The Nation April 14, 2013

Boko Haram: Middle-Belt Group list 10 conditions for amnesty North seeks intervention of Islamic nations, bodies Aliyu: Amnesty not automatic solution to insurgency –PAGE 5

OGE OKOYE I’m not an accomplished actress –PAGES 34 & 39

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

Vol.07, No. 2461

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

SUNDAY

APRIL 14, 2013

N200.00

A Lion Air Boeing 737 lies submerged in the water after skidding off the runaway during landing at Bali's international airport near Denpasar yesterday. The Indonesian plane carrying more than 100 passengers broke in two after missing the runway and landing in the sea, leaving dozens injured but no fatalities.

PHOTO: AFP

2015: Jonathan, Tambuwal in cold war

Four feared dead as van plunges into Lagos river –Page 2

–Page 2

Speaker shuns IBB’s advice to seek ‘higher Okupe: It’s presidential fleet office’ unsettles presidency a free world

CORRUPTION: NJC DECIDES ON 23 JUDGES APRIL 23

–Page 4

NEWS

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

T

HE Presidency is poised for war with Speaker Aminu Tambuwal of the House of Representatives over what it perceives as his interest in the 2015 presidential race.

The seat of power is said to have been ‘provoked’ by the public encouragement given the Speaker by former military ruler, General Ibrahim Babangida, in Lagos penultimate Saturday, to take a shot at the presidency.

Babangida, speaking at the Vanguard Man of the Year Awards Nite in Lagos had said: “When leaders like Tambuwal deliver on their electoral promises, we advise them to try something higher.

For Tambuwal, your guess is as good as mine. Well done.”

Tambuwal was a guest at the event.

The Presidency, sources said, is also uncomfortable with the high level of confidence enjoyed

by Tambuwal with the opposition that does not see face to face with the ruling PDP (to which President Jonathan and Tambuwal belong).

Similarly, intelligence reports suggest that Tambuwal’s comments on national issues are in tandem with those of the opposition.

Although the Presidency and the Tambuwalled House of Representatives have been locked in a long –standing face off over budget matters, his alleged interest in the 2015 presidential race appears to have turned him into ‘Enemy N0 1’ in the villa.

Some security agencies, it was gathered, have already put him under surveillance.

This, sources disclosed has forced the Speaker to adopt a ‘discreet approach” in his movement and activities.

The strain in the relationship between him and the Presidency has now been fuelled by Gen. Babangida’s comment that he deserves to seek a higher position in the polity.

According to investigation by our correspondent, loyalists of the President have, in the last one year, picked Tambuwal as a potential threat to the second term ambition in 2015 even when there was no concrete evidence to show that he was interested in the race.

Sources said that Jonathan had twice taunted Tambuwal to know his mindset on 2015 but on both occasions, the Speaker merely smiled and waved it off.

A highly-placed source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The Presidency is uncomfortable with Tambuwal because of what it terms his anti-govern-

2015: Jonathan, Tambuwal in cold war • Speaker shuns presidential fleet • IBB’s advice to seek ‘higher office’ unsettles presidency • Okupe:It’s a free world From: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

ment attitude. Besides the uncompromising oversight of the House on 2012 and 2013 budgets, the presidency sees the Speaker as working for the opposition.

“The advice of Babangida to Tambuwal to go for a “higher office” has unsettled Jonathan and his strategists on the 2015 agenda. The general interpretation is that Tambuwal might be the candidate of the North against Jonathan.

“In fact, barely 24 hours after Babangida’s suggestion, two northern governors called Tambuwal to know whether he would seek the presidential ticket

on the platform of a party other than the PDP. But the Speaker was just laughing.”

Asked why Tambuwal was non-committal to the governors, the source added: “The Speaker felt the fear of the unknown about 2015 in the Presidency has been recurring.

There has been some drama of suspicion, twice, on 2015 between the President and Tambuwal. For instance, during one of the consultative sessions with the National Assembly leaders on 2013 budget at the Presidential Villa, the President drew the President of the Senate, David Mark, closer to himself on the sofa by saying, ‘after all, we are together in the

same party.’ The import was not lost to Tambuwal.

“Also during the inauguration of the Eko Atlantic City Project in Lagos, Tambuwal was on hand in Lagos, among other guests, to welcome Jonathan.

Upon sighting Jonathan, Tambuwal jokingly said: “Your Excellency, you can see that I came early enough to receive you’, but the President simply told the Speaker, ‘You came as the presidential candidate of ACN.’ “Yet, the Speaker has not shown interest in the presidential race. He is still preoccupied with the mandate given to him to lead the House.”

Investigation showed that another reason the

presidency is suspicious of Tambuwal was his remarks on Monday in Abuja that government should be cautious in granting pardon to those who have committed economic and financial crimes.

Another source added: “The government regarded Tambuwal’s position as a way of distancing himself from the decision of the National Council of State on ex-Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha. The Presidency was hurt that Tambuwal did not oppose the pardon at the Council of State session.

“The Speaker’s position also rubbishes security brief that Alamieyeseigha enjoys the backing of Tambuwal.

Prior to

•L-R: The Speaker of the Kebbi State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Aminu Musa Habib Jega, the Governor of Niger State, Dr Mu'azu Babangida Aliyu, the Speaker, Niger State House of Assembly, Barr Adamu Usman during the official opening of the 24th Forum of Speakers of the 19 Northern States Houses of Assembly, held at the Idris Legbo Kutigi International Conference Centre, Minna...yesterday.

Four feared dead as van plunges into Lagos river

F

OUR people were feared dead yesterday when a Hilux van plunged into Majidun River in Ikorodu area of Lagos State.

An eye witness who simply identified himself as Solomon said the Hilux van marked KSF 918 AU belonging to Ikoyi club plunged into the river after hitting the pavement of the river on high speed.

According to him, “This accident happened in the morning when I was driving out. It is like the driver lost control or something. He didn’t slow down before approaching the bridge. The

By Miriam Ndikanwu

next thing we saw the vehicle somersault into the river.”

The General Manager Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr. Femi OkeOsanyintolu who confirmed the incident said the van has been recovered while rescue operation continued as at the time of this report to recover the bodies of the four missing persons.

According to him, “A Hilux van owned by Ikoyi Golf Club, plunged into Majidun river in Ikorodu at about 5.30am this morning.

Upon notification of the incidence, stakeholders moved in to the scene and rescue, operation commenced. The vehicle has been recovered. However, bodies of the four occupants are yet to be recovered.”

The GM been said rescue operation has intensified to ensure that the missing persons are recovered.

Also Navy officer and local divers were at the scene, helping out with rescue operation.

Our reporter learnt that one of the victims identified as Kolawole Ahmed, a manager with Ikoyi Golf

Club, drove the vehicle, having closed from work yesterday morning on his way home.

The spokesman of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) South – West, Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, said the agency had mobilised its officials to the scene of the accident for rescue operation.

As at the time of filing this report, he said the bodies had not been recovered. He, however, assured that NEMA would mobilise more of its officials for the operation.

Tambuwal’s warning, he was sighted at a highbrow hotel on Victoria Island in Lagos with Alamieyeseigha having a breakfast session.

“Actually, Tambuwal was eating alone before Alamieyeseigha tapped him and joined the table for some talks. A South-South governor also teamed up with the duo.

“Alamieyeseigha and some government officials at the hotel left the table confident that there could be a friend in Tambuwal.

But on Monday, Tambuwal lambasted the Presidency on amnesty for corrupt elements. This twist shocked many in the Presidency.”

On the security surveillance on him, a source said: “The Speaker knows he is under surveillance, especially on 2015 poll which is not yet on his political card. But he is trying to be careful to avoid being framed up.

“Well, like most public officials now, Tambuwal is hardly using his phone and he runs an unscheduled itinerary known to himself alone.

“The Speaker also does not use any aircraft in the presidential fleet despite his tight commitments nationwide. He is now more open to some PDP leaders like Chief Tony Anenih and two to three ministers to enable them understand his person. He has told these people that he is not undermining the government or working against President Jonathan.”

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, however denied any cold war between his principal and Tambuwal.

Contacted last night, Okupe said: "I am not aware of any cold war between the President and the Speaker. My belief is that there is very obvious separation of powers and activities between the Executive and the Legislature.

"In terms of bills, there are areas of disagreement when the Executive do send them to the Legislature which do not amount to cold war." On the recommendation of Tambuwal for a higher office by exPresident Babangida, Okupe said: "Why should the presidency be jittery? If ex-President Babangida recommended the Speaker for a higher office, there are other offices along the ladder. It could be President of the Senate, it could be VicePresident. It does not mean the President of Nigeria.

"Even if he recommended him for the Presidency of Nigeria, it does not call for being jittery. It is a very free world."

Column

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013

State foreclosure in Nigeria F ORECLOSURE stares the Nigerian state grimly in the face.

It is a terrible irony that our endlessly squabbling politicians do not yet appreciate the dangers to the nation. Their attention is completely fixated on the elections coming next year and in 2015, even as the object of their fixation is slowly yielding to the forces of internal strangulation.

At no point in its history, either colonial or post-colonial, and certainly not even during the civil war, has the Nigerian state appeared more fragile and vulnerable.

Trapped between two extreme and extremist cultures of political violence, the Boko Haram insurgency in the North and the MEND insurrection in the Southern creeks, strafed by a thousand armed gangs bent on bringing to heel its remaining emblems of power and authority, the state appears powerless and paralysed.

Like a solitary schoolboy ambushed by bigger bullies, the state offers its drink to one and its victuals to the other, hoping that they will go away and leave it in peace.

But they are not about to. Inflation is the natural law and logic of bullies.

When you appease, you must be ready to yield more appeasement.

This is because the more you try to give, the more they demand. Appeasement without a demonstration of strength and resolve, and without compelling evidence of your own minatory deterrence, is a voluntary suicide mission usually dead on arrival.

This week even as the Boko Haram sect continues its routine devastation of the North despite the prospects of amnesty dangled before it, the MEND opened a new front by threatening and actually carrying out its threat despite the substantial economic and political pacification from the government. The decomposing bodies of 11 policemen must speak volumes for the dire straits in which the state has found itself..

The powerful Nigerian military has battled valiantly and heroically to confront and contain these nationdestroying demons, but it is also beginning to show signs of weariness and demoralisation. As this column has repeatedly cautioned, this kind of well-heeled insurgency fired and inspired by ideological zealotry and operating in an economically blighted region suffering from political disorientation, is not in the conventional military manual.

Without a conventional order of battle (ORBAT), the military will have to learn its lesson on the hoof, and as the war without defined fronts progresses. In addition, the military is hobbled by overriding political considerations and the inconsistency and feeble-minded opportunism of government policies. Saying one thing today and doing the very opposite the next day, Goodluck Jonathan himself comes across as a tragic comedian in a perplexing political tragicomedy.

But it is not a funny matter when the state becomes a big joke despite its awesome powers of enforcement and coercion and when the bully finally becomes the bullied and the tormentor the tormented The problem of the post-colonial state in Nigeria is compounded by its vanishing legitimacy and authority even in the areas where it holds unchallenged sway.

For many Nigerians, the state is seen as incapable of projecting itself as a true defender of national interests. It is so grotesquely corrupt and inefficient that its moral authority over its own citizens has evaporated.

This is in addition to its military incapacitation in the face of armed critiques of its existence. Although this did not begin with Goodluck

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nooping around With

Tatalo Alamu

•Map of Nigeria

Jonathan, he seems bent and destined to drive the logic to its ultimate summit and summation.

When a state loses its power of moral and ethical suasion over its citizens and when the power of its apparatus of coercion has dramatically diminished in addition, that is state failure looming. It is now too late in the day to begin to suggest measures to shore up the authority and legitimacy of the government.

This will involve a drastic self-purgation, and with its eyes fixed on the election of 2015, the Jonathan administration cannot even afford to toy with these measures.

Unfortunately, it is not a problem that can be wholly redressed or addressed by elections. As it has been demonstrated so many times in the history of post-colonial Africa and Nigeria, elections superimposed on seething national contradictions do not solve or resolve anything. In most cases, they worsen the contradictions and exacerbate the national fault lines.

It is the business of recreating the Nigerian state and nation which the political elite shy away from that is the hardest task. Yet without this fundamental shift in the paradigm of state-making and nation-building, there is nothing to stop this embattled nation from eventually dissolving into anarchic bloodletting the like of which has never been seen before.

The old African pre-colonial po-

litical elites seemed to have managed the contradictions of societybuilding and state-making very well.

This was because the old African state was an organic outgrowth of pre-colonial African society and there was therefore a uniformity and homogeneity of political culture which allowed for faster consensus building, the odd tension and political dissonance notwithstanding.

This is quite unlike what obtains in colonial and post-colonial Africa where the state largely remains an alien and alienating contraption forcibly grafted on disparate and often mutually contradictory political, economic and religious cultures which makes national consensus very difficult except when it comes to stealing which wears a universal mask and does not require any mental rigour or highfalutin ethics.

Where the state-nation is lucky to have a visionary founding father who can skilfully weld and fuse the disparate ethnic strands together to achieve a homogeneous entity, it is easier to fashion and fabricate a national consensus. Unfortunately, most founding fathers in Africa left their nations writhing in the debris of political and economic chaos.

In its classical incarnation, the state was the most powerful embodiment of national aspirations surfeit with mystical notions as the ultimate guarantor and protector of the sacred destiny of the people and the society. This is true of any pre-colonial

society. In royalties, monarchies, empires and fiefdoms, state actors are carefully groomed and nurtured through a rigorous and painstaking selection process.

When and where a mistake is made, it is left to other powerful countervailing institutions to correct the anomaly with speed and utmost discretion without destabilising the polity. This is unlike what obtains in post-colonial Africa where tyrannical and unjust rulers often manage to circumvent elections as the expression of the sovereign wish and will of the populace.

Africans must find some redemptive resources from the pre-colonial past. African elites, unlike the Chinese, the Indians, the Japanese and the Arabs, do not consider themselves modish and sophisticated until they have started casting aspersions on their pre-colonial culture. Yet as we demonstrated in this column last week, the continuing virility and potency of some of these institutions long after the subversion of their political and material base ought to serve as a cautionary reminder.

In a famous passage on Greek Art, Karl Marx, the grim materialist and patriarch of periodisation, wondered aloud why artistic products from ancient Greece have continued to please and intrigue us long after the superannuation of the material culture that supported them. “The difficulty is not that they pleased us but that they continue to do so”, Marx rued. It was surely an affront to materialist logic.

The same logic should now be extended to post-traditional societies.

Why do certain institutions, rituals, emblems, sacred totems and tropes from the pre-colonial order have a lingering efficacy and potency long after the colonial amputation of the political and material basis of their existence? These are powerful ideological apparatuses of the old pre-colonial state and they will continue to be for a long time until they are overtaken by a combination of events. The death of material base does not automatically translate into the demise of superstructure.

However that may be, all of this must indicate to us why the Nigerian state faces grave problems. It is a state that has been unable to grow any authentic national institution with the possible exception

of the military which has also had its misadventures. It is a stunted state suffering from pedological leprosy. Nothing will grow on nothing. The political elite are riven by primordial fissures. The national psyche is centrally fractured. The state preys and predates on the nation directly leading to armed objections to its existence. .

We have been careful to distinguish between state foreclosure and total state failure. Let no one at this point come up with the bogey, the blackmail and the buncombe that all this may lead to military intervention. In any case, military rule is preferable to the apocalyptic meltdown and the genocidal bloodletting looming. If the Boko Haram sect had succeeded in bringing down the Third Mainland Bridge, it would have taken some extra constitutional measure to restore parity to the nation. The mere threat, which is not over yet, brings the national tragedy to sharp relief.

Whereas state failure compels a drastic and radical re-composition of the state and reconfiguration of the nation, state foreclosure, like a foreclosed property, demands immediate change of ownership and perhaps ownership restructure. The revolutionary turmoil in the land ought to tell the PDP that it has nothing left to offer the nation. Despite payment rescheduling and mortgage modification, the ruling party has failed to meet its obligation to the nation. Urgent repossession is the only solution.

Since it has proved incapable of internally reforming itself, not to talk of coming up with the visionary policies to move the nation forward beyond the initial demilitarisation, all Nigerians, including patriotic members of the PDP driven by enlightened self interest, must rise up in one guise and under whatever national platform to see off this pernicious party before it sees off the nation.

When compared with other grave possibilities facing the nation at the moment, this is the equivalent of mild surgery and a compromise in favour liberal democracy. Otherwise, state failure will accelerate at full throttle. The hazy outlines of radical anarchy are already with us.

Mourning Margaret, the Dowager of Downing Street

M

ARGARET Hilda Thatcher, who has just died, was arguably one of the greatest and most impacting leaders of the twentieth century. But she was also one of the most divisive. Even in death, she continues to provoke bitter divisions and controversies.

While world leaders fell over themselves to pay her deserved tributes, the streets of Buenos Aires in Argentina and Brixton in Britain lit up in instant rejoicing and jubilation at the passing of the woman they love to hate. Thatcher, the milk-snatcher and the conqueror of Argentina, has shed mortality for immortality.

The basis of her greatness lies in simple but stout convictions which she was ready to pursue to their ultimate end without caring whose ox is gored. She would not be crossed lightly. When truly roused, observers have noticed a lunatic glare in her eyes which hinted at deep psychological instability, but which also explains her deep reserves of strength and char-

acter. She was a long distance runner when it comes to feuds and friendships.

There can be no doubt about her strength of character and steely resolve. The daughter of a Methodist alderman, the former Ms Roberts brought certain Christian fundamentalist principles to bear on politics.

Among these are the virtues of thrift, prudence, restraint and self-help. Let those who do not work not eat. It is as simple as that, or is it? Ironically when these noble virtues are pushed to their ultimate logic, they lend themselves to the berserk individualism of an uncaring and deeply divided society. Thatcher herself famously posited that there is no such thing as society.

This glorification of individual strength and personal salvation at the expense of communal care and affection was the ultimate chink in her formidable visionary armour.

Thatcher’s fundamentalist zeal as well as the limits of her messianic certitude rose to the fore whenever she

brusquely informed critics of her economic policies that there was no alternative, a mantra which earned her the nickname of “Tina”.

In the end and even for her longsuffering party colleagues, there was no alternative to dumping the Iron Lady. It was a typical British political coup which was brilliantly effected in an autumnal morning of long knives. With tears in her eyes, Margaret Thatcher headed for Buckingham Palace in a lone funereal procession. The Iron Lady had become history.

Margaret Thatcher was an unusual and atypical figure even by the standards of British politics. She was a profound anomaly for a political society which prides itself on its tolerance and the gentle virtues of pragmatic compromise. But there can be no doubt that the moment chose its Margaret. Before her, there was a historic deadlock. Britain had become a huge economic almshouse disposing munificence while Authur Scargill and his unionists held the

nation to ransom. Britain needed an unusual political figure to drag and handbag it out of the millennial rut.

Thatcher frogmarched Britain to her neo-conservative version of economic modernity. She earned herself an “ism” in the process.

While her greatness is not in doubt, Snooper regrets a certain gleeful insularity about Thatcher which lends itself to a racist smugness. Her support of rightwing regimes called her political judgement to question. Her dismissal of the ANC as a terrorist organisation which would never come to power was cruel and obtuse.

In a befitting historical irony, Snooper monitored Margaret Thatcher as she journeyed to South Africa much later to negotiate with the new authorities an escape clause for Mark, her wayward and accident-prone son. The ANC government obliged. It was a touching demonstration of the superiority of traditional African values. May Margaret find sweet repose.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

News

Corruption: NJC decides on 23 judges April 23

J

UDGEMENT day is at hand for the 23 judges across the country being

investigated for corruption.

The National Judicial Council (NJC) which is conducting the probe has fixed April 22 and 23 to consider reports on the judges alleged to have been involved in the sale of judgement.

Those found wanting will be compulsorily retired or dismissed depending on the degree of their offences, investigation in Abuja has shown.

But those cleared might be recommended for higher positions on the bench.

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar, sources said, has blocked all avenues for intercession on behalf of those under investigation.

All the committees saddled with the investigation of each case have submitted their reports to the CJN, who is preparing a brief on each case.

It was gathered that a Federal High Court judge, noted for controversial judgments, has been running helter-skelter to save his job Those under investigation include three to four state chief judges, a few justices of the Court of Appeal, as well as federal and state high court judges.

Allegations against the judges range from judgment fixing to unethical romance with litigants, outright sale of judgments, graft and bribery and engaging in delivery of questionable judgments.

Other allegations are entertaining matters beyond jurisdiction, contradiction of rulings or judgments on similar matters, dismissal of cases without taking pleas, and selling electoral petitions to the highest bidders and peddling influence among politicians A source familiar with the matter said: “The NJC will meet on April 22 and 23 to consider the reports of the different panels raised to look into the allegations against the affected judges.

From: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

“The meeting will be historic because this is the first time the nation will be witnessing a mass purge like this if all the judges are swept out of the bench.

“Some of the judges have been begging for soft-landing but the CJN has insisted on the law taking its course in view of the ongoing reform of the judiciary.

“Her vision is to reshape the Judiciary ahead of 2015 and beyond in order to protect the integrity of the Judiciary and consolidate our democracy.

“Definitely, the NJC will step on toes but it is worth it to redeem the dwindling image of the Judiciary. Disciplinary action will also assist other judges to dispense justice without fear or favour.”

Responding to a question, the source added: “After sanitizing the bench, the reform will be extended to court registries nationwide where clerks perpetrate fraud.

“There is anxiety, no doubt, but only the guilty should be afraid. The CJN wants to assert the independence of the Judiciary to give hope to the common man.”

The National Judicial Council is one of the federal executive bodies created by virtue of Section 153 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to insulate the judiciary from the whims and caprices of the executive.

According to sections 20, 21 and 22 of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, the National Judicial Council shall comprise the following membersa) the Chief Justice of Nigeria who shall be the Chairman; b) the next most senior Justice of the Supreme Court who shall be the Deputy Chairman; c) the President of the Court of Appeal; d) five retired justices selected by the Chief Justice of

Nigeria from the Supreme Court or Court of Appeal; e) the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court; f) five Chief Judges of States to be appointed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria from among the Chief Judges of the States and of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja in rotation to serve for two years; g) one Grand Kadi to be appointed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria from among Grand Kadis of the Sharia Courts of Appeal to serve in rotation for two years; h) one President of the Customary Court of Appeal to be appointed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria from among the Presidents of the Customary courts of Appeal to serve in rotation for two years; i) five members of the Nigerian Bar Association who have been qualified to practise for a period of not less than fifteen years, at least on of whom shall be Senior Ad-

vocate of Nigeria, appointed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria on the recommendation of the National Executive Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association to serve for two years and subject to reappointment: Provided that the five members shall sit in the council only for the purposes of considering the names of persons for appointment to the superior courts of records; and j) two persons not being legal practitioners who in the opinion of the Chief Justice of Nigeria are of unquestionable integrity.

The National Judicial Council shall have power toa) recommend to the President from among the list of persons submitted to it byi. the Federal Judicial Service Commission, persons for appointment to the offices of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Justices of the Supreme Court, the President and Justices of the Court of

Appeal, the Chief Judge and Judges of the Federal High Court, and ii. the Judicial Service Committee of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, persons for appointment to the offices of the Chief Judge and Judges of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, the Grand Kadi and Kadis of the Sharia Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and the President and Judges of the Customary Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; b) recommend to the President the removal from office of the judicial officers specified in sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph, and to exercise disciplinary control over such officers; c) recommend to the Governors from among the list of persons submitted to it by the State Judicial Service Commissions persons for appointments to the offices of the Chief Judges of the States

and Judges of the High Courts of the States, the Grand Kadis and Kadis of the Sharia Courts of Appeal of the States; d) recommend to the Governors the removal from office of the judicial officers specified in sub-paragraph (c) of this paragraph, and to exercise disciplinary control over such officers; e) collect, control and disburse all monies, capital and recurrent, for the judiciary; f) advise the President and Governors in any matter pertaining to the judiciary as may be referred to the council by the President or the Governors; g) appoint, dismiss and exercise disciplinary control over members and staff of the council; h) control and disburse all monies, capital and recurrent, for the services of the council; and i) deal with all other matters relating to broad issues of policy and administration.”

•Former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu chatting with the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar, and the Emir of Borgu, Dr. Haliru Dantoro, on arrival at the Air Force Base in New Bussa, Niger State, for the 2nd International Durbar Festival, yesterday.

Undeveloped oil block owners get March 2015 deadline

O

WNERS of marginal fields or oil blocks that are not yet fully operational risk takeover by the Federal Government, it was learnt by The Nation.

They have until March 2015 to make them operational or forfeit them.

Some of these affected oil blocks located along the Niger Delta creeks and environs have been lying idle for years since they were awarded as a result of lack of funds to commence operation.

A document obtained exclusively by The Nation from the Public Affairs Unit of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) showed that operators of the oil blocks have delayed takeoff due to their inability to access funds, difficulty in agreeing to operational synergies with International Oil Companies (IOCs), the

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

increasing cost of labour, goods and service, technology limitations and community problems.

The DPR however noted that “At present, there is no marginal field that is yet to be developed. Apart from the producing fields, all other marginal fields are at various stages of field development aimed at bringing the fields to production. These fields have witnessed one form of field developmental activity or the other since the time of award, so they are still being developed.”

The developing marginal fields and their owners include: Atala, being managed by the Bayelsa Oil & Gas Ltd; Ogedeh, owned by Bicta Energy System; Ke, by Del Sigma Ltd; Dawes Island owned by Euroafric Energy Ltd; Ororo owned by Guar-

antee Petroleum & Owena and Gas Ltd. Others are Omerelu, being managed by Niger Delta Pet. Resources; Ofa, owned

by Independent Energy Ltd; Eremor, by Excel Expl. & Prod. Ltd; Amoji/Matsogo/ Igbolo, by Chorus Energy; Assaramatoru, by Prime Energy; Tom Shot Bank, jointly owned by Associated Oil & Gas and Dansaki Pet. Ltd; Tsekelewu, both owned by Sahara Energy Ltd and African Oil & Gas and Qua Ibo, owned by Network E & P. Marginal fields still nearing production operation are: Akepo, owned by Sogenal Ltd; Stubb Creek, by Universal Energy Res. Ltd; Oza, by Millennium Oil & Gas and Ekeh, being managed by Movido E & P respectively.

The DPR is however optimistic that the March 2015 deadline is enough time for those companies yet to bring

their marginal oil fields into production to do so.

Spokesperson for the DPR, Mrs Selema Osibodun said: “The deadline for the companies to bring the fields to production is March 2015.

There is still enough time within this period for the companies to bring the fields to production.”

As to whether the DPR will grant further extension to the deadline, Osibodu said that could only be decided by the Federal Government.

“Extension of marginal field period is done by the Federal Government of Nigeria and not DPR. Therefore the DPR is not in a position to comment on extension at this time,” she stressed.

Investigation by The Nation revealed that there are 200 marginal oil fields in the Niger Delta Basin with a maximum reserve base of about five billion barrels of

oil.

There were 26 companies involved in marginal oil fields, many of which partnered international companies to provide technical expertise and finance.

They are Associated Oil & Gas Limited; Bayelsa Oil Company Limited; Bicta Energy Management Services Limited; Brittania U-Nig Chorus Energy Dansaki Petroleum; Unlimited Del Sigma Energie Eurafric Energy Limited; Excel Frontier Oil Limited and Goland Petroleum Development Co. Limited.

Others are Guarantee Petroleum Limited; Independent Energy Limited; Midwestern Oil & Gas; Millenium Oil & Gas Limited; Movido Exploration & Production Limited; Network Exploration & Production Limited; Niger Delta Petroleum Resources Limited;

Pillar Oil Limited; Platform Petroleum Limited; Prime Exploration & Production; Sahara Sogenal Limited; Universal Energy Resources Limited and Waltersmith Petroman.

Besides, only a few of the 77 oil blocks awarded to oil firms in 2005 have even started production.

It is estimated that a marginal field in the Niger Delta Basin will cost about $50 to $80 million as development cost for a few years. Foreign technical or financial partners will in most cases contribute 40 per cent of this amount.

Already, the Federal Government has extended the farm-out date of the non-producing marginal fields by four years with effect from 2011 to enable the companies to address their challenges and bring the fields into production.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

Why Achebe’s burial is being delayed

By Sam Egburonu and Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

T

HE immediate family of the late Prof Chinua Achebe is yet to agree on a date for his burial due to disagreements over some protocols.

A source close to the family said, “it has been difficult for the immediate family to agree with the elders and titled men on certain fundamental issues, which they said must be settled before his death would be formally announced.”

Soon after his death, his last resting place has been a source of speculation and debate. Initial reports that his immediate family may agree to his being buried abroad was widely criticised and rejected by his people.

“He is a renowned promoter of the African culture. He cannot but be buried in his native home community,” Mike Udah, spokesman for the governor of Anambra, Achebe’s home state, had responded to the reports, pointing out that “the idea of him being buried outside his community is totally ruled out.”

But when it seems every party has yielded to the demand that as an elder and a leader, he must be buried in his home in the village, the issue of protocol has also become another stumbling block, as his fellow titled men and elders in his community do not seem to be in agreement with some members of the immediate family in this respect.

So, as at yesterday, the elders of Ogidi are not only determined to oppose alleged initial plans to bury him outside his community, they are worried that, weeks after his demise, his immediate family has not formally informed the entire community of his death as the custom demands.

The Nation investigation however revealed that concerned elders, friends and community leaders have been holding meetings in Ikenga, Ogidi, other cities in Nigeria and overseas to iron out all the identified differences and plan a hitch-free burial for the author of Things Fall Apart.

For example, we gathered that the Ikenga Ogidi family Union Meeting of Ogidi in Idemmili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, which has, on its own, commenced initial planning for the burial of Achebe, held a crucial meeting on the matter yesterday.

Sources at the meeting complained that although the family and Ogidi community are preparing for a befitting burial for their late son, they have not been told about the death of their illustrious son and brother by the immediate family of the late sage.

A source, however, confirmed yesterday that Achebe’s immediate family said they have concluded that his burial must be at home and not abroad no matter what it would take as Achebe is a titled man.

When contacted to confirm the outcome of yesterday’s meting, the former National President of Ikenga Ogidi Family Union, Pastor Emmanuel Obianagha, affirmed that it was the immediate family of the late novelist that is delaying the formal announcement of the death and burial arrangement.

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Middle Belt Dialogue lists 10 conditions for Boko Haram to get amnesty

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GROUP, Middle Belt Dialogue, has objected to the planned amnesty for Boko Haram, citing the sect’s alleged atrocities against Christians in the north over the last three years.

In a letter to President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday, the group claimed that Boko Haram torched 200 churches and killed over 1,250 Christians during the period.

This, it said, is enough to deny the sect any reprieve.

In the letter entitled “Please rethink that journey to nowhere with Boko Haram,” and signed by one Emmanuel Alamu, the group said there is no basis for comparing a political/

•Opposes amnesty without justice for Christians •Protests killing of 1,250 Christians in three years FROM: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

economic, based agitation by Niger Delta militants with a religious/political ideologicalbased struggle of Boko Haram.

Alamu did not say who he is, neither did he disclose the identity of other members of the group. Nothing was equally said about the group: its objectives, when it was formed, and when it met to take a position on the move by government to grant amnesty to Boko Haram.

The Middle Belt Dialogue which gave its address as Suite

21,Silla Seka Plaza, Adebayo Adedeji Plaza, Utako, Abuja, and its e-mail address as info@middlebeltdialogue.com, said it does not see how the planned amnesty will work in view of Boko Haram’s link with Al-Qaeda.

It, however, said that should President Jonathan decide to go ahead with his plan, Boko Haram must be made to meet 10 conditions.

These are: the leadership of the group(s) must come out of the closet; all factions of the group must be involved in the negotiations; renunciation of violence by Boko Haram; they

must undertake to submit to the federal government a register of all their members; they must surrender to the federal government all arms and ammunition in their possession; they must disclose their source(s) of finance and arms; they must sign an undertaking to never revert to violence; they must undertake to repay the assessed cost of damages wreaked on private properties and places of worship; and they must offer unconditional apology to Nigerians for the damage that has been done to their psyche through their activities.

5

The Middle Belt Dialogue also called for the rebuilding of all churches and houses destroyed by the sect and the resettlement of all displaced communities.

It said: “The Boko Haram, even as the champions of this amnesty are on the campaign trail, has in the last seven days attacked and destroyed Middle Belt communities in Southern Kaduna State, Adamawa State (where the village of the Deputy Governor and the house of the deputy Governor, a Christian were targeted and destroyed), Riyom in Plateau State, parts of Taraba, Nasarawa and Benue states.”

The group attributed the Boko Haram attacks to the outcome of 2011 general elections and said: “Indeed, statistics released by international agencies show that more Christians were killed in Nigeria in the year 2012 for their faith than the rest of the world combined. It may be noted that the Boko Haram attacks spiked after the April11, 2011 elections.”

... Aliyu asks north to get involved Jide Orintunsin, Minna

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•Delta State Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan (left) and his Deputy, Prof Amos Utuama (SAN), at the first convocation ceremony of the Western Delta University, Oghara, Delta State.

Photo: Bripin Enarusai

Amnesty: Northern leaders seek OIC, others’ help

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ORTHERN leaders are exploring the option of enlisting the support of some Islamic countries and organisations to persuade the leadership of Boko Haram to accept the amnesty offer from the federal government.

Sequel to last week’s rejection of the amnesty offer by the sect leader, Abubakar Shekau, a committee of respected clerics and traditional rulers from the north is to be constituted to reach out to sympathetic Islamic countries and organisations to convince the militants to allow for peace.

Top on the list of countries and organisations under consideration for the peace initiative are: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Brotherhood in the Maghreb (IBM), Shia Itna-Asheri Islamic Jamaat.

The membership of the committee, which is expected to commence its assignment immediately, is currently being fine tuned in line with suggestions at the stakeholders’ meeting.

The Nation gathered that as soon as Boko Haram rejected the amnesty offer, influential northern leaders launched into series of meetings to salvage the situation.

It was at one of such meetings that the idea of enlisting the support of some Islamic countries/organisations was mooted.

A source close to the group said: “We are of the belief that

By Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor

everything must be done to ensure the success of the amnesty project. It is worrisome that after all the efforts to get the amnesty offer from the federal government, the leadership of the Islamic sect has been misled into rejecting it.

“As part of effort to salvage the deal, we are now going to talk to fellow Muslims to help us appeal to Boko Haram to give peace a chance. The idea is that since theirs is an Islamic agitation, it should not be difficult for them to listen to our religious leaders from various parts of the world.

“We are putting together a committee which will go round and get Islamic organisations involved in appealing to the leaders of Boko Haram to take another look at the amnesty offer.

“We are doing this because all efforts to make them embrace the deal by our leaders here in the north did not yield any fruit. Otherwise the sect would not announce its rejection of the offer at a time we were still rejoicing over our success at getting the federal government to proffer the deal.

“We have identified a lot of organisations. We are talking to every organisation and institution that can help us with this difficult assignment of bringing the sect back to the table so as to talk about the amnesty offer. It is not good for us to fold our hands and watch the project fail even before

starting.

“We are also going to be imploring some leading Islamic countries like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to make official statements in favour of the deal. We want Boko Haram to get assurance from fellow Muslims outside Nigeria that the amnesty deal is workable.

“Perhaps, this will help them to retrace their step and take another look at the offer in order for peace to return to our region. We are very optimistic that with the calibre of people expected as members of the committee, we will get more and more people and institutions to help in appealing to the sect to give peace a chance.”

The Nation gathered that the move is the brainchild of a group of northern elders with membership from the Northern Union, Northern Elders Forum, Arewa Consultative Forum and the Northern States Governors Forum.

The source added: “This is beyond a particular organisation. The rejection of the amnesty offer by the sect jolted the entire north. We were already hopeful that peace will return with the amnesty announcement. The rejection got everybody talking about the way forward and that gave birth to the stakeholders’ meeting in Kaduna on Friday.

“Attendance cuts across all groups and interests in the north. Leading groups like the Northern Union, Northern Elders Forum, Arewa Consulta-

tive Forum and the Northern States Governors Forum were ably represented. Traditional rulers and the Jamaatu Nasril Islam were also represented.

They all endorsed the move.”

Meanwhile, it has emerged that Boko Haram’s decision to reject the amnesty deal might not be unconnected with the refusal of the federal government to discuss the modalities for the peace deal.

According to an inside source, the group had demanded that exhaustive dialogue on the pros and cons of the deal between it and the federal government should precede the announcement of amnesty.

“Though we had thought we would be able to prevail on the sect to accept the amnesty the way the federal government went about it, it should however, be stated clearly, that the sect had made it clear that it would want to discuss the terms of the deal before it was announced.

“But the federal government put the cart before the horse by announcing the amnesty offer before discussing with the sect. This is one reason why the leadership of the sect is wary of the deal. They feel they cannot trust the federal government to respect agreements.

“We are optimistic that we will get them to change their mind. We are just hoping that if we get another opportunity, the horse will come before the cart for peace to reign.”

HE Chairman, Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF), Dr. Babangida Aliyu, said yesterday that the north should get actively involved in finding a solution to the Boko Haram insurgency.

This, according to him, can be done if the states affected by the insurgency initiate contacts with the sect as soon as possible to prepare the ground for the smooth take-off of the federal government’s planned amnesty for the sect members.

The Niger State governor spoke in Minna while declaring open the 24th Conference of Northern States Speakers Forum.

He argued that the planned amnesty is no automatic solution to the security challenge in the country but only an opportunity to open discussion with the sect.

He said the reported rejection of the amnesty offer by Boko Haram should not discourage government in any way.

He said the development has only widened the scope for discussion. ‘’I think when people hear amnesty, they think it is something that is the solution to the security challenges. No, it is just a process. It is like say come and let us discuss. All what you have done, I am not going to look at that. But people think by amnesty the problem is solved, no,’’ he said. ‘’Because somebody says they are rejecting amnesty we are discouraged. No. It is part of the negotiation, it is raising the ante so that discussion will take place.’’

He commended the Borno State government for setting up a committee on amnesty for members of the sect.

He added: “We must not keep waiting for the Abuja people to come to our aid.

Every state government facing security challenges should brace up and tackle the challenges.”

He lamented that insecurity has further worsened the economy of the region and if nothing is done immediately the economy will crumble completely.

Aliyu advised lawmakers to take advantage of their position as the most powerful arm of government to be up and doing in making law for the peace and stability of the country.

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IFTY-ONE victims of the Ugbogui Road accident were yesterday interred in a mass burial at First Cemetery in Benin City, the Edo State capital.

They were burnt to death in the accident that occurred on April 5th at Ugbogui Village along the Benin-Ore-Lagos Road.

Many of the victims were burnt to ashes.

The accident involved a tanker, a trailer and a luxury bus.

It was the tanker that exploded after the trailer hit it from behind.

Several other vehicles parked along the road including motor-cycles and properties worth millions in shops along the road were also burnt.

Two brothers who were sleeping in their mother's shop were roasted to death.

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) said 36 persons died in the accident but the mortician at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Aikoriogie Wilfred said 51 bodies were brought to the hospital.

He said he did all he could

Agric scheme: Farmers’ registration in collation stage, says FG From: Olugbenga Adanikin, Abuja

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

News

EGISTRATION of farmers for the 2013 edition of the Growth Enhancement Support (GES) scheme in the country has reached its collation stage, the Federal Government said.

The Special Assistant to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (Media), Dr. Olukayode Oyeleye, disclosed this in a chat with The Nation yesterday in Abuja.

He said the registration process for the year was more effective compared to the previous exercise due to the deployment of information technology equipments.

Oyeleye said: “For 2013, farmer’s registration is being collated so it is too premature to give details without figures until everything has been collated.”

He expressed hope that the data for this year edition will be more specific and reliable.

The scheme is a FG initiative under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) designed to support farmers with farm inputs such as fertiliser, improved seeds and tractor services.

Under the initiative, farmers will access inputs through an electronic distribution channel known as the e-wallet.

Registered farmers are expected to pays 50 percent of the cost of farm inputs while the FG and states jointly pay the balance.

Oyeleye admitted the possibility of extending the registration if the Federal Government considers it necessary.

Anger, tears, confusion as 51 accident victims get mass burial

•A relative in tears From Osagie Otabor, Benin

to preserve the body, adding that the victims could not be identified.

Families of the victims were incensed when official of the FRSC informed them that death certificates would be is-

•Relatives performing the dust to dust rites

sued to the 36 names on the manifest provided by the transport company.

They argued that many of the victims did not include their names in the manifest.

Eugene Odiamah said his mother, a nephew and niece died in the accident but only

the name of their mother appeared on the manifest.

Kevin Aniekwe said he lost his wife and two daughters in the accident.

"It is very painful. I spoke with them before they left that day. The Lord is now my strength. I know I will see

•The truck used in conveying the victims

them again.

"They were going to see their grandmother in Enugu.

It was gathered that the driver of the vehicle took passengers of another bus that broke down along the way,” he recounted The corpses were taken

FG, states share N731.13bn ...transfer N95.24bn to Excess Crude Account

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FTER a tense Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting in Abuja, the three tiers of government put aside their differences and agreed to share N731.13 billion for the month of March.

The absence of the Minister of State for Finance, who is also the chairman of the FAAC, had got the state commissioners of finance angry and slighted.

Having left the venue of the meeting angrily last Thursday, it was another long waiting game that ran eventually into the night before it was agreed that the sum of N731.13 billion be shared among the three tiers of government for the month of March.

This amount represents an increase of N1.49 billion over the N729.64 billion shared by the committee in February 2013.

However, this figure of N731.13 was lower than the budgeted benchmark for the month of N745.71 billion for the month resulting in a negative variance of N14.57 billion.

A breakdown of the distribution shows that N496.41 billion was shared under statutory allocation, N61.63 billion from Value Added Tax distribution and N35.549 billion under the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme.

Also shared was the N7.61 billion part payment of the debt owed the Federation Account by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

As is the practice when sharing the statutory allocation of N496.41 billion, the Federal Government got N232.53 billion representing 52.68 per cent, state governments got N117.92 bil-

By Nduka Chiejina (Assistant Editor)

lion or 26.72 per cent while the 774 local government councils went home with N90.93 billion or 20.60 per cent.

The nine oil- producing states got N55 billion based on the 13 per cent derivation principle.

But in sharing the N61.63 billion VAT allocation, the Federal Government got N9.24 billion or 15 per cent; states N30.82 billion or 50 per cent while the Local Government Authorities got the balance of

N21.57bn or 35 per cent.

Also at the meeting, FAAC transferred the sum of N95.24 billion into the Excess Crude Account (ECA) thus swelling the balance in the ECA to $7 billion.

Addressing journalists after the eventful four- hour meeting, the Minister of State for Finance, Dr Yerima Lawan Ngama, said the gross revenue for the month of March was N595.71 billion made up of proceeds from mineral and non mineral revenue of N518.38 billion and N77.32 billion respectively.

By this development, the gross revenue received for March 2013, he said, was N24.02 billion higher than the N571.67 billion realised in the month of February.

Ngama attributed the increase in revenue to receipt of arrears of crude oil and gas sales.

He stated: "Crude oil production and lifting operations, however, decreased during the period due to force majeure declared at Qua Iboe and Brass Terminals and maintenance work at Okono, Brass and Amenam terminals."

FG reviews TB, Leprosy control strategy

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HE Federal Government has begun review of the National Strategic Plan for Tuberculosis and Leprosy.

The outcome of the evaluation, according to the Minister of Health, Prof.

Onyebuchi Chukwu, will be used in re-strategising programme interventions and efforts towards reaching the Millennium Development Goals target by 2015.

From: Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

The exercise is conducted by a team of international experts, supported by TB experts in Nigeria.

The minister, who at the mid-term evaluation in Abuja, explained the review will facilitate emergence of an adjusted and reviewed National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Strategic Plan

suitable for funding from government, Global Fun, USAID, Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and other partners.

The National Coordinator of the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme, Dr Olusegun Obasanya, also revealed the programme has so far provided health services in about 4000 health facilities in the country.

Minimum wage: Benue teachers beat up NLC boss

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ROTESTING members of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Benue State branch last week vented their anger on the Chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) Comrade Simon Anchaver, beating him to a pulp.

The incident occurred during a protest march across the major streets of Makurdi over the non-implementation of the new national minimum wage for primary school teachers.

Numbering over 1,000, the teachers condemned the indifferent attitude of government towards their plights.

Mid-way into the protest,

From: Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

armed policemen in 10 Hilux arrived the Government House gate and tear gassed the teachers.

Some of the teachers were horse whipped while many who sustained gun but injuries were rushed to hospitals for treatment.

The agitated protesting teachers pounced on Anchver, beating him mercilessly.

He was later rescued by policemen who took him inside Government House for safety.

The teachers accused the NLC boss, who is nursing governorship ambition, of abandoning their minimum wage course for politics.

Anchaver, who bled profusely, was smuggled to the Federal Medical Centre for treatment.

In a telephone interview, he denied allegations he had abandoned teachers in the state in their struggle over National Minimum Wage.

The NLC boss described teachers in the state as ingrate, stating he has done everything humanly possible for the implementation of their minimum wage.

from the UBTH morgue at about 8:30am loaded in a truck.

At the cemetery, a brief service, led by Pastor Barnabas Chukwukere, was held for the victims.

Chukwukere urged the families to believe in the Lord and continue to serve Him as death could occur at any time.

He said: "Remember now the Lord your creator. Leave your life as if it is the end. We are nothing but sand.”

The families brought photographs of the victims, including wreath and flowers to lay on their graves.

‘Why surveyors’ board underperformed for 21 years’ From: Olugbenga Adanikin, Abuja

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RESIDENT, Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria (QSRBN), Mallam Husaini Dikko, has blamed the Federal Government (FG) for the agency’s low performance in the last 21 years.

Dikko said the agency had been bedeviled by poor funding, weak organisational structure and poor institutional design.

He spoke at the maiden stakeholders’ forum of the agency at the weekend in Abuja, adding that the board had operated without a registrar for five years until resumption of the new administration.

Dikko said: “When the current board came into being in September 2010, it observed that the organisation had largely underperformed in meeting the mandate given to it by the enabling law in the past 21 years of its existence.

“A critical appraisal revealed that weak organisational structure, poor institutional design, weak government support and poor funding, especially by government whose agency the board is, were the main reasons for this appalling state of affairs.”

He, however, said the new board in two years has inducted 630 new surveyors and 95 practicing firms compared to 1,281 registered members and 54 practicing firms in 21 years.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

Chevron donates to Osun hospital From: Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo.

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HEVRON Company's Agbami Partners yesterday donated an ultra modern and fully equipped chest clinic to the State Specialist Hospital, Asubiaro in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.

At the commissioning and handing-over of the clinic, Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, pledged to improve the health status of the people.

He said his government has invested all available resources to ensure that healthcare facilities are in good shape at all times, especially at the primary level.

Besides upgrading public health facilities, he said his government has taken numerous measures to ensure sound health for the people, including a well-coordinated campaign of personal hygiene and environmental sanitation spearheaded by the O’Clean programme.

The Governor said: "The wisdom of our effort in this regard is underscored by the fact that eliminating the conditions that contribute to or help breed diseases and infections is a very sensible and cost-effective way towards improving the health of the people.”

The Manager, Policy Government and Public Affairs of Chevron, Alhaji Omar Ribadu, said the chest clinic was implemented with the strong support of the state government.

He noted that the Chest Clinics and Science Laboratories constitute an aspect of the strategic intervention plan of the Agbami Partners in the education and health sector.

We have enough to finance our projects, says Obi

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NAMBRA State has enough financial resources to complete all on-going projects, Governor Peter Obi, has assured.

He said the government has saved enough before embarking on projects across the state.

Obi spoke yesterday during the flag-off of IyiowaOdekwe road at Okpoko.

He assured residents that the project will be completed before the end of his administration.

The governor, who recalled many roads and projects he has executed in the area, including the on-going Atani-Ogwuikpele-Ochuche road, called on them to continue to support the administration.

Commissioner for Works, Architect Callistus Ilozumba, said that the contractor handling the project had been tested, stating the firm will deliver quality job according to specifications on time.

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OLICEMEN from Force Headquarters in Abuja have arrested the candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) for Estako Central Local Government in next week local government elections, Emmanuel Momoh, over the killing of two persons in a clash between supporters of ACN and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the locality.

Two houses including cars were burnt in the clash that occurred at Fugar, headquarters of Estako East.

The two persons killed were parents of youths involved in the clash.

Momoh was whisked to Abuja after the policemen told his wife they were taking him to Benin City for questioning.

Several other suspects were arrested The state chairman of the PDP, Dan Orbih, said one of those killed, Oboareye Ibharue, was a retired teacher who recently defected from the ACN to the PDP. Orbih alleged that the fracas was caused by the ACN

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Edo LG poll: Police whisk ACN candidate to Abuja •PDP disrupts electoral officers' training, alleges plot to rig From Osagie Otabor and Ben Ogbemudia, Benin

to harass and intimidate their members before next week local polls.

He said PDP members were daily harassed because of their refusal to join the ruling party.

According to him: "Our party members were returning from a campaign rally when they ran into some ACN members that blocked the road and prevented them from proceeding. Both sides engaged in a fracas.

"Later in the night ACN member went to the residence of our leaders and members and started attacking them and the retired teacher was killed.

"The man was not at the scene of the incident. The only reason he was attacked and

killed was because he came to join us.”

Orbih urged members of his party to be calm and wait for police investigation into the matter.

The state secretary of ACN, Chief Osaro Idah, said the killings were part of the PDP plans for elections not to be conducted in the locality.

Idah said it was a member of the PDP that drove a vehicle into a rally of the ACN and injured seven persons.

He said their members went to the PDP member house and during a fight somebody died.

The ACN scribe said the PDP regrouped and burnt properties of the ACN chairman in the locality before policemen were mobilised to the scene.

"Our members were on a peaceful procession distributing leaflets when Odion Agbabi drove into them just as Boko Haram used to attack churches.

"Instead of the police to arrest everybody involved, they arrested our candidate and took him to Abuja for interrogation.

“The man they arrested was not in Fugar that day. He even paid condolence visits to the family."

Idah said the PDP want to use federal might to intimidate their candidate because of their low popularity in the locality."

Also, members of the PDP disrupted a training programme for ad hoc staff and electoral officers recruited by the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission

(EDSIEC) for the local elections next week.

The PDP members stormed the training centre at Ekpoma in Esan West Local Government and demanded to be included in the training over alleged recruitment of ACN members.

Orbih confirmed PDP members disrupted the training at Ekpoma.

He directed them to visit training centre across the state to be included since investigation showed cardcarrying members of ACN were recruited as adhoc staff.

He listed Ovia North East, Uhunmwode, Akoko-Edo as areas where ACN members were recruited.

Orbih urged EDSIEC to recruit teachers in public schools to serve as ad hoc staff, adding that the ACN was not prepared to conduct free and fair elections.

Idah dismissed the PDP allegations and challenged them to prove their claims.

The chairman of EDSIEC, Solomon Ogoh, told The Nation in an interview he did not know whether those recruited had any political affiliation.

Ogoh said: "During interview, I asked them if they are party members and they said no. How do I know they are not?'

He confirmed the disruption of the training programme at Ekpoma and called on the security agencies to be alive to their responsibilities.

Cross River lacks adequate manpower, workers lament From: Nicholas Kalu, Calabar •The Registrar/Chief Executive Officer of National Examination Council (NECO), Prof Promise Okpala inspecting pupils writing examination at St Mary’s High School, Ifite-Dunu... yesterday. Photo: Odogwu Emeka Odogwu

Lamido-Amaechi posters flood Ibadan

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IANT campaign posters announcing the candidature of the Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido and his Rivers State counterpart, Rotimi Amaechi, for the 2015 presidential election have been pasted in strategic locations in Ibadan,

From: Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

the capital of Oyo State.

The captivating posters strategically pasted in the high- brow areas of the ancient city mentioned the Youth Coalition for Better Nigeria as sponsor of the project.

The posters were seen in

Mokola Roundabout, Eleyele, Ring Road, Old-Ife, Alakia, Yidi, Iwo-Road Roundabout, among others in the metropolis.

Though the posters did not indicate the platform on which the duo will be contesting, many assume it will be on the

platform of another party as the crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) deepens.

A source said the posters are intended to send a strong signal to the Presidency that the duo is eyeing the seat come 2015.

Our battles with oil thieves, by Army chief

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HE Commander of the 4th Brigade Nigeria Army, Brigadier-General Pat Akeem, has revealed his men are daily shot at by oil thieves.

He said the huge profits made by oil thieves were responsible for the thriving business despite several destructions of illegal refineries within his domain.

Akeem said investigation has revealed oil bunkerers make over N20m monthly.

He spoke to newsmen after his newly inaugurated Monitoring Team on Pipeline Vandalisation destroyed over six million litres of illegally refined diesel at Aroton Village in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State.

Akeem said the diesel was

From Osagie Otabor, Benin

processed in several illegal refineries located in the creeks and stored at different places within the village.

Also destroyed were 67 Cotonou boats used in conveying the diesel to the high sea for buyers.

The soldiers had a hectic time carrying the boats to the creek where they were set ablaze to prevent the fire from spreading to the villages.

He said the monitoring team was set-up to ensure soldiers working in different installations and check points perform their duties accordingly.

Leader of the monitoring team, Lt-Col Hassan Bello, said no suspects were arrested.

Bello said most individuals in the community were

involved in the illegal deals.

According to him: "This is like a storage point. They sighted us and ran away into the bush. You can see the tanks containing illegal diesel in different places in the community."

Kidnapping: Construction workers seek overhaul of security system From Osagie Otabor, Benin Construction workers under the aegis of Construction & Civil Engineering Senior Staff Association (CCESSA) have asked the Federal Government to overhaul the nation’s security system and concentrate resources in addressing the challenges.

The body said it was worrisome the Federal Government was yet to make a categorical statement on the

fate of the seven expatriates working with Setraco Nigeria Limited abducted by gunmen in the Northern parts of the country.

This was contained in a communiqué issued by its Chairman and Secretary, Comrade (Dr.) Augustine Etafo and Comrade Ezekhumhe George after a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Benin City.

It advised the Federal Government to focus on youth employment, tackle corruption and fix poor infrastructures as a way to addressing security challenges in the country.

The workers lamented the influx of expatriate into the construction industry, noting “the industry cannot move forward without the local content policy being put in

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HE Cross River State Council of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) has called on the state government to employ more health workers for more effective health care delivery.

The chairman of the union, Comrade Andem Usua, told newsmen that though the government was doing well in the primary and secondary health sector, it lacked adequate manpower to effectively run the health sector.

He pointed out some health centres that needed about 50 workers have just 10 to 15.

Usua said: “There are so many well-trained health workers in the state. They should be employed so that the old and able hands would be able to bring them up, so that when the older ones retire, the younger ones can take over effectively.

"Majority of health workers have retired and most of them have not been replaced.

“We want to appeal to the state government to employ more health workers because as those who are retiring are going out, if the new ones are not employed, no one will give them the immediate training for them to catch up with the job."

He said despite the shortage of manpower they were still doing their best

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

Oshiomhole revokes Igbinedion’s land

Abia CP calls for harmonious relationship in fighting crime From Sunny Nwankwo, Aba

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HE commissioner of Police in Abia State, Usman Tilli Abubakar, has called for a harmonious relationship with the general public in order to achieve a better result in the fight against insecurity.

Abubakar, during his familiarisation visit to the Aba Area Command, maintained that the Inspector-General of Police’s commitment in maintaining a harmonious relationship with the public must be pursued vigorously, stressing that “it is only being professional and being civil while carrying out our official duties that will help us achieve such feat.

“Being civil with the public does not mean you should not do your work as a police officer when you notice that the person has contravened the law,” Abubakar posited He advised them to acquaint themselves with the Police Code of Conduct handbook in order to be guided while discharging their professional duties as police officers.

CP Abubakar further cautioned men and officers of his command who indulge in all kinds of illegal duties to desist from it, warning that anyone caught in the act would be showed the exit door as the police force have a zero tolerance to any act capable of tarnishing their image as well as jeopardising their relationship with the public.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Aba Area Commander, Dayi, described logistics as a major challenge facing the command, calling for the repair of the barracks that is over 50years old with some of the structures already dilapidated.

Akwa Ibom to renovate Army barrack

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total of N289 million has been approved by the Akwa Ibom State Government for the renovation of dilapidated buildings at 6 Infantry Battalion, Nigerian Army, Ibagwa, in Abak Local Government Area.

Governor Godswill Akpabio, who stated this Friday, during the 2013 Shooting Range Classification Exercise at 6 Infantry Battalion, Nigerian Army, Ibagwa, lamented the state of structural dilapidation in the barrack, and directed the Commissioner for Housing and Urban Renewal to commence renovation of some dilapidated buildings in the place.

Akpabio remarked, “I have already approved N289 million for renovation work in the barrack. I hereby direct the State Commissioner for Housing and Urban Renewal to embark immediately on renovation of buildings in the army barracks, rehabilitation of the volleyball pitch, building of a sports and games hall to be named after the immediate past Commanding Officer of the barrack, who lost his life last year in the Dana Airline crash.”

The governor announced the renovation work to include building of Sports and Games Hall in the barracks to be named after the late Lt. Col Owoicho Jumbo Ochigbo, the then Commanding Officer of the 6 Infantry Battalion, Nigerian Army, Ibagwa.

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DO State government has revoked a large parcel of land, which Chief Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion, the Esama of Benin, sub-let to farmers in Ovia North East Local Government Area and assured the farmers that they are free to farm on the said land without fear of molestation.

Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, gave the assurance during his campaign tour of Okada, Ovia North East Local Government Area, and in Ovia South West and Orhionmwon Local Government Area as part of the ongoing Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) campaigns for the forthcoming April 20, 2013 local government elections.

From: Osemwengie Ben Ogbemudia, Benin

Speaking to a massive crowd of supporters in the local government areas, Oshiomhole said the people have seen the difference between the forces of darkness and light.

According to him: “At the local level, we want to form a government that is committed to the welfare of the people.

Before now, there are two forces in Edo State. The forces of darkness that under developed the state, stole all the money, visit our people with misery and excuses, while they are getting rich, the people are getting poorer.

“Those forces that would award a road contract and they

would not do it. Those forces who could not build one good school; those are the forces of darkness. The force of light you can see it right here.”

He noted that in the ten years of the Peoples Democratic Party, there is no one project that was successfully completed.

“We want a local government chairman who has conscience.

“A political party that has a record of performance. Our chairmen will work with the fear of God. There is no compromise.”

On the revoked land, the governor said, “Let me sound a note of warning. I understand that some people are still carrying rumours that the land

that has not been revoked that they still own it. There is only one government in Edo State and there is only one governor.

“I understand that some of our farmers are being threatened by people government gave land to farm. Now they are not farming on the land.

“They are giving the land to people and making them to pay rent. Don’t pay royalties to anybody any more. Edo is a free society,” he said.

“Let me assure you that on Monday, all those land you are farming on which government gave to individuals who now in turn sublet it to you.

“I, the Governor of Edo State say I will revoke those lands on Monday. I will revoke

•Governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti) and Adams Oshiomhole (Edo), flanked by parents of late Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Mrs. Funmilayo Olayinka, Chief and Mrs. Festus Famuagun, during a condolence call at the Ado-Ekiti home of the late Deputy Governor, yesterday.

Boko Haram: Niger Delta activist warns FG over funding of amnesty

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ORMER President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Dr Chris Ekiyor, has said any plan by the federal government to grant amnesty to members of the Boko Haram sect will be a fraud, warning that the people of the Niger Delta will resist any attempt to use resources from the area to finance amnesty for members of the sect.

Ekiyor, who asserted that it would be a misplaced argument to compare the activities of the sect members with that of the Niger Delta militants, said that the focus of the Niger Delta militants was to attract government’s attention to the degradation of the area due to oil exploration and poverty of the people but that the sect members have embarked in the mass killing of Nigerians and had remained faceless.

His words: “But beyond the technicalities of talking about amnesty for a group of people who are murderers, I think that government has misplaced its priority in terms of what it is saying. Dialogue with the people, yes; amnesty no. Amnesty is not an exit window for criminals. These are people who have mur-

From: Osemwengie Ben Ogbemudia, Benin

dered over five thousand people in cold blood. People are in churches, they bomb the church, killing people who are equally victims of bad governance like you.

“Again, 80 per cent of

these people are not Nigerians. So, if you are granting them amnesty, where will you take the resources for which you are going to reintegrate them. Is it the Niger Delta resources, our oil money to integrate criminals and murderers in the north?

That money should be put on

infrastructure across the country if the money is too much in the government coffers. They should develop Nigeria, but I have a great issue in taking Niger Delta people’s money to rehabilitate a bunch of elements who are extremists in their activities.”

Retract outburst against Ojukwu, Okwu told

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chieftain and founding member of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Onwuka Ukwa, has joined in condemning the factional chairman of the party, Chief Maxi Okwu, for describing late Chukwuemeka Ojukwu as an extremist.

He advised Okwu to quickly retract that statement in his own political interest as any unpleasant statement on the late Ojukwu was a direct attack on the entire Igbo race.

But Okwu had since denied making such statement.

Ukwa told reporters in Enugu that it was a serious concern to the party that Okwu should describe “our hero and leader as an extremist because I don’t know how Ojukwu’s defence of Ndigbo shuold be termed as extremism.”

From: Chris Oji, Enugu

Ukwa expressed disappointment in Okwu for making such statement against “the man that stood against the extinction of Ndigbo, including Maxi and members of his family.”

The APGA chieftain said: “Calling Ojukwu, the late APGA leader, an extremist for fighting for the rights of Igbo people and common man is not only an insult but humiliating to our departed hero and leader. He even announced a policy departure from what he termed Ojukwu’s extreme policy views.”

Ukwa also commented on the convention that produced Okwu as the chairman of APGA, describing it as “an unholy cult meeting organised by

Governor Peter Obi and christened APGA convention.”

“If Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu had been alive, I wonder if he would have been asked to sneak into the venue in darkness, as a midnight bandit, to attend a convention,” he queried.

Positing that the Appeal Court judgment had set aside the midnight convention, Ukwa firmly asserted that “the law is that today, Chief Victor Umeh is the APGA National Chairman.”

He also chided Okwu for saying that the Appeal Court ruling was futile and not binding on him, regretting that “the call by a member of the bar for disobedience of the pronouncement of the Court of Appeal for political expediency is a bit troubling.”

it in the public interest.”

“The reason we revoked the land is simple. Every Nigerian has a right to live in any part of Nigeria. I lived in the north. I was not treated as a settler.

Therefore, we cannot be here while fellow Nigerians who are cocoa farmers are treated like tenants.”

He stressed, “in this land, there are only two authorities, the Edo State Government and His Royal Majesty, the Oba of Benin. Those are the only two.

If you are not the Oba of Benin or the State Government, how can you be a landlord? People are paying rent to you on a land you do not own. When you farm on Edo land, whatever money you make is yours.

“All we ask of you is to pay your personal income tax. You cannot pay rent on land.”

“That land has been reclaimed for the good of the people of Edo State.

“Anybody farming on that land will pay tax to government.”

While thanking them for the confidence in his leadership, Oshiomhole urged them to keep the flag flying.

The governor presented Mrs. Lucy Omagbon, Moris Ogurobo Ovia and Roland Ibirotomwen as Council Chairman candidates for Ovia North East, Ovia South West and Orhionmwon local government areas.

This is coming on the heels of the announcement by Oshiomhoe that his administration has approved the sum of N110 million for the coming primary schools final and the Junior Secondary School examination, just as he said 23,000 chairs and tables would soon be purchased for public schools in the state.

The governor stated this in Ekpoma, headquarters of Esan West local government council, during the campaign by the party ahead of next Saturday’s local government election in the state.

Tom Ikimi, in his comments said PDP is now surviving on “Abuja oxygen” which he said would soon expire. “In the last one month, I have been discussing with Nigerians one message they have given me, that they want the young to take over from us and I give you the guarantee that that is the project we have in hand in the ACN.”

‘FG owes Abia N21 billion on road repairs’

By Ugochukwu Ugorji-Eke, Umuahia

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HE government of Abia State has said the federal government owes the state the sum of N21 billion being the amount it has expended on the repair of federal roads in the state in the last one year and eight months.

It also said that the amount is even more, bearing in mind that the FG has not paid other amounts used to work on federal roads since the present state government came into existence and urged them to pay up for the state to fast track its developmental projects.

Speaking with newsmen on the extent of work done by his ministry in the last three months, the state commissioner for works, Chief Kingsley Mgbeahuru said that the huge sum being owed the state government has hampered the construction vision of the present administration.

The commissioner said that the state government has done 52 roads across the state, including the 16 intervention roads that have been done in Aba, the commercial centre of the state, which the governor started off late last year.

NEWS REVIEW

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

•Shekau MNESTY! The six-letter word was the magic wand many northern leaders had thought would abate the spate of attacks that have embroiled that part of the country courtesy of the fundamentalist group, Boko Haram, in the last four years.

Perhaps because it 'worked' in the Niger Delta to rein in the militants, they thought it was the same wand that would do the work for the group.

Due to the growing clamour, especially from the north for such an offer, President Goodluck Jonathan who had on a visit to Yobe and Borno States insisted that the government could not grant amnesty to "ghosts" had to eat his words, or so it seems.

But since the federal government announced the constitution of a committee to consider the possibility of granting amnesty to members of the group, events have proved the option might not work. The committee, which was set up in response to growing demands by political and traditional rulers in the north was yet to turn in its report before Abubakar Shekau, said to be the leader of the group said it was not ready for the offer.

The northern leaders who had argued for amnesty had said it would not only assuage members of the sect accused of killing thousands of people in countless suicide bombing attacks but also usher in the muchneeded peace in the region. They readily point to how the same exercise ended the Niger Delta militancy in 2009.

No to amnesty In rejecting the amnesty offer which was still in the works, Shekau, who appeared in an audio recording was quoted to have said: "Surprisingly, the Nigerian government is talking about granting us amnesty. What wrong have we done? On the contrary, it is we that should grant you (a) pardon."

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•Jonathan

Jonathan: Pressed

on every side

The Boko Haram insurgency in the North and the renewed Niger Delta hostilities are threatening peace and economic progress in the country, subjecting President Goodluck Jonathan to mounting pressures, writes Sunday Oguntola He insisted that the federal government has committed several atrocities against Muslims, vowing to continue the attacks largely targeted at churches and security operatives in the region. In line with this, the sect over the weekend engaged operatives of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Kano in a deadly confrontation that left at least a soldier dead.

In Yobe, a fresh curfew was imposed yesterday from 6pm to 7am following the killing of four policemen by the sect in Babandiga, the headquarters of Tarmuwa local government, about 50km from Damaturu, the state capital. The Boko Haram insurgents have shown that they have no intention in slowing down or engaging government in dialogue of any form.

The rejection of the olive branch waved by the federal government has become the latest biggest headache for President Jonathan who is desperate to find a political solution to the insecurity challenge that has crippled economic and social activities in most northern states.

Since the rejection of the offer, many have also turned around to blame the federal government.

According to them, the offer was given in a wrong way and in bad manner. So, as it is now it seems whichever way it goes, the president gets the blame.

For instance, the apex Muslim body in the north, Jama'atu Nasril Islam (JNI), has blamed the federal government for rejection of the amnesty by the Boko Haram.

According to its Secretary General, Dr Khalid Aliyu, the government should have held dialogue with the sect before considering amnesty.

Aliyu said: "Even the amnesty itself must have preparatory steps before it is granted. First is finding them, second is to ask them to come out and then dialogue with them. I think that these are the most important ingredients that are supposed to come first."

Shehu Sanni, a human rights activist also blamed the government for what he called "putting the cart before the horse" in the offer.

Meanwhile, the Niger Delta, which many thought had overcome its worst moments also appear to be

falling apart. Last weekend, 11 policemen were killed by gunmen suspected to be sympathetic to jailed leader of the Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), Henry Okah.

MEND had threatened to resume hostilities in the creeks after Okah was sentenced to 24 years imprisonment by a South African court. The policemen were killed while in a boat heading to Azuzuama, Southern Ijaw LGA for the burial ceremony of the mother of Kile Torughedi.

Torughedi, a former MEND militant leader who embraced the federal government's amnesty, is a Special Assistant to the Bayelsa Governor on Maritime Security. The policemen were attached to provide security during the trip.

MEND said it carried out the attack because government forces refused to take its threat seriously.

"For dismissing (our statement) ... as an 'empty threat', heavily armed fighters from ... MEND intercepted and engaged government security forces in a fierce gunfight at Azuzama," an emailed statement signed by Jomo Gbomo, a pseudonym the group uses, stated.

It added: "All oil companies and the public are advised to ignore the false sense of security being peddled," it said, maintaining that the attack had been carried out on Saturday, rather than Friday it earlier advertised.

A shocked Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, described the incident as "most tragic, shocking and disheartening".

The resurgence of militant activity in his home region is a massive blow to Jonathan who helped to negotiate the amnesty deal in 2009. It is coming at a time the nation's security forces are already overstretched by the Boko Haram insurgency in the north.

Already, leading oil-producing firms are already reeling under serious theft in the region. Armed gangs have reportedly been stealing one fifth of the nation's two million barrel-a-day output in the region, forcing many of the oil firms to close down operations.

Though attacks in the Niger Delta region have dropped since the amnesty programme took off, kidnapping, piracy, large-scale oil theft and pipeline sabotage remain pervasive.

The amnesty deal, which kept the restive ex-militants at bay, is also running into troubled waters following paucity of funds.

Government is bent on discontinuing the programme that has consumed billions. This has kept the exmilitants at an edge, a development that reportedly caused the Bayelsa killing.

As violence returns to Niger Delta and the continued attacks by the Boko Haram group and rejection of government's olive branch, President Jonathan is certainly a man pressed on all sides. It would be interesting to see how he will navigate himself and the nation from the seemingly intractable security challenges ahead.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL14, 2013

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013

News Review/World

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Korea: Shall artificial crisis bring real war?

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HE Korean Peninsula flashes redhot. Mainstream media stokes the flame, engaging in scaremongering reminiscent of the sallow journalism that ignited the unwarranted, rapine Spanish-American War. In that war, late 19th century America expanded its imperial reach by plucking Cuba and the Philippines from a tottering Spanish Empire. The pattern thus set, American media would deceive the world by broadcasting the gospel of weapons of mass destruction in the prelude to the invasion of Iraq. An unwanted dictator was quashed under a ton of untruths; but we were all told to smile because the man was a reprobate guilty of myriad sins.

Thus, justice was done and the world was made better. This blithe rationale treats the deaths of hundreds of thousands of other Iraqis as a wicked employer would discount the passing of an unproductive laborer.

Against this historic backdrop, the media barrage against North Korean should be measured. Sadly, the public's memory is as brief as a sigh. Much of the world embraces the media's message that North Korea unilaterally is generating this crisis. The media no longer broadcasts news; it promulgates a viewpoint paid for by those financing the media enterprise. Corporate power controls news. Thus, news is a commodity bought and traded to profit those funding its broadcast. For various reasons, caricaturing North Korea as an insane asylum with a nation in it has become profitable.

Like Saddam before them, the North Koreans' surly reputation makes them prime candidates to be cast in the role of global outlaws. However, the account attributing the crisis entirely to the North Koreans is too facile to be the full cup of truth.

The North Korean government has committed its share of sins and injustice but those miscarriages have been mostly against its cowed populace. The current leader Kim Jong-un may be young and often governed by the brashness of youth; yet even brash youth are not suicidal. The young leader understand math sufficiently to know the numbers regarding military strength write a conclusive case against him. The man occupies the most preferred position in his nation. There is no plausible scenario where he acquires a more exalted position by ignited war against the world's militarily powerful state. Peace suits his interests. Actual war is worst than risky; it is certain failure. Should be forget this, his military would remind him and would throttle any mad rush toward actual conflagration. The military hierarchy is the nation's most dominate elite. They are too cynical and venal to risk everything on a venture with national doom as its happiest outcome.

We would have to stretch deep into history to find an instance where such a clearly inferior nation attacked a much stronger global power and its local proxy.

These things don't happen because even insane leaders recognize the difference between winning and losing at war. It is much more likely that the powerful nation instigate hostilities because it is far more likely the winner. Yes, North Korea can field one of the world's largest conventional armies. However, that army is vastly unequipped and ill trained.

Save for a few proficient divisions, the majority of the army is a thinly disguised peasant one. They are more comfortable with a plow or hoe than with a rifle or grenade. The army is vast on paper and much of its strength is as thin as paper.

Additionally, news accounts rarely share that North Korea has not yet created a deliverable nuclear payload nor does it have the system to deliver such a bomb.

This army is in no condition to do much except oppress its own people.

Three generations of Kims have occupied the northern helm. While we wish their behavior to have been more humane and generous to a deprived citizenry, the trio has acted similarly for a period spanning over half a century. We deign to call them mad but must acknowledge a consistency and method to their particularly brand of insanity. This lends itself to two interpretations. The three either share a rather persistent strain of hereditary mental imbalance or they have functioned as leaders within an extremely idiosyncratic system, but a system nonetheless. The latter

•Men rush to fight each other when they tire of fighting the worst in themselves

•North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) waving to soldiers from a wooden boat as he inspects the Mu Islet Hero Defence Detachment near South Korea's Taeyonphyong Island in South Hwanghae province, North Korea's southwestern sector of the front on March 7, 2013.

PHOTO: AFP

BRIAN BROWNE

explanation is more the order of things. If so, then someone or something has placed an actual thorn inside young Kim's undergarment to have caused him such a fit.

The current crisis must be placed in a longer-term context. This begins with America's "pivot" to the Pacific as proclaimed last year by the American foreign policy apparatus. This has two aspects. The pivot is shorthand for a policy of military containment against China and its regional allies, including North Korea. American hardliners seek to exploit the Korean situation to halt China's geopolitical climb in the Pacific.

Meanwhile, Chinese hardliners seek to push North Korea as a means of testing American credibility and of signaling to neighbors that by keeping North Korea harnessed, China - not America - is the linchpin of regional peace.

As with American policy in the tense Middle East, those fashioning this strategy are neoconservatives. President Obama has thrown in with them because they represent strong vested interests; joining them represents the path of least resistance.

Neoconservatives have unfinished business with North Korea. An article of faith for the past twenty years of this ideological school is the need to squelch errant regimes in Libya, Iraq, Syria, Iran and North Korea. Libya and Iraq have gone down the slide. Syria slips further into the pit. Iran and North Korea remain the last two of the rogue's quintet left standing. Both already suffer stringent international sanctions but Washington hardliners want the screws to tighten until something cracks.

In 2012, American military cooperation with South Korea assumed a more intense posture. Such a change was recognized by a paranoid North. Last October, America exempted South Korea from usual Missile Control Technology Regime strictures by allowing South Korea to extend its ballistic missiles range to cover all of North Korea.

Contemporaneously, America and South Korea formulated a more aggressive strategy toward the North. Dubbed "tailored deterrence," the new strategy

pledged to employ massively disproportionate force against any actual North Korean military indiscretion. The duo coupled this move with an affirmation of the principle of preemptive attack against suspected Northern aggression. As part of this new strategy, the two nations developed a "kill chain" of North Korean missile sites to be targeted in case of such an attack. Together, these steps have America and South Korea agreeing to decimate the entirety of North Korea's missile system upon the slightest real or perceived misstep.

Pyongyang is within reason to view "tailored deterrence" as a misnomer. Far from being defensively minded, the new strategy amounts to an open-ended rationale for large- scale offensive action against the North.

In January, America won UN Security Council resolution 2087 levying further sanctions on North Korea for a satellite launch. America justified the sanctions, claiming the launch was tantamount to an illegal ballistic missile test. The world accepted this claim.

Objective assessment shows the claim to be hyperbolic. Debris from the launch missile revealed no evidence of ballistic technology. Thousands of satellites have been launched since mankind acquired the technology to lift an object into outer space. North Korea is the first nation to be sanctioned by the world body for such a launch. Effectively, North Korea has been banned from the peaceful deployment of satellites and from use of the technology that goes with such a deployment. What others are encouraged to pursue is forbidden for North Korea. The already paranoid, hermetic nation would assume America is leading an international attempt to shrink the peaceful space in which North Korea can operate without penalty.

Reacting to the global opprobrium at the satellite launch, North Korea determined to give the world something to ponder. Behaving like a brash adolescent, North Korea conducted a nuclear test in February. America and the West seized the opportunity to levy severe banking and shipping sanctions that will

hurt the government but also further choke a forlorn populace.

Last month, America and South Korea began the annual joint military exercise, Key Resolve. This year's version featured nuclear capable B-52 bombers flying from Guam to drop inert material over South Korea. Stealth B-2 bombers, also capable of delivering nuclear as well as bunker-busting ordnance, flew from the continental United States to make inert drops during the exercise. These flights were clear signals that America has the practical, active readiness to dump nuclear weapons on North Korean territory.

America also sold South Korea hundreds of powerful bunker-busting bombs that could significantly damage the underground facilities where North Korea lodges its nuclear program.

Now the world is asked to sit on edge because North Korea threatens an unarmed ballistic launch. Media reports portray the launch as an imminent threat.

The American Defense Secretary talks of North Korea crossing a dangerous line.

However, this line exists solely in the minds of those who wish to see it. The purported North Korea launch is an unarmed missile that will not enter the southern airspace. The launch violates UN sanctions but the violation is technical in nature. It poses no serious physical threat save to that unfortunate soul who might happen to be in that particular location in the ocean where the missile debris falls.

This is no more an active threat to international peace than a nonfatal car accident or a football errantly kicked from the field of play.

Given the recent history of American aggression against nations it has blacklisted and given North Korea's unique system of governance, Pyongyang's actions have been predictable. The North Korean government must thump its chest lest be seen as weakly succumbing to American pressure. To be seen as weak in this dangerous neighborhood might cause hardliners in the military to conspire against their inexperienced leader. It might also precipitate other domestic actors to raise other challenges that would not be attempted if all perceived the regime to be of a strong, hard hand.

If North Korea's actions are unduly provocative, the same label attaches to America's conduct. America is a more prosperous and open society than North Korea; only a masochist would prefer to live in the latter. Yet, this obvious difference does not lend propriety to all American action against North Korean interests or make reprehensible all North Korean action against American interests.

This crisis reveals as much about American hubris as it does North Korean shrillness. Believing power makes it

infallible, America no longer thinks first.

It does what it feels then constructs arguments to support the visceral conduct of high policy. This would be of little consequence if America were small and powerless. However, it is the prime architect of the global system. America has yet to learn the lesson of diversity and tolerance among disparate nations. Ever since the Tower of Babel, nations have been vastly different. Given the vast spectrum of human history, culture and economic interests, the global system must be based on tolerance. Inevitably, nations will have colliding interests. Universal harmony and consensus are the stuff of dreams. Allies only exist because there too are enemies. Yet, to elevate the elimination of enemies to the position of a cardinal foreign policy tenet subjects the global system to unwarranted, destabilizing turmoil. In short, it brings too much war and conflict to be a goal worth pursuing. Strong nations must differentiate between enemies that actively pursue martial confrontation and those that do not. A nation might have to fight a hot enemy but it should never pick a fight with a cold enemy that poses no active threat to core interests.

Sadly, America has reached a stage where it believes it can and should neutralize enemies even when the nation has made no discernible move to do harm. Apparently, not doing as America wants now constitutes sufficient penalty.

Feigning democracy at home, America turns into a dictator abroad. Attempting to make the world safe for capitalist democracy, America increasingly resorts to the illiberal use of force against those nations that do not accept this particular creed. Ultimately the two roles are irreconcilable; just as a person cannot serve two masters, a nation cannot pursue two contradictory ideals. It will be true to one and make a farce of the other. The choice seems already to have been made. Sadly, democracy has been told to scrub the keel.

Too much of America's defense architecture has been privatized and is now run by profit-minded firms. The decision to war, which should be the province of sovereign government, falls under the undue influence of the private firms upon which the nation now relies for much of its defense. The privatization of national defense now constitutes a deterrent to using the military as a deterrent. Driven by profit and the need to forever expand to guarantee higher profits, the defense industry must push for ever-increasing expenditures and the manufacture of more war materiel.

Ultimately, the defense industry no longer serves the nation. The nation spends itself to service the defense industry. To maintain expenditures, the constant specter of war and crisis are needed.

That the crisis sparked now is not coincidental. A few months ago, the federal budget suffered comprehensive cuts, including defense. War hawks decried this as rendering the nation vulnerable notwithstanding the reality that America spends more on defense than the rest of the world combined. In the weeks to come, Congress and the Presidency will examine the defense cuts. With the inflated threat of a menacing nuclear North Korea as backdrop, no mainstream politician will oppose an increase in defense spending.

Thus, the beat goes on; sadly, it is the pounding of the drums of war.

In the end, the American government and North Korea's are at fault. Neither is victim. Both play with fire yet have in mind to blame the other if it should get burned by its own antics. Both sides lead their ignorant publics down paths that should not even exist. Both are guilty of rhetoric and actions more incendiary than calmative. The world should not be deceived into believing one side is more responsible than the other for the tumult.

Fortunately, active warfare is highly unlikely as it would not profit either side.

However, the appearance of crisis serves the institutional interests of the military in both nations. In apparent crisis, these institutions derive the benefits of war without suffering the pains of it. The lesson of the Korean crisis is the lesson of what becomes of nations when they allow their military bureaucracies to become so bloated that they dictate what should be the work of statesmen.

08060340825 (sms only)

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL14, 2013

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COMMENT and ANALYSIS SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013

Talakawa Liberation Herald (8)

Are there any signs or resources of hope in this troubled land (and this earth)? (2)

BY BIODUN JEYIFO Nise l’aiye n yi lo; a n to lehin ni. [The earth spins; we are swept along in its orbital path] A Yoruba metaphysical saying N last week’s opening essay in this series, we critically explored the over-saturation of signs and markers of religious hope and faith in our country, an over-saturation which, in my opinion, leads to their neutralization. In this week’s continuation of the series, we shift to secular, rational and idealistic perspectives that base their projections of hope and faith in our capacity to work in our own best interest with the use of our minds, our rational critical faculties. I can think of no better way to start an exploration of this subject than to use a brief outline of a rational, scientific metaphysics of nature and existence as an analogy for the topic of this series.

We live in bodies and on a planet in which things are perpetually in flux and nothing is static, even if for the most part we are rarely ever in full consciousness of this fundamental principle of Being. All the time and in waves, blood courses through our arteries and veins. All the time we breathe, inhaling and exhaling air in reverse oxygenated and de-oxygenated rhythmic flows.

Though silent and hardly perceptible, these flows are essential to life, so much so that it is only when we are have difficulty with breathing that is so bad as to be life-threatening that we become aware of them. Moreover, the heart itself never stops beating as long as we are alive and it too, beats in reverse rhythmic patterns of systole and diastole. And then there’s the fact that we live we are both condemned and lucky to live on a planet that is perpetually in motion, at once rotating on its axis and orbiting endlessly in space around the sun. Moreover, this planet, this earthly home for our species travels around its orbit at a speed of about1670 kilometers per hour. It is said that nature abhors a vacuum; to this we should add that nature also hates stasis.

Pondering the ramifications of this profile, it would seem that Nigerians are the perfect incarnation of nature’s abhorrence of vacuum and its disdain for stasis. With our simultaneously notorious and celebrated restless and anarchic energy, we always very quickly move to fill any vacuum, real or imagined. We seem perpetually in a hurry, even if where we are headed is often obscure, both to ourselves and to others subjecting us to scrutiny. Nearly all visitors to the diverse countries on the African continent will tell you that Nigerians are a special breed in their volatility and their over hastiness. We seem wired to a sense of flux, a sense of “bo lo o ya (fun) mi” (if you have nowhere to go, get out of the way for me!) as if at its inception, the nation took its being from that axial tilt on which the earth rotates in its eternal orbit around the sun.

But this analogy is erroneous. There is order, there is system, there is logic in the tilt of the earth on its axis and in its speed around its solar orbit. By contrast, with Nigerians it seems that all you see and get is a sort orbital flight and axial rotation without rhyme or reason. But this also is not exactly true. There is no complete absence of logic or, more pertinently, no total absence of intervention of critical intelligence in our national mania for volatility and frenetic excitability. The sad fact is that it is fitful, inconstant; and it too easily peters out. Let me explain what I mean by this and in the process bring these reflections closer to the question of real signs and resources of hope in our country.

All the characteristics of the profile that in this essay I have designated the scientific

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•L-R: Yar’Adua, Turai and Obasanjo

metaphysics of Being are not just mere facts of nature and the universe; they became known to us through patient and rigorous study over thousands of years. It was through this unceasing study over the ages that humankind has been able to make use of the processes and forces of nature to our benefit – the nature inside and outside our bodies. We have penetrated deep into the internal organs and processes in our bodies and as a result we have come to have fuller and better knowledge of who and what we are. And this rational and critical knowledge has enabled us to intervene so as to make the work of these organs and processes better for our heath and our longevity.

The same thing is even more dramatically truer of the study of the earth and the heavens in the planetary system. Finding that our eyes and brains are not adequately equipped to effectively tackle the awesome challenges of observation, calculation and calibration over vast distances and spaces, we have fashioned instruments that can compute faster and better than the sum of the intelligence of all human beings alive now in combination with the intelligence of all those who have ever lived. If, as we take stock of our place in the universe we are no longer terrified of all that we are yet to know, it is because our knowledge, our rational faculties have given us hope that we have the capacity to successfully confront present and yet to be discovered frontiers.

The analogical corollary to this observation is that it has been only when Nigerians have taken critical stock of the restless energy and the volatility that seem so characteristic of the national psyche and redirected them to purposive ends that they have served as resources of hope. Without interventions of this purposive order, our restless energy and our volatility can be and are often turned to either negative, destructive ends or are domesticated and manipulated by charismatic religious zealots. Nigerians like to boast that the citizens of most of the other countries in Africa seem “slower”, seem more lethargic by comparison with us. If all that was needed for the unity, peace and progress of nations was restlessness and volatility, we would long ago have emerged as the most developed and the most just nation on the African continent which is most definitely far from the state of things in our country.

In case some readers are inclined to see these observations and reflections as too speculative, let me put out a reminder to

such readers that at critical moments since the return to civilian “democratic” rule in 1999 when deep political and constitutional crises seemed about to bring the present Fourth Republic down and plunge us back to either disintegration of the country or a return to autocratic military rule, it was the redirection of the volatility and restlessness of the masses of ordinary Nigerians to purposive ends that saved the day. Let me rephrase this claim: since 1999, every time that it has seemed that members of the political class were not only about to collectively self-destruct but also to take the entire country down with them, it has been the redirection of the volatile energy of ordinary Nigerians toward restitution that has made the difference. That is one of the most important sources of hope for our country, especially as we approach 2015 and the next circle of national and state elections. Let me put some flesh on the bare bones of this contention.

In 2006 and 2010, the ruling party, the PDP, more or less imploded, taking most of the other political parties with it in crises that brought the country to the edge of catastrophe. In both instances, all the constitutional and institutional provisions for democratic governance proved useless in resolving the respective crisis and the ruling parties could no longer govern with anything close to legitimacy. The first case had to do with the so-called “Third Term” attempt of Obasanjo to perpetuate himself in power. His efforts to carry the PDP with him and his use of national coffers to offer colossal bribes to members of the National Assembly both failed, but Obasanjo was unrelenting. In the second case, a dying Yar’ Adua left a vacuum that was quickly and unconstitutionally filled by his soon to be widow, Turai, together with some accomplices. The power which they then arrogantly exercised was as illegal as it was corrupt and nation-wrecking. In each of these two instances, it was not until the masses of ordinary Nigerians, under the guidance of activist groups like SNG, patriotic professional associations like the NBA, civil society organisations and trade unions, intervened that the National Assembly found the spine, the backbone to rise to the demands of the occasion.

There is a third case that is even more eloquent in its illustration of our central claim in this series that the restless energy, the volatility of our peoples, supervened by the application of rational and vision-

ary patriotism, constitutes one of the best sources of hope for our troubled homeland. For in this particular case, the masses did not intervene to clean up the mess, to avert a drift to national catastrophe caused by the political elite; they intervened on their own behalf and in their own interest.

Who, among the readers of this piece does not know that I am referring here to the massively successful nation-wide strike in early 2012 against the attempt to remove fuel subsidies? And who does not know that this particular mass intervention in their own interest so frightened the ruling party that it brought out troops to suppress the strike?

About four years ago, on one unforgettable evening in Akoka in Lagos close to the gates of the University of Lagos, I sat with my friend, Femi Osofisan in his car for nearly two hours as an endless sea of humanity coming from a mass religious revival meeting held by the MMF completely stopped all traffic, vehicular and non-vehicular. I swear that prior to that occasion I had never seen anything like it.

But Osofisan had and indeed, he was a bit bemused by my utter surprise at the phenomenon. Only when I explained the source of my surprise, my bewilderment, did he enter into a conversation with me on the event.

We can be sure that no ruler in Nigeria will ever bring out the tanks and the troops to stop the vast throng of worshippers, the sea of humanity going to or coming from an MMF revival; as a matter of fact, this is something that would warm their hearts.

We can also deduce from the two cases of Obasanjo’s “Third Term” bid and the Turai Yar’ Adua “palace coup” that when the masses intervene to clean up the mess created by our political class, the powers that be will also not bring out the troops and the tanks. Since they did so when the masses were on the move during the fuel subsidy removal strike, three questions arise. One: Which of these instances of mass movement and action constitutes a real source of hope for our country and its teeming masses of the looted and the disenfranchised? Two: Are these three different cases in fact unrelated? Three: What is the point in asking this sort of questions?

This will be our starting point in next week’s conclusion to the series.

Biodun Jeyifo bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

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Festus Eriye efestus2003@yahoo.com

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

Comment & Analysis

NTIL President Goodluck Jonathan buckled in spectacular fashion and surrendered to the amnesty lobby following a late night visit to Aso Rock by selected Northern elders, the growing impression was that the shadowy characters in Boko Haram-land were all falling over themselves to embrace peace and dialogue.

Apologists for the terrorists suggested that the hardline positions adopted by many in the leadership of the security agencies was down to the fact that certain powerful persons were profiting financially from the continued conflict. We certainly cannot discount the fact that where there’s war, people will make money prosecuting it. But that clearly is not the entire story.

Some reports even suggested intriguingly that when the Sultan of Sokoto came out strongly in support of the amnesty, Jonathan missed an opportunity to quicken the journey to peace and quiet by not inviting him for further discussions. Instead, he headed to Maiduguri to make his uncompromising speech about not doing business with ‘ghosts.’

Those who created the impression the Sultan had the Boko Haram hierarchy on speed dial, as well as a clear sense of their thinking and mindset must surely now be cringing in embarrassment. Would the traditional ruler have stuck out his neck if he really knew the sect’s high command will pull the sort of stunt they just did? I doubt not.

Now, the spine of the extremists for whom the amnesty is being sought has come out openly to throw the deal in the faces of their potential boosters.

But rather being a tragedy, I take the position that Shekau and his goons did eve-

Between the devil and the deep blue sea ryone a favour by spurning a government amnesty that is yet to be formally made. Their action will reduce pressure on Jonathan and help him retrace his steps to the right course in tackling the North-Eastern insurgency.

I expect the government will continue with its wrong-headed amnesty process since it has committed itself in that direction. Ultimately, a declaration will be made that will draw in elements in the faction led by one Sheik Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulazeez which has said they are fed up with the bloodletting and now want peace. What no one has told us is how many people this fellow has under his wings.

You also have to factor in the Ansaru faction which claimed responsibility for the execution of seven foreign hostages a few weeks ago, and still shows no indication of wanting peace. With Shekau and his team still at large, the amnesty rejection means a large number of anarchists will still be out there bent on perpetrating mayhem.

Again, we don’t know how dominant or large these forces are. But the government will have no option than to confront them because they will be outside the amnesty net – meaning a return to the military force option that many in the northern elite are increasingly leery of.

Unfortunately, in our confusion we begin to get things muddled up. For instance, the greatest obstacle to dialogue and negotiations has always been the intransigence and

unrealistic positions taken by the Islamists, not the reluctance of the Jonathan administration to do a quick deal. And let no one deceive themselves; these outlandish demands are not negotiating gambits – but clear statements of belief by a band of people dancing to a different beat.

This is Shekau in his latest video spurning Jonathan’s hand of fellowship: “Surprisingly, the Nigerian government is talking about granting us amnesty. What wrong have we done? On the contrary, it is we that should grant you pardon.”

This is coming from the leader of a sect that has killed over three thousand people in the last three years. Some of their victims were unarmed combatants worshipping in churches; some were travelers like those blown to bits at the Kano bus park not too long ago. With so much blood of the innocents on his hands, this fellow has the gall to ask ‘what wrong have we done?’ That statement couldn’t have been made by someone with a grip on reality.

Negotiations and amnesties are not the sort of things you offer to the likes of Shekau.

What will you give him in exchange for peace? A fistful of naira in order that he renounces his belief in jihad, or repudiates his demand for Sharia law in the land? Will Jonathan’s deal get sect members to disavow their belief that Western education is sinful?

“Negotiations and amnesties are not the sort of things you offer to the likes of Shekau. What will you give him in exchange for peace? A fistful of naira in order that he renounces his belief in jihad, or repudiates his demand for Sharia law in the land?”

Will you get them to drop their visceral hatred of Christians because of the promise not to prosecute? Not likely! The demands of Boko Haram are non-negotiable.

I can understand the fear and frustration up north, and appreciate how desperate people are for a return to normalcy. However, we need to address our minds to the reality that there begin to will be no pain-free way to deal with this problem. That is why those passing off the amnesty as a sure-fire cure are guilty of selling their people a badly-packaged brand of false hope.

Ultimately, some form of talks will take place between the Islamists and the authorities, but that will only come after they have been significantly broken militarily. It will take time, and the traumatisation of local communities by the actions of both sides with continue, until the forces of law and order prevail.

It happened in Algeria. Some estimates say between 70,000 and 150,000 lives were lost as the government battled Islamists in war that lasted between 1991 and 2002. No one is wishing that sort of calamity on Nigeria.

What started with legitimate grievances following the annulment of elections which the Islamists looked set to win soon snowballed into something else. The terrorists launched a brutal campaign of bombings and indiscriminate slaughter not just against security forces, but against unarmed villagers in the countryside. Several presidents came and went while the war lasted. In the end, the commitment of the security forces led to the collapse of the insurgency, and the unilateral ceasefire by some of the more notorious bands of Islamist guerillas.

Some form of amnesty was introduced towards the tail of the conflict, and it is credited with hastening the end of the violence, as the holdouts could easily be isolated for the security forces to deal with.

And that is part of the problem with our so-called amnesty. In our indecent haste to buy peace at all costs we are offering deals to a group that still feels it is in a position to call the shots – a clear case of insult compounding our injuries.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

Comment & Analysis

15

What shall we do with the police?

The force is faced with dire institutional rot

C

OULD it be that each day breaks with the sole purpose of revealing the misery that has become the Nigeria Police? Has the initial good sense shown by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Abubakar quickly dissipated in the overwhelming rot that assailed the police boss upon resumption? Indeed, Nigeria’s number one law enforcement agency today represents a long list of sad questions; it is an interminable list of unsolved and unsolvable crimes; it is everything that is unsavoury and unpalatable.

This is not about the sordid episode of the Ikeja Police College which state of dereliction shocked the world recently. Two fresh matters last week highlight the dire state of the Nigeria Police. First was the muffled outcry of about 48 men of MOPOL 4 Command, Ibadan, who were recently deployed to Kano in the heat of the increased tempo of terrorist activities in the ancient northern city.

The hapless men, unable to contain their frustrations any longer made their plight known to the world: they had been without food or water for over 10 days, they alleged in pained anonymous voices as police rules barred them from speaking out. No allowances were paid them for nearly two weeks and to cap it all, they said, “We were not sure who is responsible for our welfare; we were told it should be the Kano State Government but the right thing is for the state police command to take charge of the situation.”

The sad tale goes further: “for those of us in Rano Area Command, we have to make daily trips to buy food, water and charge our phones. The well water at the recreational centre where we live is not good for drinking. There is no light and our phones are the only means of communicating.” Speaking through its chief spokesperson, the police authority has dismissed the story of these men as “false, baseless and with no iota of truth.”

But, as if to weigh in on the side of the men

T

HE write-up by your guest columnist, Professor Ibrahim BelloKano, on the above subject, in the Sunday 31st March issue of The Nation refers. I would have ignored some of his illogical logic, but for the fact that he is a professor.

Firstly, he wrote from a sense of hurt ego. His angry reaction to some statements in Achebe’s books was palpable.

So, there was no way his write-up could have been intellectually objective. Therefore, I do not regard his comments as scholarly arguments, but mere vituperative out-

A

S Peter Tosh said in one of his songs “Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die”. Yes truly, nobody wants to die; we always do everything possible to prevent death from visiting us.

Unfortunately, this monster sneaked into the Ekiti Government House on April 6, and took away our treasured, dependable, dedicated and loyal Adunni Olfunmilayo Olayinka, the deputy governor. Immediately, this sad news spread across the state, demoralisation, disillusionment and sorrow took over the Government House.

I have known the Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, closely since our student activism days at the University of Lagos (UNILAG. He is very courageous, strong-hearted,

and to lend credence to the seeming fiscal anomie and impecunious state of the force, our second story is a revelation about how police stations in Nigeria are run on less than N2,000.00 daily. Yes, two thousand naira per day. According to Senator Gyang Pwajok (PDP, Plateau north), the police force is grossly underfunded and some divisions and stations do not even get up to that paltry sum.

Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Pwajok corroborates his assertion thus: “In the 2013 budget for instance, the police force has a total vote of N300 billion. Of that amount, N293 billion is for recurrent expenditure like salaries for the more than 400,000 police personnel.

“It is from the balance of about N8 billion that the 1,115 police divisions, 5,515 police stations and 5,000 police posts are run. Most of those formations do not even get anything at all and that is why they do not have crime diaries, stationery or even biros.” We also believe that the police funds need to be audited, and a clear report released on how every kobo is spent in the recurrent context.

These stories sound weird but we all know that they represent the Nigerian reality; the situation is bleak and indeed forlorn for a primary institution of state on which hinges her law, order and overall protection of the citizenry. The police, being so germane to the very existence of any state, should never be allowed to be thus imperiled as TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

•Editor Festus Eriye •Deputy Editor Olayinka Oyegbile •Associate Editors Taiwo Ogundipe Sam Egburonu

•Managing Director/ Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh •Chairman, Editorial Board Sam Omatseye •General Editor Kunle Fagbemi

the Nigeria Police has become today.

It is particularly troubling that at a time when the Nigerian state is literally at war fighting all shades of armed elements that are breaking out from every corner of the country, the police remain underfunded, poorly trained and illorganised. With the Boko Haram Islamists terrorising half of the country in the last decade, it is expected that the police would have been the main beneficiary of this adversity through improved funding, quality training and improved professionalism. As we all can see, nothing has changed.

As we have said here often, government must rethink, revamp and restructure the police as a first step for containing the crises erupting across the country.

It is a delicate, if not dangerous state of affairs as we have today that soldiers are let loose on nearly all the 36 states of the federation doing civil duties and supposedly maintaining the peace. It is an aberrant and indeed suicidal state of affairs. The Federal Government has also unwisely created all manner of quasilaw enforcement agencies purporting to carry out police functions but merely dissipating scarce funds that would have served policing better. For instance, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC); the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) among a number of others, are effectively, units of the police which have merely burgeoned as bureaucratic centres and have drained scarce funds without necessarily being more effective.

As we have canvassed several times, the Federal Government must rethink the current centrality of the police which has failed woefully. As currently constituted, the states virtually fund the police while the central government holds the command. We posit that the Federal Government can begin to gradually cede some policing authority to the states while maintaining oversight and overall control. The police force as presently constituted is not working and it serves no purpose, either to itself or the citizenry. We must restructure it.

LETTERS

Bello-Kano missed it on Achebe bursts.

Secondly, his conception of leadership constraints is anything but imaginative.

After reading his comments on leadership constraints, I understood why Nigeria, after over half a century of political independence, has remained backward, especially the northern part.

My thinking was further reinforced by the fact that for a preponderant part of this period, Nigeria was ruled by northern leaders. Every leader must of necessity choose some of the intellectual elite as advisers. And it is these northern intellectuals of Bello-Kano’s ilk who “mis-advised” these northern leaders, thereby or-

chestrating their misrule for so long.

Professor Bello-Kano does not believe that a nation stands or falls on leadership. He does not believe that a leader can rise above his circumstances to do something imaginative in content and transformational in context. His unintellectual analysis of

leadership constraints is feudalistic.

Thirdly and finally, I do not want to believe that a person of Professor Bello-Kano’s academic standing does not read widely. Of course, there are professors who are narrowminded, just focusing on their area of specialisation and ignorant of the wider world.

Otherwise, how can I explain the professor’s lack of sense of history? Does he not know the almost impossible constraints Otto Von Bismarck, the father of the modern German nation faced? Has he not heard what it took Ataturk to construct a secular Turkey? He should read “From the third world to first” The Singapore story: 1965-2000 by Lee Kuan Yew. There are many other examples. I believe what Professor Bello-Kano needs is a tutorial on “Creative Imagination.”

Rev Osita Obed Onyema, email:ositaobed2002@yahoo.co.uk

When death sneaked into Ekiti Government House and a fearless warrior; but all these qualities failed him this time around. His Excellency broke down and cried like a baby. That was the first time I would see Dr. Fayemi weep uncontrollably. Even when he lost his mother last year, I don’t think he cried like that.

On the second day, when the governor was making a state-wide broadcast, it got to a point that he could no longer control his emotion. Once again he burst into tears. One can understand why. As he said in his broadcast “I am pained by the exit of our deputy governor who was my ready partner in our collective quest to develop our state. As my dependable ally in the struggle to free Ekiti, she was a consist-

ent bulwark of support, especially through the period of the judicial struggle to reclaim our mandate”.

Erelu Bisi Fayemi, the first lady of Ekiti State was also devastated and demoralised. In fact she has not been herself since this sad occurrence because they were so close. They did most things in common. Indeed, my wife pointed out when we saw the First Lady and the late Deputy Governor together at the thanksgiving service held in honour of the Chief of Staff to the governor, Chief Yemi Adaramodu, at the pro-cathedral Catholic Church Ilawe-Ekiti late 2010, that she was becoming more interested in politics because of the activities of the duo. They encour-

aged women in politics and women empowerment.

The late Deputy Governor even pointed out in one of the interviews she granted the Broadcasting Service of Ekiti State (BSES) during their struggle that it was Erelu Fayemi who made female Deputy Governor a condition to support her husband.

Throughout the period of campaigns, legal battles up till Saturday when the Deputy Governor died, the duo worked as partners. One can then understand why Erelu Fayemi is devastated. It is just like losing a twin sister.

Coming to the Chief of Staff, anyone who is close to the government knows that Adaramodu was the closest

person in government to the late Deputy Governor. She always jokingly referred to Adaramodu as “The chief of all staffs, including herself and the Governor”. So, one cannot be flabbergasted to see the Chief of Staff crying the way he did.

It got to a point that somebody whispered to me that “so man yi o tie le” meaning that so this man is not tough or strong. The belief in many quarters in Ekiti State is that Adaramodu is very tough and unapproachable. Far from it, the Chief of Staff, a brother is compassionate, caring and friendly. That much became evident with the Deputy Governor’s death.

The death of our beauti-

ful, intelligent and hardworking Deputy Governor is a great loss to the bereaved family, the Fayemi administration, the people of the state and the nation as a whole. Though we have lost a brave and committed Deputy Governor, her work, her message and spirit still live.

Those of us that she left behind must know that death is an inevitable debt that we must all pay one day. May her soul rest in perfect peace.

Good night, her Excellency Adunni Olufunmilayo Olayinka.

– Sina Awelewa, Director-General, Broadcasting Service of Ekiti State (BSES)

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Ropo Sekoni ropo.sekoni @thenationonlineng.net

T

HE Guardian's front-page story on April 9 about the escape of Lagos from massive bombing of its Third Mainland Bridge must be good news to many of the 18 million people living in the state, otherwise referred to as a megacity of many towns joined by highways and bridges. Apart from the spirit of 'thank God it did not happen' that is expected from the lips of millions of indigenes and residents of Lagos State, there must be millions that must have been losing sleep since The Guardian broke the news that the weapons of mass destruction unearthed inOjora-Badia a few weeks ago were made to bomb and destroy Lagos. There are others who are already saying: 'How lucky is Nigeria again!'

Of course, there must be questions on the lips of many patriots about the shroud that has been used to cover the story, especially the magnitude of the intention of Boko Haram terrorists that planned to hit the Third Mainland Bridge. Was the silence intended to keep troubling information from citizens and thus avoid panic? The fact that traffic has been unusually light on the bridge and in Lagos in general since Tuesday is an indication that people are already panicking. Would it have been better for the country's security minders to have grades of

Femi Orebe femi.orebe @thenationonlineng.net 08056504626 (sms only)

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013

Comment & Analysis

NCLE, your article today is a masterpiece’; ‘egbon, an absolutely brilliant piece, e ku’se ilu’ and so on and so forth. That was how I got this riveting encouragement, week in, week out, from none other than the Amazon herself; the young, totally irreplaceable Moremi-Ekiti , Her Excellency, Mrs Funmi Olayinka, the Ekiti State Deputy Governor, who translated to higher glory exactly a week ago. Tell it not on Ekiti streets; let it not be heard in the redoubtable Famuagun family house in Ado-Ekiti which has since turned a centre of pilgrimage. Nor must her ‘twin-sister’, the woman who stood ramrod beside her all through those agonizsing years of chemotherapy, and yet more chemo; whilst some idle, ignorant do-nothings gossiped endlessly about a so-called portfolio hijack, remember that her sister is gone, never to be seen on this side of the divide.

Moremi- Ekiti, the woman who stood, unwavering, beside Dr John Kayode Fayemi throughout those nervy, energy sapping years of a titanic struggle against Nigeria’s men of illicit power, was as brilliant as she was radiant. Loyal to the end, our departed Amazon was a study in reliability. ‘Obirin bi okunrin’ - a sheman!

Mrs Olayinka neither wavered, nor was she ever discouraged even as she got thrown into the jungle that Nigerian politics has become; a whole world away from her serene banking profession where she had risen to lofty heights in some of Nigeria’s leading banks. Such was her steely nature and single-mindedness, even at the height of serial treachery

Aborted Lagos bomb: Another good luck for Nigeria?

The country cannot afford any bombing in Lagos alert about the danger posed by Boko Haram for citizens, the way it is done in other countries bedeviled by terrorism and suicide bombers?

Even if we succeed in appeasing the current initiates of Boko Haram with amnesty, it may be necessary for the presidency to find ways of warning citizens about the degree of danger facing them, as there is likely to be another group of BokoHaramists after the ongoing amnesty process, should the sect that has confessed to turning the North of Nigeria into an Islamic state agree to monetized amnesty. Has the country not known threats from Niger Delta militants after the first amnesty which has now become a model or precedent to borrow in fighting the greatest threat to the country's unity since the pogrom in the North in 1966 and the civil war that the killing of Igbos in the North generated.

As scary as the news of plans to bomb Lagos is, security chiefs and the average citizen should not be surprised that Boko Haram finally came to Lagos to deploy bombs. It would have been surprising if it never got to this. The Yoruba have a saying: Aladugbotio n koasoara re siabatako le ma yaasoenielenisiwewe (A neighbour that puts his own clothes in the mud should have no qualms shredding other persons' clothes). Apart from killing Christians in the North,

Boko Haram terrorists also killed fellow northerners in bars. Many of them even killed themselves in the process of suicide bombing. Why would they not attempt to do the same in the nation's commercial and cultural capital?

Still on why no one should expect the terrorist sect to stay away from Lagos, Lagos is the most graphic illustration of the impact of Western civilization or education in the country. Why should anyone be surprised that proponents of Education is Sin have planned to destroy the most convincing evidence that western education can also bring as driver of progress to parts of the country that appear to be addicted to western education? It is good for everyone that members of the Islamist terrorist group that came to Lagos to operate have been foiled and their plans aborted. But it is not yet Uhuru. Security and non-security workers in Lagos and other cities should not rest on their oars yet. Boko Haram is not dead yet. The Boko Haram imagination is not likely to die so readily, not even after Boko Haram in all its manifestations: religious, criminal, and political, to borrow the categorization of General Buhari, would have been appeased or assuaged with offers of amnesty.

Boko Haram illustrates some of the ironies in the Nigerian polity and

society. It is an organization that hates western education but relies in its operations on products of western education. Boko Haram was birthed in the section of the country that believes that the unity of Nigeria is the only issue worth paying attention to, even if doing this is at the expense of the happiness of many sections of the country. In addition, the Islamist terrorist group is native to the section of the country that is mortally opposed to multilevel policing and law enforcement in the country. It is the same group that has hobbled the presidency and the country's monolevel security architecture that is being appeased with offer of amnesty before any negotiation. It is the same sect that is driven by religious bigotry that is being cajoled by leaders of an admittedly secular or multi-religious country.

It would have been the mother of ironies if Boko Haram had succeeded in bombing the Third Mainland Bridge while the rest of the country was busy bending over backward to appease the terrorist sect with amnesty. There is no doubt that the people of Lagos must be expressing in their private spaces gratitude to the nation's security group after the news that they were saved from mass murder by Intelligence workers that napped the suicide bombers waiting in Ijora-Badia to hatch their nefari-

ous plans.

But gratitude to security staff may not be enough to save Lagos or any other city for that matter. What is needed is for every Lagosian to see himself and herself from this moment on as security intelligence staff. The country cannot afford any bombing in Lagos. This may be too dangerous for the unity of the country, as Lagosians and their relations elsewhere are likely to go berserk if any of the three bridges is destroyed with motorists on them.

This may be the best time to stop sectionalising the call for state and community police as the Constitution Technical Committee did when it reported that it is only the Southwest that is asking for state police. The same trivialisation occurred when leaders of major Nigerian nationalities dubbed NADECO's struggle for restoration of democracy a Yoruba affair, but the rest about that is now history.

Nigeria cannot afford to wait until everybody in the Southwest, Southeast, South-south, and even in the regions of birth of Boko Haram become his or her own police.The process of dialogue and offer of amnesty to Boko Haram must include calling other Nigerian nationalities to a conference to agree on the way to make the nation's unity sustainable and pleasurable to citizens from all sections and religions in the country.

Moremi-Ekiti goes home The late Mrs Olayinka lived a life of service when otherwise respected ministers in the temple of justice , and their ignoble soul-mates in judicial merchandising, thought nothing of selling their conscience to the highest bidder, that she soon became a Job’s comforter to her leader and other distraught party members on those occasions when justice was shamelessly trampled.

But nothing encapsulates our departed titan more than Senator Femi Ojudu’s tribute to her, quoted here mutatis mutandis. And the senator should know. Once it was decided, on the advice of Erelu Bisi Fayemi, that the Deputy Governorship candidate should preferably be a woman and the party added the additional proviso that she must come from Ado-Ekiti, it became Ojudu’s task, given by the party, to head-hunt a candidate who, like Dr Kayode Fayemi, is well-educated, independent-minded, decent and of impeccable integrity’. Wrote Femi: “We lost an asset. A consummate administrator, an unparalleled image maker, radiant, brilliant, self-confident, and a quintessential Ekiti woman who gave a good face to Ekiti State. Without the slightest hesitation, continued the senator, she left her plum bank job and went headlong into the murky waters of politics, determined to give of her best to her people. I will miss you.” He continues, Kayode and Bisi Fayemi will miss you. The entire Ekiti people will miss you. Ado Ekiti will miss you. Both E11 and the Afenifere Renewal Group, of which you were a pioneer member, will miss you.

And most importantly, Lanre, your better half, will miss you. Yeside and her sisters, your three adorable daughters, will miss you dearly. Papa and Mama Famuagun and the entire Sasere clan will miss you. You gave our struggle and the one you waged against that debilitating disease all you got. You never wavered. Rather,

you were courageous, full of hope and kept reassuring me that all will be well even when I had to apologise to you at those low moments for bringing you into the rough and tumble of partisan politics.”

It has been a stream of tributes, from far and near. As at the last count, almost all the state governors or their emissaries had visited to commiserate with their brother governor and the family of the late Mrs Olayinka.

Both Ekiti Elders Council, under the lead of our highly regarded Papa, Chief J.E Babatola himself, and Christ’s School Elders forum led by Chief F. A. D Daramola, have been here too, and on the occasion, Chief Dele Falegan, on behalf of the Special Intervention And Empowerment Programme (SIEP), which he chairs in the state, said as follower of the late Deputy Governor: ‘she came like a meteorite, fulfilled her early call with elegance, diligence, confidence, humility and honesty and, disappeared from the stage at her appointed time like a meteorite. You lost a partner in progress and we all lost her. She died at the flower of youth, loved, renowned, honoured and celebrated.”

And, paraphrasing the authors of THE LONG WALK, a book which details the odyssey of Dr Fayemi’s mandate retrieval battle, themselves active participants in the seemingly intractable struggle, the departed Deputy Governor was born in AdoEkiti in 1960 and attended both Holy Trinity Grammar School, Ibadan and the Olivet Baptist High School, Oyo, before travelling abroad for further studies. She holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration and a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from the Central State University, Edmond, Oklahoma, United States, where she was three times on the Dean’s Honour’s roll. A Marketing Analyst & Strategist, she started her banking career at First Bank Plc

and later worked at both Access Bank and the now defunct Merchant Banking Corporation. In UBA she served as Head, Brand Management & Corporate Affairs and left the industry as Head, Corporate Services Department of Ecobank Transatlantic Inc. Of the departed Mrs Olayinka, they further wrote: ‘the late Funmi Adunni Olayinka was a highly personable woman, a mobilising impresario and motivational speaker.

So concerned was she that in the maneat- man phenomenon that Ekiti politics became, she regularly kept in touch with the spouses of those involved in the struggle without the knowledge of their partners. She always encouraged party supporters, assuring them that all would be well as victory would certainly come the way of the ACN. She regularly enjoined Ekiti women to be steadfast in their support for justice as by so doing they were securing the future of their children.”

Brilliant, prayerful and untiring, she took her courageous singlemindedness into fighting the punishing disease that she had, since 2009, been diagnosed with. She gave it no quarters and did not slow down at work either, always saying it would be unfair to the Ekiti people who entrusted Dr Kayode Fayemi and herself with their mandate to do otherwise. Her’s was a life of service. Even as she would not inform family members of her medical travails lest she put them in unbearable torture or even earlier death for her aged parents, she had the unstinting empathy and unqualified support of the governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, and that of her friend, and sister, the First Lady, Erelu Bisi Fayemi. While Erelu gave her unceasing emotional support, the Governor ensured that the best oncologists in the world , whether in the U.K, U.S or India attended to her in search for the elu-

sive cure.

It has been tears galore all over Ekiti, if not in the entire country since she passed on. But truth be told, seeing what I have, whether in her Lagos house, in the Famuagun family house, not to mention the indescribable scenes in the Ekiti State House, I dare say her departure could not have been more momentous and glorious even if she had lived three lives. Therefore, we must all take heart, accept that God is the all-knowing and infallible one who knows all and has chosen to call her home. For our departed darling sister and Ekiti's second ranking citizen therefore, it must be a celebration of life and thanks galore to God Almighty as the Holy Writ has enjoined us to do in all circumstances.

Mrs Funmi Olayinka touched lives and was an integral part of what the state Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, calls his Collective Rescue Mission. What remains for us to do is pray for her sweet repose at the feet of Jesus and eternal grace on all she left behind, especially her very aged parents, her husband and the young girls she was blessed with.

At a time like this too, we must all remember Ekiti State in our corporate and individual prayers and ask that the Almighty God continues to guard, and guide our Governor and his family. We must specifically ask God to continue to uphold and renew him so that he will neither fail nor falter in his determined effort to uplift Ekiti. Adieu, our adorable, totally committed Moremi, a name Ekiti people had long given her in sheer admiration of her service and commitment ala an earlier Moremi whose votive sacrifice saved her IleIfe Yoruba ethnic group from annihilation by the invading Baribas.

Adieu, dear Avatar, rest at the feet of your Lord and savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, till we meet to part no more.

Comment & Analysis

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

Tunji

Adegboyega

In Nigeria, the Lord is (truly) our shepherd Its seems govt is merely paying lip service to improving police force

tunjade@yahoo.co.uk 08054503906 (sms only)

I

F God cannot go on strike, Nigeria must be one strong reason why. Indeed, if God goes on strike, then we are doomed in this country. What I am saying is that if the Lord has not been for us, the country’s security situation would have been worse. I said this because, in spite of pious statements of commitment to improving our police force by the Federal Government, these statements, unlike effective demand, do not seemed backed by the required action, given the unsavoury reports coming out about the force in recent times; from the Channels expose on the Police College in Ikeja, Lagos, to the ridiculous posting of police personnel to farflung places without making any provision for them in those stations.

But, a report in Daily Trust of April 8, merely confirmed why all these are happening. Headlined “Police stations run on less than N2,000 daily’ – Senator. According to the report, quoting Senator Gyang Pwajok (PDP, Plateau North), the police force remains grossly underfunded such that some police stations and divisions do not even get as much as N2,000 a day. Let’s hear him: “In the 2013 budget, for instance, the police force has a total vote of N300billion. Of that amount, N293billion is for recurrent expenditure like salaries for the more than 400,000 police personnel. It is from the balance of N8 billion that the 1,115 police divisions, 5,515 police stations and 5,000 police posts are run”. Before President Goodluck Jonathan characteristically wonders how Senator Pwajok ‘penetrated’ the

Postscript, Unlimited!

By

Oyinkan Medubi 07057012862 (SMS only) puchuckles7@gmail.com

I

T is a truism indeed that if one stares at the earth long and hard enough, it will yield its stories. It will tell the stories of all the good feet that trod it going to and fro. It will even tell of the not so good feet that stamped it frothing to and fro like the devil’s nostrils. More importantly, it will recount the tales of the incredibly brave and stupendously stupid acts of men (and women) who marched on it with wanton gusto, shed blood and sweat, routed friends and enemies alike and generally carried on as if the world was their oyster. It will tell of feet that traipsed and skipped in the purity of joyous men (and women) made happy. These are the tales that the earth tells when one patiently stares long and hard at it.

The earth in Nigeria is right now recording for posterity unprintable tales of purposelessly and wilfully destroyed lives and properties. It is recording into its cracks now how people have been widowed and orphaned for reasons no one can comprehend, least of all the victims. Even though the nation is not at war, the earth is recording how a group has decided to wring one out nevertheless. It is silently recording how a war

17

force to get these figures, it is pertinent to say that what the senator did was simply to divide the N8 billion among these police formations; and it is this that translates to about N2,000 per day or less.

I am going to quote the senator extensively, not for lack of a better way to paraphrase what he said, but because sometimes, it is better to hear from the horse’s mouth Senator Pwajok should know, as a member of the country’s upper legislative chamber. From his statements, Nigerians can now understand why policemen in some stations ask them to bring their biros and paper to write statements in the police stations. So, when next you have the (mis)fortune of going to a police station and the policemen there behave in an unfriendly manner (despite the fact that they are said to be our friend), you have to bear with them. The fault is probably not in them; but in the system that we are all guilty of not being in a hurry to change.

Senator Pwajok added : “I think we have the qualified personnel to do the job, but the Nigerian system has failed the force because we do

not give them what they require to excel…. A police station is expected to source intelligence report and ensure effective communication between teams on the field and those in the offices’. ‘The station officer is also expected to get informants and fund them. He is also expected to ensure the smooth and speedy movement of men and materials from one point of need to the other. No one can do that on N2, 000’. ’It is the least funded of the security outfits. The office of the National Security Adviser has about 100 advisory officers, but it has a vote of N100billion in the 2013 budget. The police force is wider but is not considered for such effective funding’.

Senator Pwajok is not done, ‘From the 2013 budget, the nation spends an average of N1.6million annually on a soldier, N9.8million on a sailor and N7.1million on the air force man or woman; but spends N0.078million per police personnel… In effect, the running cost of each naval staff is equal to that of 12 policemen, while each airman is nine times as important as a policeman’. How can we sleep with our

two eyes closed in this kind of situation?

I hear the Police College in Ikeja is now wearing a new look, barely weeks after the damning Channels Television story that depicts the rot in the place. Now, the questions: has the government released new funds to refurbish the college? Or, were those supposed to act woken up from inertia by the story? Where has the money now being spent on the college been stuck all this while? Could it be that some people would have ‘chopped’ it if Channels had not spilled the beans? These are questions that would be making the rounds in saner countries where people are shocked when the issue is fraud or corruption.

Be that as it may, what is needed most is not necessarily the rending of the clothes but rending of the heart.

The environment has to look good, no doubt; but beyond that is the welfare of the police officers undergoing training in those colleges. How many policemen and women in training now share one fish head? Water is a basic necessity; are the young men and women on training still going

across the Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Way in Ikeja to fetch water? I feel somehow seeing them dash across the popular road, which also leads to the local airport, in their green shorts and white vests, with buckets of water on their heads. This in Lagos; and in the twenty-first century!

For me, Pwajok’s revelations have opened more cans of worms than the several seminars and symposiums that have been held on the police force. What they simply tell us is that we have been deceiving ourselves about improving police welfare. We know what the problem is yet we have been beating about the bush, wasting money on seminars and workshops ostensibly to improve the force.

David, the psalmist, must have had Nigerians in mind when he composed Psalms like 27, 46 and 91.

And it is these I recommend to our people whenever they are going to bed at night. And, when they wake up in the morning in one piece, they should not forget to read Psalm 23 before venturing out of their homes.

The Lord, indeed, is our shepherd.

Still on ‘The Faleye metaphor’

L

AST week, I carried the pathetic story of a young Nigerian, Oluseun Samuel Faleye who is studying electronics and telecommunications engineering in Shenyang Aerospace University (SAU), in China, on this page. He had obtained his diploma at the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology, Zaria, and proceeded to the Chinese university for his degree programme. Those who read the piece last Sunday would have seen the sequence of events that led to his being stranded just about four months to the end of his degree programme.

His programme ends in July; but the efforts of the last20 months in China might be in vain unless he is able to get about N1million needed to complete his course.

As a matter of fact, the money must have increased as we speak because I gathered his visa expired at the end of last month and this means an additional N9,000 per day, since the policy in China is ‘no

school fees, no visa’. This means an additional N277,500 per month until and unless he is able to pay the fees.

This recap is necessary for two reasons: first, because of the seriousness of the matter and second, for the sake of readers who felt I should have left an account number in Nigeria where people touched by the young man’s plight could give their widow’s mite. All the contacts I gave last week were in China so that those who might want to verify the genuineness of the case could easily do so. We thank the professor who set the ball rolling by giving N100,000 to alleviate Faleye’s plight. His name and other donors will be made public at the appropriate time, unless they choose to be anonymous. You want to help? Please pay into the following account numbers: Samson Adewole Faleye, A/C No. 3027450379 First Bank, or Samson Adewole Faleye, A/C No. 0112611856, GTB. Thank you.

Waging peace and forging wars Let us not wage peace, just because Boko Haram is forging wars. is being forged right before everyone’s eyes.

The situation resembles a story I read about a long time ago. It concerns a war general who was said to have been a very good bungler. Indeed, it was said of him that he could be relied upon to wring out a problem from the most peaceful situation.

Once, while at a war front, he was said to have been so close to victory he could practically taste it if he aimed for a frontal attack. That was when he developed the brainwave to ask his men to aim for surprise attack instead by going around the enemy, thus ensuring their spectacular defeat. Another general was said to have commented wryly on the situation thus: ‘You can always rely on General X to wring a spectacular defeat from the tight jaws of victory!’

Nigerians are experiencing a situation where the clenched jaws of peace are being obviously and tearfully prised open to release a war which nobody wants, likes, or even understands. Oh yes, there is some peace in the land, the kind of peace which allows you to go out in the morning and come back in the evening and thank God that you were not hit by government drivers driving government vehicles at breakneck speed or youngsters barely out of diapers zooming crazily in and out of traffic. Yea, you also thank God that at least your salary can still buy a pot of soup that lasts a few days and the peace allows you to spend the remaining days of the month in a

compulsory period of fasting and prayers. Yea, the peace also allows you to watch Abuja women and men glitter in diamonds and gold and dresses that you know can only have come from Alladin’s cave. Then you are allowed to go and dream about all that glitter in peace. Yes o!

Now, Boko Haram is rudely waking us from our blissful dreams of the Abuja glitter. Imagine that! Nobody is allowed to tamper with my dreams of women wearing diamonds so costly and heavy they practically droop through the ears of the wearer, causing it to threaten to fall (the eras, that is, not the earrings). Nobody, just nobody is allowed to wake me up when I am dreaming of people wearing gold wristwatches so costly they can ransom a state’s budget (nation I mean, not a Nigerian state). Don’t let us mention their shoes. Anyway, Boko Haram is forging a war that only it understands out of the tight jaws of our blissful dreams of what can or might be.

Now comes the tricky part. First, the government declares unequivocally that whoever has fallen victim to the antics of the war forgers should not look onto the government for compensation. Translation: should you be stupid enough to be bombed or gunned, you are on your own. Now, isn’t that just so unfair, you think, as you shrug, dust yourself, try to grin and try to bear it, thinking someday, you’ll be the one throwing the bomb too.

So, you hope someone will wake

up and start making calls that the victims of these incomprehensible acts be taken care of by the country through compensation, if it’s not too much to ask, thank you. You just sort of hope that someone will understand the horrors of having a life uprooted in such a mercilessly violent way and cry ‘Foul! Foul! Alas!’, and that the government should not turn a cold shoulder to the plight of such a victim.

No, sir, the country instead is recording shrilly cries of amnesty to the ones who handle the guns that turn the innocent lives upside down and make wretches of orphans. It is so strange, don’t you think, that rather than find a better solution, all that our northern leaders can think of demanding is amnesty. Obviously, as I mentioned before, that must have been the grand plan all along. If the government can grant amnesty to the Niger Delta boys for picking up arms to ask for an end to the desecration of their land, why should the government not be able to grant amnesty to a group whose agenda have shifted as many times as their feet have shuffled. Oh please!

Leaders calling for amnesty should first realise what now goes for Boko Haram is not as coherent as when it started. There are now as many splinters of the group as there are ideologies to fit the yearnings of any group willing to be handed freely procured guns. What we are saying is that the guns are first given out,

and then the reasons for killing follow. So, granting amnesty will probably not solve the problem because too many issues have been confused together in this phenomenon. These issues must first be taken apart and tackled one after the other or else it would amount to waging peace on the nation, a case of the more you see, the less you actually understand.

More importantly, the country still does not know who the members of boko haram are. Are they Nigerians or Nigeriens or Martians in human form? Well, if the last, it would explain a lot. It would explain their complete desensitisation to the feelings plaguing human beings. It would explain why they do not know the meaning of their actions. It would also explain why we cannot understand the meaning of their actions either.

I have a take on this. Let us not wage peace, just because Boko Haram is forging wars. Leaders calling for amnesty are only waging peace, not forging it. Let us all sit down and talk about this country so that we can stop stabbing around in the dark like the six blind men grabbing at the elephant and not knowing what they were touching. Should anyone be thinking of giving amnesty, however, they should also think about giving compensation for the victims of Boko Haram antics.

What’s good for the goose is good for all, and posterity will have better things to record about us for the future to read.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013

Comment & Analysis

Reuben Abati, I beg to disagree I

N a treatise friday on the LEADERSHIP newspaper saga, Reuben Abati, the presidential spokesperson, laboured on to justify the police arrest and detention of the journalists, stating that nobody is above the law. To that extent, l agree with him that nobody is above the law. However, for him to try to criminalise an otherwise civil matter, to say the least, is quite preposterous. Abati said what was published was capable of leading to a civil unrest. Really? That the presidency is allegedly trying to undermine the opposition political parties can lead to a break down of law and order? What is politics if not to undermine your opponents?

Perhaps l should go into memory lane.

Late 1975, when General Murtala Mohammed was the Head of State, a journalist, Mr Ohanbamu, who owned a magazine, published in his magazine that Murtala was corrupt. Typical of a military dictator, one would have expected Murtala to arrest and lock up Ohanbamu without trial. Rather, Murtala decided to sue Ohanbamu for defamation, insisting that he wanted to enter the witness box to defend himself because he felt what was published about him was not true. Ohanbamu later found out that what he published was false, and he apologized to the Head of State. That was the height of Statesmanship, maturity and decency on the part of Murtala Mohammed, not like the sordid show of power that we just witnessed on the LEADERSHIP saga.

In September 2004, the INSIDER magazine published a cover story title :”Condemn Biafra Now, no says Ohaneze.”

The story reported that the government was mounting pressure on the pan-Igbo group, Ohaneze to denounce the MASSOP. Typical

By Richard Akinnola

of someone inebriated with power, then president Obasanjo let his goons loose, swooped on the magazine, turning the place upside down and literally sealing up the place.

In its edition of September 20, 2004, TELL interviewed the Chairman of the Editorial Board of Guardian, Reuben Abati on the development and l quote-” Abati takes a more profound look at the development.

According to him, the assault on INSIDER WEEKLY magazine represents an attempt to close the space for free expression in Nigeria. He argues that the SSS action was a gross violation of due process”. How time flies.

I ask Reuben, what of our president who misinformed the whole country after the October 1 bombing, that he knew who the bombers were , even after MEND had claimed responsibility? Was that misleading information not splashed on all newspapers? Was Raymond Dopkesi, then Director-General of Babangida campaign, not mischievously arrested to get at Babangida? Has the president apologized for this faux pas? And has the government apologized to Dokpesi, even after Henry Okah has been convicted?

I subscribe to the fact that press freedom comes with it, its responsibility. However, if anyone feels aggrieved about anything published in the media, the person has the right to write a rejoinder or send a complaint to the Nigerian press council, created by the act of parliament or institute defamation suit like late Murtala Mohammed did. Making allusions to the Levenson panel in UK defeats his argument. It was set up following the phone hacking scandal by the NEWS OF

THE WORLD, which was a criminal action.

So, the fact the some journalists were questioned in the scandal bears no relevance in the present circumstance. It further strengthens my argument that if the government feels sufficiently aggrieved, it should have reported to the Nigerian Press Council instead of resorting to police harassment, which has never worked in this country.

I find it strange that the police are asking for the source of the information of the journalists and Abati is gloating that the police are doing their job! I can’t believe this.

Even a cub reporter knows that a strong, cardinal principle in journalism is the protection of your source of information, even at the point of death. In the case of British Steel Corporation v. Grenada Television(1981) 1 AER 417, inimitable Lord Denning held on the issue of disclosure of information: “Investigative journalism has proved itself as a valuable adjunct of the freedom of the press, notably in Watergate exposure in the united States and the Poulson exposure in this country. It should not be unduly hampered or restricted by the law. Much of the information gathered by the press has been imparted by the informant in confidence. He is guilty of a breach of confidence in telling it to the press. But this is not the reason why his name should be disclosed. Otherwise, much information that ought to be made public will never be made known.

Likewise with documents. They may infringe on copyright. But that is no reason for compelling their disclosure, if by so doing it would mean disclosing the name of the informant”. I rest my case.

•Akinnola is of the MEDIA LAW CENTRE

Nigeria, No”Geria

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Y Nigeria, your Nigeria, every Nigerian’s Nigeria! At time t, Nigeria was born and has been under the spell of amalgamation (1914-2013). Now, at time t2, on the eve of 100 years of cursed amalgamation, things have begun to fall apart (apology to the literary icon, Professor Chinue Achebe). We see our amalgamated Nigeria now as “No Nigeria” or “Nogeria” for short. Ironically, it is also the eve of time t2, the 100th insipid anniversary celebration of this amalgamation of cursed memory.

At this stage I should look back and recall my honest assessment of Nigeria in my inaugural lecture (No 167) at the Obafemi Awolowo University on March 9, 2004, entitled “ Political Scepticism: Nigeria and the Outside World”. The substance of a part of this lecture (with some embellishments) contains, in my judgment, some germs of truth.

Contradictions and absurdities: In 1914, two monsters were cloned into the Nigerian society by our colonial masters. These monsters, which we may call a monstrous couple” contradiction and absurdity” later gave birth to two sets of twins: first, indiscipline and lawlessness and second, greed and corruption, with the second set of twins coming barely one year after the first. In this case, you could hardly differentiate amongst their ages, heights and appearances.

They were identical twins and all of them were males. So close were these sets of twins that whenever you saw Taiye of the first set of twins (indiscipline), you saw his Kehinde (lawlessness), and whenever you saw the second set of twins and saw the second Taiye (greed), you saw his Kehinde (corruption). Then the two sets of twins agreed to work and run together in a relay race. As soon as indiscipline (1st Taiye) picked up the race, he passed the baton to lawlessness (1st Kehinde) who then passed it on to greed (2nd Taiye) and, finally, to corruption (2nd Kehinde) whose job was to finish the race. Thus, indiscipline (1st Taiye) and corruption (2nd Kehinde) became the alpha and omega of the mighty relay race. As the alpha, indiscipline, (the eldest child), had the single honour of starting the race while corruption (the youngest child), as the omega, finished the race in a grand style and thus became the most famous of these monsters of cloned parentage (colonial masters). By the circumstances of their amalgamated births, so entrenched were these monsters that they have completely taken over Nigeria and governed her

•Makinde

By Moses Makinde

through their ministers in charge of graft, embezzlement, bribery, lack of accountability, inflation of contracts, gangsterism, armed robbery, serial bombings, ritual killings, lies, and everything that is bad under the sun and moon! I therefore see Nigeria as a cloned nation right from amalgamation. It is probably because of this artificial origin that the Nigerian social, economic and political maladies have defied human comprehension while her numerous problems have become permanently insoluble, including the problem of underdevelopment by which the largest country in Africa remains a gigantic dwarf. Perhaps we need a cloned solution to a cloned problem!

Nigeria is a country full of contradictions and absurdities. When Levy Bruhl wrote many years ago that Africans were incapable of second order thought, he meant that African thoughts and cultures were pre-scientific and pre-logical, using the term pre-logical to describe a kind of thought that is not free from inner contradictions or inconsistencies. Although I had criticized Levy Bruhl’s audacious position somewhere else, I have since pitiably come to the realization that there might be some truth in the brutally frank assertion from a colonial anthropologist and ethnographer of repute. In so far as a people’s actions and behaviours are products of their thoughts,

we can safely say that their actions and behaviours are reflections of their thought system. So, if Nigeria is a land of contradictions and absurdities, then, it is not unreasonable to argue that their thoughts are not free from inner contradictions and absurdities. Therefore, my scepticism about Nigerian democracy is based on the perceived contradictions and absurdities in our social, political, economic and even religious behaviours, and the manifestation of these contradictions and absurdities in the forms of indiscipline, lawlessness, greed and corruption – the offspring of amalgamation. Contradictions and absurdities may actually be seen as the defining characteristics of our social, political, economic and religious behaviours as highlighted by the two sets of twins that gave maximum effect to the natures of contradictions and absurdities in the Nigerian state.

Nigeria is such a big nation of contradictions and absurdities that it may have presented itself to the outside world as one big theatre of fraud, owing to these contradictions and absurdities. In logic, it is known that any statement (whether true, false, meaningless or absurd) follows from a contradiction like “Mr. Oke was in Lagos and not in Lagos at the same time”, i.e. p and not p.

From this contradictory statement, any statement whatsoever follows, like “my dog is a rabbit” or “the moon is made of green cheese”! This is to say that, from a contradiction, anything or any statement follows. Perhaps this is why, without knowing the reason, it has often been said that Nigeria is a country where anything goes or happens (apology to a former Chief of Army Staff, General Salihu Ibrahim). It is trivially true that “a country of anything goes” is a country full of contradictions and permanently in a state of flux or anarchy where life is (because of lawlessness) in the Hobbesean sense, “nasty, brutish and short!”

From the contradictory nature of our society thieves, including pension and oil thieves (pardoned or unpardoned), villains and nonentities can become anything under the Nigeria sun.

High society criminals who should be under the bar or permanently put away can become celebrities, senators, governors, ambassadors and captains of industry as rewards for their criminalities activities and inhumanity to man. Taking contradictions along with absurdities as the roots of our problems and the Field Marshall of our social, political and economic maladies, we no Continued on Page 68

Lekan Otufodunrin Otufodunrin@thenationonlineng.net 08050498530 (SMS only)

Boko Haram: the case for peace and justice

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OW that the Boko Haram group has rejected the proposed amnesty for its members who have been responsible for killing of hundreds of many innocent Nigerians and destruction of property, we seem to have come full circle in our dilemma of how to resolve the dawn of terrorism in the country.

The northern leaders who proposed the granting of amnesty through the setting up of the amnesty commission may have to advice the federal government on what next to do since the fundamentalist group says it has not committed any offence and does not require any pardon.

I would have been surprised if the group accepted the amnesty which would have forced them to ceasefire in their violent activities. They have never left anyone in doubt about why they have literally declared war against the country. In its latest broadcast the group repeated that its members are fighting to create an Islamic republic in particularly the northern parts of the country.

Terrorist groups are known to go to any length to advance their cause, and from all indications the Boko Haram group which has continued its killing spree amidst discussion of amnesty being granted its members is obviously not in any mood for peaceful negotiation.

The northern leaders and others who have backed the granting of the amnesty to Boko Haram and other terrorists groups in the country no doubt mean well. The level of violence in the north and fear of spreading to the south is such that we need to quickly find a solution.

Despite assurances by the federal government that it has taken measures to stop the endless killings, the reign of terror by the Boko Haram group has continued unabated. Killing by faceless gunmen has become so common that we have lost count how many have so far been killed.

While the number reported in the media may be alarming, those who know what is really happening up north insist that many other killings are not reported.

However, like those opposed to the amnesty have argued, much as we need to seek peaceful resolution of the crisis, the atrocities of the terrorists groups should not be swept underground. They have caused so much grief for many families and indulged in unprovoked killings that there is need to be careful in offering all the members blanket amnesty. Like the National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, stated, those with blood on their hands should be tried.

Before the pro-amnesty proponents started mounting pressure on the federal government, they should have been advocating for adequate compensation for victims of past violent activities of the Boko Haram members. The Christian Association of Nigeria recently had to launch a fund to cater for some victims.

For the committee set up to consider the requests for amnesty to approve the call, the concerned group must show enough sense of remorse. If the group has come out to reject the amnesty offer, there is no point considering the call by the northern leaders.

We must be careful not to further play into the hands of the terrorists by offering them amnesty they are not keen on having. We need peace, but we also need justice like Peter Tosh sang.

Twitter: #lotufodunrin

POLITICS

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

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HE story is still a source of controversy. It’s all about the decision of the Kano State governor, Musa Rabiu Kwakwanso, not to seek another term in office in 2015.

Having presided over the affairs of the North-West state from 1999 to 2003, before staging a dramatic comeback in 2011, there have been speculations that the governor may not be eligible to contest again come 2015.

In the last few months, a debate has been raging over the eligibility of Kwakwanso, but according to sources, the Governor is not constitutionally barred since he has not served in office for two consecutive terms. However, it is alleged that the Governor has not confided in his close political associates of his next political move in the coming dispensation.

This notwithstanding, many politicians in the state are currently oiling their machinery in preparation for the take-off of campaigns for the 2015 general elections.

Currently, no member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the ruling party in the state, has indicated interest in the governorship seat. That is, however, not the case in the major opposition party, All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).

Without deference to the ongoing merger talks by the major opposition parties in the country-Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Congress for Progressives Change (CPC), The Nation gathered that many aspirants in the state have begun to convene series of meetings, including holding talks with prominent personalities and opinion leaders to seek for support and cooperation.

What has further made the 2015 race unpredictable is the likely consummation of the merger talks, even as some reports have alleged that the Governor may dump PDP and pitch his political tent with the yet-to-be registered All Progressives Congress (APC).

ANPP ticket up for grabs/ Shekarau’s influence Former Governor of Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, though out of office, according to sources, remains the undisputed leader of the ANPP in the state, making the state chairman of the party, Alhaji Sani Hotoro, playing a somewhat second fiddle in terms of authority.

Governorship hopefuls in the party are said to be pulling all strings to get the endorsement of the former Governor, whose opinion, they believe, would largely determine the winner of the party’s ticket next year.

The aspirants so far Hon. Suleiman Abdulrahman: Popularly known as Kawu Sumaila, this young politician, representing Takai/ Sumaila Federal Constituency, is the Deputy Minority Leader in the House of Representatives.

The lawmaker is, arguably, the first to declare interest in the race, promising to lead a government that would listen to the people and also restore the lost economic fortunes of the state. He also disclosed that as Governor, he will establish a ‘Shura’ committee that would comprise people from all facets of life, and which will be charged with the responsibility of advising government on policies and programmes.

Though Abdulrahman’s closeness to Shekarau may work in his favour, his critics are alleging that he lacks solid political structures in the 44 local government areas, a development that could limit his chances at the party primaries.

Beside his relationship with the former Governor, the lawmaker is also alleged to be banking on his links with some members of opposition parties in the National Assembly from Kano State, who he hopes

• Kwakwanso

• Shekarau

2015: Battle for Kano’s guber seat hots up Amid reports that Kano State governor, Musa Rabiu Kwakwanso, will not be vying for another term in 2015, the race on who succeeds him is already throwing up interesting permutations, reports Remi Adelowo will throw their weight behind his aspiration.

With an alleged deep pocket to prosecute his campaign, there are, however, unconfirmed reports that Abdulrahman may not be really keen about contesting for the governorship, but rather using this strategy to negotiate for a senatorial seat in the next dispensation.

Kabiru Gaya: Will he be second time lucky?

A two-term senator, representing Kano South, Kabiru Gaya was elected Governor of the state in 1991 and served till November 17, 1993.

Gaya’s popularity as a politician to reckon with in the state was put to test in 2011 when he emerged as the only senator elected on the platform of the ANPP, with the PDP clinching the two other senatorial seats and the governorship.

Described as intelligent and charismatic, his Achilles heels may be his alleged inaccessibility to party members.

But his supporters believe the former Governor is, perhaps, the person in the party with the clout and stature to give the

PDP a run for its money in the next governorship elections.

Salihu Takai to contest again!

A former Commissioner for Local Government in the Shekarau-led administration, Mallam Salihu Takai was the ANPP governorship candidate in the 2011 elections, but lost to the incumbent governor, Musa Kwakwanso.

In the run-up to the 2011 elections, Shekarau had defied all odds to back Takai in defiance of the opinion of key ANPP leaders. The resultant crisis in the party, many allege, affected the fortunes of the party resulting in PDP’s victory.

Sources in the party disclosed that Takai is already warming up to contest the exalted seat again. But what remains unclear is whether his godfather, Shekarau, will take another risk on his candidacy.

CPC putting its house in order Prior to the 2011 general elections, the CPC showed flashes of popularity, with not a few stakeholders predicting that it was the party to beat.

The crisis that erupted in the aftermath

of its governorship primaries almost tore the party into shreds, with its prominent leaders singing discordant tunes. The result was inevitable: the party came a distant third in the elections after PDP and ANPP. But the party, according to sources, has learnt its lessons and currently putting its house in order so as to present a formidable front in the next elections.

Alhaji Ibrahim Amin, the man to beat If the current permutations are anything to go by, the aspirant to beat for the CPC governorship ticket is Alhaji Ibrahim Amin.

A former governorship aspirant in ANPP, his ticket was withdrawn after reportedly winning the primary election in 2003. This experience forced Amin into taking a short break from politics until he resurfaced in 2007 to support the presidential aspiration of former president, Umaru Yar’Adua.

Young and charismatic, sources claim that Amin’s popularity cuts across all the local government areas in the state, a factor that puts him in good stead to clinch the party’s ticket.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

Politics

Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, and Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, report that plans by some second term governors to retire to the Senate in 2015 is the source of political crisis in their states.

Intrigues as second term governors scheme for senate seats

Nation learnt that the senatorial card had never been dropped altogether. It remains a fall back position. This explains why the political schemings have ever since last year remained rather intense in the Zone B district.

When the speculation became too much to be ignored, Aliyu’s first direct response was diplomatically evasive, “I have never stated that I wanted to contest for the presidential position, or any other position come 2015, but people are mentioning my name anytime they are naming likely presidential candidates,” he said.

This is not a denial of either presidential or senatorial ambition in 2015.

I

T has been confirmed that the ambition of some second term state governors to retire to the Senate at the expiration of their tenure in 2015 is the root cause of the political tension in their states today.

At the last count, over 10 of such governors are currently scheming to pick their party’s senatorial tickets in their districts, a development that has irked the present occupants and some aspirants, who had sworn to frustrate such moves, thus heightening the political temperature of the states.

In the northern part of the country for example, the senatorial ambition of at least six state governors has been a source of heated controversy and political schemings. The governors include Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State, Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State and Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State.

Others include four governors who have also been linked with presidential ambition in 2015. They are Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, Sule Lamido of Jigawa State, Rabiu Kwakwanso of Kano and Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State.

In the southern part of the country, the alleged senatorial ambition of governors like Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, Liyel Imoke of Cross River State, Theodore Orji of Abia State and Sullivan Chime of Enugu State, has also became a major issue in the politics of their states, ahead 2015.

Since late last year, when some political intrigues in some states were first traced to the senatorial ambition of some state governors, party leaders, according to insiders, took bold steps to save the situation for the sake of governance.

The leadership of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), for example, had, sometime in February this year, declared its resolve to scuttle the ambition of second term governors elected under its platform and to stop them from picking the party’s senatorial tickets in their districts. Part of the reason for that resolve was the need to clip the wings of the affected governors, who had allegedly shown glaring disloyalty both to PDP leadership and to Mr. President.

Our investigation, however, confirmed that this move did not yield much fruits in PDP. This, according to our findings, was because the affected PDP governors ignored the party’s directive that they must rest their 2015 ambitions for now. They allegedly chose to disobey that directive, said a source, because most of them are directly involved in the prolonged political battle, both against the party’s National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and for the office of the President in 2015.

It would be recalled that since the 2007 elections, a number of governors across the political parties have been elected to the Senate after completing two terms in their states. This easily explained the desire of most of the outgoing governors to follow this political path. But going by the level of opposition presented both by the incumbent senators and other political forces in each of the states, it remains to be seen if all the governors will successfully fulfil their ambitions. For now, the political manipulations are intense and intriguing.

Babangida Aliyu: When the news first filtered out that

•Akpabio

•Aliyu

•Suswam

•Nyako

Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, a second term governor, was nursing the ambition of retiring to the senate by vying for the so called Zone ‘B’ seat of the state, it generated lots of brickbats among the opposition elements, especially among political opponents of Gwari extraction.

The incumbent, Senator Dhairu Awaisu, did not hide his determination to resist the governor. In fact, as soon as Aliyu’s intension was made public through the media, Awaistu quickly told newsmen there was no vacancy in the senatorial zone.

He lashed that if the report about the governor’s plans is true, it would then mean that Aliyu wanted to reap where he did not sow, adding, “It would amount to

back-stabbing the Gwaris.”

Aside political opponents, there is also allegations that some top civil servants in the state, who have not forgiven the governor over their disagreement on the payment of the national minimum wage, have since last year, been mobilising forces in the senatorial district to frustrate the governor’s quest.

These challenges notwithstanding, Aliyu has remained economical with words over the matter, especially after he became prominently linked with presidential ambition of the north ahead 2015.

Though his role in the quest of some northern political elite to produce Nigeria’s President in 2015 have since overshadowed his alleged senatorial ambition, The

Godswill Akpabio: Although the most widely discussed political topic in Akwa Ibom State today is the ethnic group or senatorial zone that will produce the next governor after the expiration of Godswill Akpabio’s tenure, our investigation shows that it is the governor’s alleged senatorial ambition that has further complicated the political arithmetic in the state.

The Nation’s investigation confirmed that the governor’s alleged 2015 senatorial ambition has become a more critical factor in the choice of his successor as Akpabio has, since last year allegedly endorsed a succession strategy that would first guarantee his smooth ride to the Red Chamber at the senate.

Already, it has been alleged that the relationship between the governor and the senator representing his district, Senator Alloysius Etuk, may have been punctured by the new realities. Before now, insiders said the two had very robust relationship.

During senator’s retreat in Akwa Ibom State last year, an event packaged by a committee headed by Etuk, it was observed that the two political leaders from the same senatorial zone avoided each other, a development sources attributed to the puzzle over the district’s senatorial ticket in 2015.

The Nation learnt that today, most of the governorship hopefuls in the state from PDP, are eager to see how the senatorial issue is resolved before throwing in their resources for the race.

Reactions of some critics, however, suggest that Akpabio’s men still have a lot of work to do.

Some chieftains of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the five local government areas of former Abak Division, i.e. Abak, Etim Ekpo, Ika, Oruk Anam and Ukanafun, who begged not to be named, told The Nation that the governor may not win the senatorial election even if he picks the PDP ticket.

They alleged that “the governor has only empowered particular set of people from Etim Ekpo, and may therefore not get the support of youths in the area.”

Describing Akpabio’s ambition as unfair, one of the respondents said “it would be the turn of Abak Federal Constituency to produce a senator in 2015,” adding, “the area has never produced a senator but Ikot Ekpene Federal Constituency has produced three senators: Ukanafun Federal Constituency has produced two senators while Ikono/Ini one senator, but none from Abak Federal Constituency.”

Gabriel Suswam It is no longer news that Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State intends to represent Benue North East Senatorial District at the National Assembly after the expiration of his governorship term in 2015. It is also no longer news that his ambition is now tearing the state chapter

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

• Imoke

of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) apart.

Already, the incumbent Senator representing the area at the National Assembly, Senator Barnabas Gemade, has described what he called the plot to draft Governor Gabriel Suswam into the 2015 senatorial race in his constituency as an act of mischief and conspiracy against his constituents.

Observers of the politics of the state say a contest for the ticket of the party between Suswam and Gemade, who is a former national chairman of the PDP, will be tough, given Gemade’s recent declaration that his second term is non-negotiable and Suswam’s determination to go to the upper chamber in 2015.

The PDP in the senatorial district is already sharply divided behind the two politicians ahead of the senatorial primaries.

While Gemade, a former National Chairman of PDP, enjoys the support of most party elders and functionaries of the PDP at the national level, the state leadership of the party and the youths are solidly behind the governor’s quest to displace the incumbent senator in 2015.

Given this scenario and the fact that Suswam was instrumental to Gemade’s emergence as senator in 2011, there is no gainsaying the submission of pundits that Benue North-East will once again be the hotbed of politics in 2015.

• Jang

Politics

Liyel Imoke Although he continues to deny speculations making rounds that he is nursing a dream to represent Cross River Central Senatorial District in the Senate after his second tenure as Governor of Cross River State, tongues are still wagging about Senator Liyel Imoke’s alleged plan to upstage Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma Egba, at the Senate in 2015.

If it turns out to be true, a senatorial ambition on the part of Governor Imoke will surely create lots of stir as the incumbent Ndoma Egba leaves no one in doubt that he still wants to continue after 2015 when he would have spent 12 years in the Senate.Sources in the state said while the two politicians continue to relate well within and outside the state in spite of the rumoured political clash of interests, their supporters are already bracing up for what many say will be a titanic

political battle.

According to sources, Imoke, who represented the senatorial district between 1992 and 1993, when the late General Sani Abacha stalled the return to democracy, is being wooed by various interests in the district to enter the race for the senatorial ticket of the PDP in 2015.

“Some people feel he hasn’t had enough time at the National Assembly. Others think it is better for the area to put its best material forward. There are those who just want him in the senate because he deserves it. If all these interests succeed in prevailing upon him to change his mind and run, then a showdown is imminent between him and Ndoma Egba,” a source said.

Jonah Jang There are indications that Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State will be seeking to represent the Plateau North Senatorial District at the National Assembly

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after the expiration of his term as governor in 2015.

Signs that he is eyeing a seat at the upper chamber became rife after he allegedly supported his former Chief of Staff, Mr. Gyang Pwajok, to clinch the senatorial seat last year following the death of the then incumbent, Senator Gyang Dantong.

During the October 6, 2012 senatorial bye-election that produced Pwajok, there were talks that the former Chief of Staff was in the race merely to hold the position in trust for Jang.

So loud was the insinuation that Pwajok had to constantly deny it. But mute was the word all the while from Jang who before then had allegedly told the late Dantong of his desire to replace him at the senate in 2015.

“As to the question of me standing in as a stopgap or fill-in, I want to say that to a large extent only God controls the future of man• Continued on Page 23

• Shema

Boko Haram: A people’s alternative to peace R ECENTLY, tear-soaked Mrs Deborah Shetima from Borno state gave a gory account of how her husband was killed, her two children seized and her only remaining child shot dead barely one year after the anniversary of the murder of the leader of Boko Haram, Yusuf Mohammed. The military authority has recently announced the death of 20 insurgents after a failed attempt to seize a military outpost in Borno State. The 20 people have relations, they probably have children and wives and maybe some of them are innocent. Nigeria is drifting into a state of blood. The situation may get even worse as the Nigerian neighbors in the Maghreb region grapples with faith-driven armed uprising.

Unfortunately, Nigeria may suddenly become hotbeds of deep ethnic divisions and religious upheavals. For months unending, Nigeria has been characterized by bombing and mass killings, leading to thousands of internally displaced persons, including women and children. In our very eyes, the Afghanistanisation of Nigeria is spreading like a wild fire in the dry season. Predictably, this carnage will spread into the Southern part of the country. The bombing of Kogi state, less than 10 minutes drive from some villages in Ekiti and Edo States, is a clear indication that the Islamic movement may soon hit major cities in Southern Nigeria. Few days ago, the Lagos authorities arrested some Boko Haram faithful, with guns and bombs. The South West is the most urbanized, consequences of terrorist insurgence in this area are unimaginable.

I have had the opportunity to travel across the North first as an active member of the National Association of Nigerian Students, (NANS) in the 1980s, member of the Technical Committee that organized the first modern-day ethnic summit in Northern Nigeria in 1999 at the instance of the late Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti and also as a researcher on self-determination in Nigeria. The ethnic summit held in Jos drew close to 1,500 people.

The bitter truth, however is that the Boko Haram crisis will continue for certain reasons: one, the current Nigerian leadership

•Jonathan

By Adewale Adeoye

lacks a deep historical understanding of the nature and form of the insurgence that is stealthily engulfing the country and, therefore, cannot provide an enduring solution.

Two, contrary to the propaganda of state security operatives and the sometimes deceitful and ignorant categorization of the crisis as ad hoc, what we see is a well planned campaign of terror woven around primordial values. Unknowingly to many people in authority, the insurgents in the North appear to relish the support of a huge population of adherents who are happy that at last, a group is giving it back to a state that for decades has treated her citizens like cockroaches on the sidewalk. Millions of poor people in the North are frustrated by a corrupt, inept and almost moribund political leadership. There is the belief, even if illusory, that the introduction of Sharia, will curb the recklessness and spinelessness of the Northern political leadership. It means that with what clearly appears as the support of Boko Haram by a section of the local population, overall defeat of the Islamic movement is farfetched. Thirdly, President Goodluck Jonathan had admitted that security operatives are involved in the execution of Boko Haram campaigns. This only confirms how difficult it will be to banish the sect. By now, we should fear for the personal safety of Mr President and the violent ethnic backlash any harm on him foretells.

We must admit: This country

is standing on the edge of a cesspool. It is important to note that the war of attrition being waged by Boko Haram is oiled by the most inflammable ingredients of human existentialism: ethnicity and religion. The most brutal and most malicious wars in human history have been fought along either ethnic or religious lines. Here lay the peril that faces Africa’s biggest and the most homogenous Black country. The most dangerous trend is that though the Federal Government appears to have scored “victories” through its superior armed confrontation with the sect, there are unforeseeable, daring consequences one of which is the fear that security operatives who are natives of communities under state sponsored siege, will naturally be displeased by the often innocent casualties that usually accompany military operations in their dominion. One thing is now certain, this bombing has become one of the major threats to stability in Nigeria and West Africa coupled with the persistent armed uprising which has become a dominant trend across the subregion. The emerging scenario is not only a peril to Nigeria, but given the country’s huge population, there is a visible threat to global security.

What should be done? There cannot be a solution to the crisis without understanding its history, nature and form. For one thing, it is completely naïve to cite the Islamic insurgence as mainly the product of the temporary loss of power by the Hausa-Fulani

North. This only explains an aspect of the problem. It appears a section in the Presidency thinks this way when it linked the uprising to the assumption that ‘some people just don’t like the president’s face’. This is simplistic and will definitely lead to wrong solutions to a persistent problem. In understanding the current trend, we should know the history of the people waging this campaign. Let us reflect a bit on where they are coming from: for over 300 centuries, the North East has been home to Islamic re-insurgence, partly due to the region’s unique political and cultural history. We cannot appreciate this without understanding the Borno Empire and its historic fangs and timeless struggle for self-determination which has been continuously stymied. The Borno dynasty had existed for over 1000 years, covering some parts of Ghana, Nguru, Kano and Adamawa States. Its collapse was only saved by Shaikh Muhammed alAmin al-Kanemi who was born in 1772. Borno had over the years resisted any external culture, influence or the creation of ‘national cultural identity’ which the modern Nigerian nation continues to fan. The Hausa, Fulani and the Borno pedigree are not the same and sometimes view each other with suspicion. For instance, the Fulani first entered the Borno capital, Gazargumo, on Saturday 12 March, 1804 (the 13th Muharram, 1223 A.H). Old Borno Empire (now Yobe, parts of Adamawa, and Borno Statesthe hotbeds of the insurgency) had resented intruders and had meted harsh venom on such.

When the Fulanis came, the fleeing Mai appealed to al-Kanemi who summoned his Kanumbu tribesmen and the Shuwa Arabs, who rallied because they considered the liberation of the Saefawa Dynasty a noble cause. They considered the Fulani as ere aggressors and usurpers. After routing the Fulani, al-Kanemi returned Mai Dunoma to his domain. The siege continued until after the death of Uthman Dan Fodio in 1817.

Adeoye, a human right activist, journalist and CNN African Journalist of the Year 2000, wrote in from Lagos.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

Politics

Fresh cracks in Cross River PDP C

RACKS within the ruling People’s Democratic Party in Cross River State are becoming more visible with crisis in the Obudu Local Government Council.

The party in a strongly worded statement, dated April 5, 2013, suspended the chairman of Obudu, Emmanuel Ikwen, for not abiding by the party’s instructions in the manner he ran his council.

The statement, signed by the state Publicity Secretary of the party, Joe Bisong, on behalf of the state chairman, John Okon, also suspended the leader of the Obudu legislature, Ugar Andeshi.

The statement was not particular on what their sins were, but said the action had to be taken after series of meetings between the leadership of the council and the party aimed at “reducing rancour and acrimony” in the council’s governance proved abortive. According to the party, “clear instructions aimed at enthroning stability in the council,” were treated with “utter disdain and undisguised contempt.”

The suspended chairman and leader, the statement said, would appear before the party’s disciplinary committee on a date that would be communicated to them and, in the meantime, have lost rights as members of the party until the determination of the matter by the committee.

Bisong, in an interview, said, “Candidates are sponsored by the political party and once they are there, they are liable to the party.

The whole idea of sponsoring a candidate is to ensure good governance, but where we can no longer guarantee that good governance, the party becomes bothered that you are injuring the conviction of the people and thereby jeopardising the chances of the party in subsequent elections. Where that happens, we take drastic steps to address the situation.

The attitude of the Obudu chairman has been of great concern to the party and it is grave offence to disobey directive of the party.

He added that the action was within the confines of the constitution.

However, it was gathered that the travails of the LG chairman and leader were not unconnected with the leadership of the party’s attempt to meddle into the affairs of the Obudu legislative council. A source within the party alleged that the leadership of the Obudu Legislative Council had resisted an

• Ntufam John Okon

From Nicholas Kalu, Calabar attempt to impose its impeached deputy leader, Martin Orim, on the instructions of the leadership of the party in the state, saying he had no hands in the affairs of the legislature.

It was learnt that Orim was on March 7, 2013 impeached by eight of the 10 councillors on allegations of leaking classified information to the public, among others.

State Chairman of PDP, Ntufam John Okon, it was learnt, was averse to the development, ordering Orim’s reinstatement. His argument, it was learnt, was if there were issues with any of the party’s elected officials or appointed officers, the matter must be brought to the party’s leadership before any disciplinary action can be taken against anyone.

Though the Obudu chairman could not

be reached, the suspended leader, Andeshi, told The Nation, the party chairman, John Okon was unduly hard on them for a democratic process they carried out by impeaching the deputy leader “who was overbearing on us.”

He said, “The chairman invited us and told us to reverse the matter and we vehemently said no, that it was not democratic, and that we cannot do anything against the House. He insisted that we should reinstate the man, meanwhile we had already elected a new deputy leader. There was no way we could reinstate him by magic. The new deputy leader is Fidelis Togo.”

Also rising in defence of their leadership, eight, out the 10 councillors, in a letter, dated April 9, to the Obudu Caucus chairman of the party said they have absolute confidence in the chairman, Ikwen, and the leader of the legislature, Ugar Andeshi. They said the chairman had no hand in the activities of the

legislative council.

According to them, the impeachment of the former deputy leader of the legislative council, Martin Ojie Orim, was based on breach of House Rules regarding release of information about activities of the House to the public.

They accused the state chairman of the party, John Okon, of being too quick to act on the matter without exhausting local remedies and without recourse to the chapter caucus.

“This scenario has the potential of aggravating issues rather than proffering solutions to the problems. He should desist from this practice. The impeachment of the former deputy leader is sacrosanct and the Obudu Legislative Council will not shift grounds therein,” they said.

Joining the fray is the Cross River State chapter of the Conference for Good Governance, which condemned the suspension of the chairman and the leader of the legislature.

A statement signed by its secretary, Adung Ogar, read, “ We write to condemn with the strongest language, the unconstitutional and satanic interference of the People’s Democratic Party chairman, Ntufam John Okon, and his leadership on the suspension of a local government chairman and interference in the management of councils.

“Ntufam John Okon is fast becoming a deity who wants to be worshipped by party members who are duly and constitutionally elected government officials for selfish reasons.

“We take exception on the recent suspension of the executive chairman of Obudu local government area and the leader of the legislative council from the PDP by John Okon. This suspension was premised on the refusal of the chairman to reinstate the deputy leader of the legislative council who was duly suspended on account of his flagrant abuse of office by the majority seating of members.

“It is unfortunate that a man who should consolidate party’s structures and advice government officials on state building is busy chasing vanities.

“We are after the rule of law and good governance in Obudu, in the absence of this, we shall employ legal means to restore order and sanity in our political system,” the group said.

Ojukwu, Maxi Okwu, APGA saga: Time to think well

T

HE recent comments by Chief Maxi Okwu, a politician and lawyer, on the deceased Igbo sage and nationalist, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, in conjunction with the ruling of the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, on the national chairmanship of APGA and sundry issues should elicit reactions and rejoinders by well-informed and right-thinking citizens. This is especially so given the position of Okwu as a politician who was once the National Chairman of the Conference of Political Parties (CPP) and a legal practitioner of more than 30 years standing.

It is, to say the least, unfortunate for Okwu to dismiss the symbol, spirit and personification of Igbo nationalism in Nigeria, Chief Ojukwu, as an extremist and someone who should not be taken seriously. Chief Ojukwu is a nationalist. He was among the first breed of well-trained Nigerian graduates who went to school abroad. Ojukwu attended the best schools and crowned it all with the Oxford University, where he bagged a degree in History. He returned to Nigeria and served as an Administrative Officer and later as the Divisional Officer, Udi Division. Thereafter, he left for the Army, where he attended several courses in the United Kingdom. He returned to the country and served as an instructor, soldier and military governor of the then Eastern Region.

A man with this pedigree cannot be dismissed with a wave of the hand. Till date, Chief Ojukwu remains one of the greatest Nigerians and one of the greatest Igbos this country has ever produced. Ojukwu’s resort to war was not a personal decision. It was a collective decision of all Igbos. Perhaps Chief Okwu was then a toddler, otherwise he would have appreciated that Ojukwu’s decision was only ineluctable, it was also the collective and general wish of the people then, given the intensity of the pogrom, mindless slaughter of Igbos by their compatriots in the northern parts of the country then.

• Ojukwu

By Prince Oliver Okpala Politicians should not play politics with the events leading to the civil war. It is something of a heresy for an Igboman to open his mouth to condemn Ojukwu for his role in the buildup to the war itself. This is a man who left the pleasure and luxury of his father’s wealth to lead his people to self defence, to counter a premeditated genocide. In the course of the war, his father’s wealth vanished. His father’s properties were labelled as abandoned properties and confiscated by the federal government. He went to exile for 12 years and suffered loss, inconvenience and deprivation because of his palpable and undiluted love for his people.

It is great disservice to the Igbo nation for Okwu to pour invectives, vituperations and diatribe on Ojukwu. By his useless comments, Okwu has exposed his little knowledge of the sage, Chief Ojukwu, and his assured place in the pantheon of Nigeria heroes. It will not be too hard to charge Okwu with the betrayal of

the Igbos. In some settings, Okwu would have been declared a persona-non grata for being completely unreasonable to calumniate the person and personality of a legend like Chief Ojukwu. Ndigbo will resist any attempt by some ill- informed and myiopic political mercenaries and self-seeking opportunists to use the name of our leader to advance personal interests. Clearly, Okwu is the first Igbo man to have made such senseless comments on Chief Ojukwu since his death. Okwu’s argument is totally un-Igbo.

The same Okwu,also went off the mark when he referred to the ruling/decision of the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, reinstating Chief Victor Umeh as APGA National Chairman, as futile.

It is easy to read Okwu’s mind. After all, he was the one who was handpicked from nowhere and paraded by a few court jesters as the Interim National Chairman of APGA. Chief Okwu purports that the decision of the Court of Appeal is meaningless because the act had been done. This is the height of intellectual laziness. It will be recalled that after the judgment of the Enugu High Court, Chief Victor Umeh, as a faithful believer in due process and an unrepentant apostle of the creed of rule of law, appealed against the judgment and filed applications for stay of execution in the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

But because they wanted to be smart and they wanted to overtake the applications for stay and render the appeal nugatory, these smart-less political tin-gods proceeded to organise a Kangaroo congress in which, among other things, Okwu was purportedly appointed Interim National Chairman of APGA. Even Okwu, who, as a lawyer, is supposed to know that the whole charade was unconstitutional and an illegality, also joined in the illegal act.

Any wonder, then, that Okwu is crying foul.

He and his co-travellers were aware of the appeal. They knew about the motions for stay of execution, yet, they went ahead to give them-

selves what they considered to be vacant jobs in APGA. The beauty of the rule of law is that it exposes the lawless and vindicates those who are law-abiding. Of course, Okwu should know that he and his confederates can not benefit from their illegal actions.

Okwu cannot be heard to write off the ruling of the Court of Appeal that the action had been completed because they knew that the appeal and applications were pending when they attempted to foist a situation of complete helplessness or fait accompli on the court.

Naturally, the court has the power to call their bluff and return all the parties to the status quo ante bellum.

It is sad that Okwu allowed himself to be used to advance the cause of the dissidents in APGA. Come to think of it, Okwu had never been an APGA member. He has no registration card. His name is not in his ward’s register. He was simply brought from nowhere and clothed with the oversize dress and shoes of APGA National Chairman. Dressed in this borrowed robe but now undressed by the Court of Appeal ruling, Okwu is only lifting his head on the brick wall. Those who used him will surely be smiling by now because they knew the futility of their actions but merely wanted to take a chance just to throw dust into a clear sky.

Needless to say that politicians who swim in murky waters are to be dirty. Politicians who throw dust in the political arena are most likely to be blurred by the dust raised by them.

Chief Okwu dabbled into the APGA political waters but he has now been swept away and aside, even as pundits contend that he is a politician who likes to benefit from political turmoils.

Finally, some cautionary words for Okwu: Leave Chief Ojukwu alone to rest in peace because he had accomplished his work here on earth. Think about due process and rule of law in the unfolding events in APGA. - Okpala, a political analyst, wrote in from Enugu

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

Politics

23

Political Politics turf

with Bolade Omonijo boladeomonijo@yahoo.com

Revisiting the APC saga

T •Wamakko

• Chime

• Shekarau

Second term governors scheme for senate seats • Continued from Page 21 kind. Whoever is planning about tomorrow does not even know what tomorrow will look like. But one thing that is clear is that tomorrow begins today.

And what we need to do today we need to do today so that our future can be better assured and we can be greater together and we can move together,” Pwajok had said back then.

Today, with the governor reportedly oiling his political machineries in preparation of a political trip to the Senate to represent Plateau North, sources say his relationship with Pwajok may have been strained as the later is no longer willing to leave the national assembly so soon.

Sullivan Chime Until recently, when some posters in Enugu State, confirming Senator Ike Ekweremadu's alleged ambition to contest for the governorship position in Enugu State caused a stir, reports that

the Deputy Senate President and Governor Sullivan Chime has reached an agreement to switch offices in 2015 had been dismissed by many as a mere rumour.

This is because a zoning formula of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is alleged to state that the Enugu North Senatorial Zone, comprising of the six local government areas that make up the old Nsukka Zone, is expected to produce the next governor of Enugu State after Chime completes his second four year tenure in May 2015. Given this alleged formula, Ekweremadu's ambition allegedly fueled by Chime's plot to proceed to the Red Chamber, has become one of the most thorny issues in Enugu State politics.

The matter, according to sources, is not helped by the fact that the Udi born state governor cannot, up till now, be pinned down on the issue of succession although he promised, during his 2011 second term campaign, to hand over power to an Nsukka man if Enugu

North Senatorial Zone supported his re-election bid then.

The tension in Nsukka area today is that if Ekweremadu's and Chime's alleged exchange agreement materialise, the zone would have been cheated. This fear is because Ekweremadu represents Enugu West Senatorial Zone, the same zone with incumbent governor, Chime.

Feelers from the Nsukka Zone suggest their determination to resist the alleged arrangement, a development that is poised to heat up the governorship election in 2015.

In the other states affected, the intrigues are also as intense. For example, in Sokoto State, just like in Enugu, there are allegations that Wamakko may have reached agreement to exchange position with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal. Although this is not yet confirmed, it has become a major factor in the politics of the state.

Political

ripples Sarafa Ishola prepares for governorship

S

INCE he left government as the Minister for Steel Development in 2009, Chief Sarafa Ishola, has not been too visible on the political front.

However, that is not to say the former Secretary to the Ogun State Government has not kept himself busy.

Sources revealed that the former minister has been making quiet moves in the background in preparation for the 2015 governorship on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Ishola, who hails from Abeokuta in Ogun Central Senatorial District, is, however, allegedly working on a Plan B if he fails to realise his ambition on the PDP platform.

• Kwakwanso

Bashir Lado changes gear over Kwakwanso’s seat

C • Ishola

ONTRARY to rumours that young senator, Bashir Lado, will be contesting for the Kano State governorship seat in 2015, facts made available by his close associates revealed that the former in-law of former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, has opted to run for another term in the National Assembly.

Since he was elected to represent Kwara Central in 2011, the lawmaker’s profile has been on the rise, a factor which prompted speculations that he is interested in succeeding Governor Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso.

WO books that I read in the eighties remain reference points in my attempt to understand developments in Nigeria. The first, Anatomy of Corruption, written by the late Onigegeara of Ibadan, Mr. Labanji Bolaji, remains a classic on corrupt practices in Nigeria. The second, How to be a Nigerian, by Peter Enahoro, is a witty commentary on living in Nigeria. I’m yet to read his The Complete Nigerian which I understand is a sequel. All good books written to throw light on the dark affairs in the country point in the direction that there are peculiar Nigerian ways of doing things, even when there are supposed to be universal standards.

Registration of political parties is principally governed by provisions of sections 222-224 of the Constitution and the Electoral Act 2010. The prerequisites are so general, and as applied and interpreted by the Supreme Court in the National Conscience Party, NCP, no one or body could add to those conditions spelt out in the supreme law of the land.

The hurdles deliberately erected on the path of the All Progressives Congress (APC), could not have been altogether unexpected. It must have been an ambush expected by all analysts and even the leadership of the mega party. In the peculiar Nigerian manner, it was obvious to me that the ruling party at the federal level would attempt to throw spanner in the works. So, when two other parties made claims to the acronym APC, I was not surprised. The amazement was that leaders of the original APC appeared not to have anticipated the development.

Last week, the other APC, the African Peoples Congress that rushed to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to get registered as the original APC was making its way to satisfy guidelines from INEC, made for the courts to reverse the decision of the electoral body to deny registration to an association that apparently ignored legal procedure in a bid to stop the All Progressives Congress in its track.

There are parallels in history. In the Second Republic, when four political parties that had a relationship in a coalition made a bid to combine efforts in confronting the National Party of Nigeria at the polls in 1983. The plan was scuttled mainly by employing the services of enemies within the proposed new party. The ruling party cleverly employed age-long suspicion between the Unity Party of Nigeria’s leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Nigerian Peoples Party’s Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. The resultant Progressive Party’s Alliance, PPA, a coalition, could not work as effectively as a merger would have. History must not be allowed to repeat itself 30 years after that episode.

The challenge is for the original APC leaders to remain focused, anticipate that there would be genuine hurdles to scale and obstacles planted by the enemy. It is needless making an enemy of INEC. So far, I see nothing wrong with the steps taken by the national electoral body. A body known as APC sent it a letter of intent to get registered.

The commission received the correspondence and kept it in view pending the time the full commission would meet to review the documents attached. Meanwhile, the AfPC made public its letter and sparked a row. What did anyone expect the commission to do? Take notice of a press conference by another body by the same acronym even when it was yet to approach the body? At the appropriate time, the commission rejected the African Peoples Congress.

It is not yet over. The rival APC has approached the courts for intervention, arguing that INEC lacks the power to turn down its bid. It is clear that the bid is targeted at the authentic APC. The massive show of putting 30 lawyers on display last week is for effect. I am yet to see anyone on the AfPC roll with the financial or political clout that could attract 30 lawyers. But, the game plan, it seems, is make the real APC stumble, stutter and scatter.

The next step is apply for an injunction to restrain INEC from registering any other body by the acronym while the case is pending. If that is obtained, INEC would be bound to obey.

If AfPC is able to obtain the order, it could then instruct its counsel to stall judgment for as long as it could, thus frustrate the bid by the progressives to achieve early registration ahead of 2015. It is obvious the direction from which the stones are being thrown, but a shouting match would achieve nothing. It is time leaders of the APC engage their strategists to pre-empt these moves.

There could be no better time to have a mega party to confront the behemoth at the centre. But, it takes discipline, hard work, fidelity and single-minded pursuit of the goal.

The struggle continues.

24

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL14, 2013

THE SUNDAY INTERVIEW

Uba and I, by Maduka Cosmas Maduka, chairman of Coscharis Group, was the archetypal conservative businessman until he hit the headlines over his entanglements with another businessman, Ifeanyi Uba. In this interview with Rita Ohai he touches on their unresolved dispute, his business philosophy, attitude to politics and sundry matters.

“

Ifeanyi as a person is a boy with too many ideas and I think he needs somebody like me to play a role in his life in order to remodel him. Most of the things he does are not obtainable. He has some very weird and crazy ideas and I have told him to his face.

when there is “clear evidence that you did not pay? It is not sustainable.

Somebody needs to talk to you directly and say, ‘hey guy, clean your mouth, it is smelling’, and it is only the person who loves you that will say that to you. All the other people will see you carrying shit on your cloth and be calling you a king and saying that you are looking good. That is how some people deceived one king in the Bible and he started dancing naked.

When Ifeanyi told me he wanted to enter politics, I asked him why he would want to do such a thing. I have no ambition whatsoever of going into politics. I am a businessman with no interest in it at all. In fact, you will never see me in any political gathering. I want to be known as a businessman and stay focused there. I want to be respected as an entrepreneur who is much focused. One thing I have always feared is distraction and I do not have a television in my house.

Has there been any move by leaders and village elders to reconcile you both and is there some progress in this direction?

The village elders tried initially but Ifeanyi was not interested because as far as he is concerned, does the village chief know what N10 billion is all about? It is something they cannot conceptualise. The idea is that he is going to pay, that is what he has always said. We talk and his position is that he will keep his promise and that is all.

Coscharis as a conglomerate is not a quoted company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, what is the reason for the hesitation?

It is all a matter of choice by the owners of the business. It is a model we have chosen to adopt. If you go to the United States of America, I can show you many family businesses that are not publicly quoted. The owners of the business may decide to hold their stock and get family members to manage the business.

Of course, the right thing to do would be to go to the stock market and invite other Nigerians to share from the wealth you have created by buying into the company. We thought about it four years ago and by the time we were preparing to go to the market, it crashed. And we felt it was not appropriate to go at that time because we did not want to throw away the value we have created for nothing.

There are many things that drive people to go to the stock market. The first is security. You can run a business where you think that there will be some political risk for you to run the company and hold the stock on a private equity basis. If you get the company quoted, it becomes Nigeria’s company and if your political opponent or whoever decides to destroy the company, he will be undoing the country. That is why people like us stay away from politics due to the enmity it causes.

The other thing that can drive you to go public is to safeguard your equity because sometimes you need additional money to expand your business. Coscharis has no such problem and we are not desperate. We saw a lot of people packaging emptiness, companies with no history and just speculations to sell on the stock market between 2008 and 2009 and they ripped people off.

A lot of people lost a lot of money and confidence in the Nigerian stock market. So we think it is not the right time to go but ultimately that is what we are going to do. When it will happen is something we do not know yet. Sometimes it is also good to manage things the way we do in a very conservative manner. When you go public, it gives a sense of confidence but sometimes you may have professionals who may not view things the way an owner would.

You cited Coscharis as being a strong company, how are you able to source for funds to run such a large organisation without public input?

We retain a lot of our earnings in the business and looking at our antecedent, we have been able to build unprecedented credit rating within the banking industry. I do not think there are many organisations on our scale that borrows internationally •Continued on Page 25 and locally under a negative

“

I have no ambition whatsoever of going into politics.

I am a businessman with no interest in it at all. In fact, you will never see me in any political gathering. I want to be known as a businessman and stay focused there. I want to be respected as an entrepreneur who is much focused.

One thing I have always feared is distraction and I do not have a television in my house.

“

D

URING the (former President Olusegun) Obasanjo administration you received some major waivers. As a result, speculation arose that you played the role of financier for political activities from the background?

People are entitled to their opinions. The truth is that an industrialist like me cannot be completely neglected in the economy. You can get your voice to count by the things you do.

Mother Teresa was not the greatest business woman in the world but she influenced politics. Nelson Mandela is not the richest man but he is an icon because of the things he has contributed to humanity.

I play my own role as an industrialist and philanthropist. It is my own way of running a non-governmental organisation (NGO).

There was this controversy that generated a lot of news on the relationship between Ifeanyi Uba and you. Cases of fraud and political manipulations were cited. What really happened?

The case of Capital Oil and Coscharis is a very painful one that frankly, I do not like to discuss. It is like talking about having children with a woman that is barren. People from my area do apprenticeship and build from there; it is part of our social welfare, almost like slavery. We have always been our brother’s keeper and profit is usually not the driving motive.

So this kid brother of mine (Uba) approached me in 2011. I was sitting in my office when my phone rang, and he told me about how some people were trying to take over his business. He said things that were related to me and invited me to see his structures. Of course, I could not turn him down. I went there and I was impressed with what I saw.

Many of the boys from my state mismatch funds.

They take short-term funds and put in a long term project by borrowing heavily. That is a way to commit suicide because interest rates can kill you. This was what Uba did and the first advice I gave him was to sell his facility to pay down his loan so that he can start all over again. I took him to different banks trying to get support for him because I could not let his business go down. If you go to Capital Oil’s jetty, you will not believe it is a structure created by a Nigerian but he had borrowed so much. In the process, I got what I did not expect because he did not keep to the commitment that he made to me.

I think he (Uba) has a problem and only he knows what led him to do what he did. My concern is that he let me down and messed things up between me and my bankers. We are still on the matter. Talks are going on and he made a public apology at the Senate hearing. We are negotiating with AMCON to take over his business so that he can pay the money back to me.

All the youthful exuberance he displayed were bad ideas people gave to him and he realised later that it was not the right thing to do because you do not hurt people who go beyond reasoning to help you. It creates pain in my heart but the matter will hopefully be resolved. What is important is that I have learnt my lesson.

He has been saying that your motives are politically related such that you seek to stop his political ambition, what is your stance on this?

Ifeanyi as a person is a boy with too many ideas and I think he needs somebody like me to play a role in his life in order to remodel him. Most of the things he does are not obtainable. He has some very weird and crazy ideas and I have told him to his face. We have an adage in Igbo that literally means that if you have not been able to cultivate the small portion of land in front of your house, you cannot be called ‘the king everyone is afraid of’. It will be wrong for anybody to advice Ifeanyi to go into politics with so much debt hanging over his head. He is a brilliant boy that started a business but he has mismanaged his funds.

He needs to sort that out first and foremost. He has political connections and I do not care about that. Can you say that because you have political connections, you no longer owe a person you borrowed from? Will any law court say you do not owe

“

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL14, 2013

THE SUNDAY INTERVIEW

25

•Maduka PHOTOS: MUYIWA HASSAN

they need to do. They have mismatched priorities and we need to stop this idea of calling for the manufacture of cars. Let’s manufacture food first.

I set up a motorcycle-roller-chain manufacturing industry in Maza-Maza that we shut down because I had to import power and import the diesel that would run the generator. When we finished, a guys who is going to buy this product is getting it from an importer at 40 percent cheaper than your cost price.

Manufacturing is not a status symbol, it is an economic advantage. My machines are still there and they are not running anymore. I would have gone down to the village if I had continued with that manufacturing. You do not do things to make people happy and we are saying we should start automobile industry.

With your constant reference to the food industry, are you planning to get involved in agriculture?

Yes, we just acquired about 2,700 hectares of land in Anambra State. We plan to cultivate raw materials for the factory we want to set up. It is an agro-allied industry that should create about 3000 jobs when carried out successfully.

People are importing palm oil in this country and it is a shame. Malaysia came to us to take the seedling for palm kernel and today contributes over 25 percent of their gross domestic earnings. In Nigeria, all of us are wearing white shirt and coming to Lagos to look for car manufacturing industry. We are not seriousminded people.

Your business relationship with the Japanese is well, known but we have noticed your recent affinity for the Chinese, why the shift?

I saw clearly that China is a sleeping giant that has woken up. I was a kid when the Japanese started their economic revolution and we used to laugh at them.

I saw the Honda Civic for the first time and we used to mock it because it looked like a box but today they have taken the world by storm. However, the Japanese could not find their confidence as they would produce something and write ‘Made in England’ on their label. Over time, they have become known as the original while Taiwan serve as the fake version of the product, the same thing with China. But give China another 10 years and you will

“

Go to Abuja and you will see banana that is imported from Cameroun.

That is madness!

The leaders do not see clearly what they need to do.

They have mismatched priorities and we need to stop this idea of calling for the manufacture of cars. Let’s manufacture food first.

“

•Continued from Page 24 pledge like we do. No bank led to asks us for collateral to us.

Shumitomo Bank of Japan, for example, funds us with $40 to $50 million without collateral.

We are an owner-driven business that retains a lot of our profit and we pay our bills. For us, these are areas we pride ourselves in and because we have unlimited credit, it does not make us crazy enough to spend money like a child in a candy shop.

So, frankly, liquidity is not a problem for us, our challenge is finding profitable businesses that we can nurture. We believe in slow and steady growth and we are not in a hurry to impress any man. We want to play in the first five of any area of business you find us in.

As a pioneer in the automobile industry, why have you not pushed for the local manufacturing of cars?

Locally manufacturing a car is a concept people have but they do not understand what it entails. It is a policy that should be driven by the state. The government must be prepared to industrialise Nigeria by providing power. God, when He decided to create this world, started by saying ‘Let there be light.’

Everything we need to empower this country is available but we need energy because it is an indispensible element of success.

But with major players like you in this sector, can you not push government to promote industrialisation?

Yes, we are approaching them and we have been singing this music. I am not involved in politics, so the leaders of this country must provide the enabling environment for industrial development and growth. Eighteen years ago, we went into Ghana to make investments and till today I have never bought a generator there. Their government did not push us to do it but we saw an opportunity, a service gap and as an entrepreneur, I chose to fill the gap. Money follows service.

In Nigeria today, we have a 160 million workforce that do not have good jobs. In other words, there is a clear competitive economic labour cost. If they provide power, many companies that are running factories in other countries would want to come and take advantage of the competitive manpower so that they can beat their opponent in other climes. This is something we are not taking advantage of.

Lagos State today asks us to provide capital contribution as what they call ‘thirty percent for infrastructural development’.

Sometimes, it could be as much as N400 million. I just built an office in Lekki and we paid over N120 million to Lagos for ‘infrastructural development but I am putting the road in that place today. Lagos did not build any road there and we have sunk boreholes.

If you want to do business in Nigeria today, you would have spent 40 percent of your capital that should have gone into production in providing infrastructure. These are hurdles that make businesses not to thrive.

Why should we be focusing on building automobiles and airplane when we have climatic conditions that make farming profitable? We have very fertile ground that we are not developing. Calculate the amount of money we have spent importing rice and wheat. Why can we not grow these things here when nature and everything is in our favour and we have the competitive advantage?

Go to Abuja and you will see banana that is imported from Cameroun. That is madness! The leaders do not see clearly what

be amazed. China saw an advantage in Africa very early and the next world economic miracle is going to happen in Africa obviously.

The West has reached their climax and their economy is not growing by anything more than two percent but the African economy is growing at about seven percent. Imagine this happening for the next ten years. Everybody is having Africa’s strategic programme in mind.

If Nigeria’s economy keeps growing the way it is, by 2020 our economy will be bigger than South Africa and by 2050, if we maintain the same growth, we would have the twelfth richest country in the world.

Once electric power is put in place, you will see unprecedented economic revolution taking place in this country. Look at what happened in the telecommunications sector. The capacity is there. Other countries are not giving birth to children the way we are. Africa is still producing babies like dogs.

If we fix this country, people like me would be multi-billionaires because I have sachet water to sell to 300 million people. Even if I sell at N10, multiply it by 300 million people and you will know what I am sitting on. This is a goldmine, the Chinese know this and are planning for it.

It will happen in your generation. I am sixty-four and in another six years, I will be seventy. If I am asking for 100 years that would be like asking for third-term but people like you can still get to benefit from it in your sixties or seventies.

We have seen the gradual dominance of China in the African economic space, are they better allies than the United States and Europe?

It all depends. You cannot say they are better allies because the biggest minus the Chinese have is the one of trust. No matter how big you are, you cannot access credit from China. They believe in cash transactions. As at today, whenever you want to do business with them, the Chinese want you to pay a deposit before the product is produced after which they will demand a cash balance. It is a policy that over a period of time, they will mature and change.

Their government can give you some lease with stiff conditions but fellow business partners will not. China’s government may grant you some concession as long as you allow their citizen to come and work on the project. That is not even wrong because they are struggling to provide jobs for more than one billion people and these are things we do not do in Nigeria. We are busy trying to be our neighbours’ big brother.

We are fighting up and down for Rwanda, Botswana and South Africa and we will never ask for anything in return. It is not how to live!

Our leaders have not done well in those areas. We should not reach out without having a foothold in those economies because we help to liberate them and we spend our taxpayers’ money and sacrifice our lives for ‘good brother thing’ and come back. This is wrong and the Americans will tell you that there is no free lunch because they have interests to protect.

You just talked about our issue with security; do you think Boko Haram should be granted amnesty?

Their actions are illegal. Why are they asking for amnesty? If they drop their guns and stop killing people, government will stop going after them. Their leaders who are doing these things should leave the country because they have not done well. If you kill people with impunity, you should be brought to justice.

Boko Haram is a man-made problem that is not different from the former militants in the Niger Delta. It is a political tool for some people.

It is a problem for politicians and they will solve it because they are destroying the northern economy.

26

•Oshiomhole

Ahead of this month’s local government election in Edo State, Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, examines the issues and reports.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

Politics

ROM all indications and predictions, the local government election coming up in Edo State on April 20, 2013 promises to be an interesting political battle.

Though all registered political parties operating in the state are free to participate in the election, observers of the unfolding political development in the state say the contest may turn out to be just between the two leading parties in the state.

But further down the prediction line is the permutation that the political battle is actually between the state Governor and leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (AC N) in the state, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and former Works minister, Chief Tony Anenih, who recently got re-elected as the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees.

Barely a year ago, Oshiomhole led the ruling AC N to defeat Anenih and the PDP at the 2012 governorship election. Pundits say while Oshiomhole intends to consolidate his hold on the politics of the state with victory at the council poll, Anenih is seeking to use a good showing by the PDP at the same election to announce his return as the godfather of Edo politics ahead of the 2015 general elections.

Expectedly, political activities are at the peak as the parties struggle to convince the

Edo LG poll: Again, PDP dares Oshiomhole’s ACN people on why their candidates should be voted for on April 20. And considering the fact that no council poll has been held in the state since 2007, the people are keenly interested in the ongoing political struggle among the political parties and their candidate.

Oshiomhole had in 2008, sacked all the 18 chairmen and 192 councillors he inherited from his predecessor and put in palace transition committees. Since then, there has been the clamour for the conduct of local government election to return the councils to democratic governance.

With the constitution of the Solomon Ogoh-chaired Edo State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC) in January, the stage was set for the conduct of the muchawaited election at the grassroots level.

And by the time the commission released the election timetable, the nooks and crannies of the state were already agog with political activities as political parties and politicians alike prepare for the forthcoming election.

While the PDP’s electioneering campaign has largely been hinged on what its chieftains called the urgent need for change in the state, the ruling AC N is urging the people to vote for its candidates in order for

them to replicate Governor Oshiomhole’s exemplary performances at the grassroots.

Sources in the state said contrary to its recent threat to boycott the election on the ground that it feared it may not be free and fair, the PDP is working tirelessly to win converts for its candidate across the 18 local government areas of the state.

“There is no truth in the statement that PDP is not interested in the election. The party wants to use the April 20 poll to show the world that it is still very much on ground in Edo State in spite of the defeat it suffered during the last gubernatorial election.

The party is conscious of the fact that it is up against the ruling party. PDP chieftains have been going round the state mobilising the people in support of the party. The party’s candidates too are doing all that is needed to be done to convince the people to vote for them.

There is no doubt that it is going to be a tough political battle between the two leading parties namely the AC N and the PDP. This is because the PDP which lost out to the ACN about five years ago is determined to return to the government house in 2016 and winning some of the local council seats is one way to announce this determination,”

Comrade Felix Ohioze of Edo Rebirth said.

But the ruling party in the state, the ACN too is not leaving anything to chance in its determination to emerge victorious in the April election. The ACN state secretariat, situated along Airport Road, is now a beehive of activities as the party storm out on campaigns for the council positions.

As part of its strategy meant to curtail the advances of the PDP, the ruling party, sources said, has mandated all chieftains of the party to return to their local governments and wards to lead the political battle ahead of the April 20 election.

In Uhunmwode Local Government Council, for instance, former Special Adviser to Oshiomhole on Political Affairs, Charles Idahosa is at the forefront of the party’s electioneering campaign.

“Our focus is on winning the election.

We know the people are solidly behind us but it is also important that we go round and remind them of the need to continue to vote the AC N in order to continue to enjoy the dividends of democracy as being championed by Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

“We are sure of victory. We will win here and in other places across the state because the people are impressed by what the Governor is doing. There is no way the PDP will defeat us in Edo State. Our people are progressives and they want the state to continue on the path of greatness,” Idahosa said.

Hon. Pally Iriase, member representing Owan Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, is leading the onslaught against the threat of PDP in Owan West local Government Area of the state.

The former Secretary to the State Government (SSG) is confident that the AC N will emerge victorious in the council poll.

According to him, having chosen the very best candidates ahead of the election, the AC N is assured of victory.

“Our candidates are the people’s candidates. With that, we have again won the hearts of the people. If you now add that to the good works of our Governor across the state, then you can be rest assured that we are the party to beat in this election,” he said.

In Akoko-Edo, Oshiomhole and his party would be banking on the combination of forces by the member representing AkokoEdo Federal Constituency, Peter Akpatason, and the senator for Edo North, Senator Domingo Obende to deliver the council to the AC N. The Majority Leader of the Edo State House of Assembly, Phillips Shaibu, is back home in Etsako West Council to ensure the victory of his party. Ably supported by party chieftains like Usman Shagadi, Shuaibu says there is no room for the PDP in the area.

But as the two leading political parties prepare to slug it out at the polls on April 20, another political party is planning to withdraw from contesting the elections.

Shortly after he monitored his party’s primaries in Oredo Local Government, the state chairman of Labour Party (LP), Mr. Sam Omede, said it is still possible for his party to boycott the election.

“We challenge Governor Oshiomhole to come out and assure the people that the election will be free and fair based on one man, one vote that he has been preaching. If we find that the election is not going to be free and fair, we will pull out,’’ he said.

Omede told newsmen that the demand by the state Internal Revenue Board of tax clearance fee of N466,000 from councillorship aspirants and N750,000 from chairmanship aspirants was a ploy by the ACNcontrolled government to scare contestants from other parties from participating in the election.

Meanwhile, EDSIEC continues to assure all parities in the election of a level playing field while urging all stakeholders to participate in the process without any fear whatsoever.

“If we must have a successful election, credible people must participate in the process. We at the EDSIEC want to assure all parties taking part in the council election of a level playing field,” the commission said during the week.

To assure stakeholders of its preparedness, EDSIEC has been adhering strictly to the election timetable it rolled out few days back. It has also released guidelines for the conduct of primaries by political parties and observation of same by the commission, and submission of nomination forms by political parties, which took place between February 8 and February 18.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

Glamour

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Nollywood actress Olaide Adedeji reveals her favourite things to Kehinde Oluleye

Olaide’s

top

10 1

Favourite shoe Sam Eledema, Michael Kors 2

Favourite bag Michael Kors, Gucci 3

Favourite wrist watch Michael Kors, 4

Favourite Nigerian designer Frank Osodi and Karen Millen 5

Favourite Perfume Burbberry and Gucci 6

Favourite pet Teddy bear 7

Favourite quote Taste your words before you say them 8

Favourite car Infinity Fx35 9

Favourite book Things Fall Apart

by Chinua Achebe 10

Favourite holiday spot Obudu Cattle ranch

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

Glamour

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Glamour

Social

ADETUTU AUDU (E-mail: crownkool@yahoo.com, Tel: 08023849036)

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013

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OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL (08033572821) raphseg2003@yahoo.com

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

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ROMINENT sales authority, professor and author Neil Rackham states: “Irresistible new forces are reshaping the world of selling. Sales functions everywhere are in the early stages of radical and profound changes comparable to those that began in manufacturing 40 years ago.

But one change outweighs all the others.

The meaning of selling itself is shifting. The very purpose of sales is being rapidly redefined.”

Consequently, sales organisations face a huge challenge, because there is no longer any sustainable competitive advantage through product superiority.

Author Jerry Stapleton points out that the second problem is that the sales rep’s customers just do not need him or her any longer. At least, not the way they used to.

Traditionally salespeople brought value to their customers by facilitating transactions and communicating information about their products and services. Almost overnight, these two core functions of the salespeople have been lost.

Belatedly, sales - long the corporate stepchild - is emerging not only as a topic worthy of academic and executive attention but also as the business function where substantive improvement is not only doable but also capable of delivering extremely attractive improvements in shareholder returns.

Sensible investment, handsome returns In short, sensible investment in sales effectiveness produces handsome returns.

•Sales forces, rated as world-class by their customers, showed organic revenue growth of nearly 50% per annum over the last five years. All of this in recessionary markets.

•An increasing number of business-tobusiness (B2B) sales forces, facing the insidious effects of commoditisation and margin erosion, are focusing increasing attention on the very purpose of their sales forces. And many are concluding that sales is less about selling their wares, and more about making customers successful.

If you accept this assertion, the implications are profound. It changes everything. What you sell. How you sell.

What kind of salespeople you recruit. How sales managers manage. How you align sales and marketing. How you are rewarded for the value you deliver. And the kind of relationships you have with your customers.

•In the US, there are an estimated 19 million B2B field salespeople and, over the next decade, this number is likely to shrink to about 10 million. The middle-ranking “field sales rep” who sells products, features and benefits is becoming irrelevant and unaffordable, and will be replaced by competent and well-qualified internal telephone-based salespeople, who carry out account management and other roles.

•This will create a requirement for highly educated, financially literate, business-savvy, well-trained consultanttype salespeople who are highly paid. These salespeople are in short supply, and there will be an increasing demand for universities to fill this void. In the US, around 60 universities now offer degree courses in sales, and 94% of their students are recruited before they graduate.

•In South Africa, finding a sales organisation with a clearly defined and articulated sales strategy is all but impossible. This results in lack of focus, confusion and appalling inefficiency.

•Some business processes have achieved extraordinary levels of accuracy and precision. Commercial airlines have a defect level of 3,2ppm, and electronic chip manufacture 3,4ppm. Sales, in contrast, not only tolerates but accepts as normal extremely low standards. Lack of process, poor adherence to process, hiring failure

47

2013 trends: Reinventing the sales function

By Peter Gilbert rates of 50% and sometimes higher, inaccurate forecasting, forecasting slippage, untrained sales managers, and much more.

Massive improvement is both necessary, and achievable.

•According to ASTD in its 2011 report ‘Developing Sales Teams that Win’, more than US$15.5 billion is spent annually in the US on sales training. Yet, despite this level of investment, ‘conventional’ sales methods seem not to be delivering profit at the rates required by most B2B companies and, as ASTD so elegantly put it - that’s “[a] large investment to attain more mediocre results”.

Sales effectiveness Unfortunately, most discussions on sales effectiveness default to a discussion on sales training, which should actually be

the last step in the sales enablement process.

•Sales effectiveness begins with an informed management decision to capitalise on the economic benefits to be derived from a highly effective sales organisation. The second step is to decide upon an appropriate go-to-market sales strategy for each business unit or line of business.

Many companies, trying to shed the shackles of commoditisation, are electing to play in the solution space. This, however is very challenging, and most fail to get any return on their investment, often because they strive to deliver value to their customers, but have no clue how much value they actually deliver, and find themselves unable to get paid for it.

•Customers are increasingly demanding ROI when purchasing large complex solutions, but few suppliers have an effective

and credible mechanism for building a robust and logically unassailable business case. Those that do are achieving remarkable growth, with much smaller sales forces.

Two other areas handled very poorly are recruitment and onboarding. Research by CSO Insight reveals that in a survey of some 2000 B2B sales force, on average, 20% of salespeople delivered 62% of revenues. In industries such as real estate, 10-15% of salespeople deliver about 80% of revenues.

This is totally unnecessary and, with readily available tools and systems, a hiring accuracy of 90+ percent is achievable. The financial impact is dramatic.

In summary, a carefully considered, and well-planned investment in sales effectiveness will yield substantial financial returns, and a 50% improvement in sales productivity should be well within the reach of most organisations.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

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With Joe Agbro Jr. 08056745268

WORD WHEEL

Hello children, Photography, a form of visual commuication could be a hobby and also a business. This week, we showcase the exploits of some secondary students as they learn this art

PHOTO EXHIBITION The Photography students of Baptist Boys High School (Mission), Oke-Saje, Abeokuta, Ogun State, under the tutelage of their fine arts teacher, Olusegun Adeniyi, staged a well-attended photography exhibition at their school on 26th and 27th March. Below are some of the students’ pictures.

More images can be seen at www. baptistboyshighschool. blogspot.com

How many words of three or more letters, each including the letter at centre of the wheel, can you make from this diagram? We've found 23, including one nine-letter words.

PUZZLE Four children were born in different countries.

Find out who was born in which country from the clues given.

France United Kingdom USA Argentina • Insatiable Student by Olusegun Sorungbe (SSS 3), 2013 Description: This is to tell the story of BBHS students’ commitment, dedication and love to their academics. (Please don’t say this is too much) This student couldn’t just get enough…

. . . .

ANN BEN CAL DEB

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. . . .

1. Ann was not born in Europe.

2. Deb's native language is not English.

3. Ben is not from the Americas.

4. Cal is not from the Northern Hemisphere (the Northern Hemisphere is the area north of the equator).

SUDOKU

•Failure is an Orphan (Success has many friends) by Ishola Abdullateef (SSS 3), 2013 Description: This captured the celebration after the Inter-house Sport Competition. You can see for yourself that truly Success attracts many friends.

• The Graffiti by Oyetunde Damola (SSS 2), 2013 Description: The students of the BBHS (Mission) making a Graffiti on the school wall by the gate during the BBHS 90th Anniversary. It was supervised by Mr. Olusegun Michael Adeniyi.

To play Sudoku: Fill the box with the numbers 1 to 9 in a way that •Each column must contain all of the numbers 1 through 9 •Each row must contain all of the numbers 1 through 9 •Each block must contain all of the numbers 1 through 9 •No two numbers in the same column, row, or block can be the same.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013

Young Nation

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MY EASTER HOLIDAY

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•Students of Blue House, St. Mary’s College, Festac Town, Lagos, participating in the march pass during the school’s 3rd sports day on April 5

BIRTHDAYS

N Thursday the 21st of April 2013, I was eager to collect my result from school because I was looking forward to spending another Easter holiday with my family.

Easter as we all know is a Christian feast commemorating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ on the third day after His crucifixion on the cross of Calvary. Under the scotching sun, I anxiously waited for my parents’ arrival at school. Although the Easter break was a short one, I said goodbye to my friends and we hugged like there was no tomorrow.

School was over for the term and I was home.

Not forgetting the reason for the celebration, I went to Church with my family members as early as 7:00am on the 29th of April which was “Good Friday”.

Good Friday is a day observed by Christians in

By Angel Daniel

commemoration of the crucifixion of Jesus. On that fateful Friday, we rounded up a programme in Church and the Easter celebration began. Saturday passed and Sunday came. It was time for Church.

At Church, “Above All”

by Michael W. Smith was the order of the day, as we sang and gave thanks to God for sending His son Jesus Christ to save us. It’s Easter Monday and amidst the celebration with friends and family, the thought of returning to School lingered through my mind.

Easter is the most important celebration of all because Jesus died on the cross so that we may be saved and our sins forgiven.

•Angel Daniel Zamani College, Kaduna, SS3, 15years old

WORD GAME •Okeoghene Agbro, a creche pupil of Rose-Valley Nur/Pry School, Oko-Oba, Agege, Lagos, clocks two today, April 14

•Little Aishatu Mama Ndujja Modibbo, the daughter of a member of the House of Representatives, Hajiya Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed, was one year old penultimate Saturday

WORD SEARCH

Cities A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. A big city or metropolis usually has associated suburbs and exurbs.

Cities generally have complex systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, housing, and transportation.

Find some of the world’s most populous cities listed on the right in the word search.

Fill in the spaces to get the correct word using the clue below

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• Official language of some West African countries BEIJING BEUNOS AIRES BOGOTA CAIRO DELHI DHAKA GUANGZHOU ISTANBUL JAKARTA KARACHI KINSHASHA KOLKATA LAGOS LIMA LONDON LOS ANGELES MANILA MEXICO CITY MOSCOW MUMBAI NEW YORK CITY OSAKA RIO DE JANEIRO SAO PAULO SEOUL SHANGHAI SHENZHEN TEHRAN TIANJIN TOKYO

Write for The Nation!

Do you fancy yourself as a writer someday? Stop dreaming and start writing. A topic will be presented here every week and you’re encouraged to send in entries in not more than 150 words. The best original story will be published from time to time, so get cracking!

Entries should be sent to sundaynation@yahoo.com and should be accompanied by the writer’s name, age, school and class.

This week’s topic is : “How I spent my Easter holiday”

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Etcetera

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

SUNNY SIDE

Cartoons

By Olubanwo Fagbemi

POLITICKLE

deewalebf@yahoo.com 08060343214 (SMS only)

A modern dictionary

CHEEK BY JOWL

OH, LIFE!

THE GReggs

On demand, the entertaining collection of saucy definitions returns to challenge contemporary ideas.

Avoidable a.: What the molue or danfo driver could not do.

Anonymous n.: The world’s most popular author.

Archaeologist n.: A man whose career lies in ruins.

Argument n.: A discussion that occurs when you’re right, but the other just hasn’t realised yet.

Bathroom n.: A room used by the entire family, believed by all except Mom or the house-help to be self-cleaning.

Barber n.: Someone who is able to create a style you will never be able to duplicate again.

Boss n.: Someone who is early when you are late and late when you are early or one who is right when you are wrong and right when you are right.

Baby n.: A loud voice at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.

Business n.: Other people’s money in your care.

Bacteria n.: The rear entrance to a cafeteria.

Beauty n.: The power with which a woman charms a lover and terrifies a husband.

Cannibal n.: Someone who is fed up with people.

Chicken n.: The only animal you eat before it is born and after it is dead.

Committee n.: A body that keeps minutes and wastes hours.

Courtesy n.: The art of yawning with your mouth closed.

Cat n.: Unique mammal that keeps humans as slaves. Also provides a soft surface to be kicked in times of frustration.

Celebrity n.: One who is known by many people he is glad he didn’t know.

Cigarette n.: Tobacco rolled in paper with fire at one end and a fool on the other.

Conclusion n.: What you reach when you’re tired of thinking.

Courage n.: The fear of being thought a coward or the judgment that something is more important than fear.

Credit n.: See debt.

Democracy n.: Collective wisdom based on individual ignorance of the system, or being allowed to vote for the candidate you least dislike. Memory blitz anyone?

Destiny n.: A tyrant’s authority for crime and a fool’s excuse for failure.

Doctor n.: A person who kills your ills by pills, and kills you with his bills.

Debt n.: See credit.

Etc. abbrev. A sign to make others believe that you know more than you actually do.

Eternity n.: The last two minutes of a crucial football match.

Fable n.: A modern story told by a teenager arriving home after curfew.

Feedback n.: The inevitable result when the baby doesn’t appreciate the food.

Full name n.: What you call your child when you’re mad at him or her.

Economist n.: A person who professes to know more about money than the people who have it, as in the President’s economic team.

Fiction n.: The story told by a completed income tax form.

Floppy n.: The state of your wallet after purchasing a personal computer.

Foreign Aid n.: Money transferred from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.

Future n.: That period of time in which everything works out just fine.

Gossip n.: A person who will never tell a lie if the truth will do more damage.

Grandparents n.: The folks who think your children are wonderful even though they’re sure you’re not raising them right.

Government n.: Well-documented branch of the mafia, found in every country.

Happiness n.: An agreeable sensation in one person directly related to another’s misery.

Hearsay n.: What toddlers choose to do when anyone mutters a dirty word.

Independent adj.: How we want our children to be as long as they do everything we say.

Inflation n.: Cutting money in half or more without damaging the paper.

Justice n.: A decision in your favour.

Kleptomaniac n.: One who helps himself because he can’t help himself.

Luck n.: Probability translated into great fortune, for example, ‘shoeless boy’ into president.

Jokes Humour Police Case Police: Where do you live?

Me: With my parents.

Police: Where do your parents live?

Me: With me.

Police: Where do you all live?

Me: Together.

Police: Where is your house?

Me: Next to my neighbour’s house.

Police: Where is your neighbour’s house?

Me: If I tell you, you won’t believe me.

Police: Tell me.

Me: Next to my house.

Mother and Me 3 years old: My mummy is the best!

7 years old: Mama, I love you!

10 years old: Mom, whatever!

17 years old: Oh my God, my mother is so annoying!

25 years old: I want to go back home!

35 years old: Mummy, you were right.

50 years old: I don’t want to lose my mom!

70 years old: I would give everything to have my mother with me!

10 Facts About You Fact 1: You are reading this.

Fact 2: You can’t say the letter ‘m’ without touching your lips.

Fact 3: You just tried it.

Fact 4: You’re smiling.

Fact 6: You’re smiling or laughing again.

Fact 7: You didn’t notice I missed fact 5.

Fact 8: You just checked it.

Fact 9: You’re smiling again.

Fact 10: You like this and you’d like to read more.

10 More Facts About You Fact 1) You can’t say “s” without using your tongue.

Fact 2) Just tried it.

Fact 3) You’re grinning.

Fact 4) You just checked to see if I forgot a number.

Fact 5) You’re smiling.

Fact 7) You didn’t notice that I forgot 6).

Fact 8) So you check it.

Fact 9) You think this is a weird “joke”.

Fact 10) You like it anyway.

QUOTE

There are two types of people in this world, good and bad. The good sleep better, but the bad seem to enjoy the waking hours much more.

—Woody Allen •Adapted from the Internet

F

ICTION Writer ’s Fountain WRITING: For entertaining stakes. We’ve already again, if you write it right, it just might – it all discussed some attributes of stakes: they depends!

So, entertaining can be defined many should matter to your characters; and the achievement of these stakes should be in ways. Perhaps you are trying to increase some doubt. A third and important suspense; this can be done by endangering characteristic is that these stakes should be your main character or those he loves. Perhaps “entertaining” involves romance, avoiding entertaining.

Entertaining is often in the eye of the embarrassment, is a matter of attaining or beholder – what thrills one reader may bore retaining power, or is simply odd or weird. another. In some respects this is determined You could open one scene with a character by genre; for example, the stake “winning looking around the room at all the women, the football game” may not generate much wondering which one he should seduce for empathy in the readers of romances. Then, political reasons. This seems intriguing, entertaining, and enthralling.

Now you know: Your characters’ stakes may be more •The average person will walk the mundane. It’s fun to include stakes that are equivalent of around four times the earth trivial but a little peculiar – stakes that readers during his of her life. experience but rarely read about – such as •The sun comprises about 99% of the mass trying to find the key to the family safe that in our Solar system. was accidentally lost because your main •The average depth of the ocean is 4.3km. character forgot to put it away in a safe place.

•Odd: ‘Silent’ and ‘Listen’ use the same You can increase the significance of these letters. stakes. For example, your protagonist may •Lightning strikes earth about eight million want to lose the five kilogrammes in order to times a day. take advantage of a major international event •The brain is only about 2% of the body but – or needs to find the key because his spouse requires about 20% of its oxygen and calories. will scold him for his laxity.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013

53

Routine checks can stop deaths and some ailments —PAGE 68

The death of History M

RS. Foluke Ojooge (not her real name) is a teacher in a public secondary school in Agege, Lagos State. She grew up in a family of teachers. Her father retired as a principal while her mother also retired as a headmistress of a public primary school. It was natural for her to become a teacher too, so as to ‘keep the family tradition’ as her father used to say.

Today, she has kept the family tradition but to her eternal regret. She decided to study History in one of the nation’s first generation universities, in fact, the same one her father attended.

Her father read History and she decided to follow his footsteps.

Uninterested students On this particular day, her entrance into a class full of students was greeted with murmurs. Unperturbed, she walked to the front as the murmurs grew louder. “It’s time for History,” she announced. Many of the students hissed. Some took their bags and walked out. In no time, the classroom became empty. Only two students stayed behind.

A frustrated Mrs Ojooge faced the reporter and said, “That is what we get every week,” According to her, when she joined the school almost a decade ago, she enjoyed every bit of her classes.

From secondary schools to universities, students are turning their backs on study of history owing to myriad factors, putting the nation’s future, knowledge about itself and identity in serious jeopardy, report Sunday Oguntola, Taiwo Abiodun and Vincent Nzemeke Students were most eager and participated gladly in her lessons. But that was then. The middle-aged teacher narrated how she had witnessed a serious dip in enrolment and enthusiasm among students for her subject.

At the initial stage she used to have a class full of enthusiastic students who were proud to learn about the history of their country, fallen empires in and out of Africa and of other countries.

To hell with history However, of recent, things have changed as she can see “a strong disdain” for the subject among students and even curriculum planners. According to her, the development is not helped by the subject combination recently introduced into the school curriculum. “History used to be a single-alone subject in those years, or combined with Government, thus making students to choose either taking History or Government, but now, students have an option not to take it. It is now paired with Geography and Literature-

in-English. They are all optional.”

This was not so during her own student days.

The optional insertion is just what most students have been waiting for.

Investigations revealed many of them are turning their backs on the subject, treating it with utmost disdain. “I don’t know what I will be doing with History,” Mary Christopher, a SSS2 student began.

“These events happened many years ago and someone wants me to be racking my head remembering the dates and incidents. Please, spare me the pain,” she stated.

Christopher quit History class while in SS1 because, according to her, “I find it has nothing to do with now.” Most of her colleagues also joined her. The class, she explained, “has run out of students.” The teacher, she said, left with no one showing interest again in the subject.

A former History teacher in Lagos, Mrs. Grace Adebayo, said most students no longer want to have anything to do

again with the subject. Adebayo, who is now into trading, said: “You have got to move on when you are more or less idle as a teacher. You lose your joy when students turn their backs on your subject and don’t want to touch it. For many of them, it is to hell with History as a subject. So, I left teaching altogether.”

Adebayo is heartbroken the current generation of students do not know the value of History. “It is (History) very interesting and engaging. It takes you to places and times you have never been to. It is a world of possibilities that is worth exploring. It is a shame that our students do not appreciate the subject. I actually left because I was too heartbroken to stay back,” the ex-history teacher shared.

Another teacher of History had to veer into teaching another subject to escape redundancy when she had no students to teach again.

A quick search in most secondary •Continue on Page 54

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013

Life •Continued from Page 53

schools across the nation revealed most of them lack History teachers. A top official in the Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), who spoke under strict anonymity, said this is because there are fewer demands for History teachers and applicants. “We cannot employ more teachers when schools make fewer demands. We also realised lesser students are interested. So, this explains why there are fewer teachers to teach History,” the source stated.

Most of the few teachers left are also leaving. “Most of them with combined honours and degrees have moved to the more demanded subjects. Those with single degrees are resigning at a very disturbing rate,” the official said.

Who wants to be a Historian?

Since enrolment in History classes is low in secondary schools, it is even worse in tertiary institutions. For many university applicants, the thought of becoming a Historian is scary. Opeyemi Oyeyemi, a JAMB candidate, said she would never, for anything, consider studying History. “What on earth will make me study such a boring, dry course? Who cares to be a Historian?” she stated.

Three years ago when Blessing Uduak (not real name) put in her application for admission into Delta State University, Abraka, she chose to read Law. After scoring high in the JAMB and post- JAMB examinations, she was optimistic that her dreams of becoming a lawyer will come to fruition. But to everyone’s surprise, when the first list was released, there was no place for her in the Faculty of Law or any other department in the school.

A few weeks later, when the second list was released, she was offered admission into the Department of History and International Studies. Now in her final year, Blessing regrets studying History and still dreams of becoming a Lawyer.

“I am studying a course I never dreamt of studying. The only reason I came to this department was because of my parents who felt I had spent too much time at home waiting for admission. I still dream of being a lawyer and I may go back to study Law when I finish this one,” she stated.

Afolabi Ogunrinu, a youth corps member in Lagos holds a Bachelor’s Degree in History and Diplomatic Studies from the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, like Blessing, studying History was never his choice but an escape route after many years of seeking admission.

“I left secondary school in 2001 and stayed at home for four years. When the frustration became unbearable, I enrolled for a two-year Diploma in Mass Communication programme with the hope of getting direct entry admission into the Department. After the diploma, the admission still didn’t materialise.

“My mother told a family friend who then helped to secure admission into History department. I had no choice but to study History because my name came out on the supplementary admission list,”

Turning their backs on History

•Tafa Balewa

•Azikiwe

•Awolowo

•Ahmadu-Bello

he shared.

As it is with Blessing and Afolabi, many students studying History in various institutions across the country never dreamt of it. Given a chance, they would gladly dump it and switch to Mass Communication or and other courses they describe as “professional.”

The less lucrative course Although their aversion for History as a course is based on

different reasons, they all seem to agree that studying for a degree in it is boring and the prospects are not as lucrative as the other courses.

“I studied this course for four years and I can tell you that it is a bit boring compared to other courses. Most of the things they teach us happened many years ago and have no relevance with what is happening in today’s world,” Afolabi posited.

Dapo Oyedele, another student of History at the University of Lagos, said the curriculum and volume of books read by History students is a major discouragement. Although he applied to study English Language, he says he is enjoying History.

A lecturer at the University of Lagos, who did not want his name in print, opined that students who run away from

“You have got to move on when you are more or less idle as a teacher. You lose your joy when students turn their backs on your subject and don’t want to touch it. For many of them, it is to hell with History as a subject. So, I left teaching altogether.”

History are lazy. He said: “We have less students interested in studying History because students of this generation are lazy. They would rather engage in frivolities than study. History will always be relevant. Without History, there would be no country. In other countries people still study History, why should our own be different?”

Another lecturer is pained that the country is gradually losing its heritage because many students today do not even know who the Sardauna of Sokoto., Sir Ahmadu Bello, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and a host of other nationalists were. He said he recently displayed N100 and N200 bills in the class and asked a student to tell him who they were and what role they played in Nigeria’s history. To his consternation, in a class of almost fifty students only one had a faint idea of who they were.

“How can a country progress with such a bunch of ignorant youths? The saddest thing is that most of these students will tell you the history of America and other developed countries but draw blank on the history of their own.”

Stella Owolabi, an educational consultant and the proprietor of MEIR International School Akute, Ogun State, is bothered about the nation’s future. According to her, “History is the study of past events. I am pained that many things are changing in this country; I believe it is not right to completely phase out the subject History.

“History is studying your environment, stories of the past people and events. If we remove History from our schools, the country would be as dead as a Dodo. That was one of the reasons why they protested when the federal government tried to change the University of Lagos (UNILAG) to Moshood Kashimawo Abiola University.”

Loss of national identity Akinmolayan said the nation’s identity is lost with the erosion of history among the younger generations. “We have human statues all over the place.

Our children are seeing them but they don’t know the stories behind them. If you have not been familiar with the past heroes, how would you know their roles?

Without History, a nation is finished,” she stated.

Prof. Sam Oyegun, a historian, said there must be national shift to redress the situation. “We cannot completely blame the younger generation for their apathy towards History. When they graduate, what career prospects are open to them? How do we treat historians? Do we have respect for History and our past? When you don’t address all of these, you will keep having what exists now.”

He also called for curricular review to make History a compulsory subject from primary school level. “Everyone should be made to undergo History classes from the basic level. By the time they get to universities, it would have become normal to them,” Oyegun explained.

However, the statement on many lips is: we pay lip service to science education and do not even encourage sciences or humanities when other nations of the world that are strong in sciences don’t neglect the teaching of their country’s history.

THE ARTS

55

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013

•Jeyifo in adire (middle) with other scholars at the lecture.

PHOTO: EDOZIE UDEZE

Nollywood is cottage industry – Jeyifo In a lecture entitled, What is wrong and what is right with Nollywood, Professor Biodun Jeyifo, a world renowned literary scholar and critic takes a critical look at the sector and points the way forward. The lecture which took place at the Redeemer’s University, Ibafo, Ogun State was attended by scholars from far and near. Edozie Udeze was there

P

ROFESSOR Biodun Jeyifo of the Harvard University in the United States of America has asserted that it is the pre-eminence and dominance of the Nollywood films that have sent both the Hollywood and Bollywood film products packing out of Africa, but quickly added that mediocrity will continue to be the bane of Nollywood unless the people involved guide their loins to ensure an accelerated improvement of their products.

Jeyifo, a professor of Comparative Literature and a world-renowned critic made this assertion while delivering The Redeemer’s University Public Lecture Series recently at the university auditorium, located along Lagos – Ibadan Expressway, Ibafo, Ogun State. With the title of the lecture as: What is right and what is wrong with Nollyhood, Jeyifo took a swipe at the sector which he described as a cottage industry and said that much needs to be done to make it an ideal, effective, functional and productive industry as obtains in other normal and saner film industries throughout the world.

Borrowing one of his three epitaphs from Wole Soyinka’s, A Dance of the Forests, to illustrate his argument, Jeyifo said: “Because it was born on a rainy day, the foolish chick thought it was a fish.” In other words given the difficult circumstances under which the industry was conceived, its practitioners are now quick to assume that it is the largest film industry in the world.

But how can we now use quantity, mediocrity and half-measures in what we do to assume that we are

the best in the world?

To get it right, we must also think right. Is greatness or largeness measured on quantity and quantum? When has mediocrity become the yardstick to determine the level of professionalism and seriousness in what people do? Where you do not invest enough money, time and efforts, is it really possible to get something professionally sound out of the situation? For Jeyifo who has spent considerable time and research on both the Hollywood, Bollywood and the like to be able to compare the standard of films produced in Nigeria in terms of technological and economic sources of its identity, “Nollywood is actually a cottage industry that mistakes itself for a fully evolved, truly developed corporate or big-business industry.”

This wrong aphorism, he asserts, is most easily perceived by the constant and perennial comparisons that Nollywood apologists urge between the Nigerian video film industry and Hollywood and Bollywood, both of which are for the most part run by big, corporate studios with multi-billiondollar budgets.

He contended, however, that what propels the players in the industry to be so bigheaded and boastful may not be far from the Nigerian situation where we often believe that due to population we are the giant of Africa.

“But because it was born on a rainy day, the foolish chick thought it was a fish. In other words, we must recognise that in the face of the backward, corrupt and chaotic form of dependent capitalism that reigns over the political economy of Nigeria in particular and many other African and Third World countries in general, the informal or parallel sectors of our economy

contain the sources of some of the most truly dynamic and creative energies in our society.”

It was within this contest, however, that the Nollywood industry was formed.

It was, therefore, based on these premises that the sector has persisted.

“And without over-idealising these parallel or informal sectors of the economy, we should recognise that without them, a great majority of our people would have been left to the ruinous and failed policies of the formal sectors of the economy, public and private, supervised by the Nigerian state,” Jeyifo further stated. To him, there is no shortcut to success.

According kudos to the Nollywood practitioners for their ability to make the sector widely known in Africa and beyond, and having been able to colonise Africa with their ‘warped’ presentation of Nigerian cultural ideals, as it were, Jeyifo drew attention to those areas that need to be reappraised to make the films better. These include the witchcrafts concepts of the film which he contended do not truly represent what we stand for as a people.

He said: “perhaps the best illustration one could often have is that of the use of witchcrafts and the occult, not only as markers of contestation of moral and cultural values in our society but also as means of advancing the plot and resolving conflicts in dramatic actions. These also tend to be clumsy and cumbersome in most Nigerian films.”

In addition, he said, the translation from local languages into English have to be properly done to give true aesthetics and value to the films.

He berated script writers as not

•Theatre students of the university performing at the event

only amateurs, but those who are not properly trained to handle stories that reflect the true nature of Nigeria. “Indeed, I have watched countless Nollywood films in which the image of Nigerian and African cultural traditions that they project show more ignorance and hostility to our tradition than the most racist Hollywood films about ‘darkest’ Africa. Perhaps the worst offenders here are the films made by or for the new missionaries of the onslaught Pentecostal Christianity on Africa and other parts of the developing world.”

As an overview, Jeyifo commended Nigerian creative minds for their ability in turning the misfortunes around for good. Before now, he argued, it was only Egypt and South Africa that had the best in the area of films. “Today, Nollywood people are beginning also to assert independent control over their own creativity from the extremely exploitative control exercised by the producers and marketers… It is too early yet to say. However, if good and evil always and forever work together in locksteps, our task is to seek out the good trends and give them all the encouragement that they need.”

But in a quick reaction to the sentiments expressed in the lecture, Gregory Odutayo, president of National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP), said that given the nonchalant attitude of both government and corporate bod-

ies, Nollywood has managed to fuse together an industry that has given hope to many people in the society.

“Our efforts are basically individualistic. What we do is to make films and plough back our money. People do it to make money because the money invested in it is from individual packets. Therefore, all we need is government attention to move to the next level.”

The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Debo Adeyewa, berated Jeyifo for his stand on Christian films. He said, “What we need now is to do more to discourage our people from watching what is wrong. It is what our films ought to do – show them what is good for their growth and wisdom.”

A student named Michael advised Nollywood stars to desist from nudity since that does not speak well of their positions. “We need also to show some level of decency to encourage viewership,” Michael said.

The lecture was well-attended by scholars from far and near. They included Professors Femi Osofisan, Demola Da-Silva, Ahmed Yerima and others. There were also some Nollywood stars who were in attendance.

In the end, the consensus of opinion of most scholars was that there should be more of such lectures not only on Nollywood but on other aspects of the Arts to enable practitioners see what to do to improve the sector.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013

Arts/Reviews

‘Day I forgot my line on set’ Sola Onayiga is a veteran actress who has featured in Checkmate, Fuji House of Commotion and a lot of soaps and home videos in Nigeria. Last week, she was one of the veteran artistes honoured by the National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP). She spoke to Edozie Udeze on her career, her love for theatre and why Fuji House of Commotion will bounce back soon

W

HAT does the World Theatre Day mean to you as an

actress?

It is the National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP) that organised the show for this year. The title of the event has been changed from International Theatre Day to World Theatre Day to synchronise with the concept enunciated by UNESCO. I think it is a day when we as artistes celebrate ourselves and be in total control of what we do and who we are. So even if nobody celebrates us or shows any interest in doing so, we have to celebrate ourselves. Here in Nigeria, we do not see so much of government interest in the arts and that is why it behoves on us professionals to plan, celebrate and showcase ourselves.

No government ever celebrates any artistes in this country and it is so unfortunate. This is why we are saying right from today we have to celebrate Nigerian artistes.

It is a day set aside by the International Theatre Institute (ITI) an arm of UNESCO to do so. It is a worldwide celebration, during which artistes come together to hobnob in festival forms. So, today we celebrate all the genres of theatre – dance, drama, music, composition, soap and all.

You received an award today. How do you feel?

I feel elated. It is like being in business for a very long time and people now coming to accord you recognition. Oh, it is such a wonderful thing.

When they told me that I’d be one of those to receive award, I say, ah, you people want to recognise me? I said it is great because I have not been so recognised by my people before.

I thank NANTAP for being so magnanimous in this regard.

I don’t know how to put it, but I am so grateful to God Almighty for this day, for giving me this opportunity again.

Somebody somewhere is thinking of you; somebody you do not even know. And out of the so many artistes in Nigeria, NANTAP still singled me out for this great honour, Ah, what else can I say? If someone has done so much in her professional calling, please let’s try and recognise her.

What is happening to Fuji House of Commotion?

Ah, I think we shall soon go back on location. We are not really on break because they still show some of the clips on AIT. That comes on by 11.30p.m and they are some of the episodes we recorded early last year. We lost Mama Moji (Toun Oni). And we just did the memorial for her. It is then that we can fully go back on location.

But last year, we recorded 13 episodes which still run on television. However, very soon, we will record more.

What is the difference between the character you play on TV and what you are in real life?

(Laughs). Well, the character you are seeing here now, is the wife of a pastor, a quiet and lovable woman. She is a home-maker (not cooking practical, you know). You see the Onayiga in the play, I don’t understand her anyway, saying she studied cooking practical and all that or someone who went to the Polytechnic and now wants to use her family to practice it. And then she goes on to use cookery books to cook for her family. Ah, this character… we have people like that, anyway.

Most people who get married these days behave like that. If they want to make Okro soup, they make use of cookery books. So, it happens

Invisible Borders has been a photography project embarked upon by African artists to transcend African borders and to inspire more artists. In this current exercise, photographers from Nigeria, Cameroon and Gabon top the chart. Yet Lillian Novo, a Nigerian who led this pack shows her dexterity in diverse forms

I

N The New African Photography we see this fast changing continent through the eyes of its most acute observers: its photographers.

Six vivid profiles show a new generation of photographers challenging portrayals of Africa –, few regions remain as photographically miss-represented as Africa.

The latest generation of photographers is taking back control of their image with a more nuanced portrayal. Honest and unflinching about real problems facing their countries, And still wrestling with the past, they’re keen to celebrate what unique about their

region, and are optimistic about a future they feel is increasingly in their hands.

Young Nigerian photographer Lillian Novo joins the Invisible Borders group of photographers for an audacious African Odyssey, a road trip from Lagos to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Their mission is to challenge the stereotypical images of a continent scarred by conflicts, desperation and divides, and themselves. On the bus, corporate photographer Lillian will have her ideas of photography overturned by photographer Emeka the trip’s flamboyant founder.

Joining them in the bus is Gloyer, a filmmaker from

Orubebe presents books

T

•Onayiga

but the Onayiga here now is a different character entirely.

She is not cooking practical.

When you are on location and there are many cast starring at you when you deliver you lines, how do you feel?

Ah, my brother, let me tell you something. When I first joined Fuji from Checkmate, my first day on set, I was almost shaking. When I saw the cast, a large number of them, I almost lost my lines. The people were so many. The action, my Director Bolaji Dawodu said to me, I couldn’t even cope.

When I saw people in that sitting-room, I was totally scared.

I was like… ah, I couldn’t even say a word. But now I am used to it. We are like one big family now.

How do you see your life as a theatre artiste?

Ah, I love it. And that’s why I am thanking God for this today. If I look back and remember some things, ah, I would have left this profession. But because of the interest and love I have… you see, when you are doing what you love and having fun in doing

it, it is healthier, because it makes you look healthier.

That is what has happened to me. I am in my own world, doing what I love.

When you compare your life as an artiste and the wife of a pastor, what really comes to your mind?

Ha, it is so funny. At times when I watch Fuji House of Commotion and see the role I play there, I just sit back and laugh. Then I would say oh God please help me. This is so because as wife of a pastor there are some certain areas I know I shouldn’t come in to play the role at all.

At a stage, I told Amaka Igwe, the producer, look oh I am now married – all this being in bed with Chief, I don’t like it. At a point, she agreed with me, yet it is my profession. When people see me in the church they appreciate me more as an artiste. We even have a drama group and I often teach them too. We have a women drama group which I supervise and teach a lot about acting.

HE public presentation of two novels, Missing Daughters and Deserts, written by Gandhi Ebikeme Orubebe, an Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) will be launched on Friday, April 19. The two books are instructive as they dwell on the ills of the society.

The launch which will take place at the Unity Hall, Government House, Asaba, Delta State is being organised by the Nigeria Police Force in collaboration with the Delta State Government.

In a statement signed by Sylvester Azubuike, one of the organizers of the event, it said that the launch will kick off by 10.00a.m and would be chaired by Omooba Adeleke Adedoyin Gbadebo, the Managing Director of Lexican Investments Limited while the Chief Launcher will be Walter Wagbatsona, an industrialist.

POETRY

Clothesline

I

T’S a piece of cloth flapping in its purple pride like flesh startled a wet thriller against the wall it was not cloth but memory it floral pattern primly put pronounces to me a throb of senses a time not long ago when I saw it drape

New Africa through lenses

•Niger Delta through the lens of George Osodi

Equatorial Guinea who has never left his home country before, upcoming Nigerian novelist Emmanuelle and Ray a Nollywood actor. But it’s Novo who Emeka’s most interested in; a young Nigerian woman who normally

photographs Lago’s wealthy elites, she’s braving the hardship of life on the road in the hope of finding her inner artist.

The group set off from Lagos and head overland to the Democratic Republic of Congo

The statement further stated that besides the fact that Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan the Governor of the state will serve as the chief host of the event, the state government is equally keen on letting the public see and appreciate the beauty of the two novels. The stories hinge essentially on some socio-cultural issues in Nigeria and how crime has permeated the fabrics of the society.

But Orubebe as a crafty and incisive writer used the two books to explore and correct some of these ills. To him, it is usually proper to use common and everyday issues in the society to set examples and then proffer solutions.

The two novels are among the many books so far written by the police officer, whose love and penchant for writing is indeed legendary.

in a beaten up old minivan, but soon discover that driving across Africa during rainy season presents environmental, bureaucratic and psychological challenges.

Invisible Borders is a universal story about idealism, passion and friendship, in which the artists push themselves, and each other, to fully experience the journey of a lifetime.

Barbara Minishi was told that she would never make it as a professional photographer in Kenya because she was young, black and female. She pursued her passion anyway and is now the official photographer for Kenya’s fashion week, and one of the most prominent style photographers in the country.

But for her latest passion project, Barbara’s swapping

your aquiline shape language upon language you are not here but your luscious embassy in prurient haloes intrudes under the sun with the whisper of a seductive breeze suggesting making me jealous of the elements

By Sam Omatseye skinny models for normal people. Following the 2007 post-election violence in which more than 1,000 were killed in violent riots, the country adopted a new constitution, nicknamed Wanjiku, which is also slang for “ordinary people”. Aware that the voices of ordinary women are rarely heard in Kenya, Barbara’s photographing a wide range of women all wearing the same red dress, as symbol of unity and national identity.

Her project takes her across Kenya, photographing everyone from teachers to the Massai, and from her own mother to the iron lady of Kenyan politics, Presidential candidate Martha Karua. Despite tirelessly tracking the no nonsense politician on her campaign trail, Barbara fears her art project will fall prey to the priorities of politics.

Source: Aljazeera

WORSHIP

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013

O

NE has not heard from you lately. Are you hiding or some-

thing?

No, we are not hiding.

We are doing our job. We are speaking but probably you have not been in places where we talk.

How is the church doing?

We are doing well, trying to look at our core values. We are trying to restore our core values of humanity.

Are you in support of the proposed amnesty programme for members of the Boko Haram sect?

Amnesty for Boko Haram? What is Boko Haram? What cause are they fighting? They burn churches and kill Christians yet we are talking about amnesty! Is it because of the utmost restraint that kept Christians from retaliating? So, if there is amnesty for Boko Haram, what becomes of their victims? The government that pledges to protect the existence of the nation should not be giving amnesty to a group that threatens the very existence of that nation.

But don't you think since the sect has done its worst, isn't it time to just forgive them and move on?

Yes, they have done their worst but we are missing something. While they were killing and burning churches, a lot of efforts were going on on the part of Christians to pacify and restrain them from avenging. It takes two to have a war situation. What they have been doing is a direct attack on Christianity; they were burning churches and bombing worshippers during services. All that was required was a response, which we did not do.

We are not cowards and it is not as if we are incapacitated. There is no religion that has monopoly of violence. There is enough provision in the scriptures for us to fight

'Amnesty cannot stop Boko Haram' Bishop Josef Bassey is President of Cross River State Christian Leaders' Forum and Bishop of God's Heritage Centre, Gloryland Calabar. He spoke with Sunday Oguntola on terrorism and other issues. Excerpts: and protect our faith. That we pursue the path of peace at a great cost, trying to protect the nation and keep it as one, does not mean we are timid. So, when you turn around to grant amnesty without justice, then you are really provoking us.

Some people are saying since Christians preach forgiveness all the time, isn't it time to demonstrate it?

Amnesty is not forgiveness. When government begins to grant amnesty without qualifying it, then there is a problem. There are prisoners who are repentant across the nation, they are the ones government should grant amnesty to, not unrepentant terrorists.

Boko Haram members do not deserve amnesty because they are bloody terrorists.

I hear people saying the Niger Delta militants and Boko Haram members are similar. I beg to disagree.

What the Niger Delta militants were fighting was well known. If you have a people who are being unfairly treated by the deprivations and degradations in their environment through explorations, they deserve to protest.

But I agree how they protested was wrong be-

•Bassey

cause there were killings and kidnapping. But we all knew what they were fighting for; we knew the cause.

Then, the struggle did not begin one day. The likes of Isaac Boro and Ken SaroWiwa died during the

struggle. So, let Boko Haram articulate its cause; let it be appreciable and genuine, then we can talk about amnesty, provided they are willing to dialogue.

But these people are fighting a religious cause.

They are aggrieved because they want everyone to be Muslims. They believe nonMuslims are infidels and unfit to live.

But isn't it time to give peace a chance having taken them on militarily?

No, they haven't really taken them on militarily yet.

You need to know what happened in the case of the Niger Delta. There was war in the entire region. There were shoot-outs for days.

Many villages were run over by the Armed Forces.

None of that has taken place in the north. There has been no meaningful military engagement in the north up till this point and then you turn around to say there should be amnesty? Please, the whole exercise is unfair and painful. In the Niger Delta case, it turned to guerrilla warfare. And there was wisdom because the soldiers were killing people of an entire region without much success. Ordinary people were also buying into the

struggle. So, they needed to halt the offensive attacks.

But we don't see that in the north.

So, the situation is totally different with Boko Haram. These people are pursuing total Islamisation of the nation. We have been seeing this pattern before independence.

Boko Haram is just an offshoot of that agenda.

I admit we have good Muslims who do not believe in their extreme agenda. Some of us believe there are many good Muslims, which is why we are engaging them. These Boko Haram guys are giving Islam a bad name and we believe Islamic leaders should call them to order.

They should dissociate themselves from these blood-thirsty jihadists.

So, amnesty will not work?

It is a failure in progress. It cannot work.

What these people want is impossible to achieve. They want Islamisation at all costs. And that will not work. There will always be Christians and Muslims in this country. Boko Haram members do not believe in amnesty. It is like asking Christians to deny their faith at the point of death.

That will never happen, no matter what. It is the same with these Boko Haram members. You don't dangle amnesty like a carrot before them. They don't believe in it. They have an agenda and will not back down.

No amount of inducement or appeasement will deter them. Amnesty is bound to fail.

What will work then?

I believe it is up to Islamic leaders to talk to these people. They are the ones that can dissuade them. They have to engage them and show them how what they are doing is denting the Islamic faith.

That is the only way I see it. They are their subjects and should be able to debrief them from the radical views they have embraced.

NEWS

Church decries festering insecurity

T

HE Diocese of Lagos M a i n l a n d , Methodist Church Nigeria, has decried the spate of insecurity in the country.

This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of its 19th Synod held in Lagos.

Part of the communiqué reads: "The government should take security of lives and properties of citizens seriously without being biased to any group.

Also churches should take proactive measures in securing church buildings and properties.

"Kidnapping, bombing and killings by Boko Haram group is outrightly

By Amidu Arije

condemned and the killing of the seven foreign hostages is condemned."

The communiqué noted that no meaningful investor would take our efforts to attract foreign direct investment seriously when a cloud of insecurity pervades a section of the

country, adding that effective security strategies should be evolved in bringing those behind the bloodletting to book.

The church also condemned the recent pardon granted the former Bayelsa State Governor, Diepreye Alamieseigha, saying ''it is a backward step in the fight against

corruption in Nigeria.''

It urged the government at all levels to improve the state of infrastructure in the country.

The church also identified unity among Nigerians irrespective of their religious inclinations as the only means to everlasting peace in the country.

Ojo becomes archbishop at 64

F

ORMER National Secretary of the P e n t e c o s t a l Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Bishop Joseph Ojo, will be installed an archbishop today.

The installation, which coincides with his 64 th birthday anniversary, holds at the cathedral of the Calvary Kingdom Church, Okokomaiko, Lagos.

The ceremony will

attract a galaxy of bishops and other clerics across the nation.

A statement by his Press Secretary, Deaconess Abigail Ezeala, said the ceremony begins by 2pm.

T

HE General Overseer of Liberation City Ministries, Prophet Chris Okafor, has blamed the challenges bedevilling the country on the FESTAC 77 festival held during the military regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo (Rtd.) He said the festival represented handing over the country to idols.

Okafor spoke last Sunday during his birthday ceremony, which coincided with the first anniversary of his famous escape from kidnappers in Anambra State.

The cleric argued that the Boko Haram is one of the least challenges facing the nation.

He wondered: “Is Boko Haram also responsible for the incessant kidnapping in the South-south, the corruption permeating the society, high incidence of arm robberies

‘FESTAC 77 responsible for Nigeria’s woes’

By Sunday Oguntola and other social evils bedevilling the country?”

He traced the nation’s woes to the festival, saying the concentration of idols from different parts of the globe dedicated Nigeria to the gods.

Okafor called on Church leaders to gather and cleanse the nation from the effects of idolatry.

According to him: “Just as Obasanjo gathered different idols in 1977 in Nigeria and glorified them, Christians with the support of the President must gather and raise a standard to cleanse the land of all ties and association with idols.’’

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013

Worship

Inside the multi-billion ‘House on the Rock' cathedral

T

HE breath-taking experience begins from the gate. The imposing 10,000-seater auditorium welcomes every guest with an array of aesthetic beauty.

The water fountain with 12 rocks at the frontage accentuates the cool ambience in the vicinity. The amazing experience swells one’s heart as the main entrance beckons.

Welcome to the mouthwatering House on The Rock Cathedral. Located in the serene, highbrow Elegushi Estate in Lekki, Lagos, the cathedral, like many love to say, is more than a structure. It is simply an architectural masterpiece poised to give visitors unforgettable worship experience.

IT- compliant auditorium The auditorium with over five foyers boasts a recording studio ready to beam every service live. The visual and audio facilities were imported from Greece to make recordings heart-swelling.

Fully air-conditioned with comfortable seating arrangements, the auditorium is reputed to have the longest unsupported span for any public building in the nation. It reportedly covers a space of 80 metres.

There are six projectors to spotlight happenings in every nook and cranny of the majestic auditorium. The 14 multi-media screens allow worshippers to have a full view of proceeding from any corner. The two media centres in the hall feed worshippers with glorious images and sound bites within the auditorium. The eight remotely-controlled cameras boast information dissemination without fuss.

More than a church setting The cathedral, which requires four-and-half hours of extensive tour to cover, is, however, not just about worship and services. It is more or less a mini-community

Sunday Oguntola, who undertook a tour of the state-of-the-art cathedral built by the ‘House on the Rock’ ahead of its commissioning, reports the structure represents a new frontier in the annals of church history in Nigeria. centre. It has an expansive exhibition hall designed to promote godly enterprises. Senior Pastor of the church, Pastor Paul Adefarasin, said the idea is to offer a "one-stop centre for Christians looking for materials and goods of every kind."

Located close to the multi-purpose hall, a worldclass restaurant, which conveniently sits 250 people, offers meals for the nourishing comfort of guests. Adefarasin said the restaurant is open to the public at every time of the day for wonderful culinary experiences. There is also a facility for E-bank to ensure guests never run out of immediate cash.

The toilet facilities easily meet international best practices. Lightening is censored at the various convenience centres to illuminate the paths of users with every movement. For VIPs and top government functionaries, the cathedral boasts a private elevator that leads to a lush lounge exclusively reserved for them.

Community relevance To confirm its community usefulness, the facility also runs a free clinic where residents can access treatments. Adefarasin said the best medical practitioners have been engaged to run the clinic. In the nearest future, he said the church intends to run 46 mobile clinic units to boost healthcare services across the state.

A gymnasium with stateof-the-art facilities allows guests to relax and exercise at no costs. There is also a prayer chapel with gallery that seats no fewer than 400 people for quiet communion with God. The chapel has a massive piano to boost musical worship. There are also

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administrative offices and over 22 classrooms with smart boards for relaxed learning experience.

The car park comfortably accommodates 2,000 cars protected by 160 CCTV. All facilities within the auditorium are disabledfriendly from the parking lot to the auditorium.

Adefarasin, a trained architect, developed the design for the entire cathedral. He said the whole idea is to have more than a church structure that can attend to the needs of communities around the church.

"We don't just want to exist for ourselves. We want to be able to accommodate

residents in the communities around us for services that are crucial to their wellbeing and conveniences," he reiterated.

He hinted that measures have been taken to ensure adequate maintenance of the massive structure. A maintenance endowment fund, Adefarasin disclosed,

has been established to ensure that the cathedral undergoes complete overhaul every five years.

Speaking on challenges encountered during the building process, he said many left the church when he conceived and announced the project. "They felt we were too ambitious and would never be able to do it," he explained. The project, which started in 2003, he stated, also ran into funding hitches.

"This(project) has taught me to believe in God and God alone for provisions. I went to many captains of industry to help but nothing came from them," he added. Adefarasin said the cathedral, which will be commissioned on April 2021, was nothing but the "sweat of our members."

He said it was completed debt-free without external financial support or assistance. Stating that the cathedral represents the faithfulness of God to the church, Adefarasin said: "We are still in a state of unbelief. Sometimes we pinch ourselves that indeed our dream has become a reality."

Amnesty: Nobody should take us for granted, say northern Christians

•Adefarasin leading prayer at the chapel

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•An aerial view of the 10,000-seater ultra-modern auditorium

Guide youths, cleric urges parents

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HE National Presbyter of Church of God Mission International Inc. Ojodu Province, Pastor Atchor Matthew, has urged parents and guardians to give useful advice to youths to enhance their lives.

The pastor, who spoke at the youth and teenage summit, noted that without the ample support from parents their wards would move in rudderless direction.

He said: "Whether we like it or not, the young people do have their dreams in life. ''Until they have good guardians in life who will guide them to achieving their dreams, all they dream about might just end at the dream

By Musa Odoshimokhe

level."

Matthew maintained that the annual summit is held to achieve high performance for youth and lead them into the path of the Lord, which would ultimately shape their perception.

According to him: "We are looking at people whose minds are free, whose hearts remain resolute to be good ambassadors. ''It has been said that the room for improvement is the largest thing in the world; you must be ready for improvement."

He remarked that the

church was doing everything within its power to transform the community it is located in and urged the people to support its programme.

"Apart from enhancing personal development, the summit offers an opportunity to improve on the lives of the inhabitants of Ojodu community because we are also involved in community works.

"We are equally looking at commissioning a zebra crossing in the area, because just recently a vehicle knocked down a student. All these have been rolled into the programmes, ''he said.

HRISTIANS in the north have kicked against the proposed amnesty programme for members of the Boko Haram sect.

They said: ”Contemplating granting amnesty to the people who have wrought wanton destruction of lives and properties in this nation is a call to other interest groups to rise up in arms against their fatherland in order to be blessed when such an action should be treated as treason.

Till date the killing continues!’

A statement by the President of Northern Christian Elders Forum, Evangelist Matthew Owojaiye, said those pressurising the federal government to declare amnesty for unrepentant terrorists are simply serving selfish interests.

It added that negotiating for amnesty without talking about justice for victims of the terrorist attacks by the Boko Haram members is most insensitive and unfair.

The statement added: ‘‘Boko Haram has tried to annihilate us and our Igbo Christian brothers and now the government is talking about granting Islamic sect amnesty without saying a word about the people they bombed, slaughtered and traumatised. ‘‘Intimidating the federal government to grant amnesty is the highest display of hypocrisy and lack of patriotism.

Are such people not indirectly admitting that they are the shadows or ghosts behind the Boko Haram? ‘‘We totally object to even discussing amnesty when nothing has been done for the victims of the Boko Haram.’’

Worship

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013

59

COLUMNS

Protecting your family heritage (4)

Archbishop Sam Amaga

Family Heritage

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HERE are certain things that make the covenant blessing work in a family. One of such things we shall discuss in this issue is the fear of the Lord.

Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.

His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Psalms 112:1-2 The fear of the Lord is a holy reverence for God. It is not the fear of terror. It is such a reference that you want to please Him at all times, whether in good or bad times.

It is that holy reference that makes you keep away from secret sins which your spouse or children may not know. Your parents may not see you but you fear God because He sees you.

Joseph feared God so he refused to commit adultery with his master's wife.

Daniel also feared God and he purposed in his heart not to defile himself with the king's meal.

So those who go around

defiling themselves with men, women, with all manner of evil cannot partake in the family covenant blessings.

Those who fear God don't come late to God's presence.

If you cannot go late for your interview appointment for job, how do you come late into God's presence?

The fear of God makes you not to defile God's house and God's presence. There are leaders, ministers, church people, church workers defiling themselves and defiling God's house.

Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself (Daniel 1:8).

WHAT ARE THE BLESSINGS IN THE FEAR OF THE LORD? 1. The fear of God makes you live clean before God (Psalm 19:9).

2. The fear of the Lord grants you access to God's secrets (Psalm 25:14).

God has secrets my friend. God's secrets can protect you and make you great in life. It was God's secrets that job discovered that made him prosper wonderfully (Job 29:3-6).

Those who lay hold on God's secrets will outshine every darkness and every storm in life.

When you lay hold on God's secrets - nothing will be impossible to you. When you catch God's secrets, you lay hold on God's presence and friendship. This is when the covenant of family generational blessing will come on you.

3. God rescue those who fear Him in the times of affliction Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and

NEWS

Our music is therapeutic, says Choirmaster General • C & S choir rounds off 40th anniversary

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HE grand finale of the celebration of 40th anniversary of the Choir of Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church, Surulere subheadquarters, which started about two months ago, ended last week at the church's premises along A p a p a - O s h o d i Expressway.

It was an occasion to celebrate the songs, success story and achievements of the choir in the past 40 years.

The celebration was spiced with series of performances ranging from songs, drama sketches, children musical and instrumental performances etc.

The Choirmaster General, Prophet Sunday Korode, said it is the celebration of a family chosen by God himself to minister to hearts and souls

By Oziegbe Okoeki in need of the healing touch of the gospel.

The theme of the celebration, which is Celebration in Canaan, Korode said, "represents an inherent similarity with the Israelites sojourn from a place of lack, slavery and sorrow to a land of freedom, blessings and prosperity.

"Our celebration today will show how the life of the choir mirrors the life of a Christian, who journeys through life with a Godgiven mandate.

to keep them alive in famine.

Psalms 33:18-19 The Message translation puts it this way; Watch this: God's eye is on those who respect him, the ones who are looking for his love. He's ready to come to their rescue in bad times; in lean times he keeps body and soul together.

Parents you need to flow in these blessing. Children need to flow in these blessings. Parents keep blessing your children daily. Children keep obeying your parents daily.

4. Children who will be blessed with the covenant generational blessing must be ready to listen to instructions of parents.

The Message translation of Proverbs 13:1 says; Intelligent children listen to their parents; foolish children do their own thing Some children do not have Godly parents to speak Godly future into their destinies. Such children need to be planted under strong spiritual parents who will speak to their destinies and will not exploit and use them for selfish purposed.

I put the name of the lord upon you to bless you.

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them. Numbers 6:23-27 I put the name of the Lord upon you all my readers and your family; and you are blessed in Jesus' mighty name.

Contact: Archbishop Sam Amaga @ Foundation Faith Church, Salem Kado Life Camp Extension, Abuja.

E-mail: salemmissionhouseabuja@yahoo.com Phone: 08023018836

''Our family has grown in leaps and bounds, spanning across many branches and indeed many nations and our ministry, to the glory of God, has reached millions across the globe.''

The music, according to him, is used for conversion of souls and is a therapy for all human problems. ""Since 1978 when we started producing our albums, the entire public has actually bought into our style of music. ''We sing about problems in the world; we sing therapeutic music that would heal, deliver and also get people to imbibe the spirit of God. And our music has tremendously aided in converting souls to Christ.''

Living Faith

By Dr. David Oyedepo

God's Wisdom Works! (2)

L

AST week, I taught on the reality of divine wisdom, how it engenders mighty works and its worth. This week, I will be teaching on four kinds of wisdom, what wisdom is, why we need divine wisdom and what it takes to access it.

Four Kinds Of Wisdom James 3:15-17 says: "This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. …But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

Also, John 3:31 says: Whatever is from above, is above all."

So, the wisdom that is from above, is above all other realms of wisdom. Below are the different realms of wisdom.

•Earthly wisdom: This means, natural wisdom or common sense which produces common men. The common man, is at the common sense level, because like begets like.

•Sensual Wisdom: Sensual here means, intellectual. This is the type you acquire in school and through the act of learning. Also, we have native intelligence, where people exercise their minds, to determine between right and wrong.

•Devilish (diabolical) Wisdom: This is diabolical and occultism. Some people are being manipulated by demons; and many supposed elites are so dull, as to take dictates from the devil.

So, they walk naked in the night carrying calabash on their heads, with only pants.

Those who follow idols are naturally dull, because of their inability to think and reason.

•The wisdom from above: The wisdom from above is superior to all other kinds of wisdom (John 3:31).

That is where you belong!

No one will succeed to take

you for a ride anymore, by virtue of this kind of wisdom from above.

What Then Is Divine Wisdom? Divine wisdom can be defined as: •Applied knowledge of the truth. The truth is the Word of God (Matthew 7:2425).

•Holy Ghost-inspired insight or supernatural insight from what one sees, hears, reads or observes (Daniel 2:16-19; Proverbs 6:6-11).

•Accessing the ways of God for getting things done.

Moses went to Egypt with the ways of God and began causing waves unstoppably.

•Knowing the right thing to do from the Word and doing it. Whatever He tells you to do, do it and the result is guaranteed. If it's from the Word, God's integrity is committed.

Why Do We Need Divine Wisdom?

•Divine wisdom will enthrone a slave and make a king out of a prisoner: It will change your status dramatically.

•It's your access to mighty works, and exploits.

•It's the maker of stars, (Ecclesiastes 8:1; Daniel 12:3).

•It's divine wisdom that makes a man out of a babe and a king out of a child, (Luke 2:47; Isaiah 11:3-6).

•It is the only way to generate outstanding feats in the journey of life.

•It is the principal asset to life.

What Does It Take To Access divine Wisdom?

•New Birth: Every child of God has natural access to the wisdom of God (Matthew 11:19). Wisdom is our heritage in redemption.

When you are saved, you receive Christ into your life.

He enters your heart, so what you have inside you is the wisdom of God. It is resident on your inside, because Christ is the wisdom and the

Group initiates scholarship for 100 orphans

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O fewer than 100 young orphans are billed to receive educational support courtesy of the Royal Pillar Welfare Foundation, a faith-based non-governmental organisation.

The scheme tagged EduLifeline 100 was officially unveiled at the annual Easter royal banquet of the

By Sunday Oguntola

organisation penultimate week.

Executive Secretary of the foundation, Deacon Bayo Jesuniyi, informed that the initiative will award scholarship and bursary to 100 indigent orphans every year.

So far, 28 students are already on the scheme out of

which 16 are in secondary schools and 10 in primary institutions, Jesuniyi added.

He hinted that more will be accommodated under the scheme, which commenced this year, because of increasing requests. ''We believe these children will become people of substance if given educational lift and required assistance to make this dream

become a reality,'' he stated.

He encouraged publicspirited Christians to adopt a child under the scheme for massive boost.

President of the Praise Family Ministry International and Messiah Arena, the coordinating arm of the NGO, Pastor Abimbola Siyanbola, called for alliances with individuals, families, socio-religious or-

power of God (1 Corinthians 1:24).

•The Fear of the Lord: It takes the fear of the Lord to flow in divine wisdom (Psalm 111:10).

•All of God's Wisdom is Accessible by Inspiration: Inspiration is the principal channel for accessing divine wisdom (Job 32:7-8).

What is Inspiration?: It's the move of the Spirit within our faculty, which enables our access into the deep things of God (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).

How Do I Access Inspiration?

You need a genuine heart for God: John 15:15 says: Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. When you become God's friend, you gain natural access to His mind. You become His confidant like Abraham. Abraham was God's friend (James 2:23).

You need a joyful heart: To flow in inspiration, you need a joyful heart. Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice (Philippians 4:4).

Joy provides access to the flow of inspiration (Isaiah 12:3).

High praises: Another way to provoke inspiration is through high praises (Isaiah 30:29-30). When you are engaging singing and high praises, you are provoking the flow of inspiration which brings you into thoughts with the deep things of God. The practice of purposeful separation: Inspiration can be accessed through the practice of purposeful separation (Proverbs 18:1).

Friend, the grace to access inspiration is available, if you are connected to God. You get connected by confessing your sins and accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. This way, you are born again. You can be born again right now, if you haven't been, by saying this prayer: Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner.

Forgive me of my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood.

Today, Lord Jesus, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour.

Thank You for saving me!

Now I know I am born again!

I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with us through: Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; or call 7747546-8; or E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org ganisations and corporate bodies to help indigent orphans.

The representative of the Deputy Governor of Lagos, Mrs. Alaba Fadairo, commended the initiative and called on others to emulate the body.

Stating that government cannot do it alone, she appealed to kind-hearted Nigerians to help accommodate more orphans under the scheme.

60

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

BUSINESS

A

•Cocoa pod

Cocoa: Once upon a cash crop For most cocoa farmers within the major cocoa belt across the country, there is little or no motivation to grow cocoa pods as the expected socio-economic gains are not at all commensurate with the timeless efforts and labour involved. In this report, Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf (Lagos) Damisi Ojo (Akure) Ernest Nwokolo (Abeokuta) Adesoji Adeniyi (Osogbo) examine the issues cocoa worldwide for livelihood is estimated at 40-50 million, annual cocoa production is put at 3 million tonnes.

The total number of cocoa farmers worldwide is calculated at over 6 million, comprising mostly Africans, Asians, Central Americans and South Americans. Africa is believed to have the greatest number of cocoa farmers but despite this plus, majority of its regular cocoa farmers still wallow in poverty due to poor standard of living, and various economic and environmental problems.

Tales of woes In the view of many stakeholders, cocoa farmers, especially the ones in the rural areas have been seriously marginalised and neglected. While the production can be said to be witnessing relative increase over the years, that cannot apply to the quality of cocoa beans from the farmers’ harvest annually as was the case in the past when all cocoa produce passed through the Commodity Board for testing, grading and standardisation.

With the abolition of Commodity Board decades back, a regime of free trade in the produce crept in and almost anybody could take the commodity outside the state for sale without certification and grading. The implication is the quality of the

produce began to take a downward trend and so is the farmers’ income.

Besides, cocoa farmers are crying over fluctuation in the prices of cocoa. They are calling on the government at all levels to intervene and save them from avoidable losses. Some of the cocoa farmers, who bore their minds on the challenges they face, are clamouring for return of price control board to regulate the buying and selling mechanism of the products.

One of such is the fluctuating price of cocoa locally which is forcing many cocoa merchants to quit the business due to what they described as government insensitivity to their plights.

John Ajeromi, a cocoa merchant in Idanre Local Government Area, which is the largest cocoa producing area in the country, said government needs to provide soft loans for both cocoa farmers and traders.

Ajeromi said most of the cocoa traders who are still in

the business are compelled by circumstances beyond their control to borrow money from the bank at outrageously high interest rate, thus making the venture unattractive to prospective borrowers.

His words, “As a cocoa trader, government is not helping us at all, most especially in the area of finance.

We have no option than to source for loan from banks.

“Government is not equally helping cocoa farmers; most of them do not have money to expand their farms. Most of these farmers spend the money they have after harvesting; they are left with nothing to continue with the business. ‘’In the past, there used to be Cocoa Development Unit[CDU] in the state department of the Ministry of Agriculture to raise young cocoa seedlings that would replace old cocoa trees on regular basis, but the department is now in extinction.

“So, the burden is always on cocoa merchants to fi-

“

Government is not equally helping cocoa farmers; most of them do not have money to expand their farms. Most of these farmers spend the money they have after harvesting; they are left with nothing to continue with the business

“

T the best of times in this country, cocoa, otherwise known as theobroma cacao, which translated in Greek means “food of the gods,” was one of the major cash-crops relied upon as a foreign exchange earner ever before crude oil was discovered in commercial quantity in Oloibiri, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

But the criminal neglect of the agricultural sub-sector with its immense potential exemplified by the groundnut pyramids in the north, oil palm trees, rubber plantations in the Midwest, to mention just a few, whether as a result of policy ineffectiveness, errors of commission and commission, analysts have argued, is responsible in part for the parlous state of the once booming cocoa industry.

Good old days While the boom lasted, the people of the Southwest Nigeria, reputed for cocoa farming, enjoyed all the benefits that came with it from the 50’s and perhaps up to the late 90’s.

Interestingly, cocoa came to be one of the symbols of commerce and industry and a stamp of legacy and honour bequeathed to the Southwest Nigeria by the pantheon of Yoruba politics, late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

As the Premier of the Old Western Region, revenues from cocoa formed parts of the funds deployed for the many landmark projects infrastructural developments and funding of free education, among other many regional investments executed in the region by Awo. One of the famous relics is the Cocoa House in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. The edifice, attests not only to the region’s strong ties with cocoa farming but also represents one of the efficient avenues proceeds from the produce was well utilised and managed.

And Ogun State due to its strategic location, vast arable land and the salubrious weather condition it enjoys annually, played a pivotal role by contributing significantly to the cocoa beans production pool of the region during the Awolowo’s era.

The Nigerian cocoa story is a very riveting story indeed. Regrettably, the overreliance on oil has inadvertently led to the dwindling fortunes of most Nigerian cocoa farmers, who have had to relinquish their position as Africa’s leaders in the production of the cashcrop to Côte d’Ivoire position.

Profile of cocoa-producing countries In order of annual production size, the eight largest cocoa-producing countries at present are Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Brazil, Ecuador and Malaysia. These countries represent 90% of world production.

Cote D’Ivoire is the leading cocoa producing nation with 1.3 million tonnes annually, while Ghana is rated second with about 900,000 tonnes. Nigeria produces only about 250,000 tonnes annually. While the number of people who depend on

nance these farmers to ensure that they remain in the business which is highly discouraging.

“We have been appealing to government but they have refused to come to our aid because we need government to assist the farmers and the merchants through soft loans with low interest rates.

“Government is realising a huge amount on cocoa annually, most especially at the state level, we are paying N3, 000 per ton on every graded cocoa to the government and we are not assisted in any form.

“We buy the chemicals ourselves; we borrow money to finance ourselves and the farmers. There is no single assistance from the federal and the state governments.”

Ajeromi noted that many youths are not venturing into the business again because you have to plan properly.

According to him, many people are quitting the business because it is frustrating.

Even, so many youth find it extremely difficult to venture into the business.

The complaints of cocoa farmers are not too different from that of the traders.

Apart from not being well funded, they also lament poor state of roads through which they transport dry cocoa beans from farm to the town.

An Indian, Anil

Gopwani, used to export cocoa to Europe from Ondo State but like some others, he has given up the business.

Although he started exporting cocoa in 2002, he seems not happy with how the business is being run.

According to him, cocoa business is no more dependable. It has no clear cut policy from government. Gopwani said the burden of over pricing of cocoa at the local level which is currently being sold at N310, 000 per ton also forced him out of the business in 2011.

He said, “I started cocoa business in 2006 but quit the business two years ago. The market is not encouraging at all. The system of buying cocoa in Nigeria is not favourable at all. Even the price at international market keeps dropping every day.

“I don’t want to remain in a business I will be running at a loss. Because of this I have to quit cocoa business.

Imagine a situation where you buy cocoa at N310,000 per ton and by the time you take it to Lagos you sell it below the price.

“Though many are still in the trade, but they are facing different challenges before moving cocoa to the international market.”

Shedding more light on the issue of unwholesome levies, the National President of Cocoa Association of Nigeria, Mr. Sayina Riman, in a statement issued in Akure last Monday, had lamented the proposed plan by the state government to increase the tax on cocoa farmers.

Riman spoke in time against the hike in the registration fee being paid by the Licensed Buying Agents, which was increased from N15,000 to N60,000, while another was raised from N80,000 to N250,000.

Riman advised the government not to apply the same system that was used to increase fees in other sectors to agriculture, saying the sector was the highest employer of labour in the state.

The CAN president said such an indiscriminate increase was “inhuman, insensitive and does not take the farmers into consideration,” adding that the government should return to status quo ante.

Muikala Adekunle, a cocoa farmer, lamented that high prices chemicals they use for maintaining their cocoa plantation and which in return will give them a bumper harvest.

He said lack of marketing board has created an avenue for the exporters and importers, mainly whites to cheat them.

Like Adekunle, Nurudeen Alowonle, another farmer, who resides at Isale-Osun farm settlement, said keeping a cocoa farm required a substantial funding, which many farmers do not have. He, therefore, appealed to the government to assist through various loan programmes to aid their farming.

According to Abdulateef Agbelekale, owner of Omooke Cocoa Store at Oke Bale, Osogbo, the sales of cocoa are not encouraging, saying the hard times facing the dealers of the products have

Continued on page 61

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

Cocoa: Once upon a cash crop Continued from page 60 made it unattractive for prospective farmers.

Another cocoa merchant, Prince Adeolu Olayemi, said one of their greatest problems is the role the Cocoa examiners, which in local parlance are called Asasan.

He lamented that the officers appointed to grade the products and collect taxes on them on behalf of the government over tax. He said when they over tax them they pass down the ‘burden’ to final buyers in form of a high price.

Owner of Hasgat Cocoa Store, Kazeem Moshood, said the seasonal nature of cocoa planting and harvesting has made cocoa very less lucrative these days.

According to him, the effects of the poor rural feeder roads linking the urban towns before onward transportation of the products outside the shores of the country is yet another challenge many of the farmers are grappling with.

Another cocoa farmer in Atosin Village said they always faced difficult challenges on the road before bringing cocoa to the town.

“Our roads are in bad condition, most especially roads in the villages. The roads have been like that for years and both state and federal governments are not looking in that direction.

“In fact, most times we have to pay huge amount of money to the owners of big trucks to help us to move our cocoa from the villages to the town.”

An official of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture who spoke in confidence blamed the federal government for abandoning cocoa production and farmers in the field because of crude oil, which may soon dry off He urged those in authority to reconsider this and encourage farmers to boost cocoa production in the country.

Investigation by The Na-

tion revealed that most of the regular cocoa farmers are peasant farmers who delve into farming mainly to sustain their families. Majority of them are in their middle age – in their 40s and 50s.

There is the fear that cocoa farming in the town may soon peter out as many of the young men engaged in it are increasingly taking to the commercial motorcycle venture or gunning for menial jobs in the cities.

Another constraint mentioned by a group of cocoa farmers is that they hardly benefit from the so-called government intervention funds/loans. They revealed that even some of the seeds, especially the high yielding ones, meant for farmers, courtesy of the government, are often hijacked by ghost farmers while genuine farmers are left out. Most of the farmers are also still applying old methods and tools due to illiteracy. While in countries like Ghana, most of the farmers are using high yielding and improved varieties, the old and regular seeds are in vogue among Nigerian farmers.

Farmers are also ruing high rainfall this year and have been counting their losses. Another setback identified by the farmers is land unavailability. Lands for cocoa cultivation are becoming limited due to urbanisation – the need to construct houses, infrastructure and other social and human amenities.

In all, the tales of cocoa farmers, from the farms at the grassroots to the stores in urbanised cities are unison. It is that of hardship and unpleasant. What the farmers need is urgent intervention of those in authorities with a strong political will.

Success stories Notwithstanding the plethora of complaints by local farmers who are convinced that things have indeed fallen apart for the once bourgeoning sector, the government seems to have a different view.

Interestingly, the Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, has said Nigeria realised about $900m from the export of co-

BUSINESS

Nigerian engineers okay big steel pipes

M

ORE prospective architects and steel structural engineers in Nigeria have adopted welded steel pipes for its cost saving benefits in construction projects in the country.

The Managing Director of Nigeria Gas and Steel Ltd (NGSL), Hasib Moukarim made this assurance in a press statement made available to The Nation recently.

According to him, many contractors in the past one year who executed contracts for airport terminals, warehouses, churches, petrol stations, schools, shopping complex,bus-stops and bill boards used the heavy duty steel welded pipes manufactured locally by NGSL to fabricate the roofing and structural engineering aspects of the contracts.

•Gopwani

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Brand Manager, Ribena and Winston Ailemoh, Marketing Manager, Innovations, the duo said that GSK decided to rejuvenate the Ribena brand which has served the taste buds of Nigerian consumers for 75years.

According to Ailemoh: “Ribena has come to have a permanent perception in the minds of our consumers.

When you say Ribena, what comes to mind in most of our target is that it’s for kids. But honestly, Ribena had gone beyond that many years ago.

But we just realised that we actually didn’t communicate that. So, what we have done is to say, look we’re taking Ribena beyond the kids’ platform. Ribena is relevant to every member of the family now.”

The highpoint of the occasion was the unveiling of the branded Ribena can as GSK officials, invited guests and fans of the brand took turns to take photographs of the pyramid stacked with can drinks in the auditorium.

Moukarim said that gradually, the local steel structural contractors and fabricators have recognized the superior quality of pipes produced by Nigeria Gas and Steel Ltd saying that they have realized all the products of thick steel pipes of different sizes such as 5”, 6”, and 8” pipes made from 4mm to 10mm steel and different shapes as round, square and rectangular.

He maintained that these products can favourably complete the fabrication jobs they had in hand instead of depending on the imported beams and sections which are costlier and heavier, adding that the fabricators have won more contracts because the contractors solicited for the durable and quality pipes.

Ministry launches service charter •Tasks staff on service delivery

I

•Dafosi

coa and cocoa products in 2012.

He stated this during the national sensitisation workshop of the project on Sanitary Standards Capacity Building in Africa in Abuja.

In his address read by the Acting Permanent Secretary, Mr. Olakunle Sogboola, Aganga said cocoa is the second largest foreign exchange earner after crude oil, generating over two million jobs directly and indirectly along its value chain.

According to him, “The global market for cocoa is very huge, growing at an av-

erage of 3% per annum. Nigeria’s cocoa export has equally grown over the years by an average of 40% annually and a cumulative of 280% from $215m in 2006 to $822.8m from the export of cocoa and cocoa products last year.”

He added: “Nigeria is the world’s fourth largest producer and exporter of cocoa.

Paradoxically, over 90% of the cocoa produced is exported. Our domestic consumption of this strategic commodity is barely 3%.”

Continued on page 66

GSK launches Ribena can with fanfare LAXOSMITHKLINE Consumer Nigeria Plc has recorded a major feat with the introduction into the market a brand of Ribena can drink.

The Ribena can drink, which is a new addition to the array of other brands in the GSK product line, was launched with fanfare at the Landmark Village, Victoria Island, Lagos, penultimate Saturday.

Expectedly, the launching, tagged: ‘The Ribena Purple Party’, which had the usual razzmatazz customary with such occasion, was heralded by a cocktail of music, other side attractions like video games, hilarious jokes and comedy as well as choreographic display by a galaxy of A-list artistes, all complemented by members of the audience whose active participation gave the soiree a touch of glamour.

Fielding questions from journalists at separate interviews, Olawale Akanbi,

61

N line with the Lagos state government mandate to the civil servants in the state to imbibe a culture of service delivery, the different ministries and departmental agencies in the state have since set machinery in motion to actualise the set objectives.

One of the MDAs identified as a driver of the service delivery mandate is the Ministry of Health, which only recently launched its Service Charter initiative.

Addressing staff at the official launch, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris explained that even though the provision of quality service, building of hospitals and training staff are very important, they are not enough if the people healthcare providers’ serves are not satisfied with the services rendered.

Idris pointed out that the Service Charter is a basis for healthcare consumers to demand for quality healthcare services, to communicate the core functions and value of healthcare providers to them as well as to provide information on the spectrum of services, commitment, obligation, clients’ right and obligations.

“This Charter provides a basis for Lagosians to demand quality health care services as it allows them the right to do so. The Charter communicates our core functions and values to our customers, provides information on the spectrum of our

services, commitments, principles, obligations, clients’ rights and obligations as well as mechanism for seeking redress,” the Commissioner.

Speaking earlier, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Health, Dr Yewande Adeshina observed that the relentless zeal by the state government to attain the status of Africa’s model city has seen several efforts and initiatives combined to achieve the noble ambition of taking public services to international level.

Expatiating, she said the charter is designed to provide equity in employment and good governance for all and to provide a public service that responds to the needs of all the people in Lagos State adding that when fully operational, the Service Charter will alleviate real and perceived difficulties experienced by the public at large in accessing government service windows, and by extension, institutionalize the desired professionalism in the public service.

Echoing similar sentiments, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Olufemi Olugbile said it is responsibility of every worker irrespective of their social status to deliver quality services at all times in line with the ethics of their profession.

In a brief remark at the occasion, Akaoma Onyemelukwe, a staff of PATHS2, a DFID-funded project, lauded the Service Charter as a bold step.

South Africa’s whisky adjudged world’s best

S •From left: Boma Tai- Osagbemi, Ribena Brand Executive, Nutritionals, Fadipe Adeola, Brand Executive, Nutritionals, Bolaji Sanyaolu, Engagement and Communications Manager, GSK, Winston Ailemoh, Marketing Manager, Innovations, Olawale Akanbi, Brand Manager, Ribena and Yetunde Bamgbopa, Channels Development Manager, GSK at the launch recently

OUTH Africa's first single grain whisky, Bain's Cape Mountain Whisky, has been voted the World's Best Grain Whisky at the annual Whisky Magazine's World Whisky Awards (WWA) held in London recently.

In London to receive the title was Andy Watts, master distiller of Bain's Cape Mountain Whisky, who said the win was overwhelming news for the brand and South Africa.

Bain's Cape Mountain Whisky became the first

South African whisky to be awarded this coveted accolade, ahead of those from traditional whisky-producing countries such as Ireland, Scotland and the USA. The whiskies were assessed blind, based on three tasting rounds, by an independent panel of judges that included some of the foremost international whisky palates. Distiller of Bain's Cape Mountain Whisky, Jeff Green, said: "This isn't just a win for Bain's Cape Mountain Whisky but for South African whiskymaking."

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL14, 2013

62

OYO

STATE

OF

NIGERIA

To a

Dauntless Spirit at

78...

Your Excellency, The occasion of your 78th Birthday provides us an opportunity to look again and appreciate an unapologetic son of Oyo State, who shoulders on his neck one of the most cerebral deposits in any human skull.

Looking at your fine analytical mind, strength of conviction, intrepid spirit and courage, we can only conclude that our state could not have been more blessed.

We admire your fearless disposition, frank observations and ready wit. We pray that God would grant you more days of relevance in the years ahead to afford us of your muchneeded counsel as we brave on in our self-avowed intent to build a better Oyo State.

Many Happy Returns!

Sen. Abiola Ajimobi

Executive Governor of Oyo State

VICTOR

HIS EXCELLENCY, CHIEF (DR.) OMOLOLU OLUNLOYO, BSC. FIRST CLASS HONS, PH.D, DSC HONORIS CAUSA BALOGUN OF OYO EMPIRE. FORMER GOVERNOR OF OYO STATE.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013

BUSINESS 63

Analysts appraise Okomu Oil and Unilever Nigeria S

ECURITIES analysts last week beamed their searchlight on the performance of two manufacturing firms Okomu Oil Palms and Unilever in the wake of Nigeria’s unstable economic climate. They put into perspective some surprises and shock that can aid investment decision in the short-medium and long-term.

According to an analyst, Alhaji Atiku Kafaru of Camry Security, over the past two years, the Okomu Oil Palm has lifted its net profit by more than N13 billion gains in changes in asset values. Gains on changes in fair value of non-current biological assets jerked up the company’s bottom line by N7.3 billion in 2011 and further by over N5.9 billion in 2012. The gains, which are converted directly into profit, contributed up to 63% of the company’s total profit figure of N20.8 billion in 2011 and 2012.

The big gains from the value of the company’s assets seem to neutralise the weakening of profit performance on continuing operations. Profit on continuing operations declined by 8.5% in 2012 to N3.59 billion. Between the beginning of 2011 and the end of 2012, the value of non-current biological assets of the company had expanded by 172.1% to over N21 billion.

The oil-palm producing company had surprised stock market investors and

By Bukola Afolabi

traders in 2011 when out of its turnover of N11.21 billion, it posted a net profit of N10.52 billion. Apart from the N7.3 billion gain in asset value in that year, there was also a big leap in profit from continuing operations from N1.63 billion in 2010 to N3.92 billion in 2011.

The company had closed its 2011 operations with a net profit multiplied about six and half times. That gave it the position of the number one company on earningsper-share basis in the entire Nigerian stock market. With earnings per share of N22 for that year, Okomu was ahead of Nestle’s N21 per share for the same year.

In 2012, the big strength in sales revenue seen in 2011 could not be maintained.

Against a rise of 82.6% in sales revenue in 2011, the company’s turnover declined by 8.8% to N10.15 billion. Earnings fluctuation is a feature of the company’s agricultural business due to changes in weather conditions and product-yield levels. The decline in profit from continuing operations in 2012 is therefore a reflection of the decline in sales revenue during the year.

There was equally a drop of 18.7% in the gains on the value of biological assets in the year, leading to an overall fall of 14.9% in net profit in 2012. Net profit margin therefore declined from

94.6% in 2011 to 88.3% in 2012. Based on continuing operations however, net profit margin is virtually unchanged at 35.4% over the period.

Earnings per share is down from N22 in 2011 to N18 in 2012, now well below the over N26 per share earned by Nestle in 2012. It is yet quite a high figure not likely to be matched by any other listed company.

For investors and analysts, the company’s full year result for 2012 was a big surprise from a company that posted N3.06 billion after tax profit at the end of the third quarter. The mild improvement in profit on continuing operations to N3.59 at full year is normal, as the final quarter is an off-season period in the company’s operations. The difference in the year is therefore the additional gains in the value of biological assets, which had not been included at the end of the third quarter.

Whether there will be further gains in the value of biological assets in 2013 is therefore a major factor that investors and analysts have to watch out for. How much will be the gain?, if it occurs, is also another important factor to watch out for on the company.

Meanwhile, these gains have now taken the company to a height in share price valuation where its earnings on continuing op-

erations could not have placed it. Whether it will stand or fall from there depends on whether more asset value gains will be converted into profit for yet another year and how fast the company’s core business can grow to cover the gap created.

With the decline in sales revenue in 2012, the company had to adopt effective cost management to defend profit margin. A major cost saving came from cost of goods sold, which dropped by 39% against the 8.8% decline in sales revenue. That means the cost of a unit of sales dropped from 28 kobo in 2011 to 18 kobo in 2012.

That raised gross profit margin from 72.3% to 81.5% over the period.

The company’s earnings picture was also stabilised by income from non-core operations as well as the insignificance of interest expenses. Earnings from other works of the company more than doubled at N498 million in the year and other income rose more than four and half times to N517 million. Interest income of N170 million largely offset interest charges of N198 million during the year.

The rapid growth in asset value against a decline in sales revenue in 2012 indicates weakness in asset productivity. Asset turnover has declined from 0.5 in 2011 to 0.3 in 2012. The com-

MARKET FLASH Bukola Afolabi obrijo4u@gmail.com 08094000015

pany needs to grow sales revenue significantly to justify the high and rising asset figures in the balance sheet.

The company has declared a dividend of N7.0 per share and a bonus of 1 for 1.

This represents a cash dividend yield of about 10% based on the price of the stock when the dividend was announced. The company’s register is scheduled to close on 14th May while payment date is yet to be advised.

The Okomu’s dividend yield is so far unmatched in the stock market. It beats Zenith Bank’s dividend yield of 7.6% and GTB’s 5.2%. It is well ahead of Mobil Nigeria’s dividend yield of 4.0% and Presco’s figure of 0.4%. Nestle Nigeria’s dividend yield is 2.0%, Lafarge Wapco’s is 1.6% and Cadbury Nigeria’s comes to 1.4%.

The company’s bonus 1 for 1 means the volume of shares of the company will double to about 954 million in 2013. This indicates that earnings and dividend per share are very likely to drop in the current year even with further gains in the value of biological assets. In the absence of any further gain in asset value, the company will need to grow sales revenue and profit from continuing operations to be able to maintain reasonable dividend pay-out in

2013.also unilever The growth rate of Unilever was very marginal interms of revenue and other indices.

The revenue growth was just 2% despite the needy sector they found themselves i.e.

Personal Care products sub sector of the manufacturing industry. This could be linked to the stiff competition that is very much available in the sector.

The revenue rose from N54.7B in 2011 to N55.4B in 2012, there was also a 2% reduction in the cost of sales from N34.7B in 2011 to N33.9B in 2012, while their Distribution /Admin expenses rose by 8% from N11.76B in 2011 to N12.73B in 2012.

Finance charges rose by 119% from N427M in 2011 to N935M in 2012. The company should look for a cheaper alternative way of financing its business/activities.

The profit after tax is almost flat just by a marginal increase of 1% from N5.49B in 2011 to N5.70B in 2012, this in effect translate to the proposal of the same amount of dividend paid in 2011 account of N1.40k.

The company should pay more attention towards its cost moderation strategy to improve its bottomline.

The finance charges should also be looked at and if possible device a cheaper alternative source of finance.

Top 10 Price Gainers:

Market rebounds as Unilever, GTbank, others top gainers

T

HE market closed its final trading day of the week Friday12th April, 2013 on a bullish note as the All- Share- Index (ASI) recorded positive returns of

+0.14 per cent to close at 33,514.14 points.

Market capitalisation gained N15.146 billion to close at N10.713 trillion.

Trading activities re-

corded a decline in volume terms with 340.243 million shares valued at N4.515 billion being traded.

This represents -9.4 per cent decrease in trading vol-

ume and -5.76 per cent decreases in value when compared to the last trading session.

Top trades are ETI, Zenith Bank Plc, Access Bank

Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, and Sterling Bank Plc. Top gainers are Unilever Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, NahcoAviance Plc, Forte Oil Plc and First Bank Ni-

geria Holding Plc. Top losers are Nigeria Breweries Plc, Okomu Oil Plc, Mobil Oil Plc, Guinness Nigeria Plc, and West Africa Portland Cement Plc.

64

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL14, 2013

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 14, 2013

BUSINESS

65

Envoy outlines agenda for new boss of WTO

T

•The team from Meralco, Philippine's largest electricity distribution company on a visit to Nigeria's Ambassador to Philippines Dr. Yemi Farounbi. Fourth right is Mr Carl G Aquino, second Vice President of the company and Mr. Ireneo B. Acuna, fourth left.

Meralco is Technical Partner to Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing Ltd., the distribution company in charge of Ibadan and Yola Districts

Cocoa: Once upon a cash crop Continued from page 61 Aganga said that the ministry will continue to encourage the development of farmers and commodity associations for proper orientation and education on SPS issues with a view to promoting and strengthening global market access for our agricultural and non oil products.

The Executive Director of international Cocoa Organisation (ICCO), Dr. Jean Marc Anga, said that users of cocoa products are continuously coming up with more demands on issues such as quality of the beans, traceability and integrity of the beans along the supply, food safety and social ethics.

Represented by Mr. Abubakar Yunusa, Anga said ICCO will continue to support Nigeria to implement major components of the project that will create awareness among cocoa farmers.

Light at the end of tunnel Hope is rising as some state governments have set machinery in motion to revitalise the production of cocoa. One of the states showing promises is Ogun, where Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s administration has taken measures to enhance the fortune of cocoa farmers in their thousands, improve upon their income as well as cause the state to sustain its position as a major producer and exporter of raw and processed high grade cocoa beans.

There are about 35,000 cocoa farmers in the state although only 4000 of them are captured in the National Farmers Database, Abuja, according to the Director, Tree Crops and Rural Development Services, state Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Segun Ewumi.

Ewumi told The Nation that the notice for data collection regarding cocoa farmers in Ogun State came late from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and so the farmers, who were scattered in rural areas, could not be

accessed within a short time.

He said:”there are 35000 cocoa farmers in Ogun State but the Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) was only able to capture 4000 in the data base in Abuja. The reason being that we were not able to reach out to the farmers because of the short time notice, we could not go into the rural areas but it is going to be better this year.”

Ewumi listed some of the interventions of Amosun’s administration to enhance cocoa farming in the state to include plans to rehabilitate moribund cocoa farms, production and distribution of one million seedlings to farmers last year to rehabilitate, regenerate or plant new farms as well as rendering of technical and extension services to cocoa farmers Also, he noted that this year, the administration has proposed to produce 1,350, 000 seedlings which would be distributed to the farmers aside making lands accessible to those who need it for farming.

Ewumi said:”The present government is making rural areas better so that the young ones can live in rural areas and take up farming as lucrative ventures, improve on the quality. Government has provided a platform whereby you can come to the Ministry of Agriculture to make requisition for land for farming. We now have Lands Allocation Committee in Ogun State which has been allocating land to prospective farmers.”

Last February, the governor commissioned 86 pieces of agricultural equipment consisting of CAT bulldozers(4); MF 275 Xtra tractors(30); Baldan Disc Ploughs(33); Baldan Disc Harrows(15); Baldan Rotary Slashers(2); Baldan(2) and Row–Planters(4) - all procured at the cost of N500m.

He said his administration elected to provide the equipment for the use of the farmers at subsidised rates.

This, he said, would boost production, reduce cost, at-

tract the youths to take to farming as an occupation and earn supportive income.

According to the governor, through the cooperation between the state and the federal government would subsidise fertilizers to farmers including cocoa farmers in Ogun State at 50 percent subsidy.

Even the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria, Ogun State chapter, admitted that the governor is working to improve their fortunes in the last 18 months, but members urged him to do more in the areas of supply of seedlings and fertilisers to them when they need the inputs most.

The state secretary of the body, Mr Falaju Abayomi told The Nation the sum of N660,000 loan facility was made available to some of their members in Yewa area of the state by last June and he appealed to state government not to relent in its resolve to help their members.

On the quality of cocoa being produced in the state, Mr Kushimo Olaitan, Director of Produce Services and Quality Control, state Ministry of Agriculture, said it has improved with the introduction of National Cocoa Development Committee (NCDC) during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Kushimo said NCDC has helped to sanitise the issue of quality and bring back the glory of cocoa in Ogun State level.

Kushimo said: “Quality has started improving and production is increasing. It is just that we run after the farmers to make them bring their produce for testing and grading and that is the only way they can get competitive price in the market. The cocoa processors want much gains and if they see that the cocoa beans being brought to them are not graded, they price it cheaply. That is why we are advising our farmers to bring their produce for testing and grading before marketing, so that they can enjoy competitive price.”

According to Kushimo, the administration through tracking and training of the farmers, have made the farmers begin to see the need for certification and standardisation of their produce.

He noted that officials of the Agriculture Ministry are working to ensure compliance more so when the farmers also know they risk being penalised if caught trying to sell or export ungraded cocoa beans.

The Ghana example In Ghana, for instance, there is increased use of fertiliser, a factor, said to have contributed to productivity gains in the sector.

The reform process, analysts have argued helped to improve farmer’s access to fertilisers, thereby resulting in the liberalisation of internal cocoa marketing. As a result of this reform, private licensed buying companies were allowed to compete for the purchase of the farmers’ dried cocoa. The ensuing competition was not in terms of the farm-gate price paid (Cocobod sets a pan-territorial producer price) but rather in the supply of inputs including fertilisers to farmers.

These inputs are most often provided as an in-kind loan linked to the future sale of the farmers’ cocoa to the buyer.

But, the analysts are quick to argue that the Ghana model may not work for us with put the necessary willpower on the part of the government.

Way forward In the contention of many analysts, the best way to get the comatose sector back on track is for government to take some stringent measures such as marshalling out a government-supported vision for the subsector, supportive producer price policy, affordable and unproblematic access to inputs, provision of profitable technologies as well as ensuring constant training of farmers on advanced farming techniques aimed at producing high yields.

HE Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, has outlined the agenda Canada would like to see pursued by the next director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The Canadian envoy in a statement recently noted that as the selection process for a new director-general of the WTO continues and WTO members are canvassed on their preferred candidates, stakeholders should bear in mind that the successful candidate has to set store for the ideal of visionary leadership capable of turning around the fortunes of the world body.

In the statement which reads in part, Fast said: “In Canada’s view, it is imperative that the successful candidate possesses the right longterm vision for the WTO, along with the leadership characteristics, experience, proven record of success and commitment required to realise that vision. First and foremost, as a country at the forefront of trade liberalisation, Canada will support the selection of a candidate who can marshal common cause

against the protectionism that remains a toxic threat to the global economic recovery. Accordingly, the successful candidate must be a champion in the fight against tariff and non-tariff barriers around the world.”

The new director-general, the minister stressed, “must also be a strong supporter of an effective, rulesbased multilateral trading system that includes the effective monitoring and surveillance mechanisms that underpin a well-functioning WTO secretariat and dispute settlement system.”

Canada, he emphasised, “strongly encourages the WTO to take an active role in facilitating new approaches to global commerce. These approaches include the recently announced plan to negotiate among a group of some, but not all, WTO members a Trade in Services Agreement, an initiative that Canada fully supports. The new director-general will have a clear role to play in persuading other members to join such efforts—efforts that are increasingly important in ensuring barrier-free global trade flows.”

The Nation presents: THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY A special report on EMERGING NIGERIAN PHILANTHROPISTS AND A COMMEMORATION OF 100 YEARS OF THE ROCKEFELLER

FOUNDATION Featuring: •Nigeria’s top 10 men of charity •Africa’s best 10 emerging philanthropists •World’s best givers and foundations •Why people give •Of personal donations, foundations and CSR •Nigeria’s top corporate givers •Philanthropy as tonic for brand value •100 years of the Rockefeller Foundation and why it will last forever Publication Date: Sunday, May 12, 2013 For enquiries and interviews, call Steve (08033124151) or Dan (08033010395)

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013

66

Bauchi needs N50bn for water supply

By Austine Tsenzughul, Bauchi

B

AUCHI State needs about N50 billion to adequately provide water to residents of Bauchi, the state capital, and its environs.

Commissioner for Water Resources, Hon Sani Burra, stated this yesterday.

Burra told reporters the administration of Governor Isa Yuguda is working round the clock to address the problem of water scarcity.

He attributed the acute shortage of water in most parts of the state capital to the rusty nature of pipes whose life span has expired.

He said Yuguda has already approved the purchase of additional diesel and other lubricants to ensure the generators pump enough water to the over-head tanks for domestic consumption.

Most parts of the capital city have been experiencing acute water scarcity for over a month.

Water vendors have been making brisk business from the development, selling a 25-litre Jerry can at N50.

Boko Haram: Amnesty is for the penitent, says cleric B

ISHOP of the Diocese of Kwara, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Rt Rev Olusegun Adeyemi, has opposed granting amnesty to unrepentant Boko Haram sect members.

The medical doctor-turned clergyman told reporters yesterday in Ilorin, the state capital, during the 13th synod of Saint Peter’s Anglican Church, “amnesty is desirable for the penitent.”

According to him: “Amnesty is for somebody who says I am wrong and I wish to be forgiven.

“This is the only thing I know about prerogative of mercy and amnesty. The first step towards amnesty is acceptance of guilt.”

Adeyemi added: “Nigeria should penitently be involved in issues of remorse and go back to God. If it were possible to corrupt God Nigerians would corrupt God. “We should take consolation in the fact that God will always hear the prayers of the elect.”

From: Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

Waxing spiritual on the current insecurity situation in the country, he said the theme of the synod, I will be with you, my presence will go with you is an assurance of protection for

the saved.

According to him:”The church of God should look up and know that God is firmly around it. The church of God should pray. I’m positive and resolute that the church of God should take courage and stand firm.

“God is in control. This is the only country that fought a civil war without taking a loan. This is the only nation that has reached the gap of falling and God has lifted us up. If there is a God in heaven, that God will show that it shall be well.”

X-Factor: Glo sets African record in PH

H

ISTORY was made yesterday when the first-ever audition of the world’s biggest TV reality show, X-Factor, kicked off in Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers State.

Hundreds of enthusiastic young boys and girls trooped to fight for wealth and fame on the continent’s largest singing competition platform.

The show was brought to Africa for the first time by leading telecommunications company, Globacom.

As early as 7.30 am, over 200 participants, some of whom kept vigil at the venue to beat the anticipated early morning rush, had converged

•Youths keep vigil to make audition on the Presidential Hotel, venue of the auditions.

By midday, over 600 participants had registered and received accreditation to participate.

As prospective music stars were surging to register and be auditioned, newly arrived hopeful were also falling over one another to buy, register and activate their Glo lines at the sales, points so as to participate at the epoch making event.

Some of the participants travelled from Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Edo States to fancy their chances of winning the unprecedented

prize money of N24 million and a recording contract with Sony Music International.

The participants expressed gratitude to Globacom for making their dreams come through at no cost.

Globacom’s Head of Reality Show, Mr. Sulyman Bello, said that the Port Harcourt auditions would end on Sunday while the next round of auditions would take place next week in Abuja followed by the Lagos auditions to end the Nigerian leg of the audition series before the train moves Kumasi and Accra in Ghana.

Kano closes 31 private health centres From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

T

HE Kano State Government has shut down 31 out of the 313 existing private health institutions across the state in the last six months for allegedly operating below set standard.

The Senior Special Assistant to Kano State Governor on private healthcare institutions, Dr Salisu Ibrahim, said the affected institutions have been operating with substandard and obsolete facilities.

According to him, only 19 of the total number of 33 Private Healthcare Institutions inspected were able to meet the minimum conditions set by government.

He also said five new private healthcare institutions forwarded fresh applications for registration within the period.

Ibrahim vowed the inspection and clampdown will be ongoing to weed out institutions operating below required standards.

Dankwambo has impacted Gombe economy—Residents —Alhaji Adamu Annuri, CEO, Annuri Links

I must confess that the Gombe State government, under the leadership of Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, the Talban Gombe, has brought us a lot of joy, especially to we market traders. He introduced the Bank of Industry, which in a joint venture with the state contributed N 1 billion to be distributed to business people and farmers in the state as loan with 5 per cent interest rate. Then he gave N750million interest-free loan to Gombe Market Traders which is expected to be a revolving loan. In the past, the government was used to procuring things from Kano, Abuja, etc, but now, it patronises Gombe traders except if the commodities are not readily available here. For example, in the last two years, the contract for the supply of furniture has been liberalised for Gombe businessmen. It is no longer reserved for a few persons within the governor’s family. The roads springing up in the metropolis, local government headquarters and other important towns have ignited our business fortunes.

Also, schools reconstruction, erosion control and lots more.

For all these works, I am calling on the people of Gombe state, especially market traders to support the state government.

—Sunday Uzor, Interior Decorator

This is my 12th year in Gombe and, from my observations we have witnessed a transformation that was never witnessed before. That is why we love what the present administration is doing. By the nature of my business, I am opportune to travel round the state every now and then and on a serious note, this man is working. He is doing a good work of transforming the social and economic life of the state. He is not just working

In the next few weeks, Nigeria will celebrate yet another Democracy Day. It is a period when most state governments take stock of how well they have impacted on the lives of the people in the delivery of the so-called dividends of democracy. Critical to this assessment is the varied opinion of the direct beneficiaries of the programmes and policies of the government. In line with this belief, our correspondent in Gombe State, Vincent Ohombamu, set out to feel the pulse of the people, especially their performance -rating of Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo in the last two years. Excerpts:

The off-campus students now have less problems coming to school in good time unlike before when you have to trek from one point to another before getting a vehicle. With the good roads, areas that used to be waterlogged no longer pose any form of difficulty.

—Mohammed Yusuf (aka Moless), Businessman

•Annuri

• Uzoh

• Abubakar

•Goje

•Yusuf

•Mohammed

for the present Gombe State; he is working with the future in view. I can’t start mentioning sector by sector because every sector is affected. From the roads, water works, health, hospitality, above all, the education system is just too much to describe in words. As someone from the South-East, I want to say the Ndi’Igbo have adopted Gombe as a home away from home because we are fully assimilated like never before.

much impact. But today, like many others, I’ve been proven wrong by the unprecedented speed and level of achievement we have seen. He is completing inherited projects, initiating new ones across the state and doing a whole lot of things that will enhance socio-economic life in Gombe State. He is not selfish and does not consider political affiliation, tribe or friendship when initiating his projects. Each time my friends and relatives come from other state, they look around and say we are lucky because what is happening here does not happen where they stay.

As a newspaper distributor, I travel to all the local government areas in Gombe State, the story is the same everywhere.

The structures he is building to-

day are investments in the future and it is a godly thing to do..

—Iliyasu Hamman Abubakar, Newspaper Distributor

Looking at what is going on in the state and what is happening, I want to say Governor Dankwambo is doing excellently well. When he was elected, I never thought he could make

—Sheikh Abubakar Lamido, Muslim Cleric

No doubt, this administration has done a lot for the progress of the state. Within such a short time, we have witnessed a lot of development and transformation. Look at roads and dual carriage ways that are springing up in unexpected places; water is being properly reticulated and even extended to other local government areas. I also learn that the plan has reached an advanced stage to build big water works in Gombe South. In the area of education, he has performed very well, especially at the primary and postprimary levels. New schools are

• Lamido being built, old ones are getting renovated. And in area of youth empowerment, we have seen the success of the rehabilitation at Malamsidi skills acquisition programme and the rest. It is our prayers that almighty Allah should give him the strength to continue with the good works so that if he cannot complete the projects, he will in the subsequent tenure because the works are just too innumerable and gigantic.

Ours is a young state and Allah in his infinite mercy has given someone who loves the state, therefore I am making a special call to the people of the state give the Governor their full support and cooperation.

—Jummai Goje, student, GSU

The present administration is doing well because, if you look around the town, there are so many construction work going on, especially in the area of road projects. Everywhere in town now, there are good roads, especially areas that one never expected. I speak of places like Barunde, Yellenguruza, Madaki, etc. Governor Dankwambo’s administration is doing well and we hope and pray it will continue to do well for the benefit of all the people of Gombe State.

I don’t actually know where to start from in my assessment of the government of Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo because his footprint is on virtually every sector in Gombe State.

Is it education, health, commerce, youth empowerment, road construction, hospitality and sports? Just name it and I will point it to you. The fact that all these things are happening in less than two years makes it even more awesome. He has put the development of the state above all considerations. He is detribalized; embracing all irrespective of tribe, religion and political consideration. The sacrifice he is making now amounts to building the future today and finding a reason for all to be happy tomorrow. He owes us all our full support and cooperation to enable him succeed more.

—Suleiman Mohammed, student, GSU

Actually, I’ve been in this town for five years now and I must say that this state has been truly blessed. I must say that what the Governor is doing is a good one – the good road, water, youth rehabilitation and everything. Personally, I can say his administration has done it all. Since Dankwambo came into office, things are moving and nothing has been stagnant. As a student of economics, I want to say here that this is a step towards economic growth because little positive restructuring in the environment is known to result to a lot of good because of the multiplier effects; and this is a step to development because economic growth lead to development.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL14, 2013

67

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013

68

EBERE WABARA

WORDSWORTH 08055001948

ewabara@yahoo.com

‘All nooks and crannies’? No!

N

ATIONAL Mirror of April 11 offered readers an edition bursting in multifarious omissions: “The people are yearning for my return knowing fully (full) well that I was unjustly removed from office.”

“This is why in the developed world, creation of jobs either by the public or private sector is used as indices of (for) measuring the health of the economy.”

“This is so because the unemployed constitutes (constitute) a big burden on the purse of the government (which government?).” “…the level of unemployment generated on a monthly is key in information for the government.” My view: a monthly basis or monthly. “…to firmly tackle the problem of unemployment in the country.’ A rewrite: to firmly tackle unemployment in the country.

“That is why there is explosion (an explosion) of Nigerian students in Ghanaian universities.”

“Few (A few) months ago….”

From NATIONAL MIRROR Editorial of the above edition comes this last disastrous entry: “A former senator from Bayelsa State and an exmilitant leader reportedly bolted away recently with the sum of….” Delete ‘away’ to avoid lexical vandalism (not ‘vandalisation’ as wrongly appears in some newspapers!).

WRONG: All nooks and crannies!

RIGHT: every nook and cranny (fixed/stock idiomatic expression— countable nature of the two key words notwithstanding).

“It is very easy for somebody with youthful exuberance to believe on (in) his power….”

“They shuttle between lectures to meet up in (on) the satellite campus.”

“The Fourth Republic was aborted, so the five political parties chose late General Sani Abacha as their sole presidential candidate.”

Power struggle in Nigeria: the late General Sani Abacha…. “…never mind the diamond and other nonmilitary side-shows that are now making (doing or going) the rounds.”

“These issues may sound mundane but they speak volume (volumes) about how prepared our soldiers are.…”

“Within the last 30 years, $330 billion have (has) been expended on behalf of the average Nigerian but….”

“Common sense demands that a lion share (lion’s share) of taxes….” “…the errors of the military would be repeated again.”

‘Repeated again’ is indicative of slipshod writing.

“The president’s numerous visits to market Nigeria abroad is (how?) beginning to yield fruit.”

“As the name implies, it was a one day (sic) civic reception for the VicePresident by Northern Nigerians as one of its (their) own.” “…the MEND leader and the President fought themselves (each other) to a stalemate.” What has happened to the law of pronoun reciprocity?

“During the heydays of Sani Abacha, I found myself compelled to follow the.…” Portraits in infancy and criminal impunity: ‘heyday’ is uncountable.

“Take the bull by the horn.” The ides of April: horns.

“But its effort so far has been ineffectual as the oil subsidy crises has (what?) remained unresolved.”

“I am ready to relief (relieve) the president of the burden of expectations.” “...is known for his restiveness on issues bothering on education.”

Distinguish between ‘bother’ and ‘border.’

“From time to time…religious faithfuls in a multi-religious society like Nigeria. …” Still on the country’s secularity: the (religious) faithful, not faithfuls.

“We cannot afford to bath repeatedly on a tragic spot in Nigeria’s river of politics.” Noun: bath; verb: bathe “The debt comprises of unpaid arrears amounting to.…”

In conformity with standard writing, delete ‘of’ from the excerpt.

‘Otherwise, the entire Sharia system is almost a throw-back to the damages of the dagger and sword.” Except in legalese, ‘damage’ is noncount. “…the strongest vote anybody had ever passed on (in) Keshi.”

“The vehicles plying it were damaged by the logs of wood.” ‘Logs of woods’ is simply tautological!

“The remains of late

(the late) Miss…who died in a ghastly (fatal) motor accident....”

“Admittedly (a comma) the many sins of yesteryears cannot be wiped out in one fell swoop....” ‘Yesteryear’ is uncountable.

FEEDBACK “THANKS for your efforts at making Nigerians imbibe the culture of lexical and syntactic decorum. We seem to be quite adept at creating strange coinages.

Examples: ‘off the light’; ‘he did not pick his call’; ‘how is your wife and children?’ You may not believe this, ‘a small child is worrying you’!—that is, your behaviour is childish. But on a more serious note, do those concerned take corrections from your weekly menu? Keep it up nonetheless.” (Prof. N.P. Okolie/University of Benin/07031677944) “I have just read through your page in THE NATION ON SUNDAY of March 31, 2013.

I found it enlightening, educating and transforming. Keep it up.” (Revd. Chinenye Onwuegbuchi/Aba/ Abia State/08064100655) “AS at press time’ and ‘as of press time’: which one is correct? I have taken time to look through the Oxford dictionary. I am yet to see ‘as at’. Secondly, ‘over’ as a preposition means because or concerning something.

Olu was arrested over stealing. See ‘preposition (help) number 12 of Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.

Honestly, I have benefited immensely from your column. Keep it viable. Thanks.” ( S O D / O n d o / 08078224716) MY response: Because of the precision element in timing, we correctly talk of ‘as at press time’ and the standard (phrasal verb) expression is ‘arrest for’— never ‘arrest over’ no matter the circumstance! Its ubiquitous and pervasive usage in the Nigerian media cannot make it right.

“THE gaffes I see in THISDAY, THE S A T U R D A Y NEWSPAPER, alone are enough material for your column, even if you are given a full page for them. This is so sad. I wish reporters, columnists, proofreaders and editors would do the jobs which titles they bear. Thanks.” (CV/ 08030727151)

Nigeria, No”Geria •Continued from page 18

ticed that its two sets of twins which are more vicious maladies have seized our nation with ferocious intensity and spread their tentacles over Nigeria and the outside world. Indiscipline, lawlessness, greed and corruption have displaced God by which we have substituted MONEY as an object of ferocious worship in our society, to the extent that we are neither accountable to God, our creator, nor to humanity at large. How close are we to Sodom and Gomorrah!

The amalgamation of different nationalities in Nigeria by our colonial masters, whether deliberate or not, has put together strange bed fellows, an amalgamated people of assorted and different terrain, weather, cultures, languages, social habits, religions, educational interest, world views, moral and value systems.

Thus, since amalgamation, the different nationalities have fought to outdo one another in the sharing of the national cake baked from oil, various taxes and other sources of wealth like sports and educational achievements not evenly baked by all the nationalities. Since independence we have witnessed acrimonious fight for just or unjust resource allocations that eventually went into private pockets. It has been every nationality to itself with the sole ambition to grab and grab for each nationality as much as you could from the national cake, even if it means rigging of population census and grabbing by cheating. This cheating has led to people’s indiscipline, lawlessness, greed and corruption in which we now find ourselves as a result of the contradictions and absurdities inherent in amalgamation, and the contradictory situations and behaviours that have prevented Nigeria from growth and development over the ages. This ugly event is what we are celebrating next year. What a contradiction in thought and perception!

It is in Nigeria that you witness various contradictory situations and behaviours. Nigeria, an oil rich country, is one of the richest in the world and yet it remains a country where there is perennial shortage and exorbitant cost of fuel products. It is a country where less than 5% of her people are stinkingly rich but 95% live in abject poverty as wretched of the earth.

Surely, if fresh air were not given free by God to both the rich and poor alike, 95% of Nigerians would have died of lack of oxygen which they could not afford because it would have been hoarded by the 5% wealthy Nigerians. It is a country which sells electricity to neighbouring countries but suffers from epileptic supply of electricity at home. It is a country where 95% of her people do not have access to potable water. It is a country

•Goodluck

where her leaders, including religious leaders, preach morality in the morning but break it at noon! It is a country which has about 2000 religious denominations of assorted kinds and descriptions, always conducting aggressive prayers at revivals and vigils in many churches and mosques on a daily or weekly basis, but full of ungodly and wicked people. It is a country where people rig elections and then go to churches or mosques to give thanks to God for successful rigging, as if God was behind the act. It is a country which badly craves for economic recovery but her leaders engage in economic sabotage such as systematic looting of the treasury and money laundering. It is a country which professes love for education, sports, economic, political, scientific and technological progress but worships mediocrity that is antithetical to any progress whatsoever. It is a country where federal character means unitary character in allocation of key appointments (as in INEC, ministry of aviation and all the ministries, parastatals, departments and other agencies) In Nigeria there is no enforcement of laws because those who are to enforce these laws are themselves lawless and corrupt people.

It is in Nigeria that we use corruption to fight corruption, and it is where justice denied at home is granted abroad. Nigeria is a country which has no concept of time and its direction. Nigeria is where people do not keep to time or plan for tomorrow because there is no tomorrow. It is a country where there exists a federal system of government that is at the same time unitary in style and practice. It is in Nigeria that patriotism is at zero level, where people hate their country and prefer to migrate to foreign lands in desperate search for the Golden Fleece. It is a country where parents prefer

their children to acquire their thought systems early in life in a foreign language (English) instead of their natural languages known as the mother tongue. It is also in Nigeria that suffering and smiling take place simultaneously (apology to Fela Anikulapo”Kuti). It is a country that is craving for democracy yet her leaders are trying to prevent strong opposition from emerging as a political party after a well researched and internationally publicized acronym.

And there are many more of these contradictions and absurdities in our society. But from those I have mentioned, it is easy to see why we can derive a basket full of maladies from contradictions and absurdities that have made Nigeria a laughing stock in the international community, and a country where anything goes and nothing works, including our democratic experiments that have turned out to be everlasting experiments in political, social and economic failures.

From the foregoing, the word Nigeria is perhaps too deceptive a name to use for a country as bad as ours.

From the activities and behaviours of her leaderships and governments Nigeria is becoming such a no-go area for decent people, especially for the international community, that a change of its name from Nigeria to No”Nigeria or No-geria (Nogeria) may have become inevitable. But this name (a not too good one) may be changed for a better one (after the rescue mission at the 2015 elections) that would relieve us of the pains and hell we had gone through from being identified with the name “Nigeria” in the international community. The truth must be told.

Professor Makinde is the DG/CEO of Awolowo Center for Philosophy, Ideology and Good Governance of the State of Osun, Osogbo.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013

F

ORMER Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) presidential candidate, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, yesterday appealed to members of the Boko Haram sect to yield grounds and accept the amnesty offer proposed by the federal government.

The former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) also urged the federal government not be discouraged by the stance of the fundamentalist Islamic sect but persevere in its peace moves towards making the group lay down arms.

Ribadu, who spoke in the Ikenne home of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, while fielding questions from reporters, noted that the Boko Haram insurgence had cost the country fortunes in diverse areas.

He was accompanied by the former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, and former Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT),Aliyu Moddibo, to the matriarch of Awolowo family, Chief (Mrs.)

News

Ribadu advises Boko Haram to accept amnesty Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

Hannah Idowu Dideolu(HID) to commiserate with her on the death of her son, Evangelist Oluwole Awolowo.

Ribadu said dialogue with members of the sect would

bring about the much -sought hope of putting an end to the spate of killings and destructions.

According to him:”It was very sad when I heard that the Boko Haram sect rejected the amnesty offer, but that does

not mean that government should totally relent in the move.

“Personally, my view from the onset is we should pursue the direction of dialogue and not closing any door against peace.

“From now, the feelers and body language of the sect is not encouraging but that does not mean that we should abandon or give up. We should pursue the direction of peace.”

Ribadu urged the sect to take cognisance of the fact that

T

HE National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in Oyo State has entered into partnership with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members to boost the war against fake and substandard drugs.

The Director General of NAFDAC, Dr Paul Orhii, while inaugurating its Community Development Service (CDS) with the NYSC in Ibadan, said the corps members will help to reduce consumption of fake drugs.

Orhii, who was represented by the South West Zonal Coordinator, Mrs. Omosola Osibanjo, said this is because NYSC members are posted to all nooks and crannies of the country and are the closest to their host communities.

He said they have become NAFDAC ambassadors by enlightening their host communities on the dangers of fake and substandard drugs.

The DG urged the corps members to give the new CDS group a new life and be committed to service.

Coordinator of NYSC in Oyo State, Pastor Alao Olanipekun, who was represented by the state CDS group coordinator, Mr. Sunday Familoyo, commended the effort of NAFDAC in the fight against fake and substandard drugs.

He described the initiative as a right step towards a right decision, saying that it will go a long way to sensitise the populace to be aware of counterfeit drugs.

He admonished the corps members to ensure that they enlighten the communities adequately so that the menace could be totally eradicated in the country.

no meaningful peace could be achieved in an atmosphere of violence and blood-letting.

He explained: “I am also making a direct appeal to those who are involved to know that they are destroying their own people.

“They must understand that it has not worked anywhere in the world and it will not work in Nigeria. What do they want to gain from this senseless killing? In the name of God let them stop.”

He described the demise of Awolowo as a painful loss and urged the family to accept it as an act of God.

NECO Registrar monitors exams in Anambra

From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

T

NAFDAC, NYSC partner on drugs From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

69

•L-R:Mother of the bride, Mrs Wemimo Osinubi; the couple; Mr and Mrs Olabode Owolabi; Managing Director, The Punch Newspapers and father of the bride, Mr Demola Osinubi, during the wedding of their children in Lagos at the weekend.

PHOTO: MUYIWA HASSAN

Medical workers worried over health services

M

EDICAL and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) has expressed concerns over the quality of health services in the country.

It blamed the deplorable development on systemic problems.

The union also said the privatisation

From: Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

programme of successive governments and cuts in funding of social services have aggravated the systemic problems bedevilling the sector.

Its President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, said: “The case of Nigeria today is highly pathetic as most

health indices place the country at the lower rungs of the ladder, globally.

“It is the poor, working people that bear the brunt of the health system’s inadequacies.”

He however, noted that despite these inadequacies in the system, Nigeria boasts of some of the best health professionals in the

Man laments forceful takeover of family farm

A

LEGAL practitioner, Fubara Iyagba, has threatened to sue Rivers State Government for acquiring Trans-Ricia Farm, allegedly belonging to his late father, which he inherited after his father’s death.

Iyagba stated this yesterday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, while briefing team of his lawyers headed by Johnson Ugboduma on the level of damage done to the farm,

From Precious Dikewoha, Port Harcourt

located at Amanambulo Abuloma area of Port Harcourt He claimed the government has destroyed economic crops valued hundreds of millions of naira, arguing that the only way there could be peace is for the government to compensate him.

Iyagba said: “My father was not a trouble maker, neither am I. The land which is

a family farm called TransRicia Farm has different kinds of economic trees and crops planted. In 1991, after the death of my father, I inherited the farm.

“But today, Rivers State government has forcefully taken the land and sold it to a private agent who now calls the place Gulf Estate. I am calling on the state government to take into consideration the economic trees and crops damaged at the farm land,” he lamented.

world.

Wabba, who spoke with reporters in Abuja on the just- ended 2nd Medical and Health Workers, Week with the theme Harmony and Teamwork: Critical to Effective Healthcare Delivery in Nigeria, said the event was geared towards ensuring greater collaboration and coordination between the diverse cadres of workers and professionals that constitute human resources in the sector.

He stated health workers are committed to good health care delivery.

Wabba explained that the week, which is an annual series of events, is part of the union’s efforts towards contributing significantly to the discourse and practice of healthcare delivery in Nigeria with the aim of developing the national health system towards ensuring quality health for all.

Chrisland school expands to Abuja

A

NEW branch of Chrisland Schools has opened in Abuja for the next academic session.

The school’s business development manager, Jide Olugboji, said work on the structure and facilities are ongoing with about N350million already injected into the project located at Wumba district, off Lokogoma in Abuja.

He informed that the idea to move to Abuja was

By Yetunde Olasehinde

a fall-out of an exhibition the school participated in the UK recently.

“This is just the beginning of our expansion programme. We will also be opening branches in Johannesburg, South Africa and Accra Ghana too.

“We attended an exhibition in the UK and our school was one of few schools that participated.

Here we got requests from parents and our alumni and that was how it all started.”

Chrisland Educational organisation, Olugbogi added, places emphasis on good corporate governance with the internal alleviation of the level of quality and academic excellence in the different schools consistently undertaken by its quality assurance unit.

To meet and bench-

mark against international educational standards, local and international experts are invited to perform the external evaluation of the school.

He stated: “By October, the Chrisland Millennium University which is based in Abeokuta will also commence operations. ‘’The university is situated on 500 acres and you can be sure that standards would be met in all areas.’’

HE Registrar/Chief Executive Officer of National Examination Council (NECO), Prof Promise Okpala, yesterday monitored the conduct and procedures of the National Common Entrance Examination into JSS I of Federal Government Unity Colleges conducted by NECO in Anambra State.

Okpala, who visited selected schools, described the conduct of the examination as excellent.

According to him: ‘’The conduct of the examination is excellent; we witnessed three phases of the examination “what happened before the exams, during the exams and after the examination in some centres. We also ensured that parents were kept at a good distance from the examination hall. ‘’The essence is to prevent them from mounting undue pressure on the children.”

On observations at the centres, he said: “The children were well spaced. Our answer script was highly customised because it has exam number, serial number and student’s name but we are taking pains to ensure that they avoid any mistake.”

Okpala informed that pupils wrote the entrance examination in 432 centres across the country, while a total of 87,555 pupils registered for the exam.

He also added that Lagos State has the highest number of pupils with 23,329 pupils, whereas Yobe State has the lowest with 286 pupils.

Anambra State, he informed, has 6211 pupils registered for the examination.

On the number of pupils for admission, Okpala said it depends on the carrying capacity of the school and relative cut off marks.

He noted the carrying capacity of all federal government colleges is not static but usually above 20,000 every year.

Okpala said that the result of the exams should be out next Wednesday barring any unforeseen circumstances after council considerations of pros and cons of the examination.

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THE NATION SPORT SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013

SPORT EXTRA

Hockey federation loses board member

T

HE Nigeria Hockey Federation (NHF) has announced the demise of one of its influential Board members, Princess Bimbo Olateru Olagbegi.

Late Princess Olagbegi until her death, she was the chairperson, Ondo State Hockey Association and a Board member, Nigeria Hockey Federation.

The Ondo State Hockey body while formally informing the NHF through a letter, informed that it would miss its amiable chairperson, who had done so much to uplift the game of hockey in the state and at the national level.

According to the burial programme released by the family a Novelty match between Ondo and Ekiti hockey teams would flick off the final rite of passage on Thursday, 18th of April 2013 at the Ondo State Sports Council, Akure pitch. Wake holds same day.

On Friday, April 19, Service would hold at Redeemed Christian Church of God, Ijapo Akure, while remains of Princess Olagbegi would be intern at Owo after service.

President of Nigeria Hockey Federation is expected to deliver a speech during the final burial ceremony.

Mallet, top rugby coach visits Lagos

I

n a vote of confidence in the future of rugby in Nigeria, one of the world's most respected international rugby coaches, Nick Mallett, is to share his 20 odd years of experience with a select group of rugby coaches at a clinic in Lagos this month.

Mallett, who was raised in Zimbabwe before moving to South Africa, has coached professional rugby at the highest levels of the game for over two decades in South Africa, France and Italy. Along the way Mallett, who also played two internationals as a South African Springbok in 1984, lead South Africa to a record 17 consecutive international victories. His final score card as a Springbok coach reads 27 wins from 38 internationals. Later, he coached Stade Francais back to back championships in the smoking cauldron of the French premier rugby league.

Mallett will be coming to Lagos as a guest of the Nigerian Rugby Football Federation where he will be guest of honour and the keynote speaker at a gala dinner at The Wheatbaker Hotel in Ikoyi.

Before sharing his unique insights with Nigerian coaches, Mallett will address businessmen and sponsors at a breakfast meeting at the Southern Sun on 30th April.

Young 11 wins maiden Sultan Adeniji Adele soccer tournament

P

RIZES flowed freely at the final of the maiden edition of the Sultan Adeniji Adele Soccer Tournament which held at the FHA Sports ground, Festac Town, Lagos, over the weekend, with different categories of winners carting home cash awards.

The competition which started few weeks back with 32 teams contesting for honours saw Heritage FC from Tedi Barracks and Young Eleven FC reaching the finals.

The final match ended one goal to nil in favour of Young Eleven FC, which went home with the star prize of N300, 000, while Heritage FC and the third place winner got N200, 000 and N100, 000 respectively.

Consolation prizes also went to the highest goal scorer of the competition who went home with $300 courtesy Mr. Gerald Azenobu the CEO of Good Foundation, a nongovernmental organization and co-sponsor of the tournament while the scorer of the first goal in the final match got $100.

Justifying the need for the tournament, which was a collaboration between the Lagos State Government and State House of Assembly, the facilitator, Hon. Sultan Adeniji Adele, a lawmaker representing Amuwo Odofin Constituency 1, in the Lagos State House of Assembly, said the tournament was a way to show the world that the grassroots remain the incubators of budding talents which deserve to be nurtured to represent the country internationally.

CAN Under-17

Eaglets vow to maul Black Starlets T

HE buzz in the Golden Eaglets' camp ahead of Sunday's high profile game against Black Starlets of Ghana is of high optimism with the players saying in unison: Ghana must go!

Ghana must go is a popular cliché in Nigeria for a particular baggage peculiar with immigrant Ghanaians and the Golden Eaglets have vowed to load the Starlets with bagful of goals come Sunday.

Golden Eaglets have a better record than the starlets at this level after securing two wins in three previous matches. While Ghana beat Nigeria 3-1 in the final match of the 1995 edition held in Mali, Nigeria secured 2-1 and 2-0 wins at the preliminary group stages of the 1999 and 2007 editions.

This pedigree has buoyed the confidence of the Eaglets and are desirous about extending the record when they both clash in the usually charged West African derby at the Stade de Marrakech.

“It has taken us a long time to arrive here and by the grace of God, we are going to win our first game against Ghana on Sunday,” said soft-spoken Musa Muhammed, the captain of the side."We want to go back to Nigeria as champions and we must show the stuff of champions starting with Ghana."

Defence stalwart, Izu Omego said they are toughened after overcoming strong oppositions along the way.

"We are confident going into the game against Ghana," said the tireless Omego who is a fulcrum of the team." This team is strong and we have beaten stronger teams like the Malians with their big physique.

“We can't do anything with our power and that is why we are always praying to God to bless all our hard work.”

Of course, the Golden Eaglets are not oblivious of the task ahead of

EPL RESULTS Arsenal 3 - 1 Norwich A.Villa 1 - 1 Fulham Everton 2 - 0 QPR Reading 0 - 0 Liverpool Sout'pton 1 - 1 West Ham FA CUP Millwall 0 - 2 Wigan Sunday fixtures Newcastle v Sunderland Stoke v Man Utd Chelsea v Tottenham Monday fixture Man City v WestBrom CAN U-17 FIXTURE Congo v Cote d’Ivoire

...As Isaac eyes success story

F

IVE goals in six qualifying matches on the road to Morocco 2013 has conferred on Success Isaac a certain form of status as the Nigeria's Golden Eaglets seek a third title at the Orange CAN Under-17.

The burly striker was blooded at the famous Megap Soccer Academy-now known as B-J Foundation-in Benin. Incidentally, it is the academy that produced Super Eagles' defender at the 2013 African Cup of Nations in South Africa, Elderson Echejile, who now serves as a mentor for Success.

Success is indeed a real admirer of great strikers including the late 1993 African Footballer of the Year, Rashid Yekini .Yet his burning desire is to score as many goals as possible to ensure that the highflying Golden Eaglets are crowned champions on April 27 at Stade de Marrakech. He has the built and proficiency in front of goals similar to that of late Yekini who fired the Super Eagles to glory at the 1994 African Cup of Nations.

“Yes, I have heard so much about late Rashid Yekini,” revealed Success with a wide grin. “In fact, he is one of my favourite Nigerian players because he was a great goal scorer.

He added: “Of course, yes. I would like to score goals for the Golden Eaglets to win the African Under-17 title since I was told Yekini did same for Nigeria at the Nations Cup in 1994 and that would be a dream comes true for me.”

Success' story with the Golden Eaglets is inspirational. He was actually not on the list of shortlisted players that were picked at the opening screening conducted for budding players. But like a thief in the night, he sneaked his way into

Arsenal's Alex OxladeChamberlain (R) celebrates with teammate Kieran Gibbs following Arsenal's second goal against Norwich City during their English Premier League soccer match at Emirates Stadium

them following disclosure by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) Vice-President, Fred Crentsil that the Nigerians are beatable after spying on them during two international friendly matches against Botswana in February.

“Ghana will be in for a shock on Sunday,” said cherubic-faced Chidera Ezeh who scored a hat trick on his debut for the Golden Eaglets in the 3-0 spanking of Junior Wasps of Rwanda last September.

“We don't care about whether anybody had spied on us before now; our business is to go to the field and play every game as if it is a cup final.

“Agreed the first game is always difficult, our coaches have advised that we should be mentally alert and I know they would come up with the tactics to break any resistance from Ghana on Sunday,” he said with his usual inherent smile.

Meanwhile, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has picked Moroccan official, Jiyad Radouane as the centre referee for today's clash between Nigeria and Ghana.

The match is expected to kick off at 6:00 pm local time which is 7:00pm Nigerian time.

the team's closed camping and was given a look-in by the ever-patient Golden Eaglets' Head Coach, Manu Garba (MFR).

“Success has the attributes of a good striker,” said Garba who seldom single out players for praises. “He's strong on the ball, very effective and always ready to learn.”

The same was attested to by Rwanda's Under-17 French coach, Richard Tady when he rose from the substitute bench to destroy the Junior Wasps in a 3-0 win in an international friendly last September by assisting teammate, Chidera Ezeh in scoring two of his hat trick.

“That boy (Number 9) actually changed the course of the game,” a crest-fallen Tady said after the near collapse of his wards after Success was brought into the fray. “You could see that we were coping well in the first half but the game changed immediately that boy came in; he is strong and you can see that he created two of the goals against us.”

Arsenal seal third place with Norwich victory

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RSENAL left it late to move up to third in the Premier League table as a remarkable comeback gave the club a 3-1 victory against Norwich on Saturday.

Arsene Wenger's side dominated a tense affair but a flat first half display meant it could not break down a resolute Norwich backline before the break.

Matters were made worse when Michael Turner headed home in the second half but a late penalty from Mikel Arteta was followed by strikes from Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski at the death as Arsenal sealed its seventh league win in eight games in the most dramatic of circumstances.

The headline team news was undoubtedly the return of England midfielder Jack Wilshere, who replaced the injured Tomas Roiscky in one of three changes from Arsenal's 2-1 win at West Brom.

Kieran Gibbs replaced Nacho Monreal, while skipper Thomas Vermaelen came in for the suspended Per Mertesacker.

Norwich boss Chris Hughton, meanwhile, also made three changes from his side's 2-2 draw against Swansea as Steven Whittaker replaced Javier Garrido, Alexander Tettey came in for Elliot Bennett and skipper Grant Holt

returned in place of Wes Hoolahan.

From the off, the creative trio of Wilshere, Gervinho and Santi Cazorla sparked to life as the home side pursued the strong start boss Wenger had stressed the importance of before kickoff.

Aaron Ramsey, Giroud and Gervinho all came close thereafter as the hosts began to knock on the Norwich door with some determination.

And the hosts' persistence would continue as a melee in the penalty area after the break saw several attempts at goal either palmed away by Bunn or blocked by a Canaries defender.

But minutes later, it was the visiting fans who were celebrating against the odds as Turner headed home a Robert Snodgrass free kick.

Wenger's response was immediate: off went Wilshere and Gervinho, with Lukas Podolski and Theo Walcott coming on.

And after 64 minutes, the England winger almost made an impact as he surged into the box only to be brought down by Whittaker. Referee Mike Jones dismissed any penalty appeals, though, and the atmosphere at the Emirates Stadium grew more and more tense.

F/Eagles resume training Monday

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IGERIA U20 team, the Flying Eagles, will resume training in Nnewi on Monday with players who made the final squad to the 2013 AYC in Algeria.

Team secretary, Aliyu Ibrahim Lawal, disclosed that 21 players from Algeria have been asked to report to the Beverly Hills Hotel in Nnewi from Monday.

Chief executive of capital Oil Ifeanyi Ubah has agreed to bankroll the Flying Eagles monthlong training stint in Anambra

State.

Coaches have used the days since the team's return from Algeria to scout for more players in the league to fortify the squad ahead of the World Cup. The Flying Eagles, who are drawn against Cuba, South Korea and Portugal in the first round of the 2013 World Cup, are due to a training stint in Europe before the global challenge.

They are also expected to feature at the Toulon tournament in France as part of their preparation for the U20 World Cup.

The squad for Nnewi: Goalkeepers: Jonah Usman, Emmanuel Daniel, Samuel Okani Defenders: Ikechukwu Okorie, Chizoba Amaefule, Shehu Abdullahi, Kingsley Madu, Aigbe Oliha, Hassan Abubakar, Aliyu Goyi Midfielders: Moses Orkuma, Ovboka Agboyi, Uche Agbo, Abduljaleel Ajagun Forwards: Alhaji Gero, Umar Aminu, Kayode Olanrewaju, Christian Pyagbara, Bright Ejike, Edafe Egbedi, Chidi Osuchukwu

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL14, 2013

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QUOTABLE "We have become one family. And there is no way we can ask for a demolition contractor to demolish the country… Anyone who thinks he can just wake up one morning and break up the country must be joking. It would not happen, because there are so many interwoven forces that will not allow it to happen…"

SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL. 7, NO. 2461 First published on December 30, 2012, this essay is reprinted today as a reminder of the salient contributions made to national and world affairs

by Mandela, Bush and Thatcher. The three leaders, one of whom has just honoured the last call, bade us long goodbyes when they were hospitalised about the same time late last year. With the passing of Baroness Thatcher, it is time to remind ourselves once again what the three stood for, good or bad, and how their transformative and charismatic administrations underscored the salience of strong leadership, especially one imbued with sound judgment and unexampled patriotism

Three long goodbyes

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T was an unplanned but remarkable coincidence around the Christmas holiday period. Nelson Mandela, 94, Margaret Thatcher, 87, George H. Bush, 88 all found themselves in hospital to receive medical attention. Mandela went in to treat a stubborn lung infection, Bush the Elder to treat a fever and other associated ailments that kept popping up one after the other, as his doctors ruefully observed, and Thatcher to remove a growth on her bladder. The Iron Lady, as Thatcher was nicknamed by a Soviet Defence Ministry newspaper in 1976 even before she became prime minister, had in 2001 and 2002 suffered mild strokes. Even though all three leaders are alive and may yet live on for many more years, they are, however, enfeebled by age and are facing a countdown in the closing chapters of their lives. I therefore find it hard to resist the temptation of making a few observations on these iconic leaders whose idiosyncratic rule exemplified the leadership panache and resilience of the last century.

In a way, however, and no matter how much we still want the three leaders with us, I think they have started to say their long goodbyes. They left power a long time ago, and so their final departure may not have the same dramatic impact their exit from office had, but there is no doubt that much more than their countries, the world will be sad to see them go. They were not just iconic, brilliant, prescient and charismatic – Mandela and Thatcher more so – the breadth and content of their leadership, the visionary quality of their administration, and the continuing relevance of their policies, ideas and styles have combined to imbue them with a freshness and permanence that belie their age and health. Thatcher vacated office 22 years ago, Bush Snr 19 years ago, and Mandela 13 years ago. But it seemed like only yesterday.

The health of the three leaders will be monitored closely and carefully by both analysts and doctors: by the former because of the relevance of the leaders to the health of their countries; and by the latter because of the personal health of the three leaders themselves. Clearly, the more important of the two types of health conditions is the relevance of the leaders to their countries’ wellbeing. Leaders are seldom measured by their personal longevity, but by either longevity on the throne or, more appropriately, the quality and impact of their policies, and sometimes, too, their ideas. As a former US President, Richard M. Nixon, succinctly observed many years ago, “When the curtain goes down on a play, members of the audience file out of the theatre and go home to resume their normal lives. When the curtain comes down on a leader’s career, the very lives of the audience have been changed, and the course of history may have been profoundly altered.” This observation is true of Mandela, Thatcher and Bush the Elder.

But I am drawn into writing about the three ailing leaders today in the hope that serving Nigerian leaders would learn a thing or two about leadership mystique and relevance from those who have personified the two attributes so inimitably and so daringly.

Mandela’s successors obviously do not take after the great man, perhaps because by having him so close to them, they have taken him and his qualities for granted. Thabo Mbeki, Mandela’s immediate successor, for instance, could hold himself anywhere in the world intellectually, but he exhibited none of the charisma, joie de vivre and general humanism that hallmarked his predecessor’s leadership. In addition, his detached and sometimes woolly style, his seemingly nonpartisan politics of expressive sombreness that grated on the ears of the South African

—-Second Republic Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief Richard Akinyide (SAN), dismissing the possibility of Nigeria breaking up amidst the spate of sectarian crisis

•Mandela

•Bush

rabble contrasted with the welcoming, lively and eccentric style of his successor, Jacob Zuma.

Mandela in office sometimes seemed a paradox, with a half of him oozing gravitas, and the other half skirting close to an inscrutable form of libertinism that made him contradistinctively sociable and prudish. But the real paradox of South African politics is the unexampled fashion Mbeki took Mandela’s cerebral endowment without the redeeming and tempering influence of the great man’s sociableness; and Zuma took and embellished Mandela’s love for life without the catalysing and uplifting influence of Madiba’s deep longing and respect for knowledge. But much worse are the Nigerian parallels. Had ex-President Umaru Yar’Adua not been hobbled by illness, he in fact seemed the only Nigerian leader since independence capable of grasping the weight and content of the challenges the country faced. Either because of his nature or poor health, even he proved absolutely destitute of the high principles and nobility that underscored Mandela’s life and politics. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, it will be recalled, was advised or indirectly encouraged by those who installed him in office to embrace the Mandela option of serving for only one term. If he had the good sense to do that, we would not have known how unprincipled he was and still is. But at least, he would have become a statesman par excellence and a reference point for continental and regional leadership. Instead, he chose to amass wealth and to open himself to the corrosive influence constitutional subversion naturally denotes.

Of the three great leaders, Mandela is probably the most solid and respected, Thatcher the most impactful and iconoclastic, and Bush the

•Thatcher

most measured and influential. Thatcher was not just the longest serving British prime minister of the 20th century, she remains the first and only woman to have occupied that office.

Neither of the two achievements can be belittled. Like Churchill, she understood very quickly the ideological temper and irredentist proclivities of the Soviet Union, and from day one cobbled together a foreign policy designed to respond harshly to the menace she believed the Russians represented. More than that, it is doubtful whether since Churchill any prime minister had projected British confidence and power as brilliantly as she did. Recall the Falklands War of 1982, barely three years after she assumed office, and the surefootedness with which she approached the disagreement between Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands. Faced with the prospect of fighting a war thousands of kilometres away against an enemy fighting next door, she retained admirable sang-froid throughout the period the dispute lasted and even confidently declared that the possibility of defeat for British arms did not exist.

With the exception of former head of state, Gen Murtala Mohammed, no Nigerian leader has projected Thatcherite confidence of any significance. However, Thatcherite policies were underlined by incredible astuteness, sensible economic policies that remoulded British industry and enterprise, and sound judgement, particularly in politics and foreign policies, that yielded fruit without dissipating British power.

Compared with most of his successors, Murtala was indeed a detribalised and unfettered patriot, and a confident leader who would probably have achieved a different and better outcome had he seen his transition programme through. But his appreciation of external re-

“Of the three great leaders, Mandela is probably the most solid and respected, Thatcher the most impactful and iconoclastic, and Bush the most measured and influential…They were not just iconic, brilliant, prescient and charismatic – Mandela and Thatcher more so – the breadth and content of their leadership, the visionary quality of their administration, and the continuing relevance of their policies, ideas and styles have combined to imbue them with a freshness and permanence that belie their age and health. Thatcher vacated office 22 years ago, Bush Snr 19 years ago, and Mandela 13 years ago”

sponses to his domestic and foreign policies was fairly idealistic. That poor judgement cost him his life and handed over the rest of the transition programme to the far less ethically resolute Obasanjo.

Bush the Elder gives us a signal lesson in restraint, which habitually meddlesome Nigerians may be culturally unsuited to appreciate.

By making no public attempt to influence George W. Bush’s government on the question of Iraq, the senior Bush was merely underscoring the advancement of the American constitution and system. Indeed, as we gleaned from the statements made by the recently deceased General Norman Schwarzkopf, the US allied commander during Gulf War I, the presidency of Bush the Elder was unsure of the propriety of overthrowing the government of Saddam Hussein, unsure whether the implications of such an overthrow had been fully studied or whether such an overthrow would not create a chain reaction that would be difficult to manage. This was why during Gulf War II, Schwarzkopf declined to support the regime change Bush the Younger had enunciated. He and Bush the Elder have been proved right.

Nigerian leaders rarely appreciate that their country is like a political, economic and cultural smorgasbord so complex and variegated that it requires a deep grounding in logic and history to decipher. Obasanjo made an unpardonable mistake by failing to lay a solid and ethical foundation for the Fourth Republic. And though Ibrahim Babangida did the country so much harm by failing to seize the opportunities offered by the 1993 general election, the wobbly foundation of the Fourth Republic is the sole responsibility of Obasanjo.

Like South Africa’s Zuma, Obasanjo was so entranced by the frills of office that he could not gauge its responsibilities, and too fixated with the scaffold to pay attention to the creaky building. Even the more sensible Yar’Adua surrendered to base passions and allowed the country to drift and be held hostage as a result of his poor health. As incompetent as Nigerian leaders have been over the decades, nearly all of whom cite extenuating circumstances to justify their lack of administrative acumen and futuristic thinking, that ineptitude has worsened over the years, unmitigated by the passage of time or the advancement of science and knowledge.

Going by the remarkable conjunction of three ailing leaders around the Christmas holiday season, Mandela, Thatcher and Bush may already be saying their long goodbyes. This fact gives the world an opportunity to begin reflecting on the unremitting leadership failure confronting us today. By American standards, one-term presidents seldom rise to greatness, but Bush the Elder provided leadership at a time Americans needed it, even if for economic reasons, and exercised restraint at the right moment and place. Two-term President Bill Clinton made the world to love America as Bush senior and junior could not manage, but it is a matter of debate whether he has been as impactful on the world as Bush the Elder.

Since 1990, Britain has struggled with leadership. Thatcher’s immediate successor, John Major, proved middlingly insecure, and both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, in spite of their best efforts, neither rose to inspiring level nor were they able to hold the candle to the Iron Lady.

With each passing day, Mandela has seemed to loom even larger than most world leaders, becoming an example of a statesman growing in stature and relevance, like a good wine, as his years out of power increase. He embodies the aphorism popularised by the US Army General, Douglas MacArthur, that old soldiers never die, they just fade away. More and more, as Africa produces mediocre leaders by the dozen, the power and nobility of Mandela are reinforced by his canniness in foreshadowing the problems of multiculturalism in a way even Europe has not come to terms with. Imagine if the superficial Zuma had taken over from F.W. de Klerk! Indeed, the long goodbyes of the three statesmen speak more to the leadership tragedy faced by Africa in general and more poignantly to the appalling refusal, not to say criminal negligence, of Nigerian leaders to learn both from the ancient history of their country and the modern history of the world in relation to the issues and phenomena that drive, sustain and shape great leadership.

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ISSN: 115-5302 E-mail: sunday@thenationonlineng.net Editor: FESTUS ERIYE