Fri 24 May 2013 The Guardian Nigeria

Nigerians in UK disown suspected attacker

By Bola Olajuwon, Tunde Akinola (Lagos) and Tunde Oyedoyin (London) with agency reports USPECTING a sinister moSantive in the identification of attacker on a British soldier as a Nigerian, Nigerians in the United Kingdom (UK) yesterday disowned Michael Mu-

• Jonathan, others condemn murder • Britain vows crackdown on extremists jahid Adebolajo.

The soldier, who was identified yesterday as Drummer Lee Rigby, 25 years old from the City of Manchester, joined the army in 2006 and later

served in Afghanistan. He was allegedly murdered by two suspected Islamists on a London street on Wednesday.

Outraged at the development, Prime Minister David

Cameron yesterday vowed that Britain would be resolute against violent extremism.

Cameron also declared yesterday that the vicious act by the two suspected Islamists – whom media reports and Internet sources believed to be Britons of Nigerian descent – was an attack on Britain and a

betrayal of Islam.

“This was not just an attack on Britain and on the British way of life. It was also a betrayal of Islam and of the Muslim communities who give so much to our country,” agency reports quoted the prime minister as saying.

“There is nothing in Islam

that justifies this truly dreadful act.”

But Nigerians in the UK have said one of the suspects in the Woolwich attack, Adebolajo, is not a Nigerian but a British citizen as Metropolitan police officers raided a house in a Lincolnshire village belongCONTINUED ON PAGE 2

TheGuardian Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

Friday, May 24, 2013

Vol. 29, No. 12,566

www.ngrguardiannews.com

N150

Nigeria moves for continent’s growth at AU • Seeks action on Saharawi, Arab-Palestinian conflict From Oghogho Obayuwana, Foreign Affairs Editor, Addis Ababa S the 21st ordinary session A of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) began in earnest yesterday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Nigeria offered a strategic plan to aid development and check conflicts .

At the AU Executive Council meeting for the heads of state and government, Nigeria also pushed the issue of what to do with the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, and this was adopted yesterday after initial resistance by a number of countries which felt the matter was of no importance to Former Vice President Alex Ekwueme (left); representative of the President of Liberia, Prof. Al-Hassan Conteh; Ghanaian President, John Mahama; President Goodluck Jonathan and Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, during the funeral service for Prof. Chinua Achebe at Ogidi, Anambra... yesterday.

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Achebe buried in blaze of tributes From Kodilinye Obiagwu, Chijioke Iremeka, Chuks Collins, Anote Ajeluorou, Uzoma Nzeagwu (Ogidi) and Charles Ogugbuaja (Owerri)

• Stakeholders expect more from President • Catholic cleric relives encounter with writer

Y 4.10 p.m., the great writer B was laid to rest. The burial was conducted by the family.

I believe He will console the family of the great icon. Some people saw him in different ways but I will quickly say that he was a philosopher and just like all philosophers he used a particular subject to influence our thinking. And literature is the subject he loved so much.

“I read Things Fall Apart in 1972 when I was in secondary school. And it was published in 1958, two years before our independence.

In 1958, Achebe was 28 years old. Probably, he started the work when he was 26 or 27 years old.”

The President noted that in The Trouble With Nigeria, Achebe didn’t not blame the air, water, soil, or the environment but that “the problem is the political leadership”. He

The public was barred from entering the mausoleum.

The funeral service at St. Phillips Anglican Church, Ogidi, was presided over by Rt. Rev. Owen C. Nwokolo, Bishop on the Niger, while Archbishop of Aba Province and Bishop of Umuahia Diocese, Rt. Rev. Ikechukwu Nwosu, gave the sermon. Nwosu represented the Most Rev. Nicholas D. Okoh, the Primate, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion.

In his less than 10 minutes speech, President Goodluck Jonathan stated that he was particularly touched by three books written by the late Prof.

Chinua Achebe. He mentioned Things Fall Apart, The Trouble With Nigeria and There Was A Country.

“I thank God for his works and

got a loud applause from this.

Earlier, Jonathan and his Ghanaian counterpart, Mr. John Mahama, pledged to rebuild in honour of Achebe, the primary school the late professor attended.

But the promise attracted various responses from stakeholders in Ogidi, the home-town of the iconic professor. While many hailed the promise as unexpected, some described it as too little for a man of Achebe’s calibre.

While appreciating the President’s promise, a member of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Maxwell Okudo, said: “It is advisable not to make any huge demands so that the little that is promised

us will be fulfilled. When the President comes to commission the primary school, we will then make more demands. It must be appreciated that he must have done some other things. This promise is just an extra mile he has gone. This is a gift and it must be appreciated. We thank God for someone like Achebe whose death brought such big names like our president and the president of Ghana to Ogidi.”

He continued: “The promise is not below expectation at all.

He noted that development takes a gradual process. We need to lure someone in position of authority with an achievable and possible request first.”

Commenting on the burial, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife said: “It was more than we expected.” On the President’s promise, he said: “The promise was not expected. It is going to be a university of a primary school.”

Chief Maurice Ebo, the President of the Nkwelle Ogidi Development Union, said: “We are happy that the President came but we are not impressed with the promise of Mr. President. We should be moving forward, considering the number of years that has passed when Achebe attended his primary education there.

We expected him to consider it making it a university, because there is enough land space for that. Nothing would be more gratifying than to see the Federal Government in a unique way liaising with the Ghanaian Government to build a university in Ogidi in memory of Achebe.

NLC, TUC plan solidarity strike over Rivers crisis – Page 4

“We thought at least they could build Chinua Achebe Institute of Literary Studies in Ogidi.”

The headmistress of the primary school, Mrs. Ngozi Oraka, said that the news of the promise was exciting. She noted that the fact that the governments of Nigeria and Ghana were collaborating on the primary school made it more interesting.

She said: “I am sure it will be a befitting primary school in honour of Achebe. I am very happy; we have been waiting for a day like this. This is the best thing that has happened to this school. Achebe was our hero, having been raised in my school, we need to honour him.

“The school has never received any recognition apart from once when some individuals collaborated to renovate the falling roof. Chinua visited us once, and we never saw him again till his death.

We missed saying our bye-bye to him because we were not included in the programme.”

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

2 NEWS

Stakeholders expect more from Jonathan on Achebe CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The President-General of Ogidi Union Nigeria said that the “promise is a welcome development and we are excited. It is commendable that the pupils will be given a sense of belonging by the presidential intervention in building a school of 21st century standard.

“It was exceptionally special for such gesture to come from our president and his Ghanaian counterpart. There is nothing wrong to have our primary schools to look like a three-star hotel duly equipped with mod-

ern learning facilities.”

The roll-call at the burial included Second Republic Vice President Alex Ekwueme, former Commonwealth Secretary-General Emeka Anyaoku, governors Emmanuel Uduaghan, Theodore Orji, members of the federal cabinet, Pat Nebo, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Ebonyi State governor, Sam Egwu, Bishops of Nnewi, Oguata, Minister of Labour, Employment and Productivity Chief Emeka Wogu, Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, Cross

River Governor Liyel Imoke.

A little drama occurred. The officiating priest, Rev. Ikechukwu Nwosu, failed to recognise Mahama. Jonathan reminded the priest. He sent the priest a reminder that he didn’t recognise the Ghanaian president while thanking him for coming. The priest excused himself that he was riding on Jonathan’s back in recognising all notable dignitaries and continued his sermon without a fuss.

Rainmakers promised a clement weather.

Nigeria seeks action on Saharawi, Arab-Palestinian conflict CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 the rest of the continent.

The three other interventions made here in Addis late Wednesday through yesterday

by Nigeria were on the Draft Declaration of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) at 50, the vexed issue of budget as well as the Arab-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East.

In addition to the thousands that were killed by Africa’s burgeoning conflict, by the end of

2012, there had been over nine million refugees and internally-displaced people from the continent’s conflicts prompting scholars to posit that the entire African region could have been declared a World War 111 zone if the fighters and victims had been in Europe or any other continent.

The theme of this year’s summit “Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance” has been adopted to reflect the special

anniversary of the OAU. Addressing journalists yesterday after the conclusion of the AU agenda, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, said Nigeria’s role in the matter of ending Africa’s senseless conflict was to galvanise the other willing nations through the strategic plan.

The minister said: “That is why you saw the strategic plan.

Things have reached a head now. Conflicts are now taking away all of the lustre that should come with continental integration, the reason why we moved from the OAU to the AU. This plan should take us where we will go in the next 50 years or so, and this was adopted after the day’s debate.”

According to him, what is different here in this regard is that: “We are now going to make sure that the focus should be that there will be no fighting in Africa, that the issue of insurrection, the issue of instability, we put that behind us in Africa, that we are declaring the next 50 years as years of focus on development, economic integration and progress for the whole of the continent, not to be bugged down by con-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

As the sun shone, a member of Ndi Ichie Ume, the highest traditional body in Ogidi, quipped: “The church people are enjoying a clear sky now. They don’t know what went behind to achieve it.” His select audience burst into controlled laughter as a band of local musicians entertained guests in the compound.

There was an argument on whether the rainmakers were responsible for the bright and sunny day. The Ichie continued: “There will be no rain. But from 8.00 p.m., the rainmakers will open the heavens till 4.00 a.m.”

Someone noted that from Awka, the state capital, it was sunny all the way.

In his tribute entitled “Rectishaping our World: Re- athoming Chinua Achebe or Rectishaping our World”, made available to The Guardian, Archibishop of Owerri Catholic Ecclesisatic Province, Dr. Anthony J. V. Obinna, recounted how he invited the late Achebe in July 1997 to deliver the yearly lecture series of the province in Obiri Odenigbo in 1999.

According to the cleric, as a teacher in the institution, before his consecration as a bish-

op, he had seen Achebe closely at the then Alvan Ikoku College of Education, Owerri (now Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri) in 1977 when he had come to carry out an academic programme from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), adding that he found in him a satisfying academic stock.

He recalled: “That Odenigbo lecture turned out to be a true home-coming for Chinua Achebe after nine years of exile in the United States of America seeking to manage his life following the near-fatal car accident he had on our accident – prone roads. Interestingly, various government officials and top politicians from all over Nigeria found their way to my ramshackle Obiri Odenigbo, the venue of the lecture seeking to touch our physicallychallenged but internationally renowned teacher. Thereafter, invitations started coming to Achebe from various admirers at top levels to come and brighten their world with his presence. Even the presidency at the time suddenly woke up to Achebe’s renown and offered to honour him either

with a dinner or a federal award. Our disciplined and consistent Achebe characteristically turned down the offer. If I remember well, he turned down the offer a second time making waves more by his refusal than by his acceptance.”

Obinna said he had been called

by Achebe’s wife, Christie, and son, Ike, when his health was failing and even, when he passed on in March.

“After the Odenigbo lecture in 1999, Chinua Achebe and family continued to keep in touch with me. And I did too. We had become true friends.

“As news of Achebe’s failing health began to filter into Nigeria with Nigeria’s normal mill of rumour and certainty of death by the high priests of rumour the family graciously called to inform me of the actual developments. Three days before his death they made me realize that the situation was grave. On the day of his home return to God our creator or in Achebe’s words to the home of “haunted revelry”, Christie, the wife and Ike, his son kindly informed me of Achebe’s gracious and peaceful death. May his noble soul rest in peace.”

President, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote (left); the company’s Group Managing Director, D.V.G. Ediwin and a director, Olakunle Alake, during the 4th yearly general meeting (AGM) of Dangote Cement Plc in Abuja… yesterday.

President, others condemn murder in UK CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ing to the Adebolajos.

Reacting in a statement yesterday, a chieftain of Nigerians in Diaspora, UK, Sam Onigbanjo, said: “The beheading was done by a British citizen and not a Nigerian as speculated, his name does not confirm his nationality.

“This lunatic was born in the United Kingdom, never been to Nigeria. He was issued a birth certificate in the UK and held a British passport. Suddenly, he is now a Nigerian?

This guy is not a NigerianBritish born.”

Onigbanjo noted that “because the accused is not Gabriel Agbonlahor playing for Aston Villa and Three Lions, or Andrew Osagie, UK’s reigning 800m champion, or Lawrence Okoye, British Discus Record Holder (68.24m), or Abiodun Oyepitan, British Olympic Silver and Gold Medalist, or Christine Ohuruogu, Beijing Olympic British Gold Medalist, or Eniola Aluko, British Olympic Female Football star, or Temi Fagbenle, British Olympic Basketball queen, or several other thousands of British citizens with Nigerian connection who are making the country proud, it is being made to look like Nige-

ria has shown itself again over the action of the British boy who beheaded a soldier yesterday.”

Also, a North London-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), African Partnership Development (APD), has strongly condemned the actions of one of the two murder suspects.

In a statement made available to The Guardian, APD said suspect Adebolajo was not in any way a representative of the Nigerian community. According to the statement, “APD wishes to condemn the barbaric act of the murder suspects, Michael Adebolajo, a British born to Nigerian parents and his accomplice. The killing is abominable, unacceptable and very barbaric.”

In another statement made available to The Guardian, the National Association of Nigerian Communities (NANC) condemned the action of Adebolajo and his yet to be identified accomplice.

The statement of condemnation signed by the National President, Martins Bakare and the Publicity Secretary, Owoeye Olabanji, reads: “On behalf of the National Association of Nigerian Communities (NANC) UK, our condolences are with the families and

friends of the victim. Such an act is nothing short of barbarism of misguided minds, who have put a huge shame on their family, friends and the community at large.

It is saddened to note that both suspects, Michael Adebolajo and the other, are of Nigerian descent.” NANC said it hoped it was an “isolated” act and that the duo must be made to account for their acts.

In Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan expressed shock at the attack.

He conveyed his sincere condolences to the British Prime Minister David Cameron and the British people over the development and shared their grief.

The Muslim Council of Britain described the murder as “a truly barbaric act that has no basis in Islam.”

Besides, late Wednesday, around 250 members of the anti-Islamist English Defence League were involved in minor scuffles with police at a train station in Woolwich, while two men were arrested overnight after separate attacks on mosques in southeast England.

Security has been strengthened at all army barracks in London. The British flag was lowered over the Woolwich

barracks – which was the venue for shooting events at the London 2012 Olympics – and flowers have been laid outside.

After chairing a meeting of security chiefs the day after the soldier was hacked to death in a broad daylight, Cameron said Britain’s communities would unite in condemning the attack.

“This country will be absolutely resolute in its stand against violent extremism and terror,” he told reporters outside his Downing Street office.

“This was not just an attack on Britain and on the British way of life. It was also a betrayal of Islam and of the Muslim communities who give so much to our country.”

Already, a house in a Lincolnshire village was yesterday raided by Met police officers investigating the alleged terror attack in Woolwich.

According to The Mail, Adebolajo was identified as the alleged killer and he was seen ranting on video shortly after the murder of the soldier in Woolwich.

It reported that the men, who are being treated in separate hospitals while under arrest, are most likely to have converted to a radical form of IsCONTINUED ON PAGE 4

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

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4 NEWS

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

CJN tasks judges on punctuality, quick dispensation of justice From Abosede Musari, Abuja ITH a tacitly acquiescing W with the maxim that justice delayed is justice denied, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mariam Aloma Mukthar, yesterday charged judges in the country on quick and thorough dispensation of justice, as well as punctuality in attending court.

Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony of the Acting Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Justice Ibrahim Bukar, in Abuja yesterday, the

• Firm petitions NJC over Gummi, Yahaya CJN urged him to be diligent in the exercise of his functions.

She also asked him to ensure that cases were speedily heard and determined, just as she expects the new chief judge to start sitting by 9.00 a.m.

“I admonish you to always endeavour to sit from time to time in addition to your administrative duties, as required by your office. Ensure that your brother judges do not keep litigants waiting. Ab-

senteeism will not be tolerated,” Mukthar said.

The office of the FCT Chief Judge became vacant due to the sudden resignation of Justice Lawal Hassan Gummi, who was turbaned the Emir of Gummi, Zamfara State. As a result, Justice Bukar was elevated in acting capacity by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Meanwhile, Nestello Gateways Group has petitioned the National Judicial Council

NLC, TUC plan solidarity strike over Rivers crisis From Ann Godwin, Port Harcourt F the ongoing political crisis Ination in Rivers State continues, the will feel its impact starting from Monday, May 27, as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and its Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart have announced plans for an industrial action on the said date.

The action is to protest the denial of Obio/Akpor Local Council workers entry into the council premises and payment of their salaries.

At a joint press conference with the TUC in Port Harcourt yesterday, the Rivers NLC Chairman, Chris Oruge, said the organised labour does not have any business with the ongoing political crisis in the state, but maintained that Labour was purely concerned about the rights and privileges of their colleagues working in

the embattled council.

Oruge explained that the unions had earlier issued a seven-day ultimatum on May 17, 2013, in which it urged the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu, to obey court decision and vacate the secretariat to allow the workers return to their duties and receive their salaries.

However, he lamented that up till date, neither the Police nor the state government had contacted them except the State Security Service (SSS), which called to inquire about their moves.

Noting that the organised labour has responsibility to protect workers’ interests, he added that the planned strike would start on Monday as a two-day warning strike, then proceed to an indefinite strike if nothing urgent was done in the matter.

Similarly, the Rivers TUC

Chairman, Chika Onuegbu, pledged his union’s support for NLC in whatever action it would take to right the injustices against their members.

(NJC), alleging that Gummi and the Chief Registrar of FCT High Court, Toyin Yahaya, abused their offices by handing over the company’s property to the Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, after an Abuja High Court had ruled against the governor.

The group is asking the NJC to order a thorough investigation into the matter with a view to bringing to book anybody found wanting. It also demanded that the former chief judge be ordered to put them back into possession of the house situated at No.1, Fatai Williams Street, Asokoro, Abuja.

They also wanted the NJC to compel Gummi and Yahaya to enforce the payment of the outstanding manse profit of

N333,333.00 per month for the premises from November 1, 2009 until it is vacated, and that Justice Gummi, who gave the instruction to return the property to Governor Yari should restore the property to its original state.

At the resumed hearing on the petition yesterday, Gummi’s lawyer, Israel Olorundare (SAN), raised a preliminary objection challenging the competence of the NJC to probe his client on the grounds that he had since resigned his office as a judicial officer since May 13, 2013.

He further stated that there were series of litigation still pending before the Abuja High Court and Federal High Court in respect of the matter, adding that the NJC does not share concurrent jurisdiction with a high court.

However, the NJC panel has

over-ruled Gummi’s preliminary objection and adjourned till today to continue hearing.

The panel classified itself as a fact-finding body set up before Gummi notified of his resignation on May 13, which was received on May 14, adding that “the act was allegedly committed before May 13, 2013.”

Nevertheless, the NJC panel referred the case of Yahaya to the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC), having not yet been made a judge over the role she played in allegedly obstructing the execution of the orders of an Abuja High Court.

Justice Jude Okeke had, in a considered judgment, ordered the company to take possession of the property in question, but the order was allegedly varied by the Yahaya on Gummi’s instruction, an allegation that both of them have denied.

Britain vows crackdown on extremists CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 lam.

However, as of yesterday, they were not thought to have links to terror groups based in Nigeria, such as Boko Haram.

Police were seen outside a £365,000 detached house in a Lincolnshire village where they raided a home where Adebolajo is listed as having lived in the past.

There was no answer at the address believed to be that of Adebolajo’s father, named by neighbours as Anthony Adebolajo.

The senior Adebolajo, 56, is be-

TheGuardian SATURDAY, MAY 25, 2013

Conscience Nurtured by Truth

The Policeman As Endangered Species With the upsurge in insurgent activities, especially in the North, Police officers have increasingly become targets of attacks. In Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi and even Bayelsa states, they have been killed by militants, cultists and others criminals.

What is the life of a Police officer worth in the estimate of the country he/she serves? How are the families of slain Police officers catered for?

PLUS

Why Do Politicians Play ‘Monopoly’ At State Level?

At the centre, politicians are unanimous on the fairness of zoning or power rotation. Why then are the same politicians finding it difficult at the state level to rotate power? A searchlight on some states…

Is Bigamy A Misguided Law?

Is it given unto man to love but one? Against the backdrop of so many advertised cases of extramarital affairs by men, is one woman really enough for a man?

You’ll find the answers very interesting indeed!

These and many more in The Guardian, on Saturday. Keep a date with us.

lieved to be a trained nurse now working in a managerial capacity within the NHS. The modern property was being monitored by two police patrol cars stationed outside.

Later in the morning, plainclothes officers, thought to be from the Metropolitan Police, arrived at the modern estate and the house and driveway were sealed off with police tape. An officer at the scene described the property as a “crime scene.”

Adebolajo reportedly bought the property in 2002. At one time, a woman who wore a burka was thought to live with him.

Neighbours disclosed that he had up to four grown-up children, although a few if any are thought to have stayed at the house for any period of time.

Michael Adebolajo was listed as being a resident there in 2004, shortly after the family moved in.

Wielding knives, including a meat cleaver, two men carried out the attack on Wednesday afternoon near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, southeast London, then delivered an Islamist tirade to passers-by.

Chilling amateur footage of one suspect showed him still holding blood-stained knives, telling a member of the public they killed the victim “because Muslims are dying daily” in the hands of British soldiers.

Speaking in a London accent, Adebolajo, who is black, made various political statements, including a demand for Cameron to “bring our troops back.”

Shocked eyewitnesses described how the men stayed at the scene after the killing, asking passers-by to photograph and film them.

“I apologise that women have had to witness this today, but in our lands, our women have

Nigeria seeks action on Saharaw CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 flicts, internal struggle, internal insurrection and so on.”

Fielding questions from The Guardian on the groundwork done so far in Nigeria’s bid for a non-permanent seat at the United Nations (UN) Security Council, he responded thus: “On that matter, we have made good progress. You know that we have been endorsed by ECOWAS heads of state and government as the sole candidate for the sub-region. We have also been endorsed by the AU at the level of the representation at the United Nations. That has also now happened. So, we expect that by God’s grace this afternoon (later yesterday), the AU will come out to endorse our candidature for the nonpermanent seat of the UN Security Council. But when that is done, that will be another level.

We still have a lot of work to do because elections into that council is by two-thirds majority. It means that we also have to take our campaigns to other countries outside Africa so that we can get the required twothirds majority in the election that will take place in October in New York.”

The Nigerian minister also spoke on the issue of the Saharawi which at a point threatened to polarise the AU’s

executive.

He disclosed: “We made that intervention also. Some countries felt that the Saharawi issue should not be on the agenda of the AU and for us in Nigeria. This is a very serious issue because it concerns decolonisation and the matter of freedom that since our independence, we have fought hard...We have been at the vanguard of ensuring the total liberation of all the countries in Africa and we were then surprised that some countries will now say that the issue of Saharawi will not be on the agenda of the AU...We were shocked because how come it will not be on the agenda of the AU when Nigeria fought for the liberation of most of the countries in Africa; we fought for the liberation of Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa, why shouldn’t we fight for the liberation of the Saharawi Democratic Republic?... So, we said don’t take us back into history...And of course, a number of other countries, including South Africa, came on board and supported our view and at the end of the day, we won in the sense that the issue was listed as part of the agenda of the AU. Not only that, the report of the special committee that was set up to dwell on this matter

to see the same,” said the suspect, who was wearing a hooded jacket and a black woolly hat.

Media reports citing witnesses said the men first ran over their victim in a car before finishing him off with the knives.

Several witnesses said he had been decapitated.

Reports said the victim was wearing a T-shirt bearing the logo of the British military charity Help for Heroes.

The suspects were shot by police after the attack and spent the night in separate hospitals under armed guard.

The victim was yet to be formally identified. His murder is the first fatal Islamist attack in Britain since 2005, when suicide bombers killed 52 people on London’s transport network.

Cameron cut short a visit to Paris in order to chair a meeting of the government’s emergency response committee, COBRA, which had already met in the hours following the attack.

Defence and interior ministers attended the meeting along with intelligence chiefs, the head of Scotland Yard and London mayor Boris Johnson.

24-hour information bureau debuts in Nigeria TWENTY-FOUR-HOUR NaA tional Bureau of Directory and Information Services has begun operations in Nigeria to aid businesses listings, drive directions, tax advice, address finders, health histories, police information and record back-up, weather forecasts, reverse phone tracker and jobs finder, among others.

Known as 7411 Bureau of Information, it will facilitate access to information over the phone to aid business development, security operations, crime reporting, data documentation, regulations and approvals by health and foods agencies and developmental issues, among others.

It will also avail the law enforcement agencies and the military up-to-date information in crime fighting and aid human capital development in the country.

Access to information and lifesaving tips is available on 7411 from any local network and +2347411 from outside Nigeria.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

NEWS | 5

CHINUA ACHEBE’S BURIAL

The son of author Professor Chinua Achebe, Dr. Ikechukwu Achebe (left), and his widow Professor Christie Achebe (second left) accompany the casket of the late author during the funeral service at Ogidi in Southeast Nigeria …yesterday PHOTO: AFP

Cross section of Achebe’s immediate family including his wife Christie (second left).

Chief Emenike Ezeife and former Governor of Anambra State, Mrs. Etiaba Governor Theodore Orji of Abia (left); Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta, Rochas Okorocha of Imo and Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahn.

The remains of the late literary icon Prof. Chinua Achebe in a procession

Widow requests special songs for husband

By Kodilinye Obiagwu and Chuks Collins HERE were three different choirs to sing for the late Achebe -An orchestra group from Enugu, the choirs in St Phillips Anglican Church, Akpakaogwe and St Paul’s Anglican Church, Ikenga Ogidi. All sopranos dressed in red while all tenors and bass dressed in green.

T

The St Phillips choir is called the Angelic voices. The members have been rehearsing for the past three weeks.

There are 30 males and 50 females of various ages. The Choirmaster, Christian Eze Okonkwo, said that Achebe’s widow, Christie, specifically requested for a particular tune, Ancient and Modern Hymn 210.

Three special songs were

composed for the occasion.

The first is Jesus is Life And Resurrection. The second is Holy City, while the third is a solo titled Trumpets Shall Sound.

The choir master explained that the Holy City celebrates the departed as all dead are seen as saints, while the Trumpet Shall Sound is normally rendered for the dead as shown in 1st Corinthians Chapter 15.

How to immortalise Achebe, by Ezeife

By Kodilinye Obiagwu, Eastern Bureau Chief ORMER governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, has called for the naming of an institution after Achebe as a way of immortalising the literary giant.

Ezeife said in immortalising Achebe, “special emphasis must be paid to literature. I don’t think we should rename the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. That was why we renamed the state

F

university after the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.”

The former governor observed that the premises of the St Philips Church is “too small” to accommodate those coming to attend Achebe’s funeral service.

“There should have been a square somewhere with live transmission on wide screens for many people to watch the funeral service. It is not possible that all those who want to honour Achebe can be accommodated in the church, “ he said.

Ezeife wondered why the state government didn’t declare a public holiday to allow people to come out and honour Achebe. “I am not sure his people suggested it to him.

He is only one man,” he said.

But Mr. Mike Udah, the press secretary to Governor Peter Obi said, “the idea of a public holiday did not come up, but the secretary to the state government urged civil servants to turn out en-mass at the Ekwueme Square to pay their last respects to Achebe on Wednesday. And they did so.”

Aviation Minister, Stella Odua.

PHOTOS: HENRY UNINI.

Anxiety over delay in Jonathan’s arrival at funeral service From Kodilinye Obiagwu IT was a long wait for President Goodluck Jonathan’s arrival before the funeral service for the late literary icon, Prof. Chinua Achebe, could begin yesterday at the St Philip’s Anglican Church, Ogidi, Anambra State.

The surge of anxiety grew when news filtered in that the President would soon arrive. His arrival became obvious when the Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, left his seat in the church and walked to the primary school playground.

At 10.45 a.m., a military helicopter marked NAF 565 landed on the field. It was the President’s advance team. At 11 a.m., another helicopter landed. The crowd became more nervous over delay in Jonathan’s arrival.

There

were various speculations spreading through the small crowd gathered at the field.

Some people who claimed to be in the know said “he will come in a white helicopter.”

The second helicopter brought out more people. A third one landed at 11.03 a.m.

It was a military helicopter marked NAF 570. The buzz from both helicopters kept swirling the dust. No one was sure whether the President had landed. Everything else was in hold. Then President Jonathan came down, not from any white helicopter, but the second helicopter, a green- camouflaged military helicopter. Security men and some other dignitaries gravitated towards him. Security was tight. Not even the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) cameraman was allowed to come near. From a

distance of 200 meters, the President walked to the church. Dressed in brown caftan with red cap, he was ushered in by Obi as the crowd erupted in cheers of “Okute”. The President raised his right hand in response.

Obi, who was enjoying the felicitation also raised his hand in response.

Among others who received the President were former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala and Senator Chris Ngige.

As soon as the President and his team entered the church, the bell tolled for Achebe, and the service was about to start.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

6 | NEWS

NUJ alerts on attempt to blackmail minister

IGERIANS have been alerted to the activities of fake journalists and quacks who operate as syndicates and specialise in blackmailing top political officers and other government officials with a view to extorting huge sums of money from them as ‘settlement.’

The Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Chapter, Chuks Ehirim, who raised alarm yesterday said the blackmailers send text messages to intimidate particularly public office holders and personal aides claiming that they have unraveled scams involving their targets with a view to extortion.

He said the most recent of the shameful activities of turn-coats in the journalism profession is that of a Kadunabased junk magazine, which claimed to have written a book, chronicling alleged rot within the FCT Administration.

He stressed that in a glaring unprofessional manner, the said magazine went to the extent of publishing advertisement soliciting for negative articles from the general public through telephone, email and Facebook to rubbish the image of the FCTA and the minister who is a former journalist.

Ehirim stated that while journalists have the constitutional right to hold public officers accountable to the people, such rights should be exercised with decorum within the confines of the law instead of hiding under the canopy of the media profession to perpetrate unprofessional and lawless acts.

He added that the NUJ was in touch with the Nigerian Press Council, Police and the SSS to sanitise the profession.

He said that the minister petitioned the Council on the attempt by the publication to extort money from him.

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Airtel chief, Akanmu resigns IRTEL Networks Limited’s A Chief Marketing Officer, Olu Akanmu has resigned his appointment with the company “to pursue other interests with effect from Wednesday, May 22, 2013.”

A statement by Mr. Emeka Oparah, Vice President, Corporate Communications and CSR, said: “Mr. Akanmu led the marketing function at a crucial time in the life of our organisation and brought his over two decades of marketing experience and a rich knowledge of the telecommunications market to bear on his role as our CMO.

Niger beefs up security at border towns From John Ogiji, Minna IGER State Government has beefed up security at its borders with neighbouring states of Kaduna, Kebbi and Federal Capital Territory even as it also directed people of the state to be extra vigilant on the movement of strange people in their neighbourhood.

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• Falana accuses Jonathan of abandoning crucial state matters for NGF politics From Kelvin Ebiri (Port Harcourt) and Abiodun Fanoro (Lagos) RESIDENT Goodluck P Jonathan has been urged to probe the protest by some former militants who barricaded the Government House, Port Harcourt on Tuesday for several hours.

A group, Rivers Coalition For Peace And Development (RCFPD), said it was drawing the attention of the President to the worrisome resurrection of militancy and criminality and

hope that both he and Governor Chibuike Amaechi and the law enforcement agents were aware of the burden of history and would do their utmost to ensure that no one jeopardises the peace and security of the state and country.

Meanwhile, activist lawyer, Femi Falana, has accused the President for abandoning crucial state matters for the politics of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) which he noted is neither recognised by the country’s Constitution nor

strategically relevant to the monstrous security challenges and other crises confronting it.

He said from actions of the Presidency and reactions emanating from it in relation to the NGF, especially its election, in recent time, Aso Rock Villa has elevated the issue far and above state’s matters.

Falana said it was obvious that Jonathan’s interest in the NGF politics was selfish as it was about his rumoured ambition to re-contest for the office of the President in 2015.

In a statement, RCFPD Chairman, Ichegbo Wobihele and secretary, Hon. Daerebo Awoyesuku, said Rivers people woke up to the rude shock of the miscreants and criminals in the guise of ex-militants parading the streets of Port Harcourt to demand for Amaechi’s resignation. It said that this sad spectacle was a reminder of the inglorious days when Rivers’ people were held hostage by the guns of thieves, kidnappers and murderers.

They complained that the

Jefrey Daniels of Shalamar (left), Stella Monye, Ace Broadcaster Bisi Olatilo and music producer Laolu Atins at the Green Ball/Fund Raising Dinner organised by Copy Rights Society of Nigeria (COSON) at MUSON Centre Onikan yesterday.

PHOTO: CHARLES OKOLO

rowdy crowd was made up of hoodlums belonging to the quartet of Tom Ateke, Asari Dokubo, Soboma Jackreece (popularly known as Egberi Papa) and Solomon Ndigbara (a “wanted” man known as Osama Bin Laden, from Yeghe community who allegedly attacked Amaechi’s helicopter during the Ogoni day celebration in 2011).

RCFPD observed that curiously, the hoodlums arrived at the government house gate right after the departure of the Assistant Inspector General of Police Zone 6, Calabar and his team.

“For three hours or more, they barricaded the gates of the Rivers State government house. Curiously, the miscreants were escorted with cooling vans that supplied food and drinks as they rampaged.

The protesters also boasted that they are ready for a confrontation with the police and the military. We commend the fact that Governor Amaechi and the Government House security personnel exercised restraint and did not as much as lift a finger against the protesters” they said.

The group expressed concern that last week, a minister, who is believed to be leading the opposition against Amaechi, had donated his salary for the next six months to the foundation of General Tompolo.

“Yesterday four coaster buses loaded with unknown persons came into Rivers State from Akwa Ibom State, for the continuation of the militants’ protest. Buses have also arrived into the state from neighboring Bayelsa carrying militants,” they said.

N’Assembly restricts president’s powers in states under emergency rule From Saxone Akhaine (Kaduna), Azimazi Momoh Jimoh, Bridget Chiedu Onochie, Adamu Abuh, Terhemba Daka (Abuja) and Bashir Bello (Kaduna) HE National Assembly yesT terday amended the regulations governing the state of emergency declared in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states and restricted the powers of the president to only issues of security and maintenance of peace and order.

The amendment followed the adoption of the recommendations of the conference committee set up by both Senate and House of Representatives to harmonise the differences in their earlier positions.

The Senate had passed the regulations as sent to it by President Goodluck Jonathan but the House of Representatives effected some changes.

In the Emergency Powers (General) Regulations, the President had proposed among others that: “The President may give directions to a state governor or local government chairman directly or through his designate or a duly authorised person with respect to the administration of the emergency area and it shall be the duty of the state governor or local government chairman to comply with the directive.”

The National Assembly in its amendment stated that such directives from the President must be restricted to only issues of public order, peace and security.

Citing the difference between the President’s speech to the

public order, peace and securi-

• ACN decries weakening of democratic structuresty only and it shall be the duty the state governor or local • Musa blames northern oligarchy for insurgency of government chairman to com• Reps want counter-terrorism unit for Katsina ply with the directive.”

However, the amendment pro• Committee seeks information on Boko Haram posed by the House of Reprenation on May 14 and the gazette published by the Federal Government on the declaration, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) had in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, accused President Jonathan of engaging in deceit because the gazette showed that the Presidency has virtually eviscerated the democratic structures and stripped the political office holders of their constitutional responsibilities, thereby reversing the assurance he gave in his speech on the declaration.

ACN had warned that unless this despotic tendency is checked, nothing prevents the President, in the name of the ongoing fight against Boko Haram, from extending this power grab to other states that catch his fancy.

On the insurgency, former Governor of old Kaduna State and opposition leader, Alhaji Balarabe Musa said that the current insecurity pervading the north and also threatening the survival of the country could have been fueled by the northern oligarchy in order to destabilise the Jonathan administration and render the country ungovernable.

Musa said that there were some forces in the north that felt Jonathan “robbed the Presidency from them in 2011 and

therefore they must teach him a lesson”.

“Yes. They are one of the five sources and promoters of Boko Haram. In the case of the other aspect of insecurity, of course, it is the real condition of the country. But, in the case of Boko Haram, we have identified five forces that may have been using Boko Haram as an agent provocateur. And the five, of course include the northern oligarchy who believed he has stolen the presidency from them and as such they would teach him a lesson.

“Then, there is the Federal Government itself who having realised that they are so bankrupt, they cannot function and they have serious opposition they want to deal with the opposition through using Boko Haram which they too have hijacked part of the group after the death of Muhammed Yusuf, to use them against their political opponents, to use them to divert attention from their failures and to use them even for the purpose of the 2015 elections”.

The amended version as adopted by the National Assembly reads: “The President may give directions to a state governor or local government chairman directly or through his designate or a duly authorised person with respect to the administration of the emergency area in matters of

sentatives to Section 3(h) of the Emergency Powers Regulation to the effect that funds of local government in the emergency areas be used for the payment of compensation to victims of terrorism on or before the emergency proclamation was overruled by the National Assembly.

Instead the original provision in the President’s proposal was retained.

It reads: “Any order made under sub-regulation (1) of this Regulation may in particular, if it appears to the President to be necessary or expedient for the purpose mentioned in the subregulation, provide for the maintenance of such applies and services as the President considers essential to the lives of persons in the emergency area.”

Meanwhile, Chairman of the presidential Committee on Dialogue and peaceful resolution of Security Challenges in Northern Nigeria, Alhaji Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN) yesterday said anyone with links to reaching the insurgents should give the committee in order to ease process of dialogue.

Turaki said, during a courtesy visit on Kaduna State Governor, Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, that, “we want anybody that may have link with some of these people to direct us to ease process of dialogue in such a

way that will ensure transparency and honesty which are the hall mark of this committee.

“The committee is in Kaduna State as part of its nationwide tour particularly in the affected areas for the purpose of enhancing consultation and interacting with critical stakeholder and having interaction with some of the victims as well as their families.”

In Katsina State, following the killings of several people in Daura by unknown gunmen last week, the House of Representatives yesterday called on the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, to establish a counter-terrorism unit in the Daura Emirate to enable the police effectively discharge their duties in the area.

Adopting a motion of urgent national importance introduced by Salisu Ado Daura (CPC, Katsina), the House urged “the military authorities to stop forthwith the attempt/plans to unlawfully enter the homes of already traumatised innocent people in the area in the guise of looking for the culprits who fled after committing the atrocities,” calling on the IG to intensify efforts to apprehend the culprits and bring them to book.

While condemning the act, the House called for “payment of adequate and prompt compensation to the families of the deceased security personnel,” and further urged the IG to “make immediate arrangements to restore office accommodation for his men.”

NEWS

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

Ahmed warns new electoral body against vices

Senators oppose NITEL’s liquidation

From Abiodun Fagbemi, Ilorin OVERNOR Abdulftah G Ahmed of Kwara State yesterday urged the newly-sworn in members of the state Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC) against unethical conducts, adding that they should discharge their assignments without fear or favour.

He made the call while swearing in members of the electoral body, adding that the next council elections in the state would serve as a model to the conduct of similar polls across the states.

Those sworn in are Dr. Uthman Abdulrahman Ajidagba (chairman), Abdulsalam Tejidini Ahmed (member), Rtd. Magistrate Azeez Akinlani (member), AbdulRauf Ishola Ajao (member) and Alhaji Ishola AbdulRaheem Ajibade (member).

The governor, while reiterating on the importance of accountability and probity in the course of conducting elections, said those appointed to serve as KWASIEC officials were chosen due to their career proficiency and sound academic attainments.

But an official of the state chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), who pleaded anonymity, faulted the composition as he alleged that there was no single Christian representative in the KWASIEC.

Bank, firm partner on computer acquisition TERLING Bank Plc and WestScluded gate Computers have conplans with Intel Corporation to increase access to technology for its customers and youths in general through a laptop acquisition scheme.

The project, under Sterling Bank-Intel new Laptop acquisition scheme, is a scale-up on the ‘Create Your Tomorrow’ campaign rolled out by Intel, last year.

The Managing Director, Sterling Bank, Yemi Adeola, explained that the bank understands the interrelatedness of technology and genuine development in any nation.

“This initiative offers everyone the opportunity of a lifetime by empowering them to play active roles in creating their tomorrow with sheer ease and convenience,” he said.

Abati loses mother PECIAL Adviser (Media and Publicity) to President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Reuben Abati, has lost his mother, Madam Maria Taiwo Abati, who passed on yesterday at the age of 81.

According to a statement by the family, Mama Abati, a devout Christian, was born into the family of the late Pa Samuel Jobo Arowotadina and the late Madam Elizabeth Efundunke Arowotadina of Ijemo, Abeokuta. She was a trader at Kuto Market for many years. She is survived by other children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, including Mr. Robert Abati, a geologist with Dangote Cement, Mr. Ralph Abati, a banker with Fidelity Bank Plc and Mr. Lanre Abati, a chartered accountant. Funeral arrangements will be announced later.

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By Bridget Chiedu Onochie, Abuja HE Senate yesterday T urged the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) to dis-

General Treasurer, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), Adesina Adedayo (left); President, CITN, John Femijegede and Deputy President of the Institute, Mrs. Teju Somorin, during the 28th induction ceremony of CITN in Lagos…yesterday.

PHOTO: ADENIRAN AYODELE

Police seal off ACN’s office in Enugu over crisis From Lawrence Njoku, Enugu HE crisis rocking the T Enugu State Chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) deepened yesterday as the police sealed off the party’s secretariat located on Ogui Road to avert clash by factions of the party.

Policemen drawn from the Ogui Division in Enugu had stormed the premises of the party where the Chief Emeka Ude-led state executive was holding meeting, made some arrests and locked the premises after dispersing the members.

The action of the police was informed by the invasion of the members loyal to its factional chairman, Barth Ugwuoke, who on Monday claimed that it had suspended 22 members of the party, including Ude and its governorship candidate in the 2011 election, Val Nnaedozie, for alleged anti-party activities

Irrespective of this order which was properly served, they have continued in their jungle politics. This is the height of rascality; the men who are desperate to occupy government are busy disobeying court order. These men are not doing this for the good of ACN but are suspected to be bought over by people who would not want opposition to stand in Enugu and impersonation.

But Ude, who was later invited by the Police where he explained their mission at the secretariat, said his group which emerged in 2010 as the Congress elected executive to serve for four years, remains the authentic state executive of the party, adding that there was a court order to that effect.

He accused the Ugwuoke-led group of violating the Enugu High Court issued on April 23 restraining them from tampering with the affairs of his executive pending the determination of the suit.

He stated that in violation of the order, the Ugwuoke-led group had gone ahead some

weeks ago to conduct a “black market” congress, supervised by Uche Onyeaguocha in which his illegal executive emerged.

The order issued by Justice O. Okereke, which was adjourned to May 28 for further hearing on the matter, was challenging the move by certain members of the national executive of the party led by Chief Bisi Akande and Senator Lawal Shuaibu to cut short the tenure of the state congress executive, when it should elapse by next year.

He said: “Irrespective of this order which was properly served, they have continued in their jungle politics. This is

Govt releases N200b Q2 allocation to MDAs From Mathias Okwe, Assistant Business Editor, Abuja ESIROUS of upping the D ante in budget performance, the Federal Ministry of Finance has announced the release of the second tranche budgetary allocations to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for the continuous execution of projects in the 2013 Federal Government plans.

A statement yesterday by Mr. Paul Nwaiukwu, the Media Adviser to the Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala, said that N200 billion was released to enable MDAs progress with the implementation of the projects captured in the budget.

The sum of N400 billion had earlier been released as

Power sector gets N72.7b so far capital for first quarter of 2013, out of which N335 billion was cash-backed and has been drawn down by the MDAs. Nwabiukwu explained that 65 per cent of the cash-backed portion has been utilised so far.

He also disclosed that of the N600 billion allocation released so far, N72.7 billion went to the Ministry of Power to cover various items in line with the implementation of the power roadmap aimed at ensuring the attainment of power supply target by next year.

A breakdown of the allocation to the sector shows that N59,089,522,721 billion was paid in the first quarter while N13,733,822,832 has been paid so far this second quarter.

Nwaiukwu gave the break-

down of the releases to power sector to include “N45 billion paid to PHCN workers as part of the privatisation programme.

The other N5 billion was paid for the Multi-Year-Tariff Order (MYTO), the Power Ministry Headquarters, Power Holding Company of Nigeria, National Rural Electrification Agency, National Electricity Regulatory Commission, National Power Training Institute, National Electricity Liability Management Limited/GTE (NELMCO) and Bulk Trader.

A breakdown of the figures shows that N59,089,522,721 billion was paid in the first quarter while N13,733,822,832 had been paid so far in the second quarter.

the height of rascality; the men who are desperate to occupy government are busy disobeying court order.

These men are not doing this for the good of ACN but are suspected to be bought over by people who would not want opposition to stand in Enugu.”

Ude, who addressed reporters alongside other members of the executive, said that by the strength of the court order, they remained executives of the party, attributing the present crisis to desperation by some members to thwart the move collapse of ACN into the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He said that nobody was suspended, adding that the executive had passed a vote of confidence on the Nnaedozie and Ude leadership of the party in the state.

Ugwuoke, however, insisted that the group had been suspended, adding that they had by a handover letter which they signed, acknowledged that their tenure was over.

On the court order, which they allegedly violated, he said that no such order had been served on them, adding that it was not there when they held the congress.

continue plans to liquidate the moribund Nigeria Telecommunications Limited (NITEL).

It stated that rather than the guided liquidation of the nation’s telecommunications company being pursued by BPE, it should be under concession or operated under the Public Private Partnership arrangement.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Privatization, Gbenga Obadara, said his committee members had earlier taken the management of BPE and National Council on Privatization (NCP) up on the need to drop the idea of liquidating NITEL and Mtel.

The plan to sell off the company emanated from BPE’s claim that NITEL owed the Federal Government and other stakeholders a total sum of N351billion.

The panel’s objection to the sale of NITEL was also hinged on the fact that neither the BPE nor NCP could ascertain the exact value of the company.

Obadara said: “We met with BPE and NCP on the way forward concerning NITEL and Mtel to obtain situation report of the proposed privatization of the companies. We were told that the exercise will go through guided liquidation. We took them up on why NITEL should not be liquidated in any form at all. We thought about how NITEL would be put to a better use.

“We were confronted with the fact that NITEL is indebted to the Federal Government and other people to the tune of about N351 billion. We also asked those owing NITEL but they could not give us the fact of who owes NITEL. We were later told that NITEL is indebted to the Federal government to the sum of N179 billion.

But with facts available, we know that the Federal Government and agencies are owing NITEL about N250 billion.”

According to Obadara, BPE has claimed that NITEL is still owing banks about N64 billion. “How do you then sell what you don’t know the worth? As people representing Nigerians from various senatorial districts, we thought it fit that we should not allow NITEL to be sold without knowing or having empirical facts to collaborate what they are telling us.”

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

8 | NEWS

10,000mw target not feasible till Dec 2014, says minister From Emeka Anuforo, Abuja HERE is a growing uncertainty over the Federal Government’s target of generating 10,000 megawatts of electricity.

Indications from the Ministry of Power have it that March 2014 may no longer be feasible as the target date.

Probably cognisant of the need to adopt a rather ‘safe’ position, the Minister of State for Power, Hajia Zainab Kuchi, said yesterday that the target would now be achieved by December 2014.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has inaugurated a working group to review and come up with a uniform system of accounts for the electricity sector.

The move, according to NERC, is part of the process of developing a uniform accounting framework to facilitate the review and analysis of the licensees’ financial statements.

Minister of Power, Prof.

Chinedu Nebo, had told reporters early this month (May 1), that the 10,000 megawatts of electricity initially targeted for December 2013 is not realisable going by realities on ground.

Nebo had stressed that the December 2013 figure, which was bantered by his predecessors and some government officials, is not realistic based on what is currently on ground.

Rather, he said something close to the figure would be realised in December, stressing that 10,000mws would be achieved by the first quarter of 2014 based on a professional and realistic analysis on the sector.

“As an engineer and knowing the realities on the

T

• NERC plans uniform accounts system ground, we will achieve this by first quarter of 2014. We need time to achieve some of the targets. We will get close to it, but the truth is that we cannot get 10,000mws by December.”

But reacting to stories in some newspapers (not The Guardian), which quoted her yesterday as telling a committee of the Senate that 10, 000mws would be achievable by December 2013, Kuchi

disassociated herself from the reports, stressing that nothing could be farther from the truth as the reports.

She said: “With the processes that we have put in place, the statistics available to us, and the efforts at reforming the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), we will achieve 10,000mws by December next year. Though we are generating up to 7000mws of electricity cur-

rently, we are only able to wheel 4000mws because of our poor transmission network.

“By 2014, we will be able to wheel 10,000mw, by which time the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) plants would have come on stream.”

She told reporters that the privatisation programme was on course, stressing the power plants would be handed over to the new owners by July, as government was on course to sort out

pending severance packages of electricity workers by June.

Her words: “The claim that the Minister of State for Power said the generation and distribution companies that were bided for last year could not be handed over to successful bidders because the companies were currently not in good shape is also not accurate. In fact, at a recent Presidential Power Signing Summit, several agreements on vesting contracts and gas supply agreements were signed with

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From Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu, Benin City OR the umpteenth time, Edo State Governor Adams Oshiohmole yesterday insisted that his administration would not sponsor or subsidise expenses for Christian and Muslim pilgrimages.

Until his coming to power in November 2008, the state government had spent millions of naira annually for pilgrimages.

Speaking yesterday when he had audience with Zonal Federal Commissioners and officials of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims’ Commission, Oshiomhole said the government would not use tax payers’ money to subsidise pilgrimages.

“For those who want to travel for pilgrimages, we cannot discourage them. But what I am not ready to do is to take taxpayers’ money to subsidise someone who wishes to go and pray.

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200 VVF patients treated in Bauchi From Ali Garbi, Bauchi VER 200 women with cases of Vasco Vaginal Fistula (VVF) have been treated at the General Hospital Ningi, Bauchi State, while 60 others are awaiting treatment, according the nursing officer in charge of the clinic, Smaila Mato Jahun.

Speaking with journalists yesterday in Ningi Local Council of the state, he said the centre was facing the problem of manpower as there was only a VVF specialist in the entire hospital.

Jahun stated that the hospital, in collaboration with Engender Health and other donor agencies, had to make an arrangement with experts from Sokoto State to carry out surgeries periodically.

He lamented that sometimes, not all the patients who booked got treated due to lack of manpower and late information.

He said that during the treatment, the state government fed the patients free and provided drugs and other logistics.

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Chairman, Foundation for Effective Leadership and Development (FELD), Paul Adingwupu (second left); and students of Most High College: Miss Glory Opara (left); Emmanuel Onwubuariri and Idemudia Emmanuel at the 3rd cheque presentation ceremony to the winners of Education Quiz Play in Lagos…yesterday PHOTO: AYODELE ADENIRAN

Chinese firm seeks to install e-border control equipment From Azimazi Momoh Jimoh, Abuja NTERIOR Minister, Abba Moro, yesterday said that a Chinese firm has applied to install electronic border control equipment in Nigeria’s borders.

Briefing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Working Committee (NWC) at the party’s secretariat, the minister also disclosed that 30 illegal guard companies have been discovered, adding that the operator of one of them has already been arrested.

Lamenting the state of borders in Nigeria, Moro said the country’s vast borders were porous.

Moro also disclosed that the government was also entering into partnership with the United States Department of States with respect to the issue of border security.

He said: “We are making efforts to procure appropriate modern technology to man our borders in addition to the manpower that we have deployed to these borders. It is in that vein that we are collaborating with the State Department of the United States of America to deploy advanced surveillance technology to our borders.

“Until now, what we had was a proposal from a private Chinese company with which we had also entered into a Mem-

Edo won’t sponsor pilgrims, says Oshiomhole

orandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide for an electronic border control and the cost of the equipment was approximately about 244 million U.S. dollars”, he added.

“With the assistance of the U.S. State Department, we realised that some components of the offer we got from

the private firm was contained in what the State Department would be offering us.

When we have done this, the temptation of illegal entry into Nigeria will be reduced”, the minister stressed.

The minister also said that his ministry was collaborating with the Border Develop-

ment Agency to construct Border Plaza at 84 sites, which he hoped, would promote commerce along the border communities and reduce illegal activities along the borders.

On the alleged employment racketeering in the ministry, Moro said that “some unscrupulous elements opened

a website in the name of the ministry, which they have been using to dupe unsuspecting members of the public.

“One of them even used my name to open such website but we have been able to arrest him somewhere in Asokoro, Abuja, when I asked one of his would-be victims

Police arrest Ogun workers over WAEC fees’ fraud From Charles Coffie-Gyamfi, Abeokuta O fewer than 22 more Ogun State civil servants were yesterday arrested and interrogated by officials of the Criminal Investigations Department of the state Police Command in Abeokuta over their alleged involvement in the N200 million West African Examination Council (WAEC) fees’ fraud.

Those questioned yesterday were officials of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology among whom were some Zonal Education Officers (ZEOs).

As at the time of filing this report, the suspects were still being interrogated, so it was not clear whether they would be detained after their

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interrogation or not.

But four top officials in the ministry, two of whom were said to be directors, had been detained at the Police Command headquarters, Eleweran, since Monday for their alleged involvement in the crime.

The suspects are being interrogated for being members of a syndicate that had, in the past three years, swindled the state government of N200 million through the payment of WAEC fees for secondary school students.

As part of its free education policy, the government pays the WAEC fees for all secondary school students in the state whose number is put at thousands.

Police investigations have so

far revealed that the fraud was perpetrated through inflation of list of WAEC candidates in public schools by adding the names of candidates in private schools or tutorial centres. The crime was said to have been committed by the suspects, with the connivance of some private school proprietors.

The Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr. Olusegun Odubela, while answering a reporter’s question on the issue, stated that he was yet to get full details about the fraud but urged members of the public to furnish the Police with the necessary information that would assist them to unravel all those behind the fraud and the actual amount in-

volved.

He, however, confirmed that all those implicated during the ministry’s preliminary investigations have been handed over to the Police, adding: “I promise that I will not hesitate to hand over others that are found culpable in the alleged fraud”.

Odubela added that the state government would not fold its arms and allow such dastardly act to continue, assuring that the outcome from the Police investigation would form part of its mechanism to checkmate such act in future.

Also, the Police Command’s Spokesman, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi (DSP), confirmed the arrest, saying all those indicted would be prosecuted.

Imo warns contractors against non-performance From Charles Ogugbuaja, Owerri HE Imo State government T on Wednesday said it would revoke contracts awarded to non-performing firms, stating that it is wrong for jobs to be abandoned after payments have be made.

Disclosing this to journalists, the Commissioner for Information, Strategy, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Chinedu Offor, said the decision was taken in view of the disposition of some contractors who do not move in the spirit of the current government’s commitment to drive the state in the path of development.

He said the state government would sanction nonperforming contractors, adding that such contracts would be re-awarded.

Offor said Governor Rochas Okorocha would, on May 28, 2013, address a press conference in which each commissioner would also give account of his or her ministry.

9

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

WorldReport Obama defends U.S. drone policy, war on terror NITED States (U.S.) PresiU dent Barack Obama has asserted that his country is

Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Joseph Kabila (middle), United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon (left) and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim at the Nation Palace in Kinshasa…yesterday.

PHOTO: AFP

Death toll from S’ Africa’s circumcision rituals hits 29 EATH toll at South African D initiation schools has risen to 29, as investigation into the tragedy deepens.

But in a new development, Xinhua quoted the ruling African National Congress (ANC) as saying that the latest six deaths were reported on Tuesday in Sekhukhune, the Limpopo Province, during initiation and circumcision rituals.

Previously, Mpumalanga was the only province linked to deaths at initiation schools.

The toll hit headlines in the past two weeks, with the highest number ever recorded in the country in such a short period. The victims were youths – ages 13 to 21.

The ANC said it viewed the deaths “as a tragic result of a process whose tragic end could be avoided.

“The ANC is very disappointed that ever since the first pronouncement of deaths of our young men in the initiation schools, particularly around Mpumalanga, there does not seem to have been any urgency in investigating the circumstances that led to their death,” The party’s national spokesperson, Jackson Mthembu, added in a statement.: “This is very concerning that we still have thousands of young men who are still undergoing the initiation whose fate is under threat unless we understand and mitigate the causal factor of the many deaths that occurred in the initiation schools.”

Earlier this week, President Jacob Zuma called for swift legal action in tackling the issue.

“In line with the statement of President Zuma, we emphasise the need for urgent investigation into these deaths and bringing to book those responsible (any persons or groups) for these deaths,” Mthembu said.

UN chief visits Goma after fierce fighting NITED Nations (UN) chief, U Ban Ki-moon, arrived in the DR Congo flashpoint city of Goma yesterday after three days of sometimes deadly fighting between rebels and government forces that ended months of calm in the volatile east of the country.

Ban’s brief visit to the mineral-rich trouble spot came a day after he and the World Bank chief made a fresh push for peace and development in the region.

He pledged that UN troops would be in place within “one

or two months” to battle armed rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s volatile east..

Ban’s visit also came after three days of sometimes deadly fighting between rebels and government forces that ended months of calm in the mineral-rich east of the country, an area gripped by conflict for more than two decades.

The latest bout of fighting near Goma, which was briefly seized by the M23 rebel group in an armed uprising last year despite the presence of a large

UN peacekeeping force, has sent thousands of people fleeing.

But the Congolese army and rebel forces said the situation on the ground on Thursday was calm.

Both Kinshasa and the M23 have accused each other of launching hostilities and trying to scupper peace efforts in the restive east.

The rebels said Wednesday they were ready for “an immediate cessation of hostilities” to enable Ban’s visit to go ahead.

Hollande vows to help Niger tackle militants after deadly attacks RESIDENT Francois HolP lande of France has vowed to help Niger “destroy” the militants who launched deadly attacks against a military base and a French-run uranium mine in the West African country.

Hollande, speaking to Agence France Presse (AFP) in Germany, said France would support “all the efforts of Niger to stop the hostage situ-

ation” in the town of Agadez, where the military base is located.

He said that France would not tolerate such aggression.

“We will not intervene in Niger as we did in Mali, but we have the same willingness to cooperate to fight against terrorism,” he said.

Meanwhile, Islamic militant group, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa,

claimed the bombings, calling them punishment for Niger’s participation in a French-led military offensive against Islamist extremists in northern Mali.

Eighteen soldiers and a civilian were killed in a car bomb attack on the military base in Niger yesterday, the interior minister said, adding that one of the assailants had taken several trainee officers hostage.

safer because of his administration’s efforts to combat militancy, agency reports indicated yesterday.

In a major speech on counter-terrorism yesterday, Obama said he had signed new policy guidance regulating the conditions when the United States can use unmanned airborne drones to kill terror suspects abroad.

The guidance includes requirements that a target must pose a continuing “imminent” threat to Americans, and says lethal action can be used only if a suspect cannot feasibly be captured, and there is a legal basis for acting.

He, however, warned that a “perpetual” U.S. war on terror, whether through drone strikes, special forces or troop deployments, would be “selfdefeating.”

The U.S. leader said that such a state would alter America in “troubling ways” as he sought to reset the boundaries of the U.S. counter-terrorism effort in a major speech at the National Defense University.

But Obama said the United States faced a new threat from “diverse” terror franchises and the growing threat of homegrown radicals, after putting Al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan on the path to defeat.

“We must define the nature and scope of this struggle, or else it will define us,” Obama warned at the National Defense University, seeking to reframe U.S. counter-terrorism posture more than a decade after the September 11 attacks.

“Neither I, nor any President can promise the total defeat of terror ... what we must do — is dismantle networks that pose a direct danger,” Obama said.

“I know the politics are hard.

But history will cast a harsh judgment on this aspect of our fight against terrorism, and those of us who fail to end it,” Obama said.

“Imagine a future — ten years

America is at a crossroads. We must define the nature and scope of this struggle, or else it will define us. from now, or twenty years from now — when the United States of America is still holding people who have been charged with no crime on a piece of land that is not a part of our country.”

The new effort to close Guantanamo, to try to honor a promise that Obama broke in his first White House term, comes with 103 of the remaining 166 inmates on a hunger strike.

In a rare public discussion of the U.S. covert drone program, Obama said that targeting terrorists with unmanned aerial vehicles was a legal, effective and just military tactic.

But he revealed he had signed a new presidential policy directive “insisting on upon clear guidelines, oversight and accountability.”

He added that he would also appoint a new senior envoy in the State Department and Pentagon to oversee transfers and called on the Pentagon to designate a site on U.S. soil to hold military tribunals for terror suspects.

The speech came a day after the U.S. said publicly for the first time that drones had killed four U.S. citizens.

In the speech, Obama said: “From our use of drones to the detention of terrorist suspects, the decisions we are making will define the type of nation and world that we leave to our children.

“So, America is at a crossroads. We must define the nature and scope of this struggle, or else it will define us.”

Last month, the U.S. president pledged a new push to transfer the remaining prisoners from the facility, saying it was “contrary to who we are” and harmful to U.S. interests.

OAU-AU at 50: Minister wants Africa rid of conflicts, others From Isa Abdulsalami Ahovi, Jos HE Minister of State 1 for Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, has canvassed the need to institute a vision for the future of a robust Africa where people no longer plagued by conflicts, diseases and poverty as the continent looks back at its past 50 years’ history.

Onwuliri noted that the achievements of the Organisation of African Unity (OUA) and African Union (AU) cannot be enumerated without mentioning the laudable role that they played in the de-

T

colonisation of Africa.

She spoke yesterday at a conference organised by the Political Science Department of the University of Jos on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the OAU-AU. The theme of the conference is “National Conference and Round Table on the African Union at 50: Assessing Progress, Challenges and Opportunities.”

Represented by Ambassador Godwin Agama, the minister observed that at OAU’s formation in 1963, most of Africa had just become independent

while a number of territories were still under colonial rule.

“These included the former Portuguese colonies of Angola, Mozambique, GuineaBissau and Cape Verde. There was also Namibia, a former colony of Germany given to the trusteeship of South Africa. South Africa itself was under the rule of the obnoxious apartheid system where the African majority was regarded as less than human and accordingly treated.

“Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, was also under the rule of a clique of white

racists led by Ian Smith. It will be recalled that the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) had as its major objectives to rid the continent of the remaining vestiges of colonialism and apartheid, promoting unity and solidarity among African states; coordinating and intensifying cooperation for development, safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states and promoting international within the framework of the United Nations,” Onwuliri pointed out.

According to her, as a con-

tinental organisation, the OAU now AU provided an effective platform for its member states to adopt coordinated positions on matters of common concern to the continent in international fora and defend the interests of Africa effectively.

She also noted that through the OAU coordinating committee for the liberation of Africa, the continent worked and spoke as one with undivided determination in forging an international consensus in support of the liberation struggle and the fight against apartheid.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

10

Politics Wike: Fear of 2015 driving crisis in Rivers State Minister of State for Education, Mr. Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, a lawyer, spoke to some journalists on Tuesday in Abuja on the crisis in Rivers State’s chapter of the PDP. Abuja Bureau Chief, Madu Onuorah, was there.

EING the head of one of the blocs B in the PDP chapter in your home state, Rivers, what is the cause of the crisis in the party?

I don’t want to come from the angle that there is crisis in Rivers State.

Rather, what is natural in life is that we are not agreeable to change easily. For example, in 2007 when there was a Supreme Court pronouncement that Chief Celestine Omehia was not the governor, it was difficult for some people to accept it. But with time, you will find out that the people will come to live with it.

When you say crisis, I don’t think there is any crisis. Rather, you know in politics, if you are not in control of the party machinery, there is always fear that probably what you want may not be realisable or achievable. That is the way I would put it. This again is the problem.

When you said the head, I am not the chairman of the party. And by the structure of our party, the PDP, I cannot be the head except where there is no governor from that party. I am not the leader, as provided in the organogram of structure and constitution of PDP because we have a governor, who is from the party.

There are no two ways of saying that Governor Rotimi Amaechi is still the governor. As it is, you may not like Amaechi’s face but by the structure and constitution of the party, Amaechi remains the leader except he is no longer in the party.

What is at stake is this: It is like when you go for general elections, and INEC declares certain persons in the polling units. Then, when they go for the general collations, somehow another person is declared as the winner.

Now, the person who disagrees goes to the tribunal that he ought to be declared as the winner. When at the end of the day the person is declared the winner by the tribunal, you will see reactions.

Ordinarily, you would not expect that people would be happy. Why? Because you are going towards 2015!

A lot of people have ambition. But from what has happened, if these people are no longer there, there is the likelihood that such ambition may not be achievable or realisable.

Assuming the party has nothing to do with giving you ticket even, who will bother?

Everybody is busy narrating the story as it suits their peculiarities.

But whichever way it goes, it does not still remove the party constitutional provision and structure of the party that has made the leadership emerge in Rivers State. That is my position.

But what is the cause of the friction between you and Governor Amaechi? You were a leader of the group that ensured his emergence as governor in 2007. But now, you

lead the Abuja group. What is the noise all about?

This (emergence of new PDP chairman in Rivers State) is one area we may have disagreed. But it does not take his (Amaechi) being the leader of the party from him. The noise from some people is a natural thing.

But the party chairman (Amaechi Oduah) should try, as much as he can, to ensure that the leadership is reconciliatory. He (party chairman) is now like a father. He must not say that because they are angry and abusing him, that they shouldn’t come. He should be able to go and hold talks with them. That is what he has started by forming the reconciliation committee.

But a typical Nigerian politician is always afraid that since he was not in support of this or that, there is tendency that things wouldn’t come the way he or she wants. That fear is there because of the way we are running our democracy, the way we have been imposing people. If you insist that the popular candidate must emerge, you will see that nobody will have anything to fear.

As for the so-called Abuja this or that, I challenge anybody in Rivers State, who will say that I cannot win my unit, my ward and my local government. The mere fact that I work in Abuja does not mean that I do not go home. If you say Abuja politicians, it means that all National Assembly members, who live in Abuja, are also Abuja people.

First of all, I would not say I was instrumental to Governor Amaechi emerging as in 2007. Yes, God might have used me but I was not instrumental. I made myself available to God and I’m satisfied with that.

But let me also tell you that that is why people don’t understand politics. The fact that 15 years ago, we were all in the same page does not mean that in the next five years, you will continue to be in the same page.

We should play politics with maturity. Today, look at my age and level.

Does it mean that I cannot disagree with you on any issue? Or when we disagree it is because we are enemies? That is not it.

When did the problem between Amaechi and the President start?

Did it start, as I became a Minster?

People forget history easily. If Mr. President will use me and still keep me as a Minister of State, what is my achievement? Are you saying that Mr. President will keep me to let me know about my political future, about the political future of my people?

These things are very insulting to me. That means, I will wait for Mr. President to wake me up and say, ‘Don’t you know that your political future is finished?’

They say am fighting for the President now. In 2007 when I led the vanguard for Amaechi to be governor, who sent me to fight? Nobody sent me. I used my brain to fight then. And the fact that I am working with Mr. President, they are saying he has sent me. Does it make sense?

It doesn’t.

In 2007 when I laid down my life, who sent me? Then, I was to be assassinated in Uromi and in Port Harcourt on December 3, 2007. When Amaechi was in Ghana and I was taking all the bullets, who sent me?

Nigerians should try to

Wike

• State legislators profiting from it understand that some people have come of age; that you decide to do something today does not mean that you have been influenced to do it.

What abou t the accusations coming from the state legislators of plots against the governor and them?

No member of the State Assembly can challenge me because I know how all of them came to be. None can look into my eyes and tell me anything or say anything at my back.

These boys (legislators) are just trying to make money; they are just making money out of the system.

I can show you text messages most of them sent me that this is the best time money has been coming. That let the crisis continue, as they are now getting money. They said (alleged) that Amaechi is to be impeached. In a 32-member House of Assembly, you have 27 for Amaechi. Who is impeaching whom?

You know that there are so many ways to be fraudulent. You can be fraudulent by being an armed robber. Or you can be fraudulent by starting things like these and try to make money out of the system.

Was that why the PDP suspended the said members of the House?

Look, the suspension of the 27 came about because in a democracy, you cannot wake up one morning and sack the whole elected chairmen and councillors in the state and appoint caretaker committees.

That is what they did. They appointed politicians to take over the jobs of elected council chairmen and councillors. But the party, on which platform you (they) were elected, said don’t do this, as it is not in consonance with our principle.

You flagrantly refused to obey your party. And you want the party to fold its hands? The party said it is okay, you are doing your legislative work, but you couldn’t have been a legislator without a party.

Therefore, for now, you remain suspended from the party.

What did these boys do? Most of them went to radio and television stations every day. Thereafter, they would say, ‘You see, I have spoken. I have criticised and challenged the system. I said what Jonathan is doing is not good.’ And you are taken care of.

There are all sorts of rumours.

They said police took

over the Assembly. Where? You ran away and you don’t want to do your work. And blame the police. What kind of system are we running?

People who were elected by the people, you sacked them and nobody is talking.

What everybody, including civil society, is saying is, oh police! But if police had not taken over the secretariat of my own local government, Obio-Akpor, maybe you would have heard of a different thing because people would want to protect and defend their mandate.

Even the media have not asked: How can you dissolve or suspend elected people? Nobody is talking about that. That is what has got Rivers people talking. And people we respect, including democracy advocates and other human rights groups are speaking in tongues about this.

You don’t see anything wrong in the dissolution of the councils in the state or suspension of elected people. What you see wrong is that the Nigeria Police has taken over the councils to protect, to ensure there is no breach of law and order. Let the police go tomorrow and you will see the crisis in the place. We shouldn’t be sentimental about it.

You and your group have been accused of stirring up crisis to pave way for the declaration of a state of emergency in the state. Isn’t it so?

They (accusers) are saying that to try to make money out of the state system. You know how long the violence in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa has been and the Federal Government just (only recently) declared a state of emergency, leaving the political structures.

In Rivers State, nobody is at war.

Politicians are quarrelling among and themselves then you go start rumours that the President to wants a declare of state emergency

and is intent on getting the political structures in the state to go.

There is certain information that should just be dismissed with a wave of the hand. This is one of them.

Let me tell you people something.

The PDP has always won Rivers, and PDP will continue to win Rivers. Go and check the results. My local government, Obio-Akpor, has the highest registered number of voters in the state with over 500,000 voters registered. The Port Harcourt local government follows it.

In the last elections, during the presidential election, my local government gave 377,000 votes; during the governorship election, my local government gave about 369,000 votes. The votes from my local government covered other 10 local governments’ votes in that election.

So, when people talk about the PDP, where did they get the votes?

Nobody can win statewide election in Rivers State without winning my local government. It is not done. If you like, go and bring all your armoured tanks, it will not work.

Rivers State will continue to be PDP. Let no party, whether you call it meagre, merger or whatever name, deceive itself; they are just wasting time. Check the history. Rivers State cannot go to the opposition; it is not done!

Lest we forget, you haven’t told us about the dispute between you and Governor Amaechi.

There is no quarrel between Governor Amaechi and me. Have you ever seen or heard me criticise him or his government? If we have problem, probably I would have picked up one thing or the other in his government and start talking about it.

We are talking politics and political development. We don’t have any personal problem. If I am invited today to the Government House, Port Harcourt for an event, I will be there.

Watch from now to December and see what will happen. People are just over-blowing things and quarrelling over nothing. You agree to disagree and you disagree to agree.

That is the most interesting thing in politics.

Who are the people ‘over-blowing things?’

I have always told you journalists, don’t kill yourself. You are not in the arena. It is only those who are in the political arena that know what happens. Sometimes, you guess well but most times, you don’t.

You know when I read some of those things I laugh. You read the story that my governor went to Ekiti State some time ago and said that Nigerians were coward; that they could not come up to revolution.

Now, you went and dissolved local government councils and people are now revolting. How does revolution come? People are no longer cowards. People are saying this thing wouldn’t happen like that and now you are blaming them.

If the police leave there (Obio-Akpor) tomorrow, I don’t know what people will do because where there is crisis, you will send the police. So, why not avert that.

11

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

Iwuanyanwu

Obi

Chukwumerije

Elechi

Uzodimma

Jonathan’s efforts to sustain Southeast support From Leo Sobechi, Abakaliki UCH fuss has been made M of President Goodluck Jonathan’s recent visit to Enugu, where he commissioned a new terminal at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport.

Yet, not many people knew why the president had to personally attend the commissioning of the remodeled airport and the foundation laying ceremony for the international terminal.

Only a few of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders knew why the Southeast was hosting the president to a town hall meeting less than a week before he graced the burial ceremony of the late literary icon, Professor Chinualumogu Achebe.

However, to those who are conversant with various schemes and strategies for the 2015 presidential election, the set up was to answer to the growing posers over the benefits of Southeast in its full support to the Jonathan presidency.

Against the backdrop of the ongoing attempts by some political parties to forge a merger, the presidency was reportedly inundated with reasons the people of the Southeast were at the verge of rethinking their support for Jonathan.

For instance, during a town hall meeting at the Nike Lake Hotel, Enugu on March 16, 2013, most members of the Southeast political leaders’ caucus articulated what could pass as a shopping list for President Jonathan if he were to receive anything near to the massive support he got from the zone in the 2011 elections.

A member of the party Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, opened the floodgates of outstanding issues of great interest to the zone, which could colour their assessment of the Jonathan presidency.

Iwuanyanwu noted that though the zone aspired to occupy the office of chairman of PDP BoT, it bowed to the wishes of Mr. President and congratulated Chief Tony Anenih, who eventually emerged as chairman.

While assuring the national chairman of the party of the loyalty and full support of the zone, Iwuanyanwu said 2015 was presenting some challenges to the political calculations in the country.

“The position of the Southwest geopolitical one is well known; we in the Southeast are daily challenged on the benefits of our support for President Jonathan,” he said.

“There are issues that are of

grave concern to us. For example, the issue of appointment of Minister of Federal Capital; we feel the position should be rotated instead of giving it to the same zone,” adding that the people of Southeast had invested heavily in the development of Abuja, and “we expect that Abuja should be everybody’s home.”

On the issue of disparity of states in the zones, Iwuanyanwu said Nigeria had passed the stage of a straitjacket North and South polarisation, stressing that even if propagandists are campaigning against the creation of more states, an additional state in the Southeast “is for fairness, equity and justice.”

While dismissing the challenges posed by the inchoate All Progressives Congress (APC), Iwuanyanwu, who contested for the presidency under the defunct National Republican Congress (NPC), said the much-vaunted merger was not workable, “since a sense of history teaches that the failure of NCNC and NPC among other recent attempts will always play out.”

He, however, contended that the challenge before the PDP in the Southeast was to educate the masses on what the partycontrolled Federal Government had been doing.

His words: “The opposition would tell the people that PDP has failed but we know that PDP has been doing much.

There is a new Federal University in Ikwo, Ebonyi State; roads are being reconstructed and rehabilitated.

“The Akanu Ibiam International Airport is being rehabilitated and remodeled, but until a foreign airline lands and takes off at Enugu and foreign cargo dropped at Owerri, it is not enough to say that we fulfilled the promise of international airports in the Southeast. Our people we need to see these things before the next elections.”

But taking the refrain from another perspective, the senator representing Abia North senatorial district, Uche Chukwumerije, said though the PDP remains the only party that was formed in the womb of national oneness, what remained was to arrest the downward slope with obligation to the nation, which, he said, was affecting value orientation.

He said the important role of the PDP revolves around “creating and sustaining Nigeria unity,” describing other political parties as ethnic and region groups.

The senator maintained that the evidence of PDP as a national party “depends on its ability to create and demonstrate values that will help in sustaining the loyalty of Nigerians to the

• Stakeholders at town hall meeting take APC to the cleaners was striving seriously to sus-

country’s unity.”

On his part, chairman of Senate Panel on Aviation, Hope Uzodimma, lamented the lack of leverage of the PDP as a party in power, especially in the lack of enforcement of the Appeal Court judgment over the dissolution local government councils in Imo State.

While suggesting the appointment of Presidential Liaison Officers for states within the Southeast that were not under PDP governorship, Uzodimma agreed with Enugu State House Speaker, Eugene Odoh’s assertion that it was a political accident that robbed the PDP of the governorship in Imo and Anambra States.

A PDP stalwart and financier from Anambra State, Chief Mike Nwakalor, remarked that the selection of candidates was at the centre of the crisis bedeviling the state chapter of the party, noting that though it won the 2007 polls despite error of procedure, the 2014 governorship presents an opportunity to zone Anambra governorship to Anambra North “for the sake of equity and fairness.”

Ebonyi State Governor, Martin Elechi, told Tukur that he mounted the saddle as national chairman at a time of national bewilderment, tasking him to take note of the peculiarities of the problems of various state chapters of the party in his reconciliation efforts.

Elechi said it was better to seek to serve the masses rather than satisfying few individuals.

“We are your foot soldiers; we are your field commanders.

What should concern you is how we intend to win elections and you take the glory. We support the President and goodwill for transformation of the road sector,” he said.

“Now, there is this talk about APC and what it stands for.

Some say it is Armoured Personnel Carrier, some say it is All Progressives Congress; there are those who say it is All Peoples Congress but I call them Association of Political Clowns.

“None of those are a challenge to the PDP. While they are quarreling, we in the PDP are making plans to serve our people and the electorate know the difference.”

Earlier in his welcome address, the Southeast Zonal Chairman, Col. Austin Akobundu (Rtd), stated that the people of the zone were “sincere but not subservient,” noting that even as President Jonathan could be said to have fulfilled his promises to the people, nothing short of redesigning and reconstruction, not rehabilitation of the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway was acceptable to

the people.

Akobundu said that though the contract for the second Niger Bridge was reportedly awarded to Julius Berger PLC, the people were waiting eagerly for the commencement of work.

As he pledged the support of the Southeast to President Jonathan, he urged the NWC to continue to take the ZWC (zonal working committee) into confidence to resolve the Anambra crisis.

It is, therefore, evident that the recent town hall meeting was a last ditch effort by the President’s handlers to respond to the shopping list of the Southeast leaders.

A source at the Presidency confided that, “in this emerging arrangement to prosecute the challenges of 2015, it is believed that the support of the Southeast is very crucial.”

The source said the president

tain the Southeast support in view of the “APC gang-up,” pointing out that “apart from the Anambra governorship, Mr. President is worried about projects and promises he made to the zone.”

At the town hall meeting, President Jonathan, apparently in response to Chairman of Southeast Governors Forum, Peter Obi’s request on the Federal Government to address infrastructure problems in the zone, reiterated his administration’s commitment to the development of the country even as he noted the special support given to him by the Southeast geopolitical zone.

He insisted that the zone actually deserved an international airport, as a way of remedying the infrastructural imbalance suffered by the area.

While decrying the absence of a seaport facility in the zone,

the president gave the assurance that the Imo State Cargo Airport in Owerri and other airports in the country being undertaken by Federal Ministry of Aviation would be completed for use within the next 15 months.

As each Minister from the Southeast gave brief summation of what their ministries had been doing, especially in confronting the challenges of infrastructure in Southeast, it was announced that about N158 billion would be spent on projects, including the second Niger Bridge in Onitsha, ecological degradation and erosion problems in the zone (N60 billion); roads, electricity and maintenance (N68 billion).

With the town hall meeting in Enugu, which may be likely replicated in other geopolitical zones very soon, not many people are still be in doubt that campaigns for Jonathan’s second term have, indeed,

12

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

TheMetroSection Police arrest couple, two others for child trafficking

By Odita Sunday

They confessed that they had sold the child to Benedicta for N400, 000... During interrogation, she confessed that she re-sold Eziaka at N600, 000 to Patricia Anibogu.

HIBUEZE Mba and his 23-year-old C wife, Adaeze were among The four suspects paraded by the Lagos State Police Command for alleged child trafficking yesterday.

The two others were Benedicta Ogbuonwu and Patricia Anibogu. They were arrested by men of the Ilemba Hausa Police Division, led by the Divisional Police Officer, SP The couple and the other suspects Ekepeghere Ibe. abducted last year.

According to the command were spokesperson, Ngozi Braide, a Mba said his journey began with Deputy Superintendent of Police, Benedicta who conscripted him to the suspects were serial child ab- abduct kids and sell to her. She in ductors as well as traffickers who turn sold the kids to individuals, specialize in kidnapping children motherless babies homes and orfrom their parents and selling them phanages. to the highest bidders. He said: “For the first job, she paid The couple had also sold off their me N30, 000 and I was hooked. I unborn child at N200, 000 to boost began in September last year and their booming business of child we have succeeded in abducting trade and, as at the last count, the and selling three children at the couple were said to have success- sum of N400, 000 for boys and fully abducted three children; two N300, 000 for the girl.” boys and a girl whom they sold for Corroborating his story, his 23N400, 000 and N300, 000 respec- year-old wife said she was the one tively, before they were nabbed by that lured Eziaka after she had gone to the shop to buy some food. detectives.

While four-year-old Stanely Eziaka She added that they had to relocate was abducted two months ago, to Akwa Ibom after their act.

Confirming the incident, Braide, Promise and Goodluck Amaechi said the suspects were serial child

traffickers who abduct children from their parents and sell to people.

According to her: “On March 14, a case of a missing person was reported at Ilembe Police Division under the command of SP Ekepeghere Ibe by Mr. and Mrs. Caleb Eziaka. The division commenced investigation.”

“When writing their statements, the parents had disclosed that their four-year-old son had last been seen in company of their neighbour, Chibueze and Ada but attempts to call their numbers proved abortive as it was switched off.”

“Investigations continued and the couple were traced to Akwa Ibom where they were arrested. They confessed that they had sold the child to Benedicta for N400, 000.

Braide said: “When they disclosed the whereabouts of Benedicta, police moved to Onitsha and picked her up. During interrogation, she confessed that she resold Eziaka at N600, 000 to Patricia Anibogu.”

She said Chibueze had told the police that before they kidnap a child, they would move into the environment, study it and then make their move.

Braide added that the police were searching for the other members of the syndicate whom the duo of the Amaechi cousins were sold to. The two women were said to have evaded arrest and fled, leaving the two kids behind.

She advised parents, especially mothers, to be watchful and be security conscious.

“Don’t leave your children with strangers as was the case of the Eziaka’s. As for women who do not follow due process in pursuing an adoption, I would advise them to deviate from their act. If you go to the appropriate place, you will get it done legally and avoid all these hassles,” Braide advised.

Anibogu said she had been married for 28 years without a child and had opted to adopting illegally because she was lonely for companionship after the death of her husband.

She said: “When I became so lonely, someone gave me Benedicta’s number and I decided to give it a trial and I was happy for those months he spent with me.”

On why she veered into selling children, Benedicta told The Guardian that she only took the children from the couple because they informed her that the children were collected from prostitutes.

Police arrest Lebanese, accomplice for alleged kidnapping

By Odita Sunday

HE Special Anti RobT bery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command yesterday paraded a Lebanese, Mohammed Dannawi, who allegedly connived with a domestic servant to kidnap his aunt, Essa Dannawi.

The suspect, alongside a former domestic employee of the victim, Obi Kwentua, had abducted the 61-year-old woman from her residence and kept her in their hideout at Oyingbo, Ebute-Metta before she was released.

To ensure the release of the victim, the suspects had initially demanded for a ransom of N100million but later reduced it to N4million.

SARS operatives, led by the Officer-in-Charge, Abba Kyari, a Superintendent of Police, were said to have commenced investigations upon receiving the report.

Their searchlight was

first beamed on family members of the victim and, upon interrogation, Mohammed was arrested

The suspect

by the police.

Confirming the incident, the State Police Public Relations Officer, a Deputy

Superintendent of Police (DSP) Ngozi Braide, said the suspect had confessed that he embarked on the

nefarious act because his aunt had annoyed him.

She said: “On May 2, a Lebanese, Essa Dannawi, was kidnapped at her residence at No. 40 Abule Nla Road, Ebute Metta. The case was transferred to SARS by Area C. “The OC SARS, had an extensive interview with a family member of the victim. As a result, useful information was gathered and one Mohammed Dannawi, a nephew and a staff of the victim was arrested seven days later.

“Upon interrogation, he confessed to have organised the kidnapping of his aunt because she offended him. Thereafter, SARS operatives used him to stage and arrest the leader of the kidnappers; Kwentua.”

She added: “Kwentua had gone to Rita Lori Hotel in Surulere to collect the N4million ransom which they had demanded from the relatives of the victim.

Eventually, the victim was rescued at their hideout in Oyingbo area of Lagos.”

Briefs Ogunremi, 70, for burial HE death has occurred of T Mrs. Caroline Moradeke Ogunremi (nee Osobu) at the

age of 70.

A service of songs holds on Wednesday, May 29, 2013 at 5.00 p.m. at her residence, Abeni Ogunseitan Close, GRA, Ilesa, Osun State. There will be another service of songs on Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 6.00 p.m. at No. 250, Idolofin Street, Ado- Ekiti, Ekiti State.

She will be buried on Friday, May 31, 2013, after a funeral service at St Paul's Anglican Church, Odo-Ado, Ado -Ekiti at 10.00 a.m..

She is survived by her husband, Chief M. O. Ogunremi, children and grandchildren.

Ogunremi

Imo indigenes mark Children’s Day Indigenes in Lagos I27,MO will will on Monday, May mark Children’s Day at its Liaison Office, Bishop Oluwole Street, Victoria Island, Lagos at noon.

Knights to raise N150m for Retreat Centre project HE Knight of St. John Int’l T will tomorrow launch its N150 million Hall and Retreat Centre project, sited at Warewa village, off Lagos Ibadan Expressway, Ifo Local Council of Ogun State at 1.00p.m. at Welcome Centre and Hotels, Murtala Muhammed Int’l Airport Road, before Mobil Petrol Station, Ikeja, Lagos.

Akinboboye, for burial UNERAL rites for Justice F(rtd.)

Ibidolapo Akinboboye (nee Akinrosotu), who died at the age of 83, began yesterday with a wake. She will be buried today at Ikoyi Cemetery after a valedictory service at the Lagos High Court, Lagos Island at 11.00a.m. and a funeral Service at Our Saviour’s Church, TBS, Lagos at noon.

Reception follows after at Havilah House of Events, by City of David Church, off Ligali Ayorinde, Victoria Island Lagos.

Akinboboye

METRO 13

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

Photonews

Fashola explains delays in road projects in Lagos

By Tunde Alao AGOS State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has thrown more light on the reasons behind seeming delays in some road projects across the State, attributing the cause to the complexity, sophistication and sometimes, litigations instituted by stakeholders, especially property owners.

Fashola explained that the Lagos-Badagry Expressway Expansion project was awarded to two contractors, Messrs. Julius Berger, which is doing the 10-lane road and Messrs. China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), which is handling the Light Rail section of the road.

According to him, technical imperatives dictate that while piling works being handled by CCECC must complete before the road is filled, Julius Berger had to step aside until the piling is finished.

“We asked Julius Berger to

L

Chief Executive Officer, Moms Media, Abimbola Chinemere (right), Ibukunoluwa Okonkwo and Chanels Activation Manager, Vlisco, Adaeze Alilonu at the media chat to announce the oncoming Vlisco runway show for mothers in Lagos...

stop in the interim for CCECC to complete the piling on the road before they come to the surfacing.

Julius Berger cannot handover the road because any time they finish a project, they sign off and they have not in this case. Besides, there is going to be 11 pedestrian crossings between Alaba, Orile and National Theatre and they have to drive in piles along the road before embarking on surface aspect of the road”.

He said the most difficult part of the road is from Eric Moore to Mile 2 that is already near completion stage.

“However, while the CCECC is doing the rails on the same road and Julius Berger doing its own, they were getting in each other’s way, that in itself was a nightmare and we needed to stop the award of the second phase, which would be awarded soon.

The governor also informed

that some of the roads being built in the Mainland areas of the State needed piling and other underground work before surfacing while others were facing problems of lack of urban planning, community resistance and court actions.

On the other inner city roads in various parts of the State, he said some of the delays came from the owners of land on which the roads pass, some of who went to court to stop Government from acquiring their land while others protested and fought contractors on site.

“The work we are doing now is much more people issue because we are now engaged in holding a lot of meetings with communities and people and explaining to them to allow us build the roads. The alternative is that all our projects can hang up in courts and I will be the last person to defy court injunction”, the Governor said.

Pan-African varsity unveils new name, crest

By Felix Kuye and Ujunwa Atueyi UTHORITIES of the PanA African University, Lagos yesterday announced

Wife of Cross River State Governor, Mrs. Obioma Liyel-Imoke (right), Carnival Calabar Queen, Mrs. Sophia Dijey (left) and the Executive Secretary of Cross River State Carnival Commission, Mr. Chris Agibe during a courtesy visit to the governor’s wife…

change of the name of the institution to Pan-Atlantic University.

Unveiling the new name and the new crest of the institution at its School of Media and Communication at Victoria Island, Lagos, the Vice- Chancellor, Prof.

Juan Manuel Elegido, said

PHOTO: AYOYINKA OLAGOKE

the name change became inevitable following the establishment of a university by the African Union (AU), which it named Pan-African University, which would operate across African countries, including Nigeria.

Elegido noted that efforts to make AU change its university’s name due to the existence of an institution known as Pan-African University in Nigeria failed.

The vice chancellor, who

was flanked by other to officials of the university, said arrangements were being perfected to ensure that old students of the university do not have problem presenting the certificates already issued to them in the old name.

According to him, what is changing is just the name, the values and mission of the institution, the courses and their contents and the schools commitment to high quality in teaching and learning remain.

The-

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

Interrogating Nigeria’s 14 Years Of Democracy NOTHER May 29 is due. Governments at all levels will roll out the drums to celebrate 14 years of democracy but the citizens are asking: Is this what the people bargained for in

A

Human Resource Director of Nigerian Breweries Plc., Mr. Victor Famuyibo (left) and Public Affairs Manager, Nigerian Breweries, Alhaji Bala Yesufu during the investiture of Famuyibo as the 16th President /Chairman of Council of Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria in Lagos…

Osoba

Agbakoba

1998/99 when they hurried the military out of power? Hear from a cross-section of Nigerians what is wrong with this system and what practitioners must do to restore its integrity.

Afejuku

Alli

PLUS Another Salvo from JUNAID MOHAMMED on 2015: ‘It Is Either The PDP Destroys Itself Or Destroys Nigeria.’

BUSINESS SPECIAL:

“There is nothing to celebrate about the rising reserve. If you are hungry, why are you saving money? It is good to have strong foreign reserve but should Nigeria, with its huge unemployment rate, also continue to build its reserve? Why don’t we have a threshold, maybe $30 billion, and use whatever is above that to grow the economy and create jobs?”

— MAZI OKECHUKWU UNEGBU, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE INSTITUTE OF CHARTED BANKERS OF NIGERIA (ICBN).

Past President Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Eze Prof. Green Nwankwo (left), Second Vice President, CIBN, Dr. Segun Ajibola, First Vice President CIBN, Otunba (Mrs.) Debola Osibogun, President/Chairman of Council, CIBN, Mr. Segun Aina during 2013 Annual General Meeting and the World Press Conference General Meeting and the World Press Conference on fifth Anniversary of the Institute CIBN in Lagos PHOTO: GABRIEL IKHAHON

The Guardian On Sunday is new, fresher, bolder; a delight to behold and more importantly, reader-friendly! Book a copy today.

14 | THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 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 78 year-old granny’s corpse ummified Grand Mum in Son’s Wardrobe’ sounds like the title of a horror ‘M movie. Yet, that is what happened recently in Imo State, a few weeks after the discovery of a ‘baby factory’ in the same area, and a few months after the Ezzu River corpses were sighted in the same geopolitical zone.

But even with the flagrant display of absurdities assaulting the sensibilities of Nigerians, the discovery of the mummified corpse of 78 year-old Mrs. Lucy Osigweh in the wardrobe of her own son, Dr. Chimezie Osigweh, is one bizarre event too many.

Reports of the discovery are somewhat inconsistent. One account has it that Osigweh’s 22 year-old son had gone into his father’s room in search of his credentials, whereupon he forced open the wardrobe in the room, only to be confronted with the mummified body of his 78 year-old grandmother who had been declared missing since 2003. Another account claimed that the exasperated relatives of the deceased grandmother, who had been suspicious of Osigweh’s nonchalance over the supposed disappearance of his mother, stormed Osigweh’s residence, and in the rampage that ensued, found a cupboard containing the remains of the late Mrs. Osigweh.

Notwithstanding the seeming inconsistency, the crux of the matter is that a mummified corpse of one who was declared missing 10 years ago was found in the abode of her son. What is more shocking, though, is the fact that Osigweh, who was aware that the late septuagenarian was declared missing in 2003, was evasive about the circumstances leading to the death of his mother. What perfidy? Was he, and is he still under any form of religious or occultic influence? These are questions that may unearth the truth behind the wardrobe horror.

This incident is an addition to the growing number of bizarre and horrendous crimes in the land as there are heaped up files on the cases of missing persons in Nigerian police stations. Many cases of missing persons are not reported. Often news abounds of wives, children and wards declared missing, and incriminations directed outside the immediate families even when the crime is being committed by someone in the household.

While acknowledging the prompt response of the Imo State Police Command to the case, there must be proper investigation of suspected crimes and diligent prosecution of same.

This incident also speaks to the growing cases of spiritual abuse, which have become an integral part of the religious practices of some Nigerians. To this end, there is need to guide against the emptiness and criminal propensity of the vacuous religiosity that have beclouded the mind and heart of the masses. In spite of the constitutional provision on the freedom of the right to religious expression, many have inadvertently found themselves under the bondage of buccaneers, who parade themselves as religious leaders. This calls for a concerted effort to enlighten people on the dangers of some warped religious expressions that are injurious to persons and the society. It also demands the establishment of groups to counsel victims of religious abuse and integrate them into society.

In Nigeria today, old and young people are becoming disenchanted as their hope of a better life are fast dimming. There is frustration as the reward of hardwork and a virtuous life are painstakingly slow compared with life on the fast lane. And in the absence of adequate models in the system people turn to fellow frustrated people like themselves, who often lead them astray. The result is a relapse to bewildering criminal activities, amongst which is ritual killing and questionable occultic practices.

The case of the Osigwehs is not yet established as ritual murder or occultic ritual.

Whatever it is, it is repugnant. It is a violation of the worth of human life and debasement of all decency that must not go unpunished if only to serve as an announcement of the society’s intolerance for any form of depravity.

LETTER

Terror and the endgame strategy The Nigerian people, govSandIR:ernment, Muslims, Christians press must stand by the nation’s military and intelligence as they seek to put an end to the carnage and de-civilisation being engineered, driven and executed by terrorists.

These fundamentalists known as Boko Haram have overseen the death of thousands of persons and destruction of properties worth billions of naira.

Nevertheless, these elements can be surmounted. Bringing an end to this hegemony of evil and suicidal violence requires a holistic and strategic approach based on the principles of Military Science as it applies to asymmetrical warfare. The war on terror falls under a category known as Asymmetrical Warfare

and its rules of engagement is strategically different from a symmetrical/conventional one.

It gradually becomes impossible to distinguish between the enemy combatants and the innocent civilians around them, especially when they are used as human shields. It is in the light of the above that George W. Bush in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, made the following declaration: “Make no mistakes; we shall make no distinction between the terrorists and those who harbour them”.

What is required at this stage is an endgame strategy.

I salute the courage of the commander and men of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) for the extra-ordinary

feat they achieved in Baga by smoking out the terrorists from their camp and taking over their arsenal.

Those who genuinely want an end to this barbarism should support the military in the effort to end terrorism. You cannot be crying that government is not doing enough on security and cry foul when they go tough on the criminals. Those who do so are most likely terrorist sympathizers. The press should be more strategic in the way they do their work as it has larger implications for whether we preserve modernity by winning the war on terror or succumb to medievalism as represented by Boko Haram. The choice is ours.

• Mark Olise, Benin City, Edo State.

LETTERS

To fight plagiarism properly It was reported of recent Sto IR:that Vice-Chancellors are set tackle plagiarism with technology in Nigerian universities.

Going by the rate at which Nigerian universities produce unemployable thesis writing graduates and “good boy” political professors, this is a welcome development. Our concern however is that this worthy project would likely end up like that of most other anti-fraud and antigraft agencies, as instrument of victimisation and jobs politically provided for the “boys.”

At least one professor, by his antecedent as Vice-Chancellor, who had the opportunity to tackle some cases of plagiarism during his tenure but failed, does not merit the headship of the unit to handle plagiarism cases.

Two cases, one in the Faculty of Technology, Department of Computer Sciences and the other in the Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Sociology of the university under reference are worth mentioning. The case in the department of Computer Science involved a computer guru. He picked the projects of the students supervised by him, got them published in his name, without acknowledging the input of the students. Till date, nothing has been heard about the case over which a petition was written to the ViceChancellor.

The second case involved a lecturer in the department of Sociology and Anthropology, who churned out textbooks as if he was writing love letters. A petition came, though late, after he was promoted professor, but

the case got killed.

During the Vice-Chancellor’s tenure, cases of promotion for some were processed with urgency. Heads of departments and Deans of faculties under his administration shamelessly would tell their colleagues whose promotions to professorship were due that the university did not have Senate approved guidelines for promotion of academic staff.

Promotions are subject to the mood, whims and caprices of the Appointments and Promotions Committee at any given time. Quantity and not quality of published papers in books, and journals count most. (So why would lecturers not plagiarise at all cost to meet and surpass the quantity required by the Appointments

and Promotions Committee.)

Usually, enemies of the administration got caught, while the boys and friends go unhurt.

A unit that is supposed to deal with fraud, even if academic in nature deserves a head that would be non-political and above board. Without that, the plagiarism project would probably end up the way of all Nigerian exercises aimed at curbing fraud and corruption cases – instrument of victimisation and providing jobs for the boys.

What has become of NUC accreditation exercises in universities, exercises producing fraudulent submissions from university units and fraudulent grades and reports from NUC accreditors?

• Folawiyo Esan, O.A.U, Ile-Ife.

What manner of minister?

IR: It is time once again to ers.

Spresent check the excesses of the How can the minister inaugurate Minister of Health, members of boards of hospitals Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, who has remained very ignorant in his actions considering his dignified position. Or how else can one explain the present executive rascality and brazen lawlessness being demonstrated by the minister? The annoying thing is that he has carried on misadvising the president with the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) tacitly supporting him and other stakeholders watching or helpless.

The NMA has been solidly behind him since he is doing their bidding and protecting their parochial interest, not considering the interest of oth-

and medical centres without representation of other stakeholders?

How can the minister run the ministry like his personal property? His likes are even in various hospitals as CMDs and their main agenda is to execute vendetta programmes. The president and the National Assembly continue to watch despite the several calls for a redress. Why do we allow lawlessness and sentiment to becloud our sense of reasoning?

Please the minister must be called to order; he is not above the law!

• Joshua Anunibe, Neighbourhood Health Foundation, Lagos.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

15

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BusinessTravel P46

Suzuki redefines 2013 Grand Vitara

Airports development, key to economic growth

Lagos plans three new power plants

By Sulaimon Salau LANS are on top gear by the Lagos State government to set up three more power plants, aimed at boosting electricity supply in the state.

Already, the government is set to commission a 10.4 gas fired power plant in Alausa, Ikeja, area of the state by August this year.

The Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Taofiq Ajibade Tijani, who disclosed this at the yearly ministerial briefing at the secretariat, on Tuesday, said the projects are expected to improve the quality of life of Lagosians, vastly reduce crime rate and foster conducive environment for economic growth.

The state government had already built two Independent Power Plants (IPP) in Akute (10.4MW) for water corporation and 10MW in Marina to cater for public utilities in the network.

The new projects, according to Ajibade, includes the 10.4MW in Alausa, 10MW in Ikeja and 7MW in Victoria Island/Ikoyi areas of the state.

He said the ministry has concluded discussions with investors on the V.I./Ikoyi power plant, while it has commenced procurement on the Ikeja power project, with expectations of being completed by December this year.

Ajibade, however, noted that the ministry is also working on alternative energy sources such as solar and waste-toenergy programme, adding that, “before the end of the year, we should be able to launch some solar street light in some part of the state.”

Giving an update on the oil and gas resources, Ajibade said the state would soon establish its oil and gas corporation to be named Ibile Oil and Gas Corporation.

P

Executive Director, Mansard Insurance Plc, Mr. Tosin Runsewe, left, Director Mrs Yetunde Ilori, and Chariman, Mr. Victor Osibodu at the Company Annual General meeting in Lagos yesterday.

PHOTO: SUNDAY AKINLOLU

FG recovers Ajaokuta from Global Steel From Bridget Chiedu Onochie, Abuja IX years after it was concessioned to a private investor, the Federal Government has recovered the Ajaokuta Steel Complex, Kogi State, from an Indian company, Global Steel Holdings Limited.

In addition to taking the company, the government has commenced process of negotiating the return of the Iron Ore Mining Company, Itakpe, also in Kogi State.

It was gathered that for some time, the Federal Government has been in negotiation with Global Steel Holdings Limited and Global Infrastructure Limited, at the International Chamber of Commerce, London for the return of Ajaokuta Steel Company.

The legal battled was said to

S

Indian company to lose $1 billion compensation have started in 2008, when Global Steel dragged the federal government before the International Criminal Court (ICC) with the AttorneyGeneral and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke leading the federal government delegation.

Ajaokuta was sold to Global Steel during President Olusegun administration under the then privatization exercise of the Federal Government.

But shortly after it was privatized, allegations of downsizing and asset stripping rocked the complex until it finally shut down operations.

However, President Goodluck

Jonathan intervened and the federal government has regained total control of the steel company.

In the process of gaining total control, Global Steel agreed to forfeit the sum of $1b initially being demanded as damages allegedly suffered by the company while running the two plants.

Chairman, Federal Capital Territory Committee, Senator Smart Adeyemi, who disclosed this to journalists yesterday was optimistic that revamping the steel company will provide not less than 10, 000 jobs the indigenes of Kogi State and its environment.

He said: “The federal govern-

ment has recovered the Ajaokuta steel complex from Global Steel and with that, more than 10, 000 workers would be gainfully employed.

“I think the return of this complex is worth celebrating.

The government of President Jonathan is worth celebrating. They should be commended for recovering the complex. They have succeeded in recovering Ajaokuta without any attendant financial obligation whatsoever.

“This is a great achievement that deserves commendation, irrespective of political affiliation. The return of Ajaokuta will reduce unemployment and crime. By this singular

achievement, it means this government has raised the hope for industrial development in Nigeria “We got to know that Global Steel asked for $1 billion damages but the concession was illegal and unlawful. I want Nigerians to know that the federal government has been in arbitration with the International Chamber of Commerce since the concession was terminated in 2007.

The main case started in 2008.

“The two plants have not been functioning since they were privatized and I want to let you know that the meeting that resolved the issue held in Dubai between April 29 to May 1.

Government mulls new tariff regime for industrial sector From Itunu Ajayi, Abuja NEW tariff regime that is A expected to increase the capacity of local manufacturers and boost investments across all industrial sectors of the nation’s economy is underway.

To actualize this, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, yesterday, inaugurated a 12-member committee to work out appropriate tariffs to support the implementation of the country’s

industrial policies with the aim of repositioning the manufacturing sector and increasing its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product from its current four per cent to 10 per cent over the next four years.

The Committee chaired by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dauda Kigbu has other member that include the President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Chief Kola

Jamodu, Executive Secretaries of the National Sugar Development Council and the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, as well as the Directors-General of the Standards Organization of Nigeria and National Automotive Council, among others.

Their terms of reference are: to propose strategies and measures that will increase the capacity utilization and contribution of the industrial sector to GDP in line with the Nigerian Industrial

Revolution Plan; propose tariffs for every sector under the purview of FMITI, especially the sectors where Nigeria has competitive and comparative advantage, identify major gaps between existing tariff regimes and the Common External Tariff regimes and propose solutions so as to discourage smuggling.

Speaking during the inauguration ceremony, Aganga said there was a need to ensure that the right tariffs were proposed and imple-

mented in order to move the nation’s manufacturing sector forward.

The Minister, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dauda Kigbu, said, “Members of the Committee have been selected to serve on account of their relevance to the development of manufacturing in our country. They are expected to use their experience and skills to add value to the important work that they are called upon to perform as part of our ongoing efforts to

reposition manufacturing in our country and increase its contribution to GDP from its four per cent to 10 per cent over the next four years.”

Aganga noted that the need to have a manufacturingfriendly tariff regime was borne out of the realization of the fact that the growth and development of the sector depends, to a large extent, on the use of appropriate tariffs.

He said, “No nation can move from a poor country to a rich one without a viable

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

16 BUSINESS

‘Nigeria loses N550m yearly to fake products’ From Ezeocha Nzeh, Abuja HE Standards Organisation T of Nigeria (SON) said Nigerian loose over N500 million yearly from patronising fake and substandard products, which have flooded the country’s markets.

In its efforts to ensure a total eradication of fake and substandard product in the Nigerian markets, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) said that it has visited some countries in Asia where it held discussions with the governments to intervene and stop their industries from producing fake and substandard products which are imported to flood the Nigerian markets.

The organisation noted that over 100 containers of fake products, especially electronics enter into the country on a daily basis stated that it decid-

ed to take the war against substandard products to the unnamed Asian countries because it believed that with the intervention of the countries governments their could be an improvement in the products that are exported to other countries.

Speaking while receiving the SON’s ambassador for the eradication of fake and substandard products in Nigerian markets, Christabel Okoye, in his office, the Director General of SON, Joseph Odumodu, revealed that the organisation has carried out a recent survey, which showed that unlike in other African countries, almost half of the products in Nigerian markets are substandard.

The DG, who regretted that Nigerians are faced with the hazards of the fake drugs, noted that the metals that are used in the production of fake

electronics products like bulbs have a short life span and when discarded, they flood and contaminate the waters which causes many other ailments to the people.

While expressing his disappointment that most of the countries visited are not showing cooperation as they look like supporting their manufacturers to produce substandard products for export, Odumodu renewed the decisions of the organisation to storm the Nigerian markets in June to identify and destroy all fake and substandard products, adding that the task is to ensure that the sale of fake and substandard products are reduced in Nigerian markets to at least 20 per cent.

The SON DG, who also disclosed that the organisation has sent proposal to the Federal Government to blacklist those countries that only

produce goods for export, regretted that the cheap importation of fake and substandard products has led to the deindustrialisation of Nigeria, which he noted has increased the level of unemployment.

The DG who warned that the

organisation will seize and prosecute all dealers of fake products, noting that Nigerians should be protected and enlightened on their rights to have access to genuine products, urged consumers to always seek refund when they buy fake products

in Nigerian markets, adding that the organisation has received that backings of the Presidency and the Ministry of Trade and Investment to carry out the task of ensuring that fake and substandard drugs are out of Nigerian markets.

Divisional Head, Corporate Banking, Keystone Bank PLC, Omotayo Ajani(left); Chief Finance Officer, Etisalat, Andrew Kemp; Executive Director Operations and Technology, Keystone Bank PLC Adewale Ademola; CEO, Etisalat, Steven Evans and Group Head Telecoms, Keystone Bank, Udiba Udiba, at the Signing Ceremony of $1.2b Loan by Etisalat and a Consortium of lenders, held at Four Point by Sheraton, Victoria Island, Lagos.

... among 10 fastest growing economies

By Helen Oji RECENT study conducted A

by Ernst & Young on Private Equity (PE) exits across Africa between 2007 to 2012 has rated Nigeria among the 10 fastest growing economies of the world over the next five years.

Speaking at the formal presentation of its survey report on Private Equity in Lagos, the Partner, Transaction Advisory Services Leader, West Africa, Ernst &Young, Mr. Bisi Sanda, explained that the overall, sub-Saharan Africa has grown by over five per cent a year, with many countries posting rates in excess of six per cent.

This rapid growth, according to him was set to continue as Ethiopia, Mozambique, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Zambia and Nigeria are expected to be seven of the 10 fastest-growing countries in the world over the next five years.

He said that economic growth for sub-Saharan Africa was projected to be above five per cent a year right through to 2020, adding that these growth rates are attracting increasing PE interest as the industry is now casting its net far wider than the more developed and slower growing South African market.

Sanda pointed out that one of the drivers of economic growth has been a concerted effort by many African governments to improve the environment in which businesses and investors operate.

Key to this, he said, has been

a focus on governance, even as 70 per cent of African countries have improved in overall governance quality since 2006.

“Our study into African exits between 2007 and 2012 paints a picture of a young PE industry that has laid strong foundations for significant future growth.PE is well positioned to take advantage of many of the favorable market conditions that Africa now displays.

In Africa, however, the PE industry is in a phase of relative infancy.

“The continent’s stock markets, other than the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, are still very small and relatively illiquid, and the intermediary networks remain far from complete across the region. As a result, a widely held perception is that exits are hard to achieve and that therefore they are few in number.

Stakeholders decry leadership void in NCAA

By Wole Shadare TAKEHOLDERS’ under the aegis of Concerned Aviation Professionals (CAP) have expressed concern over the delay in appointing a new Director General for the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

The group however decried the seeming delay in the confirmation of Capt Fola Akinkuotu, as the substantive Director General, more than two months after Dr. Harold Demuren, was relieved of his post, which necessitated the nomination of Akinkuotu by the Federal Government.

They argued that the NCAA

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needs a substantive DG to exercise all the powers the office demands. Not a few are insinuating that the silence over the matter was deliberate to allow the status quo to remain.

They called on the National Assembly to expedite action on the confirmation of the appointment of Akinkuotu as the new Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA. To them, it portends grave danger and a violation of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) rule for the aviation regulatory body to operate without a substantive DG for several months.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

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Weekend

Intrigues, self-interest th underscore 66 World Health Assembly Arts & Culture P. 23

ODUGBEMI @ Filmmaking is my life

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Suzuki redefines 2013 Grand Vitarato enhance SUV competition

Autowheels P.44

Business Travels P.45

Airports development, key to economic growth

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THe GUArDIAN, Friday, May 24 , 2013

Delegates examine new threats to

Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Ado Gana Muhammad (left); Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Health (FMH), Mr. Fatima Bamidele; Minister of Health, Prof.

Onyebuchi Chukwu; and Director General of the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Paul Orhii at the 66th World Health Assembly (WHA),which began in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday.

With 951 days left for Nigeria and other developing countries to meet the 2015 Millennium Development Goals’ (MDGs) deadline, new threats to human existence have emerged. From Geneva, Switzerland, CHUKWUMA MUANYA reports on the deliberations at the World Health Assembly, which ends next Tuesday.

Initiative” and for boosting routine Immunisation (rI) coverage to 78 per cent in March.

However, the country’s leadership at the on Geneva, Switzerland last Monday, for the Assembly was challenged by India over head66th session of the World Health Assembly ship of a Mechanism on substandard/spuri(WHA), with the theme: “How to ensure the ous/falsely labelled/falsified/counterfeit place of health in the post 2015 development (SSFFC) medical products. The Director agenda.”

They had one important agenda among oth- General of the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. ers: to chart the path for a better health care delivery system in the world and by extension, Paul Orhii represents the country on that tackle new threats to human existence, such as committee. The Guardian learnt that India is the looming pandemic of Non Communicable opposed to Nigeria heading the Mechanism because it will facilitate Nigeria’s attainment Diseases (NCDs).

Already, two new viruses that are mutating of self-sufficiency in drug production and clear the way for the country’s manufactured at frightening levels are of major concern to drugs to attain WHO- prequalified status. delegates. They include the Severely Acute It was also learnt that Nigeria imports respiratory Syndrome (SArS), 41 cases of drugs worth close to N160 billion ($1 billion) which were first detected in the eastern Mediterranean region last year, and which re- yearly from India. Besides, the Global Fund, last year, spent over N752 billion ($4.7 billion) sulted in 20 deaths; and the first-ever human infection by the H7N9 avian influenza virus, with more than 100 additional cases confirmed in the last three weeks.

Although, recent progress in the treatment and cure of tuberculosis (TB) and malaria has been encouraging, the delegates however acknowledged that this is increasingly being threatened by the spread of the diseases’ resistance to some mainstay medicines. For instance, it was gathered that the spread of antimicrobial resistance is now progressively rendering first-line treatments for TB and malaria useless.

The WHA is the WHO’s supreme decisionmaking body, which focuses on a specific health agenda prepared by its executive Board.

Nigeria was one of the countries celebrated for her efforts in reducing maternal and child deaths, with the “Save One Million Lives ver 3,000 delegates from the 194 Member O States of the World Health Organisation (WHO), including 43 from Nigeria, converged

on importing drugs delivered for developing countries, with none procured from Nigeria because the country does not manufacture drugs that are prequalified by WHO. Due to President Goodluck Jonathan’s commitment to global efforts to eradicate the Wild Polio virus (WPv), Nigeria escaped possible travel restrictions over the continued transmission of the virus and the link of the first virus in Somalia in six years, reported last week, to Jigawa State. Minister of Health, Prof.

Onyebuchi Chukwu, told the Assembly that Nigeria is implementing a number of innovative initiatives to fast track the elimination of polio and also designing concrete measures to ensure the safety of all health personnel, both local and foreign.

He revealed that the country also is developing community-based mental care centres, which he admitted had proved to be much better than the hospital-based ones. The

Also, we think too independently for their liking. They want somebody who could do their bidding, who they can influence to maybe join the fight against innovative drugs. On the other hand, the innovators, Western countries, want somebody who is flexible enough to join them to fight manufacturers of generics. But we look at the issue of generic medicines purely from the public health perspective not incorporating intellectual property issues that they are concerned with.

Minister said the country is also working on building rehabilitation homes, mainly taking care of people with substance abuse problems. Commonwealth Health Ministers also adopted a legislative framework to empower, protect ad care for persons with mental disorders.

Chukwu told journalists that the country’s mental health laws were out of date. He said: “Now, everybody is talking about mental health. Currently, there has been a draft Bill.

The last one was before Independence. So it out of date and this is the reality.”

Nigeria was also one of the countries that stifled the Western agenda to sell lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) rights as human rights to health for adoption by the Assembly. Nigeria, a member of the WHA Board, submitted that the issue was not a health matter and cannot be discussed, just as it argued that the country’s position was that such sexual orientation is outlawed.

Nigeria is represented on the WHA Board by the Permanent Secretary of the FMH, Mrs. Fatima Bamidele, and Special Assistant to the Minister of Health on MDGs, Dr. Ngozi Anazodo.

The Guardian gathered that the United States and europe are using development aids as bait for developing and poor nations to accept gay rights. The US, Thailand and eastern Meditteranean nations are sponsoring this agenda on the executive Board of the WHA. Post 2015 development agenda After the Millennium Development Goals (MGDs), what next? Chukwu enjoined WHO and its member states to remain committed and continue to intensify current collective efforts to ensure that health remains a priority.

He said one way to do this, is to insist that the saying, ‘health is wealth’ takes priority over

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24 , 2013

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human existence at global summit the notion that ‘wealth is health’.

The Health Minister said women and children’s health, the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), malaria, tuberculosis, the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), NCDs, human resources for health and universal health coverage must be on the agenda.

Chukwu said Nigeria is accelerating her efforts to ensure the attainment of the MDGs and reminded the Assembly that the government of Nigeria and the African Union will host the Abuja +12 summit in July 2013. He said the Summit, which would focus on the MDG 6 (combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases) would review the implementation of the Abuja declaration and chart the way forward.

The Nigeria/India rift On why India is opposed to Nigeria chairing the mechanism, the NAFDAC DG told The Guardian: “The problem with the leadership of the SSFFC is a very delicate position. Once you are there, you are caught between the people who manufacture drugs such as United States and Europe, and the generic manufacturers like India. India feels strongly that Nigeria is now pursuing prequalification of their medicines and think that because of that their market will shrink especially in Africa.

“Nigeria is the number one buyer of Indian medicines in the African continent. Imagine if Nigeria becomes self sufficient in the supply of these medicines that are also prequalified

by WHO. For instance, we are a major recipient of donated drugs procured from India, that are going to developing countries. Imagine, the situation that would require that if you want to donate drugs to Nigeria, you should buy from us (Nigeria) because we have medicines that are prequalified by the WHO. “Before, our medicines were not WHO-prequalified. The Global Fund and the big players can only buy drugs from among the WHO-prequalified products. But now, we are poised to get that prequalification for more than three companies, hopefully this year, and even more next year. This means that we will become self sufficient in the supply of these medicines and some of these international partners who sell drugs to Nigeria will begin to lose their market share to Nigeria.

“But even more threatening to India is the proximity of Nigeria to some of the countries that are Nigeria’s neighbours, which are also major recipients of donated medicines. This means that Nigeria can begin to sell medicines to some of these companies. So they are not very happy. This is one of the strongest issues, in my opinion.

“Also, we think too independently for their

Chan

liking. They want somebody who could do their bidding, who they can influence to maybe join the fight against innovative drugs.

On the other hand, the innovators, Western countries, want somebody who is flexible enough to join them to fight manufacturers of generics. But we look at the issue of generic medicines purely from the public health perspective not incorporating intellectual property issues that they are concerned with.”

The NAFDAC DG said if Nigerian firms get their medicines prequalified by the WHO, the country would not only access the opportunities associated with donating drugs, by selling medicines that are bought for donation to other countries, Nigeria would also become self sufficient in drug production. “Any country that wants to donate drugs to Nigeria can buy from us and donate to the country,” he said.

Delegates celebrate Nigeria The Minister of State for Health, Prof.

Muhammad Ali Pate, was on Wednesday singled out for special commendation at a highlevel side event for ministers and senior participants. The minister was commended for the success of the “Save One Million Lives Initiative,” launched last year by President Goodluck Jonathan, which has so for saved 218,000 lives, and putting one million women on antenatal care. Jonathan launched the initiative on October 16, last year.

Threat of new viruses and growing drug resistance Director General of the WHO, Dr. Margaret Chan, in her opening address, warned that although recent progress made in the treatment of tuberculosis and malaria had been encouraging, it was increasingly being threatened by the spread of resistance to mainstay medicines Chukwu said: “The recent outbreak of H7N9

virus has been of interest to Nigeria because Nigerians travel a lot and of course people also visit Nigeria. About a month ago, we actually sent out alerts from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (CDC). Of course as at now, WHO does not think that it should restrict travel, but what we have done is to alert our own people at the Ports particularly at the airport, since it is where people from that part of the world will always come to Nigeria.

“So we have the alert and we are monitoring too. Remember that when we had the avian flu, working with our partners, a lot of laboratories were established in Nigeria. So we are using that capacity to test people who will come with fever that we cannot easily place our finger on. What is important for us is to be vigilant. The symptoms are known but the symptoms are of course symptoms of other diseases.

Tackling NCDs Chan said the industries contribute to the rise of NCDs. “When public health policies are at cross purposes with vested economic interests, we will face opposition, well-orchestrated and very well-funded opposition,” she said.

Chan said WHO would never be on speaking terms with the tobacco industry. “At the same time, I do not exclude cooperation with other industries that have a role to play in reducing the risks for NCDs. There are no safe tobacco products. There is no safe level of tobacco consumption. But there are healthier foods and beverages, and in some cultures, alcohol can be consumed at levels that do not harm health,” she said.

Chukwu said: “What is enduring is education and enlightenment of the public because if there is no demand there will be no supply.

We are working on that. Of course we cannot do it alone, it has to be multi-sectoral. The media has to be a big player in that. The second

Nigeria was also one of the countries that stifled the Western agenda to sell lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) rights as human rights to health for adoption by the Assembly. Nigeria, a member of the WHA Board, submitted that the issue was not a health matter and cannot be discussed, just as it argued that the country’s position was that such sexual orientation is outlawed

Chukwu

Pate

thing is legislation. For those who will be insistent, there is need to apply sanctions.

“The President is also going to lead the fight against obesity. He has approved in writing that he will flag off the FMH campaign, where he will publicly demonstrate to the Nigerian public on the need for a check up, for your waist to be measured, your height taken and your body mass index (BMI) calculated and then other tests in terms of screening for cardiovascular diseases. In our budget this year, we also have funds to subsidise those tests.”

National Health Bill The House of Representatives has blamed the Senate for the delay in the passage of the National Health Bill (NHB) and the Bill establishing a Commission on National Health Insurance (NHIC), with more regulatory duties from the existing National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

Chairman House of Representative Committee on Health, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, told The Guardian: “We are considering the NHB. As a matter of fact, if not for this visit to Geneva for the 66th WHA we would have concluded it. Last week, we considered the Dental Technology. We have passed the NHIC. It is no longer the NHIS, it is now National Health Insurance Commission (NHIC). What we have done is to change the operation of NHIS to now say be a regulator, do not be participating in the service itself, you should regulate the conduct of the providers and the players in the health insurance institution.

“So we have passed it, we have taken it to Senate and we would have expected Senate to just adopt it. But again just like they had done in the NHB, they have started the novo. So we are now going to witness them doing public hearing for that and everything. So, until they complete their process, we probably will not have a conference to agree on areas that maybe different from the once we have passed.”

However, the Minister of Health promised delegates that the National Assembly is currently revising the National Bill, which will be passed into law before the end of this year.

Going forward The WHO DG said: “Going forward, we must maintain a high level of vigilance. I cannot over-emphasize the importance of immediate and fully transparent reporting to WHO, and of strict adherence to your obligations set out in the International Health Regulations.

“As was the case 10 years ago, the current situation demands collaboration and cooperation from the entire world. A threat in one region can quickly become a threat to all.”

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

24 ARTS

Literature REVIEW ITH a total of 24 poems, the 45-paged book, The River Flows W In You, by Catherine Uhomoibhi will take the reader through all the emotions of love.

Written by the 17-year-old daughter of the former president of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) now Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Martin Uhomoibhi, there is a tapestry that connects the first poem from which the book derives its title, through My Last Song, which then closes with The Circle of Life.

Through the poems, the poet submits that beauty is formed when music, writing and love are allowed to work together.

That, there is indeed a wonderful connection between these elements.

She said her collection was inspired by Yiruma’s piano composition as a tribute to the South Korean composer. Yiruma is a stage name of the internationally renowned pianist and composer.

According to the young lady, her inspiration was drawn from the showers of parental love and all helpful learning environments, which she was exposed to at the Layola Jesuit School in Abuja.

Like petals in a diamond ring, all 24 poems run like one intricate chain of personal experiencing of love and life. The anthology took its name from the very first poem -The River Flows in You, which sought to depict possibilities of the soul when fired by love.

The author says, each of her 24 poems are like a photograph, capturing different moments of what people call love. Even though you might disagree with her when for instance, she states in her opening page, “love is measured in moments and in feeling.”

So much to think about. In simple words poems such as Nanya’s Lullaby, Seasons in love, the ‘Inexpressibility’ of love A thousand Miles Away, Tellement, Love Eternal and Mirrors speaks volume of a pearls from a young heart.

Then come the others — My Last Song, Day in the sun, Before you go, Ava, Fallen, Forgotten Notes, Furlough, Glass Flower, Paperweight, Sweet Disposition, Why I write, Ese Osa, and The Circle of Life.

From the Poem-Day in the Sun for instance, we read.

A hundred fold of poppy-gold And a couple newspaper clippings The Scent of a story That never gets old.

She’s still got glitter there

When river of love flows endlessly In corners and collars, near pink lips-and hair ‘You’ve got to try it ‘Cos that’s the secret of living life magic!’

Blunt knees and habits, he Writes hours of ageless reveries That fade on paper as tensed fingers waver ‘I’d be mundane any day, than misunderstood...

Little wonder then that when the book was publicly presented in Abuja, the leaders who made the presentation used the opportunity to spread the message of the rivers of love that could flow in Nigeria.

Listening as one poem dovetailed into another, they also sang for national unity, peace and progress.

Renown writer and literary critic Odia Ofeimun said of Catherine Uhomoibhi’s collection of poems: “Quite inspiring and a pointer to greater things to come.”

Riding on the wings of the depth given by book reviewer, Emmanuel Emasealu, Professor of Theatre Arts, University of Port Harcourt, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs minister while paying tributes, spoke about the pearls in the poems for Nigeria thus: “More than even before, today, there is the high need to understand our roles before one another as humans. Roles, which are assigned by the creator. They are required for us to appreciate the very life we live. I can link the title of the book to the river that flows through Nigeria, which we should all help to keep pure.”

Spurred on by the letters of the poems, Ashiru’s review comments went further: “The river has enough to offer us all. To those that are thirsty and are looking for water to drink, they can go to the river and have their fill. If you are apprehensive and looking for someone to give you care, go to the river, you will find some comfort... We can all take a cue from the Christian analogy that emphasises peaceful co-existence like inflowing grace and out flowing virtue, that you let them flow out to other people as you receive the grace. This is the message of the book for Nigeria today.”

Doing a critic that concurred with the reviewer’s submission, the Vice Chairman of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) in Benue State, Vershima Agema, chose to say: “The rivers of her verses flow with deep feelings in strong currents of love. Within the frame of many lines, you find notes that tell of a voice that is much like wine — among others, tasty in a way that is just its own and easy to drink from.”

Like petals in a diamond ring, all 24 poems run like one intricate chain of personal experiencing of love and life. The anthology took its name from the very first poem -The River Flows in You, which sought to depict possibilities of the soul when fired by love

Damnation: Iloduba’s love songs in verses From Bridget Chiedu Onochie, Abuja

AMNATION, the latest release by Mr. K.K. D Iloduba Jnr., is a collection of love verses.

The book was published by Kayus & Bukky Commercial Enterprise, Abuja, in 2013.

The poet’s maiden offering, In the Arms of Misery, written in 2007, won several awards including that of Association of Nigerian Authors in 2009 Judging from the previous title, Iloduba appears committed to a brand that creates suspense at first sight. Interestingly, like In the Arms of Misery, the scary title of this collection is a departure from the soothing content.

In fact, the paradoxical title is nothing compared to enticing and romantic songs that dominate the work. One of those titles that completely differ from the body of the work is Bondage, where the poet simply personifies the moon as his fable.

He says: O’ naked moon/ your eyes are my legend!

The collection has 50 poems, each attempting to highlight the poet’s emotional and romantic state of mind. It also portrays him as one of the womanist authors, whose preoccupation is promoting feminine gender. In most cases, he goes on to bestow the female character for whom he writes, with beautiful and positive human attributes to further express his instinct.

In an era when socio-economic and political challenges prevail, literary authors are occupied with serious issues of daily living that only little or no space is reserved for works that sooth the heart.

The collection for once, takes the reader away from heart-rending and thought-provoking exigencies of life to a world of fantasy, where only love and affection feel the air. In fact, the poems provide the much-needed literary breath of fresh air to Iloduba’s reading audience.

Some of the titles in the collection include Hiding Place, Remember, She that will Come, Memories, Bondage, Buchi, Distance, Breathless and Twilight.

Others are Untitled, Mid-night eyes, Tattoo, A Time to Love, Till the end of Forever, Without You, Yesterday, Plea, She that will Come, I wait as well as the title poem, Damnation, which appears in three separate topics.

From the first title Damnation, the poet seems to be in a state of fear. His fears, as could be deducted from most of the poems,

hinge on the possibility of losing a loved one.

Thus, he pleads with the character not to consider an option of quitting the relationship for according to him, the burden would be too heavy to bear.

It reads: “Do not look at me in the eyes and say goodbye. I am not strong; I have no hold over myself. “…thus, do not look me in the eye and say goodbye. I am not strong; I have no hold over myself. I cannot live without you”.

The poet’s infatuation reaches the climax in Ready to Die. He could no longer cope with the bliss in his woman’s eyes, the pining in her heart and smirk that ripens on her face.

“For desire’s sake, for passion’s sake and for love’s sake, I am dying”, he notes.

In the poem, Buchi, he exalts the addressee, Buchi. Although, there is no link between Buchi and Damnation, reading across the lines suggests that even though the poet is yet to fully comprehend the personality, he is already infatuated about her. He goes on to describe her as one whose silken breath fondles his cheeks and whose destiny etched on his heart.

“I see her face in every flower. I smell her fragrance in the cool evening wind. Her un-heard of voice vibrates in my dreams.

“Whose arrival is this that my heart awaits?

Whose reason is this that is showing insignia?

Whose time is this that the wind sings of?

Who is it, who is it? Who is it?”

Whoever it is that the poet sees in the blue moon, that he perceives in every flower and feels in an empty air, should note that abandoning him would definitely lead him to a place of damnation.

Also, the poem, Remember shows evidence of a one-time intimacy between the poet and the addressee. He reminisces the bond they once

shared and urges her to think about their lives together and things they still have to share in future.

“Remember us. Remember the lips that have known your kisses, the eyes that have beheld your reflection and the arms that held you in the moonlight, when no one is around.

“Remember the nose that reddened in the smoke of your passion. Remember why in our hearts, there will always be something to burn”.

POETRY

Love of ages

By Habib Akewusola

The cathedral was full of praises Myself and you will form a rock As today is raining.

I will change your name my baby From sunshine to my morning glory, I will cry when you see pains maybe, Would still scream out your name baby “MORNING GLORY” Let’s join flesh during the night, Transform our bed to stage a lovely fight, Nine months will come only thrice, From two we would become five, Our love will remain iced, I had to speak my mind You the virgin of my eye, Our love doesn’t tick with time.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

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SoundandScreen

By Benson Idonije

HE premiere of the much-publicized T “Kakadu” took place last week Thursday at the Agip Recital Hall of Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON). It was very well attended. It was grand!

Before the show started at around 7.30 in the evening, invitees (consisting of dignitaries and special guests) were seen in groups - at the foyer of the Hall, chatting and exchanging pleasantries amid cocktail drinks and food - as they looked forward to the ‘Musical’. The renowned Chief Mbanefo who continues to command the air of grandeur jocularly said, “Benson, this is the imagined Kakadu, not the real one,” a statement which spoke volumes for his active involvement and participation in the unique entertainment treat provided by the trumpeter and band leader, E.C. Arinze and His Music at Kakadu (the night club) in the 60s.

Indeed, Kakadu the ‘Musical’ is a product of the fertile imagination of lawyer Uche Nwokedi (SAN) whose pen is restless and productive. It is a metaphor which figuratively tells the story of post independence Lagos (and by extension, Nigeria) in terms of the peace, love, togetherness, jollification and harmonious co-existence that dominantly prevailed until the Nigerian civil war halted this tranquility in 1967 and enthroned the ugly and venomous situation in which we find ourselves today: There is insecurity in the land; there is man’s inhumanity to man; corruption has become a way of life; love for one another has disappeared, giving way to selfishness, tribal discrimination and hatred; people are no more their neighbours’ keepers; night life which used to be the motivation for entertainment and socialization has ceased to exist for fear of being molested by night marauders. Before the war, Lagos was innocent; life was peaceful: As if it was one big family, people lived together happily no matter the tongue and tribe.

There was no oil boom but the economy was buoyant; everybody was happy. Night life was vibrant; power was steady; street lights were working; people went about their duties earnestly day and night. Robbery was at its lowest ebb. ‘Armed’ robbery was a product of the war as guns and ammunition found their ways into the hands of miscreants during and after the uprising. This whole scenario and its aftermath were vividly painted by The Playhouse Initiative with a lot of help from passionately committed producers, directors, musicians, dancers, actors and actresses.

I had the privilege of peeping into their rehearsals on three occasions and was thrilled by performances even as the actors and actresses were still in the process of cleaning up and perfecting their acts. On the first day, I was made to listen to the Prologue and Epilogue which had already taken shape but were still being rehearsed for frequency of impression and proper assimilation. The words were written by Uche Nwokedi himself while Ben Ogbeiwi, the musical director and obviously the principal character in the ‘Musical’ did a good job of setting the message to music and communicating the meaning intended by the writer. Both prologue which extols the virtues of pre - civil war Lagos, and the Epilogue which attempts to chart a way forward - are musical masterpieces whose arrangement technique, melodic inventiveness and harmonic exploration are impressive and memorable.

I was confronted with the body of the Musical upon my second visit and was intrigued by the commitment displayed by actors and actresses who combined dancing with narration and singing. Despite putting up their best, Director Kanayo Omo, a stickler for perfection, was still pushing for excellence. The third visit to the group’s grand rehearsal exposed me to a full length performance with which I was quite pleased.

However, having had a full dose of this special entertainment treat, I did not think there was any need for me to see the premiere at Agip Recital Hall; I felt I had seen everything, but I was wrong. I should have missed the real essence of the show if I had not at-

Kakadu…

Metaphor for excellence tended: New perspectives and dimensions were introduced which could not be simulated at the rehearsals namely: costumes, ambience, stage performance, enthusiasm and determination. Some of the superlatives that chased themselves through my mind in quick succession (by way of description) as I watched included, “excellent,” “brilliant,” “masterpiece!” My judgment should have fallen short of this assessment based on the rehearsal experience alone.

It is pretty easy to single out individuals for special mention in a cast of over 60 people, but not in a ‘Musical’ of this nature where the spirit of collectivism is the formula for successful production and accomplishment.

The ‘Musical’ is a gigantic project, which has succeeded in telling its story with appropriate music, using selected songs from the 60s to the 70s (for relevance, explanation and corroboration) - as vehicles for illumination. The performing band has given credibility to the whole story with genuine interpretation of the various tunes which in themselves constitute landmarks in the dynamic culture of the country.

Kakadu the ‘Musical’ is about Lagos and not the night club of the same name. The pertinent question that needs to be answered here is: Why Kakadu, the night club, as metaphor when in fact, there were hundreds of other

night clubs in Lagos in the 60s? Three buildings away from Kakadu, directly opposite Alagomeji Bus Stop, Yaba was Central Hotel owned by Chief Osuala where Rex Jim Lawson and Stephen Osadebe performed at different times. Down the road towards Lagos was Palace Hotel where juju bands performed. Opposite Sabo police station, Yaba was Ambassador Hotel where Chief Bill Friday and the Ambassador Downbeats made highlife history. Roy Chicago’s Rhythm Dandies performed at Mayflower Hotel, Mushin (then Abalabi Hotel) before relocating to Surulere Night club. Victor Olaiya, the evil genius of highlife moved from Cool Cats, Apapa Road to his Stadium Hotel in Surulere.

The clubs were many!

There was Empire Hotel, Idioro (owned by Chief Kanu) where Stephen Amechi’s Empire Rhythm Skies and other bands thrilled their fans daily. Directly opposite was Lido Bar where Charles Iwegbue and His Archibogs entertained a clientele that was dominated by whites and women of easy virtue. Around the corner was Boundary Hotel which constituted an ideal residency for Fatai Rolling Dollar and His Band. Along Ikorodu Road was Bobby Benson’s Caban Bamboo while the master lyricist Adeolu Akinsanya was leading an aggregation of highlife stalwarts at Western Hotel, Mushin. The clubs were many, so

why Kakadu?

As a matter of fact, this is not the first time that Kakadu is coming as a figurative expression for depicting peace, love and togetherness in Lagos. Some time ago, there was this documentary by Lagos state captioned “Kakadu, This Is Lagos.” The answer is simple: Also known as the Magic Spot, Kakadu was established and given its identity by E C Arinze and His Music. Even though he played highlife like the others in the various clubs, it was only part of a mixed bag that also featured calypso, the Latin beat, blues, jive, fox trot, waltz, quickstep and in fact dance music of the ball room type. The band played everything. And it was this phenomenon that attracted people of different classes, races, tribes and varying musical tastes - to the club. Besides, the band was an all - star aggregation where Victor Uwaifo, Exy Ohunta and others contributed their own individual songs to enrich its repertoire and hold down the dance floor community.

When E. C. Arinze clocked 80 a couple of years ago, and I had an exclusive interview with him for my Evergreen Column in the Guardian, I asked him to flash back and recall memories of Kakadu. He started by saying, “Kakadu was the magic spot where I entertained the whole world……..” Indeed, Kakadu brought everybody together!

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

26 ARTS

Revue ODUGBEMI UNPLUGGED:

By Shaibu Husseini

There were film shows yesterday at the upscale event center on Tiamiyu Savage Street in Lagos to mark the 50th birthday anniversary of foremost Nigerian filmmaker and documentarist, Femi Odugbemi. Friends, colleagues and fans of one of the few filmmakers in the professional class gathered to watch some of the award winning documentary films he has made — Bariga Boy, Ibadan, Oriki, Metamorphosis in an evening tagged ‘Femi Odugbemi: A Retrospective’.

The birthday shindig will shift to Freedom Park on Broad Street tomorrow. There will be drinks and small chops but guests don’t have to come in Aso Ebi or struggle to get invites to the party. All that will be required will be their time to see another set of Odugbemi’s filmic accomplishment— some classics that have won him wide public acclaim including television commercials and the movie, Maroko.

In between all of these including a day out with the family, Odugbemi still found time to turn in answers to questions about his life and career.

‘My mates begged for bicycles, I asked to be bought a camera’

DON’T feel any different at 50 Idifferent Well, in physical terms I don’t think I feel any really but that doesn’t really surprise me because age for me is nothing but a number. The length of one’s life is not as important as the value and contribution of the life to its community. I have always prayed to God to live a life that fulfills purpose. In that context, I am excited about this new “season” of my life and I grateful to God for the grace to serve Him more and to do more with the talent He has given me.

Always wanted to be a storyteller I cannot say I would have wanted any other career frankly. I think I have always wanted to be a storyteller. Maybe if I had been more intellectual, maybe I might have had an ambition to be an author or a poet maybe. Storytelling in all its expressions interests me, even architecture I am always excited by historical buildings as well as modern designs especially those that display creative uses of space. Maybe that might have been an alternative career. Maybe I could have become an architect. That said, I think the visual arts is still my most sensible career path because it gives me a chance to dabble in these other Interests. I am able to consume the writings of writers and transform them into motion picture if i so wish. I am also able to work with Art Directors who create spaces and locations for our films. I am just really grateful to God that I am able to do the things that I am passionate about.

Motivated by images I have always been very interested in images and storytelling. I grew up in Ayonuga Street in Mushin area of Lagos and our residence had a photographer’s shop on the ground floor. I used to sit at my mother’s kiosk and observe that old photographer at work all day. I think i got pretty excited by the whole process of photography and the storytelling aspects of portraiture. Maybe that sort of started me off very early. In those days children begged their fathers for bicycles, I begged my father for a camera. I somehow knew it was an important part of my future, that I would be working in the areas of visual imaging, storytelling and creativity.

Odugbemi No parental objection to career choice No, they didn’t object. Although I think they would have preferred that I was maybe an accountant. My father was one of the first sets of accountants that were trained at the University of Ife and ironically he worked at the Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation. He was familiar enough with the people who worked in the television industry in those early days to know that it was more a passion business than a lucrative one. But frankly, my parents were never opposed to my career choice. I wanted to be a filmmaker, and I am thankful to God that my father lived long enough to see me somewhat successful at it.

Well prepared for the job I have in fact been very active in the Nigerian film industry for more than 25years. I started by working at NTA Kaduna as a Youth Corp member after my formal training in film and television production. I graduated from the Montana State University, Bozeman, United States. Class of 1984 and I had plenty of experience from apprenticeship under some very top profession-

als both in the US and here in Nigeria. I was very lucky to have worked directly under the erstwhile Acting DG of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission Bayo Atoyebi. I went on to make several projects with Jimi Odumosu, Wale Fanu, Tunde Kelani, Lola FaniKayode and others before venturing into the advertising world as a writer/producer of TV commercials. I was making commercials in Lintas and later at STB McCann from mid-80s through the early 90s. There are people who have known me for more than 25 years – Tunde Kelani, Sharafa Abagun, Uncle Ted Mukoro and so on. The Nollywood video industry is as they say only 20years old, so it means that I have been working and was known for 5 years before home video even showed up. I had also been working in the industry for more 10 years before I became President of the Independent Television Producers Association of Nigeria (ITPAN).

Before then, I have been active in ITPAN as a secretary general and council member for more than 4 years. So, as we say in Nigeria, i

have paid my dues and I have done my best to contribute in a quiet way to the development of cinema in Nigeria.

An eventful tenure at ITPAN I think my tenure as ITPAN president was eventful and focused on the needs of the industry at the time and I think that by all accounts we were very successful. We conducted a practical training programme which managed to provide training for more than 1,500 professionals who are working in the industry today. That is an important legacy because its direct impact is the improvement in the quality of works you see on our TV screen in the last decade.

We also founded the Lagos International Forum on Video and Cinema in association with the French Culture department. It was an exciting platform that put Nigeria’s industry on the international map. Look around today and there are all kinds of film festivals in Nigeria today, which came on the heels of that initiative. I like to think that ITPAN has done a lot to provide the right kind of leadership for the Industry and it continues to thrive and deliver quality ideas.

Interest in documentary films All forms of filmmaking are really trying to articulate a culture. I am interested in Africa’s cultural history and practices and also the emerging transcontinental cultures that are changing the face of what is known and unknown about our world today. Documentaries are critical to helping us express our individualities within the blurred boundaries of the global community. Cultures are in real and present danger of extinction. I am Yoruba. And my culture for instance is ancient with an amazing history and full of spiritual mythologies. Its values are profiled in family values, community, respect courtesy and individual responsibilities of integrity, industry, diligence and courage. For hundreds of years that culture has survived through history passed on by word of mouth. Today technology makes it possible to document this culture, to interrogate it and project its mysteries in a way that inspires a sense of belonging and pride.

Documentaries are also important today less as mere documentations of events and history and more for how they shape our thinking and mediate our experiences. That is a very important consideration if you accept the idea that whilst technology and globalization has made our lives easier it has blurred our understanding of what is truth. Everything is complex and whilst you may have access to the facts of a situation the truth of it has many sides. I believe its capacity to go beyond the news cycle and present to us perspectives that gives us deeper understanding is the reason documentaries are so important. Besides we are also living in a time when young filmmakers in particular are increasingly turning towards documentary as a way to make sense of the world they live in. They are more alert about and suspicious of the mainstream media and eager for a visual form that engages them about real events in a real way even if that form is rough or even low-key. It is a very exciting and ground breaking time for documentary. There is a transformative power to any art form that tells a story that is uplifting and redemptive.

A fulfilling career I think I can say that I have had a fulfilling career. I have been given an opportunity to do what I love to do. I have been able to connect with amazing people, I have been able to experience fantastic opportunities and in the midst of it I have been able to contribute my quota to this thing call the Nigerian community. In return, I have tried to invest myself in a lot of young people. I have taken the time to provide leadership to the industry by being active in promoting its growth and interests. I am grateful to God He has given me grace and blessed my efforts beyond measure. I am happy that wherever my name is mentioned, it is associated with CONTINUED ON PAGE 27

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Odugbemi... Representing his race in motion picture

By Chuks Nwanne IS office setup is quite H unusual; not your typical CEO office, where everything

Odugbemi

‘I asked to be bought a camera’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26 quality and passion, and for me that is the greatest wealth that I can have. I may not have a huge bank balance but I am grateful that I have enough fulfillment and satisfaction with my career.

I am serious about work, but I have a past time I think those who know me well will confirm that I am very relaxed and I laugh a lot. Yes, I am serious about my work, and I think that it is important to be serious about work so that we are not sloppy. Do I relax? I think one of the great things about being a filmmaker is that it is not really a job, it is what I love to do and it relaxes me as well. In terms of other things, I love to watch films, I love to read, I play basketball, and I blessed with good friends with whom I socialize. I think I am much fulfilled that way. For those who know me well, they know that laughter is my best medicine.

I have a family and they are important to me I am blessed with a wonderful wife and family who encourage me greatly. Family is important to me but not as showpieces. My wife is a private sector professional and she is often busy too. But really I try to keep my private life private. I am not interested in the celebrity culture and i certainly avoid the rituals of selfpromotion but my close friends and colleagues have access to my private life and are familiar with my family.

I am by nature an optimist By nature I am optimistic, and I believe that it is within risks that opportunities lie. So, for me failure is all part of life. I would rather try and fail, than not try at all. In that sense, there are many things that I have tried that are successful, and there are many things that I have tried that have not worked out. Do I then have regrets? None whatsoever! I thank my God because he has given me a joyful heart. I don’t dwell on failure and things that don’t go right. I tend to think about how to leverage the talent that I have and how to make the most of it. It’s been a great life with great moments and some not so great moments, but the bible says, “In all things, give thanks”.

Its difficult to say which of my works has been most successful Success is always a variable that needs to be defined. If you ask me this question in the context of realizing my creative vision for any of my works, well, I think all of my works have come as close to what I intended them to be thankfully. In terms of the film I like the most or the one that is most challenging to make, I think it is difficult to say because film projects are like babies, regardless of what people say, you are very partial to them. However, the film I have really learnt the most in making is my new documentary “Rolling Dollar – A Legend Unplugged”. Beyond everything, there are values of life that I learnt from making

that film, and I hope it is successful in that I hope people learn the same values from it. The idea that life is not over until it is over, that if you find something passionate that you are doing, keep doing it whether it brings you money or not. The idea that life is in a cycle, and that sometimes things are good and at other times they are not, but you just stay close to God and ultimately things would turn around.

Me, my works and society I am grateful to God that there is a side of my work producing TV commercials and corporate videos that provides me and my team enough to survive so that we can continue to do the “Passion Projects” that are maybe not so lucrative in returns right now. But I have a long term view of these things. I believe that it is important for African filmmakers to have a long view in terms of the profitability and impact of their films. In the near term, the artistic motivation has to be more than just making money; it has to also be about making a point. To that extent I am satisfied. I believe that my works will continue to be relevant and appreciated over time and by God’s grace, they will continue to be important representations of my humble contribution to the ‘cultural conversations’ of our dear country.

I can’t quit filmmaking I wish I could. The thing is if you really have the passion for the arts, you may be broke and have no money to live yet you feel a certain joy at being able to do what you love. I would rather that I made a film that makes me 3 billion Dollars than be given 3 billion Dollars not to make film. I am not in it for the money, though money is important, i am in filmmaking because that is my purpose and what i was born to do. iREP and future of documentary films Irep is now “owned” by a community of young professionals who are passionate about its mission and that community is growing every day. We would continue to guide it so that it does not lose its focus. We want irep to focus on training so that we can create more filmmakers who are good at making documentary films. That is very important if we must achieve our goal of creating a documentary cinematic culture, that is not in the hands of institution but in the hands of individuals.

Ultimately we would put more effort into our workshops. Our monthly screening programmes are also important as a platform for us to continue to engage in dialogue about films and documentaries. We want to ultimately grow the audience and we want our festivals to become more practical in what it delivers to filmmakers. We hope to go into universities and hold irep events. Our focus is entirely about the next generation of Nigerian filmmakers and the need for them to see documentary as a very important artistic platform of expression for their talent and their views of how our Nigerian society can be bet-

tends to be on the ‘executive side.’ Three single seats in the middle (he has preference for a particular one), a centre table with all sorts of film festival brochures piled on it, few shelves and his laptop computers, Odugbemi is good to go. Erh, not forgetting that bowl of sweets; it is always filled. With heaps of CD plates on his desk, it is clear this is one workaholic.

Yet, you wonder why he prefers facing the wall; as if trying to turn his back away from any form of distraction.

When you listen to Odugbemi demonstrate his mastery of the act of filmmaking, you begin to imagine what the result would be, if someone like him ends up teaching in a film school.

Aside from being knowledgeable in the act, his wealth of experience in the field, having worked on many international projects, remains a resource for young Nigerian filmmakers to tap from. For Odugnemi, filmmaking - particularly the documentary variant- is a passion.

However, looking at his journey into the business, one would understand why the award-winning filmmaker is passionate and very professional with his craft.

“I’ve always wanted to be a filmmaker; I grew up at Fadeyi, Lagos. In the house I lived, there was a photographer in a store downstairs; as a young boy, I watched him take photographs. One thing I think that was the consciousness for me that early, was the fact that the storyteller was not the people beautifully dressed in their aso oke taking picture; it’s the man that was taking the picture of them that determines how they looked,” he recalled as he sipped coffee.

From all indications, being a storyteller was the main attraction for Odugbemi to enroll at the Montana State University to study Film, against the commercial viability of the act, which has practically turned almost every Tom, Dick and Harry into a ‘filmmaker.’

“I really like that fact that you can shape reality just by your view of it. It’s an empowering consciousness to understand that a common you can have a voice just because you have a camera. That I grew up with and I’ve always wanted to be a filmmaker, so, I went to film school.”

EAMING up with two friends, who have been attending the Reel Life Film Festival in Ghana, which is run by two founders from New York, Odugbemi initiated the i-Represent International Documentary Film Festival, iREP 2010.

“I have always been a documentary filmmaker because I believe that the capacity of the people to capture their experiences in fiction and non-fiction is critical to the understanding of their place in the world. Documentary is particularly political. If you

T

look back during the colonial era, the British for instance, did documentaries with subject as to how to hold knife and fork together at a dinner; how the more you dressed British, the more you are ‘civilized,’ and the less you dressed British, the more you are almost pre-historic.”

Through these documentaries, Odugbemi noted that the British presented their country and culture as leading civilisation; they presented their political systems as the right way to run government.

“They made these documentaries and distributed them widely in all their colonies. As people consumed these films, it changed their behaviour; it turned them into British men with black skin. But worse part of it, it changed their psyche in such a way that they demined their own experience. In fact, some absent themselves from their own culture.”

He continued: “The lasting legacy of that trend is that, today in Nigeria, you still have people who subconsciously de-mine the cultural experience of their birth. You have people who spoke to their children only in English language and who give incentive to the child who does not speak the local language and punish the child that speaks any of the local languages.

The resultant effect is that, it gradually kills the language!

Somebody said that in 20 years, the Yoruba language would be no more. I’m trying to make a connection. I’m talking about the power of documentary.”

According to Odugbemi, the documentary film festival is providing platform for African filmmakers to tell the African stories from an African perspective.

“For us today, the resultant effect of what has been is that the Global Information Order that sustains, is that when you hear Africa, you instantly, subconsciously connect it internationally to wars, hunger, poverty, corruption, poor skill, disaster... But is that truly the story of Africa? I insist that this generation of Africans has a story that has been untold.

Just 10 years ago, it would have been impossible to see a Nigerian man on the Forbes’ top-10 list of the richest men in the world, who did not steal money from government; today, Dangote is on the list and we can see how.

Today, you have Nigerian mathematicians, who are winning international awards for breaking new grounds in mathematics and physics.

Today, there is a Nigerian Nobel laureate; Nigerians are winning all kinds of award in literature and the same is going on across Africa.”

Despite the many achievements by hardworking Nigerians and Africans across the globe, the international media seem to have turned deaf ears to these realities?

“The story of the successes of Africa and Africans, is not the preferred story for the international media; they would rather carry the stories of dying children, diseased countries, wars and tribula-

tion because it feeds into an economic paradigm that ensures that Africa is never attractive enough to be a tourist or investment destination. So, ultimately, all of this is economic, which when you now turn it around, you realise why the Global Information Order is critical to Africa’s economic renaissance.”

To Odugbemi, the absence of that African economic renaissance would ensure that poverty and development continue to be a problem in Africa.

“When you go back from where I’ve come now, you will realise that the most important thing for Africa to do is to actually take over the storytelling of its own experience.

Go back to what the British did; it’s their model; lets use it.

Can’t we start to make documentaries of a different story of Africa? Can’t we be the one actually telling the story of the African experience and not people from outside of the experience? Can’t we be the ones affording ourselves a more 360-degree view of the African experience,” he quizzed.

As far as the filmmaker is concerned, the African experience is a global phenomenon that transcends geographical borders.

“If you go to China, there are Africans living there; surviving there, speaking Chinese, doing commerce. In being there, they have brought to the geographical China a piece of the African experience. Right now, a lot of people tend to be surprised when they actually have encounters with Africans ‘that’s not what we read in the National Geography.’ Can’t we then take control, using the power of the motion to tell our stories? Yes, there’s war in Africa; yes there’s poverty in Africa; yes, there’s war in Syria and in Europe; there’s poverty in America, but it’s the face of America that America shows you that you see.”

He continued: “We come from cultures that span a civilization way beyond what the colonialists brought; we come from cultures that have a system of government that said it was all for one and one for all; where the least of us is taken care of by the best of us. We need to celebrate our heritage; we have a colourful heritage of fashion, dance, dress, makeup, drama and performance that can make us a cultural superpower; even if we cannot be a military superpower.”

The unique opportunity that we have today, according to Odugbemi, is that the world of globalisation allows us to project into the international community, which makes us unique.

“We have a lot to teach the world, and as long as we do not take practical steps to do that, we will constantly consume, via the TV, a new cultural imperialism, where we lose a sense of self and become black Europeans living in a geographical space called Africa; documentary is at the heart of that consciousness.”

Obviously, iRep has begun a movement to push this awareness to the entire black continent, by first, demystifying the CONTINUED ON PAGE 41

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Showblast EFORE now, getting an interview with Jim Iyke B was usually a herculean task. If he’s not busy on locations either in Lagos or outside, then he’s abroad attending to his many business interests.

Most times, all you get to read about the actor are stories of his failed relationships or squabbles with fellow entertainers.

Besides these gossips usually found on blogs, nothing much is know about the Anambra State native. However, the unveiling of his reality TV show, Jim Iyke Unscripted provided an opportunity to take on Nollywood’s bad boy.

“Things are blown out of proportion, purely for commercial reasons,” he quipped, as if he had been waiting for an opportunity to pour out his heart on his frustrations in the hands of media men, especially bloggers.

As far as Jim is concerned, it serves a lot of people’s end when a story is told in bad light.

“It doesn’t sell when the story is told the way it is; they are constantly looking for somebody that will be branded ‘bad egg’ and be used as a platform to have hits on their blogs, sell newspapers and have viewers on their channels. Everything works in the negative for the positive for them, but what about the person you are hurting?

What about the opportunities and windows you are closing on him,” he quizzed, now sounding very moody.

With his tone, you begin to wonder how he feels after reading those juicy controversial reports?

“It’s an exhibition of mediocrity that they practice today and call it press. Today, anybody can wake up and become a blogger and use it for personal vendetta and people don’t know about that. They would report these stories from their own point of view, without any form of balance,” he remarked.

Lack of control, especially among bloggers and social media networks, according to Jim, has worsened the situation, as the bloggers in particular now see themselves as small gods.

“There’s no control; there’s no law.

So, if I have personal issues, you can take it out there and get your bloggers to attack me.

They are getting hits from it and getting paid; there’s no con-

trol,” he harped.

To the actor, the era of professionalism in the media is gradually eroding.

“There’s no sense of professionalism, so, there’s gross abuse of human right and people’s basic fundamental rights are trampled upon everyday. You can have a problem with a journalist and he will take it to the blogs and tear you apart; you can’t even take him to court. If you take the matter to court, it will stay there for years and nobody wants to go that route.”

Though the controversial reports have in a way raised his popularity, Jim Iyke, who has become a household name in the African motion picture industry, has a family name to protect.

“In truth, it serves my

One-on-one with Jim Iyke

...The buzz in town brand in no small measure, but we are talking about the bigger picture; we are talking about the old fashion family values. We are talking about the mother that will read this and begin to wonder what her son has become…”

“I’m from a traditional Igbo family; father mother sisters… They expect you to be the torchbearer for people to look up to and emulate. I’ve always lived by examples,” he said.

You must have had issues with your parent over taking up acting as a career?

“Oh, extreme issues,” he stressed.

“It’s not a story that my family did not support my acting career; my dad asked me at some point to leave his house and I left. I wasn’t getting my way, I wasn’t getting support; I was a terrible son because I wanted to act… I had to leave. In fact, it took me two years to come back home,” he narrated.

Leaving his family house, young Jim moved to Lagos where he squatted with friends and cousins, with the hope of achieving his dreams “I was living with friends, and later with cousins that threw me out after two weeks, when I wasn’t coming home with money from roles. I lived with friends that, for some reasons, were harbouring me in their boy’s quarters and when their parents found out, I got kicked out. I went to hotels and live there; the day I don’t pay, I got kicked out. Those days, I wasn’t sure where my next food was going to come from.”

While the situation became indelible in his mind, it also forged the survival instinct that Jim has today as a man.

“It became the measure of the man that I am today; I’m undaunted by any pressure, I’m unperturbed by any challenges. That’s why I go after things headlong and I don’t know anything about stopping until I get it. So, I think it has forged the essence of the man that I am today.” … And your parents? “… You know how it is; make the pepe and all is well,” he said with laughter.

“I’m glad that my family is not like that; even when I was making big money, they were still watching to see where the money was coming from. But when I came home and they saw that the values had not change, but had bettered, it made them to accept me.”

Even at that, Jim never let his success story get into his head in the family; he remained his father’s son.

“My mother still spoke to me in a certain way, and I must listen; my father still expected a certain respect from me.

Most importantly, they wanted to know the background of the money I was bringing home. In my family, you can’t just be buying big cars here and there because they will say, ‘are you sure you are not into hard drugs?

Films don’t give this type of money…’ These are the kind of things you face. So, I needed to bring them into my world, give them cheques to see; I had to convince my family that movie is paying my bills,” he said, beaming with smiles.

The Jim Iyke Unscripted on AfricaMagic Entertainment exposed the glamourous yet controversial life of the popular actor. Filmed in Lagos, Abuja, Accra, Houston, Dubai, Nairobi, Amsterdam and London, the series followed Jim as he manages the demands that come with his huge popularity, busy schedule and outspoken personality.

“There’s a management team I’m signed on to; I’m the only African on the team. They are responsible for the branding of popular people like Usher and others. They came to me and said they’ve looked broadly across our divide and seen that I’m the one they felt has the international appeal to move to the next level and that would love to support my brand. I thought it was a welcome development because, at that time, I was tired of running around; it’s not just enough being the big fish in a small pond. I wanted to move forward, so, I took the offer.”

It was at this point that the pro-

‘My life is beyond what you see on TV’

Stories by Chuks Nwanne

ducers of Jim Iyke Unscripted came into the picture.

“After a while, Oh Africa headed by Michael Joba, came onboard; he’s somebody I’ve known for a long while, a world traveler. Every time he’s in a certain country, we’ve always stayed in touch. He would ask me, ‘what are you doing here,’ and I would explain to him, ‘ok, I’m developing my clothing line, I’m doing a production, I’m attending a workshop and all that.’ And he asked me, ‘how many countries do you go to in a year?’ and I said, ‘an average of 6 to 10 countries.’ And he thought this is going to be an interesting life to capture on TV.” Initially, Jim Iyke didn’t see any profit in a reality show, for him, starring in a blockbuster movie looks more appealing.

“I didn’t want to do it,” he revealed. “I didn’t think its something important in my development as a brand. However, everything comes together on a platform; the project was sold on my platform. They explained to me that this is an opportunity to tell my own story, an opportunity for people to know the real Jim Iyke.”

In reality, every side of the divide has told a story about the brand Jim, except the actor himself.

“For me, it was an opportunity to tell my own story, especially with the controversies back home; I thought it was a superior argument.

Today, I have no regret doing this. In fact, I’ve gained a lot through this project.”

How has the experiences been?

“It’s been awesome,” he sang. “In fact, I was doing a pro bono work recently in Uganda and a huge Canadian director approached me, his name is Moshino. Actually, I went to a shopping mall and the place went crazy; everyone recognised me. He went asking small kids about me and he was surprised they all knew my name; he was amazed. I didn’t even know what he was doing, I though he was part of the contingent.”

As it turned out, a production company, which the Canadian director was working for, had acquired the biggest selling East African novel, My Life In Crime by John Kiriamiti, and were getting set to adapt the book into movie.

“Already, some huge Hollywood stars are on the project, so he wanted me to cast for the movie. Usually, when it comes to auditioning, big artistes normally shoot a small clip about them, and then send to the production crew. But I told him that I would love to fly down to Kenya for the audition. He thought I was joking, but I paid my way to Nairobi and auditioned for the role.”

Jim had only two days to learn the Kenyan ascent in a bid to impress the crew.

“I did what I could and they were impressed; they gave me the role. I was in Amsterdam doing a different job when they called me to come to Nairobi and sign the deal. Few days ago, I was in Nairobi for a press conference for the project; I will be playing the role of Jack Zolo, the lead character in the movie. This maybe the biggest project in this continent this year.”

With the production set to commence in September, Jim is already planning to relocate to Nairobi by middle of August to prepare for the role.

“It’s an awesome project; I’m surprised the press here hasn’t got hold of the story; it’s everywhere online. Again, such stories don’t sell in Nigeria; when I’m involved in an argument, you will sure read the story in the media,” he frowned.

Forget the controversies, Jim Iyke is deeper than what you see on the surface.

“My life is beyond what you see on TV; I research continually. On a daily basis, I try to enhance my personal self. People have different perspectives of Jim Iyke, but this show will give you an idea of exactly what I am.”

Having stamped his authority in the country’s motion picture industry, Jim Iyke is currently promoting his clothing line, Untained Men. “I’ve always had a fashion propensity and I wanted to create something of my own. I worked in a shop in New York for two weeks; I had my Cote d’Ivoire friend grooming me in fashion management and stocking. A lot of people saw me there and were surprised; some didn’t really believe I was actually working there. When I put my mind on something, I don’t look back.”

So, how has the business been?

“My brother, fashion is a whole new experience.

I’m glad we have a clientele; they are not loud, but they are very faithful and they love our products. We have people that recognise quality and we bring the best you can get anywhere in the world.”

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Snoop Lion arriving the Durban Airport for the MTV Africa All Star Concert

A blast of music in Durban • Snoop Lion, Tuface, D’Banj, Zahara, Flavour, Fally Ipupa others on parade

By Chuks Nwanne ROM the day MTV Base disclosed its plans to stage the MTV Fment Africa All Stars music concert in Durban, South Africa, excitefilled the air, especially among music lovers, who saw it as another opportunity to groove with the stars.

By the time reincarnated Snoop Lion, alongside other African greats such as Tuface Idibia, D’Banj, Flavour, Zahara, Fally Ipupa, Professor, Big Nuz, Camp Mulla and Zakes Batwini were unveiled as part of the parade, it was obvious that Durban residents and guests were in for a blast.

Conceived jointly by MTV Base and Kwazulu-Natal Province of South Africa, as part of a sensational new pan-African music and youth empowerment campaign, the initiative aims to celebrate the star quality and widespread appeal of contemporary African musicians, providing exposure to the continent’s hottest musical innovators and pacesetters.

On the other hand, it seeks to raise the international profile of KwaZulu-Natal as a premiere destination for tourism and

Tuface

economic development. So, to a large extent, it was a ‘win win’ situation for the partners and the participating African stars as well.

From the King Shaka International Airport to the Southern Sun Hotel, Durban, where most of the guests and artistes stayed, the atmosphere was frenzy, as shuttles buses arrived with participants from different parts of the world, who flew into Madiba’s country to be part of the big African party.

Loaded with all sorts of musical instruments, including lighting and sound equipment, the massive MTV Africa All Stars stage at the People’s Park was the centre of attraction around the Moses Mabhida Stadium; it was an imposing structure, good enough to lure fun lovers. Clearly, there were sings that something huge was about to happen.

During the media briefing held at the Beverly Hills Hotel, located on Lighthouse Road, uMhlanga, to herald the event, the artistes spoke with so much confidence; the excitement was written on their foreheads as they fielded questions from newsmen. With the assurances, especially from Snoop Lion, who promised to groove fans to standstill, the stage was set to light up Durban.

As at 4pm on the concert day, fun lovers had started trickling into the well-guarded People’s Park one by one, group by group, while heavy sound kept blasting from gigantic woofers positioned at strategic sides of the venue; South Africa’s DJ Cleo was in charge of the console. Before long, the venue was full with fun seekers, most of who came to see the reincarnated Snoop Lion live on stage.

The VIP section was lively, with guests seated in groups. The bar was loaded with assorted drink, free of charge, while food was never an issue; it was a matter of choice. Representing Naija at the VIP lounge were the likes of Alex Okosi, Olisa Adibua, Omalicha of Rhythm FM, Gbemi Olateru of Beat FM and others. However, the fun was at the regular stand, where people mixed up easily; there were no boundaries.

Finally, the stage came alive with the hosts, Nomuzi and Sizwe Dhlomo, who signaled the beginning of a fun filled evening. Few minutes of introduction and the usual commentaries, the hosts introduced Kenya’s Camp Mulla to open for the evening.

An alternative hip-hop group based in Nairobi, Camp Mulla has grown a big fan base over a short period, having over 40,000 fans on Facebook and over 30,000 followers on Twitter. The group is considered one of the most exciting upcoming music groups in Kenya. Their musical style, fashion sense and origins have drawn comparisons with The Black Eyed Peas.

Big Nuz had a good outing at the MTV Africa All Stars concert.

The name comes from Big because they are doing big things and NUZ is the license plate of one of the biggest townships in South Africa, Umlazi, situated in the south coast of Durban.

Big Nuz consists of 3 guys Mandla Maphumulo aka Mampintsha, Mzi Tshomela aka Danger and Sbu Khomo aka R Mashesha. Formed in 2002, Big Nuz has been the busiest Kwaito group in the South Africa, doing shows from Cape Town to Manchester (London).

Flavour From Professor to sexy dance creator, Fally Ipupa, the fun continued, with the crowd digging in small groups, until South Africa’s Zahara came on stage with her band to calm the atmosphere with her soulful voice. Clutching her guitar, the singer and songwriter proved her understating of music, as the audience watched in admiration. Though she sang mostly in her local dialect, everyone felt her music; it was glaring.

Zahara released her debut album Loliwe in 2011, which proved to be a big success as it went Platinum in 13 days and went double platinum after just 17 days, selling over 100,000 copies in South Africa. Her debut single, Loliwe, has had over a million views on YouTube. On the 1st of May 2012, at the annual South African Music Awards, Zahara won 7 awards, including Best Female Artist and Album of the Year. You needed to see the reaction of the audience as she performed Loliwe on the MTV base stage; it was awesome, watching the talented lady leave the stage.

Nigeria’s Tuface Idibia was on point, as he treated the large crowd with songs from his old and new recording, including hit track, African Queen. However, his track, Ihe Neme was all Idibia needed to stamp his authority at the event.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 38

38 ARTS

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

SHOWBLAST Music galore in S’ Africa CONTINUED FROM PAGE 37 Flavour, on his part, got the crowd dancing to the sound of his beats. Alongside his dancers, the Oyi crooner mesmerised the crown with his tradition waist dance, which got the ladies screaming for more.

Son of the soil, Zekes Bantwini also got his slot to thrill home crowd. Known as the man, who discovered kwaito sensation, L’vovo Derrango, and owner of the independent record label Mayonie Produktions, which is based in Durban, KwaZuluNatal, he describes his music as Sophisticated Dance Music – a Cosmopolitan lifestyle that talks about different lifestyles.

Armed with a Diploma in Jazz and popular music, and currently studying towards his degree with University of Kwazulu-Natal, Zakes got the South African ladies grooving all night long.

The arrival of Koko Master, D’Banj, on stage, sparked up excitement in the audience. Having gone separate ways with his Mo Hits’ guys, D’Banj mounted the MTV Base stage with his younger brother, K-Switch. In his usual style, D’Banj was charismatic as he took the audience through dance sessions, jumping from one part of the stage to the other. From Suddenly to Top of the world, Cash Flow, Sister Caro, the grooved flowed for D’Banj, who infected the crowd with his Koko mentality. His performance climaxed with Oliver Twist, his monster hit.

The ecstatic crowd roared in excitement as the Snoop Lion mounted the big stage in style. Dressed in traditional Zulu outfit, Snoop felt so much at home, as he belted out songs from his rich repertoire; rap enthusiasts sang along. As promised, the international rap icon now turned reggae-pop star, gave fans an unforgettable experience. Starting with classic hits tracks such as Snoop Doggy Dogg, P.I.M.P, California Love, I Wanna Love You, Snoop thrilled fans with a medley of chart toppers throughout his music career. He also paid tribute to a fallen brother, Tupac.

As many had predicted, Snoop recalled D’Banj on stage and both men performed Endowed Remix. Obviously excited, D’Banj succeeded in the getting his ‘Uncle’ Snoop to do the Koko dance, amid cheers and applause from the crowd. Snoop later transformed from legendary rapper to cool reggae superstar, as he sang songs from his ReIncarnation album.

A true African, Snoop invited all the artistes on stage to wrap up the night of frills and thrills. It was fun watching the American superstar do the Zulu dance, alongside South African indigenes such as DJ Cleo, Zakes, Professor, Big Nuz and others who led the dance session; Nigeria’s Tuface, D’Banj, Flavour and DJ Caise, who provided the Nigerian tunes at the show, also joined in the celebration dance.

“Coming back to my African roots to perform alongside Africa’s most talented acts has always been a dream for me,” Snoop said.

According to the Vice President of Viacom International, Alex Okosi, “MTV Africa All Stars concert is about celebrating African talents, who have gained international recognition through their hard work. We want to set a legacy for up and coming acts so that each year, they will have the opportunity to perform alongside international artistes using the Africa All Stars platform.”

D’Banj and Snoop Lion

DJ Caise

MoviBuzz

Zahara

By Chika Onwukwe

Poor storyline, piracy sent me on sabbatical, says Obazele HOUGH not the type you see regularly on T screen these days, Paul Obazele still remains an important figure in Nollywood. A former president of the Association of Movie Producers (AMP), the Edo State-born producer, who has now veered into other aspects of the showbiz, has fingered poor storyline and piracy as part of the reasons he took a sort of sabbatical from acting.

The decision to take a break, according to Obazele, is basically to assess his activities in the industry, with the aim of re-strategising for the future. But in the process, he was cut in

Obazele

the web of Nollywood politics; incidentally the mantle of leadership was given to him to lead the producers.

“I believe that I did my best during my tenure as the president, at least the political relevance AMP is enjoying today is as a result of my effort,” he boasted.

As for the ‘sabbatical,’ “I can say without equivocation, that at some point, it appeared that Nollywood has reached its peak and was facing diminishing return; it was obvious that our stories became dry, thereby taking the intelligence of our viewers for granted.”

As far as Obazele is concerned, scriptwriters became less creative, while producers and marketers took quality for granted.

“In fact, the industry was at the crossroad and I decided not to be a part of that deceit, because the people who gave me credence today are the viewers and followers of Paul Obazele.

Hence, it will be suicidal to let them down in any way.”

While holding parishioners responsible for the decline in the quality of Nollywood productions, Obazele blamed the government for the continuous rise of piracy in the country.

“How can a man spend a huge sum of money to make a film, the movie is pirated and he didn’t make his working capital; I do not see how he can plough back into such project again.

Therefore, people began to cut corners in order to reduce risk.”

It would be recalled that during Obazele’s regime as the leader of AMP, efforts were made, with the advice of the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, to revive other struc-

tures that will help the industry.

“This he said will curb the activities of pirates. Luckily, in one of my trips to Ghana, I met Ben Bruce of Silverbird aboard aircraft; discussion erupted and he promised to be showing good Nollywood movies on his channel. That was how the cinema culture came back. Some producers brought their films and we discovered that we are able to make greater percent of the investment within a short time.”

Today, cinema culture has returned in Nigeria, at least in the major cities, with Nigerian films showing on big screens.

“Red carpet came back and we started taking our films to festivals outside the country.

Satellite TV stations also came in and it becomes a new experience, filmmakers embrace creativity again,” he enthused.

To the former AMP boss, the damage of piracy is very disheartening.

“You will be surprised that these nefarious activities take place in high places and sadly some politicians are behind this people.”

The Nigerian Copyright Commission, in the words of Obazele, is not helping matter.

“We discovered some places where this people operate from and gave the information to NCC. But instead of the Commission to plunge into action, nothing was done till date. I just believe that the new NCC boss, who I see as a man of God, will stand his ground and work. If not, these pirates are out to destroy what God has given us. God gave us a group of creative minds that have through their movies made the image and name of our country distinct

on the world stage.”

Obazele is of the opinion that the practitioners must win this war against pirates because they are passionate about what they do.

“The new crops of filmmakers have raised the bar in production; we now produce world-class movies that are screened across the globe and equally win awards. That means we are winning the war.”

Now that the coast is clear, Obazele is back for good.

“I’m back in acting and producing; very soon you will see my films, which are pure African stories. Part of the problem we had then was not telling African stories; we try to live the Whiteman’s life, this is wrong. We should not bring foreign culture into our own; we‘re black nation with great cultural heritage.”

He continued: “The moment you try to bring western culture into your own, it becomes cultural dislocation, which will affect our children because they will neither be there nor here.”

To him, bringing western world into our world is baseless, assuring that the new film industry will ensure it never happens.

“Today, our local languages are facing serious threat of extinction. However, the new Nollywood is set to correct this entire anomaly.

Thanks’ to president Jonathan who has shown his love and support for the industry in several ways. I implore Jonathan to involve real practitioners in strategic areas for that professionalism and timely action. Nigeria is the future of Africa and the world; hence Nollywood is a tool that will not be left out in this match to actualize the future,” he concluded.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

ARTS

39

VisualArts

Bisi Silva, a member of Jury, Venice Biennale 2013. PHOTO BY: STEPHAN RÖHL. Okwui Enwezor. PHOTO BY: ALIX LAVEAU

Venice Biennale 2015…

By Tajudeen Sowole

Preparation for Nigeria’s debut participation at Venice Biennale in 2015 is in top gear. However, choosing a curator that will coordinate the artistic contents and interpret the theme of the country’s Pavilion remains a challenge.

IGERIA, no doubt, is blessed with artists N and curators in contemporary practice, home and in the Diaspora, but selection of participants and successful packaging of the diverse contents at the global and competitive Venice Biennale, Italy, will require indepth preparation for a proper articulation within the framework of a chosen theme.

Over a month ago, preparations for Nigeria to make its first appearance at the 56th edition of Venice Biennale began in Lagos, courtesy of a private initiative and supports of the National Gallery of Art (NGA) as well as assistance from the British Council, Lagos.

For quite a number of reasons, Nigeria cannot afford not to impress at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015: currently, a Nigerian, Bisi Silva, is among the five-member jury for the 55th edition of the Venice Biennale, which opens in the next few weeks; Nigerians in the Diaspora are holding top positions in big contemporary spaces such as museums and galleries; Nigerian artists, in recent times, have made remarkable marks in art exhibitions and art auctions abroad. Examples of such exhibitions included dOCUMENTA 11 held at Kassel, Germany, which had Okwui Enwezor as artistic director, from 1998-2002; Nigerian artists were impressive during an European tour of 88 artists from 25 African countries themed Africa Remix and described as the largest gathering of African artists abroad; and recently, Africa’s participation, via Marker at the just held Art Dubai Fair, which had over 20 artists from West Africa was led by Silva.

With these shows, Nigeria had made strong statement on the contemporary global art space.

Usually, there are three main prizes at stake at the Venice gatherings: Golden Lion for Best National Participation; Golden Lion for best artist in the International Exhibition Il Palazzo Enciclopedico (The Encyclopedic Palace); Silver Lion for a promising young artist in the inter-

Seeking a curator for Nigeria Pavillon national exhibition Il Palazzo Enciclopedico (The Encyclopedic Palace).

At the 54th outing in 2011, Germany won the Golden Lion for best National Participation with its presentation of the late artist, Christoph Schlingensief’s work. Aside of the main awards, there are Honorable Mention and Golden Lion for Life Time Achievement.

It is not impossible for Nigeria to make a mark, pat least, picking up an award despite participating for the first time, as efforts are being made to make 2015 a reality. And as crucial as the role of a curator is, in winning a prize, it is expected that by now, the organisers of the Nigeria Pavilion should have appointed one to start working, particularly given the complexity that may arise in selecting artists that truly represent the country’s creative diversity.

More importantly, the artists would need enough ventilation to factor the 2015 into their schedules, particularly in creating works, purposely for the exhibition. Given these factors, indeed, getting a curator to lead a team of creative professionals should be now for an elaborate preparation that the outing deserves.

However, picking a curator for Nigeria Pavilion of Venice 2015 appears to have begun to create headache for the Ego Boyo-led initiative. A source disclosed that two Nigerians who practice in the Diaspora have been “infor-

Chika Okeke-Agulu

mally named”. One of them, the source said, “is very experienced” and is “most likely to be named the curator”.

While the international experience of Nigerians practicing abroad is crucial to the success of a Nigeria Pavilion, it appears that most of the foreign-based curators who have made marks abroad have little or no home experience within the Nigerian art space of the last ten to 15 years. In fact, some of them never handled any art project in Nigeria.

Assuming the curator has to come from the Diaspora, does this mean creative managers of Nigerian art that are home-based lack required international exposure?

“There are experienced curators in Nigeria”, Professor Frank Ugiomoh, art historian at University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State argued. He disagrees with the idea of outsourcing curator for the Nigeria Pavilion.

“Are the exhibitions all over Nigeria organised by ghosts?” Ugiomoh asked, while expressing doubt if a curator from abroad could read the “nation’s mood and package it from Diaspora.” The art scholar cautioned that not tapping from the abundant professionals at home is like “going to Venice naked.”

Given a “success” story ascribed to the 2009 edition of African Regional Summit on Visual Arts and Exhibition (ARESUVA), an international gathering, though held in Nigeria, it could be argued that artists at home do not lack curatorial experience; the exhibition section of ARESUVA 2009 was curated, jointly by Tonie Okpe, Simon Ikpakronyi and Uwa Usen.

As much it is important to promote homegrown expertise, the fact that Nigeria has not had an experience of a biennale at a global level makes input from abroad crucial. “We have not been to Venice or big biennale before, apart from Dak’Art in Dakar, Senegal. I think, we need to tap from our resource in the Diaspora”, Dr Kunle Adeyemi, artist and teacher, Yaba College of Technology said.

Adeyemi recommended a merging of the local and foreign experience to form a good team. According to him, “someone like Bisi Silva is a good example of a curator who has the advantage of both sides”. He however canvassed staging several workshops as part of the preparation, “so that in the process, we can come up with a team.”

And if the mix of home and foreign experience is a major criterion for selecting a curator who leads a team of creative or technical

professionals for the Nigeria Pavilion at Venice Biennale, in 2015, Silva appears like a good choice.

Aside being the representative of the black race in the five-member jury of the 55th Venice Biennale, Silva has other impressive international credentials when it comes to contemporary art.

She was co- curator of the 7th Dak’Art Biennale and of the 2nd Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art, Greece as well as curated Marker, a section of Art Dubai Fair, 2013. And having run Centre for Contemporary Art, (CCA), in Lagos since 2007 till now, working with Nigerian and foreign artists here and outside the country under the centre’s solo and collaborative projects with international organisations, Silva’s familiarity with the home space would count for a Nigeria Pavilion in 2015.

From the Diaspora, the experience of Enwezor could also be of importance, having curated quite a number of international exhibitions and was artistic director of dOCUMENTA 11 as well as 2nd Johannesburg Biennale in 1997 and serves on several art advisory boards and jury.

Arguably one of the leading names from Africa on the international art space, Enwezor, the director at Haus der Kurst, Munich, Germany is not active on the Nigerian art environment.

Another likely choice of a curator is Chika Okeke-Agulu. Currently based in the U.S., Okeke-Agulu organised a Nigeria section at the First Johannesburg Biennale in 1995 and has published several books, including Contemporary African Art Since 1980.

The Venice Biennale is regarded as the largest gathering of artists on earth and is 118 years old.

Last week, Silva and five curators selected from Europe, U.S. and South America were announced as jury of the 2013 edition. Other members of the jury include Ali Subotnick, a curator at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, U.S.; Jessica Morgan, a curator, International Art, at Tate in London, U.K; Francesco Manacorda, Artistic Director of Tate Liverpool; and Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy, the chief curator of the 9a. Bienal do Mercosul in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Chong Cuy is the president of the jury.

According to the Board of Directors of Venice Biennale, chaired by Paolo Baratta, the Jury will attribute the following prizes: Golden Lion for best National Participation; Golden Lion for best artist in the International Exhibition Il Palazzo Enciclopedico (The Encyclopedic Palace); Silver Lion for a promising young artist in the International Exhibition Il Palazzo Enciclopedico (The Encyclopedic Palace).

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

40 ARTS

Paintforation of Ehikhamenor’s Amusing the Muse

One of Victor Ehikhamenor’s works, Adam and Eve, Waiting For A Flight Out of Eden

By Tajudeen Sowole

Ehikhamenor, the quiet design and cutting edge store, Temple Muse “fits perfectly into my ideal space.”

NSPIRED by ancient aesthetics, deAmusing the Muse derives its signer, Victor Ehikhamenor, steps strength from the artist’s new techinto a new period of his art as he cre- nique, Paintforation. Though a ates contemporary images, which coinage from painting, it appears thematically, focuses faces within the quite a curious one, particularly from analogy of identity.

Ehikhamenor who is hardly a painter, Currently showing at Temple Muse, in the real context of creating art, the Victoria Island, Lagos, Ehikhamenor’s relief feel of the works suggests how new body of work titled Amusing the the artist’s skill keeps blurring the Muse also confirms that artists who line between art and design. Adaptare doing new things are frantically ing the process of pointillism in a persearching for a fresh outlets of preforating method on a paper appears senting their art, particularly for very innovative and also challenging, themes or aesthetics that fall into the as the technique requires “painstakcategory of what is known as site-spe- ing efforts to protect the fragile surcific in contemporary art lexicon. For face.”

I

HE return of George Ighodalo to the art T circuit in a recent solo show at the Didi Museum, Victoria Island, Lagos, offered a summary of his few years’ break. Perhaps, this may have suggested the theme, Pungent Punctuations.

A mixed media artist, who deploys various techniques in metal foil to achieve variety of relief surfaces, Ighodalo’s latest show was like an outburst of bottled expression, which suddenly escaped.

Some of the works included Face of A Drummer, Friends and Admirers, Dancers, Slumbers and Intimate Whispers.

In his artist statement, the core of Pungent Punctuations could be better understood as the artist’s early journey into art.

He stated: “I couldn’t help but remember the journey of one of my callings as an artist from childhood; from age three, my late mum told me drawing was intuitive for me, on paper, the walls, giving them as gifts to friends, selling them, doing portrait commissions while in high school to buy materials and stuff. Art has not been a study in school for me; it’s been one of several gifts from above.

Before gaining admission to train as a fine artist at Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, he was already in love with works of masters such as Yusuf Grillo, Dele Jegede, David Dale and Kolade Oshinowo.

And the passion as well as ambition to reach his peak, he added, continued while in the college.

“Right from Yabatech, while on my way to rounding up my HND programme, fate built collectors for me from many diplomatic communities and shows abroad, after which I evolved in my art. One of such shows abroad was the cotemporary Nigerian art at the world intellectual property organisation, Geneva, in September 1995,” he says.

As he explains, then, his work were of “experimental high relief painting, and one of them titled The Mirage was placed on page 54 of the brochure, alongside works of works of Bruce Onobrakpeya, El Anatsui, Ben Enwonwu, Jerry Buhari, Olu Ajayi, as well as two of my lecturers from Yabatech.”

Art historian, Prof Ola Oloidi, he said wrote a piece on the exhibition, describing the gathering as having strong energy

However, the aesthetics of pieces such as White Mask and I don’t Know Where To, But Let’s Go seems to assert that, indeed, the artist’s Painterforation is worth the experiment. Even in its monochromatic surface, Ehikhamenor’s new technique in design, which generates a sea of points or perforations, brings back premodernity rendition into contemporary space.

Of the about 18 or 19 works, the new techniques dominate the show, leaving few spaces to his familiar drawings. What is new about the drawing is that some of them are in large sizes as well as in deeper conceptual contents. This much a monochromatic piece titled, Adam and Eve, Waiting For

in stylistic and conceptual analysis.

Ighodalo quoted part of Oloidi’s observation: “Each artist whose work is in this exhibition is a master in his or her own right.

These artists, like many other African artists have professionalised in different areas of the world. Therefore, the artists in this exhibition are not begging for any professional clearance, for he is already cleared by a determined effort of his own professional competence. But like his counterpart in other civilised nations, he craves for a maximum degree of internationalisation. He wishes for his or her work to be recognised as modern contemporary and in no way traditional.”

Based on his diverse background as an artist, Ighodalo disclosed that he cannot but implore more than one expression.

“There are artistic pangs and sensibilities in my creative tensions that call to me seeking articulate expression through diverse means, these varied media, acting as receptacles for my forays, visually speaking.

“The body of works showcased my past oeuvre and the transformation into my present creations: a new merging of several techniques from my explorations and creative forays, my pastiche, blended into limn.

“An interplay of meanings, motions and evolution of my art: of line, form, color, media variety, breaking the molds of the norm, stepping out of the box and playing with the symbolic, metaphoric and ambiguous, between the value of the technique, (be it rich transparency, impasto mass or mixed media), and the content/context and relevancy.

“Some of the works contained agitations of my mind concerning man’s actions in Nigeria and the world as I portray them on these various platforms form the salient issues in the socio politics, affecting lifestyles, environments and the vices that tear decent human relations apart. Slices of personal, social, cultural and economic struggles and imbalances at play in a nation passing through democratic phases, through the eyes of an artist without borders in an ever-growing global village.

Hoping you enjoy my eclectic visual feast, as I proceed unto the next phase in branding and creativity.”

A Flight Out of Eden, which spreads across nearly two ends of the walls, offers.

Ehikhamenor’s Biblical depiction takes a viewer’s much of attention into the designs, which attempts to create some velvet-surface effect, deep into the artist’s seas of pen and ink movements.

Largely of conservative colours, Ehikhamenor’s new body of work have a partner in the Temple Muse’s space, softening the radiation of a thickened atmosphere of Victoria Island’s chaotic central business district. He recalled that his search for space that share something in common with his art came to fruition after his first visit to Temple Muse. “The moment I set my eyes on this space, I have not slept; I kept working and getting new idea,” Ehikhamenor enthused.

On faces as a central theme, he recalled how the mammoth crowd during the Occupy Nigeria protests inspired his thoughts on the importance of people’s faces in identity. “People live; do every thing, and are recongnised even after death by their face.”

And what a space to relish for the artist’s Paintforation; choice designs such as Tiffany Amber, Givenchy as well as some indigenous labels breath elegance into the architectural innovation of the interior.

“With this show, we hope to bring a different aesthetic, to complement the varieties of designs here,” the managing director of Temple Muse, Avinash Wadhwani, stated. Promoting indigenous creativity as evidenced in the fashion collections such as Tiffany Amber and other local designers’ in the space, he said, “is the goal of Temple Muse”.

The curator of Amusing the Muse, San-

dra Mbanefo Obiago, described the artist’s calligraphic style of monochrome as “symbolic”.

Obiago noted that the images emanate from his background as a boy growing up in the rural setting of Edo State. “His style is influenced by the drawings he grew up with on the walls of sacred spaces in Udomi-Uwessan, Edo State, Nigeria.”

In 2011, at Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA), Lagos Ehikhamenor’s solo show, Entrances and Exits: In Search of Not Forgetting added another form of native content to the Nigerian art vocabulary. The works tap from the relics of ancestral polygamous family, rediscovered as part of what he claimed “shaped his art over the decades”.

Last year, he extended his thoughts on identity to the foreign art space when he showed at a yearly art and culture festival in Greece, where he featured photos of rural people and western clothing.

After his studies and working experience in the US, Ehikhamenor returned to Nigeria and shared his design skills as art director of the rested 234Next newspapers. His experience as an independent book cover designs of many years was an asset he brought into the creative section of the newspaper.

Some of his solo exhibitions abroad are Beyond The Surface, at Utopia Gallery, Washington, DC and Spirits In Dialogue, the Brazilian-American Cultural Institute Gallery, Washington, DC both held in 2000.

He graduated from Bendel State University, Ekpoma (now Ambrose Alli University) with a BA degree in English and Literary Studies. He also holds an Msc in Technology Management and Masters of Fine Art (MFA) from University of Maryland, College Park in the USA.

, George Ighodalo, in his studio.

Ighodalo’s return in Pungent Punctuations of relief texture

By Tajudeen Sowole One of his works from Pungent Punctuations.

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

Odugbemi... Representing his race in motion picture CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27 popular impression about documentary.

“People say documentaries are boring and un-entertaining, but that’s not true. Documentaries are extremely entertaining and come in different styles. They can be political, cultural, religious, etc, but one great thing about documentaries is that having watched them for 20 minutes, you cannot leave without something staying in your subconscious; you go away a better enlightened person,” Odugbemi noted.

For the iRep team, the larger picture is to get young Nigerian filmmakers to become empowered with this awareness and consciousness, such that, what is called the African experience, becomes something they are interested in documenting.

“Nigeria was 50 last time, if you want to do a documentary about

the Independence and the conferences that led to our independence, the only place you could go was the BBC; you can’t get it from any source that is Nigerian. History is told in present tense; history is not told later; that’s the essence of the movement” IREP, by its very name, is meant to inspire filmmakers to re-present their African experience through films.

“Today, technology makes that very easy; all you need is a camera and a laptop to edit. I think this is important because we are in a democracy that is a work in progress; documentaries are going to be important to how we hold our leaders accountable.

It’s important that we are able to process the unfolding everyday experience of this democracy for us to sustain it,” Odugbemi said.

Based on its format, iRep has a training model that trains people in producing documentary, scriptwriting and the legalities of research.

Events

“There’s an empowerment part to the training that I think is important; we train for two days. We are going to be inviting experts to train participants.

We are going to be using this opportunity to teach practical things. However, the films we will show at the festival are also meant to showcase kinds of works possible with documentary; a lot of them are African films from the Diaspora.”

According to Odugbemi, there’s a balance where the festival shows quality works and also trains the young about how to empower themselves to do this.

“Last time, we had over 100 young filmmakers at the iRep training and we’ve sustained that community through online interactivity. Those who benefited from that training are now writing; I think they have a project they plan to do. So, our intervention is not all about talks; we are being very practical. Our capacity to sustain

and get result is in how we get our young filmmakers to come to this appreciation and, then, to be empowered with the skills to move forward and actualise their ideas.”

He charged fellow filmmakers to realise the importance of having a voice as a filmmaker and also make proper use of the opportunity.

“I thank God that I’ve also come to the consciousness of how not just having the voice, but using the voice.

There are many filmmakers, who have the voice because they have camera, but are saying no profound things. iRep is an opportunity to say to my friends in the industry that this is an incredible privilege to be a filmmaker; this means, you have power. Using power as a filmmaker is the capacity to be profound in the subjects you take on, to understand the responsibility and understand that you can be an agent of positive change in your society.”

A professional to the core, Femi Odugbemi is in the league of very few Nigerian filmmakers, who have maintained a high level of professionalism in the industry. While some of his counterparts are impaired by the harsh conditions of filmmaking in the country, the CEO of DVWorx Studios & Zuri24 Media, is more interested in seeking for knowledge that would keep him abreast of the best practices in the business. Little wonder he spent time travelling all over the world, attending conferences and film festivals.

“The truth is, you can’t sell your relative cheaply and buy them expensive later. Essentially, our industry is in a place where those that have moral responsibility to support its growth in terms of quality and professionalism don’t seem to believe in it. They believe more in the foreign professionals. I went to school and studied Film; that’s my profession.”

In association with

ROMANTIC CLASSICS

COMEDY & FASHION SHOW DATE(S): 25/05/2013 LOCATION: SUMMIT VILAS HOTEL PROMOTER: explicit modeling and fashion management ACTIVITIES FOR THE SHOW: Talks on: Obesity & Diabetes,Teenage unwanted pregnancy, Human Trafficking & Youth Empowerment.

FASHION SHOW BY: Mega Tony Designs, Asandrea Collection, FNB Designs, Legs Apparel etc.

Artistes: Slim Flexxy, Bemosa, Ever Great, Peacemaker, Young Wizzy, etc Comedians: D2, Prince Talker, Gada Laugh, QBoy, Comforter, etc

Date(s): 26/05/2013 Location: AGIP RECITAL HALL Promoter: The Musical Society of Nigeria.

Romantic Classics with Tunde Sosan (MUSON Resident Pianist) Featuring: IGE, ZOE CHINAKA & DAPO DINA (Germany based Jazz Pianist)

INDUSTRY NIGHT WITH

DBANJ & KAYSWITCH

Date(s): 26/05/2013 Location: Terra Kulture, Tiamiyu Savage St. Off Ahmadu Bello, V/I Promoter: LAPA Production From Kenneth Uphopho, the Director of the BBC award winning play "Shattered" - comes another riveting Stage play "TO LOVE A GHOST" The story revolves around Lois- a young girl who has had to go through life's harsh lessons and winds up somewhere in Limbo. Is she real or is she a ghost? Find out every Sunday in May in the Dark Drama. "To Love a Ghost" produced by Paws studios and written by Ita Hoza-Ife.

XOVAR LOUNGE CONCERT

Date(s): 29/05/2013 Location: GET Arena, Oniru Estate, Victoria Island (Opposite Oriental Hotel), Lagos.

Promoter: DKM Media & El Carnival

Studio 29 Fashion Party Date(s): 26/05/2013 Location: Studio 29, 29 Opebi Road, Ikeja, Lagos Promoter: studio29 Studio 29 is officially inviting you to the first edition of its Fashion Party happening every first and last Sundays of the month. The store is stocked with contemporary African fashion retailing from all over the world with designers like Asake Oge, Adebayo Jones, Alabi Couture, Ejiro Amos Tafiri, Yutees, Sally Intiego and many more.

BUY TICKETS TO ALL YOUR FAVOURITE EVENTS ONLINE NOW!

Big fish in a Big Pond!

That’s just one of the various terms that have been used to describe the Koko Master aka Eja Nla aka Dbanj in recent times.

D’banj and K switch will be thrilling industry insiders at Industry Nite (Get Arena) Come and savour new tracks from the upcoming DKM album first at industry Nite.

BUY TABLE FOR 5 HERE

For more information: www.afritickets.com

Date(s): 31/05/2013 Location: Xovar Lounge, Behind Bespoke Centre, Beside Germaine Autocentre, Lekki Epe Expressway, Lagos, Nigeria.

Promoter: Xovar Lounge HEINEKEN presents 2Face, Burna Boy and Darey Art Alade in the exquisite Xovar Lounge Concert in Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria.

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The GUARDiAN, Friday, March 24, 2013

ARTS

Arthouse Wole Soyinka’s The Trials of Brother Jero comes to eagles’ Park

AGLES’ Theatre, in conjunction with Black Image, will present Wole Soyinka’s The Trials Of Brother Jero on May 26 at the Eagles Park Hotel, Ikeja. Time is 3pm. Another show is billed for 7pm.

The play is a satire on religious hypocrisy, through the many antics of its protagonist, Brother Jero. Jero, an insincere prophet, succeeds in manipulating his gullible followers and keeping them submissive to him. he is able to do this because he knows that they long for money, social status and power.

Brother Jero has been able to convince them that they will soon be able to fulfill their materialistic desires and they, being naïve, believe his lie.

E

Amusing the Muse continues

eSiGNeR, Victor ehikhamenor’s new body D of work titled, Amusing the Muse, continues showing at Temple Muse, Victoria island,

Artistes on Four Robbers’ stage

Lagos, and ends on May 31.

A showcase of Nigerian film industry at the 2013 Cannes N a bid to showcase the great achievements, impact, and investment opportunities that abound in the Nigerian film industry on a global platform, government agencies, in collaboration with stakeholders in the motion picture industry, staged an interactive session at the recently held 66th edition of the Cannes international Film Festival, in France.

At the well attended forum, filmmakers from around the world, including potential investors averred that the Nigeria Film industry was indeed ripe for concerted and sustained investment inflow to enable it attract foreign and domestic investment and promotion of the sector.

The Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) is leading other government agencies, which includes, the National Film and Video Census Board (NFVCB), NeXiM Bank and the Lagos State Government (Film & Video Censors Department) to this year’s Cannes international Film Festival, which had in attendance several other Nigerian filmmakers, critics and Journalists.

NeXiM Bank representative at the Forum and

i

Technical Adviser to the Managing Director, Mr. hope Yango, informed that the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Agencies for Film matters, should be encouraged to position Nollywood as an international brand that would attract investment to match the estimated N120 billion assessments envisaged for the industry.

A Collective Management Organisation for the Nigerian Film industry, the Forum was informed, was being established in Nigeria to address copyright and residual value management from film production activities for film makers, just as participants averred the need for the setting up of more Cineplex’s and Theatres in Nigeria.

Mr. Tekena Benibo (NFC), Madam Patricia Bala (Ag. DG, NFVCB), Yongo (NeXiM Bank), Victor Akande (Art editor, Nation Newspaper), Alex eyengho (President, ANCOP), Mr. Afolabi Adesanya, (immediate Past MD, NFC), Kunle Afolayan (Film Maker) and a host of others from Nigeria are attending the Festival. The Nigerian pavilion at the festival has recorded over 800 footfalls since the festival began.

Encased opens on Sunday

UKe Asidere’s art show titled, Encased, D opens at the Alexis Gallery, Victoria island, Lagos. it runs from June 12 to 18.

Newsray Prestigious Award for June

he maiden edition of Newsray’s Prestigious T Leadership Award & Public Lecture holds on June 11. Organised by Newsray Communication Ventures Limited, Publishers of Newsray Magazine, the award seeks to recognise contributions of individuals to the development of the country. holding at the Banquet hall, Bayelsa State Government house (Creek haven), Yenagoa, editorial Adviser, Newsray Magazine, Mr. Nelson Campbell, disclosed that 14 eminent Nigerians were nominated for the award.

Music/comedy train to thrill Osogbo

iCe, LKT, Capital FeMi, Jaywon, Nollywood 9 actors, Odunlade Adekola and eniola Badmus have joined top Nollywood stars frol-

icking with actor-comedian, Gbenga Adeyinka 1st GCON. The music-comedy train, which created fun in excess to the city of ibadan, would be moving to Oshogbo, Osun State. expected to hold on June 12, 2013, sources are saying the Osun State government have endorsed the show.

––Compiled by Florence Utor

Popular actress, Onayiga motivates Ikenne students ULTiPLe award wining M actress, Sola Onayiga (ireti of Fuji House of Commotion and Mrs. etuk of Tinsel fame), was in ikenne, Ogun State at ikenne Town hall, in company of Film Director Segun ObadareAkpata and Olu Okekanye, representing Association of Nigerian Authors to speak to secondary school students from Ogun State on Effective Ways of choosing a career at a workshop on How to Write, Publish and Sell your Books.

The workshop was organised by the international Restoration Crusade of The Ransomed Christian Centre as part of its yearly crusade

and to also mark the World Book Day. The convener of the workshop, Pastor Tosin Onayiga, said apart from achieving the goal of the topic, it is also designed to have students who were in attendance to turn in stories, poems and plays for publication to start a Student Writers Series.

The Series, Pastor Onayiga said, would not be limited to Ogun State alone, as mode for entry for students from other states would soon be made known to the public.

The state’s Commissioner for education, Science and

Technology, Barrister Segun Odubela, said the programme is a good opportunity for talent discovery and precursor to relevance in making talent discovered to be useful not only to their schools, but the state and their country at large.

The crusade ended with a Thanksgiving service at Methodist Church, ikenne.

Meanwhile, Sola has been appointed as Judge by the National Troupe of Nigeria for the National Dramatized Story Telling Competition for Secondary School Students, which runs from May to June at the National Theatre, iganmu Lagos.

Scenes from the play, Four Robbers staged last week in Lagos

Student-writers emerge from World Book Day ROM a workshop on How to write, Fikenne publish and sell your books held at Town hall, ikenne, Ogun State by the international Restoration Crusade, an arm of the Ransomed Christian Centre to mark the World Book Day, as part of its yearly crusade, an idea of Students Writers Series has emerged.

The convener of the workshop and Crusade Pastor, Tosin Onayiga, while addressing the audience, which included Ogun State Commissioner of education, Barrister Segun

Odubela, ably represented by the zonal education officer for ikenne Local Council, Mrs. Taiwo, noted that it is very important that people should not only read, but also endeavour to write books and share experiences.

Onayiga said the Centre is expecting that after the workshop, the students would send their stories, plays and poems to the education Support Services at the Ministry of education, Science and Technology, Abeokuta and Zonal education officers in the

state, which would be compiled into books under what he called Crusaders Students Writers Series Onayiga added that a national participation for all students in Nigeria for the Crusader’s Student Writers Series and the mode of entry of their works would soon be made known to the public.

Responding, Odubela, thanked the Centre for joining the world to make the 2013 World Book Day more meaningful and interesting to all “our teeming students and parents in

Ogun State.” he also commended the efforts of the Centre in re-awakening reading and writing culture among teeming youths “especially those within the four walls of our schools.”

Odubela stressed the importance of the day and workshop as impetus for talent discovering and precursor to relevance in building talents discovered to be useful not only for their schools but the state and their country at large.

Present as resources persons were

multiple award wining actress, Sola Onayiga (ireti of Fuji House of Commotion). She spoke on Effective ways of choosing a career. Mr. Olu Okekanye represented Association of Nigerian Authors Lagos Branch to take the students and the public on reading and writing books, while Segun Obadare-Akpata took the public into the world of film making in the process of turning books into films while Mr. Tayo Korede spoke about the Business of Book Publishing.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

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ThE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

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AutoWheels Suzuki redefines 2013 Grand Vitara to enhance SUV competition Stories by Taiwo Hassan Suzuki Motors Limited, FPlc,ora subsidiary of C&I Leasing the re-launch of 2013 Grand Vitara into the Nigerian market was a statement to show it can compete favourably within the SUV segment.

Specifically, the company said the coming of the new Grand Vitara was an attempt to shore up its market share value in the nation’s auto industry.

At the formal launching of the model in Lagos, the company said the 2013 Grand Vitara has been revamped with a freshened front fascia and grille.

Acting Managing Director, Suzuki Motors Limited, Maureen Ogbonna, in her speech said the compact SUV segment has undergone huge leaps in terms of quality and refinement over the past few years.

She said the new Grand Vitara now has strength because it boasts a generous standard features list, one that includes amenities — such as Bluetooth, automatic climate control and a navigation system — that are optional extras on rival models.

According to her, the bluetooth is now standard across all trims, while alloy wheels are now standard on premium models.

The Acting managing director explained that the Grand Vitara was a compact crossover SUV that is offered in three trim levels: base,

2013 Grand Vitara Premium and Limited, adding that standard features for the base model include 16-inch steel wheels, automatic headlights, keyless entry, automatic climate

control, full power accessories, a height-adjustable driver seat, a tilt-only steering wheel, a trip computer, Bluetooth with streaming audio, an integrated Garmin

navigation system (includes voice commands, real-time traffic and a Google search function) and a four-speaker sound system with a CD player and an auxiliary audio

jack.

She said the midrange premium trim level includes all of the base model’s features and adds 16-inch alloy wheels, rear privacy glass,

Lagos State breaks new grounds in vehicle administration with one-stop centre hE Lagos State Motor T Vehicle Administration Agency (MVAA), recently named the “Most Re-engineered-for- Service Agency in the Federation” for 2012, is set to break new grounds in vehicle administration in Nigeria with the introduction of a new user-friendly product and a state-of-the-art service.

The product is the Temporary Vehicle Tag (TVT) scheme whilst the state-ofthe-art service is the One-Stop Centre for vehicle licensing and documentation in the state.

The MVAA One-Stop Centre is designed to provide all the services and products of the Agency from a single and highly efficient point.

At the Centre, which will run on e-commerce environment, a customer will be able to start and complete virtually all transactions relating to motor and driver products and services without leaving the building.

Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Kayode

Opeifa, confirmed the impending launch of the One-Stop Centre during the ministry’s Ministerial Press Briefing held at the State Secretariat, Alausa last week.

The pioneer MVAA One-Stop Centre is located strategically within the Oshodi bus terminus hub for easy accessibility.

It is the first of its type in Nigeria and the West African sub-region.

The MVAA plans to build a One-Stop Centre in each of the state’s five five Divisions.

The Centre will reduce the heavy customer traffic at MVAA’s 46 Vehicle Licensing, Driver’s License Centres and Rider’s Card Issuing Centres which are strategically located across the states. The centres will continue to dispense services to customers.

All MVAA partners in the service delivery chain such as Courteville Business Solutions (AUTO-NET products), designated Banks, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), the Vehicle Inspection Service (VIS), the Driver’s Institute

and others, will have their offices located within the One-Stop Centre in a sequential arrangement which ensures that customers are able to move seamlessly through the various transaction stages.

The services will be dispensed from purpose-built cubicles in sequential order thus saving time and improving the efficiency of the process.

Customers and applicants will, for example, be able to obtain registration forms, complete the forms, make payments, undergo driving tests, have their data captured, renew their vehicle papers and undergo other screening requirements within the One-Stop Centre According to the MVAA, welltrained personnel will ensure that customers are guided through their transactions from the screening of documents at the reception areas to the final point at every stage of the process.

MVAA’s products and servic-

es will remain available to ΩΩVehicle Licensing Stations, eleven Drivers’ Licence Centres, eight (8) Rider’s Card Issuing Centres and 18

Fashola, Governor of Lagos

Dealer’s Licence Zonal Offices as well as Independent Outlets and partner Banks (for renewal of vehicle/hackney licences).

heated mirrors (4WD models only) and cruise control.

“The range-topping Limited model will get you 18-inch alloy wheels, foglights, a sunroof, roof rack side rails, integrated turn signal mirrors, side chrome moldings, keyless ignition/entry, leather upholstery, a leatherwrapped steering wheel, interior wood trim, heated front seats and a seven-speaker premium sound system,” Ogbonna said.

According to her, the 2013 Suzuki Grand Vitara is powered by a 2.4-liter inline fourcylinder that produces 166 horsepower and 162 poundfeet of torque.

She added that a five-speed manual transmission is standard on base models, while all other versions get a fourspeed automatic.

Ogbonna noted that the rear-wheel drive is standard across the lineup, but fourwheel drive is offered on Premium models, and Limited models are available with a four-wheel-drive system that includes low-range gearing.

In Edmunds performance testing, a rear-drive Grand Vitara required 10.2 seconds to reach 60 mph, a slow time for this segment.

EPA estimates for the Grand Vitara’s fuel economy are relatively poor. Rear-drive models return an estimated 19 mpg city/25 mpg highway and 21 mpg combined with the automatic transmission, while 4WD models return 19/23/20.

Besides, the list of standard safety features on the 2013 Suzuki Grand Vitara includes stability control, traction control, antilock disc brakes, full-length side curtain airbags and front-seat side airbags.

In Edmunds brake testing, the Grand Vitara needed only 110 feet to stop from 60 mph — extraordinary performance for this type of vehicle.

The Insurance Institute for highway Safety awarded the Grand Vitara its highest rating of “Good” in the frontaloffset test and the second highest rating of “Acceptable” for side impact and roof strength tests.

When it comes to gauge layout, the Grand Vitara’s cabin mostly scores an “A” for functionality. Controls are wellplaced and easily legible; the one exception is the removable navigation system, which can be hard to reach.

The navigation system’s screen is also smaller than those seen in built-in units, and this can make it challenging to operate and read.

To its credit, though, the navigation system comes with a host of useful features, such as Pandora Internet radio, real-time traffic and Bluetooth streaming audio.

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

BusinessTravel

Inside Air France’s A380 First Class cabin

Airports development, key to economic growth S business markets become A national and international in scale, airports are increasingly being viewed as catalysts for local economic development.

Airports are economic engines and most of all, image of the communities they reflect.

Passenger traffic also shows the level of economic development, demographics, business activity and tourism.

Cargo volumes are also an indication of the strength of the economy just as land development on or near airport sites, mainly for industrial uses but also for tourism and creation, generates additional economic activity.

At some airports, large tracts of surrounding land reserved for development have remained vacant for decades.

Unforeseen rapid development around other airports has saturated the area and choked area roads with traffic.

In most cities, the greatest concentration of business activity around an airport is

within seven kilometres of the airport, or along an access corridor within 15 minutes of the airport.

According to Glen Weisbrod of the Economic Development Research Group, development in these areas is either “spinoff industries” or “attracted businesses.

To him, spin-off industries include petrol filling stations, lodging and housing for airport workers, and retail serving them. These activities grow directly with airport activity levels, although they often take five to 10 years after airport opening to fully develop.

Over 35 years ago, many complained about the location of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos. They considered the location too far away from the city centre.

Shortly after the commission-

‘

ing of the facility, many houses began to spring up along the Murtala Muhammed Airport Road, Mafoluku area of Oshodi, Shasha and Ejigbo, leading to serious encroachment on land that belongs to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria.

The swift intervention of the erstwhile Managing Director of FAAN, Mr. Peter Igbinedion, supported by former Aviation Minister, Mrs. Kemafor Chikwe, helped the airport authority to recover half of its encroached land as development spread rapidly to the area.

Along airport road, acquisition of land became herculean, as industries and other business outlets sprang up.

It is expected that the refurbishment of airports projects currently undertaken by the Federal Government would

Today, local or even national aviation policy decisions can make or break a city’s vision of becoming an international hub, and good policy making is not easy

Virgin Atlantic’s revenue soars

‘

Stories by Wole Shadare

boost economic activities in and around the airports. For many that are considered dormant for many years, these activities could bring them to life.

Going forward, Frankfurt and Amsterdam stand to lose their positions as leading European hubs if they fail to expand their airports effectively.

Amsterdam appears further along with its expansion plans and is causing some concern in London, where the main airports need to expand to keep pace with competition, but where progress is slow and painful.

Recently, Greg Lindsay wrote an editorial named “Cities of the Sky”, that was published by the Wall Street Journal, which focused on the roles of huge new international commercial jetports as catalysts for developing whole cities that depend on air commerce.

He cited Dubai International Airport as a hub where “Nigerian traders bound for Guangzhou mix with Chinese labourers needed in Khartoum, Indian merchants headed to clinch a deal in Nairobi, and United Nations

staff en route to Kabul”.

Dubai is a textbook example of an aerotropolis, essentially a city planned around an airport. The complex contains office parks, convention facilities, hotels and even factories that are nearly adjacent to the runways.

Today, local or even national aviation policy decisions can make or break a city’s vision of becoming an international hub, and good policymaking is not easy. It is a complex process requiring insight into more than local political, socio-economic and environmental issues - often the overriding concerns of policymakers.

Sound policy also requires extensive understanding of global marketplace dynamics, the economics of airline operations and the long-term impact of policy decisions on local business and industry and consumer behaviour - factors more complicated than policymakers may think.

a focus on network, alliances and

IRGIN Atlantic Limited has released strong cash position of £412.3 million. formance at Heathrow on the majority V its financial results for the year end- According to the British carrier, 5.5 of its routes and out-performing its key reducing operational costs whilst continuing to invest in leading cusing February 28, 2013. In its accounts, million passengers were flown by the competitor in 11 out of 12 months. the group showed increased revenues but highlighted rising costs, which impacted significantly on overall performance.

The group pre-tax loss of £69.9 million, which comprises an airline loss of £93 million and takes into account a one-off positive £35.4 million exceptional item and £23.1 million in other group income.

The airline’s revenue increased by five per cent to £2.87 billion, leading to improved airline load factors to 79 per cent (up by 1.3 per cent) with continued

airline, an increase of 188,000 year on year, with nearly 90,000 extra passengers carried across premium economy and Upper Class, a 9.2 per cent rise year on year. Figures show that 100,000 extra passengers were carried in economy class just as there was an improvement in customers’ satisfaction and loyalty scores, with economy satisfaction scores at a five-year high.

The airline equally had record levels of overall on time performance achieved and enjoys the bragging right as the number one airline in punctuality per-

Another area the airline excelled is the area of Virgin Holidays, which continues to deliver profit and strengthening its distribution position, with a six per cent year on year increase in forward sales for 2013/14. It opened its 100th shop, and created over 135 new jobs and apprenticeships in the past year.

Virgin Atlantic Chief Executive, Craig Kreeger, is committed to returning the airline to profit within two years.

Kreeger, who joined Virgin Atlantic February 1 this year, outlined his programme to transform the business with

tomer experience.

According to Kreeger: “Last year saw a double dip recession, a continued weak macro economy, and an Olympic Games, which although a fantastic event, severely dented demand for business travel.

“Despite these challenging circumstances, the enduring strength of the Virgin Atlantic brand has not wavered – we have increased our revenues, our load factors, and carried many more passengers than the previous year.

Air France-KLM unveils plans for Africa, other destinations NE of Europe’s biggest airO lines, Air France-KLM, is working at restructuring in a bid to reach its target in two years with plans to be closer to its loyal customers in Nigeria and other destinations.

The airline’s General Manager, Christian Herpin, made the disclosure in an interactive session with journalists in Lagos recently.

The airline chief admitted that the firm had faced some financial difficulties last year, indicative of the loss it made, but noted that despite the challenge, the carrier would do more to satisfy its customers.

Herpin, who was in company of the airline’s Commercial Director (Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone), Cosmando Byarugaba and other top officials of the firm, disclosed that the Charles De Gaulle Airport, Paris was the key to its success, coupled with its first class lounge, which he said they are very proud of.

The membership of the Sky Team Alliance, he noted, place the airline in a pole position as the first choice of airline to Europe and other destinations from Nigeria, hinting that Air FranceKLM enjoys partnership with six other members in the country.

Beaming with smile, Herpin said Nigeria is a very strategic market for the airline, stressing that major airlines in Europe are now concentrating their operations on long haul services in Africa, Asia and Middle East.

“Despite the high cost of fuel hitting us in Europe, we increased our seat capacity by eight per cent. That means, African market is growing and developing. Many investors are coming to invest.

We don’t have this figure anywhere in the world except in China”.

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

NigeriaCapitalMarket NSE Daily Summary (Equities) as at 23/5/2013 PRICE LIST OF SYMBOLS

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

CAPITAL MARKET 49

NSE Daily Summary (Equities) as at 23/5/2013

LOSERS

PRICE GAINERS

Why multinationals shun listing in nation’s bourse Stories by Bukky Olajide INANCIAL analysts have Ftating enumerated factors miliagainst the listing of multinationals on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Currently, key sectors like maritime, telecommunication, and oil and gas are not listed in the nation’s bourse.

To shore up trading on the Exchange, the regulatory authorities, last year, revised its listings rules to accommodate companies with less than the five year financial statements in response to the yearnings of the majority, of which had maintained that the earlier five-year peg was discouraging to companies.

Firms with three years financial statements can access the Main Board. Also, companies with two- years financials can access the Alternative Securities Market (ASeM).

Speaking with The Guardian, the NSE confirmed that it had won a number of oil multinationals with a substantial figure of telecom firms still being expected to list on the floor due to the reversion.

For Andrew Uviase, a maritime expert and an accountant, a shipping company, for instance, explained that there is need to show evidence of services delivered, which is assessed by the customers and not by the general public.

More so, he said, there are various avenues for raising the required finance if the business has a track record. ‘’Given these factors, most entrepreneurs investing in that line of business would

prefer to keep ownership within themselves rather than share the reward with the public,’’ he said. This is one of the reasons why these key sectors shun the market.

Historically speaking, Nigerian shipping companies are either representatives of other foreign lines or simply ship brokers.

Uviase continued, ‘’Therefore, as a representative of a foreign shipping line in Nigeria, you cannot seek quotation except your

principal requires you to do so, because they believe that your limiting factor is not funds scarcity but ability to generate business’’, he said.

“And this is one of the reasons why maritime operators do not go to the market to raise funds.

On why telecoms firm avoid listing on the NSE, Bosun Hambonu, head of legal, regulatory and services of Starcomms PLC, also on his part gave reasons why telecom operators shun the

market. ‘’Most telecomm companies are not listed because they are owned by foreign firms’’.

For instance, Airtel, Etisalat, MTN are all foreign companies who are big and they make huge profit and therefore might not see any need to list.

Hambonu however said that listing can be part of the licensing regime for telecoms companies to know that they need to list.

Incidentally, Starcomms

was of the few telecom companies that got listed but did so three months prior to the crash of the market some years back.

Others who spoke alluded to stringent listing criteria and shareholding of most of these firms which make most of them want to list in their home countrie.

The analysts also said that listing requires more public disclosure and scrutiny, which they argue most companies conceal.

Skye Bank shareholders endorse proposed N50bn recapitalisation of Skye SplanHAREHOLDERS Bank Plc have endorsed by the bank’s Board of Directors to raise additional N50 billion to strengthen its balance sheet and support its business expansion.

The shareholders gave their nod to the bank’s plan at the seventh yearly general meeting which took place yesterday in Lagos. They also approved the bank’s plan to raise the capital from the capital market through local, foreign or other investors whether by way of private

placement, public or rights offer and issuing ordinary shares of the bank for such equity.

In addition, they approved that in the event of an over subscription of any equity or debt instrument offered, the directors be and are authorized to procure that part or all the over subscribed funds raised be absorbed in a manner they deem appropriate to the extent required by the bank and subject to obtaining approvals of the regulatory authorities.

Also, the Skye Bank shareholders authorized the board to appoint such professional parties, enter into any agreement, execute any document and perform all such other acts and do such other things as may be necessary for or incidental to giving effect to the resolution.

Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Kehinde Durosinmi-Etti, said the bank would raise tier two capital before the end of the third quarter and seek additional

funds through tier 1 issue in the nearest future.

He said the bank had been growing and so needs to shore up its capital.

According to him, given the way the bank had optimized its capital, additional funds would lead to better value creation for all stakeholders.

The bank’s audited report which was prepared in line with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and approved by all financial services regulatory agencies, was

presented to the investing public recently.

Key extracts of the audited report showed that profit after tax leapt to N12.64 billion in 2012, representing a whooping increase of 872.6 per cent on N1.30 billion recorded in 2011. Profit before tax had jumped by 480.9 per cent from N2.84 billion in 2011 to N16.51 billion in 2012. The bank maintained a steady top-line in 2012 with net interest income and net non-interest income of N44.50 billion and N22.60 billion respectively.

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

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Opinion What, after the state of emergency?

By Ogaga Ifowodo ANY who have quite rightly praised President M Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration of a state of emergency in the north-eastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe – strongholds of Boko Haram’s wasting war against a secular Nigeria – will be forgiven for doing so in apparent relief that the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces is a vertebrate after all. Right or wrong, the image of a spineless, clueless and floundering President Jonathan is lodged in the minds of many at home and abroad.

Mine included, though not on the grounds of a presumed preference by Jonathan to walk into the enemy’s camp armed with carrots when he should ride in atop an armoured tank. In other words, I do not consider Jonathan weak on account of his supposed reluctance, until the 14th day of May 2013, to “bare his fangs.” Only in January of last year, Jonathan bared his fangs and spat venom when he rolled out tanks to crush citizens’ peaceful and legitimate protests of the massive oil subsidy scam that had drained the treasury and led to another act of expropriation by way of yet another hike in the price of petrol. And Jonathan has moved with both stealth and brazenness against political enemies – from no less a formidable “opponent” than his own benefactor, former two-time head-of-state, General Olusegun Obasanjo (rtd), to governors, including that of his own state. You can’t hold the highest office in the land, couldn’t have climbed the ladder of power all the way from deputy governor to president, without acquiring brass knuckles or knowing something about power and subterfuge.

Once it became clear to me that Jonathan lacked the requisite vision and courage to steer Nigeria in the one needed direction of nation-building, I knew that he would be no different from any past power-monger, military or civilian. I came to this conclusion when Jonathan chose not to accept the Justice Uwais report on electoral reforms. It was the first major test of his vision and political courage.

Jonathan confirmed this view for me by refusing to openly declare his assets, even going so far as to mount a bizarre and truly troubling defence of his surrender even before he had begun his so-called war against corruption.

Whatever would make a self-avowed transparency-and-transformation president lose all restraint and declare to the whole world, “I don’t give a damn” about the critical need to lead by example on the burning ethical issue of personal probity, pointed unerringly, I thought, to the source of our greater worry.

Another way of explaining my position is this: if a president will not promote democracy through bold and justifiable acts of nationbuilding, especially in a country hurtling into the unenviable status of a failed state, he will, sooner or later, confront forces that cannot be assuaged by the usual means of patronage, of distribution of largesse. And when those forces are so armed and organised as to be capable of threatening the government’s ability to carry out the basic function of maintaining law and order, then it is only a matter of time before the C-in-C declares war against them. In other words, that government will soon find itself in a shooting war against sections of its own people. While patronage worked with the Niger Delta militants – though I suspect that ethnic loyalty has much to do with their willingness to “suspend” sabotage and other forms of guerrilla warfare – it has no chance with Boko Haram due to its religious ideology and mission of establishing a “holy” Islamic republic.

And that brings me to the title of this piece and the point I made at the beginning. That Jonathan finally tired of wiping off his face the spittle that accompanies each of Boko Haram’s acts of rejection of a secular Nigeria to speak forcefully in the language of righteous indignation and command has distracted many from asking, So what happens after (even, during) the state of emergency? If, as Jonathan acknowledges in the opening paragraph of his

speech, the “spate of terrorist activities and protracted security challenges” is not limited to the north-east but reaches also to Gombe, Bauchi, Kano, Plateau, Taraba, Benue, Nasarawa and even the president’s home-state of Bayelsa, then isn’t the state of emergency really the “state” of Nigeria as a whole? A state might justifiably use overwhelming military force to deal with random but portentous incidents of “militancy or criminality,” but how effective can it be when faced by “rebellion and insurgency” spurred by disagreement with the structure and fundamental principles of the nation widespread enough to “pose a very serious threat to national unity and territorial integrity?” Even more worrisome, the president admits that the Boko Haram terrorists pledge “allegiance” to “different flags and ideologies.” What is the core tenet of these ideologies and what is the proof that it lacks a nurturing socio-cultural environment, considering the history of carnage by Islamic fundamentalists in the north? Or that its adherents can be annihilated without the risk of a long war of attrition with unpredictable yet ominous consequences to the nation? Does Jonathan expect a decisive victory as in a conventional war secured when the enemy army is routed and its commanding officer signs the terms of surrender?

It seems to me that Jonathan and his service chiefs have learnt the wrong lesson from the way and manner the United States is waging its war against terrorism. For one thing, the war is not being fought on American territory, the recent Boston marathon tragedy notwithstanding. For another, no American – not even Native Americans, the original owners of the land – is at war with the basic “idea” and “structure” of the USA. Indeed, it is striking just how closely Jonathan mimics President Obama’s tone of strength and resolve. “I want to reassure you all,” he said, “that those who are directly or indirectly encouraging any form of rebellion against the Nigerian state … those insurgents

and terrorists who take delight in killing our security operatives, whoever they may be, wherever they may go, we will hunt them down, we will fish them out, and we will bring them to justice.”

Adding, “No matter what it takes, we will win this war against terror.” Only that there is one little problem: Nigeria lacks a sustainable “ideology” equal to the test of another civil war fought outside the relative innocence of the Independence decade. It is, of course, possible that Boko Haram will be defeated in the short term (and I hope they are, for all that will be worth), but if it is true that the insurgency is part of the worldwide al-Qaeda jihadist movement, then Jonathan will be lucky to claim such a temporary victory. But he will be well advised to prepare for the worst: that the rest of his tenure could very well be haunted by a permanent nationwide state of emergency. After all, in what corner of the country are there no rumblings capable of bringing the false and fissured republic called Nigeria crumbling down?

I fear that Jonathan, as all of our so-called leaders distinguished by phenomenal greed and a stunning lack of vision and courage, take “the sovereign integrity” of Nigeria for granted. They mistake for the requisite will to nation-building their readiness to use the armed forces to squelch revolt and compel a union of manifestly unhappy people.

“Our will is strong, because our faith lies in the indivisibility of Nigeria,” says Jonathan. That is no ideology, no “national myth,” capable of binding together 160 million people of 400 odd ethno-nationalities with probably as many deep-seated grievances against their “given” but fiercely contested nation. Besides, history makes abundantly clear that no nation is “indivisible.” All of which is to say that while the state of emergency Jonathan has declared might achieve the immediate goal of imposing law and order on the flaming north-east, a political solution, which entails the re-structuring of the nation and a reformulation of its basic constituting “Idea,” is the only guarantee of lasting peace and unity.

• Dr. Ifowodo sent this from omoliho@gmail.com

State of emergency against Boko Haram

By Steve Azaiki Y most accounts, save a few disagreeable voices of implacable B opposition foes, the May 14 State of Emergency imposed by President Goodluck Jonathan on Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states is as much a welcome development, as it is a political masterstroke. The country had been long-suffering in enduring the spiralling menace of Boko Haram in parts of the North. With thousands of human beings killed, schools razed, places of worship bombed, markets attacked, businesses destroyed, and a pall of insecurity draped over mostly the north-eastern flank of the country, it is difficult for even the most cynical to muster any plausible argument against the latest measures taken by the Federal Government to bring the insurgents to heel.

There had been a limited state of emergency in some local governments in the not-too-distant past, coupled with equally limited security forces operation. But that failed to produce the desired peace, just as the Boko Haram elements shunned the calls of the Sultan for peace, ignored the pleas of Northern elders for a ceasefire, and even when the government announced amnesty, the insurgents not only rejected the offer but were audacious enough to proclaim that they, a lawless set of vagabonds, should be the ones to grant the government amnesty!

President Jonathan did not need to roar before he could be acknowledged as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic. Yet, the unrelenting atrocities of Boko Haram had fostered the unkind impression that he was a “weak” leader. Since the security forces, as part of the State of Emergency measures, began pounding the hideouts of the insurgents, and rounding up others, while some wounded survivors are scurrying across the borders into neighbouring countries, it has become clear who is weak. Certainly, not President Jonathan. It is debatable whether these on-going tough measures should have come much earlier; but chances are that the government would have been criticised for being too quick to resort to force without first exhausting other soft options.

Given the recent divisive political tendencies in the land, it would have been a huge surprise if President Jonathan were able to immediately muster a broad consensus on the state of emergency, which he imposed on Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states. Yet, the most uncharitable, if not unconscionable allegation anyone can make is that President Jonathan imposed emergency rule in the three states as a subterfuge to muzzle the opposition ahead of the 2015 general elections. Anyone who makes such a charge should

also be reminded that the President had been routinely chided for not containing the insurgency. A few months ago, some politicians made a show of visiting Maiduguri, capital of Borno State and walking the streets, in advertised solidarity with the people of the state who had borne the heavy brunt of the Boko Haram lawlessness.

Perhaps the President would have given a ready pretext to his adversaries, but for the restraint in not allowing the full consequences of a state of emergency to play out, namely, by suspending the Executive and Legislative arms of the governments of the three states. In the old Western Region in 1962, and as recently as the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidency, Plateau State (2004) and Ekiti State (2006), a state of emergency was imposed in the respective places with administrators appointed to rule, while the governors and legislators were suspended.

By leaving the governors and lawmakers of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa while the State of Emergency lasts, President Jonathan has demonstrated beyond any doubt that his motivation is a patriotic quest to bring peace to the country. It also shows his trust in the Executive and Legislature in the respective states to join in accelerating the routing of the insurgents and a concomitant return to normalcy. The real onus, in my view, thus lies with the governors and lawmakers to rally round the Federal Government in the peace enforcement project in their beleaguered domains.

Indeed, the times call for the patriotic fervour of all well-meaning Nigerians, wherever they may be. The times also call for us to spare a thought and prayers for the security forces and their families who are in the line of fire. Each of us returns home to the warm embrace of our families, but not so for some of the security forces who are unfortunate to lose their lives while seeking a more liveable environment for the rest of us. Ours is a country where we are quick to mouth “international best practices”.

Such “best practices” as we find in other countries is that all close ranks to confront a common enemy that seeks to make life unbearable for the law-abiding. We saw that after the tragic events of 9/11 and most recently at the Boston Marathon in the United States.

Coincidentally, I was attending a programme on Leadership In Crisis at the Kennedy School in Harvard when the Boston Marathon bombing took place. It was heart-warming seeing the spirit of community as Americans demonstrated commitment and unity of purpose in fishing out the bombers. More importantly, it should be remembered that a state of emergency and a war on terror, such as is being waged against the savage insurgents who wantonly violated the rights of others, will impact on the provisions of the Constitution relating to fundamental rights. This, therefore, is not a time for trying to score cheap political points.

Part of the urgent task at hand is to win the hearts and minds of the people. Government should take this seriously, because there were earlier misgivings about the intention of the security forces.

But this is not a role for the Federal Government alone. The state governments must also pitch in with resources and programmes, to ensure that they are able to retrieve their territory from the clutches of the insurgents, and then have the people back them (the government), when the no less arduous task of reconstruction begins.

While Emergency rule and the associated security action against the insurgents are still in their early days, history, I believe, will be kind to President Jonathan. His resounding victory in the 2011 elections was hardly announced than orchestrated riots broke out in parts of the North. In the ensuing weeks and months, the country’s security profile was tragically altered, as more incitement and violence followed, and Boko Haram, which until then had operated largely in Borno State, expanded its theatre of horror to other areas in the North. Thereafter, suicide bombing, including that against the United Nations House in Abuja in August 2011, became the norm. The cardinal objective of the sponsors and perpetrators of the violence was to make the country ungovernable for President Jonathan.

While his traducers have never proffered any reasonable antidote to the country’s security challenges, over which they regularly lambast him, President Jonathan has proceeded apace with solutions that are yielding results, no matter how much more relief the country wishes to have. But, above all, President Jonathan has not made security his only focus. By channelling the attention of the Federal Government, through the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, President Jonathan can, in mid-term, beat his chest that he has at least defeated those who sought to make the country ungovernable.

Through the smoke and din and blood of the orgy of violence and insecurity in the land, the administration has striven to lighten the burden, make government work, and achieve results. Probably no other Nigerian leader in similar circumstances has chalked up as much as President Jonathan in the two years since his election in 2011. At any rate, not since the civil war (1967 – 1970) has the country faced as intense and prolonged an internal security challenge as that posed by Boko Haram. Now, blasting through that wall of fear and horror, and driving the Transformation Agenda, no matter the routine howlers by the opposition, is the hallmark of Jonathan’s mid-term report.

• Prof. Azaiki, National Coordinator of The National Think Tank, is a former Secretary to the Bayelsa State Government.

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

Opinion Achebe: Man ahead of his generation

By Bart Nnaji ROFESSOR Chinua Achebe had left the University of MassaP chusetts (UMass) about a decade before I joined the same university in 1983 as Professor and Director of the Automation and Robotics laboratory. At the time, Achebe’s reputation was still looming large at UMass. On realizing that Achebe and I came from the same country and the same state in Nigeria (old Anambra State), students and professors as well as non-academic staff ceaselessly asked me questions about Achebe – about his health, his family, his books and, of course, about the legendary village of Umuofia in his epic novel, Things Fall Apart. Poor fellows! My only contact with Achebe then was only through his books which I thoroughly enjoyed reading while in high school. The ceaseless questions about Achebe, speaking with the benefit of hindsight, often remind me of the story told by Michael Thelwell, a renowned Jamaican professor of literature at the W. E. B. Dubois Department of African American Studies at UMass and an eminent authority on the Achebe oeuvre, that once “a person tells some Jamaicans that he or she lives in New York, they would reply, ‘you must know my cousin who lives in New York, too!’ “.

As fate would have it, Professor Achebe and I would meet in flesh and blood in the United States when he came once more to UMass as a visiting professor; more importantly, we worked together on a critical Africa-centered project – the founding and publication of African Commentary. At the inception of African Commentary in the late 1980s, the investors and promoters of the monthly magazine had no difficulty making Achebe both the chairman and publisher of the monthly, while I served as the president. The magazine was a combination of intellectualism and journalism designed to bridge the communication divide between the African continent and the African Diaspora and offer a most rewarding black perspective on the global issues of the day. Well received no sooner than it hit the newsstands, African Commentary deservedly won a lot of recognition in the U.S. media. It was also used in some universities for teaching African history and literature.

Interestingly, almost all of us who invested in the magazine were academics with no practical experience of how to run a newspaper business. We consequently took certain steps, which, in retrospect, were pretty funny. For instance, some board members used to attend meetings with their spouses who did not

make any investments in the enterprise, yet they actively participated in the board meetings and vote on fundamental issues!

In spite of obvious governance, management issues and liquidity challenges, the monthly meetings lasted a whole two years.

Professor Achebe was an exceedingly wise man, not just an intellectual or writer. All of us always profited from Achebe’s sagacity. In fact, he was a born teacher. For instance, it is normal for people to state in conversations and meetings “I do not know how to present this matter”, thus leaving the audience rather confused and sometimes embarrassed. Achebe would carefully guide any person who made such a statement to think through the subject, form his or her thoughts properly before rephrasing and presenting them in a logical manner. This would normally force the individual to be clear in stating issues, and not give excuses. Achebe had a wonderful gift of clarity of thought and clarity of expression.

It is truly amazing that his first novel, Things Fall Apart, was published when he was merely 28 years of age. In other words, the classic was written when he was not more than 26 and conceived when he was even younger. How did someone of such callow or young age come up with this great novel, which has been translated into dozens of languages and sold over 12 million copies globally? This is a book of fiction, yet it is constantly cited by historians, sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists, literary stylists, etc. The truth is that the young Chinua was a child prodigy.

His elementary school teachers recognized early enough that he would go places, and so never hesitated to say so. As his childhood friend, Chike Momah, the retired diplomat, has informed us, their common elementary school teacher used to tell the very brilliant Momah that Chinua would beat him in class if they both should meet at Government College, Umuahia, in today’s Abia State. They did meet, and the teacher’s statement turned out prophetic! We understand that after only the first term, Chinua was promoted to the next class where he maintained the first position until he left high school. At the University College, Ibadan in today’s Oyo State, Achebe’s record was not different.

Mabel Segun, the Nigerian writer and Achebe’s classmate, has regaled us with stories of how Achebe was a father figure even when he was a young student at Ibadan, ascribing this attribute to Achebe’s long and deep association with elders of his native community in Ogidi, Anambra State. Achebe was always ahead of his generation in both intellect and mien and carriage. Okey Ndibe, editor of African Commentary, and C. Don Adinuba, the

journal’s West African bureau chief, once confided in me how they gave Achebe the sobriquet of grandpa when he was only in his 50s. They were visiting Achebe in his residence at the University of Nigeria when his elder brother, an engineer and retired director in the public service, came to the place. The engineer was older than Professor Achebe, yet he was looking quite younger. Out of an interesting sense of humour, the two journalists nicknamed Achebe “Grandpa” and fondly called him that for decades – always in his back.

It is regrettable the Nigerian political class did not allow itself to profit well from Achebe’s tremendous wisdom. The writer not only foresaw Nigeria’s first military coup, which occurred on June 15, 1966, but also the counter-coup of July 29, 1966. His fourth novel, A Man of the People, which was released on January 2, 1966, ended on a note prophesying a military coup d’etat. When the putsch took place, some people suggested that Achebe was probably privy to it, all the more so since the majority of the leaders were of Igbo extraction like Achebe. The suspicion was utterly misplaced. This excellent novel on political corruption also predicted a counter coup. If Achebe was privy to the first coup because of his ethnic background, was he also privy to the counter coup, which was by soldiers of northern extraction?

Characteristic of his modest nature, a key feature of wisdom, Achebe insisted on playing down his farsightedness in recognizing that a coup was inevitable in Nigeria. In an interview with Nkem Agetua, the Nigerian journalist and literary critic, Achebe in the 1970s compared his foresight to that of a person observing someone driving recklessly. “It is just like saying,” Achebe noted, “this drunken driver would have an accident, and it happened shortly after”. It is a manifestation of Achebe’s prophetic gift that a few months after he published a famous treatise on the Nigerian political condition entitled The Trouble With Nigeria a popular military coup took place on December 31, 1983. If only the political class had listened, the course of Nigeria’s political history could have been different.

Professor Chinua Achebe was a wise man, a thinker of the finest hue, a seer and prophet who saw tomorrow today. He was ahead of his generation. His place in world history is assured. He has educated us and his memory will ever remain green in our minds.

• Professor Nnaji, CON, NNOM, FAS., winner of Nigeria’s highest intellectual award (the Nigerian National Order of Merit) was Minister of Power.

Never plan the future by the past

By Eric Teniola HE remains of Major Isaac Adaka Boro (1938T 1968) were excavated from the Ikoyi cemetery last month and re-buried at Heroes Park in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State on Saturday, May 18.

At the reburial was the American civil rights leader, Reverend Jesse Jackson and elder statesmen including Chief Edwin Clark and Alhaji Tanko Yankasai and of course the Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Henry Seriake Dickson.

In the words of the spokeman of the Bayelsa State Government, Deacon Markson Fefegha, “Adaka Boro was one of the leading lights and founding fathers of Ijaw struggle and emancipation.”

We have really not read the will of Adaka Boro.

We do not know whether he would have wished to be reburied in Heroes Park in Yenagoa.

All we know is that he died fighting as a soldier of the Nigerian Army. He was buried in Lagos at that time when Lagos was Nigeria’s capital and for the past 45 years his remains had rested peacefully in Ikoyi cemetery in Lagos.

Those who arranged to rebury him in Yenagoa must have guessed that as a true Ijaw man who died for the emancipation of the Ijaws from oppression, he would be comfortable to rest in peace in an Ijaw nation.

Tribal leaders are usually over honoured in the absence of a true national unity.

The story of Adaka Boro is an unusual one for while men like Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and others are being celebrated for fighting the British colonialists for their country’s independence, Adaka Boro is being celebrated for fighting Nigeria for the oppression of the Ijaws.

Adaka Boro was born on September 10, 1938 in Oloibiri in the present Bayelsa State. He was many parts and different things to different people – a university student’s leader, a teacher, a police-

man and Nigerian army officer. An undergraduate student of chemistry and student union president at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, he left school to lead an armed protest against the exploitation of oil and gas resources in the Niger Delta areas which benefitted mainly the Federal Government of Nigeria and a remote Eastern Nigeria regional government. He believed that the people of the area deserved a fairer share of proceeds of the oil wealth.

Adaka Boro noted that, “most of the youths were so frustrated with the general neglect that they were ready for any action led by an outstanding leader to gain liberty. We were clenched in tyrannical chains and led through a dark alley of perpetual political and social deprivation. Strangers in our own country! Inevitably, therefore, the day would have to come for us to fight our long-denied right to self-determination.”

He further stated that, “Economic development of the area is certainly the most appalling aspect.

There is not even a single industry. The only fishery industry, which ought to be situated in a properly riverine area is sited about 80 miles inland at Aba. The boatyard at Opobo had its headquarters at Enugu. Personnel in these industries and also in the oil stations are predominantly non-Ijaw.

He formed the Niger Delta Volunteer Force, armed militia with members consisting mainly of his fellow Ijaw ethnic group. They declared the Niger Delta Republic on February 23, 1966 and gallantly battled the Federal Forces for 12 days but were finally routed by the far superior federal firepower. Boro and his compatriots were jailed for treason. Before being sentenced he claimed that his people “had long sought a separate nation not because they loved power but because their conditions were peculiar and the authorities did not understand their problems. There is nothing wrong with Nigeria. What is wrong with us is the total lack of mercy in our activities.”

However, General Yakubu Gowon granted him amnesty on the eve of the Nigerian civil war in May 1967. He then enlisted and was commissioned as a major in the Nigerian army. He fought on the side of the Federal Government but was killed under mysterious circumstances in active service in 1968 at Ogu (near Okrika) in Rivers State, after successfully fighting for the Nigerian forces, thinking he was liberating the Niger Delta from Biafran Forces from eastern Nigeria.

He is survived by Deborah Waritimi, Esther Boro and Felix Boro.

Another Ijaw man who started the Ijaw struggle long before Adaka Boro championed it, was Chief Melford Obiene Okilo (1933-2005) who in 1962 was appointed parliamentary secretary and later minister by the then Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. Chief Okilo founded the Niger Delta Congress in 1959 and was later elected Governor of Rivers State and served between 1979 and 1983. I really do not know whether Okilo’s remains are at Heroes Park in Yenagoa.

I have read Adaka Boro’s autobiography titled, The Twelve Day Revolution, I respect his courage just as I respect other notable Ijaws from Bayelsa State, including Gabriel Okara, Earnest Ikoli, Daniel Igali, Samson Siasia, Perobo Dakole, Harley Empere and his royal majesty, Alfred Diete-Spiff, who was the pioneer governor of Rivers State on May 28, 1967.

I have also read the various articles on Adaka Boro by Hoshia Emmanuel, President Olusegun Obasanjo’s description of how he died in his book, My Command, the comments on him by Professor Godini Darah, Akpobulokumi Oborokumo, Alfred Ilenre, our beloved princess from Sagbama, Karie Yekwe, the pioneer Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice in Bayelsa State and late Comrade Dan Ikunniye who was from Kogi but who idolised Adaka Boro

till he died. I found the article written on Adaka Boro by Youpele Banigo in July 2005 as the most objective.

If Adaka Boro is today being given a posthumous honour, what about Samuel Owonaru and Nottinham Dick who were both sentenced to death for treason along with Adaka Boro by Justice Phil Ebosie. Afterwards they all travelled along with Adaka Boro outside Nigeria to seek financial and military aid for the Ijaw cause before their arrest.

The way tribal leaders are celebrated in Nigeria for mere political objectives does not give comfort for the achievement of a true national unity. In spite of the sentiments on Adaka Boro’s reburial in Yenagoa, little was heard on General Sanni Abacha, the man who created Bayelsa State on October 1st, 1996, or on General Yakubu Gowon who pardoned Adaka Boro or on Navy Captain Phillip Ayeni, the first executive governor of Bayelsa State who is today abandoned and neglected on a wheel chair in a dilapidated house in Apapa, Lagos.

In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1819-1891),” Heroism feels and never reasons and therefore is always right.” No tribe or race has monopoly in oppressing or inflicting injustice on others.

And that is why yesterday’s heroes are today’s villains and “we can never plan the future by the past, Edmund Bleak (1629-1719).”

According to Thucydides, “history repeats itself.”

History never stops for it keeps moving. The oppressed of yesterday are now the oppressors of today.

Fortunately today the Ijaws are not only in government but also in power in the centre in Nigeria. It is true this is their time.

But who knows many years from now someone may be celebrated somewhere in another part of Nigeria for fighting against the sectional, tyranny, imperious and infraction of the present day Nigeria’s leadership.

Who knows?

• Teniola, a former Director at the Presidency, now lives in Lagos.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

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FridayWorship

By Afis A. Oladosu “And we have enjoined upon man, to his parents, good treatment. His mother carried him with hardship and gave birth to him with hardship…”- (Q46-15)

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

RETHREN, two weeks ago, I remindB ed you of the need to keep your In commemoration of Children’s Day duty to your Creator through the care you give your mother. I mentioned that even after their death, we still owe our parents some dues. We need to pray for them. We need to fulfill pledges they made while they were on earth. We need to keep and sustain those family ties they cherished and worked to preserve while they were alive.

When, at the time of their death, your parents owe some debt, you as their child has the duty to clear the debt.

Dear brother, if your father or mother died without performing a religious duty such as that of Hajj, Islam demands that after you might have fulfilled that obligation, you could embark on another one with the intention that the reward should be put in their account.

However, dear sister, all the above is relevant only to those women who were good mothers of their children while on earth. This is germane particularly because the Children’s Day for this year will be marked and celebrated all around the globe in a couple of days. It is equally germane when we seek to retrieve exemplars among women whose history remained shinning lights for humanity today.

This is true of women such as Sarah and Hajar (a.s) and the wives of Prophet Ibrahim (a.s). It is true of the good wives of all Prophets of the

Almighty who stood by their husbands in the face of trials and tribulations. It is true of bearers of those wombs from which emerged men and women whose conduct and action have advanced human civilization and progress. Brethren, the above is equally applicable to women like Aishah (wife of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.) who, though denied the opportunity of experiencing labour pain, took care and nurtured children of her sisters like she would nurture her own children. These were women who taught a their children not only what it takes to be a success on earth but also what it takes to be successful in their hereafter.

In other words, dear brethren, the celebration of Children’s Day calls attention to the need to declaim women who have failed in the task of being good mothers. These are women who have failed a priori to be good wives; women who are engrossed in the pursuit of the transient pleasures of this world and have consequently neglected their homes. These are women who have become involuntary mothers: mothers by compulsion not by choice. As soon as the foetus is separated from their wombs, as soon as the child comes to the world, he is taken to the nannies because his mother is a corporate woman.

From the nannies, he is taken to the kindergarten school. By the time he or she is six or seven he is taken to the boarding house. There he would spend the greater part of his adolescent life. There he would learn every tricks and thought that the modern world teaches to children without mothers. From the boarding house, such children usually proceed to the University or Polytechnic and from there to the NYSC scheme.

Children who go through this type of experience often mature totally bereft of those solemn and subtle elements and cultural-natural codes which can only be transferred from women to their children- the elements of love, compassion and kindness. Having lost the opportunity of enjoying the bliss of motherhood, such children become just anything the world presents them with including street urchins. They grow up to loathe and hate the world because they were loathed, detested and uncared for by the bosom that bore them.

Brethren, is it not true that most women of today are not like women of yesterday? Is it not true that our wives are unlike our mothers? The latter saw motherhood, not only as a divinelyordained responsibility, but equally as the measure of their personal treasures. Women of today see motherhood

as a measure of patriarchal oppression of women. “Who says it is only women who should carry pregnancies”, a typical feminist would question you. Such women are those who have got tired of being women. They constantly seek an escape from their femininity.

I chanced upon a film the other day, which was produced by an icon in the nation’s film industry and one whose works are renowned for its lack of chicanery and obscenities and for its promotion and preservation of humanity’s eternal values. In that film, an elderly woman sees a young, nubile lady who ties the knot of her wrapper on the right side of her hip and points her head tie towards the right side of her body.

The elderly woman beckons on the young lady, sits her down and begins to teach her the inner meanings of each style of the woman’s dressing in our culture. She teaches the young lady what most mothers of today are ignorant of: how to talk in the private and in the open, how to walk and maintain a carriage that would not demean her femininity, how to relate to the opposite sex and how to make a success of life in the public sphere. It was from such women that the world was blessed with Efunsetan Aniwura.

It was from such wombs that Nana

Asmau of the Sokoto Caliphate passed through this clime. These were women who never relied on their bodies but their brain in order to affirm their subjectivities and identities. Though they lived among men, those women were sufficiently knowledgeable enough that men are men only because women made them.

Let me begin to close by asking mothers of today this question: do you want your children to be what you desire for them or what the Almighty wants them to be? Khalil Gibran, an ArabAmerican poet, presents a perspective I found to be highly instructive and germane. He says: “A woman held a babe against her bosom and said, “Speak to us of Children.”

And the child responded: “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you. And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness; for even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.” guardianfridayworship@gmail.com.

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Sports Adopt-A-Talent athletes excited over presidential reward

Nigeria, Mexico International Friendly

Keshi doubts Mikel’s availability, Eagles move to US on Monday OACH Stephen Keshi C doubts the availability of Chelsea midfielder, Mikel Obi, for the friendly international game against Mexico.

The Super Eagles face Mexico in Houston, Texas, on May 31 as preparation for their hectic schedule in June when they will play two World Cup qualifiers, as well as, feature in the FIFA Confederations Cup. Mikel is in England to process an entry visa to Brazil in time for the Confederations Cup. “I’m not sure he’s coming,” Keshi told MTNFootball.com from the Eagles training camp in Germany.

“Our agreement before with Chelsea was for them to drop off both Mikel and Victor Moses after their own game. But now he is pursuing a visa to Brazil.

“We’re also not sure about his condition, if he is fit or not. And so, Mikel might not be there with us.”

The Eagles have been seriously depleted by the withdrawal of several players because of injury, as well as, club engagements.

Victor Moses, Emmanuel Emenike, Kalu Uche and Gabriel Reuben have already been ruled out because of injury, while Ahmed Musa, Fegor Ogude and Efe Ambrose are involved in cup finals at their various European clubs.

By Olalekan Okusan WO athletes from Lagos T State’s Adopt-A-Talent Sports Programme were part

The Eagles fly out of Frankfurt, Germany, to the US on Tuesday morning. But before then, they will face an Adidas XI in a test game in G e r m a n y .

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) marketing director, Idris Adama, said Eagles’ kits sponsor, Adidas, has delivered 2013 boots and the FIFA Confederations Cup official match balls to the team.

“Adidas has confirmed to us that the Eagles are the first team in the world to get delivery of the new balls, which has been designed for the Confederations Cup in Brazil,” announced Adama.

“The team would equally be the first to test the 2013 Adidas ball when they take on Adidas Eleven on May 27 at the Adidas facility in G e r m a n y . ” Meanwhile, the number of players in the Super Eagles training camp in Germany has swelled to 17 following the arrival of more players to the Novina Hotel camp late on Wednesday.

The latest players to arrive at the camp are Germany-based striker, Joseph Akpala and Ukraine-based forward Super Eagles’ midfielder, Mikel Obi, was a dominant force when Nigeria met Ethiopia at the 2013 African Nations Cup Babatunde Michael.

PHOTO: AFP Also in is Portugal-based hosted by South Africa. midfielder John Ogu, while defenders Kenneth Omeruo and Elderson HE organisers of the BT back in form after an injury- champion, Natalya Antyukh Echiejile, as well as ItalyGreat CityGames were riddled 2012 season. The for- from Russia. based Nnamdi Oduamadi, were expected in camp yes- dealt a blow when two-time mer world youth and junior Andy Turner has arguably Olympic 100m champion, champion opened her season been the most accomplished Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce with- with a 11.57 100m in Ashford performer at this meet with a drew from an anticipated on Wednesday although this hat-trick of 200m hurdles vichead-to-head with Olympic will be her first big test of the tories and a pair of 110m hur“A radical review of the squad 200m champion Allyson year. dles wins. He just takes part in that lost 2-0 to Heartland FC of Felix over 150m.

Perri Shakes-Drayton and the 200m hurdles this year Owerri last week made the difDespite the loss of the Eilidh Child will be looking to and the opposition comes ference against Nasarawa Jamaican due to a hamstring convert their glittering from one-lap specialists Jack U n i t e d . injury, Felix will still be indoor form to the hurdles Green, L.J Van Zyl and Felix “After the disgraceful home among the main attractions, although the European Sanchez. defeat from Heartland FC of although the spectacle will indoor gold and silver medalHistorically, Turner’s had Owerri, the coaching crew probably be more akin to a lists face a tough assignment the beating of the 400m hurdecided to drop eight players demonstration from one of in the first-ever running of the dlers over half the distance from the team that played last the world’s all-time greats. women’s 200m hurdles as but his form is questionable week. The result is what you The field also includes Jodie the field is led by reigning as he didn’t break 14 seconds seen today,” Busari said. Williams, who appears to be Olympic 400m hurdles in his last 110m hurdles race. have

Fraser-Pryce withdraws as athletes gear up for BT Great City Games

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3SC coach vows to win continental ticket AKEEM Busari, who was H confirmed yesterday as 3SC’s head coach, has promised a continental ticket for the Oluyole Warriors.

“We hope this year to win a continental ticket, which we have been craving for a long time,” said Busari, who has been an assistant coach at Shooting Stars for the past five y e a r s .

“I feel great to be named as the head coach of the club, but the job is not only for me but this is a collective job. We are going to work together as a family and take the job seriously so as to achieve our set targets for this season.

“I therefore need the support of the fans not just for me but for the entire team.”

Busari, who joined Shooting Stars from Fonnet Football Club as technical director, was considered ahead of Tunde Odubola, who he shared the job with as caretaker coach since the second round of last season.

The team, which is currently 10th on the table with 19 points, defeated Nasarawa United 2-0 on Wednesday in the Nigeria Professional Football League Week 14 game.

Europa League winners to qualify for Champions League UROPE football governing E body, UEFA, yesterday agreed changes to the rules on the Champions League, which could see the continent’s top nations having up to five teams in its top club competition.

From 2015, the Europa League winners, as well as, the European champions will qualify automatically for the following season’s Champions League, UEFA sources have confirmed.

But if the Europa League is won by an English club, for example, they will not take the qualification place of a team finishing fourth in the

Premier League - as happened to Tottenham last season when Chelsea won the Champions League but finished sixth.

Were the rules in force this year, fifth-placed Tottenham would have qualified by virtue of the fact Chelsea won the Europa League.

The principle was agreed by UEFA’s Executive Committee yesterday and would be formally announced at the European governing body’s Congress in London today.

The move is designed to make the Europa League more attractive and to per-

suade clubs to take the competition more seriously.

The change to allow a maximum of five clubs also answers concerns from the European Clubs’ Association, who felt that the chances of the Europa League winners taking a place away from clubs qualifying via the domestic league was unacceptably high.

In the unlikely event of two clubs from the same country winning the Champions League and Europa League and both finishing outside of the domestic qualifying places, then those teams would still qualify for the

Champions League but the side finishing fourth would miss out.

Meanwhile, UEFA’s General Secretary, Gianni Infantio announced yesterday that the Olympiastadion in Berlin would host Germany’s first Champions League final in 2015. The Europa League final was awarded to Warsaw’s National Stadium in Poland.

The timing could not have been better for Germany as it is on the brink of witnessing an all-German Champions League final between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.

of the athletes that received monetary rewards from President Ebele Goodluck Jonathan for making Nigeria proud at the recently held African U-18 Athletics Championship in Warri, Delta Abire Mercy, who won silver medal in Long Jump and Temidayo Oshibanjo, who also won silver medal in Pentathlon and Hurdles, received awards worth N400, 000 each from President Jonathan for their performances at the first ever Africa Youth Championship in Warri.

Mercy and Oshibanjo are two of the four Adopt-A-Talent athletes currently in the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) camp in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, preparing for the upcoming Africa Junior Athletics Championship in Johannesburg, South Africa from June 27 to 30.

Incidentally, arrangements for the unveiling of the adopted athletes by Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, on May 30, are in top gear, as letters have been dispatched to sponsors, parents and the athletes concerned, officials have disclosed.

Asaba agog as Easy Starter five-aside fiesta hits town T was time for music, dance IDelta and unbridled fun in Asaba, State when the third edition of Etisalat’s Easy Starter fiesta, which featured a fiveaside football competition, berthed at the St Patrick’s School Complex recently.

Easy Starter is the family prepaid package from Etisalat that offers a bounty of uniquely designed services with competitive tariffs, and admirable flexibility. Customers on Easy Starter can enjoy five free megabytes, Home Zone, U & Me; and Receiver Pays in addition to affordable call rates.

Four teams codenamed, FiveMegabytes, Home Zone, Receiver Pays and U & Me from the major towns of Delta State vied for honours in a roundrobin competition that got the large crowd cheering most of the time.

Two teams represented Asaba, while Warri and Ughelli had one representative each. Five-Megabytes took on Receiver Pays in the first game of the fiesta, beating their opponents by 2-0.

In the second match of the day, U & Me edged out Home Zone by a lone goal to join Five-Megabytes in the final. In the third place match, Home Zone beat Receiver Pays by a lone goal. Five-Megabytes, a team coached by Innocent Ikenna Opara, displayed resilience to pip U & Me to the trophy via penalties, as the regulation time produced no goals.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

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Obuh drops Ajagun, others from Toulon tourney squad Eagles Coach, John FkeyLYING Obuh has dropped several players, including skipper, Abduljaleel Ajagun and striker, Umar Aminu, from the squad billed to participate in next week’s Toulon Tournament.

Others dropped are goalkeeper, Jonah Usman, Chidi Osuchukwu, Chizoba Amaefule, Agboyi Ovbokha, Sikiru Alimi and Lucky Omeruo.

Tournament organisers have demanded that only 22 players be registered for the competition, which is expected to prepare several teams for the U-20 World Cup in Turkey.

The Flying Eagles want to allow fringe and newly listed players to press for places in a final 21-man squad for the World Cup. The team is making its debut at the famous Toulon Tournament and it kicks off its campaign on May 29 against defending champions, Mexico.

Meanwhile, local newspaper, Hammelburg on Monday ran a special spotlight on the Flying Eagles, who are training in Elfershausen, Germany, ahead of next month’s U20 World Cup.

In a detailed feature hinged on an interview with the Flying Eagles media officer, Samm Audu, Hammelburg focused on the Nigeria U20 team.

A large photograph of Flying Eagles goalkeeper, Jonah Usman, in a diving exercise, accompanied the story.

“Elfershausen has provided the ideal training camp for us.

It’s serene and there are no distractions as we prepare for the World Cup,” Samm Audu was quoted by the newspaper.

German Coach, Jurgen Press, has signed a short-term contract with Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to bring ‘German organisation’ to the Flying Eagles ahead of Turkey 2013.

“We are confident of our chances at the World Cup and we hope Jurgen Press will bring some tactical organisation to the team to ensure we go all the way in Turkey after we reached the quarterfinal in Colombia two years ago,” Hammelburg further quoted Samm Audu.

The spotlight also included comments on the conduct and eating habits of the team by the manager of the Ullrich Hotel in Elfershausen, where

the Flying Eagles are putting up.

In the Toulon tournament squad are goalkeepers, Samuel Okani (Enyimba), John Felegha (Eupen, Belgium), and Sebastian Osigwe (FC Emmenbrucke, Switzerland).

The defenders include Shehu Abdullahi (Kano Pillars), Moses Orkuma (Lobi Stars), Ikechukwu Okorie (Enyimba), Kingsley Madu (El Kanemi), Collins Jamilu (HNK Rijeka, Croatia), Wilfred Ndidi (Nath Boys), Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (Charlton Athletic youth team), and Hassan Abubakar (Wikki Tourists), while the midfielders are Mathias Samuel (Kano Pillars), Christian Pyagbara (unattached), Uche Agbo (Enyimba), and Michael Olaitan (Olympiacos, Greece).

The strikers in the squad are Edafe Egbedi (AGF Aarhus, Denmark), Daddy Moses Simon (Unattached), Bright Ejike (Heartland), Olanrewaju Kayode (unattached), Daniel Etor (Akwa United), Alhaji Gero (Enugu Rangers), and Samuel Eduok (Dolphins).

Flying Eagles’ Kayode Olanrewaju (right) beats a Malian player during the Algeria 2013 African Youth Championship.

Olanrewaju is in the team heading to France for the Toulon Tournament.

Damilola Taylor FC, three others vie for MRS U-12 football trophies

By Tony Nwanne N Monday May 27, the Children’s Day, the Campos mini stadium will come alive when four teams battle in the final games of the maiden edition of the MRS Under-12 Kids soccer competition.

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For the top prize, Damilola Tailor FC of Mainland will slug it out with Lagos Island’s Jokers Star FC, while the third match will feature Success FC of Mushin and B. United FC of Ebute Meta.

To berth in the final, Damilola Tailor FC defeated Success FC with a lone goal,

Scrable, Chess debut at FMCG Games UFIL Prima will seek to D consolidate on their hold for the finals of the Fast

Ambitious young footballers waiting for accreditation during the MTN Football Scholar Season Three trials at the Ogbe Stadium, Benin… on Tuesday.

MTN Football Scholar trial nets 18 in Enugu, Abuja HE trials for the MTN Football Scholar ‘Season three,’ which kicked off in Enugu and Abuja recently, have thrown up some lucky winners.

At the Enugu zone, where about 750 participants were screened, the coaches selected 10 youths, while eight were picked from the Abuja trials.

The Project Head, MTN Football Scholar, Kikelomo Atanda-Owo of Peculiar People Management (PPM), Technical Partners and Consultants to the project, said in a chat with the media, that the participants showed much enthusiasm with many of them determined to make the list.

She said the trials were held for two days in both venues, explaining that many of the more than 200 that appeared in the Abuja center did not possess the requisite basic Senior School Exam

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Certificate required to be screened by the coaches.

Those that did not meet the requirement were dropped, which accounted for the lower figure from Abuja, she stated, adding that the next round of the trials would hold in Akure, the Ondo State capital yesterday and today.

Meanwhile, the Managing Director/CEO, PPM, and Consultant to the project, Ghandi Olaoye, said the programme, which is in its third year, has been very successful. He said four winners emerged in the first year, adding that those students are already pursuing their studies with full scholarship in the United States of America.

He said seven others have also qualified for the second round after a rigorous qualifying test, stating that they will proceed in no time to pursue their studies, also in the US.

Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Games on Sunday, as the final round of matches hold on a day the race for medals in the board games of Chess and Scrabble will commence.

It is Match Day 3 of the Games and the excitement is on the climb as the teams make last ditch effort to stay on the medal range.

There will be a total of six medals in each of the Board Games for the contest in the men and women category, which will also include a team event. Perhaps, teams that may not get into the finals of the football event may have to throw in their Jokers into the Board Games for a chance to emerge overall champions.

But, it is Dufil Prima that has shown consistent quality in winning all their games to

remain the only team with a realistic chance of playing in the finals and incidentally, the match between GSK and Dufil is obviously the star match of the day. Both teams have players with eyes fixed on clinching the golden boot award but again, it is Dufil that has the better arsenal with two players on the top scorers chart.

just as Joker Star FC overcame B. Unit FC with the same margin.

Over 32 teams drawn from local councils in Lagos competed in the tournament.

In a press briefing to unveil programme for the grand finale, the Corporate Affairs Manager of MRS, Otunba Jubrin said the competition is aimed at improving the standard of football at grassroots level.

“We have examples of players, who were discovered at the tender age by the same process we are embarking on, which actually prompted the MRS Under-12 soccer competition,” he said.

Jubrin noted that the major financier of sport is the government, adding, however, that there is the need for likeminded organisations to

affect the society positively.

Secretary General of National Youth Soccer Association (NYSA), Ganiu Aliu said it has become imperative to continually scout for young and vibrant talents who will represent the country at major competitions.

According to him, “the main aim of the association is to help discover and develop young talented players through the staging of various competitions over two decades, hence, MRS Under-12 soccer competition will not be an exception.

“MRS Group decided to partner with us as their own way of contributing to the development of the society. Despite the downturn of the economy, they still found means to bring smiles to the faces of our kids,” he said.

MasterCard unveils UEFA Champions League final ticket winners OR making use of their Ftransactions, MasterCard debit card in the company has rewarded four cardholders with an all-expense-paid trip to Wembley, England, to watch this year’s UEFA Champions League final

match between FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund live tomorrow.

The lucky winners, Idowu Obasa, Obiora Oke, Temple Wenah and Adebola Diya, regularly used their MasterCard cards during the

Director, Account Management, West Africa, MasterCard, Obi Okwuegbunam (left); Winner, Idowu Obasa and his wife Shelly; Head, Products Awareness Unit, Unity Bank, Ugo Obasi and Vice President, Marketing, Sub-Saharan Africa, MasterCard, Tarek Abdelnabi, at the presentation of prizes to winners of the MasterCard UEFA Champions League Final promo at MasterCard Head office, Ikoyi, Lagos…on Wednesday.

promotion period, and were chosen during the draw as winners of the trips to London.

Explaining the reason for rewarding the customers with the trip to Wembley, Vice President and Area Business Head, West Africa, MasterCard, Omokehinde Ojomuyide said, “MasterCard is moving at this time to connect with its cardholders at their passion point. The game of football has a mass followership across the world just like MasterCard is in use everywhere in the world, and as global sponsors of the UEFA Champions League, we always want our cardholders to experience the final match in a memorable way.”

In addition to the winners’ trip to Wembley, she said, MasterCard will also replicate an exhilarating viewing experience by bringing football enthusiasts together to enjoy the game live with a chance to relax and network.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

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GolfWeekly Stanbic IBTC supports Children’s Day classics S part of activities to mark A this year’s Children’s Day celebrations, Kids Golf

Willy

Fierce contest expected at CMCL Open as pros vie for tickets for World Cup qualifiers Stories by Eno-Abasi Sunday ITH two Ghanaians occuW pying the first two places on the Professional Golfers Association of Nigeria (PGAN) Order of Merit, a stiff contest is expected among high-ranking Nigerian golfers for the two tickets to this year’s Omega Mission Hills World Cup of Golf qualifiers in the next two ranking tournament: the CMCL Open and the Memorial Championship.

The International Federation of PGA Tours, an organisation of the top professional golf tours in the world, which sanctions the World Golf Championships and the World Cup of Golf, in conjunction with the State of Victoria and the International Golf Association, had announced that the 2013 World Cup of Golf will return to The Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It will hold from November 21 to 24.

According to the Order of Merit released by PGAN for May, James Bulus and Olapade S. are in contention for the tickets as they are both placed third and fourth in that order, having pocketed N1. 625m and N1. 263m so far.

Hot on their heels are Gift Willy, Martin Odoh and Oche Odoh, who are placed fifth, sixth and seventh respectively.

With the presence of the two Ghanaians at the zenith of the ranking, the best placed Nigerians on the log in the half year ranking, will fly Nigeria’s flag at the qualifiers in Australia. With this development, the battle for the two tickets will be fiercest between Bulus, Olopade, Willy and the Odoh brothersMartin and Oche, as the difference between all of them is a few hundred thousand naira.

And given their strength of character and big game temperament, Willy and Oche,

appear to be inching close to the tickets even though they have the CMCL Open and The Memorial Championship to prove this.

Odoh and Rivers State-based Mike Ubi qualified for the last qualifiers, which took place in Malaysia in 2011. Visa processing delays, however, denied them the chance to participate.

“The World Cup of Golf is one of the tournaments every professional golfer looks forward to playing in. I have never played there, so naturally, I am itching to do so.

However, having missed some tournaments on the local tour, I have to strive to gather enough points to play in the qualifiers before thinking of the World Cup proper,” Willy told The Guardian yesterday Commenting on next week’s CMCL Open, tournament’s defending champion, Lateef Lasisi said “having played in Abuja regularly over the past ten years, I have good knowledge of the course. That

knowledge, added to the fact that I am the tournament’s defending champion, will be the force that will propel me to excel in Abuja next week.

Abuja-based players like Gboyega Oyebanji, Edet Umoh and Ikoyi Club-based pro, Bashiru Bakare are some of those, who are capable of springing surprises at the 15th edition of the tourney, which holds from May 28 to June 2nd 2013.

While the 72-hole pros event ends on Friday, May 31, amateur players drawn from across the country would round theirs up on Sunday, June 2nd.

Chief Executive Officer of CMCL Golf Tours Limited, Frank Igbene, while speaking ahead of the tourney said necessary arrangements have been put in place to make the event a success.

International (KGI), is putting in place a Children’s Day Classics at the Lakowe Lakes Golf and Country Estate, Lagos.

The event will see kids aged five to 17 take to the course to try their sublime skills on the Lakowe course.

The organisation, which is also spearheading a Collegiate Golf Programme in the country, is this time teaming up with Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc to stage the event.

According to organisers, this is the first in the series of regional tourneys that will be held all over the country this year, as well as, next.

In a release, the organisation, which maintained that details of the tourney would be published on its website www.kidsgolfinternational.org, added that “KGI would also implement an Order of Merit starting from this tourney and all through the season as part of qualifying requirements for the 2014 European and World Championships that the organisation (KGI) is affiliated to.

“At present KGI is sending an 11-member team (boys and girls) between the ages of eight and 17 to the US Kids European Championships starting in Gullane, Scotland on Monday, May 27,” the statement added.

Commenting on the bank’s involvement in the classics, Director of KGI Academy, Olori Susan Thompson described Stanbic IBTC as a bank with products to support the complete education of children and one committed to the development and growth in this sector as evidenced by their support for the event.

She added that KGI was doing something quite innovative in the country “and we are prepared for the long term to see KGI produce a world champion with our joint efforts.

KGI recently set the tone for collegiate golf in the country when it took what looked like the first practical step towards taking golf to schools.

Eze wins WellManned Open in Sagamu GUN State-based Sunday O Eze emerged winner of the 4th WellManned Amateur open Golf Tournament held recently at the Elephant Club, Sagamu, after seeing off stiff challenge from Sylvester Uche and kazeem Lasisi.

At the end of play, the trio had tied at a gross score of 155, thereby forcing a playoff.

While Lasisi went out in the first three holes, Eze and Uche went three holes further before the eventual winner emerged through sudden death.

Eze, who attributed his victory to hard work, urged the sponsor of the tournament, Mr. Uwem Udoh not to relent in his sponsorship of the c h a m p i o n s h i p .

At the prize giving ceremony, Udoh, who pledged his continuous support for the game of golf at all levels, expressed his desire to continue improving the quality of the tournament, as well as, explore ways of making it more competitive.

“We will make sure that this competition gets better and more competitive next year,” he said.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

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SchoolSports Yellow House retains title at Bola Immaculate sports meet

Jonathan to launch NASCOM’s Rhythm ‘N’ Play June 6

By Olalekan Okusan S part of its nationwide A grassroots sports development campaign, National Academicals Sports Committee (NASCOM) will on June 6 gets the Presidency backing for its noble initiative, when President Goodluck Jonathan launches Rhythm N’ Play in Abuja.

According to NASCOM Chairman, Yemi Idowu, Rhythm ‘N’ Play is an exciting youth-friendly campaign aimed at enhancing mass youth participation in sporting activities and age-grade competitions.

“There was the need to reposition sports in order to facilitate the mass participation and early discovery of young sporting talents at the grassroots.

At the Presidential Retreat held last year, NASCOM was identified as a key component of government’s efforts at developing sports at the grassroots and Rhythm ‘N’ Play is a

brand created by NASCOM and will serve as its flagship campaign to drive and revolutionise grassroots sports in Nigeria,” he said.

He added, “Rhythm ‘N’ Play will rely heavily on the use of music, celebrities, volunteers, new media and other elements of pop culture to amplify and realise its objectives. Mr. President will launch the campaign on June 6, first in Abuja, and later on June 14, in London, United Kingdom (UK) targeting the Nigerian youths in Diaspora.

“The launch in the UK is to create a model for Nigerians in other countries of the world to follow. We also have NASCOM members in Diaspora that are also expected to coordinate activities over there. Mind you, government does not need to spend any money. It is expected to be driven by the people themselves with the children being the main targets,” he said.

ELLOW House has successY fully retained the overall trophy at the inter house

Students compete at Kembos Group of School sports meet.

sports competition of Bola Immaculate Montessori Private School, Owutu, Ikorodu.

Green House placed second while Navy came third ahead of Blue House, which placed fourth at the end of the oneday competition.

Among the events featured at the competition are 25m, 75m, 100m, 200m, 4 x 100m (relay) as well as 4 x 400m races.

Meanwhile, proprietress of the school, Mrs. Bola Quadri, has emphasised the need for

sound education alongside sports in private and public institutions.

Quadri said that parents should complement the efforts of teachers on their wards towards improving the standard of their education.

“We will continue to do our best as teachers for the students because we know that there is nothing good like sound education. On the other hand, parents should also go extra mile to support the teachers by complementing on their efforts in ensuring that their wards continue at home where they stop at school” she said.

Oyo Governor’s Cup in final round LL is now set for the final A round of the rebranded Oyo State Governor’s Cup as winners have emerged for quarter final matches from the from eight zones the state was classified that will now slug it out for the 2013 coveted trophy.

Various zonal champions are expected to arrive Ibadan ahead of the glamorous State Finals, with all quarter-final

and Semi-Final matches scheduled for the Olubadan Stadium while the Third place play-off and the final will hold on the 26th and 27th May at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba, Ibadan respectively to coincide with the Children’s Day celebration.

The Sports loving Governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi according to the organisers is expected to be in

attendance for the soccer tourneys’ final and join the kids for the 2013 Children’s Day celebration.

The Governor’s Cup soccer tourney, which has regained its lost glory since the inception of the present administration in the State promises to be more exciting this year as the State Ministry of Youth and Sports is partnering with a foreign Soccer Academy,

who will be given scholarship to three (3) outstanding players to study and play football in South Africa.

The Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Mr. Adedapo LamAdesina, who doubles as the chairman, Local Organising Committee (LOC), as also disclosed that “this Year’s Competition will be bigger and better as every necessary machinery has been put in place.

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

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THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

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Tennis

In association with

YOUR GAME

Make Your Warm-Up Count!

Before a match, RAMP it up and you’ll improve your performance

By Brendan Chaplin S a strength and conditioning coach, I see A many different types of warm-up routines— not just for tennis, but also for other sports.

Some of these warm-ups are great; others aren’t. For tennis, the traditional jogging around the court a few times before hitting some balls—or even worse, just hitting some balls—still exists in some circles. But this just isn’t the way to go to get the most from your tennis session or help you perform your best in a match.

Your warm-up should leave you feeling explosive and ready to (**ital)win(**reg), not like you might start playing just OK in the second set of the match.

What you need to do is “ramp” up your warmups, and by that I mean, RAMP up what you do before you play. I actually use two different kinds of RAMP, which I simply call RAMP-1 and RAMP-2: RAMP-1 stands for: Raise Pulse—Get the blood pumping to the key areas required for tennis.

Activate—Get the key muscles firing for the activity to follow.

Mobilize—Take the muscles and joints through the required range of motion for tennis.

Potentiate—Get the body in a state of readiness that will enable the individual to perform optimally.

RAMP-2 stands for: Reactive Agility—Includes random movements that challenge the player’s decision-making capabilities.

Movement Preparation—Includes sport-specific and player-specific drills geared toward the session to follow.

Your warm-up should achieve these goals.

What you need to remember when warming up is that you can actually (**ital)improve(**reg) your performance through the warm-up. Whether you are targeting your mobility so you get into specific positions better, or working on a particular drill that will get your muscles firing better, the concept is important to implement.

But how do you hit all of these goals in such a short amount of time? A good series of dynamic movements across the court such as lunging (IMG0928 or IMG0922), shuffling, carioca, etc. will raise the pulse, activate and mobilize the muscles and joints very well.

From here you can go to some mini-band

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‘You can actually improve your performance through the warm-up.’

THE GUARDIAN, Friday, May 24, 2013

63

Know Your Enemy TENNIS DEVELOPMENT

By Nick Bollettieri traveled the world many times IareHAVE over. Yet no matter how far I go there students who need help to continue improving and being successful. As a coach, I have noticed that not only does each player I work with have their own unique style of play, but they also react differently to certain methods of coaching.

That said, every player who I have worked with has something fundamentally in common: (**ital)They are always looking for that one piece of advice that will bring them to victory.(**reg) Instead of telling them aspects of their own game to focus on, I would scout the competition and make sure they knew their opponents strengths and weaknesses.

As if it were yesterday, I clearly remember the words Boris Becker asked me when I was his coach. “Mr. B, tell me one thing that will make a difference in my match today.” My response was not the typical, “Serve and volley and make sure to attack the backhand.” At both the club and professional levels, focusing purely on your own game might not be enough to secure the win. You must know your opponent inside out and be able to recognize when they are going to use their set patterns of play.

When the match is on the line and nerves are at their highest point, an experienced player will utilize a set pattern of play that he/she is comfortable with. Becker would go for broke with his second serve at the most crucial times of a match. Andre Agassi’s bread and butter shot—the two-handed backhand down the line—would always be used during crunch time. Time and time again, Serena Williams will go for broke with her first serve when she is down break points. If you know these tendencies about your competition, you will be one step ahead when walking onto the court.

Many high-level coaches will keep notes on any and all players their student might play. This includes both the veterans and the rookies of the tour.

They will scout an opponent so closely until they see a pattern emerge. When this happens, they can go to their player and give them advice to exploit the opponent’s tendencies. A perfect example of this type of coach can be found on my staff at the academy.

Chip Brooks, who serves as the director at the IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy, will sometimes travel to tournaments with Jelena Jankovic. For those who don’t know Jelena, she is truly a character and makes every tennis trip exciting and challenging. Chip’s main role is to find the one or two tips about her opponent that will help Jelena suc-

‘You must know your opponent inside out and be able to recognize when they are going to use their set patterns of play.’

ceed. Not every piece of knowledgeable advice will lead to a win, but Chip along with every coach must trust their decision-making ability no matter what the outcome of their student may be.

After all, it is the competition that drives every player and coach to improve and cross new boundaries of success. Pete Sampras’ dominance might not have been so special without the likes of Agassi. The same can be said about Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

As my close friend Harvey McKay said, “Love your competitors because they are the only ones who make you as good as you can be!”

Nick Bollettieri is the founder and president of Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, now part of the IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla. He has coached nine No. 1 tennis players, has worked with a number of professional players, and has published numerous tennis books, videos and audio CDs.

YOUR GAME CONTINUED FROM PAGE ???

increase your speed through the drill with each repetition.

Another option to use in the warmup could be the medicine ball lateral agility drill is great because it gets the brain linked in to movement drill to get the correct the body and the muscles firing properly. movement patterns for ground Then you can go to some specific movement drills, such strokes. In this drill, begin with the as the split step, to help your movement into the court. medicine ball in hand and split step In this drill, start off by split-stepping on the baseline (Photo 1), then open the hip out (2), (IMG1419) and jogging forward to the first set of cones. cross over maintaining your shoulder Initially, split-step between these cones and then move position toward the ball, take a further to the left or the right and play a shot. (IMG1416) A prostep and throw the ball to the coach gression to this is that a coach indicates which way to (3). Then push off the outside leg, cross move as you split step, which introduces a reactive, deci- over step and return to the start posision-making element to the drill (IMG1415). You should tion. A progression on this drill would be to have your coach feed you the ball, then you move to the ball and play it back.

I use different drills depending on a player’s game plan for the match or the coach’s goals for the training session. The possibilities are endless! But what is important to remember is that in order to perform to the best of your ability, you need to go through the RAMP-1 and RAMP-2 warm-up method.

Make Your Warm-Up Count

exercises such as mini-band walks/shuffles (IMG1399), glute bridges (use both IMG1403 and IMG1404) and lying hip flexion. These are great for getting the body moving properly and using the right muscles at the right time.

Once you have completed this you can move to some ball feed-throughs. In this exercise, you stand in the ready position and your coach or partner stands behind you. The coach feeds a ball through your legs (IMG1409), and as soon as you see it, you immediately run after and retrieve the ball (IMG1411). This reactive-

Brendan Chaplin, MSC, ASCC, CSCS, is a strength and conditioning coach based in Leeds, U.K., working with high performance tennis players.

You can reach him on www.brendanchaplin.co.uk, www.athletesunlimited.co.uk, and Brendan@athletesunlimited.co.uk.

TheGuardian

Friday, May 24, 2013

Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

By Kehinde Ajose HESE days my heart cries when I see individuals T who are desperate to get married; who can do anything whatsoever to get that ring on their finger. A desperate person is someone who feels she has no hope and is ready to do anything to satisfy this burning need. I read the tale of woe of two individuals that will be getting married in a couple of months. I will call them Emeka and Lola (real names withheld). Lola is in her late 30s and her desire to find the right guy has gone from hopefully optimistic to desperation so much that after only three months of knowing Emeka, she’s decided to marry him. The thing about Emeka is that he is the complete opposite of Lola. She is obsessively neat; but Emeka never learns to clean up himself.

She is an independent career woman; he has a chauvinistic streak a mile way. She manages her money well; but he buys based on what he wants rather than what he can afford…and the list goes on. They fight constantly to the point that it is uncomfortable to be around them. With the wedding only two months away, the only thing left to ask is “Why would she want to marry a man who is obviously incompatible with her?”

A female friend of mine also shared the story of a guy she met, who didn’t even ask her out, and blurted out suddenly “Please, marry me”. He didn’t hear her out, and started making plans for a wedding. Individuals like this have an invisible signpost on their head with the inscription: “Will you marry me?” After a year or two into their wedding borne out of desperation to get married many men and women soon realise that they are miserable with their spouses. Yes, you are being pressured by friends and families to get married; pressures that make those family picnics and extended family events bitter experiences. That is not enough reason to rush to the altar. Anything done in desperation is usually as a result of a decision taken under pressure. The romance novels and movies showing quickie marriages and glamour often don’t show the reality of a couple’s life later in their journey together. No thanks to singles seminars which only promise participants swift

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I must marry this year!

From desire to desperation marriages without teaching them how to go through due process in relationships.

According to Dr Angelis: “When you are feeling

lonely or desperate, you are much likely to make poor love choices and end up in unfulfilling relationships”. Some people are so emotion-

ally empty that they are desperate for anyone to marry. In the end, they end up in a painful relationship. The following are the signs of desperation which are not exhaustive.

Getting too attached too early: When you start getting attached to a person you just met and even saying “I love you” after a few dates, it’s a sign of desperation. You can make a clean break if you are involved with a needy, clingy and desperate person.

Having a profile listed with every single known dating site online: This is a serious clue that you are desperate. If your profile is on every dating site you come across, that is a red flag you must deal with.

Constantly buying gifts: Getting gifts is good, but when it becomes too much it loses its meaning and relevance. This is usually obtainable among men. The average dude believes he can use gifts to buy his way into a lady’s heart.

Wanting to meet the family too soon: “When am I meeting your people?” Is usually the question a desperate person asks. You should give much time before introducing family and other relatives to a suitor. If you are dealing with a person who is pushing to meet your family and you are barely dating two months that’s a red flag. Allow time to play its role in your relationship.

Dressing in attire that is provocative: This is a clear example of someone who is insecure. This is prevalent among women. If you come across this type of lady it’s time to move on to someone who is comfortable in her own body and doesn’t need to show off her cleavage to everyone she comes in contact with.

From a young age many of us have been taught that marriage is a rite of passage and you don’t become an adult or a woman until you get married. This social pressure, real or imagined, doesn’t make it true. You do not become a full fledged adult by getting married. Marriage doesn’t validate your adulthood; it only reflects your maturity. Dear friend, get off the desperation trap and let God’s will be done in your life. God’s time is still the best; He makes everything beautiful in His time.

• Ajose is a talent development strategist, publicist, and blogger.

Amaechi’s plane: Where is the governor’s immunity?

By Odimegwu Onwumere OTALITARIANISM is progressively returning T to the country in an excuse of fighting Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State.

Nigerians are standing and watching with selfpity, oblivious that such pity itself is the worst enemy.

The Federal Government is subduing Amaechi and at the same time fighting him, while posing Sun Tzu’s idea of fighting a war which says that to fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.

The other day, it was the Commissioner for Information of the state who was invited and quizzed in Abuja by the security adviser to the President in order to find out what the two planes said to have been bought by Amaechi were all about.

The Presidency wanted to find out if the planes were meant for the purported interest in 2015 elections by Amaechi. The commissioner told her interrogator all that she knew about the planes in the tone suggesting that they were bought for surveillance around the state.

While Amaechi was on a trip to Ado-Ekiti for the burial of the Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, the late Funmilayo Olayinka, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency stranded the Bombardier – BD700 Global Express aircraft at Akure Airport, over what it described as the pilot’s failure to make available the manifest of the plane.

In a subsequent pronouncement, the Agency said that the plane was operating illegally; as a result, it was temporarily grounded. In a swift response, Amaechi described the action as shameful and a continuation of attack on him by the Presidency in an attempt to embarrass him. However, a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Amaechi, David Iyofor, was pointing in a different direction.

In his statement made available to newsmen, Amaechi said that NAMA and the aviation authorities were merely playing the ostrich, arguing that contrary to the assertion by the Agency, the pilot, indeed, filed a flight plan and manifest, and paid all the required airport fees and charges shortly after the plane arrived at Akure airport in the afternoon. The question that Amaechi has been asking is that if the pilot filed a flight plan and manifest at Abuja and

Amaechi

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

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Owerri airports from where the plane had flown the same day, why would he not do the same in Akure.

While that question is salient, it behooves Nigerians to know that determined power is an enemy of democracy. It is, indeed, shameful, and Nigerians should wonder where this tyrannical features orchestrated against Amaechi would take the country. Amaechi may be intimidated, but the truth can never be intimidated or suppressed.

John F. Kennedy in one of his speeches said that the great enemy of truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic....There have been different interpretations to whatever that Amaechi does in the media, making the Presidency to swim in propaganda against the dude. This is one of the weapons that the Presidency is using against Amaechi, and he is lackadaisical to correct many of the ill-impressions the Presidency has sold to the populace against him.

If an incumbent governor can be disgraced in such a brazen manner, the question of the immunity clause in the Constitution is germane. Is this act meted out against a sitting governor not despotic? Can the President, in like manner, be shown such disdain under the pretext that he did not comply with the due process of the aviation business? The Presidency makes Nigerians to believe that it is far from autocracy whereas it is near.

The words of Dietrich Bonheoffer says it all that the essence of optimism is that it takes no account of the present, but it is a source of inspiration, of vitality and hope where others have resigned; it enables a man to hold his head high, to claim the future for himself and not to abandon it to his enemy.

The embarrassment shown to Amaechi is an embarrassment to all, owing to the caliber and number of people that were to fly with Amaechi for the two hours he was held hostage in Akure. Is the Presidency not setting a bad precedent? Is the Presidency not becoming overbearing and trivial? Is the country not slowly-but-surely drifting into a fiefdom?

While it is imperative to say that nobody is above the law, what about the immunity that Amaechi was expected to enjoy? When would the leaders comply with what Isaac Newton said, “Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy.’’

• Onwumere is a poet/author in Port Harcourt.