The Nation April 26, 2012

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

News Ekiti to pay N273m compensation for demolition P63 Sports Three killed during Chelsea/Barcelona match P7 Business Fed Govt okays two pipeline contracts for N100b P15 www.thenationonlineng.net

VOL. 7, NO. 2105 THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

N150.00

House in stormy session over Diezani, Dankwambo Akintola Williams, Adekanola blacklisted

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T was a bit stormy yesterday at the House of Representatives.

The recommendation of the Ad Hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy Regime “that the payment of N999 million 128 times within 24 hours (12 and 13 January, 2009) by the Office of the

WHO SAID WHAT We should say Office of the AGF and PPPRA since it was under his (Dankwambo’s) watch that all these happened –Gbajabiamila From Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi, Abuja

Accountant-General of the Federation be further investigated by the relevant anti-corruption agencies” was amended to exonerate the former Accountant-General, Ibrahim Dankwambo. Dankwambo is governor of

The punishment is too mild. If one person stays in his office and writes cheques of N999m 128 times, that person should be indicted. –Dabiri-Erewa

You’re all being sensational.

The CBN said at the time that they couldn’t pay more than N1b and what they did was to split the payment.

–Ekwunife

Gombe State.

The removal of Dankwambo’s name from the committee’s 42nd recommendation almost resulted in a shouting match between Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha, who presided over the committee of the Whole, and the Minority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila.

Dankwambo’s name was substituted with the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) which was said to have issued the cheques.

Gbajabiamila had insisted that rather than removing the former AGF’s name completely, both Dankwambo

and PPPRA should be made to account for such an “incredible payment”.

Gbajabiamila said: “We should say office of the AGF and PPPRA since it was under his watch that all these happened”.

Abike Dabiri-Erewa said: “The punishment is too mild. If one person stays in his office and writes cheques of N999m 128 times, that person should be indicted.”

Uche Ekwunfe said: “You’re all being unnecessarily sensational. The CBN said at the time that they couldn’t pay more than N1billion and what they did was to split the payment.

Continued on page 2

Senators push to weaken CBN’s grip From Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor and Sanni Onogu, Abuja

S

ENATORS yesterday took one more step forward in their quest to wrest some powers from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

A Bill seeking to compel the CBN to submit its yearly budget to the National Assembly for approval scaled the second reading.

“A Bill for an Act to amend the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, Cap, C4 LFN, 2007 to compel the bank to submit its annual budget before the National Assembly and for related matters, 2012” was sponsored by Senator Ita Enang, (Akwa Ibom North East).

The CBN, relying on its Act, which gives its board the power to approve its budget, has refused to submit its annual proposals to the National Assembly. This, insist the lawmakers, is wrong.

Enang said the CBN Act was signed into law on May 25, 2007 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. It gives power to the CBN Board in Section 6 (3) (a) to consider and approve the bank’s annual budget.

He noted that on July 30, 2007, the Fiscal Responsibility Act was signed by President Umaru Yar’Adua. It provides that the listed agencies, including the CBN, should submit their budgets to the •CBN Governor Sanusi

Continued on page 2

•A crowd of sympathisers at the viewing centre...on Tuesday

Five killed in Plateau Explosions in Kano

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IVE people were killed yesterday when gunmen, believed to be Fulani herdsmen struck in Gwarim Village, Rim District of Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State.

The Riyom council has in recent times been under attack, with more than 10 families killed by unknown persons.

Also yesterday, two explosions were recorded in Kano. The first was near the 3 rd Mechanised Bridge •A victim of the viewing centre blast in Tudun Wada, Jos...on Bukaru Barracks within the Kano Tuesday night PHOTOS: NAN

metropolis. The other occurred at Rejiyar Zaki at about 9:30pm.

The first explosion, which residents said occurred at about 6:45pm, was confirmed by the Joint Task Force (JTF) spokesman, Ikedi Chi-Iweha, who said there were no casualties.

Residents and passersby around the barracks scampered for safety as the explosion occurred.

An eye witness said there was pandemonium immediately the bomb Continued on page 2

•SPORTS P13 •POLITICS P18 •EDUCATION P25 •E-BUSINESS P47

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THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

NEWS Five killed in Plateau Continued from page 1

•Registrar, University of Ibadan, Mr Olujimi Olukoya (left), with the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Isaac Adewole, conducting newsmen around PHOTO: NAN the varsity after the recent students’ protest in Ibadan…yesterday

Senators push to weaken CBN’s grip Continued from page 1

National Assembly.

Enang said: “This law is later in time and, therefore, supercedes any provision of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act. “But the CBN has relied on the provision in Section 6 (3) (a) of the CBN Act to refuse to submit its budget to the National Assembly for consideration and approval, hence this Bill.”

Enang said that the purpose of the Bill is to delete the provision of Section 6 (3) (a) of the CBN Act and ensure that the legislature, which budgets for the nation, is abreast of the volume of money available to and released for economic activities by all persons, institu-

tions and agencies.

He noted that it is necessary for the National Assembly to know the quantum of monies released “because it is not only the funds appropriated by the National Assembly that determine inflation or otherwise, but monies released by the CBN and other agencies, such as listed in the Fiscal Responsibility Act and this was the essence of the Act.” He noted that “in budgeting, the Assembly will determine the revenue profile of the Central Bank of Nigeria (funding sources and items), expenditure items of previous years, expenditure on items of the nature, amount of money for her regulatory purposes e.g. funds for Asset Management

Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), National Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), interest charged on organs and bodies to which it provides services and application of same, recovery of monies given out to AMCON and tenor, capital expenditure ratio to recurrent; personnel cost and sundry implications, thus guaranteeing true fiscal responsibility in the tenor of the enabling Act.” He said that passing the Bill will ensure that corporate social responsibility obligations are executed within the powers granted by the Act. According to him, the CBN authorities claim that by Section 6 (3) of the CBN Act 2007, the National Assembly is deemed to have cededits au-

thorisation powers under Section 80 (3) of the Constitution as it relates to the budget of the CBN to the board of the apex bank.

Enang said: “This position is an affront on the law. It is only by submitting the budget of the Central Bank of Nigeria to the National Assembly for consideration and passage that we can ensure that the CBN is limited to the things that are prescribed for it to carry out by law and does not delve into illegalities and prohibited activities.

Most of the senators, including Abdul Ningi, Ahmed Makarfi, James Manager, George Sekibo and Victor Lar, supported the Bill.

planted near the Dantata Complex exploded.

The JTF spokesman said: “We heard the sound of a bomb, but not in the army barracks. It was within the vicinity, close to the area.

“However, the information reaching us confirmed that there was no injury and the JTF have cordoned off the area.”

In Rim village, gunmen inflicted machete cuts on two teenagers. They were rushed to Vom Christian Hospital,near Jos..

The Rim attack occurred less than two hours after an Improvised Electronic Device (IED) went off at a television viewing centre in Tudun Wada, Jos, the state capital. A man in a white Mercedez Benz car was said to have driven straight to the viewing centre, brought out a black polythene bag, which he dropped close to the centre and bolted away before the substance exploded.

One person was killed in the explosion. Five persons were injured and taken to various hospitals in the city, including the Plateau Specialist Hospital and Janvak Hospital, close to the scene of the blast.

The lawmaker representing Riyom Constituency at the House of Assembly, Daniel Dem, who confirmed the incident yesterday in Jos, named the victims as 48-yearold Dinnatu Danbwarang, Simi Joseph (26), Rose Dalyop (25), Jafates Samuel (four), and Christiana Samuel (sev-

‘It is very unfair for people to be attacking and killing people in their sleep’ en).

Dem, who spoke amid tears, said: “It is very unfair for people to be attacking and killing people in their sleep. This is not the first time that this kind of incident occurred and my people have been pushed to the wall.”

He called on the security agents in the state to live up to their responsibilities by being proactive to forestall such occurrence in the future Reacting to the explosion at Tudun Wada, the police, in a statement, confirmed that one person died in the blast.

The statement signed by Commissioner of Police, Emmanuel Ayeni also said that nine persons are on danger list at various hospitals, adding that the matter is being investigated.

THE VICTIMS

•Dinnatu Danbwarang (48) •Simi Joseph (26) •Rose Dalyop (25) •Jafates Samuel (4) •Christiana Samuel (7)

House in stormy session over Diezani, Dankwambo Continued from page 1

Gbajabiamila then proceeded to move a motion to include the AGF in the recommendation.

But Ihedioha stopped him, saying Lawan had an explanation.

Lawan said the CBN had written to say the PPPRA was in charge of the payments and that CBN said N999 million was paid 111 times on January 12 and 13 times on January 13.

Ihedioha then asked Lawan to move the motion that AGF should substituted PPPRA. But Gbajabiamila protested and said: “I moved my motion before him. I have a motion on ground”.

Ihedioha said Farouk Lawan has just explained and he wants to move a motion to reflect it. Let him move his motion.

Visibly angry, the Minority Leader continued with his protest. But Ihedioha ignored him and asked Lawan to move the motion to exclude the former AGF. Members voted in favour of Lawan’s motion and the AGF was changed to PPPRA in the recommendation.

But the Deputy Speaker did not allow Gbajabiamila to move the motion. He instead, gave the floor to the chair of the ad hoc panel.

According to him, the CBN letter shows that issuing of the cheques and the payment authority was from the PPPRA and that a regime was in place at the time that stopped payment above N1 billion.

Also, an attempt to pass a motion asking for the resignation of the Minister of Petro-

NLC threatens to mobilise workers against govt

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ITH a promise to align with the House of Representatives to ensure the prosecution of those indicted in the N1.07 trillion scam uncovered in the management of the Petroleum Subsidy Fund, organised Labour yesterday warned against sweeping the subsidy probe report under the carpet.

The workers umbrella body urged the Federal Government to ensure the culprits are not only brought to book, but made to refund the funds they illegal collected as recommended by the House ad-hoc committee, led by Farouk Lawan.

President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar,who gave the warning yesterday at the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the National Union of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE) in Abeokuta, Ogun State spoke of the importance of ridding the country of corrupt practices.

Omar, said labour will mobilise NIgerians to resist every attempts by top government officials and some vested interest outside government, who want to continue to enslave and impoverish the masses.

“Whatever that is going to bring sanity to the Nigerian nation, we will continue to encourage the National Assembly. Part of what we are reflecting on ahead of the leum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, caused a stir.

The chamber burst into shouts.

Barely had the session begun that a legislator, Robinson Uwak, (PDP Akwa Ibom), raised an order under privilege.

He said: “Since yesterday, I have been receiving calls from my constituents, accusing me that we, as members of the House, are shielding the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.

This allegation is rubbing neg-

From Dupe Olaoye-Osinkolu, Abeokuta

May Day is that the subsidy probe is coming as a result of the mass protest that labour and it’s allies organised.

It is bringing out very good information that must not be swept under the carpet as attempts are being made from some quarters in government. We are going to align with the National Assembly, especially the House of Representatives to ensure that the report is not swept under the carpet.

“We are assuring the House that we are solidly behind them, Nigerians are behind them. Everybody who is found guilty must be brought to book so that we can sanitise the system and make sure that Nigeria moves ahead.”

He said the Congress will move against any further increment in the pump price of fuel stating that there was no justification for government to increase fuel price when it has not addressed the corruption in the sector.

His words: “As long as the right thing is not done, Nigerians will resist any attempt to further increase the pump price of fuel.

We have said it and we are now being vindicated by the report of the probe panel that corruption is so endemic in the system and that by the time you deal with the issue of corruption, then the issue of

atively on the credibility of my person.

“We should recommend that the Minister of Petroleum Resources should resign her office with immediate effect.”

A loud ovation from the members greeted these remarks.

But the Deputy Leader, Leo Ogor sprang to his feet, saying: “This is the people’s parliament. We have a report before the House that we have not even started considering. I think we should give respect

subsidy will be nothing.

“What came out clearly from the probe is that even in 2011, the N1.3 trillion that they claimed to have spent, the probe showed that they have spent N1.3 trillion on subsidy. Where then did the money go to?. Also the provision of subsidy in the 2012 Budget signed by the President showed about N260 billion for subsidy.

So, why did it suddenly jump from N260 billion to N3 trillion? These are questions that Nigerians are asking and answers must be provided by those in authority.

On the Workers Day Celebration, Omar said workers have not fared well in view of the fact that most state governments are yet to implement the new national minimum wage signed into law by President Goodluck Jonathan since March 2011.

Specifically, he said some states in the Southeast were yet to pay the new wage despite agitations by workers.

He lamented that the increase in pump price of fuel had eaten deep into the N18,000 minimum wage thereby making the workers worse off.

“There are some states where the minimum wage has not been implemented, states like Enugu, Anambra and some other states in the South East. This is a gross violation of the Constitution of the country. This is also a very serious area we are going to confront,” he said.

for due process.”

His words were greeted with shouts of “no, no, no!”

Ogor said: “I don’t think it’s the wish of anyone of us to act in a way that suggests that we have an issue against anybody.

Be mindful that in all that we do, we must be fair to everyone. I, therefore, rule Honourable Uwak out of order.”

The lawmakers were, however, united on other recommendations, including that the services of accounting firms Akintola Williams, Delloite

and Olusola Adekanola &Partners should be discontinued immediately for professional negligence.

The House considered 35 clauses in the report in its Tuesday session, but it concluded its consideration of the main report of the ad-hoc committee yesterday. It gave 17 marketers, who claimed they were not invited to the public hearing, another chance to present their cases.

Besides, the House stayed action on the recommendation

concerning 71 companies who were on the schedule of those disallowed claims to discharges and subsidy between 20102011 totalling N230.2bn.

This followed observations by the Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Sam Tsokwa that some of the 71 companies form part of the 17 oil marketers who were given a second chance to appear before the committee.

Members passed a motion “that the resolution of the House on the fuel subsidy regime be sent to the President, the Senate and all anti-corruption agencies for information and action.

The House also sought action against “all those in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Office of the Director-General Budget and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation involved in the extra budgetary expenditure under the PSF Scheme (20092011)”.

“They should be sanctioned in accordance with the Civil Service Rules and the Code of Conduct Bureau. “ Speaking with reporters after the session, House spokesman Mohammed Zakari defended the action of the House on the former AGF and the Petroleum Resources Minister, saying they were not trying to shield anybody.

On the Ministry of Finance, he said: “All those will include anybody that has anything to do with the Federal Ministry of Finance between 2009 and 2011 and that includes the minister Continued on page 60

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THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

NEWS Suspect ‘hangs self’ in police cell •Commissioner: Officers have been queried From Bisi ladele and Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

ONE of the two suspects arrested for allegedly beheading a woman in Ibadan, Mr Ashimiyu Ayantayo, has hanged himself in the custody of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS).

Ayantayo allegedly beheaded her mistress, Shakirat Eniola, and cut off her hands after sleeping with her in his house at Yemetu, Ibadan, last Thursday.

He was arrested with his suspected accomplice, Isiaka Akanbi, last Sunday, after some residents informed the police about a headless body dumped in the area.

Ayantayo told reporters on Monday that he killed Shakirat to escape death by the Yoruba sex killer juju called magun, which he said he contracted on her.

The suspect reportedly killed himself yesterday morning at the Iyaganku, Ibadan, headquarters of the SARS. He allegedly hanged himself with his shirt tied to on a window’s iron bar.

Police Commissioner Mohammed Tambari said all his men on duty at the time have been issued query.

He added that the incident would be investigated.

Lagos to striking doctors: prepare to face panel

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HE Lagos State Government yesterday asked the striking doctors in its employ, under the embrella of the Medical Guild, to answer a query it issued to them and prepare to face the Personnel Management Board (PMB) of the state’s Health Service Commission (HSC).

Commissioner for Health Dr Jide Idris said the doctors must answer the query in line with civil service rules because they cannot fight their employer.

He said: “The doctors cannot wake up and do whatever they like. If the disciplinary action is not taken, other people will follow suit.

“You cannot entrust

people’s lives into the hands of those who can just wake up and declare a strike. It is not right. It is not in the interest of our people.”

Idris said the doctors’ demands have been met, adding that they were paid the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS), according to the state employment guidelines.

The commissioner noted that House Officers cannot receive teaching allowance because they do not teach anybody.

He said: “If you are a civil servant, if you get your letter of appointment, you cannot wake up and say you will not come to work. Your

employer deserves the right to ask you why you did not come to work. You also have the responsibility to explain. Then, if your explanation is okay, it ends there. If it is not okay, they take further steps. That is what is happening, because if we do not do it, every other group may also wake up and do like the doctors.”

The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has said the striking doctors would not go back to work, or answer any query, or face the panel until their demands are met.

Its Lagos State branch Chairman, Dr Edamisan Temiye, urged the state government to rescind its deci-

sion and dialogue with the doctors.

He said the government’s position is high-handed, describing its action as intolerable.

Temiye condemned the statement of the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, that House Officers cannot receive teaching allowances.

The union leader said the minister’s statement should be taken with a pinch of salt.

The Nation learnt that at most state-owned hospitals, only nurses and consultants were attending to patients.

Patients have become very uncomfortable since the strike began two days ago.

From Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor and Sanni Onogu, Abuja

S

ENATE President David Mark returned to Abuja yesterday after receiving medical treatment in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Mark travelled to Israel on April 14.

A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, said the Senate President was received on arrival at the presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, by House of Representatives Speaker Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, Ministers of Interior, Abba Moro; Water Resources, Serah Ochekpe; and the Minister of State, Trade and Investment, Dr. Samuel Ortom.

Senators Smart Adeyemi, Ahmed Lawan, Suleimon Adoke, Abatemi Usman, Joshua Dariye, Tunde Ogbeha, members of House of Representatives Samson Okwu, Salem Hassan, Ezekiel Adaji and Adamu Entonu and Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Moshe Ram received Mark on arrival.

The Senate President thanked President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigerians, especially members of the National Assembly, for their prayers, solidarity and support.

Speaker calls for probe on Omisore’s ‘threat’

Ogun PDP to resolve crisis WARRING factions in the Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are set to resolve their differences, it was learnt yesterday.

In a statement by its Director of Organisation, Mr. Segun Showunmi, the party said: “The leaders and stakeholders of the Ogun State chapter of the PDP have met and reached a consensus following the hand of fellowship to some of our leaders by the National Publicity Secretary.

“We hereby salute our indefatigable National Chairman and his team for the maturity and sagacity they have shown in their reaction to the outbursts from our ranks, borne out of a misperception that the new national leadership was allowing itself to be misled by one unqualified Ogun State impostor, who was smuggled into office as the National Auditor.

“It is gratifying to learn that Alhaji Bamanga Tukur has put his foot down that he will personally intervene in the Ogun State matter for a resolution and refused to hand over that process to the impostor and his bedfellows.

“The stance of the National Chairman to ensure equity and justice in the running of the party is in tandem with his remarks upon his election.

“We wish to reiterate that there is no real problem in Ogun State PDP. It is but a minority group with little or no political following in the party or the State who have contrived the current perception that Ogun State PDP is in any crisis.”

Mark back after treatment in Israel

•Senate President David Mark (middle) addressing reporters at the presidential wing of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja...yesterday. With him are his wife, Helen, (left) and Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu.

NAN:PHOTO

Police parade 29 suspected ritual killers, robbers

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HE Osun State Police Command yesterday paraded 29 suspects for alleged ritual killing, armed robbery and other crimes.

The suspects were paraded at the state command’s headquarters in Okefia, Osogbo, the state capital.

They included five suspected ritual killers, 15 armed robbery suspects and four suspected producers of fake currencies.

Police Commissioner Mrs. Kalafite Adeyemi told reporters that a 21-year-old, Tobi

From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

Ojo, tricked his friend, Jacob Ajayi, to a location in Ilesa where he killed and removed his head and genitals.

According to her, a 98-yearold man, Oluwafemi Fagbemi, and his son, Sunday, now at large, colluded with Femi Famuyiwa and Ojo to commit the crime.

The police chief said in the course of its duty on Ile-IfeIbadan road on April 20, a federal highway police patrol in-

tercepted three suspected armed robbers with a Toyota Highlander Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) with a registration number (Lagos) GG438LND. She said when the police searched the car, they recovered a single barrel cutto size, a locally made pistol, an iron axe, three Nokia handsets and charms from the suspects.

The suspects, Ibukun Olaoluwa, Adeyemi Adedoyin and Kazeem Boaji, owned up to committing the crime.

The victim, Pastor Gboyega

Akerele, who is an Akurebased estate and property valuer, said he was in company of his wife when the suspects attacked them.

He said the suspects, who were riding a motorcycle, hit his car from the back while he was a few metres from his home.

According to him, his insurance firm and a private security company used a tracking device to monitor the car and demobilised its engine near Ikire. It was there the police arrested the suspects.

Aspirant promises to unseat Mimiko

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FORMER Ondo State Commissioner for Finance and Economic Planning, Chief Omotayo Alasoadura, yesterday said he would unseat Governor Olusegun Mimiko in the October 20 election.

There has been tension in Akure, the state capital, since Monday, when Alasoadura vowed to use the city hall for his public declaration, despite the threat from certain quarters.

The aspirant was said to have contacted the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Abubakar on the need to pay attention to the spate of violent attacks on Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) members in the state.

The attacks were allegedly sponsored by agents of the state government.

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

Two other ACN aspirants Sunday Abegunde and Mrs. Jumoke Anifowose - were barred from using the town hall, after paying for the hall and securing police permits for their rallies.

But Alasoadura insisted that he would use the hall because it belongs to Akure people and not the monarch alone.

The politician urged Abubakar to call the state government to order because the tense political situation in the state.

Addressing a crowd of supporters at the rally, the former commissioner said it was regrettable that someone like Mimiko is at the helm of affairs in the state.

He said: “We’re having a ‘Yahoo Governor’ at Alagbaka

Government House. It is unfortunate that somebody from Kogi State has continued to lord himself on us here with our level of education and exposure.”

Advising the people to end the alleged reign of terror in the state on October 20, the ACN aspirant promised that the residents will witness genuine development when he takes over power on February 23, next year.

Alasoadura said: “I did not know I deserve this honour with unprecedented crowd running to 5,000.”

He urged ACN members to mobilise 10 persons per home, saying the party would liberate the state.

“They (government officials) held a Security Council meeting to stop me from us-

ing Akure Town Hall, but I insisted I would use the hall. The prompt intervention of the Deji of Akure, Oba Adebiyi Adesida, nipped the crisis in the bud.”

The aspirant noted that all the projects started by the Mimiko administration since it assumed office, have remained ongoing.

He added that the governor inherited N38.38billion from the former Governor Olusegun Agagu administration without anything to show for it.

At the event were other ACN governorship aspirants, including Saka Lawal, Mr Olurotimi Akeredolu (SAN), Senator Olorunnimbe Farukanmi, Olatayo Aribo and other chieftains like Prince Olu Adegboro and Tunji Osati.

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SUN State House of Assembly Speaker Najeem Salaam has urged security agencies to question a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Iyiola Omisore, on his threat that he would attack Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s convoy.

Omisore has denied making the statement.

But the Speaker said the former deputy governor’s threat should not be overlooked, given his past activities.

In a statement by his Press Secretary, Goke Butika, the Speaker noted that Omisore has a record of walking his talk.

He said Omisore had made a similar threat on the slain Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige. Salaam noted that the incident suggested that the senator was privy to something shrouded in secrecy.

He said Omisore’s denial was an afterthought that could only be used as a damage control for a suspect caught in his act.

The Speaker urged the police and State Security Service (SSS) to get to the bottom of the matter, saying ignoring the threat would mean that criticisms against both agencies were justifiable.

The Assembly had passed vote of confidence on Aregbesola, expressing its unalloyed support to his developmental drive.

It noted that the governor has demonstrated sufficient seriousness in implementing his programme.

The Assembly dismissed the allegations against the governor, saying they were a fig-

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NEWS SUBSIDY PROBE REPORT

For cheap fuel, •Governor Ibikunle Amosun (third left), Commissioner for Commerce and Industry Otunba Bimbo Ashiru (left); Managing Director and Chief Executive of Nestle Nigeria Plc Mr. Martins Woolnough (second left); Corporate Communcation and Public Affairs Manager Dr. Samuel Adenekan (second right) and Secretary to the State Government Taiwo Adeoluwa (right) during Nestle Nigeria’s courtesy visit to the governor.

• From left: Member, United Kingdom Parliament Chi Onwurah, Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, leader of UK Parliamentary delegation Meg Hillier and Chairperson House Committee on Diaspora Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa during a visit by the UK delegation to the National Assembly Complex, Abuja …yesterday

For the price of cheap gasoline, Nigeria paid billions of dollars into a corrupt government system of fuel subsidies that saw huge contracts awarded to shady companies without any oversight, according to a lawmakers’ report.

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HE report, debated Tuesday in Nigeria’s House of Representatives, is breathtaking in its scope, even for a country where many grudgingly accept graft as a way of life in the OPEC nation’s oil industry, government and private sector. But some fear it may not change much, especially as it implicates some of the same elite class that dominate politics and business in Nigeria.

“We are fighting against entrenched interests whose infectious greed has (hurt) our people,” House Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal said. “Therefore, be mindful they will fight back and they normally do fight dirty.”

The investigation by lawmakers began as a response to the national strikes and protests that paralysed Africa’s most populous nation in January following the removal of popular subsidies on gasoline that keep prices low. On the orders of

President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, prices at the pump jumped Jan. 1 from 45 cents per liter ($1.70 per gallon) to at least 94 cents per liter ($3.50 per gallon).

Jonathan later announced a new, partially subsidised price of 60 cents a liter ($2.27 a gallon) to stop the six-day national strike. The president also deployed soldiers into Lagos and other cities in the country who blocked demonstrators and at times fired live ammunition and tear gas at them.

The subsidies, in theory, keep prices artificially low for buyers while paying companies for bringing in refined gasoline at a loss against the world market price. Nigeria, despite producing about 2.4 million barrels of oil a day, has decrepit refineries unable to meet the nation’s demand for gasoline due to years of mismanagement and sabotage.

However, gasoline importation

Subsidy probe: Falana offers to defend House for free

By Joseph Jibueze

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•Minister of State for Education Ezenwo Nyesom Wike (right) receiving statutory periodic reports of Universal Basic Education (UBEC) from UBEC Executive Secretary, Dr. Ahmed Modibo Mohammed on Tuesday in Abuja

From left: Winner of the Etisalat Fc Barcelona promo Mrs Lolade Temitope Ogungbe displaying the keys of her Range Rover. With her are: Chief Commercial Officer, Etisalat Nigeria Mr Wael Ammar, mother of the winner Mrs Sumbo Olumuyiwa and an official of the National Lottary Regulatry Communication Mr Jude Ogaga at the presentaton of the prize in Lagos...yesterday PHOTO NIYI ADENIRAN

CTIVIST-lawyer Mr Femi Falana has offered to defend the House of Representatives free of charge following indications it may be sued by some individuals and oil marketing companies indicted in the fuel subsidy probe.

Falana said the decision of his law firm to render its services pro bono publico was because the House discharged its constitutional duty without fear or favour and in national interest.

According to him, by rejecting the tempting offers of the cartel of fuel importers, members of the Farouk Lawan-headed House Committee on Fuel Subsidy regime demonstrated that there are still public officers who will not sacrifice the country’s interest for personal enrichment.

The lawyer said he is also collaborating with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate and prosecute the culprits.

A statement by Falana reads: “Since the Farouk Lawn-led Committee on the mismanagement of fuel subsidy fund submitted its report to the House of Representatives last week an orchestrated campaign of calumny has been launched against the leadership of the Committee and the House.

“It was even alleged that the House Speaker would be impeached in a desperate bid to cover up the monumental fraud.

“Some of the indicted companies have gone to the extent of threatening to challenge the powers of the House to probe them and pray the court to annul the report of the Farouk Lawan Committee.

“As a concerned Nigerian I submitted a memorandum to the House Committee. In my oral testimony before the Committee I dwelt, in extenso, on the reckless looting of the fuel subsidy fund by the cartel of public officers and fuel importers.

“Before then, a town hall meeting

•Falana

was held in Lagos in December 2011 at the instance of the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria where I called for an investigation into the subsidygate by the Federal Government.

“Although the call was ignored by the Executive it was taken up by the House of Representatives under the leadership of of Honourable Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.

“In the wake of the popular protests against the removal of fuel subsidy, the Presidency directed EFCC to investigate and prosecute the culprits. I am also collaborating with the EFCC with respect to the investigation.

“Having read the 210- page report of the House Committee, I wish to commend the chairman and the members for their courage, patriotism and commitment to accountability and transparency.

“By rejecting the tempting offers of the cartel of fuel importers the members of the Committee have demonstrated that there are still some public officers who will not sacrifice the interest of the country for personal enrichment.

“In view of the threat of some of the indicted companies and individuals to sue the House over the report on the fuel subsidy fraud our law firm has decided to defend the House pro bono publico.“

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

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NEWS SUBSIDY PROBE REPORT

Nigeria bought massive corruption ‘ licenses became a means of patronage, as the number of companies involved jumped from six in 2006 to 140 in 2011, according to the report. In 2009, when there were 36 companies licensed to import, government officials once issued about $800 million in 128 transactions in a 24-hour period without proper documentation, the report reads.

Companies also won approval without any real oversight. In one case, two businessmen who made a pitch to handle waste management at the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. instead applied to become importers and got a $12.4 million contract in 2011 for fuel it never supplied, according to the report.

The state-run firm, which foreign oil companies must partner with to pump crude out of the country, also spent $1.94 billion on subsidising kerosene even after late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s administration eliminated the price controls in 2009, the report reads.

“The operations of the (state-run oil company) were opaque and not transparent,” the report reads. “The implication on this is that it created room for abuses, inefficiencies and manifest lack of accountability.”

In total, the report demands $6.7 billion be refunded by importers, the state-run oil company and other agencies tainted by alleged corrupt subsidy payments.

“Government officials made nonsense of ... guidelines due

Nigeria is designed to shield big, daring and well-placed criminals from any form of discomfort, much less serious criminal prosecution... Far from being blind, Nigerian law always has an eye open — and can tell the riff raff from the chieftain and critical stakeholder

‘

• Lawan

mainly to sleaze and, in some other cases, incompetence,” the report reads. “It is therefore apparent that the insistence by top government officials that the subsidy figures

was for products consumed was a clear attempt to mislead the Nigerian people.”

While the nation’s Finance Ministry has fired independent audi-

tors faulted in the report, private importers have taken out full-page ads denouncing the report. The national oil company also has denied the allegations against it.

On Tuesday, lawmakers shouted over themselves while discussing the report. Some stood up and left.

Private network Channels Television broadcast the debate, while the state-run Nigerian Television Authority aired a live news conference on the anniversary of President Jonathan’s first year in office (NTA later joined the live coverage of the debate).

Yet it’s unclear what action will be taken as the report notes it appears the subsidy programme rewarded patrons and loyalists to the government. A bill to privatise and breakup the state-run oil company, as well as overhaul the country’s regulations on production, has languished for years before lawmakers. Meanwhile, police and anticorruption officials have seen several major prosecutions fall apart in recent months.

“Nigeria is designed to shield big, daring and well-placed criminals from any form of discomfort, much less serious criminal prosecution. ... Far from being blind, Nigerian law (like those who enforce) always has an eye open — and can tell the riff raff from the ‘chieftain” and ‘critical stakeholder,’” columnist Okey Ndibe wrote in Tuesday’s edition of The Daily Sun newspaper. “The former can be thrown in jail without the pretense of a trial; the former is, quite simply, above the law.

“But the system will remain so rigged only if enlightened Nigerians elect to do nothing.”

Source: Associated Press

N1.07t subsidy: PDP, TUC, civil society groups back trial of suspects

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HE national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), civil society groups and the Rivers State chapter of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) yesterday called for the trial of those found culpable in the fuel subsidy mess.

Rising from its National Working Committee meeting yesterday, the party welcomed the subsidy probe, stressing that the PDP would continue to encourage the National Assembly to take necessary measures that would help stamp out corruption in the country.

A statement by the party's National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh reads in part: "Specifically, the National Working Committee welcomes the probe by the House of Representatives into the management of the petroleum subsidy.

"While the NWC awaits the consummation of all due processes in line with fair hearing to ensure that only the guilty suffers, the PDP will continue to encourage the National Assembly to take necessary measures that will help stamp out corruption" The party stated further that its leadership, under Alhaji Bamanga Tukur shall be in the forefront of the battle against corruption.

"In view of the principled stand and deep commitment of President Goodluck Jonathan on the matter, the National Working Committee (NWC) hereby restates unflinching support for every step so far taken by government to stamp out corruption "In this vein, the National Working Committee identifies with the various probes by the National Assembly in exercise of its legislative oversight functions."

The Rivers TUC, through its Chairman, Chika Onuegbu, maintained that Lawan and members of

‘Jonathan'll be judged by subsidy probe’

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RESIDENT of the Kaduna-based Civil Rights Congress (CRC) Mallam Shehu Sani said yesterday the President Goodluck Jonathan administration will be judged by his handling of the oil subsidy probe and other cases of corruption perpetrated under his government.

Sani said, in a statement through SMS, that it was regrettable that the nation's progress has continuously been impeded by act of thievery and roguery perpetrated by people in the corridors of power.

The statement reads: "President Goodluck Jonathan's desirability as a leader will be determine by the way he handles the oil subsidy probe and other cases of corruption perpetrated under his government.

"Our progress as a nation is continuously impeded by thievery and roguery perpetrated by people in the corridors of power. Entrenched interests and leeches in the corridors of power are holding Jonathan hostages as they did past Nigerian leaders.

"Most members of Nigeria's ruling class suffer from a looting psychiatric ailment. Their avarice, acquisitive and accumulative spirit is unimaginably devilish. Nigeria is From Gbade Ogunwale, Assistant Editor, Kamarudeen Ogundele, Abuja

the committee had demonstrated that the war against corruption could be fought and won.

It urged President Goodluck Jonathan to exhibit courage and political will to implement the recommendations of the committee.

The union asked President Jonathan not to mind the indictment of a former Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Ahmadu Ali, and other prominent persons and organisations, but to do the right things, to move Nigeria forward.

TUC said: "We note that this disclosure would not have been possible without the January 2012 antifuel subsidy removal strike. We, however, understand that some highly-placed Nigerians are scheming to kill the report.

From Tony Akowe, Kaduna

an unfortunate country in the grip of elements with penchant for plunder.

"Nigeria's underdevelopment and pervasive insecurity are direct products of corruption and impunity. A Government that protects corrupt persons cannot provide any form of protection for the citizenry.

"Pro government youths protesters from the Niger Delta do not represent the interest of the generality of Niger Deltans. They are hired goons and guns who mortgage their conscience to defend the indefensible.

"Its unfortunate that young people whose present and future has been destroyed by a band of corrupt people have choosen to serve as knights and patentees of crime.

Its regrettable that Niger Delta youths have been turned into crowd for hire in defence of corruption each time any person from the region is facing a question of fiscal integrity.

"Youths of Niger Delta should be conscious enough to distance the genuine demands of their region from the greed of opportunists and kleptocracts they euphemistically and dubiously refer to as their son or daughter".

"We also note with dismay that the Federal Government has refused to take any action against the Head of Service of the Federation, despite the discovery of another unprecedented looting of pension funds under his watch.

"Consequently, we call on all Nigerians, to rise and protest against the massive corruption in Nigeria, resist attempt to kill the report and ensure that all those found wanting are prosecuted and punished severely.

"The truth is that until we stamp out corruption in our daily and national lives, we will not be able to fight poverty or provide jobs for our teeming youths."

The union then lauded all the members of the Lawan's committee for exposing the unprecedented looting of the national treasury, through the fuel subsidy fund.

A coalition of civil society groups yesterday backed the call

for the prosecution of the officials indicted by the fuel subsidy report of the House of Representatives.

The civil society groups demanded the sack of the Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani AllisonMadueke.

They urged the House to further investigate whether serious constitutional breaches have occurred that will warrant necessary legislative action or sanction against those indicted.

The groups are Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), Community Life Project, Centre for Social Justice, Human Rights Law Science, Revenue Watch Institute, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) and Youth Action Initiative Africa.

Speaking with reporters in Abuja, the coordinator of PLAC, Mr. Clement Nwankwo said: "The Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke should

•Bamanga Tukur

be immediately sacked and investigated with a view to possible prosecution for serious corruption or complicity therein.

"In addition, all other public and civil servants who participated in the subsidy scam whether by connivance or negligence in the ministries of Finance and Petroleum, the Accountant General's office etc , should also be sanctioned and brought to account.

The groups said they were ready to work with the House to monitor compliance with the resolutions reached by House of Representatives.

At the briefing yesterday were, Dan Nengel (CLP), Eze Onyekpse (CSJ), Collins Okeke (HRLS), Danda Garuba (RWI), Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and Mkpume Daniel (YAIA).

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

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CITYBEATS

08033054340, 08034699757 E-mail:- ynotcitybeats@gmail.com

‘Husband once wounded slain wife’

Coroner blames police, truck driver for multiple accidents on Otedola Bridge

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CORONER yesterday blamed the police and a truck driver for the August 15, 2010 multiple accidents around Michael Otedola Estate on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in which scores died.

Chief Magistrate Tajudeen Elias held that the police road block around the Estate led to the accident.

The accident, he said, could have been averted if there was no road block, which led to the long queue of vehicles around the Estate.

Elias advised that police checkpoints or road blocks resulting in

By Adebisi Onanuga

the stoppage of vehicles or traffic on the highways should be stopped.

He said the police officers should be trained regularly to curb this tendency. The coroner said road signs and speed limits should be placed on roads and drivers should be educated on road signs.

He blamed the driver of the Dangote Sugar refinery, whose truck was involved in the accident for not taking proper caution and for driving into other vehicles, lead-

Suspected robber held

• Justice Akande

Three killed during Chelsea/Barcelona match

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25-YEAR-OLD robbery suspect, John Solomon, aka Mopol One, who is said to be a terror to residents of Ayobo in Ipaja/Ayobo Local Council Development Area of Lagos State, is in the police net.

Nemesis caught up with him when he broke into a house on Tony Njoku Street, Ishefun, Ayobo, at about 1a.m wearing a mask and armed with a cutlass, pestle and other dangerous weapons. He was arrested with two others.

The occupants of the building were said to have raised the alarm which attracted members of a vigilance group who apprehended him.

A resident, Mr. Tope Ajani, said the suspect had been robbing people in the area.

“This same suspect robbed my house before and it was by sheer providence that he and his members didn’t harm me and my family. He is a notorious robber and he robs between five or six houses in the midnight every other night.

He robbed on my street before and escaped. He wears a mask but this time around, members of the vigilance group arrived on time and apprehended him.”

The suspect was handed over to

ing to the multiple accident.

The coroner said the driver’s employer should apologise publicly to all the victims of the accident and pay "minimal compensation" to the family of the victims.

The Magistrate held that the company cannot be held liable for the driver's negligence.

He, however, instructed the company to produce the driver for prosecution, adding that the company should be more responsive to public plight because its truck was involved in the accident.

By Adebisi Onanuga

H

• Solomon

By Kunle Akinrinade

men of the Ayobo Police Station from where he was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba, Lagos. An impeccable source told CityBeats that Solomon’s father a former security officer at the Community Health Centre, Ishefun, Ayobo, Lagos.

“He is an Awori indigene and his father, Mr. Solomon Olugbemi, had worked as a security man at the Public Health Centre in Ishefun Ayobo, Lagos.

Solomon had sometime ago been sentenced to four years jail term for robbery and only God knows how he managed to regain his freedom. But thank God he has been caught again and we hope that he would not escape this time,” a source said.

E came to have fun but he lost his life in the process.

John Idoko, 23, was stabbed to death on Tuesday night at a viewing centre in Shasha, Akowonjo, a suburb of Lagos, around 10p.m., during Tuesday’s Chelsea/Barcelona EUFA Champions League semi-final match.

His assailant was said to have escaped after the incident.The incident happened at a viewing centre at 10 Atan Street, Oniwo, Shasha. It was learnt that Barcelona suppoerters were not happy with the outcome of the match won by Chelsea FC. According to police authorities, there was a fight between supporters of both clubs leaving scores of them with various degrees of injury.

Spokesman for the state police command, Joseph Jaiyeoba said no arrests had been made. He said policemen from Shasha Police Station who went to the scene in two patrol vehicles rushed the victim to Crystal Hospital, Akowonjo Road, where he was later confirmed dead.

He said, "On Tuesday, around 10pm, a report reached Shasha Police Division that one John Idoko was stabbed to death with a broken bottle during a match between

By Jude Isiguzo

Chelsea and Barcelona Football Clubs. The owner of the viewing centre said almost all her properties were damaged during the fight as the fans went crazy. We don't even know if Idoko was a fan of Chelsea or Barcelona. No arrests have been made as witnesses have refused to come forward but investigations are ongoing.”

In a related incident, two people were burnt to death when the commercial vehicle they were travelling in somersaulted around Ojota end of Ikorodu road, towards Maryland after the match.

Witnesses said the victims who were believed to be fans of Chelsea FC, were celebrating the club victory when the bus skidded off the road and sommersaulted.

The driver and the conductor of the bus with registration number XP 256 KRD, were said to have escaped unhurt. Jaiyeoba confirmed the incident but could not say if the victims were football supporters or not.

“Around 11:30pm, a Volkswagen Bus somersaulted and caught fire around Ojota end of Ikorodu Road inward Maryland. The two occupants were burnt to death,” he said.

A Lagos High Court heard yesterday that Akolade Arowolo, husband of slain banker, titilayo, once wounded her on the face before her death, Titilayo’s younger sister, Folake Oyahire, said this yesterday while giving evidence in the murder trial of Arowolo, who is charged with the death of his wife.

The witness, led in evidence by the Director of Public Prosecution, Mrs Olabisi Ogungbesan, said she knew that her sister was having problems with her husband.

Folake said: "My sister, Titilayo had invited me over to her family friend's house, where she was visiting with her husband.

"When I saw her that day, her face was swollen and her eyes were bloodshot. She told me she got the injury when she and Akolade went out the night before. She told me that on their way back, the defendant had kept raining blows on her in the face despite that she was carrying her baby in her arms."

Folake, a student at the Nigerian Law School, Abuja, said on June 24, last year, her sister Aidehi, received a call from their father in Kano that “Titilayo had sounded apprehensive and panicky and that they should go and visit her.”

She said they could not go that day because it was raining heavily. Folake said they called Titilayo’s Starcomms and MTN numbers but got no response.

"At first someone picked the Starcomms but did not say anything.

“Eventually, her husband picked the call and when I asked about Titilayo, he told me they had some minor issues but they had resolved it.

"I then asked to speak with my sister and the defendant told me to hold on for two minutes that he would give the phone to her.

"But the phone went silent and I called back several times and nobody picked again." she said.

Folake said that the next day, she had gone to the market to buy food stuff when she received a call from her sister, Aidehi, that she should come to the Isolo residence of the deceased, that something has happened.

She said that she immediately took a cab to Isolo and that when she got to their residence, she ran straight to the deceased apartment on the last floor of the three storey building.

Sanitation dedicated to cleaning of canals

• Igbonla road... yesterday

PHOTO: OZIEGBE OKOEKI

Lawmaker assures community on road rehabilitation

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HAIRMAN, Committee on Information, Strategy, Security and Publicity of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Segun Olulade, has assured Ikosi-Ejirin residents of government's prompt response to their request for the rehabilitation of some bad roads.

Olulade, who represents Epe 2 constituency, spoke during a tour of the roads yesterday. Some of the roads visited are the Agbowa-Ikosi road, Epe-Ijebu-Ode road and the

By Oziegbe Okoeki

Igbonla road, leading to the Lagos State Model College.

Olulade said the government was aware of the community’s plight adding that palliative measures are in the offing.

The lawmaker was accompanied by officials of the Public Works Corporation, and their counterparts from the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, who did a technical review of the roads and

gave an account of government's remedial efforts.

The Epe-Ijebu-Ode road has been patched by the palliative measure, pending the commencement of its rehabilitation, while efforts are on to improve the condition of the Agbowa-Ikosi road and the road leading to the college.

The principal of the college said parents and guardians have started withdrawing their wards

from the school because the road is impassable.

Addressing the Baale-in-Council and other members of Igbonla community, Olulade described the college as a pride to the state, haven won laurels and awards in the past, owing to its students’ brilliance in various intra and interstate competitions.

He said the road leading to the college should be given the prompt attention it deserves.

THE Lagos State government has dedicated this month's environmental sanitation coming up on Saturday, to the cleaning of drainage and canals in the state.

The Commissioner for the Environment, Mr Tunji Bello, yesterday, urged Lagosians to clean their drains and ensure that all water channels are cleared of all blockages in anticipation of the rains.

The commissioner, in a statement, said: "As we approach the rainy season, Lagosians are particularly encouraged to concentrate their efforts on drain and canals in their immediate environment as weather predictions have indicated that Lagos will record high rainfall this year. All hands must be on deck to reduce the incidence of flood to the barest."

Bello admonished Lagosians to partner with the government to

9

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

NEWS

•First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan (third left), wife of the Vice-president, Hajiya Amina Sambo and United Nations AIDS (UNAIDS) delegation, which visited The First Lady in Abuja PHOTO: NAN ...yesterday

FAAN loses bid to stop trial over contract

Commission, economists partner

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From Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

HE Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) yesterday failed in its bid to stall further proceedings in a suit challenging the unilateral termination of its contract with a private firm, Maevis Limited for the provision of aviation services in some airports.

Justice Fatimat Nyako declined FAAN’s application for stay of proceedings pending appeal.

She insisted on hearing the contempt proceedings pending against FAAN”s Managing Director George Uriesi.

Justice Nyako discountenanced the argument by FAAN’s lawyer, Kola Awodein (SAN) on the need for stay of proceedings in view of the appeal filed by his client.

The judge upheld the argument

by Maevis’ lawyer, Prof Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) that issues to be determined in the appeal will not affect the case before her court.

She elected to also hear the preliminary objection filed by FAAN against Maevis’ suit along with the contempt proceedings. She fixed May 10 for hearing.

Messes Maevis is challenging the termination of its contract requiring it to provide Airport Operations Management System platform in four international airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt.

The firm equally initiated the contempt proceedings on the claim that FAAN’s management allegedly violated an earlier order of the court that parties to the substantive suit maintain the status quo, pending arbitration.

It alleged that rather than await the out come of the arbitration as ordered by the court, FAAN unilaterally terminated the contract and ejected it from the airports.

At the last hearing on Monday, Uriesi was absent in court, prompt-

ICPC quizzes ex-FAAN MD, others over row with Maevis

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HE Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) yesterday said it has quizzed a former Managing Director of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. Richard Aisuebeogun, a former Director of Finance and Accounts, Dr. (Mrs.) Azuka Onyia and other management staff of the agency over row with MAEVIS on airport revenue.

The commission made the disclosure in a statement in Abuja by its Resident Consultant (Media and Event), Mr. Folu Olamiti.

The statement said: The statement said: “The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is investigating allegations and counter-allegations of massive fraud and wrongdoings involving Maevis Nigeria Limited and the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

“Maevis Nigeria Limited, FAAN’s Concessionaire in charge of revenue collection, had petitioned the ICPC alleging that the management of the Airport Authority had failed to account for or judiciously manage the huge sums it remitted to its coffers including other concession fees remitted to FAAN by NACHO, Airlines Services and Logistics Plc, and, the Sahara Energy Resources Limited respectively.

“These funds are expected to provide good services and maintenance at the nation’s airports.

By Eric Ikhilae

ing the judge to restate her directive that Uriesi must appear in court to answer to the contempt proceedings.

This was despite a report that Uriesi wrote the court, blaming his absence on health ground.

While arguing the application for stay of proceedings, Awodein urged the court to halt further action in the case on the ground that he had filed four appeals before the Appeal Court in relation to the lower court’s earlier decisions.

He said all his appeals have been entered and urged the court to stay further proceedings as a sign of deference to the appeallate court.

From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

“FAAN in a counter petition to ICPC has alleged underperformance and other serious wrongdoings against Maevis Nigeria Ltd. “ICPC had so far interrogated the former Managing Director of FAAN, Mr. Richard Aisuebeogun and the former Director of Finance and Accounts, Dr. (Mrs.) Azuka Onyia as well as other management staff of FAAN. Also interrogated were top officials from Maevis Nigeria Ltd. to conclude its first round of probe of the petitions before it.”

The Federal Government had in March terminated Maevis concession contract which it secured in 2008 FAAN alleged it is disadvantaged in the concession thus had to wield the big stick. It also said Maevis turned down all overtures to renegotiate the agreement.

FAAN immediately announced another service provider, Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques (SITA) to take over the revenue collection at $1.40 per passenger processed through airports hitherto managed by Maevis.

It was however learnt that it was FAAN that had actually requested the ICPC and EFCC to investigate the activities of two banks used by Maevis Limited.

It alleged the diversion of funds belonging to FAAN into the corffers of Maevis Limited during the same period.”

He also told the court that Maevis had discontinued the contempt proceedings against three other FAAN directors, leaving only Uriesi as the alleged contemnor.

Osinbajo disagreed.

He saidAwodein’s position was meant to confuse the court as he misrepresented the position of the Court of Appeal.

He denied the existence of a valid application for stay of proceedings before the Court of Appeal, saying the appeal merely sought to regularise the records of the appeal filed by FAAN. He argued that no valid appeal had been filed by FAAN before the

court.

“The order of this court has been flagrantly violated by the defendant (FAAN) and there is no appeal against it. What this court is to consider now is the contempt proceedings against the MD of FAAN. “Even the four appeals Awodein had claimed to have filed were just meant to stall further proceedings in this matter and none had been validly entered at the Court of Appeal,” Osinbajo said.

He urged the court to dismiss FAAN’s application to stay further proceedings, stressing that the trial court has the jurisdiction to hear the substantive case and the contempt proceedings.

THE National Planning Commission (NPC) yesterday pledged to collaborate with the Nigerian Economic Society (NES) in mentoring young economists and growing the capacity of professionals for economic growth.

The Deputy Chairman / Minister NPC, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, spoke while receiving a team from the Nigerian Society of Engineers led by its president, Prof. Akin Iwayemi.

The minister said the NPC employed the expertise of the Nigerian Economic Society in producing the economic model for the country.

“We (NPC) used the Nigerian Economic Society when producing an economic model for the country, especially in the technical area. We still require their services in the area of developing the capacity to manage the model’’, he said.

On the request of the society to partner with NPC on three broad areas -internship, exchange of programmes and consultancy- the minister promised that NPC will play its role on these requests made by the NSE. Speaking earlier at the meeting, NES President Prof.

Akin Iwayemi said that they sought to reinvigorate their waned relationship with NPC. He urged the NPC to support the organisation financially towards its annual conference tend to address youth employment and poverty reduction in the country as well as partner with them in the area of consultancy, internship and exchange of programmes.

Nigeria critical to global peace, says envoy to U.S.

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IGERIA’S Ambassador to the United States Prof.

Ade Adefuye has said the country’s future is bright and important to global peace and stability.

He spoke at a panel conversation with the theme “The Future of Nigeria,’’organised by the Institute of Politics, Harvard University, Cambridge, U. S on Monday.

Panelists in the conversation included a former U. S Ambassador to Nigeria, Walter Carrington and Monica Toft, an Associate Professor

of Public Policy at the University.

According to Adefuye , the nation’s future is bright because of the committed leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice President Namadi Sambo.

He said that both leaders were “capable to take steps that will guarantee a Nigeria of our dream, a Nigeria we will be proud which our children, all of you who are Nigerians here will be proud to come back and work.

“A Nigeria where corruption will be reduced drastically, no country is

corruption free even here (U. S) a Nigeria where everything will be according to recognised international standard.’’

Adefuye explained that there was awareness in the country that elections or appointments were subjected to review every four years, through an election process that could not be rigged.

According to him, the process has stimulated office holders to perform since they are now aware that they can no longer rig themselves back to office.

The ambassador stated that the present government was receiving tremendous support in its transformation agenda, noting that the BiNational Commission Agreement with the U. S had shown how important Nigeria was to the country He said that the threat posed by the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, was being contained by the government.

Adefuye attributed the insurgence to unemployment, cross-border migration and actions of politicians who lost elections.

•Prof. Adefuye

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THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

NEWS Lawmaker to governor's critics: don't draw Osun back From Damisi Ojo, Akure

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MEMBER of the House of Representatives representing Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency of Osun State, Nathaniel Agunbiade, yesterday said those accusing Governor Rauf Aregbesola of a secession plot and Islamisation of the state are "callous".

He urged the perpetrators to seek God's forgiveness, if they want to avoid His wrath.

The lawmaker told The Nation on phone that the governor has been an apostle of true federalism and one attuned to Nigeria's secularity and that of Osun.

This, he said, has reflected in how Aregbesola has been relates with Christians, Muslims and followers of other religions.

Agunbiade, an Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) lawmaker, said the formulation of Osun anthem, logo and emblem are attempts at rebranding the state, which constitutes no threat to security.

He said: "The rebranding efforts are aimed at giving an identity to the state and such move was not peculiar to Osun.

"We have more Christians in Aregbesola's cabinet than Muslims. He has never promoted one religion over the other. He has been governing Osun State as a secular state, in line with the Constitution.

"Without exaggeration, Aregbesola is imbued with leadership qualities, which stand him out. And there is no doubt that his enemies, who could not match his performance, must be jittery and jealous."

Agunbiade, who is from Erinmo-Ijesa in Oriade Local Government Area, urged the governor not to despair over the antics of those he described as "retrogressive elements" who are determined to reverse the ongoing development in the state.

He assured Aregbesola of the unflinching support of ACN lawmakers inthe Senate and House of Representatives.

•State of Osun Governor Rauf Aregbesola (fourth left); his deputy, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori; President, Chief Imams and Alfas, Southwest, Sheikh Mustapher Ajisafe (fourth right); Chief Imam of Akure, Ondo State, Sheikh Abdul Akeem Yayi Akorede; Chief Imam of Erin Osun, Sheikh Fatai Onilewura and others during their solidarity visit to the governor at the Government House, Osogbo.

Allegations against governor betray PDP, say Osun elders

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HE Elders’ Council of Osun State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has said the series of allegations against Governor Rauf Aregbesola by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has betrayed the opposition members as lacking clear understanding of Nigeria’s politics.

In a statement, entitled: The Security Report and PDP Allegations Against Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the council said the Constitution stipulates that Nigeria operates a federal system and not a unitary form of government.

In the statement by Sola Akinwumi, Gbadegesin Adedeji and Alhaji R. B. Muhammed, the party elders noted that during the First Republic, the regions did not only have their coat of arms, flags and anthems, but also had representatives abroad, who are now referred to as ambassadors.

The council condemned Omisore’s threat to stop and search the governor’s convoy.

It said: “Omisore’s threat amounts to provocation and an invitation to chaos. Nigerians should be prepared to hold the merchants of death and destruction responsible for any eventuality, in case

‘PDP wants to create religious tension in Osun’

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GROUP, Friends of Aregbesola (FOA), has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of attempting to create religious tension in Osun State to justify the declaration of a state of emergency.

Addressing reporters in Lagos yesterday, the group alleged that the state chapter of the PDP has been causing tension through what it described as “wicked, malicious and virulent attacks” on Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

Its Coordinator, Lanre Ogunyemi, who is a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, said the purpose of the allegations is to discredit the progressive administration and dent the image of governor’s Executive Council.

Ogunyemi said: “Dazed by the impressive performance of Aregbesola in the areas of job creation, road construction, school rehabilitation and operational efficiency, Senator Iyiola Omisore and Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola woke up to the reality that the future hope of the PDP has been sealed in the state.

“No one in Osun State is more passionate about the unity of the state and Nigeria than Aregbesola. He’s the ideologue, who is now being vilified because of his agitation From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

the threat is actualised.”

The council decried the purported report by the Department of State Security (DSS), saying it was a manifestation of decay in the nation’s security system.

It called for an urgent overhaul of the nation’s security apparatus.

The statement reads: “Those allegations which took their root in the report

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from our so-called Department of State Security (DSS) is a clear manifestation of the decay in the nation’s security system which required an urgent surgical operation.

“In the advanced democracies, such as USA, UK and others, the federating units have their identities, in line with their history. It is disturbing that about 13 years of continuous democratic governance in Nigeria are not yet enough

By Akinwunmi King, Senior Reporter

for true federalism, restructuring of the polity and devolution of powers.

“The threat from Omisore to attack or forcefully halt the convoy of Aregbesola to determine the governor’s security composition, which he opined are made up of thugs, cannot be underrated, given his political antecedents and desperation of wanting to forcefully be the governor of Osun State.

This is an aspiration that has eluded him so far. On this, we say nothing sinister should happen to Aregbesola.”

He urged Omisore and his cohorts to preoccupy themselves with advising the PDP-led Federal Government on how to solve Nigeria’s myriad of problems, instead of dissipating their energies on how to destabilise Osun State.

The group said it does not oppose opposition, but it loathes destructive criticisms capable of destabilising the state.

FOA urged Aregbesola not to be distracted by PDP’s antics but to continue to spread dividends of democracy to all the nooks and crannies of the state. to erase the military mentally from the brains of the PDP.” The council urged security agents to do their assignments in accordance with the ethics of their profession and the Constitution so that they would not become agents of destabilisation and destruction instead of being agents of unity.

It appealed to Osun residents and other Nigerians to resist the PDP’s provocation.

The council noted that Aregbesola is doing his best to take the state to greater heights.

“The entire people of Osun State are solidly behind Mr. Governor. No amount of insinuations from any quarters can pitch us against you. Osun State is one of the most peaceful states in Nigeria today and steadily progressing. We are resolved to remain so,” the council said.

Aregbesola: I'm shocked by Omisore's denial

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•'I know why senator denied threat' ’

SUN State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has said he was shocked by the "shameless lies" from a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Senator Iyiola Omisore, that he did not threaten to attack the governor's convoy.

In a statement by his media aide, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, the governor said Omisore was not misquoted or quoted out of context by the reporters who attended the media briefing in his Ile-Ife home, last Saturday, where he reportedly made the statement.

But Omisore has denied threatening to attack the governor's convoy.

He said there was no basis for him to issue such a threat to anyone let alone a governor of a state where he is a major stakeholder.

Omisore said: "It is unfortunate that I could be misquoted to the extent of issuing a threat of attacking Aregbesola's con-

From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

voy. Why should I make such a threat for God's sake? I have no problem with Aregbesola or any politician whatsoever.

Why should I attack his convoy? In fact, is that possible? In what capacity will I be carrying out that?"

The ACN statement reads: "We wish to encourage him (Omisore) to own up to his reckless utterances, for he could not have uttered such weighty but unsubstantiated allegations, if he was not sure of his facts.

"In case he has forgotten the statements uttered by him during his press briefing, we wish to remind him that not only did he threaten to attack the convoy of the governor, he also accused the governor of having a killer squad."

A chieftain of the ACN in the state, Elder Sunday Laoye, has said he knew why Omisore

denied threatening to attack Aregbesola.

Speaking with The Nation on phone yesterday, Laoye said the senator was aware of the implication of his utterances.

According to him, the criminal aspect of Omisore's statement is enough to nail him, in case of a future trouble.

Laoye, the leader of the Renaissance Front, a socio-political group of the ACN in Osun State, warned that the controversial politician's denial was not acceptable, considering his political antecedents.

"He must be a coward to start denying what he said and is possibly on tape. It is very clear to us why there was a fathom security report on Aregbesola and those behind the report," Laoye said.

The elder brother to the Osun deputy governor, Chief Mrs Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori, urged security agents to investigate the matter because of its criminal element.

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

11

NEWS One killed, 12 injured in Ogun road crash From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

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NE person was killed yesterday in Itori on the Ogun State stretch of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

Twelve others were injured. It was gathered that the driver of the white Mazda bus conveying the victims lost control when one of the tyres burst.

Sources said the bus, marked XX545LSD, somersaulted.

Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) Commander, Itori Unit, Mr. Bakare Adeshina confirmed the accident. He said the victims have been taken to Itori General Hospital.

Adeshina said the accident was caused by over-speeding.

Alaafin sues Tribune, Oyo official for libel •Demands N2.5b damages T

HE Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi, has sued the Nigerian Tribune and the Chairman of the Oyo State Local Government Service Commission, Chief Lasisi Ayankojo, over an alleged libel.

The monarch, who decried Ayankojo’s statement in the Nigerian Tribune is demanding N2.5 billion damages from the duo.

The contentious publication, allegedly contained in a letter addressed to the Inspec-

From Oseheye Okwuofu, Ibadan

tor-General of Police, the Oyo State Director of the State Security Services (SSS) and the Police Commissioner, was published by the Nigerian Tribune on page 53 of its December 30, 2001 edition.

Ayankojo alleged that the Alaafin, “who was expected to provide security of life and property to his subjects”, had become a terror and was the brain behind some of the kill-

ings in Oyo town.

He linked the Alaafin to the 1992 murder of a member of the Oyomesi and the Ashipa of Oyo, Chief Amuda Olorunkosebi.

In a 20-paragraph statement of claim filed through his counsel, Mr. Tayo Oyetibo (SAN), in the Lagos High Court, the Alaafin said the publication, entitled: “The rule of law as machinery of justice: the adverse consequences of its neglect culmi-

The general public is hereby notified that the above named Organization has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission Abuja for Registration under part “ C” of the Companies and Allied Matters Act of 1990 THE TRUSTEES ARE: (1) MRS OMEMMA MARYROSE EBERE Chairman (2) MR ONAH EDWIN IYKE Treasurer (3) MRS UGWU EUNICE IJEOMA Financial Secretary (4) MR UGWU PASCHAL CHIDIEBERE Secretary

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AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1) To build hospitals/clinics in the rural communities 2) Provision of good drinking water, food, clothing’s, housing and word of God (Gospel ).

3) To provide learning/educational materials for the children and schools in the rural communities 4) To give support to the farmers and mini-credit assistance to petty traders 5) To award scholarships to brilliant students from poor homes.

Any objection to the registration should be addressed to the Registrar-General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420 Tigris Crescent off Aguiyi Ironsi Street P.M.B 198, Maitama, Abuja within 28 days from the date of this publication.

•Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi flanked by the Catholic Bishop of Ekiti Diocese, Most Rev. Felix Ajakaye (right) and theVicar-General, Rev. Fr. Felix Odeyemi, during the clerics’ condolence visit to the governor in Ado-Ekiti on the death of his mother, Mrs. Dorcas Aina Fayemi ... on Tuesday.

Aregbesola, Ajimobi urge Lagos on Southwest’s economic growth O SUN State Governor Rauf Aregbesola and his Oyo State counterpart, Abiola Ajimobi, yesterday urged the Lagos State Government to lead the economic agenda that will propel development in the Southwest.

The duo spoke at the Eko Hotel and Suites during the closing of the Sixth Lagos Economic Summit, Ehingbeti, with the theme: “From BRICS to BRINCS”. Aregbesola, in his goodwill message, praised the development initiatives of the Lagos State Government.

He said the state’s investment in economic policies and strategies has kept the nation focused.

Aregbesola said the state must lead and show the way for other states in the region.

He said: “Should Lagos move alone, the state will be inundated by the people who speak the same language with it. They will abandon their territories to suffuse Lagos and all the state’s efforts to achieve greatness will come to naught.

Therefore, Lagos must carry neighbouring states along in the development drive.”

Aregbesola said such development could be achieved through a collaboration to develop an efficient multimodal transport system that will connect neighbouring states.

This, he said, would facilitate the easy movement of people and goods from one state in the region to another.

He said: “I agree with the call for intermodal transport system in the state. But for it to last longer, there is need for the state to link it up with neighbouring states.

“This will enable people live outside the state and work within it. This can be possible if we invest in light rail. That must be the goal and

many people in his community and beyond.

Oba Adeyemi said “aside being the permanent Chairman of the Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs, he is also the holder of several national honours and titles”.

He is demanding N2.5 billion “as damages arising from the said publication and an injunction of the court restraining the defendants and their agents from publishing the same or similar publications about the claimant”.

PUBLIC NOTICE SAVE THE PEOPLE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION

Journalist’s wife for burial RS. Comfort Osewole (56), wife of a journalist with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) , Mr. Modupe Osewole, will be buried tomorrow in Iju-Odo, Okitipupa Local Government Area of Ondo State.

There will be a wake today at her home in Esure Quarters, off Ijoka Road in Akure by 5:30pm.

The funeral service will hold by 11am at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Iju-Odo.

nating in the incessant aided and abetted assassination in Oyo State”, presented him to the public as “a criminal, who has criminal associates and commits crime with impunity”.

He said the information contained in the publication about him is false.

The monarch said the case of Ashipa’s killing “was pursued to the Supreme Court without any link to his person and office”.

He said he is a law-abiding citizen and role model to

By Miriam Ndikanwu

target of Lagos; because it is the only way it can achieve its goal.”

On power, Aregbesola said the state must look beyond producing 4000 megawatts of electricity for its consumption and look towards providing power for the entire Southwest.

He said Osun is working with Lagos to establish 57 Osun Farms in all the local government and local council development areas in Lagos to meet the state’s food requirement.

Aregbesola said: “Osun is targeting just 10 per cent of the Lagos food market. This is because the food exchange value in Lagos State is 3.5 billion and if Osun gets 10 per cent of that, it is more than enough to meet the needs of its people.

“The only way Lagos can feed its population is to provide a platform where Southwest states can supply it with the required agricultural produce.”

Ajimobi said: “What Lagos lacks in land, it has in water.

What Oyo lacks in water, it has in land. We want a seamless cooperation among Southwest states.

“Lagos is becoming choked up and it would be difficult to curb this if we do not share ideas to engineer regional growth.”

He said the state’s consistency in growth in the last 13 years has shown that “qualitative leadership will engineer development and excellence.”

Fashola said the state would work with other states for the nation’s growth.

He said Lagos holds the key to transforming Nigeria into a leading economy in the world.

Fashola said the recommendations made at the summit must be implemented to speed up the country’s growth.

He said: “It will do us no good to be a BRICS member and still battle with polio and water supply. We must work our way to prosperity to earn that feat.”

Fashola said the summit has become the rallying point, where development initiatives are conceived and pursued with the diligence.

He assured participants that the state will ensure the implementation of recommendations and resolutions before the next summit slated for April 2014.

Fashola said: “The story of Ehingbeti is the story of the prosperity that lies in the waters and waterfront of Lagos, symbolised by the Marina, which has extended to Victoria Island and is expanding to other frontiers.

“When we held the Fourth Summit in 2008, we did not have this hall. Lekki Expressway was just starting; there was no power supply in Iju and Adiyan water works; Eko Atlantic City was only a dream that many doubted; there was only one mall in Lagos on the Lekki Expressway and the Lagos Light Rail and Badagry Expressway were far away dreams.

“But from that summit and the 2010 summit, we have moved on. We have faithfully applied ourselves to our commitments as contained in our resolutions and following from these commitments, many dreams have come through while others are maturing.

“We now have this hall, which is the private sector’s major response to our com-

mitment to make our state a conference destination. Lekki Expressway has come alive and is progressing; Iju and Akute Waterworks now have their own 10 megawatt dedicated power plant and so do some public facilities on the Lagos Island.

“Eko Atlantic is no longer a far-away dream on paper and the Surulere and Ikeja malls have followed the Lekki Mall.

“The Lagos Light Rail, Badagry Expressway and our tourism development plans have left the drawing board and we are pursuing development on many more fronts.

“It is these sign posts of visible progress that convince me that because of your participation and the recommendations and resolutions that are coming forth, I can say that members of this government will not be found wanting in terms of commitment and the endeavour to pursue the path that we have all converged to adopt.

“It is my hope that this summit will re-awaken the entrepreneurial enthusiasm of our local people to participate more actively, to invest more faithfully and to venture more bravely into the sectors of Power, Agriculture, Transportation and Housing, which represent our pathway from BRIC to BRINCS. “Our country has no irrevocable pact with poverty or unemployment. We must reorder our thinking from that of the managers of foreign capital to that of builders of a new local capital that will become our armour against poverty and want.

“The Ehingbeti faculty of resource persons, participants and discussants has shown the pathway, it is our responsibility to re-connect with our destiny for common prosperity.”

Signed: Omemma Maryrose Ebere (Chairman)

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12

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

NEWS Obi inspects projects in Onitsha •Donates buses to schools •Two pupils get scholarships

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NAMBRA State Governor Peter Obi yesterday inspected some projects in Onitsha, including the multi-million-dollar SABMiller Breweries.

He said the breweries, Orient Drug Facilities and many other projects going on at the Onitsha Harbour Industrial Area would grow the state’s economy.

Obi hailed the quality of work done so far and said the company would create jobs for the people.

Conducting the governor and some top government officials around the facilities, the Project Manager, Mr. James Hull, thanked Obi for his encouragement.

Hull said the project has reached an advanced level.

Inspecting road projects in the estate, Obi urged local investors to take advantage of the government’s readiness to

From Okodili Ndidi, Onitsha

support emerging businesses through infrastructure.

The governor also visited the Hotel/Convention Centre under construction in Onitsha.

He said a similar project would soon begin at Awka, the state capital.

Obi also inspected the sites for the proposed shopping complexes at Onitsha, Nnewi and Awka. He said the projects would begin in a few weeks.

The governor visited Maranatha International School, Regina Pacis Model Secondary School, Onitsha and St. Anthony of Padua Secondary School, Nkpor.

He donated buses and computers to the schools, and awarded scholarships to two pupils of Regina Pacis Secondary School, Theresa Mbanefo and Ogochukwu Okafor, who displayed exceptional academic excellence.

Eight suspected human traffickers held in Anambra T HE suspected leader of a human trafficking syndicate, simply identified as Ngozi, and seven members of the gang were arrested yesterday by policemen attached to Awada Police Division in Onitsha, Anambra State.

The suspects include a nurse, who allegedly acts as an intermediary between the traffickers and the buyers.

According to a police source, who pleaded for anonymity, the traffickers have an operational base in Okigwe, Imo State, from where Ngozi

I

comes to Onitsha to allegedly steal children, after luring them with gifts. The source said Ngozi had been on the watch list of the police.

He said: “The woman normally steals the children from their homes on Saturdays when their parents are out. She pretends to be a relative and takes the victims to Imo State,

From Nwanosike Onu, Awka

From Emma Mgbeahurike, Owerri

project would provide potable water in the neighbourhood.

He thanked the new manager of the state-owned transport company, Global Ginikana Services Ltd., for the gesture.

Duru said ITC was concessioned to his company for 10 years at N210 million.

From Okodili Ndidi, Onitsha

where they are sold to people looking for children.”

The source said the police acted on a tip-off and rescued five children, who are between six months and two years, from the gang’s hideout.

Four of the children have been reunited with their parents.

The source said Ngozi has given information that would

Ngige unaware of 2014 posters, says ACN

Imo inaugurates water project MO State Governor Owelle Rochas Okorocha yesterday inaugurated a water project, tagged: Imo Rescue Mission Free Water.

The project was built by the management of the Imo Transport Company (ITC).

The governor, who was represented by ITC Managing Director Emeka Duru, said the

•Police rescue five children

assist the police in rescuing the children that have been sold.

He said two children have been rescued from Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, where they had been adopted by unsuspecting Nigerians.

They were rescued six months after they were stolen from Nkpo and Obosi in Onitsha.

Police spokesman Emeka Chukwuemeka said he was yet to be briefed on the arrest, but a Director in the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Mr. Emeka Ejide, confirmed the arrests.

•Ngige

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HE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Anambra State has debunked claims that Senator Chris Ngige, representing Anambra Central, has started

pasting posters for the 2014 governorship election.

Ngige’s posters have adorned some major streets in the state. The public was asked to contact Vin Paul Okafor.

In a statement yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Okelo Madukaife, ACN said: “Our attention has been drawn to some posters bearing the photograph of the Southeast leader of our party, Ngige, which appears in weird colours different from our party’s colours, and bears the heading: NGIGE LEGACY, and is pasted in some parts of Awka, the

state capital, with a request for the public to contact one Vin Paul Okafor on a given email address.

“While we acknowledge that Ngige has left impeccable records in the capacities he has served a President of Aka Ikenga, governor and now senator, and that many in Anambra have expressed their wish that he should return, we also caution the public, particularly the numerous supporters of Ngige and ACN, that these posters have not emanated from Ngige, his aides, or our party.

“Ngige is passionate about his current assignment in the National Assembly and is discharging same creditably well.

“By next month, courtesy of the senator and his colleagues

in the Power Committee of the Senate, roughly 1000 megawatts of electricity will be pumped to the Southeast through the Alaoji Power Project, with vast implications on our ailing industries.

“He is also making positive impacts in five other standing committees of the Senate in which he currently serves.

“Hence, having his hands full, Ngige would rather not be distracted by faceless detractors seeking to derail his programme and/or ridicule him.

“ACN absolves itself of any responsibility arising from the decision of the public to contact the promoters of these posters and has taken steps to formally bring the matter to the attention of security agencies.”

Abia recalls suspended officials

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HE Abia State House of Assembly has re-affirmed the appointment of eight commissioners and 14 local government transition chairmen, who were suspended by Governor Theodore Orji for alleged incompetence.

Speaking with reporters in Umuahia, the state capital, Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the House Committee on Information and Strategy Allwell Asiforo Okere said the House re-affirmed their appointment after looking at their credentials.

Okere, who represents Ukwa-East, said two commissioner-nominees, as well as the two chairmanship nominees for Aba North and South, have been screened and passed.

He said the screening of the

From Ugochukwu Eke, Umuahia

nominee for Umunneochi council will be done later.

Okere said: “The recalled government officials were not screened again, because we screened them less than 10 months ago and there is nothing new in the documents they presented before us. So we re-affirmed their appointments.”

He debunked the rumour that members of the House demanded money from the recalled government officials and urged the public to disregard it.

Okere said the House has passed the 2012 Appropriation Bill, the Abia Fiscal Responsibility Bill and the Public Procurement Bill into laws.

Govt to merge Ebonyi varsity campuses

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HE Ebonyi State Government has ordered the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) to suspend work on its projects at the College of Agricultural Sciences (CAS) campus of the Ebonyi State University (EBSU), Abakaliki.

The projects include the N200 million building of the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies and other structures.

Speaking with reporters yesterday after the State Executive Council meeting, Commissioner for Information Chike Onwe

From Ogbonnaya Obinna, Abakaliki

said the government had decided to merge the four campuses of the institution to ensure effective management.

He said the Ezamgbo campus would be upgraded into the permanent site of the university.

Onwe said the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Fidelix Mbam, had been directed to convey the government’s decision to the management of the school.

Anambra holds mental health awareness

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HE Anambra State Government has begun a five-day awareness workshop on mental health.

At the opening yesterday in Awka, the state capital, the Director of Medical Service (DMS), Ministry of Health, Dr. Paul Obiegbu, said the workshop would improve mental health care delivery.

He said participants would

From Nwanosike Onu, Awka

acquire the knowledge needed to complement the state governments’ efforts to expand health care delivery at the primary levels.

Similarly, the state government’s “Penta-valent vaccine introduction workshop” has ended in Awka.

Obiegbu said a dose of the vaccine protects the receivers against five diseases.

Pg. 14

Pg. 14

NATIONSPORT THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

UEFACHAMPIONSLEAGUE

Yak turns ticket seller

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

15

BUSINESS THE NATION

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net

Oil subsidy: ICAN to probe members

By Daniel Essiet

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HE Institute of Char tered Accountants of Ni geria (ICAN) has set up a panel to investigate its members following the outcome of the report of the House of Representatives’Ad-hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy Management.

In a statement its President, Prof Francis Ojaide, said the House report,which revealed monumental mismanagement of the subsidy fund had grave consequences on the economy and the accounting profession by virtue of the alleged involvement of two firms of chartered accountants.

He said: “As a professional body charged with the responsibility of regulating the practice of accountancy in Nigeria, we are aware of the grave consequences of the allegations and its implications for the oil sector, the nation’s economy and the accountancy profession by virtue of the alleged involvement of two firms of chartered accountants.”

According to him, the panel will conduct a preliminary investigation and make recommendations to the Accountants’Disciplinary Tribunal for trial. ‘’If any of our members is discovered to have a case of professional misconduct to answer, the penalties, he said, vary according to enormity of the offences, ranging from suspension for months or years, reprimand and/or warning, withdrawal of certificate and practising licence to striking off of the names of such members from the institute’s Register,” he added.

He said the institute maintain zero-tolerance of fraud and any professional misconduct. According to him, any member/ member-firm found wanting, irrespective of status, will be sanctioned in line with the provisions of its act.

DATA STREAM COMMODITY PRICES Oil -$123.6/barrel Cocoa -$2,686.35/metric ton Coffee - ¢132.70/pound Cotton - ¢95.17pound Gold -$1,800/troy ounce Rubber -¢159.21pound MARKET CAPITALISATIONS NSE -N6.503 trillion JSE -Z5.112trillion NYSE -$10.84 trillion LSE -£61.67 trillion RATES Inflation -12.6% Treasury Bills -7.08% Maximum lending-22.42% Prime lending -15.87% Savings rate -2% 91-day NTB -14.18% Time Deposit -5.49% MPR -12% Foreign Reserve $34.6b FOREX CFA 0.2958 EUR 206.9 £ 245 $ 156.4 ¥ 1.9179 SDR 241 RIYAL 40.472

It is an offence to change rates outside the approved tariff regime.

Any erring distribution company will be made to refund its customers money collected in excess of the approved tariffs.

- Dr Sam Amadi, Chairman, NERC

Fed Govt suspends ban on foreign carriers T HE Federal Govern ment yesterday put on hold the planned ban on the operations of foreign carriers that refused to reduce fares.

The Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah, said the government decided to suspend the ban to allow the National Assembly complete its ongoing investigations into the matter, so as not to prejudice the outcome.

Speaking through her Special Adviser, Media, Joe Obi, the minister explained that since the ultimatum was issued, a lot of developments have occurred. “ There have been consultations and negotiations between the Nigerian and British authorities with regard to the operations of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways . Negotiations involving other for-

By Kelvin Osa-Okunbor

eign carriers have also been on-going.

“But the most significant development since the issue broke out was the intervention of the House of Representatives and the Senate, given the high interest the question of fare imbalance generates across the country. Currently, the intervention /investigation of the Senate Committee on Aviation is still on-going. The first phase of that investigation was the Public Hearing where all interested/affected stakeholders made various representations to the Committee,” she said.

Princess Adaeze Oduah insists that the regional fare

imbalance must be dismantled, warning that there severe consequences for defaulters. It is, however, imperative to allow the Senate investigation to take its full course. As a result, the proposed ban of airlines that fail to restore fare parity has been stopped for now in deference to the ongoing intervention of the Senate and the National Assembly.

The statement said action would be determined at the conclusion of the investigation in order not to prejudice the outcome of the Committee’s report as well as accord due respect and recognition to the effort of the institution of the National Assembly at resolving the issues in the best interest of the nation.

Earlier this week, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) threatened to ground any airlines that failed to disclose its fares and tariffs.

The new guidelines were contained in a document sent to both local and foreign airlines by the Director-General Dr Harold Demuren dated April 23, 2012.

The letter entitled: Re -in the issue regarding tariff and fare components integration and filling, warned the airlines that failure to comply with the new regulatory regime would lead to the grounding of the errant carrier operations.

It stated that both foreign carriers are expected to mandatorily file all tariffs showing all rates, fares and charges to be included in the single integrated fare.

Inflation rises to 12.1%

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NFLATION figure for March yesterday hit 12.1 per cent year on year, from 11.9 per cent in February, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

Razia Khan, an Economist with the Standard Chartered Bank, said this runs contrary to concerns that it might have been far worse. She said in a statement that the current inflation figure will decide the future monetary policy decisions.

Also, the pressure from food prices went up 11.8 per cent from 9.7 per cent in February. This was attributed largely to the planting season, although this was offset somewhat by tight liquidity with the delays to the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocation.

According to Khan, on a 12month basis, the measure we believe is important to the CBN in determining the appropriateness or not of the monetary policy, Consumer Price Index inflation falls to 10.9 per cent, from 11 per cent in February.

This implies that the monetary policy rate of 12 per cent is still positive in real terms with respect to 12- month inflation.

Khan said looking forward, however, the inflation certainly does not leave much room for complacency.

Globacom introduces new roaming service

By Adline Atili

S • From left: Marketing Manager, Lager, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Mr Tony Agenmonmen; Marketing Director, Mr Walter Drenth and Brand Manager, Legend Extra Stout, Mr Funso Ayeni, at a press conference on the Real Deal National Consumer Promotion on Legend Brand, at the company’s headquarters at Orile-Iganmu, Lagos.

PHOTO: ISAAC JIMOH AYODELE

NSE presidency: Appeal Court reserves judgment

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USINESSMAN Aliko Dangote yesterday urged the Court of Appeal, Lagos, to dismiss a ruling by Justice Mohammed Liman of the Federal High Court, Lagos.

It is over his voided election as President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

On August 4, 2009, Justice Liman had directed that the status quo be maintained in a suit by some aggrieved shareholders of African Pe-

By Joseph Jibueze

troleum Plc against Dangote, a stock broking firm, Nova Finance and Securities Limited, and others.

The suit is based on the allegation, among other issues, that AP’s share prices were manipulated.

But the NSE conducted the election in which Dangote was elected on August 6 in spite of the directive that parties must take no further steps until the case is determined.

Dangote lawyer, Mr Rickey Tarfa (SAN), yesterday urged the Appeal Court to allow the appeal.

He argued that Justice Liman’s directive that parties maintain status quo was made while Dangote’s motion challenging the court’s jurisdiction was pending.

But, counsel to AP shareholders, Onyebuchi Aniakor, urged the court to dismiss the appeal. He prayed the justices to uphold the ruling of the lower court.

After parties adopted their written briefs, the presiding Justice, Helen Ogunwumiju, reserved judgment. They will be informed when a date is fixed.

Justice Lambo Akanbi of the Federal High Court had voided Dangote’s election, declaring it as unlawful because it was in violation Justice Liman order.

Meanwhile, Dangote has sought for an extension of time to appeal Justice Liman’s voiding of his election.

Fed Govt okays N100b pipelines’ contracts

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O tackle the perennial power problems in the country, the Federal Government has approved two contracts worth N100billion for the immediate construction of gas pipelines.

The approval, which was granted at the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, yesterday is coming at a time the country is

From Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

experiencing decline in power supply.

The power supply has dropped from about 4,200 megawatts to about 3,000MW. The contract known as the Strategic Gas Supply Pipeline Project, is meant to power Independent Power projects and other industries.

They are to be located in Obiafu/Obrikum, Rivers State and Oben in Edo State.

Two different companies are to handle the projects with a completion time of 24 months. The first contract was awarded to Nestoil Company for N19.25 billion and $192.5 million, while the second was awarded to Oil Serve Limited for N29.52 billion and $83.9 million.

Briefing reporters at the end of the meeting, Information Minister,Labaran Maku, said the projects are part of the major steps taken to tackle the dwindling power supply being experienced in the country.

He said on completion, the pipelines would facilitate gas supply to power plants, especially the ones located in the South to improve power supply.

ECOND National Car rier, Globacom, has an nounced a new roaming service which offers a uniform local tariff and allows use of local Glo recharge cards in any country where Glo has presence.

The service, UNIWORLD, enables both prepaid and post paid subscribers in Nigeria, Benin Republic and Ghana to enjoy seamless, unbroken communications at uniform and affordable rates in those countries.

At a press conference in Lagos, the company’s Executive Director, Adewale Sangowawa, said UniWorld unifies the 3 Glo network countries by creating a Virtual Home Environment which allows seamless communications at transparent and affordable rates across borders.

“Post paid and prepaid subscribers can now recharge with local Glo recharge cards in Nigeria, Ghana or Benin while roaming and enjoy all roaming services at very affordable rates,” he said.

According to him, subscribers who roam across the three countries will be charged †?? same uniform local rates irrespective of where they are calling from.

He explained that customers’ bills would be rated in Naira, Cedi or CFA depending on their Glo home country.

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

16

INDUSTRY

Panel to determine free zones’ efficiency T

HE Federal Government has raised a committee to audit the 27 licensed free zones to determine their effectiveness.

The committee will also prepare a 10-year strategic plan for the free zones.

Minister of State for Trade and Investment Samuel Ortom said it would revive, review and implement the Presidential Committee report on free zones.

He said: “The idea of setting up free zones in Nigeria dates back to the early 70s, when evidences of the efficacy of the scheme began to show in the Far East and the Carib-

Stories by Toba Agboola

bean. The Federal Government inaugurated the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) to conduct further investigation on the viability of immediate establishment of an export-processing zone in Calabar and identify other locations suitable for the scheme.

“Since then, 27 free zones have been licensed to operate in the country but majority of them have not met the intents and purposes for which they were licensed.

“In countries where free and export processing zones have been

successful, it is evident that these countries have been very strategic in their deployment of these zones.

These countries have used it as a tool for industrialisation, especially in sectors they have identified to have comparative and competitive advantage. They have used the zones to channel high levels of investments into their country and these have contributed significantly to their GDP and foreign direct investment inflow. A typical example is China where the contribution from the free zones to the country’s GDP is about 22 per cent. The free zones also account for approximately 50

per cent of FDI inflow into China.”

He said another example is Singapore that has no crude oil but has become an exporter of refined petroleum products by creating an oil and gas export processing zone.

Some of the things the committee will do, according to the minister include: designing and developing of a promotional strategy for the free and export processing zones; writing of a recommendation on restructuring of the export processing and free zone scheme to be used strategically to achieve a number of developmental and economic objectives; do an ap-

praisal of Nigeria’s free zone policy; compare Nigeria’s policy with other free zones policies in China, Brazil, India, Ireland and the United States; articulate a policy and selection criteria for evaluating and appraising applications for the establishment of free zones export processing zones and special economic zones; develop procedure and guidance for the co-ordination of other agencies and stakeholders, and develop procedure and guidance to revive the Presidential Inter-ministerial Committee and the Presidential Technical sub-Committee.

‘Govt didn’t plan for SMEs’

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•Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Samuel Ortom (right), Group Executive Director, Nigeria National

Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Aminu Baba-Kuse and Mr Nuhu M.Monlik of the Customs, during the inauguration of the Technical Committee for the 2012 Oil and Gas Trade and Investment Forum in Abuja

IRECTOR-General of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) Alhaji Muhammad Nadada has blamed successive governments for the underdevelopment of small businesses.

There were no plans until now to grow the sector, he said in Abuja.

This, Nadada said, accounts for the poor entrepreneurial skills in the country.

He said the country had been concentrating on academic work after which the graduates would take to white collar jobs.

“Every year, the universities will graduate about four million people with less than 200,000 getting jobs because we inherited a culture that once you graduate, you get a job. The colonial masters did not teach us about entrepreneurship skills and right from then we on our own did not think of that until recently when we began such exercise,” he said.

He said part of the solution to the problem, which has already started, is the inculcation of entrepreneurship

training in the school curriculum.

“We want a situation where a Nigerian will begin to think of what to do to better his life independently without depending on anybody and if Nigerians will begin to think this way, then we will move forward because this kind of thinking will force one to look for what to do,” he said.

Nadada said the misplaced priority by people that capital is the most important feature of enterprises has led to the collapse of many businesses, adding that capital should come last among the three most critical factors.

“The first among the important features is the concept, followed by the capacity and then the last is capital but when we consider capital to be first, then it will fail because if there is no capacity you can’t succeed. For instance, we have so many carpenters and other small businesses but the problem is that if you are a good carpenter, how do you run that carpentry as a successful business without concept and capacity and that is why entrepreneurship skills should come,” he said.

‘Unstable power hindering our expansion’ Ken Baxton Ltd benefited from the Dangote/BoI N10 billion intervention fund.

In this interview with TOBA AGBOOLA, its Managing Director, Mrs Itoro Bassey Udoh, says inadequate power supply is the biggest threat to the expansion of most of SMEs.

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RS Bassey Itoro was a banker for many years. Her desire to become her own boss led her to quit her job six years ago. In 2007, she started her own business known as Ken Baxton Ltd. The company is into the production of polythene , popularly known as nylon. Two years ago, she obtained about N19million loan through the Dangote/BoI intervention fund at five per cent interest rate. She said poor power supply is a major obstacle to the business.

“This is blocking the expansion of most of the businesses,” she said.

Assessment of Dangote/BoI Fund The fact is that this intervention fund has been very helpful. We got N19 million through the Bank of Industry( BoI) and it has really helped the growth and existence of the business. Initially, we tried to secure loan from the commercial banks but the condition given to us was harsh. To start with, the interest placed on it was on the high side.

Besides, banks are not interested in long term loan. When we could not get this, we applied for the CBN intervention loan for manufacturing companies but were told we are coming to late. So, they advise us to apply for the Dangote/ BoI. We did and were able to get it and at a very low interest rate. The good thing about it is that, we did not use any connection, we applied and we were able to get it.

Challenges facing the business The major challenge is epileptic power

supply. As at today, we spend N40,000 everyday to power our generating plant and equal to N240,000 per week because we operate six times a week. Also, we cannot produce at our full capacity. We have to put off some machines because the generator cannot power the machines at a go. Also, we pay about N200,000 to PHCN every month.

Either there is light or not, we pay that ridiculous amount every month. When we started this business , we thought things were going to improve because government kept promising us every day. If not for this, the business is very lucrative.

Problem of unemployment Unemployment is the greatest inhibitor to sustainable economic development across the world. Developing countries, such as Nigeria bear the brunt of this virus mainly due to poor and ineffective (or total lack of it) economic policies; most especially inadequate power supply. This high unemployment rate among young graduates is a cause for serious concern as they do not have experience to secure employment; and no experience or seed capital to start their own businesses. We must always remember that it is how we mould them that they would be able to handle the future.

SME as panacea to unemployment Unemployment can be effectively managed through entrepreneurship development and encouraging self employment. To promote self-employment requires sustainable support to SME

development; and this is a prerequisite for sustainable socio-economic development.

Small Medium Enterprise is the key to sustainable economic development. The impact of SMEs is felt in so many ways as it creates sustainable foundation for economic activities. They are created at very low levels by many micro, small and medium businesses which creates a strong foundation as opposed to large companies which are few but employ more. SMEs also create opportunity for self employment; encourage rural development and entrepreneurship; and very importantly it is a shock absorber in times of economic melt down as is being experienced throughout the world. During the current economic melt-down, large companies are shedding jobs faster and more than SMEs. Since SMEs usually operate with the barest minimum of staff, during times of economic recession, they do not usually shed jobs because they are already operating at the bottom and cannot go lower than they are already operating.

Plans of expansion We want to expand , but at the moment poor power supply is our major stumbling block. Like I said, this business is very lucrative and there is room for expasion. One can go into other areas but spend more than 80 per cent of our working capital in generation of power. Also, remember that either we produce or not, we must pay our workers at the end of the month. For instance ,we have bought three plots of land somewhere in Lagos, but we cannot do anything on it unless power improves.

•Mrs Itoro

Advise to government The quest to develop the Nigerian economy may remain a mirage unless efforts are made to boost the emergence of vibrant small and medium businesses in the country. And the first thing to be addressed is power.

There is the need to place more emphasis on boosting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) because through this the economy and livelihood of more grassroots people who live in the remotest parts of the country would be affected for the better.

Advise to the young entrepreneurs The future of any country is in the hands of the youth of today! Therefore, it is our responsibility as adults to arm them with the necessary skills now if they are to effectively fulfill their roles tomorrow.

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

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INDUSTRY

Non-oil exports hit N428.57b in 2011

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IGERIA exported 1.186 million metric tonnes of non-oil products worth $2.765 billion (N428.57 billion) last year, the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has said.

The figure, NEPC Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer David Adulugba said, is an increase of 19.15 per cent over the $2.32 billion (N359.6 billion) recorded in 2010, and 61.97 per cent over that of 2009.

Adulugba, who gave the statistics in Abuja, said last year’s figure was below what it should because of the huge unrecorded exports.

He said unrecorded exports were a challenge to accurate reporting of the performance of the non-oil sector.

To address the challenge, Adulugba said the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment was making moves to establish boundary markets at some strategic locations.

The NEPC boss, however, expressed optimism that with an average annual growth of 20 per cent in the last five years, non-oil export would hit $3billion (N465 billion) by the end of this year and well over $4billion (N620 billion) by 2015.

He said: “A handful of challenges

Stories by Toba Agboola

inhibiting optimal performance of the sector include inadequate funding, restricted access to credit facilities, infrastructural deficiency, weak logistics to support supply chain, dominance of primary commodities and low productive capacity.

“Notwithstanding the challenges, Nigeria’s export is not only growing, the markets and products are diversifying. Two years ago, the country exported 90 different products to 103 countries. As at now, over 117 products are being exported to different countries. Going forward, the council will enhance the development of new products and markets, while sustaining the existing ones through various programmes and projects.”

Adulugba said the country’s non-oil exports were still being dominated by raw commodities and a few products with value addition.

“There is the need to step up the value chain, diversify from commodities and empower the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises through entrepreneurship development as they constitute the bulk of the actors in the non-oil sector,” he added.

The NEPC boss said the Federal Government’s objective of boosting non-oil exports would enable the council focus more on agro-allied industries as well as improve the packaging and labelling standards of made-in-Nigeria products.

In a related event, Leather and Allied Products Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (LAPMAN) has called on the Federal Government to begin the policy on Export Expansion Grant (EEG) to save local industries from collapse.

The call was contained in a petition, which the association sent to the Kano State House of Assembly Committee on Commerce, and signed by its Chairman, Board of Trustees, Alhaji Bashir Danyaro.

The group called for the urgent probe of the value of imported leather in 2008.

According to the association, the probe was necessary to unravel the high level of scandal that characterised the exercise.

The association said the policy was originally designed to assist the sector, but was hijacked by few powerful foreigners and individuals, who allegedly siphoned the fund to the detriment of other sectors.

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‘Opportunities abound for investments’

HERE are tremendous opportunities for investors in Nigeria, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Goodie Ibru has said.

He said Nigeria has the largest population in Africa and second largest economy with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $220 billion.

Ibru said the country has one of the highest growth rates in the world currently put at 7.8 per cent, and accounts for over 60 per cent of the GDP of the West African sub-region.

To him, if these are well harnessed, more value would be added to the economy.

“We lack the capacity to harness these opportunities for our common good but I am confident that things will change before long,” he said.

He said the government’s objec-

tives to promote real sector development by introducing a number of incentives were good, but difficult to access because of bureaucratic bottlenecks.

“One of these is the zero import duty on machineries and equipment for agricultural and manufacturing sectors. But these incentives are difficult to access because of bureaucratic bottlenecks. The customs demand that importers should get a letter of waiver from the finance minister.

This makes access to the incentives very cumbersome and difficult and also prone to corruption,” he said.

He, therefore, submitted that once a product is qualified for an incentive, the importer should automatically enjoy the incentive without being subjected to the rigours of further approvals.

CBN to introduce ‘removable collateral scheme’ for MSME’s

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HE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has concluded plans to introduce a removable collateral scheme that will aid Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) to access loans from banks with ease.

The scheme will allow banks to move items not fixed, such as equipment and account receivable of the debtor to settle the debts, which is a departure from provision of collaterals before loans can be given.

This was disclosed by the director of SME development at the CBN, Mr John Abba at the second trade fair and exhibition of Yaba Industrial Estate, held over the weekend Abba, who represented the governor, Sanusi Lamido, said banks are financial institutions set up to make money and so cannot be forced by the CBN to bring down their interest rates, as that is the function of the market forces.

By Ajose Sehindemi

He said for any MSME to grow, the character cum attitude of the entrepreneur should be checked as most of them prefers a quick avenue to make profits while neglecting the fact that successful business are set up to focus on the long run.

Abba said any SME operator waiting for the government contract should have a change of heart because before the contract can be gotten and executed, the operator would have run down, cease to exist as only their operation in a market economy will help to grow their businesses.

Explaining the rationale for the fair and exhibition, the chairman of Yaba Industrial Estate,Alhaji Olayiwola Jaji said the need to develop the economy necessitates the fair and exhibition as the industrial sector is being neglected by all arms of the government.

NIPC to present incentives policy to stakeholders •From left: National President, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Dr Herbert Ajayi and Deputy Director-General, Mike Ojo at a dialogue session on Sector Specific Investment Incentives Policy Draft in Lagos.

PHOTO: ABIODUN WILLIAMS

Group condemns US trade barrier on palm oil

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HE United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has come under attack for imposing trade barrier on renewable fuels from palm oil in Nigeria.

The Initiative Public Policy Analysis (IPPA), a think tank group, said the barrier could stop Nigeria and other developing countries from reaping the benefits of the global development on bio-fuels.

IPPA Director, Thompson Ayodele said EPA’s ruling against palm oil under the Renewable Fuel Standard could have serious consequences for producers in Nigeria and throughout Africa.

According to him, EPA’s recent decision reflects a coordinated effort on the part of the European Union and the United States to undermine agriculture development in the developing world.

He added that while the EPA’s No-

tice of Data Availability (NODA) specifically referred to the cultivation of palm oil in Southeast Asia, the decision ignored the global nature of the industry and the impact that this decision will have for the millions of farmers and rural communities along the equator, particularly in Nigeria.

He said the decision was a reflection of a long-term trend of undermining food security and poverty alleviation in the developing world under the guise of protecting domestic producers.

Ayodele said: “The US has a long history of protecting its producers.

Developing countries’ palm oil would pose a threat to American seed farmers and bio-fuel producers. And while the US and Europe advance the practice of protectionism and trade distortions, Africa’s small farmers and US consumers will bear the burden of the EPA’s

decision”.

According to him, a number of African countries have been attracting billions of dollars in investment for the development of domestic palm oil sectors.

Liberia alone, he said, has attracted more than $2.6 billion investment in recent years from countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia, promising millions of dollars in government revenue and providing more than 35,000 jobs in the country.

“Unfortunately, amidst increasing demand for vegetable oils for edible and energy purposes, there has also been the emergence of non-tariff barriers to trade.

“As a supporter of economic development in Nigeria and Africa, the IPPA has been following the global effort to undermine agriculture expansion in the developing world – particularly through the palm oil sector.

Guinness launches new beer on return to Abia

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HE Guinness Brewery, which left Aba, in the heat of the kidnap saga in Abia State some years ago, has returned. It has also brought back a new product, Dubic Lager, which has been out of production for a long time.

Dubic is the product of the brewery Guinness took over from an investor in Aba. Speaking at the unveiling of the prod-

From Ugochukwu Eke, Umuahia

uct in Umuahia, the Chairman of Guinness, Mr Tunde Savage said the firm was back with the reintroduction of a beer that has been off the shelf for some time.

Savage said the Guinness family has also decided to solely sponsor Enyimba Football Club of Aba throughout the season as part of the social and com-

munity service of the brewery and to pay back to the environment that is housing them.

He said the raw materials for the production of the beer is sourced locally.

“We want the locals to enjoy the product after being in limbo for several years, which has been a household name in the state and we are also marketing the product across the country,”he said .

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HE documents on the incentives policy for promotion of investment being put together by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) has been described as critical to the transformation agenda of the Federal Government and the realisation of Vision 20:2020. Arrangements are also in top gear to present the documents to stakeholders in Abuja next month.

The Minister of National Planning, Dr Shamusedeen Usman, who stated this in his office while receiving a copy of the document from the Executive Secretary of NIPC, Mr. Mustafa Bello, noted that it is appropriate to have policies that will advance the economy, especially in the promotion and facilitation of investment.

His words: What you have done is critical to the development of the

By Damilola Ogunfuye

economy, especially the transformation agenda of the present government. The presentation of the final document to the Economic Management Team (EMT) is a laudable achievement. I congratulate you. This is one of the key things that will make us to realise Vision 20-2020. It is a very good initiative”.

He promised to attend the presentation scheduled to hold in Abuja. He maintained that NIPC should be given prominence by the Federal Government to realise its objective and mandate, stressing that “Investment promotion and facilitation are key to economic development and job creation.”

He promised to work closely with the commission on capacity building and training for staff to enhance their productivity.

UNIDO pledges support for African industrial development

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HE United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) has reiterated its commitment to helping Nigeria and other Least Developed Countries in Africa (LCD) to reduce poverty through sustainable industrial development.

Its Director-General, Kandeh Yumkella, on a visit to Guinea recently, said the organisation has a proven track record in helping Africa’s LDCs reduce poverty through sustainable industrial development.

“In Guinea, we are working closely with the government to develop a flourishing productive sector, increase the country’s participation in international trade, and at the same

By Damilola Ogunfuye

time safeguard the environment,” he said.

Yumkella added that over 20 per cent of young people were unemployed and over 60 per cent of Africa’s urban population were living in miserable conditions.

“An increasing number of young men and women are moving to cities. Without access to jobs and means to fulfill their ambitions, they will have no future and will eventually pose a threat to social stability. With almost three quarters of the population under the age of 30, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have one of the youngest populations in the world.

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THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

POLITICS Nwabueze renews call for National Conference From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

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ORMER Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Professor Ben Nwabueze, has renewed his call for the convocation of a national conference to discuss the basis for peaceful co-existence in the country.

Prof Nwabueze was reacting to the report allegedly credited to President GoodLuck Jonathan that the solution to the country’s problems is prayer.

He said that the answer to the Nigerian rotten problem was the setting up of a national conference.

Professor Nwabueze who spoke in his country home, Atani, Ogbaru Council Area of Anambra State, noted that the country is rotten and that the rottenness caused the fear of collapse.

Prof Nwabueze who is also Chairman of the Patriots and Save Nigeria Groups , posited that Nigeria has to be redesigned and not rebranded.

This according to him, should be done through a National Conference that would embrace all the ethnic groups, including the civil society organizations and the Nigeria labour .

According to him in the event of the conference not being held as being purported by the National Assembly, there would be a Sovereign National Conference which atomically would mean revolution.

“There must be National Conference that will involve those tribes, society groups like labour and others to hold this country together in unity”.

“Anybody objecting to this is running away from reality and reality will catch up with them”.

“If the National Assembly is going on with amendment of the constitution, let them go on.

Government should set up National Conference, make a law to pass the bill as a law”.

It will be a bill set up by the President and National Assembly, “it is going to be a revolution if they say no to setting it up, we will then set up a Sovereign National Conference which is revolution”.

•Nwabueze

Progressives bid Afuye farewell in Ekiti

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ROM the time he joined the Ac tion Group (AG), led by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, he never looked back. Throughout his life time, he was a leading symbol of the progressive bloc in Ikere-Ekiti, where he was born on July 27, 1920.

When he bade his family and the political group farewell on December 18, last year, it was a painful parting.

The late Pa Samuel Akinyele Olaiya Afuye was one of the political leaders of the old Ekiti Province. An Awoist, he suffered persecution for his avowed political belief. During the crisis in the Western Region, he was arrested and detained at the Agodi Prison, Ibadan. Akintola Administration charged him with treason. But, he was discharged and acquitted of the charges.

The late Pa Afuye was constant. In the Second Republic, he did not change camp. He became a founding chieftain of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), led by Awo. In fact, he was a member of the State Executive Committee of the party under the leadership of the late Chief Adekunle Ajasin.

During the Third Republic, he joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP). He was active in mobilising support for the emergence of the late chief Moshood Abiola as the party’s presidential candidate. He also mobilised grassroots support for the election of the business mogul. It was distressing to him that the election, which was free and fair nationwide, was annulled by the Babangida regime.

Afuye was not a bread and butter politician. He believed in politics of contribution and service. Between 1960 and 1963, he was councillor for Are Ward, Ikere-Ekiti. In those days, political office was part-time. Thus, as a teacher, he was moulding lives in the classroom. He was also the secretary of the Headmasters Association between 1968 and 1981.

He was one of the early beneficiaries of western education in Ikere.

Between 1948 and 1949, he attended St. Luke Primary School in the ancient town before proceeding to St. James’ School, Ota, Ogun State. He worked in many schools as head teacher, including St. Jame’s School, Ajebo, Ogun State, St. John’s School, Igbein, Abeokuta, Ebenezer Primary School, Awo-Ekiti, All Saints Primary School, Iyin-ekiti, and St. Like Anglican School, Ikere.

Between 1969 and 1970, the late Afuye was a member of the Local Government Advisory Committee.

He was also a member of Board of Directors, Ondo State Investment

By Emmanuel Oladesu

Corporation (1978-1980), commissioner in Ondo State Local Government Service Commission (19801981), Executive Chairman, Ondo State Radiovision Corporation (1983), treasurer, Nigeria Union of Teachers, Ondo State (1979-1981), member of the customary and juvenile courts, Ikere.

A community leader, the deceased left his indelible marks on the sands of time. As a councillor, he played prominent roles in the establishment of the customary court, construction of rural feeder roads and provision of street lamps. When he was a board member of the Ondo State Investment Corporation, the Akure Shopping Centre and defunct Owena Bank were set up. He also played a prominent role in the establishment of the first university in Ekitiland, which was initially named after the late sage, Awolowo, before its name was changed to Ondo State University, following the military intervention in politics.

When the late Afuye was the chairman of Ondo State Radiovision Corporation, the television service was established and a booster station was erected in Ado-Ekiti.

Afuye also played prominent role in community social development.

He was patron of the Dynamic Group, Ikere, President, Are Ikere Progressive Union, member of Ikere Palace re-Building Committee (1971), member of the Ogoga Installation Committee, member of Ikere-Ekiti Day Organising Committee, member of Ikere Town Hall Building Committee and member of many Parent/Teacher Associations in secondary and teacher training schools.

In 2006, he received the Justice of Peace award. He was also honoured with a Certificate of Excellence by Ikere Archdeaconry in 2009.

• The late Afuye

The next governorship election will hold in Edo State on July 14.

Deputy Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU writes on the battle for the soul of the state by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

ACN, PDP battle for Edo J

ULY 14 is a date with history in Edo State. The die is cast be tween the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Governor Adams Oshiomhole will be on the weighing scale again before voters who endorsed him over four years ago. His challenger, General Charles Airhiavbere (rtd) of the PDP is full of bravado. His mentor and PDP elder, Chief Tony Anenih, is campaigning for the return of his party to power.

There is the growing consciousness in Edo that power brokers who fixed men and women in public offices are not contemplating retirement. But to observers, unlike before, they are now gradually being perceived as spent forces.

From the labour movement, Oshiomhole crossed the bridge to the slippery political field with minimum adjustment difficulties.

Yet, power did not land on his palm on a platter of gold. The mandate conferred on him was diverted and the fight between PDP and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) shifted from the ballot box to the court room. People insisted that the former Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President was duly elected as governor and the court affirmed their position.

On assumption, many challenges confronted him. He met the state in pains. Infrastructural decay, a docile civil service, comatose education sector, wobbling health services and low internally generated revenue were inherited.

Oshiomhole resolved that it would not be business as usual.

Many agree that his staying power is his masses-oriented programme. These projects are evenly distributed across the three senatorial zones. Unlike the previous administration. Traditional rulers, community leaders, clerics, women groups, youths and other stakeholders testify to the clean break from the past. Many of them are ready to renew the governor’s mandate. For example, foremost traditional rulers in the state have endorsed him. A PDP elder, Dr. Sam Ogbemudia, was said to have indicated that another four years for Oshiomhole may be necessary for him to continue his laudable projects. Last week, another former governor of the state, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, who recently called it quits with the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), endorsed him for a second term.

However, PDP, which is the main opposition in the state, is on the prowl. To the party, the governor’s performance has been exaggerated. Besides. Oshiomole, according to the opposition party, has been reckless with public funds. PDP leaders alleged that the extension work in the comradegovernor’s house in Iyambo costs as much as N10 billion. Thus, there is uproar within PDP camp over the extension. ACN Publicity Secretary, Mr. Dan Owegie, had dismissed the allegations, flaying PDP leaders for an unwarranted campaign of calumny. Oshiomhole, he said, laboured for decades before erecting “a towering and intimidating image being smeared and tainted by a bunch of cheap political hangers-on”.

Remarkably, PDP is taking on Oshiomhole at a time its rank is being decimated by the exodus of its members to ACN. At ceremonies marking their defection, they cite the developmental

• Oshiomhole

•Anenih

programmes of the administration as reasons for joining forces with him. Owegie said that, after failing to dissuade the PDP Women Leader, Mrs. Lucy Omagbon, from defecting to ACN, she was blackmailed, adding that she even rejected controversial juicy gifts from her former party. Later, PDP claimed that she was suspended from the party.

Alarmed at the rate of defection, the PDP chairman, Dan Orbih, alleged that Oshiomhole was inducing the defectors with money.

However, ACN stalwarts disagreed, saying that the governor could not be using the money meant for fighting the infrastructure battle in the state for wooing more supporters.

The governor’s media aide, Mr. John Mayaki, who challenged PDP to prove the allegation, lamented that the party was grooving in the dark. “People are fed up with PDP and the performance of Governor Adams Oshiomhole has sealed their hope of bouncing back. Nobody will prefer darkness to light.

ACN represents light in Edo State”, he added.

Owegie gave reasons why Edo people will shun PDP at the polls.

He said the impact of the PDP-Federal Government is not being felt, adding that the state is not also seized by amnesia. “We still remember how they misruled the state in the past”, he stressed.

The Publicity Secretary also shed

light on the private house renovation by the governor. He said: “The truth of the matter is that Oshiomhole’s three bedroom duplex, built over 20 years ago, is being expanded to include three more bedrooms because he is now having more visitors going by his status as the people’s governor.

“He has been working on it gradually all these years in his family land in the village. He does not need to buy land to expand his country home. This is not what should be blown out of proportion.

Oshiomhole is too disciplined to dip his hands into tax payers’ treasury to extend his personal house as being bandied by an irrational opposition”.

Owegie said, instead of trying to distract Oshiomhole with virulent media attacks, PDP should engage in a thorough soul-searching by probing the stupendous wealth of its candidate, who has allegedly acquired costly property in United States and Nigeria.

He queried: “Where did he get money he used to build his multibillion naira mansion in Maryland, USA where his wife and children are living? Where did he get the money he used to build the multibillion mansion in Boundary Road, Benin City? Where did he get over one billion naira to acquire Prest Motel Plaza, along Airport Road in Benin City, which is housing the sinking Edo PDP, the hot bed of treasury looters in Nigeria? Where did he get the money to acquire his property in the choice area of Mahatny, New York?”

Owegie asked the National Assembly to extend the probe of pensions funds to the military pensions funds, stressing that some people should be made accountable for the death of several military pensioners who passed on without getting their reward.

He added: “The train is moving and Oshiomhole is unstoppable.

On July 14, the controversial PDP governorship candidate, will kiss the dust. That is the day he will be convinced beyond reasonable doubt that he does not belong to this generation”.

The campaign is getting hotter in Edo State. PDP has sworn to dislodge ACN. But Oshiomhole is not relenting in his efforts to get a second term. Their fate would be decided on July 14.

‘The campaign is getting hotter in Edo State. PDP has sworn to dislodge ACN. But Oshiomhole is not relenting in his efforts to get a second term.

Their fate would be decided on July 14’

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

19

EDITORIAL/OPINION Comments

EDITORIAL FROM OTHER LAND

France votes its discontents

No respite •The resurgence of kidnapping in the south-east and south-south of Nigeria is worrisome

J

UST when we thought the heinous act of body-snatching was abating, it made a resurgence with a seeming vengeance. From reports, the south-east and south-south of Nigeria are the most prone zones. In the states of Anambra, Imo, Edo,Delta, Akwa Ibom and Rivers, young men and even women have made big business of abducting people, especially people whose relatives can pay hefty ransom. A practice which was started a few years back by the Niger Delta militants and which was targeted mainly at expatriates has now become the pastime of misguided youths largely in the south of Nigeria.

A most recent example was the gruesome kidnap and killing of Chief John Nzewi, a well-known politician and former chairman of Ohaneze Ndigbo in Lagos. He was reportedly abducted in

‘Kidnapping has become such a rudimentary crime that hardly succeeds in better organised places; what with satellite and tracking technologies that can ‘see’ even things that are minuscule. There is no telling the economic, social and psychological consequences of these heinous crimes on the polity. We wager that each reported kidnap case sets the country back by several years.

Let government act more decisively’

Ihiala Local Government of Anambra, his home state a few weeks back. According to reports, the kidnappers had demanded for N50 million ransom but the family had negotiated it down to N30 million and made payment to the gang. Last Monday however, as family members waited eagerly to welcome their patriarch back home, it was his dead body they received.

Their anguish and wailing knew no bounds.

Hardly any week passes without a report of kidnap in this region of Nigeria.

Currently, a former Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly is still being held. In Delta State, it has become a daily occurrence. The rampaging youths do not care about age or stature of their victims.

Only one thing seems to matter, the possibility of raking in a ransom. Once it was the 102-year-old father of a traditional ruler. A seven-year-old was snatched in Warri recently, and on March 15, 2012, the wife of the Delta State Commissioner for Basic Education, Professor Patrick Muoboghare was abducted from her residence on the Abraka campus of Delta State University, in Ethiope East Local Government of Delta State.

The examples are too numerous to recount. And along with kidnapping comes such other vices like armed robbery and cultism. As it is the case with the Boko Haram terrorism in the North, the immediate cause has been traced to politicians who arm youths during election period and deploy them as thugs.

Thereafter, these young men and women put these sophisticated arms and ammunition to other criminal uses.

Unbridled corruption and misrule by the leaders are also some of the reasons why violent crimes are now rife in the country. Far too many young people are roaming the streets jobless and with no hope for tomorrow. Nobody has made any plans for them and funds which would have been used to create jobs are largely embezzled and siphoned abroad.

Criminal gangs in our midst are further encouraged by the fact that majority of them are never caught and punished. It is particularly so with kidnapping which has blossomed into a seemingly safe and lucrative business. Since police and other security agencies are ill-equipped to tackle the menace, victims have no choice but to negotiate with the gangsters and pay the ransom. There have been cases in which the police have been found to work in cahoots with the criminals.

We appeal to governments across board to continuously expand the economy of their areas to engender growth and create more opportunities.

There is also an urgent need to upgrade our security apparatus. Kidnapping has become such a rudimentary crime that hardly succeeds in better organised places; what with satellite and tracking technologies that can ‘see’ even things that are minuscule. There is no telling the economic, social and psychological consequences of these heinous crimes on the polity. We wager that each reported kidnap case sets the country back by several years. Let government act more decisively.

Political intolerance •Disruption of Adefarati lecture is a bad way to remember the departed

W

HAT was supposed to be the Fifth Adebayo Adefarati Memorial Lecture turned violent as people suspected to be political thugs attacked the special guests and other visitors, even before the commencement of the event. Chief Adefarati was former governor of the state. From media reports, it would appear that the attack was premeditated and politically motivated.

Going by the dignitaries invited to the ceremony, it was billed to be a political event to remember: Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Chief Bisi Akande, party leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who was expected to deliver the keynote address and all the ACN governors were invited. Ekiti State governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi was guest speaker. Others were Chief Wumi Adegbonmire, a leader of the party who was to chair the occasion, Chief Olaiya

‘We call for an investigation into the fracas. We can only hope this is not the beginning of creeping intolerance in the politics of the state .... We cannot continue to play politics like ruffians; after all we are not in a banana republic’

Oni, former chairman of the Labour Party (the ruling party in the state) who is now an ACN chieftain, and a host of other party chieftains and faithful.

Most of these invitees, including Governor Fayemi were on their way to the ceremony when the fracas started and therefore had to turn back.

Politicians and other invitees took to their heels, some jumping over the fence in desperate efforts to escape from the booming gunshots and machetewielding thugs. At least 11 people, including Oni, were injured, even as some vehicles were vandalised.

Since the state is under a different political party, such assemblage could have been seen or interpreted as a show of strength by the ACN, and this was perhaps the real cause of the fracas.

Perhaps the state government was uncomfortable with the fact that a former governor of the state was being remembered on its soil without its involvement. If this were so, it needed not degenerate into a fracas; the state government could organise its own programme in memory of the dead. The thugs reportedly said they were under instructions to decimate the ACN leaders.

Politics need not come with the kind of bitterness associated with it in the country.

The Akure incident was a disturbing development, especially with governorship election holding in the state in the next few months. To say that it was a dishonour to the memory of the late Chief Adefarati is to put it mildly.

Equally abominable was the reported usual partisan disposition of the police during the crisis. They were said to have maintained a not-too-dignifying aloofness even as the free-for-all assumed the dangerous dimension in which dignitaries had to scale the fence to escape.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time that the police would be looking the other way when duty called. We had many cases of such in the past. We wish to restate that the Nigeria Police Force is maintained with public funds and it has a responsibility to ensure safety of lives and property in all circumstances. A situation where policemen would become onlookers when they should be seen to be discharging their responsibilities in a non-partisan manner calls to question their efficiency and competence.

We call for an investigation into the fracas. We can only hope this is not the beginning of creeping intolerance in the politics of the state. For instance, Mrs. Jumoke Anifowose, nee Ajasin, until recently the Ondo State chairman of the ACN, condemned the disruption of the memorial lecture in very strong terms.

She said she suffered a similar fate the day before the memorial lecture when government officials sealed off the venue where she was to declare her ambition to run for the governorship of the state under the platform of the ACN. We cannot continue to play politics like ruffians; after all we are not in a banana republic.

T

HE first-round vote in the French presidential election produced a curious bidirectional backlash — from the left against the policies of austerity and from the right against immigration. The final round, which will be held on May 6, is likely to be important for all of Europe.

Sunday’s vote produced two front-runners: François Hollande, the Socialist Party challenger who received more than 28 percent of the vote; and President Nicolas Sarkozy, who got about 27 percent. Since neither got a majority, they will face each other in a runoff.

The shocking result was the strong thirdplace finish of Marine Le Pen of the xenophobic National Front, with about 18 percent. The radical anti-immigrant right whose support Mr. Sarkozy has been shamelessly (and largely unsuccessfully) wooing for months is now a stronger and more unpredictable political force than ever.

A second-round victory by Mr. Hollande would signal a major change in fiscal direction for France and, by extension, for the entire 17-nation euro zone. A cautious moderate on most issues, and certainly not a socialist in the historic meaning of that term, Mr. Hollande, nevertheless, recognizes that the German-inspired austerity policies Mr. Sarkozy favors are not succeeding.

Instead, he would channel the government’s taxing and spending power to promote faster economic growth and recovery as a surer route to long-term fiscal balance. With austerity’s disastrous results sparking discontent in a growing number of European countries, a Hollande victory could signal a continental turning point.

Mr. Sarkozy, the first incumbent in half a century to be bested in the initial vote, now faces an uphill fight for re-election. To win next month, he will have to attract most of the votes cast for Ms. Le Pen and the seven other eliminated candidates. They range from the far left to the moderate center, and current polls show most far-left voters switching to Mr. Hollande in the runoff, with centrists closely divided.

That leaves National Front voters, not all of whom are natural Sarkozy supporters. Many are anti-Europe, anti-elitist and contemptuous of Mr. Sarkozy’s bling-bling style. Most also loathe Mr. Hollande. But that may not translate to support for Mr. Sarkozy in the runoff, but he has little chance of winning without a substantial share of those votes.

He needs to court them more responsibly than he has to date, invoking policy arguments, not the offensive stereotypes of his campaigns against facial veils, halal meat and Muslim street prayer. Those low-road forays did him little good on Sunday, nor did they enhance his dignity. Mr. Sarkozy owes his people a less divisive campaign.

– New York Times

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THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

20

EDITORIAL/OPINION

S

IR: I weep for Nigeria because it is a country that has the potential of becoming a great country but is currently bedeviled by many problems.

Nigeria, as it is constituted now, is sitting on a tripod of failure. Inept, clueless and inhuman leadership, corruption in high and low places, and the problems of ethnicity and religion are choking life out of Nigeria. As a result, the country is lying prostrate and comatose, although the government is hoodwinking us with fallacious tale of Nigeria’s quantum economic growth.

Bad and visionless leadership is one of the major problems bedeviling our country since we gained political independence in 1960. The military incursions into our politics wound back our na-

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Nigeria is sitting on tripod of failure tional development. General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) entrenched corruption in our country, and hindered our democratic growth through his dubious transition to civil rule programmes.

And, it was Sanni Abacha, the vampire and inveterate thief, who stole us blind, impoverishing us.

The civilian presidents that ruled Nigeria fared no better than the military leaders; and they came

to power via impositions. Tafawa Balewa was selected above his political betters to become our prime- minister. In 1979, a political dark horse, Shehu Shagari, trounced such titans as Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe to become our first President.

In order to save Nigeria from sliding into civil war and to placate the indignant Yorubas over the

annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election, Olusegun Obasanjo, a man thought to be amenable to the North was helped to power.

Obasanjo could not repair the road that led to his home town. He is remembered as the leader who tried to change the political goal post while the game was going on.

Nigerians united and thwarted his attempts to perpetuate himself in office.

Corruption: A monster to fight or habit to subdue?

S

IR: Where there is no law, there is no sin. But what differentiates humanity from other creatures is the ability to be rational and be guided by a set of rules or norms.

A deviation from established standard is corruption- and interruption of ethics, simply put, corruption is dishonest or illegal behaviour of those in authority. It is becomes a monstrous demon and cancer when it is institutionalized and an attempt is made to constitutionalize it.

When the priorities of those in authority tend to ruin the interests of the governed, poverty will persist because of inequalities and great disparity in wealth distribution; the few will be getting richer and richer and the poor will be getting poorer and poorer. A situation where basic amenities cannot be provided, there is food scarcity and the available could not be affordable, no job to absorb our graduates. With insatiable greed of the elite and no code or creed to restrain them when they violate the law, for the poor, it will be survival of the fittest because where poverty rules, corruption reigns.

Corruption has diverse ways of showing its colours, diverting public money to private use, inflating

contracts, favourtism or nepotism, wastage and extravagant spending, lack of maintenance culture on policy and public properties.

Nigeria is morally sick, socially bankrupt, politically immature and economically backward. We cannot move forward as long as we are carried away by sentiments, prejudices, ethnic and religious bigotry.

So then, whether the president comes from Otuoke in Bayelsa State or Oke-Ila Orangun in Osun State, or Okeho in Oyo State, the most important thing is how to move Nigeria forward to the height of

technological advancement so that we can have trade mark in international market to become an efficient producer which will induce and generate economic stability, job opportunities, food on the table of Nigerians as opposed to putting those who think about themselves above national service and use national resources to service their self absorbing interests which tend to keep Nigeria as an intelligent consumer.

Our government should have a rethink of her tactics and strategies, stop building projects, changing

furniture and start venturing to building and developing of human resources which will in turn have a multiplier effect on our economy. If our politicians could handle the nation’s problem with the same dexterity with which they tackle their quest for election and re-election into offices, most of our problems would have been solved by now. It is high time our politicians stopped playing politics with our development.

• Ezekiel Oluwole Kolawole Ikotun, Lagos.

Now, President Goodluck Jonathan is our President. A combination of luck and providential intervention catapulted him to the topmost political position in the land. So far, President Jonathan has not evinced the tendencies of a great leader, who can revolutionize the country. Nigeria under President Jonathan’s watch is witnessing high rate of unemployment and terrorist acts; and, corruption is eating away the fabric of our society.

The educational sector is not spared by the pervasive corruption in Nigeria. A young brilliant graduate who does not know the people that call the shots in government cannot secure a job. Inequity and lack of egalitarianism in our country are at the roots of religious violence and terrorist acts in the country. The disaffected soldiers of Boko Haram who are denied opportunities of earning decent livings have cottoned on to noxious religious doctrines. They are brain washed to believe that they will enter heavens upon their demise if they shed blood in their fight to defend their religion.

Nigeria is facing serious challenges of depressed economy caused by inept leadership, corruption and ethnic and religious problems. Our country is sitting on the tripod of failure- inept political leadership, corruption, ethnicity and religion.

• Chiedu Uche Okoye Obosi - Anambra State

Advice for Madam Okonjo-Iweala

S

IR: Now that Dr. OkonjoIweala has lost World Bank presidency, she must know that, America where she has studied and worked most of her life does not have interest of Africans in mind. They only use black people to achieve their selfish purpose and later dump them. Now that Madam has lost to Kim, a medical practitioner and Korean-American, she must focus on her job here in Nigeria on how to improve our ailing economy.

Madam Okonjo-Iweala must take the interest of this country above

her personal pursuit in World Bank or IMF. She must stop receiving orders from World Bank/ IMF on how to destroy/improve our economy.

America or any other European country will not help us to build our nation. Our destiny lies in our hand and the ball is in our court.

China, India, Brazil and other third world countries are building their economies themselves, therefore Madam Okonjo-Iweala must stop putting too much emphasis on World Bank projections to determine our economy growth. As co-

ordinating Minister for Economy, Madam Okonjo-Iweala should advice President Jonathan to revert the price of petroleum back to N65.00 because the increase in the price of PMS has brought untold hardship on the masses of Nigeria.

Since Jonathan has said he can no more continue with SURE Programmes, therefore he should leave Nigeria the way he met it, if he can’t improve her condition.

Madam Okonjo-Iweala must know that her name is in the black books of most Nigerians for giving President Jonathan the advice

as regard the removal of fuel subsidy, therefore she must try and persuade Jonathan to revert the price of Petrol to N65.00 and deal with cabal that have been eating subsidy money.

Madam must remember she does not have another country she can call her own except Nigeria, therefore she must leave America for the Americans and join hands with other serious minded Nigerians to make Nigeria a good people, great nation.

• Ajiboye John Tosin Osogbo, Osun State

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

21

EDITORIAL/OPINION

Oh blessed day - 1

W

HAT an incredible life and how time flies. Seventy years ago in Ilawe, a little town in Ekiti, a baby boy was born to a mother who had seven children, two of whom had died in childhood and to a polygamous father who had apart from his mother, three other wives, one of who eventually passed on when this little boy was born. His father who was an Osomalo (a trader) was descended from a family of intrepid soldiers and royalty originally from AjaseIpo in what is today Kwara State. A member of this family, Ogudu from the Adeoba royal family was the reigning King when the British came.

But earlier on, members of his family had moved to Okemesi where they settled down and were involved in the EkitiParapo wars, a liberation war against the Ibadan/Oyo occupation, fought by a coalition of forces from Ijesha, Ekiti, Ife, Ilarogun and other Igbomina people as well as Ilorin against the Ibadan/Oyo army. When the war ended, a war in which this little baby’s grandfather, great grandfather and great grand Uncles fought, everybody now settled down under a PAX BRITANNICA. The writer of this piece is Akinjide Oladepo, Idowu Ishola Osuntokun.

My great grandfather and grandfather and my father were men of valour and courage and I and my brothers and sisters were brought up with that story. My great grandfather, Dada, was a great friend of Generalissimo Fabunmi, who led the Ekiti-Parapo forces against the Ibadan people when Ogedengbe was still in Akoko country busy gathering slaves.

After the war, Fabunmi who was a Prince tried to seize the throne of Okemesi, but the then King Aponlese resisted him and was supported by the town, and a man that didn’t die in the war against Ibadan people, merely escaped being killed by his own people. Generalissimo Dada my Great grandfather was accused of protecting Fabunmi and both of them were driven away from the town. My great grandfather went

‘Nobody had more distinctions than me. My talent was in the Humanities and that has been my calling and my forte since then. I spent five years in Christ School and whatever I am today, Christ School made me. It gave me discipline, focus and taught me the ways of God’

Will they go scot-free?

W

HEN the House Ad hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy Management began its probe, we raised some issues here. (See A can of worms, which was first published on February 9, 2012).

The issues are as germane today as they were then. Mercifully, the panel addressed these issues in its report. The panel has done a good job, but the matter should not end there. Those indicted, no matter how powerful they are, must be brought to book.

The House cannot do this alone.

It requires the assistance of every Nigerian and institutions like the Police, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Judiciary to bring this matter to a close. Until those indicted are investigated and prosecuted, this matter cannot be considered close.

Already, those indicted are threatening fire and brimstone. That should be expected. But can any one of them, whether as an individual or corporate entity, swear that they did not benefit illegally from subsidy fund?

The painful aspect of it all is the part played by the Ministry of Petroleum, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC) and Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) in this subsidy mess. These agencies unabashedly connived with marketers to rip off the nation.

Now they are shouting “fair hearing” as if what they did to the

and in Christ school, Ado-Ekiti, and a good horse always follows the one that is in front.

That’s my story.

My brother did very well and I believe if Prof.

Kayode Osuntokun had lived long, he would probably have won a Nobel Prize in Medicine. I followed my brother’s footstep to Christ School, Ado-Ekiti and left Christ School in 1960 with one of the best results at the Cambridge Overseas Jide School Certificate ExOsuntokun amination. Nobody had more distinctions than me. My talent was in the Humanities and that has been my calling and my forte since then. I spent five years in Christ School and whatever I am today, Christ School made me. It gave me discipline, focus and taught me the ways of God. After Christ School, I spent two years in Ibadan Grammar School. Two boisterous years, when the old Western region was in political turmoil in which my brother Chief Oduola Osuntokun was to play a prominent part.

I had three largely unhappy years in University of Ibadan where I was admitted to read geography, but on the advice of an Old boy, the late Theophilus Ogundana, who said the then head of department of Geography in Ibadan, a Welsh man, Prof. Barbour was a racist who openly said “no African could make an Upper Second Degree in Geography”. I was not going to be limited by this iron ceiling, so I opted for History with Political Science as my subsidiary and I have had no regrets.

My unhappiness in Ibadan was due to the fact that Politics in the old Western Union polarized the entire students body and people whether rightly or wrongly associated me with the faction to which my brother belonged, a faction that was rather unpopular not because it was wrong, but because it was difficult to uproot support for what was known and to embrace what was new. I suffered from been called names and abused and I was a victim of transferred aggression.

This is a long time ago and I should let sleeping dogs lie. evance to this subject matter. The House probe has dwelt on some of these issues but no cogent answers have been provided by those in a position to do so. In most cases, they were cagey and not forthcoming in their responses. There is a lot going on in the oil sector which we don’t know about because the government itself is not truthful with the people. Rather, it is more interested in protecting the ‘fat cats’ milking the country.

and lived with relatives first Ibokun, then Igbajo and then Imesi-Ile, from where his two oldest children, Agbaje and Ojo my grandfather went to bring him home to Okemessi; sometimes in 1919, after they themselves had returned as victorious Soldiers in the British campaign against the Germans in the Cameroons.

My father was the first son of my grandfather and he took after him in boldness and adventurism. For a time, he and his brother Akinwunmi as young men went to the then Gold Coast, now Ghana, to work in Manganese mines in Nsuta, was a self-educated man while in Nsuta. He also functioned as a Catechist in the Anglican Communion, but he was a rather restless man and soon returned to Nigeria and took to trading between Lagos and Ekiti country. At different times he had establishments in Awo where we have a branch of my extended family, the Bello Akindele family who descended from Dada the same great grandfather as me and with whom we share some remarkable physical features.

My father also at different times had trading outposts in Ikere, Oye and Ilupeju, formerly Agosi.

Because my father and his grandfather had seen the world outside Nigeria and therefore had bigger cultural and political horizon they knew the value of education. Whatever money my father made from his trading activities, he invested in the education of his children. My father also had a soul mate in my mother who was also an astute business woman who sold goods not only locally, but also as far as the North particularly to Bauchi and Gombe areas, from where Hausa traders came to buy Kola nuts, particularly, ‘goro’ from her.

One of my earliest memories of other Nigerians apart from the Yorubas was Hausa traders coming to carry bags of goro from my mother with promises that after three months they would come back with money and they usually did. The business enterprise of my old folks paid off and before I was born, the most senior of my siblings Oduola Osuntokun, later Chief Osuntokun was already in St. Andrews College, Oyo and after leaving St. Andrews, he went to Fourah Bay College to get degrees because there were no universities in Nigeria until 1948. He was one of the first graduates in Ekiti in the then colonial Nigeria.

He was as a young graduate caught up with the nationalist movement and eventually became a politician and by the time he was 32 years old, he was already a cabinet Minister in the old Western region, stretching from present day Yaba to Burutu and Forcados in the Delta. This is my background and the environment in which I grew up. My brothers were making academic waves in Government College in Ibadan

country is fair. We will not join them in shedding crocodile tears because they cannot steal our country blind and expect us to clap for them. What is the EFCC still waiting for?

A can of worms

M

ANY in the executive arm of government may today be cursing the day they ever voted in support of fuel subsidy removal. With what we are hearing from the ongoing probe of the House Ad hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy Management all is not well with the oil sector. The reason for this is not farfetched: those charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the sector works are the ones killing it. These people abound in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Department of Petroleum Resources, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Department of Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).

They saw an opportunity to make fast bucks in the payment of fuel subsidy and seized it with both hands, without any care in the world for its collateral damage on the economy. Before we knew what was happening the damage had been done, with the country

‘Until those indicted are investigated and prosecuted, this matter cannot be considered close. Already, those indicted are threatening fire and brimstone. That should be expected’

losing billions of dollars in revenue. Subsidy payment was their pot of soup and they guarded it jealously until it was discovered to be a huge fraud. The discovery of the fraud was the beginning of their headache, an ailment they may not recover from until they are imprisoned. This is not a curse. It is just a natural sequence of events.

The ongoing probe by the House will only have a meaning if all those indicted are made to face the full wrath of the law at the end of the exercise. Anything short of this will amount to an exercise in futility. Since powerful men are behind this subsidy fraud they will do everything within their means to ensure that the report does not see the light of day. But it is left to us as a people to rise as we did against subsidy removal to see that they pay the price for their inhuman act. After stealing the nation blind, some of them still had the temerity to publicly speak in support of subsidy removal.

Subsidy removal was good in a way. If not for the removal and the people’s rejection of it, this probe and other measures now being taken to reform the oil sector may not have risen. What this implies is that only the people can save themselves from government’s policies which they consider inimical to their interests. If the people had not risen against subsidy removal, the shenanigan would have continued, with a few smiling to the bank, while majority of their compatriots are suffering. Were there no measures in place to prevent foul play in the payment of subsidy when it was introduced years ago?

If there are, why were they not complied with? Who are those entitled to subsidy payment? What makes them to be so entitled?

These are some of the questions once raised here which are being asked again because of their rel-

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VER before contemplating the removal of subsidy, the government was in possession of an audit report on NNPC, detailing all the financial atrocities in the corporation. The government kept quiet about the report. If the government knew it was not going to implement the report why did it commission KPMG to audit NNPC? Was it the firm that recommended the removal of subsidy, which to all intents and purposes is not only a lie but a big fraud? If it was the firm’s recommendation, why implement an aspect and leave the rest? Thank God for activist lawyer Olisa Agbakoba’s revelation at the House probe. If Agbakoba had not spoken about the KPMG report, I bet you, the Petroleum Minister, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, would not have said anything about it.

Yet, here is a report that touches on the affairs of a company whose board she chairs. Can Mrs AlisonMadueke say she is not aware of such a damning report on NNPC? If she is aware and did nothing, how are we sure she will act on other reports that may soon emerge on the mess going on at NNPC? How sincere is she in asking the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe the subsidy fund payment?

Was that not an action taken on the spur of the moment? The subsidy matter is no longer an issue to be toyed with. It has developed a life of its own and whether the AlisonMaduekes of this world like it or not,

Lawal Ogienagbon lawal.ogienagbon@thenationonlineng.net

the nation shall get to the bottom of this fraud one way or the other.

For now, Mrs Alison-Madueke is the custodian of our oil fortune, so it behoves of her to play straight with us and refrain from hiding anything that may assist the Farouk Lawanled House panel in untying the subsidy Gordian knot. If we consume 35 million litres of petrol a day, how come subsidy is paid on 59 million litres? Is she not aware of this sharp difference which apparently jacked up the subsidy payment? Something is definitely wrong somewhere. This is what the probe should help us unearth because by doing so we may be on the way to ensuring sanity in the weird world of the oil sector.

The probe panel needs not bother over threats and blackmails which will surely come from various quarters. But the panellists should remember that this is an assignment thrust on them by circumstance and the whole world is waiting to see how they will acquit themselves. If they do it well they will write their names in gold, but if they fall into temptations, they will soil their names and the institution they represent. They dare not fail the people.

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THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

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EDITORIAL/OPINION

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HIEF Akin Omoboriowo and Dr. Moses Adekoyejo Majekodunmi symbolized the usual internally disruptive Yoruba group that often sells their homes cheap to predatory adventurers. As we mourn the passing away of these two illustrious sons of Yoruba nation, I think it is right and befitting to reflect on the nature of Yoruba politics that often pitch the aristocratic leisured class against the generality of the people. In the pre-colonial period, the Yoruba nobles aligned with European fortune seekers to sell their able bodied men into slavery. And since independence, the crisis within the Yoruba nation have been largely the result of collision between those who strive to liberate the people from pangs of ignorance and those who would rather align with reactionaries to protect their newly acquired status and privileges.

Omoboriowo belonged to the former until he succumbed to his own inordinate ambition. Decamping to NPN was an ideological suicide. His fraudulent declaration as the winner of 1983 gubernatorial election in Ondo state left many dead and properties worth millions destroyed. He claimed he aligned with NPN to seek justice for his people. His proud people rejected his method claiming it wasn’t in their character and chased him out of town. To prove his critics wrong that he did not do it for personal gain, he rejected Shagari’s offer of a ministerial appointment.

But it was too small and too late. He paid a heavy price for his blind ambition and apostasy. He thereafter lived and died a recluse.

Omoboriowo’s illusion about his ‘sense of self worth’ and sudden invisibility were not different from that of others who once swore

by Awo’s name. Intimidated by the sage’s awe, all of them engaged in sycophancy. But the sage was never deceived. Alive, he had confided in close friends that he could see through some of those that surrounded him.

Many, including even The Tribune, once the scourge of reactionaries have betrayed Awo. Omoboriowo in death deserves our pity for his misadventure. That he never belonged to NPN or PDP was the fact that he led a Spartan life like many true Awoists and dying without leaving mansions behind. It was said that he died in his son’s home.

On the other end of the pendulum is another illustrious Yoruba son, Dr Majekodunmi, a distinguished physician and the personal doctor to late Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa. He and his fellow Yoruba aristocrats like Dr Taslim Elias, H.O Davies and Continued from yesterday

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HEREFORE, if Ekweremadu could see the futility of the current political arrangement and the configuration of power at the centre - which are central to Nigeria’s seemingly intractable problem - then we ought to pay attention.

But how is this related to the fabrications against Aregbesola? Aregbesola’s fundamental political beliefs and practical actions as the governor of the State of Osun (as he is “accused” of calling his state) is precisely the validation of the federal principle which is, at least theoretically, and clearly also constitutionally, the very basis of the political unity of Nigeria.

Politically, Aregbesola is convinced that the “dwindling fortunes of our federalism”, among others things, is dictated primarily by the massive assault on federalism, which has been systematically engineered by the dominant (national) ruling elite in Nigeria. Practically and symbolically, he is taking steps to ensure that in word and in deed, his state operates and is recognised as a federating unit in Nigeria, which, even within the limitations of this era, can be viable, self-reliant and wellgoverned. The symbols of his state which he has conceived and promoted are all within the constitutional powers of a federating unit.

Beyond that, Aregbesola is also prepared to engage with the process that would ensure a healthy competition among the federating units in Nigeria towards the achievement of an egalitarian life for all – or what Obafemi Awolowo famously described as “freedom for all and life more abundant.”

Ekweremadu’s statement is yet another indication that the unresolved questions in the Nigerian polity about the basis of national structural unity and the practices of freedom and difference by the federating units are at the centre of the national crisis. Even if the spurious allegations against a practising federalist such as Governor Aregbesola mirror the contemporary struggle for a democratic and federal Nigeria, it would be wrong to conclude that this is a local plot that is limited by the wild ambition of the conservative (and unpopular) politicians in the southwest PDP (particularly in Osun State) evident in the attempt to hang the burden of “terrorist” and

Omoboriowo, Majekodunmi, setting the record straight Fani Kayode had nothing but disdain for Awo, who they considered an upstart. They tried to use their socio cultural group ‘Egbe Omo Olofin’ to checkmate Awo. Yet while they were carousing in the club, Awo was burning the midnight oil to see how to actualise his philosophy of ‘life more abundant’ (Afenifere) for his people as well as other Nigerians. And Awo was adequately compensated by the support and adoration of his people.

The Sadauna of Sokoto could not tolerate Awo’s railing against feudal rule in the north and his opposition to its spread to the west.

The NPC General Secretary, Alhaji Ahman Pategi had said after the Sadauna had performed a foundation laying ceremony for a mosque in Ibadan that ‘NPC in-road to the south was the only way to promote unity of the country’. The intra party crisis in the AG opened a window of opportunity. And Dr Majekodunmi, a bosom friend to the Prime Minister who once said of other ethnic groups ‘we are brothers indeed but not all of the same age, we can’t always eat from the same dish’, was to become the instrument for taming the Yoruba, in the words of Trevor Clark, ‘whose people have the conviction shared by homekeeping Scotsman, that alone in all the world, they possess the dominant virtues.’

Akintola had been accused of anti party crime for trying to trade off the West. The majority of AG legislators voted for his dismissal for ‘anti-party activities and gross indiscipline’. Consequently the governor, Sir Adesoji Aderemi legally dismissed Akintola because ‘he no longer enjoys the support of

the majority of members of the western house of Assembly’. Alhaji Dauda Soroye was appointed to replace him.

Awo appealed to the Prime Minister for police support in view of Akintola’s appeal scheduled by the Assembly for May 25 1962 to pass vote of confidence. But Balewa, working on the instruction of Sadauna of Sokoto insisted he would not recognize the outcome of the vote of confidence if police were present. But no sooner than the debate started than a handful of Akintola supporters started throwing chairs. That was all Balewa needed to illegally declare a state of emergency in the region.

Dr Majekodunmi was appointed as Administrator of the old Western Region after the declaration of a state of emergency in 1962 effectively sealing the fate of Alhaji Soroye another Egba man who had been legally appointed premier of the west. (Thirty years later Earnest Shonekan was to also seal the fate of MKO Abiola, when he accepted Babangida contraption called Interim National Government designed to deprive Abiola of his mandate). As directed by the Premier of the north, he initially ordered the arrest of the party leaders as well as Akintola and members of his group. But at the end of his six months mission, Akintola who had been constitutionally removed from office was without election returned to power by Balewa and Majekodunmi.

The 1964 federal election was massively rigged by NNA. Trevor Clark, Balewa’s biographer has told us how uncomfortable he

The federalist and his enemies -2

By Wale Adebanwi “secessionist” on Aregbesola’s neck in order to destroy him. The truth is that, this local, even if immediately limited, plot is linked to a larger national struggle by the conservative coalition to “force” the west of Nigeria into their villainous “mainstream” – as President Olusegun Obasanjo once boasted; it is also part of an old battle to ensure that Nigeria is not a federal state in principle, or in practice.

To be able to understand the long-term implications of this battle, of which Aregbesola is the latest victim, it is important to return to the experience of the man, Obafemi Awolowo, who has been, even in death, the greatest stumbling block to the unrelenting attempt to homogenize the Nigerian political class, terminate the country’s plurality, nullify the egalitarian principles which have fuelled the home base of progressive politics in Nigeria, and therefore annul the possibility of Nigeria ever becoming a truly federal, truly democratic, and truly just polity, one about which every component part and all her citizens would be truly proud. The central argument about why and how to compose a federal state in Nigeria and the absolute necessity of egalitarian rule is essentially an Awolowo argument. He continues to be the embodiment of that twin principle.

This returns me to the question I asked earlier, why always the west? Why do they always want to “capture” the west (as a “matter of life and death” as one of the most brazen of their leaders once described it)? Why do they always pronounce the west’s passion for plurality as a plot for secession?

There is a fundamental logic to why the west is always the target.

The central point has been elaborated repeatedly and most brilliantly by the great poet and one of the finest minds of our time, Odia Ofeimun. Since the late 1940s, Nigeria has been having a debate with Awolowo, the ultimate-federalist, whom a combination of

prejudice and ignorance continues to approach as the “arch-tribalist”. He was the first among the major leaders of Nigeria to recognize and articulate the basis of political organization in a plural state such as Nigeria.

When, in the 1940s, he first began to articulate federalism as the most fitting system of political organisation for Nigeria, superficiality and prejudice dismissed him as a “Pakistanist” - one who wanted the partitioning of Nigeria. They insisted that the only way for Nigeria to be a “united” country was for it to operate a unitarist system. But by the 1950s, his accusers had started to sing the song of federalism too. They had seen the practical sense in the ideas he espoused, even if, at heart, they remained unitarists. Eventually, the unitarists, on the one hand, who were hopeful to centrally command the enterprise that would emerge after independence, and the separatists, on the other, who were initially afraid of being dominated by other people, eventually both agreed to the fundamentally just proposition that, even though the centre must be greater than the sum of its parts, that centre must be composed of, be sustained by, and be answerable to, its parts.

On his part, having demonstrated the great possibility of egalitarian rule in a modern polity, Awolowo assumed that, what can be described as “evidential form” of electoral politics, would ensure that he would become the prime minister of Nigeria at independence and replicate what he had done for the West in the rest of the country. As Awolowo marched to Lagos, they contrived to propose that he was marching on Lagos. In the attempt to neutralise him and violate the plurality of political ideology and culture in Nigeria, which he so ably represented, they decided to “capture” his base. Evidently, they had local collaborators who were ready to facilitate this.

There were two things that followed which precipitated a crisis for the country, a crisis

was when upon discovering ‘that Emirs and NPC Ministers were shameless in showing electoral officers and particularly NA officials the path to future favours’ during the 1964 election. This was to be mere rehearsals for the massive rigging and sundry subversion of the wishes of the electorate during the 1965 election in the west. Dr Majekodunmi, ever loyal to his friend, just as in 1964 during the constitutional crisis when he had appealed to Balewa for a preemptive action, in 1965 when the people of the west insisted those who sow the wind must reap the whirlwind, he was appealing to Balewa not for declaration of state of emergency which was what was needed most but the deployment of the military for the pacification of the west, a decision delayed because of Sadauna’s trip to Saudi Arabia.

If Balewa had as much passion for his friend, we would never know because of the hawks that surrounded him. The Lagos Health project he spearheaded for Lagos workers was derailed because Balewa said he did not think it was of national importance while Ribadu said it was due to opposition by the northern back benchers who were not favourably disposed to more money being spent on Lagos.

History is often as compiled by the privileged. But the Yoruba has reasons to be proud of the achievements of Dr. Moses Majekodunmi, their illustrious son. At least he was able to exploit to his personal advantage his loyalty to Balewa and the hegemonic ruling class in the north, which to a predatory fortune seekers looking for a foot hold, was a small price. He became a minister in the first republic, an administrator during the battle for emasculation of AG and pacification of the ‘wild, wild west’ and a minister after the controversial 1964 election. It is also on record, he established one of the best hospitals in Nigeria where the privileged class can get the best health services money can buy. What else can a people ask of an illustrious son?

‘Intimidated by the sage’s awe, all of them engaged in sycophancy. But the sage was never deceived. Alive, he had confided in close friends that he could see through some of those that surrounded him’ which remains fundamentally unresolved till today. One was the attempt to kill the messenger by physically and/or politically annihilating him (Awolowo). This was what led to the phantom treason charge - which was amended to treasonable felony when they realized that they could not get away with “legally” executing the man. As he was matched off to jail, Awolowo’s would-be executioners were consumed by the pyre they had set up to fry their number one enemy.

The primus poet, Christopher Okigbo, who in his poem describes Awolowo as “lionhearted cedar forest, gonads for our thunder”, had predicted the coming of “Thunder” - to sweep away the shenanigans of the dominant political coalition that held Nigeria under its sway in the immediate post-independence era.

In his six poems that make up “Path of Thunder”, Okigbo not only predicted the coming of “thunder” (“Come Thunder”), and celebrated its coming (“Hurray for Thunder” and “Thunder can Break”), but he also warned about the dangers to “Thunder” itself (“Elergy for Alto”).

After “Thunder” came, unfortunately, Nigeria entered another phase in the violent “conversation” with Awo – even while he was in jail. What followed was a puerile and pathetic attempt to “overthrow” the fundamental doctrine of political organization which he preached: federalism; a system of government which had been embraced in principle by all sections of the country, even if not in a fundamental way.

In the post-January 1966 era, an otherwise mild-mannered and decent soldier, Major General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi, was fatally misadvised by some shadowy characters who lacked the capacity for strategic thinking and planning. The absurdity of the advice to change the system of government from federalism to unitarism was to become even more evident later, when a more politically-sophisticated, even if ruinous, political class in military uniform seized power, and, in the name of federalism, gradually turned Nigeria into a unitary state - one of the very reasons why they assassinated Ironsi.

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

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THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

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THE NATION

EDUCATION

THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

Website:- http://www.thenationonlineng.com

email:- education@thenationonlineng.com

Teachers in Ekiti State have risen against a planned assessment test by the government. The test, they say, is unnecessary. But the government is insisting on the test to determine their suitability to keep their jobs. SALAUDEEN SUILAMAN reports.

• From left: Secretary to Ekiti State Government, Dr. Ganiyu Owolabi, Mrs. Olayinka, Dr. Ajayi and Chairman, Ekiti State Teaching Service Commission, Chief Bayo Adeniran at the education stakeholders forum in Ado-Ekiti

Much ado about teachers’ test

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HE controversy was sparked by a planned assessment test.

In its determination to ensure excellence in its schools, the Ekiti State Government decided to test teachers. The assessment test, it said, would determine the suitability or otherwise of the teachers to retain their jobs. The Teachers Development Needs Assessment Test (TDNA) was billed for last Friday.

But it has been postponed till next month following the teachers’ reaction to it.

As things stand now, it is uncertain whether the test will still hold.

The government which is insisting on the test, said it is the test was the only way to gauge teachers’ competence that they can facilitate attainment of set targets arising from the Eight-Point Agenda of the Kayode Fayemi administration, one of which centres on quality education provision.

The government’s action drew the ire of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS).

They objected to what they described as a ploy to humiliate the teachers and rubbish them before their pupils.

While admitting that there rot in the sector, the teachers said the problem could be tackled in a different way apart from making the teachers write a ‘humiliating’ test.

The test is for us to fix the rot and not to destroy anybody’s career, and intended as a first step to bringing back the lost glory of education in Ekiti - Govt They said they would not have objected if it were to be only a promotion examination which states like Oyo, Ogun, Lagos and Osun had made their teachers write and on which the teachers’ promotion would be based.

So, it is both a problem of ‘nomenclature’ (name), and the suspected intent behind the examination.

Following the stalemate, rather than the TDNA test last Friday, an all-encompassing stakeholders forum was convened at the Jibowu Hall, Government House Complex, Ado-Ekiti.

The forum was attended by the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Funmilayo Olayinka; Commissioner for Edu-

Rather than subject teachers to Needs Assessment test, government should be kind enough to make the teachers undergo trainings to enhance professionalism and competence - Teachers

cation, Science and Technology, Dr. Eniola Ajayi; Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Alhaji Ayodele Jinadu; Provost, College of Education, Prof Fransisca Aladejana; Vice Chancellor, Ekiti State University, Prof. Patrick Aina; and Chairman, Ekiti State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).

Others were representatives of Parent-Teacher Association Executives in the state; the NUT executives led by Chief Wale Oyeniyi, Assistant Secretary General (NUT); ASUSS Exco led by Comrade Sola Adiguun; and Tutors-General for the state. Both the Ajero of Ijero Ekiti, Oba Joseph Adewole and Alaaye of Efon, Oba Emanuel Aladejare led other monarchs to the forum.

INSIDE •OYO YET TO ACCESS OVER N1B UBEC FUNDS: MINISTER

The forum was to clarify the government’s position on the examination and possibly secure the teachers’ consent on the conduct of the test.

Mrs Olayinka said the government was bothered by the dwindling fortunes of education in a state that once prided itself as being the Fountain of Knowledge.

Appealing to the stakeholders, especially members of the ParentTeacher Association, NUT, ASUSS and allied unions to join hands with the government to address the rot in the education sector, Mrs. Olayinka said the government would not fail to enact any law to ensure that it continued to be the model for other states in the attainment of the highest possible stan-

dards in education.

She told the teachers that the competency test must not be seen as a scheme to punish or sack anyone, but a means of identifying need areas for teachers.

Government, she said, was determined to provide functional and qualitative education, adding that the test “is for us to fix the rot and not to destroy anybody’s career, and intended as a first step to bring back the lost glory of education in Ekiti.”

The deputy governor said: “The whole audience should agree that so many things are wrong with education in the state that government has been trying to fix.”

Mrs Olayinka appeared to strike the right cord when she observed that the controversy over the test bordered on the appropriate modality for fixing existing problems in education.

She promised the government would look into the issues and find lasting solutions that would go down well with the teachers.

In her presentation, Dr. Ajayi said the TDNA is a means of quality control aimed at bringing improving to the education.

According to her, TDNA will also offer the ministry an opportunity for strategic training and capacity building for the teachers, as well • Continued on page 26

- Page 27 •POLICE VARSITY TAKES OFF SEPT. - Page 37

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EDUCATION

Provost flays use of rituals, charms in tertiary institutions

FUNAAB FILE

Outgoing VC bags award THE outgoing Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Prof Oluwafemi Olaiya Balogun, has been conferred the Most Enterprising Vice-Chancellor in Southwest, by the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) The ceremony took place at the King's Hall, Yewa Plaza, Abeokuta and was graced by the Paramount Ruler of Egbaland, Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, Okukenu IV; prominent Egba High Chiefs; representatives of FUNAAB community, CIIN leadership and members as well as veteran broadcaster and General Manager, Ogun State Television Station, Mr. Ayinde Soaga, among others.

The National President and Chairman of Council (CIIN), Dr. Julius Adetimehin, said the award was borne out of the genuine intention of the institute to honour Balogun for his unprecedented transformation of FUNAAB.

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HE Provost, Michael Otedola College of Primary Education (MOCPED) Noforija Epe Lagos State, Prof Olu Akeusola, has deplored the use of rituals and charms in higher institutions.

The practice, he said, negates the principle of intellectualism ivory towers are known for and exposes the nation's dirty linen to embarrassment before outsiders.

Tertiary institutions, he said, should be a prototype of transparency accountability intelligence, and good governance where other organisations can learn from.

Aside secret cults, which are mostly perpetrated by students, Akeusola noted that other forms of

By Adegunle Olugbamila

ritual practices in higher institutions are often seen within the leadership cadre, most especially bordering over power struggle.

Speaking at his country home in Epe shortly after his coronation as the Akogun of Epe land by HRH Oba Kamorudeen Ishola Animashaun on Saturday, the Akeusola, 50, and said it is about time administrators, particularly in public higher institutions redoubled their efforts as regards good and efficient t leadership, adding that problems are often generated between the management and staff when the former has openly failed to carry the latter along. This

kind of scenario, the professor of Comparative Grammar, added, is what results in the use of charms and double standard in the leader's bid to hold on to power by sheer force amid workers' disenchantment.

He lamented the series of rituals practices in the nation's ivory towers the recent being the Lagos State University (LASU) where management and workers were alleged to have engaged in attack and counter attacks through deployment of charms during the immediate past administration, and currently the University of Benin where a coffin was placed right in front of the office of the Bursar who was rumoured to be vying for a reap-

Council lauds varsity award THE Governing Council of FUNAAB has congratulated the university for bagging the award of the Best Educational Institute in Agriculture in Africa.

According to the Decision Extracts of the 69th Statutory Meeting of Council, signed by the Acting Registrar Secretary to Council, Mrs. Christiana Kuforiji, Council noted that the award was bestowed on the university by the Africa-India Partnership Summit/Le Matinal Educational Excellence Award, in conjunction with the World Educational Congress and the Asian Confederation of Businesses. Council noted that, FUNAAB, alongside the National Open University of Nigeria, American University, University of Nigeria and Adamawa State University were the few institutions in Nigeria which made the list for the Award.

Don becomes Council member OGUN State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun has appointed the Dean of the University's College of Natural Sciences (COLNAS), Prof Tope Popoola, as member, Governing Council of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), AgoIwoye.

Popoola's appointment came barely a month after he was voted as Senate Representative on the Governing Council of FUNAAB. Amosun, had on Thursday, April 5, this year inaugurated the Council and charged members to help rebuild the ailing university.

The Council, which has Dr. Segun Oshin as Chairman, is to serve a 4year term, from the date of its inauguration.

36th Inaugural Lecture holds THE 36th inaugural of the university at the Julius Amobi Okojie Lecture Theatre Complex has held.

Prof Babatunde Adewale Adewumi of the Department of Agricultural Engineering, College of Engineering (COLENG), delivered the lecture entitled: Transformation of food materials: Agro-food process engineering approach.

Adewumi, a Fellow of the Nigeria Society of Engineers(NSE), was recently honoured with the award of excellence and productivity by the Abeokuta branch of the NSE.

• From Right: Outgoing President, ANCOPSS, Chief Adeniyi Falade; incoming President, Hajia Fatima Abdulrahman and National Secretary, Chief Nwankwo Kelvin, at a briefing by ANCOPSS in Enugu

•Prof Akeusola

pointment.

Akeusola, who assumedduties as the fifth MOCPED Provost in August last year, said one important quality of a good leader is to quit the stage once his subjects say they no longer want him. In other words, any leader worth his onions should not chase appointments, adding that people would always beg such leader to stay or take other appointments because of their strong belief in the leader to turn things around.

"It is better for chief executives of higher institutions not to use double standard when there is agitation. Some of them resort to using external force out of wanton power to fight his domain.

'That aptly described the situation between the management and staff of LASU then. When the Vice-Chancellor secured second term and the staff rejected him, he introduced fraternity and juju, and the staff also responded by bringing in juju into the university too.

"But for me, the bottom-line of all these is bad leadership. If, as the Provost of MOCPED, I get to my office tomorrow and my people say they no longer want me, I quit immediately,” he said.

Responding to a question that taking up chieftaincy titles has now become a fad among academicians nowadays, Akeusola, himself a multiple chieftaincy title holders, sees nothing wrong in the practice.

Much ado about a planned teachers’ test •Continued from page 25

as become a basis for advising universities and colleges of education about training needs.

She recalled the steps so far taken by the government to reverse the dwindling fortunes of education in the state, starting with the stakeholders forum held early last year; which led to the re-articulation (merger) of junior and senior secondary school into one whole schools; the merger of the threestate owned universities and the distribution of free solar-powered laptops to students of secondary schools.

The commissioner described the planned examination for teachers as a global practice, adding that employers subject their employees to competency tests to know those who are promotable; reward high flyers and performers. To prove the necessity for the test, Dr. Ajayi displayed examination scripts of five primary school teachers who sat for promotion examination last year and performed poorly.

Such a disappointing performance, she said, left a lot to be desired, adding that every evidence regarding their lack of suitability as teachers was revealed on those scripts.

But the teachers bodies would have none of that!

Oyeniyi was livid at the commissioner’s display of the scripts of the five teachers, adding that action violated the International Labour Organisation’s law which says the professional integrity of any worker should be protected.

Oyeniyi explained that just five, who did not do well out of over 2000 teachers that sat for the promotion test, was not sufficient a reason that teachers in the state were not competent.

He said there is nothing like TDNA in states like Osun, Oyo and Ogun, noting that only promotion examination were applied on those qualified for promotion.

He said: “Rather than subject teachers to Needs Assessment test, government should be kind enough to make the teachers undergo trainings to enhance professionalism and competence.”

Similarly, the state Chairman of ASUSS, Comrade Shola Adigun, smelled rat on the intent behind the proposed test, saying it remained essentially unknown to the teachers.

He said the rumour that teachers are afraid of examination was unfounded, adding that if it is an examination meant to promote the

‘The whole audience should agree that so many things are wrong with education in the state that government has been trying to fix’

teachers, no one among the teachers would object to it.

The Ajero of Ijero, Oba Joseph Adewole, advised the government to be diplomatic in pressing ahead with the test, noting “if the teachers are saying they don’t want that which is good for them and for everyone, the government only needs to spare more time to explain i t b e t t e r t o t h e m . ” He said there was the need to find a suitable forum to discuss the issues, pointing out that the teachers might find the Government House somewhat constraining for baring their minds.The Alaaye o f E f o n , O b a E m a n u e l Aladejare, while underscoring the significances of the test, noted that the programme, “despite being good, it must be pursued peacefully.

What is the way out? Dr Ajayi said another meet i n g fixed o n May 3, to continue discussions.

Essence of TVC, by college provost

T

HE Acting Provost, Oyo State College of Agriculture,Igboora,Prof Gbemiga Adewale, has said technical and vocational education is important for self-employment, job creation and national development.

He spoke at the matriculation of students for the 2011/2012 academic session held at the college.

He noted that vocational and technical education contributes to the development of skilled and semiskilled manpower for national development as well as self-employment and poverty alleviation.

According to him, this is the type of education the college offers, which makes its products self-employed and employers of labour after graduation.

Prof Adewale urged the matriculating

students not to trivialise their training in agriculture, adding that they should avoid bad religious and social companies in their dealings.

He said the college has zero tolerance for examination malpractice and other social vices, and urged the students to avoid such acts.

He expressed appreciation to the Oyo State government for its commitment and dedication to the col-

lege.

The college was established in August 2006 for training youths to be self-employed and ensuring food sufficiency. It runs five programmes, including Animal Health and Production Technology; Fisheries Technology; Agricultural Technology; Home and Rural Economics Technology; and Agricultural and Bio-Environmental Engineering Technology.

27

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

EDUCATION

Oyo yet to access over N1b UBEC funds: minister From Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

•Wike

T

HE Minister of State for Education, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, has said the Oyo State government is yet to access the over N1 billion 2011 and 2012 Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) grant.

Breaking down the figure, Wike

said the grant for 2011 is N872, 527, 360. 70, while that of 2012 is N218, 131, 826. 67 million which, when added, total about N1, 90, 659, 136.9 billion.

"We have to use this opportunity to bring to your attention that you have funds with UBEC the 2011 fund which is N872, 527, 360. 70 and for 2012, N218, 131, 826. 67. That will total N1, 90, 659, 136, 9. We want to draw your attention to this. We believe that necessary machinery should be put in place to ensue that the funds are accessed.

Speaking in Ibadan when he paid a courtesy call on the Governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi

after inspecting the Almajiri Schools under construction by the Federal Government in Oyo town and Ibadan , Wike said it is for the benefit of the state government if the funds are accessed for the development of education in the state.

He added that efforts should be made to ensure that the funds are accessed with the view that it will help compliment President Goodluck Jonathan's efforts in improving the level of education in Nigeria.

On the issue of building the Almajiri schools, Wike told the governor that Mr. President is committed to eradicating the Almajiri syndrome in the country.

He said no state will be left out in

benefiting from the development of building the Almajiri schools.

Wike expressed satisfaction with the level of the ongoing school projects, which are three in Oyo State but frowned at the one in Elere, in Apata area in Ibadan which he said, is not properly constructed.

He immediately ordered that the building be stopped and called the contractor to put some things in place to ensure standard.

His words: "When President Goodluck Jonathan was campaigning, he promised to build Almajiri schools. We were satisfied with the level of the ongoing work in Oyo town but we are not quite happy with that of Elere, in Apata, Ibadan which we have ordered the contrac-

tor to stop work and revisit the level of construction which is not to our taste. This is the first state we are visiting in the Southwest.

In his response Gov Ajimobi, commended President Jonathan for his commitment to building the Almajiri schools to be enjoyed by all the state. He noted that with the building of the Almajiri School the problem of Almajiri will be solved and it will also help reduced insecurity in the country.

Ajimobi promised to put machinery in place by next week to access the UBEC funds for the state.

His words: "You have made a big deposit in our education sector by giving us three Almajiri schools. I am happy that you and your team came to inspect the ongoing school project and the royal fathers too are very proud of you and President Goodluck Jonathan. As regards UBEC funds, I can assure you that by next week, we will facilitate the collection of the money."

EBSU students hold judges, magistrates, journalists hostage

S

TUDENTS of Ebonyi State University Abakaliki on Monday held judges, magistrates, judiciary workers, journalists and other visitors to the Ebonyi State judiciary complex hostage for over one hour following the earlier refusal of bail application made by counsels to the students Mr Onyeka Nwaebonyi to the trail Magistrate, Mr Job Orude.

The 14 students,who were arrested on Friday last week during a peaceful protest over alleged poor facilities in the institution, were arraigned in the magistrate court 1 on a four-count charge of attempted felony and assault on one Joseph Okechi of the Ebonyi State Command of the State Security Service SSS. Trouble started when the Students' Union Government of the Institution and the school management through the counsel to the students Mr. Onyeka Nwaebonyi, approached the court for the withdrawal of the matter from the court which the Police Prosecuting Inspector Chibuzo Okechukwu objected to.

The trail magistrate in his ruling after argument and counter argument from the prosecuting and the defence counsels, on ground of se-

•From left; Managing Director, BD Consult Limited Mr Tola Bademosi, Managing Director Dufil Prima Foods Plc, Mr Deepak Siughad, Public Relations Manager, Indomie, Mr Tope Ashiwaju and Brand Manager Indomie, Mr Nanpreet Sigh, at the Press conference on the 5th Edition of Indomie Heroes Award in Lagos.

PHOTO: BOLA OMILABU From Ogbonnaya Obinna, Abakaliki

curity, ordered that the students be remanded in the Abakaliki Prison and adjourned sitting till tomorrow.

Students numbering over 1000 immediately besieged the Ebonyi State Judiciary complex blocking the three entrances leading into the complex for hours while the ever busy Ogoja, town planning and part of Waterworks road were also blocked by the students with woods and collapsed street light polls.

The students also prevented both judiciary workers and other visitors from gaining entrance or exit from the court while the students ordered to be remanded in prison were also held inside the courtroom while the protest lasted.

As the protest lasted mobile policemen cordoned off the Government House with vehicular movement being disrupted along the government house gate.

The President of the National Association of Nigeria Students NANS Ebonyi State Chapter, Comrade Malaki Nnaji, said it is unlawful for students who engage in a

peaceful protest to be arrested and arraigned in court by the police.

"It has never been heard of in the history of Nigeria that students were arrested, detained for two days, arraigned and remanded in prison custody for a participating in a peaceful protest over poor facilities in the institution. We, the Students' Union body, made frantic effort to get the students released by the police but all our effort proved abortive."

"We were surprised this morning to hear that the students have been arraigned and remanded in prison custody. We had to

mobilise other students in solidarity and we will not leave here until the students are released unconditionally".

Another mild drama ensued in the court at about 3.30pm, when the trial Magistrate, Mr. Job Orude called for the reconvening of sitting on the matter. The Police Prosecutor Inspector Chibuzo Okechukwu informed the court that the police have decided to withdraw the matter, leading to the discharging the students unconditionally by Orude after the application made by the prosecuting counsel.

LearnAfrica visits Lagos edu. commissioner HE Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, has charged the management of LearnAfrica to seek ways of partnering with the state government in its pursuit of providing high quality education to the people of Lagos State.

She said this during the courtesy visit paid to her by the management of LearnAfrica, a publishing firm formerly known as Longman Plc. Mrs Oladunjoye congratulated the company on its ability to survive the divestment by its foreign partners. She implored the company to improve on its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as its contribution towards the development of the state educationally, and as a responsible social entity that is responsible. She wished the outfit well in its future endeavours.

In his remark, the outfit Executive Director, Sales and Marketing, Mr. Oladipo Olusegun, said LearnAfrica, which is currently 100 per cent Nigerian, will very soon be on the stock market as a Public Liability Company.

Olusegun thanked the commissioner for the opportunity to serve Lagos State and promised quality products and prompt delivery.

Mrs. Omolara Erogbogbo, a Permanent Secretary in the ministry, also implored the company to improve on its partnership with the ministry as a way of appreciating the state government's patronage so far.

T

• From left: Trustees(BMF), Bolanle Marinho Foundation Mrs. Adepeju Marinho; Headmistress, Hope Primary School, Mrs. Abibu Modupe; Education Secretary, Eti-Osa Local Government Education Authority, Lagos State, Mr Taiwo Lukmon; Trustee, BMF, Mrs Justina Emanuel and Chairman, Board of Trustees, Chief Olanrewaju Emanuel, during a presentation of play-ground to Hope and Ireti Primary Schools, Ikoyi, in Lagos.

28

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

EDUCATION LASU FILE

Information on varsity vehicles THE management has asked all senior members of staff of the university who have official vehicles (Kia, Chevrolet and Toyota brands etc) should give information on the vehicles to the office of the DVC (Administration).

In a circular, it said: “This is to ensure adequate documentation, proper maintenance and fastrack the servicing of such vehicles as at when due. It will also curb excessive cost incurred when the vehicles are taken for servicing.

“Information on the vehicles should carry the name of the officer, his/her designation, and vehicle particulars.

“It should also carry the vehicle registration number, brand, colour, year of purchase, state of the vehicle, location of the vehicle.”

Agric varsity offers special admission to families of victims

ICE-CHANCELLOR of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Prof Daniel Uza, has said the institution would offer special admission to applicants from the families of those who lost members when St. Roberts Church, Adamgbe collapsed.

He spoke when he led the management of the university to pay a condolence visit to the parish priest of the church, Rev. Fr. Cosmas Jooli, at Adamgbe in Vandeikya Local Government Area of Benue State.

He said though admission into

V

From Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

the institution was very competitive, he would ensure that applicants from the families who possess the minimum qualification and wish to study at the university would be given special consideration.

According to him, the initiative is to reduce the pain of the loss of loved ones as well as secure the future of the families who lost

mostly young people in the agrarian community.

On the tragedy, he said God has said: ''My children come home I have a place for you,'' pointing out that the fact that they died in the bosom of the Lord should be consolation to all.

He attributed the deaths to the will of God and said without His approval, nothing of that nature could have occurred.

The parish priest, Rev. Fr. Jooli

conducted the delegation from the university round the collapsed church and explained how it happened.

He also took them to the site where the affected parishioners were buried, stressing that two separate families lost a wife and child.

Rev. Fr. Jooli promised to convey the condolence message and the promise of the university to the families.

But St. Roberts, Adamgbe collapsed on Easter Sunday leaving some dead and several others injured.

1,200 unemployed graduates acquire skills in barbing, others

T

HE wife of the Ogun State governor Mrs Olufunso Amosun is offering free training in barbing, shoe making, hall decoration and necklace/ bead making for unemployed graduates.

Other areas are adire/fabric

From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

beading, hat making, make -up/ gele, manicure/pedicure/nails and small chops/pastry.

Inspecting some of the finished works of the trainees at the Government House, Valley View,

Abeokuta, Mrs Amosun said she was impressed with the "daily attendance to training, the enthusiasm and skills so far gained by the beneficiaries."

The First lady noted that the programme would be a regular thing, adding that the trainings

may be diversified.

She pointed it out that the skills acquired would help the beneficiaries "earn a living," adding that they may be given some support to enable them put to economic use, the skills acquired.

Varsity revalidates studentship MANAGEMENT of the Lagos State University has asked for a compulsory online revalidation of studentship by all students of the institution’s external system.

The procedure for the revalidation, which is compulsory for all students that have not been graduated by the university as at April 1, include, visiting the university website on www.lasu.edu.ng; clicking LASUES on the navigation pane; and then clicking on revalidate.

After clicking on revalidate, a new web page will be displayed where the student will be required to select his/her campus and click on submit.

This takes a student to a new page where he/she will be required to provide passport photograph (not more than 20kb in JPeg format), surname, first name, middle name, sex, date of birth, marital status, nationality, state of origin, contact address, phone number, e-mail address etc.

The university thereby warned that failure by students to do so on or before April 30th will lead to automatic forfeiture of studentship.

For history students 2000,2001,2003 sets Students of the history department 2000, 2001, 2003 sets, are expected to download their updated profiles which is now available at www.lasunigeria.org/ result_external Students are also expected to complete a complaint form at Festac campus and attach relevant documents where available.

The form should be submitted to the Assistant Director, Festac campus. E-mail can also be sent to adrdpu@lasunigeria.org. The institutions will not accept attachment for mails.

• Mrs. Fayokun cutting the ribbon to open the laboratory donated by Agunsoye. From Left: Dr. Ola, Mr. Kalajaiye, Agunsoye's wife, Olayinka, Agunsoye and Mrs. Gbadegesin.

A

Ex-commissioner donates lab to alma mater

FORMER pupil of Mount Olivet Grammar School, Bodija, Ibadan, Prince Rotimi Agunsoye, has donated a chemistry laboratory with modern equipment to the school.

Agunsoye, the immediate past Commissioner for Local Government Affairs and Chieftaincy Titles in Lagos State, attended the school between 1980 and 1983, before proceeding to study Chemistry at the University of Ibadan. The inauguration of the lab last Friday was part of events that marked his 50th birthday.

The celebrant was accompanied by his wife, Olayinka, to the event which was attended by the Oyo State Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Adetokunbo Fayoku. Others were Majority Leader, Lagos House

By Wale Ajetunmobi

of Assembly, Hon. Jiboye Adeyeye; Ibadan North Local Government Chairman, Hon. Idris Lapade; former Special Assistant to Lagos State Governor, Mr. Paul Kalejaiye; Principal, Mount Olivet Grammar School, Mrs. Abimbola Gbadegesin; President of 1978 class, Dr. Gbenga Ola and representatives of Elegboro of Ijebu Ijesha, Oba Taiwo Aribisala.

Clad in white top and a pair of brown trousers with a backpack firmly strapped to his back and a pair of brown 'school-boy' sandal, the former commissioner nearly melted with the pupils in his school uniform.

Agunsoye said he would not have achieved much in life without his educational stint at the school. He noted that through the commitment

of his teachers, he was able to secure the future.

He said: "This is why I have come today to celebrate with the pupils of my alma mater and to give back to the community here by donating a chemistry laboratory of international standard, where students who offer chemistry can learn the subject through modern equipment and method."

Agunsoye added: "This is a challenge for everybody, especially people in government at the federal level. It is true that the kind of education we received in our time is not the same with what is being taught today. Quality education is key to national development. In as much as I urge the Federal Government to increase funding of our education sector, I implore all well-to-do people

among us to return to our alma mater and give back to the community."

He advised the pupils not to relent in their academic pursuit, saying enthusiasm, desire and striving for academic success were the factors that contributed to students' achievements.

Commending Agunsoye for the gesture, Gbadegesin noted that it was the first time an old pupil of the school would donate such edifice to it.

He said: "Agunsoye is leaving an indelible imprint in the memory of the pupils, staff, parents and the citizen of the state through his benevolence to Mount Olivet Grammar School."

She urged other well-heeled former pus to emulate the gesture and make the school a shining star in the country.

NANS warns enemies of fuel subsidy probe

T

HE National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has given its full backing on report by the House of Representatives Committee on Fuel Subsidy.

In a statement signed by its President Comrade Dauda Muhammed, NANS expressed surprise at the 'huge amount of fund stolen under the fuel subsidy administration' as revealed by the committee led by Farouq Lawan.

The startling revelations,

By Medinat Kanabe

Muhammed stressed, justified President Goodluck Jonathan's position that it is only a few Nigerians which are the real beneficiary of the huge sums The student pressure group, however, warned that it would not fold its hands should some unscrupulous elements scheming to frustrate the ongoing probe.

Said NANS: "We want to warn against any further attempt to

frustrate the eventual conclusion of the process of the probe.

“We are assuring the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal of the total support of Nigerian students in the course of their patriotic assignment. We also advise the Nigeria judiciary against being used to thwart the ongoing process by some desperate oil marketers who are major beneficiaries of the oil subsidy scam. We shall not hesitate to use all legitimate means

to stop their operation should they go any further in interfering in the ongoing process.

"We also want to challenge the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to as a matter of urgent national importance, to take a critical look at the report of the Farouq Lawan led committee in order to commence proper investigation and necessary prosecution of anyone found to have been genuinely indicted by the report."

• Muhammed

29

EBSU boils again

Death in the pool

Page 34

Page 31

*CAMPUSES *NEWS *PEOPLE *KUDOS& KNOCKS *GRANTS

THE NATION

CAMPUS LIFE 0805-450-3104 email: ladycampus@yahoo.com THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

Website:- http://www.thenationonlineng.net

email:- campuslife@thenationonlineng.net

Until the storm destroyed old STAAC, it sheltered students of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Imo State. CHISOM OJUKWU (500-Level Chemical Engineering), TOMBARI AKPE (500-Level Mechanical Engineering) and ALEXMARY ONUKWUE (400-Level Environmental Technology) relive the incident.

•A students’ lodge with the roof blown off by the storm. Inset are some local youths who erected barricades with fallen electric poles to extort money from motorists and cyclists

Storm T destroys students’ ‘shelter’

HEY always sought refuge in the old structure. And they were there that day, chatting and having a nice time when the rain started. They were not bothered because they thought Old STACC, as the building is called, would withstand the storm. They were mistaken.

At the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Imo State, Old STACC is much loved by the students. An old structure of aluminum roofing sheets held together by sturdy wooden stilts, it used to be the main worship centre for St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Chaplaincy (STACC), from which it derived its name.

This was until three years ago when the main church building was completed. Since then, Old STACC has served largely as a multipurpose hall for meetings, studies and shelter from harsh weather, the kind that was witnessed at about 4.30pm on April 12.

Members of the Chaplaincy Student Harvest Committee were having a meeting. They be-

came restive as the rain that had become a storm raged. Their fear was justified as shortly things took a bad turn.

Rita Okeke, an eye witness, told CAMPUSLIFE: “A plastic chair ‘flew’ from the left side of the altar towards the centre as if to join us in escaping the rain. Almost immediately, a huge mass of water and wind rose and attacked us from that same direction. Then Old STACC started falling. That was when we realised the music had changed and started running. The roof fell in less than five seconds so, we couldn’t get far.

I tried to hold up the roof beam from falling on me but it was too heavy; I was even lucky that the stick (roof beam) didn’t fall on me. I just stayed there in the darkness with some other students until somebody broke the roof and pulled us out”.

The collapse started from the sides, cutting off the exits as escape routes. The centre, however, held. It was the vacuum created by this domelike centre of the roof that created openings for

“cut-outs”. It was still raining heavily; but who cared? The aluminum roofs were torn open with bare hands to shed light into the darkness and create exits for those trapped.

A similar drama was playing out in some of he hostel.

A few metres away, Gift Onyekwere (200Level Biomedical Technology) sat studying her note on Human Anatomy in Room 323 of the female hostel, Hall C. When the storm grew worse, she, together with her roommates, gathered in her corner. They were huddled together, scared and half-heartedly joking about the impending “Apocalypse” when the ceiling opened, raining water and debris on them.

“We all screamed and ran,” Gift recounted. “I tried to save my books and mattress from the water but a big stone fell through the open roof and hit my leg. I left the books and tried to run •Continued on page 31

•Medical students offer free check-up - P32 •N30,000 vanishes in library - P33

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

30

CAMPUS LIFE

Portrait of our leader

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HAT makes a person want to follow a leader? People want to be guided by those they respect and who have a clear sense of direction. Respect is earned. When it is earned, it is then commanded. It is not something anyone can commandeer to himself or herself. For a leader to gain respect, he or she must be ethical. In other words, he must be fair, decent and principled. For the sense of direction to be achieved, the leader must be able to convey a strong vision of the future.

In a topic I called “Dealing with our ‘trouble’” last week, I stated that it was the introduction of a series in which I’d attempt to prod our consciences to start early to build the portrait of the leaders we will vote for in 2015. This, I added, would entail using our heads, no longer our pockets (greed), hearts (sentiments) and stomachs (poverty mentality) to decide our leaders. Leaders here include the governors and the lawmakers, not just the President.

Like novelist Chinua Achebe did in his The Trouble with Nigeria in 1983, my aim is to challenge our resignation to the seemingly neverending rot and inspire us to reject old habits which have kept the nation underdeveloped.

Respect and a clear sense of direction are two irresistible attributes in a leader. People naturally gravitate towards such persons. Let us take the number one citizen in the country today, President Goodluck Jonathan, as an example.

Before I go further, let me make this clarification, I will be using Jonathan a lot as a case study, not for any personal reason but for the fact that he is the President today. This was what I told the PRO of a polytechnic recently when I learnt his Rector was livid that her photograph was used in a story that happened outside the institution even though it had to do with her students. I explained to the man that the fact that students of the institution which she administers were affected meant she was affected. That is part of the burden of

Pushing Out

he’s put her in the family way or some other such incriminating incident – the lady ends up enduring the marriage. This is because she was not the man’s choice. He’s rarely bothered about her wellbeing; he’s merely interested in what he could get out of her. The woman, in turn, does not with respect him. Once she understands the situation, and knowing she can do nothing to change the man, she turns her attention to her children and 08054503104 waits prayerfully for the day they (SMS only) would grow up and change her life for good.

•campuslife@thenationonlineng.net This, one can say, is exactly how it •ladycampus@yahoo.com is between an “unwilling president” being a public servant. In the Bible, Job told his and a nation, as we have had these past 13 wife that they should learn to take both the years. Just as the man comes up with some good and the bad from God. “games” whenever he needs to sleep with Disrobed of the garb of governor or presi- his wife or get any favour from her, each of dent, does the man Jonathan command respect our “unwilling” presidents has made us in himself? The answer is “No”. He has been promises of heaven on earth every now and severally described by the local and interna- then, especially at election times. Perhaps the tional media as “simple”, “timid”, “indecisive”, most unfortunate thing about these “games” “self effacing”, etc. Juxtapose these words with is this: they know they are playing games; those that have been used to describe the cur- we know they are playing games; they know rent leader of Britain’s Labour Party, Ed we know they are not serious; we know they Miliband. These include “sure”, “cocky”, “ag- know we know they are not serious. Any gressive”, “in-your-face”, etc. Like in Nigeria, wonder we of our own have coined these elections are still a while away in Britain, but words for the ruling People’s Democratic just as the moves have started here, so they Party (PDP) – Papas Deceiving Pikins, People have started there.

Defrauding People, Power Delinquent Party Nigerians regained the right to decide their and so on? leaders in 1999, but since then, all the three Pray, what makes anyone expect that things presidents we have had and most of the gover- would change for the better when the people nors were men we were told “did not want” who have been presented to us do not as the offices. Yet, we “dragged” them out of their much as inspire confidence not to talk of comshells and forced them on the seat! What manding our respect? Thus, like the spurned more, when they are criticised, what one usu- wife, we must look to “our children” for the ally hears is that it was not their fault as they good life we desire. Our “children” here refers never wanted the responsibility. to those men and women who have lived with The pact between a leader and the people us all these years, who have experienced our can be likened to that between a husband pains and shame, and who have shown in those and wife. Men are rarely forced to marry their smaller responsibilities they have handled that wives. Even in societies where marriages are they have the seed in them to take us to the arranged, it is rare that the woman is forced better life. Our “children” are those Nigerians on the man; what we usually see is the oppo- who have earned our respect in the way they site – where in some instances the bride is had carried out previous responsibilities. By physically bundled to her husband’s house so doing, they inspire us to heights hitherto (as happened to my grand aunt)! only imagined.

In cases where the man is forced to marry a We see this severally in the Bible. David was particular woman – usually happens when chosen by God to lead Israel after he had shown

Ngozi Agbo

great diligence in caring for his father’s sheep. As a shepherd, he was fearless (to be in the bush alone with the animals), kind (lovingly caring for them and feeding them) and courageous (bravely facing a lion and a bear at different times to save the sheep). In the New Testament’s parable of the talents, we see two of the three servants who so utilised the little talents their master gave them such that these were multiplied. The master called them “faithful and trustworthy servants”. David and these unnamed servants earned God’s respect by the way they carried out smaller responsibilities. That is a principle that still holds true today.

Next to respect is our need for a leader who has a clear sense of direction. Like I already wrote, for this direction to be achieved, the leader must be able to convey a strong vision of the future. Jonathan told us of a “transformation agenda” during the 2011 campaigns. About five months after he was sworn in, he said he did not make specific promises, as he was interested in “all round development”. That serves us right, you’d say! Yes, there is still talk of the transformation agenda but none of us can pretend to anything near a “strong vision of the future”. We did not have it during the campaigns; we do not have it today.

The recourse of our leaders, when it suits them, to ask us to pray for them to succeed is at best cheap blackmail. Any praying Christian knows that one of the keys to getting answers to prayers is to be specific. With a nebulous “transformation agenda”, what exactly am I supposed to ask God to do?

What is that hard in a president giving us a clear thrust of his administration as well as realistic timelines (which must be relayed during the campaigns)? We need something that can, again, inspire us to hope for something (forgive the tautology).

With all the failings of the NPN-led government of the Second Republic, and they are many, the party had housing as a major thrust. Today, scattered across the 19 cities that make up the then state capitals, we still have the “Shagari-low cost housing estates”.

This is just an example; and that from a widely agreed “failed democratic experiment”.

Ciao

‘Management should reconsider this ban’

‘High fees forcing our students to withdraw’

Anthony Amawu is president of the proscribed University of Calabar (UNICAL) Students’ Union Government (SUG). He told EMMANUEL SHEBBS (500-Level Political Science) that the reasons given for the ban are insufficient.

FTER about seven months in they got. We are all humans and are

Sulaimon Adeola is the president of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Distant Learning Institute Student Association (DLISA).

He speaks with IDRIS AKINPELU (300-Level Business Administration).

A

office, how would you evaluate your government?

My government was chronicled with a lot of upheavals, especially between the parliament and the executive. But then, we have a lot to smile at. We have moved for the purchase of 1,000 KVA generator for the hostels. We pressed for the enhancement of the Students Insurance Welfare Scheme which is now paying grants to students who are victims of unfortunate incidents on campus. We have the water project in Malabo which has already been completed with three tanks. Also, we succeeded in ensuring the tiling of the common lodges. We installed a public address system which we connected to all hostels; you can stay in one and address students in all the hostels. We have equally proposed the building of new hostels which I know the management will bring to reality.

Last August 26 and 27, there was a violent students’ protest. What do you have to say about that?

The incident of August 26 was, indeed, an ugly one. No one smiled at the end of the day. It can be likened to the biblical parable where a sower worked on his farm in the day time, then, at night, the enemy came to sow tares. But then, at the point of harvest, it was recorded that the master of the vineyard came to separate them from the good ones. It was like a thief coming at an hour we didn’t really expect. Some uninformed students acted based on the misinformation

limited in knowledge. We leave the whole thing to God because He knows better.

Before the riot, two students were killed. What has your government done to condole with their families?

We understand that, at the time, there were some security challenges on campus. First, we have to thank the VC for his doggedness in fighting those issues. For the families of those who died, the family of Daniel Usuah, got compensation from the SUG. Before we were dissolved, we had informed the Department President of the second victim, Chima Agbai, to bring evidence of studentship to us.

This, we will present before the necessary authorities to make sure that the necessary grants are given. I also use this medium to condole with the Usuah and Agbai families. I pray that God should grant them the fortitude to bear the losses.

Your government was recently proscribed. What is your reaction?

Whenever something happens, people will want to point accusing fingers. But we have tried our best to make sure that even if the management wants to take decision in that very regard, it should be in line with the tenets of true democracy. It should ensure that the decision is in line with the interests of our students. It should equally show us that we have a hope of utilising the good benefits of negotiation rather than violence. This is what we have been trying to let everyone understand. The fact that

P •Anthony

some students took over the school that August and unleashed mayhem is not enough to ban the SUG. It is not in the interest of the staff and the students.

We have been trying to put it across that we have been unjustly punished.

We are still dialoguing with the management. We are hopeful that in the next senate meeting, something will be done about it. We know that the decision was taken with anger considering the damage then. It is a hasty generalisation but we still believe that something will be done about it.

We have written several letters and equally held meetings with the management. One of such meetings was in the SSS office here in Calabar. We shared our regrets about the whole thing. We stated our position and the management gave us its own conditions after which all of us smiled. It was a situation between parents and children. We have equally written to some other authorities to make sure that this thing is reconciled soonest.

As the proscription is the decision of the school senate, don’t you think •Continued on page 31

LEASE describe your tenure thus far.

Peaceful, though tasking.

That, I guess, is to be expected when one is trying to carry many people along. My focus, however, has been on welfare and dissemination of information, encouraging students to put in their best in their academics and working to orientate members properly on the DLI programme.

How far have you pursued the realisation of your promises?

We have achieved some. We are putting in everything we have to ensure that, before the end of our tenure, we shall achieve the rest. However, we could not succeed in one of our promises which is reduction of school fees. School fee is under the regulation of the council and unlike the full-time programmes, DLI fee is not subsidised. It’s more of a private programme created to give room for those willing to have B.Sc but could not as a result of various factors. The fees are fixed and subject to review by the university council. We hope to have a breakthrough as some of our students are pulling out due to the last increment of fees last session.

What are the areas of focus of this administration this new session?

The focus is still on welfare, particularly as it concerns hostels and class rooms. We need to ensure that our students who need accommodation get; also that we have enough classrooms for our lectures, not having to run helter-skelter.

What are your challenges?

•Sulaimon

The major challenge is really what I have said earlier – getting the school fees reduced. I consider it the major one because it is impacting negatively on our students who because they are training themselves and do not earn much where they are working are being forced to withdraw.

There are even those who have no jobs; it is worse for this class.

Is it true that DLI management has influence in who becomes the president?

The DLI management can only wish we have a good president but student activities and unionism are functions of the Students’ Affair unit.

In whatever way, DLI management doesn’t have influence on who becomes the president of DLISA.

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

31

CAMPUS LIFE

Death in the pool Lawi Chibege Danjuma, a Law graduate of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, was the overall best student at the Law School. He died two months after he was called to the Bar. MOHAMMED ALABI (NYSC member, Lagos, and colleague at the Nigerian Law School, Enugu) remembers their days in Enugu.

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HE time you won your town the race; We cheered you through the market-place Man and boy stood cheering by, And home we brought you shoulderhigh Today, the road all runner come, Shoulder-high we bring you home, And set you at your threshold Smart lad, the slip betimes away From fields where glory does not stay And early though the laurel grow It withers quicker than the rose.

Alfred Edward Housman in To an Athlete Dying Young wrote the above lines, decades ago. The everlasting

•The late Lawi displaying his plaque on February 14

message became clearer when Lawi Chibege Danjuma, a brilliant budding lawyer and the Overall Best Student at the February 14 call-tobar of the Nigerian Law School, died in Abuja less than two weeks ago.

Lawi drowned at a pool where he had gone, with friends, to get some respite, perhaps, from the rigours of office work.

When Lawi was named the Overall Best Graduating student in 2009

by the Faculty of Law, the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, little did his peers know that he was going to replicate the same feat (if not higher) at the Nigerian Law School.

True to type, Lawi showed the stuff he was made of at the Enugu Campus. He was vibrant in class, classy in outfit, savvy in outlook and exceptionally nice in his relationship with mates.

Despite the rigours of academics at the Law School, Lawi had time

for students’ politics. He was the General Secretary of the Students Representative Council. He participated actively in the Law Clinic Department, rendering legal services free to the residents of Agbani community and environs and went ahead to become the Judge in a Moot Court competition.

Those were however a fraction of his versatility at the Law School.

The height was when he became the cynosure of all eyes at the Callto-Bar. He stole the show when he not only bagged the Overall Best Student title but also carted away seven of the 10 awards for outstanding graduates. Lawi got standing ovations, including a special commentary by the Chief Justice of the Federation and the compeer.

Notably, the ABU graduate received the Second Best Student in Civil Law award; the Third Best Student in Civil and Criminal Litigation award; the Best Male student of the Year award; three awards for Best Overall Student of the Year from three donors and the star prize from the Council of Legal Education.

Unfortunately, however, like Thomas Gray’s scholars now buried beneath the earth surface, all that seem to be history today as the young lawyer from Adamawa State caved in to death on April 13 in Abuja, in a freak accident at the pool. Lawi has since been buried in his home town, Guyuk Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

In a chat with some of his ABU and Law School mates, CAMPUSLIFE gathered that it has been a week of mourning for the family and friends.

To one of his Law School colleagues, who simply identified himself as Ola, and under whose SRC Presidency Lawi served, the news of his friend’s death came as a shock. He asserted that he had spoken with Lawi shortly before he left for the pool so he couldn’t easily come to terms with the news.

Ola was his closest ally then at the Law School. Not only were they in

Storm destroys old church

‘Management should reconsider this ban’

•Continued from page 29

but another one (stone) fell on my back.”

Gift managed to race back to her roommates who were then gathered at the room’s entrance.

In Room 322, it was the same thing, but on a milder scale. A final year student of BioChemistry, Chioma Achugonye, was loosening her braids as the storm raged beyond her shut louvres and drawn curtains. “It was so heavy and windy,” Chioma recalled, “and I remember thinking that it was strong enough to yank off the roof of a building. The next thing I heard was a loud noise. Before I could make anything of the noise, torrents of water rained down on me”.

She and her roommates tried to keep the still raging rain out of their wardrobes with brooms but the force of the storm was so much that they soon abandoned the task and concentrated on retrieving whatever of their valuables they could. They joked while doing this, laughing and teasing each other. “We thought it was fun,” Chioma said.

Back at Old STACC, however, nobody was having fun. Some of the victims had crawled out of the wreckage and climbed atop the fallen roof sheets, breaking them up and helping other students out. They were joined in the rescue mission by members of the Man O’ War and the Catholic Biblical Society of Nigeria (CBSN) who were holding a prayer meeting in the main church building.

“We were scared because the rain was still raging with severe lighten-

the same hostel, both worked closely for the welfare of students in the SRC. “It’s devastating. It’s just too devastating to come to terms with!” was his expression when CAMPUSLIFE called him on the phone.

For Aboyade Usman, his colleague at the ABU, Lawi’s demise is a big blow not only to the family and the university, but also to the legal profession and the country. He recalled that when Lawi was “denied” a First Class at the ABU due to what he tagged as an “unfair, unwritten policy of the faculty not to award the prestigious honours to anyone, no matter how deserving”, everybody grumbled.

“We believed an exception should have been created for Danjuma-theGreat (as he was fondly called back in school). I am in tears… it is too shocking to believe that Danjuma Lawi is gone. My heart goes out to the family”.

On his Facebook page, Muhammad-Kabir Abdullah, another ABU classmate wrote: “Adieu brother. The Faculty of Law, ABU, Zaria, will never forget you”.

Lawi’s Facebook wall has been flooded with tributes. Sounding paradoxical, Serena Abu posted: “Even death understood your greatness, wanted an association for himself and claimed you for himself, albeit selfishly…. You will always be remembered among the few great men that ever lived because your reputation supersedes you. You won’t be forgotten because everywhere you went, you left an indelible footprint. R.I.P, you truly deserve it”.

When CAMPUSLIFE visited the Danjumas at their Abuja home, the huge feeling of loss was palpable and no one was ready to make a comment. Lawi’s father, who is also the Acting Chief Judge of Adamawa State, was not on hand for comments.

Until his death, Lawi was a youth corps member serving his primary assignment with G-K Gadzama Law firm in Abuja.

•Continued from page 30

•Old STACC building destroyed by the storm

ing and we remembered the guy who was struck to death two years ago,” a rescuer said.

Their salvaging act proved very necessary because, according to sources at the FUTO Medical Centre (FMC), where the injured were treated, two of the cases from Old STACC were treated of shock. “Only God knows how much worse it would have been if they had been stuck in there longer,” the source added.

Few students from the hostels, like Gift, were also taken to the FMC for treatment of cuts and bruises; they all left the same day.

The Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Remy Uche, visited the hostel that evening. After inspecting the damage,

he made arrangements for the victims to spend the night in the Postgraduate Hall.

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof C.C. Asiabaka, visited the “refugee” students the next morning with “a squad of serious-looking people,” in the words of an eyewitness. The SUG President, Elendu Otis, was also there and plans were made to accommodate the victims in the Reading Room until the fixing of their hostels.

At press time, the students were happy with their dormitory-styled “refugee camp,” especially for the larger space it affords them. The only problem, according to Chioma, “is the lack of privacy as a result of the secondary school-dormitory style of the

accommodation.”

On Friday morning, Uche was spotted with members of the University Planning Committee, taking note of the damage on the campus. While Old STACC seemed the worse hit; the roof of the Afrihub-sponsored ICT centre was blown off, while the network reception mast was doubled over. The Senate building and Convocation arena were also affected.

Other affected areas include offcampus residences in Eziobodo and Umuchima where electric poles and trees fell. CAMPUSLIFE spotted locals in Eziobodo taking advantage of the fallen poles to form ad-hoc roadblocks, extorting money from motorists and cyclists.

kicking against it will be tantamount to disobedience?

It is not about who disobeyed who. Now, when the management said the students should not return to the hostel, it was still the decision of the Senate and yet we kicked. It was still the Senate that fixed the deadlines for payment of school fees, yet we kicked. We are not fighting management. It is all about negotiation, dialogue and diplomacy. What we are doing is to put our positions and recommendations before the management. We are not disobeying anyone. We believe that it is democratic to tell the management what you feel is inconvenient for students.

Students have resumed after a five-month break, what advice do you have for them?

It has been said that once beaten, twice shy. The experiences of August 26 and 27, should be a lesson for us all. It is not good to embark on a journey that at the end you lose time, materials and resources.

We should shun vices. We should shun rumour mongering. Feel free to report your problems so they will be treated accordingly. Let us put our hands together and support the good works of Prof. James Epoke in the developments we can see around us.

32

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

CAMPUS LIFE Faculty holds speech, essay contests

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•From left AbdulGaniu Babatunde, School Manager, Alatishe Nadiyat, 2nd Position, Hassan Nafisat, Sulaimon Mojeed-Sanni, Corper, Hassan Rihanat, 3rd Position, Badmus Sodiq

HE Communication and Information Sciences Students’ Association (CISSA), a departmental body in the Faculty of Communication and Information Sciences (CIS), University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), has organised its first interdepartmental speech contest and essay competition.

According to the president of CISSA, Habeeb Yakubu, the essay was to honour a telecommunication expert, whose name was not revealed. The essay with the topic Thinking productivity and not consumption in the Nigerian ICT industry was opened to all matriculated students of the faculty. The 800-worded essay entries

From Michael Adebayo UNILORIN

were expected to be submitted online between April 16 and 25.

Ayodele Olubise, the chairman for the interdepartmental speech contest, told CAMPUSLIFE that each department presented two representatives to speak on the topic The prospects of my field of study in a contest that came up on April 23.

He said the contest was aimed at improving the elocution of students and helping them to engage in speech writing and delivery.

Winners would be announced during CISSA ‘s public lecture in May.

Corps member holds inter-school debate MEMBER of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Sulaimon Mojeed-Sanni, serving at Al-Lateef Model College, Ilorin, Kwara State, has organised an inter-schools debate competition for secondary school pupils across Ilorin metropolis.

The first edition of the competition was held among the junior secondary school students and their senior colleagues in Al-Lateef Islamic College in Ilorin South Local Government Area.

A

From Olasunkanmi Arowolo ILORIN

Sulaimon, who graduated from the Lagos State University (LASU), where he studied Political Science, said the contest was organised because of the urgent need to attend to the derailing culture of public speaking. He said he was motivated by the need to have an enlightened generation demanded by the society.

“During my growing up years, I have come to realise that public

speaking is an important part of being successful. It is a different thing to write, another is being able to communicate what you have written to a group of people who are grossly impatient to read,” Sulaimon said.

He said if public speaking must be engendered, secondary school stage was the most suitable stage to build the confidence in the students. He said apart from public speaking skill, the debate was equally to promote rigorous and critical thinking in the pupils.

Part-time programme to adopt e-learning

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HE University of Lagos (UNILAG) Distant Learning Institute (DLI) is set to adopt e-learning system in line with the guidelines of the National Universities Commission (NUC).

As a way of preparing the students for this new learning mode, the institute organised a seminar on e-learning, where students were urged to see the Internet as an educational tool. The coordinator of the seminar, Abisoye Ajayi, said the seminar was organised to help students acquire Information Technology (IT) skills. She said proper understanding of IT would help students secure better jobs at graduation or even when still in school.

Ajayi said: “Our expectation is that, after this conference, students must have gotten a reason why they should be computer literate, understanding why and how a lot of things work, the drive and interest in technology and be able to apply the knowledge to basically everything you do.”

Mr Gbenga Sesan of Paradigm Initiative Nigeria, who delivered a paper, said people should think how to make money from technology, not just using Facebook.

Another speaker, Mr Sam Adeyemi, taught the students steps to launching an IT career, which include: communication skills, certification, skill sets, credibility and self improvement.

From Idris Akinpelu UNILAG

The third speaker, Mr Sola Alabi of Wema Bank, UNILAG branch, spoke about Internet banking. He also educated the students about the introduction of cashless Lagos.

Soon, the Director of DLI, Prof Olufunke Lawal, mounted the podium. She praised the students, saying in the next six months, e-Learning would explode in UNILAG DLI. She said all the lecture materials would be on Digital Video Disc (DVD) and would also be uploaded on the Internet. Prof Lawal said the university has approved N45million to build e-Learning Centre (ELC), where there would be wireless Internet access within the DLI building.

Prof Lawal presented a cash gift to the best overall student in 100-Level, Saheed Olatunji. The N108,500 cheque was collected on Saheed’s behalf by his class governor, Ikenna Omalichanwa. Other students won prizes such as laptops, blackberry phones, internet modems, flash drives and dictionaries.

In a chat with CAMPUSLIFE, Prof Lawal said: “DLI is the available option for higher education across the world. It is a form of education for students who cannot join their counterparts in regular programmes.

They can take advantage of the ar-

rangement and structures of distant learning to upgrade themselves.”

The Deputy Director of the institute, Dr K. Kuton, urged the students to remain steadfast and promised that the Senate would soon approve their results. He told CAMPUSLIFE that the seminar was to make sure all students have access to education.

The president of DLI students, Suiamon Sheriff, said: “This e-learning is one of the criteria of accreditation of DLI. If you want DLI students in Ibadan, Akure and other parts of the country to come to Lagos and go back, the risk of traveling and chance of getting appropriate lecture is also a problem, so the NUC said all distant learning institute should be online.

“The management of UNILAG is ready to go e-learning. Most of our students are now aware that there is going to be a change, there is not going to be face-to-face lecture again.

We give thanks to Almighty God the event was successful. The students agreed that they have gained one or two things from our inspirational lectures.”

The seminar was not all about education alone. There was also time for comedy and entertainment. Comedian MC Abulo treated the audience to different jokes which threw the hall into frenzy. He was assisted by MCs’ Mario and Omowumi.

•A student(left) being attended to by the medical students

Students offer free check-up

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TUDENTS of the College of Medicine, under the banner of the University of Benin Medical Students Association (UBEMSA), have embarked on a medical outreach at the Ugbowo Campus of the university.

The outreach was one of several events organised during the association’s 26 th annual Health Week. This year, the focus, according to the head of the mission, Immanuel Akhimien, is on young people because, “considering there are a lot of young adults on our campus who are ebullient, and constantly willing to try new things, we saw the need to ensure that this year’s outreach was expanded and modified to make it more relevant to our immediate environment”.

“The theme for the health week “ The great push: Investing in good health seeks to educate students on investing in their own good health by em-

bracing healthy practices and shunning unhealthy and risky practices like unsafe sex, alcoholism and drug abuse,” said the vice chairman of the Health Week, Ogechukwuka Nwaobi.

The students set up health stands around the campus and halls of residence. Students thronged to the stands to take advantage of the free medical services and were encouraged to check their blood sugar levels, blood pressure, weights, height and body mass indices (BMI).

Students were given free contraceptives, as well as free literature and counselling on major health issues such as HIV/AIDS, breast cancer, diabetes, malaria and lassa fever. Some students also volunteered to donate blood as part of an initiative called “Blood Drive” – a collaborative effort to save lives between UBEMSA and Club 25, an international organisation that encouraged youngsters aged between 16 and 25 years to donate blood voluntarily.

Part of the programmes to mark the Health Week included two symposia in conjunction with the Ashanti Graham Health and Education Initiative, a dinner and award night.

NUGA, OAU to sign MoU

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LL seems set for the hosting of this year’s edition of the Nigerian Universities Games Association (NUGA) as the management of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, hosted NUGA officials last week.

The meeting, CAMPUSLIFE learnt, was a prelude to the sign-

•The best graduating Pharmacist student, Omotola Ogundipe, with her parents being congratulated by Obafemi Awolowo University’s principal officers during their induction recently.

PHOTO: SIKIRU AKINOLA

From Osato Edokpayi UNIBEN

From Sikiru Akinola OAU

ing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). It would grant nuga 2012 hosting rights to OAU Led by its president, Dr. Ken Anugweje, the NUGA team was received by the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof Tale Omole.

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

33

CAMPUS LIFE Varsity celebrates gold medal in WAUG

•Students jubilating as the football team arrived the campus • The pedestrian bridge. Inset: The Rector, Elder Onukogu

Poly builds pedestrian bridge

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HE exterior of Abia State Polytechnic (ASPOLY), Aba, is wearing a new look following the construction of an overhead pedestrian walk way and bridge. The facility was construction by the management under the leadership of Elder Alwell Onukogu, the Rector.

The project started last year. According to the school management, the construction of the bridge was a way of controlling the traffic snarl which is often experienced along

From Emmanuel Shebbs ASPOLY

the Aba-Owerri road, which is adjacent to the main gate of the polytechnic.

In the past, accidents had occurred on the road due to the irregular movement of students and motorists.

Onukogu told CAMPUSLIFE that the bridge was one of the many projects the management embarked on to make life easier for its students.

The Students’ Union Govern-

ment (SUG) described the inauguration of the bridge as a right step in the right direction. “The overhead bridge came at the right time.

In the past, we had cases where cars knocked down some of our students who were trying to cross the road. But from now on, the students do not have any fears as regards to that. The school is undergoing serious infrastructural development and we hope it will soon be converted to a federal polytechnic,” the SUG added in a statement.

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TUDENTS of the Moddibo Adama University of Technology (MAUTECH), Yola, penultimate Wednesday took to the streets to celebrate the gold medal its football team won in the just concluded West African University Games (WAUG) held at the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN).

The rally, which took the students round the major streets in town, started at about 9.30am from the students centre. Before the rally, the students, led by the president of the Students’ Union Government (SUG), David Garba, had gone round the school to disrupt lectures being taken against the directive of the Vice-Chancellor, who declared that free lecture hours be observed from 9am to 12 pm to allow students participate in the rally.

The football team and its technical crew were conveyed in three coaster buses provided by the management.

Anthony Akpehe, SUG Sports Director, said he was excited by the victory. He thanked God for the victory while stating that they won the medal because they believed in themselves.

Sunday Ballason, the coach, said he was proud of the victory and attributed the success of the team to the commitment and hardwork of his boys. According to him, with this victory in WAUG, the school

From Philips Ogbaje MAUTECH

has qualified for the Africa University Games which will be hosted

by Senegal later this year.

While fielding questions from our correspondent, the Dean of Students Affairs, Mallam Ja’afaru Ali, praised the performance of the team.

According to him “MAUTECH has come to stay in the league of university football.”

He also attributed the success of the team to the enthusiasm of the students and the moral and financial support of the management.

The score sheet of the team shows the MAUTECH team obtained seven points from three matches after beating Kaduna State University (KASU) 3-2 in their opening match and Abome Calavi University Cotonou 3-2 and had a draw with University of Nigeria Nsukka 0-0. This was followed with a 3-2 quarter final win over Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria and a 2-1 victory over Leeds City University of Ibadan to reach the semi-final before beating the host institution, UNILORIN 1-0 in the finals.

It should be recalled that the MAUTECH team won the gold medal in football in the Nigerian University Games (NUGA), which was hosted last year by the University of Benin (UNIBEN).

N30,000 vanishes in library •Tobenna(middle) with his parents

Varsity graduates 125 pharmacists

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HARMACISTS have been urged to engage in primary health care and promote facilities that will proffer solution to the problems facing rural communities.The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Prof Bath Okolo, gave this charge during the induction ceremony for 125 graduating students in the faculty of Pharmaceutical Health Sciences penultimate Friday.

The ceremony took place at the Margaret Ekpo convocation arena, Nsukka campus. Prof Okolo, was represented by his deputy on Academics, Prof A.I. Azuzu.

He challenged the inductees to

From Oladele Oge UNN

embrace the rule and regulations of the profession and desist from corrupt practices.

Prof P.O. Osadebe, Dean of the faculty, said the vision of the faculty focuses on research to help the students compete with their colleagues across the globe.

Osadebe charged the teaching staff of the faculty to engage in innovative researches that would aid in achieving the vision of the institution.

The guest lecturer, Prof Chinedum Babalola, who is the head of Pharmaceutical Chemistry Department, University of Ibadan (UI), in her lecture entitled “Global challenges in pharmacy

education and practice: Challenges and prospects gave a short history of the profession, which she said dates back to 880BC. She urged the graduands to emulate Arabian pharmacists, who utilised the chemistry of drugs to improve the life span of their people.

Tobenna Okonkwo was the best graduating student and received N200,000 including different scholarships from pharmaceutical companies that attended the ceremony.

Other graduands whose academic performance closely followed Tobenna’s were also given prizes.

They are Ezinne Amaechi, Abraham Igwe, Blessing Ezege and Tobechukwu Anuoye.

Akwa Ibom students visit commissioner

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TUDENTS of Akwa Ibom origin in the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) under the aegis of the National Association of Akwa Ibom State Students (NAKISS) last week paid a courtesy visit to the Kwara State Commissioner for Education, Hon Raji Mohammed.

The students were led by their president, Gregory Nyah, in 400-Level Edu-

From Iniobong Iwok UNILORIN

cation Management.

While praising the administration of Governor Abdulfatai Ahmed for making education a priority, the students also lauded Mohammed for the reform and innovation he brought into the state’s education sector.

Gregory said the main purpose of the visit was to invite the commissioner to the association’s cultural day that was coming up on May 19.

Responding, Mohammed said he was elated by the visit and promised to be present at the occasion. He added that he would be willing to assist the association in any capacity.

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TUDENTS and staff of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) reading in Hezekiah Oluwasanmi Library were taken aback last week when the scream of “mogbe o, mogbe o…

I’m dead oh! I’m dead oh!” rented the air.

It was the voice of a girl, whose name could not be ascertained as at press time. In no time, a crowd had formed around her. In tears, the girl narrated her predicament.

According to her, she had gone to GTBank to withdraw N30,000 for a friend who had paid it into her account to facilitate a debt payment.

Keeping the money and her phone inside a purse, which she left in her handbag, she went inside the library to pack her books for the next class.

From Opeoluiwa Sonuga OAU

After a few minutes, the girl came out to find her bag was open and her purse stuffed with tissue paper.

Her phone and money were gone!

Mentioning that the stolen amount was N30,000, the crowd gasped.

Dazed, the girl had to be helped to her room by friends and sympathisers. Some students expressed displeasure for the staff’s lack of vigilance; some others cursed the thief with passion.

However, as the sympathisers were lamenting, a library staff drew the attention of the students to the notice placed at the entrance of the library that reads “Bags are left at owner’s risk.”

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THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

CAMPUS LIFE

EBSU boils again Last week, the Ebonyi State University (EBSU), Abakaliki, was shut following students’ unrest. LAWRENCE DANIEL and EMEKA UGWU report the events leading to it.

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TRANSFORMER belonging to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) stopped working; power went off; the boreholes stopped pumping water; and prices of typing and photocopying on campus skyrocketed.

For six weeks, students cried out.

When it seemed like no one was listening, they tried to ensure they were heard. Thus, started the protest that would have turned bloody had it not been arrested early at the Ebonyi State University (EBSU), Abakaliki.

It was drama at the Presco Campus. The students started by barricading the ever-busy AbakalikiEnugu Expressway; this lasted for 11 hours. They were venting their anger at the school authorities for failing to provide them with “basic necessities of life – water and electricity – for six weeks”.

Meanwhile, just three weeks earlier, the same students had boy-

•Students on demonstration to protest the scarcity

cotted lectures over the same issues.

They were prevailed upon by the management to give it a little time.

After three weeks, it seemed the students felt the time was up. This time around, the protesters had perfected their plans. It included stopping all school activities, blocking the federal highways and the Golf Course Round-about which is a stone throw from the Government House and the state police headquarters. The students started the protest around 6:30am by locking the school gate but were surprised to meet policemen on the end of federal express which led them to block one portion of the road.

This continued till 1pm when things turned ugly. It started with policemen shooting teargas at the students to disperse them. The students reacted by throwing stones and any object they could lay their hands on at the policemen. Some policemen sustained injuries. This

prompted the police to get more physical as they started arresting students and harassing those who resisted arrest.

Soon, the number of students seemed to triple, heightening the attack from both sides. Nearby buildings were soon affected as their windows were smashed by the hail of stones and objects flying all over the place. A cybercafé, Cencirt Business Centre, was one of them.

The owner, identified simply as Mr. Emma, was seen lamenting what he called the police’s “lack of basic crisis management skill.” He appealed to security agency to “make arrangement for the replacement of the glass doors and window.”

The situation got worse when the university authorities announced on radio the indefinite suspension of school activities and advised students to vacate the premises and hostels by 4pm of the same day.

The policemen immediately

swung into action by arresting every student they could lay their hands on.

One of those who led the protest spoke to CAMPUSLIFE. Declining to be named, the boy explained that they were angered by a statement credited to the Dean of Students Affairs, Dr Hillary Eze, to the effect that “no amount of demonstration/ protest will push management to do a miracle about the light issue”, adding that it needed time to evaluate the problem to be able to solve it.

He continued: “We wondered how many months and years it will take them to fix the light which fault was a mere disconnection from the transformer. All the same, we tried to ensure that the protest was peaceful by checkmating hoodlums from taking advantage of the situation.”

One of the protesters, Silas Odunukwe, in 200-Level Microbiology, said: “I am not just fighting

for water and light here. I am fighting against injustice and extortion by the management on Presco Campus. We have been deprived enough; how can you pay for what you are not using or being given?”

Another student, Chiwendu Nkama, in 300-Level Medical Lab Science, said: “We expected this from the management, though it’s quite shameful that they are this predictable since none of their children is living in the school hostel.”

Olisa Anyim is in 400-Level Applied Biology. His words: “You cannot tell the story of the day until you see its end. I had a quiz to write this morning and I was preparing for my seminar defence on Monday as well. Now, here I am packing my bags to go home. This is sad.”

CAMPUSLIFE also spoke with Kingsley Ogbu, president of the EBSU Student Union. He said he was informed by some of the affected hostel governors of the impending protest three days earlier, on April 19, but he advised them to give the school authorities more time since the issues were already being looked into.

“However, I was shocked to hear that the students went ahead to hold the protest on the said day. From the information available to me, the protest was a peaceful one but it was hijacked by hoodlums with ulterior motives.”

Ogbu regretted that a delegation led by the Secretary to the State Government which included the Deputy Commissioner of Police, the Managing Director of the State Water Corporation and the university team to address the protesting students were stoned by the students.

He called on the students to remain calm “as everything was being done to see that normalcy returned to the campus.”

As at the time of filing this report, effort to reach the university’s Public Relations Officer, Dr. Larry Ndu, were futile.

A group of students and teachers gathered recently at the University of Benin (UNIBEN) to celebrate with some of the freshers who were part of the matriculants. GILBERT ALASA (300-Level Foreign Languages) writes that they were out to preach a message.

•Matriculants at UNIBEN in a group pose with Lawori

T

HE Nigerian education system is wobbling. Every year, this collapse manifests in mass failure in public examinations. To avert this untoward incidence, candidates seeking admission into higher institutions have devised curious measures of getting around the problem.

While some have long embraced the “special centre” option, and admission racketeering, a few others have picked up the gauntlet through legitimate means. They are from Rise-Up College; a tutorial academy in Lagos that has helped over a thousand youths gain admission into various universities and polytechnics.

Recently, some of the students and

‘On integrity we stand’ their teachers were at the University of Benin (UNIBEN) matriculation to celebrate with their own.

The academy, founded in July, 2004, boasts of an average student enrolment of 700 per academic session. According to the Proprietor, Mr. Kunle Lawori, Rise-Up was formed to help youths achieve their purpose in life through legitimate means. He lamented what he called the dubious collaboration among parents, candidates and their teachers in perpetrating fraud during ex-

ams even at the tertiary level.

He said: “The education sector can’t be divorced from the secular society with all its corruption and erosion of values. And so, like a chain reaction, one affects the other. This has created a system where parents and their wards throw virtue to the dogs through organised cheating in exams. This, among other issues, engendered the vision to propagate the gospel of hardwork and honesty in our youth in their quest for a

brighter tomorrow. At Rise-Up, we believe that success is a result of hardwork, not fraud. We show students how they can succeed without cheating.”

Interestingly, Rise-Up students are reported to be doing exceptionally well across various institutions of higher learning in Nigeria. One is Kingsley Okparaeke, who emerged overall best post-UTME student at the University of Lagos, scoring 93 percent in the 2011/2012 screening

examination. In the same vein, a good number of them are on scholarships.

Students who spoke to CAMPUSLIFE attested to the high degree of excellence in the academy.

A 400-Level student of Political Science at the Osun State University, who was a pioneer student of the college, said: “I am proud to have passed through Rise-Up and its array of erudite tutors. It’s a place for students who are serious about changing their academic status and achieving their goals in life without recourse to sharp practices.”

For Chika Eletuoanya, in 400•Continued on page 36

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

35

CAMPUS LIFE

Time we proved Achebe wrong

By Uche Anichebe

S

OME weeks ago, I received a gift of three books. As I was then on vacation, I made the decision to devour them before my school resumed. Of all the works, I was greatly affected by the one written by our own internationally acclaimed author, Chinua Achebe. It is entitled, The Trouble with Nigeria (1983).

It is a book of lamentations, a diatribe of the government, political culture and environment. An emotive work, written with immense passion and detestable of the pitiable state of

T

HE casualties of bombings, the wounded souls who died from crises and wars that could have been averted. The fatal loss of youth corps members whose lives were placed on edge while serving their father land. Again, the sufferers of the subsidy protests whose blood became the sacrificial ointment to douse tension. What about Martha, the 34-year-old woman who was beaten to death by her fiancé? Give a thought to Elvis, the young boy who lost his life to carelessness from a place where his safety ought to be premium. Yes, a private university and a faith-based one at that. I once lost a mate to a nurse who gave a wrong injection. Also, this was a faithbased teaching hospital.

What is the fate of Taiwo whose story, as told in Deola Agoro’s page in Saturday Nation, had to lose a wife during childbirth during the delivery of twins in a church without adequate maternity facilities?

She gave up the ghost because she lost much blood. Should we sit, watch and be careless and expect miracles to happen? Certainly not!

It’s like going to a palm tree without climbing to make an opening and expecting a bountiful drink.

We have seen how carelessness and negligence can harm innocent girls whose flesh seems nubile for robbers to look away from. This shows our ignominy and infamy

affairs. Every chapter of the 86 paged work was scripted in audacious words However, what caught my attention was his proclamation in page 11, thus: “Nigeria is not a great country. It is one of the most disorderly places in the world. It is one of the most corrupt, insensitive, inefficient places under the sun. It is one of the most expensive countries …. It is dirty, callous, noisy, ostentatious, dishonest and vulgar. In short, it is among the most unpleasant places on earth!”

In the subsequent paragraph, he continued: “It is a measure of our selfdelusion that we can talk about developing tourism in Nigeria. Only a masochist with an exuberant taste for selfviolence will pick Nigeria for a holiday; only a character out of Tutuola seeking to know punishment and poverty at first hand! No, Nigeria may be a paradise for adventurers and pirates, but not tourists”.

I read this thought-provoking paragraph, and paused, re-read it again and again, paused. I spent some time, I do not know how long, meditating on every word he had deployed in expressing his verdict. That was more than a statement; it was a proclamation from a heart that had lost faith in Nigeria. I wanted to deny the veracity

in this proclamation, the bitter truth in his unequivocal assertion, but that would be tantamount to self deceit.

Then it struck me that the book which I held was written almost 30 years ago.

I needed no prophet to tell me that the “national vices” (poor leadership, corruption, tribalism, dearth of basic social amenities) which he decried about three decades ago had indeed exacerbated. The renowned author, I believe, wrote that essay with the intendment to agitate the then leadership and people of Nigeria, that they would retrace their steps, that the future of Nigeria would be better. I wondered how he feels today; having watched what was left of the walls of Nigeria crumble.

In her days as Minister of Information, Prof Dora Akunyili made bold to spearhead the Rebranding Nigeria initiative, which was aimed at transforming the image of this country.

It had the theme: Nigeria, good people, great nation. But the question begging answer is, can Nigeria truly be referred to as a great nation in the light of her present state of affairs? Put differently, does Nigeria deserve the word, “great” attached to it without fear of the most vehement contradiction? Unless and until the people of a nation get the

leadership they need, unless and until they are provided with the dividends of democracy, that nation cannot be called great.

The promise to make Nigeria a better place, in fact, to make her one of the best places in the world, has been made to us several times by president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, especially during his campaign. Promises cannot bring themselves to reality. They need to be acted upon. Nigeria is fast aging and before long, our colonial experience and military intervention would become inexcusable reasons for our lack of advancement. Our sister African nations (i.e. Ghana and South Africa) seem to understand this and are making commendable efforts to advance themselves. This is a time for less talk and more action; a time for dedication and commitment; a time for action.

Sincerely, the tasks ahead are enormous, but happily, they are not bereft of solution. This is not a time for Mr. President to obliquely declare future political interest. It is the time for him to set records that would account for his years in office. He must be true to his promises. The economy has to be restructured. The partial removal of fuel subsidy must be justi-

fied by enhanced infrastructural development. Our battered roads which have taken innumerable lives need to be repaired. This is not a time for propaganda, for it would serve no end. It is a time for the government to ensure that the monster threatening the nation, Boko Haram, is made a thing of the past. It is a time to combat corruption with all. It is time we restructured our nation and placed her in an enviable position in the world, where her greatness would never be a subject of debate. It is time we proved Achebe wrong!

The future of Nigeria rests in our hands and it is time we took a roundabout step, a step that would revamp it. It is high time we made the resolution to better the lot of this nation. It is time we restored the lost glory of this country and pitch her at a position where we all can lift our shoulders and proclaim that we are the giants of Africa. It is time we proved Achebe wrong and to a greater extent prove that we can restructure for ourselves a nation that we truly deserve, a nation which tallies with the dream of every well meaning Nigerian.

Uche, 400-Level Law, UNIZIK

God in heaven, goodwill on earth

as a nation.

Karl Marx once said: “It is not the consciousness of men that determines their being but on the contrary, it is their social being that determines their consciousness”.

How true is the reality of this statement in Nigeria? In a country where there are churches within five minutes walking distance; where niquab and hijab are more common than among the Arabs, we breed the most depraved youths, the most hypocritical elders and the most clueless government. All the government gives us is charity at election time. Afterwards, death returns to our homes.

Our leaders wanted ignorance.

They would not fund education properly. Isn’t it an irony the price of education increases as the poverty line increases? Education in Nigeria and even the world over is becoming a pearl that cannot be cast to the swine. The class struggle that the Marxist talked about is now on. The lumpen proletariats are on the ravage and we all are at risk. Once a missile is thrown, its movement is like a flooded river.

It cannot be controlled so it does not care if someone is a promising Harvard product brought home to head a corporation or a worthless

soul whose life is meaningless. It just blows them all up! The poor cannot sleep because they are hungry; the rich cannot sleep because the poor are awake. This is the reality of present day Nigeria.

Nigeria would probably lead as the most religious nation on earth, yet here is a place where impunity cannot rival that of Sodom. It is sacrilege to kill a man in the name of religion or anything else for that matter. When you kill, you take away all he has, everything that he is ever going to be. It is sacrilege to stash away billions of naira and build mansions with blood money while pensioners die in poverty and neglect. It is sacrilege to spend millions on hotel bills and thousands on just a single meal. Those who commit these heinous crimes should come to public schools and see how students sleep on top of one another just because accommodation on campus is inadequate and the ones available are way too expensive. What sacrilege could be more than this; that 99 men wept and only one laughs!

A new theory has emerged in Ni-

geria and it is the theory of religion. And we are raising patriots, not martyrs in it. These are misguided patriots because according to Bertrand Russell, patriots always talk of dying for their country, and never of killing for it. But here are the patriots of Islam with political undertones, a la Boko haram. The patriots of Christianity lie in those who will look away when evil pervades the land and anoint candidates whom they will not be able to chide when they fail.

It would be recalled that even in the days of the holocaust, religion could not make much impact. It was said that despite their opposition to Hitler’s racial doctrine, Catholic and other Christian church leaders failed to take a public stand against his anti-Semitic policies. According to Microsoft Encarta: “The attitude of the top leadership of the Roman Catholic Church under Pope Pius XII largely paralleled that of the German Catholic bishops. The pope never criticised the persecution of the Jews in an encyclical, nor did he ever threaten to excommunicate Hitler, nominally a Catholic, or other Catholics involved in the holocaust. Moreover, although the Pope and his advisers were fully

By Hannah Ojo

informed about the extermination of the Jews during World War II, they refused to condemn it on the grounds that Vatican City, the tiny independent state under the authority of the Pope, had to maintain strict neutrality in international affairs”.

True religion lies in the heart. It is what you do when no one is watching and it does not deprive others of their happiness.

Hannah, 400-Level English, OAU, Ile-Ife

Need for transparent admission process

By Richard Ilesanmi

N

IGERIA is known across the world as a country where rigging of elections, gaining power at all cost, do-or-die, giving positions of authority to people of questionable character, and annunciation of fake election results determine political positions. This has, no doubt, positioned our country as a failed state, thereby making

those who are willing to serve their fatherland with honesty, transparency, total respect to the rule of law and fear of God to be psychologically assassinated.

These political abnormalities have been imported into the education sector, especially the higher institutions. In the 70s and 80s, those who gained admission were the brilliant ones, the best among equals, the hardworking ones who took their time to read.

However, the story has changed today. Many of our institutions have lost the glory which their heroes’ past had laboured for.

Disheartening enough, merit which is supposed to be the watchword of every institution has been buried. Efforts of the hardworking candidates seeking admission have been rendered useless. Their sleepless nights and burning of candles targeted at gaining admission have been amputated, thereby making the lazy ones gain admission. Consequently, this questionable ad-

mission system has led to the professional disability of our socalled graduates. No institution in the country has been able to produce world class professionals who could compete with their foreign counterparts and help this country solve her scientific, technological and economic problems. The world class professionals Nigeria claims to have are products of foreign institutions.

Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Prof Wole Soyinka and a host of others were products of foreign lands.

Besides, our fellow compatriots at the NYSC are no more being respected by members of the public compared to what obtained in the 70s and 80s. This is attributed to the fact that our institutions operate incredible and questionable admission systems.

As it was in the beginning, so it is. But forever shall it be?

I believe it is time we all stood to salvage our institutions from these abnormalities. We cannot

continue to open our eyes wide and watch our institutions go down the drain because of the dubious activities of some heartless and unscrupulous elements wishing to enrich their pockets at the expense of our posterity and image as a nation. There is need for a pragmatic approach to save the education sector.

Although, the managements of some of these institutions are making commendable efforts in this regard, but much still needs to be done. There is the need for an admission policy that will ensure that only candidates who meet the admission requirements are admitted. Besides, a “task force” on admission should be set up by the Federal Ministry of Education to ensure compliance with admission guidelines. There is also the need for a law that will force the management of every institution to publish the names and scores of their admitted candidates in national dailies to avoid admitting children of the

influential, especially when they have scored less than children of the poor.

Charity, it is said, begins at home. Parents on their part should encourage their children to read, rather than researching on shortcuts of gaining admission. They should provide them with the necessary educational materials such as textbooks, biro, mathematical sets, calculators and other prescribed materials that will enhance their intellect and knowledge.

Above all, the time to do these is now. All hands must be on deck to open the door of Canaan for the true Israelites, separate parasites from overshadowing the good trees, prevent weeds from occupying the fertile land and ensure that lecturers who collect money to help candidates secure admission be sentenced to imprisonment.

Richard, ND II Mass Communication, RUGIPO

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

36

CAMPUS LIFE It was time to unwind from the rigours of academic work as the Bayelsa College of Health Technology held its maiden dance fiesta. ISAAC MENSAH (500-Level Medical Laboratory Science, University of Calabar) was there.

•Traditional dance troupe

•A dance troupe doing their thing

S

TUDENTS and fun lovers filled the Bayelsa College of Health Technology (BYCOHTECH) pavilion as the college marked the first of what it says will become an annual “College Road Dance Fiesta”. It was a three-day event that featured dance groups comprising students of the school who proved their worth in the art of dancing.

The event started with an audition for interested groups and individuals. The audition witnessed a random display of skills in dancing. Eventually, about four groups scaled through to the grand-finale, while six emerged for the individual category.

Among the groups were the Twinkling Twisters, Efizzy Group, Swagger Group, and Destiny Stars. For the individual category, there were Azibaola Okotobie, Batowei Charles, Clinton Ayebatonte, Obosi Timipuakebi, Clinton Baramaye and Believe Kurotimi.

The second day saw a rally around the host community, Ogbia. A popular Disc Jockey (DJ) with the Radio Bayelsa, DJ Kamelite, was on hand to ensure there was no dull moment during the rally. He dished out latest tunes that made students cry out

Dance fiesta at college for more. The rally was used to create awareness for the event billed for the next day; the climax.

It all started at about 10am with the introduction of dignitaries by the Public Relations Officer, Mr. Christopher Cole.

In his welcome address, the Provost, Dr. Teddy Charles, said the event was part of the recreational activities aimed at building a new image for the college. He added that it was targeted at promoting a better relationship among students, staff and the society in general.

He said: “We are dancing because we’re happier; we’re evolving and, above all, we are peaceful.”

The Commissioner for Health, who doubled as chairman on the occasion, Dr. Benson Dadhigi, in his opening remarks, noted that the event was a demonstration of the harmony existing between students and members of staff. He affirmed that it shows that students and staff are socially alive not “buried in book, book, all the

time.”

The competition started with an opening dance by all contestants. Dressed in a touch of white and black, they danced the popular Salsa.

This was followed by the first round for all categories starting with Twinkling Twisters for groups and Azibaola for the individual category. The first round featured contemporary dance styles such as break-dance, Nigeria popular street dances such as Alanta and freestyle.

The second round was strictly traditional dance styles such as the Ijaw Owigiri and war dance. The Owigiri is unique because it portrays the tradition and culture of the Bayelsa people.

It wasn’t just a students’ affair as lecturers also took to the dance floor, to prove that they weren’t just good in the classroom alone.

Announcing the winners in both categories, one of the judges and member of Bayelsa State Council for Art and Culture,

Mrs. Abibodere Abubakar, noted that the contestants were judged based on style, creativity, energy, and the blend between traditional and contemporary styles.

Twinkling Twisters emerged winners in the group category. Efizzy came second while Swagger took the third place. In the individual category, a final year student of Environmental Health Sciences, Baramaye won. Ayebatonte was second and Kurotimi clinched the third position.

For the groups, the prizes were a computer set and N30,000; table top fridge and N20,000 and industrial fan and N10,000, for the first, second and third positions. These were presented by Dr. Dadhgi.

Winners in the individual category got N120,000, N100,000 and N80,000. These were presented by the Commissioner of Information, Orientation and Strategy, Mr. Nathan Egba.

In a chat with CAMPUSLIFE, Ronald Abite, leader of the Twinkling Twisters, winners in the group category, said: “We’re happy. We’ve been dancing before. But, because of our academics, had to put it on hold. All things being equal, we may continue to dance even after graduation.”

Aregbesola, Fayemi donate to OAU project

On and Off Campus By Solomon Izekor 08061522600

T

HE Executive Governors of the States of Osun and Ekiti, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and Dr Kayode Fayemi have both lauded the initiatives of the students of Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) to raise funds to build permanent structure for the MBA class.

Aregbesola who spoke through his deputy, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori, stated that his administration was always willing to partner in any good project embarked upon by the OAU or any of its faculties. Commending the authorities of the OAU for their unwavering resolve to embrace the principle of knowledge, Aregbesola said: “As a credible citadel of learning and a manufacturing industry of ideas, OAU has never been afraid to stand alone or explore the prospects of alternative ideas. Indeed, it is its insatiable appetite and quest for knowledge that has cut a unique niche for OAU among comity of universities globally.”

In the same vein, Gov. Fayemi threw his

From Sikiru Akinola OAU

weight behind the MBA students for their resolve to have a permanent structure they could call their own. The Ekiti State Commisioner for Integration and Intergovernmental affairs, Mrs Bunmi Dipo-Salami, who represented Gov. Fayemi, said the governor was financially committed to assist the MBA students realise the objective.

The University Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Olarewaju, in a statement, said the two governors later donated an undisclosed sum towards the project and later proceeded to the foundation laying ceremony of the building.

Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof Tale Omole, represented by the Chairman, Committee of Deans, Prof Samson Fadare, had welcomed the governors and thanked them for their continued supports and donations to cause of education.

‘On integrity we stand’ •Continued from page 34

Level Electrical/Electronics Engineering at the Federal University of Technology (FUTO, Owerri), the high regard for moral uprightness at the college is commendable.

“From the first day you set foot at Rise-Up, they drum it into your ears that it is work, work and work. And, of course, in an environment where cheating is outlawed, the only option would be to burn the midnight candle.

There, high premium is placed on hardwork.

Sincerely, Rise-Up is making a great impact on our generation and more of this is required to safeguard the future of our youths,” he stated.

On how the problem of examination malpractices can be reduced, Lawori said beyond the need to sensitise the public on the dangers of exam malpractices, the Ministry of Education must be sincere in its efforts to stem the tide. He also added that “there should be a strong monitoring framework, especially for private schools where special centres appear to be the norm. We must inculcate the tenets of hardwork and integrity in our young people so that we can help provide a granite slab upon which our future stands.”

Many of the matriculating students expressed gratitude to Lawori for helping them achieve their dream.

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

37

EDUCATION

Police varsity takes off Sept.

T

HE Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr Mohammed Abubakar, has said the Police University, Kaduna would open its gate to the first batch of in-takes

by September this year.

Abubakar said construction had not only progressed significantly at the site, the institution, he added, has also got its pioneer Vice -Chancellor.

"I was in Kaduna to see the progress of work at the police university. For your information, Mr President has given approval for the take-off of the

From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

university and, God willing, by September this year, the University will take off. "The construction of building is almost completed, efforts and progress are being made and by September it will kick off. To show you we are ready, we already have a vice-chancellor and we are going to produce the best in terms of professionalism," Abubakar said.

The Acting IGP, who spoke at

the weekend in Eleweran, the Ogun State Police Command Headquarters, Abeokuta, urged every member of the Nigeria Police Force(NPF) get ready for a rebranded force that would BE training and re-training personnel.

He saidtheforceismovingtowardsefficiency and professionalism, stressing any officer who fails to upgrade himself through inservice courses and pass out from same at the appropriate time would be shown the way out of the system.

IBBUL FILE Poll lauds mgt.

• Abubakar

FCA holds five convocations

A

CTIVITIES marking the 45th to 50th convocation of the Federal College of Agriculture (FCA), Akure in Ondo State have begunon for the award of degrees, and diploma certificates.

Addressing reporters in Akure, the Ondo State capital, Provost of the College, Dr. Mary Ogunkoya, said the convocation ought to be held annually, but failed due to some challenges and storms which, according to him, have now been successfully weathered.

She said the convocation lecture entitled: Entrepreneurial ship in agriculture: Panacea to economic transformation in Nigeria, would be delivered by the former Rector, Osun State College of Technology (Dr Tunji Abimbola (OSCOTECH), EsaOke, Prof. Olu Odeyemi.

He said the institution will award National and Higher National diploma to 1,460 graduates out of whom 21 had distinctions, 338 upper credit, 770 lower credit and 331 ordinary pass.

• From left: Mr Kenny Oladipo, Chairman of the occasion, Mr Yemi Ogunbiyi and Director, Vivian Fowler Memorial School, Mrs Olufunke Fowler-Amba, at the school's World Book and Copyright day in Lagos.

PHOTO: BOLA OMILABU From Damisi Ojo, Akure

She said prizes would also be awarded to those graduates who distinguished themselves in their different departments and in courses for which donations have been made.

According to the provost, the college has in the spirit of the sevenpoint agenda of late president Musa Yar'adua, and the Transformation Agenda of the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan's administration, embarked upon and com-

pleted some projects.

Prominent among the projects to be inaugurated by the Executive Secretary, Agriculture Research Council of Nigeria, Prof B.Y. Abubakar is the college administrative building.

UNIPORT produces 14 First Class

F

OURTEEN graduates of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) will receive First Class honour degrees at the institution's 28th convocation on Saturday.

Boma Tubotamuno of the Department of Economics emerged the best graduating student in the undergraduate category, with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.78.

Its Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ajienka, stated this at the pre-convocation briefing.

He stated that besides the 14 first class graduates, 817 would graduate in the Second Class Upper division, 1,468 with Second Class Lower division, 308 with Third Class Degree and 78 with Pass.

He disclosed that 1,083 graduates

• From left: Mr Ajao, Deputy Director (Rehabilitation), Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Sport; Mrs Affiong Ozomah of Lagos Metropolitan Lions Club and Miss Onyinyechi Anyanwu Queen of Yellow House, at the Down Syndrome Foundation Inter-House Sport sponsored by Nunu Milk.

From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt

would obtain postgraduate diploma, 532 with Masters and 98 with doctoral degree. Ajienka also disclosed that 5,756 students would receive certificates, first and postgraduate degrees and prizes at the convocation.

Honorary doctorate, he added, would also be conferred on three distinguished Nigerian. They are Chairman of Afren Energy Services and Chairman of Stanbic-IBTC Bank Plc, Egbert Imomoh; Atedo Peterside and the Managing Director of Diamond Bank Plc, Dr. Alex Otti.

The vice chancellor said they would be honoured for their exemplary philanthropy and contri-

butions to UNIPORT, industry and the wider society.

He stated that UNIPORT had developed a Research and Development Strategic Plan, with measurable performance and key indicators. He said the institution's drive to become an entrepreneurial university would not be successful, without first transforming into a research institution.

He said the Nigerian Content development policy should be expanded to cover all industries, not just oil and gas, as it is now.

He stressed that almost all the courses had been fully accredited.

He lauded the Rivers Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, who is an alumnus of the institution, for supporting the federal university, espe-

cially on the ongoing reconstruction of the UNIPORT-Aluu Road and his promise to build the Elechi Amadi Faculty of Humanities.

Ajienka said: "Universities are set up to engage in their core mandate of research, teaching and community service. A university should be able to take gown to town, in such a manner that brings mutual benefits to it and the larger society.

“We are ready, willing and able to support the Rivers State government in the training of teachers to run the model schools; doctors and health workers to run the model hospitals. We shall be grateful to have dedicated health centres for rural posting of doctors-in-training."

Grace poly opens new annex

GRACE Polytechnic, Surulere Lagos has opened its annex at Adaloko Road Ebule Era in Ajangbadi-Adaloko area of the state.

The annex, which is selling forms to prospective students, will commence lectures soon in Business Administration and Management Studies; Office Management andTechnology; and Banking and Finance and Accounting.

The Ajangbadi chapter of the institution is also run in conjuction with Kafab Educational Consults.

THE Management of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai (IBBUL) has been commended for pursuing a policy that would ensure the emergence of the institution as a centre of excellence and one among best world universities soon.

The commendation, which was a product of a recent opinion poll of faculty staff and students of the university, revealed nod on the Vice-Chancelor, Prof Ibrahim Adamu Kolo's-led administration.

Some respondents in the poll described the VC as an icon of first- class scholar with foresight and courage who has brought to bear innovation and creativity that has facilitated the development of IBBUL. Other areas the management was scored include establishment of the IBBUL's Development and Consultancy Services Unit; launch of Institutional Research Initiatives and provision of Information Communication and Technology (ICT), library and virtual facilities, creation of additional faculties as well as inauguration of some university centres.

Resource Centre set for May intake HAVING worked with its United Kingdom partner over the past seven years, Leadmode Resource Centre, a foremost international supported distance learning organisation, is set to facilitate another admission process for working professionals into UK universities. The admission process takes place four times in a year.

The postgraduate programmes are: MBA, MSc and Ph.D. It also offers OND and HND professionals to top-up their qualifications to BSc. Leadmode has an ongoing relationship with the University of Leicester; Queen Mary, University of London; De Montfort University; Robert Gordon University-Aberdeen; Stratford Business School; Commonwealth Business School, among several others.

It has been able to create access to global academic qualifications for Nigeria professionals. Programmes offered cover areas such as MBA, marketing, finance, mass communication, telecoms, human resources, and criminology.

The April/May intake which is on, is a process that invites interested professionals to submit their applications to these UK awarding institutions for consideration.

The Country Director, Dr. Fakunle Odifa, added: "Over the years, Leadmode has ensured its programmes address some of the human capital gaps in the country through partnering with world renowned institutions.

"It is noteworthy to mention that the contribution of this programmes have come to bear positively on the economy. The graduated students are able to apply critical theories and case studies from their programme of study in their different organisations.

“Leadmode operates in Nigeria from its offices in Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt. It also has an office in Cameroun and affiliate office in Ghana.”

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

38

EDUCATION Our objective, by panel THE Chairman, Presidential Visitation Panel to Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Unwanna, Afikpo, Ebonyi State, Dr. Ahmed Tizzani Abdullahi Bayero, has restated that the Federal Government's intention for setting up the panel was not to witch-hunt any officer or institution of higher learning.

Bayero said the panel was designed as a fact-finding exercise, which would look into several areas of institutional operations including, the leadership quality in terms of the roles of the Governing Council, the head of institution and other principal officers and also probe the application of funds.

He said: "The Minister for Education set up this committee with a view of finding solution to the problems in some of our institution.

"The terms of reference includes, investigating the application of funds, particularly the special grants and loans meant for specific projects in order to determine the status of such projects and their relevance for further funding; look into the financial management of the institution over the recommended period and determine whether it was in compliance with appropriate regulation among others."

Other members of the panel include, Dr. Henry Garba, Mr. F.O Ogoh, Dr. C.B. Adesina, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, Dr. M.G. Mahuta, and Mr. Gabriel Amudipe.

Crescent Varsity opens eatery CRESCENT University, Abeokuta, has inaugurated an eatery, Tantalizers Cafeteria, as part of its plans to add more value to students' lives on campus.

Speaking at the event, ViceChancellor of the institution, Prof. Hassan Okeleye, implored the management of Tantalizers on good service delivery to students, staff and university visitors.

He advised that staff should conform to the moral dress code of the university, stressing that pork-based meals, alcohols and cigarettes should be prohibited so that students would not copy the wrong values.

In his speech, the Tantalizers General Manager (Operations), Mr Segun Ekundayo, expressed his appreciation to the management for the opportunity to have the company facility on campus.

AUN to honour Lamido, Kukah at graduation TWO distinguished Nigerians and a top American academic will be conferred with honorary doctorates at the May 19 commencement ceremony of the American University of Nigeria, Yola.

They are the 12th Lamido Adamawa, Dr. Barkindo Aliyu Musdafa; the Bishop of Sokoto, Dr. Matthew Hassan Kukah and a founding board member of the university, Dr. Robert Alan Pastor, who is speaker at the event.

About 277 graduating seniors will be conferred with bachelor's degrees in various disciplines in the university's three schools - Arts and Sciences, Business and Entrepreneurship, and Information Technology and Computing.

On the eve of the event, there will be the Senior Awards Ceremony in which over 20 graduates will receive awards in various categories, including academic excellence, community service, athletics, corporate academic excellence and the President's award for leadership. The awards will cap the senior week running from May 14.

SCHOLARSHIPS APPROACHING DEADLINES 2012 NWAG Nigeria Scholarship at Nigerian University, Nigeria Nigerian Women Association of Georgia funded Undergraduate Scholarship for Nigerian Females to study at Nigerian University-2012 Study Subject(s): Courses offered by the School Course Level: Undergraduate Scholarship Provider: Nigerian Women Association of Georgia Scholarship can be taken at: Nigeria Eligibility: An applicant must be a Nigerian female, undergraduate student in a Nigerian University Scholarship Open for International Students: No Scholarship Description: The Nigerian Women Association of Georgia (NWAG) plans to award 37 one-time scholarships, one per state of origin as well as one for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), in the amount of fifty thousand Naira each, to Nigerian female, undergraduate students in Nigerian universities.

How to Apply: Email, Post Scholarship Application Deadline: May 30, 2012 Master's Research Programme in Climate Change and Human Security, 2012-2013 West African Science Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use offers Master's Research for Wascal Countries students in Climate Change and Human Security, 2012-2013.

Study Subject(s): Climate Change and Human Security Course Level: Master's Scholarship Provider: WASCAL Scholarship can be taken at: Wascal Countries Eligibility:-The Master Research Program-Climate Change and Human Security (MRP-CCHS) is opened for students and professionals having a Bachelor's degree (B.A. or B.Sc.) with (Mention Assez-bien or Second class Upper or equivalent, in relevant disciplines (Geography, Sociology, Environment, Economics, Law, Agriculture and other disciplines).

Scholarship Open for International Students: Yes Scholarship Open for Students of Following Countries: WASCAL countries Scholarship Description: The Master Research Program "Climate Change and Human Security" will educate 10 international students annually that will understand the threat and risks associated with climate change, get familiar with the design of early warning systems and know ways and means to improve the resilience and coping capacity of affected populations. They will be exposed to interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to assessing threats and to work in multidisciplinary teams with affected groups in harnessing their inherent resilience to hazards.

How to Apply: By electronically Scholarship Application Deadline: May 15, 2012

AOCOED matriculates 1,800 students

A

playlet by the Theatre Arts Department of the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Educa-

tion Otto/Ijanikin (AOCOED) carried the message: “At AOCOED, all hands must now be on deck!'

And this message was spread by the college Provost and Dean of Postgraduate Studies Messrs Olalekan Wasiu Bashorun and Prince Kunle George, during the institution’s matriculation of its part-time students for the 2011/ 2012 at the college premises.

Addressing the over 1,800 new students spread across the six schools-Sciences, Arts and Social sciences, Languages, Vocational and Technical Education and Education, Bashorun vowed to consolidate on the 100 per cent accreditation granted the institution by its regulatory body- the national Council for Colleges of Education (NCCE) when it visited the college to reappraise its programmes, earlier in the month He thanked the Governing Board headed by Mrs Victoria Akran, who also attended the event and teaching and non-teaching staff of the institution for giving their support for the accreditation.

Bashorun also extended his gratitude to the college Moderator, Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos for what he called his 'unquantifiable financial and moral support."

He urged all to align with the repositioning of the institution as well as its infrastructural renewal. He congratulated the new students and admonished them to be of good behaviour, remain committed to their studies and abstain from antisocial activities. He further admonished them to take advantage of sporting facilities in the institution.

"I also enjoin you to make good use of the numerous facilities the college have for recreation and sports. Our facilities in areas such as table tennis, badminton, athletics, football etc are about the best in any college of education in the country."

He said the current drive the college is approaching which he also discussed with the NCCE team during the last accrediatation appraisal would include: 'ensuring optimal digitalisation of teaching and learning, administration and day-to-day operations of the college; ensuring greater integration within the college community and between the college and other stakeholders; ensuring greater transparency, good

• The matriculating students celebrating after the event

governance, and accountability in financial administrative and academic activities; ensuring renewed staff training and development; increased focus on staff and students' welfare; collaboration with top rated organisations and institutions to guarantee attainment of the primary goals of the college; among others.

"In sum, our aspirations in the next five years is to be the leading college of education in the country, generating impressive socio-economic returns on investment to our proprietor, government and people of Lagos State and giving the best of teacher education at every level, to our various stakeholders," Bashorun said.

Prince George attributed the tremendous improvement of the SPTS to management's goodwill.

• Mr Bashorun and Mrs Akran at the event

FUNAAB gets new VC •As Olufemi Olaiya Balogun bows out

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ROF Olusola Bandele Oyewole has been appointed the new Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB).

He succeeds Prof. Olufemi Olaiya Balogun whose tenure ends next month. The appointment of Oyewole was approved at the 70th meeting of the university's Governing Council last week.

The Pro-Chancellor/Chairman of Council of the institution, Chief Lawrence Olakunle Osayemi, in a letter, stated that Oyewole was unanimously chosen by the Council from the final list of three candidates, who

From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

were screened by the Senate/Council Selection Board.

He urged the Vice-Chancellor-designate to "commence immediate understudy of the incumbent ViceChancellor, towards a smooth handing over, on May, 24.

A statement by the institution's Deputy Director/Head, Public Relations, Mr. Lasun Somoye, stated that Oyewole is a professor of Food Science and Technology at the university's College of Food Science and Human Ecology (COLFHEC),

• Prof Oyewole

and the institution's Director of Grants Management and Project Officer, Research and Programmes, Association of African Universities (AAU).

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

39

Proprietor links pupils' failure to lack of teachers training college

T • Mrs Akintunji

Ogun SUBEB establishes committee

HE Proprietor Carol Schools, Agidingbi, Lagos, Mrs Caroline Akintunji, has identified underfunding, lack of teacher training skills and low regard for teachers as the three key factors responsible for pupils' failure in public examinations.

At a briefing at the school's premises, Akintunji said it's about time the government accorded teachers and their profession the respect they used to enjoy in the 60s and 70s, with increased funding in teachers' welfare as well as teacher training institutes.

Sokoto council to spend N120m on books From Adamu Suleiman, Sokoto

S

OKOTO North Local Government has earmarked N120 million for buying of text and exercise books as well as furniture for primary Schools,Alhaji Abdullahi Garba Hassan, Council Chairman has said.

He told reporters in Sokoto that the gesture was the responsibility of the council to demonstrate a gesture tailored at ensuring improved standard and quality education for its people.

According to him, the council has concluded arrangement to send 300 eligible workers with relevant qualification for teaching programme at the National Teachers' Institute (NTI).

He explained that the council intends to widen the scope of its manpower strength requirement at the primary school level, adding that, "those workers on allowances found with good results will be sent for training at the Institute. We want NCE and diploma certified candidates for teaching in our primary schools,'' he stressed.

Also, on water supply, the Council boss disclosed that his administration has expended N40 million for the extension and reticulation of water supply to ensure availability of the utility.

has missed it. Our nation got it wrong by allowing different foreign curricula. The curriculum of every country should be designed towards the needs of that nation. If you go to some schools in Nigeria and ask them about the entire president that has ever ruled in America, they will tell you but if you ask them the current Nigeria president, they don't know."

She described the British instruction method as authentic because it applies instructional materials to attain knowledge retention from pu-

Kings College honours worthy alumnus

By Mariam Sanni Abeokuta

To reposition public primary and Junior Secondary Schools system, Ogun State Universal Basic Education Board, has established the School Based Management Committee (SBMC).

The task of SBMC, according to SUBEB, is to make stakeholders in public primary and Junior Secondary Education participate in the governance of schools in the state.

SUBEB Executive Chairman, Alhaji Mufutau Ajibola, said stakeholders in SMBC would also help to source for funds to carry out minor repairs of school structure and ensuring security of lives of pupils and teachers.

The members, include artisans, religious organisations, school representatives, traditional rulers.

He stressed that would act as checks against misdemeanour of school administrators and teachers.

Ajibola, who spoke at the oneday confeence, in Abeokuta, noted that developing strategies for the domestication of national guidelines, and developing skills for participants as master trainers in the development of SMBC are the basic objectives of the policy.

He lauded the state government for his unwavering support to novel initiatives and his encouragement to the team.

By Medinat Kanabe

Akintunji said: "The few colleges we have are not well funded. That is why we don't produce good teachers. People see the teaching profession as the profession of the neverdo-wells. The government also does not regard the teachers. Whenever they are increasing salaries, teachers are the last to be considered."

Akintunji also advocated tropicalisation of the nation's curriculum. "Another major problem is from our curriculum and instruction method, and this is where the nation

pils. This, she stressed, is in sharp contrasts with the Nigerian version of mere chalk and blackboard for teaching which, according to her, only allows a child to cram ahead of exams and forget afterwards.

"Our instruction here is not authentic. A teacher comes to the classroom with no materials to teach. He just picks a topic, give notes and that is where it ends. If you go to classrooms that use the authentic instruction methods, whenever they want to teach a topic, you don't just end up with the books because some of them are out-dated, but you get current information online," she added.

Mrs Caroline a graduate of Biology Education at the University of Lagos, (UNILAG) in 1977, also advised that every classroom should have a computer connected to the internet.

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RINCIPAL, Kings College,Lagos, Otumba Oldele Olapeju, has stressed the need to honour people who contributed to the development of the society.

He said this during a party by the college to mark the 88th birthday of Pa Adedapo Adeniran.

The college had given Pa Adeniran a shocker when, on his birthday, he was invited to KC to admonish the pupils during the assembly. To his surprise, Pa Adeniran was then, handed a letter of recognition and appreciation. Also, he was presented with cake decorated with a lawyers' wig. The octogenarian, a lawyer, social critic and author, pased out from KC in 1938.

Explaining the reason for the honour to Adeniran, Olapeju said: "Well, it's legendary of Kings College to respect the school song. The chorus of the school says service to the living and honour to our dead.

We prefer to give the respect to the living first before we honour the dead. Pa Adeniran is one of the living legends of our school and we chose to celebrate him because he is one who left the college physically but still with us emotionally. He thinks Kings College, lives Kings College, and of course, with his direct involvement, everything about him is Kings College.

Speaking further, Olapeju the need for youths to always, model their lives after men and women of high moral standards. "Well, two things happened on that day. We had our assembly that was our normal assembly; it coincided with the day Pa Adeniran was 88. And we found out that we're going to be sending a strong signal to the boys to emulate positive disposition. It would help us to counsel the children on who to

By Medinat Kanabe

aspire to be, in our mentoring and mentorship. That's just one of the natural ways of leading the children to positive disposition."

He commended Pa Adeniran for his immense generosity since leaving the school. Olapeju said: "Baba was here. He's still being celebrated by the college. He was one of the classmates of Pa Anthony Enohoro. And among the alumnus of the college, I think he's the one that has his house closest to the college. So, like I wrote in my letter to him, his house was the first unofficial annex of Kings College. Because, actually, you know with boys, during the mid-term and all those things, they were trouping to his house because it was very near.

And he has maintained that link with his classmates and juniors.".

And for the recipient, words were not enough to express his gratitude.

Said Pa Adeniran: "Today reminds me of the closeness between myself and my classmates at Kings College.

They were my entire brothers; and it shows the college appreciates the contributions I've made.

"In our time, discipline was very high. Academic performance was very high also. On this occasion that KC has done me the honour of inviting me to the college on the early morning of my 88th birthday, and then, the college and staff coming here to celebrate with me, I feel highly honoured. I feel that my contributions to the college will not be in vain. Equally, my son has taken my steps because he himself attended the college."

He also went down memory lane: "In my time, schools had Biology laboratory, Physics and Chemistry labs with specimen. There was this

• Pa Adeniran and his wife Dr Florence cutting the cake

teacher called A. G. Carpenter. He had a knack for collecting specimen -butterflies, bees, rats. We had them all in the colleges. And there was Kenneth Marcher, a teacher also, who died and his family donated a trophy to the school; so that if you're

• Pupils of Rainbow College Surulere Lagos during their excursion to Berger Paints Nigeria PLC, Ikeja.

good in science in a particular year, you win the prize. I want to see more of these things in our schools now."

Pa Adeniran noted that the aesthetics which used to be the hallmark of KC in their days has almost given way.

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

40

EDUCATION ‘Equip our lang. lab, others’

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HE Commandant, Nigerian Army School of Education, Ilorin, Brig.-Gen. Adedapo Adebayo, has urged the Federal Government to equip the language and science departments of the school.

According to him, language is a very useful method employed by the military in its operations which cut across cultures and continents.

He said the school language department where languages, such as French and Arabic are taught, is not adequately equipped, and as such cannot provide training.

"Also, we do not have the required equipment for the science department to meet training need of the officers," he added.

He said the prevailing situation across the world demanded soldiers to learn other major languages so they can perform their assignments effectively.

He said soldiers were taught to speak French, adding that training in Arabic would soon start as troops from the country now go to Sudan and other Arabic countries for military operations.

"We also plan to equip the existing language laboratory in the school. In the interim, we want to manage what we have in the language laboratory with the assistance of the University of Ilorin lecturers to bring up that language because it is one of those things that the Chief of Army Staff is working

EDUTALK

By Wale Adepoju

on," he added.

On the school curriculum, he said: "We have the mandate to train soldiers. We are doing this under the control of the National Commission for College of Education (NCCE) because it is a certificateawarding institution. We award the NCE certificate to our students when they graduate.

"We run military courses such as map reading and curriculum and other courses for educational officers. We have the executive and the advanced programmes as well. The executive officers management course just ended. It is one of the major courses for senior officers' cadre. Whoever takes that course is posted to strategic point to talk on government policies and other national issues," he said.

"I would want to have qualifies lecturers, especially in the area of languages. We have shortage of staff. We are working with the University of Ilorin and one other institution in Ilorin," he added.

On welfare, he said, the military staff were well taken care of since they are in service but the same cannot be said about some civilian staff who were employed temporarily.

"I intend working out a package to assist those who have not received salary. And it is something that will make them happy and put body and soul together. Like I said,

Education and tourism promotion

• Brig.-Gen Adebayo

the funds are not there but we are trying to see how we can make some savings from the little we have and assist those who don't have salary. In a way that would be able to encourage them," he added.

Council signs MoU with RUN

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By Miriam Ndikanwu

are professional in that area to enable us to attain the set goals."

He said the relationship will also be of benefit in research. He said: "We are not solely a research institution but we have a research unit that will collaborate with the university for the development of the industry as a whole.

"This relationship is not exclusively between us and Redeemer's but a nationwide thing and we have institution in the six geopolitical zones representing us.

We hope that the cumulative effect will be that when the capacity of people are enhanced they will know how to do things better in the over ridding interest of the nation."

‘We are not solely a research institution but we have a research unit that will collaborate with the university for the development of the industry as a whole’

A CHILD, whether conceived in Africa, America, Asia or Europe, is born without knowledge of "culture". From the beginning of time, most pre-literate societies had little or no form of learning system, or Kofoworola what one would call school or teachers. As societies grew more complex however, the quality of Kofosagie@yahoo.com knowledge to be passed on from one generation to another became 08054503077 (SMS only) more complex and hence there had to evolve more selective and efficient means of cultural transmission.

Education is therefore designed to guide the society in learning a culture, moulding the behavioural pattern of the society and guiding its members in the right direction.

With time, society became ever more important to education and began to formulate the overall objective, content, organisation and strategies of education. In this manner, education as a district disciple came into being and is constantly been defined and redefined in various countries to meet the national goals and aspirations.

Nigeria as a country has come a long way in providing good education system to her citizens. Governments have for years made efforts to develop education both financially and otherwise. The Federal Ministry of Education has contributed its quota to improve our education policy. Unfortunately, these efforts are yet to meet our desirable goals.

One area it is lacking is in helping sustainable tourism development in Nigeria. Education is a very vital option in the development of our tourism industry. Nigeria is blessed with both natural and cultural attractions and has a lot to showcase to the world. However, about 70 per cent of our tourism potentials are located in our rural areas where they are facing neglect, which leads to their gradual destruction.

Our cultural attractions are one of the best in the world but are not underdeveloped due to poor education of our people. As a result, they record low patronage from tourists. To remedy this, proper education programme should be put in place to enlighten the Nigerian public about the importance of tourism to economic and human resource development of the country.

Nigeria looks forward to become one of the 20 richest economies of the world by 2020 and tourism, being one of the fastest growing economic institutions in the world, should not be neglected in working towards this goal. Educating the Nigerian public on the protection, preservation and maintenance of these wonderful gifts which God has endowed us with is very vital.

The impediment Nigeria faces in tourism development is having nonprofessionals managing the industry. The human resource structure of our tourism industry is not encouraging. Some of the personnel working in tourism-related positions at the federal, state and local government levels know little about the industry.

The reason for this impediment is because the Federal Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Federal Ministry of Education, other stakeholders and Tourism experts have invested little in education programmes.

For our tourism industry to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), our government should consider education as one of the tools for promoting tourism. For Nigeria to have a sustainable tourism development the following recommendations should be considered; • Tourism courses should be introduced in the curriculum of various education levels - primary, secondary and tertiary. This I believe will help to produce more qualified graduates capable of effectively managing and making sustainable tourism plans for the country.

• The media has relevant role to play in educating Nigerians about our tourism potentials. These tourist attractions can be documented and aired by local television stations across the country. Articles about them can be published in our newspapers, magazines, journals and text books for the education of our people. Educating people through such media will make them become custodians of tourist attractions within their communities.

• Tourism agencies and industries in Nigeria should organise training programmes for their workers, school children, and people in the local communities. This will help in educating the public on how to maintain and manage tourism potentials within their domain.

• The Federal Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Nigerian Tourism Development Cooperation (NTDC) and other relevant agencies in the tourism industry should organise regular workshops, especially in local communities with tourism potentials, helping them to understand how these attractions contribute to the economic development of their communities and the country at large. For instance, the state that has put its cultural heritage into the world heritage list are Osun State - Osun Osogbo festival, and the Sukur Kingdom in Adamawa State. This will make the communities to look after these materials of great importance.

Finally, development cannot be completed without education. Education is a vital tool in the sustainable development of any country. For our tourism industry to compete favorably with its counterparts across the world, good education policy should be endorsed for the promotion of our tourism industry. We cannot continue losing what we have because of illiteracy among our people. Let us join hands to make our beloved country Nigeria, a tourism heaven.

Belo-Osagie

• From left: Prof Ibisesan Ayodele, Dean, College of Social and Management Sciences, Achievers University, Owo, Ondo State; Dr Tinuade Ojo, Registrar; Dr. Bode Ayorinde, Pro-Chancellor; Prof. Francis Ojaide, President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria; Prof. Adebayo Odebiyi, Vice-Chancellor; and Prof. Samuel Oyewole, Deputy Vice-Chancellor; and Mr. Dokun Farinre, Acting Bursar; during Ojaide's visit to Achievers University

HE Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding (CRFF) in Nigeria has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Redeemer University (RUN) to provide the requisite knowledge and skills to practitioners and students in the freight forwarding sector.

Director of the Council, Alban Igwe, told reporters that the collaboration would help restore professionalism in the sector through education and capacity building.

He said: "The collaboration is intended to enable us determine the qualification of what a freight forwarder should have and whatever we think is good for the industry. We will engage those who

with

He further said the objective is to make sure that the country has educated, qualified and enlightened sector, adding that when it is after the objective has been achieved that the council's effort will be felt, while the other institution involved will also enlarge their scope as they will get known in this particular area.

RUN Vice Chancellor, Prof Debo Adeyewa, thanked the council for chosing the institution. He assured that the objective of the deal would be realised.

Also, the RUN's Dean of College of Management Sciences, Prof Isaac Achumba, stressed the university’s readiness to collaborate with the council and train the trainers in the sector.

"We are enthusiastic to engage in collaborative research with you in compliance with up to date knowledge and international based practice. It is our desire to embark on joint consulting with you in freight forwarding and other related areas as well as promote scholarship and excellence,” he added.

From My Inbox Ezeani Johnpaul is a corps member serving in Enugu. 08063502100.

PS: Readers interested in featuring their opinion articles on issues in the education sector can send their pieces to the above email. The essay should not be more than 800 words.

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

NEWS WORLD MALARIA DAY

‘Release mosquito nets’

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ON-Governmental Organisations in Edo State yesterday said over two million treated nets brought to the state by the Federal Government two years ago are rotting away in warehouses.

They said the nets might soon expire without it getting to the families, who need them.

The NGOs spoke at a stakeholders’ forum on Corporate Social Responsibility and Malaria Control, organised by the Lift Above Poverty Organisation as part of activities to mark the World Malaria Day. Facilitator of the forum

From Osagie Otabor, Benin

and a consultant on Public Health at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Omokhoa Adeleye, suggested that the forum sends a delegation to Governor Adams Oshiomhole to make a case on why the nets should be released.

Adeleye said deaths from malaria have dropped by 30 per cent in Africa and called for sustained efforts in the fight against the epidemic.

State Coordinator for Malaria Control Programme Adesuwa Ebomwonyi assured the participants that the nets would be distributed in October.

Red Cross to step up fight

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IGERIA has been urged to tackle the scourge of malaria instead of waiting for support from the international community.

Senior Health Officer (Malaria), International Federation of the Red Cross, Dr Marcy Erskine, at a briefing in Calabar yesterday, urged federal, local and state governments to increase investments to step up the fight against malaria.

She said success in the fight against the disease in Nigeria is crucial to its eradication in Africa.

Director of the Institute of Tropical Diseases Research and Preven-

From Nicholas Kalu, Calabar

tion, University of Calabar, Prof Emmanuel Ezedinachi, said malaria kills more people than HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis combined.

According to him, a child dies every 30 seconds from malaria in Nigeria.

He emphasised the need to step up the fight against the disease, especially through research.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Community Medicine, Dr Iyam Ugot, urged stakeholders to be alive to their responsibilities.

Over 150.3m Nigerians at risk, says minister HE Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, yesterday said over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s population (about 150.3 million persons) are at risk of contracting malaria.

The minister spoke in Abuja at a media briefing marking this year’s World Malaria Day. According to him, the Malaria Indicator Survey, conducted in Nigeria in 2010, showed that about 52 per cent of children between six months and five years tested positive to malaria through a Rapid Diagnostic Test.

He noted that the prevalence was higher in rural areas with about 55.9 per cent.

To reduce the infection, Chukwu said 47 million Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs) have been distributed in 30 states.

He added that he has directed the distribution of the nets in the remaining six states and Abuja.

The minister said: “Malaria is a major public problem in Nigeria.

“Nigeria contributes a quarter of the malaria burden in Africa. “ Over 90 per cent of the population in Nigeria, put at 167 million, is at risk.

“Malaria contributes 30

T

From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

per cent to childhood mortality in Nigeria and contributes 11 per cent of maternal mortality. I must add that it reduces Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by one per cent annually. It is estimated that malaria-related illnesses and mortality cost Africa’s economy about $12 billion annually.

“The theme of this year’s celebration is: Sustain Gains, Save Lives: Invest in Malaria, while the slogan is: Let’s Work Together. It actually marks a decisive juncture in the history of malaria control.”

The World Health Organisation (WHO) Representative in Nigeria, Dr. David Okello, said progress has been noticed in the fight against malaria, adding that it is still fragile.

He said: “WHO is committed to a continuing partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health, the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) and all other Roll Back Malaria (RBM) partners through the provision of technical support and guidance to implement the activities necessary to meet the national goals.”

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THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

43

NEWS ‘You’re ignorant, attention seekers’

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HE Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has urged the state's Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to learn how to play the opposition instead of indulging in "periodic ventilation of puerility for the purpose of sounding off" as an opposition party in Lagos.

The party said the advice was necessary because of PDP's baseless criticism of the decision of Lagos State Government to purchase land for agriculture in Osun State.

In a statement by its Publicity Secretary of the ACN, Joe Igbokwe, ACN noted that "it takes only a group of ridiculous attention seekers to issue the kind of spurious attack credited to the Lagos PDP because there was nothing reasonable contained in the criticism to warrant such demonstration of ignorant exuberance in the first instance".

It said the PDP demonstrated a confounding ignorance that justifies the mess its members have made of leadership in Nigeria.

The statement reads: "We would have expected that the PDP would have advanced credible reasons to input the kind of ulterior motive it sought to invest in this laudable project.

But the entire length and breadth of their condemnation drips with the profound ignorance, abject puerility and crass hollow that is traditionally PDP. This explains the huge leadership deficit Nigeria has suffered in its 13 years of its regrettable rule. We sought for convincing reasons, apart from a deft effort to give voice to a dead cartel that is in desperate need for attention.

"It is all too easy to allege fraud in a move

that should be widely commended. But one would have expected the Lagos PDP to advance even minute reasons for its wild and tendentious allegation. However, it neither supplied any nor justified the desperate effort for a party that is notorious for wreckage to allege fraud in a move that is seen as bold and decisive to invest in the neglected agricultural sector. In its ignorance, the Lagos PDP forgot that Lagos State does not have the kind of land needed to do the kind of agricultural project the state is planning to do in Osun State.

"We state that it is stupid, brainless and idiotic to state that Lagos has become an appendage of Osun State, as the Lagos PDP alleged, just because Lagos acquired land for agricultural ventures in Osun State. We believe that such demonstration of ignorance is a vintage PDP trademark that should be dismissed for what it is; a huge and ill-informed propaganda.

"We challenge the Lagos PDP to prove its wild allegation on the deal. We challenge the Lagos PDP to substantiate its hollow and specious allegations on the Lagos State Government farms and we want to let them know that they can never benefit from such hollow effort to stay in the news and resurrect a dead party.

We want to remind them that Lagos State government has not failed in any venture it has invested in and that this agricultural venture will not be different.

"We advise the Lagos PDP to present itself as an alternative to the ACN government in Lagos, not through mouthing baseless allegations to be heard but to advance tested and credible alternatives to the polices of the ACN in Lagos."

•From left: Laura Oloyede, General Manager/Chief Operating Officer, Cutler Ogilvy Public Relations; Ethel Rugba Onosode-Alaka, President NobleLink Energy; and Bamidele Agbogun, Vice-President, NobleLink Energy, at the latter’s workshop on: Angola, Nigeria and Ghana Strategic Expansion, Opportunities and Networking in the Energy Sector...in Lagos

Group threatens to sue ICPC for ‘libel’

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GROUP, Crisis Control Foundation (CCF), has asked the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC)to retract its recent publication declaring its Director, Ezeatakwulu Osakwe, wanted.

In statement, the group alleged that the anti-graft body declared Osakwe wanted for purportedly using the joint emblem of both organisations for fraudulent purposes.

CCF threatened to sue the agency for N2 billion should it refuse to retract the publication.

It said the statement was credited to ICPC’s Resident Consultant (Media and Events), Mr Folu Olamiti.

According to CCF, ICPC al-

leged that Osakwe’s organisation has been de-registered by the National AntiCorruption Coalition (NACC) of the ICPC, yet he was using the CCF/ICPC emblem to deceive the public.

Osakwe denied the allegations. He expressed surprise that ICPC, which was exchanging correspondences with him till last month, could claim that he has been evading arrest.

He denied the ICPC allegation that his office, which opens from Monday to Friday, is purportedly under lock and key.

The group said ICPC did not invite him for questioning before it went to the media, adding that the letter he received recently suspended his organisation as a member of the National Anti-Corrup-

tion Coalition.

He said he immediately replied to the letter with the company’s official letter head, among others.

Osakwe denied the report that Herbert Duru and Mrs. Rose Uwenduka, who were recently arrested by the commission, were agents of CCF. He demanded a proof of the allegation.

In a letter to ICPC, Osakwe said: “These libellous damages stand above N2 billion as CCF has over one million members nationwide. I have accordingly instructed my legal team to proceed with a legal action, if you fail to retract the statement in question.

“Reading the contents of ICPC media publication, you should have asked necessary questions, as a professional, before going to the press.”

NOA launches public awareness digital screen

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HE National Orientation Agency (NOA) has launched its digital screen platform for public awareness and value reorientation in Minna, the Niger State capital.

The initiative is the first in Nigeria. It showcases the nation’s cultures, tourist attractions and core values for promoting national pride and identity.

Governor Babangida Aliyu launched the full colour, motion picture, digital display screen at a dinner organised by the state government in honour of NOA Director Mr Mike Omeri.

The governor praised the NOA for conceiv-

ing the initiative, saying it would enrich the state in many ways.

Aliyu, represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Dan Shashere, noted that the platform would enhance value re-orientation, agricultural revolution, tourism promotion, social rebirth and moral rearmament among the residents.

He hoped that the gesture will enhance the realisation of the Vision 3:2020 of the state, to be among the first three state economies in Nigeria by the year 2020.

The governor urged individuals and organisations to emulate the creativity of the NOA.

44

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

45

NATURAL HEALTH

Stakeholders move to protect traditional medicine T

RADITIONAL medicine practitioners and other stakeholders are to have a draft legal document expected to assist in protecting traditional knowledge and biological resources.

This, they believe, would facilitate the regulation and co-ordination of traditional medicine development in the country for improved health care delivery, job and wealth creation.

It will also assist in the required integration of the indigenous medical system into the national health care delivery system and engender the much-needed support from the government.

They reached the compromise at the just-concluded a m i n i - n a t i o n a l stakeholders' forum for the protection of traditional medicine knowledge and practice organised by the Nigeria National Agency for Natural Medicine (NNMDA).

It said over 100 stakeholders'representatives were drawn from traditional medicine practitioners’ associations and relevant state ministries of ag-

• From Right (Front):Prof Abayomi Sowofora, Okujagu, Prof Maurice Iwu, Prof Johnson Ekpere, From Right: (Back): Dr Bunmi Omoseyindemi, Mr John Asein, Mrs Stella Ani, Mr Lucky Nwosa, Mohammed IbrahimJawa and Mr Sam Etatuvie ... at the event.

Stories by Wale Adepoju

riculture, commerce, justice, health and related professional associations, participated.

They are to put their contributions into a document to protect, develop and promote traditional medicine knowledge and prac-

tices, it said.

NNMDA Director-General, Tamuno Okujagu, said the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) and other national and international stakeholders in December 2005, convened an international workshop with

entitled: Appropriate intellectual property right regime, a necessity to maximise the potential of Traditional Medicine for improved healthcare delivery, national economic growth and development.

He said the major resolution of the workshop was the

constitution of an International Consultative Committee (ICC) composed of experts under the joint chairman of Prof. Abayomi Sofowora and Prof. Maurice Iwu to develop and produce a draft policy and legal instrument for an Intellectual Property Right (IPR) regime for traditional medicine knowledge and practice (TMKP).

The committee, he said, met several times and developed a draft policy and a draft legal framework, entitled: Traditional knowledge and biological resources protection act.

He said: "The key areas addressed by the draft document and policy are traditional knowledge protection, guarding against intrusion of the knowledge and biological resources and identify who should regulate and manage the affairs such as the board, the composition of the board - to cater to the different issues and interest, scope of protection, who will enjoy the protection and duration of the protection.

To ensure joint ownership

and acceptance by all stakeholders, the then Honourable Minister of Science and Technology, Prof Turner Isoun directed and approved the presentation of these documents to stakeholders for their review and input.

He said the first stage of the stakeholders' forum has been completed in the country's six geopolitical zones, adding that input, suggestions and observation from the meeting was collated and critically reviewed. "All useful contributions and inputs have been adopted and incorporated to further improve and enrich the draft document," he added.

He said 900 stakeholders' representatives drawn from Traditional Medicine Practitioners Associations and relevant state Ministries of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Health and related professional associations participated in the six zonal sensitisation fora. The outcome of these interactive session indicates tremendous enthusiasm and acceptance by the grassroots’stakeholders, Okujagu added.

‘Garlic boosts immune system’

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ARLIC has been identified as an immune booster that supports the body’s defences to overcome sicknesses.

Managing Director, Seaduck Nigeria Limited, Mr Sam Ayeni, said it also helps to increase the energy level and vigour.

The Aged Garlic Extract (AGE) has showed more effectiveness than fresh bulbs of garlic in helping protect the body against diseases and agerelated conditions.

The most popular AGE supplement in the market is Kyolic garlic by Wakunaga of America, Ayeni added.

He said it was made after a long process of extraction and aging at room temperature, the harsh volatile substances found in fresh garlic are converted to beneficial stable compounds, thereby increasing the levels of anti-oxidants above those in the fresh bulb.

This gives AGE the power, he added.

He said the aged garlic ex-

tract was the only originally grown garlic. “Naturally, it aged up to 20 months to enhance the nutritional value.

Kyolic is odourless and gentle on the stomach, unlike other dehydrated powder.

He said it is potent and it reduces blood pressure and lower cholesterol. “But the scientific evidence that garlic can help protect against colon cancer is quickly mounting. Its treatment as a chemopreventive has attracted so much attention that

researchers at the University of Australia decided to review several recent studies on the spice. “They wanted to determine whether the studies were valid and exactly what kind of impact garlic has on colon cancer,” he said.

Japanese researchers, he said, were also curious about the impact of AGE on cancers of other organs that belongs to the digestive system, particularly advanced-stage cancer. “They recruited 50 patients with inoperable colorectal,

liver or pancreatic cancer for a double-blind randomnised study that was also published in a journal. Most of the patients had liver cancer; seven had pancreatic cancer and only one suffered from colon cancer.

“After six months, scientists discovered that those who were given AGE had significantly higher levels of natural killer cells – white blood cells that play major role in tumour rejection and in natural killer cell activity than patients in the placebo group.”

• Ayeni

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THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

NATURAL HEALTH

Care and respect for a woman’s breasts

flammation and congestion are likely causes. Inflammation may be due to irritation by bacterial toxins or heavy metal toxicity. Explains Dr. Clark: "Your body often turns the breast into a collection station for toxic wastes that have been drawn downwards from the top of your body. From your head where shampoo and hair spray and cosmetics leave their daily deposits, from your dentalware with its constant supply of heavy metals, from neck and armpits where cologne, deodorant and soap leave their toxic residues. The lymph nodes under the armpit and the region above the breast collect it all and let it slip into the breast where it is bundled up in a cyst. Perhaps the kidneys are clogged so toxins are forced to go to a designated dump site instead of out through the bladder. Do a kidney cleanse. Don't rest until all your breast lumps are gone, they will begin to shrink in three weeks if you are removing the right toxins. Even radon and asbestos go to the breast, so be meticulous with your clean up.”

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WOMAN'S BREASTS mean different things to different people. For babies, they are lifebelts. Some women deploy them for coquetry, while others, ashamed of any exposure, obscure them with all means.

Many men see a woman's breasts as erotic playthings, toys.

One rustic Nigerian male musician works up such men with lyrics which ask: between the baby and the father, who owns the breasts? The answer echoes right on our fingertips; neither baby nor father, but the woman on whose body they hang. Even where a woman thinks otherwise, the truth soon catches up with her one way or the other in a breasts problem. That's when she knows she's on her own, as they say. I have been a friend to women beset with smelly breast cancer, where their husbands wouldn't. In some cases, I have helped to spray ALOE FIRST on broken breast tissue, to support healing and to nip the odour. Some cases respond well, others do not. The last time I saw a woman, I knew she couldn't make it till the next day. The doctor had just transfused her with blood. She called her husband and asked him to solemnly promise he'd take care of their two children the way she'd love to. This request was pregnant. But he didn't seem to know. What if he remarried and the new woman came between him and these children. Anyway, he took the vow. And next day, she was gone. For weeks, I felt raw within me, as I did feel when Shakirat Adeoti, the 33-year-old girl with cancer in both breasts, left the flesh. I cried for days any time I remembered her, refusing to heed admonitions of my children who reminded me I taught them not to start a new day with deficits from the previous one. We had become close. My wife was helping her draft memorandum for her Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) on breast health. This column led Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, then First Lady of Lagos State, to Shakirat's hospital bed. She gave her N250,000. Bola Tinubu, Governor, helped her bills and upkeep with N1million.

Many school children were not left out. Shakirat's boyfriend was like a Rock of gibraltar. Dotun Akintoye and I followed her to parties to make her feel a part of human society again.

On Sundays, I took her to churches as part of her NGO work. Her friends at Obafemi Awolowo University stood by. The Internet Age had not enveloped Nigeria as it now does. Her energy was up despite chemotherapy for one year. I was afraid this poison could get her one day, despite all the help she was getting from Nature. When that time came, she begged her mother to let her go. Capsuled medicines came out with her stool as she had swallowed them.

Her hair did not fall, she did not vomit and her skin and fingers did not blacken as often happen during chemotherapy treatment. But shingles broke out in the 15th month and she suffered massive breathing problems. She couldn't lie on her back or side, and had to sit up all night while others were sleep. Her brothers took turns to fan her because electrical failure was constant and the family couldn't afford a generator. She begged her mother to let her go.

Which mother would agree, unless she has deep spiritual insights? I did not train as an hospice worker. Hospice workers are people who make the last days of a dying person pleasant by helping them to pass away happily, without inner pains. So when I arrived at the family house one day and was told she'd just fainted, I went straight in, shook her legs, announcing, "Shaki, it's me …" She opened her eyes and smiled! After her departure later, I advised myself never again to be emotionally bound to another person as I was to her. But is that possible in health care giving?

I was soon to meet another woman, Uduak. She was courageous. Her husband was dutiful and loving. From the corners of my eyes, I often watched her look into the corners of her husband's eyes with the corners of her eyes and smile from the heart. I would tell the husband later what I observed and ask that he should never fail her with his love.

So close were they that when her time to go came, she telephoned him to be home that day earlier than usual. He did, she asked him to hold her hand if he loved her, and to say so if he did. As he was saying so and wondering what was going on, Uduak was gone! Her condition began to deteriorate about six weeks or more before. She had told me someone spoke to her about a recipe which combined aloe vera leaf and spirits. I didn't approve of it. I had read so much from Dr. Hulda Regehr Clark about how propyl alcohol aids faciolopsis buskii, a flat worm in the intestines of the cow, to wreak cancer on various organs of the human body, the breast inclusive, and for which reason I reinforced my distaste at table for the Nigerian delicacy called 'RoundAbout, another name for intestinal meat.

ODAY is not another day for a breast cancer talk. All the women who know next to nothing about the delicateness of the breast and who are pumping and flaunting it about for coquetry have only just reminded me of some of the friends I made while they were trying to take care of problems in their own breasts. Almost everywhere, even in the church of all places, you see the breasts not hidden beneath clothes, pumped up, even if they had fallen, with wired bras, which restrict blood circulation to these delicate organs. So is the idea of wearing tight bras all day and all night, solely to prevent them from sagging. Such tightly encased breasts do not 'breathe' well. Wired bras and tight bras would appear to the a child's play when it comes to what many women do to look beautiful, look younger or to appeal more to men. The diagram on this page (courtesy of Dr. Christene Northrup's WOMEN'S BODY, WOMEN'S WISDOM) gives a clue. Many women do not know that their breasts extend to their armpits through a section of it

T

Respect

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NYTHING which touches the skin enters the body. So will shampoos, dyes and hairsprays with which modern woman embalms her hair at the saloon almost every week. I am glad my wife has given them up. Long ago, we learned about roll-ons and deodorant sprays. Most of them contain aluminum.

Aluminum in the armpit may end up in the brain. As it damages the brain, a fatty organ, so may it destroy the breast, an equally fatty organ. Our resort was to ALOE SHIELD, arguably the only aluminum free antiperspirant on the Nigeria market. The lipstick is another sore point. It contains thallium, found in most rat killers.

And thallium has been found in some diseased breast tissue! The same goes for soaps and body creams. Thus, a woman who respects her breast will be careful of not only goes into her body but touches it as well.

Care

physiologists call TAIL of SPENCE. It is a connection to the lymphatic system and lymph nodes in the armit. Women who have had babies will remember that when their babies didn't suck breast milk early enough or well enough, they experienced swelling and pain in the upper arm. That was because the breast milk had to flow towards the armpit through the Tail of Spence. In serious breast cancer, such swellings may engulf the upper and lower arm on the side of the breast involved. Wired bras and tight-fitting bras may cause circulation obstructions which may induce retrograde (back flowing) circulation.

Respect for the breast

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E do not respect many organs of our bodies, such as the eyes, stomach and intestines, and it isn't surpris ing, therefore, that women disrespect their breasts and run from pillar to post, as they say, only, again, as they say, "when trouble bursts", such as when they discover a lump or a cyst, notice nipple discharge or are told they have breast cancer. Respect for the breast does not imply that men should not touch them. Whether men should suck them is another matter. Naturally sucking excites the milk glands. Women are often advised not to bother if they experience discharge within one year of their last childbirth… the milk glands are still not dry. If they bother, SAGE tea may help to dry the milk. In cases of still birth where the milk is no longer needed, it has proven a safe remedy for terminating milk flow. But if the nipple flow, milky or greening-yellow in colour, is off season, a check on prolactin level may be called for. Prolactin is a hormone produced by the pituitary gland, in the brain, to make the milk glands make milk in preparation for the coming baby within 24 hours of conception taking place.

Thus if there is no pregnancy in session and prolactin level are high, or if the nipple stimulation is not due to lovemaking or erotic feelings, the cause must be sought, one of which could be tumours (pituitary micro adenoma) in the pituitary gland which is overfiring its work. Where nipple discharge is bloody, a cancer may be in the offing. Nipple discharge doesn't frighten many women as does breast pain, because they do not know the implications. They think the pain is a sign of cancer. But many gynaecologists do not think it is. Some pains are due to hormonal changes of the menstrual cycle. Too much estrogen and prolactin irritate breast cells. When the pain is not caused by hormones, in-

e-mail: www. olufemikusa@yahoo.com

After I learned about two Edgar Cayce recipies, I informed many women who may benefit from them, and have found they all do in varying degrees. One of them is PEANUT OIL MASSAGE. The other CAMPHORATED CASTOR OIL THERAPY. Cayce was an intuitive healthcare giver or intuitive doctor who often made his diagnosis in a trance. He suggested peanut oil massage for many conditions, including strokes. For aling or rumpled breast, Nigerian women who know of this therapy have been using, with success, the peanut oil brand called GRAND, made by the UAC of Nigeria. It is available in many supermarkets. It is enriched with Vitamin A. Perhaps that's the joker. Fatty organs like the skin and breast thrive on fat soluble vitamins such as Vitamins A and E. This oil may be mixed with Vitamin E cream and massaged deeply into the breast. The nipples, too, may benefit. This therapy does not exclude the need for food supplements such as Evening Primroses Oil, GLA, UDO'S Oil, flax Seed Oil, all of them rich sources of anti-inflammation, anti-pain and protecting Omega -3 fatty acids. A massage of these oils may also be done. Where there is a need to detoxify, Marian Treben's Bitters may be massaged on the breast.

A massage of the cell salts Ferrum. Phos. and SILICA may help congestion, cysts and benign lumps. Cal. Flour. may help itching and Mag. Phos. may help pain.

These cell salts may also be taken orally. The other Edgar Caycee recipe is CAMPHORATED CASTOR OIL MASSAGE. Camphor is ground to fine power, preferably on the grinding stone and mixed with castor oil until toothpaste consistency is achieved. Some women prefer the cheap castor oil at the chemist's. I always suggest a superior but more expensive health food brand. Whichever is the choice the paste is massaged deeply into the skin and a heating pad is placed over it, to drive in the elements. Heating pads are not readily available in Nigeria, so we've improved with the hot water bottle. This recipe is good also for uterine fibroids. I do not know the mechanism through which it works. But I guess improved blood circulation cannot be ruled out.

Finally, I'd like to mention a supplement women shouldn't ignore. It is called CoQ10 or Ubiquinone. This column recommends CoQ10 often for hypertension and heart diseases as well as for breast cancer. CoQ10 gained worldwide popularity for cancer therapy through the clinical research of two Danish doctors with 32 breast cancer patients. One study had shown that about 20 per cent of breast cancer patients did not have enough CoQ10 in their bodies. CoQ10 is used by the body to make mitochondria, the factories inside the cell in which energy is made. Thus, the more CoQ10 the more the mitochondria per cell and the more cellular energy is produced. An average person is said to require about 90mg CoQ10 daily while heart patients need about 200mg. These Doctor gave the 32 women 90mg of CoQ10 along with other minerals, vitamins, trace elements antioxidants, essential fatty acids, and co-factors. Nothing happened. But when they raised CoQ10 dosage to 390mg daily, seven women partially or completely recovered from their breast cancers within three months.

In the months ahead, we should see how respect and care of the breast make this organ luxuriant and healthy.

Tel:08034004247, 07025077303

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

47

e-Business Around the world, convergence is driving a new pattern of consumer demand, causing major communications platforms that were once separate to overlap. Experts say for Nigeria to reap the benefits of this new technology, investment in network infrastructure is vital, ADLINE ATILI writes

Convergence and the challenge I of infrastructure N the past, technological systems were disparate, each operating on a specific device. A camera was only used to take pictures; a phone was for making and receiving voice calls; a tape deck or compact disc player was for playing music; a computer was used for e-mails and other typing functions.

Today, all that has changed. A single device can be used to carry out all these functionalities. You can even buy and sell from a mobile phone.

What we are witnessing today is convergence of technology—convergence of computing, broadcasting and telecommunications.

Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission, Mr Yomi Bolariwa, at a forum in Lagos, said convergence is when hitherto separate technologies such as computers, telephones, radio, fax machines and television, are merged into a single digital-bit stream, synergistically creating new efficiencies.

He said: “This means the television in the living room will no longer be just a television, but it will be an ‘information’ appliance. In adition to being able to display video streams, it will also be able to present other types of information-Web pages, online stock quotes, interactive city maps, virtual lectures, etc.”

This, according to him, is redefining the competitive landscape, giving rise to new business models.

Convergence is increasingly prevalent in the Information Technology (IT) world; in this context, combination of two or more different technologies in a single device.

Taking pictures with a cell phone and surfing the Web on a television are two of the most common examples of this trend. One of the drivers behind convergence is that of user convenience, and that applies especially in the application (content) delivery area.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DCC Networks, Mr Oladipo Raji, said key drivers of convergence include customer convenience, technological advancement, change in value, as well as cost optimisation.

“The world is fast becoming a knowledge economy, with value moving from tangibles to intangibles and aggregation.

“Cost cutting to fund investment in other services; cost savings from multiple media; cost savings from maximising the use of one media, are all driving convergence trends,” he said.

Head of e-Banking at First Bank of Nigeria, Mr Chuma Ezirim, noted that in the financial sector, the widespread adoption of the Internet and mobile technology is changing the way people connect and transact across the globe, with devices and payments system convergence driving growth of electronic payment channels.

Convergence is also playing a prominent role in the evolution of a digitised postal service.

According to the Postmaster Gen-

•Bolarinwa

•Ahmed-Rufai

eral of the Federation, Alhaji Ibrahim Mori-Baba, the post office has become “much more than the place you go to send or receive a letter or parcel; it is also a hub of electronic and financial services.”

He stressed that access to new Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) now enables people to send confidential electronic messages securely and provides a means of receiving parcels containing goods ordered over the Internet.

He said: “The future is very bright for the postal service as a result of convergence of technologies. The digital era no doubt presents enormous challenges and opportunities for the postal sector and the good thing is that the postal sector in many countries are partnering with the private sector, governments and corporate bodies to move the sector to the next level.

“Radically-changing customer behaviour, driven by digital solutions and the ever-spiralling use of the Internet are revolutionising the way in which businesses, governments and citizens interact.

“The implications of these changes are several, and include, for example, an imperative for the postal sector not

only to secure the traditional mail business but also to quickly master the digital world (of 1.75billion Internet users and the one billion mobile broadband users) and seize the emerging opportunities.

“The post office is present almost everywhere-even in the remotest corners of many countries and serves as a key point of access to the outside world, especially for billions of people who are yet to have access to the Internet.”

However, experts note that as ICT advances into deregulation, convergence is fast becoming the next big issue in connectivity that Nigeria has to tackle urgently.

They argued that the ambiguity of having separate regulators for telecommunications, broadcast and IT should be removed in reflection of the global trends in convergence.

They added that massive investment in broadband infrastructure was of utmost importance if Nigeria is to play a leading role in convergence on the continent.

President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, Titi Omo Ettu, said the simplest thing to do with Internet Protocol resources when it grows convergence

‘Seventy-five per cent of all Internet access in the country is by mobile broadband, which doesn’t come cheap...for economic development to take place and to ensure Nigeria remains competitive in the convergence landscape, there must be easy and affordable access for all citizens’

will be to enjoy its benefits. He agreeed that the key to enjoying such benefits and paradoxically the greatest challenge, is proper regulation.

“The moral of this debacle is that in the provision of infrastructure, the challenge really would not be for those who build the networks nor those who use the services, but for those who make the laws regarding what we do and what we do not,” he said.

He said effective regulation will help tackle any anomaly that may arise from the use of emerging technologies.

To address the regulatory challenge, Bolarinwa said: “The challenge for regulators is to work in harmony to facilitate the possibility of their licensees being able to provide services without any encumbrances of sectoral grandstanding.

“The regulatory bodies need to incept inter-sectoral committees to work out modalities to enable the people they serve take full advantage of modern convergent services.”

At the fifth IT Edge West African Convergence Forum in Lagos, experts identified huge infrastructural outlay required to bring services to users, in addition to acute shortage of bandwidth in the country as major barriers to more rapid convergence in Nigeria.

Chief Executive Officer of NIGCOMSAT Ltd, Timasaniyu Ahmed-Rufai, said broadband connectivity remains a challenge to uptake of converged services.

He said only a negligent number of Internet users in the country have access to broadband.

“Seventy-five per cent of all Internet access in the country is by mobile broadband, which doesn’t come cheap. Services often tagged as 3G or 4G cannot do triple play of voice, data and video,” he added.

He said further: “About 4.8tbps of broadband Internet has arrived the shores of Nigeria but we still have slow connections due to lack of massive distribution infrastructure.

“For economic development to take place and to ensure Nigeria remains competitive in the convergence landscape, there must be easy and affordable access for all citizens.

“The emergence of an indigenouslyconceived satellite backbone provider which NIGCOMSAT Ltd represents opens a new vista to drive broadband at a cheaper rate.”

Senior Project Manager at Alcatel Lucent, Innocent Aki, said from infrastructure point of view, African countries need to transform their networks to develop broadband and decrease price of bandwidth.

Speaking in the same vein, CEO of DCC Networks, said the challenge of convergence, which include lack of distribution infrastructure for broadband access, literacy, limited access to end user devices, security of content and intellectual material, must be addressed by massive investment in technology distribution network, licence and infrastructure, as well as building support capability.

48

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

e-Business Tecno launches dual SIM Android phone

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•From left: Regulatory Affairs Manager, MTN Nigeria, Quasim Odumbaku, Senior Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on ICT, Kenny Abiona and Regulatory Affairs Manager, Airtel Nigeria, Shola Adeyemi, at the Titans of Tech conference in Lagos.

Fed Govt urged to protect Intellectual Property

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S the World Intellectual Property (IP) Day is celebrated globally today, a technology firm, HP, has restated IP’s role as a catalyst for economic, social and cultural prosperity of any nation.

At HP’s ‘Be Original’ conference on IP and innovation organised to mark the day, stakeholders said that more people would respect IP and avoid counterfeits if they understand how trademarks and copyrights drive economic innovation and enhance personal lifestyles in areas like health care, technology and leisure.

They urged the Federal Government to protect the nation’s Intellectual Property through enacting legislation to ensure stiffer penalties were meted to copyright and other IP violators.

HP’s submission was: “In addition to improving the quality of life, IPprotected music, medicine, print cartridges and other everyday consumer items inspire others to innovate and create with the hope that they, too, can enjoy the rewards that come from original thinking.”

Channel Development Manager, HP Imaging and Print Group, Anglophone Africa, Mrs Rita Amuchienwa said: “Few people talk about IP or are aware of just how ingrained and important it is in our lives, which is why it’s the ‘secret ingredient’ to a modern society in which innovators thrive under the protection of comprehensive IP laws.

Stories by Adline Atili Stopping the unauthorised use of IP, whether it’s pirated movies, fake handbags or counterfeit print cartridge technology tells the next generation of visionaries that their work will flourish and be respected.”

One of the speakers at the conference, Dr Isah Momoh of the School of Media and Communications, PanAfrican University, Lagos, noted that while it is important to promote the benefits of a robust IP system, it is equally crucial to educate the society on the threats of counterfeit products.

He said most fake products are made with inferior raw materials and components and do not perform optimally as brand-name goods backed by decades of research and development and testing.

He called for stiffer penalties and sanctions to discourage counterfeiting. “The understanding of IP protection begins with a consciousness. We, as a society must begin to understand that counterfeit products destroy innovation and drive the economy down. We must push the government to introduce stiffer penalties to protect IP and make the government to realise that it is the wealth of the nation. We must all stand up for what is right,” Dr Momoh said.

Corroborating, a youth advocate and publisher, Mr Chude Jideonwo, pointed out that law enforcement was

critical to discouraging counterfeiting.

He said that greater prosecution of IP infringement including tougher sentencing will send the right message across.

Jideonwo described government’s enforcement of laws regarding copyright infringement and Intellectual Property as ‘abysmal,’ saying until government steps up its act and provide adequate legal framework necessary for the protection of people’s creations, “we are going to continue to battle with IP theft.”

HP noted that Nigeria is among the countries where manufacturing and distribution of fake printing supplies and other illicit merchandise is widespread. According to the World Economic Forum, Nigeria ranks 104 out of 142 countries in the protection of IP rights.

On what HP is doing to ensure customers continue to get genuine supply of its products, Mrs Amuchienw said: “As one of the biggest owners of intellectual property with a portfolio of over 37,000 patents, HP actively educates its customers and partners to be vigilant to fake printing supplies through its anti-counterfeiting programme. It also cooperates closely with local and global law enforcement agencies to detect and dismantle illegal operations that produce counterfeit HP printing components.”

NITDA partners UN agency for ICT development

T

HE National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has said it is collaborating with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in building Information and Communications Technology (ICT) measurement capacity in Nigeria.

The initiative, Scan-ICT, was launched by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Government of Finland to ensure availability of quality data on ICT activities in Africa. It will create an enabling environment for the compilation of ICT indicators to be part of the activities of National Statistical Offices.

According to NITDA, the Scan-ICT initiative was designed to build support for the phased development of a comprehensive African capability to collect and manage information on key Information Society (IS) and ICT for Development (ICT4D)-related indicators to support the growing in-

vestment that African countries are making in ICT infrastructure development, deployment and usage, as well as support the ICT4D process in African countries aimed at facilitating their transition into the information society Director-General of NITDA, Prof.

Cleopas Angaye, said the main objectives of Scan-ICT are to determine ICT4D status and continuously scan basic ICT4D activities in each African country; develop and continually refine a set of IS/ICT4D indicators that can be used to measure ICT4D activities and progress in Africa and guide investments; and develop a continuous benchmarking strategy that can be implemented to improve performance of ICTs in Africa.

Other objectives of the initiative according to NITDA include: to develop sets of case studies to demonstrate best practices and share lessons learned in the innovative application of ICTs in different coun-

tries, carry out focused ICT4D research and development in order to strengthen the strategic management capacities of ICT4D policy development and investment in Africa, and maintain a capacity development strategy and plan for the sustainable collection, maintenance and provision of quality information on ICT4D activities in Africa.

Angaye said the Nigerian Scan-ICT is aimed at measuring the impact of ICT on socioeconomic development of the country. According to him, it will support Nigeria’s transition to an information society by building the capacity to collect and manage the kind of information and data that support and engineer growth and investment in the nation’s ICT sector.

As part of the Scan-ICT Nigeria project, desk research and field work have been carried out in the six geopolitical zones, in addition to a pilot that was undertaken in Lagos.

This work was done in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

ECNO Telecom Ltd, a mobile phone manufacturing company, has launched its first dual SIM Android smartphone, Tecno T1 in Nigeria.

Tecno T1 supports dual mode, dual SIM that leads you into the world of 3G to experience the unlimited smart life and a scalable balance for busy professionals and their social life, the company said.

“Tecno T1 runs on Android 2.3.5 Operating System (OS) w h i c h brings users excellent Internet experience and intelligent terminal that can add value-added applications freely. The smartphone has streamlined body with 3.5-inch capacitive touch screen that supports multi-touch with better operating experience, in addition to the builtin G-Sensor, light sensor and proximity sensor, with advanced motion sensing ability,” Deputy General Manager of Tecno Telecom, Mr Chidi Okonkwo, said.

Okonkwo said the launch of Tecno T1, is an indication that the company is determined to provide top quality smartphones at affordable prices and to meet market demand through a

well-tailored research with accurate market intelligence and customer feedback.

Describing the phone as a “mobile PC,” Okonkwo said: “Tecno T1 is similar to a computer with communications function. Users can surf the Internet with it just like on a computer with the Android OS and enjoy over 500,000 applications downloadable from this platform; its CPU, RAM and ROM are similar to a computer's C P U , memory and hard disk. It is a product, an Operating System and a smartphone.

“Tecno T1’s powerful CPU allows for speedy processing. It is equipped with two cameras, the back one with 3.0mp, with which you can take a picture of everything you see; and the front one, with which you can take a picture of yourself. Also, you can make video calls with the frontfacing camera; it supports face detection, smile detection and continuous shooting of panoramic pictures. It also supports time-lapse photography.

What is more, its multimedia system is powerful enough for you to enjoy music and videos of various formats. “

MainOne transforms Ghana Internet service

M

AINONE Cable Company, a provider of broadband Internet services, has hosted some of its customers and other enterprises in Ghana to an appreciation forum.

Country Manager for MainOne, Mr Joseph Odoi, said the forum was an avenue to express appreciation to MainOne customers who have been instrumental in the quest to deepen broadband penetration in Ghana.

According to him, Internet penetration in the country had increased five per cent from 5.2 per cent in 2010 to about 10 per cent in 2011. “This has been largely due to the efforts of our partners who have contributed immensely to the growth of MainOne in our almost two years of operation. No matter how innovative a company might be or how affordable its products and services are, without the pivotal support and cooperation of customers, the survival

of such company would be threatened,” he said.

Managing Director of Zipnet Broadband Wireless Services, who is also President of the Ghana Internet Services Providers Association, Mr Ernest Brown, said: “MainOne is doing a good job in terms of costumer connectivity.

With our last providers, we constantly had to chase them before we could discuss technical issues that affected us.

With MainOne, they are the ones doing the chasing, and they ensure that they engage us at least once every month, and address our challenges.

Managing Director of BusyInternet, Mr Praveen Sadalage, pointed out that prior to connection to MainOne Cable, the company experienced challenges bordering on quality, pricing and frequent outage. He said MainOne’s entry heralded a revolution in Internet penetration in Ghana. This, according to him, changed the entire dynamics of the ICT industry.

MTN introduces Pulse

Y

OUNG subscribers on the MTN network can now make calls for as low as 10 kobo per second and connect to an unlimited number of friends within a user group in the new MTN package that offers the lowest call rate to the largest youth community.

In a statement, the package, MTN Pulse, offers youths on the ‘Pulse community’ an unbeatable tariff plan that allows them to make calls at an intra-community rate of 10kobo per second; MTN to MTN calls at 25kobo per sec, as well as other networks at 35kobo per second.

According to the Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer, MTN Nigeria, Mr Bola Akingbade, MTN Pulse is an upgrade of the MTN Fun-link, which offers young people the opportunity to be part of the largest youth community, offering a Closed User Group (CUG) package that accepts as many members as possible. It offers the lowest call rate to the largest community of youths and provides unrestricted

access to SMS and Internet services.

“MTN Pulse brings an unmatched range of value-added offerings and freebies, such as 10MB to browse the Internet for free on a minimum recharge of N100, valid for seven days; free midnight calls to all MTN customers from 12:30am to 4:30am with a minimum balance of N100; amazing Y’ello Friday freebies and lots of other features which also include bonus airtime on every recharge and discounted SMS chat to other Pulse customers.

“Subscribers on other MTN packages can migrate to the MTN Pulse plan by sending 406 to 131 via SMS or dialling *406#. Calls made on MTN to MTN and MTN to other networks from the first day of activation will be added up and charged at 58 kobo per second for the first 60 seconds,” Akingbade said.

He added that with the new package, the youth community is set to experience unprecedented excitement and value for money as well as provide a unique platform for them to connect around common likes, passions and lifestyle.

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

49

e-Business

Copyright and the Internet (1)

Matters e-Rising Segun Oruame segun@segunoruame.com

C

OPYRIGHT as we all know, is an integral aspect of Intellectual Property, which gives creators of original works the right of monopoly, subject to certain exceptions to exclude others from using their works without permission. These rights arise automatically when such works whether published or not, have been fixed in any tangible medium such as a floppy/flash drive or hard disk. An original work is as much protected in an electronic media or soft copy as it is on paper or hard copy.

These rights are protected by several copyrights laws in various jurisdictions and by International Conventions, notably the Berne Union for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Property (The Berne Convention) and the Universal Copyright Convention. Copyright on the Internet is generally concerned with the rights of owners of original works posted on the Internet and the duties as well liabilities of users of the Internet who have access to such works. It determines the extent and limit to which such works can be used. It also deals with persons who post or own email lists or host Web pages on the Internet. Copyright on the Internet is also concerned with situations where a person might want to forward or archive another’s email posting or to copy material from another’s Web page.

It is important to note that contrary to general beliefs, every work on the Internet is regarded as published and protected by copyright laws, even where copyright notices are not attached to such works.

This is because copyright arises immediately protectable works have been fixed in a tangible or material medium. Moreover, the general notion, that works on the Internet are regarded as being within public domain and available for all forms of use by the public is equally very wrong.

Works on the Internet except otherwise stated, may not be taken, copied or used freely without permission from the creator and the owner of such works. Materials on the Internet may only be used freely and even copied if the information is created by the • Government or • the copyright has expired • the copyright has been abandoned • the owner expressly puts the work in public domain or • the use is covered by acceptable exceptions.

In fact, because it is easy to access information on the Internet and increasingly difficult to prevent and control copyright violations thereon, the Internet has been described as “characterising the largest threat to copyright since inception. The Internet is awash with information, a lot of it with varying degree of copyright protection. Copyright works on the Net in-

clude news stories, software, novels, screenplays, graphics, even email and many others. In fact the frightening reality is that almost everything on the Net is protected by copyright. This can pose problems for the hapless surfer.” (The copyright website http// wwwbenedict.com).

However, many aspects of the Internet and copyright are still unresolved causing users of the Internet to, without knowing; break the copyright laws governing the cyberspace. Many erroneously believe that copyrights do not apply on the Internet but in reality these rights are affected online as they are off line. Many also assume that any work without a copyright notice is not subject to copyright. This assumption is misleading as in most jurisdictions and under the Berne Convention, such works with or without notice is copyrighted. It is therefore safer to assume that all works on the Internet, except otherwise expressly stated, are subject to copyright.

Though works on the Internet are available for public use, the owner of such works must expressly and explicitly grant it to the public domain before such works can be used or copied or otherwise dealt without obtaining permission from the owner. Internet users cannot scan copyrighted materials and post them on the Internet without the authority of the owners of such works. Users cannot transfer

graphics or works on the Net or elsewhere, without the knowledge of the owners, and post them somewhere else on the Internet. Moreover, where permission has been obtained, credit and due acknowledgment must also be given to the owner as the creator of the work and where the owner has given terms and conditions, such must also be complied with. Therefore, works on the Internet should not be seen as ordinarily placed within public domain unless expressly stated. It is for this reason that it has been asserted that the Internet and public domain are not synonymous.

Also, there is nothing like international copyrights that enable creators/ owners of original works to protect their works throughout the world; but fortunately, most countries are signatories to the Berne Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention. These conventions allow copyright owners to protect their works in countries in which they are not nationals or ordinarily resident especially where such countries are also signatories to the conventions. This is not to give the impression that users of the Internet are totally excluded from making use of materials on the Net, as such materials are available for use under certain conditions, but it is best to seek permission before any extraordinary use and to give credit to the author of the work used.

How technology can address climate change B

ROADBAND can help create a low carbon economy and address the causes and effects of climate change, according to a new report by the United Nations (UN) Broadband Commission for Digital Development.

Climate change includes patterns of temperature and other seasonal changes over a long period of time, which play a fundamental role in shaping natural ecosystems and the human economies and cultures that depend on them.

According to the commission, the report aims to raise awareness of the pivotal role Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and particularly, broadband networks, can play in creating a low carbon economy, and highlights the importance of Public Private Partnership (PPP) in accelerating change. It is based on interviews, case studies and supporting material from leaders and experts in the field.

“Addressing climate change implies completely transforming our way of life, the way we work, the way we travel, shifting our model of development to a fairer, more sustainable model to ensure our survival. We need to put at stake all the resources available to us, and mobilise the political will to turn discussions and negotiations into agreements and actions,” Secretary-General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Dr Hamadoun Touré, said.

Building on the agreements achieved at the 2011 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-17), the report emphasises the kind of transformative solutions that are enabled by broadband. It provides practical examples of how broadband can contribute to reducing greenhouse gasses (GHGs), mitigating and adapting to the effects of climate change, and promoting resource efficiency, while building more prosperous and inclusive societies.

“The understanding of the benefits that broadband can bring is at a global tipping point.

Its role in GDP growth, in enabling the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and offsetting the effects of climate change is just now starting to be understood, because finally the deployment is there and the benefits can be realised.

“In today’s economic climate, societies need to develop, and with a solutions-driven approach to climate change, we can accelerate a

By Adline Atili new type of green growth while supporting global sustainable development goals,” Chief Executive Officer of Ericsson and Chairman of the Commission, Hans Vestberg, said.

The United Nations (UN) had for long been stressing the importance of harnessing ICTs to improve the lives of people worldwide. In a message to the fourth meeting of the Broadband Commission for Digital Development in Geneva in October 2011, UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, said: “It is clear to me that Information and Communications Technologies are transforming our world. Today, there is no part of modern life that is not affected by ICTs. With well over five billion mobile cellular subscriptions, and more than two billion people online, our challenge is to leverage the enormous power of technology to make the world a better place.”

•From left: Director of Payments Infrastructure at Interswitch, Akeem Lawal; Head, Assets and Cards, Diamond Bank, Robert Giles, and Director of Public Policy and Administration, University of Calabar, Prof. Chibueze Ikeji, at a workshop on Economic Regulation of Payment Cards in Nigeria, in Lagos.

Firm to launch satellite service

C

OOLLINK in partnership with YAHSAT has concluded plans to launch a fast, reliable and affordable satellite service that will change the way Nigerians access the Internet and turn around the fortunes of cyber café businesses in the country.

Chief Operation Officer of Coollink, Mr Shahin Nouri, who presented the product, Yahclick, to stakeholders and partners in Lagos, said the development was necessary considering that many Nigerians lack access to affordable bandwidth.

He said Yahclick is an initiative of Abu Dhabibased YAHSAT, which launched its Y1A communications satellite over the Middle East in April 2011.

Nouri said the product is cost effective because it uses smaller antenna and service plants that will cater for multiple users. He listed other unique features of the products to include a wide coverage that is beyond the reach of terrestrial systems, which according to him, eliminates infrastructural investments that slow roll out of broadband services.

He said: “Yahclick is a perfect broadband option for those who can’t get ADSL or are still on dial up or only have access to fluctuating wireless services. It is suitable for companies with

By Miriam Ndikanwu multiple branches in outlying areas as well as those companies that require backup services in case of outage. The service would also support the government’s cash-less policy in terms of bandwidth availability for electronic transactions.”

He said that the product offers download speed of up to 10Mbps and upload speed of 3Mbps. He said while the traditional satellite technology utilises broad band single beams covering entire continents and regions, Yahclick Ka-band spot beams provide coverage over highly-targeted ar-

eas which means more reliability, greater efficiency on the ground, smaller antennae and lower cost for end users, as well as elimination of issues with spectrum availability.

“The Yahclick Ka-band consumer and business broadband service complements Coolink’s vision of providing the widest possible range of telecommunications products and services to consumers and businesses. Other benefits include the ability to jump-start and fast-forward development efforts in areas such as education, health, civil defence, telecommunications, municipal services and e-government initiatives,” Nouri added.

Globacom bags NTA award

G

LOBACOM has bagged the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) top 10 business partners award for 2010 and 2011.

At the award ceremony in Lagos, Director-General of the NTA, Mr Usman Megawata, said NTA was proud to be associated “with a brand of sterling quality like Globacom.”

He promised that NTA would continue to create more value for viewers with the language channels due to become operational in a few days as a

result of partnership with Google Nigeria and Star Times of China.

Executive Director, Legal Services , Globacom, Mrs Gladys Talabi, assured that the Telco would continue to put the people first in all its undertakings.

In his speech, Chairman of the event, Dr Fidelis Ayebe, challenged NTA to recreate crowd-pulling programmes to win back viewers who had fallen in love with foreign stations and events.

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

53

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

54

EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 25-4-12

Equities’ capitalisation rallies to N7tr •Okomu Oil, Conoil lead advancers

M

ARKET capitalisation of quoted companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) rallied to N7 trillion yesterday as investors continued bargainhunting for undervalued and fair-priced stocks.

The two broad value indices at the NSE, the All Share Index (ASI) and total market capitalisation, which have risen consistently in recent days, trended upward again yesterday by 0.34 per cent each, indicating addition of N23 billion.

Aggregate market capitalisation of all equities rose from N6.983 trillion to N7.006 trillion while the ASI rallied to 21,970.21 points as against its index on board of 21,895.41 points.

The uptrend further improved the overall outlook of the Nigerian stock market with the year-to-date return now standing at 5.98 per cent.

However, many analysts were cautious profit-taking transactions by investors that wanted to monetize their capital gains might cause a break in the bullish market in the days ahead. In spite of the positive outlook, both volume and momentum of gains already appeared to be slowing down.

Some analysts meanwhile said the rally could ride fur-

By Taofik Salako and Tonia Osundolire

ther atop profit-taking transactions if the positive trend of interim corporate earnings continues. Given that most stocks have been substantially undervalued, aggressive positioning by investors might counterbalance profit-taking sales and keep the uptrend for the meantime.

Okomu Oil Palm Plc, which had declared a dividend per share of N4, continued to ride on the crest of the impressive dividend, leading the advancers with a gain of N1.30 to close at N33. Conoil Plc, which is also expected to recommend increase in dividend, chalked up N1.10 to close at N23.10 per share. Flour Mills of Nigeria placed third on the gainers’ list with a gain of N1 to close at N59.

Other top gainers were Nigerian Breweries, which added 95 kobo to close at N111; Lafarge Wapco Cement Nigeria, added 91 kobo to close at N40.90; NCR Nigeria rose by 79 kobo to close at N16.59, Cadbury Nigeria gathered 62 kobo to close at N13.07, Ashaka Cement added 44 kobo to close at N9.27, National Salt Company of Nigeria (NASCON) rose by 27 kobo to N5.78

while First City Monument Bank gained 25 kobo to close at N5.27 per share.

On the downside, Guinness Nigeria led the decliners with a loss of 54 kobo to close at N237.01.

Cement Company of Northern Nigeria declined by 25 kobo to N4.75 per share.

Avon Crowncaps and Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) lost 20 kobo each to close at N3.98 and N15.40 respectively. PZ Cussons Nigeria dropped by 19 kobo to close at N21.02.

Zenith Bank lost 15 kobo to close at N13.85. CAP slipped by 8.0 kobo to close at N23.40. Stanbic IBTC Bank lost 7.0 kobo to close at N7 while RT Briscoe and Fidelity Bank dropped 4.0 kobo and 2.0 kobo respectively to close at N1.26 and N1.50 respectively.

Investors staked a total of N3.03 billion on 307.82 million shares in 4,476 deals.

Banking stocks remained most active with First Bank of Nigeria leading the activity chart with a turnover of 55.54 million shares valued at N606.3 million in 672 deals. GTB followed with turnover of 44.06 million shares worth N679.66 million in 472 deals.

United Bank for Africa placed third with a turnover of 35.25 million shares worth N114.2 million in 172 deals. NASCON recorded a turnover of 24.34 million shares valued at N140.57 million in 181 deals. Zenith Bank saw exchange of 19.70 million shares valued at N271.77 million through 265 deals.

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 25-4-12

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

55

MONEY LINK

New tax law to enhance workers’ entitlements

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HE signing into law of the Personal Income Tax (PIT) Bill 2011 has enhanced workers’ disposable income, analysts have said. The PIT bill passed into law last December and currently being implemented has consolidated taxpayers’ relief allowance and achieved uniformity in the assessment of taxable persons.

Chairman of Publicity and Publications of West African Union of Tax Institutes (WAUTI), Chukwuemeka Eze confirmed this to The Nation saying the new PIT has simplified the process of arriving at the personal income tax payable by individuals, replacing the various tax-free allowances and personal relief granted under the principal Act. He said the relief granted workers under the new regime included a personal allowance of N5, 000 plus 20 per cent of earned income, with earned income defined as gross income in the main Act and basic salary under the Pay as You Earn (PAYE) regulations.

This contradicts N30, 000 tax-free allowances per annum previously applied,

Stories by Collins Nweze

even as those earning below this amount still have to pay 0.5 per cent tax on their incomes.

According to him, other reliefs granted workers currently include N100,000 rent subsidy, N15,000 transport allowance, N5,000 meal subsidy, N10,000 utility allowance, N6,000 entertainment allowance and leave grant to the tune of 10 per cent annual basic salary. These old reliefs do not make sense anymore, he added.

The tax expert explained that the bill provides a better tax rate for income tax payers across the country. “The new law ensures that workers have to pay tax at the rate of seven per cent on the first N300,000 of their annual salaries, 11 per cent on the next N300,000, 15 per cent on the next N500,000 and 19 per cent on the next N500,000. The following N1.6 million would be taxed at the rate of 21 per cent, on the next N3.2 million and above would attract 24 per cent,” he said.

Kunle Olugbemi, tax consultant, said the passage of the bill remained an

Naira firms against dollar on interbank THE naira firmed against the dollar on both the interbank market and official window on yesterday, after a unit of France Total sold about $120 million to some lenders, boosting dollar liquidity.

Traders said the naira closed at 157.20 to the dollar at the interbank market, its highest level in a week and firmer than the 157.35 per dollar it had closed at on Tuesday. “The sales of $120 million by Total Oil raised dollar liquidity level in the market and provided support for the naira,” one dealer said.

The currency has hovered around 157.10 to157.90 in the past four weeks on large inflows of dollars from the

Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation and other units of multinational oil firms. “Though we are within the month-end cycle, the market seems comfortable at the present level and we expect the naira to be more stable in the coming days,” another dealer said.

Traders said dollar inflows from offshore investors in treasury bills and bonds this week could boost support for the local currency, pushing it to within the 157 band. At the Central Bank of Nigeria bi-weekly auction, $110.50 million was sold at N155.65 to the dollar, compared with $120 million sold at N155.75 naira to the dollar on Monday.

improvement on the current regime, where workers are paying five per cent tax on their first N30, 000 per annum, 10 per cent on the next N30, 000 and thereafter the first and second instalments of N50, 000 that follow are liable to tax valued at 15 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.

Principally, section (5), sub-section (1) of the Act states, “There shall be allowed a consolidated relief allowance of N200, 000 subject to a minimum of one percent of Gross Income or whichever is higher plus 20 percent of the Gross Income and the balance shall be taxable in accordance with the Income table in the Sixth Schedule to this Act.” The new tax bill also seeks to drag those workers whose names do not appear in any company’s payrolls in-

cluding casual workers, contract and temporary workers, into the tax net.

He explained that before now, companies usually said that casual workers were not in their payroll but the new law will not accommodate the exemption. Also, currently some multinationals use various disguises to reduce the taxable income of their expatriates. The new PIT law would introduce more stringent rules for non-taxability of non-residents.

The Act also simplified the compliance processes by consolidating the reliefs and allowances stipulated in the Act and lowering the burden on low income earners as well as widening the tax base by bringing in a huge number of potential taxpayers, especially in the informal sector, into the tax net.

Mainstreet Bank restructures

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N furtherance of the objective of the management of Mainstreet Bank Limited to build and maintain an institution that will remain competitive in the banking industry, the board of directors of the bank has decided to embark on reorganisation exercise.

In a statement, it said the decision to reorganise its human and capital resources came after a careful review of the bank’s budget, and thorough discussion with relevant stakeholders. “The aim of the reorganization exercise is to improve the efficiency, promote the growth, stability and competitiveness of the bank in the market. The reorganisation exercise will entail promotion of some of the employees of the bank and provide an opportunity for some of the employees to opt for voluntarily disengage from the employment of the bank, based on certain defined criteria,” the management said.

It gave its assurance that the re-

organization exercise is being carried out in the best interest of the bank, and all relevant stakeholders including its employees, shareholders and indeed the general public at large.

•GMD, Mainstreet Bank, Faith Teudor-Matthews

FGN BONDS Amount N

Rate %

M/Date

3-Year 5-Year 5-Year

35m 35m 35m

11.039 12.23 13.19

19-05-2014 18-05-2016 19-05-2016

WHOLESALE DUTCH AUCTION SYSTEM Amount Amount Offered ($) Demanded ($) 150m 150m 138m 138m

MANAGED FUNDS

NIDF NESF

Price Loss 2754.67 447.80

7.9-10% 10-11%

PRIMARY MARKET AUCTION (T-BILLS) Tenor 91-Day 182-Day 1-Year

Amount 30m 46.7m 50m

Rate % 10.96 9.62 12.34

Date 28-04-2011 “ 14-04-2011

GAINERS AS AT 25-4-12 SYMBOL

CONOIL NCR ASHAKACEM FCMB CADBURY VITAFOAM LIVESTOCK NASCON UBA GTASSURE

O/PRICE

22.00 15.80 8.83 5.02 12.45 3.23 1.02 5.51 3.09 1.52

C/PRICE

23.10 16.59 9.27 5.27 13.07 3.39 1.07 5.78 3.24 1.59

113m

NGN USD NGN GBP NGN EUR NIGERIA INTER BANK (S/N) (S/N) Bureau de Change (S/N) Parallel Market

Current Before

C/PRICE 4.75 3.98 0.53 1.26 0.51 0.52 1.50 15.40 13.85 7.00

CHANGE 0.25 0.20 0.02 0.04 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.20 0.15 0.07

29-2-12 27-2-12

113m

155.7

22-2-12

C u r r e n t CUV Start After %

147.6000 239.4810 212.4997

149.7100 244.0123 207.9023

150.7100 245.6422 209.2910

-2.11 -2.57 -1.51

149.7450

154.0000

154.3000

-3.04

152.0000

153.0000

155.5000

-2.30

153.0000

154.0000

156.0000

-1.96

DISCOUNT WINDOW Feb. ’11

July ’11

Dec ’11

MPR

6.50%

6.50%

12%

Standing Lending Rate ,, Deposit Rate ,, Liquidity Ratio Cash Return Rate Inflation Rate

8.50% 4.50% 25.00% 1.00% 12.10%

8.50% 4.50% 25.00% 2.00% 12.10%

9.50% 5.50% 30.00% 2.00% 12.6%

NIBOR Tenor 7 Days 30 Days 60 Days 150 Days

NSE CAP Index

27-10-11 N6.5236tr 20,607.37

Date

Rate (Previous) 4 Mar, 2012 9.0417 9.6667 11.2917 12.1250

Rate (Currency) 6, Mar, 2012 10.17% 11.46% 11.96% 12.54%

28-10-11 N6.617tr 20,903.16

% Change -1.44% -1.44%

MEMORANDUM QUOTATIONS Name

LOSERS AS AT 25-4-12

SYMBOL O/PRICE CCNN 5.00 AVONCROWN 4.18 JAPAULOIL 0.55 RTBRISCOE 1.30 LAWUNION 0.52 TRANSCORP 0.53 FIDELITYBK 1.52 GUARANTY 15.60 ZENITHBANK 14.00 IBTC 7,07

Exchange Rate (N) 155.8 155.8

CAPITAL MARKET INDEX Year Start Offer

CHANGE

1.10 0.79 0.44 0.25 0.62 0.16 0.05 0.27 0.15 0.07

113m

Amount Sold ($) 150m 138m

EXHANGE RATE 6-03-12 Currency

INTERBANK RATES OBB Rate Call Rate

F

IRSTBANK of Nigeria Plc has in troduced a joint home owner ship scheme for couples. In a statement, the bank said it is now possible for couples wishing to have their own house even in the midst of competing needs for the scarce resources.

It said owning a home requires couples to observe a strict saving regimen that is followed to the letter.

Also, some form of contributory scheme is adopted to shore up capital for building a home. The bank said these little contributions become millions of naira providing homes of different shapes and sizes for many Nigerians. It also said that the bank can step in with its mortgage products designed to give loans to people to own their homes.

“The mortgage market offers various products and services that are designed to meet specific needs.

Couples can now access mortgage loans under FirstBank’s Joint Mortgage product to realize the all-important feat of becoming landlords.

Joint Mortgage has been created so that couples can finance the purchase or construction of residential properties by pooling resources to access higher mortgage amounts,” the bank said.

The product also supports other partnerships, such as investors or friends who wish to purchase property together. In a joint mortgage, repayment will be structured in a manner that the parties will not necessarily pay equal amounts but the ratio will depend on each person’s financial capacity. However, in case of default, liability becomes joint and several. Each party becomes liable for the entire outstanding sum.

DATA BANK

Tenor

Initial Current Quotation Price Market N8250.00 5495.33 N1000.00 N552.20

FirstBank backs mortgage financing

Offer Price

Bid Price

ARM AGGRESSIVE 9.17 KAKAWA GUARANTEED 1.00 STANBIC IBTC GUARANTE 122.59 AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND 99.23 THE LOTUS CAPITAL HALAL 0.75 BGL SAPPHIRE FUND 1.08 BGL NUBIAN FUND 0.89 NIGERIA INTERNATIONAL DEB. 1,691.82 PARAMOUNT EQUITY FUND 8.13 CONTINENTAL UNIT TRUST 1.39 CENTRE-POINT UNIT TRUST 1.87 STANBIC IBTC NIG EQUITY 7,259.48 THE DISCOVERY FUND 193.00 FIDELITY NIGFUND 1.67 • ARM AGGRESSIVE • KAKAWA GUARANTEED • STANBIC IBTC GUARANTE • AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND

9.08 1.00 122.48 98.79 0.72 1.08 0.88 1,686.98 7.74 1.33 1.80 7,071.36 191.08 1.62

Movement

OPEN BUY BACK Previous 04 July, 2011

Current 07, Aug, 2011

Bank

8.5000

8.5000

P/Court

8.0833

8.0833

Movement

56

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

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THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

58

NEWS

Calabar monarch attacked in palace

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HE Paramount Ruler of Calabar South Local Government Area of Cross River State, Muri Munene Efiong Mbukpa, was yesterday allegedly attacked and chased away from his palace by some thugs.

The thugs are allegedly sponsored by factional kingmakers (Muris) who are contesting for the stool.

The police have arrested the factional kingmakers, who led the alleged attack .

It was gathered that the factional group allegedly invaded the palace with some thugs when Mbukpa and the Palace Secretary, Ndabo Godwin Bassey were having a meeting.

It was further alleged that the invaders destroyed the royal stool, removed the monarch’s cap, his phones, destroyed his portrait and stole documents from Bassey’s office.

The spokesman of the group, Maurice Eyo, howev-

‘I was beaten; they collected my cell phones, destroyed the royal stool, collected my cap, carted away documents’ From Nicholas Kalu, Calabar

er, denied that they entered the palace with thugs.

He said Mbukpa should not parade himself as the ruler of the area.

He said: “The people who entered here first were the army and the Department of Public Transportation.

“No one can say that we entered here with thugs.

“We would have not invited security operatives, if we wanted to enter here with thugs.

“Why did we invite them?

Because we wanted peace and sanity.

“They were here before we came,” he said.

It was learnt that the State Security Adviser, Rekpene Bassey, later told the group to follow him to the office of the Commissioner of Police but they reportedly told him that it was a traditional matter and that the government should not interfere.

It was gathered that after giving some conditions to the SSA they reported at the state command.

But the monarch alleged that the thugs were sponsored by one of the claimants to the stool, Prof. Ita Hogan.

He said: “They came under the cover of the Quick Intervention Squad.

“I was beaten; they collected my cell phones, destroyed the royal stool, collected my cap, carted away documents.

“The group took the action because the Chairman of the State Traditional Council advised the group to use force to take over the palace.

The police witnessed what happened.

“You can now see that some traditional rulers are thugs but when I told the government that some traditional rulers are thugs, the government did not take it serious.

“The palace has been taken over by thugs allegedly led by Hogan and Eyo,” he said.

The factional kingmakers were still at the State Police Command.

Police spokesman Hogan Bassey could not be reached for comments.

Scholarship for Idol’s winner

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IVERS State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has assured the winner of the Nigerian Idol, Mercy Chinwo, that the government will support her education and career.

Amaechi spoke when Ms Chinwo visited him at the Government House, Port Harcourt, yesterday. ‘’I want to say congratulations to you for winning because you merited it,’’ he said.

Amaechi described Ms Chinwo as a good ambassador of the state and promised that the government will ensure that she completes her tertiary education within or outside the country.

The governor said the scholarship was to ensure that she furthers her educa-

One killed in Cross River community

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NE person has been killed in renewed hostilities between Nsadop and Boje communities in Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State.

The communities in the past had bloody clashes over a land dispute.

Member representing Boki in House of Assembly, Ernest Eki, while presenting a motion on a matter of urgent public interest, said properties worth millions of naira have been destroyed and economic and social activities in the area have been grounded.

A

From Nicholas Kalu, Calabar

He regretted that Boje houses some of the best tourists attractions in the state and that this would be affected negatively if the government does not take immediate remedial action.

Another lawmaker, Ngim Kanu Okpo, called on the government to stop the crisis before it escalates.

Okpo said recommendations made are hardly implemented and called on Cross Riverians to live within the ambit of the law.

Group flays summit

GROUP, Forum for Justice and Human Rights Defence (FJHD), has described the second South/South Summit hosted by Delta State as an “exercise in vain and a waste of public funds”.

It urged Southsouth governors to stamp out official corruption to create a conducive atmosphere for productivity.

The group said: “We call on the Southsouth governors to stamp out official corruption in their various states and to create a conducive atmosphere for productivity and economic activity to strive in their respective states and in the

From Okungbowa Aiwerie, Asaba

r e g i o n v i a pr o bi t y an d good governance”.

The group’s National Coordinator, Oghenejabor Ikimi, said economic activity is boosted by productivity rather than government-sponsored talk shows.

He said: “We state without fear of equivocation that the exercise is in vain and a waste of public funds, as economic activity in any given country or region is boosted by productivity rather than government sponsored talk shows”

Bayelsa saves N23b in three months

B •Amaechi (second right), Chinwo (second left), Daniel and Regional Manager, Corporate Sales, Etisalat, Ms. Nneka Owolabi...yesterday From Nicholas Kalu, Calabar

tion.

He advised the Idols winner not to compromise her education, urging her not to be carried away by the euphoria of her success, but to focus on her future prospects.

“You must be able to pur-

sue your career and education,” he added.

Ms Chinwo thanked the government and people for the support and encouragement she got during the competition.

She said her success demonstrates that Rivers youths are imbued with huge tal-

ents and potentials. ‘’You are yet to see the best from Ikwerre and Rivers youths.’’

A judge in the competition, Jeffrey Daniels, who accompanied Ms Chinwo, said the competition was to promote creativity among youths.

AYELSA State Governor Seriake Dickson has said his administration has saved N23.23 billion in three months.

Dickson spoke at a briefing yesterday.

He said the state received N17.965 billion last month and N12.180 billion this month.

He said of the N17. 965 billion, loan repayment took about a billion, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) deductions amounted to N200 million; N4.1 billion for salaries and other charges, over head payments

From Isaac Ombe, Yenagoa

N792 million, Capital payment N583 million, ISPOs N249million and N58,756million for tax and bank charges.

Similar deductions and payments were made in this month.

He hailed the efforts of the past administration to embark on staff verification, decrying that some unscrupulous persons used genuine civil servants as canon folders in thwarting the government’s previous verification exercise.

No compensation yet for victims

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OMMUNITIES in Delta State affected by the Shell Bonga Oil Spill last year are yet to be compensated, it was learnt yesterday.

Commissioner for Oil and Gas Mofe Pirah made this known in Asaba, the capital.

He said: “Currently, nobody has been compensated.

“The compensation will come after the historical analysis of the result and findings have been concluded.”

The spill affected four communities.

From Okungbowa Aiwerie, Asaba

The affected communities are in Burutu, Warri North, Warri South and Warri South-West local governments.

Pirah said: “The clean-up has been done by Shell, which admitted that it was a mechanical failure.

“We have supervised the process in the affected communities.

“We are following the development and at the end of the day when the results are made available.

We will tell the people.”

More PDP members join Edo ACN

F •Host Governor Babtunde Fashola (second right); his Oyo State counterpart, Abiola Ajimobi (second left); Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola and Fashola’s deputy Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire at the Lagos State Economic Summit tagged ``Ehingbeti 2012'' in Lagos ...yesterday

ORMER Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State Sunny Uyigue yesterday led thousands of PDP members in Ovia North East Local Government to join the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

Also, former State Woman Leader Lucy Omagbon also led PDP members to join the ACN in Ovia South West Local Government .

From Osagie Otabor, Benin

Uyigue said he and others left the PDP because the party they laboured to build has become the private property of an individual.

The former PDP Chairman said they believed in the vision of Governor Adams Oshiomhole to lead the state to greater heights.

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

59

NEWS Court dismisses ACN candidate’s appeal HE Court of Appeal sitting in Makurdi, Benue State, yesterday dismissed the appeal of Prof.

Steven Ugbah of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), who is challenging the decision of the governorship election tribunal, which declined jurisdiction in his petition against Governor Gabriel Suswam of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), after the expiration of 180 days.

Justice Menson Dombang said once a day expires from the time frame within which a petition should be filed, heard and determined, it becomes dead and ceases to live.

According to Justice Dombang, the order made by the Supreme Court after the expiration of 180 days was an order made in vain as the petition was no longer alive at the time of the order.

Rainstorm wreaks havoc in Ilorin

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•Suswam From Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

He said the appeal was misconceived and upheld the preliminary objections made by the lawyers representing Suswam,.

Suswam’s counsel, Chief E. K. Ashieka and PDP’s counsel, Mr. C. A. Gbihe, described the judgment as sound. Counsel to Prof.

Ugbah, Simon Orkumah, said his client would appeal the judgment at the Supreme Court.

RAINSTORM has rendered many people homeless in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

The rainstorm, the second to be recorded this year in Ilorin, began about 4.30pm on Tuesday and lasted for almost an hour.

Seven worshippers died during the first rainfall early this month at an Easter retreat, organised by the Deeper Life Bible Church in its camp at Eyenkorin on the outskirts of Ilorin.

The downpour was accompanied by a thunderous windstorm which blew off the rooftops of some buildings, including the Ilorin office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The rainstorm, which destroyed the fence of INEC building, also blew off a substantial part of the rooftop of the office, including the office of the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC).

Robbers kill seven in Kogi

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IFTEEN armed robbers yesterday attacked a first generation bank in Ankpa Local Government of Kogi State, killing seven persons.

The bandits also attacked a police station.

Among those killed were a native doctor and a female trader at the roadside. They were hit by stray bullets.

It was learnt that the

From Mohammed Bashir, Lokoja

robbers stormed the town in five sport utility vehicles (SUV) fully armed with dangerous weapons.

A source said the armed robbers attacked the first generation bank before heading for another bank.

But they could not enter the bank.

They then attacked a

nearby police station, stealing arms and ammunition. They also set some detained suspects free.

It was gathered that during the invasion, which lasted 25 minutes, police officers on duty ran away.

Police Public Relations Officer Okasanmi Ajayi who confirmed the incident, said “we are waiting for a report from the Divisional Police Officer.”

Ex-Ondo commissioner sues OSRC

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ORMER Ondo State Commissioner for Transport Omoniyi Omodara yesterday sued the State Radio-Vision Corporation (OSRC) for the alleged dissemination of defamatory report against his person.

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) chieftain is demanding N50 million damages.

He is seeking an injunction restraining the defendants from further reporting the alleged defamatory stories about him.

He is also seeking a public apology to be aired on the station and published

•Demands N50m damages From Damis Ojo, Akure

in three widely read national dailies.

The plaintiff averred that on April 10, he was at his Oba-Ile home throughout and none of his vehicles was driven out of his premises or used to convey political thugs.

Omodara said he has a running battle with the state government since dumped the Labour Party (LP).

He alleged that the government and its agents have not spared any opportunity to blackmail

and intimidate him.

Omodara said: “By reasons of such malicious publication, I have been irredeemably disparaged and injured. My reputation has suffered damages and many people who listened to the report have ignored me.”

He said he receives phone calls daily from different parts of the world from unknown callers blaming him for “releasing vehicles to political thugs to perpetuate crimes”.

No date has been fixed for hearing.

Alakene Stool: I’ll not interfere, says Amosun

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GUN State Governor Ibikunle Amosun yesterday said he would not interfere with the selection process of the next Alakenne of Ikenne.

Amosun said his administration is only interested in seeing “justice, fairness and equity” prevail in the emergence of the next monarch.

The governor spokewhen he visited Ikenne Local Government Area, ahead of the council polls slated for July 21.

He urged the elders and stakeholders in the community to be united

From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

and ensure quick resolution of the issues impeding the installation of a new monarch.

Amosun said he has received many petitions on the Obaship tussle, but that the government would not take side.

He said as a prince of Owu Kingdom, he would not discredit traditional institutions by unnecessarily interfering in the process of filling the stool that has been vacant for over a decade.

The Otunba Gbenga

Daniel administration had, a few days to its expiration, given a staff of Office to one of the contenders to the throne, but the community protested his action.

Amosun also visited the matriarch of the Awolowo family, Mama Hannah Idowu Dideolu (HID) and had a private meeting with her.

He said the contract for the dualisation of the Ilishan-Ago Iwoye road has been awarded.

Amosun said work will soon begin on the Siun Junction-AjalaOgere-Iperu Road.

•Renders many homeless From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

Other areas affected by the rainstorm included the Mandate Housing Estate, Adewole, Royal Valley Estate, Kulende, Harmony Estate, Akerebita and Federal Low Cost Housing Estate, Oloje.

Houses of two senior editorial workers of the Ilorin-based National Pilot newspapers and the home of the Peoples Democrat-

ic Party (PDP) women’s leader were also affected.

At the Royal Valley Estate, 50 rooftops were said to have been blown away by the storm.

The rainstorm also swept through Okelele, Oloje, Adabata, Anifowose/Pakata and Alfa Yahaya/Oke Agodi all in Ilorin.

The destruction done to some Power Holding Company of Nigeria’s

(PHCN’s) poles has worsened the epileptic power supply in the Ilorin metropolis.

The Special Assistant to Governor AbdulFatah Ahmed on Emergency and Relief Services, Alhaji Musa Abdullahi, described the havoc wreaked by the rainstorm as unprecedented.

Abdullahi, who conveyed the governor’s sympathy to the people, assured of government’s prompt intervention to ameliorate their suffering.

‘Boko Haram, other security challenges HE Chairman of the will soon become history’ Northern States

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Governors Forum (NSGF), Dr. Mua’zu Babangida Aliyu, yesterday said Boko Haram and other security challenges facing the country are political and transitional, predicting that they would soon become history.

Aliyu, the governor of Niger State, said this when he received members of the British Parliament at the Government House, Minna.

He said it was lamentable that the challenges had given the country a bad image, adding that Nigeria would come out of the current predicament stronger.

The NSGF chairman noted that when people talk about Nigeria, the only thing they remember is

From Jide Orintunsin, Minna

Boko Haram and bombs, stressing that although the country cannot deny having security challenges, most parts of Nigeria are peaceful.

Governor Aliyu urged leaders at all levels to wake up to their responsibilities and ensure that confidence in governance is restored, adding that that was the surest way to mitigate the challenges encountered.

He enjoined the parliamentarians to look at issues about the country dispassionately so that they could go back and educate the world on the good things happening in the country, thereby correcting the mis-

conceptions about Nigeria.

Earlier, the leader of the delegation Meg Hillier (MP) said they were in the state to consolidate the existing relationship between the United Kingdom and Nigeria and partner Niger State and the North in tackling some of the challenges, especially in the areas of conflict and security, human rights, good governance and development. “We also want to harness human potentials.”

LOSS OF DOCUMENT This is to inform the general public of the loss of our C of O,with title name Forthright Properties Ltd covering 2,006 hectares with plan no LC/ 1950(OG) within the River view Estate Isheri, Ogun State. If Found call David on 07039409021.

Signed: MANAGEMENT

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

60

NEWS

Police seize rocket launchers, grenades from ‘bank robbers’

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WO rocket launchers, a grenade and a General Multipurpose Machine Gun (GMP) were among the arms recovered from a robbery gang specialising in bank raids by operatives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS), Adeniji-Adele, Lagos.

Other items recovered from the gang, whose kingpins are helping the police in their investigation include eight Ak 47 rifles, 189 Ak 47 magazines, two rocket heads, 554 rounds of ammunition, nine chain bullets and 5, 554 live ammunition.

The suspects are believed to be behind the major bank raids in Ogun and other Southwest states.

The arms were allegedly hidden in “Ghana-Must-Go’ sacks stuffed in refridgerators at a workshop belonging to one of the suspects at Erelu Imodi-Mosan Road in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.

The suspects were not paraded due to the order of the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Dahiru Abubakar, banning such.

By Jude Isiguzo

The police in FSARS were led to the “robbers’ armoury” by two of the suspects, who were arrested in Ikorodu, a Lagos surburb.

While searching the house of one of the suspects, identified as Nurudeen, the police recovered N2.3 million.

He told detectives that the money was his share of their escapades at three new generation banks in Offa, Kwara State.

The nine vehicles recovered from them are being kept in police custody.

Some FSARS detectives who took part in the operation said the robber’s last operation was on March 21.

They said: “Their last robbery was on 21st of March when they robbed many banks at the same time in Ogun State. The nine vehicles we recovered from them are in our custody.

“We have arrested five of the suspects connected to the gang. One of them, their leader, one Michael Oduga (aka Igwe died during a gun duel with our men. The dead suspect who is from Kwale,

•The recovered ammunition

Delta State, grew up in Ijebu-Ode. “They have confessed to have carried out major bank robberies in Ogun State. We are still investigating the

matter and would soon take them to court.”

The Commissioner of Police in charge of FSARS, Mr. Abdulahi Yuguda, said his command was out to pros-

ecute the Inspector General’s agenda on zero tolerance to crime and criminality.

“We are not relenting in our efforts. Armed robbers, wherever they are

hiding, should know that we will get them. The Inspector-General has given us a mandate and we are committed to it,” Yuguda said.

House in stormy session over Diezani, Dankwambo •Continued from page 2

who is the superintending officer at that time, “It’s clear; we avoided the situation where names will be named on the floor of the House because it’s a report we are giving and we say that if you look at part of our recommendation, the NNPC management board and, off course that of the PPRA the chairman of the NNPC management board is the Minister of Petroleum.

“Having to single out and begin to mention her name over and over again will mean that we are biased.

So, we have made it clear and one of the papers today specifically brought it out, though some others didn’t The fact we got from even the Ministry Information that came was not exhaustive enough. it was not self-explanatory and those issues were there.

“The committee did its job and avoided naming names. Even when they were talking about PPPRA, they said the chairman as at that time. It was now left to you to bring out who the chairman was.

“There was a chairman within the time under review. There is a chairman of NNPC as we talk and within the time under review.”

On Allison-Madueke, he said: “The minister’s case is a case that has been settled since yesterday (Tuesday). It’s one of the recommendations that they should be reprimanded.

“Remember, it took us about 41 minutes on the issue, that those of PPRA and NNPC should be reprimanded and the members stood up and said “no”. They said not reprimand alone; they should be persecuted.

“We are not particular about persons but we are particular about the acts of individuals that brought us where we are today.

It’s a very sad decimal that if we allow this business-as-usual thing to continue. If this kind of billions and trillions are flying over the place and ending up in private pockets individuals will be richer than even the state. “ He said the case of the former AGF had been settled by Lawan’s

explanation.

In his closing speech, Lawan said the committee had done its best and that members should be ready for attacks from powerful individuals and interests affected by the report.

The House recommendations are: •The services of the accounting firm of Akintola Williams, Deloitte and Olusola Adekanola & Partners should be discontinued with immediate effect for professional negligence on this particular assignment.

• In view of the above, the two firms should be blacklisted from being engaged by any Federal Ministry, Department or Agency (MDA) for a period of three years.

•That the House Committee on Petroleum (Downstream} shall in its monitoring stage conduct extensive and thorough investigation into the operations of the PEF(MB) to ascertain the management of the bridging funds under the subsidy regime.

•The penalties should also be indicated for non-compliance and promptly imposed to ensure the smooth operation of the scheme.

•The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) should be encouraged within a time frame to improve on the draught level of the Nigerian waters to encourage the berthing of ALL types of vessels so as to eliminate the present ship-to-ship (STS) transfers by importers of petroleum products.

•All those in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Office of the Director-General Budget, and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation involved in the extra budgetary expenditure under the PSF Scheme (2009-2011) should be investigated.

•The payment of N999, 000,000 in 128 times within 24hrs (12th& 13th January, 2009) by the PPPRA should be further investigated by relevant Anti-Corruption Agencies.

•The National Assembly should enact an Act to criminalise extra budgetary expenditure.

•CBN and the Federal Ministry of Finance should critically exam-

‘In the course of this investigation, a lot of efforts were made to establish cases of round tripping and diversion of products, including the use of the data from Llyods List Intelligence, resulting in the cases so far reported.’ ine and review the policy guiding payment for importation of petroleum products to avoid the current fraudulent system that allows importers to bring in products from off-shore “Lome” or “Cotonou” to qualify for forex payments.

•The Committee recommends that several alarms were raised by the CBN on the escalation of subsidy figures but these early warning signals were ignored by relevant agencies. The Committee wishes to encourage whistle blowing by regulatory agencies on threats to the economy, with the hope that proactive measures could be taken.

•The Committee recommends that the PPMC Management be overhauled. In furtherance to above recommendations of the committee, institutional mechanisms be urgently developed to ensure the monitoring of actual delivery of kerosene to the Nigerian masses.

•The PPMC should deploy modern state-of-the-art devices to protect its facilities and pipelines to eliminate wastages arising from vandalism. In the short-term, however, PPMC should establish a surveillance system which should incorporate Community-protection and using part of the bridging funds on the PSF Template to finance this.

•All the extant circulars preventing the Nigeria Customs Service from carrying out its statutory functions be

immediately withdrawn by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Federal Ministry of Finance.

•The Committee recommends that NNPC takes immediate action to pay the N46billion owed the Nigeria Customs Service and the N6billion owed to the Nigeria Ports Authority •The failure of NPA to provide this Committee the vital vessel data particularly the IMO numbers is an indication that either NPA has a very poor record keeping system or that it was a deliberate ploy to cover up the collusion between its officials and importers. We recommend an investigation into the operations and activities of this Authority by House Committee on Marine transport.

•The port operations of the Nigerian Ports Authority be investigated with a view to determining the extent to which its officials are complicit in the classification of maritime areas for reception of Nigerian bound petroleum products as “offshore Cotonou” and “offshore Lome” in the face of evidence that these Vessels never did lighter at those Ports.

•In the course of this investigation, a lot of efforts were made to establish cases of round tripping and diversion of products, including the use of the data from Llyods List Intelligence, resulting in the cases so far reported.

However given the scale of connivance and collusion by government officials involved in the certification process, the Committee believes that further investigation will reveal more cases. It is therefore recommended that all the data obtained in the course of this investigation, especially from the Llyods List Intelligence be forwarded to the relevant anti-corruption agencies for a more detailed investigation.

•Deleted.

•PEF(M)B should establish a tracking system on all trucks from point of loading to point of discharge (retail outlets) and direct that all trucks involved with transportation of products should install approved tracking devices on them.

•That it is hereby recommended

that the regulatory capacity of the DPR be strengthened. The National Assembly should commence the process of amending the Act to make the Agency autonomous.

•That the DPR should take immediate steps to bring all facilities and depot owners into compliance with international best practices by ensuring the installation of modern metering gadgets and sealable and nonreturn valves, to eliminate the rampant cases of round-tripping.

•That the DPR should brace up to its role of regulation and compel the NNPC/PPMC to comply with all the regulations issued to ensure transparency and accountability.

•That in order to reduce and gradually eliminate lightering, associated inefficiency and cost, Government should invest in the provision of Single Point Mooring (SPM’s). This provision should be followed up by instituting Regulations to compel owners of jetties, depots and storage facility owners to develop pipeline throughput availability to facilitate direct delivery of imported products by heavy vessels, in-shore Nigeria.

•That there should be a deliberate policy by government to encourage the utilisation of gas in automobile, domestic (cooking) and industrial facilities.

•That as a matter of urgency and in furtherance of our national security requirements, a national strategic reserve should be immediately enhanced so to accommodate 90days stop gap strategic reserve.

•We strongly recommend that relevant Standing Committees of the National Assembly should be more proactive in their oversight responsibilities to forestall future occurrences.

•That the House gives the 71 companies further one week to appear before the ad-hoc committee.

•That the resolution of the House on the fuel subsidy regime be served on the President, Senate and all anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria for information and necessary action.

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

61

NEWS Ekiti leads Zone 8 on security rating

CBN yet to receive court papers on ‘plagiarism’

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

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SECURITY rating of the three states under Zone 8 yesterday said Ekiti is peaceful.

The state is grouped with Kwara and Kogi in the zone.

“Assistant Inspector General of Police for Zone 8, Mr. Uzoh Amakulor said the state is “peaceful and good”.

The AIG spoke with reporters after visiting Governor Kayode Fayemi. He said the visit was to review security situation in Zone 8.

According to him, the review has shown that Ekiti seems most peaceful among the states under the zone. He added that the state does not have common challenges like vandalism and terrorism as in other states.

“You don’t have the challenges that Kogi has for instance. Kogi has a bunch of challenges ranging from terrorism to vandalism, to all forms of serious crimes. You don’t have that here in Ekiti and we pray you wont have it,” he said.

The Police boss said though there are not enough men of the Police in the zone, plans are on-going to ensure that more men are recruited to enable the security agency live up to expectation.

He, however, urged men of the Police in Ekiti State not to relent in their efforts in maintaining the existing relative peace in the State.

The Dr. Kayode Fayemiled administration last year purchased two Armoured Personnel Carriers, Patrol vehicles, Bullet proof vests as well as established a Crime Prevention Centre as part of its commitment in making Ekiti State a haven and a choice destination for investors.

el-Rufai’s trial stalled From Kamarudeen Ogundele, Abuja

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EARING in the trial of former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Nasir ElRufai and two others before an Abuja High Court was yesterday stalled by the absence of a Prosecution Witness, Mr. Sunday Idowu.

The two other accused persons are, Atine Jubrin, former Director-General, Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS) and Ismail Iro, former GeneralManager, AGIS. They are facing an eightcount charge of abuse of office brought against them by the EFCC. The Prosecution Counsel, Abdulkareem Adeleye informed the Court that Idowu, a former operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was indisposed.

He tendered medical records to show that Inspector Idowu was sick.

Justice Umar then asked the prosecution to make its witnesses available on May 23.

Counsel to Iro, Mr. Kanu Agabi (SAN), urged the court to note that the adjournment was at the instance of the prosecution.

From Nduka Chiejina, Assistant Editor

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•Anambra State Governor Peter Obi (right) presenting a key to a bus to the proprietor of Maranatha International School, Onitsha, Bishop P.C. Nwachukwu...yesterday

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US Embassy raises alarm on visa syndicate in Nigeria

HE United States Embassy in Abuja yesterday raised the alarm on the activities of a syndicate, it said specialises in selling appointments for visa interviews in Nigeria.

A Vice-Consul in the Embassy, Nadine Johnson, who spoke at the monthly briefing at the US Embassy, urged the public to assist in crushing the syndicate.

She said the embassy is concerned about the existence of such syndicate in Nigeria, adding that it was doing everything possible to deal with

From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

the situation.

Johnson said: “We do not charge extra cash apart from the $160 fee. People may try to buy up the appointments but we don’t encourage them to do that.”

“It is not our system at all, they (people) should never pay extra for it. The system is free apart from the $160 fees.

“Now that this has been

brought to our attention, we are working to ensure that an appointment made is for the passport number that is given, we are trying to get that clarified,”she added She said that the recent review of visa fees was not targeted at any particular countries.

According to her, the review was in line with the requirement of the US Congress that Consular Affairs cover the

cost of visa processing.

“It is a world wide change, it is not country-based and the reason that we have to do it is that we are required by law to cover all the processing fees. There was a study that was done that indicated that we were not doing so, and we needed to change some other fees as a result of that.

“The fee change did take effect on April 13. However; we will accept receipt for payment prior to the fee change date all the way through July 12.”

Why corruption is Nigeria’s number one problem, by PFN T HE Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria

(PFN) has said corruption is major problem facing Nigeria.

The Christian group noted that the nation lacks good roads, befitting infrastructure, good hospitals and other facilities mainly because its resources have been corruptly diverted to

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

personal uses.

Adressing reporters in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, on preparations for its maiden PFN award night holding on Saturday, PFN state Chairman Pastor Ola Adejubee said government

and religious bodies must be involved in fighting the ill.

He said: “Setting up organs to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of corruption is one good step.

But the other step is for religious bodies to monitor and counsel their members

PPPRA: we didn’t pay ourselves N312b

T

HE Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has denied the allegation that it paid N312billion to itself.

The agency’s denial followed the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee report on subsidy regime in Nigeria, which indicted many government departments, agencies and their top officials of alleged corruption.

In a document, the agency said the payment of N999 million was made to identified market-

ers and not to unknown entities, as contained in the report.

PPPRA insisted that the money it allegedly paid itself was for subsidy and other payments, including foreign exchange (forex) differential and interest on late payment of subsidy, approved by the Federal Government.

It said this was based on the report of the “Federal Ministry of Finance appointed Auditor”.

PPPRA noted such payments were legally made through the e-payment.

It said: “From the available information to the Agency which was equally provided to the Ad-Hoc Committee, the sum of money described by the media as administrative charge is wrong. The amount is subsidy and other payments - forest differential and interest on late payment of subsidy- approved by government based on the report of the Federal Ministry of Finance appointed Auditor using e-payment”, said the Agency.

Senate screens Bianca Ojukwu for ambassadorial job From Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor and SannI Onogu, Abuja

•Mrs Ojukwu

T

HE Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs yesterday screened the wife of the late Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Bianca, for appointment as an ambassador.

Bianca was among 87 nominees earlier submitted

to the Senate for confirmation.

She could not however make the screening due to the death and burial of her husband.

A member of the committee told our correspondent that Bianca performed well.

He said the committee would recommend her confirmation to the Senate in plenary.

Meanwhile, President

Goodluck Jonathan yesterday submitted the name of Inuwa Abdul-Kadir to the Senate for confirmation as a minister.

A memo from Jonathan, which was read by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, said AbdulKadir is to replace Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman, who resigned his appointment to contest the Sokoto State governorship primaries.

Jonathan asked the Senate to accord the confirmation of Abdul-Kadir prompt attention.

on why it does no good to steal from the people’s common wealth.”

Adejubee said it is not always possible to identify the financial credibility of donors to the church because “there are regular members who also donate to the church and occasional donors whose income sources might be difficult to ascertain.

This is because information on such people is not immediately available.”

According to him, there are Christians who attend just one church while there are others who attend more than 10 churches at a time.

HE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday said it has not received court papers in respect of a suit slammed on its governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi over alleged plagiarism.

In addition, the CBN said the papers have not been served on the governor.

Victor E. Dike, a professor of Engineering and Technology, at the National University Sacramento, USA on Tuesday sued Sanusi for plagiarising his works.

A statement from the CBN’s spokesman, Ugochukwu Okoroafor said: “Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi did not write the said paper. Governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria, just like Chief Executive Officers of similar institutions in Nigeria and abroad, deliver papers, not in their personal capacities, but on behalf of the institutions for which they are chief spokespersons.”

Brand life unfolds products

A

NEW web application POSTERLOK designed to assist in monitoring and reporting of Out-of-Home advertisements would be launched at the Sheraton today.

According to the spokesman of Brand life, a leading marketing services and brand agency, Mr. Julius Agenmomen, the event would kick off with a symposium with the theme: “Delivery value to brands through Innovative Outdoor Solution”. The Speaker is Mr. Tolu Ogunkoya, the President of the Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN) Speaking on the unique features of POSTERLOK, Agenmonmen noted that the new web application is designed to stand out as a unique tool in the efficient monitoring of OOH advertising in the country.

62

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

THE NATION THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

63

NEWS Tinubu hails Osuntokun at 70

F

ORMER Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday hailed renowned university don and columnist, Prof. Jide Osuntokun, on his 70th birthday today.

The frontline politician thanked the septuagenarian for diligently serving his country.

“You have indeed come a long way in the public service, where you served the country creditably well in various capacities,” Tinubu wrote in a special felicitation letter to the Emeritus Professor and former Nigerian Ambassador to Germany.

“You have proven yourself not only just as a scholar but also as a thinker and a great progressive who has constantly put nation above self,” he added.

•Dr. Abraham (third right) with the defectors at the event

Ondo ACN aspirant Abraham ‘to employ 40,000 people’

A

N Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governorship aspirant in Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Abraham, yesterday promised to create jobs for 40,000 residents, if he wins the party’s ticket and win the October 20 governorship election.

Abraham spoke in Ikare, the headquarters of Akoko North East Local Government Area, when he received thousands of Labour Party (LP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) defectors into the ACN. The defectors, who were led by two LP chieftains, Alhaji Abu Kolade and a former LP local government chairmanship aspirant, Mr Olabode Bakare, said they em-

Ngige unaware of 2014 posters, says ACN From Nwanosike Onu, Awka

T

HE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Anambra State has debunked claims that Senator Chris Ngige, representing Anambra Central, has started pasting posters for the 2014 governorship election.

Ngige’s posters have adorned some major streets in the state. The public was asked to contact Vin Paul Okafor.

In a statement yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Okelo Madukaife, ACN said: “Our attention has been drawn to some posters bearing the photograph of the Southeast leader of our party, Ngige, which appears in weird colours different from our party’s colours, and bears the heading: NGIGE LEGACY, and is pasted in some parts of Awka, the state capital, with a request for the public to contact one Vin Paul Okafor on a given email address.

“While we acknowledge that Ngige has left impeccable records in the capacities he has served a President of Aka Ikenga, governor and now senator, and that many in Anambra have expressed their wish that he should return, we also caution the public, particularly the numerous supporters of Ngige and ACN, that these posters have not emanated from Ngige, his aides, or our party.

From Leke Akeredolu, Akure

braced ACN because Abraham has made much political and economic impact in the community.

According to them, Abraham is the only aspirant who hails from Ikare-Akoko.

Kolade said Abraham has been endorsed by majority of Akoko and Ikare residents because he has assisted many people in the communities.

He said: “Students have been benefiting from Abraham’s scholarship in the past 10 years. Some of them are now overseas while others are in top positions. He donated building materials when a rain wreaked havoc in the community.

“Most of us have benefit-

ed from him one way of the other, and he is the first Ikare son eyeing such a position.

Governor Olusegun Mimiko only brought sadness to our people through the destruction of houses and shops.”

Abraham said he was disturbed about youth unemployment, promising to create jobs, if he gets the party’s ticket and wins the governorship poll.

He said: “My government, if elected, will focus on creation of employment for the people. Our people must be engages to reduce the high number of hoodlums in the state. You all witnessed what happened at the late Adebayo Adefarati’s memorial lecture in Akure, where some youths were hired by the LP govern-

ment to disrupt the programme.

“They vandalised many vehicles and injured many people. If they had been engaged, they would not have allowed the devil to use them.”

The aspirant praised the defectors, saying their decision showed that Ondo State residents are looking for man of integrity to lead them.

He denied using money to lure some people into join ACN. The aspirant warned the state government against disrupting any ACN member’s evenr, saying: “We got information from a source that the LP government has given money to some groups to foil this defection ceremony.

R

Tinubu hailed Prof. Osuntokun’s many scholarly interventions on national issues, particularly when he was a member of the Editorial Board and columnist of the rested Comet and now of The Nation. He noted that the nation has been the richer for it.

“Your contributions to the country’s development remain immeasurable,” he wrote.

“Your scholarly and lucid interventions in the various issues confronting our country remain most inspiring.”

Rejoicing with the renowned cademic for attaining 70, Tinubu wished him many more years of “thinking” for his country.

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) National Leader prayed God to continue to bless him with sound health and a clear mind.

N273m compensation for Ekiti urban renewal victims

ESIDENTS of Ado-Ekiti, whose buildings were demolished in the ongoing urban renewal of the state government, are to receive N273million compensation.

The government assured the Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, community that the proposed dualisation of roads, groves and sacred places would be protected.

Addressing reporters in Ado-Ekiti, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Land Matters Mr. Johnson Olorunleke said the Old Garage—Ojumose-Atinkankan—Post Office-Baptist Church road would be dualised to ease traffic flow.

He said about N190 million would be spent on the 111 structures that have been marked for demolition along the township roads.

According to him, the government will spend N83 million on the structures already

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

demolished for the beginning of the Urban Renewal Project, which started last year in AdoEkiti.

The adviser said part of “the policy thrust of the Kayode Fayemi administration is the establishment of optimum community that would improve the lives of the residents, attract investments and provide accessible roads to all towns and villages by 2014”.

Olorunleke noted that those who were not included in the compensation, which is starting this week, would “be captured in the second phase of the exercise”.

The special adviser allayed the fear that part of the palace of Ewi of Ado-Ekiti would be demolished in the dualisation.

He said: “All sacred places that are pivotal to tradition will be spared.”

www.thenationonlineng.net

TOMORROW IN THE NATION

THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

VOL. 7, NO.2107

‘Gowon did it, Babangida did it, Abacha did it, Obasanjo did it. All our so-called leaders who tried to sit tight in power (against the will of the people) tried all sorts of funny tricks.

Their trick is simple: they dredged up rabble-rousers to torment the populace to submission.’

COMMENT & D EB ATE EBA

ROFESSOR Akinjide Osuntokun, emeritus professor of history at theUniversity of Lagos, and currently a professor of history at the Redeemers’ University in Shagamu, turns 70 today. This morning, he is having a Thanksgiving Service at the Anglican chapel at the University of Lagos to mark the occasion, after which he will hold a reception to which his numerous friends and admirers have been invited to celebrate the occasion with him and his family. In Nigeria, where life expectancy is just over 40 years, it is not a mean feat to attain the age of 70.

It is not my habit to use this column to pay tributes to my friends, except when I genuinely feel they merit and deserve it. In the case of Jide Osuntokun, I have absolutely no doubt that he deserves this honour on account of his outstanding public career in different fields of human endeavour, including academia, diplomacy, and public service. He reached the top of the greasy pole in all three careers, quite a feat in the uncertain Nigerian terrain where merit hardly ever counts. In the course of his varied career he fell several times, but pulled himself up through sheer guts and tenacity.

He is hardly ever deterred by personal challenges.

But the irony is that, as he says in his autobiography, ‘Abidakun’, which in Yoruba means ‘please, stop having children’, published in 2006, and which I had the pleasure of reviewing, he was born a child that his siblings really did not want. The eighth and last child of his mother, he was preceded by seven siblings, including twins, who thought their mother already had more than enough children. Apart from his own siblings, his father had eleven other children from his three other wives. So, Jide’s siblings were not really keen on any additions to a family considered too large already. So angry with their mother over Jide’s arrival was his eldest brother, Chief J. Oduola Osuntokun, later the Minister of Finance in Chief Awolowo’s Action Group (AG) government in the then Western Region, that he refused to visit their mother for a long time after Jide’s unheralded birth. But as it turned out, his life has been one of remarkable success and achievements. Next to Professor Kayode Osuntokun, his older brother, who died tragically at 60, he is the most outstanding of the cerebral and highly successful Osuntokun brothers.

When he published his memoirs in 2006 at only 64, I was surprised and remember asking him why he wrote his memoirs so early. Given his immense talents and a great sense of public service, I was sure that the memoirs were premature and that he still had a long way to go in his varied career. He did not give me a straight answer, but I could sense his fears of early death. He did not expect to live right up to be 70 even though he was in good health as far as I could tell. But then, he told me he had lost six of his siblings, including his elder brother, the celebrated neurosurgeon, Professor Kayode Osuntokun, who died tragically at only 60. Another brother, Taiwo, died recently at just a little over 70. And then his devoted and beloved wife died some ten years ago in her 50s. Of his seven siblings he is the only one still alive today. With that, one can see why his attaining the age of 70 calls for some celebration.

P

DAPO FAFOWORA

FROM THE SUMMIT dapo.fafowora@thenationonlineng.net

Jide Osuntokun @ 70

•Prof Osuntokun

Like most of his siblings, Professor Jide Osuntokun was born at Ilawe in Ekiti State on April 26, 1942. His father was a trader but made his way to the old Gold Coast in search of the Golden Fleece. He made a small fortune after which he returned home to Ilawe and took to farming. His mother, the first of four wives, was a modest trader too and settled in Ilawe with her husband. Both the Osuntokuns are actually Ijesa from Okemesi now in Ekiti State, and even trace their ancestry to Ajase-Ipo now in Kwara State. It is easy to see in him and his siblings a combination of the Ijesa tenacity and dislike the injustice as well as the Ekiti stubbornness and sense of adventure. Although his parents were not educated, his father decided early, possible from his experience in the old Gold Coast, that he would give all his male children education. The girls were left out as he did not see the need for them to have some education since they would eventually leave the family and marry.

The first son in the family, Chief J. Oduola Osuntokun, was the second person in Ekiti to go to University. He became a school teacher and, later, the principal of Christ School, in Ado Ekiti. He went early into politics where he was highly successful. He was one of Chief Awolowo’s boys in the AG government, with a good chance of becoming the premier of the region until the AG dissolved into chaos in 1962. All of Jide’s other male siblings including Jide himself, have followed in the illustrious footsteps of Chief Osuntokun by going to the University. But they have studiously avoided partisan politics. Only Akin, the son of Oduola and nephew of Jide, went into politics and once served as President Obasanjo’s

special assistant. The most cerebral of this brilliant family to whom academic success came so easily was Professor Kayode Osuntokun who, at an early age, graduated from the University of Ibadan in medicine winning all the faculty prizes, and went on to acquit himself as a world acclaimed neurosurgeon.

In the case of Jide, after primary school at Ilawe, he entered the highly respected Christ School in Ado Ekiti, where the brother, Oduola had been a senior tutor, in 1956, for his school certificate, after which he proceeded to the Ibadan Grammar School for his HSC. He entered the University of Ibadan in 1962 from where he graduated in 1966 with a second upper honours degree in history. Of his time at Christ School, he observed humbly in his memoirs that, despite doing his best, he could not attain his brothers’ excellent records there, adding that ‘it was as if my brothers had appropriated all the Osuntokun brains before I was born.” All the same, he was left with sufficient brains to take good honours degree in history at Ibadan.

On leaving the University of Ibadan in 1966, he won a scholarship and proceeded in 1967 to Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada, where he completed his thesis and obtained his doctorate degree in history in 1971.

It was while he was in Canada that be brought his fiancé, Biodun, to join him there.

Soon after, they had their first child, a girl, whom they named Folashade. She is now a surgeon and married to an Irish doctor. Three other children, including a son, followed. All of them are now happily settled abroad.

Jide returned home from Canada in 1972 and began his academic career at the University of Ibadan, but was posted to the Jos Campus of the University where he and his wife spent some happy years, but lost a child at birth, when the lights went out while the child was placed in an incubator. From Jos, he went to the University of Maiduguri, where Professor Jubril Aminu, his brother’s old friend at the University if Ibadan, had invited him as a lecturer. But he returned to the South, to the University of Lagos, where his rise in the history department was meteoric. It was while he was at the University of Lagos that he was appointed on merit a director of the foreign offices of the National Universities Commission.

Eventually he served in the NUC offices in Canada and Washington where he gave a good account of himself. It was while he was in Washington that I first heard of him. I was at the United Nations at the time. It was not until

HARDBALL

F

OR those who think the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) could go the distance in its effort to turn the tables on its chief opponent in the Southwest, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), they may have to think again. First is the fact that the scale of the PDP loss in the region is somewhat discouraging to the party itself. Apart from Oyo State where it still has a fair representation, the party is otherwise weak everywhere else. Then there is also the fact that in many states, it is riddled with divisions and almost irreconcilable infighting, some so bitter it is hard to see them coming together even when they expect to be hung separately.

But by far the biggest headache the PDP faces in the zone is its unenviable legacy.

Between 1999 and 2003, former President Olusegun Obasanjo kept up the virulent campaign that the Southwest lagged behind

STEVE OSUJI

several years later that we met when we both served on the editorial board of The Comet and later of The Nation, where he impressed me by his sharp and penetrating mind. A prolific and versatile historian, with four full length scholarly works, and hundreds of articles to his credit, he is highly regarded in academic circles as one of the most formidable historians in contemporary Nigeria. Our common background made it easier for us to get along.

Self-effacing but very shrewd and humble, he is one of the most engaging and enlightened Nigerians I have ever met, both socially and intellectually. He is very loyal to his friends, generous and kind to his students, and justly proud of his family and ancestry. He is deeply religious and is a pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God. Jide has wide and useful social connections in all places, including among senior military offices, some of whom were his students at the University. One of his close military friends who remembered him when he got into high state office was General Ike Nwachukwu, the affable and urbane senior military officer who liked and admired Jide a lot. When Ike Nwachukwu was appointed the Minsiter of Labour, he invited Jide to join him as his special adviser. It was from there that he went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as special adviser to General Ike Nwachukwu when the latter was appointed Foreign Minister in 1988.

He was the first academic in residence in the Foreign Ministry to which he made a lot of intellectual contribution. It was he who initiated the idea of economic diplomacy in the Ministry.

It was from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that he was appointed Ambassador to Germany where, with his family, he spent many happy years. He was not a professional but made a good impression on the German government and his diplomatic colleagues. Sadly, it was while he was serving in Germany that he got into trouble with the Abacha military regime.

A visiting Nigerian falsely reported to the Abacha regime that Jide was a NADECO Ambassador, the same accusation made against the late Professor Gabriel Olusanya when he was Ambassador in Paris. Many other senior Yoruba officers were give the same treatment and retired from the Foreign Service on the same false grounds during the Abacha regime. In the case of Jide, he was not only promptly recalled, but was arrested on his return to Lagos, and kept in detention for four months without being told the nature of his offences. After his release from detention for which nobody accepted responsibility, he returned to the University of Lagos as a professor of history. He took an early retirement from the University and moved to the Redeemers University where he is currently a professor of history. Since then, several honours and appointments have followed at both the national and state levels. He was recently appointed the pro-chancellor of the state University of Ado Ekiti where his immense experience in University administration will prove to be very useful.

As he celebrates his 70th birthday, I welcome my illustrious aburo to the club of septuagenarians and join his many friends and admirers in wishing him good health, happiness, and many more years of useful service to our nation.

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•Hardball is not the opinion of the columnist featured above

Southwest’s eight years mainstream curse in federal projects and attention because it spurned the ruling party. Unmindful of its political history, the zone hesitantly joined the mainstream bandwagon by allowing itself to be sucked into the PDP column. For the next eight years until 2011, Nigeria looked dangerously close to a one-party state.

But those eight years virtually convinced everyone else except the PDP governors of the Southwest that mainstream politics was both a disaster and a repudiation of the culture and essence of the zone. This indeed was the sound and succinct conclusion reached by Professor Olukayode Oyediran, a former vice chancellor of the University

of Ibadan. Speaking at the Ikenne, Ogun State home of Chief Obafemi Awolowo during the emergency meeting of the Yoruba Unity Forum last week, the sage’s son-in-law derided mainstream politics as a negative factor in Southwest development.

Oyediran’s poignant view on mainstream politics should discourage the PDP and stall its uncoordinated attempt to revive itself. According to him, “Over the years, the false notion has been spread that the Yoruba had suffered because they were in the opposition rather than the political mainstream. The indisputable fact is that during the last 50 years or so, the most glorious days of the Yoruba occurred when they were in the op-

position…” Unwilling to have his view misconstrued or misapplied, Oyediran specified that “the present nadir to which the Yoruba have sunk have been reached precisely when they spent eight years not only in the political mainstream but at the political centre of gravity in Nigeria.”

This is the sort of analysis that galls the Southwest PDP, but it captures both why politics in the zone tends to favour progressives than conservatives, and why conservatives tend to rely futilely on strongarm tactics and help from the government at the centre. But surely it must sound ironic that a people thrive more, and sometimes only, under pressure and opposition.

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