Tue 14 May 2013 The Guardian Nigeria by The Guardian Newspaper

Govs oppose emergency rule in northern states, condemn killings in Nasarawa, Benue, others From Muyiwa Adeyemi(Ado-Ekiti) Kelvin Ebiri (Port Harcourt) and Karls Tsokar (Abuja) HOCKED at the call for the declaration of a state of emergency in some northern states, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has appealed to the Federal Gov-

gency in Borno, Nasarawa and Yobe states. Amaechi said the call on the Federal Government to ignore the ongoing agitation for emergency rule in some northern states had become expedient because “these requests are being made by

• I ’ll seek re-election as NGF’s chair, says Amaechi ernment to consider those behind the clamour as enemies of the country. The governors also condemned the killing of security men and others in Nasarawa, Borno, Benue and

Adamawa states. Meanwhile, the Chairman of the NGF and Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has disclosed that he would seek re-election as head of the group.

In the same vein, governors under the aegis of Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) yesterday cautioned President Goodluck Jonathan against the purported plan to declare state of emer-

people who do not wish our country well and who are bent on plunging the country into a deeper crisis.” In a statement made available to The Guardian yesterday in Abuja which reads in CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

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UN, African experts seek review of continent’s growth agenda From Bola Olajuwon, Cape Town, South Africa GAINST the backdrop of A the alleged inadequacies of the Millennium Develop-

Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (left), Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Mariam Aloma-Mukhtar, and President, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Okey Wali, during the NBA rule of law action group workshop in Lagos... yesterday. PHOTO: SUNDAY AKINLOLU

ment Goals (MDGs), experts drawn from the United Nations (UN) and Africa, among others, have urged a review of the targets for the continent’s development. The call was part of the positions of participants yesterday at the beginning of a two-day policy research seminar entitled “Achieving the Development Goals (MDGs) in Africa” in Cape Town, South Africa. The remarks by Executive Director of Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR), Dr. Adekeye Adebajo, and Chief Executive Officer, Congolese Institute for Development Research, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Prof. Mbaya Justin Kankwenda, including scholarly presentations by experts on key targets of the MDGs, stressed the need for the review. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Boko Haram amnesty panel lied, says Kabiru Sokoto From Lemmy Ughegbe, Abuja

T was a jolty twist yesterItruce day to efforts to broker a between Boko Haram insurgents and the Federal Government. The suspected mastermind of the Christmas Day bombing of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger State, Kabiru Umar (a.k.a Kabiru Sokoto), yesterday told the court where he is being tried that he never met with members of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North, also known as Amnesty Committee.

• Denies meeting with committee’s members • Judge surprised at officials’ claim The Minister for Special Duties, Mr. Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, had recently claimed that his 25-member amnesty committee met with members of Boko Haram, including Kabiru Sokoto, and that the meeting took place at the Kuje Minimum Security Prison, Abuja, where many suspected members of the group are being detained.

Turaki had reportedly told Nigerians that the parley was a confidence-building measure between the committee and members of the Boko Haram. He also claimed that the meeting was held in secret and that they had useful discussion with the detained members of the group. But Sokoto told journalists yesterday that the ac-

claimed meeting of the committee with him was a ruse as he was undergoing trial before Justice Adeniyi Ademola on the said date of the meeting. Sokoto, speaking through his lawyer, Mr. Sherrif Okoh, told reporters at the Federal High Court, Abuja Division shortly after his trial was adjourned, that the claim by the amnesty committee was

a blatant lie. “Our client has confided in us that he never met with the amnesty committee. Even on the said date of the purported meeting, Kabiru Sokoto was before Justice Ademola Adeniyi. So, we wonder where they met him”, Sokoto’s lawyer queried. The lawyer, who appeared infuriated, maintained that Sokoto had been in the custody of the SSS and expressed surprise that a high-profile panel like the amnesty committee would

Damilola Taylor’s killer freed — Page 9

come out and tell Nigerians that they met with the accused person at Kuje Prison. “These members of the amnesty committee have been brandishing lies, it is very wrong of them to come and say they held a meeting with Kabiru Sokoto; in fact, Kabiru has been in the SSS custody, he was not in Kuje Prison; so it was a pure lie for a committee of respected, eminent and dignified persons to say they held a meeting with our client,” he revealed. Even before Sokoto’s lawyer raised the alarm over the purported meeting, Justice CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

NEWS

UN, African experts seek review of continent’s growth agenda CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 According to Kankwenda in his address entitled “Achieving the Development Goals (MDGs) in Africa: Progress, problems and prospects,” the eight targets of MDGs, which include the elimination of poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating Human Immuno-deficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS), malaria and other diseases, achieving environmental sustainability, and global partnership for development, are very commendable for Africa in their drive for social progress. But he warned against the possibility of realising the goals under existing condi-

tions of globalisation. He said that “there is no Africa of tomorrow or future for Africa through a United Nations (UN) MDG-based approach that just addresses some singled out social consequences of ongoing strategies, without a clear vision of future, and its implications for states and institutional actors.” According to him, there is no possible and tangible social progress without true political democracy and strong economic progress, insisting that the last two dimensions are ignored and assumed as part of generalisation of liberal model of democracy and economy. He aligned with critics who claim that MDGs are pious hopes that commit no one and don’t have a hopeful future for the development of African countries and part of development merchant sys-

tem (DMS) concept to make economic, financial, political or strategic benefit, stressing that “the UN system is somehow instrumentalised in this process.” Therefore, he asserted that Africa has “to re-engineer its vision of the future, denounce ongoing dominant DMS strategies and their consequences and re-design its development strategies, counting first on its human, natural and financial resources.” Other experts like the United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representatives, Dr. Agostinho Zacarias; Co-ordinator of African Union MDGs Team, Mr. Dossina Yeo; Country Representative, United Nations (UN) Women, South Africa, Noncemo Manzini; Executive Director, African In-

stitute for Agrarian Studies, Harare, Zimbabwe, Prof. Sam Moyo; and Director, Mandi Rukuni seminar Group, Dr. Mandivamba Rukuni also addressed the seminar. Others included National Co-ordinator, Peer Review Mechanism at the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Abuja, Dr. Afeikhana Jerome, Executive Secretary, Malawi National Commission for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Malawi; Executive Director Kheth’Implilo AIDS Free Living, Cape Town; Assistant Scientist, Centre for Global Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States (U.S.); Regional HIV/AIDs and TB Adviser, East and Southern Africa, Columbia Global Centres – Africa, Nairobi, Kenya, Maureen Adudans, Mr. Gamal Nkrumah.

Amaechi insists on seeking re-election as NGF’s chief CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

part: “We in the NGF hereby condemn the recent violence and killings in some parts of our country – Borno, Nasarawa, Benue, Adamawa and some other states.” “We also commiserate with the people and government of those states, our security agencies and the families of the victims and pray God to give them and indeed every Nigerian the fortitude to bear the loss.” While commending the security agencies for the selfless sacrifice they are making in the interest of all Nigerians to restore calm to all parts of the country, Amaechi also urged them to continue to do their jobs as professionally as possible. He added: “We appeal to all

aggrieved individuals and groups in Nigeria to appreciate the fact that violence can never be a solution to any problem. We have no other country to call home and it is important that we understand the danger and futility of destroying our land in the pursuit of a selfish agenda.” The statement also read that both federal and state governments are working hard to get to the root of the killings and nip this orgy of violence in the bud. “We are impressed by the magnanimity of the Federal Government, which has demonstrated an uncommon love for the country by setting up a committee to explore the possibilities of granting amnesty to members of the Boko

Haram sect.” Amaechi, who expressed optimism that his current political challenges would soon fizzle away, also revealed that the state government would by August conclude work on the state’s own power grid around Port Harcourt to save the residents of the city from the excruciating agony of epileptic power supply. The governor told a delegation of the Catholic laity led by Most. Rev. Camilius Etokudo, Bishop of Port Harcourt Diocese, that the past few weeks have been quite challenging and difficult for him. The governor said he required the church’s prayers as he prepares to seek re-election as chairman of the NGF.

“Like a whirlwind, it will soon blow over. Like I told my friends, I will run, nobody will stop me from running, whether I win or not, it’s a different thing, but I will insist on running”, Amaechi added. The PGF in a statement signed by Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said declaring state of emergency in those states would be counter-productive and would rather exacerbate the crises. They, however, advised the Presidency to await the report of the panel set up to look into the possibility of solving the problem through dialogue and granting of amnesty to the terrorist groups.

Amnesty panel lied, says Kabiru Sokoto CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Ademola Adeniyi was the first to express surprise over the claim by the committee that it held a meeting with the accused man. The trial judge said he was bewildered when he read reports that the amnesty committee said it visited and held a meeting with Sokoto at Kuje Prison. “The accused person is supposed to be under the custody of the State Security Service (SSS); in fact, he was in court from morning to

evening. But the next day, the press reported that the amnesty committee members said they visited and held a meeting with Kabiru Sokoto in Kuje Prison, this is funny”, Justice Adeniyi said. Meanwhile, a prosecuting witness, Mr. ABC upon cross- examination by Sokoto’s lawyer, told the court that the suspect had mentioned to him that Bashir Mohammed and Mukhtari Kafanchan were the people that carried out the Christmas Day blast of

Our error BIA State Governor Theodore Orji was wrongly identiA fied as Governor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State in the front page photograph of yesterday’s edition. The error is regretted.

St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger State. ABC said the blast was not a suicide bombing but a co-ordinated attack, which was perpetrated with the knowledge of the accused person. “The Madalla blast was not executed by a suicide bomber. It emanated from a car parked at the passage way of the church, which was detonated. That was actually what happened and there were no charred remains of persons found in the car after the blast that suggested it was a suicide attack,” ABC told the court during his cross-examination by Okoh. ABC, however, said Sokoto did not tell him that he parked the car but insisted (ABC) he had knowledge of the said vehicle. Also, the prosecution witness said the split in the hierarchy of Boko Haram was caused by N40 million according to the revelation of the accused person, and that the terror suspect told him he got the sum of

N500,000.00 as his share and that he used part of the money to buy Quran and other books. Upon closing his cross-examination, Sokoto’s lawyer, Okoh, told the prosecution witness that was masked; “I put it to you that everything you said before this court is a lie.” Another prosecution witness, Mr. DEF, personnel with the Department of State Security, told the court upon examination by Mrs. Chioma Onuegbu on behalf of the state how he led a team that re-arrested Sokoto in Sabon-Gida, Taraba State, on February 10, 2012. While being cross-examined by Sokoto’s lawyer, DEF told the court he found one Nokia phone and six SIM cards with the accused man at the time he was re-arrested. The matter has been adjourned to May 16 and 17 for the prosecution to bring more witnesses to testify before the court.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14 , 2013

4 NEWS

Issues in the news

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Stakes in Nigeria-U.S. military, By Madu Onuorah (Abuja Bureau Chief) HE scope of United States (U.S.) military asT sistance to Nigeria and the U.S. new policy of using regional bloc leadership in solving

Terence McCulley

crisis in Africa may be part of the reasons why the May 2, 2013 policy announced to civil rights activities in Abuja by U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Terence P. McCulley on withdrawal of military cooperation with Nigeria was shelved. The Guardian investigations revealed that the Nigerian military was spared of the suspension for “alleged mass killings of civilians and destruction of property by security forces in Baga and Bama, Borno State” because such policy for now would be “counter-productive for U.S. security and strategic efforts in the sub-region as Nigeria is the regional leader and a major player in implementing U.S. security interests in the West African sub-region.” Instead of pursuing the option of suspension of military ties, officials of the U.S. State Department, through the U.S. Embassy Abuja are pressuring the Nigerian government and military to make the protection of civilians a cardinal policy of its anti-terror Internal Security Operations. In a statement dated May 9, 2013, the U.S., “in the strongest terms”, condemned Boko Haram’s campaign of terror in Nigeria. But the Embassy equally said it is “deeply saddened by ongoing reports of excessive use of force by Nigerian security forces in the name of combating Boko Haram, including extrajudicial killings, prolonged detention and disappearances. We are concerned that such an indiscriminate, force-based approach to counterterrorism is increasing extremism and decreasing confidence in the Federal Government. These tactics tarnish Nigeria’s reputation as an emerging leader and a stable democratic government. The tragedy at Baga underscores the need for the government of Nigeria to put civilian protection at the forefront of its counter-insurgency campaign.” On May 2, the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Terence P. McCulley had met with about 10 members of the human rights community in Nigeria to gauge their stand on the continuing violence in Northern Nigeria especially the alleged massacre of civilians by Nigerian military personnel. He informed them of a change in the U.S. policy towards the Nigerian military as the U.S. Congress had previously passed a law that bars his country from rendering military assistance to any government that violates basic rights of citizens. He added that based on the Baga massacre and other human rights violations in Nigeria, President Barack Obama’s administration has ceased to assist Nigeria militarily, in obedience to the law. The news of the meeting and suspension of military cooperation immediately went online. But efforts to specifically confirm the story from the U.S. Embassy, Abuja failed. Some of the activists at the meeting including Mr. Clement Nwankwo, Mr. Emmanuel Onwubiko of the Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria; Kole Shettima of the MacArthur Foundation and Auwal Rafsanjani of the Executive Director at Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) privately confirmed the statement of the U.S. ambassador on suspension of military assistance. In Nigerian military circles, the news of the suspension was initially greeted with “wait and see” posture. A senior officer hinted “if this is true, this is like killing a fly with a sledge hammer or throwing the baby away with the bad water.” But privately, they wondered how the U.S. could successfully implement such policy on Nigeria without harming its own interests in the West African region. Some wanted to know if such suspension of cooperation would affect U.S. assistance for Nigerian regional and continental peace keeping programmes. And to further douse the media reports, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru dismissed it as “speculations.” According to a statement by Ashiru, “Story about U.S. stopping military assistance to Nigeria is false. I have just concluded a visit to

For long, Nigeria and United States have shared strong partnership in security cooperation except for period during the regime of late General Sani Abacha when the ties were strained. But what is the scope and nature of such cooperation? Truth is, the United States has started implementing a new foreign policy focus in which putting its forces on ground especially in Africa is off the books. It is now relying on regional powers like Nigeria to help it implement its foreign policy and security objectives in Africa.

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the U.S. and met with Senator John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of State on April 25, 2013. He (Kerry) stressed that Nigeria remains a strategic partner to the U.S.” Ashiru reiterated that Kerry vowed that U.S.-Nigeria relations would be further strengthened in all areas of political, security, defence and economic cooperation under the Bi-National Commission. He added, “exactly the same message was repeated at a meeting with Canadian Foreign Minister, Mr. John Baird on May 2, in Ottawa.” Still there was no official confirmation. But by evening, a tweet from @USEmbassyAbuja denied the story. It stated: “The U.S. has not suspended security assistance to Nigeria. We continue to emphasize importance of security forces respect for human rights.” For long, Nigeria and United States have shared strong partnership in security cooperation except for period during the regime of late General Sani Abacha when the ties were strained. But what is the scope and nature of such cooperation? Truth is, the United States has started implementing a new foreign policy focus in which putting its forces on ground especially in Africa is off the books. It is now relying on regional powers like Nigeria to help it implement its foreign policy and security objectives in Africa. In Africa, the U.S. has opted to building the capacity of African nations to bring solutions to African problems. It has embraced the policy of organising and equipping African militaries, granting “eligible countries” its excess defence equipment, supporting training and exercises, provision of logistics and training of troops on peacekeeping and peace enforcement. A top U.S. State Department official told The Guardian in Stuttgart, Germany last February that “the American government has resolved that for the problems of Africa, regional bloc leadership is key to solving them. We don’t want to impose a resolution. But as much as we have now opted for an African-led solution, we are not shirking our international obligations to confront Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and its affiliates. It is our policy to stop trans-national terrorism and its ability to reach outside and expand their global reach. We will help defeat terrorism, build capacity and support African countries through building partnerships. But we will have no more put booths on the ground. “And in accomplishing this, the U.S. views Nigeria as one of the most important countries in Africa for achieving this. It is a major energy provider, fourth largest troop contributing country to the United Nations peace efforts, has a large population that is now confronted with growing internal concerns of terrorism. There is also the issue of illicit trafficking in human resources and smuggling. And in solving this in the country and other countries in West Africa, Nigeria is key.” This is essentially what has been driving U.S. policy in Nigeria. The move started in 1997

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

NEWS | 5

Issues in the news

security co-operation when President Bill Clinton established the Africa Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI), the first of a whole array of new military programmes created to provide increasing amounts of U.S. security assistance to African regimes and to expand U.S. military activities on the continent. But in 2004 when ACRI was expanded and renamed the African Contingency Operations Training and Assistance (ACOTA), U.S. military involvement in Africa especially Nigeria expanded rapidly. This increase was initially justified as a means to ensure that the United States continues to have access to the oil resources of the Niger Delta. For example, in the Financial Year 2006, the U.S. Congressional Budget Justification for Foreign Operations notes Nigeria’s “importance as a leading supplier of petroleum to the U.S.” and the fact that “Nigeria is the fifth largest source of U.S. oil imports.” Therefore, according to the Budget Justification, “disruption of supply from Nigeria would represent a major blow to the oil security strategy of the U.S.” And with the advent of the terror attacks by the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, the U.S. upped its defence and security assistance programmes. Immediate past Commander of the U.S. Africa Command, General Carter Ham confirmed last January in Stuttgart, Germany that the U.S. had deployed its intelligence machinery to support Nigeria in fighting the threat posed by Boko Haram. Ham also added that the U.S. had been collaborating with the Nigerian military to stem the growing trend of maritime crimes like piracy, illegal bunkering and oil theft. Such U.S. military and security assistance have been varied and enduring. In Fiscal Year 2012, security cooperation events include Nigerian Quick Response Force visit with the U.S. 435th Contingency Response Group and Nigerian Chief of Air Staff visit at Ramstein Air Force base, Germany. For fiscal year 2013, the security cooperation events include Search and Rescue Training, which held in Lagos (February 4-8, 2013), Aircraft Crash and Fire Training (Lagos – March 18-22, 2013 and Search and Rescue Familiarisation visit with California National Guard (Moffet Field, California – March 25-29, 2013). Others due for execution include Supply Chain Management Assessment (Lagos – May 27-31, 2013) and Flight Surgeon Skills Training (Lagos – June 17-21, 2013). Other U.S. assistance to Nigeria includes the U.S. International Military Education and Training (IMET) funded by the U.S. Department of State but executed by the Department of Defence. Under this, the U.S. government provides military education, training and professional development to various cadres of Nigerian military personnel. Under this policy, Nigeria is receiving $1 million for foreign military grant for maintenance and sustainment of equipment and another $1 million for training, education and professional development of Nigerian military personnel this year. The Nigerian military is also benefitting from the Excess Defence Articles (EDA) policy, which allows eligible countries to receive Excess Defence Articles at a fraction of the original cost. Already, the Nigerian Navy has procured two ‘Cat class’ combat vessels under this arrangement in 2004. Also, the Hamilton Class High Endurance Cutter of the United States Coast Guard was decommissioned on March 29, 2011 and transferred to the Nigerian Navy as an excess defence article under the Foreign Assistance Act as NNS Thunder (F90). This year, the Nigerian Navy is expected to visit the United

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And towards enhancing sub regional security, Nigeria is benefitting from the U.S. initiatives on military information sharing, communications system interoperability, joint, combines and multi-national exercises enhancing cooperation, airlift and logistical support for troops and military services and provision of ground and aviation training and maintenance support. Apart from the implementation of the U.S. President’s Emergency Programme for AIDS Relief, there are also contact visits and exchanges of legal, medical chaplain personnel of the two militaries. Nigeria also participates in joint exercises between the U.S. and other African militaries including the sea-based Obangame Express. It was held this year in Cameroon. Apart from helping to promote counter-terrorism capability, it helps in improving maritime domain awareness and maritime interdiction operations. Nigeria has received U.S. security assistance through the Anti-Terrorism Assistance programme and the International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE) programme.

States to inspect a new naval vessel which will be transferred to it on paying “a fraction of the original cost” on “as it is, where is”, meaning that the Navy must pay for the cost of its transportation and refurbishment. Also, Nigeria is also benefitting from the U.S. Department of Defence funded Combating Terrorism Fellowship Programme (CTFP) which provides counter terrorism-focused education, training and professional development for African military, security and law enforcement personnel. In addition, Nigerian battalions benefit from the U.S. Department of State managed Africa Contingency Operations Training Assistance for African battalions deploying for peacekeeping operations. Nigeria is also a major part of the U.S. Department of State’s TransSaharan Counter Terrorism Partnership (TSCTP) aimed at strengthening regional counter terrorism capabilities, enhance and institutionalise cooperation among the region’s security forces, counter terrorist ideology, reinforce bilateral military ties with the U.S. and promote democratic governance. It is also part of the Operation Enduring Freedom – Trans Sahara, the U.S. Department of Defence initiative for supporting the TSCTP. These military based activities foster regionally focused collaboration and communication among the sub-region’s security forces and develop and strengthen counter terrorism and border security capacities. And towards enhancing sub regional security, Nigeria is benefitting from the U.S. initiatives on military information sharing, communications system interoperability, joint, combines and multi-national exercises enhancing cooperation, airlift and logisti-

Ambassador Ashiru

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cal support for troops and military services and provision of ground and aviation training and maintenance support. Apart from the implementation of the U.S. President’s Emergency Programme for AIDS Relief, there are also contact visits and exchanges of legal, medical chaplain personnel of the two militaries. Nigeria also participates in joint exercises between the U.S. and other African militaries including the sea-based Obangame Express. It was held this year in Cameroon. Apart from helping to promote counter-terrorism capability, it helps in improving maritime domain awareness and maritime interdiction operations. Nigeria has received U.S. security assistance through the Anti-Terrorism Assistance programme and the International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE) programme. In the year 2009, a total of $720,000 was provided for assistance through the INCLE programme while in the year 2010, the Obama administration requested for $2 million INCLE funding for Nigeria. A top Nigerian defence official told The Guardian, that “based on the scope of the military cooperation, any thought that it would be negatively affected by some unavoidable mistakes in the war against the Boko Haram alone is misplaced. Such thoughts fly against the norm. Remember, though the Nigerian military is fighting the war against terror, against groups linked to Al Qaeda here in Nigeria; they are actually helping the U.S. to fight its enemy. Yes, mistakes may have been made here and there in Nigeria’s fight against the Boko Haram sect and other criminal activities. But they do not yet warrant such suspension of cooperation. It may take a major deliberate threat by the Nigerian military against U.S. interests for such a weighty decision to be quickly taken.”

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

News Electronic transactions hit N80b daily, says CBN • ‘No going back on phase two project’ By Chijioke Nelson OTAL value of daily electronic funds transfer in the country has risen to N80 billion, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said, attributing it to the introduction of the cash-less policy and indicating the growing acceptance of the policy by Nigerians. The CBN Deputy Governor, Operations, Tunde Lemo, who disclosed this, explained that the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) recorded over N20 billion daily transactions, while the Nigeria Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) conducts about N60 billion transactions daily. NEFT payment is an irrevocable fund transfer instruction. NIBSS provides the infrastructure for automated processing, settlement of payments and fund transfer instructions between banks, discount houses and card companies in Nigeria and is jointly owned by all the licensed banks in the country and CBN, with substantial shares held by discount houses operating in the

country. According to Lemo, both the value and volume of cash transactions executed through the NIBSS and the NEFT have doubled compared to the use of cheques. He said: “We have forgotten that the cash-less project also included high volume payment transactions such as the NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP). The NIP now moves between N20 and N40 billion worth of transactions daily. “Through NEFT, we also have tens of thousands of transactions valued at over N60 billion daily. So, between NEFT and NIP, we have transactions that have now doubled the cheque transactions volume.” Lemo, who is responsible for driving the policy, said the additional states - Rivers, Kano, Anambra, Ogun and Abia, as well as the FCT - were chosen because of the large volume of cash transactions in some of their major cities. “Recall that we started this programme actually in January last year and we are only just continuing, we are only just moving to phase

two,” he said. “So, we have learnt all the ropes in phase one (Lagos) and we believe we are ready to roll out to other six locations in Nigeria. “We are actually working in collaboration with the Bankers’ Committee. We have a sub-committee headed by the MD/CEO of UBA, who is the cash-less champion among the bank CEOs, and together with the other institutions like the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS).” He added: “We are working very hard to ensure that we close all the gaps now. I can tell you that we already have

our roadmap and we are not going to shift the implementation date of the phase two, which is July 1, 2013. “We are ready to roll out to the six other states and there would be no change in date. We are not shifting the goal post. We have a roadmap, which is being followed, and we are fully prepared.” He disclosed that the previous challenge of the cash-less initiative, which was piloted in Lagos, centred on connectivity, stating: “We have over 150,000 Points of Sales (PoS) machines in Lagos area, but only 25 per cent of them are active, largely due to lack of General Packet Radio Service and connectivity in some of

the clusters, and because of that, it has affected the rate at which those machines are used. “We believe very much that it is getting better because we monitor the transactions on daily basis and are beginning to record large volumes and transactions value under the PoS. We are now looking at all the other major channels like the mobile telephone, which we will now use to drive the cash-less policy.” Under the policy, the banking watchdog pegged the daily cumulative cash withdrawal or deposit limit for individual accounts at N500, 000 per day and N3 million per day for corporate accounts.

Iranian, Nigerian accomplice bag 17-year terms By Joseph Onyekwere HE Federal High Court, Lagos, has sentenced an Iranian, Azim Aghajani, and his Nigerian counterpart, Ali Jega, who were accused by the Federal Government of importing firearms into the country, to 17 years imprisonment. Justice Okeke, while deliver-

ing judgment on the case, said he was not in doubt that the 13 containers loaded with firearms were imported into the country even though the accused persons declared that they contained building materials meant for construction in Banjul, The Gambia. Justice Okeke further declared that the Federal Government, through its counsel, succeeded in tendering before the court email transactions between the convicts. He said: “It is my opinion that the moment security started closing in, the story started changing. ‘I sympathise with the second accused person because of the role he played, because he thought he was helping his friend. It is my view that the accused made false declaration on the bill of laden. If the goods were truly construction materials, the accused persons should have stated so in the bill of laden. “There is no doubt that the accused persons and their collaborators deal in unlawful importation of arms.” The court ordered that the sentence would run concurrently from February 1, 2011 when they were first arraigned. Okeke also directed that the container with the firearms be forfeited to the Federal Government of

Nigeria. Shortly before the sentence, counsel to the convicted Iranian, Chris Uche (SAN), had prayed the court to temper justice with mercy, explaining that the defence had co-operated to ensure speedy disposal of the case. He also prayed the judge to exercise his discretion in convicting the accused. “It would serve no useful purpose in keeping the first accused in Nigerian prison,” he said. “I urge your lordship to order immediate repatriation to his country.” And while aligning with Uche’s submission, counsel to the second accused, Aliyu Musa Yauri, said his client became a convict in the struggle to make ends meet, adding that a sentence against him was a sentence against his entire family. The convicts were arraigned on March 7, 2011, before the judge on a five-count charge bordering on unlawful importation of firearms and ammunitions into Nigeria. The prosecution, led by Maduakor Livingstone, had informed the court that the accused were apprehended by Customs officers on July 17, 2010, over alleged importation of a 13 by 20 feet container loaded with arms, ammunitions, bomb and rockets.

Cross River PDP gets N107m from council forms From Anietie Akpan, Calabar HE Cross River State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has raked in a total of N107 million from sale of intent forms to its members for the forthcoming council elections in the state. The amount was realised from the 766 aspirants that have so far picked forms to contest for the 214 available positions in the council polls scheduled for September 21, 2013. The party’s deadline for the collection of forms was midnight yesterday.

According to the party’s electoral guidelines for the primaries, chairmanship aspirants will pay N500,000; while councillorship position attracts N100, 000. Eighteen chairmanship positions and 196 councillorship seats are available for the polls. The state Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Joe Bisong, confirmed that entries for collection of expression of intent forms for the elections commenced on May 1 and ended on May 13 for those aspiring on the PDP platform.

Edo police silent on rescue of justice’s kidnapped family From Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu, Benin City OR security reasons and safety of the victims, the Edo State Police Command said yesterday that it would not make public its strategies to rescue the wife, daughter and driver of Justice of the Supreme Court, Bode RhodesVivour. They were kidnapped on Friday on their way to Benin City for a wedding by unknown gunmen suspected to be kidnappers. Speaking to journalists yesterday after a visit to the area near Okada, Ovia North East council, where the incident happened, Commissioner of Police, Folusho Adebanjo, said the safety of the victims was paramount to the police and he would want to keep to his chest how far the force had gone. “I will not want to say much because so far, they have not been released,” he said. “But we are in contact with the family. We don’t want to jeopardised what we are doing because they (kidnappers) too, read papers, so it will not be nice to tell you what we are doing. Their families would want them to be brought back safely.”

NSE adopts wide consultations By Chijioke Nelson HE Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) said the current reforms at the nation’s bourse are anchored on the principle of wider consultations, just as its Executive Director, Haruna Jalo-Waziri, disclosed that the reforms were beginning to yield positives, as the market has already risen 19 per cent this year. “As we write new rules and regulations, we sensitise the market through our publications on the website and allow a certain period of time for stakeholders to make input before final approval,” he said. “The policy of getting stakeholders to contribute into the regulation processes is the highest standard you can get anywhere in the world and that makes for easy compliance. “Presently, there are draft rules on the website waiting for contributions. Theses are aimed at codifying the way we do things. Though not necessarily new, they were not codified before now. This would ensure efficiency and transparency.” Jalo-Waziri noted that the 2016 market capitalization target of $1 trillion was being pursued vigorously, as the present administration has outlined series of reform programmes to drive it. Also, the Managing Director of Afrinvest West Africa, Ike Chioke, expressed optimism in the ability of the market to resurge fully.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

NEWS

N’Delta stakeholders condemn northern leaders, Reps over Kuku, Dokubo

Akinlabi shot in the ear, thigh, says witness By Yetunde Ayobami-Ojo PROSECUTION witness, A Corporal Michael Garba, at the resumed hearing in a suit

From Chido Okafor, Warri IGER Delta stakeholders, under the aegis of Niger Delta Grassroots Consultative Forum, yesterday condemned the call by the Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, the Arewa Consultative Youth Forum, the House of Representatives and other northern leaders to arrest and investigate Kingsley Kuku and Alhaji Asari Dokubo over statements credited to them. Rising from an emergency meeting of delegates from ethnic nationalities, groups and civil society organisations from Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Delta, Ondo and Edo states held in Warri, Delta State, the group, in its communiqué, described the development as “unwarranted, provocative and misplaced,” adding that the call was not only heating up the polity but also threatening the economic wellbeing of the country.

Cleric tasks political leaders on urgent transformation From Isaac Taiwo (in Abia State) HE Lord Bishop of Enugu T Diocese (Anglican Communion), Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma, has warned Nigerian leaders in positions of authority that it was high time they led the nation through a result-oriented transformation process to successfully engage the plethora of challenges confronting the nation, particularly the youth. In his sermon yesterday at the conclusion of the first session of the Second Synod of the Diocese of Isiala-Ngwa South Ecclesiastical Province of Aba, Abia State, Chukwuma lamented the rot among those expected to lead by example and remarked that it would be impossible for any leader to champion a true, positive transformation process without shunning the spirit of compromise.

Abia’s Ochendo bungalows for sale From Gordi Udeajah, Umuahia HE Abia State government, through its Ministry of Housing, has completed and is placing for public purchase 30 bungalows of three bedrooms with three toilets each, located at the Ochendo Housing Estate in Obuavo and Isieke. The estates, according to the Housing Commissioner, Iheanacho Okezie Orji, have capacity for 100 similar bungalows, including the 30 already completed. While on inspection of the houses at the weekend, Orji said the houses, which were offered for purchase at N5.5 million each, were 60 per cent sold. He listed the facilities approved for the estate, which is about 20 minutes’ drive from the state Secretariat and Umuahia Urban, as schools, security post, water, electricity and recreation park, among others.

Participants at a four-day workshop for local council officials, civil servants and community leaders in Dutse, Jigawa State…yesterday

Diseases outbreak in Taraba refugee camps From Charles Akpeji, Jalingo NOTHER unfortunate sceA nario that would certainly worsen the plight of persons recently displaced from their villages and homes by the recent religious crisis in Taraba State is unfolding with the outbreak of diseases, including measles, which now ravage their different refugee camps in Wukari Local Council of the state. Mainly affected by the outbreak, which The Guardian learnt was caused by poor sanitary condition of the camps scattered all over the area, according to a Red Cross source, were children. And “if urgent steps are not taken by the authority, many families will lose their children because the situation is fast getting out of hand,” the anonymous source said. Confirming the report, Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Wukari branch, Jerry Agabison, said, “the situations in the camps are nothing to write

home about because we are already experiencing an outbreak of measles. Many children have been affected.” He disclosed that situations in the camps were getting worse daily while relief materials brought in by the state government through SEMA were not the immediate needs of the people. Agabison added: “Even the ones that we needed were not sufficient. What will 56 mattresses do in a situation where you have over 300 persons in almost 12 camps?” The Red Cross source further warned of the possibility of another outbreak of diseases in the camps if the state government continues with its carefree attitude towards the victims. The source said: “On our part, we have been trying to reach out to the people with the little drugs at our disposal. But our major worry now is the way and manner the state government has turned its back on these people. Could you believe that the state government has not deemed it fit to visit these peo-

ple?” Like the CAN chairman and other persons, who spoke with The Guardian, the source was also of the opinion that “if the government cannot come to their aid, it is better they relax the curfew so that these people can go and access medical facilities, because keeping them here unattended to is great risk.” At the Ministry of Health, the commissioner was not on sit to confirm the gory tales emanating from the camps but a senior staff of the ministry said: “We are already aware of the outbreak and I am sure that my commissioner is doing all he can to reach out to them. “I learnt he has drawn the attention of the acting governor to the outbreak of measles you just talked about; but you and I know that the delay in reaching out to the people will be from the government and not from us (the ministry), because once funds are released to us, we will act.” There are more women and children in the camps.

CJN, Fashola task lawyers on ethics, rule of law By Kamal Tayo Oropo and Joseph Onyekwere ESTERDAY in Lagos, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mariam AlomaMukhtar and Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola called on lawyers and all judicial workers to exhibit high level of professionalism and good conduct in the discharge of their duties. Justice Mukhtar was quick to demand that judicial workers, who flout the ethics and codes of conduct of the profession, should be prosecuted and punished accordingly, reminding them that no one was above the law. Both spoke at the opening of a two-day workshop organised by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Rule of Law Action Group at the City Hall, Lagos, with the theme, “The Rule of Law: The Bedrock for Sustainable Democracy and Development.” Mukhtar tasked judicial officers to actively participate in the establishment, maintenance and enforcement of

• Mukhtar wants erring judicial officers prosecuted high standard of conduct to ensure a credible judiciary. According to her, “the public perception of the judiciary, as we are well aware, is central to its existence, especially in a democratic society as Nigeria. “It follows, therefore, that the judiciary in a democratic society cannot remain aloof of the realities of the operating environment even if only for the pragmatic necessity to maintain its relevance in the society.” She noted that a firm stance would earn the judiciary credibility, promote justice, foster peace, contribute to societal recovery and most importantly, promote the rule of law. The CJN further expressed displeasure at the attitude of lawyers and litigants who use petition as an alternative to appeal, stating: “What is more worrisome is that lawyers who are learned in the country’s legal system have engaged themselves in that negative practice. This has led to a lot of frivolous petitions

filed before the NJC. She noted that on assumption of office, she met 139 petitions, but only 33 of them were considered worthy of defence. More so, “after my assumption of office, 198 fresh petitions were filed out of which 150 were frivolous, 15 are awaiting responses from judges while only 21 were slated for consideration.” Meanwhile, Fashola charged judicial workers to live up to the expectation of Nigerians who see the judiciary as the last hope of the common man. He said they have an enormous responsibility of speaking up against decisions by government that could have negative consequences on the wellbeing of citizens. To that end, therefore, lawyers must not be seen as those flouting the law and plunging the nation into chaos. He said: “Our training has prepared us, like no other member of the society, to be those who help to solve the challenges facing the society.

at a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja, told the court how a private guard, Sunday Aghedo, employed to secure Beckley Estate, allegedly killed a resident of the estate, Akinlabi Adisa, stating that the deceased was shot on the ear and the thigh. Garba, the third prosecution witness (Pw3), informed Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo yesterday that he noticed bullet injuries on two parts of the deceased’s body. According to him, “Mr. Lasisi came to our Ijaye Ojokoro Police Station to complain that he received phone call from his brother that was shot by the defendant (Sunday Aghedo). The defendant pleaded not guilty to the seven-count charge preferred against him by the state. Justice Onigbanjo subsequently adjourned further hearing till June 15, 2013. Garba said he was detailed to investigate the matter, so, “my team, led by ASP Nurudeen Popoola, went to the scene of the incident, where the defendant was arrested. While at the scene, we saw blood close to the gate. “There was another individual at the scene, who was allegedly shot by the defendant. One locally-made gun belonging to the defendant was found. A cartridge was also recovered. We traced the blood from the gate to where we found the late Akinlabi Adisa.” According to him, ‘Adisa’s body was taken to hospital where he was confirmed dead and autopsy was carried out before he was moved to the mortuary. So, when we arrived at the station, complainant and defendant statements were taken. “The complainant told me his

brother’s phone was taken from the pool of blood. I revisited the scene where I ordered some photographs to be taken.” Extra-judicial statements of the defendant and photographs taken were tendered and admitted as exhibits. Earlier, the second prosecution witness, Ibrahim Mumuni, had claimed in his testimony that he was shot on the leg by the defendant. “On December 28, 2010, we were cooking Indomie Noodles when Muritala, my friend, received a phone call and screamed that his brother had been shot. So we went there with a friend of mine (Femi), whom we ran into on our way,” he said. On getting to the scene, he said, the gate was locked, so “we tried calling his brother’s phone. Though the phone rang, nobody picked it. Listening carefully, we discovered that the phone was within the vicinity because we heard it rang. We later picked it, already stained. “We were still at the scene when a SUV appeared. The vehicle horned severally before the gate was opened. We rushed in with the vehicle and the defendant shot me at the leg. That was the only thing I knew.” Under cross-examination, defendant’s counsel, Mr. Yinka Oyeniji, sought to know how he knew that the defendant was the one that shot him and why he was shot, and Mumuni answered that the scene was illuminated on the said day. “I saw him wearing ankara and suit jacket on top,” he said, adding that he does not know why he was shot. “In fact, I was far from him before he fired the shot. It was on the third day I regained consciousness, I didn’t know where I was. All I knew was that the doctor often came around to treat me.”

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

8 NEWS

Jonathan, security chiefs meet, NHRC probes Nasarawa killings By Mohammed Abubakar, Lemmy Ughegbe, Nkechi Onyedika (Abuja) and Abiodun Fagbemi (Ilorin)

• ‘Amnesty must not be on Boko Haram’s terms’ • Coomassie decries insecurity

RESIDENT Goodluck P Jonathan, as part of the search for an end to the cur-

secret dialogue. The Anglican leader spoke as former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie, said the current security challenges facing Nigeria could threaten the corporate existence of the country. President Jonathan, the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) and the security chiefs yesterday morning met for about an hour at the State House, Abuja. The Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS), Mr. Ita Ekpeyong and the Inspector General of Police, Muhammad Abuabakar were also at the meeting.

rent insecurity in the country, met again yesterday with top brass of security agencies in the country. Meanwhile, the Primate, Church of Nigeria, (Anglican Communion), Most Rev Nicholas Okoh, has said as desirable as it is for us to have peace in the country, it must not be negotiated according to terms prescribed by members of the Boko Haram sect. According to him, church would prefer a situation whereby amnesty should be the climax of an open discussion with the sect, instead of

The meeting, it was learnt, may not be unconnected with the security situation in the country, particularly the slaying of numerous policemen by Ombatse cultists in Alakio town of Nassarawa State last Monday and Tuesday. Also yesterday, the National Human Rights Commission commenced investigation into the killing of police officers. A statement by the Director, Public Affairs and Communications, Muhammad Ladan, noted that “reports from various sources have indicated that scores of security personnel were allegedly murdered by

members of the Ombatse militia group.” The statement said while receiving a preliminary investigation report on the incident in Abuja, the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Prof. Bem Angwe said, “the gruesome murder of security personnel who were carrying out their lawful duties is a violation of their right to life, an affront on the rule of law and a drawback to the efforts being made to contain the cycle of violence in the various parts of the country.” Okoh who gave his advice yesterday in Abuja while briefing journalists on the 3rd Session of the 8th Synod of the Diocese of Abuja billed for May 16-19, 2013, noted that granting amnesty to members of the Boko Haram sect based on

their own terms would amount to saving 10 people and destroying the rest of 160 million Nigerians. “We need to know where they get the arms, who are the people providing the money, why is the Church the major target? We need a peace process like the one done in South Africa so that if the Nigerian state has offended the group, the Nigeria government would apologise and if the group has offended Nigerians, the group will apologise,” Okoh said. The cleric, who faulted the composition of the amnesty committee, observed that Boko Haram is not an Islamic or northern affair but an issue that bothers on national security. He questioned why the committee’s membership is

Court orders police to end barricade of Rivers council By Kelvin Ebiri, Port Harcourt FEDERAL High Court has ordered the police to end A their 10 days barricade of the Obio-Akpor local council secretariat in Rumudomaya, Rivers State. Scores of irate youths loyal to the deposed Obio-Akpor council chairman, Timothy Nsirim, his vice and 17 councillors, before and after the court ruling, barricaded the council secretariat gate to demand their reinstatement or the state will witness unprecedented mayhem if the Caretaker Committee Chairman, Dike Chikordi, and his team attempt to resume work at the council. Delivering his ruling on an

exparte motion brought by Chikordi, Justice H.A. Nganjiwa of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt yesterday ordered the Inspector General of Police to withdraw policemen deployed at the secretariat immediately and provide minimal security to enable workers resume work. Justice Nganjiwa ordered that the workers of the council and those doing business with the local government should be allowed access to the premises without molestation by the police. The order followed Chikordi’s claim through his lawyer, Emenike Ebete, that the council workers and their dependants had been exposed to inexpress-

ible hardship as a result of the police occupation of the secretariat. The judge said he agreed with the caretaker committee’s claim that injuries and damages suffered by the council workers who have been prevented from accessing their offices in the past 11 days as a result of the police forceful sealing off of the council cannot be quantified. To this end, Justice Nganjiwa, directed the police to provide normal security required at the council to maintain peace, law and order without sealing off the council. The court also charged the Police to apprehend anyone found acting contrary to the order and to detain

the person according to the laws of the land. Obio-Akpor council has been stuck in a political quagmire following the April 22, 2013 suspension of the chairman of the council, Nsirim; his deputy, Solomon Eke; and all the 17 councillors said to be loyal to the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike. This

spurred the Abuja High Courtdeclared chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Felix Obuah, to suspend 27 state lawmakers including the Speaker, his deputy and the Leader of the House on April 29. The suspended lawmakers have since dragged the party to court to challenge their suspension.

New Ekiti deputy gov assumes office From Muyiwa Adeyemi, Ado Ekiti KITI State’s new Deputy Governor, Prof. Modupe Adelabu, yesterday resumed office in Ado Ekiti with a promise to dedicate herself to the service of the state. She also called on members of staff in her office to be diligent and work in unity of purpose to ensure success of Governor Kayode Fayemi’s administration. Speaking at a special prayer session to usher her into her office on assumption of duty, Adelabu described her appointment as “divine” and therefore has nothing to fear because God who ordained it will surely work with her to make meaningful contribution to the success of the current administration. She urged all the political appointees and civil servants not to allow any division whatsoever but be ready to work in synergy more than ever before, love one another and be honest as these are the prerequisites for attaining corporate success. Adelabu who also called on them to pray for the governor and herself for fresh anointing and divine power for the new beginning pledged her total support for the governor and also her commitment to staff welfare.

Newswatch ex-directors lose bid to stop suit against them By Joseph Onyekwere OUR former directors of F(NCL), Newswatch Publication Ltd Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese, Yakubu Mohammed and Soji Akinrinade, yesterday lost bid to stop hearing of the suit instituted against them by the new management of

Newswatch before a Federal High Court in Lagos. The trial judge, Justice Okon Abang, refused an application made by counsel to the former directors, Adekunle Oyesanya (SAN), urging the court not to hear the substantive suit brought against his clients immediately after

hearing a motion filed by the defendants. Newswatch, Jimoh Ibrahim and Global Media Mirror Limited have brought the suit, praying the court to declare that the four former directors of Newswatch magazine have since ceased to be directors and, therefore, could not legally do anything on behalf of the company. The plaintiffs are also asking the court to declare that the former directors have no competence to declare a trade dispute under the Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) between them and the NCL. The plaintiffs are therefore praying the court to restrain Ekpu and others from taking measures that may be inimical to the interests of the NCL. At the proceedings yesterday, Oyesanya had said the time was not ripe for hearing the substantive originating summons (brought by the plaintiffs) until the court had decided the motion of the former directors one way or the other. Oyesanya had earlier argued the motion, which is contending that the substantive matter could not be determined by the court through the affidavit evidence alone and that the parties ought to file pleadings. Immediately after Oyesanya argued the motion, the judge wanted to go ahead to hear the substantive suit filed by the new Newswatch management against the former directors, but Oyesanya raised objection and argued orally that court ought not to go ahead to hear the substantive suit without giving its ruling first on his clients’ motion.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

WorldReport Australia pledges support for Nigeria’s peacekeeping efforts By Oghogho Obayuwana, Foreign Affairs Editor USTRALIA would stand by Nigeria in the latter’s quest for greater stability and peace in the West African sub-region, the Australian High Commissioner to Nigeria Jonathan Richardson has said. Australia is currently a nonpermanent member of the United Nations Security Council. At the recently marked Veterans’ Remembrance Day in Abuja, the envoy disclosed that his country had paid in the past, and would continue to pay “particular attention to the role of peacekeeping forces for greater stability in nations and regions. According to the High Commissioner, “Australia is working actively in the Security Council to support

efforts to achieve a resolution of the crisis in Mali” hence all over the world, Australian missions are simultaneously marking the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) Day. “We recognise the vital contributions of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Nigeria to those efforts, as well as the very strong role played by Nigeria and other ECOWAS states in the UN peacekeeping operations around the world,” he added. Addressing top Nigerian brass hats who alongside New Zealanders, were joined by defence attaches in the diplomatic community at the ceremony, Richardson said, “The spirit of ANZAC, with its human qualities of courage, mateship, and sacrifice, continues to have meaning and relevance for our

sense of national identity. “Each ANZAC Day, we take the opportunity to remember the sailors, soldiers, air force and other personnel who have gave so much in the defence of their country as well as in peace operations, over the last 100 years.” From the archives, more than 8,700 lost their lives during the Gallipoli campaign, with more than 2,000 killed or wounded on the first day alone. The Nigerian event also featured reading of poems and prayers by representatives of other nations that took part in the Gallipoli campaign, the laying of commemorative wreathes and a rendition of “The Last Post” by the Nigerian Guards Brigade. Beginning from the 25th April, ANZAC is marked as the anniversary of the first military action fought by

Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. The troops landed on Gallipoli shores for their first major military operation in April 1915, which is commemorated every year with memorial services around dawn or in the early morning as well as military parades by veterans. Now a national holiday, it brings out the lessons of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps’ hard-fought campaign that lasted eight months during the First World War. For the Nigeria event, the dawn Service was followed by a “gunfire breakfast”. The service was also an opportunity to bid farewell to 26 delegates from the Nigerian National Defence College, who were departing for a study tour of Australia and New Zealand.

Damilola Taylor’s killer freed from prison By Eno-Abasi Sunday, with agency report NE of the killers of schoolboy Damilola Taylor has been freed from prison for the fourth time although prison bosses admit he still shows no remorse. Ricky Preddie, 25, has had early release three times since 2010 but on each occasion breached parole and was returned to jail. The jail chiefs were forced to free him when the eight-year sentence he and brother Danny, 24, received for stabbing Damilola, 10, expired. A spokesman for Damilola’s dad Richard, 64, called for a public inquiry into how the justice system has spent an estimated £22million on the Preddie case to no effect. Gary Trowsdale, of the Damilola Taylor Trust, said: “Millions were spent on police investigations, Old Bailey trials and keeping the Preddies in jail. Yet they remain unreformed and show no remorse.” Police in South London are on alert for Ricky’s imminent release. Danny was freed in 2011. Taylor was stabbed with a broken bottle as he walked home from a library in Peckham, South East London, in 2000. After the incident, he staggered 100 yards with blood pouring from the wound in his leg before collapsing in a stairwell near his home on a rundown council setate In the aftermath of the incident, Mark Parsons, the headmaster of Oliver Goldsmith Primary School where Damilola was a pupil, said he was “deeply shocked” by Damilola’s death. But he

denied children at the school had anything to do with the killing. Following arrests made by the Police, four youths were eventually tried and acquitted of Damilola’s murder in 2002. Three other youths were cleared of murder after a second trial at the Old Bailey in 2006. One was cleared on all charges but the jury failed to reach a verdict on a charge of manslaughter against the other two, brothers Danny and Rickie Preddie, then aged 18 and 19. However, after a 33-day retrial the brothers were convicted and in October 2006 they were sentenced to eight years’ youth custody for the manslaughter of Damilola. Two inquiries set up to learn lessons from the case were published in December 2002. They were critical of the way the Metropolitan Police dealt with the case, in particular the handling of a 14-year-old witness known to the court as “Bromley”. Her crucial evidence was thrown out of court because she had lied. The reports did, however, say the police had been right to prosecute the four defendants. Richard and Gloria Taylor, Damilola’s parents were awarded £11,000 compensation for the death of their son, an amount which victim support groups condemned as “derisory”. The Taylors continue to run the Damilola Taylor Trust, set up in their son’s memory to help disadvantaged young people.

Preddie

Damilola

Saudi Arabia to punish men who helped woman convert to Christianity COURT in Saudi Arabia has A sentenced two men to lashes and prison terms for converting a woman to Christianity and helping her flee the conservative Islamic kingdom, the Saudi Gazette reported yesterday. A Lebanese man was sentenced to six years in prison and 300 lashes for converting the woman, while a Saudi man was sentenced to two years and 200 lashes for aiding her escape abroad, the English-language daily said. It added that the pair had challenged the verdict and would appeal. A spokesman at the justice ministry could not immediately be reached for comment. In Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, it is against the law for Muslims to abandon

their faith, a practice known as apostasy. Proselytising for other religions or practicing them openly is also illegal. Judges have considerable leeway in how to interpret the kingdom’s Sharia code of Islamic law and are not bound by sentencing guidelines or a system of precedent. Both capital and corporal punishment are legal. The case emerged last year after the woman’s family complained that she had been “brainwashed” by colleagues at the insurance company where she worked and that they had helped her leave Saudi Arabia via Bahrain on false documents. The woman, whose name has not been released, was granted asylum in Sweden last year, the newspaper reported.

Sharif poised to form government after Pakistan poll OPPLED in a 1999 military T coup, jailed and exiled, Pakistan’s Nawaz Sharif has made a triumphant election comeback and looks set to form a stable government capable of implementing reforms needed to rescue the fragile economy. Sharif may not win enough seats to rule on his own but has built up enough momentum to avoid having to form a coalition with his main rivals, former cricketer Imran Khan’s Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). The steel magnate held off a challenge from Khan, who had hoped to break decades of dominance by Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PMLN) and the PPP, led by the Bhutto family.

The two parties have formed governments whenever the military, the most powerful institution in the nucleararmed nation, has allowed civilian rule. United States President Barack Obama congratulated Pakistanis for the successful election and said the United States would work with the new government as an equal partner. “By conducting competitive campaigns, freely exercising your democratic rights, and persevering despite intimidation by violent extremists, you have affirmed a commitment to democratic rule that will be critical to achieving peace and prosperity for all Pakistanis for years to come,” Obama said in a statement.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

POLITICS

Politics Ekwueme

Anenih

Metuh

Soludo

Tukur

PDP panel on Anambra submits report From Chuks Collins, Awka HE much-expected final report of the Peace, Reconciliation and Harmonisation Committee of the Anambra State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is ready. According to the chairman, Justice Paul Obidigwe, the panel had worked tirelessly to reconcile and restore peace among members of the party in the state and beyond. The peace panel was set up a few weeks ago by the Prince Ken Emeakayi-led state executive to seek the way forward for the party in the state. Obidigwe, the immediate past Chief Judge of Anambra State, told newsmen in Awka that in the course of its assignment, the committee met and had audience with the national headquarters of the party, especially the National Working Committee (NWC) led by Alhaji Bamanga Tukur; the Board of Trustees (BoT) chairman, Chief Tony Anenih, as well as the pioneer BoT chairman and one of the

founding fathers of the PDP, Dr Alex Ekwueme, a former vice president of Nigeria. Among others the committee visited were BoT members from the state, especially Chief Maxwell Okudoh; the party’s National Publicity Secretary and member of the NWC, Chief Olisa Metuh; former state chairman, Chief Dan Ulasi; and former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Chukwuma Soludo. The panel had scheduled to meet with the pioneer state chairman of the party, Chief Joseph Okonkwo, and others. The committee chairman, alongside the secretary, Chief Okey Muo-Aroh, spoke to journalists after a closed-door consultative meeting at the state party secretariat with Chief Akachukwu Nwankpo, who is one of the frontline governorship aspirants of the party in the 2014 race. He said the panel had submitted the interim report to the national secretariat of the party. Obidigwe, admitting that the committee’s

task, as onerous as it had been, had progressed well, confirmed that all those invited “had been enthusiastic to see peace, oneness and industry thrive in the party again.” He said that every one of them, including Nwankpo, made very useful suggestions to the committee. He noted that it was only peace that would enable the party to return to its winning ways in the state, especially the forthcoming governorship election. Secretary of the committee, Muo-Aroh, pointed out that the national headquarters of the party expressed immense joy in their work, stressing that was reason they spent two days with the invited persons before the headquarters requested for an interim report, which was quickly obliged and complied with. He stated that they met twice with the Factfinding Committee of the NWC, led by the National Organising Secretary, Alhaji Mustapha, who later came to visit the panel in Awka, the Anambra state capital city.

Geidam urges Nigerians to support APC From Njadvara Musa, Damaturu OVERNOR of Yobe State, Ibrahim Geidam has solicited support of Nigerians in the ongoing move by the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and a faction of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to merge into All Progressive Congress (APC). Describing the move as the most viable alternative to rescue the country from the grip of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015, Gediam said the best and possible means to save the nation from the brink is for Nigerians to give their total support to ensure the success of the merger. Speaking during a reception held in honour of over 950 members of the PDP, who returned to the ANPP in Yobe recently, Gediam described the situation as a reunion of the ANPP family, which once had differences and disagreements. According to the governor: “The development is an indication that the cooling off period in the party is over; we are now witnessing a new phase of political reintegration in Yobe State.” He urged members of the party to accept the returnees, saying that they were

Geidam

now in where they rightly belong. According to him: “There is the need to salute their courage for taking such a bold stand and remaining consistently principled. The return of these legislators and politicians into ANPP has again highlighted the resilient nature of our great party, and the ability of our members to solve whatever problems we have amicably through dialogue and consultation,” he said. Commending them for exhibiting a high sense of political judgment, the governor noted that their experiences must have led former and serving legislators to the conclusion that: “Our nation and generations to come, have no future under the PDP. Your bold decision to leave PDP therefore has been taken at the right time. It has come at a time when progressive forces and other patriotic Nigerians are also taking far reaching measure to save our dear country from collapse and disintegration.” Promising that ANPP would stick to the principle of level playing field to contest for elective positions at the national, state and council levels, Geidam promised the returnees that they would be accorded all privileges enjoyed by party members, including the right to contest elective positions at the National and State Houses of Assembly. “We do not consider that you ever left the party because your spirits and thoughts remained with us. “I am the coordinator of APC zonal contact and mobilisation committee for the North-East zone of the country; your wealth of knowledge is needed for the success of the arrangements,” he said. Some of the returnees include the former Speaker of the Yobe State House of Assembly, Tijjani Zannah Zakariya, former deputy governor, Aliyu Saleh Bagare, Senator Adamu Talba, Hassan Jonga, Yau Zakariya Galadima, Baba Gishiwari, Abdullahi Kakumi, Sani Mohammed Nguru and Mallamta Barau.

Muo-Aroh noted that each of the stakeholders they met gave their own perspective of the party crises and suggestions on the way forward. The state chairman of the party, Mr. Emeakayi, at the inauguration of the committee, admitted that having been on the sideline for the past eight years, the reconciliation move was an opportunity for every member of the party for self-appraisal and rediscovery. In addition, he said he was setting up the Obidigwe committee to ensure a total grassroots mobilisation of the party members for the next elections in the state. Other members of the committee are Her Excellency, Mrs. Beatrice Ekwueme, Mrs. Chika Ibeneme, Dr. Anyanyo, Mr. Bright Nnebedum, Mr. B.C Umeanuka, Ozo Roma Mocha and Chief George Okoye. However, the committee was given a free hand to enlarge its membership, if that would help achieve the aim of its establishment.

DPP chairman defends merger with progressives From Bridget Chiedu Onochie, Abuja HE National Chairman, Democratic Peoples’ Party (DPP), Sir Oliasemeka Akamukali, has defended the planned merger of the party with the newly formed All Progressives Congress (APC). In Abuja, Akamukali said the move to join other progressives stemmed from the determination to reclaim the country from those he described as “clueless leaders.” He also announced the dissolution of the Delta State Executive Committee of the party headed by Chief Tony Ezeagwu and its replacement with a caretaker committee led by Mr. Cyprian Mbudiche Ashibuogwu. Apart from the dissolution of the executive committee, Akamukali condemned the purported suspension of Senator Pius Ewherido, himself and few others on grounds of antiparty activities, declaring it null and void and of no effect. He wondered where state executive derived the

Accordingly, the National Execute Committee of the party, under my leadership, at its meeting, had approved the dissolution of the Delta State Executive Committee of the party and its replacement with a caretaker committee to be headed by Barrister Cyprian Mbudiche Ashibuogwu power to suspend the national chairman of a party. According to him: “Be that as it may, can a state executive, if properly constituted, suspend a national officer? Also, can a state chapter be responsible for merger? The rascality of the Delta State executives, especially the pseudo-leadership of the chairman, can no longer be tolerated. “Accordingly, the National Execute Committee of the Party, under my leadership, at its meeting, had approved the dissolution of the Delta State Executive Committee of the party and its replacement with a caretaker committee to be headed by Barrister Cyprian Mbudiche Ashibuogwu.” Urging the people of the state not to be discouraged by the antics and machinations of self-conceited

politicians, Akamukali said, “the APC provides us the best opportunity to wrest our state and country from the claws of economic vampires and cavalier politicians.” He said contrary to the insinuation by those he described as “renegades” in the party, the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party held on February 15, resolved to join other political parties in forming the APC. The party chairman added that the idea to join APC was muted and approved by other party chieftains before a few of them withdrew to create unnecessary discord in the party so as to undermine the popular decision to join the merger. On the purported meeting by a faction of the party, the chairman said he holds the soul of the party while the faction has the carcass.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

TheMetroSection Horror in a wardrobe...

Briefs Church to raise N100m for project

• Police uncover missing body of 73- year-old woman in her son’s closet, after 10 years

HE launch of N100 milT lion church building project of Christ Glorious End-time Evangelical Church holds on Saturday, May 18 at 5,Olaniyi Street, off Baba-Ladipo Street, AbuleEgba, Lagos at 10.00a.m. The Senior Pastor, Lai Bamidele, who sought public support in the project, said the present situation begged for expansion.

Odunsi dies at 78 burial ceremony for FwasINAL Aare Adetutu Odunsi, who until her death, the

The remains of the Mrs. Osuigwe in the wardrobe

From Charles Ogugbuaja, Owerri FFICERS of the Ambush Squad of the Imo State Police Command have found the missing body of a 73– year– old woman, Mrs. Lucy Osuigwe, 10 years after. She hailed from Ejemekwuru, Oguta Local Council of Imo State. Shockingly, the embalmed body was found in the wardrobe of his eldest son, Dr. Chimezie Osuigwe, a retired school principal. Narrating this horrific discovery to journalists on Monday at the

Dr. ChimezieOsuigwe

scene of the crime, the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Muhammad Musa Katsina, said his men, acting on a tip-off, uncovered the crime, adding that the suspect would face the wrath of the law after investigations have been completed. Katsina, whose men had discovered a baby factory cum selling point in Njaba, Imo State last week, said he would champion the fight to ensure that criminals were flushed out of the state. According to him, a 22- year-old

grandson of the deceased had gone into the father’s wardrobe to search for his credentials, adding that he forced the wardrobe, which was tightly locked open, only to discover the body of his grandmother inside. He made the disclosure that led to his father’s arrest and further investigations by the squad. In his confession, Osuigwe said the body served as a shrine. He narrated: “That evening, somewhere in 2003, I was meditating in my temple when my

mother came in to ease herself. Suddenly, I heard a big noise. I found her groaning. I took her to her room and laid her in the bed before she passed on. But you see, she is still here, but I can’t tell you why she is here, 10 years after, because the enemies are all over here. I will talk to you people in camera.” A police source said full identities of the boy were with them, stressing that more useful information had been received by the command for further action.

FESTAC Rotary to offer scholarships, amenities to community By Adeniyi Adunola HE newly chartered Rotary Club of FESTAC Central would carry on the Rotary tradition of improving the lives of the less-privileged by providing public toilets, classroom chairs and tables to schools where they are needed as well as award scholarships to indi-

gent but brilliant pupils in the area where it is located. Speaking during the Charter Presentation Ceremony and Induction of the Board at Golden Tulip Hote, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos, at the weekend, the Charter President of Rotary Club of FESTAC Central, Mrs. Anthonia Agugoesi, said those

programmes and more, that improve lives “are the reason Rotary Club exits all over the world.” “The Rotary Club of FESTAC Central intends to accomplish as many as possible these projects depending on the resources available to us. They include: construction of public toilets;

provision of chairs and tables; granting of micro-finance credit to women; water projects, award of scholarship to five brilliant but indigent students, career talk for secondary school students and provision of artificial limbs Jaipur Project,” she said. Agugoesi said the chal-

lenges of starting a new club could never be overemphasized. “We are full of hope and optimism and are determined to employ our professional prowess to nurture and grow the club to an enviable position by maintaining quality memberships,” she added.

Cab operator threatens court action against police officer By Sunday Aikulola LAGOS-BASED cab operator who was allegedly shot by a trigger-happy police corporal in January has threatened to drag the Inspector General of Police to court over the negligence of the Police High Command to his plight. The cab operator, Mr. Chuks Harry, alleged that he was shot on January 11, 2013 by a police corporal attached to Murtala Muhammed International Airport Police Station, Lagos. In a letter by the victim’s lawyer to the Lagos State Police Command, Mr. Umar Manko, the victim, Chuks said that his failure to give the police corpo- Harry in hospital bed ral N500 gratification, which he demanded, led to dergo, because he did not know where to get the the unwarranted shooting. money for his treatment. According to the lawyer: “It was the Divine interA father of three children, Chuks also said that he vention of the Chief Security Officer of the Murtala had been battling to make ends meet since the inciMuhammed Airport, who sent for ambulance to dent occurred. He, therefore, urged the police to take him to Lagos State Teaching Hospital, that come to his aid. He, however threatened to institute saved his life.” legal action on the police hierarchy, if nothing was Expressing appreciation to Lagos State Police Com- done to address his plight. mand for giving some amount of money during a The letter reads: “We act as solicitors to Mr. Chuks surgery on him, the victim, however, noted that the Harry hereinafter referred to as our client and we money was not enough. have his instructions to write this petition to you. According to the lawyer, Chuks still owes a sum of Our client was shot by Corporal Emmanuel Agabi atN56,350 from the first operation. tached to Beesam Police Station on the 11th day of JanHe stated further that his client was due for an- uary 2013 for his failure to give him N500 he other operation in April, which he couldn’t un- demanded for.”

“It was the Divine intervention of the Chief Security Officer of the airport who sent for ambulance to take him to Lagos State Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, that saved his life. At present, he is undergoing treatment after the first operation while the second operation is coming up in April 2013.” “Our client informed us that throughout this unfortunate incident he had spent almost N500,000 without any assistance from the police or Corporal Agabi’s family. While the Beesam Police state had not seen anything wrong in what Corporal Agabi had done to an innocent citizen of this country and he is in possession of rifle in disguise of doing a normal duty..,” Chuks’ lawyer said. He added: “It is pathetic that the way and manner the likes of Emmanuel Agabi are portraying Nigeria Police. The Supreme Court of Nigeria had held in plethora of cases that policemen all over the country are enjoined to handle the firearms issued to them with care and refrain from using them on innocent citizens.” Lagos State Police Command spokesperson, Ngozi Braide told The Guardian that she was not aware of the matter. According to her: “I would like you to do me a favour by asking the victim to come and see me so that I could take up the matter from there. I am not sure the issue took place while I was here, but he should come so that I can look into the matter.”

Grand Commander of Women in Nigeria, Aare Iyaloja of Nigeria and National President and Founder of the National Traders / Market Leaders Council of Nigeria, will hold on Saturday, May 18, at the Baptist Academy Field, Obanikoro, Lagos at noon. She died at 78. A statement by Chief (Mrs.) Aduke Maina said: “Aare Adetutu, who is survived by several children and grandchildren, has since been buried according to Muslim rites.”

Mbang’s Spelling Prodigy holds May 16 BANG’S Spelling Prodigy M (Akwa Ibom Edition) will hold on Thursday, May 16, 2013 at the Sheergrace Arena,Nsikak Eduok Avenue, Uyo Panel of judges consists of Prof. Imelda Udoh of the Department of Linguistics, University of Uyo, Dr. Ima Emmanuel of the Department of English, University of Uyo and the Moses Armstrong, a popular Nollywood actor. It is an inter primary and secondary school spelling competition, a product of B-hive Entertainment Company owned by Ini Mbang, popularly known as Brandiny, who is the son of His Eminence Dr. Sunday Mbang . It is supported by Nigerpets Constructions, ExxonMobil Producing Company and individuals.

Ofuani, 92, for burial rites for Madam FwhoUNERAL Angelina Obiageli Ofuani, died at the age of 92, begin on Thursday , May 16, with a vigil mass at 6.00p.m. at Ofuani’s residence, Ogbeani Quarters , OgwashiUku, Aniocha South Local Council of Delta State. She will be buried on Friday, May 17, after a requiem mass at St Patrick Catholic Church, Ogwashi-Uku at noon. A thanksgiving service holds at 9.00a.m. at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, OgwashiUku.

Ofuani

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

TheGuardian

14 THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Conscience Nurtured by Truth

FOUNDER: ALEX U. IBRU (1945 – 2011)

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

Editorial The impunity in Rivers

LETTERS

No to military invasion of Azuzuama

HE current political crisis and reign of impunity in Rivers State is one perfect illusT tration of Nigerian politicians’ warped sense of duty and their disrespect for S democracy. For instead of concentrating on service to the people, their primary concern remains who is up that must be brought down or who is down that must be buried. In their love of power for its own sake, the only use to which they put it is intrigues and vanities, sparing no thought for the people in whose trust the power is held. Despite the public outrage at the political crisis in Rivers, pitting the state governor, Rotimi Amaechi against known loyalists of President Goodluck Jonathan, it worsens by the day and now stretches the fragile peace in the land. This is unacceptable and must stop forthwith. What started as a disagreement on policies such as the Sovereign Wealth Fund and the location of some oil wells between Bayelsa and Rivers State has now become a petty ego battle over who has more powers between Abuja and Port Harcourt. And expectedly, the Federal Government-backed forces have been baring their fangs, and are poised to pummel Amaechi to submission. Even though, they have seized upon the crisis over the dissolution of a local government management committee, the real reason for the raging feud is common knowledge. Loyalists of the Jonathan presidency have variously accused Amaechi of aspiring to contest as a running mate to another governor in 2015 in a manner considered an affront to the second term ambition of the incumbent president. The Nigerian Governors’ Forum, which he chairs, according to them, has also been run like a trade union and it is so antagonistic to the Federal Government of Nigeria notwithstanding that he is a member of the ruling party. Amaechi’s opponents, obviously backed by powerful forces in Abuja, have enlisted the support of the PDP leadership with the result that he is more or less a persona non grata within his party. As an indication of its outright displeasure with him, and as a first step in the battle to subjugate him, they sought to prevent him from continuing as the chairman of the Governor’s forum. And as a ploy to remove the carpet from underneath his feet, the party created its own Governor’s forum and made Akwa Ibom’s Godswill Akpabio its chairman. As is typical of “Abuja,” the almighty Abuja politicians began to pile pressure on Amaechi. To achieve maximum effect, they began to look for his sins. They then laid their hands on documents relating to the purchase of a private jet by Rivers State Government and came out to say that the purchase price was inflated. Thereafter, it was alleged that the aircraft did not belong to Rivers State and at another time, its papers had expired for which reason it was grounded at Akure airport for several hours. The aircraft’s operation in Nigeria was also deemed illegal. The latest is that clearance documents used by the aircraft for its registration were forged. To a discerning mind, this is no more than blackmail. Abuja has always been notorious for deploying its might to settle scores with perceived political enemies. President Olusegun Obasanjo did the same to his deputy, Atiku Abubakar, and all the governors who refused to follow his line. The question now arises; why is it now, if not for mischief, that the Federal Government and its agencies are taking up the issue of the purchase of the aircraft by Rivers State Government? Where was the Federal Government or its pretentious agencies at the time all the ‘sins’ were being committed? Is it not curious that no one saw anything wrong with the certification of the aircraft until the disagreement between the presidency and Amaechi began? Does it not amount to an indictment of those overzealous aviation officers charged with the responsibility of certification that they did not adhere to due process before allowing the aircraft to berth or fly? Assuming for a while that these allegations are true, isn’t there a lawful way of handling it? Is there no statutory way of enforcing compliance with aviation laws without having to resort to brigandage that embarrasses the nation? By all means, Rotimi Amaechi or any governor who breaks the law should be brought to justice, and all of their excesses, if any, should henceforth be investigated for eventual prosecution. But the ongoing charade smacks of persecution and nothing else. Whereas, rule of law as an adjunct of democracy requires that state powers must be deployed only for the good of the people, and never as an instrument to settle scores with perceived enemies. President Jonathan may not be directly involved but he cannot claim ignorance of the crisis in Rivers. Some of his aides and known Abuja politicians actually flex muscles around like despots in the way they speak and operate like demi- gods. Because of the awesome power and influence of the presidency to whom they are attached either as ministers, or presidential aide or mere sinecure and hangers-on, they ride rough-shod and do all they can to take control of state machinery from the governors. And when their arrogance and greed are backed by the federal might, the state government becomes crippled. This is the unenviable lot Rivers State is grappling with now; as it totters undeservedly under the weight of impunity. The State House of Assembly cannot meet; one of its local council headquarters has been sealed off by the police on orders, obviously, “from above”and made inaccessible to its officials, while its party leadership, one sacked by the court and replaced with another, is now ineffectual as one faction battles the other. President Jonathan must arrest this trend urgently so that his government is not identified with impunity. Dispute must be resolved amicably and in the most civilized manner without heating up the polity. Aspiration to any office is a constitutional right of every Nigerian. No one should be victimized for that. Preserving order, peace and harmony is the highest objective of statecraft. There is enough cataclysm and wailings in the land to which there has been no solution or respite. Nigerian leaders need not open new terrains of chaos.

IR: Following the killing of a number of policemen in Azuzuama Community in Bayelsa State by armed militants, heavily armed soldiers have been deployed to the locality. According to press reports, houses of suspected militants responsible for the killings have been razed by invading troops. Residents of the community have fled the town, with the memories of the carnage that the military invasion of Odi, also in Bayelsa State in their minds. This is a deplorable situation, an onslaught on the democratic rights of working people and the poor. Instead of tackling the fundamental and underlying basis for restiveness and militancy, which are mass unemployment and collapse of education, among others, the

Jonathan administration has resorted to arm-twisting use of brute force to quell the militancy. This is also what played out in Baga, Borno State where another military invasion against suspected Boko Haram elements have left hundreds of innocent civilians dead. The failure of amnesty in the Niger Delta with the renewal of militancy in the region foretells the end result of the current amnesty programme for Boko Haram militants. It also shows the limitations of military solution in resolving crisis thrown up by socio-economic conditions. Proworking people’s organisations, including the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Bayelsa State must demand the withdrawal of the troops from Azuzuama.

Azuzuama residents must organise mass protests against the military invasion of the community. Above all, in order to end this era of sorrow, blood and tears under capitalism, working people and the poor in Azuzuama community and Bayelsa State need to join hands and build the Socialist Party of Nigeria as a panNigerian, genuine working people’s political alternative to bring into power a revolutionary working people’s government. This can galvanize the enormous resources of society to put in place every necessary critical infrastructure and meet the urgent social needs of education, healthcare, etc. in ending the restive wave of kidnapping, militancy and terrorism. • Ayo Ademiluyi, Bayelsa State.

Akwa Ibom’s development momentum Governor Godswill Obot the governor is already working Also of great importance is the SourIR:Akpabio’s garlands of hon- on its Maintenance, Repair and governor’s leadership in his as the Silverbird Governor Overhaul (MRO); an electronic free compulsory education proof the Year comes barely a week after the uncommon transformer was awarded the City People Governor of the Year at its 15th edition, which held at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos, a development that further lends credence to the redefinition of governance, which Akpabio has brought to bare in the state and the nation as a whole. The governor had set forth the task of rebuilding, revamping and transforming his state in every sector. For instance, Akwa Ibom State now has a standard airport, which

library and the Tropicana Entertainment Centre, a great source of tourists attraction, among others. Apart from these, Governor Akpabio’s achievements in the aspects of road construction have been enormous. According to the Commissioner of Information and Communication, Mr. Aniekan Umanah, “the state government has completed over 250 federal and state roads spanning 950 kilometres”, highlighting the governor’s dedication to turning the state into a haven for investors.

gramme for primary and secondary school students and a sound empowerment programme for youths and women. The state was selected as the best state in the country for 2011 for its strides in women empowerment. While swearing in the 20 new commissioners and special advisers recently, Akpabio established why his transformation agenda has been successful so far, and that is, there is zero tolerance for corruption. He warned the new appointees accordingly. • Ibipobong Udom,

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Business Appointments P25 Between dynamics of workplace and effective human relations practitioners ‘MTN’s market dominance dangerous for telecoms sector growth’

IMF increases Nigeria’s borrowing threshold to 66 per cent

By Adeyemi Adepetun

ROM a borrowing threshFDomestic old of 40 per cent of Gross Product ( GDP), the

HE Nigerian T Communications Commission has explained the reason behind it decision to regulate the market dominance status of MTN Nigeria, one of the leading telecommunications firm in the country, saying such dominance could lead to abuse in the telecoms market. According to NCC, such a dominance where MTN has been pricing its off net calls at three or four times the price of on net calls, could easily lead to anti-competitive practices. MTN’s practice, according to NCC is a strategy intended to discourage its customers from making calls to other operators and force people to adopt an MTN line to make all their calls. Indeed, MTN currently controls nearly 50 per cent of the mobile subscriber base and it intends to price calls on- net at such a low price that the smaller operators will not be able to compete with them and make a profit. Explaining further on the Commission’s decision yesterday, a senior official of NCC, who doesn’t want to be quoted said, “This is bad for the country as this would result ultimately in those smaller operators not been able to continue to invest in the build out of their networks. This is bad because it is critical for the economic development of the country that all four operators build out extensive mobile broadband networks.” Already, the leadership of the telecommunications firms is expected to meet with NCC this week. The Chief Executive Officer of MTN, Brent Goshen had in an interview with Bloomberg last week said the telecommunications firm would be meeting NCC this week, starting May 13. Goshen in the interview said: “There is a lot of competition and that’s what we need to discuss: how they’ve arrived at the conclusion that the market isn’t competitive.” Indeed, a telecoms subscriber, said Kehinde Bello, said, “For me, the decision to have declared MTN dominant operator in the country is appropriate and very timely. There is need for checks and balances in the telecoms sector.”

From Mathias Okwe, Abuja

International Monetary Fund ( IMF) says Nigeria can now borrow up to 56 per cent of her GDP. However the Banks wants Nigeria to delink budget planning from oil prices but expresses worry over Nigeria’s growth without job opportunities for citizens. The Director General of the

Debt Management Office (DMO), Dr. Abraham Nwankwo made this announcement yesterday at the opening of the 2013 Debt Sustainability Analysis workshop in Abuja. The implication of this development is that Nigeria may further deepen her debt profile, which currently stands domestically at over N6 trillion with a foreign component of more than $6 billion. The raise in the borrowing threshold followed the recent

positive review of the Nigerian economy by both the World Bank and the IMF, which indicated a positive outlook. Also, the World Bank has specifically promoted Nigeria to the IBRD borrowing window where lending is more costly than at the IDA window which the country is being faced out. At the moment, Nigeria’s indebtedness stands at around 20 per cent of GDP below the 40 per cent hitherto allowed her.

Company Secretary, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Chioma Madubuko (left); Chairman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Managing PHOTO: FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI Director, Abdullahi Sule at the seventh yearly general meeting of the company, in Lagos

United Kingdom gives conditions for export to EU countries From Itunu Ajayi, Abuja O facilitate export of T Nigerian goods to the United Kingdom, exporters must comply fully with the laws of the European Union as it relates to imports into these countries. Head of Import and Official Control Unit, Food and Standards Agency, United Kingdom, Michael Glavin, said at the opening of a two-day workshop in Abuja that for Nigeria’s food items to be accepted in the United Kingdom, they have to meet all requirements in quality, packaging and must have undergone the scrutiny of the constituted regulatory agency as obtained in the regulation. The workship organised by the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC). Glavin said the only sure way to facilitate export of food

from Nigeria to the United Kingdom is for Nigeria to comply fully with laws of the European Union as it relates to imports into their countries. According to him, the interest of his department is to educate Nigeria on the laws that are operational all over European Union countries including the United Kingdom in the area of the kind of food items that could be allowed into those countries. Besides, Nigeria’s food items to be acceptable in the United Kingdom, they have to meet all the requirements in quality, packaging and they must have undergone the scrutiny of the constituted regulatory agency in their country of origin as obtained in the regulation. He added that there is not going to be any form of compromise on the part of his agency on total compliance to the rules if Nigeria is still inter-

ested in exporting food items into the United Kingdom. “One of the reasons why we are here is to advise and give as much information to Nigeria’s export as an industry and especially the European Union compliance aspect. It is export to the United Kingdom area we are talking about here, but it is the EU’s laws that deal with it. Nigeria needs to know what to do in the area of compliance for its food items to be acceptable in the United Kingdom and other European Union countries. Products that have not gone through the regulatory agency in charge in Nigeria would be destroyed at the point of entry. We would not allow anything to find their ways into the United Kingdom without proper documentation and control.” In his remark, the Executive CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

But indication appeared yesterday that the country may be increasing the rate beyond 25 per cent if insinuations by, the DMO boss that the country has been under- borrowing is anything to go by and may even borrow up to 40 per cent of GDP. He said Nigeria’s history of debt and direction of the economy made it imperative to rather under borrow than over borrow. His words: “We rather under borrow than over borrow. That is our rule to be on the conservative side. Even though when countries were rated, our net present value to gross domestic product ratio has been reviewed to 56 percent, Nigeria advisedly will remain at 40 percent for practical purposes. But we will still continue noting that we belong to the group who has been allowed to borrow up to 56 percent of their Net present value of their GDP.” According to him, “These ratios are fixed for all countries in that group. But each country has to look at its own

peculiarities. That is why the case of Nigeria, in terms of our experience of debts in the past, we must not have that experience again. And if you look at our economy, you see that we are still over dependent on oilover 80 percent dependent on oil.” However, if the country goes on a wild borrowing spree, this will be against the grain of the effort by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. ( Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, whose effort at curtailing borrowing has led to the establishment of a debt sinking fund where domestic liabilities that are due are settled instead of rolling them over. She has also declared that the country’s lending profile should be on the downward swing instead of going north. Besides, the World Bank in another development yesterday advised the Nigerian Government to de link subsequent national Budget preparation from the price of oil at the international market because it was not reliable.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

16 BUSINESS

Lagos State commences Traffic Impact Assessment By Taiwo Hassan

he Lagos State T Government has commenced the enforcement of Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA) on all building approvals structures above four floors and all buildings for commercial purposes. According to the government, the need to enforce the law on future building plans in the state was to ensure that upcoming structures do not affect the government’s transport policy programme for the state. At the state’s ministerial press briefing to commemorate the second year in office in the second term of Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, Commissioner for Transportation, Kayode Opeifa, said the government would still commence clampdown on erred developers who failed to get permit or referrer from the state’s Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development. According to him, the Ministry of Transportation in conjunction with its counterpart in the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, are already working together to ensure that buildings being erected in the state would not hinder the transport master plan of the present administration. “It is sad to note that developers still work to evade this important Lagos State Physical Planning Laws requirement. Going for-

ward, the Ministry has decided to conduct independent audit of all commercial building approvals so as to ensure full compliance with the extant state laws. The success story which the TIA studies has on the utility value of the Ikeja Mall, road and traffic management plan which was as recommended by a team of spirited officers from the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development and coordination the Ministry of Transportation is a testimony to the importance of TIA study.” Opeifa said traffic is a function of land use, while traffic engineering involved measuring and study of traffic, determining its characteristics and the application of knowledge so gained to improve the safety, convenience, functionality and efficiency of transportation provisions in planning, adding that traffic studies and traffic data collection, analysis and evaluation are critical elements in transportation and urban planning. He said they involved series of information gathered from traffic count of vehicles and other road uses during peak and off peak periods as well as the impact of developments (settlements, communities, buildings, roads, road constructions and facilities) and lack of such development has its impacts on transportation and traffic management.

United Kingdom gives conditions for export to EU countries CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 Director of NEPC, David Adulugba, said informal exporters of Nigeria foods should not complain of seizure and destruction of such foods at the point of entry as they have refused to go through the due processes. He said the era of people cutting corners in doing business are gone and advised intending exporters to register their produce with the agency formally. “Many of Nigerians who goes to the United Kingdom to sell these items do not go formally, they do business informally, the statistics of Nigeria business in the UK are lost, and that is why we have the registration desk here now, we have been telling Nigerians like any other parts of the world to formalise their trade, they should fill all the necessary forms, the customs forms, the pre-shipment inspection forms and all the other documents. They should follow all the rules so that they don’t run into problems. But when they carry produces in bags and cartoons to export to the UK, they run into problem, of course such things would be destroyed.” The minister of trade and investment, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, at the event noted that United Kingdom has been one of Nigeria’s top five traditional non-oil export destinations for food produce, this it he said, would encour-

age the ministry to build the capacity of exporters in the area of education and compliance to the rules in the rewarding markets. He said it is imperative for exporters to update themselves and adhere to new conditions for the export of food produce recently issued by the Director-General of European Commission’s Health and consumer directorate in Brussels. Stakeholders are of the opinion that compliance to the rules would literarily open up a world of business opportunities for all Nigeria businesses; this they said would encourage economic growth of the country, which would increase the GDP. They lamented that the quantity of food produce that had been destroyed by border agencies in the UK was unprecedented and cannot really be quantified adding that the move to sanitize the export environment would not only be an advantage to the sector alone but to the country as a whole. They said bringing the representatives of Uk border patrol agencies to come and address this critical situation in the economic growth of the country. The European commission has issued a guideline that exports would now be subjected to 100 per cent pre-export test and the issuance of an official health certificate guaranteeing the absence of aflatoxins and other contaminations.

BUSINESS 17

ThE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Ogun to launch PFM reform agenda hE Ogun State T Government will tomorrow launch its Public Financial Management (PFM) reform agenda towards improving transparency and credibility of its budget process. Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Oluwande Muoyo, said in a statement in Abeokuta that the initiative is an open declaration of the government’s commitment

to the tenets of transparency and accountability. She said: “the goal of rebuilding the State cannot be optimally achieved without an effective and efficient PFM system that will facilitate service delivery”, adding that the PFM reform agenda is the outcome of a self-assessment carried out by the State and other external parties such as representatives of the civil society like the Independent

Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and the organised private sector. Muoyo noted that the assessment, which was conducted in 2012, using the globally accepted Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) framework, was intended to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the Public Financial

Ekiti set to revise 2013 budget for project completion From Muyiwa Adeyemi, Ado Ekiti hE 2013 Budget of Ekiti T State is to be revised to ensure a speedy completion of all ongoing projects. This formed part of resolutions reached at the Second Executive-Legislature parley which took place from Wednesday to Saturday at the Ikogosi Warm Spring Resorts, Ikogosi-Ekiti. The parley had in attendance Governor Kayode Fayemi, his deputy, Prof. Dupe Adelabu, members of the State Executive Council, members of the State house of Assembly and National Assembly members from the state. Participants in the programme noted that the eight-point agenda of the Fayemi administration has led to a huge expansion in the stock of infrastructure in the state and attracted investors from far and wide. According to a communiqué issued at the end of the conference, the budget should be revised to ensure the completion of the capital projects being executed by the Fayemi administration before new ones are embarked upon. It was also resolved that the Mid-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) that informed the 2013 Budget should be updated and extended to 2016 for it to form the basis of the 2014 Budget. The MTEF for 2014 and 2015, according to the communiqué should cover the following sectors: Agriculture, Education, health, Urban and Physical Planning, Lands, Tourism and Infrastructure.

Participants further resolved that immediate action should be taken by appropriate government agencies to design and follow through

with an aggressive plan for a sustainable Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), as the state could no longer rely on the insufficient allocation from the federal purse..

Management system, and was based on the available audited accounts for the three preceding years (2008 to 2010). According to her, the PFM

self-assessment report and Reform Agenda envisages a line-up of reform activities in all sectors involving public financial management roles, with the ultimate

objective of enhancing fiscal discipline through internal and external controls, while focusing public expenditure on priority areas of Government.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

18 BUSINESS

CAC set to delist inactive companies from register By Faith Oparaugo HE Corporate Affairs T Commission, (CAC) has decided to delist companies from the register of firms specifically borne out of desire to rid the country of inactive, and portfolio companies.

Speaking at the 2013 Practice day of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN), in Lagos, Mr. Ibrahim Maikwata, Manager, CAC, said a number of the companies on its register are inactive, with their directors either

dead or untraceable. According to him, we have delisted these companies because we want to do away with inactive companies on our register. Besides, some of the directors of these companies are dead while the companies have remained inac-

Standard Chartered’s Internet banking for SMEs begins By Chijioke Nelson TANDARD Chartered SInternet Nigeria has introduced an banking service known as Straight2Bank, in a move to broaden it offerings to the public and deliver effectively. Straight2Bank, designed for business entities like Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and other corporates, is a fully integrated Internet banking service that caters for all business transactions.

According to a statement from the bank, “with this tool, SMEs can now manage their accounts, transact conveniently and process payroll online in the comfort of their officesit is user-friendly and allows customers perform banking transactions such as local and international payments, trade initiation, mobile authorization of payments,with ease. The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria, Bola Adesola,

said:“Our focus is to provide banking with convenience for our customers. Today’s consumers are tech-savvy and mobile. They want banking that not only meets their financial needs, but also anticipates them. We believe that technology has to be useful, intuitive and most importantly seamless; we continue to transform our business and invest for long-term growth, with a focus on digital technologies that we believe will shape the future of banking.

tive.” The CAC had within the last couple of years, delisted about 450,000 companies, for various offences, ranging from non-filing and irregular filing of annual return among others. He stated that the commission was committed to the enforcement of the rules on filings for trustees, such as church, mosques, and charitable organizations among others. He said: The Company and Allied Matters Act, CAMA, requires that organisations designated as trustees appoint qualified auditors to audit their accounts, while they were also required to prepare statement of

accounts while filing in their annual returns to the CAC. “In addition to appointing an internal auditor, trustees are expected to appoint an external auditor. The Auditor should be appointed by the general meeting and not by the general overseer as the case may be,” he noted. Also speaking, Mrs. Oyindamola Ehiwere, a chartered secretary and administrator, blamed the delay in the filing of document by companies on the bureaucracy of the regulators which has made it impossible for company’s secretaries to meet up with deadlines. According to her, inflexibility of the regulators on issues as the market continues to

evolve, adding that lack of understanding from the regulators on issues which require them to be less rigid has contributed in frustrating the efforts of chartered secretaries in the discharge of their duties. She maintained that some of the major challenges facing chartered secretaries were the CAC’s inefficiencies and poor record keeping function. He added, “Other challenges are the change of requirements and procedures by the CAC without educating the users of its services; arbitrary application of regulations, such as the filing of Form CAC 2 with share transfer documents.”

Activists fault tobacco industry inclusion in African tax forum By Wole Oyebade IGHT activists have called R on the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and its partner, the African Tax Institute (ATI) to ensure that the tobacco industry are completely barred from participating at the African Tax Forum holding this week in Abuja. The forum, hosted by the FIRS in partnership with ATI and the International Tax and Investment Center (ITIC) will draw participants from gov-

ernment agencies across the continent as well as local and international tax consultants. The activists, under the aegis of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) and the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) said the forum as currently constituted would only serve to promote the interests of the tobacco industry. According to the groups, the ITIC is an organization that works to promote favorable

business climates for the corporate entities that it represents. Others are the four largest multi-national tobacco companies in the world: British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco Group, Japan Tobacco International and Phillip Morris International. In addition, representatives from these four companies sit on the ITIC Board of Directors and the tobacco companies have directly financed materials developed by ITIC regarding tobacco issues. In the programme for the upcoming tax forum, a session will focus on combating illicit trade in tobacco products while representatives from ITIC and the British American Tobacco (BAT) will facilitate discussions at the session. In a joint statement by ERA/FoEN and CISLAC in Lagos recently, the group noted that “BAT’s participation contravenes Article 5. 3 of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) which specifically requires Parties to the Treaty to protect their public health policies from the commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law.”

CIPSMN tasks government on proper use of resources By Faith Oparaugo HE President of Chartered T Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria (CIPSMN), Alhaji Aliyu, has urged the government to put the resources of the country into meaningful development through efficient and sound procurement management system. Speaking at the 2013 induction ceremony of new members recently in Lagos, Aliyu said we have carelessly blown our resources and still doing the same thing through faulty procurement system against best practices, when we should have judiciously ploughed them into meaningful productive system. According to him, high among the most obvious inventories of constraints in our economic development and procurement best practices are the prevailing level of corruption in high places, insufficient powers supply and lack of good technology.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

BUSINESS 23

UAC, Imperial Logistics sign agreement to deepen logistics business O aid its diversification T drive, UAC of Nigeria Plc (UAC), has announced a strategic partnership with Imperial Logistics, the international logistics and supply chain arm of the South Africabased Imperial Holdings Limited. Specifically, the partnership, which has been sealed with the signing of an agreement between the two companies, will see Imperial Logistics acquiring 49 per cent equity in MDS Logistics Plc, a wholly owned subsidiary of UAC, while UAC retains 51 per cent majority stake in MDS Logistics Plc. In a statement made available to The Guardian, the joint venture is driven by the need for a strategic partnership with an experienced international operator that would bring technical expertise into the Company.

Explaining the rationale for the transaction, UACN’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Larry Ettah said: “We look forward to working together with Imperial Logistics as our strategic partner to engage the underserved and fast- growing logistics market in Nigeria. “We believe this transaction creates an outstanding opportunity to drive growth in MDS. The combination of MDS’ vital local experience and the value adding international logistics expertise of Imperial Logistics will lead to efficiencies and raise benchmarks in Nigeria for the benefit of all stakeholders.” On his part, the Chief Executive Officer of Imperial Logistics, Marius Swanepoel, said: “Our newest acquisition strengthens Imperial Logistics’ footprint in Africa

ALSCON launches 2013 Scholarship programme LSCON, a leading global A aluminum producer located in Ikot Abasi, in the Akwa Ibom, has launched a scholarship Programme aimed at supporting local communities. Assistance in the field of education is an important part of the Company’s corporate social responsibility. In 2009, the ALSCON Smelter set up a scholarship program with the main objective being to provide financial support to local students of the Ikot Abasi LGA as well as its neighboring areas. In 2013, the program plans to grant scholarships to students from communities from Ikot Abasi, Mkpat Enin,

Eastern Obolo, and Oruk Anam in the Akwa Ibom state as well as to neighboring communities of Opobo/Nkoro and Andoni in the Rivers state. During the years of existence of the scholarship program, between 2009 and 2012, more than 180 local students have received financial support from the plant. The RUSAL-ALSCON scholarship program is focused on improving the standards of education in the Niger Delta and is highly appreciated by the leaders and members of the traditional communities of the region and especially by the students and their parents.

and is consistent with our strategy of focusing on consumer opportunities in Africa and following our customer

base on the continent. MDS has a quality customer base with a strong new business pipeline. Through the transaction, Imperial has also secured a specialist management team which strengthens and complements the group’s existing skills set in the logistics business.”

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Appointments Between dynamics of workplace and effective human relations practitioners

Wogu By Wole Oyebade ITH the wave of recession W around the world, these are unusual times in world economy as well as in corporate organisations. The reality in these organisations is the management’s quest for highly talented workforce, increased productivity and quick return on investment. On the other hand is the difficulty of coping with the “generation X” workforce that wants the best deal possible “now or never but often lacking in the requisite skills or talent.” In between the management /workers, however, is the human relations (HR) department, saddled with the enormous task of reconciling contrasting demands. And if the words of leading practitioners that spoke recently in Lagos at the fifth Special Human Resource Forum of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) Nigeria are anything to go by, only the tough and effective HR managers get going at such tough times. Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Guinness Nigeria, Seni Adetu, who chaired the special forum, observed that the economic reality of doing business in Nigeria today and the search for talents had indeed placed enormous responsibility on organisations to develop its requisite workforce. Adetu, in his opening address noted that the world was indeed changing and becoming more difficult to do business amid economic downturns. In the Nigerian context, the inconsistency of government’s policies and intrusive regulatory authorities has contributed to nonconducive environment for businesses to thrive. Amid these challenges, however, Adetu said that there

Famuyibo was never a time that talents was most needed than now to enhance productivity, because the succession trend in workplace environment today is thin, he observed: “We see expatriates taking over jobs. “This is not for anything else, but for the capability that is most needed. It must be clear that no company or investor will do ‘Nigerianisation’ because of Nigerians or high unemployment in the country but for the talents that they need,” he said. Apparently in agreement with Adetu, Senior Manager, People and Change, PriceWaterHouseCoopers (PWC), Zimbabwe and Malawi, Ethel Kuuya, said that the world had more educated people than ever before, but it also had talent shortage to cope with current demands. The reason, according to her, was because “schools in Africa are producing graduates with obsolete knowledge and archaic skills in a rapidly changing world.” The guest speaker, Kuuya, said that HR practitioners must realise the fact that the “people coming from the universities actually want job and salary but not ‘work’ or productivity that the company wants. “Regardless of whether or not they have the skills, they want to shoot up there to become the manager in another two or three years. This is the case with the firebrand ‘Generation X’. And if you are not going to give it to them, they want to move on. So we have that challenge as HRs.” Continuing, she noted that the challenge had created a scenario. According to a factsheet from experts’ findings: one experienced worker enters the workforce for every two that leave, current graduate will experience 11 to 13 companies in their lifetime; 60 per cent of new jobs in the

21st Century require skills that are only possess by 20 per cent of the current workforce; turnover at management level is expected to exceed 20 per cent in the next few years; 40 per cent of managers (middle and upper) are eligible to retire in the next few years and average tenure for Generation X and Y (aged 24 – 35) is two to three years. Meanwhile, companies indeed need workers to stay on the job and actually perform, “which is what employee engagement mean,” Kunya said. HR practitioners must be aware that it is extremely possible for a worker to want to stay but not want to perform, also possible for one to want to perform but not want to stay. But it is the duty of effective HR to ensure that the company has employee engagement as one of the business focus of the organisation, because of the huge benefits of so doing. One of the benefits is, “employees who are most committed to their organisation gave 57 more effort and were 87 per cent less likely to resign than employees who consider themselves disengaged.” What is the state of workforce when employee engagement is not a business focus? According to Kuuya, in a workplace of 1000 workers for instance, it is expected that about 13 per cent (130) would be fully disengaged; 20 per cent are leaning towards disengagement because they show thorough non-commitment to work. “These are people that are actually doing things in the company; they are stealing, corrupt and creating obstacles in the company!” Majority of the people, about 29 per cent are neutral; moderately committed to work, teams and organisation. They don’t have a permanent state of thought about the company. Though they believe that

Adetu the company is bad but they are absolutely not going to leave the company. Another 27 per cent are leaning towards engagement, while

only 11 per cent are fully engaged. The reward of engagement is high performers, low retention risk, show strong emotional and ration-

al commitment. She added that with engagement and retention in workplace, HR practitioners must CONTINUED ON PAGE 33

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

APPOINTMENTS 27

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

FRSC begins training for drivers From Collins Olayinka, Abuja HE Federal Road Safety T Corp (FRSC) has commenced a training programme for commercial drivers and community members in Abuja as part of the measures aimed at reducing road mishaps in the capital city. The training programme, which is anchored by the Global Road Safety Partnership, a World Bank initiative, included training Garki district residents on basic road and signs road demarcations. Speaking on the training, the FCT Sector Commander, Fanola Kayode emphasised the need for comprehensive road safety training for Abuja residents. He said: “The road infrastructure in Abuja is still being developed and with all other infrastructure when compared to the population, is still inadequate. The human population is increasing astronomically just as that brings vehicular population. The FRSC found that the number of vehicles entering Abuja is higher than the number that is going out.” He stated that the influx of people who are in search of greener pastures had exacerbated the traffic situation in Abuja with increase number of accident in its wake. “We are enlightening bus and taxis driver on safety driving. I can say that the rate of accidents within the city centre has stabilised. We also find that most accidents occur between Friday evening and Sunday morning. This is

unconnected to happenings at the weekend when people go to fun spots to have drinks. Most people drive themselves

to these spots and by the time they are leaving they are drunk and then crash their car,” he stressed.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

NUPENG decries drop in oil production By Yetunde Ebosele ORRIED about the W alleged drop in crude oil production, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) yesterday advised the Federal Government to urgently address the issue. According the union, the development is capable of affecting the country’s revenue base. President of the union, Igwe Achese said that it was alarming that the daily crude oil production fluctuated between 1.86 and 2.1 million barrels per day as against the estimated 2.48 million mbpd in the first quarter of the year. According to him, the drop, which was as a result of incessant crude oil theft and vandalising of pipelines should not be left to get out of hand or else the revenue accrued to the federal government would also drop drastically. Besides the union advised government to change tactics and strategies in the fight against crude oil theft and vandalism of pipelines. “The union wants the federal government to introduce new technology like monitoring sensors and alarm systems that will trigger off whenever any pipeline is being tampered with. The union believes this will

go a long way to check crude oil theft from the pipelines, and through effective surveillance with the help of the host communities where these pipelines traverse. The union noted with dismay that the drop in the last quarter rose to about 1.23 billion (about 191 billion naira) that should have accrued to the federation account. The drop in revenue will affect the transformation agenda of the president, which involves provision of power supply, which is yet to be realised, good road networks, which are still in deplorable conditions. “Crude oil production drop will also affect our external reserve and further compound the issue of abandonment of projects,” Achese said. The union also urged the oil majors and the federal government to create job opportunities for the restless youths in the Niger Delta, adding that this would put an end to bursting pipelines. “The issue of mass unemployment should be tackled with vigour, as it has become a time-bomb, waiting to explode. “The NNPC and the oil majors to bury very deep into the soil oil pipelines, to make them inaccessible to oil thieves and vandals.

APPOINTMENTS 29

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Employee engagement to drive corporate performance CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25 also be able to measure the level of development, value and productivity that they have brought in with the money and time spent in developing people. “How strong is your talent pipeline of people? Organisations must build their talent pipelines for targeted productivity. They have to grow the talents by themselves instead of waiting for them to come. “Retention of workforce in not really the challenge in Africa, but productivity level. That is where emotional commitment of workers is important; where workers will choose to put more effort in the work. “That is, having them believing in, valuing or enjoying their day-to-day work, teams, manager or organisations. Because they can make a link between their role and organisational objectives, value system and they find fulfillment in the work,” she said. An approach to consider is to determine talent and engagement risk; focus on continuity and survival by developing short, medium and long term strategies to attract, engage, develop and retain talent, and also engage leaders (managers) for workers’ engagement, by focusing on improvement of the leadership bench’s ability to win workers commitment to your organisation through specific incompany development programmes. Also, “effective HR manager

must develop a retention score for each employee which measures the probability that an employee will leave in the next year. Identify barriers to high performance within specific groups of talent as well as tangible improvement that drive both engagement and business performance. “Focus on the direct market facing impact employee engagement has on measures of business performance such as customer satisfaction or product quality. Imbed engagement in the fabric of your organisational culture.” Key questions to consider are: • How ‘at risk’ is our organisation in terms of employee engagement and talent mobility? • Do we have a short, medium and long term plan to engage employees and retain talent? • Do we have practical strategies for retention and performance enhancement? • Do I, as a business executive,

have a handle on the key measures of talent engagement, performance and retention? Apparently in agreement with the guest speaker, Adetu during an interactive session with about a thousand participants stressed that the country had a huge crises around talents and employee engagement, and in need of the HR practitioners to address. Adetu said that it behooved on organisations to develop framework that engaged the people as citizens of the company. “This is what is called collective ownership. It frightens me to see companies talk about re-organisation without talking about the people in it. There is no performance without the people. In any company, our assets are the people, reputation and the brand. It is a tripod that gives performance and sustainability, but it is the people that manage the brand and reputation,” he said.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

APPOINTMENTS 39

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

RLG certifies youths in phone, computer assembly technology By Adeyemi Adepetun LG Communications has certified 5,000 Nigerian students in mobile telephone assembly and repair; computer technologies and entrepreneurial skills as part of its partnership programme with the Osun State government. The programme is an initiative of the Osun State government, which aims to train 20,000 youths within the state for local content development in Nigeria under the aegis of the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme

Technology (OYES-TECH), by providing them the opportunity to be empowered technologically by undergoing a comprehensive six months training on the necessary skills needed for sustainable employment in the technology industry in 10 training centres located across the state. Whilst presenting the certificates at the event held in Oshogbo, the Osun State capital, the Country Director of RLG for Nigeria, Mr. Tosin Ilesanmi, stated that one of the key mandates of the company is to revolutionise Information and

Communications Technology (ICT) in Africa and create one million jobs for the youth in the world. He stated: “The training programme adopted a comprehensive training strategy, which is a combination of instructive and participatory. Actual repairs, servicing, maintenance and assembling of mobile phones, computers technologies (desktop and laptop) and other electronic equipment are some of the areas of training”. He went further to say that the training programme

would help the government to maintain local content creation and ease incidents of youth restiveness in the state by creating employment and empowering as many as 20,000 youths within a period of 24 months. Ilesanmi stated that service centres would be set up at different locations in Osun State and these would be manned by over 1,000 of the graduates who would serve as RLG service repair and sales personnel. Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State in his speech at the ceremony, said the 5,000

Danjuma Foundation appoints Etta-Akin Aina, executive director HE T.Y. Danjuma T Foundation has announced the appointment of Dr. Florence Etta-Akin Aina, an internationally recognised expert in various aspects of philanthropic and development work, as its new executive director with effect from Monday May 20, 2013. She succeeds Dr. Edugie Abebe, the interim executive director, according to a statement “successfully molded the Foundation into a robust team during its short transition period”. Founded by Lt.-Gen. T. Y. Danjuma in 2009, the Foundation works to enhance the quality of life of mainly rural Nigerians by supporting initiatives to improve access to quality health care, education and alleviate poverty. The statement explained that the Foundation currently supports 66 Nigerian-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in 14 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Etta, who was born and grew up in Ikom, Cross River State, earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at the University of Lagos, and, as the recipient of a prestigious Commonwealth scholarship, a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from the University of London. She is also associated with several Nigerian “firsts”: the first woman in her home district to earn a Ph.D., the first lecturer with a Ph.D. at the Federal College of Education (Technical) in Akoka, Lagos, where she taught for 16 years. She also lectured at the former Bauchi College of Arts & Science while observing her National Youth Service Corp (NYSC). She started the college’s first counselling service. She later served as the first vice president of the National Association of Women in Colleges of Education, and was the first president of the Lagos chapter. Beside her work in Nigeria, Dr. Etta has undertaken programme evaluation, management and grant-making assignments from various governmental, non-governmental and international organizations - among them the Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, UNFPA (Nigeria), UN Women, and the African Development Bank, among other places, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Uganda, Tanzania, Senegal and South

Africa. She has mentored locallybased African NGOs, and,

from 1999 to 2005 worked with the International Development Research

Centre for Eastern and Southern Africa in Nairobi, Kenya.

apprentices were the pioneer set of youths trained within the last six months and explained that by training 20,000 youths, the state is poised to take advantage of the active number of telecommunications lines which was placed at around 113 million and positioning them to participate in the growing ICT industry The governor said his belief was that the training will develop the entrepreneurial abilities of the youths and blossom into private sector industrial revolution, to compliment the target driven assembly plants soon to be commissioned in the state. He went on to add that youth restiveness caused by joblessness would also reduce thereby promoting a peaceful environment, which would engender economic emancipation of the state. The project director of OYES-

TECH, R. Bashorun, explained the necessity of the platform and stated that the platform is essential for sustainable employment and also as a means of empowerment. He said the long-term plan was to make Osun State the Silicon Valley of Nigeria. Ilesanmi said that the company has plans to commission its multi-billion naira personal computer and phone assembly plant in Nigeria by the end of the second quarter of the year 2013 in Ilesha, and that 150 of the graduates, who were certified would be employed at the centre after another round of training at the Ghanaian office. The Chief Operating Officer, Taiwo Latilo, in his remarks stated that the company intended to manufacture quality products from the assembly plants that would compete favourably with other known brands around the world.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

APPOINTMENTS 43

Okada restriction has not increased unemployment, says lawmaker By Wole Oyebade AGOS State House of Assembly member, Bisi Yussuf, at the weekend refuted claims that government’s restriction of commercial motorcycles on major routes in Lagos has increased unemployment in the state. The lawmaker, who is also the House Committee Chairman on Transport, Industry and Commerce, said the policy among others had returned essential skills to the economy, in line with government’s drive for employment creation through skills acquisitions. Speaking with The Guardian, Yussuf noted that prior to the introduction of the new traffic law and its restriction on okada from about 475 roads, it was found that okada, as the

most patronised means of transportation, was doing more harm to the economy, besides environmental menace. According to him: “Our findings revealed that most of these okada riders are artisans: bricklayers, electricians, welders, carpenters, tailor and so on, that have abandoned these rudimentary but important aspect of the economy. “So, if you really want an electrician to work in your house, you’ll have to go to neighbouring countries like Benin Republic, Cameroun or Ghana to find them. Whatever these foreign artisans make here is taken back to their country. We have to stop this and one of the ways is to return our people that have left these trades for okada riding back to these crafts.

President, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSEs), Mustapha Balarabe Sheu (left) and Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, during the conferment of 2012 Special Presidential Merit award on the governor by the NSEs in Osogbo…recently.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Appointments 47

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Unions fault workers demand on hospitality project By Chika Goodluck-Ogazi HE National Air Transport T Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and Medium-Term Sector Strategy (MTSS) have dissociated themselves from the alleged demand of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) branch of ATSSSAN to convert the hotel project, owned by BiCourtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL) at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2) to FAAN. The groups made their positions known recently while reacting to the alleged demand said to be contained in a solidarity message by the FAAN branch of ATSSSAN, reportedly sent to the management of the agency following its announced seizure of the project in which a court had ordered it to stay clear. However, a national official of ATSSSAN, who craved anonymity, said, “only the national body of ATSSSAN can speak on a matter as weighty as the conference centre and hotel projects at MMA2, not the local branch at FAAN.” Also, an anonymous official of FAAN branch of the association was quoted in a report in some national newspapers as confirming that workers of the agency had demanded that the hotel be converted to the agency’s headquarters, despite a court order obtained by BiCourtney stopping FAAN and

NUEE cautions against retrenchment From Hendrix Oliomogbe, Asaba

HE National Union of T Electricity Employees (NUEE) has threatened to resist the privatisation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) if all labour- related issues are not adequately settled. Executive member of the Central Working Committee representing the Western Zone (Edo, Delta, Ondo, Ekiti, Oyo, Osun and Kwara), Mr. Benson Okorodudu also cautioned against retrenching any staff of the union in the name of privatisation. Okorodudu who spoke recently explained that any move that would lead to mass retrenchment would be resisted by the entire workforce of PHCN via a stay at home strike. Okorodudu who spoke in company of the Zonal Organising Secretary, Joseph Ndem and Delta State Council Chairman, Felix Ogboi and the Secretary, Taiwo Onovwiona and the Vice-Chairman, (Generation and TransmissionEdo/Delta), Williams Ojameghan advised the federal government to obey the collective decisions reached between both parties. He said that the alleged secret arrangement by the federal government to sack about 20,000 workers was an indication that the government was trying to deviate from the privatisation process.

others from tampering with the project. According to the national official, the local branch did not brief the national body before the conversion request was made, adding that ATSSSAN “as a law-abiding union would not want to jump the gun until all issues surrounding the two projects are amicably resolved.” He said that all the association was after was to ensure a crisisfree aviation sector, where everybody would play his or her own role in a conducive atmosphere. He, therefore, urged local branches of the association to always “consult and wait for decisions on important national issues from the national headquarters of ATSSSAN before commenting.” Also, an aviation activist and

leader of MTSS, Abdul Rasaq Saidu, advised FAAN workers to allow the controversy over the hotel and conference centre projects between their employers and FAAN to be settled by the court, adding, “every law-abiding citizen must obey the court of law on any matter that is already before the court.” Saidu insisted that the workers had no right to put pressure on their management, “that is if they actually did, to convert a project being executed by a private investor, who has gone to borrow money to execute it to their own, when the court has already made a pronouncement on it. By misusing their power, the zeal of other potential private investors to help the government in building a strong economy will die down.”

Wetherheads appoints new COO, creative director HE management of T Wetherheads Advertising Group Limited has approved the appointments of Mrs. Funke Nwankwo and Mr. Ireke Amoji as chief operating officer (COO) and creative director (CD) respectively. Nwankwo, a graduate of Psychology and holder of a post-graduate degree in Industrial and Organisational Psychology, brings on board over 17 years work experience in various advertising agencies. She had worked with Insight Communications as Accounts Planner and left as Accounts Director for SO & U Saatchi & Saatchi in 2004 to take the position of associate client service director, before eventually bagging the position of chief operating officer with Quest Publicis Advertising Limited, a second line agency of SO & U Saatchi & Saatchi in 2008. She later held the position of executive director/chief oper-

Nwankwo

Amoji

ating officer of the same agency from January 2009 to December 2012. Also, Amoji, an award winning creative director (Brand Faces Award for Best Art Direction in Advertising in Nigeria (2002) for Starcomms Advertising Campaign, began his advertising career at

Rosabel Advertising Limited in 1991 and has also worked with CASERS Limited (now DDB, Lagos), Richland Communications Limited, Angels Communications Limited, UB 40 Limited Adams J. Walter Thompson (Ghana) and Dali Communications Limited.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

APPOINTMENTS 49

Chief judge seeks enhanced education on business law for judges By Lemmy Ughegbe HE Chief Judge of the T Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, has called the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to partner the National Judicial Institute (NJI) on educating state high court judges on the several aspects of business law. Justice Auta observed that the state high court judges, who are usually promoted to the court of appeal, are not very familiar with business law and that it was affecting the quality of judgments on cases with the subject matter. The Chief Judge expressed his view when the NBA-Section of Business Law (SBL) paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja to intimate him of its upcoming yearly conference slated for June 17 to 19, 2013 in Lagos. “It is good to partner NJI because judges coming from the states may not have adequate knowledge of business law and because often times these state high court judges are promoted to the court of appeal, and when they climb there, they may not understand all these cases relating to the sector. This is dangerous because the tendency of miscarriage of justice is there”, Auta stated. CJ Auta assured that his brother judges will be handy to grace the occasion, adding that in any way the organisers want his court to participate, he is ready including to give

IoD holds convention May 16 HE 2013 yearly Convention T and Exhibition of the Institute of Directors (IoD) Nigeria will hold on Thursday May 16 at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, with the theme, “Optimising Performance in a Growing Economy.” The IoD convention is expected to be the largest gathering of business leaders, management executives and top government functionaries in Nigeria. Besides, the institute said the convention will be an avenue to foster the display and exchange of business information, products and services in the country. According to Director-General of the Institute, Akin Ajayi, the Vice-President, Namadi Mohammed Sambo, will formally open the convention, putting into perspective, the challenges and transformation agenda of the present administration. Speakers expected at the event include, the Chief Operating Officer of the IoD UK, Andrew Main Wilson, Lugard Aimiuwu, CEO of Stratex Partner One, Abu Dhabi, Wale Buraimoh and the Group Managing Director/CEO of First Bank of Nigeria Plc., Bisi Onasanya.

resource persons for the programme. “We are always ready when it comes to issues under our jurisdiction. At all times, we would want to partner business associations and we are not going to stop. We are going to send more judges because the conference is a form of continuing education and this is better for the bench and the bar so that they can interact and understand themselves better on issues relating to business law.

Vice President, Association of Automobile, Boatyards, Transport Equipment and Allied Employers of Nigeria (AABTEAEN), Mr. Olivier Levigne (left); representing AABTEAEN’s President, Mr. Oseme Oigiagbe, Mr. Seyi Onajide; Treasurer, Mahmud Othman, and the Executive Secretary, John Alegbeleye, at the 33rd yearly general meeting of AABTEAEN in Lagos…recently.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Opinion What the African Union should do at 50 By Luke Onyekakeyah HEN on May 25, 1963, representatives of 32 W African governments gathered in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to establish the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the expectation was very high that the body would not only work to liberate Africa from the shackles of colonialism but also serve as a vehicle to drive the emerging independent nations to real term economic development. The OAU’s main concern at inception was more or less the total liberation of Africa. Its overriding objective was “to promote the unity, solidarity and cooperation of African States to achieve better life for the peoples of Africa”. This captured the high expectation on the organisation at the time. Being that colonialism was rife and nationalist struggles were ragging across Africa, defending the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of its member states, was among its cardinal objectives. Over the years, 21 other states have joined the organisation with South Africa becoming the 53rd member after her independence in 1994. There are at present 54 member States of AU with the newest independent South Sudan as the 54th member. To what extent has the high expectation on the organisation been met? As the organisation rolls out drums to celebrate its 50 years of existence in Addis Ababa on May 25, 2013, the event should provide an occasion for a deep reflection on how far the organisation has gone – how it started, where it is and where it is going. The transformation of the OAU into the African Union on May 26, 2001 was a landmark event to bring the organisation in line with the changing global order. The European Union (EU) appeared to have set the pace in 1993 after the Maastricht Treaty established the current EU. There is also the Union of South American Nations modelled on the European Union. It is therefore desirable to reinvent the AU in line with global trend for it to play more effective role on the continent. It is important to acknowledge that as far as colonialism is concerned, the OAU was very effective and actually played critical role towards the liber-

ation struggles in Africa. At its inception in 1963, most of Southern Africa was under colonial bondage. The OAU was in the forefront of the liberation struggles that saw Zimbabwe, Namibia and South African, among many others gain independence. The dismantling of apartheid and racism in South Africa, which heralded the emergence of black majority rule in 1994, was the climax of the liberation struggles. The disputed territory in the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) was a former Spanish colony relinquished in 1975 but now largely controlled by Morocco. It is still a flash point that needs to be resolved. Apart from that, there is no doubt that the OAU has played active role in liberating Africa from colonialism, apartheid and racism. But after gaining independence, what next? How far has the freedom been used to enhance economic development and leverage the people? This is where the problem lies. The OAU/AU appeared not to have envisaged the spate of internal conflicts and political instability that plague most of post-independence Africa. It is sad that what has been common across most of sub-Saharan Africa are bad government, misrule, sit tight leadership syndrome, corruption, division, anarchy and civil wars. Most of the independent nations found themselves in a fix of unimaginable proportion. There are few Africa countries that have not experienced upheavals as if that is the main fruit of political independence. For instance, crisis erupted in Uganda in 1966 barely three years after independence in 1962 and snowballed to deep political upheavals that saw President Milton Obote overthrown in 1971 in a military coup that ushered in dictator Idi Amin. Coups and counter coups brought Uganda to its present state where the incumbent President Yoweri Museveni is still battling the Lord’s Resistance Army and other rebel groups in conflicts that has killed thousands and displaced millions. Somalia went into disintegration after Presi-

dent Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted by clan-based opposition groups and has remained in turmoil ever since. In West Africa, Nigeria went into conflagration in 1966, six years after independence in 1960. The crisis led to a three-year fratricidal war in which over a million people died mainly on the Biafran side of the conflict. Since then, Nigeria has never regained stability as coups and counter coups have seen the emergence of 12 administrations, six of which were military juntas. At present, Nigeria is facing what could be described as the most trying time of its history with the emergence of ethnic militia groups in parts of the country, of which the Boko Haram insurgents are on the offensive after the Niger Delta militants. There have been similar political upheavals in virtually all the countries of West Africa. The Southern African countries that appear to be more stable are not totally immune to the ravaging instability. The situation in Zimbabwe that gained independence in 1980 as President Robert Mugabe held tight to leadership has confounded every one. The Zimbabwe economy has been destroyed as sanctions imposed by the West bite harder. Mozambique, which gained independence in 1975 descended into a protracted civil war lasting from 1977 to 1992 but has remained relatively stable thereafter. The conflicts in Central Africa are unending. Since the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the first Prime Minister in 1961, who helped gain independence from Belgium in 1960, DR Congo has never had peace. The long reign of Mobutu Sese Seko from 1965 to 1997 (32 years) rather than help stabilize the country created more problems for the richly endowed country that reeks in extreme poverty. In 1994, the conflicts spread to tiny Rwanda and Burundi where ethnic Tutsis and Hutus staged one of the most savage slaughters in modern history. Following the assassination of Juvenal Habyarimama and Cyprien Ntaryamira, ethnic Hutus descended on Tut-

sis in Rwanda and according to Human Rights Watch, within a space of 100 days between 500,000 to 1 million people (about 20 per cent of the population) were slaughtered. The foregoing is the tip of the iceberg to show the magnitude of problems confronting independent African countries. Greed, avarice and ethnic rivalry have caused African countries to remain backward behind the rest of the world. As it were, colonialism has given way to neo-colonialism and attendant underdevelopment quagmire. This has made some wonder if it wouldn’t have been better if independence were delayed a little more. In the face of multiple conflicts and wars across Africa, the AU has remained more of a toothless bulldog; its barking not even scaring anyone. The AU has always arrived late at conflicts instead of working to nip these in the bud. That is expected because there is no way the organisation would be stronger than its member states. The weakness of its member states necessarily affects its strength. The Igbo say that okra will never grow bigger than its planter. The AU will be strong when its member states become strong. Otherwise, it will just remain in the catalogue of continental organisations. At this juncture, African countries must look inwards and reassess themselves and re-invent the AU in line with today’s world order. There is a great difference between the world in 1963 and what we have today in 2013. This is why the member states must make drastic changes in what the organisation is set to achieve in the current world economic and political order. The days of colonialism are practically over. The problem today is neo-colonialism, where major ethnic groups dominate political leadership across Africa and this is fuelling conflicts and wars. Today, Africans are oppressing, dominating and subjugating fellow Africans. The objectives of OAU must change to address these new realities under the AU. The new world economic order requires enlightened citizenry and not illiterates as is still prevalent in Africa. The AU should focus on mass education as a way out of ignorance, poverty and disease.

Border security, arms proliferation and terrorism By Sagir Musa ROLIFERATION of small arms and light weapons is increasP ingly and dangerously becoming a transnational organised crime in Nigeria with Boko Haram’s insurgency, re-emerging Niger Delta crisis and escalating kidnappings, communal crisis and armed robbery in the South East serving as hubs or impetus for arms trafficking. Some border towns, particularly in the North Eastern flank serve as locus for trafficking of arms as well as centres for stolen goods, drugs and hostages perpetrated by criminals, terrorists and their collaborators. The recent kidnap of a French family at a border town between Nigeria and Cameroon is an example. Similarly, many arms and ammunition of various types, sizes and caliber have been intercepted and confiscated by security agencies. The recurrent detection and recovery of cache of arms, ammunition and Improvised Explosive Device Materials by the JTF further buttressed the point. So also is the occasional recovery of stolen goods and hard drugs from criminals and terrorists’ camps or hideouts. Despite efforts of security agencies, the “merchants of death” continue to engage in arms trafficking/trading through covert and deceptive use of porous Nigerian borders of Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. Recently, the Comptroller General of Nigerian Immigration Services stated that the Service has discovered hundreds of illegal routes in Nigeria that link or lead to some neighbouring African countries. Nigeria’s borders are massive with hundreds of footpaths crisscrossing to neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger with links to Mali, Libya and Sudan. From conservative estimate by locals, there are well over 250 footpaths from Damaturu/Maiduguri axis that link or lead direct to Cameroon, Chad or Niger. These paths are mostly unknown by security agencies, are unmanned, unprotected and thus serve as leaky routes for arms and ammunitions trafficking into Nigeria. It is disheartening and unfortunate that the “merchants of death” have since devised methods used to beat security agencies at the borders and through the footpaths. These methods include the use of camels, donkeys and cows to traffic arms, ammunition and drugs, like cocaine into Nigeria. The fact that the weapons are small, light and collapsible makes it easy to be con-

cealed and moved on camels and donkeys’ back in a specially crafted skin or thatched bags mainly meant for the illegal “expedition” unexpected, unsuspected and therefore undetected. Similarly, some cows and grains merchants in the North-East sub-region of the country, device means of hiding cache of arms and ammunition in empty fuel tankers, under vehicles’ engines and inside bags of grains mostly undetected by security agencies at the affected border posts. The “grains” are transported in large number via trucks, trailers, lorries and old model pickup vans and SUVs with little attention given to them by security agents. The use of Jega type of tricycles (Keke- NAPEP) as well as camels, donkeys, and cows (moving in flocks) to deceive, hide and conveniently traffic arms in some parts of the North are ways hitherto unknown, not well exposed or documented. Their capacity for arms trafficking is beginning to be uncovered and are been curtailed by security agencies. The security situation in JTF Operation Restore Order Area of Responsibility forced the Task Force to take on additional responsibility to trace sources of arms and ammunition to Boko Haram insurgents, how the arms are trafficked and are also taking measures to block or curtail it. This is one way of effectively checkmating terrorism in Nigeria – destroy its centre of gravity! And this seems to be a task that has so far proved difficult but necessary to be accomplished if the war against insurgency is to be effective and successful. Similarly, the Libyan and Malian rebels are desperate to exchange arms for money to Boko Haram terrorists, their financiers and collaborators as the sect has since been affiliated to Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb. This has added to the overwhelming challenge of the influx of illegal aliens, arms, ammunitions and sophisticated IED materials into the country and an efficient and effective fight against terrorism. Additionally, the waterways/seaports provide havens for arms trafficking through ships and speed boats on high sea and the use of canoes in the creeks. The exchange of stolen crude oil for arms/ammunition is a well known “trading activity” nurtured and ferociously protected by militants or sea pirates and their financiers and collaborators with the possible connivance of unscrupulous law enforcement agents in the Niger Delta. This is one major source of arms and ammunition that strengthen militants’ arms and

ammunition holding not only in the Niger Delta but also in the South East and South Western parts of the country. Security agencies at the borders and seaports have severally complained of the porosity of the nation’s borders and waterways. The problem of porous borders is compounded by inadequate personnel, patrol vehicles, surveillance helicopters and equipments. Consequently, most of the borders are leaky and this makes effective control of intruders, smugglers and “merchants of death” a mirage. The vastness of the nation’s borders in the face of these challenges bring to the fore the need for a rethink on the management and security of the Nigeria’s borders and seaports – without which effective fight against insurgency, arms trafficking and proliferation will remain an optical illusion. There must be innovative technology; sound policies, proficient process that will help protect our borders. It is worrisome that the exact number of illegal routes and means through which illegal aliens, arms and ammunition are traffic into the country is largely unknown by the nation’s security system. The use of innovative technology – radars and alarm systems are major ways modern nations utilise to monitor and secure their borders. Some radar can be used as primary detection sensor for long-range remote surveillance platforms. The ability to detect slow moving targets, even in complex mountainous, thickly forested terrains and large open areas make some radars such us Blighter Radar ideal for remote surveillance and detection of vehicles and people trying to cross borders illegally. In remote areas, it is common for intruders to follow natural routes across the land, valleys, mountain paths or animal tracks. In these instances, Mobile Surveillance System provides a cost effective way of monitoring key areas with limited resources. Similarly, Blighter Radar, unlike traditional Air Surveillance Radar can effectively survey both the land and low air zone simultaneously. Correspondingly, the fundamental problem of border security, arms trafficking, efficient and effective fight against terrorism in Nigeria can be linked to what Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi tersely identified as institutional fragmentation, intelligence and policy noncoordination between and among security agencies. These challenges are real and must be addressed for the fight against terrorism; arms proliferation and border security to be effective.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Opinion Africa’s infrastructure, key to development (2) By Boima Rogers Continued from yesterday MAJOR constraint to economic development on the continent is the poor state of the educational infrastructure. While great strides have been made in basic primary education, the continent is failing to set up and maintain educational systems that are conducive to economic growth, notably, in training a pool of workers proficient in maths, science and technical skills. The lack of trained technical staff and the high cost of services discourage investors who often have to bring in low level staff for many technical jobs. This is happening despite a mushrooming of universities in many countries. The governance infrastructure is a major deterrent to investment. A clearly defined, consistent and transparent policy and legal framework and efficient civil service with minimal corruption are essential requirements for nurturing and attracting investment. Investors require clear and consistent regulations on property rights, taxation, labour and technical standards. While a lot of progress has been made since the 1990s in the democratic process, with many countries holding elections and attempts made to improve legal systems and reduce bloated civil service and corruption, usually under pressure from aid donors, it is still work in progress. High and in some cases endemic corruption, opaque and burdensome bureaucratic processes, unresponsive and inefficient bureaucracies and lack of clearly defined policies are still a major deterrent to investment in many countries. An International Finance Corporation report showing the ease of doing business in a country paints a grim picture, with most African countries languishing at the bottom of rankings. The indicators used include: starting business; dealing with construction permits; getting electricity; registering property; getting credit; protecting investors; paying taxes; trading across borders; enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. Only three countries, Mauritius, South Africa and Tunisia are in the top 50 ranking. It must be noted though that governance is not identical to democracy and many countries have attracted investments without going through the full democratic process. Some leaders who have presided over major developments in the infra-

structure of their countries but would hardly be described as blue blooded democrats include Houphet Boigny in the Ivory Coast, William Tubman in Liberia, Jerry Rawlings in Ghana, Jomo Kenyatta in Kenya and Paul Kagame in Rwanda. Indeed “democracy” as practiced in some cases has hindered investment in the infrastructure. In particular, it has increased the cost of governance to prohibitively high levels with little funds left for investment in the physical infrastructure. Kenyan parliamentarians have recently decided to get rid of the independent organisation that reduced their extremely generous salaries and perks and, have vowed to reinstate these extremely generous salaries and perks, which will mean less funds for investment in the physical infrastructure. The development of regional organisations and investment projects on the continent will improve the physical and market infrastructure significantly. It allows countries to pool resources to invest in infrastructure projects, create larger markets by giving preferential access, standardises rules and disseminates market intelligence. This attracts foreign investors to countries involved that would otherwise not be keen to enter relatively small markets and allows for efficiencies and reduced unit cost for electricity, transportation, port charges, telecommunication services, water and goods produced. The problem is that regional groupings have often been political in origin not based on economic prospects but rather the “bandwagon effect”. Many countries are members of several groupings with conflicting policies in treatment of third countries and sometimes different regulations and technical standards governing the import of the same commodity from different sources. Overlapping memberships in the different regional groupings – and hence overlapping commitments – have resulted in duplication of effort and occasionally inconsistent aims. The result is that they have not created the necessary market or physical infrastructure. The infrastructure is the linchpin for development and Africa has huge untapped potential for its physical infrastructure. There is much room for improvements in its educational and governance infrastructure. There are huge benefits to be gained from regional cooperation. All stake-

holders must make a concerted effort, including national governments, regional groups, donor countries, multilateral and aid organisations. Measures required are not unduly expensive and with modest investments there can be very high returns. The continent has vast quantities of oil and gas deposits and immense hydro and solar potential. It has been reported that the hydro potential of the Democratic Republic of Congo alone is sufficient to provide three times as much power as Africa presently consumes. A recent study revealed that upgrading the road network would expand overland trade across the continent by about $250 billion over 15 years, requiring an investment of $20 billion for initial upgrading and one billion dollar annually for maintenance. Indeed the situation is rather perverse; some countries with huge potentials making little use of what they have. Congo and Nigeria with substantial natural power resources have some of the lowest electricity generation. Gabon, a major oil producer has one of the highest electricity tariffs. Nigeria in particular, is a sad case, largely the result of its political elite. This is the continent’s natural giant, with huge oil production that it has been pumping for over 60 years and huge hydro electric potential, yet it still has one of the lowest per capita electricity consumption in the world at 121 kWh and availability of less than five hours per day. African governments need to ensure that they implement appropriate policies and create and maintain the relevant governance infrastructure. This means having qualified policy making teams to devise appropriate policies and prepare and implement action plans and monitoring systems. Ministers and civil servants need to do the jobs and give the time that they are paid for. Monitoring systems should include mystery shopping in which teams are sent out to actually find out the ease and difficulties ordinary people and businesses face. The aim should be to deliver credible and efficient services and minimise corruption. Targets must be set for the delivery of services, for example applications for visas, passports, construction permits, licenses and other documentations must have time limits within which they must be processed. Airports and harbours must have time limits when people and goods must be processed. Bottlenecks and issues must be addressed

promptly. Governments must continue privatization programmes and where appropriate consider joint venture projects in roads, airports, telecommunications, harbours, water supply and other infrastructure projects. In such ventures or if such projects are fully privatised, the user pay principle will encourage investment and ensure proper maintenance. Governments must phase out subsidies to encourage investment, this is particularly the case with electricity where subsidies have not only deterred investments but tend to disproportionately accrue to sections of society that can and should pay for such services. Measures to ameliorate conditions for the poor must be carefully targeted to ensure that they really go to specific and/or poor households. In cases where infrastructure projects are privatised, measures must be in place to penalise companies if they do not perform according to the specified terms of reference. In building the human infrastructure, with very scarce resources, governments need to prioritize their education budgets. This means a shift away from the arts to maths, science and technical subjects at all levels but particularly at post primary school level. This does not mean that these arts subjects cannot be studied, but students pursuing them must score very high grades to obtain state funding or pay for the privilege. Foreign investors and aid organisations must also assist in developing the human infrastructure. They should be given reasonable tax incentives to train staff and after a certain period punitive tax and other measures must be implemented if they have not trained and/or engaged local staff. The challenges facing the continent are not insurmountable but they require vision, leadership, planning and tenacity. Leaders must earn the right to govern, which means developing and maintaining the infrastructure that will grow their economies and improve the lives of citizens. In a democratic setting they need to deliver to win the votes and admiration of their people. African leaders could take a leaf from Singapore and Malaysia, countries where the same parties have ruled for decades largely because they have built first class infrastructure that have resulted in very strong economic growth rates. • Concluded. • Rogers is Principal Consultant at Media and Event Management Oxford (MEMO).

Kalu and the plight of Igbos By Clement Omeneogor ECENTLY, the former governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Kalu delivered an address at the British House of Commons in London, R wherein he lamented profusely about what he called the plight or the marginalisation of the Igbos in Nigeria. Kalu said: “The implications of this calculated fraud against my people are so massive and go entirely untold. They include unequal allocation of resources, unequal voice at the Federal Executive Council, unequal representation at the National Assembly, unequal participation in the administration of justice in the federation, unequal participation in the federal civil service and adjunct bodies and unequal representation in the armed forces and para-military organisations. “It also means unequal representation in the diplomatic corps ensuring incapacity in showcasing the Igbo culture as part of a pan-Nigerian culture in our foreign missions and embassies, fewer primary, secondary and higher education opportunities for our children. These structural disparities are constitutionally entrenched, thus their grave implications for Ndigbo are beyond the primary questions of inequity and marginalisation.” Obviously, that speech was intended to portray him as a prominent Igbo leader worried about the fate of his people. At the end however, the former governor left many questions unanswered regarding his suitability or qualification for that position. In the first place, many people are of the view that Kalu wasted the opportunity he had as governor for eight years not only to redress the so-called marginalisation of the Igbo, but also to uplift his people directly through his governance. It is baffling that some people who wasted opportunity they had to impact positively on their people still see themselves as leaders. Kalu’s speech is all about grandstanding, to arrogate to himself the true champion of Igbo cause. In so doing, he dragged the Igbos to the mud. He did not proffer solutions to the marginalization claim of the Igbos in Nigeria. For failing to ask him relevant questions on the speech, the audience and journalists at the event were suspect, appearing to have been arranged. They could have asked him what contributions he made towards addressing the plight of Igbos while in office as ex-

ecutive governor of Abia State for eight years, and what he is doing now also to tackle the problem. The docile audience apparently swallowed his speech hook, line and sinker. On what capacity was Kalu speaking on Igbo plights in Nigeria, whereas since he left office as governor, he has not attended any meeting convened by the Igbo socio-cultural organisation Ohanaeze Ndigbo or Igbo stakeholders where issues affecting Igbo interest are being discussed? Instead of staying on the fringe and pontificating on the plight of Igbos, Kalu could have presented his complaint to the National Assembly members as they are in the process of amending the constitution. Igbos have not forgotten in a hurry Kalu’s suspected role in scuttling Chief Alex Ekwueme’s presidential ambition in 1999 and 2003 in collaboration with his ex-military godfathers on whose back Kalu rode to limelight. People of Abia will also not forget how he left the state indebted, destabilized and underdeveloped after controlling their collective resources for eight years. Why didn’t the audience at events ask Kalu why has he not challenged the withdrawal of his university certificate in court, instead of resorting to media war? They would have also asked him that not being a university graduate, who wrote the speech he delivered for him and who has been writing the articles in his leadership series page in his newspaper? Kalu’s speech clearly contradicted the true position of the Igbos in the country today. His greatest problem is that he talks too much and often contradicts himself. He believes he knows everything more than any other person. That is the reason he is always on the defensive most times because his several outbursts contradict a lot. When he accused security agents of being responsible for bombing and he was taken on by the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, Kalu laboured for defence without facts and figures. His action in the past and present has not helped him not to talk of helping Igbo cause, rather it has worsened it. The Njiko Igbo platform, which he now uses and claimed to have formed to advance Igbo interest in Nigeria was originally formed by Alhaji Yahaya Ndu, the younger brother of Senator Ben Collins Ndu in 1983 and was formerly inaugurated at the Prince Palace Hotel, Enugu on Thursday, 20th April 1989 in a public function which was witnessed by many prominent and regular Igbos from all walks of life. Kalu was never a member of the group. Even when he became governor of

Abia State in 1999, he never identified or supported the group at any point in time. He only used proxy to register the organisation recently because Ndu failed to register it from inception. Prominent Igbos who know about the group including Yahaya Ndu are alive today and are quietly watching Kalu and his known smart antics that will take him nowhere. If Kalu is a good student of history as he would want people to believe, he should know that the Igbos have been the beneficiary of no less than 35 per cent of federal appointments made by the President Jonathan administration; and his state, Abia, has also benefitted a lot courtesy of the cordial relationship between the state government and Federal Government – a situation that was not obtainable throughout Kalu’s eight years of governance. Offices held by Igbos in the present government include those of the Deputy Senate President, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, finance minister, as well as the chief economic adviser to the president. Others include the special adviser on project monitoring, the special adviser on the subsidy re-investment and empowerment programme, Chief of Army Staff, the executive vice chairman of the National Communications Commission, the managing director of the Asset Management Company of Nigeria, managing director of the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund and the Ministers of Power, Labour, Aviation and Health. Other high-ranking Igbo officials serving in the present government include the chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, the director-general of the Bureau for Public Procurement, the director-general of the Debt Management Office, the director-general of the Securities Exchange Commission, the special adviser on the National Assembly and the head of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission. Igbos got a number of strategic ambassadorial postings, including the heads of the missions in Canada, the United Nations, India, Switzerland, Spain and Singapore. Kalu should better concentrate of his acclaimed business empires; to expand them and create jobs for teeming Igbo youths if he truly loves the Igbos. But we are yet to see the business empires anywhere in the country talk less of Igbo land. • Dr. Omeneogor, the Coordinator, Diaspora Campaign for Igbo Presidency, wrote from Toronto, Canada.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Law

Quote of the week Though force can protect in emergency, only justice, fairness, consideration and cooperation can finally lead men to the dawn of eternal peace. Dwight David Eisenhower judicialeditor@yahoo.co.uk/ 08033151041 Desk Head: Ibe Uwaleke

Taming Boko Haram insurgency beyond law boundaries Interview By Bertram Nwannekanma

The Federal Government recently set up a committee to check the national security challenges posed by the insurgence of Boko Haram. The committee is mandated by government to work out modalities for amnesty to members of the sect. However, since the setting up of the body, the activities of the sect seem to have increased monumentally, leaving many stakeholders querying the propriety of the amnesty programme. In this encounter, a renowned Lagos- based lawyer and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), FELIX FAGBOHUNGBE took a swipe at the proposed amnesty deal. He, however, calls for a stakeholders’ dialogue to resolve the security challenge. is of the view that the proFis aAGBOHUNGBE posed amnesty programme for Boko Haram good idea in the sense that it is a positive response of President Goodluck Jonathan to the request of the northern leaders and political elders. His word: “If the president has completely rejected it, the northern leaders will blame him for the increase of insurgence on the ground that he did not listen to them. So, the President has pleased them by accepting their suggestions by setting up the amnesty committee. But rather than the insurgencyabating, it is increasing on a daily basis. In fact, it is more devastating than before. So, I want to believe that we have not really gotten to the root cause of these problems. Some members of the sect that were arrested have also clearly stated that they want Sharia to be introduced in the entire country. Some would accept the demand while others would not accept it. So, once you have divergent position in that manner, it could lead to the collapse of Nigeria as a country. Asked whether amnesty would have any effect on the nation’s current challenge, Fagbohungbe expressed doubt on the call on the ground that the insurgents and proponents of amnesty seem to have different objectives. He said: “The objective of Boko Haram is to Islamise the whole nation. That is what they said they want. So as long as that objective has not been made, if you introduce amnesty, they are not going to surrender because you have not done what they want you to do. They have come out to reject amnesty. They categorically said they don’t want amnesty because they have not done anything wrong. You can then see that this situation cannot be reconciled. So, the amnesty programme has failed from the beginning. On whether the proposed amnesty programme could be justified legally, the revered Senior Advocate has this to say: “ If people are fighting for a cause or even though they may have a good cause but they go about it in a wrong way by committing crimes, of course, the crime can be waived. It is technical pardon for them. It is like exchanging arms with peace. But the Boko Haram sect doesn’t want to surrender. On whether amnesty could be granted without admission of guilt, Fagbohungbe said: “If you look at the political environment, you will see that it is already giving Nigeria a bad name. The situation is very tense, the level of destruction is high and very many people have been killed. It is becoming very complex for the Federal Government to handle, it is spreading like bush fire in Nigeria and if it is not properly and quickly abated, Nigeria can break. What is

Fagbohungbe(SAN) worrisome in the whole thing is that members of the sect are not regretting their actions and I don’t think they want to be remorseful either. On whether the matter could be handled through the legal process, the learned silk said, although the anti-terrorism bill, if passed into law, could help, but the issue at hand has gone beyond law. “I can tell you that it is more political than law, because it is like a plague, there is no law that can arrest a plague. It is something that is ravaging the entire country. So law cannot handle it.” “ If you look at what happened at Bama, police station was destroyed, prison burnt. The Police, who are to enforce the law, were killed. That shows that there is complete breakdown of law and order. That means that government is failing completely in that area. Don’t forget that any part of the body that is injured or damaged, the whole body is damaged. Borno, Yobe, Kano and Kebbi states are part of Nigeria, and these places have become desolate. That means Nigeria has become desolate and it can spread like that if it is not quickly checked. It is a major problem for Nigeria and it is not a laughing matter. Everybody is in danger not withstanding, that it is happening in Borno and other northern states. On the propriety of declaring a state of emergency in the affected states, Fagbohungbe said it would not bring any solution. He said: “ It is not the governors of the states that are incapable of handling the matter. It is not the states’ issue, it is even beyond the Federal Government. If we want to declare a state of emergency, it could only be declared for Nigeria, not in Borno, Kano, Yobe or Kebbi states”.

On the options that are opened to the Federal government to handle the challenge, he said: “ It is a major problem that requires all stakeholders in Nigeria to sit down and discuss, leave their personal, political positions and interests and come together to address the issue because if they don’t address it together, by the time it spreads to other parts, then you will know the negative impact it is having on the polity. Asked whether Nigeria could be classified as a failed state, the learned silk said: “ I don’t disagree with the fact that Nigeria is nearing to a failed state because leadership is an issue in any matter. If you come to administration, leadership is a pivotal issue. There are issues you have to be firm about. There are others you cannot play politics with. There are some you can be gentle with. It depends. One needs a lot of wisdom and consultations to deal with such issues when they arise. I know so many foreigners in United Kingdom. When we invite them to come here, they tell you that they cannot come because of kidnapping. So, rather than come to Nigeria, they prefer you to come to their country. To them, it appears that no area in Nigeria is safe. We have some Queen Counsels (QCs) that were to come for some matters in Abeokuta; they could not come because they were afraid of kidnapping. On the implication of the government’s foreign investment drives, he said: “government is playing to the gallery. “ If an old man like Ali Monguno, at 92, could be kidnapped, then nobody can walk freely in Nigeria. That is not life, what kind of life is that? So those who are familiar with Boko Haram people should talk to them, if dialogue could solve the problem. The machinery of government is strong, and large. It is big. If it is money, the

I can tell you that the insurgence is more political than law, because it is like a plague. There is no law that can cure a plague. It is something that is ravaging the entire country. So law cannot handle it

Federal Government, has it. If it is force, It has it. It should use it appropriately to solve the problem. Asked if good governance could help in checking the insurgency, Fagbohungbe, stated: “When you have unemployment, that is the kind of thing you get. We have several universities in Nigeria producing graduates every year and there is no consummate employment provisions or facilities. When you produce 50,000 graduates and you cannot employ 1,000, you are creating a huge problem. All the factories are closing down and turning to churches, whereas government is going ahead approving establishment of new universities. This is serious. The cause of Nigeria’s problem is unemployment. When the youths are unemployed, it is a serious issue. It is going to be worse all over Nigeria before you know it. What the Federal Government should do is to come out with ways to employ all these graduates. On whether stipends should be paid to youths who are unemployed in Nigeria, the lawyer said it would not solve the problem. “Stipends cannot solve Nigeria’s problem. In UK and other countries, where you have such, it works because they are organised societies. But here, it cannot work. Even payment of pensions, what do you hear? You hear one individual pocketing the entire pensions. So they can only do that on paper not to the individual’s pocket. If someone pockets the money meant for others, nothing will happen. On propriety of a refugee status law as being canvassed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Fagbohungbe said: “refugee laws are not what we need at the moment.” “ We need laws that will compel people to employ the unemployed youths so that there would be peace in Nigeria. Refugee law is not our priority even if it is desirable. They should make law and put money for employment, create jobs, establish factories, have industries all over the country, where the government would employ people. That is what the Federal Government should do.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

70 LAW

LawPeople

The victory of success is half won when one gains the habit of setting goals and achieving them. Even the most tedious chore will become endurable as you parade through each day convinced that every task, no matter how menial or boring, brings you closer to fulfilling your dreams. ——-Og Mandino

Bankole

Bankole’s blazing trail in land law practice Profile By Joseph Onyekwere AYODE Bankole is a lawyer passionK ate about his job. Through determination, focus and industry, Bankole has carved a niche for himself in the area of land and property laws where he stands shoulder high among his colleagues. He opened the floodgate and blazed the trail by challenging the Land Use Decree of the military government and created a precedent, which has adorned law reference materials in Nigeria. But getting these feats did not come easy. He lost his father when he was preparing for his Higher School Certificate examination. “My dad was quite influential and he had promised me so many things if I passed my exams. But I could not get the full benefit of passing the exams because of his death. So I have to forge ahead with my mum and my step-mother. My step-mother was so caring. She immediately took over my education because she was quite rich and comfortable”, he said. Interestingly, he did not set out to study law initially. He first got a degree in another field and by twist of fate, chain of events combined to inspire his love for law. His words: “I got admission to the then University of Ife to read Philosophy and Sociology combined. I left that school with a first degree, worked briefly with the Nigerian Airways and when I discovered that I could not accomplish my goal in life which is to be independent, I left the company in 1985. I was given

the sum of N20,000 to go and start business in Lagos. I combined with a friend of mine and we started taking contract from the Lagos State Government.” He benefited from the generosity of late Engineer Funsho Williams who was a director in the Lagos State Ministry of Works then. “He found out that we are young men determined to make a living independent of any employer. He encouraged us and gave us drainage contracts”, he recalled, adding that he read about late Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) and his struggles with the military government. He said part of his inspiration to study law was the legal battle which his grandmother had in their village with influential people in the town and she won. “The powers that be then, wanted to oppress my grand mum and she resisted by going to court. She took the head of the community to court and won, both at the High Court and the Court of Appeal. It was strange to many people that ordinary woman could take a whole head of a community to court and won. So all these combined to build the desire in me to be a lawyer so as to lend a helping hand to the seemingly weak and oppressed people in the society and against the oppression of the strong and the mighty”, he said. As a result, he sought for admission at the Ogun State University and was admitted to study law. The rest is today history. He did his pupilage in chambers of Professor Oluwole Smith (SAN) for one and half years before he opted out to open his own chambers in 1993. His first court experience was before

The Lagos State Government gave me a gazette and I got a consent judgment. On that day, I was carried shoulder high from Igbosere High Court up to Simpson Bridge because nobody believed that you could challenge a military government especially on the issue of Land Use Decree and win your case.

late Justice Hallowey of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja. He went there and discovered that the counsel on the other side was late Chief Abraham Adesanya. “I was thoroughly intimidated by the stature and name of Senator Abraham Adesanya. But as a lawyer, I was trained to face every kind of opposition. So I made up my mind that the die is cast, that I have to put up a fight of my life. I tried to address the court to give us the leave to file out of time and regularize our positions. By the time I addressed the court, I said I was seeking the permission of the court. Justice Hallowey said: “Young counsel! The language of the court is to seek leave of the court to regularize your position and not permission of the court. You seek permission in the University and at the law school.” He corrected me and encouraged me. Interestingly, the dogged Adesanya opposed my application and I have to argue it out with him. At the end of it all, the judge granted that leave. It was that day I concluded within myself that I was born to practice law. I went in as a small boy but I came out as a giant. I went back to the chambers and told my principal that I have done what Napoleon could not do and explained everything to him and he shook my hand.” He also recalled how he engaged the military government and did the unimaginable. According to him, the case was between one Chief Adedeji Kareem and Lagos State Government. “It has to do with the land in Ajah that was acquired by the Lagos State government. When I got the brief, I first went to seek the advice of some seniors. I did not meet them in chambers. So I have to go and prepare the brief myself and filed it. I was challenging the revocation order of Lagos state over Ajah land. As I was getting closer to where I was going to file the brief, a senior lawyer tried to discourage me. He said young man, can’t you see in your prayers that you are trying to challenge the state government’s power to acquire lands, why not drop it. They

acquired my father’s land to build schools during the time of Jakande. There is nothing I could do about it. “I listened to him, but I still went ahead to file that piece of action. After we served them with the processes, they did not come to court. So I argued my application and it was granted that Lagos State Government should not step into the land or do anything detrimental to the peace of those who are on the land. As we were about going into the substantial suit, the then Baale of Ajah called me to inform me that there were massive deployment of military men in Ajah and that they don’t know their mission. “On getting there, I discovered that Lagos State government through the military had already started demolishing structures in spite of the court injunction. I calmed my clients and went back to the court for contempt proceedings against the Solicitor General of Lagos State, the Commissioner for Physical Planning, area surveyor and area town planner. I wanted them to be jailed for contempt. Then the whole atmosphere became charged. They made overtures to me and I rebuffed them. They even promised to make me a judge but I refused and vowed to pursue the case to logical conclusion because I saw it as an affront on the rule of law. “Eventually, the Attorney General of Lagos State approached me for discussions. She was leading the defence of the alleged contemnors. She came to my office and pleaded that I should drop the charge, that it was a mistake which the ministry of justice was not aware of. That they would make the necessary amend. I had difficulty convincing my clients who insisted that those four gentlemen must go to prison. After some efforts, reason prevailed and I started discussing with them. Eventually I dropped the contempt charge on the ground that the Lagos Government was going to give us the land. They did that; gave me a gazette and I got a consent judgment. On that day, I was carried shoulder high from Igbosere High Court up to Simpson Bridge because nobody believed that you could challenge a military government especially on the issue of Land Use Decree. That was a wonderful case I cannot forget easily”, he declared. The bulk of the cases in his chambers have to deal with land matters involving hundreds of acres. He is also an authority in labour law. His favourite colour is white and black while he enjoys rice and dodo a lot. He eats a lot of vegetables and fruits as well. He is a lover of marine sport and usually go for boat ride as a way of relaxation. “Once in two weeks, I go to a jetty and charter a boat, together with friends, we cruise round the waters and party in the boat”, he stated. He believes that the current security challenge posed by the Boko Haram insurgents is as a result of failure of leadership, adding that our past leaders had warned well ahead of time that such issues would arise if politicians do not take care of injustice in the land. According to him, the problem of insecurity would be over if President Goodluck Jonathan does the unthinkable and resign. “President Jonathan can stop this Boko Haram insurgents if he does some-

thing that is strange, which is resigning today. If he resigns today, they will drop their arms, pour into the streets and rejoice. If they have the interest of Nigeria at heart, himself and the vice president can go and there will be no need for amnesty again. But he is busy scheming for a second term, having not performed at all. The mindset is let the whole country sink”, he exclaimed. Born to late Samuel Akinbiyi Bankole and Mrs Bukolola Bankole in Jos, Plateau State, in October 21, 1959, young Kayode who hails from Oyo State started his educational pursuit at First Baptist Church Nursery School, Jos between 1964 and 1966. He later joined Baptist Day Primary School, Nasarawa Gwong, Jos in 1966 and left in 1972 having obtained his Primary School Leaving Certificate (PSLC). He priceeded to Ogbomoso High School, Ogbomoso between 1973 and 1975. Hour further went to Osogbo Grammar School, Osogbo between 1976 and 1977 and earned his West African School Certificate Examination (WAEC). Desirous to make academic distinction, in 1977 he enrolled at the Ilesha Grammar School, for his Higher School Certificate (HSC). In 1979 he sat and passed his Higher School Certificate Examination. This feat, afforded him the opportunity to gain admission into the University of Ife, Ile-Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in 1981. He left the university in 1984, having obtained a bachelors degree in Philosophy and Sociology. He worked briefly and also engaged in business, but he could not be assuaged. Consequently, Kayode applied and got admitted into the Ogun State University (now Olabisi Onabanjo University). He was there between 1987 and 1991 and bagged a law degree LLB Hons. He was subsequently enrolled at the Nigerian Law School, Victoria Island, Lagos for the mandatory law school training. He was there between 1991 and 1992 when he earned his BL. He did his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) at the Nigerian Airways Kano in 1995 before leaving to set up Boltrade Nigeria Ltd where he worked till 1997. He thereafter joined the chambers of Professor Wole Smith & Co ( Legal Practitioners) in 1992. He left the chambers in 1993 after a robust legal experience in land matters and opened Kayode Bankole & Associates ( Legal Practitioners) since 1993 till date. He is a member of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA). He has had both personal and corporate clientele. He has been an external Solicitor to MC Royal Finance Company Ltd, Nigerian Football Supporters Club, Guinea Insurance Plc, Confidence Insurance Plc and Globe re-insurance Plc. He is a member, Baptist Schools Board of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, member, Hospital Management Board of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, member, Pension Board of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, Legal Adviser, Nigeria Baptist Convention as well as solicitor to Ajah–Ile Community, Lekki, Lagos State among other myriads of clients in the Lekki community.

Do you know… Estate It means ordinarily, the whole of the property owned by anyone, the realty as well as the personality. See Kwara State Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources v. Societe Generale Bank (1996) FHCLR 555 at 592, adopting the definition in Blacks Law Dictionary, p.491

LAW

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

LawReport Only family head, principal members can validly dispose family land In the Court of Appeal of Nigeria, In the Akure Judicial Division, Holden at Akure on Thursday, November 29, 2012, Before their lordships: Kudirat M. O. Kekere-Ekun Justice, Court of Appeal; Chima Centus Nweze, Justice, Court of Appeal; Chinwe Eugenia Iyizoba, Justice, Court of Appeal; CA/B/133/2005 Between Bishop C.A. Ajayi (plaintiff/appellant) and 1.Oladapo Agidi 2. Ijagbemi (defendants/respondents). N other words, the appellant did not prove that Ifamily. Chief Ajongbolo acted as head of the Atantuyin As the lower court, indeed found, the chief acted for himself. We agree with the court’s position that if the land Chief Ajongbolo sold was a family property, the sale must be voided because the said chief was not born to be the head of the family. So held the Court of Appeal, Holden at Akure in a unanimous leading judgment delivered by his lordship, Chima Centus Nweze (JCA) his learned brothers Kudirat M. O. Kekere-Ekun and Chinwe Eugenia Iyizoba (JJCA), concurring while dismissing the appellant’s appeal. The facts are as contained in the body of the judgment. The appellant in this appeal (as plaintiff) took out a writ of summons against the respondents (as defendants) at the High Court of Ondo State, Akure Judicial Division. He entreated the court, among other reliefs (hereinafter referred to as the lower court) for the following reliefs: • Declaration of title to all piece/parcel of land

Justice Bulkachuwa, Acting PCA known as plot 8 Block 3; Plot 9 Block 3; Plot 13 Block 3, Plot 14 Block 3 and Plot 15 Block 3 on the approved layout plan of Atantuyin Family Layout at Ota Ogoro Area Akure; • Perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, their agents, servants, workers, privies and all the persons whatsoever claiming through them. c). N500, 000:00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) only, as general and special damages, for trespass and for destruction of materials on the land. Pleadings were duly filed and exchanged, at the conclusion of the case, the lower court (Coram Fagbe J) on February 17, 2005, dismissed the plaintiff’s case, hence this appeal. He concreted three issues for the determination of this appeal. In the appellant’s brief of argument, it was contended that exhibit “A” was tendered in

evidence, simply, to establish a personal contract already pleaded between the appellant (PW1) and Chief Ajongbolo, the head of Atantuyin Family of Akure, now deceased. It was observed that the evidence of DW3, Chief Ogunleye Adebusuyi, the Elegiri of Osolo, the family from which DW1 got his root of title, was at variance with the pleading of the respondents. It was submitted that the rule that the appellant must succeed on the strength of his case and not on the weakness of the respondents’ case is inapplicable where the respondents’ case supports that of the appellant. In such a situation, the appellant can rely on it to strengthen his case, Chukwueke v Okoronkwo (1990) 65 LRCN 57. It was contended that the lower court was wrong in making a case for either of the parties and without hearing them on the said case proceeded to give its decision. To decide on the appellant’s family status as the lower court did without hearing from the appellant was unjust. He took the view that the lower court formulated issues that were wider in breadth than the issues placed before it. Above all, the respondents did not claim for a declaration of title. On PW3, it was submitted that the court overlooked the fact that the competence of a young person to give evidence was not so much a matter of age as of understanding. The test was more on the understanding of the young person than his age. It was explained that PW3, a member of Atantuyin family (now 43 years old), gave a vivid account of what he knew about the traditional history when he was 10 years old. His evidence was that the male members of the Atantuyin family were not available. He was able to mention their names without confusion and mistake. Against this background, it was argued that the lower court’s decision that, unless other members of Atantuyin family corroborated PW3’s evidence of traditional history, no reliance would be placed on his testimony

was wrong. This is because, unless otherwise provided by statute, it is not the number of witnesses that is conclusive of the weight to be attached to the evidence led on a particular point. It was further submitted that in disposing of a family land, the family head and one other member(s) of the family could do so on behalf of the family, Jiaza v Bamgbose (1999) 7 NWLR (pt 610) 183. It was further contended for the respondents that one of the ways by which ownership of land can be established is by the exercise of the right of ownership/possession of land in dispute. Thus, the plaintiff/appellant must show that he exercised such right of ownership/possession of land in dispute. It was observed that the appellant, in his evidence at the lower court, stated that he deposited 10,000 cements blocks on the land. Apart from this, he did not do anything more. He failed to state on which of the plots he deposited the blocks over the dispute plots. He had also failed to state when he actually deposited the blocks and at what time the respondents started destroying them. The respondents argued that if the appellant was actually in possession, he would have been able to give concrete and cogent evidence of all these facts. However, he merely asserted that he deposited 10,000 cement blocks without making any effect to prove the assertion. However, the law is that he who asserts that fact(s) exist must prove the existence of the fact, Suara Yusuf v Adegoke & Anor (Supra). It was argued for the respondents that the appellant failed to establish the traditional history/evidence of his mode of acquiring the plots of land in dispute. The third witness of the appellant, PW3, at the trial court, Mr. Rotimi Ojo, testified that apart from Ajongbolo and his own father Ojo, there were also other members of the Atantuyin family who used to attend meetings whenever the family land issue was discussed. TO BE CONTINUED

National Assembly and making of a people’s constitution: A misadventure (2) Issue in the news By P. C. Anaekwe O, it is clear that when the 1999 Constitution, which was promulgated, given force of law, and decreed by the Federal Military government declaims: “We, the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria… Do hereby make, enact and give to ourselves the following Constitution”, it tells a blatant lie about its origin and the source of its authority. It is this perjuring, double-speak of a constitution that the President and members of the National Assembly have promised, by some abracadabra or alchemy, to turn into a people’s constitution – a constitution made by, and deriving its authority from, the people. The touted sovereignty of the National Assembly is buoyed up by the general perception that the cardinal essence of sovereignty is the power to make laws. But it cannot claim to be sovereign when the Constitution invested it with only the “legislative powers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria” (S.4(1)) which in crucial cases it shares with the legislative Houses of the states, “subject to the jurisdiction of courts of law and of judicial tribunals established by law” (S.4(8). In any case, it cannot stand up to Black’s Law Dictionary’s definition of a sovereign: “(1). A person, body or state vested with independent and supreme authority. (2). The ruler of an independent state”. What the National Assembly has is no more than sovereign power within its narrow constitutional ambit. The Constitution itself has settled the ques-

tion of sovereignty and consequentially signed its own death-warrant: “14. (1) The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be a state based on the principles of democracy and social justice. (2) It is hereby, accordingly, declared that – (a) Sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom government through this Constitution derives all its powers and authority.” Since Nigeria is declared to be a state based on the principles of democracy, it is most incongruous for her to be governed under a patently autocratic and undemocratic constitution. There is, therefore, the need for the people of Nigeria, the “demos”, to whom sovereignty belongs and from whom government derives all its powers and authority, in exercise of their undoubted sovereignty, to shove aside the

Mark (Senate President)

Tambuwal ( House Speaker)

autocratic 1999 Constitution and replace it with a constitution bearing their imprimatur. But there are practical reasons why the National Assembly is not fit to make the next

Issues too big for the National Assembly include: return to regional system of government; reduction of the number of states; adoption of the Six Geo-political Zones; reduction of the size and powers of the federal government; fiscal federalism; and return to parliamentary system of government. These issues require to be canvassed at a national conference and thereafter, be submitted to a referendum of the whole people of Nigeria – something which the National Assembly lacks power to do since the Constitution provides for referendum only on questions of creation of more states (S.8(1)(b) and local governments (S.8(3)(b). Issues the National Assembly cannot be trusted to handle include change from bi-cameral to uni-cameral Legislature; parttime legislative service; independent candidature; stringent control of the emoluments of legislators; and reduction of the membership of the legislative Houses.

constitution. Some of the issues at stake are bigger than the National Assembly while others concern reformation of the Legislature, which the National Assembly cannot be trusted to handle dispassionately if a cue is taken from the list of 16 items in respect of which the Senate invited memoranda from the public that included “Judiciary” and “Executive”

but conveniently omitted “Legislature.” Issues too big for the National Assembly include return to regional system of government; reduction of the number of states; adoption of the Six Geo-political Zones; reduction of the size and powers of the federal government; fiscal federalism; and return to parliamentary system of government. These issues require to be canvassed at a national conference and thereafter, be submitted to a referendum of the whole people of Nigeria – something which the National Assembly lacks power to do since the Constitution provides for referendum only on questions of creation of more states (S.8(1)(b) and local governments (S.8(3)(b). Issues the National Assembly cannot be trusted to handle include change from bi-cameral to uni-cameral Legislature; part-time legislative service; independent candidature; stringent control of the emoluments of legislators; and reduction of the membership of the legislative Houses. • Anaekwe is an Abuja-based legal practitioner.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

72 LAW

FamilyLaw

“Getting married in America is like doing business in Russia. Everything is up for grabs, everything is constantly renegotiated, and nobody has to keep his/her word. I think that makes for a lot of unhappy marriages, even though no-fault was supposed to take care of that”.

—John Crouch, (An interview on the “Time Out” show with Jim Parmelee)

Childcare in modern society T is traditional for children to be taken care of Ifamilies by their parents or their legal guardians. In where children live with one or both of their parents, the childcare role may also be taken on by the child’s extended family. If a parent or extended family is unable to care for the children, orphanages and foster homes are a way of providing for children’s care, housing, and schooling. The two main types of child care options for employed parents needing childcare are centrebased care (including creches, daycare, and preschools) and home-based care (also known as nanny or family daycare). As well as these licensed options, parents may also choose to find their own caregiver or arrange childcare exchanges/swaps with another family. At home, care is known as family childcare. It is typically provided by nannies, au-pairs, or friends and family. The child is watched inside his own home or the caregiver’s home, reducing exposure to outside children and illnesses. Depending on the number of children in the home, the children utilizing in-home care enjoy the greatest amount of interaction with their caregiver, forming a close bond. There are no required licensing or background checks for inhome care, making parental vigilance essential in choosing an appropriate caregiver. Nanny and au-pair services provide certified caregivers and the cost of in-home care is the highest of childcare options per child, though a household with many children may find this the most convenient and affordable option. Many nannies study towards childcare qualifications. This means they are trained to create a safe and stim-

ulating environment for your child to enjoy and thrive in. Typically, au-pairs or nannies provide more than routine childcare, often assisting with daily household activities, including running errands, shopping, doing laundry, fixing meals, and cleaning house. At the same time, a nanny or au-pair is not always the best methods of childcare. Nanny care is the most expensive form of childcare. Recruiting a nanny can be costly when using a Nanny agency. Weekly salaries for nannies are 2 to 3 times the cost of a week of daycare. It confines the child into a world of their own. It keeps them from interacting with other children a lot of the time. As mentioned the caregivers do not need licenses or background checks so there is no way of telling if a person is really qualified or has a criminal background (unless you live in a country where there is an option of obtaining home-based care through a government licensed and funded agency). These things should be taken in consideration when making a choice. Family childcare is provided from a care giver’s personal home, making the atmosphere most similar to a child’s home. State licensing requirements vary, so the parent should conduct careful interviews and home inspections, as well as complete a background check on the caregiver’s license. Any complaints against the caregiver will be documented and available for public record. Family care (depending upon the relative levels of state subsidy for centre-based care) is generally the most affordable childcare option, and offers often greater flexi-

bility in hours available for care. In addition, family care generally has a small ratio of children in care, allowing for more interaction between child and provider than would be had at a commercial care centre. Family childcare helps foster emotionally secure interpersonal relationships for everyone involved. The providers are able to communicate each day with parents on a personal level and share information about the development of the child. Providers care for multi-aged groups of children allowing children to remain with one caregiver for many years, which helps children develop a sense of trust and security. Multiaged settings allow children to learn from one another and allow siblings to stay together. Some family childcare providers may offer parents more flexibility with hours of operation such as evening, weekend, overnight, and before and after school care. They may also offer care for children with special needs. Family day homes offer group care to young children in another person’s home. This is often a choice families make based on either the desire to keep their child in a more typical family-friendly environment (compared to a child-care centre), or on finances, since a family day home may not be as costly as a centerbased programme. The adult-to-child ratio may be the same, but the environment more closely resembles that of a family’s home. Commercial care centres also known as daycares are open for set hours, and provide a standardized and regulated system of care for children. Parents may choose from a commer-

Childcare cial care centre close to their work, and some companies offer care at their facilities. Active children may thrive in the educational activities provided by a quality commercial care centre, but according to the National Centre for Early Development and Learning, children from low quality centres may be significantly less advanced in terms of vocabulary and reading skills. •Classes are usually largest in this type of care, ratios of children to adult caregivers will vary according to state licensing requirements. Some positives of commercial care are children gain independence, academic achievement and socialization. TO BE CONTINUED

YOU AND THE LAW —-With Dupe Ajayi Fundamental human rights and remedy for possible breach (1) The Scenario is a settled principle of law that Ia Twhere there is a right, there must be remedy for the breach of the right, ibi jus ibi remedim. The application to this principle of the breach of human rights, guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution is more apt because rights are basic and fundamental. Accordingly, Section 46 of the 1999 Constitution as amended provides, ”any person who alleges that any of the provisions of this chapter has been, is being or is likely to be contravened in any state in relation to him may apply to a High Court in the State for redress”. It should be noted that the above provision envisages three stages at which redress could be sought. The first stage is after the infringement, the second is during the infringement while the third is before the infringement. Let us take the Right to Personal Liberty as an example. A person seeking redress for breach of his right to personal liberty at the first stage above will naturally allege that his/her personal liberty has been unjustifiably curtailed in the past, either in terms of baseless arrest or detention for a period longer than stipulated by the constitution. This first stage envisages that the contravention on infringement has seized, so the usual remedy is damages. Damages in law, is an award of monetary compensation for a wrong, suffered by one party in the hand of or at the instance of another party. Three broad categories of damages are recognized in law, namely; general damages, special damages and

aggravated or exemplary damages. For general damages, its award is quantified by what, in the opinion of a reasonable person is considered adequate loss or inconvenience which flows naturally or generally presumed by law from the act of the defendant. See the case of Rockonor Property Company Ltd v NITEL PLC (2001) 14 NWLR (Pt 733) pg 468. To succeed in the claim for general damages, the applicant or claimant is not required to plead and prove anything, all that is required of the applicant is to set out the facts which constitute the infringement and then claim whatever amount that pleases him, it is then left to the court to critically look at the facts stated by the applicant, draw inference of the loss, inconvenience, discomfort or indignity that could have been occasioned by the breach and award damages that the court deem sufficient to compensate the victim. Special damages are awarded to compensate for pecuniary loss suffered by the applicant. For instance, where the detention of applicant exposed the applicant to health hazard causing him to incur some expenses for his treatment, general damages will be awarded. In addition to general damages the court might have awarded, the applicant will still be entitled to special damages for the cost of treatment incurred. To succeed however, the applicant must itemise the pecuniary loss and prove it to the satisfaction of the court. Here, hard evidence is required. An example of the required evidence could be making available the result of the laboratory test showing the nature of sickness and implying that such sickness could be occa-

sioned by the detention. This, coming along with the medical bills or receipts from the hospital will be helpful. In the trespass case of Oyedeji v Adenle (1998) 9 NWLR (part 316) 224, the court held that a claimant for special damages for economic trees destroyed by a trespasser is required to established by evidence, the quality and type of the economic trees destroyed in order to enable the court assess the special damages claimed. The third category of damages is aggravated damages sometimes referred to as exemplary damages. This is usually awarded whenever the defendant’s conduct is sufficiently outrageous to merit punishment, as where it discloses malice, fraud, cruelty, insolence, flagrant disregard of the law and the like. Before aggravated damages can be awarded, this must be claimed and pleaded. See Odogwu v AGF (1996) 6 NWLR (pt 456) pg 510.

One of the earliest cases in Nigeria in which damages was awarded for breach of fundamental rights is the case of Minster of Internal Affairs v Shugaba (1982) 3 NCLR. In that celebrated case, the applicant, a Majority Leader in the Borno State House of Assembly in the Second Republic, being a member of the Great Nigerian People’s Party (GNPP), was unlawfully deported by the Federal Government on the grounds that he was not a Nigerian. He sought, inter alia (among other things), a declaration that he was a Nigerian citizen and as such has a fundamental right of immunity from expulsion from Nigeria. The court, in addition to setting aside the deportation order as unconstitutional, the applicant was awarded a princely sum against the respondent, for the violation of the right to the freedom of movement of the applicant. Since that case, the courts have

embraced the practice of awarding damages for breach of fundamental rights. Another remedy available to applicants in cases where the infringement has already been committed is the remedy of apology. The court may order the respondent to publicly apologise to the applicant in a special manner such as publishing the apology in one or two national dailies within a specified period of time. This remedy may be awarded whether or not the applicant specially prays the court for it and the remedy can be enforced by a contempt charge against the party to whom is directed, if it is not obeyed. The justification for this lies in the fact that sometimes, the respondent who infringes the right of the applicant may be acting out of ego to deliberately infringe the right of the applicant believing that he will go scot-free. In such a situation, it is reasonable for the court to order an apology to the applicant in addition to whatever sum of money already awarded the applicant so as to deflate the ego of the respondent, which pushed him to contravene the right of the applicant. Similarly, an order of apology to the applicant will shore up the ego of the applicant if the infringement of his right was done in a manner humiliating or embarrassing to him. In Minister of Internal Affairs v Shugaba (supra), because the applicant himself was a well-known politician and public attention had been drawn to his deportation, the court ordered the respondent to publicly apologise to the applicant in addition to the damages already awarded against the respondent.

LAW 73

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

The law as an endangered species Matters Arising By Wole Olanipekun HIS is the concluding part of a lecture T delivered by Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) on the above subject matter in this year’s Dr. Akinola Aguda Memorial Lecture held at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS). Aguda was the first Director-General of NIALS. In this discourse, I have striven to do a sketchy appraisal of Law, its definitions and expositions by various and diverse schools of thought, including my own rudimentary knowledge of law. There should be a confluence between Law as it is (de lege lata) and Law as it ought to be (de lege ferenda). For Law not to be endangered, the very essence of its promulgation and existence must always be espoused by law enforcement agencies and Olanipekun (SAN) abided with by the citizenry. Unequal justice, whether in terms of law-making by the Pension funds amounting to N23.3 billion? Legislature or interpretation and dispensa- The mockery to which our laws is further tion by the Judiciary is no justice known subjected to can be clinically analysed if we either to Law as it is or Law as it ought to be. compare that within the same clime, a hunThree critical areas have been examined gry man or an unemployed youth who stole within the context of this paper, that is, secu- the telephone handset of a serving rity, constitutionalism and corruption. Each Governor was convicted and sentenced to a of the three of them is critical to the corpo- term of imprisonment of 45 years by an rate existence of Nigeria. God forbid our Osogbo High Court. entering into the Guinness Book of Records Law is very humane, but at the same time as the foremost country where law is emas- regulates and ensures societal orderliness. culated with impunity. Apart from the actual While some of the law enforcement agenthreat of terrorism, which we face, how does cies are permitted to use force when approone rationalize the audacity of over 5,000 ex- priate, Law itself is not ‘might’ and does not kidnappers seeking amnesty and demand- pretend to struggle or contend with ing for compensation from the Government ‘might’; for ‘might’ symbolizes, in most because they voluntarily surrendered their cases, oppression, repression, suppression, arms. wickedness and anti-social behavior. How do we also rationalize or defend the ‘Might’ should ordinarily succumb to Law, retention in our statute books of an antiquat- but in a clime where ‘might’ overpowers the ed law which stipulates a penalty of Law, the red light is already lit, only for the N750,000.00 for someone convicted of cor- red card to be flashed. ‘Might’ might be disruptly making do with or dissipating played at the instance of the Government

against the governed through the breach of law and, as we have in Nigeria today, ‘Might’ might also be unleashed by a section of the governed, both against government, its agencies and institutions, as well as against co-innocent citizens and their properties. The Baga case is a classical example of a cross-fire between the ‘might’ of Government and the ‘might’ of the insurgents, leading to several casualties on the side of the Government, the insurgents and several innocent citizens and by-standers. Wherever two ‘mights’; as demonstrated here explode and implode, a confluence is usually created which can metaphorically be described as the “valley of the shadow of death”. In each situation, the Law is submerged and societal equilibrium is dislodged, dislocated and displaced. If Law is respected as law, there would be far less corruption in every facet of our national life than we are witnessing now, for Law is already there to checkmate corrupt tendencies. But since Law has been endangered and placed under the jack-boot of ‘might’, whether in the Executive, Legislature, Judiciary, classroom, Boardrooms and even among the Clerics of different religions, it is then incapable of performing its functions and roles at curbing the animalistic and criminal tendencies of man. A hapless Law attracts a hopeless citizenry; a bankrupt Law breeds impotent people; when Law is inefficient, then the country becomes rudderless; if Law is so frail, then the society is encircled by a gathering of unruly crowd; when and where Law is disrespected, the populace would go astray and whenever it is sub-judicated, anarchy becomes enthroned; at any given situation where Law can no longer tame, criminals are born, bred and raised to the positions of leadership in every facet of national life; when Law becomes the servant, it automatically metamorphoses to an endangered

specie. This scenario is a prelude to what Sociologists describe as a state of anomie. Although George Orwell did not go this far in his best-selling book titled Animal Farm, a state of anomie will usher man into an animal kingdom. Applying Funk’s principle, we have considered the seven functions of law in this paper, that is, to legitimize, to allocate power, to order society, to control individuals, to adjudge conflicts, to dispense justice and to change society or individuals. The nagging question then arises, that is, has the law in Nigeria fairly or satisfactorily fulfilled any of these functions? The answer is definitely in the nay, if we do not want to deceive ourselves. From the way things are going and happening, it would appear as if some people want Nigeria to prepare the requiem for Law and render its nunc diminitis. With this humble analysis and presentation, it behoves every Nigerian to have a rethink about our individual and corporate approach to Law, respect it and jealously guard and preserve the Rule of Law. This was what the Akinola Agudas of this world stood for and defended, even in an era that could be described as the days of yore. We have a more compelling responsibility to subscribe in these days and threatening times to quickly retrace our steps and stop rendering Law as an endangered specie, as any specie that is endangered goes into extinction. Let us ensure that Law does not go into extinction in Nigeria. May I make the point that it is not a question of offering prayers in either or both Churches and/or Mosques without being remorseful or demonstrating penitence. God is not hypocritical. It is a demand for us to render our hearts and not our garments. It is only then that Law can grant us amnesty. • Olanipekun is Lagos-based Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

Making case for judicial clerks in Nigeria (2) Lecture By Olusoji Omole UDICIAL clerkship brings valuable experience and exposure to situations that can’t be gained in the classroom with a unique perspective to practices and law firms. They are, therefore, highly valued as lawyers. There is no tradition of judicial clerkship in Nigeria. For us to understand the origin and traditions associated with the office, we have to turn to the USA and other jurisdictions. The value of a judicial clerkship is substantial. A key credential for future law practice in any area, judicial clerkships are an incredible life experience. A judicial clerkship offers a unique opportunity to glimpse behind the scenes of a judge’s chambers and courtroom, to impact the law through the judge’s decision-making and, ultimately, to gain a life-long mentor. Sometime around 1873, Horace Gray became the Chief Judge of the Supreme Court in the United States of America. This was the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, rapid increase in railroads and commercial activities. These and other matters also caused an increased workload in the courts. The practice was to inquire from the Dean of reputed Law Faculties for nomination of recently graduated and outstanding scholars to fill the position of judicial clerks. One of the first law clerks so appointed was Louis D. Brandeis. A name, which needs little no introduction to scholars of development of the law in the United States of America. Subsequently, Oliver Wendell Holmes joined the United States Supreme Court in 1882 and wrote in a letter: “We are very hard worked and some of the older judges affirm that no one can do all the work without breaking down.” He took up Gray’s practice of employing a new honor graduate from Harvard each year. By the time of Holmes’s retire-

ment from the Supreme Court, in the 1930s, the institution of law clerks became entrenched in the United States judiciary. The path of starting of a legal career as a law clerk has produced many notable attorneys, chief judges, professors and captains of industry in the United States: We can enrich our study of the position of a judicial clerk by examining the contemporary position in a few other jurisdictions: There are jurisdictions where the position of law clerk does not exist. But in many nations, clerk-duties are performed by permanent staff attorneys or junior apprentice - like judges, such as those that sit on France’s Conseil d’État. Of particular interest to Nigeria is the practice in English courts of the existence judicial assistants. The permanent staff attorneys (Referendaires) and the Stagiaires (young law graduates) at the European Court of Justice are also comparable to American Judicial clerks. Australian, Canadian, and Swedish practices also help illuminate the similarities and differences across nations. Canadian courts accept applications for judicial clerkships from graduating law students or experienced lawyers, who have already been called to the Bar in Canada or abroad. Most provincial superior and appellate courts hire at least one clerk for each judge. Typically, students in their last two years of Law School are eligible to apply for these positions, but increasingly, experienced practising lawyers are also considered for these positions. The term typically lasts a year and generally fulfills the articling requirement for provincial law societies, which qualifies a person to become a practicing lawyer in a Canadian jurisdiction. The most prestigious clerkship available is with the Supreme Court of Canada, followed by the Courts of Appeal of the three most populous

provinces. The judicial clerks in Canada are usually selected based on a distinguished academic record, academic recommendations, strong research and writing skills and interviews with judges. Many law clerks have gone on to become leaders of the profession. For example, the Honourable Madam Justice Louise Arbour, formerly of the Supreme Court of Canada, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, served as a law clerk in the early years of the programme. In England and Wales, law clerks are called judicial assistants. It is possible to be a Judicial Assistant at the Court of Appeal and at the UK Supreme Court (formerly the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords). Only Supreme Court Judicial Assistants are appointed for a fulltime, one year fixed term appointment. The formation of the Supreme Court in England represents an important step in the formal separation of powers in the UK. The judicial branch of government is given the prominence it deserves as the Law Lords’ dual membership of both the legislature and the judiciary caused confusion in the minds of the public as to who they were and what they did. The Supreme Court goes some way towards resolving these difficulties. The UK justices are supported by eight “judicial assistants”. Like the law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States, each judicial assistant is appointed for a fixed term of one year. The judicial assistants conduct legal research in relation to cases heard by the court and extra-judicial lectures and writings undertaken by the justices, as well as to summarise and review applications for permission to appeal. Serving as a judicial assistant

Mukhtar (CJN) provides young lawyers with an unparalleled insight into judicial decision-making at the very highest level, and allows them to make valuable contacts in the development of their professional careers. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) clerks, or Référendaires, have some major differences with American counterparts because of the way the ECJ is structured. ECJ clerks, while hired by individual judges, serve long tenures as opposed to the one-year-clerkship norm at the U.S. Supreme Court. This gives ECJ clerks considerable expertise and power. Their role is heightened because the European Union is composed of very different nations with disparate legal systems. ECJ clerks provide legal and linguistic expertise (all opinions are issued in French), ease the workload of their members, participate in oral and written interactions between chambers, and provide continuity as members rapidly change. ECJ clerks act as agents for their principals – judges - and generally have more powers than judicial clerks in

USA. The ECJ also admits a limited number of selected law graduates as Stagiaires whose duties are more similar to those of the law clerks of the U.S. Supreme Court. In France, law clerks are called assistants de justice. They go through a competitive selection process to get accepted as law clerks. Most French courts accept applications for judicial clerkships from graduating law students. Many law clerks are Ph.D. candidates in Law or candidates for a French competitive entrance exam such as the bar exam, French National School for the Judiciary, French National School of Public Finances, or French National School of Court Clerks .Law clerks are hired for two years renewable twice. Depending on credentials and curriculum they can be assigned to the bench (magistrat du siège) or the prosecution (parquet or parquet général). Their work entails assisting the judges with writing verdicts and decisions and conducting legal inquiries and research.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Sports ‘Broke’ NFF employs German coach for Flying Eagles HE Nigeria Football T Federation (NFF), which recently sacked some Super Eagles’ coaches and backroom staff because it was broke, has ratified the appointment of German, Jurgen Press, as an assistant coach in the national Under-20 team, the Flying Eagles. NFF Media Officer, Ademola Olajire told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday that the German tactician was now on the payroll of the football regulatory body. Olajire told NAN that Flying Eagles’ Coach, John Obuh had requested for an assistant and the request was granted, adding that Press’ employment had been endorsed by the association. “Obuh requested for an assistant and the NFA gave him the nod to seek for a suitable coach. Having said so, the German will be paid by the NFA and not from Obuh’s pocket,” Olajire said. The FIFA U-20 World Cup is slated to hold in Turkey from June 21 to July 13, and the Flying Eagles are in Group B, alongside: Cuba, Portugal and Korea

Republic. Meanwhile, a former Super Eagles goalkeeper, Dosu Joseph has supported the decision to hire a foreign assistant coach for the Flying Eagles in the buildup to the U-20 World Cup in Turkey. Dosu told NAN in Lagos that Obuh’s decision to hire a foreigner was a good step, adding that his recent coaching course in Germany might have influenced the decision. He added that Germans were technically and tactically gifted in their understanding of the game, and could play a crucial role in the team’s outing. “I believe it’s a good step in the right direction. The most important thing is for the team to perform well in Turkey. “Obuh recently went for a course in Germany and understands clearly what he passed through, and I believe that might have influenced his decision. “More so, we all know the Germans to be tactical in their understanding of the game and I am sure the man can make meaningful contributions to the team,” he added.

Flying Eagles’ Coach, John Obuh, now has a German assistant as the team prepares for the Turkey 2013 FIFA Junior World Cup…

Davis Cup Africa Group III play-off

ITF tips Morocco, Egypt for promotion ahead of Nigeria By Olalekan Okusan O confirm the poor state of tennis in the country, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) has tipped Morocco and Egypt ahead of Team Nigeria as favourites to gain promotion into Group II

Eko 2012 NSF Fall-Out

Amaechi fetes Rivers State’s heroes, pledges continuous support for sports development IVERS State Governor, R Rotimi Amaechi has praised the state’s contingent to the last National Sports Festival, tagged: Eko 2012, for its credible performance at the games, noting that his administration’s investment in sports is yielding benefits. At the sports festival hosted by Lagos State last year, Delta

State emerged as overall winner, followed by Rivers State. The feat came on the heels of the first place finish by Team Rivers at the 2011 edition of the festival staged in Port Harcourt. Speaking after receiving the Eko 2012 second-place trophy from the Deputy Governor and Chairman of the Team Rivers

Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi (left), receiving the trophy won by his state at the Eko 2012 National Sports Festival from the Deputy Governor, Tele Ikuru and the State Sports Commissioner, Fred Mbombo Igwe, in Port Harcourt…at the weekend.

PHOTO: AFP.

Participation Committee, Tele Ikuru, at Government House, Port Harcourt, at the weekend, Amaechi congratulated the team for getting second place, but urged them to work harder for first place in next year’s edition billed for Calabar, Cross Rivers State. “Let me start by congratulating all of you for winning this trophy. The prize money may not be attractive but at least the honour and privilege of being recognised in the country as the second best after Delta. I honestly thought we would be the first and you know Delta State governor is my friend, so I had told him ‘you will see that we will retain the trophy and he said it is not possible,’ and at the end of the day, he was right, I was wrong but you did well. “We were not the last, we were the second. We did well. The victory in Port Harcourt was not a fluke and we want to thank all of you for being able to show that our investment in sports is yielding benefits,” he said.

of the Davis Cup tournament. Fifteen nations will from tomorrow at the Smash Tennis Academy in Cairo, Egypt, begin their quest for promotion from Africa Zone Group III to Group 11 of the Davis Cup tournament. At the 2012 edition, Team Nigeria failed to attend the championship, which technically ruled the team out of contention for promotion, while it finished in the seventh position in 2011 at a oneweek event also held in Cairo, Egypt. According to ITF, Morocco, Madagascar and hosts - Egypt were relegated to Zone Group III last year and they would be

hoping to bounce back and make a swift return to Zone Group II. “Zimbabwe narrowly missed out on promotion last year, and will be hopeful of producing a strong showing and challenging again this year. Morocco and Egypt will be the favourites going into the event, as they are the only teams who can boast four players who all have rankings. “Egypt’s Mohamed Safwat holds the highest ranking of any player involved in the group at No. 320,” the world tennis ruling body stated. It added, “Algeria will be hoping to do better than last year, when they finished bottom of the group.”

However, Technical Director of the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF), Bulus Hussain told The Guardian yesterday that he is confident that Team Nigeria would make an impact at the competition. “Nobody ever believed Nigeria would win the African Cup of Nations, but they won it and that is the way it will be in the Davis Cup. All the teams in the group had played against Nigeria before and they are not new to the team. What will help the players is that they just featured in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Open and went straight into camping after the tournament.

Federations’ polls hold today in Abuja From Ezeocha Nzeh, Abuja TAKEHOLDERS of the various sports federations will converge at the medical Centre of the Abuja National Stadium today to elect the chairmen and vice chairmen of their boards. The election will feature candidates from the six geo-political zones, who will be joined by others nominated by the various agencies and stake holders in the polls expected to commence by 10 a.m. The build up to the elections is not devoid of the usual complaints, as some stakeholders have accused the National Sports Commission (NSC) of cancelling and substituting the names of their representa-

tives with candidates allegedly chosen to ensure that some candidates won the polls. There were also reports that the NSC may have postponed he elections for the president and vice president of the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) because the incumbent head of the federation lost at the zonal level. The NSC says that only accredited candidates must be allowed entrance into the election venue. It directed al nominated stakeholders are to check its official website (sportscommission.gov.ng) for their names. According to the NSC, “participants in the elections are required to show proof of identification in the form of a

valid international passport, driver’s license or national identity card. This would enable electoral officials do proper screening of would-be participants. “The NSFEC wishes, however, to state that elections for the positions of president and vice president in the Board of the Nigerian Boxing Federation have been postponed. “The NBF’s statute, which is a requirement, is not ready. A draft has been submitted to the International Boxing Association (AIBA) but has not been approved. “NSFEC assures all stakeholders that it has put in place systems to ensure free, fair and transparent elections.”

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

SPORTS 75

Victory at The Players excites Woods

AFN has started preparations for 2016 Olympic Games, says Nesiama HE Technical Director of the T Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Navy Commodore Nesiama Omatseye, yesterday confirmed that the federation has started preparations for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. Omatseye disclosed that preparations for the global fiesta had been categorised into two parts by the AFN; the performance and the development-based aspects, which he said, would run side-by-side. He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the performance-based aspect would focus on elite athletes, while the development aspect would dwell on budding talents. “The performance-based aspect of our programme is meant to monitor and mentor our elite athlete both home and abroad, to improve on their performances. “While the development aspect of the programme is targeted at grassroots athletes, to expose and groom them to the level that they can feature at the Games. And the

IGER Woods secured his T fourth win of 2013 with a two-shot victory at The Players

development based aspect is what we saw in the African Youth Athletics Championships (AYAC) in Warri, where our young athletes competed and did well,” he said. The director added that the federation had also organised a refresher course for coaches, to keep them acquainted with current trends in the sport. “We have had a seminar for coaches in March, to keep them abreast of new developments in the sport,’’ he said. Omatseye said the AFN had also decided to step up its standard for assessing athletes for the Games to ensure that only the very best were selected. “We will prefer attending the Games with a fewer number of athletes, who are well-prepared and potential medal hopefuls. Unlike what we did in the London 2012 Olympics, where we had lots of athletes and no medal to show for it,” Omatseye added. It would be recalled that a total number of 53 athletes competed in eight sports at the London Games.

Supersport’s Let’s Play initiative berths in Okpekpe, Iyanmoh EADING satellite broadcast- children healthy and giving L ing outfit, Supersport has them an opportunity to develtaking its Let’s Play initiative to two serene locations in Edo State, Okpekpe and Iyanmoh. At the programme, which had a team of trainers, led by former national team Coach, Shaibu Amodu, over 1, 200 children from both towns were put through the basic football skills. The kids were taught the rudiments of playing football starting from the point of understanding trapping a moving ball to making a pass. Speaking on the event, Amodu said, “we are really pleased that this Let’s Play programme could be brought to our rural people. This will encourage the kids to not only play, but keep healthy.” The kids were also given a pep talk by Let’s Play Ambassador, Victor Ikpeba, who made them understand that football is a team sport, illustrating this with the fact that the ball moves forward faster when teammates pass the ball forward rather than one player running with the ball. Ikpeba said, “kids will get a better understanding of working together when they engage in team sports like football.” At the end of two days of activation, each of the participating kids went home with a football. Explaining the decision to bring the programme to the communities, SuperSport West Africa’s General Manger, Felix Awogu said, “this is our own little way of keeping our

their innate talent.” Let’s Play was launched in Nigeria in August 2012 and has had several activations in different cities on different sports – Football, Rugby, Tennis & Cricket.

World number one, Tiger Woods, displaying the trophy he won at the Players’ Championship at Sawgrass.

PHOTO: AFP

Total MD’s Cup kicks off tomorrow HE third edition of the Total T Nigeria Plc Managing Director’s Cup will kick off tomorrow at the Legacy pitch of the National Stadium in Lagos. Four teams, made up of Head office, North, East, and West territories, will compete for the coveted trophy. The competition will begin

with preliminary matches from tomorrow to Friday, while the grand finale of the tournament is scheduled for Saturday, May 18 at the Onikan Stadium. The tournament represents an integral part of the company’s work-life-balance initiative. The MD’s Cup has come a long way since its maiden edi-

tion in May 2009 and the second edition in May 2011. The last two editions took place at the Onikan Stadium and Campos mini Stadium in Lagos respectively, with the Northern Territory winning it back-to-back. Activities lined up for the finale include ‘Healthy Living walk, a walk from the Total

House in Victoria Island to Onikan Stadium in Lagos, as well as, “the fastest man and woman in Total, which is a 100m sprint competition.

Lagos State engages new coaches By Olalekan Okusan AGOS State has employed L 82 coaches, including veteran boxing Coach, Joe

Delta State Information Commissioner, Chike Ogeah (middle); Permanent Secretary, Delta State Ministry of Information, Austin Mowah (left), and HotSports CEO, Taye Ige (right), when the state signed on HotSports as the Annual Walk For Life marketing consultant in Asaba… at the weekend.

Championship at Sawgrass. With Woods and Sergio Garcia level, the tournament looked to be heading for a play-off until the Spaniard put two tee shots in the water at the 17th hole. A par on the 18th was enough for Woods, 37, to take victory with a round of 70. The American said, “I’m getting better. This was hard. The conditions got tricky. I had a hard time reading the putts. The greens were dicey.” Swede David Lingmerth, who was in the final pair with Garcia, missed a birdie putt on the signature 17th, which is a par three with an island green, to move level with Woods. But the 25-year-old finished in a share of second with Americans Kevin Streelman and Jeff Maggert. Scotland’s Martin Laird shot 67 to finish one shot further adrift alongside Ryan Palmer and Henrik Stenson. Garcia also found the water on 18 and finished six shots back. The Spaniard, 33, said, “you have to be disappointed, not so much with 18, but with 17. I got going nicely from the 11th onwards, I felt I was hitting the ball better, felt calmer and got too confident on 17. “I’d hit so many good shots in a row and I under-hit it.” Woods returned to the top of the world rankings in March but his three previous wins this year had been on courses he has traditionally been successful on. But just as he gave the chasing pack an opening, Maggert put the ball in the water on 17, Lingmerth missed his chance on the same hole and Garcia fell apart. Woods added, “I was in control and hit the worst shot I could hit on the tee at 14 and made a double but I just stayed patient and told myself that was my only bad swing all day. “Apart from that tee shot I really played well. I’m just trying to get better and I’ve had a good start to the year.” England’s Lee Westwood had yet another frustrating day with the putter as he finished six shots back, while Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy rallied with four birdies on the back nine to also finish on seven under par.

Mensah, for its 37 sports associations. Among the coaches, who are on contract, are also two renowned trainers, Samson Egbeyemi for badminton and Suraju Onanuga for volleyball. Others expected to work with the associations include four for athletics, two each for chess, gymnastics, cycling, rowing and yachting, shooting, tennis, weightlifting, and squash; one for dart, three each for scrabble and swimming, one for badminton, and five for table tennis. Such combat sports as boxing has three, judo, kickboxing, kungfu, wrestling,

karate and taekwondo also have two each. In team sports, six tacticians will handle football, three for each of baseball and softball, cricket, handball, hockey, and volleyball. Others are deaf athletics, which has one, while Paralympics (athletics) has four, Para soccer, and powerlifting have on each, with traditional sports getting nine coaches for abula, Ayo, dambe, kokowa and langa. According to the Commissioner for Youth, Sports and Social Development, Wahid Oshodi, the engagement of the coaches is part of the efforts to build on the success recorded at the last National Sports Festival, tagged: Eko 2012, with the aim being to do better at the 2014 edition.

76 SPORTS

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

European Round-Oﬀ

Mikel hopeful of adding Europa League title to trophy chest It will be another historic moment, says Shittu By Gowon Akpodonor OON after the referee blew Stensed his whistle to end the African Nations Cup final between Nigeria and Burkina Faso at the Johannesburg Soccer Stadium in February, Super Eagles and Chelsea midfielder, John Michael Nchekwube Obinna, popularly known as Mikel Obi, heaved a sigh of relief saying, “this is a dream come true.” As he wangled his way from the mixed zone into the Team bus waiting at the VIP entrance of the stadium, an excited Mikel beaming with smiles whispered to The Guardian, “I am looking forward to more titles this year.” Before the Eagles’ victory in South Africa, Mikel had come close to winning the Nations Cup title on three occasions at Egypt 2006, Ghana 2008 and Angola 2012. Having fulfilled his Nations’ Cup dream in February, Mikel is dreaming of more successes. “Every big tournament you win seems to take you to another level, both as a player and a person,” Mikel said. “You mature by winning major trophies, that’s what it has done for me since I’ve been at Chelsea, I’ve won pretty much everything but I’m still hungry for more success.” Before his African Nations Cup victory, the 25-year-old Mikel had won all the major trophies on offer with Chelsea, including a UEFA Champions League, two Premiership titles, four FA Cup crowns and a League Cup. His main focus now is winning the Europa League trophy tomorrow in Amsterdam. It is a steady rise for the boy, who joined Chelsea from Lyn Oslo of Norway in the 2006/07 season. Chelsea will face a huge challenge tomorrow when it takes

on Portuguese giant, Benfica, in the Europa League final and Mikel believes this team has everything in place to pull off the victory. A year ago, Chelsea did the unbelievable when it struck down Barcelona in the semifinals and won the Champions League by beating Bayern Munich. This is not the same team that won a year ago, but this Chelsea side has the experience from last season’s win and the knowledge that it can pull off the feat once more. Chelsea has had a trying season. After jumping out to a lead in the premier league, the team went seven matches without a win. In that span, the Blues also saw their hopes of defending the Champions League title go to waste. Coach Roberto Di Matteo lost his job and was promptly replaced by Rafa Benitez. The latter has instilled confidence in the new squad and has led them to a top four finish in the Premier league. The Blues have lost just four times in 18 premier league games since January and has not lost in its last seven games of English competition. This team has the confidence knowing that a victory in the Europa League final would provide relief in a tough year. Chelsea took down Benfica a year ago on the way to the Champions League final. The Portuguese side is heading to its first European final in 23 years, so experience is clearly a factor in this matchup. Mikel’s primary focus has been securing a top-four place in the Premier League and a return to the Champions League, which Chelsea won in 2012. “Champions League football is what this club has always been involved in and that is what we as players want to

Klopp

achieve,” Mikel said recently. “We want to be in the top four, top three, whatever. We want to be in the Champions League next season.” With the Champions League spot already secured, Mikel is hopeful of adding another trophy to his kitty tomorrow at the Amsterdam Arena. The UEFA Europa League, previously called the UEFA Cup, is an annual association football club competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions. The winner of the UEFA Europa League qualifies for the UEFA Super Cup. It is 24 hours away from the Amsterdam showdown and Mikel’s Manager, John Shittu is optimistic that the Super Eagles midfielder will be part of another historic moment tomorrow. “I am looking forward to seeing Mikel celebrating with Chelsea at the Amsterdam Arena on Wednesday,” Shittu told The Guardian on phone yesterday. “I just left Mikel a few minutes ago and he was preparing for the game.”

Get experienced coach, Moyes counsels Everton UTGOING Everton O Manager, David Moyes believes his successor at Goodison Park should have Premier League experience as opposed to being plucked from the lower leagues like he was. Moyes joined Everton 11 years ago after spending four years with Preston North End and the soon-to-be Manchester United manager believes it may be better for the club if his replacement was experienced. Moyes’ final game at Goodison on Sunday was marked with a strong Everton performance and a 20 win over West Ham and after the game, the 50-yearold Scot reflected on his tenure at the club and said he was willing to help in the hunt for his replacement. “I hope people will think the

Bayern cannot just brush past us, Klopp boasts AYERN Munich crushed European heavyweights Barcelona and Juventus en route to the Champions League final but they should not expect the same to happen against Borussia Dortmund, Dortmund Coach, Juergen Klopp has said. Bayern face their Bundesliga rivals in the first all-German Champions League final in London’s Wembley stadium on May 25. The Bavarians beat former

European champions Juventus 4-0 on aggregate in the quarter-finals before exploding past Spain’s Barcelona 7-0 in a sensational run to their third final in four editions. “Bayern swept Barcelona and Juventus out of the stadium so that they had trouble finding the exit,” Klopp told kicker magazine yesterday. “This is hardly possible against us.” “We know how good we are. We are uncomfortable opponents for any team,” said

Mikel (left); contests with QPR’s Chris Samba

Klopp, who led Dortmund to the 2011 league title and the 2012 German league and Cup double. Bayern, who have already won the Bundesliga this season, are attempting an unprecedented treble of titles for a German club with the Champions League and the German Cup in their sights. “We have drawn both games 1-1 in the Bundesliga this season and we lost in the German Cup 1-0 where we had a very bad day,” said Klopp of this season’s clash-

chairman made a good decision then and I am sure he will make a good decision now,” he told reporters. “The chairman took a gamble at that time, giving a young British manager an opportunity to work so he needs a lot of credit for that. “I think the difference now is when I took over it was maybe a bit easier to bring in someone a little bit less experienced. Maybe now, where Everton are, that might not be quite the case but if he wants me help I’ll help him with whatever he wants. “I’ll do everything I can to help him in what he chooses

to do next.” Wigan Manager, Roberto Martinez is the bookmakers favourite for the job, particularly after his FA Cup heroics on Saturday, with Cardiff City Coach, Malky Mackay and Celtic’s Neil Lennon the other favorites. “Whoever comes in will enjoy it because they are a

Conte is architect of Juventus’ success, says Chiellini IORGIO Chiellini has G hailed Antonio Conte’s role in Juventus’ Serie A success this season as he feels the head coach is the brain behind the club’s Scudetto win.

Bayern targets treble glory HILIPP Lahm has insisted P that Bayern Munich has no intention of resting on its laurels after lifting the Bundesliga shield at the weekend and has now set its sights on emerging victorious in the Champions League and DFB-Pokal as well. The Bavarians have impressed with a string of impressive performances throughout the 2012-13 campaign and Lahm has demanded two more top-notch displays from his teammates in the final three games of Jupp Heynckes’ reign. “It’s going to be hard work, all the way. So far this season we’ve put in that work, a lot of

great bunch of players,” Moyes added. “I will walk away from here saying Everton have become better. They will never be as good as they were in the 80s when they won things but I think if you look since the Premier League started how many top-10 finishes we have had it has improved.”

it, and now we want to reap the rewards,” Lahm told Bundesliga.com. “Next up, it’s the Champions League final and we’re going to have to turn in another top-notch performance to win it. “After that, there’s the DFBPokal final, another occasion we’ll need to rise to. It’s not so easy, but we’ll be giving it our absolute all. We’ve come very close in the past - obviously, we want to get our hands on the thing now.” Bayern locks horns with Borussia Dortmund at Wembley on May 25 for European glory before facing Stuttgart in the DFB-Pokal final on June 1.

The Turin giants comfortably beat second-placed Napoli to the title to make it two consecutive Scudetti and Chiellini hopes that Juventus can continue to challenge for silverware with Conte at the helm. “We’re in the thick of our cycle and Conte’s the main architect. We want to develop together and continue following his lead,” Chiellini was quoted as saying on the official Juventus website. The defender then went on to voice his opinion that Juve fully deserve its Serie A title as it never lost sight of its goal.

Conte

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 14, 2013

TheGuardian

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

‘‘If Nigeria is to make rapid progress on all fronts internally, and if she’s to make her mark on the continent of Africa, and indeed, in the By Anyiam Nnaemeka comity of nations, her youths must be fully mobilised and be prepared to offer willingly and without asking for rewards in return, their best in the service of their nation at all times.” – Gen. Yakubu Gowon, during the formal inauguration of the NYSC June 4, 1973.

Please send reactions and feedback for YOUTH SPEAK to:

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Youth: The NYSC, Zamfara State and I...

EFORE being a corps member, I used to blame these words for whatever ‘horrific’ B experiences I would go through during my service year. As a fresh graduate you’re made to live with people of different cultural backgrounds, paltry stipend, often no accommodation, little plan for security and medication, language and religious barriers, etc. I got the impression the scheme was some post-civil war panacea to reunite the country. Well, they caused the civil war, why interrupt my life by asking me to repair the rift they had created, I thought. So I really hoped that the changing fortunes of time and government in Nigeria would abolish this trend before it got to my turn. Today, however, I write as a corper, an Otondo, and a willing participant in a scheme I once wished would not see the light of another democratic government. And it’s amazing how beautiful the scheme really is, just from my first few months of serving my fatherland. When I heard I was posted to Zamfara, it took a while to sink in. I sat on a pavement for hours with my call-up letter in hand. People laughed, some pitied and some were petrified with fear and prayed for my safety, while others gave long lectures on the process of redeployment and the medical lies I had to tell to get out of Zamfara ASAP. From my findings, I had neither heard of violence in Zamfara nor any extra-judicial killings in the state as a result of the Sharia legal system adopted under Governor Yerima. Yet down South, we hear exaggerated stories of ‘hand-and-leg-cutting’ on the slightest contact with a lady. So I chose to be patient with the NYSC, be open-minded and at least see Zamfara. This decision changed the stereotypical labeling of northerners I was used to. On that long six-seven-eight hour drive to Zamfara from Abuja, I saw massive but nonmechanised agriculture in such a large scale that I appreciated for once the natives of these states and their contribution to our agricultural produce. Millet, sorghum, corn, wheat, water melon, okra, sweet potatoes and the likes of it, all judiciously planted, sometimes manually irrigated, watched, harvested and stored by people who may have been given little or no government support as it were. The East practised subsistent agriculture, but these ones had much bigger plans. In the orientation camp, we were grouped into platoons. Our dance and drama competitions brought together elements from the various ethnic groups of the country to foster national unity. I heard languages I never thought existed, names I could never pronounce and I met great people. We talked of national issues as security and corruption; and it was surprising to see like-minded youths call evil by its name regardless of whose ox was gored. Activities start with a Muslim and Christian prayer and it became pretty obvious that we all could exist as one. We were privileged to have senior government officials, including the Emir of Anka, Alhaji Attahiru Muhammad Ahmad and NYSC State Coordinator for Zamfara, Mrs. Ruth Bakka, educate us on the state and its people. The emir stated clearly that Sharia was to guide Muslims on their religious path and thus was NOT binding on NONMuslims. Christians were free to go about

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their normal business without fear of grades than myself still neatly tucked in molestation whatsoever but should dress their white hijab. Once I sat beside a Muslim lady during a health seminar and decently. asked her a Down South, we The postings are always influenced these medical question, see the days. People now redeploy for the slightest of her answer North, especially reasons. People just go where they want. This was seaShe Zamfara, as defeats the NYSC’s long-term goal of national soned. quoted a place with integration. Again, the stipend is small. texts, little or no education, Organisations and states need to support the researches, surespecially scheme by paying the corper a little extra token online veys and for the girl and ensuring that the stipulated accommoda- shared pracchild. But I experiwas tion is provided for this sojourning youth. tical ences. stunned to There should be no preferential treatment for Despite the see over foreign trained graduates as what is good for Western 3000 girls in Education, GGDSS the goose is also good for the gander her religious Samaru having good, standard education. In camp I values were intact. These ladies undermet Muslim (northern) ladies with better stand decent dressing. I was thrilled to

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The YOUTHSPEAK Column which is published daily is an initiative of THE GUARDIAN, and powered by RISE NETWORKS, Nigeria’s Leading Youth Development Centre, as a substantial advocacy platform available for ALL Nigerian Youth to engage Leadership at all levels, engage Society and contribute to National Discourse on diverse issues especially those that are peculiar to Nigeria. Regarding submission of articles, we welcome writers‘ contributions by way of well crafted, analytical and thought provoking opinion pieces that are concise, topical and non-defamatory! All articles (which are not expected to be more than 2000 words) should be sent to editorial@risenetworks.org To read the online Version of this same article plus past publications and to find out more about Youth Speak, please visit www.risenetworks.org/youthspeak and join the ongoing National Conversations’’. Also join our on-line conversation

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know that someone with such an education could still keep to sometimes arduous demands of religion. I also found that the average Hausa Muslim man is truthful, empathic and down-toearth. When he tells you it is N10 gaskiya, so it is. Tell their bike men you’re stranded and you will more often than not get a free ride. In my PPA, my bosses will make tea in the morning and even the gateman will partake, using a mug from the boss’s office, but bosses in the South are to be worshipped from afar. Ordinary change is difficult to get in the East. Here a bike man in motion will stop to make change for a stranded colleague. Eastern traders are in constant customer tussle with themselves, but it’s not so here. Your effort at learning their language is instantly rewarded by slashed prices. These ones are really of a different ilk. When posted to my PPA in Kaura Namoda and I lost my way, I was directed to the Muslim Corpers lodge. That’s where I was fed and attended to regardless of my religious affiliation. This selfless service to fresh corpers has been constantly rendered by the Nigerian Christian Corpers Fellowship (NCCF), Muslim Corpers Association of Nigeria (MCAN), Catholic Corpers Association and the likes. These organisations are made up of Nigerians helping Nigerians regardless of tribe or tongue. Yet another dividend of the NYSC scheme. Nigerians in The Diaspora have also developed a reasonable degree of empathy towards fellow Nigerians (Youth Corps). On several occasions, my fares have been either reduced or paid by a total stranger because I’m a corper. Organisations reduce professional exam fees for Youth Corps. Even some airlines have reduced fees for us. There’s that warmth in the heart when you see someone on the NYSC khaki. He’s a brother, a sister, a part of you. I’m now so confident that the scheme is slowly but insidiously achieving its objective: “To inculcate in Nigerian youths the spirit of selfless service to the community and to emphasise the spirit of oneness and brotherhood of all Nigerians, irrespective of cultural or social background.” Serving in Zamfara has afforded me a lot of opportunities I would not have had if I remained down South in the East. At least I have experienced Zamfara for myself and can now separate fact from fiction. Zamfara is peaceful and friendly. You’re appreciated as a corper. Living here is affordable, food is abundant, the sharia is not harmful, there’s fun in Zamfara. They even have a wellequipped amusement park when Imo State has none. I’ve seen their religious practices and I can now compare with mine. I’ve seen their flaws and I now know how I can help. I’ve understood that you don’t stand far off and make up convoluted stories about people. Come closer, live among them and friends, you’ll be amazed at how much you did not know. But more importantly, I’ve seen that we are all the same Nigerians and can exist as one; you as a Christian, I as a Muslim and life will still go on. Our cultural and religious differences are simply variety which we all know is the spice of life. There’s really no need for the hate. A few of these things, however, plague the NYSC scheme: The postings are always influenced these days. People now redeploy for the slightest of reasons. People just go where they want. This defeats the NYSC’s long-term goal of national integration. Again, the stipend is small. Organisations and states need to support the scheme by paying the corper a little extra token and ensuring that the stipulated accommodation is provided for this sojourning youth. There should be no preferential treatment for foreign trained graduates as what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. All camps should be made as lively as the camps in Lagos and Abuja, like in my camp; we didn’t even have the beauty pageant, while the Lagosians had celebrities singing for them. The kids of the rich should be sent to Zamfara too, because sometimes I feel it’s the children of the poor and the old that get sent here, with a handful of normal people. • Nnaemeka, a Youth Corps member, wrote from Zamfara.