Fri 03 May 2013 The Guardian Nigeria

TheGuardian Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

Friday, May 3, 2013

Vol. 29, No. 12,545

N150

www.ngrguardiannews.com

Reps probe alleged N59tr oil deal From Terhemba Daka (Abuja) and Wole Shadare (Lagos) HOCKED by the alleged N59 Sinvolving trillion fraudulent oil deal the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, and the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), the House of Representatives yesterday began an investigation into the matter.

The House mandated a special ad-hoc committee to probe the allegation. Also under the searchlight of the panel are the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC),

• Oil firm faults allegation against Alison-Madueke • House considers interest-free loans for students, flood disasters’ unit Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Limited and Septa Energy Limited.

The House also considered for second reading at its plenary yesterday a bill to grant interest-free loans to indigent Nigerian students in higher institutions of learning.

According to a resolution unanimously adopted by the House on a motion sponsored by the Deputy Chairman of its Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Victor Ogene, the House has urged every stakeholder, authorities or

bodies with the requisite information to co-operate and assist the committee in its investigations. The committee has four weeks to report back on its findings.

Oil-producing communities in Delta State had on April 25 protested at the National Assembly against an alleged fraudulent allocation of Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) 4, 26, 30, 34, 38, 41 and 42 by the Minister of Petroleum Resources.

Ogene (APGA-Anambra) in moving the motion stated that Alison-Madueke and

SPDC allegedly compromised officials of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the NPDC in the transactions that led to the farm-out of some oil blocks, pointing out that $15.7 trillion worth of gas assets were alleged to be at stake in the deal.

He said that in striking the deal, there were allegations of a deliberate exclusion of indigenous operators from exercising their rights of first refusal before selections were made, adding that the exercise was carried out in viola-

tion of Sections 3 (1), (2) and 5 of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Act No. 2 of 2010.

Ogene said the Federal Government would have earned $800 million instead of the $50 million it received if there had be an open competitive bidding in accordance with the Procurement Act. Meanwhile, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited (NPDC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has

faulted the allegation against the petroleum minister.

In an advertorial in The Guardian of May 1, 2013, the management of NPDC said: “The allegation of deliberate exclusion of indigenous rights is in contrast with the established pro-indigenous position of the minister as demonstrated in her administration of the oil and gas sector.”

It added, among others: “They are not new to the industry. It is therefore false to say that the FGN’s 55 per cent equity interest and/or any FGN equity interest has been sold to AEDC. There was never CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Turai Yar’Adua wins Abuja land suit against Jonathan’s wife - Page 5

Ibori loses bid for early release from UK prison Appeal court says judge ‘too generous’ From Tunde Oyedoyin, London N ATTEMPT by former A Delta State Governor James Ibori to secure an early release

Canadian Minister of Trade, Ed Fast (left); Vice President Namadi Sambo and Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, during Sambo’s visit to the Canadian Prime Minister at Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Canada…on Wednesday.

from Her Majesty Prison (HMP), Little Lartin, United Kingdom (UK), failed yesterday.

Three Appeal Court judges threw out his case at the Royal Courts of Justice at the Strand.

The trio of Lord Justice Treacy, Mr. Justice Edward -Stuart and the Recorder of Leeds, said they were convinced that Ibori deserved the 13-year jail term which he got at Southwark Crown Court at the hands of Judge Anthony Pitts in April 2013.

“The judgment is wholly appropriate,” the court ruled, just before 1.00 p.m. after the lead judge had taken about an CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

‘Why aircraft owners prefer foreign registration’

By Wole Shadare GAINST the backdrop of the grounding of a Bombardier jet belonging to the Rivers State government, stakeholders have posed questions over the propriety of the operation of non-registered Nigerian aircraft in the country’s airspace.

While briefing reporters in Lagos last week, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority

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(NCAA) disclosed that the aircraft, Bombardier 700 Global Express with registration number N565RS, had an expired clearance approval effective April 2, 2012.

Reacting, Rivers State Com-

Nigeria is ready market for plane makers missioner for Information, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, said all the documents of the aircraft were in place and that the

state had applied formally to the minister of aviation for the import licence.

Barely 24 hours after the

grounding by the aviation regulatory body, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management

Euro Central Bank cuts interest rate - Page 9

Agency (NAMA), Mr. Nnamdi Udoh, had explained that the airplane was temporarily grounded in Akure, Ondo State, after the pilot of the airplane refused to submit his manifest, an action experts said was beyond the powers of NAMA. Visits by The Guardian to most of the airports showed that CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

NEWS

‘Nigeria is ready market for aircraft makers’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 over 80 per cent of private jets owned by wealthy Nigerians carry foreign registration numbers.

Across the nation’s airports and private hangars, the registration numbers on the jets are ZS - PPH, ZS - SGV, ZS-B0V, ZS-PTP, ZS-BOT (believed to belong to a former governor from the South-West), ZS-S0V, ZS-SAH, ZS-PCT, ZS-PKY and so on.

ZS is the call sign of South Africa. ZS-BOV and ZS-SOV are believed to be owned by the

same person. There are some with Nigerian registration numbers like N2208L belonging to a bank or its chief executive and 3B-MGT believed to have been leased by another bank.

The call sign for Nigeria is 5N. All aircraft registered in Nigeria carry this sign. In the United States (U.S.), all America-registered airplanes carry the ‘N’ call sign.

Many nations of the world have their different call signs, which depict where an aircraft is registered.

According to experts, the major reason Nigerians register their airplanes outside the shores of the country is simply economic as Nigeria is tagged high-risk nation when it comes to aviation.

The insurance premium for aircraft registered in Nigeria is said to be higher than what is paid in Europe, America and South Africa.

Also, the second-hand value for airplanes is higher in these other nations compared to Nigeria.

While the market for many products is shrinking, private jet manufacturers and dealers have found a ready market

in Nigeria. Indeed, Bombardier and Hawker Beechcraft Corporation, both jet manufacturers, have never had it so good.

Over-flying the Nigerian airspace today are some of the best and, of course, most expensive private jets these companies have on offer.

In the last five years, the number of private jets bought by Nigerians has more than doubled.

The Assistant Secretary-General of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), Mohammed Tukur, told The Guardian that most of the planes owned by Nigerians were registered in

South Africa, while very few others were registered in the U.S. and elsewhere.

He said that an openly discussed topic in the South African aviation sector was the number of aircraft registered in that country but belonging to Nigerians.

According to an aviation analyst, Olumide Ohunayo, foreign registered aircraft tend to have lower insurance premium and financing facility. “Also, in the event of leasing it out or putting it up for sale, they usually attract better deals and offers. In other words, they have good second-hand value.

“With the strong remote control of the agencies by the government in power with absolute powers to frustrate, you can see why those in government and those out of it opt for such an arrangement”, he said.

According to him, for politicians and government contractors, it is easier to retrieve an aircraft during political witch-hunt by asking the foreign company under which the equipment was either leased or purchased to demand its aircraft. As a signatory to international convention, the airplane must be released by the country holding it.

Ibori loses bid for early release from UK prison CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 hour to read how they arrived at their verdict to a fully packed court, consisting mainly of Ibori’s kinsmen from the London branch of Union.

Clan Oghara The judges even said that Pitts had been “too generous” to give Ibori enough discounts to the effect that he actually got just four years and about six months - out of which he had already spent a year. a over little As the reality of the verdict

dawned on Ibori’s people, numbering over 20 (including an elderly woman of about 60, wearing a “free Ibori” T-shirt), they had long faces and started filing outside the Courtroom Seven, discussing in hushed tones.

One of the union members was heard saying about the verdict that “it’s all political,” and blaming President Goodluck Jonathan for the former governor’s plight. Another was heard saying he would be out in time to par-

ticipate in the 2015 elections, while another group concluded that the defeat was the handiwork of Ibori’s political opponents in Nigeria.

“The more they keep him here, the better for them,” referring to Ibori’s political rivals.

One member of the union, who spoke with The Guardian on the condition of anonymity when asked why they had come in a large number said: “We only came to support him because he is our son.”

Asked if they were paid or sponsored to be there, the woman said Ibori himself sent word to the union that they should come and support him. “We meet every last Sunday of the month, and during our meeting on Sunday, the president - of the union - said there’s a hearing on Thursday and that we should try to be there. That’s came.” all we why Ibori’s defence team, headed by Nicholas Purnell, had CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo (left); Chief Idowu Abraham Akanle; Chairman, Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P), Christopher Kolade and Dr. Olufemi Olopade, during public presentation of a book, Kolade’s Canons, in Lagos…yesterday.

PHOTO: SUNDAY AKINLOLU

Reps seek interest-free loans for students, flood disasters’ unit CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 such a sale…

“As indicated earlier, there was never any sale of equity involved but merely a transaction between NNPC and its subsidiary, NPDC, in compliance with the provisions of the Joint Operating Agreement (JOA). The transaction at issue was not an acreage allocation exercise neither did it involve the issuance of a prospecting licence.

“As in all previous funding arrangements such as Modified Carry Arrangements (MCA), Project Financing, etc; NNPC negotiates the most competitive financing terms for itself.”

Minority Leader of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila who sponsored the Bill for an

Act to provide access to higher education through interestfree loans while leading debate on its general principles explained that the proposal was a building block to developing the nation educationally.

He said that if passed into law, it would increase the level of scientific discoveries, as well as ensure cutting edge technology that would bring Nigeria at par with innovations around the world.

“Education should not be seen as a privilege but as a right which is constitutionally guaranteed,” he stated, adding that so many prospective students had been losing their admissions due to lack of funds.

Several members, including former Chairman of the

House Committee on Education, Farouk Lawan, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Nnena Elendu-Ukeje and Mr. Forte Dike spoke in support of the bill.

Besides, a Bill to establish a Department within the National Emergency Management Agency to provide insurance and lessen the effect of floods on victims in the country, scaled second reading on the floor of the House of Representatives yesterday.

The bill entitled a “Bill for an act to create a Department of National Flood Mitigation and Insurance Programme in the NEMA”, which was consolidated with another bill, was introduced by Emmanuel Jime (PDP-Benue).

The bill specifically wants a special unit embedded in the

NEMA to provide insurance for flood disaster victims, provide measures to avert such disasters and compensate victims in the case where the disasters are unavoidable.

Leading the debate on the proposed piece of legislation, Jime recalled that “in 2012, Nigeria witnessed the worst floods in the history of the country, where the whole of Nigeria was affected leading to the loss of the lives of more than 360 people.”

Though some lawmakers, including Peter Ede (ANPPEbonyi) and Abubakar Momoh (ACN-Edo), raised objections to some parts of the bill, it eventually scaled second reading and was referred to Committee on Disaster Management for further legislative action.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

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News PDP wants Oshiomhole’s honours withdrawn From Azimazi Momoh Jimoh, Abuja HE People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State yesterday in Abuja called on President Goodluck Jonathan to strip Governor Adams Oshiomhole of the national honours award given to him years ago.

The party’s request was hinged on allegations that Oshiomole fraudulently tampered with and manipulated his date of birth to suit his political ambition. But in a swift response, Oshiomhole said he would not join issues with the PDP leaders on the matter.

Addressing a press conference at the PDP national headquarters in Abuja, the chairman of the Edo State PDP, Mr. Dan Orbih, also asked the Inspector-General of Police to commence investigation to unravel the truth about the perjury allegation.

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Controversy over Chime’s alleged death From Kodilinye Obiagwu and Lawrence Njoku (Enugu)

Aides keep mute, brother dismisses rumour

IKE wild fire, rumours of the death of Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime, yesterday swept through the state, with many residents bemused over the claim. And within Government circles, mum was the watchword as no government official could speak on the gov-

ernor’s whereabouts.

However, the governor’s younger brother, Jideofor Chime in a test message to The Guardian said ‘‘l left Enugu today (yesterday), please he (governor) is hale and hearty and that’s the truth which is verifiable.’’

But on Monday, April 28, 2013,

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Chime played host to officials of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, who visited his office.

The fresh rumour of Chime’s death in India was traced to entries on the social network, Facebook. And despite the rumours, what was confirmed

yesterday was that the governor was not in the state. There were speculations that he was in Abuja. But there were unconfirmed reports that he was out of the country.

Amidst the growing concerns over the health of the governor, there was no official statement from his media aides.

However, one of the governor aides dismissed the rumours,

Lamido blames Ringim attacks on security lapses From John Akubo, Dutse OVERNOR Sule Lamido of G Jigawa State has blamed the recent attacks by unknown gunmen in Ringim community of the state which claimed the lives of three police officers and two others, on security lapses.

The governor, who cut short his annual leave, said the police was ill-equipped to quell the crisis.

He promised to take up the issue of lack of adequate equipment for the police with President Goodluck Jonathan.

“Obviously, there were some lapses in the security arrangement. When I meet with the police and other security organisations, we would try to review the whole situation to know what might have been the lapses so as to forestall future occurrence.

Editors’ body urges better govt, media ties OVERNMENTS at all levels G in the country have been urged to partner with the media in the task of nationbuilding.

The call was made yesterday by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) in commemoration of the World Press Freedom Day. In a statement by the NGE’s President, Femi Adesina, he said that “recent developments in the country have, however, reinforced the uneasy relationship that often exists between government and the media. But we urge the government to stoutly resist anything that might bear the slightest semblance to a curtailment of the freedom of the press, either overtly or covertly.”

He added: “The media parades professionals who are passionate and committed to the growth and development of the country on all fronts, and they do not deserve to be hounded, repressed or harassed in any form.”

Executive Director, Special Project, Globacom, Mike Jituboh (left); Group Chief Operating Officer, Globacom, Mohammed Jameel; Managing Director, ZTE, Zeng-

saying “there is nothing like that. And this is the truth. How can we be reacting to what people are saying on the Internet?”

Another source close to the Government House said: “If he is dead it will be in prominent media, not social network. Is this the first time they are talking about his death. Why do they want him dead? It is so pathetic. We are talking about the governor of a state and not just an ordinary citizen. Why should people be treating him like that? It’s not fair. He travelled to Abuja and suddenly the story is that he is dead. The last time the mischief makers were at work, he shamed them all, came back and told his story and now is all over again. A man who declares a living man dead is dead himself. The governor is not dead, and he has said himself that he is sick.

Any of us can be sick, but why wish him dead?”

The atmosphere at Government House, Enugu was calm as people went about their normal duties.

The current development was not the first time Chime is being linked to death. In December last year, while he was recovering after series of surgeries in London over a nose cancer, there were rumours of his demise.

Although officials of his administration had risen to the occasion then and dismissed the death story as “untrue”, only a few believed it until the return of the governor early February.

ACN faults reports on Baga violence, wants independent probe ITING shoddiness, the C Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has rejected the preliminary reports on the Baga tragedy, submitted by the military high command and National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA), saying available, verifiable evidence has shown that the investigation that produced the reports was everything but thorough.

In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by the ACN National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party therefore called for an urgent and independent investigation into the April 16 2013 incidents at Baga to establish the truth, instead of an apparently shoddy investigation that could only have produced a convoluted report. ‘’Those who carried out that investigation apparently discountenanced the fact that in today’s world, nothing is hidden. Thanks to the satellite imagery released by Human Rights Watch on Wednesday, the world is now aware of the massive devastation that occurred in Baga. It is actually worse than what has been reported! ‘’The satellite images support the conclusion by the rights group that 2,275 buildings were destroyed in the clashes. They also seem to support the state-

ments credited to the Senator Lawan Maina who is representing the area, who put the death toll at 220. ‘’Contrast this to NEMA’s conclusion that far less than 1,000 homes were destroyed, or the military high command’s finding that only 36 people were killed, and it

becomes glaring that something is wrong somewhere. ‘’The Nigerian media, now the favourite whipping boy of an increasingly edgy administration, has come under fire for reporting the massive killings and devastation. But those criticising the Nigerian media should endeavour to

follow the international media’s reportage of the events in Baga to see that the local media is not just crying wolf,’’ it said.

ACN said Nigeria would have been spared the global opprobrium resulting from the Baga tragedy, had the government and the military carried

out a more diligent investigation of the incidents instead of acting in a defensive manner and trivialising the destruction wrought in Baga by saying most of the destroyed houses were made of thatched roofs anyway, as if it was a sin to live in such structures.

Northern elders oppose six-year single tenure for president, govs From Saxone Akhaine, Northern Bureau Chief CHOING wrongheadedness, E the Arewa leaders have opposed plans by the National Assembly to recommend a sixyear single tenure for the president and governors under the proposed constitutional amendment, saying that such system if adopted would be counter productive and injurious to the nation’s democracy.

Meanwhile, the South-East Revival Group (SERG) yesterday cautioned political leaders in the country against the use of the anti-corruption agencies to hunt politically per-

Group cautions against intimidation of political opponents ceived enemies.

They alleged that the recent invitation of an Anambra State governorship hopeful, Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was a confirmation that intimidation and harassment of political opponent was emerging Besides, elder statesman and opposition leader, Alhaji Balarabe Musa has criticised President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration for its inability to deliver the dividend of democracy, adding that poor governance by the People’s Democratic Party

(PDP) had resulted in the internal crisis within the party.

In a statement by the Northern elders under the aegis of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), and signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Anthony Sani, they argued that the six-year tenure for both the President and governors which the Senate was said to have recommended “lacks the basic elements of motivation and incentives needed in any management of human affairs for performance” under any purposeful democratic dispensation.”

They added: “In the single tenure system, there are no incentives, motivation and reward that can inspire for excellent performance” by the political office holders.

“And this has to do with the fact that the good, the not-sogood and the feckless leaders, are grouped together in the same hall without any distinction. Such a practice cannot deliver on good governance.

That may explain why most countries in the world practise multiple tenure systems which enable leaders to aspire for excellence in the hope of reward by way of re-election.

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

NEWS

PDP intensifies search for NGF boss, meets Imoke From Anietie Akpan, Calabar S the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) continues search for reconciliation among its arrowheads, members of its Board of Trustees (BoT) held a closed-door meeting with Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State yesterday but kept sealed lips on the outcome of the meeting.

However, The Guardian confirmed from sources that the BoT was frantically campaigning and softening grounds for an acceptable

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governor of old Anambra State, Jim Nwobodo; Senator Stella Omu; Senator Walid Jubrin and Prof. Stella Attoe; among others.

Speaking with journalists shortly after the meeting, which took place in the governor’s private residence in Calabar, Anenih said they discussed Bakassi, the 76 oil wells imbroglio, issues concerning the PDP and the Governor’s Forum, among others.

“When we met with Governor Imoke, we discussed several issues bordering on the larger development of the

chairman for the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) and at the same time plotting strategies on the Amaechi/Goodluck Jonathan crisis.

In attendance at the meeting were the BoT Chairman, Chief Tony Anenih; former National Secretary, Dr. Musa Babayo; former National Chairman, Barnabas Gemade; former Deputy Chairman, Alhaji Shuaibu Oyedokun; former

South-South region, the Bakassi Peninsula, the 76 oil wells, the PDP and the Governors’ Forum. And from here, we will continue our visit to other states,” he said.

He added that they also rubbed minds on the NGF chairmanship but declined to speak on the outcome of such deliberations. According to him, the discussions were fruitful, and Imoke, as chairman of the South-

South Governors’ Forum, was critical to peace and progress of the party in the zone.

According to him, Imoke used the opportunity to thank President Goodluck Jonathan for his actions over Bakassi, as well as the handling of the 76 oil wells.

He added: “The governor is the chairman, South-South Governors’ Forum and a strong member of NGF, and as such, we discussed on who

becomes the chairman of NGF. But for now, it is not for the press to know what we discussed.”

Meanwhile, Imoke described Anenih as a leader and father, who has succeeded in keeping the party in one piece. He assured that the party would remain united despite its challenges.

Ibori loses bid for early release from UK prison CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 come to the Appeal Court on three grounds, which the Crown Prosecution team led

by Sasha Wass argued lacked no merit.

One of their grounds for appeal was that the former governor pleaded guilty, thereby saving court’s time and British tax-payers’ money.

Purnell said he thought the trial judge had promised to be lenient if Ibori entered a guilty plea.

Purnell told the court he was under the impression that the trial judge was then going to invoke the “Goodyear procedure.”

But Wass dismantled that argument, saying that the judge never promised he was going to impose any softer punishment and that there was no “Goodyear agreement “with the judge, anyway. She then concluded that the appeal “lacked merit.” After taking about 20 minutes break to consider the submissions just before 11.30 a.m., the judges returned some 20 minutes later to give their verdict.

They argued that the trial judge was actually lenient with Ibori for giving him maximum discounts, which reduced his term to four years and about six months.

“The judge was too generous,” they said.

More importantly, they argued that Ibori ought to get the term he received for his money laundering and conspiracy to defraud charges and that the judge made it clear that Purnell had based his expectation on false assumption.

“We do not accept Mr. Purnell’s submission that the judge -at Southwark Crown

Court - gave an indication that he was going by the “Goodyear” procedure,” and assuming he even did, the conditions for it were not met. The implication of this is that Ibori will remain a guest of Her Majesty at Long Lartin for the next three years and some months.

The judges also made the Ibori’s team realise that their client himself admitted that he pleaded guilty to 10 of the 22 charges against him because of the magnitude of the evidence, not because Hetherington Judge promised lesser punishment. They reasoned that considering it was a money laundering case to the tune of £50 million, “we consider that the sentences were appropriate to the charges. In our view, he must get the maximum charges.”

Lord Mayor of City of London, Roger Gifford (left); Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State and Deputy British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Peter Carter, during the visit of the Mayor to Lagos…on Tuesday.

‘Women in Oil’ initiative promoters deny allegation ROMOTERS of “Women in P Oil” initiative have rejected an allegation that they are fraudsters reportedly levelled against them by President Goodluck Jonathan’s Special Adviser on Media, Dr. Reuben Abati.

At a press conference, the Chairman of “Project New Nation” and the creator of the initiative, Mr. Charles Dukwe, said: “As a little boy growing up in Nigeria, I always wondered why life here was so difficult for the average person and there never seems to be anything the common man can truly rejoice or even be happy about. The answers to this puzzle came when I finished university and left for the United States (U.S.). I realised that the simple reason

life in Nigeria was difficult was because of lack of innovative solutions from the private sector and our over-dependence on government to solve all our numerous problems. More than a decade later, a political leader in the person of President Goodluck Jonathan emerged and said exactly the same things calling on private sector and Nigerians in Diaspora to complement government policies with innovative solutions as that alone he said was the way forward for the country.

“I believed the President as a candidate campaigning on this platform and encouraged many young people to vote for him. I did not stop there, after the President was elected, I brought in so many innovative

private sector ideas that can bridge the development divide between our dear country and the United States of America and began to take these ideas to the most important segment of the society, the masses at the grassroots.

One of those innovative private sector led ideas is “Women in Oil” or “WIO”. As you are most probably aware, the issue of gender inequality is one of the cardinal points of the millennium development goals and a matter that requires a most pragmatic and tactical measure if any result will be achieved in our lifetime. That pragmatic and tactical measure is the nationally renowned private sector-led initiative known as Women in Oil, which

draws its strength from President Goodluck Jonathan’s 35 per cent affirmative policy and the administration’s mantra of private sector leadership and response. WIO is a registered corporation in Nigeria with the corporate affairs commission and aims to leverage some of the N30 billion per day that is generated from the Nigerian oil and gas industry to better the life of the average, forsaken, unknown and neglected Nigerian woman through empathy driven partnerships that we are establishing with high level technical partners in Canada with the view to operate in 10 critical sectors of the oil and gas industry.”

Ndukwe demanded an apology from Abati, warning that he

alone would be held liable if he failed to do so.

He added: “We have taken ample difficult and resource consuming approach to enlighten the most simple of Nigerian women from market traders to teachers, widows, housewives, police and army wives associations, civil servants, unemployed and women in the most interior villages on the policy the President has enacted and how we are now leveraging on it to bring a ray of sunlight to their lives. Over 40,000 women across the country have adhered to this call and registered to support this unprecedented initiative and many more are still coming in.

the involvement of both the civil aviation authorities and national security agencies for approval, and full disclosure of the aircraft, passengers and crew must be provided as required by law.

“The security implication of this requirement is further emphasised where a foreignregistered aircraft (such as the current aircraft) is engaged in domestic flight operations,” he noted.

Obi alleged that false information or forged documentation in the processing of official approvals or permits was a serious violation of the Civil Aviation Act, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations and other extant criminal laws in Nigeria.

He further maintained that the Bombardier aircraft with Registration Number N565RS

was currently listed on the U.S. Department of Transport (DOT), Federal Aviation Administration Registry, and the registration was issued to “Bank of Utah Trustee” of 200 E, South Temple, Suite 210, Salt Lake City, UT 84111-1346.

He added that it was registered on September 28, 2012, to expire on September 30, 2015, and “the registration certificate explicitly states that the aircraft registration is not transferable.”

According to him, ‘the Certificate of Insurance is dated September 28, 2012 to expire on August 12, 2013, and it appears to have been issued with respect to a ‘Ferry Flight Agreement’ of September 2012. On April 26, 2013, the said aircraft was refused startup at Akure airport due to insufficient and improper documentation.

Minister directs NCAA to probe Amaechi’s plane

By Wole Shadare (Lagos), Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu (Benin City), Nkechi Onyedika (Abuja) and Ann Godwin (Port Harcourt) HE Ministry of Aviation T said yesterday that it would follow the law to the letter in resolving the controversies emanating since the grounding in Akure last week of Rivers State government’s aircraft by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

Consequently, the ministry has directed the NCAA to commence full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the alleged false clearance applications of the aircraft.

Meanwhile, public sympathy is swelling for Amaechi against the Federal Government on the issue, with a coalition of civil society or-

Civil groups, NANS petition NASS over gov’s aircraft, others ganisations yesterday joining to criticise the recent grounding of the aircraft and consequent developments.

The coalition, in a petition to the Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, described the grounding of the aircraft as political and urged the National Assembly to investigate the actions of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and NCAA to ascertain whether the clearance approval for the aircraft expired as claimed by the agencies.

It was signed by the Executive Director, African Network for Environmental and Economic Justice, David Ugolor; National Co-ordinator of Ogoni Solidarity Forum, Celestine Akpobari; Founder of League

of Awareness, Makelemi Erhuvwuvotu; and a member of End Impunity Campaign, Bernard Onorokakpene Oyabevwe.

Ugolor alleged that the recent crisis within the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, the aircraft issue and the suspension of members of the Rivers House of Assembly, believed to be Amaechi’s supporters, were dictatorial moves by the Presidency in the build-up to 2015 presidential election.

In a similar note, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has urged Amaechi not to be distracted by the political uproar in his state, rather, to focus on delivering on his electoral promises to the people through transparency and good gover-

nance.

Speaking yesterday during their solidarity protest to the Government House, Port Harcourt, the outgoing President of the National Union of Rivers State Students (NURSS), Mr. Warmete Awoloye, warned that they would neither condone injustice against the Amaechiled administration, nor allow detractors working against his developmental strides.

The students warned that the situation could lead to doom if not urgently controlled.

However, spokesman for the Minister of Aviation, Joe Obi, said in a statement yesterday that the flight clearance process was a vital safety and security component of civil aviation worldwide.

According to him, it requires

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

Police in Ondo assure on security as election tribunal gives verdict today From Niyi Bello, Akure NDO State Police Command yesterday assured citizens of the state of adequate security during and after the delivery of judgment by the election petition tribunal, which is expected to deliver its verdict today.

Spokesman of the Command, Wole Ogodo, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), told The Guardian that security agencies are on top of the situation.

He said all concerned with maintaining security of lives and property in the state have been put on alert to forestall any breakdown of law and order.

Ogodo, who did not disclose the number of men deployed to maintain the peace, embark on surveillance and throw security ring around the tribunal venue, however, warned miscreants and political hoodlums to stay away from the state.

O

Why we need N12b, by ESUT VC From Lawrence Njoku, Enugu NADEQUATE physical infraIatres, structure such as lecture theoffice blocks, laboratories and faculty buildings were responsible for the institution of the N12 billion Trust Fund by the management of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), its Vice Chancellor, Prof. Cyprian Onyeji has said.

Addressing journalists in Enugu yesterday as part of the 15th convocation ceremonies of the school, Onyeji said there was urgent need to relocate Faculties of Engineering and Management Sciences still located in Enugu, provide recreation facilities, hostels, modern library equipment as well as support services and funds to promote scholarships and research grants.

He said that government alone cannot meet the needs of the university, and called on the friends of the institution, private and philanthropic Nigerians to support the it.

Court to rule in Plateau ex-dep gov’s case May 9 • EFCC to file fresh charges against alleged pension thieves From Abosede Musari, Abuja HE Economic and Financial T Crimes Commission (EFCC) said it expected to obtain judgment in the corruption case against former Deputy Governor of Plateau State, Michael Botmang next Thursday.

Top EFCC source told The Guardian yesterday that the Commission had closed its book on investigations in the six-year case, and was ready for the judgment by May 9.

Michael Botmang had allegedly stolen N1.5 billion from the state account within a period of six months between November 13, 2006 and April 9, 2007 when he served as governor of the state.

He was investigated by the EFCC on the petition of the current governor of the state, Chief Jonah Jang, who had written to former EFCC chairman, Nuhu Ribadu to help recover the alleged stolen sum.

NEWS 5

Turai Yar’Adua wins Abuja land suit against Jonathan’s wife From Lemmy Ughegbe, Abuja TTEMPTS by the country’s A First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan to take over a piece of land in Abuja from her predecessor, Hajiya Turai Yar’Adua, yesterday failed as an Abuja High Court resolved the protracted land dispute in the latter’s favour by setting aside the revocation of the said plot situated at Cadastral Zone by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed.

The court held that the purported revocation of the plot of land measuring about 1.84 hectares allocated to a non-governmental organisation, Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation, (WAYEF) owned by Hajiya Yar’Adua, by the FCT administration, was illegal and unlawful.

Specifically, the court held that the purported revocation violated the provisions of Section 26 [1] of the Land Use Act. However, the Head of the legal unit of the FCT Administration, Mrs. Ima Akpongete, said the FCT would appeal the decision because it was dissatisfied with the judgment.

Delivering his judgment after several unsuccessful attempts by the parties to settle the matter out of court, Justice Peter Affen rejected claims by the FCT Minister that the land was revoked on the ground of “overriding public”, saying that there was no shred of evidence before the court to support it.

Justice Affen held that the initial letter of offer issued Turai’s organisation by the Minister remained valid and subsisting.

“The defendants failed woefully to adduce any shred of evidence before this court to support their claims that the allocation of the land was revoked on overriding public interest.

There is no overriding public interest in this issue. The allocation made to the plaintiff who is a vocational training centre was in public interest and in line with Section 28 (1) of Land Use Act.” The judge who picked holes in the FCT Minister’s decision to revoke the plot of land allocated to Turai’s organisation held that the exercise of that power to revoke allocation of land must come within the confines of the law.

But he refused Turai’s demand for monetary damages from the plaintiffs.

Specifically, the Registered Trustees of WAYEF had applied and was granted an allocation of plot 1347 Cadastral Zone after paying the sum of N184,529,438 as statutory Right of Occupancy which was duly issued by the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Under the terms of grant, the plaintiff was given three years to develop the property based on approved building plans.

After the payments of the various levies, the plaintiff paid additional sum of N76,936,210.00 as building plans fees after which the grant and approval of the building plans were made and given in line with the master plan for Abuja.

Thereafter, the plaintiff appointed and mobilised a building company, Al-Cooks Nigeria Limited to site to develop the property for the sum of N13, 516,013,797.58.

On November 1,2011, the Federal Capital Territory Administration sent an additional bill of N18, 529,438 being the balance of the various charges under the grant, which the plaintiff

paid the next day.

Shortly after these transactions, the Minister of the FCT without reasons issued a notice of revocation of the said property, which it allocated to the plaintiff for the purpose of building public institution (Training/Vocational Centre).

The said letter of revocation was backdated with effect from October 27, 2011.

Immediately after the revocation letter was issued, the FCT Minister, Bala Muhammed swiftly re-allocated the plot to another organisation, African First Ladies Peace Centre, to which by the current First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, is believed to be a sponsor.

It was at this stage that Hajiya Yar’Adua’s organisation went to court to challenge the actions of the minister with respect to the revocation letter.

She complained that Dame Jonathan was trespassing on the land allocated to her NGOWAYEF on February 19, 2010 and got a court order dated in 2012, restraining the First Lady from affecting WAYEF title and interest over the land.

She joined as co-defendants in the suit, the FCT Minister, the Abuja Geographic Information System, AGIS and the Attorney General of the Federation.

WAYEF asked for N1.5 billion as general damages, N100 million as exemplary damages, N100 million as aggravated damages in addition to N261 million already paid for Certificate of Occupancy as well as N454 million paid for building designs.

WAYEF’s lawyer, Mr. Adamu Ahmed Ibrahim, observed that while it appears that the Ministry of Justice may be interested and committed to a settlement, their terms and what they offer say otherwise.

According to the lawyer, the land being offered by the FCTA was a much smaller parcel of land than the one purportedly acquired from WAYEF for Mrs. Jonathan.

Specifically, four separate plots of land were offered to Yar’Adua’s NGO to choose from. The first plot No.818 measuring 5333 square meters is located at the central area close to Akwa Ibom House; the second plot No. 3367 is along Airport Road, Wawa district, measuring 2.1 hectares; the third was a plot within the vicinity of the National Mosque; while the fourth is plot, No.1838 located at Cadastral Zone A00, measuring 6119.29m2 as replacements for the disputed plot of land.

In rejecting the offer, it was learnt that the legal representatives of WAYE, from the law firm of Adamu, Ahmed, Ibrahim & Co. noted that while the first plot is within a green area, the second plot of land falls within an un-approved layout of the city, the third has large number of pipes buried underneath and would not carry a high capacity building, while the fourth is rather too small compare to the original plot.

Specifically, the fourth offer was made on April 12, 2013 via a letter addressed to the law Firm by Felix Ibanga of the Legal Services, Secretariat, Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCDA).

The letter with the title: Offer of plot No. 1838 Cadastral Zone A00 Central Area, Abuja measuring 6119.29m2 for settlement of Suit No. FCT/HC/CV/324/2011 out of Court and obtained by Daily Sun reads: “You will recall

that on the March 5, 2013 a meeting was held at the office of the Honourable Minister of the FCT for the resolution of the above mentioned suit out of court.

At the said meeting which was attended by the General counsel/Sec. Legal FCT, the Director of Litigation, LSS, Felix Ibanga, LSS, Barr. Innocent Lagi who represented your Chambers, the Honourable Minister of the FCT expressed his desire and willingness to resolve this matter amicably out of court.

Based on the foregoing, we have the Honourable Minister’s instruction to offer your client who is the plaintiff in the abovementioned suit plot No. 1838 Cadastral Zone A00 Central Area, Abuja measuring 6119.29m2 as a replacement plot for Plot No. 1347 Cadastral Zone A00 Central Area, Abuja the subject matter of suit FCT/HC/324/2011.

Your prompt response to our offer will be appreciated to enable the Administration take necessary steps to perfect your client’s title in the new plot of land.”

But in rejecting the offer, Yar’Adua’s lawyer noted that the terms and contents of the offer did not express the commitment to settle the matter out of court.

It is the position of the law firm that the essence of a settlement is to enable the parties engage in such a process that will obtain some measure of satisfaction of their claims. “This appears not the basis on which the offer is made, having carefully considered the following: • In spite of your admitted

knowledge of an interlocutory injunction restraining you and anybody whatsoever called from interfering with our clients, title and interest over and above plot 1347 Cadastral Zone A00 within the Central Area, Abuja, you are continuing with your contempt of a valid court order by continuing building on the plot of land.

• That your offer of a much smaller parcel of land or none within an un-approved layout, did not take into consideration the interest of our client and its readiness to continue development before your actions.

• The fact that your action has stalled and is continuing to stall the attainment of empowerment for women and youth in Nigeria, etc.

“For the following reasons we are unable to accept your proposal for a settlement as it is incapable of replacing or compensating the objectives of WAYEF as enshrined on the Registered Trustees.

The law firm said with the development, it was no longer interested in the out of court settlement since the authorities have not shown any form of sincerity committed for the settlement to sail through.

Beyond, the offer of alternative plots of land, the law firm said the authorities have not mentioned the issue of monetary compensation, which runs into billions of naira.

However, it has however offered to waive the cost of litigation and inconveniences and withdraw the contempt proceedings if the authorities immediately retract from their actions and reverse its decision and allow it

Obasanjo heads panel to rescue shrinking Lake Chad From Joke Falaju, Abuja N a move to save shrinking Itries Lake Chad, member-counof the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) would in July kick-off a five-year investment plan with a key component being inter-basin water transfer from Ubangui River to Lake Chad.

To spearhead the advocacy campaign of saving the Lake Chad, the Chairman, Council of Ministers, LCBC, Mr. Issoufou Issakka, announced that the Summit of Heads of State has appointed former President Olusegun Obasanjo as head.

Issakka, who is also the Minister of Water and Environment, disclosed this while declaring open the 58th ordinary session of LCBC Council of Ministers’ meeting yesterday in Abuja.

He regretted that the Basin used to be a prosperous area full of potential with lesser population.

However, the Basin is being threatened due to the continuous shrinking of Lake Chad, which is converting the area into a miserable one for the 37 million people who live on its resources.

He mentioned that to fund the five-year investment plan, the commission is planning a donor round table conference in July to be held in Morocco.

He appealed to membercountries to bring out adequate responses to the current degrading trend of the natural resources of the Basin through the implementation of the five-year investment plan from 2013 to 2017.

TheGuardian SATURDAY, May 4, 2013

Conscience Nurtured by Truth

Why Wives Have Affairs Do you know you may be driving your wife to infidelity? Weekend wih Amara gives you thought-provoking insight into what you may be doing wrong.

Political Gang Wars

Political ‘gang wars’ are getting more rife as 2015 approaches . What does this development bode for the Nigerian electorate?

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Nigeria’s Textile Industry Must Live Again

After oil and gas, the textile industry is next as potential money-spinner.

Nigeria has all it takes to lead the world in textile production—-the soil, the weather, the cotton. What then is standing in the way of “textile boom”?

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

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

6 | NEWS

Kebbi official arraigned over alleged N64m theft

Tears as slain Ekiti PDP member, Jeje, is buried

By Bertram Nwannekanma and Yetunde Ayobami-Ojo

EARS flowed freely yesterT day as the remains of Ayo Jeje, a member of the Peo-

From Muyiwa Adeyemi, Ado Ekiti

T

HE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday arraigned a Director with the Kebbi State Ministry of Finance, Yahyah Saidu Andarai and one Farouk Abubarka Uduli before an Ikeja High Court, Lagos for allegedly stealing N64 million belonging to Coscharis Motors Ltd. The duo were arraigned before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo on a 27-count charge of conspiracy, fraud and stealing.

According to the charge filed by the EFCC, the defendants were alleged to have converted the said sum into their personal use being the proceed of AX motorcycles, property of Coscharis Motors entrusted to them on behalf of Jega National Union Local Government Employees of Kebbi State.

The offence, EFCC counsel, Oluwabumi Abosede, said was committed between August 26, 2009 and August 2, 2012, in Maza Maza area of Lagos.

DPP expels Ewerido, others over alleged anti-party activities

By Joe Adiorho HE Delta State chapter of T the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP), on Wednesday rose from an emergency meeting held at the party’s secretariat in Asaba expelling Senator Pius Ewerido for what they described as “anti-party activities of the highest order.”

The party, at the same meeting, also moved a motion suspending the Deputy National Chairman, Mr. Olisaemeka Akamukali, for proclaiming to be the national chairman as contained in the letter he wrote to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for a national convention of the DPP. In a statement issued by the party and signed by the state Chairman, Chief Tony Ezeagwu, DPP viewed what its only senator and others, including Chief Henry Olori, Chief Lucky Otegheri, Mr. Cyril Ogodor and Mrs. Priscilla Okoh did by holding a convention unacceptable and recommended their immediate expulsion from the party.

Chairman of Council of Ministers of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, Issoufou Issaka (left); Minister of Water Resources, Sarah Ochekpe and Minister State for Foreign Affairs 11, Dr Nuruddeen Muhammad at the 58th Session of Council of Ministers of the Lake Chad Basin Commission in Abuja …yesterday.

Scores injured, as ACN, AP supporters clash in Oyo From Iyabo Lawal, Ibadan was a free for all yesterday IasinTsupporters Ibadan, Oyo State capital of the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) accompanied by members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) clashed with Accord Party (AP) members, leaving several persons injured.

The fracas not only disrupted the rally by the AP to welcome defectors into its fold, chairs and canopies already mounted for the occasion at Olomi area of the city were burnt by the irate party supporters.

Although the AP leadership accused the rival ACN of sponsoring the crisis, the state Publicity Secretary of ACN, Dauda Kolawole, denied the involvement of his party in the fracas.

A lawmaker representing Oluyole Federal Constituency under the AP, Ibrahim Olaifa, who witnessed the incident alleged that the crisis was caused by the ACN in conjunction with the NURTW members.

Olaifa accused the group of

using broken bottles, cutlasses and guns to attack his party members during which all the materials assembled for the programme such as chairs, canopies, podium and other things were either burnt to ashes or vandalised.

The National Leader of the party and the former governor of the state, Rashidi Ladoja, who later addressed the defectors from both ACN and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as well as Accord Party supporters from across the state described the incident as unfortunate.

Ladoja said: “He (probably referring to Governor Ajimobi) is the chief security officer of the state. Is this what they want to do? Can he prevent us from doing what we want to do? Is this not worse than the politics of Adedibu’s era? After Tokyo, it was Eleweomo. Have they been able to suppress us?

“To demonstrate the commitment of our members to our ideals and cause, all our members sacked in the ACNled government are now fully back in the party, this is rare,

If members of a ruling party are defecting to our party that is not in government, what that means is that we are the government in waiting. We have been there before, we know them, those prodding the party in power into violence only stay with government for three years. but, that is to show you that we know what we stand for.

“They said we shouldn’t come, but, here we are. We are not afraid of anybody, it is they who are afraid. We have been to Oyo, Ogbomoso and Oke-Ogun areas of the state and whoever says we are not to be reckoned with in the state is sick.

“If members of a ruling party are defecting to our party that is not in government, what that means is that we are the government in waiting. We have been there before, we know them, those prodding the party in power into violence only stay with government for three years,” Ladoja said.

The former governor commended the security agencies for rising to the occasion

and securing the venue for his party to use, stressing that they all did wonderfully well as thorough-bred professionals.

“I salute all of them for their spirit of patriotism. They made everybody to realise that government is not for anybody but for everybody.

The state belongs to all of us where we should be able to do whatever we like under the law,” he added.

But the ACN spokesman exonerated members of his party from the fracas, saying they are peace loving people and have no business with the AP. Kolawole asked the AP to look elsewhere in search of perpetrators of the crime rather than point accusing fingers at its members.

Obasanjo, others extol Kolade’s virtues at book launch

By Nike Sotade and Felix Kuye RIENDS and associates, inFChief cluding former president, Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday extolled the virtues of the Chairman, Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P), Dr. Christopher Kolade, whom they described as an exemplary leader worthy of emulation by all Nigerians.

They spoke at the public presentation of a book on Kolade, the Pro-Chancellor, PanAfrican University, at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Victoria Island, Lagos. The book, titled Kolade’s Canons and edited by Richard

Ikiebe, is in three volumes and are a compilation of speeches and lectures delivered over the years by Kolade. Essentially, it comprises Canon 1: People, Leadership, Management; Canon 2 Business and Economy, Nation Building, Ethics; and Canon 3 Broadcasting.

Obasanjo, who said he flew into the country from Ghana where he was attending an event and had to terminate an appointment with the Ghanaian president to attend the book launch, described Kolade as a good friend and an asset to not just Nigeria but humanity. He recalled the days of Kolade as the Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and declared that he

made tremendous impact, which helped his administration when he was president.

And as if echoing the thoughts of many Nigerians regarding the Federal Government’s programme to improve the nation’s infrastructure and generate employment from the proceeds of the oil subsidy removal, Obasanjo declared at the event that he did not understand the real intent of the SURE-P. “I will never be tired in showing up with everything that concerns Christopher Kolade.

He is a gift, not only to Nigeria and Africa, but also to humanity as a whole. In his service to the country as the Nigerian High Commission in London,

at the time he agreed to be exported, he made tremendous impact and also helped me and my administration, but I don’t know about SURE-P.” He continued: “ I’ve not sent anybody to you but I’ve got several people who have been coming to me, asking me to send them to Kolade, because he is in charge of SURE-P, but I always tell them I don’t know what is SURE-P.” He, however, told the audience that “when we were celebrating Kolade’s 80th birthday, even those who have misgivings, reservations about his taking up that assignment, he gave satisfactory explanations, because if he doesn’t do it, he knows those of us who will

complain, and I’m a complainant about the situation in my country. If you don’t feel concerned about what is bad, you will not bring about what is good.”

Other dignitaries at the event included the Dr Paschal Dozie (Chairman), Prof. Emevwo Biakolo (reviewer), Ikiebe, Mr Oba Otudeko (presenter), Vice Chancellor of the Pan-African University, Prof. Juan Elegido, Kolade’s wife, Beatrice, Mr. Fola Adeola and representatives of the Ondo, Ekiti and Osun states governors. They poured encomiums on Kolade, describing him as an honest, industrious and highly committed Nigerian.

ple’s Democratic Party (PDP) killed on March 30, this year in Erinjiyan, Ekiti West local council area of Ekiti State was buried in the premises of his uncompleted building in Ado Ekiti.

Jeje, 38, was killed by suspected political thugs while preparing to decamp with others from the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) to the PDP. Meanwhile, his family has called for immediate prosecution of those indicted in the murder.

At the burial, Pastor Michael Oladunjoye, who spoke on behalf of the family, said justice must be done in the case because people know who killed Jeje. Describing the death as painful and uncalled for, Oladunjoye added that the family decided not to waste time to bury the deceased after collecting the post mortem and the death certificates at the Aramoko Ekiti General Hospital, where his body was deposited because Jeje’s parents are still alive.

He pleaded with the government to give necessary support for Jeje’s widow, Ronke and four children, having lost their breadwinner in a controversial circumstance.

According to him, “This was a clear case of murder.

The death was not natural and nobody would say justice should not be done. But to us in this family, we have left the matter in the hands of God and government to do the needful in the matter by bringing the perpetrators to justice.”

C’River PDP council aspirants decry high cost of nomination forms From Anietie Akpan, Calabar SPIRANTS jostling for tickets A under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming local government elections in Cross River State have decried the high cost of nomination forms.

The party in a guideline signed by the State Chairman Ntufam John Okon pegged the expression of interest form at N500, 000 for Chairmanship position and N100, 000 for Councillorship while female aspirants are exempted from the payment of prescribed fees.

In addition, nomination form for screened aspirants is N1million for chairmanship position and N300, 000 for councillorship position.

Some of the aspirants said, “the cost of nomination form is outrageous and could cause some of them to withdraw from the race. This is a deliberate plot by the leadership of the party to frustrate some of us out of the race in order to install their preferred candidate.

One of the aspirants who gave his name as Peter Ogah said,” their game plan is to push some of us out of the race so that their preferred candidate can emerge.

“The cost of the forms is a way of telling us to stop contesting because in the history of local government elections in the state forms have never been sold with such an amount”.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

NEWS 7

Lagos set to prosecute suspected kidnappers, decongest prisons

By Yetunde Ayobami-Ojo HE Lagos State government T is ready to prosecute the first set of kidnappers arrested

Member, City Club, Olu Falomo (left); Chairman of the club, Wahab Gbadebo; Chairman of the 50th anniversary committee of the club, Justice Sehinde Silva (rtd) and member of the club, Sunday Majekodunmi at the media briefing of the club’s 50th anniversary celebration in Lagos… yesterday. PHOTO: SUNDAY AKIN-

Nigeria, China may partner on affordable houses

By Emmanuel Badejo IGERIA and China are to N strike a deal on the provision of affordable housing estates for Nigerians.

The partnership deal, according to the government, will also include energy matters and road construction in the country.

A delegation of China Engineering Company, led by Ma Ping, made this known on Wednesday during a visit to the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Ama Pepple.

In a statement by the Director of Press to the Minister, Mr. Paul Onuoha, Ping said in addition to what the Federal Government has been accomplishing in the area of mutual cooperation with the Chinese government, there are still a lot more areas, including gas, energy and roads construction, where Chinese would be interested to partner with Nigeria.

FG withdraws felony charge against Leadership journalists

By Lemmy Ughegbe, Abuja HE Federal Government yesT terday discontinued the trial of two journalists – Tony Amokeodo and Chibuzor Ukaibe of Leadership Newspapers over a six-count criminal charge of felony and conspiracy it preferred against them.

Before the said discontinuance, counsel to the accused persons, Femi Falana (SAN), had filed a notice of preliminary objection, challenging the competence of the charge and the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court to hear and determine the charge.

It was however not clear whether or not the government’s decision to file a notice of withdrawal/discontinuance of charge dated April 30, 2013 and which was filed yesterday had anything to do with the objection raised by Falana as it was not so stated. Under the rules, the Attorney General of the Federation, acting for the government, is not under any obligation to proffer a reason for opting not to proceed with a charge.

The said notice of discontinu-

ance filed by a Private Prosecutor, Chief Adegboyega Solomon Awomolo (SAN) on behalf of the AGF reads thus: “Take notice that the complainant, the Attorney General of the Federation intends that the criminal proceedings consisting six counts charge against the accused persons be discontinued and the six counts against them are hereby withdrawn”.

In the notice of preliminary objection which has become merely academic in view of the withdrawal of the said charge, Falana argued that the court lacks the requisite jurisdiction to entertain and determine this complaint as presently constituted and consequently sought an order of the court to strike out and/ or dismissing the instant complaint for want of jurisdiction.

The grounds upon which this application was brought, according to Falana, is that the charges brought against the accused persons relate only to forgery and not to any loss of revenue by the Federal Government. The Federal High Court

Dangote Cement contests verdict in suit by haulage firm

By Abiodun Fanoro LAGOS court has adjourned A further hearing till next week Tuesday in a suit in which Dangote Cement is seeking stay of execution of an earlier judgment against the company.

In the judgment that is being contested, the court ordered the cement firm to pay N2,870,289.74 to Fredcahl, a haulage company.

The money is the interest that accrued on an unpaid balance from a N26,050,240 transaction the haulage company had with Dangote Cement in December 2010.

Dangote Cement was said to have earlier paid the haulage company N25,811,760, leaving a balance of N238,480. Following this failure to pay, Fredcahl’s Managing Director/ plaintiff, Alfred Arikawe Adeji, through his lawyer, Sunday Adeeko, approached the court asking for a number of reliefs.

The N2,870,289.72 ordered by the court was one of the reliefs sought by the plaintiff who further prayed the court to order the defendant to pay him N100,000 as legal fees.

The Chief Magistrate, Mrs. A.F.O. Botoku, on March 6,

2013, in her ruling, said: “In view of the fact that the application of the plaintiff is uncontested and uncontroverted, I am satisfied that there is sufficient evidence before me upon which judgment can be entered in favour of the applicant. Consequently, judgment is entered in favour of the plaintiff as follows: • The defendant is ordered to pay to the plaintiff N2,870,289.74 being balance of money owed by the defendant to the plaintiff in respect of Gypsum Haulage duly hauled by the plaintiff on behalf of the defendant from Apapa Port, Lagos, to Obajana Cement, Obajana; • Interest on the said sum of N2,870,289.74K at the rate of 21 per cent per annum from the judgment is delivered till the debt is liquidated; and • N10,000 cost is awarded”.

Dissatisfied with the judgment, the cement firm approached the same court for a stay of execution on the judgment.

In a motion on notice deposed to by David Nkire from the Chambers of Fola Sowemimo on behalf of the firm, the defendant’s counsel

claimed, among others, that Fredcahl was not entitled to the N2,870,289.74 awarded to it. The chambers further claimed that the haulage company had exceeded the time within which summary judgment ought to be entered against its client. It informed the court that it had filed a notice of appeal against the judgment of the lower court at the Court of Appeal.

The haulage firm has also filed a counter-affidavit to both the applications for stay of execution and for appeal. In the first affidavit, the plaintiff’s lawyer, Adeeko, prayed the court not to grant the stay.

The lawyer contended that the application “is vexatious, unwholesome and disrespectful of this court and, therefore, should not be granted”.

The lawyer observed that there was no need for stay of execution because “…res which is money (that is involved) is not something that needs protection.”

The Chief Magistrate, after listening to the application, adjourned further hearing till next Tuesday.

therefore has no jurisdiction to entertain the offences.

“The instant complaint is limited only to forgery, for the Federal High Court to have jurisdiction over same, it most also involve or relate to loss of revenue by the government.

“That statement of offence does not bring the instant matter within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court,” Falana argued.

It will be recalled that the two journalists, Amokeodo (Group News Editor) and Ukaibe (Political Reporter) were arraigned last Tuesday on a sixcount charge bordering on alleged conspiracy, forgery and false publication preferred against them by the Federal Government.

in its domain.

The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Ade Ipaye, who made this known yesterday during the monthly media briefing of his ministry on criminal justice administration in the state, said the suspected kidnappers would face criminal trial in court on May 16, 2013.

He said he would personally take charge of the prosecution of the suspects because of the concern the government has for the security of lives of the people resident in Lagos. He declined to name the victims for security reasons and because they would be appearing in court as witnesses.

Ipaye further noted that the state Security Council meeting, which held on Wednesday, lamented the increase in kidnap cases but expressed happiness that they are being arrested in Lagos.

According to him, there is need for people to be careful of who they associate with, stressing that investigations revealed that most victims were given away by those who are close to them.

“I want to assure the public that Lagos State is one place where kidnappers are actually being arrested. We are giving the police and all the other security agencies full support and this is yielding results. In the next few days, you will see

me in court with the first set of persons accused of kidnapping and this will be a continuous exercise,” he assured.

Ipaye said the state government is sustaining its effort on prison decongestion by avoiding delay of trials, which he noted, is caused by the delay in issuing legal advise and deciding whether or not there is enough evidence to commence prosecution.

He stated that the government is seeking to advance the prison decongestion through monitoring of its community service unit, adding that in April, a total of 202 community service cases were completed.

This, he said, brought the total number of completed community service cases from inception to 1,356.

The commissioner disclosed that the office of Director for Public Prosecutions (DPP) concluded and obtained judgment in 13 cases between January and March this year. He said the court sentenced two of the defendants to death; five were discharged and acquitted while the remaining six defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging between five and 25 years.

Ipaye said that in furtherance of the commitment of the government to promotion of law and order, the Office of the Public Defender (OPD), Citizens’ Mediation Centre (CMC), Directorate for Citizens’ Right (DCR) and Public Advice Centre (PAC) have continued to offer free and qualitative legal service to the people of the state.

TheGuardian SUNDAY, MAY 5, 2013

A Vision Gone Blurred OVERNMENT says its vision of making Nigeria one of the 20 most developed economies by 2020 is no longer realistic because previous governments allegedly did not plan well. The point that is missing in that explanation is that between 1999 and now, The Federal Government has earned far more money than all previous governments put together since independence. So, who is really responsible for the failed vision?

Read all the facts and details in The Guardian on Sunday.

G

SPECIAL:

AMANSEA COMMUNITY Life After The ‘Floating Bodies.’

PLUS HILIP Asiodu on why Nigeria is not working.

Read the outpouring of a super technocrat, who was part of the team that shaped the civil service before the downward cascade into corruption and loss of institutional memory.

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

AfricanNews Two Iranians found guilty of Kenya’s terror plot COURT in Kenya has found A two Iranian men, Ahmed Mohammed and Sayed Mansour, guilty of plotting to attack Western targets inside Kenya.

Mohammed and Mansour were caught with 15 kilos of explosives in the capital, Nairobi, last June.

They were accused of belonging to a terror network planning to blow up British, U.S. or Israeli targets in Nairobi and the port city of Mombasa.

The pair, who denied all charges, face up to 15 years in prison, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) stated yesterday.

Judges ruled that both men had been proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt of all terror-related charges.

Prosecutors said the suspects had explosives “in circumstances that indicated they were armed with the intent to commit a felony, namely, acts intended to

cause grievous harm”.

The court magistrate said swift action by the Kenyan police in apprehending the men had averted mayhem and a massive number of deaths.

The two Iranians arrived in Kenya on June 12, last year and travelled to Mombasa to pick up the powerful explosive RDX. They were arrested a week later in Nairobi.

Officers discovered the explosives hidden at a golf course in Mombasa.

Another accomplice was still at large, police said.

Investigators believe the terror group shipped more than 85 kilos of explosives into Kenya.

“The police have information that the [suspects] have a vast network in the country meant to execute explosive attacks against government installations, public gatherings and foreign establishments,” said Sgt Erick Opagal of Kenya’s Anti-Terrorism Police Unit.

Libyan gunmen reject govt’s demand to end siege UNMEN besieging two G ministries in Libya have rejected government’s de-

mands to disband, saying they are determined to stay put until authorities agree to their demand and sack former regime officials.

“A delegation representing the government of (Prime Minister) Ali Zeidan came to meet us on Wednesday and asked us to lift the sieges but we refused,” one of the militiaman told AFP outside the encircled foreign ministry.

“We will continue blocking (access to) the ministries of foreign affairs and justice until our demands are completely satisfied,” he added.

Meanwhile, opponents of the sieges held protests in central Tripoli’s Martyrs Square, waving signs calling for the respect of public institutions and denouncing the use of weapons to press any cause.

Most of them came from the western city of Zawiya, which had seen some fierce fighting in the 2011 uprising that top-

pled Gaddafi’s regime, while others were residents of Tripoli.

The gunmen have encircled the foreign ministry since Sunday and the justice ministry since Tuesday, to demand that the General National Congress adopt a bill that would purge former officials of the ousted regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

The same groups, most of them former rebels who fought to oust Gaddafi in 2011, briefly occupied the finance ministry on Monday.

The GNC, Libya’s highest political authority, has been studying proposals for a law that would see top figures from the Gaddafi regime removed from their posts.

That has caused a stir among Libya’s political elite, as several current senior officials could be affected.

Under increasing pressure from demonstrators, the GNC said on Monday that it was suspending plenary sessions until Sunday.

260,000 died in Somali’s 2010-2012 famine, says United Nations report REPORT by United Nations A (UN) confirmed yesterday that no fewer than 260,000 people – half of them young children – died of hunger during the last famine in Somalia, with the world body admitting it should have done more to prevent the tragedy.

In a statement yesterday, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Philippe Lazzarini, said: “The report confirms we should have done more before the famine was declared…Warnings that began as far back as the drought in 2010 did not trigger sufficient early action.”

The toll is much higher than was feared at the time of the 2010-2012 food crisis in the troubled Horn of Africa country and also exceeds the 220,000 who starved to death in the 1992 famine.

Half of those who died were children under five, according to the joint report by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the United States (U.S.)-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network.

“Famine and severe food insecurity in Somalia claimed the lives of about 258,000 people between October 2010 and April 2012, including 133,000 children under five,” said the report, the first scientific estimate of how many died.

Somalia was the hardest hit by extreme drought in 2011

that affected over 13 million people across the Horn of Africa.

“An estimated 4.6 per cent of the total population and 10 per cent of children under five died in southern and central Somalia,” the report said, saying the deaths were on top of 290,000 “baseline” deaths during the period, and double the average for sub-Saharan Africa.

The aid agency, Oxfam, said the deaths “could and should have been prevented”.

“Famines are not natural phenomena, they are catastrophic political failures,” Oxfam’s Somalia director, Senait Gebregziabher, said in a statement.

“The world was too slow to respond to stark warnings of drought, exacerbated by conflict in Somalia and people paid with their lives.”

Famine was first declared in July 2011 in Somalia’s Southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions, but later spread to other areas, including Middle Shabelle, Afgoye and inside camps for displaced people in war-ravaged Mogadishu.

In Lower Shabelle 18 percent of children under five died, the report said.

The UN declared the famine over in February 2012.

FAO senior economist, Mark Smulders, said that lessons should be “drawn from this

The report confirms we should have done more before the famine was declared…Warnings that began as far back as the drought in 2010 did not trigger sufficient early action.

Ban Kimoon experience” now that the report provided a “picture of the true enormity of this human tragedy.”

During the famine, it was feared that tens of thousands had died, whereas the report now shows more people died than in Somalia’s 1992 famine, when an estimated 220,000 people died over a year.

However, the report noted the 1992 famine is “considered more severe because a larger percentage of the population died.”

Famine implies that at least a fifth of households face extreme food shortages, with acute malnutrition in over 30 percent of people, and two

deaths per 10,000 people every day, according to the UN definition.

Somalia, ravaged by nearly uninterrupted civil war for the past two decades, is one of the most dangerous places in the world for aid workers and one of the regions that needs them most.

However, security has slowly improved in recent months, with Islamist fighters linked to Al-Qaeda on the back foot despite launching a deadly bombing campaign.

At the time, most of the famine-hit areas were under their control, and the crisis was exacerbated by their draconian ban on most foreign aid agencies.

Over a million Somalis are refugees in surrounding nations, another million displaced inside the country, and around 2.7 million people needing life-saving assistance, according to the UN.

Several killed, others arrested in Chad’s foiled coup EVERAL people were reportSothers edly killed and a number of arrested in connection with what Chadian government described as a foiled “destabilisation plot” in the landlocked central African country.

Agency reports, citing police sources, claimed that a

shootout broke out on the outskirts of the capital N’Djamena on Wednesday when security forces came to arrest the alleged conspirators, leaving “several dead and around 15 injured.”

While no official death toll was immediately available, Agence France Presse (AFP) wrote

yesterday that some police sources spoke of six deaths, while others said eight were killed, “three of whom were security forces”.

The government serving under President Idris Deby Itno, who himself came to power in a 1990 coup, on Wednesday said a “small

group” had been planning the coup for months while police and opposition sources said one of the detainees was an opposition lawmaker.

But the situation appeared calm in the Chadian capital yesterday, with residents going about their usual day-to-day activities normally.

“A small group of ill-intentioned individuals attempted to carry out a destabilisation plot against the institutions of the republic,” the government said in a statement on Wednesday.

A police source said soldiers and civilians also took part in the alleged plot.

The government said the army had “neutralised” the group and that the arrested ringleaders had been handed over to prosecutors for investigation.

“This small group... had been conspiring for more than four months to jeopardise the country’s hard-won peace,” it said.

The former French colony was wracked by civil war between 2005 and 2010.

On Saturday, Deby told Radio France Internationale that “mercenaries”, currently in Libya’s second largest city Benghazi, were trying to “regroup Chadians”.

A police source said that “several civilians and soldiers, including Saleh Makki,” an opposition lawmaker, had been arrested last Monday.

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

WorldReport European Central Bank in drastic interest rate cut over recession N a move seen by many as Ipean mostly symbolic, the EuroCentral Bank (ECB) yesterday cut its benchmark interest rate to a record low, but remained unwilling to deploy more powerful weapons that many economists claimed are needed to jolt the continent out of recession.

This is the fourth time the bank would cut rates since Mario Draghi took over as president in November 2011, a report sourced from The New York Times stated.

At its meeting in Bratislava, the bank trimmed its main rate to 0.5 per cent from 0.75 per cent to avoid the impression that the bank and its president were sitting on their hands as recession spread across the euro zone.

However, a finding by The Guardian yesterday indicated that the ECB’s move is linked to the fact that Europe is alarmed that German exports of consumer products, cars and sophisticated machine tools, industrial robots and construction equipment are finally taking their toll as a result of the recession on the continent.

It was claimed yesterday that just one more consecutive quarter of shrinking economic output and Germany would officially enter a recession. The same is true of Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Austria, even Sweden and Finland. The Netherlands has already suffered two quarters of declining gross domestic product.

Also, evidence of the spreading European recession came yesterday, first from Madrid, where the Spanish government reported that unemployment had reached a record level: 27.2 per cent. Then new economic data from London indicated that Britain had barely avoided slipping back into recession for the third time since 2008.

“The reality is that Europe still faces severe vulnerabilities that – if unaddressed – could degenerate into a stagnation scenario,” David Lipton, first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said in London yesterday.

And if Germany slips into recession, much would slide down with it. Germany and

the other 26 countries of the European Union together represent the world’s secondlargest economy and as a bloc, it is the single largest United States (U.S.) trading partner.

The further delay in Europe’s recovery that a German recession would cause would seriously hamper growth in the U.S., Asia and Latin America.

Meanwhile, Draghi promised to continue letting banks borrow as much as they wanted at the benchmark rate for ‘’as long as needed,’’ and at least until mid-2014. That was a longer time commitment than the ECB has offered in the past.

The bank chief said the financial institution was exploring ways to increase the supply of credit by reviving the moribund market in Europe for asset-backed securities, a plan in which mortgages or other loans are bundled and resold to investors.

He also suggested that the European Investment Bank could be a vehicle for stimulating demand for asset-backed securities, but did not give details.

However, analysts said the investment bank might provide partial guarantees to packages of small-business loans, which commercial banks could then use as collateral for European Central Bank loans at 0.5 per cent.

But Draghi said the central bank would not buy such securities itself, thereby ruling out any equivalent of the socalled quantitative easing form of stimulus practiced by the United States Federal Reserve or the Bank of England.

The ECB remains hamstrung by a charter that obliges it to defend price stability above all else and forbids it from providing financing to governments.

But Draghi has been willing to stretch that mandate, as he did last summer with his promise to buy government bonds in unlimited amounts to keep borrowing costs under control. So far, his expression

AMES McCormick, a British Jsentenced businessman, was yesterday to 10 years in jail for

The European Central Bank headquarters in Germany. Inset is the president, Mario Draghi. of resolve has been enough to keep speculators at bay without any actual bond purchases by the bank.

Despite his pledge at that time to do ‘’whatever it takes’’ to save the euro, Draghi does not appear willing to risk an outcry in Germany by throwing out the rule book altogether. And he must contend with the European Central Bank’s 23-member Governing Council, which includes the heads of all 17 national central banks in the euro zone.

“There are 17 governors of 17 member states with completely opposing views,” said Zsolt Darvas, a research fellow at Bruegel, a research organisation in Brussels. “There are major disagreements. Probably they try to err less by being

The reality is that Europe still faces severe vulnerabilities that – if unaddressed – could degenerate into a stagnation scenario.

more cautious rather than being more aggressive.”

In addition, Darvas said the European Union lacks a central treasury that would stand ready to provide financial backup if central bank investments went wrong, as the United States Treasury implicitly backs the Fed. “That probably makes the ECB more reluctant to take risks,” Darvas said.

Draghi insisted that the rate cut, which takes effect May 8, would stimulate growth, especially now that the economic slump that has afflicted Spain and Italy for more than a year is spreading north to countries like Germany, Austria and Finland.

Bank loans are still readily available in those countries, so it is easier for an official rate cut to trickle down to borrowers.

The rate cut ‘’is going to be more effective today than it would have been a few months ago,’’ Draghi said dur-

ing a news conference, sitting beneath a large crystal chandelier in the same building that houses the Slovak Philharmonic.

Twice a year, the ECB’s Governing Council ventures out of Frankfurt to hold its monthly monetary policy meeting in the capital cities of euro zone members.

It was the first change in interest rates since July 2012 and the bank’s fourth cut since Draghi took over as its president in November 2011.

Even at its new low of 0.5 percent, though, the benchmark rate remains higher than the 0.25 percent rate the Federal Reserve has had in place since late 2008. On Wednesday, the Fed said it would maintain its stimulus campaign, buying $85 billion a month in Treasury and mortgage-backed securities.

The Fed added that it would consider adjusting its efforts to spur growth and reduce unemployment.

Two months after, Benedict XVI makes low-keyed return to the Vatican MERITUS Pope Benedict XVI E returned to the Vatican yesterday, where he will live in a

former monastery in an unprecedented arrangement that will see a pope and a living predecessor both housed in the tiny state.

Benedict’s return was a relatively low-key event, two months after the historic resignation of the 86-year-old former head of Catholics worldwide.

His return was off-limits to all but the Vatican’s own media service. The service announced shortly after his arrival that expected video coverage would not be provided, sparking doubts over

the state of his health.

Benedict had looked extremely frail at his last public appearance in March, and has said that he will live “hidden from the world.”

The unique decision to accommodate both a pope and his predecessor within the tiny city state provoked surprise in some quarters, with critics worried that Benedict’s presence may make it more difficult for Francis to make St. Peter’s chair his own.

Surprisingly too, Benedict’s secretary Georg Gaenswein is confusingly also the head of Francis’s papal household.

But during his two-month stay at Castel Gandolfo, the

Briton jailed for selling fake bomb detectors to Iraq, others

papal summer residence for centuries, Benedict was careful not to be seen to interfere in any way in the papal election or the beginning of Francis’s reign – and is expected by many to maintain his low profile.

Benedict left by helicopter from Castel Gandolfo outside Rome, the papal lakeside residence where he had been staying since he stepped down at the end of February, and touched down in the Vatican at 1450 GMT, where he was met by top officials, including the secretary of state, Tarcisio Bertone.

Pope Francis met him at the door of the former

monastery, which is his new home.

The current pontiff has made repeated gestures of friendship towards Benedict, v The German-born former pope, who resigned because of old age, will move into the Mater Ecclesiae monastery building within the Vatican grounds – an oasis of calm with its own vegetable garden and blooming flowerbeds – which has been renovated for him.

There, Benedict plans to carry out a life of quiet contemplation and academic research.

The visit in March between

Francis and Benedict sparked concerns over the latter’s health, after television footage showed the ex-pontiff visibly aged and struggling to keep up with his successor, even with the aid of a walking stick.

“He is old, weakened by age, but he is not ill,” Vatican spokesman, Federico Lombardi, said.

In the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, Benedict will live with four housekeepers from a lay religious order that has looked after him until now, as well as with Gaenswein. A room will also be reserved for Georg Ratzinger, the ex-pope’s brother, for when he should visit.

selling fake bomb detectors to the Iraqi government and other countries, by a judge who told him he had blood on his hands.

McCormick made an estimated £50 million ($76 million, 59 million euros) from selling the devices, which prosecutors said were based on a novelty golf ball finder and did not work.

Last week, a jury at the Old Bailey court in London found the 57-year-old guilty of three counts of fraud.

Passing sentence at England’s central criminal court yesteray, judge Richard Hone said McCormick had perpetrated a “callous confidence trick” that likely cost lives – an estimation shared by former British military officials in Iraq.

“I am wholly satisfied that your fraudulent conduct in selling so many useless devices for simply enormous profit promoted a false sense of security and in all probability materially contributed to causing death and injury to innocent individuals,” Hone said.

He said McCormick had shown a “cavalier disregard of the potentially fatal consequences” of his actions.

“What you perpetrated was a callous confidence trick,” the judge told the businessman.

“The device was useless, the profit outrageous and your culpability as a fraudster has to be placed in the highest category.

“Your profits were obscene.

You have neither insight, shame or any sense of remorse.”

The Advanced Selection Equipment devices were marketed to governments and security organisations in glossy brochures which claimed they could find explosives, drugs, ivory and even people.

McCormick, from Somerset in southwest England, is believed to have made around £37 million from sales to Iraq alone, where he sold 6,000 detectors.

The businessman told the court he had also sold detectors to the Egyptian army, Kenyan police, Hong Kong’s prison service and Thai border control.

Other customers included Georgia, Niger, Belgium and United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon.

McCormick said one of his devices had been used to check a hotel in Romania before the visit of a U.S. president in the 1990s, and insisted: “I never had any negative results from customers.”

However, the prosecutor told the jury that McCormick had based his designs on 300 “Golfinder” novelty machines that he bought from the United States between 2005 and 2006.

Colour-coded “sensor cards” — orange for explosives, blue for drugs and red for humans — were slotted into the machines to make them “work”.

Prosecutors said that former senior British officers in Iraq believed the fake devices had cost lives.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

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Politics We’ll decide our fate in 2015, says Afenifere At the press conference on ‘State of the Nation’ last Monday, the Leader of the panYoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, flanked by chieftains of the association, fielded questions from journalists who covered the event, reports Abiodun Fanoro.

HY have you considered it important to W speak at this point? What exactly is your worry?

Most of us, who knew when the first civilian government was in place, are appalled with what we are seeing. Our dreams have been shattered and we must find solutions to some of these problems. We want to continue to sustain our stands, and that is why we feel we should address the nation.

There is the problem of unemployment of teeming millions of young university graduates without any job. Then, we have the problem of Boko Haram, which is a strange phenomenon. We have never seen this before. The government is not doing anything positive to contain them.

The stand of the Federal Government is very dicey, speaking from both sides of the mouth, denouncing it and at the same time, relaxing.

That’s why we feel we should meet you and make our views known so that the world will know where we stand.

What is Afenifere doing about the alleged marginalisation of the Southwest by the Federal Government in terms of public service, consular and political appointments?

We’ve made our stand known and we are all anxious, and we are worried that the whole of the Southwest is excluded from key appointments, for instance, the first 10 political appointments in the country, judiciary, permanent secretaries and so on.

We have made our stand known through the Yoruba Unity Forum; we listed and published it in details. That is where we still stand: That we are not getting our fair share of political appointments in this country. We’ve cried to the President and he promised to do something about it and we are still waiting.

Until recently, Afenifere had a solid grip on the politics of the Southwest. What is the relationship between the organisation and political leaders of the zone, especially the representatives of political parties in the region?

It is a very difficult question to answer because Afenifere is not a political party. We have our ideologies, and since we are not all in the same place, it is difficult to control those who are not with us.

It is evident that Afenifere is still factionalised.

There is another faction led by Pa Fasanmi,

Falae

which is not here. Any hope for reconciliation?

There is no faction in Afenifere. Fasanmi has never claimed to be the leader of Afenifere.

What you said (existence of factions) is true but that was many years ago. How many meetings has Fasanmi held since then? He has reached out to us: that we should reconcile and the reconciliation has taken place de facto.

The ARG (Afenifere Renewal Group) that came out of that (faction) has coalesced into the main body. So, there are no factions and there are no two leaders of Afenifere, just one.

What role is this group going to play in the emerging scenario — 2015 elections? Some people believe the President should not run and others believe he should run...

We have not taken a stand.

Chief Olu Falae said recently that the door is not closed on any group, particularly the APC (joining your group). But the CPC spokesman said it is for you to join them because you have no governors. Are there moves to reconcile with other groups, particularly that of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu?

(Falae responding) Reconciliation is ongoing.

No father will reject any of his own children. Even in the Bible, the prodigal son returned home and his father embraced him. So it is here.

But regarding your question, which is a political thing, if you read Fashakin well, he paid compliments to me considering what I have done in the past. And he said I should be leading the APC kind of initiative.

In 2009/2010, I spent the whole of my life and resources, trying to bring the progressives together and they went behind me and formed their own parties. If they are serious this time, I will do it for the love of this country. I am not running for office anymore. If they were serious, one would think they would want to give me a call that what I was doing before, they want me to restart it. Not one of them did so.

Other groups have come and said they have come together and they want me to come and lead them. I can never say no for the good of this country. I have given all of my life in service to Nigeria and it continues till one dies.

So, we are open to any positive aspiration that will bring happiness to our people, the Yoruba people and Nigerians in general.

We have in the past sat down with Tinubu to discuss. We can do that again, provided they are ready to discuss with us. If they change their mind, we will be glad to talk with them tomorrow.

They have declared that they would never, on this planet earth, sit and discuss with us again.

They are the ones who said so. They made their points clear in a meeting in Ibadan that they would not have anything to do with us again.

That sounded final and difficult to change.

On alleged marginalisation of Southwest, the PDP zoned the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives to the area but members of the House, from the ACN who voted for somebody from the North, denied you. When you do your calculations for 2015, will you look at that, bearing in mind what happened in 2012?

What you mentioned is true. Some of our own people in the National Assembly did what they did. But that does not explain our marginalisation. We are not talking of marginalisation in terms of paucity of Yoruba people in political

‘

positions. We went down to the bureaucracy, to the professional cadres and were able to demonstrate statistically that there are some departments of the Federal Government, where there is no Yoruba of any standing.

That is not election or party politics; it means there is marginalisation going on in terms of intake, deployment and positions. That is what we mean. It is not the political thing. So, we went down to the nitty-gritty of it.

We are saying that not being Speaker does not explain why no Yoruba man has been director for certain positions for 61 years. We are talking of the fundamentals. What you said does not address 90 or 95 per cent of the marginalisation.

You mentioned that you have met with the President on the issue of marginalisation. Has there been any response from him or are we going to wait on God to intervene in the matter?

There is none to my knowledge. Well, you mentioned 2015. If he (President Jonathan) comes to us for support, don’t you think that that will be one of the issues (to be discussed)? We are talking of being fairly treated like every other group in Nigeria. We are not asking for favour. That’s all.

In 2002, Afenifere told some deputy governors to resign if they couldn’t work with their bosses.

Senator Iyiola Omisore was one of them. He’s sitting here today. At what point did he return to Afenifere?

(Yinka Odumakin responding) We can’t recall our telling them to resign. There was a committee set up by the late Senator Abraham Adesanya to look into the governor/deputy governorship feud in Osun and Lagos States. I was secretary of that committee. We met all the actors and when we came back to the Leader, the report was that it appeared that the relationship had broken down irretrievably between those governors and their deputies and since we could not ask the governors to leave, Afenifere should ask the deputy governors — that if they could not work together with the governors — they should consider resigning. It was not to leave Afenifere.

You have a famous son (Chief Olusegun Obasanjo) who has ruled this country more than any other person. What is the relationship of the Afenifere with him?

We are not the same. Afenifere is not an ethnic thing; it is ideological. There are Yoruba who did not support Awolowo in his lifetime. They were Yoruba people.

There are Yoruba people who are not members of the Afenifere; they are Yoruba people and can still be our friends or relations. But when it comes to politics, Afenifere has a distinct credo, which is progressive politics with the welfare of the individual as the main commitment. That translates into so many policies and programmes that we can spend many hours here discussing.

People, who don’t share that with us, can be our brothers but cannot be our members. The credo is what binds us together.

In Nigeria of today where there is no ideology, it is important that the Afenifere ideology should take the centre stage because a society that has no ideology cannot endure. Opportunism and money will disappear and ideology will endure.

So, that is what distinguishes us from other people and other Yoruba.

What is the restructuring going on in Afenifere?

Wait until we finish; you will get the details.

There are several groups in Yoruba land. Before now, Afenifere was the dominant force. What are you doing to bring all of them together?

It is not strange that there are many groups in Yoruba land. It has always been like that even in the Awo days. There’s has always been a war of

There is the problem of unemployment of teeming millions of young university graduates without any job. Then, we have the problem of Boko Haram, which is a strange phenomenon. We have never seen this before. The government is not doing anything positive to contain them.

The stand of the Federal Government is very dicey, speaking from both sides of the mouth, denouncing it and at the same time, relaxing. That’s why we feel we should meet you and make our views known so that the world will know where we stand.

’

Fasoranti attrition between the Awo philosophy and the rest of Nigeria, using fifth columnists within Yoruba. All of them would claim to be panYoruba, but at the end of the day, you would see them working with other platforms that were opposed to Awo. It is not strange in history. Zik even organised one Yoruba group with the Lucas of this world.

It took Zik to launch it. Can you imagine that?

It has been Awo and the rest of them.

There is no way you are going to bring all of them together. What we are saying is that there’s no way that 50 million Yoruba people will be in the same association and that we have always had plural groups in Yorubaland.

But those who have the same philosophy with us, we will work together.

We have no means of forcing or persuading everybody to work with us. We’ll do what we can. The more the merrier. Anybody whose ideology matches with Awoism will be encouraged to join a national alliance. There are progressives in the PDP and there are progressives everywhere.

Do you have the option of talking to the PDP as well?

No, no, no. We are talking to individuals, who have been part of Afenifere. Realignment means that individuals can leave where they are stranded now and not the parties.

The question of backing PDP is out of it. We see the PDP as representing the conservative alternative. In politics, you don’t say never, but it is highly unlikely that we will back PDP. But there are strategic reasons we can back them.

For instance, in war situations, all parties work together; you don’t rule out anything completely.

We are progressives. Backing them is most unlikely. But there are individuals among them, in the PDP, who are stranded where they are now; we want to get them out to come to a national progressive platform, where all of us can be happy like we used to have in the old SDP, for example.

The UPN is back on stream. Are you part of the new body?

The man (Dr. Frederick Fasehun) making the move was never in the UPN. I think he is studying the mood of the people and trying to see if he can get the people’s support. We will wait until his party is registered. We read it in the papers. He has not contacted us.

Afenifere will always back a party — party that reflects our philosophy. If Fredrick Fasehun registers a party and shares the same philosophy with us, we will be willing to talk with him.

We were in the NADECO together. I shared Alagbon Prison with him for two years. Every evening there, we compared notes together.

So, it will not be too difficult and for the rest of us to be together.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

POLITICS

11

Challenges of constituency delimitation, by Jega • Being address by the Chairman INEC, Prof. Attahiru M. Jega, at the National Retreat on Constituency Delimitation at the Nike Lake Hotel and Resort, Enugu, yesterday, May 2, 2013.

ODAY marks another significant T step forward in the Commission’s continuous strides for robust and transparent engagement with stakeholders in pursuit of its policy and programmes aimed at discharging its statutory mandate, while strengthening and deepening our democratic culture.

The purpose of the retreat is to sensitise key stakeholders and provide an environment for robust discussions on a unique but vital aspect of the mandate given to the commission by law, that is: review of Electoral Constituencies.

It also provides an opportunity for sharing of experiences and lessons learnt in some sister African countries that have recently undertaken review of their electoral constituencies.

There is no doubt that constituency delimitation, or review of electoral constituencies, is difficult and challenging. But given its importance in expanding the scope of popular participation in representative democracy, and in strengthening good democratic governance, strenuous efforts have to be made to overcome the anticipated challenges.

It is possible to successfully review and delimit electoral constituen-

cies, as the experience of some of our sister African countries reveals.

The commission is, therefore, determined to partner with all stakeholders to execute a transparent, rational and impartial delimitation of electoral constituencies.

The current delimitation structure is a product of the defunct NECON in 1996 under a military regime, using the 1991 census data.

It has been severely criticised for manifesting features, which do not meet best standards, including mal-apportionments and large deviations from the population quota as enshrined in the Constitution, and other imbalances. These inequalities challenge in a fundamental manner, the very principle of equal representation.

If the principle of “one man one vote” in a single member representative system such as ours is to be indeed enthroned in our democratic culture, conscious and deliberate effort must be made to review the constituencies in order to eliminate, or at least reduce to a minimum level, the current imbalances.

One of the major flaws identified with previous efforts at review of constituency delimitation was inadequate engagement with major and critical stakeholders.

Accordingly, the commission’s new Delimitation Plan of Action as we shall see during this retreat, has provided for a robust programme of stakeholder sensitisation and engagement.

In this regard, a retreat was held in Sokoto from 16th-19th April 2013 with the Senate and House Committees on INEC, where the review of constituencies was vigor-

ously discussed and substantial insights gained and shared.

Today’s event, therefore, is part of a larger programme of consultation, engagement, and sensitisation.

Since our inauguration as a commission in June 2010, we have striven to design and implement necessary and sometimes bold initiatives, systems and processes aimed at improving the electoral process and the sanctity of the ballot. A great deal of good result has been achieved and voter confidence is gradually rising to respectable levels.

The commission owes much gratitude to many stakeholders such as the Legislature, the Judiciary, the Executive, civil society organisations, the NYSC, security agencies, the media and, indeed, the citizens, who have supported and encouraged our efforts in delivering electoral outcomes that are free, fair and credible, and that substantially satisfy the majority of the electorate.

Certainly, we in the commission will be the first to admit that the route has been tortuous and arduous but we have attended to the challenges with courage, determination, focus, honesty and sincerity of purpose.

Indeed, it is all these (focus, courage, sincerity and transparency) and more, that we as a commission are committed to bringing to this project in order to ensure successful and generally acceptable review of electoral constituencies.

We hope that this retreat will afford everyone present a deeper and clearer understanding of the subject matter, as well as greater insight into the road map to the

ation to the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) for their tremendous support generally to our programmes and projects, and in particular to this retreat.

Our Special Guests of Honour, the Distinguished Senate President, the Honourable Speaker House of Representatives, other distinguished invited guests, let me once again welcome you all to this retreat and thank you for accepting our invitation at short notice. I wish us all fruitful deliberations.

Jega

Taraba PDP faction demands internal democracy

Ahmed gives marching order to contractors, appointees From Abiodun Fagbemi, Ilorin.

ONTRACTORS handling various projects in Kwara State may be in for “a serious battle” with the state government unless they lived up to the deadline of their contractual agreements mainly fixed for May 29 this year.

Like some of his counterparts, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed will mark his second year anniversary in office on that date.

Besides, all the political office holders in the state may put their appointments on hold except they meticulously monitored all government projects sited in their constituencies.

According to Ahmed, who paid on the spots assessment visits to over 15 capital projects in the state, “every money received in trust on behalf of the people of the state must be judiciously spent” to justify the mandate conferred on him by the people.

The governor, who said he would ensure systematic development of the state, disclosed the reasons for making health, water supply and road construction the kernel of his policies, warning that he would not accept any haphazard completion of projects in the state.

He said only a healthy people could turn around the socio-economic situation of the state, just as he described a good road network as harbinger of rapid economic growth, especially in the area of agricultural.

The health projects are general hospitals at Ilorin, Share, Lafiagi, Offa and Omu-Aran. The Ilorin project is meant to decongest the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), which, though a tertiary institution, is being used for primary, secondary and tertiary purposes.

On the road projects, described as strategic to the planned agro-allied concerns of the state include a modern bridge on Ilorin-Afon road, Obbo/Ilorin asphalt lay, and Oko Bridge on Oko-Oro-Ago road, Ilemona-Erin-Ile road.

Ahmed, justifying the reason for the projects tour said: “At the beginning of every financial year, we have a budget, which is an articulation of programmes that we intend to spend

defined goal.

We also hope that all stakeholders would find the resolve and determination to effectively participate and ensure a successful review the electoral constituencies, so that we can eliminate the existing imbalances, bring the constituencies more in line with the constitutional provisions and move the country closer to the global best practice of equal strength for all votes; that is one man/woman one vote.

Let me at this point, express the commission’s thanks and appreci-

From Charles Akpeji, Jalingo NLESS the demands of the majority of U PDP faithful in Taraba State are meant, the proposed reconciliation of aggrieved

C

Ahmed

the people’s money on. Once these projects have been given out to contractors, they need to be taken to completion.

“We want to be sure that works are carried on the way they have been idealised for implementation. On the strength of that, once projects are going, there is a strong project monitoring team, a special adviser on infrastructure, who also doubles as check and balance on developmental projects.

“We also need to see for ourselves to ensure that we get value for money. That is what informed our recent visits to various projects that are ongoing, to ensure that we get value for money.”

He added: “Anywhere we go to, we expect that contractors should have got the job to the level to which we have funded them. So far, we are happy with what we have seen.

“Our contractors are working accordingly and anywhere we expect to see things and they fall below our expectations, the contractor will be given a marching order. That is as clear as a crystal.”

At the sites of the general hospital rehabilitation projects, the governor promised the people of the communities of prompt plan by the government to equip the hospitals with stateof-the-art facilities and employ more health workers.

members of the party may be a mirage, according to Senator Al-Hassan Aisha Jumai.

Among the demands, which, she said, would enable the people to have a round table dialogue, include the immediate dissolution of the party executive and the need to allow the people choose those to lead them at the party level.

She urged the national body to act fast and save the party, arguing that ailing state governor, Mr. Danbaba Suntai, forcefully imposed the entire state leadership, led by Victor Bala Kona, on the people.

The senator, representing the northern part of the state, stated the party members stand to newsmen after the commissioning of her computer training centre established

Sen. Al-Hassan Aisha Jumai

Whatever form of reconciliation, if it is not for the interest of our people, we will not support it because internal democracy must be allowed to take place and the party must allow the people to choose for themselves who to lead them. under her youth capacity building and empowerment programme in Jalingo, the state capital.

Stressing that, “we are not going to rest until the matter is resolved,” Jumai said what the people want, “is for them to be allowed to pick their leaders and not someone forcing leaders on them.”

Adding that “internal democracy should be allowed to exist,” she said the national body of the party ought to take into consideration the recent petition made by the teeming members of the party from the state.

She regretted that in spite of the outcry of the party members, the ailing governor still went ahead to impose the party leaders on the people, insisting that, “as a free citizens of this country, I believe that the people have all the rights to choose our leaders.”

To this effect, the planned reconciliation meeting, according to her, could only see the light of the day only if the teeming voices of the people would be taken into consideration.

In her words: “Whatever form of reconciliation, if it is not for the interest of our people, we will not support it because internal democracy must be allowed to take place and the party must allow the people to choose for themselves who to lead them.”

She noted that the last congresses of the party, from which she believed a lot of people were disenfranchised, was solely conducted by the governor; thereby, excluding relevant stakeholders, such as former deputy governor, Alhaji Sani Danladi Abubakar.

She stressed if the demands of the people were not considered, her group, which has two of the three senators in its camp and several political juggernauts, would have no any other option than to go to court to obtain justice.

12

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

TheMetroSection Who killed Adindu Ohamara?

• Police investigate gruesome killing of 34-year-old banker in Lagos

By Odita Sunday HE brains and hands behind the T killing of an Assistant Manager with the United Bank For Africa, Mr. Adindu Ohamara has remained a mystery to both his family and detectives at the homicide division of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba, Lagos.

The family has continued to mourn their ‘Umbrella’ and the man they regard as “a kind and generous brother.”

The only thing that could bring solace to the Ohamar family is if the killers of their beloved son are intercepted and made to face the wrath of the law.

Adindu was murdered in his apartment at No 26 Obayan Street, Akoka, Lagos.

The Ogbaku, Mbaitoli Local Government Area born deceased banker, who had his traditional marriage in December 2012, had almost concluded his wedding classes according to the Roman Catholic creed and was billed to wed his heartthrob in June when his killers came to his house unhindered, sending him to his early grave.

His senior sister, Mrs. Immaculate Igbeka, who spoke to The Guardian amidst tears and grief, urged the Police to get to the root of the matter.

She also dispelled the rumour that her late brother was gay as reported by some national dailies (not The Guardian).

“I was the one that was called immediately the incident was discovered. My brother lives with my immediate elder sister. My sister called my number at midnight and said I should start coming that someone has stabbed Adi. My husband and myself took the car and started rushing to the place. Before we got there, the neighbours have taken him to Military Hospital, but they refused to treat him there. So we took him to a private hospital and they started treating him and put him on oxygen, but after sometime, the doctor told me that they cannot manage the situation and that we should take him to Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and we did.

She continued: “At LUTH, we could not wait for all the protocol, my husband called his friend at Havannah who urged us to bring him. When we got there, the medical team was waiting. They checked him and confirmed that he was dead. For now, his killer is at large. My younger sister who lives with him, who is now in police custody said when she got home, my brother was not around. As she was coming in, my brother drove in

The late Ohamara with his car and brought down the fuel from his booth because there was no power. He took the fuel into their flat and the sister walked into her own room because their rooms are ensuite. She said she did not come out again. Another student of the University of Lagos who lives with them went to Adi’s room to ask if he could go and turn off the generating set when he met him in a pool of his blood.”

Detectives have since arrested the sister and neighbours for questioning over the sudden death of Adindu.

According to Igbeka, a mother of three: “So far, the police has arrested my sister, the neighbours and the security man. The police

have released the neighbours while my sister and the security man are still in police custody. The police are still investigating the matter; they have not told us anything but they said they would address us when they make progress. So we wonder how the reporter of the newspaper company got his report that a gay lover killed our brother. My brother was never gay, he was married to his wife and the family is really pained by that report. Our image is at stake; we want justice from the police over this matter.”

“My brother had an open traditional marriage in the village. His church wedding was supposed to come up on June 22. The wedding date had already been fixed before

his killers snuffed life out of him. He was like an umbrella under which everyone in the family was hiding.

He has worked with FCMB bank, from there he went to Oceanic and later went back to FCMB. Just recently, he moved over to UBA as an Assistant Branch Manager. He lived a responsible life so we wonder where the rumour was coming from.”

A statement by another senior member of the family, one Pastor Kelvin Ohamara read: “Our attention has been drawn to a media report carried by the newspaper on the death of our brother and son, Adindu Oharama, who until his death worked with the United Bank for Africa. The reporter who wrote the story insinuated that a gay lover might have killed Adindu. For the benefit of the doubt, we wish to state that the report is not correct.

Adindu lived a normal life even till death. At no point in his life did he have preferences for men.”

“Adindu had a public traditional marriage last December. He did not engage in a fight with any man who, according to a report by the newspaper, is a suspected gay lover who came to the house to engage in a fight. We also wish to point out that Adindu did not have any domestic staff. We, therefore, wonder which domestic staff purportedly spoke to the newspaper correspondent in the story published on April 30, 2013.”

“The story is a figment of the imagination of the reporter and we have requested an immediate retraction.

We hold the newspaper in high esteem and urge the paper not to degenerate to junk journalism. We are deeply saddened by the very painful loss of Adindu. This story and whatever it stands for, is traumatic and unfair. We are currently in deep pains and urge the media not to deliberately add to our trauma,” he said.

He added: “The family is currently giving the crack officers at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba maximum support to unravel this murder. At a meeting with the family today (April 30) Police detectives handling the case also disassociated themselves from the report, and wondered why a reporter would not cross-check facts with the investigators before going to press. We commend the Police for the wonderful work that they are doing on this case. Reports like these are obviously intended to distract the Police from their duty and should be discouraged. We urge the media not to be used by individuals or persons who may want to derail investigations.”

In Yobe, intending couples to undergo HIV/AIDS test From Njadvara Musa, Damaturu O prevent the spread of Human Immunodeficiency Virus/ Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in Yobe State, the State House of Assembly (YOBHA) would soon pass a law for all intending couples to undergo test before their marriages in any mosque or church.

The Speaker of the House of Assembly, Alhaji Adamu Dala Dogo made the declaration yesterday while addressing People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in his of-

T

fice at the House of Assembly complex, Damaturu.

He said the spread HIV/AIDS was very alarming and frightening, but could be “remarkable curtailed,” with the law that this House will pass on marriage between couples, before the end of this year.

His words: “The spread of this deadly virus can only be effectively prevented from spreading among the people through ‘genuine tests’ on HIV/AIDS, particularly on all intending couples that want to get married.”

He said members of the House of Assembly would soon embark on the visit of their respective constituencies to conduct advocacy against the spread of the scourge in the state.

Dogo also enjoined the people to undergo HIV/AIDS tests and begin retroviral treatment as soon as they are tested positive.

He warned the people to avoid discrimination against the people living with the HIV virus and encourages those with the disease to commence treatment;

which according to him, is free.

The Chairman of the State Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPHWAN), Yobe State Chapter, Mallam Ali Baba Damaturu, said that the number of people living with the scourge was on the increase, describing the intervention measures, as ineffective and called on the law- makers to assist in curtailing the spread of the virus among people.

He said that the enactment

of laws for the screened couples could go a long way at reducing the spread of the scourge.

Damaturu said: “These stigmatisation and discrimination against our members seem to kill faster than the virus itself. I am calling on law makers to assists in the advocacy on HIV/AIDS in Yobe State.”

Other problems affecting the people living with HIV/Aids, according to him, include inadequate funds and office accommodation.

Briefs COPAD holds training for teachers tomorrow NON GOVERNMENTAL ORA GANISATION (NGO), Concerned for Public Accountability and Development (COPAD), has emphasised the need for Nigeria to address the persistent downturn in the education system and the poor quality of graduates in the nation.

Worried that Nigeria cannot continue to desire or pretend to be striving for development when the human capacity level is abysmally low due to the poor quality of education, COPAD said: "The responsibility to improve on our intellectual capacity through quality education must be seen as a collective task."

Speaking during a media conference in Lagos recently, COPAD President, Bowo Olateru Olagbegi noted that “Nigeria is a country plagued by many problems in the various sectors: education, health, energy and others.”

He said instead of Nigeria depending on paper presentation and lectures, which have not yielded any positive change, "COPAD is initiating a move towards teachers’ training, particularly the ones in the private schools."

SSS nabs six for impersonation From Gordi Udeajah-Umuahia ollowing a tip off, the Abia State Command of the State Security Service (SSS) swooped on six suspected fraudsters operating in Aba as officials of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) attached to the Federal Teachers Scheme (FTS). Their leader’s name was given as Sunday Ehiemere, who claimed to be a staff of Zonal School Management Board, Aba and five other collaborators.

Three of the five apprehended collaborators were named as Glory Okoro, Onyedi Isaac and Promise Enang.

State SSS Director, Mr. Matthew Obodoechi, while briefing reporters on the development said the suspects who were operating from 35 Pounds Road Aba tagged 'Teachers Plaza ' were reported to have been defrauding unsuspecting members of the public.

F

NPHCDA receives Award of Excellence HE Medical and Health T Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) has given an Award of Excellence to the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHDA) for its commitment to efficient health care service delivery in Nigeria.

At its yearly Dinner and Awards Night to commemorate the second Medical and Health Workers’ Week, the MHWUN said part of the objectives of the week was to create a platform for encouraging government agencies and nonstate actors that were putting in efforts at salvaging the health system in Nigeria, while challenging others to improve.

Receiving the Award, the Executive Director of NPHCDA, Dr. Ado G. Muhammad thanked MHWUN for recognizing the Agency for the prestigious award.

METRO 13

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

Photonews

Business Development Manager , Hand Held, Products Samsung Electronics West Africa, Mr. Daesung RA (right), Head of Human Resources, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Mr. Kunle Olaifa, Business Head ,Hand Held Products Samsung Electronics West Africa, Mr. Emmanouil Revmatas, and Marketing Manager Hand Held Products Samsung Electronics West Africa Ms Olajumoke Okikiolu during Samsungs’ monthly breakfast meeting with the press in Lagos..on Wednesday PHOTO: GABRIEL IKHAHON

Marketing Manager, Dufil Prima Foods Plc, Manpreet Singh (left); Public Relations and Events Manager, Dufil Prima Foods Plc, Mr. Tope Ashiwaju; Chief Executive Officer, Dufil Prima Foods Plc., Deepak Singhal and the Managing Director, BD Consult, Tola Bademosi at a Press Conference on the Sixth Edition of Indomie Independence Day Heroes Award in Lagos...

Masquerade leader, another docked for allegedly beating two people to coma SIXTY-SEVEN-YEAR-OLD A masquerade leader, Olaseyinde Ashaolu and Ko-

Corporate Affairs Manager, Total Nig. Plc., Mr. Albert Mabuyaku (left), Events Manager, Mrs. Fumilayo Gombe and the Principal, Dr. Lucas Junior Secondary School, at the World Malaria Day Celebration organized by Total Nig. Plc. in Lagos…recently

lawole Kayode, 35, were yesterday arraigned before an Ilorin Magistrate’s Court for allegedly beating two people to coma.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), ‘The accused were alleged to have conspired with others now at-large to beat people and destroy their property on March 24 and 25 at Odo- Owa in Oke-Ero Local Council of Kwara State.”

According to the charge sheet, some groups of people led by one Taiye Bada ganged up and beat one Kemi Alufoge to a point of coma.

The charge sheet said that another group and four masquerades led by one Tunde Akinola armed themselves with cutlasses and dane guns to attack one Sunday Alufoge.

It said that in the process they damaged his property and allegedly stole N260,000 from him.

It also said that Asahaolu was arrested by the police, being the masquerade leader in the community, while Kayode was among the miscreants that allegedly conspired with others now at-large to perpetrate the acts.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the

charges against them.

The Prosecutor, Mr. Isage Yakubu, told the court that the accused were arraigned on a four-count charge of criminal conspiracy and intimidation, causing grievous hurt and mischief.

The charges were contrary to Sections 97, 397, 247 and 327 of the Penal Code.

He objected to the bail of the accused on the ground that the alleged offences were not ordinarily bailable.

Magistrate (Mrs.) Silifat Sambo in her ruling released the accused on bail in the sum of N10, 000 and two sureties in like sum.

She adjourned the case to May 13 for mention.

Varsity inaugurates new Governing Council NEW Governing Council A of Wesley University of Science and Technology, Ondo

Justice Tanko Ibrahim Muhammed of Supreme Court representing Chief Justice of Nigeria, Chief Launcher, Dr. Oba Otudeko, the celebrant, Prince Bola Ajibola, his wife, Ramota and former Minister for State, Ademola Seriki at the book launch by LawPavilion to mark Prince Bola Ajibola's 79th birthday in Lagos ...

(WUSTO), Ondo State has been constituted.

A statement by the Public Relations Officer, Mr. O. S. Akindele said: “The inauguration ceremony of the Council members, which was held at the Senate Chamber of the University on Tuesday, March 26, 2013, was presided over by Sir Bola Ogunsanwo, the Secretary to the Board of Trustees of the institution on behalf of the Chairman, Sir Kesington Adebutu, who was unavoidably absent.

“The reconstitution of the

Governing Council was informed by the expiration of the tenure of the first Council appointed in 2007 immediately after the University was granted operating licence.

The 14-member Council that will steer the affairs of the University for the next five years has Dr. Edet Amana as Pro-Chancellor and Chairman.”

Other s include Ndukwe Osogho-Ajala kw; Julius Aremu kw; Dr. Orinye Obande kw; Rt. Rev. C.N. Ede and Professor Ajesola Majekodunmi, all representing Methodist Church Nigeria.

Prof. Albert A. Ilemobade; Dr.

(Mrs.) Olamide Esther Adesina and Mr. B.R. Akinsanmi representing Ondo Kingdom, National Universities Commission and Ondo State Government respectively.

The old members include the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. ‘Tola Badejo; the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Prof. O.O. Fawole; two Senate representatives: Prof.

(Mrs.) E.A. Adesulu and Prof.

E.T. Otunola; and Mr. Biodun Ijasan, the Registrar and Secretary to the Council.

Bola Ogunsanwo charged the members to ensure best practices that will put WUSTO on a sound footing towards achieving its set objectives and goal.

Assembly orders LSDPC to allocate new flats, pay N5m each to displaced persons

By Wole Oyebade HE Lagos State House of AsT sembly on Tuesday ordered the Lagos State Development

Director, Customer Development, Unilever Nigeria Plc, Mr. Kweku Boateng (left); Regional Sales Manager, Lagos, Mrs. Nkechi Omozeje; winner at the Unilever Seasoning Visibility Challenge, Mrs. Kehinde Abari and Customer Marketing Manager, Foods, Unilever Nig. Plc, Mrs. Folake Awe, during the prize presentation in Lagos... on Thursday

Oke Are Seminary old boys hold thanksgiving Mass Sunday HERE will be meeting of Oke Are Seminary T Old Boys’ Association of Nigeria (OSOBAN) on Sunday, May 5 at the residence of Mr. Francis Femi Ajayi, behind defunct Oru Refugee Camp, Ogun State.

The meeting, according to the branch Chair-

man, Very Rev. Fr. Sylvester Onasanya will be preceded by a thanksgiving Mass at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Oru, Ijebu at 8.00a.m.

He said the event would also be used to raise funds for the alma mater, St. Theresa’s Catholic Seminary, Oke Are-Ibadan.

Property Corporation (LSDPC) to allocate new flats and compensation of N5 million each to the 15 displaced allottees of Blocks 17 and 18 Housing Estate, Sogunro Phase 1, Ogba, free of charge with papers perfected.

The directive came following a recommendation of a threeman Ad hoc Committee on a petition by erstwhile residents of the blocks. The recommendations were presented and adopted by the House after debate.

Presenting the report before the Committee of the Whole, Chairman of the Ad hoc committee, Dr. Razaq Balogun said having heard from all parties concern, the committee recommended the compensa-

tion, adding that the LSDPC management should expedite action on its audit exercise of the occupants of the estate.

The occupants, most of whom are retired civil servants, had leased the apartments for a period of 90 years and had completed full payment of N22,500 as at 1981.

The estate, built in 1976, started showing signs of defect as Block 17 sank on May 16, 2008. Other buildings were also demolished by the LSDPC including Block 18.

In their findings, the Committee observed that the flats were leased to the occupants for 90 years while the occupants had only spent 20-30 years and have fully paid for the flats.

Balogun also told the House that most of the occupants were retired civil servants who had served the state meritoriously between 30 and 35 years.

It was observed that most of occupants purchased their flats through mortgage and loans; however, due to the defects observed in the buildings, the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development demolished them through the approval of the Governor.

It would be recalled that the sixth Assembly of the House had handled the case of Block 17 through the Committee on Human Rights and Public Petitions where it was agreed that a compensation of N5 million be paid to each of the occupant of Block 17 and has not been redeemed.

“In view of the fact that the allottees still have leasing rights of 60 to 70 years, LSDPC should allocate new flat to the displaced allottees of Blocks 17 and 18 totaling 15 units in the new buildings upon completion,” Balogun said.

14 | THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 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 N450b lifeline for farmers N450 billion lifeline for Nigerian farmers recently announced by the Federal A Government of Nigeria would ordinarily compel a feeling that better days are probably here in Nigeria’s search for sustainable agricultural development. But familiar as Nigerians are with the corrupt dispositions of their governments, cautious optimism is the best they can muster.

This is because shortly before the latest announcement, the same Federal Government had proposed a multi-billion naira mobile telephone line scheme for the same farmers. After much public criticism, the government not only denied the plan, but also beat a tactical withdrawal. The suspicion then was that the scheme could be part of the ‘coded’ ways of raising money to finance the 2015 re-election bid of the incumbent government. The hope now is that the moribund phony telephone scheme has not been repackaged in a much more elaborate manner through the N450 billion lifeline scheme for farmers.

In the circumstance, the ‘lifeline’ scheme can only be seen as nothing more than another avenue for fraud and patronage at the expense of agricultural development. Given this pervasive distrust, it is incumbent on the government to prove to Nigerians, beyond reasonable doubt, that this initiative will not be business as usual.

In order to salvage the situation, urgent steps must be taken to clarify properly what the ‘lifeline’ is all about. For example, what exactly is the money meant for?

How will it improve agricultural productivity, both in terms of quantity and quality? What is the definition of farmers: subsistence, large-scale or political farmers?

How will the beneficiaries be selected? How will the scheme be implemented to avoid falling into the pitfalls of similar previous interventions? In what ways will such a lifeline boost food security? Over all, what value will be added to agricultural productivity, transportation and distribution?

As Nigerians await clarification of these legitimate concerns, any available fund should be directly targeted at real development through agricultural commodities, not just farmers. In other words, the focus should be on increasing agricultural output.

N450 billion should make a positive impact on any sector if genuinely committed.

Nigerians are watching, gradually running out of patience to see results as this scheme presents, in itself, another lifeline to the government to demonstrate to Nigerians, that it is capable of productive actions.

LETTERS

Mike Adenuga as I know him IR: I congratulate Otunba Mike Adenuga on his 60 Sbirthday.

Otunba Adeniyi Isola th

Adenuga is a man endowed though reclusive and chooses where he goes to and whom he associates with. But his relationship with his roots is another matter. He has consistently refrained from associating with his hometown for personal reason but the death and burial of our revered mother, Mama Oyindamola Adenuga few years ago compelled him to come back home and publicly associate with Ijebu Igbo.

The mansion he built and the church donated to the Anglican Communion of Ijebu Igbo attest to his milk of kindness and many indigenes benefited from him during the burial; many never knew he is from Ijebu Igbo until that period.

In one instance, several letters written and visits paid to Otunba Adenuga between 2001 and 2003 accompanied by comprehensive details and information about unemployed graduates from the town by the Concerned Graduates of Ijebu Igbo, a platform I coordinated with my ally Wasiu Adebayo, were either ignored or not acted upon.

Otunba Adenuga’s close associate and former confidant, Mr. Tunde Akinyera, who received those correspondences on his behalf and whom I met on different occasions at the Oko Awo office assured me consistently that Otunba Adenuga will attend to the issues. We got fed

up and moved on with our lives, but Dr. Ayoola Oba Otudeko finally came to our rescue and we remain eternally grateful for his fatherly intervention.

I am hopeful that one day, our illustrious son, Otunba Mike Adenuga will open a book of remembrance on younger generation of graduates from Ijebu Igbo, majority of who are still jobless. I respectfully request that a commission of economic charter that suits the focus and vision of Mike Adenuga Foundation be made available

to cater for the aspirations of the teeming unemployed graduates from Ijebu Igbo. Other infrastructural projects of Otunba Mike Adenuga’s choice that will generate employment for all must also be looked into.

As Otunba Adenuga clocks 60 years, I pray for more fruitful years in good health. Let everybody join me in wishing our father and an illustrious son of Oduduwa from Ijebu Igbo happy birthday and many happy returns. Congratulations.

• Adeleke Odumuyiwa Lagos.

Way forward for Golden Eaglets Despite the Ivoirians Nigeria’s golden girl of the tracks SjustIR: emerging as winners of the had observed that with proper concluded African U-17 nurturing and encouragement,

championship in Morocco, Nigerians should still be full of praises for the Eaglets. The boys and their coaches should be commended. With our results at the Nations Cup in January, the just concluded athletics competition in Warri and now in Morocco it shows we have the much-needed raw materials that could transform into world champions.

This is not to analyse the ills of our sports ministry but the way forward is getting needed investments to developing these athletes and transforming them into world champions. At the conclusion of the African youth’s athletics competition hosted by Nigeria, Mary Onyali,

the budding athletes who displayed their talents at the competition could become world greats.

In same manner, Jonathan Akpoborie, a member of Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets that won the maiden edition in 1985 had described the present team as good after reviewing their performances at the group stages. He also posited that the way forward was for the boys to be properly groomed.

It is high time we broke away from the past and chart a new course forward. Sports administrators should invest in these lads and encourage them to become the real sought-after world champions.

• Emmanuel Afunwa, Enugu, Enugu State.

LETTERS

Lack of ethical formation fuels insecurity Over the years, advance- corresponding progress in desired across the globe can come more from the moral strength of SedIR:ments in science have result- man’s ethical formation.

Science has contributed man than from structures. As long in technological inventions, evidenced in innovations like the Internet, atomic bombs, missiles, rockets, cloning and other outcomes of scientific development. Unfortunately, very insignificant level of attention was given to man’s ethical formation as science progressed and this has become the world’s greatest undoing.

The current wave of terrorist activities, other crimes and gruesome killing of humans by fellow humans as well as indiscriminate destruction of private and public property are results of overtime failure on the part of mankind to match scientific and technological progress with

greatly in making the world a better place but it has equally become a threat to man and the world. Products of science are mercilessly being used as weapons of mass destruction due largely to wrong orientation. There is an urgent need for institutions and authorities across the globe to intensify efforts at improving moral energy, especially among young people.

Fundamental human rights and freedoms can significantly be regulated towards positives, through the development of moral energy. The security and peace currently

as it is absent or insufficient, the power that science has given to man will be transformed more and more into a power of destruction.

The scientific tomorrow that constitutes the destination of this world is hopeless without love. I agree with Mohandas K. Ghandi of India that: “The things that will destroy us are: politics without principle; pleasure without conscience; wealth without work; knowledge without character; business without morality; science without humanity and worship without sacrifice.”

• Albinus Chiedu Lagos.

NYSC merit presidential award I learnt this event, which was IR: Few years after the 1973 since its inception except for inauguration of the National the time of political instability supposed to hold at most SYouth Service Corps ( NYSC) as during the IBB regime follow- December 2012, which signals one of the post civil war strategies to achieve national reconciliation, reintegration and development through the activities of corps members who are posted to regions of the country other than theirs, the Federal Government introduced the yearly presidential merit award to deserving corps members who render service and distinguish themselves in service to their father land.

This wonderful gesture by the presidency over the years has added to the vigour with which corps members carry out different developmental projects which have direct bearing and impacts on communities, especially those in the rural areas.

This has been a yearly event and has never been interrupted

ing the annulment of June 12 presidential election, when the exercise was suspended for some years.

At the inception of the present administration some laudable amendments were made to the scheme (NYSC) and more incentives were added to include a federal scholarship of postgraduate studies up to PhD level as well as automatic employment and some monetary reward. This was seen as a great move for youth empowerment and instilling hard work in Nigerian youths and also a strategy to give credence to the NYSC scheme. However, the nominees for 2011/2012 batch are neither shortlisted nor awarded anything and no reason has been given for this.

the end of a NYSC service year, usually batch C of a previous year and batches A and B of the current year. Now, batch A of 2012 has already passed out.

The authorities should know that issues like this that affect the behaviour and attitude of Nigerian youths should not be joked with. The National Youth Service Corps has over the years played a very significant role in national development, especially in the rural communities where basic infrastructures are lacking. These youths who work with the aim that their country may recognize them by awards or recommendation should not be let down by the lackadaisical attitude of our leaders.

• Tosin Adu, (e-mail: tosinadu@yahoo.com).

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

15

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World Bank pledges $1 billion to boost agriculture in Nigeria From joke Falaju, Abuja HE World Bank has T pledged to commit one billion dollars to support Nigeria’s agricultural sector in the next five years.

Its Country Director, Ms Marie-Francoise Marie- Nelly, said this yesterday at a workshop on Gender and Agriculture Technical Dialogue in Abuja.

“The World Bank is strongly engaged in agriculture, we are planning to commit almost one billion dollars in the next three to five years in agriculture.

“Not only on this aspect of strengthening the capacity of women but also in strengthening the tools of production; and one area that I want to strengthen is irrigation.

“We intend to help rehabilitate a number of these irrigation schemes, to have large irrigation land for farmers and we hope that in doing so, we are not going to forget the women.”

She said that the gesture was part of the outcome of the bank’s household survey on the impact of agriculture in the country’s rural areas.

According to her, the gesture is also in line with the Federal Government Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA), adding that bank would support the programme for its role in the economy “We at the World Bank strongly support this programme (ATA) because it is widely recognised both in Africa and in the world; that improving agriculture translates to reduction of poverty.

“Agriculture plays a big role in Nigeria’s economy, it employs the 70 per cent of the labour force and 40 per cent

As govt seeks close ties with Hungary of the Gross Domestic Product.’’

Marie-Nelly called for policies that would help to empower and support women farmers in the country.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, said that women accounted for 75 per cent of farming population in Nigeria, both as farm man-

agers, primary owners and suppliers of labour.

He stressed the need to invest more on women farmers and ensure that efforts were geared towards removing all constraints that hindered production for women farmers.

“Without women, there will be no food; therefore, we must ensure we remove all

constraints that limit ability to raise their farm productivity and incomes.

“If we invest in women farmers, we invest in the nation and we invest in our children, women will secure our food supply, they will secure our nation.’’

The minister, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mrs

Ibukun Odusote, identified the critical areas that needed improvement in the sector to include women to access to finance; access to lands; insecurity of the tenure; and access to inputs.

Adesina said that the ministry in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria would soon roll out a new credit facility for agro-based

businesses, adding that special preference would be given to women.

He said that government would recapitalise the Bank of Agriculture and create a special credit facility for women He said efforts were also being made to improve access to land for women, reduce the cost of registering land and review the land

CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

Executive Director, Sterling Basnk Plc, Mr. Abubakar Sule (left); Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Yemi Adeola; Chairman, Dr. Sulaiman Adegunwa and the Company’s Secretary, Justina Lewa, at the 51st Annual General Meeting of Sterling Bank in Lagos, yesterday.

Shell records $11.6 billion cash flow in first quarter

By Roseline Okere

OYAL Dutch Shell recordR ed $11.6 billion cash flow in the first quarter of 2013 from operating activities in the oil and gas sector.

The company’s first quarter 2013 earnings, on a current cost of supplies (CCS) basis were $8 billion compared with $7.7 billion for the first quarter 2012.

First quarter 2013 CCS were $7.5 billion compared with $7.3 billion for the first quarter 2012, an increase of three per cent.

According to the company’s first quarter 2013 unaudited results released yesterday, capital investment

for the first quarter 2013 was $8.8 billion. Net capital investment for the quarter was $8.2 billion.

Total dividends distributed in the quarter were $2.7 billion, of which $0.8 billion were settled under the Scrip Dividend Programme. During the first quarter 16.1 million shares were bought back for cancellation for a consideration of $0.5 billion.

Commenting on the result, Shell’s Chief Executive Officer, Peter Voser, stated that the oil industry continues to see significant energy price volatility as a result of economic and political devel-

We are developing some 30 new projects and maturing a series of further opportunities for investment. So far this year, we’ve seen the growth impact of recent start ups and we took four final investment decisions in petrochemicals, deepwater, and LNG opments. “Oil prices have fallen recently but Shell is implementing a long-term, competitive and innovative strategy against this volatile backdrop.

“Shell’s underlying CCS earnings were $7.5 billion for the quarter, a two per cent increase in CCS earnings per share from the first quarter of 2012. These

results were underpinned

by Shell’s growth projects, an improvement in downstream profitability, and were delivered despite a difficult security environment in Nigeria.”

He said that the company was investing for profitable growth, whilst maintaining strong capital discipline.

“We are developing some

30 new projects and maturing a series of further opportunities for investment. So far this year, we’ve seen the growth impact of recent start ups and we took four final investment decisions in petrochemicals, deepwater, and LNG. “We continue to take a dynamic approach to portfolio”, Voser said.

According him: “Asset sales - $0.6 billion in the first quarter and over $21 billion in the last three years improve our capital efficiency and can bring in strategic partners. We use selective acquisitions to refresh our opportunity set.

Besides, we distributed $11

billion dividend year one, the highest in our industry, and today we confirm a five per cent rise in our dividend to $0.45 per share.

He added: “Our improving cash flow also enables us to accelerate our share buyback programme, this year so far we have repurchased some $1.2 billion of shares by the end of April. In the current environment we would expect to more than offset the scrip dividend issue this year, and we are determined to implement the policy to offset dilution over the business cycle. This underlines our commitment to shareholder returns.”

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

16 BUSINESS

CAC may set new regulations for business registration

Alder dedicates free business development novel to charity

By Faith Oparaugo HE Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) may introduce new regulations to strengthen the process of registration of new businesses in Nigeria to check fraud.

For instance, prospective directors of new firms seeking registration would be required to submit two passport photographs of each of the directors.

Besides, efforts are on to facilitate online registration of business in all the states, and upgrading of its website for easy access to information are gaining due attention.

The Chairman of the Commission, Otunba Lawal said by repositioning and putting a new regulation’s in place are necessary to ensure that unfit and improper people do not register firms or use such for fraudulent and terrorist purposes rather to achieve better service delivery.

According to him, efforts are being made to facilitate online registration of businesses in all the states in Nigeria and across the globe.

He said, “Nigerians must take advantage of the present position of CAC to register their businesses and equally operate legal businesses as the commission would soon sanction unregistered operators and make them face the law.

“We are doing everything possible to ensure that violent and financial crimes are checked from inception. We will do this by evolving various strategies. For instance, very soon, the board will make it a key requirement that prospective directors of new firms seeking registration with CAC affix and submit two passport photographs of directors. At least, two of the directors of a new firm will have to comply with this” he said.

He added that it is our responsibility to ensure that it companies are properly registered according to the rules and regulations of the commission He noted that the commission had been doing a lot in terms of making it an investment-attracting agency, especially in line with the transformation agenda of the Federal Government.

He also disclosed that the agency was already exploring the possibility of making offshore company registration a reality. For instance, arrangements are already in top gear to have an office in London, which would be dedicated to registering new firms.

According to him, with the London office, there would be no need for Nigerians abroad to come to Nigeria to register companies. The London office of CAC. may have to serve as a hub for the whole of Europe. he said.

HE Leke Alder Foundation T has dedicated Leke Alder’s latest book - #NOVUS to chari-

T

Director-General, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Oscar Onyema (left); The Lord Mayor of the City of London, Michael Roger Gifford, ringing the trading opening bell and Group Managing Director, Access Bank Plc on the floor of the NSE after a breakfast meeting with the Lord Mayor at the NSE,in Lagos, yesterday.

UK firm wins contract for 14mw power plant in Rivers

By Clarkson Eberu

UNITED Kingdom (UK)based energy firm with subsidiaries in Nigeria and a number of African countries, Clarke Energy, has been contracted by the Port Harcourt-based Rivers State-owned medical equipment making company, Integrated Medical Industries Limited (IMIL), to install and power a 14MW cost-effective combined heat and power (CHP) plant to boost its operational profile and complement efforts in the fight to eradicate to the barest decimal the menace of malaria scourge and

A

other infectious diseases on the continent.

The organisation, known for the production of autodisable (AD) syringes and other medical supplies for the West and Central African markets, said the move was to check incessant power outage in the production line with a view to making the dream of ridding Nigeria and other countries in subSahara Africa of deadly malaise realisable.

Billed to come on stream in the third quarter of this year, the advance facility, first of such to be pre-qualified on World Health

We are delighted to be making a contribution to the global fight against malaria. The gasfuelled power plant will deliver reliable supplies of electricity to the facility, helping to ensure continuous production of important healthcare products.

Organisation (WHO) Performance Quality Safety (PQS) in this part of the world, is to be effectively powered through three 24-cylinder stationery gas engines from GE. According to the Project Director/CEO for IMIL, Amenya Wokoma, “we

selected Clarke Energy and GE’s Jenbacher gas engines following a comprehensive assessment of technology options. We are confident this will deliver reliable supplies of power to our production plant using the most advanced technology.”

To the Chief Executive Officer of Clarke Energy,

inheritance law.

The minister said that his ministry had projected that about one million women would benefit from its various strategies to boost the agriculture sector.

Meanwhile, Adeesina, has called on investors in Hungary to take advantage of Nigeria’s vast arable land, large population and huge market to invest in the agricultural sector.

The Permanent Secretary, Odusote, while receiving a

Jamie Clarke, “we are delighted to be making a contribution to the global fight against malaria. The gas-fuelled power plant will deliver reliable supplies of electricity to the facility, helping to ensure continuous production of important healthcare products.”

Meanwhile, the move has got the backing of IMIL’s partner, the Pan African Health Foundation (PAHF) which recently began implementing a $275 million intergrated medical industries project with the Rivers State government.

Nigeria sustained single digit inflation level Q1

By Chijioke Nelson

HE nation’s first quarter (Q1) economic review T may have shown a mixture of strength and weakness, with inflation level at single digit being sustained in the period.

According to PearlMutual Consulting Limited, an advisory services firm on Nigerian Economic Review for Q1 2013, noted that “inflation stayed put in single-digit through the quarter, starting at a four-year

low of nine per cent in January and rising minimally to 9.5 per cent in February, then down to 8.6 per cent for March.

“Nigeria’s fiscal deficits as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) also remained below the recommended international benchmark of three per cent.

Provisional growth in GDP is put at 7.1 per cent, a feat in the right direction to achieve National Bureau of Statistics’ 6.75 per cent

growth projection for 2013.

“There was a noteworthy increase in the nation’s foreign reserves from the previous quarter; closing at $48.57 billion (+9.9 per cent) from $44.18 billion in fourth quarter of 2012 and +24 per cent over Q1 of 2012.”

It noted that the new position translated to 13 months of imports and is a by-product of reduced funding requirements for WDAS. “The capital market also

continued to witness position recovery, buoyed by substantial foreign direct investments from international portfolio managers,” the report said.

However, the report further explained that “our major concern for the economy is the continued menace and revenue leakage caused by the ‘oil-theft syndrome’ in the NigerDelta.

“Besides, crude oil prices are on the decline, due to

Nigeria seeks close ties with Hungary on Agriculture CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15

ty. NOVUS is the Latin word for new.

The novel, an eBook, which was released yesterday (May 1, 2013) is a business development story about a young entrepreneur named Don who is desirous of starting a business but has no idea how to go about it, said a statement from the Foundation.

The idea for the book, according to the statement signed by the founder of the Foundation, Mr Leke Alder, was borne out of his desire to democratise business knowledge by making it available to everyone. As the story unfolds, Alder says the protagonist takes a romantic interest in a beautiful young lady (Rasha) - “a conspiracy of nature”. She has a bitter rival in a figure-eightive beauty (Femi), a dangerous woman if ever there was one.

The novel takes readers through idea germination, business conceptualisation, business name generation, ideas for raising finance and more.

three-man delegation from Hungary led by the Foreign Secretary of State, on behalf of the Minister in Abuja, said that Nigeria is currently diversifying her economy through the Agricultural Transformation Agenda for food security and industrialization.

She called on the investors to tap into the favorable investment climate offered by the government to promote foreign investment and improve bilateral relations between the two countries.

Odusote further appealed to the Hungarian Government to extent her foreign scholarship scheme to developing nations like Nigeria and explore ways of stimulating expertise exchange programs for mutual benefits of both countries.

She disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture has instituted a special information technology programme to encourage and build capacities among young agricultural champions involved in the propagation of agricultural focal

value chain.

Earlier, the leader of the team, Dr Becsey Slowt, expressed the readiness of Hungarian government to partner with Nigeria in the agricultural sector development and trade through the provision of hybrid variety seeds and other farm inputs, where the country has comparative advantage.

She sought for Nigeria cooperation in the areas of agricultural research, crop genetic engineering, livestock production, irrigation as well as the establishment of Joint

Economic Committee for Africa and other related Technological Transfer Programmes.

He further appealed for tax holidays for its prospective investors to Nigeria, who he said, are very keen at investing in the nation’s agricultural sector.

Also, Hungary has invited Nigeria to participate in the African forum scheduled for June 6 2013 in Budapest, which according to him, would help showcase Nigeria’s Agricultural Research Institute.

weaker demand and global general austerity.

Therefore, we stress the need for diversification of the nation’s income streams on the heels of new oil discoveries and sustained economic turmoil in Europe.”

The International Monetary Fund recently scaled back its global growth forecast for 2013 from 3.5 per cent to 3.3 per cent, but Nigeria’s economy, the report said, is expected to be buoyed by increased foreign investment flow.

Ngozi Okonojo-Iweala, Nigeria’s minister of Finance

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

Malaria threat

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

Weekend

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20 WEEKEND

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3 , 2013

Malaria threatens human

Hospital admission... the Malaria Indicator Survey (MIS) 2010 showed that malaria contributes to an estimated 11 per cent of maternal mortality, 60 per cent of outpatient visits and 30 per cent of hospitalizations among children under- five years of age in Nigeria

Human existence is under threat! Malaria, the third leading cause of death for children under-five years worldwide, after pneumonia and diarrheal disease, may soon become untreatable.

Reasons: There is growing global resistance of the malaria parasite to the drug of choice, Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT), and the vector, female Anopheles mosquito, to recommended insecticides.

Nigeria has been identified as the country with the highest burden of malaria in the world with over 97 per cent of the population at risk; and loses over N480 billion yearly on prevention and treatment efforts.

Although malaria mortality rates have fallen by more than 33 per cent in Nigeria since 2000, it is feared that with the growing drug and insecticide resistance as well as funding gap of over N396 billion to control the disease in next two years, the country may not be able meet the human capital development component of the Transformation Agenda as well as other national and international development goals.

By Chukwuma Muanya It has been blamed for over 60 per cent of all hospital visits and admissions in the country.

It is caused by Plasmodium parasites that are spread to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquito vectors. “Of the five parasite species that cause malaria in humans, Plasmodium falciparum is the most deadly,” said a consultant malariologist and former National Coordinator National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP), Dr. Chioma Amajoh.

Several reports from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Roll Back Malaria (RBM), the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) indicate that malaria is a major public health problem in Nigeria where it accounts for more cases and deaths than any other country in the world.

Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, told The Guardian that malaria remains a major public health problem in Nigeria. “It has continued to be a major threat to the human capital development component of the Transformation Agenda as well as other national and international development goals,” he said.

According to a recent data from FMoH, Nigeria contributes a quarter of malaria burden in Africa and over 97 per cent of the population in Nigeria is at risk. The remaining three per cent of the population live in the malaria free highlands.

In financial terms, the disease is estimated to cost the country over N480 billion every year taking into account treatment and prevention costs, and loss of working hours.

Chukwu said that N480 billion is the estimated cost of malaria to Nigeria including what the Federal Government, states, local councils, developmental partners and individuals spend for malaria control, test, drugs

and treatment yearly.

According to the WHO, there are an estimated 100 million malaria cases with over 300,000 deaths per year in Nigeria. This compares with 215,000 deaths per year in Nigeria from Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

The Malaria Indicator Survey (MIS) 2010 showed that the disease contributes to an estimated 11 per cent of maternal mortality, 60 per cent of outpatient visits and 30 per cent of hospitalizations among children under- five years of age in Nigeria.

Malaria has the greatest prevalence, close to 50 per cent, in children age six to 59 months in the South West, North Central, and North West regions. Malaria has the least prevalence, 27.6 percent, in children age six to 59 months in the South East region.

According to the WHO, Nigeria is situated between four and 13 degrees Northern Latitude, which is a suitable climate for malaria transmission and accounts for a quarter of all malaria cases in the WHO African Region.

Globally, malaria affects 3.3 billion people, or half of the world’s population, in 106 countries and territories. WHO estimates that 216 million cases of malaria occurred in 2010 with 81 per cent in the African region.

WHO estimates there were 655,000 malaria deaths in 2010, 91 per cent in the African Region, and 86 per cent were children under five years of age.

President Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Osahon Enabulele, said malaria is the third leading cause of death for children under-five years worldwide, after pneumonia and diarrheal disease.

According to Chukwu, in Africa, thirty countries in Sub-Saharan Africa account for 90 per cent of global malaria deaths. Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),

Ethiopia, and Uganda account for nearly 50 per cent of the global malaria deaths.

Malaria is the second leading cause of death from infectious diseases in Africa, after HIV/AIDS. Almost one out of five deaths of children under-five in Africa is due to malaria.

Enabulele said malaria causes anemia, which may require blood transfusions, a procedure that increases the risk for HIV infection where universal blood screening is yet to be achieved. He said people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) are at an increased risk of clinical malaria, severe illness, hospitalization, and death.

The NMA President said malaria contributes to a temporary increase in viral load among HIV-infected people, which may worsen the clinical disease, increase mother-to child transmission, and augment transmission in adults.

The 2010 MIS showed that about 52 per cent of children aged between six months to five years tested positive to malaria by Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) and prevalence was higher in rural areas that is about 55.9 per cent; about 42 per cent of households had at least one Insecticide Treated Net (ITN) also called Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINS) while 25 per cent of households had more than one ITN. ITN use by children under five years was about 29 per cent and 69 per cent for households with ITN. Prevention and treatment The FMoH supports four scientifically proven key interventions to prevent and treat malaria: the promotion of ITNs; indoor residual spraying (IRS); intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women (IPTp); and diagnosis and treatment.

Prevention programmes focus on the distribution and use of LLINS, including evidencebased health communication programmes on the mode of malaria transmission and the importance of sleeping under ITNs.

Roll Back Malaria and World Malaria Day Chukwu said the need to reverse this trend and reduce the burden of malaria in the African sub region led to the organization of the first African Summit on Roll Back Malaria in April 25, 2000.

The summit was attended by more than 44 countries, which committed themselves to an intensive effort to halve the burden of malaria in Africa by 2010. During the African Summit it was also agreed that April 25 of every year be designated as the Africa Malaria Day. The celebration was later renamed World Malaria Day, recognising the fact that malaria is a global disease.

The World Malaria Day celebration is designed to provide stakeholders with an opportunity to raise awareness and increase the knowledge on malaria control. It also provides us with an opportunity to celebrate the successes achieved in malaria control in the past one year and to advocate for support for more resources and commodities that will make the fight against malaria more effective.

The theme for this year’s celebration is “Invest in the Future: Defeat Malaria”, while the slogan is “Time is now”.

Government’s efforts Chukwu said the vision of NMCP is to have a malaria free Nigeria and minimize the socioeconomic impact of the disease.

The Health Minister explained: “In the last one year, we have made considerable progress. A total of 51,703,880 LLINs have been distributed in 33 States and one senatorial district in Oyo State. Presently, LLINs distribution campaigns are on in the remaining three states of Kogi, Delta, Osun and two senatorial districts in Oyo State. Indoor Residual Spraying is continuously being scaled up.

Additionally Larval source reduction has been implemented in some Local Councils in Lagos and Rivers State.

“The National programme is embarking on

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3 , 2013

WEEKEND 21

capital development agenda Integrated Malaria Elimination involving, testing with RDT, treat with anti-malarial, cure and carry out larviciding. Our malaria elimination effort has been enhanced by the launch of the Biolarvicide factory in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on the 11th of April, 2013.

“Diagnosis is being scaled up. Millions of RDTs have been procured and distributed to States. In addition, about 137 health officers have been trained in a Training of the Trainers workshop on RDT in Anambra, Bauchi and Niger States. Mass diagnosis campaign was conducted in four Local Councils (Southern Ijaw, Sagbama, Ogbia and Yenagoa) in Bayelsa State.”

Chukwu said as part of efforts to ensure malaria commodity security, over 29,876,905 doses of ACTs and over 15,380,163 units of RDTs have been procured for staggered delivery to states. He said capacity has been built in 36 states including FCT on Malaria Commodity Logistic System so as to improve on the quality of consumption data that is available for decision-making. States specific quantification and gaps analysis has been carried out which provides the tool for advocacy and effective planning. The programme has also renovated six states stores.

The Minister said the NMCP is coordinating and supporting effective dissemination of behaviour change communication on malaria control. In addition to this, the Malaria Ambassadors are being positively engaged to facilitate increased support for programme implementation. To strengthen monitoring and evaluation, he said the programme has supported quarterly supervisory visits to states as well as deployed 19 National Monitoring and Evaluation officers to States to facilitate programme data collection and collation.

Chukwu said the Programme embarked on a Malaria Programme Review (MPR), which was meant to strengthen the national programme and ensure effective delivery. Phases one to three have been completed and we are in the process of using the findings to update our policies.

He said the process of developing another Malaria Strategic plan, 2014 to 2020, has begun and would be concluded by June, 2013. “I must add too that 11th Bi-Annual Review meeting of States’ Malaria Programme Managers was recently held in Ebonyi State. The forum was used to share best practises, build capacity and provide strategic focus for the national malaria programme,” the Minister added.

Malaria mortality rates are falling Amajoh said malaria is preventable and curable. “Increased malaria prevention and control measures are dramatically reducing the malaria burden in many places,” she said.

Chukwu said investments in malaria control have created unprecedented momentum and yielded remarkable returns in the past years. In Africa, malaria deaths have been cut by one third within the last decade; continuous investment in malaria will ensure continuous decline in the incidence of malaria.

According to the WHO, increased malaria prevention and control measures are dramatically reducing the malaria burden in many places. Malaria mortality rates have fallen by more than 25 per cent globally since 2000 and by 33 per cent in the WHO African Region.

Early diagnosis and treatment of malaria reduces disease and prevents deaths. It also contributes to reducing malaria transmission.

Access to diagnostic testing and treatment should be seen not only as a component of malaria control but as a fundamental right of all populations at risk.

It has been established that sleeping under long-lasting insecticidal nets protects against malaria. These nets provide personal protection against mosquito bites. They can be used as protection for people most at risk of malaria, such as young children and pregnant women in high malaria transmission areas.

The nets are effective for three to five years, depending on the model and conditions of use.

According to the World malaria report 2011, 96 per cent of people with access to a net use it.

Indoor residual spraying has also been shown to be the most effective way to rapidly reduce malaria transmission. The full potential of indoor residual spraying is obtained when at least 80 per cent of houses in targeted areas are sprayed. Indoor spraying with insecticides kills the mosquito vector and is effective for three to six months, depending on the insecticide used and the type of surface on which it is sprayed. Longer-lasting forms of insecticides are under development.

Challenges and gaps In Nigeria, two main problems have been identified: the huge population and vast geo-

Chukwu… investments in malaria control have created unprecedented momentum and yielded remarkable returns in the past years

Chan… there are an estimated 100 million malaria cases with over 300,000 deaths per year in Nigeria

Despite the National policy of ACT as the first-line treatment of uncomplicated malaria, MIS 2010 indicated that over 70 per cent of children treated for malaria in Nigeria received chloroquine or sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine (SP).

Parasite resistance to artemisinins was confirmed on the Cambodia-Thailand border in 2008 and is now suspected in parts of Myanmar and Viet Nam. It is also feared that the malaria drug resistance has reported in the country. graphical area of the country and the gap in funding. These have meant that some targets could not be met on time with operational costs causing particular problems for many initiatives.

An estimated 65 per cent of Nigeria’s population lives in poverty and poverty is a major factor in malaria prevention and treatment.

Vector control is highly dependent on a single class of insecticides, the pyrethroids.

Resistance to pyrethroids has been reported in 27 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

In recent years, mosquito resistance to pyrethroids has emerged in many countries.

In some areas, resistance to all four classes of insecticides used for public health has been detected. Fortunately, this resistance has only rarely been associated with decreased efficacy, and LLINs and IRS remain highly effective tools in almost all settings.

Despite the National policy of ACT as the first-line treatment of uncomplicated malaria, MIS 2010 indicated that over 70 per cent of children treated for malaria in Nigeria received chloroquine or sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine (SP).

Parasite resistance to artemisinins was con-

firmed on the Cambodia-Thailand border in 2008 and is now suspected in parts of Myanmar and Viet Nam. It is also feared that the malaria drug resistance has reported in the country.

The current gap in malaria control in Africa from 2013 to 2015 amounts to $3.6 billion (N594 billion). About $2.4 billion (N396 billion) is urgently needed to maintain coverage in eight priority African countries currently facing severe shortages. Malaria accounts for US$12 billion (N1.98 trillion) per year in direct losses and 1.3 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth loss per year for Africa.

Hope dims for malaria vaccine Optimism over the new malaria vaccine being tested in Africa could be set to fall after results published in last month suggested its effect could reduce over time and that it disappears fastest in children who are most exposed to malarial mosquito bites.

Scientists point out that they will need to see the full results, from large-scale trials of thousands of children, before they really know how useful the vaccine – developed by GlaxoSmithKline and known only as RTS,S- will be.

In the FMoH’s effort to scale up and gain more grounds in its malaria control effort, the focus for 2013 will include sentinel surveillance and Drug Therapeutic Efficacy Test, support for routine distribution of LLINs and uninterrupted supply of anti-malarial commodities, scale up awareness creation and advocacy, scale up of in door residual spraying, larval source management, and the strengthening of coordination, and monitoring and evaluation.

But the tests follow a string of disappointing results, which have clearly shown how difficult it is to make a vaccine to protect against the disease, which kills more than 650,000 children, most of them very young, a year.

Last year a large-scale phase III trial showed that the vaccine saved only a third of babies aged six to 12 weeks old from falling ill. This is the age group that the vaccine is intended for, but the protection was lower than that which appeared in older children.

The latest findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, come from a smaller phase II trial that began in 2009 and was designed to assess safety and efficacy ahead of the large-scale phase III trials. It involved 447 children in Kilifi, Kenya, 320 of who were followed up for four years.

The study found that the vaccine’s effect wore off over time. It fell from 43.6 per cent protection in the first year that children were vaccinated, to zero by the fourth. However, the authors say the vaccine did prevent many cases of malaria over those years.

The vaccine’s efficacy also declined faster in children who were more exposed to malaria than in those who had below-average exposure. The results will help scientists work to improve the vaccine and possibly design better ones.

A WHO recommendation for use will depend on the final results from the large clinical trial. These final results are expected in late 2014, and a recommendation as to whether or not this vaccine should be added to existing malaria control tools is expected in 2015.

NMA’s proposal on how to defeat malaria The NMA called for increased commitment to the malaria campaign from government at all levels, external partners, and Nigerians.

“Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa and the acclaimed ‘Giant of Africa’ must now show the way in the fight to eradicate malaria from the African continent,” Enabulele said.

Enabulele urged more strategic and robust planning, effective partnership and coordination with investment of more resources into the campaign to eradicate malaria.

He called for greater commitment to research efforts for development of malaria vaccine and expressed the NMA’s belief that long-term success in the global campaign to defeat malaria will be greatly enhanced with improved investments in on-going research for development of an effective vaccine as well as research into ways of combating emerging threats such as parasite resistance.

Enabulele said that despite the current economic climate, there is need for increased development aid to national malaria control programmes to ensure widespread population access to life-saving and cost-effective interventions. “Sustaining malaria control efforts is an investment in development,” he said.

The NMA advocates increased distribution of ITNs, intensification and expansion of the coverage of IRS, sustained training of health workers and increased health enlightenment of Nigerians.

He said there is need to maintain sufficient financial and human resources in order to sustain the gains in the fight against malaria.

“Without this commitment, the disease will quickly return,” the NMA President said.

Enabulele said with continued commitment from states, the federal government, and external partners, the NMA is convinced that a national scale-up of malaria control interventions to protect Nigerians and citizens of the world from malaria is achievable.

“We therefore call on governments at all levels and indeed all Nigerians to partner with the Nigerian Medical Association to ‘invest in the future of Nigeria’ by defeating malaria,” he said.

Going forward Chukwu said in the FMoH’s effort to scale up and gain more grounds in its malaria control effort, the focus for 2013 will include sentinel surveillance and Drug Therapeutic Efficacy Test, support for routine distribution of LLINs and uninterrupted supply of anti-malarial commodities, scale up awareness creation and advocacy, scale up of in door residual spraying, larval source management, and the strengthening of coordination, and monitoring and evaluation.

He said 12 states have become sub-recipients of the Global Funds. They include Yobe, Cross River, Bornu, FCT, Plateau, Kaduna, Kwara, Lagos, Ogun, Enugu, Nasarawa and Imo States.

“This will strengthen the States’ capacity and improve programme implementation at the sub-national levels,” he said.

22

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

23

ExecutiveBrief In association with TRIPPLEA ASSOCIATES LIMITED

EDITION 265

EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT INFOTECH4DEXECUTIVES CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE EXECUTIVE FINANCE he Interior Designers Association of Nigeria is the body T that addresses the major problems that exist in the interior design industry in Nigeria. Since its establishment, it has gone ahead to set standards that were hitherto absent.

Titi Ogunfere, an amiable lady and an accomplished Executive is the present Secretary General of the association and in this interview, she speaks about the association that is leading the change in the industry, their upcoming seminar among other issues.

Background: Mrs. Titi Ogufere is an interior designer and a Publisher. I run Essential Interiors design consultancy and Essential Interiors Magazine, the only interior design/architecture magazine in Nigeria. Every issue of the magazine delivers inspiring content, rich articles and high quality photography depicting the most interesting and innovative showroom and interior spaces in Nigeria. It is a sourcebook of ideas and solutions for interior design, architecture, custom building, kitchen & bath design, landscape design, fine furniture, art & home technology. The company’s other activities include Book publishing, IDEA (Interior Design Excellence Award), an annual competition & award ceremony and luxury interior design expo, an annual expo for inte-

MRS. TITI OGUFERE

IDAN: Promoting Health and Safety in Interior design and Architecture riors showcasing top luxury sources for kitchen and bath design, remodeling and home building, landscape and interior design, art & furnishing.

I am at present the Secretary General of the Interior Designers Association of Nigeria (IDAN) and also on the Executive Board of the International Federation of Interior Architects and designers (IFI) based in New York.

How long has the association been in existence and what has been the impact of the association on interior design in Nigeria?

The Association has been in existence since 1997 with the then president of International Federation of Interior architects and designers officially launching the association at the Civic Centre. We registered IDAN with an International organization (IFI) which gives us support and has helped us forge What is Interior Designers Association of Nigeria (IDAN) all strategic partnerships with the interior design community about? globally. Presently interior design is not considered or offered The Interior Designers Association of Nigeria is the body as a discipline in any tertiary institution in Nigeria. We are that addresses the major problems that exist in the interi- working with the University of Lagos to set up an interior or design industry in Nigeria. Since its establishment, it design department, which would be the first in Nigeria. has gone ahead to set World interior Day is an annual worldwide event initiated by standards that were the International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers hitherto absent. IDAN (IFI) to bring interior Architecture/Design to the attention of whose current the public, to enhance knowledge and understanding about President is Anslem the profession, and to encourage cooperation between profesTabansi is poised to set sionals with a focus on the range of work of interior designers and maintain stanand their contributions to society. This year we are celebratdards by impacting on ing this event with a home and design exhibition at the the public through Federal Palace Hotel, from the 30th of May through the 1st of interior design. Other June 2013. board members are Ekua Abudu, Debola What does IDAN set out to accomplish?

Omooba, Muni IDAN was established to address the major problems that Shonibare, Moni exist in the interior design industry in Nigeria principally the Fagbemi, Sarah Daniels absence of any voluntary association to stimulate and proand Ken Ubah. We are mote professionalism in the practice, secondly, legal regime made up of a team of statute or regulation governing the interior design industry vibrant and optimistic and lastly, institution offering comprehensive professional professionals and training in interior design. The association has reorganized workmen willing to the industry. A few years ago there were no standard, no one apply the technical regulating the industry, no schools for interior design but knowledge that brings today we have come together as a body of professionals setcreative results in inte- ting standards in our industry. One of the mission statements rior designs. of the association is to promote excellence in interior design through education, training and continuing professional What led to the estab- development of practitioners. One of such is the upcoming lishment of the organi- seminar. sation?

The idea came to me What is the seminar all about and what does it intend to while I was studying achieve? interior design in the IDAN is hosting a Seminar on Health and Safety in republic of Ireland; I Architecture and Interior design. Interior Designers impact had worked in Design the health and safety of the public at large by the decisions Options in the 90’s and they make every day. When incorrect design decisions are then decided to go made, and when improper materials are installed, people can back to school to study be exposed to unnecessary risks. Lagos State has recently interior design. I was a implemented Health and Safety laws in Architecture and student member of Interior design and we are bringing together practitioners in BIDA now known as our industry to participate in this seminar. The Director BIID and after studying General of the Lagos State Safety Commission Mrs. Odebunmi and back home, I felt Dominga will be the main speaker and she will share from her the need to set up a wealth of knowledge and experience on health and safety. The similar association. seminar would hold at the Wheat Baker, 4, Onitolo Road off The first step in setting Alexander Avenue, Ikoyi, Lagos on the 14th of May, 2013. The up was to get an execu- seminar is targeted at interior designers and architects. tive board, which comprised of the key play- What are your projections for the association? ers in the industry.

In a few years, we hope to register all practitioners in the inteThen we registered the rior design industry in Nigeria. We hope to set up a worldassociation with the class training institute to bridge the educational gap in the International interior design industry. The institute will offer a broad range Federation of Interior of interior related training services to enable Nigerians recogArchitects and design- nize, create and take advantage of the educational and ecoers IFI, which is the UN nomic opportunities in the interior design industry. We also of the interior design hope to set up standards with the International Standard industry. Muni Organization (ISO) in the production and furniture in Nigeria.

Shonibare of I O Furniture was the first Tell us about essential interiors?

Essential Interiors was established over 8 years ago, offering a president while I served as the Secretary complete interior design, supply, project co-ordination and installation service. Customer satisfaction is our watchword General a position I still hold till date. My and over the years, we have built up an impressive clientele involvement was from base, both local and international. We focus on modern homes, whether they were built at the end of the last century the very beginning. or yesterday. We also meet design and architecture’s global After my return to stars and stay up-to-date with local talent on the Nigerian Nigeria, I met with Market. Our hard earned reputation is due largely to our well Ekua Abudu who has been a strong support trained professional staff and management whose varied experience of the Nigerian market coupled with a fine blend with her administraof innovative ideas and knowledge of the latest trends in the tive experience and knowledge with associ- industry make Essential Interiors one of the leading Interior ations; we then came Design consultancy firms in Nigeria. We recently started up with the selection Essential Interiors Magazine to promote Interior Design decoof the executive board ration and Garden Design in Nigeria. as we have today.

For Advertisement and Enquiries 08025070837 08156388800, E-mail:editor.executivebrief@trippleagroup.com

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3 , 2013

24 | EXECUTIVEBRIEF

Executive Management Business DNA: Why Your Company’s Success Desperately Depends On It!

By Tito Philips, Jnr. o you know why some businesses achieve more than their counterparts? Do you know why no two businesses are ever the same? Do you know why certain businesses behave in a certain way that sets them apart from others? The secret is found in their DNA. In biology, the DNA which stands for DeoxyriboNucleic Acid contains the genetic instructions for every living organism. The DNA determines what kind of life the organism being formed is to live. In essence, the DNA contains the programming language [source code] for the organism.

Suppose organisms were some hardware, the DNA would be the software.

Meaning, it is what basically determines how the hardware functions. Without a DNA, organisms are bound to malfunction.

D

What is the DNA of your Business?

Your business is also an organism and needs a DNA to efficiently and effectively function. The DNA of a business determines what kind of a company it will be, the basis

of its operations and its outcomes. It gives the broad picture of what the business will look like, what will guide its actions and what type of goals it will seek to achieve. They represent the soul of the business, what enables the company to function as a unique living entity.

The 5 Essential Components For Creating The DNA Of A Business 1. Purpose: “Why do we exist as a business?” “What need or needs are being met by this business?” The purpose of a business is the creation of customers through the provision of innovative products/services that best meets their needs and solves their problems. Every business exists for the sake of the customer. It is your responsibility as an entrepreneur to clarify what your business exists to create for the custoFor example, all automobile companies manufacture cars with a general purpose of conveying people and things from one location to another. For example, Volvo’s purpose as an automobile company is to manufac-

ture automobiles that will guarantee the safety of the lives and property on board.

BMW states that it’s in business to manufacture ‘the ultimate driving machine’. They chose the creation of fast automobiles as their purpose.

Volkswagen declares ‘small is beautiful’ as their unique selling proposition [USP] expressing their business purpose of creating cute and beautiful looking automobiles, etc.

This is important because customers don’t all want the same kind of solution even though they may have similar needs or problems. Variety they say is the spice of life; that is what innovation means. Give your customers a reason beyond the obvious to come to you!

2. Vision: “What do we want to achieve using this business as a tool?”

“How far do we want to go in pursuit of our purpose as a business?” The vision refers to the extent at which the business hopes to fulfill its purpose. It’s usually a definite picture of a preferable future. An image of what the company would be like when it must

behave as a business in order to fulfill our purpose, achieve our vision and execute our mission?” Values refer to the highest standards of behaviour and thinking expected of every member of a business.

Values are the root system that holds and nourishes the business as it grows and interacts with its environment.

3. Mission: 5. Brand: “How do we intend to succeed “Who are we as a business to in this business?” “How and the general public?” “What is what must we primarily focus our promise to those we on as a business to be the No.1 intend to serve?” “How do we choice of our target cuswant to be perceived by our tomers?” The mission is the pri- target customers?” “What do mary task of the business.

Mission is the translation of the purpose and vision into specific operational strategies. It focuses on how the business can best fulfill its purpose and achieves its vision within the estimated timeline. Mission breaks down the long term vision and purpose into smaller actionable steps that can be implemented daily in the business. Mission is how the business as a tool functions. have fully fulfilled its reason for existing [purpose]. In other words, vision is the end result of fulfilling purpose. It’s measurable either quantitatively [size, position, number etc.] or qualitatively [brand loyalty, innovation, overall impact or contribution made, magnitude of problem solved etc.]

we want to be remembered, recognized or respected for in the marketplace?”

Brand is the perceived image of the business by the outside world. It refers to the psychological association the public have towards your business. Brand is what the public holds you accountable for, it’s what they expect of your business as a tool that meets a particular need.The goal of every entrepreneur should be the creation of a living entity [business] capable of producing specific results.

4. Values: “What principles, standards and tenets must we hold to be true and never compromise as a business?” “How must we collectively think and

Customer Experience Feedback: The Good,

By Alan Fairweather ow do you feel about feedback? Do you receive it from your manager; do you give feedback to your colleagues or friends? We all feel different about feedback, because we are all different.

Some people love it, others are okay with it, and others just hate it. I’m sure that you have colleagues or people on your team who always want to know “how they’re doing”.

They come and speak to you and show what they’re doing.

‘Is this okay, am I doing this right?’ They’re constantly looking for reassurance that they’re doing the right thing. Then you’ll have others who never come and speak to you at all, and get most uncomfortable whether you’re giving them the good news or the bad.

Feedback is one of the Top 3 factors that motivate people at work. The majority of employees want to know when they’re doing well and when they could be doing better.

H

infotech4dExecutives the Bad,iourthe Delivery By Daryl Des Marais receive feedback from their you’re not happy with. As Time and Technology, ore and more informaboss and subconsciously feel, you spend time with people, Mtion is available online. Maximize Your ‘Why should I give feedback to you’re going to hear and see my guys when I don’t get it?’ things that may not ensure your As the internet advances and software changes we learn Whether you receive feedback outcomes.

Productivity compatible with your system more about different ways to or not; whether you feel uncom- Ask yourself, ‘Is this something be productive, and get inforfortable giving it or not - you that is going to stop me from

still need to do it for your people. Just be aware that they’re all different individuals and they might react in different ways.

Almost everyone wants feedback - how much, is just a matter of degree. There are two types of feedback and a way of doing it.

The Good - This is what we call, Confirming Feedback; telling a team member that you support whatever you’ve seen them do or heard them say; it’s a compliment or a thank you. It’s about ‘catching people doing something right.’ Successful managers realise that almost everyone reacts positively to Confirming feedback. They feel better about themselves and they feel motivated to repeat the behavior. There is a saying There are managers who are that says, ‘You get more of what you reward.’ If you tell someone happy to receive feedback from their boss and resultantly that you like the way they have completed some aspect of their are comfortable giving it to work, then you’ll find that they others, because they believe continue to do that work in the everyone feels the same way they do. And of course, if you same way or probably even betlook at it the other way round; ter. Confirming feedback is managers, who are less com- worth a fortune to you in terms of motivating your team and fortable receiving feedback, tend to believe that their team achieving your goals and targets. feel the same way, and just don’t do it. The other danger is The Bad - This is what we call, that, many managers don’t Productive Feedback on behav-

achieving my outcomes of a happy, motivated and engaged team who achieve their targets?’

If the answer is ‘no’ then you’re going to have to do something about it. There are various things you can do: You can ignore the behavior you’re not happy about You can reprimand the person You can coach them.

Coaching is not a soft option; it’s about finding out the cause of poor performance or behavior and discussing with the other person about how to put it right. You tell the other person what you’re not happy with, listen to what they have to say and agree a way forward.

The Delivery - Whether you want to reinforce behavior Confirming Feedback, or change unacceptable behavior Productive Feedback, there are certain steps you need to follow to make it work. You need to do it as soon as possible and in private. Tell them how you feel about their behavior not how the organisation or anyone else feels. It’s important to focus on one thing at a time and don’t confuse the other person with a whole list of behaviors.

mation that will be helpful to us to improve our personal or business productivity. What is productive to you is determined on a more individual level based on your priorities.

There are things that will help you be more productive online and still enjoy a balanced approach to your time offline as well as online. We must begin to think if the time we spent online is really valuable to your future? If it is, then how do you know?

How do you track it? Below are 5 tips for helping improve your productivity online.

information valid? When is it time to stop researching information and start using the information. You could get stuck for hours researching information and then how do you know the information is valid and what if it is conflicting. Three points to notice when researching is the sources author, year and the relevant city source. The information may not even be relevant to you if it is not in your area. Most importantly, check out the source. Are the credible? Do they work for a major employer? Do they have a track record?

Do they have referrals, testimo1. Actual Time Online, Hourly, nials?

Weekly, Monthly, Yearly: You can easily set up a track- 3. Best use of Software provided ing system you use for moni- Given Cost and Access: toring your time online sim- Sometimes people purchase ply by checking your clock, software with the intention of using a timer or creating a achieving a desired result for schedule of times on a spread- their productivity or business. sheet that you use your time Although when they purchase online and maybe even a sub- the software sometimes it is not ject, topic or goal you can what they expected or it takes write down that is allocated too long to learn, or it does not to that time. work for your business. How can you prevent this? When you 2. Average Time Taken for are researching potential softRelevant Specific Information ware to solve your productivity Needed: or business problem check out Is the amount of time you are operating systems, ensure it is using for finding relevant

and your business. Try to get a test trial. Try to find referrals from people in similar businesses like you. Get a second or third opinion especially if there are 2-4 different potential software products you could use.

Find out what works best for you, create a ranking sheet with the items you need the software to have and the items that are nice to have. Make sure you get all the items you need to assist your business or productivity issue.

4. Best Type or Preferred Websites to Source information: This point we will keep short.

There are so many sites out there, over time you may find that certain sites have certain relevant, consistent information that you are looking for, mark these sites as favorites and every once in awhile do a search to see if there are any new sites that do this better than your current favorites.

5. Using other people or services to research information on your behalf: This can be so helpful. If you run a small business there are no online virtual assistants that can help you with a variety of tasks. If you are using a certain hosting service or software provider sometimes they provide effective service support, use it, it will save you time and frustration. Thirdly, sometimes paying a small fee for information is valuable, it will save you hours of research and give you time to enjoy the thing you like to do, things that are valuable to you.

Action is the foundational key to all success. Pablo Picasso

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

26 ARTS

Literature

By Prince Osita Ike ELCOME. Come share my life, my story”, appears to be “W what the smiling, elegant, traditionally attired Dame Virgy Etiaba is saying to you. That indeed is the impression you get as you take the beautifully finished book off the shelf, My Life My Story: An Autobiography of Nigeria’s First Female Governor (Gallery Publications, London; 2012). The clean, clear photograph of the lady is set on a black background, with both name and title embossed in gold.

I looked for this book, in my quest for answers to nagging questions about Etiaba’s brief tenure as Governor of Anambra State. There had been rumours that humongous sums of money, in the billions, had been spirited away in a matter of weeks! It must be quickly noted here that Anambra has probably the most vibrant, productive rumour mills in the world, so I had to be cautious. If however, in just 100 days of her ‘reign’ as empress, Etiaba flagged off several road projects and invested heavily in the state’s Orient Petroleum company, where were the billions left to be spirited away? How many ‘billions’ did Anambra State have, in the first instance? We would get answers from the book after all!

I wanted a clear picture of the process that led to the emergence of Peter Obi as governor, especially in the light of the common belief that uncle Peter did all the electioneering work and that Mama Anambra was just the token face of the female race! I also sought insight into WHO vivacious Dame Etiaba really is, especially in the light of her lawyer son, Emeka’s attempt to succeed the administration his mother served in, as Executive Governor. Did Mr. Peter Obi actually vow not to contest for a second term? Was this Emeka’s raison d’être? Did Dim Ikemba Odumegwu Ojukwu endorse Emeka Etiaba for Governor? Why did Ojukwu later capitulate and swing in favour of incumbent Governor Peter Obi? Was the fact that Emeka Ojukwu Jnr worked in Government House, a factor here? Or did Mr. Obi present a better ‘package’, when he decided he wanted a second term, after all?

Etiaba is the only person I know of any where in the world, who has served as Deputy Governor, Governor and then Deputy Governor again, in the same administration. Since Mr. Peter Obi is yet to give an account of those interesting times, this book would thus provide an invaluable firsthand account, whatever biases there might be, if any. And, wait a minute, did Dame Etiaba really leave APGA to join PDP? How could she have survived such apparent political hara-kiri?

Few people would have placed a bet on the duo of APGA’s Philosopher/Trader Peter Obi and ‘School Ma’am’ Virgy Etiaba, winning the gubernatorial election in Anambra State, the home and strong hold of the People’s Democratic Party. Not a few were shocked when they eventually won, fair and square.

Etiaba has given an interesting, illuminating account of that process. She also examines the developments that followed, barely seven months into their tenure, as Governor Peter Obi received his political baptism of fire in an impeachment that was later reversed. For the first time, I read the peculiar Impeachment Notice served on ‘Mr. Peter Obi and Dame Virgy

Etiaba… Insight into the life of Nigeria’s First Female Governor

Etiaba’. A process that created TWO Speakers in the same House of Assembly. Of significance is the fact that the Impeachment Train took off in full steam after the visit to Anambra State by the amiable, foxy Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR! A newspaper review is too short to highlight the myriad issues, events and experiences captured in this largely historical 320-page narrative dedicated to Dame’s beloved late husband, Bennet ‘BMC’ Etiaba, Esq. It examines some aspects of education, lauding strides in girl child education, which Dame notes she benefitted from. Community health, social welfare, nationhood, nationalism, ideology, politics, religion

and religion-in-politics are also dwelt upon in different contexts. Dame signed Anambra State’s Child Rights bill into law as Governor and flagged off Suba kwa Igbo, an attempt to stop Igbo language and culture from sliding irreversibly into extinction! It was thus not surprising that the altruistic Dame set up the philanthropic Dame Virgy Etiaba Foundation that has catered to widows, orphans, the physically challenged, prisoners and the less privileged.

The book’s 35 chapters, divided into five parts, run through her childhood, education, her spiritual journey and family life.

It records the battle with cancer, challenges of widowhood, on to Nigeria’s variegated history, the economy and expectedly, politics and religion, from the vantage position of a major player. A generous dose of photographs and the selected speeches of some Nigerian heroes make this book an invaluable reference work. Sadly, some of our present national leaders do not appear to learn from history or want to avoid making the mistakes others made, so I shall not bother to recommend the book to them.

For instance, not many Nigerians have actually read the speech Major Nzeogwu made, so they cannot understand the patriotic zeal and passion he embodied. His speech and other speeches made by Gen Odumegwu Ojukwu and Gen Effiong at critical moments in our nation’s history, need to be re-examined if we hope to get through our present bomb-blasted tragic circumstances. If only we had heeded the advice of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nigeria’s first President, who in a statement issued in London in January 1966, noted among several pertinent facts, that ‘Violence has never been an instrument used by us, as founding Fathers of the Nigerian Republic, to solve political problems’.

Ironically, Nzeogwu dreamt of facilitating the emergence of an equitable nation, a utopia of sorts. He had then solemnly declared that ‘We are not promising anything miraculous or spectacular. But what we do promise every law-abiding citizen is freedom from fear and all forms of oppression… We promise that you will no more be ashamed to say you are Nigerians’.

Today, can we say we are no more ashamed to be called Nigerians? Are we free of fear and oppression? How did Awolowo’s ‘One Pound’ compensation at the end of the war really work out for the Biafrans, in spite of Gen Yakubu Gowon’s pledge that there were ‘No victors, no vanquished’?

Are Ndi Igbo marginalized and treated as vanquished people, more than 40 years after the Gowon Declaration? Etiaba offers interesting insight.

The Steel Bankeress... Introspective search into ruthlessness in Nigerian banking

By Tunde Akingbade HE new book by M.M Fahm entitled The Steel T Bankeress (Grace Springs Africa Publishers, Lagos; 2013) is a great insight into what goes on in Nigerian banking sector. There is no ambiguity right from the beginning of the book.

Even though the book is a work of fiction, in the prologue the reader is led to realise that the author is out to expose the undercurrents, the mess and recklessness which characterised the Nigerian banking sector in those years before Dr. Charles Soludo became Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria.

As a teaser into her world of fiction, the author in the prologue vividly recalls how a particular bank had its four branches on just one side of a street within one kilometre on the Island. Very incredible method of recruitment was carried out by this bank where educational qualification did not matter but “extreme boldness and cut-throat business ethics” where the “female gender had the anxious edge over their contemporaries.

“Their glamorous and scandalous flamboyance could compare favorably with that of the Nigerian Nollywood filmmaking industry”, records Fahnn in the prologue. The book’s prologue gives a summary of the state of Nigerian banks at the turn of the 21st century. The real deal in this book of 600 pages is however in the power of narration and characterisation; the author strides through the banking sector highlighting the aggression, ambition, desperation, sophistication and diabolic attitudes which members of the public and most importantly, their customers could see.

The Steel Bankeress is a book about a woman of steel, a ruthless banker who has no feelings for her colleagues. It’s a well-written book about the pains and travails of bankers and the politics that are rooted in the banking hall.

The story centres around five main characters-the ruthless Pamela who is the Branch Manager of a bank; Rachael, her deputy; Enitan, another colleague; the pretty Adeola,

who is a junior officer and Dr. Mayowa who runs a clinic in the city.

Pamela is desperate to become the Business Development Manager, which is a post higher than the Branch Manager. She is determined to uproot any colleague on her way to climb to the post. She threatens and harangues colleagues and subordinates in order to fulfill her ambition. She sees faults in everything Rachael her deputy does and bullies her. Enitan, their other colleague is not spared. The Steel Bankeress exposes all kinds of petty jealousy, rivalry and marginalization being carried out in the banking sector and how some female bankers can be mean.

Dr. Mayowa comes into focus when she brings her bogus medical business proposal and tries to open an account in the bank. The role she plays in the unfolding drama brings chaos and disaster into the lives of the other characters.

The story is full of dramatic irony and suspense, which will grip the reader from the beginning to the end. The author writes in simple and understandable language and her descriptive power is good. The activities and the roles of the men in the life of the female bankers are not left out. These men slug it out in rivalry and the consequence is disastrous.

Being a former banker herself, the author, Fahm has brought her deep knowledge and insight into play in highlighting a sector where she operated for years before moving on into another sector. This is a book that shows the reader that behind the glamour of the banking sector, there is cut-throat politics, rivalry, vindictiveness and unscrupulous drive to get to the top at all cost.

However, the title is a bit awkward; banker is

a banker whether man or woman and so genderless. Fahm should just have titled her novel The Steel Banker and left the readers to find out for themselves the banker’s gender, although the illustration of feminine figures on the cover gives this away.

POETRY

Love of ages

By Habib Akewusola

The cathedral was full of praises Myself and you will form a rock As today is raining.

I will change your name my baby From sunshine to my morning glory, I will cry when you see pains maybe, Would still scream out your name baby “MORNING GLORY” Let’s join flesh during the night, Transform our bed to stage a lovely fight, Nine months will come only thrice, From two we would become five, Our love will remain iced, I had to speak my mind You the virgin of my eye, Our love doesn’t tick with time.

THE GUARDIAn, Friday, May 3, 2013

ARTS

Showblast One-on-one with TJ Sax n his first visit to The Guardian, Rutam House, Lagos, young saxophonist Tejiri O Emore, otherwise known as TJ Sax in the music industry, exuded so much confidence as he made his way into the Life Magazine section, clutching his saxophone. In fact, to prove that the sax was not just a prop, he entertained the house with a few tunes. But on his second visit, the Delta State native looked very relaxed. As a matter of fact, he had nothing to prove any longer.

If you closely observe nigeria’s entertainment industry, chances are that you would have seen TJ Sax on one of the big stages, thrilling the audience with his sax. Since 2008 when he made his first public appearance at a convocation ceremony where he played the national anthem, TJ Sax has taken his music career to a greater height. From playing in churches and charity homes, he moved to corporate gigs such as the Mutual Benefits annual thanksgiving event.

TJ has also been a guest on Moments with Mo and on Wale Adenuga’s Nnenna and friends, where he displayed his mastery of the saxophone. He was invited to Aso Villa in Abuja on May 27, 2011 to the First Lady’s Children’s Day party, where he played the national anthem and also made an appearance at Entertainment Express’ one year anniversary at the niteshift Coliseum, Ikeja, Lagos.

He was a guest artiste at the Inspiration FM’s Children’s Day Carnival as well as NTA 2 Channel 5’s Children’s Day event in 2012 and also featured at the Best of Nollywood Award at the TBS auditorium in november 2012. He was also at the greatest bookreading event pioneered by Fela Durotoye at TBS on 24 november 2012, which incidentally was his 11th birthday.

From all indica-

...The buzz in town

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Stories by Chuks Nwanne

‘With my sax, I will conquer the world’ tions, 2012 seems to be the turning point in TJ’s musical career; it was the year he stamped his authority in the country’s music industry, as he admitted, “2012 was nice; I enjoyed myself last year. I think I even got my favourite birthday gift”.

And what was that?

“I got the opportunity of celebrating my birthday in the hospital with children suffering from cancer; it was an opportunity to make them happy. For me that was the biggest birthday gift I ever got.”

Aside

What gave you the confidence?

“I believe in myself a lot; before I made the request, I was ready for it,” he said. On Tuface’s reaction, he said, “He was happy, surprised and impressed with my performance. We had a conversation after the show where I thanked him for allowing me play at the concert; I also introduced him to my mum”.

For his impressive performance at the gig, TJ Sax got a call from Idibia’s manager the following day.

“He asked me to join them for the Sahara Oil & Gas end of the year party; I think the show was about four days away when I got the call.”

Seeing it as an opportunity to showcase his music on a big platform with an A-list star, TJ grabbed the opportunity with both hand. For hours, he rehearsed privately, ready to impress.

“We also had rehearsals together before the event. It wasn’t really a long session, but I usually do my rehearsals at home.”

At the event, TJ Sax was the centre of attraction; all eyes were on the young saxophonist as he thrilled the audience with his sax, alongside Tuface, who provided vocals.

“I did African Queen alone, but he later joined me on stage; we also did True Love together. For me, the experience is more than enough to start up an engine, but I feel I can do better. This is just the beginning; the sky is just a starting point. There’s no limit to what I can do; my only limit is Jesus. I thank God I’ve been able to achieve a lot within a short period of time.”

To TJ, every artiste should be able to play, at least, one musical instrument.

“It makes people believe and feel your music.

As an artiste, it puts you in control of your music more than what any studio can offer.

Sometime, when you are working in a studio and you want a particular note that they can’t get, if you know how to plan an instrument, for instance a guitar, you personally can get the note yourself. On stage, it add to your brand as an artiste and give you upper hand.”

As for training, “I believe in training; any opportunity that comes my way, I would grab it. no matter who you are, there are lessons to learn, so, I’m going to learn from the best.”

Though staging a live show is not really on his radar right now, TJ Sax is nursing the dream of having a concert with big stars.

“If it eventually happens, I would like to have people like Kenny G and Yemi Sax on stage. If I have the opportunity, maybe I will get Mike Aremu on the bill,” he said confidently.

Born on nov 24, 2001, TJ has his eyes on the top.

I’m planning to be the best I could be; anything I can do that will please man and Jesus, I will do it.

Anything that makes my parents happy, I will do it.”

Meanwhile, TJ Sax just returned from holiday in the United States and the United Kingdom, where he spent time playing at private gigs. He also made a special appearance at Tuface and Annies wedding at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, i a b u D Dubai, UAE. dding in e w ir e uring th “It was an d e if w e and honour to be ith Tufac w x a S TJ invited by the Idibias to play at their wedding; it was fun. My dream is to entre the European music industry this year. If I could conquer nigeria, I will conquer Europe with my saxophone. So, Europe, here I come.”

from performing for children at the pediatric ward of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and feting them with food and drinks, TJ Sax also presented gift items to the children and also made donation including drugs and a laptop with full Internet connection to the ward.

“It was somehow sad because I wish I could give them a second chance to live, but I’m also happy that children are still surviving cancer and parents are trying their best to find a cure for their children.”

On why he opted to celebrate with the children as against throwing a big party for friends and well-wishers, the saxophonist informed that, “I was really touched by what my mum has taught me about them; she actually supported this project.

These children are suffering from diseases they don’t even know about. I wanted to make them happy, make them feel that life is worth living. I just decided to celebrate with them and I’m happy some of my friends joined me that day.”

For TJ, meeting Tuface Idibia remains one of his major highpoint last year, as he said, “I actually got an invite from his wife Annie; she invited me to come and play in her party. So, Tuface came to perform there as well. Along the line, I spoke to his manager on my intention to join Tuface on stage and he gave me approval; that was my first time of performing with him.”

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013 ITH his performance at Comedy Central gig at W the Parker’s Comedy & Jive, Johannesburg, South Africa, Nigeria’s comedy merchant, Bright

SHOWBLAST Basketmouth’s day at Comedy Central in South Africa

Basketmouth and The Gang S part of activities to give back to society, Lagos-based On Air Personality Uzo Margaret A Isinguzo, popularly known as Uzo Wazobia, recently initiated a charity project tagged Uzo Goes To School, a social responsibility project that aims at improving both the learning and working conditions of pupils and teachers in public schools.

The maiden edition of the initiative, which was held in December last year at the Oore Ofe Primary School, Ojo Bus Stop, off Liasu Road, IdimuIkotun Egbe, Alimosho LGA, Lagos, was a sort of homecoming for the broadcaster, who was once a pupil of that school.

“Charity begins at home,” she said. “Putting the show together was not an easy one because it involved a whole lot of money. I had earlier gone to the school to make enquiries about their needs; I was almost discouraged when I got the list. The question I asked myself was, ‘Where do I get the money to help meet all these needs?’ But thank God for my family, friends and passionate team members, who gave me the support.”

According to Uzo, the main focus of the project is to help create a better learning environment in government-owned schools, encourage parents to be more participatory in school activities and to help build better future leaders.

“We want to create a better society and help promote basic health care and proper hygiene within the school environment. This is my own way of giving back to society. However, I can’t do this alone. I need support in every way possible -

Soundbite

“

“Yes, I’m proudly black. However, when I was much younger, I never liked the fact that I was born into a black family.

At that time, I really loved to have long hair like white men. But later I came to a conclusion that I was born in a black country for a purpose. I’ve found out some of the reasons, but I’m still seeking for my purpose of being born in the black continent”. -Kamsee

“

Kamsee

Again, Uzo Goes To School morally, physically, spiritually and most of all, financially. Every support will be well appreciated.

The plan is to take the initiative around Lagos and other parts of the country.”

Meanwhile, plans have reached advanced stages for the second edition of the charity project. According to Uzo’s Publicist, Olujuwon BukunolaPhilips, Uzo Goes To School will be visiting New Road Nursery and Primary School, Ajegunle, Ajeromi Ifelodun LGA. Formally known as Central School 2, late Rev. Akan founded the school in the year 1954.

“Currently, the school is in a sorry state and has only nine teaching staff, seven non-teaching staff, six clerical officers, and a head mistress, Mrs. Ehirim. There are 229 pupils, seven classrooms and four offices. So, we are seeking to help better the situation in the school,” she said.

The event, which is powered by Strong Voice Media, is slated for Saturday, May 11, beginning from 10am and will feature comedy and dance.

At the event, Uzo will be making presentation of items such as marker boards and markers, furniture (tables and chairs for both teachers and pupils), toilet renovation (tiles, paint, toilet seats etc), water pump for the well, electrical fittings, first aid box, drugs, toiletries and others.

Expected to join Uzo at the presentation are notable artistes such as African China, Marvelous Benji, Alibaba, Blackky, Kcee, Harrysong and other On Air personalities from Wazobia FM, Cool FM and Nigeria Info FM. Uzo

Aity celebrates hubby in songs S part of activities to celebrate her husA band’s Golden Jubilee, singer Aity Dennis has resolved to dedicate her new album, Love

Okpocha, otherwise known as Basketmouth in showbiz, has taken his comedy career to a new level. The comedian, the first Nigerian to headline the series, won many new fans at the sell-out stand-up comedy gig that brought together fun lovers under one roof.

Transcending race and culture with his comic delivery, Basketmouth was in full control, as he rolled out all the comedy stops to showcase his inimitable brand of humour. Among the topics that had the audience reeling with laughter were his hilarious comments on Nigerian culture, what it was like to be a Nigerian in South Africa, the differences between a Nigerian couple fighting and a South African couple fighting, tips for guys on how to trick a girl into staying the night and tips for girls on how to avoid being tricked into staying the night.

According to Evert van der Veer, Head of Comedy Central, Africa, “Basketmouth received the warmest welcome and the longest standing ovation we’ve ever seen - a triumphant endorsement of an artist at the top of his comedy powers, and sure proof that Nigerian comedy and comedians can cross borders and get people laughing wherever they go”.

Supporting Basketmouth at the standup comedy showcase were Griff, Chris Mapane and Mel Jones California native, Arlen “Griff” Griffin fulfilled a lifetime ambition to become a comedian after starting out at three years’ old entertaining patients at the convalescent homes where his mother worked. After working the geriatric circuit for a couple of summers, Griffin’s destiny was settled and he has since made a name for himself as one of the leading comedians and on-air personalities in the U.S., where he regularly opens for acts such as Beyoncé, New Edition, Mo’Nique, D.L. Hughley, Fred Hammond, Donnie McClurkin, Dottie Peoples, Mary Mary and more.

Chris Mapane is a South African comedian, who has been on the scene for around seven years, thanks to his extremely infectious energy and powerful on-stage presence. Mapane’s star started shining back in the days when he mentored So You Think You Are Funny contestants, which led to being on the same stage with the likes of Terry Pheto and Lira, Brandy, Regina King and Vivica A Fox at the SA Sports Awards.

His skills earned him an Ikusasa Comedian of the Year nomination in 2012 as well as the opportunity to host the Olympics sendoff event for the South African Swimming Team and the Telkom Foundation Beacon of Hope event, to mention just a few. Featured in Destiny Man’s Power of 40, Mapane has recently tried his hand at acting, featuring in the David Kau directed film Taxi Ride, where he plays the lead.

A product of the Cape Comedy Collective’s Comedy Lab workshops, Mel Jones burst into the limelight with signature confidence and sexy style.

This single mother brings her singular perspective as a young woman looking in vain for Mr. Right, to the great amusement and enlightenment of all. Jones is a regular on SABC 3’s Comedy Showcase and the Phat Joe Show. Her shows, Doing It for the Money and Still Doing It with Tracy Klass have been big hits, along with her presence on 94.5 Kfm since 2003. In fact, it was her stage performance that led her to radio when - while being interviewed on the station - she was asked to join the team.

Launched in sub-Saharan Africa just under 18 months ago, Comedy Central has successfully lured South Africa’s top comics into hosting its regular monthly stand-up gig.

A touch of Uche Ogbuagu at Bongo Centre

For the singer, her marriage with the popular pastor is full of highpoints.

“When he celebrated 40 was a turning point;

By Chika Onwukwe Betas, to her heartthrob Pastor Dennis Inwhen we had our new baby was another great yang, Presiding Pastor of Sure word Assemmoment; whenever we travelled together and P-AND-COMING acts in Imo State now have a bly. minister together… it’s been 23 eventful years credible platform to showcase their talents as The six-track album will be unveiled at an of marriage,” she said.

Bongo Center comes alive after a long period of elaborate event being organised to mark InThe celebration will also coincide with the silence, as a result of poor management. Estabyang’s 50th birthday. launch of Pastor Inyang’s latest publication en- lished by the state to help promote creativity in “Love Beats is all about celebrating the love titled, Morning Doesn’t Tell The Day. the Eastern Heartland, the facility has become between me and my husband and also enthe centre of attraction in Owerri in recent times. couraging other couples to celebrate the love Speaking on the centre, the Special Assistant to that they share. Some people spend time Governor Rochas Okorocha on Entertainment quarrelling and they don’t remember to celeand Chief Comedian of the State, Uche Ogbuagu informed that the Governor has handed the cenbrate the gift of love. The past 23 years have ter over to him for effective management, with a been wonderfully romantic and Love Beats is mandate to turn the facility around within just my way of saying ‘thank you darling’ for weeks. being there for me.”

A popular comedian in the eastern part of the Aity spent the last 10 years, writing the country, Ogbuagu assured of his readiness to songs to a man that has loved her for 23 make Bongo Centre a place where people will exyears. perience maximum amusement.

“In my last three albums, I have dedicated a “Infact, it will be a place for us to groom fresh song to him. Now, I am bringing three of talents within the week and present them to the those tracks and adding three fresh tracks for public during the week-end for appraisal. It will the Love Beats album because my heart is be a weekly affair and that way talents are discovtruly beating with love as my darling marks ered and promoted. However, our ultimate goal his 50th birthday.” is to harness and project creative minds in the Songs in the album include If I had To Chose area of music, comedy and drama using Bongo Again, Just Like Yesterday, You’ve made Me better Center as a viable arena,’’ he said.

Than You Met Me. I know of many husbands, The centre was named after Bongo music, a who won’t allow their wives to sing and even special genre of music that emanates from the travel as much as I do. People keep telling me state, thus regarded as a symbol of Imo entertainhow lucky I am,” she said. ment.

U

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

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SHOWBLAST

The biggest club in Nigeria now in OwITH the formal opening of NV Lounge/Nite W Club, Owerri, the capital of Imo State, can now boast of having the biggest Nite Club in

Dayo Adeneye, Kenny Ogungbe, Myke Ikoku, Basketmouth and I Go Dye at the opening of NV Lounge in Owerri.

MoviBuzz

By Chika Onwukwe

President Jonathan’s love for Nollywood is real, but something is missing, says Zik Zulu Okafor PART from putting a smile on the faces of Nigerians and beyond, Nollywood has projected the image of Nigeria positively on the world stage. This indeed has made Nigerian films and filmmakers products of discuss, research and documentation.

Obviously, this is a great feat and those that made it happen are worthy of commendation. But what baffles many people is constant bickering among the practitioners. Virtually all the Guilds and Associations in the motion picture industry are always in crises. If it’s not leadership tussle, then something is on the ground to be shared.

Two years ago when president Goodluck Jonathan made pronouncement of $200 million loan to Nollywood, heads were about to roll if not that the process to access the loan was cumbersome, thereby making some practitioners develop cold feet. No thanks to NEXIM BANK, who are the managers of the fund.

The recent announcement of N3 billion grant to Nollywood by Jonathan has thrown the industry into another round of hullabaloo.

According to the president, the fund which he released in appreciation of what the industry has done in the last 20 years, will be managed by the Finance Ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. He stressed that those that started what is known today as Nollywood achieved it without government’s contribution. Hence, this is the time for government to play her role by appreciating these creative minds.

Regrettably, this gesture has ignited dispute in the industry with members lamenting on the method which committees are been constituted. In a chat with the president Association of Movie Producers (AMP) Nigeria, Zik Zulu Okafor, the former journalist made an incisive remark on his leadership virtues and president Jonathan’s largesse to Nollywood.

A

How has it been managing the affairs of AMP? It’s been interesting, it’s been exciting, but it has also been quite intriguing because we are still facing some challenges in the Asso-

ciation, but we are trying to make it work.

The recent N3 billion grant to Nollywood by Jonathan is generating heat in some quarters, what is your take on that?

On announcing the grant, the president said a committee would be set up that will work in tandem with The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Minister of Culture and Tourism High Chief Edem Duke. Now, if we had a council, the ministers’ will only invite representatives from the council and speak with them on behalf of Nollywood. But in the absence of a council, we have Guilds and their elected heads and we expected that when gov-

ernment was setting up this committee, government would have invited some of the Guild heads to represent the industry; but they didn’t do that. They never consulted Nollywood when they set up the committee. It was when they were setting up sub-committee that they picked a few people from Nollywood.

I feel that government is doing her thing in her own way, but some members didn’t see it that way. They see it as a slight on the industry because their leaders were not carried along.

That is where the problem is and that is why you hear the voices. So, a group that call themselves Nollywood Monitor protested and demanded that their leaders be included in the sub-committee. One of the practitioners they appointed was Amaka Igwe, there are two other sub-committees on content and capacity building, and they didn’t consult Nollywood. But Amaka Igwe is a practitioner and she felt in her own goodness that she need to consult her industry to get them contribute something to this discussion, hence she is chairing distribution. So, she invited some members of Nollywood for discussion on this distribution. I was there, it was a very good set up and the discussion was great but unfortunately, she invited people based on their individual capacity. It never occurred to her to call some of the Guild heads and other stakeholders. And certain people came without invitation; they were prevented from entering the place because it was strictly on invitation. So, they felt embarrassed, later called press conference and began to make some demands.

Do you think president Jonathan truly loves Nollywood?

I’m totally convinced that the president’s love for the film industry is genuine, this he had expressed in many ways. But he should implore sound and inclusive process to administer any programme he has for the industry.

Zik Zulu

In your view, do members cherish the president’s nobility?

They sincerely appreciate Jonathan’s effort and concern. Their demand is that industry heads should be included in whatever decision government is taking for the practitioners because they understand the challenges

Nigeria. Located in the heart of the town, not far from the popular Imo Concord Hotel, the multimillion-naira edifice built by Myke Ikoku, the CEO of All Seasons Hotel, was a huge surprise to showbiz stars that witness the opening ceremony.

Declaring the facility open, the CEO of KENNIS Music, Knny Ogungbe showered encomiums on Okoku for taking the decision to locate the club in Owerri.

“This is the biggest club in Nigeria in terms of size and quality. Most importantly, I want to thank the CEO for his wife decision to build the structure in his home state. No doubt, this facility will help grow the entertainment industry in Owerri and I hope guests will make good use of it.”

A state of the art facility, NV Lounge is located right inside the All Seasons Hotel, Owerri. It boasts of a spacious dance floor and a classy VIP section with quality furniture. While the general bar on the ground floor is open for all guests, the exclusive bar located in the VIP section, is reserved for classy guests, who are used to choice drinks. Fully air-conditioned with in-house DJ, the lounge is a good example of what a standard Nite Club should be.

According to Ikoku, “when I took the bold step to build All Seasons Hotel in Owerri, the idea is to help create jobs here as well as give Oweeri a face.

I’ve always wanted to build a Nite Club here as well, so, I’m happy that today, the club is open to the public. This is my little contribution to the development of the industry in this part of the country. I could have built this is Lagos or Abuja, but we need to start developing other parts of the country to reduce decongestion in the major cities.”

The opening party featured comedy by Basketmouth and I Go Dye, while Mr. Raw thrilled guests with his raps. Also present at the opening are Dayo Adeye, Kanayo O Kanayo, Segun Arinze, Chris Kehinde Nwandu, Azuh Arinze, Charles Nwagbara and others.

B’Clean steps in IS name might not rig a bell in the showbiz inH dustry, but Ogheneovo Blessing French, otherwise known as B’Clean, is the man to watch. Though his physical appearance is far from that of a Rastafarian, the Delta State native is a bundle of talent when it comes to reggae dancehall.

In a recent chat with the singer, who recently dropped a new single under Jam Jam Entertainment, he described reggae as the right tool to disseminate positive messages.

“It’s unfortunate that people don’t take reggae artistes serious, but the truth is that the message is very important. My music is all about sending messages to the people.”

Already, B’Clean has done some hits songs such as Ewo, with video shot by Wudi-Awa video and Tion Tion Tion, with video shot by Dready. Others are Nibolanlo and the most popular of them all, Do Good. He has collaborated with notable artistes such as Duncan Mighty, Solidstar, Oritsefemi, X-Project, Adax and others.

“I’ve always been around, but this time, people will get to know me better because I’m under a new management. I was in Jamaica at some point doing reggae music, but it feels good to come home and identify with my people.”

Ahead of the release of his new album, B’Clean has dropped yet another singles, Come Again and also shot the video of his song, Sambo Di Gan Gan, which is presently on air.

“We are happy with the responses and I hope to make more hits for my fans.”

On why he decided to cut a different look, unlike other reggae artistes, B’ Clean informed, “I want to look clean so that people would know that Rastafarians are not dirty people; we are messengers. I get inspiration from things that happen in my environment, which I share with people in my music,” he said.

B’Clean

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VisualArts For AU at 50, CBAAC takes African rock arts’ campaign to Addis Ababa

By Kabir Alabi Garba HE stage is now set for colloquium/exhibiT tion on rock arts and pan-African renaissance as major highlight of the forthcoming African Union (AU) at 50 celebration. Being packaged by the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC) in collaboration with Trust for African Rock Art (TARA), a nongovernmental agency based in Nairobi, Kenya, the event seeks to consolidate results of explorations that the two agencies have embarked upon since 2006. Both events will run simulteaneously from May 22 to 24, 2013 at the AU building in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Indeed, the foundation of the colloquium/exhibition was laid by the continental body in November 2012 at the fourth Session of the Conference of Ministers of Cultures (CAMC4) held in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. It was at this meeting that the Nigeria’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, through its most vibrant agency, CBAAC, was mandated to organize and host the ‘doubleedge’ show.

According to Director-General of the culture agency, Prof. Tunde Babawale, the Addis Ababa outing is expected to “represent a follow-up to previous engagements and a platform for updating research findings on African rock art.”

He is optimistic that the programme will provide avenue to share experience on the successful application of strategies for managing rock art sites across the continent.

It would be recalled that a landmark platform on research findings on African heritage in line with CBAAC’s pan-African mandate took off effectively at the African Rock Art meeting held in Nairobi, Kenya on May 23 and 24, 2006. This was followed up with the second phase of the Rock Art workshop project held from January 20 to 23, 2007 also in Nairobi, while Niamey, capital city of Niger Republic hosted a two-day workshop on African Rock Art and Pan-African renaissance on March 11 to 14, 2008.

These workshops provided opportunity for experts to discuss the best strategies and approaches to study and better understand methods for the identification, safeguarding, interpretation and promotion of African Rock Art as well as its preservation and conservation to the benefit of Africa and Africans.

A major resolution of the third workshop in Niamey was the need for a concrete follow-up action by participants and stakeholders. The communiqué also required that the theme of the workshop should be revisited as may be necessary. And it is against this background that Nigeria through CBAAC canvassed the significance of using the platform of the African Union and key provisions in the Niamey Communiqué to further action on the African Rock Art project with a colloquium/exhibition in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in May 2013 as part of the activities to mark the 50th anniversary of the African Union (AU).

The focus on rock art heritage, Babawale had explained during the Niamey workshop, was stimulated by the necessity to reconstruct black and African peoples’ history. “It encompasses historic pictorial coverage of some unique rock paintings across Africa and a colloquium. Through extensive research and study, the presence of Rock Art sites has been established across Africa. Findings revealed extensive distribution of rock paintings in the predominantly rocky areas of East, West, South and Central Africa as well as the Sahara,” he had noted.

It is therefore, expected that the colloquium especially, will provide a platform for updating research findings on African Rock; sharing experiences on the successful application of strategies for managing rock art sites

Babawale

across the continent; promoting information sharing and networking among participants to enhance capacity among others; raising the consciousness of a critical mass of key stakeholders on the project; examining the possibility of reconstructing African history and civilization through rock art, paintings, engravings etc The hope of the organizers is that the May 2013 outing in Addis Ababa will inspire creativity in the usage of African Rock Art; generate publicity for the output of the project and diversity of African Rock Art; have the results recognised by the AU and UNESCO; facilitate strategies and action plan for the protection of the sites; and ultimately enhance the protection and utilisation of Rock Art sites by communities on sustainable basis.

Expected as participants are organisations involved in the study of Africa history, such as UNESCO; Regional Centre for Research and Documentation on Oral Traditions and the Development of African Languages (CERTODOLA),Cameroun; African Union Centre for Oral Tradition and History (AUCELTHO), Niamey; Trust for Africa Rock Art, (TARA), Kenya; Observatory for Cultural Policies in Africa (OCPA), Maputo; African Academy of Languages (ACALAN), Mali; Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS),

Cape Town; and Rock Art Department, Witwatersrand University, South Africa.

Others are representatives of cultural agencies from Africa and the Diaspora; the AUC; Smithsonian Institution, USA; Documentation services professionals; University scholars, linguists, archaeologists and anthropologists, artists and allied key stakeholders in the culture industry among others.

Some of the issues to be tackled during the colloquium include African rock art: Relationship and role for history, society, religion, art history; African rock art: Intangible heritage, symbols, values, and beliefs; African rock art: A resource, audiences, and beneficiaries; Aesthetics and mainstream art; Rock Art, Migration, Africa and African Diaspora Integration; Protection/Preservation of Rock Art Sites (from natural and artificial disasters); and Community participation in Rock Art preservation among others.

The exhibition segment will showcase images of Rock art from East, South, West and North Africa.

Africa, is renowned, to have the greatest variety of rock art and some of the oldest rock art in the world.

Through researches and archeological undertakings, various sites in Morocco, Algeria, Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana,

have been discovered as rock art paintings dotting the entire landscape of Africa, some present as Graffitti in caves, hills, surfaces, walls of buildings and on stones.

The most outstanding of these varieties of rock art presentation are those found on Basille stones at Ikom sites, in Nigeria, popularly called Ikom Monoliths. These drawings were made on stones, and some extinct writings of Africa, like the Nsibidi, have been identified on these Monoliths.

The Crucifix (Cross) was also identified, dating as far back as 1.3 million years. Researchers are of the opinion that the originators of this skill were migrant Bantus of the Congo Basin. The language of the writings found on the Monoliths are being studied. This language, research reveals, is still being used by members of the Calabar Ekpe Secret Society. The history behind the Ikom Monoliths is being unveiled piecemeal as researchers investigate the origin of this genre of rock art and originators of the language.

However, these rock art sites and images are fragile and vulnerable to a variety of threats.

These threats include expanding populations, building, mining, road construction and poorly managed tourism. The most common of all threats are theft and vandalism. Government bodies, museums, Universities and various NGO’s are working to safeguard the art through documentation, legislation, increased public awareness, improved security, community engagement and responsible tourism.

Many parts of Africa still recognize rock art as a way to contact the spirits of their ancestors and some worship sites of rock art. The North African Bushmen for example, saw their paintings as doorway through the rock face into the world of spirits in which they could harness mythical rain animals, snakes, large mammals to create good, and to overcome evil.

It is also believed that African rock art opens windows onto vanished worlds of cultural richness and diversity. We see people in elaborate costumes and long flowing dresses, head dresses, and necklaces, from long before the pyramids were built. Rock art offers us insight into how our ancestors visualized reality and changes in their lifestyles. It is believed that most rock art were made for spiritual and religious reasons and therefore many of the sites are adjudged sacred.

Till date, many people recognize some of these sites as having mystical and spiritual importance even though present inhabitants may have no connection with the art which may have been made thousands of years ago. In some areas, religious groups and animals conduct ceremonies at rock sites believing they could tap sacred power emanating from the past.

CBAAC’s partner in this endeavour, TARA, a non-governmental agency based in Nairobi, Kenya, was founded in 1996 by David Coulson with the support of Archaeologist, Mary Leakey and Conservator Lawrens Van der Post.

TARA is committed to recording the rich rock art heritage on the entire African continent and making this information widely available and accessible to researchers. CBAAC has collaborated with TARA on identifying sites of rock art in Africa; creating awareness on rock art study; safeguarding those sites most threatened by both humans and nature; and ensuring such sites are listed in the World Heritage list for preservation and protection.

The collaboration is borne out of desire “to create greater awareness on the potentials of the rock art culture, re-write African history for Africa by Africans from African perspective, through the decoding of stored information embedded in the Monoliths, Graffiti and other rock art presentations all over Africa,” Babawale asserted.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

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When auction returned to the Nigerian art market in 2008, it unearthed the high value of modern and contemporary African art; not only that, it spurred a chain of reaction in the local and Diaspora art scenes. The lady behind the initiative, Kavita Chellaram, recently revealed how she saw the prospects in art auctioning in the country two decades ago.

By Tajudeen Sowole HEAD of the 10th Arthouse Contemporary A art auction, which holds on Monday, May 13, with previews on Saturday (May 11) and Sunday (May 12) at The Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos, Kavita Chellaram, the lady behind the event is positive about the outcome.

Though Chellaram Arthouse-led contemporary art auction of 2008 was not the first in the country, suffice it to say, that it elicited positive development on the scene. Hitherto, there had been Nimbus Gallery organised auction in 2001, which observers described as ‘informal art auction’.

Aside from seeing her supervise proceedings, twice a year at the auctions, little is known about Chelleram and her steady journey towards giving the Nigerian art a secondary market that is fast becoming attraction to artists, even from other countries in the continent.

This afternoon, Chelleram is brimming with excitements, as she conducts her guests round the event’s venue. “The 10th edition is land marking,” she says. “Yes, 10th auction in a developing economy such as Nigeria has a landmark. It also serves as an opportunity to share my passion for Nigerian art.”

The collector recalls that it started from her passion as a young woman growing up in Lagos, in the 1970s.

Coming from a family of textile industrialist, her first love of African art started with the native Yoruba fabric, adire.

“My father’s factory, the Aswani Textile, on Oshodi-Apapa Expressway (now rested), used to make African fabrics in the early 1970s. As a young girl, I used to go to the factory and noticed that the designers who were mostly hired from Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech) and other universities produced nonwax prints adire. So, my interest in African art started from then,” she confesses.

Her interest in African art must have kept growing as she looked forward to owning a piece. So, after a brief visit to India, for her wedding, she returned to Nigeria and started building up collection.

Her love for native African aesthetic, which she started from adire, seemed to have influenced the tone of her collection. So, who was the first artist Chellaram collected?

“I remember going to a show held by Violet Gallery, in Lagos, which sells mostly Osogbo artists. There, I bought my first two paintings: a Twin Seven Seven and Jimoh Buraimoh, in 1977,” she quips.

At the same time, she also started collecting some Indian works. However, she noticed that the Nigerian collections she had, did not appreciate, market-wise, several years after, while the former, to her surprise, increased in price value.

She cites the example of an Indian work bought for $100 or $200, going up to as much as $50, 000 or $100, 000 in almost 15 years after, at auctions in Indian art market. “But in Nigeria, the work you bought for $1, 000, about 20 years ago, remained the same in value,” she painfully explains. “So, you could not resell a work you bought several years

Kavita Chellram (right) during one of the nine art auctions of Arthouse Contemporary in Lagos.

From textile to canvas, Chellaram dreams high value for Nigerian ago; no secondary market.”

Dissatisfied, she went about looking for reason for this and what was wrong in the art market. Nigerian artists, she discovered, were devaluing their work, “despite having such a wonderful pool of creativity, doing fantastic works.” In fact, she disclosed that then, all sort of barter arrangements were going on such as ‘bring five or 10 works and get a used-car.”

“The story has changed now,” she says, confidently. “Art auctions come with documentation of who sold what and for what price. An artist can say, ‘my price is N1.5m. check the art auction catalogues. So, between the first auction and the ninth, consistency has been established as some artists’ prices have gone up because of popularity over the years.”

IVE years after the debut auction produced a record sale of N9.2million for Bruce Onobrakpeya’s panel work titled, Greater Nigeria, with another record added in 2012 when Ben Enwonwu’s bronze, Anyanwu, sold for N28 million (hammer price), the tempo is still going strong, and it does appear that there is no going back.

Following the track of Arthouse, there have been over 10 similar events organised by other art auction houses, old and new, in Nigeria, UK and the US, focusing on African art, all building on the 2008 debut of Nigeria’s premiere auction house.

In Nigeria, the secondary art market is currently a N250 million business, yearly, spread across three auctions: two from Arthouse and one courtesy of the joint effort of Terra Kulture-Mydrim auction house.

And quite of note is that over 70 per cent or more of the revenue generated from these

F

auctions go to the artists or consignees, who submit works for the auctions, a clear indication that art is quietly becoming a powerhouse in Nigerian economy.

Chellaram says going into the 10th auction, “we can say that we have been able to raise the value of the Nigerian artist.”

As nearly every artist and other consignees wants to test the strength of their work at Arthouse’s auction, merit, has been a watchword, Chellaram stresses.

And there has been the ripple effect on the entire art scene, particularly in Lagos. The

My father’s factory, the Aswani Textile, on Oshodi-Apapa Expressway (now rested), used to make African fabrics in the early 1970s. As a young girl, I used to go to the factory and noticed that the designers who were mostly hired from Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech) and other universities produced nonwax prints adire. So, my interest in African art started from then

One of the works for the tenth art auction, Victoria Udondian’s Table Cloth Series.

new vibrancy has come with increase in art shows. More importantly, the rise in value, she argues.

“It has given the artists confidence to create their own art, not what the collectors wanted to buy,” she says.

With about 16 or 17 art auctions, including sales from non-Arthouse art auctioneers, in five years, it is not yet a well-guided art market, as there is still fear that some artists may wind the clock back by devaluing their work outside the secondary and informal market.

Monitoring artists’ behaviour to sustain the current increase in value, she argues is a complex task. “It is bad for the market for artists to devalue their work,” she says.

To avoid this, Chellaram says it goes beyond the control of auction houses. She recommends what obtains in other countries where artists don’t sell directly to buyers, but through galleries. “I think artists, by now, should be represented by the galleries as it is done in Europe, U.S and India. You don’t go directly to the artist and buy. If the artists here want to keep selling on their own, then the art market scene is not going to improve. And it could set the Nigerian art back to where we started from.”

The flexibility of collectors to allow art change hands and move from one owner to another, at auctions, has been noted as the core heart of the secondary market. In Nigeria, how far has collectors succumbed to releasing some of the big works in their collection in exchange for new or older works? Complex a task, so to say.

But Chellaram points to a way out. She advises collectors to test the value of what they have as the platform for such exchange is now real in Nigeria, unlike the pre-2008 years.

“Circumstantially now, you want to resell a work in Nigeria. Five years ago, you couldn’t do that because nobody wanted to pay; it was difficult to place a value on old work. Now the prices are documented in the catalogues to guide you about the worth of an artist.”

Chelleram, who comes from a business class family about three generations in Nigeria, assures that the country’s economy can sustain the improvement in the art market.

“I think the economy can. A lot of corporate groups have collections, they are building more, a lot of CEOs of companies too have started collecting; the market is growing,” she notes.

In addition to economic perspective, she points out that the awareness of art, as a necessity in the environment is also an advantage.

“All over the world, art is getting more awareness as we feel it in our surroundings. Even in Lagos, our surroundings are changing with aesthetics. Governor Raji Fashola has amazingly changed the environment, giving creative value to our surroundings. So, visually, a common man is beginning to get closer to art,” she concludes.

tHE GuARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

38 ARtS

Soundspiration…

Balogun’s visual adventure in atmospheric voices

By Tajudeen Sowole bout three years after sculptor, Adeola baA logun started giving another life, faintly though, to discarded rubber tyre as part of the content of his art, the artist has expanded the scope into a major form of his visual narration.

In his last solo exhibition, Ants and Giants, balogun included what he called Bull Series with a glimpse of shredded-tyre. but his current effort, Soundspiration, which opens today, and ending May 17, 2013 at omenka Gallery, Ikoyi, Lagos takes the concept higher, focusing on atmospheric sound, natural and others. Aside Ants and Giants, he had also used the nonbiodegradable materials in his 2010 show, Infinite Patterns, which was largely of non-figural displays. balogun stated that the theme “is motivated by the presence of sound in every creature”, noting that there are peculiar “use of sounds” in different creatures. Aside his attempt to interpret the theme visually, balogun goes practical. He assured that there will be a sound installation, depicting the various familiar natural sounds of the environment.

Some of the works, in life sizes of woven shredded-tyres of figures are infused with musical instruments such as native Yoruba gangan (talking-drums), violins, saxophones, African gojes, and trumpets. this much he explained, is to stress the “relationship between music and visual arts” as well as their importance to humanity. Indeed, with the advent of conceptual art, almost a century ago, sound installation art has built on the success of the former, much recently and found a place in visual arts lexicon, across the world. but in Nigeria, aside artist, Emeka ogboh who implores sound, it is still a struggling medium.

Although none of the works from Soundspiration was available for the preview, but a soft copy images show that works done in shredded tyre materials would be of prominence during the show, apparently stepping into another period of the artist. balogun, in the past has used metal in what he tagged Seeds Phenomenon series. For his current show, a work like the stylized trumpeter, Mind blowing, in a woven shredded tyre and others in glaring representational figures are sign of a shift from the artist’s past shows, more of abstraction. the works, however, represent balogun’s image as one of the leading names in public monuments. balogun’s works in public places

include obafemi Awolowo Statue at Allen Avenue Junction, Ikeja, Lagos; Late brigadier Samuel Ademulegun’s statue in ondo; Funso Williams statue at Costain Roundabout, Lagos; busts of Legendary colonial era business woman, Madam tinubu and first colonial Governor of Lagos, Sir John Glover at Marina, Lagos.

For the figural works in Soundspiration, stylizing or satirical draws the line between his public monuments and art exhibitions. For example, from a 2-D piece, and tribute to the annulled presidential election of June 12, 1993 comes Symphony of Hope. He explained that “it ignited my interest in the adoption of musical instruments and notes as a metaphor”.

Moving from one period to another so fast that balogun’s followers hardly assimilate his last style or technique before being confronted with another appears like a race between time and idealism so suggests the artist’s endless thirst for experimenting with materials, creating more radical contemporary medium. He disclosed that it’s a commitment to “constantly seek for the potency inherent in a plethora of tangible materials to re-engage them in my visual deliberations”, adding that his creative obligation compels him to “sieve through them, hold on and interpret those that affect me most profoundly”.

And for rubber trye waste, which is often burnt in Nigeria, imploring such in creating art, balogun said is his own little way of helping to manage the complex waste. “used pneumatic tyres are regarded as a worldwide menace due to their non-biodegradable nature, which ironically makes them a viable medium for my visual practice.”

However, a revisit of his metallic rendition comes in works such as Vestige of Dad’s Gramophone and Accompanied, though blended in the Soundspiration focus.

For omenka Gallery, “balogun is one of the most exciting sculptors” in Nigeria. the director of the gallery, oliver Enwonwu stated: “balogun belongs to an exceptional generation of artists firmly establishing themselves on the Lagos exhibition circuit with their embrace of unconventional media and techniques, and their interrogation of the larger society”. the artist’s work, Enwonwu noted “continue to spark interest with his recent series of bulls fashioned out of rubber tyres. Coupled with a successful career as a lecturer in sculpture at the prestigious Yaba College of technology, balogun holds an eminent place among Nigerian contemporary artists”.

Adeola Balogun’s Vestige of Dad’s Gramophone, showing in Soundspiration

Winners emerge at Amila painting competition

By Florence Utor AStER Daniel bankole, a basic six pupil of M Joint-Heirs Primary School, Fola Agoro in Shomolu Local Government Area of Lagos State

Manager, Brands Group, Food Enhancement & Beverages, Promasidor Nigeria Limited, Mrs. Abiola Inawo; 1st prize winner, Amila Painting Challenge from Join Heirs School, Fola Agoro, Shomolu, Master Daniel Bankole and Head Teacher, Joint Heirs Schools Fola Agoro, Shomolu, Lagos, Mr. Adekunle Abayomi at the finals of Amila Painting Challenge organised by Promasidor Nigeria Limited… in Lagos

has emerged as the winner of the Amila Painting Challenge competition during the grand finale held at the university of Lagos.

About 15 pupils, representing 15 local government areas participated in the final, which lasted for over one hour. the panel of four judges: two artists, an art teacher and a culture journalist unanimously adjudged bankole’s work as the best among the finalists. Master Chukwudi Kosi, a 13-year-old basic six pupil of Subuola Nursery and Primary School, Lawanson in Surulere Local Government came second, followed by Master Daniel Iwajomo, of St. Dominic Primary School, Yaba, Lagos.

As the over All best, bankole went home with a cheque of N250,000 first runner up got N150,000 while the second runner up was given N100,000. the other 12 contestants got consolation prizes of N30,000 each while art teachers of the three best pupils got cash reward of N25,000. the winning schools, according to the organisers will get art materials worth N250,000 among others.

Promasidor Nigeria Limited, makers of Amila powdered soft drink, had last November flagged off the challenge in about 200 primary schools across 20 local government areas in Lagos State under the first stage of the competition. under the first stage, an art teacher in each of the selected schools conducted a general painting competition among the pupils of the school to determine the best 10 pupils that would participate on the Amila Day, that is, the day of the activation from where a winner emerged to represent the school at each local government level.

At the second stage, the winner from the local government level got a branded Amila bicycle and Promasidor goodie bag.

Earlier, in her address of welcome Mrs. Abiola Inawo, Dairy Category and Food Enhancement Manager, Promasidor said the competition commenced about six months with a press conference to herald it. She said the competition is all about making the children to have fun.

According to her, we went to 100 public schools and 100 private schools in the 20 educational districts in Lagos state during the first stage of the competition after children in all schools were given opportunity to paint anything of their choices. the third phase, which was the grand finale of the competition was graced by representatives of the arts and culture from 20 educational districts under the Lagos State universal basic Education board (SubEb).

A mila powder soft drink was launched into the Nigerian market in March 2009, in four flavours of orange, Apple Pear, Mango Appricot and Strawberry banana, Amila is targeted at kids but ideal for sharing by all members of the family. Amila currently sponsors the ‘Amila Spelling bee’ on Cool FM 95.9 anchored by Mannie.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

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Revue Nigerian Entertainment Conference…

Stimulating intellectual side of showbiz

By Chuks Nwanne

Record Label owners today see music as bad investment due to the monstrous problem of piracy; scarcity sometimes encourages piracy. The strategy is to make the product available. When the product is accessible, the likelihood of pirated copy consumption will be low. I’m encouraged by the recent development in the music industry as it relates to royalty; the tempo should be sustained

HAT Nigerian entertainment industry has T come of age is not in doubt, with its stars being honoured at home and abroad. In celebration of the success story of the industry that was developed through private initiatives, groups and individuals have instituted numerous award ceremonies in honour of the stars and creative minds in the business. Corporate organisations, on the other hand, seem to have found in the industry a platform to build their brands as well as reach out to their potential customers. Unfortunately, creating a platform for intellectual engagement among showbiz practitioners seems to be off the radar of the corporate institutions and practitioners alike.

According to experts, the country’s entertainment industry promises great viability and sustainability in terms of the size of the market.

The music and film industry alike both have provided veritable platforms for the emergence of small-scale entrepreneurs just like any other sector in the country. In a country said to boast a huge pool of creative individuals, the engagement of the youth population by entertainment remains a huge contribution to national economic growth.

A deliberate intervention in the ‘award and red carpet galore’ that has taken over the country’s entertainment industry, NET newspapers Ltd recently held the inauguration edition of its yearly Nigerian Entertainment Conference (NEC). Held at the Grand Ball Room, Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, the one-day event brought together celebrities, artistes, practitioners, stakeholders and representatives of some corporate organisations with interest in the Nigerian creative industry to chart the way forward for the industry. Already, the intellectual engagement has been receiving commendations from practitioners, who described the initiative as the much-needed change-agent to guide and effectively position Nigerian entertainment.

Opened by the former Minister of Information and Culture and the current Director General of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Mr. Frank Nweke Jnr, the national conference opened the eyes of practitioners to the many possibilities in show business.

Comprising five interactive sessions namely: Music, Nollywood, Media, Business and CSR, the sessions were led by key speakers and widely respected practitioners including Kenny Ogungbe, Founder/C.E.O Kennis Music; Amaka Igwe, Producer/Director, Amaka Igwe Studios; Kola Oyeyemi, GM Consumer Marketing MTN and Chris Ubosi, CEO of Megaletrics. The speakers led panelists and the audience in lively debates with recurrent issues identified as lack of systems, funding, education, infrastructure, investments, policy enforcement, flight of talents, compensation, exploitation and practitioners’ welfare. Each speaker expressed desire for a change, using statistics to highlight what was, what is, what should be, and what could be; while making relevant comparison with similar industries in Europe and America.

While addressing the gathering, Nweke Jnr. commended the organisers for creating a platform that would play a major role in developing the industry for better performance, adding, “This is an important conference and it is my expectation that there will be very constructive discussions around the issues, which have impeded the development of the entertainment industry. It is my suggestion that we focus on implementable solutions to the problems and agree on the various stakeholder levels that will be needed to remove bottlenecks and other impediments to growth.”

In his presentation on the Entertainment Industry With Amplification On Record Labels – An Appraisal Of The Challenges, Fortune And The Prospects, Ogungbe described the entertainment industry, particularly music, as the blood of any nation.

“When a person suffers from anemia, the

Publisher of NET newspapers, Ayeni Adekunle and Frank Nweke

chances of death are apparent. From the Stone Age, man has been known to have created and engaged in one form of entertainment and the other. From storytelling to cultural festivals, there have existed artistes who have con-

tributed greatly to societal good, pleasure and wellbeing. In modern society, which is premised on technological revolution, the media has made the entertainment industry gain global acceptance and recognition. Prof.

Wole Soyinka is a global citizen due to his exceptional literary proficiency. Late Prof Chinua Achebe’s seminal book – Things Fall Apart sold about 12 million copies worldwide; the book has been translated into more than 50 languages. The music of Fela Kuti is today a global brand. Our own Omotola Jolade Ekeinde was recently voted amongst the top 100 most influential personalities in the world.”

Ogungbe observed that the many challenges in the industry were actually true reflection of the nation and global obstacles that are inimical to the attainment of the inherent capacity of the realizable potential therein, also noting, “The problem of infrastructural deficiencies, lack of capital, operational structures, effective management of the industry and most regrettably is the monstrous problem of piracy. These challenges are attitudinal, institutional and sometimes a function of sheer ignorance on the part of the artiste themselves. Collectively, we can improve on the situation and ultimately make things better for our society.

While commending the role being played by some corporate bodies in talent discovery in the country, Ogungbe noted that, “every year, we are glued to our television sets watching budding talents being discovered and exhibiting their admirable potentials. As a record label owner, my only advice is that budding talents should get good education first and foremost. Competitiveness is a function of core value and uniqueness. Great musical works is lyrics-driven and next is the voice quality. I am greatly worried with the present situation of one-song stars. Why are we not able to replicate the great artistry, resourcefulness and the creativity of the King Sunny Ades, the Ebenezer Obeys, the Felas”.

On the issue of piracy, the music promoter charged record label owners to make the works of the artiste on their labels available at designated markets and shops, adding, “Record Label owners today see music as bad investment due to the monstrous problem of piracy; scarcity sometimes encourages piracy.

The strategy is to make the product available.

When the product is accessible, the likelihood of pirated copy consumption will be low. I’m encouraged by the recent development in the music industry as it relates to royalty; the tempo should be sustained.

“When a musician knows that the more airtime his work gets, the more income he earns, which is timeless as music content utilization CONTINUED ON PAGE 40

THe GUArDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

40 ArTS

...Providing intellectual impetus for showbiz CONTINUED FROM PAGE 39 by broadcast stations and some recreational centres use works that have mass appeal.

Artistes and producers based on this are challenged to produce good works that have followership”.

In his paper, Role of Media in Developing the Industry of our Dreams, Ubosi noted that there’d been a whole lot of discussion about what shapes or influences society, saying, “Is it the media that does it or is it the society? In these days of feedbacks, you know you put something out and there’s instant feedback, with the whole social media. If what you put out is not what the consumer wants to consume, it gets told right back to you and that in effect affects your programming; so, there’s a debate out there on what exactly influences it.”

Describing the broadcast media as a young industry in Nigeria, Ubosi enumerated the many achievements recorded so far, noting, “It started in 1990 when there was one national radio, one TV network. Ray Power FM was the first private station, but now we have evolved to 150 regional radio stations and three national networks - one of which is government owned and the other two, ray power and Silverbird. We have 40 terrestrial TV stations and three national TV networks as well.

The actual story is that at that time when we started private broadcasting, we had to play 40% Nigerian music – and you can only play so many Fela and King Sunny Ade songs. So, we actually said, ‘just bring your CD and we would play it.”

According to Ubosi, “this is where the whole music explosion came from. I would like to lean towards the fact that it influenced Nollywood and local TV production as well.

The industry has had a significant feedback from Nollywood and the music industry”.

In building a dream industry, Ubosi charged practitioners to see the potentials that the world acknowledges that we have as a country, adding, “I have been to a few conferences this year outside this country and the whole conversation is about the potential that Nigeria has. What I would like to see is for us to begin to achieve some of these things. In the slide we looked at before, it says that the media industry is worth $650 million. I tell you that if you give me $20 million, you can own my radio station. The key thing here is that we have this potential. The media’s role in all of these is that we can tell our story, and we should be telling this story from our own African and Nigerian standpoint.”

To Ubosi, the Nigerian media has the role of telling the Nigerian story to the world, and not minding who is involved.

He also stated, “I was recently in Atlanta with some people and they told me about this movie that’s being done with Mickey rouke and Kim Bassinger called Black November, done by Jeta Amata. ‘They say he’s Nigerian?’ I said, ‘yes’. I asked my people if they knew about this movie and they said no. We are taking what we have here and taking it out there to talk about it and we in the media here are just sitting down and not knowing. We hear about it on CNN. We need to tell our own stories. My point is that we need to tell our story.

We need to be a lot more involved in what is happening back here. These to me are a few of the things that I feel we need to talk about if

By Femi Alabi Onikeku pere’S poems are watertight; they Ithrough are the lines of a master who exercise has learnt to sift content from verbiage. He has sound grasp of the mechanism of poetry and ability to recast his milieu in verses. He also cuts the picture of a perceptive pen able to traverse diverse themes and deserves credit for his ability to wax lines that are as didactic as they are poetic.

While the term ‘dignity’ is no stranger to our vocabulary, Ipere takes it’s meaning further. Dignity (Dignity; Tochukwu Callistus Ipere; Xlibris Corporation; 2011), as he would have his audience acknowledge, transcends the mere pursuit of esteem. Dignity is life, says Ipere; and life is dignity. It is the sum total of the divine will -”The love of good faith and belief in one God.”

Tony Agenmonmen, convener of the conference Ayeni Adekunle and D’Banj.

we are trying to build this industry. We need to cooperate amongst the stakeholders in the industry. We need to grow within”.

In her paper titled Reflections of an Unapologetic Commercial Nollywood Filmmaker, Amaka Igwe noted that film industries around the world were characterised by their unique political economies such as social relations, particularly the power relations, that mutually constitute the production, distribution and consumption of resources.

“Nollywood is the story of hope, resilience and glamour. It is the story of the explosive success of Nigerian filmmakers’ reliance on digital video instead of film, reducing production to a fraction of the cost while reaching its local and global audience.”

To Igwe, the Nigerian film industry thrives on its originality and non-conformist approach to filmmaking as practitioners seek to be inventive and innovative in its entire filmmaking practices, stating, “Nollywood and its practitioners are consistently adapting to a wide range of economic challenges within the operating environment. While it seeks to entertain a mass audience in search of more socio-culturally relevant stories, Nollywood appears to thrive best in rough economic times.”

No doubt, the movie industry in Nigeria is ready for linear growth, but to Igwe, this growth should be driven by infrastructure required to service the existing markets and the new markets that are developing.

She further said, “There’s need for the restructuring the Guilds; Nollywood should be ready to make a quantum leap in filmmaking skills and techniques. With new media delivery systems such as broadband Internet, the industry will leverage the penetration, impact and relevance of the ‘modern day miracle’ that is Nollywood. practitioners should take on

Nollywood is the story of hope, resilience and glamour. It is the story of the explosive success of Nigerian filmmakers’ reliance on digital video instead of film, reducing production to a fraction of the cost while reaching its local and global audience the related responsibility of making films for modern and historical documentation, education, culture preservation and dissemination of Nigeria”.

In a chat with the convener of the conference, Ayeni Adekunle, the CeO of Black House Media and publisher of NET newspapers informed that the choice of the theme, Building The Industry Of Our Dream is to encourage everyone - from intern to veteran - to appreciate the great work that still needed to be done, adding, “I’ve had discussions with almost every friend I have in the industry about the many problems we face, and how we need to sit down and put our house in order. everyone agrees that the entire industry needs to sit down and begin to have conversations. I think it just happened that we were the ones God used to make it happen at this time. And I’m happy because part of the reasons we set up NET Newspapers was to help facilitate the development of the entertain-

ment industry. Through this platform, the experts amongst us, the professionals who know the ABC’s will show us blue prints and models we can learn and borrow from.”

As for the choice of resource persons and expert at the conference, Adekunle said, “we reached out to everyone; I mean everyone as far as we could. In formulating the panels and choosing speakers, we looked for people who were relevant to the sessions. And we made sure we had people of proven record and integrity. Once we sorted that, we invited as many stakeholders as possible, and spread the word on social media, radio and TV. I wasn’t sure who would show up, but one hoped the right people would take time out of their busy schedules and attend. And when I saw the turn out, I was humbled. pleasantly surprised,” he enthused.

With the maiden edition gone, Adekunle and his team are already appraising the conference and looking for ways to improve the initiative and get more practitioners involved in subsequent editions.

Meanwhile, some of Nigeria’s most notable entertainment practitioners were honoured with NeT Honorary Awards. A total number of 19 awards were given to select numbers of honourees, who have performed well in their respective fields. They included veteran music producer Nelson Brown, Afro beat legend, Femi Kuti and African pop icon, 2Face Idibia. Others were Nightshift Coliseum creator, Ken CalebOlumese; juju music legend, King Sunny Ade; godfather of Nigerian comedy, Ali Baba; fuji icon, K1; revered movie makers, Amaka Igwe and Tunde Kelani; distinguished publishers, Kunle Bakare, Mayor Akinpelu and Femi Akintunde Johnson; music superstars, Dbanj and Don Jazzy; showbiz practitioner, edi Lawani; renowned music label and media bosses, Kenny Ogungbe and Dayo Adeneye as well as Nigeria’s number one DJ, DJ Jimmy Jatt.

Redefining Dignity in Ipere’s poetry God. Yes God. Ipere does not hide his confidence in the Supreme Deity. It appears that no matter the poetic skills he deploys to colour his theme, like a clabash in water, God’s name and essence floats up now and again. These days, when good old Bible stories have been fictionalised into bestsellers, readers would find in Ipere’s verses a refreshing complement: “Cry no more, my dear, lean on me now/ Raise your head and look ahead for the better/ Take a deep breath and talk to me, okay?/ Discuss it well and rub your sorrows off.

“It is going to be settled the best way

now/ We are going to see the Lord in his house/ We are going to trust him to counsel us right/ Hush now, my dear, he is kind gentle and nice.”

Ipere successfully avoids the pitfall of writing abstract poetry. While the word ‘dignity’ might not necessarily touch the reader in any remarkable way, his images, however, stick to the legs of our trousers and would not fall off easily. Ipere takes his audience into the imaginary world and points out sights and sounds, sometimes in sarcastic metaphors on inept leaders: “So, sister, they do really care about us here/ They opt to ride on beautiful roads without potholes/ They opt to

live peacefully in nice houses and hotels/ Because they trust you to do the same when they care.”

Ipere also demonstrates appreciable understanding of the significance of poetic sound. At some points, his lines assume almost musical quality.

“As carrots and sticks meddle to irked pennies/ As dotes and cliques buy and make sentences/ As ruses and whims cause stories to happen/ As gossips and gospels manifest in daily lives.

“Let the birds chrip when men are tired/ Let the birds fly over the head of men/ Let the birds come low and pick our

crumbs/ Let the birds sing and wake the hearts of men.”

The poet’s collection, however, could assume a more reader-friendly packaging. Instead of the monotonous repetition of ‘Dignity’ on each page, it is advised that the poems are chapterised or sectionalised, and given apt titles. This would enhance refreshing transition between pages and keep readers from getting weary.

Illustrations could also be used.

Beyond comfortable stylistics, the poet, in Dignity XC, at the third verse, leaves the reader wondering if he means ‘patience’ or ‘patient’.

All said, lovers of good poetry and soul-inspiring content would find Ipere a dependable ally.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

ARTS

41

Heritage From Bridget Chiedu Onochie, back from Makurdi, Benue State th

HE 38 meeting of Chief Executives of CulT ture of the Federation (CEC) held recently in Makurdi, Benue State Capital at the Aminu Isah Kontagora Art Theatre Complex, culture ambassadors resolved to make culture sector relevant in the nation’s pursuit for economic development and peaceful co-existence.

In attendance were representatives of federal parastatals within the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation as well as serving chiefs of culture from 24 states of the federation. Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke was represented by the ministry’s Deputy Director, Festivals and Publicity, Peace Anyanwu while Benue State Governor, Gabriel T. Suswam was represented by his Chief of Staff, Prof. Saint Gbilekaa.

Organised annually by the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), culture chiefs from across the country converge in a state to review cultural activities in the previous year as well as set agenda for current cultural year with greater emphasis on national festivals and events.

In his welcome address, Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer, NCAC, Mr. Mwajim M. Maidugu, said the forum would focus on how to translate the nation’s rich and diverse arts and cultural resources to blend with the spirit of centenary celebration, which comes up next year.

Commending the government of Benue State for accepting to host the event for the third consecutive times, Maidugu said the choice of the state was informed by its distinguishing efforts at promoting arts and crafts at both national and international competitions.

He noted, “Such support that the governor is giving to the arts sector is a further demonstration of his efforts at positioning the state in all its ramifications to attract national and international presence, which shall soon transform the state into an investors and tourism haven”, Maidugu said.

According to NCAC boss, some of the issues to be discussed include reports and review of programmes and activities of the previous year, reports and memos from the federal cultural parastatals, reports and memos from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, memo on the forthcoming 6th African Arts and Crafts Expo (AFAC 2013) as well as draft syllabus of the 27th National Festival for Arts and Culture (NAFEST 2013).

Maidugu therefore charged his colleagues to exhibit high level of creativity, commitment as well as collective spirit required to reach endearing decisions that would contribute to the growth of the sector and the nation’s economy in general.

Declaring the meeting open, Benue State Governor, Gabriel T. Suswam, highlighted the role of culture and tourism in creating national identity and pride.

While welcoming culture chiefs to the state, the governor noted that Benue State was not only the food basket of the nation but also home of culture, tourism and peace.

By Oghogho Obayuwana AN is what his name says. That statement, being profoundly M true from the spiritual point of view leaves the rest of us to struggle to appreciate how that knowledge plays out in life. The experiencing of the statement in real life goes without saying.

Current research findings today show that African names are front liners in terms of conveying a meaning. It seems out of place in these parts to have such names as Bush for instance or Lawless (Yes, the new political Counsellor of the US Mission in Nigeria is Mr. Gregory Lawless) or glassstone.

The African name always carries a meaning corresponding to the circumstance surrounding the birth of the child, the karmic threads attached to him/her as sensed by the parents. Then there is also the happenings of significance around the time the child is born or a particular hope that his coming evokes as well

Chief executives of culture in Makurdi

At CEC meeting, experts move to expand culture frontier One of the ways of expanding frontier of culture in the state, the governor pointed out, was by initiating programmes and activities that would build cultural consciousness in the youths, who were currently confronted with the challenges of Western culture.

He said: “Recently, we had a youth carnival to make the youths to be proud of their culture.

We believe in the power of culture to serve as a major economic player in Nigeria and Benue State being rich culturally, we would want to be part of this.

“When we introduce the carnival, it began from schools. We felt that by introducing children’s carnival, we would arouse children’s consciousness not to ignore their cultures”.

Also conscious of the economic benefits of culture and tourism, the governor said tourism sites in the state have been identified and are being developed. He however called for private sector partnership to make his ef-

forts in the sector faster and more visible.

To further promote culture, especially among the younger generations, the governor said cultural activities are organized throughout the year. Some of these include Benue State Festival for Arts and Culture (BENFEST), Akata Fishing Festival as well as the Kwagh-hir Festival.

He also noted, “We are always ready to open our arms to welcome stakeholders in the sector who are willing to review strategies for implementing cultural policies and set agenda that would move the sector forward.

“We shall always seek to partner with you in order to consciously draw up a road map towards evolving the arts, culture and tourism sector to greater heights”.

At the technical session, culture eggheads focused on major issues on the agenda which included arrangements towards the 6th African Arts and Crafts Expo (AFAC 2013) as well as the

2013 National Festival for Arts and Culture (NAFEST 2013). Syllabus for the one-week cultural fiesta was received from (NCAC) the organising Parastatal and approved.

Three states including Ondo, Ogun and Bayelsa have indicated interest in hosting this year’s festival. Although the festival secretariat is yet to announce the hosting state, the event has been slated between September 14and 21.

The decision to bring the festival, which holds between October and November forward might not be far from concerns raised at the meeting held in Minna, Niger State Capital last year.

Culture executives at last year’s meeting expressed worries that the two major national festivals – NAFEST and Abuja Carnival were too closely scheduled and as such, they posed great preparation challenges in terms of artistic and logistic demands, especially by states whose governors were not culture friendly.

...Of names, their meanings in Africa as other emotions bordering on wishes or even unfulfilled expectations.

This consciousness is deeply rooted.

Which is why a man particularly from the western part of Nigeria would take offence if his name is wrongly pronounced. The protest and indignation surrounding such howler stems from the fact that the tonal “murder” gives the name what was never intended or envisaged.

And those who are aware of the errors then jeer and scoff as a toast to the fact that the meaning behind the names must never be lost.

So what lies behind a name? As an illustrative paradigm of the subject, the cultural anthropology of sorts that became of the child naming ceremony of a baby boy born into the home of Senator Ehigie Uzamere by his first son-Osaze recently in Abuja, comes handy. An architect by train-

ing and a politician by practice, senator Uzamere invited a coterie of the political class, fellow lawmakers, business associates, family friends and a splinter of persons of Edo origin to a spectrum to the ceremony which was holding exactly one week after delivery. As an epitome of Edo culture, nuances were freely used to demonstrate the fact that a man is lost if the finer elements of his roots are not carefully woven into significant acts such as naming ceremonies and much else.

Vocal music, excitement, camaraderie and much more was in the air. There was a role for everyone. The senator’s wife, Mrs Joy Iriagbonse Uzamere was the lead chorister, Uzamere’s personal assistant Frank Osayaende was the orchestrator and Hon Samson Osagie would gesture from time to time indicating if anything was being left out. In Africa it is

said that the child only primarily belongs to the parents while it is given that every adult in the community is a part-parent to the child.

From the beginning of the ceremony, there is a big aplomb around the child even if it is sleeping. Then the chorus bearing gratitude to the almighty father and all the ululation. Interestingly, names that used to covey special favours from certain gods or that seek to hold such gods in awe have slowly given way to names proclaiming the supremacy of the Almighty Father...

And the names rained down in torrents. Owing to the depth of their meanings, one can only translate literally most of the time.

For instance, what was behind the name: Osagbemwen-orue earlier given in the senator’s household? Man of the people Uzamere had just escaped an assassination attempt. Osagbemwen-orhue literarily means

God has bathed me with white chalk.

The white chalk, it is learnt, symbolises victory and purity. Rubbing it on the body particularly the face connotes that a person has been favoured and wants to demonstrate this visibly to his fellow men.

Then very recently another child was born, this time to another of his sonsOsamwonyi. Do not mind the common English and Biblical names that also flew around. Emmanuel, Samuel and the rest. It was the African names that were always going to catch attention. And the names started pouring: Orobosa! (It is in the hands of The Almighty), Ehioze (the personal god is the reason...), Etin-osa (the power of the Lord), Izosa (I have chosen God), Iyegbenosa (I have given my life body to God), Osarumwense (God has done well for me) Osamudiame (God stands by me, Netete (The one who does not recede or suffer ignominy).

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

ARTS

ArtHouse Macmillan Literary Day next weekend th

HE 7 Macmillan Youth Literary Day with the theme, T ‘Nigeria, My Tears, My Hopes’, has been slated for 8th May. Time is 10am at MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos. Chairman of event’s committee, Mrs. Francesca Emanuel, said the choice of the theme is to portray the fact that children and youth also have an important role to play in the process of nation-building while adults have a responsibility to take the future and expectations of the young into consideration.

She said, “Macmillan Nigeria Publishers through this Corporate Social Responsibility activity aims to demonstrate that Nigeria can still realise her noble and glorious destiny if we can encourage our young people to develop values that will stand them in good stead, as the leaders of tomorrow.

“What is most unique about the presentations is that the schools were given creative freedom to actualize the theme of the programme, under the guidance of the facilitators from Crown Troupe of Africa and the coordinating director, a renowned writer and director, Mr. Ben Tomoloju”

Gozi installation art exhibition continues

Fashion installation by Gozi-led U.Mi-1 that started on ARTtheand 30th of April continues till May 12.

Oju opens at Terra Kulture

NITED Kingdom-based painter, Gbenga Orimoloye’s art U exhibition titled Oju opens at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos, on May 4 and ends May 9.

2Chainz to perform in Lagos

American rapper, 2Chainz will be in Lagos on June 23 to perform at D’Kings Men Concert, which will coincide with D’Banj’s birthday celebration. The concert will hold at Eko Hotel & Suites and will also future D’Banj, J-Sol, Kay Switch, Fally Ipupa and Olamide.

-Compiled by Florence Utor

EFCC, NCC sign MOU for zero tolerance of copyright piracy HE Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) and Economic T and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have signed an inter-agency pact for collaboration in strengthening the implementation of the nation’s laws on copyright, economic and financial crimes. The collaborative partnership is geared towards achieving zero tolerance for copyright infringement, economic and financial crimes in Nigeria.

Both enforcement agencies formalized their partnership at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the NCC and the EFCC at the EFCC Headquarters in Abuja on April 18, 2013.

Director-General, NCC, Mr. Afam Ezekude, and Chairman, EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, signed for their respective enforcement agencies at a ceremony witnessed by key management members of both Federal Government parastatals.

The MOU which indicates that either party could terminate the pact after one month’s notice, provides that the NCC and EFCC shall cooperate in executing anti-piracy operations throughout the country.

Other key terms of the MOU are: That the NCC shall share with the EFCC, for further investigation and action, relevant information obtained in the course of investigating a copyright infringement, which may contain elements or likelihood of the commission of economic and financial crimes by any persons or corporations.

That the EFCC shall share with the NCC, for further investigation and action, relevant information obtained in the course of investigating an economic or financial crime which may contain elements or the likelihood of the commission of a copyright infringement by any persons or corporations.

NCC DG, Ezekude signing the MoU while EFCC Chairman, Lamorde looks on

Onasanya launches Soul Refreshers, Pleasant Dreams

By Gbenga Akinfenwa HE author of the highly rated book, T One Missing Ingredient, Femi Onasanya, an internationally acclaimed personal development enthusiast and life coach based in the United Kingdom, has launched two new insightful books Soul Refreshers and Pleasant Dream to the delight of readers.

The books are replete with incisive life issues, remonstrations and anecdotes which serve as repository of knowledge for readers, who desire to discover and enhance their God-given abilities, as well as live happily based on sound biblical precepts.

The new books came exactly a year after the author released his first book, One Missing Ingredient. The new books were launched at the Function Hall of MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos, last Thursday under the chairmanship of the former Inspector General of Police and exChairman of Skye Bank Plc, Alhaji Musiliu Smith.

In his speech, Smith noted that there were bountiful, useful lessons for Nigerians to be learnt from the books if well imbibed by both young and old, adding that the books would no doubt change lives of people and encourage them to be God-fearing, disciplined

patriots who would be nation builders rather than wreckers.

He advised the author to regard his early steps in the literary world as the beginning of a long journey which would take him in no distance time to

the pinnacle normally reached by few internationally acclaimed authors.

Soft-spoken Onasanya is a youth worker, Bible teacher and South Bank University, London, U.K. graduate; he is currently based in the U.K.

P&G West Africa Vice President, Manoj Kumar Receiving the 1st ladies Award for Excellence in Social Investments in Africa from Namibia’s First lady, Mrs. Penehupifo Pohamba

P&G Receives African 1st Ladies Award for ROCTER & Gamble (P&G), a P leading consumer goods company and makers of

HRH Oba Kabiru Kolawole Alani Adelaja Agbabiaka (Ilufemiloye) Aina-Gbeto Adeola III (left), Osolo of Isolo Kingdom planting a tree at the premises of Promasidor Nigeria Limited during a recent courtesy visit to the company… in Lagos

household brands such as Pampers, Always, Vicks and Safeguard, has been honored with the African 1st ladies award for excellence in social investments across Africa at the Africa First Ladies Summit that held in Los Angeles last week.

The award was conferred in recognition of P&G’s impactful social programs that jointly reach millions of people in need across Africa and was presented by the First Lady of Namibia, Mrs. Penehupifo Pohamba, to the P&G West Africa Vice President, Mr. Manoj Kumar.

At the African 1st ladies summit, Kumar gave a talk on the need to strengthen Public

Private Partnerships to deliver the Millennium development goals in Africa.

During his speech, Mr. Kumar disclosed that P&G has been in Sub Sahara Africa for over 20 years. He went on to state P&G’s dedication to providing everyday basics that help create the experience of home and that improve everyday health and confidence for people in need. He said, “P&G currently provides various hygiene education programs for over 50 million children in 17 Sub Saharan African countries and aims to double this number in 40 African countries by 2016. “With our various social programs, we are investing and contributing to the overall heath, wellness and vitality of the African

people and actively contributing to the attainment of pertinent health focused MDG’s across several countries in Africa”. Manoj said.

On P&G’s view of the economic climate of Africa, he disclosed that “P&G is very optimistic about Africa and its potential, 9 Sub-Saharan countries are among the 20 fastest growing economies in 2013. Sub-Saharan GDP is forecast to grow faster than Brazil and Russia between 2013 and 2020. P&G is accelerating its investment in Africa by expanding our manufacturing platform and accelerating geographic expansion through our distribution partners – generating thousands of jobs across SSA and creating hundreds of new SMEs in the region.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

43

AutoWheels Auto manufacturers’ taste for future innovations

Cheverlet Sonic Boom

Audi R8 Tom Kristensen Edition

Ford F-150 SVT Super Raptor

udi R8 Tom Edition AThe R8 Tom

Kristensen

Kristensen Edition is a special version of Audi’s new 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8. Massaged to make 610 horsepower and 516 poundfeet of torque, it matches the output of the R8.

The Quattro all-wheel-drive system is scrapped in the interest of weight savings and reardrive nirvana, while a threepedal, six-speed sequentially shifted manual will be the only gearbox.

Chevrolet Sonic Boom Chevy does well for itself with performance players at either end of its product line. The Corvette ZR1 successfully takes the fight to the bank-accountdraining exotics, while the Sonic RS brings bold design to a competitive subcompact segment. But its standard 138hp 1.4-liter mill isn’t even competitive with the other hot rods in the class: Ford’s Fiesta ST and Fiat’s 500 Abarth.

By combining the best thing that ever happened to a Corvette with the only relevant small car Chevy has ever built, the brand has an undeniable image changer.

Shoehorning the ZR1’s supercharged LS9 V8 into this diminutive hatch is no small task.

The longitudinal arrangement means losing the backseat and coupling the

Porsche Cayman GT3 RS

transaxle directly to the engine. But it’s worth it.

It’s a 638 hp driving the rear wheels through the C7’s allnew Tremec seven-speed manual with active rev-matching technology.

Ford F-150 SVT Super Raptor Good ideas are born out of necessity. The Super Raptor is the beast to vault hooning to another dimension: a redneck’s ultimate fantasy.

Ditching the weak-sauce 6.2liter V8 and replacing it with the 662-hp 5.8-liter supercharged Shelby GT500 V8 is just the beginning.

With 37-inch self-inflating beadlocked tires and 25 inches of Ram-trampling suspension travel damped by electronically adjustable magnetorheological shocks co-developed by Delphi and Fox Racing, the Super Raptor is every wannabe desert racer’s reason for living. It’s a literal trophy truck for the street.

The Super Raptor’s version of “launch control” monitors midair throttle for perfect body pitch and automatically softens the suspension upon detecting an impending touchdown.

When roaming the urban jungle’s highways, the suspension can stiffen for a wallowfree ride.

Honda CRZ-Y Honda’s CR-Z could be a hit with the sport hybrid crowd,

assuming those people actually exist. Right now the biggest hang-up is its 130-hp 1.5-liter IMA engine trying to drag around 2,700 pounds.

The result is a worse power-toweight ratio than a Kia Rio. There are rumors of a nonhybrid powertrain, but our solution retains the car’s initial eco-friendly philosophy without being such a wuss about it.

Raiding the parts bin across the street, the CRZ-Y utilises SH-AWD hardware from its Acura brethren.

The 310-hp V6 and seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox are mounted beneath the hatch to drive the rear wheels.

Individual electric motors drive the front wheels, just like the upcoming 2015 Acura NSX. Total output is 370 hp.

On the steering wheel is a manual regeneration switch to force-charge the hybrid battery pack and a push-to-pass button to channel the juice back through the system for a brief boost of 30 additional horses.

Infiniti XS Based on the Emerg-E Concept, the Infiniti XS super coupe utilises a repurposed version of the GT-R’s twinturbo V6.

Stroked to 4.0 liters and arranged longitudinally behind the front seats, it’s coupled to the GT-R’s six-speed

dual-clutch gearbox, which sends power to a fortified ATTESA E-TS all-wheel-drive system.

Making an easy 800 hp in full attack mode, Nissan’s new dial-an-engine feature will allow for deactivation of two cylinders, effectively turning this gas gulper into a more socially responsible 2.7-liter V4. Godzilla will always be cool, but it’s nothing compared to life in XS. Mazda MX-5 Miata Coupe The 2013 Mazda MX-5 Miata is one of the best cars ever built for the driving enthusiast.

But it’s never been the focused driving machine it should be. It lacks two crucial components: structural rigidi-

Acura NSX

ty and power.

The solution is obvious. Not only are fixed roofs “manlier,” they also serve to improve handling, make bodies more aerodynamic, and in most cases, improve cargo space.

And considering we live in an age where Kia Optimas are pumping out 274 horses, there’s no excuse for this Miata coupe to make less than 200 hp.

Under its hood sits a proven 263-hp 2.3-liter four-cylinder from the 2013 Mazdaspeed 3.

This coupe transforms the current MX-5 from cute and fun to purposeful and capable.

It should have been built 15 years ago.

Mitsubishi Outlander Evolution The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution XI is a long way out at best, and that’s if natural selection doesn’t catch up with it first. We can only handle uncertainty for so long, which is why the Mitsubishi Outlander Evolution must happen now.

Starting with the 2013 Outlander shell, Mitsubishi Ralliart U.K. will provide its FQ-400 version of the 2.0-liter 4B11 engine (which includes a new ECU, fuel injectors, turbocharger, intercooler and exhaust system) to push output to 403 hp and 387 lb-ft of torque.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

44 AUTOWHEELS

Panamera Platinum Edition hits Nigerian market Stories by Taiwo Hassan ORSCHE Centre, Lagos has P unveiled the latest modelPanamera Platinum Edition into the Nigerian market.

Speaking at the car launch ceremony in Lagos, the company’s Brand Manager, Porsche Centre Lagos, Michael Wagner said the latest edition of the Panamera would compete favourable with the sedan cars in its class because of its exceptional features.

He said Porsche has steadily been bolstering its Panamera line since the car was first introduced into the global market, adding that models like the V6, Hybrid and GTS are all available for discerning motoring enthusiast.

The brand manager however noted that because of its luxury edition status, the starting price for the Panamera Platinum Edition ranges from N22.5 million and above.

He assured customers that the car was designed for the Nigerian market, adding that it is a Euro three version with low emission level.

Besides, Wagner said that the car stands out with its subtle, independent design features in platinum silver metallic combined and expanded standard features with exclusive details.

“For instance, the lower half of the side view mirrors, the air-inlet grille lamellas; the air vent grille on the side which is designed specifically for the turbo model with the trim on the trunk lid and the rear diffuser are all in platinum silver metallic. This is in addition to the interplay with one of the Edition’s five exterior finish colours that results in an especially harmonious and elegant appearance. The solid exterior colours are offered in black or white with the options of metallic basalt black, metallic carbon grey and metallic mahogany lac-

quer finishes. The black glossy finish used for the side window strips creates a convincing overall exterior appearance,” Wagner said.

He added the new debutant also comes with the automatically dimming interior and exterior mirrors that reduce glare from traffic behind ones, and the 19-inch Panamera Turbo alloy wheels with red, black and gold Porsche crest that highlights the sporty elegance of the vehicle.

According to him, the new black/luxor beige bi-colour combination also creates an especially sumptuous interior ambience and exclusively for the new luxury car.

He said that the Panamera Platinum Edition is a partleather interior package which comes as standard with a full optional leather package, compared to the previous bi-colour detailing, the new bi-colour combination patterns have been revised.

The upper part of the dashboard and the door trim, the footwell and the back of the front seats as well as the loadspace cover are in black, while the remainder of the interior is in Luxor beige.

Panamera Platinum Edition

Porsche Centre assures customers of unlimited warranty Other highlights include the standard sport design steering wheel and the distinctive Porsche crest on the front and rear headrests as well as the insignia “Platinum Edition” on the front door trim strips.

According to him, it has six airbags as safety features.

He however said that the new debutant has two years warranty and buyers have the options to extend their warranty to unlimited.

ABC Transport expands operations HE management of ABC T Transport Plc has begun the first phase of its fleet expansion programme, with the injection of 24 new coaches.

Besides, the first batch of nine fleets had already been delivered, while the remaining batch 15 fleets are due for delivery in the country in August.

According to the company, the move to expand its fleets was because of the remarkable improvement in road condition nationwide.

This has given rise to shorter travel time and culminated in the return of many passengers to coach travels.

The company’s expansion programme has seen customers enjoying timely departures and early arrivals on a daily basis.

The management explained that the current brand of ABC coaches are equipped with surveillance monitoring camera for security purposes on-board and with speed limiters for speed controls.

The management added

that ABC Shuttle Service, a short distance intercity operation, has equally received a boost from the ongoing fleet expansion with the purchased of 33 new Toyota Hiace mini buses, which will be deployed before the end of the year, to augment the existing fleets plying the South East and South-South routes.

As part of its safety tradition, the management recently honoured 100 drivers and attendants who did not recorded any accident within the operational year 2012.

Interior view of Panamera Platinum Edition

Oil firms to storm Lagos motor fair IGERIAN oil major marN keters have resolved to take the campaign against fake and adulterated lubricants and transmission fluids to the doorsteps of real

Hyundai, LHP partner to enhance green car environment YUNDAI Motor Company H has strengthened its commitment to a cleaner, low-carbon future by joining the Mayor’s London Hydrogen Partnership (LHP).

Hyundai and LHP representatives, including Deputy Mayor, Kit Malthouse, signed the agreement at the Greater London Authority headquarters in London last month.

The LHP has initiated over £50 million worth of hydrogen projects, attracting and rollingout new hydrogen buses, taxis, scooters, refuelling stations, materials handling vehicles and fuel cell Combined Heat and Power units to London.

Hyundai Motor Company will provide its expertise in fuel cell electric vehicles to LHP, helping to drive development of the infrastructure needed to realise a hydrogen economy.

Deputy Mayor and Chair of the London Hydrogen Partnership, Kit Malthouse, said: “Hyundai and members of the London Hydrogen Partnership will develop a plan for fuel cell vehicles, and will plan the hydrogen refuelling station rollout across London.

Hyundai will provide invaluable insights and bring global experience to the Mayor’s innovative ‘smart’ low carbon, low emission transport activities.

This partnership will help to continue placing London’s economy at the forefront of science and innovation’’ President/Chief Executive Officer of Hyundai Motor United Kingdom, Tony

Whitehorn said: “Hyundai is proud to be joining the London Hydrogen Partnership, helping to create a future for the capital that’s cleaner and more sustainable. Hydrogen delivers considerable environmental benefits and we are looking forward to working closely with the other partners of the LHP to drive forward its widespread introduction.

Hyundai fuel car

“As the first and currently only manufacturer in the world to series-produce a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle we believe we will play an invaluable role in demonstrating the benefits of this technology. The availability of the innovative Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell shows that hydrogen is a practical source of clean and sustainable energy. The fact that this pioneering vehicle

is being leased to public and private fleets today will help LHP create investment and employment opportunities as hydrogen infrastructure is developed,” he added.

Earlier this year, Hyundai became the world’s first vehicle manufacturer to begin assembly-line production of the zeroemission, hydrogen-powered Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell. As well

as being delivered to public and private fleets around the world, the car is being used by the European Commission-backed Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) to demonstrate the real-world benefits of hydrogen fuel cell technology to members of the European Parliament, European Commission officials and other policymakers.

automobile consumers as it have concluded plans to showcase original lubricants at the forthcoming Lagos auto fair in Lagos.

The move to storm the auto fair may not be unconnected with the spreads of adulterated oil lubricants in the country, which has taken recent setbacks at the lubricating market.

The major oil marketers who are in the production/sale of best grade and world class engine oil and lubes are determined to ensure that Nigerians use the right oils for their vehicles and other engines. So, they want to use the fair to sensitise the general public about the need to be wary of adulterated oil and its consequent on car engines.

Already, oil marketers that have indicated their interest to participate in the auto fair include: Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc, Oando Plc, Ascon Oil Limited and Lubcon Limited, while Performance Enhancing Products Limited (PEPCO) is a foreign oil marketing company.

Specifically, they are concerned with the menace of fake and adulterated lubes in the market and aimed to reassure automobile consumers that there is still best and world-class engine oil in the market.

Products expected at the fair include: additives, lubricants, greases, adhesives and wiper blades.

Others are: Mobil 1 and allied products, Oleum products, Bardahl products, motion plus products, transguard and automatic transmission fluid, pure guard products and Lubcon products.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

46

BusinessTravel

Inside a Saudi Prince’s $485million flying palace (A380)

2050: What fate for Nigerian airlines?

Stories by Wole Shadare HE picture is scary. Only a dozen T world airlines will be in existence by the year 2050? Where will Nigerian airlines be? The question hits one harder if one considers the precarious situation of the country’s airlines. African carriers are also not insulated from the harsh economic reality that has forced many of the continent’s carriers into extinction.

Unless Nigerian airlines reinvent themselves, it may as well be May Day for them.

The only way out for them according to experts is for them to consider merger and consolidation, just like what other big players have been doing. There is British Airways/Iberia partnership, Air France/KLM, and many other partnerships that are defining air travel and aviation.

Nigeria carriers urgently need to consider merger and alliances for good service delivery, which would make them to be very competitive and stronger.

The era of stand-alone seems to be over as they need to form alliances.

Alliances between airlines on international/domestic markets have become a dominant feature of the airline industry. Many customers demand a ‘from anywhere to anywhere’ service, which is impossible for one airline to supply efficiently, and there are significant economies of density that can be achieved by

merging networks.

Many city-pair markets would not support a viable regular service on local point-to-point traffic alone, and a means of channeling connecting traffic to generate sufficient traffic density is necessary. However, crossborder mergers, which would be typical in other industries, are prohibited for airlines in many jurisdictions.

The evident need for network cooperation has led to a rapid expansion of alliance relationships, as a close substitute for mergers. More recently, airlines have set up joint ventures to serve specific markets, which have made airline partners’ revenue from the Joint Venture independent of the airline, which actually flies the passenger.

Just recently, American Airlines and United States (U.S.) Airways announced they would merge their operations and become one airline, called American Airlines. Together, they are the world’s largest airlines by passenger traffic.

What does the merger mean for travellers? In the short term, little will change on day-to-day business.

Longer term will likely be a different story.

These carriers are big enough to go stand alone, but they had projected that coming together would help them to break barriers and remain profitable.

Africa’s biggest airlines, Ethiopian Airways, Kenya Airways and South Africa Airways are just too small com-

Africa’s biggest airlines, Ethiopian Airways, Kenya Airways and South Africa Airways are just too small compared to an aggressive airline like Emirates. The revenue of these big African carriers at over $3 billion is just about 35 per cent of the yearly revenue of Emirates Airlines. pared to an aggressive airline like Emirates. The revenue of these big African carriers at over $3 billion is just about 35 per cent of the yearly revenue of Emirates Airlines.

If these airlines that are the pride of Africa are still struggling, what then is the fate of Nigeria carriers?

The growth of Nigeria’s economy does not reflect in the number of airlines in the nation’s domestic market.

A breakdown shows that Arik has the largest fleet with 23 airplanes with 30 destination; Aero Contractors with 12 aircraft operating 12 destinations; Overland Airways, seven airplanes servicing six destinations; IRS, five aircraft with three destinations; Dana four aircraft with three destinations.

Others are Medview Airlines with three aircraft and four destinations and Chanchangi Airlines has three airplanes servicing two destinations. This brings the total fleet of these carriers to

57.

These aircraft owned by Nigerian airlines put together do not add up to the fleet of individual airlines in the U.S., Europe or Asia. Nigeria also has no record of mergers till date. Closest examples of cooperation is the interline agreements, an attempt among now defunct airlines.

Nigeria’s population is projected to hit 170 million by the end of 2013; with Malaysia, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey being touted as the next big investment opportunity.

Experts from Europe, U.S. and Nigeria had at the Nigerian Aviation Summit, with theme: “A dozen world airlines…Nigeria challenges”, held in Lagos recently, said merger was the only panacea for Nigerian airlines.

The Managing Director of Sabre (Nigeria), Mr. Gabriel Olowo; Director of Studies, European Centre for Advance and Professional Studies, University of Cambridge and Chairman, Sabre Nigeria, a global distribution system for airlines, Dr. Anthony Kila and Director, Europe, Middle East and Africa for Sabre, Soroya Nosworthy, affirmed that Nigerian airlines urgently need to get out of the doldrums if they are to remain in existence in the next decade. They noted that African airlines are too small and fragmented, adding that they need to consolidate to remain afloat.

In his presentation, the Chief Executive Officer of Landover Aviation, Captain Edward Boyo, lamented that

the growth of Nigeria’s economy does not reflect in the number of airlines in the nation’s domestic market.

Boyo, who was represented by the Executive Director of his firm, Mrs. Aduke Atiba, said in the past 10 years, there has been an average of 10 domestic airlines in operation at any particular time, with an average fleet capacity of about 10, adding that, ‘today, there are only about seven licensed airlines operating in Nigeria”.

Boyo disclosed that mergers would help Nigerian airlines to grow and expand, increase market share, increase credit worthiness and bargaining power, enhance image and market perception, encourage the chance of the merger to take on bigger markets, among others.

Speaking in the same vein, President, Aviation Round Table (ART), Captain Dele Ore, noted that the problem of the nation’s aviation industry “stems from inappropriate, not well-thought-out and inconsistent policies of government.

Solutions to these problems, therefore, become feasible only with much needed to be newly formulated policies”.

The aircraft pilot averred that the existing, “Aviation policy cannot take us to the Vision 2020:20 projects of the country and, therefore, a new aviation policy framework capable of serving Nigeria in the 21st century must be put in place urgently”.

Nigeria missing in Africa’s airports rating o Nigerian airport was listed among the best N in Africa in the 2013 Skytrax World Best Airport Awards held at Passenger Terminal EXPO, Geneva, Switzerland.

To be rated, airports must be top notch in the areas of safety and security, friendliness, passenger facilitation, functionality, among other criteria which virtually all Nigerian airports lack.

Nigerian airports are undergoing refurbishment with the hope that it would meet one of the criteria listed above.

South African airports dominated the top 10 ranking in Africa, with Cape Town International Airport emerging the Best Airport in Africa, followed by Durban King Shaka International Airport and Johannesburg (Tambo) International

Airport in 2nd and 3rd places respectively.

This year’s awards, voted by airport customers from around the world, garnered 12.1 million responses.

Egypt’s Cairo International Airport was ranked 4th while the 5th position went to Mauritius International Airport.

East London Airport, South Africa, was placed in the 6th position; Addis Ababa Bole International Airport in Ethiopia, 7th; and Port Elizabeth Airport, South Africa in 8th position.

Morocco’s Marrakech Menara International Airport and Seychelles International Airport ranked 9th and 10th respectively.

South Africa also made a clean sweep of the Best Airport Staff category with Cape Town

International Airport, Durban King Shaka International Airport, Johannesburg International Airport, East London Airport, and Port Elizabeth Airport occupying all the five positions.

World’s best airport Singapore Changi Airport was voted the 2013 world’s best airport, the 4th time it had claimed the top prize.

The Singaporean airport toppled Incheon International Airport, South Korea, which moved to second place, to clinch the position.

Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport, Hong Kong International Airport, and Beijing Capital International Airport were ranked 3rd, 4th, and 5th best in the world.

“In winning this prestigious accolade, Singapore Changi cements its place as one of the world’s favourite airports and Skytrax offer their sincere congratulations on what has been a fantastic year of achievement” said Edward Plaisted, Chairman of Skytrax.

“The vast array of leisure and entertainment facilities really standout at Changi and serve to highlight the extent to which the management has gone to ensure maximum levels of passenger satisfaction.

“We only have to look at the fact that Changi served more than 50 million passengers for the first time during 2012, to see that it continues to attract customers and maintain its place as one of the world’s leading hub airports,” Plaisted added.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

BUSINESS TRAVERL 47

Delta Airlines posts $85m profit in Q1

By Chika Goodluck-Ogazi ELTA Airlines has revealed D $85 million as the first quarter financial profit, with year-to-year result improvement of $124 million, including $78 million in special item and GAAP records of $7 million net income.

The airline generated the sum of $1.1 billion of operating cash flow and $457 million of free cash flow, ending the quarter with adjust debt under $11.0 billion reducing the company net debt by $6 billion since 2009.

It added that passenger revenue has increased by $107 million compared to prior year period, leaving cargo and other revenues to decrease by $6 million and $14 million respectively.

Delta also gave kudos to its own employees toward meeting the company’s financial and operational goals with $43

million of incentives, including $20 million in employee profit sharing and $23 million in shared reward within three months.

The Chief Executive Officer, Richard Anderson, said, “our results represent Delta’s strongest March quarter financial and operational performance in over a decade and I want to thank Delta people worldwide for all the hard work that went into producing these results for our company. This performance is a proof that we are on the right path to making Delta the airline of choice for our shareholders, employees, and customers.

“With a solid financial foundation and building momentum from initiatives like our LaGuardia expansion, Virgin Atlantic investment and new Terminal 4 at New York-JFK, we are well positioned to generate significant improvements in Delta’s profitability going for-

ward”, he said.

According to the President; Ed Bastian, “our March quarter units revenues grew four per cent, showing that the investments we have made in operations, products and service, combined with our capacity

discipline, have built a solid revenue-producing foundation.

He noted that, “we are taking actions to mitigate the decline in close-in demand we saw in the last part of March, and we expect the impact of the

sequester, combined with a softening of leisure demand, to result in a two to three per cent decline in April’s unit revenues.

However, a key benefit from a consolidated industry is that we now see a much stronger correlation between revenue

and fuel; so while we are seeing some revenue softness, we are also benefitting from lower fuel costs, allowing us to continue our path of margin expansion even in a sluggish economic environment’, Bastian said.

Tsogo Sun invests $100 million on hospitality in Nigeria

By Chika Goodluck-Ogazi SOGO Sun Group has announced investment T portfolio of $100 million in two projects in Nigeria and Mozambique.

The project in Nigeria involves the acquisition of an approximate 75 per cent stake in Ikoyi Hotels Limited, the holding company of the Southern Sun Ikoyi hotel in Lagos Nigeria.

The Group has managed this hotel from the original developers since opening in 2009.

The Group’s expected investment, including loan funding is approximately US$70 million (R630 million).

The group has also earmarked $30 million to expand its hotel in Mozambique, the Southern Sun Maputo. This will involve a complete refurbishment of the existing 158 room hotel, including the bedrooms and public areas as well as an expansion of the restaurant, the addition of 110 new hotel rooms as well as new conferencing facilities.

The expansion takes advantage of the unique location of

the hotel, extending along the beachfront on the Avenida de Marginal.

Chief Executive Officer of Tsogo Sun, Marcel von Aulock, said, “The Mozambican economy has shown encouraging signs of growth in recent years, and Tsogo Sun has benefited from a strong trading performance at the Southern Sun Maputo.

The Southern Sun Ikoyi hotel is centrally located with convenient access to prime business nodes in Lagos and comprises 195 guest rooms and

suites, a restaurant, business centre as well as meeting room facilities. The hotel also has additional land available for future expansion.

According to him, “This acquisition will cement our presence within the fast growing and progressive Nigerian economy as well as provide a base from which to expand our operations in Nigeria. The investments totaling $100 million will be funded through a combination of existing offshore cash and new US$–based borrowing facilities.

Emirates offers travel expertise to passengers

By Chika Goodluck-Ogazi N a bid to expand its route IEmirates network on the globe, now brings international travel expertise directly to travellers, allowing them to search for holiday ideas based on their personal preferences.

Be it a holiday for one, family travel, or a group of friends, the ‘Inspire Me’ application can accommodate every traveller’s need from beach-side resorts, historical journeys, indulgent shopping sprees or escapes into nature ‘Inspire Me’ can be customised for every trip a traveller can dream of.

Furthermore, in line with Emirates position as a global carrier, the tool is accessible for travellers from any origin point on the Emirates network.

Displayed in an easy-to-navigate graphical map, the ‘Inspire Me’ also has scroll bars embedded so that visitors to the site can easily adjust their criteria as they explore their travel options.

In addition to helping people choose their type of holiday, ‘Inspire Me’ then provides extra details on each suggested destination including flights, date, region of the world, climate, travel time, and, unique to

Emirates,’ real-time prices.

Destination information is also available including suggested activities and local info, allowing passengers to discover new places and sites they had never considered before.

“As it has grown, Emirates has naturally fallen into the role of connecting people from around the world. Our passengers look to Emirates to not only bring them together with distant family and friends but, as our destinations have grown, also as a way to explore the wonders of the world; dreaming bigger and further,” said Bob Kabli, Vice President e-Commerce and Mobile.

“Our new ‘Inspire Me’ tool is our way of bringing our passengers closer to their dream holidays, whatever their interests, budgets or preferred travel style may be. Available on emirates.com, ‘Inspire Me’ represents one of the world’s first truly-global inspirational tool.”

‘Inspire Me’ can be found online when booking. The airline has encouraged passengers to come, explore and find their dream vacation with Emirates.

Meanwhile, Emirates has set to launch first transatlantic flight, connecting mainland Europe with North America, It

Head Commercial, Dana Air, Mr. Obi Mbanuzuo, (left): Director of Flight Operations, Capt. Oscar Wason: Head Corporate Communications, Mr. Tony Usidamen and Head - Administration, Mr. Anand Alagarsamy on their arrival at Port Harcourt, Airport, Rivers State during the airline’s re-launch of flight services to Port Harcourt on Monday. has also launched a direct service between Milan and New York, the airline’s only trans-Atlantic service, from October 1st, 2013.

Customers across Europe looking to fly on the airline’s product will be able to maximise the airline’s frequent flyer partnership with

easyJet, seamlessly connecting through Milan to New York.

On arrival in the United States (U.S.), customers can then take advantage of Emirates’ partnership with JetBlue enabling connections across the U.S., including the West Coast.

“Operating a trans-Atlantic route has been on our agenda for some time. “Having carefully monitored traffic flows we have identified strong demand for both a direct connection and, importantly, for the Emirates product.

“The route is currently underserved, particularly

with a strong premium product offering this is where we see a clear opening for Emirates.

“We intend to capitalise on this opportunity, stimulating further demand and encouraging additional traffic flow in both directions,” said Tim Clark, president, Emirates.

Jonathan’s visit: Boost for Nigeria-South African air travel business

By Wole Shadare IGERIA and South Africa N are Africa’s largest economies. Trade between the two nations has grown exponentially since 2,000, and they are each other’s largest trading partners on the continent.

The value of bilateral trade, which totalled only $16.5 million in 1999, increased to over $3.6 billion by 2011.

Nigeria now represents a long-term destination for South African investments and home to many of its recent business ventures. In the area of communications, Mobile Telephone Networks (MTN) posts greater profits from its West African opera-

tion than it did in South Africa within only four years of entering the Nigerian market.

As President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan visits South Africa on Monday next week, there are indications that both nations would look for ways to finally bring to an end crises that had threatened the cordial relationship that exist between them and to leverage on the good business relations.

Nigeria with a country of over 160 million people, is a huge market for aviation.

Though South Africa has a robust business aviation market, not a few believe that Nigeria would overtake South Africa as Africa’s biggest business aviation market in the next five to 10

years.

For general aviation, it’s probably the awareness of the authorities that general aviation is vastly different from commercial aviation. A lot of African countries are new to general aviation, and equally the authorities are new to general aviation.

I think there is some ground to cover in making sure that the aviation authorities understand the differences between commercial and general aviation from all perspectives. From an FBO point of view, I think challenges in Africa are service delivery in terms of the availability of fuel, general services like catering, ground support equipment, and so on. The challenge of aviation is service delivery.

Although, South Africa Airways (SAA) is going through a turbulent period, the carrier, no doubt is one of the strongest airlines in Africa after Ethiopian Airways and Kenya Airways.

SAA was facing the same problems that Nigeria Airways was facing then, but the government of South Africa injected funds into the airline and privatised it.

The President’s visit could also help to speed up the plan by his government to float a national carrier, as SAA could assist the country by acting as a technical partner to the proposed airline, which hope is evaporating by the day.

But the expectations are fast turning into a mirage. Not that the government does not know what to do; a clear-

cut direction of what it exactly wants is glaringly lacking.

In one breath, the ministry said it would look for strategic partner(s) to give it the technical assistance it requires. In another breath, the government talks about entering into a Public Private Partnership (PPP) without giving Nigerians the clear direction of what exactly it wants to do.

Kenya Airline had to partner a foreign airline, KLM, for it to survive, but the Federal Government sold its airline because some powerful vested interests were eyeing the assets of the airline, which they wanted as their share of the national cake.

There is no denying the fact that Arik is not a pushover on the Lagos-Johannesburg

route, both governments can work out modalities on flights between each other’s territory with a view to servicing the huge traffic on the lucrative route.

A top official in government who spoke on a condition of anonymity said the signing of a new Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA), which grants 20 weekly flights between both capitals by Arik and SAA, had also enhanced movement of people between both countries.

“Fourteen of these had already been taken up with daily flights by both.

“SAA has also been granted rights to fly into Abuja from Johannesburg and also Arik to fly into one more city after Johannesburg,” the source added.

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

NigeriaCapitalMarket NSE Daily Summary (Equities) as at 2/5/2013 PRICE LIST OF SYMBOLS

THe GUArDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

CAPITAL MARKET 49

NSE Daily Summary (Equities) as at 2/5/2013

PrICe GAINerS

LOSerS

Diamond Bank shareholders’ endorse plan to raise additional capital Stories By Helen Oji HAreHOLDerS of Diamond Sbank’s Bank Plc, have approved the plan to raise additional capital of $750million (N118billion) through the issuance of any form of debt, equity or any other instrument appropriate to meet the bank’s capital requirement by way of rights or offer for subscription.

They shareholders further approved that in the event of over subscription, excess monies arising from the offer be absorbed to the extent required by the bank.

Speaking at the banks 22nd yearly general meeting in Lagos, the shareholders who applauded the management of the bank on its effort of repositioning the bank to profitability by writing off its loan during the year under review noted that the fund generated from the offer would enhance the bank’ working capital and finance other business development initiatives.

They also passed as a special resolution that the authorized share capital of the company be increased from N10 billion to N15 billion by the creation of additional 10 billion ordi-

nary shares of 50 kobo each, ranking ‘pari-passu’ in all respects with existing ordinary shares of the company.

The President, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Sir Sunny Nwosu expressed satisfaction with the state of affairs in the bank especially the write-offs which would sustain the bank’s profitability and help support its future expansion plans.

He berated the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), especially the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) for its reforms programme

which failed to take into consideration the plight of shareholders and the harsh economic situation in the country.

According to him, AMCON reforms in the banking industry, rather than improve the lot of shareholders has become a ‘nightmare’ for investors in the financial services industry.

The National Cordinator, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Boniface Okezie also commended the bank for their prudent management of affairs of the bank as well as its

performance, while urging them to do everything within its powers to consolidate on the performance to enable it enhance shareholders value.

Specifically, the bank’s profit after tax (PAT) for the 2012 financial year increase by over 250 per cent to N22.1 billion as against the Loss of N13.9 billion achieved in 2011.

The bank’s profit before tax (PBT) also rose to N27.5 billion, which is a complete turnaround from the loss before tax of N18.0 billion recorded in 2011.

Its PBT was achieved from gross earnings of N138.8 bil-

lion, an increase of 35 per cent over N102.7 billion earned in the previous year.

The PAT resulted in earnings per share of 159k for the year.

According to the Group Managing Director, Dr. Alex Otti, “2012 performance is a reflection of our collective decision to place the Bank on a growth pedestal towards becoming one of the leading financial institutions in Nigeria having achieved N1 trillion balance sheet size. The year saw us building on our strong reputation for customer focus, innovative product development and quality

service, thus returning to profitability after the cleanup exercise in 2011. These principles will continue to steer our growth on an impressive and sustainable path”.

“Leveraging on these principles and the focused development of our service delivery infrastructure, systems and technology, we have gained momentum and scale in all our markets. Our strong balance sheet, large customer base and solid risk management framework have helped us to build a robust institution capable of guaranteeing quality growth,” he added.

NSe’s market capitalisation hit 11trillion mark He market capitalization T of the Nigerian Stock … appreciates by N37 bn in one month exchange (NSe), yesterday hit 11trillion mark, occasioned by improved corporate performance, even as investors’ wealth appreciated marginally by N37billion in one month.

Specifically, market capitalization increased by N37 billion or 0.3 per cent, from N10,994 trillion recorded on April 2, 2013 to N11.031 trillion yesterday, while All/Share

index rose by 150.51 points or 0.4 per cent from 34,502.38 to 34,351.87.

Yesterday, five stocks; LearnAfrica, JohnHolt, Dangote Cement, Airservice and AG Leventis appreciated by 10.00 per cent to close at N2.20, N1.54, N178.20, N3.30, and N1.65 per share respectively while CAP gained 9.94 per cent to close at N46.80

per share.

Wema Bank added 9.32 to close at N1.29 per share, ABC Transport also gained 8.96 per cent to close at N0.73 per share.

On the other hand, Vono and rT Briscoe topped the losers chart with 10.00 to close at N2.34 and N1.80 per share respectively while AFrIPrUD followed with 9.68

per cent to close at N1.40 per share.

Prestige Assurance lost 9.52 per cent to close at N0.57 per share. Constain West Africa shed 9.40 per cent to close at N1.06 per share. eternaoil dropped 9.40 per cent to close at N2.70 per share. Unity Bank lost 7.35 to close at N0.63 per share.

UTC and TransNational

Corporation also dropped 5.80 and 5.00 per cent to close at N0.65 and N1.14 per share.

The banking sub-sector remains the most active stock in volume terms with 199 million shares worth N2.3 billion followed by the insurance sub-sector followed with 27 million to close at N439 million.

The conglomerates ranked third with 14 million units worth N121 million.

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

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Opinion Terrorism: Tales of two nations

By Kabir Garba ATELY, war against terrorism seems to have found a common ally in Nigeria and the United LStates.

In the past few years, both countries have got to deal with activities of terrorists whose psychology of living has been tainted with violence.

But the Boston Marathon bombings of April 15, and how security operatives in the U.S. are prosecuting it is providing fresh perspective for critics to assess strategies being adopted in Nigeria to deal with the same ‘phenomenon’. And the debate, so far, has been a mixture of comic and hard ball.

In what appeared like juxtaposing President Barack Obama’s statement on the night of the Boston blasts, “Make no mistake. We will find out who did this. We would find out why they did this.

And we will hold them to account,” with what, perhaps, could have been the reaction of President Goodluck Jonathan if the incident had happened in Nigeria, a BB message, which was circulated the following day reads: “No statements about prayers for the bombings to stop, no statements that maybe it is our turn, no comments about amnesty, dialogue or forgiveness. That is a President!

“And no comment that it was the opposition or the ‘losing’ presidential candidate that orchestrated it! It was all a statement of intent, purpose and that of assurance to the citizens that the government (of America) is in charge and will take care of their worries.”

And giving effect to Obama’s statement, within 48 hours, one could see pro-active law enforcement agencies in action. They were simply on top of the situation. And nobody was left in doubt that Obama’s prediction would soon come to pass. It did, just five days later.

Within those five days, the density of the casual-

ties (four persons, including a police officer were killed, and more than 170 injured) was known and made public; the identity of the suspects – Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev did not only become clear, the former was killed by police in a shootout, and the latter was captured a day later.

On top of this, there was massive solidarity from the entire American people, especially during the manhunt exercise that locked down Boston on April 19.

Jubilation by the people and triumphant messages coming from the authorities reflected that the operation was clinically prosecuted and professionally handled. It was an elated President Obama that even declared that Friday night that Tsarnaev’s capture “closed an important chapter in this tragedy.”

Do we have similar experience in Nigeria? No! And the BB message was simply a recap of what had happened since 2009, when Boko Haram sect, a self-proclaimed jihadist militant movement that opposes westernisation and is known for attacking Nigerians, bombing mosques, churches, and public facilities, declared war against the country.

But beyond President Jonathan’s comments, which is more or less, reflection of the reality, the rot in the country’s criminal system and the capacity of the security forces to rise up to critical occasions, is deeper.

While the BB message may not be totally incorrect, after all, some of the wordings are close to what President Jonathan had uttered, reacting to similar occurrences of bomb blasts in the country, could he be totally blamed for his comments?

This writer thinks otherwise.

This is because you can’t give what you don’t have. In a country where public office holders

play too much ‘politics’ than governance, you can’t expect anything less. The logical questions will be, who will do the investigation? Who is going to lead the manhunt? Are they the police that are not only ill-equipped, but poorly trained? Where are the gadgets to track the suspects as shown in the Boston Marathon bombings?

Life began to fall apart for the Tsarnaev brothers as soon as Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) shared surveillance-camera images of them with the public on Thursday (April 18) with the appeal that people should help with further information that could help hunt the suspects down.

And coincidentally, as Boston was locked down on April 19, the Nigerian security forces under the auspices of Joint Task Force (JTF) also sacked the northeastern fishing community of Baga in Born State, presumably in “search of Boko Haram members who have been using the town as operational base.”

In fact, the aftermath of the clash leaves much to be desired as confusion and distorted information have continued to trail the crossfire.

Even its motive has become subject of controversy.

Account of what happened is so diverse and contradictory, depending on who is doing the narrative, to the extent that there was no consensus among the military about the date of the clash, not to talk of the casualties.

While the whole world was made to believe the clash occurred on Friday, April 19, and left, in its wake, over 185 people, mainly civilians, killed, military authorities, on April 23 (five days later) came out with ‘official statement’ that “one soldier was killed and five other soldiers were injured” during the Baga encounter. “While 30

Lost in the global radar

By Eric Teniola BOLD foreign policy has become major mishap in the face of A grave internal problems confronting Nigeria today. As they say in Latin, fuimus troves – we were once Trojans but Troy is no more.

Though we recently hosted the South African President, the Polish Prime Minister, and even the Ghanaian President was in Uyo recently and we can still boast of an experienced foreign minister who spent almost his entire public service life in the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the fire for which Nigeria was known in the foreign scene, has extinguished. In the past when Nigeria spoke, the world noted and when Nigeria led, the rest of Africa followed, not because of population or resources but because of bold global foreign policy initiatives. But no more. It is either we lack the initiatives now or we are now hostage to our internal problems.

In the global scene we have become very inert and supine. No doubt, we still attend regular global summits, regional meetings, presidential inaugurations, foreign burials, ceremonies and events but not in an active capacity but as onlookers, bystanders and mere backbenchers. Passive is the word. Even Nigerian students, who in the past, use to be very operative and dynamic on foreign affairs particularly on African affairs to the extent that they marched along with the government, have now been submerged with internal contradictions. Bad and negative stories have become part of our foreign exports.

From 1960 till date, this country Nigeria has contributed in 25 peace-keeping operations: • United Nations Operations in the Congo (ONUG), 1960-64.

• United Nations Transition Assurance Assistance Group in Namibia (UNTAG), 1989-90.

• United Nations Angola Verification Mission II (UNAVEM II) 199195.

• United Nations Angola Verification Mission III (UNAVEM III) 199597.

• United Nations Observer Mission in Angola ( MONUA), 1997.

• United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), 1991.

• United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II) 1993-1995.

• United Nations Operation in Mozambique (ONUMOZ), 1992-1994.

• United Nations Assistance Mission of Rwanda (UNAMIR), 1993-96.

• United Nations Aouzou Strip Observer Group (UNASOG), 1994.

• United Nations India-Pakistan Observer Mission (UNIPOM), 196566.

• United Nations Security Force in West New Guinea (UNSF), 196263.

• United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTA), 199293.

• United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT), 1994.

• United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFR), 1992-95.

• United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia (UNCRO), 1995-1996.

• United Nations Preventive Deployment Force in Macedonia (UNPREDEP),1995.

• United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH), 1995.

• United Nations Transitional Administration or Eastern Slovenia, Baraja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES), 1996-98.

• United Nations Mission of Observers in Prevlaka (UNMOP), 1996.

• United Nations Civilian Police Support Group in Croatia, 1998.

• United Nations Iran-Iraq Military Observer Group, 1988-91.

• United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission (UN IKOM), 1991.

• United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), 1978.

• United Nations Peace Keeping Missions in Sierra Leone, 1999.

In 1960 just before the nation’s independence, Nigeria signed a military pact with Great Britain so as to safeguard its security in the absence of full-fledged Nigeria army, Nigerian students demonstrated against the signing of the pact and the protests led to the cancellation of the pact by the Nigerian Government. On February 13th, 1961 on the eve of the African Summit in Casablanca, Morocco, France tested an atomic bomb, which contained Plutonium and had an explosive force equal to 10,000-14,000 tonnes of TNT half as powerful as the Hiroshima bomb, in the Sahara desert in the French Polynsia.

The radioactive fallout of the bomb affected people living in the remote part of the Sahara desert. The initiative on the protest against France was led by the Prime Minister of Nigeria, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (1912-1966). Nigeria expelled France ambassador to Nigeria, closed its ports and airports to French ships and planes.

Sudan, Ghana and Egypt followed Nigeria’s step. In April 1964, the third battalion of the Nigeria Army led by Lieutenant Colonel Pam was airlifted to Tanzania to help President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania to train a new army following the dissolution of the Tanzania army after the mutiny. The arrival of the Nigerian troops allowed the British troops to depart. Between 1963 and 1965 world leaders were romancing not only our national leaders but the regional leaders in Nigeria as well. For example, Archbishop Makarios of Cyprus (1948-1977) was a personal friend of the Regional Premier of the Eastern Nigeria, Dr. Michael Iheonucura Okpara (1920-1984) while the Regional Premier of the North Sir Ahmadu Bello (19091966) was so popular in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states that a few days before he was assassinated, he was given access to Prophet Muhammad’s very tomb. When the President of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Francis Kofi Nwia Nkrumah (1909-1972) visited Nigeria in 1962, he slept in the personal house of his friend, Chief Obafemi Awolowo (1909-1987) in his Okebola residence in Ibadan. Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe (1909-1996) was a personal friend of the former President of Haiti, Francois Duvalier (1907-1971) alias Papa Doc. We all aware of the relationship between Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and the British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson. So loved was Sir Tafawa Balewa by world leaders that the day he was assassinated, there was a letter in his Babariga from Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia (1913-1978), the then leader of opposition in Ghana, alerting him that there was to be a coup in Nigeria. Even after the coup of 1966, General Gowon built personal friendship with other world leaders, including Emperor Haile Selassie (1892-1975), Haman El-Hadji Diouri of Niger Republic, Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo (1935-2005).

However, it was between 1975 and 1979 that we had dynamism in our foreign policy. In 1975 there was a pre independence struggle in Angola. On one side we had the Moveiemento porpalar de libertacao de angola(MPLA) led by Dr. Antonio Agostinho Neto(1922-1979), on the other side was the frente nucional de libertacao de angola (FNLA) led by Holden Alvaro Roberto (1923-2007) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) led Jonas Savimbi (1934-2002).

Boko Haram terrorists lost their lives, five were arrested and many escaped with bullet wounds. Unfortunately, six civilians lost their lives and 10 other civilians were injured in the crossfire.”

And the ‘clincher’ “Multi National Joint Task Force troops on routine patrol at Baga – Mallam Garati Road had an encounter with Boko Haram terrorists at about 7.30pm on Tuesday, 16 April, 2013.” Not April 19! You wonder whether it was the same clash that The Red Cross put the death toll at 187 and Governor of the state, Kashim Shettima, described as ‘barbaric’.

The critics have even asked Dzhokhar to count himself lucky he chose the U.S. to ‘perpetrate’ the heinous act, after all, he is now receiving maximum medical care in a hospital on the bill of the government. If it were to be in Nigeria, he would have since joined his brother, Tamerlan, in ‘heaven’. The cruelty the founder of Boko Haram, Mohammed Yusuf suffered in the hands of security forces in 2009 has become a reference point to justify this opinion.

What happened? In 2009, Boko Haram carried out a spate of attacks on police stations and other government buildings in Maiduguri. This led to shootouts on Maiduguri’s streets. Hundreds of Boko Haram supporters were killed and thousands of residents fled the city. Nigeria’s security forces eventually seized the group’s headquarters, capturing its fighters and killing Mr. Yusuf. (No intelligent security officer will allow his prime suspect to die, not to talk of actually masterminding his death).

So far, Nigeria’s experience could not be said to be the professional way of fighting terrorism, and it is not too late to take some tutelage from America’s. After all, the goal is the same.

• Alabi is on the staff of The Guardian.

Both the FNLA and UNITA were sponsored by the apartheid South Africa along with the Western world. In November 1975, General Murtala Ramat Muhammed (1938-1976) flew to Addis Ababa for the OAU conference and announced that, “Africa has come of age and it is no longer under the orbit of any continental power. It should no longer take orders from any country however powerful. The fortunes of Africa are in our hands to make or mar”. To the surprise of everyone he announced Nigeria’s recognition for the MPLA as the legitimate government in Angola. On February 4, 1976, he despatched his then deputy, General Olusegun Obansanjo along with Chief Ebenezer Babatope to reassure the Angolans of the support of the government. Nine days later he was assassinated on his way to the office in Ikoyi, Lagos and General Obasanjo who succeeded him soldiered on with the execution of very bold and dynamic foreign policy.

In fact, Nigeria’s Foreign Minister at that time, Major General Naveh Garba (1943-2002) was so active during that period that my then boss, Chief Abiodun Aloba alias Ebenezer Williams, pioneer General Manager of Nigeria Herald dubbed him “the Foreign Minister of Africa”. During those years Ikeja airport correspondents like Dapo Aderinola, Seinde Dagunduro, late Kola Adeshina, Toye Akiyode, Tayo Falade, Mike Edemeyo, late Richard Amayo, Femi Ogunleye, Francis Emelefoun, Andre Diojemao, James Bello, Bisi Oloyede, Babson Adeyemi, Kunle Egbeyemi, Jimi Aderiokun, Alhaji Adio Saka and others were in the super cadre among journalists for their daily coverage of world leaders visiting Nigeria.

In 1976, there was the Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada, Nigeria led 22 African countries to pull out of the games because of New Zealand’s links with apartheid South Africa. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had earlier banned South Africa from participating in Olympics because of its racial policy. Nigeria also pulled out of the Edmonton Commonwealth Games in Canada in 1978 also because New Zealand had links with apartheid South Africa. In 1980 Olympic Games held in Moscow, President Shehu Shagari refused to heed the America request to boycott the games in spite of the America delegation, including the famous Muhammed Alli that visited Nigeria and begged Nigeria not to take part whereas Niger, Mauritius, Malawi, Liberia, Ghana, Gambia, Chad, Cote Ivoire, Egypt and Gabon participated. In 1986, General Ibrahim Babangida led 36 African and Caribbean leaders to pull out of the Commonwealth Games over the British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher’s dealings with apartheid South Africa. The last time global focus was on Nigeria was when President Olusegun Obasanjo was elected President of the African Union, chairman of the Commonwealth and chairman, Non-aligned nations in 2004. Since then our status has reduced.

If we have been active, President Barack Obama of the USA would not have flown over our air space to visit Ghana on July 10, 2009, without first visiting Nigeria; although he has not visited his father’s country, Kenya till date. It is true he received our President in the White House on January 8th, 2011, but he should have included him when he met the four African leaders, President Mucky Sal of Senegal, President Earnest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, Present Joyce Banda of Malawi and the Prime Minister of Cape Verde, Mr. Pereira Nerves on March 28th this year at the White House.

Dante (1265-1321) wrote in his book Inferno that “there is no greater sorrow than to recall in misery the time when we are happy”.

• Teniola was a Director at the Presidency. He now lives in Lagos.

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

Opinion Agenda for Yorubaland development

By Fehintola Aremu OR the Yoruba in the South-West region of the country, Fpromotion one thing that has become a burning issue of recent is the of the culture of a nation, which has its people beyond the confine of the African continent and has been regarded as one of the dominant ethnic group in the world.

This resuscitation is not however limited to the country alone as those in the Diaspora have taken it upon themselves to not only promote the culture of the race but also see to its development.

Thus when an assemblage of Yoruba people from over 26 countries recently converged at the Palace Hotel, Burj Khalifa Souk Al Bahar, Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, for the Yoruba in Diaspora International Convention, it was aimed at resuscitating the past glory of the race. Indeed, the convention, which had in attendance Yoruba professionals and technocrats has as its theme, “Resuscitating Our Past Glory,” and was held between March 14 and 16, 2013.

The convention, which could not have come at the right time than now with the happenings all over the world provided an opportunity for the people of a race so rich in culture and human resources to dig trenches in far away Middle East to discuss “ Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN), which is a document being promoted by state governors in the South-West geo-political zone. The aim was actually to infuse a road map tagged “Yorubaland Development Agenda”, based on the experience garnered over the years from other nations by Yoruba intellectuals, professionals and business men and women into a wholesome worldview acceptable to the geo-political zone.

Declaring the convention open, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, who marvelled at the state of tranquillity and developmental progress attained by Dubai in a short space of time, which has turned the city into a huge world trade centre, said the South-West region had similar experience early in her practice of culturalisation, which ensured her rapid growth and development. The first class monarch added that the region was a pacesetter in the fields of broadcasting, print journalism, banking, sports, accounting, law, medicine and engineering, saying, “ till date the South-West region is one of the safest areas in Nigeria to live in.”

Oba Adeyemi, while enjoining investors that were present at the convention to seize the opportunity of the peace pervading the South-West region to invest in the area, maintained that the pace setting of old is still achievable today given the fact that all the governors in the region shared the

same ideal of regional integration, appealing that this “sense of responsibility” should continue to prevail. He explained that the protection of the Yoruba heritage should be paramount in the minds of all Yoruba indigenes whether at home or in the Diaspora, calling on the participants to protect and defend the Yoruba language because any tribe or community that rejects its language cannot be heading towards extinction.

On her part, the Iyalaje of Oyo Kingdom, Chief (Mrs.) Orija Adesoye, charged the participants to view and fashion out an all-encompassing development plan for the Yoruba race, which will be relevant to its traditional tenets.

Various speakers at the convention who were mostly international experts presented papers involving developmental issues ranging from food, water, housing, literacy and vocational to energy, environmental and waste management. Indeed, the main thrust of the convention was geared towards taking an immediate advantage of the assurance given by the international experts to develop Yorubaland to similar standards as seen in developed countries of Europe, America and Asia without taking any money from the governors of the South-West states or people of Yorubaland.

Foreign experts that gave keynote presentation at the convention include Mr. Lamar Nathan Jensen, Founder and Chairman of Worldwide Holdings Limited; Dr. Sidi Larbi Cherif, Executive President, World for World and United Nations NGO; Dr. Ulrich Hatiner, CEO, LLC, Director of Developing Markets in Africa and Mr. Sun Seek Cho, Managing Director, Eco Green Energy, LLC. Jensen in his paper spoke of a wide rage of assistance his organisation, which has as its motto “The Power of Synergy” and in over 50 countries can offer, maintaining that the experience of his organisation will rob off positively on the economic front not only in Yorubaland but also in Nigeria as a whole in order to accomplish substantial needs of humanitarian benefits. And while responding to a question posed by the Legal Secretary of the Conveners, Barrister Abiodun Olopade, Jensen emphasized that all the developmental projects agreed on at the convention will be carried out at no cost to the governments and people of Yorubaland, disclosing that about $50 billion has already been earmarked for the projects by international agencies.

The Chairman of Worldwide Holdings, nonetheless demanded from the conveners of the convention an enabling environment devoid of rancour for the foreign investors, stating that the current world situation demands that we should all believe in four things, namely live a fulfilled life, love one another, learn new things/concepts and leave a

legacy behind after leaving this world.

Mr. Seek Cho on his part spoke about a new scientific venture of producing hydrogen from water, a venture that he believed will be of immense benefit to the sub-region. He stated further that his organisation has the ability to recycle oil with hydrogen oil power plant to generate more than enough electricity for the South-West region of Nigeria, explaining that this is pollution free and environmental friendly.

After fruitful deliberations spanning three days, the convention in its communiqué called on the six state governors of Yorubaland to facilitate as a matter of urgency, the take off of the projects proposed by the foreign investors who have decided to choose Yorubaland as a destination for investment. Also, the Alaafin of Oyo was asked to approach the Federal Government of Nigeria for an aviation license for proposed Oduduwa Airlines, which the foreign investors want to start immediately. Interestingly however, the Oyo monarch has taken this issue as a personal challenge as he has assured of liaising with the six SouthWest governors and other major stakeholders to ensure that the scheme come alive soon.

The participants similarly agreed to open Oduduwa Trade Missions in major advanced countries in order to forge economic cooperation between states in Yorubaland and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in general and Dubai in particular. Other points of interest arrived at the convention include intensification of security checks on the menace of religious intolerance to ensure adequate safety in Yorubaland. It is noteworthy to say here that the international experts at the convention, which will be holding annually harped on the fact that they have enough financial muscle to embark on the various projects that they pushed forward, but with one proviso that the South-West region and Nigeria as a whole provide them an immediate enabling environment to ensure safety for their investment.

Oba Adeyemi was to held an intense closed door meeting with the international experts saddled with the responsibility of executing the projects with the aim of assuring them that he will keep the South-West governors abreast of the development at the convention and that the projects will be on first come first served basis.

Leaving the city of Dubai with its sprawling and magnificence edifices, one could not but be conscious that the Yoruba in Diaspora had chosen a good place to brainstorm on the resuscitation of the past glory of the Yoruba.

• Prince Aremu is the Chief Press Secretary to the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III.

Bayo Akinnola: Exit of a colossus

By Olusegun Agagu VEN at the ripe age of 78, the news of the E death of High Chief Bayo Akinnola, the Lisa of Ondo Kingdom came like a thunderbolt to scores of his relations, friends, business partners and acquaintances. We all would like him to live on because Baba Lisa in his entire lifetime exuded so much love, radiance, warmth, intellect and class. He was the darling of all everywhere he showed up because he dressed elegantly, spoke elegantly, and walked elegantly packing it all in a bundle of grace that was simply bemusing.

Yet in his strong, hefty and aristocratic frame was holed a very soft heart that cared so much for all who came across him.

Lisa lavished love on his family, giving his children the best education money could buy and taking them to the best of places around the world. He invited friends from far and near to share in the family joy as he brought us to his home year in year out.

Lisa cared very much for the weak as he mentored thousands of men and women of modest means in Ondo Kingdom and beyond in self-reliance. He would sit patiently with scores of cooperative societies for artisans, peasant farmers, market women and others in their class; training them in entrepreneurship and helping to finance many of their endeavours. He paid the school fees of hundreds of needy students.

Lisa nurtured friendship like no one I have ever known. He was not only quick to make

friends but also had a passion for pleasing them. He loved to entertain friends even at his own inconvenience. His home in Ibadan and Ondo were always a beehive of visitors: old and young being treated to his lavish hospitality. He really lived to his appellation of “ojo gbogbo bi odun”.

Just as Lisa enjoyed to play, his penchant for hard work was legendary. As my teacher at Ibadan Grammar School, executive at the Nigerian Tobacco Company, Commissioner in Government, service in the Ondo Kingdom Chieftaincy Council, official in clubs and societies and director on boards of companies and corporations, Chief Akinnola was a workaholic displaying spartan commitment and diligence. This he did until the final days of his life.

Lisa loved his Ondo Kingdom to no bounds. It was very inspiring to some of us who knew that he lived most of his adolescent and adult life outside of Ondo Kingdom to see him show so much commitment to the course of his people.

This was evident even to many of us nonOndos as we saw him spend hours working on the history of the Ekimoguns, streamlining the Chieftaincy institution in the kingdom. He spearheaded the construction of the magnificent Ondo Civic Centre as well as the establishment of the Wesley University. He encouraged Ondo sons and daughters towards excellence in their diverse callings and promoted the fortunes of the Kingdom everywhere he could. I must put it on record here that it was High Chief

Just as Lisa enjoyed to play, his penchant for hard work was legendary. As my teacher at Ibadan Grammar School, executive at the Nigerian Tobacco Company, Commissioner in Government, service in the Ondo Kingdom Chieftaincy Council, official in clubs and societies and director on boards of companies and corporations, Chief Akinnola was a workaholic displaying spartan commitment and diligence. This he did until the final days of his life.

Bayo Akinnola who pressurised me into appointing Dr. Olusegun Mimiko as the Secretary to the Government of Ondo State in 2003. He simply would not take ‘no’ for an answer, pleading that the highest political office an Ekimogun son or daughter had ever attained in the government of Ondo State as at that time was that of a ‘Commissioner’ and that the kingdom would cherish something higher. Although that appointment ran against the zoning formula of my party at that time, it was difficult to refuse Baba Lisa because of the love and support he had always showered on me over the years. And as it is commonly said, the rest is history.

Lisa loved his country, Nigeria. He believed that ours is one of the best-endowed nations in the world and was constantly pained that the quality of life of our people was still so poor. He strongly believed that with a better management of our affairs, Nigeria would rise to become one of the leading countries in the committee of nations. He would engage me for hours, even late into the night, on telephone and dur-

ing my visits to his Ondo home on how things could be better run in Ondo State and Nigeria. It is a shame that he never lived to see the Nigeria of his dream. We must pray that the tribe of men and women with Lisa’s kind of passion for Nigeria will multiply in this land. There lies the hope for a brighter tomorrow for our nation.

As Lisa goes home, we will miss him for his generosity and hospitality. We will miss his electrifying presence at public functions, especially his brilliance and eloquence. The Ondo community will miss a loving and dynamic leader. Ibadan Grammar School Old Students will miss the vivacious Bros Bayus.

The House of Lords, Nigeria, the Youth Christian Circle of the Cathedral of St. James, Ibadan, Ondo State Consultative Forum and several organisations God had blessed with the membership of his enigmatic personality will all miss High Chief Ilemobayo Oreoluwa Akinnola. I, my wife and my children will greatly miss Uncle B my teacher, friend, mentor, adviser, and hero.

• Dr. Agagu, CON, is former Governor of Ondo State.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

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

Telling lies with hand-phones In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent the Merciful “O you who believe! Fear Allah and be with the truthful ones” (alSadiqin)- (Quran 9:111) “Indeed, truth leads to virtue and virtue leads to Paradise, and a truthful person continues to speak the truth until he becomes the most truthful person. Lies lead to evil and evil leads to Hell, and a liar continues to lie until he is listed as a high ranking liar before Allah” - Prophet Muhammad

By Afis A. Oladosu RETHREN, how many times have you B told lies while hiding “behind” your hand-phones? Before we explore this, let me remind you that one feature of the Muslims’ life is the constant companionship they establish with the Quran. They are expected to listen to Allah through this important medium, the Quran. They do this by reading and re-reading the Glorious Book. Every reading of the Quran, no matter the number of times such is carried out often leads to, and should occasion, new discoveries.

Every reading and re-reading of the Quran should equally lead to the purification of the most important element in the human physiology – the soul. The latter is that subtle and sacred feature which humans share with their Creator. Each time you read the Qur’an, you get to know where you are spiritually and where you should be; each time you disconnect yourself from the Quran, you become a pawn in the hands of Shaytan.

The Prophet says the example of the believer who recites the Qur’an is like al-Utrujah, a popular seed in Arabia; its fragrance is good even as it tastes nice; the example of a believer who does not read the Qur’an is like a seed which has no fragrance but which tastes nice; the similitude of the hypocrite who recites the Qur’an is like Rayhanah seed, its fragrance is good while its taste is bitter; while the example of the hypocrite who does not read the Qur’an is like the seed of Hanzalah – it has no fragrance while its taste is bitter.

Reading the Quran some days ago, I became attentive to a very subtle but sublime aspect of human life, which perhaps represents the genus of contemporary ills plaguing all aspects of our society. This has to do with the evil of lying. Lying is an effect, the cause of which inheres in spiritual ailment. Once the human soul is plagued, once the soul is sick, the human agent becomes susceptible to the evil plans of Shaytan.

The man who is sick in spirit may be strong physically; the man who is ill spiritually, may be the most popular politician in town; the man who is ill in spirit might be the best speaker in town. Such men and women would, however, prefer the specious to the solid, the plausible to the truth, the ephemeral to the eternal, the profane to the sacred. The man or woman who is sick in spirit would be a compulsive liar; he would always tell and act a lie. Such men and women would want people to praise them, in line with the verse, which prefaces this sermon, for things they have not done. They would want people to adulate them for jobs they have been paid to do, they would want their fellow men and women to kow-tow to their wishes for, in their own estimation, they represent the crème-de-la-crème of the society.

Men and women liars abound in our political arena; they are found in the corridors of government’s offices. Every drop of blood in their veins has eyes that look downwards, tongues, which tell lies, and ears, which are attuned only to sycophancy.

But why do people tell and act lies? People often resort to lies out of fear; fear of the truth, fear of punishment for the evil they have done, fear of the loss of some privi-

leges and rewards. Our politicians tell a lot of lies because lying has become important regalia.

To be truthful and honest in politics appears to be the exact antithesis of the political game. Nicolo Machiavelli has even said that it is important for the Prince to be like a fox. In his estimation, public office makes lying an obligation and honesty an impossibility. Tad Williams says: “We tell lies when we are afraid... afraid of what we don’t know, afraid of what others will think, afraid of what will be found out about us. But every time we tell a lie, the thing that we fear grows stronger.”

Further, people tell lies in order to beguile and lead their fellow men and women to perdition and misery. Those who travel this pathway are actually following in the footsteps of Shaytan who deceived Prophet Adam and his wife (upon them be peace of Allah).

They eventually transgressed the bounds and limits set for them by their Creator.

Brethren, people tell and act lies in order to enjoy temporary and ephemeral pleasures and gains of this world. They tell and act lies in order to cover up their inadequacies, in order to measure up to a standard that is higher than that which Allah has placed them. For example, Nigerians who refer to public office holders as “Your Excellencies” are liars telling those acting lies what the latter prefer to hear.

Rasema, in his piece in Multaqa Ahl al-Hadith, says, “lying is against human nature and physiology, and like any other disease, it has its own unique signs and symptoms. The act of lying produces inner conflicts between various control centres of the brain. The moment one begins to lie, his body sends out contradictory signals to cause facial muscle twitching, expansion and contraction of pupils, perspiration, flushing of cheeks, increased blinking of the eye, tremors of the hand, and an increased heart rate.

These constitute the basis of lie detector instruments. In addition, certain unconsciously made movements are noticeable in those who lie, like the constant covering of the mouth, touching of the nose, rubbing of the eye, scratching the side of the neck, rubbing the ear, etc. One of the clearest signs is that the liar keeps his palms closed and his eyes in another direction to the person he is lying to, in an attempt to avoid eye-to-eye contact. A liar is aware of his body’s signals and finds lying easier when nobody can see him, such as when he is on the phone or writing.”

Rasema’s perspective calls attention to perhaps one of the most heinous forms of lying nowadays, namely lying with the handset.

The man on Lagos Island would tell his wife he is in Victoria Island. This form of lying essays the inability of the created to live in constant presence of the Creator; that to tell lies implies our denial unto Allah His attribute of hearing without ear, of seeing without eyes, of walking with us without legsSubhanah!!!

Brethren, the worst form of lying is to attribute unto Allah and His Messenger human qualities, which the Quran has expressly negated. Somebody asked the Prophet: “Which action makes the highest number of people the inmates of Hell?” He said: “Lying.

When a believer lies, he becomes prone to commit every other sin; and when this happens, he commits kufr (disbelief) which then makes him enter Hell.”

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

Sports ‘Delta FA Cup Final will be carnival’

You must work under Emenalo if you want Chelsea job, owner tells Mourinho OSE Mourinho has been Jworking told he will have to accept under Technical Director, Nigeria’s Michael Emenalo, if he wants to return to Stamford Bridge, reports Mirror of London.

Mourinho raised the hopes and expectations of the Blues fans that he was on his way “home” as he spoke warmly of the enduring “love” from the Chelsea faithful.

But while the “Special One” and his advisors have been involved in negotiations with the Chelsea hierarchy for months, his initial demands for “full control” have been rebuffed.

And that could still end up sending him in the direction of Paris St Germain, who have also held talks with his agent, Jorge Mendes, and are likely to bend over backwards to offer the 50-year-old a deal he wants.

Mourinho’s preferred option is to go back to Chelsea, six years after his rift with Roman Abramovich and the Blues board became irreparable.

The Portuguese knows that the Chelsea fans are demanding his return too, seeking the ultimate antidote to the reign of the detested Rafa Benitez.

Abramovich is ready to bankroll another spending spree to improve a squad acknowledged as not strong enough to win the Premier League, although the Russian will not cede his authority.

Since Mourinho left in 2007, the structure of the club has changed, with Emenalo in charge of player recruitment and involved in the ongoing negotiations to land Atletico Madrid striker, Radomel Falcao, and Andre Schuerrle from Bayer Leverkusen.

And although it seems that Mourinho is attempting to orchestrate a popular wave to bring him back to the Bridge in triumph, it has been made clear that both Emenalo and chief executive, Ron Gourlay, have Abramovich’s full support and backing.

Malaga coach, Manuel Pellegrini, is a live contender for the Blues job, while Borussia Dortmund’s Jurgen Klopp, David Moyes and former Chelsea favourite, Gianfranco Zola, are outside runners.

Mourinho, though, remains the most likely final choice, with the Portuguese’s camp now suggesting he would still be interested in the job even if Chelsea do not finish in the top four and therefore miss out on a Champions League place.

Benitez hinted at his disquiet at Mourinho’s public craving for his job when asked if the Portuguese had broken the manager’s “unwritten code” of conduct.

“Everybody has their own way,” snapped back Benitez.

“My way is to concentrate on the next game. That’s it.”

35th CBN Senior Tennis Open Championship

Sunday upsets Mbanu as Babalola, Lawal trudge on Also through to the quarter-

By Olalekan Okusan

HE first major upset was yesT terday recorded at the 35 Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)

th

Senior Open Tennis Championship when seeded Onyeka Mbanu was bundled out by unseeded Emmanuel Sunday in the second round of the men’s singles event.

Mbanu, who made it to the last four in the last two editions, was dazed when he fell in straight set of 4-6, 4-6 to Sunday.

An excited Sunday, had earlier defeated returnee Augustine Nwokedi in the first round and with Mbanu’s defeat, Sunday will be playing in the next stage of the competition.

In other matches, Clifford Enosoregbe beat Chimezie Onyejiaka 6-2, 6-0, while Nigeria’s number one player, Abdulmumuni Babalola also sailed to the quarterfinal stage after beating Kehinde Alade in the third round match.

Alade fell in two straight sets of 6-1, 6-2, while Samuel Omoile dismissed Michael Okechukwu.

finals is 2011 champion and tournament number four seed, Henry Atseye, who defeated another up-coming player, Moses Michael 6-2, 6-2 while Thomas Otu booked his last eight ticket with victory over Michael Eludoyin.

HE Warri City Stadium will T be carnival of football and music, come Sunday 5 May, th

2013, during the grand finale of the Delta State Federations Cup. The Federations Cup is the most glamorous and protected tournament in the calendar of the Delta State Football Association.

The Delta State FA under Amaju Pinnick, reputed for her prowess in organisation, showmanship and private – sector initiatives, has the longest football sponsorship deal in Nigeria with Ecobank (formerly Oceanic Bank), as this edition marks the 14th year of their relationship.

According to Pinnick, this year’s edition would witness the presentation of awards to individuals who have contributed immensely to the development of Sports in Delta State and Nigeria.

The recipients include veteran sports columnist, Mr. Paul Bassey (Football Personality Award), Pa John Ojidoh (Evergreen Award), Dr. John Oganwu (Lifetime Achievement Award) Ignatius Ajuonoma (Sports Journalist of the year) and Jibril Aku, MD of Ecobank (DFA Platinum Award).

Others include Senforce Insurance Brokers (DFA Brand Award), Hon. Victor Ochei (DFA Selfless Service Award), and Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, CON (DFA Diamond Award).

Warri Wolves will confront an amateur side, Atete FC in the final.

Emenalo

Ikhuoria blames boxing’s poor strides on ineffective management FORMER national boxing Coach, Isaac Ikhuoria yesterday attributed the country’s poor strides in the sport on ineffective management.

Ikhuoria, a 1972 Munich Olympic Games bronze medallist, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin that boxing is a “sleeping sport’’ that needed to be r e v i v e d .

The former amateur boxer said the decay in boxing was occasioned by what he called

A

putting ‘square pegs in round holes,’ adding that lack of regular competitions hindered the sport’s development.

According to Ikhuoria, managers of the sport, who only wait on government’s support before they do anything for the sport, were the bane of boxing.

Lamenting Nigeria’s failure to win a single medal at the last three Olympics, Ikhuoria recalled that “we also did not

win a gold medal in the last All African Games in Maputo, Mozambique, we only won four silver medals.

“Boxing as a sport is marketable and there are a number of corporate bodies that will want to get involved in such a sport if good proposals were written to them.

“But if you have people at the national level who don’t know what to do, then the standard of the sport will continue to decline.”

Colleagues, others’ absence at Yekini’s book launch saddens Siasia Eagles former SwasUPER Coach, Samson Siasia, who the late Rashidi Yekini’s teammate in the national team from 1985 to 1998, was a sad man in Ibadan yesterday during the lecture and launch of a book on the former national team star.

The event signaled the beginning of activities marking the Vitoria Setubal’s former striker demise.

But many of the expected guests, including Yekini’s former teammates did not show up for the event, prompting Siasia to question the attitude of Nigerians to their late patri-

ots.

Siasia, who was the only Yekini’s teammate at the event, said, “I am not pleased with the turnout here… I drove down here from Bayelsa State with the love, huge regard I have for late Yekini and high expectation of a befitting anniversary for him, but you can all see as this hall is scanty.

“People may still turnout for the memorial football match slated for him on Friday, but it is a shameful thing that a person of Yekini’s caliber is being treated in this nonchalant manner,” Siasia fumed.

Siasia said he missed Yekini’s camp jokes, just as he dispelled the belief in some quarters that the former 3SC star was an introvert.

At the occasion, Oyo State Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Dapo LamAdesina was conspicuously absent, while his Ogun State counterpart, Gbenga Otenuga, sent his Permanent Secretary, Wole Odejobi.

But Dr. Felix Owolabi and the Editor of SoccerStar newspaper, Kunle Solaja, who delivered papers at the event, as well as the first vice

President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Mike Umeh, spoke glowingly of Yekini, while urging active footballers to be conscious of their life after football.

The author of the book entitled: Rashidi Yekini: The Life and Times of Nigeria’s Goal King, Jubril Mohammed Olanrewaju, who doubled as counsel to the deceased, expressed his appreciation to the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Ibadan chapter, represented at the event by Dele Adegoke, a High Court Justice in Ibadan, Abass Moshood and a Magistrate, Olaide Hamzat, for gracing

200 NFSC members for Eagles’ Confederations Cup campaign HE Nigeria Football and T Other Sports Supporters Club says over 200 of its members are expected to support the Super Eagles to victory at the 2013 FIFA Confederation Cup in Brazil.

The competition will hold between June 16 and June 30 in six Brazilian cities, namely, Rio de Janeiro, Braselia, Fortaleza, Recifa, Salvedor and Belo Horizonte.

Secretary of the club, Samuel Ikpea, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Lagos that the club had, as usual, started the processing of visas for its members for international engagements.

“I want to assure all Nigerians that preparation are in top gear to storm Brazil with full force and cheer our Super Eagles to victory.

“We have been in the business for a long time and we are preparing to go to the embassy for visas, we pray everything works out fine at the embassy for us to go en m a s s e .

“We are going with the excitement of the Nations Cup victory, with the assurance that our almighty Eagles will surprise the world by lifting the trophy,” he said.

The secretary urged the team handlers and players to be determined, courageous and focused, stressing that they could lift the trophy despite all odds.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

SPORTS 55

Mba gets ‘provisional’ release from Warri Wolves, dropped at airport

By Gowon Akpodonor HE ownership tussle over Super Eagles star, Sunday Mba, partially came to an end yesterday, when the management of Warri Wolves released the player on what it termed ‘provisional ground’ to enable him play for Rangers FC in this weekend CAF Champions League match against Angola.

But Mba’s trouble seems to continue, as the coal city team (Rangers) was said to have flown out to Angola yesterday without him. Mba and another player, Emeka Ezeh were said to have been dropped at the Murtala Mohammed airport in Lagos due to passport hassle.

The management of Warri Wolves had granted Mba the ‘provisional’ release after a crucial meeting, which ended at about 11.00am yesterday.

In a letter by Wolves’ Secretary, Lawrence Omowho to the NFF titled, ‘provisional release of Mba Sunday to Rangers’ and made available to The Guardian yesterday stat-

T

ed that the management decided to release the player after listening to plea from well meaning Nigerians especially the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

Omowho, however, stated that Mba remains a player of Warri Wolves, adding that all financial and federating rights remain with Warri Wolves.

“The general public should also note that Warri Wolves is doing this in the interest of the Nation and also, not to put the career of Mba in jeopardy even though he has remained ungrateful.”

Meanwhile, Rangers flew out to Angola for a Champions League tie yesterday without Mba and Ezeh due to passport hassle.

Both players were on the final 18-man squad for tomorrow’s Champions league third round second leg match against Recreativo Libolo, but they were dropped at the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos yesterday afternoon after the German embassy refused to release their pass-

ports for them to travel to Angola.

Midfielder Ezeh told MTNFootball.com: “Mba and Ezeh did not travel with the rest of the squad to Angola because the German embassy in Lagos refused to release our passports for us to travel with it.

“I’m on my way back to Enugu now.”

Both Mba and Ezeh were among 12 players from local league who applied for entry visas last week to Germany ahead of a Super Eagles training camp in Germany, which begins on May 16.

In another last-minute change, defender, Ekene Iwuorie replaced Uche Oguchi at the Owerri airport and so was the one of the 16 players who finally flew out to Angola.

Rangers, Nigeria’s only surviving club on the continent this year, were held to a 0-0 draw in the first leg in Enugu.

The winners of this tie will advance to the money-spinning group phase of the Champions League.

Group plans Lagos Marina GP Street circuit OTORSPORT is gradually M becoming popular in Nigeria and a group, GRC Motorsport, is planning to stage a Street Circuit in Lagos soon.

The motor racing championship, which will be called Lagos Marina GP Street Circuit, will hold next year if the plans begun three years ago, come to reality.

An official of Nigeria Racing Eagle Principal, Ribi Adeshokan, on Wednesday in Lagos, while unveiling his team’s five African drivers disclosed, “a renowned street circuit designer was invited to Lagos three years ago to do the initial survey and Lagos Marina has been picked for the Street Circuit, which is similar to the one in Monaco.”

Adeshokan noted that one of the reasons GRC Motorsport wants to bring

Street Circuit to Lagos is that they noticed that MonacoStreet Circuit has been of great advantage to the residents of that city.

“Why not a similar tournament in Lagos to boost economic and tourism potentials of the city?

“The benefits of a Street Circuit in Marina, Lagos outweigh what we are expected to spend on the staging of that motor racing competition. It is expected that at least 10,000 jobs, both skilled and unskilled, would be created.

“For the tournament alone, 50,000 cars from the GT Series would be brought to Lagos with attending visitors of at least 10,000 people all over the world, who would be coming to Lagos to spend their hard currency,” he said.

He added, “income of at least $60 million would be

Babangida at Heineken Champions Planet warns Keshi against over-reliance on Emenike UPER Eagles former winger, Sadvised Tijani Babangida has the Super Eagles coaching crew not to be overly reliant on Emmanuel Emenike in the country’s quest for sustained glory.

The Atlanta 96’ Olympics soccer gold medallist was the ‘Legend of the Night’ at the Heineken Champions Planet during the second leg semifinal match of the UEFA Champions League. He told a parked gathering of invited guests and consumers that as a former football star, frequent injury to a player always has a lingering psychological effect.

He wished Emenike could get back as soon as possible but in his absence, he cautioned that Nigeria must face the challenge of finding a suitable replacement for the upcoming matches next month.

Emenike, who had been on the sidelines since the semifinal of the recent African Cup of Nations, returned to action last week. However, the attacker also known as

‘Spartacus,’ sustained an injury to his internal meniscus and partial damage to the internal lateral ligament of the knee, and is scheduled for arthroscopic surgery.

“We are in a precarious situation for the World Cup qualifying matches, with the FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil also in June.

“Having won the AFCON early this year, we have to sustain a high standard at global level. Nigeria is blessed with potential from where we must find a replacement pending the return of Emenike. Becoming overreliant on Emenike, who played a vital role in Super Eagles’ conquest at the last African Cup of Nations in South Africa, will equate us to a tag similar to the ‘No Messi, No Barcelona’ that the Catalan giants are currently living with now,” he commented.

Babangida was on his second visit to the Heineken Champions Planet and was delighted to be in the near-stadium environment that was created by Heineken.

generated during the period of the Street Circuit. We estimated that an average person would come to the country with nothing less than $6,000.

Some would come with their private jets, while most of them will stay in hotels.

“We believe that the focus of the motor racing world would be on Lagos during the period of the Street Circuit. There is no doubt that this would boost the city’s tourism potentials and a good image laundering for the country as a whole. Let me say that we can attract the right corporate sponsors for this tournament without taking any money from the government because motor racing is a big business.”

If the plans to stage the Lagos Marina GP eventually come to the reality, it would compete with other Street Circuits in Africa such Ain-Diab, Morocco (F1), Marrakech, Morocco (WTCC), Mellaha Lake, Libya and Durban, South Africa (A1GP).

The Racing Eagle drivers unveiled at the event include former Red Bull Test Driver, Adrian Zaugg from South Africa, Christian Ebong from Cameroon and Gugu Zulu from South Africa. The Nigerians in the crew are Sam Collins, Nathan Wright and Ovie Iroro.

Mba

Oshiomhole gives reasons for hosting Okpekpe Road race

By Gowon Akpodonor DO State Governor, Adams E Oshiomhole says Edo State is hosting the maiden Okpekpe Road Race, which will be attended by runners from France, Kenya, and Ethiopia, among other countries, because of the opportunities it would create for his people.

The race will hold tomorrow in Okpekpe community, about 20 km from Auchi, with the winner to get $25,000 as prize money.

Oshiomhole also said the road race would afford him the opportunity to showcase his work in the rural areas to Nigerians, Africans and the world.

The governor, who is 61, is expected to take part in the race.

“For me, it’s not about the profit or loss consideration. It is an opportunity for me as a person to show that even at 61, there’s life and that one has the gift of good health and fitness.

“As a governor, it offers me the opportunity to take the world to the typical rural part of Edo State. And this is particularly important because this is one area that ahs been abandoned for years. You can’t go there on a motorcar. It is simply impossible because it is hilly and mountainous. But we have converted those hills to a very beautiful scenario,” he said.

Oshiomhole added, “the last

time the Guild of Editors came, I told them that I was going to build a road there. To climb the hills was a tough task for them, but today, it is a level ground. We now have in our country the kind of scenes you find in California.

“So, we are saying to Nigerians and foreigners that Nigeria is not all about BokoHaram, 419, pension money being stolen and subsidy money being pocketed.

Wusu FC lifts Ogunnusi Unity Cup USU Football Club of W Ojokoro shocked the home team to lift the maiden Otunba Michael Abayomi Ogunnusi Unity Cup Football Championship at the expense of Optimal Football Club of Ifako Ijaiye on Wednesday.

Wusu FC defied all odds and ran away with late minutes goal by Abraham Sodimu to win a giant trophy and the prize money of N200,000 courtesy of the sponsor,

Sponsor and member, Federal House of Representatives, Abayomi Ogunnusi (centre); Chairman, Ifako Ijaiye Local Council, Toba Oke (left) and captain of Wusu FC, Gbemi Emmanuel during the final of the maiden Ogunnusi Youth Cup at Agege Stadium on Wednesday.

Abayomi Ogunnusi, a member of the Federal House of Representatives, representing Ifako Ijaiye Constituency. The runners up was given the sum of N150,000.

The final ceremony, which was carnival-like was attended by the Chairman of Ifako Ijaiye Local Government, Toba Oke, obas and chiefs of the community, political associates, as well as, supporters of the sponsor who trooped out in their numbers to the Agege Stadium venue of the final.

Sponsor, Ogunnusi was very happy with the success of the tournament, which featured 16 teams. “I’m very happy to see youths of my constituency showcasing their God-given talents this way. It has always been my belief that if the youths can be engaged positively, the community would be at peace. This is just a tip of the iceberg of numerous programmes I have for my people and indeed the youths of this constituency.

“I want to assure that the tournament will be a continuous one and it would grow to become a bigger tournament with exciting packages,” he said.

Chairman of Ifako Ijaiye council, Toba Oke described the gesture of Otunba Ogunnusi to sponsor the competition with attractive prize money as an innovation that will lift the morale of the youths.

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday May 3, 2013

SPORTS | 57

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Tottenham holds on to Bale NDRE Villas-Boas says he A has been assured that Gareth Bale will stay with Tottenham this summer even if the club does not qualify for the Champions League.

Bale is enjoying the best season of his career and his stock rose even further when he was named Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers’ Association.

The news, which came four days after he did the double at the Professional Footballers’ Association awards, mean he is the only player other than Cristiano Ronaldo to win the FWA Footballer of the Year, the PFA Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year prizes in the same season.

Last week Villas-Boas, whose team currently sit in fifth despite Bale’s 19-goal haul in the Barclays Premier League, sparked fears that the Tottenham forward could leave the club this summer if the team do not make the top four.

But today the Spurs manag-

er claimed his comments had been misunderstood.

The Portuguese insists that the 23-year-old Welshman will remain at White Hart Lane this summer even if the team fail to qualify for the competition which Bale admitted on Sunday night that he misses playing in so much.

“The information that I have from the club, which was mistakenly written about last week, is that the player is here to remain, independent of the objectives of Champions League qualification being achieved or not,” Villas-Boas told a press conference.

“I would be extremely surprised (if he left). In football anything can happen. It’s impossible to predict, but this is the assurance I have had from the club.

“We understand that the more awards the more recognition the player will have, the more media attention, but the club has to move forward by holding onto its best players.

Gerrard backs Suarez to stay

Suarez IVERPOOL Captain, Steven LSuarez Gerrard believes Luis will stick with the club next season because he will be desperate to make up for his 10-match ban.

The Uruguay international sits out this weekend’s Merseyside derby as he serves the second match of his lengthy suspension - likely to keep him out until late September - for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic.

That punishment increased speculation the 26-year-old would look to leave England in the summer but Gerrard sees it differently.

“Luis has done the right thing by appologising and taking his medicine,” said the England captain, who confirmed he will need an operation on a troublesome shoulder injury this summer, which is likely to rule him out of internationals against the Republic of Ireland and Brazil.

“He’s really unhappy he can’t help the team, and he was really down when the ban came through. But once he is back from his ban we will be the ones that benefit.

“Luis will want to make it up to the club and the team that

he has been out for so long.

He will be desperate to atone for that. I don’t think that what’s happened to Luis will affect him much in terms of his future.

“Maybe one day we will have to accept that Luis wants to move on, and that will be his decision. But I don’t see any signs of it at the moment. Luis has been really happy here at Liverpool and he seems settled here. I don’t see him wanting to leave right now.”

Suarez’s absence denied the Reds their 30-goal striker but the rest of the players stepped up in their 6-0 win at Newcastle with Daniel Sturridge and Jordan Henderson both scoring twice.

While Liverpool were overreliant on Suarez in the first half of the season, Sturridge’s arrival in January helped spread the load, especially as Fabio Borini was ruled out for more than two months with a dislocated shoulder in February.

However, Gerrard knows they will have to strengthen further up front in the summer.

“With the recognition and the further experience that he has had from this year, next year for Tottenham he will be even more assertive.”

Bale’s progress this year has not gone unnoticed by Real Madrid, but Villas-Boas and Chairman, Daniel Levy are digging their heels in over the player’s future.

Villas-Boas added, “whatever price tag the player has doesn’t matter to us because he’s our player.

“He’s a player we have to hold onto for the remaining seasons to make sure that we reach our objectives and continue to progress as a club.”

Newcastle United boss denies rift EWCASTLE Manager, Alan N Pardew insists any rumours of a rift in the squad are untrue and “conspiracy theories.”

Reports suggested a falling out amongst the squad after a 6-0 loss to Liverpool but players Papiss Cisse and Cheick Tiote have denied any problems.

“As far as I am concerned, the group is very much together, pulling together trying to get a result,” Pardew said.

“The fact that we have a lot of French players has been torn up and made to be something else. There is no problem.”

He added, “there have not been words that were out of tone or were in a different place. We talked about football, what it is about and how important it is to this football club to get a win quickly.

“I think everyone is focused on that. Some of the reporting has been terrible really, but there is nothing we can do about it.

“We can’t stop it. When you get a result like that people are looking for all sorts of conspiracy theories. The truth of it is that we are where we are because we have not been good enough, particularly away from home.”

Bale

Mourinho’s return would be ‘spectacular,’ AVB admits NDRE Villas-Boas has A described the potential return of Jose Mourinho to the Premier League as “spectacular.”

The former Chelsea boss is expected to leave Real Madrid this summer and has made no secret of his desire to return to England, saying this week it is

where he feels loved.

Chelsea are favourites to resign their former boss, with Rafael Benitez’s short-term contract up at the end of the season.

Tottenham manager VillasBoas worked under his Portuguese countryman at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan, and he believes Mourinho is likely to have a position lined up.

Villas-Boas said, “he obviously wants to come back to England, whether he has a club aligned or not, we never know.

“It’s extremely unlikely when someone makes it that public that something is not set out already but he is a great addition to the Premier League. He has a wonderful history in this league and I think it will be spectacular to have him back.”

Mourinho has won a significant haul of trophies at all his clubs but has found it most difficult at Madrid.

Defeat over two legs against Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals means the

Champions League will once again elude the Spaniards this season, and Villas-Boas acknowledged Mourinho probably has not lived up to expectations.

The Spurs boss said, “when he left (England) he wasn’t that well loved by a few of you guys (the media) and that was something we talked about.

“He was loved in all the clubs where he has won titles, in Real Madrid the same. There is maximum respect for what he has achieved, but for it to be at the level of Real Madrid’s expectancy, we will never know. Probably not, but he certainly has won a league against a dream Barcelona team, which is a great achievement.”

West Brom Manager, Steve Clarke and Swansea’s Michael Laudrup would both welcome Mourinho’s return to the Premier League.

Clarke was assistant manager to the 50-year-old at Chelsea, but he insisted, “I don’t know if he’s coming or not, that’s the truth.”

Martinez welcomes Villa revival IGAN boss, Roberto W Martinez insists Aston Villa’s good form is good

Mourinho

news for his side in their bid to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

Villa cut Latics five points adrift of safety at the foot of the table with a stunning 6-

1 win over Sunderland on Monday.

Paul Lambert’s side has now won four of their last seven games and have better momentum than any of the sides still in danger of the drop.

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

Heroes Of He has played, taught, written and administered tennis within and outside Nigeria. This wealth of knowledge about the sport, perhaps explains why Jacob Akindele speaks tennis with gusto. Call him Nigeria’s Mr. Tennis and you won’t be far off the mark. Akinidele’s foray into sports began at Ebenezer African Church School, Oke Ado Ibadan, Oyo State in 1958, where he played football and table tennis. At King’s College in Lagos, he met with a potpourri of sporting disciplines to pick from. He bit a mouthful and settled for eight representing the school in most of them. The visit of two American Davis Cup players, Alan Fox and Donald Dell in 1963, helped him finally settle down with tennis. He represented Lagos State before traveling for further studies in the United States in 1969. At Southampton College, U.S, Akindele became the number one player and captain of the team in 1971. He also played soccer for the university and was awarded Best All-round Athlete in 1971 in the school and also received the United States’ President’s Award for Tennis in 1973. As a reporter, he won the tennis tournament for media at the U.S. Open in 1998 and 1999. The former chairman, Ogun State Lawn Tennis Association, had also served as manager of Nigeria’s Davis Cup team and tournament director, Lagos ATP Tennis Classic from 1983 to 88. Sharing his experiences with ENO-ABASI SUNDAY, he maintained that efforts of many individuals contributed to making Nigeria a strong tennis nation way back.

With the right leadership and contacts in place, he said bringing back the good days was not impossible.

Jacob Akindele: Thoroughbred tennis teacher, connoisseur, administrator HEN his journey into the world of sports began at Ebenezer African W Church School Oke Ado, Ibadan, Oyo State in 1958, Jacob Akindele, had no idea how far the flight would go. But 50 years later, he is happy with the

Akindele

outcome.

Not only is he blessed with good health on account of his life-long participation in sport, he has also remained guided by the concept of “play hard, but fair,” handed him and his contemporaries by Mr. Omo-Osagie, Kings College, erstwhile games master, who in his bid to instill discipline and encourage fair play, maintained that if one cheats in a sporting endeavour, his conscience will bother him so much he could lose the contest. This, he said, really contributed to his approach to life and belief in the fact that justice is important.

Akindele started playing football and table tennis in his primary school. At King’s College Lagos, he took part in boxing, athletics and played field hockey, football, table tennis, squash racquets, cricket and lawn tennis.

“My talents in sports were developed at King’s College, Lagos from 1962 to 1968. In my alma mater, sports were highly structured and there was sufficient equipment for all sporting activities. Students were also tutored in the basics of the major sporting disciplines and sporting activities were given ample time except on Wednesdays, which was set-aside for the different societies to hold their meetings.

However, he later whittled down his participation in sporting events. For instance, “I chose hockey over football and was a good wicket keeper that hit over 50 runs in one test match. I represented my school against other secondary schools and major clubs in Lagos. I also played squash as preparation for moving to lawn tennis in Form Three. In boxing, I represented King’s College but had to quit the sport after a competition with Oko Awo Boxing Club, because I knew my mother would be unhappy at my participation in such a brutal sport.

“During our days in King’s College, there was also the Esso Cup that we competed for. It was an annual secondary school tennis competition, sponsored by Esso Oil Company. Our senior colleague at the time, Ray Apantaku, won the cup many years and eventually got a scholarship to attend Colby College, Maine, U.S., while I also became focused on lawn tennis in my senior years. However, during our time, Hilary Cardoso of St. Gregory’s College won the competition many years.

Shedding light on how the visit of the American duo of Dell and Fox benefitted his tennis career, he said, “it helped me develop my tennis because I was one of the students picked from secondary schools in Lagos State for the two-day coaching exercise hosted by the American stars.

Having sacrificed football for field hockey, Akindele did not have a great career in football as he did in tennis, where he represented Lagos State. But this was not the case when he went to the United States for tertiary education.

He recalled, “I did not have a football career in Nigeria. But at Long Island University, I played football and my position was on the outside right.

Richard Nzimiro was an all-American player who joined us from Elmira College, together with George Velasco of Bolivia. At the commencement of professional soccer league in the U.S., Richard was recruited for the New York Cosmos after a trial at Hofstra College, but opted to go to Syracuse University to study for his Master of Business Administration degree. We were the top team in our Eastern Conference of the NCAA, and we made the playoff in 1970. Together with being the number one player in the University tennis team, and the second best table tennis player, I was given the Award of the Best All-Around Athlete in my final year in 1971.

On what sustained his interest and that of his peers in sports in those days, he said, “our interest was sustained because each student had become proficient in one sport or the other. Secondly, there were regular inter-house and inter-college competitions as well as the annual competition between King’s College and Achimota College, Ghana. This took place alternately between the two countries.

Looking back at his active days in school sports, Akindele said one moment still stands out as his most memorable moment. And this was the moment I jumped over 20ft in long jump”, while his “worst moment was when a cricket ball hit the bone of my right eye while I used the bat to prevent the ball from hitting another person, who did not know the ball was coming at him.”

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

School Sports Other than laurels and honours, which he won in the course of his sporting odyssey, the founding member of the United States Tennis Writers Association said he was also taught the importance of hard work, fair mindedness and strong determination to succeed.

Speaking on how participation in sports early in life has affected his life, he said once a student excelled in a particular sport in King’s College, he had to submit to a strict regime of diet, exercise and medical checks with a view to achieving a balanced life of academics and sports.

Also, students representing the College in competitions such as Zard Cup (later called Principal Cup in Football), were placed on a special diet rich in protein.

“On the social plane, the benefits of sports participation are abundant. For instance, I have made many contacts in Nigeria and across the world through sports. Also in 1987, I met Mark McCormack at Wimbledon Tennis Championships and that was how I started representing Transworld Sports/ International Management Group (IMG) in Nigeria. IMG now manages the Williams sisters as well as being the outfit that bought over Tennis Week Magazine where I worked in New York from 1999 to 2004.

While schooling abroad, sports remained an integral part of Akindele’s daily life. “At Southampton College, I was the number one player and captain of the team in 1971. Having also played soccer for the university, I was given the award of Best All-round Athlete in 1971. I received the United States’ President’s Award for Tennis in 1973. I played in the United States Tennis Association (USTA) tournaments and was ranked among the top 25 in the Eastern Division. I played mixed doubles with Lindsey Beaven of Great Britain in the United States Open Tennis Championships in 1974, the last year it was played on grass courts. I played in the 1971 United States Amateur Grass Court tournament at the Meadow Club, Southampton.

Earlier in 1971, the ace tennis administrator taught the sport as coach at his alma mater, the Southampton College, Long Island University and was coach of the varsity team. The following year, he moved to the Port Washington Tennis Academy, working under Harry Hopman and Tony Palafox as one of the instructors, who coached many young players, including Buddy Gallagher, Barbara Goldman, Peter Rennert, Jimmy Gurfein, Molly Van Nostrand, John Van Nostrand, John McEnroe, Patrick McEnroe, Ruta Gerulaitis, Kathy Dalton, Michelle Weiss, David Breitkopf, Fritz Buehning and Mary Carillo. Both John and Patrick McEnroe became captains of the United States Davis Cup team.

“Port Washington introduced me into the mainstream of tennis and I knew all the top male and female players in the world at the time. On leaving Port Washington in 1974, I also taught at Total Tennis Club, Deer Park, the Woodbury Racquet Club and Glen Cove Racquet Club, all on Long Island New York. I also taught at the East River Tennis Club, Long Island City. I was the assistant professional at the Village Club of Sands Point in the summer of 2000.

I had worked also at Shelter Rock Tennis Club in Manhasset and was the head professional and director of tennis at the Millbrook Golf & Tennis Club in 1999,” Akindele stated.

On his return to Nigeria in 1976, he became involved with the administration of tennis in the country. “I was the tournament director for the ATP Challenger (the Lord Rumens Lagos Tennis Classic) from 1983 to 1993; secretary of Nigeria’s Davis Cup Committee and led the team consisting of Nduka Odizor, David Imonitie, Sadiq Abdullahi and Tony Mmoh to Algeria, Tunisia, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Austria in 1986, 1987 and 1988. Alhaji Raheem Adejumo was chairman of Nigerian Lawn Tennis Association and Justice Demola Bakare was Chairman of the Davis Cup Committee, which included Mr. Thompson Onibokun, the nonplaying captain.

Akindele, a strong advocate of private sector involvement in sports development and sponsorship, is of the opinion that all over the world, the tennis federation of each country is run by individuals, who are passionate about the sport, because they grew through the various levels of playing. That has not been the lot of Nigeria in the past 16 or so years.

Said he, “From 1986 to 1989, Nigeria was the top African country in tennis with Nduka Odizor, David Imonitie, Sadiq Abdullahi, Tony Mmoh and later Kyrian Nwokedi. Many factors contributed to the growth of tennis and the emergence of a strong team in 1986. For instance, there was the devoted effort of Chief Jaiye Ojeikere and coach Egbuson in Bendel State,

Akindele during a past tournament

From 1986 to 1989, Nigeria was the top African country in tennis with Nduka Odizor, David Imonitie, Sadiq Abdullahi, Tony Mmoh and later Kyrian Nwokedi. Many factors contributed to the growth of tennis and the emergence of a strong team in 1986. For instance, there was the devoted effort of Chief Jaiye Ojeikere and Coach Egbuson in Bendel State, which produced many great players like Rotimi Akinloye and his brother Segun which produced many great players like Rotimi Akinloye and his brother Segun. We had Alhaji Adewale in Kaduna, who produced good players including Bullus Husseini. In Lagos, Lawrence Awopegba as national coach raised many good players, like Kehinde Ajayi, Remi Osho, George Adeyemi and David Johnson. Mr. Thompson Onibokun, in Oyo State, produced Segun Balogun. In Lagos, Alhaji Raheem Adejumo, who was chairman, Nigeria Lawn Tennis Association, spent his personal money on tennis and had other influential tennis enthusiasts like Alhaji A. O. G. Otiti, Mr. Allison Ayida, Mr. Ime Ebong, Dr Olusola Saraki, Rev. (Canon) Odukoya, Chief Frank Ozomah, Chief Nkem Agbanusi, Dr. Akinsete, Prince Seyi Lufadeju, Nsibong Ekong, Mr. Peter Thomas and Chief Ben Ezeibe giving support.

“In particular, Chief Olatunji Ajisomo Alabi provided N50, 000 (US$75,000 at the time) every year for five years, to ensure that top level international tennis competitions were staged in Nigeria. In 1975, he was also been responsible for bringing the top tennis players at the time, on the World Championship Tour (WCT) to play in Lagos but the tournament ended abruptly at the semi-final stage as a consequence of the military coup that led to the death of Gen. Murtala Muhammed. As a host Nation, we had four Wildcard spots in each year’s Lord Rumens Lagos Tennis Classic (1983 to 1988). This gave our players high-level competition on our shores, he stated.

Akindele continued, “The interest and support of these eminent Nigerians, with their contacts internationally, ensured that our good junior players, who had the academic records like Odizor, Imonitie, Mmoh, Abdullahi, were sent to

With Tunde Oremule

at Wimbledon Tenn is Championships

in 1984

the US for university education on tennis Scholarship.”

Asked to proffer ways of returning Nigeria to winning ways in tennis, Akindele, who from his extensive involvement with the game for over 50 years, with many friends among the players, officials and administrators in tennis all over the world, said that a lot still need to be done before the glory days can be brought back.

For instance, he is of the opinion that forging partnerships with relevant bodies and corporate bodies, may prove a worthwhile venture since inputs in the game, especially equipment remain quite expensive. He is also of the view that if the right calibre of leadership were put in place, getting equipment for youth development would be a great step forward.

He gave an example, “In 1997, when the Arthur Ashe Tennis Stadium was opened, the United States Tennis Association initiated the “Grow Tennis” Programme, in conjunction with the Tennis Industry Association (TIA), the US Professional Tennis Association (USTA) and the US Professional Tennis Registry. It was purely business-driven, as they needed many more people to play the game so they could sell rackets, balls and clothing. When Americans bought new rackets, they didn’t know what to do with the old ones. The TIA had thousands of such rackets. Being present, I suggested that they look towards Africa, where children wanted to play tennis, but had no equipment. The then President of USTA, Dr Harry Marmion, was also the President of Southampton College, Long Island University, when Richard Nzimiro and I were students there. So a meeting was scheduled and the TIA said it would make available

2000 used rackets right away, but I would have to arrange shipment from their US office to any countries in Africa. Most of these rackets were ferried to Zimbabwe, when the US Davis Cup team played in Harare in 2000. In a big Ceremony, the rackets were received by Paul Chingoka, then President of Zimbabwe Tennis Federation. At the event, John McEnroe and the Americans were so surprised to see young boys playing tennis with barefoot.

However, Andre Agassi got Nike Company to donate 2000 pairs of tennis shoes to Zimbabwe.

“Some of the racquet were shipped to Port Harcourt Tennis Club and the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF), at the time was not responsive to efforts to include them in the largesse.

But such offers still abound. We need such gestures to provide equipment for young boys and girls to learn the game.

Born on June 15, 1949, Akindele, a father of two who still plays competitive tennis till date, graduated with a BA degree in Economics in 1971 and later obtained the Master of Business Administration degree from Adelphi University in 1975.

The founding member of the United States Tennis Writers Association, has been accredited to cover Wimbledon Tennis Championships every year since 1985 and filed reports for Daily Times, The Guardian, The Comet and West African News based in New York City.

He also assisted Gene Scott to distribute Tennis Week magazine when it was launched in 1974 and was the subject of the Editorial Page article “Vantage Point” in the edition of August 3, 1974.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

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SchoolSports Milo Secondary School Basketball Championship

Katsina, Zamfara berth in grand finale

By Olalekan Okusan ATSINA and Zamfara secured their places in the grand finale of this year’s Milo Secondary Schools Basketball championships after emerging winners at the Confluence Conference final held in Lokoja, Kogi State.

To lift the trophy in Lokoja, Katsina boys’ team waded off stiff opposition from their Adamawa counterpart to win the final 35 – 33 points, while in the girls’ event, it was a dramatic turnaround for Zamfara, who came from a six point deficit in the first quarter to topple Kano State girls 128 in the final.

The Kano girls’ who are the zone’s two-time finalist were double-crossed by Zamfara, who leveled up in the second quarter while the keenly-con-

K

tested fourth quarter ended 12:8 in favour of Zamfara.

The Kogi State Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Grace Elebiyo said the people of Kogi were overwhelmed by the opportunity avail them to host the championship, despite the increasing security challenges in the region.

Elebiyo, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Austin Onubi commended the efforts of the sponsors, Nestle Milo Plc at developing sporting talents in Nigeria, stressing that the state will look forward to hosting Nestle Milo championships in the upcoming years.

“Kogi is a peaceful state and good home for sporting activities, as our governor Idris Wada for love for sports approved and funded this event,” she said.

Brand Manager, Nestle Milo Plc, Mrs. Funmi Osineye described the year’s edition of the Milo Secondary Schools Basketball Championship as a “champions dunking time”, hinted that a record of 7000 schools are participating in the annual tourney.

Among dignitaries presents were the Chief Judge, Justice Nasiru Ajanah, Commissioner of Sports Puke Anthony, Commissioner of Education, Mrs. Elebiyo grace represented

by Mr. Austin Onubi, Sports Ministry Mr. Peter Abu among others.

Meanwhile, Chief Judge of Kogi State, Justice Nasiru Ajanah announced a special cash donation of N50, 000 for Borno state schools participating in the Championship.

The Kogi State top judiciary officer made public his donation at the finals of the Milo Schools Basketball Championship with intent of appreciating the presence of participants from Borno, who despite the increasing security challenges in the state, still honoured the event in Lokoja.

Justice Ajanah, who is a national patron of Basketball Federation of Nigeria, said the donation was his widow’s mite to support the grassroots sports development activities of Nestle Milo for their laudable efforts to developing sports.

Players jostle for ball during the Confluence Conference final held in Lokoja at the weekend.

Greensprings School wins Manchester Easter Cup

By Olalekan Okusan HE efforts of Greensprings T School at grooming quality footballers have started yield-

Greensprings players jubilate after lifting the Manchester Easter Cup in England

P&G donates sporting equipment to schools LEADING consumer goods A company, Procter & Gamble, is donating sporting materials to 3,000 children in 40 schools across Nigeria as part of its commitment to sports development under its 10 yearInternational Olympic Committee (IOC) partnership.

The company is donating equipment ranging from jerseys and footballs to first aid kits, amongst other items.

The donations started on March 4, this year and will end next month.

The schools which have already benefited from the gesture are; Sonmori Senior Comprehensive High School, African Church Grammar School and Fagba Junior Grammar School, all in Lagos.

In the Eastern part of the country, Mea Matter Elizabeth High School, Bethel Home Convent and Union

Boys Secondary School in Enugu also received donations.

Brand Communications Manager, P&G Nigeria, Miss Ngozi Coker said, “we are donating to 3,000 children pan-Nigeria because we believe that our future athletes have to be given the right equipment to succeed.”

She added, “specifically, we are thanking the Nigerian public for joining us to make these donations possible. The donations are as a result of the “Buy one pack of any P&G product and help improve sports in your child’s school” campaign, which we ran in April and May 2012 leading up to the London 2012 Olympics.”

In addition to the donations, P&G has completed a complete overhaul of the sporting facilities at Mea Matter Elizabeth High School,

ing positively, as the school in far away United Kingdom (UK) emerged winner in the boys’ U10 event of the Manchester Easter Football Cup. The competition, which was played at Stockport Sports Village in Stockport, is a six-asix football tournament organised by EuroWorld Sports, a UKbased sports marketing firm.

Greensprings boys were drawn in Group A alongside Huddersfield YMCA and Crosfields JFC team A and to top the group Greensprings won all their group matches.

The Lagos-based team defeated Huddersfield YMCA 4-3 and

also beat Crosfields JFC 2-1 to berth in the final against the top team in Group B. In the final tie, Greensprings overcame Firhouse Carmel of Ireland 3-1 to lift the trophy in the cadre.

The team made up of Olaoluwa Ogunmakin, Dolapo Morakinyo, Tise Odojukan, Chukwuemeka

Ehidom, Ilekuoba Uhunoma among others mesmerised their opponents to make the country proud.

However, the school U-11 team was unlucky in their matches as they were beaten in all their matches at the championship.

According to the head of delegation, Oluseyi Oyebode, the

students exhibit sportsmanship spirit and they conducted themselves throughout the championship.

Aside the tournament, the students also toured English Premiership sides like Arsenal, Manchester City while they were also part of the clinic organised by Manchester City.

Trip to Spain thrills Delta Governor’s Cup finalists

By Gowon Akpodonor HOUGH, their main focus is on the May 27 final in Warri, but for players of the four semi finalist schools in the Delta Governor’s Cup competition, a trip to Spain will be a memo-

T

rable one.

Organisers of the maiden Delta Governor’s Cup competition concluded last week that the winner would undergo a playing tour in Spain, which may take the young lads to Camp Nou home ground of FC

Athletes compete at the inter-house competition of Covenant Seeds Nursery and Primary School in Lagos.

Barcelona and the Bernabeu of Real Madrid. The final is fixed for May 27, which is Children’s Day celebration.

The last four schools standing in the race will file out for the semifinal on May 22 at Agbor and Oleh Township Stadium, while the third place match will hold on May 24 at the newly completed Sapele Township Stadium.

While giant killers, Comprehensive Secondary School, Ogwashi-Uku, will knock horns with Edjekota Secondary School, Ughelli in one of the semi-final matches at the Agbor Stadium, Dom Domigoes School, Warri and Alegbo Secondary School, Effurun will play in the second semi-final at Oleh Stadium. The final will hold at the Warri City Stadium.

Apart from the playing tour in Europe, the champion will also pocket N2 million in addition to a brand new school bus. The second position will also have a brand new school bus and one million cash prize, while the third position will have a school bus and N500,000.00.

SPORTS | 61

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

Battle for points continues in DSTV Basketball League

Nigerian Army eyes 2014 National Sports Festival

By Adeyinka Adedipe CTION will resume today in A the DSTV Premier Basketball League with Police

Kaduna hosts Army Combat Sports Games From Ezeocha Nzeh, Abuja HE Nigerian Army plans to recall all its sportsmen and women competing for the various states to form a squad that would take part in the 2014 edition of the National Sports Festival, billed for Calabar, Cross River State.

The decision, it disclosed, was borne out of its resolve to return the Nigeria Army to the top of the country’s sports, adding that its officers have been winning laurels for the various states in the festival.

The army, which stressed the need for the repositioning of sports in the country, added that it would keep its athletes in a special training camp because it wants to win the festival, and also identify its talents that it would groom for international championships.

Speaking in Abuja yesterday, Chairman of the Main Organising Committee (MOC) of the maiden Nigerian Army Combat Sports Games, scheduled for Kaduna between May 20 and 24, Major General Kenneth Minimah, disclosed that the Nigeria Defence Academy, Kaduna, has been picked to host the games, adding that the competing formations include the First Division, Kaduna, Second Division,

T

The objective is the discovery of new and young athletes in boxing, judo, taekwondo and wrestling.

Ibadan, Third Division, Jos, the 81st Division, Lagos, the 82nd Division, Enugu and the Army headquarters Garrison in Abuja.

The chairman, who is also the commander of the Infantry Corps of the Nigerian Army, revealed that only four combats sports would feature at the games in both the male and female categories, adding that the boxing event is restricted to 10 bouts.

“The Nigerian Army has recorded certain individual and collective achievements in the country’s sports. That is why the Chief of Army Staff wants to consolidate on these achievements to rejuvenate sports with the decision to conduct the first ever-combat sports competition.

“The objective is the discovery of new and young athletes in boxing, judo, taekwondo and wrestling. These athletes would be nurtured to prominence and hopefully make Nigeria proud at the next Olympics Games,” he stated.

A Delta State athlete doing the long jump during the Eko 2012 National Sports Festival. The Nigerian Army plans to withdraw its athletes from the states ahead of the Canaan City 2014 edition of the festival. PHOTO: FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI.

Batons taking on Comets at the sports hall of the National Stadium, Lagos in the opening game.

Police Baton won one of the two games against Islanders last weekend and will be hoping to consolidate by winning the two games against Comet this weekend.

However, Comets are pressed for points after losing their two games against Union Bank last weekend.

Union Bank will also take on Islanders today and tomorrow as the chase for points continue. Union Bank has four points from two victories and will be looking to garner more points in this weekend’s game.

Nigeria Customs will also take on new comers, Oluyole

Warriors on Saturday and both teams will square up again on Sunday.

For the new comers, they will have to be at their best to take home points from these games as the customs are plotting to get the four points at stake.

The star match of the weekend in the Atlantic Conference will take place in Port Harcourt where Royal Hoopers and Dodan Warriors lock horns.

Hoopers sent Dodan Warriors packing in the semi final of the Final Eight last season and the Warriors will hope to avenge the defeat.

Hoopers have lost most of its reliable players but coach Ogor Odaudu is still upbeat that his team can withstand the firepower of Dodan Warriors. For Warriors, they would be spurred by the defeats they inflicted on Customs last weekend and will rely on their young players to deliver the points.

NNL bans Zamfara United, as NWPL postpones games HE Nigeria National T League (NNL) yesterday in Abuja slammed a fourmatch home ban on Zamfara United of Gusau for acts of misdemeanour by its fans, reports the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

NNL Secretary, Ayo Rahman said the club would now play its next four home matches in Bauchi, adding, “due to the inability of the Zamfara State Football Association to adequately handle the security situation during the club’s week 17 match last week in the Group A of the NNL competi-

tion, we have decided to take action as necessary.

“The unsportsmanlike behaviour of the home team’s supporters has forced the NNL Secretariat to take action, as stipulated in the competition’s rules and regu l a t i o n s . ’ ’ Rahman added that the disciplinary action was in line with Article 2.9 (1) one of the rules guiding the league.

“In addition to that, Zamfara United FC is also fined the sum of N50,000 for not providing a stretcher during the match,’’ he said.

Zamfara United is current-

ly at the bottom of the NNL Group A table with 16 points from 17 matches.

Meanwhile, the secretariat of the Nigeria Women Professional League (NWPL) has postponed all the Week 9 matches for the state Federation Cup finals, as directed by the Nigeria Football Association.

A statement by the Secretary of the league board, Isaac Ajisafe, directed all clubs to begin their mid-season break immedia t e l y .

It said the finals of the Federation Cup would be

played on May 5, while the week 9 matches have been rescheduled to May 29.

Postponement is in accordance with the directive from the NFA that the 2013 Federation Cup state finals (both male and female), be played on May 5.

“Consequently, the women’s professional league fixtures for Week 9 matches earlier slated for May 4 and May 5 have been rescheduled and would be played on May 29,’’ it said.

The statement said that the league would resume on May 25 with Week 10 fix-

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

62

Golf Weekly Oboh to prepare for Callaway World Championship at Leadbetter Golf Academy FFORTS at preparing teen E sensation, Georgia Oboh, for a rewarding professional career in future, will receive a great boost as she enrolls for a summer camp next month at the David Leadbetter Golf Academy.

The exercise will be just in time to prepare her for the Callaway World Golf Championships, which she qualified to play in San Diego, California, United States from July 14 to 19th.

The Academy, run by the International Management Academy (IMG), has produced such world-class athletes as Paula Creamer (golf), Maria Sharapova, Andre Agassi, Serena and Venus Williams (tennis) amongst others.

Speaking in an interview with The Guardian, mother of the teen star, Mrs. Evelyn Oboh said, “ideally, Georgia should be in a golf school from age 12 to 16 years in order to get the training required for a professional career. She has had offers from several of these schools and we now want her to attend the world famous David Leadbetter Academy in order to immerse herself with other young athletes with the same goal in mind.

“About two years ago, we were at the facility in our bid to get acquainted with it. She was assessed and accepted. And for the entire period we were there, Georgia had a trainer attached to her. I can tell you that the facilities there are great and the trainers second to none in the world. With their latest facilities and the modern technology in use there, the students are primed for optimum performance in their peak years. It is a great environment for budding stars to prepare for professional life.”

She said the10 handicapper

About two years ago, we were at the facility in our bid to get acquainted with it. She was assessed and accepted.

And for the entire period we were there, Georgia had a trainer attached to her. I can tell you that the facilities there are great and the trainers second to none in the world. would use the brief summer camp to up her game as she heads into the Callaway Championship with some of the best kids in the world.

“Sending her there for the camp is at great cost and we are rallying round family members and friends to make this happen because we are sure it would impact positively on her performance at the championships she will attending afterwards,” Oboh stated.

She expressed hope that corporate entities that are aware of the potentials Georgia was imbued with will come to their aid in order to avail her the opportunity of enrolling for a four-year-programme shortly.

Before playing in the Callaway event, Oboh will feature in the U.S. Kids European Championship from May 26 to 28. After the Callaway World Golf Championships, she will be at the Taylormade World Masters of Junior Golf championships in Las Vegas, Nevada U.S.A, July 21 - 25 and then at the U.S. Kids World Junior Golf Championships, Pinehurst among others.

Jakpa

Jakpa commends LM Open series, seeks ‘meaningful’ prize money for pros Stories by Eno-Abasi Sunday OR adding to the tournaF ment menu of the Nigerian circuit, Port Harcourt, Rivers State-based amateur golfer, Joe Jakpa, has heaped praises on organisers of the Le Meridien (LM) Open series, stressing that the tournament has continued to grow in significance and in attendance since it made its debut in March 2011.

While maintaining that the series has also created a veritable platform for golfers to size themselves up and attempt to beat the course, he added that it was also a welcome development in a country with immense tournament deficit.

Only in his second year in golf, Jakpa is bothered by the meagre tournament earnings by pros in the country, which explains why he is spearheading a series of tournament for professional golfers in the South South geo-political zone to be played under the framework of the Niger Delta Professionals Golf Tour (NDPGT). The Tour is expected to take off this year.

Speaking in an interview with The Guardian, Jakpa said he was particularly impressed with the organisation of the tournament, noting that the International Management Group (IMG) consultant at the Le Meridien Ibom Hotel and Golf Resort, Akwa Ibom State, Sam Logan and his team, were

doing a terrific job.

Since it debuted, six editions have so far been held and Jakpa said, “the level of organisation and that of competitiveness has remained untainted, so to that extent, this is still a great competition and one of the best in the country so far. In terms of attracting golfers from different parts of the country, the LM Open remains a crowdpuller even as its competitive edge is constantly soaring.”

Jakpa added, “for every golfer, the desire to win is always there and this increases the competitive edge of any tournament. That explains why golfers redouble their efforts on every hole, especially when one believes that

he/she did not do well on a previous hole. So the challenge in this case is not really the people you play with, but the way you play and attempt to beat the course.”

He continued, “whereas it is important that one comes out tops in a tournament entered for, what keeps on bringing golfers back to the tourney is competing against this very challenging course.

Winning at the end of the day brings about a lot of good feelings as you are always itching to go in there, do your best and come out tops.”

Jakpa, a representative of oil producing firms on the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), lamented the low

number of tournaments played by professional golfers in the country, as well as, the low prize money saying efforts should not be spared in making golf pros live as comfortable as their peers in other parts of the world.

“The number of competitions played in the country yearly is still very low especially for professional golfers.

This is the reason why we thought we should do a ProAm that would enhance the take home of this class of golfers. I, in concert with the board of the NDDC initiated the Niger Delta Professional Golf Tour (NDPGT), but it was yanked off the 2012 budget. So we had to put it back in the 2013 budget. We think it is

going to make a significant difference in the lives of professional golfers in the Niger Delta.

It is inexcusable for any of our top and hardworking professional golfers not to have a take home in any professional tournament that is not up to N3m.

“In this sport, winning big is important, so we need to increase prize money and make it more meaningful so if a professional golfer wins a tournament, he goes home with something very reasonable. Currently, the prize money they are getting is not enough for them to take care of themselves and ply their trade well.”

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 3, 2013

63

TheGuardian

Friday, May 3, 2013

Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

By Olaboludele Simoyan

Wanting something is not enough.

You must hunger for it. Your motivation must be absolutely compelling in order to overcome the obstacles that will invariably come your way

“My hunger is always there!”

- Usain Bolt N Sunday, February 10, 2013, Nigeria played in the finals of the African Cup of O Nations (AFCON) and won the Cup! Nigeria has had a long wait of 13 years to qualify for the finals of the AFCON. And an even much longer wait to lift the trophy to glory! The year 1994 was the last time the Super Eagles lifted the trophy. What could be responsible for the victory of the Super Eagles at the just concluded AFCON? What did they bring to bear that gave them the edge over other African teams? What did they do right?

How can you explain that a Super Eagles team with quite a number of unknown names and faces won the cup? How can you explain that a team that wasn’t given a chance in this year’s tournament ended up lifting the coveted AFCON trophy? What was the secret of their victory?

To enable us answer the above questions let’s take a quick look at the Ghana versus Burkina Faso semi final match. I believe we will find the clue in that match. Anybody that watched that match will definitely appreciate the following observations.

What was amazing about the Ghana versus Burkina Faso semi final match was that everything that could go wrong for Burkina Faso started going wrong right after the starting whistle was blown with the controversial penalty given to Ghana by the referee.

Burkina Faso soon realised that they were playing their semi final match against “12 men” instead of the regular 11 men. They knew that with the odds stacked against them it would almost be impossible to win the match against Ghana.

Ghana was one of the tournament’s favourite teams. Ghana also seemed to be the referee’s favourite team. Ghana was probably one of the organisers and sponsors favourite team — a team that they would have loved to see in the finals of the competition.

Burkina Faso came out on that pitch to play and win the game. They were more determined to win the game than Ghana was.

They played hard to win the game! They played their hearts out passionately to the very end even into extra time. And they won their semi final match against Ghana in spite of it all!

Why were they able to win with the odds stacked against them? What kept them going in spite of the 12th player in the other team? What propelled them to keep going even after a goal was disallowed in the dying second of the first half of extra time? Why were they not discouraged? Why were they not disenchanted when one of their players Jonathan, Pitroipa, got sent off and they were left with 10 men playing against “12 men”?

Why did they have staying power? Why did they have more staying power than the Ghanaians had? What did they have that the Ghanaians did not quite have in the same measure or degree?

This is what a motivational speaker Les Brown has to say and it will help to put the Ghana versus Burkina Faso semi-final match in proper perspective. Les Brown says, “Wanting something is not enough. You must hunger for it. Your motivation must be absolutely compelling in order to overcome the obstacles that will invariably come your way.”

Ghana came to the semi final match “wanting to win”. Meanwhile, Burkina Faso came to the match with a “hunger to WIN”. Therein lies the difference! Hunger takes people where “want” cannot! Hunger takes people further than “want” can! Hunger gives people the winning edge where “want” can’t!

Hunger gives the victory to those that are hungry enough for the victory!

Unfortunately, for Burkina Faso (but fortu-

As Nigerian citizens, we must hunger for a Great New Nigeria! We must believe we can do it! We must have a whatever-it-takes attitude!

We must get to work creating a new nation irrespective of the naysayers and the doubting Thomases! We must give ourselves a fighting chance even if nobody else will

Please send reactions and feedback for YOUTH SPEAK to:

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A hunger to win, and the great new Nigeria

nately for Nigeria) they did not come to the finals against Nigeria with the same hunger they displayed in their semi-final match against Ghana.

Now back to Nigeria and how we won the cup. It was hunger displayed on several levels that enabled the Super Eagles to win.

After all the criticisms Stephen Keshi got for choosing some Nigerian based players over the well known foreign based players amongst countless other things, he had many points to make and prove on several levels. The points he needed to make and prove were: • That he knew what he was doing; • That the Nigerian based players had a hunger he needed in them to win the cup; • That he needed to build a team that he

could grow; • That Nigeria doesn’t need a foreign coach to raise the Super Eagles to victory; • That a former Super Eagles star player can successfully coach the Super Eagles and get results; • That a Nigerian coach has what it takes to motivate the Super Eagles to win the AFCON and bring the trophy back home; • That an African coach can coach an African team and deliver the victory.

Meanwhile, on another level the unknown and untested names in the Super Eagles team had a hunger to prove themselves and gain recognition.

After the Super Eagles beat Cote d’Ivoire in the quarter finals all of a sudden on a national level we Nigerians developed a hunger to bring the trophy home after

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almost two decades of its absence in Nigeria.

As the Les Brown quotation above says, “Wanting something is not enough. You must hunger for it. Your motivation must be absolutely compelling in order to overcome the obstacles that will invariably come your way.” It was hunger that helped Keshi and the Super Eagles to win the AFCON cup!

Hunger took them where “want” couldn’t!

Hunger took them further than “want” could! Hunger gave Keshi, the Super Eagles and Nigeria the victory that “want” couldn’t give! Therein lies the secret of our victory on Sunday, February 10, 2013!

Atlanta Olypmic’96 football gold medallist, Taribo West also agrees that hunger played a great part in helping the Super Eagles. He said, “They are hungry for success, and they learn fast. They keep improving with each game at competition because they want to make names for themselves.”

The recognisable faces that Keshi left out of the Super Eagles team didn’t have that hunger Keshi needed to win the AFCON cup.

That’s why they were left out. That is why it was an unknown name Sunday Mba who scored our winning goal in our quarter finals and in the finals. Sunday Mba was hungry, very hungry! He had the hunger!

He had the hunger to win! He had the hunger to become a recognisable face. He had the hunger to make Nigerians proud.

He had the hunger and that’s why Keshi put him and the other unknown names in the team. It was hunger that creatively put the ball in the net in the Super Eagles final match. Hunger personified itself in Sunday Mba on Sunday, February 10, 2013.

Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan once said, “I like to feel the butterflies in the stomach, I like to go home and have a restless night and wonder how I’m going to be able to accomplish this feat, get jittery. That hunger and those butterflies in the stomach are very essential for all creative people.” I am sure Mba knows exactly what Bachchan is talking about!

This is what two fellow sports men had to say about hunger as it pertains to them and their game. Sachin Tewndulkar says, “I hate losing and cricket being my first love, once I enter the ground it’s a different zone altogether and that hunger for winning is always there.”

Professional golfer Arnold Palmer adds, “Concentration comes out of a combination of confidence and hunger.”

It is interesting to note that what works for sports and the entertainment industry in the realm of hunger also works for nation building!

How many of us Nigerians hunger for a Great New Nigeria? How many of us hunger so much for a Great New Nigeria that we are ready to take the necessary steps needed to build it? How many of us are ready to pay the price for a Great New Nigeria? How many?

How many of us have a whatever-it-takes attitude to take Nigeria to the promised land of greatness?

In spite of the fact that they were not the tournaments favourite, in spite of the fact that there were as many as six Nigerian based players, in spite of the fact that Nigerians didn’t give them a fighting chance, Keshi and the Super Eagles had a hunger and they believed they could win the AFCON trophy. And they did!

As Nigerian citizens, we must hunger for a Great New Nigeria! We must believe we can do it! We must have a whatever-it-takes attitude! We must get to work creating a new nation irrespective of the naysayers and the doubting Thomases! We must give ourselves a fighting chance even if nobody else will!

“If you take responsibility for yourself you will develop a hunger to accomplish your dreams.”

That is another message from Les Brown that we must use to build the Great New Nigeria! If we take responsibility for ourselves, we will develop a hunger to accomplish our dreams as a nation!

One of my dreams for Nigeria is for the Super Eagles to win the 2014 World Cup in Brazil as an extraordinary centenary gift to Nigerians as we celebrate 100 years of Nigeria’s amalgamation. Is it possible? Ask Hunger. Only Hunger can tell!