Thur 16 May 2013 The Guardian Nigeria by The Guardian Newspaper

Abductors of Rhodes-Vivour family demand N300m From Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu, Benin City and Joseph Onyekwere

• Police, vigilance group comb Edo

IDNAPPERS who last FriK day abducted the wife, daughter and driver of a

Supreme Court Justice, Bode Rhodes-Vivour, have established contact with the fami-

ly. The Guardian learnt that the abductors have demanded a

of the justice’s daughter’s wedding when they were accosted by unknown gunmen along Benin-Sagamu Expressway and taken to an unknown location.

ransom of N300 million from the family of Rhodes-Vivour before they could release their victims. The victims were said to be travelling to Edo State ahead

Meanwhile, operatives of the Nigeria Police led by the Commissioner of Police, Folusho Adebanjo and memCONTINUED ON PAGE 2

TheGuardian Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Vol. 29, No. 12,558

www.ngrguardiannews.com

N150

World needs $38tr to meet energy needs by 2035 • Experts warn against growing global C02 emissions From Chukwuma Muanya, Rotterdam NERGY experts have E warned that growing population, climate change and increased resource demand will place stress on world’s energy, water and food systems at an unprecedented rate that not less than $38 trillion will be needed to meet global energy needs by 2035. They have also warned that the Earth is close to the threshold for carbon-dioxide (CO2) emission and may tipple into an irreversible situation, which might threaten human existence if nothing is done urgently. The experts recommended the use of green energy CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

BPE, NSC, PTDF get new heads – Page 8

England’s Chelsea Football Club members celebrating their 2-1 victory over Portugal’s Benfica FC in the Europa Cup final in Amsterdam, Holland....yesterday.

PHOTO: AFP

War against terrorists begins From Madu Onuorah , Azimazi Momoh Jimoh, Nkechi Onyedika (Abuja), Saxone Akhaine (Kaduna), Niyi Bello (Akure) and Njadvara Musa (Damaturu) ITH a massive deployW ment of troops and equipment, the military yesterday began the implementation of the state of emergency declared by President Goodluck Jonathan to fight terrorists in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. The three states where the emergency action was declared share common borders with Cameroun, Chad and Niger. These border communities have become bases for terrorist training, insurgency and other criminal activities against Nigeria. Borno State, the major base of the terrorist group, Boko Haram, has a border with

• Military deploys troops in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe • CAN, Afenifere, Gaidam back emergency rule • ACN, PDP, northern leaders disagree Niger, Chad and Cameroun while Yobe and Adamawa share a border with Niger and Cameroun. The deployment is a joint operation by the three services – Army, Navy and Air Force. While the Army will supply the bulk of the ground troops with its own equipment, the Air Force and Navy will supply aircraft and other necessary equipment. The Director of Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Chris

Olukolade, said the focus of the operation would be the tracking down of criminal elements who have been using the border communities to violate the sovereignty of Nigeria. Olukolade also said that the military had briefed participating troops appropriately on arrests, cordon and search. Besides, the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritse-

jafor has described the declaration of the state of emergency as a justified action and a vindication of CAN’s position that negotiation with terrorists would always fail. He observed that with the emergency action in the three states, the Amnesty Committee was no longer relevant and should be dissolved. In a statement by his Special Assistant, Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Kenny Ashaka, the

CAN president said that not dissolving the political structures, and the retention of the office of the governors, were signposts that President Jonathan is a democrat. But the Anglican Bishop of Nnewi, Most Rev Godwin Okpala has said that it is confusing as to how the state of emergency declared in the three states would work if the governors and legislators of the affected states continue to stay in office. Okpala spoke in a telephone interview with The Guardian. The leadership of Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba socio-political and cultural organisation, yesterday described as “most appropriate”, the declaration of the state of emer-

Police re-occupy Rivers council secretariat – Page 6

gency. Octogenarian leader of the group, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, who spoke to The Guardian on telephone said: “We support the declaration because it is the most appropriate step to take in the circumstances that we found ourselves as a nation. “We cannot continue to be in a state of anarchy where some people take the law into their hands and constitute a parallel authority. We have said it before, that government needed to assert its authority by deploying all its paraphernalia of maintaining security to curb the insurgency.” Also, the Ondo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) applauded the Federal Government for the move, which it said, was takCONTINUED ON PAGE 2

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

NEWS

Experts warn against growing global C02 emissions CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 alongside natural gas, not coal, as the main energy sources to reduce CO2 emission that is worsening the impact of climate change. At a meeting on future energy system tagged “Powering Progress Together, Forum on Energy-Water-Food: In Search of Resilience” co-hosted by Shell and City of Rotterdam in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, the experts said yesterday that the consequences of inaction would mean that humans would not be able to produce enough water, food and energy by 2030 due to the devastation caused by climate change. The panel of experts include Chairman of the Board, Resilience Alliance, Brian Walker; Foreign Secretary’s Special Representative on Climate Change, United Kingdom (UK) Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Neil Morisetti; Director-General, International Union of Conservation of Nature, Julia Marton-Lefevre; PresidentDirector, Shell Netherlands, Dick Benschop; Director of International Operations, Shell, Andy Brown; Chief Executive Officer of Royal Dutch Shell; and Mayor, City of Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb. Brown said: “Society is becoming increasingly aware of the inter-connection between our global energy, water and food systems. Water is needed to extract energy and generate power; energy is needed to treat and transport water; and both water and energy are needed to grow food. “In the coming decades, population growth, rising prosperity and rapid urbanisation will place more pressure on these vital resources: a phenomenon called the ‘Stress Nexus.’ By 2030, global demand for water, energy and food is expected to have risen by 40 to 50 per cent. “Climate change and natural catastrophes will add to

the pressure. In turn, this pressure will risk disrupting the global economy, as well as social and political stability. Society will need to continuously absorb these disturbances, to change, to recognise, learn from them, an ability known as ‘resilience’.” Brown said Shell and the City of Rotterdam were proud to host the second “Powering Progress Together forum” which focuses on resilience; fostering discussion around solutions and partnerships that will help society absorb disturbances and unforeseen change in the energy-water-food nexus and continuously re-organise to safeguard the welfare and prosperity of the people and the planet. Marton-Lefevre said: “How will nine billion people be able to live in this space called Earth is a pertinent question as the planet nears threshold of resilience. As the world population grows to nine billion, we must find safe operating space for humans. We live on a planet that is under pressure and pressure leads to unexpected responses.” Benschop said: “Meeting the rising energy needs will not be easy. We are in the race against poverty and climate change. We have the challenge of development and the environment. We have made progress in lifting people out of poverty but there is the problem of climate change. The world needs about $38 trillion to meet the growing energy needs by 2035…We need natural gas to replace coal in order to reduce CO2 emissions. Combining natural gas with renewable energy is the opportunity the Earth has to reduce CO2 emission.” Aboutaleb said: “If we do nothing, our children will suffer for it…it is important that businesses and institutions join forces to address the challenges and find solutions together. Only if we share our ideas and work together, we can achieve great change. Inspiration and innovation can mobilise society. And this way, we can work towards creating a more sustainable planet to leave behind for future generations.”

Police, vigilance group comb Edo CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 bers of the vigilance groups in villages around Ovia North-East Local Council have relocated to the Ekiadolor/Ugbogui forest, the possible zone where suspected kidnappers may be keeping Mrs. Rhodes-Vivour and her daughter. The Guardian gathered that the police boss in Edo State has been under pressure from Police Headquarters to locate the victims and rescue them alive. Also, hunters in the villages, who are believed to be very familiar with the terrain, have reportedly joined in the search, including the state’s Neighbourhood Watch. When The Guardian visited the Neighbourhood Watch office yesterday, the head of the group, Maj.-Gen. Charles Omoregie (rtd), was said to be in a meeting with the Commissioner of Police apparently on the matter.

The leader of the hunters in Ekiadolor, identified as High Priest Nasogiarhu Edema, said they have resolved to take their destiny in their hands in making the Ekiadolor/ Ugbogui axis of the Benin-Lagos uncomfortable for kidnappers and criminals alike. Several lawyers had appealed to the abductors to release their captives unhurt. One of the lawyers, a senior advocate of Nigeria, Chief Mike Ozekhome, said the Justice is a judicial officer and not a business person and wondered where they expect him to get ransom money from. “Justice Rhodes-Vivour, a well-acclaimed jurist, is merely a judicial officer, not an entrepreneur. His wife is a legal practitioner, not a businesswoman. Only on September 13, 2012 his son, Rotimi, was also abducted with a N30 million ransom demand. Why is this madness targeted at a

peace-loving and hardworking jurist who had served Nigeria meritoriously? “Is this persecution by faceless merchants and buccaneers masterminded by politicians who have vowed to make Nigeria ungovernable? Or is it by mere kidnappers for the sake of ransom money alone? If so, where do they expect a serving justice of the apex court to cough out ransom money? Whatever angle we view it from, the fact remains that Nigeria is fast descending into the abyss of systemic annihilation. It is more and more adorning the toga of one of the most insecure places on planet earth. We are becoming the laughing stock of the international community. For God’s sake, kidnappers, or whoever you are, release immediately and unhurt Justice Bode RhodesVivour’s lovely wife, daughter and driver. I plead with you in

the name of God. Don’t discourage patriotic Nigerians from giving all to their fatherland”, he pleaded. Similarly, Festus Keyamo appealed to them to release their victim unhurt. He said: “The kidnappers should know that Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour is the wrong target of this dastardly act. He does not deserve this agony. Again, the Justices of the Supreme Court have not contributed in any way to the destruction of our values that has pushed young men and women into this kind of unholy enterprise. Rather, they have indeed played a constructive role in preserving and sustaining our democracy. Therefore, I passionately appeal to the kidnappers, wherever they may be, in the name of the God they serve, to release unharmed the wife and daughter of Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour.”

Former Vice Chancellor of Osun State University, Prof. Shola Akinrinade (left); executive member, Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), Bako Abdullahi and a board member, ICPC, Prof. Olu Aina, during a press conference on the menace of illegal universities in Nigeria in Abuja... yesterday. PHOTO: LADIDI LUCU ELUKPO

Military deploys troops in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 en “due to the embarrassing level of insecurity in those states among a few others.” In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Ayo Fadaka, the party said: “While we appreciate the painstaking approach of Mr. President towards solving this crisis, we feel that it is of utmost importance to declare that no stone must be left unturned in the ultimate desire to quell this insurgency.” Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe yesterday supported the emergency rule in his state. The expression of his support was contained in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Information, Abdullahi Bego in Damaturu. In the statement, Gaidam said: “I agree with the President on the imposition of state of emergency in Yobe State; as there is no alternative to peace and security to people’s lives and property.” But the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has described

the declaration of the state of emergency as lacking in original thinking, and therefore asked the National Assembly to reject it. In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said if the use of force was capable of ending the Boko Haram crisis, it would have ended a long time ago. It said while the President was right in expressing outrage at the mindless killings and wanton destruction by the insurgents, he was wrong in proposing more of the same measures that had failed to yield results. The party urged Jonathan to disband the amnesty committee “ he recently inaugurated and saddled with reaching out to the insurgents, because by opting to flood the states with more troops under an ill-advised emergency rule, he has succeeded in pulling the carpet from under the committee’s feet. Who negotiates genuinely with a gun to his head? The committee’s job is

over, the members can as well pack up and go home.” The PDP described the reaction of the ACN as “that of a political party speaking from a diseased and confused state of mind.” A statement by PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, in Abuja yesterday made it clear: “The state of emergency does not run contrary to the spirit and the assignment of the presidential committee on amnesty. The committee will take the job to its logical, fruitful end while the deployment of more troops under the emergency is an irreducible necessity to stem a determined war on the nation.” Both the Arewa elders and youths yesterday condemned Federal Government’s emergency rule, saying that the move may not be panacea to the insurgency in the North. Former Governor of Kaduna and human rights crusader, Col. Abubakar Umar (rtd) also cautioned the Federal Government on the emergency rule in the affected states, as

it may lead to more hardship for the residents in those states. The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Anthony Sani, who reacted to the emergency rule in the three northern states said that the elders in the North had earlier warned the government over the use of excessive force in resolving the insurgency in the north, pointing out that “there is no difference between the decision by government to impose a state of emergence and when the use of excessive force was deployed and this is what we preaching been have against.” The President of AYF, Malam Gambo Ibrahim Gujungu noted: “As youths from the North who have seen the crisis first hand and the engagement of the soldiers even before now, we are of the belief that the President should have adopted a political approach in resolving the insurgency problem rather than apply this present stringent rule.”

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

NEWS

FEC okays new strategy to check excessive local borrowing

JTF moves against oil theft in N’Delta By Willie Etim, Yenagoa

From Mohammed Abu, Abuja HE Federal Government yesterday evolved a new strategy to curtail excessive internal borrowing to finance projects through ensuring that private-sector operators have access to loans from money and capital markets at a lower interest rate. The thinking of the government is that with enough resources at the disposal of the private sector, more employments could be created as against the government, which only borrows to service non-profitable ventures. Tagged “Mid-Term Debt Management Strategy (MTDM), the objective of the policy, according to the Minister of

State for Finance, Yerima Lawal Ngama, who presented the memo to that effect to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at its sitting yesterday, is to deemphasise the involvement of both federal and state governments in the piling of debts to service overhead costs at the expense of productive ventures. The new strategy, which was developed by the Debt Management Office (DMO) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) with inputs from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and National Planning Commission (NPC), in consultation with the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) as well as the West African Institute for Finance

and Economic Management (WAIFEM), he said, is to ensure maximal utilisation of domestic loans. With over N6 trillion debtprofile, Ngama told State House Correspondents after the meeting that the structure of the country’s debt was not optimal. He put Nigeria’s domestic debt at 88 per cent being domestic, with only 12 per cent as foreign. According to him, Nigeria has one of the highest interest rates in the developing countries, and “if you have a very high level of debt, then servicing becomes very expensive.” Also at the briefing, moderated by the Information Minister, Labaran Maku, was the

Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe on hand to give account of the performance of the ministry in the past one year. She said the ministry achieved more than 99.95 per cent of its targeted performance. Ngama, who traced the genesis of the growing domestic debts in the country, said it all started in 2005-2006 when Nigeria exited from the Paris and London Clubs, which meant increase in the internal sources of funding. According to him, “before 2005-2006, all we were complaining about was foreign debts, we had very little domestic debts and the domestic bond market was not even

developed. But after we exited from the Paris and London Clubs, we now had to concentrate more on developing internal ways of raising resources. “So, the position as it is, is not good enough. We have high interest rate, high debt service, (last year alone we paid about N699 billion to service the debts). You realise that we’re actually having a disproportionate cost of debt and not only that, when the government borrows that much, it means that the banking sector which is the main source of funds will now have a disproportionate percentage of its own portfolio in government security.”

How to curb Boko Haram insurgence, by ex-British military chief From Madu Onuorah, Abuja OR Nigeria to curb the Boko Haram insurgency and restore peace to the troubled northern states, the Federal Government needs to effectively combine hard and soft power in approach, says former commander of British forces in Iraq, Lieutenant-General Robert Fry. Fry, a former commandant of the British Royal Marines, said at the National Defence College (NDC) where he delivered the 2013 Africa Today Magazine Lecture on the relevance of special forces in contemporary military operations, in Abuja yesterday, that at no time would either of the two options solve

the situation. He called attention to the need to be wary of granting amnesty from the point of weakness, stressing that amnesty should rather be given from the point of upper hand. Answering questions from some of the participants at the lecture, he said: “ The best position to offer amnesty is from a position of strength and not from a position of weakness.” Speaking on the Boko Haram problem, Fry called on the Nigerian government to utilise a combination of both hard and soft power, asking for a careful balance. “Boko Haram is an organisation

that is trying to impose arbitrary laws by all means. It seems that the appropriate response in the first instance is the application, judicious, targeted and discriminate military force. That would be an approach from the onset. But that will never lead either to victory, the eradication, or defeat of the Boko Haram movement. “The balance between hard and soft power is that the question of hard power should be sufficient no more. If it goes beyond sufficient, it has run the danger of being excessive, and one of the worst things that can happen is that legitimate government be accused of arbitrari-

TheGuardian SATURDAY, May 18, 2013

Conscience Nurtured by Truth

State Of Emergency...

Will the declaration of emergency rule in three northern states —-Borno, Yobe, Adamawa—- halt Nigeria’s march to anarchy? The answer is blowing in the wind…

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

ly use of force. That is the same track that Boko Haram has already,” he said. According to the former British military chief, “in a democratic society, the state has the legitimate monopoly on the use of force. But it must be used in the most judicious way. Beyond that, the battleground of this conflict is the mind of the people. That will be shelved on a framework on how force is applied and all the other effects that I spoke about brought together, and in a most effective combination.” Fry said, “I am not making a prescription for Nigeria. I am making observations from

what I see elsewhere, but those observations need to be very clear.” On amnesty in Nigeria, he said: “I understand that the system has already being in the Delta. So, it means that there is already precedent in this country. I don’t think it is wrong at some point to try and open up the possibility. That is exactly what happened in Iraq. That is exactly what turned the course of the conflict. Again, I can only say that it is an appropriate action at a given stage. But that needs to be done in a very discreet manner. It is something that could be easily corrupted by criminal elements.”

ACN, AP trade words over governance in Oyo From Iyabo Lawal, Ibadan HE raging feud between T Governor Abiola Ajimobi and his estranged political partner, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, continued yesterday with both parties trading blames over the planned conferment of chieftaincy title on Ajimobi by the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Samuel Odulana. While the Accord Party (AP) appealed to Ajimobi to play down the celebration of his newly acquired title, Atunluse of Ibadanland, in deference to the plight of teachers in the state, the ACN faulted the statement and accused the party of trying to earn an undeserved heroism in the minds of the people. In a statement by the media director, Dotun Oyelade, the AP stated that the governor’s refusal to pay the 27.5 per cent Teachers’ Enhanced Salary and the N18,000 minimum wage despite the unprecedented resources in the past 18 months, smacks of man’s inhumanity to man. Given a breakdown of the N78.9 billion which the state allegedly collected between January and December 2012, the AP stated that N37.6 billion was from statutory allocation alone, while N18.9 billion was derived from Excess Crude Oil revenue and the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) provided N13.8 billion apart from VAT. “This fiscal miracle has already increased by 15 per cent this year thus making the Aji-

mobi asdministration the richest ever since the creation of old Oyo State over 30 years ago.” AP therefore wondered why the Ajimobi administration will have to wait till June 1 for teachers to go on indefinite strike over their legitimate entitlement which government can conveniently pay. On the panic over Ladoja contesting the next governorship election and the blackmail over his age, Oyelade reminded the ruling ACN that both Ladoja and Ajimobi were born in the 40s and are in their 60s. He said the serving governors of Ebonyi State, Martins Elechi, and Plateau State, David Jang, are both well over 70s. But the ACN upbraided the Ladoja-led AP for what it called its “puerile and sensational bandying of fake state earnings” in its usual quest to earn an undeserved heroism in the minds of the people. In its reaction by the party’s Publicity Secretary, Dauda Kolawole, the ACN described Ladoja and his supporters as being “a nest of liars”, saying the state government had already paid the 27.5 Enhanced Teachers’ Salary, as well as the minimum wage of N18,000 to the least paid workers in the state for over a year now. “We understand Ladoja’s beef. His cheap mantra of being the only governor who catered for the interest of teachers while in office has been effectively punctured by Ajimobi’s unrivalled impacts in the lives of teachers and the state work-

N a renewed effort to secure Ithieves Nigeria’s oil sector from in the Niger Delta, operatives of the Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield, have impounded a self-propelled (V1) barge and scuttled 22 illegal crude oil distillation camps, 18 open boats, 133 plastic surface tanks and 28 pumping machines caught engaging in crude oil theft. The barge was intercepted by the Maritime Component Troops of the JTF deployed at Forward Operations Base (FOB), Burutu in Delta State at Latitude 0414.479N and Longitude 00702365E along Bonny Channel with uncertain volume of stolen petroleum product. Preliminary investigations are still being conducted to ascertain the quantity of product in the barge and its degree of culpability.

Delta to expel criminal cattle rearers NY cattle rearer whose A cows destroy farm crops or kill or cause bodily harm to farmers in Delta State will be arrested and expelled. The Secretary to the State Government, Ovuozorie Macaulay who briefed journalists at the end of the regular Security Council meeting held in Oghara and presided over by Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, said the decision was reached because of the increase in criminal activities of cattle rearers in Delta. His words: “The meeting has decided to arrest and expel any Hausa-Fulani cattle rearer that allows his cattle to destroy farm crops or kill or cause harm to any farmer in this state. The Hausa-Fulani leaders in such communities will be made to fish out the culprits.”

Lagos cautions users over installation of telecom masts By Seye Olumide ORRIED by the recurring W collapse of telecom masts and the consequences on life and property, the Lagos State Government has emphasised the need for all Internet service providers, banks and other organisations to adhere strictly to standards and specifications in installing the facility within the metropolis . The government also said it would henceforth prosecute and seal off outfits of any organisation that fails to comply with necessary regulations and standards in mast installation . Speaking at a press briefing yesterday, the Head, Urban Furniture Regulatory Unit (UFRU), Mr. Joe Igbokwe, said the agency had severally engaged and dialogued with banks, Internet service providers and other small users who use local masts to boost their communication system to see the need to employ new ways of building these structures to stem the tide of tragic incidents “but they will not listen.”

News 5

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

News Labour, activists differ on pronouncement From Saxone Akhaine, (Kaduna) and Iyabo Lawal (Ibadan) HERE was disagreement between Labour leaders and civil rights activists in the country over the State of emergency declared in three northern states. While President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Abdulwaheed Omar and Senator Lekan Balogun lauded the action, the duo of the National Coordinator of the Nigeria Voters Assembly (VOTAS) Moshood Erubami as well as Human Rights Activist and Academician, Femi Aborisade faulted the move. Omar who spoke with reporters in Ibadan lauded the President for his political maturity, saying his action has given reassurance that it is not in any way a political victimisation. In the same vein, Balogun stated that the approach by the President was more logical than the proposed amnesty.

EMERGENCY RULE

PFN, Orji, others back decision From Isah Abdulsalami Ahovi (Jos), Gordi Udeajah (Umuahia), Lawrence Njoku (Enugu) and Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu (Benin-City) ORE commendations yesM terday came for President Goodluck Jonathan over the declaration of state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states as the President, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Dr. Felix Omobude, Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State, a lawmaker and eminent lawyers have lauded the action. In a statement in Benin-City yesterday, Dr. Felix Omobude said that although the action was long overdue, he, however, expressed optimism that

the decision would tackle insecurity in the affected states. He urged the Federal Government to ensure that all those involved in terrorist activities in the country were promptly brought to justice so as to reduce the pains being suffered by victims of the Boko Haram insurgency. Orji who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Ugo Emezue, said the president’s action was a step in the right direction, adding that it was also a panacea to the security challenges facing the country. He called on all and sundry to support the action and continue to pray for the security, peace and unity of the country.

Also an Umuahia-based constitutional lawyer, Chief Anthony Chidi Brains Agbazuete while reacting to the action said that the president would have completed it with the sacking of the governors of the affected states for what he called their woeful failure in discharging their constitutional responsibilities of protecting lives and property of Nigerians in their jurisdiction. Mr. Bitrus Kaze, representing Jos South/Jos East in the House of Representatives, said , “we on the Plateau promptly declared total support for whatever steps the Federal Government took in restoring peace and order anywhere in the country.”

In a statement in Jos, Kaze commended the president “for eventually mustering the guts to declare emergency rule in certain states where our national territorial integrity is already being compromised by rampaging Islamic terrorists. The primary purpose of government anywhere in the world is the security and welfare of its citizens.” An eminent lawyer, Prof. Race Achara said that President Jonathan was right in his action of not sacking the governors of the affected states. Achara stated that Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution as amended did not give the President power to sack elected governors of the affected states.

Akanbi cautions over plan From Abiodun Fagbemi, Ilorin HE pioneer chairman of T Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Alhaji Mustapha Akanbi, has described the declaration of state of emergency in the three North eastern states of the country as a new experiment being carried out. Speaking with reporters yesterday in Ilorin, Akanbi said it may not necessarily provide the ultimate answer. “In previous occasions when state of emergency was declared in the West and Plateau states, governors were removed. With this new experiment of military interacting with civilians, I see it as an experiment being carried out and I don’t know how the joint command would work. Honestly, I can’t zero in and say it will provide the ultimate answer.

APGA faction, UPP okay move From Ezeocha Nzeh, Abuja HE Maxi Okwu led faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance(APGA) and the United Progressive Party (UPP) yesterday threw their weights behind the federal government’s declaration of State of Emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa following the deteriorating security situations. Speaking at the end of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) meeting in Abuja, factional chairman of the party, Maxi Okwu stated that APGA leadership would support any measure taken to restore law and order in the affected states.

Tukur

Akanbi

Why Adamawa was included, by Tukur From Azimazi Jimoh Momoh, Abuja MID the controversy trailing the declaration of emergency rule in some Northern states, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, yesterday said that geo-graphical, commercial, ethnic and religious affinity between Borno and Adamawa states accounted for Adamawa State. He also called on all governors to take more serious steps to tackle security challenges. He said that the emergency rule could only achieve desired result if other states took measures to collaborate the efforts of the Federal Government in the fight against terrorism. In an interview yesterday in Abuja, Tukur said no sacrifice was too much in fighting terrorism in the country. On why the emergency rule was also imposed on his state, Adamawa, the PDP boss said that the consideration of the government was that since Borno and Adamawa were geographically contiguous, it made a lot of sense to engage terrorists within the zones broadly in an attempt to break their network and areas of stronghold. He said both the southern Borno and the northern Adamawa share close affinity in social lives, ethnicity, religion, commerce and trade, such that the government needed to create a corridor and a buffer zone for engaging the terrorists in the two axis. Tukur said it was incumbent on the Federal Government to recourse to a preventive approach even in the fight against terrorists, a reason he said Adamawa fell in the list of states of the North to be safely protected if the emergency rule should work.

Shettima, in statewide broadcast, urges calm From Njadvara Musa, Maiduguri OVERNOR Kashim ShettiG ma of Borno State yesterday cautioned residents in the state against being “caught up” by the State of Emergency declared by President Goodluck Jonathan aimed at checking insecurity in the state.

The governor gave the call yesterday in a state wide radio and television saying: “I am under obligation, constitutional and moral, to ensure your safety. And as your leader, I consider myself a father to all orphans, a brother and friend to everyone of you, a son to every parent and

member of every family in this state.” He added that he had directed the Ministry of Home Affairs, Information and Culture to work out public safety enlightenment programme that should be regularly featured on the state radio and television.

He said: ‘‘While I urge partners and friends in other media organisations resident in Borno State to help in educating citizens on public conducts.’’ Speaking on the inevitability of emergency rule, Shettima said: “It can never be the wish of any guarded democratic

Accord Party, NBA chief, others fault action From Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu (Benin City and Bertram Nwannekanma (Lagos) ORE reactions have conM tinued to trail the declaration of emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states as the Accord Party (AP), the Coalition to Save Nigeria (CSN) and the Chairman of the Ikeja branch of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Monday Ubani yesterday faulted the action. The CSN yesterday welcomed as “token” the action, saying that it was belated because of the catastrophes that had befell the people in

the affected areas in the last two years. Besides, AP also called on the President to rescind the decision as it said it would send a negative signal to the international community that all was not well with the country. A statement yesterday by the national president of the CSN, Philip Ugbodaga in Benin City said: “The response of President Jonathan is belated, too little too late especially coming after the massive orgy of violence of more than two years and with more than 2000 innocent Nigerians

prematurely sent to their graves. “We, however, welcome this token declaration of Mr. President as a necessary first step in a well coordinated, focused and purposeful action plan to bring peace to a beleaguered country whose people are being condemned to a daily life of anguish, sorrow and death.” The statement blamed the poor state of security in the country “on insincere and rapacious political elite and their collaborators who have parcelled among themselves our future and our fortune and have decreed

for the rest of us an existence of misery and poverty. In a statement by its National Secretary, Samson Isibor yesterday, the AP said it believes that “dialogue is the best option since force represented by the JTF could not curb the activities of insurgents. The Federal Government should allow the Committee on Amnesty set up to work. The committee had already started making contacts to the Boko Haram militia, it will be ideal to allow them perform their duties and make declaration of state of emergency as the last resort.”

government to have the military directly involved in the affairs of any federating unit except for unfortunate and painful causes. As the military leaders have said in discourses, the armory of the Nigerian soldiers is not meant to fight fellow Nigerians, the armory is meant to protect fellow Nigerians. “A period of state of emergency is that which comes with rules that are different from those that guide our day to day lives. We must therefore, take personal steps as citizens, to avoid being caught by the strange rules.” He, however, urged the military to abide by the directive of Mr. President, in operating under the rules of engagement so that innocent lives and their properties are adequately protected. He also called on members of the Boko Haram sect to embrace dialogue so that the insecurity problems could be solved on a roundtable through collective bargaining, offers and compromises.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

6 | NEWS

Senate moves to immortalise Achebe From Bridget Chiedu Onochie, Azimazi Momoh Jimoh (Abuja), Anote Ajeluorou and Odita Sunday (Lagos) OR his contribution toFgrowth wards the emergence and of African literature, the Senate yesterday moved to immortalise the late Prof. Chinua Achebe. In a motion sponsored by Senator Chris Ngige (Anambra Central) and 108 others, the upper chamber urged the Federal Government to name a major federal highway or street in Abuja and a national monument after Achebe. Besides, Nigerians, especially the youth, have been urged to emulate the exemplary life of Achebe. In a day of tributes organised by Igbo think-tank, aka Ikenga at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) for the late literary icon on Tuesday in Lagos, friends, colleagues and admirers extolled Achebe’s virtues as a man to emulate. Among prominent Igbo sons who paid tributes to Achebe were Ambassador Arthur Mbanefo, Professors Anya O. Anya, George Obiozor and Uzodinma Nwuala, Anthony Merini and Nnabuife. Others were President, Government College, Umuahia Old Students Association, Mr. C.N.C. Nweke and many other old boys and dignitaries. The event was also spiced with musical rendition and poetry recitation in Igbo. Before the Senate resumed sitting yesterday, there was anxiety that Tuesday’s declaration of emergency rule in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states by President Goodluck Jonathan would dominate discussions on the floor. But the lawmakers on resumption went straight into the business of the day as contained in Order Paper 311, which included a valedictory session in honour of Achebe. For the exemplary life of the late literary icon, the Senate resolved to constitute a nineman committee to be led by the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, to commiserate with the government and people of Anambra State. It also observed a minute silence in honour of the late writer. Other members of the committee include Senators Uche Chukwumerije, Shola Adeyeye, James Manager, Abdul Ningi, Mohammed Magoro, Philip Aduda, Remi Tinubu and Zainab Kure.

• Urges govt to name highway, monument after him • Igbo groups extol writer’s virtues The chamber observed that Achebe was a world figure who brought fame and prestige to Nigeria and all humanity through his literary talents and other works, having written several novels and essays, some of which became instruments for his dogged and dynamic activism. In the lead debate, Ngige said Nigerians had a lot of lessons to learn from the life and writings of Achebe. Some of the lessons, he noted, included his emphasis on the efficiency of the Nigerian system at a time. “These anecdotes include his

merit-based access to secondary and tertiary education and on graduation, to salaried jobs. He referred also to the efficiency of the postal system, which promptly delivered his unregistered mail to London and brought back a reply”, he said. Ngige regretted that Achebe’s strong position against injustice and acts of inhumanity was misunderstood by many Nigerians. “However, the hopeful ending to Achebe’s quiet musings and exhortation is that his disillusionment is not so much with the collapse of Biafra as with the failure of

Nigeria of his dreams. “If this generation of Nigerian leaders can still hear and heed the calm, steady voice of Achebe, they can still save Nigeria”, Ngige said. Due to lack of time, only a few co-sponsors of the motion made contributions. For Senator Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon (Lagos West), Achebe made great impact with his writings, an indication that Nigeria has what it takes to impact the world. “Through his writings, Achebe introduced us to African culture. I learnt about the new yam festival first in Things Fall Apart. His global

ITING an explosion that C occurred at the powergenerating set building as reason for doing so, the Police have once again barricaded the Obio-Akpor Local Government Secretariat at Rumuodumaya, Rivers State. It also denied knowledge of a plot to assassinate the Governor, Chibuike Amaechi, members of the state Legislature and some top government officials. The Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mbu Joseph Mbu, ordered the occupation of the council secretariat barely 48 hours after a Fed-

From Terhemba Daka, Abuja IGERIAN students numN bering over 150 on Federal Government scholarships in Russia have resorted to begging in that country due to non-payment of their allowances by the Nigerian government, it was revealed yesterday. This came to fore in Abuja yesterday when leader of the Association of Federal Government Doctoral Candidates in Russia, Godwin Ezinkwo, made a submission during an interactive session with the House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Affairs. Ezinkwo, who is seeking the intervention of the Legislature over the Federal Government’s default in the payment of their scholarships yesterday, informed the Abike Dabiri-Erewa-led House panel that for six months now, the students have not been paid their allowances, a development that made them to resort to begging from their Ghanaian, Zimbabwean and friends from other African countries for assistance.

Ondo PDP declares support for Mimiko, preaches family values From Niyi Bello, Akure EQUEL to the call by Ondo SgunState governor, Dr. OluseMimiko, to all the politi-

Chairman, Zonal Shareholders’ Association, Brig Emmanuel Ikwue (left); former Minister of Works, Alhaji Femi Okunni and Managing Director, Julius Berger Plc. Wolfgang Goetsch, during the Investors’ Relations Forum in Lagos…On Tuesday PHOTO: OSENI YUSUF

Court remands alleged killer-DPO in prison custody By Bertram Nwannekanma and Yetunde Ayobami-Ojo N Ikeja High Court, Lagos, A presided by Justice Olabisi Akinlade, yesterday remanded the dismissed Divisional Police Officer of Yaya-Abatan Police Station in Lagos, Segun Fabunmi, in Kirikiri Maximum Prison and adjourned till June 14 for the hearing on his bail application.

The embattled police officer was arraigned for murder, attempting to murder and injuring some protesters during the January 2012 protests against the removal of fuel subsidy. Fabunmi, however, pleaded not guilty to all the sevencount charges preferred against him by the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions. The lead prosecutor, Mrs.

Olabisi Ogungbesan, alleged that Fabunmi committed the offences at about 9.30 am on January 9, 2012, at YayaAbatan, Agege, Lagos. The accused allegedly murdered Adedamola Daramola and attempted to murder, as well as caused bodily injury on three others by shooting at them with his AK-47 riffle. Those who Fabunmi allegedly attempted to kill and inflicted grievous bodily

Police re-occupy Rivers council secretariat, cite bomb scare From Kelvin Ebiri, Port Harcourt

impact through his writing shows that Nigeria has what it takes to impact the world. We still have a lot of Achebe in Nigeria and by the grace of God, they will come out one day for us to celebrate them”, he said. Although Senator James Manager (Delta South) never met Achebe personally, he admired him for his foresight about Nigeria. He described him as a very principled and disciplined politician who shunned ethnic and religious sentiments to align with Malam Aminu Kano in forming the People’s Redemption Party – a political platform that epitomised selflessness and vision for the country.

Nigerian students in Russia seek N’Assembly’s help over scholarships default

eral High Court in Port Harcourt ordered it to end its 11 days’ siege at the council. Mbu informed journalists at the Police Headquarters, Port Harcourt, yesterday that barely 25 minutes after he ordered his men to vacate the Obio-Akpor Local Government Secretariat to allow for business and other transactions to be carried out in compliance with the Federal High Court order, unknown persons detonated explosives that destroyed the building housing the council’s power-generating set. “About 20 or 25 minutes later, the vehicle that was positioned there, the officers on

the ground informed the Divisional Police Officer that they heard something like an explosion, which destroyed the power-generating room at the premises. We had no choice than to repossess that premises. We obeyed the court order, but because we had to protect the government property from damage, colossal damage, we had to repossess the place and we are there right now”, he said. Mbu, who has been accused by the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Otelemaba Amachree, of complicity in the political crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which

eventually culminated in the suspension of the Obio-Akpor Council chairman, Timothy Nsirim, said whatever actions he has taken since the beginning of the crisis are within the ambit of the law and his professional ethics. The Police Commissioner, who denied knowledge of a plot to assassinate Governor Amaechi and top government officials in the state, explained that as soon explosion at the council secretariat occurred, he quickly dispatched the Deputy Commissioner of Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to the council to commence investigation.

harm, include Alimi Abubakar, Egbujor Samuel, Chizoba Odoh by separately shooting at them with his gun. He was alleged to have shot Abubakar and Samuel on their left legs and Odoh on his right finger (index). After his arraignment, the judge rejected a request by his counsel, Mr. Ike Okafor, for hearing on his bail on the ground that it was not yet ripe. Parts of the charges read, “Segun Fabunmi, on or about January 9, 2012, at about 9.30 am while on security patrol at Yaya Abatan Junction, Ogba Agege, Lagos in Ikeja Judicial Division, murdered one Adedamola Daramola. “Segun Fabunmi on or about January 9, 2012, at about 9.30 am while on security patrol at Yaya Abatan Junction, Ogba Agege, Lagos, in Ikeja Judicial Division did attempt to kill one Alimi Abubakar by shooting at him with AK-47 rifle.” The alleged offence of murder was said to contravene Section 221 of the Criminal Law, No. 11, 2011, while the offences of attempted murder and causing grievous bodily harm were said to, respectively, contravene Sections 228 and 243 of the same law.

cal parties that contested the last October 20 governorship election against his Labour Party (LP) platform to join hands with him in administering the state, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state yesterday declared its support for the administration. The PDP, under the chairmanship of Dr. Akin Olowokere, made the declaration during a courtesy visit to Mimiko in his office in Akure to congratulate the governor on his recent victory at the election petition tribunal that threw away the petitions that challenged the exercise. In another development, Mimiko has blamed the high spate of insecurity and disturbing crime rates in the country to loss of family values as enshrined in the culture and traditions of Nigerians.

Sambo opens IoD convention ICE President, Namadi V Sambo, will today declare open the 2013 Institute of Directors (IoD) convention and exhibition holding at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos. The IoD Nigeria annual convention and exhibition is the largest gathering of business executives and government functionaries in Nigeria. The 2013 Convention and Exhibition, according to the Director General of IoD Nigeria, Mr. Akin Ajayi, will discuss the critical theme of “Optimising Performance in a Growing Economy” in the context of myriad of challenges and the transformation agenda of the current administration.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

News 7

Police declare three missing in Abia

Gombe to check illegal immigrants with census

From Gordi Udeajah, Umuahia

OMBE State has concludG ed plans, in collaboration with the National Population

From Charles Akpeji, Gombe

HE Abia State Police ComT mand has declared missing two males and female, the state’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Geoffrey Ogbonna, said in a statement. Ogbonna listed their names as Ebuka Nonyelu (male, 20), who lived at 42B, Obohia Road, Aba, and was reported by his father, Emmanuel Nonyelu, to have left his home on May 5, 2013. The second person, 15-year old Love Chukwu, a house girl living at No.7, Abam Street, Aba, was reported missing on April 30 by her guardian, Mr. Johnson Ukpai, who said that “she packed her belongings and left his house in the morning hours of April 29, 2013, to an unknown destination and has not been seen, even as efforts to trace her whereabouts had yielded no result.” The third person is 13-year old Kingsley Onyebuchi of Block 154, Ehimiri Housing Estate, Umuahia, whose guardian, Chibuzo Nwobia, a female, reported his case to the police on May10, 2013, stating that Kingsley and her house maid left the house on same date at 6p.m to an unknown destination while efforts to trace him had so far yielded no result. Ogbonna appealed to members of the public with useful information that could lead to their location to report to their relations stated above or the state Police Command in Umuahia.

Ernst &Young engages financial services executives today LOBAL professional servG ices firm, Ernst & Young, will brainstorm with chief executives of the financial services industry today towards cutting edge solutions on how to tackle sundry issues affecting the Nigeria’s financial landscape. The move is part of its determination to ensure that the nation’s financial sector continues to grow at a very fast pace and maintains robust footing. The yearly event, with the theme, “Fresh Perspective on Growing Financial Services in Africa,” will hold at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. The gathering, which is expected to attract financial experts, banking and insurance chiefs, as well as policy makers, will identify the main challenges and address them. Speakers will include the Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Financial Surveillance System, Dr. Kingsley Muoghalu, and Deputy Commissioner, Finance and Administration, National Insurance Commission, George Onekhena, among others, drawn from Ernst & Young global offices. According to Ernst &Young’s Financial Services Sector Leader (West Africa), Dayo Babatunde, “the forum is aimed at exploring both the impact of the current market and regulatory changes and the future opportunities available to the sector in the region.

Works Minister, Mike Onolememen (right) and Special Adviser to President of Dangote Group of Companies, Dr. Joseph Makoju, during a meeting with Cement Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria in Abuja…yesterday

Commission (NPC), to conduct house-to-house census in order to check the influx of illegal immigrants into the state, Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo has said. The governor disclosed this yesterday during the visit of the Federal Population Commissioner, Bala Magaji, and his entourage, where the governor also advocated “special and speedy” provision of funds for the Commission from the Federation Account. According to him, this should be done “especially now that the country is going through constitutional review,” adding that the suggestion for hands of friendship to the NPC became relevant

Ijaw, at anniversary of JTF invasion, seek rebuilding of Gbaramatu From Chido Okafor, Warri HE Ijaw of Gbaramatu KingT dom yesterday marked the fourth anniversary of the invasion of their kingdom by the Joint Task Force (JTF) soldiers on May 15, 2009, calling on the Federal Government to repair all the infrastructure destroyed during the exercise. The military action followed the killing of 13 soldiers by the militants and brought upon the communities death and dislocation of several persons, destruction and sack of many communities in the kingdom. Speaking during the low-key ceremony in Warri, President of the Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities, Oboko Bello, recalled that “four years ago, the Joint Task Force military action was carried out in the Niger Delta under the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. “During the JTF war in the creeks in 2009, Senator Edwin

Kiagbodo Clark cried out against the genocide in the Niger Delta, wherein destruction was carried out in Gbaramatu Kingdom at Okerenkoko, Oporoza, Kunukunama, Kurutie, Benikrukru, Kokodiagbene, Igoba and Azama communities.” However, he was angry that four years after the invasion, many of the infrastructure destroyed by the JTF were yet to be

fixed by the government, adding that all the projects initiated to ameliorate the effects of the invasion have been abandoned. According to him, they included the construction of Kokodiagbene-Pepeama-Okerenkoko Road and rebuilding of destroyed houses by the Delta State government. The development, he said, had led to frustration, as the

more affected persons have resorted to illegal oil bunkering and thereby providing cheap excuse for the perpetual militarisation of the Niger Delta. Bello queried the Federal Government’s plan for amnesty to the Boko Haram Islamist sect when it was yet to adequately fulfill its Presidential Amnesty agreement with the Niger Delta mili-

since the body “provides all the basic data for planning an election in the country.” To demonstrate his support for the Commission, Dankwambo directed chairmen of the local councils in the state to, as a matter of urgency, make available to the Commission an ad-hoc staff, which he believed, would facilitate its job at the grassroots. In the meantime, Magaji has stated the readiness of the Commission to observe the Maternal and Infant Week slated for May 20 in the state, and further disclosed that the Commission currently has 35 birth registration centres across the 11 local councils of the state. Meanwhile, the committee recently set up by the state government to facilitate mass weddings for divorcees (Zaurawa) in the state has submitted its report to the governor, suggesting the immediate establishment of an agency for that purpose. Chairman of the committee, Dr. Mohammed Usman, while presenting the report yesterday, said the agency, if established, would hasten the periodic organisation of mass marriages among the divorced Muslim faithful, as well as widows and widowers. It further suggested HIV and related diseases’ screening for intending couples to halt the spread of such infections, just as it asked the government to always give the “new couples” N50,000.00 to enable them go into any business of their choice.

Govt boosts Zamfara’s ‘Safer Mining’ project with N158.3m grant From Lillian Chukwu, Abuja HE Federal Government T has approved about N158.3 million intervention fund for Zamfara State’s Safer Mining Programme (SMP) in order to prevent a re-occurrence of the lead poisoning incident that led to the death of numerous children. Director of Artisanal and

Small Scale Mining in the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Obiora Azubuike, disclosed this during the 12th stakeholders’ meeting on the lead poison-

ing incident in Gusau. According to a statement yesterday by the ministry’s Assistant Director, Press, Stephen Kilebi, the SMP was necessitated by the lead poi-

soning incident in some communities in Anka and Bukkuyum local councils of Zamfara State in 2010, which led to the death of some of the affected children.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

8 | NEWS

Killed NAF pilots buried amidst tears, eulogies From Karls Tsokar, Abuja HE vanity of life, made T mockery of by the innocence of a child, was starkly manifest yesterday as the Nigerian pilots, who died in the Alpha Jet aircraft accident in Niamey on May 6, were laid to rest yesterday in Abuja. The 34-year old late Squadron Leader Benjamin Ado and 26year old Flying Officer Ayuba Layelmenson were part of the Nigerian Air Force contingent to the Africa-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA), based in Niamey, Niger Republic. As the pregnant widow of the late Ado, Mary Shampepe, wept, her two-year old son, Caleb, took a handkerchief to dry her tears, and quickly jumped down from where they were sitting and ran rings playfully round his tearful

uncle, Nuel, oblivious of the sorrow that engulfed the National Military Cemetery in Abuja. Squadron Leader Ado was a member of the 50 Regular Course of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA). He was born on April 22, 1979, in Lagos but hailed from Konshisha Local Council of Benue State. He was an experienced instructor pilot, who flew many aircraft types in the inventory of the Nigerian Air Force, as well as in Pakistan and the United States.

Flying Officer Ayuba Layelson, a member of the 57 regular course of NDA, was born on August 17, 1987, at Azare Local Council of Gombe State. He was a qualified squadron pilot on the Alpha Jet. All service chiefs and the Inspector General of Police were in attendance as well as directors in the Ministry of Defence and senior officers of the Nigerian Air Force. Speaking at the emotionladen occasion, the Minister of State for Defence, Olusola Obada, eulogised the de-

ceased, saying: “Though the dreams of a promising and fulfilling career of these young gentlemen officers have been cut short, the present security challenges we face demand of us courage, selflessness and great commitment. Let us be comforted that they are resting in the bosom of the Lord.” She said though we must be proud of the gallant efforts of these young gentlemen, who proudly showcased the great spirit and tenacity of the Nigerians far away from home, the

grief their bereaved families bear now is the grief of the entire nation, and President Goodluck Jonathan shares in the loss. “We must see their deaths as a call to duty to serve humanity,” she added. “We must not let the sacrifice they have paid with their lives be in vain. As we continue to confront the present security challenges in some parts of the continent and at home, we must emulate the selflessness, courage and commitment exhibited by the late officers.”

Tinubu to deliver keynote address at Diaspora Conference June 10 From Tunde Oyedoyin, London ORMER Governor of Lagos Bola Ahmed Tinubu, FwillState, deliver the keynote speech at the fifth British African Diaspora Conference on Nigeria, which takes place at the Portcullis House at the House of Commons, Westminster, on June 10. According to a statement by the conference convener, BEN TV’s Tunde Alabi, which was made available to The Guardian, Tinubu would be joined by two Members of Parliament and would speak on “Leadership and the People,” relating it to Nigeria’s current socio-economic and security issues. On their part, the Labour Party’s David Lammy and Ivan Lewis will speak on “Leadership and Development in the UK and the Role of the Diaspora Community, while Lewis, who is the Shadow Secretary for International Development, may in addition review Nigeria’s development from an international perspective.

Ex-Rep blames northern govs for insecurity From John Akubo, Dutse FORMER member of the A House of Representatives, Farouk Adamu Aliyu, has attributed the current security challenges in some northern states to mis-governance by governors of the region. The Jigawa State CPC gubernatorial candidate in the 2011 elections accused the governors of refusal to invest in agriculture, which would have seriously engaged the youths to make them unavailable for acts of terrorism. According to him, airport projects in Kebbi, Bauchi, Jigawa, Taraba and Katsina will not have any impact on the wellbeing of the majority of the people of the states because such projects are not viable. He added that tying the projects to airlifting of pilgrims is nonsense since most of the people could ill-afford the luxury of flying, thereby relegating the essence to yearly usage. He warned that if the governors do not address their problems, particularly agriculture, they should not blame anybody for poverty or insecurity in their areas. “We want an airport in Birninkudu, Kazaure, Hadejia, we want all these, but do we need them? We should know the difference between want and need,” Aliyu said.

IQ4News moves to Nigeria, S’Africa Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola SAN (left); congratulates the winner of the Lagos State Power Kids Awards 2013, Master Osadara Gideon of Iju Junior Secondary School (middle) while the General Manager, Lagos State Electricity Board, Damilola Ogunbiyi (right) watches with admiration during the Lagos State Power Kids Awards 2013, a Lagos State Government Energy Conservation Initiative, held at the Memorable Gathering, NERDC, Road CBD Alausa, Ikeja … yesterday.

EFCC takes custody of 14 trailer loads of petroleum products From Abosede Musari, Abuja OLLOWING the order of JusFeraltice E. S. Chukwu of the FedHigh Court, Abuja, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will now evacuate and keep the 14 trailer loads of petroleum products over which some suspects were arrested. Granting the commission’s application to evacuate the

products, the judge said the EFCC should evacuate for safekeeping the petroleum products recovered from the 14 suspected oil thieves, who are currently facing prosecution for conspiracy and oil bunkering. At the resumed hearing yesterday, the EFCC, through an exparte motion brought pursuant to Section 26 of the EFCC Act, 2004, prayed the court for leave

to evacuate, for safe-keeping, the petroleum products conveyed by the respondents in trucks and vehicles as specified in the schedule attached to the affidavit. According to information from the EFCC, the recovered products were currently at the premises of Shittu Alao Barracks of the 177 Battalion, Guards Brigade, Nigerian Army, Keffi, Nasarawa State.

EFCC counsel, Elizabeth Ayodele, specifically prayed the court to direct the Managing Director of PPMC, the Department of Petroleum Resources or the relevant arm of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to evacuate and keep in safe custody the crude oil recovered from the trucks and any further order(s) as the court might make in the circumstance.

Govt, Odi to settle out of court over N37b compensation From Kelvin Ebiri, Port Harcourt HE Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt has struck out Federal Government’s motion for stay of execution of the judgment ordering it to pay N37.6 billion in compensation to the victims of the Odi massacre. Justice E. Eko said the decision to strike out the application was based on government’s intention to settle the matter out of court with the Odi community of Bayelsa State, which was completely destroyed by rampaging soldiers in 1999. According to the judge, counsel to the President and Chief of Defence Staff, Mrs. Akolika Awa, had filed a motion on March 15, 2013, praying for an order of stay of execution of the judgment delivered on February 19, 2013, in FHC/PHC/CP/11/2000. Awa had withdrawn the motion because the Federal Gov-

ernment was exploiting out-ofcourt settlement with the community. She explained that there had been two botched attempts for the community to meet with government officials but it was not possible because the Federal Attorney General had been engaged in other state matters. She noted that a letter was written on April 30, 2013, for the out-of-court settlement, which should take place within the next seven days. To this end, she said, the motion was not complete and competent and so had to be withdrawn. Counsel to Odi community, Lucius Nwosu (SAN), who led Lawal Rabana (SAN) and Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), raised no objection to the withdrawal. To this end, Justice Eko said the motion, having been withdrawn, is struck out and the parties encouraged to settle out of court.

It will be recalled that 12 years ago, the military invaded Odi in Bayelsa State with wanton destruction of lives and property. Irked by the invasion, some indigenes of Odi, in a class suit No.FHC/PH/CP/11/2000 by Prof. Kobina Keme-Ebi Imananagha, Chief Ndu Gwagha, Chief Shadrack Agadah, Mr. Idoni Ingezi and Mr. Nwaka Echomgbe, sued the Federal Government and demanded over N20 billion in compensation. The plaintiffs had urged the court to declare that the invasion of Odi and attendant assault, battery, maiming, shelling, shootings, coldblooded murder of Odi indigenes and the destruction of their property by the Nigerian Armed Forces under the command of the President, was tantamount to gross violation of the people’s fundamental human rights to life, dignity and personal liberty.

FRICA’S innovative online A journalism organisation, IQ4News, has expanded its news and analysis to Nigeria and South Africa. Explaining the need for the medium’s foray into these countries, the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the organisation, Dr. Yemisi Akinbobola, said they had earlier focused “primarily on the East African market, but recognising the pivotal role that Nigeria and South Africa play on the continent”, they responded “by recruiting exceptionally talented online journalists in both countries.” The organisation disclosed that a seasoned radio journalist, Iliya Kure, would cover news, having gathered experience with the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, while freelancing with the Voice of America, as well as the Nigerian Television Authority.

BPE, NSC, PTDF gets new heads From Karls Tsokar, Abuja RESIDENT Goodluck P Jonathan yesterday approved the appointment of Mr. Benjamin Ezra Dikki as the new Director-General (DG) of the Bureau of Public Enterprises. A statement from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim, announced the appointment alongside Gbenga Elegbeyele as DG of the National Sports Commission (NSC). Also appointed is Dr. Oluwole Oluleye as the Executive Secretary of Petroleum Technology Development Trust Fund (PTDF). The statement indicated that the appointments were with immediate effect.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

WorldReport French economy returns to recession has entered its secFafterRANCE ond recession in four years the economy shrank by 0.2 per cent in the first quarter of the year, official figures show. Its economy shrank by the same amount in the last quarter of 2012. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. France has record unemployment and low business and consumer confidence. Separate figures showed that the recession across the 17nation eurozone has continued into a sixth quarter. The economy of the 17-nation bloc shrank by 0.2% in the January to March period, according to the EU’s statistics office Eurostat, with nine of its members now in recession. Germany’s economy, generally considered to be the eurozone’s strongest, grew by just 0.1% in the quarter. The European Central Bank cut interest rates at its last meeting to a record low of 0.5% in an attempt to stimulate growth. News of France’s latest recession comes on the first anniversary of Francois Hollande being sworn in as president.

The French unemployment rate is running at 10.6% and is forecast to rise further next year. Its budget deficit is also expected to remain well above the EU target of 3% of GDP, with the commission estimating it will be 3.9% this year. But France’s unemployment rate is below the eurozone average, which was 11.4% in

2012 and is expected to hit an average of 12.2% this year. In both Greece and Spain the rate stands at about 27%. France this week passed a range of measures aimed at stopping the rise in unemployment by reforming the country’s labour laws. These include measures to make it easier for workers to change jobs and for companies to fire employees.

The French economy has performed better than other eurozone members, including Spain and Italy, but it has not moved as quickly to reform its economy. One of the new bill’s main measures is to allow companies to cut workers’ salaries or hours temporarily during times of sluggish economic performance, something that is common in Germany.

tion in some parts of eastern South Sudan, calling on the government to take immediate action on it. “The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said on Tuesday that it is deeply concerned about the deteriorating security situation in and around the town of Pibor in Jonglei State,” said Martin Nesirky, UN spokesperson, at the daily briefing. “The Mission strongly condemns the violence, looting and displacement affecting civilians and humanitarian organizations there,” Nesirky said. In addition to the significant displacement of the civilian population out of Pibor, UNMISS has recently received reports of widespread looting of civilian dwellings and humanitarian organization

tion with the recruitment of fighters for a Somali militant group. Abdifatah Isse, Salah Ahmed and Ahmed Mahamud were jailed for three years by a federal judge after pleading guilty to providing material support to al-Shabab, a designated terrorist group. Omer Mohamed was given 12 years for conspiracy to provide material support. Prosecutors had recommended reduced sentences because the men co-operated. Isse and Ahmed admitted travelling to Somalia in

IMBABWEAN President Z Robert Mugabe is set to sign a draft constitution

Hollande

ter near the town of Beni in North Kivu province, Colonel Olivier Hamuli told Reuters. “The provisional death toll is 23 Mai Mai, five recruits and three FARDC (army) soldiers, including a senior officer,” Hamuli said. Mai Mai is the generic name given to a multitude of local armed groups, fighting for control of territory and resources ranging from farmland to mining operations.

UN voices concerns over conditions in South Sudan HE United Nations has T voiced deep concerns about the deteriorating situa-

men have been given FstateOUR prison sentences in the US of Minnesota in connec-

December 2007 and attending a training camp. They left the East African state in the spring of 2008 after having second thoughts. Mahamud said he had helped raise money so that others could travel to Somalia. Although Mohamed was not accused of travelling to Somalia, he admitted that he had helped some recruits get plane tickets. He was characterised by prosecutors as a local leader, and witnesses at the trial of another defendant said he had used his knowledge of the Koran to convince young men to fight.

Mugabe set to sign new constitution

31 killed as army, Mai Mai rebels clash in DR Congo T least 31 people were killed when gunmen attacked an army base in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday, the military said, underlining the challenge facing a new United Nation intervention force in the territory. The attackers, from one of dozens of armed groups operating in the densely forested terrain, fought a two-hour battle with soldiers at the army recruitment cen-

Four jailed in Minnesota over al-Shabab recruitment

premises. According to Nesirky, UNMISS also expressed its concern over statements issued by an armed rebel group demanding that civilians leave the towns of Pibor, in Jonglei, and Kapoeta, in Eastern Equatoria State.The spokesperson quoted UNMISS as saying that the government of South Sudan has the primary responsibility to protect the population.The Mission also called on the civilian and military authorities to “immediately take control of the situation and also to hold perpetrators to account,” said Nesirky. “Mission troops have already been patrolling Pibor and that was before the looting started, but it has reinforced its presence in the town since then. Its peacekeepers have clear instructions to assist in protecting civilians,” he added.

Soldiers eventually managed to repel the attack, Hamuli said. Officers were interrogating captured rebels to find out where they came from and why they launched the assault, he added. The attack was a reminder of the task facing an unprecedented combat force set up by the UN Security Council in March to carry out “targeted offensive operations” to neutralize armed groups in the country’s east. In another development, the is to build a town in honour

of independence figure, Patrice Lumumba, government spokesman Lambert Mende said yesterday The new town of Lumumbaville would be a merger of two existing communities in central DR Congo, he added. Mr Lumumba, a Soviet ally, was elected prime minister in 1960 after almost a century of colonial rule. His killing some four months later at the age of 35 was widely blamed on United States and United Kingdom intelligence agencies.

Palestinians mark 65 years since displacement ALESTINIANS clashed with P Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank yesterday during demonstrations to mark 65 years since what they call the Nakba (Catastrophe) when Israel’s creation caused many to lose their homes and become refugees. A shell fired from Gaza, which is ruled by the Islamist movement Hamas, exploded in an open area of Israel but caused no injuries, according to an Israeli military spokesman. There was no immediate claim of responsibility from militants in Gaza. United States Secretary of State John Kerry is to return to the region on Tuesday in another bid to revive peace talks frozen since 2010. But a resolution remains elusive and many Palestinians

cling to a desire for refugees and descendants to return to ancestral lands now in Israel, an idea Israel rejects, saying it would spell the end of the Jewish state. Protesters skirmished with Israeli forces outside a refugee camp near the West Bank city of Hebron and at a prison near Ramallah, leaving several Palestinians injured. Israeli police in Jerusalem scuffled with Palestinian protesters, tossing stun grenades and making several arrests. Thousands also rallied in the main square of Ramallah, the Palestinians’ de facto capital while Jerusalem remains under Israeli control, holding up placards with the names of villages depopulated in 1948 and old keys, symbols of lost homes.

into law following its passage by the upper house of parliament, days after it was endorsed by the parliament’s lower house. The Senate approved the new constitution by more than two- thirds majority required by law after all 75 Senators present in the House voted for the draft charter. There are 90 seats in the Senate. Adoption of a new constitution, which curbs presidential powers and terms, paves way for fresh elections this year to choose a new government that will replace the current inclusive government formed in 2009.

Zimbabwe was using the Lancaster House Constitution that was written prior to its independence from Britain in 1980 and had been amended 19 times. The power-sharing Global Political Agreement that brought together Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in an inclusive government required the country to write a new constitution before it holds fresh elections. Mugabe is pushing for elections before expiry of the current parliament on June 29 while Tsvangirai and his party prefer a later date to allow for implementation of certain reforms to ensure a free and fair poll.

Syria rebels vow to crack down after video outrage HE rebel Free Syrian Army T pledged yesterday to punish atrocities amid outrage over a video showing the mutilation of a corpse, as the regime ruled out discussing President Bashar al-Assad’s departure in negotiations. Syria’s Internet, meanwhile, was down for the second time in a week while on the ground rebels launched an attack on the central prison in Aleppo, sparking fierce fighting with regime forces, a watchdog said.

The mainstream rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) issued its statement after a gruesome video of an alleged rebel fighter cutting out and apparently eating the organs of a regime soldier emerged online. “Any act contrary to the values that the Syrian people have paid their blood and lost their homes (for) will not be tolerated, the abuser will be punished severely even if they are associated with the Free Syrian Army,” the group said in a statement.

Egypt to put Christian teacher on trial for insulting Islam GYPT’S prosecutors have E referred a Christian schoolteacher to trial on charges of insulting Islam, judicial sources said. Dimiana Abdel-Nour, who was arrested yesterday, was accused by her Muslim students’ parents of insulting Islam and comparing it to Christianity by saying that the late Coptic Pope Shenouda was better than the Prophet Mohammad. Alongside the political and economic turmoil Egypt has endured since Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in February 2011, tensions have risen between Muslims and Christians, especially since the election of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in June. Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s 84 million people and have complained

that the authorities have failed to protect them since Mubarak was ousted, giving radical Islamists a free hand. Last year, an Egyptian court sentenced a 17-year-old Christian to three years in jail for publishing cartoons on his Facebook page that mocked Islam and the Prophet, triggering sectarian violence. At least three people were killed and more than 80 injured in clashes last month between Christians and Muslims at the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo after a funeral service for four Christians killed in sectarian violence with Muslims. Abdel-Nour will appear in a court in Luxor next Tuesday, a judicial source said. She was free on bail of 20 thousand Egyptian pounds (1,906 pounds) pending her trial.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

Politics

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Constitution: Why amendment may not satisfy yearnings of Nigerians From Terhemba Daka, Abuja PEAKER of the House of STambuwal, Representatives, Aminu Waziri has said that the review of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) may not satisfy the yearnings and other agitation by Nigerians. He made the remark at the opening of a three-day retreat in Abuja recently for the 51-member committee set up by the House to consider the collated views of Nigerians at the Peoples Public Sessions in the Federal Constituencies across the country. But the Speaker was optimistic about producing a good Constitution; hence, he tasked the committee members to ensure that the draft bills were free from their personal prejudices. “We cannot promise that after this exercise, all Nigerians will be fully satisfied with the result or that all agitation will stop,” he said. “As you have all seen from the analysis of the public hearings conducted in the constituencies, there is not a single subject matter on which we have a 100 percent agreement. “However, we can promise that it will be transparent, it will be fair and it will reflect the true desires of our people. We can also promise that the Constitution we will finally present to Nigerians will be better than what we have presently.” The Constitution review process in the House of Representatives actually started work effectively in September 2011 under the Ad-hoc Committee chaired by the Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha. The committee held a groundbreaking retreat in May 2012 in Port Harcourt, to lay a firm foundation for

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Arising from the memos received, the committee formulated a 43-item template of issues/questions, which covered the crux of what changes/amendments Nigerians yearn for in the Constitution. This template formed the basis for engaging Nigerians at the grassroots from all walks of life in the first-of-its kind and historic Peoples Public Sessions held across the 360 federal constituencies in the country on November 10, 2012.

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its work. Among others, the retreat attracted presentations and submissions by intellectuals, civil society and political interest groups, professional associations and Labour. A communiqué was subsequently produced, outlining key areas of focus and framework of action for the review process in earnest. The committee thereafter called for and received over 200 memoranda from diverse interest groups and members of the public. Arising from the memos received, the committee formulated a 43-item template of issues/questions, which covered the crux of what changes/amendments Nigerians yearn for in the Constitution. This template formed the basis for engaging Nigerians at the grassroots from all walks of life in the first-of-its kind and historic Peoples Public Sessions held across the 360 federal constituencies in the country on November 10, 2012. But the presentation of the report on the views that were collated was deferred on January 31, 2013 for reasons that were not quite clear, prompting a protest by some members of the civil society. The House Speaker, Tambuwal, who rose from a marathon meeting of principal officers that lasted over three hours, had appeared at the Conference Hall 231, venue of the presentation and announced the cancellation of the event. He based the cancellation on the need to put certain things right by doing more consultations on the

Ihedioha

Tambuwal issue. But fears heightened that the presentation might have been marred by credibility crisis, especially with the reputation Tambuwal had built as a forthright person, who calls a spade a spade. Many people wondered why the Speaker would want to be dragged down to the level of trying to change or alter the wishes of the people. However, despite the seeming challenges, which conspired to mar the presentation, the process continued, thanks to the leadership, integrity, and dedication exhibited by the Deputy Speaker and chairman of the ad-hoc committee, Emeka Ihedioha, who has kept faith in ensuring the smooth sail of the process. Ihedioha said the decision was in keeping with the promise the 7th Assembly made — that it would make the process of the Public Sessions, and indeed, the entire Constitution amendment transparent, inclusive and accountable to the

Nigerian people. “This process may not be perfect, but I dare say that it is the first time in the history of this country that Nigerians at the grassroots have been made part of the Constitution Review Process in a practical and transparent manner,” Ihedioha said. “We promised Nigerians that we would be transparent and accountable. Indeed, we made a commitment to do things differently in our Legislative Agenda unveiled at the beginning of the 7th House of Representatives. This public presentation is a fulfillment of this commitment and promise. “We have responded as best as we can, within the limits of the constitutional and legal framework, to the demands of Nigerians for greater voice and involvement in the Constitution amendment process.” Meanwhile, at the opening of a three-day retreat at the Protea Hotel in Abuja, Speaker Tambuwal charged the 51-member committee to ensure that the draft bills were free from their personal prejudices. He specifically charged the Ad-hoc Committee on the Review of the Constitution not to allow personal bias of members to influence the panel’s judgment, as the committee members began work on the draft bills arising from the review exercise. The three-day retreat was, therefore, designed to afford members of the committee an opportunity to deliberate on the draft bills on aspects of the 1999 Constitution that Nigerians would want to see amended, as was clearly indicated by the voting during the Peoples Public Sessions held in the 360 Federal Constituencies on November 10, 2012. “These bills must reflect craftsmanship, detail and lucidity,” Tambuwal said, adding, “I must again emphasise the need for your work to be free of all personal bias. “You must work only on data provided by the nationwide public hearing and your conclusion should reflect the aggregate opinion of fellow Nigerians.” Tambuwal observed that the country today “faces many challenges and some of our people have been asking questions about the very nature of our union.”

We cannot promise that after this exercise, all Nigerians will be fully satisfied with the result or that all agitation will stop. As you have all seen from the analysis of the public hearings conducted in the constituencies, there is not a single subject matter on which we have a 100 percent agreement. However, we can promise that it will be transparent, it will be fair, it will reflect the true desires of our people, and we can also promise that the Constitution will be better than what we have presently.

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“We hope eventually to provide Nigerians with a Constitution that will answer some of these questions and further cement our hard-fought unity,” he said. Though the Speaker declared that the exercise might not satisfy the yearnings of Nigerians, he charged the committee to ensure transparency in the process and come out with a better Constitution that could stand the test of time. The Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee on Constitution Review, Emeka Ihedioha, said the membership of the committee was deliberately selected to represent all relevant interests because of the sensitive nature of the Constitution review process. “It is based on state representations, so that each state and the Federal Capital Territory has a member chosen by the state caucus in the House. The Deputy Speaker is the chairman of the Ad-hoc committee and all other principal officers except the Speaker are members. Five members represent the interests of women and other special interests. Members of the committee are expected to review the work done so far and consider draft bills, as referred to the committee from the plenary sessions of the House and other bills drafted as a response of the decisions of Nigerians during the Peoples Public Sessions. The results of the Peoples Public Sessions as unveiled by the House would be subjected to proper legislative action, as required by the Standing Orders of the House and by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended. There are no shortcuts. Members of the committee, acting on behalf of the entire House, are expected to brainstorm on the language of the amendments where consensus has been reached. The Senate and the House of Representatives will thereafter reach agreement, and such would have to receive the approval of not less than two-thirds majority of the state Houses of Assembly before any section of the Constitution is amended. Only areas where consensus has been reached will be processed legislatively.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

POLITICS 11

APGA wants to take over entire Southeast, says Okwu Chief Maxi Okwu, lawyer, former national chairman of Citizens Popular Party (CPP), and newly installed chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), fielded questions on the crises in the party, the strategy to expand its control of the Southeast and particularly win the governorship election in Anambra State later in the year. He spoke to journalists in Lagos, reports HERE exactly do you hail from because W it’s alleged that you’re from one village in Benue State? I won’t answer that question. It’s not worthy of answering. How can anybody stand up and say that to me? Because its has become an issue, you should answer it… I am from Orji River in Enugu State. It’s so clear; it is not arguable. My father is not a hidden person. He was a Senator, Minister and everything. I am from Achi in Enugu State. I found the insinuation laughable. Well, why are you still laying claim to the APGA chairmanship after issuing a statement that you were going to respect the order of an Awka court forbidding you from acting in that capacity? (Chief Victor) Umeh did not win any appeal, as people were wrongly made to believe. What he got in the Appeal was a stay of one of the four orders by the Court of Appeal. I wish I came with the documents; I would have made a copy for you to read through. Out of the four orders the Enugu State High Court made, only one was stayed. They stayed that aspect that restrained him (Umeh) from parading himself as the chairman of our party. The Court of Appeal agreed that all issues had been overtaken by events: Number one, that there was no convention. Second, that there should be a convention and that the NEC of the party should have met and ordered a convention. I think there are about four issues raised and we have done all that. The court never said there was non-existence convention. The court said once a matter is declaratory, we cannot stay it. The only angle of executory — issue of not parading himself is what the court did not release. Every lawyer knows that you don’t stay what has been done. The deed had been done; judgment had been executed by the NEC of the party; and convened a convention in Awka and elected its national officers. I said clearly that Umeh’s activities against the party are an exercise in futility. One of such activities is the Federal High Court in Awka that granted a midnight ex parte order restraining me, and my executive officers from parading ourselves as such. Fourteen days after, on April 15, 2013, the motion was filed, argued and granted. Days after that exercise, we filed a motion to vacate the order. It has lapsed. Yes! I said that time I would respect direct order on me by the Federal High Court, Awka. I have done that already. On the eve of your party’s convention, the court gave order against conducting it. Why did the party bring forward the convention date as against the chosen date? That is not true. The notice to INEC from the party is April 8. You should understand that INEC doesn’t work on sentiment. A party must put everything on paper before INEC, which we did. The only shift we made was the venue from Enugu to Awka. INEC was given adequate notice by our party. We gave 21 days’ notice; that’s what electoral guideline says. We gave INEC the date and time; the only change is from Enugu to Awka. Normally, if you want to hold a convention, you should conduct proper accreditation. We did this as we began around 9pm and cleared it before we went for election proper. And I won at the end of the counting of votes. Obviously, the APGA is a divided house. With the coming governorship election in Anambra State, and the general elections in 2015, don’t you think the differences of who is who in the party should be sorted out for a united front? I have been trying my best to bring every aggrieved member back to the fold of the party. The truth is that there is also enmity in heaven. A political party cannot isolate itself

from crises. As we sit here today, there are various internal crises in PDP, which are worse than what we have in APGA. What we suddenly realise in our party is that Chief Umeh is like a bull in a China shop. From his approach of things and activities, he likes to destroy APGA rather than allow the house to stand. But we will not allow that to happen; we are going to ease him out. If a 26-NEC member that he led has left him except two or three of his cronies, he should have seen the handwriting on the wall and resign. In a much more civilised society, Chief Umeh should have resigned honourably without being asked to quit. Be that as it may, I have extended a hand of fellowship to him thrice. I recall I did that at the convention venue, later at the Town Hall meeting in Abuja and before the Abuja meeting. I have said it times without number that I would give him a soft landing but he has refused to accept my hand of fellowship. Instead, he has been fighting harder. There is a limit, which you can push a horse to drink. He just wants to be the clog in the wheel of progress of the party. So, we know what is happening, particularly when Umeh and his followers have one leg in the APC arrangement. As I am speaking to you, Chief Umeh is the Director of Publicity of C-21 group founded by Rochas Okorocha. All of them are in APC. For instance, have you ever heard the likes of Umeh condemning Okorocha’s romance with the yet-to-be registered APC sponsors? Again, when Umeh got the court order against the party, we all saw Okorocha embracing him. They are working hand in glove. Umeh plays an active role in negotiating the formation of APC. C-21 group has been masquerading as APGA in the negotiations with ANPP, CPC and ACN to form APC. Our party has not been involved in that association. This is the fact. We have not sat down either and folded our arms. Immediately we sort out the main legal issue before us, which we believe should be over latest by two weeks from now, we’ll roll out action for the elections like the council election and governorship election in Anambra State. What do you think is energising Umeh? I am aware that Umeh has tasted power for long, being a chairman of APGA. He was empowered by the party’s constitution. I am also aware that a fat pocket is giving him a full backing. So, there’s a lot at stake being the chairman of a strong party like APGA. For instance, I am once a chairman of Citizens Popular Party between 2005 and 2012. Then, nobody reckoned with me (laughter), but now that I’ve become chairman of APGA, a party that can boast of having a serving governor and members of the National Assembly, everybody is coming to me. I receive more calls now as national chairman of APGA unlike when I was the national chairman of CPP. So, you can see why Umeh was fighting tooth and nail to remain the party’s national chairman. Umeh said he was elected for a four-year tenure and that his time was yet to elapse. What’s the basis for kicking him out when he did not resign from office? People have forgotten that Umeh started as acting national chairman of the party since December 2004. Now, we are in 2013. He has been parading himself as APGA chairman for almost nine years. There was a time he took Chekwas (Okorie) to court when Chekwas said he would not stay beyond eight years. The basic fact is that Umeh has been APGA’s Chairman for nine years uninterrupted and he still wants to continue in that position. If his tenure is four years that is renewable, by January 2007 when the convention that the court nullified was held, Umeh’s tenure had expired. The court had said so. On December 2, his tenure had expired. The court said he had no capacity by January 2011 to hold convention. The convention he coordinated in 2011 was nothing but illegal. That’s the fact of the issue. He has stayed beyond his tenure. Normally, before your tenure expires as chairman, you need to conduct a fresh election but he did not do so because he cares to remain as APGA chairman forever. So, it is not a personal thing. There are rules of engagement in democracy. You finish your first four-year tenure and go back to the party for a fresh mandate of another four-year term. End of

story! The fact is that Umeh wanted to be APGA chairman forever simply because of the benefits that are accrued to him. Even the PDP that people have condemned on so many occasions had changed its national chairman many times since 2004. Yet, the likes of Umeh have been throwing bricks to PDP on many issues, whereas here at APGA, he wants to be the chairman forever. Leadership is not what you say but what you do that matters. As we speak, the INEC has written to Chief Umeh and recognised him as the authentic APGA national chairman. What’s your reaction to this development? Is that so? Okay, I have not seen a copy of the letter. As soon as I see it, I will react. What would be the next line of your action to this development? I will like to see the hard copy of the letter because in Nigeria, anything is possible. I don’t doubt you. By the time we finish here, I will make my contact in Abuja to confirm. Then, I will react publicly. It appears there is nothing like APGA anymore in Imo State, as Chief Rochas Okorocha has taken APGA into APC. How do you see the future of the party in the state? Our party has issued a statement in this regard and we urged Governor Rochas Okorocha to rethink. Actually, we see his challenges and dilemma but we are saying he should take it calmly. APC is not a registered party; this is a fact as at present. Okorocha is gambling on a quantity that may collapse. I wish APC well but it’s obvious it is not yet in the bag. It is still in the offing; it has not been registered by INEC. For Okorocha to jettison a party that gave him the platform he used to become a governor and start to gamble with an association whose composition is worrisome, we advise him to rethink. The position of governor of a state is not a small thing. We will not be talking of sanction or disciplining him; we’ll wait and see whether sanity will prevail through diplomacy and behind-the-scene discussion. But at the end of the day, we would decide. His issue will become a legal thing if APC is finally registered and Okorocha collects an APC card. For now, by the position of law, he is still a cardcarrying member of

Maxi Okwu

APGA. Politically, APGA is there before Okorocha become a governor and the party will continue to exist after him. Rochas has been with other parties in the country before he used the APGA platform. He owed this party a lot. There is a moral burden for him to carry at this juncture. Could you clarify your statement in Awka about the comment you made concerning Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe and Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu’s policy? The impression people had was that you are leaving Zik step’s for Ojukwu’s? I don’t think I ever said so. At Awka, reporters asked me about a certain comment I made against Zik and reconcile it with Ojukwu’s. I couldn’t recollect the exact comment but I know I responded by saying the two were great Igbo sons. The late Zik is known for his Fabian tactics in tackling political challenges. He’s always for compromise and for the possibles, as a consummate politician. That, in nutshell, is what I said about Zik. However, I said Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu was a man who’s firm in his views and he usually knew where he stood at a particular time. Once a matter came up, the Ikemba was known for taking a position and remained with such position. The interpretation is that he’d doctrine. If you interpret it to mean this is my story, then you will not be fair to me. I don’t withdraw what I said: that Ikemba was one who’s firm in his decision or position on a given issue. You would know where he stood. But Zik was known with his Fabian tactics. Now, when a reporter decides to interpret what I said, he is making his comment and not my comment. Governor Peter Obi has not conducted local government elections in Anambra State. As the party chairman, will you ensure he conducts the elections before he leaves office? I can assure you that local government elections will take place in Anambra State this year. The Electoral Commission has assured me that they would do that. The arrangement had been on ground even before my election. The legal constraints had been removed to ensure the council elections take place mid this year. Once I am involved, Governor Obi is going to give his own assurance. What is your mission in your new position? Honestly, I don’t see myself going beyond two years in office as APGA chairman. I wanted to contest election in my state, Enugu. That’s why I am in this business: to make APGA formidable in Enugu State, to enable me contest and have a chance of winning. There are so many political offices I can vie for like the Senate, House of Representatives, House of Assembly and even governorship position. There are so many to choose from.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

TheMetroSection Briefs

‘Stop this injustice...’

Shola Ishola to seak at Redeemer’s Varsity lecture EDEEMER’S university will R on Tuesday, May 28, hold a public lecture entitled “The

• Bank workers protest unfair treatment in Lagos By Odita Sunday

More You See, the Less You Understand; Reflections on the Boko Haram Question in Nigeria, at the University Chapel, old International Office Complex, RCCG Redemption Camp, Mowe, Ogun State at 1.40p.m. It will be chaired by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Z. Debo Adeyewa while Speaker is Dr. J. Shola Omotola of Dept of Political and Public Administration, College of Management Sciences, Redeemer’s University and also a visiting member of The Guardian Editorial Board.

We don’t have workers’ manual, we don’t have Condition of Service in the bank. These are the issues we are putting before our management. We are not talking about salary increase; we are saying we are not fairly treated. GGRIEVED workers of Diamond A Bank yesterday protested what they termed ‘injustice and unfair treatment’ against them by the upper echelons of the bank. The workers came out in their hundreds at the head office of the bank on Victoria Island, urging the bank management to account for all the deductions in their salaries and other sundry issues. The workers, who carried placards and blocked a major part of the Law School junction, were also accompanied by their parent body, National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE) during the protest. They alleged, among other things, that despite the fact that taxes were deducted from their salaries, they did not have any evidence to show that they usually pay tax. According to the Vice Chairman of Diamond Bank Chapter of NUBIFE, Eniola Ilesanmi: “For several years, we have been agitating. Our taxes are being deducted before they pay us salaries. I have spent nine years in the bank, I don’t have Tax Clearance Certificate, and my National Housing Fund is deducted from source. As I speak, my National Housing Fund account is in zero. As I speak to you, my Trust Funds

NDAN (Ibadan) elects new oﬃcers HE Newspapers DistribuT tors’ Association of Nigeria (NDAN), Ibadan Chapter, re-

Some of the protesting workers

Account is irregularly remitted. “We don’t have workers’ manual, we don’t have Condition of Service and these are the issues we are putting before our management and it has turned deaf ears. We are not talking about salary increase. We are saying that we are not fairly-treated. We want a Condition of Service for our members. We want a career pact implemented in this system. We want all our welfare packages fully implemented. On several occasions, we have written letters to our management on the issue. We

have written to NUBIFE and Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). It has refused to listen to us until today that we decided to protest,” he said. National President of NUBIFE, Danjuma Musa, urged the bank’s management to do the needful or face mass picketing of the bank by NUBIFE. “We are talking about issue of taxes, housing funds and other conditions of service. We are not even talking of salaries. The deductions were made and they should be accounted for.” Some of the workers interviewed

by The Guardian claimed that they had spent over a decade as employees of the bank with nothing to show for their efforts. Some of the placards dispayed by the workers read: “Diamond Bank, release us from slavery”, “No more delay in the payment of our entitlements,’’ Monkey dey work, baboon dey chop” among others. The bank’s spokesperson, who simply identified himself as Tochukwu, told The Guardian that the Bank would respond to the allegation but never did as at the time of this publication.

Monarchs banish alleged baby factory and mother-killer suspects from community From Charles Ogugbuaja, Owerri in one voice, S600PEAKING monarchs in the over autonomous communities of 27 Local Councils of Imo State, under the auspices of Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers, yesterday banished “Madam 1,000,” the owner of a baby factory located at Njaba, Imo State and the Chimezie Osuigwe, the retired school principal who kept the body of his 78 - year-old mother for 10 years, from their various ancestral homes. Announcing this to journalists yesterday at the council secretariat in Owerri, the Chairman of the Council, Eze Sam Agunwa Ohiri, who was flanked by all the three zonal deputy chairmen of the council, said the council took the decision in view of the shame and devilish manner the perpetrators have

brought to the state, adding that in Igbo land, such crimes were not in their culture. He said, in addition to whatever legal punishment court would give the duo, they would also face the banishment order from the monarchs. Speaking in Igbo language, he said: “To sell human beings is devilish and evil. Baby factory is forbidden by Igbo culture. We are saying that such factories should be closed forthwith and that police should comb more and fish them out and deal with them accordingly.” “Monarchs have resolved that the woman be banished, same with the man who dried the body of his mother in his wardrobe for 10 years, declaring it missing. He defiled the land by drying his mother he should have catered for and given a befitting burial. If it was his religion that led

him to do that, monarchs in Imo are saying that this man is banished, whether he is jailed or not at the end of the day. He must be banished from Imo. We have told Oguta monarchs. That is why we have called you all, saying that Imo and Nigerians should go back to embrace the good culture of our fore fathers. According to him, traditional rulers in the state are investigating such matters of criminality, adding that one baby factory case had been uncovered in Mbaise land in the state. He said there was no rift among the leadership of the council, stressing that the council’s parliament had gone far to handle issues of criminality, urging vigilance groups to assist monarchs in uncovering such odds. The deputy chairman of the council in Orlu, Eze Okeke, regretted that the pregnant girls, who were

found in the factory were not declared missing, wondering why they claimed that they were lured unknowingly to the factory. Meanwhile, the Imo Assembly House of Assembly has summoned the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Anne Dozie, to appear before the Assembly to explain the issues concerning recent discovery of baby factory in Umuaka, Njaba Local Council. The 27 – member Assembly has also passed a motion, urging Governor Rochas Okorocha, to sack the chairman of the state Civil Service Commission (CSC), Prince Cletus Nwaka and Commissioner 1 in the commission, Chief Analyn Nwaneri for their alleged ineptitude and refusal to carry out duties assigned to them. According to them in a motion presented by the Majority

Leader, Mrs. Adaku Ihuoma, the governor had the constitutional powers to appoint and sack any member of the commission. On the baby factory, the Assembly said it was a shame that such existed in the state where teenagers were impregnated by a boy recruited for the job, and have babies sold, which has been going on for 16 years. They also flayed the recent issue in which a man was arrested for embalming body of his late 78 – year – old mother, declaring it missing for 10 years only to keep it in his ward-rope. Consequently, the Assembly directed the Clerk of the House to write a Letter of Commendation to the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Muhammadu Musa Katsina and Brigade Army Commander in the state for their feat in fighting crime.

cently elected new officers to run its affairs for the next two years. They are: Babatunde Abimbola, chairman; Adekunle Omobolanle, vice chairman; Osu Felix, general secretary; Tosin Fawehinmi, treasurer; Miss Oluranti Ogunbanjo, asst. general secretary and Ademola Emmanuel as public relations officer (PRO). A statement by the Chairman, Electoral Committee, Samuel Ajileye, said “ All the new officers were elected unopposed and they would be inaugurated at a date to be announced later.”

Synod begins today HE Diocese of Lagos MainT land (Anglican Communion), begins its four-day synod today, at the Cathedral of St. Jude, Ebute Metta, Lagos. Both the opening and the closing service on Sunday will hold at the Cathedral, while the business sessions on Friday and Saturday are billed for All Saints’ Church, Yaba. Diocesan Bishop and Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Adebayo Akinde, will preside.

LASACO MD loses mother HE death has occurred of T Chief (Mrs.) Esther Oyinlola Ladipo -Ajayi at the age of 91, a women’s leader in the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion). Until her death, she was the Iya Egbe, Egbe Aya Bishop, St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, Ibara, Abeokuta. She will be buried on Friday, June 7, at the same church at 11.00 a.m. She is survived by children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren including Canon Olusola Ladipo – Ajayi, Managing Director, LASACO Assurance.

Ladipo-Ajayi

METRO 13

THE GUARDIAN, Thurday, May 16, 2013

Photonews

Chairman, Amuwo Odofin Local Council, Lagos, Ayodele Adewale (right); Deputy Comptroller of Immigration in charge of ECOWAS and African Affairs, Princess Dora Amahian and Chief Superintendent of Immigration, Mr. Sunnie Anyichie during a courtesy visit to Amuwo Odofin Local Council Secretariat, FESTAC Town, Lagos

Chief of Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force, Air Marshal Tahir Butt (left), Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Ibrahim and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh during the visit of Pakistani Chief of Air Staff to Chief of Defence Staff in Abuja...on Tuesday

High Court sentences bricklayer to death over armed robbery From Hendrix Oliomogb, Asaba

BRICKLAYER, Mr. Michael Taiye of 21, Ekpan Street, off Okere Road, Warri was yesterday sentenced to death by an Effurun, Delta State High Court, having found him guilty of a three -count charge of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, armed robbery and illegal possession of firearms. Taiye was apprehended by some policemen from Ekpan after he was shot by a police patrol team on January 11, 2006 on his way home after a robbery operation. Items recovered from him included a short double barrel gun with live car-

tridge and a white Volvo car, which they earlier robbed from the owner. The police also recovered three other guns upon a search on the abandoned vehicle. It was reported that the four-man gang refused to stop at a check- point mounted by the police, which aroused the suspicion of the security agents, and led to a hot chase while the fleeing gang opened fire on the police. In police custody, the convict confessed to committing the offence and gave out the name of one Andrew, who is on the run, as the leader of the gang and armourer.

Justice G. E. Gbemre while delivering the death verdict said: “ there is always a day of reckoning and for the accused, today is a day of reckoning as prosecution left no one in doubt as the essential ingredients of armed robbery against the accused was proved beyond reasonable doubt. I, thereby, found the accused guilty of conspiracy, armed robbery and illegal possession of firearms” Justice Gbemre sentenced Taiye to death for conspiracy and armed robbery while he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for illegal possession of firearms.

District Governor, Rotary 9110, Dr. Kamoru Omotosho (left), President, Rotary Club, Lekki Phase One, Wilson Akhator-Emeka, Treasurer, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, Mrs. Doyin Ibrahim, Executive Vice-Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, Mr. Babatunde Odunayo and Head Teacher, Itedo Community Primary School, Lekki, Mr. Stephen Ogungbulugbe, during the presentation of book, computers and other programmes to the school, in Lagos...on Tuesday

IYC denies alleged killing at Amnesty Office From Abosede Musari, Abuja HE Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has denied that one person was allegedly shot dead by security men attached to chairman of amnesty office, Kingsley Kuku, during a recent meeting by the council. In a message made available to The Guardian through e-mail on Monday, spokesman to IYC, J.P Owoupele said that such never happened. He added that the media report (not The Guardian) was an attempt to rubbish the image of Kingsley Kuku. “The report quoted one

Comrade Demebide Pele and another Abulu Graham of the Ijaw Transformation Group alleging that soldiers attached to the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Kingsley Kuku, fired shots into a convention meeting of the IYC in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, which led to the death of one Mr. Edolo Ekubo of Tarakiri Clan”. “For the avoidance of doubt, the report is absolute false as no one was shot and killed during the said meeting about one

week ago”, the statement read. Owoupele admitted there was a minor skirmish at the meeting but dismissed it as a normal occurrence with meetings of youths gathered to deliberate on an important issue such as the amendment of the constitution of the IYC. Commenting on the argument that Kuku had no right to be at the said meeting, Owoupele noted that Kuku was a founding member of the IYC and was spokesman of the group when Mujahid DokuboAsari was the president.

Ondo State Governor,Olusegun Mimiko t(hird left), Public Sector Specialist and Task Team Leader of World Bank, Ike Nweje (left), Ondo Deputy Governor, Alhaji Alli Olanusi; Team Assistant, Public Sector Governance Reform and Development Project of World Bank Office, Abuja, Helen Okeke, Secretary to Ondo State Governor, Dr. Rotimi Adelola and Procurement Specialist of World Bank African Region, Bimbo Ogunseitan during a visit of the World Bank Team to the governor in Akure, ...on Tuesday

Briefs Covenant University holds public lecture OVENANT University will tomorrow C hold its 35th public lecture entitled: “Communication, Politicians and True Democracy.” It will be delivered by an erudite Professor of Journalism, Professor Idowu Akanbi Sobowale. Professor Sobowale is currently the Head, Department of Mass Communication, Covenant University and Chair of the University’s Opinion Poll Unit. He was between, 1964 and 1975, a journalist with the Daily Times of Nigeria Limited. He rose from being a cub reporter to the position of the assistant editor of the paper, before he left for academia in 1975. He was a war correspondent during the entire 30-month Nigerian civil war between 1967 and 1970. Sobowale was three times special adviser and later Commissioner for Education in the first and third civilian governments

Indian Education Expo begins today HE Indian High Commissioner to T Nigeria, Mr. Mahesh Sachdev will today declare open Indian Educational Expo at the Indian High Commission to Nigeria in Lagos. More than 12 Indian universalities and institutes of higher learning are participating in the event that will end on May 17. It is being organised by M/s Chartered Exhibitions and Media Private Limited, Mumbai(India) with the support of the Indian High Commission to Nigeria. The participants, all of them officially accredited in India, would showcase their graduate and postgraduate courses in engineering, medicine and other programmes to the eligible students. They would also engage relevant Nigerian stakeholders on way to collaborate for synergy in content development exchange of faculty and joint ventures.

Illegal refineries being destroyed by the Nigerian Navy at Ogu/Bolo community in Rivers

PHOTO: NAN

14 | THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

TheGuardian Conscience Nurtured by Truth

FOUNDER: ALEX U. IBRU (1945 – 2011) Conscience is an open wound; only truth can heal it. Uthman dan Fodio 1754-1816

Editorial The six-year single term proposal HEN President Goodluck Jonathan first made the curious proposal of a sinW gle term tenure for elected chief executives at federal and state levels, it was roundly condemned for its tenuousness and undue distractions from serious governance. Two years on, the Senate Committee on Constitution Review is reportedly waiting for an endorsement by the Senate at Plenary of a similar committee proposal on non-renewable six-year tenure considered at a recent working retreat in Lagos. In the interest of democracy, the Senate should consider that committee’s decision as dead on arrival, because it can only generate a needless controversy capable of detracting from the task of addressing the country’s numerous and pressing problems. Lawmakers and other stakeholders should again be reminded that any shortcoming in governance stems not from the current system but from politicians’ own inadequacies in discipline and accountability, which have inflicted pain and misery on the citizenry. The renewed campaign is a classic case of misplaced priority. There are far too many existential challenges that have beset the country, creating critical gaps in social and physical infrastructure. Working to resolve these problems must rank higher on the list of priorities than overhauling a system that benefits only a few politicians and does little for the people. Sharing thoughts on the six-year tenure, the committee was said to have considered exclusion of current holders of the offices under reference and their deputies as beneficiaries of the new political process. In addition, under the proposal, a deputy will be ineligible to present himself for election at subsequent poll if he had, by reason of removal of his principal from office or death or incapacitation, completed another person’s term even for one month. Not surprisingly, the committee will justify its action with the same beaten tracks of the need to prevent tension in the political environment by aspirants for offices, developments in the political turf at the approach of an election year – such reasons as were also advanced by President Jonathan during his first media chat when he publicly expressed preference for a single seven-year term. His excuses included frequency of elections every four years, acrimony engendered by re-election issues, removal of attention from service delivery and focusing more on preparation for next elections. So far, however, those arguments have not proffered any cogent reasons to jettison the two tenures as practiced in most countries of the world where leaders aspire for excellence in the hope of reward by way of re-election. The single term issue has undoubtedly been an old chestnut. For instance, a non-political group of senior citizens, The Patriots, once canvassed in 2002 for a single tenure of five years but the position could not be sustained, just like the call in 2003 by then Chairman of the National Assembly Constitution Review Committee, Alhaji Ibrahim Mantu. But the proposal, good as it sounds, is not and should not be a priority of the lawmakers even as they attempt to amend certain portions of the imperfect document bequeathed by the military in the twilight of the last regime. It is wrongheaded because almost every segment of the country has raised meaningful voice against it, popping questions on how beneficial an unnecessary diversion would be to the people who are becoming more politically sophisticated by the day. Political chief executives should without fail always apply themselves to proper governance. Nigerians do not need ball gazers to say that most of the self-seeking elected politicians have not made the best use of any four-year first term. They are unlikely to do better if given a single term in office. The current system is already problematic, so jumping midstream to yet another untried arrangement may be chaotic. A six or seven-year single term is arbitrary; its endorsement can, therefore, be counter-productive. For selfish interests, the lawmakers who are clamouring for precluding certain categories of persons from benefitting from the proposal can turn coat and start mouthing the doctrine of necessity at the critical point of implementation. Clearly, what obtains among Nigerian politicians is a lack of character. They have demonstrated this trait for too long to be suddenly trusted with promoting the destiny of the people and the country, in another experiment. Under any purposeful democratic dispensation, as argued also by a number of political groupings, the Senate committee’s proposal would not only encourage corruption but also discourage good performance as it “lacks the basic elements of motivation and incentives needed in any management of human affairs for performance”. There are more pressing issues dogging the country for anybody to continue dissipating time and energy on this debate. If the Constitution must be amended, the restructuring of the Nigerian State to enthrone true federalism is desirable. Serious issues of corruption and insecurity militating against the smooth running of the nation are yet to be addressed; the nation still groans under the load of mass poverty, inadequate social services and unemployment among others; most federal roads are dilapidated just as the electricity supply is epileptic, among a legion of challenges. Those are the issues begging for the legislators’ attention, and not the tenure of office of elected politicians.

LETTERS

Release Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivor’s family now IR: The abduction on the Sdaughter Ore-Benin road of the wife, and driver of revered Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivor of the Supreme Court late Friday has once again most forcefully brought to the forefront, the pitiable and parlous security situation that has engulfed Nigeria. Coming few days after the kidnapping and final release of nonagenarian and elder statesman, Alhaji Shettima Ali Monguno, the issue of kidnapping has assumed a frightening dimension such that all Nigerians must rise up to kill this menace before it kills us all. It is a twin brother of Boko Haram and militancy. Justice Rhodes-Vivor, a well-

acclaimed jurist, is merely a judicial officer, not an entrepreneur. His wife is a legal practitioner, not a businesswoman. Only on September 13, 2012, his son, Rotimi, was also abducted with a N30 million ransom demand. Why is this madness targeted at a peace-loving and hardworking jurist who has served Nigeria meritoriously? Is this persecution by faceless merchants and buccaneers masterminded by politicians who have vowed to make Nigeria ungovernable? Or is it by mere kidnappers for the sake of ransom money alone? If so, where do they expect a serving justice of the apex court to cough out ran-

som money? Whatever angle we view it from, the fact remains that Nigeria is fast descending into the abyss of systemic annihilation. It is more and more adorning the toga of one of the most insecure places on planet earth. We are becoming the laughing stock of the international community. For God’s sake, kidnappers, or whoever you are, release immediately and unhurt, Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivor’s lovely wife, daughter and driver. I plead with you in the name of God. Don’t discourage patriotic Nigerians from giving all to their fatherland. • Chief Mike A. A. Ozekhome, SAN Constitutional Lawyer and Human Rights Activist.

Nigeria’s democracy and issue-based politics IR: Nigeria’s politics has Squality degenerated in terms of and character over time. Money politics has dominated against the politics of issues and values. With this development, it is very clear that the country is heading for a major political breakdown and possibly a huge national crisis before 2015, if nothing is done to redress this trend. The texture of our politics as at today is too materially and money-driven to the extent that the contest is a zero-sum game and the loser naturally kisses the dust. It is not so easy to bear the loss of elections in this part of the world. Hence,

the “Do or Die “dimension to elections. A lot of people have died in election violence, but little has been done to stop the evil. Recently, President Jonathan approved N5.7 billion for victims of 2011 postelection violence in nine states out of the 14 states that were affected, ostensibly to assuage the pains of people who suffered all manner of losses and damage to properties. The nine states are Bauchi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Niger, Jigawa, Katsina, Kano and Adamawa. This is not how the wealth and prosperity of nations is created. Nations that grow and devel-

op economically don’t get involved in acts of self-destruction. Countries with a vision of greatness build economies that create employment for their youths and that is what they invest billions of their people’s money in. The “cash and carry” politics has caused the country a lot in human and material resources. It is high time; the country renewed values that drive its political process to ensure issue-driven politics in Nigeria. This is the only way we can build our people and our nation and have less of political and election crises. • Ugo Jim-Nwoko, Abuja.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

Business RegCharles invests $130,000 in water production P. 25 Govt raises hope on wind farm power project By Sulaimon Salau HE Federal Government has T raised hope of electricity consumers on the 10MW Wind

project handler, - Otis Engineering, Engr. Okoronko, said that the project is behind delivery scheduled due to the need to replace the vandalized and stolen cables, and most importantly the kidnap of the French engineer on the

project site last year. He assured that the minor outstanding works would not last longer than two weeks, adding that all the needed facilities have been put in place including the ongoing fence work.

The minister was also at the Dadin Kowa Dam in Gombe State to access the situation on ground. She stated that the project, which was concessioned for several years without any positive result, it should be taken

over by the Government of Gombe State as requested. According to her, the inclusion of the hydro components in the project would generate “about 30 – 34MW” off-grid electricity for domestic use of the people in Gombe

and its environs. It will be recalled that the Dadin Kowa Dam was originally designed for irrigation and water for domestic purposes but now being considered for off grid power source.

Project currently under construction in Katsina State. The Minister of State, Hajiya Zainab Ibrahim Kuchi, at the project site, in Rimi Local Government in Katsina State recently, promised steady power supply to the indigenes around the project site and the environs. She stated that the project is fast moving and would soon be completed to buoy power supply to the area. “Our intention is to supply electricity 24 hours to all Nigerians, especially those in the rural areas. I want to assure you that the project will be commissioned in few weeks time,” Kuchi said. She used the opportunity to commend the Katsina State Government for its support to the project, adding that the state government has paid the sum of N400 million to farmers who have been displaced as a result of the project”. Kuchi, according to a statement issued by the Assistant Director (Press), Deworitshe Patricia, advised the people of Katsina State to take full ownership of the project when fully commissioned. Expressing her satisfaction with the project status, the minister commended the company handling the 10MW Wind Project for their professionalism, diligence and hard Managing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Nicolaas A. Vervelde (left) Chairman Chief Kolawole Jamodu, Company Secretary, Uaboi Agbebaku and Non Executive Director, Thomas A. de Man work. The representative of the at the 67th Annual General Meeting of the Company in Lagos yesterday PHOTO: FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI

Govt sends new trade policy bill to the National Assembly By Taiwo Hassan RESIDENT Goodluck Ebele P Jonathan has sent a new trade policy bill to the National Assembly that will address all the loopholes existing in the extant laws to cater for Nigeria’s import and export trade. Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Samuel Ortom, who was represented by his Special Assistant, David Bigila, made this disclosure at the maiden National Trade Compliance summit in Lagos, on Tuesday, said government was concerned about the absence of a workable functional trade compliance, which has resulted to revenue losses to the country. Besides, the inability of the previous governments to

address the trade compliance issue has worsen the nation’s import and export trade. He said government agencies needed to work in harmony, especially as it relates to revenue generation and collection for the country. According to him, for the country to enjoy international

recognition, government must endeavour to tame the monster of “unethical business practices, corruption and trade violation”, which have contributed in no small measure in stifling development as a nation and slowing down economic transformation reforms.

“We are pushing for more robust legislation at the National Assembly to address all loopholes existing in our extant laws while our new trade policy also caters for many previous concerns,” Ortom said. According to the minister, Mr. President and his ministry

are already looking inward at changing the country’s way of doing business globally, adding that “this administration is very desirous of improving the lives of Nigerians business within our shores to gain international acceptance. “Internationally, this has

rubbed off poorly on our image in global markets as reputable investors and investment groups have shown apathy towards the Nigerian business space due to the perception that a weak trade compliance regime frustrates genuine businesses trying to operate in the country.”

THE GuARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

16 BuSINESS

Afren strikes N7.5 billion farm out deal with Lekoil By Roseline Okere FREN Nigeria has completA ed the farm out agreement with Lekoil Limited (Lekoil) on the OPL 310 licence, located offshore Nigeria, and an update on the exploration-drilling programme on the block. According to the company, under the terms of the farm out, Afren will receive a total carry of up to $50 million (N7.5 billion) in respect of an exploration well currently being drilled at the Ogo prospect and a planned sidetrack well. Afren said that Optimum Petroleum Development Limited (Optimum), the named operator on the block, will continue to hold a 60 per cent participating

interest, with Afren providing technical assistance to Optimum in respect of Optimum’s obligations under a Technical Assistance Agreement. The Partners’ participating and economic interests are as follows, post the farm out to Lekoil: OPL 310 is located in the upper cretaceous fairway that runs along the West African Transform Margin and lies close to the Aje field, which has been declared commercial. Extending from the shallow water continental shelf to deep water, the block represents an exploration opportunity in an under-explored basin with a proven working hydrocarbon system in close proximity to the Tano Basin. Detailed evaluation of the

block has identified several prospects lying in the same Turonian, Cenomanian and Albian sandstone intervals that have yielded significant discoveries in Ghana and Côte D’Ivoire. The company said that the first exploration well to be drilled by the Partners is on the Ogo prospect, which is a four-way dip-closed structure

in the Turonian to Albian sandstone reservoirs. “Exploration drilling, using the GSF Transocean Monitor rig, commenced on 23 April 2013 and is currently drilling at a depth of 3,500 ft. The drilling programme is expected to last 90 days and will include a planned sidetrack well. Speaking on the develop-

ment, Chairman of Afren, Egbert Imomoh, stated: “We are delighted to have successfully concluded a farmout on OPL 310, offshore Nigeria and welcome Lekoil as a Partner in exploring the significant potential of this under-explored region of the West African Transform Margin.” Managing Director and

Chief Executive Officer of Optimun said: Yusuf. N’jie, said:“This farm in and the associated drilling programme is a major step forward for our operations at OPL 310 and we welcome Lekoil to the team. We look forward to working with them closely to realise the fields full potential over the coming years.”

Govt moves to strengthen safety at airports By Wole Shadare HE Federal Airports T Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has reiterated the Federal Government’s desire to make the country’s air-

ports safe and secure. This may not be unconnected with both global and internal threats that have made nations to beef up security around their airports. In Nigeria, the onslaught unleashed on the country by gun men and extremists have made the agency to be at alert to ward off threats and be pro-active in the event of threats to the aviation industry.

The hint was dropped by the Regional General Manager, South-South/South-East, Port Harcourt International Airport, Rivers State, Mrs. Ebele Okoye, when she met with members of Aviation Security (AVSEC), the security arm of the agency, yesterday. FAAN has reiterated Federal Government’s desire to make airport security work so as to have at all times airports that are most secure.

Okoye noted that said stakeholders in the nation’s aviation industry want an airport environment that is safe, secure and harbours no threats, adding that air travel should be pretty straightforward without any hiccups. According to her, ordinarily, air travel should be a pleasant experience but regretted that in recent years the issue of breach of security has made air travellers to be sceptical whenever they are about to fly. She noted, however, that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria had put in place adequate measures to forestall flagrant breach of airport security rules by would be miscreants. According to her, AVSEC members should see themselves as an epitome of discipline and hard work noting that, at all times, they must discharge their duties with uncommon zeal devoid of rudeness and impudence. She admonished the airport security to handle their assignments with utmost sense of responsibility that would put the minds of airport users at ease whenever they are in the airport. Mrs Okoye reminded them of the mission of FAAN which is to develop and profitably manage customer centric airport facilities for safe, secure and efficient carriage of passengers and goods at world class standards of quality.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2012

BUSINESS

Fashola hinges power improvement on energy efficiency By Sulaimon Salau AGOS State Governor, Lyesterday Babatunde Raji Fashola, echoed the need for electricity consumers in the state to imbibe the culture of energy efficiency, if they are to enjoy improved power supply in the short term. The governor, who made this challenge at the Lagos State Power Kids Awards Ceremony organised by the Lagos State Electricity Board in conjunction with the Ministry of Energy at Alausa, said that the nation might not attain energy sufficiency with its low power generation except the consumers begin to use electricity efficiently. He said: “Whilst we are still operating at a sub-optimal level of power generation, we will never reach a point where power is sufficient, unless we understand the need to use it efficiently. “Today, the per capita consumption of electricity is con-

sidered to be an index for development for any country. As you can imagine, Nigeria ranks low in that index. “The demand for energy especially in the form of electricity and fossil fuels like petrol, diesel, gas and coal is increasing day by day in the entire world, but the source of energy are limited and they are getting exhausted and we have to maintain the pace of development and national growth of our country. “Energy consumption is set to grow by a third over the next two decades alone. And in a race for limited resources it is the energy efficient that will win. It is a race that we can win, but we need to start running now,” he explained. Besides, he said that energy conservation would equally save consumers some money. “We have continued to use energy saving bulbs in the whole of the secretariat and we are seeing results. We were able to save some energy, as

Fashola much as we were able to save tax-payers’ money, and I hope this can also happen in our homes,” he said. The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Energy, Regina Obasa, said that the programme would no doubt colour the career choices of the students in future, and

would have a positive development for our country in the area of technology and science. She said: “Today, almost everything is powered by electricity and so it is a welcome development if the interest of our children is captured at early age.” Obasa said that if the training and competition could be sustained, it would encourage students to choose science subjects and ultimately have positive effect on their future. The General Manager, Lagos State Electricity Board, Damilola Ogunbiyi, assured that the students were well grounded in terms of energy consumption calculation, solar panels and alternative sources among others. Some of the great projects designed by the power kids include, power calculator using energy from potatoes, flying helicopter and rechargeable lanterns among others.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

BUSINESS 19

NERC begins new meter payment regime By Sulaimon Salau HE Nigerian Electricity T Regulatory Commission (NERC), on Monday commenced the new metering scheme, with an official order mandating the Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) to commence implementation of the Credited Advance Payment for Metering Implementation (CAPMI) system.

by the DISCOs, as well as the • Orders installation within 45 days ing high level of complaints The Chairman NERC, Sam Amadi, told The Guardian yesterday that the rate of acquiring the meters remained the same (depending on categories of meter) as obtainable in the former metering scheme. The single phase pre-paid meters is sold for N25, 000, while three phase meters goes

for N50, 000. A statement from Assistant General Manager, Media, Maryam Yaya Abubakar, yesterday, said that the new scheme mandated that meters should be installed within 45 days of payment. It would be recalled that CAPMI came about due to the slow pace of customer meter-

received from customers and dissatisfaction with the current estimated billing practices. “CAPMI provides a platform for willing customers to pay the cost of the meter into a dedicated account jointly managed by the DISCOs and meter vendor/installer. Once payment has been effected, the customer will have their meter installed within 45 days, by a

Sony targets $1.4b from Nigeria, South Africa, other markets by 2015 By Adeyemi Adepetun ECOGNISING the potential R embedded in Nigeria and other African markets, consumer electronics brand, Sony has set a $1.4 billion target for the continent’s electronics market. The company made this known while unveiling its extensive blueprint for expansion across the Africa continent in Cape Town, South Africa. Sony said that it looked to transform the African consumers’ experience in the electronics sector through launching the latest technology products, experiential Sony brand stores and setting up authorised service centres in almost every country in Nigeria cum Africa. On the operational front, Sony planned establishment of new zonal offices in Nigeria, Morocco, Ghana, and Angola, where it would employ local human resources and identifying new business partners with the capacity to compliment the Sony growth strategy in Africa. Speaking at the conference, Managing Director, Sony Middle East and Africa, Hiroyasu Sugiyama, said: “Africa is undoubtedly one of the most important markets for Sony. By 2015, we hope to achieve a $1.4 billion share in the consumer electronics space, including the fast-growing mobile phone business. The numbers certainly look exciting, but our immediate focus is to identify tactics that help us move towards our target. The Sony roadmap for Africa constitutes a four-pillared strategy based on ‘product’, ‘customer’, ‘community’ and ‘operation’.” Recognising the demand for its top-of-the-line products in local markets, Sony aims to synchronise its international launches to include the African continent in its entirety. According to the firm, from the award-winning Sony Xperia Z smartphone, the XPERIA tablet and the BRAVIA 4K TVs to the world’s most powerful audio system, the Shake 7 stereo, it will look to reduce the wait-time and increase the availability of its products, especially those tailored for African consumers. Incidentally, Sony is adjudged number one in the audio products category in Africa, commanding a market share of over 40 per cent. In South Africa alone, one in two customers seeking audio products has been found to opt for Sony. Improving on the prospects of the African markets, Sony is also set to rollout its unique branded stores, Sony World, in key markets to give potential buyers a chance to see and feel

the unmatched quality of its products. The firm also announced the launch of 67 authorised service centres in Africa this year, which will be increased to 87 centers by March 2014. Sugiyama added: “Africa is a

vast continent, and we understand that it is made up of different and diverse countries with many languages and cultures that require localised communication. We are moving fast to satisfy these requirements and preferences

through vehicles such as a multi-lingual Sony website in Africa’s predominant languages including French, Portuguese, English and Arabic. We are also looking to launch a dedicated Sony Facebook page for Africa.

NERC accredited vendor/installer,” it stated. Amadi, however, explained: “The cost of the meters was arrived at using the standard market price plus the most efficient installation costs. The DISCOs submitted data based on costs submitted by the DISCOs during the Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO) review, as well as review of prices supplied by local manufacturers.” In arriving at a list of meter vendors and Installers of meters to partake in the CAPMI scheme, Amadi said that NERC followed a comprehensive due process by first advertising and inviting the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to supervise the process of certification based on the metering code. According to him, consultations were also held with various stakeholders including preferred bidders, would be

vendors and installers and DISCOs as well as the financial institutions to agree on the framework and logistics of implementing the scheme. In selecting successful applicants, the commission gave emphasis to local firms as a way of localising and promoting local content in the sector.” Besides, the commission has also signed an order mandating DISCOs to supply meters paid for by customers dating back to January 2011. Amadi said: “It is regrettable that customers paid for meters and not supplied with same months even years after. This is a double jeopardy considering that meters ought to have been supplied to them free once they paid bills. The Commission had to take January 2011 as deadline for a number of reasons.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

20 BUSINESS

NIMASA denies alleged ethnic cleansing, to address face-off with NLNG By Moses Ebosele and Abdulwaheed Usaman HE Nigerian Maritime T Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) on Tuesday described as false, reports of alleged ethnic cleansing within the organisation. According to NIMASA, section 17 sub-section 10 of its enabling Act makes its possible for staff, who have between two and three years in service to opt for voluntary retirement. Director-General of NIMASA, Patrick Akpobolokemi, who was represented by Acting Director, Shipping Development, Captain Warredi Enisuoh explained that those who opt for voluntary retirement would be paid all their entitlement. Accompanied by Deputy

Director, Public Relations, Isichei Osamgbi and Human Resources Deputy Director, Ego Nwokocha, Enisuoh explained that due process was religiously adhered to within the organisation. The NIMASA boss who spoke on sundry issues also disclosed that its recent face-off with Nigerian Liquefied and Natural Gas (NLNG) were addressed, adding that a pronouncement would be made public soon. He said: “NIMASA and NLNG are like brothers and sisters. I can assure you that there will be an official position “soon.” Workers in the maritime sector under the aegis of Maritime Workers of Nigeria, recently, petitioned President Goodluck Jonathan, urging him to intervene in the ongoing dispute between NIMASA and NLNG. The union called on Jonathan

to compel NLNG to pay NIMASA’s statutory levies in the interest of fair play and industrial peace in the maritime industry. President of MWUN, Anthony Nted said: “We are aware that the law setting up NIMASA, the NIMASA Act 2007 in section 15, stipulates that the agency shall be funded by monies accruing to it from among other sources. “This is three per cent of gross freight on all international inbound and outbound cargoes from ships or shipping companies operating in Nigeria, as part of the funds to meet the operational cost of the agency. “The law also makes it clear that all ships and shipping companies operating in Nigeria are expected to obey this provision.

Lagos State Commissioner for Science and Technology. Adebiyi Mabadeje (left) Chief Executive Officer. F B. Initiatives and Innovations. Funke Babatola, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Science and Technology. Nike Animashaun and Chief Executive Officer.Nickel Concepts Canada. Rob Nickel at the Cyber Safety Conference “Combating Youth Danger in the Digital World! Promoting proper and safe internet use” in Lagos. PHOTO: FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

BUSINESS 21

Montaudon is newest entrant into Nigeria’s champagne market By Tolu Ogunlesi OSEPHINE Baker was a pheJsinger, nomenal woman: actress, dancer and civil rights activist. The Nobel Laureate Ernest Hemingway described her as “the most sensational woman anybody ever saw, or ever will.” Martin Luther King’s wife, Coretta, offered her the leadership of the American civil rights movement, after King’s assassination in 1963. Upon her death in 1976, she received a French military funeral, having being honoured decades earlier with the military honour, the Croix de guerre.

Josephine Baker was also a lover of Montaudon, the champagne brand founded in 1891 by French winemaker Auguste Louis Montaudon. In 1936 she signed a deal with Montaudon to supply her cabaret clubs in Paris. Seven-and-half decades on, Montaudon, holding on firmly to the qualities of Tradition and Quality that endeared it to Ms. Baker, sells more than two million bottles across 28 countries worldwide, annually. Now, courtesy of Jide Adenuga, the brand is making its entry into Africa’s biggest champagne market.

“We are proud to be the sole importers of these exclusive Champagnes in Nigeria, and we expect Champagne Montaudon to appeal particularly to all lovers of quality Champagne,” says Adenuga. Montaudon comes in six blends, to cater to a wide range of tastes: Réserve Première Brut, Réserve Première Demi-Sec, Chardonnay Premier Cru, Grande Rose, Brut Millesime 2002 and Classe M (the prestige cuvee). With the entry of Montaudon into Nigeria, the country’s love affair with fine wine — dating back decades — is set to step to another level.

ECOWAS may set up aircraft maintenance facility By Chika Goodluck-Ogazi HE Economic Community of T West African States (ECOWAS) plans to establish Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility for the maintenance of aircraft in the sub-region in order to save the airlines the huge resources in foreign exchange they spend abroad. The Regional Director in charge of Air Transport, Dr. Paul Antoine Marie Ganemtore, stated this in Lagos recently during the tour of Arik Air facilities at the airline headquarters in Lagos. He disclosed that ECOWAS would be sending a working group to visit the airline, noting that as the carrier with the largest fleet in the sub-region, the body would encourage other airlines to tailor Arik Air’s modality of operation, including competence in aircraft repairs. Ganemtore said the facility would be provided by the African Development Bank (ADB), which has commissioned some experts to review previous studies carried out on how to build the facility. He said that the sub-regional body is also working on how carriers in the sub-region could come together to set up stronger airlines that could bridge the gap in intra-African connections, which became difficult after the demise of Air Afrique and some national carriers, including the Nigeria Airways Limited (NAL). He explained that his visit to Arik Air was to explore opportunities for partnership on possibilities of where the regional aircraft maintenance facility could be sited, as it would be lucrative for it to be cited at the area that has the largest convergence of aircraft in the subregion. His words: “We were invited to visit Arik Air to consider how air transport could foster economic integration in Africa. This visit has afforded the team the opportunity to see the working of the airline and its operating capacity. “We are impressed by the high level of competence we have seen. We have visited the maintenance facility to see what is on ground in terms of training,” he said. He added that the ECOWAS Commission would continue to canvass the creation of a conducive environment through harmonised regulation and policy to fast-track the growth of air transport in Africa. “The role of ECOWAS Commis-

sion will simply be to create a conducive environment through policy and harmonised regulations for the growth of air transport and regional integration in Africa. Our goal is to turn the entire African airspace into a single market through air traffic rights and other measures that will give airlines the edge to enhance their capacities and compete favourably through the removal of restrictive bottlenecks. There is need for airlines in Africa to cooperate in areas of

training and capacity building. The main target of the commission is to fast-track the integration of the region. We could cooperate with all airlines in Africa to be competitive and profitable. This is key because of the challenge of intra-connectivity in Africa. Last year, the commission carried out a feasibility study funded by African Development Bank and World Bank to set up a maintenance facility in Africa. We are working very hard on this to see the project through.”

“Montaudon will be running a special introductory promotion. We want Nigerians to

join in and have fun by ordering Montaudon ‘in French’. Anyone who orders “MON-

TOE-DON”, even in a slightly French accent, will qualify for a special discount,” says Ade-

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

THE gUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

Appointments RegCharles invests $130,000 in water production EgCHARLES Finance and R Capital Limited recently injected a long term investment of $130,000 into Sarvil Limited as part of her empowerment agenda for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country. Speaking at the handover ceremony of the improved facilities, the MD/CEO Peter Damian Mbama noted that, “Hygienic water production is a viable business in Nigeria and can generate huge returns in excess of 30 per cent per month. The market is colossal amidst the dearth of affordable and clean water in the country.” “MSMEs remain at the pivot of the survival of any economy in the world. They remain the highest employers of labour and contribute over 50 per cent gDP besides the huge employment opportunities available. Sarvil is one out of over 70 entrepreneurs that have benefitted from our business model. “At RegCharles Finance and Capital Limited we focus on financing and empowering Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in various sec-

tors of the economy as well as Agriculture and Agro Allied Businesses in Nigeria. RegCharles Finance and Capital Ltd is renowned for her Social and Impact Investment capacity focusing on Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises. In this, we assess the social, economic and environmental impact of transactions and investments before funding any business. ”By providing tailored financial solutions and advisory services through our array of products and services, our target focus remains to reduce unemployment by empowering men, women and youths with great potentials in helping to grow the economy through employment generation and productivity,” Mbama said. He continued, “Every entrepreneur is meant to pass through pre-funding trainings in capacity development, designed to imbibe them with, the required skills to run a sustainable business. After we have advanced funds to the business owner, he will be enrolled into some postfunding training models

involving mentorship programs and incubation. “RegCharles strives to protect the funds provided to us by clients as well as handle the risks associated with our

HE Alumni Association of T the National Institute (AANI), Lagos chapter, has bemoaned the low level of policy continuity in the country. According to the institute, poor policy continuity has remained a bedeviling hindrance to growth of the economy even as successive governments grapple to solve development challenges in the country. The alumni representative body, which in the past has raised concern over policy inconsistencies on the part of government, also said there is urgent need for policy makers to ensure that there is co-ordination and implementation of various policies for the attainment of set economic growth. Chairman, ANNI Lagos Zone, Mr. Victor Banjo, in a chat with the media recently, explained that Lagos Chapter of the Alumni has mapped

out strategies to assist various organisations in policy guidance and implementation of strategies towards improving the society. Banjo while calling for consistency in policy formulation and implementation to avert issues that will be harmful to the sustenance of the national economy, revealed that the institute plans to undertake an independent assessment of how many projects have been implemented based on the recommendations made by Lagos State government officials that have attended its National Institute for Policy and strategic studies (NIPSS). In line with our motto: “Towards a Better Society”, we have constructively engaged key strategic institution based in Lagos State on current topical issues. We plan to hold a policy roundtable with the Lagos State government to highlight issues that can drive development of Lagos State as well as

establish a policy centre with the assistance of the Lagos State government. “We have also articulated plans to stimulate the minds of the citizens through the formation of strategic and development oriented national institution such as the technical Aids corps, FRSC, Directorate of Food Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI), Ministry of Women Affairs and the Ministry of Culture”. Banjo speaking in is own capacity decried the current Boko Haram security challenge in the country, stressing that people who cause so much harm and damage do not deserve amnesty. He called for the security agencies in the country to look towards the United States example in tackling the menace, stressing that “Boko Haram don’t need to be taken lightly at all, it rather seems they are getting worse and so they need to be taken more seriously”.

COWA solicits support for school project USTOMS Officers’ Wife C Association (COWA) has formerly laid the foundation for the construction of an international secondary school valued at N2 billion. Located at the Seme border, the school according, to the National President of COWA, Hajiya Sa’adiya Abdullahi

Dikko, when completed is expected to provide all round quality education for children of Customs officers and men, “as well as that of the general public in and across the border”. According to COWA, the international secondary school structures will con-

part of the business in totality. Our experience has demonstrated that collateral requirements do not guarantee repayment. We consider cash flow and character as

the key to the success of the business and the protection of the investments. Hence we have been able to design our risk management models to accommodate these”.

Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Dieziani Alison-Madueke (left); Mrs. Olayinka Fayomi and President, Association for the Development of Energy in Africa, JeanPierre Favennec, during the presentation of award of a Distinguished Leader Innovation and Transformation on Alison-Madueke at the Petroleum Industry in Vienna.

Institute bemoans government’s policy inconsistencies, unfolds agenda By Tosin Fodeke

investments by being of the business. We discuss that the bane of entrepreneurship is fund diversion and insincerity hence we strive to mitigate the occurrence by being

sist of nine blocks with 60 classrooms, staff quarters, shopping mall, administrative block, conference/auditorium, library, canteen, among others, adding that “it will operate in a spacious and serene environment, suitable for learning”.

26 APPOINTMENTS

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

Govt to train youths on skill acquisition From John Okeke and Abosede Musari, Bayelsa HE Federal Government T has concluded plans to train 500 youths in skill acquisition programmes in each of the nine acquisition centres in Niger Delta states the Minister of Niger Delta,

Godsday Orubebe, who disclosed this during an inspection tour at the skill acquisition centre Otueke, Bayelsa State said youths will be trained in different capacities to close the yearning need to import experts from outside the country. Orubebe said, “well I think I’m reasonably impressed

with what the contractors have done on site and we just made a tour of the entire site and I just finished having a meeting with the site contractors and the engineers on ground and I can say that each of these centres will have 500 youths on campus when we put them to use.” According to him, “these

centres is going to train our youths on oil and gas, maritime and ICT ” He also said that the ministry will collaborate with the competent private consulting firm to run the centres to ensure efficiency and productivity. Commenting on Otueke acquisition centre, Orubebe

said, “here the building is almost 95 per cent completed and we are confident that the project is on schedule and it will be put to use latest the end of July.” He also added that “200 of the youths will be automatically employed by the companies on completion of the project.”

Also the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, John Jonah Gboribiosha, while expressing the need to have skill manpower in the state, blamed the government for lack of industrial culture, adding that with the building of the acquisition centre at Otueke, the industrial bridge would be established.

Experts laud LBS agribusiness training initiative By Felix Kuye XPERTS, including the E Managing Director of Doreo Partners, Kola Masha, have lauded the launch of the Agribusiness Management training Programme (AgMP) at the Lagos Business School (LBS), describing the scheme as a timely intervention in the problems retarding the growth of agriculture in Nigeria. Masha, who gave the keynote remarks, commended LBS for introducing the programme, which he said would mitigate the myriad of challenges keeping Nigeria back from rubbing shoulders with other developed nations. According to a statement, the AgMP was developed by the Association of African Business Schools (AABS) to provide high quality, business, management and leadership education to a range of stakeholders in the agricultural sector in Africa, especially senior executives of agroallied, food and beverage and financial institutions. The

launch provided an opportunity for stakeholders in the sector to brainstorm on challenges and opportunities in agribusiness. Masha, who spoke on “Building the Future of Agribusiness in Africa: The Role of Management Education”, said many developed countries gave priority to agriculture which he noted goes beyond farming and that “if it must yield impressive returns, stakeholders in the sector must have business and management skills to produce results.” Head, Agriculture Portfolio, First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Ernest Ijedigbo, listed poor planning, poor business presentation and enterprise selection capacity and low knowledge of investment as challenges in agribusiness, which require proper management and business skills. “By launching a management programme about agribusiness, LBS will bridge these gaps and pave way for better performance”, he said.

The Commissioner for Agriculture in Lagos State, Gbolahan Lawal, who was represented by Dr. Olawunmi Funsho, also stressed the need to consider agriculture as a business rather as a “means of subsistent existence”. Speaking for LBS, Prof. Chantal Epie said LBS launched the AgMP because it is in line with the mission of the school to transmit management knowledge relevant to all sectors of the economy. The AgMP will begin in LBS this October. It will also be run in five other schools of the AABS Agribusiness Consortium (AAC). The schools are Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania and Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). Others are United States International University (USIU), Kenya, University of Stellenbosch Business School, South Africa and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Kenya.

Chairman-in-Council, Dame Priscilla Kuye (left); Chief Executive, Ambassador Moses Essien; Deputy Chairman-inCouncil, all of the Institute for Government Research & Leadership Technology, Dr. John Ndanusa Akanya and Professor of Engineering Technology, Manipal University, Dubai Prof. Anjiaiah Devineni, at the Induction of Patriotic Citizens, held in, Bur Dubai, UAE…recently.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

APPOINTMENTS 27

Army seeks more funding to tackle insecurity From Charles Coffie Gyamfi, Abeokuta HE recurrent violence in T some parts of the country has over-stretched the finances of the Nigerian Army, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Azubike Ihejirika, has said. In a speech he delivered during the opening ceremony of the Nigerian Army Finance Corps Warrant Officers/Senior NonCommissioned Officers Training Week 2013 held at the 35 Artillery Brigade Officers’ Mess, Alamala Barracks, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Ihejirika expressed the view that consistent training of army personnel would put the army in a bet-

ter position to tackle the current security challenges in the country. The theme of the training week is “Contemporary Security Challenges of the Nigerian Army: The Roles of the Nigerian Army Finance Corps Warrant Officers/Senior NonCommissioned Officers. Personnel of the Nigerian Army have been involved in various internal security arrangements, including the Joint Task Forces set up to check militancy and kidnapping in the Niger Delta and the SouthEast, respectively, as well as to tackle the Boko Haram insurgency in the North. Ihejirika stressed that the heightening of the violence

and insecurity occasioned by the activities of such “non-state actors” in different parts of the country was already straining the Army’s financial resources. The Army boss who was represented on the occasion by the General Officer Commanding 81 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maj.-Gen. Obi Umahi, said that the adequate funding of the army was fundamental to effectively check the security challenges currently confronting the nation. He however expressed the view that in the face of other public demands on government’s limited resources, prudent and efficient management and application of available funds has become

imperative if the Army would meet the various challenges posed by the current insecurity in the country. Explaining further, Ihejirika said: “No doubt, you are aware of the increasing wave of socio-political and ethno-religious crisis threatening the nation’s security lately. This has assumed a high dimension, witnessing spates of bombings and attacks on Key Points (KPs), Vulnerable Points (VPs) and other strategic areas of interest to the country. This has left serious demands on Nigerian Army resources”. He added: “We also know that funding is fundamental to containing this security challenges. Success in this pursuit therefore calls for prudent and efficient manage-

ment and application of available funds. I envision an Army that will effectively manage its available resources to be able to meet contemporary challenges.” Ihejirika added that it was only through proper training that the Nigerian Army could tackle contemporary challenges currently being experienced by the country,

acknowledging the efforts of the corps towards the enlightenment drive in the Army. He however charged members of the Finance Corps to ensure that the accounts of the Nigerian Army were managed efficiently to avoid audit queries from the Auditor General’s Office and the Public Accounts Committee.

PEARL Awards holds yearly lecture By Helen Oji HE PEARL Awards Nigeria T has concluded arrangements to hold its ninth yearly PEARL public lecture for Capital Market Development. The lecture, which is slated for Tuesday May 28th, 2013 would hold at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos. The theme for this year’s lecture is “Enhanced Capital Market Recovery, Stability & Growth: Path to Sustainable National Economic Development”. The lecture to be delivered by an intellectual giant, renowned capital market

expert and erudite Scholar, Chief (Dr.) Olusola Dada, the Past President, Institute of Directors & Chairman, Anchoria Investment & Securities Limited, promises to be highly interactive, educative and informative. Additionally, some experts in corporate organisations that would be lead discussants at the lecture include President, Association of Issuing Houses of Nigeria Mr. Emeka Madubuike; Company Secretary, First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Mr. Tijani Borodo, and FCIB, Registrar/CEO, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Dr. Uju Ogubunka.

Youths to showcase products O provide young entreT preneurs with a platform for growth, exposure, net-

Director Africa Region, C:AVA Project, Dr. Kolawole Adebayo (left), Head of Agricultural Portfolio, First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Ernest Ihedigbo, AABS Agribusiness Project Director, Dinah Hanson, Dr. Olawumi Funsho and Dr. Larry Osa-Afiana at the launch of the Agribusiness Management Programme at the Lagos Business School.

working and brand positioning, 3Wise Magazine in partnership with School of Media and Communication of Pan African University has concluded plans to hold a youth exhibition to such end. Tagged: “YEEX, the exhibi-

tion is scheduled to hold between May 16 and 18, 2013.” The exhibition, which is endorsed by Lagos State Ministry of Commerce and Industry, is targeted at providing youths with the opportunity to exhibit their products and services to visitors for a period of three days.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

APPOINTMENTS 29

Ikuforiji tasks workers on nation building By Wole Oyebade PEAKER of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, has tasked civil servants in the state to embrace virtues of hard work and selfless service, as important ingredients to nation building. Speaking at a send-forth party held in honour of the Secretary to the Lagos State House of Assembly Service Commission, Ibisola Ogayemi recently, he observed that laziness and the impunity of selfish-drive by some public officers had hindered growth in the federation. Ikuforiji said it behooves on the current civil servants to be committed to selfless service and redirect the nation back to the path of progress.

The speaker noted that the outgoing Secretary of the Commission, Ogayemi, had set a worth example for civil servants in the Commission, adding that the workers must emulate Ogayemi’s “visionary character and dedication to duty, in order to deliver, as well as contribute meaningfully to the development of the state.” Commending Ogayemi for developing the Legislative Directorate of the House of Assembly to a high standard, Ikuforiji said Ogayemi would be missed for being a “repository of legislative ideas.” Chairman of the Commission, Wale Mogaji praised Ogayemi, who was also the former Deputy Clerk of the Assembly, for his ingenuity, hard work, dedication

and excellent leadership quality. According to him, the pioneering role Ogayemi played had “contributed immensely to the credible achievements so far recorded by the Commission.” Mogaji assured the gathering of House members, Commission members and staff that the Commission would build on the solid foundation left by Ogayemi. Responding, Ogayemi expressed his gratitude to the state government, and the leaderships of the Assembly and Commission for giving him the opportunity to serve the state. He also charged members of staff to be hard working and diligent to deliver quality service in their various offices.

Kwankwaso inaugurates governing council of Northwest Varsity From Murtala Muhammed, Kano HE Governor of Kano State, Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso has constituted members of governing council for the newly established Northwest University Kano. Chairing the University’s council is a strong member of opposition party and Director – General of General Muhammed Buhari Campaign Organization, Alhaji Sule Yahaya Hamma. Inaugurating the council in Kano, Kwankwaso urged members to adhere to rule and regulation establishing the University and ensure academic standard in the institution. Kwankwaso emphasised that part of the council’s mandate is to focus on quality teaching and learning in the university as well as the

Kwankwaso emphasised that part of the council’s mandate is to focus on quality teaching and learning in the university as well as the general wellbeing of students, stressing the need to consider the university’s communities in policy formulations and implementation.

Kwankwaso

general wellbeing of students, stressing the need to consider the university’s communities in policy formulations and implementation.

Other members of the 15 council members are Prof. Hafiz Abubakar, Hajiya Mariya Alin Kote, Prof. Yahuza Bello, Bala Ibrahim Birnin Kudu and Alhaji Garba Aliyu Gezawa. Responding on behalf of others, chairman of the governing council Alhaji Sule Yahaya Hamma, pledged that the council will lead by example and abide by laws and regulations of the University. He thanked the governor for giving them the opportunity to serve.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

30 APPOINTMENTS

UK to invest £39 million on girl child education From Lillian Chukwu and Joke Falaju, Abuja S part of efforts to promote A girl child education and reduce maternal mortality rate in the country, the British government has announced that it plans to invest 39 million pounds in promoting gender issues across the federation. The fund is for a five-year Programme tagged Voices for Change Programme (VFCP) to support 120,000 girls nationwide in improving their life skills, financial literacy, health education, negotiation skills and awareness of their rights. United Kingdom International Development Minister, Lynne Featherstone

yesterday in Abuja at an interactive session with the media to discuss continuing UK commitment to poverty and gender issues in Nigeria noted the launch of two new programmes on gender and poverty. She said that the VFCP programme would also encompass work with men and boys as well as traditional and religious leaders to shift attitudes and behaviours towards women. Featherstone added that the programme would help strengthen legal frameworks and increase national budget resources for women and girls. In her word “Shocking rate of inequality, maternal mortali-

ty and violence against women make Nigeria one of the toughest places in the world to be born a girl. “Women and girls are shut out from country’s impressive economy growth. What is good for girls and women is good for society as a whole. The government of Nigeria is making good progress on improving the opportunities for women in country yet the scale of the challenge remains huge,” she added. The UK envoy also announced a major child development grant programme that will support 60,000 mothers to improve the nutrition of young children to prevent stunting in Jigawa and Zamfara state.

Kano NBA seeks better deal for lower court Judges By Murtala Muhammed, Kano ORRIED by the poor W welfare package of lower court Judges, the Kano State chapter of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) called for adequate funding as part of measures to curtail alleged sharp practices. Chairman of the NBA, Kano branch, Ibrahim Nassarawa who spoke during the inauguration of 26 new Magistrate Courts in Kano recently also called for financial independent for the Judiciary. Inaugurating the new courts Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso reiterated the state government commitment to build robust judicial system that would be worth of emulation. Kwankwaso said over

N70 million has been expended on rehabilitating and furnishing courts and investing heavily on intellectual capacity of Judges in Kano. Kwankwaso said: “government has resolved to rebuild all dilapidated structures built in the last 40 years. Plans has also been concluded to construct 27 sharia courts in Kano in addition to our recent promotion of more than 900 judicial workers”. The government appealed to Judges to reciprocate gov-

ernment gesture in quick discharge of judgment. On his part Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of Kano state, Abubakar Maliki Kuliya linked government renew commitment towards improved judicial system in Kano to Kwankwaso’s ingenuity to good governance. The Commissioner for Justice maintained that government has spent more on Judges training abroad and approved car loan to ensure efficient dispensation of

First Lady’s pet project empowers women in Kaduna From Bashir Bello, Kaduna VER 700 women from O across the country were recently employed through the First Lady’s pet project “Women for Change initiative,” the National Coordinator, Dr (Princess) Rabi Ibrahim has said. Ibrahim also called on Nigerian women to shun what she identified as ‘pull her down syndrome’ in order to contribute meaningfully to the growth of the nation. Ibrahim who made the call recently in Kaduna during the inauguration of the North West zone of the Women for Change initiative, also called on the male folk to always encourage women who ventured into politics instead of discouraging them. According to the National Coordinator, the aim of the initiative is to empower

women and make sure they are highly placed to enhance their meaningful contribution to policy decisions in the country. She said: “Women should have a say in anything that concerns women in the country. They need to be encouraged in politics and education. Empowerment is key to achieving all these. With women for change, the issue of women should not start and end in the kitchen. “First lady Patience Jonathan wants a strong voice that will put the women in Nigeria where there are supposed to be in the scope of things,” said Ibrahim. She also called on the Wife of the state Governor Hajiya Fatima Yero not to relent in her efforts to touch the lives of the people of the state and the activities of women for change in the state.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

ScienceGuardian By Chukwuma Muanya MAGES from the three Nigerian satellites NigeriaSat-1, NigeriaSat-X, and NigeriaSat-2- released recently by the National Space Research Development Agency (NASRDA) on the extent of damage caused by Military intervention at Baga, Borno State, have shown remarkable difference with that published on April 30, 2013 by the Human Rights Watch (HRW). Baga is a town in the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno, close to Lake Chad, and lying northeast of the town of Kukawa. The images showed there were burnt scars and building damages mainly in the southern fringe of Baga Town but the area defined is about 54,000sq.m and not 80,000sm2 as claimed by the HRW. The HRW had published a damage assessment of Baga town, which has generated a lot of media reports and reactions. The assessment as it portray, was carried out using satellite imageries of April 6 (pre-violence) and April 26 (post-violence) of in Baga respectively. But a review of HRW damage assessment with the images from the Nigerian Satellites by Director General of NASRDA, Dr. Seidu O. Mohammed, found the area covered by the fire scars identified as damaged areas by the HRW is about 11,000m2; the satellites detected active fire zones include largely thatched fences and frontages; the 11,000m2 can approximately take three standard football fields (100mx50m); the town is largely a squatter settlement in structure, and the building structures are largely traditional types with extensions/frontages with thatched /mud brick hedges/fences. The NASRDA review showed that from the image overlay analysis, the area (11,000m2) cannot logically house 2,400 damaged buildings with 2,275 destroyed and 125 severely damaged, claimed to be identified in the study area by HRW. The agency also found that going by the above estimate of 2400 damaged buildings, and the actual size of the area with burnt scare (equivalent to three standard football fields), it is presumed that 800 buildings exist on a standard football field (5000m2). The review also observed that the estimation of the number of damaged building were about 80 per cent exaggerated, because the process of generating the information was purely a desktop approach and without any ground truthing exercise to validate the time, extent, trend and land use activities; leading to huge misinterpretation of features such as buildings, trees, fences, open court yards, uninhabited plots, etc were counted as

ASTRONOMY

A triangle in the sky By J.K. Obatala SOMEWHAT rare planetary configuration is taking A shape in the western sky, as Venus, Jupiter and Mercury move into close visual proximity.

Samples of some Areas counted as destroyed, but image features are intact in both pre and after image scenarios Courtesy of the National Space Research Development Agency (NASRDA), Abuja.

Nigeria’s satellites capture Baga events same features as building. The review is titled “Satellite Imagery Analysis of Baga and Environs, Borno State, Nigeria.” Mohammed said the aim of the review was to carry out quick look validation of the damage assessment presented by HRW using multi-stage satellite imageries (Image sets used by HRW, NigeriaSat1, NigeriaSat-X, and NigeriaSat-2 VHRI: 2.5m and 5m); identify some critical technical assumptions in the damage assessment report, leading to HRW spurious findings and conclusions; contrast the most probable damage assessment Baga Town; and advice on the bestpractice for handling similar issues in the future. Mohammed concluded: “It is very true that images don’t lie, but the interpretation of features that occur in an area, and captured with scientific satellites must be interpreted with the effective ground knowledge (in-situ), history and land use activities for accurate results. Therefore, due to the sensitive nature and the security implication

of the violence in Baga and environs, and Nigeria at large, satellite image must be carefully validated to authenticate, the time, pattern, extent, and land use activities of a disaster area before publications.” The HRW had last week presented evidence in form of satellite images showing abuse by the Nigerian military as it clashed with suspected Boko Haram militants. HRW claimed that 2,275 homes were ruined based on analysed satellite images contrary to the military’s assertion that only 30 houses were destroyed during the raid on Baga on April 16 and 17. HRW urged the Nigerian government to impartially investigate and prosecute soldiers responsible for the Baga debacle. Africa director at HRW, Daniel Bekele, said: “The Nigerian military has a duty to protect itself and the population from Boko Haram attacks, but the evidence indicates that it engaged more in destruction than in protection.”

There has been claims and counter claims on the actual number of casualties, ranging from 25 to 185 people depending on the source of information, but the military said 30, one soldier and six civilians died while a Senior Special Assistant to President, Doyin Okupe told Channels TV that only 25 people died. It should be noted that, the following disclaimer was attached by the HRW to their desktop findings: “These results are preliminary and are subject to revision or correction pending additional imagery review, new testimony and/or ground verification.” Nigerian government has launched five satellites into outer space. Early plan to launch a national satellite in 1976 was not executed. The NigeriaSat-1 was the first Nigerian satellite and built by a United Kingdom-based satellite technology Surrey Space Technology Limited (SSTL) Company under the Nigerian government sponsorship for $30 million.

There’ll be no alignment, as such. But they are all either entering or emerging from conjunction (to be explained later): And will, on the 26th, converge to form a triangle, just above the setting Sun. But Dr. Tony Phillips, Science@NASA Production Editor, advises that it’s not necessary to wait till the 26th. There’s enough to make observation worth your while, even now- a claim I can corroborate- having gotten a tantalizing glimpse of what I thought was Mercury on the 8th. I took great pride in this. After all, Mercury is the most mercurial of all the naked eye planets. In fact, I’ve not seen it more than three or four times since I’ve been sky-watching. That’s because Mercury appears at twilight and early evening, always just above the rooftops: Where evening clouds and air pollution usually render viewing conditions difficult, if not impossible. This is especially true in Port Harcourt, with its perennial cloud flotillas. What is more, Mercury is the one planet that has truly earned its Roman-invested cognomen, as the mythical Winged Messenger of the gods: It zips around the Sun at 48 km per second, orbiting once every 88 days, and often darts out of view before the horizon becomes clear. So you can imagine how my ego deflated, when I started checking for the planets visible on May 8th—only to learn that it was Venus I’d seen! Unwilling to accept reality, I consulted Ian Morrison’s Blog (Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics), EarthSky and the Celestial Calendar. No relief! They all sang the same refrain, the same disappointing dirge: “The Winged Messenger has eluded you again, my friend!” But a sky-watcher is nothing, if not persistent. So I’ll try again between May 19th and July 1st when, according to Celestial Calendar, Mercury will indeed be visible. Venus, on its part, is always accommodating- much like the goddess of Brothels and Bedrooms, whose name the Roman’s gave it (save your tennis puns for Serena, not Venus!). It’ll rise higher and higher in the sky and eventually be visible for two and a half hours after dark. A geological twin to Earth, Venus has a thick gaseous atmosphere (90 times thicker than our planet) that reflects 70 percent of the Sun’s light back into space. This makes it the brightest object in the night sky, after the Moon. Consequently, you’ll have no trouble spotting Venus. If it is cloudy for a few days, no need to worry. The Accommodating Lady will still be waiting when the sky clears. You can rendezvous with Venus until the year’s end. It will become brighter and more alluring as time passes. The third member of the trio is Jupiter, the largest of the four gas/ice giants, whose orbits lie outwards of Earth’s. It appears dimmer now than in past months, because this swirling world of hydrogen and helium (a day is just under 10 hours!) is approaching conjunction. Getting to terminology at last, “conjunction” is one of several configurations (or “aspects”) that describe the orientation of satellites to the Sun, as viewed from Earth. It occurs, when a planet is positioned at a 180 degree angle (a straight line), on either side of the Sun. There are two types of conjunctions- inferior and superior. The latter occurs when the Sun lies in the middle, while a satellite that is positioned between Earth and the solar sphere is in inferior conjunction. Jupiter is about to round the Sun. So it is going into superior conjunction. Position-wise, there are also two types of planetsagain, they are inferior and superior. Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are superior planets, because Earth orbits between them and the Sun. By contrast, Venus and Mercury are inferior satellites because they orbit closer to the Sun than Earth. But they can also enter superior conjunction, whereas the outer planets cannot. Presently, Venus and Mercury are rising in the sky, after emerging from inferior conjunction. In case I’ve gotten you tensed up with this technical jargon, Tony Phillips has a suggestion to relieve your tensions. Go out on these dates, he advises, and face the twilight horizon:

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

32 SCIENCE HEALTH

Race for environment-friendly, fuel-efficient car begins • Nigerian engineers eye medal at 2014 Eco Marathon in Qatar From Chukwuma Muanya, Rotterdam HE world is waiting for the T next best environmentfriendly and most fuel-efficient car as over 3000 engineering students and their professors from all over the globe are gathered in Rotterdam, The Netherlands for Shell Eco Marathon 2013, even as the Nigerian team is eyes the winners medal at Shell Eco Marathon scheduled for Qatar in 2014. The Nigerian team of engineers made up of students and their professors from the University of Lagos, Akoka (UNILAG); University of Benin, Edo State (UNIBEN) and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State (ABU) yesterday for the first time joined their colleagues from around the world in Rotterdam, The Netherlands in a race to design, build and test ultra energy-efficient and environment-friendly vehicles. The quest is under the auspices of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) on behalf of Shell Companies in Nigeria (SEPCiN). The Nigerian team includes: professors of engineering and outstanding engineering students from UNILAG, UNIBEN and ABU. The UNILAG team is led by Prof. Ike Mowete of the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering and two of his best students:

Obinna Stanley Agba aged 20 and Abraham J. Imohiosen aged 21. The team from UNIBEN include: Akaehomen O. Akii Ibhadode, a professor of Manufacturing Engineering and his students: Adetunji A. Taj-Liad aged 22 and Adekola B. Adeyemi 21, while the ABU team include Dr. Mohammed Dauda Dauda of the Mechanical Engineering Department and his students: Bartholomew Njoku aged 23 and Yusuf Sadiq aged 21. General Manager, Sustainable Development and Community Relations of SEPCiN, Osayande Gabriel Nedo, told The Guardian that the target was to design a vehicle that could go the farthest not really the fastest. He said that the emphasis for the Nigerian team for the 2013 Competition was on participation. Nedo, however, said that the team was working towards winning the 2014 event in November 2014. He also said that the Shell Eco-marathon was a fantastic opportunity for our students to gain hands-on engineering and project management experience and apply what they had learnt during their studies to develop an innovative and energy efficient vehicle. The Guardian reliably gathered that the Nigerian team was going to present three prototypes of for the best environmentally friendly and the most fuel-efficient car in

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Lagos State, Dr. Femi Olugbile, (left) one of the beneficiaries of knee replacement surgery exercise, Mrs. Rafat Arowolo, Commissioner of Health Lagos State, Dr. Jide Idris, the second befeficiary of the exercise, Mrs. Rafat Oyelakin, Chief Medical Director, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Professor Wale Oke and coordinator limb deformity corrective surgery programme, Dr. Dolapo Fasawe at the presentation of the beneficiaries of the total knee replacement surgery exercise. Held at LASUTH Ikeja…recently. PHOTO: SUNDAY AKINLOLU

Qatar 2014 with each of the three universities expected to produce one prototype. Started in 1939 as a friendly wager between Shell scientists to see who can travel furthest on a single litre of fuel, the Shell Eco-Marathon has quickly grown into a global competition to develop solutions to society’s most pressing dilemma - the energy challenge. The competition encourages students to design, build and race ultra fuel-efficient vehicles in a competition to see which

team can achieve the greatest distance. In a record feat, a Shell Eco-marathon team achieved 4,896.1 kilometers on a single liter of fuel. The competition is especially relevant in today’s day and age, where according to the International Energy Agency, road transport alone accounts for approximately 17 per cent of global energy use. Participants in the Ecomarathon can use any conventionally available energy source including fuels such as diesel, gasoline and Gas-toLiquids (GTL), as well as alternative fuels such as hydrogen, ethanol, solar and battery electric. There are two broad categories of vehicles in the competition, the prototype category, which is a futuristic design or similitude of what is yet to come in the field of automobile engineering, and the urban category, which is considered to be more roadlegal. Also, in its commitment to help meet the energy needs of the society in ways that are economically, environmentally and socially responsible, Shell recently launched the

Shell Eco-marathon challenge in the Middle East and Africa to encourage the development of new technologies toward smarter mobility and fuel efficiency. Meanwhile, the Shell Ecomarathon Americas 2013 was concluded on April 7, 2013, and was won by a team that covered 3,587 miles with one gallon of gasoline. The headline winner rocked 3,587 miles per gallon, which was the winning result from Quebec’s Université Laval in the gasoline prototype category. 131 vehicles competed in the Shell Eco-marathon Americas 2013 in downtown Houston, racing round and round Discovery Green for two full days with a gallon of gasoline. 140 vehicles came to the event, but only 131 managed to pass inspection and participate. However, the competition the Shell Eco Marathon Europe is taking place between May 15 and 19, 2013, on a street track around the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam. This is a way of showcasing the exciting student innova-

tions and futuristic vehicles on a more realistic stage. The street circuit at Ahoy in Rotterdam provides teams with a real-life driving experience. And its city location makes it easier for more spectators to join in the excitement. The street circuit at Ahoy in Rotterdam provides teams with a real-life driving experience. And its city location makes it easier for more spectators can join in the excitement. The city’s focus on sustainability makes it a suitable location for Shell Ecomarathon, which sparks debate about greater energy efficiency into the future. Shell Eco-marathon challenges student teams from around the world to design, build and test ultra energyefficient vehicles. With yearly events first in the Americas, then Europe and Asia, the winners are the teams that go the furthest using the least amount of energy. The events spark debate about the future of mobility and inspire young engineers to push the boundaries of fuel efficiency.

Studies support efforts to lower excessive sodium intakes ECENT studies that exam- betes, or chronic kidney dis- and Preventive Medicine at R ine links between sodium ease — groups that together the University of consumption and health outcomes support recommendations to lower sodium intake from the very high levels some Americans consume now, but evidence from these studies does not support reduction in sodium intake to below 2,300 mg per day, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. Despite efforts over the past several decades to reduce dietary intake of sodium, a main component of table salt, the average American adult still consumes 3,400 mg or more of sodium a day — equivalent to about 1 ½ teaspoons of salt. The current Dietary Guidelines for American surge most people ages 14 to 50 to limit their sodium intake to 2,300 mg daily. People ages 51 or older, African Americans, and people with hypertension, dia-

make up more than 50 percent of the U.S. population — are advised to follow an even stricter limit of 1,500 mg per day. These recommendations are based largely on a body of research that links higher sodium intakes to certain “surrogate markers” such as high blood pressure, an established risk factor for heart disease. The expert committee that wrote the new report reviewed recent studies that in contrast examined how sodium consumption affects direct health outcomes like heart disease and death. “These new studies support previous findings that reducing sodium from very high intake levels to moderate levels improves health,” said committee chair Brian Strom, George S. Pepper Professor of Public Health

Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. “But they also suggest that lowering sodium intake too much may actually increase a person’s risk of some health problems.” While cautioning that the quantity of evidence was lessthan-optimal and that the studies were qualitatively limited by the methods used to measure sodium intake, the small number of patients with health outcomes of interest in some of the studies, and other methodological constraints, the committee concluded that: • Evidence supports a positive relationship between higher levels of sodium intake and risk of heart disease, which is consistent with previous research based on sodium’s effects on blood pressure; • Studies on health outcomes

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

NaturalHealth Bitter kola boosts libido, beats osteoarthritis, researchers confirm It may sound absurd but it is true. Nigerian scientists have confirmed in clinical settings and in animal models that eating moderate quantities of bitter cola does not just enhance sexual activity but have clinically significant analgesic/anti-inflammatory effects in knee osteoarthritis patients. CHUKWUMA MUANYA writes.

for low libido, low sperm count, erectile dysfunction and knee osteoarthritis? Results of a study published in African Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology have confirmed that bitter kola possesses sexual enhancing effects on male rats as evidenced by the increased mounting (MF) and intromission (IF) frequencies with increased number of subsequent ejaculations over the 20 min observation period. The study is titled “Effects of ethanolic extract of Garcinia kola on sexual behaviour and sperm parameters in male Wistar rats.” Another study published in Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research by medical doctors, pharmacists and nurses at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTH) concluded: “Garcinia kola appeared to have clinically significant analgesic/anti-inflammatory effects in knee osteoarthritis patients. Garcinia kola is a potential osteoarthritis disease activity modifier with good mid term outcome. Further studies are required for standardization of dosages and to determine long-term effects.” The study is titled “Clinical effects of Garcinia kola in knee osteoarthritis.” Botanically known as Garcinia kola, bitter kola belongs to the plant family Guttifereae. In Nigeria it is called oje in Bokyi, edun or efiari in Efik, efrie in EjaghamEkin, cida goro in Hausa, efiat in Ibibio, emiale in Icheve, igoligo in Idoma, aku-ilu or ugolo in Ibo, akaan in Ijo-Izon, okain in Isekiri, and orogbo in Yoruba. Yet another study on bitter kola published recently in Science Journal of Microbiology showed that seed and leaf of bitter kola have antibacterial activity on clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi and Streptococcus pyogenes. Phytochemical screening of the extracts revealed the presence of some bioactive components like alkaloids, saponins, tannins, anthraquinones and cardiac glycosides. These components determine the antibacterial activity of the seed and leaf extracts. The results from this study, provides scientific evidence that Garcinia kola

has the capability of inhibiting the growth of pathogenic micro-organisms; thus it will be useful in tropical medicine for the treatment of microbial infections. The researchers wrote: “G. kola has been shown to be a popular treatment for diarrhea and fever. The seed extract is antiseptic and is active mostly against grampositive bacteria. While the leaf, is active mostly against gram-negative bacteria. It is also very efficacious for hepatitis. “In West Africa, is now being harnessed as a cure for the Ebola virus infections and also against flu. The stem, bark and the seeds are used for acute fever, inflammation of the respiratory tract and throat infections. Historically, Nigerians used Garcinia kola as an aphrodisiac. “The seeds are also chewed to relieve hoarseness of voice, sore throat and cough. In folk medicine the seed is used for the treatment of liver disorder. It is also used in the treatment of dysentery and diarrhea. The leaves are used for stomachache and pains and is also anti helmithic. They also serve as good remedy for typhoid fever.” Erectile dysfunction (ED) is defined as the difficulty in achieving or maintaining an erection sufficient for sexual activity or penetration at least 50 per cent of the time for the last six months. Unfortunately, it is a problem often neglected by the health practitioners as they strive to deal with life threatening complications of disease. Successful treatment of ED may improve not only sexual relationships, but also the overall quality of life. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of joint disease, affecting the knee more than other joints. Several factors play a role in osteoarthritis risk; these include age, gender, genetics, behavioral influences and ethnicity. Trauma is a recognised predisposing factor to development of osteoarthritis of the knee (KOA) associated with raised intra osseous pressure and death of the chondrocytes. Osteoarthritis of the knees reduces the ability to avoid obstacles and supporting epidemiologic studies have found osteoarthritis to be a risk factor for falls. The pain associated with osteoarthritis of the knees increased the propensity to

Bitter Cola trip on an obstacle and underscores the importance of treating pain associated with osteoarthritis. The South African researchers from Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha, South Africa investigated the effects of oral administration of ethanolic extract of G. kola on male sexual behaviour, testosterone levels and sperm parameters. A 70 per cent ethanolic extract of G. kola seeds was prepared and used for treating male Wistar rats in a group of eight; two doses of G. kola (200 and 400 mg/kg body weight) were used for the treatment group, while distilled water was administered to the control group. All the treatments were oral-

‘

ly administered daily for 28 days. On day 28, mounting frequency (MF), intromission frequency (IF) and ejaculation frequency (EF) were quantified during sexual behaviour tests. At termination, body and organ weights, gastric ulceration and cauda epididymal sperm counts were determined. Serum was collected for determination of testosterone levels. Both doses (200 and 400 mg/kg) showed marked aphrodisiac activity with significantly increased sexual behaviour parameters compared to controls. However, lower dose of G. kola was more effective than the higher dose. Testosterone levels were higher in both treatment groups compared

to controls. Sperm counts were similar to controls however testes weights were higher in G. kola treated rats compared to controls. Thus these results show that G. kola enhances sexual activity in normal male rats. Meanwhile, the OAUTH researchers used prospective randomized, placebo controlled, double blind, clinical trial approved by the institutional medical ethics review board and written informed consent obtained from each patient. All KOA patients presenting at the OAUTH complex were recruited into the study. The patients were grouped into four (A = Placebo, B = Naproxen, C = Garcinia kola, D = Celebrex). The drugs and placebo were given twice a

Trauma is a recognised predisposing factor to development of osteoarthritis of the knee (KOA) associated with raised intra osseous pressure and death of the chondrocytes. Osteoarthritis of the knees reduces the ability to avoid obstacles and supporting epidemiologic studies have found osteoarthritis to be a risk factor for falls. The pain associated with osteoarthritis of the knees increased the propensity to trip on an obstacle and underscores the importance of treating pain associated with osteoarthritis

‘

AN eating at least a piece C of bitter kola (Garcinia kola) daily be the treatment

day per oral route. Each dose consisted of 200 mg of G. kola, Naproxen (500 mg), Celebrex (200 mg) and Ascorbic acid (100 mg). The primary outcome measure over six weeks study period was the change in mean WOMAC pain visual analogue scales (VAS). Secondary outcome measures included the mean change in joint stiffness and physical function (mobility/walking). The South African researchers wrote: “The present study confirmed that G. kola possesses sexual enhancing effects on male rats as evidenced by the increased MF and intromission IF frequencies with increased number of subsequent ejaculations over the 20 min observation period. These parameters are considered to be a measure of both libido and potency and indicative of improved sexual arousal and performance. Thus our results show that G. kola treatment increases both libido and potency in normal rats.” It has been shown that drugs, which enhance sexual function may act via an increase in circulating testosterone levels, the male sex hormone responsible, among other functions, in enhancing sexual function via central and peripheral effects.

42 NATURAL HEALTH

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

Rotarians, Coca Cola Foundation, others offer free medical screening to 200,000 Nigerians By Chukwuma Muanya, Tony Nwanne (Lagos) and Emeka Anuforo (Abuja)

• Pledge to ensure Nigerians know their health status • Donate baby incubators to Abuja Hospital

S part of activities to mark A Rotary International’s Family Health Day 2013 in

ents at all that is vulnerable children. Then we ensure that these children live in homes and those who take care of them also need to be healthy or know their health status in order to be able to adequately or comfortably take care of the children. So we decided to expand our children to reach all family members, parents, grand parents.” Where are people supposed to be to benefits? How long is the free medical care going to be offered? The Rotarian said: “We are starting off with having a three-day comprehensive and holistic programme which involves - if we have necessary partnership that we are looking at - we will develop it into a quarterly exercise. But for now we are having a threeday programme that will reach out to 100,000. We have 78 sites we are working in Lagos and Ogun states. All the Rotary clubs are participating in the exercise.” On the issue of funding and sustainability, Olowu said: “We are being supported by Coca Cola African Foundation and we have programme partner, which ensures the sustainability that is the CDC, USAID. We work with the Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) that are funded by these organisations. Is there any links is affiliations with the FMoH or relevant agencies in Nigeria? “The ministries of health are our partners to contribute to the programme. We have very big support from the FMoH and ministries of health in Lagos and Ogun states are working with us in the field to ensure that the exercise is well programmed to reach as many people as possible.” Are there plans for the beneficiaries to get cheap or free treatment after the screening? The Rotarian said: “We have designed forms that is for monitoring and referrals. Those who test positive for any of the diseases: malaria,

Nigeria, Uganda and South Africa, over 100,000 Nigerians have received free medical screening for Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), polio immunisation, malaria, tuberculosis, eye cataract, cervical and breast cancer, and diabetes and blood pressure. With support from Coca Cola Africa Foundation, United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), ministries of health of Lagos and Ogun states, and the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), the Family Health Day, which was marked on May 10, 2013 raised awareness around polio, HIV, TB and other noncommunicable diseases. Meanwhile, the Rotary Club of Abuja, Gwarinpa and the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) have donated three infant incubators to Gwarinpa General Hospital, Abuja. Director Rotarians For Fighting AIDS (RFFA) Western Africa and Past District Governor for Nigeria, Olu Olowu, told The Guardian in a telephone chat: “We also want to distribute sanitary towels for girls, we want to de-worm children, we want to give mosquito nets to pregnant women. We want to conduct family counseling and conduct promotion of child spacing.” On what informed this humanitarian gesture, Olowu said: “This is a group of Rotarians with the objective to provide health services to the public. The aim is to encourage healthy living lifestyle for everyone. So we started of with HIV/AIDS programme looking after children who have one or no par-

HIV, diabetes and so on are being referred to relevant hospitals to take care of their treatment. Here, our goal is to ensure that everybody knows his or her own health status so we now refer them to hospitals where they get treatment.” On whether the treatments are going to be free or subsidised, he said: “No they are not going to be free. We are offering free testing and screening. The treatment will be at the beneficiaries own cost.” Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rotarians for Family Health and AIDS prevention, Marion Bunch, in a statement said this year’s focus is on South Africa, who is being included for the first time. Bunch said: “In 2011 there were approximately 5.6 million people living with AIDS in South Africa, the highest number of people in any country. It is expected that around 50,000 people will receive testing and counseling for HIV/AIDS over a three day period.” The Rotary Club, is offering the free medical tests and counseling to Nigerians from May 9 to 11, 2013. The free healthcare exercise will run in 70 sites across Lagos and Ogun states. The sites include community halls, hospitals and Rotary Centres. Speaking during the official launch that took place at the Rotary Centre, Ikeja, the District Governor-Elect of Rotary Club 9110, Olugbemiga Olowu, described the threeday event as a comprehensive, holistic offering of healthcare resulting from strategic partnerships in line with Rotary’s commitment to promoting family health and creating awareness around diseases. “The Rotarian Family Health Day programme is about Rotarians taking the lead through a massive health

campaign and living their motto of service above self,” he said. “With an estimated 5.6 million people living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria as at 2011, it became critically important for us to garner support from not only government, but corporate partners and the media to address the problem and implement our prevention control programmes.” The Public Affairs and Communications Manager, Clem Ugorji, speaking on Coca-Cola’s commitment to promoting wellness and building sustainable communities with like-minded organisations like the Rotary Club said that, “At Coca-Cola, we always seek ways to empower our communities, focusing on key areas such as water, health, education and entrepreneurship. By investing in these critical areas, we aim to expand opportunities and improve the wellbeing and prosperity of our communities”. While commending Rotary and Coca-Cola on this laudable initiative, the Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Olaokun Soyinka, stressed that community based healthcare was becoming increasingly vital to tackling the scourge of diseases in the country. He referred to the Rotary Club as mutual partners with the state government, stating that the partnership was targeted at taking health care and literacy to the citizens, starting at the community level. “The country today is currently tasked with the responsibility of improving our health rating which has been abysmally poor in the past,” he said. “We in government appreciate initiatives like this from private organisations because it complements our efforts in this regard. The Rotary Family Health Day is an intervention that goes a long way in making preventive healthcare available to those who ordinarily can’t afford it.”

National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC)Registration and Regulatory Affairs Director, Dr Monica Eimunjeze (left); Director Enforcement and Investigation, Mr. Mac Donald Garba; and NAFDAC Director General, Dr Paul Orhii, during the press briefing on the arrest of culprit for importation of counterfeit medicines in Lagos… yesterday. PHOTO: GABRIEL IKHAHON

Why anti-smoking bill should be passed, by lawmaker By Wole Oyebade MEMBER of Lagos State House of Assembly, Gbolahan A Yishawu, has said the proposed anti-smoking Bill currently before the House was aimed at preventing nonsmokers in the state from second-hand smoke related injuries. Yishawu, who sponsored the private member Bill told reporters on Tuesday that the bill has nothing to do with outright ban on sales of Tobacco products but “to ensure that smoke coming from the cigarette does not harm other people who do not smoke.” The ‘Bill for a law to provide for the regulation of smoking in designated places in Lagos State and for connected purposes’ has scaled second reading and was last Friday presented for public hearing. The 13-paragraphy bill prohibits smoking from premises that are wholly or principally used as workplace; restaurants; bar and nightclubs; shops and shopping centres; hotels; libraries, archives, museum and galleries and all premises used for entertainments. At the hearing, anti-tobacco campaign groups and tobacco-industry, coupled with tobacco-product distributors, bar and hotel owners and so on all faulted provisions of the bill, either as too soft or too harsh to smoking in the public. Yishawu, a lawmaker representing Eti-Osa II constituency, however said the critical aspect of the bill was to protect the non-smokers from second and third degree smoke. His words: “My argument is that it is wrong for anybody to smoke in an enclosure because of its aftermath effects on the non-smokers’ health. For instance, if you are a boss and you smoke in your office, the people who work with you will have no choice than to comply with what you are doing. But they would be seriously affected and that is wrong. “If you choose to live a lifestyle, it is your choice and you should not affect other people’s lives with your own habit. As a matter of fact, you should not smoke except you see the open sky, so the smoke can easily evaporate into thin air. “The study also has shown that if you smoke in an enclosure, your body and your clothe will absorb the smoke and when you get out of the place, anybody that comes your way will be affected by the degree of the smoke you are carrying,” he said. Yishawu emphasized that the Bill was not meant to witchhunt or cripple other people’s businesses, adding that it was necessary to strike a balance between the importance of good health and doing a habit that is injurious to other people’s health. “My intention of the Bill is not to cripple other people’s businesses but we need to strike a balance as to what we enjoy doing and our responsibility to others.”

‘Cardiac, Renal Centre to start operation July’ By Kamal Tayo Oropo State government said on Tuesday that the Cardiac LbeAGOS and Renal Centre, the first of its kind in the country will ready for take-off by July 2013. This is just as the government said it procured and distributed no fewer than 500,000 male and female condoms to residents in the last one year. Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, who revealed this at the ministerial press briefing to commemorate the sixth anniversary of Governor Babatunde Fashola administration said the Centre will see surgeries of life threatening heart and kidney-related diseases performed in Lagos. Idris said the government was anxious to get the Centre, located within the premises of the Gbagada General Hospital up and running, revealing that finishes touches are currently in place before official commissioning. He said, “it’s taking quite a while. The government is anxious to get it up and running. We had a meeting last week with the contractor, we are in discussion with the group that will manage it, we would train our medical personnel there, in the next two or three months, we should be done, we are putting finishing touches, air conditioning systems, by next month, you will begin to see more activities in that areas. It is our hope that when the centre takes off, the trend of embarking on foreign trips for heart and kidney surgeries will be minimal”. On the distribution of condoms, Idris said the Lagos State AIDS Control Agency (LASACA), was charged with the responsibility, saying the step was part of government’s efforts to prevent and control HIV/AIDS in the state. Idris said 84,000 HIV/AIDS booklets were also distributed during period to provide adequate enlightenment on the scourge and promote safe sex behaviour among residents. “We have also established HIV/AIDS counselling and Testing Centres in health facilities across the state as part of measures to check the prevalence of the scourge. “These centres provide clients with all they need on HIV/AIDS, counselling, treatment and others. It is another of our strategy, among so many to check the problem”, he explained. He noted that 102,279 clients were screened and counselled by LASACA in the last one year, adding 9,660 of those screened tested positive.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

Lagos charts path to universal access at health council meeting By Wole Oyebade AGOS State government recently convened a state health council meeting to chart path to universal access in healthcare in the state. The meeting, of all stakeholders in the state health sector, was to provide quality service delivery for about 20 million Lagosians, through policy shift from out-of-pocket payment to a contributory or pre-payment mechanism. Opening the two-day meeting theme: “Creating universal access to healthcare in Lagos State”, Governor Babatunde Fashola said quality healthcare was important to all people and remains one of the few social issues that is apolitical. While not in doubt that progress has been made in the state health sector, he said the enormous challenges in the sector, coupled with the rise in Non-Communicable Diseases, had called for new strategy at delivering care services to the people. Fashola said though Lagos’ free healthcare programme would continue in the state but “it still cannot cover everyone, which is why we must explore the opportunity that abound through allinclusive Community Health Insurance Scheme.” “It is for the operators to make the decision whether they want to make the first step or not,” he said. Guest speaker at the occasion, Prof. Adedoyin Soyibo, advocated for a multi-polar system of healthcare financing, citing that funding was one of the most important issues in creating universal access globally. Comparing two examples of social health insurance in the United States and Sweden, Soyibo advised that the all-inclusive and multi-polar source of health funding in Sweden was the best paradigm to follow, especially in respect of the heterogeneous nature of the Nigerian environment. He observed that a situation where about 70 per cent of N83 billion average yearly expenditure on healthcare in Lagos comes from out-of-pocket was an indication that the people wanted to pay for quality services at minimal cost. Soyibo urged the government and private sector to improve on all-inclusive health insurance for the people by pulling resources together, adding that “our strength lies in our population as well as in our diversity.” Welcoming the participants, Lagos State Commission for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, had said the deliberation was apt, coming at a time when health indicators for Nigeria were among the worst in the world. Idris noted that Nigeria shoulders 10 per cent of the global disease burden and was making slow progress towards achieving the 2015 targets for the health related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Continuing, he said: “In the report on the State of the World’s Mothers of 2013 launched on Tuesday, 176 countries were assessed for the well being of mothers and children, Nigeria was ranked 169; that is among the bottom 10 countries all of which are from the sub-Saharan Africa. “This brings to the fore an urgent and pragmatic intervention of all stakeholders - whether public, private or even donor agencies,” he said.

‘Why heavy coffee drinkers are less likely to develop prostate cancer’

SCIENCE & HEALTH 43

Prevention, control of non-communicable diseases top agenda as World Health Assembly begins From Chukwuma Muanya, Rotterdam HE prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is top on the agenda of the Sixty-sixth session of the World Health Assembly (WHA), which begins in Geneva from May 20 to 28, 2013. A meeting of delegates from the WHO African Region on Sunday May 19, 2013 will precede the opening ceremonies of the 66th WHA. The Nigerian delegates to the Assembly will be led by the Health Minister, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu. Other top Nigerian health officials expected to attend the 66th WHA are: the Director General of the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the Executive Director National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), among others. The Guardian reliably gathered that top on the country’s agenda to the Assembly besides NCDs will be poliomyelitis: intensification of the global eradication initiative; global vaccine action plan; prevention, control, elimination and eradication of neglected tropical diseases; malaria; follow-up of the report of the Consultative Expert Working Group on Research and Development: Financing and Coordination; universal health coverage; the health workforce: advances in responding to shortages and migration, and in preparing for emerging needs. The WHA is the supreme decision-making body of World Health Organisation (WHO). It is attended by delegations

from all WHO Member States and focuses on a specific health agenda prepared by the Executive Board. The main functions of the WHA are to determine the policies of the Organisation, appoint the Director-General, supervise financial policies, and review and approve the proposed programme budget. The Health Assembly is held annually in Geneva, Switzerland. According to the provisional agenda for the 66th WHA published by the WHO, the Opening of the Health Assembly will be followed by the appointment of the Committee on Credentials and election of the President, election of the five VicePresidents, the Chairmen of the main committees, and establishment of the General Committee, adoption of the agenda and allocation of items to the main committees, report of the Executive Board on its 131st and 132nd sessions, and address by the WHO Director General, Dr Margaret Chan. There will be discussions on Draft comprehensive global monitoring framework and targets for the prevention and control of NCDs and formal Meeting of Member States to conclude the work on the comprehensive global monitoring framework, including indicators, and a set of voluntary global targets for the prevention and control of NCDs. There will also be deliberation on draft action plan for the prevention and control of NCDs 2013–2020. WHO developed a global monitoring framework to

enable global tracking of progress in preventing and controlling major NCDs - cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic lung diseases and diabetes - and their key risk factors. The framework comprises nine global targets and 25 indicators and will be up for adoption by Member States during the 66th WHA. Other agenda of the 66th WHA are: Draft comprehensive mental health action plan 2013–2020; Draft action plan for the prevention of avoidable blindness and visual impairment 2014–2019; Towards universal eye health: a global action plan 2014–2019. The Executive Board at its recent EB130 session noted the Secretariat’s report on the implementation of the action plan for the prevention of avoidable blindness and visual impairment 2009-2013. The Executive Board decided in Decision EB130(1) that a followup action plan for the prevention of avoidable blindness and visual impairment for the period 2014-2019 should be developed. The Board requested the Director-General to develop a draft action plan for the prevention of avoidable blindness and visual impairment for the period 2014-2019 in close consultation with Member States and international partners, and to submit this draft action plan for consideration, through the Executive Board at its 132nd session, to the 66th WHA. World report shows more than one billion people with disabilities face substantial barriers in their daily lives. The first-ever World report on

disability reveals that of the more than one billion people in the world who are disabled, 110-190 million encounter significant difficulties in their daily lives. A lack of attention to their needs means that they are confronted with barriers at every turn. These include stigma and discrimination; lack of adequate health care and rehabilitation services; and inaccessible transport, buildings and information. The report recommends that governments and their partners provide people with disabilities access to all mainstream services, invest in specific programmes for those people with disabilities who are in need, and adopt a national disability strategy and plan of action. Importantly, people with disabilities should be consulted and involved in the design and implementation of these initiatives. At the 66th WHA, there will also be presentation of the Report on financial and administrative implications for the Secretariat of resolutions proposed for adoption by the Executive Board or Health Assembly; Disability; Follow-up actions to recommendations of the high-level commissions convened to advance women’s and children’s health; Social determinants of health; Implementation of the International Health Regulations (2005); Pandemic influenza preparedness: sharing of influenza viruses and access to vaccines and other benefits; Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework 2013 biennial report.

RINKING coffee every day can cut a man’s risk of prostate D cancer by almost 20 per cent - but only if he gulps down six Measles outbreak: Race to give a million children MMR jabs cups a day. New research shows heavy coffee drinkers are less likely to who missed their vaccinations million 10- to 16-years-olds are NE million children who tion. develop a tumour than those who drink none at all, or just a few Measles was virtually elimi- are now the most vulnerable. completely unvaccinated,” O cups daily. missed out on the Measles Dr. Mary Ramsay, head of she said. Scientists found it helped to ward off localised cancer- the slowMumps and Rubella (MMR) nated in the 1990s following

growing types that are mainly confined to the prostate - but had less effect on more aggressive forms of the disease. The findings, published in the Annals of Oncology, are the latest in a series of conflicting reports on the supposed benefits of coffee in keeping cancer at bay. Earlier this year, Dutch scientists claimed the drink had no effect on a man’s chances of developing a prostate tumour but tea slashed the risk by more than a third. But a United States study in 2011 also found six cups a day could more than halve the odds of developing a tumour. Every year nearly 40,000 cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed in the United Kingdom (UK) and 10,000 men die from the disease - the equivalent of more than one an hour. The risks increases with age, with men over 50 more likely to develop a tumour, and there is a strong genetic element to it. As with some other types of cancer, diet is thought to be a key factor in the development of the disease. Scientists have found it difficult to identify the impact of specific types of food or drink because it can be hard to tease out the precise effects of each one. According to the British Coffee Association, UK consumers drink approximately 70 million cups of coffee a day. Only last week, a study claimed two cups of coffee a day could halve the risk of breast cancer returning by boosting the effect of the anti-tumour drug tamoxifen. In the latest probe by experts at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, nearly 45,000 men aged 45 to 79 were studied over a 12 year period to see how many developed localised, advanced or fatal prostate cancer. Researchers collected details of dietary habits, including coffee consumption, and found that for men downing six cups or more a day, the chances of falling victim to localised prostate cancer dropped by 19 per cent. Those on four to five cups a day saw their risk drop by about seven per cent but there was no benefit from anything less than four cups a day. Scientists found it helped to ward off localised cancer - the slow-growing types that are mainly confined to the prostate but had less effect on more aggressive forms of the disease. Researchers said men who were obese or overweight were most likely to ward off cancer.

vaccine around a decade ago are to be targeted in a national campaign to raise the level of protection against measles. Alarmed by the Swansea outbreak, where almost 900 people have been diagnosed with the disease, Public Health England is appealing today to parents of children who missed one or both of the MMR jabs before the age of five to send them for vaccina-

the introduction of MMR vaccine after the disease infected over 500,000 children a year in the 1950s and 1960s. But the disease re-established itself in the mid-2000s following an unfounded scare linking MMR to autism, which caused many parents to abandon the vaccine. Immunisation rates fell nationally to less than 80 per cent in 2005. Older children

immunisation at Public Health England, said children born in 2001-02, who are now just starting secondary school, had the highest rate of non-vaccination, and this was also the age group in which measles cases were highest. “We have a legacy of older children who were not vaccinated as toddlers. They are now at secondary school where measles can spread very effectively. We estimate a third of a

Chief Executive Officer, Outreach Children Hospital, Lagos, Dr Efunbo Dosekun (left); Project Manager, Anu Dosekun Healthcare Foundation (ADHF), Ruth Olomu and Medical Adviser, Nigerian Breweries (NB), Dr Richard Ajayi at the signing of a new partnership deal, to support Jaundice in Babies Awareness (JIBA) campaign in Lagos… recently

London and the South-east are at greatest risk of outbreaks because the region’s traditionally more mobile population made families more difficult to track. Ramsay said: “Measles is a potentially fatal but entirely preventable disease so we are very disappointed that cases have recently increased. The only way to prevent outbreaks, such as the one we are seeing in South Wales, is to ensure good uptake of the MMR vaccine across all age groups. Measles is not a mild illness – it is very unpleasant and can lead to serious complications.” The campaign will also target the third of a million 10- to 16year-olds who had only one vaccination, as well as children younger than 10 and older than 16 who also missed the jabs, numbering a further third of a million. The aim is to complete the £20 million campaign by September. Unvaccinated children will be identified from GP records, where possible, and their parents will be contacted. But experts urged parents not to wait for a letter but bring their children to vaccination clinics to be provided in GP surgeries, schools and health centres.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday,May 16, 2013

SCIENCE HEALTH

NHIS intensifies pressure on states to adopt health insurance From Emeka Anuforo, Abuja ESPITE its dream of securD ing universal coverage and access to adequate and affordable healthcare in order to improve the health status of Nigerians, the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is yet to enjoy good support from state governments, Acting Executive Secretary of NHIS, Dr. Abdulrahman Sambo, has said. The Scheme established under Act 35 of 1999 by the Federal Government of Nigeria, is aimed at providing easy access to healthcare for all Nigerians at an affordable cost through various prepayment systems, especially for those participating in the various programmes/products of the Scheme. Sambo told journalists at the weekend that among the three tiers of government, it is only the Federal Government that is making contributions to the scheme. He said, however, that his office has since embarked on advocacy to states on the need to embrace the scheme, noting that some states had started showing signs of adopting it. He said: “It is only the Federal Government that is paying its own contribution to NHIS and NHIS has been covering backlog of people. But, what have we been doing to ensure that all Nigerians are covered? We won’t just fold our hands and say ‘no, we have problem with our law; we can’t

implement’. No! So, we have been going round all the states sensitizing the governors, sensitizing the political leaders, the traditional leaders and individuals to appreciate the value of health insurance and the need to adopt one form of NHIS programme or another. “Realising the complexity of Nigeria and absence of social security system, we now design programmes that will fit into the different socio-economic groups that we have identified because it is about financing health. We have to categorize the people into socio-economic groups. That is how we now designed community-based health insurance programme where individuals living in a defined area or having one form of association such as motorcycle riders association, drivers’ association, farmers and others. They can come together and make their contributions into a pool managed by them or in they may want NHIS to do it on their behalf. NHIS assists in the management of that scheme.” He said that many people were yet to understand the NHIS scheme in full, as such, the misgivings. His words: “Most of the challenges we are facing are borne out of the fact that most people don’t understand what NHIS stand for. I will start with health care in general. Like any service provision, especially social service, there is the supply side and there is the demand side. Health is a product. You

have the hospital; you have the infrastructures in hospital, and you have the human resource components in the hospital. Then, on the demand side, you have patients that are going to the hospitals to access care and services of the hospital. “Now, in the process of doing that, costs are incurred. The question is: who settles the costs? Who provides the hospitals? Who constructs the hospitals? Who provides the equipment in the hospitals? There is cost to the supply side; there is cost to the demand side. Now, NHIS is about addressing the cost of the demand rather than the supply side. NHIS is not about building hospitals, it is not about buying equip-

ment for the hospitals. It is not about training staff or recruiting staffs to offer services in the hospitals. NHIS is about making it easy and affordable for patients to access health.” He went on: “How do you pay for health care? This comes in one to three ways. You can say you are on your own or government say ‘I will provide for you free health care’ or a combination of the two. And, lastly, it comes through insurance. These are the ways health care is financed globally. When it comes to cost for the demand, there are two broad categories: direct taxation, which means that government will tax people to collect money and fund the hospi-

tals directly. This is the model United Kingdom has adopted. There is no insurance per say, people are taxed. When we collect the money, we ensure that hospitals are well stocked with drugs, equipment and all that. If you go to the hospitals, you don’t have to pay a dime. “The other one is the insurance model which Germany and other countries of the world adopted. Under this model, there are two broad insurance in health, which are social and private health insurance. Social health insurance is where the government comes in as part of its social responsibilities to the citizens to ensure that health care is assessed and made more affordable to

the people and payment is made based on ability to pay. It takes the form of individuals coming in, and government organizing individuals either through their employers or those who are unemployed, who are so poor that they cannot afford anything.” He said that the constitution had made it so loose for health to be responsibilities of the three tiers of government. “The federal government is paying its own contribution on behalf of federal employees but the state employees and local government employees are not covered because state government is an employer; local government is an employer,” he added.

Govt earmarks additional N4.5bn for immunization From Emeka Anuforo, Abuja HE Federal Government T yesterday announced additional N4.5 billion to boost polio eradication in the country. The Ministry of Health stressed that the money has been approved by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to strengthen Nigeria’s Routine Immunisation (RI) and Polio Eradication Programme (PEP). According to a statement by the Minister of State for Health, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, Jonathan’s new commitment has made it

clear Nigeria’s confidence in the new plan’s ability to both achieve a lasting poliofree world and help build systems that will deliver critical health services, including vaccines and maternal health care, to those most in need. Pate who spoke after participating at the just concluded Global Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, stressed that the nation is on course on its polio eradication Programme. Nigeria is committed to the Global Polio Eradication Programme (GPEP) and RI hence the establishment of

the Presidential Task Force on Polio Eradication and the Save One Million Lives initiative as an approach to delivering results. Pate stated that Nigeria has made tremendous progress in the fight against poliomyelitis. Although, 16 cases of poliomyelitis have so far recorded in the country this year, however, he said that the country has not recorded any WPV3 for more than six months. He said: “Although, it is sad that we have not yet stopped the eradication of Polio in Nigeria, I am happy to announce that we have not recorded any cases of

WPV3 this year. Even on the cases recorded, they are largely in the state where we have security challenges, and we have been making spirited effort to tackle this also.” At the Global Summit, Mr. Bill Gates founder and coChair Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also announced USD1.8B to the end-game final Global Polio Eradication Plan 20132018. Other Countries including United Kingdom, Canada, United Arab Emirate, Islamic Development Bank also made substantial commitments.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

SCIENCE & HEALTH

Nigeria ranks low in global maternal, newborn risk indices By Wole Oyebade HE State of the world’s mothTNigeria ers’ 2013 report has ranked among worst countries to be a mother and a child in the world. Due to high number of maternal and infant deaths in the country, Nigeria ranks 169 out of 176 in the Mothers’ Index, and 175 out of 186 country in the Birth Day Risk Index category. Meanwhile, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, Partnership for Transforming Health System II (PATHS2) and Child Health Advocacy Initiative (CHAI) among others have described the ranking as a wakeup call for all stakeholders to double efforts at tackling maternal and infant deaths in Nigeria. The report, themed: ‘Surviving the first day’ is the 14th edition by Save the Children International, in honour of mothers everywhere. This report shows which countries are doing the best or worst at preventing maternal and infant deaths. The first-ever Birth Day Risk Index compares first-day death rates for babies in 186 countries to identify the safest and most dangerous places to be born. The annual Mothers’ Index uses the latest data on women’s health, children’s health, educational attainment, economic wellbeing and female political participation to rank 176 countries and show where mothers and children fare best and where they face the greatest hardships. According to the report, released last week, the day a child is born is by far the most dangerous day in a child’s life globally. Save the Children’s Birth Day Risk Index compares first-day death rates for 186 countries and finds that in most countries, children are at greater risk on the day they are born. Babies in Somalia have the highest risk of dying on their birth day. First-day death rates are almost as high as Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali and Sierra Leone. Two regions – sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia – together account for nearly 80 per cent of the world’s first-day deaths. Sub-Saharan Africa is by far the riskiest region to be born. The 14 countries with the highest first-day rates are all in sub-Saharan Africa. Babies born in the region are more than seven times as likely to die on the day they are born as babies in industrialized countries. An estimated 397,000 babies die each year in sub-Saharan Africa on the day they are born. The region accounts for 12 per cent of the world’s population but 38 per cent of the world’s first-day deaths. The 10 countries with the most first-day deaths are: India, Nigeria, Pakistan, China, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Afghanistan and Tanzania. India – with both a large population and a high firstday mortality rate – is home to more than 309, 000 first-day deaths (29 per cent of the global total). Nigeria has the second highest burden with rate of death on the first day at 14 per 1,000 live births, which is higher than the sub-

Saharan average (12 per 1,000). According to the report: “Nigeria has the 12th highest rate of first-day death in the world, making Nigeria one of the riskiest places to be born, as well as one of the countries with the most first-day deaths. Of all the countries in the subSaharan region, Nigeria is the most heavily burdened by first-day deaths. Each year, nearly 90, 000 (89, 700) mothers lose their baby the same day they give birth. “This is almost nine per cent of the global total of the dayof-birth deaths and the second largest share after India (29 per cent). Nigeria has less than five per cent of the world’s births but almost twice that percentage of first-day deaths. “12 per cent of all under-five deaths in Nigeria take place on the day a child is born and 34 per cent take place within the first month of birth. This means that more than onethird of all deaths to children under the age of five are deaths to babies in their first month of life. “Nigeria has almost twice as many deaths as the next mostheavily burdened country in the region (DR Congo with 48,400),” the report read in part. Country Director, Save the Children Nigeria, Susan Grant said at the Lagos launch that Nigeria had made significant progress in reducing the deaths of children under five since 1990, with the death rate of under five children declining by 42 per cent. While this is significant, she said reduction of death among children under-five was not sufficient by itself for Nigeria to be on track to achieve the ambitious United Nations MDG 4 goal of reducing 1990 child mortality rates by two-thirds by 2015. Grant noted that the status of women and children were strong indicators of the value that a nation places on its citizen. “Therefore any report on the state of the world’s mothers is in reality a report of the state of the world.” She added that helping babies survive the first day - as well as the first week and first month of life – represents the last great challenge “if we are to achieve MDG goal of reducing child mortality by twothird by 2015; less than two years away.” “Each year, 40, 000 women die during pregnancy and childbirth and over 250, 000 babies die in their first month of life. Most of these deaths are preventable. The time is now for all of us to invest in newborns - the report outlines key interventions, which can prevent newborns and mothers from dying. “Some key components are having more midwives and trained health workers to support mothers before, during and after delivery; clean cord care; immediate and exclusive breastfeeding, promoting skin-to-skin care (KMC) for premature babies - all low cost interventions which will help thousands of mothers and babies live,” Grant said. Representative of PATHS2, Lanre Alabi observed that routine studies by PATHS2 had shown that about 30 per cent of pregnant women attending antenatal care at care facilities actually take delivery, using skilled birth attendants.

Alabi said bridging the gap and increasing uptake in the facility utilization would be key to re-writing the “worrisome” statistics, amid collective efforts by stakeholders to reach zero infant deaths in the country. The bottom 10 countries on the Mothers’ Index are all in sub-Saharan Africa. Not surprisingly, many of these same countries also have very high rates of first-day death, and the region also occupies the 10 worst spots on the Birth Day Risk Index.

Countries like Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Netherlands occupy the first five in the Mothers’ Index, while Nigeria, Gambia, Central African Republic, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia and DR Congo are in the bottom seven. Senior Manager, Save the children Nigeria, Dr Abimbola Williams observed in her overview of the report that indicators used in the Mothers’ Index were lifetime risk of maternal death; children’s health especially in under five,

educational status or attainment of women; economic status and female political participation. Nigeria emerges 169 based on her maternal death risk ratio 1:29; under-5 mortality rate of 124.1 per 1, 000 live births; expected number of years of formal schooling is 9.0; Gross national income per capita $1,280 and 6.6 per cent seats held by women in national government. Williams observed that given that Nigeria has the largest population (162.5 million) of

Nigeria has the 12th highest rate of first-day death in the world, making Nigeria one of the riskiest places to be born, as well as one of the countries with the most first-day deaths. Of all the countries in the sub-Saharan region, Nigeria is the most heavily burdened by first-day deaths. Each year, nearly 90, 000 (89, 700) mothers lose their baby the same day they give birth.

any country in Africa, even a small reduction in the death rates of children, newborns and mothers could result in many thousand of live saved. In releasing this report, Williams said further, Save the Children is calling on the national government to complete the process of final passage and approval of the National Health Bill and to provide more resources to help reduce the deaths of mothers and babies on the day babies are born. Launching the report at the Lagos event, State Commissioner for Health, Idris said the gory statistics are wakeup call on all stakeholders to do more. He added that the Lagos State government remain committed to maternal and child health in the state and unrelenting in reaching zero maternal and infant death.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

SCIENCE & HEALTH

African countries move to replicate Nigeria’s Laboratory Science Council From Emeka Anuforo, Abuja African Health FRICAN Health Ministers at A the recently concluded maiden Conference of the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) have called for a replication of the Medical Laboratory Science Council Law (M25 LFN, 2004) across the continent. According to them, replicating the Nigerian regulatory law would help strengthen medical laboratory services

and systems for the good of patients across the continent. The inter ministerial meeting held in Johannesburg, South Africa last December has just published a communiqué highlighting grounds to be covered in the medical laboratory services sector. Importantly, they resolved to “Establish or strengthen National Laboratory Professional Regulatory Councils in every country to ensure the quality of the laboratory workforce, their ethical

practices and to set standards for laboratory practice and involved institutions, whether public or private, to the extent of enabling legislation.” The ministers, who met under the auspices of the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM), include Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, Nigeria’s Health Minister, Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi, Minister of Health, South Africa and their counterparts from Cameroon, Mozambique, Cote D’Ivoire, Tanzania and Kenya. Among

other critical issues, they recalled the Abuja Declarations on HIV/AIDS, Malaria, TB, and Other Related Infectious Diseases and also acknowledged the 2008 World Health Organization (WHO) Resolution AFR/RC58/R2 for strengthening public health laboratories in the African Region. Consequently, the ministers resolved to “make the necessary efforts to promote, through the regional economic blocks, a comprehensive,

harmonised laboratory workforce development strategy to develop and certify competent laboratory workers at all levels of facilities and to strengthen corresponding training institutions.” Interestingly, ASLM had earlier noted, that Africa, regrettably, “lacks strong national and regional regulatory systems to prevent the use of poor quality diagnostic products. Thus there is the imperative to focus on strengthening regulatory standards, systems for new product validation, standardised testing protocols and promoting regulatory harmonisation through advocacy, consensus-building, mobilisation and technical assistance.” Reacting to the call for other African countries to replicate the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN) Law with a view to improving laboratory, Prof. Anthony Emeribe, Registrar/CEO, MLSCN, said it was an encouraging development that once again gives

credence to Nigeria’s claim to being the “Giant of Africa.” He said replicating the regulatory law would surely help strengthen laboratory systems and services across the continent. While commending the government for enacting the MLSCN Law, Emeribe also said, “It also shows that the rest of continent is taking note of the improvements and the milestones being recorded in our laboratory services sector as a result of the legislation.” Further justifying the call for replication of the regulatory law, the ministers noted, regrettably, that Africa lacks strong national and regional regulatory systems to prevent the use of poor quality diagnostic products. Thus there is the imperative to focus on strengthening regulatory standards, systems for new product validation, standardised testing protocols and promoting regulatory harmonisation through advocacy, consensus-building, mobilisation and technical assistance.

‘Over 1.2m Nigerians diabetic’ From Bashir Bello, Kaduna Chairman Juli Pharmacy, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi (left); Lagos Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris and the Chief of Party, Strengthening Health Outcomes through the Private Sector (SHOPS), Ayodele Iroko at the second edition of the Private Health Sector Trade Fair in Lagos, recently

N Associate Professor of A Medicine and Nephrology with Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, Prof. Istifanus Bala Bosan, has given a statistics of about 1.218 million Nigerians diagnosed and living with diabetes in the country. According to Bosan, “in subSahara West Africa, there are about seven million people living with diabetes and diagnosed but in Nigeria, the figure presently is about 1.218 million that have been diagnosed to be diabetic.” Speaking during a one day seminar on diabetes, causes, prevention and management organised by the Kaduna State Chapter of the Nigerian Women Journalist (NAWOJ), the medical expert said the ailment is on the increase side in

the country. “It’s a big increase because in the 70’s less than one per cent of the population were known to have diabetes. By 1989 to 90, the figure has risen to about 1.7 to 1.8 and as at today we are talking about three to 3.5 per cent. So it’s quite an astronomical increase. “There is a group that would be said to have a fair glucose tolerance, this one are already beginning to develop diabetes but have not qualified to be diagnosed and diabetic. But are tending towards developing the disease and this figure is about 3.850 million Nigerians,” Bosan said. The professor of Medicine further identified smoking, consumption of alcohol, excess intake of junks food as some of the causes of diabetes

Lagos unveils two knee replacement patients By Tony Nwanne HE Lagos State University T Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja has unveiled two patients that undergo successful total knee replacement surgery in Lagos. The two patients, Rafat Oyelakin, 62, and Rafat Arowolo, 52, who had osteoarthritis of the knees, are on their feet again. The patients are beneficiaries of the total knee replacement surgery exercise that started over three years ago under the auspices of the Limb Deformity Corrective Surgery programme. Speaking during the unveiling of the patients, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, said the surgery was performed by local surgeons and sponsored by the state government. According to him, the knee replacement surgery exercise was started in realisation of

the high numbers of patients who applied to the state government for financial assistance to travel abroad to have the knee replacement surgery procedures done. “The surgery was an offshoot of limb corrective surgery, for it was observed that children are the most beneficiaries of the programme because adults were mainly down with osteoarthritis, a condition characterised by irreversible erosion of the cartilage covering the ends of the bones where they are approximated to form joints. “Due to the health policy of the state, we decided to go into the treatment. Other reasons include offering an opportunity to accomplish the establishment of LASUTH as a teaching hospital; a research institute and tertiary health institution where specialists can carry out their profession.”

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

Education WAEC faults NERDC over 39 new subjects, approves harsher sanctions for exam cheats By Rotimi Lawrence Oyekanmi HE West African Examinations Council T (WAEC) has questioned the propriety behind the Nigerian Educational Research and

November/December WASSCE include, but not limited to an upsurge in cases of impersonation, “in spite of the stringent security measures adopted and the reported presence of touts at many examination centres.” The communiqué added: “Members noted the report that in spite of the information clearly stated on candidates’ admission notices, which restricted them from the use of GSM phones and the body searches usually conducted before they were allowed into the examination halls, the number of candidates caught with cell phones in examination halls was alarmingly high.” In the course of evaluating malpractice cases for the 2012 November/December examination, the committee discovered that some candidates were indicted in more than one subject. “In order to check the ugly trend,” the document disclosed, “the committee subsequently decided that the sanction in the council’s rules and regulations for those indicted for malpractice in more than one subject should be reviewed from cancellation of subject results in those subjects, to cancellation of entire results.” On candidates’ performance, good scores were recorded in Commerce and Financial Accounting, but better in English Language, French (Paper 2), Literature in English (3) and Geography (1B) than in previous years. Performance was also fair in Arabic, Hausa, Shorthand, Typewriting and Foods and Nutrition, “but showed no significant change in Islamic Studies, Literature-in-English 2, Applied Electricity, Further Mathematics 2 and General Mathematics.” The document continued: “Performance was said to be below average in French 1C and Yoruba, and that it declined in History, Music 2B, Visual Art 1, Agricultural Science 3, Biology 3, Health Science 1 & 2, Physical Education 2 and

Development Council’s (NERDC) decision to introduce 39 new subjects in the reviewed Senior Secondary School curricula in 2011, without putting the proper structures in place. In an observation contained in the communiqué issued at the end of its 55th Nigeria Examinations Committee (NEC) meeting, held in Lagos recently, WAEC contended that the proper procedure for introducing new subjects into the school system “is for the teaching curriculum to be developed first and instruction in the new subjects to commence in schools.” It is only after these two steps, the council stressed, that examination syllabuses, which ought to have been made available to the schools three years in advance, could be developed before testing in the new subjects could actually commence. The council’s concerns were informed by the mandate it received, to commence testing in the 39 mostly trade subjects with the 2014 May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). But the communiqué declared: “enormous funds would be required to ensure proper management and conduct of examination in the new subjects.” It urged the “various governments” to provide WAEC with the enabling resources Rufai to achieve the objective. was endorsed at the meeting. Besides, This is not the first time that the NERDC is website, ensure that only bona fide candidates of a being accused of not carrying stakeholders to register for the WASSCE, it was also along in its curricula review activities, a charge school decided that Continuous Assessment Scores of the organisation’s Executive Secretary, Prof. school candidates be uploaded on the council’s Godswill Obioma has always denied. However, it was also discovered at the meet- website. Other challenges noticed during the 2012 ing, that there was an increase in examination malpractice during the 2012 May/June WASSCE, when compared with the previous year’s. The council’s concerns were informed by the manCollusion and irregular activities, inside and date it received, to commence testing in the 39 mostly outside examination halls, were the most prevalent forms. trade subjects with the 2014 May/June West African Frowning at the development, the council Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). But submitted: “If the principal of a school is determined that examination fraud would not be the communiqué declared: “enormous funds would allowed in his or her school, incidences of malbe required to ensure proper management and conpractice will be very minimal in the school.” For that reason, the plan by the council to duct of examination in the new subjects.” It urged the post major decisions of the committee, includ“various governments” to provide WAEC with the ing the list of schools de-recognised or warned as a result of examination malpractice on its enabling resources to achieve the objective.

Veritas varsity graduates 59 at maiden convocation From Leo Sobechi, Abakaliki ANY of the guests that attended the first convocation of Veritas University, Abuja, held at its take-off campus at Obehie, in the Ukwa West local council of Abia state recently, were united in their opinion that proper indoctrination of Christian values in young boys and girls, readily manifests in academic excellence. There were 59 graduating students. In the nine programmes offered at the institution, six made the First Class; 38, Second Class Upper and 15 netted second class lower degrees. There were no third class, pass or fail grades. The best graduating student, Miss Fakorede Bisola Esther from the Department of Biological Sciences, had a Cumulative Gross Point Average (CGPA) of 4.83. She was trailed by Miss Ndukauba Chiamaka Jane, who also had First Class from Department of Social Sciences, with her GGPA of 4.75 in Economics. Of the eleven academic prizes won by the graduating students, Fakorede

in addition to clinching the Vice Chancellor’s award for the best graduating student, also collected the Dean, College of Natural and Applied Sciences award for the best graduating student in the college as well as the Head of Department’s award in the Department of Biological Sciences. Her closest rival, Jane, hauled two academic prizes Speaking during the ceremony, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Michael Kwanashie said the students “are the fruits of a formation process that started four years ago” even as he expressed the hope that they would “walk in the light of God and make a change in the lives of those they come across”. Kwanashie stressed that Nigeria and humanity require a new breed of leaders that would subject themselves to the will of God and serve their neighbours with open hearts and mind with the love of God. He charged the graduands to “let the impact of your formation show in the world of work, in your communities

and in the country as a whole”. The Vice Chancellor noted that though there were numerous and diverse challenges facing Nigeria today, the decaying moral and ethical foundation of the nation remained central. While decrying the level of corruption and greed in the society at all levels, Kwanashie insisted that education must be recognized as a veritable instrument of transformation. He declared: “An educated society finds it easier to appreciate the complexities of human existence and is better equipped to cope with the challenges therein. What manner of education do we need in Nigeria? How do we make education transformative? Moral education is imperative within the context of our current educational system. One of the most disturbing aspects of most of our higher institutions of learning is the gradual decline in the moral tone and in character building. The implications have been grave for the society and even the church”. He disclosed that the Church in

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Physics 3. The Committee further noted the strengths of candidates, which were mentioned in the Chief Examiners’ Reports, including their ability to generate reasonable ideas for the content of their compositions; understanding and interpretation of the demands of questions; orderly and straight forward answers in some subjects; and appreciable display of the skills required for performing the given tasks in practical subjects, as well as good grasp of some aspects of various subjects. “Members also noted the weaknesses of candidates mentioned in the Chief Examiners’ Reports, including weak manipulative/mathematical skills; lack of in-depth understanding of various concepts, with points merely listed where detailed explanations were required; poor command of the English Language; poor handwriting which made the reading of the responses difficult; incorrect spelling of technical terms and inadequate study of the set texts which was evident in the sketchy answers presented.” To guard against future poor performance in the WASSCE, the committee advised students to learn the basic grammatical structures of English Language; read the rubrics and ensure that they understand the questions before attempting them; cultivate the habit of reading widely with a view to improving their vocabulary; and endeavour to cover the syllabuses for the subjects they wish to sit for, before the commencement of examinations. Candidates were also implored to: procure and read the prescribed texts in the various subjects rather than rely on commentaries or ‘key points’; learn the basic principles and concepts in the various subjects and apply them to solving simple everyday problems; pay attention to the correct labelling of diagrams and the spelling of terms associated with the various subjects; and make effort to write legibly. The committee meets twice a year to consider matters related to May/June and November/December examinations. Membership comprises representatives of State Ministries of Education, the All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) and the Universities. It also includes the Registrar to Council, the Head of the Nigeria National Office, the Head of the Test Development Division (TDD) and the Head of the Test Administration Division (TAD) of the Council. The Director, Basic and Secondary Education at the Federal Ministry of Education chairs the committee.

Nigeria has a very rich history of education, which has greatly contributed to the educational progress of the country, adding that “Nigeria has since independence benefitted greatly from catholic schools”. The Vice Chancellor remarked that at inception, the University started with two colleges namely, the College of Management, Social Sciences, Arts and Theological Studies (MSAT), and the College of Natural and Applied Sciences (NAS). “The University still has both colleges with six departments and nine programmes: three in the Applied and Natural Sciences and six in Management, Social Sciences and Arts,” he stated, recalling that the institution gained full accreditation for all its programmes from the National Universities Commission (NUC) in March 2012. In his goodwill message, the Chancellor of the University, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, expressed happiness that “finally, a dream we had about five decades ago, a vision we conceived about 10 years ago and a project we

commenced in 2008 has finally started to yield fruits”. Going down memory lane, the Chancellor recalled how in 2002, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, (CBCN) decided to join the race for the establishment of privatefaith based universities in Nigeria. He said: “Our action then was a clear indication that the Catholic Church was eager to regain its pioneer position in education in Nigeria; a feat it had achieved as a result of avowed commitment towards the provision of primary and post-primary education in the country.” He added that a formal launch for the establishment of the Catholic University was carried out at the International Conference Centre, Abuja on March 13, 2003. He pointed out that given the quality of presentation by the CBCN, the NUC did not hesitate to grant a provisional license for the establishment of Veritas University in 2007. “Already in 2003,” he added, “we had acquired a 200hectare land at Gaba, Igushere road in Bwari Rea council at the Federal Capital Territory.”

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

Education

Abuja School for Blind’s students call for help From John Okeke, Abuja TUDENTS attending the SBlind, Abuja School for the situated in Jabi community in the Federal Capital Territory and some civil society organizations, have urged the federal government to assist blind students to improve on their welfare as citizens, who are also entitled to the dividends of democracy. Speaking at a one-day walkathon held in Abuja recently to raise funds for the school, a visually impaired teacher, Mrs. Anna Ekandem, lamented that the number of the visually impaired students have been increasing astronomically in the school, just as

lack of infrastructure has also been a serious challenge. Besides, she stressed that lack of books and instructional materials in the school has constituted a major setback. Her words: “the school is overpopulated. We need more hostels and classrooms. Imagine, there are 30 people in one dormitory. It shouldn’t be. The government can do more by expanding the structures in the school a little more, so that we don’t contract diseases. She continued: “The greatest challenge we are having is lack of materials. The students don’t have many books. Organiser of he event and

coordinator of Likeminds Project, Mrs. Fatima Mohammed stated that a lot of gaps had kept the school in a dilapidated state over a long time. She urged the Federal Ministry of Education to assist the school. She said: “We found out, when we visited the school, that there were a lot of things it needs. So we decided to organize a walk, basically to raise funds and help the school increase its facilities. I want to use this medium to tell the Ministry of Education that the school has special needs as far as facilities are concerned. The school needs upgrading. There are a lot of gaps. The school needs teachers, especially specialists.”

Northwest varsity matriculates 1083 From Murtala Muhammed, Kano HE Kano state governT ment has so far released six billion naira in the last one year, for the establishment of Northwest University, its Vice Chancellor, Prof. Dato Muhammad Razalu Bin Agus has said. Speaking at the institution’s matriculation ceremony at which 1, 083 new students took the matriculation oath recently, the vice chancellor also said that the university has, so far, secured the approval of National Universities Commission (NUC) to admit the number of students admitted to undertake 24 programmes in four faculties. He added that the institution was poised to establish academic relationship with international universities for “rapid growth in academic research.”

Governor of Kano State and visitor to the university, On his Mr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso said no stone would be left unturned in ensuring conducive teaching and learning environment at the temporary site of the university, where construction work is currently going on. He expressed optimism that the projects would reach various levels of completion by next year. Kwankwaso emphasised that the necessary palliative instrument for sustaining adequate funding of education in the has been incorporated in the recently signed State Education Trust Fund, which makes it mandatory for the state government to set aside two percent of its internally generated revenue and five percent of local government and federal allocations for the development of the sector. The governor also hinted

on efforts by the state government to recruit new senior lecturers to fill various vacuums in both the Northwest University and the state’s University of Science and Technology, Wudil. He urged wealthy individuals and groups to support the administration in achieving the objectives of establishing the two universities. Meanwhile, the governor, at the occasion, installed the Emir of Argungu, Alhaji Sama’ila Muhammad Mera, as the Chancellor and Alhaji Sule Yahya Hamma, as the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the governing council of the university. In his acceptance speech, thanked the governor for giving him the opportunity to serve. He promised to work with other officers of the university to provide good leadership to enable the institution attain its goals.

Establish more schools in riverine areas, CSACEFA tells Fashola By Ujunwa Atueyi N its effort to continually Ihinder identify factors likely to the realization of the Education For All (EFA) goals, especially in Lagos State, the Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All (CSACEFA) has called on Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola to, as a matter of urgency, embark on the establishment of more public schools in the riverine areas of the state. It listed such areas as IbejuLekki, Amuwo-Odofin, Ikorodu, Ilaje, Bariga among others. The group, in collaboration with the Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria (ESSPIN) and other stakeholders, made the call recently, at a briefing to mark this year’s Global Action Week on Education, themed: “The Child, Our Future”. The occasion is one of the major focal points for education campaigners to

highlight an area of the EFA agenda, and make targeted efforts to achieve change. While requesting for more recruitment of teachers, the group also emphasized the importance of retraining and providing good remuneration for them. Besides, it called on law enforcement agencies to collaborate with the state’s Ministry of Education to prosecute parents and guardians, whose children hawk on the streets of Lagos during school hours. Coordinator of CSACEFA, Dr. Keziah Awosika said: “Lagos State government should live up to its responsibility of providing sufficient public schools in every area of the state, particularly the riverine areas. While many public schools are renovated in the urban areas of Lagos, the reverse is the case in the rural areas, particularly the riverine areas. They have insufficient schools serving

their teeming population, compelling parents to fall prey to exorbitant charges of private schools. “The issue of street trading by children during school hours defeats the compulsory universal basic education scheme, provided for in the Child Rights Act. Yellow card should be strictly enforced. Inadequate training of teachers affects the quality of education, which the child receives. Poor quality of education in both private and public schools increases the number of unemployable graduates pushed yearly into the labour market. “Non provision of basic infrastructure; lack of political will to implement policies on education; inadequate budgetary allocation to the education sector; and neglect of this all important sector by the media, amounts to why it may be difficult to achieve EFA.”

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

Education

Competent teachers are hard to come by, says Tejuosho Private school owners and managers face many daunting challenges these days. But the biggest of them all seems to be how to get competent teachers. Every school has a story to tell on how awful a teacher recruitment exercise can be. For the Director of Mictec International schools, Mr. Michael Tejuosho, all stakeholders need to do something urgent about the problem. But that is not all. Tejuosho also told MARY OGAR that parents who hire mercenaries to write examinations for their children are courting trouble. Excerpts: of ICT, its use and regulaOAsNtionproliferation in schools a country, we must not just jump into things because it is the rave of the moment. We must not just jump into things without adequate research and investigation, including the technical know-how. We must also pay particular attention to getting it right. Some years back, when the country wanted to embark on the 6-3-3-4 system, the Nigerian government bought all the gadgets for our junior secondary schools. I can tell you confidently that in most of our schools were these gadgets were being dumped, they did not make provision for the technicality, the information required, for the use of all the gadgets. There was future plan for the project. All this is very essential and it is necessary that we must redefine our bearing otherwise we will not get it properly. In Nigeria, most school owners are not really educators and that implies having a good knowledge of what you are doing and doing it properly. I know that in the United Kingdom, we have the interactive boards and all the others, but they have a session where that is being arranged in the classroom, when they need to teach the children. The usual teaching and learning are actually done in the conventional way, that would make the learner understand and grab lessons adequately, not just what some schools are doing by trying to hoodwink parents and get more money from them. What I think is necessary is that we need to define what we are doing, what level are we and what do we want to achieve from there. We must endeavour to teach our pupils what is relevant that they can comprehend and practice without any form of difficulty and would be able to feature anywhere and anytime when that knowledge is being demanded. That is what we should have at the back of our mind when we are embracing new technology. Dearth of research in Nigerian Universities and the implication for the country. The dearth of research in the country is a problem that would affect not only academics, but the economy of the nation. A situation where education is put at the lowest ebb and is not being given adequate recognition would only spell doom for the country. Most educators, particularly those in the research world, are not being encouraged. They are not provided with the necessary resources to enable them bring out something that would help both the learners as well as the industry and that is what we critically need to thrive as a nation. Definitely we are heading towards a serious economic and political disaster when the leadership in the nation does not give priority to education and does not encourage those at the helm of affairs in the education sector to train the leaders of tomorrow. Where the problem lies The problem basically goes back to the political system we are running in this country. We lack the vision and leadership that would bring the much-needed transformation. It is the leadership that propels and paves the way for robust research work and dynamic institutions that would enable what we are doing to have relevance across the globe. The development of education in Nigeria is quite interesting. In the 50s, we had the white people coming to this country to study. I recall a number of white people I met at the

Tejuosho University of Lagos, who were expatriates coming to study in Nigeria and our standard across the globe was well recognized. So, we had good foundation from the outset, but the fact remains that we need to update and upgrade facilities wise . If we fail to make provision for upgrading, bringing in the innovation and technology that would bring the desired change, then the learning system would continue to be at the lowest ebb. And that is what is happening. Also, our libraries are nothing to write home about. Students are bent on taking short cuts to pass their examinations. The e-library is not provided. Our primary schools are just confined to the few textbooks that are available. In the United Kingdom and some other countries, a child in the primary school can go online and download a lot of materials. They do a lot of work on their own because they have access to materials. But that is a big problem for us in Nigeria because the facilities and infrastructure are not there. The resources that would enable even the trainer to train the trainee effectively are not provided. The encouragement is not there and the motivation is completely eroded. All these issues cannot be isolated from the quality of our educational system. On challenges We have had quite a lot of challenges. We have the challenge of policies from the Federal Ministry of Education and that of the state. We have the challenge of economic stability. We also have the challenge of getting good teachers. It is difficult getting good teachers in recent time. We have to do a lot of training to make them fit in and to ensure that the standard we put on ground is not eroded. It is also a challenge getting people to hold on to the standard you say you have. You have to continuously monitor and re-emphasise what you want to keep them in line. Experience in recruiting teachers Sincerely, it has been a source of great concern on our part to see that some graduates coming out of our universities cannot write good sentences. It is appalling to see that graduates who even studied English Language cannot write or communicate effectively. But that goes on to tell you what is happening in our tertiary institutions and this should be of great concern to all stakeholders. However, I think virtually everybody is losing sight of the real picture. Some people believe that you have to go to the private universities to recruit, while some believe that the solution is to go outside Nigeria to get graduates, from Ghana and even as far as India. This is very bad but the fact remains that going to bring Indians to teach here also has its own challenges and the system of education also varies. I recall that some years back, we did not accept them or recognize their standard. But if Nigeria is now going to India and other parts of the world to recruit teachers, then it calls for great concern that we educators need to do something. The government also needs to arise and do something. Back then, in any part of the world when you mention Nigeria, they know these are brilliant people. We had standard and that is what the government at all levels must work towards bringing back.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

Stanford varsity solar centre honours Onada HE Stanford University T Solar Centre has conferred the “Hero of Solar and Space Science” award on Mr. Temitope Onada. According to a letter by the Director of the Centre, Deborah Scherrer, Onada, who holds a University of Ibadan Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering Physics and a Master’s degree in Radiation Protection, was picked for the award because of his “tireless efforts to encourage African students to not simply learn about, but become excited about the Sun, the Earth, and the connections linking them.” Besides, the letter stated that Onada’s sustained success in inspiring educators, scientists and students from round the world to work together and his compelling use of data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory to motivate youth to become

involved in space physics, informed his nomination for the award. Justifying the award, Scherrer, in an email explained: “We have been working (long-distance) with Onada for quite some years. He has devoted a significant amount of his time and effort into educating Nigerian students about science, engineering and technology. It is his passion, as it is mine and many of the scientists here at Stanford.” She continued: “We have been occasionally able to send Onada materials to support his efforts. He has put these materials to very good use, hosting special science events for students, offering them training materials, encouraging their interest in and exploration of science. He has developed games, which enthuse and excite the students about science.”

Onada

Oyedepo tasks students, staff on growth of Landmark varsity By Felix Kuye HANCELLOR of the Landmark University, Dr. David Oyedepo, has enjoined students of the institution to strive towards discovering a vision for their lives and contribute meaningfully to the growth of the school while taking advantage of its conducive environment to develop themselves. Oyedepo, who spoke when he visited private institution, also reiterated the need for staff to express the creative potentials in them towards building a world class university.

At a meeting with the students’ body, the Chancellor’s message centered on the need for the students to cultivate Godly character as a way of life, noting that passing through Landmark University without salvation amounts to a wasted life. According to a statement, Oyedepo, after a meeting with the management staff, made a tour round some of the university facilities, including the Teaching and Research Farm, where he was shown the 50.6 tonnes of maize harvested from the staff/students farm.

Isoko group commends Uduaghan’s commitment to education HE Isoko Advancement Network (IAN) has commended Delta State governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduagahan for his commitment towards the development of education, especially at the tertiary level in the state. The commendation forms part of the consensus reached by members of the group, after undertaking a facility tour of the Delta State Polytechnic, Ozoro, as part of its policies to galvanize and encourage its members who are in leadership positions. Mr. Mike Ogwah, the National Chairman of the body said the tour revealed that the Polytechni is being fully developed to meet the educational needs of the students as well as the desires of the community. Ogwah said members of the

body were amazed at the commitment of the leadership of the institution led by its Rector, Dr. Jacob Oboreh, especially in the provision of infrastructure within the short time of its assumption of leadership. The National Chairman explained that it was part of IAN’s to monitor its members and give them an enabling environment to excel in leadership positions in line with the belief and thoughts of its National Patron, Comrade Ovouozourie Macaulay, the Delta State Secretary to the State Government. The Rector had earlier explained that Uduaghan had done a lot to continuously “nurture and nourish the school, saying that the Governing Council and Management of the school ware grateful to the state gov-

EDUCATION 71

NBTE, stakeholders discuss vocational qualification framework By Ujunwa Atueyi To tackle the challenges facing skills development in Nigeria, the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), International Labour Organisation (ILO), National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB), Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board (LASTVEB), other agencies and industries, are working out the modalities for the institutionalization of the National Vocational Qualifications Framework (NVQF). To achieve the objective, stakeholders recently met at a workshop in Lagos, to create a National Occupational Standard (NOS) that would determine the expected competency for each occupation. When full operational, the framework would place outof-school children, working adults, graduates and apprentices at both the formal and non-formal settings in their rightful positions, as far as skill acquisition and competency are concerned. Themed: “NVQF: New Deal for Nigeria’s Skills Development”; the workshop’s aim was to design a system for the development, classification and recognition of skills, knowledge and competencies acquired by individuals, irrespective of where and how the skill was acquired. It gives a clear state-

Past President, Nigerian Library Association, Prof. Daniel James (left); Representative of the Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan (UI), Prof. David Elaturoti; Registrar, Librarians Registration Council of Nigeria (LRCN), Dr Victoria Okojie and Representative of the Oyo State Commissioner for Education, Pastor Moses Adigun, at the National Workshop for Librarians and Information Managers, organized by the LRCN at UI last Tuesday. PHOTO: NAJEEM RAHEEM

ment of what the learner must know or be able to do, whether the learning took place in a classroom, on-thejob or less formally. Executive Secretary of the NBTE, Dr. Masa’ud Kazaure, in his keynote address, observed that challenges associated with skills development started in the country immediately after the third National Development Plan, when emphasis shifted from competency to paper qualification. This development, he added, also brought about a disconnect between educational institutions and the industries, “leading to overdependence on paper qualification and neglecting the training being delivered at the non-formal settings. His words: “This however left

majority of people in the non-formal sector that have skills without qualification stagnant. In meeting the skill needs of the teeming youth and addressing the ever-rising challenges of unemployment and under-employment, governments in many countries have been compelled to strengthen the link between vocational training institutions and the workplace. That is why we are involving the industries in developing occupational standards, work-based verification and continuous assessment of trainees.” He continued: “The federal government through NBTE is working to establish the NVQF, so that those with non-formal training could have their skills measured and awarded certificates that

would be equivalent to various levels of higher education. The development and institutionalization of the framework will have a major change or impact on the life and work of many individuals, employers and the nation in general. “Individuals will fulfill their ambitions for personal development; employers will meet their needs for a more highly-skilled workforce and the nation will meet its needs for a more responsive and competitive economy. However, the challenge before us is to have the national will and resources to support the development and institutionalization of the framework. It is my firm belief that we can deliver at this crucial moment”, he expressed.

Sobowale to deliver Covenant varsity’s public lecture tomorrow OVENANT University will C hold its 35th Public Lecture tomorrow. Titled: “Communication, Politicians and True Democracy,” it will be delivered by Idowu Akanbi Sobowale, a reputable Professor of Journalism. Sobowale is currently the Head, Department of Mass

Communication, Covenant University and Chair of the University’s Opinion Poll Unit. He was between 1964 and 1975 a journalist with the Daily Times of Nigeria Limited, publishers the then largest circulating daily newspaper in Nigeria. He rose from being a

reporter to the position of the Assistant Editor, before he left for the academia in 1975. He was a war correspondent during the entire 30month Nigerian civil war between 1967 and 1970. Sobowale was thrice a Special Adviser and later Commissioner for Education

in the first and third civilian governments of Lagos State. He introduced opinion polling in Nigeria in 1978, after his return from Syracuse University, United States of America, where he obtained his master’s and doctorate degrees in newspaper and political communication respectively.

Indian embassy education expo begins today O give prospective Nigerian T students the opportunity of an affordable higher education, the Indian High Commissioner in Nigeria, Mr.

Shri Mahesh Sachdev will today declare the second Indian education expo open. Scheduled to hold at the Indian Embassy, Walter

Carrington Crescent, Victoria Island, Lagos the event will parade a number of colleges and universities that offer various programmes and cours-

Personal Assistant to the to Principal Consultant, Edumark Consult, Miss Sade Orode (left), Principal Consultant, Mrs Yinka Ogunde and Client Executive, Fisayo Balogun during Edumark’s recent media briefing on the forthcoming education show, scheduled to hold in Lagos

es in Engineering, Medicine, Management and Health Science at undergraduate and post graduate levels. According to the Director, Chartered Exhibition and Media P Limited, Mr. Hitesh Pujara, the exhibition is intended to create awareness about the fact that “quality education in India is more affordable than what is obtainable in Europe and America.” His words: “The Indian embassy has promised to ease the visa process for prospective and bonafide students. The biggest advantage of education in Indian is that, for International students, they don’t have to appear or pass the foundation course kind of an examination. Students can seek on-the-spot admission offered by the various universities and institutions directly during the Expo.”

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

74 BUSINESS

Stakeholders flay Runsewe’s removal from tourism agency By Karls Tsokar, Abuja

• Allege ethnicity in new appointments

OURISM industry in Nigeria may T suffer a nosedive if the allegation of reaction to the recent change in taken in a long while to remove political intervention is not controlled baton at the National Tourism Olusegun Runsewe from office despite his having more than one year and ethnic sentiments curtailed in Development Corporation (NTDC). Toyin Ahmodu, a tour operator in to the expiration of his tenure. appointing competent managers. This is the opinion of stakeholders in Abuja, said it was the worse decision Ahmodu said: “Nobody has taken Abuja when The Guardian sought their that the Federal Government has tourism seriously the way Runsewe

WASPAN wants service operators to enhance innovation with MNP By Adeyemi Adepetun HE Wireless Service Providers T Association of Nigeria (WASPAN), has said that the newly introduced Mobile Number Portability (MNP) regime, when running full throttle, would improve innovation in service delivery to Nigerian mobile subscribers. According to the body, which oversees value-added services in the telecommunications sector, MNP has strong potential to provide impetus for mobile operators to become more pro-active in service delivery to their customers. National Coordinating Consultant of WASPAN, Simon Aderinlola, said in the context of MNP, the mobile networks were basically service providers to the Nigerian mobile subscribers. He noted that a major factor that endeared subscribers to a network/service provider was its ability to deliver easy, need-filling, innovative services to subscribers.

He added that with MNP, operators found themselves in a faster-moving customer engagement and responsive environment where the extent to which an operator meets the core promise to subscribers comes to play all the more. “WASPAN commends the efforts of the Nigerian Communications Commission to offer subscribers more options in network service delivery through the mobile number portability scheme. We see it as a reasonable next step in the maturation of the market, and we do not feel its intent is disruptive. We expect that the regulator will keep a keen eye on ensuring that the complaints by any early adopters are given speedy attention, as these will virally communicate the service as being a success and help the Nigerian mobile user population appreciate that this is some of the power in their hands,” he stated. Aderinola noted that the arrange-

ment for an independent firm to handle the switching was in line with best practices, adding, “we expect that QoS (quality of service) checks be carried out to ensure that subscribers are not caught in the chasm of transiting from a network to another.” He promised that WASPAN would continue to lead the development and delivery of innovative mobile services to subscribers, indicating that that was what well-crafted and delivered VAS was all about. He stated: “At WASPAN, we are well noted for the wonderful solutions that have been delivered through mobile networks over the years and with the new MNP regime, we can only further deepen the delivery range and quality of such services to subscribers. We are resolved to further work with mobile operators to deliver very interesting and compelling offerings that will meet the expectation of the subscribers in Nigeria.”

has done in the years that he has been in the saddle, the passion with which he does the work of a tourism expert is appealing in itself and then the right attitude. “How can the country move forward in the face of all these allegations of sacrificing ethnicity for competence, and then the thankless attitude towards those doing great in contributing to the development of the country”. According to him, it is particularly surprising that this is happening at the time the Runsewe-led team has brought more than five investors to Nigeria and has already concluded negotiations with Taylormade, a United States-based company, specialists in tourism development, to come to Nigeria and put in their expertise and wealth for the development of tourism in the country. “How can they have confidence in Nigeria again, I am disappointed”, he said. Some stakeholders alleged that the appointment of Sally Mbanefo, a professional banker and social entrepreneur to take over from Runsewe who has a year and three months to the expiry of his tenure, and the removal of Yomi Bolarinwa from the Nigeria Broadcasting Commission (NBC), replacing him with Emeka Mba, who for eight years was in charge of the Film and Video Censors Board, were a move to sideline the South West from

holding key appointments, notwithstanding their performance in affirmative with what the Yoruba Socio Cultural group, Afenifere said in a statement at the weekend that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim, is using his office to promote ethnic agenda by replacing Yoruba in government with his kinsmen. Another player in the tourism sector, Chris Njoku, the General Manager of Alfa Travels, said he had no comment since it was the decision of the President. “Although I am an Igbo man, I don’t want to put sentiments in this issue, nobody can fault the good job the man has done for tourism over the past years, tribalism does not put food on the table for anybody and last forever. “My brother Anyim whom they said did the appointments and replacements should not let the golden opportunity given to the Igbo be destroyed by any self seeking government official”. Akinkunmi Olumide who also operates a travel agency in Abuja, said he “saw all these as envy, because Runsewe should have been allowed to finish his tenure. He actually changed the sector and the industry is moving to the better, this is one decision government may regret taking later because the international attention and recognition the NTDC is enjoying now may just go with the winds.”

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

BUSINESS 75

FAAN designates Dutse airport for agro export From John Akubo, Dutse HE Federal Airport T Authority (FAAN) has expressed satisfaction with the pace of work at the Dutse Airport preparatory for its role

in boosting agriculture export. Director Cargo Development, Dr. Roland U Ofule, said already the facility airport is in order and is in line with the Federal Government’s decision for seven additional

cargo airports in the country. He also expressed willingness of the federal airports authorities in collaboration with Jigawa state government in developing the cargo services on agriculture and allied products in the state in order

to boost the morale of farmers and subsequently take the state out of the woods. He explained that the action will encourage the local farmers in Jigawa state to go into massive agricultural activities that would involve farming

and cultivation with the sole aim of realising more farm produce that can be exported within the shortest possible time, without perishing. “We are here on Agro perishable export initiative which the federal Government

through the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Adaeze Odua, initiated. This is an initiative that is geared towards bringing in a paradigm shift from oil dependence economy to a multi prong economic sector.

Chellarams thickens beverages market with new offering By Clarkson Eberu N consonance with its misIproducts sion of churning out quality to give consumers value for their money and by extension enthroning a robustly competitive regime in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sub-sector of the nation’s economy, Chellarams Plc has introduced to the market a new beverage, Real Activ malted food drink. The 18-gramme powdery sachet product is manufactured and distributed across the federation by the company under licence from Regal Food Limited of United Kingdom. Speaking at the launch of the food drink in Lagos over the weekend, the company’s Chief Operating Officer (Brands

Division), Sanjay Pradhan, said that the product offers a tastier and nutritious alternative to existing brands of malted and chocolate food drinks in the market, noting that “the cutting edge of Real Activ is its inherent superior quality, while remaining comparatively affordable. He continued: “It is a product specially formulated in the United Kingdom, combining the goodness of barley and malt extract, cocoa powder, glucose syrup with that of numerous vitamins and minerals to produce a delicious, delightfully rich and nutritious food drink which provides instant energy.” Pradhan added: “ Whether hot or cold, with or without milk and sugar, Real Activ gives a natural taste of a malted drink”.

Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Prof. Modupe Afolabi (second left); the Regional Manager, Babafemi Aina (second right); Acting General Manager, Oluyemi Olaolu; and Customer Relation Officer, Afolabi Akinyemi (left), when the management of Mainstream Bank Plc paid a courtesy visit to the Deputy Governor, in Ado Ekiti.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

BUSINESS

Fidelity Bank strategises for high profile projects By Chijioke Nelson IDELITy Bank Plc has Ffinance expressed readiness to high profile projects in power, oil and gas, infrastructure and manufacturing sector, as part of its contributions to the realization of government’s local content initiative. The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Reginald Ihejiahi, who made the assertion, said “the proceeds of the Eurobond will further enhance the capacity of the bank to support the critical sectors of the economy and meet the growing foreign currency needs of its clientele in various sectors of interest. He noted that the financial institution signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the international oil giantShell, for financing support to their local contractors, added that the actualisation of the Federal Government’s local content drive was part of its business strategy. The bank also signed similar MOU with the Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO), to provide funding for contracts awarded to Nigerian compa-

nies that showed capacity to handle sensitive projects, which were exclusive preserve of expatriate companies due to lack of funds. It also pledged commitment to the real sector, the small and medium scale businesses, adding that its previous efforts have been shown in the number of projects it has funded in both private and public sectors. The bank noted that the availability of the bond proceeds will stabilise its dollar balance sheet, ease the pressure arising from demands from customers for tenured loans and enables the bank to target viable dollardominated/denominated transactions. The financial institution recently issued a $300 million Eurobond at 6.785 per cent, with five-year maturity, which marked it as the third Nigerian bank to have explored the window of opportunities of Eurobond issue to raise funds from the international market. According to reports, only institutions with strong fundamentals are able to go through the process because of the stringent procedures of the international fund managers.

Inlaks deploys ATMs, mobile banking solutions NLAKS Computers Limited, , ICommunications an Information and Technology (ICT) and Infrastructure solutions provider in West Africa region is deploying e-banking infrastructure and solution with the highest security feature. The solution seeks to assist in the transformation of the financial services sector of the Nigerian economy. These solutions include ATMs and Temenos Arc Mobile (mobile banking solution) to enhance better return on investment in the sector. Inlaks informed that financial institutions such as banks are considered among the most secure institutions, yet they are continually plagued with multiple levels of financial fraud from external and internal sources. Though the financial institutions are doing so much to cub fraud, this adds significantly to their cost of security installations. However, the highest level of financial fraud is committed via the use of Internet. Thus, the ultimate security lies in the security features of the infrastructure and solutions that are deployed. Inlaks is partnering Hyosung, a major leader in ATM security solutions. Hyosung achieves this leadership position by safeguarding the future and integrity of the self-service channel through investing in new technologies, services and initiatives to stay ahead of organised ATM crimes, which has become a fast target locally and globally. Some of these initiatives include physical ATM security. Brute force attacks on ATMs are widespread in Nigeria and as the types of attack change and the

success rate is improving, cash losses in millions of naira associated with physical attacks are increasing. Hyosung ATMs in Nigeria therefore come with broad selection of heavy-duty safes, external loud alarms, advanced locks, integrated cameras and monitoring equipment. Card fraud prevention initiative ensures Hyosung’s multi-layered approach to protecting cardholder data at the ATM in Nigeria.

Sales Manager, Borderless Networks Architectures. Cisco United Arab Emirate. Obama Rasoul (left) Business Development Manager of the Company, Nabil Badr, Sales Manager CISCO Nigeria, Valetine Nwabueze and Head, Architectures and Enterprise, Emerging Markets Cisco, Den Sullivan at the Cisco’s New United Access Products briefing in Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI

Trade in creative products hits $624 billion globally By David Ogah, with agency report RT industry globally is A gradually becoming a gold mine as world trade in creative goods and services hits a record US$624 billion in 2011, up from $559.5 billion in 2010, according to the UNCTAD Global Database on the Creative Economy. In Nigeria alone a single visual auction can generate as much as N40million revenue for the auctioneer, while a performing artist can earn as much as N5million per outing At global level, exports of such goods and services as arts and crafts, books, graphic and interior design works, fashion, films, music, new media, printed media, visual, as well as audiovisuals, picked up in 2011 – the latest year for which figures are available — from $536 billion in 2009 and $559

billion in 2010. The sector has now exceeded its pre-crisis peak of $620.4 billion in exports in 2008 according to statistics released yesterday by UNCTAD. Released in advance of the global services forum in Beijing later this month, the figures show that creative services exports ,as opposed to creative goods, jumped to $172 billion in 2011, up from $163.8 billion in 2010, and a near tripling in terms of value from the 2002 total of $62 billion. Part of that increase reflects the trend in which more governments are compiling statistics on the creative economy. Architecture and related services, cultural and recreational services, audiovisual services, advertising, and research and development services are the core activities comprising creative services. As the knowledgebased economy expands around the globe, creative serv-

ices continue to grow, UNCTAD officials say. The Global Services Forum (GSF) is organized by UNCTAD together with the Ministry of Commerce of China and the Government of Beijing Municipality. Overall, global trade in creative products more than doubled from 2002 to 2011. The average annual growth rate during that period was 8.8 per cent. UNCTAD creative-economy statistics are based on official national data provided by governments. Growth in developing country exports was stronger still, averaging 12.1 per cent annually for the period. Such exports of creative goods and services reached $227 billion in 2011, or 50 per cent of the global total. According to UNCTAD, China remained the leading exporter of creative goods. Its creativeproducts exports tripled from $32 billion in 2002 to $125 bil-

lion in 2011, an annual growth rate of 14.7 per cent. The country’s exports not only reflect its ability to create, produce, and trade a mixture of traditional and high-tech creative products, but also the fact that many creative goods produced and exported by it are created or designed in other countries. In all, there are very few developing countries among the top 20 global players in the world market for creative goods, UNCTAD observed for most creative industry products and services — particularly those which are domestically consumed, such as interior design products, videos, music, video games, and new formats for TV and radio broadcasting — remained strong through the first decade of the century and were more resilient than other economic sectors during the global financial crisis and recession.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

NigeriaCapitalMarket NSE Daily Summary (Equities) PRICE LIST OF SYMBOLS TRADED FOR 15/05/2013

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

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NSE Daily Summary (Equities) as at 15/05/2013

PRICE GAINERS

LOSERS

Guinness Nigeria records N95 billion revenue Stories by Helen Oji UINNESS Nigeria Plc, has G recorded N95billion sales in the nine months ended March 31, 2013. The results were indicative of a strong portfolio of consumer brands holding their markets whilst gaining significant share growth in a declining overall beer and malt market. Commenting on the results, Seni Adetu, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Guinness Nigeria Plc, said the strong performance of key brands like Guinness Foreign Extra Stout, Harp Lager and Malta Guinness, and the positive contributions from strategic innovations were major drivers of growth in net sales. “Key brands continue to leverage their strong equities and connections with consumer passion points across premium and value

segments to drive growth in net sales. This has also translated into significant market share growth for the brands in our portfolio as we extend our footprint in the market,” Adetu stated. Guinness Nigeria Plc, part of the Diageo Group of companies, listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in

1965, and with a shareholder base of over 75,000 shareholders, is one of the foremost quoted companies in Nigeria. In 2010, the company announced an investment of N52 billion in its Nigeria business with the intention of expanding its production and route to market infrastructure.The company confirmed that

the first phase of the expansion project has been completed with the commissioning of a first of its kind brewing technology in 2012. This investment looks set to increase Guinness Nigeria’s’ stake in the beverage market with a substantial increase in production capacity and increased consumer access to Guinness

brands. Commenting on the state of the beverage market in Nigeria, Adetu observed that the business is upbeat about the future despite a continuing decline in the beer and malt market. “We know that the beer market in Nigeria is undergoing a general decline but we are confident that there will be

a reversal in this trend going forward. The critical thing for the management and board of Guinness Nigeria Plc is the confidence we have that our range of leading brands, our continued focus on distribution and our investment in our brands and people will deliver long term growth for the business.”

Mansard posts N12.44 billion gross premium, N1.38billion profit in 2012 ANSARD Insurance plc M has achieved gross premium of N12.44 billion, for the financial year ended December 31, 2012, against N10 billion posted in 2011. According to the company, its profit after tax increased to N1.38 billion, from N930 million in 2011, while net premium income stood at N7.11 billion, compared to N6.08 recorded in 2011. The percentage increase in gross premium is 24 per cent

while profit after tax rose by 48 per cent. Total Assets of the company increased by 14 per cent, to close at N27.29billion, from N24.02billion. Insurance Receivables and other receivables also stood at N3.81billion, from its previous position of N4.32billion. This, according to the company reflects an improvement in processes put in place to recover receivables within agreed timelines.

It also added that Shareholder’s Funds stood at N14.42billion, from N14.06billion posted in the previous year. Commenting on the performance, the Chief Client Officer, Tosin Runsewe said: “We achieved better results in the year by maintaining best practices in our corporate governance structure and remaining focused on our growth strategy. “In the medium to long term, we will introduce

more innovative products to the market and expand our retail branch network in a bid to improve accessibility by a growing customer base. These, combined with a continuous upscaling of our technology infrastructure, will ensure our place as a leading independent insurance company” According to the Chief Financial Officer, Rashidat Adebisi, “we closed with a GPI of N12.4bn, up by 24per cent

from the previous year. We also grew our PBT by 45per cent to N1.7bn, while Investment Income and Other Operating Income increased by 162per cent from N644m to N1.7bn.Our Insurance Receivables and Other Receivables went from N4.3bn to N3.8bn reflecting a 12per cent decrease. In 2013, Mansard Insurance will continue to improve on its performance, barring any unforeseen circumstances”.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

GlobalStocks Germany can’t stop euro zone from sinking into longest recession ERMANY’s economy crept G back into growth at the start of the year but not by

not as deep. The euro fell to a six-week low against a buoyant dollar, hurt by the anemic figures which kept alive chances of more monetary easing by the European Central Bank. The ECB cut rates to a record low earlier this month and its head, Mario Draghi, said it was ready to act again if the economy worsened. Some EU leaders, who meet for a summit in Brussels next week/ are also trying to shift away from the budget cuts that have dominated the response to the debt crisis since 2009.

enough to stop the euro zone from contracting for a sixth straight quarter, and France slid into recession. Falling output across the bloc meant the 17-nation economy is in its longest recession since records began in 1995. It shrank 0.2 percent in the January to March period, the EU’s statistics office Eurostat said on Wednesday, worse than the 0.1 percent contraction forecast by a Reuters poll. “The misery continues,” said Carsten Brzeski, a senior economist at ING in Brussels. “Almost all core countries bar Germany are in recession and so far nothing has helped in stopping this downward spiral. As well as France, the economy shrank for the quarter in Finland, Cyprus, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal and Greece. Data last month showed Spain’s economy contracted for a seventh consecutive quarter. Germany, which generates almost a third of the euro zone’s economy, grew by a weaker than expected 0.1 percent, skirting the recession that France succumbed to, but highlighting the devastating impact of the euro zone’s debt and banking crisis that has driven unemployment to a record 19 million people. France’s downturn was its first in four years, after contracting by 0.2 percent in the first three months of the year, as it did in the last quarter of 2012. Italy, the euro zone’s third largest economy, reported its seventh consecutive quarter of decline, the longest since records began in 1970. The euro zone’s recession is now longer than the five quarters of contraction that followed the global financial crisis in 2008/2009, although it is Traders at the Stock Exchange floor

But it will be tough for another rate cut and a softening of austerity - even if either happens - to break a cycle in which governments are cutting spending, companies are laying off staff, Europeans are buying less and young people have little hope of finding a job. “Any recovery is going to be excruciatingly slow,” said Nick Kounis, head of macroeconomic research at ABN AMRO. A Reuters poll of 65 economists suggested growth should return in the second half of this year, but there will no strong recovery until at

least 2015. Interest rates at a record low and the ECB’s promise to buy the bonds of struggling governments have calmed talk of a euro zone break-up, driving up equities and cooling bond yields. But the reality for companies and households is of tight credit and frozen investment, meaning demand in places such as China and the United States is the best hope for renewed growth. Of most concern is the difference between Europe’s two largest economies, Germany and France. It looks narrow

over the first three months of the year, but European diplomats and officials fear France will continue to lag far behind, threatening the cohesion of the twin policy motor that has traditionally driven the European project. French growth has faltered as unemployment undermines the confidence of both consumers and businesses, which are struggling to cope with government belt-tightening while Spain remains deep in the mire. Even Germany will find it difficult to reach take-off speed alone. Its statistics office

revised down its figure for the end of 2012 to show a contraction of 0.7 percent, from 0.6 percent. Thomas Gitzel at VP Bank sees a stronger performance in the second quarter as construction, hit by the winter, bounces back. But he added: “The current global economic backdrop makes a sustained recovery more unlikely. Difficulties in France and disappointing growth figures from China are strewing stones in the path of the Germany economy. Hopes of significantly higher growth could be premature.”

U.S. stocks rise on stimulus bets as manufacturing falls .S. stocks rose, erasing earU lier losses for benchmark indexes, as data showing weakness in manufacturing fueled bets the Federal Reserve will be in no hurry to scale back stimulus. JPMorgan & Chase Co. jumped 1.8 percent to its highest level since June 2007 as financial shares rallied. Procter & Gamble Co. added 1.7 percent as the index tracking consumer-staples stocks hit a record. Macy’s Inc. added 2.6 percent after reporting profit that beat estimates. Netflix Inc. rose 3.8 percent, extending gains for a sixth day. Deere & Co. lost 4.6 percent as the world’s biggest agriculturalequipment maker cut its equipment-sales forecast. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) rose 0.5 percent to a record 1,658.34 at 1:37 p.m. in New York. The benchmark gauge fell as much as 0.2 percent earlier in the session. The

Dow Jones (INDU) Industrial Average added 55.91 points, or 0.4 percent, to 15,271.16, an alltime high. Trading of S&P 500 stocks was in line with the 30day average at this time of day. “The global economic outlook gives some support to the idea that more easing is on its way, especially with soft inflation,” Oliver Pursche, comanager of the GMG Defensive Beta Fund and president of Suffern, New Yorkbased Gary Goldberg Financial Services, said via phone. The firm manages about $650 million. “It would be surprising if there was a meaningful and prolonged pullback at this point.” The U.S. bull market has entered its fifth year. The S&P 500 has surged 145 percent from a 12-year low in 2009, driven by better-than-estimated corporate earnings and three rounds of bond purchases from the Federal

Reserve. The central bank’s policy makers debated at their April 30-May 1 meeting whether to expand or curb the pace of stimulus. They said they’re prepared to increase the $85 billion monthly rate of bond buying in response to changes in the labor market or inflation. U.S. industrial production declined in April by the most in eight months, reflecting broad-based cutbacks in factory output. Manufacturing in the New York region unexpectedly shrank in May as factories received fewer orders and sales stagnated. Data from the Labor Department showed wholesale prices dropped in April by the most in three years, reflecting a decrease in fuel costs that is helping underpin profits. The euro-area economy shrank 0.2 percent in the first

quarter after a 0.6 percent decline in the previous three months, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. Bank of England Governor Mervyn King declared that a U.K. recovery is “in sight.” The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, rose 3.7 percent to 13.24. The benchmark gauge for options, which moves in the opposite direction to the S&P 500 about 80 percent of the time, rose with the equity gauge for the second straight day. About 91 percent of S&P 500 stocks traded above their average prices from the past 50 days as of yesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, approaching the two-year high of 93 percent reached January. Eight of 10 groups in the benchmark equity index advanced. Shares in compa-

nies that make food, beverages and household products jumped 1 percent, putting the S&P 500 Consumer Staples Index on track to close at an all-time high. Procter & Gamble Co. added 1.7 percent to $80.79. Indexes tracking consumer-discretionary and health-care stocks also headed for record closes. Bank shares rose 0.8 percent as a group, with the S&P 500 Financials Index on pace for its highest close since Oct.1, 2008. JPMorgan Chase climbed 1.8 percent to $51.28, the highest since June 2007, and American Express Co. added 1.6 percent to a record $72.68. Macy’s added 2.6 percent to $48.63. The second-largest U.S. department-store chain reported fiscal first-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates and increased its share buyback program by $1.5 billion.

Netflix Inc. extended gains for a sixth day, rising 3.8 percent to $242.83, the highest since August 2011. The world’s largest subscription video service’s streaming of the revived show “Arrested Development” is likely to have a larger impact on second-quarter gross additions than new series like “House of Cards” did in the previous three months, BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield said in note. Google Inc. rose 2.2 percent to a record $906.58, extending its rally to 18 percent since reporting earnings April 18. The company introduced a subscription music-streaming service, one of several product updates to be unveiled at a developer meeting this week. Energy shares fell 0.5 percent as oil headed for a fifth day of losses on lower fuel consumption and the weak factory data. Chevron Corp. dropped 1.3 percent to $123.33.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

Opinion In memory of Chinua Achebe By Anthony Akinola HE intellectual world will continue to reT member Chinua Achebe for the literary magician that he undoubtedly was. He was one of those great writers who brought pride and honour to African literature; generations yet unborn will celebrate him. However, there are two other reasons why the mention of his great name provokes thoughts in me. I once had the privilege of having to counter him on Chief Obafemi Awolowo, a political colossus of immortal memory. Chinua Achebe had in the aftermath of Awolowo’s death in 1987 concluded in an article that the reason Awolowo was not elected leader of Nigeria was because he was a “tribal leader”. This opinion was published in the New Nigerian newspaper. I did not agree with that conclusion, not least because it did not take the realities of Nigerian politics, as they were at that time, into account. We had a federation in which political advantages skewed disproportionately in favour of the northern region to the detriment of the southern regions, one fact that Awolowo had to contend with in the First Republic. In my rejoinder, published in West Africa magazine, I asked the great professor if the failure of his kinsman, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, to be elected leader of Nigeria was because he too was a “tribal leader”. Azikiwe had unsuccessfully “contested” the position of Prime Minister and President along with Awolowo in 1959, 1979 and 1983. Professor Ladipo Adamolekun thought my rejoinder was reasonable and polite. Thus, when there was a new controversy sparked off by Chinua Achebe’s last book, There

was a country, I deliberately chose not to participate in the debate. To me, Achebe had demonstrated he was a world away from those politicians who would say one thing today and another tomorrow. The same politicians who worked determinedly to prevent Chief Awolowo from realising his aspirations were the most vocal at his graveside, extolling what a great leader he was and how Nigeria could have been a better place with his leadership! If all that Achebe wrote about Awolowo and others oozed from his conscience or feelings, so be it. It is a different matter altogether that they were contestable. I have some kind of sympathy for those of us who “poke-pen” into sensitive ethnic or religious issues. Quite a lot of readers seek fervently that “satanic verse”, something you might have “misguidedly” said about their group or leader and your books could soon be parcelled together for the incinerator, with some kind of “fatwa” decreed over you! Now, to the more important reason Chinua Achebe’s memory resides in my thoughts. The great Achebe once had cause to bemoan our reading culture. He provoked the opprobrium of his fellow academics when he roped them in. He said they would rather chat away noisily than occupy themselves with reading while aboard the plane, unlike their American and British counterparts. Some of the intellectual elites did not quite enjoy this “lecturing” and there was this ridiculous “counter” that Achebe “did not even have a PhD degree”! One was made to wonder what having or not having a PhD degree had to do with Achebe’s remark. Couldn’t we just have accepted that someone who was intelligent and concerned

made an honest remark about his own people? If some had not perceived the PhD degree as an end itself, was there any of its then holders who did not wish they were Chinua Achebe in the eyes of the intellectual world? There is thus a temptation to sometimes despise others out of envy. The point Chinua Achebe was making about our reading culture is as valid today as it was in the 1980s when he confronted us with it. The truly-educated person does not read solely because of an impending examination or a paper to be presented somewhere – a truly-educated person reads for general knowledge. I have had the privilege of observing a population of book enthusiasts in Europe and America; you could see that they are the true descendants of the Mungo Parks, always wanting to discover something new. They want to know as much as possible about us while we are contented with knowing just a little, even about ourselves. They celebrate books and they make authors feel proud of their works by asking them for autographs! Nigerians want to read and be knowledgeable; one could see how our young men and women cluster around vendors to be able to read newspapers they are not able to buy. When one observes their poverty-induced situation, the blame for our poor reading culture inevitably shifts to visionless and purposeless leadership. How many of our towns and villages have public libraries? How many of our educational institutions can boast of being up to date and sufficient with books? There is, today, this culture of “book launch”, which has somehow taken the shine out of true intellectualism. The so-called author and pub-

lisher hardly have the general public in mind when they write or publish their book. The publisher is quite happy to print a few hundred copies, with the ultimate aim of a jamboree launch that has targeted wealthy men and women who could donate tons of naira for a book they would never read. The amount of money collected at a book launch, in their eyes, makes their book a successful one. In the truly-intellectual environment, the success of a book is judged by its impact and the number of those who have read it. With our type of national population of about 150 million inhabitants, a successful book should by now be selling upwards of 50,000 copies. Knowledge is the only conqueror feared by ignorance. If we must place ourselves in a position to effectively compete with the developed world, education would undoubtedly be our number one priority. Transforming the minds of the people should be the first and most important step in the quest to transform society itself. A forward-looking government would appreciate the value of public libraries, with enlightened men and women helping to sustain them. The late Chinua Achebe was right to have refused to accept honours and awards from corrupt and purposeless political leaders; what he would now not be able to reject is a world-class library in commemoration of his intellectual existence – my idea of a memorial and suggestion to whichever government, state or federal, that would want to celebrate the life of the great Chinua Achebe. • Akinola’s new book, Democracy in Nigeria: Thoughts and Selected Commentaries, is available online.

INEC and integrity of electoral system By Kayode Idowu WRITE this rejoinder to the editorial commentary in The IwasGuardian newspapers edition of Monday, May 6, 2013 which titled: “INEC and Voters’ Card.” As the title suggests, the commentary apparently aimed at a critique of the plan by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to persons currently listed on the National Register of Voters; but the piece ended up taking issue with the economics of the voter registration exercise of 2011, and conflated that with an alleged plan by the Commission to conduct a fresh registration exercise. Let me, first, say that INEC appreciates and fully shares the newspaper’s concern over the huge financial costs of elections in Nigeria. Indeed, a major thrust of its strategic planning presently is to seek ways of remarkably cutting back on expenditure while safeguarding the integrity of the electoral process. INEC has, thus, been looking at cost-saving international best practices that can be adapted to Nigerian peculiarities without exposing the system to abuse. But that is not to say the Commission has been on a needless spending binge. On the contrary, every expenditure by the present INEC under the leadership of Professor Attahiru Jega has been necessitated and strictly undertaken as an investment – with an eye on saving the country further costs in the future. That was the reality of the 2011 voter registration exercise, the cost of which the newspapers took a strong exception to. The editorial commentary took off by decrying the recent Federal Executive Council approval of N2.1 billion budget for INEC to produce 33.5 million PVCs that will be issued to registered voters. The suggestion by the commentary is that this cost requirement is isolated and needless; but, in truth, it is neither of these. The approved fund is for the second batch of PVCs being produced for the 73.5 million eligible voters registered by the Commission during the exercise conducted in January-February 2011. The government had last year (2012) approved N2.6 billion for production of the first batch of 40 million cards, while the latest approval is for the second phase of the same project. You could, of course, ask: Is the PVC project at all necessary? Well, the history of Nigeria’s electoral system proves that it is. The PVCs will replace the cold-laminated Temporary Voter Cards that were issued during the voter registration exercise in 2011. Experience has shown that these temporary cards are not only fragile, but also susceptible to abuse by unscrupulous persons, who were in the past reported to have illicitly massed

up the cards and put them in the hands of cronies to use in manipulating elections. Procedures put in place by INEC since the 2011 General Election have considerably lessened the susceptibility of these cards to such abuse. But the PVCs the Commission will in due course issue to registered voters are far much more fraud-proof. They are chip-based, with the chip on each card containing all the biometric data of a legitimate holder. During elections, the PVC will be swiped with a card reader at the polling unit to ensure 100 per cent authentication and verification of the voter before he/she is allowed to vote. In effect, only a legitimate holder can present the card at a polling unit to cast his/her vote; while an illegitimate holder can be detected and prevented from using the card. As for its economics, the PVC is being produced at a modest cost of about N65 per card, and it will have an average life span of 10 years. It is precisely to prevent a fresh outlay of capital after the expiration of this life span that the INEC chairman, at the FEC meeting where approval was given for the second batch, pointed the way to making the National Identity Card the document for voter identification in future elections in Nigeria. The expectation is that by the time the PVC’s life span expires, the national ID system should have come fully on stream and there should be no need for the country to incur fresh costs on separate identity document for voters. The most confused logic in your newspaper’s editorial commentary is the connection made between the PVC project and a fresh registration exercise INEC is alleged to be contemplating. For avoidance of doubt, sir, there is no plan for any fresh registration exercise and there is certainly no cause for one. Contrary to suggestions by the commentary, the 2011 voter registration exercise was successful and provides a solid basis for this country to finally discard the expensive cycle of massive registration exercises usually undertaken before General Elections in the past. The data of 73.5 million eligible voters gathered in the 2011 exercise is widely adjudged the most credible in this country’s history, and the Commission has ever since been cleaning up and consolidating the data to eliminate cases of duplication or multiple registration. All that INEC plans now is the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) mandated by Section 10 of Electoral Act 2010, as Amended. This procedure, which is a global best practice, allows for regular update of the National Register of Voters with the data of persons who freshly turned 18 years; while the records of those who are certified as deceased get cleaned out. Incidentally, the electoral laws of this country have always provided for the exercise, but the provision was al-

ways observed in the breach until the present Commission came on board and resolved to implement it as prescribed. The CVR will be rolled out by INEC nationally in the course of this year and will remain a permanent feature of the country’s political process. The cost of the 2011 elections and the registration exercise truly, was relatively huge – regrettably, but inevitably. However, contrary to lingering speculations, the actual cost of the 2011 elections, including all costs involved in the voter registration exercise, is N66.3 billion for Recurrent Expenditure and N56.6 billion for Capital Expenditure – making a total of N122.9 billion or, if you like, $800.6 million at an exchange rate of N153.5 to $1 which prevailed at the time. (Note: This represented a savings of some N9 billion on a total of N131.4 billion that was appropriated, and a far cry from N566.2 billion speculated in the editorial commentary.) Recall that this present Commission came in June 2010 to inherit a voters’ list that no Nigerian wanted kept at whatever cost, and it also had a challenge with the legal timeline that allowed it barely six months to the 2011 General Election. Faced with the national consensus against the existing register and the severe time constraint before the elections, the Commission had to adopt a methodology requiring that Direct Data Capture (DDC) machines be deployed in all the 120,000 polling units nationwide, plus 10 per cent redundancies in the event of breakdowns. That explains the 132,000 DDC machines procured for the voter registration. There were, of course, additional cost implications with the massive workforce (i.e., 450,000 ad hoc staff) enlisted to conduct the exercise. If comparison must be made, as the editorial commentary did, INEC captured the data of 73.5 million eligible voters in barely three weeks; whereas Bangladesh gathered the data for 80 million persons in 11 months, aided by the country’s military. INEC had previously explained the logic of the huge cost of the 2011 exercise, and it bears restating here for accuracy of the records of history. Let me assure you that this Commission is fiscally responsible, and it is for that reason it recently negotiated the selloff of 78,000 units of the laptop component of DDC machines it will not need for the CVR to some state governments. INEC is assiduously working and will spare no effort to upscale the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral system beyond the modest achievements recorded in 2011. Already, the Commission is pursuing plans and programmes that will make the 2015 elections the best in Nigeria’s political history. We can confidently say that the future of Nigeria’s electoral system can’t be brighter. • Idowu is Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

Opinion The robust Nigeria’s foreign policy (2) By Amedu Ode Continued from yesterday N a bid to encourage and promote the inflow of Foreign Direct Investment into the country, Nigeria has signed bilateral agreements and MoUs with several countries in the areas of trade, technological cooperation, ICT, education, culture/tourism, etc. The increased exchange of high level visits between Nigeria and other countries of the world have certainly enhanced Nigeria’s bilateral cooperation with these countries. Such high level meetings have attracted considerable investment portfolios to the country. Dr. Adebajo, in his article, failed to highlight the gains of our economic diplomacy, which the Jonathan administration has given renewed vigour in the last two years. He was obviously aware that the hosting of the World Economic Forum in Cape Town in May 2013 was not a contest, as Cape Town had developed an impeccable infrastructure over the years. Yet, he failed to acknowledge that Nigeria will host the same World Economic Forum next year. He must also be aware that the total in flow of investments into Nigeria last year was about $9 billion, as confirmed by UNCTAD, much higher than in the previous years. Both the World Bank and the IMF have equally commended Nigeria for the economic progress being made by the Jonathan Administration. This level of FDI inflow into the country has arisen from the foreign campaigns of this administration. The Bi-National Commission with various countries continues to deepen the gains, which the current administration has made in attracting foreign investments to the country. The Bi-National Commission with Germany, signed on December 2, 2011 by the Foreign Ministers of Nigeria and Germany has resulted in the inflow of the following programmes in Power Generation, Re-forestation, Emission Control and Capacity Building for Re-

search in Solar Power Energy for Universities. Others include: £65 million 30 megawatts Kiri Dam, in partnership with the Adamawa State Government; £50 million 20 megawatts Yola Solar Power Station; £1.5 billion 450 megawatts Gombe Coal to Power Station; 450 megawatts National Independent Power Project (NIPP) Geregu Power Station, Phase II in Ajaokuta, the Pilot Solar Power Plants in the six geo-political zones for the Universities of Ibadan, Lagos, Sokoto and Bayelsa. The Bi-National Commission (BNC) between Nigeria and the U.S. has injected fresh confidence into the Nigerian economy to the extent that Nigeria has become a new destination for U.S. businesses and entrepreneurs. This has significantly increased Foreign Direct Investment from the U.S. into Nigeria. Several projects and investments are flowing into the country to create jobs for our youths. Procter and Gamble is constructing a factory to manufacture health materials in Agbara, Ogun State, while General Electric of U.S. is investing over $1.5 billion and has commenced the construction of a factory in PortHarcourt to manufacture gas turbines to serve not only Nigeria’s but also Africa’s markets. A foreign direct investment inflow of $54 million is being executed with Mexico to develop agriculture plantations in Rivers State for the cultivation of pineapple, bananas and other crops, for export to the European Union market. Our relations with other emerging markets and huge economies, such as China, have also been robust. Apart from the involvement of China in the development of infrastructure and construction, it has granted a soft loan of $500 million for the construction of a light rail in and around Abuja. A 50bed capacity hospital, donated by China is currently under construction in Abuja. As a testimony to Nigeria’s strategic importance in the comity of nations, President

Goodluck Jonathan has undertaken several trips to many countries abroad, where he was received very warmly by his hosts and the resident Nigerian community. The President has, in turn, played host to Heads of State and Government and delegations from all over the world, including high-level visits by the Prime Minister of Britain, the German Chancellor, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, the presidents of Brazil, Indonesia, Lebanon and Poland, as well as the French Foreign Minister, the former U.S. Secretary of State, Mrs. Hillary Clinton, to mention a few of the special envoys and emissaries from various countries. President Jacob Zuma of South Africa visited Abuja in April 2013, to hold consultations with President Goodluck Jonathan on issues of strategic importance to the peace, security and prosperity of Africa. This is a clear illustration of the goodwill towards our country and the desire of other countries to engage Nigeria in recognition of her strategic place and role in world affairs. The Nigerian Foreign Minister was recently hosted in Washington DC, precisely on April 24, 2013, by the new United States Secretary of State, Senator John Kerry, who cut short a visit to Brussels to meet with him as the first Foreign Minister from Africa to be hosted by him. That singular gesture was to Nigeria and Senator Kerry used the opportunity of the meeting, not only to stress that Nigeria remains a strategic partner of the United States, but also to reiterate that the U.S. will work closely with Nigeria in all areas of cooperation, be it political, economic, investment promotion, defence and security, under our bi-national cooperation. Dr. Adebajo must be aware that the United States has only two such agreements in Africa, Nigeria being the first and secondly with South Africa. He may also wish to know that it was in 2011 that Canada, a major ally of the U.S also signalled its intention to have a similar Bi-National

Agreement with Nigeria, which was signed by both Ambassador Ashiru and his Canadian counterpart, Mr. John Baird in Ottawa in April 2012. Since then, Canada has shown keen interest to invest in the Nigerian economy and the Nigeria-Canada Investment Forum, which was held from May 1 to 3 in Toronto and organised by our High Commissioner, Chief Ojo Madueke was a huge success. In one year of this agreement, trade between both countries have increased tremendously. Dr. Adebajo finally made reference to Nigeria’s bid to return in 2014 to the United Nations Security Council, the highest decision making body in the world today. As a ‘scholar’, he must be aware that it has never happened before that Nigeria will return to this prestigious council two years after leaving the council. Did it occur to him also that some people must have worked very hard indeed to campaign and get it right for Nigeria? He must be aware that election into the council is a tough process with many countries competing vigorously for only one seat allocated to our sub-region. However, the Foreign Minister has already announced Nigeria’s bid for election into the UN Security Council in the non-permanent seat category for the period 2014-2015. We have worked hard and have already received the endorsement of ECOWAS Heads of State and Governments. We expect to receive the endorsement of the AU at the next summit in May 2013. Our election to this position in October 2013 will surely be a befitting gift to Nigeria to be seated at the UN Security Council from January 1, 2014, the year of the centenary celebration of our existence as a corporate entity. Dr. Adebajo should realise that foreign policy has moved from the realms of theories, ideologies and mundane issues to that of reality and benefits accruable to a country and its people. • Concluded. • Ode is the Acting Director/Spokesperson, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

NAFDAC’s drug control revolution By Martins Ikhilae HE move by the National Agency For Food, Drug AdminisT tration and Control (NAFDAC) aimed at restructuring the nation’s drug distribution system is significant in many respects. Firstly, it will accord the agency a centralized, united and efficiently coordinated status. Secondly, it amounts to an innovation, a drive by the dynamic administration of Dr. Paul Bortwev Orhii, which can only push its efforts at combating substandard drugs to a desired frontier, and thus save the precious lives of the vulnerable Nigerians. Either way, NAFDAC deserves both encomiums and encouragement to achieve its statutory obligations. Before the new innovation, NAFDAC under Dr. Orhii, has introduced the deployment of modern technology as part of the anti-counterfeiting and faking of pharmaceutical products war. The well thought out technique, which is about being implemented, will lead to the creation and establishment of large drug markets otherwise known as Mega Drug Distribution Centres (MDDCs) in the nation’s six geo-political zones. Under this arrangement, the private sector partners will provide the structures, while the Federal Government, through NAFDAC, will fulfill its regulatory responsibilities. Similarly, the 36 states of the federation are to establish and own drug markets to be known as State Drug Distribution Centres (SDDCs). The entire coordination of all of this will again be by NAFDAC. For the purpose of resource conservation, states are permitted to upgrade their Central Medical Stores (CMSs) to meet SDDC standard. Under this arrangement, locally produced and imported pharmaceutical products will be compulsorily channeled/forwarded to both the regional and states drug markets for thorough re-examination by NAFDAC, which will put in effective use its latest modern anti-counterfeiting facilities in this merely wholesalers dominated markets. Upon certification of products quality, the wholesalers will then be allowed to take delivery and subsequently commence sales to the retailers, comprising community pharmacies, public/primary health

care centres, private health institutions as well as the patent and proprietary medicines vendors (PPMV), the last link in the chain to get the products to the final consumers or general public. Dispensing will be based strictly on prescriptions from appropriate medical experts in line with global medical procedures. It is not surprising that the recent launch of the National Drug Distribution Guidelines, Nigerian National Pharmacovigilance Policy and Implementation Framework was well attended. The occasion also featured the inauguration of Drug Distribution Advocates of Nigeria by the Federal Ministry of Health at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in Abuja. The Health Minister, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Dr. I.A. Okowa and other stakeholders in the nation’s health sector were full of optimism that this re-engineered revolution in the nation’s quest for an outrightly sanitized and standardized pharmaceutical products distribution and marketing will indeed achieve the desired goals and objectives, which will in turn impact positively on the nation’s health care delivery sector. While it may be observed that the uncoordinated status of drug circulation and distribution over the years have posed great challenges in view of the negative impact it had had on the nation’s health care delivery system, there is no doubt that our previous haphazard drug distribution manner accounted for the presence of a considerable number of adulterated, substandard and fake pharmaceuticals in the nation and this in turn obviated our collective desire for effective, efficient and internationally comparable health care system. Certainly, the current arrangement will bring about availability of affordable, efficacious, safe and good quality drugs as its sources at every level of healthcare provision and mode of distribution will also be diligently identified, thereby instilling orderliness and absolute confidence in their distribution. The new distribution template will enable local pharmaceutical products win back the lost confidence of Nigerians and consumers in the West African sub region. Locally, the system will

stop the careless and nonchalant display of drugs in the open markets. Only governments and privately owned health facilities nationwide will be the source of all drugs. Similarly, quacks who lack knowledge of drug composition and capabilities would be chased out of markets as importers, smugglers, producers and marketers of counterfeited or fake pharmaceuticals will be compelled to desist from flooding the nation’s health centres, hospitals, pharmacies and medicine stores with life terminating cum endangering substances, thereby entrenching accountability in the trade, which will in turn enhance sanity in the system. While it would restore integrity and confidence in the pharmacy profession, the current ubiquitous drug selling and distribution manner, which adorns the nation will fizzle out and give rise to an ideally sanitized system where all drug dealers will source products from a unified, accountable, reliable and scientifically manned point of supply, which will accommodate big time pharmaceutical dealers who will take delivery of drug consignments meant for Nigerian markets from whom minute drug dealers/sellers nationwide will depend for product supply, which would have been thoroughly examined by NAFDAC for public consumption and use in medical centres. Influx of fake or counterfeited pharmaceutical products through the country’s porous land borders will be automatically resolved by the international standard drug markets, which incidentally will act as a single channel through which pharmaceutical products can gain entry into all nooks and crannies of the nation while infants and adults death rates will be drastically reduced, more patronage attracted for home made drugs, thereby expanding their revenue base; Besides, the new arrangement is expected to boost the employment generating abilities of the firms, while guaranteeing job security for those employed in such firms. Overall, the NAFDAC initiative promises an enhanced efficacy of indigenous medical services, while simultaneously helping to preserve and boost Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings. “Good health” it is said, “is good life.” • Ikhilae, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Lagos.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

Sports Ahead Brazil 2013 Confederations Cup

Nations Cup stars dominate Super Eagles’ list for Mexico friendly HE Nigeria Football T Federation (NFF) yesterday announced the names of Super Eagles players for the friendly game against Mexico later this month with the stars of the 2013 Nations Cup dominating the list. The 25-man squad picked by Head Coach, Stephen Keshi will soon go into camp in preparation for the game billed for May 31 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, United States. Nigeria is also preparing for two 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches in June before traveling to Brazil to participate in the FIFA Confederations Cup. The Super Eagles will count on its English Premier League stars to lead the way, including Chelsea midfielders, John Obi Mikel and Victor Moses. The Keshi also called in two players based in the German Bundesliga, two from Serie A in Italy, two from the Scottish Premier League and two from the Portuguese Liga. Mexico is expected to release its roster in the coming days. Mexico and Nigeria have met three times with a 1-0-2

record in favour of Mexico. The two teams last met in October of 2007 in an international friendly, which ended in a 2-2 tie at the Estadio Olimpico Benito Juarez in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua. In the team are goalkeepers Chigozie Agbim (Warri Wolves), Austin Ejide (Hapoel, Israel), and Vincent Enyeama (Maccabi Tel Aviv, Israel). The defenders are Azubuike Egwuekwe (Warri Wolves), Efe Ambrose (Celtic, Scotland), Elderson Echiéjilé (Sporting de Braga, Portugal), Kenneth Omeruo (Ado Den Haag, Holland), Godfrey Oboabona (Sunshine Stars), Solomon Kwambe (Sunshine Stars), Francis Benjamin (Heartland), and Odunlami Kunle (Sunshine Stars). John Mikel Obi will leads the midfilders, including his Chelsea mate, Victor Moses, Ogenyi Onazi (Lazio, Italy), John Ogu (Academia de Coimbra/Portugal), Obinna Nwachukwu (Heartland), Sunday Mba (Enugu Rangers), Michael Babatunde (Kryvbas Kryvyi, Ukraine), and Reuben Gabriel (Kilmarnock,

Super Eagles’ Mikel Obi (second left) dances past a Cape Verde player during an international friendly prior to the 2013 Nations Cup. Mikel is in the squad billed for a preConfederations Cup game against Mexico on May 30. PHOTO: AFP.

New Federations’ presidents promise new dawn for Nigerian sports Thompson, Ogunji, Ilori From Ezeocha Nzeh, Abuja

IGERIAN sports is billed N for a new dawn if the Okocha, Oliseh set for Sodje’s Charity game promises of the newly elected presidents of the various ORMER Super Eagles’ cap- Eagles’ striker, Julius sports federations are anyFAustin tains, Sunday Oliseh and Aghahowa, Tijani thing to go by. Jay jay Okocha, have been listed for the Sodje and Friends Charity Game slated for Brentford Stadium, United Kingdom, on May 27. A member of the Sodje Sports Foundation and exSuper Eagles, Efetoborie Sodje, who will be leading the Friends of Africa against Reading forward, Jason Robert’s Caribbeans, stated that the proceeds of the match will be donated to the charity. The Bury of England star added that Green Eagles’ former Captain, Segun Odegbami and England legend, Ian Wright, will take charge as managers of the African and the Caribbean teams respectively. “This game is one of the numerous ways that the Sodje Sports Foundation has adopted to touch lives. So, the charity game is going to be fun-filled, as several past and present footballers will take to the pitch on that day. “Some musical arts such as May Seven, Odegbami’s daughter and other top stars will be at the venue to add colour to the event,” he assured. Other top ex-players that will feature for Friends of Africa are former Super

Babangida, Patrick Viera, George Bankole, Tresor Lualua, Ade Akinbiyi and the Sodje family, while Jason Robert, Andy Cole, Chris Samba and others will represent Team Caribbean.

Speaking to the media shortly after their elections, the federations’ bosses assured Nigerians that the bad days are about to end, and promised to turn their federations into medal fac-

tories for the country. The newly elected President of the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation (NTF), George Ashiru promised that the country would witness a drastic transformation in the game, assuring that apart from grassroots programmes, his board would target gold medals in the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and World Championships. “As former champions, we

Ahead Turkey 2013 U-20 WORLD CUP

NFF reassures on Flying Eagles, as eight players are stranded in Lagos From Ezeocha Nzeh, Abuja LYING Eagles preparaFWorld tion for the FIFA U20 Cup may have stalled following reports that only 14 of the 30 players listed for the build up in Europe have arrived the team’s Germany camp barely 24 hours to the submission of the preliminary 30man list to FIFA. But the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) says all is well. FIFA in its website states that May 17, 2013 is deadline for the submission of preliminary list before the final list of 22 players will be picked for the championship.

The Guardian gathered yesterday that at least eight of the players are still stranded at the team’s Serob Hotel in Abuja where they have been waiting for the federation to procure traveling visas for them. The eight players are among the last batch of players, whose names were submitted by Coach John Sam Obuh shortly before the team’s departure to Germany on Tuesday. Trouble started for the team when the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) procured visas for the 30 players invited last month for a local camp in Nnewi without clearance from Coach Obuh, who was at

the time in Germany for his EUFA ‘A’ license course. The Guardian learnt that on his return to the country, Obuh rejected eight of the players and replaced them with nine new players. A twist was added to the confusion as the Federation unilaterally dropped five of the nine players again without recourse to the coach. Reacting to the development yesterday, NFF General Secretary, Musa Amadu told journalists yesterday in Abuja that the federation was not relenting in its efforts to secure visas for the players, expressing hope that the stranded players would team up with their compatriots this weekend.

know what it takes to create champions and we will put it together. The truth about the Olympics is that it is the highest level of euro space when it comes to sports. If we do have a micro-plan and start it on time, there is absolutely no reason we cannot change the colour of the bronze medal we won in the previous Olympics. “Incidentally, I was the manager of the team that won bronze. I know what it took us to get there and we are going to do better now. Baring all unforeseen circumstances, there is no reason we cannot have more than one medal in the next Olympics. If Nigerians are looking for one gold, it is possible we can look for four. “We have to set high standards because it will push us higher than we are going. Don’t forget we have Commonwealth Games and World Championships. There are many tournaments to win medals. So, as long as we have enough funds to give our athletes continual exposure, sooner or later, they would rise to the top,” he assured. In the same vein, Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) president, Solomon Ogba said, “I am happy to get another four-year mandate. The good thing is that we made appreciable progress in the last four years, which many can attest to.”

battle for FMGG’s top shot award

UFIL Prima and GSK D emerged winners on Match Day 1 of the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Games, which kicked off last Sunday with fanfare and a friendly match between Etisalat and Union Assurance. It was also a day of braces as three players, Siju Thompson, Tayo Ogunji and Toyosi Ilori netted twice for their teams. The tournament, which holds at the University of Lagos Sports Complex saw the teams from the Telecoms and Insurance Games playing out a nil all draw in the friendly that is part of their build up for their respective Industry Games coming up later next month. Dufil Prima’s Siju Thompson and Tayo Ogunji of PZ Cussons hit a brace to signal an early rivalry for the Golden Boot award in the opening match in which Dufil Prima shocked pretournament favourites, PZ Cussons in a 7 goals thriller that ended 4-3 in favour of Dufil Prima. Other scorers in the encounter include Ejeh Godwin for PZ while the two other goals for Dufil Prima came off the boots of Tunde Olabisi and Dayo Tejousho. Unilever took an early lead against GSK in the second match of the day but could not consolidate as GSK came from behind to win the game 3 - 1. Jemy Frank opened scoring for the Omo and CloseUp guys while Ilori’s two goals and one from Gabriel Oluwasegun clinched victory for GSK.

SPORTS 89

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

Murray doubtful for French Open NDY Murray does not A expect to be fit for the French Open after retiring from his second-round match in Rome with a recurrence of a back problem. The world number two took opponent Marcel Granollers and the Internazionali d’Italia crowd by surprise when he pulled out having just levelled the match at 4-6 7-6 (7/5). It looked as if it was just precautionary ahead of the start of the year’s second grand slam next Sunday but in his press conference Murray gave a downbeat assessment of his chances of playing in Paris. He said, “I pulled out because there was a good chance I would be playing tomorrow if I got through. As it is, I’d be very surprised if I was playing in Paris.” It was certainly not the way Murray would have wished to celebrate his 26th birthday. The U.S. Open champion had only previously retired once mid-match during his career, which bizarrely also came on his birthday when he snapped a tendon in his wrist in Hamburg in 2007. That injury is the only time Murray has been forced to miss an extended length of time, with the Scot sitting out the French Open and Wimbledon, and it is not yet clear whether he may need surgery or if a similar lay-off will be required. Murray struggled with a lower back problem throughout the clay season last year in particular during the French Open, leading Virginia Wade

to call him a “drama queen” when it was at its worst in a match against Jarkko Nieminen. Murray had injections before Wimbledon that seemed to ease the problem but he revealed it got worse again in Madrid last week and his concerns were heightened by the fact it did not improve with rest. Murray said, “it’s exactly the same thing as last year. I need to make a plan as to what I do, speak with the guys tonight and the physio and come up with a plan for the next few days. “I’ll make a decision on Paris after the next five days I would have thought. I obviously need to take some days off and see how it settles down, but a few days didn’t really make a huge difference this time so we’ll have to wait and see. “Until Madrid it had been okay but it’s not been perfect for a long period. You always go into matches with little niggles and such, but it’s frustrating when for a long period you’re hurting. “It’s been an issue for a while now and I want to make sure it goes away. It’s not enjoyable when you’re playing in pain.” Murray revealed he has had pain in his back for the last 18 months, saying, “it’s been here since the end of 2011 pretty much. “But it got bad during the clay season last year. Obviously I had all the injections and that helped for a little while but it’s been an issue for quite a long time.”

British tennis player, Andy Murray in pains after retiring from his second round match against Spanish Marcel Granollers, during the ATP Rome Open tennis tournament in the Foro Italico, in Rome…yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

British athletics coach, Eriksson, to quit RITISH Athletics Head B Coach, Peter Eriksson is to leave his post in June for family reasons, after almost eight months in charge. The 60-year-old took over the role from Charles Van Commenee after London 2012. He had signed a five-year contract to be in charge of the programme until the 2017 World Championships in London. Eriksson, who was born in Sweden but moved to Canada in 1987, was previously in charge of the British Paralympic athletics pro-

Ryder Cup interests Pettersson HE start of the Ryder Cup T points race is still more than three months away, but for once Carl Pettersson is fully focused on making sure he is at least in the starting lineup. Despite four of his five PGA Tour wins coming in Ryder Cup years, Pettersson has never qualified for the European Team and is not eligible for the United States side either despite taking out U.S. citizenship in January last year. In 2006 he would have qualified for Ian Woosnam’s team at the K Club if he had been allowed to rejoin the European Tour at the start of the selection process the previous year thanks to subsequent wins at the Chrysler Championship and Memorial

Pettersson

Tournament. And in 2012 his victory in the RBC Heritage, third place at the USPGA Championship and other results on the PGA Tour would have seen him in the 12-man team for Medinah through the world points list. But speaking ahead of the Volvo World Match Play Championship in Bulgaria this week, Pettersson explained he is taking no chances this time around. “I’m a member of the European Tour this year and I’m going to be a member next year,” the 35-year-old said. “It was a bit of an unfortunate thing last year but I don’t really regret or think back or anything like that. I hope to make that team some day and I think it would be

great to play in the Ryder Cup. “The Ryder Cup is phenomenal, it’s great golf and great drama. It’s probably one of the biggest sporting events in the world and I’d love to be part of that some day. “It will be a challenge (playing the 13 European Tour events to fulfil his membership criteria) because I do play quite a bit in the U.S., about 28 events, so it will be a busy couple of years but I’m going to give it a shot anyway.” Pettersson, who could have been eligible for the US team if he had taken out citizenship before he turned 18, added, “I was very young when I left Sweden. “I was 10 when I left Sweden and I still play under the Swedish flag. I know I’m Swedish but the majority of my life has been in America so I feel very American. Even when I was playing the European Tour I was living in the U.S. “The European Tour has been very good to me, it’s where I started my career and I think it was a great start and stepping stone in my golf career - and I still enjoy coming over here. “It’s just very difficult with two young kids and a wife to play both tours on a regular basis. I’ve mainly played in the US but hopefully I can start playing a little bit more on both tours.”

gramme. “Words cannot describe how disappointed I am to take this step,” he said. “There is no bigger job in athletics anywhere in the world. At present I have no plans, but accept that if I am to take any other job in sport it will be a step down. “Athletics in Great Britain receives the best possible support through the National Lottery, and that, coupled with

the performance structure here means it is every coach’s dream to hold this position. “However no job is more important than family and children, and personal circumstances mean that mine need me to be back in Canada.” The former speed skaterturned wheelchair racing coach changed the GB Paralympic squad’s fortunes from winning two golds out of

a medal haul of 17 in Beijing 2008, to 11 golds out of 29 medals at London 2012. After the Paralympics, he was named as head coach for the Olympic squad and has overseen a period of change since. In March’s European Indoor Championships in Sweden, his first major international in charge of the Olympic squad, Britain won eight medals, including four golds.

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THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

Davis Cup Africa Group III Play-off

Nigeria beats Botswana 2-1, tackles Zambia By Olalekan Okusan EAM Nigeria began its camT paign in pool D of the Europe/Africa Zone Group III of the Davis Cup championship on a shaky note with a slim 2-1 win over Botswana. What was expected to be a walkover for Team Nigeria was nearly bundled as the Botswana boys proved difficult for the Benson Ishichelicaptained side. Despite Clifford Enosoregbe 6-2, 6-0 recorded an easy win over Shingirai Muzondiwa in the first game, Henry Atseye

squandered Team Nigeria lead after losing 4-6, 6-2, 4-6 to the only ranked player in the Botswana team – Phenyo Matong. However, the pair of Shehu Lawal and Abdulmumuni Babalola sealed the win for Team Nigeria over the duo of Muzondiwa and Matong. The Botswana boys fell to Team Nigeria in the doubles 6-3, 6-3. Also in the pool, Egypt recorded an emphatic 3-0 win over Zambia. Karim-Mohamed Maamoun started the onslaught for the Egyptians as he beat Nkumbu

Chonya 6-0, 6-2, while the highest rated player in the tournament, Sherif Sabry increased the lead with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Edgar Kazembe. The pairing of Karim Hossam and Sabry completed the rout with 6-0, 6-0 win over Kombe Mabo and Henry Banda to record a 3-0 victory. In pool A, the top rated nation, Morocco beat Algeria 3-0, while in pool B, Zimbabwe beats Kenya 3-0. In pool C, Namibia also recorded an overwhelming 3-0 win over Rwanda. Today at the Smash Tennis Academy in Cairo, Team Nigeria will continue its quest for promotion to Group II when it takes on Zambia while Egypt will clash against Botswana. Team Nigeria’s last group match will be against Egypt tomorrow. The winner of pool A will play the winner of pool C and the winner of pool B will play the winner of pool D, with the two winning nations promoted to Europe/Africa Zone Group II for 2014. 13 nations are competing for the two slots available for grab in the championship. Team Nigeria’s best Davis Cup performances were semifinal finishes in Europe/Africa Zone Group I in 1988 and 1989.

Team Nigeria’s 4x100 women relay side during a recent international competition…Ojokolo says the AFN needs every stakeholders’ support to succeed in its quest to reposition the country’s athletics. PHOTO: AFP.

Nigeria Professional Football League

Fans on rampage as Heartland shocks 3SC 2-0 in Ibadan ANS of Shooting Stars FIbadan Sports Club (3SC) of could not hold back their frustration when Heartland of Owerri defeated their darkling team by two goals to nothing yesterday in Ibadan. Rather, they elected to teach their coaches lessons of their lives for allowing the visitors to win the Week 12 game.

Golden Penny Noodles sticks with Wheelchair Tennis Abdulmunini Babalola paired with Shehu Lawal to win the third game of the tie with Botswana at the on-going Euro/African zone Group three of the Davis Cup holding in Cairo, Egypt. Nigeria will meet Zambia today in continuation of the competition. PHOTO: FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI

NEROS boss wants more corporate support for sports By Tony Nwanne HE Nigerian sports sector T would develop faster than it is doing now if all stakeholders joined hands with government to aid its growth, says Neros Pharmaceuticals boss, Poly Emenike. Emenike, whose company sponsors the yearly Anambra State FA Cup, said in Lagos on Tuesday that because sports requires enormous resources to thrive, Nigeria’s profile in the sector would meet that of its counterparts from the developed world when every individual and corporate organisation decide to chip in their bits in its development. Speaking while presenting the awards won by three media houses at the 2013 Anambra FA Cup held in Nanka recently, Emenike disclosed that his sponsorship of the Anambra FA Cup and other events was borne out of his passion for sports and his realisation that footballers could be big time diplomats. He cited an experience he had while on a business trip in Vietnam in the early 2000s, saying, “the Vietnamese were able to reel out names of Nigerian football players, but could not mention any name of a Nigerian political leader.

“Footballers do a lot to promote the image of the country hence all well-meaning Nigerians should contribute to the growth of the sector.” At the event, three newspapers were rewarded for their contributions to the growth of the Anambra State football, with The Guardian winning the Best National Newspaper award for its coverage of the FA Cup. Soccerstar, a publication in the stable of The Sun newspapers, and Sportinglife, published by The Nation newspapers, jointly won the Best Daily Sports newspaper award. Speaking after receiving the award on behalf of The Guardian, Christian Okpara, praised Emenike for investing in the future of Nigerian youth, adding that NEROS Pharmaceuticals was a quintessential example of a company with a good sense of corporate social responsibility. He urged the company to continue investing in youth development, which, according to him, would help the country engage its youths positively. NEROS Pharmaceuticals Limited has sponsored the Anambra State FA Cup for seven years consecutive years.

N what would be a consoliIes/players’ dation to its maiden coachclinic and tournament held in Kano last year, Golden Penny Noodles is set to conclude modalities for the hosting of the second edition of the event. The country has been a dominant force in Africa and one of the top countries in the world, but dearth of competitions hindered the progress of the sport until last year when Golden Penny sponsored a week-long programme, which attracted more than 40 coaches and 200 players to the Pyramid City. Flour Mills Nigeria Plc, makers of Golden Penny brand of Noodles, through its Vice Chairman, John Coumanltaros, says it is delighted to note the constant

progress the country has been making in the sport, as attested to by the acknowledgment by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The ITF recently donated some high-class wheelchairs to Nigeria to further accelerate the growth of the sport in the country. Nigeria featured in the sport at the last two editions of the Paralympics Games in Beijing and London, while the country will compete at the World Team Cup billed for Turkey from May 20 to 26 in Antalya. Wheelchair tennis seems to be enjoying its best moment in the country as it was fully integrated into the programmes of the Central Bank Open, the top-ranked domestic tennis tournament in Nigeria.

NEROS Pharmaceuticals boss, Poly Emenike (right), presenting the Best Newspaper of The Anambra FA Cup award to The Guardian’s Christian Okpara in Lagos…on Tuesday.

Dolphins also beat Kaduna United 2-0 The game was barely two minutes when Jolly Osas opened scores off a corner kick to silence the hitherto vociferous fans. On resumption for the second half, the Oluyole Warriors received the shock of their lives when Ebere Odichie scored the second goal also off a cross in the 61st minute of play. What could have been the third goal was saved by the 3SC goal stopper, Laide Okanlawon, when faced oneon-one by Osas in the 84th minute of the game. The home fans, who could not hide their anger over the changes made in the course of the game, descended on their team’s coaches, Tunde Odubola and Kazeem Busari. The two gaffers, despite the efforts of the security personnel at the Lekan Salami Stadium, were beaten by the irate mob, who patiently waited for them outside the stadium immediately the

center referee blow off the match. In Port Harcourt, Dolphins defeated Kaduna United also by two goals, one in each half. Fred Okwara scored in the 42nd minute of the encounter when Kaduna United’s goalkeeper, Raymond Katung. Ten minutes after the restart, a combination of Chígòzìe Ihunda and Victor Babayaro provided Derek Amadi the opportunity to power a header into the net for the second goal. Kaduna United’s Coach Ben Duamlong played hard to get during the post match meeting giving the same answer for any question he was asked. “We played well. We lost. We came short,’’ he said, but Dolphins’ Stanley Eguma said he was happy with the win, adding, however, that he thought his boys could have done better.

Tikon calls for unity in NTTF By Olalekan Okusan table tennis to progress FgoneOR in the country, a call has to stakeholders to support the new board of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) led by Wahid Oshodi. North East representative in new board and one of the presidential candidates, Ishaku Tikon told The Guardian that everybody that came on board of the federation must work together for the growth of the game with specific interest on the welfare of the athletes. “I have accepted the outcome of the election and I want to call on stakeholders not to dwell much on the election alone but let us start rallying behind the new president and the board to develop the game. “Our priority now is to help the game and ensure that we get the game back to the days

of glory. There is no doubt that we have the potential to dominate the game and what we need to do now is to start and work with the new President,” Tikon. Tikon, who has been a very key promoter of the game in the north, said he is willing to work with the board and popularise the game in the region. “My passion for table tennis will not die because I lose an election because my support for the game is driven by passion and this will continue to drive me more,” he said. Meanwhile, players and coaches have counseled the new board to commence the repositioning of the sport with attention on grassroots development. They stated that efforts must gear toward unearthing and nurturing of new talents with regular exposure for the players.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

91 SPORTS

English Premiership

Carragher regrets Liverpool’s title blank ETIRING Liverpool R defender, Jamie Carragher admits the one

Arsenal’s English striker, Theo Walcott (centre) scores second goal during the English Premier League match against Wigan Athletic at The Emirates Stadium in London on Tuesday. PHOTO: AFP

Whelan keen to keep Martinez at Wigan OBERTO Martinez’s future R at Wigan is set to be decided after the team’s final match of the season when he meets chairman Dave Whelan. The pair are due to hold discussions following the FA Cup winners’ closing Premier League game against Aston Villa on Sunday. Whelan expects the talks to be “honest” and claimed he would accept any decision from the Spaniard should he want to leave the DW Stadium. The 76-year-old does, however, hold out hope he could persuade Martinez to remain and lead Wigan’s bid to return to the Premier Legaue after their relegation, following eight years in the topflight, was confirmed with a 4-1 defeat at Arsenal. “At the end of the season

what we always do is get together and have a talk,” Whelan told BBC Radio 5 Live. “Roberto is so honest and I’m honest with him. We put our cards on the table and whatever Roberto says we will accept and we will honour. We’d all love him to stay.” Martinez, who led Wigan to their first FA Cup success at the weekend, has been

linked as a possible replacement for David Moyes at Everton. Whelan had to fend off interest in Martinez last summer and admitted interest from bigger clubs in his manager had remained strong. “He’s being chased regularly by some very, very big and wealthy clubs around England,” he said. “We’ll have talks to per-

back at Chelsea. The Portuguese is widely expected to leave Real Madrid and return to Stamford Bridge to take over from Rafael Benitez in the summer.

Cech

QPR’s Remy held over suspicion of rape

Arsenal, Chelsea could face third place playoff RSENAL and Chelsea could A face the prospect of a playoff match to decide third place in the Premier League should they end the season on level terms. In a unique end-of-season twist, the London rivals could

find themselves locked together on points, goal difference and goals scored after the final round of fixtures on Sunday meaning an extra fixture to determine, who seals the automatic Champions League spot

Cech welcomes Mourinho’s return ETR Cech has admitted P that Jose Mourinho would be “more than welcome”

suade him, if we need to persuade him because he is a dedicated man. He goes by his word. He’s so honest and we respect him enormously. Everybody in Wigan hopes that Roberto stays with us.” Whelan’s desire to keep Martinez is understandable, with the club set to face a congested fixture list when they bid to make an immediate return to the Premier League next season.

regret of his 16-year Reds playing career was not winning the league title. The 35-year-old played a key part in the famous 2005 Champions League final victory over AC Milan but the top domestic prize just evaded his grasp. The closest he came to it was in 2008/09 when the club’s record Premier League points tally of 86 - a season in which they lost just two matches - was still only good enough for a runners-up place to Manchester United. Since then Carragher believes the standard of the Premier League has dipped along with Liverpool’s chances of competing for the top four, never mind the title. “I wish I’d have won the league but you’ve given it everything and done as much as you can in terms of what you put into it,” said the centre-back, who will bow out at Anfield in his 737th and final match for the club against QPR. “We weren’t good enough, all of us. It’s very simple, there’s no fancy reason or excuse, other teams in that particular season were better than us. “A couple of times we went close but it was Manchester United or Arsenal. It’s not something I lose sleep over,

Mourinho led Chelsea to Premier League titles in his first two seasons in charge, but he walked out on the club in September 2007 following reports of a bust-up with owner Roman Abramovich. But he is a firm favourite to

be offered a second spell at Chelsea, and goalkeeper Cech said, “with Jose Mourinho we had great success in the past and people still have great memories and admiration for him. “If he comes back, the story will be interesting for everyone. He will be more than welcome.” Cech also paid tribute to Rafael Benitez, who was given a torrid reception from Chelsea fans after he was appointed as interim manager following the sacking of Roberto Di Matteo. “It was not easy for him, with the reception he got,” Cech added. “But he came here to help and to improve the situation for us and to do as best as possible. That is what we did, what he did, what the coaching staff did. “This is maybe the reason why it’s worked so far and we’re in the Europa League final.”

would be required. The Gunners have amassed 70 points after beating Wigan 4-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Monday night leaving them on the coattails of Rafael Benitez’s Europa League finalists, which has accumulated 72 points. Arsene Wenger’s troops also slashed Chelsea’s goal difference superiority to just one - 34 to 35 - and put themselves within reach of matching their goal tally having now netted 71 to the Blues’ 73. For the scenario to bud, Arsenal would have to beat

Newcastle by a single goal and score two more than Chelsea should it draw at home to Everton, meaning a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge would require the Gunners to win 2-1 in the north east, and so on. Should that situation transpire it would create a scheduling nightmare for the Premier League after Chelsea penciled in two post-season friendlies with Manchester City in the United States on May 23 and 25, which they are unable to cancel. Meanwhile, any hope of

Table Team Man Utd Man City Chelsea Arsenal Tottenham Everton Liverpool West Brom Swansea West Ham Stoke Norwich Newcastle Southampton Fulham Aston Villa Sunderland Wigan Reading QPR

P 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37

I’ve been very lucky to achieve some of the things I have. “If you look at everyone there’s always something someone hasn’t done.There’s always more to achieve, whatever you’ve done. I’m pleased with how it’s gone. “If someone had offered me to be here until the end of my career - the trophies, the big games we’ve played and won, the stadiums I’ve played in - I’d have bitten their hand off for that.” Asked for his highlight, he stressed there was no contest. “Istanbul, nothing will beat that - the Champions League final,” he added. “It’s difficult to ever top that. We’ve never won the league, which is a disappointment, if we’d have won that maybe I could have compared the two. “We’ve won FA Cups, Carling Cups, the UEFA Cup but nothing compared to the Champions League. It’s the biggest and best trophy that you can win as a footballer in club football. It’s what we achieved. “It’s a team game, there are different managers and coaches who have helped you along the way, you do your best - I’ve done all right.” Carragher will become a television pundit next season despite the widely-held belief he would move straight into coaching.

GD 43 33 35 34 19 16 27 -4 -1 -10 -11 -18 -22 -11 -13 -22 -12 -26 -28 -29

Pts 88 78 72 70 69 63 58 48 46 43 41 41 41 40 40 40 39 35 28 25

PR striker, Loic Remy has Q been arrested on suspicion of rape. The 26-year-old forward is alleged to have raped a 34-year-old woman in west London on May 6. A 23-year-old man and 22year-old man were also arrested in connection with the incident at an address in Fulham. A Metropolitan Police spokesman told Goal, “officers from Sapphire are investigating an allegation of rape, which happened on 6 May in the west London area. “The allegation was passed on to the MPS by Kent Police on 8 May after the 34-year-old female victim reported it to them on the previous day, 7 May. The victim alleges she was raped by three men.

Remy

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THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

European Football

Sampdoria ‘dream’ of Mancini, Icardi to make Inter switch AMPDORIA President, Swould Riccardo Garrone admits it be a “dream” to bring Roberto Mancini back to the club. Mancini is back on the managerial market following his dismissal by Manchester City. Having guided City to FA Cup and Premier League triumphs during his time in England, the Italian tactician is not expected to be out of work for long. Sampdoria would not appear to be an option at present, as they have Delio Rossi at

the helm, but they have refused to rule out a move for Mancini in the future. The former Italy international spent 15 years with the Genoa-based club during his play days - helping them to the 1992 European Cup final. “Roberto Mancini as the new Sampdoria is something from a dream world,” Garrone told Ansa. “Dreaming is not wrong, but it still remains a dream. For my part, the Sampdoria coach for next season will still be Delio Rossi and I think we’ll

arrange a new contract with him very soon.” Meanwhile, Sampdoria have revealed that Inter Milan have won the race for Mauro Icardi, with a summer transfer put in place. The 20-year-old forward has been linked with a host of clubs in recent times, with Premier League suitors said to be closely monitoring his progress. The highly-rated Argentine is, however, to continue his career in Serie A for the foreseeable future. Sampdoria will be reluctant sellers when a move is pushed through and insist that they have no intention of allowing other prized assets, such as Pedro Obiang and Nenad Kristicic, to follow Icardi through the exits.

Icardi

Pellegrini free to take over Man City, says Malaga ALAGA has reportedly M confirmed Manager, Manuel Pellegrini is free to take over at Manchester City this summer. The Chilean is the red-hot favourite to fill the vacancy left by Monday’s sacking of Roberto Mancini, and the Spanish club has smoothed his path to the Etihad

Stadium. His current contract at La Roselada runs for another two years but it has been reported in Spain that Malaga have agreed to let him go on June 30 without demanding the 4 million euros detailed in a release clause. Pellegrini, 59, managed Real Madrid for a season before tak-

ing over at Malaga in 2010 helping the club qualify for the Champions League and reaching the quarter-finals of this year’s competition before being ousted by finalists Borussia Dortmund. With the City position available and Chelsea set to say goodbye to interim boss, Rafa Benitez at the end of the sea-

Mancini

Barton keen to remain in Marseille PR’s Joey Barton has reiterated his desire to make his move to Marseille permanent, stating he has a clause in his contract that allows him to do so. The 30-year-old has endured an injury-hit campaign after coming back from his long suspension he brought with him from England, but has seen enough to believe his future lies in France. “I hope to stay here,” midfielder, Barton told L’Equipe “When I came, my idea was to become the best player in France. I was not this season, but I didn’t see anything that would make me believe I could not become the best.” The former Manchester City

Barton

midfielder still bears a grudge towards QPR and feels that the club left him out in the cold after receiving a 12-match suspension for his sending-off at the Etihad against City last season. It is this reason he indicated why he cannot return to Loftus Road. “I don’t think the club should pay any fee, QPR will let me leave on a free,” he added. “There is a clause in my contract that if Marseille wants to keep me they won’t have to pay a fee. I could hardly go back to QPR, which dropped me in it when I had an incident. “It would be like going back to a girlfriend, who betrayed me.”

Schaaf leaves Werder Bremen EAD Coach, Thomas H Schaaf has parted company with Werder Bremen after 14 years at the helm. Schaaf has spent his entire footballing career at the Weserstadion, overseeing some of their greatest successes as both a player and coach. However, Werder have stagnated in the last couple of years under the 52-year-old and they will finish a disappointing 14th in the Bundesliga this season, irrespective of the outcome of Saturday’s final round of fixtures. “We have analysed, as announced in recent days, our sports development and have come to the conclusion that we want a fresh start,” General

Manager, Thomas Eichin told the club’s official website. “We thank Thomas for everything he brought to Werder Bremen in more than 40 years of belonging to the club as a player and coach. “The club celebrated excellent sporting success with him and he characterised Werder.” Schaaf first joined the northwest club in 1972, when he was just 11 years old, as part of their youth academy before turn-

ing professional six years later. The former defender would go on to make nearly 300 appearances for Werder, with whom he won the Bundesliga title twice, the DFB-Pokal three times as well as the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in the 1991-92 season. He started his coaching career while still carrying out his duties as a player, taking charge of Werder’s youth teams.

son, Pellegrini had been sounded out by the Blues in April but is now widely expected to take the reins of the 2011/12 Premier League champions. After Pellegrini was leapfrogged in the betting for the Chelsea job by Antonio Conte of Juventus, Jose Mourinho has been cemented as favourite to return to Stamford Bridge - although the Real boss also remains in

Pellegrini

Gotze winning fitness battle ahead Champions League final ARIO Gotze is winning his M battle to be fit for Borussia Dortmund’s Champions League final against Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich. Gotze, who will swap Dortmund for Bayern after the Wembley showpiece on May 25, was forced off early in the semi-final second leg against Real Madrid with a thigh injury. The attacking midfielder has undergone intense rehabilitation since his Bernabeu scare and manager Jurgen Klopp is confident he will be available in London. “Right now it looks like Gotze could be ready for the final,” Klopp told reporters. “His recovery is going according to plan. “We will intensify training gradually during the week and the plan is for him to join the team training next week. Then we will see if it is good

enough.” The Germany international has been an influential figure for a Dortmund side that has emerged as a force in Europe.

Gotze

But he shocked fans when his transfer to Bayern was announced just hours before last month’s first leg against Real Madrid.

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

SPORTS 93

We have to play well to win Copa del Rey, says Ronaldo RISTIANO Ronaldo has no C doubt that Real Madrid will prevail if it plays up to its full potential in tomorrow’s Copa del Rey final against Atletico Madrid. Los Blancos have the benefit of home advantage for the tournament decider, as well as, a remarkable record against their city rivals, whom they have not been beaten by in any competition since 1999. Ronaldo also believes that in spite of recent elimination by Borussia Dortmund at the semifinal stage of the Champions League, Jose Mourinho’s men are in fine fettle going into this most important of Madrid derbies. “We’re very excited about

Ronaldo

It’s not rational to play World Cup in Qatar summer, says Blatter LAYING the 2022 World P Cup in the summer heat of Qatar is ‘’not rational and reasonable,’’ FIFA President, Sepp Blatter said in a newspaper interview. Despite health concerns included in an official report before the vote, the FIFA executive committee opted for the tiny emirate’s bid in 2010. Blatter repeatedly has refused to say whether he backed Qatar. ‘’Whether it’s the right choice, that’s up to the executive committee,’’ Blatter said in an interview published yesterday in the French newspaper L’Equipe. ‘’The problem is knowing

whether it can be played in June-July in Qatar.’’ Air-conditioned stadiums to beat expected temperatures of up to 122 degrees were a defining theme of Qatar’s bid, but the cooling technology only resolves the problem in venues for players, fans and officials. ‘’The World Cup is more than just stadiums. It’s an array of social and cultural activities around the competition,’’ Blatter said. ‘’It’s not rational and reasonable to play in June-July.’’ Blatter said voters were influenced by the pressure to take the World Cup to the Middle East for the first time.

I will walk away next time, Balotelli speaks on racial abuse ARIO Balotelli will walk M off the pitch the next time he suffers racial abuse from the crowd, the AC Milan and Italy forward said yesterday. Balotelli told CNN in an interview that he had come close to abandoning the match after being insulted by visiting Roma fans at San Siro on Sunday. “If it happens one more

Balotelli

time, I’m going to leave the pitch, because it’s so stupid,” he said. “I was about to leave the pitch on Sunday but they are going to think that I wanted to leave because maybe we had some difficulty with the game....” Milan were down to 10 men at the time and the game ended 0-0. “I said it’s better we play and then we talk, but if it wasn’t for this reason I was going to leave the pitch,” Balotelli added. Sunday’s match was halted for two minutes by the referee while announcements were made warning the fans to stop their abuse. Roma were fined 50,000 euros for the incident on Monday. Balotelli said the incident had changed his way of thinking. “I always said if it happens in the stadium, I would just do (behave) as if nobody had done anything and that I don’t care, but now I think I’ve changed my mind a bit.”

this trophy and we want to win,” the forward told his club’s official website. “We know it’s going to be a really hard-fought game against a rival from the same city. It’s going to be a great show. “Let’s hope that Real Madrid can win. But if we go out on the pitch strong and we play as we know how, we’re going to win.” However, Ronaldo also believes that Madrid’s fans have a massive part to play in Friday’s final, given that they will not be in the majority for once. Consequently, the former Manchester United winger is hoping that the club’s supporters will try to replicate the passion they displayed

before and during their recent clash with Dortmund. “It was amazing,” he enthused. “As long as I’ve been here I have never seen a reception like that. It was a really special, unique moment that none of us players will ever forget.

“I hope that the same happens on Friday because it motivates us to give our all when we hit the playing field. That’s what we want. “It’s going to be a strange final because we’re playing in our stadium but the fans will be divided 50/50. But that isn’t going to take away our ambition to win this cup.”

Ferdinand retires from England NGLAND defender, Rio E Ferdinand has announced his retirement from international football. The Manchester United player, 34, who won 81 caps, said he wants to concentrate on his club career. “After a great deal of thought, I have decided the

time is right to retire from international football,” he said. England Manager, Roy Hodgson said, “to have captained his country, and to play at three World Cups, marks him out among a very special group of players.”

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

94 | SPORTS By Matt Whitehouse EMEMBER when Arsenal was a physical outR fit, who could play teams off the park and defend brilliantly? Then you’ll also wonder why Wenger discarded his approach. Since Wenger arrived at the club there has been much success and a large amount of quality football played. However in the past several years Arsenal has become something of a laughing stock in the football world. Wenger has gone from the professor to the mad scientist, professing he knows best and yet constantly failing, his ‘experiments’ blowing up each season and his frustration becoming ever more pronounced and expressive. Eight years without a trophy does that to a man. The exodus of star talent from Arsenal in the past eight years has been quite amazing. Yet, Wenger has weaved his propaganda machine and stressed patience was key. For years he has promised that Arsenal will be a force again, it just needs time, yet it never materialises. Quite simply, this hope has become nothing but a dream and a fallacy. Arsenal lacks the qualities in all positions to compete with the best sides in England and in Europe. The gap between them and the Manchester sides is immense, yet alone Europe’s top sides. Now many will argue that Arsenal’s decision to build a new stadium has hampered the finances of the club and made them weaker in terms of their ability to challenge Europe’s top sides. It is a fair argument and the decision to build the Emirates apparently was a short-term loss in order to secure the long-term financial stability of the club. However, to say Arsenal have not spent money is ludicrous, perhaps their ‘net spend’ makes them appear to have been savvy in their business, yet the truth is they have wasted much money on poor players these past several years. Arsenal has spent much money, yet on average players. The problem is twofold. A failed philosophy and a neglect of what made Wenger so successful in the first place. As this article will cover, Arsenal’s failings can be laid at Wenger’s door. It is important to note that when Wenger arrived at Arsenal he was very fortunate, he inherited one of the best defences in England and was fortunate enough to be gifted the talents of Dennis Bergkamp. He developed his side on these strong foundations and in the period between 1997-2001 he brought in the French connection of Vieria, Petit, Pires, Henry, Anelka and Wiltord. The French had won both the World Cup in 1998 and the Euro Championships in 2000 and were without doubt the best side in international football at that time. Wenger used his connections and knowledge of the French side to build this foreign force in English football. Arsenal’s success came from the quality and importantly mentality of this group of players. The side recaptured the Premier League in 2002 along with the FA Cup again, yet it was the 2003-04 season, which would show the greatness of the work Wenger had done at Arsenal, the team would go unbeaten all year long and would play some of the best football ever seen in the Premier League. Yet in 2005 the era of Arsenal’s dominance would begin to fray. It was Arsenal’s centenary year and yet the “Special One” would make sure Arsenal did not celebrate it with a title. In fact, Arsenal finished 12 points behind the winners. An FA Cup success would bring some joy for the fans and the following season Wenger took his team to the Champions League final, yet would lose to Barcelona. Yet after that final it all started to unravel for Arsenal. Between 2004-2008 Arsene Wenger went about dismantling his ‘invincible’ team. Out went Keown, Parlour, Vieria, Pires, Cole, Henry, Campbell, Reyes and Llungberg and Lehmann in the space of four seasons. The end to the exodus was Gilberto Silva, who left in 2008. Many at the time believed Wenger was a ‘genius’ as the belief was that ‘he knew the right time to let players go.’ And perhaps it would not have been as catastrophic had his approach to the ‘modern game’ not been so flawed. However, what came in to replace this winning group of players has been the reason for Arsenal’s failings. It is important to consider Wenger’s time at Arsenal in two periods. Simply put I look at it not as the Highbury/Emirates periods, but as the French/Spanish eras. Perhaps, it was the 2002 World Cup in which France were nothing short of awful, which alerted him to the fact that the French period of dominance was at an end. Perhaps, Wenger was ahead of the game and envisioned the growing power of Spain and Barcelona. And it is clear that he set out to revolutionise his club in that image. However, in his attempts to replicate the Spanish model, Arsenal has lost power, strength and dominance. Wenger’s legacy will be based on a decision, which has ruined Arsenal as a force in both England and Europe.

How Wenger’s Spanish obsession stopped Arsenal winning things

Arsene Wenger in pensive mood during one of his team’s recent games. If this was his belief, that the Spanish model was the future, then he was both right and wrong. The Spanish model of development, notably being put in place by Barcelona more so than others, was already a decade in, being set up around 1990. For Arsenal to overhaul their previous French style and philosophy was risky, dangerous and ultimately flawed. In the past decade, Arsenal has embarked on a Spanish revolution, which saw the arrival of players like Jose Reyes and Cesc Fabregas. The new mentality pointed to a new type of player, a smaller player like the players we see for Spain now. A move towards a more slight player has seen players like Rosicky, Flamini, Oxlade Chamberlain, Walcott, Ramsay, Arteta, Wilshere and Cazorla come into the team. Arsenal went from possessing World Cup winning players in his midfield and possessing a squad who knew what it took to win the Premier League. The “French era” did not possess just brutes, in fact Arsenal played better football than they do now, football, which led to titles and success played with a style and flair which captivated many hearts and minds. The evolution or rather revolution of the midfield has seen the might and power along with skill and quality of Vieria, Petit and Silva, replaced with the abject, average quality of Arteta, Ramsay, Song, and Diaby. The fact that Flamini was so essential shows how far Arsenal has gone backwards. Yes Cazorla and Wilshere are talented players, yet Arsenal possess too many similar players and simply overpowered by most of Europe’s top sides. Although Wenger saw a new style of football coming into being, one, which we are witnessing currently, he forgot some key and crucial things. Firstly, his French style side was perfect for the Premier League, they were tall, strong and powerful. In the unbeaten season, Arsenal conceded only 26 goals. They possessed quality and importantly, intimidation, remember Van Nistelrooy’s penalty for United and the intensity and dominance of the Arsenal players around him. This was a team, which was feared. And for some reason, call it ideology or misguided vision, Wenger threw it all away. Look at what Jose put together at Chelsea, Essien and Drogba were Arsenal type players before they switched to the Spanish way, a major difference and one, which catapulted Chelsea to the top of the league and which put Arsenal into the league of teams just below. As cliché as it is, Arsenal became timid, small and vulnerable where they once were strong and fearsome, and with the change came a lack of success. I understand that finances played a part for Chelsea and that Essien and Drogba were very

highly priced, I understand also that even sides like United could not compete financially with Chelsea and now currently there is Man City, who with players like Yaya Toure, have fitted a side together which is now title winning. Yet players like Kompany cost only £6 million, surely he would have been excellent for Arsenal? Unfortunately, Arsenal spent a lot of money on many average players, instead of spending big on one or two. Secondly, if Wenger sought to replicate Barcelona then he forgot or neglected the biggest factor as to what has made Barcelona so great. When I watch Barcelona and Spain I see a world-class defensive side. Their ability on the ball is excellent, their movement and timing is mesmerising, yet they never lose their shape or their tactical role and understanding. The whole side understands where to be and what to do in and out of possession and this is what has put Spanish football on the top of the pile. It is an issue, which Wenger overlooked in his Spanish quest and it is the reason Arsenal has become an average side. Wenger’s failings was that he saw only the passing and ability on the ball, yet neglected or was ignorant to what these players and sides do defensively. Without a defensive foundation, a side will not win anything. And this is true for all successful sides. Arsenal simply are a shambles out of possession, they don’t press quickly to stop counter attacks, they don’t press from the front, or drop off and deny space. The midfield looks disorganised and clueless when out of possession. They allow too many 2v1 situations and fail to deal effectively with long balls and crosses. Did he forget that his success at Arsenal was built on some world-class defensive foundations? Yes Bergkamp and Henry were great, yet it was Seaman, Adams, Keown, Vieria and Petit, who were the key to that sides success. There are no players, which resemble these players now. The lack of success has come from this poor transfer policy based on a failed ideal. Wenger seeks ball playing centre backs, yet neglects to work with the defence sufficiently. Players like Szcz sny, Sagna, Koscielny and Vermaelen are all good players, yet they are not a great defence. Wenger made a grave mistake in trying to revolutionise Arsenal, quite simply he failed, he misunderstood what made his side so strong in the late 90’s and early 2000’s and believed that he saw a change in how the game would be played. He was right about the Spanish, yet forgot that the Spanish football is based on more than just their technical skills and possession. Above all, Wenger forgot the importance of a

solid defensive foundation, which was neglected for “beautiful football”. It has led to a period of mediocrity and worryingly for Arsenal fans, a very empty trophy cabinet. Spain is not England, the leagues are different, as too the politics, the culture and the climate. The Spanish league is a much more technical and the pace of the game is slower and the physicality less so than in England too. Now I would argue that to try to have a side play a “Spanish” way in England is simply nonsensical. By not taking into account the differences between the countries and the style of play each league has, coaches attempting to play like Barcelona are only heading towards failure. In England, as in Germany, it is important to have a strong, physical foundation. The top sides have a balance of defensive security, physicality and attacking skill. Look at Mourinho, Ferguson and Mancini, they all understand the league and have built winning sides based on this. Since his transformation of the side Arsenal have not won anything. I do not believe this is a coincidence. Wenger has professed that gaining Champions League qualification should be regarded as a trophy and be seen as success. One can understand why he believes this; the financial rewards and the appeal for players to play for a Champions League side are essential. However, for all the rewards that the Champions League brings, for all the revenue that the Emirates brings in each week and with next seasons increase in TV revenue, is this acceptable for fans? It has been too long without a trophy and more needs to be asked of Wenger. Right now Wenger knows his job is safe, the players appear to know that the expectation is to finish in the top four, so where is the motivation? Where is the desire to challenge the top sides? It appears the club is in a period of contentment, as long as they are in the Champions League and making money, this is regarded as adequate. This mentality is unfair on the fans. You only have to look at Bayern and see what Arsenal could have been had they not been led down Wenger’s flawed path. Strength, skill, defensive quality and an insatiable appetite to win are what Bayern has and Arsenal lack. A team, which mixes experience, youth, world-class talent and academy products appears the perfect blend. If only Arsene hadn’t changed his approach at Arsenal then I highly doubt it would have been eight years without success. • This article was first published by sabotagetimes.com

THE GUARDIAN, Thursday, May 16, 2013

TheGuardian

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

By Mary Gloria C. Njoku CCORDING to researchers, ethical leaders A who exhibit empathy, trustworthiness, selfless attitude, and focus on collective mission tend to maintain optimal leader-follower relationships. One wonders whether these types of leaders exist in Nigeria and if they do, whether optimal leader-follower results will be obtained in this country, Nigeria. The attributes of an ethical leader suggest that the followers will be more likely to imbibe the vision of the organisation as interpreted by the leader and achieve the group goals as a result of intrinsic motivation. Having worked in Nigerian for the past five years, I am challenged to believe that the cultural milieu or mindset of the average Nigerian in the workforce seems to be primarily centered on personal rather than group goals. It almost feels as though many followers perceive an empathetic, selfless and considerate attitude as weakness. Imagine working with a staffer who seeks permission for a three-day off-duty to take care of personal health. You grant the request and four hours or a day later, you get a report from other workers that the staff is busy selling goods, commuting people with motorbike, keke, taxi or bus. In the spirit of empathy, you call the staffer to order for engaging in such a dubious behaviour but the employee continues to seek and obtain extra work days off duty with fictitious or flimsy excuses. Health matters and death are very serious matters but many workers often do not reflect on the implication of misleading their leaders by lying about such matters in order to obtain some days off. The most challenging type of work behaviour that takes advantage of the pro-social leader is that which I have observed among individuals who present themselves for employment. These individuals assure the manager that they know their work and are capable of contributing to the organisation’s goals but as soon as they are offered employment, they begin to demonstrate their incompetence. In some cases, some of the employees “just” sit around from beginning to end of work day doing nothing and yet, at the end of each month, they receive a salary. Another insulting behaviour of some workers in Nigeria is the attitude of self-aggrandizement. You expect that an empathetic, selfless leader will engender selfless attitude among the followers. However, my experience of Nigeria has shown that regardless of the leader’s behaviour, many followers continue to seek ways to “fill their pockets,” instead of enriching their organisation. In fact, I perceive a situation where many people are struggling to get a share of the “national cake” using any available means such as inflating the prices of goods, selling organisational resources, using organisational resources for personal matters, and extorting money from the less privileged. Reflecting on my experiences thus far, I feel a great concern for the future of Nigeria when I think about how leaders are supposed to exert social influence that should lead followers to embrace organisational or collective goals. I wonder how the types of followers described in the foregoing will move the nation’s development forward. I feel that a charismatic leader is needed in Nigeria. Many have identified that the nation is in distress and has been in the condition for many years. If the literature on the emergence of charismatic leader in time of crisis is effective in the Nigerian context, it would have been the case that the nation should have arisen from her crisis state if there has been a leader with charisma. But given that prosocial behaviour appears to carry minimal valence for the average Nigerian worker, it feels as though a combination of transactional and charismatic leadership may yield a better result for the nation or rather the use of varied types of leadership models for specific situations may be more appropriate for Nigeria. It is important to note here that there have been stories of followers who maintain ethical business behaviour whether or not they have leaders who are ethical themselves in Nigeria. I have had the opportunity to experience individuals who are truly hardworking, accountable and responsible. These individuals attend to their work because they are intrinsically motivated to complete their job tasks well. Sometimes, I have heard people asking these types of workers why they have chosen to be exceptional in carrying out their tasks. These experiences I have had make me

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The leader for Nigeria

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President Jonathan

more convinced that one style of leadership place, increased diversity, technological may not be effective to get Nigeria out of advancements, internet generation people, distress. A leader guiding diverse followers, environmental challenges and global comwith some task-oriented, some responsible petition will require leaders to demonstrate and some self-centered, must be prepared emotional and cultural intelligence that will help them to to manage be tolereach group Further, the changing nature of the workplace, ant, with a increased diversity, technological advancements, empathetic style of leaderinternet generation people, environmental challenges and ship that and global competition will require leaders to demon- cooperative. will get strate emotional and cultural intelligence that will help Leaders them to be deliver them to be tolerant, empathetic and cooperative. must capable for their Leaders must be capable of taking in varied information of taking organisavaried tion. The and solving complex problems effectively and efficient- in informaability of ly. It is important to have a leader who can propound tion and leaders to master and implement solutions to Nigeria’s many challenges solving complex the and break the vicious cycle of economic, social and probminds of lems effecfollowers and influence them appropriately would be tively and efficiently. It is important to have a leader who can propound and implement necessary for the advancement of Nigeria. Further, the changing nature of the work- solutions to Nigeria’s many challenges and

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break the vicious cycle of economic, social and moral distress. Nigeria needs a leader who is capable of changing the structure and mindset of the people. Maybe someone with the characteristics of Jerry Rawlings of Ghana who was firm, consistent, earned the trust of Ghanaians and changed the landscape of his nation. The leader would also need to possess Gandhi’s personality such that he can pray, fast and suffer to bring the nation out of distress. It may also be important for this leader to be a Julius Nyerere to Nigeria and encourage the people to contribute to the welfare of the community rather than personal aggrandizement. The leader would also need to embody the characteristics of Nelson Mandela who refused to accept “an eye for an eye” ideal insisting on holding the country together through promotion of reconciliation between people of European and African descent. Mandela saw and experienced the evil of racism and refused to accept a system of ethnic divide. Nigeria needs this type of leader who will bring the people to a self-consciousness that promotes unity. Martin Luther King Jnr. during his lifetime strove to overcome hatred in all its ramifications and preferred the concept of working together for social justice. His activities and famous speech, “I Have a Dream” were instrumental to dismantling racial segregation and inspiring hope in the people of the United States of America. Nigeria needs a leader who will focus on stabilising the nation, unsettling ethnic divide and enthusing hope and unity among the people of Nigeria. The stability of any nation usually passes through a gradual process. The whole history of the world is a history of colonisation, wars and dispossession. For example, Britain was conquered by the Celts who controlled the country for many years. The Romans in turn conquered Britain from the Celts, ruled for about 400 years and also integrated some elements of Celtic life into their lifestyle. In 450 AD, the Romans fell to the Angles, Saxons and Jutes (three Germanic races from Northern parts of Germany). The Anglo-Saxons during their reign also assimilated some elements of the culture of the people they conquered and introduced a language which is now known as Old English. After 300 years, another group of invaders from northern Germany, the Scandinavians, conquered many parts of Britain, having their influence in the so called Danelaw region of Britain. In 1066, the Normands conquered Britain, integrated some elements of British life into their own and brought the French language into the country. After the 1066 conquest, the nation was never conquered again on its own soil. It became a self-conscious nation and stopped being merely “the conquered.” In the cause of time, towards the end of 14th century, the English Language was accepted again as the official language of their parliament. So, nationhood is a gradual process of going through difficult experiences which will give the people a feeling that they belong together and share a common destiny. This must be the road for Nigeria. We are just 52 years. We don’t have enough experiences as a nation. We must allow the process of nationhood to run its course. We must be patient with ourselves. Trying to crush the baby, Nigeria, before it is old enough to take its place among the nations of the world will not be the right thing to do. It is only a charismatic leader who will understand that what are needed is the creation of stable structures and a redirection of the mindset of the people to focus on selflessness that will sustain the growth of the baby. We must pray for such a leader to emerge and lead us. “All hands must be on deck” for the changing of mindset. Each individual citizen must feel a sense of belonging and know that the peace and progress of the nation is dependent on individual and collective efforts. If we want a better Nigeria, we must shun the short cuts to self-aggrandizement and embrace the long road to collective wellbeing. Hard work, integrity, accountability, responsibility and respect for human dignity must guide us. Those who already possess these qualities must continue to maintain them and touch the lives of our brothers and sisters who have forgotten that the progress of a nation is dependent on its citizen. I on my part have committed myself to the advancement of Nigeria. I hope you will join forces with me to bring Nigeria out of distress into the land of promise. • Njoku is a reverend sister and a lecturer.