing to do with funding. The last time we called the contractors, they told us they had problems bringing the right type of grass required for the main bowl pitch.

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THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

Warri 2013 African Youth Athletics Championship

Nigerian athletes fret over South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopian medals’ threat From Gowon Akpodonor, Warri S hostilities begin this A afternoon in the first Africa Youth Athletics Championship (AYAC) in Warri, Delta State, there is palpable fear in Team Nigeria’s camp following declaration by some of the visiting countries that they are in town specifically to stop Nigeria from winning the championship.

In particular, the contingent from South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia have vowed to do everything possible to stop Nigeria from topping the medals’ table when curtain falls on March 31.

Some athletes from South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia trained at the Warri Township Stadium yesterday in preparation for today’s opening ceremony.

Those, who spoke with journalists at the end of their train-

ing session, said they would go the extra mile to stop Team Nigeria athletes from picking medals in their respective events.

“We are here to win this competition and my major focus for now is to make sure I don’t allow any athlete, including Nigerians, to beat me in the throws. That is my area of specialty and I won’t let my country down,” a South African athlete, who refused to give her identity, told The Guardian.

However, the Technical Director of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Navy Commodore Omatseye Nesiama declared yesterday that the Nigerian contingent is well prepared for all the events entered, but admitted that competition for medals would be between Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia.

Nesiama, a member of the

Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the AYAC Warri 2013, also said Nigeria would use the tournament to showcase the talents the junior athletes have and to also show the world Nigeria’s hospitality and friendship to other counterparts from other lands.

“The championship is going to be an interesting one and with records I have, there will be great rivalry between Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia because these are the power houses of Africa athletics.

“It is going to be a tough one but I am optimistic Nigeria will top the medals’ table when the championship comes to an end.

“We are in this tournament for many reasons, first is to showcase our talented junior athletes to international events and also to make a good show of Nigeria’s hospitality in friendship to our counterparts from other lands,” he added.

The Warri City Stadium, venue of the championships, is wearing a new look as all the athletics facilities have been fixed for the smooth take off of events, which begins with an opening ceremony today.

One of the technical officials of the First African Youths Athletics Championships (AYAC), Yusuf Alli (left); explaining some points to Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan and his entourage when the governor visited the Warri Township Stadium ahead of today’s opening ceremony of the AYAC.

Nigerian athletes get dollar incentives, new training kits From Gowon Akpodonor, Warri N line with international Iathletes standards, Team Nigeria’s in the maiden Warri

Athletes compete in an event in Lagos.

PHOTO: ADEBESIN FEMI-KUTI

This is good for Africa, says Moroccan official IJANI Hammou is a Track T and Field Area Technical Official from Morocco. He is among the foreign technical officials, who will be officiating throughout the Africa Youth Athletics Championships that start today in Warri.

He bared his mind on the championships while doing his accreditation, ‘’the championship is good for Africa. It will help our athletes. It is the

first edition in Africa but Europe and America and other parts of the world have had championships of this nature for long.

“It is part of the reason why they are doing better than us. I am happy that we have started this. We are in Nigeria with a lot of expectations from these athletes. This may be the beginning for many of the stars of tomorrow,’’ Tijani said.

2013 Africa Youth Athletics Championship (AYAC) will get their allowances in dollars, an official of the team has said.

The championship, which Delta State government is hosting on behalf of Nigeria, will flag off this afternoon at the Warri Township Stadium.

The Guardian gathered yesterday that the athletes, who arrived in Warri from the AFN High Performance Centre in Port Harcourt on Monday, would get their daily allowances in hard currencies in conformity with international competitions.

One of the officials, who spoke with The Guardian yesterday, however, refused to state the amount of dollars to be collected by the athletes

• 27 countries arrive, opening ceremony today and officials daily, saying, “yes, they will be paid in dollars and I am sure it will motivate our athletes to put in their best and do the country proud by finishing tops at the end of the day,” the official said.

The official disclosed that the AFN President, Solomon Ogba, has donated training kits worth thousands of dollars to the athletes to boost their morale in the competition. The kits, which had been distributed to the athletes, included spike shoes and other materials needed by the athletes in the jumps events.

Team Nigeria athletes are camped at the tightly guarded Excel Hotel in Warri.

Meanwhile, 27 countries had arrived Warri as at yesterday’s afternoon ahead of today’s

Televeras joins AYAC 2013 to him.

ELEVERAS, an oil and gas cheque T Sanomi said because the AYAC company yesterday doled out N10 million to be part of Warri 2013 is the maiden edithe African Youth Athletics Championships, otherwise known as AYAC Warri 2010. ‘’We share in the vision of Delta State in many aspects, especially in the area of sports development,’’ Igho Sanomi, the chief executive officer of the company told Amaju Pinnick, while presenting the

tion of the continental championships, it is important that his company joined to be part of history of the event.

Pinnick commended the company for its role in sports and said its contribution to the Warri event would go a long way in making it a huge success.

Officials ensuring that all the athletes are properly accredited for the competition.

opening ceremony.

The Secretary General of the LOC, Maria Worphil, told The Guardian yesterday that more countries were still being expected to fly into the country between yesterday evening

and this morning.

The opening ceremony of the championship will take place today with Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan expected to perform the ceremony among other top government functionaries at the Warri Stadium.

Inyanya to perform at AYAC Warri 2013 opening ceremony • Four gold medals up for grabs today HE opening ceremony of T the Africa Youth Athletics Championships (AYAC) will, as usual, be the first spectacle fans will behold when the continental show kicks off today at the Warri Township Stadium. This will be at 2 pm.

Popular hip hop artist,

Inyanya of the All I Want Is Your Waist fame will perform at the brief opening ceremony.

There would also be cultural displays and a historic relay that will depict a transition from the past generation to the present and then to the future.

Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan will declare the championship open.

Immediately after this, the 100 metres, arguably the most exciting event of track and field, will start. The heats for the boys and girls will be followed by Long Jump for girls.

Shot Put boys, Hurdles, Pole Vault, 800m, Discus will all hold today.

The interesting thing about today is that four gold medals will be up for grabs this afternoon. The final of Pole Vault, Discus and 3,000 all for girls and Long Jump for Boys will come up this afternoon.

The information was released by Commodore Omatseye Nesiama, as was related to him after the meeting of technical officials for the championships yesterday.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

SPORTS 87

Mba’s saga highlights shady dealings in Nigerian football

By Christian Okpara, and Bashir Bello,(Kaduna) AD Sunday Mbah not H become the hot cake he is now following his exploits at the South Africa 2013 CAF Nations Cup, Nigerians would not have known the shoddy manner inter-club and international transfers are conducted by those saddled with the responsibility of running the clubs.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) yesterday ordered Enugu Rangers and Warri Wolves to sort out their differences in the protracted transfer saga today or risk being compelled to accept a transfer fee worked out by the federation.

In trying to settle the issue, which has generated controversy following the claims and counter claims of the parties, the committee set up by the NFF discovered that much of the agreement involving Rangers, Warri Wolves and the third party, Dolphins, were not properly signed and document by the clubs.

According to the committee, all agreements reached by the parties in the Mba case

were mostly verbal and not properly documented.

In fact, the committee discovered that the “transfer and loan fees meant for the player transactions were not written down in clear terms and club accounts were found not to have been used for most transactions which promotes unhealthy dealings in player transfers.”

This scenario is not strange to followers of the local game, who know that most of the clubs are run as per-

sonal estates by officials entrusted with developing the clubs.

Unscrupulous agents, who connive with some club officials to run the transfer racket, compound the situation.

In 2006, two players registered with Enyimba of Aba, Victor Obinna Nsofor and the late Ifeanyi Obadiah, alongside Kola Anubi were transferred to a Brazilian club by an agent, who connived with some Nigeria Football Association (NFA) officials to

get their international transfer certificates for the deal.

All these were done without the knowledge of Enyimba officials, who cried foul when The Guardian broke the news to them.

The illegal transfer was later quashed following a petition to FIFA by Enyimba.

But the Aba club could not do anything in the case of Uche Kalu, a member of the Enyimba junior team, who was allegedly transferred illegally to Bussdor by one of the

officials of the Aba club for just N200, 000.

At the end of the day, Enyimba was forced to buy Kalu back at a cost of N4 million, with a 50-50 ownership agreement with Bussdor.

This is one of the issues facing the League Management Company (LMC), which says it is determined to restore the lost glory of the Nigerian league.

Speaking with journalists in Kaduna yesterday, a member of the LMC, Sabo

COD United, Bolton Soccer Camp holds EGISTRATION for this year’s R edition of the COD United/ Bolton Wanderers Soccer

NFF orders Wolves, Rangers to agree on player’s transfer fee HE Nigeria Football T Federation (NFF) has ordered Nigeria Premier League clubs, Warri Wolves and Enugu Rangers, to agree on a transfer fee for Super Eagles’ attacking midfielder, Sunday Mba, before the close of work today.

“Failure of the two clubs to reach a reasonable conclusion on the fee will compel the NFF to fix such a transfer fee by Friday, 29th March, which must be paid on the agreed terms before the player is cleared to play for his preferred club and continue his career,” said a statement by the Ad-hoc Committee set up by the NFF on the matter.

Having established that the player was transferred from Enyimba of Aba to Rangers in December 2006, loaned to Dolphins FC of Port Harcourt and duly returned to Rangers, the Committee also affirmed that Rangers gave a ‘provisional clearance’ to the footballer to play for Warri Wolves between 2011 and 2013, but the player left Warri Wolves without any documentation back to Enugu Rangers and in fact was registered for the 2013 CAF Champions League by the Coal City club.

Although the Committee established that the player no longer wished to continue to play for Warri Wolves, it slammed the unhealthy and unwholesome practice in the Nigeria League whereby verbal agreements, against proper documentation, hold sway.

It indicted the clubs thus: “Transfer and loan fees meant for player transactions were not written down in clear terms and club accounts were found not to have been used for most transactions, which promotes unhealthy dealings in player transfers.”

The Committee concluded, “based on the available information as presented by the Nigeria Professional Football League Management Committee on the Club Status of Player Sunday Mba...the player is currently having his contractual obligations to Warri Wolves.”

Babayaro, said the body would no longer continue with the status quo where transfer of players are done vie telephone conversations without proper documentations to avoid the repeat of the Mba saga.

Babayaro, who frowned at the mode of transaction, which he described as unprofessional, said the transaction has led to the unearthing of so many illegal transfers involving a number of clubs.

Abdulwahab Yahaya Dodan Warriors battles against Jean Pieere Ellong of Lagos Islanders during the DStv Basketball League Final Eight at the Indoor Sports Hall of National Stadium, Lagos. The Zenith Women League is currently on-going with clubs from across the country jostling to dethrone defending champions, First Deepwater Basketball Club.

First Deepwater mauls Coal City Queens, GT-2000 wins

By Adeyinka Adedipe Deepwater Basketball FCoalIRST Club yesterday mauled City Queens 107-28 to record its biggest win in the ongoing Zenith Bank Basketball League in Abuja.

First Deepwater Coach, Lateef Erinfolami had criticised his team for not giving their all in their earlier games and the players responded in style to the admiration of the coach, who predicted another trophy winning season for his team.

The Oil and Gas Girls dominated the game and it nearly turned to a training session as the Coal City Queens put up little resistance against the defending champions.

Its four victories from four games from First Deepwater, and Erinfolami says it would continue in that stride to claim its third title.

In some other games, Delta Force lost to Plateau Rocks 44-50, while GT-2000 beat Nigeria Customs 43-37.

Customs’ Coach, Scott Nnaji told The Guardian that the season so far has been a case of mixed fortune for his team having won two and lost two in the four games played so far.

Nnaji said he expected his

team to improve as the competition progressed and qualify for the final eight play off. “This is just the first phase and I expect my team to progress as it plays more games. The final eight is our target and we will get there.”

He agreed results might not have favoured the promoted teams, adding, however, that they were putting up a good show as most of them have young players, who will become better as the league continues.

He said, “despite the poor results recorded by some teams, the fact remains that we are all playing to make the final eight playoffs in Lagos. The good thing is that all the teams are putting up their best.”

Camp have kicked off just as the camp has now been officially scheduled to hold on April 1 to 6 in Lagos.

The soccer camp, which was held three times last year and has now become a regular feature in the yearly calendar of COD United and the youngsters will be handled by a team of specialist youth coaches from Bolton Wanderers and COD United.

The team will be led by COD United’s newly appointed Director of Football, Mick Wild, who incidentally was seconded to COD United by Bolton Wanderers. The other coaches from Bolton will arrive next week.

Speaking on the upcoming camp, Wild said he is once again looking forward to helping talented young players polish their skills and set them on the path to success in football.

“I am really looking forward to working with the young boys again. We had 3 camps last year and I was impressed by the large turnout as well as the disposition of the youngsters to learning. We are eagerly looking forward to working with the kids again, teaching them the right skills and drills and just as important, inculcating in them the right attitude and approach to the game.”

The best players at the camp will have opportunity for trial with the COD United youth academy, the first of its kind in Nigeria as it has U-10, U-12, U14 and U-16 teams. The players also have a chance to visit Bolton Wanderer’s soccer academy in the UK. A total of 10 boys have already benefited from this gesture with Bolton over the past few years.

Nigeria begins quest for honours at ITTF Junior, Cadet Open in Tunisia

By Olalekan Okusan OUR Nigerian players will FInternational today be on duty at the Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)-sanctioned Junior and Cadet Open tagged: Tunisia 2013.

The players – Tosin Oribamishe, Hammed Osibanjo, Emmanuel Babatunde and Mary Onyinyechi will feature in the three events.

The team’s participation was also made possible with the support of the Lagos State Government, which bankrolled the trip to Tunisia.

Aside team event, the players will participate in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. They will be competing with other players from 11 countries.

According to the organisers – Tunisia Table Tennis

Association, 116 players made up of 60 boys and 50 girls will take part in the four-day championship holding in Nabeul, Tunisia.

The participating nations include, host – Tunisia, Egypt, Cote d’Ivoire, Libya, France, Congo Brazzaville, Algeria, Brazil, Angola and China Taipei among others.

After the ITTF Junior and Cadet Open, Nigeria will also feature in the African Junior Championship (AJC) with the remaining players joining the team in Tunisia tomorrow.

The Chairman, Lagos State Table Tennis Association (LSTTA), Femi Sokoya will lead the 18-man team.

According to the Secretary General, Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Segun Oguntade, the players are in top shape for the ITTFAfrica Junior.

He added that the remaining players would team up with the team on March 29 for the AJC, which serves off on April 1.

“We want to express our sincere appreciation to Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State for believing in grassroots sports development and accepting to sponsor the team to Tunisia.

“This has confirmed that Lagos is indeed a shining example for others to follow because it was this young athletes that the state used to prosecute the 18th National Sports Festival tagged Eko 2012 and they were able to shock other states by winning five of the seven gold medals at stake in table tennis – a feat that has never been achieved in the history of the festival by any state.

“I also want to commend the Commissioner for Youth, Sports and Social Development, Wahid Oshodi, for ensuring that the team make it to Tunisia and we hope that the players make the country proud,” Oguntade said.

Meanwhile, all eyes will be on Egypt’s Aly Ghallab, who was impressive at the recent ITTF Global Junior Circuit Finals in Guatemala. He is one of the major contenders for honours at the ITTFAfrica Junior Championships.

The tournament will be staged in the Tunisian city of Nabeul from Monday 1st to Saturday April 6, being immediately preceded by the Tunisian Junior and Cadet Open, an ITTF Junior Circuit event, which will be held from Thursday 28 to Sunday, March 31.

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THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

Nigeria’s WBO champion, King Emenogu set for title defence From Ezeocha Nzeh, Abuja ORLD Boxing W Organisation (WBO) Lightweight Champion, King Davidson Emenogu of Nigeria, says he wants to defend his title in Nigeria to encourage youths to take to the sport.

The pugilist also says he is ready to work with the authorities to encourage the youths to take to boxing as career instead of engaging in unwholesome activities like drug abuse, armed robbery, terrorism and other such vices.

Speaking while presenting to the Minister and Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Bolaji Abdulahi, the five belts he won at different boxing championships around the world, Emenogu said he decided to bring his title to Nigeria as part of his efforts to encourage the development of boxing in the country.

The fighter, who won gold for Nigeria at the 2003 All Africa Games in Abuja and the 2004 Commonwealth Games in England, said he would

always give back to the Nigerian society because the country gave him the opportunity to excel even before he turned professional after the Manchester Commonwealth Games.

Speaking earlier, the manager and older brother of the boxer, who now is based in the United Kingdom, Emmanuel Emenogu, said they decided to come home to let the Nigerian people know that they also have somebody, who is doing well in his chosen career abroad.

According to him, the boxer, who took after his father, Christopher Emenogu, wants to bring back the glory days of boxing in Nigeria.

While congratulating the boxer for his numerous achievements in boxing, Abdulahi promised to ensure that President Goodluck Jonathan met with the boxer, whom he described as a model that should be emulated by the youth in line with the resolve of the administration to encourage and reward achievements of Nigerians, irrespective of where they reside.

Suspended referee Slim Jdidi on World Cup shortlist UNISIAN Referee, Slim T Jdidi is on FIFA’s World Cup shortlist despite being suspended for his performance in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Jdidi was banned indefinitely by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) after he made a series of errors in the semi-final between Burkina Faso and Ghana.

His biggest mistake was sending off Burkinabe, Jonathan Pitropia, but the decision was quickly overturned by CAF. Since the February 6 match, Jdidi has only refereed in Tunisia’s Ligue I. But world governing body, FIFA, has invited him, along with six other prospective World Cup referees from Africa, to attend a seminar in Casablanca from April 27 to 30, the latest in a series of training camps, seminars

and tests for those being considered to officiate in Brazil next year.

The 42-year-old’s performance in the Nations Cup semifinal provoked CAF President, Issa Hayatou, to admit “we experienced some mistakes with the referees especially at the semi-final between Ghana and Burkina Faso.”

As well as sending off Pitroipa for simulation which he later acknowledged was a mistake - Jdidi also ruled out a legitimate looking goal as well as dismissed a strong penalty claim for the Burkinabe, while handing a dubious spot-kick to opponents Ghana at Nelspruit.

Burkina Faso went on to win the match on penalties and Jdidi was suspended the next day by CAF, who went on to rescind Pitroipa’s red card and allow him to play in the final.

King Davidson Emenogu displaying some of his laurels.

Nigeria Professional Football League

Warri Wolves hosts Nasarawa United in Oleh S a result of the African Media Officer of the Club, Etu Coach Solomon Ogbeide said A Youth Athletics Moses, the match will kick off there would be no hiding Championship (AYAC) holding in the Warri Township Stadium this week, Warri Wolves Football Club will today host Nasarawa United in its alternate venue, Oleh Township Stadium.

According to a release by the

Nembe City goes spiritual as Enyimba arrives LAYERS and official of P Nembe City Football Club have resorted to fasting and

Enyimba’s Uche Ndukwe celebrating a goal during a recent game. The Aba giants confront Nembe City today.

prayers ahead of their clash with Enyimba of Aba today.

The players, who arrived in Yenagoa on Tuesday, yesterday revealed that they had an all night Vigil the same day to keep them in the right spirit for the game.

Speaking on the game, Nembe City official, Anthony Obaseki, said, “we embarked on serious prayer and fasting because we must not lose to Enyimba. Our first home loss was very painful to us and since Enyimba is a big team, which we respect, we are determined to fight hard to subdue them.

“We want to win this match for our fans and the people of the state for their support to us.”

Nembe City lost 1-2 to Nasarawa in Lafia.

by 4pm with all the rules guiding the league biding.

Etu has, therefore, appealed to the fans of the club to bear with the team as the Club will return to Warri immediately after the Athletics Championship.

All the players of Warri Wolves fresh from their well deserved away draw with highly rated Rangers at the Nnamidi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu have relocated to the Isoko Town to prepare for the Nasarawa boys.

Speaking on the match,

place for the Lafia based team as what the boys needed was the draw with Rangers, which he described as the turning point.

“This is the turning point and from the way they played against Rangers, Nasarawa will bear the brunt as the boys are rearing to go.

“The boys were not happy to have missed the bonus against Heartland and it shows in their match against Rangers. You can see the hunger in them,” said an elated Ogbeide.

Meanwhile, the Club Captain, Azubuike Egweke, who was on national assignment with the Super Eagles, will team up with the rest players at Oleh, but the coaches say he will only play if he is certified fit, “because we have enough players who are fit and rearing to go.”

According to Ogbeide, “Azubuike is our captain and we are happy to have him back. All my players are fit and waiting to devour Nasarawa United before heading to Aba to confront the former CAF Champions, Enyimba International Football Club.”

Confederation Cup tickets, hospitality windows close today IGERIA’S football family, N government officials, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) partners and other stakeholders interested in tickets and hospitality packages for summer’s FIFA Confederations Cup tournament in Brazil have only today to indicate interest.

Last weekend, NFF’s Director of Marketing, Idris Adama said the NFF had long written to members of the football family in the country, as well as, government institutions, its partners and other stakeholders to indicate interest in these packages.

“We earnestly call on these

persons and institutions to quickly indicate interest before the windows close on Thursday. Once the windows close, they would not be reopened, because we made FIFA to re-open in the first place, as a result of the circumstances that made our team the last to qualify for the tournament,” Adama reiterated yesterday.

The NFF is collaborating with FIFA MATCH and Pamodzi Sports Marketing (PSM), the official Hospitality Agent of FIFA in Nigeria, with regards to providing excellent service delivery in the areas of match tickets, accom-

modation, hospitality suites, local transportation, airport reception and official Nigeria T-shirts for interested Nigerians.

“By Thursday night, we will look at the number of individuals and institutions that have indicated interest and forward to them, the cost implication of the various services,” Adama stated.

African champion, Nigeria, plays Oceanian champion, Tahiti, South American champion, Uruguay, and World and European champion, Spain, in that order, at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup that opens in Brazil on June 15.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

SPORTS

89

English Premiership

Gunners ignore critics, Monreal tells team-mates ACHO Monreal has urged N Arsenal not to waste energy by taking notice of any critics and instead channel all their attention into finishing in the top four of the Barclays Premier League.

The Gunners will resume domestic action with a home

match against relegation-battlers Reading, an encounter they must win to keep pressure on both Chelsea and Tottenham in the race for Champions League qualification.

With just one defeat in the last seven league games, com-

ing at White Hart Lane, Arsene Wenger’s men find themselves four points behind arch-rivals Spurs, but crucially with a match in hand.

Arsenal have endured one of the most testing campaigns under Wenger’s tenure, with the 2-0 win in Bayern Munich

earlier this month one of the few highlights.

Monreal, however, insists it is now down to the players to focus on delivering a positive end to what others have labelled a season of turmoil at the Emirates Stadium.

In an interview with the April edition of the official Arsenal magazine, Monreal said, “we still have matches left to fix the situation and to try to meet our objectives.

“It is logical that people talk because the situation has not been as it should be, but the players and club in general have to ensure that doesn’t affect us.

“We have to use our energy for the matches. If you are thinking of what people are saying, you are wasting that energy. You have to concentrate on the next match.

“Every fixture now is a final we have to win. That has to be our mentality. I am sure we will put it right.”

Monreal, 27, has settled quickly since his January deadline day signing from Malaga, scoring his first

Arsenal goal in the 2-0 win at Swansea before the international break and then impressing in the World Cup qualifying win for Spain over France in Paris when deputising at full-back for the injured Jordi Alba.

Gunners midfielder, Santi Cazorla praised the speed at which his former Malaga team-mate has taken to the hustle-and-bustle of the English top flight.

“Nacho is a footballer I really enjoy watching and playing with. He has adapted to the Premier League very well.

What’s more, our style of play suits him because he is someone with a lot of movement,” Spain international Cazorla told Arsenal Player.

“He is a very good signing and is proving it. I think Arsenal have really got it right with the transfer. I am very happy because he is a great mate.”

Like most Premier League clubs, the majority of the Arsenal squads were away on international duty this week.

However, England duo Jack

Wilshere and Theo Walcott were not involved in the World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Montenegro.

Walcott returned early after picking up what was described as a “minor hip/groin injury” in training ahead of the San Marino game, during which Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored in the 8-0 route.

Midfielder Wilshere, meanwhile, has not played since the defeat at Tottenham on March 3 after he was rested because of an ankle problem.

His rehabilitation schedule which included a trip to Dubai - was set to see Wilshere feature again this weekend.

Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, meanwhile, will be hoping for a recall having been dropped against Bayern and then benched at Swansea - which prompted an outburst from his father and a subsequent clarification from the Poland international, reaffirming his commitment to the club and support for Wenger.

Allardyce to ink new deal at West Ham Park because they probably EST Ham United the club is to progress.

“We need to move to this came here in their infancy W Manager, Sam Allardyce claims he is close to agreeing a new stadium to compete with and their dad, uncle or

Monreal

Man Utd could be my last club, Van Persie reveals OBIN van Persie has admitR ted he may end his career at Manchester United.

The 29-year-old Holland striker says the fact United have a track record in valuing older players such as Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes may persuade him to see out his playing days at Old Trafford too.

Van Persie told Dutch magazine Voetbal International, “for the next few years I will be at Manchester United - and maybe longer. United could be my last club.”

The former Arsenal striker’s current United contract will end when he is 33 but with 39year-old Giggs and Scholes, 38, for inspiration, the striker may be tempted to extend his time at the club.

“You have a number of clubs in Europe where older players can find it good, where they are valued. You used to have that at Juventus and AC Milan, Manchester United today is a good example. So, who knows how long I will stay at the club,” he added.

“There is a new challenge for me every day at United. My development is an ongoing process. That gets an extra

boost when you are surrounded by new coaches and teammates, all with their own ideas, in a totally new environment.”

Van Persie scored twice for Holland against Romania to overtake Johan Cruyff’s international goal tally.

Cruyff scored 33 goals in 48 appearances of a curtailed international career and van

Persie is now on 34 goals from 74 caps.

Van Persie is second in the Premier League scoring charts this season with 19 goals, three behind Liverpool’s Luis Suarez, and United will be hoping his international form will see him pick up domestically after a spell of just one goal in 10 matches for the club.

new contract at the club.

Allardyce’s deal at Upton Park expires at the end of the season and there has been some speculation that he could leave the Hammers in the summer. But the former Newcastle United manager insists both parties are keen to find a solution.

“We both want to do it, it’s just a question of sorting out the dotting of the i’s and crossing of the t’s,” Allardyce told Sky Sports News HD. “As always, that is not as easy a situation as you would like.

“You always have to do some negotiations when you are moving into the next contract, just as there were plenty of negotiations over the first contract.

“So we will hopefully come to a conclusion very shortly.”

A new deal would raise the possibility of Allardyce overseeing the transfer from Upton Park to the Olympic Stadium, set to occur at the start of the 2016/17 season.

The move has been the subject of resistance from various parties, including some West Ham supporters, but the manager believes it is necessary if

grandad brought them so they’ve grown to love this stadium.

“But at the end of the day, football has to progress.”

Allardyce

QPR can survive, Jordan insists Coach, Joe FsessIRST-TEAM Jordan is certain QPR posthe attacking threat to fire

Van Persie

the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham in this world,” he added.

“I can understand why they don’t want to leave Upton

themselves to Barclays Premier League survival.

Following defeat at Aston Villa before the international break, QPR stand seven points adrift of safety heading into the final eight games.

That deficit could be widened further by the time Harry Redknapp’s men tackle west London rivals Fulham at Craven Cottage on Easter Monday.

However, Jordan insists that with the likes of Bobby Zamora and £8 million French forward Loic Remy, the Hoops - with seven goals in their past three matches - have what it takes to pull off what would be a remarkable escape.

“We have the players now

that are capable of taking the game to the opposition,” former Scotland star Jordan told club website www.qpr.co.uk.

“Bobby is back fit, Remy is back in - we have a depth there now that we didn’t have (before). When we arrived here we could only really play in a certain way, but that has changed now. We had to defend and play on the break, whereas now we can take the game to the opposition when it is needed.

“Performance-wise, we are improving all the time and there is a belief in the camp, because we are playing well.

The performance (at Aston Villa) last week was excellent.

Going forward that was the best we have played since we have got here.

“There are eight games ahead

of us and there are games we think we can win.

“Harry has been in circumstances like this before and I have worked with him during those. Harry’s teams have achieved what we are asking these players to go and achieve in these last eight games for QPR. “The possibilities (of survival) are there - we have just got to make sure we don’t create our own problems. If we can play the way that we have played recently we will score goals, we have just got to make sure those goals win us games.”

QPR had plenty of the firstteam squad away on World Cup qualifying duty, including defender Tal Ben Haim, who played in Israel’s 2-0 win over Northern Ireland in Belfast.

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2014 World Cup Qualifiers

There is no Sweden syndrome, says Germany’s Loew DAZZLING first-half gave A way to an erratic secondhalf performance as Germany again battled with lapses of concentration in their 4-1 win over Kazakhstan in their World Cup qualifier.

The three-times European and World champions lead Group C by eight points after Tuesday’s victory, their fifth in six games.

Yet Coach Joachim Loew will be carefully analysing their second-half game where they gifted a goal to Kazakhstan, allowed the lowly hosts to hit the post before adding a

Lloris ‘encouraged’ by France progress UGO Lloris has taken the H positives out of France’s “encouraging” 1-0 World Cup

Kazakhstan’s striker, Sergey Ostapenko (left); and midfielder, Valery Korobkin (right), vie with Germany’s midfielder Ilkay Guendogan during the FIFA 2014 World Cup qualifying match in Nuremberg, on Tuesday.

I can learn from Sneijder, Van der Vaart, says Maher DAM Maher has revealed A he is keen to learn from Rafael van der Vaart and Wesley Sneijder at Netherlands’ national side.

National team coach Louis van Gaal stated earlier this week that the AZ midfielder is one of three candidates for the No.10 position, but Maher accepts, for now at least, that the more experienced names remain ahead of him in the pecking order.

“The coach has told me that Sneijder and Van der Vaart are ahead of me in the hierarchy. I have to be patient and grab every chance I get. I can still learn a lot from them,” Maher told Goal.com. “It’s a good thing for the team if they continue to do well.

They can still be decisive.

We’ve all seen that. The team is all that matters.”

He added, “they have World Cup and European championship experience. We have a good team with more experienced players and promising youngsters. That’s the most important thing.”

Maher came off the bench in the 74th minute of Oranje’s 4-0 win over Romania on Tuesday, and he was over the moon with his fourth cap at senior level.

“It’s fantastic that I got playing time. This is a really nice feeling. I got the chance to prove my worth and I think I did a good job. I tried to keep things simple,” Maher explained. “We took a big step toward the World Cup, and it’s now up to us to take that final step.”

Netherlands needs two wins from its remaining four

qualification games to book its ticket for the 2014 World Cup. However, right back Daryl Janmaat has warned Holland not to get complacent.

“We are not there yet and the World Cup is still far away. Let’s not get carried away. Still a lot of things can

happen,” Janmaat said. “I realise that we have taken a big step towards qualification and we cannot let this slip away from us. We have to seal the deal as soon as possible and then keep going.”

Netherlands’ next qualifier is the away game against Estonia in September.

2014 qualifying defeat to Spain.

Les Bleus were knocked off top spot in Group I after Pedro’s goal proved the difference at Stade de france, thus handing control of the group back to la Roja in the race to reach the finals in Brazil.

However, the goalkeeper is adamant that the gap between France and Spain has closed since their meeting in the Euro 2012 quarterfinals and claims his side was unfortunate to have lost on Tuesday night.

“Tonight was all about fine details. We know that everything is still possible, but the Spaniards took their chances,” Lloris said at a press conference.

“It’s a shame. We had a great opportunity to keep first place, but we did not have the desired success. We made a lot of chances as we have seen tonight.

“At the Euros, there was no contest, but the last two meetings have been encouraging because they have been against the best team in the world. They are always in control and possession of the ball.”

fourth goal in the last minute.

After all, memories are still fresh of a second-half collapse after they were leading 4-0 against Sweden last year before they conceded four times for a 4-4 draw in a spectacular and rare German implosion.

Had the hosts let in a second goal to the 139th-ranked Kazakhs after leading 3-0 following a superb start it would have been embarrassing, with fans already whistling following keeper, Manuel Neuer’s blunder that led to the visitors’ goal.

“I did not get any Swedish feeling,” Loew told reporters when asked whether he feared Germany could let the Kazakhs back into the game in the second-half.

“Kazakhstan could not offer offensively what Sweden could bring.”

The Germans scored three times in eight minutes midway through the first half during a frantic offensive spell to kill off the encounter but Neuer miscued right after the restart allowing the visitors to pull a goal back.

“The mistake happened and he was responsible,” Loew

said. “But I do not like that our fans whistled. He is a longtime national team keeper and has played outstandingly in the past years.

“I think it is unsportsmanlike to accompany him for the rest of the game with whistles and sarcasm.”

The Germans missed a dozen clear chances and hit the woodwork six times with Loew admitting his team was not fully focused throughout.

“Maybe it was a case of players thinking ahead to the Bundesliga and the Champions League. The game had already been decided,” he said.

With Germany eager to challenge for the World Cup next year and in control of the group featuring Austria, Sweden and Ireland, the players saw no reason for alarm.

“I don’t think it was that bad,” captain Philipp Lahm said.

“It could have ended 6-1 or 71. We may have lacked a percentage here and there to score more goals and be a bit more concentrated at times.

“But we got the early lead, we killed off the game in the first half and that is what is important.”

French goalkeeper and Captain, Hugo Lloris

Buffon unhappy with Italy performance IANLUIGI Buffon has G expressed his disappointment with Italy’s performance

Italy’s Mario Balotelli (right); contests with Malta’s Gareth Sciberras, during their World Cup Qualifiers at the National Stadium in Malta on Tuesday.

PHOTOS: AFP

in Tuesday’s 2-0 World Cup qualification win over Malta.

Two goals from Mario Balotelli helped the Euro 2012 finalist to three points as Buffon kept out a Michael Mifsud penalty, but the Juventus goalkeeper feels the Italians allowed their opponents too much space throughout the match.

“There were some difficult playing conditions, as it was very windy and the pitch was extremely wet. Plus if there isn’t 100 percent focus and concentration, then you are going to run into trouble,”

Buffon was quoted as saying on the FIFA website.

He added, “I wasn’t the only one who got angry, as we all did. These situations happen when there are games that aren’t high profile. It is a characteristic we have had for years, as we always seem to leave it open for ourselves, our fans and our opponents. The penalty was an incident, but added to the other five or six chances it showed it was not a walk in the park. Those no longer exist in football, especially away from home.”

Italy tops Group B with 13 points from five games, holding a three-point lead over second-placed Bulgaria.

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2014 World Cup Qualifiers

U.S. on right track, Klinsmann insists UST a week ago, serious quesJabout tions were being asked whether Juergen Klinsmann was the right man to lead the United States to the World Cup finals next year in Brazil.

But after following up Friday’s 1-0 win over Costa Rica in snowy Denver with Tuesday’s second ever draw for the U.S. at Mexico’s Azteca Stadium in a qualifier, Klinsmann has answered many of the doubters.

“We’re on the right track here,” the U.S. coach told reporters after Tuesday’s 0-0 draw.

A goalless draw with Mexico changes little in terms of the positions in the CONCACAF qualifying group but it was a significant result for a team, which had been badly weakened by injuries.

“We had so many challenges over the last 10 days in terms of injuries, in terms of players not available,” Klinsmann said.

“After the Costa Rica game they were completely exhausted from playing in the snow blizzard. Then we had another two players out [in Jermaine Jones and Clarence Goodson.

“So this group has shown they are ready for those challenges and they deserve a huge compliment.”

For the two March qualifiers Klinsmann was without, due to injuries, first-choice goalkeeper Tim Howard, full-backs Steve Cherundolo, Fabian Johnson and Timmy Chandler, midfielders Jose Torres and Danny Williams.

The German coach was also

unable to call on Landon Donovan, the U.S’s all-time top scorer who is just about to return to club soccer after an extended break and his captain Carlos Bocanegra was left out due to a lack of games at club level.

On top of those key absences, Klinsmann and his team had to handle the fall-out from an article, which cited anonymous sources within the squad as expressing a lack of confidence in the former German national team boss.

Combined, the injuries and the tension could have become an excuse or even led to disharmony among the players but the response in two testing encounters was two determined and confident displays.

“This is still a team that over the years has shown that when big moments come, when the spotlight comes on brightest that’s something we relish,” midfielder, Michael Bradley said.

“Last week the build-up to Costa Rica ... things go on, on the outside of the team, that try to disrupt the inside of the team.

“I felt every guy did a really good job of maintaining a strong focus,” he added.

“We still have lot of things to improve on but when you look at the mentality of the team and what it look likes when we step on the field I think there is still a lot to be proud of.”

Klinsmann had been accused of tactical naivety by his anonymous critics, but at the Azteca he set his team up well, adjusted when necessary

Terrible to play at altitude, Messi admits IONEL Messi said it was “terrible” to play at altitude after Argentina’s 1-1 draw away to Bolivia on Tuesday in the latest CONMEBOL World Cup 2014 qualifier.

Marcelo Moreno gifted the hosts the lead midway through the first half, before Ever Banega restored parity shortly before the half-time whistle, and Messi was pleased to see his side get a draw in difficult conditions.

“It is terrible to play here at altitude, so a draw is a good result for us,” Messi told reporters.

“Every time you make an effort or play at high pace, you need time to recover. Some of

L

the players had a headache and others felt a bit dizzy, but there was nothing wrong with me.”

The Barcelona star then looked ahead to the remaining qualification games and stressed that the next two matches will be crucial.

“We now have two big games coming up. We host Colombia and we are traveling to Ecuador. They will be nice matches.”

Albiceleste sit atop of the table with 24 points from 11 games, holding a four-point lead over second-placed Ecuador, which has a game in hand.

and found the right way to grind out a result.

He also noted that the excellent performances of young central defenders Omar Gonzalez and Matt Besler owed much to the time they had spent as part of Klinsmann’s off-season

January camp for MLS players.

The German cannot have been happy at the snipes taken at him but he has carefully avoided attacking the media or over-reacting to the news that some in his squad may not be fully in tune with him.

But the former Tottenham, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich forward has concealed any internal annoyance and instead talked of the debate being a sign of the game’s growing importance in the country.

“We’re pleased there’s so

much discussion, so much debate out there. Because it shows you again that you can’t stop soccer in the United States anymore,” he said.

“It is a big-time part of society now and there are millions who watch and follow the game.”

Argentina’s Lionel Messi (centre); is been marked by Bolivia’s Walter Veizaga (left), and Alejandro Chumacero during their Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup South American qualifiers at the Hernando Siles stadium in La Paz, on Tuesday.

It’s still in our hands, says Hodgson OY Hodgson admitted R England paid a heavy World Cup price on Tuesday night for not finishing Montenegro off when they were down.

England produced possibly their best 45 minutes under Hodgson to seize the initiative in Podgorica through Wayne Rooney’s sixth-minute goal.

But after wasting a succession of chances, and failing to get a penalty when Stefan Savic brought down Danny

Welbeck, England were hit by a tidal wave of home attacks after the interval that eventually brought Montenegro their reward when Dejan Damjanovic scored from close range.

“I don’t think Danny would have been wanting to go down in that situation,” said Hodgson of the penalty incident. But there were several times in that first half where we got behind the defence and were close to creating that opportunity.

“When you do that and don’t score, you run the risk that this Montenegro team will come out and play. I thought we stood up to it quite well, but they equalised in the 76th minute and we didn’t have

time to come back again.”

It leaves England in a tricky position as Montenegro retain their two-point lead in Group H, but know they will have a chance to extend it when they entertain Ukraine in June, when England do not have a fixture.

“It’s in our hands because we still have to play Montenegro and Poland at home,” said Hodgson.

“It goes back to the Ukraine result at home, where we drew when we’d like to have won. Maybe the Ukraine away could be crucial for us. But with three out of the last four at home it’s still in our hands.

We hope to make sure it remains in our hands by winning those matches.”

Mystifyingly, Hodgson waited until virtually the final 10 minutes before making a change. And the introduction of Ashley Young for Tom Cleverley worked too as it helped stem the flow of home attacks and allowed England to finish the contest back on the front foot.

“We were trying to hold on to make the change at a slightly later time and wanted to move Steven Gerrard deeper and move Ashley into the wide position,” said Hodgson.

“But they scored as we made it.

“You’re always debating changes but at 1-0 we weren’t 100 per cent convinced there was a change we could make to make a vast difference to what was going on.”

Suarez may face FIFA action IFA is still collating referee Fround reports from yesterday’s of World Cup qualifiers,

Montenegro’s forward, Stevan Jovetic (left); vies with England’s midfielder, Steven Gerrard, during their World Cup 2014 qualification match at Podgorica stadium in Podgorica on Tuesday.

PHOTOS: AFP

meaning it remains to be seen if Luis Suarez will face any retrospective action.

The Uruguay and Liverpool striker played for his country in their 2-0 defeat to Chile in Santiago and appeared to be involved in an incident with opponent Gonzalo Jara.

Video footage shows a coming together between Suarez

and the West Brom defender at a corner, after which Suarez appears to hit out in the direction of Jara’s face.

Jara did not go to ground, with the pair instead trading words, while referee Nestor Pitana took no action, although he did later book Suarez for protesting, meaning he will be suspended for the next qualifier against Venezuela.

FIFA is still waiting on

Pitana’s official report, though, and will decide if any action is necessary after that.

In a statement on Wednesday, FIFA said, “we are still collecting all the postmatch reports, since the officials have got 24 hours to send them. Based on the mentioned reports, FIFA will proceed accordingly.”

The defeat has left Uruguay in sixth place in the group, outside of the top four automatic qualification places.

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94 SPORTS

European Round-Off

Mourinho is disrespectful for no reason, claims Clemente AVIER Clemente has Jfrequently claimed Jose Mourinho is disrespectful to his opponents when it is not necessary.

The Real Madrid coach’s verbal jousting has become something of trademark, as his dispute with Vicente del Bosque over claims the Coach of the Year award was fixed was the latest in a long line of confrontations.

However, Clemente, who coached Spain from 1992 to 1998, has said that Mourinho is deliberately inflammatory even when the situation does not call for it.

“People are still too hard on Mourinho, but sometimes it is with good reason because he doesn’t need to say certain things, even if it is all part of his strategy,” Clemente told reporters.

“I’m not a friend of Mourinho, but this does not mean that all the things he does disturbs me. He makes more mistakes than me, and says things that sometimes are not respectful while nobody disturbs him.

“He is not elegant but rather a guy who doesn’t show generosity, and says that he was not a winner due to people deceiving him.”

Mourinho is facing an uncertain future at Santigao Bernabeu, having been linked with returns to both Chelsea and Inter should he opt to leave Madrid in the summer.

Chelsea’s Oscar ready for ‘important week’ HELSEA midfielder, Oscar - as we have this week - is a bit we’re not thinking that one could be more important C has acknowledged that his different.” side face an “important week” He added, “we have to play than the other. We want to

ahead of a run of four games in eight days.

The Blues travel to Southampton on Saturday looking to keep their top-four hopes on track, before hosting Manchester United on Easter Monday in the FA Cup sixth round.

Rafa Benitez’s men then face Rubin Kazan in the Europa League last-16 three days later and, finally, a league meeting with Sunderland on Sunday.

And the 21-year-old admits it is unusual to face such a congested fixture list, but is keen for the west London club to aim for victory in every game.

“There are so many games at the moment, and all of them are important. We have Southampton first and then Manchester United 48 hours later,” Oscar told reporters.

“But that is the way it always is at a club like Chelsea. We always have a lot of games, though maybe four in a week

and rest as best we can. It is a week that could be really important for our season. We have games in all three remaining competitions, but

win all of the games and we want to do, as well as, we can in all the competitions. We won’t sacrifice one for the others.”

Oscar

Neymar denies new Barca claims RAZILIAN star, Neymar has B again denied that there is an agreement in place with

Mourinho

Barcelona for him to join the Spanish giants.

Catalan daily Sport reported on Monday that a deal had already been signed between Neymar and Barcelona in 2011.

However, as is now the norm for Neymar, who is continually linked with moves away from Santos, he says there is no such agreement.

“I’ve said a thousand times

that there is nothing certain with Barcelona. I’m a Santos player, this is all I have to say,” he told Globo Esporte.

Santos Vice President, Ordilio Rodrigues also added that they do not know anything regarding an arrangement between the player and Barcelona.

“Santos denies absolutely the existence of that contract.

We haven’t known anything about that in any moment.

Neymar hasn’t signed a con-

tract with Barcelona or any other team,” he insisted.

“We have an excellent relationship with Neymar’s father and he never told us anything about that supposed contract or even any other.

“People need to know that it doesn’t only depend on a team to be interested in Neymar, it depends on that if he wants to be transferred. It has three parts, the team that wants to buy, the team that accepts to sell and the player.”

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, March 28, 2013

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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

By Mmeje Chima HE date was December 25, 2011, the Christmas Day. The one-day I look forward to more than I do for my birthday. I went to the village with my cousin Okechukwu because I wanted to spend some time with my grandmother. I remember sitting down outside basking in the solitude of a quiet environment and breathing in the fresh, clean air that you can only get far away from the city. But I was not at peace; I was trying to find it but like a rare cut diamond it evaded me. I kept thinking, what if Boko Haram tries to pull the Al Qaeda trick and attempt a Christmas bombing. I checked the news on my smart phone to assuage the turmoil within my soul. Lo and behold, those evil, dangerous, ignorant savages had struck again.

They threw a bomb in a Catholic Church while mass was going on. I felt cold dread pass through me in that moment; my head was a mess, my heart was bleeding with emotion I couldn’t understand for the victims who just wanted to have a normal Christmas but got the worst kind of tragedy in exchange. I wanted to stay home and not enjoy Christmas but that would have given victory to those criminals. So I ate rice and chicken, after which I went to a bar with my cousin. I drank Heineken with Suya, watched football, listened to high life music and I let the magic of Christmas flow through my veins, seep into my heart and heal my spirit.

That night when I went home, I closed my eyes and I saw the girl I had seen from one of the images of the bomb blast. Her eyes were red, swollen and puffy with tears, her hair disheveled and she seemed to be screaming the words NO! I stared at that image and I saw confusion, anguish, sorrow, pain, tears and the death of life in those eyes. She was beautiful but in that moment all she could understand was that, she was alive and the people she loved the most were dead, on Christmas Day! She probably had a huge feast waiting at home and maybe planned an outdoor activity for herself and the rest of her family but it was all gone; in the blink of an eye lid, she had lost all… on Christmas Day when magic was supposed to be real.

Some 18 suicide bombings have occurred this year. Too many in my opinion, yet not a single thing is seriously being done to avert or manage these crucial crisis. All I hear is excuses, panels, committees, sabotage, betrayals, infiltration, lies, deceit, ignorance and helplessness. Where were we when these bombings started in Maiduguri two years ago? Where are we now that it has spread over the northern and middle belt region up to Kogi and Plateau?

I knew there was a problem when I heard there was a bomb thrown into a Catholic Church in Kaduna and I had no reaction. I was numb to the deaths, numb to the pain, numb to the atrocity; because I had seen it too many times it became ‘normal’. The victims became a number to me.

The first bomb blast we could excuse on a freak incident, the second on security lapse, the third we could say we were learning to cope with the harsh reality of organised terrorism existing in Nigeria, the fourth we could blame on a conspiratory theory, the fifth definitely a mole in government, the sixth, government is the terrorist and from then on we run out of excuses, we pass a victim on the street and ‘sorry’ seems to be too much to offer, for it literally a daily affair. We open the newspaper and we see news and pictures from a bomb blast. What is our reaction?

Not tears, nor sympathy, nor sadness, nor sorrow, just the word ‘hmmmmmmn!’ That is all we have to offer. The national dailies do not report the killings anymore except it is in double figures; Joint Task Force and state governments conspire to hide the real events going on.

I remember when I was in camp in Maiduguri, Borno State, there was tight security.

Everywhere I looked I saw the Police, soldiers, civil defense, Man ‘O’ War, Red Cross, name it!

Any security outfit worth its onions was a manning guard at the camp. Despite the measures people still managed to sneaking in, I watched the ease with which the camp was infiltrated by ordinary individuals under such tight surveillance that supposedly consisted of sophisticated and well trained security units and I would wonder how much easier it would be for Boko Haram with just a little bit more determination to break into any government or security building. It is really too easy.

My friend in Maiduguri lost her Uncle to killers suspected to be associated with the Boko Haram sect. There was no proper investigation by the police, and the case was shut down within two months and that was it. I was angry with my friend’s uncle; I didn’t understand why his people wanted to stay in a place that was perpetually a death zone. She told in five words “Chima, their lives are here”. What she meant was it would be near impossible for the people to pack and leave Maiduguri just like that. Some of them were born there, their shops are there, and they know no other means of survival. Asking them to relocate to their village or another town to start all over again would fall on deaf ears because if there is one thing an average southerner holds dear to his heart it is his business. It

T

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We don’t know how to weep anymore

Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar is important to remind the government of the record of the horrible events which have occurred in one year in the hope that it will rise up to the challenge to save our country from disintegration.

Boko Haram suicide attacks in 2012: November 25, 2012 - A suicide bomber drove an explosives-packed bus into a church at a military base in Kaduna, followed by a suicide bomber in a car outside the church; the blasts killed 11 people and wounded more than 30.

October 28, 2012 - A Boko Haram suicide bomber drove an explosives-packed jeep into a Catholic church in Kaduna, killing at least eight people and wounding over 100.

September 23, 2012 - A suicide bomber killed a woman and a child in an attack at a Catholic Church in Bauchi.

August 15, 2012 - A suicide bomber killed three civilians in a failed attempt to target a vehicle belonging to the Joint Task Force in Maiduguri.

August 5, 2012 - A suicide bomber killed five soldiers in an attack in Damaturu.

August 3, 2012 - A Boko Haram suicide bomber wounded several people in a failed attack outside of a mosque in Potiskum.

July 30, 2012 - A suicide bomber killed a policeman in an attack at a government office in

Sokoto.

July 13, 2012 - A suicide bomber killed five people in an attack at a mosque in Maiduguri.

June 17, 2012 - Boko Haram killed 48 people in simultaneous suicide attacks on churches in Kaduna and Zaria. The terror group claimed credit for the attacks, calling them a “victory against Christian Churches in Kaduna and Zaria.’’ Three other churches were bombed on June 17.

June 10, 2012 - A Boko Haram suicide bomber killed three people in an attack outside a church in Jos. June 8, 2012 - A Boko Haram suicide bomber killed four people in an attack outside a police station in Maiduguri.

June 3, 2012 - A Boko Haram suicide bomber killed 15 people an attack on a church in Bauchi.

April 30, 2012 - A Boko Haram suicide bomber killed 11 people and wounded more than 20 in an attack on a police convoy in Jalingo, the capital of Taraba State.

April 26, 2012 - The editor of ThisDay confirmed that a suicide bomber drove a jeep into the newspaper’s office in Abuja, killing two people.

April 8, 2012 - Boko Haram killed 36 people and wounded dozens more in several bombings

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outside of a church in Kaduna on Easter Day. March 11, 2012 - A Boko Haram suicide bomber killed three civilians in a bombing outside of a church in Jos. The suicide bomber was stopped before he could enter the compound.

February 26, 2012 - A Boko Haram suicide bomber killed six persons during an attack at a church in Jos. January 21, 2012 - Boko Haram killed more than 140 people during a series of blasts, including a suicide bombing, and shootings in Kano. Boko Haram claimed credit for the attacks, which targeted police and immigration buildings.

(Source: The Long War Journal) Many have been having recurrent nightmares and frightening dreams since 2009 not unconnected with what the country has been experiencing in the hands of terrorists which appear to have been borne out by occurrences listed in the foregoing.

The problem does not seem to have been attacked from the root and so it festers. The government rather chooses to let sleeping dogs lie; hoping in ignorance that another crisis won’t occur; but we all know in the inner recess of our hearts where only truth dwells that another crisis could be lying in wait in Jos looking for something, anything to make the fake water bubble of peace burst.

The incident that is hurtful the most is watching the youths die. The Aluu four and the Mubi killings come to mind in these kinds of situation. Four students of the University of PortHarcourt were burnt alive similar to what happened in the age some 1500 years ago when witches were tied to the stakes and burnt alive. It should take the heart of a human to tame such inhumane violence for it is the absence of conscience in a man that can make him to impose jungle justice on individuals without evidence.

It is despicable and worrisome the level to which we have degenerated, taking people’s lives in a savage manner. It also proves the total failure of the police as well.

In the Mubi killings, young people were murdered in large number in one day because of a student government election. More than 40 people were dead in scenes that resemble sights from a gang movie. The killings reportedly lasted more than 40 minutes; the killers took their time and when they were done strolled away as if they had no care in the world.

The loss of youthful lives that could have become great men in the future and the absence of government action have portrayed the President as weak; he was weak when fortune took him from glory to glory, he was weak when people voted him into power and he remains weak in the face of crisis. The government does not know how to deal with violence, they are only good at fueling it, they have no solutions to Boko Haram or Jos crisis neither do they have answers for the families of those killed in Mubi Polytechnic or of those left behind by the Aluu four.

Sometimes I blame all the people who voted Jonathan into power, other times I do not blame them because the system has degenerated into a rot so bad the options presented before us at every election are not the best in terms of democratic governance.

We don’t know how to weep anymore; death piles up at our doorstep at such an alarming rate that sometimes we wonder what doom we will find when we open the pages of the newspaper the next morning.

We don’t know how to weep anymore; no condolence visits by government representatives to victims of bomb blasts, sectarian killings and electoral violence because there are too many dead people with families left behind to be visited.

Where is the one minute silence in memory of those we have lost on TV, public gatherings or before Nigerian Premier League matches are played?

Where is the shrine of candles, flowers and pictures of those we have lost close to the sites where they happened or in other locations of value?

Who comforts those the dead have lost? When will human life in Nigeria be accorded with the respect and protection it deserves? When will the government strike back and put a stop to this madness? When shall we know peace again? When shall my nightmares stop?

These politicians probably have not had to grieve, so they remain aloof because the problem does not affect them personally; they see no need to find a lasting solution to the real problems of the country instead they spend money on committees and panels that we do not need.

Nigeria is headed towards anarchy, riot and uncontainable violence. After all, violence is the only word we seem to understand when all is said and done. There are no rooms to regret things that could have been done differently in past situations because regret is a friend of procrastination, what we need are real life, workable situations that can stop the violence finally and for all times.

• Mmeje Chima, an unemployed graduate, lives in Abuja.